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lcnelyinthesky · 4 years

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admiration - tsukishima kei

a/n: okay hi?? im ellie?? heres this??? i worked on it for like four? days?on and off? and its longer than any oneshot ive written but yk shes cute ig. pls be nice pls enjoy... but also my last piece got 2 notes and im really hopin in not shadowbanned here lmao

genre: fluff, angst, rivals to lovers!!

pairing: bisexual!female!reader x tsukishima kei (yes bi reader its a vibe)

warnings: a break up with a beautiful woman i made up myself, swearing

word count: 3.7k (ahhhh!!)

enjoy!! :D

Elementary second year. Your newly-assigned seat was next to a much taller, blond kid. He was smart and bright, rivaling the sun in terms of unbridled joy. Now, none of that can be seen by eight year old eyes, but looking back and comparing, it's easy to spot that he changed.

Tsukishima Kei was an excitable kid, just as everyone was, but he was still snarky; his arrogance seemed to be something that just festered within his soul, no matter the trauma that brought it out.

Childlike wonder is still alive and well at eight.

The teacher you had back then was quite rude. She was pushy and angry, and she assigned way too much homework. Everything she uttered made you huff in disappointment, crossing your arms and hoping for some sort of reaction from someone. The kid next to you was named Koji--or, at least, that's what you called him. He was your best friend, spending every moment with you like you were siblings. You'd be able to crack a joke with the smallest glance and you’d talk constantly. As soon as your handwriting was legible to people of your age group, you'd pass notes back and forth and cackle at their contents. Until, of course,

“Tsukishima, will you switch seats with Kojikata today?” Your teacher sounded exhausted, huffing her sentence out on a sigh before going back to the multiplication tables on the board. Suddenly, your little world was interrupted.

“Y/N, right?” He didn’t look at you, placing his folders down on the desk and pushing his glasses back up as he sat. His words were hushed and quiet, but the class had moved into individual work--he wasn’t interrupting anyone.

“Yeah. Can I call you Tsukki?” You were angry, gripping your pencil tighter in your little hand as you wrote numbers down on white paper. One times one is one. Two times two is four. This is easy.

“No,” he was long doing the same thing, but writing quicker than you. That’s how it is, huh?

Three times two is six. Four times five is twenty. Six times three is eighteen. Five times six is thirty. This is easy-

“Miss, I’m done.” His voice was always so dry. Uninterested.

Four times three is twelve. “Me too!” Your hand shot up with the paper in it, sending a death glare at the boy next to you.

That's how it is, huh?

This pattern continued for weeks. Tsukishima didn’t move from his seat next to you, as your teacher had made the realization that you worked far harder without friends around. Tsukishima lit a competitive fire under you; everything was now a race.

It started with handing in assignments. Who would go up to the front desk first to have their work checked over? Who would finish this quiz faster? Then it transferred into everything.

Who would get to class faster? Who finished their lunch quicker? Who could read faster? Who scored higher on spelling tests? Who could run faster in gym class?

And then it was middle school.

Middle school brought in Yamaguchi Tadashi.

It'd be an understatement to say he warmed to Yamaguchi quickly, but the basis behind that was strange. Tsukishima was never one for friends, even though everyone wanted to be friends with him. He was cool in the eyes of a handful of eleven year olds; letting everything roll off your back seemed to be an admirable trait. Yamaguchi worshipped him, and Tsukishima took him under his wing to teach him the ropes of being a cool kid.

At heart, though, Yamaguchi was kind and attentive. He could tell when things were going wrong, and supposedly it was him that changed the rest of your life.

The rivalry continued just as it had in elementary, just with higher stakes. You'd fight for answering questions first, working ahead of everyone else to just beat him. He’d never bat an eye at it, and sometimes you thought it was all over, but then

“Y/N.” Tsukishima Kei stood three steps behind you, looming over you with the height he was seemingly born with. The hallway was emptying by now, kids walking into their classrooms once again. The white floors rung with the quiet sounds of soft-bottomed shoes and a light above your head flickered calmly.

“Yeah?” You spun around to meet his gaze.

“What’d you get on that lit essay?”

“A 96. Why?”

“No reason,” he smirked and tilted his head up, looking down at you, “I got a 100.”

A huff and a stomp away gave him the answer he needed as he followed you into the classroom, sitting down behind you and next to Yamaguchi just as he did every day. The little shit.

Tsukishima was never better than you, technically speaking. On average and on paper, you were always both roughly the same. You'd fight for being top of the class, the position switching between both of you every day. You excelled in creative things while he excelled at sports, but both of you dabbled in the other. When people in your year began dating, everyone came to assume you two were. It was embarrassing, really, because Tsukishima Kei was a little shit know-it-all who will never beat me at anything ever and people need to stop thinking he will because he won’t I’m better than hi-

“Hey?” Oh right. Friends.

“Koji!” He never left, at least not yet. His nimble fingers tapping on your shoulder brought you back to reality, making you jump and turn around to face him, wrapping your arms around his body for a split second.

“You looked zoned” his face was riddled with concern that was easy to write off.

“Oh, whoops” a small blush heated your cheek as your hand migrated to rub your neck. “Did you want something?”

As you walked into the classroom a bit further, Koji sat on your right; he seemed to buckle down more when you had moved away from each other way back in the day, so there were less mid-class comedy shows. He grew up just as you had, and with the closeness of the two of you people began to think you were dating. At twelve, it was incredibly necessary to date someone--anyone. Theories bounced from everywhere and anywhere and with you it was either your best friend or your biggest rival. Your lack of attraction to either of them became the center of many late night crises.

“Not particularly,” his gaze switched from you to the board again, beginning to write something down when he turned his head. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah! Of course I am,” you smiled at him, the kind of smile that made your eyes crinkle at the corners, and suddenly it was high school.

“Tsukishima is really cute! And he's smart, I heard that Kageyama wasn’t too bright somewhere.”

“But Kageyama’s so much hotter! His being a little dumb sometimes is endearing.”

“Are we not going to talk about that third year setter, Sugawara?”

“No, he’d never go for a first year. Besides, that Hinata kid is more of an enigma.”

“Have you even seen them play?” A howl of angry “yes”s fell over the crowd, trying to prove something. None of them had ever seen them play.

That asshole Tsukishima getting popular felt like a stab in the soul. None of them knew him or how much he sucked, but the amount of girls fawning over him was horrific.

There's something consistently poetic about young love, no matter where it comes from. Something extra sweet about holding pinkies in school corridors when no one is looking and seeing them every day, smiling loudly as the sun broke over the horizon all bright and early. The raging hormones and dumb, fake social hierarchies of fifteen make emotions run wild, and only the deeply immature end up helplessly infatuated. Others are more cautious, but there's only so many precautions one can take at fifteen. Sometimes some of us just want to be loved, no matter the sincerity of it.

Cared for, and whatnot. No harm in that, in the long run at least.

“Y/N, right?” Her name was Mei. She was in your class; 1-4, just like Tsukishima. She was pretty. Long, black hair was preceded by two green streaks at the front. She’d always have those down, making her features look like a photo in a perfect frame. She had a collection of hair clips with small shapes on them that she’d have somewhere on her person at all times. Her more mid-sized body was paler than most, and she was covered in freckles and moles. Her eyes were an unusual shade of blue that looked deep enough to swim in. Her cheeks were always stained with a peachy blush that moved up her collarbones and into her ears, making her look like she was always smiling no matter what her face was doing. Karasuno’s school uniform did wonders for her curves, the skirt swaying up on occasion and making her look so damn perfect.

“Yeah! You’re…” a second of dumbfounded pause felt like years in your mind, coming to the conclusion that she was the most beautiful girl you had ever met. “Ojiro Mei?”

“Yep! I just wanted to tell you you looked really pretty today!” Her voice always had an upward inflection, and was higher than most. It was cute. Incredibly cute.

“Oh.” A moment of confidence fell over you like you weren’t in control of your actions, “you’re beautiful.”

“Thank you very much,” she bounced back on her toes and then rolled back to her heels, hands intertwined behind her back, “You’re too kind, Y/N.” Her sentences were always punctuated with an eye-crinkling smile.

Later that day, you found her on every social media account you could; she messaged you first.

When you don’t know you’re interested in women, it’s hard to notice that they’re flirting with you, but after a handful of supposed gay panic, you asked her on a date.

She was two inches shorter than you, and somehow that persisted no matter what shoes she was wearing. Every small outing with her felt like cloud nine--watching the sunset, small conversation over tea at a nearby cafe, cuddling in your bedroom with only a string of Christmas lights on. She always looked so wonderful in soft lighting, the potential cold of winter disappeared with pale beiges that made her freckles look like stars. Every action Mei ever did was soft and full of care. She could send every single emotion through her fingertips on your jaw, deepening a kiss you started moments before. She was like magic, until she wasn't anymore.

You supposed, when thinking back, that things fell out around month thirteen. The rose colored lenses everything was viewed through faded a bit, and it's easy to notice her pulling away. There were less late night phone calls and less recommended music and less hands running through your hair. Everything has a natural progression to the end, right?

“Do you still feel it?” It was raining. Large drops of water fell down to the floor, smacking the pavement at speeds you couldn’t even try to measure. She was wearing a bright yellow raincoat that looked almost dull in the four pm light.

“Feel what?”

“Anything, baby.” All of her words ended with a huffed out sigh, like she was tired of something. Lying, maybe.

You pondered the question, and it seemed like your hesitation gave her all the answer she needed.

“Ya know, Y/N.” She looked down and grabbed your hands with hers, rubbing her thumbs on your palms as you grabbed around them. “This was fun. We had a good run.”

A solemn tear fell down your cheek at the ending, but there was no use in self pity or anger now. She was so sweet and kind, and it's truly unthinkable how she continued that kindness in the end.

“Yeah. A good run.” The pink in your cheeks grew as you choked out a laugh, pulling her in for one final hug under the dim fluorescent lights on the front door overhang of the school.

Fifteen came and went with love, and when sixteen rolled around you wondered if you’d ever be loved like that again.

A spirit can't be broken overnight, and if you’ve spent the last eight years of your life having a strong, consistent rivalry with someone, it won’t leave any time soon. Tsukishima and you were on similar playing fields for most of your life, but you had one thing he didn’t: relationship experience. In that way, you always counted yourself one point higher, like a boy scout badge.

For a spell, however, your intensity changed. There was nothing more driving you than spite, and there was nothing you wanted more than to beat him. You were well into your second year of high school at this point, and--volleyball notwithstanding--you had wins over Tsukishima. You had seen him play volleyball, every match in his second year, and you deemed he was simply okay. You refused to count his success onto the list of wins for both of you.

June fifteenth. Tournaments were coming up around the corner when it happened, which explained every reason why he was there. You weren’t exactly prepared for the rain, so the best bet seemed to be sitting at the front entrance of Karasuno High School and wallowing in a little bit more self pity before you went home. You were just dumped after all, the tears weren’t done falling.

The feeling between sadness and shame overflowed you, shades of yellowish green painting the world around you and churning your gut into oblivion. And the tears fell. It felt like a scene in a movie; in a few seconds, a strong, capable man would show up to your rescue.

“Y/N?” what the fuck?

He was sweaty. His face was matte from a light film of saltwater. He had a grey umbrella over his head, keeping himself dry from the still-pelting rain. His six-foot-two frame was covered with a black tracksuit, and he still had his sports goggles on.

Those fucking sports goggles.

“Tsukishima.” you deadpanned, trying to get him away as fast as possible. His words were snarky, as always, but this time laced with concern. Like he actually cared.

“What are you still doing here? It’s almost six,” he stood under the overhang with you, crouching to take a few feet off of his incredible height.

“Sulking?”

“Ah,” he huffed and sat down next to you, “it’s not great for your posture, ya know.”

“Oh shut up, Tsukishima.”

“Remember when we were eight,” he looked up, studying the moths as they flew around the lights on the ceiling, “and you asked if you could call me Tsukki?”

“Vaguely, but we were eight.”

“Yeah, true” his head dramatically fell to his lap, staring at his knees as he chuckled, “but you can. Call me Tsukki, that is.”

An uncomfortable laugh fell from your lips, and he spoke for you, “this one kid, Koganegawa, the setter on Date Tech, calls me that too. It's not a Tadashi-only nickname anymore.”

“You say Tadashi-only like I wasn’t there first.”

“He never asked.”

“Would you have said no?”

“Probably” he hasn’t actually looked at you yet.

“Should I not have asked?”

“It doesn’t matter anymore.”

“Okay, Tsukki” you drew out the last letter, giggling at the situation before you had time to think about your emotions.

He noticed that you weren’t crying anymore and helped you stand, grabbing your hand and pulling you up. Tsukishima and you lived closer than you thought, walking the same direction and only splitting up seconds away from your home.

You walked in silence the whole time, but it was comfortable. While he was your rival, he was always a friend. There was nothing scary or intimidating about him, as is with most people when you’ve known them forever; it was almost like his facade just didn’t work on you. You were huddled close to him to stay out of the rain.

The second you parted ways, you ran home. The rain was more of a drizzle now, but the temperature began a free fall--getting out of the cold as fast as possible was your first priority. Upon entering the front door and taking off your shoes and jacket, leaving everything to sit in the entryway, you took a shower. The rain didn’t do enough to wash away the pain of the day, and warm steam would let the rest evaporate. The expected unrelenting sadness wasn’t really present as much as was expected, though. Everything felt fine. Content. Okay.

And it continued that way. He sent you a snapchat asking if you had gotten home safely, which prompted a memory of you never giving each other your phone numbers. After a quick yes, tsukki. no need to worry ;), you sent him your number asking to play some game.

Whatever is meant to happen does, right? Any excuse for falling for him. You didn’t want to, of course, but things happen. Time changes. Thus, the excuses. Thus, the ignorance. Thus, the five stages of grief.

It started with the denial, because no Y/N you can’t like Tsukishima Kei. He’s so competitive and mean and snarky and horrible and you hate him! Then, the anger, because Tsukishima sucks and he’s horrible and you’re going to punch him in his stupid cute face. Next, the bargaining, because please don’t let this be happening you’ll do anything to lose these feelings, even if it means letting him win at something. Going into the depression, because all you’ve ever wanted was to be free of this assclown and now you’re stuck thinking about him at three in the morning when you’re supposed to be dreaming about anything other than him. And finally, acceptance, when you scowl at him in the hallway because fuck, you like Tsukishima Kei.

The worst bit of acceptance is getting over it. Now you had to confront your feelings. Now you needed to tell him.

It was roughly five months since he found you sulking on school grounds, and you regretted most days the way you let him text you every morning. It’d always be something stupid, like a joke about the novel you were reading in lit or sometimes he’d tell you, off hand, something dumb Hinata and Kageyama did at practice. Sometimes he’d text you, within the first twenty minutes of the school day, pointing out something little you did with your hair. They were never really compliments as much as comments; he’d say “your socks have a pink ring at the top” and give you nothing to work with from there. A simple yes would suffice, you always supposed, because “yes, tsukki. they do.”

He’d linger at his desk during the break between classes and would stay there if you didn’t leave, but would leave a few steps behind you if you did. He wouldn’t follow you, but he’d watch to know where you were going. Everything he did was concealed though--you'd only notice if you really wanted to know.

Yamaguchi was the only one to notice, even after a while of it. You’ll never know what he said to his friend, but the conversation you had with the aforementioned friend a day later gives some guesses.

“Y/N?” Tsukishima was never the shy type, and you knew him in the days where everyone was shy. He wasn’t loud, but he was bold. His words were always pointed and important. Everything he did always had purpose and intensity behind it.

“Tsukki?” You were sitting under a tree, enjoying the late spring weather of the beginning of your third year. Nothing became intense yet classwork wise, so there was ample time to chill on the school grounds. Overlooking the soccer field was a large oak tree. It was big enough to comfortably have multiple groups of people under its shade, but it was empty at the moment; save for you and the book you were reading.

“I was just wondering if you’d like to maybe go out sometime?” He somehow didn’t pause while talking, but his words came out more something akin to word vomit. You we’re more shocked than you should have been, if you had picked up on the signs. But you were feeling the same as he was, as far as you could tell.

“Sure, when?” You looked back down at your book for a second, placing the bookmark in it and folding the pages shut.

Tsukishima looked dumbfounded, standing there with his eyes bugged out and his mouth slightly agape. He started making unintelligible babbling noises, hoping to get something out that had any meaning at all. You took the reins instead, gaining confidence in his lack thereof.

“I was planning on getting coffee or something today after school. It gets really cold at night now, huh?”

“Yeah, I suppose.”

“Would you like to join me?”

“There's a break before practice today so” he hesitated, letting the pink in his cheeks finally catch up to the beating in his chest. “Sure.”

You wouldn’t have ever pegged Tsukishima Kei as the flustered type.

There was never a drop in conversation, as there never really was between you two. A whole life together and you still had things to talk about, mentioning everything from your individual childhoods to recent developments. Turns out he never knew what genre of books were your favorite. Or what kind of music you listened to. Or what any of your hobbies were.

Turns out you both had more in common than you thought, competitive spirits notwithstanding. Tsukishima Kei was a strange man in every sense of the word. He was arrogant and snarky and disinterested and bright and passionate and smart. He was your rival, smug look plastered on his smug face making your chest bubble in anger just as it had a million times before--or was that admiration this time? The world may never know.

All that was real right now was the deck of cards on the table, being separated out into a card game both of you learned as kids. The small, round, cafe table shook with every slap of your hands, but the basis of your relationship would always be competition. It's just that now the anger behind that competition was gone. All that was left was admiration.

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takenbyheartstrings · 5 years

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Pretty White Dress [ a.d ]

Summary: You and DeLuca have been dating for four years, when he decides to surprise you on your fourth anniversary, things just go the way he wants them to, because not every story has a happy ending, but this story does.

Pairing: Andrew DeLuca x dr!Reader

Authors Note: i almost died writing this, that’s it.

Warnings: SO MUCH FLUFF

As cheif of trauma, you had a lot of dignity. You were in a very high position in the hospital, being Amelia’s younger sister by a year, was anything but easy, as the youngest Shepherd and living with your three sisters who were also the chiefs of the hospital, basically, the hospital was run by your family. Being there since your intern days with Jo.

You woke up that morning, Andrews’ arm around your waist, he held you close. You smiled as he was awake holding you because he knew it was the best thing for you, he knew it was what you liked. You had been dating for what felt like ten yeas, but was only three going on four today.

You turned to meet Andrews eyes, “Morning.”

He pressed his lips to yours, “Morning, bubba, happy four year anniversary.” he muttered.

You smiled pressing another kiss to his lips, “Happy four year.”

You stood out of Andrews embrace putting your clothes on, as you felt him watch you, you turned around glaring at him playfully, “Creep.” You smiled lightly as you fell back on the bed in a sweater and pair jeans, as Andrew pulled you back into his embrace.

“C’mon, you’re gonna be late for rounds, and Meredith is carpooling us, and you know how mad she gets when someone’s late - I don’t want your gorgeous head chopped off.” You smiled pressing a kiss to his lips as you got up once more and threw him his slacks, boxers, and a white button-down shirt.

He smiled, putting on his clothes as you ran out the door and downstairs where you could hear Meredith beeping her horn outside of your house. Meredith, Amelia, and Maggie walked in.

Meredith looked at you sternly, “There you are! We thought you were dead,”

Rolling your eyes at Meredith, “Andrew hurry up!” You called from the bottom of the stairs as he ran down, his shirt unbuttoned as he started to button it.

“Good morning.” He smiled as all your sisters looked stood still staring as did you.

“Yes, it’s a very good morning.” Amelia smiled.

You looked at your older sister, “Amelia!” You slapped her arm as she jumped

“Ow!” Amelia pouted, “I deserved it,” She muttered quietly

As all of you piled into the car, you sat next to Andrew as Meredith pulled out the two new seats from the trunk of her car as a space for Alex and Jo.

As you stopped in front of their house, Meredith beeped her horn at them, “I’m gonna be so late for rounds,”

“No you’re not,” Maggie sighed, “You’re on my service today,”

“Aren’t you glad my sisters like you.” You smiled.

Meredith looked at you, “Who said we liked him?” She laughed as Andrew’s eyes went wide, “I’m kidding - I have to like him, you’ve been dating for four years.”

“Good,” You smile at Andrew, as we pull up into Meredith’s parking spot, “So, I’ll see you after work.” You placed a kiss on Andrew’s lips, you started to walk off, “Love you, Bub!”

“Love you too!” He called.

You sighed as Amelia walked into the cafeteria, sitting down next to you, with Jo beside you already, “How are my two favorite girls doing?” She smiled.

You and Jo exchanged a look, as Jo raised her eyebrows, ‘She’s your sister’, you read her lips. You gave her a stern look and looked back over to Amelia.

“What do you want?” You questioned your older sister - she was only like this when she wanted something.

“What do you mean, what do I want?” She asked you.

You looked at her with a blank expression, “You know exactly what I mean.”

“I just need one of you to, help me cook tonight, I’m watching over Zola and Bailey and Ellis while, Meredith is going out, specifically, you, Y/n, you are a very good cook.”

Jo scoffed, “Excuse me.”

“Jo, honey,” You smiled as she laughed, “You almost burnt your kitchen down that one time.”

“Oh, I know,” She sighed, “don’t rub it in,”

✦

Later that night, you were at Meredith’s house, knocking frantically on the door, Amelia opened it, wearing what seemed like a nice dress, you looked at her confused.

“I thought you were asking me to help you cook for kids, not host a dinner party.” You almost yelled at her.

“Look,” Amelia told you, “Just go in the bathroom - there’s a dress in there and come outside, it’s not a dinner party, it’s a dinner for you. Now go.”

You walked into the bathroom, a white dress hanging from the mirror - it was your favourite, but the only person who knew that was Andrew DeLuca, because it was the one you wore every single fancy dinner the two of you had ever gone two, which was about three, one for your six month, one for your one year, one for your two year, one for your three year, and you only wore this dress for those dinners, you were guessing this was number four, and this was your pretty white dress.

You slide on the pretty white dress, as you looked on the floor at a white pair of heels, you smiled sliding them on, following Amelia’s instructions as Meredith stopped you at the door, Zola, Bailey and Ellis in her clutches.

“You look amazing, Y/n, now, as soon as you step outside that door, I am your person - if you wanna get out of there, just page me and I’ll drive the getaway car, otherwise, if you stay, if you cry, I’ll be there for you, two shoulders. Now the kids and I have to go, but have a very good time.” She spoke.

You looked at her confused, “Thanks?” You smiled as you walked outside, the trees laced with fairy lights and the

Andrew sitting at a table, you shook your head, a goofy grin placed on your face.

“Dr. Y/n Shepherd.” Andrew smiled standing up pressing a kiss to your lips.

Andrew pulled out your chair, as you sat across from him, “I know it’s our anniversary, but, you didn’t need to do all this.”

“Yes, I did.” Andrew told you, “I did it, because I love you and you only deserve the best.”

You gave a goofy grin, “Y’know,” You said as you had a steak made by Andrew right in front of you, taking a piece and having a bite, “When I thought I found the love of my life, I hadn’t met you yet, he hurt me. A lot. But you already knew that, because you helped me. You saved me.”

“I know.” He flattered himself, “I am a superhero, I am, the savior.”

You laughed, “Don’t flatter yourself too much.”

He gave a hum, “No, I want to flatter you too much.”

and so Andrew got out of his seat, and held out his hand as Andrew interrupted your dinner for the two of you to stand up, as Andrew held your hand, he bent down on one knee, you know exactly what was going on, so you just sat there and smiled.

“Y/n Shepherd, from the first day I met you, when you called me your person, when you told me I saved you, when you told me that you left that jerk, when you told me you loved me for the first time, I knew you were everything I wanted. I knew you were the one.” He gave her larger grin than the one that was already on his face, “So what do you say, y/n... will you marry me?”

“YES!” You yelled tackling him to the ground planting kisses all over his face, his beard tickling you as you did so.

✦

You looked in the mirror, you looked back at Meredith as Jo finished your hair, “Don’t look at me like that,” Meredith scolded.

“I’m not looking at you like anything,” You said with a blank face.

Meredith sighed loudly, “Look, Amelia ran, came back, Cristina got left at the alter, you aren’t running and coming back too.”

“I’m not gonna run!” You almost yelled.

Jo looked at you, “You’re thinking about it.”

“Okay, but who doesn’t?” You defended yourself.

Jo held your shoulders, “The man at the alter,”

“I didn’t run,” Meredith shrugged.

“You and my brother wrote your vows on a sticky note because you were afraid to be legal, legal!”

“Okay, that’s... fair.” Meredith shrugged, taking your point into evaluation.

Jo stood you up, showing you to the full body mirror, she was wearing a pastel blue dress as Meredith was matching, Maggie and Amelia came into the room, wearing the same thing.

“You look beautiful, Y/n.” Maggie said hugging you.

Amelia looked at you, pulling you into a strong embrace, “Derek would be so proud of you right now.”

You pulled away, “Hey! Don’t make me cry on my wedding day.”

You looked at yourself in the mirror, you’d taken the pretty white dress into a shop, and got someone to custom transform the pretty white dress into the large wedding dress you’d wear today.

You looked at Jo for reassurance, “You do look pretty amazing.”

“Okay, so, then, let’s go. I’m gonna get married!” You smiled.

Next thing you knew, you were at the end, you were standing at the alter, Andrew, standing in front of you, in a black and white tuxedo, about to spill his vows. It was his turn first.

“Okay, so, I’ve said this a thousand times, but I still can’t believe you were dating that jerk when we first met.” that earned a laugh from everyone, “And about a week later, you dumped him, and hid your feelings for me, for well, three months, and it killed me, every second of the way. I just wanted to call you mine, to be yours. We’ve been through hell together, and traveled the heavens, and I will go through thousands of hell lit fires, for you. Because I love you.”

It was your turn now. Not like it could compare.

“They say that God creates you with two heads, four eyes, four arms, four legs, and four feet, and then he splits you into two, he takes your conjoined person and splits your soul into two. It’s like your other half, it’s like having a soulmate - and you think you find the other half of you, and then you don’t. But then you realize you were wrong, and your real other half comes along.” At this point, the tears streamed down your face, “I believe so much that you’re the other half of me, the half I was never able to find, the half that keeps me sane, the half that keeps me together, that keeps me stable. As we walk through the hellfires, and we walk through the suns of the heavens, I will be holding your hand, the whole way through, because I love you.”

The rings came to you presented by Bailey and Ellis, being dragged in a wheelbarrow by Zola, your rings were slid on the ring fingers.

“Do you take Y/n Shepherd to be your wife? Do you promise to love and cherish her, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, for better and for worse, for so long as you both shall live?”

“I do.” Andrew smiled.

“Do you take Andrew DeLuca to be your husband? Do you promise to love and cherish him, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, for better and for worse, for so long as you both shall live?”

“I do.” You returned the large grin.

“You may now kiss the bride.”

Andrew planted his lips on yours in a fast motion, it was almost like the day he proposed when you tackled him to the ground. As he pulled away from you, the both of you walking back down the aisle, he looked at you.

“Hello, Mrs. Dr. Y/n DeLuca,” He smiled.

“Hello, Mr. Dr. Andrew DeLuca,” You smiled, your hands laced together.

It was one happy ending, something you never really saw at Grey Sloan Memorial. But you and DeLuca were something else.

