#a reception however… we’re getting blasted

[kiingbiing]

-

[dropintomanga]

You Don’t Have to Destroy to Be Great

When I heard that Terrible Tornado, a huge favorite character from ONE’s One-Punch Man, got some good development in the web-comic after the Monster Association storyline, I was happy to see for myself in the Yusuke Murata version of the story.

Our super-strong hero, Saitama, is associated with the younger sister of Tornado, Blizzard, despite the former being a higher rank than her. When Tornado wonders why someone like Saitama is hanging around Blizzard, she decides to test him via combat. Saitama has no choice to comply and the two fight it out across various areas. Although both are official heroes, both have different philosophies in how to behave. Tornado will wreck everything in her path to get what she wants, while Saitama tries to be mindful about getting innocent people hurt as collateral damage during battles.

When Tornado starts to realize how strong Saitama truly is, she starts to think back about the one hero that inspired her on her path to becoming a superhero, Blast (who is arguably very close to Saitama in terms of strength). Tornado is overprotective about Blizzard and wants her to be strong enough to be able to protect herself without relying on others. What complicates matters is that Tornado is insecure about her own psyche. She’s reliant on others for approval and there’s a flashback where she asks Blast on what to do as she worked hard enough to be strong, but is still feared by many. Yet Tornado wants people to fear her because she feels no one will appreciate her otherwise. Blast never gave her an answer before he disappeared from her life.

Strength is everything, the weak can protect nothing. You sometimes hear this bunch from people who really struggle with relationships. This seems more common with men due to cultural standards.

Saitama thankfully gives Tornado new perspective and a different kind of praise as you can see above. Live however you want, but don’t destroy people’s stuff. It reminds me of advice that I often hear a lot - “You should do what makes you happy.” I find that advice problematic in some ways.

For starters, when you tell someone to do what makes them happy, do you even know what makes them happy? Of course not. What if whatever makes them happy involves hurting people and being a dick? I see this a lot with men who get caught up with the whole “you should be happy/you deserve happiness” mantra and then get frustrated to the point that they take it out on other people. I sometimes wonder if the mass shootings in my country happen because of this.

Also, there’s too much focus on immediate pleasure. Sure, you will feel good for getting out of something that’s bad and it’s sometimes warranted. But there’s a good chance that you will start to feel insecure about whether it’s okay to do what you did when reality does not turn out what you expected. Life can end up going in a terrible direction. Plus pleasure does go away and an addiction to it can develop if you become dependent on it. We also have to realize the bad feelings/discomfort can go away as much as pleasure does.

Finally, we’re terrible at predicting our happiness. We often underestimate situations where we might fail (i.e. talking to a friendly stranger) and ignore those. We don’t take chances at meeting new and important people that can benefit our lives more because our minds are being commodified to chase after arbitrary things like status.

The concerns I have with promoting happiness sums up Tornado’s personality at times. Thankfully, Tornado starts to become more receptive of Saitama’s presence in Blizzard’s life and the need of the Blizzard Group as well despite being weaklings.

If you destroy everything, then there’s nothing to protect and/or cherish. If flourishing requires others, then so does happiness. Happiness is not an emotional state so much as it is the excellence of the relations we cultivate with other people.

[dailybloggingau]

Why Roller Skates Are Making A Comeback

If you've been to a roller rink recently, then you know what a skates roller revival looks like. Roller skating has been trending for some time now, but it's in the spotlight again thanks to the reboot of beloved show "Skating with The Stars."  You may have been tempted to take a spin on your own skates, but if that thought seems daunting or downright terrifying (seriously—who hasn't fallen over at least once when wearing these things?), don't worry! We're here to tell you why everyone has fallen back in love with roller skates and how they can be used in fun new ways today.

Nostalgic Appeal 

Roller skates are a blast from the past. They were popular in the 1950s and 1960s, but have mostly been forgotten in recent decades. However, skates roller has made a comeback in many ways over the past few years. Roller skating is not only fun for kids; it's also great exercise for adults! 

Roller skating can be done on both indoor and outdoor rinks around town, as well as at private events like birthday parties or weddings where you'll want something more than just pizza at your reception (even if it's covered in cheese). Roller skates come in many different styles so that you can find one that fits with your personality--whether it's vintage-looking skate shoes or modern inline models with wheels instead of traditional blades mounted to metal frames attached directly onto each foot (this type is called "quad").

Unique Skating Experience 

Roller skating is a fun activity that not only provides you with exercise, but also gives you the opportunity to enjoy yourself with your friends. You can use skates roller in parks, on rinks and even on streets!  Skating requires skill and coordination so it's not just for kids anymore (or those who were young at heart). Roller skates come in different sizes and colours so they can be matched perfectly with any outfit or mood. Roller skating allows you to do tricks like jumps and spins while having fun with friends at the same time!

Fitness and Fun Combined

Roller skating is a great way to get exercise and have fun at the same time. It's no secret that roller skating burns calories, but what you may not know is that it can also be used as a full-body workout for your core, lower body and upper body.  You'll work your quads, hamstrings and calves when you skate forward or backward; you'll use your glutes (butt muscles) when pushing off from one foot to another; and you'll strengthen your core by using it constantly to balance yourself while skating on two wheels instead of four!

Fashion and Style 

impala roller skates are a great way to express your style. There are many different styles of roller skates, from classic to modern, and you can use them as an accessory to show off your personality. If you're wearing them for fashion purposes, it's important that they match the outfit you have chosen. For example, if your outfit is more casual but still stylish (jeans and t-shirts), then maybe a pair of black leather skates would work best for this type of look. If instead we were going for something more formal like a dress or suit with heels--then perhaps some white ones?

Conclusion

Roller skates are a great way to get exercise, have fun and meet new people. They're also a great way to reconnect with your childhood. If you've never tried skates roller before, now is the time! There are plenty of places around town where you can rent skates or even buy them from local stores who carry this type of equipment. Read the full article

[lifewithdavefarts]

DaveFarts - Episode 13 “When She Finally Leaves” [Episode List] Dana spends the whole day at Dave’s place. When the girl leaves, Tim, who’s now Dave’s roommate, finds out how much gas a man can hold in just to not look gross in front of a girl.

When She Finally Leaves

In the last few weeks I’ve been spending more and more nights at Dave’s place, whether because I needed a place to work, write my essays, or simply to spend some quality time watching bad films and drinking beer. It was Dave himself to ask me to “marry him” (as he jokingly put it), basically becoming official roommates, which also meant dividing our tasks and obviously splitting the rent.

And honestly we were having a great time. We both had jobs, fortunately, which were not much but they did pay taxes for now and it was overall a great experience. Friend or not, Dave is an excellent roommate, being pretty good at cooking and organising chores; the same could be said for me actually, though in some cases we have our own preferences; for example Dave prefers cooking (the fact that I’m bad at it it’s purely coincidental) so we agreed I’ll be the one doing the dishes.

We also had our buds crashing over what is now *our* place a couple of times, which resulted in more bad films and beer, or even nerd stuff such as gaming together. Of course however, the person who most often came over is obviously Dana, Dave’s girlfriend. She’s pretty cool though we don’t really hang out with her when Dave’s not around, though as I said she’s pretty easy-going.

Tonight we’ve been watching a trash movie. Yes, the three of us. Don’t worry, I was a welcome addition today. Dave would usually just tell me to leave for a few hours if sex was on the table (sometimes literally on the table, the one where we eat our food…) as we respect each others enough to just be straightforward whenever we needed some privacy. Tonight however it was just chilling like three friends hanging out together (knowing however that Dave would just give me a signal should things get more heated up you know).

We were in the living room. I was on an armchair, working on my laptop, despite the poor wi-fi. On the long wide couch beside me, Dave and Dana chilling and watching the movie with more attention than me, my bud’s left arm around his girlfriend, sometimes making remarks on how bad it was. We all had a can of beer, because of course we did.

The couple brought some takeouts for dinner, some fast-food a few blocks from here (Dana’s idea, actually, which we were both thankful for). Dave, chilling next to Dana, was wearing his signature casual outfit: a grey shirt and pair of dark blue loose jeans, details that my gay-ass eyes immediately noticed and more than once stared at.

“Oh wow the helicopter just blew up I’m speechless.” Dave said, sarcastically.

“A Subversive Masterpiece: that’s what they were going for when they wrote this.” Dana added, and they both chuckled.

I also did my fair share of sarcastic remarks though work got most of my attention, even though it was nothing urgent, just me trying to get some stuff done as fast as possible.

“Did the shark just wink at him?” my bro commented.

“They’re best friends now.” his girlfriend explained. What a great film.

After 15 more minutes the movie ended with the three of us clapping at a shot of a man and a shark exchanging a look of gratitude to each other, as the Sun set into the never-ending ocean. Drugs played a big role into the making of this move I’m 100% sure.

“Well, that was enlightening, but I gotta head back home. The Uber’s almost here.” Dana said, as she got up and reached for her purse and some other stuff.

“You’re really sure about that? Come on, stay here for the night.” Dave suggested. “I taught Tim to play dead. We can throw food at him.” he then joked.

“I can also bring you the newspaper upstairs, tomorrow morning.” I played along.

Dana chuckled in response. “I’m sure you’ll win the next contest you two, but I gotta wake up super early tomorrow.”

The couple walked towards the front door. The entrance was next to the living room, a few steps behind the couch. Dave and I sometimes darkly joked that any assassin could easily ambush us because whenever we’re on the couch anyone could sneak into the house behind us, with enough care (we then prefer to drink about it).

“Call me when you get home.” Dave said and the two shared a quick kiss.

In the meantime I moved on the bigger (and more comfortable) couch, more or less in Dana’s spot, as I also have better wi-fi reception there. I left my laptop on the small table in front of me because apparently all of my laptops have to be shitty and take some time to even the most basic stuff. As I inspected the wi-fi icon flashing on the screen, I heard Dave shutting the door and walking back to the couch. After a few steps his tall figure was already towering over me.

“Yeah the reception is pretty bad lately.” he commented, and then collapsed next to me.

Only a few seconds and he already had that well-known smirk drawn on his face; he then quickly adjusted his position. He completely laid down, extended his demin-clad legs, with his left one resting on the back of the couch, ending right behind my neck. In a moment, Dave ended up showing off his loose, almost-sagging jeans-clad ass directly next to me, as his legs trapped me into a gentle yet strong grip. Seeing both that “wall” made of jeans and my bro’s smirk at the same time was a sight I never truly got used to. He was just lying there, next to me, with his ass pointed at me, as if it was one big prank, even though he knew exactly how much I enjoyed that.

