#WHY WOULD YOU FIRE OFF ROCKETS AT ALMOST MIDNIGHT

[dracolunae]

I just had the shit scared outta me by some incredibly illegal fireworks

[heyiwrotesomethings]

Nicknames

ShinoMitsu Week 2021 Day Five: (Long Distance, Nicknames, Kimetsu Gakuen)

A/N: I kind of got a little carried away with giving Mitsuri’s siblings names and some screen time but I don't think it made this too much longer. Two more days left! Thanks for reading! Word Count: 3,074

“Hi, cutie pie!” Mitsuri said just before she clamped onto Shinobu’s back after classes let out. “Did you have a good day?”

“That one’s a miss.” Shinobu had answered. “But yes, my day was fine.”

“Aw, but you are a cutie pie!” Mitsuri grumbled.

“No.” Shinobu denied.

For some reason, seemingly overnight, Mitsuri became obsessed with finding Shinobu a nickname, but Shinobu had thus far rebuffed all of her attempts. A few names in the long list Mitsuri had tried were babe, baby, sweet pea, honey bunny, peanut, snuggle bug, muffin, cupcake, donut, marshmallow... a lot of them she had come up with while she was hungry. Every single one had been rejected with a laugh or a cringe, or a deadpan expression by Shinobu, but Mitsuri was not ready to give up anytime soon!

“Okay then speedy, I’ll walk you to the locker room.” Mitsuri tried again.

“My dad calls me speedy.” Shinobu revealed, “He’s been calling me that ever since I could walk.”

“What, so I can’t call you that?”

“No, you can’t.”

“Ah! How about my butterfly! That’s perfect!” Mitsuri shouted in excitement.

“Sorry, that’s claimed as well. Mom calls Kanae, Kanao and I her butterflies.”

Mitsuri huffed, disappointed, but she wasn’t done yet, not by a long shot.

“Very well then, milady.” Mitsuri said with a small bow.

Shinobu snorted.

“No, just no.” Shinobu shook her head while Mitsuri puffed out her cheeks.

“It’s harder than it looks!” Mitsuri defended, crossing her arms. “I’d like to see you come up with a nickname for me.”

“I call you Mitsu sometimes, don’t I?” Shinobu asked, retrieving her track bag from her cubby.

“Yes, and I like that, but, it’s very inside the box. Try something different and see how hard it is!”

“Mitsuri, no offense, but I think you’d like anything I came up with. You’re kind of a sap for this stuff.” Shinobu said, distractedly looking into her bag to make sure she had everything as they walked to the locker room.

“I would not! Trust me, not any old throwaway nickname will be enough to sway me.” Mitsuri stated confidently.

“Hmm...” Shinobu tapped her chin, thinking for a moment. Mitsuri was right, not any old nickname would be good. She had to think of something that she would actually like to call her girlfriend. Something that was near synonymous with her. Just before they reached the locker room, a small smile curved at her lips and she stopped in her tracks. Mitsuri watched her expectantly.

“Thank you for walking me to the locker room. I’ll see you on the bleachers, my sunshine.” Shinobu winked, she goddamn winked without looking like a total ass!

Mitsuri’s heart leapt in her chest and her face felt hot. She tried to hold it together, but Shinobu just sounded so genuine and sunshine was actually a really cute nickname and— argh!

“That’s not fair, Shinobu!” Mitsuri whined, covering her face. She swore it was growing even brighter as the Kouhai laughed.

“Keep trying, I’m looking forward to see what you come up with next.” Shinobu said before heading into the locker room.

Mitsuri didn’t waste anytime hurrying to the bleachers so she could figure out a nickname for Shinobu while she practiced. She sat there, tapping her feet against the metal plank below her. Her elbows on her knees and her hands holding up her head as she stayed completely zeroed in on Shinobu. Watching her, she hoped for something to come to her like some divine intervention.

Shinobu had an affinity for purple, maybe plum would be nice? Sugar plum? No, Shinobu never seemed to thrilled with the food related pet names.

Perhaps sleeping beauty? Whenever they slept over, Shinobu always looked so enchanting in her sleep. Maybe a good choice for when she just woke up or was notably tired, but it’s not exactly a catch all name that could make sense at anytime.

Flower, maybe? A certain type... lily seemed too on the nose. Shinobu always smelled like blooming wisteria, but Mitsuri didn’t think that made a good nickname. It was pretty, but it just didn’t sound playful enough.

Mitsuri blinked, breaking from her concentration as she realized that Shinobu had been swarmed with a handful of her teammates and they were all looking right back up at her with big, troublesome grins.

Apparently, Mitsuri was staring so obviously and with such intent, that she had made a bit of a spectacle of herself. She gave an embarrassed smile and waved down at them whilst blush prickled at her skin.

“Kanroji and Kochou sitting in a tree—” Mitsuri heard one of the girls start to sing before Shinobu punched her in the arm. Mitsuri recognized the girl as Makio-chan, a friend from her class.

The other two she recognized simply because they were usually in Shinobu’s relay team. Makomo-san and Ozaki-san smiled good-naturedly as they laughed along. They were also well known from the swim team and tennis club respectively.

Shinobu rolled her eyes, her cheeks lightly flushed. She shooed the other girls back in their positions and leveled a small smile up at Mitsuri before darting off.

Mitsuri relaxed her muscles with a sigh. An afterimage of Shinobu’s dark, purple eyes stuck in her vision. They reminded her of the cool, vastness of space and when the light shined on them just right, Mitsuri swore she could see stars, whole galaxies even. If Mitsuri was Shinobu’s sunshine, then Shinobu was like Mitsuri’s moonlight.

“That’s it!” Mitsuri cheered loudly, her fists rocketed up above her head. She quickly covered her mouth however, once she realized just how loud she had yelled. Everyone in the bleachers around her and in the field below glanced at her curiously before turning back to whatever they were doing before.

“Just you wait, Shinobu.” Mitsuri mumbled much more quietly under her breath, tracing Shinobu’s figure as she leapt over the hurdles, “I’ve got some really good ideas now.”

***

Mitsuri waited for Shinobu to exit the locker room after practice, poised and ready to strike! As soon as the younger girl emerged from the room, Mitsuri pounced. She took Shinobu by the hand and quickly maneuvered out of the building.

“Where’s the fire?” Shinobu teased. “I knew you must have thought up something good judging by how loud you yelled during practice, but I don’t see the need for urgency.”

“You’ll see when the time is right! I want this to be as organic as possible.” Mitsuri said, still pulling Shinobu along even as they left the school gates.

“Whatever you like,” Shinobu smiled, “but whatever you are planning, surely we can walk? I’m kind of exhausted.”

“Oh, right!” Mitsuri remembered, coming to a sudden stop that had Shinobu bump into her back. “Sorry.”

“You’re okay.” Shinobu reassured, re-adjusting her hold on Mitsuri’s hand before they continued to walk at a more sustainable pace.

Before school, they had already agreed that they would go to Mitsuri’s house to watch over her younger siblings while her parents celebrated their anniversary. Almost as soon as they opened the door, Mitsuri’s mother ran up and quickly pushed the fussy one-year-old twins into the girls’ arms, one for each of them.

“Thank you Mitsuri, Shinobu.” The exhausted woman said, already halfway out the door. “We’ll be back before midnight, have fun and be good everyone!” She called over her shoulder before quickly shutting the door behind her. The girls swore they could hear the squeak of car tires as Mitsuri’s mother quickly drove away to pick up her husband as he got off work.

“Wow.” Was all Shinobu could manage as she recovered from the woman’s quick exit.

“I know,” Mitsuri giggled. “It’s one of the few days a year she doesn’t feel guilty getting away from all this chaos,” she lifted her little brother higher so she could blow a raspberry on his tummy, making him laugh. “It helps that you’re here of course, it makes her feel better because you’re so good with everyone.”

“I still don’t know why these kids like me so much,” Shinobu shook her head, taking hold of the hand of the near identical girl in her arms so she wouldn’t pull her hair.

“It’s impossible for a Kanroji to not like you, take my word for it.” Mitsuri said, making her way further into the home.

It was true, for some reason the rest of the Kanroji family fell in love with Shinobu right away and were eager to welcome her into their home. She was thankful of course, but part of her was sure the Kanroji parents were just excited to double the amount of free babysitters at their disposal. Still, they treated her well and she looked forward to visiting the busy home that greatly contrasted her own.

Six siblings, Mitsuri being the eldest at seventeen, almost eighteen now that Shinobu thought about it. Then there was Akimitsu, the oldest boy of the family. He was thirteen and went to the same middle school as Kanao. Shinobu thought the boy couldn’t be more different than his older sister. He was a very no nonsense soul and rather particular.

Natsumi was the middle child. She was eight and every bit as energetic as her sister which could lead to trouble if she was left alone. Mitsuri had told Shinobu one story where Natsumi had been unusually quiet so she and her mom had gone looking for her and found her in the bathroom with the tub overflowing with bubbles that she had dyed blue with some food coloring she had managed to snag from the kitchen.

Last but not least were the twins, Haruka, the girl, and Hayate, the boy, born just last year. When they were first born, Mitsuri had said it was hard to tell them apart at first glance. Now that they were getting older, it was much easier to tell who was who. They were sweet babies, but their moods could easily diminish at the drop of a hat. Fortunately they seemed content enough for the time being.

Shinobu followed Mitsuri, lightly bouncing Haruka in her arms as she walked. They followed the sound of the tv to the main portion of the home and found Natsumi laying flat on her stomach, coloring while watching some anime. Akimitsu was sitting nearby doing his homework.

“Hello Onee-san, Kochou-san.” Akimitsu politely greeted before turning back to his studies.

“Shinobu-chan is here?” Natsumi whipped her head around, jumping to her feet with an excited grin. “Hey, hey! Can we make something explode today?”

Shinobu had helped Natsumi make elephant toothpaste once for a school project and the little girl had been hounding her for more experiments ever since.

“I’m here too, you know.” Mitsuri griped, setting Hayate down in the play pen. Shinobu knelt down to place Haruka beside him.

“I see you everyday, Onee-chan.” Natsumi stated plainly.

Mitsuri crossed her arms and turned away to sulk in the corner. That seemed to do the trick because Natsumi went from hanging off of Shinobu, to comforting her sister, hugging her tightly until Mitsuri smiled and spun her around.

Akimitsu really made the work easy by helping out when he finished his homework. Natsumi was always so invested in what Shinobu was doing that they didn’t have to worry too much about her slinking off to cause mischief.

So while Mitsuri and Shinobu made dinner, Natsumi cheered them on and Akimitsu watched over the twins.

“Pancakes, pancakes!” Natsumi singsonged. “Hey Shinobu-chan, is that what you use to make a volcano explosion?” she asked, pointing at the tablespoon of white powder in Shinobu’s hand.

“Not quite. This is baking powder, baking soda and vinegar are used in most volcano simulations.” Shinobu informed.

“I wish you hadn’t told her that,” Mitsuri sighed. “I’m gonna have to put those in the lock box from now on.”

“Sorry.” Shinobu smiled.

“Come on Onee-chan, can’t we make one little mess please?” Natsumi asked, her bottom lip protruded.

“You’re still on notice after the coke and mentos fiasco.” Mitsuri reminded.

“Boo.” Natsumi jeered, now resting her head on the table.

Shinobu found the way Mitsuri scolded her siblings incredibly cute. Even as silly and childish as the older girl could be, she wasn’t a pushover and was very responsible.

“Onee-san,” Akimitsu emerged in the doorway looking a bit green, “I think the twins need to be changed.”

As helpful as the young boy was, even he had his limits.

“I’ll help you,” Shinobu graciously offered as she finished mixing the ingredients.

“Thank you,” Mitsuri smiled, turning back to her brother, “Okay, just a second,” Mitsuri called back, turning off the preheated griddle since they were walking away.

“Natsumi, why don’t you color in the living room while Shinobu and I clean up the twins, okay?” Mitsuri added as a thought. She couldn’t leave Natsumi in the kitchen unattended.

“Fine, I guess.” The younger Kanroji huffed before following Mitsuri and Shinobu out.

Akimitsu looked queasy as they entered the living room. Mitsuri giggled and ruffled his hair before picking up Hayate. Shinobu hoisted Haruka up and then they went off to the nursery room.

They cleaned the little ones up and changed them. Mitsuri getting done noticeably faster than Shinobu since she had to change more diapers than any normal seventeen year old should.

They weren’t really in much of a rush though and spent a little time in their semi-private room to talk to each other and babble with the twins, stealing a kiss or two before heading back.

“Natsumi!”

Mitsuri and Shinobu heard Akimitsu yell. The kitchen. They looked at each other before quickly putting the twins in the play pen and jogged towards the kitchen, Mitsuri in front of Shinobu.

“What’s going on?” Mitsuri called worriedly just before crossing the threshold.

“Onee-san, look out!” Akimitsu warned just a fraction too late as Mitsuri stepped on something slick and her foot swung out above her as she lost her balance and began falling backwards.

Mitsuri let out a surprised yelp and squeezed her eyes tightly shut, waiting for impact. Fortunately, impact never came. At least, not in the form of the cold hard ground, but rather, lithe yet firm arms.

“That was close, are you okay?” Shinobu asked from above. She had managed to catch Mitsuri just in time, hooking her arms under her girlfriend’s.

“Yeah,” Mitsuri nodded, a bit breathless, “yeah I’m okay.”

“Good,” Shinobu adjusted her hold, “Now, if you could adjust your footing that would be great. I don’t think I can hold this position much longer.” she said, her arms trembling a bit as she tried to hold Mitsuri up.

“Right,” Mitsuri grabbed the nearby counter and steadied herself, finally looking to the ground below caked in pancake batter. “What happened in here?”

“Natsumi.” Akimitsu answered, crossing his arms. “I'll admit I was resting my eyes because the twins left me with a bit of a headache. I didn’t realize she would take that as a cue to ruin dinner.”

“I didn’t mean too.” Natsumi sniffed, “I was trying to help. I wanted to surprise you and Shinobu-chan.”

“Well, surprise us you did.” Mitsuri smiled sympathetically. “Help me clean this mess. We’ll have to think of something else for dinner.”

“Okay.” Natsumi replied despondently.

The peace that was once fell over the Kanroji household was broken. Pancake batter all over the kitchen floor and griddle (that thankfully was still off) and the twins started wailing and were inconsolable. Shinobu and Akimitsu left the kitchen to try to calm them while Natsumi and Mitsuri cleaned everything up.

Mitsuri called for Shinobu to order something for delivery as it became increasingly obvious that the mess was sapping up all her energy and she was too hungry to start a whole new meal.

Thankfully, after an hour of struggle, everything seemed to get better once the food arrived. The babies especially responded favorably in presence of dinner. Though is seemed that more food ended up smeared on their faces than in their mouths.

After dinner, Shinobu washed off the twins while Mitsuri bid her other siblings good night. Then she came back to help Shinobu put the twins in their cribs. They watched the energetic babies wiggle at babble at each other between the bars, laughing at jokes only they could understand.

“Hey, that was a really good catch earlier.” Mitsuri said, placing her hand over Shinobu’s resting over the bar of the crib.

“I couldn’t not try to catch you. I’m just happy it worked out.” Shinobu said in return.

Mitsuri leaned down, resting her forehead on Shinobu’s shoulder, a small grin growing steadily on her face.

“Thank you for saving me from slamming into the slimy, hard floor, my knight.”

Mitsuri felt Shinobu stiffen and frowned slightly. She had high hopes for that nickname when she started taking a different approach. Slowly, she eased herself back to her full height.

“Did you not like that one either...” Mitsuri trailed of a bit before a wide smile overtook her lips.

Shinobu, though rigid, was flushed pink. She busied herself with Hayate, letting him pull her finger around, seemingly unaware of, or unwilling to answer Mitsuri.

“You like that one.” Mitsuri singsonged, wrapping her arms around Shinobu, rocking her from side to side with a satisfied giggle. “My knight in shining moonlight, Kochou Shinobu!”

“Mitsuri, cut it out.” Shinobu mumbled with very little bite. Her skin prickled with embarrassment as she was pushed around by Mitsuri’s movements.

“I thought of starshine too. I thought it would be cute since you called me sunshine.” Mitsuri went on instead. “I was thinking about how your eyes make me of outer space so I had a few more like comet, shooting star, my Venus—“

“Okay, okay,” Shinobu chuckled, “you had your hit, let’s not get too out of hand here.”

“So you really do like it?” Mitsuri asked.

“Maybe.” Shinobu replied stubbornly. She slipped her finger out of Hayate’s hand and retreated out of Mitsuri’s hold and out the door. She stopped just outside of the room to peer back at Mitsuri.

“Movie?” She asked, clearly attempting to change the subject.

Mitsuri playfully rolled her eyes and nodded. Giving the twins one last glance over before following after Shinobu to make some popcorn. Popcorn that she was going to drizzle with maple syrup since she couldn’t have her pancakes.

[cocastyle]

Robin — Prologue

Pairing - Joel Dawson x reader

Word Count - 2,756

A/N - and here is the prologue! this series is going to be so much fun and I hope everyone enjoys it as much as me! comment how you think it’s going so far and any theories you think may happen during the series!

if you would like to be added to the tag list, let me know!

R O B I N

Robin Series Masterlist

⭒❃.✮:▹   PROLOGUE   ◃:✮.❃⭒

"I didn't really have your typical upbringing. I mean, I did at first, but then the world ended. I mean, I don't think anyone was really shocked. We always thought it might, and then it just finally happened. But how it happened, now that's where it gets interesting."

"Agatha 616."

"Hey! I wanted to be the one to say that. You totally just stole my thunder, Robin. As disappointing as that just was, she's right. Yep, an asteroid heading straight for Earth. I know. So obvious. So, humanity came together, and we did what we do best."

"We shot a bunch of rockets at it!"

"And we blew it up! And it was great!"

"But it wasn't."

"Once again, she's right. You see, the thing that makes rockets rockets. . .chemical compounds, a lot of 'em. Which rained back down on us, and everything changed."

"And by 'everything,' he means cold-blooded creatures. And by 'changed,' he means mutated and started eating us to death."

"Ants, lizards, roaches, crocodiles. You name it. There's a lot of 'em. Actually, we knew this one kid who was eaten in his sleep by a goldfish he won at a carnival."

"Poor Todd."

"He loved that goldfish."

"And that cat of his that got eaten."

"Rest in piece, buddy. So, for most of human history, if you wanted to kill a cockroach, right, all you needed was a shoe. Well, suddenly you needed a shotgun. And sometimes even a tank. And sometimes even that doesn't work. Especially if you don't stay in the tank, Bob."

"Bob?"

"I was just saying a random name. I don't know if his name is actually Bob."

"Then why—?"

"Y/N."

"Right. Your speech, not mine. Sorry."

"Eventually, the really big creatures and our military took each other out. We lost 95% of the human population in about a year. That's a lot of Bobs."

"And a lot of Todds."

"Exactly. Those of us who survived we hid anywhere we could — bunkers, caves, panic rooms, all around the world. So for the last seven years Y/N and I have been living in an underground bunker. And it's not as bad as it sounds. Really. It's a great group of people, and we all love each other. You know, it's kinda what I imagined college would have been like."

"Definitely not, but believe what you want. Anyways, like Joel said, we've been living in an underground bunker for the past seven years. It's not always been the best at times, but we do what we need to in order to survive. But for you to understand our story, we need to go back to the beginning. . .to the day it all happened."

"Seven years ago, back when we were sixteen."

- - -

Seven Years Ago

Fairfield, California

The last thing Y/N wanted was to wake up at 5:30 on a summer morning, yet that was exactly what happened on the day the world ended. The annoying beeping sounds filling the air were all Y/N could focus on as she came to, her eyes squeezing shut as she groaned in annoyance and shoved her face into the pillow she was laying on.

She lazily shot her hand out and attempted to reach for her alarm clock, but hesitated when her hand hit what she knew to be the lamp that sat on the table in her living room. Y/N let out a sigh before slowly opening her eyes and looking around. It took a moment for her to realize what was happening, but once she saw the tv that was still on, the pizza box laying on the table with only one slice left, and the figure beside her on the couch Y/N knew what had happened.

Groaning as she looked towards her best friend Joel Dawson who had passed out on the couch beside her, the girl lifted up a pillow before saying, "Joel. Joel, wake up." The boy didn't respond, the only noise escaping his lips being the sound of his own snores. His watch was beeping on his arm, but he didn't seem to be fazed by it.

Y/N frowned before taking the pillow she had picked up and whacking Joel with it. The boy jumped in surprise and fell off the couch and onto the floor. Y/N fell back with a satisfied sigh while Joel groaned on the ground.

"What was that for?" Joel complained, lazily sitting up and rubbing at his eyes while the two looked tiredly at each other.

"Shut that stupid watch up before I do it myself," Y/N murmured. "And by 'do it myself' I mean I'm going to destroy that little fucker so it can never beep again."

Joel cracked a small smile at that before looking down at his watch and turning it off. His eyes flickered over the time and he frowned. "It's 5:30 in the morning? Wasn't it just midnight?" he asked.

"I think we fell asleep during the middle of Civil War. That's what we get for trying to watch all the Marvel movies in a row with no sleep," she said with a yawn as she closed her eyes once again.

"We were behind anyways," Joel pointed out as he pulled himself up off of the ground and back onto the couch so that he could put on his shoes. "We wouldn't have finished before I had to leave. Speaking of which, I've got to go. Aimee should be picking me up soon and I smell like pizza and tears."

"It's not my fault you cry during almost every movie," Y/N retorted.

"They're just so good!" Joel argued making Y/N smile softly as she let her eyes open up long enough to admire the boy. He was tying his last shoe, so didn't seem to notice as she slowly ran her eyes over the features of his face. However, the moment he was sitting back up, Y/N closed her eyes to make it seem like she wasn't watching him.

Joel looked towards her and stared at her for a moment before smiling and reaching out for the blanket that was already falling off of her and onto the floor. He picked it up and shook off the crumbs from the food they had eaten before laying it on top of the girl.

"Why do you have to leave?" Y/N whispered, opening her eyes up a bit while Joel finished fixing the blanket and kneeled onto the ground in front of her. He leaned against the edge of the couch so that the two could be face to face. The lack of distance was enough to make Y/N’s heart skip a beat, but she knew Joel wasn't thinking anything of it.

"I'm just going to go see Aimee for a little bit so that we can watch the sunrise. I'll be back after, okay?" Joel said. Y/N studied him for a moment before nodding her head. The boy grinned and pulled away to get up onto his feet again. "You try and catch up on some z's while I'm gone." Y/N nodded again and Joel leaned down to press a quick kiss to her forehead, an action that made the girl close her eyes in a moment of pure bliss. "I'll be back soon, Robin."

Y/N smiled softly at the nickname Joel had given her. He liked to refer to themselves as Batman and Robin and seeing as he had insisted he was Batman in their friendship, Joel had grown to call her Robin so much over the years that it now flowed off of his tongue naturally. Y/N had never bothered arguing with Joel about who was actually Batman, instead relishing in the way Joel would flash her that goofy grin of his when he called her Robin.

Y/N got too lost in her thoughts to notice Joel walking away until she heard the sound of the front door opened and closed. She opened her eyes for a moment, her heart sinking slightly as she thought about how Joel was leaving to be with his girlfriend Aimee. However, not wanting to dwell on the fact for too long, Y/N just closed her eyes and willed herself to go back to sleep.

Even after she fell asleep, her dreams were filled of nothing but her best friend who she had found herself falling for more and more since the second grade. Not that she was complaining. This was what her life usually was like. Y/N secretly pining over Joel while he dated other girls. It was hard to see, but Y/N knew that as long as he was happy, she would be happy even if it meant they didn't end up together.

Y/N slept for quite a while, hoping she would wake up to Joel returning and hopping back onto the couch with her. However, what she wasn't expecting was for the sound of an explosion to send her jolting off the couch while her whole house shook around her.

The girl fell to the ground with a groan, but her eyes shot open wide as the ground shook again and another explosion filled the air. "What-?" she whispered before slowly pulling herself up off of the floor and looking out the window. Her eyes widened at the sight of fire in the horizon and she felt a surge of panic wash over her as she heard the screams of people filling the air as families started running out of their houses.

"Mom! Dad!" Y/N called out, her parents running down the stairs not too long after that with their pajamas still on and their eyes still fighting away the sleep that had taken over them only a couple of moments before.

Y/N could barely process what was happening after that. The next thing she knew, they were all dressed and throwing their stuff into their car. Her parents were running around and arguing over what they actually needed, so the brunette took the time to look next door where Joel's house stood. Her eyes flickered over the scene, attempting to find her best friend but only seeing his parents.

"Y/N!" Mrs. Dawson exclaimed as she caught sight of the girl. She frantically ran across the yard to her, her hands grabbing onto Y/N’s arms as she asked, "Where's Joel? Where—Where is he?"

"I-I don't know," Y/N admitted, her eyes wide with panic as she still tried to process what was happening. "He left to go see Aimee earlier this morning. He didn't tell me where they went."

Mrs. Dawson frowned and was just about to say something more when a red jeep came barreling down the road and stopped in front of the house. Mrs. Dawson released Y/N immediately while the girl let out a sigh of relief as she saw Joel stumble out of the car.

"I'm sorry!" Joel exclaimed, barely getting his feet onto the ground before Y/N was running at him and practically jumping into his arms for a hug. Joel didn't hesitate to hug her back, his grip tight as he looked towards his mother.

"Thank God! Where have you been, Joel?" his mother asked.

"We have to go right now. Say your goodbyes, get in the car," his father told them.

Y/N then seemed to noticed Aimee who was watching her warily as if she could see right through the girl's facade. She let go of Joel and squeezed his arm before nodding towards Aimee. "Go say goodbye to her. I'm going to finish packing up and then we can talk," she told him.

Y/N didn't give Joel time to respond before she was running back over to her house where her parents were now throwing the last of their things into the car. She helped toss a few more things into the car before closing the trunk with her father. "Go say goodbye, Y/N. We need to leave. Now," her father said causing Y/N to blink in surprise.

"Goodbye? Aren't we going with the Dawsons?" she asked.

"Honey, we don't know where we're going. Our priority is keeping you safe, not trying to stay with the Dawsons," her mother told her.

"But—" Y/N began.

"Y/N," her father sternly said. Y/N frowned slightly and then with a shaky breath turned to begin her way over to Joel who was staring after his girlfriend as she walked towards her jeep.

"Aimee!" he called out causing Y/N to slow down her steps as she caught sight of the look in his eyes. "I love you."

Y/N went rigid at that, the sound of Joel saying those words to someone else making her feel like she may be sick. Tears begin to spring in her eyes and she desperately tried to stop herself, but she couldn't help it. She knew Joel had dated other girls before, but hearing him proclaim his love for one was something she had never had to witness.

And it hurt.

"I love you too," Aimee told him.

"I'm gonna come find you," Joel assured her.

"You better," Aimee said before hopping into her jeep and driving away.

Y/N was still frozen in place, her tears now falling freely down her face while Joel looked her way. His heart broke at the sight of her and he didn't hesitate to run over and wrap her up in his embrace. "Hey, we're going to be okay," he whispered, thinking that her tears were because of them having to say goodbye and not because of the interaction he had just had with Aimee.

Y/N seemed to snap out of her trance at that and she gripped onto Joel tightly, her tears becoming worse as she realized this could potentially be the last time she saw her best friend. "Joel," she whimpered. "This can't be goodbye."

"Hey, hey," Joel said as he pulled away enough to wipe way her tears, his hands cupping the sides of her face. "It's not. We've survived everything together. I'm not about to let this stand in our way either. We're Batman and Robin, remember? We'll always find our way back to each other."

Y/N let her eyes flicker over Joel's face, a few more tears rolling down her cheeks before she held her hand out. "Batman," she said with a small nod.

"Robin," Joel whispered, nodding back at her as he clasped her hand with his own. They held onto each other tightly before Y/N hugged him one last time.

"I love you," she whispered, knowing very well that he didn't understand the true meaning of her words.

"I love you too. We'll find each other, okay?" he said before he noticed Y/N’s parents anxiously staring at the pair. Sighing, Joel squeezed her tight one last time before pulling away and leaning forward to press a small kiss to her forehead. "Bye, Robin." And then he gave her that small goofy smile of his that only made her heart ache more.

"Bye, Joel," she whispered, allowing herself to look at him one last time before turning and running to the car her parents were already climbing into. Y/N didn't dare look back, knowing that if she did it would only make it that much worse.