#andrew deluca #andrew deluca imagine #andrew deluca x reader #meredith grey #meredith grey x reader #maggie pierce #maggie pierce x reader #alex karev #alex karev x reader #jo wilson x reader #jo wilson #grey's anatomy x reader #grey's anatomy #grey's anatomy imagine #amelia shepherd x reader #amelia shepherd

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eyreguide · 4 years

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Book Review: The Diabolical Bones

The Diabolical Bones by Bella Ellis

Plot Summary: Haworth Parsonage, February 1846: The Brontë sisters-- Anne, Emily, and Charlotte--are busy with their literary pursuits. As they query publishers for their poetry, each sister hopes to write a full-length novel that will thrill the reading public. They're also hoping for a new case for their fledgling detecting enterprise, Bell Brothers and Company solicitors. On a bitterly cold February evening, their housekeeper Tabby tells them of a grim discovery at Scar Top House, an old farmhouse belonging to the Bradshaw family. A set of bones has been found bricked up in a chimney breast inside the ancient home. Tabby says it's bad doings, and dark omens for all of them. The rattled housekeeper gives them a warning, telling the sisters of a chilling rumour attached to the family. The villagers believe that, on the verge of bankruptcy, Clifton Bradshaw sold his soul to the devil in return for great riches. Does this have anything to do with the bones found in the Bradshaw house? The sisters are intrigued by the story and feel compelled to investigate. But Anne, Emily, and Charlotte soon learn that true evil has set a murderous trap and they've been lured right into it...

Review:

The second entry in the Brontë Sisters Mystery series was a wonderful surprise. While I enjoyed the the first book (The Vanished Bride) very much, somehow this book exceeded my expectations. I think because the author dived even more deeply into the personalities and dynamics between Charlotte, Emily, and Anne. Reading this novel felt like being with friends - some who don’t always get along, but who love each other deeply. I felt like the author captured their personalities so precisely - in a way that reflected perfectly what we know about their characters.

The story moves quickly too, with the mystery unfolding rapidly, and red herrings thrown on the path. I felt like “The Diabolical Bones” was a stronger mystery than the first book - more unsettling, suspenseful, and baffling. And one that readily invites the Bronte sisters into investigating so that it was very natural for them to decide to find the origins of the bones.

I also love that the three sisters (and sometimes Branwell) all work together for most of the story. The first book sometimes found the sisters split up and following different leads, but having the three interacting while detecting in this book was a treat. Their personalities really do complement each other. The story also introduces potential romantic interests (some based on the real lives of the Brontës and some invented) and I loved seeing that side of their lives fleshed out. They are isolated and alone as a family, and only one sister eventually married, but they all have something to say on the nature of love, and it is illustrated by the way they approach romantic entanglements.

This is another fantastic installment in the series, and one that felt even more intimate and welcoming into the lives of the Brontës than the first book. It’s also fun to see the little nods to the different characters and plot devices that come up in the Brontës’ novels - the author shows off her knowledge of the Brontë's works expertly. The premise of the sisters as detectives fits in so perfectly with their experiences, that I can not wait until their next adventure.

Goodreads | 5/5 stars

Many thanks to the publisher for a free review copy of this book.

I believe this book is available to purchase in the U.K. now, but the publication date for the U.S. is Feb 16, 2021. Preorder your copy now!

#Book Review #Jane Eyre #The Brontes #Charlotte Bronte #Emily Bronte #Anne Bronte #Bella Ellis #BronteSisters #Mystery

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artificialqueens · 3 years

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Down with the Recipe, Bake from the Heart, 9/10 (Taywhora) - Juno

Chapter Summary: It’s the semi-final, and patisserie week will see the bakers face a tricky signature, an even trickier technical, and the trickiest showstopper ever seen on Bake Off. The four semi-finalists are all feeling the pressure, but they’re all determined to make it to the finale, whatever it takes.

WEEK 9: PATISSERIE WEEK

Tayce’s work had been almost a welcome distraction this week. Sleep had gone right out of the window for her for the last two weeks; all that occupied her spare thoughts was baking. Baking, baking and more baking. All she saw when she closed her eyes were proving bowls, baking trays, and KitchenAids - her own white one now blinding her.

Last week was too close. Shit critiques, shit bake. I need to nail this week.

Her weeknights were spent practising. Patisserie weeks were fiddly, intricate, and stressful, but she knew this was the one that separated the master bakers from the amateurs. So she’d practised until she had no bowls left, no ingredients, until her mind fogged as if with condensation, filled with no thoughts but baking.

I’m going to the finale, whatever it takes. I’m not doing all this for nothing.

——

Tayce painted eyeliner over her eyeliner, concealer over her concealer, and chugged another can of Monster - why had she let Ellie introduce her to Monster? - all while she was waiting for the connecting train at Reading Station, delayed as usual, when she saw a familiar person on the platform, checking her phone. Tayce stomach leapt to her throat as she realised it was Aurora.

Aurora was getting the same connecting train! Maybe they all did, but this was the first time Tayce had seen someone else on the same train as her.

Aurora hadn’t spotted Tayce, and Tayce’s mind whirled. Should she go and talk to her? Tayce wasn’t sure whether their NDA would stretch to them chatting in public before the show aired. On the other hand, who would know that they were just talking?

Can’t hurt, can it?

But the tannoy announcement came overhead for the train - only five minutes late, practically on time for trains - and Tayce saw that Aurora had disappeared into the crowd as she stood to board.

She couldn’t see that Aurora in her same carriage, so she found a seat and sat down with a sigh. Even though it was early on a Saturday morning, the train was already packed with people - mainly groups of women chatting and laughing, dressed in lots of fine dresses and enormous hats and drinking gin cocktails from cans; taking up all the table seats, excited giggles filling the air.

Tayce hadn’t a clue what this was in aid of - Ascot or just a wedding? - but for a split second, she’d have given everything to be as carefree as they were.

——

Signature: 24 Choux buns

“Your Choux buns this week should have a delicate and tasty filling. Twelve should be iced, and the other twelve topped with craquelin.”

“Topped with what?” Matt asked.

“Craquelin,” Noel said.

“Oh. Still didn’t understand that but alright.”

Tayce still managed a laugh, but Lawrence and Aurora on the other side of the room could only just crack a smile, and God only knew what Veronica’s face looked like in front of her.

“On your marks -“

“Get set -“

“BAKE!”

The general mood between the bakers was tense, but exhausted, as if they were all struggling up the last few feet to the top of a mountain. But although all of them were starting to bend under the pressure, Tayce was determined not to be crushed.

Even though she hated patisserie.

“It’s just so fiddly,” she’d complained to Cara during the week, the only person she’d managed to tell as part of her NDA. “I’ve done about three hundred practise choux buns and they never come out alright. I think the choux pastry just doesn’t like me.”

And whisking the ingredients together, waiting for that moment where she could check to see if the pastry was ready, gave her the chance to look around at the other bakers.

Her eyes stayed on Lawrence the longest. Lawrence had told her at the end of last week, after Bimini’s departure, that patisserie was her favourite. And although Tayce had assumed no one could like patisserie, Lawrence seemed to have regained some of her smile this week, sipping from a can of Monster herself as the choux pastry whirled in the deep purple KitchenAid on her workbench.

Veronica, with her emerald green one, was having a similarly peaceful time. Tayce had glanced at her a few times so far, mainly as she was directly in front of her, and found that every time she did, Veronica was fine. There was no clinging to the bench, no sighing, no shaking - just Veronica humming something as she put all her ingredients into the KitchenAid and let it spin, sipping her tea.

“Hi, how are you?” Blu was accompanied by Paul and Matt, coming round to do the usual on-camera talk with the bakers about the bakes.

Tayce’s stomach somersaulted whenever Blu was around - it was the accent mainly, but also Blu always seemed to be full of energy, even when the rest of the tent was dour as it was right now. Tayce couldn’t help but to smile back at her.

“Morning, love! I’m good!” She grinned. “Just trying to make sure sure my choux pastry behaves itself!”

“Oh, God, tell me about it! I don’t even know why I agreed to judge this week, patisserie is a triggering word for me after last season!” Blu laughed. “But Prue still has to recover, so here I am! Tell me what you’re doing this week, then.”

“So I’ve got two lots of choux, the iced choux buns will be full of cherries and coconut, and I’m icing the top to make it like a Bakewell tart. I love Bakewell tarts,” Tayce simpered, “and the craquelin ones, I’m doing those ones filled with vanilla cream and coffee. Bit of a kick first thing in the morning. Bit of a wake up call, you know what I mean?”

The judges had looked pleased enough with her flavours, and after they’d left, Tayce put her spatula into the mixture to test if it was ready to pipe, glancing at her timer as she did. It could have done with another minute or so to mix, but time was not on her side, so she picked up the piping bag and decided to get on with it.

“I’m making blood orange filling and a lemon curd icing for one set,” Aurora was saying on the other side of the tent, “and for the craquelin ones I’m making strawberries and lime.”

“Lime?” That was the one-word Paul Hollywood takedown. Aurora would have known that by now, but Tayce watched, a pang in her stomach as Aurora glanced down, the dimple on her cheek fading as her smile slipped down her face a little.

Come on Rory. You know better than to take that to heart.

“Yeah, lime.” Aurora nodded, but her voice was dimmed, and her dimple didn’t come back.

No, don’t start doubting yourself now!

“How’s the buns?” Tayce said, sidling over to Aurora once the judges had moved on.

“They’re fine.” Her voice was still stiff, and so were her movements. “Just getting the filling done.”

“Ignore what they said about the lime,” Tayce said into her ear. “It’s gonna be great. I know it already. I can’t wait to get out of here and taste one of them.”

“Thanks.”

But Aurora wouldn’t look at her, crouching down to look into the oven again at her second batch of buns.

“Do you want a cup of -“

“No thanks.” Aurora’s sharp voice was a surprise, as she indicated the can of Monster on the corner of the desk. “I’m good.”

“Alright! Jesus! I was only asking!” Tayce chuckled. “God, you can be a right moody mare to everyone when you’re stressed! Chillax!”

And this time, she didn’t wait for Aurora’s retort before heading to the tea tent.

She just takes out her mood on other people all the time. What’s the problem with her? She was better last week, and this week she’s back to being Mardy Margaret.

When she brought her tea back into the tent, Aurora was watching her, her hands on her hips. “You do an awful lot of talking for someone who’s meant to be baking, Tayce. You should focus on that instead.”

Maybe it was Tayce’s rattled nerves from lack of sleep. Maybe it was the semi-final pressure. Or maybe it was the raw, simple vulnerability that Tayce felt with Aurora, baring her soul, telling her that she was falling for Aurora last weekend. Whatever it was, all of Tayce’s emotions were on her sleeves, far too near to her skin …

… and this time, Aurora’s words were the last straw.

“Rory!” she yelled, “Just calm down! You’re not the only one who’s stressed here today! Stop taking your nerves out on me!“

Aurora’s jaw twisted, and she slammed down the choux buns she was taking out of the oven onto the steel with more noise than she meant to.

Lawrence, startled at the sound, turned to face them both, choux bun and piping bag in hand. “Not right now, alright?”

Tayce bit her tongue, bit back the reply that she’d taken Aurora’s moods, and her sharp words, with little retaliation the last couple of weekends, and that she was getting near to her limit with how much she would take. After all, Tayce was stressed too. Tayce hadn’t slept a wink. Tayce was just better at hiding her nerves.

She cocked an eyebrow at Aurora, who wasn’t even looking at her anymore, and concentrated on filling her piping bag, shocked at how much her hands shook as she tried.

Forget Aurora for now. We can talk calmly later. Focus on yourself.

The rest of the Signature was a blur, a fast blur of a morning which Tayce recalled virtually nothing about, until the moment she stepped out of the tent, baking completed.

The only thing she remembered about the Signature were the judges comments. And that was because they stabbed her, pricking her skin and staying there like hedgehog spines.

“Tayce, the filling is leaking.”

“The pastry could have done with a little more mixing.”

“Over baked - the choux shouldn’t really crunch.”

“The icing is lumpy.”

“I can’t get the coffee flavouring.”

At least she’d managed to correctly present the full twenty four. Aurora had managed to fill and ice twenty one of hers in the time, presenting twelve with craquelin and nine with icing; while Veronica had miscounted and made fourteen iced and ten with craquelin. Meanwhile, Lawrence might have swiped her perfect-looking choux buns straight from Paris.

While the others went back to Norton Hall, Tayce stole away, slipping through the trees back to the lake, this time alone. The bench was a little damp from the rain on Friday, but Tayce took off the jacket she’d brought for the chilly turn the weather had taken, and lay it on the bench to sit on. The ducks, tame now to her footsteps, approached her thinking she had bread.

Only six weekends too late, she thought to herself. I wonder if ducks like choux buns.

——

Technical: Cornucopia / Horn of Plenty

“What advice do you have for the bakers this week, Paul?”

“It’s all there for you in the instructions.”

Cryptic as ever. Blu giggled next to him, her hands in front of her mouth, back in her Mary Berry disguise to judge them again.

Once allowed to bake, Tayce whipped off the gingham tea towel and read the title twice before it sunk into her mind. The ingredients were sparse, the instructions were for once really detailed, and they were all given diagrams of the shapes of the parts of the horn they had to bake.

In front of her, Veronica was groaning, leaning on her workbench, her knuckles white. On her right, Lawrence was clutching her hair until it started to come out of her bun, and Aurora was pacing up and down in front of the workbench, her face thunderous.

Tayce had the mixture done in no time, but shaping it was proving difficult. Not the consistency of the diced almonds, not melting the chocolate for decorating and piping the scrolls for the top - but the shapes, and everyone was struggling to grasp how they all went together. They’d all been provided with templates for each piece of the bake on laminated paper, eleven in all that were meant to fit together, but without a picture of the finished product for reference, it was difficult to see how it all would.

“How are you doing it?” Tayce asked Aurora, leaning at the corner of her workbench.

She didn’t look up. “I - I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“Tayce -“ Aurora raised her head, locking eyes with her, irritation etched in every line of her face. “I’m trying to focus. I need to do this right.”

“I do too! But we can work together, compare notes!” Tayce said, but Aurora held up her hand.

“Please,” Aurora breathed, turning her heavy eyes back to the laminated paper, the words dropping like lead from her lips, “… please just leave me alone to do this. Please. I can’t right now.”

Tayce had no choice. Every step back to her own workbench drained a little bit more of her enthusiasm through her feet as it slipped away from her into the floor. By the time she’d grabbed her cup of tea, she was empty.

Fuck it.

She had trusted the recipes all through the contest, and it had gotten her this far. She could keep doing it.

She weighed each piece of mixture and shaped them into rings, all eleven pieces in differing sizes, placing them on the baking tray and putting them into the oven to bake. In front of her, Veronica was tapping her alarm, before stepping back, fingers in her mouth, and Tayce noticed that her own nails, that she’d taken so long to grow out, were now bitten back down to the quick. A habit she’d worked so hard to break, sacrificed in the name of baking.

Veronica had put hers in to bake a minute or so earlier, but when they came out, Tayce thought they looked a little too brown, so she took hers out at the same time, the slightly paler colour looking about right. But when she watched Veronica, she realised how wrong she’d gotten the shapes.

“Veronica,” Tayce called, and she turned.

“What’s up, love?”

“How did you get yours to tilt on its side like that?”

Veronica’s Cornucopia was rounded in a curve as she fitted it together, like a horn, but Tayce’s wouldn’t form that shape, and Tayce felt like she was missing something.

“It’s on sealing the pastry. Did you have one side of each ring that was thicker than the other?”

Tayce looked at her rings of almond bake, but they were all an even thickness.

“They’re meant to be a bit thicker,” Veronica showed her one of hers, “so they fit together with a curl in them. D’you see?”

Tayce’s stomach filled with lead as she re-read the shaping instructions. She’d missed that part.

“Shit. I think I’ve got a disaster.”

“No, no, don’t say that,” Veronica soothed, “I mean - the biscuits are a bit wrong, yeah, but that’s not all that matters - the bake still has to be good, and the piping you have to do as well …”

“Vee,” Tayce stopped her, and Veronica sighed.

“I guess it’s gone a bit … pear-shaped, hasn’t it.”

“It kind of works at the bottom,” Tayce said, trying to fit the largest bits together, but the rest of it stood straight, leaving a strange shape that didn’t seem to stand up or lay flat.

“I’m fucked.”

“You’re not, Tayce …” Veronica’s voice faded away

“It’s fine. It is what it is.”

“You can still salvage it …” But Veronica trailed off again, and Tayce forced a smile to try to make Veronica feel better.

——

“Bakers, your time is up!”

Matt’s call couldn’t come soon enough. Tayce had had enough of this bake. The heat in the tent was making the piping drip, the caramel was hanging on by a thread, and the shape was definitely not what it needed to be. Veronica’s curve of the horn looked much more like it, and Tayce felt herself sink.

Once Tayce had brought hers to the front, she couldn’t help but look at the other horns, and felt a jolt of relief when she saw another one was also a mess, the same wrong shape as her own.

Oh, thank God for that.

But as she went to take her place on the stool, between Aurora and Veronica, she realised it was Aurora’s, and her blood turned to ice.

She almost couldn’t watch the judging. Paul and Blu in her Mary Berry disguise were sampling, Blu putting on Mary’s accent for the cameras, but none of the four of them on their stools let out anything more than stifled laughter and taut smiles.

“In last place we have this one -“

Tayce didn’t even need to look to see who would be raising their hand. Aurora’s face was white, chewing her nails as she claimed fourth place.

“Aurora - it’s quite over baked, the caramel is crystallised, and you’ve lost the horn shape - it’s just a pole. Not your finest hour, I’m afraid.”

Paul’s words were stacking on Aurora’s shoulders, she could see it plain as day as they weighed heavily on her. Aurora was nodding, but her eyes were blank, and Tayce was sure she couldn’t hear him.

“And third place is this one,” Paul continued, and Tayce knew it would be her, again without looking.

“Tayce - you started to get the shape right, but I don’t know what happened to the icing, and it’s a little under baked.”

Tayce swallowed the lump of whatever was at her throat and forced a smile. “Not my best!”

She felt Aurora’s eyes burning holes into her, but she didn’t turn to face her. She just focused on Veronica being called second and Lawrence coming out on top, all of them looking more and more anxious the longer judging went on.

This week was the week that the smallest thing could send any of them home. It was the semi-final. It no longer mattered where you came in Technical or Signature, because the Showstopper would probably count most. It was what the judges remembered, and the last impression could turn out to be the lasting impression.

I have to nail the Showstopper to stay. Whatever it takes.

——

“Surprise!”

When they all opened the door to Norton Hall, a loud burst of pink and purple hit them all, along with a nasal laugh. For half a delirious second, Tayce thought it was Bimini, back from elimination for whatever reason, but a few more steps revealed Cheryl, another contestant from the previous year, her smile warm and welcoming.

“Chez!” Blu immediately broke to a run past them all and leapt onto her girlfriend. “You didn’t tell me you were coming here!”

“Well how would it be a surprise if you knew?” Cheryl laughed, as Blu peppered her cheeks with kisses. “Put me down for a second, Blu! Jesus! I thought I’d get the party started! You’re all semi-finalists! We’re all semi-finalists!”

“Not all of us,” Blu remarked, eyeing her, while Cheryl nudged her.

“Babe, you’re not meant to remind me that I left the week before semi finals, that’s part of the agreement for us being on-screen girlfriends, remember?”

“On-screen?” Aurora squeaked.

“Yeah, we’re not really a couple, we’re just pretending for the cameras.” Blu said solemnly, disentangling herself from Cheryl and extending her hand. “How do you do?”

But Cheryl couldn’t keep a straight face; she collapsed into giggles as she took Blu’s hand and shook it, before slapping Blu on the arm again. “You’re a nightmare, honestly! Anyway, I can’t wait to try all your choux buns and the Cornucopias you’ve made!”

Blu sighed as she flopped onto the sofa. “Oh god, I didn’t know how much I’ve missed Norton Hall! This is where we all stayed too, you know.”

“Norton Hall?” Aurora said, putting a hand to her throat. “Is that what this place is called? I’ve been calling it Carr Hall since we got here!”

That was the catalyst. Tayce’s nerves creeping up her chest all day finally reached her lungs, eliciting a laugh, and once she’d started, she couldn’t stop. She put a hand to her mouth, but that only made her giggles bubble in her chest until they burst from her.

“It’s definitely Norton Hall, babe,” Cheryl said, shooting Tayce a confused look. “Check the leaflets. It’s got the name on it.”

But the others had fallen silent, the only sound Tayce’s uncomfortable wheezing laughter; Lawrence looking from Tayce to Aurora; while Tayce felt sharp fingers in the crook of her elbow, Veronica’s voice reaching up to her ear.

“For God’s sake, Tayce, please go and get a bun or something, please -“ Veronica steered her away to the table, and Tayce’s chuckles died down as she looked down at the buns, picking up one of everyone’s, even her own.

But as she looked at the Technical bakes, the Cornucopias, all now collapsed pastry rings, in pieces like all of their minds; all Tayce could hear as she looked at her bake were the judges words as they span round in her head -

Under baked … poorly iced … awful shape …

And Aurora’s at the other end, where the words were louder, stinging like thousands of tiny needles in her skin -

Over baked … just a pole … crystallised …

Her heart rattled against her ribs as realisation struck her so hard that stars danced in her vision.

It’s me or her.

And Tayce let her breath go, not realising she was holding it.

Whatever it takes.

Long, sharp fingers looped at her elbow again.

“Tayce?” It was Veronica, cautious and concerned, but Tayce couldn’t meet her eyes, squeezing her own shut so tightly so that she could stop herself from showing her pain by closing it back in.

“Tayce, what’s up, love?”

Veronica was gentle and her voice was soft, but Tayce’s skin was on fire, and she yanked her arm free and found her feet taking her away to the the stairs, taking the steps three at a time, ignoring the voice calling after her, a voice that was so familiar and so excruciating at once …

The door slammed behind her, closing out the world. But suddenly, her door was flung open and there Aurora was, in her doorway; the shock caused Tayce to say the first words that came to her head.

“Hey! I didn’t say you could come in!”

But Aurora’s eyes were wide, her hand trembling, as she pulled the door firmly shut behind her.

“What the hell -“

“Tayce, I’m not leaving until you tell me why you’re being so weird.”

But Tayce forced a laugh. “What? What do you mean, I’m being weird?”

“You’ve been annoyed all day, you’ve had a short fuse, even though -“

“You’re the one who keeps getting in a mood whenever I talk to you now!” Tayce cried, a bitter bark of a laugh escaping her. “I wanted to help you, and you just snapped at me, even after - after last weekend!”

Aurora took a sharp breath in, a flush creeping on her cheeks as she stood, silently surveying Tayce for a moment.

“I’ve had my first bottom in Technical. I’ve had my worst feedback in Signature. I’ve not slept all week because I was so worried with all my practises for patisserie week, and honestly, now I’m scared shitless.”

Aurora’s voice was low, and Tayce watched as Aurora scrunched her eyes tightly shut, her hands clenching and unclenching at her sides, her lips pursing as she fought some internal battle; before finally relaxing again, opening her eyes to look into Tayce’s.

“So I’m sorry, Tayce, that I’m a bit on edge, and I’m sorry that I’ve snapped at you. I know that’s wrong. But …” The sigh she let out was slow, filled the air with fizzling nerves. “I’m going. I know I am.”

“You can’t go.”

Where did that come from? Aurora’s eyes flickered, she licked her lips.

“I already know it’ll be me. I’ve been so bad this week -“

“Stop saying that. Stop being defeatist.”

“I’m not being defeatist, Tayce, I’ve done the worst this weekend so far! It’s logic!” Aurora’s voice grew higher with every word. “All I need is to fail the Showstopper, like every time I’ve done it in practise, and -“

“Rory! Please!”

Aurora stopped as Tayce spoke, trying to regain control of her tongue.

“Tayce. Why can’t you just tell me why you’re being so weird this week -“

“Because I can’t deal with thinking about one of us leaving, alright? I can’t!”

Her voice was shrill, breaking in her throat, and she screwed her eyes shut tightly, but tears still overflowed, her whole body suddenly shaking uncontrollably. Her chest crumpled, she was laid bare again, impossible to hide anymore.

I came here to win this. I came here for the cake stand. But that was eight weeks ago. And now …

Aurora stepped back at Tayce’s sudden outburst, the explosion of emotion alien to her.

“What do you -“

“Remember when Tia went home? Remember?” Tayce interrupted her, finding words fully formed without her having to think about them. “Veronica was a bag of nerves all the next week! She still is! And Ellie, too! You were so sad. Lawrence was losing it. They were so close! They got each other through the days! Remember?”

Aurora’s voice broke. “Of course I remember.”

“That’s you, too.”

“Tayce -“

“You get me through the days. You made me smile every week. You - you were the only person to come talk to me when I was missing my Pops. You always …” but finally the words stopped, thoughts drying out, but Tayce took a shuddering breath, the most honest truth still to come. “And like, I can’t … I can’t imagine you going now.”

Whatever it takes.

… but not this.

Aurora’s expression was unreadable as she surveyed Tayce, peering into her eyes as if searching for some meaning behind them, something she was concealing.

“I mean it, Rory, I mean it, I’ve never meant anything more in my fucking life …”

Aurora tugged Tayce gently into her embrace, and Tayce yielded to her, resting her forehead against Aurora’s, and when their lips met, Tayce tried to put everything she could into the kiss, to tell Aurora with unspoken words everything that there were no words for. A kiss was the most honest language there was, right?

They might have stayed entwined for longer than they thought. But when Aurora pulled away, her lip shook, her chin quivered.

“You’d better not go this week.”

“Or you, you bitch. We need to be in the final three together. Just promise me you’re gonna bring it. Bring your best bake.”

Aurora blinked, stunned for a moment. “Tayce -“

“Promise! You can’t be giving up! Bring your best bake. Okay?”

She swallowed, nodding against Tayce’s forehead. “Okay. I promise.”

——

Showstopper: Meringue centrepiece, featuring 2 types of meringue and a dessert element.

“Most importantly of all, remember what Prue says all the time -“

“… it has to be worth the calories,” Tayce heard herself parroting back as Blu said it, the catchphrases all too familiar by now.

Once the clock started, Tayce wasted no time. She didn’t want to talk. She didn’t even want to see anyone else in the room.

This was about her and Aurora now.

We both need to stay. Come on.

She glanced up, watching Veronica separate her eggs, and over to Lawrence, frowning down at her instructions as her eggs whipped alongside her. Both of them were still here, but one of them had to go next.

Please, one of you has to have a disaster. Neither of you have had one. One of you must be due one now. You can’t both be this perfect.

But as time progressed, Tayce felt it in sand, slipping through her fingers.

Veronica’s ballet design was interesting, beautifully decorated, and really showed off her dancing past; while Lawrence’s pair of meringue flamingos, proudly stood next to each other, couldn’t have looked more perfect if Lawrence had painted them pink and given them a voice box with a bird call.

She was stupid, so stupid to think that Lawrence or Veronica would slip up. Neither of them had put so much as a toe out of line since the first week, and they weren’t about to start now, not now that they’d seen how much Tayce and Aurora were failing, scrambling to keep up with them both.

“Bakers, you have ten minutes left!”

Where had the time all gone? Tayce couldn’t remember half of what she’d done, but she had meringues before her, incorporating the two different types the judges had specified, and a dessert that was delectable, she hoped.

She glanced at Aurora, whose meringues looked pretty good, if Tayce’s judgement was worth any weight. The sculpture she’d done was delicate and beautiful, the meringue lined with fruit and spun sugar. It looked similar to Tayce’s own, and Tayce wasn’t surprised - there was only so much you could do with meringue.

They still both stood a chance. Veronica and Lawrence may still have a disaster.

“Bakers! Time’s up! Step away from your meringues!”

When Noel called for time, Tayce noticed the hairline crack in the largest meringue she’d baked, holding the rest of the sculpture upright, and cursed herself for not covering it with more fruit to hide it. She looked over at Aurora’s, at the shape, seeing hers was in pretty good condition - not as interesting as Veronica’s or Lawrence’s, but one of theirs could taste bad or be under baked.

But when Tayce was asked to present it, the crack in the upright meringue that she had hoped would last until this point, crumpled and collapsed, taking the rest of the meringue sculpture with it, tumbling to the floor.

——

The wait was the longest any of them had felt. The judges’ critiques had been kind as always, but there was still of course the lingering knowledge that the unthinkable had happened.

