#while i’m at work. really. after it took you MY WHOLE 9-5 TO ANNOUNCE YESTERDAYS.

[bravevolunteer]

THE MIMIIIIIIIIIC??????

[pregnant-piggy]

Summer Games - three

Blaise Zabini x reader

masterlist

warnings: no pronouns used for the reader, 

A/N: I had so much fun writing this part and coming up with all the stupid things! I really hope you like it :)

written for @omgrachwrites​​​ writing challenge with the prompts: ‘I can’t have this argument with you again.’ ‘But—’ ‘No, I’m done.’ and ‘Sorry… your hair was in your face… thought  I should move it so I could see you better.’

word count: 3.9k

The next morning Blaise awoke before Draco and rather than waking his friend too, Blaise got dressed in silence and slipped out of the room. He walked down to the kitchen, where he found you sitting at the table with a mug in your hands, reading the morning papers.

‘Might rain this afternoon,’ you said without looking up.

Blaise hummed something as he sat down opposite of you and poured himself a cup of coffee. He looked up and studied your face as you read the newspaper. Your eyes scanned the pages quickly, picking out the things worth reading. Blaise watched you for a few minutes until you had finished and looked up at him.

‘What you’re doing?’ he asked when you kept looking at him.

‘Looking at you,’ you smiled.

Blaise chuckled nervously. ‘I noticed that, yeah. But why?’

‘I’m probably not gonna see you all day,’ you shrugged. ‘Don’t wanna forget that pretty face of yours.’

Blaise straightened his back and blinked. ‘Don’t wanna—’

‘Good morning, lovelies!’ Pansy interrupted as she threw open the door of the kitchen and strode in.

Blaise was still turned to you and watched as you hugged Pansy shortly before she sat down next to you. She poured herself some coffee and looked at Blaise.

‘Blaise, stop staring, that’s rude,’ Pansy said and she waved her hand in front of Blaise’s face.

He quickly looked away from you and shot Pansy a nasty look before he turned to his coffee.

‘Pansy don’t bug him,’ you scolded and shot Blaise a kind smile. ‘It’s only morning.’

‘Fine, fine,’ Pansy said and she waved your words away with her hand. ‘I won’t bug him until later this day.’ She took a sip from her coffee and pulled a face before quickly scooping two spoons of sugar in her cup. ‘Where’s Draco?’

‘Still asleep,’ Blaise muttered. ‘I considered hexing him awake, but I still have to sleep here for two nights and Draco with a grudge is not someone you want to sleep next to.’

‘I am not that bad,’ a grumpy voice at the doorframe said. Draco walked into the room and flopped down on the chair next to Blaise. ‘Coffee, please.’

‘Sure, you’re not that bad,’ you snickered as you poured coffee in Draco’s mug.

While Draco drank his coffee, you told your friends what Game today would be. ‘It’s the last day before the winner gets announced. Yesterday while we were at the lake the other half of the teams played games in the fields. Before we set off today we’ll get the ranking so far, so you know what team to beat.’

‘But what are we doing today?’ Pansy asked.

A big smile spread on your face. ‘It’s the best Game of the whole festival. The organisation has put out a big scavenger hunt. It goes through the whole village and we have to solve riddles and collect things. You’ll get a list with things to collect and usually the team splits up in little groups and each group gets a part of the list.’

‘What sort of things do we have to collect? Because I’m really not interested in breaking my back from carrying a lot,’ Draco said.

‘I don’t know,’ you replied. ‘Usually there’s a theme to the hunt. My grandma helps to put it together and previous years she’d tell me what the theme was but she hasn’t this year.’

‘So we’ll just go around town collecting things? Isn’t that boring?’

Your smile faltered a bit and Blaise kicked Draco under the table. ‘Don’t listen to him, he’s a jerk in the morning. It sounds fun!’

You smiled thankfully at Blaise and after Pansy also reassured you that it sounded great, your smile was back on your face, and it stayed there for the rest of the morning.

/\/\/\

The scavenger hunt had officially started. A little earlier the scores of the teams had been disclosed; the Sly Foxes were on top with only two points difference between them and the Red Titans. Next were the Oiled Machines and at the bottom the Raging Angels. But just by a few points so all could change with the scavenger hunt.

The organisation had handed out the lists with the things to collect and the theme had quickly been clear.

Book of Spells … 7 pts

Iron Cauldron … 15 pts

Vial with Sleeping Potion … 12 pts

Witch Hat … 5 pts

Unnecessarily the woman of the organisation had added that the theme of this year’s hunt was ‘magic’ and both Blaise and Draco had had to refrain their laughter at the stereotypical items they had to collect. There was a whole list on ingredients for potions that no real wizard would ever think of using, such as goat milk and rabbit turds. Apparently Muggles still thought of witches as old, weary women in little shacks in the woods.

Blaise and Draco had been teamed up with three other Foxes. Neither of them knew any of the three, but after his little spat with Alysia two days ago, Blaise was more than happy that he wasn’t in her team.

The oldest of their team was Ivanna, a woman of thirty-four with a pale face and sleek brown hair. Despite the heat she was wearing long trousers and a jacket over her shirt. She’d told the rest of the team that she had a little baby of just two months old, so that if she seemed tired it meant she probably was.

The second of the three was the twenty-three year old student Mica. They had a dark golden skin and black, curly hair that had been cut short and dyed blue in the ends. Under the blue bangs lay two dark eyes that glittered with excitement and competitiveness. Mica was a student in London, but they had come back to the town where they’d grown up for the Summer Games.

The last teammate was the very young Raoul. He was the son of the man Draco and Blaise had met the first day of the festival at the stand with the cherry pastries, Hank. Raoul was just eleven years old, but he brought a childlike enthusiasm with him that made everyone in the team energized.

They were by far the youngest team, as all the other teams had the more aged villagers, so they called themselves the Sly Pups. Quickly they set to work and looked at the items on their list.

‘Does this make any sense to you?’ Ivanna asked as she handed the list to Blaise and Draco.

Errn rq srwlrqv … 7 pts

Eurrpvwlfh … 17 pts

Fordn … 9 pts

Fdqgohv .. 10 pts

‘I don’t get it,’ Draco said to the rest of the team and then he whispered to Blaise: ‘You didn’t take Ancient Runes, did you?’

‘No, I didn’t,’ Blaise answered and he looked at the sheet in his hand. ‘But I doubt these are runes.’

Blaise looked around at the rest of the Sly Foxes but they didn’t seem to have the same problems, as they were already heading off. Then he looked at the other teams on the field and realised that from each team one group would stay bent over their list while the others took off. In one of the remaining teams Blaise recognised you and Pansy.

‘You don’t think it’s a mistake, do you?’ Ivanna asked with frowned eyebrows.

‘No, the other teams have it too,’ Blaise said and he nodded to the three groups left behind around them.

‘Wait, this one we can read!’ Mica said and pointed out the first line on the paper. ‘”To understand the magic you must always think three steps ahead.” What does that mean?’

The whole team silenced as they thought about the possible meaning of the sentence. Raoul looked around on the ground as if he would find the answer literally three steps ahead of him. For minutes it was quiet and Blaise’s annoyance grew.

To make his irritation even worse two of the other teams around them, including your team, had found the solution to the weird texts and were now running off the field. Blaise let out an exasperated sigh and he shook his head.

‘It can’t be this hard,’ Draco said.

‘It’s some sort of secret language, but I don’t understand the three steps,’ Mica admitted and they rubbed their temples with their knuckles.

‘My dad taught me a secret language once,’ Raoul said. ‘So we could write each other without my other dad finding out. We changed each letter with the one next in the alphabet.’

‘Of course!’ Mica exclaimed and they took the paper from Blaise. ‘Does someone have a pen?’

Ivanna gave Mica a pen and they turned Draco around to use his back. ‘What are you doing?’ Draco snapped but Mica ignored him as they started to write the alphabet on the top of the paper.

‘Look, it’s actually really easy,’ they said. ‘Each letter is swapped for a letter three steps ahead in the alphabet! Just like Raoul said!’

‘So that would mean that the e in the first word is actually a…’

‘A b!’ Mica completed Blaise’s sentence. ‘So the first word is… book… on… pot—potions! We have to find a potions book!’

‘I’ve got one of those in my bag,’ Draco muttered, but Blaise kicked him softly on his leg.

‘We have to go the library!’ Raoul said and he ran off.

‘Raoul! Wait a minute! Not so fast!’ Ivanna yelled after him and the group quickly followed the little boy.

/\/\/\

Your team had quickly figured out the solution to the weird text and found a potions book in the library, accompanied by a little paper with the next clue. Now you were sitting on the wall around the garden of the library with your team.

On your right sat Pansy and on your left Quincy. Quincy was your grandparents’ neighbour and you knew him very well so you were glad he was on your team. He was fifty-five and he had studied philosophy at the university in the nearest big city when he was younger. You hoped his intelligence would be applicable in the hunt, and so far it had for he had figured out the secret language.

Opposite of you stood Chantelle, the forty-two year old town’s librarian. Despite her being in her early forties she looked much older. She had a wrinkled face and neck and always stared at you with big eyes from behind her thick glasses. Her appearance was deceiving however, because her mentality was as quick as that of a young adult.

The last in your team was a teenage boy only a year older than you and Pansy. His name was Christopher and you had known him since you were a small child and you went to your grandparents in the summer. He had dark curls framing his olive face that was always painted with a bright smile. This time there was something other in his smile too and it only made sense to you after he told you that his boyfriend was in the other team and he desperately wanted to beat him.

‘y/n too,’ Pansy had said and Christopher had raised his eyebrow.

‘Really?’

‘No! Blaise is not my boyfriend!’ you’d cried to which Pansy had laughed.

‘Who said anything about Blaise? I merely said ‘boyfriend’.’

Now you were all looking at the new paper in your hand. The next item on the list was an eurrpvwlfh; a broomstick. Though finding out what the next item was had been easy, the real problem was finding the place where. The text on the paper you had gotten from the person in the library didn’t exactly help you very much.

Where I am is always a mystery.

Over mountains I fly,

Or I cross above the trees.

Down on the ground I rest,

Still and motionless I stand.

Pansy sighed and she threw her head back, closing her eyes as she thought about the riddle. Next to you, Quincy was staring at the text as if that would make him any wiser. Every once in a while he would hum but he didn’t come with an answer.

‘We’re gonna lose our lead like this,’ Christopher sighed as he looked around the street for other teams.

‘Surely we’re not seeing something,’ Pansy said and she tilted her head to the side, looking at the paper from a different angle. ‘No offense, but the organisation isn’t exactly a group of highly intelligent people, so maybe we have to think easier.’

Christopher chuckled and you faked a scowl at Pansy. ‘That’s my grandmother you’re talking about!’ you cried and Pansy just shrugged. ‘But you’re right. I am sure there is something clear that we’re overlooking.’

Chantelle cleared her throat and pointed at the text. ‘Maybe we should take a literal approach. You know, look at the text rather than the meaning?’

‘Here,’ you said and gave Chantelle the paper, allowing her to put her full focus on it.

Down the street you noticed a group of people approaching the library. Running ahead of the others was a young boy you recognised as Raoul. He had a big smile on his face and was waving the list with things to collect through the air. In the group behind him Blaise and Draco were walking together, followed by Mica and Ivanna. They noticed your team and Blaise and Draco waved.

‘Not to put pressure on you, but I really hope you can figure it out now because if we don’t win from Blaise and Draco I will be hearing that for the rest of my life,’ you sighed and Pansy nodded.

Chantelle looked up from the paper and winked at you. ‘I got it.’

Your team cheered and Blaise’s team, that was just about to enter the library, looked around. Upon seeing your team so happy, their faces turned sad.

‘See you tonight, boys!’ Pansy shouted. ‘Losers have to do the dishes!’

/\/\/\

Blaise and his team stepped out of the woods with the broomstick in their hand. The broom was old and twitchy and Blaise had to stifle a laugh thinking of how different the real broomsticks were in the wizarding world.

Again it had been Mica who had guessed the answer of the riddle. Blaise wondered where the team would be if they hadn’t been here. Probably still working on the first puzzle. But Mica had figured out that the first letters of the sentences in the little poem formed the word woods, the place where they had found the broomstick.

Now they only had the next word, fordn, meaning cloak, and a silver pin. It was not much to go on but Ivanna had recognised the pin straight away.

‘It comes from Mrs. Heath’s studio!’ she exclaimed and looked at the little pin in her fingers. ‘It’s what she uses for her dresses!’

Unfortunately Mrs. Heath’s studio lay on the other side of the village and it would take at least forty minutes before they’d get there.

‘Forty minutes?!’ Draco cried and when the team set off he turned to Blaise. ‘Stupid Muggles, why can’t we just apparate?’

‘Oh shut it, Malfoy,’ Blaise said. ‘It’s fun!’

‘I’m gonna curse y/n for making us do this…’

Grudging Draco followed the rest of his team and though Blaise would never say it to his friend, he had to admit that his feet were beginning to hurt.

The Sly Pups passed little houses with colourful front yards, full of flowers and bushes. The main street was silent and all the shops were closed, as most of the inhabitants were participating in the Games and there was no need for the stores to be open. They ran into a few other teams, but none of those had the same list as they had.

After forty-five minutes they arrived at the old house of Mrs. Heath. In the garden there was a little path, past pink flowerbeds and a small pond with fish. Halfway in the garden the path split in two. One side led to the bright yellow front door, the other led to a wooden door with a sign on it that said the Heath atelier.

Ivanna stepped through the garden and knocked on the yellow door. A minute it was silent and then an old lady opened the door. She was wearing an orange with blue flowers dress that reached to the ground and her grey hair hung in a braid over her shoulder. Her lips spread into a smile when she saw the five people at her door.

‘You’re the first ones!’ Mrs. Heath smiled and she stepped out of the door. ‘Come, come, follow me!’

Blaise sent Draco a questioning look as they followed Mrs. Heath to her studio. Your team had been far ahead of Pups, having figured out where to find the broomstick before Blaise’s team even had the riddle. In the forest there had been two brooms already collected, but apparently the Sly Pups were the only ones who had found where the silver pin came from.

Inside the Heath atelier stood four mannequins with colourful robes. Each had a different colour and pattern. There was a dark blue one with yellow stars, a green one covered with red flowers and one coloured yellow with orange and red flames. Blaise snickered at the cloaks; the only one he had even seen wearing such colours was Dumbledore and he couldn’t exactly be called a normal wizard.

‘You take this one,’ Mrs. Heath said and she pulled a bright pink cloak with yellow and green crescents embroidered in it from a mannequin. ‘And also—’ she opened a drawer and pulled out a thin object in the shape of a circle ‘—this one. Good luck!’

Ivanna took the object and the cloak and ushered the team outside. In the garden she handed over the cloak to Draco, who took it with a frown, and looked at what Mrs. Heath had given her.

‘It’s a coaster,’ Mica said, raising one eyebrow. ‘Why would she give us a coaster?’

Before anyone of the team could guess, however, another group arrived at the house. You and Pansy were walking ahead, both with tired and sweaty faces, and the rest of your team seemed just as exhausted.

Blaise waved at you and you gave him a weak smile back as you walked with your team inside.

‘Does anyone recognise this?’ Mica asked and they looked around the team.

Everyone shook their head and they sighed as one. Ivanna brought the coaster closer to her face and examined it. She dropped her shoulders and shook her head again. ‘I don’t know what it is.’

‘It probably has something to do with the next item,’ Mica said and they pulled out the list. ‘Candles. Is there a place here that sells candles or anything?’

‘But what has that got to do with the coaster?’ Blaise asked.

‘I don’t know,’ Mica admitted.

Your team came out of the studio with the green cloak and Pansy had a coaster in her hand. You huddled a little away from Blaise and your team formed a protective circle around the object in Pansy’s hand.

Blaise was standing with his back to your team, but he could hear the whispers. While his team tried to think of a solution for the weird puzzle, Blaise tried to listen to what your teammates had to say. And it seemed like your team had sorted it out as quickly as Ivanna had sorted out the solution of the pin.

‘I know where this is from,’ Quincy said. ‘At Mikey’s they use these coasters.’

‘And that would make sense, because in a restaurant they surely have candles!’ Chantelle added and the rest of your team mumbled approvingly.

Blaise looked around and saw your team leaving the garden and heading for the main street. You caught his stare and smiled enthusiastic at Blaise, making him weak in the knees with the innocent laugh on your face. Butterflies were fluttering through his stomach and he felt bad for eavesdropping on your team.

‘Blaise?’

‘Yeah?’ Blaise tore his gaze from you and turned to his team, finding them all looking at him.

Mica laughed and shook their head. ‘Ivanna said that she knows someone who makes candles,’ they said. ‘I know we haven’t got much time left, but it’s worth a try.’

The scavenger hunt would only last till four, then everyone had to return to the fields, whether they had found all the objects or not. Now there were only thirty minutes left, so they had to hurry.

Blaise looked at his team and thought of what he had heard a minute earlier. If they went to the candle-maker they would never get to the restaurant in time, and that would mean that they’d lose from your team. However, when Blaise thought of you and how happy you’d be when winning, he just couldn’t tell.

‘Sure,’ he said. ‘Sounds great.’

/\/\/\

You were lying in bed, staring at the shapes the lamp cast on the ceiling. Pansy was hopping around in the room, trying to find the pyjamas that she had thrown off this morning. Her footsteps were heavy sounds on the wooden floor.

There was a faint smile on your face. This afternoon your team had been the only one to return with all four of the items on the list. Though that didn’t guarantee that the Red Titans had won the entire scavenger hunt, it did mean that you and Pansy’s team had won from Blaise and Draco’s.

However, there was one more thing that added to your smile.

‘He knew,’ you said and sat up against the headboard of the bed.

‘Who knew what?’ Pansy asked as she was bent over in the closet.

‘Blaise knew where to find the candles.’

Pansy looked up at you. ‘What do you mean? His team didn’t find them.’

‘No, his team didn’t know,’ you said while Pansy took off her shirt and trousers. ‘But he did.’

Pansy neatly folded her clothes and placed them on a shelf in the closet. Then she closed the door and looked around the room. ‘Where the hell are my clothes?’ she mumbled before she looked back at you. ‘How do you know?’

‘He overheard Quincy telling where the coaster came from,’ you said and you lifted the pillow on the bed and revealed Pansy’s pyjamas. ‘He looked at me before we walked away. I could see it in his face.’

Pansy had sat down on the bed and pulled the shirt over her head. ‘So if he knew, why didn’t he tell his team?’ she asked and then a wicked smile spread on her face. ‘He let you win.’

‘He let us win, Pansy,’ you corrected, but even you couldn’t suppress a smile. ‘But yeah.’

‘So that’s why you’ve been smiling so much all evening!’ Pansy exclaimed loudly and you shushed her.

‘Shh! He’s still in the room next to us!’

Pansy rolled her eyes and crawled under the covers next to you. ‘Will you now believe he’s totally into you?’

You turned off the light on the nightstand and lay down, pulling the duvet up to your chin. You stared at the dark ceiling for a moment, thinking back of today. With a smile you took Pansy’s hand and gave it a little squeeze.

‘Perhaps.’

- - - - - - -

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general HP: @harry-pottery-barn​​​ @potters-heart​​​ @kingalrdy​​​ @missswriter​​​ @figlia--della--luna​​​@sexysirius​​​ @awritingtree​​​ @bi-andready-tocry​​​ @lilulo-12fanfiction​​​ @ananad1​​​ @treestarrrrrrrr​​​ @your-hispanichufflepuff​​​ @thefandomplace​​​ @theeicedamericano​​​ @girllety​​​ @moonstarrnghtsky @swearingsolemnly​​​ @weasleydream​​​ @secretsthathauntus​​​ @amixedwitch​​​ @izzyyy-1​​​ @gryffindorgirl​​​ @kitkatkl​​​ @catching-the-train-to-hogwarts​​​ @nyotamalfoy​​​​

MASTERLIST

[buckybeardreams]

Unwanted

Chapters: 10/11

Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark

Characters: Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson (Marvel), Brock Rumlow, James "Bucky" Barnes, Clint Barton, Harley Keener

Additional Tags: Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alpha Steve Rogers, Omega Tony Stark, Service Top, Dominant Bottom, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Virgin Steve Rogers, Brock Rumlow is a Good Bro, Sam Wilson Is a Good Bro, Romantic Soulmates, First Meetings, Angst with a Happy Ending, Sappy, Romantic Fluff, Awkwardness, Drinking to Cope, Self-Worth Issues, Insecure Tony Stark, Insecure Steve Rogers, Age Difference, Harley Keener is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Bonding, Claiming Bites, Claiming, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mpreg, Non-Explicit Sex, Light Dom/sub, Mutual Masturbation, Coming Untouched, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Wordcount: 10.000-30.000, Knotting

Series: Part 1 of Second Chances

Summary:

Steve is a soft Alpha and Tony is an in charge kind of Omega with no desire to find a mate. He doesn't want to find his soulmate and when he does meet Steve he's determined to stay away from him. 

That is until he realizes just how right they are for each other.

Ch 1 Ch 2 Ch 3 Ch 4 Ch 5 Ch 6 Ch 7 Ch 8 Ch 9 Ch 10 Ch 11

Can also be read here

Words: 1,583

Tony went to Brock's to tell him about winning the case against Obie and Pierce, and ended up making another less expected announcement. One that Brock followed up with good news of his own.

"Wait? You're pregnant?"

"Yeah, but don't tell anyone. We're not telling people yet," Brock told him.

"I'm sorry, what? If I hadn't just told you I was pregnant, would you not have told me?"

"Probably not."

"What the fuck, Brock? I'm your best friend!"

"Yeah, but you know I was an only child, Tony. Not from a lack of trying on my parents' part either. They went through three miscarriages before they finally used in vitro to have me. If this baby doesn't make it, I don't want to deal with a whole bunch of people pitying me while I'm grieving."

Tony reached over and pulled him in for a hug.

"Okay, I get it now, but can I at least tell Steve?"

"Honestly, it's inevitable. I went to the hair salon yesterday and my hairdresser told me that Jessica, some girl that lives in her apartment that I don't even know, was having an affair with her current lover's ex-lover, not to mention she's married with three kids. I spilled my guts the moment Sam got home. Keeping things from mates is practically impossible."

Tony bit his lip.

"I haven't told Steve."

"Of course you didn't. You just found out, Tony. You literally haven't even left the room and your phone is sitting on the coffee table. How would you have told him?"

Tony shook his head.

"No, not that. I mean that I'm pregnant."

Brock blinked at him for a minute before narrowing his eyes.

"Why?" He asked suspiciously.

Tony fidgeted nervously.

"I don't know how he's gonna take it," Tony admitted.

Brock rolled his eyes.

"Good God, you're pathetic," Brock groaned in exasperation. "Seriously? That boy lives to please you. He's gonna be thrilled that you're gonna need massages and foot rubs for the next nine months. Not to mention, now he's gonna have two people to order him around. He's gonna be so excited to spoil your little mini-me, Tony."

Tony glared at him halfheartedly.

"Yeah, I know, but I'm still anxious about it and I'm not entirely sure why. I know it's ridiculous and I know Steve's gonna be thrilled."

Brock eyed him for a moment.

"Yes, we've established that," Brock said, watching Tony carefully. "What about you? Are you excited about it?"

Tony bit his lip and looked over at Brock guiltily.

"I don't know. I know that I should be. I know that babies are like miracles and all that, but I never thought I'd have one. I never thought I'd have an Alpha and now I do, and now this. It's just a lot and I'm not sure if I'm ready. I'm not sure if I want a child."

Brock nodded.

"If you need someone to go with you to take care of it, Tony-"

"No, no, I'm gonna keep it. I already considered that, but I think I'll regret it if I do."

Brock frowned.

"There's nothing wrong-"

"No, I know, Brock. It's not that. It's just- I think I'm scared, because this wasn't part of the plan. Steve wasn't part of the plan and the plan has completely changed. It's a lot, but I was scared about Steve, too, and he's the best thing that's ever happened to me. Maybe this baby will be like that too."

Brock nodded.

"Okay, if it's really what you want then I'll support it and be happy for you. I'll support you no matter what choice you make, you know that right?"

"I do and I love you for that."

Brock rolled his eyes, but he smiled softly and pulled Tony in for a hug.

"Now let's talk nurseries," Brock said when he pulled back.

Tony grinned at him.

*****

"We're buying the bar," Tony said to the group. 

He had invited everyone over to Steve's place, since his place was bigger and neater and just overall better for hosting people. He chose to do this on a Sunday night, the only night that the bar wasn't open, so everyone could be there. Everyone was so excited about having won the case, but also scared about what that would mean for them. They had all figured when they first decided to take their boss to court that they would be left jobless regardless of the outcome. 

Clint raised his hand like he was still in elementary school and Tony rolled his eyes.

"Yes, Clint? Do you have something to say to the class?" Tony said sarcastically.

"Um... you're doing what?"

Tony sighed.

"We-" He said, gesturing between him and Steve, "Are buying the bar. This way we can all keep our jobs, have decent fucking pay checks, get the benefits we deserve, and just overall have a positive work environment. Sound good?"

There were murmurs and nods of agreement. Bucky stood up and grabbed the bottle of wine on the counter.

"Okay, well, I think we should all drink to that and to our new bosses."

"Yeah, um, we should clarify, that while I'm technically gonna be on the lease, it's really only because it looks good to have an Alpha on it," Steve said. "I'm an artist. Um, leadership? Yeah, that's not really my thing. Tony, though, he's gonna make a damn fine boss. So yeah, he's gonna run the place and work with you guys. I'm just gonna do the paperwork and manage schedules. That kind of behind the scenes stuff."

Tony giggled and kissed his cheek.

"Steve's gonna be a great co-owner and let me do whatever I want with the place, so I suggest you kiss up to me, if there's anything specific you want out of the renovations," Tony teased. "Steve will also be very busy raising our child and being a work-from-home dad while he paints and helps manage the bar.

Tony rested his hand on his flat belly and all the eyes in the room went wide and congratulations and cheers went off after a moment of shock. Steve was the most shocked though and it took him the longest to say something.

"Wait? Are you serious? Tony, if you're joking then tell me now before I get my hopes up."

"Nope, not joking," Tony told him with a grin, but a part of him was nervous that Steve would be unhappy about it.

"Oh my God. Oh my God! We're having a baby!" Steve practically shouted to the room in his excitement and scooped Tony up into his arms.

Tony laughed and wrapped his limbs around him, leaning down to kiss him.

"I can't believe it. This is amazing, baby! I'm gonna set up a nursery-"

"No, I'm setting up the nursery and Brock's gonna help me since he's also pregnant and we're gonna have matching nurseries."

"Right, right, then I'm gonna paint a mural on the walls."

"That's acceptable."

"Yeah and- Wait? Did you say Brock's pregnant?"

"Yeah, but you didn't hear it from me. They're not telling people yet," Tony told him with a wink.

Steve furrowed his brows.

"Who else would I have heard it from if they're not telling people?"

"I don't know. Sam?"

"But Sam would know that he didn't tell me," Steve pointed out.

Tony rolled his eyes.

"Not my problem."

Steve set Tony down when Bucky cleared his throat.

"Hate to ruin the moment, but I've got wine," Bucky said handing a glass to Steve before reaching for a glass on the counter, "and for you--"

"Oh, no, I can't--"

"It's grape juice, Tony," Bucky cut him off. "I wouldn't do anything to risk your baby."

Tony nodded his thanks and smiled at Bucky.

