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squiggledrop · 4 years

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Day 9: Cuddling When it’s Cold - Spencer x Reader

Masterlist

Ficmas 2020

Listen to my Christmas Playlist!

Summary: Ficmas Day 9

Word Count: 1.2k

Pairings: Spencer Reid x Reader

All day at work you had been stealing glances at Spencer. Sure, his desk was right across from yours, close enough you could still smell the rich, earthy aroma of the coffee he was sipping, but that didn’t stop your persistent desire to be closer. It was a slow day at work, everyone chipping away at the piles of paperwork that littered the desks of the bullpen. Spencer was flipping through files, sensing your eyes on him.

“You okay?”, he asked, wondering why you were staring at him. You quickly sat up, him having awoken you from your dazed state. If you had it your way, you would spend every minute admiring Spencer. Of course, you always wanted to be around him, but you weren’t normally this clingy. Today, however, you just craved his tough, loathing the two pieces of wood that separated the two of you.

“Y-yeah I’m fine”, you blushed, looking back down at the documents on your desk. Spencer quizzically looked at you, wondering why you were acting so bashful. He loved your vivacious personality, and how never failed to make him laugh with your witty antics, but he would be lying if he didn’t find your shy demeanor endearing.

“Are you sure?”, he asked, a small smile grazing his lips. You looked into his kind eyes, which only intensified your yearning to just wrap yourself into him.

“Yeah, I just-”, you sighed, looking down, feeling foolish. Spencer’s eyebrows furrowed, as he waited for you to continue. “I miss you”, you whimpered quietly, not wanting anyone to hear you. Your timid voice melted Spencer’s heart and he gleamed at you, the love between you both almost palpable.

“I’m right here”, he tilted his head, a bit confused, but still enamored by your tender disposition.

“It’s too far”, you whined, a small giggle escaping your lips at how ridiculous you thought you sounded. Spencer chuckled at how cute you were, nodding his head.

“I know”, he sighed. “When we get home, we can spend the whole night cuddling by the tree?”, he offered, bringing a wide smile to your face. You excitedly nodded your head, the idea of laying against Spencer’s chest calming you. “Okay”, he smirked, reaching his hand out for yours. He gave your hand a quick squeeze before you both got back to work, wanting to finish so you could home.

The entire car ride home, you held Spencer’s hand in both of yours. You held it against your chest, occasionally resting your head on it. Spencer smiled at your precious actions, forcing himself to pay attention to the road so he could get you home quicker. The entire walk to your apartment, you latched yourself into his arm, resting your head on his shoulder.

“Sweetie, I need my arm so I can unlock the door”, he giggled, your hushed groan tickling his ear. Reluctantly, you removed yourself from his side just enough so he could open the door. Once you were inside, you wrapped him into a tight hug, finally relishing in his embrace. He felt his heart swell as you clung yourself to him, and he lovingly ran his hands across your back. “Why don’t we get changed into sweats and then we can cuddle on the couch?”, he murmured. He felt you nod against his neck, and he took your hand, leading you both to your room to get changed. You both put on a t-shirt, Spencer opting for plaid pajama pants while you put on your comfiest pair of sweatpants. You felt goosebumps spread across your now exposed arms, and Spencer took notice, pulling you into his side.

“Why’s it so cold?”, you said, your voice wavering slightly from your shivers. Spencer ran his hands up and down your arms, trying to bring you any warmth he could.

“I can turn up the thermostat”, he offered. You bit your lip, contemplating a moment, before deciding on a better plan.

“Or”, you drew out, a small smirk finding its way to your lips, “we could make a pillow fort”. Spencer’s eye lit up at your suggestion, quickly nodding in agreement. You both laughed, making your way to the living room.

You grabbed all the blankets you owned, draping one over the back of the couch and securing it to the coffee table. You placed an excessive amount of pillows inside, making sure to cover every inch of the wooden floor. Spencer went in first, opening his arms for you to slot yourself between. You placed four blankets around yourselves, Spencer making sure you were sufficiently covered. He heard you let out a soft laugh and looked down at you, silently asking what was so funny.

“I feel like we are penguins in an igloo”, you amused.

“Actually, penguins do huddle together to conserve body heat in order to combat the harsh arctic winds”, he nodded.

“Well, I’m glad you are my penguin then”, you spoke, turning your head to place a kiss under his jaw. Spencer smiled, a slight flush crawling up his face.

“Me too”, he hummed, pulling you impossibly closer to him.

The soft glow from the twinkling lights on the Christmas tree was the only source of light that sprinkled throughout the room. You tangled your legs with Spencer’s wanting to get as close to him as possible. The two of you laid there, content in each other’s company, enjoying the comforting warmth of your blanket creation. Spencer looked down at you, admiring how vulnerable you looked snuggled into him.

“Are you sure you are okay?”, he quietly spoke, breaking the calm silence.

“What do you mean?”, you asked, looking up at him.

“Well, okay, don’t get me wrong, I love you wanting to be close to me. I really do”, he said, looking deep into your eyes, making sure you understood he wasn’t annoyed and found your actions endearing. “You just, you never really get that-”, he stopped, looking for the right way to phrase it.

“Needy?”, you asked, raising your eyebrows with a small chuckle.

“Yeah”, he said sheepishly, letting out a small laugh.

“I don’t know”, you sighed, avoiding his gaze. “I just, I love you, and I always want to be with you”, you said simply, gazing up into his eyes.

“I love you too”, he smiled, placing a kiss on your forehead, “and I’m always happy to give you a hug or a kiss, or whatever it is you need, no matter what”. His gaze held your heart, his love providing all the warmth you would ever need.

“Well, good”, you smiled, “because you are stuck with me at this point”. You both giggled, as Spencer pulled you farther into his chest. You rested your head on his shoulder, wrapping your arms around his torso. You closed your eyes, basking in the warmth and comfort you felt in Spencer’s arms. He was your whole world, and you couldn’t wait to spend the rest of your lives in each other’s arms.

#spencer reid x reader #spencer x you #spencer reid #dr spencer reid #Spencer Reid fic #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer x reader #Dr Reid #reid x reader #spencer reid x y/n #reid x you #criminal minds #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid insert #ficmas #ficmas 2020 #25 days of ficmas #day 9

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imagineyourworld · 3 years

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Omg request for tbb echo with 4 and c from the prompt list??

Hey,

Since I said in my original post that the requests should be either a letter or a number, I'm gonna go ahead and just do 4, I hope that's alright with you.

Love, Charlie

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Echo x Genderneutral!Reader

Warnings: Mention of death, sickness (nothing serious)

4. Mutual pining

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You still couldn't wrap your head around the fact that the man next to you was Echo. The very same Echo who had first come into the diner you worked at almost two years ago with his brother and had come back whenever he could ever since. Until one day he didn't. That day it was just Fives, an unusual sight without his twin, who sat in the corner occasionally sipping his caf and clearly wishing it were something stronger. During your break you had sat down in his booth and he had told you the news that broke your heart. It wasn't until that moment that you realized you had fallen in love with Echo, and now it was too late. Only it wasn't too late, because exactly one month ago the man you thought you had lost forever walked into the diner, missing a few limbs but still with the same gentle smile on his face. Echo had been nervous to tell you who he really was and what had happened, but he should have known that there was no need. You were as accepting and loving as always and when you wrapped your arms around him and pulled him tight Echo could have sworn he really died and had gone to heaven. Heaven, however, wasn't where he was right now, rather his own special hell. Here he was, in his usual booth with his usual drink and usual meal in front of him, but there was one thing missing: you. Someone else had served him, someone who didn't know his order by heart and didn't smile at him the way you did. It took him a while to muster up the courage to ask your colleague where you were, after all he wasn't your boyfriend, he wasn't even really your friend, there had never been any indication that you wanted to continue your relationship outside of work, a thought Echo continued to push deep down and ignore. "They're sick", the other waitress told him. The news hit Echo deep. Of course the rational part of him knew that you might just have a common cold or a headache, but for clones being sick more often than not meant dying. He called out a quick "Thanks" to the waitress before throwing a handful of credits on the table and hurrying out of the diner. He considered himself lucky because he knew where you lived from the few times he had convinced you to let him walk you home after work, so know he was running towards your flat, ignoring the pain where his prosthetics met his body. You were the only thought on his mind.

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You hated being sick. Hated it more than anything. Well, almost anything. The one thing you hated more than being sick in general was being sick today. You knew that this was the day Echo would visit the diner before leaving Coruscant again and you wanted to be there more than anything. After losing him once you simply couldn't risk not saying goodbye. Your doorbell interrupted your anxious thoughts. Hesitantly you walked over to the door and pressed the speaker button. "Who's there?", you asked. "It's me, Echo", a familiar voice replied. "Can I come up?" The sound of his voice alone managed to make you feel better, and when you saw him walking up the last couple of stairs from your spot in the doorway you could have sworn your cold was almost gone. "Hi", you said. Even your voice suddenly sounded less scratchy. Echo took a step towards you. He lifted his arm as if to touch you, only to realize that it was his cybernetic one. Quickly he lowered it again. He kept forgetting about his new limbs, especially in your presence, but he refused to touch you with anything other than his real hand, refused to miss the chance to feel your skin against his. "I heard you were sick and I... Maybe this is stupid, but I just had to see you, cyare." There it was, that nickname he had begun calling you shortly before the mission to the Citadel. You were dying to know what it meant, but too afraid to ask, maybe it was something cute and romantic, as you hoped, but maybe it was something like "buddy" or "pal", which you really couldn't take, it would ruin the last bit of hope you had of Echo reciprocation your feelings. "That's so sweet of you, but I really don't want you to get sick as well", you said, even though the thought of him leaving made you feel ten times worse again. Echo just shook his head as he gently pushed past you into the flat, as if to show you that he didn't plan on leaving any time soon. "I won't get sick, trust me. And if I do anyways I guess I'll just have to stay here with you", Echo told you with a slight smile. You laugh at his words, a laugh that quickly turned into a series of coughs. You really liked this new side of Echo, the more confident and bolder side, though of course you were also fond of his sweet and caring side. "I'd really like that", you said, heat risking to your cheeks at your words. Echo looked at you in surprise. Surely you couldn't mean that, it had to be the sickness talking. But he couldn't ignore the little spark of hope that ignited at your words. "How about I make you a cup of tea and you sit down with a blanket?", he suggested. With another cough you moved over to your couch and began to wrap yourself in your comfiest blanket while Echo made his way to what he assumed to be the kitchen. "Or maybe two blanket", he called once he heard you sneezing from the other room.

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Just a few minutes later the two of you were sitting beside each other on the couch, you wrapped up in three blankets and Echo without a single one. "Aren't you cold?", you asked him, both because you were concerned and because you sensed what might be your one chance to get close to him. Echo looked at you, a fond expression on his face as he smooth your hair down. "I'm fine, don't worry about me." You looked at him from beneath your slowly closing eyelids. "I always worry about you, I always have. When you're gone I can't sleep because I keep wondering whether you're alright. I can't help but worry that something might happen, that you'll get captured again or die, really die." His expression changed from loving to shocked. You worried about him? Really worried to the point where you couldn't sleep? Was that a friendship thing or did it mean...? "Echo, I'm still cold", you said with a yawn that quickly turned into another cough. That short sentence quickly pulled him out of his spiraling thoughts. He jumped up from the couch and started to look around the room, keeping his eyes out for any more blankets. "Are there more blankets somewhere?" You shook your head as best as you could with shivers now taking over your body. "Cuddle with me", you managed to say. "Body heat helps." Echo tried to ignore the blood he felt rushing into his cheeks and his thoughts telling him that he should just do it, when would he ever get this chance again? "Are you sure? I don't think I make a good cuddling partner with my new limbs and-" "I don't care, just get in here", you interrupted him, your sickness making you moodier than usual. For a moment Echo just stared at you, then the desire to finally be close to you after all these years of longing for exactly that took over. He sat back down on the couch, closer this time, and moved underneath the blankets. You were hot, literally. Echo was sure you had a fever, and he told you as much. But when he tried to get up again to look for a thermometer you put your arm around his waist and laid your head on his shoulder. Gently he rested his arm, the prosthetic one, on the back of the couch, so the cold metal wouldn’t be in the way, and then he was finally able to relax and enjoy your touch. Enjoy the warmth of your body, the feeling of your breath hitting his throat and the smell of your shampoo, that made its way into his nose. “We should have done this earlier”, you sighed as you snuggled even closer. You really didn’t know what Echo had been so worried about, he was more than comfortable and so, so warm. His warmth alone made you more relaxed and sleepy than you already were, though his comforting presence and the soft circles he was stroking along your legs, which had found their way into his lap, helped as well. “All you had to do was ask, I would have been ready any time”, Echo confessed. He was sure you could hear his heart beating from how close you were, maybe feel it as well, but at least you couldn’t see the colour rising to his cheeks. “Really?” You lifted your head from its place on Echo’s shoulder to look at him. He was even more beautiful from up close. With how the light was hitting his eyes just right and the slight colour on his cheeks he looked like a painting, a masterpiece you might see in a museum. “Really.” Echo couldn’t help but stare at you. Your eyes were bright, though that may be partly due to the fever, your lips shining and your breath smelled of the tea he had made earlier. He moved his arm from the back of the couch to your shoulder and went to cup your cheek in his hand, only to realize that he had once again used his prosthetic. “Stars, I’m still not used to that thing. I’m so sorry”, he apologized when he saw you flinch. Your gaze left Echo’s eyes and focused on his arm instead. There was no fear or disgust in your expression, no pity either, just plain curiosity. “It’s fine, I was just surprised by how cold it is. But I love it. I love it because it’s part of you and I love every part of you.” Did you really just say that? Surely Echo had to be dreaming. Any second now he’d wake up to hear his brother’s cursing or complaining about something. Or he’d be back in that hellhole on Skako Minor and realize that not only was this a dream, his rescue had been one as well. But even though he was sure this couldn’t be real, he had to ask. “You love me?” Now it was your turn to be shocked. You looked back at Echo’s face, moving your head so fast it made you dizzy. The reaction you had feared was nowhere to be found, instead love and longing were written all over his face. “Did I just say that out loud?” Echo nodded, there was nothing else he could do in that moment. “Damn, this cold must be hitting me harder than I thought”, you mumbled, hoping to get out of this situation by reminding Echo that you were sick. But no such luck. His hand, the flesh one this time, moved from your thigh up to your waist to pull you even closer. He leaned down to rest his forehead against yours before he whispered the next words. “(Y/N), please be honest; do you love me?” How could you ever lie to him? But any words seemed to have left you, so instead you leaned up to close the last few centimeters between your lips. The kiss was everything you had hoped it would be, everything you had dreamed of these last two years. Sweet and loving and longing, with just a hint of something more, something rougher and more urgent. To your dismay Echo parted from you sooner than you would have liked. “You didn’t answer my question.” You sighed. There was no escaping, not this time. “Yes, I love you. I only realized it when it was too late, or when I thought it was too late, and then you came back, but I didn’t want to burden you with this, not after everything you’ve been through, so I-” Before you could say anything else Echo interrupted you by pressing his lips against yours again. His hand was stroking along your waist while his scomp was pulling you closer by your neck. Your own hands found their way to his shoulders, and you clung to them to keep you upright. Now it wasn’t just the fever that was making you dizzy. “I love you too”, Echo told you between two kisses. He attached his mouth to yours again before he began trailing kisses all over your face and down your neck. “I think I fell in love with you the moment I first saw you.” Your eyes widened in surprise. How could he have known all this time and never tell you? Before you could even ask that question out loud he already gave you an answer. “I was so scared to tell you. I’m just a clone and you’re... you’re perfect. Fives kept telling me to ask you out, but I just couldn’t. On the way to the CItadel he finally convinced me to give it a shot, but you know how that went.” His words made your stomach turn. You had been so close, so incredibly close, to a happy ending. “And then I came back and you were still there and still as perfect as ever. If I couldn’t tell you how I felt before, it was even more impossible now. I wasn’t even just a clone anymore, I was less, not even really human.” Those last words broke your heart. Did Echo really think that’s how you saw him? As some machine? Is that how he saw himself? “Echo, my love, my darling, I would never think that, and you shouldn’t either. You’ve never been just a clone, you’ve always been Echo. And you’re still Echo, my Echo who I love so very much. It doesn’t matter that your body has changed, your mind and your heart are still the same, that’s what makes you you, that’s why I love you.” Echo could have sworn that he never loved you more than he did in that moment, not even that one time when you told someone off because they said something mean about clones. “I... Thank you”, he said and ended his sentences with the sweetest kiss to you cheek. You wanted to tell him that there was no need to thank you, but all of the sudden the cold took over your body again and your eyes felt heavier than ever before. Echo seemed to notice, because he loosened his grip on you and guided your head back to his shoulder. “Sleep now, we have all the time in the world tomorrow.” And sleep you did, in Echo’s arms, snuggled up under a blanket, hoping to wake up next to him after all this wasted time.

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I hope you liked this fic and are alright with the prompt choice I made. I kinda feel like this was more of a friends to lovers/mutual pining story, but it’s just a narrow line between the two that I have trouble writing one without the other...

