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#I witnessed this whole shitshow close up
thatgirlonstage · 9 months
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Having been in the Vo/tron fandom from very shortly after S1 first aired and having stayed at least adjacent to it for the whole long slog up to present day is a curse for many reasons but also because it means most every time I see people try to explain the origin of the anti movement I have to cringe at all the things they are confidently getting wrong
And I’m not going to say anything, I did not save receipts or document this whole stupid phenomenon because it gave me a headache then and it gives me a headache now and I am simply not interested in being your discourse historian
But I am just standing in a corner like
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nathanbatemanfucker · 11 months
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Kinktober 15: Against a Wall (& Voice Kink)
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pairing: jonathan levy x reader
contents: 18+/NSFW/MINORS, professor kink
wc: 900ish
an: for my bestie who has always been by my side through everything and supported me always. i love you @honeybrowne
kinktober masterlist | misc. masterlist
You think about his voice all the time. If you try really hard, no matter where you are, sometimes you can hear him. And admittedly, it’s a little weird to be this enamored with one of your professors, but his voice is as soothing as it is erotic.
Closing your eyes and pretending he’s lecturing at you about something is helping you right now, in this shitshow of a bar. You were supposed to meet a hinge date here, but after sitting for 5 minutes…10…a whopping 40 with no reply, you’d gotten the message loud and clear.
Not wanting to explain to your roommate that you’d been stood up, you ordered a beer and some cheese fries but you soon regretted it as the space grew smaller as bodies packed in, louder as the night faded.
Jonathan’s— Professor Levy, you mean— voice felt like it was right your ear. Like he was calling your name over and over. Until you realize you weren’t trying to imagine him saying that. No you don’t have to imagine because when you open your eyes, he’s standing a few seats down at the bar, waving at you. When your eyes meet he smiles, and though you return it, you wish the floor would swallow you whole.
He makes his way to you, leaning in so he doesn’t have to shout, “This is a bit far out to be your scene, isn’t it?”
His scent is sinful, his voice so sweet in your ears and you swallow, fiddling with the hem of your skirt.
“Professor, hi, uh it’s good to see you.”
“It’s good to see you too,” He says earnestly, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he smiles. “I stopped in for a drink, are you here with some friends?”
“I— actually, well…it’s not important,” You can hardly get the words out, the feeling of embarassment compounding with your sadness about being stood up. You had hoped no one would witness it, and now he was here of all people.
Jonathan frowns, noticing the way you hesitate, the way your shoulder slump as you try to answer. Despite better judgement he fishes a few bills out of his pocket to leave on the counter, takes your hand and guides you through the crowd to a single stall bathroom.
Once inside he locks the door, turning to you with a concerned expression, “I know this isn’t much better, but at least the baseline is in the background. Are you alright? What’s happened?”
“I, er, we don’t have to talk about it. I was just leaving actually.”
He closes some of the distance between the two of you, eyes on you intently as he tries to read your expression, “When I saw you, you looked like you were about to cry. Tell me.”
“It’s stupid really,” You insist.
“Hey, it’s not stupid if it’s hurt you, sweetheart,” He suggests gently.
How many times have you imagined Jonathan’s rich voice saying something like that? It breaks down some of your walls, and you sigh, looking down at the ground.
“Some guy on hinge stood me up,” You mumble.
Jonathan’s heart breaks for you— you’ve been one of his favorites the entire semester. Smart, kind, witty…attractive. He can’t help himself as he cups your cheek and the surprised, innocent look on your face makes something stir inside him.
“He doesn’t know what he’s lost, does he?” He asks softly, thumb caressing the swell of your cheek.
“N-no.”
“No, he doesn’t,” He agrees, his nose coming to ghost against yours. He hesitates, his eyes fluttering shut, “Tell me no. Tell me to walk away.”
There’s no command in his voice, no honesty as he virtually begs for you to turn him away. But what there is rawness, a hunger in the deep timbre that you easily identify.
“I can’t,” You say honestly.
He leans away to give himself just enough space to remove his glasses, tucking them into his back pocket. “Why?”
“Because I don’t want to,” You whisper.
As soon as the words are out of your mouth he’s moving, pressing you into the wall and lifting you by your thighs in a way that makes your skirt lift, so that he can grind his clothed cock against the seam of your panties. He kisses you a million ways— soft, rough, messy, gentle. It grows depraved, the way he sucks on your tongue, the sound of your wetness as he grinds against you over and over.
He only breaks away when you both are breathless, sucking in a breath so he can say, “God, you are so fucking beautiful. I’ve thought about you so much.”
“Me too. Thought about you,” You say, running your hands through his messy hair.
“I know what you meant, honey. What do you think about?”
“You. Your voice. This,” You admit against his mouth.
He moans against you, a soft desperate little sound. “My voice? You think about me telling you how sweet you taste, how gorgeous you are pinned up against this wall while I grind against you?”
“Yes, professor,” You whine, pivoting your hips up against his, eager for more friction.
His hips still as he kisses his way down your neck, his beard brushing against your skin, “You say my voice, but listen to you, moaning and whining for me.”
“Jonathan, please,” You moan, begging him for more, for anything.
He gets his lips at your ear, and says lowly, “Let me take you home.”
“Yes.”
oscar: @honeybrowne, @pastanoodles11, @campingwiththecharmings, @steven-grants-world, @stevengrcnt, @greg-montgomery, @lesbianhotch, @mccn-bcys, @marc-spectorr, @whatthefishh, @silversprings-mp3, @simpforbritgents, @maisondenachtai
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hellsbellschime · 2 years
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Just here to say that Amber does have a medical record showing her broken nose, she actually needs to get surgery to fix it but hasn't. She has build up of scar tissue, she went to get her nose checked out after her divorce qnd found out it had been broken during the marriage. She has a hard time breathing sometimes and it makes it hard for her to fall asleep as well.
Her team tried to submit the medical record into evidence but Depp's team blocked it :/
Oh but HOW DO WE KNOW THAT IT WAS JD WHO DID IT??? I mean, she didn't go to the hospital immediately right? Did she have a witness? Was there a witness there with a portable X-Ray and did they immediately scan her face to prove that her nose was broken right then? Because maybe that whole ass recorded conversation of them arguing about her thinking her nose is broken and him saying that headbutting her in the forehead wouldn't break her nose is just a weird coincidence and we can't really know if she didn't tell him that he hurt her in a blackout so they would have a recorded conversation about it but she really broke her nose herself and made him think he did it to set him up like Amy Dunne!
Honestly, I'm trying not to get overly torqued about this and I'm glad that more people are starting to question the narratives that are being pushed, but the level of absurdity of all of these stans bleating how IF YOU JUST WATCHED THE TRIAL YOU'D KNOW SHE DOESN'T PASS THE VIBE CHECK when they apparently don't know about the actual hard evidence in her favor is ridiculous. And fuck no I did not waste my time watching every minute of that shitshow like some of these other people, because guess what? He is on record saying himself that he abused her, ergo no defamation happened, case closed and solved in 3.2 seconds. I love that people can legit rip her a new one for not blinking in a trustworthy way and yet words coming out of JD's own mouth are not enough to convince them.
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blushy-tigerrr · 3 years
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Rich Man’s World
c!quackity x gender neutral reader
summary: Las Nevadas was the paradise of very few. On the outside, it was beautiful in the strangest way. People travelled there to let off some steam. They needed an escape from all of the stress of the SMP, and they used gambling as their escape. The leader of this whole idea was none other than Quackity, who was arguably one of the richest men on the server because of this place... or so they thought.
word count: 1.6k
warnings: angst; cursing; mentions of migraines, taking pills; sad ending
based on: money, money, money by abba
a/n: this is my submission for @okpunz ‘s writing comp! super excited to be participating in my first one of these
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Y/N sighed in exhaustion, throwing their apron on the bar with muted anger. They sat down at the bar with a huff, putting their head in their hands. It was just another day of waiting tables at this godforsaken place, and they were at the end of their wits. The start of another migraine began to creep into their skull, making them wince. Migraines have become a regular thing for them after work, and that really didn’t make this god awful job any easier to deal with.
Y/N fished a bottle of ibuprofen out of their bag with a shaky hand. They walked around to the other side of the bar and filled up a cup of water. They looked out onto the casino floor, taking in the massive amount of trash strewn out across the floor. Knowing that they were the only one left here to be cleaning all of this up made them feel even more woozy. They winced at a piercing shock of pain in their head, gripping onto the edge of the bar with one hand. A few tears of frustration and pain threatened to spill from their eyes. Y/N sniffed, wiping the tears away quickly before anyone could catch them. They quickly tossed the pills into their mouth, washing them down with a long sip of cool water.
“Y/N! Mi amor!” The familiar upbeat voice rang in Y/N’s ears, causing another shock of pain. They cringed again, trying to hold back the pained expression on their face. Quackity. Their boss. Their lover. Someone that they used to call their best friend. Now… it’s a bit complicated. Did he piss them off to no end? Every single fucking day. Did they still love him? “Hey, babe! Another crazy night in Las Nevadas, hm?” Quackity’s lively voice startled them out of their thoughts before they could even answer themselves. Quackity wrapped his arms around Y/N’s waist, planting a sloppy kiss on their cheek.
“Sure is, hon...” Y/N mumbled, still trying to balance themselves on the bar. Quackity began rambling about all of the bets he had won tonight, but the words fell on deaf ears as Y/N began to zone out. That question hadn’t left their mind. They did love him… didn’t they? He may be an asshole sometimes, but they did still love him. Right?
“Alright, I’m just gonna go count up the earnings for tonight, and then you’ll get your pay. Okay, amor?” Quackity grabbed Y/N’s hand, placing a gentle kiss on the top of it. Y/N halfheartedly smiled at him as he made his way back to his secluded office.
Y/N sighed heavily, making their way back around to the front of the bar. They slumped down into the chair, laying their head on their arms resting on the bar. Their massive headache only fueled the extreme emotions filling their chest.
Anger was the most prominent. Y/N worked all night and all day so them and Quackity could pay their bills, but there never seemed to be a single penny left for them. They would spend nearly their entire paycheck on the bills that needed to be paid off. Meanwhile, Quackity could somehow buy himself so many luxuries with what he earned from gambling. It never made sense to them. Why wouldn’t he contribute some of his earnings to things that actually needed it? He wanted to brag so much about being a breadwinner of the household, so why didn’t he act like it?
Suspicion was next to arise. Quackity never told them just how much he was earning. It’s not just that. They were the only person not to know. If anyone else asked him, he’d go on and on about just how rich he was and how much he made every night. With Y/N though, he never said. It made them wonder what he was hiding. Why would he feel the need to hide it? The thought came into their mind. What if he wasn’t paying them as much as he should? What if that was the reason for his secrets?
Guilt followed that thought soon after. Why on Earth would Quackity ever do that to them? He loved Y/N. He would never lie to them about something like that.
…Right?
The sound of heavy footsteps awoke Y/N from their thoughts. Quackity slid their paycheck on the bar to them with a smirk. Y/N gave a small smile back. They went to open the envelope and paused.
“Hey… Quackity. Can I ask you something?” They managed out nervously. He met their gaze, shrugging nonchalantly.
“Sure, babe! Shoot.” He answered, pulling up a chair to sit next to them. Y/N twiddled with their fingers, nervous that they might not like the answer.
“So… why don’t you ever tell me how much you make a night?” They asked bluntly. Quackity sat next to them, stunned. He was not expecting that question, and the expression on his face said that to Y/N right away.
“Uh… well, you see, I-I don’t really discuss earnings with anyone, actually! Just something I like to… y’know, keep to myself.” He responded, scratching the back of his neck. Y/N noticed that. That action plus the fact that he wouldn’t make eye contact told them all they needed to know.
“You’re lying to me.” They stated, staring at him with cold eyes. Quackity’s head shot up to meet their gaze, his face turning slightly pink at the accusation. “You know you’re lying to me. Don’t look at me like that.” They spat at him, their anger starting to show itself.
“Woah, what is going on? I don’t know why you’re getting so worked up about this!” Quackity retorted, matching their piercing tone. Y/N scoffed at him, shaking their head.
“Oh, you don’t? You think I don’t know how you brag to all of your friends about how much money you make each night? I live in the same fucking house as you. I hear everything you say.” Y/N wasn’t yelling. Their tone stayed quiet, and that’s what scared Quackity so much. “It’s constant. The bragging. It never stops until I’m around. ‘Money, money, money!’ That’s all I ever hear anymore, but you’re not telling me! What makes you not trust me?”
“What do you… of course I trust you! I just… I don’t know, it feels weird to talk about it with you because you work here, Y/N!” Quackity shouted, standing up from his chair. Y/N stood up as well, not about to be overshadowed by him.
“Oh, so you can’t tell me, but you can tell Sapnap? Karl? They work here too, y’know, and yet, you’ll brag to them about how ‘it’s a rich man’s world’! What makes me so different? What are you hiding from me, Quackity?” Y/N pleaded. They wanted him to tell the truth. They so desperately wanted some hope that he was still the man they fell in love with so long ago. However, Quackity averted his eyes, staring down at the ground. Y/N threw their hands in the air, exasperated. “Y’know, in my wildest dreams, I had a plan. I would get a wealthy man. I thought I’d never have to work at all. I’d fool around, have a ball, but no. That’s not my life. It’s yours. While I work out here all night and day, and who pays our bills, Quackity? Me. I do, with my paycheck that barely covers it all. While you go out and spend whatever you’re making on frivolous things!”
“Okay, fine! You want the truth? I give you the fucking truth!” Quackity exclaimed, pointing a finger in Y/N’s face. “Maybe I don’t talk to you about my money because I don’t want to admit that I’m going fucking bankrupt, okay? I spent all the money I made on stupid shit or I lost bets and gambled it all away! Okay? I-I didn’t tell anyone about this! I’ve lied to everyone, and I regret it. I regret not being honest. There’s your truth.” Quackity sat back down in a chair, head in his hands. Y/N stared at him, teeth clenched.
“I can’t do this anymore.” They whispered, barely audible. Quackity looked up at them, his eyes pleading them not to go. “I-I can’t just let you lie to me for so long and get away with it.”
“Y/N, please, don’t go. Love, I’m nothing without you!” Quackity begged, grabbing Y/N’s arm gently. They pulled away, refusing to look at him.
“That’s too fucking bad.” Y/N retorted. They picked up their bag, paycheck, and apron. Y/N shoved the apron into Quackity’s hands. “You don’t need me here. It’s a rich man’s world, after all, isn’t it?” Y/N stared blankly at the man they wished they didn’t love. “I quit this shitshow, and I’m moving out tomorrow. We’re over.” Y/N walked briskly out of the casino, tears threatening to spill down their cheeks.
Quackity didn’t bother following them. He knew there was no fixing what he had done. He stared at the apron in his hands. The one that belonged to them. Y/N, the one who supported Quackity through everything. They were his ray of sunshine through the clouds. They were the one thing keeping him going. Now, they’re nothing but a memory. Hot tears spilled out of his eyes as he let out a scream of frustration and pain, letting himself sink onto his knees. “All the things I could do if I had a little money…” He whimpered. He held Y/N’s apron close to his chest, not ready to let go of the love he had lost.
‘It’s a rich man’s world.’
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dindjarindiaries · 4 years
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Pretty Please
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gif via @pedropcl​
summary: You’ve developed feelings for Javier, but you’ve been great at concealing them—until now. You find yourself wanting him now more than ever, and you’re not sure you can take it anymore. (As inspired by Dua Lipa’s “Pretty Please”)
pairing: javier peña x f!reader
warnings: sexual themes, pining, non-descriptive sexual content
rating: R
word count: 4.256k
masterlist
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You must’ve woken up on the wrong side of the bed this morning—or, rather, inside the wrong bed.
The feeling is sudden and it’s sticking within you. Even as you’re rushing through your morning routine as usual, sliding on your tight-fitted jeans and buttoning up your three quarter-sleeve dress shirt, you can’t help thinking about them coming right back off. You’ve even decided on wearing your best matching set, hopeful that the black lace still remains concealed underneath the purple hue of your shirt. Though, you wouldn’t mind a certain pair of eyes noticing.
You blink a few times, shaking your head. No, you chastise yourself. You can’t give in. You can’t do this.
But you know the truth. You can’t resist anymore. You need Javier fucking Peña just as badly as he needs his cigarettes.
You’ve been trying to avoid this for so long. Coming to work in Colombia wasn’t supposed to mean pining after one of your new partners, but almost as soon as you acquainted yourself with Javier, you were a sucker. His charm, his wit, and his goddamn sex appeal were just too much to resist. It only got worse when you actually learned more about him, joining him and Steve on after-work ventures either to a bar or just a restaurant to get away from the stress of work. You’ve discovered that he’s extremely protective, quite caring, and very passionate—and that just makes you want him more. In multiple ways.
Today, a certain way seems to be making itself very known as your mind can barely focus on whatever you’re doing. When you’re brushing your fingers through your hair and adjusting it to your usual style, you imagine his fingers running through it, tugging on it, even panting into it. When you’re applying your light lipstick, you picture the way his lips would look after crashing against yours, taking some of the color onto his own but caring less in the heat of desire. Even when you’re grabbing your keys and getting into your car, you imagine yourself trapped between the seat and him, hands exploring each other with absolutely no destination in mind.
You try to think about anything else, but you can’t. You continually curse to yourself under your breath. If you can’t get rid of these thoughts, then work’s going to be a shitshow, considering you have to stare at Javier’s face the entire day whenever you’re at your desk. With absolutely no interesting information on Escobar, you know you’re bound to another day full of paperwork at your desk with Javier sitting just a few feet away—which means you’re in deep shit if you can’t get your frustrations under control.
Once you get to the office, you park and take a deep breath, looking at yourself in the rearview mirror and flashing a confident smile. That look falters when you notice Javier’s car pulling in from behind you, and your head turns to see him pulling up right next to you. Swallowing hard, you instantly look back to the wheel. Calm down, you tell yourself. It’s fine. You’ve worked here everyday with this man for months now. It won’t be any different today.
But then he gets out of his car flaunting a bright red shirt, and damn, does red look good on him. You find yourself biting the corner of your lip as you practically undress him with your eyes, studying the usual way he leaves a few buttons undone. You’re lucky he never notices as he strolls inside, especially since your eyes fell to his ass quite a few moments ago. With yet another shake of your head, you curse and slam your hands against the wheel, squeezing your eyes shut tightly.