We're Batman and Robin, remember?

We'll always find our way back to each other.

- - -

"Long story short, I was right and we did find each other again. Granted it took two weeks, but—"

"Well, sorry. I didn't exactly have the colony there to pick me up when my parents died. I had to find you guys all on my own."

"And I see my mistake and I apologize. You did better than I ever could and I love you for it. You see, Y/N’s been my best friend since we were in kindergarten. Some jerk named Harley thought it would be funny to shove me off the swing set and take the swing from me. Y/N thought differently and punched him so hard he flew off the swing as if he had purposefully jumped off."

"I got sent to the principal's office right after, but I gained Joel as my best friend, so it wasn't a complete loss."

"We've been practically inseparable ever since and not even the apocalypse was able to keep us apart for too long."

"And now that you all know how our story began and a little bit about us, we can skip ahead to where we are now, seven years later in an underground bunker."

"This is where our story really begins.”

[madsthewordclown]

Fire Lily | Pt. 9

warnings: violence, angst, mentions of r*pe. seriously y'all, this chapter gets kind of heavy. take care of yourselves. 

a/n: this chapter is very long because wow. Crossroads of Destiny. It’s over 5k, so you’ll have to bear with me and power through. 

Also, yes. I am posting this at midnight in my time zone. Yes, my hair is looking some type of way, and yes, I'm wearing Christmas pants. All of this is irrelevant but I want you to know my vibes for whatever reason. And just so you know, my taglist is open!

Enjoy! 

Fire Lily Masterlist

“Let him go!” Y/N almost never yelled—it hurt her throat.

“Y/N,” Bihun looked into her eyes, calm overtaking his voice, “go back inside.” The Fire Nation soldiers had hold of his arms.

“But you didn’t do anything.” Y/N’s chest heaved, and she looked at the soldiers. All she felt was rage.

Bihun didn’t steal. She knew he didn’t. He was careful, collected, thought things through. They were arresting him because he was from the Earth Kingdom, and he was there. Bihun’s heel left an indent in the dirt as the soldiers starting to drag him away.

They were just trying to go home. Their front door was only a few feet away, but the soldiers had followed them.

“Let him go!” Y/N repeated, eyes on the soldiers. She could feel it—the fire. But she didn’t stop it. She wasn’t Bihun. She wasn’t careful.

“Y/N,” Bihun pleaded. The soldiers were still pulling him away. “I need you to calm down. Breathe.”

“No!”

“Y/N, we need to go,” Lee urged, already on his way out the door.

They were serving tea at the palace today, she remembered. She had her apron, and her pack on her back. She didn’t need it, but it was nice to have. She didn’t like leaving home without a weapon, especially after that night. Jet’s hook swords were secured inside. It had nearly burned to touch them, but her knife was long gone. And he told her to protect herself.

---

The palace was greater than Y/N could have ever imagined. It was so big—bigger than her entire home village, she guessed. She couldn’t imagine having to walk up the stairs, though. She was greater for their earthbender escorts, pulling them up the incline on a stone slab.

Mushi hadn’t been able to stop smiling. Y/N wasn’t sure that she should go to the palace. She felt like a traitor even now, staring at it. A firebender in the Earth King’s palace was unthinkable. But Mushi had been so excited, and insisted she come along.

“You’ve played a great part in my success, Y/N,” he had said. “It is only fair that you get to witness the results.”

Y/N carried the tray with the best tea set that they had. She had been careful in arranging the cups in neat rows and tried to keep it as level as possible on the journey. Luckily, the way up to the palace was smoother than she had imagined. These benders were precise, and they had so much control. Y/N was envious. Mushi hadn’t mentioned the burns on the table, but he and Lee had come home with a new one the day before. She wasn’t sure what they did with the other one.

“Many times, I imagined myself here, at the threshold of the palace,” Mushi mused, leaning in to whisper something in Lee’s ear. Y/N only caught his final statement. “Destiny is a funny thing.”

“It sure is,” Lee agreed, reaching and lightly touching Y/N’s elbow.

Destiny was a funny thing, Y/N thought. She was destined to be a disaster, and she knew it. But here she was, at the palace, with someone who knew the truth and hadn’t run away. Someone who would keep her secret safe.

An Earth Kingdom guard let them in the ginormous palace doors. Y/N had to appreciate the décor. Everything looked green, but still somehow managed to look royal. Y/N had to crane her head to see the ceiling, it was so high up.

They ended up sitting on the carpet at a small tea table in another room, waiting. The throne sat empty. Y/N wasn’t sure how long they’d been waiting, and despite his newfound cheery attitude, Y/N could tell Lee was getting impatient.

“What’s taking so long?” Lee asked out loud. She wasn’t sure if she was meant to answer.

“Maybe the Earth King overslept?” Y/N suggested in an attempt to put him at ease. His hand was gripping the table tightly—she put hers over it.

Finally, the door opened. Y/N felt her heart stop as Dai Li agents filed in, one after the other until they had the table surrounded. Y/N grew cold.

“Something’s not right,” Lee grumbled, eyes downcast. Y/N almost wanted to shout. Obviously. But any words she could have said would get stuck in her throat as she felt her nerves go haywire. She was ready to jump and run. Her fingers tapped random, quick rhythms on the back of Lee’s hand.

The Dai Li agents said nothing as the final member of their crew walked in. Y/N realized with shock that it was a girl, who couldn’t have been much older than her. She had her black hair pulled up with two perfect strands falling to frame her face. She seemed to have foregone the usual Dai Li headwear for a green hairpiece. Y/N saw something familiar in her face.

“It’s teatime,” she cooed, sounding amused.

“Azula!” Lee shot up like a fire rocket. Y/N turned to look up at him. It was clear he recognized her. How did he know this girl?

“Have you met the Dai Li?” The girl, whom Y/N assumed to be called Azula, mused. Y/N’s hands felt clammy. She was tapping on the table now, since Lee had stood and pulled his hand away.

“They’re earthbenders,” Azula continued with a sharp grin, “but they have a killer instinct that’s so firebender. I just love it.” Y/N’s hand stilled as Azula’s gaze finally landed on her. It seemed to be the first time she noticed that Y/N was there.

“I wasn’t expecting you to bring a girlfriend, Zuzu,” Azula smiled, eyeing Lee.

“Who’s Zuzu?” Y/N hated how small her voice sounded.

“Oh, Zuzu,” Azula sighed, giving a mocking frown. “You haven’t told her your little secret?”

Y/N looked to Lee. He didn’t look at her—he kept his golden eyes trained on Azula. She hadn’t seen him this angry before. Not even in the fight with Jet. What was he hiding from her, and what did this girl have to do with it? And why was her face so familiar?

“Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter. It’ll be easy to take care of the spare.”

“Did I ever tell you how I got the nickname, ‘The Dragon of the West’?” Mushi asked suddenly. Y/N realized he was pouring a cup of tea. She almost wanted to laugh. How much did tea really matter right now? This girl had just called her a spare, and Y/N didn’t like the knot in her stomach that grew tighter at every moment.

Y/N slipped a hand under the strap of her pack slowly, ready to swing it off of her shoulder. She thanks Spirits that she’d thought to bring her hook swords, but she had a sinking feeling that they wouldn’t be any help in whatever fight was coming her way.

“I’m not interested in a lengthy antidote, Uncle,” Azula brushed him off. Uncle.

“It’s more of a demonstration, really,” Mushi smirked, lifting a cup of tea to his lips. Uncle. Did that mean…

Before Y/N could even identify the million thoughts she felt stampeding through her brain, Lee was smiling and pulling her off the ground to stand behind Mushi.

“Lee, what’s—” Y/N started, but then the world lit up.

Fire was spraying towards the Dai Li agents, and for a split second, Y/N thought it was her. Maybe she’d lost control again without even noticing. But she blinked again, and no, there were no flames spewing from her hands.

Mushi was breathing fire. Actual fire, extending outward like a fan. The Dai Li soldiers recoiled. Lee had a tight grip on Y/N’s arm as Mushi turned in a circle, and Lee started pulling Y/N toward the back wall under Mushi’s cover. Lee lifted his arm, sending a blast of fire through the wall.

Y/N’s world shattered when she watched the light leap from his hands. Everything was a lie. The whole new life she had built in Ba Sing Se was a lie. Lee and Mushi probably weren’t their real names, and she was the fool who had relied on them. She had helped them, lived under the same roof. Suddenly, Lee’s acceptance of her secret made a lot more sense.

Y/N was under the lake all over again. Head pounding, legs feeling weak. But she let Lee pull her out through the gaping hole in the wall and kept her feet moving, because she couldn’t just stop. Stopping would mean she’d be the spare, left to Azula’s predetermined fate for her.

Stopping would mean that she’d never go home. She knew she was kidding herself—there was no chance of that. But if she could make it through today, through tomorrow, then maybe one day she’d send her father a letter. Maybe she could apologize.

She was under the lake again, Lee showing her what to do and where to go. He was still wearing a mask. While it didn’t have horns or fangs, Y/N knew what it was. Or maybe the mask was finally off.

Mushi ran ahead of them, blasting a hole through the wall leading to the outside. Stone was pummeling into the walls and floor, just barely missing them as the Dai Li gained ground. Y/N pulled the hook swords out of her pack. She could make it. Jet taught her to protect herself.

Y/N watched Mushi leap out of the hole in the wall, into the sunlight, an animal-shaped hedge breaking his fall. Y/N guessed they were about a story up—not too terrible, but she couldn’t say she was stoked about the idea.

“Come on!” Mushi called from his spot on the ground. “You’ll be fine!” Lee didn’t move as Y/N leaned down to stab the end of her hook sword into the wall. She could use it to swing herself closer to the next hedge to break the fall.

“No!” Lee yelled back. “I’m tired of running! It’s time I faced Azula.” Lee looked at her for what felt like the first time in forever. “Go,” he mouthed, before turning to face Azula and the agents who now far too close.

Y/N caught Mushi smacking himself in the head in exasperation before he turned and began to run, motioning for her to follow. Y/N cautiously slung one leg over the edge.

“You’re so dramatic,” Azula drawled. “What? Are you going to challenge me to an Agni Kai?”

The Fire Nation soldiers in her hometown had talked about Agni Kai. Something about honor. Y/N’s father said there was no honor in fighting your own.

“Yes! I challenge you!” Lee replied brashly, squaring his shoulders towards the girl.

Y/N quickened her pace, easing herself out the ledge, hoping to slip out unnoticed. She tested her hook sword’s hold as she finally dropped her lower half off of the ledge, digging the other sword into the wooden floor to be safe.

“No thanks,” Y/N heard Azula say. She doesn’t dare look as she heard the sound of stone heading in Lee’s direction.

“Oh,” Y/N heard Azula add, almost as an afterthought. “Get that girl that’s right outside. I think I might want her to stay.”

Y/N didn’t have time to let go of her swords before the Dai Li had stone hands around her arms, lifting her back inside. She managed to yank her swords out of the stone and wood, keeping a firm grip on them as the Dai Li brought her away, just like before. They didn’t bother to confiscate her weapons. She knew when she’d lost.

She didn’t look at Lee as he was dragged along beside her. She could feel his gaze burning a hole in the back of her head. Y/N didn’t care. She hoped he burned.

---

Azula couldn’t even be bothered to imprison them separately. Echoes of Y/N’s head injury resurfaced when the Dai Li sent them tumbling down into the crystal catacombs under the palace. The landing had been rough. To Y/N’s surprise, they had company. Katara sat dejectedly on the ground and jumped up as Y/N and Lee landed.

“Zuko!” Katara squinted a him accusingly.

“Is that your name?” Y/N said, fighting back tears as she got her bearings. Her hands were warming up. She willed them to stop, tightening her grip on the sword handles.

“What?” Lee asked, bewildered.

“Is that your name?” Y/N repeated, slower. “I’d think that after everything you’d at least owe me that.”

Lee looked hurt, but he answered. “Yes.”

“Zuko,” Y/N whispered to herself. She wouldn’t burn a handprint into the sword handles. She wouldn’t.

She knew that name. Zuko. Whispers of it floated around in the colonies. Banished, they’d say. The Fire Lord’s only son.

“Why did they throw you in here?” Katara asked Zuko. “Let me guess, it’s a trap. So that way when Aang comes to help me you can finally have him in your Fire Nation clutches.”

Katara continued to rant while Zuko tried to ignore her. “You’re a terrible person, you know that? Always following us, hunting the Avatar! Trying to capture the world’s last hope for peace! But what do you care? You’re the Fire Lord’s son. Spreading war and violence and hatred is in your blood. And now you’ve somehow dragged Y/N into your mess. She doesn’t deserve that.”

Y/N slowly moved to Katara’s side and was grateful when the girl didn’t back away.

“Are you okay?” Katara whispered, taking a break from the ranting for a moment. Y/N managed a light nod. She was not okay, not by a long shot, but she was at least in one piece.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Zuko replied, not getting up from where he was sitting on the ground.

“I don’t?!?” Katara yelled back. “The Fire Nation took my mother from me!”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” Zuko whispered, getting up to move closer. Y/N lifted her swords protectively. She didn’t know Katara well, but they did have a common enemy, it seemed. “That’s something we have in common.”

Y/N paused. She didn’t know that.  She supposed she didn’t know anything. She could tell Katara was crying, and she allowed Zuko to move a little closer as she pulled the other girl into a hug.

“Thank you,” Katara mumbled into Y/N’s ear. “And I’m sorry I couldn’t save him.”

Y/N pulled away as Katara wiped the tears from her face. She finally turned to face Zuko and look him in the eye for the first time knowing his real name. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I was,” Lee—no, Zuko—insisted. “I was going to tell you when I figured out how. I,” he shuffled a hand through his hair. “I thought you’d be happy when you found out.”

“What?”

Katara looked equally as confused as Y/N felt. She and this girl were practically strangers, but she had shown her kindness before. Y/N was tired of lying, but she needed answers.

“I mean, maybe not about the prince thing, but,” Zuko took a step toward her. Y/N held up the swords. “That you’re not alone. We’re the same.”

“I am nothing like you,” Y/N seethed, stepping toward him. Zuko managed to be smart enough to back off. “Never suggest that again.”

“But,” Zuko held up his hands in surrender, “we’re from the same nation. We both left, started a new life.”

“I am not from your nation. The Fire Nation has done nothing but take from me, from my family. From my nation.” How dare he suggest that she was like him? She wasn’t Fire Nation. She wasn’t a colonizer, a tyrant, a murderer…

“What do you mean?” Zuko asked, looking legitimately confused.

Y/N couldn’t hold back a hollow laugh. “You know what the Fire Nation gave me? A curse. Thanks to them I can’t even be accepted by my own people. If someone sees what I can do… ” Y/N’s eyes squeezed shut and she shook her head. “My parents are both Earth Kingdom. Did you know that?”

“But…”

“They’re both Earth Kingdom. The people who raised me, at least. My mother is my mother. But my father…” Y/N laughed again, and Zuko looked a little scared. He should have, she thought. “The Fire Nation invaded my village when my brother was a baby. Expanding the colony into our land. Soldiers broke into our house. My father, my real father, was gone, here, on business with the King.

“They found my mother. My older brother was asleep in his crib.” Y/N let the tears fall from her face. She didn’t care anymore. She would make it out of here, but Zuko would never see her again. She was sure of that. “I was born nine months later. Looked just like my mother. Wasn’t until later that they found out what I was.”

“No—” Zuko started, but Y/N lifted a sword to silence him. She felt Katara’s hand on her shoulder.

“And I thought it was a cool trick, at the time. I didn’t know. I was so excited to show my father what I had learned.” Y/N finally lowered her swords and the world swayed. She slowly sunk down to the floor. “I lit a candle, just with my hand. I thought it was so cool.

“My father turned down a council spot here in the city, you know. Because he was afraid that someone would find out.” Y/N sniffed, wiping her nose with the back of her hand. It was gross, but she didn’t care. “He should’ve taken it and left me there for the soldiers to find.”

Zuko didn’t respond. He slunk down to the ground a few feet away, his face downturned so his hair hung in front of his eyes. Y/N tried to slow her shaky breathing.

“I’m sorry, Y/N. I didn’t know,” Zuko said after a long moment of silence.

“I thought I’d built something here, Zuko. Something with Lee. I could’ve been happy, you know. A tea shop in the city was more than enough for me.” Y/N leaned in to Katara, who had sat down next to her. She had expected Katara to leave her be, now that she knew the truth. But she was here, at least for the moment. Y/N felt like she understood. The Fire Nation had taken something irreplaceable from each of them.

The three of them sat in silence for a moment, and Y/N’s nerves finally calmed. The knot in her stomach began to untwist, and the dread of their situation was taking its time sinking in. If they got out, they’d have to fight their way there. And the Dai Li were good fighters. Y/N had a feeling that Azula was better.

“I’m sorry I yelled at you before,” Katara said, finally breaking the silence. Y/N didn’t say anything, but she met Zuko’s gaze. She couldn’t help but feel a little ashamed. He had lied to her, yes, but she had lied to him to. She supposed it was far from unreasonable for him to assume she was from the Fire Nation. It didn’t make everything right, but it did make her feel a bit better.

“It doesn’t matter.” Zuko shook his head. He was right.

“It’s just that for so long now, whenever I would imagine the face of the enemy, it was your face.”

“My face?” Zuko’s hand lightly traced the outline of his scar. “I see.”

Y/N still felt sick looking at it. Not because of how it looked, or anything. But because for the past few weeks, she’d look at it and see herself. She could do that to someone if she lost control. Someone like her had done that to him. She knew she wouldn’t be that person. She tried to shake the thought that Zuko could be that person.

“No, no, that’s,” Katara stood, moving closer to where Zuko was now standing. “That’s not what I meant.”

“It’s okay. I used to think my scar marked me. As a banished prince, cursed to chase the Avatar.” Zuko looked Y/N in the eye. “But I’ve realized that I can choose my own destiny, even if I’m never free of the mark.”

Y/N’s heart swelled a bit. She had told him that the tea shop was enough, and maybe one day she’d be able to forgive him. He could choose that destiny.

“What if…” Katara looked down at a small vial that hung on a string around her neck. Y/N hadn’t noticed it before, but the vial was ornate. Not Earth Kingdom crafted. “…you could be free of it?”

“What?” Y/N stood, moving over to join them. Zuko seemed surprised that she was willing to get so close to him. She surprised herself. She could feel the heat radiating from him as she stood by his side. She supposed that that part about him made a lot more sense now.

“I have healing abilities,” Katara explained. Y/N vaguely remembered Katara’s hands on Jet’s chest from that blurry night.

“Did you use them on me?” Y/N couldn’t help but ask. Mushi—or, whatever his name really was—had said that she had recovered remarkably quickly.

“Yeah, you hit your head pretty bad. I hope you rested up. You kept mumbling about a tea shop, so we dropped you off there,” Katara confirmed. Zuko shot Y/N a look that she couldn’t quite read, but his eyes were sympathetic.

“It’s a scar, it can’t be healed,” Zuko argued.

“I have water from the Spirit Oasis at the North Pole. It has special properties, so I’ve been saving it for something important,” Katara elaborated, holding up the vial. “I don’t know if it would work, but…”

Katara gingerly lifted a hand to touch Zuko’s scar. Zuko’s eyes fluttered shut and there was an unpleasant tenseness to his face. Almost like he was reliving a memory, Y/N thought.

Suddenly, the wall behind them broke, sending shards of crystal flying. Y/N raised her swords.

“Aang!” Katara cried, rushing to wrap Aang in a tight hug. Y/N remembered him, from the lake. There was something important about him that she couldn’t remember that night…

“You’re the Avatar,” Y/N stated dumbly, staring with an open mouth. Of course he was. He had airbender tattoos. The Avatar was an airbender.

Suddenly, Mushi came rushing in, wrapping both Y/N and Zuko in a tight hug. Y/N wasn’t sure how to feel about it. She heard Zuko grumble a complaint under his breath. It was almost like old times.

“Aang, I knew you’d come!” Katara cried jubilantly, wrapping Aang in yet another hug. Y/N noticed that Aang seemed quite pleased as Mushi-whatever-his-name-was let her go.

“Uncle, what are you doing with the Avatar?” Zuko’s voiced sounded grated and irritated.

“Saving you, that’s what,” Aang replied snarkily. Y/N giggled a little but bit it back when Zuko took an aggressive step forward.

“Zuko,” Not-Mushi said, “it’s time we talked.” He turned to Y/N, Katara, and Aang. “Go, find your friends. Y/N, go with them. We’ll catch up.”

As angry as she was, as absolutely furious as she was, Y/N didn’t want to leave them. She wished they could stay, go back to the Jasmine Dragon and pretend this all never happened. But that couldn’t happen, and Not-Mushi and Aang seemed to have somewhat of a plan, so that was good enough for her.

Y/N followed Katara and Aang out of the tunnel that Aang had created in the wall, catching one last glance back at Zuko. He didn’t meet her eyes; he was already immersed in a conversation with his uncle.

The way through the tunnel was short, and Y/N was grateful. The tunnel felt like the halls under the lake. The whole palace did. Y/N did not like the Earth King’s palace, she decided, bad experiences notwithstanding.

They came to a large open room, with stone walls and what looked like doorways and windows carved into them. It was like a tiny piece of an underground city, Y/N realized. She had heard that earthbenders once carved cities into the earth, but it was another thing to see it. It would’ve been beautiful if they weren’t under constant threat of attack.

Y/N didn’t think that fire had a sound. Crackling logs had a sound, and water on coals had a sound. But suddenly there was a fire burning behind them that was so fast and so powerful that Y/N could hear it. Aang quickly turned, lifting stone from the ground to block the flames.

When the smoke cleared, Y/N recognized Azula, standing with one arm extended, poised after the strike. Katara ran out from the behind the cover of stone, drawing water from the canal running through the center of the giant space. Y/N had never seen such a powerful waterbender before. She hadn’t seen any waterbender before.

Katara swept the water up and brought it down on Azula, hard. Azula countered with a flash of blue flame, and the water turned to steam with a hiss. Y/N decided that waterbenders, or at least Katara, were scary.

Y/N watched Azula emerge from the cloud of dust and steam, almost floating through the air. Azula launched blue fire and where Katara was standing. Aang rushed out to help Katara bend more water from the canal.

Y/N didn’t let up her grip on her hook swords despite knowing they were no help here. Azula was no joke. Azula was in it to win, and Y/N knew what winning would mean for them.

Azula landed on the ground lightly, arms poised to strike as she faced down Aang and Katara. Y/N slowly emerged, swords in hand. She wouldn’t cower.

Azula was outnumbered three to one. Well, two to one, Y/N supposed, since her hook swords could be burned to bits at any moment. The odds weren’t good for her here. Not a lot of environmental features for her to use. Jet had taught her about that. If she didn’t bend, she’d be at an automatic disadvantage. The lack of useful surroundings made it worse.

Y/N caught movement out of the corner of her eye and turned to see Zuko, a look of determination set in his face. But he wasn’t looking at her. Zuko punched forward, flames sprouting from the movement. Y/N waited to Azula to react, but she never did.

Aang barely missed getting burnt. Zuko had aimed for him.

“Zuko!” Y/N yelled desperately. He surely hadn’t meant to. Surely, he had changed, and something Not-Mushi said had gotten to him. But Zuko reared up to fire again, his aggressive expression turned toward the Avatar.

“Go find Sokka and Toph, Y/N,” Katara yelled at her. Katara’s face looked panicked. Y/N felt the reality sink in further. This was very, very bad. Y/N nodded and sprinted away, feeling the heat from Zuko’s next strike at the Avatar hit her back.

Y/N went through the nearest tunnel, turning on passageways that began to look less like tunnels and more like hallways as she went. She kept a hand along the wall as she went—rough stone turned smooth, and then eventually, she found herself in the halls of the palace. She willed herself to keep going. Find Sokka. Find Toph. Even though she wasn’t sure exactly who they were, she figured she could figure it out.

Y/N finally came across other people when she reached the throne room. A girl with black hair in matching buns atop her head sat on the steps looking bored, and another girl was in a rather uncomfortable backbend, her hands and feet bound to the floor by earth. Over them stood a boy in blue and a small Earth Kingdom girl, along with a bespectacled man in a rather fancy robe and a… bear, Y/N realized, wearing a shirt. Not a platypus bear. Just… a bear.

Y/N brushed off the strangeness of the moment.

“Y/N?” The boy—Sokka, Y/N realized—blurted. “What are you doing here?”

“Where’s your bison?” Y/N managed to get out, huffing. Sokka and Toph’s faces fell. Everything was wrong. “We have to leave.”

Sokka and Toph led the way. The palace felt unusually quiet. It gave Y/N a bad feeling, knowing what could have been happening in the catacombs. Katara and Aang were outnumbered, surely. Azula had the Dai Li.

They wandered through the halls and out of the palace. Y/N thought it wasn’t the best time to be asking questions about the bear, but she noticed that Toph wasn’t wearing shoes.

“Don’t your feet hurt?” Y/N asked. Maybe it would lighten the mood, if only for a moment.

“I’m blind,” Toph said simply, as if that explained it. Y/N didn’t ask any more questions as they continued along.

Finally, Y/N saw the bison. Appa, if she remembered right. She almost wanted to cry. She wanted out of this city, if they’d take her. She could leave Ba Sing Se behind, along with all of the unpleasant memories. Sokka gave her and the other man a hand.

“Thank you, young man,” the man said.

“You’re welcome, your Majesty.”

“Wait, you’re King Kuei?” Y/N asked incredulously. “Your Majesty, I’m—”

“There they are!” Sokka shouted suddenly, pointing back toward the palace. Katara rose on a twisting beam of water. Aang was in her arms. He wasn’t moving.

“Appa, yip yip!” Sokka commanded, bringing the bison in closer. Katara let the water fall away as she landed on Appa’s head, laying Aang down softly in front of her.

Y/N watched as Dai Li agents began emerging from the palace. “Guys…”

“I can’t see to hit them,” Toph said. Sokka lifted a boomerang, but that wouldn’t be enough, Y/N knew. And Katara was…

Y/N looked over. Katara was leaning over Aang, tears in her eyes. Katara was busy.

Y/N took a breath. She thought for a moment, of Zuko, and her parents, her brother. She let the feeling build. The anger, towards Zuko for lying, towards Azula. The rocks were already flying their way. Toph didn’t know, and Sokka’s face was riddled with worry. King Kuei leaned into the bear’s fur.

Y/N let herself lose control. Only for a moment. But it was enough. The fire was bright and strong and accurate enough, hot enough to break the flying rocks apart. And oddly enough, she didn’t feel like she was freefalling. She didn’t feel like she was observing an explosion.

But she still felt relieved when Sokka and Toph decided not to mention it for now. Katara lifted the vial of Oasis water, the liquid shining in the dark.

They were going to take her brother away, and she wouldn’t let that happen. She let go. She showed them what she was capable of.

But they had taken him anyway. They’d sent more soldiers to the house, looking for the general’s ‘stolen daughter.’ Bihun was off in a prison somewhere, and they were coming for her next. For her parents.

The servants had seen. Their loyal, Earth Kingdom servants whom they’d been so careful around. They had run off almost immediately, and word would spread. Her own nation would be looking for her. The Fire Nation girl who posed as one of them for years, and her traitorous family.

Y/N went into their library. It was her favorite room in the house. It was small, but cozy. She had read most of the books there. But they were easy. Flammable.

When the Fire Nation or Earth Kingdom soldiers arrived, whichever came first, they’d find that burned library. They’d see her parents and know that the girl who did that couldn’t have been any daughter of theirs, destroying the most valuable room in their home. Stealing the cup that sat on the mantle.

Maybe it would buy them time, at least. They were smart. They could run with a story. Say that she must’ve been a spy, or that they never knew she was a firebender until that day. They thought she was theirs.

She left on foot, her pack slung over her shoulders, its only contents being the cup and the purse full of coins she had found in her father’s study. No real plan, but the Earth Kingdom was big. And Ba Sing Se was a big, populous city. It would be easy to hide there. She could disappear there.

She had thought about leaving a note for her parents. They’d been home, but she had locked them out of the library and left through the window. But a note would leave evidence, and she wouldn’t put them at risk. Even if it meant breaking their hearts by leaving without a goodbye.

