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trashmenofmarvel · 4 years

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Branded - Chapter 24

Pairing: Demon!Bucky Barnes x Reader

Summary: Bucky receives your Christmas present.

(This is a fan AU of Falling’s Just Another Way to Fly by araniaart. Please check out this incredible series for all of your demon Bucky needs.)

Chapter Warnings: So much fluff

AO3

You took your mission to get a present for Bucky just as seriously as your mission to seduce him. No alcohol was involved this time, just a little elbow grease and fighting through the cobwebs of the attic.

With your sister distracting Bucky downstairs after dinner (“Ohh, does this mean I can give him the shovel talk?!”), you had the time needed to find what you were looking for. A pile of cardboard boxes with your name written on them, along with the year you’d moved away from home.

You sat on the old wooden floor, opened a box, and began to rummage. Plushies and toys you hadn’t wanted to part with were in the first box. The next, various knickknacks you’d collected over the years. A crystal vial filled with water and gold flakes. A keychain full of dead Tamagotchis. A collection of bookmarks made out of wood and hand-painted with magical creatures.

Each new treasure brought a wave of nostalgia, bittersweet for a time when things had seemed simpler. No soul-sucking job. No demons stalking you, waiting for you to be alone and vulnerable to strike.

But there had been no Bucky, either. So while the memories held an alluring shine to it, you didn’t have a problem leaving the past where it was.

You came upon the object you’d been seeking tucked away in the third box. You opened it carefully, the weight surprisingly heavy in your hands. It was a picture frame, segmented into three parts that could close inward, almost like a book. An heirloom your grandmother had found at a flea market when her family had lived in New York.

It was clearly old, heavy with the weight of history, but the metalwork was delicate and beautiful. The last remains of a bygone era, a little bit tarnished and dusty but no less beautiful for it.

It reminded you of a certain other person from a bygone era.

Carefully putting away your childhood things and replacing the boxes, you went back downstairs and entered your mother’s study. The laptop on her desk was open to a webpage of a historical site regaling the Second World War. The glossy pictures you printed were still sitting in the printer’s output tray.

Taking the photos, you carefully cut them to fit the three windows of the picture frame. The pictures in them now were artistic drawings of anthropomorphic rabbits wearing whimsical, old-fashioned clothing. You carefully set them aside, planning to find new frames for your grandmother’s drawings; somewhere they could be displayed and not hidden away in the attic.

Technically, the frame was a family heirloom and probably valuable, but giving it to Bucky felt… right. He’d been a part of your life for much longer than two months, even if you hadn’t known it. The bond between you was strange, indescribable, and ran too deep to break. If that wasn’t family, you didn’t know what was.

Your mother would understand and forgive you, whenever you told her the truth. And you would tell her, someday. It was kind of unavoidable when you were dating an immortal being. You would go grey, and Bucky would always look the same…

The scissors froze halfway through a cut. What were you going to do when you grew old and withered? What happened to Bucky when you died? You’d thought about your own mortality plenty of times, but you hadn’t thought about the implications after meeting Bucky.

Would the bond break and Bucky would go on without you? Or would it hurt him. Kill him. Had the book said anything about the human slaves aging? All it had said in regards to death was they could die to protect the demon, giving the demon an extra life.

What if you couldn’t provide the energy he needed because you were too frail and gnarled with age?

What if Bucky didn’t want you when you got old?

What if—

Your jaw clenched and the scissors glided through the paper like a blade. Startled, you looked down at the photo, but thankfully you’d more or less cut straight. You stared at the photo, the last you’d chosen of the three.

A sepia photo of a handsome young man in a suit, the white dress shirt unbuttoned and showing the undershirt beneath, a familiar and easy grin on his face. Next to him, a scrawny blond boy who was much shorter, smiling reluctantly with encouragement from the brunet next to him. It was hard to believe the serious-looking boy would one day be Captain America and the young man next to him would become HYDRA’s most powerful soldier.

You carefully put the photo in one of the side frames. In the frame opposite, you placed a black and white family photo, one of Bucky, his sister, and both their parents. They were wearing their best clothes, the children on their best behavior, except the boy had an elbow pressed against his sister’s side as they both suppressed giggles.

The third photo, the one you placed in the center piece, was a simple one. A photo of Bucky in another suit, this one more formal, and his sister at his side wearing a pair of women’s trousers and a frilly blouse. They were both older than in the first photo, and according to the date, it was the summer before Bucky had been shipped out to Europe.

Bucky looked… happy. Genuinely, truly happy. You hadn’t included any photos from the war or him in uniform, though there were plenty to find. You didn’t think he’d want to be reminded of that time, and in all those pictures he’d seemed subdued, serious. It wasn’t an expression you were fond of, and the happiness he showed around his family and Steve Rogers was absent in them.

After all the pictures were secured, you leaned back and stared at them. You frowned and shifted restlessly.

What if he didn’t like it? What if it brought back painful memories he’d rather forget? You were confident that wouldn’t be the case, not after the fond way he’d talked about his family, but… reminiscing was one thing. Seeing the past staring up at you was another.

Sighing heavily, you stood and picked up the frame, closing it so only the polished metalwork was on display. It was better to get it over with, rather than stand here, frozen with the weight of doubt.

After wrapping the frame in pretty blue foil paper, you went into your old room and placed it on the bed. You took a deep breath—why were you so nervous?—and went downstairs to free Bucky from your sister’s clutches.

To your eternal shock, he didn’t look like a hostage when you found them in the kitchen. If anything, they seemed thick as thieves. Your eyes narrowed, suspicious of what tales your sister has clearly been telling.

And that’s when you froze.