#echo x reader #tbb echo x you #tbb echo x reader #tbb echo imagine #echo imagine #echo x you #arc trooper echo imagine #arc trooper echo x you #arc trooper echo x reader

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devildomdoofus · 4 years

Text

Winter Storm:Part 2

Asmodeus, Beelzebub, Belphegor

WARNINGS:

‼️contains spoilers from chp. 16‼️

[[angst, cursing, anxiety, fear/terror, depression, near death experiences, hypothermia, dehydration, fainting, severe pain, cliffhangers, unhealthy coping mechanisms, suggestive themes, if I missed any - please let me know!!]]

Author’s Note:

As you already know, I will forever apologize for my sluggishness but I hope that when I do get to posting, it is worth the wait 😣 I’m particularly proud of these pieces, especially Beel’s and Belphegor’s... the angst was fun to write and helped me let off some steam! Forgive me, but Asmo is kind of hard to write for as we’re practically polar opposites 😭 OH!! Since this is the final piece to my “Winter Storm” puzzle, I’ll be needing more requests so if you’ve got something on your mind that you wish to bring to life, send ‘em my way and I’ll do my best to help make it come true!! I’d love to hear what you lovely individuals have rattling around in your brains✨. As always, thank you kindly for your patience, your generosity and support, and thank you very much for hyping me up to write and continue writing. You’ve helped me in more ways than I can count. Stay ruling them all, MCs ❤️

- DevildomDoofus

Prologue/Part 1:

Asmodeus:

It was difficult letting you go on an adventure without him, especially since you were taking the camera with you and he was all dolled up to the nines, looking way too good to not be in the pictures you were going to take... but then you offered him a reward he simply couldn’t refuse, IF he were to be patient. You took him by the hand, gazed into his beautiful eyes, and whispered low enough that he had to lean in close to hear your proposition. “Wait for me here and when I get back, we can dip into the hot tub and sip our favorite drinks until we’re pruny.” He practically kicked you out of the door so that you could hurry back and fulfill your promise.

In the time that you were gone, he busied himself with intricately arranging yours and his belongings until he felt you’d be proud with his eye for organization. By then, you hadn’t returned in the time he felt you‘d said you’d be back but... if he went out looking for you now, he might not get to be warm and bubbly with you later on and damn it, he was going to get that time with you. Once again, he tried to find something to keep his mind off of saying ‘the devildom with it!’ and going after you anyway. He flipped through magazines, scrolled on his D.D.D., sang and danced to his favorite human songs on the radio, but eventually, all he could think about was you. Wondering if you were ok, if you were having fun without him, what kind of pictures you might be taking to show him later... “Ok, that’s it. MC, sweetie, you’ll just have to forgive me.” He donned his comfiest and cutest winter trend setter, lathered the remaining exposed skin in protective lotions and creams because he simply CANNOT have his skin cracking or breaking, and stepped out the door to come find you- “Unholy shit...” The sky had darkened and the wind had picked up immensely. This is not good. For him, his skin, and much less you. He had to find you and fast. He spotted markings on the trees and the piles of stones nearby and he tilted his head. He knelt down to pick up a stone and eyed it a moment before he brought it to his nose for a quick sniff. It smelled of the lotion he had given you on one of your birthdays and for a brief moment, his heart flutters. You wore it constantly because it reminded you of Asmo and whenever you were feeling down, you’d take a whiff of yourself to feel closer to him and whatever was bothering you would instantly vanish. You told him this and he never forgot it nor did he ever let you hear the end of how happy it made him. Emotional in nature, Asmodeus started to tear up a bit as his fear of losing you increased. If he couldn’t find you soon, you’d surely be in danger if you weren’t already. He continued after you like a bloodhound, following you primarily by scent as his vision was becoming obscured by the blinding snow and ice. In addition, he would call out your name, hoping that by some unholy miracle, you’d hear his voice and come trudging through the snow into his arms. Today, he wasn’t so lucky.

Before long, your trail of markings and scent waned into nothingness and he came to a halt. “No, no, no, noooo!!” He turned in circles, sniffing until it hurt to do so, desperately trying to pick up your scent again but it never came. “Damn it!!” he cried as he dropped to his knees, a bit exhausted and heavily defeated. He couldn’t catch the tears before they trickled from his eyes so instead, he held his face in his hands and let them go. How could he have let this happen? The only one he could love more than he loved himself was probably stuck out here alone, terrified, and most likely hanging on for dear life but he couldn’t do a damn thing about it because he couldn’t find you. He was so overcome by his feelings of weakness and hopelessness that he almost missed the echo of your voice crying out through the storm. Almost.

He perked up in an instant, stumbling back to his feet before chasing the sound and calling after you. “MC?! Where are you, love?!” Although there was no reply, he continued in the same direction with your scent having picked up, until he came across the makeshift shelter you held up in. As he crawled in and got closer to you, he came to a complete stop before his jaw dropped to the floor and heart concaved within his chest. You were lying there like-... like you had been lying once before like a broken porcelain doll, abandoned and forgotten by it’s owner. He covers his mouth with his hand and began to cry once more, only this time in much more pain. Crawling over to you, he takes one of your hands in his and brings it to his quivering lips, gingerly kissing your hand before taking the rest of you into his embrace. “Oh MC... My sweet, sweet MC,” he whispers through his tears, “I’m so sorry.” The lump in his throat strangles the words that try to come out. “So very sorry.” He clutches you tighter, leaning his head against yours and rocking you in his embrace, telling himself this is a horrible dream. He never imagined days would come when someone else’s wellbeing came before his and yet the moment you had made a pact with him, he was immediately catching himself thinking of you before he ever came close to thinking of himself. It was incredibly bizarre... and he only wanted more. Eventually, he came to the conclusion that if fewer thoughts of himself meant more thoughts of you, he’d gladly take himself off the pedestal and place you on top instead. Unfortunately, this newfound wondrous feeling wouldn’t last long as the possibility of losing his source of selflessness and humility was rapidly increasing.

“As..moo...” His crying stops and he jerks up, looking down at you. For a brief second, he thought he heard you speak but seeing as you looked the exact same, he assumed he was starting to hear things. Until you said it again. “A..sm..oooo.” Any human would have thought that their ‘cheese had slid off the cracker’ because now, they’re hearing voices from beyond the grave, but Asmodeus knew better. He saw the curving of the delicate lips that your frozen face had allowed and he gasped. “MC!!” He tugs you ever so closer and snug to him that your spine could’ve snapped if he hadn’t of pulled away seconds later to litter your profile with swift and gentle kisses. When he’s done showering you in his smooches of relief, he stands up with you cradled to his chest and flies to back to the cabin to try and bring you back to the MC who once inspired him to be more by thinking of himself less. Besides, you owed him a dip in the hot tub and he wasn’t about to let some horrible blizzard take that away.

Beelzebub:

When you told this man that you wanted to go on a little scavenger hunt to check out the area, he thought you meant you were going to go see what kind of food joints were nearby and he was a little heartbroken at first, thinking you were doing such a thing alone. Without him. The avatar of Gluttony. But you assured him that you two would go together to do that later, and then buy as many groceries, snacks, and take-outs as he pleases as soon as you got back from a quick sight seeing. You also mentioned that you might find some berry bushes on your outing and you would bring some of those berries back for him to try. His cheeks dimpled and he gave you that smile that made your heart do cartwheels in your chest. For his cooperation, you gave him the location of the secret but not so secret because he could smell them anyway stash of your packs of fruit snacks. Ever since the pact, he has never been offended that you had ‘secret’ stashes because he understood all too well why you had to hide them away. His brothers did the same. But even still, you would always, and I mean always, share parts of your food with him so all he really had to do was wait for you to get hungry and surprisingly enough, it was almost as often as he would. You two were a match made in the celestial realm that could eat take the world by storm and he could never really put into words how much that connection that the of you two shared meant to him other than sharing HIS food with YOU.

Thinking of all of this food inevitably made him hungry so he went to your luggage, fumbled around a bit until he found them, and then gobbled down the full packs of fruit snacks, one by one, to hold him over until you came back. He then shuffled over to the couch to plop himself down and wait for your return. Before long, he was shifting and fidgeting in his seat as the cabin started to creak in the uncomfortable silence. He tried watching tv, doing little exercises, and eating more snacks but nothing was helping ease the uneasy feelings he was having.

There were many times in his life where the world around him seemed uncomfortably quiet. Yes, he was technically used to bouts of quietness with Belphegor, the Avatar of Sloth himself, being his twin brother and roomie. But typically, Belphegor was at least in the vicinity; either quietly snoring across the room, resting himself against Beel in one way or another, or could be called on and they could reach each other in a matter of seconds. They were never too far apart nor were any of his other brothers for that matter, if Beel needed a distraction. But as life can be a bit unforgiving, Beel was left alone, on occasions, for long periods of time with nothing but his increasingly loud thoughts to keep him company. And mind numbingly loud they were. It would range between his memories from The Great War of battling angels he once called friends, his overwhelming guilt of not being able to save Lilith, a bit of leftover anger with Lucifer for locking his brother away and then lying to him about it, guilty anger over Belphegor’s attempt to kill you, but most of all... he’s bent to the point of breaking over the fact that he knows he has a problem with his sin, more so than his brothers, and yet celestial realm knows there’s absolutely nothing he can do about it and that is what hurts most of all. And when thoughts like these come knocking at- no- BEATING DOWN his door, he either works his body until he crashes from fatigue, goes on binges for months to drown them out, bottles it all up until it terrorizes him in his dreams, or all of the above. That is, until you came along. Whenever you’re around, his mind, body, and soul seem at peace, and no more does he feel that he is starving, or broken and in need of fixing, or so far beyond forgiveness for what he’s done and who he has become that no one should ever be around him again for he’d only hurt them in the end, unable to stop himself. With you around, the quiet nor his own mind are his enemies but rather, potential friends. Indeed, he still has his moments where the ‘darker’ silence still pays him visits but they have become fewer and farther in between. And it’s all because of you.

That being said, this is one of those ‘darker’ silence visits and before it can get any sort of footing in his mind, he shoots up from the couch and heads out of the door to come looking for you.

He noticed little digits in the trees and piles of stones lining up with a trail going in a particular direction. If he remembers correctly, Satan had once mentioned that humans used these types of techniques as a survival tool in order to find their way back or leave a trail to be found if need be. Wow, his human is a smart cookie- “Damn it.” Shouldn’t have thought that. His stomach growled as if it was summoned and he pats his belly in an effort to console it. “I know, I know. I’m sorry buddy. We’ll find MC soon and then we can go eat with them.” It practically purred in response.

Minutes passed of following your trail and the sky began to darken with the wind picking up, followed by the walls of snow and ice. This was unsettling as he knew that humans couldn’t really survive out in weather like this for long, no matter how smart or capable they were. It was even more unsettling that your markings had disappeared and you were nowhere in sight.

“MC!!” he calls after you but you don’t respond. He continues, over and over, calling after you yet only the wind calls back. There was only one solution left and it was one he didn’t particularly like. He could use his ability as the Avatar of Gluttony to enhance his senses and sniff you out but... the problem was in the fact that he only ever used it when he was particularly starving, so inherently, whenever he zeroed in on something, he was going to eat it when he found it. This didn’t bode well for you considering you, in particular, had an exceptionally appetizing scent and it was extremely difficult to ignore, even with a full belly on the rare occasions that it is and out of his demon form. But because he was out of options and time was running out on the possibility of finding you alive, he had no other choice than to shift into his demon form and zero in on your scent. By Lord Diavolo, it was immaculate. The oh so sweet aroma was speaking sweet nothings to his stomach and the growl it emitted could shake the earth, if not hidden away under flesh and bone. He could make out a ghostly outline of your old footprints, beneath layers of snow, leading in one particular direction. He followed blindly, his hunger now at the wheel and in full on stalking mode as an apex predator on the prowl. It lead him in a few circles before ending up at the miniature shelter and by now, your scent was overwhelmingly delectable to his senses. He ducked low and could make out your silhouette in the darkness. Inching towards you, his nails turned to darkened claws and his teeth bared themselves with an impending goal to devour you whole until there was no trace of you but the outline of the snow of where you once laid- “NO!!”

Beelzebub stripped his sin from the reigns of his mind and he dropped to his knees beside you before it could begin it’s feast. He shook his head, trying to completely erase the thoughts of consuming your body and the immensely alluring smell that lead him to you in the first place. He then looked back to you and your drooping, solidified form and couldn’t hold back the tears that started to trickle down his face. “M-MC...?” Your heart would’ve shattered, just as his did in that moment, upon hearing the pain in his voice. “MC, no... please don’t do this.” He takes your head in his hands and turns your vacant, expressionless face towards him to try and get you to wake up. His thumbs trace circles over your cheeks and he’s calling your name but with no reply. The hands that are usually ever so steady and gentle with you, the hands that you’ve come to love with your whole heart, now shake in bits of agony as he pleads with his entire existence for you to wake up and come back to him. You continue to lay there, upon the cold, hard stone with your empty eyes looking right through Beelz’s and he can’t take it anymore. He lifts you into his arms and races back to the cabin with your limbs dangling towards the snow. Once there, he gingerly places you on the couch and flies around the cabin, grabbing the things he needs to get you warm and bring you back to him. He strips you of your wet clothes and dresses you anew in dry pairs. He throws a plethora of blankets over your body, covers your hands with fuzzy mittens and your feet in multiple pairs of fuzzy socks, then wraps a scarf around your neck and adjusts it so that it comes up to just beneath the opening of your nose. Lastly, he tosses firewood into the fireplace and sets them ablaze before settling onto the couch, placing you between his legs and wrapping his large arms around your frame, snuggling his face into the crook of the scarf around your neck. He inhales deeply, taking the sweet scent of you into his lungs before exhaling and letting his tears fall again. His grip on you tightens as he’s torturing himself for allowing this to happen to you a second time, the one and only person who could ever really take all of the darkness in his life into the palm of their hands and toss it to the four corners of the earth like it never existed. Like it never even knew his name in the first place. Now it was his turn to take away your pain, your darkness, your mistakes and it terrified him because as much as he hated to admit it, he didn’t feel as if he could, no matter how strong he was or tried to be. The only thing he was certain of was that he had try his damndest to bring you back but then wait for fate to decide the rest.

Belphegor:

To be honest, Belphegor didn’t exactly want to come up to the human world in the first place, for a couple of reasons.

(1): He still has a teeny tiny ginormous grudge against humans, even if he knows Lilith became one and you were one as well. That didn’t mean that the rest of them were not still thorns in his side and most likely will remain so until the end of time. Especially Solomon. I mean really, what is that sorcerer up to half of the time?

(2): There isn’t much he prefers to be doing more so other than sleeping. He’s the Avatar of Sloth, Mr. Sandman himself. It came with the ‘job description.’ So he would just be going from sleeping down in the devildom, his palace of comfort, to sleeping up in that Father awful human world, the bane of his existence. “What a joy that would be,” he thought to himself while rolling his eyes as you were in the midst of going over all of the reasons he should come with you on this trip.

And finally (3): As much as he refuses to admit it, deep down in his heart of hearts, he often times feels guilty for being so low energy while you attempt to do things with him and share your life with him. He’s angry with himself for not being able to do much about it given that it is his sin, other than try his best to spend as much of his waking hours with you as he can for as long as you live, rather than sleeping both of them away. Which is why he inevitably caved and agreed to come with you on the trip. Besides, maybe the human world isn’t so bad when he’s with his favorite one? And maybe the chill from the snowy mountains could be his obvious excuse for snuggling ever so close to you under the piles of blankets and pillows. A smug little smirk tugs at the corner of his mouth while he imagines it, eyeing your frame slowly, up and down, before nodding at whatever you had just said... sorry, MC. He wasn’t really listening at the time.