"Congratulations, by the way. On the mating and the pup."

The words seemed sincere enough, but Bucky's smile seemed off. Tony brushed it off though, letting everyone else come up and hug him and make him promise to invite them to the baby shower. It was a good day, everyone in high spirits, excited about the new baby and getting to keep their jobs. 

*****

That night at home Steve sat on the couch with Tony's feet in his lap, rubbing them.

"I'll do this for you everyday until the baby's born," Steve promised.

Tony smirked.

"Only until the baby's born," Tony teased, wiggling his toes.

Steve laughed.

"No, I'll do it every day until we die, because I love you more than anything in the world and I'd do anything for you, Tony, my beautiful Omega.”

Tony rolled his eyes, but smiled.

"Yeah, well, don't let the baby hear you say that. I'm pretty sure your world is going to expand the moment I pop this thing out."

"Yeah," Steve said dreamily. "I can't believe we're gonna be parents."

"Yeah, this kid's so fucked," Tony teased.

Steve grinned at him.

"We're gonna have the most spoiled, loved, and happiest baby ever. He's never gonna want for anything."

"He? What makes you think we're having a boy?"

"Or she," Steve amended. "I don't care either way. I just hope the baby's just like you."

"Well, jokes on you. This baby's gonna have blond hair and blue eyes."

Steve rolled his eyes.

"I didn't say the baby was gonna look like you, just be like you. You know, brilliant and stubborn."

Tony giggled and shook his head.

“Just focus on rubbing my feet, Alpha.”

“Yes, sir,” Steve teased.

[natromanxoff]

Queen live at Hyde Park in London, UK - September 18, 1976 (Part-1)

An interesting bit about the Hyde Park gig (thanks to Jane Palm-Gold): "The white boiler suit Fred wore coming onstage was especially chosen by him so that he could be seen from miles away (because white stands out at a distance) and even better (and this is great but you have to know this place really - a London landmark for many years) it was acquired at Lawrence Corner at Euston (!), a tatty second hand clothes /hire place where a lot of clothes /outfits were hired from for band promo shoots - for instance they had a lot of military stuff there."

(x)

After the success of A Night At The Opera (and not to mention how the weekly Sounds readers' poll elected the band #1 in the best album, best single, and best band categories), Queen wanted to pay the British fans back for back their loyalty and support over the last few years. Whilst in Japan earlier in the year, they came up with the idea to stage a massive free concert. With the help of record industry entrepreneur Richard Branson (creator of Virgin Records/megastores) they started making plans for the Hyde Park show, which turned into a mini tour along with the Edinburgh and Cardiff shows. It is estimated that between 150-200 thousand people turned up at Hyde Park, which is still a record for the venue to this day. This show cemented their position in the top bracket of rock bands. The stage used was the same stage that was constructed for the Rolling Stones concert at the Knebworth Fair a few weeks earlier. 

Queen's first huge show at home brought certain areas of London to a grinding halt, and space on public transportation was at a premium. The concert took place on the anniversary of Jimi Hendrix's death. A banner hung from a tree that read "Hendrix Lives," and at one point in the show Brian May noticed it with much appreciation. The band are seen in the photos above arriving at the venue, where they were joined backstage by Pink Floyd's Roger Waters. Supercharge, Steve Hillage, Rufus, and Kiki Dee (along with a cardboard cut-out of Elton John, who couldn't make it to join her for Don't Go Breaking My Heart) played before Queen (Be-Bop Deluxe and John Miles were supposed to be on the bill as well, but were axed for some reason). A pro-shot video of Steve Hillage's performance exists as well as Queen's. There was a fight in the audience during Hillage's set, during which he played extended trippy versions of It's All Too Much by The Beatles and Hurdy Gurdy Man by Donovan. Also notable is Supercharge's singer Albie Donnelly parodying Freddie Mercury in a white leotard and a half mic stand. The first half of the A Day At The Races overture is aired publicly for the first time (the upcoming album had been partially recorded by this point). The usual Bohemian Rhapsody opening sequence then commences for the last time. The band make their entrance, and everybody near the stage stands up (the audience had been seated on the grass for the opening acts). This angers many fans who are further back (roughly 90% of the audience now cannot see the stage), so they start lobbing cans, bottles, or whatever else that can be thrown. After a few songs, Freddie asks everyone simply to calm down: "I have been requested by the constabulary for you not to throw little things around, tin cans or whatever. So make this a peaceful event, ok? Sit on your arses and listen." Brian, after his solo spot in Brighton Rock (he stutters a bit, revealing that he's still nervous): “From one piece of nonsense to another, I’ve said it before. This is something we wanted to do with the London Philharmonic but they didn’t show up, so we will do the ethnic version of a song called '39." He is seen in a dazzling new outfit tonight, which he'd wear every night through Japan 1979. It would become the outfit he'd change into during the opera section of Bohemian Rhapsody. "Clap along and stuff," he urges the audience, as he plays the intro of what he'd later describe as the first song about Einstein's general theory of relativity. After '39, Freddie audaciously performs the as-of-yet unreleased You Take My Breath Away alone on the piano, even hitting many of the falsetto notes that he'd excise in 1977 versions. He then gets cheeky and introduces The Prophet's Song as "a little shorter number from our album A Night At The Opera." Perhaps he still had You Take My Breath Away in his head, as he begins the a cappella section with what would become the first line of the A Day At The Races ballad instead of the usual "oh, people can you hear me?" bit. He also references Death On Two Legs, as he had done a few times earlier in the year. After Stone Cold Crazy, the band play Keep Yourself Alive and Liar, having dropped Doing All Right and Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon from the set. The combination of these three heavy numbers would prove to be very effective, and they would stick with it for their following North American tour. Liar is a great version, with many great Mercuryisms throughout. Before the last song, Brian coyly says, "This is In The Lap Of The Gods, or something like that." The band play a similar set to the ones they did in Edinburgh and Cardiff, except they drop Doing All Right, Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon and Tie Your Mother Down. They intended to perform their usual encore of Big Spender and Jailhouse Rock, but the show had run a half hour past its scheduled ending time (a curfew strictly enforced by the authorities). The police threatened to arrest the band if they went back on stage, and Freddie was later quoted saying how he would prefer not to be stuck in a jail cell in his leotard. And so, Bob Harris was left with the unenviable task of announcing to the crowd that the show was over. He later recalled how difficult and nerve-wracking it was to tell an audience of this size who had waited for about ten hours that there would be no encore. Now I'm Here was the first encore every night around this time, making this the one time between 1974 and 1986 where the song is not performed. The liner notes of Live Killers suggest that Now I'm Here was dropped from the set for a while, but that is patently untrue. People in one section of the audience chanted "Why are we waiting," all in good fun, knowing full well the show was over. The police soon turned off the main power feed to the park, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to make their way out in sheer darkness. Their reasoning was that it was the only way to "control" such a large number of people who had been rowdy throughout the day. In a 1977 interview with Capital Radio, Brian recalls the day: "It had a great sunny day for it, and everyone had a good time. There were still altercations on the day, and there was a big thing with the powers that be because they wouldn't let us go on and do the encore, about which we were very upset, having worked up for months and prepared for all that. They got very frightened because there were 150,000 people in Hyde Park in the dark, and they thought they were going to get out of hand. But in fact, there was no possible danger happening at all. Everyone was peaceful and having a good time."

This show is what epitomized their popularity in Britain, and when they felt they "had really made it," as Brian would later recall. On another occasion he said, "I think that Hyde Park was one of the most significant gigs in our career. There was a great affection because we'd kind of made it in a lot of countries by that time, but England was still, you know, we weren't really sure if we were really acceptable here. So it was a wonderful feeling to come back and see that crowd and get that response." Despite the fact that the audience had been there all day watching the various opening acts and waiting, the band delayed the show as long as possible just so it could get dark enough for their lighting and various other effects to make their full impact (as demanded by Freddie). Throughout the show, the band's nervousness and excitement for the occasion are evident. Most of the audience couldn't see a thing during Queen's set, since the stage was barely elevated. "The smell of the dry ice and the sound are the only sensory memories I have of this show," recalls Jane Palm-Gold. Here is an article from the day of the show, 

and a review from a week later (both were submitted by Boris Arkhangelsky).

Tonight would be the final performances of Flick Of The Wrist, Son And Daughter, and the (almost) full The Prophet's Song. A snippet of The March Of The Black Queen would be performed only once more in 1978, but a different part of the song.

Here is  a Virgin Records flyer.

The second pic is the famous overhead shot that appeared in the October 9, 1976 Melody Maker. Pic 5 was submitted by Janneman,  and pics 6 and 7 were submitted by Lukáš Bosík.

Fan Stories

“Well, I was 13 years old and had got into Queen through Night At The Opera and THAT video. I'd never been to a gig before and it took a lot of convincing of a sceptical mother to let me go to Hyde Park on my own. After answering the inevitable "no, I won't talk to strange men mum" questions I was allowed to go. The morning came and I was up at 6am, got my packed lunch together (can you imagine going off to a gig now with your sandwiches and orange juice!) and headed off to Hyde Park. I remember getting there so early that I was right by the crash barriers at the front and determined to try and hold my spot all day. As the day progeressed however I ended upmoving backwards slowly as people pushed in. I can remember savouring the whole build up, the support bands, everything. As dusk started to fall, the stage went dark and the dry ice started up. I broke my mums don't talk to strangers bit and a very nice bloke put me up on his shoulders so I could see them come on. I just remember the crash of light and sound as they came on as if it was yesterday (and not 27 years ago!). The rest of the gig was amazing and that was it, I was hooked on Queen and rock music. I saw Queen on every tour they ever did in England (and a few in Europe) after that but nothing compares to that first gig for me.” 

- Andy

Part-2

Part-3

[silver-embersss]

Broken Horns and Broken Hearts Chapter 6

Chapters: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10

So I've been out of wifi for a while, hope my queue kept you guys busy!!

------------------------------4 Days Later-------------------------------

“Hey man... you good?” Tubbo scrunched his eyes up against the light, head pounding, as he sat up, smoothing down his crumpled suit. Quackity stood by his side, casting worried glances towards the door.

“Schlatt’s announcement is in ten minutes, and I couldn’t wake you up! What happened, man? You even fell asleep in your fucking suit!”

“S-Sorry… I don’t know what came over me, I must have slept through my alarm…”

He did know what happened. Yesterday, Tommy and Will had been exiled, with Tubbo himself charged with hunting them down. Stressed, upset, and shocked, Tubbo had thrown on the suit given to him as part of President Schlatt’s cabinet and spent the rest of his night searching for ‘hunting down’ his friends, ending up collapsing in the white house in the early hours of the morning. He ran a hand through messy gold locks and winced as he grazed the sore spots on his temples. Quackity smiled in sympathy, then grabbed his arm and pulled him into the corridor where their president was waiting.

Schlatt grinned when they emerged, all teeth and wolfish charm as he strode confidently down the cramped corridor. Tubbo scuttled frantically behind him, straightening his suit to the best of his ability and accepting his clipboard from Quackity with a muttered thanks.

The even brighter sunlight outside seared through his pounding head like a thunderbolt, and Tubbo shaded his eyes with one hand, half-blinded. Quackity, protected by his trademark sunglasses, took the boy’s arm and guided him forward until he adjusted to the light, and by that point they were at the podium. Tubbo looked down at his clipboard, squinting as he struggled to read the cramped text.

10:45 - Presidential speech

12:30-2:00 - Cabinet meeting (Resource Management)

2:10-4:15 - Cabinet meeting (Crime and Punishment Laws)

4:30-5:45 - Cabinet meeting (Outlaw Management + Misc. Debate)

Tubbo sighed heavily. He didn’t even know what ‘misc’ meant! Why was he chosen to be part of the new cabinet? It didn’t make any sense! The boy rubbed his temples with one hand and looked back up at the crowd that had formed to hear the presidential decree. At least as Wilbur’s Secretary of State he didn’t have to do all this boring shit. He’d much rather slug through the muddy undergrowth and pretend to hunt his friends than sit through a 3-hour meeting about something he didn’t even understand-

The screech of feedback made Tubbo jump out of his skin as Schlatt tapped the mic, clearing his throat in preparation for his speech. Said speech was mainly meaningless propaganda babble to Tubbo, who zoned out three sentences in. After ten or so minutes, however, one remark jumped out at him, as he was sure it did to everyone listening.

“...very proud of my son, the Secretary of State, for his efforts in hunting down those despicable exiles! Good work there, Tubbo, I’m sure you’ll get them soon. Now-”

‘My son’.

‘My son’?!

There’s no way, Tubbo thought, his whole body freezing up. Quackity looked at him with wide eyes, grabbing his arm hard.

“Did you hear that?” he hissed out of the corner of his mouth, and Tubbo nodded stiffly, still staring dumbstruck at Schlatt, who’d moved on without even a pause.

Tubbo kept his tongue until after the speech, when he confronted the goat man about his claim.

“I’m not your fucking son! Don’t you dare say that!”

He cried, shoving the president back the second they were out of sight. He expected Schlatt to shout, or push him back, but what the boy didn’t expect was for him to laugh.

Schlatt laughed, and stepped forward, gripping Tubbo’s shoulders. The ram’s yellow, intense gaze bored into his, making the boy shake.

“Please. Look at yourself. Look at me! You really think I’m lying?”

Tubbo swallowed.

The president grinned wolfishly and tapped the area on Tubbo’s temple, right where it stung, making him cry out.

“Your horns are coming through.”

Schlatt let go of him, and the boy stumbled back into Quackity, who steadied him on shaking legs.

“H-Horns…?” He croaked, feeling the word stick in his throat.

Quackity glanced between them, then coughed awkwardly. The president chuckled again.

“I will take a coffee, Quackity. How kind of you to offer.”

Big Q took a shaking breath in at the clear order, and let go of Tubbo, moving away to get the drink. The president’s predatory smile broke out again.

“Don’t you have a meeting to go to… son?”

“I-”

Tubbo bit his lip and stumbled away, clutching his clipboard in shaking hands. Schlatt was right- he did have a meeting to go to, but Tubbo knew he wasn’t going to pay attention, instead turning the same hopeless circle in his head until it made sense… not that he was sure it ever would.

It can’t be… could it…?

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

Tommy brushed a dusty arm across his forehead to wipe away the sweat, lowering his pickaxe for a moment to rest his aching arms. Wilbur called for him from the entrance of his strip mine and he turned, resting the pick against the wall and grabbing his lantern instead.

“YEAH?”

He yelled back, voice echoing along the cramped tunnel.

Will said something he couldn’t hear, and Tommy shook his head uselessly, making his way back down the tunnel so he could hear his brother-in-arms.

Once they were within speaking distance, he lowered his voice.

“What?”

Wilbur shivered from the cold, and passed Tommy a loaf of hard bread, which he accepted silently.

“I just wanted to know if you’ve heard from Techno yet?”

The teenager’s brow furrowed.

“Yeah, he said he’s on his way...

I told you that this morning.”

He added, almost experimentally. It wasn’t a lie- he had told Wilbur this morning, and his president had grinned and laughed in relief, much the way he was doing now.

“Oh, you did? Ha, I must have missed it. Were you mumbling again?”

He wasn’t. Will had heard him, loud and clear.

“Are you okay, Will? You seem a bit… off…”

“Of course I’m fine! Guide Techno here when he arrives, would you Toms? I’m gonna go listen in on the speech.”

“Will-”

“See you later Tommy!”

The teen sighed and went back to his mining, keeping an eye on his communicator in case Techno called.

[purplesurveys]

1129

[created by: youvebeensurved - LiveJournal]

How often do you get fountain drinks from a gas station? I’ve actually never tried getting a drink from one of those fountains. I find them nasty, and the fact that gas stations aren’t the most hygienic of places certainly doesn’t help their case.

If you get online and look at graphics, what website(s) do you go to? I never find myself looking for graphics. The closest thing I search are vector icons, and for those I have an extension on Chrome that lets me look for icons to place on slides and such.

Who would you say your favorite celebrity is? At the moment it would be Rosamund Pike, but my all-time favorite would be Beyoncé.

Have you ever slept in your car? If so, explain. Sure, mostly when I took naps in between classes. There were also a few times I had late nights out and didn’t have a place to crash at, so I’d sleep in the car for the night before heading home in the morning.

If you were forced to murder one of your parents, which one would it be? This is a horrible question.

What song are you currently obsessed with? Find Me Here - Hayley Williams.

Explain your last run in with the police: Never happened.

Who was the last friend you hung out with, and what did you guys do? In terms of a physical get-together, I was with Angela, Hans, Pia, Kyelle, Al, Gab, and Sam and we had dinner and drinks at this gastropub that announced its impending permanent closure by the end of February. Virtually, I hung out with Andi, Peter, Carmel, Rita, Robin, Mik, and Elis to have a Jeopardy game night over Zoom.

What time do you usually go to bed and wake up? On weekdays I try to turn in anywhere between 9–11 PM and wake up by 6:30. On weekends, I try to stay up until midnight at the earliest, but I’m trying to make it a habit to stay up until like 2–3 AM just so I can catch up on my hobbies and shows. I wake up anywhere between 5–7 AM.

If you could have any job in the world, what would it be? What's stopping you? Lawyer, which is a route I seriously considered for a few years. I get extremely tense in arguments though so I doubt I’d be the best fit for that kind of career.

Do you have a friend that's in a horrible situation right now? Explain. Yeah, my college batchmate (who’s now also my co-worker) Aimee tested positive for COVID this week after being in and out of a fever over the last two weeks.

What was the last store you were in, and what did you buy? I suddenly needed plastic bags while I was packing groceries at the office the other week, so I went to the nearby convenience store to check if they had any. They didn’t, so I left without buying anything.

Who was the last person you texted, and what did this text say? I was texting some media friends to tell them some shoes we had ordered for them to try out are going to be delivered to their address within the day.

What is the reason for the last time you cried? A show I had been watching had an emotional scene.

Who is your favorite character in your favorite movie? Joanna, of course, mainly because that’s the character Audrey Hepburn plays.

What color did you last paint your nails? I can’t remember the color I chose the last time I had my nails painted 79472394348 years ago.

It's 112 degrees out today, describe your attire: A very thin tank top with airy shorts.

Do you have any friends that are currently in jail? Explain their situation. Not friends but I can think of a couple of relatives who’ve gotten ‘in conflict’ with the law. I won’t get into their cases but for both of them, it was because they got tricked by their respective abusive bosses, hence the quote marks.

Do you tend to take long or short surveys? I like taking those whose lengths are right in the middle - anywhere between 35-80 questions. Shorter ones look boring and I find the longer ones too time-consuming.

What do you currently desire? I changed my mind about La Creperie and will be going to Ramen Nagi instead since I just remembered they currently have a truffle ramen thing that’s only going to be around for a limited time, and I want to get my hands on it before they take it off the menu.

How often do you honk your horn? Depends on how stupid the people I’m driving with are on a given day.

For what reason were you last at a park? We don’t have too many parks here so there’s little opportunity to stay at one. I remember seeing one with Gab when we were at BGC a little over a year ago, but we only walked through it since it was part of the route we were taking to get to our actual destination.

What junk food can you never pass up? Salted egg chips and pizza.

If you're a girl, what is your favorite brand of feminine hygiene products? If you're a boy, what is your favorite brand of condoms? I don’t have a favorite.

Where was the last place you went on a walk to? Just around the neighborhood. I also wanted to make this morning’s route with Cooper a little longer so he could walk more, so we went to parts of the village we don’t normally reach.

How are you feeling today? I’m content :) It’s the weekend so I’m not too tense like I normally would be on weekdays. I also have plans to go out later today so I’m looking forward to that.

Do you ever make your own surveys? Never tried because I know I wouldn’t be able to come up with new and interesting questions.

How flexible are you? Not very. I can’t even reach my toes when I do stretches.

What is your favorite class? Any history elective. I also like biology, anthropology, and some aspects of political science.

What is your boyfriend's name? I don’t have one.

What is your favorite drink? Non-alcoholic, cold water. Alcoholic, Long Island Iced Tea for mixed drinks, and tequila.

Who is your best friend? Angela.

What time is it? 11:20 AM.

What is your middle name? My second name is Isabelle, but I’m not sharing my legal middle name.

What 3 websites do you visit daily? YouTube, Google Suite, and Twitter.

Where do you work? At home, haha. But under normal circumstances I’d be working in an office somewhere in Metro Manila.

What is your favorite band? Paramore.

How do you feel about abortion? Personally not a fan of the procedure for myself, but I am as pro-choice as it gets.

Do you want any kids? Very much so.

Have you ever microwaved soap? Nah, but I know what happens to it from watching YouTube videos hahaha. It’s so fun to see it gradually expand and become a pretty lil cloud.

Are there any new movies that you want to see? I Care A Lot, but I feel sooooooooo lazy about watching new movies. Idk if I’ll ever get around to it.

How many places have you lived? I’d say around five in total, including the house I currently reside in. I’ve lived in my parents’ apartment in Manila, then we briefly moved in with my dad’s parents, and then I spent most of my childhood in a duplex living with my mom’s side (and got to live in both houses), until we finally settled here when I was 10.

Do you have any health issues? Yeah, the main one I have to live with is scoliosis.

Are you texting anyone? Nope. And I don’t really text anymore, either. Most of my conversations take place on Messenger or Viber.

What do you drive? A Mitsubishi Mirage hatchback.

Have you ever had a crush on a teacher? Sure, both male and female ones.

Are you drinking or eating anything? Nope but I am starting to feel a bit hungry.

What color is your shirt? Yellow with some grey text.

Do you drink? Like...alcohol? Sure. I have the occasional soju night.

What year do/did you graduate? I graduated high school in 2016, and college in 2020.

Do you play any sports? Table tennis, though it’s been a while since I’ve had the chance to play. I got to take it as a PE elective on my last sem, but my time with it got cut off because of COVID :(

Do you pop your fingers? Yeah, I just cracked my knuckles a few minutes ago.

What is your shoe size? I can wear a size 6 or 7.

Have you ever had a UTI? Apparently I’ve had one, but all I got from it was a persisting high fever. I didn’t actually have any difficulties or felt pain in my urinary tract, though of course I felt scared to pee during that time because I thought it would hurt lol.

What was the last thing you baked? Cookies. A lifetime ago, since I don’t normally bake.

When was the last time you showered? Yesterday afternoon when I was finally able to clock out of work.

Would you rather go to the dentist or the doctor? Dentist. I actually find the procedures soothing. There’s a whole lot of issues that can be unpacked when you visit doctors, so I’m kinda scared of that.

Have you ever been in love? Yes. I miss the feeling and being able to act on it, but I’m liking being with myself too.

How do you feel about public speaking? I’m ok with it for the most part. I know I can speak well and generally have a good hold of my thoughts, so I don’t mind if I have to do it unless I have to talk about something I’m greatly unfamiliar with, like insurance or economics lmao. The latter situation is the only time I’d feel unprepared or scared of public speaking.

Do you see anything green? Yeah, since we have artificial plant accents on the coffee table.

What shoes do you usually wear? Sneakers or running shoes.

Do you take any birth control? Nope.

Who is the last person you talked to? My sister; I just asked her to turn the volume down on the TV.

Are there any fast food restaurants that you refuse to eat at? Just Tokyo Tokyo. I can take or leave Burger King but for the most part I find their burgers too plain.

Do you recycle? Whenever I can, yeah.

Do you know what you want to major in in college? I wanted to take up journalism. I suppose I don’t regret it, since I ended up wanting to be in a field that’s close enough to it anyway and I don’t feel like the skills I learned went to waste.

Have you ever snuck anyone in your room? Nah, I always let my mom know if I’m letting someone over since she doesn’t knock and would find out anyway.

Who was the last person in your bed besides you? Gabie.

Have you ever been in the hospital? Other than when I was born, yeah, at least once.

What's the last movie you watched? I watched Midsommar with Nina and some cousins last Christmas lol. We unknowingly downloaded the Director’s Cut, which we found out wasn’t as good as the main version since they added cheesy scenes to it, which ruined the suspenseful mood of the movie.

What's your favorite fruit? Avocado.

What do your bathroom walls look like? The bottom half has coral-ish tiles, while the top half is just a plain white wall. In the downstairs bathroom the setup is the same, but instead of coral tiles we have light blue wall tiles instead on the bottom half.

What do you spend most of your money on? At the moment, most of the money that I do take out of my account is the money I give to my parents every couple of weeks to help out with the bills. The next main thing I spend on is food, because I always have cravings I need satisfied haha.

Do you have any weird obsessions? Reading about serial killers and unsolved crimes isn’t really considered ‘weird’ anymore since a lot of other people have taken up the interest. But that’s probably the most out-there ~obsession that I have.

Do you bite your nails? I do but not obsessively.

What's the last color you dyed your hair? I’ve never tried dyeing my hair yet.

How do you feel about mustaches? Not my personal preference, but you do you.

Is there anyone that you really want to see in concert? Beyonceeeeeeeeeeeeee.

[dailyaudiobible]

04/14/2021 DAB Transcript

Joshua 9:3-10:43, Luke 16:19-17:10, Psalms 83:1-18, Proverbs 13:4

Today is the 14th day of April welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I'm Brian it is wonderful to be here with you today as we continue our journey forward into the beautiful springtime. Of course, I know we are all over the world. So, those of you in the southern…southern hemisphere are experiencing autumn coming on. How weird is that? But whether it is a springtime fire or a autumn…an autumn fire it's a Global Campfire that we are around and we can come around it no matter where we are. And, so, let's dive in and take the next step forward. We’re in the book of Joshua in the Old Testament. There have been two cities in the promised land that have been conquered. The rest of the land is not conquered. The people of Israel are in the land and everyone that is there is freaking out. And we left the story yesterday with the kings of the region trying to form an alliance and band together all of their armies to come against Israel and…yeah…push them back out of the land. So, we’re reading from the New English Translation this week. Joshua chapter 9 verse 3 through 10 verse 43.

Commentary:

Okay. So, as we pass through the middle of our work week, we could talk about our work habits. Straight out of the Proverbs today, “the appetite of the sluggard craves but gets nothing.” So, a sluggard is…is…is laziness, the kind of unmotivated, right? Kind of like I just can’t get myself going, I’m just gonna sit here and watch some more TV or whatever, can't really get it going. So, that person still craves accomplishment or achievement or whatever. A person that has a craving to see something achieved or that they would like to do. Like you can be a sluggard and still be a dreamer, but the dream won't be achieved. You can crave by the appetite of the sluggard craves but gets nothing. “The desire”, this is how the proverb ends, “the desire of the diligent will be abundantly satisfied.” In other words, the one who this craving, this desire to achieve or to accomplish or to do something, if they will be diligent step-by-step day by day, they will be abundantly satisfied. I could say what we’re doing here moving through the Scriptures is a is a good example of that. If we show up every day, day by day step-by-step and we are diligent we will achieve what we set out to do, which was move through a year of life together in the Scriptures as a community. If we’re diligent we will be abundantly satisfied in achieving that goal. Or we can be like many who have a craving, a desire to read the Bible, to see what actually is in the Bible, what it actually says, but don't really get past a couple of days in this area. Then the appetite of the sluggard craves but gets nothing. So, what can we say then? We can say that you can desire or crave all you like. If you're not willing to motivate yourself and be diligent it will never be anything but a craving or a desire. But if you are willing to be diligent you will be abundantly satisfied.