Bucky was holding your infant nephew in his arms, looking for all the world like he’d done it a million times before. He didn’t look up at your arrival, his gaze entirely focused on the baby he was slowly rocking back and forth. Your nephew stared up at him with wide eyes, little chubby arms reaching up to try and grab a stray lock of hair.

You’d never experienced the phenomenon of “baby fever” before. You maybe wanted to adopt kids, sure, but have them yourself? It’d never been a priority or a desire… until that moment. The air had gone out of you like a sucker punch to the gut, replaced by yearning so strong it was a struggle to remain silent and not break the moment.

Somebody noticed your presence, though. Your sister was grinning at you like a shark from where she was leaning against the kitchen counter.

“There you are,” she practically cooed. “I was just telling Jacob about the time we snuck out of the house as kids and went to go perform ‘witchcraft’ in the middle of the woods at night.”

You made some kind of noncommittal noise, you were sure, because Bucky lifted his head and looked directly at you. Your nephew had managed to grab a lock of hair and was currently sticking it into his mouth.

Bucky didn’t notice, his entire focus on your face, a light frown forming. You still hadn’t moved or spoken.

“Did you find what you needed?” your sister asked, leaning forward to save Bucky’s hair from being eaten, lifting her son back into her arms.

“Uh. Yeah. I did.” You swallowed thickly, too much saliva in your mouth.

“Oh? What were you looking for?” Bucky approached, and when he was close enough placed a hand on your back and rubbed. The simple touch sent a white-hot flash through your system and you nearly choked.

“Nothing. I mean, something. Uh, you’ll see.”

Your sister gave you a pitying look over Bucky’s shoulder, and you communicated a silent what the fuck was that, you asshole, you know exactly what you did.

She returned the silent communique with a smug smirk, and then she drew you into a one-armed hug.

“I’m heading out, sis. Got an early drive back home in the morning. I’m gonna miss you.”

Your frustration evaporated in an instant and you returned the hug tightly.

“Drive safe,” you told her.

“You too. And call me more, or at least text!”

“I will, I promise.”

And you meant it too. You’d fallen out of touch with your family, and after appreciating everything Bucky had lost, you were going to make an effort to include him as well.

After you separated, your sister hugged Bucky with just as much enthusiasm.

“Take care of her, Jacob Miller.”

“I will.” Bucky tucked you against his side after your sister released him. Your face was on fire.

“I know you will,” she said with a conspiratorial smirk. “Because I watch a lot of crime dramas, and I know how to hide a body.”

“Oh, my God,” you groaned into a hand.

After your sister and brother-in-law said their last goodbyes and your familial humiliation was concluded, you couldn’t rush up the stairs fast enough, practically dragging Bucky behind you.

You shut the bedroom door and leaned back against it, releasing a sigh of relief, and then immediately sucked another lungful of air when Bucky crowded you against the door. His smile was amused but carried a hint of concern.

“Everything all right?”

“Yeah.” You nodded, smiling shakily as your stomach did flip-flops. It was hard to focus with Bucky so close, peering at you intently with those bright blue eyes.

“You sure?” He cupped the side of your face with a gloved hand, and you leaned into it immediately. “Because you got this weird look on your face. I didn’t go too far, did I? Your sister asked if I wanted to hold her son, and I didn’t think—“

“No, no.” You shook your head fervently, placing your hand over Bucky’s so you could squeeze it. “I’m happy you’re getting along so well with my family. Really. It’s… more than I could have asked for.”

His expression softened, the tension lines of his face smoothed out, and he leaned down and gently pressed his lips to yours. The kiss deepened when you tangled your fingers in his long hair, pulling him closer, and your knees would have buckled right then if he hadn’t been pressing you against the door.

What had started out as a chaste kiss was quickly going to end in somebody naked, so you pulled back and grinned at his noise of frustration.

“Just—hold on a sec,” you said. “I have something for you first.”

You ducked around him and approached the bed to where his gift laid waiting. Bucky was right behind you, not letting you go far as he wrapped his arms around your waist.

“What’s this?” he asked, propping his chin on top of your head.

“This… is your Christmas present.”

Another small noise of protest when you turned around and tapped it against his chest.

“You really didn’t have to,” he said with a hint of exasperation.

“Uh, you took me flying. A little gift is the least I could do.”

Bucky looked from your face to the present, as if he still couldn’t quite believe it. When was the last time someone had gotten the guy a gift? No, you didn’t want to think about that sad question or you might start crying.

He took the present from your hand, his expression still one of vague disbelief. You bit your lip to keep from smiling and ended up failing anyway. It wasn’t every day that Bucky looked so… cute. There was no other word for the little dip in his brows and the slight parting of his lips.

It was nothing to the expression he wore once he pulled open your less-than-perfect wrapping job, opened the frame, and saw what was inside.

As the seconds tick on and his face didn’t changed, where he didn’t seem to breathe, your excitement slowly drained away.

And then when his eyes grew glassy and red-rimmed, you started to panic.

“Is… is this too much?” you quickly asked. “Should I not have—Did I make a mistake?”

His guise dropped in an instant. It wasn’t gradual like it usually was; it was gone so fast you only had to blink.

Bucky wrapped his arms around you and pulled you against his chest, face buried in your hair as if to hide it. A fine tremor moved through his muscles. He was shaking.

“No. It’s—it’s perfect. I… Thank you.”

You raised your arms slowly and wrapped them around him just as carefully, holding him as close as you could. Being held in Bucky’s embrace never got old, or tiring; it was a place you could remain forever. By the desperate way he held you tight, you hoped he felt the same.

“Where… where did you even find them?” He pulled back and stared down at the picture frame, wonder on his face. No tears had fallen, but he still looked painfully fragile.

