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favefandomimagines · 4 years

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I Never Planned on You 3

AN: chapter 3 even after the first two parts kind of flopped but hey i like this series and i’m hoping it’ll get better since harry potter tiktok is still somewhat thriving

sorry for going awol!! i was on a family trip and wanted to unplug for a bit! but i appreciate your patience and i’ll try to have a more structured posting schedule! i also apologize that this was so short, the next chapter will be much longer!!

taglist: @x-lulu

After Kendra’s talk with George, she knew that she needed to find Harry. Professor Trelawney said that he was the only other student to have the Grim in his tea leaves. What were the odds that both her and Harry Potter had the same fortune?

She caught up to the young before he entered the Gryffindor common room. “Harry!” She called. “Oh, hi Kendra.” He greeted her. “May I talk to you for a moment?” She asked. “Of course.” He said. Harry told Hermione and Ron to go on without him as he hung back with Kendra.

“What did you need to talk about?” Harry asked. “This afternoon in Divination, Professor Trelawney saw something in my tea leaves. She said that you were the other student to have the same thing.” She started. “You had the Grim too?” Harry questioned.

Kendra nodded her head slightly before Harry spoke again. “Do you think it has anything to do with your father?” He asked. “I-I really don’t know. Everyone thinks I know what’s going on but I don’t.” Kendra answered. “I believe you. You haven’t spoken to your father in 11 years, how would you know anything?” Harry replied.

“Thank you, Harry.” She smiled. The two entered the common room, splitting up to go to their respective friend groups.

“Kendra, we need to have a little discussion.” Angelina said as Kendra approached her three friends. “And what might that be?” She questioned. “What’s going on between you and George?” Alicia asked. “What? Nothing, we’re just friends.” Kendra said.

Angelina, Katie and Alicia all exchanged a look before looking back at Kendra. “He’s always the first person to defend you and the first person to check on you. Especially with recent events.” Angelina said. “Fred is also your friend and he doesn’t do that nearly as often as George.” Katie added.

“We’ll just wait and see tomorrow. We’re all going to Hogsmeade, maybe he’ll personally invite you.” Alicia teased. “Actually, you can count me out for Hogsmeade. I’m not really feeling up to it.” Kendra said. “What?” The twins interjected in unison. “Kendra, you have to come. We’ve been waiting all term for this and even with recent events, they’re still letting us go.” Fred said.

The older twin nudged his brother, knowing if anyone could make Kendra join them at Hogsmeade, it was George.

“Please, Kendra. We haven’t been able to hang out like we did over the Summer before you left.” George said. “You’re really laying it on thick aren’t you, Weasley.” Kendra commented. “If it’ll make you say yes.” He replied. “Fine. I will come to Hogsmeade. But I’m only doing it for you.” She finally said, earning soft cheers from friends. “Only for George, aye?” Fred poked. “And for all of you.” Kendra corrected herself before shooting Fred a glare.

Fred had been trying to set up his brother and best friend since third year. To no avail. They were both too scared to tell the other in fear of ruining their friendship with each other. But Fred knew better. He knew both like the back of his hand and if they needed a few friendly nudges, then so be it.

Later that evening, when everyone went to bed, Kendra couldn’t sleep a wink. She tried everything and she didn’t want to bother Madame Pomfrey at such a late hour. So she resorted to sitting on the velvet couch in the common room, reading a muggle book Hermione had lent her.

As she was just reading about the tragic affair of Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan, the sound of shuffling knocked her out of it.

“Oh, Kendra, I didn’t know anyone would be up.” Harry’s voice alerted her. “Oh, hi Harry. Couldn’t sleep either?” Kendra questioned. “You can say that.” The boy replied. “Well, we can be insomniacs together.” She said. “I actually wanted to ask you something.” Harry said. “Of course, go right ahead.” She told him.

“Do you remember anything about my parents? I know you were young when they died but you said you knew them.” He asked.

Kendra closed her book and turned her attention to the young boy in front of her. “I don’t remember much but I do remember one thing. It was before my mother was killed and we were at your house. You were just born and my mother was good friends with yours. It’s my earliest memory actually. I was sitting on the floor, my mother and Lily were fawning over you,” Kendra started with a laugh.

“And your father sat down on the floor with me and gave me this little doll made out of scraps of clothing. Lily had made it in case they had a girl so James gave it to me. He made sure I wasn’t going to feel left out. He was a very kind man, your father. Knew how to make people laugh, so Remus told me.” She finished.

Harry smiled at the recollection of Kendra’s memory. “So you knew Professor Lupin on the train?” He asked. “Yes. When I lost both of my parents and I was sent to live with the Malfoy’s, Remus did everything he could to get me out of that house. Him and my aunt Andromeda made sure I wouldn’t be forced to share the same ideologies that made the Black’s a very infamous pureblood family. That’s putting it lightly.” She answered.

“This might be a sensitive subject but do you think your father wants to kill me?” Harry questioned. “Of course not, Harry. My father could never hurt you or anyone who is innocent.” Kendra said.

Harry nodded his head curtly before Kendra stood up. “Seems talking with you as done the trick to make me want to sleep. So I thank you for that. Goodnight, Harry.” She said. “Goodnight, Kendra.” Harry replied.

—

The next morning, an abundance of students stood out in the courtyard of the castle, handing their permission slips to Professor McGonagall.

Kendra handed her’s to the older woman. before going to join her friends off to the side. “So, where to first?” Angelina asked. “Let’s go to Honeydukes! I told my brother I’d send him some chocolate frogs!” Alicia answered. “George and I need to run to Zonko’s. We have some new products to plan.” Fred commented.

“Kendra, where do you want to go?” He added. “I’ll come with you to Zonko’s. I really don’t need to be tempted by Honeyduke’s.” She joked. “Well come on then, Kendra! We have so little time!” George exclaimed dramatically.

The younger twin grabbed her wrist and pulled her along towards the village, leaving their friend group behind. “George, slow down! You’ll rip my arm out of its socket!” Kendra called with a laugh.

George came to a slow stop, allowing Kendra to catch her breath. “Is that better, your highness?” He teased. “Indeed it is.” Kendra replied. “Why were you so adamant on me coming to Hogsmeade?” She asked.

“Because we never spend time together just us. It’s always us and Fred or us and Ginny or us, Ron, Hermione and Harry. Do I need a reason to want to spend time with my best friend?” George explained.

George noticed Kendra’s smile falter ever so slightly before she quickly recovered. “No, you don’t need an excuse. You never need an excuse, Georgie.” She replied.

Though the word ‘friend’ was a word she didn’t like hearing from George. “So we’re just going to ditch the rest of our friends?” Kendra replied. “That’s exactly what we’re going to do.” George answered. “If I know Angelina, she’s already convinced Fred to go to Honeyduke’s with her.” He added

Kendra wanted to say she felt bad that they were leaving their friends behind but whenever she was able to spend time alone with George, she took it.

The two arrived at Zonko’s and George looked like a kid in a candy store. He’s been to the joke shop a million times and yet each time still amazed him.

“So what exactly are we looking for?” Kendra asked the boy. “I don’t know, anything that creates the greatest prank in the history of Hogwarts.” George answered. “You’ve already done that by now. At least I think you have.” She said.

“You’re biased, love. You have to think our pranks are the best.” He said. “Oh really? I have to think that?” Kendra questioned. “Of course you do.” George replied. “Alright then. If I’m being honest the last one you did with Peeves wasn’t the best. The execution was sloppy.” She told him.

George paused his browsing and looked at the dark haired girl for a moment. “Sloppy? My execution was sloppy?” He questioned. “It could have been better. That’s why Snape caught you. If you would have taken my advice, you wouldn’t have had detention for two weeks.” Kendra answered.

“You’re a minx you know that right?” George asked with a laugh. “What can I say, I get it from my mother.” Kendra said, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

George smiled down at her as she stood at his side. He hoped that she couldn’t hear how loud his heart was beating or if she could tell that his palms were clammy. He just thought she was so pretty he could never think straight around her.

“Did you hear me?” Kendra asked him. “What?” He questioned. “I said did you want to go to the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer before we go back?” Kendra asked. “Uh, yeah, yeah, sure. I’ll pay.” George stammered.

“If I didn’t know any better, Weasley, I’d say you were considering this a date.” Kendra teased. “No, no, definitely not a date.” George lied.

He wanted nothing more than for it to be a date but he didn’t have the courage to ask and what if Kendra said no? It would ruin their friendship forever. Kendra ignored the way her heart felt as if it were tightening in her chest at his words.

Would going on a date with her be that bad to him? Then again, she didn’t want to jump to conclusions. But she also didn’t want to ruin the friendship she had with George if she were to confess her true feelings.

So Kendra did what she did best when it came to her true emotions; and that was to hide them for as long as she could.

#imagine #harry potter imagine #george weasley #george weasley imagine #george weasley x reader #fred weasley #ginny weasley #ron weasley #draco malfoy #hermione granger #sirius black #sirius black imagine

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blossom-hwa · 4 years

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LINAAAAA HAPPY 3 YEARS TO YOUR BLOG ILY 💕💕💕💕

could i request kevin + title: brush strokes to the soul

KATIE!! I LOVE YOU TOO! and slkdjghsg this title is SO CUTE <3 I hope you enjoy this!!

3-year anniversary drabble game: send me an NCT/WAYV/Stray Kids/The Boyz member + a prompt (check out the post for ideas) and I’ll write a drabble for you!

Title: Brush Strokes to the Soul

Pairing: Kevin x fem!reader

Triggers: none

Kevin knew, when he asked to be the one to paint your royal portrait, that it was going to be a difficult task. Not because you’re difficult to paint - far from it, really, considering how many rough portraits littered his sketchbook from when the two of you were still in the courting stage - but because Kevin knows with absolute certainty that there’s no way, not even with the most skilled artist in the world, that a still, two dimensional painting could even begin to capture your beauty.

But he didn’t realize it would be as hard as this.

Nothing feels right, not even the usual charcoal pencil in his hand as he begins the preliminary sketches. The canvas is too rough beneath his fingers as he shakily pencils in an outline of your figure. The outline itself looks horrible - why are his fingers trembling so much? This hasn’t ever happened before, not since he first started drawing - and, by the stars, how is he ever going to get this fixed into something grandiose, something royal, something to hang in the portrait gallery of every king and queen and prince and princess that has lived in these castle walls?

You’re not good enough, a tiny voice in his says. Not good enough to make something great, not even enough to make something passable for the gallery. How could he, just a prince attuned to the arts, even hope to capture a hint of your lovely grace, your sparkling eyes, your bright smile with his two shaking hands?

As he tries to continue the portrait, everything just gets worse. He feels bad discarding so many canvases, promises himself that he’ll repurpose them for other projects, but nothing is going right. He feels horrible telling you every time you come in to sit for him that the portrait isn’t done yet - you understand, of course, you always do, but he still feels bad.

He lies awake one night, tossing and turning in bed, alternately staring at the walls or at the easel across the room. Even in the dark, he knows where every stroke of his brush has landed on the unfinished canvas - he’s stared at the portrait for so long that its image has been burned into his brain. Time and time again, he tries to burrow into his sheets and fall asleep, but dreams elude him.

Then a light knock sounds at his door. Kevin bolts upright - he knows that knock.

Sure enough, when he opens the door, there you are, dressed lightly in your nightgown. Wordlessly, you hold out a hand with a smile on your face. Kevin takes it without hesitation.

You lead him into the gardens, grass cool beneath your feet. Everything looks slightly muted under the cover of night, but the moon and stars shine overhead, providing a source of pale light.

“Why are we here?” Kevin asks when you come to a stop under the open sky. “I love you, Y/N, but why?”

“You seemed stressed recently.” The knowing glance in your eye tells Kevin you know exactly what’s causing him stress. “I thought it might be nice for you to sit under the stars for a bit and relax.”

A slow smile begins to spread across Kevin’s face as an idea begins to form in his mind. “That might be nice,” he agrees softly. “But how about instead of sitting...” He sweeps his body into an exaggerated bow, holding out one hand. “May I have this dance, my lady?”

The sound of your laugh is music to his ears. “If my lord will have me,” you say with mock coyness, placing your hand delicately in his.

“Of course he will,” Kevin murmurs, placing his hands at your waist as your arms wrap around his shoulders. Slowly, he begins swaying in place, marveling at how the pale light of the moon illuminates your face.

Then it hits him.

Kevin knows how he’s going to paint your portrait now.

Something must register on his face because you look at him questioningly, but Kevin just smiles and shakes his head, still twirling you around under the blanket of night. After this midnight escapade, though, as he drops you off outside your room and kisses you goodnight, he doesn’t forget to whisper a soft “thank you” in your ear.

“For what?” You cock your head slightly.

Kevin grins. “You’ll see.”

The portrait of you that now hangs in the royal gallery is different from the rest. Where everyone else is seated on rich thrones, dressed in opulent clothing covered in jewels, you stand under a night sky in a simple but elegant white dress that glows in the painted moonlight.

When you first see the finished product, you stay silent for a moment. Kevin feels his heart stutter for a moment - do you like it? Do you hate it? What does this silence mean? But then you fly at him, pressing your lips to his in a warm, warm kiss, whispering a million “thank yous” into his ear.

“It’s not good enough,” Kevin mumbles when you finally break away. “You’re still more beautiful than that, a thousand times more.”

A shy smile spreads across your face as you touch his cheek in reply. “I’m flattered, Kevin,” you laugh, “but even if you think so, I believe it’s as perfect as it can get. It’s good enough.”

He looks back at the portrait, pale moonlight dancing over your figure clothed in white. Yes, he thinks, smiling. Even though his brush strokes will never be enough to fully encapsulate your soul, he thinks he can find peace with this one.

#starryktown #the boyz #tbz #the boyz scenarios #the boyz oneshots #the boyz imagines #the boyz kevin #kevin #the boyz kevin scenarios #drabble #angst #royalty!au #brush strokes to the soul #3 year anniversary drabble game #lina answers #scriptura-delirus

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badboysupr · 3 years

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[[ -peers in here- Uh. Hellooo. c: I know that we have yet to plot, to write together, but I can already tell that you're incredibly dedicated to Leo in a way that Rick honestly wishes he could be. I can hear Leo's voice in your replies and I feel like you also have his habits / tics down correctly. You understand him extremely well and he often reads like someone I would meet in real life, with growth and I'm always curious to see what shenanigans he's going to end up doing next. I hope that we can write / plot something together soon (life has been so hectic, on both ends, from what I can tell). I hope that things will get better soon for you, but in the mean time, you'll be in my thoughts and prayers! (and you're more than welcome to stop by my IMs, if you want someone to talk to, and though I might not be able to offer some insight every time, I've been told that I'm a good listener.) here's to 2022!! ]]

@anthcs || Before 2021 ends...

;///o///; awfndohadga omigoodness... ??? <3 <3 This is absolutely the sweetest heckin thing I did set my own two eyes upon. And you got me over here just rolling around blushing from the kindness!! Seriously. T~T tysm for taking the time to write this out for me and send me this note; it truly does mean so much since I know you had to put aside some of your day to write it, so !!! Thank you!!! <3

That being said (and insert a million hearts and hugs here), I want you to know that I’m flattered hearing that coming from you, as I admire and absolutely adore what you’ve done with Katie. ;w; To be honest, I have such mad respect for people who take characters who aren’t the main focus in some work and just... add so much depth and love to them to the point where they can’t be overlooked anymore. You shine such a bright and wonderful light on this flower child and make me appreciate her and cherish her so much more, and I really need to thank you for that. Thank you x100000 for loving my take on Leo. ;; Coming from someone as creative and talented as you, it really does warm my heart!

I mean, I’ve 100% been meaning to actually start something with you through sending a meme or something, but as you said... busyness and also--I’ve noticed we might not often be online at the same time, so I miss you ;A; But!! As we’re going into the new year, I absolutely want to write with you because Leo needs a sweetheart like Katie to be his Mom friend and I am already living for the dynamic. It’ll happen! No rush on either side, but rest assured I super look forward to it.

And thank you for your support and kindness here. All the same in return, okay? Take care of yourself, and I hope 2022 is a great year for you. c: Thanks again so much for sending this!! I look forward to writing and chatting very soon! <3

#(answered)#(save)#this is so gosh dang sweet omg ;; tysm #we definitely gotta write soon!! <3 i can't wait to witness this dynamic!#you yourself are so wonderful! i really hope you have a great start to the year!!#(ooc)

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let-me-write-shit · 4 years

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Somebody To You: 1

A/N: It’s finally here! The first chapter of my second Harry Styles fic! We’re starting off with a LOOOONG, heavy one. I want to thank you all for patiently waiting. Most of the characters in this story is based off of some of YOU! Zoey, Nancy, Aurora, Andy, and Katie - Thanks for reading and being apart of this story. I’m sorry if I didn’t get your personalities right, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. I’ll be posting every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday! Enjoy.

<3 Shannon

To Read My Previous Story, Click Here

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CHAPTER ONE

Never in a million years did Zoey think she’d move across the country on her own. But here she was, driving down the interstate in her dingy 2010 Toyota Camry, car filled to the brim with her belongings. LA had always been a far fetched idea. Actually, if we were being honest, it was never her idea to begin with. It was Jessica’s. Moving to LA alone was never a part of the plan. Jess should have been here. They should have been blasting music through the stereo, complaining about the shitty A/C in the car, road raging together, and dreaming about all of the things they would do when they arrived.

Instead, Zoey drove in silence, briefly passing through all of the tourist spots and monuments they had always talked about visiting along the way, pulling into walmart parking lots for bathroom breaks or cat naps, alone. The only noise disrupting the silence was the hum of the engine and the occasional whisper under her breath as she spoke, in vain, to her best friend.

Jess was a force. Anyone who had the pleasure of knowing her would say the same thing. She lit up a room. She was the outgoing one. She’d talk to anyone and everyone that passed her, striking up random conversations that only she could come up with. And her laugh was infectious. Zoey always made Jess laugh and it got them in a lot of trouble over the course of their fifteen year friendship.

Jess always had her platinum blonde hair straight, never putting it up - something Zoey always did out of habit, rarely letting her hair down because she didn’t like how it looked. Jess always had a knack for the dramatics, which is why she wanted to move to LA since she was little. She had dreamed of becoming an actress. Zoey saw her in every high school and college play. And she was good. Really good. Honestly, she had potential to make it. But, to Zoey, all of the long talks of moving to LA was just that: talk. She could never let go of the comfort of being close to family in her small, Pennsylvania town with her best friend and boyfriend. Besides, how could they even afford it?

But all of that changed on June 9th of last year. It was Jess’ 26th birthday and the two girls went out to celebrate with a few friends at the bar they worked at together. Zoey and Jess were the last to leave and had drunk a little more than they intended, so they had Zoey’s boyfriend, Michael, pick them up. Not even 3 minutes into the car journey it happened. A drunk driver ran a red light and had rammed into the rear passenger side door at 50 mph. The car flipped and Zoey hit her head against the window, sending her unconscious.

She woke up in the hospital the next afternoon with a broken wrist, a few fractured ribs, and a concussion, surrounded by her parents who were crying, her little sister, Katie, who sat timidly in the corner of the room, and Michael who only had a few scrapes and cuts, but was ultimately fine, squeezing her leg that was tucked under the heavy white blanket. When her eyes fluttered open, her mom gasped and both of her parents hovered over her, her dad stroking her cheek. The first thing Zoey managed to croak out was, ‘Where’s Jess?’. Her mom lost it, uncontrollably sobbing. It was her dad that had to break the news to her. Jess didn’t make it.

It’s weird. You’d think hearing the news of your best friend’s death would send you into a fit of rage or hysterics, but that didn’t happen for Zoey. She felt numb. It could have been the shock, but it didn’t feel real. Jess couldn’t have been gone. She was here only hours ago, laughing her infections laugh and smiling her gorgeous smile. And even so, when Jess’ parents came to visit her at the hospital to discuss the funeral, it still hadn’t set in. She wanted to laugh at them to stop being so dramatic. That everything was fine. That Jess was still here, she was just sleeping. She couldn’t just be gone. Not Jess. She was too full of life to just be gone. But the bags under their eyes told a different story. They had lost their only child. How do you recover from that?

Zoey was stuck in the hospital for a little over a week, causing her to miss her best friend's funeral, which didn’t help in her denial. The day she was released, her boyfriend picked her up from the hospital and drove her to Mr. and Mrs. Lewis’ house. The walk up to the front door felt different. Over the past fifteen years, Zoey never knocked on the front food or rang the doorbell, she just walked in. She wasn’t sure if that would be appropriate now. Unsure, she knocked, hesitated, and cracked the door open where she was met by the exhausted couple who gave her a warm hug and led the two towards the back, past the pool where she had so many fond memories of laughter with Jess, the glistening water seeming so inviting on this warm afternoon, towards the pool house where Jess stayed.

Some had questioned why Jess still lived with her parents if she was 25 and worked a well paying job. But, to put it lightly, Jess’ family was very well-off. Her dad had built and owned a business from the ground up and it became a major success practically overnight. She had her own space, rent free. Besides, the pool house was big enough to fit three of Zoey and Michael’s apartment into it. Why would she not stay there?

But when they walked in, it hit her. Everything was exactly as they had left it, nothing had been moved. Except this time, the room did not feel full of life like it always had. It felt cold and empty. And Zoey broke down.

She felt stupid for crying in front of Jess’ parents. How could her pain feel compared to theirs? But they didn’t judge. Instead, they held her in an understanding and loving embrace. After all, Zoey had been a part of their family for fifteen years. With every sob, the pain from her still-healing ribs hurt more and more. Michael stood off to the side and let the three have their moment, and when the tears settled, they began going through some of Jess’ things, letting Zoey take whatever she wanted, which included a hoodie, a dress, a pair of converse shoes, the other half of their friendship bracelet that they had made in 10th grade, and finally a note that she had written in middle school to Zoey, stuffed with the hundreds of other notes in a shoebox under her bed.

The year that followed was tough. Zoey found herself lost for a while. She quit her job at the bar her and Jess used to work at, because working without Jess was too much for her to handle. She didn’t go out anymore, and hardly talked to anyone except for her younger sister, Katie. Growing up she didn’t really get along with Katie. It’s not like she didn’t like her, but Katie was eight years younger than her, plus Zoey was so focused on friends and boys that she didn’t make any time or effort for her younger sister. But after Jess died, Zoey got to know her sister a lot better. She learned that Katie, aside from appearance, was almost exactly like herself. Katie took after their Irish dad in the way of looks with long, dark brown hair and adorable freckles, compared to Zoey’s pale skin and dirty blonde hair. You wouldn’t think they were related by looking at them. But, in personality, they were almost identical. Both were afraid to take risks, shy at first keeping a very small group of friends, but very caring. The complete opposite of Jess who was care-free and miss positivity. Katie was essential in her grieving process.