Lawrence and Veronica were definitely out of trouble. It was down to Tayce and Aurora for elimination.

Tayce took herself back to the pond; Veronica looked as though she wanted to follow, but Lawrence caught her arm just in time, shaking her head and pulling her back up the path to Norton Hall. But when Aurora hung back, approaching the same bench slowly, Tayce couldn’t move to stop her; nor was she entirely sure she wanted to be alone now.

Aurora sat heavily, as close to Tayce as she could get, and silently rested her head on Tayce’s shoulder. Tayce caught sight in the dimming light of her fingers twisting in her lap, her left foot jiggling up and down. Felt deliberately calculated breathing against her chest.

In for three, hold for four, out for five. Tayce remembered the rhythm Aurora had told her about and her stomach twisted, pained at Aurora’s worry. She let her head drop on top of Aurora’s, and Aurora’s hand slowly crept into hers, her skin cold and the scent of her hair filling every pore of her skin.

For what was looking more and more likely to be the final time.

They spent the next fifteen minutes wordlessly watching the ducks on the pond, coming and going, water rippling out beyond them.

So calm, so regal on the surface, but underneath their legs are kicking hard as they can to keep them afloat.

Once the team hurried them back into the tent, the air in the room felt like tar, too thick to breathe. Aurora’s fingers were so tight around Tayce’s that she thought she might lose all sensation in them; and as they sat down, and Aurora let her head fall onto Tayce’s shoulder again, she tried to ignore the wetness that developed on her shirt. Willing herself not to look down so as not to cry too.

On her right, Lawrence took her other hand as she settled onto her stool, stroking her knuckles tenderly, and Veronica did the same to Aurora, like they were four penguins in a row. Veronica clasped Aurora’s left hand in both of hers, muttering soothing words that were meant to calm them both.

But of course, both of them weren’t going.

The judges were back in the room in what seemed like the blink of an eye.

The final Star Baker award went to Lawrence, and for a split second everyone lost their contact, a strange cold gap between them as they applauded. Tayce, speechless in fear, pulled Lawrence in to hug her as Lawrence fought back tears.

“I’m so honoured,” Lawrence mumbled, nodding. “Thank you.”

And then it was the person leaving. Noel’s expression was grave, unnerving for him, as he said the immortal words of “I have the awful task of announcing who will be leaving us today.”

Noel was still speaking, but Tayce wasn’t listening; Aurora’s chin rattled against Tayce’s shoulder as she curled back onto it, and Tayce rested her head against Aurora’s, turning her gaze skywards so as not to cry; Lawrence’s hand almost as tense in hers as Aurora’s as they waited for the death knell -

“Tayce.”

The weight of the room seemed to slam her into the floor.

Noel’s mouth was moving still, but words were hard to hear.

All Tayce knew was Aurora’s whole arm shaking, and the whole tent crashing to the ground around her as time stopped.

——

“It’s been … a ride.”

The producer behind the cameraman waved a hand, trying to get Tayce to say some more.

Tayce hadn’t been sure how she’d feel at being eliminated, but now that she had been, if there was any sense of disappointment, it sat on her skin, refusing to sink any deeper at present. All that was going through her mind were the happy memories, running in a showreel being projected into the back of her head.

Joe’s store-bought fondant. Ellie’s questionable towers. Pip’s tiny handbag. Cherry’s seemingly endless supply of gossip. Tia’s adequate chocolate ball, filling the room with charm. Asttina’s playful glee at whipped cream. Bimini’s crimps with Noel. Ginny’s obsession with lemon and legendary exit.

What had Tayce brought? She wasn’t quite sure.

She threw back her head and laughed at the absurdity of it all.

No one will remember me at all!

“It’s been a really great adventure. I’ve met some amazing people, I’ve had the time of my life, and I’ve put Newport on the map, baby!”

The producer waved at her again.

“What? What more do you want?”

But as the words left Tayce’s mouth, she realised that she didn’t seem at all perturbed at going home.

She tried, but it just didn’t come to her.

The cold dread, that had once threatened to creep like ivy up her chest to her heart, had been conquered by the elation of each week, by the warmth of the others there, and by the depth of care she’d found in all of the contestants, severing everything negative that she could have taken away from not winning a baking contest.

The oppressive atmosphere of the contest had lifted.

She couldn’t believe that only an hour or so ago, she was hoping for Lawrence or Veronica to have a disaster to spare her. Thinking back to it, she felt ashamed at how much those thoughts weren’t like her. It made her laugh to realise now that she’d missed out on a cake stand, but that was all. And she could buy one of those anywhere.

How could she be sad to the camera?

But after her exit interview was done, she found all three of the finalists waiting for her, waiting to see her, huddled under one big golf umbrella.

“It’s … it’s raining. Why aren’t you back in -“

“Why d’you think?” Veronica said, holding her hands up. “You didn’t think you were leaving without a proper goodbye from us did you?”

“I’ll be back next week!” Tayce laughed. “I’m only gone a week! And I’ll be here to cheer you three on in the final and -“

“Tayce,” Aurora shook her head. “When are you gonna admit that you’re upset for yourself, for not making it to the final?”

“I’m - I’m not!”

But the more she stood before them, the more it started to creep on her, disappointment …

But not for the loss, not that I’m no longer competing. That I’m … that I’m leaving these people.

“Guys -“

Lawrence’s eyes were shining with tears as she hugged Tayce, and Tayce rubbed her back as they fell. Lawrence was shaking, and Tayce was lost for words, wondering if she should be trying to comfort Lawrence or reassure her.

“I’ll give Ellie a kiss for you on the loser side,” she muttered finally into her ear as they held each other.

“You’d better fucking not,” was Lawrence’s strangled retort.

Veronica was a little more nervous, holding her arms awkwardly at her sides, unsure if she wanted contact or not. “I - look, Tayce, I know I didn’t always -“

“Oh, Vee, lighten up! Come here,” Tayce said, pulling Veronica into a hug, and Veronica wrapped her arms around her, surprising her at how tightly Veronica squeezed. “You’re an amazing baker, and you need to give yourself more credit. And a bit of a break.”

“I know,” was Veronica’s muffled reply.

Aurora waited until last. Tayce could barely stand to look at her. Her brown eyes swam with tears, her lips quivered, and she took a shaky breath as Tayce came near to her.

“I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to be sorry.”

Tayce opened her arms out and Aurora let herself come into them, Aurora’s chin nestling into the crook of her neck. And the longer she held Tayce, the tighter her grip became, and Tayce tried to pull her nearer still until she couldn’t -

“I don’t know if I can do this.”

The heartbreaking words were breathed into Tayce’s ear, strands of silk in the wind, but hearing them made Tayce’s stomach flood with lead, a cold wave washing over her skin, and not from the rain as it grew heavier.

Those were the words that finally made tears spill from her eyes.

She took Aurora’s face in her hands, locking eyes on hers to confirm her conviction, her voice breaking with heartache.

“You can win this, bitch.”

——

THREE BAKERS REMAIN

#rpdr fanfiction #rpdr uk #down with the recipe #juno #uk2 #baking au #gbbo au #taywhora #tayce #a'whora #bimini bon boulash #veronica green #lawrence chaney #fluff #lesbian au

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stonecoldjerseyfox · 4 years

Text

Jersey on my mind (part 31)

The smell of buttered, barbecue corn on the cobs mixed with the scent of burning firewood makes Mila’s mouth water like the cookie monster catching sight of chocolate chip cookies, as she and Juri make their way down the dark street.

“Can you smell that?” She asks Juri. “Smells nice, right?”

Juri nods eagerly and the blue eyes glistens hungrily.

She’s holding a bottle of vodka in her right hand and Juri’s hand in her left as they struts down the street towards the bonfire and the sound of chatting people. Juri’s dressed up in a knitted sweater, sent from mama in Russia for his second birthday. The shirt was way too big for a two year old, so Mila left it in a drawer until they had to leave, to escape when all hell broke loose. It’s maroon with white, traditional pattern over the chest.

“Are you excited?” Mila asks as they pass Jessie’s house, and a sad feeling overwhelms her. Poor Jessie. She shifts her focus from the now empty house to Juri, who nods at her. “Yeah. Me too. It might be fun. You remember the barbecues at Ellie’s and Joe’s?” Juri nods once again. Of course he remembers ‘grams’ and ‘gramps’. It felt weird to Mila that he knew her foster parents better than his real grandmother, whom he called ‘baba’. But baba was always baba. Juri gestures at her, expresses a feeling of longing for the three of them. “I miss them too, Malysh.” She smiles. “Think about the barbecue.”

That’s a thought that cheers both of them up. Mila loves barbecues. She has experienced several very different variants of the event during her short lifetime. Hot summer evenings at the Dacha at home in Russia, when the whole neighborhood gathered from the surrounding summer cottages in the largest garden and built a barbecue of old brick or sheet metal. Everyone contributed food and the vodka was lined up on a table. They danced, sang, there was always someone playing the accordion and some dexterous ribbons of wreaths. The smell of smoke settled deep in the clothes, but it did not matter, it was part of the experience itself. It was so easy and homely. In the wee hours, when half the vodka ration was consumed, there could be both hopak dancing and sniping. During the autumn harvest, people also grilled, especially during forest excursions and mushroom picking. Mama fried mushrooms over an open fire while papa boned fish. In the winter, they did the same thing, dressed up in several layers of clothes and fur hats. Their breaths stood like ice clouds from their mouths, but they didn’t freeze and the fire kept their cheeks glowing hot.

In the States, she got to experience a different kind of barbecue, not as folksy, but still nice in that American, exaggerated way. Joe Galka owned a Weber grill, a piece as big as a piano, Mila thought, to which he was very attached. He could grill most things. In the summers there was a barbecue almost every weekend and friends and family were invited. Mila’s, Billy’s and Adam’s friends were always invited. Even in the States, people brought food to the festivities; meringue pies, apple pies, ribs dripped with sauce, mashed potatoes, salads and god knows what. Significantly less strong booze than the Russian festivities, but all the more pale beer; disgusting Corona and Budweiser, that the middle-aged men, gathered around Joe’s grill, wearing the same type of cargo shorts and short-sleeved shirts, happily sipped. And sniping was out of the question in the suburbs. When Mila met Jim and they went on hikes just the two of them, Mila went in childhood. They grilled over an open fire in the woods, or at a beach, using firewood and matches, an old frying pan and some simple tools. They brought food, coffee, booze and, God forbid, a big bag of marshmallows. Jim loved those grilled, melting sugar bombs, while Mila couldn’t stand them, instead preferring grilled fruit with a little honey and cinnamon. Then they picked out the guitar and the harmonica and sat there, playing and singing Creedence, country and other great songs, in the light of the fire, drinking booze, hearing the waves smoothly run into the sandy shore, the leves rattle in the breeze.

Despite the fact that Mila sees herself as an established barbecue visitor by now, after exploring her way through several barbecue cultures, this is a new version. Post-apocalyptic barbecue.

“Wonder what food we get, except for potatoes and corn.” Mila says. Juri chuckles at the thought of an all potato and corn barbecue. “Maybe some-” Mila thinks. “Green beans? Tomatoes? Oh, and what if they have found some broccoli! You’d like that.”

Earlier in the day, Mila took Juri out outside the safe zone and went on a journey of discovery in a direction they had not previously gone. After 1,2 miles they came to an open field which Mila immediately recognized as a vast potato field. There were a few, ravaged plants sticking out of the soil, but the chance that there were a lot of potatoes hidden underneath was huge. She let out a roar of joy at the discovery and frightened a couple of birds that angrily lifted from the untouched, rugged earth, and flew away to calmer lands. Some distance away, a barn loomed and Mila purposefully steered her steps towards the grayish-brown building, where the paint had begun to flake from the walls. She pushed open the door and went in, made sure that no walkers were lurking before releasing Juri from the harness and instructing him to search for potato sacks, and other useful things. Mila found the potato sacks, while Juri found a rusty shovel. They returned to the field and Mila began scanning the earth for a potentially lush piece to start digging on. Then she started digging, while Juri began to scrape the ground by hand. The sweat evaporated from her forehead, but being out there in the big field with Juri, performing body work, created an endorphin surcharge within her she hadn’t known for a long time. She felt alive. The smell of the earth, the still breeze and the sound of the shovel shaft digging into the ground. It was agrarian, made her homesick for Russia, to the Russian countryside. Sure, it was barren and vast beyond infinity, but she loved it. Her strong, Russian soul needed an outlet right there and then. Mila started singing. A hair-raising, Russian partisan song, something her grandfather sang for her as a child. Then she needed to cheer up the mood a bit, so she started singing “Panic” by The Smiths instead. Whether it was merry was questionable, but the melody was catchy. She then went down on her knees and started to dig with her hands in the soil. Suddenly she felt something in the ground, and triumphantly she pulled out the lower part of a potato plant, where surely eight or ten potatoes were still attached, and they looked really good!

“Jackpot!” Mila exclaimed.

While digging and tearing up cluster after cluster of potatoes, Mila and Juri talked about all the good potato dishes they could now make, making their mouth water with saliva. Potato gratin, fried potatoes with dill, moussaka with potatoes, one of their absolute favorites. They stopped digging after a sack was filled. Mila had to carry it home, and the sack probably weighed well over 30 kilos, so they stopped working and decided to come back another day, by car.

“Sorry, malenkiy. Time to use your legs.” said Mila, hoisting the sack onto her shoulder, next to the rucksack. Well, time to use mine as well, she thought and felt the heavy bag weighing her down. If Grandma could carry two full buckets of water from the well twice a day for seventy years, I should be able to carry thirty kilos of potatoes back to Alexandria.

Thank goodness she had tough, lanky muscles. And they didn’t run into anyone on the way back. Soaked in sweat and back inside the Alexandria walls, Mila dropped the heavy bag in front of Carol in the kitchen. Carol looked as if she could not believe her eyes at the sack. Mila went and took a much-needed shower, while Carol and Juri started peeling potatoes. She then helped Rick chop wood.

“Ya’ good at this.” Rick said as Mila, once again dripping with sweat after that very unnecessary shower, easily split firewood after firewood with the other ax.

“It may sound like a stereotype, but in Russia you learn this early in life, if you do not want to freeze to death.” Mila huffed and wiped her forehead on her arm. “Grandma and grandpa didn’t have electricity. Then you had to chop wood.”

She took a second shower an hour later, and got herself and Juri dressed up in, not fancy clothes, but clean ones, not covered in soil, dirt and potato peel. In front of the mirror she inspected the scar after the wolves machete. It was still red and bumpy, but had healed nicely, a slight miracle since she hadn’t been taking care of it nearly as well as Denise told her to. She then stepped into a pair of blue, worn jeans and ripped a top over her head. While Juri brushed his hair, Mila inspected him and cracked open a bottle of vodka.

She’s accustomed to pre-parties and has been an avid supporter of the phenomenon since her teenage years; never arrive sober to a party, or a funeral, or anything really if you’re an alcoholic like Mila.

She looks at the brand new bottle of Russian standard in her hand, contemplating if she should sweep it at the spot to increase her chances of ‘mingle and jingle’. Before she turns thought into action Maggie comes up at her right side.

“One could think everything was somewhat- I dunno, pre- all this.” Maggie says and lifts her eyebrows underneath the side swept brown hair.

“Feels odd.” Mila admits. “Nice, but strange. Be happy you don’t feel sick yet. The barbecue smell would kill you.”

Maggie looks down at the grey tank top underneath the checked shirt, smiles at the sight of her own stomach. It’s not prominently pouting yet, but in a few weeks it won’t be possible to hide the bump.

“Can’t wait.” Maggie replies ironically and nods towards the vodka bottle.

“You’re prepared for disaster or what?”

“Mouth water.” Mila says simply. “Bad breath.”

“Might be because of the mouth water.” Maggie grins as they catch sight of the bonfire and the Alexandrians, gathered around it. Maggie sniffs in the air as a puff of grilled meat comes their way. “Okay, I’m starting to get really hungry. Holy moly.”

“Preggers cravings.” Mila teases at the same time as she sees Abraham walking towards them, dressed in a button down shirt for the occasion underneath his jacket. “Looking sharp.” She greets him as he reaches the three of them. His red hair burns even brighter in the light of the flames from the fire.

“Gotta make the best of the opportunity. It’s a party.” He smiles and places a big, bearded kiss on her cheek and gives Maggie a warm hug before he squats and holds up his big palm towards Juri. “High five, little man.” Juri slams his small hand into the big man’s and looks really happy. “Heard ya’ found the potatoes.” Abraham says excitedly. “Great job, dude!”

Maggie and Mila look at each other. Yup, Juri’s the hero and Mila’s the burro, carrying the goodies more than 1,2 miles back to Alexandria. Nah, I can handle it, she thinks as she sees Juri’s proud grin, being the potato boss for the night.

“Come on, Romeo.” Mila starts walking towards the fire, that lures her towards its glowing sphere of heat and safety, awakening something primitive within her, a feeling that fire equals safety.

All of the Alexandria residents seem to be attending. Even Carl sits on a log, dragged in front of the fire, next to Aaron and Morgan. His head is wrapped up and he looks a million times better than two days ago. The color has returned to his cheeks and the sheriffs hat rests homely at the brown curls. Mila smiles at the sight. Rick appears in her field of sight at the same time. He looks fresh out of the shower and as he approaches she clearly feels a faint scent of men’s perfume.

“Carol’s over the moon with the potatoes.” He greets her as he stops in front of her.

“Glad I could contribute.” Mila says. “Where’s Daryl?” She looks around, searches for the broad man on the other side of the bonfire and in the shadows, but he’s nowhere to be seen. “I haven’t seen him today.”

Rick shrugs a little, as to say ‘who knows’.

“Come on.” He nods with his head to the side. “Let’s get ya’ beer.”

“Great.”

While Juri runs off on his own, around the bonfire to sit with Carl, Mila follows Rick over to a table, set with beer and soda. Michonne’s leaning up against the table top with a Coke in her hand, probably mixed up to a Jack and Coke if Mila knows her right, talking to Sasha and Eugene, who, judging by the strong scent, have bathed himself in shaving water. Carol, an Alexandrian woman and Denise sets the table with bowls of food. Mila’s astonished over the amounts of different dishes and sides they managed to put together for the evening. Sasha and Abraham went on a run and found an abandoned greenhouse, which hid all sorts of vegetables that miraculously survived on their own during the apocalypse. Another group of Alexandrians went fishing and also ran upon a few bewildered chickens, who had to sacrifice their lives for the sake of the festivities.

“The wall’s coming along nicely.” Mila says as she lets her gaze wander to the wall, where the big gaping hole where the church tower crashed through about a week ago. The debris is all gone and the hole is temporarily fixed with a few cars, but the structure that's supposed to become the new, reinforced wall, is already appearing.

“It’s gonna be solid.” Eugene says and nods, trying his absolute best to seem cool about it.

Mila’s been amused by him ever since he introduced himself to her; he’s intelligent, awkward and quite strange, but he certainly entertains her with all his clumsiness and strange talking. Despite her nearly ten years in the States, language is still the biggest challenge. Mila’s still learning new words and expressions and Eugene has undoubtedly made it a challenge for her to understand what he’s saying from time to time.

“Yippie.” Mila preaches as Rick puts a beer bottle in her hand. She takes it and chugs the bottle immediately, feeling a sudden rush of intense thirst only an alcoholic can feel in the presence of beer and booze. The intellectual with the prominent mullet stares at her as she takes the last sip of the bottle and puts it away. His expression pokes at her shenanigan-nerve, fuck she has to mess a little with him. “I’m into some real kinky shit after five bottles.” She therefore says and grins wolf-like at Eugene.

Eugene’s cheeks turn red like the fire next to him and he swallows. Michonne laughs into her can and both Rick and Sasha grins, struggling not to laugh. Mila reaches forward and pats poor Eugene on the arm.

“Just fucking with you.” She says and blinks. “Cheers.” And she opens the vodka bottle and offers him the first sip. “Here, it’s good for the nerves.”

“You’re a real tearaway.” Sasha says and breaks off the cap on a new Corona light.

“Extremely poor impulse control.” Mila takes back the vodka bottle and takes a bountiful sip, once again feeling the deep sense of thirst down her throat. “It gets worse with age, I notice.” She peeks behind Sasha at the table. “So, what’s for dinner?”

Carol, who happens to hear her question, comes up to the group at the table, holding a pie between the oven mittens.

“A real feast, that’s for sure.” She explains and puts the pie down. “Ribs, chicken, fish, vegetables, potatoes. Daryl must’ve hit the jackpot, he brought back an entire forest.” Carol smiles and removes the checked oven mittens from her hands. “And pie for dessert.”

“Are we celebrating something?” Sasha says.

“Being alive?” Michonne taps her fingers at the can.

“Anyone having their birthday soon, or just had? That could be a reason.” Eugene suggests.

“Don’t even know what date it is.” Mila says and takes another sip of the vodka. “Mine’s in June.”

“Gotta celebrate something.” Eugene continues.

“How ‘bout-” Rick begins. “A party for those who can’t be here.”

“A death party?” Mila raises her eyebrows at Rick.

“That’s morbid.” Sasha wrinkles her nose.

“Could work.” Mila continues. “Russian funerals often turn into parties. At first people cry something incredibly for hours and hours and hours- Then you drink until you can’t feel feelings anymore.”

“Sounds even more weird.” Eugene expresses. “I like Rick’s idea better.”

“I’m gonna drink anyway.” Mila snorts and continues to drink. At least she’s dressed up somewhat properly for a funeral reception; black top, black leather jacket and, yeah the fedora might be questionable, but at least she wears black boots!

They sit down and eat when Aaron, Glenn, Rosita and Gabriel have sliced the grilled meat and put it on the buffet table. Juri’s plate is filled with potatoes and vegetables as well as Mila’s and he’s got a juice box safely placed between his cute feet. They sit on a log with Rick and Carol; eating, drinking and talking while the fire crackles, the cicadas sing behind the wall. The sky above them is starry and the sparks from the fire rises towards the gleaming stars, millions of lightyears away. But Daryl is nowhere to be seen. Where the hell is he? Mila looks around every now and then, but Rick assures her that he’s alright. Why wouldn’t he? To calm her mind, she empties the vodka bottle and runs to get another one, just as the party attendants does a turn two at the buffet.

“Ey, look who’s back.” Rick suddenly says and looks at Mila- no, over her shoulder, behind her.

Mila turns on the log and looks behind her. Daryl comes walking down the street towards them. In the warm light of the fire Mila can see that he’s fine, unharmed, but holds something behind his back. She gets up from the log, a movement that makes the others pause their conversations and laughter to look at her. Mila gets ready to give him a scolding, but Daryl’s facial expression makes her change her mind. It’s soft, somewhat gawky, but yet soft and not stern and grumpy. It strikes her there and then that he hasn’t looked surly at all lately, at least not while looking at her. She takes a step over the log and walks to meet him. The wrinkle created between her eyebrows softens as he stops in front of her in the light of the big fire.

“Where’ve you been?” She asks and crosses her arms over her chest.

“Had a thing to do.” He says and screws a little, but keeps his back straight. “I’m here now.”

“Yeah, I can see that.” Mila looks him straight in the eyes. “But where were you? I was worried.”

Instead of giving her a verbal answer, Mila has come to understand Daryl’s idea, that words are unnecessary sometimes well by now. He takes out what he’s hiding behind his back, and holds it out for her. A guitar. An acoustic sunburst Epiphone, with engraved flowers on the pickguard. Mila stares at the beautiful instrument as Daryl hands it over to her; the shimmery pearly detailing in the maple neck, steel strings and rosewood details. She lifts her gaze and looks at Daryl in awe.

“Though ya’d like it.” Daryl looks at her, not sure if she’s happy or disappointed. “Ya’ said ya’ played.”

Yeah, yes she did say that. But she didn’t think he’d remembered. She can’t speak. Instead, Mila wraps her arms around his neck, with the guitar’s neck still in a firm grip. The last time she got a guitar, it was Jim who surprised her with one. He blindfolded her and drove her to the music store where he led her in, like a blind. Mila stumbled on the threshold and tore off her blindfold, red in the face with anger over his shenanigans. But the anger ran off when she saw where she was.

“Pick one.”

“Pick what?”

“A guitar.” Jim reached out his arms to his side, to the guitars hanging around the walls of the shop. “Whatever one you want.”

Mila picked a light sunburst Fender that time. It was left behind in Brooklyn along with Jim’s old, trusted Gibson. At least their guitars were together.

“Thank you.” Mila whispers into his ear and releases her grip around Daryl’s neck.

It’s one of the finest, most thoughtful gifts she has received in a long time. She squeezes the neck and admires the wooden piece. He really went off and found her a guitar. Around them, the other inhabitants have paused whatever they’re doing, to look at them. Abraham is the one that finally breaks the silence, still chewing on a glazed rib.

“Well, whatcha waitin’ for? Play it, Jersey.” He points at the guitar with the bone.

Her mouth turns into a wide grin. My God, she hasn’t played in awhile and the guitar isn’t even tuned. She takes Daryl’s hand, intervenes her fingers with his and drags him off to the overturned log, steps over it and sits down next to Juri, who looks overjoyed with the possibility of some live music. Her number one fan. Daryl sits down next to her and Carol hands him a plate of food. It’s like someone pressed ‘play’. Everyone starts talking to each other again, eating and drinking, just as before Daryl appeared with the guitar. While Daryl eats, Mila begins to tune the guitar, at the same time as she gets meaningful glances from both Maggie and Carol, who blink at her.

“I did not know you played guitar.” Says Carl and looks wide-eyed at the guitar.

“I'm full of surprises.” Mila smiles cheeky at him.

“Can you make requests?” Rick says and takes a sip of his Corona.

“Depends on the request.” Mila replies. She knows that Rick has a similar taste in music as she; they have more than once hummed along to the same country songs while working, so he won’t have to be disappointed. “I’m a little rusty.” And not nearly drunk enough to feel completely at ease with performing in front of these people, she thinks and looks around. For some reason this is different than before. Different from the bars and the family gatherings with the Galka’s and Jim. “I’ll punch you if any of you say Wonderfall.” Mila squints her eyes at her crowd as she tunes the low E-string, considering the guitar to be in playable condition.

“Thought it was Wonderwall?” Glenn looks at Maggie, slightly confused.

“I’ll punch you.” Mila places her fingers on the cold steel strings and strikes a loop of chords, searching for a melody. She quickly finds the sound she’s looking for; huh, she wasn’t that rusty after all. With her tongue in between her teeth she starts playing something random.

The sheriff's tapping boot is enough for her to pick Rick as her target.

“Come on, I’m not doing it on my own.”

Rick takes a sip of beer, chuckles a little. But Mila’s serious. As is Michonne.

“Do it Sheriff.” Michonne bumps Rick in the side. “We got ya’ back.”

Mila doesn’t wait for an answer. He won’t be able to resist later on. She adjusts the guitar on her leg and starts playing a tune, praying to some higher power that her voice won’t break.

“As long as I remember, the rain's been comin' down. Clouds of mystery pourin', confusion on the ground. Good men through the ages, tryin' to find the sun. And I wonder, still I wonder, who'll stop the rain-”

She gets chills down her spine as she manages to pull the Creedence classic off pretty decently, sitting at the log between the men in her life, surrounded by her new family. Just as when she performed it at that bar with Jim that first time she performed like that in her life, a couple of years ago. She vomited into a bin before going on stage, or more like a corner with a rug of the small, crowded bar in Brooklyn, but as soon as she had the guitar in her hands and started singing, she felt calm, secure. Jim used to say it was a miracle she learned to play the guitar at the pace she did, having only played piano and the violin during her childhood. Guitars was a dumb instrument, according to her papa. Pff, what did he know? Prison was for dumb people, and look where he was? Mila lets the chord die after the last “-and I wonder, still I wonder, who'll stop the rain?”, then continues with Springsteen.