“Bro you’re ready?” he asked, still sporting that smirk.

When even Dave goes as far as asking me if I’m ready, then I knew that the fart was going to be gargantuan. And I realized why: Dana has been with us and my bro the entire day, so it’s possible that Dave just held all of his gas in for hours. We all experienced this, then when the girl leaves, men get to “relax”. Other than that, Dave had tons of beer and junk food. I stared at that denim butt, for the first time almost scared of what my bud was capable of; I knew a fart was coming, and I knew it was going to be big.

But what Dave said next really once again confirmed how chill he is around me.

“Believe me: you might want to get closer for this one.” he said, laughing a bit.

He sported weirdly reassuring smile, Dave’s millionth attempt at saying “It’s ok, Tim.” as he probably noticed now nervous I became when he assumed that pose.

The teasing bastard then went full bully on me and simply reached for my head with his long right arm and gently pulled me down, as if I was bowing to that still silent denim-clad ass. I just heard him laugh like an idiot, as it usually happens. Despite my head being down and in front of that ass, I could still see Dave’s face and that smirk. He raised his eyebrows and half-closed his eyes as he started pushing, but he didn’t need to put all that effort into ripping that blast.

It’s like the fart was barely contained in the first place: it immediately exploded with a loud sound right into my face. Dave closed his eyes and kept his smirk as the blast probably surprised him as well. It was low-pitched and dry, a completely natural gas-eruption that sounded like an engine. The stench was unbearable, a mixture of beer and junk food, surprise to no one.

While farting, Dave adjusted his position as bit, spreading his legs bit more, with my face getting almost planted into that denim-clad butt as he effortlessly kept ripping that immense flatulence. Hours and hours of gas being erupted as if I was in front of a dormant volcano that just woke up. And I feared that “hours” was what he was going for ‘cause after 20 seconds the fart didn’t even lose power.

Dave still had this smirk drawn on his face and occasionally stared down at me as he completely destroyed my face and nose with his incredible farting skills, skills that constantly let me speechless, fetish or not. He was the fart master, a showoff with a manly talent that I could only bow to and endure in the hop-

“Sorry, I forgot my house keys.”

The fart immediately stopped and it all went silent: It was Dana.

Dave turned his head to his girlfriend, greeting her with the stupidest smile you can think of.

“Oh stay there no worries, they’re right here.” I heard Dana say as she reached for keys, probably hanging right next to the door, my face still almost planted in my friend’s denim ass. That felt surreal.

I completely froze (not that I could move) but I knew that she couldn’t see me (just like I couldn’t see her) as I was lying down. All she could see from where she was standing was Dave’s head and his right leg resting on the back of the couch, since the entrance was behind our couch.

I was terrified, while Dave was doing his best not laugh like an idiot.

“What’s so funny?” Dana asked, laughing a bit herself, definitely noticing her boyfriend being weird.

My teasing bro quickly glanced down at me, almost losing it (and still holding holding the fart in, which didn’t stop the smell from burning my nostrils).

“N-nothing’” he stuttered. That’s it, he was gonna laugh like an idiot.

“Okay” I heard Dana, not really convinced of the boyfriend’s answer though.

There was a moment of awkward silence and then we heard a car honk, thank goodness.

“Oh… it’s my Uber. Bye!” the girl said, quickly leaving the house and shutting the door behind her.

Another moment of silence followed, Dave still staring at the entrance. I was shaking, I was legitimately scared that someone was gonna find out, which was weird given the hotness I was experiencing in that moment, even without the fart being ripped.

“Ok… where were we?” Dave asked, turning back to me, with a smirk. “Oh yeah!”

And he effortlessly resumed farting, just as loud, proud and powerful as it was before the interruption, directly into my face. The terror I experienced moments before was blown away by that incredibly blast and me being rock-hard, as it usually happens when Dave showoffs his gassy talent around me, or on me.

Dozens of seconds passed and at this point Dave just played along. He nodded at me, faking a serious expression, as if he was listening to something actually interesting instead of his own loud fart still going on strong; after about ten more seconds he checked the time on his wrist-watch and acted surprised, then stared down at me as if he wanted to say “damn that is long!”. We both however actually lost the track of time and he simply relaxed as if I wasn’t even in front of his ass, all while the fart was still being blasted in my face.

Dave then reached for my head again and gently pushed it inches closer to his roaring ass, and I felt the vibrations of his rip all over my face: it was literally an earthquake.

How long was it lasting? More than 1 minute perhaps? How much gas can a man hold in? Dave certainly was pushing for a record. All I knew is that I felt privileged witnessing that, even though I was beyond being a mere witness since no particle of gas missed my eyes and nostrils.

However (finally, actually), the fart seemingly started to lose power, the once-continuous sound starting to “stutter” and turning more into a fast series of loud farts, fired back-to-back. The show (because that’s what it was: a show) ended with a loud, 5 seconds blast, and Dave’s laughter.

I slowly got up, sweaty, my nose burning, with a startled look to which my bro reacted with another immature cackle. I was now sitting next to him as I was before, and looked back at my bud, who in the meantime re-adjusted his pose. He was still lying down, still kind of showing off his loose-sagging ass, but in a less “menacing” way: now he was just chilling.

“When’s Dana coming over again?” I joked. I mustered all the courage I had left to say that. I was impressed by the fact that I could still speak considering that all of my blood probably flooded my boner at that point.

Dave laughed at that lame joke, thank goodness. “As if I need Dana to blast you like this.”

He raised one leg, again showing off his sagging denim ass in my direction. He quickly sucked some air in and after a few moments and weird noises a loud 6 seconds fart erupted. For his standards, that’s basically a weak one.

My friend just casually joking and bragging about facefarting me and then farting on command to prove it made me lose it, as I felt my boner… dampening. He didn’t notice it but he knew that I had a hard-on, that’s for sure.

I didn’t want to just rush into the bathroom so I just stared at my laptop, still on the table, in front of me: the wi-fi signal was stronger than ever. I jokingly like to think that Dave’s blast was so powerful it actually influenced the signal somehow and improved it.

I turned to my bud, still lying on his side of the couch, just checking his phone and being… casually hot.

“Thanks man.” I said, not for the wi-fi though.

He lowered his phone, revealing a blank reaction “Really?” he said, rolling his eyes, with a bored expression. “Stop being cringe and do the dishes.”

Fuck, I totally forgot about those. We had takeout food but we still used some of our dishes. I immediately got up and rushed to the kitchen, hoping that Dave was distracted by his phone enough to not notice by boner through my sweatpants.

Once in the kitchen, a place that wasn’t tainted by Dave’s gas, my nostrils could still feel my bro’s fart-stench. That’s how soaked up in his gas I was. Even my ears needed some time to adjust to the silence, now that I didn’t have a deafening fart being ripped right into my skull. 

And I just knew that this wasn’t the last time this was gonna happen. I’m Dave’s roommate, and being roomies means we have to divide our tasks: he’s the farter, I’m the sniffer.

End of Episode 13

[imaginary-portal]

Neighbors - Part One

Bucky x Fem Reader

Word Count: ~2k

Summary: Y/N works in the Avengers compound with her boyfriend Jonathan. Bucky Barnes lives in the room next door and finds himself falling for Y/N.

Part Two

Masterlist

Enjoy!

_________

"Y/N? Are you with us?" Y/N snapped her head up. She didn't realize she was staring off into space. The recent sleep deprivation has been costly. So costly that occasionally she sleeps with her eyes open. This meeting was important to plan the attack for the next mission. "Yeah. Sorry." She looked around the room, embarrassed. Bucky Barnes shifted in his seat. Y/N sparked his curiosity. He'd noticed her when he first entered the room, but he wasn't sure why she was there. Half of the room was filled with Avengers, the other half was experts and strategists. "Any suggestions?" Tony asked her, testing her attention span. "I'll have to think on it." Y/N said casually. "How about we take a lunch break. Clear our minds. Meet back here in 30 minutes?" Steve suggested. "Sorry, no one told me you're in charge of meetings now." Tony remarked. "Come on Tony. Look around. Everyone's tired. We'll figure it out after." Steve did have a point. Y/N wasn't the only one who looked drained.

During her lunch break, Y/N went back to her room, where she took a quick power nap. Bucky followed behind her, realizing his room was right next to hers. He wanted to know who she was, so he waited in his room until the lunch break was almost over. He left his room the same time as her. "Hey neighbor." Y/N said, looking refreshed. "Hi. I'm Bucky." Y/N shook his non-metal hand. "I know. I'm Y/N, I work in strategy." Bucky nodded, walking along Y/N's side in the hall. "Ah, that's why you were so tired. They overwork you." Y/N nodded. "Precisely. But I've never enjoyed a job as much as this one. I mean come on, I get free meals and lodging. Who'd pass that up?" The two of them laughed as they reentered the meeting room. "Y/N, welcome back. I'm ready to hear your ideas." Tony pressured her immediately.

_________

When the meeting finally ended, everyone left to grab dinner. Y/N sat with one of her colleagues, where they continued the discussion of the meeting. Her wandering glance noticed several times that Bucky was looking at her. He was sitting with the rest of the Avengers, who were talking about getting suit upgrades. Even though he couldn't hear her, he liked the way she talked with people. She seemed very enthusiastic and educated. "Oh, you like smart girl over there?" Natasha said quietly as motioned her head towards Y/N. Bucky shook his head, not realizing how long he'd been watching her. "No, I just didn't know who she was." Natasha smiled. "It's fine Bucky. You see him over there?" She pointed to a security guard in the corner of the room. He looked off into the distance to see the attractive man. Bucky looked back at Natasha, who wiggled her eyebrows. "We all have a normal person that we're interested in." Bucky looked back at Y/N and watched as a man approached her, interrupting her conversation. Y/N looked up at the man with a smile. The man bent down to give her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Natasha hissed. "Oh, she's taken. Sorry bud." Bucky looked down at his food, no longer interested in anything beyond his plate.