Anytime someone brought Jess up in conversation, they always skirted around certain topics or words. They always used her name in past tense or said things like, ‘no longer with us’ or ‘passed away’. It was infuriating. One night, Zoey’s parents had invited her, Michael, and Mr. and Mrs. Lewis over for dinner nearly three months in. Her mom had brought Jess up for the fourth time in two hours and said something along the lines of ‘I’m still finding it hard to process Jess not being here anymore.’ And Zoey lost it.

“She’s dead, mom! She died! Okay?” Zoey shouted, pushing away from the table, causing her glass of wine to spill, and darting up the steps to Katie’s room that they used to share when Zoey lived there.

She collapsed on the bed, breathing heavily with tears streaming down her face, angry, when there was a faint knock on the door. Her fists clenched in annoyance, half expecting it to be her boyfriend as Michael had been extra clingy since Jess died, almost as if he was scared of what Zoey would do if she was left alone. Which was stupid. What good would it do anyone if she wasn’t here either? But to her shock and horror, it was Jess’ mom who walked into the room.

Zoey shot up straight and wiped the tears from her face, instantly regretting the outburst she just had. “Mrs. Lewis, I’m so sorry, I-”

“Don’t,” Jess’ mom cut her off, motioning for her to sit down beside her at the edge of the bed. Her expression was warm and not at all angry, “I can’t even begin to tell you the amount of times I wanted to say that over the past three months to anyone who mentions her. I know it’s hard, and I understand.”

Zoey nodded, twisting Jess’ bracelet that was now tightly wrapped around her wrist, a strand of her dirty blonde hair had fallen out of her hair tie and she pushed it behind her ear as Jess’ mom continued, “I only came up here because I thought it’s be a good opportunity to talk to you in private before we go.”

“What about?”

“Well, Mr. Lewis and I were going through some more of Jess’ things last week and we came across a bunch of old ‘Dream Journals’ the two of you wrote in over the years.”

Zoey felt the heat of embarrassment rise to her cheeks, remembering some of the things they wrote in there. The ‘Dream Journals’ were more of a fantasy bucket list than anything, but there were definitely a few inappropriate things involving Jared Padalecki and Jeremy Sumpter in there that she wasn’t too keen on the idea of Jess’ parents reading.

She continued, “Mr. Lewis and I noticed nearly every page was filled with things you two wanted to do in LA.”

It sounded more like a question than a statement. Zoey cleared her throat, “Yeah. We always talked about moving there one day.”

Mrs. Lewis nodded, “I know how much she wanted to go. And I know it probably always seemed out of reach. But, Zoey, I don’t want this to stop you from going. Jess worked hard to save up so you both could go. And I don’t want that to be for nothing. Mr. Lewis and I talked about it and we decided. Jess had managed to save up $18,000, and we wanted you to have it. And we know how expensive LA can be, so we wanted to add an extra $7,000 on top of it. Hopefully that’ll be enough for rent for at least a year.”

Zoey’s mouth fell open, trying to process everything Mrs. Lewis just said. So many questions ran through her mind. How did she manage to save so much on the same salary that she had? Stupid question, she had no bills. She twisted a little too hard on the bracelet, causing it to pinch her wrist and snap her back to reality, “$25,000? To move to LA?”

“It was her dream and she never got to fulfill it. We want you to live your life and hopefully bring a little bit of our baby girl to LA with you in spirit. All that we ask in return is that you try to find peace out there.”

That was the moment of revelation for Zoey. The turning point. The moment that made her get off her ass and stop the pity party. She didn’t want to take Mr. and Mrs. Lewis’ gift for granted. So, Zoey worked her ass off. She got three jobs as a warehouse worker, waitress, and got her old bartending job back to save up even more money. She had eventually even found a room that two girls were renting out in a beautiful skyrise condo on the nicer end of LA, and had got a bartending job lined up and waiting for her when she moved. Zoey vowed to herself to start adapting some of Jess’ personality into her own. She wanted to be more outgoing and try to say ‘yes’ more often, to learn to let her hair down (figuratively speaking), and she wanted to try and be more adventurous. It wouldn’t be an overnight success, but she would try. Baby steps.

Finally, almost a year later, it was time to move. Zoey had finished saying goodbye to her and Jess’ parents. Even Michael had come to see her off. The two of them had broken off their nearly four year relationship a couple months ago, but still remained close. Zoey could tell that he was heart broken, and so was she, but she also knew that things had changed between them after Jess died. They weren’t the same people anymore and it seemed like they were holding on to each other to force the fraction of normalcy they had left. They didn’t deserve that. They deserved to be happy, not just content, but genuinely happy.

They gave each other a tight hug and Michael sweetly kissed her cheek, whispering her a farewell. Saying goodbye to him stung a bit more than she had anticipated. Not because of some kind of lost love, but because he was the only other person in her life who she could talk to about Jess and who would actually understand. He knew Jess in almost the same sort of capacity that Zoey knew her. Poor Michael was forced to be the third wheel so often that he saw sides of her and Jess that no one else could possibly know about. And that sense of understanding comforted her. Now that she was letting that go, it was a little harder for her to leave.

Katie stood off to the side, shifting her weight from one foot to the other, twiddling her fingers together and avoiding her older sister’s gaze. The freckle faced teenager bit the inside of her cheeks, trying to focus on anything other than Zoey leaving. As horrible as this past year has been, she knew that the bond they built would not have happened otherwise. Katie had become just as reliant on Zoey as Zoey had been on her, and for her sister to be leaving was heartbreaking. She held back her emotions, but all Katie wanted to do was cry.

A frown formed on Zoey’s face. Her sister looked like a shelter puppy who’s owner had given up on them and knots formed in her stomach. Should Zoey really be leaving now, just as things started to come together for her? But as Katie’s demeanor cracked and she embraced her sister with a loving and understanding hug, she knew that this was the right move. Zoey still had some healing to do and Katie would always be there. Jess would have wanted this for her.

The silent journey to LA was full of self reflection and internal pep talks. Not only did Zoey want to adapt a little bit of Jess’ personality, but she knew that this move gave her the opportunity to start over and live the life she always wanted. But what was that exactly?

As she neared her destination her heart began thumping faster, nervous for this new chapter. She looked at her surroundings of the bustling city, gorgeous people on every block, recognizing some buildings from her sleuthing around Street View on Google Maps after speaking with Nancy about moving in.

She’s been talking to Nancy via text and facetime over the course of a month since they met online and made plans for her to move in. Nancy seemed like one of the coolest people she had ever talked to. Tan, with the curliest, raven toned hair, she had nine ear piercings and the most interesting eyes-one brown and the other a deep green. She styled herself more on the rocker chic side, but somehow made it look so feminine and fitting. She could be a bit intense at times, but somehow made you feel comfortable and constantly laughing.

Zoey didn’t know much about her other roommate, Aurora, or Rory, as most people called her. She only knew that Nancy had met Rory when she first moved to LA when they were 18 and they were best friends. The two of them just recently moved to their new condo and since Rory was gone most of the week for work and they had a spare bedroom, Nancy felt more comfortable and safe if there were another roommate there so she didn’t have to live on her own.

Nancy and Aurora had an interesting dynamic because they were practically polar opposites. Rory was born and raised in both Paris and a small town in England. She was new on the modeling scene but apparently making her way up the ladder rather quickly. And from the pictures that Nancy showed her, it was no wonder why. She was beautiful, with long brown hair, piercing blue eyes, and the sweetest, freckled baby face that reminded her of her little sister.

The GPS announced that she had reached her destination as she pulled up to the parking garage of the skyrise condominium. Zoey plugged the code that Nancy had given her into the keypad to enter the parking structure and drove in, finding a spot two rows in. She took her phone off of the car charger and checked the time. 3:14 PM, Thursday, April 23rd. It took her almost 4 full days to get here and it almost felt surreal that she had finally arrived. She stepped out of the car, legs buckling a bit from being sat in one position for so long, before stretching and calling Nancy’s phone.

“Are you fuckin’ here?” Nancy’s loud voice boomed excitedly.

Zoey laughed, stifling a yawn, “Yeah. In the parking garage.”

“Okay, I’ll meet you down in the lobby. Same code as the parking structure to get in.”

The call ended and Zoey felt her nerves settling as she glanced down at her wrist adorning Jess’ friendship bracelet. Everything will be fine. She grabbed as many things as she could manage to hold, realizing she’d have to take several trips to completely unload her car, before bounding towards the door. In order to put the code in she had to set some of her bags down, and as soon as it was unlocked, she yanked the door open, scooped up the bags, and headed down a hallway towards the huge, modern lobby. The walls were light gray with twelve foot ceilings lined with abstract black and white artwork and industrial light fixtures, a huge water feature right in the center. It seemed so extravagant that she almost felt silly for wearing the same gray sweatpants, matching small t-shirt layered with a long, white cardigan and white flip flops that she had worn since she left Pennsylvania, her hair now in an insanely messy bun, and not in a cute way, desperate for a shower. She could hear her flip flops echoing throughout the room along with the chime of the elevator door reaching her level.

Nancy stepped out, curly hair framing her face, barely any makeup on but maybe some mascara, and so naturally pretty. She wore an oversized aerosmith shirt that had been splattered in bleach and barely covered her black shorts. Nancy’s eyes widened at the sight of Zoey and she ran over, smiling.

“Hey!” Zoey giggled, hiking up a bag that was slipping down her shoulder.

Nancy gave her a careful one-armed hug so as not to knock down the tower of belongings in Zoey’s arm before grabbing two bags to lighten the load a bit as she was led towards the elevator. Nancy talked her ear off about her day so far and what she had planned for dinner tonight when they reached the twenty second floor and got out. There was a small lounge area in the center of a large landing with a single door on the other three walls, each leading to three separate units. Nancy led her to the unit on the far left - 2201.

“Okay, so the code is pretty easy. It’s all four corners of the keypad. So 1,3,7, and 9,” Nancy punched in. A green light appeared and Nancy pushed the door open, stepping inside. “Zoey’s here!” she called out as Zoey readjusted the bag that was slipping down her shoulder again.

She looked around as she made her way past a small bathroom and suppressed a gasp when she reached the beautiful, modern kitchen that opened up into the living room, the wall lined with floor to ceiling windows that overlooked the city. Seeing the apartment in person was a completely different experience than virtually. The pictures didn’t do it justice. How could she afford to stay here? Jess would have lost her mind if she saw this. Zoey was so distracted by the view that she almost didn’t notice the two figures on the couch until they both stood up and started making their way over.

“Zoey! It’s so nice to meet you,” a sweet voice called. Aurora’s accent was an odd mix of French and British, only adding to her appeal.

“Hello!” A soft, deep voice greeted her.

Zoey smiled kindly, feeling overwhelmed by the amount of beauty in the two. Like the apartment, Rory’s pictures did not do her justice. She was more beautiful in person, almost making her feel inferior. And as for the guy beside her, he was scruffy with tousled brown hair and dark green eyes. His perfect white teeth could be seen through his smile and his dimpled cheeks made him even more discernible.

“I’m Harry,” he spoke.

Zoey blinked, so exhausted from the long car journey that she was unable to decide what emotion to feel and unsure of how to respond. Her arms trembled from the weight of her luggage. The trembling caused a shoe to fall out of one of the bags, making a thump on the floor. Harry let out a startled gasp and quickly bent down to grab it, “Here, let me help,” he offered, grabbing the stack of bags out of Zoey’s hand, leaving her with just two on her shoulders. “Where would you like these?”

Before she could answer, Nancy spoke up, “Her room. Come on,” and led the way down another hall, Harry en suite.

Aurora smiled brightly at Zoey, “You must be exhausted,” she said, motioning for Zoey to follow the other two, “I hope the ride in was okay.”

Zoey tightened her bun and wiped beads of sweat from her forehead, glad that Aurora was being nice to her. “Yeah, lots of traffic as soon as I hit the city, though.”

Aurora laughed as they reached the doorframe, “You’ll get used to it.”

As the bedroom came into view Zoey saw Harry gently placing her things at the foot of the full sized bed. Thankfully the room was already furnished with the larger items. He huffed as he stood back up, dusting his hands together before pushing back the strand of hair that had fallen in front of his face. It was only a split second of realization. What the hell was happening? Was this just another dream? How could she be in LA, in a beautiful skyrise condo, with a gorgeous model and the coolest girl she had ever met as roommates, and Harry-fucking-Styles was standing in her bedroom? Surely she was still in her small one bedroom apartment back in Pennsylvania.

“Is this all you brought?” Harry asked, his accent snapping her back to present.

“Oh, uh, no. I have more in my car.”

“Let me help bring your things up,” his eyebrows raised as if he was waiting for an answer, but his tone was more insistent.

Zoey hesitated, still in shock from the whole situation. Thankfully Nancy spoke up again before the silence got awkward, “Yeah, let’s go.”

She led the way out of the room followed closely by Harry who smiled nicely at her before his glance shot to Aurora. Zoey was sure he had meant to be more discreet, but she could have sworn he had winked at Rory. And the coy smile on her face seemed to confirm the hunch. Zoey kicked herself for being so awkward, mentally reminding herself to channel Jess’ sociability.

The four of them made conversation while they took a few more trips from the car to the apartment until all of her luggage riddled her room and her arms felt like jello. They all sat lined up on the large, pewter sectional with Zoey on an end cushion, Nancy sat cross-legged in the corner, and Aurora and Harry on the other side, close but with safe distance between them. She found out that Harry was in the middle of a U.S. tour and had a few days break, so he flew here to hang out and would be leaving again first thing in the morning. She also found it interesting to learn how they met each other a few months ago at a charity dinner event that Aurora had attended with Nancy as he plus one. They had all been sitting at the same table together and this was only their third time seeing him in person due to his tour.

“And now I have another friend,” Harry grinned, motioning towards Zoey.

“Yeah, until you scare her away with your horrible dad jokes and eating habits,” Nancy snorted.

Everyone laughed as Harry lightly nudged Nancy’s leg with his foot, “Just because you can’t beat the master at jokes doesn’t mean they’re horrible,” he shook his head in mock disappointment before turning his attention back to her, “So what made you move out here, Zoey? Work?”

Zoey gulped, not wanting to bring up Jess. She knew if she had, she would break down and cry and they didn’t know anything about Jess yet. I mean, how would everyone feel if she blurted out, ‘my dead best friend’s parents insisted I make their daughter’s dream come true and paid for me to move here’?

She quickly composed herself, “Change of scenery. Thought I’d try out a new time zone,” she joked, causing them to chuckle. “I’m trying to be a bit more independent and adventurous,” she admitted.

Harry noticed her hesitation and looked at Rory and Nancy to see if they noticed it, too, but they seemed to be oblivious to it. He shrugged it off. He respected her desire to be more independent; something he understood all too well. The singer listened, impressed as she revealed how many jobs she had been working in order to save just to come here and how proud she was of herself for taking the leap and coming here. Zoey didn’t seem braggy about it, in fact she seemed humbled, crediting her family and even her ex-boyfriend for the support. It wasn’t often you met someone down to earth in LA. It could be because she was so new to it. But Harry thought she would make a great fit with Aurora and Nancy. They had been here for seven years and the Hollywood Bug hasn’t bit them yet. He had his fair share of friends on the west coast, but it was nice to be close with ones who made him feel more grounded like these two.

The four ordered postmates and continued talking and laughing over Nancy’s stories as the sun began to set, casting a beautiful orange and pink hue over the city. As soon as she was done with her chinese food Zoey quickly excused herself to call her family. Once out of sight the three friends turned to each other.

“I like her,” Aurora decided.

Nancy kicked her feet up on the couch where Zoey had been sitting, “Yeah, thank god she’s not like any of the other crazies that messaged us to live here.”

Harry smiled, looking over at Aurora who laughed and he felt a little flutter in his stomach. She was obviously beautiful and fit every characteristic of his type. He could relate to her from living in a small English town but also found her intriguing that she had also been raised in Paris and spoke fluent French - a language he was always attracted by. Aurora and Harry were clearly attracted to each other, but the timing wasn’t exactly right. They met right as Aurora’s modeling career started to take off and just before Harry left for tour. They hadn’t even been on a first date yet, or even kissed for that matter. Just shameless flirting via text.

In an effort to make an excuse to come back again, Harry spoke up, “Well, next weekend I have off. I don’t know what Zoey’s new work schedule will be, but if she’s up for it, how about we take her to Secrets as a little welcoming party? My treat.”

Secrets was a popular bar in the area that had private rooms you could rent for karaoke. Most of the club-goers were known to be gay, though a lot of straight people went with friends if they wanted a fun clubbing experience without any unwanted nuisances. It was always a good time whenever they went.

“That’d be lovely,” Aurora grinned.

“Yeah, sounds fun! I’ll talk to her about it and find out her work schedule,” Nancy agreed.

Harry nodded, excited about another opportunity to hang out with Rory. And honestly, he was excited to get to know Zoey, too. She seemed easy to talk to. And his instincts in people were pretty good.

What do you think?! Let me know

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#harry styles #harry styles smut #harry styles fan fic #harry styles fan fiction #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fluff #harry styles imagine #one direction #harry styles fanfic #harry styles one shot #one directin fanfic #one direction fan fic #one direction fanfiction #one direction fan fiction #one direction smut #one direction fluff #one direction imagine #harry

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calligraphist-artemisia · 5 years

Text

Instinct (Part 1/3)

Summary: In which the paladins are unprepared for the strength of Keith’s instincts and Pidge is taken off guard by her own feelings. Pairings: Keith/Pidge; background Shiro/Curtis

Also posted on AO3 (note: I no longer post to fanfiction.net)

---

Part 1

There was a small, brown package on her desk.

Her desk, in her family's private quarters, and further locked behind a passcode that few people knew.

Pidge frowned when she saw it, barely able to take her eyes off of it as she shrugged out of her casual jacket and hung it on a hook near her door. She'd only been away for an hour, attending another meeting to address the fact that technically Katie Holt never attended the Galaxy Garrison, never mind her instrumental role in freeing Earth from Sendak's control before going on to stop Haggar from ripping apart every reality.

No, no, none of that really mattered once the war was over and the Garrison was placed under the control of the Worldwide Leadership Council, whose proclaimed goal was “peacekeeping” for all of Earth.

Pidge scowled.

Millions of people displaced from their homes, exposed to the cruelties of a ten-thousand year old war, and they were most worried about their public image.

She hated politics. She especially hated them when it stood in the way of her doing anything useful with her time. So what if she'd hacked Garrison records at fifteen, enrolled herself under a false identity, and launched her own personal investigation in the wake of the disappearance of the crew on the Kerberos Mission? They should be thanking her for exposing such a flaw in their system!

Okay, maybe that was too much, but if she hadn't illegally attended the Galaxy Garrison as Pidge Gunderson, she never would have witnessed Shiro's return with Hunk and Lance. They never would have been there to help Keith escape with him. They never would have found the caves where the Blue Lion was hidden for so long. They never would have gone to space, awoken Allura and Coran, and freed so many different planets. Earth never would have been prepared for the invasion.

Pidge would never try and claim full credit for saving the universe, it was fully a team effort, but she knew she played a pivotal role.

She shook her head gently, clearing herself of negative thoughts. She had a mystery to solve and it was much more deserving of her time than dwelling on the way things were being run in the past few months.

Pidge cautiously approached her desk, searching the package for any clue about who could have left it there. It was wrapped in plain brown paper and on top was a tiny note card bearing her name in vaguely familiar handwriting. She found herself relaxing at that. It was unlikely to be a threat if it was someone she knew well enough to recognize their handwriting.

She was careful not to jostle the package as she picked it up and began peeling away the wrapping. With no indication of who it was from, she let her mind wander to the different possibilities, based on who she'd given her personal code to.

Hunk and Lance were out of the question. The last she'd heard from Hunk, he had made it back out to the Dalterion Belt with his band of chefs (and Shay) and was seeing what food sources the various asteroids and planets in the area had to offer. Lance was busy with the small farm he ran with his family and was always quick to tell her when they were in the area to visit Veronica.

Shiro wouldn't go out of his way to sneak a package into her room when he could just pass it off to anyone in her family or give it to her directly. It just wasn't the way he liked to do things.

Keith was equally as unlikely, though she had to admit, she had no idea where in the universe he was currently located. Once it became clear that Earth was safe, he took up Kolivan's offer to lead a team of his own in peacekeeping efforts. He called when he could and sounded completely wrung-out whenever they talked, but there was a deep-rooted pride in his voice that spoke of how much he was enjoying his work.

It had been a while since she last heard from Coran and Romelle, who were both working hard at establishing order and blending cultures of the past with those of the hidden colony on the newly restored Altea. It was tough work and Coran often despaired at how much of their history was lost. Sometimes he'd send something to Pidge (bypassing all Garrison channels) either for her to research or as a gift, but always with a long note of explanation.

Maybe it was Matt, who knew how much her frustration was starting to get the best of her. He liked to surprise her with little gifts now and again, but like with Coran, he always signed his, if he bothered to wrap them.

Her parents then. Except not, because even they would have signed it or given it to her directly.

Pidge stared down at a metallic green box as she fully pulled away the paper. There was a simple latch on one side and hinges on the other, so she cautiously opened it up, prepared to shut it if there was anything weird or dangerous.

Hair pins.

At least a dozen of them, in an array of colors and styles; some practical and others more ornate, meant to be used as decoration rather than holding hair in place.

Looking over the box and wrapping one last time, Pidge determined that whoever it was from, they were determined to remain a mystery.

She'd just have to wear them in order to show her thanks.

---

Everything was a mess.

Shiro groaned as he received another message requesting a meeting to review Pidge's “questionable” standing in the Galaxy Garrison. He'd spoken openly about his feelings on the subject a number of times – just as Admiral Iverson and Commander Holt had done, as well as many others who knew her – and he didn't see why they needed him to repeat himself for a fifth time. They had it all on record! All they had to do was play any of the last four meetings or read the minutes from them.

But if repeating himself would be what allowed Pidge to get back to the work she loved without being scrutinized over her every action, he would do it. Again and again and again.

That didn't mean he couldn't be annoyed by it.

“Don't they have better things to worry about?” he asked bitterly, more to himself than his current house-guests, one of whom was sitting at his kitchen table eating leftovers.

Kosmo woofed quietly from beneath the table.