Fire Lily Masterlist

Taglist: @kaylove12, @akariblue, @wolfiemichele, @aquatickanye 

[allandoflimbo]

Take It Back (Chapter 31)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Female Reader

Summary:  About five years ago, a one night stand with Y/N tore Bucky’s life apart. It was also the night before his wedding. Now he’s married to her sister and she needs a place to stay.

Take It Back Full Masterpage |

Well, damn. Looks like we’ve found it.” - Nat

Outside the tower, the sky had turned into a midnight black.

If the windows were open, they would be able to identify that earthy smell of an approaching thunderstorm.

“I haven’t seen this thing in years. I can’t believe it was this easy to find.” Wanda mumbled, roughly pushing Scott aside to grab the computer mouse.

She clicked around the screen, quickly finding the print button.

Nobody waited for another second to get to work.

“So what exactly is your plan now?” Scott asks, looking between Wanda and Nat.

He leaned back on the chair, his arms crossed behind his head. His smirk further proved how proud he was of himself.

Nat shares a look with Wanda before Wanda’s eyes return to the computer screen, thinking. There’s a pinch between her eyebrows.

“Well, we have an idea. But we won’t know for sure until we print it out and look at it.” She explains.

Wanda walks around the desk, pushing Scott again, to make her way to the corner of the room and towards the printer.

Scott stands with a huff and stands next to next. Her arms were crossed as she eyed Loki down with an expectation from him.

Scott copied her stance, doing the same.

Loki looked between the two, obviously unamused.

“What?” He snaps.

Nat and Scott look at each other and then back at Loki.

“We’re waiting for you to tell us what happened,” Scott says. “What you know.” Nat clarifies, darting an eye at Scott.

Specificity.

Scott shrugs, walking away to tend to his daughter.

Loki stared at her for a second longer before looking back over at Wanda.

It was obvious he wouldn’t be getting out of here tonight without any explanation.

He didn’t like the feeling of being interrogated.

His heart sped up drastically at the thought of sharing what he knew as he watches Wanda printing the will.

He wondered how they would react. He knows he didn’t when he found out.

The memories of that day hit him and he gazes down at the floor, biting his lip nervously until it cracks and bleeds.

He curses under his breath, loosening his black tie from around his collar.

“Fine,” he finally mumbles, “You want to know what I know? Just prepare yourself.”

The sting of his hurt lip mixed in with irritation.

There’s a beat of silence and Natasha looks him up and down. She looks away nervously for a second before looking back.

It was clear she feared the unknown, but none of them had any choice at this point. Enough was enough.

“What do you mean?” Nat asks worried, calmer.

Loki stands tall and moves up closer to her.

He doesn’t flinch an eye nor meet a beat, “Three’s a crowd, Romanoff.”

Seven Years Ago

The rain poured outside the tower like a heavy sheet of despair.

It hadn’t rained in almost fifteen days; mother nature decided that today would be the day to let it all go.

Finally.

The grays of the sky was heavily depressing as he stared out into it, and the over-air-conditioned building did nothing to help the chill on bare skin. It managed to cut through the thin fabric of his white dress shirt.

He knew he should put his suit jacket back on.

His foot kept tapping against the ground as he looked out into the window, thinking hard and trying to conjure any explanation as to why his future boss has been looking for his current girlfriend.

Loki raised his hand, taking a big bite of the Twix bar.

Something wasn’t right. He needed to find out what it was.

He was on a mission to unravel what mess he had just walked in on, what he had gotten himself into. He should’ve been smarter than to date Ashlyn’s sister.

Sure, he could be a dick, but he wasn’t an idiot. Something was very wrong.

Last night, he had told you that maybe Bucky had just run after you for an apology.

He laughs to himself, taking another bite of the chocolate.

He was a man. He knew Bucky had pushed you away for a reason.

The only reason a man in an already established relationship would walk in on something like that would be to take something back.

Loki knew Bucky was never very fond of him, but Bucky always at least showed him some professional respect in the work area.

He had nothing against him per-se.

But why? Why was Bucky Barnes running after you when he had someone at home?

There was only one explanation and he knew he had to find out.

He took one last bite of his chocolate bar before tossing it in the grey bin next to his neat desk.

He didn’t waste one moment before getting back to work.

He knew it had to start with a source. The only reason a man starts an affair is that he’s unsatisfied. It wasn’t rocket science.

Loki wondered if there was a prominent issue going on between Ashlyn and Bucky that no one had been aware of. Come to think of it, in normal interactions, they seemed perfectly fine.

Loki didn’t get to talk to her too much or get to know her, but from the few times he had interacted with Ashlyn, she seemed decent enough.

Nothing out of the ordinary.

She was always too busy spending too much time with Mr. Barnes for Loki to get to truly know her.

His brows furrow together.

Ashlyn and Mr. Barnes.

He quickly opens up his security system and logs in with his appropriate credentials.

It doesn’t take long for him to view all the cameras access that was available to him. Being the secret head of security to George had its perks.

Clicking and clicking, he finds all the footage from the last year, from the cameras. He thinks about how to narrow down his search.

He chooses the one just outside the hallway where he knew it was outside of George’s office.

Loki knew he was hoping for too much to get something out from hallway footage.

His eyes dart up towards his door before going through each one, starting with the earliest date closest to when Ashlyn first started, clicking around the time stamp, fast-forwarding…

Nothing.

He spends an extra half hour, looking and looking even further into other possible locations near the office, but nothing more than people leaving and entering George’s office.

He’s got his feet up on his desk and a hand running through his hair, his other foot he uses to swerve his chair from side to side.

He was pretty much giving up at this point when something finally catches his eye.

His head tilts to the side as he puts his leg down on the floor.

That’s interesting.

He pushes himself closer to his computer, rewinding the footage that he had quickly skimmed through.

He pauses it with a click to the space bar.

The timestamp had been about three months ago, nine forty-five PM.

The office was supposed to be closed, everyone already has gone except for a few handfuls that didn’t have a happy life at home.

He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

There was Bucky’s girlfriend’s arms wrapped around George’s knees, her head very clearly bouncing back and forth from an area between his legs.

Loki felt sick as he paused it and pushed himself away from his desk.

He knew at that moment that he had witnessed a scandal.

He didn’t want to partake in this.

Quickly, he exited out the page and cleared his search history. His eyes dart to the door once more.

Loki leaves his office that afternoon a bit on edge.

He closes his door behind him nervously and way too aware of his surroundings. He knew he was being paranoid, but he felt he had every right to be.

This could be potential blackmail; the law could be involved.

As his co-workers pass him, he wonders if anyone else possibly knew. He wonders if they could read his mind’s eye and if they could see what he had seen just moments ago.

He wipes the sweat on his jeans and the Twix off the corner of his mouth, even though there’s nothing really there. Paranoid is all he is, it was all in his head.

He goes about his day, subconsciously looking over his shoulder. He thinks he sees George, but it’s his imagination.

He was seeing things that weren’t really there.

He hopes to not run into any of them for the rest of the day. Or anyone, for that matter.

He still hadn’t been able to process what he had witnessed.

He didn’t know what was the correct steps to take with the information he had.

He was thankful when his workday had passed.

At the end of the day, he never signed out of his computer so fast, shutting it off so quickly.

He grabs his phone off his desk, sticks it in his pocket, and prepares to leave for the night.

He’s halfway down his hall, he thinks he’s made it, just about made it, when a hand grabs him by his shoulder, making him still in place.

Loki turns around, and when he meets his eyes, he gulps- hard.

Loki looks like he’s just seen a ghost while George is smiling wide.

Too wide.

He knows he needs to act nonchalant, so he smiles back, or at least tries to.

“Mr. Barnes.” He greets him.

George tilts his head at him, “You’re in an awful rush, aren’t you?”

Loki swallows thickly.

He flicks the nails of his fingers with his thumb, “I have somewhere to be.”

George nods, understanding, even though he doesn’t by it.

He gives Loki a firm squeeze.

“Got an extra second?” He motions a corner of the hall with his head.

Loki contemplates saying no, he really does. But instead, he says:

“Sure.”

Loki expects Mr. Barnes to lead them into his office as they take their time walking.

He’s startled when Mr. Barnes stops just halfway, Loki almost waking right into him at the abrupt stop.

“Nah uh. Here is just fine.” George says.

They’re in the corner of where the hallway turns, it’s a spot where it’s hidden and no one could see unless they were to go into the supply closer that was just on his right.

Loki nods.

George moves up closer to him until Loki’s back is firmly against the wall. Shit.

“Don’t worry, son. I’m not going to fire you.” Loki is half relieved at that. George’s smile quickly falls off his face, replaced by a stern glare, “but we need to make things clear.”

Loki gapes.

“Alright.”

“Is there anything you want to say first? Anything at all?” Loki stares at him and then shakes his head, “You know I can monitor every cyber movement of every single one of my employees, right?”

Loki swallows again, looking away. He caves. “Look, Mr. Barnes, I wasn’t looking for anything specific, I just happened to run into it—“

“That doesn’t matter to me,” his response shocks Loki. That didn’t matter? “What I care about is what you’re going to do with this information.”

“I-I don’t know what you mean.”

George moves in closer and Loki feels trapped, “I mean, are you going to tell him? Are you going to play the martyr and tell your new little girlfriend? What are you going to do now that you know?”

Loki swallowed hard. “Mr. Barnes.”

George gives him a wicked smile that makes Loki shiver. “Here’s what you’re going to do,” his tone and volume lower drastically, “You won’t say anything to anyone, ever. I won’t let you ruin this. You don’t want to know what will happen to you if you do. It won’t just be your career that will be over. Do you understand me?”

Loki gives him a short nod.

“Yes, sir.”

There’s a glint in his boss’s eyes. One that Loki knows too well. It was mischievous and Mr. Barnes was…amused?

Loki scoffs.

“You knew there was a camera there,” George gives him a look that only confirms his suspicion, “If you wanted it to be private, you would’ve done it in your office. You did it on purpose. You wanted to be caught.”

George says nothing. He pulls away from the man and turns back the direction they come from.

Loki is left shocked as he stands there, unmoving.

It’s a few long seconds later when he’s turned back to where his boss had gone that George finally spins back around, calling his name.

Loki freezes.

“You’re a smart kid, Loki.” George says with a smile.

Present Time

“I can’t believe this. That’s why you left.” Nat says, running her hands through her hair. Loki nods. “Why would he want it recorded on purpose?” “I don’t know,” he says, defeated, “But there you go, I told you everything I know.”

Everyone stands there for a moment, taking it all in.

“Do you think the footage is still there?” Nat finally asks. Loki lets out a long sigh, “Possibly. But I’d be surprised no one else has found it.” Nat shakes her head, “If someone did, it would’ve been made public by now." “It would be in the hand of who’s currently in charge of the security for the building.” Loki says.

Nat looks over at Wanda who is still a the printer, “Do you know who that could be?” “Bucky.” Wanda says like it’s nothing, “He took over after George died.”

Loki and Nat share a look.

This just kept getting worst.

“I- I always had these feelings, there were always away together on their meetings in Paris. It was always in Paris.” Loki says quietly, shaking his head to himself.

It was so many years later and he still didn’t believe it. He had just run, like a damn coward.

“Okay, Loki, I know this much to ask, but,” Nat takes a deep breath, “Do you think it’s possible to obtain international footage from when they were there? Or also trace back the footage you had seen?”

Loki thinks and then nods.

“Difficult. Illegal, but not impossible. I can try from my old work computer. The certificate on it should still be valid. I could hack it.”

Wanda walks over to them with the document in her hand.

Everyone looks at her, but she’s too busy looking at it, trying not to smile too hard.

“I knew it,” she scoffs, “I knew something was off when I had seen it. I don’t know how it could’ve been overlooked, maybe some really expensive lawyer, I don’t know, this is crazy, or she could be an idiot. I, Nat we were right—“

Wanda scurries over to the desk.

She places the will on top of it and motions for them to walk over with her finger.

She points down at a signed line once they are nearby.

“Do you see anything weird about this?” Wanda asks Loki specifically.

They both stare at it for a bit. Nat’s suspicions are confirmed and Loki looks lost.

“No. I’m not familiar with wills.” Loki says, not my area os expertise.” He continues to stare at it, trying to decipher it like if it were some kind of puzzle, “Wait,” Loki says, pushing Nat politely aside, “Her signature.”

“What about it?” Nat asks, looking at him.

“This can’t be right.” Loki mumbles.

“The state of New York clearly states that no will is valid when signed without a witness present and a witness signature,” Wanda explains.

“But there’s no other signature on here.” Loki mumbles. They both stare at him for a second longer. “There’s no other signature on here. But why?” Loki asks shaking his head and taking the will in his hand. The three of them all look at each other.

The sink water runs cold water, but it was a ploy. He hadn’t used the bathroom, he needed to step away to think.

His fingers gripped onto the sides of the sink and his head hung between his shoulders in shame.

He had been so oblivious. He was disappointed at the woman that was now standing in her living room doing god knows what.

How could he be so blind? How could all of them have been so blind? It was as if now that he knew, it was clear as day.

It all made sense.

He was repulsed and shocked at the revelation.

He runs his fingers over the sides of the sink and the cabinet below it.

He was in a home; a home built for a family, a husband, and a wife.

His best friend had gone into this marriage thinking he was making the best decision regardless of how he felt.

Bucky had considered everyone’s feelings, especially Ashlyns.

Steve stuns himself at his change of heart.

You, for the longest time, you had been the object of his dreams; of his rich fantasies.

But it was like his eyes had been reopened and he now knew the issue went farther than merely what was between the three of you - him, Bucky, and you.

He needed to do something, and something quick.

He tries to think of anything that might’ve seemed out of the ordinary. There had to be a way.

His eyes dart around the bathroom, looking for a sign.

Bucky. You. This company…

He eyes the off-brand soap on the sink. He smiles to himself. Bucky, even having millions of dollars available to him, would rather spend his cash on cheap hand soap than the real thing.

Instead of Clé de Peau, he would always buy Cloū de Peau. They both looked really similar, almost smelled identical, but the way it was manufactured was nothing alike. One was real, one was a fake.

Steve takes the soap in his hand and plays with it.

It even felt different.

Steve’s smile slides off his face. He places the soap back in its place.

Cold realization washes over him.

He should’ve known the second he had pulled out all of the resignation forms that something was wrong. He had seen it on the desk, and he knew something was wrong. Working for Mr. Barnes for so long, he should’ve known.

Steve shuts the water off and gives it a few seconds to make it seem like he’s drying his hands.

With a deep breath, he walks back out into his best friend’s apartment.

He sees her standing there, arms crossed, distraught, and deep in thought.

How could he be so stupid?

He eyes her diligently up and down, approaching her like prey would a predator, and then he stops.

He sees her tense arms and the way she rubs them as if she were cold.

He clears his throat and she turns around, uncertainty clouding her face.

She didn’t know if he was still upset with her.

“Steve.” She mutters, her eyes just briefly darting behind him.

He takes a second before answering, swallowing thickly.

His thoughts are running wild.

He approached this delicately.

“Are you feeling better?” He asks, nodding towards her belly.

Ashlyn looks down, rubbing her belly consciously.

“I’m fine.” She says.

Steve nods.

His eyes dart to the open window, an incoming storm making its appearance in the dark sky as if flashes.

He had heard it would be a bad one.

The rumble shakes within the walls and under their feet.

“It’s going to storm.” Ashlyn says lowly, looking towards the window as well, but not taking to long to divert her attention back to the man in front of her, “I - shouldn’t…”

His furrows his brows, “Shouldn’t what?”

She takes a deep breath, pushing her hair behind her ear.

“I shouldn’t have done any of it.” Her words held heavyweight. She knows it as she licks her bottom lip, biting it slightly to keep from shedding a tear, “I was vulnerable, I wanted to take what would make me happy.”

My best friend wasn’t enough for you? Steve wants to shout.

But he knows that shouldn’t be how he should play this game. Instead, he settles for a nod.

“Yeah, you shouldn’t have.” He says it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Ashlyn takes a deep breath, wrapping her arms around herself tighter around herself.

“I need to know who tried to open that file, I need to make sure he doesn’t find out, Steve, because if he does, I don’t know what I would do with myself.”

Steve feels the heavy hot iron in his chest - the represented himself being torn in half.

He wanted to help his best friend, but something about the way the woman was crying in front of him also made him feel pain.

“I don’t condone anything that you did to him.” He says.

“I understand-“

He cuts her off, “It wasn’t right. It was wrong. It makes you a bad person.”

“I get that, I do.” She pleads.

Steve bites the need to scoff, literally as he bits the inside of his cheek.

He digs his toe into her living room floor. Fuck his best friend for having the most beautiful girl on his arm and the most gorgeous dark wood floors he’s ever seen.

“Damnit,” he whispers under his breath, running his hands through his hair, “Look, I’ll help you.”

Ashlyn’s eyebrows shoot up surprised.

“What?”

Steve sucks in his bottom lip, wanting to yell at himself for what he was getting into, “I have a plan.”

And when she hugs him, thanking him for being her friend, he has to close his eyes tight together and hug her back, or else it would all fall apart.

The sun crept over the white bedsheets like a warm hello.

He was happy because this time you hadn’t run away.

You had allowed yourself to be wrapped up in his arms, his legs sliding in-between yours as he held your back tighter against his bare chest.

He had whispered good morning right under your ear, kissing you in the same spot.

He repeated it and you chuckled.

It had soon turned into a conversation of heavy sighs, moans, and giggles as his kisses turned into playful bites. He pulled on your ear lobe with his teeth.

“Stop it, Bucky!” You chuckled, swatting his arm behind you.

“Come on, just a little longer sleepy head.” His voice was a husky rumble.

“I’m already up, you idiot.”

He hummed against the back of your neck. You felt his hot breath hitting you there and goosebumps popped up on your arms.

“Are you now?” He asks playfully. You enjoyed this. But you had to be real.

Your smile fell off your face as you looked at the wall across from you.

“Yeah. And it’s Monday. We need to get going soon.” You pull his arm off of you, sitting up in bed.

He eyes up at you like a puppy dog, his eyes big and a small pout to complement it.

You sigh, looking away but pulling the covers higher towards your breasts.

“I have to talk to her today. Today is the day we go back to reality. We had enough of our fun on catching up, but now we have to think about what happens next. There’s much still left to do.”

Bucky sighs, throwing his covers off of himself, not caring that he was baring his entire naked self to the world.

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” He murmurs, picking his sweats up off the floor and pulling them on slowly.

He did know, but he wanted to enjoy you a little bit longer. He wanted to enjoy this live omit of headaches.

He looks back at you once he’s half-dressed and his face falls at the look of yours.

You were terrified, that much was clear.

Bucky stretches his arms on the bed, leaning himself closer to you.

Your eyes look up slowly to meet his eyes.

“Hey, it’ll be okay. I promise.” He says. You look at him for a second before nodding. “Come here.” He adds.

He leans forward just a few more inches, capturing your lips in a tender kiss.

You raise your hand to grab the side of his jaw, kissing him back just as sweetly.

When you pull apart your eyes are glowing and you can’t look away from him.

“I love you.” You whisper.

He leans in and gives you another long kiss, letting his soft lips drag over yours sensually.

“I love you, too.”

You both take a separate shower and afterward you begin to pack your things.

It’s a comfortable silence, one for the books, as you both share flirtatious looks over folding your clothes.

You fold a shirt and he clears his throat.

You look up at him and he’s biting his bottom lip to keep a smirk from growing. He folds his sock as you bite your own.

You clear your throat and the game commences, he looks up at you and you drag the tip of your tongue over your top lip.

It goes on for a bit until you’re both rolling your luggage out from his room.

He wraps his arm around you in the doorway and lays a kiss on the top of your head.

You sigh contently, holding his arm around your front.

You don’t say anything to each other for a while. You don’t need to.

Bucky takes the things to the car and you stay behind to tidy up the home before the departure.

Your stomach rumbles and you perk up the need to make a quick breakfast sandwich before the trip.

You’re buttering up one side of the loaf of bread when you feel a hot wall against your back.

He wraps it’s arm around your waist and plants his chin on your shoulder.

He quiets for a bit until he mumbles, “Food.”

You smile. “Yeah, it’s for the road. We have a long drive ahead of us. I didn’t feel like stopping at a rest stop this time.”

Bucky makes a sound that is very much like a protest, “What’s wrong with rest stop food?” He asks, slightly offended.

“Seriously, Bucky?”

“Sorry, I forgot you were a chef.”

You just laugh as he pulls away to lean against the island behind you. He watches you silently as you scramble an egg and add a slice of melted cheddar to the top. He watches you intently as you fry the bacon, as you build the sandwiches, and then wrap them individually in foil.

“You’re amazing.”

You chuckle as you finish wrapping the last sandwich, your fingers pressing into the foil.

“It’s barely anything. A twelve-year-old could make this.” You shrug.

“Why can’t you just take a compliment for once?”

You sigh, placing the sandwiches beside him on the table.

His tone is playful and so is the sparkle in his eye when your eyes meet.

You step up closer to him until your bodies are flushed together. He hums softly.

His eyes turn dark as you give him that look.

You bring your fingers slowly to the edges of his lips, just hovering, but not really touching.

A tease.

“There’s something I never told you.” You whisper, looking at his lips.

Bucky swallows thickly.

“Oh, yeah?” His voice is husky and thick.

“Yeah,” your voice is almost inaudible. You drag your hand down his neck, like you’re inspecting a statue, and then down his pecks. They’re firm. “Remember how I told you that from the moment I saw I knew I always found myself attracted to you?”

Bucky’s Adam's apple bobbles up and down...

“Yes.”

“After I realized I had feelings for you, like real feelings —“

“—Wait, I thought you said you always had feelings.” “I thought you were always cute and I had a crush, but as I said, I harbored those down after I found out you were with Ash. But when I started—“

“Tell me.” He whispers, eyes darting to your lips.

“When I fell in love with you, when I realized it, I never wanted to kiss someone so much in my entire life.” You continue your hand down to the waistband of his jeans. You play with it, “but there was this other side of my brain, this carnal side, I never wanted to make someone feel good so badly before.” Your eyes dart up to his and his pupils are huge, and he’s also breathing a little heavier now. He feels your fingers on the button of his pants and he feels when you undo it, “I’ve wanted to suck you off for so long.” You say, pulling down his zipper.

The sound it makes is absolutely erotic.

He has no words. He’s never been so turned on by another soul before. The way you looked up at him, teasing him by allowing your lips to hover over his, and the way your fingers open his pants.

You leave him completely speechless until he sees you getting down on your knees, pulling his pants and boxers down along with you.

He lets out a long puff of air and a curse.

Bucky subconsciously juts out his hips, his right hand gripping onto the island behind him.

When you wrap your fingers around him, he’s already hard and leaking copious amount of pre-cum for you.

“Shit.” He says through his teeth, his left hand going to the back of your head.

You take him in slowly at first, teasing him. It’s the first time you’ve ever tasted him and he tastes just like how you imagined he would: Salty, musky, but an underlying taste that is just him.

It’s delicious.

You bob your head a few times, letting your tongue drag over the vein under his cock.

He groans beneath you.

“That feels so good.” He says almost pained. He pushes your head farther down and your right-hand lands on his tense thigh as you take him down your throat. You flex your throat a few times and he groans even louder, “yes.”

You pull back, needing to breathe, but you don’t take too long to dive back in again, letting him guide you with his hand as he fucks your mouth.

You feel his thigh clench beneath your fingers and you look up at him from beneath your eyelashes.

He’s looking down at you with so much desire. His eyes are half-closed and his face is completely flushed. His mouth is swollen from biting and licking and it’s gaping, moans leaving it.

“God, look at you.” He says almost admirably innocent, given the situation you were both currently in. He runs his thumb over the top of your head.

You quickly your pace, even more, bringing your hand to help stroke what you can’t reach with your mouth.

“Oh god.” He starts panting and you know he’s close.

You pull off him and grab his hot rod into a fist. Quickly, and with determination, you start jacking him off quickly.

You run your hand over his tip a couple of times, letting your thumb go over his slit, and then back over his entire cock. The sound is soaking wet and squelching.

Both his hand leaves your head and is gripping onto the table behind him.

You stroke and stroke his hard cock like it’s the only thing you want to do for the rest of your life and…

“I’m gonna cum.” He whines.

You jerk him faster until your hand is almost a blur, and with a tight groan, followed by a grunt, he cums right into your open mouth.

He throws his head back, a curse escaping his mouth as he continues to thrust into your hand.

You swallow everything he gives you and a shiver runs through him when you stroke him again.

You know he’s sensitive at this point but you love it.

He pulls away from you with a cry as you stroke him one last time. So, so sensitive.

You pull yourself back to your feet on wobbly knees and you’re momentarily caught off guard when he wastes no time to pull you into him by your elbow.

He kisses you deeply, running both his hands in through your hair.

You kiss for a bit until you lay your head on his chest, tucking him away back into his jeans.

You share chuckles as you each grab your sandwich and then close up the house.

Everything felt so surreal, it was amazing. You’ve never felt happier.

When you both get into the car, soaked from the rain, you’re smiling like two teenage idiots.

You’re a mess of giggles and laughter when you plug the address into his phone and then set it up on his dashboard.

Bucky turns on his Bluetooth on his phone and soft rock fills the speakers.

You throw your head back against the seat, not believing your life right now.

He pulls out of his driveway the same time you decide to unlock your phone.

Hey, Bucky wants to sit down tonight to talk about everything. Is that fine?

You send the text to Nat and you let Bucky know right away that it's been sent.

“I hope things will be easier from here on out.” You mutter, looking out the window.

“I’m sure they will. The hard part is over.” Bucky answers.

Your phone vibrates in your hand.

That’s good. Please tell him to come to the office. We’ll be there at 6.

About 100 miles west, Steve sits in his own office building.

His finger types away at the keyboard as he accesses the files that he hadn’t looked at since the dreaded day he left Barnes Enterprises.

He clicks and clicks until finally, a big smile fills his entire face.

He clicks the print button on the top left of the screen and he pulls out his phone.

He finds Ashlyn’s name.

I found out who it is.

With a reluctant pause, he clicks send and then tucks his phone away in his back pocket.

The rain was a downpour now. The drive took longer than you both wanted, but it was better late than dead.

Bucky held your hand in the middle as he drove through the heavy sheets of water on the highway.

It was around six-thirty when you both pulled up in front of the tower in the city.

You both run towards the front doors, trying to stay as dry as you possibly could.

There’s something strange in the air when you and Bucky stand to wait for the elevator. You’re not sure what it was, but something was different.

He gives your hand a tight squeeze when you’re both alone in the elevator.

“This is good, right? They’re going to help us.” You say slowly, looking up as the numbers of the floors grow.

51…

52…

53…

“Of course it’s good. Even if it weren’t about me and you, you have no idea how tied down I’ve been because of this damn will.”

“Trust me, I know.”

Bucky sighs.

“Y/N, everything will be fine.”

“So when these doors open, do we go in hand in hand or?”

There’s a brief pause and you know Bucky is thinking about it.

“Stand next to me. I don’t want anyone giving you shit.” You nod. No physical contact.

You’re not upset or offended. You knew this needed to be trodden carefully.

The doors finally open to a busy floor of late Monday afternoon workers. A few throw Bucky an additional nod and greeting. Others were shocked to see him and nervous.

He was their boss, after all.

He forces a smile as you both make your way to Nat’s office. If only these people knew what was going on around them.

Bucky stares at the mahogany door for a few moments before knocking. They echo in your ears as you felt the nervous butterflies in your gut.

The door opens and you’re both briefly surprised to see Wanda is the one behind the door.

“Hey, Wanda.” Bucky greets slowly. You do the same.

Wanda smiles at you but when she looks over at Bucky her face is stern and almost…afraid?

“Hey…” she says back, her hand sliding down the door and to the knob.

She closes the door behind both of you as you come in and it’s then that you both notice the other people in the room.

There, at the corner of the beautiful room, was Nat, Scott, and Loki.

You’re confused as hell as your eyes land on him.

He looks guilty as he looks at you and you know you look nothing short of stunned and confused.

Bucky’s face is covered in pure jealousy as he stares at the man.

He looks at all the others next, standing up taller. He feels a heavy knot in his stomach.

“What is this?” He whispers harshly. He looks over at Nat, visibly upset. “Nat, this was supposed to be private. Why—“ His voice grows stronger with each other, his eyes diverting back to each person.

Nat steps up to him, putting a hand up in the air as if to calm him down.

“Bucky, please, this—“

Bucky’s eyes dart once more towards Loki.

He remembers that night.

“Especially this guy? Are you fucking kidding me?”

