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neshabeingchildish · 5 years

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Determined: A Chasper Fic Conclusion

Second half of the chapter is extremely kid heavy. I feel like those actually reading this know how I am about kids and writing kids into these things. Alas, we’ve reached the end of this journey. Thank you to all those who stuck with it. I know this fandom isn’t a long story fandom and I apologize that I keep doing this to y’all. But, finally, the end is here.

Happy, Healthy Endings for All

Henry pulled up to the gate of “the estate” and when he was going to push the button on the little box, heard a beep and a voice say, “Henry Hart, Access Granted,” before he had the chance to do so.

“They’ve most likely programmed it to scan your car… or your DNA,” Piper commented with a shrug of her shoulders.

“How rich are our friends these days?” Henry wondered.

“Well, Charlotte is a genius who works with tech and DNA stuff, so she might have done it herself, but if not, Jasper is literally the highest paid executive coach in the country as of last year,” Piper said.

“I honestly thought for a while that Jasper made that career up and I still don’t even know what that means!” Henry chimed.

“He tells big bosses how to be better bosses and writes books to help little bosses become big bosses, if they have enough money to do so.”

“Yeah, I don’t understand HOW, either. Like… Who looked at Jasper and decided that he knew this stuff? Is he good at it, or just one of those people who got lucky and gets paid a lot?”

“The companies that he helps have better stats after he’s done helping them reevaluate their model. He’s gonna get one of those Netflix deals, I think. To get his own show where he basically goes in there and you see a few of his projects. He writes books, does speaking engagements, invests his money, and is kind of even helping Charlotte to try to branch out on her own. He just… is good at what he does. But, I mean… Jasper’s kind of been this way. Remember whenever he was doing his vlog and podcast and he’d get all these places and fans sending him stuff? He has a knack for smoothing people over. I think if somebody is confident enough, people are willing to at least hear them out and when he got his foot in the door that way, he owned it.”

“Are you… giving Jasper compliments?”

“No. I’m telling you nice things about Jasper. Did you ever see his “How to be a Good Man to a Difficult Woman” series on his channel? He’s got some very good life skills, when he takes the time to think about it and not just blurts stuff out.”

“Wait. He had a…” He stopped speaking whenever he got closer to the house and the yard, which had a very enormous playground, off to the side like… almost like a park and a huge garden on the other side, with like… what his mind could only seem to think of as a “tiny neighborhood” beside them. “Did this come with the house?” Henry wondered.

“Nope. Jasper had it commissioned. Sat down with the kids and got their ideas, worked on some designs, spoke with his architect, and voila.”

“Why are there so many little houses here when the big house is huge?”

“That you’ll have to ask them.”

Jasper was giving directions to the crew that he had working on this event, which Henry could tell were frat boys who probably knew him as an alumnus and wanted to make good with him. He could hardly believe that his Craig used to be one of those guys. He’d be meeting them later on, because he had some work emergency and insisted that Henry go on without him.

Whenever the Hart siblings walked up, Jasper dismissed the crew and came to hug them. “Hey! Glad you two could actually make it! I think this is your first time coming to the estate at all, so what do you think, finally seeing it in person?” (That was more to Henry, because Piper saw it before, even if it was only in the beginning.)

“What is this property, Dude?” Henry asked, marvelling around.

Jasper smiled proudly, “Well, the site where Charlotte will be opening her center after her hospital fellowship is in this area, so I wanted to make sure that we had a house near here. I can work from anywhere. Still unsure if we want to fully transition out of the old house, since so much of the kids’ memories are there, and Char’s still got a few years before she’ll even be opening the practice, but they’re all still young enough where you set up enough fun stuff and they don’t even know what their previous memories were. I don’t really want to rent it out and have anybody mess up any of the sentimental stuff, but we’ll probably have it for AirBNB for a while or something. Haven’t decided.”

“What are all these little houses, Dude?” Henry asked, pointing at a few.

“Oh, that’s Jazz’s treehouse, up in the tree, and Amber’s dollhouse, Ruby’s funhouse and the baby playhouse for the new baby. It’s like a little kiddo community for them, and all of them have their dream playground in the community “backyard.” On the other side is Charlotte’s she shed, which is one of my birthday gifts to her…”

“It’s like… the size of a regular house,” Henry pointed out.

“We’re on our fourth kid. Locking herself in the bathroom isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, even in a house as big as our last one, or even as big as the new house,” he said, so casually, that it almost made sense to Henry for them to have a whole other goddamn house a few feet away from their ridiculously huge house! “And her garden is like her front yard, then there’s the three dog houses. The kids want a puppy, so we’ll be getting another one, and already are making room for them. The Kiddo community and the Doggo community right across the way from each other. Charlotte’s she shed and her home lab on either side of the big house.” He was pointing at everything. “Took YEARS to get it just perfect and I figured since the timeline was so close, that instead of doing the whole housewarming thing that we’ve done in the past that we’d just throw Charlotte’s 30th Birthday party here and get showing off the property and showering her in love all over with in one event. Plus, Diamond is coming ANY day now, so by the time we’ve got them coming home, there won’t be time for socializing between getting them nursed, Char’s fellowship, getting doctors and scientists and stuff for the clinic, lab, and the spaces in the center, and…” he shrugged. Henry noted that Jasper looked the happiest that he had ever seen him. Like, everything in his life was perfect. He hoped Charlotte was feeling the same. He had been super busy at work. Springtime was very hectic for weddings and his busiest summer was right around the corner. Plus, he had a man now, and was still a Swellview hero.

“So, you decided on Diamond, huh?” Piper asked. “Just keeping the whole crystals/stones thing going?”

“After Jasper, who was of course just named for me, we went with birthstones. Wanted to have their names be closer connected to Jasper’s than ours or something else. Amber was better than Citrine or Topaz…”

“Those are mine,” Henry said proudly to Piper. “November.”

Piper rolled her eyes. Jasper hadn’t stopped, “Ruby is my fellow Leo, and even though that’s typically considered a girl’s name, Ruby is thought of as King of gems, so we rationalized that it was gender neutral and that if it wasn’t, we’d just have someone with a name that was as rare as the gem itself… you know, if they turned out to be a boy.”

“Ruby is actually a turning out to be a nuisance. They’re my favorite of all of your bad ass kids,” Piper said.

Instead of arguing that they weren’t bad kids (They weren’t, just very free kids). “I call them “Rascal,” Jasper said. “I don’t understand how they get into everything that they get into at 1. Jazz and Amber Reign at least waited until they were in the terrible 2s to begin their shenanigans. I think that they’re gonna be a genius, like Char. She was doing a lot at 1 too, I’m told...”

Almost as if on cue, they heard Charlotte yelling, “Andro! Ruby Andromeda Dunlop!” the three looked up to see a barely walking 1 year old running quite haphazardly, holding something that appeared to be a food item tightly in their grip, laughing all the way, with a very pregnant mother chasing after them, running as haphazardly with all of that belly to lug around.

Piper and Henry both cackled at the sight, but Jasper darted over and snatched up the baby and took the food from them. Charlotte caught up, caught her breath and explained, “I swear, I put it down for a split second to adjust my nursing pad and they grabbed it and ran!” Breathing still a little winded, she said, “Hey, Henry. Piper,” and retrieved her Danish. “I know that the party hasn’t started, but somebody made me miss breakfast,” she said pointing at Ruby. Piper reached for the baby and they went to her willingly. “And they go to Piper before they come to me… The person with the titty milk!”

