#yeah the last post was meant to just be a bust shot and it got out of hand. that sketch is a remnant of the intial idea
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autoboros · 5 months ago
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His hair always felt utterly incomprehensible to me so I had an idea for how to make some sense of it (+ alt of my last post where I did him with his hair down)
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agl03 · 2 years ago
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FANDOM MAMA! I need a nice calm down, its going to be okay, and grief session post from you from Secret Invasion! It came out of no where!
Hi Anon,
Just finished watching myself and yeah there are feelings but per usual my mind is spinning and its time to bust out the cork board. Since this heads into a new fandom where I'm not known for spoilers we are going under the line. Just like the early AOS days, awww.
I don't know how much help i can be. That was definitely a heart wrenching way of kicking off the Season in a big way and show they mean business.
Maria was definitely on my list of not going to make it overall, but I didn't think it would be Episode one. From the previews she seemed like so much more of a player over all and I want to think they'd give her a bigger bang of a send off. Though it has a bit of the Coulson shock value flare to it.
SO
That has my theory addled don't trust freaking anything brain entertaining that might not have been the end of her.
She seemed indeed human. The deaths of the Conspiracy Agent and hers were very similar, same weapon, same lingering shot. In both cases the bodies were left behind. Meaning anyone (cough Skrulls cough) could pick them up. The Skrulls may have the ability to heal them or the weapon was meant to make it look like they died. Meaning she could be used as shell or popped into those fancy pods to get the information and memories. Maria has a dangerous amount of information that is trouble for a lot of people in the hands of the wrong person.
Then I was thinking that in the chaos of everyone running in all directions, explosions, Maria was nabbed in the choas, and a double took the hit. They made a point of showing how fast they changed their looks, it just took a second out of sight. We saw Skrulls will revert to their true form after they die, but they can also take quite a bit of damage, that shot may have been nothing for who was impersonating her so Fury thinks she's dead.
Her returning at a peak moment when we are in the middle of not trusting anyone on the screen would make things ever so complicated. There is no way Fury would trust her, even if it was indeed the real Maria miraculously back because he watched her die.
There are lots of places they could take her with her clearance that could do some serious damage. If Fury doesn't get the word out, Rhodes for example could agree to meet her and walk in a trap. Though he is on the not trust list at the moment too. Basically everyone is currently on the not to trust list ATM.
Plus we don't know where Ross is, is he in one of those fancy pods and his image/knowledge being used. Or is he off hiding elsewhere.
But even if we see her again no matter what it could be the end for her and I have very little hope of her making it through...there is a small bit there though.
For the AOS fans reading this, buckle up we have got Season 4B nightmare situation. At least in 4B we had a finite number of suspects, now its any number of new and old faces that could be in the mix. Heck, the same face might not be safe with one being good and one being a evil Skrull.
The feel I get from this series is someone's story is coming to and end, Maria and Fury are some of the last of the OG's left. So like we've seen in a lot of the recent movies, a torch will be passed one way or another.
For now, hang tight, it will be okay, and know we are in for quite the ride!
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fireemblems24 · 3 years ago
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Azure Moon Ch 20 Reactions
Hi everyone, spoilers below for Fire Emblem Three Houses AM route up till Ch 20 and all the other routes roughly the same spot.
Pre-Battle
Time to take Fort Merceus. If I remember right, I get to fight the Death Knight . . . again. Still feels better than fighting with that guy. Same like last chapter saving Claude felt so much better than killing him in CF.
Ah, it's so nice to hear Dimitri's voice again.
"Perhaps a head-on siege was a foolish plan, after all." LAMO I love how wonky battle strategy is in most stories compared to real life. A head-on siege is actually smart. The nonsense about disguising soldiers and relying on tricks isn't how things really went most of the time.
There's instances of tricks working throughout history (one of my favorite was how a Chinese General sent out dancing girls to distract his enemy and it WORKED), but that means your whole plan hinged on a trick working and most of the time when an army used a trick it's because that was their ONLY choice.
Just remember this folks. Good army commanders aren't the one who know the most tricks, it's the ones who win (or the one who can keep their army together even when they keep losing like George Washington for the longest time). Don't listen to the movies.
Also, bows were soooooo much more effective than swords. Our penchant for giving every hero a sword actually has classist roots since it was the weapon of the rich because it cost a lot to make and time to properly learn unlike a spear or arrows.
Sorry, but it always annoys me whenever I see stuff like this misrepresented, and I like to rant about it.
See, there we go, Gilbert for the win. "I don't think the Death Knight would've fallen for any tricks." Well, aside from why on earth we still fear this guy aside, bravo for not hinging success or failure based on some wonky trick.
And now Gilbert's talking about supplies. I could KISS this man right now. And now reinforcements. Thank you, Gilbert 😭
Oh, man, I get the option to flirt with Dimitri, I'm taking the "Will you save me if I'm in trouble?"
Aw, Mercie, you're better off without him. Dimitri's letting her step away too, if she wants. But best girl (one of them) isn't about to run away like the champ she is.
Battle
Do we ever learn why the Death Knight is so obsessed with Byleth?
LAMO Dimitri's like "wow, I know why this fortress is known for being impregnable," says he after busting through the front door on day 1. There's a joke somewhere here about Dimitri's incredibly potent dick.
I wanted Mercie to attack the Death Knight, but she couldn't take the hit. So Byleth one-shot him with a crit lol. Byleth wouldn't have killed if she didn't crit, and then Mercie would've gotten her chance, but alas it wasn't meant to be.
Poor Mercie deserves a better older brother.
Dimitri MVP. This is my surprised face.
Post-Battle
Poor Mercie is an angel and has nothing to be sorry or. I like that she gets this scene though. I feel like every member of the Blue Lions got their own mini-arc.
Time to take down the Empire, aw yeah.
Which means I'm coming up on the last monastery visit for BL. For all the routes really. This has been such a long journey. I have no idea what I'll do with my free time after this lol. The DLC I guess. and then more Azure Moon!
I'll wait and see how the other routes wrap up, but I feel this game has a high replay value, but I don't know if I can bring myself to play a route where Dimitri dies again.
Dimitri's such a workaholic. I can't relate.
Good! The Kingdom is all united now. Glad Sylvain is speaking well of his father. It makes Margrave Gautier seem like a more fleshed-out person and not just an excuse for Sylvain angst. (as much as I love some good angst)
Oh, so some Faerghus nobles were behind Duscur. I thought it was those lame mole men? Having corrupt nobility behind is sooooo much more interesting.
Hey, I just noticed. No light bombs in this route. Cause we actually just killed the Death Knight.
"I only did what I believed was right." Says the prisoner. Seems like it's the theme of Three Houses as a whole summed up there. Pending on your perspective, what's "right" and "wrong" look very different.
Ohhhh so Patricia wasn't supposed to be harmed at all, and Dimitri was supposed to die too. Makes it seem like she really did set that up. If she really was involved, what an awful, selfish, sad excuse for a person that would condemn so many people to brutal deaths just because she missed her daughter. I sincerely hope there's more to her than "oh, I miss Edelgard. I'll hand my husband and other child over to burn to death so I can please my own desires."
What do you all think of Patricia? Is she a pathetic sad waste of air or an enigma we'll never find out or a poor hapless victim in a plot she didn't understand or mostly an innocent? What's your headcannons?
I'd really like the believe she never intended for Lambert or especially Dimitri to get hurt, because I want Dimitri to have a mother figure that loved him and not one that sent him into a meat grinder because she redefined playing favorites (which would be ironic given Edelgard never mentions her whereas she obviously had a huge impact on Dimitri). I'd also prefer a character a bit more complex than evil step-mother. We have enough of those, thanks.
It sounds like she's just an evil useless windbag according to Gilbert though.
What were Lambert's radical ways?
I see why Edelgard and Dimitri will never both exist in the same world. Dimitri's always appalled when people in charge involve soldiers and especially citizens in their personal quests for justice, but Edelgard thinks that justice is worth getting all those people killed for (and is actively doing just that).
I have to ask, though, how is Edelgard any different from the people who committed the Tragedy of Duscur? They both believe their cause was right and don't care how many others die in their quest to see their own vision through to the end.
I'm sure people would say "but Edelgard is fighting for a good cause, they didn't, they caused genocide too!"
Did they? Do we know what Lambert's causes were? Maybe he wanted to strengthen the church's influence or crests and Klienman and co were against that, which would make them the exact same as Edelgard. Also, I believe they're referring only to the attack on Lambert and co, not the persecution of Duscur people that came after. That was a product of war and chaos. Who's to say Edelgard's actions won't begin a massacre of anyone who worships Sothis? Or further violence she didn't directly begin? Impersliam and blaming the world's ills on a single religious group of people tend to cause chain-reaction violence.
That's ultimately why I think she's morally incorrect. She's blinded by her own vision and has no control over what might happen because of it or how others might see it. She sees her cause as just, but you can be sure the farmers who fields she robbed to feed her soldiers (no, not personally, but there's no way that didn't happen) could give less of a hoot about her grand vision seen from the height of her golden throne, unable to even see what anyone else thinks or believes.
Note though, part of what I like about her is how unbending she is. Just because I think someone is wrong doesn't mean I dislike them as a character.
Man, the writers are so mean to Dimitri. Edelgard gets to fra-la-la through a field with Byleth with little to no conflict or loss on her part and Claude gets to joke around with Hilda about dressing up as Edelgard to sneak in a fortress while Dimitri learns his mother sent him to a slaughter house because she loved her other child better. Yikes. That's also why it's the best route. Fight me.
Good for Dimitri moving on though, and not lingering on what Patricia might or might not have done. I noticed he left her out this time when listing people who died though lol.
Yes, Dimitri, talking to Edelgard is a fool's errand. That would require her to do things she's not very good at - listening, understanding someone else's POV, and compromise. Pretty sure you need to die for her to stop or else you're too big of a threat to her rule.
Still. So glad he's trying to use diplomacy to end this war rather than weapons. I think this is the first time in FE history a leader has tried meeting with the enemy and not just killing them (oh, wait, Erikia did that too with Lyon, didn't go well. Guess I have a type lol).
Is it weird to feel proud of a fictional character? Lol. Dimitri moving on past Patricia to focus on what he still has and value those he knows that love and support him is just 👌
OMG I love this route. I'm going to miss it so much once it's over.
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hoe-imaginess · 4 years ago
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vanilla | dabi
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very alpha!Dabi x fem omega!Reader 
summary: Dabi isn’t aware that the LoV has an omega up for grabs, not until he accidentally comes across you in heat. 
word count: 11.7k
contains: dub-con elements, scent kink, humiliation, masturbation, hella dirty talk, mentions of blood/burns, Dabi being an all around bastard
a/n: commissioned by K to share part of my ABO fic. Most ABO stuff makes me squeamish so I leave out token tropes (aka knots) another private fic that I didn’t plan on posting so it’s kinda uhhhhh bad lmao. will possibly post more but idk. 
DON'T let the title mislead you ok Dabi is anything but vanilla 
When he found the safehouse, Dabi knocked at the front entrance.
For a long time there was no response, and he tried again, louder this time and with more exasperation.
“Coming,” he heard a shout finally, muffled across the steel door.
Dabi rubbed his eyes to put some pressure behind them, in hopes it might too take that same pressure away from the sting in his nose.
Some heady omega in the area was in heat, and a bad one; the entire neighborhood reeked of the tantalizing aroma.
He groaned, jaw tensing, and with practiced composure put the fire down in his body. He had enough of it running under his skin every second of the day in the form of his quirk. He didn’t need any more. But it was getting worse the longer he waited there with that smell tiding in the air.
He didn’t even know why he was there, doing such a chore, in the first place.
Maybe it was because this League of Villains business was a promising crusade; he’d heard good things and seen for himself some profit in the affiliation, even despite how profusely he disliked the weird hand-guy, or how awkward the black fog in a suit could be. 
The other recruit, Toga—who he found as equally disagreeable as the rest—had all but blindsided him that evening as he exited the dainty bar which they called headquarters.
Could you do me a favor, Dabi? she’d entreated with an attempt at innocent, girl-like charm: a tactic which, as it usually did, failed. The manic grin on her face had only made him want to be away from her company all the sooner.
No, he’d said, and pushed past her.
But she’d skipped after him, steadfast. 
Tomura had asked her to run an errand in one of the more dangerous parts of the city, she’d said, but she wasn’t sure what to do. She was just a girl, after all. Couldn’t Dabi do her this one favor and take the responsibility off her hands? She was too nervous to take a trip like that, and so late in the night.
Bullshit, he’d said, but instead of protesting in defense of herself, she’d just giggled like a lunatic, dropping her pretense.
Still, when she said it was a delivery which needed to be made to you, the only member of the League he had yet to officially meet, curiosity pinched him.
Indifferent as he was to comradery, he was undeniably interested in unearthing the particulars of this would-be villainous syndicate, which included being at least somewhat familiar with his allies. He knew you had been an original member even before he and the psycho schoolgirl came into the fold; but little else. 
You needed a delivery to be made to one of the League’s safehouses? Well, maybe he could oblige, if only to snoop around. Shigaraki was particularly fastidious with the information he willfully shared, and Dabi would take any opportunity to filch information under the boss’s nose in stride.
After all, if Toga, a new—and undoubtedly incompetent—recruit was being tasked with these deliveries, why not Dabi? Why not Kurogiri, who could make the shipment with ease given his quirk?
What was going on behind the scenes that Dabi wasn’t seeing?
Underwhelming as his first task as a newcomer would be, he saw it as an opportunity. He could be a good and useful asset to the League just for the night, he’d decided, when he told Toga he would do it. He was headed to that side of town anyways, he’d said. 
So there he found himself, his foot tapping impatiently on the ground as he waited outside the safehouse. 
That goddamn scent that wafted around the building... Why did he feel as though he’d smelled it before? And why did it smell so… sickeningly sweet?
He tried to distract himself by musing over what might have solicited these late-night deliveries, for example: what was in this suitcase he was meant to give you. 
Toga had handed it to him with such a twisted, giddy smile on her face that he was half-convinced it was a bomb ready to blow and scatter him into pieces for her sick delight. Once he’d found it locked, he’d given up on guessing the contents after he shook the thing and the rattling inside gave no indication of the secrets it held.
More distraction, he entreated himself. 
He thought of the itch of his staples, the uncomfortable tingle on his ridged skin when the air brought heavy wind against it. He thought of anything that might take away from the smell of raw heat in the area, but it was an instinctual pull that left him fidgeting where he stood.
He was about ready to leave the suitcase at the door and hit the road, when there was a commotion from across the threshold.
The aroma that burst from the opening door completely smothered him, made every bone in his body feel like smoldering steel; made lightning shoot down his veins and a low breath catch in his lungs.
You blanked when you saw him there, your pupils blowing wide with shock, then, if he read it correctly, fear.
He sniffed hard, his body scrambling for a source to the scent that begged his alpha inclinations to go wild. The inhalation sent pinpricks of warmth down to his feet. The smell was overwhelming now, almost dizzying.
And it was coming from you.
“Fuck,” he spat, and covered his nose with his arm, backing away from the door.
You slammed it shut, your heart racing.
“What are you doing here?!” you demanded.
“Came to give you this goddamn shit,” he snapped, throwing the suitcase at the door. It landed with a violent thud. His limbs jerked with frayed nerves, like the sun was heating his skin and crawling down to his center. “Are you an idiot!? You know I’m an—”
“I do that’s why I wanted Toga to bring it—”
“She had me do it,” he shouted, and backed himself against the opposite alley wall, a hand clenching and unclenching against his clothed thigh.
Goddamn your smell. Goddamn it. Like vanilla. Horribly sweet. So fucking potent.
He threw his head back against the wall, ignoring the throbbing pain it kneaded into his skull, and breathed hard.
He wanted to bust down the door. His legs twitched at the impulse; fingers tensed and flames licked their tips.
It would be easy. Kick it down. Burn it down. Burn the whole goddamn place down if need be. He wanted to force his way in, wanted to claw at your clothes and shove himself inside you—
Instead he took another deep breath, and loosed it on a shaky sigh.
He’d handled omega heats before, why was he like this now? Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. This was too much.
“You need to leave,” you muttered from the other side of the door, so resolute and aggrieved that he would have never guessed you were keeled over on the floor, legs shut tight and body shivering. His alpha smell was nauseating you; it was strong and dominating and demanding that you open yourself to him. “Now.”
“Yeah I’m goin',” he snapped angrily, storming off down the alley once his legs restored their loyalty to his head, and not what was between his legs. “Fuck."
Dabi stroked himself hard and fast and rough, nose pressed into his sleeve, breathing in the sweet tang of vanilla that lingered between the fibers.
He growled out his next breath, and it sputtered off into a wobbly sigh as he closed his eyes and thought of you: those perfect tits he was sure you were hiding under your clothes; your ass, which would look like nice, he knew, with his handprints burned onto the skin; and then your cunt—fuck, he could almost imagine how tight it was, how hotly it would grip him and milk every last fucking drop of his cum—the mere vision of it pink and twitching and spread out for him was like an explosive punch to his gut.
He came in thick, hot spurts, some rolling over his knuckles as he quickly twisted his fist over the cockhead, others staining the brick wall in front of him with ropey, white streaks.
“Fuck,” he panted, chest heaving, limbs trembling. A hand shot to the wall and braced himself there for balance, kept him upright while his quivering knees threatened to fail him.
When was the last time he’d even had to rub one out like this? In a dirty fucking alley? And least of all because of some stupid omega?
Goddamn you, he thought.
“Dabi!” Toga squealed when he returned to the bar later in the morning. She sniffed the air, breathed in his smokey scent, and flashed a hungry smile, tongue dipping out to wet her eager lips. “You smell so strong. Are you worked up?” Then her eyes were bright and thrilled. “Oh? Oh?! Did you see _____-chan? Did you?"
“Yeah, you crazy idiot.” Dabi slammed the bar door shut behind him. "You just forget to mention that she was in heat?”
Shigaraki, who’d been previously uninterested in the debacle, now looked up from his game. “What?”
Toga giggled. “Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Did you smell her? Oh, it’s so nice, isn’t it?” The girl’s eyes twitched and rolled back loftily in ravenous remembrance. “_____-chan smells so sweet. So sweet—”
“You caught her in heat?” Shigaraki asked, accusative but curious. “Are you stupid?"
Scowling, Dabi jerked a thumb at Toga. “Dipshit over here had me take some stuff over to that safehouse you got. I didn’t fuckin’ know."
“You dumb girl,” Shigaraki snapped, turning on her now. “Are you brain dead? Or do you really not get why omegas hide from alphas during heats? Why do you think we have a beta like you go do deliveries now?”
“I know what happens!” she contended. “I thought she could use some company. She smells so delicious. Was it fun, Dabi? Was it fun and romantic and—”
“Try infuriating,” Dabi spat, then set his anger on Shigaraki. “You’re no better. Either of you.” He nodded his head at Kurogiri behind the bar. “Would’ve been nice to know you had an unmated omega in your group.”
“Thought you’d noticed by now,” Shigaraki replied, now somewhat subdued, and tending to his game again. “What, your nose doesn’t work?”
“It works fuckin’ fine. Just didn’t realize that scent you got around here all the time was hers.”
In recollection, he put his sleeve over his nose. The sweet smell had vanished, but the memory of it still haunted his senses, made every nerve in his body flutter with excitement. It was driving him fucking insane.
“How the hell do you two work with an omega?” Dabi asked. “That gets heats like that, no less.”
“We’re not animals,” the leader replied. “Some of us can handle it.”
“My ass. Guessin’ that’s the reason she’s never around, huh? You don’t seem very disciplined. Bet you catch one whiff of that slick and go completely ape shit.”
Shigaraki scowled, affronted.
“It was our mistake not warning you,” Kurogiri conciliated the blame, clearly nervous, and possibly displeased by the crass talk. “We were under the impression that you knew. We’ve taken steps to lessen the risk in our years together. We are somewhat… desensitized.”
“Good for you,” Dabi muttered. “I ain’t. A heads up would’ve been nice.”
“Now you know,” Shigaraki said, scratching peevishly at his neck. “Stop complaining. You’ll get used to it.”
Dabi tsked. “Yeah, you better hope I do.” Then he stalked off.
“Did you do that on purpose?” Shigaraki asked Toga once the other alpha had departed.
Toga keened happily, still enamored with Dabi’s untamed scent. Alphas were so delicious when worked up.
“I forgot,” she insisted dreamily. “Honest, I did.”
“That was a very risky mistake,” Kurogiri was saying, black vapors flitting nervously about his frame. “As a beta, you may not be aware of the risks that both alphas and omegas face when it comes to positions of power–”
Toga pouted and whined, like a child whose gleeful imagination had been thwarted. “I don’t get it. I was just doing them both a favor. Alphas are supposed to take of omegas in heat, aren’t they? What’s the big deal?” She had a stupid smile on her face again, rapt with thoughts of desire. “It must be so nice as an alpha, getting to take any little omega you want… they’re so needy.”
“The big deal, you damn idiot,” Shigaraki started, “is that a guy like that is too selfish to put our objectives before his prick. There’s a reason we don’t mess with that heat and rutting crap here. Complicates things. Makes everyone go crazy. Like you.”
She tittered like a lunatic, proud of her indignity. “She smells so good, Tomura. It’s not fair. Not fair at all.”
After your heat, once you’d returned to the bar, you ignored Dabi to the best of your ability.
At first, he seemed content enough to reciprocate the caution. You both treaded carefully: any eye-contact made would be swiftly curtailed with averted gazes; you cleared a room whenever he entered, and vice versa, he acted as though you were invisible to him.
It would be fine, you’d told yourself. You’d dealt with the ugly dynamics your omega lifestyle wrought countless times. You could do it again. Dabi was a new recruit, after all. Promising—albeit coarse—according to Tomura. His contribution to the team far outweighed the plights of your personal struggles. You would be fine. It would be fine.
But those lofty self-reassurances were short-lived.
You were sitting in one of the bar’s empty rooms when he sought you out. You smelled him before he rounded the corner, and fear gripped you when the alpha bouquet invaded your senses. But then something else came to seek your submission: an instinctual calling on the wisps of his scent, bringing an anxious and conflicting nostalgia back to you.
God his smell had followed you for days: a smokey aroma, but something so fresh underneath it, like cold mint. You’d never been so enthralled by a scent before, never been so tempted to give in to carnal desire and offer yourself to a being nature had designated as your superior: an alpha.
He stood in the doorway of the room, just looking at you; you stared back, frozen, and made yourself small in hopes that you might avoid whatever confrontation was to come.
“Your heats always that stupidly strong?” he asked.
You blanched and took a deep breath to quell your unease. You wished to anything that the world would swallow you and take you away from what was undoubtedly going to be one of the worst, most uncomfortable confrontations of your life.
“Yes,” you said. “That’s why I have to go away.”
“Why? I mean, most omegas do it. Usually to work it out themselves, right? Bet that little delivery I made was a bunch of toys, wasn’t it?” 
“No,” you said, feeling embarrassed by the mere speculation. “It was a suppressant. They don’t usually work on me... I’m trying to find the right one.”
The broad smirk that shifted his scarring tissue made you shift uncomfortably. “Suppressants are useless if your heat is too strong. That shit was bad. The smell is ridiculous. You clearly ain't doing somethin' right if it’s always that potent.”
You shivered at the mention of your scent. It was always what they mentioned—the alphas. They always raved about your scent: like sweet candy, some said. Most often, vanilla. The sniff of it on your very nose was nauseating after so long: an inescapable quality that put you in the crosshairs of nearly every alpha you’d met, made you frightfully easy prey to their predator.
“I’ve...” Shit, should you be sharing this with him? Normally you did, with most alphas you were acquainted with. Especially those you trusted. But you didn’t trust him. You barely knew him. “I’ve never... been rutted properly. So, they’re stronger. The heats.”
“Never been rutted through a heat?” he asked, scoffing. “Sounds miserable. You’re all backed up, aren’t ya? That’s why you struggle with your scent so much.”
You were quiet. You met his interrogation more confidently than you previously thought possible, given how successfully he’d intimidated you up until now. But your fear was draining away slowly, giving way to some sense of adeptness.
Memories of his scent had haunted your every bodily cell since the moment you’d first experienced it. Although facing it again now was overwhelming, you’d steeled yourself since then.
It would be okay, you reminded yourself. Conferring with allied alphas was only a necessary tack if you were going to keep the peace.
“I have, obviously,” you answered. “I’ve been rutted through a heat. But, it’s not the same if it’s not with… well—”
“An alpha?” he finished, and couldn’t help the surprise on his face. “You’ve never been with an alpha in your heat?”
You shook your head. And then there it was, the returning frailty so thick that it seized the room. Why were you so humiliated to speak your truths? They were truths, after all, under his harsh gaze or not.
“…I’ve never been with an alpha at all.”
He actually laughed. “Nah. You’re lying.”
“I’m not.”
“Never even fooled around a bit?”
“No."
A wry, callous grin stretched his staples. He tilted his head and hummed curiously. “You afraid? Of alphas?”
“No.”
“Yeah, you are.”
“I’m not.”
“Omegas are normally dyin’ to get laid when they’re in heat. Especially when they’re surrounded by alphas they actually know, like you are. Would be one thing if you were locking yourself up to hide from strangers, but you’re not. Gross as that hand-guy is, he seems like he’d rut for ya."
“I just don’t... want it.”
“Nah. You’re scared. I can tell. Should’ve seen that look on your face the other day, damn near terrified—like I was gonna jump on you any second.”
You bristled with agitation, frustration invited back in full bloom now that your confidence was weakened. “Sorry if I don’t trust you,” you returned with grim sarcasm. “You’re not very… decent, to put it plainly.”
“Decent? Nah, I’m not. Alphas aren’t supposed to be. But that’s why you’re all nervous, right?”
“I don’t…” You shook your head, thoughts tripping over one another. “My quirk makes it difficult,” you admitted, and bit your tongue shortly afterwards.
”Your quirk?”
You swore it was his pheromones making you talk, clouding your judgment and wringing admissions from you. “Alphas and omegas dealing with ruts or heats… it compromises their quirks sometimes, I’m sure you know. Makes them uncontrollable and disorderly. I don’t want that to happen to me. Heats are bad enough on their own. Actually getting rutted through one…” You shrugged, vulnerable to be sharing your fears. “I don’t know. I heard it can go wrong. It would be too much.”
“Oh.” He snickered. “Afraid you’re gonna get too horny and flip out or something?”
Heat primed your cheeks in a blush. “No. I mean… In a way. But, thats not what I really meant–”
“So you just run away whenever you’re in heat? ‘Cause you don’t know how to handle it? That’s sad. Bet you wouldn’t be such a stuck up mess if you just let someone rut you through it, at least once. That’s what you’re supposed to do. Forget suppressants. Not just that,” he snickered, and smirked slyly, “it’s awfully unfair of you to be such a prude when you’ve got a bunch of alphas around."