“Are they still complaining that I didn't go through the proper channels to dock on Earth, or whatever it was?” Keith asked. “Because we already explained why that wasn't possible.”

“Although highly amusing, I'm not sure Zethrid telling the port administrators to shut up and do their jobs correctly is a proper explanation. Why did you leave it up to her anyway?” Curtis asked, sounding amused. He neatly placed a plate on the drying rack and then reached for the next one, running his soapy sponge over the surface.

Keith shrugged. “She needs the practice. And I figured they'd give us some new bullshit excuse about why we can't dock again, which meant my best bet for smoothing things over was going straight to Iverson. He may not be my biggest fan, but at least he takes the time to listen to my requests instead of denying them from the start.”

Curtis's smile dropped and he looked immediately to Shiro, whose frown was firmly in place. “So we were right. They've escalated restrictions on entering and exiting Earth.”

“What am I missing here? Restrictions are common on every planet,” Keith said.

“Which is why we didn't fight them at first,” Shiro agreed. “You haven't been here since the Worldwide Leadership Council took over operations and have been forcing harsher and harsher restrictions to pass. The official word is that they're afraid an influx of new technologies and cultures could lead to the start of a fourth world war, but...”

Curtis crossed his arms over his chest. “They're clearly targeting the Galra. At least primarily, but there are others who have been affected.”

“Anyone of Galra descent tend to make people uneasy. Its understandable, but not when they're denying entry to known allies. We couldn't have won the war without Kolivan and the rest of the Blade of Marmora, but it seems that all it's taken is a year to forget all of that. Then there's this whole thing with Pidge...”

Keith snapped to attention. “What's wrong with Pidge?”

Shiro was slightly taken back by Keith's quick interest, but it was a chance to rant about another situation to someone who wasn't already in the loop, so he quickly summed up everything going on with Pidge, watching Keith's expression grow more thunderous by the minute.

“She's a hero and they're treating her like some kind of criminal,” he growled, fury in his voice. “No one cared about her age or any of that when we were busy fighting in a literal war, but now it's over and they think they can cast her aside? How can they do that to her, Shiro?” His anger broke, giving way to something Shiro rarely heard from Keith, except when he was concerned about someone he cared deeply for.

“We've been trying to work it out for months, offering any idea that could appease them and let Pidge join Commander Holt and Matt on the Defense Program, but we've made no progress,” Shiro said. “All that's done is had them restrict her time in the classroom labs even more.”

“We think they're trying to force her out. They want to cover up that they were bested by someone who was fifteen when she hacked the system.” Curtis voiced the (until then) unspoken opinion shared by everyone involved.

Keith was quiet for a moment. He reached under the table to pet Kosmo as the massive wolf nudged his leg for attention.

Shiro and Curtis gave him time to mull it over. It was a lot to take in on a normal amount of sleep, and it was clear from the bags under his eyes that Keith clearly wasn't getting enough rest.

It seemed not even Kolivan could train out the way Keith tended to broadcast his emotions, easy to read for anyone who cared enough to pay attention. Shiro could see the emotions playing out across his face – the anger on behalf of the youngest paladin, frustration, the furrowed brows of wonderment, and then stubborn determination.

Keith had some sort of plan formulating and Shiro couldn't wait to hear it.

Shiro gestured for Curtis to sit down with them at the table. (Why he felt the need to clean them every time he came over, Shiro did not understand. The plates were fine. Shiro could do them after he left, but no, Curtis insisted--)

“How quickly do you think they'd give in if I refuse to leave until she looks over the ship we arrived in?” Keith asked them.

“It's unlikely they would at all. They'd insist that you use one of the Garrison engineers and if you refuse that's grounds for imprisonment, no matter who you are. But... we could try?” Curtis sounded unsure of himself and Shiro couldn't help but reach over and squeeze his hand.

Keith raised an eyebrow at the action, but said nothing. Shiro was sure he'd be questioned later, once Curtis was gone for the night.

Curtis continued, slightly emboldened by the comforting gesture. “It's no secret that they don't like that you bypassed protocol and landed here, but they may be more willing to go with what you want if you extend your stay by other means. Like, say, a vacation?”

Shiro quickly caught on. “Not as a pretense, Keith. Contact Kolivan and tell him you're all finally taking some time off.”

“Going to tell me I look like shit next?” Keith asked.

“Not in those exact words, no.”

Violet eyes stared him down from across the table and then Keith tipped his head in acknowledgment. “I know the others would appreciate a vacation, even if they'll complain at first. I have eight others with me and they'll all need someone to show them around.”

“We have volunteers for just that,” Curtis said. “And I think I already know who can show Acxa around. She and Veronica got along well when we were all on the Atlas together. I don't know about anyone else though.”

Shiro was absolutely not volunteering to watch after Zethrid or Ezor.

“So, we take a vacation and on the last day make the request for Pidge to look over the ship?” Keith guessed.

Shiro nodded. “It might help if there are any repairs that need to be made.”

“Oh, like our communications system? Since somehow the Garrison couldn't hear us until we were already coming in for a landing, despite the fact that Kolivan, who is lightyears away, can hear me perfectly?”

“Best not mention that last part,” Curtis advised. “But yeah. It's even better, since Pidge enrolled herself in the communications program when she was here. Regardless of how she ended up in the Garrison, they can't deny that she studied the exact thing you need fixed, and she was good at it.”

Maybe it would work.

Shiro didn't have many positive things to say about the direction things were heading with the stranglehold the Worldwide Leadership Council had on the Galaxy Garrison, but it was more of a chance for Pidge to do something than they'd had in a while.

They just needed to be careful.

---

Even when it was just the four of them, dinner was not a quiet affair for the Holt family. There was always someone talking about the work they'd done that day or a new discovery that was made or even just something funny that they'd seen or heard.

Colleen wrapped up her enthusiastic description of a new variant of Juniberry she helped cultivate and while Sam launched into a round of questions, Matt leaned over to Pidge with a grin on his face.

“You know, Keith arrived today.”

Pidge looked up from her food, already more interesting in what her brother had to say than the ongoing conversation about plants. “Really? Is everything okay?”

“According to Shiro, he's here for a vacation with his team, and the first person he asked about is you,” Matt said, his grin growing wider.

Pidge knew that tone. It was the same one she and Hunk used when teasing Lance about his crush on Allura. She rolled her eyes, not for one second falling for his attempt to get her flustered. “Other than Shiro, I'm the only other person he knows is on base. It doesn't mean anything.”

“What doesn't mean anything?” Colleen asked.

“Nothing,” Pidge and Matt said in unison.

Colleen narrowed her eyes as she watched them pretend there was nothing out of the ordinary going on. After a moment, she went back to her conversation with Sam, though neither Pidge nor Matt dared to bring up the topic a second time, knowing their mom would hone in on it in a heartbeat.

Pidge was thankful that Matt knew better than to involve their parents in his teasing. Their mom would definitely take it seriously, and while their dad would accept it as a joke at first, the more Colleen treated it like a genuine thing, the less he would see it as the teasing that it was.

The last thing she wanted was for them to insist on supervision while she was around Keith. How embarrassing would that be?

“So how's the Defenders Project going, Matt?” Pidge asked, changing the subject completely.

“You know we're not allowed to talk about it outside of the labs,” Matt said apologetically. “But without going into too much detail, it's going a little more slowly than we'd like. There are some new restrictions being passed on what goods can be brought to Earth and by who, and until they work out all of the details, we can't get in the equipment and materials we need in order to continue.”

“Seriously? What are they thinking?”

Sam set down his fork, turning his attention to their conversation. “In a way, it does work to our benefit. We have more time than expected to run checks and extra tests to ensure everything will work the way it's meant to.”

“Except that all we can do is run simulations, which can't account for the differences that Altean tech makes when combined with our own,” Matt pointed out, sounding bitter.

Colleen cleared her throat. “I think that's enough work chatter for tonight.”

Pidge and Matt exchanged a glance, silently communicating: “What else is there?”

“Well then, how about a little good news?” Sam asked. “We have officially been granted permission to host a festival celebrating the liberation of the galaxy from Galra control.”

“Wait, really? Dad, that's awesome!” Matt cheered.

Sam nodded. “I need you all to keep this a secret for now. They won't be making the announcement for another few days, since they're finalizing the location and central theme, so no talking about it to anyone else.”

His family was quick to agree to that and the rest of their dinner was spent trying to guess what a Garrison-run festival would be like.

---

Pidge woke up in high spirits the next morning and, after breakfast, slipped into her comfiest clothing with the intent of finally sitting down to binge the new show Rizavi hadn't shut up about for weeks. With the longer pieces of her hair pinned out of the way with two bright green clips, she flopped down on her bed and reached for her remote.

“Katie, you have a visitor!”

She tried not to groan as her mom's voice rang out, loud and clear. She swore if Rizavi was at the door, waiting to drag her and Kinkade off on another crazy adventure that was sure to land the three of them in Iverson's office, she was going to run away and join Lance on his farm, just to have a moment of peace.

Okay, maybe that was a little extreme.

Pidge would hate living on a farm.

She bid goodbye to her relaxing day in as she slipped on her shoes and grabbed her small purse, knowing it was best to be prepared when it came to Rizavi. The other girl wouldn't give her a chance to speak, let alone grab her things. (Honestly, she loved that Rizavi included her in outings, she just wished the pilot knew how to slow down sometimes – a sentiment shared by Kinkade.)

Pidge took a deep breath and opened her bedroom door. “Ri-- Keith?!”

Standing near the front door was Keith, his black hair tied back in a short ponytail, looking mildly uncomfortable in what she assumed was clothing borrowed from Shiro. (The cuffs on his pants were rolled up, for one, and the t-shirt with Godzilla on it had been a gift from Matt.)

Keith smiled softly when he saw her. “Hey, it's been a while.”

Pidge found herself smiling back. “Too long. Welcome back!”

“Did I come at a bad time?” Keith asked, gesturing to her bag.

Pidge glanced down to see what he was talking about. “Oh, no! No, you're fine. I kind of thought you were Rizavi. She likes to drop by unannounced when she has free time and I've learned its better to be prepared before I open the door. Do you want to sit down?”

Keith shook his head. “Actually, I was hoping you would go out to the city with me. Shiro was going to take me so I could pick up a few things, but they called him and Curtis in for some meeting this morning. He suggested I ask you.”

That was not a request Pidge expected to hear from him, but maybe it wouldn't be so bad to go shopping with Keith.

“I'll go, just let me grab Matt's keys,” Pidge said, turning away to grab her brother's passkey from its spot on the counter. She knew he would be down in the lab all day and wouldn't mind her borrowing it. “Mom, I'm going out with Keith!”

“Have fun, dear!” Colleen called back from elsewhere in the apartment.

Keith looked at her curiously as they left, moving out into the hallway and towards the exit. “Why do you need Matt's keys?”

“It'll get us into the garage so we don't need to take the shuttle or ask anyone else to drive us,” Pidge explained as she slid the card into her purse. “Technically I'm not supposed to have one, but the guards don't care as long as I'm careful and get back on time.”

“And here I thought I was the rebel of our team.”

Recognizing it for the joke that it was, Pidge teased back: “worried that I might steal your crown?”

Keith glanced down at her. “Depends. Do the guards really let you leave with a car or does it involve more sneaking?”

“Sneaking at first, but now they know me by name,” Pidge admitted. When he smirked at her, she rolled her eyes. “Well, alright then, King of the Rebels, what's the best story you've got?”

Keith took a moment to think about it, studiously ignoring the stares they received as they walked the halls.

Pidge figured they must have made an interesting sight. Her, the daughter of Sam and Colleen Holt, walking around in starry leggings and a too-big shirt that fit more like a short dress. And then him, almost a stranger to the Garrison after his time away, dressed in clothing equally as ill-fitting.

“I stole Shiro's car once.”

Pidge nearly stopped dead in her tracks. “You didn't!”

“I did,” Keith said with a nod. “He came to my school to talk about the space program and he brought this portable simulator so my class could try it out. I... I was difficult then, is the easy way to put it. Didn't get along with anyone. Didn't want to.”

Pidge had a sarcastic comment ready, but there was something about his tone of voice that had her hold her tongue.

“Anyway, all it took was one stupid comment and I needed to get out of there. Saw Shiro talking to my teacher and figured it was a lost cause anyway – the Garrison wouldn't want some troublemaker like me even if I did give it a chance. So I stole Shiro's car.” Keith shrugged as though it were no big deal. “I got caught, of course, and would have spent the night at a juvenile detention center if it weren't for Shiro speaking up for me. Even after all of that, he said I should apply to the Garrison. And the rest is history.”

Pidge let silence settle between them. She knew that he and Shiro were close, but it was the first time she heard the story of how they met.

“I, uh,” she paused for a moment to recall what they were talking about before. “I ran away from home and joined the Garrison under a false name. How's that for rebellion?”

Keith chuckled. “Not bad, but I punched Iverson and then ran away to live in a house in the desert before he could give me an actual punishment.”

“Wait, wait. Let me get this straight; you stole Shiro's car and you also punched Iverson? And Lance says I have no people skills!” She threw up her hands in defeat.

“So does this mean I'm still the king?”

“For now,” Pidge responded and for a moment had to wonder just what kind of challenge she'd accidentally initiated. But then they shared a glance and broke out into laughter over the whole thing.

They spent the rest of their walk just catching up on what they had been doing for the past few months. Keith spoke of the planets he'd seen and the people he helped, all the while keeping Zethrid and Ezor from terrorizing everyone with their playful antics. Pidge deliberately avoided her issues with the WLC, instead focusing on her personal projects and stories of Bae Bae running rampant through the base.

“Luckily, Iverson thinks she's hilarious and the MFE crew basically adopted her as their mascot, so she's living the best doggy life,” Pidge said as they reached a door to the garage. She took out the keycard and pressed it to the scanner so they could enter.

After a quick glance around to confirm there was no one around who would cause problems for them, Pidge held out the keycard to Keith. “It's your pick.”

Looking confused, Keith took the card. “My pick?”

“I know it's been a while since you last drove here on Earth, and I thought you might like to while you're here,” Pidge said with a shrug. “I normally drive one of the standard sedans, but the choice is all yours today.”

Keith took a moment to look around. There were all of the standard off-road vehicles favored by the Galaxy Garrison, built to handle the harsher terrain of the desert, but there were a surprising number of smaller cars mixed in, likely due to the expanded staff in the wake of the invasion.

Somehow, Pidge wasn't at all surprised when Keith gravitated towards the newest model of their Hoverbikes – one capable of switching between street and off-road modes. While it wasn't red like the one he drove while rescuing Shiro, it did have bright splashes of orange pain set against Garrison gray.

He climbed on first, checking over the controls and getting a feel for the bike, but soon he held out his hand to help Pidge up. While she got settled, he dug through a latched compartment until he found two pairs of goggles and handed one back to Pidge.

“Ready when you are,” Pidge said, carefully sliding them on over her glasses.

Keith took her words to heart and started the bike, which came to life with a humming purr and lifted up off the ground. He carefully guided it through the garage, hyper-aware of Pidge's light grip on his waist.

Pidge waved to the guards when they stopped at the main gate to scan the keycard one last time. “We'll be back by curfew!”

She squealed as Keith sped up on the other side of the gate, sliding her arms fully around his waist so she felt less like she would fly away at any second. Her hair whipped around her face, stinging slightly, and she pressed closer against Keith's back, using him to block the worst of the wind. Her heart pounded in her chest at first, but calmed down by the time they reached Plaht City.

Keith pulled into the first parking lot they found and miraculously found an empty space to pull into. Once he turned off the bike, he helped Pidge slide down and she laughed a little breathlessly, a massive grin on her face. He watched her pull free the hair pins and try to smooth out her hair, realizing after a few seconds that he was staring, and then joined her on the ground. He pointedly looked away, taking in the changes that they city had gone through.

The rebuilding seemed to have gone well, though there were still a few skyscrapers under heavy construction deeper in the city limits. What really caught his attention were the colorful tents lining the streets, full of goods from all over the universe, and arranged in a way that they didn't block any of the brick and mortar shops who had also thrown up bright banners to entice people inside. All of it did restrict the flow of traffic, however, leaving just enough street space for bicycles and a new trolley system to travel both ways. (Keith supposed that if an emergency vehicle needed to get through, there was enough space as well.)

It was an entirely different Plaht City.

“So, where to first? Or do you just want to walk and pick places as we go?” Pidge asked.

“I just need clothes,” Keith said, warily keeping his eyes on the crowded streets. He swallowed, wondering if he was really up for being surrounded by that many strangers, even with Pidge there to watch his back. There were too many unknown variables for him to be comfortable with.

Pidge seemed to pick up on his worry, because she nodded and said “I know a few good places, so it shouldn't take us long to find what you want. We'll just go until you're satisfied with what you've found.”

The two set off down the street, Keith following Pidge and hoping that she was right. After being in space for so long, he felt grossly unprepared for dealing with large crowds – even with his current peacekeeping tasks. At least with that there were only a few locals he needed to talk to, usually the leaders and those they brought with them to help transport supplies.

Keith kept an eye out for any threats and ways to make a quick escape if it came down to it. He didn't realize he was doing it until Pidge softly called his name.

“We don't have to do this today, you know,” she offered. “You just got back. We could ride around the desert or something.”

It was a tempting offer.

Keith shook his head. “Maybe once we're done, but I don't want to keep borrowing Shiro's stuff.”

“Not a fan of Godzilla? More of a Mothra kind of guy?” Pidge asked teasingly.

Keith couldn't help but chuckle at the silly direction their conversation turned. It did wonders to help him relax and he wondered if Pidge was doing it on purpose. “I think giant monsters are more Shiro's thing. I'm more into cryptids. Local legends. That sort of thing.”

“So not Mothra, but Mothman. Got it.” Pidge grinned up at him, pleased by her own joke.

Keith wasn't going to let her have all of the fun. “Let me guess, you're a Bigfoot fan?”

“They are the classic cryptid, with variations all across the globe, and you can't go wrong with that. Besides, I can appreciate that they've made a game out of teasing Bigfoot hunters over the years,” Pidge said.

(How was that a real conversation they were having? It was surreal.)

“Well, now that I know you've secretly been a nerd this whole time, I have to show you this place Matt and I found. You'll love it!” Pidge excitedly reached for her hand, tugging him along as she began walking faster.

Keith increased his stride in order to keep up with her.

It didn't take long to reach their destination, which was a small clothing shop tucked away in a corner next to a salon and a pizza place. Pidge pulled him inside and cut straight to the back of the store, where Keith quickly discovered the reason for her excitement.

Specialty shirts, separated by their subject matter. Cryptids were all lumped together and sorted by alphabetical order, with a miscellaneous category for any that were more rare. Across the back wall was an even larger section labeled 'Area 51'.

Keith didn't know where to start.

Pidge let go of his hand and laughed gleefully as she dove into the nearest rack. “This is where Matt and I did our holiday shopping. Ooo, look!” She held up a shirt with a picture of a purposefully pixelated image of the Loch Ness Monster.

He snorted in amusement and Pidge went back to her search. While it wasn't a place he normally would have picked to do shopping at, he figured he could at least get a shirt for Pidge, as a thank you for joining him. It was with that goal in mind that he joined the searching, holding u anything interesting for Pidge's approval or disapproval, and laughing at some of the more bizarre (and sometimes inappropriate) ones they found.

They each bought a shirt before leaving, and it was with high spirits that they set off to accomplish the rest of their mission.

Pidge was an interesting travel companion. She could talk about nearly anything and didn't always expect for him to have a reply, but it wasn't idle chatter. She knew a lot about how the city rebuild was going and which parts had been left mostly untouched, versus what had to be torn down and rebuilt from scratch. More importantly, she did know the shops of the area.

By the time lunch rolled around, he had a decent set of clothes that would last him through his week vacation. After the last one, they grabbed a meal from the food trucks in the area and ate as they walked back to the hoverbike.

“Pidge, thanks for coming with me,” Keith said sincerely. “I'm sure you had other things you wanted to do today and I really appreciate it.”

She slowed down a little, staring up at him with a furrowed brow. “I can do those things anytime, you know? But you're only here for a little while and I'd give up a full week of work to spend time with you.”

Keith felt his cheeks heated up and he looked away from her, hoping she didn't notice. He struggled to find they right response without letting his own feelings spill out. “You, uh, might regret saying that when I tell you I'll be here for at least a week.”

“You are?” Pidge asked in surprise. “That's awesome! And okay, I slightly take back what I said before, because I know you'll want to spend time with Shiro too, but I really did mean it. I... I've missed having you around. More than I thought, actually...” She trailed off, lost in her own thoughts and clearly not expecting an answer.

They ate the rest of their meal in silence, tossing their trash into the proper bins once they were done,and then there was no more talk as they drove the thirty minutes back to the Garrison.

#voltron #kidge #kidgemas #fanfiction #background shurtis #post season 8 #galra courtship #mostly canon compliant #Instinct

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what-is-your-plan-today · 5 years

Text

Stark Spangled Banner Ch 28: Crossbones

Summary: The Avengers uncover the identity of the mysterious Crossbones and mount a mission to apprehend him in Lagos.

Warnings: Bad Language words. A bit of light smut. No under 18s please!)

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist

Hit me with an ask for a Tag/Request

(also for this one, I’ve played a little bit with the official MCU timeline for Ant Man’s appearance here but let me have some creative license!)

January 2016

“Are you sure this isn’t a team call?” Katie asked Steve, watching as he picked up his SHIELD.

“No.” he said firmly, as they walked down the corridor. “We don’t even know if he will be there.”

“But…”

“Katie, stop it.” he chuckled, pushing the door open to enter the hangar. “We’ll be fine. This is intelligence gathering, I’ve no intention of heading straight off after this guy, not until we find out what his play is.”

“His play is arms trading.” Nat interjected dryly as she appeared at the side of the jet.

“Which we are going to gather intelligence on.” Steve looked at her sternly “Nothing more.”

Katie bit her lip, she wasn’t convinced.

“We’ll be fine.” Steve continued, putting both his hands on her shoulders before he deftly changed the subject. “Don’t you have an interview to be getting ready for?”

