#HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEM <3

[sugaroto]

Wow

The creator of one of my favorite comics wished me happy birthday 🥲😭💘

[wikitpowers]

thinking about how tessa and jem will throw kit the coolest 18th birthday party in town; balloons everywhere, a huge cake with bi colours and oh! hats! they will definitely have birthday hats! and they’ll hire simon and his band to play all his fav songs, put up a bouncy castle in the garden bc they know that despite being of age, kit will love it (he’s a kid at heart) and they for sure will scream the happy birthday song with mina the loudest while kit covers his face, blushing with embarrassment (but he secretly loves it so so much) <3

[starlight-in-my-eyes]

Our hearts, they need a mirror, Tessa. We see our better selves in the eyes of those who love us.

Happy Birthday Jem Carstairs <3

[anjelliclechoir]

happy birthday to jemima <3 (atleast my birthday hc for her). i wanted to post something for her today, considering she’s my favorite, so here are some of my favorite jemima/sillabub designs!

first, the london design. it’s the most known and fits my girl the best <3 i love the red details sm (especially bc it makes her look like bombas kitten) and it’s just so nice visually.

next, gothernburg jemima. im not a big fan of nonreps, but i think gothenburg jem is adorable. this is kinda funny to say about CATS the musical, but she kinda reminds me of a puppy in gothenburg.

finishing off with a sillabub, I adore hamburg sillabub <3. her makeup especially is adorable, and she’s become the picture in my mind for when i think of sillabub.

[jules-has-notes]

Aca Top 10: 80s Cartoon Themes — VoicePlay music video

The VoicePlay boys might technically be grown-ups, but they'll always be big kids at heart. So for their first "Aca Top 10" countdown of the year, they decided to revisit the joy of Saturday mornings spent in front of the TV with bowls of sugary cereal. Everybody sing along!

Details:

title: Aca Top 10 — 80s Cartoon Themes

original songs / performers: "La La Song" by the cast of The Smurfs (1981); [0:18] Inspector Gadget (1983) theme song; [0:35] Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) theme by Chuck Lorre; [0:57] Scooby-Doo theme by Larry Marks; [1:16] G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (1983) theme; [1:36] Adventures of the Gummi Bears (1985) theme by Joseph Williams; [2:03] Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (1989) theme by Jeff Pescetto; [2:24] My Little Pony (1986) theme; [2:34] "JEM – Truly, Truly, Truly Outrageous" by the singing cast of Jem and the Holograms (1985); [2:55] The Transformers (1984) theme; [3:14] "DuckTales" by Jeff Pescetto for DuckTales (1987)

written by: "La La Song" by Hoyt Curtin; Inspector Gadget theme by Shuki Levy & Haim Saban; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme by Dennis C. Brown & Chuck Lorre; Scooby-Doo (1969) theme by David Mook & Ben Raleigh; The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries (1984) theme by Hoyt Curtin; G.I. Joe theme by Ford Kinder & Spencer Michlin; Adventures of the Gummi Bears theme by Michael & Patty Silversher; Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers theme by Mark Mueller; My Little Pony theme by Ford Klinder, Anne Bryant, & Barry Harman; "JEM – Truly, Truly, Truly Outrageous" by Barry Harman; The Transformers theme by Ford Kinder & Anne Bryant; "DuckTales" by Mark Mueller

arranged by: VoicePlay

release date: 30 March 2018

My favorite bits:

kicking things off with an extra dramatic fanfare

Layne's incredible ratchet sound and miming for the safe's lock dial in the Inspector Gadget theme

Earl giving an excellent Dr. Claw impression

the couch trio doing enthusiastic karate chops at the air 🥷 🐢

J.None taking over the bass line while Geoff sings lead

Layne making the pew-pew noises of the G.I. Joe lasers

Eli, Earl, and J delighting in how springy the couch cushions are at the start of the Gummi Bears theme

Layne and J crooning ♫ "my little brony" ♫ at Geoff while he scowls until he can't resist smiling anymore 🐎

Earl half-heartedly protesting at Eli and J singing the Misfits' part of the Jem! theme whlie he's wearing their signature colors / print

all the electronic-sounding elements they added to the Transformers theme

♫ "here in… Duckburg" ♫ ::quack:: 🦆

Gotta get in a bell chord somewhere, and that's a very good spot.

finishing on a joyful ♫ "Woo-ooo!" ♫

Eli quietly playing with a Transformer and Earl's enthusiastic "Cowabunga, dude!" in the outro

Trivia:

○ This was the first full-length video released on VoicePlay's YouTube channel in 2018. They started the year with a short video of "Happy Birthday", in between two collaborations they had recorded the previous fall that are on other channels — "Waving Through a Window" with Kurth Hugo Schneider, and "Look What You Made Me Do" with pocket.watch.

○ According to their replies to some YouTube comments, there was quite a debate about which songs to include or not, and "Thunder Cats was about a 2 hour argument. Shoes were thrown." 😆

○ Despite being very recognizable as The Smurfs theme, the version of the "La La Song" with lyrics was only used for the show's opening credits during season 2 in the U.S. However, an instrumental version was used for the closing credits from then on.

○ At least one of the guys came by his martial arts moves honestly. Eli studied karate from age six until he was sixteen.

○ For the Scooby-Doo theme, VoicePlay combined the original 1969 song from Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? (which was still airing in reruns) with some jazzier elements from the 1984 New Scooby Doo Mysteries opening.

○ The silliness in the YouTube description for this one is another misheard lyric — "JIM is truly outrageous / Truly Truly Truly outrageous / Woh oh oh JIM - JIM!!!" // "That's such a weird song. Who the heck is Jim anyway..?"

○ The guys' shirts reflect some of their childhood favorites:

Eli — Scrooge McDuck from DuckTales half-buried in the gold pile in his money vault with the inscription "living the dream"

Earl — Ultimate Warrior (WWF / WWE) facepaint, sort of referencing Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling, though the show was cancelled before that character could appear; bonus charteuse zebra-print leggings for The Misfits from Jem! and the Holograms

J.None — face masks of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (which aired into the mid-90s for the younger guy)

Geoff — Autobot mask symbol from The Transformers

Layne — Rainbow Dash from My Little Pony (a slight cheat with a character from the 2010s series, but probably inspired by one or more of his daughters). I cannot for the life of me figure out where that specific design came from, but I found a couple close-ish approximations.

○ Layne posted some videos of both the final rehearsal and cleanup process on his Instagram.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Layne Stein (@laynestein)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Layne Stein (@laynestein)

Those light diffusers can be a handful.

[wistrea]

kicks your door in (i will repair it later but i am no handyman ✋)HAPPY (BELATED) BIRTHDAY ARIAAAAAA!! I HOPE YOU HAD A LOVELY DAY!! here to another year that i hope will be filled with only good things and more. you say give kira a smooch for your birthday WELL WHAT IF I GIVE /YOU/ A SMOOCH?? HMM?? WHAT THEN?? so here i am giving you a big smooch rn!! mwah!! 💖

AAAAAA JEM LOVE OF MY LIFE!! this made me smile so much, i adore you! i'm giving u the biggest smooch in return 😳💕 manifesting that you have the best year! talking to you definitely made my year so much better <3

[starfishhua]

整理

看了過去與他交往前的notes,在我們正式在一起以前我就開始這麼用心的珍惜及經營我們的關係,我真的沒有後悔任何一刻與你在一起的時光,因為每個當下我都很認真的與你相處認識你珍惜你

4/12/17

Chatting deeply this time. Talk about serious in person or text. He said he is trying hard to be less serious and more smiles. He said he will smile for me :) He said he does not trust people easily in order not to get hurt or upset. I told him that I was a little angry that he did not make sure time with me last time and he will make up for me😆

4/13/17

We went to paint nite. I was really expecting this but I felt upset because I did not understand the jokes in the paint nite which made me feel there is a gap between he and I. I tried to talk with him more but no becaue of language barrier... In addition, my Eiffel Tower looked like rocket...😞 I also felt bad that I refused to his suggestion that we trade the paintings of each other's.

4/14-15/17

He invited me to John Legend's concert on 5/27. He also created a song lists for me.

4/16/17

I told him that I had a blue Monday and he sang a song for me. I did not expect that he would sing "你好不好". It was very touchy and I felt happy with his romantic voice. He said he will sing for me all the time!! We chatted deeply again. He asked me about my deepest fear. He does not get angry easily but upset. We told about my feeling in paint nite and he used the study of bilingual people will change personality in different language which really explains the things I feel these years.

4/17-21/17

On going chatting. We talk about go running, hiking, cooking, watching movies together... We set up the movie marathon. I sent him a first heart icon but in yellow 💛 on 4/20/17. Then I got ❣️ back again.

4/1/17

He had not texted me for a while... I was still wondering if we will have a dinner the other day. Then I texted him but not got his message for a while. I felt bad that I think at least you have to tell me not meeting tomorrow. Hence, when he replied to me, I just told him that I would not go because of sickness. Happy Fool Day! It was his first time calling me dear in the message. I did not feel too much because I was a little bit not happy about not telling me the plan tomorrow. He was having a big birthday day party so was so busy with hosting that day...

4/2/17

We went to Chinese restaurant. I prepared a cake for him and he was happy that that was his first birthday cake, lol. I started feeling good with him. I asked him to sing to me many times so he eventually sang one in the parking lot which is little happiness 小幸運. He was cute that he sang into it and was luder and louder. He still cared about if others noticing him. We had a American friendship hug from the front (first time). It was cute that he opened both of his arms to ask for hug, lol. I always felt bervous when we finished meeting. Not sure what to do, lol. I actually noticed that he changed his profile picture on his facebook to the picture I took for him. :)

4/3/17

He invited me for bay to breaker. He even said he could run with me for terrain(5/20/17) and bay to breaker(5/21/17). I kinda like he is trying hard to join my life. I also told him that we can jem together once I practice my piano hard.

4/5/17

I showed him that I did eggs dyeing with my students. He showed me that he bought goldfish and the tank. He invited me to paint nite. I was so happy about that because I am looking for someone to accompany with me for that. I like he used "us" when he said he would do one for us.

4/6-11/17

On going chatting. He went to Tahoe and improved of his skill on snowboarding. He booked one paint nite for us. He was providing very professional suggestions of my allergies, rash on my face. He called me a dear again and told me that it means sweet person or important person. I was saying thank you for thinking that I am a sweet person. Although I hope he thinks I am an important person, I think girls might need to bit a little passive, lol. When I was boarding and heading to San Jose. I called him a dear too. I said he is a dear too and not just a sweet person though 🙃. When I arrived, he sent thank you and ❣️to me. It is the first heart icon I got from him.

4/21-23/17

Went to Seattle. He did not text me for whole day even I came back from Seattle 😭😭. Although he said that he had whole day meeting with friends, I still felt upset about that.

4/24/17

Let him know that I felt upset when he did not text back! Thank you, Hopkins, he texted me back frequently and said he will fight my ghost and let me now worry about it. He shared his blog with me. He said he is seldom truely happy! I want to make hime happy!!!

4/25/17

His definition of true love: a little bit of sincerity a little bit of fate and a little bit of magic. Continuing chatting and set up our looong day! He recored the whole song of 你好不好 to me but I like previous one better. He felt his gf dumped him. Poor guy... I told him about angel rule, trust, people do not hurt others intentionally but because of love,,, He said I am awesome >///<

4/26-28/17

Continuing chatting... He asked about a trip in memorial holidays. We decided to go to Chicago.

4/29/17

We went out whole day, hiking, ramen, Logan, going away party for Geoffrey. And, we bought our Chicago tockets!!! He wiped my car windows and inside for me, gave me three specal towels. I leaned on him in the end of the movie and karaoke time. I like he placed his hand on my head and leaned back his head. He was a little jealous with Geoffrey and tried to reset his role and had great chatting with my friends. Thank you for using Mandarin that much. It is touchy when he said that he learned Mandarin and slept late in order to chat with me💛. Like he put his hand on my shoulder when we walked back to the his car.