“Because, I influence them to be the most them that they can be.”

“You can have them, at this rate,” Charlotte said.

Jasper laughed, “She didn’t mean that. She can’t legally give them away. They’re half mine.”

“Where’s their bling?” Charlotte wondered, finishing off her pastry. “They’re family. They’ll need it for the family photo shoot, not that it’ll be very elegant, considering that Dunlop children are magnets for calamity.”

“It’s covered, Babe. Go sit down. You look like you’ve been through hell.” She frowned. “Beautiful, though!”

“Shut up,” she muttered, waddling back to where her seat was.

The Dunlops were dressed in all white and diamonds (or you know, knock off crystals for the kids) for Charlotte’s 30th Birthday Diamond Ball.

Jazz had selected to wear “whatever Daddy is wearing,” so they had a smaller version of his white, suit with opaque floral embroidery and crystal embellishments. They also already had their pants rolled up to the knees and had taken their mass of curls out of the neat braided bun that Charlotte had painstakingly put it into this morning. Fortunately, she’d had the foresight to make sure that they did the immediate family photo shoot before everything else. Charlotte noticed on the way back to her seat that Jazz had also taken their shoes and socks off. They were literally untamed before the party even began. She smiled and waved at them and they waved back, “Hey, Mommy! You look like a queen!”

“If you’re not gonna wear your fancy shoes, at least throw on your sneakers so you don’t hurt your feet on something!” Charlotte called back.

“I’ve got some in the treehouse!” They rushed to the tree, electing to climb the rope, instead of the ladder to retrieve sneakers.

“You raised them to be independent,” Charlotte said. “Carefree Black child. Literally carefree. They don’t care ‘bout nothing.”

At least Amber was still put together. They had wanted to wear a princess gown. “It’s a ball! I gotta wear a princess gown!” They insisted. They only had Disney ones in their collection and they needed white, so Charlotte asked them what gown they wanted a white version of. “All of them.”

“You can only wear one to Mommy’s birthday party, though.”

“What about Daddy’s birthday?”

“Daddy’s gonna have a grown man friends party for his birthday. We’re not gonna go to that. Maybe just have some cake at home earlier that day, and sure, you can have a gown for that, if you want.”

“What about my birthday?”

“Sure. For your birthday, you can definitely wear a white gown, but which one do you want for Mommy’s party?”

Amber laughed and placed a hand on Charlotte’s hand, like a little adult. “No, Mommy. For my birthday, I need all the gowns. White. Also… all of them, in yellow.”

Charlotte smiled and said through her teeth, “Okay. Of course, it’s your birthday and Daddy has literally never told any of you ‘no,’ so I’m sure that we’ll be fulfilling that order. Now, you wanna tell Mommy what white gown you’ll wear to her ball?”

“Hmmm. Well, I think Tiana’s, but white. And I need to add a bustle, so I can dance with a prince, or Daddy if there’s only commoners.”

“Where did you learn the word bustle?” Charlotte whispered, making notes.

“Where did they learn the word “commoners?” Jasper wondered.

They instead made Amber a white Tiana gown that was short in the front, kind of like Char’s wedding dress, and a sparkly pair of white leggings, so that Amber wouldn’t protest too much to the lack of a bustle. Charlotte still didn’t know where they got that word from. But, passing by them on the swingset near their dollhouse, they were still dressed like she dressed them this morning, in their shoes and all.

Ruby being one, was the easiest to dress. Charlotte threw a white romper on them and a sunhat and they were the cutest kid in the world. Keeping it white and them out of trouble though? That was a task for somebody else today.

Charlotte’s twinkling maternity gown and updo made her look elegant enough for the party, but between her tiredness, hot flashes, being hungry A LOT, and rushing to the bathroom so much, she was lowkey miserable. She didn’t want to do a big thing for this birthday, being so close to her due date and this having been the most taxing pregnancy she had gone through, but Jasper seemed so excited about it and once the kids were in the mix with picking outfits and such, she felt obligated.

He planned it for the weekend before her actual birthday, because the next weekend (a few days after her birthday) was around the due date. It was SO CLOSE. Their birthdays would be even closer together than hers and Jazz’s, which was at the beginning of the month and had been celebrated by unveiling the playground in the yard. Which was so extravagant, in Charlotte’s opinion. But, they had made sure to get a lot of land specifically TO BE extravagant, if they wanted to.

Besides, Jasper paid for all of that, and what was she gonna do? Tell that man what he could and couldn’t do with his hard earned money? Jasper had always been extra, and now he could afford to be.

Jazz wanted a jungle gym. Amber wanted a carousel, and Jasper filled in a lot of the rest of it with stuff that he thought would be fun for them. She wondered if he wasn’t having some sort of early midlife crisis for a while, because he was extremely diligent on making this property perfect. But, that was because it would be their “Forever home” and he could pass it down from Dunlop to Dunlop for as long as they held it dear. “They’ve gotta hold it dear. It’s gotta be perfect. It’s my legacy.”

Watching him handle it was one of the ways she wound up pregnant again before he could have the chance to have a procedure. That man was simply too virile! And there was something about seeing him so passionately make plans and prep for their children’s futures that there was nothing sexier in the world than him in those moments. They scheduled his procedure after she realized that another Dunlop was on the way. Not that she had anything against her other 3 children, but four was twice what she initially saw for herself.

Charlotte LOVED being a mom. It was some of the best highlights of her life. She never would have expected to love it so much, but she absolutely did, aside from the pain of labor, her suffering was generally minimal. (Mainly, because she knew all of the rules medically, and she was able to figure out any necessary changes that she needed to make in her routine whenever her body called for it.

She also loved the idea of helping other people safely become moms, especially with the somehow increasing number of fatalities in Black women attempting to do so. So, whenever she finished medical school, her residency and fellowship, she finally was confident and prepared enough to open her own center.

She would be working as a medical biochemist, specializing in genetics for infants and childrens’ care. The site had an OBGYN, a pediatrician, a gynecologist, and a fertility specialist, when they started out. She wanted to make another option for women who might not get the proper care in other facilities, as well as options for the babies and children that they had. Also, to help those who wanted to have children and had issues preventing them from doing so.

Instead of having several doctors who are not associated in the building and renting from some leaseholder, she owned the building, would work from the lab with a team she selected, to avoid the disrespect and distrust at her previous lab, and found specialists that she was interested in, bringing what she valued most to the place.

Having other Black female doctors around was also quite refreshing, for all of them and she made sure to include an onsite daycare with personally vetted childcare providers. Because she knew that she wasn’t the only working mommy and that was important to her, as well. (This was a separate place from the pediatric playroom), because that was for the potentially sick kids. She even involved the doctors and scientists that she would have there in the development process, as a bit of an interview situation. (They didn’t work for her, but she wanted the vision to work for everyone, and to find people who were on the same accord).

They called it A New Page Childcare Center, and Charlotte had never been happier in her life, as far as her work life went, as she was after getting it off of the ground. She was saving lives again, but doing it with a collective of like-minded professionals who respected and liked each other and worked well together. She could be here until she was ready to retire! Finally! She had not only found her calling, but she was able to build up something to follow it through, and she was able to see her children more throughout all of it.