That is how the two of you ended up waving goodbye as you stepped out of the cabin to go sight seeing for a bit and he stayed behind, assuring you he would try his best to stay awake and unpack. We both know how that went

He awoke to the sound of an alarm you had secretly set on his D.D.D. knowing all too well that his promise was empty and growled at the ringing in his ear, nevermind that it was as soft as a loving mother’s lullaby. He jerks up, fumbles his hands in and around the mountain of blankets in search of his device, until he feels the vibrations of it and snatches it from its snug hiding place between his rump and the cushions. The light from it was blinding, having him squint into a frown as he swipes away the alarm. He grumbles, scratching his head through the tuffs of chaos before lifting his intertwined fingers towards the ceiling and letting out a groan, stretching his limbs. “MC?” he calls with his eyes still closed in a grumpy squint. Assuming you simply didn’t hear him, he calls for you again, a little louder, and with no reply for the second time, his eyes finally open and he looks around the empty cabin. He wiggles out of the blankets and walks around, giving the entire cabin a quick once-over, looking for his little, seemingly hard-of-hearing human. That’s odd. You weren’t home and it was-...? He checks his D.D.D. It was about the time you said you would be back. He glances out of a nearby window and frowns. It was swiftly darkening outside and not because of the sun laying down to rest, but due to a vicious storm beginning it’s onslaught. It ticked him off that you hadn’t returned since he felt that you knew better than to leave him waiting for you and it ticked him off a little bit more that now, there was a storm brewing and he had to go out in the cold to drag you back himself before you got yourself killed. Being here was pointless without you and staying awake was quite difficult; Therefore, if you weren’t going to be there with him when he happened to be ‘with the land of the living,’ he would simply go back to sleep... angrily for that matter considering he put time and effort into staying awake for you. He never did that for anyone, not even Beel. So you had better have a good reason for still being out in the cold, soon to be cold storm, or there was going to be devildom to pay. But instead of laying back down to return to his rudely interrupted slumber, as much as he wanted to do so out of spite, he grabbed a coat that was thicker than the one he typically wore and stepped out to come looking for you and then eventually punish you for your transgressions. He sighed as he pulled the hood over his head in an effort to reduce the blasts of ice filled wind and shambled through the rising snow, looking high and low for any traces of you. That’s when he noticed the carvings in the trees and stone piles shaped in an odd fashion. “Ah... not so naive after all,” he mutters to himself and another one of his signature smirks makes its way to his face, but that soon fades as the wind picks up and his line of sight shrinks further and further. This storm was becoming a bit too strong, even in the eyes of a demon such as himself, and that thought alone gave him chills that no blizzard could muster for he knew that this kind of storm was not something humans typically survive in, especially alone. “MC, I swear on Diavolo’s very demon soul that if you’re out here goofing off, you’ll regret the day you came back from my attempt to kill you.” The threat was empty and uttered without any true intention of being carried out. He was simply masking his fear with anger because he felt that his fear would weaken him and you didn’t need someone who was weak, you needed a strong and capable Belphegor to find you and bring you back home, safe and sound... being that you’re still alive.

He followed your trail until it came to a complete stop and with you nowhere in sight, he leaned against a nearby tree, one of the last ones you had marked, and traced his finger along the outline of the markings in the bark. “MC!!” He shouts for you but you don’t respond. He shouts your name over and over but the wind simply swallows them whole. Those fingers he once had on the bark, curled and tightened into a fist and he inhaled deeply just as he was rearing back before delivering an earth shaking blow to the center of the tree, leaving a gaping hole in its wake before the giant finally slunk to one side, toppled to the ground, and sent clumps of snow up in the air. His body shook no longer from the cold, but from the fear and the rage and the guilt overtaking him. He was terrified that he was losing you. Angry over the fact that no matter how hard he was trying, he couldn’t find you, much less save you. And celestial realm only knows how immensely guilty he felt for being the cause of your possible death, both in the past and now. He was shifting in and out of his demon form, his mind and sin arguing over who gets to take the reigns. Regrettably, his sin won without too much of a struggle and he bursts into his demon form onto his hands and knees, and began to scream, balling his eyes right out of his skull. “Please, MC!! For fuck’s sake, I can’t do this alone!! I need you, damn it!! I need you so fucking much!!” The world itself seemed to darken even further as Belphegor poured his breaking heart right out of the newly vacant pit in his chest. Nothing in all of the three realms could pull him from his decent into madness...

...until the sound of your voice makes it way to his ears, past the baying wind and cries of agony. Time itself seemed to stand still and the world around him grew deathly silent as he listened for your voice. He hears it echo from not too far off from where he kneeled. In the time it takes lightning to reach the earth, he has wiped his tears clean off and is now on his feet and bolting in the direction of your voice. That oh so delightful sound of your voice.

He reaches the knockoff shelter that you hid away in and hunches down, making his way to you. As soon as he reaches you, he slows to a stop and places his trembling fingers against your neck, testing for a pulse. It’s dangerously low but his heart lightly flutters because now he knows there’s a chance that you could make it out alive... if he hurries. Refusing to give up, he takes you in his arms and bolts back to the cabin to try and warm you up. If he can save you, he will make the celestial realm seem pale in comparison to the world he will provide for you. If not... Father have mercy on them all.

#obey me #obey me shall we date #otome #mine #my posts #devildomdoofus #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #obey me mc #asmodeus #beelzebub #belphegor #mc

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honeypirate · 4 years

Text

Day Off pt 1

Toshinori Yagi/ All Might x Y/n

Pt two

This is definitely not how you thought your Saturday off was going to go.

You woke up early to head to the farmers market, you loved the crisp autum air and the sound of vendors. The farmers market was one of your favorite places to come and people watch, you found the nicest people here. You bought a cup of hot apple cider, some fresh veggies, and a bouquet of flowers before starting the walk back to your apartment. You were a couple doors down when you saw a big, deliciously handsome, back of a man with blonde hair.

Then you realized it was All Might.

Then you realized he was naked.

“Ma’am! If you could be of some assistance!” He says when he spots you. He was holding the tattered remnants of clothing around his privates “could I borrow your phone and maybe some sweats?” He laughed awkwardly and you couldn’t contain the laughter that took you over. You had tears in your eyes, “I’m sorry. I really am” laughter “I just” you snort laughed “I didn’t expect this. Please come inside, All Might” you laugh as you unlock your door and walk inside with him behind you. You clear your throat as you set your bags down on the counter. “Come with me and I’ll find you some clothes. Will you tell me what happened?” You walk into your bedroom and he follows you in an awkward waddle “well I was in an interview and I wasn’t in .. this state.. I usually wear big suits but this time I had on a tailored suit.. I was walking back to my place when a fan wanted a picture so when I used my quirk, my suit shredded from my body and I quickly ran, now naked and lost, and I lost my phone in the process. it was only a few minutes before you showed up and helped me. Which I am really grateful for and will repay you for your kindness” he says with a small bow with causes you to laugh again “well in case you’ll use your quirk again I’ll give you my comfiest favorite sweats, they are a big men’s size so you’ll be fine if any more fans want a picture. Personally I’d want a picture with you normal.” Shit was that insensitive? You were panicking, he was your favorite hero and you were nervous and you tried to play it cool “Not that you aren’t incredibly handsome and charming like this” you try to dig yourself out of this hole, kind of awkwardly word vomiting “all I am saying is, you’re amazing and handsome no matter what you look like.” You sigh and find the shirt you were looking for “I have men’s shirts that I sleep in so don’t worry about it beings girls.” You set the clothes down on the top of the dresser and turn to him with a smile trying to pretend you didn’t just call him handsome so many times, your face flushed and embarrassed “you can change in my room here or there is a bathroom across the hall. I’m going to be in the kitchen and oh” you pull your phone out of your back pocket “the passcode is 1489” you set the phone down too then you smile up at him and his heart stops at how beautiful you are to him. As you walk out of the room he says “I can’t thank you enough Ma’am.” You stop in the doorway, not looking back at him “Y/n! My name is f/n l/n. But since we met in these circumstances you can call me f/n” you laugh and then go out into the kitchen.

Toshinori -

The moment you left the room he let go of his big form and deflates. She had shocked him speechless with her cute awkwardness and how many times you called him handsome. In either state you think he’s handsome. His heart was out of control as he walked into the bathroom thinking about you. “This woman is most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen and I’m standing in her bathroom putting on her clothing.” He whispers to his reflection in the mirror and noticed he was blushing. As he pulled on your favorite black sweats and a plain white shirt he noticed that he actually looks good in it, but he couldn’t help but think about seeing you in this outfit, knowing you’d look better in it than him. Even though it’s big sweats he finds himself wanting to get to see you in every aspect of life. Dressed up, dressed down, but with him. For him. He opens your phone and smiles at your phone background of you with a baby wearing a onesie that says “if you think I’m cute you should see my aunt” he makes his phone call to Nezu, saying he had a mishap and will be late back to the school and will explain everything then he called a cab to take him back. He then walked out into your kitchen a little nervous to see you again. “There you are” you said with a big smile when he came around the corner. And his heart stopped again. You looked at him with the same kind and accepting eyes as you did when he was big.

You-

He came around the corner in his normal self and you realized that he was even more handsome now. “There you are” you felt butterflies in your chest which confused you. This was a retired pro hero, one who you always had a celebrity crush on, but you convinced yourself that there was no way after this experience that he’d ever think of you romantically, you laughed until you cried at him naked and then awkwardly word vomited about his looks. There’s no coming back from that. “You look better in those sweats than I do” you laugh and walk around the kitchen counter to stand in front of him “I’m sorry I don’t have any shoes that will fit you, are you still walking?” You asked and let your eyes take in his features. You feel lucky to see him up close and intimate like this. “No I uh. I called a cab they should be here soon” he hands you your phone “I cannot thank you enough. I’ll have your clothes dry cleaned and returned to you” you take your phone and your fingers brush, you swear you felt literal sparks “don’t worry about it really. You can keep the sweats when you eventually fall in love with their comfort like I did. I’ll get another pair. Do you want a drink or are you hungry or need anything else? Anything at all. My way of giving back to a hero” he can’t help but smile this whole time, you were so sweet and so accepting. He felt incredibly comfortable around you and he felt like he was home. “I’m always hungry but you don’t have to go out of your way for me any more than you already have” you laugh “All Might don’t worry about it. I have some cold soba that I made last night. It should be good. Take it with you” you get it out of the fridge and prepare it for him to go. “Toshinori Yagi, call me Yagi” you smile at him and he melts for the fifth time in the last thirty minutes he’s been in your home. “You know, you saved me once,” you began while tying up the food “I was on the train, I was the last one that you still went back to save. Just think of this as my way of repaying you for saving my life.” You hand him the package and he doesn’t know what to say. “Y/n..” the way he says your name brings your butterflies back to life in your belly but before he finishes your phone beeps with a text from the cab driver saying he was there. “Looks like it’s time to go” you say and walk him to the door “I’m really quite honored to have met you, I wish you didn’t have to go so soon I was really enjoying our time together” you rest your hand on his bicep as you say this, squeezing lightly and he feels sparks go up and down his arm “I feel the same” he says with a laugh “I didn’t expect today to go like this but I am very happy it did” his smile sets your heart ablaze and you wish you could see it every day as intimately as this “well” he noticed the change of slight sadness in your voice now “you better go, don’t miss your cab” you drop your hand and he misses the warmth and pressure “thank you again, y/n” he says and then he walks out of your apartment. You close the door and sit down on your couch, your apartment suddenly felt empty and lonely. You’re kicking yourself for not giving him your number. Your day goes by fairly quickly after that, met up with your sibling for dinner before getting ready for your night on patrol. You get to your job working with Gunhead’s agency and put on your hero costume which includes an ear piece that is a direct link back to the agency, your secretary giving you updates and forwarding calls to you there, a full face mask, and white thigh high reinforced boots that made you feel like kicking ass. You go out on your patrol, your area being a little smaller than usual tonight but you’re not complaining just feeling like it’s going to be a slow night.

A few hours into your patrol, around 8pm, your ear piece beeps before your secretary’s voice comes through “Manta! You have a phone call from your personal number” the secretary said over your ear piece. You press the little button on the side before telling her to patch them through. “Hello?” “Y/n! It’s All Might! Er, Toshinori Yagi. I was at your house today?” His voice made your heart race and he sounded nervous which caused you to chuckle at the cuteness. “Yes Yagi. I remember. How did you get my number?” You are a little confused. He used your phone but did he call himself?? “I just stopped by your place to drop off your clothes I dry cleaned and your neighbor gave me your number.” You smiled thinking fondly of your lovely elderly neighbor, Mrs. Lynn. “I told you that you could keep the sweats. I know you love them as much as I do” you heard his laugh and it made your chest warm “oh no you’re not getting those back” he jokes “I’m never taking them off” you laughter is his favorite sound now, he wants to live the rest of his life making you laugh as his calling. “That’s what I expected no worries.” You suddenly felt gutsy, you weren’t letting him get away again and you weren’t going to be disappointed because you didn’t make a move “Hey Yagi? How would you feel about getting breakfast with me in the morning? I’m on patrol right now but I want to see you again.” “That why I was calling you! I was gonna see if you wanted to get a late dinner with me now. But I guess that’s my answer” he chuckles “yea I’d really love to see you again.....Wait.....I didn’t recognize you today. What agency do you work with?” You laugh “Gunhead’s. You wouldn’t have recognized me. Well. Maybe my hair. I’m the number 13 hero” “YOU’RE MANTA?” He was so shocked “I thought that you’d wear your mask all the time. I have so many questions I can’t believe I met you I’m such a huge fan” he was talking so fast and you thought he was so cute. “I’ll answer all your questions tomorrow morning! eight am! there’s a good breakfast cafe that’s near my place, I’ll text you the address. But I unfortunately have to go back to work now” “I’m so excited I can’t believe the beautiful woman I met today is the amazing hero Manta. I’m so lucky! Okay I’ll meet you there Y/n. Be safe!” He called you beautiful and it made your heart skip and butterflies fill your chest “See you tomorrow, Yagi” you hang up with a laugh and then tou ask your secretary to text the cafe location to the number who called. You’re happy he called so quick, there was a part of you that thought he wouldn’t return or that he’d send back your stuff in the mail. This turned out a lot better than you thought it would and you couldn’t help but smile for the rest of your patrol.

#mha #mha fanfiction #bnha fanfiction #my hero academia toshinori #toshinori x you #mha toshinori #yagi toshinori #toshinori yagi x you #toshinori yagi x reader #mha yagi #toshinori x reader #bnha toshinori #toshinori x y/n

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adventuresindolls · 3 years

Text

Meet Lexie Chapter 3: What Flying Feels Like

(Aside: I know in the story Sophie gets chocolate ice cream and this is clearly a popsicle, but it's the closest I had)

Sophie's friend did come over the next day after Sunday school, but Lexie hardly saw them. She hardly noticed anything that day. Over breakfast, Papa had announced that as a treat to make up for moving, and to forget new school anxiety, they would be going to the County Fair every day this week. Lexie hadn't heard anything said to her since then.

Fairs were thrilling. They meant rare treats and delicious smells and rows of bright booths to hop between. Sophie and Lexie had an ongoing system where they would run around as buddies between the game booths and the ones selling pretty necklaces and giving away paper fans. But when Lexie started to get overwhelmed, they would go together to the 4-H building to look at pretty dresses and pictures of flowers. It was air conditioned in there and much quieter than the rest of the fair. Sometimes Lexie would find a cool corner to sit and read the book she always carried while Sophie found a play area or other kids to talk to.

But best of all were the rides.

They usually went for one day a year. But this year was special—5 whole days of excitement! It was hard for Lexie to think about anything else all day. She read the same page 6 times, lost a Mario game badly to Sophie, and finally went for a long walk around the new neighborhood. She saw a bunch of kids outside playing in sprinklers or shooting Nerf guns at each other, all younger than her. She only got 3 blocks away before deciding it was too hot and turning around. The rest of the day was spent curled up on the couch watching her favorite magic girl anime, which the conversation at shul the day before had reminded her she liked.

She woke up way too early on Monday. By the time Papa called her for breakfast, she had finished her favorite book again and rearranged her stuffed animals. After her usual bowl of dry cereal, she put on her favorite space-themed dress and her comfiest velcro shoes and was pulling on the car door handle before Daddy even had the picnic basket closed.

Lexie had never been to these particular fairgrounds before, but they were as bright and full as she expected. The day wasn't hot yet, which was perfect for running around. They each got $5 for a snack so they didn't have to regroup until lunch.

"What about buying fair stuff?" Lexie asked.

"You can have souvenir money on Friday," Papa told her. "Otherwise you'll buy one thing today and find something better tomorrow."

They ran through the rows of stalls, stuffing Sophie's overall pockets and Lexie's narwhal purse with free pencils in every color of the rainbow and candy they definitely weren't supposed to eat yet. Lexie only had a couple chocolate kisses, but before they reached the end of the lane Sophie had eaten six.

They spent the morning looking at every single booth and spinning prize wheels until they got bored. Having pushed the absolute limit of their patience, they made it as far as 11 o'clock before heading for the games.

Lexie went straight for the ducky fishing game. They had a giant octopus as the big prize. The smiling man handed her a fishing pole and told her to go for it.

She did not immediately go for it. She thought the duck she was aiming for—the little gold one—was about three and half feet away. How hard would she have to swing to hit it without overreaching?

"Hey, are you gonna go?" The man looked a little less smiley now.

Lexie blamed him startling her for why the first time the line went flying past the entire tank. It was much closer the second time, but still plopped into the water an inch away from its goal.

"That's alright!" The man encouraged her. "Try one more time!"

"No, thanks," Lexie politely told him and dashed away before he could try to convince her. She had just remembered that she wanted to save her remaining 8 tickets for rides.

The next thing she remembered was that she hadn't heard Sophie's chatter in a long time. She would be in so much trouble if dads found her alone.

Even worse, something might happen to Sophie, who was "not the most responsible or cautious" kid.

The crowds around her seemed to double suddenly. They were mostly adults or teenagers much taller than her and she couldn't see more than three feet in any direction.

"Sophie?" She meant to call out, but it came out as barely a whisper. That happened sometimes.

Lexie ran up and down the aisles of games and all around the rides next to them. Surely her sister wouldn't be bored enough among the flashing lights and interactive booths to wander back to the ones she had no money for. She tried and failed twice more to call for Sophie, but she doubted even at her loudest she could be heard over the thousand conversations that buzzed around her.