4/30/17

We said we are exclusive dating 💛❣️

Bf/gf: understanding others need. Being more as a single couple rather than 2 persons

5/1/17

I was struggling in first speech topic. He said he would drive down and support me! Make me know what topic I want- 幸福！Thank you for letting me rehearse my welfare and happines life! Sent him a music 幸福就是

5/2/17

Hopkins came to support my speech in toastmasters! When we had a dinner together, he said that he made a list for us to do in the following time. He said he will give me a tiny cake with a huge fork and a huge pink balloon with a tiny string which I can only pinch it!! I sang A-Lin p.s.我愛你 to him.💛 He gave me my glases that he fixed whole night and this morning for me❣️He is cute when I said I will find others to go with me to the club and then he decides to come with me then ;)

5/3-4/17

We talked deeply about relationship and exclusive boundaries. I felt a little upset because it made me feel like he wanted the relationship is based on marriage... I do not know I can think about marriage now... He is a very nice person who makes me think a lot about good things that ex treated me. Thanks god to give me another chance to catch this man and thanks ex to make me become a person Hopkins likes.

5/5/17

We walked around San Mateo (first time to be there). We hanged out in Draeger first. He put his hand on my shoulder first and then held my arm and then we held hands. I was very nervous but happy 😊. We walked around and then we went to Philz cafe. Mint coffee is good better than the ginger one he likes, lol. We sat together and planned out Chicago trip. Enjoy he hugged me and time we spent together. We chatted a lot in his car. He smelled my hair at first which made me nervous because it was smelly😞😞. Then I smelled his neck back... then oops, that was very close, I felt his face was very close to me. We turned a little bit to each other. His lip touched the corner of my mouth and then we kissed🙈🙈🙊🙊. We chatted about our ex. I thanked for them so we met each other in the right time so luckily!! We found out we started being interested in each other in 4th time we met- his birthday dinner. He felt I am a thoughtful person who brought him a cake. I like he sang to me. He said he really likes me and felt I am very attractive when I told him about others love. He thanked for me to wait him for being slow and I thanked for him to try to understand me even if language barriers! Like you although it seems like we are still in exclusive dating!! 💛❣️

5/7/17 we went running trianing in central park, Fremont. He tried hard to keep up my speed. We had lunch with Emily and Johnny. Thank you him for accompanying with my friends and getting along well with them. Poor baby got super allergic of pollens. We planed our Chicago trip at my place. Let my dear sleep to reduce allergies and we did 色色的事。First time kissing my top>///< 

5/12/17 san jose downtown with my dear... He made a pasta risotto for me but his co-worker mistook and had it 😭.  Wechatted a lot and talked about my life in usa and I almost cried. We did something 色色的in parking lot (touch her >///<)

5/13/17 I brought flowers to mama Poon because of coming up Mother's Day. It was my first time meeting Hopkins' parents. She is cute. He brought me to look around his past schools including elementary and middle schools. He said I am a delinquent, lol. He shared with me his past!! We went to buy coffee ate the store he used to study. We had our dinner and I really liked 蛤蜊義大利麵. We did 色色的when we came back... we both did first time os >///<. My first time overnight and he came out with me for buying my contacts.

5/18/2017 I made a lunch box to my dear. He made a soup to me. I was too uncomfortable so we went to the porridge. 

5/19-20/2017 We went to SF to pick up racing stuff. His first time in pier 39. We walked around and and had dinner at apple bee. I was very happy that I heard he gave poor people food and borrowed them money! He kidnapped me. It was funny and cute that his condoms were all expired and he even did not use one of them. He went out and had one. First sex and he did not …hmm, lol

5/21/2017 We went to bay to breaker. I was happy to run with him. But I hope I could get more private time with him... really like him.

5/26-29/2017 We had a trip in Chicago. We had an airport emergency, lol. I forgot to bring my ID before we headed to SF airport. We went to wrong airport because of my fault when we came back from Chicago. We shared our past. I told him about my fault and then he became scary analytical mode... Eventually he still said he would do all in and asked me to be his gf and gave me a necklace. 5/29 or memorial day is our anniversary. 

06/02-04/2017 cooking for dear's family. First time cooking together. Meet his sister and brother in law. BBQ trip in Monterey with friends and aquarium 

06/06/2017 slept with dear but we both needed to work the other day🙄. Super tired but sweet. Love my dear sang for me to wake me up色色的小海星

06/09/2017 我讓寶貝生氣很多沒禮貌的driver.寶貝一直抽氣

06/10/2017 我讓寶貝不高興因為無辜司機。寶貝被我逼到不只yell還一直打自己巴掌嗚嗚，其實那天看著你的紅眼睛我好想哭⋯⋯寶貝我好想保護你

寶貝的小鎖被打開了覺得我們更近了

我也哭了因為好無辜然後寶貝完全懂我的心以及委屈讓我大哭

[jemfanzine]

We are so thrilled to be able to finally invite everyone to Jem's surprise birthday party! All the way back in August, 24 artists came together to work on this Jem 35th Anniversary Collab to celebrate our beloved series. Each artist created their own unique take on a single character in order to create a beautiful illustration filled to the brim with creativity and love for the franchise that began so many years ago.

To Christy Marx for starting it all, to the voice actors and singers that made the characters who they were, to the musicians that gave Jem and her friends her voice, to the writers that gave us many adventures, to the cast and crew behind the comic and the movie for introducing new people to the series and to you, the fans who kept the spirit of Jem alive even after all this time...thank you.

From the bottom of my heart, and from every fan who dedicated their time and talent to this celebration, we want to wish a truly, truly, TRULY outrageous 35th birthday to Jem. Here's to 35 more.

(ARTIST CREDITS + FULL VIEW UNDER CUT)

✨ HOLOGRAMS

Jem: Rae

Kimber: Sarina Sherzai

Aja: Leo

Shana: Jhenne Tyler

Raya: Caitlin Pafford

Synergy: Little Rinn

🎸 MISFITS

Pizzazz: Wes

Roxy: Doom

Stormer: Jett

Jetta: Alice Fiddle

Blaze: Chibi Michaela

🐝 STINGERS

Riot: Dorian

Minx: Jacob Cross

Rapture: Shelia G.

🎤 FRIENDS OF...

Rio: Becky

Danse: Lynndy Lee

Video: Erika

Regine: Emma Kate Ramsey

Astral: Sugar Spankhorn

Eric: Sidney Flavell

Techrat: Saishii

Clash: Teddy

Graphix: Kacey Gambrell

🎨 BACKGROUND & EDITING: Eli

ILLUSTRATION FULL VIEW

[artistformerlyknown]

Happy WIP Wednesday! Heads up, I'll be on vacation next week so I won't be sending one next week! But for this week, let's talk about things shelved and abandoned. If you've got a WIP you've put away, tell me about it. What's got you stuck on it? Where do you want the story to go but can't make it go? Is there a way to work around it? Basically, rant at me about a stuck wip. If you're not one to shelve anything, tell me about one of your WIPs that isn't going as well as you'd hoped. 💙💙💙

happy wip wednesday sunday! this is absolutely weeks late but i hope vacation was fun!! i have many, many, many shelved and abandoned wips because i am a fiend when it comes to writing, commitment hard, interests are fleeting, life shit, etc etc. i feel like it's probably appropriate to talk about the mess that is my blaseball Thing. i got like... 15k in and then never did any more? which sucks because wow, love that au very much, think about it constantly, have written various aus of the au, and it just never got finished? i think i got too caught up in other things and my plans were pretty ambitious so i overwhelmed myself. i hope i finish it some day because i had so much fun writing it and my friends enjoyed it but for now, chilling on the Bad Pile. sorry au, i still love you!!

[ser-briennne]

❝ whatever you are physically, male or female, strong or weak, ill or healthy—all those things matter less than what your heart contains. […] whatever the color, the shape, the design of the shade that conceals it, the flame inside the lamp remains the same. you are that flame. ❞ 

﹨﹨birthday gif(t) for @jesperwylan ! 

 ale, i wish you have a very nice, fun, and wonderful day ! i know we haven’t known each other for a very long time, but consider this as an invitation to talk to me whenever you feel like it. happy birthday, corazón !

[bookswitchcraftandcats]

Top 10 most likable TSC Characters

This is based on my opinions and what I have observed in fandom, let me know if you disagree with any of these. I’m starting at 10 and working toward the most likable TSC character. 

10.) Isabelle Lightwood: She has little to no character flaws and is accepting of everyone. She is brave and caring and represents strong female empowerment. Everyone likes Izzy and I have never seen a hate post for her. 

9.) Alastair Carstairs: I can not wait to see his character development in the final TLH book and see his arc completed. He is so interesting and has a great ship. He is one of the most popular characters from TLH. He has a fantastic redemption arc and is taking back some power in his life and I can’t wait to see what happens. Will wield Cortana. 10/10 character.

8.) Tavvy Blackthorn: If you do not like Tavvy something is wrong with you.  He is the baby of TSC and everyone loves him. 

7.) Max and Rafael: I put them tied because I don’t have a favorite of Malec’s children/ The fandom is very happy about their existence. If anything happens to them the fandom will be out for blood lol. 

6.) Mina Carstairs: Kit’s baby sister, adored by the fandom, heavily protected by the characters. No one hates her. 

5.) Kit Herondale: It’s Kit, he is angsty and the fandom is living for his whole arc of “I told a boy I loved him at age 12 and had to leave the country out of embarrassment when he didn’t say it back.” He is also a faerie which is super cool. I can not wait to see him as a fully developed character in TWP.

4.) Jem Carstairs: He almost didn’t make this list after the last SOBH post but I still put him here because he is Jem. Best advice and able to tame a wild Herondale. 

3.) Tessa Grey: It’s Tessa, best love interests and source of the best TSC quotes. Book nerd and there for relatable for most of the fandom. Tessa is wonderful and one of my favorite book characters of all time. 

2.) Alec Lightwood; Everyone loves Alec, he has has faults but he is so pivotal in the morals the series is trying to convey about acceptance that he has to be on this list. Malec is the OTP and no one can deny they are the most popular relationship in to fandom. 

1.) Magnus Bane: He is Magnus, everyone loves him, brings some comedic relief to the series as well as representing the issues in the TSC world. He is one of the most loved characters ever. He also threw a birthday party for his cat which is the only reason he is above Alec. 

[parcai]

happy birthday to jem carstairs! <3 planned to draw only jem, but even in art i could not bear to keep herongraystairs apart 😩

[shurisneakers]

harmless (xiv)

Summary: Bucky volunteers to go stop a small time villain, but nothing can prepare him for what exactly he has to deal with. (Bucky x villain!reader)

Warnings: cursing, frustrated bucky, dramatic reader, smidge of angst, mention of violence, sexists being annoying, obnoxious flirting, and feels lol

Word count: 9.6k (i dont even know what to say)

A/N: an apology before we start if this isn’t as good as other chapters or has a lot of mistakes, i wrote a lot of it on a fever induced haze :/ and that’s the end of chaos week! i managed to finish it! also happy birthday to @spiderrpcrker my love, this is for u. thank you @capwogers​ for helping me figure out the logistics ily jem mwah. and also the anon who suggested the ray that changes the taste of foods also!! harmless is going on a lil hiatus because i kinda need a break so i’ll see you guys again in 2-3 weeks. come say hi in the meanwhile i love talking to you <333

Previous Part  || Series Masterlist

Snickerdoodles and sheet masks.

That’s how Saturdays should be spent.

He’s in his favourite pair of sweatpants, a white t-shirt hugging his broad shoulders while a pomegranate scented mask cools his pores or something.

There’s a Dolly Parton playlist that they’re making their way through, a new chapter to explore in his reintegration. A cup of red wine only adds to the whole experience of lounging about the common room on Self-Care Saturdays.

“Werewolves or vampires?” Wanda asks, eyes hidden under cucumbers.

Bucky knew this question was coming the minute they finished Twilight, a movie series she had him swearing up and down that he’d watch with her since no one else had the patience for it. Clint did, but who voluntarily wanted to spend time around him.

“I don’t know.” He thinks it’s a testament to his strength and the power of friendship that he got through all five of them. “What d’you think?”

“Vampires.” She rolls her finger in the air in a loop. “Obviously.”

Fair enough.

“Werewolves,” he tests.