When you manage to at least fool yourself into thinking you’re composed, you finally step out of your car and start to head inside. Your mind goes blank as your eyes watch the tile floor underneath your feet, and you only look up when you know you’re coming upon your cluster of desks. Steve and Javier are both there, and Javier’s already on his first cigarette as you toss your keys onto your desk and pull out your chair.
“You’re later than usual,” Steve observes, looking at you with a raised brow. “Usually Javi’s the one I gotta worry about.”
“Oh, fuck off, Murphy,” Javier jokes, scoffing as he takes a drag of his cigarette. You sit down slowly as you watch his action more closely than usual, seeing the way his lips close around the cigarette and then separate ever so slightly to let the smoke escape.
No, fuck me.
Your eyes widen at your own thoughts, your eyes darting away from Javier quickly as you instead look blankly at the files already awaiting you on your desk. You almost think you’ve somehow managed to get away with your strange behavior until Steve speaks again. “You good over there?” You look up, seeing Steve looking at you through narrowed eyes. “You look like you’ve seen a goddamn ghost or something’.”
You chuckle, hoping it doesn’t sound as shaky as it feels as you open up your first file. “I’m fine,” you assure him. “Let’s just say I had a rough night.”
Steve whistles, and Javier sets his cigarette onto the ashtray as he looks over at you with a single raised brow. You try to ignore the way your entire body practically hums at his attention. “Who was it?” Javier asks, the simple sound of his roughened voice practically making you beg for him right then and there.
Yet, still confused by his question, you tilt your head at him. “What?”
“Who’d you fuck?” Javier’s voice is casual, but with all the thoughts that have been swimming through your mind so far today, you nearly choke upon hearing the words. You manage to grit your teeth before you can get the words I wish it was you out of your mouth.
“Jack Daniels,” you confess, impressed with the way you’ve lied so effortlessly. Steve chuckles, and Javier’s mouth makes an “o” in understanding as he turns back to his work. The action still makes you bite your lip, and you start to bury yourself into your work before your mind can think up more things to drive you absolutely crazy.
After at least an hour spent in silence while the three of you shuffle through paperwork and try to ignore the fact you’re bored out of your minds, Steve breaks it. “I can already feel this damn heatwave,” he mutters, starting to fan himself with an empty folder.
“Heatwave?” you echo, looking up from your paperwork curiously.
“Yeah,” Steve responds. “It’s supposed to be hot as hell tonight. I was trying to get Connie to cancel our date because of it, but she’s a stubborn one. You didn’t hear about it?”
You let out a huff. “No, I must’ve missed it somehow.” You curse to yourself, suddenly feeling the intensified heat as you adjust yourself in your chair.
“I’m surprised,” Javier’s voice suddenly joins in, and you look over to see him giving you an amused expression. You practically melt into your chair upon seeing the way his dark gaze glitters at you. “You’re always on top of things.”
I’d like to be on top of you. Your mind thinks the words without hesitation, and you nearly spit them out before you manage to catch yourself again. “Like I said before, rough night.”
Javier lets out a low chuckle, a sound that practically radiates from your head down to your very toes. “Sounds like it.” He pauses for a moment, flipping open a file and looking at you briefly between his lashes. “Should’ve invited me.”
You nearly gasp upon hearing his words, instead managing to keep it cool as you shrug. “Next time.”
Javier offers you a small smile, returning to his work shortly thereafter. You know that on any other occasion, that whole exchange would’ve been fine—but now, with your mind running in such an intense direction, you feel as if you’re about to explode on the spot. The rising temperature of the building doesn’t help, and soon you’re joining Steve in the attempt to fan yourself with a nearby folder.
Things only worsen as the day continues. The heat’s getting unbearable, and the three of you are now visibly being affected by it. Your sinful gaze, of course, continually glances towards Javier, and you shrink a bit in your seat when you observe the bead of sweat that falls from his temple. It moves slowly against his tanned skin, as if mocking you for being unable to touch his skin in such a manner, and dips over his jaw to his neck. You lick your lips as you watch it travel down the length of his throat, finally pooling into the notch of his jugular and joining the rest of the perspiration on his glowing, exposed chest.
Damn.
You have to drop the pen that’s been in your hand and rest your elbow against the desk, pinching the bridge of your nose as you squeeze your eyes shut. The fact that this is affecting your work is making it dangerous, but you can’t help it. You need him. It’s so overwhelming that it’s practically suffocating you—but you can’t give in. It’ll be like giving oxygen to a raging fire. You have to keep it concealed.
Willing the strength to do just that, you take a deep breath, opening your eyes again and letting your arm fall from the desk. You use your hand to release a few of the buttons on your shirt, needing to let your chest breathe in the midst of this heat. It would’ve been fine had you not felt a burning gaze coming from the same direction you’ve been looking in all day, and when your eyes raise to view him again, you notice him watching you from his peripherals. Thinking he likely hasn’t noticed you’ve caught him, you see his eyes explore whatever he can of your exposed chest, and his Adam’s apple bounces as he swallows hard and looks back to his own files.
You nearly collapse from your chair on the spot. Holy fuck.
Staying concealed is suddenly a lost cause. The temperature feels as if it’s risen by tenfold, and you find yourself brushing away a bead of sweat from your forehead as you try your very best to focus on your work. Things are muffled, but you manage to make some progress for another hour until you notice Javier staring again. This time, though, he’s truly looking at whatever you’re reading, as if he’s studying the words on the page. His gaze then looks up to yours, and it’s almost as if you see a light bulb go off over his head.
“Hey, do you mind if I take that for a second?” Javier asks you, gesturing to the file you have opened.
How about you take me right here, right now, on this desk? You make a valiant effort to swallow the words back. “Yeah, of course,” you answer, handing the file over to him. Javier gives you a nod in thanks, and you simply manage your best smile as you watch him look between the file you’ve given him and the papers on his desk. His eyes widen, and soon he’s standing up to walk over to your desk. He places the papers side-by-side in front of you, one of his hands leaning on your desk as the other rests on the back of your chair. You nearly freeze, squeezing your legs together at his sudden close presence.
“See this?” Javier questions, looking over to see if you’re following where he’s now pointing his finger. You nod—knowing your brain’s in a complete fog and you’re definitely not going to process anything he says next—and you resist the urge to completely breathe in the smell of his fading cologne and smoke. Javier goes on to point out some kind of consistency between the two files, but all you can do is focus on the heat that radiates from him and nod as if you understand. It gets especially difficult when he brings one of his hands to his forehead, wiping away some of the sweat that’s gathered there. You bite your lip, trying harder than ever to focus on the papers.
But you just can’t. I can’t fucking take it anymore.
You’re about to whisper something dangerous into his ear when he suddenly pulls away, taking the files from your desk. “I’ll type something up,” he tells you, returning to his desk as he reaches for his typewriter.
“That’ll be great, Javier,” you say, earning a nod as he focuses in on typing whatever the hell he’d been trying to tell you earlier. You let out a huff, trying to ignore the way your hands are shaking from the brief interaction.
This man’s going to be the end of you.
It’s nearing the end of the work day, and Javier’s still typing away vigorously. You’ve noticed that he’s been sweating a lot more just from taking up a slightly more demanding task, and you’ve tried to stop watching the beads of sweat fall down his face—but it’s not to much avail. At one point, though, he stops typing, leaning his head back and squeezing his eyes shut. His mouth opens just a bit, and you bite the inside of your cheek hard to try to keep your mind from running. Yet, it’s already taken off. You’re suddenly wishing you could be under his desk.
“It’s so fucking hot,” Javier grumbles, wiping his hands over his face and wiping them on his thighs. He looks over at you, gesturing to the longer sleeves on your shirt. “I don’t know how the hell you do it.”
You shrug, trying to get words through your tightened throat. “You get used to it.”
“You’d think she’s the one that’s been living here longer,” Steve jokes, standing up from his desk and collecting his things as he speaks. He looks up to see Javier giving him the finger, causing him to snort. “I’ll see you two tomorrow. Let’s hope I don’t burn to death on this date.”
“I hope you do!” Javier calls after him.
“Fuck you, Peña!” Steve remarks without looking back.
“Gladly!” Javier exclaims, laughing to himself before he returns to his typing.
It’s finally your chance to escape the hell that’s been today’s torture. You stand up and get your belongings together, watching to see if Javier looks your way. He doesn’t, as he’s already focused back in to his work. “I’m headed home,” you inform him. You successfully draw his attention, almost falling to your knees when you catch his gaze looking you up and down momentarily. “Don’t stay here all night, Javi.”
Javier chuckles and gives you a reassuring smile. “I’ll try not to.”
You try to return his look, beginning to turn and walk out. You stall, however, when Javier calls out your name quickly. Your head turns to face him, and you see his brow lifted in concern.
“I just wanted to ask, are you sure you’re okay?” Javier’s dark gaze is sparkling with hope—hope that you’ll tell the truth. You swallow hard. “You just don’t seem like yourself today.”
You want to melt upon receiving his tender care, especially when you hear the sincerity in his tone. Yet, you know you can’t tell him the truth, and so you give him a nod. “I’m alright, Javi. Just succumbing to this goddamn heatwave.”
Javier exhales and widens his eyes for a moment. “Understandable.” He nods once. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
You simply choose to give him yet another nod, turning back around and nearly speed-walking to your car. Once inside, you let out a heavy breath, running your hands down your face. You can’t believe you’ve managed to make it through the day, and you can only hope that you get your act together. Still, you can feel yourself wishing you’d gotten what you needed, but you push back the feeling as you head back to your apartment.
Once inside, all you can think about is the heatwave. The air conditioning unit in your apartment does a relatively good job at keeping you cool, but it’s still much hotter than usual, and you find yourself quickly exchanging your work clothes for a simple pair of cloth shorts and a V-neck as you prepare yourself a small dinner. By the time you finish, Javier’s completely left your mind for the first time today, and all you can think about is drowning yourself in the glass of condensing water you have in your hand.
Suddenly, a knock sounds at your door. You put down the glass and furrow your brow, walking over to it and checking the peephole. You’re in disbelief when you see who it is, and you open the door quickly to see a disgruntled Javier standing there.
“I’m sorry to… uh, interrupt.” You watch as his gaze temporarily falls from your eyes to your chest, and you look down to see part of the lace from your bra peaking out from the collar of the shirt. Your cheeks heat up, and when you look back up at Javier, you see that his gaze has returned to yours. He clears his throat. “I just—my air conditioner’s a piece of shit, and it just broke. I was wondering if I could crash here until I cools down later tonight.” He holds up the bottle he has in his hand. “I brought some whiskey.”
You laugh, stepping aside to make room for him. “Of course, Javi.” He walks through the door, and you close and secure it behind him, taking a deep breath as you close your eyes. Keep yourself together, you tell yourself. You can’t think like you did earlier. Yet, as soon as you turn back around, you notice that Javier’s now unbuttoned practically half of his red shirt, exposing a much larger amount of his chest to the cooler air of your apartment.
Well, fuck.
You stroll over to where Javier’s sitting at your kitchen island, grabbing two clean glasses from the cupboard and letting Javier distribute some of the whiskey into them. You start to sip at yours, completely unable to think of anything rational to say. All you want to do is admit that you’d rather taste his lips than the whiskey, but you know you can’t, and so you continue to let the alcohol burn down your throat. You watch as Javier observes this, soon letting a low chuckle rumble from his chest.
“You know, it’s real funny to me,” Javier suddenly says, letting out a sigh as he leans back in his chair. He takes a swig of his whiskey, and you raise an eyebrow in confusion. “I just can’t believe you’re standing here right now, not mentioning anything about today.”
You swallow hard, slowly resting the glass of whiskey onto the counter as your gaze with him never breaks. “What do you mean? The files?”
Javier shakes his head, a smirk stuck on his lips as he also rests his glass onto the countertop. “No, not the goddamn files.” He raises his eyebrow back at you. “The eye-fucking.”
Your eyes nearly double in size at his words. “Javi, what the hell are you talking about?”
Javier sighs as he stands from his chair, slowly making his way over to you. “You really thought I didn’t notice all of that?” He lets out another chuckle, shaking his head as he looks down at you. “You were practically in a daze, hermosa. I’d recognize that look anywhere.” Your gaze falls to the floor, embarrassment pulsing through you as you stand dumbfounded at the counter. You see his feet stop just in front of you. “I thought maybe you’d tell me earlier, but you’re a tough one to crack.”
You look back up but continue to avoid his gaze. “I’m so sorry, Javi, I don’t know what got into me today. I just—.”
You stop when you feel Javier’s fingers touch your chin, forcing you to look back into his eyes. His gaze is even darker than usual, and your stomach twists in pleasant knots when you study his expression further. “What you didn’t realize was that I was doing the same exact thing back to you.” His hand brushes up along your jaw, his fingertips sending shivers through your spine as he tucks your hair behind your ear. He leans forward so that his lips are brushing against your ear. “Were you also imagining those different scenarios? Sneaking away to the car, or just being taken right there on the desk?” Javier pauses to chuckle lightly. “You were driving me crazy.”
Unable to believe it’s actually happening, you let out a struggled breath, watching Javier’s gaze only darken more at the sight of your pure instability at his words and touches. He pulls himself completely away from you, raising his brow at you once again.
“Is that what you want? Do you want me, hermosa?”
You’re so close to just flinging yourself onto him, but you try to retain some sort of self-control, swallowing hard as you finally get the words out. “Please,” you manage, your voice barely a whisper.
“What was that?” Javier teases, stepping even closer to you. You’re eye-level with his glistening chest now, and you’re absolutely certain you’re going to fall apart at the seams.
“Pretty please,” you nearly whimper, unable to hold yourself back any longer.
“Since you asked so kindly,” Javier assures you, and no later does his arm wrap around your waist as he pulls your body flush against his. Within seconds, his mouth’s on yours, and you drown in the taste of whiskey and cigarettes on his breath as you press your tongue against his. You nearly melt at the relieving feeling of his touch, especially as his hands glide over your ass and touch the bare skin of your thighs. He lifts you so that your legs wrap around his waist, allowing you to deepen the kiss as your hands—once unable to leave his face—start trying to unbutton the rest of his shirt. Javier stops the kiss to laugh against your lips, starting to make his way towards your bedroom. “At least wait until we get somewhere, hermosa.”
You let out a curt laugh before reattaching your lips to his, unable to get enough of the feeling. As soon as you’re inside your bedroom and Javier’s eased your back onto the bed, all clothing’s strewn to the floor and you’re sure you’re not helping Javier with the situation of trying to stay cool. Your lips are already swollen when he pulls away to rest his sweating forehead against yours, looking deep in your eyes for a moment.
“Before we go any further,” Javier starts breathlessly, “I need you to know that I haven’t been wanting you like this just because of your body, like you might think.” Javier pauses, as if he’s searching for the right words to say. “I’ve wanted you in this way and many more for a long time now. I—.”
“This is all really sweet, Javi, and I’d love to hear more,” you cut him off. “But please, I’ve been waiting for this for way too fucking long, so please wait to tell me the rest after.”
Javier chuckles at your desperation, giving you a reassuring nod as he reconnects his lips with yours. The next few minutes feel like heaven on earth, even if the temperature represents something more like hell. Your bodies together create a heat that rivals the wave spreading throughout Medellín, and even hotter are the words you share with each other. The confessions, the utterances, the way you say each other’s names—it’s enough to turn this heaven into something much more sinful. Everything that’s been building up for so long is seeking release, and you can feel the opportunity approaching the faster things start to go. With your fingers practically embedded into his slick back and his holding you in place beneath him, Javier urges you to finally follow through with what you’ve been waiting for so relentlessly. His mouth covers yours just in time to muffle your voice, and he’s not too far behind from getting that same relief before he rests beside you. He looks over at you, laughing a bit as his fingers brush over your cheek.
“Was it worth the wait?” Javier questions, and you giggle as you let your face fall into his slick neck.
“Hell yeah,” you admit, feeling his throat vibrate against your lips as he chuckles. You close your eyes as you absorb the euphoric feeling you’re drowning in. “So, can I hear the rest of that speech now?”
Javier runs a hand through your messy hair. “What’s the magic word?”
You smile against his neck. “Pretty please?”
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jenniferstolzer · 4 years
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Babylon 5 rewatch Episode 2.22: The Fall of Night
Babylon 5 is at the center of not one but three conflicts as John Sheridan agrees to shelter a wounded Narn cruiser. The Centauri don’t like this. Earth doesn’t like this. The Shadows don’t like this. But Sheridan has a strong moral compass and what he doesn’t like is how much the institutions around him are willing to sacrifice in the name of forging some kind of cursory peace.
Things I liked about The Fall of Nighit
1, Lennier and Vir’s friendship. If you ask me Vir, could be friends with literally anyone. He’s such an understanding soul. Lennier is by nature a little judgey. More closed off. So when they sit down next to each other and discover how much they have in common both of them look at each other like “hello what” and automatically agree to meet again. But even this exchange is done almost like spies meeting and I don’t think we stop to think about that very often. These are the attaches of two ambassadors for two of the most powerful races in the galaxy… they could very well be exchanging state secrets instead of expressing solidarity for their equally frustrating jobs.
2,  The Centauri are apparently willing to put their ships on autopilot and black out from g forces if it means when they come to they’ll be in a better firing position. This seems extremely reckless and VERY Centauri. It is the spacebattle equivalent of the hair. Big. Flashy. Not well thought through.
3, In the wake of the mass driver bombing, Sheridan gives Londo an opportunity to speak and Londo is like “NOPE” and jets before he says something that’s going to get him and his whole race in more trouble than they already are. Garibaldi then reads Londo like a literal book, delivering one of my favorite analyses of the character. Everyone thought Londo was a clown, indulging in opulence, going into debt at the casino, drinking himself to a stupor in public, but Garibaldi was his friend and knows that Londo’s not dumb, he’s actually very smart and his mind moves really fast. His error is in his judgment and priorities and he’s currently in waters he did not expect to tread. He’s scared, and he’s going to keep darting in and out of cover until he feels like he has a handle on things or he gets picked off by a hunter, whichever comes first. Also a very classic JMS line “He’s a pain in the butt, but he’s our pain in the butt.” Hunt for that or similar lines in other JMS stuff, he loves that line.