“Online.” You rested your head against his shoulder as your eyes fell to the pictures. “Museum websites. Lots of information on Captain America, of course, but quite a few on his childhood best friend.”

“Huh.”

“You’ve never googled yourself?”

“Once. Didn’t care to do it again.”

You winced. Of course, you had to go and bring up the fact most of the information on Bucky wasn’t about him, but about the Winter Soldier.

“Right. Sorry. Stupid question.”

Bucky sighed and carefully set the frame down on the nearby dresser. Without warning, he grabbed you by the back of your thighs and lifted, picking you up before setting you on the bed, swallowing down your squeal as he kissed you, open-mouthed.

You immediately went pliant, wrapping your arms and legs around him to try and get closer.

“That’s better,” he said, voice a raspy growl when he broke the kiss. His eyes were dark, pupils blown as he eyed you like a tasty meal. “Can’t beat yourself up if your mouth is too busy doing other things.”

“I can multitask,” you breathed out. Bucky grinned, a hint of sharp teeth.

“We’ll see.”

Next Chapter

#demon!bucky x reader #demon!bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes fanfiction #branded #my writing #my fanfiction

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elusetta · 6 years

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five photographs

Read on ao3 here!

It was in Jey’s favorite truck, the red one with four seats, that she first brought it up. Jess obviously hadn’t been expecting her to say anything- more often than not, these road trips were a well-deserved break for both of them, uninterrupted by talking.

The question had been bouncing around in Jey’s head for days now. Now was a better time than usual, too. They weren’t being shot at. It was sort of a weird question to ask under fire.

Jey cleared her throat. “So, uh, Jess…” Jess jumped slightly, but settled quickly, glancing at Jey with her usual stony expression. “What?”

Jey contemplated taking back the statement. It was too late. She knew Jess didn’t like small talk, but taking it back now would just irritate her more. She smiled more tentatively than usual. “Are you okay with having your picture taken?” Jess raised her eyebrows, face predominantly confused, but also the smallest bit shaken. “Why? You wanna put me on a magazine or something?” Jey laughed. “Bow Hunters Weekly. There’s probably an audience.”

A moment of blank silence passed before Jey realized that Jess may have actually wanted to know. She fidgeted on the steering wheel. “Nah, not a magazine. I just like taking pictures.”

“And you wanna take pictures of me?” Jess crossed her arms, leaning back in her seat in what Jey hoped was a thinking-it-over position. “Like, posing and stuff?” Jey almost laughed at the mental image of Jess in that weird hoodie striking a fashion-model pose, looking into the camera with eyes full of death. “No. Just, you know, being yourself.”

“Huh,” Jess said, looking out the window. “Well, sure, I guess. Prefer to be killing Peggies, but whatever.”

Jey smiled widely, watching the road twist and weave through the mountains. “Thanks, Jess.”

Jess mumbled something dismissive, and they fell back into silence.

Cult outposts were becoming further and further apart. At least, that was what it seemed like. Distractions came less often than they had originally, too. Now, for every reaping truck and hostage site, there was a celebrating patriot or a friendly dog to be pet.

So, to be totally honest, killing Peggies was at about number three on the to-do list right now. The pace of things was starting to slow down, and as they did, so did Jey. She hadn’t felt the real effects of everything she’d been doing for a while, but now it was all starting to kick in. She didn’t have the energy to liberate a cult outpost at the moment. Right now, numbers one and two on the to-do list were to take a nap and eat a goddamn vegetable.

But, of course, those weren’t going to happen right away, mostly because Jey had somehow gotten both herself and Jess stuck on top of a mountain. At the furthest point of the Whitetails.

She’d radioed the Militia, but it was going to take a while to send in a helicopter (and maybe even longer for the people who had received her call to stop laughing their asses off).

Jey sighed deeply and looked up at the sky. Yep, it was dawn and she still hadn’t slept. Way to go, Jey.

She looked over at her companion. “You okay, sunshine?”

Jess didn’t even look back at her. “I’m fine.” The cold silence resumed. Jey glanced around for something, anything, to break it. They were surrounded by a whole bunch of grass and trees, as well as the massive, smoking remains of three planes that had somehow managed to completely obstruct their way back. Hence the being stuck, and the helicopter, and the members of the Militia who honest-to-God could not stop laughing when Jey told them what happened.

Finally, the answer struck her. There was an outcropping of rock directly in front of the rising sun.

Jey jumped to her feet, startling Jess into nearly breaking the total cold shoulder she’d been giving the other woman since they’d gotten stuck. “Hey, Jess, go stand on that rock over there.” That was enough to confuse Jess into actually looking at Jey. “What the fuck? Why?”

Progress. Jey smiled to herself. “It’d make a good photo.” Jess muttered something about not sleeping for two days and just wanting to go home to Peaches, but still reluctantly stood up. “Fine. Which rock?” Jey took Jess’ arm, causing the huntress to wince, and trotted over to the rock in question. “C’mon. Face away from the sun.” “I’m not a fuckin’ moron, Dep,” Jess snapped, gingerly climbing onto the tallest part of the outcropping.

Jey inhaled sharply. It looked just as good as she’d thought it would. Jess looked like some kind of hunting god who was currently very pissed off. She took out the old camera she’d found somewhere- Henbane River, she thinks, but it’s honestly anyone’s guess- and snapped a picture, smiling brightly when the photo came out. “Hey, come here. It looks really good.” “I’ll pass. Does that mean I can get down?”

Jey’s smile faltered but didn’t die. “Yeah, go ahead.”

Helicopter rotors sounded overhead. Jey tucked the picture away and prepared herself for however long it would be until she could finally, finally eat a carrot and go the hell to sleep.

It was a few weeks later, in a different helicopter- not the one that gave them a helpful but very embarrassing rescue from the mountain- that Jey took the second picture.