“Yeah, I could see that. You look like a werewolf guy.”

He assumes the self-isolation he imposes on himself has something to do with it. Maybe the broodiness too. Hell, maybe it’s the number of times he’s been caught walking around the Tower shirtless at 3am looking for a sandwich.

“Edward or Jacob?”

“Charlie and Rosalie,” he says without much thought.

“Right answer.” Wanda smiles, apples of her cheeks pushing the slices up her face.

She introduced him to the concept of a good skincare routine, a blessing and necessity considering the amount of damage sunburns have dealt him.

He repays her patience towards his questions about toners by baking the recipes she pins to her secret Pinterest board. Occasionally Sam or Nat join in when they see them lazing about with plates of peanut butter cookies and homemade hair masks, but most of the time it’s just a ritual that Wanda and he invest time into.

“Did Vision ever finish that sweater he was making?” The Android guy tried to partake in as many activities as Wanda picked up, his little way of expressing support.

“He did,” she says, removing the cucumbers from her eyes to look at Bucky, ”and then he made two more, a scarf, three pairs of gloves and a hat.”

“Y’all plannin’ a trip to Alaska sometime soon?”

“He got excited.” She breaks a cookie into a few pieces, a habit she picked up from a character of a sitcom she watched once. “It was sweet.”

Indeed it was. Bucky was happy for her.

“I could use it in Siberia on Monday,” she proposes as an afterthought.

“You’re gonna need a lot more than that.” He knows from experience about the harshness of its winters that made him forget the sun was ever a thing.

“I’m sure he can make a dozen sweaters by tonight,” she humours. “We can make you one too, if you’d like.”

“Maybe next time."

“You’re not coming?” She looks at him.

He shakes his head, careful to make sure the mask stays on.

“Oh.” She turns back again. “Good for you.”

He supposes so. It still itches at him, and he very nearly marched into Steve’s room every night for the past few weeks to tell him to put him back on the roster, but he didn’t.

Wanda’s already a couple of glasses of wine in. Bucky’s had some too, but it’s more so for the company. He couldn’t really get drunk on anything other than the liquor Thor sometimes brought around. Its taste always changed depending on whatever mood he was in, but its flavour was always a little too otherworldly to place a finger on. How else could he explain what cigarette smoke and strawberry ice cream mixed with a hint of etherealness felt like on his tongue?

Here You Come Again ends, To Know Him Is to Love Him begins. It’s a pretty heavy contrast between both the songs and he can only imagine the shift in Wanda’s questions that would soon follow. He had been through this before, he knew what was going to happen.

“Do you want to talk about the curse of immortality,” she asks, “or Oscar Isaac?”

Bucky raises an eyebrow, making sure it’s exaggerated enough that she can see it under the mask.

“He’s beautiful,” she contributes further.

He simply raises his glass in silent agreement, before downing the rest of its contents in one gulp and picking up another cookie.

He can discern three people singing in the song, but other than Dolly Parton, he can’t quite place the other two. He’d check them out later, if he remembered.

Wanda hums. “You know, I always thought there were two ways of looking at this song.”

He lifts an eye open, edging her to continue. He wasn’t paying too much attention to the lyrics, only catching the specific ones that were repeated throughout the song. It just so happened to be the name of the song, so that’s what he’s basing this conversation off of.

“The first is that meeting someone is all you need to love them.” She holds up a finger in count. “Which is nice, it’s cute, but the second one I like better.”

“What is it?” He chews slowly, considering the ramifications of increasing the cinnamon next time he makes this recipe.

“That you love someone if you really know them.” She breaks off another piece into her mouth. “That takes effort.”

His lips quirk downward in thought, mulling it over. God forbid he loves Sam just because he knew his favourite Austen novel or Starbucks order.

He could dwell on this later, Google the lyrics and see for himself.

He holds a cookie up. “Do you think these need more cinnamon?”

“I think they’re perfect.”

He doesn't really believe her, Shuri taught him that things could and should always be improved. Speaking of whom, it’d been a while since he had video called her. Last time she told him to stop holding the phone so goddamn close to his face, he pulled it closer on purpose.

“That what Vis and you have?” he enquires, “The second one?”

“I think so.” There’s a fondness in her tone when she talks about him.

That’s a nice thought.

It’s a bit more quiet from then on till the song ends, only Wanda’s soft singing breaking the bouts of silence.

Until his phone vibrates loudly on the table. It was eleven thirty at night, there was only one person on Earth who would be texting him at this hour and she was supposed to be occupied.

But alas.

From Y/N

Buck I know I told you I wasn’t going to kill anyone

From Y/N

But shit I think I actually might

His eyebrows quirk up in amusement.

From Bucky

aren’t you at the dance?

From Y/N

That got over a while ago, we’re cleaning up right now and I think I’m going to stab this guy with this spork I found on the ground

From Bucky

you’re at school. i’m not coming there

From Y/N

First of all, we’re not at school, we’re at that hall near the deli

From Y/N

Secondly, there’s basically no one here, coward. Show up and I’ll give you some spiked punch

From Bucky

is this your evil scheme for the weekend?

From Y/N

Does homicide count as an evil scheme?

From Bucky

be there in an hour

From Y/N

this man’s blood will flow through the streets at midnight

From Bucky

be there in thirty

“Gotta go.” He lets out a small grunt as he pushes himself off the couch.

“Out?” Wanda graces him with a peer through both her eyes.

“Yeah.” He peels off the facemask, folding it and placing it into the cover to discard. “You gonna be okay?”

“Yes,” she confirms. “Vis is going to find me soon, anyway.”

“I’ll let him know you’re here if I see him.” Bucky sends her a three finger wave. “See you around.”

“We’re doing mimosas next time,” she pipes up, breaking another cookie in half. “Also, tell Y/N I said hi.”

He breathes out a small laugh, turning on his heel to walk out.

HIs bedroom is meticulously tidy. Given that every time he almost stormed into Steve’s room was controlled by a spur-of-the-moment micro cleaning session, he could basically see his face on his floor.

A quick shower later, he steps out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist and the upcoming frustration of deciding what to wear. He knows that other teachers are going to be there and it’s a slightly more formal evening, so his safest bet was a button up shirt.

He pulls open the drawer, actions faltering when he comes face to face with it.

The box is there, tucked away with formal shirts he barely has the opportunity to use. The box, the one you gave him months ago.

He runs through the same old debates in his head, his stare remaining on it for longer than usual. He forgot that was there, given that the last time he wanted to try it on he got only one chip on him before hurriedly putting it back. It wasn’t that he wasn’t ready… he just wasn’t ready.

Just do it, man.

He opens the box slowly, eyes falling on the small squares that rested on the cushion.

Now’s as good a time as ever. He blames it on the sugar rush in his system that’s there just long enough to give him a little more courage than usual before it metabolised. Do it quick and fast, the bandaid way of dealing with things.

He gingerly places on his collarbone, hesitating for a second at the second one.

What do you have to lose, Barnes?

Not much. But he had everything to gain, and that was only a slightly more terrifying thought.

Nevertheless, he winces before letting the second square drop onto his bicep, inhaling sharply when it attaches itself like a magnet.

He waits.

Nothing.

He feels nothing.

Bucky curls his arm hoping that it would initiate some sort of wake up mode. When no shift occurs, he lets it fall back to his side.

He sighs, staring at its reflection in the mirror. Perhaps it needed a few minutes to charge up, like solar energy or something.

Or perhaps it just wasn’t meant to be.

Either way, he doesn’t have time to sit and work on this. He slips on a white button up over it, the first one he gets his hands on. His skin looks amazing, a combined effect of all the sleep he was getting and his new sunscreen. His hair is slightly slicked back, towel dried from the shower.

He looks at himself again, eyes following the path from his clavicle to his bicep.

Another notification from you saying that you were going to kick the ladder the man was standing on and he hurriedly turns off all the lights before grabbing his helmet.

He elects to take his bike. An afternoon of teleporting back and forth to fuck with Steve’s laundry had the battery of the watch entirely drained, giving him no choice but to leave it behind to charge.

The hall opposite the deli is a common spot for schools to use for dances and other seminars. He leaves his ride at the parking space around the back. There's another motorcycle parked there, and just one glance at it proves that it is undeniably cooler than his. Whatever, at least his has a cool scratch from the time he almost skid into a pole.

There’s a blue carpet running from the entrance through the corridor. He follows the trail of blue landscape spotlights and occasional balloons down the hall and to the right, ending up at a push door. It opens up to a fairly large room.

Unlike the pathway outside lit up in blue, the coloured lights are off inside the hall, instead leaving the whole place lit up like a school gymnasium. Lots of cloth draped over the walls, snowflake cutouts, fairy lights- the place actually looks pretty.

There are several round tables on one side of the room, chairs lining the circumference. There’s a pile of boxes in the centre, labelled with the names of different decorations.

“Bucky, hi.” His eyes snap up to meet yours.

“Hi.”

You look a little too excited to see him, setting down a box, dusting your hands off as you skip over, “You came.”

“Yeah, ‘course.” He lets the door shut behind him, it closes with a soft click.

“You look good.” If this bastard showed up like this every weekend to stop you, there would be some hope left for humanity. “Like, really good.”

“Thanks.” His face eases into a half-smile. “You, uh, look real good too.”

You’re a little more dressed up than usual. It’s a change from the usual costumes and occasional pajamas but he’s not complaining.

“Thanks.” It would be wise to stop staring at the smile on his face but you never really considered wisdom an important facet of someone’s personality. “I mean, it’s no Ninja Turtle costume but…”

“I like it,” he all but blurts out. He wants to think he's more dignified than that.

He clears his throat after a beat of silence, breaking eye contact with you to assess the place. “You guys still cleaning up?”

“Yeah, someone’s got the hall booked for tomorrow so we gotta take it all down tonight. It’s mostly just T and I.” A search for the gym teacher whose self-announced break had started almost thirty minutes ago and the music teacher who vanished without a trace was unsuccessful. “And Jeff.”

You inclined your head in his general direction, already finding him staring at you.

“Fuckin’ Jeff?” Annoying, homemade volcano Jeff?

“Fuckin’ Jeff,” you confirm, sending the man in question a fake laugh when he waves at you with a smirk from over at the food counter. “Asshole’s been annoying this whole evening.”

“What’d he do?” Bucky gives him a nod in acknowledgement when he catches his eye.

“What hasn’t he done?” you jeer, your smile dropping the minute Jeff reciprocates it. “Have half a mind to strangle him with that cord over there.”

“Stabbing wasn’t enough?”

“Not nearly.” Your eyes narrow, shooting daggers at his figure as he slowly saunters a step towards the table. “You know, you should go over there and threaten him.”

“I’m not doing that.”

Jeff raises a bottle of water in cheers to you, ignoring Bucky’s presence altogether. A bold man, confident. Undeserved, but still.

“Actually, that’s a great idea,” you say outloud to yourself. “That outta knock some sense into him. Let’s go, sarge, get that sexy murder glare on.”

“He’s not done anything.” Bucky was bound by rules, both professional and moral.

“Coward.” There’s a pile of bags near the entrance, one he recognises as yours and confirmed when you walk over to pick up.

“I'm not going to get into a fistfight, if that’s what you’re looking for.”

“Of course not. You’d win in like, 5 seconds. There’s no fun in that.” You shuffle through the contents of your bag. “Okay, watch this.”

You wait until Jeff raises the bottle to his lips again, ready to take a long gulp, which, in his mind, looks mighty seductive.

There’s a small ‘pew’- not from the device itself but from you providing the sound effect- and Jeff instantly spits the water back, hand clawing at his mouth furiously.

“What did you do?” He watches you discreetly shove something back into your bag and zip it close.

“Poisoned him,” you say nonchalantly.

“Great.” He watches the man cough. “Now what did you actually do?”

“Taste changer inator.” Your eyes gleam. “He just learnt what it’d be like to drink petrol.”

“For Christ’s sake,” Bucky murmurs, “Why’d you bring an inator to a high school dance?”

“For him.” You watch him leave the water bottle on the table where he picked it up from. Disgusting. “It’s not like he actually drank petrol. Maybe I should do that next time.”