“On a rattlesnake speedway in the Utah desert, I pick up my money and head back into town. Driving 'cross the Waynesboro county line, I got the radio on and I'm just killing time-”

She notices Daryl’s gaze in the corner of her eyes, just as she notices Juri’s nodding head and Abraham saying, mids a chuckle of delighted surprise:

“I’ll be damn.”

It’s like inviting all of them into a very special place of herself, a place where she can be something else than a mom, a dental nurse and a girl with a broken past. With a deep, lingering gaze, she tries to communicate that to Daryl, as a way of explaining her trust in him. To her, music is medicine for the soul and the heart. A heritage she has passed on to Juri when giving him the walkman for his birthday.

“The dogs on Main Street howl, 'Cause they understand. If I could take one moment into my hands, mister I ain't a boy, no I'm a man. And I believe in a promised land-”

She removes her fingers from the strings and the chord echoes out into the night, blends in with the cheering. She’s warmed up now, overflown with the rush of happy adrenaline playing the guitar causes her, just as the applause makes her blush. Okay, let's go with something happy, she thinks.

“Here’s a lil' something to cheer ya’ll up.” She says in her most convincing country-voice, puts her fingers into a ‘G’ and: “Daddy won a radio and tuned it to a country show, I was rockin' in the cradle to the cryin' of a steel guitar-”

It takes Rick ten seconds to hear what song it is, he knows his country music. He jumps into the chorus, at first doubtfully, but encouraged by both Carl and Abe, who have taken out a cigar from his jacket, he seems to think ‘what the hell’, and sings a little louder, with more feeling. And it’s fun.

“Singin 'in the bars and- Chasin' that neon rainbow, livin 'that honky tonk dream.' Cause all I've ever wanted, is to pick this guitar and sing. Just tryin 'to be somebody, just wanna be heard and seen. I'm chasin 'that neon rainbow, livin' that honky tonk dream- “

He continues to sing with her as Mila follows up with the Beatles “Rocky Raccoon”, but lets her continue on her own after that, with both “Thunder road” and a country version of “I’m on fire”.

“Your accent disappears when you sing.” Maggie says as Mila takes a few sips of vodka.

“Yeah I haven’t figured the reason for that out yet.” Mila wipes her mouth on the back of her hand as she grabs the guitar again, her fingertips pulsating from having to work the strings again. “But singing country with an accent would sound weird, I guess? Okay, one last one.”

She ends her one woman-show, which could just as well be seen as therapy for her musically starving soul, with Kate Bush’s “Running up that hill”, as the flames from the fire licks the now pitch black sky, sprinkled with millions, billions of stars.

“Say, if I only could, I'd be running up that hill. With no problems…”

Taglist: @lonewolf471 @twdeadfanfic

#jersey on my mind #daryl dixon #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon fanfic #daryl x oc #daryl fanfiction #twd #twd fanfiction #twd daryl #twd fanfic #the walking dead fanfic #the walking dead fandom #the walking dead fanficition

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marshmallowprotection · 4 years

Note

Hey! Could I request MC in a poly relationship with Saeyoung and Zen? We're MC starts as an emotional support for Seven and in the middle of it gets into a relationship with Zen but realizes that she also has feelings for Seven. Maybe it comes to the three of them talking and trying to figure things out. What kind of relationship would they all have?

Seven / Zen

You were best friends with Saeyoung and you had been his rock, you had been there for everyone in the RFA, honestly. It was thanks to your faith in him that everyone was together and that there were no more secrets to be had. At least, that’s what he said if anyone brought it up.

It had been a long time coming after attack after attack on each of the members but everything had worked itself out in the end. You two just sort of blended in a way that nobody else could. There was always this comfortable hum when you with him, but you thought that you were just friends, and nothing more than that given his interest.

You were okay with that.

Well, you thought you were, he was busy trying to fix his relationship with his brother and focus on rebuilding what had been broken, so you stayed his friend and support at the side, but you tried to rip your feelings away from him so you could try to move on.

That led you to lean into Zen’s feelings for you. You knew that he had always had somewhat of a crush on you and you couldn’t deny that the feelings were not exactly mutual. It was often play flirting and comfortable talk when it came to how you spoke with him but there was a natural connection. It was fun to be with him and he treated you like royalty.

Who wouldn’t find themselves in a relationship with someone like Zen? He was absolutely amazing and it just sort of happened one day. You slipped your hand in his and it was just like it was meant to happen. He only chuckled and stole a kiss from your lips.

That was that, or well, it was supposed to be as simple as that.

You settled into a relationship with Zen and tried to focus on helping him with his career as things calmed down the work started to flow back in. It was supposed to be smooth sailing from here. You would be with Zen and the RFA would find a new normal after everything.

It wasn’t that easy. You tried to push aside your feelings for Seven but every time you were around him, your heart would still race and his smile would melt the ice walls you tried to pull up around yourself to move on. His laughter was still music to your ears and you wanted him, God, you wanted him.

Guilt wracked your soul because you loved Zen too, but you didn’t want to hurt him by admitting you loved Seven too. It grew to a point where you closed your heart to everyone around you. You wouldn’t talk to everyone as much as you used to and you didn’t feel like you deserved to be around the ones you cared about because you felt selfish. You should have been happy with Zen, but you weren’t happy with just that.

It was a lot, to say the least. It wasn’t until Zen caught and cornered you in his apartment that he was able to get the truth out of you after a few weeks of hit or miss conversations. He was worried that you were hiding something from him, like the media talking about you or belittling you for being his partner, but when you admit why you really were so far away from him, he's a bit floored.

“You like Seven?”

“I love you too, Zen, but I... I’ve always loved him.”

It’s a lot for Zen to think about but honestly when it comes down to it and after he’s had a night to mull it over, he decides that what matters to him is that you are happy. Whatever it means for you to be happy, he’s willing to try. Of course, you would have to sit down with Seven and talk about that.

So, that’s more or less what happens next. You invite Seven over so you can talk to him about why you’ve been avoiding him and why you were acting so... unlike yourself lately. With Zen’s support, you’re able to admit your feelings to him and that you know he only sees you as a friend but you need him to know this. Much to your surprise, Seven is honest with you too, about how he loves you but he thought that you only wanted to be his friend.

Turns out you both were assuming without asking.

Zen has to shake his head and sigh, “Ah, kids these days.”

Seven is not amused, “Zen, you’re hardly older than me, man. Don’t tease Y/N like that. We’re both sort of to blame for letting it fester like this.”

The three of you hash something out after a long conversation that night where you’re easing into a relationship with Seven. Zen is okay with that, he wants you to be happy and if it means he has to put up with Seven, well, he’s okay with that happening.

For a while there, you’re spending your time between Seven and Zen. It’s nice but it doesn’t feel quite right. You get to spend nights curled up with Seven or out on the town with Zen. It’s fun, and you love that you get to be with the men that you love so much but there’s a disconnect. So, you make an active note to go out with both of them together.

You like being with them, you shouldn’t have to split time between them like that, you know! Zen is the one who is a bit unsure of it at first. He’s a pretty jealous guy so it’s hard for him to see another guy kissing you. Seven is totally fine with that. He’s always sort of you know, had a little puppy crush on Zen and he can’t deny he doesn’t like being around him like that.

You started to pick up on that fact really fast. He’s always helping Zen trend and ensuring that he’s doing well online, anyway. It was just sort of obvious to you that he had a crush. Seven’s been guilty of pining over Zen for a long time and you figure that it’s high time he at least make a point of giving that a shot. After all, you’re all in a relationship!

This doesn’t have to be just you between them, it could be more than that.

Hijinks ensue as Seven tries to get closer to Zen through all sorts of means and it just gets hilarious each time Seven makes a move and Zen is utterly oblivious to what’s happening.

It probably isn’t until Seven starts getting more brazen during your date nights that Zen picks up on what’s happening. Zen flirts with everyone so it’s not weird for him and Seven to go back and forth. What is new to him is how Seven sprawls himself over his lap and coos over him affectionately as you normally would.

You think Zen would have figured out that he sort of was into him after all those times Seven came over to the apartment dressed up as a girl on a day he was feeling more feminine or just wanted to play around. His internalized anxiety over being attracted to another guy was probably playing into how long it took him to realize what was happening to him.

This actually doesn’t have a big blow-up or anything, it sort of just happens one evening. Seven might just nonchalantly kiss him during a movie when you’re not there to act as a distraction and it just goes and escalates from that point. Cue your surprised but enthused face when you realize that Seven was able, to be honest as well and Zen was okay with it.

The relationship dynamic is wholesome. Seven is guilty of being a sadistic little brat and likes to torment Zen until he punishes him. That’s what’s going on with them. You’re guilty of egging it on just to see how far it’ll go. Seven easily plays with you too but he’s a lot softer when it comes to you. Zen is also gentle with you but with a much firmer touch.

There’s a lot of affection shared because you’re a group of insecure people who found each other and love to hear that someone cares about you. Not everyone knows what’s going on for a while there between you three because you and Zen were already together. There might be an instance where Yoosung thinks that you’re cheating on Zen with Seven, and he’ll have to be calmly explained to that “Yoosung, you can date more than one person and we’re all together.”

It’s just really cute! You and Seven are constantly doing everything to support Zen, him from the sidelines and you from the forefront. You, Seven, and Jaehee are utterly guilty of being the Zen Fanclub here now. Except when it comes to Elly, Seven will always love her, and Zen will just have to deal with that from now on.

Seven doesn’t really like the spotlight but honestly, going out with Zen is an excuse to dress up in costume. Zen likes having two pretty girls on his arm, that’s always nice. You’re always red in the face because they’re always doting on you when it’s like this!

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steve-hairingtons · 5 years

Note

settling down and growing old with steve headcanon

word count: 1.6k

this ended up a lot sadder than i intended it to be

WARNINGS: mentions of smut and death, sadness

it had been two months since you and steve got married

you just celebrated your four-year anniversary six months before you got married

so you guys had been together almost five years

and it was the happiest you’d ever been

you met sophomore year in english class

you were paired to do a presentation on hamlet

but you guys actually became best friends

at first, you thought it was odd that his best friend was five years younger than him

but you grew close with dustin too

you swore you never laughed more in two weeks than you did during your project

for a while you didn’t think he felt the same when you figured out you had a crush on him

it took you two months to realize

but you told him one night

you went to a party together

you were drunk

he drove you home

when he tried to get you out of the car to walk you in is when you told him

he dropped you on the grass

you were crying laughing

he laughed with you

when you refused to get up, he sat next to you

in the midst of your drunken laughing fit, it slipped out

he was silent

you were silent

he helped you to your feet and walked you in, getting you to bed and making sure you took your birth control pill

and then he left

the next morning, you remembered what happened

you beat yourself up over telling him

but he called you and invited you over

you reluctantly went over

you sat on his couch next to him silently

he was the first to speak

“do you really like me?” he asked

he sounded like he didn’t think he was worth liking

you nodded

“i do”

“how long?”

“couple months”

he nodded slowly

then he leaned over and kissed you

he told you he felt the same

and you started dating

he was your first kiss

he took your virginity

and after four years, he proposed

you said yes, obviously

you didn’t hesitate

you married in the hawkins church

you spent your honeymoon in ireland

and had mindblowing sex every night

when you got home, he told you he’d been saving up for a small house

and that he had enough money to buy it

you moved in the next week

he insisted on putting your mattress down first

you christened the house as soon as it was on the floor of the master bedroom

then the kids came over to help

when it was set up, you spent the night having more sex before you cooked dinner

not even a week later, you suggested getting a dog

he jumped on the suggestion

he’d always wanted one but his parents would never buy one

you went to the animal shelter the next day

you adopted a black labrador

steve named him louie

“louie? really?” you asked

“it suits him!”

so you brought louie home after buying him a new collar

he was the most affectionate dog

he slept in the bed with you and steve every night

then

about three months later

you found out you were pregnant

steve cried

you cried

dustin cried

you found out it would be a girl

the pregnancy was hell

your back, knees, and feet were in constant pain

the morning sickness never went away

so by the time you were nine months pregnant, your voice was always hoarse

it destroyed your body

you had massive, dark, long stretch marks

you had shin splits for nine months straight

you gained at least thirty pounds

you lost hair

you started getting migraines

but steve didn’t care

he always rubbed your feet

and he always forced you to get off your feet when you could

but you still had a job you had to go to

and he would always come on your break and bring you food

because you had intense cravings

he was always the most supportive husband

when you went into labor, it was three in the morning

your water broke in your sleep, which woke you up

you accidentally slapped steve in the face when trying to get up

he was freaking out more than you

“steve, honey, you’re not helping”

he drove you to the hospital after packing supplies

the kids all came

so did your parents

dustin was the only one in the party that stayed the whole time

he refused to leave

you were in labor for thirty-two hours

it was miserable

you were constantly crying because of the fluids they kept pumping into you

your cervix just wouldn’t dilate as quickly as they wanted it to

but it was still dilating, so they wouldn’t consider a c-section

steve was next to your bedside the whole time

every mental breakdown, every tear, every contraction

he was there

and you felt so lucky to have him

when your cervix was finally at ten centimeters, they told you to push

steve held a cool cloth to your forehead and let you dig your nails into his hand

dustin let you grab his hand too

it took around eight pushes for her to come out

every single one of them was excruciating

when she finally popped out, you felt instant relief and sobbed even harder

steve cried with you

she didn’t make any noise at first, which worried you

but when she cried, you threw your head back onto the pillow and smiled

they brought her over after they cleaned her

and you looked at her

and the feeling was indescribable

the first thing you noticed was how much hair she had

just like steve

you looked at steve, who kissed you

then you gave her to steve so you could sleep

dustin went home eventually

you named her ellie

she had brown hair and eyes like steve

when ellie got tired and they took her to the nursery, steve also took a nap

dustin and robin were her godparents, even though she wound up calling them “uncle dustin” and “aunt robin”

you were sore for weeks afterward

but you didn’t care

louie loved her

he always wanted to be with her

and guard her

he started sleeping in her nursery on the floor next to her crib

steve demanded he take the first few shifts to let you rest

you told him you were fine to get up

he didn’t listen

so you let him

when he didn’t come back to bed one night, you went to look for him

he was laying on the couch in the living room with her on his chest

he was watching tv

louie laid between his legs, his head on steve’s thigh

you walked over and crouched down

you pet louie on the head and he wagged his tail

you kissed him and smiled

“we have a daughter,” you gushed

“we do”

“we made a person”

“we did”

“i love her already”

he nodded in agreement

“and i love you,” you said with such adoration

“i love you too”

“are you gonna sleep here?”

he nodded

“okay”

you kissed him one more time before going back to bed

when you got up in the morning, steve had ellie in his arms as he made breakfast

you smiled as you sat at the table with a cup of coffee

you wondered how you got so lucky

when ellie was six, you enrolled her in school

steve didn’t want her to go

“school is bullshit,” he would say

“she needs to go”

“i wish she could just stay home all day”

“she’s six, babe. she’s never not been home all day”

he gave her a big hug before she went in

he was such a dork

but when she went to high school

he felt like an old man

then when she told you guys she was bisexual

he was happy she felt comfortable enough to tell you

she then told robin, who had a wife

and she was super supportive

so was dustin and the rest of the party

then she brought home her first boyfriend

steve tried to scare him off, while you welcomed him

they didn’t last long

then ellie met allison, who became her girlfriend

they married when they were both twenty-six

you and steve cried at the wedding

you had never imagined your life going the way it did

you never thought you’d find someone who loved you as much as steve did

or that you’d have kids

you didn’t not want kids, but you were never thrilled about having them either

but when you got pregnant, you knew you were ready

you grew old with steve, both of you taking care of each other with the help of ellie and allison

when they were twenty-eight, they decided to have a kid

ellie went to a sperm bank and she got pregnant

steve cried once again when they told you they were expecting

they had a son, who they named steve

and then steve cried at that

steve was a crier

when steve was fifty, he had a heart attack

it killed him

it was sudden

he was with you, fell in the shower, and you called 911

he died in the hospital

ellie, dustin, and robin all came

he was surrounded by his friends and family in his last moments

while it crushed you because he was so young, it was good to know he wasn’t suffering anymore

dustin and ellie took it the hardest

ellie took off work for four months

she, dustin, and robin all came to visit you the day after

you all cried

hard

harder than when he actually died

the funeral was awful

the whole party, including nancy and jonathan, were there

robin and her wife were there

it was the hardest day of your life

you gave a fifteen-minute long speech about your lives together

it was soul-crushing

afterward, you all went on with your lives

you were already retired, so you moved in with ellie

you lived with her until you passed on, as well

send me prompts!

#steve harrington #steve harrington fluff #steve harrington fanfiction #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x reader fanfic #steve harrington x reader fanfiction #steve harrington x reader imagine #headcanon #sfw #stranger things #requested #one shot

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what-is-your-plan-today · 5 years

Text

Stark Spangled Banner Ch 61: Proof Tony Stark Has A Heart

Intro The Time Heist worked, but at a cost. Natasha gave her life for the Soul Stone. Following a promise to make her sacrifice worth something, the Avengers continued their plan and succeeded in reversing the Snap. But along with everyone else, the biggest threat the Avengers have ever faced re-appeared.

Thanos.

Now Steve and Katie, along with the rest of their team are locked in a fearsome battle, between light and dark, life and death. Simply put, it’s a battle which they cannot afford to lose because they’re in the Endgame now…

Warnings: “Language!”

Major angst- get the tissues ready.

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist

“Hey.” A deep voice roused Katie from her thoughts and she looked up to see Bucky walk into the kitchen wearing a pair of black sweats and a red Henley. “I would ask if you were ok but it’s a stupid question.” “I appreciate the sentiment.” she smiled at him. “Coffee is fresh, just don’t tell Steve I’ve been drinking it. He’ll only bitch and moan about caffeine being bad for the baby.” Bucky smiled “My lips are sealed.” he said, helping himself to a mug from the cupboard before he made himself a drink. He sat down opposite his best friend’s wife and just took her in for a moment. Her long hair was piled on top of her head in a messy bun, she looked pale and tired. He couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy for her and how much she was going through. Finding out you’re pregnant again, with a baby you lost whilst having to come to terms with the death of your brother, the brother you had long since thought of as a father can’t be easy for anyone. He took a sip of his drink and leaned forward slightly “So how are you really feeling?”

She looked at him for a moment before she took a deep breath “If I’m honest, lost.” She sniffed slightly as her eyes filled with tears. "All my life Tony has been there and the thought now that he's not, and never will be again..." she wiped at her face "You know Buck, for the last week I've felt like I've been in a bad dream but yesterday, getting that message and today...it just makes it so real, so final you know?" Bucky smiled softly and reached over the table to squeeze her hand. "You'll get through this. I know all things considered we haven't really known each other that long but I do know you're made of strong stuff." "I don't feel like it at the moment." Katie said gently. "You have to be to put up with Stevie.” he joked, making her give a watery chuckle. “Just remember you're not on your own.” "I know." Katie said, her eyes brimming with tears "and Steve's been amazing, he really has...you all have." "He ain't bad for a punk." Bucky smiled making her chuckle slightly as he let go of her hand. "Talking about me again?" Steve's warm voice hit her ears and she glanced up, smiling at him as he leaned on the door frame, arms crossed, the fact he was dressed almost identically to his friend only with a blue Henley made her smile. "Yes" Bucky nodded. Steve rolled his eyes and pushed off the frame. He crossed the room and dropped a kiss to Katie's head before his hand gently brushed her face.

"Its early doll." he said, gently tipping her face to look up at him. “You were so tired last night.” "Yeah I woke about an hour ago and couldn't get back to sleep." She shrugged.

Steve looked at her for a second, he’d much rather she’d have lay in for an extra hour or so, all things considered but he knew she would be stressing about today so there wasn’t any point in dwelling on it.

"You want any breakfast?" he asked her, dropping his hand back to his hip. "Not really but yes, before you say it I know I have to eat." She said softly. "French toast?" He asked and she pondered for a moment. He knew that was her favourite breakfast. And she knew that he knew. "We got any strawberries?" She asked eventually, with a faint smile.

He nodded. ”What’s French toast without the fruit?” "Wait..." Bucky said, pointing at Steve "you're cooking?"

"And?" Steve looked at him.

"The last time I remember you trying to do that you nearly burnt the flat down and my mom banned you from ever trying again” he looked at Katie “She insisted on making him food parcels!"

"He’s actually pretty good." Katie said, and Steve grinned at her praise, flipping Bucky off with a smug grin. "makes a wicked carbonara but breakfasts are his speciality. Jamie loves his pancakes, says they're better than mine"

"I had a good teacher." Steve said, shooting her a wink before he crossed to the cupboard and pulled out the brioche.

"Think I'll go grab a shower before the kids wake up." Katie said, pushing her chair out, her hand falling to her stomach "and before this little bean realises I'm awake and makes me puke my guts up again."

Steve watched her go before he sighed and moved to the fridge to grab the eggs.

"She'll be ok Steve." Bucky assured him "Today's gonna be hard but she’s got everyone around her."

"She should be taking it easy." Steve sighed "she had a rough time with sickness and tiredness when she was pregnant with Jamie up until the 6 month mark and this stress can’t be good for either of them…"

He trailed off as Emmy walked into the kitchen, yawning, pulling her long brown hair into a braid. "Morning sweetie, you want some French toast?" Steve asked as she moved to give her dad a hug, still half asleep. She nodded and made an appreciative noise before she turned to grab the orange juice from behind him in the fridge. Pouring a glass she sat at the table and said good morning to Bucky before she picked up the remote.

The three of them instantly looked at the screen when a familiar voice hit their ears. "Tony Stark was a good man..." Secretary Ross was speaking to the journalist "I had the privilege to know him well. He had th-" At that Emmy turned the channel over. "Dick" she mumbled under her breath. Bucky caught Steve's eye, the pair of them sharing a grin, Steve choosing not to chastise her for her language.

“Good morning to you too!” Sam grinned as he walked into the kitchen. Emmy looked at him before she chuckled.

“Not you, Ross.” “Ah. Well, no arguments from me there” Sam said, heading to the coffee pot.

“Katie punched him you know.” Steve said, deciding to interject a little bit of light heartedness into the morning. All 3 of them turned to face him as Sam let out a snort.

“Why am I not surprised?”

Steve raised his eyebrows, the corner of his mouth curling up into a smile.

“Well, come on Pops, tell us!” Emmy urged.

“It was just after the snap. Katie went with Rhodey to give President Ellis a briefing. She had a disagreement with Ross, pointing out that the accords had meant the Avengers hadn’t been together which had weakened us, and then as she was leaving he made some snarky comment about passing on his regards to me so she gave him a right hook, a pretty good one too according to Rhodey.” Sam and Bucky both exchanged a look, Sam nodding in approval, a grin split across his face. “Nice.”

“You know…” Bucky looked at him, “The more I hear and see of your Mrs, the more I think I’m in love with her myself.”

Steve rolled his eyes and started to whisk the obscene number of eggs he had placed in the bowl. By the time he had finished making everyone breakfast, Katie was back at the table in a towel robe, hair damp, having brought Jamie down. No sooner had Steve placed her plate of food in front of her, she was up again, running to the downstairs bathroom to throw up.

“Is Momma ok?” Jamie asked, looking at Steve who smiled at him.

“She’s fine pal, the new baby is just making her a little bit sick, that’s all. Nothing to worry about.”

Jamie looked back at the door his mom had disappeared through before he picked up his fork and began to dig into the chopped up French toast and fruit that was on his plate.

Katie wandered back in a few minutes later and sat back at the table, pinching the bridge of her nose. Steve watched as she pushed her food around her plate for a bit, before she took a few bites. Satisfied that she was eating something he tucked into his own.

Once breakfast was done the house was a flurry of activity as people got ready. Katie, having already showered, simply had to fix her hair and make-up. She set Jamie’s outfit out for him and Emmy offered to help him dress to give her chance to get herself sorted, which she was grateful for. “Stevie…” Katie asked him as he stood in front of the mirror, doing his tie “Can you zip me up please?”

His fingers fell to the zipper of her black dress and he softly pulled it up to the collar, dropping a kiss to her neck as his arms wrapped around her waist, hands flattening on her stomach.

“No bump yet.” he said softly and she smiled.

“I’ll be fat again soon enough.” she said, her hands falling over his.

“I can’t wait.” he grinned at her and she caught his eye in the mirror and snorted.

“I swear you have some kind of breeding kink.” “What?” he frowned “I’ve no-“ “It means you get off on the thrill of getting me pregnant, seeing me pregnant…” He hesitated before he shrugged “Not as such, I just love you and love the fact my baby is in there.” he said, pulling her back so she was pressed into him slightly. “I loved the changes I saw last time…” “You’re only hoping my boobs get bigger again.” she teased and he smiled, arching an eyebrow.

“Can you blame me?” he asked and she shook her head.

“Captain Sex Fiend is a pervert, who knew?” she said before she turned in his arms and straightened the knot on his tie slightly, smoothing her hands down her chest. She took a deep breath and looked up at him. “I’m scared Steve.”

Instantly understanding he pulled her closer, his arms wrapping around her back “Don’t be. I’ll be right there ok? It’ll be over soon enough.”

“The funeral might be.” Katie sighed “but I’m not sure losing him will ever be over.” “You’re right it won’t” Steve said, and she looked at him “It’s almost 90 years since my ma died, ok, granted most of them I was on ice for but she died when I was 18. There’s still not a day goes past where I don’t think about her or miss her.”

He brushed a strand of hair that had fallen loose from her bun out of her face and smiled softly. “But it does get easier. It never goes away completely, the pain of losing them I mean, but I promise you will one day be able to look back at Tony and be happy that he was your brother and such a big part of your life.”

He placed a gentle kiss onto her lips before a loud shout from the hallway told them the car had arrived. They made their way downstairs and Katie smiled at Jamie who was dessed in a black suit almost identical to Steve’s.

“Look at my handsome, little man.” Katie beamed at him, dropping a kiss to his head.

“Here.” Steve tossed the keys to his Audi to Bucky, who caught them effortlessly in his right hand. There was a car booked to bring them home from the Stark’s lake house at 6 that evening but he had a feeling Katie would want to leave before then. He knew she’d be tired and emotional and just want to be home with family so this way it meant they could leave earlier if they needed to, and Bucky and Sam could do what they wanted.

“See you there.” Bucky nodded to Steve who smiled at his friends as they left.

*****

It was busy outside the Cathedral. The surrounding street and road had been shut off and the sidewalks around the temporary barriers were packed with members of the public and press as they all clamoured round. Katie found the whole thing hideous, and her hand tightened on Steve’s as the car pulled to a stop just outside the building.

“I don’t know if I can do this…” she said gently, and he turned to look at her. She was chewing her lip and shaking slightly. He glanced back at Emmy who was on the row behind.

“Em, take Jamie in ok. We’ll be there in a second.” She nodded “Come on short stuff.” she said, as someone opened the door for them. Jamie looked at his dad for a moment but Steve nodded and he followed Emmy, slipping his hand into hers as they headed into the building, Bucky and Sam both meeting them by the door.

“Give us a second.” Steve said to the man who had opened their door and he nodded, gently closing it.

“Look at me.” Steve said, turning to his wife and she glanced up at him, her eyes wide and frightened. “I know this is daunting, but you just gotta get through this bit. As soon as this is over, then it’s back to the lake house and there’ll be none of this or them around.” he waved his hand gesturing outside.

“I can’t…” “Yes, you can.” he said softly “Baby, you’re the strongest person I know. And you’re not on your own, I got you. If it starts getting to much in there you just let me know and I’ll get you out, I promise, ok?”

Katie took a deep breath and looked at her husband as he gently cupped her face in his hand, stroking her cheek with his thumb. She had to do this, she had to. And she knew Steve would look after her. With a deep breath she nodded and he dropped a soft kiss to her lips before he turned and opened the door.