You shivered, not simply noticing, but feeling his eyes pore over you. “They’re not interested.”
“Fuck that. Don’t know if you heard sweetheart, but omegas are made for us to fuck and breed.”
“No,” you said, almost indignantly, “they aren’t.” To be reduced to something so primitive and incidental put anger in your veins. It was a sore, but inevitable topic you were unfortunate to suffer so often.
“Yeah. They are. Don’t know how that hand-creep hasn’t tried to jump your bones yet. I sure as shit would have, by now.”
Then, considering his words, he made a curious frown. “Unless you hide to keep away from that guy.” As he thought of these depraved illustrations in his head, put pieces of his own mused puzzle together, the grim smile returned. “Yeah. I can see that. Putting your own sanity on the line because you don’t wanna provoke your boss. You’d rather scurry off than deal with that guy. You really are scared of alphas, huh?”
“No,” you spat. “Tomura is…“ God, you hated this, hated how his smell was driving you crazy, making you pliant. “Tomura doesn’t need distractions. He’s not very… well-equipped to handle these sort of things.”
You wouldn’t mention how the visual of Tomura’s hands gripping you with alpha-driven need, unwittingly cursing your skin with his quirk, obliging your flesh to break away under his clutches and slowly split you open was a terror that kept you awake some nights.
“I stay out of the way for both our sakes,” you said, shaking the fearsome thoughts away. “Everything works out fine the way it is. We want it this way. We know how to focus on our mission and that only."
He shrugged, unconvinced. “Sure, gotta keep the peace or whatever. Don’t wanna turn the League into a rut fest. Puttin’ the greater good over their alpha needs, over what’s in their pants."
You frowned at him, displeased with the vulgarity.
He snickered to see it. “Commendable of them and all that. But…” He pushed from the wall he’d leaned against and came towards you. You inched away, heart beating fast at the sudden approach. “I’m a little more radical about this stuff, I guess you could say. I think you’d be much more useful if you weren’t so pent up.”
When he crouched down in front of you, you backed into the wall that you sat against, but there was no room for escape. He wasn’t smiling now, only perusing you with expressionless intensity. You tried to suppress a shiver when his eyes rolled down your body.
“Never really been all that concerned with this sort of stuff, not gonna lie. I’ll rut when I need to. Otherwise shit starts getting complicated and I can’t think straight.” He shrugged. “But in case you haven’t noticed, my body ain’t all that suited for frantic ruts. I try to take it easy, if possible. But… I always thought it was a little dumb that we’re engineered to think with what’s between our legs, most of the time.”
And so saying, his warm had slid between your partially opened thighs, which shivered at his touch and clamped together quickly to deny him.
But he wasn’t deterred, and shoved against the resistance, slipping the invading hand under your skirt.
“Stop,” you demanded, breath automating into nervous pants. In sudden fear of being happened upon by the others, you glanced around feverishly, your feet shuffling on the ground to push you back against the wall.
“Stop, now.” Your hands were on his arm, trying to push him away. “Dabi,” you insisted, trying to sound firm. But it did little to deter him.
“See? Bet if you weren’t so damn skittish you’d be putting up a real fight.” His hand finally broke through the tight resistance of your thighs, and his fingers pressed against your underwear. They were damp to the touch.
He laughed, and stroked over the wetness with his knuckle, making you keen and try to pull away.
“Ridiculous,” he muttered, looking down between your trembling thighs. “Unless you were playing with yourself before I got here, I’m guessin’ this is because of me?”
He took the wet fabric between his two fingers and rubbed together. “And what’d I do for you to get like this? You’re not even in heat. And I’ve barely got a scent on me right now. We’re just talking, ______. You really that hot for me, sweetheart?”
At the sound of your name coming from his mouth, gravelly and low, you shuddered, and put an arm over your mouth to keep in a stammering moan. But his other hand came and pulled the limb away.
“Please,” you stuttered out. “Stop.”
“Am I the first alpha who’s touched you like this?” he asked, ignoring your plea.
Your thighs tightened around him again, and one of your hands went to his collar, squeezing into it in meager resistance.
That too he ignored, and looked at you with plain impatience. “Am I?”
You whimpered and nodded, unable to form words when your lips were stuck harshly bitten between your teeth.
“Yeah, thought so.”
Then his thumb worked its cruel intentions and circled your clit. The pathetic gasp he received in turn made him chuckle.
“Nah. See, this isn’t supposed to happen.” His thumb pressed harder and your head knocked back against the wall. “I’ve seen some pretty slutty omegas, but this is plain stupid.”
“I’m—” You practically hiccuped through a whine, and squeezed your eyes shut, your quirk threatening to reveal itself, answering the calls of your panic and ready to defend against his assault. “I’m not a slut—”
He brushed up on your clit hard and you whimpered, defense all but surmounted.
“Okay, fine. You’re not a slut. You’re just damn sensitive because you’ve never given your body what it needs.” He grinned his wicked grin. “An alpha.”
You shook your head. “No—”
“Yes.”
You shook it vigorously now, and your hands came back to life, pushing at him. “No.”
“Yes, _____,” he breathed, laughing. “I thought you were supposed to be smart. Alpha, omega, whatever—those instincts make your brain all mushy if you don’t get it under control. You’ve got some dissonance going on in your head. You’re really letting yourself go because of it. You wanna be a good ally for your boss, but you can’t, because you’re too scared to—"
“I’m not,” you insisted, eyes wrenching themselves open to look at him. He was amused, depravedly amused, but still remarkably composed for how ruthlessly he was teasing you. “I just don’t want it–”
He snorted loudly, and you were sure the sound would echo and bring someone upon the spectacle. “You don’t want it? Seriously? Now you’re just in denial.”
His fingers coiled around your panties and shoved against your bare skin; your pussy was wet and warm to the touch.
“I can smell your slick, holy fuck,” he muttered. For the first time, though everything up until this point had been cruelly entertaining but not entirely stimulating, he felt his cock twitch, and his mouth water. He hummed. “Bet you taste like vanilla, too, don’t you?”
“St-stop,” you stuttered, face going hot with embarrassment, hiding it against your shoulder as if it would help mitigate the fluster.
He let go of the arm he’d been restraining, put a hand on your knee, and tried to push your legs open. He was surprised when met with resistance; you kept your thighs locked together like a vice, making it substantially more difficult to move his fingers on your clit the way he wanted.
He scoffed.
“Open your legs,” he demanded of you, and felt your body twitch at the command.
He looked at you, and was pleased to find you staring back, wide-eyed and jolted. His blue eyes narrowed autocratically.
He spoke his command slower, but with more authority, “Open them. Now."
And when you did, he let out a breathy laugh of satisfaction, and admired the mess of wetness between your thighs. “See? See how easy that was?”
One hand gripped the soft flesh of your thigh—shit, the skin was practically begging for his teeth to sink in, to make you bleed, to mark you—while the occupied continued its ministrations, fingers jerking quickly over your pink clit.
"What if I were some enemy tryin’ to get some information out of you, huh? You’d probably spill everything about the League to another alpha the second he gave your pussy any attention. Shit,” he laughed, head cocking curiously as he played with the folds of your cunt, “I’m just teasin' you a little and you’re already dripping, for one. For two, following my every command like a good little whore.”
You shook your head, wordless in your denial. You thought you could taste blood in your mouth from your own lips, teeth digging in harshly to give your body any sensation to distract from the burgeoning pleasure. Your nerves were trampling over one another, all of them somehow alight with fire, but numb all the same.
“Imagine what I, or any other alpha, really, could get you to do with a cock inside you. Ever think of that? And if you were in heat?” He scoffed. “Forget it. You’re pretty much a liability at this point. Don’t know why the hell your boss keeps you around. It’s pathetic.”
Bracing both hands on his shoulders, you loosed a strangled moan of frustration, fingers biting into his clothes, pressing against the lean muscle beneath. He didn’t seem to care, too focused on the pink, twitching flesh now turning red from his fingers' abuse. He swiped his pointer and middle across your clit in a dizzying pace, until the tendons in his wrists burned and his knuckles ached. But your scent… fuck, the fucking scent—
He prided himself on his practiced fortitude against alpha instincts; his body, wracked by the toll of his quirk, was vulnerable as it was. Willpower was necessary to stave off the feral hunger that often made him forget his own fragility and indulge the fierceness of ruts and heats. It always ended with loose staples and bloody rivulets along his skin. Self-aware as he was of his own limitations, he so rarely let himself indulge his body’s desires.
But fuck if you weren’t testing him.
You were close, you knew, your body spasming and breath catching in every interval. You panicked, tried to fight it, but it was as though his fingers had caged your volition somewhere in the back of your mind, and instead propagated all senses to pleasure.
“Fucking tease,” he muttered under his breath, but you barely heard him above the frenzied din in your brain.
Just as you felt something in you stirring irrevocably, both his hands left you, and he stood to his feet.
You nearly toppled over, and spilt over yourself awkwardly to try and catch yourself on the ground. The wet slide between your thighs was horribly palpable, and horribly embarrassing.
You panted as you gathered yourself, looking up at him in flustered awe as you shut your thighs and protectively shoved your skirt back into place.
He was admiring his fingers, the wetness coating them, and when he noticed your gaze, waved them at you teasingly. “See this?”
So wet, you thought, humiliated, as a sticky strand started to spill from his finger. You shivered, your face sweltering and flushed.
“This is your body’s way of telling you that it’s beggin’ to be filled.”
You shuddered, and held yourself miserably, trying to fight the unsatisfied heat in your veins with calming breaths. “You’re horrible,” you whispered, your mouth dry.
“Nah. I’m being a nice guy. The only smart one around here, too, looks like.”
He licked at his fingers, a shudder going down his spine when he tasted the sweetness. It was unreal. “This is ridiculous. You wouldn’t have to worry so much about scurrying away from alphas if your smell wasn’t so strong. If you’re heat wasn’t so strong. And none of it would be, if you just did what you were made to do. You’re repressed. Backed up as hell—”
“I wasn’t made to do anything,” you argued, frustration returning.
“You can keep sayin’ it, but it doesn’t make it any less true. You’re more trouble than you’re worth, honestly. Got everyone jumpin’ through hoops for you because you’re so damn sensitive. I ain’t gonna do that.”
You sat there in a heap, fidgeting uncomfortably and fighting for any sense of self-determination you could. He’d said his scent was scant, but you swore it was filling the room, pulping your thoughts and dizzying your nauseous head.
“Clearly you’ve been stuck with some pretty underwhelming alphas until now,” he said. “So I’m gonna do you a favor. Next time you’re in heat, find me, and I’ll do something about it.”
He wiped his dirtied fingers on his shirt, then left you there.
A month later, Dabi got a call.
“What?” he answered curtly, thinking it was Shigaraki from a burner number. The boss did that sometimes, despite there being little need for throwaways. It was theatrical and annoying.
“It’s me.”
After a pause of non-recognition, you sighed, “It’s ______.”
“Oh?” You could hear the smile in his voice.
In the alley, Dabi admired the burning body he’d just finished off, the corpse kindling his blue flames nicely as it crumbled to ash.
He laughed lowly. “Yeah. Been about a month, hasn’t it. You had some time to think sweetheart?”
From the other end, you bit your lip. “I have rules.”
Something seeped into his blood and swelled within him. Like a breeze carried from somewhere far off, he got a whiff of your sweet scent, just a ghost of it, and licked his lips.
“Seems a little over the top,” he said. “But I’m listening.”
There was a sound in the alley behind him, and he glanced over his shoulder.
You took a deep breath on the other end, nervously playing with the hem of your shirt. “I’ll be at a different place tonight. Another safehouse, down by the docks. The first rule is that when you get here, you have to—”
Dabi heard the cocking of a gun. The disdainful comrade of the dead, scorched man had the weapon raised and trained on him, spouting some threatening nonsense of vengeance. The flame-wielder huffed in annoyance.
“Can’t really talk right now,” he spoke into the receiver, his hands brightening with his quirk. “I’ll find the place. Better not get cold feet.”
“Dabi—”
But he hung up before you could say more.
You waited for the better half of the evening shot to pieces with doubt.
You’d gone over the situation a dozen times, and twice that number decided the uncontrollable confusions weren’t worth second-guessing; dictating right and wrong left you light-headed when your body was already a frenzied playground of sensation thanks to your heat.
You started to text him the address when midnight rolled around, just in case he’d gotten lost—then thought better of it. The uncertain doublet came again: You couldn’t do this. It was dangerous. You hadn’t witnessed Dabi’s brutality firsthand, but the hearsay was worrisome enough. He would break you. It would end horribly. Your quirk, or even his, would lash out—
Then the other half of the fretful analysis: Yes. You could do this. It was natural. It was true what he’d said, about you neglecting your body’s desires, and in turn leaving room only for self-sabotage. The thought of him drove you wild with uncertainty, but so did the notion of not doing this; your body was raging at the absence of touch. One which he was apparently willing to give.
Finally you called him, nerves scattered and patience thinned, deciding that whatever he had to say to you on the other line would determine whether or not you should carry on with your plans.
Almost as soon as you heard the ringing from the other line, so too did a chirpy noise come from right outside the safehouse door: a phone.
You blanched. Before you could make toward the door, the metal lever twisted with a creak and opened. He was there on the other side with his phone in hand, and lifted it teasingly when his eyes found you in the dim room.
“If you’re callin’ to give me directions, waste of time,” he said as he slunk inside. “I can smell you across the damn street.”
You shivered, smelling him, too: he radiated a warm scent, then that icy undertone which always perplexed you in the most enticing way.
He shut the door behind him, locked it, and inspected you. He huffed in amusement to see how nervous you were.
“You said you had some rules,” he started, coming towards you. Your heart started skipping. “Sounds like a lot of bullshit, so I wasn’t gonna remind you. But I guess if it’ll stop you from chickening out halfway…”
His hands were on you in an instant, at your sides, squeezing and kneading the flesh underneath your shirt. You froze. The dumbfounded look on your face had him smirking.
“Not that you’ll be able to once I get started,” he went on. “Or even want to. Probably gonna forget you even had rules once I stick it in you.”
The hands went down, gripped your ass, and brought your bodies together. You braced yourself against his forearms, stuttering when he wasted no time and pressed his face into your jaw, licking, kissing, teasing you with teeth.
Your eyes fluttered closed, mouth hanging open as he traveled down. At his touch, your mind slowed to blind submission. The excitement was stroking a fire in you that you hadn’t even known was there.
Fuck, it was too much. Already, too much.
“You gonna tell me?” he asked between kisses. "Or you already forgot?”
As he moved to your neck, he inhaled sharply through his nose. The sweet scent stirred a frenzy in his gut.
“Fuck.” The hands at your ass squeezed so hard that you gasped. “Goddamn girl,” he laughed breathily, grinding against you. “That shit’s good.”
“I—" You choked on your next words when he spread your thighs apart from behind, fingers curling under your skirt to feel for your panties. “The rules, I—”
“You better spit it out,” he warned, coming up to look at you, eyes fixed with hunger. “I’m not a patient guy. I’m really gonna pounce on you in a second if you don’t get on with it.”
It struck apprehension into you. You breathed out the words hurriedly, “Don’t mate me. Don’t give me a mating mark—”
He laughed in your face, making you blush, then went back to kissing at your neck.
“Didn’t plan on it. Don’t want a mate. Probably never will.” He kissed hard at your neck, breathed in your scent again with a hum. “Besides, even if I did, you’re not bad looking and I know your cunt’s gonna be nice and tight, but you’re not worth mating. You’re high-strung. It’s annoying.”
You bristled with anger, but his warmth was making every other sense dull to you. When his teeth teased the skin at your shoulder, you were wrangled back to focus.
“No marks,” you warned, just as his teeth sank in, and nudged away gently to dissuade him. “Don’t leave any. Kurogiri and Tomura can’t see–”
“I don’t give a fuck who sees,” he replied harshly, coming up to look at you. “Who cares? They were dumb enough to leave you unmated and practically dyin’ for a fuck, so forget them. I’m doing you a favor here, remember that. You can have some rules, but I’m doing whatever the hell I need to do.”
His fingers rubbed hard at your panties; they were wet to the touch. "Not like you’re gonna run out now. You’re fucking soaked.” With a pleased growl he went to your neck again, biting hard.
You squealed, but before he could start sucking at the skin, you reeled back and moved away from him. You pushed at his forehead with a hand, and he smacked it away.
“Then no,” you sighed out shakily once you’d gotten his attention. "We’re done here.”
You spoke it with such confidence that it actually earned you his consideration. He stared at you, half-impressed, but mostly, furious.
“If you can’t listen to me,” you muttered, braving his piercing eyes willingly, "then… then fuck off.”
He was scowling at you now, and without warning his fingers pinched your clit.
You gasped sharply and raggedly at the feeling, melting into his touch with weak legs. He had to hold you upright to prevent you from collapsing, and against your ear, he huffed angrily.
“That’s what I fucking thought, stupid slut.”
He shoved you down onto the mattress at your feet.
You were too dizzy to make a protest when he climbed over you, and had no voice on which to loose it when he ripped—literally ripped—your shirt apart and attacked your chest with harsh bites and licks. Your nipples got the worst of it: he went for them with a growl in his throat, claiming the peaks between his teeth, biting down so hard you squealed and kicked.
“You really don’t have a goddamn clue how this works, do you?” he was breathing out harshly. “What an alpha does to an omega?” He looked up at you. Your eyes were watery and trembling as they gawked down at him. “What I can do to you?”
His lips went down, and he shoved your skirt off of your legs, the panties going too. You had enough sense in you to shut your thighs, which made him scoff, and yank them apart painfully.
“Don’t you fuckin’ try it. This is mine right now. You and your little cunt, mine. Like it’s supposed to be.”
He knew even as the words came from his mouth like venom, that your scent, coupled with his long-unreleased pheromones, were pushing him to a point of brutality. He’d never been so prone to complete and utter dominance like this. And now looking between your thighs at the pink, swollen, shaven pussy twitching for him, he knew there was no chance you’d be getting any mercy.
“Look at this shit,” he muttered, dropping to his knees, and as a protest died on your lips, his own pressed against your wetness, breathing in your scent as he did, growling loud and wildly in his throat.
His hands went to your thighs and pulled, bringing you closer against him, ignoring the fingers in his hair that feebly tugged. A shaky whimper came on every one of your breaths, your mouth sputtering through frail pleas he didn’t understand and didn’t bother trying to.
He indulged one harsh, long, angry suck on your clit, and released with a wet smack. You cried, actually cried when he went back in and dug his tongue harshly against you.
“Dabi, Dabi—no, please–”
Your scent made him light-headed, made him forget for a split second where he was, made him forget the constant and residual pain from his quirk, the itch of his staples—made him forget it all.
You came on his tongue without warning, a loud screech dying in your throat as you arched off the mattress. He was too shocked to lick up the sweet cum that received him. His eyes shot open and he looked up at you; you were an absolute wreck: flushed, sweating, shaking, and seized with pleasure.
He tried to count in his head. How long had it been? A minute? Barely? Fucking ridiculous.
He sucked and sucked until you were writhing. He wanted to punish you, wanted you to see how fucking weak you were, how badly you needed this.
“Dabi—” you sobbed out, tears itching your eyes and rushing down your face.
He pulled off finally with a loud breath, smacking his lips, then went back down to lick up your pussy one more time to clean you with his tongue. You jerked and twisted miserably. Then he was climbing over you again, forcing you to face him.
“You see?” he panted. "See what I just did to you? See how fuckin’ quick you were to cum for me? That’s what you’ve been missing. You’re not in the position to be making demands or rules here, _____. This is what you deserve. This is what you need. You need an alpha, you need me, you need this—”
He took your hand and forced it to rub between his legs. You stuttered a pitiful breath when you felt the bulge there, so hot, so inhumanly hot, waiting for you. Under your touch it twitched, greedy to be inside you.
You shook your head, unable to keep your eyes open; the blinding pleasure made a transit to numbing warmth, and your lids were heavy with drowsiness.
Your lip trembled. “Please, I need a minute, please—"
“No. Fuck no.”
He shred his clothes quickly, pulling his jacket off, kicking his shoes off, clawing at his belt and throwing that off too—but getting no further than shoving his pants down his hips so his eager cock could spring free. He didn’t have the time for anything else. He didn’t have the fucking time.
“I was gonna go easy on you,” he muttered. "Just a little."
Manhandling you to a spread position beneath him, he was almost ready to shove into you—then he had an exhilarating idea, and flipped you over, slapping your ass hard and making you yell in surprise. He wanted to take you like this: dominating, and utterly primal.
He forced your hips up, ass out, pussy spreading for him. He took his cock, flicked the head mercilessly against your clit until you were keening. A firm hand on your hip prevented you from squirming away.
“Please,” you sobbed again, gasping, body trembling. The heat. The heat. It was too much. Your skin crawled with euphoric pinpricks of fire. You needed it. You needed it. “Please, Dabi—”
“Please what?” he snapped, fire in his veins, vanilla flooding his head. “There’s no way in hell you want me to stop, so you’re beggin’ me for more. Use your words then. Say it.”
Your shook your head, mouth dry and gaping. “I can’t—”
He smacked your ass again and you jolted, unable to stop from curling into yourself as you orgasmed; the scent of your slick invaded his nose and he realized what you’d done. A dangerous, slow, ragged laugh bubbled from his throat.
“My god you’re so fucking pathetic. Look at that.” He kneaded his hand hard into your ass, pulling and stretching the skin, keeping your pussy fleshed out for him. “Look at this shit. It’s dripping. I want you to admit how pathetic you are.” He started to jerk himself hard, precum spilling over his fingers in messy streams. “Say it.”
You shook your head, pressing it hard into the mattress below. His hand went for your hair, yanked it backwards, and a tight yell tore out of your throat.
“Say it right now or you’re not getting my dick. I can shove it in your throat and get off just fine.” Oh, but how fucking badly he needed to put it in your cunt... “Say it. Say you’re pathetic, and that you need an alpha cock. Say it.”
“Dabi, please—“ Your hips arched upwards, begging, completely overrun with need. He shoved you back down, dismantling your sanity with every second went without feeling him inside of you.
“Say it now or I swear I’m gonna leave you here, _____.” He yanked your hair tighter, his hand flying on his cock. Everything felt so good. Too good. Too fucking hazy. “I’m gonna use your mouth or these tits to get off, and then I’m gonna leave you here, dripping and fucking pathetic and alone. Alone in your heat like you always are, you stupid whore.”
The thought made you whimper despairingly; in turn, he groaned loudly as he worked precum out in rapid strokes.
“Say it. Now. Now.”
“I’m—” Needy sobs wracked your voice, your hands clutching the mattress. “I’m a—I’m pathetic, I’m pathetic—”
“Fuck,“ he moaned loud and heavy, pinching the base of his cock to hold off release, then going back to stroking again, unable to go without stimulus. “What else? What else, _____?”
“I’m pathetic and I need your cock!” you cried out, too desperate for pride, too desperate for anything else. “I need an alpha cock, I need it—Dabi, damn it, please!—”
You practically screamed when he rammed into you, a loud shout tensing out of him as he let go of your hair. He put both hands at your hips to hold you in place for his violent thrusts.
Your mouth was open in vacant stupor, eyes rolling, feeling another orgasm ripping through you almost instantaneously.
“Fuck… fuck,” he breathed, feeling you tighten around him. He growled angrily, biting his lip until the burnt, abused skin swelled and bled. “You fucking—fuck—” Your slickness was in such abundance that little specks flew with every one of his thrusts, making his cock spear in and out perfectly and without restraint.
Every muscle in his body screamed for release, so soon, so quickly. His balls ached for it, spittle flew from his mouth with every ragged breath he took. Your back arched so nicely underneath him. You were such a perfect fucking omega he almost couldn’t stand it.
He shut his eyes tight, hand going to fist back into your hair and wrench upwards. You didn’t protest, didn’t even let a sound leave your throat despite the pain it brought. It didn’t take away the pleasure; nothing could. Nothing could ever take this away: the stretch of his thick, long cock pounding into you, hitting that spot over and over again until you came once more, then twice, then a third time.
He was breathing so raggedly that it branched pain into his lungs; his fingers dug into your hip so harshly that blood spilled from beneath his nails.
“Fuck,” he breathed, almost like a whisper: an angry, desperate, hissing whisper. “Oh fuck, _____...”
Everything was too much: your scent, the sight of you, your perfect cunt gripping mercilessly with every thrust. He bent forward, stuttering his hips into you as his orgasm approached. Copper met his tongue when he bit harshly into your back.
Beyond his control, his quirk joined the fray of pleasure, blue flame flickering faintly along his palms and burning you. But fuck, it didn’t matter. Nothing fucking mattered but the wet slap of his hips ramming into you, the painful bite of his belt at your thighs, his teeth at your back, sharp alpha canines digging in.
He felt the flames on his face rising; along his jaw, in his hair, they had a mind of their own. He had the sense, just a sliver of it, to back away from you, saving you from the heat that licked parts of his face, even as his hand burned char into your hip.
His rhythm was going; he was close. It hurt. It fucking hurt. He needed to let go. Needed to give you his cum. Needed to pump it in your eager little omega cunt.
“I’m—shit,” he choked, swallowing the dryness in his mouth and moaning long and low. “Tell me you want it baby girl,” he panted. “Tell me you want this cum. Tell me.”
“I—” You coughed miserably, body beyond your muscles’ command. “I want it—”
“What? What do you want? Say it, sweetheart—fuck, tell me—Tell me you want my cum and I’ll fucking give it to you—” You squeezed him tight, too tight, and he keeled over with a grunt. "You feel so damn good. Fuck I’m gonna give it to you, gonna fill this tight pussy come on, come on—”
“I want your cum!” you sobbed, tightening around him as if on instinct. He grabbed your hips with both hands, fucked into you primally now, an angry, seething growl in his throat that was far from human.
Flames on his back, on his arms, on his neck. The skin where his hands held you steamed and you moaned in agony, or maybe pleasure—maybe both. He didn’t care. Neither did you.
“Fuck!” he shouted, just as his hips stuttered and fire shot up his spine. He threw his head back, tendons on his neck flaring, arms and legs shaking as he came inside. “Fucking shit—”
He panted for air, felt staples pulling in places all over him, felt his balls burning with pleasure and heard your mangled cry as he gave you what your body needed, what it had always fucking needed.
He didn’t stop fucking into you until his body couldn’t physically answer his brutal needs, and he bent over you, one last and hard thrust sending you flat against the mattress. His searing body pressed flush against you, met your nipped skin in an overwhelming contrast and forced a whimper from your throat.