Prayer:

Father we take that to heart. It goes to our motives. It goes to our motivation and sometimes we have to take control over that. Sometimes we have to tell ourselves using self-discipline that You are getting up off the couch right now and You are going to be diligent in taking the next step forward toward what it is You desire. Help our desires to line up with Your will for our lives and help us Holy Spirit to be motivated, that we not be weary in well doing, but that we not be a sluggard when we need to be doing. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com, that's home base, that’s the websites, that’s where you find out what's going on around here and how to get connected and stay connected.

And resources that are available for the journey we are on. So, the resources can be found in the Daily Audio Bible Shop.

And getting connected and staying connected can be found in the Community section of the website where the Prayer Wall lives. So, certainly, check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if…if the mission that is the Global Campfire, the mission to bring the spoken word of God read fresh every day and released out into the world for anyone who will listen to it anywhere on this planet any time of day or night and to build community around that rhythm, the day by day step-by-step journey that we are on together so that we know we’re not alone, not…not…not on our journey through the Bible and not in life. We’re not alone. You have brothers and sisters all over the world going through all the same kinds of things that we go through. And that makes a big difference, to know that there are people out there that care and that are facing it just like we are. So, if that brings life and light and hope and good news into…into your world than thank you for your partnership. There’s a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner, or the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app, the little red button up at the top or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that's it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi Brian, hi DAB family this is Emily in Seattle I haven't touched back in a while, but I have a prayer request. And I'm usually pretty shy about needing those but I've got one now. My dad is 94 God love him and he's not doing too good. So, if you could pray for him, I'd appreciate it. Then pray for my brother Mike, I've mentioned him before. He's pretty sad because he's not close to Jesus like we are. And he's pretty sad because he thinks when someone dies that they end up __. I think everyone in my family’s saved but it's just me and my husband who are close to Jesus. And, so, that's kind of a bummer but pray for everlasting life for my family, salvation for those who don't have salvation yet and that this will be a blessing and not a curse. And I guess that's it. I'm losing it here. So, __ my mom Roberta, my dad Charlie, my brother Mike, and me of course too. Praise God. Bye.

Hi __ this is __Selena I’ve been recently been all over the Prayer Wall and I'm going to continue to be all over the Prayer Wall. I'm praying for you guys and just lifting you all up to the Lord. In my case my boyfriend left me for another woman, and I've just been going through it. But in all of that the Lord has completely freed me of sin. It's just a really hard time. But I am sleeping at night. There's one positive and I’m learning about laying it down for the Lord, laying my sorrows down. So, if I could just please have prayer just for joy, for quick healing. I just want to be back to normal but in God's time. I thank you all and I love you all very much. I'm always praying every day. I put down my social media I put down my Xbox I put down…I’m throwing away the wolves and just taking God and you and I want to hear all of your prayers, requests. In…in your sorrow please know I am behind the scenes fighting for you in the name of God. I love you guys. Bye.

Yes…I know a boy…I don't really know him. His name is Titus, and he is dying and he’s 7 and I would like to pray for him. Dear Jesus, __ I pray that you will make it not so scary to Titus that he's dying and make his family not so sad. And in Your name. Amen.

James the Teacher in LA I was so glad to hear your voice after such a long time but I'm really sad that your wife is asking for a divorce. James, I'll be praying for you. I pray that the Lord turn her heart around and even as you’re going through this difficulty remember how years ago you prayed, you trusted God for a child and God provided that child. And you've even prayed for your students and you saw how God worked in the life of your students. James, I want you to just take a moment and think back of God's goodness to you in those past years. And as you go through this struggle be encouraged that He's able to do above all that you could ask and could desire. If you need to get counseling with your wife, I would suggest you get some counseling with her and the two of you together with God worked this out. I'm praying for you and I'm trusting God on your behalf. Just continue…continue to trust Him and see Him work mightily in this situation. Just praise God for you in Jesus’ name. Randolph from Toronto.

Hi DAB family my name is Ashley and I'm from California and I want to share a little of encouragement. So, first I just want to read you Psalm 13 verses 5 through 6. But I trust in Your unfailing love. I will rejoice because You have rescued me. I will sing to the Lord because He is good to me. I want to share that this is a special time in my life, this time of year, because I remember God's goodness. He changed my life in a matter of a week, and He led me down the path of a new career and revealed that I was pregnant with my son and He took away people that I thought were supposed to be in my life. But He saved me. He rescued me and I constantly thank Him for that, and I just want to encourage anybody out there who may be going through a hard time and it may be confusing. I even have to preach this to myself, but I just want you to know that in the midst of chaos, in the midst of suffering God is doing a work no matter how you're feeling…how you're feeling He is working. He is working. He loves us. He has a plan, and His ways are better than our ways. And He will always provide and always take care of you. So, if you're having a hard time right now, I just want to let you know. I love you DAB family and Brian and China and Jill and…and the whole family I’m so grateful for you. So, I have a blessed rest of your day. Today is April 9th 2021. Take care everybody.

[canid-slashclaw]

The Outliers - A Guild Wars Love Story

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9,  Chapters 10 and 11 

Chapter 12

Amalthia My Love,

I can't wait to see you again! As I'm writing this letter, I've been reading up on your peoples' mating habits and learned that grooming is a female's way of signaling she is available. Had I known you were available, I would have been ready and willing to perform my duties in a heartbeat. I did the measurements and we are pretty close to the same size so I don't think "that" will be much of an issue.

Sorry if I come off as sounding lustful. It's just that I can't get that image of you out of my mind. Even my sisters are complaining that I'm spending too much time in the bathroom.

Okay. Okay. I should probably close that "sinful" book for awhile and take a cold shower. Anyway, you are always on my dirty mind...

Your not-so furry "friend",

Kaleb

Amalthia rested her chin against the palm of her hand as she let out a wistful sigh.

You poor boy... one of these days something vital is going to explode if you keep thinking about things like that.

The doorbell whistle sounded as she heard the shuffle of a very familiar set of footsteps.

Kaleb!

She quickly threw on a light overcoat then slipped into her most comfortable pair of silken breeches and finally laced up her favorite pair of open-toed boots. Like any good engineer, she brought along a few gadgets as well including a micro spanner and butane torch.

One never knows when such things will come in handy. Especially when an event is run by a bunch of cheaters and riff raff.

As she came down the stairs she saw Kaleb standing by the door holding a bouquet of freshly cut lilacs. He smiled at her then handed her the flowers along with another folded letter.

"This is just a 'thank you' gift for all that you've done for me," he smiled as he handed her the flowers.

She took the bouquet, looked over it for a moment seemingly puzzled then gave him a quick hug. "Dead flowers that will never grow and wilt within the next three days. How thoughtful of you!"

"Well, I had considered snagging some half-rotten fish that had washed up along the shoreline. But then I thought about it and said, 'nah... she would think me a cheapskate if I didn't spend an excessive amount for a bushel of dead, overpriced flowers," Kaleb chuckled.

"Seriously, they're lovely. Flowers are used as tokens of affection in our culture as well. They are pretty universal, I guess." Amalthia took the bundle, dunked them in a decorative metal cylinder then filled it up with water from the faucet behind the meat counter.

"Where's your father? He's always been by the counter to greet me whenever I come here." Kaleb looked around and neither saw nor heard any trace of him.

Amalthia waved for him to come up the stairs. "He's sleeping at the moment. I'll explain more once we have a little more privacy."

Kaleb pursed his lips and nodded as he followed her up. Once they were both in her room, she closed the door then walked over towards the workbench and handed him the two pistols she had modified.

"I cut the handles down considerably. The center of gravity shifted so I added some extra weights to compensate," she said as she watched Kaleb getting a feel for the newly modified weapons.

"Wow! The balance on these is to a tee. I can't wait to fire them. Hey! Are you still up for the carnival?"

"What a silly question. Just let me grab my coin bag and broadsword then we can both be on our way." She smiled as she strapped the heavy sword to her belt buckle.

"Don't worry about the coinage. That's on me. Father and I made quite a bit this past week from one of our clients, so we are all good in that department."

The two of them headed out from the upstairs loft exit then headed down towards the center of the town square. Amalthia's braided golden mane fluttered in the breeze, her brass ankle circlets jingling in rhythmic steps to the tempo of a minstrel band far off in the distance.

"So what's up with your father? It's odd not seeing him there to greet me when I come in," Kaleb said with concern.

Amalthia shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not really sure. Shortly after you left, he seemed really down about something. When I opened the cooler this morning, a whole cask of mead had been consumed. We just bought the thing the day before yesterday and it's already gone."

"Oh no. Maybe it was all the war memories that were dredged up following what happened yesterday."

"I don't believe it's that, quite honestly. There is something else afoot." Amalthia pondered.

"Yanno. I wish we could at least hold hands. I hate not being able to show any open displays of affection towards you."

She gave him a reassuring look. "Kaleb. Don't go there. Remember what we talked about. Let's enjoy the carnival, as friends."

Yeah. "Friends", he thought as he turned away with a disappointed expression.

The carnival atmosphere was thick with a crescendo of noise and the aroma of cheap foods. As the pair perused the various entertainment booths, Kaleb happened to spot a shooting gallery nestled in between two eateries. He tugged her shirtsleeve then pointed towards the booth while giving a thumb's up gesture.

"Wanna try?"

"Kaleb. Those things are rigged!" She protested.

Pointing towards her pocket, he winked at her. "So rig it in our favor."

She placed her clawed index finger next to her upper lip as she thought about it for a moment. Upon seeing the array of prizes that were available, she suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

"Okay! I just give me a few," she loped briefly on all fours then stopped by the booth, stood up and scanned the targets that were arranged in the shooting gallery.

The carnival attendant stood half slouching looking as if he had smoked one too many bundles of prairie weed. Amalthia began counting her footsteps as she started walking from the back of the pavilion to the front.

"Ten and a half yards. Remember that number, mouse."

"Uhh. What?" The dreary-eyed kid said with a half-attentive look on his face.

"I wasn't talking to you, mouse. Kaleb. You got that?"

"I do," he smiled, deducing what she had in mind.

"Pink quaggen plushie, please."

"Umm. You gotta hit the targets first uhhh... sir? Miss?"

"Don't worry... won't."

"Uhhh. What?"

"Miss."

"Amalthia - shame on you for confusing this poor creature. Can't you see he is bereft of his intoxicant?" Kaleb said mockingly.

"Coin first, kitty cat. Then you can play," the irritated tenant grumbled.

"Gun, please. Thank you," Amalthia said as she tossed three pieces of silver into a bucket then snatched the popgun and percussion caps from off the table.

She loaded the first shot, aimed at the nearest target then fired. The shot missed.

"Point zero five degrees deviation at four point eight yards," Amalthia said as she laid the popgun back onto the table.

"Paper, please," she asked the tenant.

"Why do you need paper?"

"To wipe myself with, what else!"

Kaleb was barely able to contain his laughter.

"Are all charr this rude?" Grumbled the tenant as he filched out a scrap of parchment the tossed it to her.

"Do all humans swindle their customers this badly?" She said as she unrolled the crumpled mass then pulled out a stylus and began working out some calculations.

"Hey sir, missy... whatever you are. I'm an honest man. I've never cheated a customer in my..."

But before he could finish his words, Amalthia raised the popgun then fired an aim-corrected shot. The target fell back with a thud. Then in quick successive rounds, she felled five more targets.

"Quaggan plush, please. The pink one," she said with a wide smirk on her face.

Amalthia shoved the oversized plush toy into Kaleb's arms. "It matches your shirt quite well."

He just smiled trying to get a firm grasp while leaning over so he could see where he was walking. "I almost felt bad for that kid."

"I don't. He was trying to rip us off."

"Key word is 'almost'. Hey! Now there's something I might be good at," Kaleb said as he pointed towards a banner that read, Dolyak Shoeing Contest.

The master of ceremonies announced for men and women of all ages to compete against the so-called world's fastest farrier. Standing next to a blacksmithing smelter, stood a massive norn who looked to be at least eight feet tall. The MC boldly stated that there was no one on the face of Tyria who could shoe a dolyak faster than Halig the Great.

"He's almost as big as Ulfgar. But I bet with the right tools, I can beat 'em," Kaleb said as he pointed towards Amalthia's pocket.

"Your torch. It burns much hotter than that smelter and that will allow me to reshape the shoes much faster."

Smiling with glee upon Kaleb's clever inspiration, Amalthia handed him the torch. "I know you can beat him."

"Who amongst you has the courage, the will and the speed to challenge the mighty Halig?" The MC announced as he pointed at the audience.

Several brawny men, a char and two Asura, raised their hands. As they were ushered towards a large smelting pit, the enormous norn shook his head and laughed as his braided locks of hair flailed about.

At the last moment, Kaleb stepped through the crowd as he shoved his way towards the rest of the contestants. The top hatted MC looked at him for a moment before continuing his monologue.

"All of you grab your hammers and tongs and find the nearest available anvil that is located by each respective dolyak. At the count of five, the contest will commence. The first one to successfully forge four shoes from their respective strips of scrap iron, and can successfully place them upon the hooves of their respective beast shall be declared the winner."

"Are there any questions? If not then good luck ladies and gentlemen!" The master of ceremonies queried as he raised his hand to begin the count. Kaleb activated his torch.

When the countdown ended, every one of the contestants' hammers began pealing away as they frantically raced against each other to be the first to shoe their dolyak. For his part, Kaleb deftly began forging the strips into clean horseshoe-shaped forms as he took advantage of the blowtorch's higher output temperature.

Amalthia cheered wildly along with the rest of the crowd hoping that her man would win the contest. She saw how the sweat that covered his body helped to accentuate the definition of his rippling muscles. A lifetime of heavy lifting and athletic prowess had sculpted his body in ways that made her swoon with desire. She imagined resting her head against his firm chest and hearing the rhythmic beating of his strong heart. Her mind raced with fantasies of what it would be like to have him inside of her.

I want that more than you can imagine, she mused quietly as she gazed upon the human she loved.

By this time the norn had already placed three shoes on his dolyak. Kaleb was running a close second, but was still behind by one shoe. Thinking back to one of the techniques his father had taught him, he realized that it was possible to molten glue the shoe onto the dolyak instead. His dad mentioned that this was a common practice when nails were in short supply. The trick was softening the shoe up enough so the weight of the animal could cause the semi-soft metal to flay out. As it did, the ferrier had to work quickly to crimp the soft edges around the edge of the hooves.

This blowtorch is perfect, he thought as he began to soften the shoe with the orange flame. Remembering the dangers of looking directly into a blue flame, Kaleb pulled out a pair of welding goggles that Amalthia had given him. Once fitted, he switched over to the hotter blue flame as he proceeded to make the metal soft and pliable.

Halig was about to hammer in his final shoe. If Kaleb was to overtake the norn, he had to act fast. Grabbing the red-hot shoe with his tongs, Kaleb raced toward the dolyak, raised its foot using his free hand then quickly placed the molten item upon the base of the hoof. Using a combination of tongs and torch, he managed to crimp on the third shoe.

The massive norn was now only two nails away from finishing the contest. Undeterred and focused, Kaleb raced to heat up the last shoe to repeat the process once more.

Everything was down to the wire and Halig was about to drive the last nail home. But as he brought the hammer down for one final blow, the MC shouted to the top of his lungs.

"Time! We have a new winner."

The norn looked dumbfounded upon seeing the young human who had just beaten him.

"What is your name young man?"

"Grimwald, sir. Kaleb Grimwald."

"Well, ladies and gentlemen. It looks like this handsome young man has upended our current champion. The cash prize of fifty gold goes to the new winner."

"That is bullocks! He cheated! I could have easily won if that boy didn’t use that darn torch," Halig roared as he flung his hammer down in disappointment.

Kaleb spoke up. "Mighty Halig. I respect your sportsmanship in not taking a cheap shortcut in order to win the contest. Your technique was good, but mine was faster."

Several charr, except for Amalthia, bellowed in rage claiming the human had cheated as well. The humans disagreed and soon, a massive shouting match began to erupt amongst the crowd as tempers began to flare.

In an attempt to calm the raging carnival goers, Kaleb gave a very brief history lesson to everyone. "The kursikan molten fold technique has been used throughout Tyria since the Krytan civil war. Not many even use it any more, but my family has always passed it down from father to son. The Grimwalds, my family, are one of the few families in Kryta that still knows this ancient technique. Let's all just have a good time."

Within a short span, the anger began to subside. Many of the attendees who were familiar with the ancient technique came to realize that it was, in fact a bona fide farrier art.

Halig the Great conceded the title without further protest then went over to the young man who had beaten him and gave him a hearty handshake. Kaleb returned the favor by offering to buy his vanquished opponent a tall stein of mead. Never being one to turn down a strong drink, the norn gladly accepted the offer.

As their day at the carnival began to draw to a close, Kaleb and Amalthia had amassed a rather large cache of prizes. By the time they departed, Amalthia had garnered three giant stuffed quaggans and several various small stuffed animals. Kaleb, for his part, gained two quaggans plus the title of being the fastest dolyak farrier in Kryta.

"Blue, green and black - all mine!" Amalthia grinned as she stuck her tongue out at Kaleb.

"I'll trade ya the pink one for the black one." He said as he tried carrying the two monstrous plushies on either side of his hips.

"But the pink one compliments the color of your eyes and outfit so well," She said with a laugh.

"My skin tone begs to differ. Besides, I'll never hear the end of it from Rachel if she sees me bringing home a giant pink quaggan."

"Yer just bein' greedy!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Do you still have my torch?"

"I put it in your pocket, remember?"

Amalthia felt her pockets for a moment then confirmed that the device was still present.

"You forgot to close the valve. Didn't you? Now the butane is all gone."

"I thought it contained ahceedaa... how do you pronounce it again?"

"That's only used for my workstation torch, dummy! And it's pronounced A-ce-tyl-ene."

"Fine, fine. I don't care so long as it wins me titles and gold. You want the red quaggan?"

"No. They are evil." She pleasantly scolded him as they both laughed.

Dusk had approached as the pair arrived back at the butcher shop before sunset. Amalthia looked up at the stairs leading to her loft then decided that it would be better to simply go through the main door instead. "We'll definitely have to do this again. Are you sure you don't want to trade?" Kaleb asked as Amalthia led the way through the front door.

Turning quickly around, she said to Kaleb. "On second thought, I'll take the red one."

"But you said that's the evil one."

"I know," she said as she swung her head forward, "and, oh... hi mother."

Kaleb froze in his tracks.

Mother?

Standing in front of the counter with her arms folded, stood a charr with cold green eyes and a vicious looking upturned scowl the likes of which sent chills through the young man's veins.

"Oh... hi... ms.. Blastforge..." Kaleb said in an uncharacteristically nervous tone. "Nice to meet you, ma'am."

"Fuze - Blast...fuse," came her deadpan reply as she gave the young man a cold, piercing stare.

"Kaleb. I think now might be a good time for you to leave."

He was about to say something in a barely audible whisper when Amalthia interrupted him.

"Have a good evening!" She said as she made a grimacing face hoping that Kaleb would understand that she would talk to him during a better and safer time. She handed him the green giant stuffed quaggan. He nodded in acknowledgment then gave her a reassuring wink before heading out.

Once the door was shut, Amalthia turned around and took in a very deep breath hoping it would calm her for what she was about to endure.

"So this is what the dear little runt does in her spare time... squandering her combat skills collecting cuddle toys and hanging with humans. Did you finally complete your little menagerie fluffy bunnies and koda bears?" Her mother said in her characteristic, derogatory manner.

"Oh yes mother. I saved the red one just for you. It has a face like a hylek. When I saw it, I just had to trade it out as its face reminded me so much of yours," Amalthia retorted with a mocking smile.

"Then give it here, child. I would certainly love to cuddle with it."

Her daughter flung the stuffed animal towards her mother with all her might. As soon as Siri caught the toy she promptly tore its head off then flung the pillowy remains across the floor.

"Well, perhaps an undead hylek will do that to your lovely face one day!" Amalthia snapped as she tried her best to contain her rage.

"I was merely expressing how I felt about you child. Try not to take it so personally. Anyway, if you are through with that forked tongue of yours I have some news you should be happy to hear."

Moments later, Ludrick ambled past the meat counter doors as he tried to steady his balance.

"Your mother does have something very important to say, Amalthia. Please listen," he said in a very somber tone.

"So you finally decided to get off your drunk, sorry tail and listen to the good news I bring forth? Good! Now maybe this little lush-of-a dingbat will take heed and try to amount to something for once," Siri spat in disgust as her pupils dilated.

"I would knock your teeth out right now, woman, if I were able. Just say your peace and get the hell out of my house!" Ludrick said in a hoarse voice while trying to hold his head up.

"Fine, fine. Both of you will think I am the best parent in the world when I say that I've finally found a warband that is willing to accept this loser-of-a-cub of mine as one of their own."

For the first time in a while, Amalthia was left speechless.

"Don't try so hard, cub, to contain your excitement. You have no idea the strings I had to pull in convincing one of the warbands into accepting your sorry tail into their ranks. With all that I've done, I would at least expect a big, wet slobbery kiss, dear cub."

"How about a hug instead?" Amalthia countered.

"Try it and I'll claw your damn eyes out."

"Oh good. Then at least I won't have to look at that hylek face of yours anymore."

"I'm sorry, Amalthia. But we think its what's best for you," Ludrick stated glumly.

"So now you're on her side too, sire?"

"I'm sorry, cub. But there is an inescapable reality that you have been bereft of being with your own kind. As much as I appreciate all that your friend has done, I think you need to broaden your horizons. I can't give that to you if you stay here."

Amalthia looked at her father visibly hurt as she tried her best to maintain her composure. "So this is what it has been about the entire time? Kaleb. It bothers you that we are hanging out together."

"Stop it! Even the mere idea is making me nauseous. Mice are to be eaten and slaughtered, not fondled over and befriended. Cub, I'm offering you one last chance, from the bottom of my generous heart, for you to redeem yourself from your current pathetic existence. There are more important things in this world than going to carnivals, getting sloshed and cavorting with hairless rats."

"That 'rat' was responsible for saving my life!"

"So the human saved you. That's what soldiers are supposed to do. Good little mouse... here's some cheese," Siri said dismissively.

The rage built inside Amalthia until she could contain it no more.

"I've had it with you, mother!" With those words she drew her shortsword then charged headlong towards her mother. As she swung her blade downward, an enormous sword parried her attack. Standing at the other end, stood her father. With the wave of his massive hand he calmly gestured for her to stand down then gently clasped hold of her weapon as she fell to the floor weeping.

Siri stood and laughed. "I honestly didn't think you could still swing one of those old man. Impressive! Hate me even more, cub, because that's what will eventually turn you into a good soldier."

"Stand down, Amalthia. She is just trying to mess with your head," Ludrick said as he withdrew his massive sword back into its scabbard.

"You have no clue ex mate-of-mine. The fun is only starting. Cub - three days from tomorrow, report to Iron Legion headquarters in the Black Citadel. Be there at zero eight hundred sharp or face a firing squad for desertion of duty. I don't care what happens to you so long as your actions do not reflect badly on the legions, or myself."

Ludrick tried his best to muster a bellowing tone. "You've poisoned this house with your tongue long enough. Just leave and never come back!"

Siri just shrugged her shoulders, walked toward the front door then turned around to hurl a few more barbs before leaving. "Suits me fine. This cub may be a sniveling pathetic wretch who is bawling on daddy's floor now, but given a few months of tough love with some real warriors, she will be more of a charr than you ever were. Until then, try not to let yourself suffocate in your own piss and vomit."

When her mother left, Amalthia just laid on the floor curled up in a ball as crystal drops flowed freely from her eyes. Her father sank down next to her, buried his head between his hands and unleashed a stream of salt water from his own eyes as well.

(Chapter 12 is also up on Google Docs.)

[seriouslyhooked]

The Same Soul (Part 5)

Available on FF Here and AO3 Here. Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4.

Our world AU where Emma and Killian knew each other as teenagers. Killian was sent to spend a summer with family in America. He met foster kid Emma while there. They fell in love but then he was forced back home and she couldn’t take the memories so she ran away, trying her best to move on from the dreams they’d always hoped for. A chance meeting brings them back together years later, and this time nothing and no one will keep them apart. Rated M.

A/N: Hi everyone! So after a long spell away traveling and working (both of which I am still currently doing), I finally found a chance to reengage with this cute little story that I started this summer. It’s been so nice to slip back into this headspace and this AU, and I am so excited to share with you guys all the cuteness it has in store. This chapter picks up the morning after Emma and Killian’s reunion date from Emma’s POV, but if you’re like me you’ll probably need to go back and reread to remember what exactly is happening. Either way, I really hope that you enjoy and thanks so much for reading!

(Present)

Never had a person so full of hope slept so terribly.

Okay, so maybe that was an exaggeration, and honestly Emma had no way to measure that claim, but it felt true this morning as she lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling after only a few hours of restful sleep.

She’d been awake until the wee hours of the morning reliving each moment of the date last night over and over again. Each one felt etched in her memory forever, and to be honest, their evening together had been better than any dream she might have had. Part of her was scared to go to sleep, for maybe she would find that all of this was a mere fantasy, if a very vivid one, but somehow it was real. Knowing that, and waking up this morning with a clear sense that this was actually happening, Emma felt a resurgence of emotions, almost all good, proving to Emma so many things. Most importantly it showed her that the feeling she always carried in her heart, the one that said that she and Killian were never really over, was valid. Killian didn’t just tell her that last night, he showed her with his thoughtfulness and kindness as well as his passion and persistence. He gave her no choice but to believe, and believe she did.

It occurred to her at last that she was smiling, and not some benign, mild grin, but a cheesy, goofy, lovestruck one that made no attempt to hide her happiness. She lifted the blankets above her face and groaned, pretending for a moment that she didn’t want to feel this way, but the smile remained. There was just no shaking it, just like there was no shaking the butterflies that swarmed throughout her very being, or the feel of Killian’s kiss that still lingered on her lips. She was changed by the happenings of last night, altered in a way that she didn’t know she could be, and the world, as a result, seemed more than just a little brighter.

“I wish he was here,” she whispered aloud to herself, her eyes casting towards the window, as she wondered what the man she’d always missed was doing right now. Then it dawned on her that she didn’t have to imagine. She had his number and strict instructions from him to text or call whenever she wished. She laughed a little, thinking of his insistence on that last night.

“I mean it, Emma. If you need me at any time I’ll always answer. No matter what. You have my word.”

She’d wanted to tease him for that earnestness, to remark on the determined look that took over his face just as it used to when they were kids, and to remind him that she was hardly in the throws of crisis. Whatever need she had to see him could wait. She had no emergencies she knew of looming on the horizon, but the words would never pass her lips. There were a few reasons for her silence, but the strongest of them all was simple: she loved his willingness to give her access to him, because she’d been without that for far too long. She might not need anything, but she wanted so much. She yearned for the chance to be with him, speak with him, and grow comfortable again in what they’d always had together. So instead of making jests or playing off his kindness with something shaped like snark, Emma had instead just smiled softly, feeling her cheeks heat from the unrestrained regard that he was showing her before pressing a soft kiss to his cheek.

Absentmindedly her fingertips came to cover her mouth, her brain playing back the sensation of the stubble that lined his jaw along with the smooth skin underneath. That had been different. He never had a beard as a kid, but Emma liked it. She more than liked it really, and again she felt herself getting hot and bothered and a bit too gooey for her liking over just the thought of this new Killian she was finally getting to meet.

Before she could talk herself out of it, she reached over to the nightstand, grabbing her phone and typed a word of greeting to him.