“You know the drill.” Bucky looks at you, arm outstretched. “Hand it over.”

“Still think it was worth it.” The delight on your face doesn’t cease as you open your bag again.

“What else you got in there?” Best to get rid of any more potentially dangerous inventions before the evening progresses.

“My phone, earphones, bandaids, safety pins, pain relievers, stuff like that for any fashion disasters.” You give him the tiny ray gun before zipping it closed.

He holds it up to inspect it and you hiss at him, yanking his sleeve to keep the gun down before Jeff sees. It’d be difficult to, considering that he was a fair distance away from you but you didn’t want to take any chances.

Bucky stares at you. You stare right back, arms crossed over your chest.

“I don’t have more inators, if that’s what you’re implying.”

He only raises a single eyebrow sceptically. You don’t back down, holding his glare pretty evenly.

The only other sound in the background is the distant popping of balloons and ripping down of decorations taped to the wall but he tunes them out.

Neither of you moves. He could almost hear you brea-

"Are we gonna kiss or what?"

He blinks, recoiling slightly.

"Ha," you say smugly, pulling back in victory. "I win."

"Pathetic." He shoves the gadget into his pocket to get rid of later. By getting rid off, he means keep it in the shelf dedicated to the rest of the stuff he’s managed to pick up over the course of several months.

"All's fair in love." You pat his arm.

"And war,” he adds an important part conveniently missing from your statement.

"God, at least buy me dinner first."

He rolls his eyes.

Maybe he fuckin’ woul-

“Y/N,” someone calling out to you has both of you turning at the same time. “You were supposed to bring that stupid ladder over ten minutes ago.”

“T! C’mere, I want you to meet someone.” You nudge him to turn around, the last conversation seemingly forgotten. “This is Bucky. Bucky, this is T.”

She has long, dark hair, a couple of ear piercings, and an all-black fit to match. He had no idea how she was working with heels that high on.

“Hold on.” The click of her boots comes to a halt as she stops in her tracks. “This is who you’ve been hanging out with?”

“Yes, we’re basically married.” You bump his shoulder with yours. “Didn’t you receive the invitation?”

Her face remains stoic. “When you said you invited someone who worked in security, I was thinking Paul Blart Mall Cop.”

“He does work in security.”

“Y/N, this is an Avenger.”

“That is security,” you specify further when she doesn’t budge, “World security.”

Bucky looks between the both of you awkwardly. Technically you weren’t wrong.

“Shuor er bachha,” she curses under her breath before putting on a cool smile. “Hey.”

Bucky snickers at the insult, leaving you to glare at him. He makes it a point to ignore you.

“Hey.” He holds his hand out for a shake. “I’m Bucky.”

“Nice to meet you, call me T.” She reciprocates, gripping his hand firmly before looking at you with thinly veiled annoyance. “Can you come help? It’s twelve and I hate that I’m not as drunk as I should be.”

“You can always drink the punch.” You point to where Jeff was still working at a snail’s pace. You had done half his work for him to get him to go home, but clearly he intended to hang around way longer.

“And be within 5 feet of that creep? Fuck no, unless he’s looking for another concussion.” She only spares him a glance for a second before turning back to you. “Look, I don’t really care what you’re up to but just stack the chairs while you’re at it. I’ll take the decorations out front.”

“You sure you don’t want help?” you inquire and she gives you a quick shake of her head. Fiercely independent as always.

You watch as she pushes the doors open, not before raising her hand high and flipping Jeff the middle finger in the process for no apparent reason.

“You-” you poke Bucky’s chest. You were a little shocked he understood the insult given that your friend’s favourite pastime was to insult people to their faces in a language they didn’t get, let alone have heard of. “Since when do you know Bangla?”

“T’was pretty similar to Hindi.” Some things were just universal. Like insults.

“Of course you speak Hindi,” you mumble. To be fair, he knew over thirty languages. It helped in his old line of work to be able to blend in.

“She’s cool.” He figured that the motorcycle parked out front is probably hers.

“You passed her first impression test and I didn’t.” You’re still talking to yourself. “How is that possible?”

“Test?”

“She thought I was lame for two years,” you exclaim, “Do you know how hard it is to get in her books, not even counting her good books?”

“You’re still lame.” That’s the only thing he picks up from that entire rant.

“Yeah, but she’s accepted it now,” you brush it off, “but you- you just waltz in here with your multilingualism and helmet hair and do it within three minutes. I hate you.”

“Feeling's mutual.”

“Whatever,” you huff, arms crossed over your chest. “You think Steve would be able to handle her?”

“Steve?” Bucky can’t help but laugh. “Our Steve?”

“She’s all mysterious and cool, teaches biology and does bungee jumping.” The way you talk about her with a wonder-filled voice has him realising you were completely serious. “Steve is… Steve. Good ol’ Brooklyn boy, bungee jumping but without the safety harness.”

“This is who you were talking about last time?” He distinctly remembers when you said Steve would need good luck. “You’re gonna set him with T?”

“I thought it’d be cute.” You grin, beckoning him to follow you towards the tables, dropping your bag close to them. “Opposites attract and all that.”

“I guess,” he ventures. Steve was doing more miserably than Bucky in terms of dates. A change of pace would do him good, drag him out of his incessant need to work.

“I’ll text you her number.” You tug the tablecloth off, folding it and dropping it into a box. “Look at us, matchmaking buddies.”

“You’re the one doing this, not me,” he opposes, electing to lift up the chairs and place them on top of each other. “If this goes downhill I’m taking no responsibility.”

“Nonsense, we’re married so it’s a joint liability.” You work in the direction opposite to him, placing chairs on top of each other until he meets you in the middle to combine your stack and his.

“Didn’t know we were married in the first place.” At least that was one of his life goals crossed off the list.

“Figured I should shoot for the moon.” The grin from earlier doesn’t fade. “That way I warm you up to the idea of dating me if it doesn’t work.”

“Strong gameplan.” He wonders if the Feel Squares would charge up with a certain amount of work. They were still securely attached to his shoulder, not showing any signs of slipping off.

“You don’t have to help, y’know.” You finish folding another tablecloth, picking up discarded wrappers to throw into the trash. “I just called you to hang out.”

“For the record, I’m here to stop you from murdering that man.” Chair stacking isn’t that much work. He could even skip arm day tomorrow. “This is a part of that.”

“Pulling balloons off the wall but within official capacity only.” He and you both know he’s bluffing but it’s fun to riff off of. “They teach you that at SHIELD?”

“Got a whole course on it and everythin’.”

There’s something almost domestic about the whole situation. It’s hard for him to trace it back to where exactly it started since it felt more like a gradual shift.

Maybe it was the day those months ago when he stayed over for class prep or maybe it was when you got pulled into Board Game Night by Sam when he finally invited you to vandalise the Tower. Two hours later, your plan of spray painting the logo was long discarded as you teamed up with Nat to wreck everyone in Pictionary.

“How far can you throw this and how good is your aim?” You hold a half empty water bottle out to him.

“Pretty okay.” He takes aim, chucking it at the trashcan left in the corner of the room. It sails by and goes in without a hitch.

“Nice.” You whistle, scouring for more empty bottles for him to throw.

“How’d the evening go?” He joins you in your quest, launching them as you found them.

“As you’d expect.” You hand him the last one you could see. “Had to pull a couple of them apart because of the grinding, but it went alright for the most part. It’s always fun to see them all dressed up and nervous.”

“Sounds exhausting.” It’s a little disappointing when he runs out of things to throw but it was fun while it lasted.

“It will be when it finally kicks in tomorrow,” you groan, hand on your hip. “Been on my feet for like, five hours now.”

He mentions towards the many tables. “Then you should sit. I can do the rest of ‘em.”

“I can’t ask you to do that.” You laugh, stopping when he doesn’t.

“Good thing you’re not askin’.” He picks up a chair. “Go sit.”

You stare at him. He stares back.

“Are you sure?” You bite your lip because on one hand, your feet were killing you but on the other, you felt guilty for dragging him into this. It wasn’t even his mess to clean up.

He drops the same chair in front of you instead of asking, raising an eyebrow expectantly.

“So bossy,” you mumble, taking your place. “Maybe if you-”

“Do not make a sex joke.”

You raise your hands guiltily. “Damn, I’ve become predictable.”

“That a bad thing?” He assesses his surroundings, doing a headcount and judgment of the seating placements.

“Gotta keep things interesting, Barnes.” You watch him figure out a pattern to minimise the amount of time it would take to stack chairs. “Or else you’re gonna get bored of me.”

“Doubt that’s possible when you show up in a beekeeper's outfit once a month.”

Your simple drops. “First of all, that was a hazmat suit.”

“Didn’t look like it.”

“Second of all-” you begin but your gaze shifts beyond him to the guy in the corner staring at the both of you. “Ah, jeez, he’s back.”

“Y/N, sweets!” Jeff waves at you. “Why dontcha come on over and help me out with these streamers, honey?”

“Go back to your mothership, Jeff.” You cup your hands over your mouth to really put your point across even though you were clearly audible.

“We can go together, baby,” He pops a balloon in his hand. “Plenty o’room.”

“Is he always like this?” Bucky asks, watching the whole interaction unfold. This seemed like it was reason enough.

“Ever since I joined.” You roll your eyes. “He’s got tenure, so T and I have to make do with inators and insults.”

“Ah.” Bucky’s mouth stretches thin in dissatisfaction. “Still want me to go talk to him?”

“I was kidding.” You give him the middle finger over Bucky’s shoulder. “Doubt that’s gonna change anything, but you can have a go at it. He’s a sleazebag through and through.”

“No harm in trying.” He looks at you in confirmation and you shrug.

He stalks towards him, slow and deliberate. He unbuttons his sleeves and rolls them up till his elbows, making his way toward the man who’s looking at him with a fair amount of cockiness.

“Don't tell me you’re her boyfriend or somethin’.” Jeff smirk doesn’t relent, instead squaring up his shoulders to look taller.

“Hi.” Bucky raises his left arm in a wave, unaffected by the man’s attempt at looking menacing. “We haven’t met. You’re Jeff, right?”

The light from the ceiling reflects off the dark vibranium and the man pales almost immediately.

“Um- hi,” Jeff stammers, a half-assed attempt at pretending like he has no idea who this man was. “Heard you saying your name was Bucky.”

“Sergeant Barnes,” he corrects gravely, muscle in his jaw tightening.

“Sorry, sir- Sergeant Barnes.” Jeff catches himself mid-sentence.

“See you around, then.” He makes sure the man catches a glimpse of the whirring metal plates in his arm. “Jeff.”

“Y-yeah. See you around.” Jeff turns on his heel quickly, yanking down snowflake cutouts much faster than he was before the conversation.

Bucky returns to his original job of folding tablecloths and stacking chairs without another word.

“Is that all?” you push when he doesn’t say anything. “What’d you say to him?”

“I said hi.”

“You were supposed to scare the shit out of him.” You appreciated how he left the sleeves still rolled up. Something about it made him look sinfully handsome.

“Don’t think he’ll be bothering you any time soon.” Bucky shoots a glance towards the man who immediately looks away.

“Huh.” You sound pleasantly surprised at how quick the whole conversation was. “Interesting.”

“But just in case...” Bucky trails off, turning around. “Hey, Jeff. You missed one.”

He points out a balloon in the far corner of the wall, stretching his arm far enough to have the sleeve gather around his elbow. Jeff silently scurries over to get rid of it.

“‘Said hi’, my ass.” You snort when it hits you exactly what he’d done. “You put the fear of God into that man.”

“I didn’t do anything.” Bucky looks rather enthusiastic to have found another bottle to throw into the trash across the hall.

“You threatened him by proxy.”

“No such thing.” He pulls the box off tablecloths along with him as he makes his way through every table, working while conversing with you.

“Shush, this is my toxic high school boyfriend moment.” You sigh dreamily, resting your chin on your palm. “Now tell me you’re going to get a tattoo of my name on your back.”

“Thought you said we were married.” He peers at you from the corner of his eye.

“Oh, so you agree with that.” You tilt your head back. “Rather old fashioned of you to agree with marriage but not dating, James.”