He bit into you wherever his mouth could reach, claimed you in any way he could without irrevocably mating you. Lost in the heat of it all, in the pleasure that burned up his spine and gave him vertigo, he wanted nothing else but you: to dominate you, make you submissive, fucking own you until you knew nothing else but him and his cock and his seed inside you—but he couldn’t mate you. Wouldn’t. 
Maybe not yet. 
His flames subsided on their own, leaving smoke to rise all over his skin like overworked geysers; a steaming form on top of yours. The pungency of the expelled fumes would have surely made you nauseous any other time, but your senses were dulled to discomforts and pains alike.
You panted heavily beneath him, quivering under his weight. He lay his head against your back and breathed.
Wanting to push himself upright he twisted a hand into the cushion next to your head, tried to work himself up, but unable to with the debility of his worn muscles.
“Goddamnit,” he rasped, then, forcing strength into his limp limbs, pushed up on a shaky arm and righted himself dizzily. He had to close his eyes, reclaim his vision from the black spots encompassing it, then blinked the room back into focus.
You made some mousy noise beneath him. Then you squirmed, tightening around his oversensitive dick and making him grunt.
He pulled out of you carefully, slowly, every inch dissuaded by the tight squeeze. Wetness made a sleek mess of it all, slick streaks down to your knees, on his own skin, too; splattered against his pelvis, dripping down his balls and his thighs. He shivered. All of this, all of this mess for him, because of him.
His seed spilled out of you when his cockhead, red and twitching, released itself. His cum was hotter than what should have been normal. As it dripped down your thighs it felt like a simmering stream.
The mess, primal though flattering as it was, was quickly something of an agitation on his sweltering skin, and he wanted to be rid of it. A hand was at your back to steady himself, and he pushed at it again to keep his balance—that was when he noticed the full scope of the burns he’d left on you. The burns, the bruises, the blood. He looked upon the violence he’d done with careful regard. He knew from a simple glance, and from experience, that the burns were so severe they would be beyond full healing. You’d have them there forever. A token of his brutality, of his lust.
He closed his eyes and breathed out a sigh to steady himself.
“Oi.”
He pushed at you, and your limp body moved jointlessly beneath him. He wet his mouth to alleviate some of the dryness. His heart raced and his ears felt stuffed by warmth.
“Oi, you bring a towel? Something to wipe this mess up?” Your cum on his skin was cooling uncomfortably. “Oi.” He shook you a little harder when you kept to your silence, and a quiet whine answered him. “C'mon.”
There was a tiny movement: you attempting to push on your arms. But they were utterly useless to the command of your body. A raspy sound came from your throat, like you were trying to speak in murmurs.
He leaned in. “What?”
You tried again, to little betterment. He tsked, impatience entering his body again despite how languid it felt, and smacked your ass lightly, making you jump.
“I can’t hear you dummy, speak up."
You gave up, and trying to muster what little forte you could, moved a shaking arm and pointed to a bag off to your left. He understood, reached for it, his muscles screaming at him in ache, and set about cleaning himself with a towel he found inside.
He thought better of doing the same for you, but was again drawn to the wounds he’d left on you. Provoking an alpha-like possessiveness in him as they did, they were unsightly, and some far away part of him regretted what he’d done. He cleaned you carefully, in the smallest form of apology he was capable of evoking.
When the rough towel wiped over your sensitive clit you shivered miserably, and he huffed a quiet, weak laugh, his eyes heavy-lidded.
“Such an omega.”
He tugged his pants back up his waist and sunk down into the mattress at your side. He’d mastered his breathing again, though there was a heat in his lungs, like smoke, which made every breath feel powerful and choking. The smoke had all but gone from his skin, however, extinguished by his mind returning to lucidness.
But there was still a trace of the ferocious alpha in him there, his legs and depleted cock twitching when he breathed in and smelled you, a warmer vanilla now: something changed and unpure now that you’d been rutted. And he knew, possessively, with a shot of primal instinct going down his spine and making fire roll through him, that he’d forever changed you.
He looked over at you, realizing for the first time that you’d been completely inanimate. You barely looked to be breathing; your inhales came in irregular, heavy intervals, as if each breath taken succeeded a reminder that you were still alive, awake.
He knew it was the adrenaline still rushing in his veins that made him do it, but he reached out, pushed at your head gently so you would look his way, and brushed the matted hair from your face.
Your skin was flushed with sweat. A damp spot in the mattress must have been tears, and probably drool. It wasn’t particularly nice to look at, but it stirred something in him nevertheless. You were a mess. An utter mess. His mess.
Your eyes were closed, pupils fluttering beneath the lids like shaking leaves.
“Open your eyes,” he said, for no particular reason.
But they shut tight at the command, and your breathing picked up, as if you were debating between obeying or not.
“Open them,” he told you again, no firmer, but apparently, it was persuasive all the same. Tears slipped from your ducts when you complied, eyes shining and trembling.
He ignored the part of him that ached to fall into his greedy impulses again. It was alluring. Not just because you were an omega, but because you were you. And he’d fucked you. He’d taken you. He was your first alpha.
Without further instruction to do otherwise, your eyes started to close again, and the hand that still held your hair from your forehead tugged lightly, entreating your eyes to stay trained on him.
“Nuh uh, wake up. Talk to me a little, before you pass out.”
You hummed groggily in response, your mouth open but too dry to form around words. You sealed your lips together, swallowed the dryness.
“Can’t move,” you managed raspily, staring at him, looking exhaustedly vulnerable and knowing you did, too.
He watched you, debating leniency, and decided he’d give you some, just for good measure.
You made an uncomfortable whine when he took your forearm and dragged you to him. He didn’t try to hold you, or keep you against him. Instead when you curled into your little ball against his side, moaning as you did at having to stretch your body’s abused muscles, he let you. What he didn’t deny of intimacy, however, was the arm he draped over you leisurely, just to feel you as he lay on his back and stared at the ceiling.
His thumb brushed over the flesh of your hip, and felt the corrugated, slowly cooling flesh there. The sensation made him grimace. It was so like the gnarly, repulsive texture of his own skin. Not as severe by a long shot, but nevertheless, unpleasant to the touch.
“Hurt?” he asked.
You blinked lazily, his voice sounding like a waning echo to your numb ears. “What...?”
“Your hips. Look at them.”
You forced your eyes open; they rolled themselves into nausea when you shifted to look. When you noticed the pinkish, creased wound on your burned skin, you froze, then started to shiver in your dismay.
“You… I…” Your unsteady hand moved, a finger traced over the rough, still raw skin. Clearly, the pain was lost on you, lust granted. But the sight had your stomach twisting, its emptiness sloshing uncomfortably at the sight of your own damaged flesh; you could even smell it, strong and sickening like cooking meat.
“You’re lucky that’s all I did,” he muttered, selfishly flippant. “And you’re lucky I did it there.”
You took a shaky breath, and shut your eyes, resigned to your body’s lethargy. “Asshole.”
He humphed. “It’ll heal,” he lied. “I’ve had worse, clearly. Done worse, too. It won't get infected.”
You were quiet afterwards, volitionally so, barely keeping your hostility in check. He was more than aware of your chagrin, and didn’t particularly care. If you started feeling it later, he’d go get you meds for the pain. But he’d known omegas to be particularly resilient in their heats. There was very little that registered above the natural pleasure of being filled by an alpha.
“I’m…”
He glanced down at you, saw your mouth opening and closing in determined hesitation.
“I’m not a whore,” you managed croakily, and irritably.
He started laughing. “You gonna hold that against me?”
“I’m not a whore.” You scowled, resentful of his carefree ribbing. “And I’m not”—you sputtered, breathing hard through a phlegm-choked cough–“a slut.”
His laugh subsided into a low chuckle in his chest. You didn’t see the wry grin on his face, but heard it.
He shrugged. “I say shit when I’m high on fucking. Don’t take it so personally.” But he couldn’t stop now that the warmth of craftiness was twisting in him. “Besides…” The arm draped over you shifted, found your ass, and gave a generous squeeze. You whimpered in objection. “You basically are my whore, now.”
You shivered with frustration. Despite the wild—incredibly wild and earth-shattering sex, you were conceiving a poorer and poorer image of him the more he gloated. With renewed strength, you rose on your arm and pushed his hand off.
“I’m not,” you insisted testily.
“I get you don’t know how this shit works,” he started, “so guess I’ll explain it to you.”
There it was again: the possessive, ravenous wildfire in his veins that coaxed his arm to reclaim its spot at your back, bring you closer to him. Adjusting his position, he let your head rest on his stomach; your legs curled comfortably around his own for comfort. He watched your head rise and fall as he breathed steadily.
“May not have mated you,” he went on, anticipating your griping, "but I’m your alpha now.”
You tensed at the declaration, he noticed, but no more than that.
“And it’s gonna stay that way unless you let some other one take you in a heat, which I don’t see you doing. Unless you’re just so dick hungry after this that you let any guy fuck you.”
One of your feet dug opposedly into his calf and he snickered. “Didn’t think so. To the last part, I mean. Trust me…” His hand smoothed over your ass again, and he smirked when you moaned quietly. “You’re gonna be hungry for it.”
“I can’t handle anymore,” you muttered, breath puffing against his stomach. Even those giddy times you’d imagined your first alpha taking you, envisioned a night of passion that would end in ardent nurturing, wrapped under your dominant’s embrace, protected and warm and wanted—you now balked the indulgent, cherished ideal of it. This was not what you had expected. Dabi was not what you had expected.
“I can’t,” you started, lacking the confident breath to loose your doubts on. “I don’t even… feel it. It’s gone.”
“You’re still in heat. It’ll pop back up when your body’s ready. I’m hoping you don’t need a biology lesson for this shit, but point of a heat is to get you knocked up. You get that, right?”
“Obviously.”
“Obviously,” he mocked. “And obviously since I’m not tryin’ to make you a mother, I didn’t do that. Your body’s gonna keep beggin’ for it until I give it to you, and I won’t. So you’ll get your heat back once your junk down there realizes it’s empty and wants to try again, except it’s gonna be a lot crazier this time, since you’ve finally had a taste. Told you that you were only hurting yourself by holding out this long."
You started to follow the logic. It wasn’t anything you hadn’t heard before. But to hear it fleshed out like this, by the alpha who had taken you, felt somewhat like a hazardous warning.
“I just… “ You shook your head against him. “We did it. You said that would be enough. That it wouldn’t be so bad, now…”
“You thought one fuck would fix it?” he asked, condescension taking an amusing slope in his tone.
You didn’t answer, and he grinned.
“You got a lot to learn, sweetheart. Gotta get you through the whole heat, first. Life would be easy for you omegas if one fuck could take care of your problems.” He hummed. “No, you’re gonna be dyin’ to get bred up until your heat is over. I’m not gonna do that, but I’ll fill you up for a little relief.” Something about his own words made him twitch in anticipation, and he put a hand on your head, pinched a handful of hair gently in his fist. “Until you need it again. And again.”
You heart was beating fast. He felt it against his side. “We don’t have to,” you said.
“Don’t have to what?”
“I’m too tired,” you insisted, feeling your body lag into the mattress. “I won’t want it anymore. I’m done. This will be fine. I don’t need you.”
He laughed with such smugness that your cheeks went hot.
“Now you’re just being dumb… But fine. Think what you want. Give it a couple hours. You’ll be clawing at my dick before morning.” He picked idly at the drying blood under his nails, frowning to see it, but too amused by the prospect of your ignorance to regret his violence anymore. “And now, I’m gonna make you work for it.”
“I won’t. You got what you wanted. And I… you made your point.” You shoved off of his body, pushed away from him scornfully on limbs that were seconds from giving out, and sat yourself upright.
Your spine curled and straightened enticingly as you arched up; he watched with covetous appreciation, then saw the red blood drying on your back. He tried not to put out a spiteful laugh.
Let you find the mess he’d made later, he decided. For now, a more urgent matter was making sure his dick didn’t get too hard before you were ready to go again. But you stretched so nicely like that, reminding him of how your body had dipped so obediently for him when he’d bent you over and fucked you cross-eyed.
“You need to leave,” you said.
Snorting, he went back to picking at his nails. “I’m stayin’ right here. Even if I didn’t still have a job to do, this is a nice bed. Better than the couches at the bar, ya know. Nice little nest you’ve made for yourself."
“Then… I’m leaving.” You tried to stand, and failed, legs sliding out from under you and giving your body back to the mattress beneath.
“No you ain’t,” he snickered. “Even if you could find another place to wait off the heat before it came back again, you’re gonna run back to me.”
“I don’t need you,” you insisted decisively, angrier now.
“Yeah, you do. I’m your alpha now, remember?” He saw your shoulders rise with a heavy, angry breath. “You said it yourself. You’re pathetic, and you need an alpha cock. And right now, that’s mine."
“…Fuck you.”
He cackled patronizingly, like it was the funniest thing he’d ever heard, giving no stock to your anger at all.
Indignation compelled you to your feet, wobbling, a hand going between your thighs to feel the hot throbbing there.
That was when you noticed the blood, and some of the bruises. You shook your head, infuriated with yourself, and with him.
“You’re… sick,” you muttered. “I can’t believe I let you… You’re a sick bastard."
He chuckled dismissively, and stopped himself from reaching out to grab you like he wanted to—that attitude of yours made you really fuckable.
Instead he rested back into the mattress, forcing his hands to keep busy on his nails, on his staples.
“Keep it up sweetheart,” he muttered. "When you’re wet for me again in a few hours, I’m gonna remember you said that."
“Fuck you,” you said again, too disillusioned to think carefully on the foreboding, and found your clothes.
Then, forgetting he’d torn them, you threw the tattered garb at him.
He ignored you, unfazed, flicking the ineffectual shirt off his chest as you rummaged through your bag for a new one.
You pulled it over your head, then, with a final glare of indignant reproval, walked off.
He didn’t bother asking where you were going. He knew you would be back.
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princessjaqulinechess1031 · 4 years ago
Text
by the bedside
Characters: Damian Wayne, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Adrien Agreste, Jason Todd
Summary: A job goes wrong, and Marinette fears the worst until Damian wakes up. 
Notes: Cross-posted on Archive of Our Own. 
Sequel
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"À la claire fontaine," a soft voice sung, pulling Damian out of his hazy daze. "M'en allant promener, j'ai trouvé l'eau si belle…"
Damian groaned and tried to turn on his side, to try and reach whatever it was singing, but the moment he did, the song stopped and was replaced by a gasp. Damian blinked his eyes open, ignoring the sting, and saw sitting next to him was a disheveled and red-eyed Marinette sitting next to him.
"Damian….," she whispered. Damian tried to reach out a hand to her, but found that it felt like lead. Moving it felt like a splitting pain, and it was weighed down by a cast. Damian shut his eyes and leaned back into the pillow. The building, the explosion, and –
"Adrien?" Damian croaked. Marinette nodded her head and took the hand not enclosed in a cast in her hands. She gave it a gentle squeeze and smiled.
"He's fine," Marinette said. "He's doing damage control with your brother."
Ah, yes. Dick. Nightwing had come to Paris as one Dick Grayson, something to do with Wayne Enterprises or other, when he had realized what Damian was up to. Robin had become an unofficial third member of Paris's own dynamic duo, Ladybug and Chat Noir once all their allies identities were exposed. Hawkmoth was long gone, so it was just petty criminals and the like, but adding a fourth member to that so suddenly had thrown everything off. Even if it was for one mission. A bomb was missed, and now –
"How long was I out?" Damian asked. He narrowed his eyes and looked around and saw a familiar location had enveloped him. "And ho-how did we get to the Batcave?"
"Two days," Marinette said breathlessly. "And a Zeta tube."
Ah, Zeta. He should have known. Damage control probably meant making sure Paris still had someone patrolling and keeping it's citizens safe.
"Nightwing insisted we bring you back here," Marinette said. "Said you should be with family."
That meant it was touch and go for a moment. Damian felt unfrazzled by the brush with death, how many times had he had one since he was born? Not to mention he actually had died once. He looked down at Marinette's outfit, and saw she was wearing the same purple sundress she had been wearing before her transformation two days ago.
"H-have you been here the whole time?" Damian asked softly. Marinette looked down at her fingers sheepishly.
"I-I had to be sure," Marinette said. "When the Lucky Charm didn't work, and –" Marinette cut herself off with a chortle of tears. "Ma moitié, I had to make sure you weren't dead."
Damian shut his eyes. This was what frazzled him. He knew in their line of work, one got hurt. Sometimes you didn't walk away. But to hurt Marinette, to make Marinette feel hopeless and lost as Damian fought on a hospital bed. Marinette was the one good, pure thing he had ever been able to keep, and to make her feel pain felt like a betrayal.
"You should have gone home," Damian said slowly. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."
Marinette shook her head and squeezed his hand.
"If you expected me to do that, then you don't really know me."
Damian turned his head to the side, and tried to ignore the sharp burst of pain at the top of his back from the movement. But try as he might, he still winced. Marinette reached forward and put a hand on his shoulder to try and steady him again.
"Be still, ma moitié," Marinette said. "Monsieur Pennyworth said it was best for you to remain as you are."
Marinette was so polite, and despite Alfred's continued insistence, Marinette continued to call the man by his proper name. Damian found it was one of many adorable things about her to love.
"Nawaret aynaya," Damian said, "I promise I'm fine –"
"No you're not!" Marinette busted out. "You're hurt, you- you nearly died! All because I couldn't keep my team – I got distracted and –"
The young girl burst into tears, and Damian took his hand from her grasp and reached up to caress her cheek. Oh, Marinette. She always took ever mistake, every misstep, as some misgiving on her part. To Marinette, the safety of all Paris and all of her friends sat squarely on her shoulders. She might shoulder that responsibility with her brother Chat Noir, but Marinette would always hold it as a personal stake in her heart.
"It's not your fault, nawaret aynaya," Damian said softly. "This – this comes with the mask, you know that. If you had or had not been there, this would have happened eventually." He wiped away a tear form her cheek, and Marinette reached for the hand still caressing her. "I love you Marinette. And I know you would never hurt me. So stop blaming yourself."
Marinette gave a weak smile.
"If you expect me to stop just like that," she hiccupped, "then you don't really know me at all." She sucked in a deep breath and rubbed her thumb across his wrist.
"I love you too," she said. Damian's heart sang. For seventeen years he had waited for something and someone that would look at him and not see a monster. Not see an assassin or a danger or someone to fear. And by some miracle, that person turned out to be the love of his life.
And he'd be damned if he let her go.
"He's flatlining, I'm calling it," a voice said, breaking the moment around them. Damian retracted his hand and Marinette wiped away a last tear. In the doorway stood one Jason Todd, mask gone but still wearing spandex and his leather jacket. "Mari, time of death?"
Marinette bit her lip and looked down at her hands, but Damian could see the beginnings of a smile on her face. Jason stepped into the room and dragged a chair from the corner and sat down next to Marinette with a loud thud.
"Papa Bat should be here in a little bit, Brat Bat," Jason said. He took out his gun and began to fiddle with it, probably to clean it since he pulled out a white cloth from his pocket. Damian frowned.
"I'm not a brat," Damian said. Jason rolled his eyes.
"You might be seventeen, but you're still a brat sometimes," Jason said. Marinette looked up from her hands, that familiar mischief shining in her eyes.
"You're kinda. Sometimes," Marinette said softly. Jason laughed and slung an arm around the girl's shoulder.
"Ah! I got the girlfriend on my side!" Jason said. "I win!"
Normally Damian would keep going and insist he wasn't a brat, but Jason was as transparent as a plane of glass. Jason was trying to cheer up Marinette with this joke, and Damian was not going to try and ruin that. Marinette was going to be happy and not worry too much about Damian, that was his mission.
"What did you win?" Adrien asked, popping his head into the med bay. His blonde hair was still damp, meaning he probably just got out of a post-patrol shower. He came up behind his adopted sister and hugged her from behind, placing a kiss to her temple.
"Marinette admitted Damian was a brat sometimes," Jason said.
"I am not!"
"Yeah, you are," Adrien said. Tim and Dick entered the room, and Tim was texting someone on his phone. Probably Stephanie, telling her he was okay. Dick pulled a chair over to the other side of Damian's bed and leaned back, his long legs stretching out underneath the medical bed.
"Be nice to the injured child," Dick said. Damian frowned.
"I am not a child," Damian said. "I am the same age you were when you went solo, Grayson."
Dick raised a brow. "And? I was a child then, henceforth, you're a child now."
Damian furrowed his brow again and Marinette laughed softly, but once again he did not fight. If it made Marinette smile, it was worth it.
His father finally materialized, Alfred behind him. His father was as stoic as ever, his eyes steeled and guarded thanks to the new visitors to the Cave. Despite the Miraculous duo having been unofficial members of the Batfamily for a year and a half, Father still seemed opposed to giving them official membership. Damian wondered if it had anything to do with Marinette being his girlfriend. He hoped not.
"Master Damian," Alfred said, and a phantom smile overtook his professional form. "I see you are recovering well. I assume Miss Marinette has made sure you've stayed where you should?"
"He only woke up a little while ago, Monsieur," Marinette said. Her lips upturned wickedly. "The real problems in that regard have not started yet."
Adrien laughed and hugged his sister tighter.
"Trust me, mi'lady is here is plenty capable of keeping Damian in line."
Once upon a time, Damian had been jealous of Adrien's nickname for Marinette. Now Damian knew better. Adrien may have once been desperately in love with Marinette and Ladybug, but once one Kagami entered the picture it was game over. Now, the nickname was mere relic of that time and a testament to the depth of their bond.
"I expect nothing less," Alfred said. Father stood at the foot of his bed. He was still dressed in his suit, but his cowl was down, revealing his identity. That made Adrien and Marinette's lack of inclusion even more baffling – they knew who all of them were, the biggest secret they had.
"Are you alright Damian?" Father asked. Damian nodded.
"Yes Father," Damian said. A sigh of relief left his father's form. Despite medical evidence, after everything that happened with Jason, Father would never be certain of his kid's state until he heard from them exactly.
"Well, I mean, wasn't he just fighting with Jason?" Tim asked. He looked up from his phone. "Me and Dick heard them outside. If he's in a fighting mood, he's fine."
"I almost died, and you guys treat me this way," Damian said. Jason rolled his eyes.
"Shut up, this is how we show our love," Jason said. He eyes Dick. "Except for Dick. He does the whole normal shit. Damn well-adjusted asshole."
"Damn non-well-adjusted asshole," Dick shot back. Marinette giggled. Father turned to Marinette and Adrien.
"You two can stay here as long as you need, to make sure Damian is okay," Father said. Damian tried not to let his surprise be palpable. Marinette and Adrien were barely allowed in the Batcave half the time, now Father was offering to let them stay while Damian recovered? What had happened in the time he was asleep? "You can Zeta home for clothes, if you need them. But we have enough clothes that might fit you Adrien, and I'm sure Cass left some things behind before going to Hong Kong."
"Thank you, Monsieur Wayne," Adrien said for the both of them. Marinette smiled and then turned her attention back to Damian.
Damian for seventeen years wondered what it would be like to be purely loved.
Now he knew. It came from Marinette Dupain-Cheng, that kind of true love
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kilgarraghforever · 3 years ago
Text
So The Son Of Bigfoot is this film from 2017 and it's completely nutty.
The opening scene is this science man getting chased through a forest by a load of helicopters, men with dogs and a pointy-faced dude with very blonde hair. The lot of them have stupid hairstyles. Science Man climbs a cliff, is cornered by the helicopters and then jumps off a waterfall. End scene, cut to title, then the main stuff starts. (I think I'm going to explain the entire film, so anyone who wants to watch it (and I heartily recommend you do so) leave now.)
The main plot is about this kid who gets bullied by three morons with stupid haircuts. Here they are:
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(Sunglasses has this silly little goatee thing at the back of his head)
The three morons stick a load of gum in his hair, so his mum has to chop it all off. Next day, it's all grown back, and kid freaks and tries to chop it off himself - which goes badly. He finds his dead dad's old hat in a draw to hide it, goes to school and basically has a weird thing where his hearing suddenly increases and so does his shoe size. The kid's feat literally bust out of his shoes. Kid ends up in the PE hall to escape the noise and surprise! the three bullies turn up, he accidently punches one in the face and so they beat him up, steal his backpack and throw it in a basketball hoop. The lot of them get called to the headmaster's office to be punished (suspension), in which the kid - Adam - meets some blonde girl who flirts with him, gets his bag back and is told to remove the hat, revealing that his hair has grown back completely. Before he has time to contemplate this, the bullies turn up again, chase him home and throw a rock through his window. Rock hits a vent, breaks it and hits something metal, so Adam sticks his arm down and finds a tin full of letters from his dead dad and an address carved on bark. He reads the letters and his mum gets home, he accuses her of keeping his dad's living-ness a secret. Yelling ensues, Adam runs away, y'know - the usual.
Meanwhile, this massive hair company (Hair Co) are trying to make some serum to make hair grow. It's run by the pale dude from before, who never gets named, so I'll refer to him as Asshole. Asshole is showing these three dudes around and nattering, and then they get to this science lab. A short old science man shoots an intern in the ass with a dart thing that causes him to grow an afro. The afro then promptly bursts into flames.
We return to Adam, next to a highway trying to hitchhike in the pouring rain. Truck driver stops and Adam guilts him into taking him to the address on that bit of bark. Turns out it's literally just a post box in a woods next to the road. Adam gets out, truck drives off leaving Adam alone and so he ventures into the unknown. He wanders around for a bit looking for a house or something, yelling "Hello?" into the void. He climbs a small cliff, yells again and hears something behind him. Sees some bushes moving, so he throws a rock at them. The bushes go "ow" so he runs off and right into a bear trap. He falls, skidding the rest of the way down to the road. During said skid, his backpack falls off. This is important. Adam gets knocked out by the impact and is left sprawled in the middle of the road. Some trucker - I'm going to call him Carl - is driving down it, reading a magazine and singing something. He sees Adam at the last minute, slamming on the breaks. He's clearly going to hit Adam, but before he can, this blurry humanoid figure runs out into the road, scoops up Adam and runs off again. Carl is very confused, so plays it back on his dashboard camera. He goes "Well, I'll be" and reaches for his phone. It has no service. Carl ends up at a diner with a phone box, calls 911 and reports that he saw Bigfoot. 911 hangs up on him. Carl then proceeds to call the magazine he was reading and gets told that his sighting will get published.
Back at Hair Co, Asshole sees the report and smirks at the short science man, whom I'll be calling Billingsley, as that is his name. Billingsley wants to go after Bigfoot but Asshole says that they gave up the search ten years ago, leading to the question: 'What the fuck, Hair Co?' They eventually decide to go after Bigfoot again after seeing Adam in the photo.