_________

The next day, the team had a successful mission. It did include some hasty improvising that Tony planned to discuss with Y/N about. He was still wearing his iron suit and had scratches on his face but he wanted to be sure Y/N wrote down his critiques. Y/N walked outside, seeing the Avengers standing in a circle, Steve and Natasha sitting on the ground. A medic cleaned up their wounds as Y/N spoke with Tony. Bucky watched the conversation keenly. Y/N took notes and was very receptive to the critiques. For a moment she seemed to be more patient with Tony than Steve was. That was, until she disagreed with Tony on something. Tony claimed that a mistake was due to her strategy but she believed it had to do with his suit. "Let's test it right now. Stand up there, fly down and blast that trash can." Y/N was confident. Tony did as she said, proving her to be right. "I'll let you get away with that for now." Was all Tony said before walking inside. Y/N scribbled something down in her notebook, smiling to herself. When she looked up, she caught eyes with Bucky, maintaining her smile before walking inside.

_________

The team split up for the next mission. Each strategist was assigned an Avenger to tackle individual weaknesses. Since Y/N showed up pretty well to Tony, she got promoted to Chief Strategist. Therefore, she was given the hardest team member to work with: Bucky. Bucky was only hard to work with because he doesn't engage with people often. He likes to have a plan and the less that plan involves other people the better. What Y/N would find, however, is that Bucky is easy to work with, so she didn't exactly understand what people meant by that.

Y/N entered the meeting room with a computer and notepad. Bucky sat at the table, relieved to see Y/N as his strategist. Y/N sat across from him and logged onto her laptop. "So, what do you feel is your biggest weakness on missions?" She stood up to plug her laptop into the projector. Bucky watched her as he tried to think of his answer. "I guess it would be that I can't fly so I'm always stuck on the ground. I rarely have a height leverage." Y/N nodded, sitting back down. "What if I told you that doesn't really put you at a disadvantage?" Bucky furrowed his eyebrows, confused. "I mean, if flying was the main priority for a mission, only half of the team would be going. After looking at some of Tony's footage, it looks to me that your main weakness is your range." Y/N played a clip on the projector that showed Bucky falling because he couldn't reach behind him. "That metal arm isn't so flexible, yeah?" Bucky sat, astonished. "Yeah, you know what, you're right. I never realized that before." Y/N nodded, typing something on her computer. "So I scheduled you some training sessions this week. They're gonna teach you some new combat moves and flexibility, so it shouldn't be as much of a problem anymore." Bucky nodded, content with the plan.

"Wow. That was easy." Y/N said. "They told me you were the hardest to work with but if I was with Tony I'd be in a meeting for hours." They both laughed as Y/N shut her laptop. "So how's the compound life treating you?" Y/N switched topics. Bucky shrugged. "I mean I can't complain. I've spent a lot of time living in torture chambers." Y/N nodded, understanding the seriousness of the conversation. "I read that in your file. Are you getting any help for dealing with that stuff? You know, mental health is just as important as your physical health." Bucky shrugged again, not really answering her question. "Well there's a lot of resources here so use whatever you need. Not to sound corny, but I'm also available if you ever need someone to talk to. You know where my room is. My door is always open, unless my boyfriend is sleeping, in which case I advise you not to come to our door." Y/N laughed, realizing the ramble she went on. “Wanna grab lunch? I’m starving.” Bucky took up her offer, walking by her side in the halls. Along the way, he got a whiff of her perfume, which was a pleasant and enticing scent.

“Are you single? I can hook you up with my friend Clara. She’s the sweetest person you’ll ever meet.” Bucky shrugged, taking a bite of his sandwich. “Thank you but I’m not interested in a relationship right now.” Bucky lied. To tell the truth he was lonely. To tell another truth he was interested in Y/N. “Understandable.” Y/N said as Bucky swallowed his food. “So what’s your boyfriend like?” Y/N bit her lip as she thought of the perfect way to describe him. “Jonathan works over in aircraft. He’s very logical, focused. He has big plans here.” Bucky raised his eyebrows. “What about you? Do you have plans here?” Y/N nodded, poking around at her side salad. “I do, but they’re not as ambitious as his, you know? I’m already Chief of Strategy so I’m not sure how much further I can go.” Bucky shook his head. “Don’t limit yourself. I can tell you got potential.” Y/N smiled at his compliment. “Thanks Bucky, you’re a nice guy. What about you? Do plan to stay here, work government contracts?” Bucky nodded. “For now. But I guess wherever Steve goes I’ll go.” Y/N awed. “That’s sweet. I love a good friendship.” They both sat in an awkward silence as they thought of something to say. “What do you do for fun?” Bucky scrunched his eyebrows. “I don’t do anything.” Y/N rolled her eyes. “Come on. You gotta do something. You like music? Movies?” Bucky shrugged. “40s music is nice.” Y/N's eyes beamed. "Oh you must know Frank Sinatra, yeah?" Bucky nodded. "Yeah he's all right." Y/N took a large bite of food. "Classic." she said with a mouthful.

"Well, well, well, if it ain't two troublemakers." A man approached the table from behind Y/N. "Jonathan!" Y/N said, excited. She pulled out the chair next to her and the man took a seat, plopping his food on the table. "As you may know, this is Bucky." Y/N tried introducing the two, and Bucky corrected her by saying "James" as he shook Jonathan's hand. Y/N's eyebrow wrinkled. "You do nice work out there, kicking ass." Jonathan complimented as he began eating. Bucky nodded and looked down at his food, no longer interested in conversation. "How's aircraft today?" Y/N asked Jonathan. "Stupid, as usual." Y/N playfully rolled her eyes, but Bucky took him seriously. "What's stupid about it?" Jonathan swallowed and wiped a crumb out of the corner of his mouth with a napkin. "Everyone is so caught up in team work when sometimes things could be faster if we just worked alone." Y/N chuckled to herself. "Easy for you to say when you know everything that goes on there. Not everyone is as advanced as you." Bucky held back an eye roll, growing a distaste for the way Y/N was feeding the man's ego. Jonathan caught onto this, sensing a feeling of disapproval from Bucky. "You'll see. Things will be better once I'm promoted to supervisor." No one replied, instead eating more food.

"So how did you two meet? Is Bucky not logical enough or something?" Jonathan tried cracking a joke. "No, we just split up into groups so everyone needed help." Y/N rebutted. Jonathan shook his head. "They just say that to make the weaker ones feel better. The airborne Avengers: Iron Man, Vision, Falcon, their combat is much more calculated, less error." Y/N smacked Jonathan's shoulder. Bucky expressed an eye roll this time. He didn't know why he was still sitting with this obnoxious couple. "Be nice. And that's not true. Remember when I told you I proved Tony wrong about his suit versus my strategy?" Jonathan shook his head, a confused look on his face. "Well anyways, that's how I got promoted. I'm at a higher rank than you now." She stuck her tongue out a Jonathan, who gave her a kiss on the lips, smirking at Bucky as he pulled away. Y/N regained composure, wiping a hand over her mouth. "I'm sorry Bucky. I promise he's nice when he opens up to you." She looked at her watch. "Shit. I have a meeting in five minutes. I'll see you guys later." Y/N quickly grabbed her bag, gave Jonathan a kiss on the cheek, and promptly left. The two men sat in an awkward silence. Jonathan swallowed the last bite of his food, glaring at Bucky.

"You don't go taking my girl, got it?" Asshole. Bucky nodded affirmatively, picking up his trash and leaving the table. ——————

Copyright © 2021 imaginary-portal. All rights reserved

[ashdumpsterpile]

I know you talk abou st*cky in the interracial ships stuff, but can we talk about st*ny? Iron husbands is literally right there, but I also always sees Rhodey as Tonys moral support only. And ik Tony is very shippable with most characters, but the fact his ship is Rhodey is one of the lowest ships in ao3 (ironstrange, winteriron and god forbid stark*r all had more fics in ao3).. It's pretty telling this side also has racism problems...

I'll go ahead and answer this here, but letting y'all know that I do have a marvel sideblog if you want to hit me up there (@themarvelarchives).

Hey, I'm going to ramble for a good minute.

So after I posted my very incoherent, controversial take on St*cky vs SamBucky, there were a ton of ppl who came onto anon saying that St*cky shippers were racist. I think I only answered a few, but y'all were pretty insistent on it. I personally have not observed that St*cky shippers are so I'm not calling anyone out on that side of the fandom for that.

I also did not call out anyone on this side of the fandom bc that's not what my meta was about. I think I mentioned maybe once or twice in the whole post that there was underlying racist in the fandom, but since you asked, we can talk about it here.

Covert Bigotry In Fandom Spaces.

To understand what's going on in the MCU, we have to first look at what I call "woke-queer" fandom.

So "Woke-Queer" Spaces is the phenomenon where certain fandom members like to call ppl out on their bigotry, while covertly harboring their own queerphobia/racism/etc. An example of this that we're all familiar with is TERFS and how they like to claim that they are progressive and woke, while also claiming that trans women are fake and trans men are sexist.

How this translates to fandom, however, is the hypocrisy that is cancellation and callout culture.

For example, Supernatural in particular is a fandom that likes to call out the writers on their homophobia and racism, and yet, somehow, the fandom is chalk full of homophobia and racism. If you want to read more about this, here is a truly excellent article from the perspective of a queer woman of color.

Moving on, I've also talked in a previous meta post, on the internalized acephobia that exploded in 2019 after Good Omens was released. Rather than reiterate everything I said in that post, I'll just leave it at this: the controversy in the Good Omens fandom can be summed up by the fact that queer audiences are claiming that Ineffable Husbands is the wrong kind of queer. The hypocrisy oozes off the screen, doesn't it?

A final way this viably translates to fandom, is in how the Doctor Who fandom evolved over time.

So Steven Moffat takes over as head writer and showrunner in 2010. It's a new series, a new Doctor, a new Tardis, and new branding. He steps up the action, changes the color grating, and raises the stakes. Women are sexier, the Doctor is smarter (and more of an asshole, but that's another meta post), and every companion comes with their own impossible mystery that makes them Special��.

Series 5-10 got tons of woke points for having lesbian characters, an episode where the Doctor is homoerotic with James Corden, and an underlying trans narrative with the Master's reincarnation. What a lot of people forget, however, is that his series was incredibly sexiest, incredibly lesbian/biphobic, and basically turned the Doctor into everyone's fantasy sex-object.

This, unfortunately, brought out the worst of the fandom. There was RTD Era vs Moffat Era wars exploding in certain corners, TenxRose shippers vs ElevenxRiver shippers.

What does this have to do with covert racism in fandom cultures though?

Hnnngng ok, so back in RTD era's we get Martha Jones, the Actual Best Companion On The Entire Show. Except for the fact, of course, that she is written to be in love with the doctor. She's a brilliant character--smart, sassy, flawed, funny, flirtatious--and her entire plotline is reduced down to a school-girl crush on a white man.