Pretty much everyone she knew thought it was a terrible idea for her to leave Fall’s End so early. After coming back from her mountain escapade, she'd only barely made it to the Spread Eagle before passing out and sleeping for almost a whole day. Mary May hadn't let her leave for a few days. Said something about health. Jey had gone to Pastor Jerome for advice, but he'd just told her the same thing about taking care of herself. So she'd slept a bit more, had a good square meal, and left anyway.

It wasn't entirely for herself, either. Jess needed just as much sleep as Jey did- actually, probably more- but, being Jess, she had become extremely restless after the first couple of days. And Jey could only take so much pacing and mumbling before she had to do something about it.

Today, “doing something about it” meant calling Adelaide for a lift to some cult outpost in the north (with a request to, please, avoid the taller mountains). Which wasn’t exactly the best, considering that the whole point of leaving Fall’s End was to make Jess happy. And Adelaide did not make Jess happy.

(To be honest, pretty much nothing actually made Jess happy.)

Adelaide was rambling about another of her conquests- a “red-hot hunk of beefy sex vibes,” as she had so nicely put it- and going into a completely uncomfortable amount of detail about his pelvic muscles when Jey turned around in her seat to check on Jess. She’d been making the usual disgruntled comments, but had fallen silent for a few minutes (which was, coincidentally, how long Adelaide had been describing the more intimate details of her old boyfriend).

Looking at her, Jey could see why. An expression of pure, unfiltered, total disgust had settled so firmly on her face that she honestly looked like it would get stuck that way. Jey let out a small giggle that quickly turned into a half-suppressed laugh. Holding back tears of hilarity, she surreptitiously pulled out the camera and snapped a picture.

The sound of the camera gave her away. Jess turned her laser-eyes glare to the other woman. “What.” Jey stopped holding it back and let herself laugh until she was doubled over in the seat, wheezing. “I had to. Your face- oh my God-”

She held out the photo to Adelaide, who leaned over, took a look, and let out a laugh of her own. “Oh, sweetheart, you look like you smelled skunk.” Jess crossed her arms defensively. “You’re a skunk.”

Adelaide adopted an expression of faux offense. “Aww, darlin’, don’t you like Aunt Addie’s sexy stories?” Jess remained dead silent, so Jey replied for her, still giggling. “Adelaide, you’re the only person in this chopper who likes dudes.”

Adelaide raised her eyebrows suggestively. “Oh, I’ve done my fair share of exploration. You know, in 1976, I met this woman who-”

“We’re here,” Jess interrupted as loudly as she could.

Adelaide sighed theatrically. “Aw, damn, I was just getting to the good part.” She winked at Jey. “I’ll finish that story later, sweetie, don’t you worry.”

Jey smiled at her indulgently, opened the door, and jumped.

The third picture was Jey’s absolute favorite.

In another effort to cheer Jess up, Jey had taken Peaches along for the latest of their missions, and they’d taken a detour into the deepest south of John’s region to hunt for a few hours without being disturbed. From the little Jey could tell from Jess’s overall demeanor, it seemed to be working. The huntress had been making quips and shooting arrows with renewed strength.

After catching a couple of deer, Jey had sat down on the bank of the river and cast a line. It felt incredible to take a breather. Admittedly, her mind was never really off of everything she had to do, and she worried about Pratt regularly, but going at the breakneck pace she’d established without ever taking the time to breathe out seemed like suicide.

Jess didn’t like fishing all that much, so Jey had been expecting her to put up some resistance, make a few irritated comments or something. Instead, she’d quietly sat down next to the deputy and watched the water.

It was almost weird. She looked so… peaceful. Maybe the cult had something with all that “let the water wash away your sins” garbage.

Peaches stalked down toward them and stretched, doing one of those creepy huge cat yawns. To Jey’s surprise, Jess stroked the cougar on the head, and to even more of Jey’s surprise, the cat just laid down and put its head in Jess’s lap.

Okay. Jess was sitting on the bank of a forest with the head of a puma in her lap. If that wasn’t some kind of hunting-goddess animal magic shit, then Jey didn’t know what was.

More than that, though, the dark feeling Jess usually carried with her was gone. She didn’t look happy. She looked serene. Jey had seen “not angry” on her before, but this was something different.

Jey put down her fishing rod and took out her camera, focusing it for a moment before snapping a picture. As always, the noise startled Jess, but the shock quickly faded and she went back to petting Peaches. The cat seemed to be enjoying it immensely, purring loudly and stretching out so that it was practically flat against the ground.

The photo came out of the camera. Jey waited for it to cool off before tucking it into the pocket of her flannel.

“Why do you like taking pictures of me?” Jess said after a long minute. She glanced down at Peaches.

Jey cast the line again and thought about it. “I guess because I like you. You’re my friend. I wanna remember you when all this is over.”

Jess scratched Peaches behind the ears, looking exceptionally pensive for someone whose normal form of expression was racing around in the forest putting arrows through people’s heads. “I never had a friend before.” Jey laughed. “Well, you do now, like it or not. You have me, and Grace, and-” she gestured to the puma- “you have Peaches, if she counts.”

“‘Course she counts,” Jess said absent-mindedly. “She’s a good girl.”

Jey felt a tug on her line, but trying to reel it in startled the fish away. She fell back into the comfortable ambience of the forest.

After another few minutes, and even more uncharacteristically, Jess spoke again, still looking down at Peaches. If Jey’s eyes weren’t playing tricks on her, the huntress’s face had turned the smallest bit pink. “Thanks for… for bringin’ me along, Dep.”

Jey smiled. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

The fish tugged again on her line.