Carl, back at the diner, is talking to the serving lady who I've named Sugar. They talk about the Bigfoot sighting, and then a load of black cars and a freaking helicopter turn up. Sugar shouts for someone to raise the prices.
Turns out all the men in black people are Hair Co looking for Bigfoot - and Asshole is with them. Carl explains about where he saw Bigfoot and an agent finds Adam's backpack (I said it was important) and his address in it. Asshole smirks again.
Two of the Agents of Hair turn up at Adam's address, break in and find the letters. Meanwhile, Shelly - the mum - is driving to the address on the bark in search of Adam.
This is where it gets a little nuts. Adam wakes up in some tree next with Bigfoot - inexplicably in a pair of jeans that look far too small for him because of all the fur - is standing over him. Adam understandably freaks out and tries to leave, only to nearly die from falling. Bigfoot grabs him before he does and explains that he is Adam's dad. His not dead, very much alive, rather furry and never named dad. (For that reason I'm going to keep calling him Bigfoot.) Adam calls bullshit and threatens him with a twig, then sees that the middle of the treehouse is decorated in photos of him and his mum. This somehow proves to Adam that Bigfoot is his dad, and I'm sure you guessed from the title. He then freaks out again, calling his dad a monster and Bigfoot makes the most funny offended face in animated history.
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He then accuses Bigfoot of running away, to which Bigfoot responds with "Woah." He then explains that someone *cough* Hair Co *cough* *cough* were hunting him and he had to leave to keep Adam and Shelly safe. Adam then asks him what he meant by 'lab rat', making Bigfoot change the subject to Shelly and whether she knows Adam is here. Adam lies, his dad catches it, and they argue for a bit before Bigfoot says "Your mum must be worried sick."
Cut to Shelly driving up to a blockade set up by the Agents of Hair. They say they're looking for her, and she tries to escape but the Agents of Hair stop her.
Back at the treehouse, apparently Bigfoot and Adam have stopped arguing and Bigfoot is going on about being sorry he missed Adam's childhood and how Shelly sent everything to him. Adam then asks if he's going to have Bigfoot stuff happen to him - mostly refuring to the fur (I'm not sorry for the pun) - and Bigfoot says no. He then explains that he's already thirteen and hasn't shown any signs of being a bigfoot. Adam says "Yes I have. My feet went weird and so did my hearing." They eventually work out that Adam got all of the cool stuff about being a bigfoot and none of the fur. Cool stuff? I hear you and Adam ask. Turns out bigfoots (bigfeet?) have healing powers (which is how Adam is walking on a leg that got caught in a beartrap), run really fast, hear super well (like things around a mile away) and can talk to animals. They then zipline down to the ground, do some weird surfing thing and fall over. During the next 20 minutes, we meet two racoons, a squirrel and a woodpecker. Oh, yeah, and a giant bear. There's some nonsense with two idiotic hunters, baseball, some geysers and then they end up back at the treehouse. This sickeningly sweet bonding shit is interrupted by the raccoons who report that the Agents of Hair are scouring the forest looking for Bigfoot. Bigfoot blames Adam, which is fair but also really not, who then decides to give himself up to Asshole and the Agents of Hair. They take him to his mum and he tricks them into climbing into a geyser. This pisses of Asshole who, in a plot to lure out Bigfoot, traps Adam in a car and sends him into a forest fire the Agents of Hair started. When Bigfoot shows up to try and save Adam, he gets Adam out of the car but is shot by Asshole with a stun dart. The massive bear whose name is Wilbur saves Adam but a burning branch gets in the way of him going back for Bigfoot, who is captured by Asshole. Adam then blacks out from smoke inhalation. When he comes to, Wilbur and the other animals decide to leave, but Adam convinces them to help him save Bigfoot in a Mission Impossible style heist.
Back at Hair Co, Billingsley has almost perfected a hair formula and shoots the intern again, causing all his hair to grow prolifically. Asshole is pleased by this.
While that's happening, Adam and the rest break into Hair Co's nearest facility, and during the commotion, all of them but Adam get captured. Adam makes it to his dad, who then refuses to leave in a plot twist everyone saw coming, aside from Adam who is confused. Asshole has apparently promised to care for Shelly and Adam and not kill them in exchange for Bigfoot allowing them to run experiments on him. Adam, who is not crazy and doesn't trust Asshole, tries to convince Bigfoot to leave but then Asshole himself turns up and takes Adam out of the lab. Asshole talks about how Adam is going to like being rich while Adam spots a fire alarm, breaks it and causes the only door in to seal itself with him on the inside. This greatly pisses off Asshole, who yells for security to open the door and that the fire is a false alarm. Security guy, who Adam and co knocked out earlier, comes to, hears fire and sounds the evacuation alarm. Asshole gets taken to the bridge, leaving only Adam inside.
Adam then steals an access card from a guard he knocked out, releases all the animals, including the ones used by Hair Co to test stuff on (who all leave the compound and follow the evacuating Agents of Hair), and cause chaos. During said chaos Adam gets a flare gun. He goes back to Bigfoot and this time succeeds in convincing him to leave, threatening to tell Asshole that he's a Bigfoot too. This sentiment is quite sweet as he says that "If you don't leave, then I'm staying. It's the two of us here or the two of us out there, but I'm not loosing you again." They leave and Bigfoot decides to go into a large production area and break all of the gas pipes, deciding that Hair Co is going to be put out of business, permanently. They break many gas lines, leading to the door to be sealed so no gas escapes. They escape through a vent and come out at the top of Hair Co, and zipline down to the bridge using the cables holding it up.
Asshole is there waiting for them. He has found out that Adam is also a bigfoot and shoots Bigfoot several times with stun darts then kicks him off the bridge. Adam, with the most 'fuck you' look, shoots the flare gun's flare into Hair Co, igniting the gas and exploding the building and making the bridge collapse.
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Adam then runs to the end of the bridge and climbs down to try and find his dad. Asshole also falls off the bridge because of his own stupidity and the Agents of Hair being incompetent.
In the gorge below, Adam finds his dad badly injured and dying. He cries at first, hugging his dad and his hands glow with blue swirls of light that disappear as soon as he takes his hand away from Bigfoot's arm. He then remembers the healing powers his dad told him about, and uses them on his dad. The blue magic makes Bigfoot's body rise into the air as the healing powers try to heal him, then gently place him back on the ground after Adam is done.
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Bigfoot doesn't move.
"No!" Adam cries out, sobbing again. Then Bigfoot moves and wakes up, they hug, the animals show up and it's all very sweet, blah blah blah.
And then along comes Asshole, looking rather deranged and pointing a stun gun at them. He starts monologuing about how "it did not have to end this way" and then is shot in the ass by Shelly. Bigfoot, Shelly and Adam decide on "no more hiding". Meanwhile, the male raccoon discovers that Asshole has been wearing a toupee the entire time.
It turns out that Billingsley and the intern survived.
A few weeks/months later (it's actually only about a week later) Bigfoot and the animals are living happily with Shelly and Adam, who is returning to school after his suspension.
On the way, the bullies return and try to beat up Adam, only to be scared by Wilbur the massive bear. They end up with broken bikes (curtesy of the raccoons) and bruises. The blonde girl from the office shows up at the end of the confrontation and asks to walk to school with Adam. She also asks what happened to his shoes, as his feet bust out when the bullies show up. He jokes that he should switch to sandals, and the film ends on them walking away with his shoes hanging from a telephone pole.
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It's a wild ride and I'd honestly recommend it to anyone with an hour and a half to spare. Despite what it looks like, I didn't get in everything and the whole film is a lot funnier that I said here.
This film got an 8/10.
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mcwriting · 4 years ago
Text
The Marriage Project (9)
I’m back with anotha one! Sorry it’s taken so ridiculously long! I’ve been soooo busy that sitting down and writing or even formatting has been such a challenge. Please enjoy this chapter!
*also i watched Cherry and Tom was so good in it I’m- that film messed me up a lil bit but like it was so good. Also I’ve loved Ciara since btr and now I’m just insanely jealous and love her even more ugh 
Story Masterlist
Word Count: 2333
Warnings: Some language? I can’t think of anything else
% approximately the 3rd week of October %
Friday evening, the volleyball team arrived at the town regionals were being held at, about an hour away. You were staying in a hotel again, and as before, Julia was your buddy.
After having spent the evening laughing and having fun, your whole hotel room group was about to head up the stairs.
“Hey, y/n. Do you mind staying back for a minute?” Julia asked.
“Oh, sure. We’ll meet you guys upstairs,” you called to the other two, who waved back nonchalantly and continued walking. Julia and you went back to some empty seats near the lobby.
“What’s up?” you asked, smiling.
“Well… Sam told me he caught you and Tom yesterday and I just wanted to ask you about it…”
Your smile faltered.
“What’s there to talk about? I told him that Tom sprayed me with water so I got back at him by soaking the back of his shirt. There’s nothing more to say.”
“Well, yeah, he told me that but he also mentioned that you stayed for dinner? And met Nikki’s parents last weekend? Not trying to imply anything, but I didn’t meet their grandparents until Sam and I had been dating for like 6 months.”
You were getting annoyed, considering this was the second person in two days to ask you about Tom.
“I didn’t just meet them over nothing! Nikki took my senior pictures at the same time as Tom’s and wanted to do them there. I was just tagging along for the ride.”
“You know he’s also coming to state next weekend, right? If we pass through tomorrow?”
He is?
“Uh, no I didn’t. Doesn’t he have football stuff to worry about? It’s also Halloween next weekend, like he’d miss out on the big party.”
“They have a bye next week. Sam is going to come and I guess Tom is taking him, but Nikki might come too? I’m not sure. I guess you’d better ask him. Anyways, I just wanted to clear things up since there were all those rumors today,” she said, starting to get up.
“Wait, wai- Rumors? I never heard anything. Like about me?”
“You haven’t heard? I guess one of the freshman girls who has a massive crush on Tom was stalking Nikki’s website last night and saw some pictures of the two of you. A bunch of people think you’re dating now.”
You felt yourself pale.
“Oh no, and she changed one picture after Tom asked her to. Do you know what the picture was?”
“Something about him carrying you..? I never saw it, why?”
“Great. Now everyone is going to think she changed it because a secret got out or something. Ughhhh I just wish this stupid marriage project had never happened and I would never be in this mess.”
Julia looked at you contemplatively for a moment.
“Think of it this way, you and Tom are friends now, right?” you apprehensively nodded. “If it weren’t for that project, you two would still be fighting all the time and you wouldn’t have had the incredible Nikki Holland taking your pictures. Everyone can just get over themselves, you know?”
You snorted, then grinned.
“Yeah I guess so. You know, you’re annoyingly wise beyond your years,” you stated. “Now let’s get back upstairs. We have a long day ahead of us.”
%
Placing first at regionals meant two things: you were going to state, and everyone was congratulating you again when Monday came.
They also kinda looked at you funny when Tom high fived you in the hallway as he passed by, but you had decided to follow Julia’s advice and stop caring about the rumors people were spreading. 
Once the morning announcements ended, your calculus teacher stood up, a small paper stack in hand.
“Okay, everyone, since I’m your first period teacher and homecoming is next week, today you get to cast your nomination votes. Y’all know the drill: three guys, three girls for king and queen. Try to make it fast, we have a lot to do today.”
She walked around handing out half-sheets of paper with six lines on them. You and Tom immediately looked at each other.
“We nominating each other?” Tom asked before you could.
“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” you joked, filling out the sheet with both of your names and four others.
In home ec, you sat next to Tom cutting fabric for yet another project you had to do together, thinking about something Julia had mentioned.
“Hey, I gotta ask you something. Is it true you’re going to the capital this weekend for our state tournament?” you asked.
“Oh, yeah. This is our bye week and I promised Sam I’d go with him and mom. Plus, we can work on the project when you’re free.”
“You do realize that’s like a four hour drive, right? I mean it’s Halloween this weekend. Wouldn’t you rather make an appearance at Johnny’s big blowout?”
“Eh, it won’t be that great. I mean his place isn’t even that big and it’s in town. There’s literally no way it won’t get busted within the first half hour. The homecoming party at Tyler’s however… that’s gonna be insane.”
“Okay Johnny’s trash party aside, you really would rather spend your one free weekend of the season four hours away watching girls play volleyball then at home doing… whatever it is you do. And please don’t tell me you watch the ‘hub in your spare time.”
“Come on, y/n I’m not an animal. Even without the tight uniforms volleyball is really cool.” 
You backhanded his arm at the comment.
“Plus, I don’t need any videos to get myself off,” he added, smirking.
“You disgust me.”
“You know you love me.”
“Hmm. Debatable,” you shot back dryly, earning a chuckle and shoulder bump from him as you finally cracked.
%
At lunch, your friends were discussing the Halloween party when you sat down.
“Okay we really need to figure out what to wear this weekend, and we’re not going as playboy bunnies like Daisy and all her group,” said one girl.
“Well I say we dress as frat boys. It’s funny, not super sexual, and we all know half the guys are going to rush next year,” suggested Caroline.
“I like it, but what if we went a step further and dressed as dads. You know, hawaiian shirts, khaki shorts, socks and sandals. That would be hilarious. What do you think, y/n?” said Alexis.
“Sorry ladies, I won’t be there. We have state this weekend at the capital so as always, we’re driving down Friday after school. I will be at Tyler’s homecoming thing next weekend. Also, I do really like the dad thing, but I vote y’all do Guy Fieri.”
“Wait why is that literally genius,” Alexis said as the others agreed. “Of course it would suck to take your idea without you even getting to do it.”
“You guys really think I care? Just credit me in your insta captions. I’ll make the team put ribbons with flames on them in their ponytails Saturday.”
“Okay now we have to do it,” a different friend said.
“Hey, at least you won’t have to worry about Tom. I’m sure he’ll be at the party,” Caroline said. You wrinkled your nose.
“Yeah about that… His brother’s girlfriend is on the team so he’s going, too. I’m the one that’ll be seeing him instead of you guys but whatever. We’ll need to work on our project anyways.”
“Don’t you think that’ll fuel the fires people are already spreading about you? A good portion of the school thinks you’re secretly together now,” added the first friend from before. 
“People are going to believe whatever the hell they want. I honestly don’t care anymore. Oh! By the way, did I tell you guys that some freshman was the one spreading shit about me Friday? The nerve those kids have,” you said.
“Wait, what? It was a freshman that was trying to tell everyone y’all are together? Ugh why would anyone believe them?” Alexis asked, incredulous.
“I know, right? Apparently she’s like obsessed with Tom or something. She must have a backwards way of thinking if she believes spreading fake rumors will make him want her. Jokes on her when she has to see us together on homecoming court. He’s just as likely to be voted as I am, maybe even more.”
The group all laughed and continued talking about random things, and you mentally wiped the sweat from your brow now that the conversation was shifted from you and Tom.
%
You were nervously bouncing your leg before calculus Friday morning. You’d gotten to school early to make certain you would be there for the announcements, which is when they would be releasing the list of nominees.
Tom came in a couple minutes before the bell, hair still wet from his post workout shower. Usually he blow dried it, and he obviously noticed you looking at his curls, your knee bouncing anxiously.
“Got out of the weight room late so I rushed over here. What are you wired up about, princess?”
“Do I really have to tell you? Homecoming noms.”
“You’re actually nervous about that? Everyone knows you’re already at the top of the list.”
“Uh, no, that’s you. After everything that’s happened the past few weeks, there’s no telling how people feel about me.”
“Oh you’ll be fine. I know it,” Tom finished. You wanted to disagree with him further, but then the bell rang and announcements began. After the general daily stuff, they got to the part everyone was waiting for. 
You were on the edge of your seat. The disembodied voice began with the underclassmen’s court nominations, eventually working up to the senior king contestants.
“Alright, first up in the running for kings we have… Tuwaine Barrett!”
Tuwaine was a cool dude. He played basketball and was in theatre. You were happy to see him nominated.
“Next up we’ve got Harrison Osterfield!”
Ugh. I’d rather abdicate the throne than end up against him.
“And finally for the boys, Tom Holland!”
A small cheer went up in your classroom as people congratulated Tom and patted him on the back. You gave him a high five.
“And now for the ladies. First on the list is Zendaya Coleman!”
Ah Zendaya. You were never that close, but she was always nice when you’d had classes with her. She was way taller than you, a star player on the basketball and softball teams. Not to mention she was insanely gorgeous. This was already some stiff competition.
“Second, we have Daisy Ridley!”
And of course another likely contender. Daisy, who was planning on going to that evening’s Halloween party as a playboy bunny, was a cheerleader. She didn’t fit every aspect of the cheer stereotype, like the fact that she was actually really smart, but she definitely wasn’t the nicest person either.
“And finally, your last nominee for homecoming queen is… y/n y/l/n!”
It took a second to fully process that it was you they were talking about until there were people cheering you on like they’d done for Tom. He reciprocated the high five.
“What’d I tell you princess? Or shall I say queen.”
%
Tom was leaving football practice after the bell when a few of his buddies appeared next to him to walk across the parking lot.
They were talking when Tom saw you all loading the bus, and you sent each other a wave.
“Damn, y/n’s not gonna be at the party tonight? That’s rough, she always has the dopest costumes. ‘Least you will. What are you going as?” one guy, Jake, said.
“Did I not tell you? I’m going out of town. Won’t be there. I totally would’ve been Spider-Man though,” Tom explained.
“Wait you won’t be there tonight either?” another, Chris, asked. “You’re gonna miss out on some major exposure for homecoming votes.”
“Oh yeah, right. I’m pretty sure things are in the bag for me. I’ll just be gone tonight and tomorrow. Promised Sam I’d go to the volleyball thing with him.”
“Wait, wait, wait. You. Are going to the capital. Which is four hours away. At the same time as y/n. Am I hearing this right?” Jake asked as they finally reached their cars.
“Oh shut up, man. It’s not like that. Yeah we’ll be at the same place this weekend but whatever. We’re cool with each other now.”
“Cool? Is that code for ‘I want to make out every time I look at her?’” interjected Chris. He and Jake gave each other a look and laughed.
“Ugh, no. I’d kiss a salmon before I kissed y/n. I just meant we’ve come to an understanding and are somewhat friends now.”
They both looked at him funny.
“So you mean to tell me that there’s nothing going on between you two? Yeah right. We’ve all seen the way you look at her at games,” Jake said suggestively.
“What is up with you and everyone else at this school thinking there’s more to the story?! We are fake married for a school project and are nothing more than friends. You’re crazy to think otherwise.”
“Who are you planning on asking to the dance?” Chris asked, seemingly out of nowhere.
“What? What do you mean? I haven’t even thought about it.”
“I’m asking who you’ll take to homecoming. It’s y/n, isn’t it?”
“No. No, it’s not, because I haven’t asked anyone.”
“Would you go with her?” Chris continued, pressing in.
“I mean I guess so. If we’re voted king and queen then it’ll basically be an obligation.”
“And if you’re not?”
“Dude why are you asking all these questions! If she isn’t queen then I’ll go with whoever is. If I’m not king, I’ll just go solo and see what happens. Whatever, though, I need to get home. I’ll see you guys Monday,” Tom finished.
He walked off to his car, where his brothers were impatiently waiting.
%
A/N: Thanks for reading! Again, sorry for my inactivity but I’m hoping that writing will be a little easier as one of my classes was a half semester and I’ll now have a little more buffer room to write!
My asks and messages are always open!
Send a message or ask if you’d like to be added to my permanent or series taglists so I can verify you’ve been added!
Story tag list: @jackiehollanderr, @one-big-fangirl, @l0lmk, @primadonnasdream, @bookworm06, @thenoddingbunny-blog, @agentnataliahofferson, @spider-babe, @stxfxniexreads, @justafangirlduh,
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peach-pops · 4 years ago
Note
Hello! Do you remember "Dating a Hothead/easily angered girlfriend" blog from anonymous? Can I request for Akaashi, Kageyama, Ushijima, Sugawara, and Tsukishima of how will they react to their s/o? Thank you! I really really really love that blog! It really reminds me of me of being sassy 😂. Anyways, sorry for bothering you *bows*
Author’s note: UGH Im so sorry this took me so long to get out! I only did Kageyama and Akaashi cause I wanted a bit of a contrast hope that’s okay! Also, I wanna point out that there’s nothing wrong with defending yourself, even if things do get violent. I don’t condone violence I’m just saying to protect yourself in the best way possible! 
Here’s the first part!
Akaashi and Kageyama with a Hotheaded Girlfriend
-Akaashi-
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Akaashi knows how angry you get so he always does his best to try and make sure everything goes smoothly to avoid any casualties
BUT Akaashi can’t control every little thing and he realizes this fairly early in your relationship
I’m a full believer that Bokuto loves raves and clubbing and because of this, he usually drags you and Akaashi along
One night you three and a couple of other Fukurodani members are out clubbing and immediately, Akaashi surveys the room: where are the exits? Where’s the bathroom? Which group looks like trouble? Where did his girlfriend and best friend go???
He spots a group of girls near the bar that are a part of a bachelorette party who are a bit rowdy but he kinda brushes them off cause there’s nothing threatening about six girls wearing cheap wedding veils
You guys get your own private table in the corner ( bless Konoha and his connections) and after an hour or two of drinking and dancing, you take the initiative to go buy the next round of drinks cause that’s just club etiquette and you’re lowkey ballin
Let’s get it miss independent !!!! 😤 😤 😤
Akaashi offers to go with you but you tell him to watch Bokuto cause he might bust his head from dancing on the table
Once you make it to the bar, you decide just to order a pretty expensive bottle for the table because you’re not confident in your ability to carry six shots back without spilling it everywhere
You pay for the bottle and start making your way back to the table when you see the bridal party from earlier hanging out at your table. You see two girls laughing side by side with Bokuto (ok my dude get some) BUT THEN you search for Akaashi and sure enough, you see him visibly uncomfortable as the ‘soon to be bride’ tries sitting in your mans lap.
Akaashi looks up and he’s conflicted cause he wants your help to get this drunk girl off of him but he also knows you’re crazy and you might kill her in the process
“ Your hair looks so sexy pushed back! Has anyone ever told you that before?”
“ Please go away, my girlfriend is coming and she won’t be happy-”
“ Aw girlfriend? No fair why are the cute ones always taken?”
“ Aren’t you getting married?”
You’re gripping the bottle so tight in your hands and Akaashi can see it in your eyes that you are soooo close to hitting this bitch over the head with the bottle
He already knows exactly what you’re thinking and he’s pleading with you not to just with his eyes
Would you kill a girl over sitting in your mans lap? Yeah probably I mean you were fucking crazy
BUT since you could see how serious Akaashi was, you loosened your grip on the bottle and placed it on the table. Before the bride could even look over, you had already lightly nudged pushed her off of Akaashi’s lap and sat down on your boyfriend as if to claim him
“ What is your problem, you didn’t have to push me!” The bride whined as she got off the floor but you kept your glare on her
Akaashi squeezed your thigh to try and calm you down but maybe it was because of the alcohol so you just clenched your fists even tighter
“ You’re lucky all I did was push you. I can’t believe you’re about to get married and you’re trying to straddle my fucking boyfriend!”
Akaashi can feel how tense you are so he sits you on the inside of the booth so he can be in the middle between the girl and you. At this point, you’re sitting next to Bokuto and he’s laughing nervously cause he’s never seen you act like this before but he’s a ride or die so hes automatically team Y/N
“ Are you threatening me?”
“ Yeah, I am. What are you going to do about it?”
“ Y/N stop-”
“ Yeah, listen to your boyfriend bitch.”
“ WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING A BITCH?!”
Before you can lunge over the table, Akaashi keeps his arm out and blocks you from doing so. He turns to the girl and bows his head, trying not to let his own anger consume him,” I think you should leave.”
“ And what if I don’t want to?” The soon to be bride pokes bitterly as she attempts to wrap her arm around Akaashi’s shoulders,” what is your girlfriend gonna do, hit me?”
She’s right, you can’t launch yourself across the table and your arm doesn’t have the reach but you had alternatives. You grabbed a half-drunken glass of some brown rum and you flung the alcohol into the girls face
Everyone at the table was SHOCKED, lowkey including you cause you didn’t even mean to throw the drink in her face it just happened YOU SWEAR it was just an instinct
Who could blame you I mean you were so mad plus you had been watching so many compilations of “ Best Housewives Fights from Bravo” that it was the first thing you could think of
Akaashi, bless him and his brilliant mind, immediately blocked your body with his because the soon to be bride tries climbing into the booth to beat you up and Bokuto also has a protective grip on your wrist to stop you from killing her
LUCKILY before you could spill any blood, security comes and forces the girl to leave your table
At first, you thought Akaashi was mad at you so you kind of pout and tell him how sorry you were but Akaashi doesn’t even care he just makes sure you’re okay
In his head, he knows maybe you were in the wrong for pushing the girl but he would never admit it outloud cause he values his life
My heart swoons for this man
Bokuto on the other hand is slapping your back and shaking your shoulders going,” Holy crap Y/N that was AWESOME!!!”
-Kageyama-
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You and Kageyama had only recently started dating so he probably doesn’t have any idea how mad you could get. He’s seen a few times where you’ve gotten upset over school or your family problems but he still didn’t think too much about it
Who was he to be put off at having an easily angered s/o when he was balancing between his own emotions?
Anyway! You were one of Karasuno’s managers and you and Kiyoko got SO CLOSE! The job was super easy and it meant you could spend more time with your boyfriend so win-win!
The only part that was ever hard for you was other guys constantly hitting on you and Kiyoko like damn okay you both were hot as hell but at least treat girls with respect?
You didn’t mind guys telling you that you both were pretty caused duh you two already knew that but most of them were SOOO disgusting and you never let it slide
Before one of Karasuno’s games, you were on the sidelines with Kiyoko chatting about the next match when you could hear some of the guys from the other team trying to get your attention
“ Damn, Karasuno girls really are as fine as they say, they look soooo good.”
“ God, the things I would do if I was alone with them.”
“ I know you two can hear us, turn around so we can see what we’re working with.”
You just kept your eyes locked onto your clipboard because you didn’t want Kageyama to see how fucking crazy you could get but JESUS it was so hard when these two guys were harassing you
“ Kiyoko, I will fucking lose my mind if they come over here. I think I’m going to snap someone’s neck,” You said through gritted teeth as you watched your boyfriend warm up.