“Keep talkin’ and I’m gonna bring a chaperone next time we meet,” he retorts. “Back in my day…”

He begins but doesn’t continue when you laugh. You look tired, yes, but the particular spark in your eye hasn’t quit yet. It’s a wonder how.

“How was your Saturday night going before this?”

“Finally finished Twilight.”

“A man of culture.” You look impressed. “Bet you’re a werewolf guy.”

“Why is everyone saying that?” It comes off a little exasperated.

“Dunno.” Your head leans to the side. “Feels like you are.”

You shift your attention when someone awkwardly taps on the table a few feet away from you.

“Ms Y/L/N, I’m gonna head out now.” There’s a considerable lack of Jeff’s typical arrogance; the man looked like he had shrunk into himself. “Took care of all the wall decorations, they’re in the boxes there. If you leave the stuff by the door, John says he’ll bring his truck round in the morning and take it back to school.”

A quick glance around proves that he genuinely had taken them down as fast as possible, walls bare from any fairy lights or cardboard cutouts.

“See you Monday, Mr Richardson,” you say curtly. Not like he deserved that either.

The man just nods, sending one last look at Bucky before exiting briskly, taking his bag with him.

“That’s the first time he’s ever called me that.” You go slack jawed. “You’re a fucking miracle worker.”

Bucky simply conceals a smile. The arm wasn’t what he had ever planned for, yes, but he accepted it as a part of him a long time ago. He might as well put it to some use.

“Wait till T hears about this.” You brushed your palms together like a cartoon. “She’s been dying to do something to him since the last time she punched him in the nose.”

He’s starting to see why you wanted to set her and Steve up. Not entirely, but he was getting there.

“What’s your favourite colour?” you pose a question randomly.

He thinks about it for a second before settling on, “Blue.”

“Awesome.” You hop off your chair, walking past him.

“Where are you going?” He stacks the last of the chairs on top of each other, shoving the newly created rows out of the way and towards the wall.

“I’m running away.” You saunter over to the food table. “I’m gonna find my calling.”

“Have fun.” He pushes the tables to the side too, intending on going back to drop the box of tablecloths in the centre pile of decorations, only to spin around and come face to face with you.

“Hi.” You hold up a cupcake, blue frosting piped on the top. “A token of gratitude.”

“Oh.” He lets the box down on the ground gently to take the cupcake from you. He breaks it in half nimbly, handing a piece to you. Plenty of experience in dividing up food when he came from a team as large as his. “Appreciated.”

You stand beside him, leaning lightly against the tables.

“I have a feeling they’re spiked too.” Your nose scrunches. “Not sure how, though.”

“Pretty sure I could name a couple of ways.” It’s almost all sugar, from the actual cake to the sprinkles on top. Way too much glucose for one evening. But it’s good and he likes it.

“Yeah, bet you were the one doing it back in the day.” You nudge his side with your elbow. “All this law-abiding shit is just an act.”

He doesn’t deny it.

“Barely remember our school dances,” he comments, looking at the hall that was basically cleared out. “I think we only had prom, actually.”

“Did you go?” You finish off your piece. It’d been a couple of hours and you hadn’t had anything solid, who cared.

“Wasn’t really my thing,” he gives you a side smile. “Was more for the kids whose dads had money. Stevie and I went to the movies instead, got trashed afterwards.”

“Sounds like a way better time,” you chime in, wiping your fingers on a napkin.

“It was.” He still remembers stumbling over his feet, trying to get his ranting and raving best friend into his apartment silently amidst his own uncontrollable laughter. “His mum just about whooped his ass when he couldn’t shake off the hangover the next day.”

You breathe out a small laugh. “What about you?”

“Talked my way out of it.” The smile on his face is blinding, a real thing of beauty. “Swore up and down it would never happen again.”

“A charmer,” you tease. “Poor Steve.”

“Yeah, well.” He chuckles. “I’d say he turned out alright.”

“That’s one way to put it.”

The doors to the hall push open rather loudly, drawing your attention away from Bucky

“Outside’s all done,” T announces, balancing two large containers in her arms.

“Oh, cool. You can just leave it by the door, they'll clear it in the morning.” You point to the wall beside her.

“I saw Jeff leaving a while ago.” She drops it down carefully, stretching her arms to relieve the soreness. “He didn't even tell me my ass looked good.”

“Bucky fucked him up big time.” You clap him on his back.

“I did not,” he denies immediately.

“And I’ll tell you your ass looks good, you don’t need him,” you continue, ignoring the man’s protest.

“I know it does.” Her lips upturn in a smile. “Maya and John didn’t come back, did they?”

“Nah.” You squint, not realising how long ago the other two faculty members had just fucked off without a word. “Do you want a cupcake?”

“No, I managed to score some stuff for free from the vending machine.” She does a 360 of the place, looking satisfied by the time she finished. “You done?”

“Just gotta take care of the leftovers.” You point with your thumb at the buffet table. “Don’t you have rock climbing in a couple of hours?”

“Four and a half,” she grumbles, picking up her bag from where she had left it against the wall. “Pottery after that.”

“Shouldn’t you have been in bed a long time ago?”

“I’ve done worse shit on lesser hours of sleep.” She gives you a pointed look, a sort of ‘you-know-exactly-what-I’m-talking-about’ kind.

“Go.” You snicker because you do know what she’s implying. “Give my love to Charles.”

“He’s asking when you’re gonna give his belay device back.” T pulls on a leather jacket, zipping it up as a safety against the wind.

Not any time soon. That story concluded when Bucky snapped your plan of lassoing the moon in half.

“Tell him I’ll send him a gift card.” You smile sheepishly. “Or that I’ll fix his computer.”

She shakes her head, lips pulling into a half-smile“You’re gonna get me kicked out of there. Again.”

“I’ll build you your own rock climbing set,” you vow. “I’ll make it realistic as fuck, get a couple of bears and everything.”

“Take me to an actual mountain instead.” She gives Bucky a small wave. “Catch you later, Barnes.”

“You know I can do that,” you call out behind her. “Just say the word.”

She laughs. “Turn off the lights behind you.”

“Hey, T.” You had one last thing to check before she leaves. “What do you think of Steve Rogers?”

She pauses. “He’s cute.”

“Knew it,” you say under your breath. “Drive home safe.”

T gives you a thumbs up before pushing open the doors and walking out.

“Her bike’s cooler than mine,” Bucky pipes up once she leaves.

“She’s cooler than you in general.”

Couldn’t argue with that.

“You want another cupcake?”

He turns it down with a slight shake of his head. Half of his share was still in his hand, left to complete after he stopped out of courtesy when your friend walked in.

“Picking up where we left off.” You take a step so you’re standing in front of him. “You didn’t get your full prom experience.”

“No.” He pops the last bit of cupcake into his mouth. “Wouldn’t say I got any prom experience.”

"Right," you say casually. “Let’s do it now, then.”

He stops mid-cleaning of frosting from his metal fingers. “Huh?”

“You wanna dance?”

"Uh-"

"It'll be fun." You have your hand outstretched. "Promise I'll step on your toes."

"You're supposed to not do that.”

You only wink at him, offer hanging in the air.

“Consider it my evil plot for the evening,” you propose to make it less daunting. “Within official capacity only.”

“There’s no music.” He has no idea what else he could reply. He’s not turning you down, per se, just… uncertain.

“Easy.” You reach into your bag, pulling out a set of wireless earphones he remembers you mentioning earlier along with your phone. “Airpods are useless, made my own.”

You hold one out for him and he takes it, hesitantly putting it into his ear.

You scroll through your phone, adjusting the volume before pressing play on something.

“What’s this?”

“A themed playlist.” You grin at him, one that tells him you know exactly what you’re doing. “It’s called ‘Slow Dancing With Your Enemy’.”

“And you had this ready to go.” He pushes himself away from the table, tossing the napkin behind him. Hopefully the strongest metal on earth was also non-stick.

“Well,” You take two steps back, holding out your hand to him, “what use is having a nemesis if you’re not going to dramatically dance with them at least once?”

“This is for world-saving business only,” he emphasizes, pausing in front of you.

“Would never think otherwise,” you swear.

He sighs, taking hold of your hand, letting you lead him to the centre of the floor, a small smile on his face when you turn away from him.

“We gotta stay clear of the trash.” The many boxes worth of decor and garbage were still there at the centre of the floor, waiting to be shifted to the entrance.

“How romantic,” he deadpans.

“That’s what makes this so special, sarge.”

You finally stop at a spot, shifting your grip to clasp his hand better. He, however, stands there like a a fucking tree until you roll your eyes, placing your other hand on his shoulder.

“You fine?” you inquire, ignoring the song that had just started playing after the first got over.

“I should be askin’ you that,” he says gruffly, finally placing a hand on your waist. You let out a small exhale at the contact, putting on a sly smile instead.

“You remember how to dance or do we have to go through that now too? I got the WikiHow page bookmarked.”

He doesn’t look too amused. “Think I remember just fine.”

One at a time, he has to remind himself as he finally takes one step forward, your body taking a second before automatically falling in time with him as he takes another.

Fucking hell, he was dancing.

Sort of.

The tempo of the song playing in one ear is moving much faster than the both are, but you don’t seem to mind and so he doesn’t either. Not like any of this is making sense right now.

He’s breathing a little heavily, still trying to get used to what’s taking place in real time while also remembering what he learnt over 70 years ago.

“There you go.” There’s still an arm’s length worth of distance in between the both of you but this is still probably the closest you’ve been.

“This tune’s for ballroom dancing.”

“So?” You raise an eyebrow.

“We’re slow dancing.”

“Ah, who gives a shit.” Two steps back, don’t step on his toes even though you promised to.

“What exactly am I stopping here?” He has to remind himself to talk or else he’s going to clam up again. He can’t recall the last time he danced with someone in this century, if at all.

And so every tiny detail sears into his memory like it’s made of hot iron and he thinks if this is a memory that decides to brand itself on his brain for him to pull up at odd hours of the night then fuck, it’s a pretty darn good one.

“A murderous rage?” you suggest, only occasionally looking down to make sure you both don’t tumble into the decorations.

“They’d never believe that,” he rebukes immediately, pulling you along gently as he sways from side to side.

“Why not?” You pout. “I’m definitely murderous rage material.”

“Not when you send customised birthday cards to the team.” The music’s all classical pieces, some he remembers from Nat’s collection and others from galas held at the Tower. “Wanda says hi, by the way.”

“You babysitted Alpine last weekend and you’re still scary as shit,” you point out, and rightfully so. “And tell Wanda I said hi back.”

“That’s different.” And he didn’t babysit, he just volunteered to look after her for the day when Jake was out camping and you were busy with decorations. He and her chilled together on the couch until Tony had a fit about shedding on his very expensive Italian furniture.

He wouldn’t mind doing it again, either. She was good company.

You pay attention to how his pace was steadily beginning to match the tempo of the piece, guiding you along a little easier task now that he had gotten the hang of it. It didn’t make the smell of his cologne any less addictive or little crease of focus between his eyes any less endearing.

“Have you been getting enough sleep?” You change the topic to avoid tripping over your own two feet due to lack of attention.

“I have.” He had told you the same thing every time you asked since that day.

“And none of it’s with me.”

“Figure you have a plan ready for that, too.” One step, two steps back.

“I’ll let you know when it’s time.”

“‘M sure you will.”

“Have you told the team yet?” you ask, bit more consciously. “About the mission stuff.”

“I told Steve.” Not exactly what his feelings were towards the whole thing because he was still dealing with them clawing at him from the inside, but, “Said I’d be taking some time off. Doubled my time at therapy.”

“Bucky, that’s great.” Your eyes light up.

“It’s not vacation time, though. Got one coming up two weeks from now.” But he was trying. He had been journaling a lot more, meditation was helpful. Small things went a long way.

“Still,” you urge. “That’s huge. I’m really happy for you.”

He presses his lips together in a tight smile, for once forcing himself not to freeze up and instead just let the warmth seep into his veins.

He had a long way to go but at least he was starting somewhere.

“You’re actually pretty good at this,” you admit, looking down at your feet as he took two steps forward again, adding a minor twist to it so you weren’t just moving back and forth the same place. Some weird hybrid the both of you have come up with at the moment but it works.