She was about to give up and go find her fathers—who were probably listening to one of the free concerts—and enlist their help whatever the consequences (she was pretty sure by now that Sophie was being murdered or had fallen down a magically appearing manhole) when she spotted her long dark hair by a food booth in a far corner.

"Where have you been?" Lexie wanted to be angry, but instead she felt like crying.

"Right here," Sophie's voice was muffled by a bite of chocolate ice cream, "Where have YOU been?"

"You ran off! You can't do that! We have to stay together."

"I didn't run off. I stopped 'cause I wanted to play something different."

"You have to tell me that!" Lexie really wasn't about to admit that she was mostly embarrassed she hadn't made sure Sophie, who had ADHD and was known to get distracted, was with her.

"Don't yell at me!" Sophie was getting mad.

"Alright, I'm sorry," Lexie finally relented. She gave Sophie a quick hug, which was so rare for her—too much touch made her brain go staticky—that Sophie stopped arguing. "Let's go ride the rides. What's wrong?"

"I don't have any tickets left." Sophie's eyes were wide with surprise and disappointment. "I played a bunch of games, and I didn't even win anything. Can I have one of your tickets?"

Lexie looked down at her sister's tear-filled eyes and felt a sudden sense of protectiveness. She planned so Sophie didn't have to. "You can have two. But only if you tell me where you're going."

"Ok!" Sophie's face instantly brightened.

The rides were all bright colors and flashing lights and quick movements. Lexie didn't even know where to focus and let Sophie lead the way, finishing her ice cream and chattering away about how cool every ride was.

And then she saw the swings.

It had always been her dream to ride that one. It was always more pastel than neon and it looked like fun. Just like spinning on the playground swings but MORE. She had wanted to last year but got too scared at the last minute, even though Papa promised to go with her.

"Sit here and hold my purse. I'll be back." She barely glanced to make sure Sophie obeyed before skipping to wait in line. It seemed very soon that a teenager with a green mohawk took her ticket and motioned her up the metal step. Up close, the ride seemed much bigger, but no one else was hesitating to strap themselves in. Swallowing, she grabbed the chains on the closest chair and pulled herself up into it.

She was still pretty sure it was a good idea, right up until a different teenager came by and pulled the metal bar down on her lap. All of a sudden, she kind of wanted to go back to fishing for ducks. She glanced through the crowd to find Sophie, who was still on the bench and completely ignoring her, her favorite otter in one hand and the other covered in melted ice cream.

Lexie gasped and grabbed the chains with both hands at the first jerk of movement. Several people around her giggled, and she heard at least one "Oh!" of surprise. Very slowly, the ride began to spin and rise into the air. She was torn between stomach-dropping anxiety at being so high and absolute delight at all she could see. The rows of booths looked like brightly colored handkerchief squares. The people swarmed like ants—at least, she thought, there were no crowds up here. She soon lost track of Sophie. And then she could see beyond the fair, to the tiny houses of the city itself. The taller buildings downtown looked like shiny metal twigs. She forgot to be worried.

They were spinning faster. And faster. It wasn't scary up here, really, it was wonderful. It was like everything she'd always wanted to feel when she spun herself until she fell down or kicked her legs to swing as high as possible. It was impossible to describe. Like everything that was always too loud and too bright just stopped. Like there was no such thing as feeling trapped and panicked in a crowd. Like nothing existed but her and the seat and spinning. Like she could stay up here forever. She kicked her legs, making her chair wiggle.

It couldn't actually last forever, of course, and almost before she knew it they were slowing. Her stomach dropped again, this time with disappointment, and her legs nearly collapsed beneath her when she first stumbled out of the chair and through the metal gate.

She found Sophie on the same bench where she'd left her, the remainder of her ice cream staining her hands, face, and overalls, but miraculously not Elliot the Otter. Lexie briefly considered telling her to go wash up, then decided it wasn't worth it.

"Hi! I'm gonna go ride the rollercoaster!"

"Ok."

Sophie hopped up and stuffed Elliot back into her pocket. "What are you gonna ride next?"

"The swings."

"Again?" Sophie looked at her like riding the same ride twice was the weirdest thing she'd heard that day.

But Lexie couldn't help grinning at the thought of freedom and flight. "Yeah."

#American girl dolls #Our Generation #AG spinoff #Lexie's series #my dolls #Lexie #Sophie

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ohdearhiddles · 4 years

Text

request: can you do a one shot where Tom is filming for some new series or something and hasn’t answered his phone all day and he gets super apologetic because he doesn’t want the reader to feel like he’s ignoring her??

TITLE: Deserving Better

WORD COUNT: 1728

AUTHOR NOTES/WARNINGS: literally the tiniest amount of angst possible, and kinda fluffy towards the end -- also this is my first time posting a one shot to this account so i hope its not too shabby (( i also already posted this but messed up so here it is again oops ))

You were never one to complain about people’s schedules, even when they made you feel slightly lonely. Everyone around you, including yourself, had a life outside of just friendships and romantic relationships. This was something you had to constantly remind yourself every time you found that your texts and calls were going unanswered for hours, sometimes days, on end. It was something you silently chanted to yourself especially now.

It was a typical Friday for you, a rare day off from work, that was meant to be completely stress free. Today was supposed to be no exception to this “no stress” rule you had made for off days; however, no matter how much you tried, relaxing just wasn’t on the agenda. You had woken up to a sweet text message from your most recently acquired boyfriend, Tom Hiddleston. Although the two of you had only known each other for a few short months, it felt as though you both had found your endgame. This wasn’t spoken in conversation, of course, but it was obvious in the way you treated each other that there was something between you that neither of you had found in anyone else.

You were sitting on the sofa in the comfiest clothes you could find, snacking on some popcorn as the 4th movie of the day’s credits rolled across the screen. It was 8:03pm, and for some odd reason you couldn’t shake this weight on your chest no matter how much you tried. Tom had started filming at 9am, he had told you this in the text. Surely they had finished their filming by now, right?

Sighing, you grabbed your phone from between the couch cushions where you had purposefully shoved it in hopes that you wouldn’t stare at it all day. You carefully read the text he sent again:

“Good morning, darling. You’re probably sleeping still, I hope this text doesn’t wake you. I start filming at 9, but text me whenever you wake up.”

You read the text a couple more times just for the sake of feeling the wave of happiness it sent through you. Seconds later, you decided to put the phone back where you had it a minute ago.

Tom was a thoughtful man, always caring, always sweet. When the two of you started dating, he made it clear that he would be quite busy right off the bat, but he would try his hardest to make time for you. After a string of bad relationships, you weren’t so sure of the idea of dating an actor, let alone an actor that was quite well known. Tom was extremely convincing, though.

Well, to be honest, you didn’t need much convincing. All he really had to do was look into your eyes, kiss the back of your hand, and smile his award-winning smile. That was all it took to sweep you right off your feet, and you didn’t regret it one bit.

Tom was right, of course. He was extremely busy. One month after your first date, he was already planning on filming for a new series in the city. You shared your excitement with him with drinks, kisses, and a passionate night, but it didn’t stop you from feeling like this could be a test so early on in a relationship. The same question kept popping up in your head after that:

Could you really handle not hearing from him all the time? Would he miss anniversaries? Birthdays? Holidays?

You kept telling yourself that yes, of course. That didn’t do much for your mind in the long-term as the days passed. Tom had already called for a rain-check on date night once or twice in the past couple months. You had brushed it off for the most part because it could be much worse.

He had told you to text him when you woke, and you did. At least, you could have sworn you did. Groaning at your own impatience, you quickly grabbed the phone again to make sure you had hit send on the text from this morning. You did. You also saw that you definitely hit send on the text you sent at 3:21pm, asking whether or not Tom had eaten lunch. He probably didn’t.

You gently tapped the message box for the millionth time since you woke up. There were multiple texts that you had almost sent throughout the day, but the last thing you wanted to do was seem clingy when he already told you that he was going to be busy. Realistically, you knew he wasn’t ignoring you, but in the back of your head you had already begun to worry if he was tired of you when he had so many beautiful celebrities in his midst at all times. He wasn’t a typical man that you meet and go on a few dates with, and you knew this very well.

Your thumbs hovered over the keyboard, dancing in the air as you thought of something, anything, to say that was enough reason to text. Slowly but surely, you decided that it was probably best to just ask if they were done filming yet. So that’s what you did.

As the 5th movie of your day began coming to a close, meaning that it was most likely close to 11pm, you wondered if Tom was ever going to answer his phone. He hadn’t gone this long not responding before and that thought only made it worse in your mind. What if he was now completely annoyed that you had asked if they were done filming? As silly as the thought was, you couldn’t help but contemplate it. Just as you finished running through the endless possibilities from his annoyance to him somehow ending up hospitalized, your phone began to ring.

Upon picking up the device, all the worries vanished from your mind. A cheeky photo of Tom kissing your temple showed on the screen: his contact photo. You let out a breath you had probably been holding all day right as you hit the answer button.

“Hello?” You answered the call, a sheepish grin on your face as if to hide your embarrassment.

“Y/N, darling, I am so sorry for not answering your texts.” Tom’s voice poured through the phone. He sounded frantic, every word seemingly rushing in order to explain himself. “I left my phone in my car and by the time I realized I left it, we were starting to film.”

“It’s alright,” you said. Ten minutes ago, it most certainly wasn’t alright, but you wouldn’t let that show especially with him sounding so flustered about the situation. “You don’t need to worry about it.”

“No, no,” he shushed you, “I even told you to text me when you woke up, but I didn’t have the blasted thing on me. Love, please forgive me.”

You let out a small laugh, “All is forgiven.”

“Are you sure?” He pressed on.

“I’m pretty sure.”

“Then,” he drew out the word as something in the background of the call began rustling, “I suppose I should go back home.”

Confused by his statement, you sat up. Tom was quite unpredictable, and for some reason you felt as though he was up to something right now.

“Home? Are you not home yet?” You asked, trying to hide the overwhelming curiosity that had taken you over.

“Well, not quite, I got some Chinese take out in hopes that my girlfriend would forgive me of my wrongdoings,” he sighed dramatically through the phone, pausing for some dramatic effect. “But I guess that won’t be necessary since she says that I’ve already been forgiven.”

“No,” you rushed out, slipping off the couch and running towards your bathroom. Your hair was a mess and you looked as if you had just crawled out of bed. Granted, you had definitely been sitting on the couch for the past 10 hours, but Tom didn’t need to know that. If he saw you like this, though, he would definitely know that. “Not forgiven. I want the take out, give me a second.”

You could hear his laugh through the phone as the sound of his car door closing made you move ten times faster. You threw the phone onto your bed, running to the bathroom to fix your hair and gargle some mouthwash so that Tom wouldn’t be able to smell the hundreds of different snacks you had consumed in one sitting. A full minute passed before there was a knock at the door. Fumbling for your phone, you saw that he had already ended the call.

As quickly as you could, you went to open the door. The second your eyes fell on him, you stilled. It wasn’t just takeout; he had brought the entire brigade with him as an apology. He held a bouquet of your favorite flowers with the takeout in one hand, and in the other he held a bottle of wine. Tom smiled at the shocked expression on your face before pressing a quick kiss to your cheek and letting himself inside.

After slipping off his shoes and placing the food and flowers on the table, he made his way over to where you stood. His tall frame loomed over you as he placed his hands on your hips, placing a tender kiss on your forehead.

“You didn’t have to go this far,” you said, head tilted to look at the small distance between the two of you.

“Didn’t I?” He breathed, pulling your body closer until his hands wrapped around your waist and rested at the small of your back. “I didn’t want you to think I was ignoring you, I know how you get sometimes.”

You held your breath. Tom knew that your past relationships went sour because of lack of communication and because you had a tendency to overthink, but you never realized that he was taking that into account. It started to click in your mind as you recalled his promises to make time for you, to be there for you, and to try his hardest to make things work. He had done all of that for you, because he was thinking of you.

“Thank you,” you whispered perhaps too quietly for him to even hear it.

Tom heard it, and as he tilted your chin up to look at him, his smile showed that he did.

#tom hiddleston #tom hiddleston x reader #tom hiddleston imagine #tom hiddleston imagines #ohdearhiddles imagines #hiddleston imagine #imagines

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cali-holland · 5 years

Text

Fakin’ It- Shawn Mendes One Shot

Pairing: Shawn Mendes X Reader

Prompt: You absolutely hate Shawn Mendes, so being a fake relationship with him is the worst thing for you… kind of...

Word Count: 4500 words

Based On: Perfect Situation by Weezer

Tag List: @cutefluffy89 @peterparkyourassonme

Masterlist Shawn Mendes Masterlist

*Gif is not mine*

~~~

Two Years Ago...

“Niall, I thought you said it was a low key party.” You groaned when you spotted him in his kitchen,

“It is.” He laughed and pulled you into a hug. You could smell the beer coming off him, making you laugh all on your own.

When your close friend had invited you to his place for a ‘small party’ while you visited Ireland, you of course agreed. Both you and Niall had busy careers working as singers, pulling both of you away from each other for long periods of time- in fact, you hadn’t seen him in person for four months until today. Normally, you weren’t the type to party, or to attend parties, but he convinced you by stressing that it was tiny.

“So you’re already drunk.” You teased, pulling away from his embrace to grab a drink.

“Tipsy, love. I can handle my alcohol.” He said. His eyes lit up as he saw someone in the other room. Niall grabbed your hand instantly and began to drag you into that room, “I want you to meet someone.”

“Niall,” You whined before he came to a sudden halt and you were met with a very tall, lean, and curly-haired boy. Your first thought was that it was Harry, but, no, you’d met him before and he had short hair now. You did a double take as you realized it was Shawn Mendes, someone that Niall definitely knew you wanted to meet. He was attractive and an amazing artist, and you were really intrigued by him. You could tell he was a bit more drunk than Niall; he could barely stand up on his ownl.

“Hey, man.” Shawn grinned at Niall. He went to give Niall a hug, but, in his drunken state, he missed. Instead of his hand wrapping around Niall’s shoulder, his hand hit your cup, spilling the beer all over you.

“Watch it.” You said, after letting out a surprised shriek. At your outburst, you saw everyone begin to look at the three of you, wondering what the commotion was about. You started to shake as you stood there, now dripping in alcohol.

“Y/N, you okay?” Niall asked.

“Whoa, my bad.” You stepped back as Shawn reached for you. You weren’t exactly sure why he reacted that way, how was he at all going to help now?

“Niall, I’m going to head out.” You turned to your friend with an annoyed expression on your face.

“Y/N, it was just a beer.” He tried to reason with you and you shook your head at him.

“I’ll see you around.” You told him before quickly maneuvering your way through the crowd and out of the house, trying your best to not cry at the thought of all eyes on you, the girl with a beer stained dress.

After that night, you had a sour distaste for Shawn Mendes, and he didn’t even remember it. Unlike Niall, who probably had the same amount of beer that night, Shawn didn’t remember you at the party at all. Niall could recall everything and he knew that you could too, but that didn’t stop him from trying to reacquaint you and Shawn.

“Niall,” You hissed, “Why didn’t you tell me that he was going to be here?” You crossed your arms in front of your dress as you stood outside of the Toronto brunch spot, where you could clearly see Shawn sitting inside with a few of your mutual friends. You had just arrived to have brunch with ‘a few friends’, according to Niall and you didn’t even think to ask if Shawn would be there, despite you being in his city.

“It’s been two months, can you let it go?” Niall begged, “I swear he’s a great guy.”

“Stop it.” You said, unimpressed with his attempts.

“Give him a try. He doesn’t even remember that night.” His words made you scoff.

“Of course he doesn’t.”

“YN, please, be civil.” Niall pleaded, opening the door. With a sigh, you muttered a quiet ‘yes’ and walked into the restaurant behind him.

“Hey, Niall.” Shawn smiled before looking over at you. You tried to read any emotion on his face, wondering if he did actually remember you but he had lied to Niall as a way to save himself the embarrassment of admitting his drunken actions.

“Shawn, this is Y/N. Y/N, Shawn.” Niall introduced the two of you, sitting down and leaving an open seat directly in front of Shawn.

“Nice to meet you, Y/N.” Shawn stretched out his hand to you as if everything was fine. Maybe he thought everything was, but you certainly didn’t.

For that brunch, you were civil, but not civil enough for Niall’s liking. He told you that you were being too flat and emotionless, turning down Shawn every time he tried to make conversation with you. You just scoffed at the thought of Niall chastising you for your actions.

It happened a few more times over the course of two years where Niall would invite you and Shawn to go places and tell neither of you that the other would be present. Like when he invited you to sit with him at the same Brits table, you didn’t know you were signing up to sit next to Shawn for several hours. After that first encounter, on Shawn’s part, the Canadian decided to abandon his attempts at being excessively kind to you. Much like you did to him, he turned on a negative, arrogant persona when you were around.

Present day, it had been over two years since you first met Shawn at that party, since he poured beer all over you and ruined a perfectly good night otherwise. Your career was really starting to take off with your new album being released, but the sales were slowly dropping. You needed a solution to that, and Shawn caught himself facing the same problem. Your manager swore it was just a coincidence that Shawn’s manager contacted her with the pitch of a fake relationship, but you knew there was a brunette Irishman to blame for it.

“I can’t believe you.” You exclaimed, throwing a pillow at Niall from across your living room. You had just received the news from your manager that you were now in a public relationship with Shawn Mendes, and Niall was sat on your couch, so naturally he deserved a pillow in the face for his trickery.

“What did I do?” He asked, putting down his phone to throw the pillow back at you.

“Niall, you told my manager to set me up with Shawn? Of all people to have me fake date, she happened to choose him.”

“Technically, I told Shawn’s manager about your sales and he got the idea for himself- it was a coincidence, a complete coincidence.”

“You’re so-” You were cut off as he spoke again.

“It’s been two years. Can’t you just get over it?” He asked.

“Please,” You scoffed, “No matter how many times you’ve invited me to a group outing with him there, it won’t change the fact that he’s an absolute jerk.”

“You’re just still bitter about that dress. You got the stain out, didn’t you?”

“It’s not the dress! He’s a horrible person, Niall. How are you friends with him?”

“I don’t know, but you’re going to be dating him now.” Niall laughed at the thought, “Don’t go actually falling in love with him.”