The minute she was out of the cars the cameras started flashing and she gripped Steve’s hand even tighter. He moved so his arm was around her, pulling her close, almost shielding her if you will as he walked purposefully through the gates and into the Cathedral Grounds, his eyes not once looking round. In a few seconds they were through the gates and mostly out of the way of the public and he felt Katie relax a little as she let out the breath she had been holding when Jamie ran to her, wrapping his arms round her legs.

“Momma, I just met the Priest. He says his name is James too!” “Wow!” Katie smiled down at her son “Only the best people are called James.” “So that’s me, Uncle Bucky and the Priest!” he said, ticking them off on his small fingers, beaming at her. She gave a soft chuckle as he slipped his hand into hers. It wasn’t long before the funeral party arrived, Pepper and Morgan climbing out of the first car with Happy, the Hearst behind carried her Brother’s coffin. Katie smiled as she saw it was adorned with a wreath of greenery and country wild flowers which, in the centre, boasted the first Arc Reactor he had developed, which Pepper had framed for him all those years ago. ‘Proof Tony Stark has a heart’ was engraved on the metal halo surrounding it. It had been Pepper’s idea of a joke at the time, but Tony had insisted on keeping it by his desk ever since she gave it to him.

As Steve, Rhodey, Clint and Happy all stepped forward to take a corner of the coffin each, Bruce moved behind them, one large hand resting on the back. Katie took hold her Emmy’s hand in her spare one, and the 3 of them followed on behind Pepper and Morgan, heading into the Cathedral as the familiar sounds of “Drops of Jupiter” by Train hit their ears.

Steve’s eyes were already misting over by the time he was halfway down the aisle. Saying goodbye to people you loved never got any easier. And he had loved Tony, as a friend and a brother. He hadn’t been perfect, none of them were, and at times he had really tested Steve’s patience. But he had been a good man. Always doing right by the people he cared about. As they placed the coffin down, he heard Rhodey give a little chuckle. He glanced over at him and he gestured to the picture of Tony that was on the table and as Steve looked at it he couldn’t help but laugh. It was a picture of Tony, giving the thumbs up to someone in what looked like a court room, Rhodey in the back ground looking utterly exasperated.

“It was a senate hearing.” Rhodey whispered “He had just goaded Stern into telling him to go eff himself…”

“Why am I not surprised?” Steve smiled, as he moved to stand in the space next to Katie, who had Jamie settled on her hip, Emmy at her other side. He gave her a gentle squeeze around the shoulder and then they were told to sit down.

Katie couldn’t tell you what hymns were sung, despite the fact she had a hand in picking them, or what readings Rhodey and Banner read out. She was in a daze, until the time came (far too soon for her liking) for her to give the Eulogy.

Steve took Jamie off her knee and leaned over “You got this.” he said gently, kissing her cheek as she stood up and made her way, chin raised with as much dignity as she could manage, up the 4 steps to the pulpit.

“You know…” She coughed and cleared her throat. “I agonised for days over what to say here, stood in front of you all, and not to mention the many, many people watching outside. I trashed about 50 different sheets of paper because not one speech I wrote could ever do Tony justice. So, in the end I decided to go with the Stark favoured tradition, the one he started, and wing it…” she took a deep breath and looked out at the heaving Cathedral before she turned her attention to the front 3 rows which contained the people she loved and knew.

“From the day our Parents died Tony took on the role of being my brother, my father and my mother, which for a 21 year old party animal is no mean feat. Not to mention the fact he had to get to grips with running a company as well. But he did it. And he did it well, I think. I mean I turned out ok, although my kids and husband might have something to say about that.” Chuckles rang out over the congregation and she paused, waiting for them to die down.

“I never wanted for anything as a child. I was incredibly lucky, I had so many opportunities others could only dream of. But if there was one thing Tony taught me, it was that I had to earn it. Ironic, yes given that we had more money than even he knew what to do with, but he made me understand that hard work pays off. And that’s something that has stuck with me today. Everything is earned, bar love. My brother loved me unconditionally, and I him. Even though he was a pain in the proverbial to live with at times.”

Pepper smiled at this and looked down at her hand which was wrapped around Morgan’s. To her right sat Happy who was also smiling. On the row behind them Steve sat with Jamie on his knee and Emmy to his right. He smiled up at his wife encouragingly, his chest bursting with pride at how well she was conducting herself.

“There was no Boarding School for me. After spending most of his Childhood in one he vowed never to do the same to me or any of his kids, and for that I’ll be eternally grateful.” Katie said sincerely, and she was. “I grew up in an unconventional, yet oh so loving environment. Yes, Tony was a party animal, I mean I lost track of the amount of times Pepper had to ‘take out the trash’…”

At that Pepper, Rhodey and Happy all laughed out loud at the little inside joke.

“But he was on the most discreet, until I got a little older that is and it became a running joke between us all. I can’t actually remember him ever introducing me to a serious girlfriend bar Pepper so congratulations Pep, you truly did tame Tony Stark.”

Katie bit her lip slightly as she felt herself wobble at the next set of words that formed in her mind.

“When I was a Kid, to me Tony was fun. He used to wrestle monsters under my bed with the Monster Killing machine, aka the Vacuum. He used to build ridiculous forts in the living room that would remain there for days during school holidays where we would hide out, eat pizza, junk and play games. He took me to Disney Land, to the Beach, to Aquariums, on holidays that were ridiculously elaborate. I was an extremely lucky little girl. But then, when I got older, he stopped simply being my fun bigger brother and became my friend as well. When I passed my driving test we would regularly just go for drives to a Starbucks that was like 10 miles away, just so we could spend time on the open road and sing like idiots as loud as we could. He held my hair back whilst I puked up after my first Keg Party aged 17. At 21 he took me to Vegas for the first time when I had graduated.” another pause and a deep breath “But then I got older still, and he morphed from being this friend and big brother person into a true father figure and I knew one day he would make a spectacular dad, something which was proven more recently when he welcomed his own daughter, Morgan into the world”

Steve watched as Katie rubbed her temple with her right hand, her left shifting down to her stomach, and she gave a sharp intake of breath before she looked at him and gave him a soft smile. Jamie waved at her and she wiggled her fingers back before she looked back up and over at the congregation.

“It breaks my heart when I think that he will never see Morgan start school or graduate from college. He’ll never have the chance to embarrass her awfully in-front of her friends in the many, many ways he could. He’ll never be sat, waiting with an Iron Man suit when the first boyfriend makes an appearance. He’ll never walk her down the aisle. All the things he did for me in his role as my father and I feel so guilty to have experienced those moments with him, whilst Morgan will never get the chance. We’ll all do our best to keep his memories alive but, as I know from experience, there’s only so much memories can do.”

And now she was beginning to break, and Steve could see the tears shining in her eyes, even before the first one fell. Her voice was thick when she spoke again.

“What has happened over the past 5 years in particular just serves as a reminder to us all that life is fragile. The time we have on this Earth is already short and we can’t lose sight of what matters the most. Friends, family, those who know us inside out and still love us all the same. You know, Steve said something to me before that really struck a chord. Everyone says that time is a great healer, but it isn’t. You just learn to live with the new normal. It doesn’t stop you hurting, doesn’t stop you yearning for the ones you miss, the ones you love.”

She wiped at her face with both hands and took a shaky breath, and Steve willed her with everything he had to keep it together, just for the last few words she had to say.

“And we lost 2 people in our bid to bring everyone back. My brother and Natasha Romanoff, Black Widow. One of the bravest, most loyal, kind and beautiful people, inside and out that I had the honour of knowing. And now I urge you all do something with your second chances so that that their decision to give their lives so everyone could get theirs back wasn’t in vain. Make the most of the time you have been given, the people that have been returned to you. Grab the opportunities you can, with the people you love. Go on those trips, have that wine, eat that cheeseburger…”

She was now crying freely as she stole herself for her last line, looking at Steve who was handing Jamie over to Emmy and rising to his feet, ready to help her down as he knew she’d be shaky. “Iron Man wasn’t a hero.” she shook her head as she looked out over the large Cathedral, her vision blurred from her tears. “No, it was the man behind the mask. My brother. Anthony Edward Stark- Billionaire, genius, playboy, philanthropist. Husband, Father, Brother, Friend.”

She stepped back from the podium, taking Steve’s hand shakily as he offered it to her, helping her down the steps.

“I’m so proud of you.” he said softly in her ear, his own voice cracking with emotion as he kissed her temple, steering her back towards their seats. Jamie crawled onto her lap and kissed her cheek and she held her son tight, pressing her face into his soft, blonde hair as she desperately tried to quell the damn of sobs inside her that was threatening to burst out of her chest.

She made it through the rest of the ceremony, her hand tightly gripped round Steve’s but was beyond pleased when it was over. As the sounds of AC/DC “Back in Black” rang around the Cathedral, those who knew Tony exchanged a grin, Jamie even doing a little jig in his dad’s arms as they headed outside.

“That was a beautiful speech.” Pepper smiled to Katie as they reached the courtyard, Steve taking Jamie over to speak to the priest as they boy was insisting. “He’d be so proud, you know that?”

“Thanks.” Katie nodded as she glanced at Morgan who was clinging to her mother’s leg. She had a sudden flashback to how she had done the same to Tony, hung on to him for dear life at their Parents’ funeral. Katie crouched down in front of her niece.

“Hey Moo, how are you feeling?”

"I miss dad," she whispered, her eyes watering up.

Katie tried desperately to keep her face from screwing up into a sob. "I miss him too, sweetie, I miss him a lot but you know something?” Morgan shook her head. “He’ll always be with you, with me, in here…” she tapped the spot over Morgan’s heart. “And we’ll have our special memories of how brave he was, how funny he was, how silly he was…and how much he loved us all, ok?”

Morgan nodded softly before she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around her Auntie’s neck.

"But he's not here," Morgan whispered and at that Katie did start to cry again as she held Morgan close, looking up and making eye contact with Pepper who was watching the two with a look of pure sadness on her face, her own tears coursing down her cheeks.

No," Katie took a shaky breath “He isn’t, and that…well, it just sucks. No one can replace your dad but your mom is here, so am I, Uncle Spangles, Uncle Rhodey and Uncle Happy. So many people are gonna look after you and love you and keep you safe, I promise you that from the bottom of my heart.”

******

They left the Cathedral and the Media Circus behind, heading upstate to Tony’s lake house home arriving little under an hour or so later. Now, the remaining Avengers plus Rhodey, Happy, Pepper and Morgan were sat in Tony’s living room, as instructed, whilst everyone waited outside for the final part of the day’s ceremony whereby Pepper was going to release the wreath containing the arc reactor onto the lake, only this one would be attended by friends, family and those who had worked with Tony only. No public, no press.

A few people in the room knew what was coming when the helmet's eye slits glowed with a bright white light, some didn’t. But no one jumped, they were that used to Tony’s theatrics that it didn’t come as a surprise.

A holographic Tony was pictured, sitting the wrong way around on a chair, elbows resting over the back of it and Katie realised he was wearing the same suit he had been wearing in the message he had left for her and Steve.

“So, err, hey!” Tony spoke, a smile flashing on his face. “I’m gonna keep this short, as we all know I don’t really like attention.” At that quiet laughter rang round the room and Steve dropped a hand onto Katie’s shoulder where she was sat on the couch, Jamie sat next to her, his hand wrapped around Morgan’ s.

“Everybody wants a happy ending, right? But it doesn't always roll that way. Maybe this time. I'm hoping if you play this back, it's in celebration. I hope families are reunited, I hope we get it back, and something like a normal version of the planet has been restored.”

Katie reached up and took hold of the fingers that were resting on her shoulder and they gave her hand a gentle, reassuring squeeze- I got you…

“If there ever was such a thing.” Tony said, scratching his chin “God, what a world. Universe, now. If you told me ten years ago that we weren't alone, let alone, you know, to this extent…” he shook his head “ I mean, I wouldn't have been surprised. But come on, you know? The epic forces of darkness and light that have come into play.”

Even in the hologram Steve could see the glint in Tony’s eyes, almost portraying the innocent wonder of a child that had discovered something exciting for the first time. “And, for better or worse, that's the reality Morgan and her cousins are gonna have to find a way to grow up in.”

Tony stilled slightly and his hand wiped over his mouth as he took a deep breath.

“So I thought I'd probably better record a little greeting... In the case of an untimely death” he gestured outwardly with his hand “…on my part. I mean, not that, death at any time isn't untimely. This time travel thing that we're gonna try and pull off tomorrow, it's– it's got me scratching my head about the survivability of it all. That's the thing.” Tony’s hand rest against his mouth for a moment, the way it always had when he had been contemplating something before he shrugged and continued “Then again, that's the hero gig. Part of the journey is the end.”

The end. At that Katie took a shuddering breath and her fingers tightened around Steve’s as Tony got up off his chair and walked towards the camera. “What am I even trippin' for? Everything's gonna work out exactly the way it's supposed to.” He leaned forward, hands on his knees and smiled, and then somehow, somehow that hologram looked directly at her “To the stars and back.” before it turned and looked straight at Morgan “I love you 3,000.”

The hologram faded, the eye sockets of the helmet died down, and for a horrible moment Katie was reminded of seeing the light of the Arc Reactor going out in Tony’s chest on the battle field, when she had seen the life drain from his eyes. She took a shaky breath and Steve dropped a kiss to the crown of her head.

“I err…” Pepper cleared her throat “Let’s set the wreath on the lake. Then we can all have a few drinks and make Tony the centre of attention at a party, just how he always was.”

“He always said he’d be the VIP at his own funeral.” Rhodey smiled, wiping his tears.

They made their way outside, Pepper, carrying the wreath in one hand, headed up the line with Morgan followed by Rhodey and Happy, then Katie, Steve and their kids.

They reached the end of the jetty, and Pepper crouched besides Morgan and then she turned to look at Katie. Katie nodded to her, her eyes misting over, before she watched her sister-in-law and niece drop the wreath onto the lake. It landed with a soft splash and began to gently drift away in the wind. Steve stood with his arm round Katie, Jamie balancing on his other hip as he watched the wreath float into the lake. Katie lay her head against Steve’s shoulders, allowing her silent tears to fall.

Proof that Tony Stark has a heart.

Katie sniffed and raised her head slightly to glance at the people stood around, all saying their final good byes. Peter Parker, May Parker, Thor, Bruce Banner, Doctor Strange, Wong, Scott Lang, Hope Van Dyne, Janet Van Dyne, Hank Pym, Peter Quill, Nebula, Rocket, Groot, Drax, Mantis, T'Challa, Okoye, Shuri, Clint Barton & his family, Wanda, Bucky, Sam, a kid Pepper had introduced to her as Harley Keener who had helped him in Tennessee. Katie’s eyes narrowed as she saw Secretary Ross next but then she instantly felt herself smiling again as she saw Maria Hill, Carol Danvers, and finally Nick Fury. They were all people who had in some way or other loved, lived, laughed or fought alongside her brother, and seeing them today made her feel warm, just like she had at Natasha’s service.

Katie smiled as she realised they were the real proof that Tony Stark had a heart. Them, and billions of other people who had been brought back to life thanks to his bravery.

Eventually, in their own time, everyone drifted from the jetty but the Rogers family remained put a little longer, until the wreath had practically hit the middle of the lake when Jamie announced he was hungry. With a chuckle they all turned back towards the house and where the food was laid out, people already tucking in.

Katie couldn’t tell you how long passed. But she found herself alone, simply watching Morgan and Jamie as they sat with Happy on the porch. She caught the words cheeseburgers and smiled to herself before a deep voice drew her attention.

“Little Stark.”

Katie turned and Thor pulled her forward into a strong yet gentle hug “I am…so very sorry I couldn’t…” “Stop.” She shook her head “There’s nothing to be sorry for. This was his choice.”

“I just wish I could have gotten the stones…” “Don’t torture yourself Thor.” she shook her head, “We’ve all done enough of that for the past 5 years.”

He sniffed and nodded, before looking out over the lake “I’m going travelling again.” he informed her “Back to space.” “Yeah?” she asked.

He nodded, “With the Guardians…we can be the…” he paused before he laughed “The Asgardians of the Galaxy…yes, I think I will suggest that to them.”

“I’m sure they’ll love it!” she grinned.

“I’m going to leave Valkyrie in charge…she doesn’t know it yet but she’s the natural one for the job” he concluded, nodding.

“I’m all for women in positions of power.” Katie smiled, “I’m sure she’ll be great.” “You’ll have to keep in touch with her, take the Captain and the Little Rogers…including the one you have on the way.” he looked at her, knowingly.

“How did you…” she began but he cut her off with a chuckle.

“I’m the god of Thunder.” he said simply “And I saw you holding your stomach before. I figured that Bruce’s snap had brought everything back after all.”

She smiled “Yeah, yeah it did. We just didn’t think it was right telling everyone, not until the funerals were out of the way.”

Thor nodded “I understand. Your secret is safe with me.” He gave her another hug before she pulled back, tears in her eyes knowing this was a goodbye.

“You will stay in touch, yeah?” “Of course.” he smiled, gently touching the side of her neck in a sign of affection. “Always Little Stark.”

And with that he turned and headed over the grass to the group of Guardians. Katie turned back to her son but suddenly a wave of nausea overtook her and she sprinted back into the house and into the bathroom.

Meanwhile Steve was stood with Bruce. Neither of them had meant to get into the discussion they were having at the moment but, well, it was inevitable really.

“We have to take them back.” Bruce said. “It’s been weighing on my mind for a while now…” “I know.” Steve said, his eyes straying to where Thor was talking to Katie. He turned back to the man and looked up at him. “How long do you think it will be before you can get it running?” “Well, now Hank Pym is back, Scott doesn’t think it will be a problem. They have a Quantum Tunnel we can extrapolate and plenty of particles so…we can even do it in a few different trips if needs be.”

Steve nodded. “Well do what you need to do, once it’s up and running we’ll formulate a proper plan.” Bruce nodded, and was about to speak again until a loud yell caught Steve’s attention.

“Daddy!” Jamie stood up, pointing to the house “The baby made momma sick again.”

There was a pause as pretty much everyone on the lawn turned to look at Steve who hung his head giving a groan that their 3 year old had effectively outed them to the entire funeral party.

“Baby?” Bruce said, before his eyes widened “You mean, the snap? It…” Steve nodded “We didn’t want anyone to know, not yet, the funerals and…” he sighed “Guess that ship just sailed.” Bruce’s eyes filled with tears “I’m glad…I concentrated so hard on everything…” “I know.” Steve said, laying his hand on his arm. “And thank you…but I gotta…” he jerked his thumb towards the house and strode across the lawn, ignoring the questioning looks he was getting. As he did so his son’s face changed from one full of concern to worry.

“Daddy are you mad?” he asked “Did I do something wrong?”

Steve cursed himself at being so easy to read. “No buddy, you didn’t.” he said, crouching down.

“Momma’s sick.” Jamie said again, this time urgently.

“I know, I’m gonna go find her and make sure she’s ok.” Steve assured him, “You stay here with Happy.”

He headed into the house and up to the bathroom, gently knocking on the door.

“Sweetheart?”

She opened the door and he looked at her, her face was streaked with tears and he sighed “C’mere…” he said, gently wrapping her up into a hug.

“I wanna go home Steve…” she sniffled “I’ve had enough, I’m so tired and…” “Then we’ll go.” he said, nodding, pulling away slightly to look at her. “And you can sleep as long as you want.”

She nodded. “Best say goodbye to everyone…” “Oh erm, yeah…you should know…Jamie just told everyone about the baby. He didn’t mean it but…” Katie let out a soft groan that almost turned into a chuckle as she pressed her forehead against Steve’s collar bone “To be honest I’m surprised he kept it quiet for so long.” “It’s probably my fault” Steve said as she wrapped her arms round his waist “I told him this morning when you were being sick that it was just the baby doing it so when he saw you run off before he just shouted to me that the baby had made you sick again.” “Well he’s not wrong.” She mumbled, pulling back. She looked up at her husband who smiled at her, his blue eyes soft. “Take me home Soldier.” she said, smiling softly.

“Yes Ma’am.” he smiled back, dropping a kiss to her forehead.

***** Later that night, the house was quiet. Bucky and Sam had headed off to some bar with Happy and Rhodey. Steve had turned the invite down, he wanted to be at home with his family.

They lay in bed, Katie’s head resting on his chest, his hand gently carding through her hair.

“I’ve decided something.” he said

“What?” she asked with a yawn.

“After the battle, I spoke to Fury. Told him I was quitting, that I didn’t want to be Captain America anymore, and he said that the world still needs Cap and I guess he’s right, it’s an important symbol to America and the world…” “So, you are gonna carry on?” she asked, moving so she could look up at him.

“No.” Steve said firmly “I’m done. I’m gonna pass the shield down.”

“Not Bucky” Katie said instantly and Steve frowned.

“Why do you say that?” he asked

“He’s been fighting for so long.” Katie said, gently “And you know he’d do anything for you. He’d take that shield if you asked, but that doesn’t mean that he wants it. I just, I dunno, I think he needs to find his own way for a while.” Steve contemplated what she was saying, she was right, of course. She always was. And, if he was honest, he’d gone through the same thought process himself. Other than Sam, Bucky doesn’t really know the other Avengers (or what’s left of them) so how could he truly lead them? As Steve knew only too well, trust has to be earned, plus they all know about his past, as do the public. And even if they were all willing to overlook and forgive it, he wasn’t sure Bucky himself was. To be honest, Steve wasn’t sure he ever would.

“Well that leaves one obvious candidate.” he said, looking down at Katie. “Sam.”

She smiled “Sammy deserves it. He had non self-serving reason to let us in that time we showed up in DC, although he probably had a few second thoughts when a metal arm ripped through his car roof and tore out the steering wheel.” Steve gave a snort.

“But he never left us. Even after Leipzig. He’s loyal to a fault, a good man and…” “He’s human. And not enhanced.” Steve said

“Exactly, after everything that’s happened I think the American public could use a little ‘normality’, well as far as they can. People will relate to Sam. He’s a natural born leader.

“And proof that anyone can be a hero.” Steve mused.

“So are you.” she said looking up at him. “Remember, you’re just a kid from Brooklyn.”

He smiled at her, and dropped a kiss to her lips before she settled down again.

“There is one tiny problem…” Katie said.

“What?” “Your shield bit the dust, big time.”

“Yeah.” he said, although he already had a perfectly good plan forming in his mind about where he could get another.

“Mind you, sure T'Challa will be happy to provide enough Vibranium to make him a new one” Katie said, with another yawn. “Bruce can sort it in the lab.”

“Yeah.” Steve said, again his hand running through her hair. He hated lying to her, but he had absolutely no intention of correcting her, or telling her what he was actually planning to do. He couldn’t, it would kill her.

Steve lay there in his own thoughts, long after she had fallen into an exhausted sleep, her body warm against his, his hand carding through her soft hair. He had watched her today. So brave, so strong. She was stronger than he could ever be. It scared Steve just how lost he would be without her, which, as he realised at the Cathedral before was a reality he was going to have to face at some point.

Seeing Pepper say her goodbyes to Tony had made him suddenly think about what Katie had been saying regarding him not growing old as fast as she did. And there, sat on that wooden bench besides her, surrounded by other mourners, he had realised in a fit of horror that one way or another that he would be in Pepper’s position someday. He would outlast Katie, the serum would see to that. The sudden understanding had hit him like a tonne of bricks, almost making him sick. Now, after speaking to Bruce before about the next step his mind was finally made up. He couldn’t do it, couldn’t lose her like that.

What he was going to do would kill him, but it was a small price to pay to stave off the heartache he would feel later in life. Captain America was going to take that final mission, to put the stones back where they came from.

And he wouldn’t be returning, for a very long time.

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popculturebuffet · 4 years

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Hickman’s X-Men One Year In: Part 2: The Dawn of X

And we’re onto part 2. Since it took me a while to talk about Hickman’s Series outside of Giant-Size and the setup here, that’s in part one if your curious, I split this little retrospective into two parts, with this part here talking about the rest of the books. This isn’t to say they aren’t great, many of them are, it was just easier to do this as a two parter so with HIckman himself out of the way how did his hand picked batch of talented writers handle the lofty status quo he set up?Find out under the cut. Pax Krakoa baby.

Mauraders Okay just to get this out of the way this is my second faviorite x-book running, after X-Men itself and it often equals it and far and away the best tile of the run and restored my faith in Gerry Duggan. Duggan is not a bad writer and I blame the messy finish of his otherwise awesome guardians run with infnity wars on marvel trying to cram other characters into it and then a weird mash up idea that while cool, kept the guardians out of their own damn event and from confrting a now mad gamora, but that and deadpool made me forget the guy is a good writer and can do great things. Maruaders however won me back to him with intrest. A unique concept, the x-men as pirates helping ferry goods to krakoan allied states and ferry trapped mutants from hostile ones, is fucking awesome. The only thing missing is nightcrawler and it’s clear hickman has other plans, though I still feel he shoudl’ve been on the boat as he has both the relation to kitty pryde and pirate pedgree that fit in perfectly. Speaking of kitty after years of writers misusing her due to having a crush on her as a kid and shoving her into half baked romances with peter quill and her ex peter rasptuin, the latter failing so badly that marvel pulled the plug on their wedding because fans clearly didn’t want it, and battling my own reluctance ot see her front and center again, Duggan makes good use of her again: Kitty is given the unique hook of the portals not working for her and no one, even her old friend Doug after he gets back, being able to figure out WHY. Though I do hope Doug does show up here and explain it more, as him being kitty’s best friend once is rarely brought up since he got back and it’s silly it hasn’t been. But rather than take this on the chin Kitty strikes up a crew consisting of big sister Storm, first class graduate x-man, badass gay and kitty’s friend and ex iceman, bishop who reluctantly joins as her bishop more on that in a second and the best of them by a mile: Pyro. The original, finally brought back and given some intresting backstory: he was the first mutant brought back and felt good about it..t ill he realized that despite sacrificing himself to save a, if your familiar with the various cartoons this will be baffling but trust me, reformed senator kelly as Pyro himself was dying from the legacy virus, only to find out they did him first because they considered him expendable basically and naturally was upset over that, drunk a bunch of the liquor kitty smuggled in, for logan naturally, and passed out and then joined in on the rescue mission that formed the team because why not and stayed because it was a great offer. Speaking of offers with a new purpose, Kitty accepted her old enemy Emma Frost’s offer to be red queen, which includes a seat on krakoa’s council and was basically emma’s way of saying fuck you to her old cohort who she was forced to bring back on to handle the seedier side of Krakoa’s dealings via his underworld connections, sebastian shaw. Emma is the fincical backbone of krakoa, having the shipping connections to get the flowers in and out and now having kitty to handle the stuff she can’t and do some of the shipping, as well as again tell Sebastian, who naturally wants both gone and is pissy at Emma being so far ahead of him, wants gone. And while he’s seemingly succeded with kitty I not only have every expectation that while ressuection is failing to work on her she’ll be back, but that trying to murder one of the most beloved x-men whose consdiered family to among others three of krakoa’s captains, bishop after this series, four of their council, five if you include Doug whose best friends with both his left arm which is also a deadly space robot and the very place they live on. The only reason he’s not going to die 80 times in increasingily horrifying ways is because the five can’t take on that kind of workload and one murderous ass beating from half of krakoa and krakoa itself is close enough.