She doesn't do well with fans, they scrap her after one season.

We move on to Donna Noble (The Other Actual Best Companion On The Entire Show) and RTD's era ends with them scraping her too and regenerating David Tennant's Doctor.

It will be five more series (not seasons, SERIES) until Doctor Who will have another black companion--who gets extra points for being gay--only to fall victim to "bury your gays" at the end of the season (but not really bc no one stays dead on Doctor Who).

The fandom's reception of Martha Jones was historically bad. The comparisons to her predecessor, Rose Tyler, were rampant and everyone was finding a reason to hate her.

The fandom's reception to Bill Potts was also historically bad, as everyone was screaming that she was being written for more "woke points" and that they wanted Clara back.

Fandom has a historically bad reputation of being problematic and, I would argue, the majority of it has to do with these toxic undertones of bigotry that slip under the radar. "Woke-queer" spaces, as I call them, are these instances above where spaces that claim to be inclusive of gender/orientation/race are covertly bigoted.

Marvel and Cancelling

Now is an excellent time to talk about the MCU.

Anthony Mackie (Sam Wilson) has recently come under a lot of criticism from fandom members for shutting down shipper speculation.

"The idea of two guys being friends and loving each other in 2021 is a problem because of the exploitation of homosexuality. [...] something as pure and beautiful as homosexuality has been exploited by people who are trying to rationalize themselves."

I can't find the rest of the quote, but Mackie goes on further to say that it was important to him to portray "a sensitive, masculine figure" without insinuating that there was romance involved.

Woke culture lost it's shit. Everyone was suddenly claiming that Mackie was calling them exploitative for shipping a gay ship as a queer audience, which could not have been further from the case.

Mackie actually makes some very excellent points in that sensitivity is not gay/queer. Woke culture loves to rag on Toxic Masculinity, but the minute someone plays a character who is loving and sensitive with no queer narrative in mind, they are immediately canceled.

What Am I On About

Okay, let's actually address what your ask was about, Nonnie. You pointed out--rather truthfully--that it is unfair to call-out racism on one side of the fandom, while ignoring it on the other side.

Well, I've gone back through my St*cky vs. SamBucky analysis (which is incoherent at best, I apologize for that) and I see maybe once instance where I called out fandom members for being racist. Here's what I had to say about racism:

"[...] Iron Husbands is a rarepair, probably because it’s an interracial ship."

"[there is] nothing wrong with shipping two white men, but it does become a problem when you ignore/bash POC/interracial ships to the determinant of your own white ship."

And then there was the post you brought up where I addressed interracial ships in the fandom. That one is probably more relevant to this topic, to be honest, as I actually addressed fandom racism there. I assume that your reason for bringing up Stony is because it's a ship that is more relevant to my side of the fandom, HOWEVER, the reason I highlighted Stucky instead was because I was comparing the fact that they've both been around the same amount of time and are relationships that feature the protagonist and their best friend.

You brought up St*ny in the ask, however, so I'm going to talk about St*ny for a minute.

As someone who never has nor will ship St*ny, it never even occurred to me that some of the problem behind the Iron Husbands tag being so small is because everyone ships the white, boring ship. You brought up a very valid point, but because I was never in that part of the fandom, I can't really speak to any possible underlying racism there, besides what I've already said above.

I would be interested in hearing a St*ony shipper or ex-St*ony shippers thought on this, but sadly I don't know any. If you have any more thoughts regarding this, Nonnie, pls drop back into my inbox.

You do make some excellent points in this ask though, and I would like to talk about racism on my side of the fandom.

So back to Mackie and his Twitter cancellation. Notice that Disney made him address the rumors and not his co-star, Sebastian Stan. Anthony Mackie is put on blast and made to answer fan demands and receives backlash, while Sebastian Stan gets to fly under the rader. This is not, by the way, a criticism of Stan, but instead of the blatant racism Disney has been displaying over the past few years.

How this ties in with the rest of my post has to do with my "woke-queer" spaces bit. The outcry across the MCU fandom over Mackie was swift and unforgiving. He was cancelled on charges of homophobia and bigotry--all the while these same fans turn a blind eye to any queer interpretation of other interracial ships and discourse in their own fandom.

The racism that I'm speaking about, of course, is an almost passive racism. Of course if you don't ship a specific ship for reasons other than their race, it's perfectly fine. It's okay not to ship Iron Husbands or SamBucky or any other interracial fandom ships. However, the distinct lack of shippers in the fandom IS telling because there are people who would ship that exact ship if not for the fact that one of men is black.

I don't have much more to say about this except to thank you for bringing it up and for listening to my long rambling post.

(Feel free to bug me about Tony Stark, MCU ships, MCU Meta and anything you want to talk me about on this blog and @themarvelarchives.)

[nyrandrea]

Setting The Stage

My hyperfixation is set back on fnaf again in anticipation for Security Breach, so I’ve decided to write my own interpretation on how the game might begin! 

Summary: Gregory had always dreamed of going to Freddy Faxbear’s Mega Pizza Plex and meeting his heroes. But he somehow ends up getting more than he bargained for, and dreams start to turn into nightmares.

Originally planned as a oneshot but had to split it into two parts.Link to next chapter is down below! Also available to read on AO3 here!

Enjoy!

Walking into Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizza Plex for the first time was something that every kid in the world should experience, at least according to Gregory’s logic. 

And it was that logic – and a lot of puppy dog looks – that just about managed to work on his mom. Because here he was, finally standing in front of the colorful neon sign with his favorite animal mascots welcoming him in.  

It had taken a lot of begging and guilt-tripping but he wasn’t ashamed one bit, though his mother might have disagreed, especially when it came to the snivelling part. But hey, it wasn’t his fault she had worked late on his birthday, so she owed him. Big time. 

He vaguely recalled her grumbling about having to dip into her savings for this trip. 

So that meant that he only had today, and he had to make every second count. 

“So...” a voice spoke up from behind him. “Am I finally forgiven?” 

Gregory looked up to see his mom giving him ‘the look’, and to that he nodded profusely.  

“Good. After today you can finally leave me in peace,” she said, giving his hair a playful ruffle as they walked through the large sliding doors and into the mall. 

He decided to push it just a little bit further. 

“Can I get a Freddy plushie?” 

The little boy swore he could hear a vein pop. 

“I already bought tickets for the meet and greet. Do you know how much those cost me?” 

He shrugged. 

“A lot, and it’s coming out of your college fund.” 

“What if I don’t wanna go to college?” 

“Maybe you won’t get to after today,” she replied, rubbing at her temples. “Fine. I’ll give you ten dollars and you can buy yourself something at the store when we’re done, alright?” 

That was enough to cover a pencil, maybe an eraser as well if he haggled. But he didn’t argue.  

Both Gregory and his mom were suddenly blinded when they entered into the main part of the building as bright neon lights bounced off of the high glass ceiling and right into their retinas. Only once they were able to adjust their eyes could they really absorb the true grandeur of the place. 

Everywhere you looked there were people: from tired-eyed parents trying to find the next thing to distract their kids to enthusiastic parents who wanted to get involved in everything their kids were doing while filming it on their phone for their blogs. Then there were the snot-nosed teens who were bunking off school and several professional shopping guides with forced smiles wider than Moondrop and Sunrise’s combined. Everyone seemed to move in unison as the hall was filled with the sound of shoes squeaking against the polished checkered floors. 

Topping it all off was a massive gleaming golden statue of Glamrock Freddy proudly posed right in the center, singing silently into the microphone as soft music and wacky adverts played in the background. 

Suddenly Gregory felt very small. 

“It sure is...big, isn’t it?” His mother said, not sounding so confident herself. 

He merely nodded in agreement. 

Her son-o-meter seemed to be finely tuned as ever as she gently grasped Gregory’s shoulder and gave him a light but reassuring shake. 

“C’mon now,” she tenderly prodded. “We’ve got all day to enjoy the place so let’s make the most of it, huh? It’s not every day we get to go to Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizza Plex.” 

This was true. Coming here had once been only but a dream. Now he was here, staring up at a brilliantly shining statue of Glamrock Freddy. And pretty soon he was going to be meeting the bear himself. 

His hand absently went to towards his back-pocket before he made a fist as determination washed over him. Looking up at his mom, he nodded. 

“And if I’m remembering right, I think I know the first thing on your to-do list.”  

The boy had already grabbed her hand as he made a beeline for their first activity. 

“To Fazer Blast!” 

 xxx

Trying to imitate the pose of the Roxanne cut-out that was behind the reception desk, Gregory pointed his laser blaster at his mom as she attempted to fit on his vest. 

“Could you stop fidgeting?” 

“But I’m practicing-” 

“Stop. Fidgeting.” 

He pouted before she struck him with that look again, which he pretended not to notice as he gazed up towards the lady at the reception desk. She looked about in her twenties and was using one hand to push back her long sleek black locks away from her face every five seconds while her other hand typed lazily on a screen. 

“So...do I just join a team or...?” 

It took her a moment to even register that he was talking to her before she flicked her hair back again just to glare down at him. 

“Sure, like, do what you want. It’s your game, you make the rules.” 

She seemed to pause for a moment. 

“You do, like, know the rules, right?” 

Gregory wasn’t sure how to respond to that.  

“Uh...sure?” 

“Fantastic,” she drawled as she focused her attention back to her tablet. “Your session ends in fifteen minutes.” 

His mother rolled her eyes and muttered something about, “kids these days”, but soon smiled and took Gregory’s shoulder as she walked him in. 

“Just remember to have fun, alright? Screw the rules.” 

“Really?” Gregory asked, his toothy grin twisting into something sinister as he got into the Roxanne pose again.  

“Just...don’t run and remember to stay within the walls,” she added on quickly. “Can’t have my little space man getting lost now, can I?” 

Gregory made a sound of disgust as he was pulled in for a kiss before she finally let him loose into the brightly colored arena. He couldn’t help but take a moment to stare up in awe as spotlights of purple, green and red shone upon the various props and fixtures that decorated the place. 

 In the center was a giant space rocket that was surrounded by planets with neon rings glowing around them. The cut-outs from reception were scattered about too, though now they were humongous. Gregory almost couldn’t help but salute the towering Freddy as he walked past. 

He also noticed a room near the back walls. It was raised up to overlook the whole arena and was surrounded by green-lit pillars. It fit in with the theme of the room but also...jarringly stood out. Maybe it was a place for parents to watch their kids play, or perhaps the employees? 