4, The ache of watching McCarthysim at work is very effective. Zach knows the guys he’s ratting on don’t deserve to be ratted on and even says so. “They’re just fooling around” but we can tell by the level of interest and tone of the Nightwatch captian’s voice that they’re gonna get blackballed. Zach can’t deny that they said what they said, but can tell that ratting them out is the wrong thing to do. In the end he relents with a bunch of qualifications but the Nightwatch doesn’t want qualifications. They want names. Thank you for your service.
5, I love that the guy there to ally with the Centauri is from the Ministry of Peace. So poignant. They’ll get peace all right, by paying off the aggressors.  
6, When the Narn ship was coming under threat by the Centauri warship, Sheridan opened a line to Londo just to spit in his face and hang up. It was amazing. Also during this crisis, Sheridan whips out a law book to smack the Nightwatch guy back in his hole. Sinclair would be proud.
7, Watching B5 come under attack is so emotionally stirring. Even on a rewatch, I don’t want to see it hurt.
8, We have arrived! The scene where Kosh reveals himself. I love that G’Kar is hiding in the plants – like he’s not a huge gecko man who people are going to notice. I also love how plaintiff his voice is, thinking if he speaks on Sheridan’s behalf it’ll help him in the political shitshow he’s currently in. I mean he’s issuing this apology for helping a Narn ship and G’Kar is very very very grateful for that. Also B5 blew up a Centauri warship so he’s pretty grateful for that too, I mean come on… I like that B5 has like a standard subway system in the middle of it and that they let the Puppet Friends ride. I miss the puppet friends. I love that the rotational gravity system means there’s a weightless portion in the center of hydroponics and that we used that to our advantage in this story. Also the vorlons in their native form play on the perception of the lesser races. They are light beings, and humans see them as angels. The rest of the races see them as prophets or gods, but none of these perceptions are perfect. We see wings and white robes and think Angel, but Kosh didn’t appear like a rennaissance painting. He’s got a butterfly look to him, too. The face he wears is a facsimile of a human not an exact human. He’s not perfect, we’re just in awe. Love that.
9 And finally a lot has been said about why Londo doesn’t see anything when Kosh appears. He’s been touched by the Shadows, so he can’t be converted by the Vorlons b/c we’re playing a game of Othello today I guess. Maybe because he doesn’t actually believe in his pantheon of gods so he doesn’t have any deities to witness. Maybe he’s lying because what he saw was his own greed and vanity. The general consensus is the first – that he’s incapable of seeing the light because he’s in the dark. For a fresh take on it, let’s look at the Vorlons through this lens. Kosh said before that if he revealed himself everyone would know him… I take this as being a side effect of being Vorlon. Vorlons are a feeling not an image. Like Magenta. Magenta’s not a real color, it exists on the color wheel because something has to connect red and purple on the color spectrum… but the spectrum of visible light is actually a straight line. The wavelengths for red and purple are far from touching, but our brains can perceive when they’re both present, so Magenta occurs. It’s imaginary, but we see it for real with our eyes. That’s Vorlons. Perhaps Londo saw a shapeless light thing in the sky, perhaps that’s what Vorlons really are… or perhaps they have no visible representation at all until they hit our brains. Our eyeballs behold something, but our brains have to construct it out of pieces. When the rest of the galaxy looked at Kosh they used the color wheel to construct him, but Londo was only given the wavelengths. He saw nothing, because nothing was there to see. I really wish there was another Centauri there to be like “I saw the goddess Li welcoming me to her arms!” and Londo’s over there like “I’m the problem” instead of not really answering that question. Maybe it’s answered in season 3, I don’t know. Did Vir see anyone up there? He must have been on break.
What I like Less about 22
1, So here’s where I’m going to talk about Keffer. I know the origin story…. that he was an unwelcome addition to the cast added per network request, but who the hell is he other than that? I think its remarkable how he slips right out of my head the minute he is off camera. We know he’s a pilot, that he was close to Carlos (whose story/death you may recall I was laughing at in a previous episode because its significance ALSO came out of nowhere), and that he made friends with the GROPOS grunts (who we incidentally learned to care about enough in that one episode that we were sad when they died…. Awkward considering Keffer’s contribution to this episode…) Honestly the most interesting thing about him is that he’s got an old-timey fighter pilot scarf he wears and he believes in ghosts and I bet you all forgot about the ghosts. Honestly, the most interesting thing about Keffer is how he’s a lesson in how not to write an interesting character – and no shade on JMS for that, I know he did it on purpose. Significant things happening to a character does not automatically make them a strong character. Keffer experienced loss, came face to face with the shadows, got in fights… a lot of stuff happened to him, but he was almost always the only named character in those scenes. We cared about the GROPOS because they cared about each other and we responded to that. Keffer was there to play cabbage head and ask questions. He’s not tight with any of our main cast who we’ve had tons more time to grow attached to, and dies for plot reasons without leaving an impact with his loss. Heck, you can see the value of interpersonal relationships on character development in action when the show used a shoehorn to try and force some in in context to Carlos a second and a half before he died. We had him drinking at the bar with command staff suddenly, we had him die as a result of a flight mission Sheridan was part of to make Sheridan feel guilty about it. Everyone was standing around going like “No, Not Ramirez” and if you recall on my previous episode writeup I was LAUGHING at how tortured this sudden human connection was. Keffer could have been made interesting. Follow me on this.
My treatment on how to make Keffer interesting:
Let’s say Keffer was introduced as an old friend of one of our characters – Fraknlin let’s say. He was a friend from the Minbari War days that helped him sneak behind enemy lines. Perhaps he was complicit in the covering up and destruction of Franklin’s notes on Minbari anatomy. As a result, the two hang out in medbay sometimes, talking about old times and comparing the current war to the one they fought together. We learn that Keffer has a fire for justice. Hates bullies. Sees the strong as absolute defenders of the weak and that any stronger race picking on a weaker one is a bigger coward than the unvierse can hold. Then when Carlos gets killed by the ghost he starts researching what it could be. Kosh and Delenn tell him to stay out of it. The audience assumes he’s going to uncover something and bring Franklin and other characters into Delenn and Sheridan’s confidence about the shadows through curiosity and honor, but we’re learning through the episodes that the Shadows are IMMENSELY powerful and have no patience for flies. When he breaks off from his squad to go have a looksee at what he suspects led to his personal friend Carlos’s death, we know this is going to kill him. He ignores the warnings of those who have more awareness and dies to bring back evidence of the Shadows to the station. Sheridan recognizes how Keffer’s curiosity and sense of judgment led to recklessness, something Sheridan himself is prone to. He vows not to let Keffer die in vain, but also states that the proof he got has changed everything… and that Sheridan would have done the same. Killing your men in the name of a mission is never the goal but there’s a line everyone crosses when the safety of the universe is at stake and sometimes things are worth dying for. Franklin walks into medbay, casts a look to the counter where Keffer used to sit all those nights, and turns away.
But that’s not what happen. Keffer’s dead now and I don’t miss him. Glad he emailed the Shadows to ISN five nanoseconds before he died.
Babylon 5 is now the last best hope for victory because sometimes peace is another word for surrender and because secrets have a way of getting out. On to season 3!
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pegasister60 · 4 years
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(Copied this over from a Discord DM where I went off. I didn’t proofread this because I wanted this posted ASAP.)
AU where Purpled is the traitor.
He’s been staying out of things on purpose. He’s a neutral and even though they joked about it, he was never going to be allowed into L’Manburg.
So when the election rolls around, he does nothing. He sits in his UFO, which is equipped with a hella cool holo-map of the whole server because having a bunch of maps on the wall is lame, and watched as Tommy and Wilbur are chased out.
He doesn’t go offer them assistance. Not immediately anyways. They’ve gone deep underground and there’s only so far down his sensors can go. He’s not sure where they are, but he can see Tubbo’s still in L’Manburg. So maybe this all blows over?
It doesn’t. He snatches bits and pieces of conversations over private lines with his transmission interceptors. He hasn’t left his base in a while, it hasn’t felt safe to.
He knows no one cares about him, that he wasn’t involved in the last war, but he needs to be ready to take his stand.
And it comes. It comes with an invitation left on his front lawn.
A festival? It’s so strange to see this from Schlatt’s administration, and he doesn’t trust it.
He’s listening into private conversations and catches some alarming exchanges.
The kind that send him scrambling across the room for his sensors and changing settings to sense pulses and ticks from dormant redstone.
At first there’s nothing. But he watches diligently as L’Manburg gets wired with redstone. Enough to trigger an alarming amount of TNT.
And for a moment he just sits there.
Then he moves.
He can’t go to Dream because he’s in on it.
Ponk hasn’t answered any of his messages for a while now.
But he can find Tubbo. He can find Tubbo and they can figure this out.
He sprints along the Prime path, sees Tommy and Tubbo on a bench.
They don’t notice him. He’s good at moving quickly and quietly, it’s helped him snag so many crucial emeralds.
Now it lets him witness this moment.
Was- was Tommy in on the TNT thing? He’d heard Wilbur try convincing him, had heard loud and clear that he’d given Dream that ultimatum. Tommy’s always been a little behind on technology, his communicator’s too outdated to hear very clearly.
But, but he can see them being ride or die. He knows Tubbo’s loyal. If Tommy agreed to blow up Schlatt’s land, if he told Tubbo and wasn’t being argued with.
He takes one step back, then another.
And before the music stops, he’s gone.
He decides to hell with it all and RSVPs for the festival.
He’s got pearls, he’s got regen, and his UFO is packed and idling in case he needs to make a clean getaway once the bombs start going off.
He could’ve just cut up the lines of redstone. He could’ve disarmed the whole thing.
But there was no point, really. Tubbo was on board with them afterall.
He even had a code phrase to tip off Wilbur and start the “fireworks.”
There was a reason he never picked a faction or bothered to lead his own. It wasn’t that he was against conflict. Everyone knew he was known for rushing headfirst into combat.
It was just that he wanted to side with his friends. He always valued people over possessions and politics. The only real way to do that on a server so divided is neutrality. And even then his relationship gets strained with every conflict he passes up.
So that’s why he doesn’t disarm the TNT. If this is what his friends want, if they wanna blow it all sky high and give up, then so be it.
He’d head somewhere uncharted and send them the coords if they cared to join him when they were done playing villains. Until then, he’d set up his video captures so he could replay the footage later. It’s been a while since he’s seen so much TNT packed in one place. The fallout was sure to be something.
Then, then everything goes to shit.
Tubbo slips away, and Purpled does his best to cover for him even as he loudly announces he’s leaving.
Techno’s armed to the tusks and already downing potions.
Wilbur and Tommy are standing visible as all hell on that rooftop.
This was going to be a shitshow.
And Purpled hated being right like this.
Because the speech happens and Tubbo doesn’t say the line.
Tubbo doesn’t say the line.
And for a moment Purpled’s grip on the Ender pearl in his pocket loosens. Because what the fuck?
Then come the fistfuls of yellow powder that make him wanna pearl on stage instead.
Concrete encases his friend. Concrete keeps him trapped on Schlatt’s throne as the man outs him as a traitor.
And then things get worse.
Technoblade. Stalling. Peer pressure. Apologies.
Fireworks.
The only reason he makes it out alive is because he was already holding a pearl. He escapes with a few burns and voices screaming across the comm lines.
“YOU KILLED TUBBO-“
“WHERE’S THE BUTTON-“
“-KILL EVERYBODY”
He’s running. He’s running and running and pearling and swimming and then he’s collapsing.
There’s whining as Dogchamp and his other dog come to sniff him in concern.
He finds the strength to limp over to the wall, adrenaline draining, and shut the bottom of his UFO.
He pops the stopper on a potion of regeneration and listens to the world burn.
It burns but it doesn’t go boom.
He’s not sure which one is better.
The days go by, he heals. He stays sealed in his UFO.
He spies.
He listens to Wilbur’s mad rambles and his borderline soliloquies.
He watches Techno’s little blip on his map go to and from the spider spawner day in and day out.
He witnesses Schlatt and Quackity’s spats.
He watches and listens and spies.
Because that’s all he can risk doing.
He was mistaken before, about Tubbo and about most of Pogtopia.
But he’s had time to reflect while laying on the floor with his dogs. He’s had time to think while he fiddled with frequencies to try and catch bits of the outside world.
And he doesn’t know what to think.
Because it’s been forever since anyone’s come to check up on him. Some experiment in Area 51 could’ve gone horribly wrong and no one would know.
Maybe no one would care.
And he tried not to let that eat at him. He knows he’d be missed by his loving pets. By that dumb chicken on his roof that he still feeds for some reason.
He could go away from here, though. He could pack up his stuff and go back to Hypixel. Lose himself in the endless grind of breaking beds, bridging across cold voids, and appeasing dragons with little patience.
But it doesn’t feel right to leave. Not when someone might remember him. Not when his friends might still care.
Not yet.
Then there comes a time.
A date for all of this to end. For better or worse.
And no one bothered to tell him. He hears it the moment it’s decided and yet no one tells him about it. No one even asks if he’s still staying out of things.
And something about that keeps him from sharing who their “traitor” is.
He’s perfected his technology after getting sick of having to fiddle with it so often.
He can hear everyone’s doubts, everyone’s fears, everyone’s hopes.
And that’s when he makes his choice.
He goes to Dream. The person who invited him to settle on his land. The person who complimented and had once admired his agility and mobility.
He goes to Dream and strikes a deal.
“I know what you’re doing. I don’t think I care. Whatever happens now is going to change everything, and I want to help you see it through.”
And so he joins Manburg to give them confidence.
He follows the Badlands faction to keep tabs on them and also pocket some of Techno’s wealth.
When the tides start shifting he joins Pogtopia to give them another small victory.
And when the TNT goes off, he pearls up high and sits on the ledge to watch the fireworks.
He much prefers these to the ones they used in battle.
And when the withers spawn, he does his part to help take them down, quietly gathering up the wither stars as he goes.
And when it’s over. When the dust settles and the people of this New L’Manburg stand and survey the rubble.
He’s watching. He’s listening. He’s spying.
Even after all of this, he’s still not one of them.
Tubbo’s outgrown him. Ponk’s forgotten him.
But Dream’s employed him.
And he finishes his second base in that nice little cove. So close to where the action will start up again.
He’s got tech to work with, he’s got a ufo to bail with, and he’s got ideas to play with.
After all this time, he’s made his stand.
Quietly, unnoticed. Just like he’s been all this time.
Team Chaos gains another member.
And a season ends.
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powerbottomeminem · 4 years
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if ur still doin the kiss prompts, can u do the 51. public kiss but its em kissing kim and kells sees?
51. Public kiss (Eminem x Kim, MGK witness)
"What the fuck is this!", Colson's voice was too loud.
Marshall hadn’t closed the hotel room door yet, only a confused "Huh?" left him.
"Don’t play dumb with me", Colson snarled, "I shouldn’t even be here, you ... What the hell is it with you two?"
"Who?", Marshall asked still confused and walked closer.
Colson threw a magazine at him. "You and her. I don’t get it. Was this all just a trick to get her back? Or some weird revenge for the beef?"
"What the-?" The cover of the magazine had Marshall’s face on it and the headline read: Eminem and Kim, is it real love this time? "Oh come the fuck on!", Marshall huffed indignant and threw it on the couch table. "You know not to believe that shit. They always lie."
"Oh really?" Colson picked the magazine up again and opened it, shoving the page with a bunch of paparazzi photos into Marshall’s face. "Pictures don’t lie!"
Pictures of Marshall kissing Kim. New pictures of them.
"You swore it was over. In how many songs did you swear it was over?" Tears gleamed in Colson's eyes, but the anger kept them inside. "Am I just a joke to you? Fucking asshole!"
"Colson, hon, I-", Marshall started but his words wouldn’t be believed. It’s not what it looks like, yeah that’s what they all say. "Let’s talk about this", he said instead.
"No! Don’t butter me up or some stupid shit. Just break up with me, alright. Let’s get it over with. I can’t win against here anyway …", voice fading on the last words. Anger fading for sadness, the real feeling of the moment. "I should’ve never done this in the first place."
"But-" Marshall looked at his boyfriend - apparently soon to be ex-boyfriend - unbelieving and shocked. It was this easy to end? Didn’t they mean more to each other? A few stupid photos and it was over already? Then what was this even? Merely a fling, meaningless and without substance.
But Marshall’s heart hurt. "How can you even think that!", he yelled back, "Don’t you know how much bullshit that woman put me through? And I her? How can you even for a second believe I’d take her back? I learned my fucking lesson, you fucking idiot!" Fists balled and shaking, not with anger but pain. He’d thought this was good now, a relationship worth having. Not perfect by any means, but one where they understood each other. That’s all Marshall was really yearning for. Somebody who understood, somebody who knew, somebody to seek comfort with when life was getting too much.
And he’d thought to be that person for Colson, too. But perhaps Colson didn’t want that. What did Marshall know what the other wanted from this?
"I bet you said that the first time, too", Colson threw back at him. The anger sounded exhausted, easier to keep it up than to face reality.
Marshall knew that feeling but he never found how to break it. "Shut the fuck up! You know nothing!"
"I know enough!", their voices were both too high, too loud, "You still love her, don’t you. So you kiss her and take her back when she comes crawling! And I’m just a side piece!"
Marshall kicked against the couch table and it fell over from the force. "Shut! The fuck! Up!" That wasn’t what had happened, not this time. "It was just a stupid fucking kiss! Shit!" Why was this going so bad?
~.~
Kim smiled earnestly, almost shy. "This was surprisingly nice. Kinda weird but nice", a short look around the restaurant, empty but for them. She wasn’t used to this.
Neither was Marshall. This always felt eerie and weird to him, but this was his life and he had learned to live with it eventually. "Yeah, it was." Not being with each other for years had calmed down the waves, both of them hot heads, both of them finding this life stressful but perhaps for different reasons. Marshall wanted to say sorry. If it wasn’t for him, her life might’ve not been such a shitshow. Perhaps it would’ve still turned out this way, just less public. Who knew? He didn’t say it though.
They stood up from the table and their dinner, it felt like the last dinner they would ever have together. All three of their daughters grown up now, the last band holding them together grew thinner and thinner each year. There was no reason to meet anymore, less reason to have a real conversation.
Once Marshall had thought he’d never be without her, now he couldn’t imagine a life with her. The love that once was left nostalgia and obligation and memories, but looking at her now how she corrected the collar of her coat ... She was a woman he didn’t know and that was okay.