He watched as the gentle smile spread across her face, a surge of pride flooding his system. She’d recently found out that the author of one of the books SIP had published last year had worked their way onto the Pulitzer Nominee list for fiction. The book itself held a plot centred around a War Veteran and the letters he wrote to his girl back home, and she’d roped Steve into helping the author keep it as factually correct as possible, something he had found strangely nostalgic yet enjoyable. Upon publishing it had flown off the shelves, the original 500 copies went within 3 hours causing a mad scramble for a second run and downloads had been off the scale. Other than the Thrombey book they had published, it was their biggest seller to date, shifting almost half a million copies in a month, and with a foreword from Steve Rogers, critics had raved about how poignant it was. It hadn’t won the prize, but simply being a nominee Katie had explained was an honour in itself. The Publicists at SIP had arranged for the author to be interviewed in a few newspapers and magazines along with one of them also requesting Katie, to discuss the launch of her new Foundation. This was going to work alongside the September Foundation Tony was launching, but instead of focusing on inventors and science she was focussing on authors and the arts. After a lot of deliberation and brain storming with Steve she’d called it the March Foundation. A play on words to honour both the War Based fiction that had inspired it and the man who had saved her life as March was the month of Bucky’s birth. A decision that had really touched Steve.

“Just be careful…” she sighed as she eyed Natasha heading up the ramp into the jet.

“I’m always careful.” Steve kissed her gently.

“Now that’s just an out and out lie…” she mumbled against his lips. He grinned and pulled back, pecking her mouth once more before he started up the ramp. He paused at the top and turned to face her. “We’ll be back late tonight. Don’t wait up.”

“I won’t!” she teased.

He flashed her another grin and then he hit the button and the ramp started to close. A loud siren told Katie that the hangar door was opening and that was her cue to leave. She headed back over to the steps at the side, leading up to the mezzanine and as she reached the top she saw the jet fly out of the side and over the frosty compound grounds. It was up and gone before she had reached the double doors at the top.

The base was a hive of activity already, despite it being little after 7am. Katie was heading for an hour or so in the gym before her day began properly. She stuck her Bluetooth headphones in, selected the usual work out play-list and began to run on the treadmill, slowly at first to ease herself in- she was a little bit stiff and sore from her sparring session with Natasha yesterday. Nat had really upped the ante on Katie over the last month or so, which was good as Katie was now pretty much on a par with her when it came hand to hand, something Steve had been completely astonished to see after walking in on the two women just as his wife floored Natasha with a well-placed leg swipe the red head didn’t see coming.

40 minutes later, Katie swapped to the rower to finish off, and was approximately half way through the 3k distance when her music cut off and the screen to the right of the machine switched over from the play-list to Rhodey.

"Hey Kiddo," he smiled as she stopped rowing to look at him. "Sorry to interrupt, but we’ve had a sensor trip on the outer perimeter of the facility."

"You send someone out there?" she frowned, catching her breath as she picked up the bottle of water that was to her right.

"Yeah, Sam is currently out there looking for it, just thought, well seeing as Cap and Nat are out, you’re technically the one in charge so…”

She let out a snort. Being 3rd in command was something she didn’t really care for, knowing full well it was Steve’s way giving her some kind of authority over simply being the Captain’s Wife, but she’d accepted the gesture simply because he’d been so excited when he had asked her she couldn’t refuse.

"Thanks Rhodey.” she said, already halfway out of the gym “I’ll be right there."

She moved quickly to the armoury, grabbed a gun and a fleece jacket before quickly making her way outside.

"What's going on up there, Sam?" Rhodey spoke in her ear as she walked into the cold air, spotting Sam circling above.

"I'm at the location of the sensor trip, but I'm not seeing anything" he said, “oh, hang on…”

“What is it?” Katie asked, watching him as he circled above her.

“Roof top…”

“Gimme a lift?”

Sam swooped down from the clear, winter sky and she grabbed his arm as he effortlessly pulled her up, dropping them both onto the flat roof of one of the buildings.

"I can see you." Sam called out loudly as they landed.

Katie frowned, as she didn't know what Sam was talking about until out of nowhere a man in a red and silver suit, with an insect like helmet suddenly appeared. Katie cocked her gun and aimed it at him.

"Who the hell are you?" she questioned. As they watched the man started to awkwardly introduce himself to Sam, his mask lifted to reveal a shaky smile as he waved.

"Hi, I'm Scott. I know who you are, obviously, you’re Katie Stark, I mean Rogers…” Scott started trying to hold back his enthusiasm and motioning towards Sam and Katie with a chuckle, "I'm a big fan.”

"Appreciate it. But like the lady asked, who the hell are you?" Sam echoed Katie’s earlier sentiments.

"I'm Ant-Man." Scott or Ant-Man answered confidently. Sam and Katie shared an incredulous look and Katie mouthed the name back to him and he shrugged. Katie lowered her gun slightly.

"Wanna tell me what you want?" Katie questioned Ant-Man as the man tried to explain why the 2 Avengers hadn’t heard of him.

Scott pointed towards a building to their left, maintaining eye contact with Katie as he spoke "I was hoping I could grab a piece of technology. Just for a few days, then I'd return it. I need it to, uh, save the world- you know how that is."

"Yeah, we know exactly how that is," Sam said to Scott and Katie felt her mouth twitching into a grin.

“What piece of technology, and what do you mean saving the world?” she asked.

“I’d love to tell you but Hank Pym said never to trust a Stark.” The man called Scott, or Ant-Man was almost apologetic. “Even though you’re technically a Rogers now.”

Katie frowned, she’d never heard of a Hank Pym before, but that was irrelevant now. Sam gave a sigh besides her and stepped forwards.

“We’ve located the breach.” he spoke “Bringing him in…”

"I'm really sorry about this." Scott rushed out and as Sam reached out to him he vanished.

“What the…” Katie spun round and felt something hit her, hard in the back. She fell forward onto the gravelled surface of the roof before rolling onto her back, gun raised again just in time to see Sam flying backwards off the edge, tumbling through the air and grappling with something whilst flying over the lawns of the facility.

Katie could do nothing but stand and watch from her vantage point as Sam continued to wrestle with, then shoot at the man who could shrink and grow seemingly at will. And if she was completely honest, it was kind of entertaining to watch.

“This guy would actually be pretty useful.” Katie mused into the coms, trying but failing to hide the amusement in her voice “Are you recording this? For future, recruitment purposes obviously.”

"All over it." Rhodey responded, a slight chuckle punctuating his confirmation.

It was when the two men crashed into the storage unit that Ant-Man had wanted to break into in the first place that she started to get concerned.

"Err do we have cameras in there?" she questioned Rhodey.

"Uh… negative." Rhodey answered after a short pause.

“Shit.” Running to the side of the roof she scaled down the metal ladder at the side, dropping the last 8 feet or so, landing gently before she ran towards the storage building. At that point Sam came crashing backwards through the metal door and she flung her arms up to shield her face from the debris before glancing up. Sam’s flight pattern was jerky and off and he was gripping at his pack on his back.

"He's in my pack!" Sam shouted before he landed hard in the dirt and with a groan, pulled himself into a standing position, yanking off his goggles.

“You ok?” Katie asked as she got over to him.

Sam sighed. "It's really important to me that Cap never finds out about this."

The pair of them scouted around but to no avail, there was no sign of Ant-Man, or Scott. Katie instructed Rhodey to get the door fixed and lock it down again and said she would speak to Tony to find out what was in there. Sam was luckily not hurt, just a slight bruising to his pride so Katie left him at the lab with Lawson to look at making the repairs to his pack before she headed off to get changed.

*****

Steve and Natasha landed in Sadove, Crimea and were instantly greeted by the man who was leading the investigation into the raid on the local police station. The last 3 out of 6 hits the guy had made had been on small, local outfits with less resistance than the other places he had hit but that was hardly surprising. The former SHIELD base he had hit in Mexico had been heavily guarded, which made Steve think that he had perhaps suffered losses to his team which was making him rethink his strategy. As Natasha chatted to the man in his local language, Steve hung back before the man nodded to Natasha and strode towards him.

“Captain Rogers.” he said, English thick with accent “Inspector Chernov.”

Steve shook the man’s hand “Pleasure to meet you in person Inspector.”

“So you are interested in the man who raided our local station…” “He’s been on our radar for a while.” Steve said, choosing his words carefully “But we don’t have much to go on.” “Well, I’m not sure we can help but I can take you down there and you can see for yourself.” Steve nodded. “That would be great, thanks.”

It wasn’t a long drive, and once they arrived Steve and Natasha were allowed to wander round the scene undisturbed, providing they didn’t interfere with the police and teams already swamping the area. Their search showed them nothing new and they moved to watching the CCTV which the Authorities had refused to send them. They could have hacked into it, but Steve was keen to keep the tentatively growing communication lines with Crimea and Russia as amicable as possible, especially in the light of Sokovia. The Avengers were not a political party, so by remaining respectful of their requests to meet only in person he hoped it went someway to proving they were here to help and had no ulterior motives.

As such they sat in the mobile control centre, scanning the CCTV. Steve watched the footage and sighed.

“This isn’t Hydra.” Nat said.

“I know, it’s not their MO. This guy is too haphazard.” Steve pondered “Just wondering why, considering how well organised he is, he is leaving so much devastation behind.”

“Minimum effort leaving maximum casualties.” Natasha said, watching the footage “He simply doesn’t care who he takes out.” “Well he’s hardly gonna care about that if he’s dealing black market arms.” Steve sighed.

They watched the footage, and Steve held his hand up to Natasha to play it at normal speed when they reached the bit where the key perps were on screen.

“What’s he doing?” he frowned, looking at Crossbones. The man was stood in the middle of the room, looking around.

“He’s scanning for Cameras.” Nat answered as they both watched.

There was something familiar about the way the man walked and held himself, but Steve couldn’t quite place it. As they continued the footage, Crossbones located the camera they were watching through and looked directly up at it, pulling his mask up to reveal his mouth, clearly saying something.

“Can you enhance that?” Steve asked. Natasha tapped at it.

It zoomed in on the man and Natasha spoke “looks like something about it being personal…”

She held her phone up to the footage and then pressed something, and the phone spoke to her in a robotic voice.

“Big Guy…I just want you to know, this aint personal…” Steve’s gut clenched. The last time he had heard those words were in an elevator in the Triskelion.

“Rogers?” Natasha looked at him, noticing the nerve which was twitching in his jaw “What is it? Does that mean something to you?”

“In a fashion.” he turned to face her. “It’s Rumlow.”

****** The interviews went well and once the photos etc were done Katie and Tony retreated to the living area of the Tower for a well-earned drink as they put the final touches of their tour together. They were to start visiting various Universities across the US to roll out their foundation grants. To ease them both in gently, the first University they were going to was Columbia, so not far from home. Tony and Pepper would be presenting and discussing to students within the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Katie in the School of the Arts for Students on the Writing Programme.

Their chatter moved from work to Tony asking how the Compound was going, and Katie remembered the events of that morning.

“You ever heard of a bloke called Hank Pym?” she asked suddenly.

Tony paused for a moment, frowning at her sudden change of subject, but something stirred in his mind. “The name rings a bell, hang on…FRIDAY, search all files reference Hank Pym.” He instructed, tapping at something on his tablet.

After a few seconds something flashed up in the corner of the screen.

“Yeah, here you go.” He pressed another button causing the image to reflect in front of them as a hologram. “He worked with Dad and SHIELD on a programme called Project GOLIATH.”

“What the hell was that?” Katie asked, taking a pull from her bottle.

“A research programme into some kind of Nano particle.” Tony said as the pair of them simultaneously ran through the information on the screen.

“Ahhhh.” Katie nodded, “makes sense…” “What does?”

Katie explained about the encounter with Scott and Tony gave a hum of agreement.

“That could actually be kinda useful.”

“I know.” she agreed “But he vanished after he got whatever he wanted. Any thoughts on what it could be?”

“That facility holds a load of crap that was Dad’s” Tony said simply “Could be anything.”

“Well, nothing we could see was missing, but it might be worth you taking a look.” she suggested.

He shrugged “I can do, but there was nothing remotely dangerous in there. Was just a load of old signal jammers and code breakers we don’t really need anymore.”

“Well, I did try and ask what him what it was he wanted, you know, on account of him saying he was saving the world, maybe we could have helped with that, being the Avengers and all, but he simply turned round and said ‘Hank Pym told me never to trust a Stark’.”

She drained her bottle of beer as Tony did the same and he stood up, taking the empties to retrieve 2 more from the fridge.

“Clearly one of many in the long line of people dad pissed off.” Tony rolled his eyes as he popped the lids, before he sighed “I’m actually surprised no one tried to kill him before, you know…”

Katie looked at her brother and swallowed. Tony had no idea how close to the truth he was, that their parents had been assassinated by Hydra, who had made their car crash look like an accident.

“Sorry.” he slid the beer across the bar, mistaking her guilty silence for one of upset “That was out of order.”

“For all his faults I don’t think Dad wasn’t a bad man.” Katie spoke quietly “And he did love us.”

“I know.” Tony nodded, squeezing her hand.

She stayed for another drink and then headed home. She had checked in with Sam before heading back to their apartment and she was settled on the couch with a glass of wine when Steve called.

“Hey Soldier.” she said, smiling at the screen as she flicked the phone to project the image in front of her, muting the TV.

“Hey gorgeous.” He smiled back

“So, how was it?” she asked

“We got the intel.”

“Solid?”

“Pretty solid yeah.” Natasha spoke, appearing by his side. “We think we know who he is anyway.” “Who?”

Steve sighed “Rumlow.” “What?” Katie spluttered into her wine glass. “Are you sure?”

“Oh pretty sure.” Steve said, “He left me a clear message.”

“Steve recognised him on the Video so I ran a crosscheck.” Nat said “ Turns out he was listed as severely injured and was taken to the hospital. After that, our trail runs cold.”

“Until now.” Katie sighed.

“We’ve also got a list of his associates, some known faces he’s been seen with.” Steve shrugged “So we’re putting out an alert.”

“Doesn’t give us much to go on though.” Katie rubbed at her temples.

“When have we ever had much to go on?” Natasha asked and Katie shrugged

“Fair point.” she conceded as Natasha moved off out of sight.

“So how has your day been?” Katie looked back at Steve as he spoke.

“Not bad actually.” she said, “Interviews went well, oh, and we had a bit of an incident at base before.” “Incident?” he frowned, “What kind of incident?”

“Attempted break in, nothing major.”

“Everyone ok?”

“Yeah, honestly it was no biggie, I’ll fill you in on when you get home. For the rest of the day once the interviews were done Tony and I drank beer.”

“Sounds pretty productive.” he raised an eyebrow

“Beer is always productive.” Katie informed him and he chuckled.

“We’ll be airborne in 30 minutes and then we should be home in about 4 to 5 hours.” He said, as Katie looked at her watch. It was almost 8:30 pm.

“Alright, I’ll see you soon.”

“Love you.”

“And you.” she cut the call with a yawn. She was tired. Really tired, so she headed off for a bath. After soaking and listening to music for 40 minutes she dried off and shoved on one of Steve’s T-shirts before climbing into bed and lay there for a moment, flicking through the TV channels. She settled on an episode of Family Guy and snuggled down into the large bed, wrapping herself in the soft covers. It always felt odd sleeping without Steve being there. Sometimes she quite enjoyed being able to starfish in the middle of the Emperor sized bed but tonight she wasn’t enjoying being alone.

****

Steve was whacked when they arrived home. Bidding good night to Natasha he headed back and let himself into their quarters. Crossing the hallway he made his way into the bedroom and paused, a gentle smile spreading on his face. Illuminated in the light from the hallway he could see Katie was curled up in the middle of the bed, using his pillow as a hugging buddy. He quietly crossed the room and perched on the bed, stripping off his boots and uniform top. He paused slightly as Katie stirred and he turned to look at her, gently brushing her hair of her face. He glanced down at the freckles he knew by memory, long thick lashes, soft pink lips…she looked so peaceful asleep.

She stirred again, and the her nose wrinkled in that adorable way it did when she was waking up and she cracked an eye open before her face split into a smile at the sight of her husband.

“Hey.”

“Hey baby doll.” he smiled, his hand cupping her cheek “Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you”

“It’s ok.” she yawned, leaning into his touch.

"Did I tell you how beautiful you are?" he asked, and through the tiny sliver of light coming from the hallway Katie could see his eyes were full of their usual warmth.

"I don't think you did today, no."

"Well you are" he dropped a soft kiss on her head. “I’m gonna take a shower and then I’ll be right with you.”

She watched him appreciatively as he stood up and pulled his compression-shirt over his head, heading into the en-suite. For a moment she was tempted to join him, but then decided against it, laying back onto her side, dozing.

It wasn’t long before the bed dipped and she felt him slide under the covers next to her. She turned over to snuggle up into the crook of his shoulder, her head laying on his chest.

“So, you wanna tell what the incident was today?” he asked, his right hand reaching up to play with the strands of her hair that fell over her shoulder.

“Oh yeah.” she grinned before she launched into an explanation about Scott-slash-Ant Man. He fell silent for a moment but in the end came to the same conclusion as Tony had, there was nothing in there that was dangerous so they just needed to remain vigilant.

“Yeah, well Sam seemed to be taking vigilant to the extreme as he’s already been on the phone to numerous contracts, trying to track him down.” she said “I think he’s a bit annoyed the guy basically kicked his ass. Rhodey caught it all on video but Sam told me never to tell you about it. He’s taken it quite personally.” “I’m not surprised, he had his ass kicked.” Steve sniggered. “Where do I get a copy of the CCTV?”

Katie grinned, “I have it on my phone, Rhodey sent it to me.”

“Play it.” he instructed.

“What now?” “Yes, right now.” he nodded, moving so he was sat up, jolting her off his chest.

“No Sam will kill me!” she laughed, propping herself up on her elbow

“Screw Sam!” he snorted “He plays those damned Phys Ed videos every chance he gets.”

“That’s true.” Katie pondered “Ok, hang on…”

She turned, reaching over for the phone and the TV remote. Blinking at the sudden light, once her eyes were accustomed to the change she pressed a few buttons on her phone and beamed the footage to the TV on the wall. She had to admit, it looked even funnier from the video play back than it had when she had been there.

Steve let out a huge, genuine laugh, his head thrown back, banging against the headboard, arm clutched across his chest as he laughed, and laughed.

“I’m so showing that at our next briefing.” he said, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes.

“You can’t…” “Oh, I can!”

****

The next morning the pair of them made their way to the briefing room both munching on a piece of toast and each carrying a mug of coffee. It was early, before 8, but Steve wanted the team to be prepared. Everyone filed into the room along with some good humoured grumbling about the time before they dropped into their preferred seats and looked to the front of the room.

“I know it’s early and I’m sorry…” Steve said, holding his hands up, looking round at the team assembled in front of him “But this is important.”

“More important than sleep?” Sam yawned.

Steve ignored him. “Alright, here's what we already know," Steve began to explain how they believed Rumlow to be Crossbones, the masked man who had been causing a whole lot of chaos in the wake of what happened at the Triskelion. Katie knew he was annoyed at himself for not realising he had survived sooner, but even if they had, they’d so much going on, not to mention Ultron had been a much bigger threat in the immediate future

"He's been targeting former SHIELD labs and police stations all over the country and selling products on the black market.” Natasha spoke.

“Police stations?” Katie asked.

“We think he suffered heavy losses at the raid prior to the last three, so he’s going for easier targets whilst he regroups.” Natasha answered.

“Still no intel on who his buyers are?” Wanda asked.

“No.” Steve shook his head, “He seems to have become an independent terrorist, and doesn’t appear to be working for anyone”

“Our recon yesterday told us that Rumlow seems to be operating with this guy.” Natasha explained as the photos flashed up “He’s known as the Black Mamba…” “Black Mamba?” Wanda deadpanned. “Cross Bones and Black Mamba?”

“NATO has every available pair of eyes out looking for them.” Steve ignored Wanda and looked at Rhodey.

“Soon as they break cover, we’ll know.” Rhodey nodded

“So then what?” Sam frowned

“More recon?” Katie asked

Steve looked at his wife and nodded. “Possibly, but for now we need to let intelligence do their job. But be prepared, when we get a lead I want to be ready to go.”

There were mumbles around the room and Steve let the team lead the discussion. Sam commented on the crap code names again, causing Wanda to laugh. Katie suggested they should compile a detailed profile on Rumlow, see if they could find a pattern to his behaviour, nodding to Vision. the AI had a knack for it as did Katie, so Steve and Natasha nodded, both agreeing it was a good idea.

“We need to be vigilant.” Steve said, “Keep our eyes open for anything that’s out of the ordinary.” He caught Katie’s eye, a wicked smirk crossed his face and she shook her head smiling as he continued “Speaking of which…FRIDAY, play the video”

“Certainly Captain Rogers.” The pictures of Rumlow and Black Mamba disappeared from the screen and suddenly the footage of Sam spiralling through the air started to play. The room started to snigger as Sam looked at Katie who held her hands up in an “it wasn’t me!” gesture.

“Oh come on Man!” he groaned as the room gleefully watched the film, laughter ringing round the room.

******

The next 4 months ticked by with no further information on Rumlow. They pulled together a potted history which tracked the hospital he had been in, when he had escaped (the local authorities had been searching for him for ages since he threatened his nurse upon waking before violently breaking out) his movements since (ones they knew about and some they hadn’t) but it didn’t give them anything new.

Katie and Tony were buried deeply in their Foundation work, which was taking up a lot of Katie’s time so she wasn’t as close to the investigations as she could have been. Steve was fine with that though, the further away she was from Rumlow frankly the better, but he still made sure she was involved with what they had found and she attended the briefings as best she could when she wasn’t travelling the country. Steve’s chest burst with pride every time he saw his girl on the news, in papers, as the press seemed to be lavishing praise upon the siblings for what they were doing.

Then, one day in the middle of May, they struck gold when one of the Facial Recognition Alerts they had set up pinged to Black Mamba being spotted in a Lagos, Nigeria. As a result Steve had scrambled them all to attention as soon as he could, which was 4 am. But there were no complaints about the time, not when they knew this could be their chance to bring him in. They all pitched round the screen as Steve and Natasha identified the local police station that they suspected of him hitting, given where the FR had pinged several times.

“We think they are scoping this area.” Nat said, drawing a red circle round a part of the town.

Katie moved the screen with her fingers, enlarging the aerial shots as she looked at them, her analytical brain going ten to the dozen.

“Layout looks pretty standard.” she said, scanning the map, frowning slightly. Something was nagging at her. And as she looked, she realised what it was.

“What is it?” Steve asked, recognising the tone of her voice and frown on her face.

“The Science Institute.” she said, nodding towards the screen. “Big white building at the end of the road.”

“Biological weapons are big on the black market.” Sam cottoned on, nodding slightly.

“Yeah but his recent previous hits and our pattern analysis don’t give us any reason to believe that’s what he’s going to be aiming for.” Nat suggested

“You said yourself that you suspected he was going for easier targets whilst he regrouped.” Katie said “What if he has?”