“Hey Grogery!”  

That voice. That name struck fear into his chest as he swirled around to face a group of boys that had aimed their blasters right at him. 

“Never thought we’d see you here,” the biggest one said with a smirk. “You sneak in through the gutters or something?” 

“Hey... Bob,” Gregory casually greeted. Though it was hard to act so suave when he was trembling. 

“It’s Rob.” 

“Rob! Yeah...cool to see you too.” 

Learning the names of his bullies from class had never been at the top of Gregory’s to-do list, but then again it hadn’t been at the top of theirs either, clearly. But God, why did they have to be here of all places? Of all days, even? 

“Nah, his mom probably got him in here with all that hooker money she earns!” The skinny one snorted, making them all burst out into laughter. 

“She works at the hospital,” Gregory weakly argued. 

“Not what my dad said!” Rob hollered, still rubbing tears from his eyes. 

“So, what, is your dad cheating on your mom?” He sniped back with a sneer of his own. 

His grin soon disappeared though when they all suddenly stopped laughing and a beat of silence followed, save for the distant laser blasts sounding off around them. 

“The hell did you just say to me?” Rob asked, his voice dangerously quiet. If his brows knitted together any tighter then those pimples on the bridge of his nose might pop at any given moment. Gregory grimaced at the very thought. 

“N-nothing! Um...I mean- it's technically not cheating if your parents are divorced, right?” 

Rob positioned the blaster in his hand not so much as to aim it, but rather throw it. 

“Like I said, my mom wouldn’t even do that!” 

The pimples popped. 

With that, Gregory legged it before the gun could smack him in the face. He dashed between the walls as the angry voices behind him grew distant, he almost felt bad as he climbed through the holes and bumped past people, but hey it was like his mom said, screw the rules, right? 

However, it looked like the rules were starting to screw him when he smacked into a dead end. The black wall was too high for him to jump over and the only way out would be to re-trace his steps, which meant... 

“C’mon Grogery!” Rob’s voice taunted through the luminous hall. “Let’s see how many knocks to the head you can take before you bleed.”  

The boy swallowed a hard lump down his throat as he backed himself up against the wall and looked up at the Roxanne cut-out that towered above him, aiming her blaster with such confidence and attitude. With a deep breath and a firm nod, he did the same with the hope that getting them disqualified might save him. 

If not, at least his mom was a first-aider. 

“Hey...” A soft, almost girlie voice laced with a mechanical tone called out. “In here.”  

Gregory’s head snapped to the right as a hand – or was it a paw? – beckoned him into a dark corner. 

“Hurry up...!” The voice urged, and before Gregory could question anything, he saw four shadows creep around as the sound of footsteps thundered towards him, forcing him to make a snap decision and dive into the darkness, getting caught by a pair of skinny, furred arms. 

“Shit, where did he go?” Rob shouted as the group gathered where Gregory had been standing just seconds before.  

“Looks like he dropped his blaster,” one of them said as he picked it up. “Maybe he climbed the wall?” 

There was a sudden yelp as Rob smacked him upside the head. 

“Don’t be so fucking stupid, he’s tiny. No way in hell he’d be able to scale that.” 

Gregory stiffened as Rob suddenly turned in his direction, but he felt the stranger put a hand on his head, and strangely enough, it calmed him down. 

“...C’mon, he’s gotta be around here somewhere,” Rob finally said, pulling the group away. “He can’t hide forever.” 

After a few moments of waiting, Gregory let out a breath he didn’t even know he’d been holding. 

“Bullies are just the worst, huh?” 

Almost jumping out of his skin at the sudden chipper voice cutting through the tense atmosphere like a knife, he glanced up with wide eyes as the figure gave him a little pat on the head.  

This was obviously a girl but with the shadows enveloping her it was hard to tell exactly...what she was.  

He could make out a pair of tall ears so...a rabbit? Gregory couldn’t remember any animatronics other than Freddy, Chica, Monty and Roxanne, as well as Moondrop and Sunrise. Was this a new character? 

But what kind of bunny would have such piercing red eyes? 

“My name’s Vanny,” she greeted. “What’s yours?” 

Feeling slightly relieved that she had finally let him go, he cautiously stepped out and looked around to make sure he was in the clear before turning to face her.  

“...Gregory,” the boy timidly answered, still feeling a bit unnerved.  

“What a swell name! It’s nice to meet’cha,” she said with a small bow, which unveiled a few more features like a bright blue bow tied around her neck, and an unnaturally wide toothy grin plastered on her patched face.  

What’s more, she didn’t exactly move like a robot, despite sounding like one. 

“Are you new?” Gregory asked, causing Vanny to tilt her head. 

“Huh?” 

“I’ve never seen you in the show before and...” he paused, knowing his words had already gotten him in trouble today. 

“And what?” she prodded. 

“Well...you don’t really look like an animatronic.” 

“That’s because I’m not!”  

Gregory flinched at her overly cheerful tone and stepped back as she kneeled down to his level. 

“Can I let ya in on a little secret?” Vanny asked, cupping her hand to her mouth in a poorly disguised whisper. 

“Sure...?” 

“I wanna be in the show. Like, I really really wanna be in the show. That’s why I made this,” the rabbit gestured to herself in an overly dramatic way; caressing her ears and cupping her face. “But I gotta prove myself first.” 

“Prove yourself?” 

“Yup!” 

Gregory raised an eyebrow when she didn’t elaborate further, but decided to put it to rest as he really wanted to get out before Rob and his goons came back. 

“I know a shortcut outta here,” Vanny offered with a tilt of the head, as if reading his mind. “Just take a couple of rights and a left and you’ll be as right as rain! Want me to show you?”  

“T-that’s okay, I should be good,” Gregory replied with a smile, though it slowly turned into a frown when she didn’t answer back, choosing instead to just...stare at him, her head still tilted, almost as if she were deep in thought. 

“But...thanks anyway...?” he weakly offered. 

This seemed to snap her out of her trance as she nodded vigorously. 

“No problem! And don’t worry, if those bullies come back, I’ll give ‘em a dose of Moondrop’s sleepy candy. That oughta slow ‘em down!”  

He had heard of that stuff, but couldn’t for the life of him understand why kids would want candy that would put them to sleep. Nevertheless, he nodded and thanked her again before turning, and hurrying away, a soft giggle echoing behind him. 

 xxx

“Where on earth have you been? It’s been thirty minutes!” 

Gregory was still a little shaken up by the time he had reached the exit, so much so that he had forgotten that he had been on a time limit. 

“Sorry, mom...” Gregory muttered sheepishly as she looked him over. 

“You didn’t answer my question.” 

Glancing back towards the arena, he tried to see if he could spot Rob’s gang still wandering about in there. 

“Did you see a group of guys come out by any chance? Older than me. Kinda ugly...” 

“Now you’re answering my question with a question,” his mother said with a sigh. “But no. Why? Did something happen?” 

“No!” he blurted out, making her give him that look again. “We were just...having so much fun but then I uh...I lost them. Just wondering if they left without me or something.” 

Her expression softened a little. He hated when she did that. 

“No, sweetie...but I’m sure they won’t be far, should we go look for them?” 

Gregory grabbed her hand and started pulling her away. “It’s fine! The show’ll be starting soon, right? We can’t miss it!” 

“Okay, okay...!” she chuckled as he dragged her. “But first we need to hand your blaster in.” 

He stopped then, inwardly cursing at himself before smiling sheepishly up at his mom as she narrowed her eyes at him. 

“You lost it, didn’t you.”  

Her tone suggested that it wasn’t a question. 

“Yep.” 

He yelped when she was suddenly the one dragging him away. 

“Well, we best make ourselves scarce then, besides we can’t miss your big show, right?” 

Gregory grinned. “Screw the rules?” 

She smiled back. “Screw the rules.” 

 xxx

They had made it to the main stage before the show began, but there were already big crowds congregating near the front to get the best view, and Gregory was having none of it. 

His mom kept apologizing to the angry faces and pointed looks as he towed her through the mass of people to get to the front, ignoring her when she grumbled about having to teach him some social skills. 

Gregory drowned everything else in the auditorium out as his wide brown eyes focused on the stage, even trying to balance up on the tips of his toes to get any kind of glimpse of brown, green, pink or purple. He had waited so long for this moment, and nothing more mattered than the next hour. 

Gregory wasn’t ashamed to admit that he squealed a little when the lights died down, it was just as well that every other kid in the auditorium screamed too, resulting in the kind of high-pitched noise that would make a banshee cringe. 

“Hello ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls!” A mechanical voice greeted over the speakers. “Welcome to Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizza Plex! Are you all having a fantabulous time?”  

The crowds erupted once more. 

“Rockin’!” Gregory gasped as a rough female voice took over. "Y’all ready to get your glam on?!”  

“Oh Roxanne...” a more feminine tone scolded. “Now you’ve given us away. Again.”  

Gregory’s smile grew wider, he knew this whole skit, next up would be- 

"I think we’ve kept ‘em waiting long enough, gals,” a graveled voice boomed out from the speakers. "Whaddya say, Freddy? Should we give the kids what they want?”  

The little boy almost couldn’t contain himself at this point. 

“I say let’s rock out!”  

The curtains suddenly swung open to reveal the animatronics in all their shiny, glittering glory.  

They were all 80’s themed, of course, to fit in with the aesthetic of the mall. Glamrock Chica had the typical pink leotard with green leopard print leg warmers; very popular with the girls. Roxanne Wolf was more unconventional with a striking red outfit, piercings and the mascot for the mall’s race course; she appealed to quite a wide range of people. Montgomery Gator was more for the chads as he had a rough and tough attitude with a love of golf, but Gregory did admire his red mohawk and star-shaped shades. 

Then there was Glamrock Freddy. The mascot of the Pizza Plex. He didn’t really have a gimmick as such but was incredibly popular just for how great he was with the children. The other animatronics were good with kids but Freddy was the one who seemed to pay the most attention to them, whether it be sitting down and listening to a kid’s story, accepting gifts from them to even giving them gifts of his own free will – mostly a plushie of himself. 

Management were irked by this odd behavior at first but when they saw how much cash he was raking in from meet and greets alone, they decided to leave it. Why fix it if it ain’t broke, right? 

As they burst into their first song, with Freddy singing into his mic stand and the other three playing keytars, Gregory didn’t even notice when his mother shook his shoulder and told him that she would have to take a phone call but would be back as soon as she could. There were some instructions on where to meet if she didn’t make it back by the time the show was finished but the words fell on deaf ears as he bounced and sang along to the lyrics he had spent so painstakingly long to learn. 