He held the door open for her and as she stepped through, he held her back for a moment. "Have a good life", he said quietly, honestly and kissed her goodbye.
Mild surprise on her face. "Good night, Marshall." She left for her car, only once looking back and waving at him briefly. Did she feel the same thing? He could never tell.
But tonight he didn’t mind. It didn’t matter and it would never again. She was just a woman securing her alimony now with the children out of the picture. And to his own surprise he didn’t mind that either.
~.~
"It was just a stupid kiss", Marshall repeated, not willing to let the hurt show. Colson didn’t deserve to see it if he believed this bullshit. "It didn’t even mean anything! Why’re you making such a mess?"
"I’m making the mess?", Colson asked indignant, "You fucking kissed her! Her of all people!"
Marshall threw his hands in the air frustrated. "Yes, you! She’s just a woman, don’t blow it out of proportion."
"No, she’s not", Colson huffed. "And you know that."
"Yes! I know that, so fucking believe me when I tell you she’s just a woman." He stared at Colson through slitted eyes, to hide the plea he felt filling them up with wetness. "And as a reminder, I don’t really like women all that much, aight."
Colson crossed his arms in front of his chest, his height always had him looking down on Marshall. "That’s hard to believe. Then why were you kissing her? Her of all people."
"Because ...", she wasn’t a part of his life anymore and he was sentimental enough to think of that as sad, right in every way but sad still. Marshall shrugged, "I can kiss whoever I fucking want."
"No, you can’t, asshole. Are you this stupid? You definitely can’t kiss her!" Desperation was gleaming through the anger, through the tears hard fighting not to be cried.
Marshall didn’t want to kiss her, not the way Colson thought. He really didn’t want to kiss anyone but Colson that way. Not necessarily meaning he wouldn’t end up doing something stupid at some point, but right here right now he wanted to kiss Colson, his boyfriend, the person he loved. But it seemed impossible.
Why was this so hard? Just one step, a few words, an apology and this whole thing could be over. But Marshall wasn’t in the wrong here. He hadn’t done anything and nothing that warranted yelling and shouting. Colson needed to make the first step.
But the only step Colson took was towards the hotel room door. "Fine! If you wanna kiss her so badly, do it. Be with her. Try it again with her. But don’t come running to me when you end up being burned again. That’s entirely on you!"
He held him back for a moment. "Don’t leave me, Colson", he said quietly, honestly and kissed him to stay.
Marshall was losing the fight like he always did when it came to love. Once he swore not to allow this shit again, to rather stay alone than let this happen again. But he hated being alone. He wanted to be with somebody who understood, somebody who knew, somebody to seek comfort with when life was getting too much.
But right now he wanted to be with Colson regardless. Perhaps some day the man could be one of those things, there was always hope underneath the pain.
21 notes · View notes
robodaydreamer · 4 years
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RadioHusk Week - #1. Falling in Love
I have a weakness for heart-eyed, lovestruck expressions!
Here’s a little fic for this awful comic. Hope you enjoy!
This counter never seemed to be clean enough… though he didn’t really give too much of a shit about cleanliness either way. All he had to do was make it look like he gave a damn about it and his peppy princess hotel manager of this shitshow would leave him alone.
That and Niffty wouldn’t feel as compelled to hop, skip, or literally jump over their residents to get to him in her haste to clean it. The last time he let the bar get the slightest bit dirty… okay it was fucking disgusting… but the last time that happened he’d been tackled rather viciously to the floor.
He was used to laying unceremoniously in a heap on the ground, but that had just been ridiculous. Not to mention the headache he had to deal with after the back of his head had bounced off of the floor was something he really could have done without.
He’d pick a hangover over a concussion any day of the week. Although, it had gotten him out of work for the rest of the day. Maybe he’d get her to do it voluntarily once in a while.
With a snort and a shake of his head, Husk wrung out the small towel clenched between his claws and slapped it against the counter, pushing it back and forth along the hard surface for what felt like the hundredth time that morning.
...
He needed a drink.
Muttering a few choice swears, he scrubbed at a particularly sticky spot on the wooden counter, his mouth twitching into an irritated scowl.
Before he could throw the soaked rag away carelessly and most likely at some poor random passerby, a loud bout of laughter caught his attention.
Charlie came into the lobby, mouth seemingly moving a mile a minute as she spoke with their notorious radio demon.
Alastor was nodding his head appropriately, responding just as fast if not faster as he waved his arms around in the air as melodramatically as he possibly could.
He fucking would…
As the two came to a stop, Husk watched as Alastor brought out his microphone staff, a jazzy upbeat tune filling the lobby with a wave of his hand.
As much as Husk hated to admit it, and he really really hated admitting these kinds of things, the bastard could sing.
He could sing, he could dance, and he could eat a demon whole. Gross… and yet the crazy sonofabitch was charming as all hell.
His ears perked up as Charlie kicked off their tune, her voice causing the few residents hanging around in the lobby to stop and watch their performance.
He heard a thump and glanced behind him at his tail, giving the offending appendage a glare. For its sake, it better not wag again. He wasn’t a damned dog!
Turning back toward the two, he watched as Alastor spun a random demon who looked just as confused as the rest of them. Heh, the poor shmuck.
Leaning onto the counter, he let his paws rest against the countertop and didn’t notice his tail give another thump behind him. The rag was left forgotten beside him as his claws tapped idly against the wood to the beat of the song.
As Charlie finished what he assumed was her verse, Alastor’s smiling mouth opened to join her in their song, his voice echoing throughout the room.
He felt his fur stand on end as the sound of Alastor’s voice took ahold of him, the tone alone making his heart race in his chest.
Husk would never admit it out loud, but this cannibalistic lunatic had a power over him that was more than just the ability to force him into whatever miscellaneous adventures he could get his entertainment obsessed hands on. 
If only that were the case.
But no, his heart had to go and screw up the whole, “I lost the ability to love years ago” thing he’s had going for himself for decades.
He was royally fucked the moment Alastor wrapped his arm around him after they’d met.
No good clingy overlord. 
Smug bastard is what he was… 
Husk’s eyes roamed over the two, twirling and dancing their way around the lobby. His eyes were focused on the red overlord as he tapped his feet, grin sharpening as his shadow self came out to join in on the fun.
Oh, he was looking for trouble. 
If Vaggie were here, she’d be throwing a fit… heh. He hoped she heard about this. The yelling would be equal parts annoying and hilarious. Annoying because his ears were fucking sensitive as shit, but hilarious and abso-fuckin-lutely worth it because he wasn’t the one who was going to be scolded.
Husk stiffened as he felt the other’s shadow pass behind him, a ghost of a touch akin to caressing traveled along the outer feathers of his wings. 
He turned just in time to watch the creepy entity throw a wink his way before slithering out of his bar area and behind another demon, making said demon jump and cry out in fear.
What was that about?
Glancing back over to Alastor, he wondered if he’d noticed what his shadow had done.
Nope… he was still singing his number.
Honestly, he probably wouldn’t care, seeing as to how touchy Alastor was on his own already. His shadow probably got it from him. 
The guy really liked to piss him off. He always liked to make people squirm…
With a shiver, he allowed himself to relax and watch the rest of the trainwreck in front of him.
Charlie and Alastor looked like they were in their element. The demons surrounding them looked uncomfortable and ready to cry. 
This was the best kind of a trainwreck.
Slumping forward, Husk sighed. How did he do it? How did this nutjob trap his heart in his red clawed grasp? Was it the voodoo magic he always conjured up? Or the looming threat of his everpresent power? Or maybe it was his ability to manipulate even the most cautious of demons?
Did he real him in with his gentlemanly manner, his charming personality, his fearless pride, his brilliant wit…?
Was it his hypnotizing voice or his mesmerizing eyes?
Maybe it was that handsome face… his controlling behavior… or his uncanny skill of convincing just about anyone to dance with him?
As Husk lost himself in his thoughts, he was too distracted to fight off the lovestruck expression that made its way onto his face.
Alastor grabbed Charlie for the final verse of their song to spin and dip her, his grin sharp and utterly satisfied.
Husk couldn’t help imagining himself in her position, held up only by the arms that would be firmly wrapped around him... their faces close… breaths intermingling-
Shit… he was so fucked.
391 notes · View notes
snkpolls · 4 years
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SnK Episode 68 Poll Results (for Manga Readers)
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The poll closed with 146 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!
Please note that these are the results for the Manga Readers’ poll. If you wish to see the results for the Anime Only Watchers’ poll, click here.
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RATE THE EPISODE 140 Responses
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The anime continues its positive streak with just over 90% of respondents rating the episode a 4 or 5. MAPPA appears to be blowing this season out of the water for most of us!
Noice
Good!
I liked it
WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING MOMENTS WAS YOUR FAVORITE? 144 Responses
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We got a pretty mixed pie chart this week. To be expected, given how many moments were in this episode. At a tie with the largest pieces of the pie were Hange’s eccentric attempt to greet the Marleyans and Eren’s gunshot figuratively hitting Sasha. Behind that two more options tied in each with 10.4% of the vote - EMA’s conversation at the shooting range and Sasha appreciating Nicolo’s cooking. This is followed closely by Eren’s mirror scene with 9.7% of the vote. Onyankopon explaining why he looks different when Sasha asks him about it took a solid 9% of the vote.
WHAT WAS THE MOST EMOTIONAL PART OF THE VISIT TO SASHA’S GRAVE? 144 Responses
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This was almost too close to call, but Mikasa sitting alone managed to edge out just slightly over Connie’s “I’ve lost half of me” moment at Sasha’s grave. Trailing behind the two were Nicolo’s grief and the agreement between Papa Braus agreeing to a free meal from Nicolo.
AFTER SEVERAL TENSE AND ACTION PACKED EPISODES, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE TRANSITION TO SOMETHING MORE CALM? 138 Responses
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The larger chunk of respondents are feeling relieved to get a break from the action for a few episodes. 21.7% prefer the action but don’t mind a break here and there, while 21% state that they enjoy the exposition more than the action anyway, so they are content. A small handful don’t care either way. 
We needed this for another build-up to more action
I like the action but it’s important to move the story along 
These just feel mandatory fillers to me.
I miss the warriors
I feel fine with it. I thought that was going to be some happy-go-me episode, but gladly it still had a serious tones.
This episode felt like a very welcome respite after the absolute shitshow that was spoilers week and....whatever the fuck chapter 137 was. 
Nice breather of sorts, I always like seeing characters from action-heavy series in their downtime.
WOULD YOU RATHER GET A SURPRISE GREETING FROM EREN & HANGE, OR ARMIN & LEVI? 141 Responses
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The vast majority of respondents would prefer the slightly less lethal greeting given by Hange and Eren at the beginning of the episode. We’re not sure if the other 29.1% are masochists or just really love Levi and/or Armin that much more. Or perhaps they’re intrigued by the pig piss from the filthy island devils.
ON A SCALE OF 1-5, HOW HAPPY ARE YOU TO BE BACK ON PARADIS? 139 Responses
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Overall, fans are happy to be back in familiar territory and put into the perspective of the Survey Corps again. Let’s get ready to rumble!
MAPPA HAS SPRINKLED IN ANIME-ONLY ADDITIONS THROUGHOUT THE EPISODE. AS A WHOLE, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THEM? 139 Responses
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Though subtle, MAPPA did include some anime filler (such as Eren’s, erm, mouth breathing). 51.1% enjoyed the noticeable additions, while 37.4% are completely confused by the question and didn’t realize there were any. A handful generally don’t prefer additions but enjoyed what little ones we had this episode. A small sliver didn’t care for them.
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE SCENES FROM CHAPTER 107 THAT WERE PEPPERED IN BETWEEN THE MOMENTS FROM CHAPTER 106? 139 Responses
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MAPPA is shuffling things around to pick up the pacing of this arc, and 48.2% of respondents are feeling very positively about it. 38.8% also feel that both the order of events in the original manga and the anime work out just fine regardless. A couple of smaller groups either felt that things were a bit off from the manga, or didn’t really care either way. 
I think it's great because it allows an episode to start and end on the same chapter if mappa ever wanted it, allowing the right twists or cliffhangers to be in the right episodes, all WITHOUT having to slow down, which I wholly appreciate.
I'm fine with the changes. Mappa is doing good job.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE CHANGE OF GABI BITING HER NAIL AND ANGRILY SAYING EREN’S NAME IN HER JAIL CELL? 142 Responses
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Nearly half of voters feel that both MAPPA’s take and Isayama’s original take work just fine for Gabi’s character. 28.9% prefer the anime’s take on Gabi’s reaction to all that happened, while 14.8% feel that her more defeated posture in the manga makes more sense for her character. 
I'm a mix of both? Her defeated posture implies that she's not happy with the way things worked out with them in jail and Zeke betraying them. On the other hand, her angry face is realistic to the scene too because it implies she really blames Eren for their current predicament.
She looks like some female version of young, angry Tarzan. This time Mappa should have kept the original postures, because the defeated Gabi feels to be more realistic, than the crazy anime one. 
I think they both work but the anime's take might be the anime team beating us over the head that she's just like Eren when he was young.
Makes it clear to the anime-onlies that she really is psychotic
Gabi sucks
HOW WELL DO YOU THINK MAPPA NAILED THE TRANSITION OF EREN SHOOTING THE GUN, TO SASHA TAKING THE HIT? 141 Responses
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The response to MAPPA’s take on Eren’s shot inadvertently hitting Sasha was overwhelmingly positive, with only a few people saying that they could have done better with it. 
Eren shot linked to Sasha's death was awesome. Mappa is nailing it!
THE PART WHERE JEAN, SASHA AND CONNIE ARE TRYING TO GUESS WHAT A PORT IS WAS CUT OUT, WITH ARMIN’S NARRATION INSTEAD CUTTING INTO THE SCENE. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT IT? 140 Responses
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Exactly 50% felt that while having that JSC characterization would have been very much welcome, they’re okay with that small detail missing from the manga (granted, it was at least acknowledged by one panel being animated). 25.7% have a more nonchalant response, stating that if it helps with the pacing, they’re fine with small cuts like this. 10.7% are just let down by JSC’s lack of characterization in the anime overall and didn’t appreciate even more being taken from their characterization in this episode. 
I was more so interested in our Paradis Peeps talking about newly discovered technology but I’m happy with what we got.
Not dissappointed since I understand you can't show everything but I love them so sad
Why was it animated then?! I’m so confused
Normally I don't like it when they cut corners like this, but I wasn't fond of that scene in the first place so it's okay.
If by "anime" you mean the entirety of it including the past 3 seasons, then option 3. I'm always going to be salty about how much they took out or changed for these three during the uprising arc. So far mappa has done okay with them, I guess. 
Would have been a funny JSC moment, but it was really absolutely pointless. In manga format it works as just background words on a panel. Animating it takes seconds of an episode that could be used elsewhere. So I'm fine with it being cut out.
SOME HAVE COMPLAINED THAT THE ENDING SCENE OF EREN REPEATING HIS MANTRA INTO THE MIRROR LACKED THE IMPACT IT HAD IN THE MANGA. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT? 138 Responses
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43.5% were receptive of the anime only shots, but favor the way the scene was portrayed in the manga more. 34.1% felt that both versions were done well, with only 9.4% feeling that the impact was largely the same (if not better). Based on the write-ins, the main complaint seems to be the lighting/color scheme of the scene not quite meeting expectations, or that MAPPA made Eren’s back look weird. 
theyll make up for it when eren screeches at hange next ep
Impact was there, art just felt a bit wonky and toned down the scene overall. 9/11
This goes into my criticism of the color palette and shading style mappa uses, which is far more subdued. The contrast is lowered and the scene is very dark, and there is little rim lighting, so while the actual lineart has far more detail, the detail in the lighting is reduced. Damn I really am writing a wall text aren't I? I prefer Wit Studio's art style a lot but Mappa has honestly been doing great so I couldn't care less, manbun Eren is hot.
I prefer the manga version. I think the anime version have weirds shadows in eren's back. Plus the mirror don't have the same energy, less impactful
Cool scene in the anime, an unforgettable blow to the brains in the manga
Idk
Most of the time seeing things for the first time is what's really impactful. Feel this way towards Armin's transformation in the boat as well. It was definitely less impactful than when you first read it in the manga.
I understand the fandom because this moment was very popular when the chapter was out. I think that in the anime Eren lacks the anger he had in the manga. His voice was too calm while repeating his mantra. .
WHY DOES HIS BACK LOOK LIKE THAT
I didn't care for it in the anime, it was really underwhelming. 
I think most people are annoyed about the lighting than the impact. It’s a bit too dim and the lamp hides Eren’s new hair.
Didn't like the anime version at all
The animation wasn't good and they totally fucked his hair, face, and body up. Although the added shots were definitely welcome.
Eren could've been sexier/animated better, I hope they do better next ep 😭
WE WILL ASK YOU AGAIN. HOW WILL THE ANIME DEAL WITH MIKASA’S HIZURU TATTOO/SYMBOL? 135 Responses
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With Mikasa meeting Kiyomi presumably being inevitable in episode 69, we wondered if any opinions had changed on this. 34.1% feel hopeful that the tattoo will be retconned into the anime and that we will see this scene faithful to the manga. 28.9% think that Mikasa will happen to have some kind of embroidery on hand already. 25.9% don’t want to make a call either way, and a small handful think Mikasa’s going to just pull out an embroidery kit and go with it, lol.
The embroidery will be on the inside of her bandage.
Japanese are very taboo about tattoos because of the Yazuka... it will 100% be the embroidery.
I don't know but I hope it gets retconned. Never liked the embroidery thing.
It won't be included
Let’s just... ignore it..
I really really hope MAPPA retcons Mikasa's tattoo next episode. This will be the one retcon I will absolutely celebrate. Plus, it's not really a retcon if they're just amending Wit's changes.
WE WILL ASK YOU AGAIN, AGAIN. WITH THE PACING CURRENTLY UTILIZED BY MAPPA, WHERE WILL EPISODE 16 END? 137 Responses
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Uncertainty continues to loom over exactly how far MAPPA will get into this (first half of the?) season. Nearly 40% don’t want to make predictions one way or another, while 23.4% feel that it won’t make it quite to chapter 122. The rest believe it will make it to chapter 122, with 17.5% feeling there will only be minor cuts, if any, and the remaining 13.1% feeling that there will be major cuts to make the feat to chapter 122. 
116 (?) when the allied force attack paradis
122 with the amount of cuts being somewhere in between. They can cut a lot of the Gabi and Falco plotline and still have the story remain intact.