E: Woke up missing you this morning. Thanks again for last night.

She pressed send without letting herself think too much of the weight of her statement, and before any regret at her candor could appear, the response bubble showed up on her screen, his reply so instantaneous she had to wonder if he’d been about to text her himself.

K: I’m not sure ‘miss’ is strong enough for what I feel. It feels wrong to be without you, Emma. I have had no thoughts all morning that didn’t come running back to you.  

Emma’s heart skipped at his words and she felt the faintest pressure at the back of her throat. Much more of this and she’d get teary eyed, but she didn’t hate it. It felt too good to hate this, even if she hadn’t been this vulnerable or emotional in more years than she cared to count.

E: We should fix this. Breakfast?

She posed the question truly hoping that she could see him as soon as possible, but she didn’t expect her phone to light up with the signal of him calling her.

“Hello?”

“Emma,” Killian said, and she swore she could hear the relief in his voice.

“So did you like the breakfast idea, or…?” She asked, this time making no attempt to hide her teasing.

“I’d like nothing more, love, but unfortunately I’ve got court all morning.”

“Oh right, I forgot. You’re not like me – you’ve got an actual 9 to 5 job,” she said, trying to hide her disappointment and slight embarrassment. As her own boss she set whatever hours she wished and after scoring as big a skip as August Booth yesterday, Emma could go quite a while without really intense work of any kind.

“Aye, I do. Well mostly. But tonight I swear I’ll make it up to you.”

“Killian, you don’t have to do that,” she insisted. “I know how much your work means to you, and I know how much it means to your clients. There’s no way you stick to normal hours, you’re probably working all the time, so if you don’t want to get together tonight -,”

“I do. Absolutely, one hundred percent,” he interrupted, forcefully informing her of his desire and making her laugh as he did.

“Okay, great, but just know that I’d never blame you for working. I think what you do is just about the most honorable thing a person can do. I…” she trailed off, her voice more thoughtful as she confessed the last part. “I’m really proud of you.”

Emma listened as a sound murmured through the phone call that was a cross between a masculine purr and an animal’s growl, and she felt a warm thrill shoot through her. She knew exactly how Killian would look right now. He would be on edge, fist curled up in a ball and shoulders tense, trying to think of a way to get to her even though he shouldn’t. He had responsibilities, and she had meant what she said whole heartedly. She was proud of him and she would never resent the good that he did for others on a daily basis.

“You don’t make it easy, love.”

“Excuse me?” she asked, intrigued to know what he meant.

“All I want is to come to you, sweep you off your feet, and run away with you at any given moment, and then you say things like that and…” he was silent for a while, and she practically felt his passion through the phone as she waited for him to finish explaining what he meant. “Let’s just say there’s not a being in the world more tempting than you, love.”

“Well what’s the old saying? Absence makes the heart grow fonder?”

“I hate that saying,” he rebutted and she sighed.

“Me too,” she whispered, barely loud enough to be heard before she rallied and put on a braver face. “But tonight’s not so far away, is it?”

“Let’s agree to disagree,” he countered and she smiled again, though she managed to bite back the laugh at his surliness. In the background she heard a knocking sound, likely someone at his office door, and Killian told them to wait a moment before he addressed her again. “I’ll come to you tonight, love. I’ll text you when I’m leaving.”

She agreed to that, not needing details about what they’d do or where they’d go. She’d be happy with anything, as long as she had him beside her.

Jumping out of bed, Emma went about her morning routine. She got as ready as she needed to on a slow, mid-week morning with no real plans, and then headed towards the kitchen. But just as she was passing the front corridor, a knock sounded. She jumped, not expecting anyone this time of day (or really ever if she were honest), but a look through the peep hole was all she needed to start smiling again. Opening the door she saw what awaited her.

“Delivery for Emma Swan,” the young man announced, handing her a tray with a coffee and pastry bag from her favorite nearby spot. Then he produced a mix of summer flowers, and told her they were courtesy of Killian Jones like it wouldn’t be obvious to her.

With barely more than a thank you, Emma accepted the gifts, heading back inside and locking the door behind her. The sweet smell of the flowers filled the air around her, and then she got a whiff of the coffee and blueberry muffin and she nearly moaned aloud. This was perfect, and it was made all the better because it showed yet again that Killian was paying attention. She’d recommended this tiny corner café as a throwaway last night, not really thinking about it, but Killian made a note and made her feel so special as a result.

These are the kind of things that make me love him.

The thought was so natural, Emma didn’t even think about it for a moment, instead digging into the bag and taking off a piece of the melt in your mouth muffin, but when she realized where her mind was moving so surely and instinctively, she stopped suddenly. Love, as in the present tense. It was a shocking thing. Killian had been back in her life for less than 24 hours, but so naturally she’d used that precious four-letter word. And the thing was she felt it; that love she always had was still absolutely in her heart, but the voice that told her to be cautious was back. This was fast, really fast, no matter how long they’d known each other, and yes, she trusted Killian, but she could she really trust herself?

Much as she might not like to let these thoughts linger, Emma couldn’t quite escape them as the morning went on. She finished her breakfast, sent a thankful text to Killian for his sweetness, and then did some house hold chores and all the while she told herself not to overthink it, and to just trust in something that would make her really happy, but still the anxiety lingered. She could have suppressed it and just tried to push through, something she had learned how to do over the years better than most, but Emma knew that she couldn’t run or avoid these worried feelings and expect things to be okay. The only way to get rid of them was to really process them, and as such, she really had only one choice. She had to go to a trusted source and talk this out, and there was only one person who she currently held in such high esteem who could help her do that.

Luckily the commute to that source of reflection wasn’t anything too trying, and all it took was a quick trip in her car and a picturesque walk up a well-manicured lawn at a spacious old New England estate. This had once been a place defined by luxury and class, home to a family that had probably come over on the actual Mayflower, but in recent years the home had been sold off and then converted from a once stately manor to a now cozy and comfortable assisted living home, filled with residents who were older, but no less happy at this stage in all their lives. Emma, being a somewhat regular at this home, was greeted not only by staff, but by residents as well, but none of them made her feel as welcome or as immediately comforted as the one she came to see.

In the moments before Mrs. Hubbard noticed her arrival, Emma thought not for the first time how fortunate she was to have this woman in her life. She had been a kind soul during that fateful summer at camp, and she always made Emma feel like a special and worthy young girl, but Mrs. H’s empathy and courtesy went so much further than that. When Emma was at her lowest point, having nowhere to go and a real risk of landing on the streets, she’d found Mrs. H again, and the older woman had given everything she could to help Emma land on her feet while still largely paving her own way. Mrs. Hubbard granted Emma agency, helped her find a job, and finish school, all while slowly laying down a sense of trust Emma really needed. She’d always been alone, and losing Killian not so long before had amplified that to a harrowing extent, but Mrs. H rose to the challenge of Emma’s walls and fear. She stuck by her and was a constant support, and now, all these years later, Emma knew that they were really each other’s only family. Mrs. H’s husband had died years ago, and they’d never had children, but Emma always felt that was a terrible shame given how much love and strength Marie Hubbard had to give.

“Oh, Emma! I was so hoping you would come today,” the older woman said with a warm and genuine smile as Emma came to give her a big hug. She was genuinely thrilled to see Emma, as she would be on any day at any time, yet Emma could see that the gears in Mrs. Hubbard’s mind were turning. She was up to something, and Emma knew what that likely meant.

“Let me guess, Mrs. Johnson’s grandson is visiting again?”

“Ha ha,” Mrs. H quipped, though Emma knew she wasn’t too far off.  She waited her old friend and mentor out, knowing that this woman who was the closest thing she had to family was going to cave and tell her soon enough. “I’ll have you know it’s Carl MacDonald’s grandson, and he’s not here quite yet. He’s coming at noontime for lunch.”

“Much as I might like to be blindly set up…” Emma joked, but she trailed off, not able to even really engage with the idea. Mrs. H immediately picked up on the change in her behavior and bombarded her with a stream of questions.

“Emma, what’s happened? What’s going on? Are you all right?”

Was she all right? Well yes, but truthfully she could be so much more if she’d just allow herself to try. That’s why she was here – to try and get to a place where she was brave enough to go for it.

“He’s back,” she whispered, and though it took a few seconds for Mrs. H to follow, Emma knew she didn’t have to specify who ‘he’ was. There was only one man she’d ever spoken to Mrs. H about over the years that they’d been connected, and only one person she’d ever be so immediately affected by.

“Killian? Your Killian?” Emma nodded. “But how did he find you?”

Emma explained how yesterday’s events had transpired, and the looks that flashed across Mrs. H’s face spoke volumes. She was shocked, excited, and so exceedingly pleased that by the time Emma had finished giving her a brief rundown of their date, she was clapping her hands together like a little girl. She bounced in her seat and scooted closer, as if by doing so she could more fully invest in this new happenstance.

“So, when are you seeing him again?”

“I’m supposed to see him tonight.”

“Supposed to?” Mrs. H asked confused, and Emma looked away, feeling the shame of her own fear. Of course Mrs. H would see this as a given. Anyone in their right mind would. Here was the one who’d gotten away back in Emma’s life again, somehow grown into a person she could feel even more for, and she was hesitating. Despite what she had promised him last night, she was wobbling on her ability to give herself to him again. What kind of person did that? How broken and damaged and –

Mrs. H grasped Emma’s hand and pulled it to her, forcing Emma to look back to the person she trusted most throughout these last ten years. In her eyes there was understanding, but where Emma expected to see judgment, there was none, only sympathy and earnestness.

“Emma, dear, I know you’re not always pleased when things get emotional, but do an old lady a favor and indulge me, okay? I want you to think to yourself right now everything that you’re feeling. Look each thought right in the eyes and put a name to it.”

Emma had heard this tactic before, especially when first coming to Mrs. H for help, and she was well acquainted with the process by now. In her head she ran through all of her thoughts, good, bad, and the murky gray that lay there in between. She narrowed it down to three main contenders: hope, joy, and fear.

“Now, I want you to push every other one of those thoughts away. They’ve had their time. For now, all I want you to tell me is what you feel when you think of Killian. What’s the first thing you associate with him?”

“Love,” Emma admitted, and she realized she was saying this out loud for the first time in years.

“Now is this love in the past, the present, or the future?”

“Well we’re definitely two for three,” Emma joked, and though Mrs. H humored her with a smile, she remained quiet until she heard what Emma really had to say. “It’s all of them. I’ve loved him all this time, and I can’t imagine a time when I won’t. He’s just…”

Words didn’t do Emma’s feelings justice. Nothing seemed like enough to express the discombobulated jumble in her heart and in her soul. It was riotous and chaotic, but somehow also peaceful and soothing. It made her wish for more than she had in a long long time, but also had her fearing that she could lose everything she’d worked so hard for. It was too much and not enough, strong and subtle, terrifying and magical, and with all of that bubbling up inside her, Emma found herself at a loss for any coherent turn of phrase.

“He’s your true love, honey.” 

“Is that what the kids are calling them these days?” Emma asked and Mrs. H guffawed at her.

“You joke, Emma, but you know I’m right. That man is written in your heart and in your soul. You’re tied together and that’s the way it was meant to be,” Mrs. H said with conviction. “But just because a love is true and worth chasing doesn’t mean it won’t scare the bejezus out of you.”

Emma laughed at the dated word choice and she felt a little of her tension go. It helped a lot to feel like she wasn’t crazy, and like maybe everyone felt a little fear when it came to love, no matter who they were or what the situation.

“So what do I do? About the fear, I mean?”

“You tell that voice inside your head that’s scared and worried and telling you to run or build up more walls that you’re not interested in that life anymore. You’re grown now. You’re strong, smart, and kind. You have roots and you have purpose, and most importantly, Emma, you have a beautiful, generous heart. You have love to give, and this man, he’s worthy of it. He was worthy then and by all accounts he is worthy now. So you tell the fear to take a hike, and you jump. You take the risk and you reap the rewards.”

“And if it all goes south?”

“It won’t, I promise you that. It’ll all be exactly as it should be,” Mrs. H said sternly, before squeezing Emma’s hand once more. “Have I ever made you a promise I couldn’t keep?”

Emma shook her head, “No, ma’am.”

“Exactly, and right now I promise that you can trust yourself.”

“I know I can,” Emma admitted. “I did last night and still this morning. I felt myself give in and believe so much, but it’s hard to remember that things are different. It doesn’t have to be like last time.”

“No it does not,” Mrs. Hubbard agreed. “We are none of us defined by who we were or what once happened. Every day is a new start, every moment a fresh chance. So take this moment for what it is – a second shot at the love you deserve.”

“You always know just what to say,” Emma said, the sting of tears playing at her eyes, even though she wouldn’t let them fall.

“That’s called wisdom, honey. It comes with age, right between the arthritis and the cataracts.”

Both of them laughed at the joke and Emma felt herself releasing all her unwanted tension, choosing again to side with hope over fear. As she did that, she also enjoyed the rest of her time with Mrs. H, musing about the would be future a little more, before adequately distracting the older woman with chatter about her fellow nursing home residents. But even when Emma left later, she still felt herself riding high. The smiles were back, as were the butterflies and the not so subtle surge of hope. This was probably what people meant when they used the term love struck, but for Emma it seemed to be her natural state whenever she had the promise of Killian in her life.

Throughout the day she and Killian were in contact via text, and all the while he made her laugh and somehow miss him more, so much that she didn’t know how she’d wait until the end of the day. Then he texted her that he only had one case left and Emma had a bright idea – instead of waiting for him to get to her, she could use this chance to see him sooner and get a little preview of his work. The thought had her moving so quickly that her walk to the courthouse took half the time it normally would, and by the time she got there she was so eager to see him, she completely forgot about the one thing that stood in her way.

“Oh I knew it! I totally knew it!” Ruby yelled from behind the clerk’s desk and Emma whipped her head to her new friend and shushed her, trying to avoid the stares that were all now thrown their way. “You and Killian totally hooked up!”

“We did not!” Emma stressed, fighting off a blush as best she could.

“You didn’t?” Ruby asked, looking almost dejected before rallying again. “Well something had to happen to put that look in your eyes and that pep in his step. I heard that man whistle today, Emma. He whistled!”

“So he’s here?” Emma clarified, looking towards the court room doors and wondering which judge he was in front of for this case.

“Mhmm, and I’ll be sure to tell you where he is as soon as you tell me everything.”

“We had a date,” Emma confessed, feeling less embarrassed than she thought she would. Instead it was actually kind of fun to dish like this. She honestly couldn’t remember the last time she had shared with anyone other than Mrs. H, and Ruby was the most willing of recipients.

“And…?”

“And it was… perfect,” Emma admitted, spilling a bit more without getting into the weeds. She told Ruby that they’d reconnected after years apart and that the date went so well they were planning for another one tonight.  

“Girl I should hate you right now. Good looking man like that with the job and the accent and the whole ‘bad boy with a heart of gold’ thing going?” Ruby quipped, flipping her hair dramatically as she fanned herself with her other hand before breaking into a grin. “But honestly, I just can’t. I’ve known you too long now to doubt that you deserve this. Seriously, Emma, it’s good to see you so happy.”

“Thanks, Ruby,” Emma said, really appreciating the kindness from this other woman.

“But rekindled love or not, don’t think you’re getting out of that girls’ night on Saturday. We don’t discriminate and even the happily settled girls have to come.”

“I wouldn’t exactly say it’s settled,” Emma said, trying to curb some of Ruby’s enthusiasm even though she felt that settled was definitely on the way.

“You keep telling yourself that,” Ruby joked before pointing down the right side of the hallway. “And in the meantime, you’ve paid the toll. He’s in court room three and their arguments just started.”

Emma thanked Ruby before heading towards the big oak doors that held Killian’s current trial. She saw that the prosecution was just finishing their summation and set up for the day’s hearing, and she picked up a few details. This was a case against a teenage girl who had stolen something, and from the sound of things, the state wanted her charged in a really exorbitant way. That on it’s own seemed wrong to Emma. She was so young, and there didn’t appear to be any priors, but it was made worse by the fact that they also didn’t want to try her immediately. They claimed they needed more time, and Emma could truly empathize on how scary that must be. Being arrested and charged would be bad enough, but getting stuck in limbo for a while before there was any resolution? Well that was just awful. 

“Objection, your honor!” Killian exclaimed, interrupting the defense’s half assed explanation of why a delay was needed. “Opposing counsel is attempting to waste all of our time with delays and continuances, and that’s after overblowing charges when the act in question truly amounts to a misdemeanor at best.”

“Your honor –,” the prosecutor attempted to intervene but was shot down.

“Not now, Ms. Mills. Much as you might not like it, the defense is entitled to make an argument. That’s how the law works. It’s give and it’s take until it’s judgment. Continue Mr. Jones.”

Emma saw the prosecutor go rigid, her stance angry and hostile, and that made Emma happy. She actually smiled at the other woman’s displeasure, and she was sure Killian wanted to as well, but he stayed totally professional as he pressed forward.

“Thank you, your honor. What the prosecution fails to grasp while they strive for these underhanded motions, is that time isn’t a luxury for all of us. My client is in her last year of high school and every day she’s here is one less she gets credit for. But more importantly, my client and her little sister are both in placement at Brownings House right now, and the longer this case drags on, the longer she is held on trumped up charges or burdened with the lengthy process of this court, the more likely it is they’ll fill her spot, separating these two girls from the only family either of them have.”

“So what are you requesting counselor?” the judge asked.

“If this thing is going to go to trial, your honor, which we argue is in itself ridiculous, let it be now. Every day we wait is an unnecessary risk, and we’re confident the law will prevail, but only if this trial is conducted with speed as well as justice.”

The judge ruled in Killian’s favor, moving the proceedings on, and right as Killian was about to sit down again he saw her, his eyes honing in on her before he sent a boyish grin her way. Emma felt her stomach clutch in anticipation and she felt a mix of enjoyment and pride, and that only amplified as the trial went on. Killian was so in control, so agile in his argument, but empathetic in his pleading on the behalf of this young girl. He was in his element like this, a showman but only because the case deserved it, and by the time that it was all said and done, the case was thrown out by the judge and Killian had come out on top. That was admirable any day, but when it gave a kid their life back it was truly something special. Emma felt blessed to witness it all, watching the happy embrace the girl gave Killian before she hugged her younger sister who was seated right behind her, crying happy tears of sheer relief.

“Emma, love, I didn’t expect you,” Killian said when he could finally break away, coming to her as soon as he had thanked the judge, exchanged parting jabs with the prosecutor, and seen his charge into the care of her social worker.

“That makes two of us. What you did just then, that was amazing.”

“You think so?” Killian asked, his hand coming to scratch behind his ear in a slight show of bashfulness.

“I do. Some might even call it heroic.”

“Well the ‘some’ have never been of interest to me. Now, you on the other hand, that’s a different story.”

“I think it’s safe to say that to those two girls you’re a hero,” Emma said, watching as both sisters headed out of the court room. “And I share their opinion, one hundred percent.”

“Damn I wish I could kiss you right now,” Killian growled out and Emma felt the thrill of his want rip through her at his admission.

“Why can’t you?” Emma asked, and no sooner had she said the words than Killian pulled her towards him and brought his lips to her.

The kiss was sure, sweet, and steamy as could be. It was hardly appropriate for a courtroom, but Emma didn’t care. She arched closer, meeting him beat for beat, and soon enough everything else faded away. She forgot where they were entirely, giving into the feel of his hands on her and the taste of this sweet embrace. It was captivating in a way that couldn’t be denied, and the only thing that brought either of them back to themselves was the purposeful and overstated clearing of someone’s throat at the doorway.

“Hate to break this, uh, special moment, up, but thought you both might like to know that Ruby’s gotten wind of this and she’s zeroing in now. If you want to make a getaway, now’s probably your only chance.”

“Good looking out, mate,” Killian said to the bailiff, straightening up a bit though the light sparkling in his eyes held the same mix of lust and mischief that he’d had just before the kiss began. “Shall we, love?”

“Absolutely.”

Killian offered his hand to her and Emma readily accepted it, rushing out beside him and having such fun making a getaway like this was some big, epic thing. But beneath the fun and the frill of the moment, Emma’s real happiness came simply from being with Killian. And though she didn’t know where they were heading or what the rest of the night may hold, she couldn’t wait to experience it and to treasure every moment that the two of them now had the chance to share. Because Mrs. H was right when she called this a second chance, and Emma, for her part, had no intention of squandering it.

Post-Note: So there we have it! Sorry it took so long to get this chapter to you all but I hope you have enjoyed and that you’ll continue on the story with me. Next chapter will also be from Emma’s POV but back in the past, and as of now we’re only about half way through what I envision for this fic. Much more to come, and thankfully, at least in my view, it’s all fluff and cuteness. Thanks so much for reading and hope you all have a great weekend!

[unfolded73]

How Do We Get Back (10/16) - schitt’s creek ff

Summary: In a literal alternate universe where the Roses escaped financial ruin, David and Patrick struggle with loneliness and a sense that something isn’t right. A chance meeting in New York and a terrible tragedy drive them to question whether the timeline they are on is the right one.

Rated explicit. This chapter 4.4k words.  (ao3)

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9

Finally a familiar setting makes an appearance... (again, all text below the cut due to story spoilers)

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Chapter 10

While he didn’t have a lot of experience in his life doing walks of shame, Patrick felt like going downstairs in the Rose house the morning after Alexis’ funeral in yesterday’s clothes would have to rank as pretty bad on anyone’s list. He’d left his luggage in the car, so he pulled his wrinkled shirt and pants back on and snuck down the spiral staircase. The goal was to find someone to ask where his car was so that he could get his toothbrush and a change of clothes.

Fortunately, the Rose family didn’t seem to be awake, and a nice woman in the kitchen showed him where to go to get into his car. He was back upstairs and in the shower before David had even woken up, although by the time Patrick had shaved and dressed and brushed his teeth, David had started to stir.

“God, I slept for twelve hours,” David said, looking at his phone.

“You probably needed it.”

“I don’t know how I would have gotten through yesterday if you hadn’t come,” David said. “So thank you.” He got out of bed and pulled a pair of sweatpants out of his armoire.

“You’re welcome.”

“And listen, if in the cold light of morning, you regret asking me to come home with you—”

“I don’t regret asking you to come home with me,” Patrick said, his hands going into his pockets. “Do you regret saying yes?”

“No,” David said, rocking on his heels as they regarded each other across the room. David finally broke the tension, moving past Patrick into the bathroom and picking up his toothbrush. “So did you have a return flight booked already?”

Patrick nodded “Yeah, for tomorrow? I wasn’t really sure, I thought about booking it for today, but—”

“No, tomorrow works. I’ll see if I can get a seat on the same flight.”

“You know, David, I flew economy.”

David’s head whipped around and he grimaced in the midst of brushing his teeth, making a drop of toothpaste foam run down his chin. “I’ll also see if I can upgrade you.”

When they ventured downstairs to get something to eat, David’s father was sitting at the kitchen table, flipping through a photo album. Patrick hadn’t gotten a good look at him the day before, so he was struck for the first time by the dramatic resemblance between father and son. They even styled their hair similarly, swept up off their foreheads, although the elder Rose’s hair was shot through with grey. He was also struck by the fact that the man was wearing a suit at such an early hour in his own kitchen. Perhaps he was one of those people who always wore a suit, no matter the occasion.

“Oh, David, I didn’t…” He paused, registering the presence of a stranger in his house. “... didn’t think you would be up so early.”

“I cried myself to sleep at seven o’clock last night,” David said, opening the refrigerator.

Since David didn’t seem inclined to introduce him, Patrick went over and held out his hand. “Hi, Mr. Rose, I’m Patrick Brewer. I’m a friend of David’s.”

“Nice to meet you, Patrick.” Johnny Rose stood up and took Patrick’s hand; his handshake was firm as he looked back and forth between Patrick and David, probably trying to figure out what ‘friend’ meant.

“It was a lovely service yesterday,” Patrick said, automatically shifting into politeness. “I’m very sorry for your loss.” Patrick figured he’d probably been told ‘sorry for your loss’ enough to last several lifetimes, but he didn’t know what else to say.

“Ah, well, thank you. Did you know Alexis?”

“I only met her once,” Patrick said.

David pulled a large, half-eaten fruit tray out of the refrigerator, presumably leftover from yesterday, and began picking through it. “I’m going to go out of town for a few days,” David announced with a suddenness that made Patrick wince.

“What, now? Why?” Johnny said.

“I need to get out of this house. I need to get out of New York.”

“David, you can’t just abandon your family when you’re needed! Your mother, in particular, needs you to be here.”

“Okay, my mother was on so many pills yesterday at the funeral that I’m not convinced she even knew I was there,” David said, meeting his father’s anger with a wellspring of his own. “And look, I get it: I’m tempted to swallow half a pharmacy and wash it down with a liter of vodka right now too. Which is part of the reason that I need to get away from here. Just for a week or so.”

Patrick hadn’t realized any of that, and he felt a surge of sympathy for David that nearly brought him to his knees. He was also aware that this was a private family interaction that he definitely shouldn’t be witnessing, so he tried to shrink back against the wall and be as unobtrusive as possible.

Johnny sank back down into his chair, the fight drained out of him. “Okay, David, if that’s what you need. Where are you going?”

David turned to Patrick. “Where are we going?”

“Umm, it’s a town called Oak Grove. It’s about four and a half hours northwest of Toronto.”

“Four and a half hours!” David said, looking annoyed by that fact.

“Second thoughts?” Patrick asked him.

David tried and failed not to smile. “No. Just reconsidering my playlist for the trip, that’s all.”

Johnny was scrutinizing Patrick now, probably upgrading him from ‘friend’ to ‘man who is stealing my son away from me at the worst possible time.’ “And what’s there?” Johnny asked.

Patrick laughed uncomfortably. “Nothing. It’s my home.”

“It’s a quiet place where I can deal with stuff,” David said. “Okay?”

“You need to talk to your mother before you go, at least,” Johnny said, resigned.

“I will,” David snapped. “You and Mom could do the same thing, you know. Get away somewhere. You don’t have to stay here in this house that’s filled with memories of Alexis as a little girl.”

Johnny looked at David with sad eyes. “The memories are a comfort to me right now. You may want to forget, David, but right now, all I can bear to do is remember.”

~*~

“I’m leaving for the airport in half an hour!” David called to his mother through her locked bedroom door. He’d been busy the day before, dragging Patrick with him into the city to collect his personal belongings from the gallery (the realtor was going to be showing it to prospective tenants the following week, he’d been told) and to get some clothes and books that he wanted from his apartment. Having Patrick with him through that whole process, it helped. Particularly at the gallery, where Patrick kept up a steady stream of gentle teasing about the art which probably should have pissed David off, but it helped put everything in perspective as he locked up and walked away from that space for what was probably the last time.

It would have been easier to just spend the night at his apartment in Chelsea and get an Uber to the airport the following morning, but he still hadn’t spoken to his mother and he felt like he owed her that before he left town. So they went all the way back to the house even though it meant getting up even earlier to make it to JFK in time to board their flight. And then Moira refused to make an appearance all evening, making the whole trip pointless.

Finally now, when David was bleary-eyed from too little sleep (he’d shared his bed with Patrick again, but his lack of sleep stemmed from nightmares and not from anything remotely sexual), Moira opened the door.

“You’re leaving,” she said flatly, her eyes accusing him.

“For a few days, yes. Just to get my head together.”

“And who is this man that your father tells me you’re traveling with? What right does he have to abscond with you in the family’s hour of need?”