~~~

“I can’t believe I signed up for this.” You said through your fakest sincere smile, grabbing Shawn’s hand and interlocking your fingers.

“Sales are low, you know the deal.” He let out a small shrug, having already done his part of complaining on the previous day. You had always thought of yourself as open to using a false relationship as a publicity stunt, but, of course, you’d be much happier about it if you and your new boyfriend could actually stand each other. It had been just a week since you found out about this setup and complained about it to Niall, and you and Shawn became a public item yesterday.

“God, does your hand have to be so sweaty?” You asked quietly, now approaching the paparazzi waiting outside of his hotel, where you had ‘stayed the night’.

“Maybe your hand is the problem.” Shawn replied. As he led you through the paps to his car, he never dropped your hand. Once you two were in the car and away from the flashing cameras, all physical contact immediately ended.

“How much longer do we have to do this?” He sighed as the driver stopped in front of the very public restaurant that had been chosen for your very public lunch.

“At least another three weeks.” You said.

“And it’s only been a day.” He shook his head before the two of you got out of the car. He put his arm around your waist casually as you two faked your way through the restaurant. When you sat down, you were aware of the camera watching you from the window and you leaned over, giving Shawn a quick peck on the cheek.

“I sure hope I don’t get mono from you.” Shawn said.

“I’m more worried about getting an std from you. I bet that’d make bigger press.”

“Like I would ever want to go that far with you.” You let out a laugh as you watched him force himself to not roll his eyes at you.

“Ah, this is fun, isn’t it?” You teased, leaning into his side as he kept an arm around you.

“It’s going to make me vomit, that’s what this is.”

“Well, good thing cameras are on us right now then, huh?”

That time, Shawn did roll his eyes, but threw in a smile to make it seem much more playful than it actually was.

~~~

You sighed as you adjusted your position on the dressing room couch- it was the comfiest couch in the entire arena so you had to manage being in the same room as Shawn for the moment. You originally were trying to come up with some sort of inspiration for a new song, but fell short as you pulled up online shopping sites. It would have been your most tranquil time, but you were stuck on the small couch, listening to Shawn mindlessly play guitar from across the room.

Your fake relationship had been going on for three weeks now, and, though you hate to admit it, Shawn wasn’t the arrogant drunk you remember him to be. Instead, he was quite kind and sensible; plus, the last two years have certainly done him well looks wise. You didn’t hate him as much as you thought you did- in fact, you might even go for mildly respecting him as a human being, but definitely, you did not like him.

“Can you please keep it down in there? I’m trying to work here.” You groaned as the strumming got louder. You peered over the couch’s back to see Shawn walking towards you with the guitar in hand.

“How does this sound?” He asked, playing a slow melody on his guitar.

“Like you’re absolutely going to bore me to death.”

“Got a problem with a slow song?” Shawn raised an eyebrow at you. At your silence, he looked over at your laptop, “Working, huh?”

“I was working.” You closed your laptop and sat up, almost embarrassed that he caught you online shopping, at Victoria’s Secret no less.

“It looked pretty important. You should get back to it.” He teased with a wink, “I’d like to see what you come up with.”

“It’s on sale.” You grumbled, slapping his arms to distract him from your bright red cheeks.

“You’re almost bearable to look at when you’re angry.” Shawn laughed.

“Well, you’re never bearable to look at.”

“Nah, we both know you’ve thought I was bearable. I caught you totally checking me out yesterday.”

“I was trying to figure out how someone could be so damn sweaty and smelly.”

“You enjoyed the view of me in a tank top.” His teasing smile widened as he leaned closer to you.

“If I wanted sweaty and gross men, I’d actually go to a gym.” You stated before quickly walking away from him and dipping into the attached bathroom. You looked at yourself in the mirror and shook your head when you saw the bright blush on your cheeks.

“No, absolutely no.” You whispered to yourself- you were not falling for his charms.

~~~

“Are you almost ready to go? I swear it’ll be over before we even get out of here.” Shawn groaned, standing impatiently by the door.

“I said I was coming.” You replied, making your way out of the hotel bedroom the next day. You had your phone and purse in hand as you stopped in front of him. You raised an eyebrow at him when you realized his eyes were lingering far too long on your outfit as a whole, “Are we going, Mendes?”

“Yeah, we would've been there twenty minutes ago if you were on time.” He covered up his blush by blaming the situation on you as he opened the door for the two of you.

“You know, if someone had told me a year ago that I would be going to a Weezer concert with Shawn Mendes, I wouldn’t have believed them until they added that it’s for a contract.”

“You should be happy. This is all ending in a couple of days.” Shawn said as you two reached the elevator.

“Happy?”

“Yeah, your album’s been going up in the charts and you’ll be done with me by the time the week’s over.”

“You’ve been checking my album’s charts?” You asked teasingly.

“Only because it’s behind mine by one.” He replied quickly. His cheeks flushed when he heard the snap in his voice. In all the weeks of banter, he’d never sounded so harsh with a comment before. The elevator dinged open and he slid his hand into yours. Walking out past the waiting cameras, the two of you got into his car.

The car ride was oddly silent in your opinion, and you noticed how Shawn’s hand lingered in yours a few moments longer than it usually would. Normally, he’d drop your the instant the doors were closed, but this time the radio made through an entire song before he realized he’d still been holding onto you. Brushing past the subtle movement, you looked down at your phone to notice a new text from none other than Niall.

‘Are you on your way yet?’ He had asked.

‘Yes, somebody took extra long to pamper’ You responded.

‘Sooo how are things with you and loverboy? Do I get an update before I see you two here?’ Niall asked and you let out a small laugh before locking your phone, completely choosing to not respond.

“Who was that?” Shawn asked.

“Niall. He’s just wondering where we’re at.” You explained as the driver pulled up to the venue.

“He’s always so impatient.” He shook his head with a laugh before the two of you got out of the car.

“Y/N! Shawn!” Niall smiled at the two of you when you arrived.

“Hey, Ni.” You replied, giving him a tight hug. Niall couldn’t help but chuckle when Shawn suddenly found one of his rings very interesting. The Irish boy knew Shawn better than to dismiss it as sheer awkwardness, it was Shawn distracting himself from jealousy.

“Shawn, how’ve you been?” Nill asked, turning his attention to his other friend as he let go of you.

“Been good. And you?” Shawn answered as they did a quick hug. As he struck up a conversation with Niall, you casually wrapped your arms around Shawn’s waist and leaned into his side.

“Cameras.” You said quietly to Niall as a way to explain the sudden pda. You hadn’t seen any cameras- you really just missed Shawn’s touch, but you’d never admit to that.

“Oh that’s always fun.” He teased. Shawn placed a hand on your back, gently stroking up and down your spine.

As the concert started, you turned your full attention to the band. You were so completely lost in singing all the lyrics and moving your arms as a way to dance that you hardly realized that Shawn was pinned up behind you, one of his arms was wrapped around your waist so that his hand rested near your hip.

“I love this song!” You told Niall, who was standing beside you as Perfect Situation began to play.

“I don’t know this song!” He laughed. He pointed back to the small vip snackbar as a way to tell you where he was going before he left.

“You really know all the words, don’t you?” Shawn said in your ear, making you turn around to face him. He brought both hands to rest on your hips.

“Tell me there’s a logic out there,

Leading me to better prepare

For the day that something really special might come.” You sang along to the song, smiling at Shawn as you did it. He smiled down at you, feeling himself completely sinking into the moment. You wrapped your arms around his neck while singing the next few lines of the bridge,

“Tell me there’s some hope for me

I don’t wanna be lonely

For the rest of my days on the earth”

As the guitar solo started, you felt Shawn leaning in closer to you. His eyes never left yours as he whispered, “Cameras.”

Once the words left his mouth, his lips found yours. You let yourself get lost in it, fully succumbing to every positive thought of Shawn you’ve had in the recent weeks. You let out a small gasp as Shawn let his tongue slip into your mouth and his hands wandered around your body, pulling you into him.

This kiss was strange to you, but in the best way possible. You and Shawn had kissed a few times before for the paparazzi pictures, but you had never gone so far as french kissing, or even such a steamy makeout.

“Did you guys forget there’s a concert going?” Niall’s voice brought you and Shawn back to reality as you finally let go of each other.

“We were giving the paps a bit of a show.” Shawn said. You knew that was exactly what happened, but you didn’t know why you felt so upset by his comment. It was all fake, and here you were falling head over heels for him.

“Well, that was a first though.” You stated, raising an eyebrow at Shawn.

“A show.” He replied with a nod. He turned his attention to the stage, acting as if it never happened. Niall let out a small laugh, making Shawn blush. You rolled your eyes and turned back to the concert going on. Shawn had one arm hanging over your shoulder and you casually held his hand, using your other hand to continue to semi-dance to the music. Though his blush didn’t go unnoticed by you, he was glad that you didn’t pick up on the fact that no one, besides Niall, had been looking at you two in that moment.

As the concert ended, Niall led the way as the three of you left, through the expected crowd of paparazzi. Your hand loosely held onto Shawn’s, trying not to get overwhelmed by the flashing lights.

“Y/N, Shawn, are you two really a thing?” One of the paps asked, shoving their camera into Shawn’s face.

“Back off, man.” Shawn replied, trying his best to avoid the questions. His grip on your hand tightened, pulling you closer. You let out a small shriek as the photographer grabbed your free wrist. Shawn immediately turned around and freed your wrist, “I said, ‘back off.’ Get your hands off her.”

The photographer back down as Shawn continued to lead you to the car with his arm now wrapped around your shoulders protectively.

“I can see the headlines now, ‘Good guy Shawn Mendes shows an aggressive side’.” Niall laughed after the three of you were settled in the car.

“Shut up.” Shawn muttered, avoiding your eyes.

“Shawn, you didn’t have to do that. I was fine.” You tried to lessen the situation. He pulled his arm back from around you and scoffed.

“Yeah, sure you’re never fine.” He spat back.

“What do you mean I’m never fine?” You took offense to his comment.

“You’re never happy with anything. From the moment I met you, you were just cold-hearted and arrogant.”

“Well at least I don’t spill beer on people as a greeting.” Before Shawn could question you, Niall piped in.

“Guys, can we not have a pissing match right now?” Niall asked, knowing that you two would soon raise your voices and make the car ride even more uncomfortable.

“You’re being such a dick again.” You said, rolling your eyes at Shawn.

“And you’re not appreciative over the fact that I was trying to help.”

“Don’t you even-”

“Y/N, Shawn, can you two please shut the hell up? I love both of you, but, God, you two need to sort out this sexual tension when I’m not here.”

“What?” You and Shawn both exclaimed while looking over at him.

“Sexual tension with her? She’s absolute wreck.” Shawn began to say as you argued over him.

“Shawn’s literally the worst person in existence, and you think we have sexual tension between us.”

“You’re unbelievable.” Niall sighed, suddenly finding his phone very interesting. You let out a huff of annoyance, turning to look out the window as a way to completely ignore the silent Shawn beside you.

It was silent between you and Shawn until you arrived to the hotel room again. You held each other’s hand while walking into the hotel and made your outside appearance as lovey dovey as it had been before. You immediately dropped his hand once in the elevator. As you stood silently beside him, you noticed how he flexed the hand that had just been holding yours- it was almost a Pride and Prejudice move, except you knew you weren’t Keira Knightley in this instance. Your mind wandered to what he’d said in the car; were you really just unappreciative of his help? Was he genuinely trying to help you? Haven’t you been seeing the genuinely good guy that he is recently?

“Two more days.” Shawn sighed, finally speaking once you were on the floor of your hotel rooms. He immediately went to his door, right beside yours.

“Shawn?” You called out to him and he stopped himself from opening the door.

“Yeah?” He replied.

“What did you mean?” You asked, before correcting yourself, “When you said you were trying to help? Were you?”

“Yes, a paparazzi grabbed you. What was I supposed to do? Just keep walking?” Shawn paused, “Besides you’re my girlfriend out there, aren’t you? It’s what a good boyfriend would do.” You felt your heart drop as he reminded you of the fact that this was all fake.

“Oh, yeah, that.” You nodded.

“What’s on your mind besides that?” He asked stepping towards you.

“It’s just strange to me that in a couple of days this will be over. We’ve spent everyday together for three weeks, so it’s going to be a little weird, right?”

“I thought you wanted this to be over.” His voice sounded off to you as he spoke, but you just couldn’t place it. It was an alien feeling that he was showing, whatever feeling it was- sadness, maybe?

“I guess I enjoyed the company.” You let out a small shrug, “It didn’t seem all that fake to me.”

“Yeah, I guess I enjoyed it too.” Shawn replied, looking away from you.

“Well, I should probably get going.” You said quietly.

“Wait, what did you mean?” Shawn asked you, “When you said that thing about the beer?”

“Do you really not remember?” You raised your eyebrows at him and he shook his head, making you explain further. “A few months before I met you over brunch, I met you briefly at one of Niall’s house parties and you were so wasted that you managed to spill beer all over me. I was embarrassed, my dress was absolutely trashed, and I took it out as anger at you, so I decided at brunch, when Niall told me that you’d blacked that night, to just keep my pride and be rude. It was wrong of me, and I’m sorry.”

“So you’re telling me that when Niall went off on me the day after his party because I had messed up his ‘perfect set up’ for me and this girl by spilling beer on her, that girl was you?”

“Yeah, I guess. Niall’s been trying to get us together for ages, and he went as far as setting up this whole pr stunt.”

“Leave it to Niall to set people up.” Shawn let out a laugh.

“I don’t hate you though, you know that right?” You asked, “It was just a mistake, and I shouldn’t hold that against you forever.”

“I mean you could, what can I do about it?” Shawn teased. “It means a lot that you don’t hate me anymore.”

“I thought maybe something should be real between us.” You turned your eyes to look away from him. You heart started to hurt as you felt so close to having something real with him again; you couldn’t bear to look at him now.

“I’ll see you in the morning, yeah?” He asked and you nodded.

“Yeah, good night.” You replied back quietly before disappearing into your room. You pressed your back against the door, trying to reason with yourself that this was for the best. You couldn’t stand Shawn for two years, you can’t possibly like him now. Sighing, you shook your head and turned around to face the door. Without a plan in mind, you swung your door open to go see him one last time.

“Shawn,” You said, surprised to see him already at your door, his fast raised as if he was about to knock. He went to say something, but then decided against it and placed his hands on your cheeks carefully, pulling you into a kiss. Fully accepting your fate as completely falling for your fake boyfriend, you wrapped your hands around the back of his neck, bringing him in closer to you.

“Sorry, thought I saw some cameras.” Shawn said, breathlessly as he pulled away from you. He was still close enough that you could feel his short breathes on your face.

“I think I see some more.” You teased.

He let out a small laugh before leaning down to kiss you. After sharing so many public kisses, you were finally content with the one occurring with absolutely no cameras around.

#shawn mendes #shawn mendes imagine #shawn mendes x you #shawn mendes x reader #shawn mendes one shot

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thebibliomancer · 4 years

Text

Essential Avengers: Avengers #209: The Resurrection Stone

July, 1981

“The Resurrection Stone: will it save the universe -- or destroy it?”

Well, the universe hasn’t been destroyed, at least circa the comics I read this morning. But it hasn’t really been saved either.

Still, pretty intriguing tagline. Pretty intriguing cover.

And written by J.M. DeMatteis. One of the Kraven’s Last Hunt guys. He doesn’t seem to do a lot of Avengers.

Let’s see how he do Earth’s Mightiest Team of Specifically This Four On the Cover.

We start with some silent intriguing intrigue as an alien ship crashes into Nevada and an alien crawls from the alien wreckage. Instead of distributing rings to people, he gets shot by a green guy who likes purple. I sure can’t think of several people that this applies to.

The shooter checks some possibly alien PDA but then beams up as the ship explodes.

How baffling.

Ok, J.M. DeMatteis. You have my interest.

So we start chapter one-

Chapter one? What is it with fill-ins and putting chapters in Avengers books. That three dooms one from a while back also did this.

Anyway, chapter one of this normal length Avengers adventure: “Love... and Death!”