The fourth picture was a little weirder than the first three. The picture itself wasn’t weird, more of the manner it was taken. Usually, Jey needed something to spur her into taking a picture. It was never really just for the hell of it. The rock against the rising sun, Jess’s expression, Peaches sitting in Jess’s lap. There was always something.

This time, they’d just been walking along the Henbane River, alone except for the nearly imperceptible padding along of Peaches. They weren’t really going anywhere. Sometimes, this was what the battle to save Hope County looked like- walking around, climbing on a quad occasionally, following the roads and taking down whatever the cult threw at them. In these moments, it was easy to forget. The mountains looked so peaceful, the trees were so pristine… it looked like a painting, not a battlefield.

It was a little harder to forget about the cult when an effect of it was walking along with you.

Jey had to admit that every time she looked over at Jess, she felt a surge of guilt. Maybe if she had gotten here a little earlier. Maybe if she’d used her connections, gotten the information about Eden’s Gate before they could take hold, she could have prevented everything that had happened. She’d even had daydreams where she, as her spoiled little ten-year-old self, came to Hope County with her parents and swept child-Jess away to Alabama.

Yep. Jey had gotten attached.

When she got too consumed with thinking, she had to consciously remind herself that none of it was possible- and that Jess was strong, could take care of herself. To be honest, the fact that Jess was as well-adjusted as she was spoke volumes about her resilience. It was sort of amazing.

Jess did like to say that one thing. “You’re lucky you got me,” in her rough tone, only a touch lighter than usual. It was true, after all. Sometimes Jey thought that maybe she was a little bit below Jess’s level. But, for whatever reason, the huntress still traveled with her. Put up with her bad jokes and her goofy smile. And didn’t freak out when she blew things up just because they were there.

Huh.

Jey glanced at her friend, and an undeniable warmth settled in her chest. She knew this feeling. It was that feeling of having Boomer jump up on her and lick her face, seeing Hudson for the first time in weeks in John’s bunker, hurrying Kim and Nick Rye to the clinic while taking completely unsafe shortcuts.

She pulled out the camera and took a picture. There was nothing really special about it. It was just Jess, face neutral, bow drawn.

Jey smiled to herself and slipped it in with the others.

The fifth photograph was a change.

Jacob’s blood was fresh on Jey’s conscience- not that it was any weight. Out of all the Seed siblings, she had hated him the most. What he’d done to Pratt was unforgivable. What he’d done to her was…

Well, Jey would prefer not to think about it.

But the depth of the fear and pain he’d put her through was nothing compared to the triumph that followed. It had begun in mourning- the loss of Eli had affected everyone- but slowly morphed into hesitant celebration. And when Jey left the Whitetails, her heart still heavy, there was nothing but overflowing joy from Fall’s End. Even Pastor Jerome, usually so solemn, had offered her congratulations.

Dutch had called her. Let her know that this was it; this was where it ended. She had been to the cult compound before, just to scope it out, but the thought of actually facing Joseph was something else completely.

In a way, it felt nostalgic. It had been maybe five months since the helicopter had crashed. For all his presence, all his influence, Jey had only seen Joseph once between then and now. This last mission, no matter how it went, would be like returning to that time before Hope County, moving back into the real world.

Jey knew something in her had changed. No matter what they’d done, you couldn’t mow down hundreds- maybe thousands- of people and come out the same. How long would it be until she could hear the roar of planes above her head without her hand snapping to her gun? How long would it be until she could hear a church song without flashing back to the cult? The answer to both of those things could very likely be never.

Maybe she couldn’t go back at all.

The dark thoughts sturred a lump in her throat. Jey forced herself to snap out of them. The Spread Eagle was dark, lit by its neon signs. Dusk fell outside.

She set down the beer she’d been having and left the bar.

She should be happy, but she wasn’t. Fall’s End usually felt like home. It didn’t now.

Glancing down at the radio on her belt, Jey sighed.

“You look fuckin’ sad,” said a sudden, familiar voice.

The tension went out of Jey’s shoulders and she smiled, a spot of warmth finally coming back to her. “Not really.”

Jess folded her arms across her chest and leaned against the peeling white paint of the bar. She stayed silent for a few moments, then tentatively raised her voice. “So, uh… I was thinking…” She trailed off for much longer than usual.

Jey smiled encouragingly. “Thinking what?” Jess fidgeted. “Uh- how it’s, you know, kinda unfair that you get to keep all the pictures you took.” “I thought you didn’t care about them,” Jey said, only a little bit teasing. “I can give you one, if you want.” Looking even more uncomfortable, Jess shook her head. “Nah. That’d be weird. Me having a picture of myself, that’s just-” She cleared her throat, looking up at the changing sky. “I was… well, I was kinda wondering if maybe I could take one. Of- of you, I mean.”

Jey’s smile dropped, but only because of pure surprise. Jess? Showing some kind of- well, Jey thought- affection?

That was new.

She shook off the stunned silence she was stuck in and replied, smile blooming even bigger. “Sure. Yeah. ‘Course you can.” Taking the camera off of its usual place by her neck, she handed it to Jess, trying not to look too happy.

Jess, who was a little bit more than red at this point, focused it for an unusually long time.

The shutter snapped and the photo came out. Jess looked down at it (was that a tiny little smile?), then tucked it into one of the many secret compartments on her jacket.

Not wanting to ruin the moment, Jey waited for a good half minute without talking. But eventually, she had to know. “Why’d you want to take my picture?” Without even making a sarcastic quip beforehand, Jess responded, still not looking Jey in the eye. “‘Cause I like you, and you’re my friend. Like you said. If we gotta say goodbye, I don’t wanna forget you.” She looked at Jey for a brief second. “You’re kinda the only thing I haven’t lost.”