“We have to assume Rumlow will go for the police station, it’s the best intel we have.” Steve said, and he noticed the look on Katie’s face as she crossed her arms and opened her mouth to argue. “But we should be vigilant, keep alert.”

She exchanged a glance with Sam, who simply shrugged

“We do this with stealth.” Steve continued, “I want us on the ground and out of sight, we need to catch him with as little fuss or danger to civilians as possible”

"Yeah, and with that in mind Viz you may need to sit this one out." Nat tossed out and Vision nodded deprecatingly

"We're still working on him blending in." Wanda added.

"Same for you too Rhodey.” Steve looked at him “We need someone back here, we could be gone a few days.”

Rhodey nodded. “No problem Cap.” “Get what you need. Wheels up in twenty." Steve dismissed everyone who immediately went their separate ways to prepare for the upcoming mission leaving Katie, Natasha and Steve alone

“You think she’s ready?” Natasha looked at Steve, nodding to Wanda. He took a deep breath, staring at the door through which she had just left with Vision.

“You say she’s been training hard…” he said after a moments pause, looking at Nat.

“Yeah, she has but…her powers are still largely impacted by her emotions.”

“Aren’t everyone’s?” Katie asked. “I mean I’m angry or upset I fight harder…” “Yeah but,” Nat sighed “It isn’t the same, she can do a lot of damage.”

“We have the bare bones of a team as it is.” Steve shook his head and Katie looked down, feeling slightly guilty. She had discussed this with Steve, she wasn’t going. The Stark Foundation Tour had another few visits to Universities this week. Steve spotted the look on her face and he gently nudged her arm “That’s not a criticism honey…” “I know…” she bit her lip. Maybe she should postpone…

“Throw in the fact that this is the first full team mission we’ve had since Ultron and I don’t see any choice but to take Wanda” Steve shrugged, ending the conversation.

Nat took a deep breath and nodded “You’re right. And maybe being in an actual mission environment might help her gain some control, I mean practice makes perfect.”

“You trying to convince me or yourself?” he asked, eyeing her

“Both.” she drawled, heading out of the door.

Katie took a deep breath as Steve turned to her. “You best go.” she said softly. He bit his lip before he pulled her into an embrace, kissing her softly.

“I’ll call as soon as I can.” he promised, pressing his forehead to hers.

“Stay safe, please.” she sighed as he kissed the tip of her nose and hurried out of the door.

Once he was gone Katie sank onto a chair, her head in her hands. She was torn, really torn. For the last year or so, post Ultron, they’d had a pretty quiet time of it, mopping up any stray Hydra operatives that strolled into their patch. But this, this was big. Was the Foundation really more important than heading off whatever shitty plan Rumlow was trying to pull off? She was still an Avenger…she’d never quit that, and would never quit that.

“You’ll always be Iron Man, Tone…” the words she had stated to Tony when he had decided to quit active service echoed round her head. And then she realised, she’d always be Supernova, whether she wanted to be or not.

“I’m gonna regret this.” She groaned to herself as she jumped up, and headed after Steve.

*****

Steve, at first, had tried to argue against her coming but when Natasha had pointed out they could do with the support he had relented and the team had been bolstered by Supernova’s return to active duty.

Their support staff had done a great job on such a short time, and rented the group a 4 bedroomed apartment overlooking the street the Police Station was on. It wasn’t fancy, but it was the last place anyone would think would house Avengers. Over the first 24 hours they set up a command centre, with coms links back to base and the next morning they began their recon.

The first 2 days were completely uneventful. No sign of Rumlow or any of his associates. Nat was the expert at covert ops and so she took the lead, directing them to all the right places coaching Wanda along the way and Steve was pleasantly surprised to see how well the younger girl took to the task, blending in with the locals. Katie took to observing from up high with Sam, and she was focussing on the Biological Institute, unable to shake the nagging feeling she had about the place. She hadn’t mentioned it since their brief a few days ago, but Steve knew when she had an idea in her head she wouldn’t rest so he left her to it. Between them they had the area covered, which was good enough.

On the evening of the 4th day Wanda, Sam and Natasha headed out for a little undercover work in the bars at night, “So you guys can have a little undercover activity of your own” Sam teasingly stated, patting Steve on the back as he left, drawing an exasperated sigh from the soldier. Nevertheless, the door had hardly shut before Steve had his wife pinned up against a wall, hands wandering all over her body, lips and teeth clashing, her hand fisting in the slightly longer strands of hair at the top of his head as they’d furiously taken advantage of their first time alone in days.

The next morning Katie woke at about 5:45 and rolled over only to find the bed empty besides her. Steve could never rest when they were in the middle of a case like this. The clothes they had shed the night before were now neatly folded and placed on top of the dresser, and she had to smile. Even now he was a total neat freak. Knowing full well where he would be she climbed out of the bed, pulled on Steve’s T-shirt and a pair of shorts before making her way into the dark corridor. She stopped in the doorway of the small dining room which was functioning as a makeshift office and sure enough, there he was, the lamp softly illuminated his handsome face as he flicked through a file, crease evident between his brows.

“Soldier, you’re up so early?” she said gently. Steve had heard her coming of course. Smiling softly, as he was always pleased to see her, he turned to face her as she crossed the room.

“Yeah, sorry, I woke about half an hour ago and couldn’t get back to sleep.”

“You know, I get that you’re fed up of just waiting but sitting here re-reading all this isn’t going to help you know.” Katie said, taking the file off him and dropping it onto the wooden table, before she perched on the edge.

“I know, it’s just so goddamned frustrating.” Steve ran his hand over his face. After pondering for a moment Katie stood up and walked behind the chair and placed her hands on his shoulders. He let out a groan of satisfaction and leaned back in his seat as she kneaded the muscles with her hands. She found a particularly bad spot just under his shoulder blade and began to push harder with her thumb. Steve couldn’t decide if it was pleasurable or painful and made a little noise, which was half way between the two.

"God your shoulders are so knotty." She mused and he left out a breath through his nose moving his head to the side.

“Yeah well, I did a lot of exercise last night.” He quipped back as her hands continued to work at his shoulders.

“I’ll say.” She grinned. “You know that thing you did with your mouth last night is actually illegal in several countries.” “Good job we live in the land of the free.” He said, voice low as he fully relaxed under her touch. Katie carried on working at his muscles in silence for a moment, happy to let him bliss out.

"So… answer me a question?" She spoke after a short while, rousing him a little, and he hummed, unable to bring himself to be bothered to talk.

"If you couldn’t sleep why didn’t you wake me to help you?” Her voice was loaded as she leaned forward to wind her arms around his neck, running her hands up and down his chest from behind. Steve loved it when she touched him like that which was why he pouted slightly when she pulled away, but the pout didn’t last long and a smirk crossed his face as Katie walked round to the front of his chair

“And how, exactly, would you have done that?" His hands moved to rest on her hips as she lowered herself so that she was straddling him. She slid one of her hands around the back of his head to tangle in his hair the other settling on his chest.

“Reckon I can think of a few ways.” she smirked slyly before using her hand in his hair to pull him forward and connect their lips. Steve kissed her back immediately as one hand crept up the back of her top, the other on the side of her thigh, sliding up her shorts.

“Sleepy yet?” She murmured.

“Not exactly the word I would use.” Steve raised an eyebrow.

She grinned and then began to rock her hips on top of him grinding down on his growing hardness and he sighed slightly, kissing her harder as she pushed down again. With an automatic reaction he raised his hips, rocking up to meet her and this time she groaned as she could feel the friction of their clothes grinding against her spot. His hands were now firmly holding her hips underneath her, no, his top, and he sat forward so his mouth could cover the spot under her ear that drove her wild. With a soft sigh she titled her head to the side as he trailed kisses across her jaw until his mouth met her lips again. His hands reached down to grasp the hem of her top and he had just begun to slide it upwards when they were interrupted by a raspy voice.

"I thought all the making out fully clothed supposedly stopped when you reached the age of 17." Natasha scoffed from the doorway. Katie looked up over Steve’s shoulder as he sighed, dropping his head onto her chest.

“Don’t you know how to knock?” Katie sighed.

“Don’t you know how to lock a door?” she replied, dryly.

“I take it this isn’t a social call?” Steve’s voice was muffled as he spoke into his wife’s chest.

“Half and half.” Natasha arched an eyebrow, “Unsociable hour it maybe but Wanda’s already up and wants breakfast, she was going to head out to the local bakery but I thought it might be an idea to start the re-con early.”

Steve’s head looked up to Katie’s as she shifted off his lap and straightened out her clothing and hair. Steve glanced down at his crotch and Katie raised an eyebrow slightly as he stood up and adjusted his sweats in an attempt to hide his slowly ebbing arousal before he turned to face the red head.

“Well, you’re the expert in this covert stuff.” He said, looking at Natasha. “What have you got in mind?”

*****

“All right, what do you see?” Steve was coaxing Wanda, as ever, to observe her surroundings, see and hear everything, on the job training he supposed you could call it.

Meanwhile, Katie glanced down from the rooftop on which Sam and her were currently stood, her scanners doing their usual work. No weapons spotted yet.

“Standard beat cops. Small station. Quiet street. It’s a good target” Wanda’s voice came through the ear piece Steve was wearing.

“There’s an ATM in the South Corner.” he replied “which means….”

“Cameras” Wanda said instantly.

“Both cross streets are one way.” He carried on

“So, compromised escape routes.”

“Means our guy doesn't care about being seen, he isn't afraid to make a mess on the way out.” Steve concluded. “You see that Range Rover halfway up the block?”

“Yeah, the red one? It’s cute”

“It's also bulletproof,” Katie cut in as FRIDAY completed a scan on the vehicle “Which means private security…”

“Which means more guns, which means more headaches for somebody. Probably us” Nat finished

“You guys know I can move things with my mind, right? “ Wanda replied

“Looking over your shoulder needs to become second nature.” Natasha continued

“Anybody ever tell you you're a little paranoid?” Sam asked and Katie turned to look at him, retracting her face plate to give him a grin.

“Not to my face. Why? Did you hear something?” the exchange continued.

“Eyes on target, folks” Steve said with an air of authority, bringing them back to the job in hand. This is the best lead we've had on Rumlow in six months. I don't want to lose him.”

If he’s here, of course

“If he sees us coming that won't be a problem. He kind of hates us.” Sam replied

As Steve watched he noticed that a garbage truck was slowly pushing its way through traffic, with no regard to pedestrians or other vehicles. He frowned and kept his eyes on it as it continued to gather momentum as it went.

“Sam…see that garbage truck?” he said “Tag it.”

Sam’s small drone launched, swooping down to scan the garbage truck as Katie instructed Friday to do the same.

“Give me X-ray.” Sam spoke.

“That truck’s loaded for max weight.” he replied “And the driver’s armed.” Sam added.

And in the second that it dawned on Steve what was going on. The raid was going down, but Katie had been right all along, a fact she cottoned on to as well.

“It’s a battering ram” she said as realisation flooded her body.

“Go, now!” Steve yelled. “There not hitting the station…” “The institute…” Sam looked at Katie, and she nodded as the two of us took off after the truck. ***** So, we head into Civil War... I’m not sure I’m ready!!!

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puckinghell · 6 years

Text

Stars and Supernovae | June

Summary: As soon as you meet Tyler Seguin, you know you’re destined to be best friends. Sometimes you wonder if you’re destined to be more, but life keeps getting in the way. Perhaps it’s just not written in the stars? Note: This is Part 3. Part 1, part 2 Extra note: Please let me know if you guys enjoy it, just a simple like is enough, but the last part didn’t do so well and I don’t wanna continue if people don’t like it!

You hadn’t seen Tyler in a while, and to say that you were lonely was an understatement. Your roommate had been so MIA that you were wondering if she was even still living there, and there were only so many phone calls and surprise visits you could make to your parents before they would start to wonder what was wrong. You threw yourself into your studies and your job.

You didn’t blame Tyler for going back to Canada to see his family as soon as the season ended for the Stars. Didn’t blame him, but did miss him.

He had a little lakeside cottage where he lived during the off season, and he spent his days there fishing and hiking and building up the muscle mass he’d lost. You knew this, because he sent you snapchats all the time, and he texted you often, but it was different, not having him on the couch as you watched your shows, making dinner for one in your own kitchen instead of dinner for two in his, and you had no dogs to cuddle up to, which might be the worst part.

It made you think about getting a dog for yourself, but you knew you didn’t have enough time, nor were you in a position to take care of a dog financially. So you just kept asking Tyler for pictures of Cash and Marshall, which he happily obliged to, even if he did tease you about never asking for a picture of him.

You decided to tease him back by asking of a picture of him next time he was at the gym, but that quickly turned on you when he sent you one wearing no shirt, his curls against his sweaty forehead.

Obviously, he was just your friend, one of your best friends, nothing more, but you weren’t blind, and you might’ve had to taken your shower a bit colder that night.

Katie made sure to catch up with you every now and then too, usually over text, but she’d caught on to how often you were alone, and had taken it upon herself to find you some entertainment.

“Come on, it’ll be fun. It’s not a get drunk party, it’s more like, a fancy dinner party. You know Jamie is a great cook. That must entice you a little bit. Pleaseeeee?”

You sighed. “Who is Jamie even throwing this fancy dinner party for? Aren’t all the guys at home?”

“Some of the guys are here in Dallas,” Katie explained, giving you a look as if you should already know this. “And it’s not that many people, so you’ll actually have a chance to chat to everyone. Maybe it’ll distract you from your stupid Tyler crush.”

You felt your cheeks heat up. “I do not have a crush on Tyler,” you hissed, and although you couldn’t see your friend over the phone, you knew she was rolling her eyes.

“Sure, honey. Now, will you come?”

Of course, you couldn’t say no, so that night you showed up to Jamie’s house with a bottle of red wine, probably worth less in its entirety than a single drop of all Jamie’s other wines, but hey, it was the thought that counted, right?

“Hi, Y/N,” Jamie said, giving you a kiss on the cheek as he let you in. “So glad you could come. Katie has been whining about how much she misses you.” You raised an eyebrow. If Katie really missed you, she could just come home, for one night, you wanted to say, but you bit your tongue. Jamie was too nice for your wrath. However, Katie might be getting a few snarky comments her way, tonight.

Jamie took you by the elbow and led you into the living room. “Y/N, these are Spezz, his wife Jenn, that’s Rads, and Bish, and his girlfriend Andrea.” He waved around the room. “Guys, this is Y/N, Seggy’s girl.” You blushed.

“I’m not his girl,” you frowned. “Just his friend.”

“And my friend,” said Katie, wrapping an arm around your shoulders. “Most importantly, my friend.”

You were a bit intimidated by the beautiful girls in the room; they looked nothing like you, looked like barbie dolls or models just off the runway, with long luscious hair and tiny waists. When Jenn got up, she didn’t even wobble in her ridiculously high heels. It was terrifying to sit next to Andrea on the couch, as Katie went to the kitchen to help Jamie with dinner. Ideally, you’d follow her, but you didn’t want to be rude.

“Hey, I love your jeans,” Andrea said, elbowing your side. “They make your ass look amazing. I wish my butt looked that good.” She sighed, and you wanted to tell her that she literally looked like every man’s perfect girl, but Ben - who you were glad to know was named Ben, because Jamie’s introductions to their hockey nicknames had been useless - spoke quicker.

“Your ass is magnificent, baby,” he said confidently, and Alexander wolf whistled.

“What do you do, Y/N?” Jenn asked, leaning forward with a kind smile, and you nervously started talking about your major, not wanting to mention that you worked as a bartender.

“Oh, so you’re like, super smart,” said Jenn, when you were done explaining what your major entailed. “Don’t worry, baby, I’ll translate,” she teased her husband, who faked offense.

It surprised you, how easy it was to fall into comfortable conversation with the people surrounding you. Andrea had a very similar type of humor to you, and Jenn seemed to have decided that you needed someone to take you under their wing, and given herself that task. The food was amazing and the wine flowed and somehow, you found yourself having a great time.

You were almost finished with dessert, when Katie spoke.

“Guys, we actually have a little announcement.” Her face beamed as she talked and she grabbed Jamie’s hand, who sent her a soft little smile. “Jamie and I are moving in together.”

You had just taken a sip of your wine and at her words, swallowed a bit too quickly and the wine made its way to your lungs as you broke out into coughs. Jenn worriedly patted your back, the mom in her coming out, and Andrea shot you a sympathetic look. The boys didn’t even seem to notice, as they yelled out their congratulations, clapped Jamie on the shoulder and simultaneously chirped him loudly and without mercy.

As you finally got back air, a million thoughts came to mind, but there were two that made their way to the front of your brain. First of all, how were you ever going to afford the rent of your apartment alone, and secondly, why hadn’t Katie told you first? You looked at your friend, but she was beaming at Rads, who spoke in broken English as he congratulated her, and she didn’t even notice you.

Of course, you didn’t tell Katie about your worries; that would dull her excitement, and you would never do that to her. Instead, you plastered on your brightest - and fakest - smile, hugged her, and spent the rest of the evening lost in thoughts. Luckily Jenn seemed to get it, and whenever someone spoke to you and you missed it, she would answer for you, taking attention away from you. At the end of the night as you hugged her goodbye, you whispered a quick thank you.

“It’ll work out okay, honey,” she promised you with a kind smile, but as you got into your car, tears were welling up in your eyes. You managed to get home without bursting out into tears, but as you stepped into the hallway, the space empty and quiet, they started spilling down your cheeks.

It wasn’t that big a deal, you knew that, but it still felt like the world was crashing down on you. You were already struggling enough to get by as it was, and now this. There was no way you could keep your apartment, and you didn’t think you’d survive moving back with your parents or moving into student dorms, not after having known what freedom and your own space felt like. And the one person that would make you feel better wasn’t even in the same fucking country as you, and you missed him, damn it.

It wasn’t cold, with it being June in Dallas, but you were wearing only a tank and that wasn’t enough for almost midnight, so you reached into your closet and pulled out the first hoodie you saw. Of course, it was the Stars hoodie that had been included in the box of Stars merch that showed up on your doorstep a few days after your first Stars game.

There had been a brand new #91 jersey in there - not the #90 jersey you’d asked for, but you hadn’t been serious with that anyway - and a few shirts, hoodies, baseball caps, even a beanie; you didn’t even think they made those. Who wore beanies in the Texas heat?

You pulled the hoodie over your head and moved to your porch, wrapping your arms around yourself. You would allow yourself to feel miserable tonight, and then tomorrow, you would have to find a solution. Just at the thought, your heart sunk into your stomach. You looked up at the stars, but even that couldn’t take your mind off it, and that’s how you knew you were really screwed.

Then, your phone rang. You were expecting it to be Katie, and you were almost tempted not to even reach for it, but then you saw the picture of Tyler with Cash that you had set as his caller ID, and you smiled. Even in another country, he still seemed to feel when you needed him.

“Hey stranger,” you said, smiling at him. “It’s like 1:30 there, isn’t it? Shouldn’t you be asleep?”

“Hey, Shiny,” Tyler smiled back. Facetime blurred his face, but the familiar sight of him still made your heart sting with how much you missed him. The camera was unflatteringly close to his face and yet, he looked great, one arm folded behind his head as he was lying down.

“I’m in bed, but I was still awake. Jamie texted me. You okay?”

You sighed. Of course Jamie had noticed that you weren’t doing so well, and being the good guy he was, had done the only thing he could think of; send Tyler your way.

“Katie is moving in with him,” you said, although Tyler probably already knew. “Which means I’m out of a roommate, and probably have to get rid of the apartment.”

He frowned. “Can’t you just find a new roommate?”

“Maybe,” you shrugged. “But not fast enough. I can’t even afford one month’s rent on my salary, Ty. There’s no way I can find someone right away, and if I can’t find someone right away, then…” You stopped, knowing that your voice would break if you continued. Tyler’s face softened; he knew it, too.

“Hey, hey, don’t cry,” he cooed. “We’ll find a solution. Together, okay? You’re not on your own here.”

At his words, tears sprung to your eyes. He mightn’t have known it, but that was what your entire mental breakdown was about; it felt like you were losing Katie to Jamie, and Tyler wasn’t here, and your family was busy with their own lives, and you felt like you were the only one who didn’t have anyone. The only one that only had herself to lean on.

“I miss you,” you sniffed, the words tumbling over your lips before you’d even thought about if it was a good idea to say them. What if it was too clingy for him, what if he thought it was weird? You were just friends, after all.

“I miss you too,” Tyler said, and your heart leaped. “It turns out murder is a lot less interesting without you there to overanalyze everything. The pups miss you too.” He grinned. “Hey, if you have to move out, you can just move in with me.”

“Your couch is not that comfortable,” you mumbled.

“I didn’t say anything about a couch,” he teased. “The dogs sleep on the couch. You can sleep on their dog beds. If you push them together, you might fit your entire upper body on there.”

Despite everything, you laughed. “Shut up.”

“Or…” he continued, pausing, “you could just sleep in my bed with me. I’m serious, Y/N. You’re not going to end up on the street or back at your parents’ house. We’ll figure something out, okay?”

Warmth washed over you at his words, and you nodded.

“You couldn’t have the dog beds anyway.” Tyler was smirking now. “Cause I think Gerry will want them.”

Now, you were confused. “Gerry?” Tyler moved his phone and the screen went so blurry you couldn’t see anything, but then it cleared up and you were met with the smallest dog face ever. The little yellow Labrador pup lifted its head and stared into the phone camera as if he knew you were watching him, and you gasped.

“Tyler!”

“I was going to surprise you with him in the morning,” said Tyler, a hint of pride in his voice, “but I figured you could use it now. This is the newest member of the Seguin clan, Gerry. I had to complete the colour trifecta, you know.”

“You got a hat trick of Labradors,” you squealed. “Oh my god, Ty, he’s so cute!” Then, you wrinkled your nose. “I can’t believe you called him Gerry. That’s such an old man name.”

“I know,” Tyler giggled. “That’s why it’s so funny.”

You asked Tyler a million questions about Gerry, mostly whether or not you could take care of him when he went on roadies next season, and he promised you could, as long as you took Cash and Marshall too - as if you would’ve left them behind - and it was half an hour later when you started yawning.

“Go to sleep, Shiny,” Tyler told you softly. “Call me tomorrow so we can talk about your apartment situation, okay?”

“Okay,” you hummed. “Thanks, Ty.”

“Anytime.” He paused. “We’re gonna be fine, you know? Me and you and the dogs. We’ll make it work.”

And despite everything, you believed him.