Loki looks away from him, and his eyes catch yours for a moment.

Jesus, if it hadn’t been a minute…

“Bucky, there is more to this than you know.”

Bucky fumes for a bit longer before looking back at Nat. It takes time for her words to register in his head.

“What are you talking about?” He says slowly, “I thought you guys said you had a plan; a way out.” “We do, Bucky, we do,” Nat confirms. She stretches her arm out and takes his hand in hers.

The silence in the room is overbearing to him.

“But there are other things you need to know, too. Other things we discovered.” Nat whispers, running a hand over his.

Buck swallows thickly, growing nervous.

Nat looks over at you and, lets go of Bucky and takes your hand. With the other, she grabs your elbow.

“Y/N, sweetie.”

You can see the conflict in her eyes.

What was going on?

“What’s going on?” You ask.

Nat looks at Bucky and sighs.

“We found out the loophole in the will. There was no signature from a witness when Ashlyn had signed it. Thereby, it’s invalid. We don’t know how it got passed through everyone in this goddamn building or any lawyer, but it did. We can easily set up a case with a lawyer about this, but I know for a fact that it won’t be hard to win it.” She says softly.

Your lips perk at the side.

“That’s great,” you look over at Bucky, “Bucky that’s great.” But his face is stone cold and he’s still looking at Nat, “Buck?”

His eyes are hard as they look at Natasha. He’s known her for so many years, he knew something was wrong.

“What aren’t you telling us?” He asks lowly.

Your eyes fall as you look away from him and to everyone else in the room.

Nobody is happy or smiling.

It’s unnaturally solemn.

Nat pulls you aside and whispers, “We should let them talk in private.”

Your face falls.

“What? Nat, no. I’m part of this.”

Her face grows hard at your words.

“No, you’re not.” You gape at her and then at everyone else. They all hold that same look. “Please. I’m sure you’ll know soon enough, but at the moment this does not concern you.”

Bucky still looked distraught and fearful.

The whole interaction between you and Nat leaves Bucky on edge. He had a bad feeling. A really bad one.

You finally let her guide you outside and into the hall. You throw Bucky one last look over your shoulder.

The second the doors closes behind you, Bucky’s eyes dart towards the other individuals.

“Does someone finally want to explain to me what the hell is going on?” His tone is tart.

Loki’s face is nothing short of an upset. It’s obvious that if it were up to him, he would’ve been out of there in a heartbeat.

Scott looks between the two of them like a kid watching his two parents arguing.

“I think you should tell him, man.” Scott says, “Or at least let me tell him, the tension is killing it.”

“Quit it, Lang.” Nat snaps.

She takes Bucky’s elbow in her hands. He looks at her confused.

“We got the will, be happy about that. We did it. We can break this hold that you are under.” She says softly, looking into his eyes for any answers that there’s still underlying hope there for his sanity.

“Stop jumping around the bush, Romanoff.” He snaps quietly.

Nat’s eyes divert to Loki’s and he gives her a slight nod. A go-ahead for her to continue.

“There’s something you need to know.” She takes a deep breath and sits on the edge of her dark desk, her hands holding onto either side of it. Bucky swallows thickly and she feels bad for him. Her eyes drift away for a slight moment before looking back up. “When you and Ashlyn were still dating, Loki was with Y/N was he not?” She asks quietly.

Bucky looks at Loki for a fraction of a second.

“Briefly.” He answers curtly.

Natasha nods.

“What do you think went through his mind when he saw you that night?”

Her question makes Bucky’s gut boil in anger.

His face turns into a tight scowl as he takes a step closer to Loki.

His left-hand closes into a fist.

“You told-“ he starts, but Nat cuts him off with a hand to his chest. She pushes him slightly back away from Loki.

“Yes,” she says, “because there’s something else related to that.” Loki gives Bucky a slightly empathic look that makes him coward down a bit. Bucky took a deep breath and licked his lips, “Now answer my question.”

Bucky thinks about it for a moment.

“I don’t know, you tell me.” He says sharply.

“I was confused, Barnes.” Loki finally says, stepping closer to him.

Nat lets her arm drop off as Bucky’s attention goes back to Loki…again.

“Confused about what? The fucking weather? The hell are you talking about?” “Stop snapping at him, Bucky.  He’s here to help you. Stop taking out your anger on him just because he went out with her.” Nat groans, running her hands through her hair. There's a moment of silence between all of them when Nat finally motions back to Loki, “continue.”

Loki takes a deep breath and clears his throat.

“I was confused,” He repeats, “I thought to myself, that’s not right, something had to be wrong back at home for him to run after his girlfriend’s girl,” Bucky swallows thickly, looking away, “So, you know what, yeah,” Loki motions with his hand, “I did my own digging, and I found out what drove you away from her - your wife.”

Bucky eyes him narrowly, “Yeah. She was always away, always on her business trips and we drifted apart. She changed. We all know this.”

Loki’s eyes suddenly softened. Everyone in the room shares a look with each other and it makes Bucky’s skin boil.

He didn’t like it. He knew something was very wrong and it sat unwell with him.

He looks at each person, waiting for elaboration.

“I -I don’t think he needs an audience for this.” Loki whispers, shaking his head to himself.

Nat nods and Wanda’s already opening the door to leave.

It takes Scott a questioning look from Loki - go, man - for him to get the message and he’s hurrying out of his seat.

“Yep. Right. I don’t even know why I’m here,” He stops awkwardly in front of Bucky and gives him a weird pat on the arm, “okay, bye.” And scurries off.

Bucky peaks a brow up at Loki until everyone’s gone.

The final sound of the door closing is his cue.

He wants to keep his tough demeanor and he wants to appear bigger to Loki. It took him months to get the image of Loki fucking you out of his head.

When Loki had left, it did him well. Seeing him again, brought it all up again.

But he knew he had to hear Loki out. A long sigh leaves his lips and Bucky sees the tired look in his eyes as he waited for everyone to leave.

“I want to show you something.” Loki finally says, guiding Buck to behind Nat’s desk.

He opens the laptop next to it.

Bucky recognizes it immediately as he takes a seat on the leather chair.

“I’m surprised you kept it after you quit.” Bucky mumbles.

“Bucky, just-“ Bucky could now tell he was losing his cool as the man took a deep breath. The two share a look of truce and Bucky nods for him to continue.

“I had found something that day and I did find something,” Loki decides to dive right in. Milking this cow wasn’t going to make this any easier. He had to rip the bandaid, “It’s going to be very hard for you to see, man.”

“Stop stalling. Just show me.” Bucky sighs, running a hand up to his face.

Strange, his hand was clammy and sweaty. Was he nervous?

There’s a few clicking sounds here and there.

Finally, a thumbnail to security footage comes on.

Bucky eyes the date.

What could Loki possibly have to show him that was so old? This was before he ever started falling for you. He was still fully committed to Ashlyn at the time of this footage.

He still loved her during this time.

“I’m gonna play it, okay?”

Bucky doesn’t respond, he just waits for it.

He notices Loki stiffen, taking a deep breath. Then, he clicks play.

Bucky’s eyes sink into the image being shown to him. He recognized the hallway right away.

But he stills at the image of his father.

Of course, it was him, even in the black and white image, that silver hair was uncanny.

What really stilled his heart was the brunette wrapping her arms around his waist…

Bucky’s heart was in his ears...

…his hips…

His chest grew heavy.

…and lastly, his upper thighs as she sunk down to her knees.

Bucky’s could hear his blood flow and his chest grew frigid cold. He felt himself struggling to breathe correctly as he shut his eyes tightly together.

Loki quickly froze the image, knowing it was best to not show him anything else- nothing graphic.

Bucky was breathing hard as he pushed the chair away from the desk.

“Wha-“ he groaned painfully as he brought a wrist to his eyes, trying to rub the image out of his head, “Why are -“ He shook his head quickly back and forth, “No, that’s not—“

“Bucky.” He says calmly, closing the laptop.

Bucky continued to shake his head, a look of absurd pain on his face.

He felt sick. He was going to be sick, right here in Nat’s office.

He could feel it coming up his throat in heavy waves.

“If we just told you, you wouldn’t believe us. I won’t show you the rest.” Loki promises him.

A whimper escapes Barnes’ chest as he manages to swallow down whatever it was that was trying to come up his throat and Loki flinches.

Bucky’s left hand was clinging tightly to the armrest, his right hand still digging into his eyes as he rubbed them harshly.

No.

Loki looks away, not knowing how to deliver the next part. It had to happen.

He waits for a bit longer.

Bucky is the first one to speak after a few minutes, “Did they…?”

He knows what’s he’s asking and his face falls. He gives a short nod.

“They were, yeah.”

Bucky covers his face with both his hands now, dragging them till it fell off the edge of his chin.

He looked like he was praying, especially when he shut his eyes tightly together.

Loki hated this.

“Bucky, I- he knew I found out.”

Bucky swallows again, blinking his eyes open. “What?” “Your…father. He knew I had seen the footage. He interrogated me shortly after. He threatened my life if I ever said anything to anyone. It’s why I left.”

Bucky couldn’t believe it. It was so unlike his father. But yet his own dad had… another ball of nausea makes its way up his throat.

How could she?

Loki takes another deep breath, “I don’t know why, there might be a reason, somewhere we haven’t looked, but he left this footage available to us for a reason. He knew the camera was rolling. He wanted to be caught. Or maybe,” He licks his lips, clasping his hands together on his knee as he sat with one thigh on the desk, “or maybe get her caught.”

This was too much information for Bucky to take in.

He needed to lay down; none of this made sense.

“Loki, I can’t-“ his voice is pained and hoarse.

Loki nods. “I’ll get you some water.” He pushes himself off the desk and walks to the side where there’s a little bar cart. He pulls out a scotch glass and then opens a bottle of water.

The room is silent as he pours the water into the glass.

Bucky feels numb, shocked for the first time in his life, as he stares at the closed laptop.

He couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t real. No.

She wouldn’t.

He’s remembered of the fight he had with you the day he had asked Ashlyn to marry him.

“She wouldn’t cheat on me. She would never.”

He had been so certain of that.

He felt sick.

He doesn’t even notice the water is already in front of him.

He doesn’t take it, he couldn’t move.

Loki looks concerned as he places it on the desk with a clunk. He could see the poor man fuming.  He didn’t want to continue this. He knew that the guy was hurting. He couldn’t even imagine what he was feeling; what this felt like.

“I don’t want to continue doing this to you, I really don’t. But there’s more.”

Bucky’s breath hitches audibly as he looks up at Loki. His eyes are pleading.

There’s more? They ask. They almost squint it physical pain.

“I was able to hack into the international CCTV footage of when she had been away on those work trips.” Bucky’s face paled even further at his words, “I don’t have to show you if you don’t want to see it, but I do have it. It’s all in here.” He had a feeling he knew where this was going.

Bucky swallowed thick and was silent for a few long seconds. He eventually gives a short nod.

“You want to see them?” Loki asks breathlessly, “I could just tell you what they are. I know it’s hard —”

“I-“ he pulls his hand away from his mouth and groans. God this hurt him, “I want to see them.” He squeaks out, almost not even believing himself, “but not with you here.”

Loki nods, understanding completely.

“I’m just going to open it for you, and you can click play whenever you’re ready. There’s several of them.”

Bucky stills and then nods. Loki opens each tab.

Ten tabs, ten videos, ten different dates.

Son a bitch.

He wants to scream.

Ten fucking nights…

Loki leaves him to be, letting the door shut behind him.

Bucky doesn’t open it right away. He leans back, hand back to his mouth as he watches the thumbnails of each frozen video.

He was seething, his blood boiling under his skin like knives of steel.

Some of the thumbnails are alleyways in Paris, some are hotel lobbies, hotel hallways, one is even in a hotel bedroom where clearly cameras were allowed for some odd reason.

He doesn’t want to watch it, he fucking can’t pull himself to, but he knows part of him needs to see it to believe it.

His finger shakes as he moves up to press play on the first video.

He felt sick.

He’s thankful there's no audio in the CCTV videos.

The first one he watches is the hotel lobby, then he briefly watches the next nine.

He skims them, only trying to get a general idea of what he was seeing, but not wanting to taint his mind.

He’s shocked by the acts in them - kissing, oral sex, intimate holding. Obvious signs of a cheater.

What pisses him off more is the men. He’s surprised that only one of them had been his father.

He had expected all of them to feature him, that he had been her secret lover all along. He was wrong.

He recognizes the men. Hank, damn Tony-Effing-Stark.

He shakes his head again, trying to clear his eyes of all the burning tears in them.

This is what it felt like.

Dishonesty, betrayal, unfaithfulness.

Used.

He slams the laptop closed and stares at it in revulsion.

He feels the walls around him cave in, the walls he had trusted for so many years.

He had trusted and loved his own damn dad.

Bucky’s bottom lip trembled as he sucked in into his mouth.

He couldn’t take it.

Roughly, he pushes himself away from the desk and walks around it.

He was seeing red.

He opens the door to the hallway roughly, not surprised to see everyone else standing outside, waiting.

You grew intensely worried at the expression on his face. You could tell he was very angry about something.

You wish they could tell you what it was, but you knew he would tell you eventually.

You reach your arm out to grab him.

You could feel him breathing harshly out of his nose. He looks down at you, eyes blurred.

You see the tears in them as they beg to boil over.

“Bucky…” He sucks in a deep breath. “I’ll be okay. Go to your hotel for a bit, same one as last time,” he pulls out his wallet from his back pocket and hands you his card, “Nat can take you. Get another room. I’ll meet you there tonight. There’s something I need to do.”

He’s not in his head as he says it, you could tell his mind was somewhere else, you knew he had to do something and be somewhere else urgently.

You nodded blankly as you stared at the card, taking it from him.

And then he was gone.

Seven and a half years ago

[It's everything you wanted

It's everything you don’t]

He looked at her from across the table.

This beautiful girl had him wrapped around her finger. A chuckle left her lips as she swiped the whipped cream off his pancake, sticking it in her own mouth.

He gave her a bright smile.

“You’re beautiful.” He had said like it was the most natural thing in the world.

She smiled.

“Bucky, I — we’ve only known each other for a few weeks. Why do I feel like I’ve known you forever?” She says it quickly, but then laughs in disbelief, “I’m sorry, I can’t believe I said that.” Bucky grabs her hand on the table, “Hey,” he says softly, “No, I feel the same way.”

They stared at each other, not believing what was happening.

They were both so happy.

[It's one door swinging open

And one door swinging closed]

Present

Another shot of lightning flashes in the sky outside their multi-million dollar window, followed by a loud crackle of thunder.

It had been raining for two days straight and Ashlyn had just about had enough of it. She missed how everything used to be.

She missed how her life used to be with Bucky before shit hit the fan before she messed up.

Immense hope grew in her heart as she laid on her back on the soft, white Serena & Lily couch.

Her right hand dug into its luxurious fabric, her left rubbing her now empty tummy.

She took a deep breath as she closed her eyes tightly together.

The one strand of hope that she had left had been taken from her.

She felt alone for the first time in a very long time.

She knew she had been selfish, she knew that, but she had good intentions.

She hoped that whatever plan Steve had, that it would really help her get her man back, and the life she was supposed to live.

It had to before the truth came out.

She was terrified of losing it all.

Her eyes peak open at the ceiling above.

They had tall ceilings, about thirty feet high, but they closed in on her as she forced herself to listen to the soft creak of her front door opening.

After a few seconds, it closed softly. She tried to hear for heavy approaching footsteps, but it was hard to hear anything at all. It was almost as if whoever it was, they were purposefully trying to be quiet.

It was eery.

She sat up slowly, her one hand still on her lower stomach, the other now on the back of the couch to help pull her up into a sitting position.

She looked across the room towards her foyer.

Her heart hammered away inside of her as if it was seven and a half years ago all over again.

She had been afraid she would never feel that way again, yet here she was, hypnotized and enthralled.

She whispers his name like a prayer and his eyes dart up to meet hers in a heavy gaze.

His eyes are sunken, lighter than usual, and so was his skin. He was sickly pale.

Her eyes darted down, not seeing any luggage by his side.

She grew concerned at the sight of his tight fist as her eyes drifted. His other hand was trembling slightly.

It was quiet around them, too quiet. He was quiet.

Ironic. Considering the events of the last few days.

“Bucky?” She says again, this time concerned.

He looks at her and sucks in a deep breath.

For a moment, he seems like he’s going to turn away and give up, but then he turns back again, taking another step towards her.

“What’s going on?” Ashlyn asks. She doesn’t miss the way his hand and jaw clench.

He looks up at her- watching her - and examines the face of the woman he had loved once upon a time.

It sent a chill up his spine and it made his heart hurt. No way that face could belong to such an evil human being.

It was the same girl he had seen with the red hat and snowflakes in her hair, the one he had tried so hard to please, the one he had tried so hard to make it work with, the same girl he took to the Hamptons because he did love her.

He did.

Once upon a time.

He feels the anger, the betrayal, and the blood in his veins grow ice cold.

His mouth turns into a heavy snarl as he takes in her face, heavy tears clouding his vision.

He remembers it— the video.

“You-“ he starts, his voice is pure venom, like as if just the noun itself was distressful to him and it makes her physically shrink back, “You fucking —“ It comes out pained, almost inaudibly as he sucks his bottom lip into his mouth.

Ashlyn’s face crumbles.

He knew.

Part of her knows, the part that is so far back into her mind. The same part that had convinced herself that everything she had done to him wasn’t actually real.

Suddenly, like the strike of lightning outside, he comes for her.

It’s so fast she almost stumbles back in fear as to what he was going to do to her...

She cringes in terror, standing towards the middle of the living room. She blinks her eyes open at the lack of attack.

He stopped.

He barely made it more than four feet from where he was when she watches him take a deep breath, pulling hard on his hair.

A heavy whimper leaves his chest as he shuts his eyes, looking away from her. He curves into himself.

Ashlyn felt herself breathing heavily now too.

She didn’t know what to ask, what to do, where to go.

He sucks in a deep gasp, meeting her eyes again.

His eyes are drowned with hot, salty tears.

They fill his eyes to the brink, a few trickle out and travel down his cheeks.

He replays the images he had seen just earlier.

And then all eleven together.

He sobs and Ashlyn takes a tentative step closer to him until she’s around the other side of the couch.

His head falls as he shakes it back and forth.

No, no, no.

So many years for what?

He groans.

“How could you?” He asks. His head snaps back up to look at her, “How could you!” He screams.

She steps back again, terrified again.

Her heart was beating like crazy as he took in her mental state.

“Bucky, please just let me explain everything,” his head is shaking and his words don’t make sense as this lips move, but she’s stepping closer to him, she had to make it right, “Please, just let me explain,” she reaches up to touch his arm, “Please—“

He jolts.

His sadness quickly turns into aggressive anger, and he’s got her wrist in his hand, and her back up against the wall of their very expensive living room.

It’s coated in the off-white color paint that he had let her choose after they had gotten married.

Linen white, she had said.

He’s looking down at her, enraged. His hot breath was hitting off her forehead.

“Don’t fucking touch me again,” he growls. Ashlyn feels her own eyes fill with tears and she feels the pain of his grip on his wrist. He snarls again, pushing himself off of her, “you whore.” He seethes, not looking away from her.

Ashlyn’s face crumbles.

“You fucking disgust me.” He sneers, looking down her body in shame and loathing.

He never knew was true distaste was until now.

“Please.”  She whimpers.

More tears cloud his vision.

“I gave you everything you ever wanted and needed. I continued to chase you, I tried to make it right, and for what?” Ashlyn turns, her hair falling over the side of her face, “For fucking what!” He shouts, “I gave you this home, ourhome. After everything, I still tried to make it right, regardless of what I was going through, what we were going through. You made me think I was so horrible when the whole time you were—“ he sucks in a deep breath.

He felt that anger again.

He feels like he’s going to cry harder as he brings his hands to his eyes. He rubs them furiously.

He hears a whimper leave her lips.

He rips his hands off his face.

“Don’t you dare cry. Don’t you fucking dare.” He sobs, stepping farther away from her but raising his voice. It cracks with sobs, “you have no right.”

They stand there both crying.

He takes her in with his eyes and he shakes his head, almost just to himself.

“Why would you do something like that?”  He says weakly.

“I did it for us.”

Bucky’s face crumbles in confusion and anger, “You—you did it for us? You—“ he takes a deep breath, “You had sex —!“ he screams, but cuts himself off.

He feels that bile again. He was going to be sick.

His heart was aching.

Ashly shakes at his tone. Her wrist throbs.

“It didn’t mean anything.” She whispers, cowering towards the wall and holding her arm to herself.

Bucky glared at her.

“You fucked my own father.” Ashly crashes into herself as she collapses down onto her knees, “Who the fuck does that?” He spats at her, “Huh! You didn’t just cheat on me over and over again on your stupid work trips, but you had slept with my own dad.”

Ashlyn cries harder as she holds her hand to her chest.

Bucky’s chest moves rapidly up and down as he heaves.

“You have no right to cry. You have no fucking right! Fuck!” He spins around and slides the glass vase off the entry table.

It shatters to the floor.

Bucky runs his hands through his hair again as he tugs on it, sobbing.

How could she?

“You have no right. You have no right. You have no right.” He says it over and over again until it’s a whisper, “You never loved me. Not even when I loved you. You just wanted the money, the fucking power, it’s why you both signed the damn will.” He breathes harshly.

“It’s not,” Ashlyn shakes, pulling her knees to her chest, “It’s not.”

He looks down at her, repulsed.

“What, you can’t talk now? Huh?” He turns slightly to the other side towards the direction of the hallway, this time sliding the decor plates and wine glasses off the set dining table and onto the floor.

It’s loud.

Ashlyn’s sobbing grew more hysteric at the sound and so did Bucky’s whimper.

“You don’t even realize what you’ve done. What you did. You don’t know.”

Her lips were shaking and so were her hands.

“You cheated on me, too.”

Buck spins around, pointing a finger down in her face but from a distance, “Don’t!” He takes a deep breath and shakes his head, “Don’t you dare. No.”

Ashlyn sniffs harshly.

Her eyes go to the shattered glasses on the floor.

“So what’s your excuse? Was I not fucking you properly? Was I too young for you? Not rich enough? Not powerful enough? Pathetic? Didn’t love you enough? Didn’t have enough to offer you? Was I too kind to you?”

“No…” She digs her forehead into her knees.

This pisses Bucky off.

He knows he shouldn’t, he knew he already did wrong by almost hurting her wrist, but he wanted to drag her up forcefully up on to her legs.

She kept hiding away as if she was the victim.

“Look at me.” His tone is harsh. It takes a bit long but she does as he says. Her eyes were red. “Now stand up. Why?” He finally asks when she’s up.

“He made me.” It comes out frail.

Bucky tilts his head at her. Taunting.

“He made you? I saw the damn video. You wanted it. You wanted it good.”

Ashlyn covers her face with her hands.

“You don’t understand! He promised me it would help us. Help our future.”

Bucky makes a disgusted face.

“Help our future?” Ashlyn nods.

It takes a second for Bucky to connect the dots.

“You slept your way into getting the contracts.” It’s not a question. Bucky takes a deep breath, covering his face with his hands.

He curses as he walks into their living room, as he looks out the window into the thunderstorm.

“This is all possible because you fucking opened your legs to all those men? While you were with me? It’s how we pay for all our stuff like our goddamn TV?” He screams.

Ashlyn takes a deep breath.

“I—yes.” She says.

Bucky rubs the back of his head and a dry laugh leaves his lips as if to say that’s just great.

He continues to stall around the room, rubbing his head and face like a mad man.

“I loved you. I slept next to you every time you came back,” his voice dwindles down again to a whimper, “even after you did that with dad and I didn’t even know.” His voice is a pathetic cry again, “that’s so fucked.” His hands clasp together and go to his mouth. He tries to control his tears and the bile in his throat.

“You both lied to me, not just you. This whole life is a lie. You never loved me.” He says.

“Of course I loved you.”

This angers him. “No woman that loves her man would ever do something like that!”

“I hated it after every time, please. You need to believe me.”

Bucky takes a deep breath. He scoffs.

“Don’t you realize, you —“ he wants to call her degrading things. But he can’t bring himself too. Maybe he didn’t have it in him, “—it’s not how you felt when you did it or after, it’s what you did. It’s what you fucking did to me!”

“I know that now.” Bucky scoffs again.

“Now? Seven years later? Were you even going to tell me? Were you going to keep living this damn lie?” “Don’t even try that. You kept your secret about my sister from me for five years, Bucky! Five years!”

“I know! Okay? I Know. I should have told you after it happened. I know I messed up on that part. But the difference between you and me is that what I had done to you killed me! I still felt bad! What you did to me doesn’t even bother you! You don’t see how much this hurts me! How it fucking makes me feel.” Ashly wipes her nose on the back of her hand. “You gave me shit for sleeping with her. You slapped me when I told you.” Bucky eyes her up and down, disgusted, “Don’t you realize what I want to do to you for what you did to me for all those goddamn years? Yours was worst. You gave me shit, and what you did was worst!” He takes one of the books knick-knacks off the coffee table and throws it at the tv and it shatters, “you’re sick!”

After he screams it’s dead silent again.

“I’m so sorry.”

“No. You’re not. If you were sorry, you wouldn’t have done what you did in the first place. If you really loved me you wouldn’t have done this to us from the start. I didn’t destroy this relationship you did.” Bucky moves quickly towards where Ashlyn is and she’s scared.

He stares down at her.

“Tell me this. Did you ever love any of them? Hank? Stark?” Ashlyn looks away.

“Tell me, Ashlyn.”

“Stark and I got close, briefly. But it never turned into anything, I swear.”

Bucky nods.

“But you had feelings.”

Ashly doesn’t answer.

That itself is an answer to him and he looks away in disbelief. Like this couldn’t get any worse.

“Look what you did to everyone around you.” Bucky whispers, “Come on, take a look.”

Ashlyn doesn’t raise her eyes.

“Yeah, you know what, I did cheat on you. We hurt you bad, but you need to take fucking responsibility for your shit and own up to the consequences of the awful decisions you made. You think you can just fuck your way around to the top? For some material gold and material satisfaction? You think that’s the key to a healthy marriage? News flash, I’m not my fucking father. I would never do the things he did. Not in a million years. I’m a good man, I know that now. I fucking know it. I would never do that —.” Bucky looks back at her again. “Jesus, fuck. I can’t even look at you anymore, you make me sick.”

Bucky takes a deep breath and looks around his home. He takes in the shattered vase, the plates, and glass.

The vicious anger from earlier has dissipated. He was still equally as upset, but his mind has defogged.

“This isn’t a home anymore. At least not yours.”

Ashlyn’s face falls at his words.

“Bucky—.”

“I’ll find a place for you to stay, but you’re out of here. I want you out of here.” He looks at the shattered glass, “I’ll take care of the mess like I always do. It’s not your stuff anyway.”

“I worked for this stuff, too—after he died and after the affairs, I still worked just like you! This is my hard work, too.”

“You married into this. This is mine. The only thing that is rightfully yours is that damn china in the fucking kitchen cabinet and all your fucking clothes. Because that’s all you spent our money on, anyway. Let me ask you one more thing? Are you sure that was the last time?” “Of course it was." “Really? Because I remember you going away not too long ago on another business trip where I couldn’t be. And all those late nights at the office, were you fucking Stark then, too?”

Ashlyn’s heart hurt at his words. “That was a real business trip,” she screams, her finger pointing behind her in the air, “I devoted myself to you one hundred percent the last few years of our marriage.” Bucky scoffs, “I love you.”

“Love. This isn’t love. This is obsession. You’re obsessed with the idea of the life you want to live, you don’t love me.”

She snarls.

“And she does?” “Yes! And I love her, too.” This stuns Ashlyn and she physically recoils, “We love each other. We have respect for each other.” Ashlyn scoffs, “What the hell is wrong with you?”

She says nothing.

Bucky takes another look around.

“Tonight you can stay, or you can find somewhere to stay. I could care less. I don’t want to see you right now, or possibly ever again. I’ll find someone that will you find a place, but you’re not living here anymore.”

“You’re gonna throw me out into the street like a dog? What, you’re just expecting me to let you bring my little sister here to live in my house and replace me?” “Actually, no, you’re right. You can keep this place. I never liked it anyway, I only got it for you. I just hope you’ll be able to pay for it all when you’re out of a goddamn job.”

Bucky turns back towards the direction of his front door, preparing to leave.