Emma is easily one of the books best parts, being written back as she should: An anti hero who while quick with a cutting quip, truly cares for her charges, and mutantkind as a whole and has grown from the monster she started as or even the kind of person who’d use a therapy session from a desperate man having issues opening up emotionally after apocalypse used his body as a rental car to convince him to fuck her. And yes that’s how things started with Scott and Emma and yes it’s really fucked up and yes the story treats it as such, though I still wish Scott would get actual therapy, but as Linkara recently pointed out in his House of M Review the Marvel and DC universes weirdly lack therapists for the most part and thus it was left on my mind the last two weeks.. and yes I know DC tried but when your final product at trying to serious tackle mental health is heroes in crisis.. I award you no points and god have mercy on your soul. But while Emma and Kitty get the lions share of the focus the rest of the group is enjoyable, well done and intresting, if not given many arcs to themselves, but still have enough character moments to counterballance that. The standout of the rest of the crew is easily Pyro, taken from “why is he still dead despite being super popular and used in a heavy role in X2 that’s garnered fans of that version to this day and bafflement he became a foot note in the next movie and used in every adaptation” to fun side character with a skull on his face and a love of booze and setting things on fire. He’s finally given the respect he deserves sorta and while I hope more is delved into his ressurection angst, he’s a ton of fun and it again makes me wonder why it took 20+ years to bring him back, but i’m glad the right person did it. The rest of the crew are fun with Bishop being another standout. That being said part of the reason there isn’t a lot of focus is simply because in additoin to our brave crew the book is juggling a LOT of characters.. the morlocks and calisto, both given a proper treatment after wya too long, jumbo carnation a minor character from morrisons run who was introduced in the same issue he died is emma’s designer, shinobi shaw and christian frost, the latter I question why a main relative of one of marvel’s a-list mutants who was one of marvel’s earlier gay characters hasn’t been used in a big way till now but no time like the present, Sebastian and the people he shares his big bad spot with Homines Verde aka those tweens who ran the hellfire club during jason aaron’s run because the man is nuts and who I only seemd to liked, brillinatly revamped as a racist replacemnt for the hellfire club and so far a clever threat. The book is just stuffed iwth good characters, beautiful art, and a great tone that combines spectacular humor with really good story and worldbuilding. It’s also a nice contrast to hickman’s stuff: don’t get me wrong I love hickman’s writing style but it’s nice to have something JUST as good.. but with a cheerier tone and less weariness to it, while still not lacking weight. I can’t wait to see where this goes.. it’s a pirates life for me.

Excalibur: Like most of the dawn of X-Line outside of fallen angels, more on that in a minute and even then that had an intresting new directoin for betsy braddock, I was pumped for this one. A team I loved: While I struggled to find a run I loved with Claremont’s run having Brian Braddock be a raging dick whose terrible to his girlfriend and gets away with cheating on her and Claremont not really bothering to explain Saturnyne or other characters and their history with Brian well to us yanks who never had the chance to read those tales.. though why stories by alan moore and chris claremont haven’t been republished properly or in epic collections is beyond me. Warren Ellis, who I now loathe for being a scheming weasel who treated women like garbage, had a decent run with plenty of warlock, in a weird phase where he thought he was doug, Moira and Wolfsbane stuff I loved.. but also had 30-40 something pete wisdom shacking up with 18 year old at most kitty pryde, with Pete at the time being basically Warren Ellis badass self insert character, and given recent revelations i’m pretty sure he damn well knew kitty was just 18 and even if he didn’t having his own fanfic character deflower her is just all kinds of EWWWWWW. He also had Colossus, fresh of being a villian for a while for understandable reasons, nearly beat pete into a coma in a jealous rage over the ex.. the ex he dated while she was still a minor, and left because HE , and editorial, was uncomfortable with it for damn obvious reasons. I can see why fans like to see her as bisexual and pair her with Illiayna.. I mean why the fuck not? They have better chemistry than most of he hetrosexual intrests and are paried because of that and not because the writer wanted to make out iwth kitty as a teenager and forgot “oh yeah she’s fictional and i’m 40!” Christ thank god for Gerry Duggan. But yeah moving on from that I was still pumped as a magical x-men book with Besty Braddock now captain freaking britan, and apocalypse on the roster. And rictor and jubille? nad rouge and gambit I guess.. I don’t knokw if they fit but whatever. Sign me up. The actual result is a mixed back. I do like Tini Howard’s work here to a point: Betsy gets good character stuff and theres actually good tension from the fact that the new captain britan is no longer primarily a british ctizen, and the book brought back a character I felt marvel needed to do more with: Jamie. if you don’t know, Jamie is betsy and brian’s, her brother and the former captain britian, older brother who went insane due to his powers and thus just goes around in his underwear convinced reality isn’t real and he can do what he wants and the tension with Jamie refusing to have anything to do with his brother for no good reason is really good. Rictor and Apocalypse are likewise good sensable additons: Rictor turns out to be a natural to being a druid which is a nice twist and makes sense given when he lost his powers the biggest issue with that was loosing touch with earth after having a connection to it be a vital part of him for years. Apocalypse as an ominus chess master slowly securing magic for mutantkind with some goal we’re about to get answers to is really investing and adds a layer to his character, that much like doctor doom he’s as much sorecer as he is scinetest and given the guy’s immortal, it dosen’t feel like it was pulled out of nowhere. The problem is the other half of the cast.. dosen’t really work. I fucking love Jubilee, a faviroite of mine as an xman despite not being a huge 90′s x-men cartoon fan, just feels kinda shoe horned in. Her son becomes a dragon and she worries about him constantly, but her worrying about her son possibly not being a mutant on mutant land could be done in any other x-book, and fraknly I feel her personality would fit better with the maruaders, and it’d be intresting to see kitty and her on the same team since both really haven’t interacted. Here she just feels like “well tini wanted jubilee and no one else did soooo I made her son a dragon to justify getting her”. I feel more could be done and hope Tini has better plans for her. Rouge is one of my faviorte x-men and All New X Factor and Kelly Thompsons work with him and Rouge made me like Gambit again, and I DO love their marriage and it was a way better idea than the one Guggenhiem had planned.. but while the idea of Rouge being reborn is intresting and all, she still dosen’t really get to do much and like Jubilee just feels weirldy out of place while Remy has that plus he’s annoying, as while he’s the only one rightfully supscious of apocalypse he also won’t shut the fuck up about it for five minutes. Ig et where he’s coming from but it dosen’t make him less annoying. These aren’t bad characters, but sof ar they just feel weirdly out of place in a magic based book and unlike Rictor tini hasn’t made any of htem but Rouge feel in place.

That being said I could ignore that more.. but the villians are also week. So far at least, as the return of Satyurne has given the book it’s first good antagonist.. but what I feel drags the book down the most from it’s potential is the bad guys; Morgan Le Fay is the first antaognist, being mad at apocalypse’s intrusions and corrputing Brian.. but her motives are just so boring: She wants power and to rule, she hates mutants... while “hates mutants” is a qualifier for every other antagonist so far, she just feels bland.. Tini just dosen’t make her feel like a good antagonist and it’s a shame as mutant hater or not she’s something DIFFRENT from the throngs of mutant hating conspiracies, mostly from russia in the other books... she’s just so bland it dosen’t work. And after her is Cullen Bloodstone who as far as I can tell is written out of character.. haven’t read his book but I had both a friend confirm it and having read his marvel wiki entry, it just seems like an odd turn to have him be a racist asshole. But even with all my problems and underwhelm here.. I still WANT the book to get from okay to amazing, and feel it genuinely has the potetial. I’ve seen books sharply improve after a rough first arc, Duggan himself showed me that with his Guardians run. Sometimes it just takes time for something to truly blossom and I have a feeling even with my issues, with x of swords coming up howard’s going to flip it all on it’s head and leave me standing there gasping like a moron. I have hope for that. And if nothing else the book is at least UNIQUE. And not in a trainwreck way: by giving mutants a piece of the magic pie and having them tackle far weirder threats, it’s at least doing something new and it probably lands for other people if not me, and if nothing else it does brian 80 times better than the claremont run did. not a high bar but I do like the character and it’s nice to see him take such an intresting path, and the same goes for Betsy. Tini’s still got magic to do, and I have a feeling it’s going to take me by storm very soon.

Fallen Angels: Now for the other half of the coin as it were. Some fans weren’t happy about Betsy getting her old body back, and yes Psylocke wasn’t orignally asian but a white british woman bodyswapped iwth a japanese assasian and yes that’s as ludicrious and unteitonally offensive as it sounds, because horrible implications of said Body Swap or not, Psylocke was one of the few asian superheros of note. So to compromise , Hickman and co decided to split the diffrence: Betsy would come back and get a rank up to captain britan, while Kwannon, said assasian, would take over as Psylocke. Hence Excalibur above and fallen angels here and I was excited about it. The Body Swap thing went on a decade too long and this way fans got the character they knew as Psylocke in another book while the face they recognized would finally get some fleshing out. I was excited about that and while probably the least excited about this book of the intitial 5, it did have an intresting lead, two characters I did like (Kid Cable I grant was only under hickman who turned him from that brat version of cable who killed the one I really love to a good character in his own right), and an intresting antagonist in a sentient machine. In practice it was okay. The best I can say is that writer Brian Hill DOES do a great job taking a mostly minor x-character and really fleshing her out and making her engaging and Kwannon’s quest to save her daughter is really compelling.. but the premise of those who don’t fit with krakoa dosen’t work with the roster given. Laura Kinney is not only sticking with the x-23 name after dropping the wolverine mantle for no reason previously, something Hickman fixed as soon as he realized how fans felt for her apperance in the main book, while Cable feels nothing like the far more fun version from Hickman’s X-Men and later Duggan’s Cable. Add in Husk and Bling who do deserve to be on a team but feel out of place here, and it just.. is okay. The book has an intresting angagonist and a great lead, but just dosen’t work as a team book and would’ve been better off being JUST about kwannon herself, who is far and away the best part about the book and i’m glad she got fleshed out. Not TERRIBLE but nothing special and it’s a shame given the antagonist, whose name I can’t even remember at this point, is intresting and ties into mutantkind’s greatest enmies being man and machine accoridng to house and powers.. basically a decent concep twith a flawed execution. Maybe hill’ sbatman and hte outisders run is better. I need to get on that. That being said the premise and idea is so far being done well in Hellions which we’ll get to, even if I’m being cautious really getting into the book with Zeb Wells track record. But more on that in a bit.

X-Force: Time to make noise, bad guys leave us no choice.. you know the rest. But yeah X-force. The concept here grabbed me, having X-Force rather than just be the black ops squad but be literal black ops for krakoa, was really great and fit the brave new world.. what worried me was the writer, Benjamin Percy. Now a lot of x-fans probably knew him from the much beloved “Wolverine: The Long Night” podcast, which i’ve heard is utterly fantastic as is it’s followup.. but I hadn’t heard it, and had only heard of Percy from DC comics where under his belt was an okay teen titans run and a not very good and politcally unsubtle green arrow book. And i’m not against politics in comics it just wasn’t done at all well there and the “oliver queen looses hif ourture due to a shadowy conspiracy thing” was already done better by jeff lemire. So yeah I was going to give this a chance but figured like those books it’d start strong and then peter out. I. Was. Wronnnnggg. X-Force is easily one of the best of the dawn of x and uses said premise well. It started a bit roughly, mostly becasue the first arc idnd’t make clear x-force didn’t exist yet but was a great origin story: a squad of military commandos working for a shadowy consirtum who become x-force’s big bad, plunge onto Krakoa and massacre a bunch of mutantas and assinate charles xavier. He comes back, though it’s trickier for obvious reasons, but it’s clear from this, and from wolverine and kid omega’s sucessful investigation and finding domino, that this can’t go on and thus X-Forces is formed; The intellegence and black ops arm of Krakoa and the one arm of it’s goverment exempt from the ‘dont’ kill humans rule”. What followed was nearly a years worth of fast paced adventures with good character stuff: Wolverine is in his element, kid omega, while I had my doubts due to quinten being way overused , turned out to be a perfect choice basically being a more compitent teenage sterling archer, cocky and loving this but also really good at his job, while Domino gets a great arc dealing with her trauma over her mutalation and having some of her power stolen by the shadowy masked dickheads while Colossus deals with his trauma over what went down when he rescued some Russian mutants, with the book slowly building up new threats and towards a showdown with Russia, something that’s also been built up by conflicts in Wolverine and Mauraders, which again makes the world of x feel more like an actual world instead a bunch of comics in one cast herd. Jean Grey is good for intellegence, though by now seems to have noped out as she couldn’t take the toll, it’s not for everyone and most notably after 5 or 6 years of being treated worse and worse and written worse and worse and becoming a bigger and bigger piece of shit Beast is FINALLY put in the right spot: his darker turns aren’t ignored but he’s back to being an actually intellegent hero as X-force’s director, still a bit greasy but now for good reason and without a god complex or some such bullshit and with a tiny bit of his humor back. Not much else to say really, X-Force is well paced, enjoyable and gritty, getting the spirit of the team at it’s best down right while doing something fresh with it.

New Mutants (Ed Brisson) Last one, New Mutants is the odd duck of the dawn of x line in terms of how it was launched. Fallen Angels ended up being a mini series both due to Hill being busy and it’s cast being needed elsewhere but will presmibly get a follow up later, but it’s not the ONLY mini series in the line with Fantastic four/x-men, the giant sized one shots and now Empyre: X-Men all debuting in wave 2. New Mutants however is the first book to change writers and said writer STARTED in the middle of hickman’s run, partly due to scheduling delays but even before that it was partly by design and those issues haven’t been collected yet, with hickman’s short run being collected first. So you have a run that builds off what Hickman started but with it’s own ideas that started insidei t and suprisingly it .. really works. While I do think there are better books in the line Brisson’s new mutants is enjoyable, combining humor and character work. New Mutants focuses on the sextant, which was first brought up in hickman’s run, the series of habitats for younger mutants on krakoa that the new mutants look out for, and while the original new mutants are in space, Armor decides to try and bring some old friends in to join in paradise with the help of Glob Herman, that big pink guy with a visable skeleton and eyes, and Maxine and Manon, who in the tradition of layla miller were created for an event and not great htere but turned out amazing under the right writer.. who I think also wrote that event but whatever, a pair of empaths and telepaths who have trouble grasping the right ethics for using their powers. The four go to get one of my faviorite x-men back: BEAK! I missed him even if he’s weirdly suddenly repowered. Beak and his wife Angel only haven’t joiend in with their kids because his dad’s sick, and things soon escalate when a bunch of criminals try holding them all hostage and it’s up to boom boom, bored since everyone left her alone, to save the day! After that we deal with Magik rangling them and the team’s new mission statment: not wanting ot mess up again like she did with beak, who did join them but not without loosing his dad and then his memory of his dad thanks to the twins misguided efforts, Armor still wants to try welcoming new mutants in with the vetrans help, and thus we have our puprose: focusing both on how these younger mutant 20 somethigns of various ages from early to late work together to make a better world nad help their own get back to this world. it’s intresting.. I’m not in love with it like mauraders or x-force, but it’s still pretty good and their first big foe so far, DoX, a blog that well.. doxes mutants that haven’t arrived yet, seems to be intresting. Not much to say just pretty good and and better at mixing comedy and character stuff, and getting the cast right. Ed Brisson had already proven himself on old man logan, but this cements him as one of the hottest new x-writers around and i’m glad he was given a book here. He’s also succeded in making me actually like Glob Herman so that’s a plus.

Fantastic Four/X-Men The first title of wave 2 and easily one of the best, right up there with mauraders nad probably JUSST behind it and ONLY because i’ts a mini series, giving the X-Men their first real step into the rest of hte marvel universe. Sure the 4 had cameoed in the first issue and there’s been mentions of krakoa in other books and one off issues but mostly Krakoa really hadn’t impacted anything.. but that first issue also set things up with Scott’s conversation with Sue Richards

Yeah and in case those who haven’t been aware of what’s going on with the FF lately and either remember franklin as a 6-11 year old or wondered why the hell he was suddenly a teen when they read this crossover, it’s actually simple; At the end of secret wars the Richards family was put on a bus, also so marvel could shove the ff as a proper team out the door due to the whole fox rights thing, and when Dan Slott had brought them back.. and cleverly had more time pass for the richards than for the 616 proper, so he could age Franklin up to his late teens and Valeria up to her early ones, allowing the richards children to actually age since Franklin’s age always had to stay vauge due to marvel’s vage and wobbly time scale. This way they get both consitant ages and more agency. But the return also came with a price as Franklin, who if you didn’t know is so powerful he can create whole universe and shape the sturcture of the universe, had his powers break saving his family, and thus since he came back, he’s onlyg got so much of them left in the tank before they run out entirely, and it’s been an issue for him in Slott’s run as he worries about being the normal human in a fantastic family and comes to a head here, though rather than Hickman himself, who as mentioned last time has a marvelous track record with the family or FF series writer dan slott Hickman choose a wild card for this, though had both Hickman and Slott’s permission to do whatever he wanted: Chip Zdarsky, a modern marvel for marvel who’d writtne the four in marvel two in one but for some reason didn’t get the main book and this book makes me hope whenever Dan Slott bows out he gets his turn and while this is his first x-men work, Zdarsky proves he’s just as good here as is in most of his work on Howard the Duck, Jughead and Star Lord.. a weird selection I know but all classics.

With this power outage, Franklin is worried his dad is, at least subconciously, not really trying to help him and to make matters worse teh x-men show up to offer their help.. and Franklin his birthright. The arguments made by both sides are great and I will be covering the series in full soon but in a nutshell the four dont’ want to give up their son/nephew, Reed dosen’t trust Xavier and feels he wants to use his son’s powers while the x-men feel it’s franlin’s choice and he’s old enough to make it, he belongs with them and he’ll be safer there. It also works because Franklin understandably isn’t swayed by either as neither is reallyt alking to him more at him, especially his parents .. and only tries the gate when Kitty Pryde, the two bonded back in the 80s and a young franklin stopped her from comitting suicide long story but really moving, is the only one to tell him it’s his choice. This dosen’t go quite well though since Reed Richards, father of the year, decided to make a device to mask his son’s mutant gene and no one, including his own family, is happy about htis. Naturally Franklin, with Val’s help, runs away.. and then as if it couldn’t get worse DOOM shows up wanting to help so now it’s a three way dance between them for hte fate of franklin. The series has gorgeous art form the dodsons a really damn compelling story and great setup for further stories for both lines and feels like the best of both franchises. It’s the x-men’s first huge impact on the rest of the marvel universe,a nd it feels like it with the ending showing that and showing this might not be the last time both sides crossover. It’s everything you could want from a crossover and i’m only being so brief because I want to review it soon as a huge fan of both groups. Easily one of the best x-men stories of the line and one of the best stories for both groups period.

Wolverine: We’re onto the final two, and Percy’s second book and the first solo.. and it’s logan again! Makes sense though: Wolverine only just came back from the dead, and while both is daughter and alternate future self carried the woverline banner for him, the original hasn’t gotten his own ongoing in some time. And so far.. it’s pretty good> the first issues a bit messy due to it’s lenght, but overall the book is intresting and has Logan graple with being the best at waht he does and if he can be better or if he deserves paradise while also delivering a compelling solo mission teaming Wolverine up with a federal agent who resents mutants. it also does some good world building, explaning why Krakoan drugs have things like wait lists (they want to control production closely both to avoid having the flower taken away and for quality control), and expanding the russia subplot while using Dracula of all people as a major antagonist, which is clever especailly since this isn’t his first rodeo with the x-men. Just a fun book wiht loads of promise.

Hellions: NOt much to say here as it’s hard to judge after two issues, buti f nothing else this series brought back the delightfully batshit Nanny, who just with last weeks issue offered to nurse Greycrow (who had his name changed from scalphunter because of course marvel did why wouldn’t they) and falling down. It combines humor with an odd but well thought out cast and makes Alex Summers intresting without making everyone else assholes, a hard but earned feet. If it continues to be good.. I dunno, especially since i haven’t been impressed by any of zeb wells other works especially his new mutants run, good god that one’s am ess, but so far he’s winning me over with a clever concept and roster full of deep cuts. Final Thoughts: I won’t be covering Empyre: X_men, though I did enjoy it and i’l save that one for next time. For now this has been a hell of a year of x-men comics, with even the weaker books still having something intresting and none being outright terribule and only one had a bad grasp on some of it’s cast and for a line this big and expansive, that’s a gold medal achivment. After YEARS of stasis the x-men have finally risen again better, bolder and stranger than ever. IS every book A+ gold star etc etc, no, but what’s important.. is that it’s all DECENT. There’s enough standout books to make it work but as i’ve made clear what isn’t the best of the best is still good or decent. There’s nothing bad, no one phoning it in or not giving an effort, everyone is trying thier hardest and succeding on SOME level even if not completely and that.. that’s truly amazing and I look forward to more of it as this line continues. Pax Krakoa and hopefully i’ll see you again.

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thelittlesttimelord · 4 years

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The Littlest Timelord: The Death of the Doctor Chapter 20

TITLE: The Littlest Timelord: The Death of the Doctor Chapter 20 PAIRING: No Pairing RATING: T CHAPTER: 20/? SUMMARY: The Doctor’s death is looming on the horizon and Elise is growing every day. What the Doctor doesn’t know is that he has 200 years to teach Elise all he knows. Amy, Rory, and River let Elise in on their secret, because River knows she will keep it. What will Elise do when he’s gone?

River walked down the corridor of Stormcage dressed in Regency era clothing as alarms went off around her. She picked up the guard’s phone. “Oh, turn it off. I'm breaking in, not out. This is River Song, back in her cell.”

The alarms stopped going off.

“Oh, and I'll take breakfast at the usual time. Thank you.”

She hung up and saw two figures standing there.

One was smaller and the other was dressed like a Roman.

“Oh, are you boys dressing up as Romans now? I thought nobody read my memos,” River said.

They stepped out of the shadows.

It was Rory and Elise.

“Doctor Song. It's Rory. Sorry, have we met yet?” he asked, “Time streams. I'm not quite sure where we are.”

“Yes. Yes, we've met. Hello, Rory. Hello, Ellie.”

Elise had grown once again in her absence.

“What's wrong?” Rory asked.

River let out a shuddering breath. “It's my birthday. The Doctor took me ice skating on the River Thames in 1814, the last of the great Frost Fairs. He got Stevie Wonder to sing for me under London Bridge. And of course you were there, little star.”

“Stevie Wonder sang in 1814?”

“Yes, he did. But you must never tell him.”

“We've come from the Doctor too.”

“Yes, but at a different point in time.”

“Unless there's two of them.”

River smirked. “Now, that's a whole different birthday.” She pulled out her diary as Rory said, “He needs you.”

River found the entry she was looking for. “Demon's Run.”

“How…how did you know?” Rory asked.

“I'm from his future. I always know. Why on Earth are you wearing that?” “The Doctor's idea.”

“Of course. His rules of engagement. Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.”

“…Look ridiculous.”

“Have you considered heels?”

“They've taken Amy. And our baby. The Doctor's getting some people together. We're going after her, but he needs you, too.”

“I can't. Not yet, anyway.”

“I'm sorry?”

“This is the Battle of Demon's Run. The Doctor's darkest hour. He'll rise higher than ever before and then fall so much further, and I can't be with him till the very end.”

“Why not?”

“Because this is it. This is the day he finds out who I am.”

“Come on, Elise. She’s obviously not going to help.”

Rory stalked off, back to the TARDIS.

“I’m sorry,” River told Elise.

“Happy birthday, mum.”

“Thank you, little star.”

Elise ran after Rory.

“Was that Rory I saw?” a voice asked.

River turned to face the redhead. “Yes, it was. What are you doing here?”

“You didn’t think I wasn’t going to visit you on your birthday? I’m hurt.”

River laughed and hugged the redhead.

They sat down on River’s bed.

“Now, tell me what’s been happening.”

“Well, it all started when…”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The TARDIS landed and they split up.

“Elise, go with Vastra and Jenny,” the Doctor told her.

Elise had been rather fascinated with Vastra, even though her first interaction with the Silurians had been less than pleasant.

They made their way to the control room and surprised the two men at the controls.

“Go on, resist. I am ever so hungry,” Vastra threatened.

“Now, dear. Which button controls the lights?” Jenny asked.

One of the men pointed and Jenny pressed that button, causing all the lights to go out. They gave the Doctor enough time to execute his plan, then turned the lights back on. Vastra and Jenny tied up the two men.

“Clever, isn't he?” Jenny asked as they watched the soldiers and the Headless Monks kill each other.

“And rather attractive,” Vastra added.

“You do realize he's a man, don't you, ma'am?”

“Mammals. They all look alike.”

“Oh, thank you.”

Elise laughed. They were just like River and her father. She hoped she found someone she could banter with like that one day.

“Was I being insensitive again, dear? I don't know why you put up with me,” Vastra said.

“Vastra!” Elise yelled, seeing one of the soldiers going for the door lock.

Vastra spun around and stung him with her tongue like Alaya had done to Mac.

“Stop. Wait. Listen to me,” the commander said, “I am disarming my weapon pack. Monks, I do this in good faith. I am now unarmed. All of you, discharge your weapon packs. The Doctor is trying to make fools of us. We are soldiers of God. We are not fools. We are not fools. We are not fools. We are not fools.”

The soldiers and him repeated the phrase over and over again.

“Colonel Manton is regaining control,” Vastra said.

“Where's the Doctor gone?” Jenny asked.

Strax appeared next to Manton. “This base is now under our command.”

“I have a fleet out there. If Demon's Run goes down, there's an automatic distress call.”

“Not if we knock out your communications array. And you've got incoming…” the Doctor said.

“Danny Boy to the Doctor. Danny Boy to the Doctor.”

It was the Spitfires!

“Give 'em hell, Danny Boy.”

“Target destroyed.”

“Yes!” Elise cheered, clapping.

Vastra smiled at the small Timelord. Elise was beaming from ear to ear and her eyes were sparkling.

The Doctor joined them in the control room. “What did you think?”

“That was amazing!” Elise praised him.

The two high-fived.

The Doctor sat in the chair while they waited for Colonel Manton. He was marched in by Strax at gunpoint.

“All airlocks sealed. Resistance neutralized.”

“Sorry, Colonel Manton. I lied. Three minutes forty two seconds,” the Doctor said.

“Colonel Manton, you will give the order for your men to withdraw,” Strax ordered.

“No. Colonel Manton, I want you to tell your men to run away.”

“You what?”

“Those words. Run away. I want you to be famous for those exact words. I want people to call you Colonel Run Away. I want children laughing outside your door, because they've found the house of Colonel Run Away.” The Doctor stood up and got in his face. “And, when people come to you, and ask if trying to get to me through the people I love…is in any way a good idea, I want you to tell them your name. Oh, look, I'm angry. That's new. I'm really not sure what's going to happen now.”

A woman’s voice spoke. “The anger of a good man is not a problem. Good men have too many rules.”

The Doctor turned.

It was the eye-patch lady Amy spoke about.

“Good men don't need rules. Today is not the day to find out why I have so many,” the Doctor said.

“Give the order. Give the order, Colonel Run Away,” the woman told him.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When they came to the room where Amy was being held, they found Amy and Rory kissing while crying.

“Ew, kissing and crying. I'll…I'll be back in a bit,” the Doctor said.

Elise agreed. They turned to leave when Rory said, “Oi, you two. Get in here, now.” They came down steps and walked over to Amy, Rory, and their baby.

“My daughter. What do you think?” Rory asked.

The Doctor smiled. “Hello. Hello, baby.”

Rory knelt down so Elise could see her.

“She’s so tiny!” Elise said.

“Melody,” Amy told them.

“Melody? Hello, Melody Pond,” the Doctor said.

“Melody Williams,” Rory corrected.

“…Is a geography teacher. Melody Pond is a superhero,” Amy said.

The Doctor sniffed Amy. “Well yes, I suppose she does smell nice. Never really sniffed her. Maybe I should give it a go. Amelia Pond, come here.”

The two of them hugged.

“Doctor.”

“I'm sorry we were so long.”

“It's okay. I knew you were coming. Both of you. My boys.”

“Oi!” Elise said.

Amy laughed. “And you, little miss.”

“It's okay. She's still all yours. And really, you should call her mummy, not big milk thing. And it’s Elise, not Blue Eyes.”

“Okay, what are you doing?” Amy asked.

“I speak Baby.”

“No, you don't.”

“I speak everything, don't I, Melody Pond?” The Doctor messed with his bowtie. “No, it's not. It’s cool.”

Amy laughed.

Vastra entered the room. “Doctor? Take a look. They're leaving. Demon's Run is ours without a drop of blood spilled. My friend, you have never risen higher.”