See, I'm not sure buy I'm also worried and curious about it all. It brings up the question of will the story continue in a possible second half of the season? With the manga ending very soon now, it makes sense to have the story wrap up in its anime medium as well. Fees like there's some kind of uncertainty surrounding this, it's unnerving tbh. 
119 with Eren's head being blown off.
gabi no scoping eren, ending creds is eren entering paths and we see ymir standing behind him, s4p2 starts w the ymir backstory
121
No idea and I don't think about it. I just enjoy the show. 
Your guess is as good as mine, I'm still fearing major cuts.
119
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT NICOLO’S PORTRAYAL? 138 Responses
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With Nicolo now formally introduced in the anime, we were curious how you felt about his portrayal. Overall the reaction was positive, with 48.6% agreeing that he’s a “cutie pie chef”, and another 45.7% feeling that his design and seiyuu are absolutely great! A small handful were less happy with the voice, but happy with the design, and a sliver went in the opposite direction, preferring voice over animation.
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE ADDED DETAIL OF THE FLOWER BOQUETS AND THEIR SYMBOLISM ON SASHA’S GRAVE? 140 Responses
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Respondents vastly appreciated the flower symbolism from MAPPA with 82.9% of the pie. 12.9% aren’t really sure what symbolism there even was, and a small amount either don’t care or felt the effort could have been spent on something other than flowers for Sasha.
WHICH SCENE FROM THE PREVIEW ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO? 143 Responses
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This pie chart wound up being almost eerily even. 42.7% are most looking forward to the 104th discussing Eren (hopeful for the train flashback?). 39.9% instead are looking more forward to Hange and Eren’s tense conversation at his jail cell. The remaining three preview moments were pretty evenly split as well.
DO YOU THINK WE’LL GET BLUSHING!104TH NEXT EPISODE? 130 Responses
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71.5% feel that there is a chance we will get the train flashback of the 104th in this episode, but don’t want to say for absolutely certain. 18.5% feel that it is a guarantee based on what we saw in the preview. 10% feel it is instead guaranteed that we will NOT get the scene in 69.
WE WILL LIKELY SEE PREGNANT HISTORIA NEXT EPISODE. THOUGHTS? 140 Responses
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The plotline that continues to be a frustrating mystery in the manga - Historia’s pregnancy. 34.3% aren’t particularly looking forward to seeing her in the rocking chair and aren’t very stoked about having to relive this plotline all over again. 33.6% mainly just care about seeing how the anime only fans react to the scene. 17.9% just miss Historia altogether and will take any scraps they can get. And a small handful, at 9.3%, are actually looking forward to seeing anime!Historia with a baby bump. 
Don't really care about historia
It's in MAPPA's hands now. I just hope they can add a little more of her screentime somehow.
I hope so. I want to see the design of her adult self. 
I honestly wouldn't mind if Historia's entire arc, which consists of equal parts pregnancy, irrelevance and uselessness, is just completely cut in the anime lol
not interest
I'm not interested 
I've hated this fucking plot line with all my being and what it's done to Historia since the leaks for this chapter were revealed years ago. So I'm not looking forward to anime-only people jumping in with their hot takes too. 🤮🤮
ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE?
mikasa was shown in sasha's grave in the morning/afternoon and then she was shown again at dusk. SHE SPENT THE WHOLE DAY THERE. and annie... what a queen. and hisu's few scenes? so pretty.
Really glad the pacing was well done
nicosasha ship just flew in and took the spotlight
fantastic!! maybe it's just because this isn't my first time going through this arc anymore, but i feel like the anime feels chronologically less confusing than the manga—I remember being very confused my first time reading these chapters.
The lack of score by Hiroyuki Sawamo is negatively impacting my relationship with the anime. The depth of the emotion that could have been evoked was not present. I also did not get the sense that Nicolo and Sasha were in love, which was a major disappoinment. There were other aspects that weren't so bad, though; specifically, Levi's portrayal and Onyankopon's philosophy.
It felt a bit all over the place, but just seeing things from the manga being animated, I ain’t even mad.
I think that the scene between Sasha and Nicolo was made better in the anime. Isayama has problems with writing romantic moments, so in the manga the whole moment looked like it was taken from some light romance. Mappa made this scene more serene. I liked it. 
I think MAPPA is doing so great tbh! I just need them to hurry up and explain if there will be a part two to this final season or what?! I need to know if we get more anime or they'll diverge into movies or.... just tell us! Lol! 
How DAREEEE they not give Levi his black steed!!!! .....Although knowing what happens ummm yeah maybe his pony gets to live another day this way lol
Here comes the train wreck, choo choo!
I'm really sad I didn't get to hear Sasha call Jean a perv. I was really looking forward to that. LOL I love them. When EMA were at the shooting range, it looked too much like Mikasa wasn't wearing any pants. 
VERY solid. Not the biggest fan of the War for Paradis arc but I'm here for the ride.
WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 128 Responses
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Thanks again to everyone who participated!
19 notes · View notes
eggs-in-a-cloud · 4 years
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Yo, it’s my birthday! 🥳 So here's another mini fic snippet that takes place on Deku’s birthday to celebrate! This one is for the Bakudeku summer beach fic I was working on :D
There is a trigger warning for drowning, so please be careful if you are sensitive to that. Thanks y'all.
TW: Drowning
Enjoy and I’ll try to post the whole thing on ao3 later today too <3
•••
Each breath he attempts to take, is filled with water that burns his nose and lungs. He is sputtering and coughing and that just sends more water down the hatch. His limps are spasming and he’s flailing and grasping for nothingness as his arms clutch at more and more and more water. God.
Izuku is drowning.
He’s actually really drowning.
On his 20th birthday.
If he wasn’t going to die from drowning, he’d die from mortification.
His poor mother will be so distraught. And his group members will be so angry on Monday because he was supposed to send them the report after he finished editing. And his friends. God, his friends who came here with him. Iida, Urakaka and Todoroki. What about them? He hopes they won’t blame themselves.
In the distance, there’s the sound of splashing water and a faint ‘Outta the way, fuckers!’
It’s the last thing Izuku hears before everything goes quiet and it all fades to black.
☆☆☆☆☆☆
Izuku is dreaming.
Someone, on top of him, someone…. Kissing him? Um, what?
The person kissing him pulls away and Izuku sees a halo of blond fluffy hair and captivating red eyes. At this point he’s pretty sure he’s died and gone to heaven. And although the thought that he’d actually died is sort of a depressing thought, the knowledge that the afterlife is full of hot guy angels is very comforting, to say the least. Izuku barely resists the urge to wrap his arms around the blond angel's neck and pull him back down for another kiss.
That is, until Izuku tries to close his eyes and keep the dream going. Because who’d want a dream like that to end? But… As soon as he let’s his eyes flutter back shut, the angel roughly pats (slaps) Izuku on his face.
“Oi, stay with me, bastard!” Punctuates the action, and Izuku’s eyes shoot open again. He tries to breath and ends up coughing up water.
The angel (maybe not angel, because angels don’t traditionally hit or curse at people… right?) brings his face to his again and put his lips against his. He breathes into him and pushes on his chest and … wait a second.
One pump. Two pumps, three pumps.
And Izuku realizes what’s going on as they both turn away again, the angel to take a breath again and Izuku to cough up even more water that has risen into his mouth.
“Midoriya!” …Iida…?
Izuku wants to look around, but it’s sort of really bright and his senses are all over the place. Also, he realizes he’s lying down. The sand is like a furnace on his probably sunburned back and the sky is so blue and the blond boy’s hair looks even more like a crown against the sky backdrop.
Izuku tries to get a grip on his surroundings by rolling his head from side to side, and catches a glimpse of a couple things, finally. He makes our Uraraka's brown hair and Todoroki’s blue swim trunks and Iida's looming figure which is much closer than his other friends. Iida is the one Izuku focuses is on because he is shouting.
What happened…?
Izuku vaguely remembers swimming, and then… what else? A drowning, presumably?
Iida is positively losing him mind just behind the blond guy, and those gathered on the beach who didn’t actually witness his embarrassing drowning and following rescue, is now hearing the horrible details. Which is awful but also helpful because Izuku's waterlogged brain can’t remember much currently. And so, Izuku tries to focus on his friend's hysterical ramblings.
“Oh Lord, I knew this was a bad idea. A terrible idea. I shouldn’t have let Todoroki and Uraraka plan this. I have absolutely failed as not only a citizen of this city, but also as a friend. Did you know it’s his birthday today? And this is how it ends? HE ALMOST DIED ON HIS BIRTHDAY!”
The blond stops abruptly and snaps his head around to Izuku’s blue haired friend.
“Oi, four eyes. I’m a life guard. He’s not dead yet. Calm your tits. And could you advertise this shitshow any louder?” The life guard snaps.
Iida looks scandalized for a moment before he collects himself, and the next time he speaks it’s about three octaves lower. Thank God.
“Apologies. It’s just, a lot, Midoriya drowning.” Iida says with a loud sniff.
“Almost. He’s fine. Hey jackass, how many fingers?” Even though it’s a question, from the blond it sounds like a barked command. It’s a little blurry, but Izuku blinks a couple times until everything comes into focus and he can make out the hand in front of him.
“Three.” He groans. The life guard grunts in approval.
“Good. Can you stand?”
“Yes.” Izuku starts to sit up, and warm, sun kissed hands meet his back and chest to slowly rise him into a sitting position. It is only sitting up that he finally looks around and sees the mini crowd that has formed around him. Their watching and whispering in hushed voices that makes the green haired boy flush. Oh God, hopefully he doesn’t go viral on YouTube. Or even worse, Tik Tok.
“Alright, let’s get you to my office. There’s a cot in there that you can rest on for a bit. And get rid of the fucking gawkers.” The blond says loudly. The crowd startles, and disperses thankfully.
The blond life guard slings one of Izuku’s arms over his shoulder and slowly the both of them rise.
“You good?” He asks.
The green-haired boy tries not to focus on how warm the arm around him is, or how their thighs are pressed together or how he can hear the faint thump thump thump of the other boy's heart.
“Mhm!” Izuku hopes that the slight voice crack he feels and hears is only a figment of his imagination.
The blond doesn’t say anything further and just starts leading them away from the ocean.
Izuku guesses there’s some small mercies, because the only thing that would have been more embarrassing than drowning in knee length water is being carried bridal style to the lifeguards’ booth.
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flying-nightwing · 4 years
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Dark Fox (7/7)
Thank you to everyone who took the time to read Dark Fox! It was my first longer serie ever since my writing hiatus, and the first one I actually finished ever lmao. It was quite an adventure and I really enjoyed writing this persona. This is the last chapter to close the story. I hope you like it gang!
Previous
Pairing: Jason Todd x Reader
Word Count: 6821
Warnings: usual
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You hadn’t had a lazy morning in years, and you had all but forgotten how good it felt. 
A single sun ray warmed the bed, making the temperature under the thin sheet just ideal. The slow, steady rise and fall of Jason’s chest under your head was soothing, as well as the random pattern his hand was drawing on your back. Usually, you’d have already trained and eaten by that time. Today, you had no intention of leaving the bed anytime soon. The last night had been spent fucking so many times in so many different ways, you were both exhausted and happier than before. Jason was even wilder than you remembered (or he got even better?), so much you were still riding the absolute high you had reached. 
You traced his scars with your fingers; some old ones he had told you about, some you had put there yourself, and some others your had yet to know how he got them. You had a lot to catch up about.
“The last time we found ourselves like this,” You began, trailing your soft touch up and down the browned mark on his shoulder. It was as large as your sword, and a witness of the rocky beginning of your relationship. “I begged you to come back to the League with me”
He angled his head toward you. You could feel his eyes on you, half closed and relaxed as he’s even been. “But I begged you to follow me back here first” 
It had been a heartbreaking moment. The build up of the unanswered question for a whole year had lead to there. None of you had wanted to talk about the time his training would be done, you had rather wanted to keep doing your stuff and ignore the impending separation. That morning hadn’t been unlike this one, with the sun coming through the hut and with you both on the hammock, naked and intertwined under the fur cover. He had broken the silence, asking you to forget the League and stay with him. Back then, you were so sure you could only reach Luthor through it. So you asked Jason to instead join the League at your side. 
He had dressed up and left the hut, and you hadn’t heard from him from then until you crossed paths in Ukraine.
“I guess this is the fight you won” You smiled, flicking up your gaze to his. “Seeing as I’m here”
“The fight I won?” He raised his eyebrows. “Implying I didn’t win any other fight?”
“You did, but…” You teased, gently tapping your fingers up his collarbone. “Let’s face it, I still won most of them”
He gasped. “Excuse me?”
You smirked. 
Before you could see him move, he rolled on top of you and caged you underneath him between his arms. His eyes were narrowed in indignation as he channeled his mean face on. It once might have worried you, but it had lost most of its purpose now. Especially since you were both naked.
“I’ve won plenty of fights against you” He sneered. 
“Mhmm” You hummed, knowing all too well how he didn’t like to be challenged. You hadn’t poked at his pride in too long, so you couldn’t pass the occasion. “Sure you did”
“Have you forgotten what happens when the fighting range gets too small?” 
You simply blinked.
“Or when I truly got angry? Or…”
You cocked your head to the side as he halted his words. Then, understanding flashed through his expression. 
“You’re still riling me on purpose” He sighed.
“What did I like to say again?” You asked rhetorically, pausing for emphasis. “Ah, yes. When you’ll stop falling for it”
“I hate you” 
“Don’t blame me for being such an easy target” You rolled your eyes. “Now come here”
“Bossy” He finally grinned. “I love it”
He lowered himself so his lips touched yours and kissed you softly. However, the moment didn’t last long, as his cell phone vibrated on the nightstand. You could feel the shift toward annoyance in his mood, and it only grew when the phone vibrated one more time, and another one after that. With a long sigh, he rolled off of you and to the side of his bed. He frowned, then all trace of displeasure at the interruption wiped off of his face.
“What is it?” You asked, peeking over his shoulder. He shut off the screen immediately.
“You’ll see” He chuckled. “Get dressed”
“Ooookay” You nodded slowly, watching him throw his legs on the side of the bed and reach for his shirt on the floor. You put on your clothes from the day before and went for the guest bedroom you had, changing into something clean. When you got out, Jason was waiting for you leaning on the doorframe. 
“First though, breakfast”
You followed Jason, as you were still unfamiliar with the place. Sure, you had mapped the way from your room to the cave, and from the cave to every close escape around. But for the rest, you had barely the time or desire to explore. All this space was pointless to you, as you couldn’t figure out who would need all of this. However, it did provide a good way to avoid any Wayne during your stay, you’d give the manor this point.
But it didn’t allow you to avoid Bruce this time.
He caught you around a corner, and you three remained in a stare off for a few seconds. You knew it probably wouldn’t result in a fight, but your hand still hovered above the blade hidden at the back of your waistband. 
“I think you have overstayed your welcome here”
Jason gritted his teeth, but you remained calm. You had expected this.
“I will be gone by tonight” You replied on a neutral tone, then pulled Jason with you to side step him.
“One more thing” 
You halted your steps in the doorframe to the next room, turning your head to look at him. He hadn’t moved.
“I don’t want to see you in my city again”
“You must be fucking kidding me” Jason yelled, but you held up your arm to stop him from marching back to Bruce. 
“Absolutely not” He turned to face you. “Ever since she’s came, she has conveniently disclosed very precise information on the weapon’s whereabouts, except when it mattered. And hid her family ties to Luthor”
“You think she’s working with him?” He scoffed.
“I don’t know, is she?”
Jason glanced at you, about to reply something, but you just shook your head at him. It was pointless to try and convince Bruce Wayne, especially since you knew your word could never overturn your suspicious behaviour. He rolled his eyes and walked away, and you were about to follow him before you paused.
“I’m not” You spoke up, and you could feel Bruce’s eyes on your back. “If you must know, I’ve come here to kill him, and I don’t need your permission for that” 
With that, you walked away, not waiting for an answer from Bruce. You joined Jason in the kitchen, who was already working on cooking oatmeal. His jaw was still clenched, and his posture tense. 
“I can’t believe the fucking audacity” He grumbled. 
“He is entitled to his opinion of me” You shrugged and leaned on the counter next to him. “I don’t really care what he thinks about my intentions”
“Still” He sighed. “Are you still planning on finishing your mission?”
You crossed your arms against your torso and furrowed your eyebrows. You could just leave Batman and the others take care of it, and leave them to deal with Luthor. But again, you hadn’t came all this way to just give up. 
“Bruce was very clear on his stance about me remaining involved in this shitshow” You hummed, before glancing up at Jason. “But we do have a bio weapon to stop, and I’m far from done with Luthor”
His disappointment morphed into a grin at your words. “Attagirl, that’s what I like to hear”
“I most certainly don’t like to leave things unfinished” The corner of your lips lifted. “You okay with going against Batman’s orders?”
“Oh my dear” He chuckled as he poured the oatmeal in two bowls. He glanced at you with an excited glint in his eyes. “Nobody has a better record of disobeying him than I do”
“Good”
He put a spoon in each bowl and handed you one. “Now we need to have a game plan for what’s next”
“Any idea?”
“I sure have” His grin widened. “I want to show you something”
He motioned you to follow him as he ate his oatmeal mid walk. He got down to the cave and led you to a small side room, where he grabbed the tablet on the table. You slowly ate your breakfast as you watched him press buttons and mumble to himself. Then, he turned to you.
“You ready?”
You nodded, unsure of what he was talking about. He dramatically pressed one more button, making the wall in front of you turn on itself with a woosh. Your eyes widened as you took in the content of the compartment.
“So?”
You blinked at glanced at Jason. Your grin slowly stretched to match his. 
“Oh yeah” You nodded again, this time, with way more assurance. “This will definitely do”
----
Jason heard Bruce coming from miles away.
Even if he technically didn’t, his course of action was so predictable that the Bat’s dramatic landing on the rooftop behind him was no surprise at all. 
“I thought I had made myself clear”
Jason stood up from his crouched position and turned to face him, arms crossed against his chest. “You did”
“Then what are you doing here?” He sighed in annoyance. 
“Well obviously you’re blaming your wrong intel and failures on someone who has nothing to do with it, which is a classic you” He taunted. “So we’re here to finish the job. Her and I really do work well together, thanks for noticing”
“Red Hood” He warned.