“I’ll move out.”

He leaves his home feeling no better than when he had gotten there.

Betrayal was an awful feeling.

He wouldn’t wish it on his worst enemy, not even his father, the man who literally fucked him over.

He still couldn’t wrap his mind around it.

Most of it didn’t make any sense.

Why would his dad do that to him? Why would he want his own son to find out?

How could someone be so sick? How could Ashlyn be so sick?

To add to his nausea, he felt a migraine coming on.

He had pulled out his cell when he got to the same hotel you had been staying at before and texted you, asking for your room number.

1335. come up whenever you’re ready.

Your message had said.

He pressed the button to your floor - 13 - quite harshly. He couldn’t get to you any faster.

You opened on the first knock and the first thing he did when you opened the door, was kiss the life out of you.

Just a peck, but enough to leave you breathless.

You pull away from him with your hands to his face. You would never get tired of that.

You look at him tenderly and his eyes are so bloodshot that your heart sinks.

This man had been hurt so badly.

You run your thumb over his cheek and then lower your hand, taking his in your own.

You pull him in and close the door softly behind him.

It’s then that Bucky sees Steve sitting on your bed in a tux.

Steve gives him a short wave.

What was going on now? He couldn’t take it anymore. He really couldn’t.

You take his hand back in yours and you pull him over to your bed between you and Steve. Your touch comforts him a bit.

It’s then that Bucky noticed the piece of paper in Steve’s had.

“What’s going on?” Bucky asks. You rub his arm softly up and down.

“Tell him, Steve.” You say.

Steve takes a deep breath.

“Ashlyn thinks I’m helping cover her. I used her credentials to log into George’s and hers files. This is the supposed copy of your father’s will,” Bucky’s swallowed bile at the mention of his father, “the one Ashlyn signed.”

Steve hands Bucky the form.

Bucky looks at it. But sees nothing out of the ordinary.

“That’s Ashlyn’s copy.”

“Okay…”

Steve clears his throat and hands him another paper.

It looks the same, but a bit different in shade, and missing Ashlyn’s page.

“This was your father’s original copy.” A weird feeling creeps up Bucky’s back, “Do you see the difference?”

Bucky nods.

“The original is missing Ashlyn’s signature.” “The original,” Steve corrects, “Is a real.”

Bucky shakes his head. He looks at you and then back at Steve.

His head was still spinning. He still felt so, so sick.

“I don’t understand.” He breathes.

Steve took a deep breath. “The one she signed was a fake.”

@wxntersoldxer16 @void-imaginations @heykarsyn @avashroom @sarcastic-and-cool @lunaticbarnes @benhardygalileo @wildmavs @runaway-escape @stevieboyharrington @kimvmarvel @chipilerendi @hardygal69  

[michellejackson]

Fandom: Druck

Pairing: Fatou Jallow/Kieu My Vu

Wordcount: 1559

PART ONE  PART TWO

Fatou’s POV

Fatou had known she was in love with Kieu My ever since they first met. At first, before she really got to know her, Kieu My’s smile would be so few, secretive and small, and she would always be closed off to whoever talked to her. Getting to know her was hard at first, but when she was finally let in, she knew it was all worth it. Her smiles had turned big and radiant, no sun could even compare. Most importantly though, she would give you all she had, all she was, unapologetically.

This is why Fatou meant it was a privilege to know Kieu My well, to see sides of her no one else would. It’s also why she knew she could never tell Kieu My that she was in love with her.

Kieu My had been acting strange lately. Fatou couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment it started, but in the last few weeks she’s been really closed off somehow, and it worried her. She had begun to recycle the same excuses, school, work and her parents. And while Fatou believed her at first, she started to doubt her after an afternoon spent accompanying Kieu My’s parents, because Kieu My wasn’t dressed yet. She quickly found out that none of these things were an active issue. She was way ahead on her schoolwork, work was quiet, and her parents were supportive of her as always. So, what was the problem?

“What are you daydreaming about now?”

Yara’s voice snapped her out of it. Fatou forgot she was there for a bit and now she felt guilty. They were laying on the ping pong table in the middle of the school yard, wasting away the free hour. She laughed and apologized for not giving Yara enough attention. Yara didn’t seem to mind though.

Fatou liked hanging with Yara and had grown close to her the last few weeks. She guessed their similar situations of unrequited love had made them close.

It all started on New Year’s Eve.

-

Fatou and Kieu My had been sitting on a sofa far away from the rest of the party. Kieu My had been laying in Fatou’s lap, rambling about space, and Fatou had fallen in love with her all over again. It was beginning to feel like a curse, really, her unrequited love. And then Kieu My had stopped talking and started to look around.

“Who do you think should have the honor of being my new year’s kiss?” She’d said it jokingly, but Fatou knew she was really looking. So, she made a big show of pretending to think. “What about…… Nora”

“She has a boyfriend, you know this, she’s your friend” she smiled her big smile, with teeth and everything. “Indeed, it was a test, my dear Kieu My.” She laughed, waiting for Fatou to find someone else.

“Ava?”

“Are you trying to set me up with your friend group? Who’s next? Mailin?” Fatou pretended to think about it before she answered, “no, I don’t think you would be a good match to be honest” she said innocently and Kieu My snorted.

“The guy from biology?”

“No”

“William,”

“no”

“Constanti-”

“hard pass.”

“oh, so the others aren’t a hard pass?”

“Shut up.”

“What about one of those folks who already graduated? Nora’s sisters’ friends? That dude in the grandpa sweater is kind of cute”

“too old”

Fatou lets out an exasperated sigh and throws her hands up in the air to symbolize that Kieu My is impossible. Kieu My just laughs. “God, I’m gonna end up alone” she throws herself onto Fatou’s lap again and Fatou’s hand automatically goes to play with her hair.

Hours later she loses Kieu My and ends up walking around looking for her. It was almost midnight and she wanted Kieu My’s face to be the first one she saw in the new year. Pathetic, she knew. She found Yara instead.

“Hi, Yara, have you seen Kieu My?”

She had to look down at her, seeing that she’s crouching, trying to set fire to a rocket. She looked up at her when she spoke and smiled, her eyes red. Before Yara gets to answer, Fatou opens her mouth again,

“are you okay?”

The girl had clearly been crying. She brushed her off though,

“I’m fine. You know how it goes, you fall for someone, they fall for someone else, they spend the rest of their existence talking about them to your face until you have to excuse yourself to cry and then in an effort to let out all of your frustration you want to fire up a rocket to go up and away with your sorrow, but your lighter doesn’t work-” she sniffs “you know, the usual”.

Fatou didn’t know what to say, so she just stood there like an idiot. She did know. So she had offered the only type of support she could think of, “want a hug?” She opened her arms and Yara accepted immediately.

“So who’s the lucky person?” Fatou asked softly into her hair. Yara buried her face into Fatou’s neck.

“Ava”

Ahh, “Marc, huh?”

She nodded.

“I don’t like him either, to be honest” she’d said then, in an effort to brighten the mood.

“He fucking sucks”, Yara had mumbled back.

“You’ve talked to him?”

“Nope”

Fatou laughed and let go of the hug then, cupping Yara’s face instead. She stared to brush away Yara’s tears, and she didn’t plan on saying these words to anyone, let alone someone she barely knew.

“I’m in love with Kieu My” She said, almost deflating as the words left her mouth. She’d finally admitted it out loud. She still hadn’t looked away from Yara, and she could see as her face twisted into something close to confusion. Frankly, she was not expecting the response she got.

“You’re not dating?”

Yara gave her a puzzled look, and Fatou gave her one in return, “what? no.”

“Oh, I’m sorry”

They both just looked at each other for a while, the silence dragging out, until they both just burst out laughing.

“You wanna dance?” Fatou asked, and Yara said yes.

As they danced, waiting for the clock to strike twelve, Fatou felt free somehow, with her truth out in the universe. And Yara looked happy too as they both danced closer to each other, until they were inches apart. She looked up at Yara, and Yara looked down at her, their noses were brushing and Yara looked to the side before opening her mouth to speak,

“She’s looking at us”

Fatou knew who she was talking about, and she knew it was ridiculous, but some part of her wished for Kieu My to be jealous, wished for her to want her, just a little. She didn’t know what compelled her to do it, maybe she wanted Kieu My to see her with someone, or maybe she just wanted to confirm to herself what she already suspected, that Kieu My would never want her like she wanted her. Well, for tonight, she could pretend.

She knew it was ridiculous, but she did it anyways, she closed the gap between their lips and focused of Yara, forcing Kieu My off her mind.

-

“Is it Kieu My again?” Yara asked, all knowing as always. Fatou just nodded. Yara sat up and gestured for Fatou to do the same. She looked at her with a serious look as they sat cross-legged across from each other.

“I think you should tell Kieu My how you feel.”

She said this with a straight face, and if Yara hadn’t looked so serious as she did, Fatou would’ve laughed.

“What makes you think that’s a good idea?”

“Because she’s totally in love with you, Fatou!” Fatou just looked at her with utter disbelief.

“No, okay, listen, she’s always looking for you, ALWAYS, and she’s always looking AT you, like,, like right now, she’s literally staring at you right now,”

Fatou turned and met with brown eyes. Well… she got one thing right. She smiled and waved before turning to Yara again.

“That proves nothing.”

“sure it doesn’t, well, she didn’t kiss anyone on new year’s eve so that must tell you something!” Yara looked at her with wide eyes.

“Because she got too drunk, I took her home after, she didn’t feel well”

Yara looked at her as if to say “aha!”, but Fatou just rolled her eyes, “that doesn’t prove anythi-”

“did she get drunk before or after we made out?”

That made her stop to think. Did she get drunk before or after they made out? Kieu My hadn’t been drinking much when they were together… but that didn’t prove anything, right? She really couldn’t afford to get her hopes up for this.

“let’s talk about something else…” she tried to dodge the subject, but Yara looked at her with a look that said that she got her.

Fatou tried to look back in time, she had noticed that Kieu My had been acting strange, but could it have started after NYE? After the kiss? Could she be jealous? No… and even if it did start after NYE, it didn’t guarantee that it was because of her and Yara. But… what if that was the case?

Maybe… maybe she should try to talk to Kieu My about this after all.

[k7l4d4]

Midnight Striga: Fairy Tail/Owl House Cross Fic Episode 6 Part 7

And here we are, the final section of Midnight Striga, episode 6! Everybody Clap Your Hands!!

“Well, well, the piggy came through after all.” A deep voice growled out, cutting through the haze of pain in Eda’s mind. Thudding steps crept closer, before a kick lashed out, catching on Eda’s ribs. “And here I was thinking I’d have to waste my time hunting my target down.” He laughed.

Forcing her head up, Eda squinted at the figure before her. The first thing that came to mind was ‘Dang he is TALL!’ Which was true; her attacker was a hulking figure, easily towering even Eda’s own impressive height. His skin was a dark, almost bloody, red, stretched tight against a chiseled musculature. If Eda had been told he didn’t actually have skin, she’d believe it just due to how defined his physique was. His arms were just slightly too long for his body, hanging just short of his knees, with his legs being highly animalistic, with backwards joints and two pad-like toes. A harsh face stared down at her, eyes marked by prominent tear canals, short-cropped hair, and just plain freaky ears, basically looking like hollowed-out boxes hooked to his skull. He grinned down, carnivorous teeth bared to strike. Eda resisted the urge to shudder.

“I have no clue who you are,” Eda started, covering up her nervousness with a helping of bravado, “But I don’t have time to waste on some muscle-head!” She shouted, casting a trio of fireballs into her opponent’s face, leaping backwards to make distance between them. To her shock, he easily swatted her attack aside, closing the distance in a single leap, his arm swinging down. “GAH!” Eda shouted, pain flaring as her attacker slammed her into the ground.

“Way too slow.” He almost gloated, gazing down inscrutably. Without turning, his arm lashed out, catching King by the throat during his sneak attack. He looked at the struggling demon incredulously. “Did you actually think that would work!?”

“S-Silence peasant!!” King cried, struggling as much as he could in the larger warrior’s grasp. “As the King of Demons, I must act in the defense of my people!” He shouted. The figure blinked, cocking his head in confusion, before bursting into laughter. “What’s so funny!?”

“You!” The enemy laughed. “You, a King of Demons!? That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard!!” His chuckles subsided, giving King a side-eyed glance. “Go play with the pig.” He said dismissively, casually chucking King behind him towards a giggling Tibbles. He cracked his neck. “Now, where were we?” He asked, only to blink at Eda disappearing from her previous position. His ears honed in on a sound from the left, prompting him to whirl around to defend, catching the pillar of stone in his fist. “Ha! You think that’s enough to-” Further words were cut off as a bolt of lightning crashed down on him, a pair of thorn-laden vines whipping out to pull his legs out from under him. “GURYAH!!” He screamed, pain rushing through him at the energy surging through his back, mitigated by the surge grounding out through his arm to an extent.

Scowling, he slammed his remaining arm into the ground, holding himself parallel. With a roar, he whipped his torso around, ripping the vines holding his legs out of whatever was anchoring them, slashing them through the environment. Market goers ran in panic, instantly recognizing the danger of the raging warrior before them. With a force of effort, he called on the unique magic of his body, warping his legs into scythes, cleaving through the spells Eda launched from the underbrush during his rotation. With a savage grin, he launched into the air, cackling in glee at the potential challenge.

Groaning, King picked himself out of the rubble he had crashed into, embarrassed at the ease of his dispatch. “That impudent punk just made my list.” He growled. Breathing deep, he allowed his spell to build up some more, perfectly willing to risk blasting his throat to bits to hurt his enemy. His reckless action was cut short by the raucous laughter echoing from his left. Turning sharply, he glared at the sight of Tibbles howling in laughter.

“Ohohohoho!! That was a good one! You, challenge him!? That’s hilarious!” Tibble cackled, uncaring of King’s mounting temper. Tibbles clapped his hands, leering menacingly at the smaller demon. “But I must say, you would most certainly catch a tidy profit if I sold you to recoup my… losses.” He hissed, glancing in anger at the damage done to his stand/shop. “Whether you are alive or dead during the sale is honestly irrelevant, there is a buyer for everything.” He tacked on as an afterthought.

“How dare you contemplate selling your King!!” King shouted, his spell unraveling at his shift in priorities. Marching forth, heedless of Tibbles greater size and menacing attitude, he defiantly pointed at the Pig-like demon’s chest, leaning forward in what was probably meant to be a menacing gesture.

Tibbles blinked, dumbfounded, before his laughter resumed, louder than ever. “You actually are serious!! And here I just thought you were a little twerp with a superiority complex! But no, you’re just crazy! A King? You!? King of what?” Tibbles taunted, looming over King, who was still oblivious to his position. Tibbles pulled out a coin, flipping it in his hand, a mocking girl on his face. “You’re as much a King as this coin is edible.” Catching the coin on its descent, he pointed it at King, a sickening leer on his face. “Money Magic: Loan Shot!” The coin became encased in a golden glow, much to King’s alarm, before firing forth like a rocket, slamming into King and into the background. Chuckling at King’s undignified slump against the tree ahead of him, Tibbles calmly pulled out another coin. “Who knew reading that little book would grant me such a fun toy?” He muttered to himself, relishing the power he now wielded.

“How did a punk like you get access to this kind of Magic!?” King yelped, scrambling to his feet, yanking at the coin sticking to his chest from where it landed. “And why won’t this stupid thing come off!?” He demanded, wincing at the sting his struggles were causing.

Tibbles grinned, relishing the loud-mouthed demon’s discomfort. “Why, I loaned it to you!” He cheerfully explained. “With my Money Magic, I can completely control any form of money, so long as it’s mine, of course! And you can do oh so many wonderful things with money; you can spend it, hoard it, invest it, or even… loan it.” He stated, a bevy of coins floating into the air behind him, encased in golden light. “Speaking of… Money Magic: Loan Rush!” He shouted, his spell crashing into King again, pinning him against the tree. “Loan Pressure!” He commanded, grinning as his coins constricted around King’s body, drawing a harsh cry from the little demon. “Now what was that you said about being King?” He taunted, smirking at King’s pained glare.

“Demon King’s Rocking Roar!” King shouted, his spell ripping through his metallic bonds. Tibbles' eyes widened in shock, before he leapt clear of the blast of solidified sound. “Like I said, I’m the King of Demons!” He screamed, his spell shifting direction to bear down on Tibbles again.

Recovering from his shock at the spell, Tibbles snorted, already prepping another spell. “Well, for a King, you aren’t much of a strategist.” He commented, his coins linking into a chain. “Loan Shackle!” With a flash, his chain whipped forward, catching around King’s leg, slamming him against the ground, tossing him skyward, before pinning him against the ground. “A spell that renders you immobile isn’t very tactically sound. Loan Coiling!” His coin whip crawled across King, tightening around his torso and throat, choking him off. Tibbles waddled over, staring down at the smaller demon in disappointment. “And here I was hoping you’d be interesting enough for me to sell you to Oroboros. A pity.” He shrugged, unconcerned at King’s frantic struggles for air.

“I can’t believe you knew the Conjuring was going to fail.” Amity grumbled, giving a cheekily grinning Luz a weak grin, who merely shrugged. Amity sighed. “Well, at least now we know better for next year.”

“Yeah, it could’ve been worse.” Skara commented, shrugging in disappointed acceptance of the situation. At the questioning looks she received, she explained, “We could’ve ended up accidentally directing the spell into something outside, like a corpse or something. Icky, right?” At her explanation, nods went up around the group. Nobody enjoyed dealing with the risen dead, not even Oracles. Especially not Oracles, actually, as they were usually the ones who got drafted to deal with them, as Selena’s frustrated scowl indicated.

“Yeah, moving corpses are so annoying,” Luz grunted, her nose scrunched up at the thought. She glanced at Amity. “Are you sure you can convince your parents to let Neon and her guards stay?” She asked, pointing a thumb at the group in question, as Neon frantically shoveled the left-over treats into her gullet even as her guards tried to get her to slow down in case she choked, Bo and Cat joining them in convincing the flighty girl, trying to pull her away from the treats manually.

Amity rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry, I know how to handle my parents. As long as I keep them on the back foot, I can control the flow of the discussion, and browbeat them into agreeing, which they’ll be honor-bound to hold up.” She explained, oblivious to the concerned glances her casual explanation as to how she planned on negotiating with her parents, and of the implications that she had to resort to such measures with her relatives, stirred up.

“Okay.” Luz dubiously agreed, packing up the leftovers for King and Eda. “If you’re sure.”

“I am.” Amity assured her, a small grin on her face. “Now, it’s getting late, so I think we should all head to our own homes, don’t you think?” She asked rhetorically, facing the group. At the slightly nervous whispers of her friends, not counting Willow and Gus, Amity added, “And I’ll have my family’s abomination servants accompany you all to your homes to ensure your safety.” This seemed to convince them. And with that, the party ended, the guests bidding their farewells and making last minute plans for the immediate future, Amity personally seeing them all out the door.

With a sigh, she turned to her remaining guests, hopefully to soon be long-term guests under her and her family’s hospitality. She lightly clapped her hands, drawing the attention of Neon and her guards. “Now then. Let’s see if I can convince my family to let you stay here, shall we?” She asked, a pleasant grin on her face, amusement dancing in her eyes.

Eda clicked her tongue, frustrated at the durability of her enemy. “What does it take to keep this muscle-head down?” She muttered, twirling up a pair of spells to catch him between. With a smirk, she launched them, laughing as he smashed into the fireball, only for the ice blast to clip him from the side. Her smirk faded, however, as his arms warped, distended, and stretched, lashing out at her hiding spot from several meters away! Tucking into a roll, she called up one of her owl pillars, launching the writhing, hooty-inspired spell at her persistent foe. The good news, her spells managed to pin his arms. The bad news, he just torqued his body, ripping himself free in moments, crashing into the ground before her. He grinned ferally.

“This is fun!” He exclaimed, his eyes alight with genuine amusement at the brawl. “What’s your name, Witch?” He demanded, eyes narrowing in focus.

Eda blinked. “Wait a minute, you’ve been fighting me… and you don’t even know my name!?” She shouted incredulously, her annoyance rising at the simple nod he gave her. With a growl, Eda dragged her hand down her face. “It’s Eda Clawthorne, also known as Eda the Owl Lady.” She bit out, scowling in anger, hands tight around her staff.

“Eda… Eda…” He mulled over, almost tasting the name. “Ah! Now I remember! You were on the example list!” He exclaimed, a pleased grin crossing his features. “That’s honestly a relief, I really didn’t want to kill a fighter as clever as you. Not many people can give me this good of a warm-up.” He stated, oblivious to the wary shock and indignant anger bubbling inside of Eda. “My name is Menthuthuyoupi, captain of the Chimera Tribe Royal Guard.” He stated, giving a shallow boy.

“Mentuthoo-whatnow?” Eda said blankly, her mind uncomprehending of the bizarre turn this fight had taken.

“Eh, you can just call me Youpi.” He stated with a shrug, unbothered. “Anyway, my orders are to demonstrate to you the difference between you Boiling Islanders and we of Oroboros. Since I’ve already shown that I can shrug off your spells without much hassle, the next part is for me to give you an example of the carnage I can induce when going all out.” He finished, putting a finger into the air in emphasis.

“What are you-?” Eda began, only to stop at what happened next, going pale. In a blur, Youpi whipped his way through the remaining crowds of the Night Market, uncaring of who or what got in his way. With a scream of blood-crazed rage, he bodily ripped his way through each and every witch and demon to cross his path, physically tearing them in half without a care, tossing their mangled corpses to the sides. As he continued to rage, his body pulsed and swelled, shifting and growing in step with his temper and his screams. As he grew, vents opened up along his arms, flames and heat lashing out from the rips in his body, incinerating any poor fools caught in his wake. With a scream of unbridled hate and anger, Youpi leapt into the air, his distorted body twisting around him, before slamming into the ground, an earth-rattling explosion ripping out from his form. Eda dropped to her knees, shaking. The Night Market… was gone. The entire street razed to stone, the bodies of all those in it either gone or seared into the walls as shadowed outlines. She froze, unable to move, as Youpi returned to their spot.

“Well, that was boring.” He lamented, lazily stretching himself out. “But what can I say, carnage and destruction are things I can do pretty easily, especially when my targets don’t fight back. Welp, I’ll be seeing you around, Owl Lady. Try and get rid of that curse of yours, that way we can have a good-old battle to the death.” He casually stated, walking off into the night.

“My, he certainly doesn’t know how to hold back, does he?” Tibbles stated, standing not even four feet from Eda. For some reason, she couldn’t marshal the effort to attack him. Glancing towards Eda, Tibbles let out a taunting tisk. “What’s this? The big bad Owl Lady too scared to move? Well, I suppose it makes sense when confronted with something of that sheer force.” He mocked.

Partially snapping out of her daze, Eda’s arm whipped out, catching the smug demon by the throat. “Where’s King?” She growled, unconcerned for her own safety at the moment.

Tibbles flailed, desperate to move and get away from the angry, and not-at-all-cowed witch before him. “I left him tangled up in my spell back by my shack!” He squealed, desperately grasping at his throat to unblock his airways. “Please! Let me go! I can’t breathe!”

Eda was very tempted to just strangle the little sleaze, but she had bigger things to worry about. With an annoyed sigh, she dropped him, running off for King’s location. Tibbles' eyes narrowed. “You will pay for that indignity, Owl Lady. So swears Tibblet-Tibblie Grimm Hammer III.” He whispered, slinking off after Youpi. The powerful demon genuinely didn’t like Tibbles, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t keep Tibbles from harm, even if only to potentially get a nice fight out of whoever or whatever Tibbles managed to piss off.

Scanning the area, Eda zoomed in on King, eyes widening in panic at his slowing struggles against the coins constricting around his throat and chest. “King!” She shouted, rushing over. With a shout, she slammed her staff across the coins, scattering them. King bolted up, gasping for air, his eyes wide with panic at his near death. “How you feeling buddy?” Eda asked, concern etched across her voice.

“I think I need some more training.” King wheezed out, eyes roving the destruction surrounding them.

“Yeah,” Eda muttered, scanning the ruined market around them. She slung King over her shoulders, noting his lack of protest for the warning sign that it was, and hopped onto Owlbert, taking off before the Coven Guards and Scouts could catch them, “I’m thinking I might need some too.”

With a deep breath, Amity pushed her way into her father’s lab, where he was still tinkering away at his latest project, her mother perched next to him, enjoying some tea, and looking far more composed than before. “Mother, Father.” She stated, calmly announcing her presence.

“Mittens, dear!” Odalia stated cheerily, patting the spot next to her. “Come, come! Your father and I were just discussing what to do about Miss Nostrade and her companions.” She said, a gleam shining in her eyes.

Amity’s own eyes widened, before narrowing in consideration. “I see.” She stated noncommittally. Walking up next to her mother, she sat down next to her, grudgingly accepting the drink she was offered. “I came here to request that we offer refuge for Miss Nostrade and her guards.” She said, gaze level.

“Why, what a wonderful idea!” Odalia cried, eyes bright with amusement. “Your father and I were discussing the exact same thing.” She added, lightly patting her daughter’s head, prompting Amity to flush. “I must say, the idea of that poor girl out there on the streets, unable to procure shelter and reliable food and water, is truly heartbreaking.” She sighed, Amity rolling her eyes at the theatrics. Odalia clapped her hands. “Plus, having such capable fighters around to defend not only their charge, but also our property and persons would most definitely be a fine boon to us!”

Amity growled, frustrated at having been outplayed so rapidly. “Yes, indeed, Mother.” She bit out, causing Odalia and Alador to send her slightly disapproving looks. Forcing herself to calm down, Amity continued in a more even tone. “I will inform them of this development at once.” 

“Of course dear, of course! But before you do…” Odalia smirked, flipping the switch for the Panic Room. In a flash, the twins exited, Emira instantly rushing for Amity, and Edric rushed for the bathroom. Odalia chuckled at her youngest child’s borderline profane shouts to be released, even as Emira insisted on holding her forever and never letting go. It was simply adorable!

“Hey guys, I’m home and- WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED!?” Luz shouted, dropping the leftovers to the floor. Crashed onto the couch were King and Eda, both battered and bruised with distant gazes. Rushing over, she frantically fussed over the two, pulling out her emergency aid kit, bandaging wounds as needed, applying antibiotics, and even forcing the two to chug some internal cleansing potions for good measure.

“*Cough, hack!* Yeesh, kid, don’t blow your top!” Eda exclaimed, breaking out of her stupor at Luz’s frantic antics. Forcing Luz back, she insisted, “I’m fine, kid. Just had a run-in with some of Oroboros’ goons. Turns out the guy me and King were going to buy from was a sellout and the whole thing was a trap.” She finished glumly, slumping downward.

Luz bit her lip, understanding their frustration. “Did you at least get the potions?” She broached, hoping that it hadn’t been for nothing.

Wordlessly, King pointed to the counter, where a crate of Potions sat, ready to ingest. Luz sighed in relief at that. She turned back to Eda, “So, who was it you fought?” 

Eda shrugged, wincing at the motion. “Some red-skinned guy. I can’t remember his name, but I think he was some kind of demon, and he was REALLY strong. Wiped out the entire market in seconds when he got serious.”

Luz whistled. Not many in Oroboros had that much raw, destructive power, not that she knew them all, and even those that did weren’t necessarily the strongest, merely the best at causing chaos in terms of damage. “Yikes. What’s up with King?” She asked, hoping to shift the topic.

Eda snorted. “Apparently that Grimm Hammer guy, who prefers to go by Tibbles for some insane reason, got some magic when he signed up and whipped King’s butt with it. He’s been like that ever since we got back.”

“Training.” King piped up, focusing. He turned to Luz, an intense light burning in his eyes. “I need it. More training. Can you help me?” He asked. Luz gulped, caught off guard by the intensity, but ultimately nodded. King relaxed a tiny bit, staring forward. “Good.” He looked down at his paws, clenching them into fists. “That’s good.”

[moeruhoshi]

Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed

I wrote this for @petri808 for the NaLu fanfiction gift exchange! @hazel-got-fanfiction

Sorry this took me so long! I kept falling asleep while I was writing it lmao

~000~

Natsu smacked his lips and stretched his arms over his head, a low growl in his throat as he did so. His jaw lowered itself as he let out a loud yawn, his small body lifting as he sat up. Igneel stood at the edge of his son’s bed as he watched the fledgling roll out of bed, raising a brow as he walked right past him.