Plus, even when helping a client through a strenuous process of tests and seeking out solutions or researching new ideas in genetics, she controlled her schedule and therefore was able to do things at this point in her life with Jasper and the kids that she felt guilty about not being able to do before, like family vacations and events. Henry and Craig FINALLY tied the knot shortly after Hen turned 33, and it was her center that they came to when seeking out a surrogate.

At the center, they were able to speak with a surrogacy agent, because by that time, the center had grown to include an agency for surrogacy and one for adoption. By finding all these childcare specialists and providers and making room for them in her property, it was easy for people to explore all of these options in one place, and there were frequently workshops on site available for training in doula and midwife work, becoming foster parents, and NUMEROUS paid internships in every single one of the areas in the place.

Now, most of these ideas she came up with, in tandem with Jasper during pillow talk. She knew if he knew how to do one thing, it would be to tell her truthfully how to have a fulfilling workspace. She just had never thought that she would be able to put all of these professions and occupations in one space. Whenever he would say, “Why don’t you just find one and get them in your building?” she would immediately think, I can’t do that! But now, she wasn’t even sure WHY she ever thought that she couldn’t do it!

She guessed it sounded like too much. She guessed that it would be too hard to maintain rules, regulations, etc… But, Jasper pointed out, “But, they don’t work for you. As long as they can pay you to be in that space, it's an advantage to you all to have sources nearby to suggest. If fertility isn’t working out, your fertility specialist can suggest going to, you know… the fourth floor for a surrogate or the fifth floor for the adoption agency, etc. That way, they don’t have to look around, which would be additional stress and sometimes, you may be able to have a representative from the office of their next step come to speak with them and build rapport in that moment where they’ve lost a little bit a hope, to meet and reassure them that the last step was only another stepping stone and assure them that they will give their all to this particular leg of the journey.” There was always a brilliant idea coming out of him! She loved that man so much, more and more all of the time.

The various talks that had to be had with them were generally successful. Having two socially conscious parents, they were going to get lessons about everything whenever they either were about to go out into the world on their own (school and such) or for more heavy topics, whenever they seemed to want to know. Of course, first and foremost was the way that people outside might perceive and treat them.

Jazz looked almost just like Charlotte, but with a different curl pattern. Her hair mostly grew down, but it was poofy enough that it fluffed out at the sides. It gave her just enough “other” for people to ask her “Black, and what else?” but, if she had it up or something, nobody even bothered.

Amber was the only one that was really “light skinned,” but she always got a little browner in the summer. Her hair was curly like Jasper’s when he was a kid and it didn’t grow down, but out, so she had a huge curly fro.

Jazz said that Ruby was her mini… like she wasn’t cut from the very same cloth as Charlotte. Ruby had hair like Charlotte’s and similar features. Slightly less brown, but definitely darker than Amber. She looked even more like Charlotte, because they had similar mannerisms and the same face and hair.

Diamond was only a couple of shades darker than Amber, but she had more of Jasper’s features than the others, who were basically molds of Charlotte with the slight differences mentioned, and her eyes were light colored. Well, they were somewhere between a hazel and a chestnut. Jasper insisted that she had his mom’s eyes. Charlotte just denied it on principle. She lowkey did have Pansy’s eyes and was really the only one that could “pass for a Dunlop,” according to some of the comments Charlotte had overheard and seen on posts before Jasper blocked somebody. People sometimes joked with Jasper to ask him if he was sure those were all his kids, but they quickly retracted these jokes, whenever they noted his face or body language. When Jazz was little, he’d be more likely to kick someone’s ass over it. By the time Amber came, it was asked less, but when it was brought up, Jazz was singled out! She “didn’t look mixed enough” someone said, in that way that he could tell they felt like they were just being honest. She looked just like her mother, if she had wavy hair!! And… what did people think that he was going to presume that they were suggesting about his wife when they asked him shit like that or made a funny little comment.

His mother made that mistake years ago. “I just don’t see any part of you in that one,” she said, opting to try to pick up Amber as she nudged her forehead towards Jazz. Amber hid behind her older sister. Something about Pansy made her nervous. The woman sighed and tacked on, “I don’t think it would hurt to get them DNA tested, just in case…”

And he told her, “If you hadn’t given me life, I would sock you in the mouth for that.” (Jasper never made threats like that at her and she was shook).

“I was kidding! She’s just way darker than I thought she should be,” she had said about Jazz (which was PRIOR to Jazz identifying as a girl and ALSO made him upset that she called them a she), but Pansy had come out of that. They kept some distance between themselves and her until she had to seek them out and agree to the proper language and appropriate treatment. Then, Jasper monitored every time she was around for a long time before her and Charlotte were comfortable enough (and the kids were comfortable enough) for her to be allowed to spend time with them by herself.

She was a much better grandmother than she had been a mom, and he came to realize that a lot of people were weird about the fact that 3 out of 4 of his biracial kids didn’t quote unquote “really look biracial,” so they wanted to tell the girls about it whenever it was time for Jazz to go to her private school. Jasper wanted them in public school. There was one not too far from the house and it was considered when he bought it. But, they compromised that the kids could go to a private head start, maybe public elementary, and then Charlotte insisted on the private school when they got into junior high. But, after head start, all of Jazz’s friends were going to private school and she wanted to go, as well. Jasper wondered if Charlotte knew this would happen when she made that deal with him. She simply smirked in response.

“What the fuck is biracial?” Jazz had asked whenever the race talk came up. Charlotte threw her head back and Jazz winced, “Sorry, Mom.” She honestly never let go of the word, since she was 2 years old. But, she also had just presumed that since half of her family was different shades of brown and the other half were lesser shades of brown that other people had families that were just all kinds of browns and lesser browns, even those lesser brown people she knew from pre-k.

Realizing that Uncle Henry and Uncle Craig were not going to be able to come together and simply make brown cousins or lesser brown cousins was like a shock to her system. They had to grow a baby somewhere else and try to pick somebody that would have some similar traits. Then, learning that people might be meaner to her because she was a darker brown than Daddy was alarming, to say the least, and that even more people might treat her differently because of her private areas that they couldn’t even see? She was scandalized and horrified. But… she said that sounded like it meant that girls were tougher than boys and she was “tough enough to be a girl.”

“It’s not really a matter of toughness. It’s more like what you feel like you are, inside. And it doesn’t have to be a girl, or even a boy. You might feel like something else that you don’t quite have the words for, and we’ll help you find the right words, if that’s the case or maybe even you’ll have new words for us that are more catered to who you feel like you are inside.” Charlotte said.

“Well, I don’t not feel like a girl. I feel like a girl who is strong and brave. Whatever that is is my gender. I don’t care. It’s never mattered before. I just am scared of the people out there that might try to treat me like I’m a Black girl. (I am, but… that’s scary stuff, Mom.”

“We’ll protect you as much as we can,” Jasper said.

“I have literally seen your father punch more than a few people for treating mommy some kind of way,” Charlotte admitted. Jasper’s face showed he had zero regrets about those choices.

“Don’t worry Dad. I have a mean right hook,” Jazz said.

“Damn right you do. That’s that Dunlop Dumb Drop!” And with just that, the kid gestured for a double high five and they growled in each others faces and started barking.