“Batman” He mimicked.
Someone landing next to them grabbed their attention.
“Red Robin” Tim announced himself under Bruce’s hard glance and Jason’s amused one.
“What are you doing here?” 
“Well, I knew something was up when I didn’t see Foxy in the cage all day” He explained. “So I followed you here. By the way, where is she?”
As if on cue, a shadow dropped behind them. The movement did no go unnoticed, and as if on instinct, Tim spun around and threw a shuriken. His expression quickly changed as he realized who was in front of him.
There you were, still crouched from your landing and holding his shuriken mid air inches away from your face. You were smirking under your mask as Tim stared at you in disbelief. 
“Twice” You spoke as you stood up fully. His eyes quickly scanned you from head to toes, almost overseeing you handing him back his shuriken. “Twice you have thrown one of these at me”
“Where’s the League suit?” He asked, slowly taking back his small weapon. “And you’re stupid bow?”
You shrugged, sharing a knowing glance with Jason. “I thought it was time for a change”
Then, understanding washed across his face. “Oh, oh my. You’ve dropped the League” 
He did another once over. You had ditched the heavy coat for a lightweight suit made of silk and leather, with armored plastic on the stomach, the upper arms and the back. The arm bracers had smaller spikes than the previous ones, and you no longer wore a heavy mask. Instead, you had only kept your half mask and wore a hooded robe crossing on your torso. Your grappling hook was now in your utility belt, and your arrows were replaced with sharper, more volatile darts kept in a sheath on your thigh. You now had 25 regular darts, five explosive and your two classic sedatives. Only your sword remained on your back, so it would “unclog your aesthetic”, as Jason had put it. 
You did like it better like that, the bow wasn’t your style anyway.
The new gear was still all black, for the exception of a silver kitsune draw into the back of the armor that would show if you took off the robe. It was comfortable and flexible, and resistant to bullets and stabbing. Jason had hit the target right on with the design. 
“Do you keep your wrist shooter?” He asked, squinting his eyes.
You raised your arm and shot over his shoulder to prove your point. He caught the small arrow mid air, nodding impressively. 
“Still the best part of the suit” He muttered to himself. 
“I thought you said you’d be gone” Bruce cut in. Your eyes went to him. 
“I still have a couple of hours” You replied without missing a beat.
“Talking about” Jason said. “Your time window just opened”
“You can either help us or stay out of the way” You told Bruce as you adjusted you comm. “But this is happening regardless”
He didn’t speak right away, taking a moment to ponder your words. Then, he voiced his thoughts. “Are you going to kill him?”
You held eye contact for a few seconds more before taking off. You ran along the ledge and jumped on the next building, then letting yourself slide down the fire escape. You chose not no reply to him, as you didn’t need to give him another reason to come after you. Granted, not replying was practically the equivalent of giving a positive answer, but at least it could give you the benefit of the doubt for what it was worth.
Using the shadows of the city, you quickly made your way through the blocks by the back alleys until you reached the imposing tower in the middle of the Diamond district, the same building you and Tim had sacked for show barely a week before. Whatever damage you had done, it didn’t show anymore. It was like nothing had happened. 
This time, you came in by the front door. The second you walked through the glass doors, all activity stopped. You took a few step forward, and four guards met you halfway in the lobby. Without a word, they escorted you past the front desk and through the metal detector going off like crazy. Anytime you could have easily gotten rid of them, but you held back for now. You waited a short time for the elevator, then got in and up to Luthor’s floor. He was waiting for you by the window, and turned around with a smirk once you got in his office. You pulled back your hood and unclasped your mask.
“I see you’ve got a new look” He pointed out. “Changed your mind about the league?”
“Something like that” 
“Well, I’m most certainly pleased to see you’ve decide to do the right thing” He took a step forward. “This is where you belong”
Slowly, you reached for your sword and took it out. A shadow passed across his face, and nodded to something behind you. Or rather, someone. You dropped to a crouch to avoid the tazer being stuck in your back--once was enough--and thrusted your sword in the legs of the guys around you. You rolled forward and shot the four guards coming your way, before jumping on the desk and holding them in your aim. Luthor now had four new guards around, letting you know more would come if he needed. You reloaded your crossbow.
“I’m disappointed” He revealed with a sigh. “Those were good men”
“Let it be a reminder I can and will take them all out if they're in my way” You twirled your sword. “Step forward and none of them die with you tonight”
“How noble” He chuckled, not concerned at all. His hand rested in his pocket and his stance was relaxed. “Did your boyfriend with the red helmet tell you to do that?”
You shot an arrow to his knee, but he easily side stepped it like he had predicted that move. He raised an eyebrow.
“I see” He hummed. “But I had expected you would deny your destiny. So I decided to help you make a choice”
Four more men came in the room and ran at you. You vaulted over them and landed behind them, taking them by surprise. Before the could fully turn around, they were on the ground. You wiped your sword in the crook of your elbow and faced Luthor again. He was watching, unwavering, almost out of the door. He was stalling, that was clear, but you didn’t know for what yet. He smirked again, and you knew he’d finally reveal his thoughts.
“Now I know you won’t back down like last time” He taunted, and your jaw clenched. “So I guess you can come at me now, tear through my guards and get to me…”
You narrowed your eyes, knowing there was something more coming. He wouldn’t make it that easy for you to get to him.
“But like I said, I had expected trouble from you, like your mother before you” He sighed sarcastically. “So I prepared a backup plan. I decided to launch my weapon sooner and instead use it elsewhere, since you forced my hand. In twenty minutes, it will discharge quite literally the plague in the city aqueduct”
You tensed, your hand going to your ear to your comm and turning it on.
“Ah, I don’t think telling your friends will work” He tsked. “The only way to stop it is through my genetic code”
“Therefore mine” You concluded.
“Smart” He mocked. “Yes. So you can either kill me here and get it over with, or you can run around and save a bunch of people, and miss your shot. Again. But you don’t have the time to do both, I’m afraid”
You calculated his ultimatum, and he was right. If he kept the men coming, it would be enough to stall you too long for you to go from the diamond district to the aqueduct. He had planned this move carefully, knowing he’d get a win in either case.  
“Don’t worry, the cure is ready to go, there won’t be much casualties” He brushed off. “You came here to kill me, didn’t you?”
You flexed your fingers on the hilt of your sword.
“Do it” He challenged. “That’s what you are. You were made to finish what you started, to stop at nothing to get what you want. This is how I made you, even if I disapprove what you’ve done with my gifts. So go ahead, kill me and prove me right”
He was almost in your face now, staring right at you. You straightened your back and levelled up with him, feeling something strange, yet not unwelcomed, swelling in your chest. You thought about Jason and what he said, about those civilians you saved from a certain death, and about the man in front of you. Seeing him from so close, you realized every ounce of anger you held toward Luthor was… Gone. You thought with him so close you would be tempted to fight him, but all you could feel was indifference. He didn’t matter to you anymore, he never should have. He represented your insecurities, and tried to drag you down with him to excuse his own failure in making you a copy of himself. You became aware he was a pointless chase, and you had better things to do than indulge in it. 
“I’m the Dark Fox” You jutted your chin up, squaring up your shoulders. “Don’t fucking tell me what to do”
You turned around and jumped over the desk, grabbing an explosive arrow and throwing it in the window. You jumped through as it exploded, plunging down the building. You pulled out your grappling line and hooked it on your shooter, then aimed for the roof. It slowed your fall midway, and you used your glove to slow yourself down. 
As your feet touched the ground, you saw Jason’s motorcycle pull in in front of the building. You put back your sword in its sheath and your mask on your face, then your hood up. 
“Aqueduct, we’ve got fifteen minutes” You spoke as you climbed on the bike.
“Yep, I heard everything” He had a grin in his voice. Yet, he didn’t go yet.
“What?”
“I am so fucking proud of you”
You felt your neck heat up as you looked down, even if he couldn’t see you, in fact, you were glad he couldn’t. You never knew his praise would make you react that way, or that you would be so important for you to hear it.
“And for the record” He added. “It was very hot, too”
“Fucking hell, Jay, go!”
“Fine” He sighed and sped away from there.
“Okay so what is your thing with jumping out of windows?” Tim said through your comm. You had no idea he had stayed.
“It makes me feel less dead” You replied, and Jason audibly laughed. 
“You madwoman”
“Since you’re here, I have a task for you” You said. “Could you pull out the files on the weapon and figure out how the failsafe works?”
“I’m already on it”
Then, a bullet barely grazed your shoulder. The sound followed closely after, but it was like in slow motion. You raised your arm to protect Jason's shoulder, letting the bullet hit your arm brace instead. Reacting quickly, you turned around facing backwards and shot an arrow through the gun aimed at you. You then noticed five motorcycles following you, probably tasked with taking you down.
“What’s going on? How many?”
“Keep driving” You ordered. “I’ll take care of this”
You shot another arrow, but it bounced on the body of the motorcycles, and from your position you couldn’t aim elsewhere. You emptied your arrows to get one good shot, and it was enough to take one down. But looking at your recharges, you only had ten darts left, and potentially more people to take down around the bomb. You looked down, then up again to the guns aimed at you.
“Fuck it”
You reached for one of Jason’s gun on his thigh and clicked the safety off. Then, you shot.
“Holy shit” Jason yelled, and you could only imagine his expression. “HOLY SHIT”
“Did… Did Foxy just use a gun?”
“I wish I could have seen that” He whined. “I am so turned on right now”
“Too much information Jaybird”
You clicked the safety back on and turned around again, then slipped the gun back in his holster. 
“I thought you thought guns were disgraceful” 
“I kind of still do” You smirked under your mask. “So don’t get used to it”
“You’ll at least do it once when I look, right?”
“Hmm, maybe” You hummed.
“Aww, aren’t you two the cutest”
“Shut up Tim” Jason warned.
“Alright then, I won’t tell you what I found on turning off the weapon”
“Speak, Tim” You contradicted Jason’s order.
“First you have to apologize for throwing me out of a window”
You thought for a moment before answering. “No”
“Then no intel”
You sighed. 
“Let’s compromise then” You suggested. “I will not apologize because I am not sorry, but for the intel and not telling on me after you found out who I was, I will consider not pushing you out of a window again”
There was silence radio, then he spoke again. “Good enough for me. There should be a code pad, I decrypted it and the code is 0000. Yes I know, but then you’ll see a slit, and you gotta put your left hand in it. It’ll read pulse, heat, fingerprints, and more. Since you should share all of this with Luthor, it’ll stop. Or it’ll explode, that was unclear”
“Well that’s reassuring” Jason grumbled. 
“Alright, we’re almost there” You rolled your eyes. “Thanks”
“See ya later”
You turned off your comm and reloaded your shooter minutes before Jason pulled in the aqueduct yard. He parked his bike and you both easily climbed the barbed wire fence, and even though the place looked deserted, you remained careful. Luthor wouldn’t have left his device without surveillance. You grabbed your sword and fell in step behind Jason, who had his guns up. Then, he halted his steps and held a hand for you to do the same. You had this feeling you were being watched, and you could only imagine he had it too. 
“Get ready” Just as he said that, bullets began raining over you. “Go find the weapon, I’ll cover you!”
You held an arm up to protect your face and disappeared into the darkness. You kept running along the walls of the building, allowing you to get in undetected. You reached the main water room, where you could see from the upper platform about eight guards surrounding the very device you had been hunting. The countdown indicated 2:37, so you had no time to lose.
You jumped over the ramp and landed quietly on your feet behind the men. You approached the first one and swung your sword around to let it rest on his neck. You used him as a shield as the other guards noticed you, blocking their bullets. You raised your arm and shot your five darts at them. You pushed the dead man off of you and faced the two remaining guards, taking a fighting stance and swirling your sword at them. Before they could start shooting again, you lunged and knocked their guns out of their hands. They kept fighting around you, trying to get to you with punches and kicks. But they were sloppy and predictable, and even after one fetched a small blade from his belt, they were no match for you. You glanced at the countdown, and it almost reached the one minute mark. Your eyes then trailed on the two guards around you, still trying to get the upper hand. They both extended their arms at the same time for a hit, so you dropped to a crouch.
Like you did during training with Bruce and Damian, you sweeped your sword in a quick motion. Unlike them, however, your current opponent weren’t quick nor skilled. The blade of your katana sliced their knees, making them collapse on the ground. You quickly reloaded your last round of arrows and sheathed your sword, then made your way to the device. You easily found the locked pad and entered the code, then pulled off your glove and stuck your hand in the slit. You pressed the button and watched as the biometrical scan began. 
You heard noise behind you as backup reached the room, and without taking your hand out, you turned your body and aimed. The first five men fell, but there were still five coming your way, so you reached for your shurikens in your belt. But you didn’t get to take them out as other, all too familiar shaped shurikens reached the goons first. You sent a deadpan look at where you noticed none other than Red Robin standing there smugly.
“Oof, I hope you didn’t have dibs on them”
“I had it handled” You replied. 
“I’m sure you did” He smirked as he walked past you and took a look at the countdown, then at the weapon. His expression turned grim. “Twenty seconds”
The scanner was still working. 
“If it doesn’t work, you’ll have to slice the pipe off” You said, analysing the situation. Cutting the water and flooding the building would bring less casualties than letting the virus flow in the water system.
“What!?”
The system unlocked. You quickly entered the command to stop, and the countdown halted. You pulled your hand back and put on your glove again, then grabbed an explosive arrow. You planted the dart in the slit and backed up, pushing Tim with you. Soon enough, it went off and the weapon went up in smoke. 
“Phew, that was close” He blinked. “Well played”
“Motherfucking Dark Fox!” Jason dropped from the platform at his turn. His helmet was off and he had a wide grin on his face. “That’s what I call making a difference! The League could never”
“That was really cool” He nodded in approval. “By the way, what happened to, you know..?”
“Did you do it?” Jason’s eyes were now on you, his grin not so intense now.
“He’s gone” You said, but it didn’t help ease the questions in their eyes. “As in, I don’t know where he is. I let him flee to come here instead”
Jason’s eyes widened. “And you’re fine with this?”
You shrugged. “It doesn’t matter to me anymore. His time will come, like everyone else. I just won’t be involved when it does”
“That was unexpected” He whistled. “But hey, what goes for you goes for me. Love the new mentality”
“Killing him was what the League would have wanted” 
“That’s nice. Good choice” Tim nodded. “So you’ll stay here then?”
“Well, not here, since bats and foxes apparently don’t get along” You snorted as you unclasped your mask and pulled back your hood. “But I’ll be around”
“About that, how does Blüdhaven sounds?” Jason chimed in again, sliding a hand around your shoulder. You raised your eyebrows at him “I’ve got a pretty nice place there, and it’s technically not Gotham”
“That won’t be necessary” A deep voice came from behind you. You glanced over your shoulder where the massive shadow of Batman stood. “I’ve seen you work tonight. You acted good, I can allow you to stay in Gotham as the Dark Fox”
Jason coughed in surprise as you blinked, then turned around. 
“Thank you” You began, nodding respectfully. Jason’s wide glance was now directed to you. “But no thanks. Besides, I still don’t need your blessing to stay, or to be me”
Bruce stared at you blankly, not moving or commenting. Your guess was that he wasn’t expecting this answer, or at least not delivered this way.
“Oh, B” Jason mocked as he put back his helmet. “Nice try. Anyway, we should get out of here before the cops show up”
You put back up your mask and hood and followed Jason out, waving at Tim on your way out. You left the aqueduct and waited until you were further into the city before ditching the bike and finding a rooftop to station yourself on, just in case you were being followed. The masks and helmets came off once again, and you took a moment to breathe the air from up there. It was a clear night, with a good wind chasing the clouds away. Jason observed the city lights with you, crouched on the ledge. Then, you heard quiet shuffling behind you. You spun around, then held Jason back when he was about to lunge. You kept your eyes on the outline of the figure in the shadows, knowing all too well who it belonged to. You took a few steps forward.
“You look different” Talia smiled. “A good different. I’m glad you finally found yourself” 
“Thank you” You lowered your head. “For allowing me”
“I only want the best for you” She stepped closer to you, her smile never wavering. “Has he taken good care of you?”
You both glanced at Jason for a moment, and you chuckled. “He has. He was gentler than I’ve been to him”
“I figured he would” She winked. “You two were meant to be”
Your smile dropped as you looked down. Surely, she would know what it meant. Her sympathetic eyes fell on you and her hand rested on your shoulder. You had chosen to part with the League, therefore, with her. It would be the hardest part for you. 
“You don’t have to explain” She reassured. “I knew this would come to this, and I am here to free you”
Your eyes shot up.
“I talked with my father” She explained. “Seeing your unwavering service for all these years, he has agreed to relieve you from your duties to the League. All he asks in exchange is for you to remain out of the League’s affairs, and he gave his word he will not come against you or your family”
“Really?” Your voice was barely above a whisper. 
Her smile was encouraging as she nodded at you. Slowly, you took off the black robe, exposing the silver fox on your back. Then you took out your sword from the sheath in your hands, kneeled and offered it to her. She took it and held it upright in front of you, just like the day you had been initiated in the League.
“In the name of Ra’s al Ghul, I release Thaelib fi alzalam from her servitude to the League of Assassins” She spoke. “Your debt has been paid and your bounds are no more. Rise”
You got back on your feet, your breathing hitching in your throat. You reached for your sword in her extended arm, looked down at it and putting it away again.
“Thank you” 
“You’re very welcome” Her hand went to your cheek. “If you need anything, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I will be there for you”
“And I for you” You gave her a genuine smile. She offered her arm, and you took it at the elbow like she did. Your foreheads touched for a few seconds before you pulled away with a step back. 
“It was nice to see you again, Jason” 
“You too, Talia” He nodded with a small curve on the corner of his lips. 
“Take care, children” She said before disappearing in the darkness again. 
Jason approached you and took your hand, gently pulling your around to face him. He had this glint in his eyes, it was full of relief and happiness like you had never seen on him. To be honest, you were feeling the same way. It was like a burden had been lifted off of your shoulders, and you had never felt lighter. Sure, it brought you uncertainty to navigate without the League’s guiding hand, one you had relied on for most of your life, but it felt right. You knew Jason would help you like you had helped him, and things would start to look up from now. 
“So, what now?”