“Natsu? No good morning hug?” The Dragneel father was surprised that the pink-haired boy didn’t immediately rocket himself from his sheets to glomp him with an insanely tight hug; which is why Grandine refused to wake him up.

The young dragon didn’t bother answering his father as he waddled himself over to the bathroom to do his morning routine. 

“Need any help with that?” He stifled a snicker as Natsu frustratedly pulled a t-shirt over his head and rolled around to tug on his pants. 

Igneel watched as Natsu struggled to haul himself from stepstool to stepstool, almost missing the bowl as he fell half-asleep in front of the toilet and haphazardly brushing his teeth with toothpaste foam dripping from his bottom lip. From there, he pushed past his father again and grumpily threw off his pajamas and began rifling through his dresser for an outfit.

“Leave me alone,” Natsu glared at his dad while he pulled on his socks on. “Igneel.”

The older dragon was stunned, though not very surprised. The six-year-old only called his father by his first name whenever he was upset...but was there anything for him to be upset about?

He followed the small stomps Natsu produced as he went down the stairs, Gradine sliding Wendy into her high chair as they approached the dining room table.

“Good...morning, Natsu,” The sky dragon frowned as Natsu pushed her face aside as she bent down to give him a kiss, and continued forward until he was seated for breakfast.

“I think someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning,” Igneel shrugged to his confused wife.

“I see,” She hummed before walking into the kitchen and returning with two plates. “I at least hope you have an appetite, little boy. I made waffles and I know how much you like them with chili mangos,”

They sighed as the young dragon at least began eating, but the crease between his brows failed to unfold. Not even the sight of Wendy awkwardly shoving spoonfuls of mashed blueberries in her mouth seemed to be able to put him in a better mood.

“Is there something wrong, Natsu? Did you have a bad dream last night?” Grandine asked as she watched him angrily chew on a mango chunk.

“You leave me alone too, Grandine. I’m not a baby,” Natsu spat, his mother taken aback by his harsh tone of voice.

“That’s no way to talk to your mother, Natsu. Either you use your words or I’ll have to send you to your room,” Igneel sighed as the fledgling glared endlessly at him. He grumbled as he stabbed his fisted fork into a slice of his waffle, mildly nibbling at it before he sighed and stood up on his chair.

“I’m upset today,” He said a matter of factly with his hands planted on his hips.

“We can see that, Natsu.” The red-haired man rolled his eyes. “But we don’t understand why, so you have to tell us more if you want us to help you,”

The little dragon huffed and sat down again, taking a quick swig from the sippy cup of chocolate milk that sat beside his plate.

“I want to see Lucy,” He said as he crossed his arms, a large heft of the weight on his shoulders seeming to disappear.

“...who’s Lucy?” Igneel shook his head at Grandine’s question; he really had absolutely no idea who this supposed Lucy was.

“She’s Lucy,” Was all that Natsu responded with as he continued to eat, unbothered by the confused and exasperated looks his parents threw at him.

“Is she imaginary? Is that why you can’t see her?” Igneel asked and Natsu shook his head.

“I played at the park with her all day yesterday and I want to see her again,”

“Oh! Well then, I suppose we can go to the park again today if you want to see her that badly,” Grandine smiled knowingly as Natsu instantly perked up and continued to finish his breakfast quickly.

“Oh...oh goodness, we look away from you for two minutes and you make such a mess,” Igneel groaned as he looked upon his daughter, her blueberry mix spilled all over her tray, the fruit on her hands and cheeks as well, her burbled laughter producing as she continued to slap the purée.

It wasn’t long before the Dragneel family had packed a lunch and made their way to the park. Grandine giggled as Natsu immediately took off for the playground a short distance away from them, planting himself on a swing as he waited and turned his head and looked around for the mystery girl.

“You know, she might not come to the park today,” Igneel said as he unfurled a blanket and laid it down on the grass. 

“Oh, crap,” Grandine clicked her tongue as she pulled Wendy out of her stroller seat. “Well...it’s just puppy love, right? I think he’ll feel better tomorrow even if he doesn’t see her today,”

And she didn’t show up, unfortunately. Natsu would have stayed glued to the seat of the swingset until midnight if Igneel hadn’t pulled his fire-spewing ass off of it. 

The next morning wasn’t better, strangely enough. If not for the fireproofing Grandine’s mother cast on their house and belongings, Natsu would have surely burned everything to ash. He was unbelievably restless and refused to stay in the house, Igneel having to take him to the park to wait every afternoon for the girl he apparently had made friends with.

“You’re the fire dragon, he’s your problem,” Grandine said as she glared and shook her head, holding Wendy close to her chest as she looked upon the burning boy who sat in front of the T.V.

“B-But...” Igneel’s bottom lip quivered as he looked into Wendy’s innocent eyes retreat up the stairs, her little pudgy hand waving her dad goodbye while looking over her mother’s shoulder. 

The two Dragneel parents were truly worried that their son wasn’t somewhat in the right in the head when Igneel went to wake him up on the fifth day Natsu had gone without seeing Lucy.

“Scales? Igneel, Natsu isn’t supposed to grow his scales until he hits puberty, what the hell is going on?!” Grandine’s narrowed eyes and creased brows mirrored Igneel’s own displeasure, the fire dragon holding his head tiredly in his hands as he sat at the table later that night.

“I know that...and all because he can’t see this Lucy girl? I don’t...get...it...”

“Oh hell no,”

As Grandine and Igneel ran up to their son’s bedroom, the obvious stench of his early marking emitted from his flaming form.

“I blame you for this, you were at the park with him that day, why weren’t you watching him?!” Grandine hissed as she smacked her husband’s arm with one of Natsu’s plushies. “And you call yourself a dragon, hmph.”

“Don’t get mad at me, you didn’t notice it either!” He whisper-shouted back. “And...I was reading that day! I had my nose on him, so I didn’t think to worry about it!”

As the sixth day rolled around, Igneel followed slowly behind the child he might have been terrified of as they made their way to the park again.

Natsu went to sit on his usual swing set, with his flames thankfully subdued. The Dragneel father sat under a nearby tree as he sighed and waited again for a girl he was beginning to believe never existed.

As the sun began to set and the moon lit up in the sky and he began to rightfully drift off, a sudden sparkle was caught in the corner of his eye. 

Igneel blinked blearily as he watched the glitter that fell from the sky and began to form the outline of...a person? No, two people...Or was that a lion?

“Lucy! Lucy! It’s really you!” It was the first time in almost week that Natsu had spread a grin, the fledgling rocketing off the swing to gather the girl in a monstrous grip.

[mst3kproject]

The Cape Canaveral Monsters

This movie was written and directed by Phil Tucker, who did the same for MST3K classic Robot Monster, and stars Katherine ‘Batwoman’ Victor.  It was shot mostly in and around Bronson Canyon, because the desert rocks of California look exactly like the wetlands of Florida.  I haven’t even pressed ‘play’ yet and I already need a drink.

A couple are driving home from the beach when they get into a car accident, and their bodies are taken over by a pair of aliens named Haran and Naja.  Almost immediately, mysterious accidents start to plague rocket launches at Cape Canaveral.  While the scientists try to figure out why their shit is blowing up, a bunch of supposedly-young folks on a double-date pick up some weird interference on their car radios. When they go looking for the source of this, the aliens capture them and inform them that they will be beamed back to the home planet as frozen specimens – or used as spare parts to upgrade the aliens’ undead bodies, which are slowly falling apart!

The Cape Canaveral Monsters is a better movie than Robot Monster, but honestly… what isn’t?  Fuck’s sake, Battlefield Earth is a better movie than Robot Monster (though if I had to pick one to watch, I’d choose Robot Monster because it’s short).  There was really nowhere for Tucker to go but up.

Sadly, the very fact that it is (slightly) better also makes it less interesting than Robot Monster.  Robot Monster is a sixty-two minute parade of bad ideas, cheaply realized, so far off the deep end of terrible that it becomes mesmerizing.  Cape Canaveral Monsters doesn’t have anything nearly so weird as aliens in gorilla suits who communicate by bubble machine, or nearly so cheap as visible strings holding up their space stations. It’s got actual sets instead of being filmed in some rubble and a field, and an attempt is made at a couple of special effects.  There’s certainly nothing so jaw-droppingly incompetent as Ro-Man’s inept philosophizing, and there’s an identifiable hero in the form of Tom, the oldest and smartest of the four young people.

But that still leaves it a lot of latitude to suck, and Cape Canaveral Monsters sucks balls.  The photography is awful, with a lot of shots noticeably over-exposed and some terrible framing and composition.  The film stock was cheap to begin with and it doesn’t help at all that it was around fifty years old by the time somebody put it on DVD for 85¢. It’s nearly impossible to see anybody’s faces, although that’s kind of okay, because nobody here gives a performance worth watching.  When the best actor in your movie is Batwoman, that’s sad.

You may have noticed that I said an attempt was made at special effects – this attempt is in no way successful. When not occupying human bodies, the aliens are literal white spots bobbing around in front of the camera (man, remember the good old days when alien invasions were just two people who could be taken out by some plucky teenagers and one redneck with a gun?). Rocket launches are of course all stock footage, but since they’re unsuccessful launches at least we get to see something besides the same five shots all the other 50’s rocket movies use.  The aliens’ high tech lab consists mostly of dials and their communications antenna looks like it’s made out of lawn furniture.

My favourite bad effect in the film is any of the ones connected with Haran’s missing arm, which is sort of a running thing if not exactly a joke.  When the previous incumbent of his host body was killed in the car wreck, his left arm was severed – Naja goes back to collect it, saying she’ll sew it back on. The arm she retrieves from the back of the car is very clearly still attached to somebody, who is not very good at keeping still.  Later, a dog rips this arm back off and proudly presents it to the military types. It’s hard to judge how good this fake arm is because of the bad photography, but it is still in a sleeve – yet when we see Haran a moment later, his sleeve is bloodied but still very much intact. You can probably guess that the ‘missing’ arm is often clearly visible under the actor’s shirt.

Likewise, the sets.  Haran and Naja’s base is in a cave, which is almost definitely the same cave inhabited by Ro-Man and the Parrot-Bear from Night of the Blood Beast.  The inside of this cave is an empty room full of dials – the same dials, rearranged in the same empty room, form the NASA control room where the scientists are working. The Sheriff’s Office later in the film is literally a niche in a wall.  I actually kind of admire their determination.  It takes guts to try making a movie when you’ve got so little to work with.

The most interesting idea in the movie is one I don’t think it meant to include, and that is the inconvenient fact that the bodies the two aliens are occupying are dead.  The Cape Canaveral Monsters never makes much of this except for Haran repeatedly needing replacement arms (and at one point a chin).  We never go into whether they still need to do things like eat, sleep, and pee.  It’s kind of a shame, because there’s potential here for both horror and comedy. The aliens don’t appear to feel pain, so that Haran can lose his arm and only be mildly annoyed by it… this, and the repeatedly sewing new ones on, could have been funny if handled right (the bit where he awkwardly fires a giant ray gun using only one arm is kinda funny, but not on purpose).  If they’d met anybody the couple used to know, that could have been creepy. Sadly, the whole plot point is only present to keep the budget down, since they don’t need costumes for the aliens.

Another thing that could have been used to better effect is the tense relationship between the two aliens.  Haran and Naja don’t like one another, and spend a fair amount of time bickering like an unhappily married couple.  Naja seems to be in charge, while Haran is some kind of technician who resents her trying to micromanage him.  None of this, unfortunately, is ever explored.  The arguments are used to provide exposition. Why they don’t get along, and why they were sent on this mission together regardless, we never find out. You’d think their disagreements would be key to their defeat, but instead the scientists build a bomb out of salt, hydrogen, and everybody’s belt buckles.

(This is one of several stars The Cape Canaveral Monsters earns for bullshit Movie Science.  Not only do we have this bit, there’s also the part where Haran tells his captives that the bubbling liquid involved in beaming human specimens home is ‘like your hydrogen’ but with a ‘much greater’ atomic weight.  At least they got the chemical name of salt right, although I can’t imagine in what universe scientists actually ask their families to pass the sodium chloride at dinner.)

Besides obtaining specimens, the other reason Haran and Naja are on earth is to keep our space program stalled until the aliens’ invasion fleet arrives.  Exactly what good it would do us to be able to launch a capsule with one guy in it (which was what we were working up to at the time this movie was made) is not explained… maybe it’s gonna take hundreds of years for the rest of the aliens to get here and they’re afraid we’ll develop warp drives and photon torpedoes before they make it?  The pair identify themselves as Earth Expedition Two, which naturally makes the viewer wonder what happened to Earth Expedition One.  Are they in Russia, trying to keep Yuri Gagarin on the ground?  Or was 1 just a complete failure and now we’re on Plan 2 From Outer Space?

At the end, the humans have blown up the aliens’ cave and they leave laughing.  “I don’t think we’ll see them again!” Tom declares.  This seems overly optimistic, as there is at least that one other Earth Expedition, and sure enough, the ‘gotcha’ ending immediately proves him wrong.

Thinking about Robot Monster and The Cape Canaveral Monsters, it seems to me that Phil Tucker really wanted to do some epic storytelling.  In the former we have the tragic tale of an alien discovering human love and beauty, only to be destroyed before he can fully come to terms with them.  In the latter we have advance scouts preparing Earth for invasion, who seem to be easily defeated but actually have us right where they want us.  In both, all humanity’s efforts to resist come to naught and we are doomed to conquest or extinction.  This is hefty stuff, contrasting human arrogance with how insignificant we really are in the face of this vast, empty, hostile universe.  The ambition was certainly present.  The money and talent were not.

The Cape Canaveral Monsters is terrible. I don’t recommend it to anybody. It’s the kind of bad movie that you go into hoping it’ll be fun and then end up getting fed off and turning it off ten minutes in… and yet, I’m curious now.  As well as this, Robot Monster, and previous EtNW Dance Hall Racket, Phil Tucker wrote and directed a couple of other films in the 50’s and 60’s.  These have titles like Tijuana After Midnight and Broadway Jungle that sound like they’re probably softcore titty movies, but the masochist in me kind of wants to watch them.  When your career includes Robot Monster and The Cape Canaveral Monsters, can I really take it for granted that’s as bad as you could get?

[letswritefanfiction]

Lost in Halloweenia! Ch5

Crosspost from ffnet and AO3.

Summary: It’s Halloween! Ash and the gang are living it up trick or treating when they stumble upon a strange house with some strange artifacts. What mysteries do they hold and…wait, who are those three lurking behind them?

Word Count: 2,297/27,343

Previous chapter here

Next chapter here

Chapter 5: When Black Cats Prowl and Pumpkins Gleam

With Togepi stolen by a ghostly duo working for the king of Halloweenia Ash and the gang don’t seem to stand a ghost of a chance of getting home in the less than two hours before midnight! And how shall we find out more about Team Rocket’s secret atta—

“Aaaaaah!”

…Why do I even bother?

“Please don’t hurt me!”

“Just avoid the face! And the hair! And the clothes!”

“Do whatevah you want to them; just don’t hurt Meowth!”

Jessie, James, and Meowth were crouched, cowering in fear as sharp leaves from the browning bushes fell down upon them. They had hid their bag of treasures behind them, but that was all the cover they’d managed to provide. However, their red-eyed assailant never touched them, leaving them to peer through their fingers as they took stock of the situation.

There before them was an Umbreon, tail swishing casually as she looked down on them with disdain.

“Are you through?” she asked.

“Um, I think so,” James offered.

“Wobbuffett!”

Suddenly, Wobbuffett emerged from Jessie’s PokéBall, saluting the sky dutifully. Jessie shook her head scornfully at it she returned it to her PokéBall. “Now we are.”

The hedges Team Rocket had chosen to hide in made a crude circle, closing them off from the castle and town, save for a small break in the branches that they had slipped through in the first place. They were close enough to the people of Halloweenia that they could hear every bit of the festival, but there was some semblance of privacy.

Save for the presence of their new intruder, of course.

The Umbreon began slinking around them in a circle, following the perimeter of the autumnal bushes. Her eyes never leaving their faces, as if daring them to try to get past her and out of their leafy cage. “My name’s Kitsume. What are yours?”

“Um, I’m James, this is Jessie, and this is Me—Ow!”

James fell back from Jessie’s attack, his head landing in the bushes. “You dimwit! Why in the world would you tell her our real names?”

“James, Jessie, and,” Kitsume turned her attention strictly to Meowth, beginning to sniff around him, “Meowth, I assume. Interesting costume ya got there. Except for the socks.”

Socks? Meowth looked down at his feet and saw that somehow without him noticing, his feet had turned a pale gray, almost white.

“Meowth, your tail too!” James exclaimed when he sat himself up from out of the bushes, rubbing at the red spot on his face.

Meowth turned around a few times, chasing his tail to get a good look at it before Jessie snatched it and put it right in front of his eyes so they crossed. “See?”

“Me-yowza!” Meowth exclaimed, terrified. “What’s goin’ on?”

Everyone turned to Kitsume, who just slinked over to Meowth. “Like I said; a nice costume.” She licked Meowth’s cheek—causing him to gain quite the hearty blush—and fluffed her tail against his fur. “Too nice.”

“Are you not gonna explain what’s going on with Meowth’s fur?” Jessie growled.

“Let’s just say I know illusions pretty well.” Her eyes snapped dramatically to Jessie and James. “And that’s a dead giveaway that this isn’t one.”

Jessie narrowed her eyes at Kitsume. “What do you mean?”

“You may have fooled everyone else so far, but I know this is no costume,” Kitsume stated. “So if this really is a light-Meowth, then that means that you guys are human.”

Jessie huffed, turning her nose up. “Of course we are.”

Kitsume looked at Jessie in surprise. “Wow, you really don’t know how much danger that puts you in. You do know that being human in this world can land you in jail, right?”

“J-Jail?!” James exclaimed.

Kitsume nodded gravely. “Yes. It’s a good thing I found you. I should probably disguise Meowth here so that no one suspects you.”

“Wait, so you’re telling us that no one is human in this world?” Jessie summarized.

“Have you seen any humans?”

Jessie, James, and Meowth thought back to the party. Maybe all those costumes hadn’t really been costumes at all…And maybe that gray-blue Meowth was what Meowth were really supposed to look like here…

Jessie and James turned to each other abruptly. “Meowth is turning into one of them!” they exclaimed.

Meowth, however, was in his own little world.

“I’d be a happy kitty if all Meowth looked like that…” Meowth said dazedly.

“Well, they do,” Kitsume responded, ignoring how Meowth was now drooling. “And you’re going to have to as well.”

“So you’ll help us out?” James asked, looking grateful. Jessie tried to take another swipe at him, but this time he managed to duck in time. “What was that for?”

But Jessie ignored him. Instead, she arched her brows at Kitsume. “What’s your price?”

Kitsume grinned at Jessie. “Smart girl. What other Pokémon do you have?”

“Why do you ask?”

Jessie could have sworn that she spotted Kitsume’s straight grin turn to a shifty smirk as she said, “You’ll see.”

Brock and Misty were following the peak of the King’s castle like it was the North Star. Except, unlike the North Star, it was pitch black and foreboding against the dark blue sky, rather than light and full of hope.

“D-Do you think that we should be trying to prepare for whatever lies ahead in that tower?” Brock asked, shivers of the cold October night getting to him.

“I don’t think we can prepare for anything in this wacky world,” Misty stated.

As she power-walked through town, she wasn’t cold, despite the far lesser amount of clothing she was wearing in comparison to Brock. Her anger was fueling her just fine.

“That is true. We don’t even know what people suspect we’re human or think we’re just wearing really good costumes.”

They hadn’t been out of town long, but it still was surprising to see that the party was raging on as much as ever. All of the residents of Halloweenia seemed to be having a grand old time without any need to sleep. Especially in comparison to Misty as she stomped through town, and Brock as he struggled to catch up.

Brock’s pace was slower, because he was taking the time to get a closer look at the inhabitants of Halloweenia. He was trying to see if he could spot any elements of their culture. Anything that could help them out, even if there was no surefire plan as to how to figure out how things worked in this world.

What Brock was most surprised to take note of was how the Halloweenia inhabitants interacted with each other. They seemed to move from group to group, getting along gregariously instead of sticking with friends like humans tended to do. Additionally, inter-species mingling seemed perfectly natural. The Halloween-people and Halloween-Pokémon seemed equally fond of each other. It was almost…admirable.

“Brock, you’re getting distracted!” Misty called gruffly behind her. “Catch up!”

“Coming!”

As Brock caught up, Misty continued at the same volume, ranting her anger away. “All I know is that as soon as we get into that castle, we’re gonna take out all of our Pokémon and challenge those Pokémon and even the king to the battle of their lives if we have to to get Togepi back!”

Or maybe rather than ranting her anger away, she was just fueling her own hate-fire.

“Uh, Misty, I’d lower my voice if I were you…”

Brock saw Misty falter for a second. “Is somebody watching us?”

“Well, no, not that I can tell…”

“Then I’ll talk as loudly as I want!”

“Sorry, I couldn’t help but overhear—”

Both Brock and Misty screamed—Misty only slightly higher in pitch than Brock—scanning the area for whoever had sneaked up on them. There were Pokémon and strange creatures all around, but everyone was laughing it up, very much in their own world and not paying any attention to Brock or Misty. They were too busy having a good time.

“You said no one was watching us!” Misty whisper-screamed. “Who was that?”

“Down here!”

Then, right by their feet, they noticed a large jack-o’-lantern, flickering with a live flame. Little did they know exactly how live said flame was until it jumped right out of the hole in the top of the pumpkin. Out popped a dripping candle with a purple—nearly blue—flame.

“Litty’s the name! Litty the Litwick!” Litty gave a little bow. “At your service.”

“Aw, cute!” Misty said, crouching down to get a better look.

“Whoops, don’t get too close to the flame there, miss. It’s powerful.”

Misty smiled. “Thanks for the warning. I’m sorry, but we’re really in a rush, so if we could—”

“Oh, I know that. And just so you know, it won’t be easy getting into that castle.”

Brock and Misty exchanged a nervous glance. “Oh, we aren’t trying to get into the castle,” Brock said as confidently as he could muster.

“Right, right. Let me lead you there.”

Litty stepped back into his jack-o’-lantern and then the whole pumpkin began to hop forward. “This is my costume. Not conveniently portable but it’s a crowd favorite. Love your guys’s costumes, by the way.”

“Oh…thanks,” they both said.

“So, you’re gonna just help us get into the castle?” Brock asked skeptically as he and Misty began to follow Litty. “Why?”

“You two seem to be having a wild time tonight instead of just the same old party scene. And you know this is the train Litty wants to jump on!”

“But how are you going to help us, Litty?” Misty asked.

Litty turned back and the jack-o’-lantern itself winked.

“I have connections.”

Ash, too, was making his way back into town, with Pikachu on his shoulder. He may not have known the city at all, but on Halloween, it seemed easy to tell; all he had to do was follow the lights and the sounds and soon he’d be in the thick of it. Back with the ghosts, goblins, and ghouls.

“Since the guards already found us, there can’t be any harm in asking around about the portal now, right Pikachu?”

“Pi kachu.”

“But can we ask about the crown?”

“Pika…”

It was obvious to Ash at this point that it was somewhat dangerous to ask about portals. But he didn’t know about the crown. Mantar had left them with the impression that there might be something dangerous about asking for that too. At the very least, he made it seem like there was no chance that a Halloweenia resident could have it. Only a human.

Suddenly the image of spooky creatures of Halloweenia pointing to him, crying that he was human and that he’d stolen the crown rushed into his mind, causing him to gulp.

“Maybe we should start with the crown.”

Pikachu nodded earnestly, almost desperately.

“Now, who to ask…”

Ash’s eyes roved over the partygoers, but he didn’t even know where to start. The strange people that existed in this world all seemed friendly enough, and he wasn’t used to speaking to Pokémon, but they seemed nice too…

“Ugh, I don’t know where to start!” Ash exclaimed, putting his hands to his head.

“Pika.” Pikachu looked at his trainer with sorrowful eyes, patting his arm comfortingly. But he didn’t have any better idea of who to ask than Ash did.

“Okay, okay, think! There’s a Noctowl over there. I have a Noctowl. That seems like a good place to start, right, Pikachu?”

“Pi pikachu!”

Ash approached a Noctowl who was dressed in judge’s robes from head to toe and drinking out of a mug shaped like a gavel.

“Hello!” Ash began, trying his best to look friendly.

“Oh, no, not another one,” the Noctowl moaned. “I did put effort into my costume, I promise I did! It took me weeks to carve this mug! See? No opposable thumbs! I had to carve it all with my beak! And I’m no woodpecker.”

“No, no!” Ash said, waving his hands in front of him. “I think your costume is, uh, awesome. I just wanted to ask if you knew anything about portals.”

“Portals? Why are you asking me?” The Noctowl got really close to Ash’s face, one eye narrowed and the other shut, as if trying to see directly into Ash’s brain. “Who have you spoken to?”

Ash tried to take a step back, but he ended up running into a very small person, nearly falling over them. Pikachu had to hold onto his jacket with his hands just to keep from swinging right off and being lost to the party.

“Hey! You think just because I’m a troll you can walk all over me?” the little person snapped, pointing an accusatory finger at Ash.

“Not at all! I was just asking if anyone had any information about portals!”

“Portals, you ask?”

It was a new voice, echoic, with a slight lisp. Ash turned around to see the huge face of a Gastly looming before him, his mouth twisted into a sinister smile. “I’ll answer your question if you answer mine: is that a real Pikachu or just a costume?”

Ash grabbed Pikachu from off his shoulder and held him close to his chest. “What’s it to you?”

The Gastly lolled his head around in his cloud of purple mist, seeming to shrug. “Oh, no reason. But if you don’t answer, then I’m not going to tell you about portals.”

Ash and Pikachu exchanged a look. “Fine, he’s real. Now tell me what you know about portals.”

The Gastly’s eyes widened, as did those of the Noctowl and the troll. “A Pikachu?” they all asked in unison, hungry smiles on their faces.

“Can you use an itty bitty Thundershock Attack?” the Noctowl asked with oozing sweetness, tickling Pikachu’s black cheek with its robe.

“I don’t even mind if you hit me,” the Gastly added, looming closer.

“No, aim it this-a-way!” the troll countered.

Pikachu looked at the three questioningly, cheeks sparking as he prepared the Attack. The three were practically drooling at the sight of the electricity.

“No, Pikachu, don’t!”

Instantly, Pikachu’s cheeks winked out, causing everyone to look at Ash angrily.

“Hey, what’s the big idea?” the troll asked.

The Gastly looked menacingly at Ash. “If you don’t let that Pikachu use an Electric Attack, I’m not gonna tell you what I know about portals.”

“I already fell for that once! You’re not getting anything from Pikachu!”

“It’s a fair trade, kid!”

“No!”

Ash shoved Pikachu as best he could into his coat and then ran past the three of them as fast as he could, pushing and shoving through the crowd of strange Pokémon and people. There were so many people everywhere that it was hard to move, but that also meant that it didn’t take long for Ash to think that he had lost them to the masses.

“Maybe you should hide in my backpack, buddy,” Ash suggested as he continued to shroud Pikachu in his jacket.

Pikachu whined in response, shaking his head as much as he could in the confined space.

“I think it’s for the best.”

Ash unslung his backpack from one shoulder and rested it on his stomach before lifting Pikachu and placing him inside. He was just about to replace the top flap when something in the distance caught his eye.

Over the tops of the heads of the partygoers, Ash spotted a large stream of red hair and some bright blue hair. He stood on his tip-toes to see better, but all he could see was hair. When he crouched down to look through everyone’s legs, he spotted a strange Meowth, dark like the ones he’d been seeing. Leading the three of them was an ordinary Umbreon.

It struck him as odd. Whoever these three were, they seemed almost familiar. Achingly familiar. It was bothering him like a word being right on the tip of your tongue that you can’t figure out. He just couldn’t place them.

But that was crazy, right? How could anyone look familiar in this unknown world?

“I’m not crazy, am I, Pikachu? Have we seen those guys before?”

Pikachu scratched his head and shrugged. “Pika.”

“Maybe it’s a sign,” Ash decided. “They’ll be able to help us. We should follow them.”

“Cha!”

Pikachu nodded enthusiastically, all ready to climb out of the bag. Ash, however, stopped him in his tracks.

“Uh-uh. You’re staying in here until we get to the bottom of this.”

Pikachu frowned, grumbling to Ash before the flap was replaced and the lights went out.