“Told you I remember.” A gift from his past self, he considers it, a little good luck for the future.

“Okay, now spin Mr Barnes,” you half command-half giggle, holding your hand up the highest it could go.

He scoffs and yes, the movement is a little stiff and reluctant but he does it anyway, pulling off one rotation before returning back to his position.

“‘M supposed to twirl you around.” Bucky catches hold of you again, but this time closer than before owing to the momentum, his hand pressing into your lower back instead.

“When have we ever followed the rules?” You force yourself not to care about the fact that now he was basically right in front, almost pressing up to you.

“Speak for yourself.” He hears the song change, shifting into something slower but just as dramatic. “I’m a fuckin’ saint.”

You have to remind yourself that your hand has to land on his shoulder again, and you do so, but this time it hits something different. You can tell it isn’t a part of his arm, given that it was a completely different material and was almost like it was jutting out.

Until the dimensions and position hits you.

“Are you wearing the Feel Squares?” You look up at him, mouth slightly agape.

“Mhm.” He hopes you won’t ask further.

“Do they work alright?” The delight on your face is so golden he feels like a giant dick knowing that he was about to ruin it.

He bites his lip.

The smile on your face falters and he wants to kick himself. “They don’t?”

“Sorry.” He feels a compulsion to say it.

“That doesn’t seem right.” Your eyebrows knit together in thought. “Where have you placed them?”

He lets go of you for a second to point at his clavicle and then to his bicep.

“Ah, no wonder.” Relief floods your features and the edges of your lips turn upwards. “May I?”

When he nods, beckoning you to go ahead you let go of him momentarily to have your fingers gently trace along his shirt until you find where he’s misplaced it. He keeps his eyes trained on the look of concentration on your face rather than focus on your touch trailing across his shoulder.

A small adjustment, moving it two inches below where it originally sat on his collarbone and something jolts up his arm. His head snaps to his left at the shock.

“That should do it.” You take a step back, music still playing through one ear although you’re wholly ignoring it.

He lifts his arm up slowly, lightly curling his fists. It still moved the same, looked the same- nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

“Go on, try it out,” you encourage. “Lemme know if it still isn’t working.”

Bucky turns to you at the sound of your voice, eyes switching between looking at you and his appendage.

He holds his hand out.

“Wha-” You tilt your head in confusion until it dawns you. “Are you sure?”

He only extends it forward in response. It's a choice he’s making.

You give him your hand a little cautiously, in case he wants to change his mind.

The minute yours touches his, he takes in a sharp breath because it’s warm against the metal.

“Oh,” he says, emotions he’s felt before and other he’s not even sure have names racing through his body because he can feel how lightly you’re touching him. He can feel.

“How is it?” You’re observing him, he can tell, to make sure he isn’t going to fall off the wagon. And hell, the last time he felt these kinds of things he probably would have, who fuckin’ knew becuse all he can think about right now is the shirt sleeve thats bundled up at his elbow and the stickiness of the cupcake frosting that’s coating his fingers.

He takes a shaky breath, a bid to calm himself.

“Soft.”

He timidly intertwines your fingers and you let him, realising that this moment had a deeper significance to him than you initially thought.

“You okay?” you ask quietly.

He wordlessly nods, eyes fixated on your hand laced with his.

You, on the other hand, try not to think too much about how the first thing he willingly felt is your skin against his, because this was about him and his new world.

“Sorry, I- uh.” He clears his throat, “-got a little-”

“It’s fine,” your voice is steady, reassuring. “Take all the time you need.”

“It’s, uh-” He swallows, gaze intense. “I know I don’t always tell ya that I appreciate it, but-”

“You do.”

“I don’t.” He breaks his stare momentarily to look at you. “Not enough.”

“Yeah, you do.” Your eyes soften when you realise he genuinely has no clue. “You’re always doing things for me, Buck. That’s plenty.”

Just because his way of showing gratitude was different from yours doesn’t mean it was any less important. If you wanted to count the number of acts he’d done for you in the last two weeks alone you’d need a calculator.

“This is-” He holds his hand up, but doesn’t continue.

You give him a tight smile. “Intense, huh?”

He chuckles nervously, nodding along.

“You have the rest of forever to get used to it.” You watch him register that it was his, that he had time.

“Yeah.” He runs his hand through his hair, messing it up slightly. “Guess I do.”

“That's the last of them.” You look at the last of the boxes piled up near the door, dusting your hands off. “I think we did a great job.”

“Sure did.” The hall’s exactly the way it was pre-decoration, pristine and ready to use the next day.

“I can’t thank you enough.” You jiggle the lock once more to make sure it was secure, pocketing the key to drop off later since it was nearly 2am in the morning and there was no one around. “Seriously, you didn’t have to do this.”

“I wanted to.” And it turned out to be a rather productive evening in the end, but he would have probably thought the same even if he was only cleaning up the place for three hours straight.

“You wanted to help me clean up a hall at midnight on a Saturday?” You snort. “Tell me more about your interests.”

“One of them is stopping local mad scientist teachers from murder,” he says, stone faced. “It’s a pretty important one.”

“Yeah?” You bat your eyelashes. “You saying you’re interested in me now?”

He runs his tongue along his inner lower lip, breathing out a laugh in incredulity. “Every single time.”

“That’s one of my interests.” He hands you your backpack and you swing it across your shoulder. “And Bob Ross told me I should always practice my interests.”

“Pretty sure Bob Ross was talking about fuckin’ painting.” He scoffs. “Not trying to get with ex-assassins.”

“You are a work of art, Bucky Barnes.” You press your hand to his chest. “A real masterpi-”

“Alright,” he interrupts, face already flushed enough from the evening. “Shouldn’t you be getting home?”

“Probably should.” You check your phone for the time. “Jake’s gonna be fuckin’ pissed when I wake him up to open the door for me.”

“Don’t you have a key?”

“I do.”

Okay then.

“Not like I’m getting much sleep anyway, I gotta return this thing in the morning.” You pat your pocket.

“Surprised they don’t have someone here to supervise.” Bucky’s eyes scale the building.

“It’s a close knit community.” You shrug. “They trust us.”

Fair enough.

He’s watching you rock back and forth on the ball of your feet in an attempt to generate some heat. It’s cold outside, only amplified by the fact that it's the early hours of the morning but he feels content.

“Y/N, this thing.” He raises his left shoulder and drops it. “It means more to me than you know.”

“The trash?” you deflect awkwardly.

He looks at you, slightly exasperated. “You know what I mean.”

You do, but you don’t know how else to explain to him that it’s fine and that he deserves it and it was honestly a kind of honour to be able to be a part of the whole moment.

“Yeah,” you mumble, moreso to yourself. “Don’t overthink this.”

“Overthink what?” His eyebrows knit together.

You wrap your arms around his neck, tugging him flush against you.

For all the grit and harshness he projected outward like the werewolf guy he was, Bucky Barnes was surprisingly good at it.

“Are we hugging?” he asks after a second of silence.

“Shut up.” Your voice is muffled against the nape of his neck.

“Alright.” He doesn’t say anything further, true to his word.

You stay there for a moment before letting your body relax, almost pulling away until he tightens his grip around you and pulls you a little closer, eliciting a little sigh from you as little sparks electricity go through you.

When he finally lets go, the cold that takes his place doesn’t seem to matter as much anymore. It’s dangerous how much of an effect this man had.

“Okay.” You clear your throat, patting his forearm. “Off you go then.”

“You gonna get home safe?” He shoves his hands into his pockets.

You tap your watch. “Always.”

“See you next week, then.”

“Good night, Sergeant Barnes.” You give him a mock salute, earning a laugh in return.

The instant he turns away from you to head towards the parking lot, his brain launches into a very long string of curses at him, having him flinch involuntarily.

Fuckin’ ask her, it shouts unnecessarily rudely at him.

Ah, shit.

“Wait,” he calls out.

You look up instantly. “We forgetting something?”

“Uh-” he scratches the back of his head. “Need to ask ya something.”

You swear your heart stops beating for a second.

“Yeah?”

It’s like he’s moving in slow motion and you just want to put him on 2x and get the damn words out of his mou-

“What’s T actually short for?” he asks finally. “Steve’s gonna want to know.”

“Oh.” You blink. “Tanya.”

“Okay.”

“Okay,” you repeat. “That it?”

He nods.

“Catch you next week, Buck.” You wave, hint of a smirk on your face. “You better bring your a-game, we have big plans.”

“We’ll see.” He sends you a lopsided smile before he hops off the last step, vanishing into the night.

all donations to my ko-fi go towards my snickerdoodle fund <3

Next part

A little additional scene:

“Wanda told me you left self care night.” Steve looks up from his book.

He knew that Steve would be awake. The man’s sleeping schedule was just as fucked up as his best friend’s. They shared a floor, it wasn’t that uncommon to catch him channel surfing or reading old books from the library when things were a little too much at 3am.

“Had some stuff to take care of.” He stops fidgeting with the ray gun for a minute to answer him.

“Did you have fun?” Steve doesn’t reserve any judgement in his voice.

“I guess.” Bucky’s still processing the feeling of the wind against his arm and the bike handle in his grip for the first time. “Also, I’m sending you something.”

“What?”

Bucky pulls out his phone, typing in a quick text, before keeping it back in his pocket.

When his notification bell chimes, Steve lifts his own cell.

“Whose number is this?” He peers up at his best friend.

“Just text her.” Bucky walks into his bedroom without much explanation.

Steve looks at the number again and back at the room where his best friend disappeared into.

Bucky pops his head out a few seconds later. “You need to get a life.”

“You first,” Steve retorts.

“I’ll work on it,” Bucky retreats back into his room, shutting the door finally, “but text her.”

Steve glances at the number again before saving it on his phone.

[jamiedc-they-them]

The BUS Team celebrating your birthday:

For @emcon-imagines Hope you have the bestest day! Sorry this isn't very long, but I hope you like it!!!!!! <3

Being like a younger sibling to Daisy and with her since she left the orphanage

She always tried to give you something for your birthday; mainly stealing some things (like a cupcake or a candle/ an item for you to keep)

She once tried a big cake, but quickly realised she can’t get away with it

That, and the one time she ordered one, the delivery guy didn’t look too impressed to be delivering to a shitty van

But, you always appreciate the effort and thought

And she always feels it’s worth it when she sees how happy you are with your gifts

When you join SHIELD together, it’s a bit different now

She doesn’t steal (as much) from them to give to you

She (with help from Jemma and Fitz) makes you a cake, a big one

Jemma and Fitz bring you similarly themed gifts

You’re surprised when you wake up on the day and see a small gift with a generously wrapped bow on top, and a card from May; it’s a framed image of the rocket launch

Coulson pops in to see you:

“Morning, sir.”

“Y/N, I told you, we don’t need the formalities anymore. Especially not today.” He has his normal fatherly smile on his face

You squint your eyes at him, “...What?”

He tries desperately to fain casualness, “N-nothing, just...happy birthday!” He means the last bit, before running away

Leaving you there confused, eyes going back and forth before you just nod, “...Ok.”

Then, Daisy (Skye at the time) appears, way more casual but you see she is holding something behind her back:

“Happy birthday.” She tells you, bright smile on her face

“Thanks.” She then shows you the gift; a SHIELD badge

Your jaw drops, “What the fuck?”

She chuckles at your use of swearing, “Yeah...talked it through with Coulson and Ward, they think you’re ready. So...what do you say? Sisters in arms?”

You take it, before putting it on the table and hugging her tightly; she chuckles and hugs you back, “Thank you.”

“Always.” She assures, smiling into your shoulder

You feel another presence hug you, and you can tell from the sigh of content she gives that it’s Jemma; then Fitz joins

“Oh, Fitz.” Jemma says in a sigh, knowing she is now in the middle

“Jem-”

“Fitz, you’ve trapped me --”

“I have not.”

“I can’t just squeeze past.”

“Sure you can --”

“No.”

“Yes.”