“I don’t know” You chuckled. “It’s the first time I don’t need to follow any agenda. I’m kind of lost” 
“Ah, this calls for the return of Teacher Todd” He grinned. “Lesson number two, you get to learn what fun and freedom taste like”
----
The grass was high as your mid thigh and small bugs swarmed up with every step forward you took. You didn’t mind though, you prefered it ten folds to the smog of Gotham.
For Jason, however, it was a different story.
He was sweating and grunting, and even if he was behind you, you knew he was getting annoyed by the flies and mosquitoes around. He was swatting his hand wildly and you could tell he was slightly regretting sharing his suggestion to you. The sun was high, and even for the end of the summer it was surprisingly hot. 
“Ugghhh” 
You rolled your eyes, but didn’t stop.
“Are we there soon?” He asked. “Jeez I had forgotten how far was that thing”
“Come on, stop lying to yourself” You teased as you spotted a familiar path up a small hill. “You like this”
He scoffed. “It reminds me of my ass being kicked”
“As I said” You smirked over your shoulder, and he raised his eyebrows at you. 
You climbed up the small hill and came face to face with a small, half decaying structure with the roof caved in by the elements. Moss and grass was growing on the outside of the round walls, but the feeling of home you had subconsciously associated with it was very much intact. Jason stopped behind you, his annoyance completely gone and replaced by fondness over the sight in front of him. There were so many memories tied to the small hut, some bad but mostly good, and it was like you could feel them all at once. You dropped your bag on the ground and took a deep breath.
“So, was the trek up here worth it?”
“Fuck yes” He sighed in amazement, his eyes never leaving the hut. “I missed this place so much”
“Even if we had to work hard for survival?” 
“Being here alone with you far outweighed any inconvenience this place brings” He stepped closer to you, his arm wrapping around your waist. Who would have ever thought? His nose nuzzled on your neck and your relaxed in his arms. “We’ll still have to do a bit of renovation around though”
“I hope you’ll help me this time” You looked up at him innocently. Last time you had built the hut alone before Talia had brought Jason, and even if he had been there, you would have absolutely not trusted him to help you with anything
“But you’re so hot when you work” He pouted. “I wanna watch and enjoy the view”
“And how would you make up all that work to me?” You asked, then you felt him smile on your skin. A smile full of mischief and promises. 
“Oh, I have plenty of ideas” 
“Oh me too” You grinned, stepping out of his arms, then you winked at him and disappeared in the hut. Only one hammock was still up, the other had fallen on the ground due to broken ropes. Stones of the small fireplaces were kicked in and weeds were growing around. The kitchen supplies were scattered around the makeshift shelf, but otherwise the place seemed to have been left untouched by human activity. Jason followed suit and took in the damages. 
“Do you think we can still both get onto this hammock without the ropes breaking?” He asked, side glancing at you. You rubbed your chin in wonder, then hummed.
“There is only one way to know for sure” You tilted your head to the side. You nodded at each other and he walked around you, with you in tow. He carefully lowered himself first, then opened his arms for you. You joined him, and waited for a few second to test the resistance of the ropes. You heard them creaking and straining, but you were still hanging. You relaxed, and barely a second after, the ropes snapped.
In a blink, you were on the ground, and both of your weights made the wood give in. You ended up in the dirt, directly on the forest floor. yOu remained in silence for a moment blinking at each other.
“Well” You sighed. “The hammock could not support us both”
“Alright, there is a lot to do” He conceded. “How about you fix this baby, and I’ll gather the wood for the fire, hunt dinner and get the herbs for tea?”
“That’s more like it” You said as you stood up and dusted off your pants. You offered a hand to Jason and you pulled him up with you. “Do you remember where are the bows and arrows?”
“In the bark of the oak facing the boulder, yeah” 
“Good” You chuckled. “I wasn’t sure you’d get it right”
“Come on” He groaned playfully. “I was quite a good student”
“Oh not at all” You laughed, taking a step in his personal space and looking up at him. “The worst, actually. You’re lucky you learned fast, or we’d still be there”
“Then I should have dragged my training on purpose” His lips hovered above yours. “You’d still be my incredibly unforgiving yet very hot teacher, and I your wild, stubborn and irresistible student”
“Hmm, does another sword in your shoulder sound good?”
“Only if I get to face you hand to hand”
“You’ve got yourself a deal” You whispered, before backing away abruptly. He blinked in confusion. “But it’ll have to wait. It’s almost sundown and we need to be installed by then. So get your sweet ass out there and stop distracting me here”
He sighed. “Why do I like it so much when you order me around?”
“I have no idea” You tapped his chest. “But the quicker we prepare everything, the sooner we can go to the lake for a swim under the stars”
He perked up at that, and with wide, excited eyes, he shot out of the hut faster than you could register. You chuckled and leaned on the threshold, lazily crossing your arms against your chest and taking a deep breath. You stared outside for a moment, enjoying the breeze and the sound of nature surrounding you. It was peaceful and beautiful, taking it in fully. 
Then, you got to work. 
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black-streak · 5 years
Text
Waiting for the Worms - Outside the Wall
Part 19
Hey guys, very short, laid back chapter. I finished up writing my timari spitefest work and then immediately had a 6 month old puppy brought into my life. She likes sleeping on my hand. If you guys want, I'll post a picture of her, but the point is that writing may slow down significantly due to training and cuddles. Sorry this is almost more of a filler.
Wonderfully patient CLOSED taglist: @northernbluetongue @thethirdwheelfriend @shizukiryuu @theatreandcomicfreak @michellemagic @karategirl119 @moonlightstar64 @my-name-is-michell @mystery-5-5 @zalladane @queen-of-the-trash-planet-tm @miraculousdisapointment @dorkus-minimus @jardimazul @allthebooksandcrannies @g-arya @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @persephonescat @mycupisbroken @luciferge @18-fandoms-unite-08 @dawnwave16 @alwaysreblogneverpost @kris-pines04 @emjrabbitwolf @mysteriouslyswimmingfan-blo-blog @weird-pale-blonde-person @you-will-never-know-how-i-think @kokotaru @naclychilli @slytherinhquinn @clumsy-owl-4178 @ladybug-182 @darkthunder1589 @evil-elf16 @dast218 @lysslovsanime @emilytopaz @naoryllis @iloontjeboontje @thepeacetea @danielslilangel @finallyaniguana @i-like-fairytail-and-stuff @vixen-uchiha @yuulxd @bleeding-heart-romantic @magic-inthe-stars @st0rmy-w1th1n
~---~
Walking through the portal, Jason took in the sight of his team dropping their transformations one at a time, taking no mind to the kid who walked in behind him. Guess it didn't really matter. What are the chances he would recognize them in any manner that mattered? Plus, they wanted the kid to feel comfortable here. That he could trust them.
Marinette walked over to him, barely glancing at the awkward Robin standing out of place.
"Alright, reprieve is over. You'll never adjust to your body this way," she said with an apologetic smile, lacing their fingers together and both loosening their crushing grip on their bond they'd been holding for the last two hours. As they both relaxed their minds, they slipped back into their own bodies, souls settling happily into their rightful place. 
Placed properly, Jason turned towards the Robin in the room, offering a lopsided smirk, "Welcome to the shitshow."
He shuffled his feet, "I don't plan…"
"On staying. Yes, we know Timothy. It's okay," Marinette helped him out, smile soft.
His shoulders tensed and narrowed eyes stared them down, staying quiet.
"Look, replacement, we're not trying to intimidate you or anything. We know Bruce's identity. Comes with being one of his charity cases, you know? It's not difficult to figure out which kid ended up in his care next," he intoned, trying to help Timothy see their lack of intentions towards revealing his identity.
"We only thought it fair you should be made aware of what exactly we know. I imagine it would be quite unsettling to think you had the upper hand on us only to find out later that we knew the whole time," Marinette chimed in next.
They watched as his face screwed up with an off put expression only to nod his assent, "That would bother me more, yeah."
"My name is Marinette," she put her hand out towards him, waiting patiently.
"Tim," he carefully shook her hand, staying almost formal despite the informal correction, "So the part about you getting stuck in the former Robin's body during his death. That's why you share the madness you mentioned before?"
"Lazarus Pit insanity. So fun. Definitely recommend," Jason decided to butt in, noticing the way Tim focused on Marinette the moment they switched bodies, "we were both dipped in a way, though she got the short end of the stick. My body, her soul."
"So some of it transferred due to it contaminating her soul then?" Tim asked, finally looking at him.
"Pretty much. Splitting it up this way makes it easier to handle," Marinette answered.
Tim seemed to consider this for a moment, "why are you answering me so willingly?"
"What purpose would hiding it serve?" He countered, receiving a surprised silence in response.
"I'm sorry you had to witness that out there. I'm sure that couldn't have been pleasant," Marinette slowly brought her hand to his shoulder, leaving plenty of time to move if the kid decided the contact was unwanted. When Tim allowed it, eyes still almost glaring, she smiled up at Jason and led the boy further into the room while he followed behind.
Zeroing in on where Marc stood on the phone, he gave a curious look only for Marc to end the call and curiously glance at the screen before turning back to the room at large, "That was Alfred. He can't make it here for a few days due to the giant man baby that's currently throwing a fit, but apparently someone else will be coming by tomorrow to speak to you two," This was partially directed towards Tim, but mostly to himself, "Said one would know her as a bat, the other as the eye in the sky."
"Barbara's coming? Oh great! It's been entirely too long since we've seen her!" Mari perked up, "did he say when to expect her?"
"Around eleven," they easily replied, picking their way over towards the trio, "sorry about holding you down by the way. Couldn't let you get caught up in that mess. My name is Marc," was directed at Robin.
"So… you were the mice?"
"They were the mice, yes. I'm Juleka. I was the one who brought you to the portal."
"The fox then, and you were likely the cat?" Tim directed towards Kagami.
"Kagami. In the next room over is Chloe."
"The one who opened the portal."
Jason felt a strange sense of appreciation for how quickly Tim placed the identities together. As well as a sense of dread. This kid was too bright, too sharp, based on what Mari told him, to be so easily fooled by Bruce. To not see how toxic that environment was. What happened to his replacement to make him so willing to overlook it all?
At this point a small hand slipped into his as Chloe introduced herself to the boy, having entered the room a moment before. Looking down, he took note of Damian huddling closer to him, watching the scene unfold.
"Another one?" The kid grumbled, tightening the grip on his hand and looking none too pleased, "I know you said I'd have to adjust to new people, but isn't this a bit much?"
"I don't know, kid, you seem pretty accepting of me," Jason tilted his head, watching the kid stiffen slightly, a blush overcoming his face.
"I hadn't realized you changed back yet," Damian replied, though he remained gripping his hand as they watched Tim interact with the others, "Will they all leave already?" The kid added, drawing his eyes back down to the uncomfortable shifting. Glancing at the clock, he figured he might as well indulge Damian every now and then.
"Chloe, lead the herd, would you?" He asked, maintaining eye contact to get his point across.
"Alright you lot, time to head out. Surely Robin won't be too comfortable around all of us for very long."
There was a touch of an argument over this, but eventually the team picked themselves up around the apartment and headed out, saying they might stay away for a few days. Jason caught the grateful smile on Marinette's face and took his small victory in how Damian pulled him back a little when he moved, as though afraid he might leave as well. 
When the apartment quieted down and everything went still, he took a deep breath and led the kid over towards the kitchen, feeling Marinette move behind him to follow. He set a pot onto the stove and filled it with milk to heat up, turning to look through the cabinets while it heated up, "Have you ever had Hot Chocolate, kid?"
"You mean melted? Once. I was given a piece to hide, but it melted a bit," Damian answered, sounding disappointed, though at only having it once or having to admit letting it melt, he wasn't sure, "Why?"
"Not quite what I meant. But I'll take it as a no. We're gonna have some tonight then," Jason responded, pulling down a bag of milk chocolate chips. They'd have to do. He pulled his hand up to ruffle the kid's hair, chuckling as he yanked back with a sneer, shuffling over to duck into Marinette's side, who'd been holding easy conversation with Tim all the while, carefully not commenting on the way the Robin pulled off his mask carefully and was beginning to calm down now that there weren't as many people. Jason chose this moment to eavesdrop, now that he no longer had to occupy Damian.
"Why's the new one still here?"
"Damian, this is Tim. He needed a place to stay."
"Why does it have to be here?"
"The same one who wronged Jason and I has wronged him as well. I imagine being around people who understand his position and won't judge him helps."
Jason chose to speak up now, "Marinette took you in when you had no one. When the two of you understood each other and felt connected for it. That's how you came to be family. He and I have a similar understanding."
"So he is family to you?"
"Nah, think more like when you first met her."
"You are… Wanting to protect him despite not personally knowing him. Instinct."
"Now you got it," he responded, pouring four mugs of the beverage, ignoring the calculating gaze between his shoulder blades. Then went about handing them out despite Tim's reassurance that he was fine, "drink it or don't, won't bother me either way, but I'm not going to leave you out."
Damian remained silent up until this point, observing the young teen curiously before passing his final judgement, "okay, as long as he sticks with you," the unspoken threat to keep away from Marinette did not go unheard.
"No one will take your place in my heart, little one. That place was created for you. If I become close to anyone else, they'll have to find their own place. Yours is occupied," she assured, as they both pretended not to hear his unbelieving grumbles. That lesson would be learned with time. 
Through it all, Tim kept to himself, sipping slowly and watching their interactions. Jason couldn't know what the boy thought, but if he had to wager a guess, he probably felt suspicious over how open and honest they were. Confused by their relation to Damian, but unsure if it was safe to ask. Likely, the teen just wasn't sure what to make of it all and wouldn't for quite a while. 
It'll take time and reassurance, probably even multiple visits from Alfred and Barbara to convince Tim that this was a safe place for him, but they had time to spend.
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simsadventures · 5 years
Text
My Hunter Girl
Summary: Bucky tries to learn more about your lifestyle and decides to go on a hunt with you and your brothers, much to Dean’s and Sam’s excitement.
Warnings: Avengers x Supernatural crossover, fluff, vampires, mentions of death, implied smut, swearing
Pairing: Bucky Barnes x hunter! Reader, Dean Winchester x sister!Reader (platonic), Sam Winchester x sister!Reader (platonic)
Word Count: 2004
A/N: This is part II to My Girl miniseries of my favourite crossover. Hopefully, y’all will enjoy it as much as I did. Part III coming soon xx
This story was requested by @voltage-my2dlove. (I know I changed the request slightly, and I hope you won’t be mad, love!)
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My Girl Miniseries__ Masterlist
Part I        Part III       Part IV
Your hair was splayed all over the pillow, and some of it even tickled Bucky’s cheek. It was yet another morning that the two of you woke up together in the bunker, trying to spend as much time together as possible, despite your crazy “schedules”. You were just glad Stark let Bucky use one of his planes because otherwise, you wouldn’t stand a chance in being together.
You knew it would be last night like this one in some time because there was this vampire hunt you and your brothers had to go take care of as soon as possible. You decided the night before that whatever was happening in Cody, Wyoming, had to be solved ASAP, because people were missing, and almost every other night, a new person appeared on the missing person list.
You rolled over to your side in the bed and watched Bucky, who still looked like he was in the land of the dreams. You couldn’t believe your luck, to be honest. Not only was Bucky a freaking super-soldier, and he looked like it, he was also incredibly smart, funny, and thoughtful. He would always come up with new ways to make you smile, even if it was just bringing your favourite breakfast to bed.
A gruff voice pulled you out of your thoughts.
“You watching me sleep, doll? Isn’t that kinda pervy?”
You giggled and swatted his chest lightly before you cuddled into Bucky’s side.
“Well, excuse me if I like to watch my boyfriend do pretty much anything, even sleep.”
Bucky hummed in his throat and kissed the crown of your head. “I like the sound of that, your boyfriend. I’m gonna miss you saying stuff like that while you’re on the hunt,” he mused, his eyes still closed, trying to catch as much relax as he could after the night of passion you two had.
“Why don’t you come with us?” You asked him incredulously, and his eyes shot open like never before.
“What? I’m not a hunter, Y/N, I’m a soldier. I wouldn’t even know what to do with a fucking vampire if he stood in front of me. And what about your brothers, huh? They don’t seem overly fond of me either.”
You laughed and kissed his chest, nuzzling your head in his warmth.
“If they didn’t like you, you wouldn’t be laying here right now, babe. My brothers can be very… unpleasant when they don’t like somebody. Trust me, you’re here means they’re fine with you. And besides, you’re a freaking Avenger, you can take on a nest of vampires with hunters like us. It’ll be fun! You’ll see what my job entails, and you’ll have a cool story to tell Steve and Sam. Just imagine Sam’s face when you’ll tell him that you killed a bunch of vamps!”
Bucky mused for a second, really thinking of his friends and what would they think but also at the fact that he could spend so much more time with you. On the way there, during the actual job, and getting back. He suddenly regretted having the plane. You could have driven there together!!
“Alright, fine! And since we have the plane, we can fly there and, you know, the job can be done so much faster, and we could be back here doing the things we’re so good at,” Bucky winked at you, and you couldn’t help it but laughed at him.
The only issue would be with Dean. You knew that taking the plane was a good idea, and you were confident that Sammy would be ecstatic about it, but you just weren’t too sure about Dean’s reaction. His relationship with his car, Baby, was out of this world, and you sometimes thought he went and slept in her instead in his own bed, just to not make her feel abandoned.
When you both were up and after breakfast, you finally caught a glimpse of your brothers. Both were in pretty good moods, you thought, judging by their joyful bickering.
“Boys? What would you say if Bucky went with us on the hunt?” You asked as happily and cheerfully as you could, trying to not give them a reason to say no to that.
They shared a silent conversation through their looks and the movements of their eyebrows, and despite growing up with them and being with them most of the time, you didn’t share this connection with them. So you just hoped the result of this conversation would be positive.
With a curt nod, Sam turned to you, and when you saw the glimmer in his eyes, you knew you won this round.
“Fine by us, at least we have more manpower, and from what we’ve heard, your boyfriend is quite capable of keeping himself alive, means we won’t have to worry about him.”
You beamed and squeezed Bucky hand which he slipped into yours while your brothers were debating in their minds.
“And another question, since that’s settled. How about we took Bucky’s plane? And before you start protesting Dean, let me just tell you this. It would suit us all, we can be in Wyoming in what, 2 hours, probably? And not the countless hours we would spend in the car, we can take care of this hunt so easily and be home to take care of other shit God decides to throw our way.”