The plot thickens with new friends—or foes—joining the group. An Umbreon and a Litwick; can we trust them? Moreover, who did Ash spot? Will they be the ones to finally inform him about the portal that he now so desperately needs? Only one way to find out! Tune in next time!

[rivet-ing-titanic]

April 26th, 1912 - American Inquiry Day 8

The Evening Star of Washington DC, April 27. 1912, shows Ernest Gill, right, in opposition to his Captain, Stanley Lord, left. 

Day 8: The subcommittee returned to their normal way of conducting the inquiry, although later than normal due to how late testimony was being given the night before. Notable among the witnesses today is Captain Stanley Lord, and Marconi Operator, Cyril Evans, both of the SS Californian. Both men will spend the rest of their careers, and lives with the shadow of that Sunday night, and their actions, or lack there-of. Before testimony is heard, Senator Smith reiterates that “everything that transpires in connection with this inquiry is public, and no attempt whatever to suppress any part of the testimony, or the circumstances surrounding it; will be made.” 

Witnesses:

Philip Franklin, Vice President, International Mercantile Marine Co.;

Ernest Gill, Donkeyman, SS Californian;

Stanley Lord, Captain, SS Californian;

Cyril F. Evans, Marconi Operator, SS Californian;

Frank O. Evans, Able Seaman, RMS Titanic (recalled);

Notable Quotes/Lines of Questioning or Summarized Testimony:

Philip Franklin starts the morning off by explaining the circumstances that had transpired in order to subpoena the captain, Marconi officer and several crew of the SS Californian in Boston on April 25th. Consideration was given for their arrangements to travel to Washington working around the ship’s next planned sailing on the 27th. When the Inquiry started this morning, Lord and C. Evans are on their way by train from Boston to Washington, and would arrive later that afternoon to testify.

Senator Smith also questions Franklin again about the official and non-official communication regarding the accident, when he first heard and from whom, who he communicated with, and what was communicated. Franklin is very forthcoming and had already provided the subcommittee all relevant telegrams, but Smith continues to query him about it.

There is very interesting conversation between Franklin and Smith regarding the Titanic operator’s conduct in the matter of the ice report around 5pm Sunday from the Californian that he originally ignored but picked up about 30 minutes later from the Baltic. I appreciate and would support Mr. Franklin’s testimony, and essentially arguments made against what Smith has been saying, in regards to timing and conduct, and whether the operator should be employed by Marconi or the ship owner. LINK to the second half of Franklin’s testimony which I believe is worth the read.

At the end of what seems like a tense back and forth between the two, Senator Smith and Mr. Franklin discuss how he and his employees have been treated through-out the inquiry. While Franklin understands the position, he emphasizes how he would desire to send non-Americans home, but Smith digs his heels in. Smith reiterates why them being there is so important, and that until he is satisfied that they have been completely thorough in this inquiry, he will not allow anyone to be sent home.

Senator Fletcher asked if it would be practical to run ships in pairs across the ocean, to which Franklin replies that he does not think it practical, and continues to insist as Fletcher inquires more into his reasoning.

Ernest Gill, second donkeyman (person in charge of a ship’s engine room) of the Californian¸ is read his own personal statement  by Senator Smith, and affirms all that was read to be true. READ THIS WHOLE THING!!! 

In Gill’s statements, he tells of what transpired on the night of Sunday April 14th. He recounts that he had seen “a big vessel” from the deck around 11:56. He states that “They could not have helped but see her from the bridge and lookout.” Then, unable to sleep he comes back on deck around 12:30 and sees the rockets, saying to himself, “that must be a vessel in distress.” It wasn’t his duty to notify the bridge “but they could not have helped but see them [the rockets],” so he turned in with the belief that the ship would go to the distressed vessel’s aid.

“The next remark I heard the second pass was, ‘Why in the devil they didn't wake the wireless man up?’ The entire crew of the steamer have been talking among themselves about the disregard of the rockets. I personally urged several to join me in protesting against the conduct of the captain, but they refused, because they feared to lose their jobs.” – Gill

“I am quite sure that the Californian was less than 20 miles from the Titanic, which the officers report to have been our position. I could not have seen her if she had been more than 10 miles distant and I saw her very plainly. I have no ill will toward the captain or any officer of the ship, and I am losing a profitable berth by making this statement. I am actuated by the desire that no captain who refuses or neglects to give aid to a vessel in distress should be able to hush up the men.” – Gill

 Seriously, read Gill’s statement, it isn’t very long and its got juicy deets.

“From the position we stopped in to the position at which the Titanic is supposed to have hit the iceberg, 19 1/2 to 19 3/4 miles; south 16 west, sir, was the course.” – Lord

When they finally did go to Titanic’s aid, Lord estimates (per the Californian log book) it took them 2.5 hours to get to her location at full speed in the morning. When asked had they received the C.Q.D. from Titanic, Lord estimates at least 2 hours. Gill saw the rockets at 12:30; Titanic went under at approximately 2:20; going full speed, based on estimates the Californian, that night of the sinking could have gotten there right as Titanic potentially saving those in the water, and almost 2 hours before the Carpathia. This is if they went when they saw the rockets later after the wireless operator had turned in. Had they received the Titanic’s initial C.Q.D. which was sent at midnight, the Californian could have been there when the Titanic was not yet fully foundered, and potentially saved a lot more lives. (This is my own trail of thinking based on testimony, NOT fact.)

” I saw several empty boats, some floating planks, a few deck chairs, and cushions; but considering the size of the disaster, there was very little wreckage. It seemed more like an old fishing boat had sunk” – Lord

In regards to the distress signals, Lord tells a short story about how things played out. He claims to have seen a “peculiar light” coming along, however they “could not distinguish where the sky ended and where the water commenced. You understand, it was a flat calm” and another officer told him he thought it was a star, so Lord went below. “A quarter past he [the officer] said, ‘I think she has fired a rocket.’ He said, ‘She did not answer the Morse lamp and she has commenced to go away from us.’ I said, ‘Call her up and let me know at once what her name is.’ So, he put the whistle back, and, apparently, he was calling. I could hear him ticking over my head. Then l went to sleep.” - Lord

“We could not have seen her Morse code; that is an utter impossibility.” –Lord who also claimed the distress rockets could have been mistaken as a shooting star or not seen at all. Interesting though, because according to Gill, multiple people saw them.

The Californian’s chief officer (Stewart) woke C. Evans at 3:30 saying "There is a ship that has been firing rockets in the night. Please see if there is anything the matter."  At that point he got word from the Frankfurt(German liner) that the Titanic had sunk and her location. This was followed up with an official message from the Virginian, with the same details.

There was lots of talk, as they headed towards the Titanic’s location, between the crew members of the Californian, regarding seeing rockets and informing the Captain of said rockets earlier in the night.

According to C. Evans, Gill had mentioned “I think I will make about $500 on this” in regards to telling the press about the rockets.

“I should think between 150 and 200. We had great difficulty in getting through them to get to the wreck” – F. Evans (regarding bodies in the water, they passed through them to get to the overturned collapsible boat)

“The first child was passed over, sir, and I caught it by the dress. It was dangling. I had to swing it, and a woman caught it. The remainder of the children - there was a fireman there and with the assistance of a young woman they caught the children as they were dropped into the boat. There were none of the children hurt. That was the only accident, with this woman. She seemed a bit nervous. She did not like to jump, at first, and then when she did jump she did not go far enough, and the consequence was she went between the ship and the boat.” – F. Evans

Evans says she parted between the third and fourth funnel. 200ft. of the stern left visible, sitting horizontally for about 4-5 minutes after the forepart went down. Stern then plunged forward perpendicular.

  SEE American Inquiry Day 7 here.

[erunapendleton]

AU of non-serial killer!Kira meeting Shinobu as college freshmen and he obsesses over how soft and lovely her hands are and just wants to... kiss them every night...

I just wanted to say i’m extremely giddy that this was sent to me i follow a lot of other fic writers that get prompts sent to them and for one to be sent to me is exciting! thank you!

“Pathetic…” the words were grounded out from his teeth. “Absolutely pathetic.”

Yoshikage Kira laid there in his singlet bed under the darkness of a Friday evening. He was thinking of her again. Shinobu Kondo, the gorgeous girl with even more gorgeous hands who lived just two doors down from his own dorm room.  

If she could just hold my face. Caress my cheek with the back of her hand, he thought as he palmed the thin layer of his pajama pants. Or if I could just hold her hand. Once… He could imagine how they would look if they were wrapped around him right now. Skin milky, fingers thin and nails manicured a deep, flirty red.

Fuck, she’s just my type.

He’s stroking himself now furiously, too. The sound of her voice whispers in his ear and she asks sweetly like a kiss, “Yoshikage, do I really make you feel this way?”

And with that he finishes into his own imperfect hand.

He sits up and slaps the on switch of his desk light. The Beach Boys’ “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” still plays softly as he looks at what he’s spilled into his palm.

“And we could be married,” the song plays on. “And we could be happy.”

Kira wipes his hand with a tissue. “It would be nice.”

LAST WEEK

“Leave it to Shinobu to be late as usual,” Ayane mumbled. She rolled her pencil under her hand as if she were thinning out pizza dough on the library table.

“She’ll be here,” Tsurugi said while making notes in her planner. “I told her 12 at the library.”

“You sure she knows you meant 12 in the afternoon? Maybe the dummy thought you meant midnight.”

“Ayane,” Tsurugi said with a fleeting laugh.

“Or maybe she’s stuck making out with her too cool for school boyfriend she’s always dangling in front of her faces.”

“You know she doesn’t do that.”

Ayane scoffed. “Whatever, sympathizer. You can say whatever you want, but we both know he’s out of her league.”

In the table adjacent to theirs, Yoshikage Kira glanced over. The girl with the loud mouth ranted on as she wagged her hand.

Broken and uneven nails. Green acrylics at that, he thought. The frailty of her nails were obvious. Ugly nails for an ugly-hearted girl.

He shut his book and left the table. This only drew more whispers from girls from the table over. As he opened the double doors, a girl slammed directly into his chest knocking the book he was carrying out of his hands as well the ones she held. Like snow fall, papers floated down to floor around them.

“I’m so sorry,” she said from the floor. She appeared dazed with her hand over her forehead. “I didn’t even see you…”

“It’s fine,” he huffed. The daily irritations kept mounting. He knelt down to her with a hand extended. “Can you stand?”

She looked up at him. The fatigue covered her sallow face like makeup, but she still smiled at him. “I should help you pick up your stuff before I get up, though. Right?”

“Sure,” he said.

She shifted to her knees and the two began gathering and scooping their flittering papers together. Her hand landed on his as he reached for his textbook. The florescence of the lights above made the red of her nails dazzle him, nearly putting stars in his eyes. Plush, silk, even velour none of these words could bring any semblance of justice to describing what exactly her hands felt like.

He was struck by what he could only discern was Cupid’s proverbial arrow.

“Do you study art history?”

What?

“Art history?” she asked again.

“Oh, no, I just admire Da Vinci’s works,” he muttered and took the book into his hands. They both stood.

“So, you study him for fun?”

“Yes, it’s a bit of a hobby of mine, I suppose.” He thought that was one way of putting it. A lot simpler than explaining his affections toward the hands of the Mona Lisa.

“That’s pretty cool,” she beamed. “Wait,” she squinted at him. “I know you! You live in my dorm, don’t you? Yoshihiro Kira?”

“Yoshikage,” he corrected her. “That’s actually my father’s name.”

“Oh, oops.” She saw around him her friends waving to her and then peered back to him. “Oh, well, my name’s Shinobu. It was nice to meet you, Yoshikage.”

“Likewise, Shinobu…”  He watched as her pastel orange hair fluttered from her ponytail like a ribbon as she left him.

“Made us wait long enough,” Ayane said as Shinobu takes her seat.

“Ah, I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s going on with my body,” Shinobu said. “My head was pounding when I got up and when I made it to the bathroom it was over. I blew chunks everywhere.”

“You’re sick?” Tsurugi asked.

“I guess? I’ve been waking up nauseous for days now,” Shinobu said.

“Maybe you gotta lay off the booze, party girl,” Ayane teased.

Shinobu rolled her eyes. “Keep calling me that and I’ll puke on you next.”

Giggles broke out among the girls only for them to be shushed by the nearby librarian.

FRIDAY

“You Still Believe in Me” starts to play as Kira is bathed in darkness. He feels almost stupid being this consumed by the idea of a girl and even stupider at the idea of her surrounded in perfumed hearts.

“She’s normal, average and most of all human like every other girl—”

And as he utters lies about his unrequited darling, he hears the sound of muffled, but unmistakable crying beyond the door from the hallway. Possessed by a force with inhibitions abandoned, Kira opens the door and he sees her, the girl with the lovely hands.

But, she’s the source of the crying and she’s fumbling with her keys in front of her room. He shuts the door behind him as he approaches her, seemingly running on auto-pilot himself.

“Shinobu,” he says softly, but still manages to scare her as she drops her keys.

“Oh, it’s you, Yoshikage,” she sniffs and then flashes him a quick smile. “You caught me off guard there.” He ducks down to pick up her keys.

“I didn’t mean to startle you. I apologize,” he says before placing the keys in her hand and linger there for a little too long. But she doesn’t say anything and he’s thankful to God or whoever for that.

“I know you didn’t. Don’t be silly,” she says. “Did you, um, need something by the way?”

Her heart begins to settle as well as her breathing and she is just about relieved to have stopped crying. She looks up at him to see him intently watching her. A look of interest in her. A rare occurrence she didn’t care to admit. Something about those purple eyes of his are catlike and glow lightly toward her.

“I heard something. Crying, I thought,” he says. “But, it seems I imagined it. I should leave you be. It’s late—”

“No!” She lunges, grabbing his arm. “I… I really don’t want to be alone right now…”

He follows in behind her and she plugs in a lamp that only gives off a dim candescence. The room is mostly organized save for her bed that has a tangled blanket strewn across it. She joins him on the cot after she hands him a soda from the mini fridge.

“How are you feeling?” he asks after she takes a long uninterrupted chug of ginger ale.

“Fine… why wouldn’t I be?”

“Shinobu,” he said, giving her a look baked in concern.

“I thought I’d be able to escape my problems talking to you, Yoshi,” she says after blowing a raspberry. She sets her drink down on her desk and then lays her head in his lap. This action nearly sets him on fire, but he tries to extinguish himself with the idea of dying children. It’s not working.

He places his free hand on her cheek. “What would you like to talk about then?”

“Um… what do you want out of life?” she asks and then places her hands over her stomach.

Kira rests his head onto the wall. He can see their shadows blurred together and inseparable. “I’ve only ever dreamed to live a life of quiet. Nothing too grand, but just quiet and peaceful until I die.”

Shinobu lips slip open. “Nothing too grand?”

“I have no desire of being rich or famous… it seems that’s important to a lot of people our age. Life can be so simple.”

“Where would you live? The countryside?”

“A beachside town more like,” he says as he curls his fingers in her hair. “Somewhere I can have a picnic during the days and evenings.”

“That sounds lovely…” she closes her eyes and suddenly she can see the waves crashing near a lighthouse’s cliff and a yellow sky.

“Yes, it would be,” he says and drifts his hand down to over hers on her stomach.

“What would our house look like?”

“Our?” he asks.

Shinobu flushes. “I meant your house.”

Kira frowns. “Shinobu, don’t you… have a boyfriend?”

“No, not anymore,” she practically mouths and instead of vocalizing as her eyes become flooded by tears again. She shrivels like a flower in winter and he holds her when she sits up in his lap.

“What happened tonight?” he asks after a long while of just holding her.

“I figured out what’s been making me sick.” Her voice wobbled, but she spoke anyway. “I’m pregnant.”

His heart rockets down into his feet, but he holds her closely. “And?”

“And… Kosaku told me to handle it. I’m nearly a month along and he wants me to handle it,” she says with a voice laced in horror. “I went in there and I couldn’t take it. H-he broke up with me on the spot because I couldn’t do it.”

“Terrible…”

“I-I never thought I’d have a baby this way, but I’ve accepted it… and I’m,” she smiles bittersweetly. “Excited.”

“You are?”

“In another life, I might have been angry at my circumstances… forced to put my life on hold or never achieve any of my dreams of grandeur, but,” she pauses to cup his face in her hands nearly making him burst. “You opened my eyes. I’m going to have a baby that I can love unconditionally. I don’t need anything more than that. Just a quiet little life.”

She kisses his cheek and it almost feels like a goodbye.

“Shinobu,” he says. The twin jars of honey in her eyes can be seen again glittering like stardust. “Would there be any space for me in your little life?”

“I think there is,” she murmurs against his lips.

[swiss-cheeze]

Midnight Memories || Eugene Sledge

Warnings: guns, violence, blood (probably), talks of genitals, semi smut (nothing graphic), swearing, making out & kissing, uhh I don’t know if there’s anything else.

A/N: this does NOT follow a specific episode however it does have quotations from the show.

———

“Look at all this dirt and mud on me, not one inch of me is clean” (Y/n) said, glaring at a new recruit, “and look at you, almost little to no dirt, barely fucking blood and you’re grinnin’ like a mad man in a slaughter house for killing ya first Jap” letting go of the man’s collar he stumbled back into the mud and growled.

“WOULD YA QUIT IT ALREADY” the man yelled, he stood up quickly and shoved (Y/n).

“WOULD YOU BOTH SHUT UP OR WE’LL LOOSE OUR POST” Eugene yelled at the pair, “(L/n) go back to the group” (Y/n) glared at the man she had shoved earlier and kept her eye contact.

“I’ sir” the girl mumbled before turning and walking away, heading for Snafu and the rest of the group, Eugene hot on her trials.

“Now you kiss your momma with that mouth?” Snafu asked with a shit-eating grin.

“Can it Snaf, aint in the mood for your games today” (Y/n) grumbled as she slumped down into the dirt, hitting her helmet a little to move out of her view.

“Goddamn it (L/n)” Eugene said as he slid into their ditch.

“And they say the men in the marines have the biggest balls” Snafu said with a grin to Eugene, (Y/n) quirked the corner of her lip.

“I got bigger balls then all of you guys combined” (Y/n) said half-heartedly, “if they allowed me, a woman, into the marines chock full of men and let ME of all of them onto the field then I definitely have bigger balls then anyone here”

“Doesn’t mean you have to yell at a newbie” Eugene said from the side, “I’ve been here shorter then you guys but it’s still no reason to pin him”

“So you wanna go now Sledgehammer?” (Y/n) threatened, a deadly glare shifting through the whole group, “I’ve seen things that would rock your core, I have more mud caked in my ass then you do in your feet. If you wanna go ahead and fuck me over too I won’t hesitate to shoot”

“Calm down love” Snafu said a little shaken, “we’re just waitin’ here. Kay?”

“INCOMING” a voice yelled, a large plane came over the top of the marines before shouting could be heard from in front of them.

“Japs” Snafu muttered as he started shooting.

“HOW IN THE HELL DID THEY GET PASSED US” (Y/n) yelled, “GRENADE”. A loud bang could be heard as well as some screams.

“MUST’VE BEEN TO SMALL FOR THE TROUPS TO KILL THEM BEFORE THEY GOT HERE” Eugene said from beside the girl, he loaded up one of the rockets, yelled out and shot off. A large booming sound came from the Marines side, “WHAT IN GODS NAME WAS THAT” Eugene yelled as he looked towards the sound. Men shouting and signing off could be heard to the groups left but they tried not to pay attention before a man army crawled over to them; Snafu, Eugene and (Y/n) kept firing their guns.

“OUR PLANE THOUGHT WE WHERE THE ENEMY, TOOK OUT THREE OF OUR FOX HOLES AND AT LEAST NINE MEN” the man yelled, Snafu kept shooting but Eugene stopped momentarily as he looked to (Y/n).

“Keep going, don’t stop” (Y/n) muttered, a tear slipped down her cheek but it was the only one, Eugene went back to firing his gun.

“CEASE FIRE. CEASE FIRE” a man yelled, Eugene growled as he stopped his rifle as one Jap kept moving slowly towards them. (Y/n) stood up, about to walk out and finish the man but Eugene was quicker, he pulled out his handgun and shot at the Jap, (Y/n) bent and held her arm up as cover before falling to her left into the arms of Snafu.

“IDIOT WHAT THE FUCK” (Y/n) yelled.

“I SAID CEASE FIRE” the captain yelled, Eugene started to walk away but the captain kept talking, “WHEN I SAY SIEZE FIRE YOU SIEZE FIRE” the captain stayed still as Eugene did too, “what where you doing?” the captain said harshly, the whole platoon was looking towards the captain and Eugene.

“Killin’ Japs” Eugene said coldly slowly turning around.

“You just gave away our GODDAMN position Marine!” the captain yelled.

“I think they got a pretty good idea of where we are in the first place” Eugene hit back, Snafu turned to (Y/n) quickly.

“Can of beans that Eugene will hit the captain” Snafu said with a cocky grin.

“I TOLD YOU TO CEASE FIRE, YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE OBSERVING, what do I see? – I SEE YOU WITH YOUR GODDAMN SIDE ARM” the captain yelled.

“You’re on” (Y/n) muttered softly.

“WE’RE ALL SENT HERE TO KILL JAPS WEREN’T WE?” Eugene yelled, “SO WHAT THE HELL DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE WHAT WEAPON WE USE” Eugene got into the captain face and gritted his teeth, “I’ll use my goddamn hands if it had too” and he walked off. The captain turned around and glared at Snafu and (Y/n) as he walked to the pair.

“Get him under control” the captain said through gritted teeth before returning to his post. (Y/n) sighed softly and started to get up.

“I’ll see to him, you owe me a can of beans” (Y/n) said, she started to get out of the hole and holstered her hand gun before walking over to Eugene; sitting up a small mountain of rocks overlooking the bodies of the Japanese and the field, he was playing with a small bit of grass with his pipe in his mouth.

“Well marine, you sure pissed off our captain and Snaf now owes me a can of beans. Should I be proud or mad?” (Y/n) said with a grin as she came up the rocks and sat down next to Eugene.

“Snaf owes you a can o’ beans?” Eugene asked looking at the girl with a cocked eyebrow.

“Made a bet whether or not you’d strike the captain. I won saying you wouldn’t. Mommas boy you are wouldn’t do it” (Y/n) said with a childish grin as she too started playing with some pieces of grass and mud.

“Mommas boy I am wouldn’t strike the captain but still keeps track of how many Japs he kills?” Eugene questioned with a hint of a smile.

“Yeah, exactly” (Y/n) replied with a little body jump and a grin, “Fucking bullshit though, ‘f I find the goddamn F.O. that called the arty, I’d shoot ‘Im” (Y/n) said softly, her southern accent had started to come out. After spending some time with Eugene she had adopted the accent unwillingly.

“Sons of bitches’ll just do it again” Eugene muttered as he took the pipe from his mouth and looked at the burning tobacco.

“Why’d they shell us” (Y/n) mumbled, in the short amount of time they had of answers to the bombing she didn’t think Eugene would actually answer.

“Cause some asshole officer read a map wrong, nobody gives a shit about us.” Eugene muttered back, (Y/n) cocked a grin.

“Didn’t think you’d answer” (Y/n) said side-eying the marine next to her.

“I don’, just a suspicion” Eugene said before looking over to the groups.

“They’re setting up camp” (Y/n) muttered, “when did they even cross the field?” the girl asked rhetorically.

“Time passes by quicker when you’re having fun doesn’t it?” Eugene asked as he started walking to the camping ground.

“Oh so we’re having fun now?” (Y/n) asked with a grin as she followed Eugene across the ground.

“I was” Eugene said, before (Y/n) could reply Snafu threw their bedding as each other as well as a cover.

“’Ere, caps orders” Snafu said with his grin while chewing some gum, or tobacco, they didn’t know.

“Caps orders of what?” Eugene asked as he looked at the bedding and covers.

“Y’all are the last lookouts, from twelve in the morning until six” Snafu said, “so get some sleep now”

“Who’s first?” (Y/n) asked as she started setting up.

“Dunno, but shut up I’m tryna sleep” Snafu said, he rolled over in his bedding before throwing a can of beans in the pairs direction before dozing off.

“Eat now or wait until guard” (Y/n) said smirking to herself as she looked at the beans, turning the can over in her hands.

“Wait until we’re on guard” Eugene said dismissively.

“And why’s that Genie?” the girl questioned as she laid down in her bedding, Eugene didn’t answer for a few moments as he got into his bedding.

“Gives you a chance to eat without having to discharge by using a rifle” Eugene said, “Goodnight”, and with that Eugene rolled over.

“Night Genie” (Y/n) said with a small smile as she got into her bedding, a soft smile placed over her mouth as she looked into the night sky, it was more peaceful up there then down with them.

---

“Wake up, we got duty” Eugene said sleepily, shaking (Y/n)’s shoulder, the girl woke almost immediately with a grumble.

“We don’t get paid for this do we?” the girl mumbled softly as she slowly got up.

“Don’t think so” Eugene responded with a slight grin, (Y/n) stood up quickly as Eugene grabbed their rifles, extra bullets and started heading to the observation point, (Y/n) slowly trailing behind with her can of beans, a pot, a box of matches, and a spoon. Eugene sat down at the rocks the pair had been at before as (Y/n) slowly crawled her way up to his position and started setting up a small fire.

“Ya know, I think this may be the first time I’d be having beans that are actually cooked” (Y/n) said, she stuck her knife into the top of the canteen and started cutting away at the metal, taking back the lid and then dumping the contents of the can into the pot. Eugene lit one of the matches and started to burn the dead grass under the small sticks of the fire before putting the pot into the small hole of the fire, the beans slowly starting to cook as the sticks and twigs crackled beneath the metal.

“Ever or since you entered the war?” Eugene asked as he started to move around the beans making sure to get an even cook.

“Since I entered,” the girl sighed as she looked at the night sky, “haven’t had hot food for a long while actually” she mumbled softly before changing subjects, “so, what about you then huh Genie? Why’d ya get in here when you could be out there” (Y/N) said as she nudged the boy.

“Just wanted to help is all, can’t stand sitting back from something this big. Almost didn’t let me in though, my dad’s a doctor, said I couldn’t and shouldn’t because of the heart murmur I had” Eugene said blandly, “went against his rules in the end though, entered, got in. Now I’m stuck in this place until otherwise told”

“Well it aint all that bad I guess” (Y/n) sighed, Eugene looked at the girl with a cocked eyebrow, “haven’t died yet have we?” the girl asked with a large grin as she stretched out on the rocks.

“No, guess not” Eugene mumbled as he pulled the pot off of the fire and set it aside on the cool rocks, “dinner is done”

“Perfect, I’m starving. Literally” (Y/n) said, the girl sat up quickly and looked to the pot as Eugene put out the fire. Eugene laughed softly as the final remains of the fire got put out, grabbing the pot Eugene handed the pot handle to (Y/n) who quickly dug into the food. Scooping a large amount into her mouth quickly before chewing and handing the spoon and pot to Eugene.

“What? Cold?” he asked.

“No” (Y/n) said softly, “eat”

“Why”

“You need it, you may be gaining a little muscle but you need food to go with it” (Y/n) said, she nudged the pot and spoon to Eugene who took it carefully and took a mouthful before handing it back.

“It’s beautiful tonight” Eugene said absently looking up at the sky.

“Really? I thought it was beautiful all the time” (Y/n) said as she looked up as well, handing the pot to Eugene who took a mouthful with a confused look.

“The stench of dead bodies and blood and the firing of guns and screams is beautiful?” the boy asked as he handed the beans to (Y/n), the girl laughed softly as she looked to Eugene.

“When I get to look at you all day I’d say so yes” (Y/n) said with a cheesy grin. Eugene let a smile cross his face for a moment.

“A-are” Eugene cleared his throat, “are you flirting with me?”, (Y/n) laughed softly as the boy took the pot and ate what was left of the food.

“Have been since you got deported here Genie” (Y/n) said as she laid back on the rocks, arms behind her head.

“I’m sorry I didn’t notice” Eugene said, internally scolding himself for saying something so weird.

“Don’t be Genie, nobody notices me” (Y/n) mumbled softly. A wind blew through the trees and the clouds moved as a sweet silence came over the pair, soft snores could be heard in the distance from the sleeping marines.

“I notice you” Eugene said after a little while, his arms wrapped around his shins and his chin rested on his knees.

“Don’t flatter yourself” (Y/n) said softly as she closed her eyes.