By the fourth or fifth song, the crowds had started to dissipate as parents took their children away to browse some more shops or to go to the food court for lunch, but Gregory stayed until the very end, cheering and whooping when the animatronics did their final encore and bowed as the curtains were drawn to a close. 

Fearing his chest might explode from excitement, the boy took a few moments to breathe as he tried to calm down from the buzz of electricity that was jolting through his body. The past hour had gone and went so fast that he could hardly process any of it, all he knew was that it had been the happiest moment of his life.  

With a huge grin, he watched as the robots were escorted off stage by staff and taken to their individual show rooms for their meet and greet sessions. Lines were already starting to grow long. 

It was only then that Gregory realized that his mother was gone. He looked around with a frown, she had said something about a phone call but...that had been half an hour ago now. 

‘She must be waiting at the show room for me,’ Gregory concluded, beaming at the thought of finally meeting his hero in the flesh. Or...plastic. 

Shaking his head, he made a beeline past Chica’s room, where mostly little kids were sitting on the floor watching the animatronic as she played them a song while others had started a food fight with the leftover pizza and soda cans that had been lying around the room, making the parents and staff grimace as they tried to break it up. 

Monty’s room was a little more organized and catered more towards older children as the gator showed them how to get a hole in one with a little golf stand while others played on the arcade machine. This reminded Gregory that the golf course was next on his list. 

Roxanne’s room was very high energy as the wolf raced around with the other kids with driving wheels in their hands while making engine noises. Though when one tripped up, she immediately halted and gently picked the child up, reassuring him that “Even the most rockin’ superstars get hurt sometimes!” and carried him into the back area to where the medical staff resided with a worried mother in tow. 

Stopping to catch his breath, Gregory finally made it to Freddy’s room, gaping slightly when he saw the queue nearly reaching the end of the walkway. He couldn’t even see inside due to the mass of people gathered at the curtains, forcing him to back up a bit and climb up on a bench just to be able to get a look in. 

The room was painted red and blue to fit in with Freddy’s color scheme and decorated with bright lightning bolts and portraits of the bear himself. It was also the least cluttered as there were only a few bowling bowls, party hats and – of course – plenty of plushies to give away. But what caught Gregory’s eyes were the assortment of colorful drawings that had been halfhazardly pinned to the wall next to the make-up mirror. 

It was true then; he really did collect kids' drawings! 

Reaching into his own back-pocket, Gregory pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and opened it up, smiling a little when he looked upon his own masterpiece. All the animatronics were singing on a stage on top of the whole world, with Freddy towering over them wearing a crown and rainbow cape because why not?  

It had taken him hours and an absurd number of crayons that he had ‘taken’ from his classroom, so a selfish part of him hoped that Freddy would pin it above the rest. 

A flurry of movement in the crowd suddenly caught Gregory’s attention as the stewards moved them aside to let the animatronic move in. He felt himself get giddy when the bear greeted everyone and gave them a sign of the horns with his clawed hand, to which all the kids mimicked, including Gregory from all the way in the back. 

As the queue started to move along, Gregory couldn’t help but start to feel impatient. Where was his mom? He thought she knew how important this was to him. 

Forgiveness was suddenly starting to come in very short supply. 

With a cross of the arms and a small pout, he watched as Glamrock Freddy took photographs, played with kids and even recognized a regular and accepted a drawing from her, praising her for becoming more talented every day. 

Gregory’s chest tightened up a little at that. 

Frowning down at his own scribbles, he didn’t even notice the tall figure hiding behind the golden statue of Roxanne that was trying to get his attention. 

“Hey...! Hey Gregory!” A familiar voice hissed. 

Startled, he turned to see that tall rabbit lady from earlier waving and beckoning him over. Blinking, he took a moment to look around to see if anybody else had seen her, half-wondering if she was some kind of hallucination at this point. When she beckoned again, he tentatively walked over. 

Once again, she was hidden in the shadows, but the overhead lights made it a little easier to see more details of the suit, like the stitches that barely held the mismatched creams and beiges together along with a few patches of crosshatched red. It was like the whole thing had just been thrown together. 

“Uh...hey...”  

It took him a moment. 

“Vanny?” 

She gasped and gleefully put her hands up to her grinning mouth. 

“You remembered!”  

He forced a grin, trying to ignore the bristling hairs on the back of his neck. 

“Sure.” 

She paused and knelt down. 

“What’s wrong? You look a bit down.” 

This caught him by surprise. 

“Huh? No, I’m fine. Just...waiting.” 

Glancing back, he could see the crowds starting to dwindle as time went on, but still no sign of his mother. 

“Ooh! What’s that?” 

He looked down to where she was pointing and held up the piece of paper that he had been clutching a little too hard. 

“It’s...um...just a drawing I made...for...Freddy,” he meekly replied, his cheeks heating up. 

“Oh wow! Can I see?” 

The very question he was afraid of. But she was already holding out her hand, so he couldn’t just say no. 

She seemed to study it very closely when Gregory handed it over. He started to wonder if she was having to squint through the costume’s red eyes just to be able to see it. 

“This is so good, Gregory!” She gushed, holding it up as if to show it off to everybody else in the mall. “You’re super talented! Are you gonna be an artist when you grow up?” 

He looked down in embarrassment but couldn’t help but smile at the compliment. Despite how weird this lady was, she actually seemed pretty nice.  

“Um...I dunno. I like drawing so...maybe.” 

“You should definitely show it to Freddy, I bet he’d love it!” 

Gregory perked up at that, but frowned again as he looked back over to the show room. 

“I want to but I can’t yet.” 

“Why not?” Vanny asked. “Ya nervous?” 

That was true but he wasn’t about to admit it.  

“My mom has the ticket for the meet and greet but...she had to take some kinda phone call and hasn’t come back yet.” 

“Hasn’t...come back,” she repeated. 

As Gregory watched kids and parents come and go, he hadn’t noticed that Vanny was staring right at him until the silence between them grew uncomfortably long. But as he turned back to look at her, she stood up and offered her hand. 

“I know a way you can give it to him.” 

A little perturbed by her sudden shift in tone; he looked at her hand but didn’t take it. 

“Uh...how?” 

“The VIP room, silly!” She said, her chirpy voice returning once more. “You know that one up at Fazer Tag? I saw you looking at it earlier.” 

The one that was high up, he remembered. But... had she been watching him that whole time? 

“That’s where Freddy and the others go for the secret meet and greets, where they give you their undivided attention.” 

Gregory raised an eyebrow. 

“I... didn’t even know that was a thing.” 

“That’s cuz it’s secret!” 

Okay, well that made sense. 

“Usually only the rich kids get to go there but I think you’re much more deserving, Gregory,” she said, holding out her hand once again. “You only get today, right?” 

The boy looked over once more. Freddy was waving goodbye to the last of the children as the stewards drew the curtains. He had missed his chance. 

He looked back up at Vanny. 

“What about my mom?” 

The rabbit tilted her head. “I’ll notify the staff so they can let her know, then she’ll come pick you up when you’re ready, okay?” 

There was a moment of hesitation but he knew she was right. He only had today and nothing was going to stop him from getting what he wanted. 

Screw the rules.  

With a nod, Gregory took her hand and let her lead him away to the Fazer Tag arena, not noticing that his drawing had slipped from her grip and she had let it fall into a crumpled ball as they walked away. 

xxx

So let me know what y’all think! Would you like to see a part 2? :D

Edit: Part 2 is now available here!

[melzula]

If your requests are open, can you write about bolin liking the pro bender opponent? Maybe like when theyre on the stage fighting or they catch each other in between gym training time slots?? Thank you so much for taking the time to read and write, i really like and appreciate your writing 🥰

“Oh, and another smack down sends the Fire Ferrets hurdling into the water! If they don’t get their heads back in the game now I’m afraid they won’t be leaving tonight’s match with a win.”

“Bolin, come on!” Mako chides, irritation clear in his tone. “You’ve been off all night, what’s wrong with you?”

“I don’t know, I just... I’m just a little distracted,” he confess with a subtle blush appearing on his cheeks as he gazes up longingly at the ring where the opposing team stands. Distraction was an understatement, he was completely mesmerized by the opposing team’s water bender player. Bolin was a sucker for powerful, beautiful women and she definitely checked both of those boxes with ease. How was he supposed to focus or fight back when your fierce gaze was constantly set upon him, as if you knew just how great of an affect you had on him?

“Well focus or we’re going to lose this match,” Mako says before slipping his helmet back on and stepping onto the rising platform so that it can take their team back up to the ring. Korra merely offers Bolin an encouraging smile before joining his brother, and with a small pout he follows suit.

With the loud dings of the bell Bolin is on the defense, hurdling disks at his opponents but making sure to avoid the water bender at all costs. Injuring her or knocking her out of the ring would probably ruin his chances of getting her to go on a date with him, and he didn’t want that at all. But he couldn’t help but be distracted by her, the graceful movements of her arms as she bent the water to her will. It almost looked as if she were dancing around the ring, and when their eyes met she sent him the sweetest smile he’d ever seen. Bolin practically melted, but the hearts in his eyes only hazed his vision and resulted in a full blast of water sending him flying over the edge of the ring and down into the water. When he resurfaces his heart is hammering in his chest and despite having just gotten himself knocked off he still has a love struck smile on his face.

“Wow,” he sighs dreamily, “that is some girl.”

The Fire Ferrets leave the match defeated, and though Mako gave Bolin an earful of lectures about focus and discipline he hardly heard any of it. He couldn’t get her out of his mind, and he was desperate to meet the girl who had knocked him out of the ring and water bended her way into his heart. The spirits must be on his side tonight, however, as he’s able to catch her just as walks out of the arena. Without her helmet on her features are more visible, and he can see the details of her face and the curve of her smile. She is absolutely radiant and Bolin feels like he’s walking on air as he approaches her.

“Hey, nice match,” he says to start the conversation, and he’s relieved to see that you’re receptive of his efforts; his heart would have been crushed if you had just turned out to be some snobby bender.

“Thanks. Sorry for knocking you out of the water like that,” you reply with an apologetic smile. “You’re a great earth bender.”

“Yeah, I’m kind of the best around,” Bolin chuckles smoothly, making sure to flex his arms and show off his very toned muscles. The act earns him a soft giggle in return as you appreciate his antics.