Even though Dean’s face was stern and unyielding for unobserving eye, you could see his defences wavering. He was tired from all the driving even if he’d never admit it, and you knew that few more hours in his own bed sounded good even to his ears.
He grunted but shrugged his shoulders, looking straight at Bucky.
“Well, alright, pilot boy. Let’s get on the road, and take care of the shitshow in Wyoming so we can be home sooner. And may I just ask you not to do it with my sister in the kitchen, while her brothers are home? It’s pretty disgusting, man,” Dean growled as he walked past the two of you, and you had to hold in a giggle. You really hoped they wouldn’t hear the quickie you had a few nights ago, but with someone like Bucky, it was damn difficult to keep quiet.
The whole flight there, it was pretty much the same. Bucky would whisper some dirty jokes into your ear, only for you to blush heavily and snuggle closer to him, or kiss him passionately, which inevitably made your brothers cringe in their seats and grumble that they didn’t need to see any of this.
You would always shush them, which would only turn into bickering between the three of you. Bucky would watch it all with a smile on his lips, loving how relaxed you all were with each other, flipping fingers at each other and laughing uncontrollably at each other’s expressions.
Not that Bucky wouldn’t feel like that with Sam and Steve, but he knew that the bond you shared with your brothers was something else, and he was happy for you to experience something like this, even if he was a little jealous.
When you finally arrived, you divided into two teams. Your brothers went to the police station to find out if there were any witnesses or any evidence that you didn’t read about, and you and Bucky went into the morgue, to see if all those people who died in the last few days were truly people or if there were some vampires amongst them.
Bucky wasn’t really fond of the idea of seeing dead people willingly, but when he looked at you and saw just how engrossed in your work you already were, he left his doubts and thoughts behind.
He watched you intently everywhere you two went. The way your hips swayed a little more when you needed to catch some cop’s attention, or how you’d bite your lip when you were deep in your thoughts or buried in the books in front of you.
He would always have one hand on the small of your back, just a reminder for both himself and everyone around that you were indeed his, and that nobody should even try and come closer. Bucky was officially obsessed with you, and he just couldn’t stop falling harder than ever before. He knew you were it, but he didn’t know what to do.
Even during the hunt itself, while you were all covered in vamp blood with a machete in each of your hands, you were irresistibly hot to Bucky. All he wanted was to kiss you breathless and keep you hidden from the prying eyes, even if the eyes belonged to the recently beheaded vampire.
“She’s something else, huh?” Bucky heard, and when he turned, Dean was standing behind him, cleaning off his own knife.
“Yeah, she really is. You did a great job raising her, Dean. She is most definitely the best woman I’ve ever met.”
Dean smirked and patted Bucky’s shoulder freely.
“Damn right she is. She is a fucking Winchester! Look, I see you really like her, and by no means do I want to chase you away like all those other guys. You’re a good man, and my sister seems really happy with you. Let me just tell you, that the second you hurt her, and I mean even in the slightest possible way, we’re gonna chase you down and hurt you ten thousand times worse, understood?”
Bucky nodded slowly, and even though he was the super-soldier, probably one of the strongest people on this Earth, a slight fear crept in his heart. Dean Winchester was one scary motherfucker, that was for sure.
“Trust me, I would hate myself if I hurt Y/N.”
Dean nodded, and when he caught a glimpse of you marching towards them, he walked past Bucky with a small smile, yelling at Sam that they should put them on a pile to burn them to ashes.
“What was that about? You and Dean cool?” You asked, fearing to hear what you’ve heard like a million times. That your brothers intimidated somebody, you liked, and that person didn’t want to spend their time with you anymore.
This time, it would hurt even more because Bucky was probably the first guy ever you could see your future with. So you just prayed that Dean wasn’t a dumbass again and actually let you have something nice in your life.
“Nothing, just a friendly convo with your brother,” Bucky mumbled, and when he saw the slightly worried look on your face, he hugged you to his chest, despite your protest that you were disgustingly dirty.
“I’m not going anywhere, doll. I think your brother actually like me, just like you said this morning. I believe that if I ever bring you to him with as much as a broken fingernail, he’ll murder me in a way I advent even dreamt of, and I’ve been tortured by Hydra, but because I’m planning on taking real good care of you, I think we’ll be fine.”
You smiled so hard, your eyes watered, and your cheeks hurt.
“And you know why is that, doll?” Bucky whispered into your ear, sending shivers down your body and straight to your core. “Because I think I’m falling in love with you,” he added, and when you looked up at him, he was smiling like an idiot.
You laughed and jumped on him (and thank god for his reflexes, because your bump would really hurt if he didn’t catch you as fast as he did), and kissed him all over his face.
“I think I’m falling for you too, Bucky, how about we get home and I’ll show you just how in love I really am with you,” you said with a smirk, and you eared a throaty from Bucky. He slapped your ass and all but ran towards the plane, too excited to care about the groans coming from your brothers, following you two close behind.
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wearevillaneve · 4 years
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Killing Eve S3, E5: “Are You From Pinner?“ should  really  be called “Killing Oksana.”
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With “Are You From Pinner?” in the books, we are past the halfway mark of the Suzanne Heathcote era of Killing Eve and in some circles of the fandom, the hope is this wet firecracker of a season will blow up in the final three episodes.
Based upon what’ has come before, this may be a tad optimistic.   As erratic and disjointed as the preceding four episodes, E5 introduced something entirely new and different to Killing Eve.  A standalone showcase for Jodie Comer’s Villanelle without Eve or Dasha or Konstantin or any of the other regular cast to block the spotlight. Can you see the fatal error in all this?
Typically when something is dubbed a “shitshow” it’s meant metaphorically, but as one of the set pieces was Villanelle literally throwing shit, it becomes an accurate description.
Before we got to this point, the six-month time jump from the end of last season looked like a combination of a tactical error and a missed opportunity.   Instead of Villanelle returning to Russia to drop in on the home folks, there were a many more unanswered questions from “You’re Mine” in dire need of an explanation.
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1.  Who rescued Eve found and transported her to the hospital?  The “lucky some tourists found you” one-liner by the late Kenny Stowton seems pretty flimsy.   Didn’t the Rome police have any questions about this Asian woman with amazing hair ended up in Hadrian’s Villa lying facedown in a pool of blood?  Was it a robbery?  Okay, so then did Eve have any money, passport or ID to get back to England once she healed sufficiently?  Did she receive any rehabilitative aftercare?   Is she on any pain-killing medicines?  What was her mental state after being shot by V?  What was her emotional and psychological state after slaughtering Raymond to save V?
2.  How did Niko get out of the storage locker?  Eve didn’t know where he was and neither did MI6.  Even if he was found by someone else, how did he explain away the small matter of Gemma’s rotting corpse? Niko griped to Eve that MI6 intervened to make it look like Gemma committed suicide to cover up the fact that not only can’t a spy agency catch an international assassin who kills British citizens at will, they later hired her to work on an off-the-book mission where a technocratic billionaire got his throat slit.  
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Why would MI6 go through all that fuss and bother to cover up a murder of a civilian when it could easily be laid at Niko’s feet? His only defense is Gemma was killed by a beautiful blonde psychopath with a crush on his estranged wife.  Carolyn told Eve she was on her own after Rome.   What changed, because something must have for MI6 to ride to Niko’s rescue. 3. Isn’t The Twelve presented as this immense, almighty, sprawling international diabolical entity of murder, violence, and sowing chaos and espionage against nations with their dirty little fingers apparently manipulating every intelligence agency on the planet?  It also deploys assassins and goons too fucking stupid to look under a bed to find an unarmed MI6 agent hiding there quaking in fear OR recognize said agent when a thug asks her out for a sushi dinner.   Well, okay then. Killing Eve logic explains it all.  Returning back to this sluggish solo flight, Villanelle’s family in Mother Russia are a bunch of dopey dunces with anger management issues, poor self-control, and flat-earthers who break out in spontaneous dance routines while the prodigal trouble child, Oksana, looking like the Whitest White Girl Ever who tried to shake her moneymaker, but couldn’t because both of her feet were super-glued to the floor, stands by bewildered probably thinking, “Who the hell are you people?”
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A few weeks ago rumors from not-very reliable sources were floating around that executive producer Sally Woodward Gentle had mused it might be conceivable Killing Eve could conceivably go on without one of the two leads.  Perhaps Woodward Gentle is hedging her bets should Comer or Oh not return after the fourth season. “Are You From Pinner” is proof that’s not true.  The show is called Killing Eve, not Killing Villanelle.  Though she has become the sun to Eve’s moon, there’s a reason for Eve Polastri to inhabit a central place in Villanelle’s life.   She is the other half which makes Villanelle whole.  Whether together or apart, what keeps the audience coming back is the strange relationship between Eve and Villanelle. Without Eve to humanize Villanelle, she become just another attractive, charismatic killer with a sad back story.   Yet Villanelle is not a Marvel super villain and many fans were perfectly fine with not knowing what it was in her past that made her who she is now.
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Heathcote subverted expectations of another meeting between the central characters in episode 5 as her showrunner predecessors Emerald Fennell and Phoebe Waller-Bridge had done previously, but she went further by removing Eve completely.  Eve was not referenced a single time by Villanelle and weirdly, Sandra Oh and all the other cast members names were removed from the credits.  Heathcote’s erred by that omission as it reinforced the notion some KE fans have held that she and Fennell tilted the balance in favor of Comer’s character as Oh’s is diminished.  That may not have been the newest showrunner’s intention, but it certainly feeds the impression that it was. The conclusion of Villanelle killing her mother and burning down the house was a wrenching, powerful moment, but taken in totality of the entire show, not nearly enough to compensate for the lackluster and pointless set-up scenes.
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What we learned from Oksana's origin story is you really can't go home again.  Fine, but why did that require an Eve-less episode to know that.  This all could have unfolded in the six-month jump after Rome as a sub-plot playing out over the first four episodes.   It didn’t justify a standalone showcase for Villanelle. 
All it did was blunt the equally affecting impact of Eve witnessing Niko’s death.  A better and much fairer approach would have been devote the first half to Eve grieving for her murdered husband and the second to Villanelle less-than-warm welcome home. Minus Eve,  and without Konstantin and no Dasha to exercise some guidance over the nuclear missile that is Villanelle, what you get is an unleashed assassin alternatively being childish, being a smart-ass, being mysterious, being fashionable, before inevitably turning murderous.
Most of the time it works and we forgive Villanelle her many trespasses  This time it face-planted despite a sensational closing sequence between Oksana and her mother.  Unfortunately, ten riveting minutes do not make up for the uninteresting 32 minutes which preceded it. 
Villanelle has become unstoppable in her homicidal tendencies.   She has morphed into a female Terminator who occasionally imitates human traits.  Nothing can stop her or barely slow her down.  She commits mayhem and slaughter like most of us breathe and suffers zero consequence for it.  The fact she took out her own mother should neither shock nor surprise. 
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“Are You From Pinner?” demonstrates Villanelle’s complex charms shine most brightly in her interactions with Eve, Konstantin and Dasha. Remove them from the equation and even Comer’s wealth of talents are not enough to rise above flat, lifeless characters, muddled motivations and a plot which wavers between the comedic for too long and the tragic too late to register.    A friend said she didn’t much like “Are You From Pinner” but hoped it would be better after a second or third viewing.  I told sometimes a first impression is a right impression and that it was doubtful a third watch would help much.  How much subtlety and nuance is there to be found from a turd tossing contest? I can say with all confidence, I can't see myself watching this episode again.   Like ever.  If you got something out of this misfire and it touched your heart and made you squirt a tear for Oksana, more power to you.   All I got out of it was confirmation why the show is called Killing Eve and not Villanelle and Her Wacky Russian Family.   Come for the comedy.  Stay for the kills.  In a new interview for her Elle Canada cover story, Oh spoke of how she had reached a point in her life where she was not looking for the next big blockbuster movie, but interested in roles where her Korean American identity can be explored.  “I decided that I’m only going to play characters that are essential to the plot, that conduct the narrative and therefore can’t be cut out.” Eve is an essential character who conducts the narrative, and was cut out of the latest installment of the program that bears her name.   And that bothers me.   It bothers me a lot more than just a mediocre Killing Eve story.  I will never watch another Killing Eve which erases one of the female leads to elevate the other.    That is not how women empower women. 
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FINAL GRADE: C 
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charmandhex · 4 years
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For the kiss meme, 41. Forbidden kiss please!
Hi Foxy! So, listen, brief explanation since this is now super late. I actually started working on this over last weekend, but it was a working weekend so yeah, finishing it didn’t happen. And while I initially wanted to write Taakitz for you, I kept coming back to Hurloane.
*spongebob narrator voice* Four days later:
Anyway, over the course of the week I also came up with an idea for a Taakitz ficlet around this prompt, but I’d also already written most of the Hurloane one so now you get two because I am very late and I’ll tag you in the Taakitz one!
~
Hurley is in trouble. Capital T Trouble. Capital T italicized Trouble.
And what’s worse is it’s her own damn fault too.
She hadn’t meant for this to happen; it sure as shit hadn’t been on her five-year plan for career and life advancement. But she’d always loved battlewagon racing, always been more curious than was strictly speaking healthy for her, and then a certain file for a certain master criminal had been unceremoniously flung on her desk after the previous five detectives assigned to the case had fucked it up.
She should have stopped, should have pumped the brakes somewhere along the way. But when Sloane was riding beside her, whistling and cheering and laughing as they’d sped toward the finish line, just as reckless and wild and free as Hurley herself had felt during each and every one of their battlewagon races…
Well, figuratively and literally, Hurley had floored it.
But this is different. As much as teaming up with a notorious expert thief and participating in (and winning) illegal battlewagon races may not have been Hurley’s best idea, this is something else altogether.
Hurley wants to kiss Sloane.
They’ve spent months flirting! Shit, Sloane had been a master at flirting with her even as she’d been flying through Goldcliff with Hurley in pursuit. And they’ve spent almost as much time getting to know each other, learning to work seamlessly as a team during races and talking late into the night about anything and everything as they made improvements to the battlewagons.
And Sloane is so… beautiful. Beautiful, with dark brown skin scattered with freckles like stars, even darker brown eyes capable of holding a warmth that seems reserved for Hurley alone, and black hair that flows so smoothly as to put the surrounding river to shame.
And she’s kind, far kinder than the persona she puts on for thievery. But she is that too, confident and brash and sure of herself, agile and light on her feet whether running from militia or launching herself through the air onto a nearby battlewagon. She’s smart and quick-witted and funny- even if her jokes are terrible sometimes. Hurley laughs anyway.
Shit. Hurley is in Trouble.                          
“Something on your mind, beautiful?”
Sloane’s teasing question breaks through Hurley’s daydream, and Hurley blinks. She hadn’t realized she’d been staring instead of working as her mind had wandered off again with thoughts of how Sloane’s lips might feel on hers, how she might taste-
“Uh- um. Shit. No! Nothing at all!” Hurley shakes her head frantically, as much to answer as to shake off the persistent, not so quiet thoughts.
“Hm.” Sloane purses her lips into a perfect pout. Hurley nearly has to use a ki point to tear her own eyes back up to Sloane’s gorgeous brown ones. “You, Hurley-” and Sloane leans forward to gently tap Hurley on the nose, “-have been distracted all day.”
“I have not!” Hurley says indignantly. And knowing full well she’s lying.
“Hmmmm,” Sloane hums again, this time seeming to savor the sound before her lips spread into a familiar wicked smile. “So, if you’re not distracted… is that why you nearly put radiator fluid in the oil fill port earlier?”
Hurley goes bright red. “That- that- that was just because… that’s a new model! It doesn’t look the same as the others!”
Sloane sighs, looking to the side and drawing a curtain of hair over one shoulder. “Hurley. And I thought we were friends, that we were getting close and could be honest with each other, but if you don’t feel that way-”
“It’s because I want to kiss you!” Hurley nearly yells, the sound filling the garage, no way to reclaim the words and stuff them back down now. Sloane’s lovely brown eyes go wide, and the teasing smile on her lips vanishes. “Shit! We’ve been flirting for months! And you’re… you’re wonderful, so how could I not? But I can’t kiss you! But I also can’t stop thinking about it! Shit!” Hurley buries her face in her hands, waiting for whatever rejection is coming her way, having surely crossed a line, having read too much into Sloane’s flirting, having fallen in love with Sloane as well as racing as Sloane had jokingly promised she would…
“Why can’t you kiss me?” Sloane’s voice is quiet and even and entirely not what Hurley expected. It gets Hurley to raise her face and look at Sloane. Her eyes are intent, and there’s just a trace of pink in her cheeks. Is Sloane… is Sloane blushing? “Hurley, why can’t you kiss me?”
Hurley lets out a long sigh. “You’re a thief. I’m in the militia. Your file takes up a whole filing cabinet. And I’m the detective in charge of it,” she says wearily, looking away. “We shouldn’t even be partners. Let alone… it’s a bad idea.”
“Horseshit.” Sloane’s response is blunt, sharp. “We’re great partners. We’re a team the like of which Goldcliff racing has never seen. And… who cares if it’s a bad idea? Who cares if you’re militia and I steal things? Yeah, damn right I steal: I’ll steal your heart, Hurls, because I want to kiss you!”
Sloane wants to kiss her, too. Sloane wants to kiss her, too. Elation fills Hurley for a moment, light and airy and warm, lifting her from the inside out. And then Hurley nearly buckles, crumpling in on herself and scrunching her shoulders as reality slams back in, knocking the joy from her as surely as a fall from the battlewagon could knock the breath from her lungs.
“And if they find out?” Hurley lets the question hang in the air for a moment. “If I get fired or… or worse, you get arrested and go to jail?”
Sloane’s jaw has the same determined set it takes on at the starting line. “Hurley, do you remember what I told you before your very first race?”
Hurley frowns, thinking back. “Try not to fall off the battlewagon?”
“No! Not that! The other thing!”
“Try not to get punched in the face?”
“Not that one either!”
“Uh… focus on the race?”
“Yes. Focus on the race, not the finish line. You can plan ahead for what that final sprint looks like, but you have to get past the start line and the initial shitshow first.”
“Are you saying we’re a shitshow?”
“No!” Sloane slaps a hand to her face. “I’m saying that I want you to cross the start line and kiss me already!”
There are a multitude of things Hurley could consider and has considered. Maybe even should consider again.
Instead, Hurley kisses Sloane.
“Best decision ever.”
“You sure? Maybe we should try again, just to be sure.”
And they do.
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