David was grateful that Patrick was already outside, packing the rental car. “He’s a friend who traveled a very long way to be with me when he heard what happened to Alexis. He’s the only person in my life who offered to do something like that for me. The only one, and I…” David felt tears rising to the surface again, and he didn’t want to cry right now. He was so tired of crying. “I don’t know why, but I need this. You and Dad have each other, and I need this.”

“You can’t escape grief by running, David,” she said, suddenly more lucid than he’d seen her all week.

“I can try.”

~*~

JFK was a crazy place at the best of times, with its security lines doubling back on themselves endlessly, an entire cross-section of America packed into the rows. Then came the infinitely long concourses, bright yellow lighted signage casting a sickly pallor over everything, people movers broken up at regular intervals that made it impossible to adjust to the speed at which the stores on either side rushed by: slow-fast-slow-fast.

Today it was crazier than usual.

Literal hare krishnas had accosted them between the rental car return and the departures level, trying to shove flowers and pamphlets into their hands, and David couldn’t remember if he’d ever seen that happen in real life or if it was just something he knew about from movies. Patrick apologized for refusing what they were offering as he and David dodged them, their rolling suitcases clacking over the floor.

Then, weirder still, there were protesters (he assumed they were protesters, but he honestly wasn’t sure) being arrested en masse in the check-in area; at least two dozen men and women on their knees, surrounded by police, white zip-tie restraints around their wrists.

“What the hell is going on?” David asked.

“I don’t know, I haven’t looked at the news in days,” Patrick said, concern evident on his face.

While he stood at the ticket counter and waited for Patrick to check them in, David opened twitter, searching ‘airport protest’ ‘JFK protest’ and ‘#JFK’, only pausing to hand over his passport when Patrick nudged him and asked for it. Twitter told him nothing useful, so next David tried scrolling through the news, looking for some clue about what was happening. He noticed a story that indicated LAX had been shut down the day before, but before he could click on it, Patrick was steering him away from the counter. David liked how Patrick was taking control of everything. Airports made him anxious under the best of circumstances, and all of this weirdness and his exhaustion was making it worse.

“Where are you going?” Patrick asked when David started to get into the TSA precheck line.

David frowned at him. “Going through security.” Duh.

Patrick was looking at the board passes. “You don’t have precheck.”

“Uhhh, yes I do. I have Global Entry.”

“Maybe it expired,” Patrick said, steering him into the regular security line.

By the time David had endured the indignity of being forced to remove his shoes and letting his socks touch the airport floor, the protesters were forgotten. At least he’d managed to upgrade them to first class, David thought as they finally took their seats on the plane.

“I’ve never flown first class before,” Patrick said, letting his not-very-long legs stretch out as far as they would go. It was adorable, David thought.

“I mean if you have to fly commercial, it’s an absolute requirement. Although it won’t be very impressive for a flight this short. Let me take you to Japan and then you’ll see what first class really is,” David said.

Patrick raised his eyebrows. “You want to take me to Japan?”

David squeezed his eyes shut and let his head fall back against the headrest, not answering. He was so tired. Airport anxiety and lack of sleep and grief were a toxic cocktail in his system, and he wasn’t sure if he was going to scream at a flight attendant or burst into tears in the next thirty seconds, but it was likely that one of those things was going to happen.

He felt Patrick’s fingers brush the palm of his hand and then he threaded their fingers together. “Is there anything I can get you, David?”

Oh, okay. Crying it was, then. David shook his head, eyes still closed, aware that a tear was leaking out of the corner of his eye, in full view of Patrick and everyone filing past them into economy class.

He felt Patrick’s other hand settle over their clasped ones, and Patrick didn’t say anything, he just sat there and held David’s hand. David couldn’t remember the last time anyone had held his hand, and that thought made more tears flow.

“I’m sorry,” David whispered, because he knew he was being embarrassing.

“How about we put a moratorium right now on you apologizing for expressing sadness. Okay?”

David nodded, wiping at his eyes. “Okay.”

~*~

“So this is your car,” David said, standing in the Toronto airport’s remote parking lot, aware that his lip was curling with disdain at Patrick’s sensible Toyota.

“Yep,” Patrick said, muscling David’s suitcase into the trunk. “What did you expect?”

David sighed. “This. I expected this.”

He settled into the passenger seat and closed his eyes, trying to reclaim the fitful sleep he’d found on the plane, but his eyes kept popping open. Shifting around to try to get comfortable, David looked over and watched Patrick maneuver them onto the highway for what was evidently going to be a long drive. “What was it like, growing up so far away from the nearest airport?” David asked.

“Well, there’s Sudbury Airport, but it’s expensive to fly anywhere from there—”

“I meant so far from an international airport,” David said. He still hadn’t really wrapped his head around the fact that when Patrick said a thing was expensive, it meant something very different than when David said something was expensive.

Patrick shrugged. “I didn’t really travel much, so it wasn’t something I thought about.”

Shaking his head, David shut his eyes again. “We’re so different,” he whispered.

He must have fallen asleep after all, because the next thing he knew, the car was stopped. The driver’s seat was empty, but he could see Patrick standing beside the car, filling it with gas. His sleeves were pushed up, and the sight of his bare forearm through the window made a frisson of desire shoot up David’s spine.

Patrick got back in the car and cranked the engine.

“Where are we?” David asked.

“Elmdale.”

“I’ve never heard of any of these places. I think you’re making them up.” David huffed. “Where’s Elmdale?”

Patrick smirked at him. “It’s about a half hour from Schitt’s Creek.”

“Now I know you’re making them up.”

Laughing, Patrick put the car in gear. “I lived in Schitt’s Creek for six months. I assure you, it’s real.”

“Why on earth would you live in a place called…” David trailed off, the name poised behind his teeth. It was triggering a long buried memory.

“Schitt’s Creek?” Patrick supplied.

“Yeah, no… sorry, it just reminded me of something my dad did when I was a kid. Said he’d bought me a town with a disgusting name like that.”

Patrick’s eyes were wide, although he was carefully watching the road as he drove out of the gas station parking lot. “Your dad bought you a town?”

“I don’t think he actually bought the town. It was a dumb joke.”

“Okay.”

“I’m hungry,” David said. “Let’s go see this shitty creek place where you used to live and get some food.”

“There’s better food here in Elmdale,” Patrick said, signaling a left turn.

“I want to see where you lived when you ran away from the heterosexual prison of your childhood.”

“It wasn’t a— Why?”

David threw his hands up. “I don’t know!” He didn’t know. He just had a sudden feeling that it was important. “Is it in the wrong direction?”

“Kind of. Not, like, the opposite direction, but it will make the trip longer.”

“Does Schitt’s Creek have a restaurant?”

“It has a café where the food is moderately edible,” Patrick said, stopping at a stop light. “You really want to go there?”

“Yes.”

“Okay,” Patrick said, his voice pitched high on the word. He switched his turn signal off and when the light changed, drove straight through the intersection.

When David got bored with the repetitive landscape of trees and farmland, he pulled out his phone, opening Instagram. It took a few seconds of scrolling before he realized he was looking for an update from Alexis. She’d called it proof of life once, he remembered, posting a selfie so that David would be reassured that she was safe.

He went to her Instagram and scrolled through the pictures. He wondered if he should try to have her accounts taken down, or if it was better to leave them up until the companies behind them went under, a monument to the life of Alexis Rose.

“Since we’re here, I should show you the town sign,” Patrick said, the car slowing down as he pulled over on the side of the road.

David shut his phone screen off and looked up. “The what?”

“Come on,” Patrick said, taking off his seat belt and getting out of the car. Uncertain what was happening, David did the same, and looked up.

“Oh my God.”

Patrick chuckled. “I know.”

“Oh my God.”

“I never found out what the story was behind this, and at this point I think I prefer not knowing.” Patrick reached his arms up over his head and stretched, twisting his torso back and forth.

“‘Where everyone fits in’? The slogan makes it so much worse.” He stared at the woman who was bent over in the picture, holding a bucket over the stream she and the man were wading in. She certainly seemed happy, and not at all put out by being fucked in the ass by the guy behind her, as it appeared was happening in this insane painting.

“I heard kids drive here from all over to get pictures with the sign. So maybe it’s good for local businesses.”

“But at what cost?” David said, kicking at loose gravel as he stood next to Patrick’s car. Then he shuddered, a full body shudder that took him by surprise. Someone just walked over your grave, mijo, Adelina used to say.

“You okay?” Patrick asked.

David held his hand out and touched the tall grass that had grown at the side of the road, dry and dormant from the receding winter. Sunshine hit each rustling blade, making each of them individually glow, too perfectly yellow to be real.

“David?”

“Yeah.” He withdrew his hand. “This place feels… do you feel it? Too real. Hyperreal.”

“Hyperreal?”

“Yeah, I don’t know. Magical. It feels magical.” And then he blushed, because that was a very stupid thing to say.

“Maybe that’s why people like the sign,” Patrick said, teasing him.

David didn’t mind being teased. “Maybe if I go up and touch the sign, I’ll be transported to another time in history.”

Patrick laughed. “Oh man, Rachel loves that show.”

“She is correct,” David said, trying not to think too hard about Patrick’s sexually frustrated wife getting what little satisfaction she could out of watching Outlander. He shook himself to dispel his little flight of fancy; he probably just wasn’t used to seeing this much nature at one time, and it was making him loopy. Opening his car door, he flopped back into his seat. “You said there was a café?”

~*~

“This is the ugliest fucking place I’ve ever seen,” David proclaimed.

Patrick stopped the car in a parking space in front of Café Tropical and got out. “Yeah, it’s not the most picturesque downtown.” He looked around at it and imagined seeing it through David’s eyes: the cracking pavement and the boarded up general store. The lack of even the smallest effort by the town’s government to clean up the trash on the side of the road or to even plant a few flowers. It was no wonder David hated it on sight. “Come on, let’s get something to eat.”

The café was deserted, perhaps because it was four in the afternoon — too late for lunch but too early for dinner, and perhaps because it was one of the few places left in what passed for a downtown that was still open, other than Bob’s Garage. David paused inside the door as if a hostess was going to come and seat them, but Patrick knew that wasn’t how the café worked. He made his way directly over to a booth and sat down, David following him.

Twyla emerged from the back, menus in her arms, and she stopped and exclaimed when she saw Patrick. “Patrick! I thought you moved away! What are you doing back in town?”

“Just passing through,” he said, taking one of the menus she handed him and grinning as David reacted to the size of them. “This is David Rose.”

Twyla smiled, her sunny disposition lighting up the place like always. “Nice to meet you, David. I’m Twyla, and I’ll be your server. Can I get you guys something to drink?”

“Just water for me,” Patrick said. David ordered coffee — well, first he tried to order a macchiato but when Twyla didn’t know what that was, he ordered coffee.

David gave him a horrified look. “These menus—”

“I know.”

“You lived here?”

“Yes,” Patrick said evenly, feeling self conscious. “You’re the one who wanted to come here.”

David twisted up his face and looked back down at the menu. “What’s safe to order?”

“Umm, the turkey sandwich is okay,” Patrick said.

David flipped the pages of the menu back and forth, his brow furrowed. “I’m getting the weirdest sense of déjà vu.”

“About the menu?”

He stopped fidgeting with the menu and looked around at the other booths and tables and the garishly painted walls. “About this whole place. If I didn’t know better, I would swear I’ve been here before.”

“My grandmother thought it was because Schitt’s Creek is a liminal space,” Twyla said, making David jump as she put their drinks on the table. “Are you ready to order?”

Patrick ordered the turkey sandwich. David crossed his arms over his chest. “What is a liminal space?”

“She used to say that there was usually a solid barrier between different dimensions, but that here the barrier is as thin as tissue paper. She would tell me that if I concentrated hard enough, I might be able to see a shadow of something from a parallel universe in this one.”

“Okay,” Patrick said, trying to put a stop to Twyla’s rambling. He liked Twyla, but her stories could be a bit unhinged. “David, did you decide what you wanted to eat?”

David ignored him. “A shadow,” he said to Twyla.

“Yeah. Also, she told me that she could summon small objects from other universes to this one.”

David met Patrick’s eyes briefly as he suppressed a smile. “Oh, really?”

Twyla wasn’t oblivious to their skepticism. “I know, I didn’t really believe her either. But that’s what she claimed! One time she lost an earring, and told us all that she summoned a replacement from a parallel dimension!”

“Or maybe she just found the missing earring,” Patrick said.

Twyla smiled. “Yeah, that’s probably it. Anyway,” she said, turning back to David. “What can I get you?”

David ordered a salad, and Twyla collected their menus and disappeared.

“She’s very… colorful,” David said.

“Yeah. Twyla’s a character. Always cheerful, even when she’s talking about some seriously dark stuff from her childhood.”

“Like stories about her crazy grandmother?”

“Usually about the men her mother brought home,” Patrick clarified, which David answered with a sympathetic cringe.

The food they were eventually brought barely lived up to Patrick’s earlier ‘moderately edible’ characterization, but he got David to smile and even laugh a few times, and that made this detour more than worth it. After the plates were cleared, Patrick ordered a coffee to go along with David’s third cup, and they lingered in the booth, talking about nothing: music and TV shows and the transcendental perfection of a good grilled cheese sandwich.

After they walked out of the diner, instead of going back to Patrick’s car, something caught David’s eye and he crossed the street. Patrick followed him, stopping beside him next to one of the windows of the empty general store, where David was peering inside.

“What?” Patrick asked him.

David was quiet for a few seconds before answering. “I don’t know. This place…” He put his hand up on the glass. “There’s something about it.”

Now it was Patrick’s turn to shiver, because he’d felt the same way when he’d moved here. The general store used to catch his eye every time he went to the café, like something from inside had called out to him, just outside the range of his hearing.

Shaking himself from some kind of reverie, David turned to Patrick and raised an eyebrow. “You have brought us to a very creepy place, Patrick.”

Patrick pinched his lips together, refraining from pointing out once more that David was the one who had wanted to come here. “So let’s get back on the road.”

David’s shoulders slumped. “How much longer?”

Pulling out his phone and looking at the time, Patrick responded, “I guess we’ll get there by eight.”

“It’s just, the thought of more driving is making me want to lie down and cry.”

“I was doing all the driving, David,” Patrick said, struggling to be patient with David’s mood.

“I know, I’m sorry.” David had enough self-awareness to look chagrined. “I’m just exhausted.”

Patrick took a second to remind himself what David was going through and he took a deep breath. “My friend runs the motel in town; we could spend the night there. Although I’ll warn you, it’s pretty run down.”

David squinted at him. “So like everywhere else in this town, then.”

Chuckling, Patrick took his hand and led him back to the car. “Pretty much.”

Chapter 11

[peggysousfan]

Agent Carter An Au Series

Soooo you know that thing I said about making these chapters shorter... that was a lie lol Its actually the longest by far,3000+ words, but episode 1 is almost done with. It is very angsty, so you have been warned, but there is some fluff thrown in there. Enjoy!!

Peggys' POV:

The next morning I wake the same as yesterday, only a little earlier. I get up and shower, nurse poppet and get ready for work. Colleen is still ill, so shes still asleep. I leave her a note to make sure she eats and to drink some water. As I leave the building I see Daniel. Hes already down stairs, most likely heading to work.

"Daniel!" He stops in his tracks and turns around.

"Hey! You're up early. I thought you weren't meant to be at the office till 9?"

"Yes, I know, but I have to drop the little one off. I can't exactly take her to work with me." He laughs, and it seems like music to my ears... Stop, Peggy. Not now. "Uhm, wh-what are you doing up so early? Do you have to in the office at 8?" He chuckles.

"Uh, no I was just gonna go get a bite to eat."

"Oh."

"Do you want to join me?" I look at Stephanie, and then at him.

"How far is it from here?"

"Just up the road, I was headed to the Automat."

"Oh, well thats not far at all. I can always drop Steph off afterwards." He nods his head and smiles. We makes our way there and Angie comes to our table.

"Hey, English! Whos this you got with ya?" I laugh.

"Good Morning, Angie. This is Daniel a ...friend of mine. And this is Stephanie." As to announce her presence she starts cooing and giggling. I hesitate on friends, but I don't know why. We are friends, but I suppose I may want to be more...No. Peggy, stop. Stop. Right now.

"Awww shes so precious!!!" After a few moments of admiring the baby, she takes our orders. Once she leaves Steph begs for Daniel and starts to fuss for him. Which isn't the first time either. Once when Daniel was at work, she went the whole day crying and only settled down once she was held by him. Shes so attached, its absolutely adorable.

"Aww, come here little anjo." I hand her over to him and I can't help myself but to ask.

"What does that mean, Daniel? anjo?" He looks down at the baby, with an embarrassed smile on his face.

"Sorry I didn't realize I was... It means angel, in Portuguese."

"Oh theres no need to apologize, I was only curious. You say certain words to her or about her and I never understood them." He furrows his brow and I explain. "Well anjo, for starters, and then... linda..?" He laughs and its so contagious.

"Its not what you think. Linda isn't meant as in, thats her name. It means beautiful." I smile brightly at him as Steph starts giggling again and plays with his tie. When our food arrives we eat, but all to soon we finish. "Okay, I better head to the office before they saying anything." I nod my head and embrace him. I reach over and fix his tie. "Oh oops, I forgot she did that."

"Sorry, it was bothering me." We laugh. "I'll see you at work." When I drop off poppet, I head to the office and its busy. Everyone is working on finding Howard, and I'm not entirety sure if I want them to. Selling weapons to enemy states is not something he would do. But its not as if I can talk to him and ask for his side of the story. The whole day is filled with nothing but 'Carter file these reports' or "Carter get the lunch orders ready' or 'hey sweetheart the coffee needs to be refilled'. Ugh, I'm not a bloody secretary, I'm a federal Agent and should be treated as such. Imbeciles. I leave the office and take dinner orders for those staying late, then I return and have sometime to myself. I miss Steph, but I could use some time away from the pig headed men at working and a crying baby.  I read the paper as I sit in my booth. There a picture of Steve, and an article about Howard.

"I met him once at a USO show in Passaic, you could eat him with a spoon." A shiver runs down my spine at that thought. No thank you, Angie, you can keep him.

"Yes, I understand he was quite something." I put down the paper and look at my tea. Quite an arse, more like...

"You alright English?"

"Fine Angie, just work."

"Fellas at the phone company giving you a hard time?" She asks, understand exactly what its like to be put down by her own colleges.

"No more than usual, it just... during the war I had a sense of purpose, responsibility.  But now It feels like I'm connecting the call but I never get the chance to make them. Do you see what I mean?" She looks around and then sits across from me.

"I had an audition today, uptown, Took two trains and  they gave me the hook. I guess I ain't. But we all gotta pay our dues. Even if it takes a while. You've got talent, its only a matter of time before Broadway call."

"I'm afraid I can't carry a tune," I say carrying on our little metaphor.

"Doesn't matter when you got legs like yours." And I laugh. A man starts to complain and be a real wanker, apparently hes a regular customer, and he treats Angie horrible. Ugh, men. Angie leaves and I get up to get a slice of pie. When I return theres a note 'Meet in the Alley in 5 minutes' Odd. I eat my pie and head out the back door. When I do, I'm confronted by a man in a hat, it turns out to be Jarvis; but hes not alone. A car revs its engine and I run, but when I reach a door, its locked. I pull out my gun and shoot the tire; and out pops Howard.

"I know, I should've called. Did ya miss me?" Oh this oaf is going t be the death of me. Jarvis changes the tire, and we ride away to the docks.

Howard explains he had a vault that was broken into, and someone cleaned out all of his deadly inventions. He asks me to spy for him, to catch the person who stole his weapons, and clear his name.

"Howard, you're asking me to become a traitor in order to prove you're not one, you do see the irony?"

"Oh c'mon on, Peg. I know they're not using you right over there." Well hes not wrong. God I hate it when hes right. "You want a mission that matter, this is it. My technology in the hands of the next nut that wants to be the new Red Skull... You have no idea how bad that could be. And right now, you're the only one who can stop that." I look over at him, and already know I'm in over my head, but none the less he is my friend. We get out of the car and walk on the docks. "Some of them have already been sold overseas, thats where I'm going. But the rest are here somewhere, and thats where you come in. Rumor is one of the nasty ones is hitting the black market in the next day or two."

"What is it?"

"Just a piece of paper. My formula for molecular nitromene. This much could level a city block." He takes my hand and balls it in a fist. "And I'm not talking small ones, I'm talking avenues."

"I'm going to regret this aren't I?" He says I will and tells me about Jarvis.

"I owe ya one, pal." We hug and he gets on the boat. "There are only a dozen fences that can handle something this hot, and you just gotta learn which one... and I figured, you'd have no trouble finding a man."

"The trick is finding the right one." He drives away and Jarvis takes me to my daughter. Once I have her, I head home and get some rest.

The Next Day:

Peggy's POV:

I wake up early in the morning, same as yesterday, and do my morning routine. I can't wait until this weekend, Ill keep my promise to Howard, but I won't neglect time with my daughter. Here lately shes been very vocal, and I know its too early, but I fell as if shes trying to say her first word. My only fear is that I may never hear it because I'm working... Balancing motherhood and work is a real pain in the arse. I nurse her her breakfast and lay her down. Since Colleen is home, she has offered to take care of her while I'm at work.

"Try and not work too hard, Peg." I kiss Stephanie's cheek one last time before giving her to Colleen.

"I won't I promise. Now you two get some rest. I'll be back before I'm gone." And with that I leave. When I enter the office, I notice Daniel, and he has a set of photos of Howard, one with him on a boat; oh no. Oh I don't want to do this. I swear if my relationship with Daniel is harmed in anyway because of Howard, I'm going to kill him.

"You know you are expect to go home at night." I say. He looks at me confused and then chuckles.

"I know, but most fugitive cases are solved within the fist 72 hours. And with Stark on the sailing into the sunset, maybe this is where it starts." Hes really invested in this case. I know its only to impress the Chief and make his worth known, but God I wish it wasn't this case. I say what I can to throw Daniel off of Howard's trail. I tell him Howard hates they water, and about the time I knocked him into the Thames because he tried to kiss me on VE Day. Soon I notice Thompson and others rushing to the conference room, they've had a small break on one of Howard's inventions.

"Somethings up."

"Yeah, Thompson's working on his next medal. Got word of a fence trying to sell one of Stark's inventions. Club owner named Spider Ramon."

"Wheres it happening?"

"Need to know only. Kind of gives you a warm feeling, doesn't it." How can I get into that private meeting, and withdraw information without them knowing...? I have an Idea.

"Can I get you a refill?" I quickly grab Daniels mug and rush to get the coffee pot. I try to shake of the electricity running through my hand where we touched. I give him his refill off of a tray.

"Uhmmm.. Thanks?" I give him a small smile and head into the room.

I look over at a file while filling up the cups, when suddenly the chief speaks. I tell him I'm unwell, and that its 'lady's things', Oh its so amusing to see grown men squirm. I take the rest of the day off and go shopping and then head home. I quickly hide the bag with the dress and wig, before Colleen sees. When I enter, I see shes asleep, and so is Steph. Oh my little one. I pick her up and she snuggles against my chest. I kiss the top of her curly brown head and let her rest against me. I read more on Spider Ramon and his club, and after a while, she squirms around, so I let her look at the files. Shes so interested in words, its quite amusing.

Before I know it, night has fallen. I nurse her and lay her back down then I get ready to leave. She didn't eat much, Colleen must have fed her earlier. As I enter the club, its bustling with music, dancers, cocktails, and photographers. Damn. I hide my face as I make my way through. A man come up to me and asks for a dance, but I turn him down. Then I notice a man head up stairs, and a bodyguard below. Thats where I need to go. I persuade the man to let me pass and I put on my Sweet Dream lipstick, just in case. I knock on the door and peek in.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Ramon, is this a bad time?" I ask in a perfect American accent.

"We'll only know after its over. Bring the rest of you in here." He says as he sets down a book.

"I hope you don't find me forward."

"Oh I'm not the judgmental type."I enter the room and try to play calm and innocent, admiring small things on the desk after, I close the side doors.

"I know you're in possession of a certain chemical formula." He drops his collective, flirty, act and gets defensive, and tries to send me away. "Its okay, lets make this a game. You seem like you might like games." I sit on the edge of his desk. I tell him I have some fiends who would be interested in buying it, and he goes along with it. I sit on his lap and go along with my story, asking if he has it on him.Instead of answering, he gets flirty and kisses me. Someone opens the door but closes again, apparently not wanting to 'disturb' his boss. Raymond falls back in the chair, knocked out. "Well that was premature."I look around the room and find a safe. When I use my watch to crack it, I see a small glowing orb inside. Oh no... I hurry and call Jarvis.

"Jarvis residence."

"They've weaponized it." I say plainly. I'm sort of in a hurry here, Mr. Jarvis.

"Ms. Carter?"

"Do you know anyone else handling high explosives at this time of night?" I snap.

Basically, if anything touches the core or gives it a small crack, boom. Lovely. I hurry along and place it in my bag.  I have to create a cocktail of sodium hydrogen acetate to deactivate it. If I don't its likely to explode and kill hundreds. Delightful, just delightful. As I get ready to leave, the man comes back and sees his boss passed out.

"What?" He starts to come in and advance at me, but I stop him. I take a stapler form the table and drag him into a closet. Dammit. Thompson and the others are already here. I find the man that had approached me before, and danced to keep the Agents from seeing me. Quickly I leave and head home.

"Peg? Is that you?" Damn I quickly throw off the wig and enter the room.

"Hey. I just changed Steph and she went right back to sleep. Shes does that a lot when you're not around." I smile at her and see how pale she is.

"How are you feeling?"

"A little better, still have a fever though.."

"I'll make you some tea." I walk over to the stove and set the water to boil in the kettle.

"Wow, Peg, you look like a million bucks. Wait... Did you go out, out?"

"In a manner of speaking." I walk closer.

"Wow, I'm really proud of you. I want you to tell me all about it, in the morning." She turns over and goes back to sleep, poor girl. I peek at poppet before changing, grabbing everything I need for the sodium hydrogen acetate, and then head to the bathroom with the bomb. If any harm overcomes to my child, I'll come back from the dead and haunt Howard to the end of his days. I mix up the solution and poor out my perfume, and replace it. As I pull out the core, it hits she shell. Bloody hell. I rush and spray it before it blows. Thankfully its diffused. I put everything under the sink and breath a sigh. I get ready to take a drink of whiskey, that is, until I hear a crash.

"Colleen?" I get up and hurry into the room. "Colleen." I rush over to the bed and pull back the covers, and I stop dead in my tracks. A bullet hole is lodged in the middle of her forehead. No...no no no!! I look around and see Stephanie, and shes starting to cry. Cautious I glance at my surroundings, and I see him, right behind me in the mirror. I quickly turn around and kick him in the groin, but the guns goes off. Thank God it didn't hit the baby, but  it was only by a few feet. Now I'm pissed. I take the gun and hit him right upside the head. Advancing further I grab his arm and upper cut his face. Stephanie is now sobbing her little heart out. For a second I'm distracted, and he takes advantage. He punches me, and I fall back, then pushes me into the wall. He tries to punch me again, but I open the fridge door and he hits it instead. With his forearm on my throat I grab at him, and notice a scar on his throat. Odd...