Charlotte, feeling left out said, “I have some drops too.”

Both of them looked at her and burst into crying laughter. “Mom, please, do not do this to me!” Jazz said as Jasper wiped his eyes from actually crying laughing about it. “Oh, you oughtta end all these talks like that. Who can feel worried when you’ve got this shining sense of humor.”

Charlotte folded her arms, but couldn’t help but to laugh, in spite of herself of the fact that her young child thought it hilarious that she could drop somebody. “I never said with my fists, Kid. I’m a scientist and a doctor. I know at least one hundred ways to drop somebody without ever touching them. A lot of them, untraceable.” She threw a look at Jasper, who immediately stopped laughing.

“Well, that’s just terrifying,” Jazz admitted.

Charlotte winked, “Only for my enemies.”

Now, Jazz offered her double high fives and said, “Friends for life!”

Amber was concerned about things, but mostly about partnership. Why, at her age? They didn’t know, but they just answered her questions when they arose. “So. IF I AM a girl, feel like a girl, like things that the world says is for girls, but I also LIKE girls. Like, REALLY like girls, like - like them, you understand… can I still be a girl?”

“If you think you are, yes.”

“But, the world says that girls like boys, right? I hate boys. They’re smelly and unkind. They never like to wear pretty dresses that would be gorgeous on them. They hit you and say it’s because they like you, so if you want to hit them back, you don’t want to, because you don’t want them to think you like them, a stupid boy!”

Jasper balled his fists, “Who the hell hit you?”

“Daddy, don’t get mad. Since hitting means boys like you, I didn’t hit him back, so he wouldn’t think I like him. Instead, I put mud in his sandwich when everybody was at recess.” She smiled proudly.

“Well, I’m glad that you got him back. But, next time, just hit him. Nobody gets to put their hands on you and if they really liked you, they wouldn’t. Also, who was it?”

“Are you gonna go punch the kid, Jasper?” Charlotte asked.

“I MIGHT!”

Charlotte changed the subject. “Not all boys are like that, but if you just don’t like boys, that’s still fine. You can like whoever you like.”

“I like girls.”

“Cool. Uncle Henry is a boy who likes a boy, Uncle Craig. And Uncle Jake and Uncle Ray…”

She looked frustrated, “Do only boys get to like boys in the world?” They’d already warned her that people are mean to girls, was not being able to like like other girls part of that meanness?

“No! Everybody gets to like whoever they like and sometimes the world is mean about it, but sometimes the world is nice.”

“The world better be nice to me, because there’s plenty of dirt out there for me to put on their sandwiches.”

Jasper whispered, “She’s terrifying, like you.”

“If by that you mean that she’s brilliant, thank you,” Charlotte whispered back and kissed him briefly.

“Hi. Could you not? I don’t really want to have to see boys and girls kiss in my own home,” Amber said, inciting cackles from both of them.

Ruby didn’t care either way. Whenever they told her all these things, they said they didn’t have questions, were undecided on if they knew what their gender was and didn’t care about racist people because, “I have a big, strong dad, a mom that can kill people quietly, an older sister who fights people and one that pees in people’s colas. I think that I’m well protected.”

Jasper and Charlotte were nodding, presuming that they probably had talked to their sisters about this before, but both stopped at “pees in people’s colas” and said, “Wait, what?” Ruby tilted their head, acting like they had no idea what they were asking about.

“I have nothing further,” Ruby said. They kept the “their/them” pronouns throughout life. It just seemed like a lot to them, to sit there and think and decide who they felt like when their upbringing didn’t place any value on gender roles. But, they were also fine with whatever pronouns someone else used for them. It didn’t really matter.

Henry retired from hero life at 50.

The Dunlop kids and the Hart kids got together to plan a Semi-Centennial celebration for their parents, instead of calling in a joint birthday celebration. A lot of things were happening within a few years’ time. Jasper and Charlotte being married for 25 years, Jazz becoming a professional athlete, Amber getting engaged to her college sweetheart, Ruby graduating from high school at the top of their class, JUST like their mom and going into an entire new wave of technology that fascinated Charlotte, and Diamond going into high school, and the fact that Uncle Henry was getting ready to “settle peacefully from everything else” and focus on H<3art Eyes until his official retirement… so retiring from Captain Danger so that he could have at least some good years in the wedding shop with his kids and husband, just living his life.

His Dad and Ray had bought a boat a while back, which they mostly lived on, did some traveling in and also continued to enjoy perks such as the old Man Copter, which Ray basically just redecorated and put a cheesy postcard like caricature of the two of them on the side of it. The same for the RV that Jake brought, for whenever they wanted to travel on land. They were both retired and had no small kids. Ray never told Jake about Captain Man. The Hart kids agreed that he just COULDN'T have that information. It didn’t matter, anyway. They had been working well for about 20 years at that point. Neither chose to get married, but what they had was pretty undeniable.

The child advocate in Charlotte Ambrosia Dunlop got with Schwoz years prior to come up with a way to keep Swellview safe from the villain threats without training children to work as heroes until they couldn’t. It was a solution that they sort of came to simultaneously, and Schwoz was very upset that he hadn’t really considered it before… Clone generation. Recreating a Captain Man and Captain Danger clone and having the Man Cave computer know just how and when they would need to be replenished! Charlotte didn’t want Schwoz to have to stay there, being the brain behind the thing, so she convinced him to make a Safe Halley, to control it all and to simply keep access to it, if something went wrong, one of them could go sort it out if they had to. But, they didn’t. They never had to again, and Swellview was still quite safe.

Charlotte, Jasper, Henry, Piper, Ray, and Schwoz sit on the patio, looking at the view of the sunsetting on the mountains during their annual Man Fam Getaway… “Our life was stupid crazy. I wouldn’t change a thing,” Charlotte said and everybody heard her and they all agreed.

*** The End***

#A Chasper Fic #chasper #henry danger #hd fanfic #Nesha HD Fics

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benjaminjofaiho · 5 years

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The Captain Next Door Ch. 4

Summary: You’re a doctor who also just so happens to be a fan fiction writer. You love lots of fandoms but Captain America is by far your fave, so what happens when you get a new job, move to Brooklyn and realize that the brownstone you bought is right next door to Captain America? Obviously shenanigans ensue.

Warnings: Swearing.

It’s worth noting that I do not care for or abide by the timeline, there are some people mentioned that haven’t technically been brought together yet [ As per Winter Soldier ] but I did it anyway. P.S. I do not currently have a beta and the ‘f’ and ‘u’ keys on my keyboard are messed up so incase you see repeating letters anywhere they aren’t supposed to be feel free to let me know.

AN: I’m BAAAAACK! This is coming sooner than I wanted because I’m not as far enough into future chapters as I would like.But I just wanted to put some cuteness into what is happening right now so please enjoy the light refreshment. Thank you for waiting on me, those of you that are waiting on me. Thank you for all your reblogs, comments and likes. Your feedback is always welcome and I love hearing from y’all.

It had been about 8 weeks and you had a pretty good routine set for your new life in the big apple. Work all week, Hot yoga with Sonia on Friday mornings and occasionally the club with her on Friday nights, Sam comes over Saturday mornings to help fix up the house and in the evenings you cook your weekly meals for he and Steve; Sunday was the day you had all to yourself.