So on specifically April 10th, 1981 2:17 PM (a fact which we must firmly ignore in these sliding timescale days), Beast has brought an old flame to Avengers Mansion to meet Wonder Man, Vision, and Scarlet Witch.

Presumably all of the other Avengers couldn’t make it. Or Beast didn’t want them meeting Vera.

Oh, and she’s not a new old flame.

Vera Cantor goes back to X-Men #19 in 1966. She knew him before he blue it! And she was the one who got away because mutant biz kept getting in the way.

But they had a chance meeting in a Soho bar and they’re giving it another shot!

I guess Beast is finally settling down from his wild party dating multiple women at a time days.

And y’know what? He and Vera are cute together.

Beast is exuberantly in love with her. He’s apparently been talking about nothing else for weeks.

Scarlet Witch: “Vision -- just look at the Beast’s eyes -- I’ve never seen them sparkle so. He must be in love.”

Beast is so excited he’s bouncing on the couch and jumping all over the place and bumping into Jarvis. Knocking the tea tray out of the butler’s hands.

Beast, pls. Reign in.

He does manage to catch the tray in his feet though. No spilling.

Its a bit weird that Jarvis is here to be bumped into. He’s supposed to have one of his days off to visit his mom and get some of that “near-mythical Yorkshire pudding.”

But he brushes off the question with concern over the bad impression all of this is giving the guest.

Vera doesn’t mind though. She’s used to his obstreperous (“noisy and difficult to control”) nature and finds how energetic he is to be part of why he’s so cute.

The blue fuzz surely does not hurt!

Oh. And then Vera takes a sip of the tea Jarvis brought and immediately keels over dead.

The butler did it??

Jarvis. You made it too strong!

No, no. Surely not. Jarvis would never make such an error or miss out on Yorkshire pudding.

“Jarvis” is actually... A SKRULL!

Beast wastes no time slamming the Skrull into the wall but said Skrull says ‘hey you want the woman to live again maybe keep your hands to yourself.’

And Beast backs off, sensing some truth in the Skrull’s tone.

The Skrull: “Ah -- that’s a bit more like it. Even in this vile atmosphere, I do so value my ability to breathe!”

By the by the by, this guy goes unnamed until 2008 in a Secret Invasion infobook but I’m not about that. His name is Jaddak.

Jaddak channels his inner-Darkseid and sits in the comfiest chair provocatively and begins on THE TALE OF THE RESURRECTION STONE!

Seems that millennia ago there was a space civilization in space that merged high science and high sorcery to bring an epoch of peace and plenitude to all then known worlds.

The epoch of peace and plentitude looks a lot like someone jammed Medieval knights and castles into rocket times.

Which I guess fits the whole union of science and magic thing.

And then the greatest scientist-wizard, Tus'Au, invented the Resurrection Stone and ruined everything.

The stone, as the name implied, could bring life back to the dead. And while that doesn’t seem too impressive by today’s standards where plot devices to resurrect the dead are so numerous (including just teleporting out of heaven) that it doesn’t bear counting, remember that this was an earlier, more innocent time. A filler time.

Everyone wanted this Resurrection Stone and a great war ignited that eventually ruined a thousand, thousand planets.

Amidst that nonsense, the stone itself was lost forever.

Until an Anthigorite archeologist named Krru, like, did some serious research. Around about 5,000 years worth of research. And thanks to all his book learning, he eventually found the stone.

Which was unfortunate because Jaddak had been stalking him this whole time, sure that he’d eventually find it.

He chased Krru over twelve solar systems, finally blasting him out of the sky over Earth. But when Jaddak searched Krru’s ship and checked the recorder-log, as we saw in the opening two pages, he learned that Krru had decided that the Resurrection Stone was inherently corruptive and should have remained lost.

You know an ancient magical stone is bad news when an archeologist goes ‘actually you don’t belong in a museum.’

So when Krru was shot down, as a last ditch effort, he broke the stone in two and sent both halves into Earth’s past so they’d be lost forever.

I have so many questions.

If they were sent to the past then they’d be in the present now unless destroyed in the past. That’s how time works.

Two, dick move, Krru. You think this thing is inherently corruptive and you drop it into Earth’s past, possibly altering the timeline? Fuck you.

But with the stones in the past forever inaccessible clearly, Jaddak decided, hey this should be the Avengers’ problem and not mine.

Jaddak: “I knew then that I needed... pawns. Powerful pawns.”

Wonder Man: “Pawns... as in -- Avengers. And that’s why you struck down an innocent woman?!”

Jaddak: “It seemed a splendid idea at the time!”

Pffffffft.

Ok, I know. I know. This is a terrible situation in-universe but also out of universe because they brought back Vera only to immediately stuff her into the fridge.

But this skrull going ‘look it seemed like a good idea at the time’ cracks me up.

Seemed like a good idea doesn’t cut the mustard with Wonder Man who just hauls off and punches Jaddak into the bookcase.

Vision even verbally pats him on the back for it.

Vision: “Well played, Simon. -- There was no need to listen to this madman's rantings any longer.”

But as the Avengers congregate to stomp on Jaddak’s head a few times, I presume, Beast stops them.

Cradling Vera’s body he says he’ll do anything to bring her back.

;__;

And that brings us to chapter two: “DOOM in the DARK AGES!”

Let me just get ahead of any hypothetical questions I wouldn’t even be able to hear until after the fact anyway. Tragically Doctor Doom does not show up.

Whoof, a lot of exposition at the beginning of chapter 2. Because a lot of stuff happened off-panel, between pages.

Real Jarvis had been contacted to make sure he’s okay. The four Avengers took a Quinjet to the Fantastic Four and told Reed Richards what’s going on. Reed went ‘sure I’ll lend you Doctor Doom’s time machine and send you to the coordinates a SKRULL gave you.’ And Jaddak went to go wait in his spaceship with Vera’s body.

So now the Avengers are in September 16, 1348, England. Prompting Vision to start giving a lecture on the bubonic plague.

Scarlet Witch: “Darling, please. Not now.”

Save it for the bedroom, Vizh.

The locals respond, understandably enough, with hostility to the people that just appeared in thin air dressed like clowns. They call the Avengers demons and unholy creatures and tell them to tell a wizard Devlunn to fuck off and that he can’t have any more of their dead.

Wanda decides that explaining time travel and superheroes from the FUTURE is more trouble than its worth. Instead, she plays along.

Scarlet Witch: “Devlunn? We are far greater than that upstart! He is a mere wind -- we are the storm!”

And then she fires off some of her bolts to cow the villagers so she can ask if anyone wants to take her to “this weakling Devlunn.”

See Wanda figured out based on the one comment that someone toying with the dead might be linked to the half of the Resurrection Stone they’re here to find. Or one would hope someone toying with the dead has a dumb magic reason for it!

One of the villagers does volunteer to take Wanda to Devlunn.

Villager: “I pray you four are as powerful as you appear -- for it will take great magicks indeed to best this lunatic child.”

Because, yup, Devlunn is a ten-year old child.

And yup, he has half of the Resurrection Stone.

He also has a big crowd of locals begging him to return their dead since they did promise to follow him and give him all that they own. Really, that’s a fair trade for some moldy old corpses, right?

Devlunn: “Why should I listen to you? When this talisman fell from the sky and whispered to me -- I knew then it could make me a god! And gods do as they please!”

Welp.

Beast: “No one should play god, Devlunn. -- Least of all obnoxious little boys! C’mon guys -- let’s get this over with!”

And Wonder Man punches the tower Devlunn is standing on and Vision SOLAR BEAMs it and a ten year old child falls off a tower.

And then he just stops in midair and floats.

Not sure why the Resurrection Stone also has flying powers. That seems beyond the scope of what it was designed to do.

That’s like if you had a scroll of fireball that also did your taxes.

Yes, that would be amazing. But the two things aren’t related things.

Anyway, Devlunn takes these four weirdos in stride.

Devlunn: “Ah -- so I’ve impressed you with my little trick! Good! For, you see, I know who you are! You are spirits from heaven to test me to see if I’m worthy of godhood -- to see if my talisman can do more than merely hold me on high like some wingless bird! You wish a show of strength -- a little play! And what you wish -- Devlunn-the-god shall grant!”

And then he sicks a horde of zombies on the fearless foursome.

The four realize the truth of Devlunn’s half of the Resurrection Stone. Because this is a cool magic artifact that conceptually splits in half instead of just physically or in terms of output or whatever.

Devlunn’s half gives life to the dead but only life without the spark of the soul. Aka, zombies.

Also, not very impressive zombies. They’re more pitiable than formidable. And Devlunn isn’t much of a necromancer.

The Avengers fight them. Well, except for Vision. Vision just lets them flail against him ineffectually.

Beast rushes through the pack of zombies, even grabbing one with his thighs to toss out of the way?, towards Devlunn and then takes the 1/2 Resurrection Stone like candy from a baby.

Revealing Devlunn to not be a great and powerful wizard but rather a very sad child.

Devlunn: “My stone give it to me! Give it back, I say! I was... nothing until it came to me! My family -- my friends -- all died! But the stone made me important! It gave me control over death! It made me safe! Please give it back! Please -- I want to be a god! I have to be a god!”

And then he collapses to the ground and starts crying while the Avengers are whisked away into the future by Reed.

So, that’s sad.

And I don’t imagine chapter three (“Rosenblatt’s Dance!”) is going to be any cheerier.

It’s now April 13, 1945. Dachau.

So. Yeah.

The Avengers blink into existence right in the middle of some Allied troops chasing some Nazis. And not being ones to miss a chance to go ape shit on some Nazis, Wonder Man goes ape shit on some Nazis.

Unlike the dark ages peeps, the Allied soldiers see some random people with superpowers wearing bright clothes and go ‘ah, superheroes’ and ask if they’re with the Invaders or the Liberty Legion.

Wonder Man: “Right. I’m... uh... Captain America.”

Phew. Timeline secure.

Anyway, they’re glad to see some superheroes because they’ve got a messy situation at Dachau. And its nothing that punching Nazis can fix.

So, yeah this is set at a concentration camp so its not going to be particularly happy.

The one who has the other half of the Resurrection Stone is a man named Rosenblatt. And this half of the stone also has half the power of the full stone. But in this case it returns the soul to a lifeless husk.

And Rosenblatt has used it to revive his dead wife and daughters and he’s joyfully dancing with their lifeless bodies while they beg him to let them go and free them of this existence.

It’d be really messed up if the usual superhero methods had to be applied here but thankfully the less employed but still common superhero empathy is in the quiver.

Beast approaches the guy and just talks to him.

Beast: “You have to set their souls free.”

Rosenblatt: “Are you the devil, come to take them? Well -- they’ve been in hell long enough. They’ll never be yours!”

Beast: “Look at them, my friend -- they will never be yours either. Not the way you knew them. The way you cherished them. Give me the jewel. P-please...”

And his words get through to the man who hands the half Resurrection Stone off to Beast.

And as before, the instant they have the stone, Reed yanks them forward in time.

Y’know. This only occurred to me on my second read. Maybe if Reed hadn’t instantly pulled them out of that time, it would have occurred to Beast ‘hey wait I have both halves now, I could combine them and bring this guy’s family back to life for real and not in some cursed half existence.’

Doesn’t really work with how the book goes, but it’s a thought.

And now for the thrilling conclusion: Chapter 4 The Cost!

April 10th, 1981, SPACE.

So we’re back in the then present.

A Quinjet flies into space, as Quinjets can apparently do, to meet with Jaddak’s spaceship. Jaddak contacts them over the space Zoom and tells Beast that he’ll have to teleport over alone with the Resurrection Stone.

The other Avengers think this is reeeeeaaally fishy and don’t really like the idea of letting Jaddak get the Resurrection Stone but they can’t tell Beast what to do. This is his weird fill-in issue quest and it has to be his decision.

So Beast teleports over alone. And finds himself in a chamber with a video screen. Skrull ain’t taking any chances.

He’s hidden behind an unbreachable wall. Through the video screen he tells Beast to deposit the stone in a portal which will send it over to the skrull who will test it for authenticity.

Then, he’ll use it to revive Vera. Swearsies.

Beast: “And why should I trust you?”

Jaddak: “Because I am a Skrull. Treacherous and savage as my people are -- we value honor more than life.”

Doubt.

Beast pauses to consider the power of the Resurrection Stone. Thinks about Devlunn and his zombies and Rosenblatt’s dance.

Beast: “Vera... I’m sorry. But this power is too much for any man to hold. I hope you can forgive me for what I’m about to do -- and I hope I can forgive myself!”

And then Beast slams the two halves of the Resurrection Stone together, KRUNCHing them into dust.

Jaddak: “Y-you crushed it! But that is... impossible! My plan was perfection! The vagaries of human love should have assured me victory!”

Wonder Man: “There are higher forms of love, Skrull -- but don’t strain your brain trying to figure out what they are!”

Because, yes, Wonder Man, Scarlet Witch, and Vision are also here now.

Vision intangibled onto the ship while Jaddak was distracted and used Jaddak’s own teleporters to bring the other two aboard.

As for that unbreachable wall?

Nah. Totally breachable. Wonder Man peels it open like nothing.

Jaddak tries to use Vera’s dead body as a hostage but Scarlet Witch blasts the gun apart in his hands with a SQUAKK.

So there may be a bird that used to be a gun loose on the ship.

And that just leaves one thing to take care of.

Beast jumps at Jaddak and starts slamming him around.

Scarlet Witch protests that Beast is going to kill Jaddak but Wonder Man tells her that Beast has to left off some steam.

Wonder Man: “He has to vent some steam or he’ll really snap! Besides you know Hank as well as I do -- that Skrull will get some much-needed lumps -- but that’s all!”

Beast: “Yeah. That’s our Beastie. A hero to the end. Can’t even bring myself to play the old ‘eye for an eye’ game. Not that it would do me one stinking bit of good. I’ve lost her -- forever.”

AND THEN AN EPILOGUE. Later that day at the Baxter Building.

Reed has been involved between panels this whole story and now he gets exposition exposited to him to fill in the gaps and in return he’s going to exposit too.

Wonder Man explains that he, Wanda, and Vision always intended to destroy the Resurrection Stone if Beast went through with the deal with Jaddak. Not that they thought he would. Knowing Hank McCoy and all.

But its a subversion of the ‘this is something he must do himself’ trope. Where they left the decision in Beast’s hands but also planned to go over his head if he made the wrong decision and put the scary power of phoenix down in the hands of the Skrulls.

Gotta keep your friends honest or something.

So now Reed has news. Weird news about Vera.

The poison that Jaddak used was super rare, so rare that Jaddak didn’t even know how it worked. He just had to be a murder hipster and goofed up.

Its actually a slow-acting poison that takes days to fully kill someone so Vera is technically only mostly dead. She could theoretically be cured one day.

So Reed has thrown her into a suspended animation tube and hopes to come up with an antidote eventually (which he doesn’t but Vera ends up cured anyway in Defenders #105 about a year later in another story by J.M. DeMatteis).

What is it about weird filler stories and having someone end up in a freezer tube to be maybe cured later?

Reed Richards: I know it’s not much of a chance, Beast -- but at least there’s hope.”

Beast: “There’s hope -- !”

Follow @essential-avengers because one day I’ll be up to date on that blog and it’ll have Essential Avengers stuff and no miscellaneous reblogs of other stuff. Wouldn’t that be nice? Maybe? Also like and reblog if you like to reblog.

#Avengers #essential avengers #Beast #Wonder Man #Scarlet Witch #the Vision #skrulls #essential marvel liveblogging #geez beast's focus issues are always so weird

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zodiacal-dust-and-curls · 5 years

Text

A Day In

A/N: Thank you to @unbound-chaos for sending in the request! Sorry for the wait!!! Roger is next and he's my last 500 blurb. Thank you to @rogers-wristbands for proofreading. Enjoy! 🖤

Warnings: this is definitely hurt/comfort. But idk how to explain it beyond that. Let me know if you feel a tag should be added here!

Word Count: 1.2k

You'd been feeling a little useless lately.

Well, not useless, that wasn't right. You were productive at work, getting compliments from your boss and even having part of your work published in a major project. Useless wasn't quite the word.

Ben had been very busy with filming lately, leaving you and Frankie to each other at home. You loved little Frankie, but something was just missing.

It was Ben. It felt like he was always missing lately. Busy filming meant being away from you, far away unfortunately. Filming on location in another country.

He'd called every night to talk to his best girls, but a tired voice on the phone wasn't a replacement for him. You missed his presence, the knit ghost that haunted the flat, the leaden weight that kept your bed warm. Life wasn't the same at the moment.

After 3 weeks of calls, texts, and snaps, you were feeling pretty worn down. Everything was going right at work, nothing was amiss with your family. You were just . . . off.

You'd taken to spending nights in, eating whatever you prepped on Sunday, and only leaving to walk Frankie. It felt a little like a sad excuse for an existence, but it was all you could motivate yourself to do for the last several weeks.

Ben had started to pick up on it, roughly 6 weeks after he'd left. He may have been away, but the man wasn't dense. You always sounded tired. You weren't snapping him back with pictures of your face. If you did, the smile wasn't quite right. You always told him everything was fine.