“Oh, I bet. Listen, I was just about to grab a bite to eat. Would you like to join me?”

“I’d love to!” Bolin exclaims happily.

“Cool. I know a great place, they have the best food in all of Republic City,” you say before taking his hand in your own and guiding him out into the streets. A happy sigh leaves him when you do so and he finds himself following you blindly. You really do have a hold on him, and Bolin swears he’s never been this in love before. “My name’s y/n, by the way.”

“Bobo,” he replies airily.

“Huh?”

“I-I mean Bolin. My name is Bolin,” he corrects with a nervous grin and sheepish laughter. You only smile.

“It’s nice to meet you Bolin. Now come on, if we get there early enough we can beat the rush.”

An excited shout leaves him as you tug him along and begin your race through the city. With the wind blowing against your face and your bubbly laughter echoing through the skies, Bolin knows he’s found the girl of his dreams.

But boy is Mako going to have a fit when he learns his little brother has fallen for the enemy.

[theycallmebecca]

Be My Valentine: Part 1

I am so excited for you guys to read this series. I wrote it over a couple days and I’m really happy with the way it turned out. Shout out to @nomadicpixel​ for helping me brainstorm this whole piece and @alievans007​ for cheering me on.

And yes, my face claim for Violet is Nicola Coughlan who plays a teenager on Derry Girls and in Bridgerton, however, in real life, she is actually 34. She, like me, is short and does not look like she is in her 30′s. Which just makes me love and relate to her more.

Be My Valentine is a drabble series that I wrote for the Week of Love prompts for the HBC’s Valentine’s 2021 celebration. This series is for @the-ce-horniest-book-club​​.

Pairing: Chris Evans x Violet Hanson (OFC)

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: some language

Series Summary: Chris and Violet meet when he stops to help her with a flat tire in September. After bumping into each other again and again, Chris’s asks her out. The series follows several firsts in their relationship.

Disclaimer: This work of fiction is not to be reposted, used or translated without my permission.

Because of how tumblr can be with links (even if they’re just to other tumblr posts), I will reblog each part with a link to the masterlist.

Part 1: First Meeting

September

Chris Evans was driving home on a rainy afternoon when he saw a navy blue car, with its emergency lights flashing, on the side of a back road.

Deciding to stop to see if he could help the driver, he put his blinker on and pulled over behind the disabled car. He turned off his car and turned on his own emergency lights. Then he grabbed his baseball cap and got out.

Walking up to the car on the passenger side, he could see that it was empty. He could also see that the front tire was blown.

"OH, COME ON!" he heard a voice shout from somewhere nearby.

Turning, he saw a woman in a red coat standing a few yards away, holding her phone above her head.

"There's no cell reception right here," he called out to her. "But maybe I can help?"

At the sound of his voice, she spun around and even from the distance, he could see a smile spread across her face.

"Yes!" the woman exclaimed. "Oh my god, yes!"

It took her a few minutes to get back to the car, slipping and sliding in the muddy grass the whole way.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see you right now," she said once she reached the cars. "I've been out here for at least thirty minutes." She held up her phone and shrugged. "I was going to start walking until I got cell reception."

"It's a bad zone," Chris explained as he took in her appearance. She was shorter than him and curvy, which reminded him of his sisters. Her hair was tucked under the hood of her red jacket, but he could just see bits of blonde matted to the pale skin of her face. "It's roughly a mile long and you're smack dab in the middle of it."

"Of course," the woman sighed. Then she straightened and held out her hand. "I'm Violet Hanson, by the way."

"Chris Evans," he replied, hesitantly. He shook her hand and waited to see if she would recognize his name or not. He could never be sure how people would react to learning who he was.

"Nice to meet you, Chris Evans," Violet said, giving him the same dazzling smile from earlier that made her blue eyes sparkle from behind her rain splattered glasses.

Then she turned her attention back to her car and Chris let out a sigh of relief.

"Do you have a spare tire?" he asked her.

"I do, but I can't change a tire," she replied and then gestured to her clothes, a nice pair of pants one typically wore for an office job. "Not even if I was wearing jeans."

"Lucky for you, I know how to change a tire," he told her.

Her whole face brightened at his words. "You'll help me?" she asked, turning to look at him.

"Yes, I'm going to help you," Chris told her then he took in the soaked state of her clothes. "Actually, I'm going to do it for you while you go warm up in my car."

"What?" Violet replied, tilting her head.

"We're going to trade keys," he explained. "And you're going to go warm up in my car while I change your tire. You have to be freezing."

"Do you normally give your keys to random women?" she asked him as she took her keys out of a pocket in her coat.

"Only when they have a flat tire and I have their keys," Chris replied with a chuckle as he held out the keys to his car.

"You're a hero, Chris," Violet told him as they swapped.

It took him thirty minutes to change the tire, but he got it changed and put the flat tire into the trunk of her car.

"Thank you so much, Chris," Violet said, relief in her voice and on her face. "How can I pay you back?"

"Do something nice for someone else," he replied as they exchanged keys.

"I will," Violet promised. "Thank you again."

"No problem," Chris replied.

Walking back to his car, Chris got in and turned it on, turning the heater on full blast to start warming up.

He waited until Violet started her car and pulled back onto the road, giving him a friendly wave before she drove off.

[that-sw-writer]

Empress for the Evening II

PART ONE, PART THREE

Note: I really don’t know how I feel about this but I dislike everything I write so we’re rolling with it

Summary: After a long cycle the First Order Gala was once again upon you, and your thoughts were fixed on Kylo Ren.

But as always there were plenty of sleazy politicians available to pull you away from your memories of kissing the Supreme Leader after the last Gala.  It was time to assert your new position as Queen, and prove your independence.

Word count: 5071

Warnings: pure, unadulterated, tooth-rotting fluffy Kylo

It had been a long cycle. The illness your Father had contracted was more severe than the medical staff had initially thought, and a mere few months after the First Order’s last Gala he had passed away.

In the following months, you barely had any time to process losing him. He had been a widely respected and loved King, but you were quickly forced to step up as Queen – a role which you didn’t feel ready for. Many people told you that authority and leadership suited you, and thankfully you had managed to maintain the high functioning society your Father had for all those cycles.

Despite many nights spent alone silently mourning the loss of your Father, day to day you were in and out of meetings, public appearances and diplomatic endeavours. The steel industry was producing at a higher rate than ever, and you hoped that your Father would have been proud of what you had achieved since his passing.

You faced plenty of insubordination being a Queen of your age, but you stopped it very quickly by demonstrating that you aren’t afraid to exercise your power against those who undermine you. There were however some issues which your advisors consistently brought up which couldn’t be considered insubordinate; one of those was marriage.

It was true, you were young, pretty and heavily sought after by royal families from other planets. But the problem was you didn’t have any desire to marry. Had your Father still been King he would have been advised to marry you off to a planet whom he wished to ally himself with – but he had always taught you not to be a bargaining chip in somebody else’s political game. Now you were the Queen, and you were not about to sell yourself to some stranger in order to please your advisors.

The months flew by, and before you knew it the dreaded annual First Order Gala was upon you once more. This time you would be attending as a Queen rather than a Princess, which gave you plenty of authority to put creeps like Baron Eastley in their place.

As you sat onboard your transport to the Finalizer, your thoughts drifted to the Supreme Leader. The moment he had kissed you outside of your room had played over and over in your head, and the thought of seeing him again made you more nervous every time you thought about it. You told yourself that you were being pathetic – It’s not like Kylo Ren would be spending time thinking about you. It was one night, you had both had a bit to drink, and it was never going to be spoken about again most likely.

You continued to tell yourself this as you approached the hanger for landing. Perhaps you wouldn’t even see the Supreme Leader at the Gala, and if you did you weren’t even sure what to say.

Upon landing you were shown to your quarters for the evening by two Stormtroopers, flanked by your ever-loyal handmaidens. When you arrived at your room, the three women accompanying you were shown to their room next door before bringing your belongings and joining you in your quarters to begin getting you ready for the Gala.

The four of you chatted on as the three women fussed over your hair and makeup, they had been with you through thick and thin – when you were coronated as Queen your court had attempted to assign you new handmaidens, but you had strictly refused. You trusted these women, and discarding them for different people would have broken that trust.

“Do you think the Supreme Leader will talk to you tonight?” Flora finally asked the question on everyone’s lips, and you waited for Jeyne to comment with something optimistic first.

“Of course he will! I bet you’ve been the only thing on his mind since the last Gala!” She beamed at you, and you let out a small chuckle. You hadn’t hesitated in telling your closest confidants about your exchange with the Supreme Leader the previous cycle. You knew they could keep a secret – if anyone from your court had discovered your brief romance with Kylo Ren they would have exploited it for something it wasn’t.

“I’m sure you’re all overstating things.” You gently shook your head, “Last time we had both had a bit to drink and he must have just found me attractive – which is all down to your amazing work.” You praised the three women with a small smile, but they quickly brushed off your compliment.

“Don’t undersell yourself your Majesty, any man would be foolish to turn you down.” Kira looked up from where she was styling your hair and met your eyes in the mirror with a smile.

You continued to chatter along with them as they finalised your look for the evening. Your dress was a shining silver, the area around your chest was made of a sheer fabric which was invisible to the eye, but the silver embellishments were sparsely dotted out around your chest, creating a beautiful illusion. The dress hugged your waist, and the skirt fell to the floor, catching the light as you moved. Your hair fell in cascading waves down your back, and your makeup was done as to compliment your dress perfectly.

“You look incredible.” Kira exhaled a breath, all the ladies were clearly proud of their work – and you were equally as proud of them.

“Thank you, all of you. I’ll never know how you do it.” You smiled at yourself in the mirror.

As was always the routine, just at the moment you were ready to go your escort arrived to take you to the reception hall. Your handmaidens kept to their schedule perfectly every cycle.

“Good luck, your Majesty.” Flora smiled, and you bid farewell to them all as you made your way to the door to meet the Stormtroopers who would be escorting you to the Gala.

When the blast doors opened, your heart skipped a beat and behind you the jaws of your handmaidens hit the floor. Before you stood the Supreme Leader in his all glory, dressed in what you could only assume was the same tunic that he had worn the cycle before.

“I-uh…” You were lost for words, sure you had been mentally preparing yourself to see Kylo Ren again, but not to have him show up at your door before the Gala even began.

“Your Majesty, I know you weren’t expecting me,” He began, seemingly just as nervous as you were, “But I was hoping to escort you this evening.”