On Friday morning you and Sonia were walking back from the gym with your yoga mats and nearly got ran over by Sam on a morning run. His earbuds fell out and it was almost as if you weren’t there. He was beside himself trying to make sure he didn’t hurt Sonia; as for her you’ve never seen her so shy in her life. She was more of a take life by the horns type girl and you didn’t even know she had a shy bone in her body.

“Excuse me Ma’am, I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to run into you. I hope you’re okay?” You never thought of Sam that way. But in this moment with him making his voice like that, no shirt on, body glistening, you could see it.

“Yeah sure, ”she said quietly “I’m completely fine. No worries.”

“Can I make it up to you somehow –” You cleared your throat cutting him off. Turning to you as if you materialized out of thin air he said “Oh hey Doc, my b. You good?”

Laughing you told him you BOTH were fine and had to almost drag Sonia up the steps of your brownstone.

Saturday morning came around and you had just finished making pancakes – you liked to cook a little extra for Sam after his work and heard the doorbell ring. You went to open it and were surprised to see Steve.

“Hey Steve! Sam isn’t here yet I’m just waiting on him.” You always internally laughed at the fact that instead of calling his roommate like a normal person, Steve would rather come to your house to check for him personally. He was just such an old man. You continued “You know, I could give you my cell phone number so maybe you could call to find out if he was here to save you a trip.”

“Uhh…” He started looking uncomfortable again. Damn it. No matter how good you felt like you were doing you always had a way of messing him up and making him go red with discomfort. “ Sure, here you go” He handed you a flip phone with a green and black screen. You laughed taking it from him.

“Seriously? Don't you, like, know Tony Stark? What does he have to say about this?” you said, wiggling his phone at him.

“I never hear the end of it actually” He laughs. What a nice laugh it was. Putting your number in you gave it back to him and he saved it. Behind him Sam showed up to your door.

“Morning Doc, oh hey Cap. I thought you said you had errands to-”

“ Oh!” Steve started laughing loudly slapping Sam’s shoulder “Think you’re confused buddy I was looking for you.” Looking between them with confusion you said

“Anyway guys, just made some pancakes, y’all want some?”

“Girl you know I can always eat” Sam said laughing and tapping on his stomach.

Both of you turned your head to Steve and waited

“Well, I’m actually free for the whole day so sure, a meal sounds terrific.”

After you were all good and fed, you put your elbows up on the table and your hands folded under your chin like someone plotting and scheming.

“So gentlemen, what’s the plan for today? What are we doing?” You looked between them waiting to hear the plan.

“Doc I came to tell you today’s the last day of my fixing upping” Sam smiled his toothy grin, “ and just in time too because I have a date with a beautiful woman.”

“Hold on Samuel, I have a couple of questions!”

Steve let out a laugh and when you shot him a look he put his hand over his grinning mouth.

“Firstly, congrats on your date, but also who is she and what do you mean today is your last day?”

“Well she’s this beautiful Englishwoman, tall, funny, intelligent, honestly I could go on for hours. And as for my quitting notice, I’m all done Doc.”

“When did you even talk to Sonia?”

“Aht-aht! What happens outside the walls of the hospital and this house is none of your concern Dr. Y/L/N !”

Laughing you respond “ Fine! Be like that! See if I care!” After getting over your fit of giggles you continued “ But seriously, look at this place. I mean it works fine now but it looks… A mess” you ended.

“ Yeah I don’t know what to tell ya. I do fixing. Need a pipe to go up? That's all me. Building a shelf into a wall? I’m your guy. Knocking down a wall and remodeling your bathroom in the space of 3 days? Obviously I’m the only one that can do that. However, all this replacing fixing, painting, choosing crown moldings, deciding the ‘aesthetic’ for the house? I cannot help you, my work is done. But trust your good friend Sam, he’d never leave you high and dry, I have a contact who’s eye is impeccable. Hell, he’s an artist, lives nearby and even furnished and decorated our place.” As he ended that sentence he pat Steve on the back.

Steve’s head whipped towards him as he started to choke on his orange juice.

“Wh-What? Sorry what?”

Sam continued totally ignoring Steve’s protests. “Doc, you've been to our place right?” You shook your head unable to speak “Ah! We’ve got to have you over one of these days. Matter of fact I just have something I need to finish on one of the upper levels of your house, Steve why don’t you take her by our house, show her around and get some ideas. You guys can get a” Sam chose to take an unnecessary pause “ feel of what the other wants and what you both have to offer and see if you can come up with anything.”

“Oh Sam,” you say flustered, “I’m sure Steve is busy and I don't want to take up any of his-”

“Nah don’t even worry about that. Remember Steve said he was free all day? Isn’t that right Steve?” You both turned to Steve.

“Yeah I did say that. But you know-”

Immediately cutting him off and not wanting to hear his rejection “You know I’m sure you have other things to do. Don't worry about it, honestly, you’ve already been such a help and I really appreciate it a lot” turning to Sam you continue “You know what? Dr. Bonner has joked about wanting to quit medicine to become an interior designer, I’m sure he would be up for it.” Standing up you start to look for your phone but Steve jumped up as well.

“I can do it! I mean-” He cleared his throat from causing such a jarring noise “It wouldn’t be any issue at all, the reason I hesitated before is because I’m not sure how our styles complement each other, I haven’t really seen you outside the house before so that’s all that was.”

“Well then, it’s settled” Sam said joining the both of you standing. “ You two go and check out the house while I finish up here.” Before even being able to argue he was out of the kitchen and taking two steps at a time. Alone for the first time with Captain America, you let out a little breath and turned to him

“Steve, listen I really don’t want to impose-” His hand shot up immediately

“Y/N please, it’s not an imposition. I want to do it, it's a nice break from what we do daily. Sam’s got to get to know you a bit better though your house and now it’s my turn.”

You smiled widely before reigning it in and just nodding and walking towards to the door. Opening your front door you turned to him and let out the tiniest smile,

“So, shall we?”

“Yes of course.” He replied. Calling up to Sam he said “We’re going to the house buddy, see you later!” You both heard a faint Sam calling his good byes. You led him first down the steps and a gust of wind blew and you felt a little chill. At the base of your steps you turned and Steve looked almost like a kid who got caught stealing. Was he checking you out? Of course not. You shook your head and rolled your eyes. Why would captain America be checking you out? You let out a little sigh and tight smile and said “After you.”

====================Steve’s POV=======================

Steve woke up knowing today was Saturday, which was a day that had quickly become one of his favorites. He tried to lie to himself, saying it was the freedom of the day, the fact that he had no official obligations, but then, why didn't he also favor Sunday, a day that was essentially the same? He allowed himself to admit that it was because of Y/N, he loved Saturday, but not because of her. Her food was just too damn good. He couldn’t get enough of her… He meant her food. Admittedly, her company wasn't bad either, she was undoubtedly one of the funniest people he’d met, and she was so clever, it was really sexy to him. Her smile was like the sun parting clouds…

“Ahhhh!” Steve let out a frustrated groan and got up to get his day started. He always liked to work out before eating at her place, and he told himself it was because he was trying to offset the major caloric intake, but, if she just so happened to like she saw, it was an unintended side effect he guessed.