I elbow him on the side of his head, and take advantage. We twist and turn, and he grabs my arm and holds my head above the stove's flame. Steph is now sobbing, no doubt waking everyone in the building. I gather up my strength and kick him in the chin and force his hand into the flame. He releases an attempted scream while I take an iron skillet and hit him. He falls back and advances with a knife. Luckily I use the skillet and prevent my stomach from being sliced. Poppet continues to scream and he looks at her with a menacing smirk. Oh I don't think so! I hit him again and again and toss him out the window. When I look down, hes gone. Dammit. I rush over to the baby and pick her up to sooth her. "Shhhh... Shhhh... Its alright my love." I bounce her up and down, and then notice Colleen. I starts to cry myself and sit on the bed. This wasn't suppose to happen. I'm so caught up in my own sobbing, and Steph's, that I don't hear the door being knocked on; or it opening.

"Peg!" Daniel rushes over to me and places a hand on my cheek. "Peggy whats wro-" He stops and notices Colleen. "Oh my God..." I look away from her and hold my little girl close to me. This could have been her, and it almost was...At this thought, I only cry harder. He doesn't ask what happened, instead he holds me tight and takes us to his apartment. He takes me to his room and I lie down with Stephanie. I can't believe I almost lost her....I look into Daniels eyes as he stands at the door.  I grab for his hand and he takes it, and hes the last thing I see before I fall asleep.

[marshmallow-phd]

Memories Past

Part of The Untamed - EXO Wolf Universe

Genre: Supernatural, Wolf Au

Pairing: Kris x Reader

Summary: The last thing Kris wanted was to move on. He was perfectly content wallowing in his misery while pretending everything was okay. But when you come walking into his shop with a broken down car, he realizes the thing he’d been avoiding the most just might be the cure he always needed. He just couldn’t believe that it’d been you all along. Kris had been your best friend when you were kids before he’d moved away without a word of goodbye. Now nearly fifteen years later, you run into him again by pure coincidence. The memories come rushing back to you, stirring something inside. A childhood crush shouldn’t upend your picture perfect life, but sometimes, destiny has other things in mind…

Part: 1 I 2 I 3 I 4 I 5 I 6 I 7 I 8 I 9 I 10 I 11 I 12 I 13 I Final

**

Standing just off to the side of the gate exit, you waited with nervous anticipation. Huan’s flight had just landed about ten minutes ago and now you were searching the crowd of people spilling out of the mouth of the exit that lead back to the other half of the airport where the planes deposited their cargo. The feeling that was churning in your stomach wasn’t one of excitement or happiness. You couldn’t quite pin down what emotions it was made of and that was creating a small twinge of fear alongside it.

If relief was the next emotion you were hoping to feel as soon as you saw Huan’s face, you were sadly disappointed. While your fiancé’s grin was bright, if a little tired from the flight, your own smile was small and forced. As you could feel the uncertainty behind it, you were sure Huan could tell that something was wrong. When he hugged you, you put in just enough effort to return it, but nothing more.  

“Bad week?” Huan asked as the two of you walked towards the parking garage.

You shrugged. “Yeah, you could say that.”

“I’m sorry.” The little chuckle that was attached to the sympathetic apology rubbed you the wrong way. Huan wasn’t supposed to laugh at your sour mood. He was supposed to make it better or at least be sympathetic. “Listen, I’m here now, so we can just enjoy the rest of the evening, okay? I’ll even drive.”

Normally, you would have argued with Huan, saying he would be tired from his flight and you were perfectly capable of driving home. But this time, you let him take the keys, popping the trunk once you reached your car to put the suitcase away, and slide into the driver’s seat while you took the other side.

You didn’t hold his hand like you used to when Huan drove. From the way he was whistling and humming along with the radio, it didn’t seem like he’d really noticed anyway. In your mind, another pair of hands were mocking you, making you wish that it was him behind the wheel instead. Those long, labor-hardened fingers were somehow more appealing than the soft, perfectly groomed and well-kept hands that were currently operating the vehicle.

It was quiet between the two of you as you followed Huan up the steps to your home. He immediately went to drop the suitcase off in your bedroom as you went to the fridge.

“Don’t worry about dinner,” Huan insisted. “I’ll just make something for myself real quick. You’ve had a long day at school.”

Nodding, you sat down at the table and opened up your laptop while he threw a sandwich together on a plate, filling the other half with chips before sitting down across from you.

The whole time he was eating, you sat there in silence, staring at your computer screen.

On Sunday, to try and get your mind back on the right track, you brought up the wedding website you’d made last year soon after Huan proposed. It’d been left untouched since then. You’d wanted to give yourself until the end of your last undergrad semester to start working on wedding planning so you could give it more of your attention. But then Huan got his new job and between the move and Huan’s lack of interest whenever you brought up it up, you’d just let it sit and collect imaginary dust.

Yesterday, though, you gave in and started making “save the dates” with the few engagement pictures you’d managed to have taken before life became too hectic. Considering you weren’t the most artistic person, they were simple, a picture of you and Huan smiling at each other, your names written in fancy script with the date of the wedding left blank.

“Hey, Huan?” You finally got the nerve to speak up just as he stood up from the table was headed for the sink with his empty plate.

“Yeah?” He stopped right next you and you shifted the computer so he could see the screen.

“What do you think about these?” you asked.

Huan stared at the screen for a minute or two, eyebrows knitted together as if he were solving a math problem rather than looking at simple wedding invites.

“They’re pretty,” he finally commented. “What are they?”

You bit back the snappy answer you wanted to give. “They’re save-the-dates. I figured now that we’re settled in, we could start back up on the wedding planning?”

“Aw, honey, I’m sorry,” Huan sighed. “Things are really picking up at work so I might be going out of town more frequently. How about we start talking about dates and venues closer to Christmas?”

The fact that you weren’t entirely surprised didn’t even phase you. Plastering on a very fake smile, you said, “Okay. That’s fine. I mostly did this out of boredom. I needed a distraction from my paper. I’m glad you like them, though.”

Huan just hummed, kissing you on the top of the head before disappearing back into the bedroom. You heard the TV flip on as you sat back in your chair. The happy and in love picture of the two of you now just seemed to be mockery now.

A little harder than you meant to, you slammed your laptop shut. Poor thing didn’t deserve your wrath, but the real person you wanted to punch wasn’t in the vicinity.

This was all Kris’ fault. If he would just keep his distance, if he would stop filling your head with the possibilities of him, then you wouldn’t be overthinking every little thing that Huan did.

Glancing over at the bedroom to make sure Huan wouldn’t sneak up on you, you slowly opened your laptop back up. Hidden in a zipped folder on your desk top, you pulled up the second version of the invites that you had made. Just staring at them, you were smiling.

Your mother had been so ecstatic when you called her. Sunday afternoon phone calls were nothing new between you two, but her voice raised in pitch and you could hear her rummaging around in the background once you told her that you’d ran into Kris and had been getting to know him again. She wanted to know everything that you’d learned about Kris since he’d moved away and if you could invite him to come with you when you came to visit next. It was like Huan didn’t exist for her anymore.

Granted, your mother didn’t like the fact that Huan had kept putting off the wedding. She was a planner and you were her only daughter. She wanted the joy of helping you put everything together and, of course, she wanted you to be happy.

When she’d first asked you about how things were going and listened to you talk, she could tell right away that something was wrong no matter how many times you told her you were fine.

“You just don’t sound as happy as you used to, sweetheart,” your mother insisted. “Maybe moving there wasn’t the best idea after all.”

You couldn’t bring yourself to agree with her nor could you really argue. By conclusion, you decided to change the subject by mentioning Kris, sending your mother on her frantic search for whatever she was looking for as she went on and on about how handsome Kris must look now and how he’d must have grown up into such a perfect gentleman. You hated how much you agreed with her.

An hour or so after you hung up with your mother, a text came from her telling you to open your email. Somehow, she’d managed to track down nearly every picture taken during your five year friendship with Kris before he upped and disappeared.

So many of them depicted the two of you laughing and playing in the yard or at the playground. One that made you laugh particularly hard was at his eighth birthday. You’d managed to shove his whole face into the cake, covering him in blue and white frosting. Kris was scowling at the camera while you beamed a toothy grin, very proud of what you’d accomplished.

It was payback for your seventh birthday where Kris has “dyed” your hair purple from your own cake’s frosting. There had been no permanent discoloration of your hair, but your mother did have to scrub at your scalp to get all the frosting out. It was only fair that Kris received the same treatment.

With these newly found memories breaking through to the surface, you found you couldn’t help yourself when you uploaded your favorite photos to the wedding website. For a while, you just played around with the pictures, messing with the filters and cute little cut outs. Most of them, you deleted as soon as you were done, but there was one you just couldn’t bring yourself to get rid of.

It was a simple picture, you and Kris were grinning at the camera, each of you with an arm around the other’s shoulders and heads leaning against each other. The picture was so simple, so innocent. White, cursive words danced across the top of announcing the make believe wedding between you and Kris. Staring at that simple little announcement felt so right.

Shaking your head, you closed your laptop one more time before shuffling over to the couch in the living room to turn on the TV. It should bother you that you weren’t in the same room with Huan watching a show together after he’d been gone a week.

But it didn’t.

Now, who was to blame for that?

**

“Why is that men are the ones who propose, but when the time comes, they don’t actually want to get married?”

You hadn’t meant to start venting to Jiyeon. The conversation had started out fairly average and normal. You’d sat down across from her in the student center with your tray of food and asked her how her day had been. Once she was done, she’d simply returned the courtesy, taking it a bit farther and asking how last night went with picking up Huan. Then your rant started.

Jiyeon blinked a few times, the corners of her mouth turned down deep. “He just… dismissed your hard work like that?”

“Yeah,” you huffed. Alright, it didn’t take you that long to make the stupid save-the-dates, but you’d still put a lot of effort into them.

“I would kill Minseok if he ever did that to me,” Jiyeon grumbled. Softening a bit, she gave you a look of pity. “Have you tried talking to him about maybe why he seems to be getting cold feet?”

You lifted and dropped your shoulders lazily. “Kind of. Every time I bring it up, he has an excuse ready: work. And I can’t argue with that because most of the time, he’s working pretty much ten hour days and even bringing some of it home with him.”

With her right index finger, Jiyeon tapped on the table thoughtfully. “Are you upset because he keeps putting off the wedding? Or is it something else?”

“What do you mean?” you asked cautiously. Her second question made you nervous, though you couldn’t explain why.

“Well,” Jiyeon shrugged, “for a while, it’s been kind of sounding like the spark that once held you two together might be gone now. You sound like your pushing the wedding because of the fact that the two of you are still engaged rather than because you want to spend the rest of your life with Huan.”

“But I love him,” you insisted. And that part was still true. You did.

“There’s a lot of different forms of love,” she reminded you. “It’s highly possible to still love him but not be in love with him. The kind that would make you want to be with him when you’re old and gray.”

You opened your mouth to argue, but the words never formed. Just a few months ago, you would have been able to sit in that seat and describe your life with Huan for the next forty years in detail. Everything from your first house to your kids’ first day of school to rocking on the porch in your old age. But now, as you tried to reform those pictures in your head, nothing would materialize. That future had somehow disappeared.

“Is there-“Jiyeon took a deep breath, readying herself for whatever question she was about to let loose. “Is there any chance that maybe you might have feelings for someone else?”

“W-what are you talking about?” Your heart jumped into your throat from beating so fast. Every hair on your arm and the back of your neck was sticking up.

Jiyeon gave you a sympathetic smile. “Its okay, (y/n). If you do, that doesn’t make you a bad person. It happens more than you’d think. Just because you said yes last year doesn’t mean you can’t turn around and say no. It’s possible to fall in love with somebody else.”

“But you can’t just dump the current person because someone else catches your eye or says something nice to you,” you argued. “When does it stop?”

Jiyeon shook her head. “There’s a difference between always keeping an eye out for something better to come along and naturally falling for that new person who landed in your life.”

Throwing your hands up in the air, you gave up. Because she was right. You never looked for someone to come snatch you away from Huan. But something happened in that garage that day you found Kris again. Maybe… maybe it was something that you couldn’t quite explain.

Your conversation with Jiyeon was still reeling in your mind all the way until you were getting ready for bed. Huan had worked late again, leaving you alone for the evening. The two of you had a vague conversation when he came home about each of your days and the coming week, but not much else.

As you shuffled under the covers, Huan had told you that he was getting off early the next day and that the two of you should grab dinner out together. You mumbled a reply agreeing to the date. When you were laying down, back facing Huan and eyes closed, you felt a hand rest on your exposed elbow.

Huan started to kiss your neck, his hand sliding down your arm until it rested on your waist. It didn’t take a genius to understand what he was getting at.

You shoved your face deeper into the pillow, groaning. “Not tonight.”

He sighed. “Okay.” Kissing your cheek, he shuffled back to his side of the bed. “I love you.”

“Hm. Love you, too.”

**

All day at school, you felt a little guilty. Not because of last night, but because of how you didn’t want to go to dinner tonight. You were fairly certain on what you needed to do. You just dreaded having the actual conversation.

Huan picked you up after class, as chipper and clueless as ever. He’d insisted on driving you to the university this morning even though it wasn’t exactly on his way to the office. You didn’t fight it much, but it irritated you.

That time in the morning on your way to school was your alone time, where you could be with your thoughts. Sometimes that meant just letting it wander or maybe calming yourself down before a big presentation or even trying to figure out your own life while your favorite music provided background noise. And this morning was definitely one where you needed to get your mind straight. But with Huan driving, that wasn’t going to happen.

Huan liked to listen to talk radio. In your car, he kept it on the music stations, but in his it was strictly talk radio. That never really bothered you before. However this drive was different. Huan talked over the DJ, chatting about work while you barely managed to hum in response. It was like a haven when he dropped you off near the courtyard. Right where Kris had been waiting for you barely a week ago.

You mumbled a goodbye before nearly jumping out of the car.

“Hey, (y/n)!”

Shifting your facial muscles to make it give a half-hearted smile, you ducked back down to look at Huan through the still open car door. “Yeah?”

“I love you,” he said.

Those three little words. How could they no longer have the same feeling behind them that they once held?

Nodding, you replied. “Me, too.”

For the rest of the day, you couldn’t calm your limbs that were constantly fidgeting or bouncing in every attempt to get rid of the pent up nervous energy. You knew your heart wasn’t in it anymore, but that didn’t mean you wanted to break Huan’s.

You were still quiet on the way to the restaurant, staring out the window. If Huan noticed your lack of enthusiasm, he didn’t comment on it.

This time around, it wasn’t a fancy, five-star restaurant that Huan parked out in front of. It was just a typical family chain restaurant with generic food that was parading around as something more.

The two of you made it all the way to desert with no big issues, mostly because you let Huan talk. You just needed the right time to say it and you felt like that time had finally come. Now you just needed your bravery to stay with you.

“Huan, I have something to say-”

“Wait.”

He took your hand in his, rubbing his thumb over the back of your knuckles. You bit down on your bottom lip, remembering when that gesture used to give you butterflies. Now? Nothing.

“(y/n),” he sighed, “I’ve been thinking a lot about what you said on Monday and I’ve realized that I’ve been… not exactly enthusiastic about the wedding planning. I’ve just been thinking so much about the long run – about after we say I do – that I hadn’t realized how much that event could mean to you.”

For the first time in a while, you felt something for Huan. It wasn’t the intensity that you used to feel, but you felt warm, you felt lighter at the sense that he actually cared. Maybe you just needed reassurance and you had jumped the gun a little bit.

Huan fished around in his jacket pocket until he pulled out a little black velvet box. “Here. This is for you.”

With tentative fingers, you took the box and lifted the lid.

It was an engagement ring. Bigger and flashier than the one that currently donned your left index finger. It was something that you would never have picked out in a million years, but you could let that go as it was meant to symbolize more.

“So, does this mean we can start planning?” you asked hopefully. “Because I have a list of venues that would be perfect and I know a photographer and-”

Huan actually looked taken back. “Oh, uh, no. I’m sorry, (y/n). I just wanted to get you the ring that you deserved. My higher ups have said that I’ll be going on more trips in the coming months so I won’t be around much to help.”

“My mother can help me,” you argued softly, keeping your eyes down on the table. How could you actually let yourself cling to a small sliver of hope when you’d already made up your mind? It just made this crash hurt even more.

“It’s just a few more months,” Huan insisted. “Just wait until after Christmas.”

“Now it’s after Christmas?” You shook your head as you stood up from the table. “I need some air.”

“(y/n), wait!”

You didn’t even slow down as you power walked to the front entrance, shuffling past the patrons that were waiting to be seated. Huan didn’t come after you and for that you were relieved. You didn’t know what to do or say at this moment. You were at your breaking point.

How could he say closer to Christmas one day and then after the next? How long would he continue to push out the date?

You’d walked several blocks before you decided to rest, leaning on your forearms up against a wooden railing that separated the risen walk way you were on from the other shops down below. Closing your eyes, you took deep breathes. You couldn’t go on like this. You were being torn in two and it was absolute torture.

“(y/n)?”

You stiffened. How the hell did he find you?

Straightening up, you turned to face him. Kris came running up the steps to you, concern painted all over his face. Behind him was the group that he was with. To your surprise – and horror – Minseok and Jiyeon were among the small crowd Kris had broken away from. Was there anyone in this town that he didn’t know?

“Are you okay?” Kris asked, a little winded from his jog up the wooden stairs.

“I’m fine,” you grumbled with a set jaw. “Are you following me now?”

Kris scoffed. “No. I just happened to be out with my friends. Is that a crime?”

Folding your arms, you mumbled, “No. I guess not.”

“Hey,” he gently lifted your chin for you to look at him. “What’s going on?”

You turned away from him, trying to collect the words you wanted to form.

“Why?” ended up being your reply.

Kris frowned, confused. “What?”

“Why are you always around?” you demanded. Not exactly the real question that you wanted to ask, but it was close. “Why do you keep popping out of nowhere?”

“Listen, tonight was just a coincidence,” Kris insisted. “Trust me, this time I did not intentionally seek you out.”

Okay. Fine. That made one time. “But every other time, you have. Why? Why does it feel like you want something more?”

Instead of answering right away, Kris took your hand and placed it against his chest. Even through his shirt you could feel his heart thumping against his rib cage. It was beating erratically- exactly how yours did when you were near him.

“This is how I feel every time that you’re around me,” he confessed. “It’s been that way since I first saw you again in my shop. And when I’m away from you, I can’t function. All I want to do is see you again. You’ve grown into this amazing person, (y/n). And I just want to be with you.”

Taking your hand back, you shook your head. You hated how you were unable to verbalize anything that was currently racing through your head.

“Please,” Kris begged. “Give me a chance.”

This wasn’t what you expected at all. Yes, you’d concluded that you just couldn’t be with Huan anymore, but you hadn’t thought about the next step. And Kris was already five ahead of you. You were still shaking your head, more violently this time. “Huan-”

“You said it yourself that you’re in love with me.”

Your eyes grew wide. “W-what are you talking about?”

Kris smirked. “That night I came to pick you from the bar? You told me yourself. You complained about me leaving as a kid and that at first it was just a silly crush, but now that you’re in love with me. It’s the same with me.”

“I didn’t mean it.” Yes, you did. Every word.

“You’re a terrible liar.” Kris wrapped an arm around your waist and pulled you in closer to him with a firm yank until your chest was up against his. Kris’s voice was barely above a whisper when he said, “I know you feel this, too.”

Squeezing your eyes shut, you just gave in. It was too strong to fight it and this embrace that was holding you together felt so right, so safe… so perfect. You whispered, “Why can’t I get you out of my head?”

With a calloused hand, Kris cupped your cheek, caressing your skin and making you open your eyes again. He was staring at you with such an intensity that you shrank back a little. Never had you been looked at that way. His wild, earthy eyes were trained on you, reflecting everything that that was bubbling up inside you and promising a future that would always feel like this.

“Fate’s cruel that way,” Kris replied under his breath.

Before you could ask what he meant by that, he leaned in, closing the minute distance left between you.

[hymn2000]

Chiquitita - MCU AU fanfic - C11

Story summary: Something strange is happening. Someone from space has made their way to Earth, armed with a strange weapon. Targeting teenagers, their ray gun, when fired, turns the victim into a toddler. The Avengers set out to stop this, and find a way to reverse the effects. However, they don’t all come out of the battle unscathed.

Previous chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Part of my Frostiron and Spiderson series.

Warnings/themes: de-aging, family stuff, corporal punishment (early chapters only), mental health stuff, hurt/comfort

Chapter 11 - If You Need Me Let Me Know

-

Peter put his baby in its buggy and spent a long time pushing it around the living rooms and hallways. He was still busy pushing his baby round the landing when the front door opened. Peter stopped for a moment, listening, and soon Loki appeared on the landing.

“Daddy!”

“Hello, little boy!” Loki smiled, kneeling down and giving him a cuddle. “Aww, my little darling. I’ve missed you today!”

“Missed you too!”

Loki kissed him on the cheek and stood up. 

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to get a drink and find daddy” Loki said.

He started off towards the kitchen. Peter stopped for a moment, and then grabbed his toy buggy and ran after him. 

“WAIT!”

Peter ran into the kitchen and careered straight into the breakfast bar. The toy buggy stopped him from hitting the wood directly, but the force of the impact still knocked him off his feet. He stayed where he landed in quiet shock for a moment, and then jumped to his feet and threw his arms up in the air.

“DADDIES!”

Tony laughed, closing the oven door and throwing the oven gloves over his shoulder. 

“Hey kiddo. Try not to make a habit of crashing your babies buggy into the kitchen units, ok?”

Peter giggled, turning back and moving the buggy away from the unit.

“Baby’s ok!” he announced.

“Good” Tony chuckled.

“Anyway” Loki said, winding his arms round Tony and giving him a kiss. “Good evening”

“How was work?” Tony asked, stroking Loki’s hair back behind his ear. 

“It was fine, if a little dull. GP surgeries are so different to the ward. I was mainly doing ECG’s and blood tests all day. At least the other staff were nice. Most of the girls just wanted to ask questions about you, though”

“Oh, I see. Well, who could blame them? I am an incredibly interesting person”

“You keep telling yourself that” Loki said, kissing him again.

“Cheeky... I love you”

Loki kissed him again. “Love you too. What are you cooking?”

“I thought I’d do something a bit different. Remember when you were in Scotland, on your sabbatical? What’s one thing that you said you got really into while you were there?”

“Deep fried mars bars?”

“Well yeah, but I mean something savoury”

Loki thought for a moment. “Macaroni cheese pies”

Tony grinned.

“You haven’t... Really?”

“Yeah! I even made the pastry from scratch, because I am actually the new Gordon Ramsay. My timing has also been impeccable, of course” Tony said. 

“Well, I’m thrilled. It’s exactly what I need after today. It seems to have really dragged” Loki said, letting go of Tony and putting the kettle on. “So, what did the dentist say?”

“Hm? Oh, nothing much. Just that he didn’t see any problems and he was happy with the condition of the kids teeth”

“Well, that’s a relief. I’ve really been dreading these appointments, just in case there was something wrong with him”

“You worry too much. He worries too much, doesn’t he, kid?”

Peter just giggled. He was sat on the floor, cradling his baby in his arms. 

“So, what else did you get up to today?” Loki asked, getting his mug down from his cupboard. 

“Well, we had some lunch after we’d been to the dentist, and then we went to the park”

“Oh, nice” Loki said. “What did you have for lunch?”

“Well, we decided to be healthy, so I made a-”

“We went to McDonald’s!” Peter shouted, thwarting Tony’s plan of making up something healthy.

Tony resisted the urge to physically face-palm. “You’ve landed me right in it, kid”

Loki sighed, but he chose not to make a fuss. He finished making his cup of tea.

“Shall I set the table?”

Tony nodded. “Sure. Hey, there’s some Powerade in the fridge if you want it”

“Nice” Loki said, breathing in. “Bloody hell, my stomach isn’t half growling. I’m absolutely starving”

-

Peter didn’t want to put his baby down when dinner was ready. Loki managed to convince him to tuck the doll up in its wooden cot in the second sitting room, and once his baby was ‘asleep’, Peter decided it was ok to have dinner. 

“I think I’ve started to get the hang of all this” Tony said, a little while into the meal. 

“I’m relieved to hear you say that” Loki said. “You’ve really stepped up this week. I’m proud of you”

“I’m proud of you, too” Tony said. “And I’m sorry for taking so long to get involved”

“I know” Loki looked at Peter. “He has to be our priority. I think we need to sit and talk about what we’re going to say to Li on Friday”

“I’d rather just answer her questions on the day” Tony said. “Is she gonna ask the kid stuff?”

“Maybe. I don’t know. If she does, it won’t be anything too heavy, since he’s only tiny now” 

“I’m not tiny!” Peter said. “I’m big!”

“You keep telling yourself that, sweetheart” Tony said.

Loki stared at him. Tony felt him looking.

“What?”

“You called him sweetheart” Loki said. “You’ve only ever called him kid or kiddo. You just called him sweetheart!”

“...So I did” Tony smiled. “Well, he is a sweetheart. He’s my sweetheart. My little boy”

-

Li Allen arrived at exactly eleven o’ clock on Friday morning, punctual as ever. Tony took her upstairs to the second living room, where Loki was keeping an eye on Peter. The toddler had tired of his train set and was busy walking his baby round in its buggy, with his rocket balanced between the handles. He looked up when Tony and Li Allen came into the room. He listened to them talking, but he was too busy to pay too much attention. He continued his round of the room, but stopped when he reached the sofa that Li Allen was sat on. He looked up at her.

“It’s you!” he said.

“Hello, Peter” Li smiled. “How are you?”

“I had pancakes for lunch!” 

“Did you now? How lovely. What did you have on your pancakes?”

“Sugar” Peter said. “Lots of sugar! But then daddy made me brush my teeth”

“Well, I think that was sensible, don’t you?” 

Peter shook his head, and then grabbed the toy buggy and started another lap of the room. Li looked at Tony and Loki.

“He remembers me”

“Yes, he remembers a lot of people. Or more, he knows them” Tony said. 

“I’ve read about it all” Li said. “But I’m not here to talk about case studies. Tell me how you’ve been getting on” 

Tony laughed awkwardly, sitting down with Loki on the other sofa. 

“Well” he said. “Loki’s been better than me” 

“Is that so?”

“What he means is, he didn’t step up at all until a week after it happened” Loki said. “He stayed in the lab and he blanked Peter and he was utterly useless and rubbish. We barely spoke and he was too into his own feelings to think about the rest of the family” 

“Ouch” Tony winced. “That’s a bit harsh”

“It’s true though, isn’t it?”

“...Yeah, it is” Tony admitted. He looked at Li. “He forced me to look after him for a night, and I stepped up after that. I’m getting the hang of it now. We’re getting the hang of it now”

“Tony, we’ve known each other a considerable amount of time now, and if I can be blunt, you’re always the one to flap the most in times of crisis. So I must say I’m not surprised with how you reacted. But I’m also not surprised that you stepped up” Li said. “You say you’re getting the hang of it now, which is good. I know toddlers and teenagers can be worlds apart”

“Yeah, it’s a whole different ball game” Tony said. “It’s still weird thinking about what actually happened, so I try not to. I still love the toddler while missing proper Peter. Teenage Peter”

“You finally called him by a pet name yesterday” Loki said. 