The buoyant feeling in Jey’s chest became almost too much to bear. Without thinking, she pulled Jess into a tight hug that, to her surprise, the huntress didn’t reject. In fact, after a moment of awkward tension, Jess returned it.

Yeah. This was okay.

Everything would be okay.

Maybe she had found home after all.

#far cry 5 #far cry 5 fanfiction #fanfiction #writing #my writing #my ocs #jess black #jess black appreciation #i couldnt hug jess black in game but this is second best thing #just two gays being friends #im pretty proud of this #i wanted to write jey in a not depressing scenario for once #this has also been referred to (by me) as the JBAP (the Jess Black Appreciation Post)#i love u jess

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sleepymarmot · 7 years

Text

MEA liveblog #4

Spoilers!

Voeld

Why am I asking a person I've never met before about "Ice talkers" which I've never heard before but she apparently has mentioned?

Okay, I took two steps back and the banter that mentions the ice talkers triggered.

Don't you love the conversation angles where the person talking to your hero is not in the frame at all?

Liam: "Seriously, Ryder, you didn't bring any music?" Ryder: "I swear, I will turn this car around" Um? Why is she snapping so viciously? There's absolutely no reason, it was very jarring. Is it because I almost never use casual options?

Vetra and Liam are so chatty?? I don't think I've ever heard a single conversation from Peebee and Liam on Havarl, but these two talk regularly.

Will I have to kill people over these whales? :/

Bought a weapon for the first time -- the Isharay, because everyone's praising it.

Damn, Isharay really does feel nice!!

After like an hour of driving, climbing and fighting, I finally found the kett base and established a forward station near it.

Well the kett base was ridiculously easy as a vanguard... I had much more difficult fights on the way here!! Is this really all?

A Dhan? Nice, I've been meaning to try it out.

I really don't understand what and where I'm supposed to find in this base...

Of course I had to climb the mountain on foot and deplete all of my life support just in time to reach the kett camp and be shot down.

For fuck's sake, they respawned in the lower base I just cleared. Well at least I'll get extra xp?

Why is the UI so dumb? I have my three powers and profile active; I assign them to a favorite slot; the powers are saved but the profile is empty, when I go to the profile screen it's unchecked, I have to re-check it and assign the favorite again.

Finally, another forward station!

Gosh, this entire questline is so dull and frustrating. I only do it because people asked. (And because I want 100%.)

Holy shit, a kett carfalon! I gotta go back to the forward station and equip it immediately.

And here's the medicine cache I've been searching!!

The carfalon has higher base damage than the omniblade, but feels weaker/slower.

Dancing among enemies with full shield and health is fun. Not as fluid and quick as the ME3 novaguard though, but everything has a downside.

Just as I said that, got shot down and now I have to redo the last five minutes.

Charge to restore shields + melee to restore heath is great

Look game, I know I'm strong, but why don't you let me fucking save. It's been like 15 minutes!

OH SHIT AN ASCENDANT

PLEASE DONT KILL ME NOW!!!!!

Where's the elevator?? Do I have to defeat the Prefect to get to it?

Turned the difficulty down to easy to kill him. I've had enough.

Oh god, I can save! It's over!!

Shout out to that person who wrote somewhere either on BSN or Reddit that the kett corfalan restores health on hit. I literally owe them my Ryder's life.

I'm level 21 now btw, thanks to all this fighting.

This wasn't enjoyable, Bioware. This was frustrating and dull and then frustrating and stressful. I'm getting off this goddamn planet. Oh wait, gotta do Cora and Peebee's quests, too.

"You made it look so easy" IT WASN'T, BELIEVE ME.

No you know what, I'll at least go back to the Tempest and buy some consumables. I used my last shield right before the Prefect appeared.

Tempest

Aw, Peebee and Lexi!

Oh, a strike team brought me a Disciple! And a Reegar! And a Sandstorm, whatever that is. Btw I don't see that last thing in my inventory -- does that mean all rewards that go over the limit are lost? Wait, there's no Reegar too. The inventory officially crossed the line from Evil to Irredeemably Evil. :(

Voeld

It looks like the quality of planets goes downhill with every new one. Eos was intriguing. Havarl was a bit too DAI-like, but still had the original spirit of exploration. Voeld is just a brutal grind.

Oh shit, that's Peebee's LM! Looks like an ordinary Remnant site, so it's probably safe to do something here without triggering the entire mission. I was trying to avoid it, but it's right in the way to the ancient city, and obviously I can't not take her there.

BTW I'm really tired of bringing Jaal everywhere just because it's all about his people.

Is it my imagination, or did my adept profile dodge become faster after I reached a new level of this profile?

Stop! Telling! Me! About! Temperature!

I know it's cold, SAM. Tell it to the designers who make Peebee run around in -40C wearing one layer of clothing with a belly window.

Of course I can't save again. But now the game finally autosaved, so I can call it a day.

Wait, I'm not getting this choice. So the AI wants to die? And she holds the angara hostage so that I'd kill it? And if I kill the AI the hostage will be free? And both will get what they want -- AI wants to die and the man wants to live? If so, that seems like a vastly better option.

Alright, tried the other option. The AI kills the hostage, Ryder makes a renegade speech. Peebee disapproves because the AI is untrustworthy and the Nexus already distrusts AI in general. Jaal approves -- for some reason through a radio despite standing right here. The AI asks to work with SAM instead of the angara, and you can make a choice. So this is a more interesting decision for the story... But it doesn't feel right. For my pure paragon character, at least.

Yay, a forward station! I think I have all of them unlocked now. It's time for The Only Fetch Quest That Matters aka dad's memories.

And an outpost! I feel really productive. "They invited us here," though? When?? But at least I had the option to talk about cooperation with the angara. Also Addison's textures glitched like hell here.