River’s words echoed in Rory and Elise’s head.

He'll rise higher than ever before and then fall so much further.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The Doctor parked the TARDIS and Rory, Amy, and Melody immediately left.

Evidently, Melody didn’t like the TARDIS noise.

“Is Melody gonna travel with us?” Elise asked as the Doctor carried a wooden cot. She wouldn’t stop asking questions about Melody.

“Maybe not until she’s older.”

“So does this mean she’s like my cousin or something?”

“Well not technically.”

“So, just a friend then?”

“Open the other door, would you?”

Elise opened the other door and the Doctor carried the cot out.

“She's not hungry, she's tired. Sorry, Melody, they're just not listening,” he said.

“What's this? Melody?” Amy asked.

“Very pretty, according to your daughter.”

“It's a…it's a cot,” Rory said.

“No flies on the Roman. Give her here,” the Doctor said.

Amy handed Melody to the Doctor. “Hey, there we go.”

The Doctor placed her in the cot.

“But where would you get a cot?” Rory asked.

“It's old. Really old. Doctor, er, do you have children?” Amy asked, “Besides Elise.”

Elise was too old to have even slept in it.

“No.”

“Have you ever had children?”

The Doctor ignored the question. “No, it's real. It's my hair.”

“Who slept in here?”

“Doctor, we need you in the main control room,” Vastra said over the intercom.

“Be right there! Things to do. I've still got to work out what this base is for. We can't leave till we know.” He started to walk off, but Amy went after him.

“But this is where I was? The whole time I thought I was on the TARDIS, I was really here?” she asked.

“Er, Centurion, permission to hug?”

“Be aware, I do have a sword,” Rory said.

“At all times.”

They hugged.

“You were on the TARDIS, too. Your heart, your mind, your soul. But physically, yes, you were still in this place.”

“And when I saw that face looking through the hatch, that woman looking at me.”

“Reality bleeding through. They must have taken you quite a while back. Just before America.”

“That's probably enough hugging now,” Rory told him.

The Doctor pulled away.

“So her Flesh avatar was with us all that time. But that means they were projecting a control signal right into the TARDIS wherever we were in time and space,” Rory said.

“Yeah, they're very clever,” the Doctor said.

“Who are?” Amy asked.

“Whoever wants our baby,” Rory said.

“But why do they want her?”

“Exactly,” the Doctor said.

“Is there anything you're not telling us?” Rory asked, “You knew Amy wasn't real. You never said.”

“Well, I couldn't be sure they weren't listening.” The Doctor started to walk off.

“But you always hold out on us. Please, not this time. Doctor, it's our baby. Tell us something. One little thing,” Amy said.

“It's mine,” the Doctor told them.

“What is?” Rory asked.

“The cot. It's my cot. I slept in there.” He smiled and left them with their baby and Elise, who hadn’t taken her eyes off Melody.

“Oh, my God. It's the Doctor's first stars,” Amy said. Amy wiped Melody’s face with the prayer leaf Lorna had given her.

“Drop your weapons. State your rank and intent,” Strax said, “I found it listening at the door.”

It was the soldier from earlier.

Lorna.

#eleventh doctor #eleventh doctor imagines #eleventh doctor fanfiction #doctor who #Doctor Who fanfiction #doctor who imagine #river song #river song imagine #amy pond #amy pond imagine #madame vastra #jenny #strax #the littlest timelord #the littlest timelord: the death of the doctor #a good man goes to war

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rovvboat · 6 years

Text

Abort Mission - Cable/Nathan Summers x Reader P.2

Part 2

Warnings: Angst, swearing, mentions of killing, confessions

A/N: PART 2 is finally done!!! (POSTING AGAIN COS TUMBLR LMAO) w some reconciliation ;))) Leave a request if you’d like for me to do anything on the two metal husbands hehehe! Keep an eye out for more Colossus based fics too cos I am IN the mood for them, angst or not! kekekek ENJOY!!

Words: 3.5k

Summary: Your team had been tipped off about a possible resurrection of an unnamed villain by Black Talon and his followers, which prompted a recon mission led by Cable. Your team heads to the location to put a stop to Talon’s plans, but the tension between you and Cable was driving you nuts - prompting you to put your foot down and do what was best for the team.

The X-Jet came to a slow stop above the large rain forest; engine whirring loudly as the pilot motioned for the team to make their descent via the thick wire ladder. One by one the team – comprised of you, Wade, Colossus, Ellie, Yukio and Cable – lowered themselves down the ladder. The team separated into smaller groups to cover the two bases effectively, with Cable keeping an eye on the surrounding situations.

You were armed in your protective gear – military-grade green and brown camouflage pants with a dark green long-sleeved shirt - with reinforced fibers built to absorb shock and kinetic energy from long range bullets. You also had on a heavily-padded bullet-proof vest over the shirt.

The whole ensemble was heavier than any normal protective gear you would usually wear – the shirt specifically engineered for you by Cable with his knowledge of future tech.

The first stop for you and Wade was an abandoned military base taken over by followers of Black Talon. X-Force got tipped off by a trusted source that Black Talon was planning on bringing back dead but formerly powerful mutants as zombies; this coincided with the recent increase in reports of grave-robbers. Summed up, all this was no good.

The leaves gave way under you made your way through the trees. A stray ray of light filtered through the high trees, onto one of the corners of the military base – illuminating it in the process.

This would possibly be the worst place put a covert base. No wonder it was abandoned. You thought to yourself with a smile.

The base was of decent stature – two stories high, surrounded by vines and shrubbery in its corners. It was made of a kind of dark grey, matte-looking metal formed into a honey comb-structure. It was nothing like you have ever seen before.

The metal had all but rusted over all the areas that hadn’t been galvanized – namely the holes which housed screws and bolts, as well as the space between the honeycomb pattern – but it looked sturdy. Sturdy enough to hold a ritual probably. Wade suddenly motions for you to switch off your comms device, and you suspiciously oblige.

‘’So, tell me Fingers, what’s up with you and Foxy Grandpa these days?’’ Wade asked, as he walked beside you, absentmindedly plucking at leaves and branches. ‘’I don’t see the playful teasing anymore. Did he have some ‘performance issues’ during your fun little camping trip?’’

‘’I… He didn’t want to pursue anything further.’’ You answered, a little crestfallen.

‘’Woah! You really hit that? Good on you! But forget about him, I’m sure he’s just confused. Older – Sorry – Old men are like that. You’re a catch if I do say so myself.’’ He winked with a head tilt, before activating his earpiece and motioning for you to do the same.

You didn’t know how, but what he said was strangely reassuring. It was rare to see Wade be so… supportive and encouraging. You grinned at him, before getting back to the task at hand.

You looked back towards the building. From your distance you couldn’t tell if it housed any living soul. But you knew better than to assume that there wasn’t. You took your enhanced heat vision goggles and got to work.

‘’One… two… three… four…’’ You breathe in, as you positioned your goggles back on top of your head.

‘’Nine. I see nine heat signatures. What’s the move, Captain?’’ You reported with a quip, as you looked back to Deadpool. ‘’Do you seriously think using a pair of binoculars would work in this situation?’’ You added.

‘’NINE? Is that all you need for a secret sacrifice /slash/ ritual nowadays? And here I was, thinking there would be an equal numbered of virgins,’’ Wade continued as he tossed his binoculars onto the ground, ‘’But then again, maybe we’re providing the virgins. We do have Colossus and Negasonic – ‘’ Wade got cut off by the voice in your comms earpiece.

‘’Hey fuckface, could you shut the fuck up? We have patrol officers coming towards your location. Stay alert. Only attack if spotted. Maintain cover in the forest. Colossus and NTW, I need you to be ready in the case of a shoot-out. Fuckface and Y/N, go in to investigate. Report in if you see any signs of Black Talon. Remember, try not to provoke them. We only need to destroy that main tower to stop Talon. Anything else is icing on the cake.’’

‘’Roger that.’’ Colossus responded.

‘’I guess someone’s got the case of angry grandpa.’’ Wade remarked, elbowing you. ‘’Alrighty, get on with the creepy mist, magic fingers. It’s go time.’’ He prompted as he waved his hands in a shoo-ing motion. You giggle lightly as you got to work with your powers.

You gently put your hands on the ground, your mind focused on all the water molecules you can feel in the soil surrounding the base. With one quick motion, you pressed your palm down onto the ground – increasing the heat in the ground and causing the moisture to evaporate. The resulting vapour engulfed the area, rendering poor visibility to anyone not expecting an ambush (AKA the dumbasses inside the base).

You and Wade slowly made your way towards the base. You made sure to tread lightly across the leaf litter and reached the corner of the base, crouching down in response to clinking sounds coming from the heavy metal door.

The door swung open haltingly, as if the building itself was an old man trying to maneuver his joints in order to function. Two figures emerged from inside. They had N95 masks on and were carrying submachine guns pointed forwards. They tentatively plod through some thick shrubbery that laid adjacent to the doorway. The person on the left straightened their back and turned to the other to convey that is was probably nothing – as Deadpool launched himself at the unaware vigil, pulling off the N95 mask as he landed a slice to his throat.

The vigil drops to the ground with a thud. The other vigil turned to aim his gun at Deadpool, but just as he raised his finger to the trigger, you snuck behind him and knocked him out cold.

‘’And that’s why we call you magic fingers.’’

‘’That’s only 2 guys, where’s the other 7?’’ You inquired.

As if on cue, you felt something whizz past you, mere inches from your face and impale onto a nearby tree. You quickly see that it was an arrow – shot clean through the bark – and took cover behind the nearest tree trunk.

You twisted your body back towards the base, still hidden from any other attacks, and peeked over the trunk to see where it came from.

Your eyes scaled up to the roof of the base, and through the mist you saw three black figures; their bows held up and taking aim. You look down at the entrance and you notice the mist had started to slowly dissipate, revealing a confident Deadpool standing out in the open; square in their sights.

‘’Well fingers, our cover’s blown.’’ He mentioned, looking back in your direction and then back up to the roof. ‘’I guess It’s time for some real good fun.’’

‘’Wade, there’s –‘’ an agitated Cable voiced through the earpiece before being cut off by Deadpool.

‘’No time, Oldilocks. I’m going for the assholes on the roof.’’

He pulled out both his guns from his holsters and took aim at the figures. He pulled the trigger several times, one bullet straight through the head of one of the roof archers and one through the neck of the other. The third archer had wisely taken cover.

Meanwhile, you were using your goggles to figure out where the last of the vigils would be. Scanning the vicinity, you whispered

‘’Where the fuck are yo– ‘’

And before you could finish, two arms wrapped themselves around your neck and torso. Tight enough crush you. You struggled, unable to call out to Deadpool for backup.

‘’What’s a pretty little thing like you doing with an abomination like that?’’ a gruff voice said to you.

‘’Fuck you.’’ You grunt.

You dug your fingers into the thick armour of the assailant, changing the composition of the fibers using chemicals present in the air. In a split second, the clothing withered away, leaving his skin exposed. You hastily clawed into him, and begun oxidizing the skin it in the process

In other words, you were setting him on fire.

He started screaming.

He promptly released you from his grasp as he stumbled backwards, fervently trying to put out the combustion on his left arm. You swung your body back, trying to catch some momentum, before planting a roundhouse kick to his face.

As you caught your breath, you hear a gunshot coming from the base. You turn around to see Deadpool on the roof, presumably looking for the third archer – who is also now probably dead.

‘’That should be the last of them.’’ You spoke into the comms device.

You suddenly hear some rustling behind you.

Followed by a click.

‘’Y/N! TAKE COVER.’’

As you turned to the source of the voice, you felt two arms wrapping around your shoulders, followed by a massive weight moving you away from the oncoming projectile; which had shattered into pieces, inches before your body

Unbeknownst to you, Cable had shot at the rocket before throwing himself at you with his back to the shards of exploding metal.

There was smoke all around you. Cable was still on top of you, and you were bearing the full weight of his body. You used your powers to shift the heavy smoke away from you and towards where the rocket was shot and heard heavy coughs from behind the thicket of the forest.

‘’Kid, don’t move. They’re still there. Cable hissed with a laboured breath. ‘’Wade, I need cover from the roof.’’ He whispered into the comms device.

‘’RETURN TO THE MAIN BASE!’’ A shrill voice ordered, coming from the thicket; followed by a swift retreat marked by the loud, intense rustling of the leaves surrounding the dense growth.

Gunshots reverberated through the trees, and the bullets wisped past the smoke cloud in the direction of the assailants, but they had already vanished.

‘’What the fuck-knuckles was that? Holy shit, was that a fucking mini-missile?’’ Deadpool exclaimed as he emerged from the base. He walked towards where you and Cable had landed.

‘’Holy shit, that looks… so cool! And so painful!’’ Wade commented as Cable staggered up off of you.

‘’I’m fine, Wade, Thanks for asking.’’ You coughed. As you pushed yourself up off the ground, you heard a cackle of static coming from Cable’s body. His face twisted in discomfort as he put a hand to his left metallic shoulder. Heavily he breathed out and straightened himself up, turning around towards the direction where the enemies had run off to.

Which gave you a clear view of his back, and you saw why he had winced in pain.

One of the missile shards – presumably from the explosion – had lodged itself into Cable’s Techno-Organic back. The grey TO metal seemed to throb from the pierced missile fragment.

‘’Woah there, Cable. I’m going to have to take a look at that.’’ You say, concerned at how far into his back the fragment had lodged itself.

Cable turned to you, frowning and just as he was beginning to answer, you heard Colossus’ voice coming in from the earpiece.

‘’We have found the main base, but it seems we have company. Black Talon might have been expecting us. Follow the coordinates of our trackers, and be here quickly.’’

‘’Looks like the party’s just started. Hey, retired winter soldier, what’cha gonna do about that big, fat achey-breaky back?’’ Deadpool quipped.

With a groan, Cable pulled out the missile fragment and dumped it away from him. You watch him, alarmed, and yet… somehow turned on.

‘’Done. Let’s get a move on.’’ Cable said, slinging his gun to the unwounded side of his back, then booking it towards the main base; with you and Deadpool at his heel.

‘’Cable, that doesn’t look so good. Let me take a look at it, I’ll be quick.’’ You said as you caught up to his stride.

‘’Listen darlin’, I don’t think your healing fingers are up for it. It’s a futuristic virus, not regular human flesh or metal.’’ He said dismissively.

You looked away at that. You won’t lie, that did sting a little.

Maybe a lot, coming from Cable.

‘’Besides, I think we have more important things to worry about.’’ He grumbled.

You look up ahead to see the main base – towering over the trees. Made of the same black metal the first base had been comprised of. All three of you could hear the unmistakable sounds of grunts and bullets against chrome plating, and rushed towards it.

Colossus and NTW were head-to-head with 10 assailants, all adorned in matching uniforms.

How cute.

You were particularly agitated at this moment. Not only because of what Cable had implied, but also because you weren’t given an opportunity to use your powers to their fullest, with it being more of a covert mission – but clearly it had now developed into something else.

Time to show them that I’m not just some medic that needs protecting.

You ran to the nearest tree, hurriedly putting your palms across the trunk. You focused your powers to one point, disintegrating the thick fibers of the tree and fashioning it into a concave shield; shaped like a half-open umbrella.

It was big enough to cover your entire body, and was extremely thick. You grabbed your reinforced shirt, a stripped some of the special fibers from it to enhance the shield – ultimately making it almost bullet proof.

Cable and Deadpool had already made their way to the action before you had, but you were right on their tail. You enhanced the metabolic activity in your body, allowing for you to reach top speed in mere seconds.

‘’Y/N! Don’t do anything stupid!’’ Cable called out.

You went in headfirst into the group of enemies – making a sort of curve around their group before colliding into them from their sides at full speed – whilst Cable and Deadpool shot at them with their guns.

The collision was disorienting enough for you to make your main assault. Peeking over your shield, you quickly wrapped your hand around one of their machine guns, and catalyzed the explosive reaction of the gunpowder inside.

‘’Hasta la vista, fuckers.’’ You said triumphantly as quickly you ducked behind the makeshift shield.

The gun exploded around the enemies, and in the midst of the chaos and panic, your team managed to subdue the rest of the group.

‘’There are two more assholes up in the tower. If I’m right, they’re the ones who need to signal Black Talon if the coast is clear – and since it’s clearly not, I think BT is gonna be a no-show’’ NTW explained.

There was a moment of silence, as the team contemplated their next move. And in that moment, you heard the static of Cable’s wound as he grimaced.

‘’For fuck’s sake,’’ you walked over to Cable, ‘’sit down. I’m going to heal you.’’ You instructed.

‘’Y/N, listen to me. This is way beyond what you can help wi– ‘’

‘’I’m not hearing any of that crap. I didn’t train with the X-Men to be incompetent. I’ve handled mutants before, and you’re not special. So, I suggest that you sit down, and let me Do. My. Fucking. Job.’’

The following silence was deafening, as the rest of your team stared at you in disbelief.

You maintained intense eye contact with Cable until he yielded – looking away with a disgruntled ‘’Fine.’’

You circled around him as he sat on a fallen tree stump and got to work. Centralising all your powers onto the throbbing mess of metal and static. Some of it had shocked you, but it wasn’t anything you weren’t used to. As you fixated on the metal, you felt a sudden sense of life to it. The wound was throbbing as if it was inflamed – like how a human wound would – but it felt entirely foreign, and very powerful.

You backed away from feeling its life, and focused your energy on enhancing the recovery of the living metal, just enough to buy some time and get back to the mansion before actually operating on it. The recovery process was admittedly taking longer than it usually does on humans, but you relented. The virus wasn’t resisting any of this, but something – or someone else – sure was.

Suddenly, two bodies dropped from the tower – presumably the minions of Black Talon.

‘’That’s the last of them!’’ Deadpool announced. ‘’So, when are we breaking this thing apart?’’

‘’NOT ANYTIME SOON.’’ A deep voice emerged from the forest. All of a sudden, a thunderous noise enveloped the vicinity growing louder and louder, as you watch a horde of zombies charging towards you.

Adrenaline coursed through you, as you hastened the recovery and expertly closed up the wound. ‘’All done.’’ You said to Cable. He rotated his arm 360 degrees and seemed pleased with its mobility. He gave you a nod, before taking his fighting stance towards the horde. You charged at the zombies, as the rest of your team also got to pounding them into the ground.

‘’Wade and Colossus, destroy that tower! This fight is pointless. Once we destroy the tower, we can retreat!’’ Cable yelled into the comms. Colossus grunted an affirmative before getting to work on the tower.

The more you fought the group of zombies, the more they reappeared. Like they were multiplying. This wasn’t going to be sustainable, and you knew you would soon be outnumbered.

‘’I am calling the X-Jet for an emergency extraction. The tower is coming down!’’ Colossus informed through the comms.

‘’TIMBER!’’ Deadpool yelled, hanging off the side of the tower, hopping off just as it went down.

The tower came crashing down onto an area infested with the zombies, which was followed by the loud roar of the incoming X-Jet.

‘’Evacuate now!’’ Colossus rumbled into the earpiece. Everyone rushed up the ladder dispatched by the jet. Everything was happening at once, and you were caught off-guard. Black Talon lunged out of nowhere, and managed to almost knocked the living daylights out of you. You’re stunned as you brought your hands up to your head to reverse the internal damage. Cable fired his repelling rifle at Talon, giving him enough time to pull you into safety. You stumbled back and felt unconsciousness sneaking up on you, but not before you felt one strong arm holding you up.

‘’I’ve got your back too, darlin’’’ He whispered to you, as he hoisted you and himself up onto the ladder – holding you tight to his body. The jet promptly accelerated away from the forest, whilst pulling you and Cable up onto the jet, back to safety.

You recovered quickly in the jet, with the help of your team. Cable had helped stabilize your vitals, enough for you to be able to recover yourself from your head trauma. You gave him a solemn thank you, but didn’t make conversation with anyone throughout the journey back home.

Back at the mansion, Colossus debriefed everyone on the day’s mission and dismissed the team for the night.

As you entered your room, you hear Cable sound out from behind you.

‘’Y/N, can I talk to you for a moment?’’

‘’Why? So that you can belittle my powers again?’’

‘’That was not what I intended, Doll.’’ He said, walking into your room and shutting the door behind him.

‘’Then what was the intention Mr. Angry pants?’’

You give yourself a mental facepalm. God you were terrible at sassy nicknames; but only when it came to Cable.

‘’I just didn’t want you to get hurt. This virus is an infection. Who fucking knows what would happen if you got your cells or blood mixed with it? The last thing I want is for someone close to me to get hurt because of me. Why do you think I made you that reinforced shirt? And no, it’s not because I think you’re weak. You’re pretty damn strong and you have the wits to back you up. But the assholes out there, I’ve seen what they do to people. And the last thing I want was for you to end up in that position. So, no, that was not my intention at all. I only ever wanted to keep you safe.’’ He looked away sheepishly.

You contemplated all this, before giving a resigned sighed. You didn’t want to stay angry at the man, especially not when he was pouring his heart out to you.

‘’It’s okay. Thank you for… having my back.’’ You said sincerely, stretching out a hand for him to shake – a proposition for friendship, since that was what he wanted. He looks at you, and takes a few steps toward you.

‘’What are yo–‘’ and before you could finish, you find your lips locked with Cable. He places his hands on your waist as you moved your hands to hold his face between them – melting into the kiss.

Cable slowly breaks the kiss, and moves into a hug. ‘’I’m sorry if all this is… confusing. I know I said I didn’t want to move forward. But I don’t want to lose you. And I want to keep you close to me. How does that sound?’’ He asked, looking intensely into your eyes.

‘’I’d… like that, Nate. I’d like that very much.’’

#cable x reader #nathan summers x reader #Cable #nathan summers #marvel fanfiction #deadpool fanfiction

76 notes · View notes

zeldaspeaks · 6 years

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Quarantine

A continuation of this and this because the Darksiders survivor au is overrun with feels rn and I can't just not participate

ft. @heavymetalhexcode and @imagine-darksiders 💕

Over a week had passed since Hex had... snapped, nearly. Umaru had heard the details in whispered gossip, but had seen the bloodstains herself. They adorned the bark that made up the walls of what could only laughably be called a "bedroom," and though they'd dried, didn't seem to be going away any time soon.

That won't do.

Experience reminds her how much it hurt to be constantly reminded of one's grief, of an unchangeable past. Nobody was going to spare drinking water to scrub this bark clean, but Umaru felt it wouldn't be fair to force Hex to look at such a thing on the daily.

Without a word, she pulls her pocket knife from one of the many slots in her backpack and takes to whittling away reddened wood.

Bark will grow back and change itself, just as the present would become the past.

But... would it be possible to make the past into the present again?

~-~-~

Footsteps echo through the empty stories of the car garage, long abandoned and left to the decay that spread through the city of Haven like a growing pestilence. Umaru knew well that unwarranted sound was not ideal during the literal end of the world, but this was a safe hour of the night. The Wickeds that roamed this area typically left to hunt once the moon was directly overhead.

Save, not one other soul knew, for the newest of their undead numbers.

Umaru swallows the lump in her throat when she reaches the three-walled horse trailer in the corner of the lowermost lot in the garage. Abnormal noises emanate from within, and a heavy padlock hung on the swinging double doors that composed the trailer's back wall.

She had told herself, when gathering supplies in a frenzied rush all those months ago, that a reason for such a lock would present itself someday. But she'd never anticipated that it would be for the protection of a dead person.

From about a birthmarked neck, she draws forth a necklace with a lone key attached to its chain. This is then slipped into the lock, turned just so, and then...

Growls greet a grimace when she pulls the doors open ever so slightly. Umaru peers through the crack, watching a sliver of light split through the dark space to illuminate the dead, twisted face of what had once been her dear friend.

Ellie had been treated with as much gentility as Umaru could spare in order to keep them both ""alive,"" true, but there had been an unavoidable struggle in getting her here. And even in such tight confinement, a Wicked was unpredictable. She'd had no choice but to handcuff the poor thing to the wall opposite the doors.

Umaru hiccups. Despite the hostility she's met with from the near-empty husk of her missing companion, and despite the heavy scent of blood and dirt and decay, her weary face splits into an... unworldly sort of smile.

"Hey Elle... I talked to Vulgrim earlier... told him bout what happened to ya."

New talons swipe through the air between them as the wicked swings her only free hand as if it were a weapon, and guttural roars easily cover up the hushed whispers uttered on a broken voice.

"I didn't come out an' ask it, yeah, but... he says he'll bring me somethin' to help if he comes across anything like it."

Sniffling, she takes a step back and closes the doors once more. The lock slips her mind as she turns, pressing her back against the trailer and sliding down to sit at its base.

“We’re gonna fix this, Ellie. I promise.”

Muffled screeches permeate them still, but Umaru is too far within her own mind to be rattled by them as she once had.

"You’re gonna be fine."

#survivor au #darksiders #darksiders iii #ellie #hex #my writing #mine

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darkpetal16 · 6 years

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Pride & Humility - Chapter Three

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Fanfiction

Genres: Gen, Friendship, Family, Adventure, Hurt, Comfort

Summary: “Friends look the other way. Best friends eat the body.” -Selim B. The story about an innocent and disturbing friendship between homunculus and human. Old soul OC. Surprisingly wholesome.

Warnings: Violence, gore, death, excessive child abuse, profanity

Beta: Taintedletter

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. Elizabeth belongs to Midnightwishes, but I will be borrowing her for this journey.

Chapter One

Previous Chapter

Beta: Taintedletter

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Several days later...

Dinner that night looked delightfully appetizing.

When eating at the Bradley’s, it appeared no expense was spared when it came to the food. The dining room was a small, but lavishly decorated. The enticing aroma of dinner drifted around the room, enhancing the luxurious feel of the casual affair.

Of course what really made dinner such a treat for Elizabeth, was Mrs. Bradley—although she was starting to insist Elizabeth called her Auntie Katherine. The older woman had an magnanimous personality, and a charm that simply couldn’t be beat. Already the woman had rapidly captured Elizabeth’s admiration.

(Granted, that wasn’t hard at that point since she was the first adult to treat Elizabeth with any bit of genuine kindness.)

To make matters even better, Elizabeth got to sit right next to her best friend.

At dinner, Selim was an infectiously cheerful boy. Elizabeth found it impossible not to smile, or giggle, when he was so plainly elated.

“And who might this be?” inquired an amused voice.

The trio at dinner turned to find führer King Bradley entering the dining room with a serene smile on his face. Mrs. Bradley, greeted her husband with an affectionate tone. “Welcome home, dear. This is Elizabeth Luxanna, a friend of Selim. She’s been having dinner with us this week while you were away inspecting the south.”

Elizabeth politely bowed her head, her cheeks warming under Mr. Bradley’s scrutiny. “G-Good evening, sir.”

“At ease. A friend of Selim doesn’t need to call me sir,” Mr. Bradley laughed, taking a seat beside Katherine and across from Elizabeth. His gaze roamed over to his adopted son and he asked, “And how have you been, Selim?”

“Well,” Selim responded, nudging Elizabeth. “I’ve been having a lot of fun with Ellie!”

“Ah, I see, I see.”

“How was the inspection, dear?” Mrs. Bradley asked.

“Uneventful,” Mr. Bradley admitted. “With so many of our State Alchemists retired, the hunt for more is still in full swing.”

“Ellie’s very good with alchemy,” Selim remarked, purple eyes sparkling with admiration. “I bet she’ll make the youngest State Alchemist in history!”

Elizabeth blushed, nervous pride fluttering inside of her. She averted her gaze, and fidgeted with her fingers. “I-I don’t know about that.”

“I’d bet a month’s worth of desert on it,” Selim crowd.

“Oh!” King exclaimed, reassessing Elizabeth with great interest. “That’s a mighty big bet. Hmm. But I don’t see how anyone would accept a State Alchemist before fifteen, at the very least.”

Selim grinned widely. “She’ll be ready well before then. She’s very smart.”