"How was work today, love?" He was excited to remember that you had a big meeting today. It had been scheduled before he left and he knew it was important to you and your job.

"It was fine." No, that didn't sound right to him. You would have told him if you crushed it or fell completely flat. Fine didn't cut it on days like today.

"I thought you had that big presentation today?"

"I did. It went fine." He could hear someone huffing as they repositioned themselves in your lap. If Frankie felt the need to be that close all the time, something was definitely up.

"Alright, love. Do you want to tell me how it turned out?" He was going to pander for these answers if it killed him. Clearly you needed something. Maybe his work was finally taking a toll on you?

"Sure. My boss liked the data I compiled. It's going to be presented internationally." There was still something missing from your voice, but he'd take the answer.

"That's spectacular. I'm so proud of you."

But everything wasn't fine.

All your friends were busy with work, kids, or partners and you didn't get to see them often. You felt like you were out on your own little island. Just you and Frankie, set to suffer another few weeks.

Twelve weeks after Ben had flown to set, you found yourself in a particularly crappy mood. You'd cashed in a personal day just so you didn't have to move past the couch. Loneliness was a terrible look on you.

Luckily, Frankie was feeling the same. She wasn't begging for a walk or even to play with her toys. She'd just curled up next to you in solidarity.

Some time after your second "feel good" movie, which wasn't working honestly, your phone rang out with Ben's song. (I'm In Love With My Car, obviously)

"Hello, love. How's work?" He sounded chipper. Maybe something good happened on set today.

"I didn't go in today. Not feeling my best." You were still firmly planted on the couch in a pair of his shorts and your comfiest shirt. Full on wallow mode.

"I'm sorry, love." He did sound upset. Poor thing. "But I think I know something that will make you feel better."

Just then the front door opened and Frankie burst from her spot next to you.

"Frankster!" That voice was awfully familiar and about 3 weeks early. "I've missed you so much. But where's our girl? Where is she hiding?"

You could have burst into tears. He was home, early. You stood up to walk to the door, but he beat you by making his way into the living room.

"There you are." He quickly closed the distance between you and pressed you to his chest. "I have missed you so much, my love."

You would've responded in kind but now you had actually started crying. You'd done your best to stay busy for the last 3 months. Work was in a great spot, you'd seen a few of your friends for dinner, Frankie had regular walks and outings, but home was always so empty and quiet. Having Ben back was like a splash of color in your slowly graying world. You'd missed him desperately. You always prided yourself on being an independent woman and not being defined by your relationships, but sometimes the relief of your loved ones being near was just needed.

"Hey, love, hey." Ben was pushing hair out of your face and wiping away as many tears as he could with his thumbs.

You looked at him through your tears and saw wrinkled brows. He was always so concerned when you cried, but did his best to either rectify the situation or just hold you through it.

"I'm sorry." It was the only thing you say to him. You were sorry for being a mess, you were sorry tears were the first thing he got when he came home.

"It's okay." He pressed a kiss to your forehead. "It's okay. Three months is far too long." Ben had started to push the two of you onto the couch, back to your pile of blankets.

After holding you for a few minutes, enough time to calm you down, he started to move around.

"Where do you think you're going?" He had started to get up from the little nest you had reconstructed in roughly 30 seconds.

"I think I'm going to put on sweatpants for a nice day in." He said it so matter-of-factly you almost let him go.

Instead you threw his shorts at him and said, "Or, no one wears pants and we both stay right here?"

His face lit up with a smile, nose and eyes crinkling in your favorite way. "You drive a hard bargain." He slipped off his jeans and jacket so that he stood before you in just his boxer briefs and a t shirt, bathed in the golden sunlight of the afternoon. "Move over."

You happily wiggled to the side so he could rejoin you in the nest.

"So . . ." You hated to do this because he just sat down, but you'd been wallowing all day, which meant you hadn't eaten.

He just watched you, eyebrow cocked, waiting for what could make you hesitate.

"What do you wanna do for lunch?"

He let out his booming, baritone laugh. Of course food would be your only motivation to put a pause on the cuddle-fest that had just begun.

"Take out?" He offered once his chuckles subsided.

You nodded enthusiastically to agree. Then neither of you had to move until it got here. "Roshambo for who has to answer the door?" You offered sheepishly.

Ben just gave a quick nod before pulling out his phone.

"Let's find something good, yeah?" Then he pulled you into his side so you could both stare at the options on the screen.

Once you'd settled, he pressed another kiss to your hairline. Today was going to be a great day with your love tucked in next to you.

A/N: I'd love feedback! Drop a comment or an ask if you liked it. 🖤 the secret code word is Roshambo (a ridiculous way of saying Rock-Paper-Scissors, but it's fun to say!)

Tag List: @rogers-wristbands @deakydeckme @bitemerog

I think that's everyone! If you'd like to be added, send a message/ask!

#ben hardy #ben hardy fluff #ben hardy fanfic #ben hardy imagine #ben hardy x reader #t writes #a day in

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invisibleraven · 3 years

Text

The Ghosts of Christmas Eve

@jatp-adventevent Day Twenty Three: You got nothing to gift <-AO3 link

Pairing: Regal Jewelry

Everyone is alive and aged up.

Reggie swore when he checked the mail yet again and found only bills. The tracking on his shipment promised that his package would be here today, and given tomorrow was Christmas Eve, he very much doubted it would arrive then. He already had gifts under the tree for Julie and Carrie, but these presents, they were going to be special. And now, he had no idea where they were or when they would arrive. He sighed, he supposed he could wait for Valentine’s, but he had wanted to do this now.

Reggie sighed and walked away from the mailbox, a frown on his face which he quickly wiped away once he was inside the house. The air was filled with the scent of baking, as Julie had taken over their kitchen making a multitude of cookies and treats. Carrie was out doing promo for Dirty Candy’s Christmas hit, her last interview of the year, she promised. Reggie didn’t mind, he was happy that Carrie and her group were so successful. Julie and the Phantoms had also done well, but they had opted out of a holiday hit this year, as they were deep into writing their next album and didn’t want to distract from that.

Some wondered how it worked, having three people in a relationship in rival groups, but Julie always looked at those people weirdly. Dirty Candy was a pop group and had a completely different sound and demographic than the Phantoms who played more pop punk music. They had even collaborated for a song that had earned them all some Grammy buzz earlier the year, so there was no competition in their minds. Besides, the three of them worked just fine romantically, and any pretend rivalry only fuelled Carrie up in the bedroom.

Reggie went into the kitchen, pressing a kiss to Julie’s cheek before swiping a cookie, grinning while she scowled at him. “Tastes delicious hun!” he said through a mouthful of crumbs, but started on the dishes once he was done, mainly so Julie wouldn’t stay mad at him. Though it was his turn to do them anyway, so he didn’t really mind. He had just finished drying and putting away the last bowl when Carrie flounced through the door, greeting them both with smiles, then collapsing onto the couch once she was in her comfiest of lounge wear.

“Okay, no more commitments until the New Year. At least any professional ones. I know we gotta do the family thing for the next few days, but can I reserve the 31’st for just us?” Carrie asked. Reggie put her feet up into his lap, rubbing at them gently until she was purring, with Julie bringing them all treats and drinks to veg out in front of the television with.

“Of course hun, a quiet New Years in sounds perfect,” Julie assured her, pressing a kiss to her forehead. Reggie nodded his agreement, and they relaxed for the rest of the evening, despite his worries over his missing package.

It was the 26’th when Reggie finally received his mail, and despite being a day late, he was overjoyed to see the small box there before him. He ensured the contents were right, and with a grin, hid them for their quiet night in, humming with anticipation. The next few days were agony to wait through, but before long they were watching the celebrations in New York, all in their comfy jammies, flutes of champagne on stand by.

“Got any resolutions for next year?” Carrie asked as she swiped the last bit of cheese from the board they had been munching on. “Mine is to take some time off. With Kayla due in June we have to take a break anyway, so I want the band to concentrate on ourselves for a bit. It’ll be nice to not have such a hectic schedule for a while.”

“I want to finally do my album of songs for my mom. It’s been ten years, it’s time,” Julie said. She had talked about making a solo EP of songs her mother wrote, ones she deemed too personal, or not to the style of the Phantoms. The boys understood completely, and would 100% support her in this. Luke had already said he wanted a producer credit for it.

Then both of the girl’s eyes flew to Reggie, and well there would never be a better time now would there? He groped for the box in his pocket, and slid down to kneel before them on the couch. “My resolution is the same as it is every year; to love the both of you as fiercely as I can. But I think this year, I’d really like to do it with the both of you as my fiancées.” He held up the box, popping it open to show the simple diamond rings inside, the stones bright and sparkling, and each band inscribed with the name of the girl it was meant for. Reggie grinned as they both gasped, Carrie reaching for her band first, sliding it down the appropriate finger before she pulled his face into hers for a passionate kiss.

Julie was a bit more tentative in taking her ring, but slid it home just the same, admiring it for a second before leaning down to press a lush kiss to Reggie’s mouth. “It’s a yes mi corazon, from the both of us.” She then turned to Carrie, kissing her lightly, Reggie still beaming at them, the three of them paying no attention to the television where the sound of the countdown was still playing in the background.

#JatPAdvent2021 #my stuff #writing #fanfic #regal jewelry #julie and the phantoms

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sunflowerdjarin · 5 years

Text

Aftermath

Pairing: Robin Buckley x Reader

Summary: Robin deals with the aftermath of Starcourt

Warnings: Mentions of ptsd, anxiety, paranoia,

A/N: I’m in no way trying to romanticize any of this, truly this is just a lot of self projection

Robin never felt safe in Hawkins. It only got worse after the Starcourt Mall incident. She went from glancing over her shoulder in the street to being afraid of talking in public or even making eye contact with strangers in the street. Every unfamiliar face reminded her of the unfamiliar faces she had seen in the Russian bunker. She was fearful of everything. Often times, she hadn’t even felt safe in her own home.

She would regularly be overcome with her own paranoia. She would rip apart her room searching for some kind of bug hidden in her stuff. She would call you beforehand speaking vaguely into the receiver in fear of someone listening in on the phone call. She would speak so rapidly that you could barely keep up with the jumble of words leaving her mouth. Her eyes were scanning the room from one side of the room to the other. The silence in her house only added to the paranoia. She could hear her heartbeat in her ears and her breathing was unsteady.

The first time this had happened, you had told her that you were coming over to help her. This only worsened her paranoia in fear that you would get hurt. That was the last thing that she had ever wanted. Every time afterwards, you would listen to her ramble on, whispering light words of comfort in hopes that it would ease her worried mind. Once she finally hung up the phone, you snagged your keys before taking off in your car driving haphazardly to Robin’s home.

You had spent hours comforting Robin. You picked her up and drove her to work, knowing that she typically got so worried about riding her bike now and being so exposed to Hawkins. Steve would also pick her up and take her home on the days where their schedules interlapped. Steve had more so internalized his trauma. You had determined that after talking to him and Robin late one night after their shift at the movie rental place. When talking about the subject, Steve had shut down, while Robin became more nervous. She would pick at the skin on the side of her nails and bounce her leg on the seat. It was evident how anxious she was becoming from her eyes constantly scanning her surroundings. You weren’t sure which behavior was worse, Steve’s internalizing or Robin’s paranoid induced anxiety.

You yanked your keys out of the ignition before rushing into Robin’s home. It was eerily quiet as you made your way up the stairs. You could begin to hear Robin’s crying as you pushed her door open. She looked up at you with tear stained eyes as she sat in the middle of her now dismantled room. Everything that was on her dresser now disposed on the floor. Her hair was in a ponytail that had been picked at with hairs falling at random around her face. You looked around at the mess on the floor as you tried to find a way to get to her without stepping on any of her belongings.

You sat down on the floor next to her. You both sat in silence trying to find the words for this situation. You had said everything you had to say in the times before this. She knew no one was coming to get her. She knew she was okay and that she was safe. “I’m sorry.” Her shaky voice broke the silence. She raised her hand to wipe her tears. You wish you could have taken this experience from her. That you could have been the one to experience this instead of her. She had no physical scarring on her, but you could see the turmoil on her face.

You reached over to pull her into your lap. She didn’t detest as she slid into your lap, hiding her head in the crook of your neck. “Did you take your meds today?” You whispered to her as one of your hands reached up to pull the stray hairs that escaped her ponytail away from her face. She sniffled for a moment before a weak, “No.” Escaped her lips as she realized what was going to happen. “I don’t like them. They space me out.” She stated, standing her ground on her reasoning. You leaned your cheek onto her head. “You don’t have to take them everyday, just when you feel an episode coming on.” You tried to comfort her. She nodded lightly.

“Now come on, let’s get your room back in order, get you cleaned up and in some nice clean clothes. I’ll make dinner and get a warm meal in your tummy then I’ll stay the night with you. Does that sound okay?” You pulled your face away from her and leaned your head down in an effort to look at her. She nodded lightly again, “Sounds great actually.” She eased herself off of your lap as she rummaged through the mess on the floor. You two worked in silence as you put everything in her room back together. You put up the countless band awards that she had gotten at the end of the year. She was still the same stubborn and determined Robin that she was when she put all her focus into band or learning a new language. You knew that as well as she did. She didn’t feel like the same Robin in her own eyes. She was fearful that one day you would notice that or grow tired of her and the baggage that came with her now.

You fixed up the last bit of her room as you turned back to see her curled up on her bed. Her eyes were wide open blinking slowly. She looked as if she hadn’t slept in ages, but you knew she wasn’t sleeping well. She would see it all when she closed her eyes. You sat on the edge of the bed in front of her. You ran your hand down her back in an attempt to comfort her. She felt like a burden and a handful. The idea of you with someone who didn’t have episodes crossed her mind. The thought fled her mind when she felt your lips press against her temple. “Come on, you can shower and I’ll start dinner.” You pressed another kiss onto her cheekbone.

You pulled her up off the bed before guiding her to the bathroom and starting a shower for her. You turned to leave the bathroom only for Robin to stop you, “Please stay. I don’t want to be alone.” Her voice sounded as heavy as she felt. You turned back to Robin, “What about dinner?” You asked her before she shrugged pulling her shirt over her head. “We can just order pizza.” Her hands reached up to tug her ponytail out of her hair. Her loose waves fell onto her shoulders wispily and tickled her collarbones. She continued undressing and you followed suit.

Robin stepped lightly into the shower as you got in behind her. The hot water felt nice against her skin as she turned towards you. She scanned your facial features as you scanned hers. She looked older, the bags under her eyes only adding to it. Her freckles were still sprinkled against her cheeks adding color and life to her. “You just get more beautiful everyday, huh?” You whispered to her, inches away from her face as her hair began to fall flat onto her head completely soaked. The corners of her mouth perked up, “You know you don’t have to flirt with me, right? You’ve already got me.” She rolled her eyes.

You picked up her bottle of shampoo as you poured some into your hands before lathering it into her hair gently scratching at her scalp. “That wasn’t flirting. That was just me stating an observation.” You smiled as you watched her eyes close for a moment. “Besides, flirting is how we got here.” You leaned her head back to get the water to rinse the shampoo out of her hair. Once the shampoo was out of her hair, you lifted her head up only for Robin to look at you with tears in her eyes. You were still so gentle with her. There was never a moment of intensity or a moment of fear when she was with you. She hadn’t allowed others to touch her in such a long time after what all happened, but you were always the exception.

Your hands cupped her cheeks, “What’s wrong?” You scanned her for any issues as bloodshot eyes looked back at you. Her chin quivered, “Thank you for taking care of me.” She coughed out roughly, “I’m sorry for putting you through this. I just… love you.” She finished as the shower water ran down her face and dripped off. You pulled her into you. Your chest pressed up against her’s with her head resting on your bare shoulder. It was a moment of vulnerability and you were the first person that she trusted after this whole affair. “It’s okay. I’d walk through hell for you if I had to.” You rubbed circles on her back, “I love you so much more.” You turned your head towards her, pressing a kiss onto the side of her head. She gripped you even tighter without saying a word, “I’m not going anywhere.” You said in an effort to ease her grip, but really it only eased her mind. You both stayed like that for a couple of minutes before carrying on with your shared shower.

Afterwards, Robin got into her comfiest pajamas as you got back into your clothes that were discarded on the floor. Robin ended up snuggled on the couch with you and whatever movie was playing on TV. You had a shared box of pizza in front of you that was sure to be gone by the end of the night. Robin clung to you as she rested her head against your chest. Her arms wrapped around the underside of your arms and onto your shoulders. Your arms found themselves around her waist.

It didn’t take long before you heard small snores escaping Robin’s lips. You smiled at the sound knowing that at least for once she was sleeping peacefully. Robin hadn’t been sleeping well. She had pleaded for you to stay with her every night. She couldn’t stand the darkness and silence. She couldn’t close her eyes without re-experiencing everything. But you kept her grounded. When she was with you, she knew that she was safe. There was nothing to worry about when she was with you.

Robin had never felt safe when she was in Hawkins. She wasn’t sure she ever would, but she felt safe with you, and that was good enough.