#tyler seguin #dallas stars #tyler seguin imagine #tyler seguin one shot #tyler seguin fic #nhl fic #hockey fic #nhl imagines #nhl one shot #hockey imagine #hockey one shot #dallas stars imagine #dallas stars one shot

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rabid-wolfchild · 5 years

Text

Two Lovers In Fair Deathmetal - Chapter 2

me, knowing full and well no one is reading this; i’m gonna post it anyway

“Hey, Honey, can you pass me the syrup?” “Nah, Jess. You don’t need no syrup on some fruit.” “I didn’t ask for your medical advice. I asked for the syrup.”

Present day; it was a warm, spring morning. Honey and Jessie were the only ones up and, as usual, stretched out on the couch watching TV. “Alright, alright, but don’t come-a cryin’ back to me when you got too much junk in ya trunk, you hear?” Honey spat as she reached across the coffee table and slid the syrup over to Jessie, who hummed in satisfaction.

Becoming world-famous stars had done little to steer the group in the right way. They still drank, smoked, and nearly killed themselves at wild parties. It was nothing they hadn’t done before but now, they were, well, famous.

“Hey! Good morning all you metalheads out there!” The TV wailed as the Dethklok Minute Host, Tommy Small, came one screen. Jessie grunted irritatedly as she threw a pillow at the screen, successfully sending it crashing to the ground with a crack. “God, what a stupid show.” She hissed, shoving a syrup-soaked banana slice into her mouth, “I mean, who really cares about those guys so much that you need constant updates on them? Also, why call it Dethklok Minute if it’s actually like, a few seconds? Shouldn’t they call it Dethklok moment?”

Honey clicked her tongue in dismay. Jessie could be so bitchy sometimes. “Ya’ just bein’ hateful, Jess.” She chastised, “I get ya, but think about it; if we had a show like that, you’d be the cow flyin’ over the moon.”

Jessie narrowed her eyes. “You calling me a cow, Honey?” “Heavens nah, I’m just sayin’ you’d be real excited.”

Jessie stared at her for a minute longer, searching Honey’s eyes for any signs of lies, but let it go once she saw nothing. “You’re right.” She sighed, preening her hair with her long nails, “I mean, I want someone to care so much about my life that they want to know every little detail. Y’know, right down to what brand of pads I’m buying or whether or not I use Midol.”

“Ya know we already got that, right?” “We do? Huh. Now I hate it.”

Just as Honey went to call Jessie out on her whining again, the door slammed open behind them. Both girls peered over the couch to see their manager, Cindy Normous, standing there in her signature “I-did-something-and-you-guys-have-to-deal-with-it” pose. She smiled with her cherry red lips as she looked at two of her dearest clients. “Oh, darlings! I have wonderful news! Where are the others?”

“Uh, I think Kathleen is throwing up in the bathroom?” Jessie said, looking to Honey for confirmation and back to Cindy. “Yea, and I think Bea is still asleepin’-- she brought home all these real nice guys last night and wouldn’t even share!” Honey huffed, tugging on her curls. Bea always got to have all the fun.

“Well, no matter!” Cindy cheered, “Get those two slugabeds into the meeting room pronto! I have big news, and I need everyone to hear it!” As she marched off to the meeting room, Jessie and Honey groaned.

It was going to be a long day.

~ The one thing Charles never had to worry about was competition for Dethklok. They were a worldwide sensation, loved by every country and played in every language. What band could measure up to that? None, not even in a million years.

Or so he thought.

It was when he caught wind of a group of Klokateers talking about taking a day off. This in and of itself was strange. Most of the time, they’d work themselves to death both figuratively and literally. Now here they were, huddled in a corner scheming how to get at least the night free. Charles, who’d never cared much for how the Klokateer’s spent their time, decided to listen in on this conversation for once.

“I’m so excited to see Saints On Acid tonight!” “Yeah, I heard Honey got a new outfit.” “Really?” “Yeah! It’s this white leather jacket with shoulder pads and all these feathers on top, then she has this matching white bikini she wears under it-” “Still wears those thigh-high heels, right?” “Of course. That’s, like, her signature thing.” “All right, all right, enough about Honey. Did any of the others get new stuff?”

As the excited chatter continued, Charles was taken back. These Klokateers were leaving to go see another band; and not because they were asked to. They just wanted to, for fun. God, the only way that could be worse was if they were leaving for these guys-

“Their manager said they’re looking for helpers…” “I’d die to work with Saints On Acid.” “I’d kill both of you to work with Saints On Acid.” “I’d kill Dethklok to work with Saints On Acid.”

That was the tipping point.

He should’ve gone in there and gotten more information. He should’ve demanded those Klokateers apologize for even thinking about leaving- the band would never admit it, but they were sensitive and if they heard about this treachery they’d be heartbroken- but no, instead he just marched in and demanded they call an emergency meeting. He ignored their shocked blubbering when he accused them of betrayal, and slammed the door shut behind him.

He was going to need a drink. It’d be a long meeting.

~ “So, you want us to like, fist fight these guys?”

Cindy pinched the bridge of her nose and counted her breaths. 1, 2, 3, 4- God, how could one group of women be so stupid? “No, that’s not at all what I’m saying, Katie.” She sighed, standing up from her seat at the head of the table, “What I’m saying is you all are almost on par with Dethklok. Do any of you know what that means?”

Crickets. The girls all stared at one another or fiddled with their hair. Then, Honey raised her hand. “Yes, Honey-- what do you think being on par with Dethklok means?”

“Like we almost as populaur as ‘em?”

“Bingo!”

“So we should pal around with’em?”

As the girls all nodded and hummed in agreement, Cindy felt like she was the verge of a meltdown. Which happened very, very often. “No!” She yelled, slamming her fists down on the table with a resounding thud. The girls all jumped and looked at her, wide-eyed. “There will be no ‘paling around’ with Dethklok! You can pal around backstage with your little boyfriends all you want, but Dethklok is strictly off-limits!”

It got quiet after that. Cindy felt accomplished for a second, she’d never gotten them to listen to her before, until Honey let out a long, sharp cry and wept into Bea’s shoulder. “Oh my- what’s the matter with her?” Cindy said, furrowing her brows irately.

Bea, who was stroking Honey’s hair and shushing her, said; “Well, you yelled at her,” She narrowed her eyes, “You know very well not to yell at her. The poor dear’s sensitive.”

Cindy just stared at them, unblinking and unphased, until she took a deep drink from her flask. The vodka ran hot down her throat, soothing her growing need to scream. She took a deep breath and sat back down. “Look, Honey, I’m sorry for yelling,” Cindy said softly, watching as Honey uncurled herself from Bea’s arm and looked at her with those sad, puffy brown eyes. A pang ran through Cindy’s heart. Honey sniffled. She wiped her nose on her sleeve and smiled. “It’s alright. I know ya didn’t mean it.”

While Cindy had certainly meant it, she wasn’t ready to deal with another crying moment. So she just nodded and smiled, standing back up as Honey and Bea untangled themselves from each other and looked at her blankly. “Good. Now that that’s over, here’s what I want you guys to do-”

Ring! Ring!

Everyone looked back to Honey as her phone went off. “Sorry, sorry,” Honey muttered as she dug it out of her bra, pressing it to her ear with a soft “Hello?”

“Ah! I’m just as happy as a pig in mud!” ‘...’ “Oh, nah ma’am. I ain’t doin’ nothin’ important right now.” ‘...’ “I’d be much obliged to ma’am! I’m headin’ over right now!” Honey tucked her phone away and bounced up from her seat, dusting herself off. Cindy opened her mouth to protest, to ask just where the hell she thought she was going, but Jessie was faster to talk. “Was it that dating company you were just talking to?” She asked, watching Honey primp her hair in a compact mirror. Honey smiled warmly. “It sure was. The lady said they think they found just the guy, and they wanna see me right away to sign some papers.”

Cindy twisted her lips. ‘Signing some papers’ was never good. “Maybe I should go with you,” she cooly suggested, “To make sure everything is in order. I’d hate for you to get paired with some, oh, I don’t know, psycho or something like that.”

Honey rolled her eyes, scoffing at Cindy’s suggestion. “I’m a big girl, y’know. I can tie my own laces and everythin’.”

“Well yes Honey, but as your manager, I have to say that-”

“Exactly. You’re my manager, not my ma. Mind ya business! I’ll be back in no time, alright? Bye!”

And before Cindy could say anything else, Honey was out the door with a slam. The room got quiet as Cindy practiced her breathing again. 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3 4… “Hey uh, Cindy?” came Kathleen from behind her shot glass, “What were you saying about Dethklok or whatever?” Cindy smiled. At least someone was paying attention. “Thank you, Katie. Now, about Dethklok…”

#dethklok #metalocalypse #charles offdensen #klokateers #original female characters #original character #dethklok fanfiction #dethklok fanfic #metalocalypse fanfiction #metalocalypse fanfic

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oddeyecadia · 6 years

Text

what if it’s us? (ch. 4)

a/n: no one prolly cares abt this fic anymore but lol still gonna continue

also posted on ao3 | ch. 1 ch. 2 ch. 3

"I think Allura's my soulmate."

Just like that, everything stopped. Time, the beating of her heart, the universe itself. All the little scars and bruises on her body tingled in a strange, unpleasant way. He was the only one smiling now. The clear excitement on his face made her feel harder to breathe.

Of course.

Pidge gritted her teeth.

Of fucking course.

"I saw her left foot earlier. It was bandaged the same way as my left foot. Do you know when she got that?"

"Yeah, uh..." She had it even before you had yours, dumbass. "Just this morning, I think." Pidge internally slapped herself. She didn't want to lie, she really didn't. But she also didn't want to erase the pure joy he was clearly feeling.

Though, her decision was going to make a lot of mess was it? She took a deep breath and as she was about to change her mind, Lance's gaze fell to the floor with a look that took every breath of her away and spoke softly. "I finally found her."

Out of all of his smiles, the one he wore right then was probably the most beautiful. She could see the relief and love he was ready to give attached to it.

Something about the fact that someone else was the reason for this smile bothered her a lot. It could be just the guilt for lying, making him smile for the wrong person, that creeped up her back.

Yeah. She hoped it was just that.

"Your turn." Said Lance, interrupting her thoughts.

"Huh?"

"What were you gonna say earlier?"

"Oh. Just that I- I noticed how you and Allura have the same injury too."

There was no turning back.

___

"Stop glaring, Hunk." Pidge said quietly, feeling the intense look he was giving her.

Brown eyes kept staring at her as she continued to type on her laptop. She felt uneasy but not to the point where she couldn't focus on the email that she was writing to her professor. A letter to inform her about the extremely unfair division of tasks in her group and how her two group mates barely did anything for their project.

Somewhere in the library, she could hear Lance being absentmindedly loud again. That and Hunk's glare growing more intense was enough to make her take a deep breath and finally look at the guy across her.

"Look what you've done." He said.

"I didn't do anything."

"Exactly. You didn't do anything to stop him from thinking Allura was his soulmate! Look at him!" He whisper shouted, pointing at the main desk. There, was Allura, staring blankly at Lance who was leaning an elbow on the desk and smirking at her like an idiot.

Pidge rolled her eyes, trying her hardest to keep her blood boiling at the sight. "He looks happy."

"He looks stupid, Pidge. You know what he said to me that night? 'Would it be more romantic if I make her realize rather than just telling her?'" She fought a grin at Hunk's accurate impression of Lance's slightly high pitched voice. "And just a few weeks ago you were like 'Never. Let him find out on his own.' You two just love miscommunication and complicating things more huh?"

"It'd be more complicated if I told him while he was so stoked about the idea of another person being his soulmate. It would ruin his mood, make things awkward, and possibly ruin our friendship too." Besides, she didn't want to mess things up after they just had their deep conversation and learned to really open up to each other for the first time.

It had been a couple of days since that whole thing happened. Finals was next week, everyone had been pretty busy with their own thing. Allura had to take care of some important stuff these past couple of days that Pidge had to work at the library on her own again. Meaning, Lance didn't immediately got the chance to start his wooing.

"She's not here?" He asked the night after their "hangout friday"- as Hunk would call it.

"She has a checkup. Sorry, loverboy ."

"Aww man." The boy looked down at his feet. "I must've hurt her real bad."

Pidge's frown deepened as she only hummed in response. It was too early for her to casually talk about soulmates after what just happened .

"Well, guess I'll just study then. Hey, Pidge."

She looked at him, he raised a brow. "You're taking care of yourself, right?"

Snorting, she couldn't fight a grin. Why was he like this? Could he stop being so nice for a second? "Yeah, don't worry. I remember your advice by heart."

Pidge cringed internally, remembering what she said.

"Fix this, Pidge."

"I will, Hunk. Just– let him have his fun for a little while." Ignoring the slight pain in her chest and Hunk's disappointed look, she finally finished the email and pressed send.

___

Shoe squeaks and loud pop music filled the gym.

The highest bleacher was cold against the palm of her hands. Pidge could see everything from up here. It was nice. Plus, she was far from everyone, far from the volleyball team playing and from the dance team which she found out was just like a bunch of Lance put in one group. Everyone was just as loud and boisterous.

"Why am I here again?"

Lance looked up at her from where he stood, one bleacher below, and flashed a smile. "Because Hunk isn't available and I'm used to having a friend watch me practice. You don't have a choice."

She let out a deep breath. At least Hunk wasn't available for real this time. Unlike the last time he left the two where he tried to play wingman.

"Ugh. Don't you have like a hobby that's a little more... quiet?"

"Oh come on, Pidge. Don't you think a bunch of college kids dancing and doing dangerous stunts is cool?"

Her attention was caught by a flyer being thrown in the air. The guy landed too quickly and it was obvious by the shocked look on their faces that his spotters weren't ready, they caught him immediately anyways.

"Fun." Her hands started sweating, seeing the team practice that same stunt again. "Is this a requirement? I mean does this boost up your grades in any way?"

"Not really. Clubs and stuff like this doesn't really add that much to my GPA." He said as he took out his water bottle.

"Why didn't you just take performing arts then?"

He took a sip. "I was going to. I wanted to study and make money out of dancing but... let's be honest, the money part would be kinda hard to achieve. So I went with my second favorite thing to do, taking care of people. I took nursing."

Pidge was about to ask another question when one of his teammates suddenly shouted. "Lance! You ready?"

"Yup! Just a sec!" Lance put down his bottle before giving her another proud smile. "Just enjoy the show, Katarina. We have like fifteen minutes left of practice. It'll be quick."

She watched as he carefully walked down the bleachers and towards his team. She bit her lip when her injured foot throbbed slightly as she saw Lance unintentionally take a hard step.

A member then approached him and said something she couldn't obviously hear.

Nodding his head, he smiled at said member before getting into position.

There was something off about that smile, though. How he went from being all jumpy to stiff right after said teammate talked to him was not a good sign too.

Pidge pushed her glasses up her nose.

The same pop music that was on repeat for minutes played again as the dance team started their routine. They did some incredible stunts and moves that could make anyone jump from their seat yet she couldn't take her eyes away from a single dancer.

Ocean waves.

That was the only thing she could think of as she watched him sway, turn, pop and glide. Lance danced so swiftly yet every move had a hint of snap. His hips didn't lie, his whole body moved so in sync with the beat.

He didn't look like he was having as much fun, though, and one time he looked as if he wasn't sure if he was in the right position which was concerning.

But still.

That was hot.

___

"I have eight papers due tomorrow and I haven't started any of them." Said Keith after taking a big gulp of milk straight from the carton as he sat by the kitchen counter.

He was lactose intolerant.

"And why's that?"

"I don't know, Shiro. Everytime I begin typing I just burst into tears."

Even through the phone, his brother's disappointed sigh was still upsetting to hear. "College's tough huh?"

Keith chuckled. "That's an understatement."

"I know but you have to be more responsible. Be more like Katie but without the overworking part." Keith frowned at the second statement, remembering all those nights he had to drag an exhausted Pidge to bed and how he hated seeing her all stressed up. He took another sip. "Speaking of, how is she? Her finals is coming up right? I hope she's not over studying again."

"Strangely but fortunately, no. She hasn't overworked herself in days."

"That's good. Matt's visiting you guys today so–"

Keith chocked on his milk before Shiro could even finish his sentence.

He totally forgot about that.

"You okay there?" Shiro asked. Keith could already see his brother's teasing smirk and it caused his ears to burn up.

"Yeah, just– Just remembered I'm lactose intolerant." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, yeah. Pidge mentioned that."

Meanwhile, Shiro couldn't help but chuckle at his little brother's clear nervousness. "Don't worry, you have my permission to say yes when he asks you out on a date. Again."

Keith went silent for a moment.

That was when Shiro spoke again, his voice softer and Keith could almost see him wearing his comforting smile. "It's okay, Keith."

Something in his chest loosened and he took a deep breath. Keith already knew what it meant for he had heard it from him a million times. It was the first time he heard Shiro say it like that, though. It felt and sounded like real reassurance this time, like not only the situation was okay, but also himself.

As if on cue, a couple of loud knocks were heard from Keith and Pidge's apartment door and he tensed up.

"Thanks, Shiro. I'll call you again later?"

"After you finish your papers first. Now go, entertain your guest."

Keith ignored Shiro's teasing tone, said goodbye and hanged up before walking towards the door.

He already had a guess of who the person on the other side was. And if he was right, said guest was a little bit early for his sister wasn't even home yet.

Here goes nothing. Keith finally opened the door and lo and behold, he was right. He hated that he was right.

Matthew Holt stood in front of him with a warm smile, the familiar scar still clear and present across the bridge of his nose. "Hey, Keith."

#satri writes #plance #pidgance #pance #flirtyrobot #rainforest #fuckplant #fanfic #soulmate au

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story-monster · 6 years

Text

Mawwage

I’M BACK

Dun dun duuuuuuun

I took a few weeks’ break to enjoy the married life, that dweam wifin a dweam.

Being married is AWESOME. I totally recommend it. Definitely worth taking a break for. But it does mean I’ve got a lot of catching up to do! There’s all these great stories about married life, the honeymoon (a Caribbean cruise…it was fabulous), moving houses, everything…things have been crazy. In fact, I shouldn’t be blogging at all. I should be cleaning or writing thank-you notes. (Er…what is the etiquette for those, anyway? I hope it’s not like within a month after the wedding or I am in big trouble. They are coming, I swear!)

This post today is about THE WEDDING.

There is SO MUCH to say about the wedding. This is going to be a BIG blog post. Brace yourselves.

We didn’t have much time to plan the wedding. It was a 2-month engagement. We are old and don’t mess around. Thankfully, I had The World’s Most Beautiful Wedding Dress™ already hanging in my closet, so I didn’t need to worry about that!*

*pictures below

I also put together style guides for all the vendors and bridesmaids and everyone involved. A style guide is basically a library of pictures and direction for what the project will look like. (Being an animation director teaches you things).

(The decorators looked at me like I was crazy when I handed this to them haha.)

The colors were white, ivory, and rose gold. I wanted to channel a very classy, vintage feel (with a touch of Mary Poppins.) I ended up loving these colors even more than I expected. They are just glamorous.

My cousin Melisa, a pastry chef, worked the cake, and Jen’s Bowdacious Bows worked on the floral and Waffle Love got reserved for catering and gosh everything just came together like a dream!

There were a few hiccups.

Like, I had no idea how much food to order. Mormon weddings are more of an open house, so you’re not quite sure how many people will show up. I stressed a bit over that.

300 less than what I ordered, it turns out.

The decorators were really frustrating to work with. (They were pretty unorganized.) I tried hard to not be a bridezilla…

But I was.

I ended up making the centerpieces.

Actually my friend Susan Arnita put the centerpieces together.

Look at how beautiful they turned out!

WOW

But I’m getting ahead of myself here.

FIRST: PICTURES!!

We got bridals/groomals done a couple of weeks before the wedding, on March 9th. This turned out to be a really good idea, because the weather was beautiful. Here are a few of my favorites:

(That DRESS, AMIRIGHT??)

^^Check out that leap. The Handsome used to be a BYU folk dancer and he has some grasshopper in his blood, I think.

Love the movement in that one

It was cloudy, but the sun came out at just the right time.

^^The picture is my favorite of them all.

GUH he’s SO dreamy <3 <3 <3

^^LOVE that bouquet. I wanted something that was glittery and pearly but soft and loose, not tight and ball-y like a lot of brooch bouquets and by golly, Jen delivered. She even made black leaves for it, it turned out sooo pretty. I have it in a vase on my kitchen table now.

I also let some of my goofy side show.

#constancehatchaway

The Handsome thought it was HILARIOUS. Our photographer, Patti Deru, was like: “I don’t understand it, but I like it!”

…but my poor mom was horrified. She didn’t want me to share these on social media.

Sorry mom.

The Handsome let some of his goofy side show, too.

Lol ^_^

Those were the bridals. (BTW, is bridals/groomals just a Utah thing? I had a couple of people asking if that was normal here. I’m actually not sure…I thought everyone did bridals, but I kind of live under a rock. Maybe someone can tell me in the comments.)

The wedding day came fast and not fast enough. A week before, the forecast looked like this:

Which was comforting.

I woke up around 5:30 AM and went to my hair person, Cindy Peterson, and she did my hair gorgeous.

I don’t have a close up pic of that but it was beautiful.

Then I headless chickened while getting ready, making sure I had my temple recommend, clothes, makeup, shoes, everything, before we headed to Salt Lake to get married here:

WOW

Didn’t take pictures inside (of course), but it was a really nice ceremony. I loved going into the sealing room and seeing the smiling faces of all my family. It made me all teary-eyed.

I nearly said “Yes” at the wrong time, and I was blushing crimson for the rest of the ceremony.

But it was still amazing.

We were released into the wild :)

The kids were so excited to see us. They welcomed Uncle Brent into the family.

Haha I have like a million nieces and nephews.

I inherited a new niece and nephew, too!

Ava, who’s 5, gave me a big hug.

I met Ava over Christmas, and she is so sweet. When she found out that I lived all alone in my townhouse, she was heartbroken.

And I was like:

And Ava was like

Hey, yeah! I could marry a homeless guy! Hahaha!

(Brent didn’t like that idea.)

Lololol. Kids are the best.

Magically, the weather held up. No rain or snow, but a storm blew up and made the pictures more interesting.

Me with my bridesmaids (and maid & matron of honor.) They were my sisters :) :)

I’m pretty sure Katie was there, too.

I had Jr. Bridesmaids too (my nieces.) They were fantastic!

It was so great to have all the family there.

After lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory, it was RECEPTION TIME.

The church was really dolled up.

The cake, & waffles

I loved seeing all our friends and neighbors come through <3

Hahaha a big group of “Entwined” fans even came!