“Maybe you should go cool off in the bathroom before the game starts. I’ll let Kageyama-Kun know what’s going on and I’ll meet you in the hallway,” Kiyoko suggested as you gave her prayer hands cause she really do be a queen
You took your clipboard with you as if it was a weapon and stomped out to the bathroom cause you knew if you stayed in that gym any longer, you would cause a scene
You rinsed your face in the bathroom and you took a few deep breaths as you tried to calm yourself down
Your friends and family always told you that you needed to get your anger under control and now that you were dating, the last thing you needed was to scare Kageyama off
When you started to head out towards the gym, you felt in the air that something was off like spidey senses but instead, it’s like a creep radar was sounding off in your head
That’s when you saw Kiyoko and one of the guys from earlier cornering her against a wall
You can see that Kiyoko was visibly uncomfortable and you were just about to push your limit
“ I said to leave me alone. I’m waiting for a friend.”
“ Oh, you mean the other manager? I’m telling you, we would treat you like absolute queens at our school-”
“ Hey dude, back the hell off!” You shoved the guy to the side pretty hard to the point where he stumbled back a few good feet,” fucking creep.”
This dude, this mf has the audacity to POST UP TO YOU! You’re not even intimidated by him even though he’s easily half a foot taller than you
Like he’s in your face cause now he’s pissed that this girl actually managed to shove him pretty hard
“ Lay your hands on me again and see what happens.”
“ Are you threatening me? Cause if you are, go on and try to hit me I fucking dare you!”
Kiyoko is like nuh uh not on my watch and while im pretty sure kiyoko can throw fucking hands, she ran to go get Kageyama like “ go get ur girl”
This alerts pretty much the whole team even though they’re supposed to be warming up, they go with Kageyama cause if the boys hear your name and that you need help, they get hella protective
Kageyama slides over to the hallway and sees this dude yelling in your face and he sees red when the guy lays a hand on your shoulder
Before Kageyama can even make it over to you, you smash your clipboard over the guys head so hard, he hits the floor
BUT BRUH once he hits the floor you don’t! Stop! hitting ! him!
Like that clipboard is the perfect weapon oml
“ Don’t! Ever! Touch! Me!” You literally bash him after every word and this dude can’t even fight back like I personally dont feel bad but ummmmm you might commit murder
Kageyama rushes over to you and grabs you so you can stop and he’s trying to calm you down but once the word “bitch” slips out of the guys mouth, Kageyama grabs him by the jersey and is shaking him like a ragdoll
“ Watch your goddamn mouth before I put my fist through it!”
And you’re still heated so you want to basically jump this dude with your boyfriend cause romance ya know but Suga is holding you back ( he highkey struggling)
And now Noya and Tanaka are trying to hold Kageyama back because while they definitely would’ve reacted the same way, they don’t want Kageyama to go overboard
“ What did you just say? Go on and say it again-”
“ Kageyama please!”
“ You’re lucky I’m getting held back-”
“ Y/N! Enough!”
Just two lovebirds threatening a dudes life I love it
Things get resolved pretty quickly thanks to daddy daichi calming everyone down and now it’s time for the match to start
Suga lets go of you when Kageyama walks over and the first thing he does is hug you tightly. He practically squeezes the life out of you like this experience really showed how protective he was
He even admits that while he’s glad you can handle yourself, you shouldn't have to stand up to people alone and 100% doesn’t think you overreacted at all especially when Kiyoko thanks you for sticking up for her
He’s a bit intimidated by how you acted only because he had never saw you that mad before but he doesn’t blame you for how you handled it
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speuradair · 4 years ago
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Trauma |Dabi
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(Author’s Note- This is a reupload of a fic I posted yesterday. I thought about it and decided that the ending sucked, so I deleted it and re-wrote the ending. Here is the new, revised and hopefully better version!)
Word Count: 1.8k
Contains: ptsd comfort, trauma description, night terrors, slight violence (unintentional), allusion to assault and abuse, swearing, Dabi is Todoroki Touya theory
Requested: No (I’m just projecting lmao)
-
Among the two of you, Dabi was the scary one. He was the one that kept you up at night with anxiety about his villain work. He was the one who came home bloodied and beaten, and he was the one that would disappear for days on end. He was the stressful one. But there were times that you scared the absolute life out of him. Tonight was one of those times. 
Dabi let himself in as he usually did. The small one bedroom apartment was dark and quiet, save for the soft sound of talking and the flickering light which emanated from the open bedroom doorway into the hall. While part of him had been hoping you'd still be up to greet him, he couldn't deny the sense of peace that washed over him as he stood in the near silence. This tranquility meant that you were safe and asleep, as you should be. He'd never thought domestic life to be quite his style, but he longed for this. He longed to be home where nobody could tell him to do shit. The League of Villains could go screw themselves for all he cared. 
After kicking off his shoes by the door and assuring that he'd locked the door, he followed the soft glow down the hallway like a moth to a flame. Exhaustion had begun to tug at his eyes and his feet moved towards the bed in a seemingly autonomous manner. 
He paused to lean against the doorframe though, his eyes falling on you. 
There was a sight he'd never tire of seeing. You were passed out on top of the duvet in one of his hoodies, while your laptop sat beside you still playing whatever you'd been watching. He grinned to himself ever so slightly as he quietly stepped over to pause it for you. Stripping down to his boxers and shirt, he moved the computer before lowering himself down beside you. 
The bed dipped under his weight and the mattress creaked slightly. Your body jolted a bit beside him, seemingly in response. Though he'd tried not to disturb you, that had been enough to wake you. A soft but nonetheless agitated groan left your slightly parted lips, followed by an equally as quiet remark. 
"Stop."
A pang of guilt washed over him as you stirred; he always tried to come to bed as quietly as possible to not disturb you, especially with you being as jumpy as you were. Though not only had he woken you up, he'd upset you. Your previously still form was now squirming away uncomfortably.
He reached his long arms out for you in an effort to soothe you back to sleep. Usually you found repose in his embrace, but now you only seemed to toss more as he pulled you against his chest. His features tightened in confusion. Were you mad at him or something? 
"Pissy tonight, are we, doll?" He teased.
You didn't answer. That's odd, comments like that always got a reaction from you. 
He let you go, watching as you violently flopped away from him. There was something off about the way you moved. Despite your clear distress, your movements were somehow loose and lethargic. 
 It took him a moment to realize that you weren't actually awake. Shit, you were having another night terror. 
He sat up quickly and shifted towards you, his warm hands wrapping around your shoulders as he tried to wake you up as gently but effectively as possible. 
"Babe." You jerked at his touch, but didn't wake. His heart raced in his chest as he hovered over you protectively. You were just getting more upset. 
Eyes still squeezed shut, you whimpered out. "No, stop it..!"
His heart sank hearing you cry out like that. Dabi was fully aware of what you'd been through; You'd confided in him with all of the nasty details. He knew you had nightmares and anxiety attacks. This wasn't the first time he'd heard about it, but hearing you cry like that, in response to him, made his stomach turn. The fact that you didn't realize it was him did nothing to ease the disgust he felt with himself. 
Genuine fear creeped into his mind. You were just getting more upset. He knew he needed to calm you down, but how was he supposed to do that if he couldn't wake you up without scaring you more? 
Long scarred fingers loosened their grip on your arms. He wasn't sure what to do. You'd had nightmares before, they just usually weren't this bad. 
Memories of his own trauma dreams flooded back to him. How real they felt, how disorienting it was to wake up from them, how the nausea seemed to last through the rest of the night, how he'd randomly remember bits and pieces of the nightmare and the anxiety would come right back- he knew it all too well. Before you, he'd always been on the receiving end of those dreams, never the comforting side. While he'd soothed you before, he never felt confident in doing so. 
As you tried to jolt away from him again, he decided he couldn't take it anymore. 
"Babe! (Name!)"
Your eyes shot open as he shook you again, peering directly into his piercing blue ones. 
But you didn't recognize him. Your subconscious bled into reality.
"Don't fucking touch me!" Before you realized what was happening, your arm had swung up towards your ambiguous attacker, delivering a forceful punch to his face. 
Dabi winced and recoiled a bit, but kept his hold on you and maintained eye contact. 
"(Name) - it's me, it's just me," his voice was firm despite the pain beginning to pulse from his lip.
Slowly the haze of confusion and fear retreated and the immersion of your night terror broke. You recognized that voice.
"D - Dabi?"
"Yeah," he exhaled tightly. "It's just me. You're at home in bed. You're just having a nightmare." He hovered over you slightly, trying to keep your focus solely on him. "Come back to me, dollface." 
He let you breathe for a few moments before speaking again. "Can you name five things around us right now?"
You blinked in an attempt to clear the violent imagery from your mind. The familiar environment around you began to solidify. That's right- you could feel the hot tears on your cheeks, your bed with the new soft sheets you'd gotten last weekend, the fan pushing cool air against your skin. You could see your boyfriend leaning over you and feel his rough fingers on your cheek. You could see his bright blue eyes and.. bloody lip?
Your chest heaved as you tried to catch your breath. "Fuck.." The room seemed to spin again as you realized what must've happened. More tears forced their way down your face. "Oh my God, I busted your lip.." 
He brought one of his hands to finger lightly over his bottom lip. Only now did he notice the metallic taste. Letting out a breathy laugh, he turned his attention back to you. 
"Damn princess, you've got a hell of a left hook." Even in a situation like this, he dared to give you that signature shit-eating smirk. "That's kind of hot."
You weren't amused though.
"It's not funny, Dabi! I hit you," your voice was shaky, barely more than a whimper. The grief in your eyes brought back his own guilt. 
"Hey, it's alright, doll. What's one more scar? Doubt anyone could tell the difference, anyhow." 
He brought his hand to your chin, guiding your skittish gaze to his. Maybe it was sick of him to think, but somehow you looked gorgeous even with onerous crystalline tears among your lashes. Heavy lids closed again under his close attention, your lip quivering as you tried to hold back more tears. 
“You’re shaking, princess,” he spoke with a soft, thoughtful hum. His calloused thumb caressed along your jawline. 
“Yeah.” It was more of an exhale than an actual response. The trembling was such a routine part of your night terrors that you barely paid any attention to it until he mentioned it. Of course you were shaking; you probably would be for at least the next few hours. 
Wordlessly he shifted to lay beside you on his back. He stretched out for a moment, then reaching out for you with warm, inviting arms. You didn’t need to think about it. You instinctually moved forward and tucked yourself into his side. A soothing heat radiated off of him, seeming to envelope you entirely. 
The two of you laid there in silence for a bit, with you curled against him and his hands rubbing your back reassuringly. Your trembling quelled, though not entirely, and slowly your breathing levelled out again.
After he’d felt you still for a while, he spoke out again, his voice uncharacteristically soft. “Do you wanna talk about it?”
“No.” Your answer was immediate.
“Alright, dollface.”
He tightened his embrace around you, guiding your head to lay on his chest. A dull, nagging ache had set in on his lip, but he wasn’t about to move now. He could clean himself up later- you needed his attention now. Besides, a swollen lip was nothing he couldn’t handle. Shit, he got worse nearly every day when he worked. At least this time it had been an accident. He just hoped you wouldn’t beat yourself up too badly over it. 
His gaze shifted from the ceiling down towards you, studying your expression thoughtfully. Though your eyes drooped with exhaustion and your breathing was labored, you fought the urge to close them. It was clear that your mind was still on whatever form your trauma had taken in your subconscious this time. You’d told him before that while the general feeling of distress and terror was always the same, rarely did your nightmares repeat themselves. Sometimes they were minor reminders of what you’d been through and sometimes it was just a rehashed version of what had happened, just with different context and different perpetrators. Regardless of what it was, it always left you with the same panic and grief. Dabi didn’t doubt you’d keep dwelling on it until you got distracted. 
“Hey,” he said after gathering his thoughts again. Your glassy eyes snapped up towards him almost immediately. “You wanna watch your show again? We can even watch that trashy ‘foreign fiance’ shit, or whatever the fuck it’s called.”
“You hate that show,” you mumbled, voice muffled even more by the fabric of his shirt.
“Yeah, obviously. It’s shitty reality television. You seem to enjoy it, though.”
You tried to laugh a bit, but it came out as more of an amused exhale. 
“Thought so.”
He reached out to grab your laptop again, setting it up on the nightstand beside him. His hands quickly returned to you afterwards, one playing with your hair and the other gently tracing vague shapes against your bare skin. 
And that’s how you stayed. Minutes turned to hours and the night slowly gave way to dawn, but you remained tucked safely against his side. Nobody was going to hurt you again- not if he had any say in the matter. 
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fourangers · 3 years ago
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Hi Fourangers,
First of all, I love your blog so much. It's like going through a history back when Naruto Manga chapters were released weekly and your reviews were so Golden, Hilarious and spot-on. Am a new fan though (especially an SNS fan), I just got into this fandom only this year. I don't know if you'll answer my ask, but I just wanted to try and ask you few questions and I pray that you might answer me....
1. Since you've written in a post that you were active in the eastern part of the fandom, How was chapter 698 received in Japan? Because this is the chapter I inherently realized they both love each other. Yeah, I was too late but somehow whenever they interact with each other in previous chapters I always find them to be 'Weird' for just to be friends. Chapter 698 is just blatantly obvious that they love each other. Considering Homophobia and Shounen genre, I have no idea how it was perceived over there back then in 2014.
2. Which scene made you to ship SNS?
3. As an SNS'er how do you feel about the ending, where everyone was married off when they were just 19 just to make some shitty sequel??? As a new fan, I felt betrayed and It would've been perfect if they had stopped at chapter 699, leaving an open ending.
4. How do you face with the accusation about Naruto and Sasuke as brothers and we, SNS'ers are Incest shippers??? I don't care about that Indra and Ashura thing. But Naruto himself told he considers Sasuke as his Brother couple of times. And in Chapter 699, Sasuke acknowledged, 'He finally understood what it meant'.... It's the only thing that confuses me and I don't even have an answer!!! Plus, Kishi himself gave an interview that he based Sasuke on his Brother... I really wonder how he gave such an interview when he literally made them wear necklaces with each other's faces.
5. How was Naruto and Sasuke's sexuality perceived in the fandom back then??? Man!! Kishimoto just made lot of comic reliefs on their sexuality by making Sasuke on Sai jutsu, Naruto not interested in Icha Icha but making Reverse Harem no Jutsu, Naruto was angry when Konohamaru made Boy on Boy jutsu whereas he had no problem with him doing it. LOL. And all those homoerotic posters. What do you think about their sexuality, personally??
6. Why did Kishi had to develop their bond as Soulmates with some unintentional or intentional romantic undertones, if he was eventually going to pair them up with girls??? He easily could've gave many such romantic tropes to other girls and keep the bond between N and S as purely friendship or brothers. It still would've made sense.
7. Final one, Was Naruto really Nosebleeding when Kurama made a joke about Sasuke's kiss in Chapter 572???? We had a lot of heated discussion with other shippers where they claim that it was just a splotch of snot.
Sorry for the lengthy ask....... I am so eager to know your answers and I don't want to spam your ask box by sending multiple asks.
Thanks 😊😊😊
Hey yo! Welcome new SNS fan! I'm so glad that you joined us and I'll try to answer as best as I can. I'm not very active here on tumblr (except browsing lol) but your ask was such a delight to read.
1. I honestly don't remember. I think I didn't follow the japanese boards until the eventual 699-700 disaster. People were craving for reactions and I was curious about it too lol. And well...it's been years, I doubt I'll be able to find the reactions from that time. Imo, most readers don't care much about pairings, they just wanted to read about power-ups and abilities and the basic Naruto Vs Sasuke. Though there are some backhanded jokes about how gay Naruto is for Sasuke.
2. Hah. It's going to be very anti-climatic but it was when Naruto and Sakura were eating in Ichiraku Ramen. Naruto just used Rasenshuriken against Kakuzu and he busted his arm. Sakura was healing his arm and her attention was focused on Naruto. I used to be a NaruSaku shipper so I thought "Oh hey! This is the moment that Naruto would have a candid romantic moment!" But nope. He talked about Sasuke. And I was already getting suspicious about Sasuke's feelings towards Naruto ya know? And the whole "SASUKE IS MIINEEEEEE" in Orochimaru's lair. It was that moment I thought "you only have Sasuke in your head don't you, Naruto?" and started shipping SNS.
3. Hooo boy was I surprised when it was suddenly revealed that they had the basic heteronormative, boring marriage with bunch of clones of themselves. Everyone thought that it was almost like a bad fanfiction come true and some thought that it was fake. It was a pandemonium lolololol. I also thought that it was too lame to be true and lo and behold, when it came true I was floored. And then whenever Kishimoto threw new material, I got insanely pissed off because S*arada and B*ruto becoming pairing material is ok because they are a girl and a boy, and then they paralleled with Naruto and Sasuke which are only FRIENDS because they are both men. ARGH. Open ending was what Kishimoto planned from the very beginning but wrote a sequel to earn more money.
In that aspect, I made peace with it because of the whole anime/manga industry. I learned that, as a mangaka, you don't earn a lot of money with selling books, but rather with merchandise and profiting with sales right. And that guy have a family to raise, have two kids (which is hilarious about how B*ruto movie is his self-insert story), he needs a steady income. Also, I read reports about how anime studios are so poor and animators don't receive a decent income not to mention they are overstaffed and tired, and B*ruto is a good money cow for them to earn money so they can invest later on other anime they have more passion about it. So even though I hate this story with a strength of thousands suns, they are putting meal on people's tables and making them pay rents. I'm ok.
4. Lemme roll my eyes because in the Last movie they said that Hinata is related to Kaguya and so is the Uzumaki and Uchiha clan so they are all related woo hoo. But in the aspect of brothers because reincarnations bla bla bla, didn't Naruto himself said that he's no longer that brother, he's himself? Hmm...I gotta re-read it. One day. Maybe. lol. But I'm sure that he said "Sasuke is not my brother but I'm sure we'll understand well as friends" so there. Honestly, there are a lot of interviews out there and a lot of them are fake, so I'd always take the interviews with a grain of salt lololol. I do know from artbooks that Kishimoto wanted to create Sasuke as a rival-esque character and that was it. As he was developing Sasuke and Naruto's relationship, since he liked the whole yin-yang concept, whenever he wrote Naruto's story, Sasuke's was developed at the same time as his shadow.
5. I can tell from Naruto Forums (I used to participate back in that day) MOST of the non-shippers thought it was gay as hell, but you know...it was a relic of that time. While they thought it was gay, they didn't put too much thought about you know? Because it was shounen, and we knew that it was a joke that it couldn't be taken seriously. Of course, in the SNS fandom, we did make more analysis and there were a lot of instance when Naruto and Sasuke's sexuality was questioned. Some other non-shippers also thought that Naruto was totes gay for Sasuke (including a IRL friend).
Imo, Naruto is definitely bisexual in my view. Sasuke I think he's asexual or gay. He's attracted to Naruto, but mostly because of his connection to him, not because of his physical attributes, so yeah...asexual. Or Pansexual. Sasuke is more complicated lmao. Imo, Naruto could be pansexual too, come to think about it. Yeah, I guess both being pansexual can be valid.
6. He developed Naruto and Sasuke being soulmates from the very beginning, that was proven in his comments in artbooks and in the manga. He probably created with the intention of making it purely platonic, going beyond physical ties. Then he shot himself on the foot by drawing Naruto thinking about Sasuke on bed, talking about how Sasuke is cool, meanwhile Sasuke waxing poetic about how Naruto saved him. What gives? Lol. Yeah, I think he got too enamored writing their relationship that he didn't have time to write romantic ones. What I noticed that Sakura's popularity never was really high, so I could see some editors putting their fingers all over it and making her less relevant. Also, Kishimoto didn't know how to handle her, so when she got her time to shine was the whole fake confession disaster. Coupled with Kishimoto sexism and, in his words (Kurenai's flashback), women are useful to spout more babies, women was never really relevant in his story, unfortunately. Even Kaguya who was technically the big bad boss, was never really fleshed out in comparison to Madara. So the null het romantic moments it's not because he wanted to elevate SNS moments, it's more about how he's incompetent about it. It's either Hinata slowly elevating to a relevant status because forced interaction (Pain's sacrifice and Neji's death) or Sakura being obligated to be pining over Sasuke because she's a girl. It's even more painful to see that, if we ignore B*ruto, both girls are shown to be just talking with their kids and dusting shelves, basically being housewives, even though thorough the story (especially Sakura) it was implied that both of them have much more potential than being their husband accessories.
7. It was a splotch of snot. I can confirm myself lol. Whenever the chapter is out and fans would scan it to scanlate it, the editor usually would amp up contrast to max. So usually the lines get much more thicker than usual, when you read the official release which gets straight from the source, you can notice how the lines are more delicate.
Oh lol...but then we also have a lot of controversy about translating style. THAT one is a whole new can of worms to open.
Man I had fun answering your questions! Please send more :P
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what-is-your-plan-today · 4 years ago
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Stark Spangled Forever
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A Very Rogers Christmas.
Part 1- The Best Things In Life Are Tree.
Summary: It’s that time of year again and the Rogers family prepare to go and pick their Christmas tree. But when Emmy calls with a bit of bad news, it puts a little downer on the whole thing for Katie and Steve decides to call in reinforcements to pull off the best Christmas Heist he can…
Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark
A/N: So here we go, Part 1 of my Stark Spangled 2020 Christmas special- A Very Rogers Christmas.  This one was written for for @sweater-daddiesdumbdork​ and @sagechanoafterdark​ ‘s Winter/Holiday Challenge. My prompt- Finding the PERFECT Tree.
It feels like AGES since I wrote for my babies so I hope you enjoy this little three parter. Part 2 posting next Friday, and part 3 on Christmas Eve.
SSF Masterlist //  WIYPT Masterlist 
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"Daddy, I found something else I want to ask Santa for, for Christmas." Rori bounced into the study and Steve closed his eyes on the papers he was trying to grade and sighed.
"I bet you have." He mumbled before he glanced up at his daughter and couldn't help but smile at her as she skipped over to him, her long pony tail swinging behind her "What is it, Princess?" "A capybara." she said, scrambling up onto his lap. "A what?" Steve frowned. "A capybara. Look!" she turned the tablet she was holding towards him to show him a picture of the brown animal "They're like huge guinea pigs. I saw one at the zoo with Uncle Buck yesterday and when I said I wanted one he told me to tell you that I was gonna ask Santa." "Course he did." Steve sighed, mentally cursing his asshole best friend. "You know, Rori, don't think Santa can get you one of those." "Why not?" "It’s too big." He attempted “There’s nowhere for us to keep it.” "Our garden is huge!" Rori blinked at him. "And when Emmy and Petey move into the Tower he can live in the cabin." Trust her to be as damned smart as her mother. "They're wild animals honey." Steve shook his head as he tried attempt number two. "But they live in a zoo." Rori looked up at him, her face full of eager excitement “That’s not the wild.” "Yeah but that’s different." Steve reasoned patiently. "They're not like dogs or cats or regular guinea pigs. They need very special care.” "Oh." Rori looked down a little, her shoulders slumping and Steve sighed.
Fuck you, Bucky.
"Okay. Never mind." She clicked off the screen of her tablet and turned towards Steve, looking up at him with those damned green eyes. "Do you think he could get me a kitty instead?"
No, just say no… "Maybe."
Way to go, Rogers. Rori's eyes lit up and Steve inwardly groaned. It was a well-known fact in their house that whenever Dad said maybe, it meant yes. Fuck.
“I love you Daddy!” she beamed, reaching up to press a kiss to his bearded cheek before she hopped off his lap and skipped towards the door “Oh, me and momma are going to make gingerbread men for tomorrow so we can have them when we decorate the tree.”
“Can’t wait baby.” He smiled
“Are you gonna be working tomorrow afternoon?” she asked a little shyly and he shook his head.
“No, I promise.”  He assured her. “All day tomorrow is family day.”
She gave him another huge smile, one that truly warmed his entire being as it made her look even more like his wife, and then headed out of the room, her feet pattering on the tiles of the hallway as she skipped back into the other part of the house. Steve exhaled and looked back down at the paper, groaning as he realised he’d lost his place. He’d been home early that afternoon hoping for more peace and quiet than he got in his office at the University to concentrate on getting through all these and for the most it had worked, until Jamie and Rori had arrived home from school full of it as usual. Katie had kept them out of his way for the most but the realisation that Christmas was well on the way had hit the eldest two and whipped them up into a fever.
Not that Steve particularly cared. He adored this time of year. It was Katie’s holiday and from the day after Thanksgiving the Christmas period started in full throttle in the Rogers household, and they’d picked tomorrow, 2 weeks before the schools broke up, to go and pick the trees for their lounge and hallway. He was a little disappointed that it hadn’t snowed yet, there had been a good covering the previous year but, still it was set to be a cold and dry day so they could still get bundled up and have their hot chocolate and snacks as usual.
He rubbed at his eyes and focussed, reading through the paper in front of him on the ‘Strategy, Diplomacy and politics of Axis and Allied forces in WW2’, wishing to God he was marking something on the course he was actually employed to teach now- Fine Arts- but all those had been done and graded last week. This was the module of History that he taught, because as the Uni said- he was a living, breathing expert.
Aparently.
An hour or so later he finished red-penning the final six paged essay, with a proud smile as that one had been particularly good and he quickly checked it over once more, making sure he’d captured all the notes on the electronic copy and queued it up to send on Monday, just like Katie had shown him how to, so that each student had the hard copy and soft copy back. He stood up, stretched, turned off his laptop and headed through to the main area of the house, the smell of baking and cooking hitting his nostrils as he went.
He walked into the kitchen to find Rori kneeling on one of the tall stools over the island-slash-breakfast bar, her hands and face smeared in pink icing as she decorated a gingerbread man, her little tongue poking out of the side of her mouth in concentration. Katie was stood supervising Harry who was also covered in frosting, this one bright green. Flossie sat in the highchair opposite, banging a spoon on the tray occasionally letting out a yell or babble of something incoherent. As soon as she saw Steve she gave a huge grin and her shouts became louder and he smiled.
“Hi Floss-Floss!” he beamed, crossing to drop a kiss to her head before he looked across at Katie “Where’s Jamie?”
“Upstairs in his room.” Katie gave a little sigh “He said, and I quote, ‘I’m ten now, far too old to decorate gingerbread, mom.’ I could have cried there and then Steve.” She finished with a pout.
Steve gave her a sympathetic smile, the fact her eldest baby boy was growing up was something he knew she hated “Yeah, I bet he won’t be too old to eat them, though.” He appeased and she smiled.
“That’s what I said.” Rori gave a dramatic roll of her eyes and Steve chuckled.
“You finished Grading?” Katie asked as she gently guided Harry’s hand over the cookie shaped like a Christmas tree.
“Yeah, all done. Sorry it took so long.”
“It’s okay.” She looked up at him, smiling “Your dinner is in the oven. I already ate with the kids. Sorry, I was starving.”
“I didn’t expect you to wait.”  Steve walked over the room and dropped a kiss to her cheek. “Thanks, Sweetheart.”