“I’m still adjusting”

“Your own struggles aside, how is Peter doing?” Li asked. “He looks happy enough here. I can see you’ve equipt him well with toys”

“We did a big shop on Monday” Tony said. “We bought way more than I thought I would”

“We let him choose” Loki said. “He’s been much happier now that he’s got something to play with. He’d started to get bored”

“I know your Peter has his cuddly toys, and you’ve got plenty of teddies around, but I know toddlers can get bored quite quickly”

“He had those, and some bath toys, and a colouring book. Tony and I weren’t talking though, and I can’t drive his cars - legally anyway - so I couldn’t do much about it until we started talking again” Loki said. “He’s been better now that he’s got lots to play with”

“We’ve been taking him out a little bit too” Tony said. “Maybe we should do it more?”

“It’s good to take them out” Li said. “They like the change of scene, and it’s good for their development too”

“He’s not gonna be a toddler forever; only until we’ve got the reversal gun”

“It’s still a good idea to treat him like you would any other toddler. He still needs the same stimulation”

“Took the words right out of my mouth” Loki said. “I’m still trying to think about where else to take him”

Peter parked his baby buggy. He listened to the grown-ups talking. They talked for a long time, and Peter didn’t really understand a lot of what they were saying. After a while, he took his rocket and went over to Loki. He didn’t say anything, and Loki didn’t really look at him, but he picked him up and put him on his lap anyway. Peter sat with his rocket on his lap, leaning against Loki’s chest.

“-If the doctor said there’s nothing to worry about, I’d trust his judgement” Li said. “You seem to be doing fine, but there’s always further support available for you if you want it. We’ve offering everyone who came under fire from Kindsprengen the opportunity to meet the other - shall we say, victims. Sharing common experiences can be helpful. Is that something you’d be interested in?”

Loki and Tony looked at each other. 

“I’m not sure” Tony said.

“Well, I am, and I’m not interested” Loki said. “I wouldn’t mind meeting them, but not in controlled circumstances. I won’t go out of my way to meet them”

“It would be good for Peter to play with some other toddlers” Li said. “Do let me know if you change your mind”

“Maybe we could consider toddler groups or play centres then”

Peter looked up at Loki. Loki looked down at him.

“What?”

Peter looked away without saying anything. Loki sighed. 

“Is he feeling a little shy?”

“I don’t think so. He’s just not a chatterbox like teenage Peter” 

“Oh, I see” Li said. “I did notice he was quiet. I just assumed he was shy”

“He’s so quiet compared to big Peter. But he does sing to himself sometimes. Teenage Peter never does that”

“But he’s happy” Tony said. “He’s... happier than normal Peter”

“Poor Peter has been through such a lot. I still remember the look in his eyes when I first met him. He was so scared. He’s been much better recently, though. If this toddler hasn’t got memories of being a teenager, he doesn’t have the memories of everything he’s been through. Of course he’s happier. Or, happy in a different way”

Loki looked down at the toddler cuddled against his chest. “That’s exactly what I thought... He’s happier this way”

Tony looked at him. “It’s only temporary, darling”

“I know” Loki said. “But he’s happy now. That’s all that matters to me”

Peter wriggled off Loki’s lap and climbed off the sofa. He went over to the other sofa and climbed up beside Li. 

“Hello, Peter” Li said. “What have you got there?”

“This is my rocket” Peter said. 

“Well, that’s very lovely. It’s very colourful. Is this your favourite toy?”

Peter nodded. “Yep. I’ve got lots of toys. Daddy said I could have anything I wanted when we went to the shop”

“Really now? What did you get?”

“I got lots! I’ll show you!” Peter jumped down from the sofa, taking Li’s hand.

Li glanced at Loki and Tony, and then stood up and let Peter guide her over to his toy boxes. Peter took the lids off and started showing her all of his play sets. He showed her his building bricks and trains. He showed her his Noah’s ark and farm set. He couldn’t show her his new soft toys, because they were in his bedroom, but he could show her his baby. He spent a long time showing her his babies buggy and cot and high chair, and all of the little outfits and accessories. 

“You’re a very lucky little boy, aren’t you? What a lot of lovely toys you’ve got”

Peter nodded.

“You can feed my baby” he said, passing the baby doll and a plastic bottle over to her.

“Why, thank you” Li said, holding it like a real baby.

Peter clutched his rocket in his fist, and held his arms up to her. Li picked him up and sat back down on the sofa with the boy on his lap.

“He seems happy” Li said, ‘feeding’ the baby doll with one hand. “He’s small, but he doesn’t feel too thin or anything like that - he’s just little. He’s lovely, and you’ve done a good job so far. I can see he’s well supported and looked after. I know this is difficult for you, but you’ve done really well. I’m really happy with both of you”

“We’ll be ok” Tony said, taking Loki’s hand. “We’ve got each other. We’ve got our friends. It’s only for a little while, right? Just until Thor and all his people up in space have found a way to reverse it”

Li stroked Peter’s hair gently. She watched him turning his rocket over in his hands and rubbing his nose against the soft fabric. 

“You’re ok, aren’t you, sweetheart?”

Peter nodded. “Daddy said... Daddy said we’re going to the park today”

“I said maybe” Tony said. “We might try somewhere different”

“Oh!”

Tony smiled at him. “You’re so easily surprised, chick. We’ll think of something to do”

“He likes swimming” Loki said.

“He’s too little for our pool” Tony said. “He’d hurt himself on the fun bit”

“Yes, but there’s public pools. They tend to have baby pools alongside the normal pool” Loki said. “We could look into it. Indoor swimming pools will be good, especially if the weather isn’t great” 

“Ok, well, we’d need to get him a swim suit and some arm bands. Maybe some goggles?”

“Daddies are being boring again” Peter mumbled.

Li laughed. “They’re just planning, sweetheart”

“I’m hungry”

Loki stood up and held a hand out to Peter. “Let’s go and get you fed”

-

Li set the baby doll aside and talked with Tony more while Loki and Peter were out of the room. 

“You’re allowed to ask for help. I know you’ve got a solid support system, but me and everyone else I’ve referred you to before will always be here if needed”

“Thanks. I’m doing ok. A part of me still feels like I’ve lost my son. Peter’s a bit of a baby, but toddler Peter really is a baby. It’s still weird thinking of what happened. It still hurts” Tony said. “But I’ve started getting to know the toddler this week, and I love him. He’s my son. I’m getting used to it. This week seems to have gone on for years”

“I bet it’s been a learning curve for you” Li said. “You and Peter have always had a very special bond. That shouldn’t change because of what’s happened. He needs you to take care of him. Sure, you just avoided everything and pretended it wasn’t happening, but now you’ve got involved and started being a father again. That’s good. You’ve had to deal with worse situations than this with Peter. You’ll be able to do this”

“I still feel lost about it. It feels like much longer than two weeks. I didn’t really think about what I was doing, just thought that I needed to stay out of it. When I finally realised what I was doing to Loki, as well as the kid... Me and Loki have never fallen out like that before. I missed him. I’m so used to holding him and kissing him and talking to him every day, and it was hard not having that. I was used to being a unit. I think we’ve got that back now. It’s still gonna be tricky, but I think now we’ve got a routine and stuff, we can do it... Bloody hell, imagine if the public knew we were struggling. The press would have a field day”

“They won’t find out unless you tell them. You fed a false version of event to the press, and you were well within your rights to do so. You’re allowed to put yourself and your family first”

“Bruce did the press release for us. He’s good at that kind of thing”

“Have your friends been visiting?”

Tony shook his head. “I think Loki said Clint wanted to visit. I think mostly they’re trying to give us space...”

“You don’t sound very happy about that”

“I’m not. I want to see them. Usually I don’t mind not seeing people for a long time, but I do now. I feel kinda isolated. Maybe I should invite them over”

“It’s good to make use of your support system, even if you’re just hanging about watching films or having a takeaway. Something other than Avenging, perhaps?”

Tony laughed slightly. “Yeah, I think Loki would kill me if I tried to get the Iron Man suit on now. Kid’d probably love it though”

“I’m a big fan of it, but I think I’d advise against it right now too. At least until you’re settled with toddler parenthood”

Tony nodded. “...I bet that night at the hospital when you were called down to A&E for Peter’s case, you never expected half of the nightmares and weird things we’ve been through”

“You’ve definitely thrown up some surprises” Li smiled. “You’ve kept me on my feet, made me fill out a lot of paperwork. But between the two of us, you’re far from being the worst family on my list”

Tony laughed slightly. “What makes you say that? We’re definitely a total nightmare at times”

“Maybe your situations are” Li said carefully. “But even when you’re going through horrible, horrible things, you’re always looking after each other as best you can. There’s always lots of love between the three of you. Unlike a lot of people I see, I’ve never felt like Peter wasn’t safe and well looked after where he is. You’re a very different kind of ‘nightmare’ than a lot of my clients”

“I miss my baby. I miss my teenage son. I really, really miss him”

“I know.. I know”

“I want him back. I miss everything about him. I want him so much... It’s just a waiting game though, right? I want Thor to come back and brandish that reversal gun he’s up there to sort. Until then... I just have to get on with it. Look after the toddler”

“Have you talked to Loki about how you’re feeling?”

“Yeah, we’ve talked quite a lot...”

“Do you feel like you need to talk about this with someone else, professionally?”

“...Maybe. I don’t know. I’d need to find the time, between work and the kid and anything that comes up with the Avengers, it might be a bit hard”

“I’m sure Loki would understand if you needed to take a couple of hours out. You need to look after yourself as well as Peter”

“I’ll think about it” Tony said. “Thanks for this. I don’t know how you’re always so understanding when things are always so weird”

“It keeps things interesting for me” Li said. “I’ll be on the other end of the phone whenever you need me. You’ve known me long enough to know that by now”

Tony moved to sit next to her, and hugged her tight. She’d been a reassuring presence in their lives every since the day May had died. It was nice talking to someone familiar, someone who knew them. Someone who understood.

*

[silviasutton1989]

T.T.K. Chapter 17 “Stormholt”

A/N: Hey guys so first I’m not feeling that great today. I have had a headache all day and nothing has even lessened it in the slightest. But on another note I have don’t a new outline for this story and I am seeing the end to this tunnel in 10 to 12 more chapters (maybe...) I honestly did not think it was going to take me this long but I promise I will stick to my outline this time (will you all stick with me till the end??) One more thing this chapter explain who Olivia is and her mother’s motives for her actions. Now if I have some readers who were devoted TC&TF readers please don’t get mad at me if my history on Kenna isn’t canon (I really tried my best. As always I love you all and am so thankful for each comment like and reblog.

Word Count: 2200

Rating: Teen

Catch up: Chapter 1  1.2  2  3  4  5  6  7 8  9  9.2  9.25   10   11   12.1 12.2     13  14  15  16

Summary: Olivia learns about her history, Riley comes to a realization.

“Excuse me? What did you say?” Riley’s attention went directly to the reporter. She tried to keep a calm smile on her face, but as the cameras flashed

“Yes ma’am. We received a statement yesterday. Mister Drake announced a postponement of your nuptials due to unforeseen delays. Do you care to comment on that?”

Riley was never one to be afraid. She blindly left with men she had never known to go to a country she had never heard of on a whim. She had had a gun pointed at her face; heard the gun shot go off and her only thought was if everyone else was ok. The riots were frightful but if there was one thing Riley could handle it was fear. But hearing those words: “Your wedding had been postponed” petrified her.

She stood in front of the crowd a breakfast plate in her hand, her mouth unable to close.  

“Duchess Riley…do you care to comment.”

“I…I…”

“Today we are here to serve these citizens. The duchess will make a full statement when she is able. “ Liam gives her a reassuring look “I do have an announcement that I would like to personally tell the protestors.” Liam walks away from the table clearing his throat before blaring his voice so that the crowd could hear.

 “Everyone, if I may have your attention. I have heard your troubles and I must say that as your king I have failed you. If even one of my people are suffering then my reign is futile. But…I’m going to make this right. When we return to the palace there will be an auction. I will be selling my own valuables to support those in Portovia whose homes and jobs were lost in the constant floods. And I will give it all to you…if it takes everything I own.  I was born to serve my country and until I have nothing else to give I will give it to you all.”

The crowd cheers. A woman, with tears flowing down her check pulls him into a hug thanking him. An older man, who looked somewhat familiar came up to him, his face filled with shame, he takes his king’s hands bowing his head.

“Thank you your highness…I’m so sorry. I just…we needed help here.”

Liam assures him there’s no need to apologize but as the man walks away he feels the chain in his hand. He opens it to see the pearl necklace he had given to Riley.

“This is going to work.” Liam mutters proudly looking around to find Riley but she was rushing through the door of the estate.

“Take a deep breath. In…..Out”

Olivia followed dutifully, not because she believed in this inward spiritual cleansing crap but that during her stay with her aunt she learned that obedience was key to getting any answers from Lucretia. And since Olivia was as stubborn as a mule, she spent most of her 2 weeks there defying her aunt at every turn, meaning she knew no more about her mother than when she got there.

“Now repeat after me: I change my thoughts, I change my world”

“I change my thoughts, I change my world.”

“I want you to believe it. Say it again.”

With a humph Olivia repeats “I change my thoughts, I change my world”

“Good girl…now do you believe it?”

“Sure why not…” Olivia rolls her eyes. She sees Lucretia’s frustrated sigh and quickly straightens her spine. “I believe I can change my world. I hold that power, that it isn’t about who doesn’t love me, but if I love myself.  If I change my perception I can change my whole world….I got it. Now as lovely as slumming it with you and these hippie hobos for 2 weeks have been I would like to be done with this….please just tell me. What do I not know about my mother?”

Lucretia rubs her lips studying her niece. “Ok Olivia. But first there’s something I have been meaning to tell you. Things haven’t been going so great for Liam since you left….There has been… riots.”

Olivia let out a breath but still keeps her posture strong. “any attacks?”

“No he’s fine but the people are protesting against him, and if you ask me it’s pretty well needed. I mean, who does a unity tour after an assassination attempt? Almost half his country was under water last year and he’s going through the towns inviting people to a wedding!” Lucretia laughs but still watches Olivia very carefully. “So….are you going to go save him?”

“No. He is king, he can handle this. My thoughts are on my own world, not his.”

“Your world could be his…” She gives her niece a hard look.

“What does that even mean?”

“Olivia, do you know who Kenna Rhys was?”

“Uh yeah I took Cordonian History like every other grade schooler.”

“Kenna was the Queen to merge all 5 kingdoms. But have you ever wondered why she and any other sovergn had control of all the other kingdoms… but Lythikos?”

Olivia stirs in her seat and shakes her head.

“There’s been some debate over who Kenna married.  Many believed she married Dominic Hunter, a Stormont solider, and one of her oldest friends. And if history is true, after the death of Kenna and Dominic’s only child, there was no direct heir.  Kenna’s relatives had died so the throne went to Dominic’s family, who were nobles of Fydoria.  If that is true then Liam is the true heir to the throne because he is Dominic’s direct descendant…”

“Uh-huh” Olivia nods trying to follow along.

“But your mother believed that Kenna did not marry Dominic, she married Diavolos Nevarkis. And that would mean…” Lucritia waits for her niece to answer.

“That would mean that I am the heir to the throne?”  Her brows furrow as she sees the smile spread across her aunt’s face. “But wait, that doesn’t make any since. If she married Diavolos we would have had the throne centuries ago.”

“The only records we have of Kenna and her marriage was at least 100 years after her death. Kenna only had one child. When he died Stormholt was going through one of its biggest wars. Kingdoms all around knew that the country had lost their only surviving monarch decided to take it over. The Nevarkis’ and Dominic’s family from Fydoria and many other leaders form the 5 kingdoms were working together to keep the country intact. While our ancestors were in the battlefield fighting for our country, Constantine’s ancestors stayed at the capitol building alliances, gaining more territory, they even changed the name from Stormholt to Cordonia. The war lasted for decades and when our ancestors came back from war to rule the land they had risked their lives for, the Hunters who by then went by the name Rhys’ had enough support from the other five kingdoms to send us back to Lythikos. They changed the whole story claiming that Diavolos was simply one of Kanna’s many consorts and all it took was power and time before that lie to become Cordonia’s history.”

Olivia blankly stares at her aunt giving her brow a troubled rub. “Ok Aunt Lucy you made me meditate for 2 weeks so that you could tell me that a million years ago my thousands of great uncle married the queen of Cordonia, so by proxy it belongs to me.” She shakes her head and laughs. “This happened centuries ago, by now it doesn’t matter who she married Liam has the throne. What am I supposed to do with this? Take over the country? Even with proof, if the country had to choose me over him, I’m sure it wouldn’t be too hard of a choice.”

“Stop selling yourself short Olivia. I may have been living in No man’s Land but the press has been praising you for weeks, the people are rioting against Liam. You can take your throne and be the queen your mother died for you to be!”

“How am I supposed to do that? Even if this whole story is actually true, I have no proof, I have no support. I have no one!”

“Your mother had proof. I don’t know what it was or where it is now. But I know a few people who may be able to help you.”

Lucretia took a step towards Olivia whose bottom lip was lodged between her teeth, her thoughts clearly spinning in her head. She spoke carefully, “Persephone was one woman, who created her own army, and Kenna was one woman who claimed her country back. Your mother didn’t just wake up and decided she wanted to be queen she found out she truly was one and refused to be told anything different. I think that once you realize it too, once you realize that there’s a crown on your head even though you can’t see it you will change your world just like she tried to.”

“My mom had an army?” she couldn’t hide the prideful smile appearing on her face.

“Yes she did...and you know who they are."

There was a not in Hana’s stomach that wouldn’t go away. She went to the palace to give Riley peace of mind, to bring Drake back to her friend. But yesterday did not go as plan, when Drake left the ball room he never came back.

She saw Riley bounding down the hallway and gave her best smile. “Hey Riley I’m back from….” Riley walks right past her. “Riley are you ok?”

Her friend turns the corner and doesn’t give an answer. Not too far behind her Maxwell and Liam  are following her trail.

“He Hana Banana! Have you seen Riley?”

“Yeah she just walked right past me. Is she ok?”

“No Drake suspended the wedding.” Liam responds through clenched teeth.

“He did what!” The trio reaches Riley’s door slowly opening it unsure of what they would find. There running back and forth through her room was their friend, throwing every bit of clothing she could get her hand on into her luggage.

“I’m leaving.” She said plainly, marching to her closet, flinging the clothes with the hangers still attached onto her bed. “He doesn’t want to marry me. Fine I’m going home.”

“Riley he didn’t say the wedding was off just that it is postponed. Maybe the dates for the caterers are conflicting. You should talk to him before jumping to…” Liam takes a step towards her but she pushes past him to her suitcase stuffing more clothes into it.

“He won’t talk to me! I have called and texted him every night. He doesn’t respond. I don’t get it I did what he wanted me to do. I too our time apart seriously and then out of the blue he just does something like this….What did I do so bad?” She stops for a moment looking at her friends hoping they would give her an answer.

Hana speaks with clenched eyes “Riley. It’s my fault. I went to go see him yesterday and…well you and Liam were getting close and I got scared. I told him to come back with me…to come and get you before you two did something you would regret later. I was trying to help. I’m sorry I didn’t think he would do this I’m so sorry.”

Before Riley could say anything Hana began to sob, Maxwell quickly taking her into his arms to console her.

“It’s not your fault, it’s mine. I didn’t appreciate Drake. I knew I loved him more than Liam months ago, I didn’t need this break to figure that out and I should have told him that instead of playing along.”  She looks at her discarded clothes splayed over her bed. One of Drake’s white T’s lays in front of  her, it was one of the only things he left behind and she never wore it, too afraid his scent would fade away.

“I’m going to get him back.”

254 candles. 

Riley beamed as she basked in her work. A candle for each day she had known Drake. She was convinced this would work, as she lit the very last one. 

She spent her last week on tour getting ready for tonight. She found the perfect lingerie - a black lace holster set (Drake had always loved her in black). She had her nails done waxed and even straightened her hair. Tonight needed to be a fantasy he needed to remember why he loved her.

She could hear the sound of heavy footsteps approaching the door and her nerves began to heighten.

Is the bath water hot enough?

Do I have enough condoms?

She scurried around the room making sure everything was in its place, before stopping at a mirror.

Is this enough? Am I really enough?

She didn't have time to answer as the door swings open, Drakes large body taking u the space of the door frame. She quickly lifts her chest and splays her best sultry smile.

His eyes widen,"Surprise! I came back early.....Did you miss me?"

Her smile was weakening as she waited for him to answer. But he didn't speak, only scanning her body and all the candles lit around them. She waited for a smile, a smirk, just the tiniest hint that he was happy to see her. But there wasn't any.

Tag List:  If you want to be on the tag list permanently (this one is randomly selected with some permanent in as well)  let me know. If you DO NOT want to be tagged ever just send me a message I will not be upset.

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[julia-highstorms]

The Third Park (Damien x OC (Ellie)) - Part 14

Summary: The dinner with Lucy and Robert ended up frustratingly, but Damien and Ellie further the investigation… and their relationship.

Author’s note: I know it’s been almost a month since I posted last part and I want to apologise for it 😔 (at least I posted a special part of Ellie and D, “The Girl with the Leopard Print Coat”) and I’ve been having a terrible writer’s block so I decided that it’s better to announce that I am taking a semi-hiatus on writing. I will still be here with my usual shitposts, but not posting any new fanfic or any new part of my current series (hopefully I will go back to writing sooner than later! 🙌). Thank you so much for your patience and please don’t give up on TTP because o absolutely love Damie x Ellie and I’m defini going to end this series lol 😭

Disclaimer: (most) characters belong to Pixelberry Studios. Damien is 100% human in here and my Male!MC is named Allen. Link to previous parts.

Pairing: Damien x OC (Ellie)

Rating: Teen (language)

Tagging: @christopher-powell @boneandfur @kennaxval @writtenbycandy @thequeenchoices @client327 @damienazariostan @never-ending-choices @walkerismychoice @laniquelovely @confessionsofabrokegirl @dangerous-capri15 @parkerattano @clarissafics @pilitella @hellomynameisdeviblaire @odetomars @cocomaxley @her-imperial-hangman-s @endlesswoods @miss-cordonia-deactivated201808 If you would like to be tagged, please, tell me!

Word count: 2582

When Eleanor Zhou woke up that Saturday, she was surprised to find herself alone in the bed. She looked at the clock. It was a little later than 9 o’clock.

“Damien?” - she asked as she walked out of the bedroom, letting her eyes adjust to the morning light. His things were there in the living room, but there was no sign of him. Or Freddie.

Then, she heard a male voice coming from her tiny kitchen.

“You can try using this trick with me all you want, but I won’t fall for it, buddy.” - Ellie just couldn’t believe what her eyes were seeing. Damien Nazario was by her stove, cooking something and actually talking to her dog, that was obediently sitting next to him. Making no sound, she rested on the kitchen door frame with her arms crossed, watching the man’s broad shouldered figure. A smile tugged on the corner of her lips and she felt a warmth spreading on her chest. - “These puppy dog eyes won’t make me give you my food.”

Realising that he wasn’t going to get any bacon from that mean human, Freddie whimpered frustratingly and turned away, noticing that his human was there. He trotted towards her, his tail wagging. Damien noticed the dog sudden content and looked over his shoulder, seeing Ellie there too. She chuckled softly as she kneeled to stroke Freddie’s ears.

“Good morning.”

“Morning. How are you feeling?”

“Still a little pissed with yesterday’s dinner. But well rested.” - she answered, walking towards him and wrapping her arms around his waist. - “So are you making us breakfast?”

“Yeah. I hope you like pancakes and bacon, because these are pretty much the only things I know how to cook well.” - she giggled.

“I love pancakes.” - and put a light kiss on the nape of his neck. If Damien wasn’t already all aroused by simply feeling Ellie’s body pressed against his, behind the thin fabric of her t-shirt, he definitely was now. - “I can’t believe you actually woke up early and is cooking. And have you already take Freddie for his morning walk?”

“Well, yeah.” - the private investigator shrugged. - “I was awakened by his whining. He was scratching the door so I figured he needed to go out. And I fed him too.”

“Wow. Maybe I should feel gloomy more often, then.” - she tightened the hug. - “Thank you for taking care of me, D.”

“It’s nothing.” - he turned to face her, cupping her face with his hands and leaning down, his lips meeting hers. Ellie deepened the kiss. - “Ellie…” - she giggled mischievously to Damien’s groan of alert. Her hand explored his stiff length, over his clothes. - “I’m going to burn the pancakes.”

“Alright, alright, you convinced me!” - she pulled out, raising her hands in a apologising gesture, still laughing. - “Guess I’ll have to thank you for this later…”

“You don’t need to… but I’d like that.” - they shared a devilish smirk. - “Anyway, can you make the coffee?”

  The pancakes weren’t burnt and they were pretty good, in fact. Eleanor felt like it had been ages since someone cooked for her.

“What?” - Damien asked as she giggled to herself. They had decided that they weren’t going after Robert that weekend; meeting with him the night before was enough of seeing his face. So, now they were binge watching to super cheesy and trashy movies. Ellie just couldn’t stop laughing to Damien’s snarky commentary.

“I was just thinking…” - she looked at him. They were both laying down on her couch, with him beneath her, one of his arms around her shoulders. - “Have you noticed that you’re always babysitting me? Since back in NY.” - she chuckled again. - “Actually, you’re always babysitting the Park cousins, aren’t you?” - Damien smirked back at her.

“Well, someone needs to look after Allen and Nadia since none of them is responsible.” - they shared a laugh. - “But with you… I don’t think this is babysitting.” - he caressed her smooth cheek with his thumb, his eyes staring at Ellie’s soft and pink lips. - “Besides, I know you would do the same to me.” - her grin widened and she raised an eyebrow.

“Oh would I? How can you be so sure about it, Nazario?” - Eleanor bent over him, their noses brushing slightly.

“Because you can’t resist me, Zhou.” - she rolled her eyes.

“Cocky.” - she whispered but kissed him anyway. He deepened it, tightening his grip around her, enjoying her weight pressing him against the small couch. - “…But maybe you’re right.” - she admitted, her forehead resting on his. - “You’re just so damn irresistible, Nazario.” - her lips travelled from his jaw to his neck, teasingly. - “You know, I still haven’t thanked you for helping me…”

She felt one of his hands on her chin, guiding her mouth back to his, kissing her demandingly and passionately. Eleanor moaned softly when their hips pressed together, letting her feel how badly he wanted her, as Damien’s calloused hands squeezed her thighs hungrily.

“D…” - the woman murmured, her breath speeding up, as she started unbuttoning his shirt, still on top of him. His heart was beating as fast as hers. - “I— AAAH, FREDDIE!”

Ellie cursed under her breath as she climbed down. Damien sat up too, feeling confused.

“What happened?” - he asked, looking to where a yellow shadow headed to.

“He licked me!” - Ellie shouted, visibly annoyed.

Damien just couldn’t hold back a laugh. The moment was completely gone, again. And because of the dog. Again.

“I guess this is Freddie way of saying that he wants some attention. Or that he wants us to work.” - the man observed, still chuckling softly.

“I guess you meant that he’s such a cockblocker.” - and then, Ellie joined him, laughing at the ridiculousness of that situation.

She called the dog back a few minutes later, when they both finally stopped laughing. It was just so damn hard to stay angry at that big doofus yellow furball for too long.

A detective work takes time, but the upcoming weeks passed swiftly, with Lucy’s and Zucko’s wedding day approaching each day.

Damien Nazario didn’t accept other cases while he was working with and for Eleanor Zhou and he spent most of his time there in Northbridge. He even rented an apartment, just two blocks from hers, to facilitate their ‘meetings’ (and so they could have some private time without Freddie interrupting them all the time…).