You and Daisy share a look over Jemma’s head as the bickering continues, you both chuckle

Then you hear a knock and see Coulson, out of breath, “We’re ready.” he tells you 

The four of you leave, with you leading the pack out of the room

Tears come to your eyes when you see what is there 

A happy birthday banner, one that is barely hanging on - with Ward having to hold up the last bit, but still

Daisy puts her arms around you from behind, “Happy birthday, Y/N.” She tells you, and she sees the beaming smile on your face as you look at the banner and the cake on the table 

This is new, the big celebration 

But you wouldn’t have this any other way. You’re with family now.

[khaleesiofalicante]

レクシーは東京に行きたいと言っていたので、これでいいと思いました。 こんにちは！ もう一度ここで私はこの人々の半分のために同性愛者です

So, I tried the tea yesterday and I still had a weird dream but it wasn’t bad so THANK YOU!! OH and also I'm like Alec bc when I cant fix something I start fixing little things to cope, so I had like 20 open tabs with different fics that I wanted to read but I couldn’t and I just read most of them through this day to clear that up and there was one of yours!! I think it was called "Last on the list" Bro, that shit hurted and I fucking loved it so much💙💙💙 I will stop there bc if I continue I will rant about all the things I LOVED about it <3333 Anyway, LETS GO!!!

I also want dreamless sleep please!!! I love that shit too!! (but good for her!!)

I love the words you are using for each one <3

OMG its their birthday??? And 17 yo??? I lost her age at 15 wtf??

“Nope. Rapunzel is currently on Sleeping Beauty mode.” Ok, that was a good pun tho...

Gabriel is jsbdkdkdk🥺

Fuck Michael!!! LOVE SELENA!!! YESSS

The amount of joy I get from them calling her Sirenita.... 💙 AND RUE?!! 💙💙

Bro you haven't talked to Liv??? Get your gay together and talk to her!! (this from a girl that just 2 nights ago realized my best friend liked me back but we were both idiots smh. Dont follow my stepts dude..)

Its amazing that she is controlling her powers and using them to help people as she loves💙

Oh god Lexi and Max are masters at blackmail😂

YES THEY HAVE THEIR BASKETBALL EQUIPMENT!

Jace is so🥺🥺 makes me so emo seeing him be a father💙💙 AND THE PRESENT OMG I LOVE

So, how do I tell you this...?

Now, thats betrayal.... Also him calling Simon a rat jsjhsydkjs I cant with those two

David understands😌

Mavid's picture tho🥺🥺

ROSEWOOD MOVE TOGETHER?? YESSS❤️

Wait, how long has this been since last chapter?

Lovehollow are just big softies💙💙

Gabriel and Selena live in my heart and head 24/7 free rent <3

God, TALK. TO. HER

✨Parabatia✨

They are literally the cutest parabatias💙THEY ARE MY RELIGION

HOLY FUCK SHE MADE A SWORD FOR HER!! WTF WHY IS SHE SO GORGEOUS???🥺🥺

"Be Gay. Do Crime." Bro, bro thats the sweetest thing like ever!!!  THEY ARE THE SWEETEST!!

David and Jace being protective fam!!

Ok, but David must look so good tho...

Honestly cant blame Max😂😂 he is a lil horny shit I love sjsjjsksns

"Selena was always happy for other people. Now she was happy for herself." YES SHE IS SO HAPPY AND SHE DESERVES THAT💙💙

Yes she has, Jace, she had a sword😌

Istg this girls better talk to each other or so help me god...

Ok, but I just realized Selena is wearing a crop top!! AND STRIPED JEANS!! She is getting better and happier each day I'm kdjsisjsis <33

David touching Izzy's belly is literally so soft and wholesome I'm about to cry 😭

Firecrackers with the colors of the pride flag... Can the stop being perfect??? Honestly they settle really high hopes for friendship its not fair!!

Malec being malec >>>>>

Yes Brother Enoch is here yall!!!

"Sit here and brood with me.”😂😂

He has no time for bullshit. He has enough Herondale practice

I didn't see that coming!!! Liv was the one who asked for the potion 🥺 AND SHE STILL GOES HOLY FUCK!!

"Alexandra. Do not make me push you off the rooftop." Please do it bro!! I love her but she need it dbjslsnd

HE IS THE REAL MVP

I can't believe he is giving Lexi dating advice 😂 he is so done with Jem and Herondales pining and I say GO OFF

If I do it, will you promise to leave me alone? “We both know that’s not going to happen, bro.” (Come on, you love Lexi and you know it!!)

HE HIGH-FIVE HER OMG YESS

I love all their pijamas!!! I barely have and old one of a salior :(

Achilles knows the real tea kdbsksnsn

You like each other!! Just kiss already!! (although I also love their awkwardness <3)

"This fake thing we did?” Lexi asked. “It was the realest shit I’ve done.” (I'm-🥺🥺🥺🥺)

“Then let me wake you up.” HOLY FUCK YESS FINALLY OH GOD I'M SO HAPPY FOR THEM AND I'M CELEBRATING AND JDBDKSKKSM. ALSO "The kiss was very good and very gay. The end." FUCKING MOOD

“You’ve always been my angel. Olivia. You are the only angel I care about.” I just cant with this scene. My heronstairs feelings came true and they are a power couple and I'm so gay for them

Honey... Stop talking😂😂

*sigh* girls, right?

“No,” Lexi said and pulled back. “I booked a date with you for the rest of my life.” (You cant just say romantic shit like that and expect me to be ok!!! But yess bloody Herondales!!!💙💙)

"And Lexi, for once, fell with a smile." I'm not ok and I'm perfect at the same time jdjdksns

Air is no important when you are gay and there are two girls with swords kissing each other

😂Yeah, she is bad at snicking out

Clary, it wasn’t your fault!!! 🥺🥺

She can keep some parts for helself hell yeah!!

CLARY IS SOO WISE AND HER ADVICE SO GOOD I'M AMAZED BY HER (and honeslty saving some to rember later bc everything she said was on point and I sometimes forget it)

Loyalty before all lmao😂😌

"Sometimes it doesn’t, baby,” her mother said gently. “But you get better at carrying it, okay?” 💞💞

Pressure? Ok, I aprove and love it💙💙Yeah, they can also pass good pressure!! SOMETHING THEY CAN FIGHT WITH HOLY-

WOW. Her. Just wow. She is such an amazing character.. Strong and funny and kind and everything else (still so gay for her)

バイバイ！！ また近いうちにお会いしましょう！ 今週のご多幸をお祈り申し上げます。

Hello baby 💙

oh noooo you read that fic idk why I even wrote that lmao skdfnksf it was just pain lol. Glad you survived.

Also, you said it's a tough week. How are you keeping up? I'm glad the sleep is a little better!!!!

And god I love your reactions.

As always, I sneak in random things that make me uwu and you someone always manage to spot them.

HOW?

This is the face David had every time he felt Abigail kick in Izzy's stomach:

[melanielocke]

Lost in the Shadows - Epilogue

AO3

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Previous Chapter: Chapter 35

This is the epilogue and final chapter. While there are some loose ends and I might write a sequel one day, I have currently have no plans for one so it would take some time. As it is I'm working on a Frozen TLH story (chapter 1-3 are currently published), and one post CoI story titled "We bury the sunlight" so look out for those.

Alastair decided to move in with Jem at the end of the summer. He had managed to finish decorating his bedroom just in time for the first week of university, which he was excited about starting. He wasn’t sure why, but he’d expected Jem to be overbearing and constantly worrying about his mental health. He’d always thought that was what a psychiatrist did, he guessed, just like his father had always feared Jem would know about his alcoholism from just looking at him.

He’d learnt that wasn’t the case. Jem was a doctor, he couldn’t read minds, and although he was there for Alastair when he needed him, he was family and not his doctor, which was an important distinction. Jem gave him lots of space, and the ground rules were mainly about keeping everything clean, which was no problem. Jem also preferred it to know if someone he didn’t know was visiting, but that rarely happened since Alastair only had a few friends and the only one who hadn’t known Jem before was Kamala.

It was nice, having so much space to himself. Jem had changed a lot about the house, it didn’t look like an exact copy of the house he’d lived in when he was very young. Cordelia and his mother still lived with Risa, with him gone it fit a bit better, but they were in the process of getting the house back.

He saw Thomas regularly, and they had sleep overs once a week. Alastair had bought a new double bed for his room mainly so they could share the bed. Thomas was currently adapting to student life, but had vowed to Alastair that he would not drink any alcohol. Alastair worried that would severely limit Thomas’ social life, but secretly he was very happy Thomas would do that for him. Lucie had also decided they would all start playing DnD with her, and although Alastair still didn’t understand much of the game, they had fun. Thomas, who had been in Lucie’s previous campaign as well, had helped him with his character. Right now, the group consisted of Lucie as the story teller, or dungeon master as the game called it, and Thomas, Cordelia, Kamala, Eugenia and him as the players. Alastair played a warlock, which he felt suited him. Warlocks also got nightmares they never asked for all the time and were constantly exhausted, not to mention they made deals with otherworldly beings. Perhaps it fit a little too well.

He’d also decided to take lessons in ballroom dancing, with Kamala as his dance partner at the student dance association. He almost had something that resembled a social life, which was both very new and very weird. As it was, they both were quite good at dancing. Kamala had taken two years of dance classes too, although it had been years, and together they could figure out what they remembered and how to do it. Both had been forced by their father at the time and it was much more enjoyable now that they’d chosen to pick it up again, not to mention it was nice having a dance partner he matched well with.

Thomas was still considering starting dancing, but finding a partner who was tall enough for him would be a struggle. Alastair could follow decently and dance with Thomas, although he still noticed the height difference, but with the lack of men in dancing most teachers would rather pair Thomas with the tallest girl available.

He felt like for the first time in years, he was sort of happy? Happier than he used to be at least. He still had nightmares, flashbacks, all that, and didn’t think it was going away anytime soon. If anything, EMDR made it harder, but that was to be expected. He’d known that during EMDR he’d have to talk about everything, and although in time that would make it better, at first it just brought everything to the surface. He’d learnt not to plan anything else on days he had EMDR, except maybe cuddling with Thomas.

Although relationships were still new to him, any relationships really, he was getting more accustomed to having people around who cared about him. Not just Thomas, but Lucie and Cordelia, who had just started their last year of school and came to him for help with their math homework, Kamala and Eugenia, who he’d been spending time with at the dance studio. He often visited the Lightwoods too, and he felt welcome there. Gideon and Sophie had made a habit out of inviting him along with any family outings. He’d never felt so welcome before, it had taken some time to work through that.

‘You’re going to love my gift, I promise.’

Tomorrow was Alastair’s nineteenth birthday, and Thomas was sleeping over the night before.

‘What is it?’ Alastair asked.

‘A surprise.’

‘It was worth a try,’ Alastair said. ‘How was your visit at Matthew today?’

Alastair had spoken to Matthew once. He didn’t think the two of them would ever be good friends, but they could move past school and tolerate each other’s presence. Thomas had spent the day with him today, shopping. Matthew apparently loved clothes even more than Alastair did, and had an unusual and extravagant taste.

‘Awkward,’ Thomas said.

Alastair frowned. ‘Why was it awkward?’

‘Well, he’s the only other man I know who is interested in men and has previous, uh, experience. So I figured I’d ask what to expect and what to do. It was a very uncomfortable conversation.’

Alastair started laughing. ‘You could have just asked me.’

‘I know, but I thought it would be nicer for you if I had some idea of what I’m supposed to be doing,’ Thomas said.

Alastair put his hand in Thomas’ hair. ‘That’s sweet.’

‘From now on I’ll be asking you my questions,’ Thomas said. ‘Of course, the internet has also been helpful.’

‘As long as you know where to get your information,’ Alastair said. ‘Porn isn’t real and not a good source. But I don’t mind if there’s things you don’t know yet, because I know enough.’

They had sex for the first time that night. Alastair felt it was the right time. Of course, having sex the night before his birthday wasn’t new to him. The previous years he’d spend with Charles ever since he’d turned sixteen. It was far better with Thomas. Not because of experience or anything like that, but because Alastair felt comfortable, because he was absolutely sure he wanted it and felt like he could ask Thomas to stop if he wasn’t comfortable anymore. Thomas was a little clumsy, but Alastair didn’t mind. He would get better at it with some practice.