He made his way over to the Aga stove and opened the door, giving a little groan when he saw she’d done his favourite, a Mac and Cheese bake laced with chicken, chorizo and broccoli. He turned to look at her and didn’t miss the flicker of a smile on her face as she knew what he was thinking, before he pulled out the plate giving a yell as it burnt his fingers, dropping it onto the side with a clatter.
“Careful daddy, hot!” Harry turned to face him, and Katie burst out laughing.
“Yeah, thanks Son.” Steve tried not to roll his eyes as he sucked his thumb. Grabbing a tea-towel he gripped the plate, found some cutlery and sat down at the table to the side of the kitchen, tucking in.
“I finished all mine, Momma.” Rori grinned, placing the tube of squeezy frosting down on the side. Steve watched as Katie moved to look over Rori’s shoulder.
“Good job sweetie.” She smiled, “Creative, I’ve never seen a pink cat before.”
Steve paused and looked at Rori as she grinned “I know they’re not really pink, and my kitty won’t be, but it can have a pink collar.”
At that he winced and hastily shoved another forkful of food into his mouth, praying that the conversation stopped there.
Katie sighed “Rori we’ve been over this, you can’t have a cat.”
“Daddy said I could.”
Shit.
Katie’s eyes shot to Steve and he gave her his best innocent look, but from the way her features grew stern he knew he was utterly busted and he swallowed the food in his mouth which turned to cement in his throat.
“No, that’s not what I said.” Steve shook his head.
“You said maybe.” Rori shrugged “Same thing.”
“We getting a kitty?” Harry asked, looking at Katie.
“No.” she shook her head.
“But I asked Daddy if Santa would bring me one and he said maybe.” Rori looked at Katie.
“Well Daddy is wrong.” She glared at Steve and he visibly shrank in his seat. Katie’s green eyes narrowed before they turned back to Rori. “Santa can’t bring live animals. It’s in the rules.”
“What rules?”
“The Christmas Rules” Katie said quickly “No live animals. It’s not fair on them. They don’t like the sleigh.”
“But…”
“No buts Rori.” Katie sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose “I’m sorry honey, but it’s not gonna happen.”
Rori pouted a little but she knew when she was beat and glanced down at the cookies on the tray before she looked up, grinning smugly. “I’ll just ask Uncle Bucky to get me one. He got me Dory.”
“Oh for the love of…” Katie spluttered “Uncle Bucky won’t get you one either.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’ll tell him not to.” Katie looked at her “We have Stark. No more animals.”
Rori folded her arms and at that point Steve stepped in, sensing an impending tantrum.
“Aurora.” He said sternly and she turned her head to face him as he pointed his fork at her. “Enough.”
She glared at him before she sighed and looked at Katie “Can I get down now please?”
Katie obliged and pulled her stool out a little allowing Rori to hop down. “Stay right there little miss.”
“Why?” Rori frowned as Katie headed to the sink, coming back with a cloth. With a groan, Rori held out her hands so Katie could wipe them clean, along with the little smear of icing on her face “20 minutes and then its bath time. We’re up early in the morning.”
“Ooh, yeah!” Rori bounced excitedly “To pick our trees. Hey, can I get one for my room?”
Katie hesitated before she shrugged “You know, I saw some in the shop that already have the lights on and they change colour. We’ll get a big one for the lounge and hallway like normal and I’ll get you a special one. And you get to keep it for next year and the year after.”
Rori pondered this for a moment before she shook her head “I want a real one from the farm.”
Katie groaned, and threw her hands out to the side “Fine, just, go and watch TV or something in the Play Room.”
“I watch TV too please, Momma?” Harry asked and Katie nodded, cleaning him up too before she lifted him down off the stool. He toddled after Rori, yelling for her to wait and as soon as they were gone Katie rounded on Steve.
“Honey, I…” he began and winced as she exploded on him.
“Seriously? A damned cat?”
“She caught me unawares.”
“She always catches you unawares!” Katie scoffed “After six, almost seven years I’d have thought you’d be used it by now.”
“I only said-“
“And as usual I’m left to be the bad guy.” Katie ranted, shaking her head as she moved to turn Flossie’s chair so she was facing the table. “You’re an asshole.”
“This is technically Bucky’s fault.”
“Oh, no, Steven Grant Rogers! Don’t you are try and blame this one on Buck.” She hissed.
“But he took her to the zoo and told her to ask for a capybara!” Steve practically whined “When I said no she asked for a cat, the maybe just slipped out.” Katie paused, her arms folded, face furious and Steve peered up at her giving her a little smile “Don’t be mad, come on baby. I didn’t mean it.”
“You’re still an asshole.” She grumbled, before she crossed to the fridge and pulled out the wine. “And for that you can deal with bedtime. I’m going for a bath.”
“Sure, not a problem.” Steve nodded, swallowing more of his food. Katie poured herself a large glass before she moved to put the bottle back and then changed her mind. With the bottle in one hand, full glass in the other she made for the door. “I love you.” Steve shot as she passed him, and despite her annoyed demeanour, the slight smile that played on her face told him he wasn’t in too much trouble.  
****
All kids were bathed and in bed little over an hour later. The youngest three settled down to sleep, Jamie instructed he had an hour of TV or reading time before lights off.
“Ok Dad.” He nodded, running his hand through his hair as he tidied up his games console a little, Stark curled up on the bed.
“I’ll be in to check.” Steve looked at him, and Jamie rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, I got it. You can trust me.”
“I know.” Steve gave a chuckle “Night son.” He crossed the room to drop a kiss to his head and Jamie pushed him away.
“Gerroff, I’m ten.”
“Yeah, well, you’re still my kid so…” Steve grumbled, and Jamie burst into laughter as the pair of them began to play fight, Jamie digging Steve in the ribs with a well-aimed jab. “Ouch! “ Steve stood up, rubbing at his side, that had hurt a little too much for his liking. “Nice shot.”
“Bucky said I had a good right hook.”
Steve rolled his eyes “I don’t wanna know how he even found that out.”
“He has a punch bag in the garage.” Jamie shrugged as he flopped down onto his bed. “Like yours. He was teaching me to swing.”
“I could teach you that.” Steve replied, a little petulantly.
“Will you?”
“No. You’re ten.” He shot back and Jamie let out a groan of frustration, before Steve chuckled “Ok, I’ll teach you a little IF you promise not to use it anywhere but on the punch bag.”
“But what if I need to use it?”
“Well, that’s different.” Steve pondered, before he shook his head. “But you’re far too young to be getting into situations like that.”
“Uncle Buck said you were fighting people form the age of six. And getting your ass kicked.”
“Well, you do as I say…”
“Not as I do, yeah I got it.” Jamie grinned and Steve arched an eyebrow before he made his way to the door. He paused and turned back to look at his son, not for the first time taking in how damned tall and broad he was for his age. He pointed to Stark “Don’t let your mother catch him on the bed.”
“You know she says the same thing about you.” Jamie looked at him and Steve chuckled.
“I do, but let’s just pretend I don’t okay?”
“Okay, night dad. Love you.”
“Love you too.” Steve smiled, closing the door behind him.
He made his way back downstairs and into the lounge, and paused as he saw Katie talking into the laptop, her eyes brimming with tears.
“Don’t worry about it.” She said softly, and he could tell she was fighting to keep her face straight as Emmy’s voice came from the other side.
“I’m just gutted we can’t get home to come with you guys for the tree.”
“What’s going on?” Steve frowned as he sat next to Katie on the sofa, looking at Emmy and Peter as they both waved to him on the screen “Hey Kids.”
“The UK has been caught up in a huge snow storm.” Katie turned to him. “Their flight has been cancelled.”
“Bummer.” Steve’s frown deepened “Is there nothing from another airport?”
“Not in London.” Emmy shook her head “And the roads are that bad, even if we managed somewhere else…”
“Don’t wanna risk driving Mr R.” Pete shrugged and Steve had to give it to him, that was a sensible move.
“Wise decision.” Steve bit his lip, before he turned to Katie “Can we not get The Stark jet over? You guys should have used that anyway, not gone commercial.”
The irony of his statement didn’t pass him by, as there’d been a time when he had hated using a private jet as he felt it was ostentatious, but he’d fast learned to live with it as it was less hassle and a damned sight comfier and quicker too.
“I told you we didn’t want to.” Emmy shot back and Peter hastily cut in to prevent an argument.
“Already tried Happy before we called. He can’t get in any airfield be it private or other. I’m really sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.” Katie shook her head “If you need anything just call. Have you got a place to stay?”
“Yeah, The Savoy found us another room.” Emmy shrugged before she grimaced “I’m gonna have to put it on my credit card though.”
“Don’t worry about that.” Katie shook her head “Just do what you gotta do, we’ll sort the bill out. Do you need us to wire you some cash or-“
“No, we’ve got enough between us for that.” Pete smiled “Just the hotel. We could get somewhere cheaper if that’s-“
“If it’s that bad out there you can stay where you are.” Steve shook his head. “Don’t worry about the money kids, it’s not important.”
“Just call us if you need anything.” Katie added.
“Thanks Mom. Look, we’re gonna go try and get something to eat and then sleep” Emmy sighed “It’s past 1 am now.”
“Sure, call us tomorrow okay, keep us updated.” Steve instructed and Emmy nodded.
“Will do. Love you both.”
“And you.” Katie smiled “Stay safe, and look after each other.”
“Got it.” Emmy grinned and with that she blew them both a kiss as Peter waved and the screen went blank.
Katie bit her lip before she tapped at the keyboard of her laptop “I’m going to send her some money, just in case. I know she has plenty in her savings, but…”
Steve nodded “Good idea. Those are for a rainy day, not a snowy one.”
Katie gave a small smile as she logged into the banking, and hesitated before she transferred a few thousand over to Emmy and closed the laptop, running her hands over her face. Steve saw her shouldes shake and he gave a sigh, pulling her to him.
“Hey, come on. They’re safe. In the poshest hotel known to man.” He pressed a kiss to her head “No doubt thinking this is some kind of huge romantic adventure. Snowed in, in London, with a mini-bar, room service.”
At that thought he grimaced, as his mind took him to a very dark place about just exactly what the spider kid would be doing to his daughter in said hotel room but he shook himself out of it as Katie spoke, sniffling a little.
“I know it’s just, well we started this tradition with Emmy that first Christmas she lived with us.” Her voice cracked “We went with Tony, Pep and Nat remember?”
“I could I forget.” Steve chuckled, his hands rubbing Katie’s back “You were almost five months pregnant and had that jumper on with a huge Christmas pudding on the front.”
“I’ve still got that.” Her voice was muffled as her face pressed into his Henley.
“And Pepper was going mad when Tony bought that nine foot tree for their lounge.”
“Ours wasn’t much smaller.” Katie laughed, leaning back to wipe her eyes. “You had to trim the top off.”
Steve chuckled, his hands cupping her face “A few days after that we found out bump was blue. Hello Jamie.”
“God it seems so long ago.”
“It was.” Steve smiled pressing a kiss to her lips. “11 years.”
“Yeah.” Katie looked at him “We’ve been through a lot since then.”
Steve nodded, as he wiped her face with his thumbs “And a lot worse than this. I know it’s disappointing, kitten, and I’m gutted as well, but it can’t be helped. We’ll still have a good time and we can go out with Emmy and Peter when they get back, nice meal and a few drinks somewhere instead, just the four of us. Start a new tradition now she’s all grown up.”
“Yeah suppose.” Katie sighed “I mean when they moved out in the New Year, they might not wanna come with us to get a tree anymore.”
“Like that’s gonna happen.” Steve snorted “She’ll simply be getting one for her own place. You know she loves Christmas as much as you. All the kids do. Because you make it so special.”
“It isn’t all down to me.” She smiled “You help.”
“It’s definitely your speciality.” Steve shook his head “You do the baking, the carols, the cooking…suss the decorations out.”
“Yeah, but you hang them. And you’re the one that started leaving Santa footprints by the hearth.”
“Okay so it’s a team effort.” Steve shrugged, dropping another kiss to her lips. “It always is when the kids are concerned.” He pulled back a little and nodded to her glass “You want another?”
“I wasn’t going to but yeah, now I do.”
Steve chuckled “I’ll go get us a drink, you find us something suitably Christmassy to watch.”
He stood, pressing his lips to the crown of Katie’s head before he wandered into the kitchen. As he closed the door behind him he pulled out his phone. He’d had an idea, but hadn’t wanted to mention it to Katie just in case it didn’t work…but if it did, well, he was going to reunite his family for their tradition and earn himself major husband points.
Win win situation.
“Hey punk.” Bucky drawled as he picked up.“What’s crackalackin?”
“God you talk some shit.” Steve rolled his eyes and Bucky laughed
“Sorry, we were watching Madagascar.”
“Yeah, I know where it’s from. I got five kids, remember. Six if I count you.”
“Well you could argue Diva Doll counts for two so you really have seven.”
“Yeah, speaking of which, I got a bone to pick with you about her and a damned capybara.” Steve narrowed his eyes as he spoke and there was a pause before Bucky burst out laughing. “Yeah, laugh it up, jerk. That got me in some major shit before.”
“You didn’t say yes?”
“No of course I didn’t.” Steve sighed “But she sideswiped me asking for a damned cat and I said maybe, so…”
“You fucking moron.”
“Whatever, listen, that’s not why I’m calling anyway.” Steve sighed, his voice growing serious. “I need a favour, Buck.”
“I’m listening.” Bucky replied, before Steve explained the predicament and possible solution. When he finished there was a pause and Bucky let out a long whistle. “Man, that’s…”
“I know, I know.” Steve sighed “But I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t desperate. Katie’s heartbroken Emmy can’t get home.”
“Well, we can’t have the second most important woman in my life upset now can we?” Bucky replied “Leave it with me.”
“Cheers buddy.”
“You’ll owe me a life time of favours if I can pull this off.”
“We’ll call it quits for you almost getting me couched.”
“Not my fault you can’t say no to your likkle Princessa.” Bucky responded and Steve snorted.
“You’ve met her, right?”
There as another pause and Bucky laughed “Point taken.”
“Not a word to Katie.” Steve instructed “Just in case you can’t do it.”
“You seriously doubt me after all this time?” Bucky sighed “That hurts Stevie.”
“You know what else will hurt?” Steve shot back “My foot up your ass.”
“You want me to do this or not?” Bucky scoffed “Because threatening me aint gonna make me wanna do you any favours.”
“No but not wanting to see my wife upset is.”
“You fight dirty, Steven.” Bucky’s voice was low and Steve could imagine the narrowed eyes he was pulling as he spoke. “Okay, I’ll call Sam now. Leave it with me.”
“Thanks Buck.”
Steve cut the call and stuffed his phone back in his pocket, running a hand over his beard. Buck was right, it was a big ask and ridiculously over the top but, well, nothing was too much for him where his family was concerned. And after everything they’d been through this year what with Flossie’s horrific birth and Katie’s post-partum depression, his amazingly brave and gorgeous wife deserved the damned world. With a sigh he yanked open the fridge as he pulled out Katie’s wine and a beer for him, simply hoping that it worked.
**** “You good?” Steve asked as Jamie hopped into the back of the Q7, taking his place on the rear row of seats.
“Yup.” Jamie grinned “I prefer it back here, Rori can’t bug me.”
“Wanna bet?” Rori turned her head and peered at him from her place in the middle of the second row and Steve shot her a look.
“Enough. I hear one sound outta you that’s annoying him, we’re coming straight home.” He said sternly. Rori eyed him shrewdly, as if weighing up whether he was serious or not and he raised his eyebrows, challenging her.
“Ok Daddy.” She shrugged, turning back round. Steve shot Jamie a wink as turned and collapsed Flossie’s little stroller. He slotted it down the side of Jamie’s seat before he shut the trunk and then quickly inspected the roof rack. Satisfied he looked up just as Katie came out of the house, Flossie on her hip, Harry jumping down the steps in front of her. He headed over to his dad and peeked up, Steve giving a laugh as his little woollen hat slipped down over his eyes.
“Come here, buddy.” He said, swinging him into his arms. The little boy gave a giggle as Steve pulled his hat straight so he could see.
“Thanks Daddy!” he smiled and Steve pressed a kiss to his rosy cheek.
“No problem. You ready to get a tree?”
He nodded “Big one!” he threw his arms out wide and Steve nodded seriously.
“The biggest.”
Ten minutes or so later they were sailing out of Brooklyn in the winter morning sun, heading for the tree farm some forty or so minutes away. True to her word, Rori was behaving and chatting to Harry, Jamie was quiet in the back doing something on his tablet and Katie was gently humming to something on the radio. Steve’s hand reached over for hers and he entwined their fingers, gently bringing her arm across his body, pressing a kiss to her wrist.
The journey pass uneventfully and as Steve announced they had arrived the kids all gave a cheer. He parked the car up and then the disembarking began along with issued orders for Jamie and Rori to stay where they were as they sorted the youngest two.
“I think I’ll just carry Floss.” Katie glanced around. “Pushing her stroller is gonna be a pain. I’ll put her in the carrier.”
“You sure?” Steve asked “I would say I’d do it but…”
“You’re gonna be carrying trees, yeah I know.” Katie waved him away. “Its fine, she’s not heavy. Besides, she’ll be too big to do this with next year.”
Steve smiled at her wistful tone, and between them they had Flossie strapped to Katie’s back in no time, having become experts at it over the years. Katie glanced over her shoulder as Flossie gave her a hug grin, before she peeked around and started to gabble animatedly.
“Ready?” Steve looked around and held the hand that wasn’t containing the saw out, Rori taking it as Katie took Harry’s, Jamie falling into step at her other side next to Steve who strategically placed himself between his eldest son and Rori to avoid any potential arguments between the two siblings.
“Want me to take that Dad?” Jamie asked, nodding to the saw. Steve hesitated then shrugged, it had the safety cover on so he handed it over, Jamie slinging it over his shoulder proudly, stepping in front of them a little and Harry wriggled his hand free of Katie’s and ran forward to take Jamie’s. Jamie smiled down at him and Steve shared a glance with Katie as she smiled at him, slipping her hand into his. The family made their way to the entrance and as they approached the various little trade stands, one of which was selling various hot drinks and baked snacks. Katie took a deep breath and smiled, the warming scents of spices, cinnamon and pine hitting her nostrils.
“Smells exactly the same.” She beamed and then frowned as Steve was looking around, blatantly not listening to her as he was busy studying something to their right.
“Hey!” she tugged on his hand and he glanced down at her.
“Sorry, honey.” He diverted his attention “Just saw someone I know.”
“Oh, from work?” she asked.
“Not exactly.” He nodded in the direction he had been looking and Katie spun at the same time Rori let out a shriek.
“Emmy!” she yelled, wrenching her hand free of Steve’s and bolting towards her sister as she strode towards them alongside Peter, Bucky and Sam.
“I don’t-how?” Katie was struggling for words at the sheer emotion of seeing her eldest daughter, who should still be stranded in England, sweeping Rori into hug. “Steve? What?”
“You got Bucky and Sam to thank.” He said gently, as she spun between them all, before she strode forward meeting Emmy halfway and throwing her arms around her.
“Hey mom!” Emmy smiled, before she pulled back and gently waggled Flossie’s hand. “Hi Floss!”
“How did you get here?” Katie sniffed, wiping her eyes, chuckling before she gave Pete a hug.
“Quinjet.” Emmy grinned “It was awesome. Hey Dad!”
“Hey, sweetheart.” Steve swept her up into a huge hug, picking her up slightly off the ground kissing her head. “Nice to have you home.”
“Hold up, a Quinjet?” Katie looked at Emmy, then to Bucky who shrugged.
“Yeah well Steve rang me last night begging for my help…” he began, putting on a whiney voice “Please Buck, I can’t do this without you Buck, you know the usual.” Steve rolled his eyes as Bucky sniggered. “So, me and Birdbrain set off on a daring rescue mission.”
“Yeah, we totally used and abused Fury’s equipment.” Sam chuckled, as he pressed a kiss to Katie’s cheek as he gave her a hug. “He’s gonna be pissed when he finds out.”
“Oh, screw him!” Katie gave a laugh as she turned to Bucky, wrapping her arms round him. “Thank you so much!”
“Anything for you darlin’” he beamed before she stepped back and spun to face Steve, reaching up and grabbing his face. With a smile she pulled him down to meet her in a long, deep kiss.
“Thank you.” She whispered against his lips, and he beamed at her, his nose brushing hers. “I love you, so much.”
“Love you too.” He smiled, before he drew himself up, a little embarrassed at their PDA in front of his two friends and the kids. “Right, who’s ready to go tree picking?”
“We’ll leave you to it.” Bucky smirked as various excited shouts rang out around them. “I’ve got stuff to do with Jen and Sam’s…ahhhh, crap.” The smile on his face turned into a grimace and Steve spun round to see a familiar figure in a trench coat and eyepatch stood by a black SUV watching from a distance.
“Son of a-” Steve snorted, shaking his head as Fury started walking towards of them. “He still knows everything.”
“You have no idea. “Sam muttered.
“Oh, trust me, we do.” Katie grinned as Fury stopped in front of them.
“Someone wanna tell me why one of my jets was in London this morning?” Fury looked at Bucky, then to Sam, then to Peter, all three of them giving him an innocent look.
“Well, there was a thing.” Bucky shrugged “Emergency.”
“Emergency.” Fury dead panned “So nothing to do with a certain Miss Rogers and Mr Parker being stuck in London in snow storm?”
“How do you know this stuff?” Bucky looked at him.
“I told you Barnes, you wanna get one up on me you gotta keep both eyes open.” He levelled him with a look. “Happy called me in a flap to see if I could action a pick up and I told him I wasn’t running a damned Uber service. And then one of them went missing so I put two and two together and looks like I came up with four” He paused and shrugged, smirking a little “Plus, you forgot to wipe the mission log.”
“Damned it Tin Man!” Sam shoved Bucky “You dick, I told you!”
As the two men began to squabble Fury raised his eyebrows and turned to Steve and then Katie, a small smile flickered across his face “Nova, Cap. Long-time no see.”
“Hi Nick.” Steve smiled, reaching out and shaking his hand.
Fury jerked his head as Katie shook his hand, his eyes roving over each of their kids in turn. “I’ll say. You’ve been busy I see.”
Katie gave a huff “One way of putting it.”
Nick arched an eyebrow before he sighed and turned to Bucky and Sam who were still bickering. “Imma let this one slide.” He spoke loudly, the two men instantly turning to face him. “But only because it’s the holidays and I’m in a good mood.”
“You know technically Stark Industries owns half those jets. Tony paid for and designed a lot of the tech on them after all.” Katie quipped and Nick looked at her, before he let out a laugh.
“You’re more like your brother than you’ll ever care to admit” he shook his head as she snorted, pointing at her.
“Worse people to be like.” She smiled fondly, and Fury gave one last scoff before he turned to Sam and Bucky.
“I’ll see you two later. Now, imma go get me some churros then split.” He looked back at them all “Merry Christmas.”
As they all waved him off, watching the curious glances he attracted as he strode towards the hot food stand and then Harry tugged on Steve’s sleeve, causing him to turn his attention from Fury to the little boy.
“Daddy, who’s the pirate?” Harry asked.
There was a pause before Katie burst out laughing, Steve following suite as they both shared a knowing glance, remembering Tony’s fond little nickname for their one time director.
The Goth Pirate.
“He’s an old friend of mine and your momma’s “Steve explained before he glanced up, not surprised to find that once more Fury had disappeared from sight. “We haven’t seen him in a while. And I doubt we will again for a long time.”
There were more hugs shared and after another final thank you to Sam and Bucky, Katie demanding they come over later for drinks, the four remaining adults and four kids all headed into the farm and the chaos began as they began to scout for their perfect trees.
“So we need two large ones.” Katie spoke, “And one for Emmy and Pete in the Cabin and a smaller one for Rori’s room.” she paused “Jamie, did you want one for your room too?”
“Nah, it’s okay.” He shook his head “Thanks though.”
“So four over all.” Steve nodded. “Okay gang, let’s find us some trees.”
They decided to get Rori’s first as it would be smaller and easier to carry once they’d picked it. They set about walking down the various aisles, and before long the jokes started flowing and they were getting worse and worse with time.
“What would you get if you ate the Christmas decorations?” Pete asked and Jamie looked at him, arching a brow. “Tinselitis.”
“Oh God.” Emmy snorted “That’s as bad as one of dad’s”
“Which reminds me.” Steve said, a smirk on his face, “Did you guys hear the forecast for Christmas eve? They’re predicting rain, deer…”
Katie and Emmy both let out a groan as Jamie and Peter howled with laughter.
“What do you call an elf that runs away from Santa’s workshop?” Jamie asked and Steve paused before he shrugged.
“No idea.”
“A rebel without a Clause…”
Katie, Steve, Emmy and Pete burst out laughing as Pete held out his hand to hi-five him. Jamie grinned.
“That’s a good one buddy.” Steve chuckled. “Where did you hear that?”
“Moo text me before.” He smiled “She said her and Auntie Pep had been googling them to put in their cards this year.”
“Like Father like daughter.” Katie smiled to herself, a little nostalgically as a memory of her brother crashed over her and Steve pulled her a little closer, his hand tightening on hers as he dropped a kiss to her head.
After half an hour or so of scouting and plenty of excited shouts and laughter, Rori paused in front of a tree that was the same height as her and she gave a gasp.
“Daddy, that one.” She pointed.
“You sure?” he cocked his head to one side. The tree was leaning to one side, the branches completely uneven, sticking out at all angles and the top was bent. “It’s a bit-”
“It’s perfect.” Rori insisted.
“Okay Princess, whatever you say.”  He looked at Katie as she smiled, her hand dropping to the back of Rori’s head. “Jamie, you got the saw?”
“Yup.” Jamie nodded, passing it over and they all watched as Steve gripped the trunk of the small tree with one hand a little higher up and began to cut it towards the bottom. He could have easily snapped the trunk with his bare hands but he played the part and in four strong swipes it pulled free with a little crack and Rori gave a shriek and clapped her hands.
“I love it!”
Once the safety cover was back on the saw they continued their search, walking towards the slightly bigger trees they spotted and Katie paused in front of a large, Norwegian spruce and reached out, gently crushing one of the needles between her fingers. She took a sniff and stepped back, nodding.
“That one.”
“I still can’t believe you pick them with the smell.” Steve shook his head.
“It’s not all the smell.” She protested “There’s a lot to consider. The height, width and spacing of the branches…this one’s just right for the corner in the lounge. And that one two down will do for the hallway.”
Steve chuckled, knowing better than to argue. “Positive?”
Katie nodded and once more Jamie passed him the saw. This time they all stepped back as Steve crouched down on the ground, expertly cutting the trunk and just the right place. As he took the final swipe, the tree pitched over to a loud shout of “Timberrrrr” from Jamie and Peter and it landed with a thud.