Stepping out of the shower and getting dressed he went up to his art studio that was the sole occupant of the highest level of their house. It was split on the roof with one half roof deck and the other half studio, separated an entire glass wall. Opening up the curtains, the studio was washed in natural light, the best for painting. He looked over his new work that he had started 3 weeks ago. It was her. He told himself he was just intrigued by her features. He had never seen eyes so deep. Honestly! It had started with her eye sketches. He found himself in meetings drawing on various briefings, a set of dark hickory eyes more and more. Once Nat looked over his shoulder and let out an exaggerated exasperated sigh, “Again, Steve?” With that, he decided to keep the eye sketches to his sketch book. He told himself he always wanted to perfect eyes in the first place so why not start with some that found artistically inspiring. He didn’t even really realize what he was doing until he started getting into her laugh that sounded like fairies. So then he started drawing her lips, always laughing or smiling and he found himself just adding in the button nose…for accuracy! He realized he had been practicing just bits and pieces of her. Why not go all in? He really wanted to hone his gift. He decided to go all out and just do a portrait of her laughing. Looking at the canvas in front of him, he looked at her in the light of day. She was coming along quite beautifully, well, as beautifully as an artist can objectively call his subject. Smiling to himself he closed his studio door and walked down to the kitchen to look for Sam.

“Hey buddy, morning. What are you up to today?”

“Hey Cap! Well I got a date later tonight and I’m rounding up with Y/N today.”

“Y/N?”

“Oh that got your attention did it?” Sam laughed “Yeah man, I’m just about finished with the house. So…Are you going to make a move?”

“This again? I don’t know what you’re talking about Sam” He began

“I’ve seen all your obsessive drawings of her eyes all over shit at work. I see the way you look at her Steve! I’m not a blind man. Matter of fact I seem to be the only person who can see what’s going on when we all get together.”

“Sam, I really hate to burst your bubble but you’re seeing things. Plus I’m really busy all the time, you know, working through my list.”

“Alright man, whatever you say. I don't want to hear SHIT though when we get invited to her and Dr. Boner’s wedding and we have to sit through hearing ‘It was always right there in front of me and you were there all along bullshit. You’re gonna be upset.”

At the mention of Boner he got up “Anyway I gotta go Sam, I have a busy day of running errands” Hearing Sam laugh behind him and choosing to ignore it he was out the door.

Was he concussed? Did he have some neurological disorder that he didn't know about? Was it Alzheimer’s? Dementia? He was absolutely confused how he ended up at the door of your house and ringing your bell. It was as if he was sitting in the back seat of his body and mind and someone else was at the wheel; driving recklessly. Before he knew it the door was being swung open and she started talking immediately.

“Hey Steve! Sam isn’t here yet I’m just waiting on him” There was that smile again. That fucking smile. “You know, I could give you my cell phone number so maybe you could call to find out if he was here to save you a trip.” Damn it. He was bothering her. Sam was the one fixing the house but he always showed up unannounced. Yeah he helped out once in a while but he was wearing out his welcome. She didn’t want him to keep coming over like this. Damn it. She was raised in the south! Of course she’s courteous to everyone she meets plus she’s an angel. She wouldn't tell him to stop coming over. He had to back off.

“Uhh….” He began, looking for what to say. He decided less was more here. “Sure here you go” handing you his flip phone. She laughed again. That laugh.

“Seriously? Don't you, like, know Tony Stark? What does he have to say about this?”

“I never hear the end of it actually” He let out a nervous laugh. The gang would have a field day when they found out about this. But at least she was making jokes. Maybe she didn't hate him 100%. She handed the phone back to him and Sam came up behind him.

“Morning Doc, oh hey Cap. I thought you said you had errands to-”

“ Oh!” Steve started laughing loudly slapping Sam’s shoulder “Think you’re confused buddy I was looking for you.” Samuel Wilson we have saved the world 100 times over, I’ve put my life on the line for you, and you’ve put your life on the line for me, please, do not let me down now. He hoped his crazy eyes and erratic smile portrayed all this information. Before anymore could be said she was inviting them in for breakfast.

“So gentlemen, what’s the plan for today? What are we doing?” She looked at him and Sam.

“Doc I came to tell you today’s the last day of my fixing upping and just in time too because I have a date with a beautiful woman.” No wonder he was in such a good mood.

“Hold on Samuel, I have a couple of questions!”

He let out a laugh. He loved it when she got faux serious like this. It just made her all the more attractive. She looked at him and he had to tighten up immediately covering his mouth unable to stop the grin.

“Firstly, congrats on your date, but also who is she and what do you mean today is your last day?”

“Well she’s this beautiful Englishwoman, tall, funny, intelligent, honestly I could go on for hours. And as for my quitting notice, I’m all done Doc.”

“When did you even talk to Sonia?”

“Aht-aht! What happens outside the walls of the hospital and this house is none of your concern Dr. Y/L/N !” She laughed and he was taken by her beauty as always.

“Yeah I don’t know what to tell ya. I do fixing. Need a pipe to go up? That's all me. Building a shelf into a wall? I’m your guy. Knocking down a wall and remodeling your bathroom in the space of 3 days? Obviously I’m the only one that can do that. However, all this replacing fixing, painting, choosing crown moldings, deciding the ‘aesthetic’ for the house? I cannot help you, my work is done. But trust your good friend Sam, he’d never leave you high and dry, I have a contact who’s eye is impeccable. Hell, he’s an artist, lives nearby and even furnished and decorated our place.” As he ended that sentence he pat him on the back.

He whipped his head at Sam and began to choke. “Wh-What? Sorry what?”

“Doc, you've been to our place right? Ah! We’ve got to have you over one of these days. Matter of fact I just have something I need to finish on one of the upper levels of your house, Steve why don’t you take her by our house, show her around and get some ideas. You guys can get a feel of what the other wants and what you both have to offer and see if you can come up with anything.” He shot Sam a death glare. He was certain she wasn't interested in him. He was sure she had suitors left and right and didn't need to feel uncomfortable with her overzealous neighbors.

“Oh Sam, “I’m sure Steve is busy and I don't want to take up any of his-” Of course she would try to let him down easy. She didn't want to spend any more time with him than needed.

“Nah don’t even worry about that. Remember Steve said he was free all day? Isn’t that right Steve?” Oh Shit! She was staring at him with those doe eyes.

“Yeah I did say that. But you know-”

“You know I’m sure you have other things to do. Don't worry about it, honestly, you’ve already been such a help and I really appreciate it a lot. You know what? Dr. Bonner has joked about wanting to quit medicine to become an interior designer, I’m sure he would be up for it.” That damn Boner guy again. Not on his watch! He jumped up.

“I can do it! I mean It wouldn’t be any issue at all, the reason I hesitated before is because I’m not sure how our styles complement each other, I haven’t really seen you outside the house before so that’s all that was.” He was really just talking out of his ass now. He hoped she didn't call him on it.

“Well then, its settled You two go and check out the house while I finish up here.” Sam Said. She let out a sigh like she was aggravated. Ugh he’s always making her upset. He needed to know what her ticks were so he could walk around them, his train of thought was interrupted by her voice.

“Steve, listen I really don’t want to impose-” His hand shot up immediately

“Y/N please, it’s not an imposition. I want to do it, it's a nice break from what we do daily. Sam’s got to get to know you a bit better though your house and now it’s my turn.”