Shit, shouldn't have talked to the outpost leader, she acts like it's been a month and gives me a rescue mission immediately. But I could say that I was surprised that the Angara had let us put an outpost here. You and me, Ryder...

Aw, the name of the outpost is "Forward together" in shelesh(?)! She made a nice speech here.

Okay, I'm going to just pretend all of the outpost stuff takes place in the future. I'll go to Cora's LM and then proceed with the main story.

Cora why do you have a boring fetch quest for a LM?

Wait, the Perifona is only one ship, right? Not the entire asari arc?

Ah, okay, it's a scout ship.

This was one of the few instances I chose all casual options and they were fine. Ryder sounds realistically upset. Usually casual options are awkward unfunny jokes...

And finally, I'm free to move on!!!

Tempest

Flirted with Peebee, not the biggest fan of the acting but w/e

Whoa, I have two cryo pod points!! Bonus xp and caches on maps, here we go. It's funny that my pacifistic nerd has most points poured into military and none in science.

"But we are outsiders"

Liam, you're a sweetheart, but please get dressed

Redid the conversation with Vetra without the flirting. First, unless Peebee suddenly makes me hate her, then I'm romancing her; second, Vetra is a great person with great looks, but she's such a Mom Friend(tm).

Hold on, I've already asked Jaal all these questions, why are they not greyed out??

Why is "I wasn't close to my father" on the left and "I'm sorry, I lost my father too" on the right?

Why is Jaal speaking so slowly

Whoa, Voeld is 71% already? And I haven't even touched the monoliths!

Aya

Alright, I'm going to headcanon that establising the Voeld outpost happens after this scene. Now that would make a lot of sense!

Why did Ryder fricking yell at this person for being "hearless" when he asked if the supplies are safe?? I'm too lazy to reload, but it was stupid.

Aya feels really peaceful.

It sounds like the same actress voices half of the NPCs in this game and DAI. I constantly get a feeling I'm still in the Hinterlands...

Vanadium is too expensive to buy... I get shield boosters every time I see them, though.

It's a good idea to let me have an opinion on the exaltation, but it's hard to predict from the wheel what these opinions really are. And the emotional one is kinda stupid. The kett weaponise their victims to make you hesitate? Nobody knew that until last week! (As implausible as that is.)

The sound quality in this location is pretty terrible. Different layers of sound don't blend together but abruptly switch on an off as I walk around.

For fuck's sake. Tried "friendship" option with Jaal again, and it was actually flirting again. What's the fucking point???

Logical: "The more we know about kett, the easier it will be to hurt them" Uh, nope. Let's go with my heart this time. Though I don't want to hear another stupid "Oh no, how shocking and horrible", it'd be still more in character.

"City planners don't walk around in battle armor with rifles on their shoulder" Thank you! Though it would work better in a conversation where I'm actually wearing armor...

"We traveled to build a new life here" "That's what invaders always say"

Casual Ryder asks Cora for advice for living among aliens, her answer: "Be polite about scanning your food"

"Don't take this the wrong way, but this isn't your only city, right" BHAHAHA BEST LINE IN THE GAME

"I noticed that you, Efra and Jaal all speak with different accents" Well I didn't...

Ryder, you already know angara have big families, why do you sound so surprised?

What the fuck, did I just hit on the governor? I thought it was another question!!!

A task to relay letters from angara to the Nexus sounded nice already. I thought it'd be just a fetch quest and didn't expect to see actual letters! It's a very effective way to represent a realistic range of opinions. More than I expected from the game. And I have to choose whether to edit them or not! That's original. I don't understand how exactly I'm supposed to edit them -- tried in an alternate save, and nothing new happened.

Oh look, I discovered a new spot on the way to the terminal! Which I guess is the main purpose of this quest, except I only talked to the governor after exploring almost everything else. It's nice that the game helps you explore and force you to read the codex.

Alright, I think I've done everything here, let's proceed. Who do I take with Peebee? Let's take Vetra.

Oh, it's not a mission? Just a cutscene with me and Moshae? Alright.

I don't like where this is going. So now instead of exploring I'll have to build an army to take the Meridian? How boring.

And the codex says that this makes the mission more urgent... ugh.

Wait, the Archont wants to destroy all non-kett life in the cluster? I thought his goal was to improve the kett by assimilating others...

So that's what I need on Kadara.

I still find the angara pretty dull, but as a hub Aya is very well built.

Tempest/Aya/Tempest

Gil's poker notes! :D

Peebee and Vetra are standing next to each other: :) They're not talking: :(

I just left Aya and wanted to go to the Nexus, but w/e, if Liam wants I'll pretend we haven't taken off and go meet him in that bar. Again.

Lexi... has eyebrows?

Tann appreciated the uncensored letters! See, he's good.

Sorry Kallo, but talking about "respect" is pretty dumb in this situation

Got a Hornet as a strike team reward.

I don't get it. How is scanning food is going to help us grow it? Liam says he "stopped the operation" but he not only continues it himself but makes me do it -- for no reason? What the hell was that.

It gets worse. He gave out some classified and Nexus data?? In exchange for fixing something? What. the. fuck.

Liam's LM

I had to make that Star Wars reference, of course.

The bad guy apparently plays threatening music over the comms in-universe lol

Of course Ryder had to make a joke with Liam! She is a kid like him after all. And Vetra was like "I wish I could punch both of you"

The designers sure had fun with vertical mobility huh :D

Wait, it's been on easy all this time? Since when? I only noticed when an armored target went down too fast...

Had to melee the Hydras. Thanks to the MP community for explaining that they don't have a sync-kill...

Bradley & co are so competent!

"What's he complaining about? Put him right side up, didn't we?"