Awesome ^_^

My sis Emily played the piano.

She played all the best songs, everything from Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Slipper and the Rose, it was a Sherman Brothers Spectacle. She knows just what I love #^_^#

The sign on the piano, it says: “All the Single Ladies – Please Take a Rose in Lieu of a Bouquet Throw.”

I didn’t want a bouquet throw at my wedding. I’ve never liked them–it’s just so sad that only one person gets the bouquet. I wanted everyone to have one. So, all the single ladies got roses.

They loved it :)

The cake cutting

Mmmm lemon raspberry.

(No face-smashing. My hands were shaking so bad it’s lucky I even got it into his mouth, lol.)

The Handsome surprised me with “Some Enchanted Evening.”

It was lovely and romantic. What a voice! (I’ll upload this recording to my youtube channel.)

And then, it was time for The Dance.

A few weeks before the wedding, I told The Handsome how much I wanted to dance the Cinderella Waltz at my wedding.

He was ON IT. (Seriously, what a dream boy!)

We spent a lot of hours getting it down.

I was sooo nervous…but it turned out great :)

youtube

A big thanks to all the people who sent me their recordings so I could cut it together.

End of the night. We made an exit.

That was magical too :)

AAAAH and the bridesmaids had decorated the car like a BOSS.

It was exactly the way a car ought to be decorated. It was gorgeous.

It had been a magical day.

Here’s to a lifetime of many more <3 <3 <3

(I really hope they’re less expensive, though.)

Thank you so much to everyone who came! I really loved seeing you all. There’s nothing better than to have the best people celebrate with you on the best day.

(Side note: some of the gifts didn’t have cards or we lost them. I’d love to send a thank you! Can you contact me if any of the gifts below are from you? (They really are lovely!))

And now…time to write those thank you notes.

Mawwage was originally published on Story Monster

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sufferthesea · 6 years

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Transitional Period

Okay so I feel really lame writing this but I think it's also important. I keep apologizing for not being super active on this blog anymore, and there's a number of reasons I haven't. Most of it has been health related but anyway. I started this blog because I hated my other blog and wanted to do something new with a fandom I'd been in for a long time (10+ years), so after talking with Katie ( @shiranuigenma ), I decided to create this Naruto blog. But it wasn't intended to be just a Naruto blog, but that's how it kind of ended up since that's what I was into when I made it.

The fact that I've kept this a 98% Naruto blog is awesome because my attention span and energy allotted for a fandom is around 3-4 months. After that I usually get bored or burnt out and have to find something else. Making friends and participating in things like Kakashi Week, and just doing art and writing fanfics, has helped me to maintain interest in this blog for a lot longer than I thought I would. So thank you!! You guys are awesome!!!

(Okay real quick I'm not quitting lol. I know it sounds like it. But I'm not.) Basically, I was getting so burnt out on Naruto that I was dreading getting on this blog and I didn't want to watch it anymore. That's why I've been MIA. I literally only follow Naruto blogs at the moment. I don't want this to become a trash blog like my last one that I abandoned, so I'm still going to be kind of selective with what I reblog. Anyway. To combat the staleness and burnt out feeling I had, I got into a few other shows with my friends and that's really all I've been watching (RWBY, RvB, and YouTube if you're curious). It sounds dumb but it's really helped me a lot because I'm not so exhausted and wearing myself out trying to be ~the cool singular fandom blog~ that I'm really not meant to be. (Yo, major kudos to those who can do that.)

So anyway, 2018 has been not super unkind, but very tough for me. You grow from challenges, right? But it's also important to not be challenging yourself 24/7 for 6 months straight with little sleep and locking yourself away in your bedroom. I am not Maito Gai. I cannot do that. So here's a few things about my blog that'll carry us into summer 2018 and hopefully allow me to be more active and not so stressed and sad!!!! Esp since I still don't have a job even tho I'm looking!! And I'm getting tired of ppl telling me “Well just get a job??? Just go get hired???” like !!! what do you think I am doing???

Requests are now closed indefinitely. I'm going to finish up the few I have, but after that I'm closing them. They were super fun but I have so many things backlogged that it hasn't been as fun anymore. I send love and thanks to all those who sent in requests while they were open! It was a fun experiment and I got to really test myself by writing for characters I don't normally write for!

Writing commissions are closed indefinitely. I’ll complete the one I have, but then that’ll be it for now. These too were also fun and challenged me more than anything else I've done. I got to write some very unique and difficult topics and I'm so thankful for those who trusted me enough with their stories to do this. However, the amount of time and mental energy it took was too much and severely underselling myself made it difficult to justify the time I was spending. (I've read writers should charge around 1 – 3 cents a word. I was charging $0.001 cents a word lmao. Whoops. I actually don't mind but it is hard to make a living like that.)

Art commissions are still OPEN! And btw, I do have a ko-fi. I'm thinking about doing something like, one coffee = one bust of your character of choosing? (which is same price as commissions whoops lol.) Idk yet. I won't be doing any writing for ko-fi, though.

I was going to create a side blog for the other fandoms I'm in but side blogs are tedious and annoying to manage so I'm probably just going to start posting stuff here. If you don't want to see it, you can start blacklisting tags now. I'll be tagging things as #rwby, #rvb, #not naruto (that's my catch-all tag for anything, uhh, not Naruto). Expect a lot of Ozpin, Qrow, Church, and Washington because even tho I was inactive here, it does not mean I stopped hoeing around in other fandoms. Oh, also expect an occasional #game grumps because #dan avidan is way cute.

I'm also going to be posting fanart for other fandoms here too. It's been nice to draw stuff other than Nardo. I'll still be doing Naruto stuff (I have a ton of Naruto projects I'm working on) but silly little doodles will probably be from RWBY.

I'm also in this weird kinda scary period in my life with school and career options. I have a degree in English and it's always been assumed I'd be a teacher but I don't want to be?? I realized recently that I love to draw and I'm getting quite good at it (with the help of my sister who is my own real-life youtube tutorial for SAI), so both my sister and I are going back to college for a Studio Art degree. I'm thinking about getting into animation and I'm scared because it's not a secure or “traditional” job??? I'm scared because I'm not settling on a job I don't want or a field I just assumed I'd go into. I'm not good with big changes or going into things when it's uncertain, so I'm like ….. /anxiety increases/ But I'm hoping it'll be good.

Just as an extra bullet point and a reminder, I still really love Kakashi, Iruka and Obito, and all my other guys!! Don't think I forgot about them!!

Sorry this is 10 million years long but it was important to me to write all that. I'm sorry I haven't been able to reblog your art or fics and comment on them. I'm sorry I haven't gotten back to you guys and responded to messages. I'm sorry I'm not as active. I've just been figuring stuff out and hanging out with friends, and watching other things so I don't grow to despise Naruto lol. So. That's about it. I probably forgot something.

Oh, I have 21 plants growing in my windowsill. 2 are decorative and the other 19 are going to go in my garden in the backyard bc they’re herbs and vegetables. And I'm going to cosplay for the first time next month and I might meet the voice actor for kid Obito. So. There's that.

#mine 44 #akimi.txt #transitional period #updates #so anyway #/breathes easy/#sorry to be dramatic #thank you for putting up with me #i love you guys!!!#im gonna go finish my weiss drawing #and then watch some youtube

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galacticnewsnetwork · 7 years

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How a worldwide Star Wars fan group grew out of Columbia, South Carolina

Albin Johnson (helmet off) of Columbia stands next to Star Wars creator George Lucas before the 2007 Tournament of Roses Parade with members of Johnson's costuming group, the 501st Legion. Provided

COLUMBIA — During Albin Johnson’s darkest moments in life, Star Wars has been a source of light.

He lost a leg in a wreck. That led him to create a Star Wars stormtrooper costuming group that now has 12,000 members worldwide.

He lost a young daughter to cancer. That led to the construction of a pink droid that solidified his fan group’s mission in aiding children’s charities.

Johnson has turned his love for Star Wars into a powerful force.

Stormtroopers from his massive fan group created 20 years ago in Columbia have raised nearly $3 million over the past five years. They have marched in the Tournament of Roses Parade with Star Wars mastermind George Lucas, appeared at the MTV Movie Awards and, just last week, shared a red carpet with Britain’s Princes William and Harry at the London premiere of "Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi."

They have a seal of approval from filmmakers as Lucasfilms' "preferred Imperial costuming group."

"It’s so liberating to get to play out all your bad-guy fantasies," Johnson said. “Stormtroopers are your average guy. He can be anyone."

'My own world'

Johnson’s route to becoming Stormtrooper TK 210 started in 1977 with his father, a former World War II pilot, being intrigued by a movie poster featuring battling spaceships. His father thought it was a war movie and took the family, then living in Charlotte, to see "Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope."

Johnson liked the movie because of the white-clad soldiers from the Galactic Empire that served with the movie’s villain, Darth Vader. Stormtroopers are among the first characters seen in the film.

“What were they? Were they men? Were they robots?” Johnson, 48, recalled. “I was trying to work the morality of why they did the things they did."

Johnson’s parents were very religious — they worked for the PTL Club, a Christian television program — and would occasionally throw away his Star Wars toys. A youth minister once told Johnson that Lucas was trying to lure kids into a cult.

He hid some of his Star War memorabilia and tried to read everything he could about the movie.

“I was in my own world,” Johnson said.

Albin Johnson (left) and his wife Kathy pose with R2-D2 and C-3PO during a 2005 Star Wars convention in Indianapolis.

His life changed after losing his left leg following a 1994 auto accident. Johnson was depressed, so a co-worker (and fellow Star Wars fan) at a Columbia Circuit City store encouraged him to buy a $2,000 Stormtrooper costume to wear to a showing for the re-release of "Star Wars: Episode V —The Empire Strikes Back."

"His eyes came alive when we talked about the movie," said Tom Crews, who worked with Johnson at the electronics store.

Few people dressed up in movie costumes to go to a movie in the '90s, especially in Columbia. It was a hit. Johnson bought a Stormtrooper suit for Crews, and they started posting photos of themselves in costumes on online bulletin boards.

They began to make friends with other fans dressing as Stormtroopers. Some were in other states, but they were joined by fans from other countries.

In 1997, Johnson, with Crews' help, created a fictional unit for the Stormtroopers, calling it the 501st Legion because “it rolled off the tongue.”

“We wanted to find people who are really into the movie and people who were really into the costumes,” said Crews, who is known as TK 512 in the legion. “We wanted to create something people wanted to belong to and wanted to grow.”

Since members were so far apart, Johnson adopted military lingo for local groups, known as garrisons, squads and outposts, so members were invested in growing the 501st in their state or country.

He had rules to make sure members dressed — and acted — properly, but he didn’t charge dues or try to make money selling costumes like similar Star Wars fan groups.

“It was not about perfection,” Johnson said. “It was about the relationships.”

The big break

That’s not to say the 501st didn’t struggle. The group’s first attempt at a gathering during a comic convention in 1998 in Atlanta included members who were not interested in dressing up or who preferred partying over marching.

But four years later, the 501st had its breakthrough.

During a Star Wars event in Indianapolis, Johnson was able to assemble 200 troopers to march to the arena. It was impressive and drew applause from fans waiting in line to get in. One problem: they walked across a street where a marathon was taking place. Peripheral vision in the masks is almost nonexistent. They stopped runners during their march.

Inside the arena, the crowds overwhelmed security. Johnson said he assembled his troopers and asked they each stand behind a security person to help usher fans through the event. That got the attention of Lucasfilm, the maker of Star Wars, which thanked the 501st and began a relationship that has helped legitimize the South Carolina-created legion.

Film company officials also recognized how Johnson led his group.

“His order of the day was, ‘Let’s have some fun,’ ’’ said Steve Sansweet, a former fan relations head for Lucasfilm. “He’s a personable guy who had an idea and threw it out there.”

Crews said he and Johnson wondered if Lucasfilm would come after them over copyright issues. Sansweet said filmmakers were leery at first, fearing that one of these rabid fans would rob a convenience store dressed as a Star Wars character.

But Lucasfilm took the 501st and other costume fan groups as a compliment.

“These can be our best emissaries out there," Sansweet said. "People love seeing them in the wild.”

Legion members take pride in making their own costumes or tweaking ones they buy to make them more authentic.

"We're showcasing our art," said Dan Rodriguez, the current 501st leader who lives in Maryland. "We want to look like we came right off the screen."

The pink droid

Just two years after the 501st’s big break, Johnson’s 6-year-old daughter Katie was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Katie saw in “Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones” how the droid R2-D2 watched over Padmé Amidala while she was sleeping and wanted her own nighttime protector.

Johnson worked with friends to have a full-size pink version of R2-D2 at her bedside until her death in 2005. The droid was named R2-KT in her honor and now tours the country for charity events, visits sick children in hospitals and participates in Make-A-Wish events.

“This became a defining aspect of the 501st: We will be as charitable as we can for children,” Crews said.

R2-KT has become the Columbia-created 501st Legion's mascot, joining parades and visiting sick children in hospitals. The pink droid is named after 501st founder Albin Johnson's daughter, Katie, who died from brain cancer in 2005.

Johnson’s strong religious beliefs carried him through his daughter’s illness, said Crews, who now works with Johnson at the state's information technology agency.

Johnson refers to himself as a father of five, which includes Katie.

“He knows death is not death. It’s part of our existence,” Crews said. “You take some heart from that. Al has always found a way to see the brighter side of things no matter the low.”

R2-KT now has its own backstory in the Star Wars legend and the pink droid has appeared in animated Star Wars shows. Filmmakers borrowed the droid for more than a year so R2-KT could appear in the background of some scenes in 2015's “Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens.” (The pink droid does not have a cameo in “The Last Jedi.”)

'Power of the internet'

Members of the 501st have become a staples at Star Wars events.

Lucas wanted a group of Stormtroopers when he was grand marshal of the 2007 Rose Parade. Sansweet knew where to find them and recruited the 501st, which got a pep talk from the Star Wars creator ahead of a four-hour march.

“You’re all cannon fodder, none of you will probably make it,” Lucas joked, seeing how Stormtroopers' main role in the films is getting shot and dying. “We will remember you.”

Actor John Boyega, who plays Finn, former Stormtrooper FN 2187, poses with members of the Columbia-created 501st Legion at the premiere of "Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi" in London on Dec. 12. Joel C. Ryan/Invision/AP

In the past week, 501st members took part in the premieres of “The Last Jedi” in Los Angeles and London. Their reward: They got to see the movie — and some British royalty.

Johnson stayed home. He is not involved in the legion day-to-day so he can spend more time with his family.

But he still chats with filmmakers, dresses up as TK 210 a few times a year and sends messages to members, who have reached into China and Russia — far from the Columbia electronics store where it all began.

“Even I’m surprised that it started here,” Johnson said. “But that’s the power of the internet.”

By: Andy Shain

Source: The Post & Courier

#star wars #501st #legion #albin johnson

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prktaeil · 6 years

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I promise to never fall in love with a stranger.

New York City. 2015.

chapter 3.

“katie’s a whole mess, i don’t even know why she’s still on the cheer squad.” minho sighed, clearly done with how annoying that girl was. “min, you just don’t like her because she clings to you so much.” mina laughed as she took a bite of her food. thankfully, that girl was off somewhere as they started to talk about her, so minho found the freedom to express how much he disliked her. “yes, that. and she’s also a terrible cheerleader.” he said like it was obvious with a roll of his eyes.

“guys, i’m just gonna...” one of the other boys on the populars table, spencer, spoke quietly, but no one really heard him, making him simply get up and leave without a word. minho looked up in time to see his friend leaving, and ignoring the others, he got up with him too. the other has been leaving way too often that minho was starting to get worried about him.

“hey, dude, are you okay?” he asked, catching up to the taller boy. spencer shrugged. “i’m fine. i just needed to get away for a bit... you know i’m not really about this whole... gossip thing.” minho only nodded silently, following him outside into the school garden.

in that moment, someone accidentally bumped into spencer, making them drop their things. spencer immediately went to help the girl out, and as minho stood there, he recognized her almost immediately. being someone who observed people a lot, it wasn’t hard for him to know who’s who, and who knew who.

rowan jackson, better knowing as rin, was someone he’s met before. she was one of the artsy kids jinwoo hung out with, and minho had a simple introduction with her the other day when he approached jinwoo and his friends. one thing he noticed, was her staring at spencer in class, and vise versa, with spencer staring at her in the hallway. in that moment, minho knew this was his chance to play match-maker again.

the two apologized to each other as they stood back up, and minho could’ve sworn there was a moment of silence where they just stared at each other, making him grin as he looked between them. “oh, right!” he suddenly spoke, maybe a bit too loudly that he made them both jump. “spencer, this is rin. rin, this is spencer.”

“you know her?” spencer asked, raising an eyebrow at his shorter friend. minho gave him a look that said ‘don’t bullshit me now’, gesturing towards rin with a nod of his head. “i do. now, i know you’ve been staring at her with a goofy ass smile, so don’t blow your chance now.” spencer stood there, looking at minho with wide eyes and a lost expression on his face. “wha-” “boy, talk to her. she likes you too.” he muttered through his teeth, which wasn’t subtle at all, because rin was standing there, looking between the two boys with a very surprised expression.

“uh... um... i-i, okay.” spencer stuttered, looking over at the girl with a nervous smile. minho grinned, patting both of their shoulders and throwing in a thumbs up. “you can do it, kids! you’re adorable together already!” he said before running off back inside, making spencer yell towards him, “i swear, kang minho, you’re a piece of shit!” only receiving a loud obnoxious laugh in return.

spencer turned back towards the nervous girl who was clutching her books close to her chest. looking at them standing there together, they were from completely different groups of people, but were somehow very similar and equally as nervous. “so... uh, hi.” spencer said nervously, laughing a little. “h-h-hi.” rin answered in a quiet voice, her cheeks turning red as she stared down at the ground. spencer decided he might as well take this chance to finally talk to her like he’d always wanted to, and invited her to sit with him somewhere near.

“okay, why the fuck are you hanging out with that weirdo out of all people?” one of the guys on the ‘smart kids table’ spoke up, leaning against the table as he questioned yubin, making him roll his eyes in annoyance. “because i want to.”

“you realize that’s my brother you’re talking about, right?” someone next to yubin spoke, raising his eyebrows. his name was yoongi, and he looked identical to zander and even though everyone knew he was literally his twin brother, no one really thought of them as related because of how completely different they were. it was impossible for anyone to even imagine them coming out of the same womb. “yes, but... he’s a crackhead.”

“and what about it?” yubin immediately shot back, obviously not having it. “you guys never give him the time of the time, what would you know anything about him?”

“damn, okay, didn’t think you would get so-” “hey, yubie!” a girl suddenly came up to the table with a little smile and yubin was thankful that she cut that conversation short. she was someone quietly and invisible in the school, but she was in the dance troop with yubin and is actually one of his friends that he felt the closest to. “practice after school today?” crystal asked, but just when she asked, she couldn’t keep her eyes on her friend, and was glancing over at yoongi, who was sat next to him, instead. “oh, yeah! i thought i texted you guys about that, but i guess i forgot.” yubin answered, but wasn’t sure if she was even listening, because by now, she was only staring at yoongi who was looking down at his sketchbook as he continued to draw.

“i’ll send a text to everyone now.” he told her, receiving a silent nod from her. “cryssie, are you okay?” he asked with an amused smile, finally getting her attention. “oh, i’m-...” she laughed nervously. “i’m okay! i gotta go.” and she immediately ran off.

“what do you think you’re doing?!” minho yelled as soon as he walked into the boys bathroom and saw what was happening. a bunch of tall guys were huddled around one of the stalls, laughing loudly as the toilet kept flushing over and over again obviously for the laughs.

“oh, hey, minho. come look at this loser.” one of the jocks laughed, inviting the shorter boy over, thinking he might like seeing this, when in fact, minho hated it whenever these guys would bully anyone weaker than them. he angrily walked over and as soon as he saw who it was they were torturing, his anger only got fueled some more. “stop it! what the fuck are you doing to him?!” minho, despite being really small compared to them, was strong enough to pull them away from the younger boy now sitting there, trying to breathe. it was also easy because they were confused as to why he reacted like that, so they let go of the boy immediately. “get the hell out of here before you see something you really don’t want to see.” he looked at them with gritted teeth, and the sight of an angry minho was enough to make them give up and leave.

“jinnie, are you okay?” his tone immediately softened as he crouched down beside the boy, trying to make sure that he was fine. “fuck, hold on.” he got up, getting some paper napkins to help him clean up the dirty water from his face and hair.

“th-thank you.” jinwoo breathed out, looking at him before coughing and it broke minho’s heart to see him like that. he helped him up, still cleaning him off as best as he could. “does this happen often?” minho asked quietly, bringing him over to the sinks to help him wash away the toilet water. jinwoo didn’t say anything, and only nodded after a few seconds of silence. “fucking asshole.” minho muttered, only getting more angry. once jinwoo washed his face and dried off, minho smiled softly at him. “it’s okay, it’s-... you really don’t deserve that.” he sighed. jinwoo looked so upset, like he wanted to cry, and minho couldn’t help but reach over and take his hand. he then remembered their plans for the day after school and for the following weekend, and that’s when he squeezed his hand and smiled a little wider at him. “how about you come home with me?” he suggested, and jinwoo’s eyes only widened in confusion. “you know, classes are over and we already had plans to go out, so... might as well let you wash up at my place and you can borrow a shirt? i mean- unless you want to change into something else.”

jinwoo stared at him at first, and then shook his head. “i-i-i-... n-no, uh, that’s-that’s okay with me.” he spoke quietly, smiling down at the ground shyly, and minho’s heart could only soar. “i promise, i’ll do my best to make your day a million times better!” he said with his usual wide smile, gently ruffling jinwoo’s hair. and after they made quick stops at their lockers to get their things, they were off together to minho’s house.

leaning back in his seat on the bleachers with his feet up on the seat in front of him, taeil crossed his arms as he, for the first time, actually watched the cheerleaders practice. they were doing a full routine at the moment, and he had no idea what the fuck was happening, but it was insane. his eyes were on mina in particular. not even his music could distract him as he watched her leading the other girls.

“for fuck’s sake, she’s so hot.” he muttered, sighing. rosie, who was sat next to him, looking at him strangely with wide eyes, still not getting used to the fact that taeil park, out of all people, was infatuated with mina nam, head cheerleader. she was sure this is the most horrifying thing she’d ever had to endure.