The next morning, they went to the Victoria and Albert museum. It was early on a week day and neither of them had classes today. Thomas had been surprised at first by how empty his schedule was but had ultimately discovered much of his free time was spent on assignments and preparing for lectures and classes. Fortunately, it did mean they could easily plan such trips on times it wouldn’t be crowded. Alastair still didn’t like crowds and didn’t think he ever would. Thomas had grown over his fear of them, but he also preferred the quiet. It was much nicer this way, taking his time to let a piece of art wash over him, undisturbed by other visitors. Thomas made the occasional comment. He’d taken art history in school and could name the different styles and put works in the context of the time period. Alastair didn’t say much in response, just nodded. He felt he didn’t have to.

Thomas had promised him his gift after coming back from the museum, and Alastair was starting to get curious. Thomas had hidden the gift somewhere in Jem’s house, so Alastair wouldn’t even be able to guess from the shape. He hadn’t bothered to look for it, but had been tempted. As much as he liked the small smile on Thomas’ lips as he said ‘not yet, mi Cielo,’ Alastair was not fond of surprises. He liked to know what to expect with a three to five workdays advance notice for anything out of the usual.

‘You’d think no one has ever given you a birthday gift before,’ Thomas said. He paused. ‘Wait, is that it? Did you not usually receive gifts?’

‘No, I did, from my mother and sometimes Cordelia.’

Charles too, Charles had had a habit of giving him expensive gifts. Or gifts he’d found among his mother’s things, he guessed. Alastair had not seen him again now that he was back in London, for which he was grateful. Gideon had spoken with Charles and told him he knew what he’d done and wasn’t welcome at his house anymore. Apparently Charles had been very angry about that, but Gideon had told Alastair he was welcome anytime and it was his responsibility to guarantee his safety. Alastair appreciated that.

‘Have you been asking them about it all this time too?’ Thomas asked.

‘No just you. But you made a big deal out of it by hiding it someplace here,’ Alastair said.

‘Alright, I guess you can open it,’ Thomas said, who left and came back to the living room carrying a very big box.

Alastair carefully opened the wrapping paper, making sure nothing tore. He wasn’t sure why exactly, but he’d always opened gifts this way, as if he intended to reuse the paper, something he’d never done.

‘I thought, with how impatient you were, you’d rip it all apart,’ Thomas said.

‘No,’ Alastair said.

‘You can rip it, it’s no problem,’ Thomas said as Alastair was struggling to get a piece of sticky tape off without damaging anything.

‘No,’ Alastair said, even more determined to get everything off properly.

Once he’d gotten it open and folded away the colorful wrapping paper, Alastair revealed something that resembled a hamster cage, but bigger. There were two floors, the top open and the bottom offering a little more darkness with a little home in there an animal could hide in. There was a wheel, several balls, and a little hedgehog plushie.

‘I know you were planning to get a pet hedgehog, so I researched what it needs. This has most things it needs to live in, you just might need to add a heat lamp because hedgehogs need a warm environment.’

‘I’d been looking into what I’d need too,’ Alastair said. ‘Jem is alright with me getting a hedgehog as long as I make sure to keep Church away from him. That shouldn’t be a problem, as I would put the hedgehog in my bedroom and Church doesn’t go there.’

‘How is Church?’ Thomas asked.

‘Usually, he is wherever I’m not. He doesn’t come into my bedroom. In the living room it can be a bit more of a struggle, as he likes to claim his space, and no matter where I sit, he gets upset because that’s the spot he wanted for himself. The only moment he tolerates me is when I’m accompanying Jem on the piano.’

Alastair had picked up playing music again after years and he tried to practice for half an hour daily. Sometimes with Thomas, singing his songs and playing more modern music. But he also played classical music with Jem, who was exceptional at the violin. Jem could probably have been a concert violinist if he hadn’t chosen to become a doctor instead.

‘Sounds like Church,’ Thomas said. ‘He won’t be a danger to your hedgehog, will he?’

‘I will keep my hedgehog in my bedroom,’ Alastair said. ‘If I make sure to keep the door closed when I’m not there, I think it’s unlikely Church will even go there. Even then there’s a cover for this hedgehog home and a little house for him to hide, and of course a hedgehog can roll into a little ball of quills. I think it’ll be fine. And my therapist thought it might be good for me to get a pet, as long as I am confident I can care for it of course. Now, can you help me think of a name? I’m not great with names.’

‘You and Cordelia have been arguing about baby names for weeks now,’ Thomas pointed out.

‘Yes, the baby should have a beautiful Persian name,’ Alastair said. ‘For pets it’s different.’

‘Or dnd characters,’ Thomas added.

‘So what if my character has my middle name?’

‘No, I like it,’ Thomas said. ‘Esfandiyar. It’s a beautiful name. For a pet I think a shorter name is better. I think your plushie hedgehog is called Mr. Prickly?’

‘I named him when I was a child,’ Alastair said. ‘I’m not naming my pet something stupid.’

‘No little pipsqueak?’ Thomas said with a grin.

Alastair rolled his eyes. ‘Absolutely not.’

***

‘You mean to say you forgot to buy Alastair a gift for his birthday?’ Lucie asked.

‘I didn’t forget,’ Cordelia said. ‘I planned to do it today, after school. How was I supposed to know I was going to get detention?’

They entered the bookstore, certain she could find something Alastair would like here.

‘Sorry I couldn’t get you out,’ Lucie said. ‘Even my dad can’t do that, but he knows it was completely unfair.’

Cordelia shrugged. ‘I finished my homework. But I’m still pissed.’

She knew teachers tended to be harsher on her, Alastair had always had the same problem, and she usually made a point to behave but she also wasn’t going to let people just walk over her girlfriend. So what if she’d gotten into a fight with a bully? He’d started it, but that’s not how the teacher who’d broken them apart saw it.

‘Alastair will understand,’ Cordelia added. ‘He was often sent to detention unfairly too. Now, which of these books do you think he’ll like?’

‘Both seem pretty good,’ Lucie said. ‘What are they about?’

‘This one’s called Malice, and is a Sleeping Beauty retelling focused on Alyce, the dark grace with powers similar to the original evil witch who cursed the princesses, and she might be the villain but she might also fall in love with Aurora. I haven’t read it, but it sounds awesome. The other is Girl, Serpent, Thorn.’

‘Oh, didn’t I lend you that one last year?’

‘Yes,’ Cordelia said. ‘It was awesome and the cover is so beautiful I wanted my own copy. I think Alastair will like it too, the world is inspired by Persian culture and the Shahnameh, which he loves, and the story is very good too.’

Girl, Serpent, Thorn was probably one of her favorite books, and Cordelia ultimately decided to buy it for herself while buying Malice for Alastair. He could always borrow the other book from her, she just wanted to reread it several times and have the gorgeous cover on display.

‘I doubt Alastair minds we’re late,’ Cordelia said. ‘He’s been spending the day with Thomas.’

Cordelia sometimes envied the amount of free time Alastair had compared to her. She hoped it would be the same once she went to university. Of course, Alastair had his memory, he only had to read everything once and he would remember forever. He could save so much time that way.

It still struck her as odd how they didn’t understand Alastair’s memory. Lucie was the way she was because her grandfather was the thief of souls. Same for Tessa, who’d gotten some of her power back after his death. Thomas had the sight because his mother did, and Kamala had healing powers because a fairy had given them to her. But no one knew why Alastair was the way he was. Cordelia knew it still frustrated him, not understanding.

‘I can’t wait until I can go to university,’ Lucie said. ‘I am so done with physics.’

‘Why did you take physics?’ Cordelia asked.

‘No clue,’ Lucie said. ‘I’ll survive another year. Then it’s English literature and creative writing.’

Cordelia wished she knew what she was going to study. Half her biology class was already working on their med school applications, but Cordelia had no clue yet. At least she couldn’t really picture herself as a doctor. Part of her still wanted to be a hero, but what if like Jem she decided to retire early? Being a hero didn’t exactly pay, and it was good to have some education. She just didn’t know what. She knew, of course, it was fine to choose wrong at first. Alastair had realized being a politician wasn’t for him, and was again starting in his first year.

‘At least Alastair promised to help me with my math homework,’ Cordelia said.

Cordelia and Lucie took the metro and arrived at Jem’s house. She’d been here frequently since the summer, and it already felt like Alastair’s house. She’d considered moving in herself too, but felt like she was still too young to move away from her mother and would rather stay for now.

Alastair and Thomas were in the living room, where an animal home was standing on the table next to a bit of neatly folded wrapping paper, not a tear in sight. Alastair had always been a little obsessive in the way he opened gifts. The wrapping paper would be thrown away, yet he always opened it with such a care and he never ripped anything.

‘Happy birthday,’ she said, hugging her brother.

He’d grown more comfortable with physical affection lately, and for Cordelia it felt like it had become easier to reach him. She’d had to get used to not living in the same house as him at first, but Alastair seemed happier here.

‘Thank you,’ Alastair said. ‘I’m officially on the waiting list for a pet hedgehog. It might take some time, but I have some of the supplies I need now. I am open to name suggestions as I have not thought of anything yet.’

‘Pipsqueak!’ Lucie called out.

‘Oddly, you’re not the first person to suggest that,’ Alastair said. ‘No, I am not naming my pet Pipsqueak.’

‘That’s because I already call Alastair that,’ Thomas said.

Alastair rolled his eyes. ‘My hedgehog will have a serious name, not something a toddler would have chosen.’

They didn’t settle on a name yet that evening. Lucie kept suggesting the kind of names Alastair meant to avoid as a joke, and Eugenia did the same when she and Kamala arrived. Kamala had a few good suggestions, and Alastair decided to look into Persian pet names.

Cordelia started feeling like things would be alright again, like things would be normal. Of course, she could never be sure. Tatiana had not turned up again, Gideon had reported her missing and so far the police had no leads. Cordelia didn’t think they’d find her, and she wondered if Tatiana would come back. There was no chance she could bring back her son, not anymore, but Cordelia feared she might want revenge. Right now, she tried not to worry. She would be prepared, yes, but she would also continue to live her life, go to school, worry about things normal girls her age should be worried about. Alastair seemed to be doing a little better as well, although she knew his EMDR days were hard. He was playing music again, and Cordelia loved to listen to him play the piano while she was here.

‘Do you want to play something?’ Cordelia asked at some point, gesturing to the piano.

‘Of course,’ Alastair said. ‘Thomas, I need your help.’

‘I didn’t bring my guitar,’ Thomas said nervously.

‘I don’t need you to play, I need you to turn the page of the sheet music. One of these days I’m going to make a copy and tape this piece together, but it’s 5 pages long.’

Cordelia would always be impressed at how fast Alastair could move his fingers over the keys. He’d tried to teach her when she was younger and she could play some simple melodies with her right hand only, but she’d never gotten the hang of playing with two hands.

‘I recognize this,’ Lucie said when Alastair was finished. ‘I think it’s in Pride and Prejudice. The one with Colin Firth.’

‘That’s possible, it’s well known. The Turkish March by Mozart,’ Alastair said. ‘I’ve been practicing this for the past week.’

‘It’s lovely,’ Cordelia said. ‘I missed hearing you play.’

‘And now you only get to listen when you’re here,’ Alastair said apologetically.

‘I’m here several days a week anyway,’ Cordelia said. ‘I’m glad you’re playing again.’

‘I forgot how much I loved it,’ Alastair said. ‘But I’m happy too. Even Church likes it when I play.’

Cordelia noticed the cat was sitting up from his spot on the couch, listening intently as Alastair started playing something else. Church might hate everyone and everything, but he loved Jem and he loved music.

Thomas continued to do his job as page turner and Cordelia could see the adoration in his eyes as he watched Alastair play. She was glad they’d been able to work it out and were still together, Alastair deserved that.

When Alastair was finished, Lucie decided to present her gift, which was a story she’d written herself in an insanely short time. Cordelia had read it and helped her edit, but the premise was that it was Frozen but with Alastair and Cordelia as the main characters.

‘I’m going to read it as soon as I have the time,’ Alastair promised. ‘This sounds brilliant.’