Oh fuck, a fiend! Good thing I have a flamethrower, and brought incendiary ammo.

Look, a hacking objective. Had an extraction on Voeld, now this. I hope we won't have to do the new ABC upload at some point...

"We need to bring everyone back home safely" vs "We need her to saty while we replace the codes" um, both?

I picked the latter. Liam got mad. Um, why? I'm not trying to blame Verand, it's just a safety precaution. I used the interrupt. Then, to soften the blow, told him he was right. He was so shocked! :D And the line was pretty nice too, not "I take everything back, I'll kiss everyone's ass to get their approval" but "We're in over our heads"

Good mission! Very cinematic, nice humor. I don't get Liam's logic at all very often (and now am relieved I didn't go for the romance) but he had some nice warm character moments here.

The next step in Liam's story is to do Jaal's mission! I'm loving this. Just before thiggering this conversation I overheard the two of them and thought how nicely their friendship is established. But this level of connection between companions is completely new!

Tempest

Before the game's release, people were talking about Kallo as a young person. I didn't expect him to have such an old man story.

Why doesn't the ship's database have its own schematics in the first place?!

"Just think: while we're poking around in kett's genetics, they're probably doing the same with ours" "Wonderful. That's me never sleeping again"

I've complained about the galaxy map, a lot of people did, but let's take a moment to appreciate the fact that we don't have to spend fuel!

Nexus

"Lexi: Bottom of the Bottle" Hmm, I wonder where I could find her... :D

This woman is worried whether we should welcome angara as if it weren't us who are alien visitors here... Good thing I had the option to tell her exactly that! Even though it wasn't labeled clearly enough.

I had a feeling when I saw the name of Lexi's quest that Peebee's bullying got to her!

"Every one of my exes said that"

Whoa, the game rememebered that I flirted with her! That's a nice bit of continuity. "Yes! I mean no! Don't change the subject!" Btw "Don't change the subject" not only works here emotionally, but is also a smooth way to bring you back from an investigation dialogue option to the main conversation.

All casual options with Gil hell yeah

I refused to cheat initially. Then did it in another save. Ryder comment on Jill changes! And when she wins we get all four options. Seems like only one of them confesses to cheating. I picked that one. Hmm, not sure which one I like better... Btw it's really nice how Ryder replies to SAM but makes it sound she's replying to Gil.

Oh, Peebee's in the starting area too? I was expecting to search for her everywhere...

Aaaand I got stuck in some plant. Reload!

Whoa! So that's how Remnant VI is unlocked!! That's so cool. I sort of assumed I'd just pick it up somewhere. Now I've got to learn it!!! Using a power personally designed by your crush for you is amazing!!

What is this Leliana-Marjolain shit

At least she has a classic asari face texture :D

The translations are getting weirder and weirder. "Glad to see you moving on" -> "Glad to see you move to a new place"

Oh, it's even unlocked by default! Nice!

And now I'm finally free to deal with my own personal story! Btw I didn't realize until this second, but it's great that in this game the protagonist *has* their own personal quest.

Let me guess, Alex's "fix" will backfire and kill Ellen faster?

"My education on human mortality began that day" -- the translators misread "mortality" as "morality"!! Argh!

Recordings of a quarian historian and the Shadow Broker!

I have two unlocked memories today (from Havarl and Voeld). There's only one remaining. It makes me sad... Does this mean that after Kadara we'll move onto the endgame already?

Family flashback!! There's no reason to have this specific memory blocked, it doesn't reveal anything, and it kind of restricts roleplaying possibilities... But it was amazing to see everyone in a cinematic! And the Ryders were very defined characters already anyway.

Oh, so this doesn't count for unlocking dad's restricted logs! This is good news.

I knew the spoiler that the attempted murderer goes back to cryo... I won't call a suicidal guy a coward.

Tann: "Stay away from Kadara. I cannot stress this enough" Ryder: "Lol"

Don't spring life-and-death decisions on me like that! Told the turian to stay on the Nexus just to be safe. Though this might mean he'll be killed when trouble inevitably comes here...

Baby krogan engineer Kesh!! How cute.

You know what I don't like? When the game greys out the questions I've already asked before, but have new answers now. Like when you talk to SAM about the unlocked memories, or to Addison about viability. Meanwhile, Peebee's "Flirting" is still open...

Oh, there's a viability chart in Pathfinder HQ! There's one more planet after Kadara. This is a bit spoilery if you ask me.

Aw, poor Tann is out of his depth!

Alright, I think I've done everything here.

"Our leaders have discussed whether we should send colonists there" FUCK NO!!! Are you serious?? Angara themselves have to rotate because that one planet can't support them all at once, and you're talking about burdening it with aliens?? You know, I like being a hero in this game just to prevent bullshit like this!!

Tempest

Peebee... I've already met you in Aya museum...

Multiplayer

I lost connection to a session so hard it threw me out of multiplayer into the starting screen...

Extracted from a Bronze Apex mission with bonus to combos as an asari adept. Everyone else played ranged characters and stayed close together on a roof or something -- sorry I ran off and died several times, I need to be in melee range!

Wait, it's not marked as completed -- what?

This mission has a bonus to explosions, and I still can't kill a mook

This game on wave 3 is already longer than the previous game on 6...

God, this was the laggies, glitchiest match ever. 20+ minutes Powers took a second to process. Couldn't refresh shield in cover or use ops packs. I got shot down on 00:00. And nothing registered: APEX mission not completed, no credits, no xp.

Nobody joined my own lobby, let's try again

Finally! A normal full extraction, and mission finally complete. But when I tried to disable a device I couldn't progress more than halfway

I increased the range of Annihilation, but can't feel or see the change :(

#mass effect #mea spoilers #blah blah blah

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