#robin buckley #robin buckley imagine #robin buckley x reader #robin buckley smut #robin buckley headcannon #robin buckley blurb #robin buckley drabble #stranger things #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things fanfic #stranger things one shot

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cilldaracailin · 4 years

Text

A Kind of Magic

Thanks for the love on the story! Here is some more :)

“I want my home to be that kind of place--a place of sustenance, a place of invitation, a place of welcome.”

“You literally meant three minutes.” Commented Taron as Robyn turned right down a cull de sac. “So, this is where you bring me to kill me right?” He asked as he looked through the windshield of the car at the narrow road that was lined on the left with trees and bushes, with an odd house on the right side.

“You are not the first person to ask me that and honestly, if I wanted to kill you, could have done it a couple of days ago.”

“Touché.” He replied with a smile.

“I’m right at the end. Even though the area is now quite built up, no one comes down our little road and it still real private and quiet.”

Taron watched with interest as Robyn drove them into the driveway of the last property on the road and he was absolutely taken aback at what he saw.

“Shit I thought you said you lived in an apartment.”

“I do.”

“Robyn this is not an apartment. This is a house.”

“It looks like a house from the outside but it’s really not a house. It’s small inside.”

Taron didn’t seem too sure as Robyn stopped the car outside a single storied building that was white washed but the window sills and lower sections of the walls were painted a pastel blue. Window boxes with flowers sat on the window sills and the front door was also painted the same pastel blue as the other features on the house. There was a large clear window on the left side with a frosted one on the right.

“This is a house.” Said Taron again as he eased himself carefully out of the car.

“It’s not a house.”

Taron looked around the drive and admired the neat green garden with tidy flowerbeds that surrounded the stone drive all the way to the gates that were open.

“It’s beautiful out here.”

“The weather helps.” Agreed Robyn. “But it’s a bit miserable when it rains.” She opened the back door to her car and pulled out Taron’s duffle, swinging it over her right shoulder. “And to be fair, it did use to be a house but a very small one.” She finished as Taron grinned at her.

“I knew it.”

“I just don’t class it as a house. It used to be my granny’s house.” She explained as she locked the car and walked around to stand with Taron at the bonnet. “The granny who I am named after, she left her house to me but I wasn’t allowed to actually have it until I turned eighteen. It’s an old house and it used to be very old fashioned house with a very old fashioned Irish interior with six rooms inside but once I got my hands on it, I made quite a few changes over the last couple of years so now I call it an apartment rather than a house.”

“It’s lovely Robyn.”

She started to walk towards her front door, looking for the key on the set in her hands. “Thanks Taron. Would you like to see inside?”

“Yes please.”

Robyn found her house key and opened the door, popping the code in for the alarm on the keypad on the right after she had opened the door. “Come on in and don’t be worrying about taking your shoes off. I am so not that type of house owner.”

Taron walked past Robyn and was immediately met with lots of light, natural light that came from a ceiling to floor glass wall directly opposite him. He heard Robyn close the door and she walked past him with his bag and he followed her as she walked into her kitchen and dropped his bag carefully on the island in the middle of the kitchen floor.

“Wow Robyn. That window.” Said Taron his eyes still focused on the all glass wall.

“They are actually doors. They can open out or when the weather is like this, they can fold all the way back too.”

“Seriously?”

“I told you I made some changes. Let me show you around.” Robyn walked onto the white tiled floor of her kitchen. “First and foremost, while you stay here, treat my home as your own. You do not have to ask me to make a cup of tea, eat anything from the fridge and the wifi is free.” She was really starting to enjoy the sound of Taron laughing. “However, I do charge for the use of towels.” She said with a smirk as she turned around. “This is the kitchen. There happens to be a lot of baked goods in my fridge at the moment, so yeah, would be good if you helped me eat those.”

“You have been baking?” He asked admiring the blue wooden cabinets of her kitchen. It was the first time he had seen a colour like it in a kitchen.

“When I can’t sleep, I bake.” She answered simply, ignoring his frown and moved out of the kitchen and to the right to a door which she opened. “This is kinda like a laundry room come closet but also has an entrance to the bathroom too. You can use the washing machine whenever you want, no need to ask and if you do happen to need towels, there are always fresh ones in here.”

Robyn closed the door and walked past the kitchen and into her sitting room which was partly separated from the kitchen by a large fish tank which sat a waist high wooden book shelf.

“This is the comfiest couch in the world, if I do say so myself.” She said standing beside a grey L shaped couch, littered with many cushions of all various shades of blue which matched the ocean blue painted wall behind the couch that had a large picture of dolphins on it. “And I am not gonna lie, I spend a lot my time in the evenings snug in this amazing teddy bear fleece throw in the corner of the couch watching TV.”

Taron smiled. “That sounds like my perfect evening.” He then turned to walk towards the glass doors. “This is just amazing Robyn, though wouldn’t it get very hot in here on days like today if the doors aren’t opened.”

“Why yes Taron it would which is why I had this installed.” Robyn walked past him and picked up a small white controller from the glass coffee table and after she pushed a button, Taron heard a whirling noise. “A lot of people laughed at me when I had the air conditioning installed but it has been a God send these last few days and nights. I have one in my bedroom too and I only use it when the weather is ridiculous hot. It doesn’t happen very often but with all the glass in here, it can get really warm so the air-con helps a lot.”

Taron moved and immediately felt a cooling breeze from the unit on the wall above the television. “I might just stand here for a few minutes if that is ok.”

“This weather is unexpected but normally the way here when the schools are ready to open after summer holidays.”

While Robyn was speaking Taron was quickly distracted from the air conditioning that felt wonderful on his hot skin as he saw a beautiful mahogany upright piano against the wall between the fish tank and television which he walked over to. “Play badly huh?”

Robyn followed Taron to the piano where he lifted the lid and his fingers played a simple C chord. “Yes, play badly. Anyone can have a piano and not play well and I told you, I prefer the classical pieces anyway.” She moved his hand from the keys and closed the lid again.

“Your home is beautiful Robyn.” He said as he turned to look at her.

“Thank you. It is my little sanctuary. We have two more rooms to see.”

Robyn walked past the L couch and into her bedroom. “It’s a bit messy.” She apologised. “I haven’t actually made the bed.”

“Don’t be worrying Robyn. It’s fine.” Taron was once again met with beams of natural light and he walked around her bed and to another set of glass doors. “Do these ones fold back too?”

“Yeah they do.”

“Doesn’t it get really bright though when the sun comes up?”

“I have back out curtains. Even though I love the light, I always need complete darkness at night.”

Taron turned around and took in Robyn’s room. The wall behind the bed was painted the same ocean blue as the one in the living room and her duvet cover was the colour of a Caribbean ocean. Opposite the bed, a television was bolted to the wall and in the corner at the glass doors, a white make up table with an oval mirror.

“Yeah I like the colour blue, if you hadn’t of guessed.” She blushed as she watched Taron take in her room. “It reminds me of the ocean.”

“I like it and I like that picture too.” He said pointing to the picture of the sunset on the beach on the wall above her bed.

“That was actually taken at Clearwater beach.” Said Robyn. “From the first time I went there. The bathroom is through here too.”

Robyn turned and walked into her closet and heard Taron following her. “Erm I am not very high maintenance and don’t really care about luxury things but I really wanted something fancy for myself so I chose a so-called walk-in wardrobe. I am very organised at work but messy at home and having all the extra space for clothes and stuff just makes it easier for me not to be messy, or gives me space just to throw stuff in so it’s not on the floor. The bathroom is this way.” She continued on into her bathroom. “You can’t actually see through that window.” She explained when Taron looked to the large frosted window. “It just adds some light and the bath maybe could also qualify as being fancy but I bloody hate it when you want to have a bath and you can’t sink into the water and your knees stick out and the bubbles don’t cover you so, yeah I splashed out and bought a pretty big one.”

Robyn took a second and then started to laugh, Taron soon following her. “Oh God that was a terrible joke that I did not mean. I have a shower too though. Again Taron, use whatever you need to in here, except for my razor. Don’t touch!”

Robyn turned and walked out of the bathroom, through the closet and back into the bedroom. “And that’s me.” She said as she sat on the bed, Taron sitting beside her, his hand going to his side as his ribs started to protest with an ache. “It’s my space for me. I really like my freedom and am one of those people who really enjoy their own company. Although it looks expensive and all that, it’s not something that happened all at once. I have been adding bits here and there for years, saving to buy what I know I would like.”

“I really like your home Robyn. I love the openness but at the same time, its cosy and homely and the fact that you have done it all yourself makes it even more special.

Robyn gently nudged him with her left leg. “Thanks Taron.”

The doorbell ringing made them both look towards the door.

“Give me two seconds. I am waiting for my things to be sent on from Florida so it could be those.”

Robyn jumped up and quickly jogged out of the bedroom leaving Taron sitting on the bed. He couldn’t explain how she managed to do it but Robyn just put him at complete ease and being in her home just settled him further and that niggling doubt he had felt while he sat on the wall in the heat outside had completely disappeared. He had been right and Robyn had taken him into her work and home without question. However, he was still upset with her for the reason that she left him in the hospital. He hated the pressure that came with his profession of being perfect all the time and it was just wasn’t something he felt comfortable with, hating how he was constantly judged for how he looked but Robyn was pulled into his world by pure accident and he did not want her feeling like she had to be faultless and pretty because as far as Taron could see, she was. He hadn’t lied to her when he called her beautiful and it was beauty he saw inside and out. He liked how she snuggled into the hug her gave her, how her body was warm and cosy and that she wasn’t afraid to show affection his way. He loved her easy going nature but also how she could quickly switched into protective mode but more so how she had opened up to him so easily when she admitted she was having just a hard of time as he was, although he hadn’t forgotten that she had told him she was having nightmares about him. It was something he knew he wanted to talk to her about, even more so after seeing for himself the bruises on her hands that matched the ones on his chest.

The softness of her bed felt so nice especially after sitting on hard airplane seats and he found himself turning around and kicking his legs up onto the bed and leaning backwards with a groan. It felt like heaven apart from the fact that his legs dangled off the end, his head wasn’t supported and the unmade bed was scrunched up under him. With a bit of effort, he shuffled backwards up to the pillows and when he found one, he lay like a starfish, the most satisfied sigh he ever felt leaving his tired body. Even with the ease that he melted into Robyn’s bed, Taron still felt some pressure on his back especially on his tender bruised right side so he rolled over onto his left side, tucking his legs into his chest a little, his left arm sprawled out while his right hand rested on the pillow in front of his face helping to take the weight off his sore upper arm. It was comfort and sanctuary that took Taron to a place he had not seen in a very long time and sleep quickly found him. Deep easy breathes filled his lungs and his body finally found the proper rest and sleep that it desperately needed.

“Nope just an amazon…” Robyn stopped in the doorway to her bedroom when she saw Taron lying down on the bed. “Ah gosh Taron.” It was something she was anticipating but maybe not two minutes after she had left him. He was out for the count on her bed, laying on his left side, facing the windows, shoes still on but at least he had managed to lay his head on a pillow.

Robyn took in her guests appearance and sighed. She definitely preferred Taron like this and was making it her mission to use this image of peaceful Taron to re-write the ones she had of him covered in blood and shaking in her arms as he struggled to breathe. She had thought that maybe he would have liked to have a shower and freshen up, possibly eat something before he actually made an attempt to get some sleep but it seemed his wrecked body had other ideas.

Robyn walked around to her floor to ceiling glass doors and pulled the blue curtains immediately filling the room with a cool darkness, blocking out the bright sun. She picked up a similar white controller for the air conditioning unit in her bedroom and turned it on, fresh air immediately filtering in her stuffy bedroom. Robyn had been in work since seven that morning so all the windows and doors of her apartment had been closed, meaning no fresh air had been circulating. She knew that Taron was already feeling the heat from the unexpected weather, even more so because he had walked to her work, so she was very happy to be able to keep her room cool for him. As Robyn moved to close the door to the bathroom and then her closet, she could already feel her room cooling down. She turned back to Taron and figured he was going to sleep for a while so sitting at his feet, she carefully started to open the laces of his converse and loosening them, eased the shoe fully off his right foot before doing the same for his left, throwing both of his shoes on her bedroom floor. Taron hadn’t moved once as she made sure he was completely comfortable.

Robyn had always had a single bed until she moved into her own place so the first thing she had invested in was a queen size bed for her bedroom, as she knew there would be no other furniture in her room, she could use the space for a nice big bed. Taron looked almost small as he lay near the edge of the right side of the bed, tucked in a snug ball and Robyn moved up from his feet and sat gently at his back and watched him sleep. She was getting used to seeing Taron looking calm and relaxed and just out of habit she placed her hand on his side feeling him breathing evenly. The sleeve of his t-shirt had ridden up more than when he napped in her desk chair and she could see clearly now the dressing on his arm and even more bruising embellishing the top of his shoulder. It really had taken a few days for all his injuries to come to light, especially the bruising and the right side of his face looked sore and tender, the cut on his forehead under a small dressing. She could only imagine how unpleasant the plane journeys must have been for him, having to sit straight in a small middle seat. Robyn only had one connection but Taron had two and it must have been thoroughly agonising for him, so it was no wonder that he found the softness and comfort of the bed so inviting. Robyn lifted her hand as Taron moved, his face burying further into the pillow, his whole body shifting a little into a more comfortable position, a content sigh following as he settled himself.

Robyn got up off the bed, satisfied that he was finally getting that cosy bed sleep he had been craving and walked out of the bedroom, closing the door half way behind her. She walked into the kitchen, opened up the American style fridge, another luxury item she had saved for a long time to buy and taking out one of the key lime pies she had made and placed it on the counter beside the fridge. Cutting herself a slice, she put it on a plate, grabbed a spoon and went to sit in her corner on her couch.

“Hey Alexa, play Ludovico Einaudi.”

Robyn sunk into her couch, tucked her legs under her and started to eat the pie she had made yesterday, the classical music filling the apartment, the cool breeze from the air conditioning unit creating a pleasant temperature around her. As she sat, she was still finding it hard to believe that Taron was asleep in her bed, the same Taron who she had left lying in a hospital bed on Saturday. He had travelled so far just to ask her why she had left him and after being completely honest with him, he gave her a good bollocking for letting, as he called it ‘the Hollywood shit’ get to her and as much as she appreciated being called beautiful by him, it wasn’t something she felt. Her figure wasn’t perfect – she had a curvier waist, with boobs and a bum and eating baked goods didn’t help that but at home in Ireland it was easier to accept and like who she was but Robyn knew it didn’t make her beautiful.

What she did know though, was that Taron felt exactly as she did. A bundle of mixed emotions that needed to be untangled one by one. Placing her empty plate down on the coffee table, she found herself rubbing the back of her right hand, wincing as she pressed too hard on the tender skin. She leaned back on the cushions and closed her eyes, stretching her arms over her head. She was actually jealous of Taron sleeping. It was something she had been avoiding since the nightmares began and had found herself dozing once or twice at her desk but now that she could physically see Taron in the flesh and see for herself that he was very much alive and kicking, maybe she wouldn’t be as afraid to sleep now. Stretching again, Robyn burrowed further into the couch, laying her head to the side on one of the cushions, soothed by the soft piano music that filled her apartment.

It was another nightmare that caused her to jump and nearly roll off the couch, waking her up suddenly. So much for hoping that by seeing Taron would help to get rid of her bad dreams. She was glad his appearance at her work had a different outcome to the dream she just had, where it was Richard who stood at the door of the creche, angrily confronting her for killing his best friend, rather than Taron who just needed comfort. Shaking the dream off, she looked to her watch. It was just after one thirty.

“Shit, I’m late.” She said getting to her feet. Robyn had every intention of going back to work because she knew that if she got Taron asleep, he would sleep deeply and she would be able to finish off the last three hours of her sift. She quietly walked back into her bedroom and as she opened the door fully, Taron was still in the same position as before, lying on his left side. Sleep had fully gripped him and the sound of his soft breathes were just about heard over the hum of the air conditioning. She walked around to the bedside locker where she had left the controller for the air con unit and turned it down to the lowest setting. Now that room was sufficiently cooled, Robyn didn’t want Taron to feel cold but she also didn’t want him to wake up sweltering. She walked back around to the end of the bed and carefully eased the duvet from under his feet and pulled it up over his body so his bare arms were covered from the chill that has already caused goose bumps to appear on his skin.

Robyn stood and watched him sleep and before she started to feel a bit like a stalker, she walked back out to the book shelf under the fish tank. She pulled out some paper and routed for a pen in a drawer in the kitchen and sat at the breakfast bar and wrote Taron a quick note. She was a little reluctant to write Taron another note, considering her first one was not a success but she made the necessary changes to this one including her phone number, the creches phone number and an explanation that she would be back by four thirty and to help himself to whatever he needed in the apartment, giving him the wifi code too. She even included a smiley face this time and a little picture of a fish too.

She walked back into the bedroom and left it on the pillow further to his left and placing a light kiss on his head, she then went back to her coffee table and turned off the air con and asked Alexa to stop playing the soft music.

She took a quick stop in the bathroom through the door in the closet to freshen up and then grabbed her keys, purse and phone which she had left by Taron’s bag and just with a little hesitation and one more check on her guest, she made her way out of the apartment, closing the door quietly behind her, the heat outside and in her car hitting her full force.

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