Elizabeth’s face felt hotter than the sun, and she squirmed under her friend’s praise. She hadn’t received so much positive attention before, and it was making her head spin and her stomach tie itself in knots.

“That’s quite enough,” Katherine Bradley chided, reaching across the table to gently pat Elizabeth. “Can��t you see you’re making her flustered? Honestly, I hope you’re don’t become as clueless about women like your father…”

“Eh? I’m not clueless,” King Bradley protested, but Mrs. Bradley only laughed at him.

The dinner was filled with merriment and laughter. King and Katherine were a remarkably adorable couple, and the two filled the entire room up with amiable hospitality. Time flew by faster than a rocket, and it was far too soon that Elizabeth had to bade everyone goodnight.

Dinner with the Bradley’s became a regular occurrence. Most nights the führer would join them, but there had been a couple times where he was too busy with work.

After dinner, Selim and Elizabeth would play in the gardens for a couple of hours before someone would escort Elizabeth “home.”

Although the heiress wished she never had to leave.

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Breakfast in the house of Luxanna was a bleak affair. The food was carried to Elizabeth’s room, and she ate in silence at her desk in her nearly empty room. It wasn’t that the Luxanna family couldn’t afford niceties, or luxuries—it was an old wealthy family—so much as Grandfather Crow was a minimalist, and believed his granddaughter should be the same.

The only things of note that could be found in Elizabeth’s room were piles of notebooks, and assigned textbooks on alchemy. The stacks were so high they towered over the girl.

Once Elizabeth finished her breakfast, she got dressed for the day and headed down to the musky library to begin her lessons. Mrs. Delve awaited her with a narrowed gaze, and a clipped good morning.

As with every day, the lesson was only made bearable by the fact that Elizabeth had something to look forward to at the end. It wasn’t that Mrs. Delve was a bad teacher, per say—she explained things well enough Elizabeth could follow along—but there a prominent air of disdain in that stuffy library.

No… in that house.

Elizabeth could scarcely think to call it a home anymore. She saw what a home ought to be like with the Bradleys.

There was no warmth, or love in the houses of Luxanna.

There was expectations, and punishments.

Elizabeth wasn’t a granddaughter.

She was a tool. A pet.

Her future was in the hands of a man who did not care for her wellbeing—who probably didn’t even like her.

And what could she do about it?

Run away?

With his connections, she’d undoubtedly be found the very first day.

Refuse?

She wouldn’t put it past him to lock her away until she starved to death, or submitted.

He’d get away with it, too.

Ask for help?

From who?

She didn’t want to bring her only friend into it. Selim was too dear to her, and the very thought of him coming anywhere near her grandfather burned Elizabeth up inside. Mrs. Bradley, Katherine, was a possibility, but Elizabeth irrationally feared that if the kind woman came in contact with Crow she’d somehow become tainted and turn on Elizabeth.

Mr. Bradley? The führer, would undoubtedly support his retired general.

The servants didn’t care.

There was no one Elizabeth felt comfortable asking for help.

Which left her with only one option: comply.

Obey.

So she swallowed her protests, and did exactly that.

Every day she woke up before the sun, and studied alchemy like a good student.

And every day, for just a few short hours, she was able to leave her bitterly cold house, and experience a taste of warmth.

She hoped that warmth would never go away.

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A couple months later…

“Ara? What’s a cute little girl doing here?”

Elizabeth paused in her afternoon work, looking up to find a man peering down over her shoulder. Being in sudden close proximity to a strange man made her instantly uncomfortable, but since he was in a military uniform she didn’t think he was bad.

He had a bit of a dorky air about him, with an after shave, glasses, and a twinkle in his eyes. He rubbed his chain as he looked down at her work. “That’s some impressive alchemy you’ve got there.”

Elizabeth shut her notebook, and shyly turned around to give the man her full attention. “I-I’m Elizabeth Luxanna. Pleasure to meet you, sir…?”

The man wore a splitting grin. “Maes Hughes! I work in Central Intelligence, and thought I’d stop by our library’s archives. It’s rare to see a child here, though.”

“I received special permission to further my alchemy studies,” Elizabeth quietly explained, resisting the urge to nervously look away. “I-I’m going to become a State Alchemist.”

“Starting young, aren’t you?” the man named Maes joked.

“My grandfather expects me to live up to the Luxanna name,” Elizabeth responded. “A-As heiress to Luxanna, I must not disappoint.”

Maes rubbed at his chin again. “Luxanna, huh? So you’re the granddaughter of general Crow?”

“Yes, sir.” Elizabeth glanced at the clock on the wall, and began to put her notebooks away in her bag. “Pardon me, sir, but I have to meet up with my best friend.”

“Wouldn’t want to keep you waiting,” Maes said with a smile. “If you’re ever by Intelligence, feel free to stop by! I bet I could tell you some funny stories about that old bird.”

Elizabeth didn’t think that funny and her grandfather belonged anywhere near each other. Fun was practically a taboo word to the retired general.

‘What a queer man,’ Elizabeth thought, hurrying away. ‘I hope I don’t run into him again.’

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Fall of 1908

School was closed for Selim on the weekends, so he and Elizabeth were able to spend the days together.

Although, Saturdays Elizabeth still went to the library before noon, anxious to continue her work. Selim accompanied her per usual. He was a silent companion as she scribbled away in her notebooks.

Near the end of the study session—Elizabeth had promised Selim they would play after lunch—Selim leaned into Elizabeth and asked, “What are you working on now?”

Elizabeth pointed to the top of her list, and while resting his chin on her shoulder Selim read out loud, “Hybrid combinations?”

“Mn. I think that in a month, I’ll be ready to start testing out combining plants to make hybrids,” Elizabeth explained. “Right now I’m working on what would be the best combination for what. I want to keep this to no more than three for now—ideally, in the future I could combine as many as I wanted. Additionally, I want to focus on finding a substitute for epinephrine, and antibiotics first.”

“Epinephrine… that’s adrenaline, right? Why that and antibiotics first?”

“Improved penicillin—antibiotics—should be easier to start with since it was originally derived from a plant,” Elizabeth explained. “Whereas epinephrine should be a lot harder, since plants don’t produce it naturally.”

“I see,” Selim said quietly, frowning thoughtfully. “So something that should be easy, and something that should be hard… you’re testing your limits?”

“That’s the plan.”

Selim peered at the list, reading off what was written down.

Epinephrine

Yerba

Guayusa

Yaupon

Tea

Coffee

Cacao

Guarana

Ashwaghandha

Eleuthero

Rhodiola

Antibiotics

Garlic

Ginger

Echnacea

Goldenseal

Clove

Oregano

Neem

Pau D’Arco

Elizabeth had combinations of each of the lists below, and next to the combinations she wrote out the genetic equations. Once done writing out her math, she would work on diagrams and time tables.

“To be honest, I still have to find a place to grow them,” Elizabeth admitted to her friend. “It’ll have to be a large area, as I’ll be starting the hybrid process at different stages: seedling, sapling, and mature.”

Selim tapped his chin and tilted his head in a cute manner. “Hmm. How about you leave that one to me, Ellie? I might have a place.”

Elizabeth’s eyes brightened, and a sweet smile graced her face. “Really? Oh, thank you, Selim. I can always count on you.”

“‘Course,” Selim said, his smile twisting. “You can always trust me, Ellie.”

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“El-lie!” Selim sung, rushing to Elizabeth and Mrs. Bradley. Elizabeth’s demeanour lit up like the dawn, affection and sweet tenderness entering her eyes when she saw Selim. Excitedly, she ran to meet him halfway, throwing up her arms and catching him in a tight hug.

Selim accepted the hug in good nature, giving her a small pat on the back. “Ellie, guess what?”

“What?” Elizabeth asked, stepping back as Mrs. Bradley walked up to the two of them. As always, the kindly woman had a sweet, nurturing smile on her face and a gracious glimmer in her eyes.

“I talked with Father last night, and it’s been decided you can use the greenhouse behind our home,” Selim exclaimed excitedly, boyish charm bouncing off him. “It used to be rented out to another researcher, but he wasn’t going anywhere, so we’ll give it to you!”

Elizabeth gasped, excitement making her eyes sparkle. “Oh! Oh my gosh, thank you!”

She couldn’t resist hugging Selim again, squeezing him as tight as she could. “Ach! Can’t—breathe!”

“Oh! Sorry,” Elizabeth apologized, stepping back and bowing. When she looked back up, not a hint of excitement had dulled, however, and she couldn’t resist doing a small bounce. “This is—this is so wonderful. Thank you, Selim.”

“What are best friends for?” Selim looked over at his adopted mother. “Hi!”

“Hi,” Mrs. Bradley responded in amusement. “Let’s head home now, children. I have a feeling we’ll be having seafood for dinner.”

Both kids cheered at that, and Mrs. Bradley giggled in delight, unable to resist their infectious smiles.

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As soon as Elizabeth told her grandfather about the greenhouse the following morning, he sent her—along with several other servants—out to begin purchasing supplies. Most of the seedlings could be bought at the locket market, but there were some that required to be shipped from far off lands.

Crow took care of that, of course, and ordered the servants to carry all the supplies to the greenhouse.

Everything should have arrived by the following weekend, and then Elizabeth could set up her garden.

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Two weeks later...

When dinner at the Bradley’s was concluded, Elizabeth politely excused herself for the night. She wanted to get a headstart on her greenhouse. Excitement fueled her actions, and with barely restrained glee, she hurried to the designated greenhouse.

As expected, all of her supplies were stacked neatly outside, and using her designated key she unlocked to find—

—an utter mess.

The greenhouse had three levels, and used aqueducts to evenly distribute water throughout the greenhouse. The first level—the highest level—received the freshest water, with the second level receiving some of the runoff of the first level, and the third level receiving run off from the second and first.

The idea behind this was to distribute nutrients through the water. Plants on the bottom level required a nutrient-rich environment, while the top level plants would get burnt out if they received too much nutrients.

There was also a cat walk with hanging potters for plants that needed arid environments.

But the entire greenhouse was sheer madness.

None of the potters had been cleaned, there was grime, gunk, and grease covering nearly every inch of the building. The windows were covered in a layer of film that Elizabeth wouldn’t touch without gloves, and there was trash scattered everywhere.

Clearly whoever used this place before Elizabeth had issues with cleanliness.

‘No wonder he failed his research,’ Elizabeth thought disdainfully, wrinkling her nose.

She folded her arms over her chest as she thought about her next move. She certainly wouldn’t be able to get any rest knowing her greenhouse was in such a poor state.

‘Well,’ Elizabeth reluctantly thought to herself. ‘Might as well start now, then.’

She might have been able to simply order the janitors to clean it out, but Elizabeth didn’t want to risk them contaminating her greenhouse with unwanted chemicals.

No, it would be smarter for her to do the cleaning so that way she knew exactly what was being added to her controlled environment.

She predicted she’d have to do some clean up, so she had purchased the appropriate cleaning supplies, but she hadn’t expected to need to do such an overhaul.

‘I’ll have to immediately purchase more cleaning supplies tomorrow,’ Elizabeth concluded.

She clapped her hands together, took a deep breath in, and set to work.

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“Ellie, what are you doing here still?” Selim asked, stepping into the greenhouse. His eyes widened upon seeing it, almost doing a double-take. “Whoa.”

Elizabeth flushed, knowing she had to be covered head to toe in dirt, sweat, and grime. She was able to borrow some rubber gloves from the janitors when she went to get trash bags, but they were already rendered useless after cleaning the windows.

Whatever gunk was on those windows was nasty.

Rosy-cheeked, Elizabeth fidgeted anxiously. “H-Hi, Selim.”

“Do you know what time it is?” Selim asked her, stepping in to the partially cleaned greenhouse, and looking around. “And what happened here?”

“Y-You see, I decided to, um, look at my greenhouse before going home,” Elizabeth began to explain, her mouth dry, and voice cracking. It’d been a few hours since she last had water, she’d bet. “But when I got here, it, um…”

She gestured to the top level that she had yet to clean.

Selim grimaced with plain disgust. “The whole place was like that?”

“Yeah,” Elizabeth admitted, squirming under Selim’s scrutiny.

“And you’ve been cleaning the entire night?” Selim asked, rubbing his forehead. “Why didn’t you just ask one of the servants?”

“So that way I could control the environment,” Elizabeth explained, swallowing roughly.

Selim shook his head, sighing. “You could have just asked them to use specific things.”

“Doesn’t mean they would have, though.”

He frowned, peering at her. “How cynical.”

Flustered, Elizabeth couldn’t get her tongue to work well enough to respond.

Selim then gave her his usual grin. “Since you’re already here, why don’t you clean up and have breakfast with us?”

“Break… what time is it?” Elizabeth squeaked out, dreading the answer.

“Eight.”

All color drained from Elizabeth’s face, and her knees turned to jelly. She fell straight down, dread filling her. “I’m dead. Grandfather Crow must be furious.”

Selim waved his hand dismissively. “We’ll send a messenger over. He can’t complain that you were working, right?”

Elizabeth could only hope he was right.

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“Oh my goodness!” Mrs. Bradley fretted as soon as Elizabeth walked in. “You’re filthy.”

“S-Sorry, ma’am,” the embarrassed girl apologized.

“Let’s get you cleaned up and into some warm clothes,” Mrs. Bradley declared, taking Elizabeth’s hand and dragging her away. “Selim, dear, would you please tell one of the maids to find some clothes for Elizabeth?”

“Yes, Mother,” Selim said, waving goodbye to a flustered Elizabeth.

Mrs. Bradley tutted, narrowing her gaze at Elizabeth. “What on earth happened to you, Elizabeth?”

“I was working in my greenhouse,” she explained.

“All night? Those are the clothes you wore at dinner.”

“I lost track of time,” she sheepishly admitted.

“Did your grandfather not send for you? No one came by asking if you ever made it home…” Mrs. Bradley’s brow furrowed as she trailed off, her tone disbelieving.

Elizabeth didn’t have a good answer for her, so she remained silent.

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“This was our last lesson, Miss Luxanna,” Mrs. Delve informed Elizabeth a cold morning.

“What?” Elizabeth said in surprise.

“You’ve gobbled up all I can teach you,” Mrs. Delved explained with a sniff. “It would be a waste of time to continue these lessons when I have nothing else to impart. From what I understand, you’re already well on your way to conducting advance research for our military.”

“Ah—I—I don’t know if I’d call it advance—”

“You successfully transmuted live plants, and are in the process of creating new hybrids that will exceed modern medicine,” Mrs. Delve snapped. “Take pride in your work, girl.”

Elizabeth startled at Mrs. Delve’s harsh tone. “Y-Yes, ma’am.”

Mrs. Delve raised her chin. “You have been a model student, Miss Luxanna. I will inform your grandfather our lessons are concluded. Good luck in your research.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

✧✧♡✧✧♡✧✧♡✧✧

Winter of 1908

As the days grew colder, snow started to grace Central.

Accompanying the first snowfall was Elizabeth’s first harvest, and her first batch of results.

Using alchemy in mature plants, or saplings, resulted in the plants dying off too soon, or becoming sterile. However, when combining the genetics of seedlings, they grew up into fine, healthy plants.

Unfortunately not all of her combinations proved successful, but those that did work showed very promising results.

There were five hybrids for her epinephrine, and six for her antibiotics.

Her next step was to further combine these hybrids to produce the most optimal plant.

She hoped to have her final products by the end of spring the following year.

She merrily explained her results at dinner the night she finished writing out the next set of genetic equations for her second batch, feeling proud of what she had accomplished.

“Wow! Your first try and you already have a successful batch of transmuted plants,” Selim exclaimed, raising his eyebrows. “That’s super cool, Ellie.”

Elizabeth blushed under the praise, but raised her head proudly. “Thanks!”

“It’s certainly remarkable,” Mrs. Bradley gushed, reaching over and patting Elizabeth's head. “I don’t think I’ve read about any alchemist who can transmute plants.”

“It’s not a field given a lot of notice now a days,” Mr. Bradley responded, smiling at Elizabeth with a twinkle in his eyes. “But those that have tried, haven’t shown nearly as much success as you have in their entire research.”

Elizabeth thought her head might explode from how hot and light it was getting, She buried her face in her hands, unable to handle so much positivity thrown her way. Flustered, she squirmed and said, “I-I just want to help. A-After this, I might work on p-poisons for the military.”

“Poisons?” Mrs. Bradley gasped.

“S-Some poisons can be good, like sedatives,” Elizabeth quickly explained. “Or make people not violent. Or to—to you know, stop bad guys.”

“It’s always a good idea to expand upon our weapons,” the führer reminded his wife.

“I know that,” Mrs. Bradley retorted, giving Elizabeth a worried look. “But you have to be careful working with such dangerous things.”

“I will,” she promised.

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“Elizabeth?” Mrs. Bradley gently inquired at the end of dinner. “How would you like to stay with us on the weekends?”

Elizabeth’s mouth dropped open, her eyes bigger than saucers. “Wh-What?”

“You always work late in the greenhouse anyway, and come right back early in the morning,” Selim explained with a chirp. “Might as well just stay here on the weekends!”

“Your grandfather already gave his permission,” Mrs. Bradley added, “and we love having you with us. Selim really lights up when you’re around!”

Selim blushed. “I do not!”

Führer Bradley laughed heartily, ruffling his son’s hair. “Now, now. It’s very obvious you like playing with Elizabeth, no need to deny it, son.”

Selim puffed out his cheeks in adorable annoyance, refusing to meet anyone’s gaze as he muttered, “Do not.”

The adults laughed at the cute display, while Elizabeth reached over and patted his hand. He looked up to find her smiling with sweet admiration and she said, “I love spending time with you, too, Selim.”

Elizabeth straightened up, her cheeks rosy as she exclaimed, “I really love being here. I-I would be very happy to spend the nights here on the weekends, if I could. I-I promise not to be a burden.”

“You could never be a burden, dear,” Mrs. Bradley reassured, a sparkle in her eyes. “Oh, how wonderful! You can sleep with Selim until we get a room set up for you.”

“A-A room? You don’t need to go that far—”

“I always wanted a son and daughter,” Mrs. Bradley replied happily. “You’ll let me have my fun, won’t you?”

“Ah-Ah—”

“Eh? She’s our daughter now, too?” King Bradley joked.

“She’s such a delight to have around, might as well adopt her!”

“I think her grandfather might have something to say about that—”

“Fine, then Selim will just have to marry her when they’re old enough,” Mrs. Bradley settled on, causing both children to turn red-faced and make gagging noises. “Oh, I’m only teasing, don’t be so dramatic!”

Selim and Elizabeth exchanged glances, before both burst out into laughter upon seeing the other’s cherry-red face.

“Ahaha, you’re as red as an apple!”

“Am not! You’re redder than a sunburn!”

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Selim’s bedroom was massive, with a king-sized bed, and luxurious furniture. He even had a beautiful stone balcony that overlooked the gardens.

Elizabeth was given some of Mrs. Bradley’s clothes to sleep in for the night, and the sweet mother tucked both of the young children into Selim’s huge bed. Mrs. Bradley kissed their cheeks, and read them a story.

Then Mrs. Bradley wished them both sweet dreams, and bade the children goodnight.

It felt a little odd to Elizabeth to share a bed with someone, but she was glad it was with Selim. Her cheerful friend immediately rolled over, and pinched her cheek, a spark in his eyes. “Wanna tell ghost stories?”

Elizabeth rapidly shook her head, shuddering. “No, thank you! Ghosts are scary.”

“Like the kraken?”

“The kraken is way scarier.”

“Ehh? How come?”

Elizabeth sat up in the bed and stretched out her arms. “He’s huge! And you can’t escape him.”

Selim curiously cocked his head. “But ghosts are small, and you can escape them?”

“Well, yeah. Just move out of the haunted house!”

“What if it’s haunting you?”

Elizabeth rapidly shook her head. “A ghost would never haunt me! I haven’t done anything bad, yet.”

“Yet?”

“Everyone does something bad eventually,” Elizabeth explained. “That’s human nature, right?”

Selim nodded, frowning thoughtfully. “Yeah. What bad thing do you think you’ll do?”

Elizabeth shrugged, laying back down and pulling the covers up. “No clue! I hope I at least have fun with it.”

Selim made an acknowledging noise. “Mn. I hope so, too.”

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Answer: Ideally a doctor, but they seem to get kidnapped a lot so something to do with light would be fun!

Question: What position would you like the Amestris military? Who would you like to work the most with?

Reviews are love!

#Pride & Humility #Pride and Humility #Pride #Humility #Selim Bradley #Elizabeth Luxanna #OC #Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood #Fanfiction #Story #Darkpetal16

16 notes · View notes

acuppellarp · 5 years

Photo

Welcome (again) to A Cup-pella, Ellie! We’re excited to have you and Penny Owen in the game! Please go through the checklist to make sure you’re ready to go and send in your account within the next 24 hours.

OOC INFO

Name + pronouns: Ellie + She/Her. Age: 27. Timezone: GMT. Ships: Penny/Chemistry. Anti-Ships: Penny/Forced.

IC INFO

Full Name: Penny Grace Owen. Face Claim: Brittany Snow. Age/Birthday: 27/May 18th. Occupation: Student Nurse and part-time Nanny. Personality: Clumsy, Ditzy, Gentle, Nurturing, Sweet. Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina. Bio:

From as far back as Penny can remember, she has been surrounded by medical professionals. With a literal brain surgeon for a father and a very caring, committed midwife for a mother, she always felt a certain amount of pressure to go into the medical field, too. However, the pressure came only from herself. Her parents are perhaps the sweetest, most supportive two people Penny has ever met, and they have always pushed her to live life the way she wants to. Penny loves music, something her home was filled with throughout her childhood and teenage years, and something she very much wanted to pursue in a more professional aspect. A career as a music teacher would suit her well, everybody thought. She’s a total sweetheart, her kind, welcoming nature inherited from her mother, and Penny’s almost childlike sense of wonder would make her the perfect person to work with children and young people someday.

Personality-wise, Penny is very much a free spirit. She has a gentle nature and a nurturing soul, the kind to attract both the right and wrong people in their own ways. Growing up, she was always surrounded by friends, always found wearing a smile, though her kindness did leave her susceptible to the hands of bullies, people who wanted to take advantage of the fact that they could give her hell and she wouldn’t retaliate. Penny was always taught to just brush them off, though. By her teens, she had developed at least a little bit of a backbone, enough that she could stand up for herself where need be, but Penny has always remained a total pacifist, and would never resort to physical violence. She just knows that there’s a line now, and understands that it isn’t okay to allow people to cross it the way she once upon a time would. This set her in good stead for the time when college came around, and Penny was ready to move out of her family home.

The youngest of two girls, when her older sister decided to pursue a medical path just like their parents, Penny felt the pressure all over again. She never let it show, though, and was of course incredibly proud of her sister, but felt she had those big shoes to fill herself. Unfortunately, while Penny is definitely not “dumb” by any means, she does lack common sense sometimes, and she finds it difficult to focus on anything too serious for too long, so such a serious profession just would not have suited her. So, with the encouragement of her family, Penny decided to pursue her musical path, attending college to work her way toward a life as a music teacher, the way she was evidently always destined. Nobody in her family ever made her feel less than, though Penny would doubt herself from time to time. However, she loved college, she was passionate about her future career, so she gave it her all, and excelled to the best of her abilities.

Right out of college, Penny found herself a job working in the local elementary school, teaching music to grades one through five, and everything seemed to just kind of click for her. It was almost as if she had the perfect life, though nobody actually gets one of those, and when a raincloud finally found its way over the Owen family, it was almost as if they should’ve expected it. They didn’t, though. As far as they knew, Dr. Owen was healthy, full of life. So, an unsuspected heart attack knocked the rest of the family off their feet, and the world lost an incredible medical professional that day. Penny was often told to look for the silver lining, though she couldn’t see one, not in losing someone so incredibly important to her. Not until she decided that maybe it had been a sign, though. Maybe the world had lost her father, but he had a daughter who could perhaps take his place.

No, Penny was never going to become a brain surgeon. That would be a very out of reach dream, and honestly not one that she even wanted to attempt to chase. She did, however, make the decision to start over, to get out of Charlotte and to try to follow in the greatest footsteps she knew. Penny enrolled in college again at the age of twenty-four, this time in New York City, of all places – being in her hometown was just too hard, filled with too many memories to keep her up at night – this time navigating her way toward nursing school. She had the caring nature down, the drive to really take care of people and to really put her all into it an area so sensitive. The type of person to make friends easily enough, Penny found a whole new life out in the city, but is definitely a North Carolina girl at heart, and will visit home whenever she has the free time to do so.

Coming from a background of wealth, it would’ve been easy for her to allow her mother to pay her through school, but Penny is not the kind of person who can sit around doing nothing. She never has been, and even more so since losing her father. She needs distractions, she needs to constantly be moving, so alongside her schooling, Penny took a job as a part-time nanny, her passion for working with and helping children something she just couldn’t put to waste. At the age of twenty-seven, Penny is very much settled in New York, where she’s still an ongoing nursing student, still a nanny, and still trying to fill the big shoes left behind by her father. However, it’s fair to say that she really is not the best at what she does. She struggles with the more professional side of her future career, and has made a whole list of mistakes too long to actually name, but she’s trying her best, she’s giving it her all. And that’s really all anybody can ask of her.

Pets: So as not to be alone when she moved out to New York, Penny immediately hit up the local shelter and adopted herself a dog. Knowing she wouldn’t have the time to train a puppy, Penny opted for a five year old cross-breed (she doesn’t know exactly what she even is, just that she’s tiny and white) named Stella, a name she chose to keep. Stella is now eight and basically very spoiled. She loves to hop up on anybody’s lap that will let her and snooze, and is a total princess in that she wants to be carried everywhere. She generally keeps her distance from other animals, mostly because she just prefers to be around people, but she gets along with them fine.

Relationships: April’s Growers Committee Member / Roommate for Evie & Lara

Rachel Berry. Pretty recently, after Rachel split from her now ex-girlfriend, a mutual friend of she and Penny decided to set them up on a blind date. Penny had been off the dating scene for a while, and Rachel was of course down about her relationship ending. Although they went on the date and they got along in a platonic sense, there was no real romantic/sexual chemistry. They did each make a good friend out of it, though.

Lola Alvarez. To help along her schooling, Penny sometimes volunteers at a local center for traumatic brain injuries, somewhere Lola’s mother stays. The two would see each other in passing, but didn’t really know one another very well, though they both ended up joining the Growers committee, and could eventually put a name to the face. Lola told Penny what’d happened to her mother, so now Penny will make a point of mentioning her anytime she’s around Mimi to try and jog her memory of her a little bit, and gives Lola frequent updates. Now that they’re actually friends, they’ll hang out together at the center whenever Penny is on shift.

Sam Evans. Around three years ago, when Penny first moved to the city, she decided to try putting up a front so as to not find herself walked all over for her genuine niceness. She met Sam pretty much right away, and was still holding up her “tough” facade, so Sam pretended to be into the same metal music and tattoos/piercings kind of scene that Penny was pretending to like. They went on a date to a screamo music concert, but both wound up admitting halfway through that they hated it, and came clean with one another. They dated for 3-4 months following that, but split amicably when they found themselves too busy to commit to regular date nights. They have remained friends since.

EXTRA INFO

[ This is for the masterlist, but also a fun little way to get to know your character! ]

Penny 🌻/@penowen/description: NC ✈️ NYC. Music lover. Student nurse.

Five latest tweets:

@penowen: I don’t really understand how injecting a sausage helps… An actual patient isn’t going to fall apart, right?! @penowen: New York is so fun, you never know what you’re going to get. One block there’s a whole street fight going on, and the next there’s a lady giving away free flowers 💐 @penowen: I’ve been kind of lost ever since I finished The Hunger Games, no other book series has ever really done it for me. Suggestions? @penowen: Do you ever think maybe you’re a witch and you just don’t know it? … Oh, no, me either… @penowen: Karaoke night? My time to shine 🎤✨

#accepted

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