“I mean it” Eugene said he turned to crane his neck to look at the girl before giving up and turning fully to her, “I notice when you walk away from the group to go help someone with their riffle, I notice when you scrub your boots clean almost every night, I notice how serious you get when we’re in range and shooting the Japs, I notice when you curl yourself in almost every night and cry; every night you cry and I don’t know why. I notice when you bite your lip when getting yelled at by the captain, I notice when you realise something; a pattern in the Japs fighting, a kink in a gun or a bomber a mile away, you always quirk your lip and you always say ‘well I’ll be damned’” Eugene took a breath as (Y/n) sat up on her elbows, “I know we’re all just marines and we may just be a part of the body count when and if this war ever ends but I notice these small things, not because it’s things to get my mind off of the war but also because…” Eugene paused and sighed, “Because I really like you” Eugene went back to his previous position. (Y/n) sat quietly for a moment as she let the words sink in and let herself think for a while.

“You know I almost didn’t become a marine, didn’t sign up” (Y/n) said, Eugene took this moment to lay down next to the girl, “almost would have never have met you, Snaf, Leckie and everyone else” the girl sighed softly, “can I try something probably really stupid?” the girl asked as she stared up at the sky.

“We could die at any moment and you’re asking for permission to do something stupid?” Eugene asked with a small smile, turning his head to look at the girl.

“Yeah, you’re right I shouldn’t do it” (Y/n) girl sighed sarcastically.

“That’s not what I meant!” Eugene said loudly, shoving the girl softly. (Y/n) laughed softly as she sat up on her elbows.

“Fine fine! You asked for it” (Y/n) exclaimed, the girl quickly leaned forward to Eugene and connected her lips with his. Eugene’s eyes widened as he braced his hands behind himself to keep steady from the force of the kiss, the moon glinted in the background as the stars shone above the pair. As (Y/n) started to move back and separate the kiss Eugene realised what she was doing and brought his hand up to the back of her neck and pulled her forward to his lips again, Eugene’s hand slid to the side of her cheek and jaw as (Y/n) squeaked slightly from the sudden action. A soft hum came from the girl as Eugene glided his tongue over the girls bottom lip, (Y/n) opened her mouth slightly and let Eugene’s tongue dance with hers as her head tilted to the side slightly to get a better angle and her hands came to wrap around the boys waist as Eugene slowly pulled the girl on top of himself as he laid down. (Y/n)’s hand came to wrap in Eugene’s orange locks and pulled softly, emitting a soft groan from the boy beneath her as his head went along with her pulling; (Y/n) bent down and started to quickly kiss and nip at the skin of his neck as the boy whined softly, his hands going to the girls waist and pulling her down harder onto his groin, her growing wetter, him growing harder by every second that passed. A soft moan passed through the girls mouth as she slowly started to try and unbutton Eugene’s shirt, her hand going under the boys shirt and gliding her thumb over the soft skin she found there, (Y/n) was about to glide her hand down further south before-

“AAAAHHHHHH”

Feet.

Running.

Screams.

“THE JAPS” both (Y/n) and Eugene yelled together as they separated, Eugene scrambled for his gun as (Y/n) grabbed the siren left over by the team before them; setting off the siren as Eugene started to slowly pick off the Japs as the once sleeping marine scrambled for their guns and started to pick off what they could. There only seemed to be about 30 or 35 Japs coming for the large team but they were picked off extremely quickly, while guns were fired and the screams of the Japanese died down every minute (Y/n) and Eugene where laughing to themselves at the situation, not even contemplating the shit they’ll be getting from the captain, Snaf or their team mates.

[imaginarydaydreams]

Lamented Memories of a Stranger

Alternative Title: Let’s have a discussion of WHAT THE *%&^ JUST HAPPENED.  Fandom: To The Moon Concept: A retelling of the ending to To The Moon; Neil and Eva have a conversation about Eva’s taken risk.  Date Written: 5/23/19 Thoughts: HI YES I LOVED, LOVE, AND WILL FOREVER LOVE THIS GAME SERIES AAAAAAAA!!! I’ve always wondered whether or not Neil ever mentioned anything after freaking out over River’s fate (before the whole NASA explanation) so here we goOOOOOO Depression Hours™ are a MUST.

“I heard that you can see the best view from here—the top of the rocket, just as you like it.” Neil looked at Eva’s outstretched hand, a gentle smile on her face as she looked down at him from the bridge railing. The sunset behind her cast everything in a golden light, highlighting her hair and face to make it seem like she was shining, radiant.  “I actually enjoy the bottom of the rocket more,” he joked as he grabbed onto her hand, letting her pull him up, “the thrusters were always the best; to think of all that fuel burning to a crisp before being cast off like they were nothing. It’s pretty neat but honestly a shame.” Eva merely hummed a response, giving him a slight nod. “Now that you say it, that sounds more like a Neil Watts answer if I’ve ever heard one.” She turned her head towards the setting sun just over the horizon. To where Johnny and River were set to take off very soon. “And you’re right. But I think the view here is still nice.”

He followed her gaze and his breath nearly caught.  The view was indeed amazing, an almost picturesque beauty to it. Definitely a fitting end to this job, cheesy fanfare and all. If there was one thing that Neil had to say about this mission, with all its twists and turns, it was that Eva sure knew how to create one hell of a scene.  Not that he would ever admit it though. That was too cliche and Neil liked to think he had at least some standards.  They sat in silence, watching the minutes tick by as the sun dipped lower and lower, making way for deep purples and blues to replace the warm hues of remaining daylight.  “You know,” Neil spoke after what seemed like forever, “you had me seriously worried there for a sec when you went and deleted—moved River just like that. You didn’t even tell me or anything.” Another silence fell between them but the words still echoed vibrantly in his head. “Eva, come on, you can’t just do this! Deleting her is like removing a giant part of Johnny’s life! We’ve seen his memories; we know what he wants and his wish is—” “No, Neil. We don’t.  “We can’t develop sentiment towards a simulation, towards someone we don’t even know. We have a job to do and—I don’t know about you, but I’m not about to get fired and possibly sued because we thought we knew what was best.  “Now, move aside.  “I promise I’ll be done soon.” Even now, he could still feel his heart racing, pulse quickening as his limbs scrambled to move, do something, anything, just to make it in time before something bad happened.  Before a big mistake was made with not enough time to fix it over again.  His attention was brought back to reality at her sigh, the slight movement of her hand running through long locks just barely visible in the corner of his eye.  “Like I said, I didn’t even know if it was going to work,” she murmured quietly, eyes trained on a passing cloud. “I didn’t want to get your hopes up in case I was wrong.”  “Mm, I see,” he simply stated. It still wasn’t the answer he wanted, but it was a start. Honestly he wasn’t even sure why he was getting so worked up. “Yeah no, you’re right. But it just…” A pause. “Ah, man, it’s just…weird.” Eva looked over at him, a faint curiosity present in her gaze, giving him the strength to continue. “We see these people’s lives play out,” he said slowly, gesturing to the newly created world around them, “we play god with their memories, reset and recreate them with the simple press of a button and maybe a little effort… “But sometimes I forget that these are real people. Like, real people who lived these lives but just threw away those experiences for the chance at a new life, a life that’s not even real. “It’s just weird.” His hand dropped back to his lap. Neil turned his gaze downwards, looking into the waves below as if expecting an answer to these feelings bubbling up inside of him, but only getting silence in return. “I don’t know whether I want to thank the old geezers for funding my paycheck or if I want to shake them and tell them that they’re making the biggest mistake of their lives.”  He glanced at Eva from the corner of his eyes, half expecting her to call him a stupid, sentimental baby. To tell him that he was just overreacting or something, laugh at him or something, so he could bounce back to his normal, dorky, wise-cracking self and shove down these emotions like he always did… …but it never came. Instead, Eva scooted ever so close to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, giving him a sympathetic smile. His eyes widened at the sudden contact, looking from her hand to her smile, then back down to her hand.  It was…super awkward, if he was being honest; he wasn’t used to this.  “Ah,” he coughed, turning away to look elsewhere, “Am I dying too or, like…what is this?” He gave another glance to the hand resting on his shoulder before his eyes turned back to her. The weird glint in his eyes spoke volumes. “Because I’m sorry to say, Eva, I’m already in a committed relationship to my job and that sweet, sweet paycheck…”  Her smile instantly dropped and replaced itself with a dead-panned expression, lips pursed into a thin line as her gaze hardened to a crystal-like quality. The hand on his shoulder immediately shoved him away, causing him to almost lose his balance, had he not had a death grip on the railing. (He was prepared! Take that, Eva!) “I swear to god, Neil,” she said, “you always find a way to ruin the mood no matter what.”  “What can I say? It’s my specialty.” His cheeky smile was back on his features as if the serious look in his eyes was never there. A silence, this time comfortable, settled over them as their gazes returned to the setting sun, waiting for the inevitable.  Waiting for the end with saddened smiles full of warmth instead of embittered scowls.  “You know, if you ever need someone to talk to, my office is right down the hall.”  “Then I’ll be sure to bring my best references and memes, just for you.”  “On second thought, my office hours are now closed only to individuals named Neil Watts.”  Laughter filled the space between them before the sight of a rocket trailing through the sky, bright and beautiful, caught their attentions. Over the horizon that now glittered midnight blue, the rocket streaked across the sky, a shooting star amidst stardust symbolizing the end of a dream come true.  “I hope that Johnny’s happy with his new life—with all of this, in the end.” Eva looked over to Neil, who still had his eyes trained on the shuttle as it traveled higher and higher. A bit of pride yet melancholy danced through his gaze but she knew that he’d be fine. He always was after these missions.  “I’m sure he is,” she said, looking back at the sky. The rocket had just disappeared beyond the stratosphere. But if she looked a bit closer, she could barely make out the happiness of a certain dying man shining over the stars. “After all, these memories are based around Johnny’s own feelings, thoughts, aspirations. Not to mention, you said it yourself: we always succeed because we’re awesome. “So...I’m sure everything will be alright.”  [Initialization finalized. Episode One - To the Moon: Complete] 

[asidian]

Mind whispers

January 15, 2038

“You got it, captain,” says Jacob. “All over it.”

He’s moving before all the words have even left his mouth, wheeling away from the pulsing invader high above him in the air, its massive form blotting out half the sky. He sets into the harbingers instead, as ordered – comes at the creatures like a force of nature, movement without thought, an endless blur of slashing blades and glinting metal.

They go down in pairs, in trios, in a whole half-dozen when they think to take him out in a wave and he spins, drawing a wide arc with his blades that sends them twitching to the pavement far below.

He’s hard at work on his orders, jetting up higher to cut off a thick knot of roiling monstrosity moving to intercept the rest of the team, when the thought strikes him.

It should have been you.

It’s out of nowhere, really. Like someone else’s thought – only it’s not. It’s his, one of the ones that come in the night sometimes, when there’s nothing to distract him but the ceiling tiles and his own traitor mind won’t shut up.

The thought’s so sudden he pauses mid-stroke, a stutter in the middle of constant motion. And he would have recovered in time – really, he would have – except the world bursts red and hot and immediate right beside him just then.

It’s Eidolon, finally, sniping from cover. And he should have been expecting it, should have known he wouldn’t see it coming, but that runaway thought snuck in, and between the two, he’s almost not fast enough.

Jacob twists at just the right moment, so the harbinger’s claw catches him on the shoulder instead of across the chest.

The blow’s enough to knock him flying anyway. Hurricane’s a lot of things, but his suit just doesn’t have Nemesis’ bulk or shields. His upgrades are all about speed and agility and precision, and some good that does him right now.

He hits a wall, careens off a stop sign, and goes down hard on the pavement of what was probably an outdoor café before the sky started leaking things out of a Lovecraft novel.

Third time’s the charm, Jakey. But I guess we’re on four now, right?

Christ, he thinks, and shoves himself back up. Are we really doing this now? Right now? Like, in the middle of a pitched battle, in the middle of an alien invasion, and here’s Jacob, dragging out can’t-get-to-sleep nightmare fuel?

His lip’s bleeding. He thinks he bit straight through it, when he hit his head on the landing. But he’s on his feet again, and then he’s off the ground, and that’s – better. That’s better.

Is it really? You could just stay down.

“I’m up, guys,” he says into the comms. “No big.”

Then he bites into the split lip, hard, and takes off again to jump back onto the interference train.

Like hell he’s staying down. Like hell he’s scrapping this suit, and all the hours of training they poured into this, and his ma’s long nights at the kitchen table staring at schematics trying to get Tennō back up off the ground. His HUD’s showing Hurricane’s got a scrape down one shoulder and a dent in the back, minor aesthetic damage, but that’s nothing. That’s nothing.

He’s all over the harbingers now, like some kind of avenging god. Like the plagues of Egypt, raining down locusts or something.

Jacob twists, and slips sideways, and buries a blade right between one of the creature’s eyes, and he thinks: locusts aren’t the right plague for this. Since when do aliens care about bugs?

What the hell are the other plagues, again? Flies? That’s more bugs. Maybe he’d better stick with the river of blood one.

Nothing’s been better for a long time, has it?

River of blood, he thinks, determinedly, and slices down one, two, three, four, all before he takes the time to blink. Blood, and maybe that storm. What was it, hail and fire?

He’s definitely not thinking about alien monstrosities that play games with people’s minds. He’s just not. He’s thinking about flame and ice, and the way Hurricane cuts through claws and wings and rotting flesh like they were thin-spun silk. He’s thinking about that bunker down there, the one he’s not going to let the harbingers touch, and his teammates, halfway to the invader in the sky.

He’s supposed to be a distraction right now.

Well. Jacob can do distractions.

He’s good at them.

He’s not the only one, it sounds like. “Blondie, you’re on baby duty,” says Xia’s voice over the comms, and Jacob smiles, the shape of it pulling at the tear in his lip. That sounds like the intro to one of Xia’s showier moves, if he’s ever heard one.

“Baby duty, huh?” He drives one of his blades into an alien stomach, then shakes the thing off when it gets lodged for a second, still flailing. “Don't worry, dude, I won't let the kids eat candy after midnight.”

He half-turns in midair, elbows a creature that’s mostly eyes in the face with solid titanium, and angles himself so that he can watch the show while he plays exterminator. The harbingers are down to the dregs, and he wants a look at whatever Xia’s planning on pulling out of her hat.

What he’s not expecting is to see Nemesis go barreling fists first into a pulsing mass of space monstrosity that's bigger than some skyscrapers.

“Holy shit,” he manages, eloquently, and barely remembers to get his blade up in time to cut the wings off the next harbinger in line.

He waits for the grand re-exit. Any second now, a grenade’s going to punch a wet, black hole in that thing’s side.

Any second now.

Should have stayed down when you had the chance. Now you’ve got to watch this play out.

A second stretches into two, then into ten. “Nemesis?” Jacob says into the comm. “Hey – Xia?”

But still there’s nothing, and Jacob taps at the controls on his wrist. He zeroes in on the invader up above, watches as his HUD calculates the distance. It’s far, but he can make it. Hurricane’s all about speed. Screw watching it play out. If he really guns it, he can be there in –

His thoughts are split neatly in two by the thin line of light that breaks across the sky, toward their medic.

Jacob’s eyes narrow; he whips back around in time to catch one final glimpse of a suit in grey and black, just before it shimmers out of view and disappears.

Well hell. There's what's left of Chroma.

And now she’s gunning for you. Way to go, Jakey.

Over the comms, Ari’s sounding borderline hysterical. "I know it’s a lot to ask," he says. "but please. Please. It's not her. Just don’t kill her!"

It's a big ask. Half of Chroma's dead, at the end of Black Whisper's sniper rifle. HQ's been briefing them over the comms since they deployed: she's armed and extremely dangerous, and if the last half hour's any indication, she won't hesitate to end everyone on the field.

Jacob's talked to her a couple times before. She's a sweet girl.

“Hey,” Jacob calls into the comms, switching to team-only. “Don’t worry. I got Whisper. Can someone go fishing and pull Nemesis out?”

It’s not what he wants to say. Not what he wants to do.

He oughta be rocketing across the sky, on his way to cut Xia free. But Aisha’s right next to her; she’ll have it covered. And if he takes off now, Will’s stuck on ground level, alone with Chroma's rogue sniper. Probably not the best call – Xia left him on baby duty, after all.

So Jacob taps his wrist again, toggling targets, then pulls a U-turn to jet back toward earth. He needs to get a read on Mami before she does something they’ll all regret.

There’s one really easy way to slow her down.

Jacob shoves that thought away so hard it almost gives him whiplash, wrenching his mind back on-task. His HUD’s flashing at him – target: none – and he wonders why the engineers who worked on Whisper’s cloaking tech made it effective against other Tennō suits. That’s about to make his job a lot harder.

The last thing he wants is a long-distance fight. Mami’s a crack shot, and there’s a reason Jacob likes to get up close and personal. He came up last in target practice during training every time, but put him in hand-to-hand range and he can wipe the floor with just about anything.

So. He’s got to find her, then lock on before she gets her cloaking back up, then get in close enough to pin her on his own terms. Ideally before she puts a laser through anyone on Team Phoenix.

He’s just thinking that he’s got his work cut out for him when the second shot zips up through the space between buildings like a dud firework, a straight line of brightness without any of the showy payoff. Hurricane’s off like rocket, low to the ground, darting through the streets between buildings with breakneck speed. 

[softbookboi]

“I Love You” (a snowbaz fanfic)

Summary: Baz thinks Simon's gone to sleep and - without speaking - tells him he loves him in a very adorable way.  But Simon isn't actually asleep, of course.  [basically, the first time they say "i love you" to each other] [based off a tumblr prompt] [also, i know i'm bad at summaries, sorry]

Baz eyed his reflection in the mirror after brushing his teeth.

Simon was already in bed. He had already brushed his teeth and put on his pyjamas before Baz came. Before Baz was late.

They had made plans to get together at Simon and Penny's apartment at 8 o'clock since Penny was out tonight with her girlfriends and binge-watch the last episode of Stranger Things together, but Baz had run late. So late that they missed the program on T.V. Stranger Things started playing on a T.V channel recently, and Simon and Baz watched it together. But since Baz had run late, they were going to have to watch the finale of the season when it was played a few days later, as a rerun. Simon was obviously upset, since it was his favourite show, but told Baz it was okay, nonetheless.

Baz could tell that Simon was trying to hide his disappointment at missing the last episode of his favourite season so as not to make Baz feel bad. But Simon was fairly bad at trying to hide his emotions, and Baz could read him like a book. They watched a rerun of another show whilst eating dinner and after that, Simon proposed the idea of going to sleep. He had already changed into his pyjamas and brushed his teeth beforehand because he thought that they would end up binge-watching other shows after Stranger Things and finally go to sleep after midnight. So he thought he should get ready. At least, that's what he told Baz.

Baz didn't mean to be late. He just kinda lost track of time.

He was at the medical store, getting a couple of Band-Aids since he had gotten a paper cut. After he bought the Band-Aids and walked out of the store, he saw a convenience store right across the street and remembered that Simon had told him to get him some scones. Baz told him that the store didn't sell scones. Simon insisted they did. Baz said they didn't. Simon then shut Baz up by snogging him. They ended up getting accidentally walked in on by Penny, who threw a cushion at them and told them to cut it out. After they had stopped, Simon said, "Since I shut you up and you didn't argue any further, I won the argument. You have to get me scones from the store." Baz then pointed out that Simon had shut him up, he didn't let him choose whether he wanted to shut up or not, so there was no winner. Simon argued further that there was a winner, and that even if there wasn't, then Baz was gonna get his way anyway, since he wouldn't have to go pick them up. Baz smirked and said, "I know." Simon tackled him to the ground, tickling him so as to get revenge and Baz kept giggling and trying to pull away, but Simon was too strong. The brunette cackled and tickled further until he got hit in the head hard by a cushion and both of them got a lecture from Penny to start behaving like adults.

This sudden memory striked up a warm feeling inside Baz. The same warm feeling he got whenever Simon was around him. The same warm feeling as the night of their first kiss.

Baz still remembered that night vividly. He had gone into a crazy suicidal rage and practically threw fire at the surrounding trees in the forest they were in. Pretty soon, the whole forest was on fire and Simon was trying to make Baz feel better and put out the fire but it wasn't working. So he kissed him. And when Baz was out of his trance and home and finally asked him why he did it, Simon said that it was because he wanted to.

Ever since then, whenever Baz was around Simon, he'd get this weird warm feeling in his whole form. It was different than before. Before, Baz used to get tingles whenever Simon touched him, even if it was to punch him or push him. And he would feel hatred and loathing for himself whenever he hurt Simon by jabbing insults at him, insults he knew Simon took to heart. He'd only ever felt this warm feeling when it was late at night, and in his Watford room's bed he would admire Simon sleeping soundly, free of nightmares and Baz's jabs and the disappointing feeling that he couldn't control his magic even though he was the greatest mage ever and was to destroy the Humdrum. Baz loved how sometimes, one of Simon's curls would end up on his face, covering his closed eyes, and he yearned to reach over and push it away softly. He loved how peaceful Simon looked, how relaxed he was, away from the harsh reality of the real world. He loved how Simon sometimes gripped his pillow and nuzzled his face into it, curling up. It was those rare moments when Baz forgot that Simon and him couldn't ever happen, because of politicks and how Simon despised him (it was what he thought in those years) and just admired Simon's beauty. How beautiful he looked with the glowing moonlight scattered in the room illuminating his face. How adorable he looked when his lips parted and he started drooling a bit on the pillow. How dazzling he looked even when he was asleep with his hair all messed up and eyes slightly open, just enough for someone to see his azure orbs but not enough for him to wake up. Baz cherished these moments because it was only then could he let all his emotions and love for Simon that was hidden away during the day teeter to the edge and be visible. Baz always kept himself back from spilling it over the edge but it was those types of nights where he would finally admit to himself that he loved Simon Snow and not immediately remind himself that there was point in these feelings because they were never going to be reciprocated.

It was only those rare nights where he felt that warm feeling in his stomach only, and for just a few moments.  

But now, he felt that feeling everywhere, in his whole body. And he felt it every time he was around Simon.

And it was that moment, when he was standing in front of the convenience store, recalling his and Simon's moments and the other moments is his life when he believed that his feelings were unrequited, trying to distinguish what the warm feeling was, when he had a sudden revelation.

He didn't know why he was so surprised. He'd known this all through school, and accepted it in Fifth Year. He'd known this when he and Simon started that truce. He's known this when they had their first kiss. He'd known this when he graduated Watford. He'd known it all along and admitted it to himself. But suddenly, it felt like the most sudden thing ever, startling him out of his wits.

Maybe the shock was because now, they were actually together. Or maybe it was because it had been so long since he last thought of it. He'd been too distracted by Simon and 'living in the moment'. Or maybe it was because after all the killing the Mage and shit, it felt like this was a whole entirely different world, one where he'd never thought of this before or admitted it to himself. Baz didn't know which one these was, or if it was something else. All rational things escaped his mind, and the only thing swirling around his brain was "I love Simon Snow."

Baz let go of everything on his mind, ran into the store and asked for scones. When they said that they didn't sell them, Baz got in his car and circled the town, trying to find the bakery that had delicious strawberry scones, Simon's favourites. His Simon's favourite.

Baz went into a kind of trance (again) and was overcome by his consuming love for Simon, and the fact that Simon might love him back. He kept feeling that warm feeling - which was now identified as love by him - as he drove, trying to find that one bakery.

Since it was so far from Simon and Penny's place, it took longer than he expected to get back to Simon's place in time. The episode had already ended. But Simon hadn't watched it without him.

Watching the slightly disappointed look on Simon's face, Baz instantly fell out of his sky-rocketed, optimistic mindset and started to doubt himself.

He knew that he loved Simon, but did Simon love him? They had only sent a quite short time together, it couldn't be that easily possible. And Baz couldn't exactly tell Simon that he loves him, that would be ridiculous. It would only freak him out and scare him away. Baz never really admitted to loving Simon, he only told him that he wanted to be with Simon for a long time, almost since they met.

‘He probably made the connection, since it's a fact that if you still have feelings for someone after 4 months, it means you're in love. But Simon's thick, really thick. He never even found out that I liked him until I actually flat-out told him. He probably doesn't know. Bunce probably knows. She's smart. But Simon...I don't think so,’ he thought as he ate with Simon. His doubts in his and Simon's relationship only grew as he brushed his teeth and got ready for bed.

He shook his head to himself in the mirror, and headed out to snuggle with Simon.

Simon was already in bed, blankets already kicked off as - just like those Watford nights - the moonlight shone on his face. He was wearing Baz's white tee and some navy blue shorts, slightly curled into a ball. One hand was on his stomach, the other covering the space beside him where Baz was supposed to sleep. His knees where slightly bent, curved up and his bronze locks fell onto his face, a few strands into his eyes. His lips were parted as he let out softs breaths, slightly drooling on the pillow. His tawny appeared even more brilliantly golden when it was adorned by the luminescence of the night sky, the faint sound of wind whooshing and crickets chirping sounding in Baz's ear. Simon looked just as beautiful as he did all those years ago.

Upon the sight of Simon like this, Baz let the skepticism drop from his mind, and just revelled in the fact that he could call Simon Snow his.

Baz slipped into bed beside Simon, picking up his arm and gently placing it around his own waist. He snuggled up to Simon and put his hand on Simon's arm. He nuzzled his nose in Simon's neck and thought about why he was doubting his and Simon's relationship. He loved Simon and he knew that Simon loved him too. (Alright, he wasn't completely sure - it had been only a few months - but he didn't care. He knew Simon reciprocated his feelings, one way or another.)

But Baz was too much of a coward to say that to him now, or say it to him first. He looked at Simon. He loved Simon, he really did. But he still had his insecurities about Simon loving him back, no matter how hard he tried to demolish them or ignore them. He cared too much about if Simon was getting bored of him or was just sowing some wild oats. His worst nightmare was confessing his love to Simon, only to have him not say it back or actually say it back but break up with Baz later on. He couldn't stand the thought of Simon breaking up with him. It would just confirm his suspicions of Simon never having actual feelings for him.

He shook these thoughts out of his mind, and pondered over whether he should softly whisper "I love you" to Simon right now, while he was sleeping.

Ultimately, he decided against it, because he wasn't dumb. Baz had watched movies and knew for a fact that these kind of things aren't real. The person whispering always thinks that the other person is asleep, but the other person isn't. The other person just happens to be awake and hears everything the whisperer says and then afterward, its really awkward and embarrassing. Well, sometimes. Other times, it ends up in both of them happy, but since when had Baz's life been so kind?

Knowing better than to whisper and probably even wake Simon up if he was actually sleeping (which it seemed like he was since his pattern of breathing seemed even), Baz started tracing "I love you" on Simon's arm again and again. He thought of all those nights in Watford, wanting to reach out from his bed and touch Simon. He thought of Fifth Year, when he was so deeply in love with Simon and was handling it terribly. He thought of their first kiss, how it felt like him and Simon were the only people in the world, the only things that mattered. He kept on tracing for a few minutes, specifically about 8-10, while baring a soft smile on his face. After he stopped, he brushed a strand of Simon's hair out of his face and proceeded to run his hands through Simon's locks. Bronze locks.

Baz smiled to himself once again and turned over, ready to go to sleep since he was actually tired, when Simon shifted in his position and spooned Baz, draping his arm around his face and softly kissing his neck, saying, "I love you too,"

Baz froze. "What?" he asked.

"I love you too," Simon repeated. Baz felt his insides glow with love and churn from nervousness. Simon turned him over to face him. "I could feel you tracing it on my arm." he added with a soft, groggy smile that made Baz want to go all gooey and mushy.

Oh.

"Wow," Baz started, "Guess we're reenacting the scene from those movies where someone says something to someone else while they're sleeping, but they're secretly awake so they hear everything." Baz chuckled, trying to seem nonchalant but failing since his chuckle was so obviously fake. He mentally slapped himself while Simon grinned.

Simon booped Baz's nose. "Hey, I was asleep but then you came into bed and woke me up. Don't blame me." He kissed Baz's nose and Baz let go of the restraints.

He put his hands on Simon's cheeks, pulled his face towards him and peppered tiny pecks all over his face, saying "I love you" over and over again while Simon giggled like a little boy. Baz placed the last peck on Simon's lips and leant his face towards him, allowing their foreheads to touch.

"I love you," Baz whispered, eyes shining.

"I love you too," Simon whispered back and Baz felt his insides explode with content.