Huh, he thought. That was a genuine smile. Okay. Maybe not all hope is lost.

“So, shall we?” She said

“Yes of course. We’re going to the house buddy, see you later!” He followed her down the steps of her home and caught himself admiring her backside. At that moment a gust of wind blew and lifted her dress to her thighs and he was able to make out the base of a tattoo. He imagined what it would be like to lift that dress slowly and snake his hands up her thighs. She spun around as if she could hear his thoughts and he looked straight ahead hoping he didn't get caught. She rolled her eyes and gave a slight shake of the head. So much for being discrete. She smiled like her landlord was making a joke and she had to laugh and said. “After you.” His face went as red as the tomatoes Sam was growing on the roof while he walked a head of her to get to their home. After walking up the steps and unlocking the door he turned to her putting on his very best Captain America smile and said “Ready?”

Taglist: @champagnesugamama @smooth-sunflower @queenwinchester27 @hamilboots @trees-are-friends

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victorineb · 8 years

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Green Scarf to a Bull, Chapter 2: Come Here Often?

It’s no longer Basic Chickens Week (boo!) but that doesn’t mean Adam and Elias have stopped their shenanigans! Here’s chapter two of my nonsense, and Adam has revenge on his mind...

Also on AO3.

According to Fryderyk and Jaime (the other bartender), Elias came in every Wednesday and Saturday at 10pm, ordered one pint every two hours and left at 2am. The night Adam had been in, he’d stayed later for some reason (Adam wondered if it had been to continue to shoot furtive glances in his direction) but otherwise he’d always kept exactly to schedule, lurking in his seat in the corner (sometimes with a book, sometimes just staring off into space) and mouthing off about rudeness to anybody who approached. Apparently some of the regulars had tried making a drinking game out of it – take a shot every time Elias went off at someone – but the bar had put an end to it after someone almost got hospitalised.

Armed with this knowledge, Adam decided to return to the pub on the Wednesday (less chance of amused onlookers if things went pear-shaped again), waiting until just before twelve to make his entrance – long enough for Elias to have relaxed into his surroundings, and to have got that first drink down his neck. If the man could be at ease (and the bartenders seemed to think it wasn’t physically possible), this was probably the moment for it.

Adam smoothed his green scarf and flicked his hair back from his face, squared his shoulders and pushed open the pub’s door. This was going to be a tricky operation – if he didn’t get the tone just right, Elias would almost certainly fly straight off the handle and out of the pub never to return. And Adam was damned if he was going to let the big, thoughtless jerk off that easy.

Lucky that Adam was used to dealing with awkward subjects. He was, after all, the best investigative journalist in London.

Was. Past tense, Towers.

Adam shook off the thought, well-practiced at it now, and glanced towards the end of the bar, relieved to see that Elias was in his usual seat and hadn’t decided to give the pub a miss after their encounter. He gave both bartenders a nod and approached Elias gingerly, holding up both hands in supplication when the man noticed him, and starting to speak before Elias could launch into another temper tantrum.

“Before you say anything, please allow me to apologise,” Adam said, hoping that his expression had landed somewhere in the vicinity of contrite, “I’ve been coming in here every night this week hoping you’d be in.” A total lie but, as planned, Fryderyk piped up to confirm it (thus securing another hefty tip), allowing Adam to continue uninterrupted. “I was most dreadfully rude to you that night, you were quite right to tell me off for it.” Adam allowed himself a moment of triumph as Elias’ eyes widened slightly, apparently at the idea that anyone thought he was right about something. “I’m afraid I was three sheets to the wind and I just couldn’t resist talking to you.” Wider eyes still at this. “But that isn’t any excuse for my frightfully poor manners and I’ve felt just awful about it ever since. Could you find it in your heart to forgive me?” Out of the corner of his eye, Adam saw Jaime raise an eyebrow. Alright, he was laying it on a bit thick – and he sounded like something out of an Ealing comedy – but he was pretty sure someone like Elias wasn’t going to respond to subtlety.

And a moment later he was proven right when Elias narrowed his eyes and asked, “What is this… three sheets?”

“Oh! It means I was half-cut.” The eyes narrowed further. “Um… drunk. I was really, very, shamefully drunk. It’s what we say in England.”

“We do not have that expression here. It is very unhelpful of you to use it. You should use Danish expressions if you want to be understood in Denmark, that is obvious.”

It was a Herculean task for Adam not to roll his eyes straight into the back of his head, but he managed it. “Well then,” he said, reminding himself of the point of this endeavour, “perhaps you’ll let me buy you a drink this time, and you can teach me some.”

Which is how Adam Towers wound up spending his Wednesday night in conversation with likely the strangest man in Copenhagen. Possibly all of Denmark itself. And the really strange thing? It wasn’t unenjoyable. Elias was rude, brash, delusional, egotistical and just plain odd. He was also an utter original. Adam had never met anyone like him, and Adam had met just about everyone. He couldn’t predict what would come out of the man’s mouth next, whether a tirade about Charles Darwin (“that moron!”) or the very weird tale of the brothers he had been living with until recently (“I had to leave, they were all very jealous that they are old, married men and I am still young and virile with many seeds to sow,”). Elias was… surprising. Adam couldn’t remember the last time he’d been surprised by anyone.

It was rather nice.

Which perhaps was why Adam found himself offering stories in turn (when he could get a word in edgewise). Tales from when he’d been the hottest thing in English journalism, glamorous parties he’d attended, exotic countries he’d visited. Even, somehow, the story of how he’d lost it all, nearly died because of that psycho bitch novelist (only the inflated lung capacity of a champion dick sucker had saved him there) and then been utterly discredited when he tried to take her down. Of how he’d switched to travel journalism if for no other reason than to get the fuck out of London, and how he’d been pushed out of that by bloggers and tripadvisor.com. How he’d pitched up in Denmark without the faintest fucking clue of what he was going to do next, other than find a flat and get copiously, obnoxiously drunk.

Elias had suggested he write a book. And, well, it wasn’t like Adam hadn’t thought about it. His journalistic reputation might’ve been in tatters but he still had a decent imagination and a way with words… why not try a novel? Well because, as he pointed out to Elias, he was a little lacking in the old commitment department and a whole novel just seemed like such a lot of work…

After which Elias had called him “completely idiotic” and, after a second of stunned silence, Adam had broken out in laughter and agreed. And only partially because he was still working on keeping Elias onside. Mostly, it was because it was true. It had been a long time since anyone had been so bluntly honest with Adam, and that was rather nice too.

Shit. Adam was having a good time. With Elias. Elias, who this evening was clad in the beigest shirt in all existence, and who kept getting a foam moustache on top of his actual moustache. This was absolutely, totally, one hundred percent not part of the plan.

The plan which, under other circumstances, Adam might well have given up on by now. The thought of how Elias’ face would look after Adam rejected him, crumpled and wounded and probably teary, wasn’t sitting right with him at all and that might have been enough to put Adam off going through with it. Except that some kind soul who’d been in the pub that night, had decided to upload their video of the incident to Twitter. Where, somehow, possibly because of the magical powers being a total hellbitch got you, it had been noticed by an ex-girlfriend and quickly circulated around Adam’s acquaintances and followers. And Adam just couldn’t forgive that, no matter how entertainingly unique Elias was.