“you guys didn’t actually fuck, did you?” she asked, making him look at her. taeil rolled his eyes. he didn’t want to tell anyone about what had actually happened, not even zander who was one of his closest friends. but zander can’t keep his mouth shut, and he knew rosie was a safer option. “... we didn’t.” he told her quietly, shrugging. “oh, thank jesus!” she yelled. “shut your fucking mouth.” he muttered, pushing her shoulder.

“okay, listen. to be fair, i didn’t want you to end up being used as a one night stand.” rosie admitted and taeil could only roll his eyes. “for your information, she was actually the one who decided not to go on and to get to know each other instead.” “oh, really now?” rosie raised an eyebrow. “yeah. we talked all night, listened to some music and watched some shit tv show. made out, and that’s about it.” he adjusted his legs more comfortably. “and she’s not using you...?” she asked, looking very skeptical. “nope. at least i don’t think she is. she came up to me yesterday and made it clear it was more than that.”

“well.” rosie scoffed, finding it ridiculous and very unbelievable that mina would do that.

“well, what?”

“well, don’t get too naive. i don’t want you to fall hard for her, only to find out that it’s been a joke the whole time.” rosie shrugged. “shut the fuck up, rosie. she might be your friend, but you don’t sound like you know her right now.”

“whatever.” she rolled her eyes and picked her bag up, getting up to leave. taeil ignored her and put in his earphones, spending the break looking between the cheer practice and his phone.

jinwoo walked out of minho’s bathroom and into his room, hair and face all clean after washing up. he had changed from his dirty shirt into a large black one minho owned. some of minho’s clothes were baggy on him because he liked the feeling of them, but he knew that they would fit the taller boy perfectly, and the one he picked did. “th-thank you. i-i-i... i really a-appreciate this.”

“stop thanking me so much, you cute bunny. i’m just trying to help.” minho smiled at him from his spot on his bed. “... b-bunny?” jinwoo asked, confused. “uh.. yeah. you... you kinda resemble a cute bunny when you smile.” simply saying that made jinwoo smile so widely, his cheeks turning pink once again.

jinwoo was drying his hair with a towel and then left it like that as he sat near minho, seeming like something he always did with his hair. twisting his lips, minho sat up straight and reached over to gently run his fingers through jinwoo’s hair. “you don’t need to blow dry or anything?” jinwoo simply shook his head. “i just leave it as it is.”

“... can i do your hair for you?” minho asked excitedly, perking up in his spot with a smile on his face. jinwoo tilted his head, looking at him in confusion, probably wondering why minho would want to do that. “uh... o-okay. s-sure.” he nodded slowly, smiling nonetheless. that’s when minho immediately dragged him towards his desk, made him sit down and started to pull up hair tools and products while jinwoo stared at everything he suddenly took out.

minho looked like he was having the time of his life as he styled jinwoo’s hair. he was doing his best to make it look good, and even parting it at the side because he’d always wondered what the boy would look like if he did that with his hair. he was right: he looked extremely handsome. more handsome than he already was.

“what do you think?” minho asked, pointing towards the mirror for jinwoo to look. the younger stared at himself, his eyes widening; something that seemed to happen a lot with him. his surprised expression was so cute that minho couldn’t help but giggle. jinwoo touched a strand of his hair and then looked at minho again. “h-how-... i-i-i don’t think i-i’ve ever-...” he laughed, not knowing what to say.

“you look extremely good with your hair away from your face.” minho told him with the widest smile on his face. he seemed to never be able to stop smiling around the other. “i-... it l-looks really a-awesome.” jinwoo giggled quietly, somehow getting more shy than he already was. “we’re going out with you looking like that, don’t fight me. it looks too good for you to not keep it like that.” minho insisted, and jinwoo felt like he couldn’t say no to the smaller boy.

“now! that date! we shouldn’t hold it off so much.” minho said casually, going to grab his jacket. “d-date? we-.... w-w-we n-never called it a d-d-date.” jinwoo stuttered, standing up. minho looked at him again, his smile dropping. “oh... i-i, uh... i’m sorry. i didn’t mean to call it that...” the confident boy was suddenly looking nervous, and jinwoo shook his head, approaching the other. “no! i-... i-i want it to be a-a d-date.” his voice was shaking as he tried to be confident enough, and minho looked at him with his wide, love-sick smile once again.

“sound good to me.” and he couldn’t help but stand on his tip toes to leave a quick kiss on jinwoo’s cheek. the younger boy froze in his spot, making minho laugh. the smaller boy grabbed jinwoo’s jacket and handed it to him.

“come on, bunny. let’s go.” he giggled.

#–– ** au ]#–– ** i promise to never fall in love with a stranger | au ]#–– ** self para ]

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deadcactuswalking · 4 years

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REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 26/12/2020 (LadBaby, Boris Johnson, Ed Sheeran)

It’s Boxing Day in the UK as I write this and I’m pretty tired but we still have to review those charts regardless, especially this chart as this is the Christmas chart – at least it’s being paraded around as such – and hence we have a Christmas #1. For the third year in a row, family vlogger, pseudo-comedian and amateur musician, not to be confused with DaBaby, Mark Ian Hoyle – more commonly known as “LadBaby”, has bagged the #1 for the holiday season. Every time I’ve covered the Christmas #1 it has been this guy and, yeah, I’m tired of it. At least this year he felt some stiff competition, and hey, the songs’ proceeds do go to charity. Oh, yeah, and this guy is the third act to have three Christmas #1s in a row, putting this nobody from Nottingham with a barebones Wikipedia page and a couple million YouTube subscribers on the level of the Beatles and Spice Girls. God, the UK Singles Chart never fails to amaze me. Anyway, that’s arguably not even the biggest story here so let’s start REVIEWING THE CHARTS.

Rundown

As I said before, this is the “Christmas week” so throughout the UK Top 75 there are a lot of holiday songs re-peaking or reaching new peaks, before dropping off entirely the next week. Let’s start as we always do by listing the drop-outs from the chart, of which there are quite a few notable ones. Most of our top 40 debuts from last week are gone, like Taylor Swift’s “champagne problems” and “no body, no crime” featuring HAIM, as well as “Show Out” by Kid Cudi, the late Pop Smoke and Skepta. We can also say goodbye to “Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)” by Post Malone and Swae Lee, finally after 54 weeks and a surprise return earlier this month, in addition to other top 10 hits like “you broke me first” by Tate McRae, “See Nobody” by Wes Nelson and Hardy Caprio and “What You Know Bout Love” also by Pop Smoke, as well as some more minor hits like “Wonder” by Shawn Mendes, “Lonely” by Justin Bieber and benny blanco, “Train Wreck” by James Arthur, “Golden” by Harry Styles and “Plugged in Freestyle” by A92 and Fumez the Engineer, but I can see almost all of these rebounding hard next week so I don’t think there’s much to worry about here. For fallers, since Christmas has really consumed everything about this chart this week, we have some big ones that’ll find themselves back in the top 10 or at least top 20 next week like “positions” by Ariana Grande at #19 (the first non-Christmas non-debut song to appear on the chart, by the way), “Sweet Melody” by Little Mix at #20, “Whoopty” by CJ at #22, “34+35” by Ariana Grande at #28, “WITHOUT YOU” by The Kid LAROI at #31, “Prisoner” by Miley Cyrus and Dua Lipa at #35 alongside “Midnight Sky” also by Miley at #36, “willow” by Taylor Swift off the debut to #37, “Get Out My Head” by Shane Codd at #38 and “Paradise” by MEDUZA and Dermot Kennedy. We also have “Therefore I Am” by Billie Eilish at #43, “Really Love” by KSI featuring Craig David and Digital Farm Animals at #45, even “HOLIDAY” by Lil Nas X at #49, “Mood” by 24kGoldn featuring iann dior at #54, “Loading” by Central Cee at #59, “Head & Heart” by Joel Corry and MNEK at #60, “Monster” by Shawn Mendes and Justin Bieber at #64, “Blinding Lights” by the Weeknd at #66, “Dynamite” by BTS at #67, “Lemonade” by Internet Money and Gunna featuring Don Toliver and NAV at #72, “Levitating” by Dua Lipa with the biggest fall down to #73 and finally “No Time for Tears” by Nathan Dawe and Little Mix at #74. To put the dominance of holiday music on the charts in perspective, if we take the songs that are not either explicitly Christmas-related or a clear Christmas #1 campaign (i.e. LadBaby), the song at #38 would be at #10 and our #1 would be “positions” by Ariana Grande at #19. “Whoopty” by CJ, that entered the top 10 last week and dropped to #22 this week, would be at #3. There are 11 songs in the top 40 that never made an effort to take advantage of the holiday season. When we get into some of our debuts, it’ll be even clearer how big Christmas is in British pop music. Anyway, let’s skim through our gains and returning entries, most of which are Christmas or Christmas-related. For returning entries, we have the comically awful “Lonely this Christmas” by Mud at #71, last year’s scam attempt at a Christmas #1, “River” by Ellie Goulding at #69, “The Christmas Song (A Merry Christmas to You)” by Nat King Cole at #63 (which I’d appreciate more in the top 20 like it is in the US every year – this is a classic), “2000 Miles” by the Pretenders at #62 (again, incredible song that deserves a higher holiday peak each year), “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” by Darlene Love at #58, “Santa’s Coming for Us” by Sia at #55, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” by Sam Smith at #53 and for whatever reason, “Holy” by Justin Bieber featuring Chance the Rapper at #41. In terms of notable gains – and I stress notable, since a lot of higher-up Christmas songs had small gains but still good performance - we have “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” by the Jackson 5 at #57, “Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!” by Frank Sinatra at #56, “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby at #52, “Baby it’s Cold Outside” by Brett Eldredge and Meghan Trainor at #51, “Forever Young” by Becky Hill at #50 (both off of the debut), “Baby it’s Cold Outside” AGAIN by Michael Bublé and Idina Menzel at #47, “Love is a Compass” by Griff at #46, “Feliz Navidad” by Jose Feliciano at #44, “Cozy Little Christmas” by Katy Perry at #42, “Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!” AGAIN by Dean Martin at #39, “Sleigh Ride” by the Ronettes at #34, “Christmas Lights” by Coldplay at #33, “Santa Baby” by Kylie Minogue at #32, “Mistletoe” by Justin Bieber at #29, “Jingle Bell Rock” by Bobby Helms at #27, “Wonderful Christmastime” by Paul McCartney at #26, “Holly Jolly Christmas” by Michael Bublé at #25, “All You’re Dreaming Of” by Liam Gallagher at #24 (thanks to a Christmas #1 campaign that crashed and failed), “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” by Andy Williams at #23, “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” by John Lennon and Yoko Ono with the Plastic Ono Band featuring the Harlem Community Choir at #21, “One More Sleep” by Leona Lewis at #18, “Merry Xmas Everybody” by Slade at #17, “Underneath the Tree” by Kelly Clarkson at #15, and finally, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” by Justin Bieber illegitimately notching a spot in the top 10 at #8. Finally, we can get onto the new arrivals, although something about this next one tells me that we won’t be in line for anything all that good.

NEW ARRIVALS

#70 – “I’ll be Home” – Meghan Trainor

Produced by Meghan Trainor

...for Christmas. She’ll be home for Christmas. I guess she just can’t finish sentences, even though her cover art has the full title. Anyway, this is a 2014 original Christmas song that went nowhere except Sweden. It’s not anything like the Bing Crosby and wasn’t nearly as successful, mostly because it’s a jingly, inoffensive ballad tacked onto a silly Christmas EP that also features Fifth Harmony and Fiona Apple of all people – who probably should have charted her track instead – as well as the deluxe edition of that debut record Title that nobody liked. At least in this, she’s not going for a faux-retro style, or at least one that I can find the inspiration for, and is just singing over this oddly jaunty piano melody – which sounds pretty albeit bland – as well as some swells of strings and acoustic guitar that do work sonically. The content implies that Meghan Trainor is in contact with Santa Claus personally, and that he gave her the advice to be home with her lover this Christmas and... that’s why this charted, isn’t it? Well, it’s not her fault – it’s not a “stuck with u” moment, but it is dodgy that she decided to put this on her own Christmas record that was released in October of this year, which can’t seem unintentional. I’d be lying to say this isn’t a pretty little tune from Trainor and her voice does fit this instrumental, but a jazzy rendition from someone with a deeper, smoother voice, would work wonders with the content. Oh, and that Christmas record features guest appearances from both Earth, Wind & Fire and Seth MacFarlane, as well as her dad, because, you know, sure, 2020.

#65 – “Gnat” – Eminem

Produced by d.a. got that dope

I can’t tell if I’m underestimating Christmas or overestimating Eminem when I say I expected an album bomb – or whatever that equivalent would be in the UK and our land of silly chart rules – from the deluxe edition of his pretty damn terrible album, Music to be Murdered By. This 3/10 trainwreck consists of two hours I’ll never get back of either great beats wasted by Eminem’s corny, stiff flows and painfully unlikeable delivery or obnoxious, unlistenable beats that are dated enough for Eminem to start going on his Relapse “killing women in funny accents” shtick, which was awful then and even worse now when he tries to replicate it. Marshall, you’re 48, and I know that you’re just “messing around” but if you’re going to treat the album as a cinematic masterpiece within the album and its thematic Alfred Hitchcock interludes, you have to understand that the audience will see it as that way as well, so you having fun and being painfully unfunny in the process over cutting-room-floor trap instrumentals cannot slide. At least Kamikaze had some genuine anger and dare I say some actual balls in how it tackled controversy and dissed everyone he could think of off the top of his head. The last record was angry and bitter, this one’s just tired and lazy, and that’s before we get into some of the ugliest bars, instrumentals and cadences Slim Shady’s ever put on record, which is especially present on “Gnat”, a lightweight trap banger with some acoustic guitars not dissimilar to those that would appear on a Lil Baby mixtape, complete with questionable bass mixing and really bad hooks. On the verses, he sends a death threat to Mike Pence, but on the chorus, his bars are “like COVID” because “you get them right off the bat”. I don’t know about you, but in 2020, I don’t want to hear Eminem harmonising with producer tags, making topical and insensitive pandemic references, or spitting sex bars with coughing ad-libs. Before the beat switch, his flows are some of the sloppiest and drawn-out he’s ever used, and yes, I’ll admit, that second beat is a lot better and Em kills it over that instrumental – but only for a brief moment before we have a third beat, which Eminem is pretty great over, especially with that sax and sweet piano keys overlaid with hard 808s and Eminem’s rapid-pace, quick fire flow... and then he raps the chorus again and I want the song to end as quickly as it started – thankfully, it does end rather abruptly. Just wasted potential all throughout – if that beat switch and flow was a guest verse on damn near anyone else’s record (Em has made tracks with Don Toliver of all people, and he could work), this could be great. For now, Em, you know Kris Kristofferson? I think you should Piss Pissofferson. Forever. Look that up, by the way, that’s a lyric on the record because of course it is.

#61 – “In the Bleak Midwinter” – Jamie Cullum

Produced by ???

I had only briefly heard the name “Jamie Cullum” before this, but he is an English jazz-pop singer and pianist who’s basically useless and uninteresting but, hey, at least he has a radio show on BBC Radio 2. Sure, I mean that might have been the reason that Amazon Music picked him up for an exclusive project for which this is the biggest single. It’s not on Spotify, it’s not even on Genius, and it’s barely on YouTube but since it is, I should tell you that this is his first charting single since 2009 and it’s a remarkably uninteresting rendition of a Christmas carol done a lot better by Jacob Collier – and that one’s on Spotify – so yeah, your sleepy piano arrangement and tone that makes you sound like Robbie Williams half the time and Beck the other, doesn’t interest me. Goodbye.

#30 – “Afterglow” – Ed Sheeran

Produced by PARISI, Fred Again and Ed Sheeran

If we inexplicably remove everything Christmas-related on the chart, Eminem’s “Gnat” would have debuted at #20, and this new track from Ed Sheeran, already stunted from being released on an unconventional day, would have hit #5. Regardless of chart position, Ed Sheeran’s back with his first solo single since Divide. Yes, I’m purposefully ignoring that collaborative project he put out in 2019 because as far as I know, it doesn’t exist. At the end of the year, when things are looking as if he could start touring again, Sheeran predictably releases his lead-off single. This song in particular is a heartfelt ballad from Ed to his wife, who he wishes to be there forever and even if they aren’t together at any moment, whether he’s touring or they separate for whatever reason, he’ll “hold on to the afterglow”. I won’t lie, it’s a really sweet and convincingly sold love song from Ed, even if it’s not anything new, it does feel like a different approach since he’s a newly-wed man now. Although I’m not a fan of this somewhat muddy mixing that somehow messes up just a guy and his acoustic guitar, making what should be a really pretty, ethereal and mellow track sound almost ugly, which doesn’t flatter Ed and his limited delivery at all, especially when he starts getting multi-tracked in the second verse and whooshing sound effects of strings pop up in the mix, and, yeah, it just sounds cheap and gross at this point, which is really a waste of incredible content and a great performance from Ed, who sells everything as well as he can. I understand how this is supposed to be down to Earth, so a perfect mix wouldn’t make sense, but if you’re going to make him harmonise with his own background vocals and even show signs of belting, give him some more grandiosity and go full out instead of restraining him so that it just sounds jarring. With a different mix this could be one of Ed’s best tracks since the melodies are on point, the song feels really heart-warming and sincere, especially coming from Ed to his wife, but we won’t get a remaster anytime soon, I imagine, so for now this is just pretty damn good. I love the cover art as well, painted by Ed himself, and released alongside the single as a bit of a Christmas gift to fans, as well as the start of what I’m pretty sure will be a promo cycle. If this is a good peek into what that album will sound like, it’s safe to say I’m more than excited than ever to hear from Ed Sheeran.

#5 – “Boris Johnson is a Fricking Jerk” – Kool & the Gang

Produced by ???

Okay, so the song’s calling Boris Johnson something stronger than a “fricking jerk”, and the song is decidedly not by soul legends Kool & the Gang, although I’d love for that to happen sometime. This is a family show, of course, so we have to take some liberties. This track originates from a comedian from Basildon, Essex of all places, and whilst we don’t know his name, the songwriting credit on Spotify is given to contemporary British poet Wayne Clements so maybe he’s behind this, who knows? Whether he is or not, I can tell you the history behind this comedian’s music, as he has been making crude short singles about controversial topics in British society and politics for a while, including some about Nick Clegg that charted, although never higher than #63. He retired in 2016 but after writing an autobiography, the guy’s back and he released a compilation of punk rock tracks, all of which are small and profane, with a “band” of puppets that I also can’t name. State-controlled Russian television networks – because, sure, again, it’s 2020 – say that he will start touring in 2021, mostly because he’s finally reached that mainstream audience with this family-friendly tune about Boris Johnson. Here’s how Vick Hope and Katie Thistleton introduced it live on air during the mid-week chart reveal.

Now at #19, we've got a track about Boris Johnson that has so many bad words in it, we can't play it on daytime Radio 1.

Ah, you cowards. Wait... Anyway, I’m pretty happy that the British public can stick it to Boris and the heartless Tories that follow him and currently rule the country, even if it is all a bloody stupid joke from an anonymous punk rocker. We can dig into Boris for his failures on Brexit, mishandling of the pandemic, disgraceful reality-star-esque personal life, that he wasn’t even born in the UK yet is basically a nationalist, his history of Islamophobic commentary, his crap excuses for journalism back in the 2000s or even his clown-nose, blonde bowl-cut “hair style” he adopts whilst addressing us on live television feeding us lies and misleading statements that turn into retcons the next time he has to address the nation, whether it be on Brexit or COVID-19 tiers and regulations, both of which are a confusing mess to both sides of Europe that exist to drift us away from where we should be going as a nation, and further into the realm of political party tribalism that we know absolutely does not work in the States and that we mock the Yanks for. We’re more than the sick man of Europe, we are the America of Europe. I guess you could say Ireland is our Canada, but we don’t even have a Mexico to make us look better, we just have other western, central and northern European countries that may be flawed but are far ahead of whatever the hell this shell of a union is in 2020, less than 80 years after the creation of our National Health Service. People will look to pundits and newsreaders like Piers Morgan, entertainers like Phillip Schofield, war veterans and charity-givers like Captain Tom Moore, and even politicians like Boris Johnson, as the “heroes” of Britain’s 2020 but it’s increasingly clear that absolutely no-one is a hero, and it’s the people’s right to be upset. Hence, nearly exactly a year after Boris Johnson cheated his way into power by smear campaigns and elitism, we have this song debuting at #5. Unfortunately, the song doesn’t go into any of that. It just repeats the title in an anthemic – and considerably agreeable – refrain that is an undeniable punk hook. The riffs and guitar work here isn’t of any interest, but the guy’s delivery is powerful and furious, so I’ll give the song credit: it’s not just correct but it’s really good, especially for a one minute runtime. He also released some satirical MIDI-level synth-pop remix with gross Christmas sleigh bells and hi-hat skitters, because, say it with me, it’s 2020. I wouldn’t recommend the album though, it overstays its welcome by the time you get to “Jesus Died of a Stranglewank”.

#1 – “Don’t Stop Me Eatin’” – LadBaby

Produced by who cares?

I can’t get mad at this lazy “parody” of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” about sausage rolls, or even its Ronan Keating remix, which is LadBaby doing a favour to Ronan Keating, if anything. Sure, my blood boils with the idea that this incompetent Internet personality from the East Midlands – which I think I’m sadly also able to describe myself as – got the #1 over Mariah Carey, or even that Boris Johnson diss track, but it’s going to the Trussell Trust and it’s ultimately an inoffensive, vaguely happy track that even gets the vegans involved. I, for one, prefer “Boris Johnson is a Sausage Roll”, a version of our #5 you can – and should – play on the radio even after Christmas. I don’t have anything more to say about this guy so piss off, LadBaby, you can’t even get the album cover right to the song you’re parodying, thrice in a row.

Conclusion

Best of the Week is definitely going to the Somethings for “Boris Johnson is a Something Something”, with an Honourable Mention to Ed Sheeran’s “Afterglow”. I can’t bring myself to give a charity single Worst of the Week so I’ll spare LadBaby the honour and grant it to Jamie Cullum for his greedy Amazon exclusive trite, with a Dishonourable Mention for “Gnat” by Eminem, for just being wasted potential all across the board. Next week, everything Christmas-related will be gone and we’ll get a bunch of returns and hopefully some new, interesting returning entries. We might even get the impact of Playboi Carti’s long-anticipated album – and I hope so because it’s fantastic – but that’s wishful thinking. Anyways, I hope everyone had a happy holiday season. Here’s our top 10:

Thank you for reading. You can follow me @cactusinthebank for more rambling about pop music and occasionally politics, and I’ll see you next year.

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