Harry gave a loud cackle and clapped, Flossie shrieking too as Steve then moved two down and repeated the action with a slightly smaller one that would sit in the entrance lounge directly in front of the photo of the pair of them at their wedding, so it would be the first thing anyone saw as they walked into the house.
Emmy strode past the tree to one that was behind it and then nodded to Pete “I think this one will do. I kinda like the way it fans out at the bottom.”
“Sure, Em.” He smiled “Mr R?”
“Oh, here.” Steve handed him the saw and watched as Pete cut his and Emmy’s first Christmas tree down, his arm round Katie’s waist, lips softly kissing Flossie’s cheek as the baby grinned. He arched an eyebrow as Emmy pressed a kiss to Pete’s lips, giving a soft huff as Katie dug him in the ribs, shooting him a warning glance which he returned with an innocent one of his own.
“Well, that was easy.” Emmy commented “It took us 2 hours last year.”
“They need to be right.” Katie shrugged simply, Steve and Emmy exchanging a look before Steve watched as Pete hoisted his tree easily onto his shoulder. It still surprised Steve how strong Peter was, even though it shouldn’t, he knew he was enhanced after all.
“I’ll take Rori’s, Dad.” Jamie stepped forwards, puffing his chest out a little, picking the smaller tree up easily and placing it on his shoulder, in an identical manner to Pete. Steve actively fought the urge to laugh as Jamie began to walk besides Peter and Emmy, clearly proud as punch at being able to help before he turned to Katie.
“Don’t say it.”
Katie laughed “Oh I’m gonna.” she smirked “If he was any more like you I’d be convinced he was a clone.”
Steve snorted as he bent down and easily lifted their two trees onto his shoulders, before they followed a little slower due to Harry being with them. Steve maneuvered around the other tree pickers as they went, his boot clad feet traipsing on the damp of the ground as they made their way back towards the main entrance and joined Pete, Emmy and Jamie at the place ready to pay. As the various helpers, all dressed in little Elf outfits bustled around to wrap their trees and strap them to the roof of the Audi, Katie was suddenly struck with a little problem.
“Hang on.” she turned to Emmy as she thanked the man who’d been dealing with and handed over the cash. “How are you two gonna get home if Bucky and Sam left?”
At that Pete gave a little grin and pulled a set of keys out of his pocket, “Mr Wilson let me borrow his Chevvy.”
“Yeah they went home on Buck’s bike.” Emmy shrugged and at that Steve let out a huge laugh.
“What?” Katie asked.
“Sorry, I’m just picturing those two riding pillion.” He snorted “I give it five minutes before Sam ended up tells Buck to let him off on account of him driving his Ducatti like a maniac.”
“You’ve no room to talk.” Katie scoffed and Steve looked at her with mock outrage.
“Mom?” Jamie asked and Katie turned to him “Can we get a drink now please?”
“Sure, come on.” She smiled and they headed over to the stall. She purchased a hot cider each for her, Steve, Emmy and Pete before hot chocolate for each of the kids along with a selection of donuts, churros and Stollen as Steve took Flossie back to the car so they could pop her in the stroller. They made their way over to one of the benches by the side and sat down and Steve returned, parking Flossie besides them before he handed her a piece of a donut and slipped his arm round Katie, pressing a kiss to her cheek.
“You have a good time?” he asked.
“Yeah.” She beamed, before she glanced over at the other side of the bench. Jamie was settled to Emmy’s left, talking to her about school, as she nodded along whilst Rori was perched on Peter’s knee as she animatedly told him about how she was going to decorate her tree in unicorn colours. Harry meanwhile sat in between both Pete and Emmy, his little frame chewing on a donut as he grinned at his parents who smiled back. Katie turned to look a Steve again, leaning up to kiss him softly “It’s been perfect, thank you for making sure we were all together.”
“Well it wouldn’t be a Rogers Christmas otherwise would it?” he smiled, kissing her again.
“Get a room.” Emmy grumbled and Steve turned to her as she smirked, shoving a piece of donut in her mouth.
“Watch it young lady.” Steve pointed at her.                      
“Daddy.” Rori asked “Can I go with Pete in their car to Target? I need decorations for my Princess Tree.”
Steve hesitated for a while and Pete hastily cut in “It’s no bother Mr Rogers.”
“Yeah we need some for ours.” Emmy nodded.”So we’re going anyway.”
“I come too?” Harry asked hopefully and Emmy shrugged
“If Momma and Daddy say it’s ok, course you can, squirt.”
Steve looked at Katie who shrugged “Fine by me. Sure you can manage them?”
Emmy rolled her eyes “They’re no bother.” She then turned to Jamie “You wanna come too?”
“Hell no.” he said hastily, peering round at Rori before he shook his head “I’m going home for some peace and quiet.”
Both Steve and Katie let out a loud laugh, as Katie shook her head “Oh Jamie.”
“What?” he frowned.
“Nothing pal.” Steve smiled, reaching for his cider. “Nothing at all.”
#ssholidaychallenge #sageandsweater
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dakotacrisis · 3 years ago
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Baker Girl (4)
It has occurred to me that I have been forgetting to update this story at the same time I’ve been updating it on AO3. That’s on me. Sorry. Gonna get the rest of this story posted now. If you don’t wanna wait for it to show up on tumblr then go ahead and read it on AO3.
Read on AO3
---
Chat Noir and Marinette finally broke apart after Marinette’s phone started ringing incessantly. Her parents really wanted her back home and were getting worried that she hadn’t responded to them yet.
How was she meant to go back to her house after all this? How was she supposed to move on with her life having heard Chat Noir say all that and spilling her heart out to him? How was she even meant to face him as Ladybug or Marinette knowing how he feels?
“It would have been so much easier if it was you I had fallen in love with first.”
He really said that to her. Marinette couldn’t help but agree. How much simpler would it have been if she fell in love with Chat Noir first instead of Adrien?
Chat gave her a lift back home, depositing her at her front door instead of the roof.
“You know,” Chat Noir said, “I for one cannot wait to see what clickbait titles they come up with for our escapades tonight.”
“Probably something along the lines of “Chat Noir Absconds With Rumored Girlfriend After Akuma Scare” or something like that.”
“I was thinking something a little more romantic and cheesy like, “Her Knight In Shining Armor! Chat Noir Rides Off Into Sunset With His Princess.””
“Wow that was cheesy and kinda long.”
“And yours was shorter?”
“Mine is closer to the realm of possibility.”
“Well now I think I should send my title in as a suggestion.”
“You had better not.”
“Watch me.”
The pair laughed and Marinette found herself not wanting him to leave just yet. Her heart was already all over the place but at least if he was here joking with her then she wouldn’t have to think about her problems for a little while longer.
“What should I do with the manga once I’ve finished it? You gonna keep coming back to my house every night until I finish it so you can bring me the next one?”
“Not like we can douse the rumors at this point anyway. Even with the video. Which reminds me,” Chat sighed, “This makes our third attempt a bust.”
“At least this time it was an akuma’s fault instead of either of us.”
“Maybe fate wants us to be together as much as Paris does.” he said, a wistful smile on his face.
Marinette knew he meant it as a joke but it hit deep within her heart. Perhaps there was a kernel of truth in his statement.
“Maybe,” Marinette said, clutching the giftbag in her hands tighter. “I guess this means I’ll see you tomorrow night?”
“Here?” he asked.
“Yes, here,” she turned to head inside. “Goodnight, kitty cat.”
“Wait, Marinette,” Chat grabbed her hand. She turned around and saw something desperate in his eyes. “I...I uh...thank you for tonight.”
She tried to ignore the tingly ripple that shot up her arm at his touch. He’s carried her all around Paris, they had embraced for several minutes on the hotel roof, why was this the touch that was flustering her? “Thanks for what exactly?” she said through a subtle stutter.
“What you said at the hotel. I really needed to hear that. Although I would say Ladybug is probably the least dumb person I know.” he scoffed softly.
“Oh no, trust me,” Marinette sighed, “She is just as big an idiot as anyone else.”
She laced her fingers through his and tugged him an inch closer. “Also, talk to her about this. I’m sure she’ll understand and she’s probably worried about you. Got it?”
“I will. Thanks again, Marinette.” he brought their intertwined hands up and gently kissed the back of her hand. “Until tomorrow.”
DOKI! DOKI! DOKI! DOKI!
“Yeah,” Marinette squeaked, “Bye then.”
Chat gave her one last shy smile before taking off. Marinette watched him go, leaning against the front door of the bakery for support. That boy was trying to kill her!
---
Doki doki
“Plagg?” Adrien mumbled into his pillow.
Doki doki
“Hm?” Plagg yawned.
Doki doki
“I think I...I might be...nevermind.”
---
A Knight, a Princess, and a Fire Breathing Akuma!
A hot-tempered akuma shook the city of Paris last night. But that was by far not the biggest shock this city got.
The akuma, known as Scream-Engine, toppled the Grand Paris Hotel. Luckily the heroes of Paris were there to quickly remedy the situation and earn another win over Hawkmoth. What has Paris abuzz this morning though was the events directly after the defeat of this latest evil.
After the defeat of Scream-Engine, Chat Noir was seen fleeing from the scene in a mad dash back to his rumored girlfriend, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.
As anyone with an internet connection has seen these past couple days, Chat Noir and Dupain-Cheng have been spotted together several times. While no official word has been given on their relationship status it can be safely assumed that the pair harbor a great affection for one another.
Witnesses near the battle when the akuma first appeared had said they spotted Chat Noir saving his princess from a perilous fall from atop the hotel roof. Reasons as to why the baker’s daughter was on the roof of the luxurious hotel remain unknown but one can safely say it was to meet with her knight in cat ears.
“Knight in cat ears!” Marinette was doubled over laughing so hard she could scarcely breathe. “That’s wonderful!”
“Oh shut up!” Chat Noir shoved her playfully, almost knocking her off the settee. “Stop laughing so I can finish reading!”
“Sorry, sorry!” Marinette sat back up, wiping the tears from her eyes, “Please, continue.”
After the danger of the fight had passed Chat Noir quickly ditched his partner’s side to find Dupain-Cheng. The two reunited on the streets in what can best be described as a scene straight out of an epic movie romance.
[Video: Chat Noir sweeps Baker Girl off her feet]
The two tearfully embraced in front of onlookers before the knight swept his princess off her feet and took off with her back into the night for a more personal and sweet reunion. A perfect storybook ending to an action filled night that has all of Paris wondering, when will they make it official?
“I told you!” Chat laughed, “Knight and his princess! I called it!”
“Yeah, yeah,” Marinette smacked him with a pillow, “Don’t think I don’t know that it was really you that wrote that. It has your cheesy, hopeless romantic fingerprints all over it.”
"I am unappreciated in my time," Chat sighed dramatically, draping himself across Marinette’s lap.
"And here I thought The Disaster Robinsons was going to be the funniest thing I read today."
"I am so glad you like it," Chat beamed, his head still comfortably settled in her lap. Marinette combed her fingers through his hair. It was a lot softer than she thought it was gonna be. "I'll be sure to bring you the next volume tomorrow night."
"Is this what's happening now? Nightly meetups to laugh over the articles they write about us and talk about manga?"
"You say that like it's a bad thing." Chat pouted, sticking out his bottom lip.
"Far from it," she assured him, "excited. I told my friend, Kagami, that I was reading the Disaster Robinsons and she got so excited. I did not realize how quickly the two main love interests would start to infuriate me. It is so painfully obvious from the start that they like each other. Yet, I can already tell they are going to drag out this mutual pining, will they/won't they crap for a long time."
"By the time you get to volume six you are going to want to reach in and slap them both for being so oblivious. Trust me."
"Oh joy,"
Marinette leaned back to look at the ceiling. Last night had been sort of rough. She had not really considered how much she may have hurt Chat Noir with her rejection as Ladybug. She figured he’d be a little upset but not cause-property-damage level upset. It felt horrible knowing she caused him so much pain.
They were meant to be partners. They worked in tandem and she trusted him with her life. Then over time they became friends. Real friends. But she never entertained the idea of them being more than that until recently when she realized that Chat wasn’t just flirting with her to be funny but because he actually loved her.
So where did that leave her now? She had been fighting against any feelings she may have held for him since day one. Now with her feelings for Adrien waning and being replaced with Chat, she wasn’t sure what to do.
Marinette still really loved Adrien but the more she looked at their relationship she was starting to realize that trying to be with him was the cause of a lot of heartache. She could barely get a word out to him about her feelings so what was the point of it? What if she did get to go out with him and she never got used to it? When they interacted in a platonic manner she was fine but anytime romance got brought into the equation she lost all coherency.
Maybe that was why she was gravitating towards Chat Noir now. Things with him had always been easy. She could talk with him and joke with him and even playfully flirt with him on occasion without incident. Lately his attention has gotten her frazzled. Like she was trying to walk on a tilted path high off the ground. One wrong move and she would fall down and down and down. Fall right into his waiting arms.
Would that be such a bad thing?
She glanced down at her lap. Chat Noir’s eyes were closed and she could hear just the faintest purr from within his chest. It still amused her to no end that he actually purred while transformed.
At the end of the day Alya was able to talk Marinette down and assure her that it would be okay. If she wanted to fix things with Chat then she should talk to him. No other way to do it. Marinette already told Chat to talk to Ladybug when they were on the hotel roof so hopefully he took her advice.
She didn’t want to lose him.
“Hey kitty,” Marinette said.
“Hm?” Chat answered, his eyes still closed.
She bent herself closer and left a quick, chaste kiss on his forehead. When she pulled back his eyes had popped wide open and the purring his chest had gotten three times louder.
“What--ahem--what was that for?” his voice cracked a touch. Marinette swallowed back her laughter and shrugged instead.
“Felt like it.”
---
In the days since Adrien had started visiting Marinette at her house on an almost nightly basis he had gotten very comfortable with her. They had basically given up the idea of letting Paris know they weren't a couple. No matter what, there was going to be rumors so there was little to no point fighting against it.
Eventually the articles slowed down as the city got used to Marinette and Chat Noir hanging out. They quickly became old news which was a load off their shoulders. Although they did miss reading the articles out loud to one another.
On this particular night they were sitting on Marinette’s bed watching an anime Adrien had recommended they start together. Things were going well but Adrien couldn’t stop thinking about something he had been meaning to ask her for a while.
"You know I haven't heard yet," he cleared his throat, attempting to sound casual, "any progress with that Adrien guy? Have you confessed or…"
"No. I'm not sure if I'm going to anymore." Marinette said.
"Why not?" Adrien said maybe a tad too loudly. He lowered his voice, "I mean to say, you sounded so in love with him before. Still nervous?"
"No. I just think that maybe we're better off as friends."
"Why would you say that?" This could not be happening! Why? Why when he had finally admitted to himself that he had feelings for Marinette? He had been waiting patiently for her to confess to him so that he could say yes this time.
"I mean I tried confessing to him the day after I practiced with you but he left before I could. For as long as I've known him he's consistently pushed me into the friend-zone so I'm starting to think he wouldn't like me back that way in the first place."
His eye started to twitch. "I don't know about that. Perhaps he is just really dumb and oblivious and needed a wake up call to how great you are."
"That's a nice thought." Marinette glanced at the photo of Adrien that was pinned to her wall. "But honestly, I think I'm ready to move on from him. Find someone else who I know likes me."
At that his heart sunk. Someone she knew that already liked her. Someone like her ex-boyfriend Luka who was still obviously in love with her? Had he missed his chance? What if he asked her out? Would she say yes or would she still insist on moving on from him?
"Good for you," Adrien smiled through the ache in his chest. First Ladybug now Marinette. He couldn't deal with another heartbreak. "Whoever it is will be a lucky guy."
"You think so?"
"I'm lucky to have fallen in love with you."
Adrien took a deep breath in through clenched teeth. “I know so. And you wanna know how I know?”
“How?” she asked.
“Because I told you before whoever you fall in love with is lucky and I meant it.” his hands balled up in the fabric of her comforter, “I know if it was me I would consider myself the luckiest guy in the world.”
Please. Please see what I’m trying to say. See what I’m trying to tell you, my Marinette.
“Aw, Chat. You really are a hopeless romantic,” she sighed, laying her head against his shoulder. “It’s nice.”
Adrien swallowed back his disappointment and smiled. “Glad you think so.”
---
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demonfox38 · 4 years ago
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Completed - Baba is You
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I can't believe this is the first game I've perfected on Steam.
Like, I don't like achievement systems in video games, okay? I prefer to set my own goals. Sure, there are some achievements that are interesting, like learning to use a certain mechanic in a cool or efficient manner, visiting hidden rooms, or even running around with nothing but my character's default busted sword just to prove a point. Mostly, I just want to finish them. I don't go jumping through flaming hoops because I want people to think I'm cool. I'm from Iowa. I'm critically uncool by design.
If a game is good, I will put in the extra work. Like, getting 100% souls in "Castlevania: Aria of Souls" and 200.6% map completion in "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night" is now just routine for me. With "Baba is You"? Well, circumstances are just a teeny bit different.
"Baba is You" is a puzzle game from independent developer Arvi Teikari. Your primary goal in the game is to create statements out of nouns, verbs, and conditions and use those generated rules to complete levels. It's basically catnip to programmers. These puzzles are packaged in cute, scribbly animations and gentle music. Ultimately, its soft presentation is the figurative sheep's clothing under which the wolf of this game lives, dragging its players through increasingly more complex situations, sitting there, laughing, its whole world wiggling in its adolescent mockery of you and your sluggish brain.
You're not always even Baba. I know. The absolute betrayal.
I originally saw this game being streamed back in 2019. A frustrating feeling overtook me as I watched the player work through the puzzles. I could feel myself solving them before she could, and it was making me itch. I didn't want to have any more spoiled without giving it a shot myself, so I purchased the game, put in a few hours, and then dropped it for two years. Hell, the major reason I came back to it was that I was babysitting my mom's very needy poodle, and I was more or less trapped on the couch with her during her entire stay. Had to do something. So, I decided this was it.
"Baba is You" really is the ultimate "Yeah, I'll get back to this" game. You know what I mean? There's always a handful of games that you make a little headway into, and then you think, "Yeah, I'll get back to this" and then drop it. I try not to be this way. Video games are expensive, and I want to get as much value as I can out of them. But man, does this game get overwhelming.
I mean, the TAS for a 100% run is currently around an hour and forty-five minutes. That's for 226 puzzles. That is a lot.
Granted, you don't have to finish every puzzle if you don't want to. The game can let you slide free with your first ending after completing only three subworlds on the main map. You know how many people get to that first ending? Like, we're talking maybe getting through 3 hours of gameplay or so. As of this posting, it's around 7.8% of all players on Steam. In comparison, here are first time ending numbers from other games I own on Steam:
"Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon" – 38% (Cleave the Moon)
"Trine" – 29.6% (Completed!)
"Dust: An Elysian Tale" – 23.9% (…And the Dust Settles)
"Fez" – 14.7% (Kill Screen)
"Psychonauts" – 13.2% (I Thought That Was Unbeatable!)
"Typing of the Dead" – 12.9% (Experimental Fiction)
"Final Fantasy VII" – 9.4% (End of Game)
That's right. From a percentage point of view, more players will put 80 hours into a 20+ year old RPG than 3 hours in this game. So, what's up with that?
At first, I wasn't struggling terribly with the game. I was making a pretty steady clip through it, stopping occasionally to check out the game's wiki. (BTW—view that on a laptop browser, not a mobile one. The background makes it hard to read some of the verbs and conditions.) My first tap-out in 2019 happened around the "Forest of Fall" block, when the game started introducing teleporting puzzles. My second brain-snap happened about 18 hours in the game when I accidentally created the phrase "Level is Key" in the puzzle "Fragile Existence," and then I realized that I could both create this level as Baba and had to create another level as a flag to win the overworld map.
And then there was a submap.
And another.
And another.
Holy crap, my brain was not ready for the mess that was Depths and Meta.
At one point, I stopped myself and reviewed why I was overcome with despair at my own stupidity. A part of it is yes, the game looks very cute, and the language used in the puzzles is very simple. So, when you don't get it, it's like saying you don't get "Sesame Street." And hey, maybe you wouldn't if it was in Mandarin and you only speak English. But, I did want to beat myself up for my sluggish responses and my growing feeling of helplessness. Why couldn't I beat the simple sheep game for babies? Was I really that stupid?
I think it helped to know what troubles I had my playthrough harder. This included:
Using text to push objects past barriers. (Yes, text exists in the world, and unless it's floating, you can use that text to move objects around. It's like hitting a car with a stop sign.)
Assuming attributes on an object that weren't actually assigned (i.e., assuming a door was locked or a wall would prevent me from moving through it, even if that wasn't the case.)
Manipulating text to double-layer nouns or break up commands by wedging an inactive/non-solid object in them. (See: Prison.)
Realizing that "you" doesn't always have to go to a certain destination. Sometimes, "you" just need to have something move over there or push something into where you want to go.
Remembering to use the "Wait" button to let moving objects finish their paths.
"Defeat" is a condition that applies only to "you", not objects in your possession. (They may instead be destroyed by "Sink").
Some rules need to be created and destroyed in the same turn.
Things that move on their own can be used to carry commands through obstacles.
Sometimes, you've just got to count your steps when you're taking an action and see if you can reduce them.
And granted, despite my stupidity, there were some puzzles that really clicked! I particularly enjoyed using the "Word" condition, as it allowed for me to treat both words and objects as a noun to make assignments. There were also times where I had to spell out the commands I wanted from letters left on the map. Fun! Natural! And hell, who doesn't enjoy a good block pushing puzzle, now and again? Super easy. Makes sense. Key is push, door is open. Of course!
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Ass is Hot! Of course! (Wait, that wasn’t the solution...)
I tended to lock up more when the "Defeat" piece was on screen. I mean, you can always undo your mistakes, and there's no life limit or anything like that. But, hearing your player character go splat when you mess up is flinch-worthy. Additionally, I hated having to build complex paths for objects to follow. Like, screw the entirety of Adventurers. Also, learning what the "Lonely" condition meant felt very unnatural. It was hard to even tell why I was splatting until I read up on what it meant.
Interestingly, changing the language of the game only affects the menu's language, not the game itself. (I was wondering if adding a layer of comprehension to objects would stop me from auto-assigning properties to them or not. Makes sense that it's all in English, considering the "form objects from letters" puzzles.)
I felt bad when I finally gave up on putting effort into solving the puzzles on my own. I did. But, I was also 18 hours deep into my file in a single week, and I wanted to get back to my other hobbies. I felt that if I gave up on "Baba is You" again, I wouldn't finish it ever. And then, those 18 hours truly would be wasted. Also, I felt sick that only 7.8% of people had gotten to the first ending screen. The game isn't bad! It's hard, but not bad! I wanted to at least give it enough dignity to finish it off, even if I was more or less reading what I needed to build with one eyeball and building it with the other.
And hell. Given all of the version differences of this game and the amount of time that has passed since its release, it is a teeny bit YouTube proof. Not completely invulnerable, but I did catch a difference or two here and there. And it's not like the wiki's the clearest with what you need to do, even when they're telling you exactly what to do. You've got to mind your space with your words. At the very least, don't push anything aside or wreck it until you absolutely must.
I can't emphasize how much I felt bad about giving up. I mean, it's one thing to look at guides for other game types. You can get knowledge on how to beat a boss or level, but you've physically got to develop the skills needed to vault through that goal. With puzzle games, knowledge is 99% of what you need to accomplish your task. The rest is just putting in the solution as elegantly as possible.
92.2% of players didn't bother to do even that.
I won't pretend to say I know enough about puzzles to make an excellent puzzle game. However, I do think brevity would have helped this game. Like, think of puzzle games people like. "Tetris," right? Even a long game of "Tetris 64" lasts me a couple of hours at most. "Portal"? That's a handful of hours supported by plot and fun dialogue. So is the sequel. "Panel de Pon" / "Tetris Attack" / "Puyo Puyo"? Those are like "Street Fighter" arcade campaigns. Like, 15-20 minutes. To have a puzzle game go on for hours and hours without any character motivation or plot in sight? Yeah. That's going to burn a lot of people out.
Like, this game could have just the over world, a single hidden world, and then the Center portion, and that would have been more than enough. And then you know what could have been done with the rest of the puzzles? Put them in a new game! "Baba is More!" Bam! A second game, now with extra "Inception"-styled mind screws! Twice the money earned! (Yeah, okay. This plan might stink of capitalism.)
Making 226 puzzles is impressive. However, brevity is the soul of wit. Sometimes, design can be contradictory like that.
But, its achievements? Perfectly laid out. Truly finishing the game is likely to net you everything. I only had to put in a couple of hours after the true ending, and really, only fifteen minutes of that was solving the puzzles. The rest was just finding what I had missed. (I've heard rumors that "Baba is Baba" is bugged, but I think you just need to look up how to get the Level is Win solution in Meta figured out. The rest is elbow grease.)
I don't know if I can recommend this game. Again, having a case of the bad feels over that statement, especially since it seems like the developer has his heart in the right place. I'm hesitant to recommend this because when I was playing it, I had a migraine that lasted three days straight. Granted, there were possibly some external factors to why I had that. A fat polar vortex. Stress from work. Some hormonal influences. Not enough caffeine or water. Just generally living in the United States in the early 2020s. Plenty of things to crush my skull. I don't think it's in good taste to recommend something that will cause others physical pain. I mean, I'm used to games cracking my hands, but that's not exactly healthy behavior. I certainly wouldn't want to give someone an epileptic attack. Why would I want to drive a nail through their skulls, either?
I do think the game is solidly designed. It's a smart little cookie. But, it is unintentionally discouraging to get through, especially if you feel like you can't ask for help. Like getting a clue or an explanation is cheating.
Look. Try. Try hard. Be as honest and earnest as you can be. Just don't expect to do everything in your life alone, okay? I mean, there are times you've got to get an external perspective. I frequently had to crash after school with mathematics teachers and badger professors to explain topics outside of class. You think I was going to come up with how there are different kinds of infinities on my own? Hell no. I'm not creative in terms of mathematical proofs. But, I sure as hell can explain how different infinities work now! Even post-schooling, I still research topics, particularly when building or fixing things. I wouldn't have learned half of the things I've learned about maintaining game cartridges or building dollhouses without suggestions from professionals and enthusiasts. It's just part of life. You ask for help so you don't burn resources—especially something as valuable as time!