He kept following the ‘happily engaged’ couple. Some days he would spend hours outside their mansion (he found a really good spot from a neighbor’s house, and he even didn’t had to bribe anyone to get in there. All he needed to do was use his best charming smirk and a few compliments to the old single lady who lived just across the street and she happily let him in. Turned out that she was a big fan of Agatha Christie’s novels too and found his job ‘very exciting’. She even baked some cookies for him) and Zucko’s Point. Lucy’s routine was pretty normal; she was part of the Human Resources of Prescott Industries and worked 9 to 5, from Monday to Friday. Occasionally, Robert would give her a ride, but she usually left their house around 08:15 and took a train to her work. She would always go straight at home after work and she rarely left the mansion, even on weekends.

Robert’s life, on the other hand, had anything but routine. Although he went to his pub everyday, the time wasn’t the same. Some days he would go there just at the evening. Others, he would leave his house before dawn. It was crazy and exhausting.

And about the schedule he found on the man’s office, Robert indeed received some suspicious packages. And he would always go get them himself, personally, accompanied by a bodyguard. Damien was suspecting that it was drugs, but he couldn’t have a way to prove it without risking getting caught.

But it wasn’t all just work. Although he didn’t spend as much time as he wished with Ellie - since she worked from 9 to 5, and he had to follow Zucko and his crazy schedule everywhere -, they had established a weekly meeting on Saturdays, so he would inform her about anything new and suspicious about their suspect.

…And they would spend the whole weekend together. She would even join him on following Robert sometimes. But there were some days that they would spend the time with just each other’s company, shutting the world outside. Their favorite past time was making love, obviously. But it wasn’t just it. He learned a lot of things about Ellie.

The first thing he noticed about Eleanor Zhou was that, although she was a very outgoing person - she seemed to have that natural charisma the Parks had, that made almost everyone easily like them -, she had very few close friends. In fact, only Lucy seemed to be a close friend of hers. People from her work would always invite her - and even Damien, after her friend Poppy Patel apparently gossiped about him to everyone at Mortif - to go to their happy hours - and they actually went a couple of times -, but Ellie was more of an indoors person, preferring to stay at home over than going out. She liked spending her time reading, listening to music (and dancing along with it) and watching TV. Very simple and ordinary, different from the Ellie he met in New York, who went out everyday.

When he told her about that, she said “well, obviously! When I’m on a vacation, I’ll enjoy every single minute of it. I won’t spend my time locked in some hotel room; I like to explore new places and the city… but when I’m at home, I just like spending time at my cozy little apartment. Everything that I need is right here and my idea of a fun Friday night is eating junk food, watching Netflix and squealing over my series”.

It wasn’t much different from his, to be honest. His idea of a fun Friday night was getting drunk and making sarcastic commentary on made-for-TV-movies.

And then, one night, as they watched to the newest episode of one of Ellie’s favorite reality TV shows, America’s Most Eligible, after following Robert for hours and getting no new information, Damien caught himself thinking that, hey, whatever they were having, it was nice. It was calm and simple. Ellie was right, things could be simpler.

Neither of them talked about their relationship again and, although he knew he shouldn’t be thinking about it, Damien almost had the sensation that they were indeed dating. When they weren’t working to undercover Robert Zucko, at least.

Even though they were free to get involved with someone else, both of them didn’t need or want to meet with other people. They just seemed comfortable with being around each other. There was no big stress between them; they understood each other easily and respected their lives and personal space.

And to be completely honest… Damien hadn’t felt that happy for a long time. That was… that was the life he expected to share with Allen, years ago. Be part of his mundane, boring, and everyday life.

And here he was having it with Eleanor, someone he’d known for only almost four months. And things were being great. Even thinking about Allen sharing it with Hayden didn’t hurt as much as before.

Maybe he was finally healing. Maybe… Ellie could be the one. The one that would tolerate the boring, tired and cranky Damien Nazario.

It felt like she actually wanted to know him entirely, expecting nothing in exchange. Eleanor Zhou came into his life tearing down his walls, willing to get to know him. All of his sides, his traits and flaws.

And he wanted to know hers too.

Would things finally work? Would his life finally get that good constant that he’d been looking for years?

With Ellie?

It was the ending of September, Damien Nazario was a year older and the whether already was getting a little chiller. It was a Saturday night, and he and Ellie were inside his old muscle car, parked in a side little alley across Zucko’s Point street. Damien watched the pub’s front doors with his binoculars, while Eleanor ate some potato chips to distract her from all that boredom.

“So, how long are we going to stay here?” - Ellie knew that she was the one who hired him for the case and that she volunteered herself to help him investigate her best friend’s shady fiancé, but she was feeling so bored. She thought that a detective life would be far more interesting.

He chuckled, already used to Eleanor Zhou’s impatience.

“Patience, Ellie, it’s all about—”

“I know, I know.” - she rolled her eyes, interrupting him. - “Investigating is all about patience.” - she said in a strong voice, clearly imitating him. Damien couldn’t hold back a laugh. He turned to look at her.

“This was just terrible.”

“Fuck you, I know this was a perfect interpretation of Damien Nazario! Maybe my hidden skill is imitating people. I should become a voice actor!” - he laughed again.

“You’re such a dork.” - Damien stated. Eleanor just smirked back at him and shrugged, still chewing on her chips. D could say whatever he wanted, but she knew he liked her dorkiness anyway.

Damien gazed at the woman sitting next to him with longing eyes, a small grin on his face, when a sudden light grabbed him attention. He returned to observe the street.

They saw a black van parking just outside the pub. Two men climbed down the car as Zucko himself walked out of the building. They seemed to be buddies, since they patted each other’s back affectionately. Damien focused on the guys who had just arrived.

And then, something clicked inside his head. That name that he saw on Robert Zucko’s papers. It was from a drug dealer he was investigating back when he still was an agent in NYPD. And he was there, just across the street, talking to Robert Zucko in hushed tones.

“The camera, Ellie.” - the private investigator ordered and she quickly gave it to him. - “We’ve got you, motherfucker.” - he muttered as he positioned his professional camera and zoomed in. Thankfully, Zucko’s Point neon lights illuminated the group of men talking outside. Damien took several pictures, before the two men climbed back into the car and went away, while Robert entered the pub.

“What? Who were those guys? Do you know them?” - Eleanor questioned, still feeling a little lost with that sudden meeting. It took like just 10 minutes to happen.

“The bald one is called Octavio” - she nodded, reminding of one of the guys from the super shady van. - “…he’s a drug dealer. NYPD has been on his track for years. Trying to find to whom he works.”

“Holy fucking shit! Do you think he works for Robert?”

“I can’t confirm it by just what we witnessed here, but it definitely is suspicious. And I recall that we suspected that Octavio worked for a drug trafficking organization that had networks in all the US. But this organization was very discreet and we’d never had enough proof.”

Ellie nodded, taking all that information in. So maybe Lucy’s fiancé was a drug dealer. Okay.

She definitely didn’t see that coming.

“And now what?” - she finally asked, turning to face Damien again.

He already was looking at her, a mischievous smirk on his lips.

“Now we go full offence.”

[invisibletinkerer]

Fic: 30 Seconds Later (chapter 12)

Chapter 1 – Chapter 2 – Chapter 3 – Chapter 4 – Chapter 5 – Chapter 6 – Chapter 7 – Chapter 8 – Chapter 9 - Chapter 10 - Chapter 11 - Chapter 12 - Chapter 13

Length: ~4000 words

AO3 Link

Stanford threw the bundled bedclothes in the approximate direction of the couch, then pulled the intricately carved door shut behind himself with a louder slam than he’d intended, turning the key in the lock before Stanley could come after him. He needed to be alone, and he needed it now. He needed to think about what he was doing, as well as what he was not doing.

The pyramid prism was still sitting on the floor, and Ford kicked it as hard as he could, watching it hit the wall, sadly without shattering.

Mulling over the impossible would not help, but he just needed a moment without seeing Stanley’s impossibly aged face looking at him like he was some kind of—

Long lost brother. If it was only that simple.

Ford squared his shoulders and clenched his hands behind his back, pacing restlessly across the room to the fake fireplace, turned on his heels, back to the door, turned again. Relaxing was out of the question, even though he knew very well that he could rest inside the barrier. He’d already proven that. He was safe.

Was he?

The bloodied sheets from last night suggested otherwise, and so did the vaguely hot ache across his skin that refused to fade away, despite factually being nothing but a collection of rather minor injuries. Bill owned him. That was a fact, too. It didn’t mean he was completely helpless. Bill might think of him as a toy, but he’d never given up the fight, and he certainly wasn’t about to do it now, when he suddenly had a stronger position than he’d had in weeks. And yet—

Ford took a deep breath and kept pacing.

He did have a course of action. Stanley’s assistance would make acquiring the alien adhesive from the UFO wreckage a relatively simple matter, and it was possible, though somewhat unlikely, that it would be able to seal the rift permanently. In any case applying it to the jar would most definitely make it more difficult for Bill to open it, which would buy more time.

The fact remained that he shouldn’t need more time. Bill could have been gone already.

If only Stanley hadn’t been so stubborn. Bill could have been gone if only Stanley had agreed to wipe Ford’s mind, like a sensible person.

Bill could have been gone if only Ford had agreed to wipe Stanley’s mind.

That was not the same!

Ford’s foolishness had caused this mess. It only made sense that he’d be the one to clean it up. Ford’s mind would have been a fair price to pay to destroy Bill – a perfect solution without unnecessary loose ends. He’d deal with the demon one last time, and that would be it. The world would be safe and no one would have any reason to fear the results of his mistakes ever again. Stanley hadn’t even been involved in the original deal. He’d made enormous mistakes, yes – shoving Ford at the activated portal had been one, and escalating the danger by bringing him back was another – but even that would have been for the greater good if it meant Ford could now use his recovered life to erase Bill from existence.

It was a clear, logical answer. Why couldn’t Stanley see it? Ford had already been gone for thirty years! What did Stanley expect him to do?

Besides, no matter what he said, it made no sense for Stanley to die for something Ford had done to himself. This was perfectly logical reasoning, and the fact that it was Stanley didn’t—

Ford stopped and leaned his forearms against the door. His shoulders were trembling despite his best efforts to make them stop.

Someone yanked at the door from the other side, making him flinch. It was locked and didn’t open, though.

“Sixer? You in there?”

“Yes.” Ford drew a deep breath, involuntarily relaxing slightly at the sound of his brother’s voice. “Yes, Stanley, I’m in here. I’m tired and I need some privacy.” All perfectly true. “I’m inside the barrier and I’m not going to spontaneously combust or whatever it is you believe will happen. Just leave me alone.”

“Oh,” Stanley said. “Yeah. Sure.” The door creaked like Stanley was leaning up against it, not leaving at all. “You okay, though?”

Ford sighed and leaned back against the door, too. “I’m fine.”

“If you say so,” Stanley said, clearly disbelieving – in which case, why did he ask in the first place? “Look—” He stopped.

“What?” Ford asked after a few beats. If Stanley had something further to say, he should say it.

“I wanna know if Bill hurt you when he possessed you last night.”

Ford winced, but no – Stanley couldn’t have seen the blood stains. They’d been covered up, and Ford had carried the bedclothes away without uncovering them. “Yes,” Ford said evenly. “You saw my wrist.”

“I mean other than that.”

“No.” The cuts were hardly serious. Not worth talking about. Most definitely not worth the humiliation of showing Stanley exactly what Bill had been doing to him. Bill had puppeteered him enough already, and the important thing was preventing him from doing so again. Food and rest had already made him stronger, and whatever physical pain Bill had left him with would go away on its own soon enough – there was no need for anyone to look at him. “I’m fine, Stanley.”

Stanley snorted on the other side of the door, but thankfully didn’t argue. “Right,” he said. “I’ll be around if you need anything.” Heavy footsteps down the hall made it clear that he was leaving.

Ford sank down to sit with his back against the door. Yes, Stanley was concerned about him. Yes, Stanley had foolishly refused the opportunity to kill Bill Cipher for no other reason than that he wanted Ford to survive. A small wave of resentment shot through him again – it would have been a simple task, and Stanley had blankly refused, just like when he was asked to take the journal away. For being so insistently helpful, he was being extremely unhelpful.

And yet the fact remained that Stanley had offered an alternative, and Ford had failed to take it. The alternative had been less tidy and less fair, but it would still have worked. Bill would have been gone. And Ford would have been alive. Alive, thirty years in the future with the still-breathing remains of the only person who—

There had to be another way.

It could have already been over, but it wasn’t. He pounded a fist weakly on the floor, torn between frustration and a faint whisper of hope.

Stanley would still do what had to be done if it became immediately necessary. He needed to trust that.

Think. Perhaps there was something he had overlooked? He was long overdue for a proper journal entry, too. And— His eyes drifted to the pile of cloth on the floor nearby. He should probably do something about those bloodstains.

 * * *

Dipper was a lot less excited when he made his way downstairs for breakfast the next morning than he had been the day before. He hadn’t slept well, because as it turned out, cracked ribs were really annoying, despite painkillers and everything. It was almost impossible to be comfortable, and even Mabel had complained that he was groaning and grumbling during the night.

When he did sleep, he’d had nightmares. At least he hoped they were nightmares. The very real alternative was that Bill was actively trying to make him panic, and he didn’t like that possibility at all. He was worried enough anyway, without imagining that the barrier didn’t work and great uncle Stanford would be possessed and kill them in their sleep, or that Bill would be able to touch the rift from the other side and it would swallow the whole Shack. He hadn’t even seen the rift yet! It was stupid. Great uncle Stanford might know how to tell if a dream involving Bill was actually a dream or not, but he wasn’t sure if he dared to ask.

He wasn’t sure if he dared talk to great uncle Stanford at all. Yes, Stanford had said he wasn’t mad at him yesterday. But it wasn’t like he’d been willing to talk to Dipper again after that whole fiasco, either. He’d just gone back to being twitchy and distant and yelling at Stan, and then he’d pretty much locked himself in the room with the barrier all evening. Mabel had assumed he’d gone to sweater town.

Dipper couldn’t shake the feeling that somehow it was all his fault.

He did want to talk to Stanford, but there was a nervous whisper in his guts insisting that he’d just make him sleep again. He’d just make everything worse.

A smaller whisper insisted that the next time that happened, Bill would definitely kill him.

The rest of the family – Mabel, Stan and great uncle Stanford – were already seated at the table when Dipper arrived, which only increased his nervousness.

“Morning, sleepyhead!” Mabel announced while helping herself to a way too overstuffed pancake like it was a perfectly normal morning.

“Morning, kiddo,” grunkle Stan added. Dipper mumbled a reply as he sat down on a chair and pulled a pancake over to his plate.

Great uncle Stanford didn’t say anything, but when Dipper looked up at him he found that the man was watching him. Well, Dipper could watch him back.

Actually, Stanford looked a bit better today. He wasn’t exactly smiling, but he didn’t look like he was prepared to bolt any moment, either. He was wearing the same shirt and sweater west and trench coat as yesterday, and the trench coat was still awesome, just the kind of thing a real paranormal investigator would wear. Also, he’d shaved, and his eyes were a lot less bloodshot. Dipper noted that he was eating a plain pancake with just a tiny spread of syrup.

It occurred to Dipper that Stanford might have slept better than he had. That had to mean the barrier was working, right? He rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hand and reached for the maple syrup, wishing he could think of anything to say. Maybe apologize again?

Surprisingly, Stanford spoke first. “Dipper?”

Dipper almost jumped. “Yes!”

“Where did you get that hat?”

That was not what he’d expected to hear, not that he knew exactly what he’d expected. “Oh—This?” He touched the hat self-consciously. “It’s from the gift shop. Grunkle Stan gave it to me at the beginning of summer after some gnome ate my old hat.”

“I see.” Stanford frowned and turned to grunkle Stan. “Do you sell many of those?”

“Eh,” Stan said with a shrug. “Some. Mostly to out-of-state tourists – the pine tree is kinda iconic for the forests in this part of the country. I’ve got some other designs, too. Why – you want one?”

“No, no. But you’re right, it is iconic.”

“Do you like it?” Dipper asked, mostly because he had no idea what Stanford was going for.

“I recognize it, that’s all.” He tapped his fingers on the table. “It might be a coincidence. I’ll have to do some more research before I know if it means anything.”

Dipper chewed on his fork, before noticing he’d never put any pancake on it. He quickly put it out of his mouth and pointed to Stanford with it. “Great uncle Stanford, I think—” He stopped. There was a rather weird connection he wanted to make here, but maybe that would be a mistake? Talking about Bill at breakfast would just make great uncle Stanford upset again, and just because Bill had called him “Pine Tree” didn’t mean the random symbol had some kind of significance, did it? “—I think it’s a great hat,” he finished awkwardly.

“Yes. Of course.” Stanford blinked. “The symbol is especially appropriate for the Pines family. Your name is still Pines, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

Stanford gave him a small smile, and Dipper decided he’d made the right choice not to mention Bill. “You know, Dipper,” he said, “’Great uncle Stanford’, is a mouthful. I suggest you call me ‘uncle Ford’, like your sister does.”

Dipper gasped. “Yes uncle Ford!” he squeaked. He wasn’t mad at him, he really wasn’t mad at him—

“Yes, Dipdop, don’t be so formal just because you’ve idolized him all summer,” Mabel said with a grin, completely unnecessarily. Dipper glared at her, then turned back to Stanford. Ford.

“Look,” he said, too quickly. “I’m really sorry about yesterday and I definitely won’t let that happen again!”

Ford looked uncomfortable at that. “I believe I already told you there is nothing for you to feel sorry about.”

“I know, but—”

Mabel poked his cheek. “Not your fault, dummy,” she said over a mouthful of sparkly pancake.

Grunkle Stan snorted, then coughed, covering it up with a swig of his coffee.

Dipper swallowed. He didn’t want to look ridiculous, not when Ford was talking to him again! “So, anyway,” he said, trying to sound casual. “What are the plans for today?”

Ford chewed on a piece of pancake, then took a deep breath. “Well, since I am now functionally recovered from my bout of sleep deprivation—” He glanced meaningfully at Stan like they didn’t quite agree on that conclusion, “—I and Stanley will take a day trip to a certain location in the valley to collect a substance that will help secure the rift.”

Dipper perked. “Can I come with you?” he blurted.

“No,” Stan said immediately before Ford could reply. “Dipper, you’re hurt.”

Yeah. That. “But I can still—”

“It’s unnecessary,” Ford interrupted, “Besides, I have only two magnet guns.”

“Also, no,” Stan repeated, putting his coffee mug down on the table with a thump. “I’m not gonna have you run around with rib fractures and puncture your own lungs. Hot Belgian waffles, why does no one in this family have any sense of self-preservation?”

Dipper grimaced, but nodded reluctantly. Grunkle Stan was right. He might be up for a walk in the woods, but running around and fighting gremloblins or something would probably be painful. Besides, if he messed up again, and Bill showed up— Ugh. Of course they wouldn’t bring him along.

“Wait,” he said, suddenly hearing what Ford had said. “Magnet guns? Where are you—”

“Can I come with you?” Mabel interrupted brightly. “I have a grappling hook!”

Dipper tried very hard to be reasonable and not at all jealous of his sister’s lack of debilitating injuries, only partially succeeding.

Grunkle Stan and uncle Ford glanced at each other like they were actually considering it, too, but then Ford shook his head. “No, that’s unnecessary, too. I’ll have Stanley as backup, and although I don’t think we’ll encounter too much trouble, this isn’t a pleasure trip.”

Mabel shrugged. “Okay, but you have to promise you’ll have fun together!”

“I just told you—"

“Where are you going, anyway?”

Ford huffed and cracked an almost wicked smile. “Oh, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Poindexter here hasn’t even told me,” Stan said. “Says I’ll get it when I see it.”

Dipper’s eyes widened. “You can’t just leave it at that! Great uncle—Uncle Ford, you can’t just give us a mystery like that!”

Ford’s smile faded and he looked uncomfortable again. “You’re right,” he said. “It was a mistake to mention it at all. Forget about it, Dipper. You’re an intelligent child, but please, I ask you not to follow in my footsteps. You’ll only get hurt again.”

Well, that wasn’t cryptic and ominous at all. Dipper sighed and went back to his pancake.

 “Dipper,” Mabel said, lying on the living room floor with a sheet of paper, some colored pens, and her pig by her side, looking up at Dipper when he sighed for the third time in as many minutes. Grunkle Stan and his brother was still upstairs in the attic storage space rummaging for equipment, and Dipper was in the TV chair, trying to convince himself not to stow away in the car so he could see where they’d go. The TV droned on on low volume about the town reparations after the gravity reversal the other night, but neither of them paid it any attention. “Stop being so mopey. I’m trying to write a letter here.”

“I’m not mopey,” Dipper said. “I’m frustrated.”

“Yeah, you’re mopey! They didn’t want me to come either, and I didn’t even almost die yesterday. All I’ve got is this little bruise where the unicorn kicked me.” She pulled up her sweater and showed him. It was definitely not much of an injury.

“I know.”

“Oh!” Mabel said, holding up her pen. Dipper noticed she had drawn a pretty good portrait of Stan and Ford, with Ford looking almost the same as Stan but with brown hair. “I almost forgot the season finale of Ducktective is tomorrow! It’s just as well this girl isn’t going anywhere today – I’ve got some preparations to do for that!” She grinned. “Quack quack!”

Dipper rolled his eyes. He did like Ducktective, and he was looking forward to seeing the finale, but it was no substitute for real mysteries. Like where grunkle Stan and uncle Ford were going today. But he had to get himself stomped on yesterday, hadn’t he? There had to be something he could still do.

“You can go get the mail!” Mabel suggested. Wait, had he said that last part out loud? “I heard the post car a while ago.”

In fact, getting the mail turned out to be an awesome idea that immediately improved Dipper’s mood. There was a package for him! He’d almost forgotten about it in all the excitement about Stanford, but he’d ordered this from a store in Portland a few days ago, and now it had finally arrived.

No, he did not squeak like mouse and hug the box when he laid eyes on it. Well, okay, he did. But only because it was his favorite thing in the world. It almost outweighed the injuries and nightmares and disappointments. This was what he was doing today. He grabbed the heavy package and rushed inside, cracked ribs and all.

“Mabel!” he exclaimed. “You’ll never guess what was in the mail for me!”

“Dogs!” she guessed wildly. “Dogs with hats!”

“No, even better!” Dipper insisted, putting the package down on the floor with a flourish. He ripped the plain wrapping paper off and tore the cardboard box open with a huge grin, revealing the box art. It was new and included ogres, elves, unicorns, and the clearly recognizable evil wizard Probabilator. “It’s my favorite game of all time! Dungeons, Dungeons and More Dungeons!” Dipper held it up triumphantly. “You wanna play it with me?”

“Well...”

Of course, she didn’t. Dipper should have known that, and not just because he was already having a bad day. He might have kinda sorta chosen to forget how much Mabel hated math. Just because the game involved math didn’t mean it was boring like homework! He knew she’d see that if she only tried it out, but every time he tried to explain he just made the grimace on her face worse. Not even the hot elf on the box was enough to win her over.

When Soos arrived in the middle of Dipper’s failed attempts at explanation, Mabel used the distraction to run away to the other side of the room with her half-finished letter. But then Soos didn’t want to play with Dipper either. For one thing, he had work to do repairing the Shack, and for another, he was apparently more into live-acting fantasy adventures with foam swords. Which was stupid – why would anyone want to do that when they could use dice?

Dipper briefly considered trying to call someone else, but that wasn’t really possible. He would die of embarrassment if he tried to ask Wendy to play with him, and her teenage friends were out of the question, too. DD&MD was a nerdy game after all, and they’d stop thinking he was cool faster than a greased lightning bolt. Who else were there? Pacifica Northwest would murder him, and Candy and Grenda were both Mabel’s friends.

Basically, he was down to either feeling sorry for himself again or doing something drastic.

He got the rulebook, the board, and the screens set up outside by the front porch and roped the goat into playing with him.

Surprisingly, Gompers was pretty adept at rolling a 38-sided die, as long as you knew how to stop him from eating it. Dipper just had to make up a character for him – a mutant humanoid goat, of course – and interpret what he wanted to do inside the dungeon. It was... okay. Maybe not as much fun as a real game, but better than not playing.

“So, you go down the stairs,” he told Gompers, “and—”

The door on the porch behind him opened abruptly, making the goat baah loudly and run off into the forest.

Dipper groaned and turned around. “Would you mind—”

“Oh, hey kid,” grunkle Stan said, clearly not noticing he’d just made Dipper’s player flee. “What ya doing? Some kinda game?”

“Yeah!” Dipper picked up the die and rolled it between his hands. “It’s this fantasy-talking, level-counting game that involves statistics and graphs and magic spells!”

“Have fun with that.” Stan shrugged. “Coming, Sixer?”

Ford emerged from the doorway patting the pockets of the trench coat as if making sure he hadn’t forgotten anything. When he passed Dipper, he glanced down, and – stopped. Stared. His eyes widened into circles and Dipper could have sworn he saw stars in them.

“Uncle Ford?” Dipper asked warily. He’d never done this before. “Is something wrong?”

“Is that—” Ford paused long enough to get off the porch and crouch on the ground next to Dipper. “Is that Dungeons, Dungeons and More Dungeons?”

Dipper dropped the die in his lap. “You know of it?”

“Know of it?” Stanford blinked and finally stopped staring at the board, turning to Dipper. “It’s my favorite game in the universe!”

“Really?” Dipper leaned forward, suddenly too excited to know what to do with himself. “You like it? It’s such a great game but I can’t find anyone to play with me and—”

“With pen and paper…” Ford mumbled, a wistful smile on his face.

“…shield and sword!” Dipper filled in, with a grin, overjoyed when Ford chorused with him for the second half of the motto: “Our quest shall be our sweet reward!”

Ford giggled like he couldn’t believe what he was doing. Dipper was laughing too, and he definitely couldn’t believe it. His new uncle who was the author of the journals liked to play DD&MD. He had to stop himself from making a very undignified sound of happiness, and almost didn’t notice grunkle Stan chuckling above them.

“Now that’s the Poindexter I remember,” Stan said, more gently than Dipper would have expected. Stan always made fun of him for liking nerdy stuff – it’s not like he would ever play this game. “I knew ya’d hit it off with Dipper, he’s a nerdling just like you.”

“Well,” Ford said. “I’m—”

“What do ya say? It’s not like the rift can’t wait another day. Wanna drop everything and play with him?”

Ford abruptly rose to his feet. “Absolutely not.” Dipper’s stomach sank.

“Hey, I’m just saying,” Stan said, raising his hands. “It’d be good for ya.”

“It would be a frivolous waste of time, and you are well aware of that, Stanley. I’ve wasted enough time already, and I’m more than well enough now that that any further delay would be unconscionable.”

“Yeah, ya said that. It’s still gonna have to be me who picks up the pieces if it turns out you’re not up to it.”

“Yes. I know you will.” Ford sighed softly, then turned and started walking towards the car.

“Wait!” Dipper called, getting to his feet. Of course uncle Ford wouldn’t want to play now that he was busy going on some world-saving mission, but— “Would you play it with me later? When you come back?”

Please please please—

Ford hesitated long enough that Dipper was sure he was going to say no. Finally, he dropped his shoulders and looked at Dipper with a strangely open expression. “Yes,” he said. “I would like that very much, actually.”