Mission Humiliate This Uptight – if somewhat strangely endearing – Bastard was still very much a go.

So Adam made sure to inch closer and closer as the minutes ticked by, made sure to hold Elias’ gaze just a moment too long, to press their thighs together ever-so-gently… and then ever-not-so-gently. And he was rewarded with some very obvious confirmation that he hadn’t imagined Elias’ interest the other night: pupils blown, nervous grins and hitches of breath, an increasing ease with Adam’s little touches. Not to mention, more of that strange shifting and twitching that Adam was really hoping was arousal and not some sort of weird tic the man couldn’t get rid of.

But 2am was fast approaching and he couldn’t allow Elias to leave without a thorough humiliation (no matter if the thought of it was suddenly making Adam’s stomach feel strange). The time for subtlety was over.

After a quick check that Elias’ attention was on him (as if it had been anywhere else all night), Adam ‘accidentally’ tipped his glass in such a way that a drop of whisky rolled over the edge and began to make its way slowly down the surface. Adam smirked and, firmly holding eye contact with Elias, extended his tongue to catch the drop at the base before teasingly tracing its route back up to the rim.

The whimper Elias let out told Adam he’d won. All he had to do was lean forward and kiss… pretend, he was only going to pretend… to kiss…

Elias shot back and off his stool, mumbling something about needing to use the bathroom and “sorry.” Adam watched him go in dismay.

Fuck, not again.

But no, this time no one had noticed, not even Fryderyk and Jaime, who were engaged in an arm-wrestling contest that Jaime was clearly winning. This could still be salvaged, Adam just needed to wait for Elias to get back from…

That gigantic wanker.

Elias had taken his coat, probably planning to escape through the window (a move Adam had himself perfected over the years). Oh no, no way did Adam Towers let a target go this easy. He would sneak into the bathroom and catch the big bull red-handed. With any luck he’d have gotten himself stuck in the window, the enormous, clumsy bastard.

Adam hopped down off his seat and strode towards the bathroom. He slid in through the mercifully creak-free door and lunged round the corner, ready to bust Elias mid-escape…

And found the window closed and no one there.

It had been less than a minute between Elias leaving and Adam following him. There was no way an out-of-shape fifty-something with shoulders that broad (not that Adam had been looking) could have gotten out of the window that fast. So where the fuck was he?

Wait, Adam could hear… what the hell was that? A wet smacking, rhythmic and desperate…

Holy shit.

Elias was wanking in one of the stalls.

At least that explained all that wriggling.

This was perfect! Adam would lean over the adjacent cubicle, get some photo evidence, report Elias (loudly) to Jaime and Fryderyk, and then, for good measure, pop the whole thing up on the Internet for the world to see. Quid pro quo.

Adam padded forward, eternally grateful that the rubber soles of his boots meant he could walk soundlessly without having to change into his stockinged feet. He slid into the stall next to Elias’ and, pulling out his phone, climbed carefully onto the (annoyingly lid-free) toilet seat and leaned over the wall.

Oh. Oh my.

Adam forgot to take the photo. Hell, Adam forgot to breathe.

Elias had, by some distance, the most enormous dick Adam had ever had the fortune to lay eyes on. Suddenly, Adam could see why Jaime had referred to him as a bull in the first place: the size of that cock was more bovine than human.

Once, when he was seven, Adam had seen a rocking horse in the shape of a stag in the toy section of Harrods. He had talked of nothing else for eight straight months and when Christmas came and no stag appeared, the subsequent tantrum had been so extravagant that their neighbours had actually called the police. He had never wanted anything so badly as he wanted that stag.

He wanted Elias’ cock more.

God, it was perfect: easily eight inches, uncut, thick as a bingo dauber. Hell, thick as two. It was also a very angry red and glossily slick with precum, even though Elias could barely have started more than thirty seconds ago. He must have been straining in his pants the whole time Adam was talking to him… God.

Adam couldn’t help it; he made a tiny noise of want in the back of his throat.

And of course, despite his panting and the squelching of his frantic strokes, Elias heard it.

And then, locking his wide, startled eyes with Adam’s, he came. Copiously.

After that there was a lot of frantic noise and movement. Elias shrieked indignantly, causing Adam to reel back and put his foot in the toilet and give out a disgusted yelp of his own. Then it was a race to see who could extricate himself from the stall first, with Adam emerging the (slightly damp) winner, banging his door open and turning to find a (somewhat soiled) Elias storming out of his in turn.

“You!” the older man bellowed. “Why were you watching me? You wanted to laugh at silly Elias, is that it?”

“No, god, Elias, I wasn’t laughing at you, honestly!” Adam told him, taking a few steps back as a fuming Elias advanced. He had been right, the hurt expression on Elias’ face wasn’t one he ever wanted to see again. “I just…” Adam cast around for an excuse that would work, and decided to go for something at least semi-honest. “You took your coat!”

Elias stopped mid-stride, confused. “What does my coat have to do with anything?”

“You took it, and I thought…” Adam let his own expression turn wounded, pouting just a little bit, “I thought you were going to do a runner on me and I didn’t want you to.”

If Elias had looked stunned before, he looked utterly bamboozled now. It took a full minute before he spoke again. “You wanted me to stay?”

Adam smiled, coy and gently teasing, “Well yeah, we were having a nice time, right?” Elias said nothing in response, only ducked his head shyly, so Adam continued. “And then you went off and I wanted to at least talk to you, so I followed you in here and I was hearing these noises and… well, honestly,” Adam lied, “I thought you might be sick and I just wanted to check, so…”

It sounded like utter bullshit even to Adam, but Elias just raised his eyes a little and asked, softly, “You were worried about me?”

Adam tried hard to ignore the little thump his heart gave, and nodded.

After that it was easy for Adam to manoeuvre Elias back out into the pub, to order him another drink (discreetly shooing an expectant Fryderyk in the process) and to sit in an oddly charged but not unpleasant silence until Elias looked up and told Adam that it was time for him to go home.

“But,” he added, “perhaps I will see you here again one night?”

Adam gave a grin that felt unsettlingly genuine. “It’s a distinct possibility.”

Elias gave a small smile in return and then shocked Adam entirely by grabbing him in a tight hug that lasted for a good two minutes, before extricating himself and heading for the door without another word.

Behind him, Jaime leaned over and fixed him with a look. “What,” the bartender asked, “the hell was that?”

“That was Elias,” Adam responded. “And this,” he added, “is me changing the plan.” And then he slid down and followed Elias out of the pub. And proceeded to follow him at a discreet distance to a slightly dowdy but respectable apartment block not too far from Adam’s own flat, where Elias let himself in (albeit not before shouting at a cat for… well, being a cat).

Now Adam knew where his target lived, he could set about figuring out the best places to ‘bump into’ him. This wasn’t stalking, Adam reasoned, it was research. He was just ensuring that, as requested, Elias was going to be seeing more of Adam Towers in future… and then, if all went according to plan, Adam would be seeing (a lot) more of Elias (and his glorious cock) in return.

#basic chickens #my fic #rare pairs #rare pairs fic #adam and elias #adam towers #elias #basic instinct 2 #men and chicken #hannigram au #madancy au #hannibal

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