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thegalleonsnest · 4 years ago
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Wiggle’s Muse - Short Excerpt turned into a FanFic
Yo, so, I wanted to share a small snippet of a future project I’m working on (while also delaying my current art projects). What I’ve written out here in this post was originally in a format not meant for professional writing purposes, but I said “eh, why the hell not,” and written it out in sort of a short fanfic format for you guys to read. This project btw, is not a fanfic (had to make that clear). What I am working on is a very large scale project for myself and is still in the blocking out/rough draft phases. This right here is probably my most fleshed out scene I’ve written out, and feels pretty complete as it’s own thing. Honestly, I’d appreciate the feedback if any of ya’ll found this interesting! 
Also I’m putting this in a tumblr post because I don’t have an AO3 or fanfiction account, and this is already too short for it anyway. Read the excerpt below
In front of the camera lenses, multiple grumpuses walk back and forth discussing a matter of topics but most importantly, where was Wiggle?
"Has anyone gotten ahold of Wiggle yet? She was supposed to be here hours ago,” a gruff voice coming from out of frame says. “We’ve tried calling her for over an hour, but we got nothing,” says another off camera, “do you think we should reschedule-” before they could finish, the studio doors bust open with a loud thud echoing the studio room. A tall, short armed grumpus with a boa stumbles along the room carrying an oddly shaped banjo.
“There she is,” said the gruff voiced grump, “Wiggle, whatever you got going on, you better do it now cause we got a meeting with investors in half an hour!” From the blurry view of a slightly out of frame Wiggle, she barely registered what the grump said. In a stumble, she walks to the center of the camera’s view & shakes her head, almost slurring her words, “Doooon’t worry, Darling, we’ll get you a new vest later.” “What, no, wait, that’s not what I-” before another word could be said, Wiggle readies her banjo and strikes a quick pose before strumming the strings like her life depended on it.
It didn’t take longer than a few seconds before the crew sprung into action, setting the proper lightning, mics and cameras around her. Her rhythm and measures became a lot more stable, catchy even, and then she broke into song. The next set of lyrics would become an instant, regrettable classic. 
It’s not long before the VHS tape stutters and stops, showing mostly static. A magenta furred Grumpus with some hair covering a part of eye, hits the eject button, takes out the tape and turns off the tv. “Girl, you were a right mess there!” She said with a giggle. “Tell me about it, Vrittany...” Wiggle said frustratingly, pinching the bridge of her nose. “And you’re telling me you can’t come up with anything better than that? Come on now!” “I wish I was lying, but I’m not. No matter what I come up with, nothing is topping whatever the heck my walking coma came up with instead!” Wiggle grabs her mug of coffee and takes a longing sip.
The two sit across from one another at the coffee bar. The aroma of that day’s set of cocoa beans waft through the cafe as most of the outside lamps fill out the darker spots inside. The place is nearly empty besides them, and a single muted green furred occupant sitting at a booth at the opposite end of the cafe, drawing away in his sketchpad.
“So, whatcha gonna do?” Vrittany asked sarcastically, “Stay awake for another week? Get inspired again? Hehe.” Wiggle sets her mug down, and answers, “I did try that again, but in style I fell asleep comfortably on a couch in the lobby”. Vrittany looked a bit stunned. “You’re kidding?! You’re crazy!” “Not crazy, Vrittany,” she takes another sip of her coffee before striking a pose in her high stool seat, bellowing out her voice. “Just creatiiiivly driveeeen~” “Whatever you say, darling,” Vrittany says before turning around to her bar’s sink. She cleans several mugs and glasses with gusto while preparing one last pot of coffee, enough for a single cup for later.
Vrittany takes off her apron and hangs it on the wayside of the counter as she walks around to take a seat next to Wiggle. After situating herself, she puts a paw on Wiggle’s shoulder. “Listen, pretty sure this is just a rut you’re stuck in right now,” she says. “Doesn’t every artist go through that every now and then?” Wiggle turns her head toward Vrittany, “Well..yeah, but this is different,” she desperately says. “I can’t let a song I made in my sleep be the best thing I’ve ever made! I know I can make something that’ll shake the world more than whatever ‘Do The Wiggle’ was.” 
Vrittany pulls back her paw from Wiggle to put on her best thinking cap. As deeply in thought as she was, her face immediately relaxes into a deadpan expression, “Have ya tried singing from the heart?” Wiggle cracks a smile, “HA, if only that’s how it works! It takes a musical genius to write a hit song in show biz, not just some field day with my feelings.” “Eh, worth a shot. Got any other plans?” “I’m still trying to figure that out. I need some kind of inspiration...almost like a-”
Before she could finish her thought, they both caught a glance at the muted green furred grump who walked up to them. He mustered up the words and said, “E-excuse me, you’re Miss Wiggle, right?” Wiggle turned in her seat to get a better look at the young Grumpus. She could tell he was nervous, clutching his sketchbook in his arms rather tightly. She quickly put on a more relaxed front to help calm things down, while also still showing off a bit of her excited side. “Why yes I am, Darling,” she said enthusiastically. “And I can tell you must be a fan of mine.” “Y-yeah...!” The green grump looked a little more relaxed, but still stiff in the shoulders. “Hey now, no need to be so nervous. I always got time for my fans.” “Thank you, Miss Wiggle. Um…” “No need to finish that thought, Darling, I know what you’re about to ask and I’m happy to oblige!”
Before the young man could stop to say something, Wiggle pulls out one of her many professional hand out photos that she has, and quickly signs with her autograph before handing it to him. “O-Oh, thank you, Miss, but that’s not what I was going to s-say.” he sheepishly says. “Really? Not an autograph,” Wiggle says surprisingly. “It’s usually the first thing fans ask of me.” “Sorry, I just...I wanted to show you this sketch I made…” 
The nervous grumpus slowly turns his sketchbook around to reveal a fully sketched art piece depicting a stylized Wiggle singing her heart out at the bar with Vrittany hanging out in the background cheering her on. He hands it to Wiggle to give them a closer look. It was still somewhat messy, showing a few guidelines and early roughed out shapes, but for what it was, it was still impressive to the two girls.
“Woah, that’s pretty rad!” Vrittany yelled out, leaning out from her seat trying to get a closer look. Wiggle was pretty stun, gasping at the sight of such a piece of artwork. “Darling, you drew this?! Just now,” Wiggle asked in awe. “Yeah! I was listening to some of your music and then you came in and sat down. It made me wanna draw you as fast as I could,” the green grumps says excitedly before rubbing the back of his head. “Sorry if it’s still a little messy looking though…” “Don’t be, because it is beeeaautifuuul~” “T-thank you so much, Miss Wiggle! T-that means a lot to m-me!” the grumpus says while his face lights up red from the praise. “You’re like an inspiration to me.” “Really now? Like a muse? All I do is sing the night away, Darling. You draw little masterpieces like this from me?”
As Wiggle continues to be enthralled by the young man and his work, Vrittany notices the coffee pot had finished brewing. She gets up from her seat and go back behind the counter to finish her last cup for the night. Wiggle and the green grump continue their conversation.
“W-well kind of,” says the grump, “it’s a bunch of music that inspires me when I draw. A lot of your stuff is so upbeat and fun, it gives me lots of different ideas to pump out!” Wiggle looks back, almost flabbergasted. “I’m...honestly a bit stunned that I had that kind of impact on you, Darling,” she says, almost with a melancholy tone, “...heh, kind of forget sometimes I do make some kind of impression on grumps like you.” She looks back down at the sketchbook, entranced by the creativity that sparked in the moment. That dazzling moment where it all clicked...where could she find that, when someone else can find it in her?
After an awkward minute of silence, the young grump spoke up and said, “If you like, you can keep the sketch page, Miss Wiggle?” Wiggle snapped her head back up from the sketchbook to the green fuzzball. “W-wait really? Are you sure you wanna give up this piece of art?” said Wiggle worryingly. “It’s no problem at all,” said the green grump proudly. “I already took a picture of it to save for later. I’m gonna make a painted version of it online later! Besides, it’ll make me happy if you kept it, since I was going to give it to you anyway.” “Oh Darling, you’re nothing more than a sweet one now, aren’t you? I’ll gladly keep it!” “Thank you so much, Miss Wiggle!”
Wiggle hands the sketchbook back to the green grumpus and he tears out the sketch. “No, Darling, thank you,” Wiggle says ecstatically. Vrittany returns from behind the bar with a to-go cup in hand, saying “Here’s your order, kid.”  “Oh, thank you, Vrittany. How much was it again,” the green grump asked. “Eh, don’t worry about it. Don’t feel like counting change. It’s on the house.” “O-oh you sure?” “You wanna change my mind?” “Don’t think I can, so thank you!” The green grump turns back to Wiggle and says “It was so nice meeting you in person, Miss Wiggle!”
“The pleasure is all mine, Dar-,” Wiggle catches herself before she realizes something. “Actually, what was your name?” “It’s Grite, Grite Tillsland!” Wiggle lets a genuine soft smile grow on her face. She felt a lot more at ease and happier knowing her new friend was much more relax and happy overall. She reached out her paw for a handshake, and Grite reciprocated.
“The pleasure’s mine, Grite, Darling.”
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talesofphantombandits · 5 years ago
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JJ One Shot ~ Always Believe in you.
So this is my second time writing this Intro and the last part of this story because while I went off for one second to find a photo to use, my tab decided to refresh.  So I lost everything.
NOT HAPPY.
Here we go again. So I just finished Outer Banks, AMAZING. Must say the first few episodes I struggled with but then when I got on episode 4 that’s when I started really getting into it and from then on I was hooked. At the start my first impression of JJ was ‘dam this dude is so handsome’ then it turned into ‘Jesus this boy has issues’ and ended with ‘OMG PROTECT THAT BABY AT ALL COSTS’ So yeah......
There might be a second part with these two, I had another idea for another scene. But we shall see how this one does first. 
Pairing: JJ x Reader. Warnings: Mild language.
Summary: Y/N was forced by her parents to go to Italy to see some family, the only hitch her phone was taken off her after landing and put in a safe so she couldn’t talk to anyone back home. Safe to say your parents didn’t approve of you dating JJ and hanging out with the rest of the crew. Seen as they only told you this after landing, snatching the phone right out of your hands at the airport you didn’t have time to tell them you wouldn’t be able to communicate, they probably thought you’d forgotten them. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what JJ though. Safe to say he wasn’t very forthcoming when you saw him again.
(I will look over this tomorrow for mistakes, I’m just so angry right now that it was ready to post and then It didn’t save. So sorry if there is mistakes)
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I’d been in Italy for the past few months, my family had decided that sometime away would be good for all of us. 
I hadn’t had any communication with the guys during the stay in Italy, which meant JJ too. I’d been cut off, “They were bad for you.” That’s what my dad told me but I loved them they were what true friends, true family was made of. It had broken my heart to leave JJ alone he’s been through hell and still going through it, but it was a little relief to know that he had John B, Kiara and Pope looking out for him. 
We were coming home for the Midsummer's party, It happens every year but my family insist on being there. To ‘keep up appearances’ they just wanted to keep their social status.
We arrived back home at about 7am, the only thing on my mind was raced up to my bedroom to take a nap. God I were exhausted, what I really wanted was to go straight to see the guys but that was impossible my parents weren’t letting me out of their sight. 
I woke up about 4pm and decided now would be a good time to take a shower and get ready for the party. I knew that Kiara would be there so that gave me a sense of hope and  motivation to look my best. I picked out a dark green velvet dress, deciding to do some darker makeup and curly my short shoulder length hair. When I was satisfied with the look, I got the black platform heels out of the bottom of my closet and sat on my bed while strapping them.
“Hey you ready?” Mum stood at the bedroom door putting in her earrings. 
“Yeah, as I’ll ever be.” I sighed rolling my eyes, I got up from my bed, heading to the door.
“You behave tonight.” My dad passed a kiss to the top of mums head on his way pasted, pointing his finger at me.
“No promises.” I said under my breath.
Walking down the stairs I waited in the front room on my phone until everyone was ready to leave.  My mind wondered to JJ, I wondered what he’d been up to and how he was coping with his father. My eyes started to brim with tears, I felt so bad leaving him without no contact but it was hardly my fault. I’d feel better when I could finally escape and see him.
Arriving at the party the first person I saw was Kiara looking extremely bored, sipping her drink leaning on the wooden railing outside.
“KIE!” I screamed, running as fast as my heels would take me.
“AHHH! Y/N!!!!” She screamed back and held her arms open wide.
She gave me a bone crushing hug. “God I’ve missed you!” I whispered in her ear. 
“Me too! why didn’t you call or text? We were all starting to worry that you were never coming back!” We, we were starting to worry. I gave her a sad look.
“Yeah about that, I was cut off.” She looked at me sympathetically. “They locked my phone away, said I needed to keep away from you guys.”
“You better tell that to JJ when you see him.” 
“What, why?” I said confused.
“He erm kind of thinks you’re ignoring us, and abandoned him.” She said looking at the ground.
“Why would he think that? I said breathlessly. The thought of JJ thinking I abandoned him broke me.
She just shrugs. “Who knows what’s going on in that head of his. We tried to tell him that it was probably your parents stopping you but.” She gestured off.
“He doesn’t listen.” We both chuckled softly.
“I’m glad you’re back, I know you’ll be able to sort it out with him. I’m glad you can be here to help me cope with this party.” She smiled sweetly at me patting her hand on my bare shoulder.
“Me too.” I smiled back as we went to sort out drinks for ourselves.
A few hours had past and Kiara told me that her and Sarah had sorted their differences out, that they were now friends now. I was very surprised at first but happy because that meant that there would be no awkwardness when I started dancing with Sarah and her sister on the dance floor.
This was the happiest I’d felt in a while, just dancing and loosing myself in the music.
Just then a arm came over my shoulder, I looked at it then at Sarah who stood in front of me confused.  She inspected the note in the hand. “From Vlad.” I knew that voice! Sarah took the note, smiling into it and rushing off.
I turned to come face to face with JJ. He was wearing smart black pants, a crisp white top and a strange coloured bow tie. He stared me dumbfounded, I looked down to his chest.
“That bow tie is horrible.” My eyes snapped to his face as he scoffed at me. When I finally studied his face I could tell he wasn’t happy, and I finally noticed the scratches all over his cheeks and the bust lip that looked all swollen.
My smile fell. “ JJ your face, what happened.” I raised my hand to cup his cheek but he slapped it away. I looked at him shocked, It wasn’t violent but there was enough force in it to make me flinch. 
He looked angry now, he step backwards then shook his head and turned to leave.
“JJ!” I stepped to follow him but my dad caught my arm, pulling me to go chat with his friends.
“Y/N I want you to meet someone.” My dad introduced me to a tall dark haired preppy boy, he looked my age. He also looked very familiar.
“Hi.” I said uninterested, my mind still on JJ but mainly the state his face was in. 
“I’ll let you two talk, you both have a lot in common.” That snapped me out of the daze at the words of my father, was he seriously trying to set me up with this tool? and how did he know what likes I had, I don’t think he knew me at all.
I looked up to the guy next to me, he was smirking down at me. It made me feel sick.
“Look sorry to disappoint.” I patted him on the shoulder. “But I’m already seeing someone.” 
I went to walk away but he called out. “That’s not what your dad says, So either you’re lying to me to get me to go away. Or you’re dating someone daddy wouldn’t approve of.” 
I turned giving him an unimpressed face. “What’s your name?” 
“Rafe.” I scoffed.
“As in Sarah’s brother?” He just nodded at me enthusiastically.  I just laughed. “Yeah no chance in hell.” 
I walked off to find Kiara. 
___________
I was speaking with Kiara and her family when JJ frantically entered the room being pushed around by a security guard, he was screaming and shouting. Me and Kiara just looked at each other concerned.
“What the hell.” I whispered under my breath. “Hey! Let go of him.” 
The security guard didn’t let up and pushed him further towards the porch. 
“It’s okay everybody, do not panic leave it to the men and women in uniform.” Everyone had slowly turned to look at who was making and fuss. Me and Kiara had slowly started to move towards the centre of the room.
“What is he doing?” I said to Kie.
“I have no idea.” She looked at me concerned.
“You can’t just boot him!” Kiara shouted to the guard. 
“I invited him here.” I said.  JJ turned to look at me but rolled his eyes, deciding to focus on Kiara instead.
I looked at him then turned slowly to look at Kie.  Both our parents where telling us to back down and shut up, but we weren’t going to take that.
Suddenly he’d pushed the guard away and turned back to Kiara. “Hey, mandatory power hour at Rixon’s, Kie.” 
He didn’t even look my way. 
“Pope, you as well. All right?”  He turned to leave off the porch still shouting at Kie and Pope to follow him. 
Kie grabbed my hand, I looked around confused but decided that JJ probably wouldn’t want me to follow. I told her I couldn’t, she stopped dead for a bit looking at me sadly. Her mother and father started tugging at her so she had to get away leaving me standing there staring at them all run off happily into the distance.  I sighed and decided to leave, clear my head. 
“I’m going for a walk.” My parents tried to get me to stay but fat chance that was happening, I didn’t want to be at this stupid party in the first place.
___________
I just let my feet lead me, I must have been walking Idly until I stopped at the smell of burning wood. I looked up to find my feet had carried me to John B’s house, If the others where going to be anyway they were going to be here. I sighed deep and prepared myself for the argument that I didn’t want to have but it was killing me that I had been home less than a few hours and I hadn’t touched JJ yet.
I walked around to the back where the smell was richer now, I looked to the left to find all four of my friends by the campfire. I walked over trying to think of something to say when a twig snapped under my heels.
They all turned quickly to look at me.  “Y/N!! You’re back! why did no one tell me she was back.” John B rushed to me and tackled me into a hug.
Least someones happy that I’m back.  He carried me in our hug the short distance to the fire and set me down beside Pope, who already had his arms outstretched for a hug.  I just smiled at him and gave in. 
“We’ve missed you! how come you didn’t call?” John B patted my thigh.
I tucked my hair behind my ear. “Yeah about that-” 
“What are you doing here?” I’d only heard the cold tone JJ was using when he talked about his dad. I never knew one day it would be directed at me. “I thought you’d get the message not to follow us when I didn’t call your name at the party.” 
“JJ.” Kie warned.
“What is wrong with you?” I could feel the lump forming in my throat. “I’m going to explain everything.” 
“I don’t want to hear it.” He stared at me with such malice, a sharp pain shot through my chest.
I stared at him but his face just seemed to harden more.  Finally I broke contact when I felt the first tear fall. 
“Fine.” I said quietly, I hoped no one would hear the crack in my voice. Luckily it was dark enough that I hoped no one noticed the tear flowing down my cheek. 
I got up and walked away without a word. I heard Kie call JJ a dumb ass as I turned the corner. When I got back to the road I bent over, my hands on my knees trying to catch my breath. Tears were free flowing now, I looked down both directions of the road. I could go home or go to my secret spot on the beach.
I decided that the beach would probably be best, I could cry it out and regain myself then go back home like everything was okay.
_________
I’d finally calmed myself down when I heard someone climbing up the dune to my right.  What I wasn’t expecting was to see JJ’s face pop up. 
“Hey.” I said quietly, a massive contrast from earlier. 
I just stayed silent, looking straight ahead to watch the moon reflect off the surface of the water. It always looked so beautiful and calming to me, that’s why I came out here when I was mad or upset. 
He came and sat next to me but not too close.
“I’m a jerk I know.” I just scoffed.
“That’s a big understatement.” I’d stopped crying a while ago but I could still feel the breeze making the tear stains cold.
“Kie told me.” I could see him mindlessly playing with the sand. “I should have heard you out, I’m sorry.” He dipped his head low.
I sighed deeply, the marks on his face are obviously a sign that his dad had beaten him again. they where fresh as well. I wanted to be so mad at the way he treated me but I just couldn’t bring myself to be mad anymore. 
I turned to look at him and reached for his hand. “What happened to your face JJ.” I whispered as if not to startle him.
“My dad.” He sniffed and interlocked our fingers.  I turned to fully face him, putting our hands on my lap. 
“Me and Pope did something stupid, Pope was going to get arrested for it but I couldn’t let that happen. He has a scholarship to look forward to, and a future I don’t. So I took the fall for both of us.” He looked at me now, tears brimming in his own eyes. “Dad came to bail me out, then proceeded to beat the shit out of me in the car.” 
I shut my eyes, my lip quivered.  When I opened them his tears had began to fall. I scooted towards him cupping his face and wiping away the tears pooling on his cheeks.
“Hey, It’s okay. I’m here.” He leaned forward in to me and put his face in my neck. He started sobbing now, I could feel the wetness on my collarbone.
All I could do was sooth him and rub his back. 
When he’d calmed I lifted him to sit up straight.  “You never have to hide from me JJ, I’ll be here supporting you forever.” 
He just smiled reaching up to turn strands of hair from my face that the breeze had blown everywhere. 
“What would I do without you?” He leaned in, I met him half way. Our lips met in a sweet kiss. “Now that’s how I should have greeted you at the party.” He smiled closing his eyes to savour the moment, leaning our foreheads together.
“Would have been a better greeting.” I just laughed.
I grabbed his hands and pulled him up with me, Slowly making my way down the dune.  “Where are we going? You’re not going to kill me are you?” 
“Maybe.” I said absentmindedly, he stopped short dragging me back until I crashed into his chest. 
“Ouch, why’d you stop.” I looked up at him.
He looked down at me dumbfounded. “You just told me you’re taking me to murder me.” 
I huffed. “Babe, it was a joke. I just want to walk along the beach, at the edge of the waves with you.” laughing at him now with his cute little pout.
He leaned over me, snatching my heels out of my hand. “lets go then.” 
The silence was beautiful, it was dark and the only sounds were waves crashing against each other.  This had always been my favourite past time with JJ, this is when the boy who had the most chaotic energy was the most calm. I thought it was a simple treasure that only I got to see this side of him, let alone that I was the only one that could bring out this calm in him. 
He stopped again, but this time he hugged me from behind. His head leaned on top of mine as we just took in the sea and the moon.
Things were definitely going to get worse before they got better, little did I know just how bad they’d get.
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assassinscreed-photomode · 4 years ago
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softish Spoilers for the final final chapter (Hunting Alfred)
😭
long, sorry. also I have an identity crisis at the end. Fuck england
Gods I hate that final final hunting king Aelfred quest, erasing that from my memory in 3 2 1...nope, everyone was just horribly injured, but survived and they all got everything they wanted, and lived full happy lives until the end of their days! Woo fiction!
Seriously, my delicate heart can’t take the whole trope of bringing in all these wonderful fantastic characters only for them to be used as pawns to sacrifice in the final chapters for the emotions.
I actually ended up skipping through a number of death scenes and similar because I was so desperate to get to the end. I don’t even know for sure how many of the characters died lmao......It really draws you in with those first few chapters, oh look how fun and interesting everyone is, here's a low stakes saga to get you started and then BAM dead dead dead.
I don’t know what it is. 
I think because this game is set in my country, one that I have a complicated relationship with. Many of the regions I know and love, places I have not been able to go to or anywhere this year due to covid,  I found myself feeling deeply emotional in regard to certain visual and regional aspects  of it, and then that high emotional state would transfer onto the characters and story. It mainly manifested in me having deep deep empathy for our Eivor, so much that I felt I was hurting on her behalf. Especially in regards to Sigurd, all those visions, the shit that went down in Norway like girl ARE YOU OK? Someone hug her, please.
There were times I was playing this where I genuinely felt distressed and anxious on behalf of Eivor, mainly in regards to Sigurd’s sudden anger after Suthsexe, but that's a whole other thing. I tried to be perfect around him so he wouldn’t shout at me, which obviously didn’t work. which is literally what I learnt to do as a small child and have been working through now I’m an adult. Did Sigurd fuck with my mental health progress? Omg that’s kinda amazing lol.  (though it did work out with him returning to Ravensthorpe with me because I didnt fck his wife and punch him in the face, so lesson.....learnt???) 
AC games can be stressful because they chronicle somebody’s whole life from start to finish, and that can feel like a lot of pressure when you are playing through the game and growing very found of the character you are using.
It’s also a bittersweet ending because you know that historically.................y’know with Alfred and the Danes, it’s no fairy tale. Its a shitshow, the danes do not conquer england or leave, they slowly lost more and more land over the century and their culture just blurred in with all the others
That SHIT IS NOT OVER.
England’s history is so so ugly. I’m talking England specifically, not Britain. It’s hideous, truly. There has not been one age in England that hasn't be fraught, fractured and rotting. From when the Romans showed up and started killing off and kicking out the indigenous celtic people, to god damn last week.
Like, as an english person who has roots and ancestors deep in these regions from as far back as my family can tell, who am I meant to be rooting for in this story? Who are me? The Saxons? They shot up from germanic regions a few hundred years before, are they my people? The Vikings? Danes the like invaded and took the land, for...reasons? I suppose? I mean, I did grow up in a town names for a viking raid of the monastery there...?
Should I root for the celtic britons? Don’t get me wrong Rhodri was evil, but is he my people?
By the time england became england, where there any celts still there? All kicked out of killed off by invading forces. Should I be rooting for the Picts from Scotland and the Pagans from the West Country? Indigenous Celts, who stick out and stand out in Valhalla’s England but were once the only people there, do they count as me? Or whatever is left of Roman descendants? Am I all of them? Centuries later the French took over, sort of. It was all mixed together at that point, genetically, culturally.
What does it even mean to be english? It’s like an ancient version of america. We all came from somewhere else, or left. What counts as being from somewhere?
I mean, I kind of knew this history before, but this game has really cemented in me just how fucked up the concept of england is. The last 5 years or so, politically, has made me resent and hate england in many ways. Not britain, england. I couldn’t imagine myself loving it ever again. But I think I do, I think I understand what it is now, more than I did before. 
A mish mash of fractured ancient cultures clashing together trying to resemble a country. Its a wound that may never truly heal, but that is what makes it different from its celtic neighbours . NOT BETTER but it just had a different and very ugly start in life. I always joke about needing to move to scotland, to escape. But  I know I never will, I’ve always known. I can’t do it. When Ivarr was talking about Ubba in that drinking scene, saying he disagrees with what Ubba is doing and what his goals are but he CAN’T leave him, he’s his brother. Yeah, that’s kind of how I feel about this stupid ancient busted up land. 
I just want Eivor to be happy. I’m reminded of an amazing post I saw here on tumbler years ago, it went something like: I feel like a lot of people fail to realise that for some,  loving fictional characters is the closest thing they have to loving themselves. Self love, self compassion, it can be so, so hard. So when you see someone else on screen, someone you can relate to, you pour your heart and soul into loving them. You want to protect them and give them all the love you can’t quite convince yourself you deserve. And by doing that, maybe just maybe, they can bring you one step closer to loving yourself.
I feel like I’ve been trampled by a fucking horse. This started out as a joke post about head canons and turned into me delving into my life long relationship with national identity. All I’m going to do in Valhalla now is fish.
Wow, successful therapy session, thanks all
._.
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