You took a second and quickly composed yourself – you were a Queen for goodness sake, not some naïve Princess anymore. “It’d be my honour.” You smiled delicately, and took his arm when prompted.

Out of the corner of your eye you can see your handmaidens exchanging very excited glances as you left.

“May I offer my condolences for the passing of your Father, I’m sure it hasn’t been an easy cycle for you.” He spoke solemnly as the pair of you slowly approached the reception hall.

“Thank you, Supreme Leader.” You looked down, discussing your Father’s passing was still a raw subject, but you’d had plenty of practise at holding it together, “He is sorely missed on our planet.”

“I can imagine.” He replied, “But I also wanted to congratulate you on the work you have done so far. It is my understanding that under your rule the First Order is being supplied with almost double the amount of steel we were before.”

You nodded, “It’s been my first priority to improve worker conditions and boost morale, in turn it has increased production levels. A lucky outcome really.”

“Don’t put it down to luck, ruling suits you. I realised that at the last Gala.”

Your mind drifted back to the pervious cycle when you had swiftly put Baron Eastley in his place, unsurprisingly he was one of the planetary leaders requesting your hand in marriage for his sons.

“That’s kind of you to say, Supreme Leader.” You offered him a cordial smile, which he returned.

“Kylo, please.” He told you, and you nodded. You remembered he had asked you not to call him by his title at the previous Gala, but you didn’t want to assume that things were the same this time around.

There was an awkward air between you both. That elephant in the room that neither of you would talk about, and that was the kiss you had shared.

You reached the entrance and Kylo turned to you, “I’m afraid I’ll have to take my leave.”

He had to enter along with the First Order Supreme Council, and you had no desire to join him. “Thank you for escorting me.” You nodded, before adding, “I hope to see you in there.”

“I’ll make sure of it.” He gave a curt bow, and marched off in another direction, leaving you alone.

You inhaled a deep breath and entered the reception hall, many glances being thrown your way.  Perhaps it was the dress grabbing their attention, or maybe it was the fact that you had become Queen so abruptly at such a young age - if these aristocrats loved anything it was gossip.

"Queen Y/N!"  A voice called, "Please, join us!"  You recognised the man speaking as the representative Chancellor of Vardos.  He was standing in amongst a group of other men and women, many of whom you recognised but not well enough to know any of their names.

You nodded, and made your way over to their schmoozing circle, being sure to swipe a glass of champagne from a serving droid on your way over.  Time to paint on the fake smile and act happy to see all of these strangers.

"How lovely to see you all."  You took a small sip from your glass and stood tall whilst they all looked at you like a pack of hungry dogs.

"We were all terribly sorry to hear about your Father's passing, he was a good man."  One woman, who you recognised as a member of the Corellian leadership, spoke first.

"He was."  You knew that you would hear plenty of these comments this evening, despite none of these people truly being sorry about his passing.  When he had died the First Order's allied planets had sensed an opportunity to infiltrate your planet's economy - after all you were supplying the First Order with something irreplaceable.

"How have you found Queendom so far?  I can imagine it hasn't been an easy adjustment to make, particularly alone."  This comment was so pointed it made you feel sick to the stomach, imagine having a young woman rule alone?  Scandalous...

"I've actually settled in very well, thank you."  Your tone was slightly sharp, but you blunted it with a polite smile.  Many of the people here tonight had been begging your advisors that they arrange a marriage for you, but you had been refusing them.

You weren't against marriage, but you wanted to marry for the right reasons.  You certainly didn't want somebody to marry you simply to usurp your power.

"I've actually been speaking to your advisors about my son, your Majesty.  He's a few years older and than you and has plenty of experience-"  Thankfully you were saved by the bell before that sentence could finish.

"Please all be upstanding for Supreme Leader Kylo Ren."  Your head whipped to the doors which Kylo would enter through and applause rang out through the hall as he walked down the elaborate steps, looking completely indifferent as he always did.

His eyes searched the crowd, and eventually landed on you and you could have sworn you saw him wink at you... but that may have been a trick of the light.

As Kylo descended down the stairs whispers began circulating amongst your group, and it was clear that these people didn't know that Kylo Ren had depth to him beyond stabbing men with a Lightsaber.

"I've heard he's killed men just for making eye contact with him."

"You know the scar?  Apparently they could have healed him but he wanted to keep it to make him look more dangerous."

This chatter continued circulating amongst the people stood around you, and eventually they all turned to you to comment - and you cleared your throat, if they wanted something to talk about then you would give them something.

"I'm sure if the Supreme Leader heard you talking about him in such a way he wouldn't hesitate to demonstrate his power to you."  You shrugged nonchalantly, "But for what it's worth I think there's more to him than you all assume.  I wouldn't believe every rumour you hear."

They all fell silent, unsure of how to respond to your comment so they simply ignored it and changed the subject.

The talk turned to politics, and you largely remained silent unless called upon to comment on your planet's economy, which you did so proudly and with confidence.  All of sudden midway through the conversation you noticed everybody staring at you, and you suddenly became very uncomfortable; until you realised that there were looking over your shoulder.

Turning around you nearly collided with Kylo's chest, and he surreptitiously placed a hand on the small of your back to steady you, "I apologise for startling you, your Majesty."

"Not at all," You flashed him a smile, actually relieved that he was here hopefully to rescue you from this conversation, "I should really be more aware of my surroundings."

He slowly dropped his hand from your back before anybody watching could read into the gesture and turned to the group who were all frozen in fear by his presence.

"Thank you all for being here."  He addressed them all, and they took this as their cue to begin pushing their way to be the first to talk to him about the airs and graces of their individual planets.

He allowed them all to finish tripping over their words before clearing his throat, "I actually came here to talk to Queen Y/N."

All eyes were suddenly on you, and they all looked like death glares - jealousy was rising in the air but nobody made any move to stand the in way of Kylo Ren.

"I apologise for interrupting."  He told them all, and once again his hand was at the small of your back, but this time it was to gently lead you away from the crowd.  He came right on time since your champagne flute was empty and you didn't think you could stand another minute of their incessant gossiping.

The two of you walked away from the crowds of people, but it didn't go unnoticed this time around - there were multiple pairs of eyes watching you both.

Very aware of this, Kylo chose not to stand too close to you, which you appreciated.

"I trust you had no interest in remaining part of that."  He raised an eyebrow and you chuckled.  You both seemed far more comfortable than you initially had when he showed up at your quarters.

"Absolutely not."  You replied, shaking your head, "Your entrance actually saved me from a conversation I didn't want to have."

"You don't strike me as the kind of Queen who engages in conversations she doesn't want to have."  He smirked slightly.

"And I don't, but on these occasions I have to make exceptions.  It turns out I can't spend the entire cycle ignoring all these stuck up politicians' proposals of marriage and show up here alone without causing controversy."  You rolled your eyes.

"Marriage?  Are you... betrothed?"  He suddenly interjected, and your cheeks reddened slightly.  Perhaps you had forgotten whose company you were in - you probably shouldn't be discussing such personal political matters with the Supreme Leader.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything."  You sheepishly backtracked, "But, um, no I'm not.  My advisors are suggesting I marry, but I don't trust the motivations of these proposals."

"You're right not to trust them."  He mused, plucking two glasses of champagne from a passing serving droid and handing you one, taking your empty one and placing it back on the tray.

"Thank you."  You mumbled, taking a sip, "How do you know I'm right not trusting them?"  You wondered why Kylo was so interested in your political affairs, but equally it was nice for someone to give you an honest opinion.

"I think I must confess something."  He looked nervous, and suddenly very aware of all the eyes that were stealing glances your way.

You noticed Kylo's posture stiffen, "Is there perhaps somewhere more private we can talk?"  You softly asked him, and he nodded, looking relieved that you suggested it.

Taking his arm he led you to the back of the reception hall, where the was a set of blast doors which led to a viewpoint.  It was an enclosed area, which looked out over the vast depths of space - it was a beautiful sight, you never got to see the stars up close.

"Wow..."  You quietly said under your breath, "It's beautiful."

Kylo was stunned by your awe, perhaps he had become so accustomed to living off planet that he under-appreciated it.  In his opinion you were the true sight.

"I apologise, I'm getting distracted."  You shook your head and turned to him with a smile on your face, "Now that we don't have an audience, you had something you wished to confess."  Your heart was racing at the thought of what he was about to tell you, but equally you willed yourself not to jump to conclusions.

Kylo stepped forward and sheepishly reached out to take one of your hands in his, "After the last Gala, I've taken an interest in your planet but really it was you I wanted to know about."  He looked down, suddenly unable to meet your eyes, "You shouldn't be marrying someone from a backwater planet who just wants you for your power, you deserve more than that."

"I do."  You quietly agreed with him, and then you met his eyes.  You knew that everything the others said about Kylo Ren was true - he was dangerous, and powerful but they didn't see this side of him, the side of him that was vulnerable and caring.

Silence fell between you, and you contemplated what to say next.  You felt yourself gravitating towards Kylo uncontrollably and you worried that you were going to fall for the man without any assurance that he was the right man to fall for.

"I have to know; you said you took an interest in me, but I've met with some of your highest ranked officers since becoming Queen... why did you never come?"  The question sounded stupid leaving your mouth, but you hoped it was a valid point.  Of course, he was the Supreme Leader and had plenty of other responsibilities, but if he cared that much?  Surely an exception would have been made.

"I wasn't sure how you felt after the last Gala, I thought perhaps it was just a one off."  He looked so nervous, you found it hard to believe this was the same Supreme Leader who had nearly bitten Baron Eastley's head off last cycle.

He hadn't come to your planet because he was worried that it would be awkward?  You had thought that would be the problem the other way around...

"I wouldn't say it's a habit of mine to kiss handsome strangers."  Part of you was cringing at your corny line, but either way you flashed him a smirk and it seemed to do the trick in making him feel more comfortable.

"That's a shame, because I was hoping you might make a habit of it."  His voice was quiet and raspy.  He released your hand in favour of pushing a loose strand of hair behind your ear and slowly leaned down towards your lips.

You placed the hand not holding a glass on his chest, and shut your eyes in anticipation of his lips meeting yours... but they never came.

Just before the two of you could kiss the blast doors leading to the viewpoint flew open, and within a split second you and Kylo had leapt away from one another, both cursing under your breath.  The whole situation probably still looked incriminating.

"Supreme Leader, Queen Y/N.  I'm so sorry, I hope we weren't interrupting anything."  Of course it was the Chancellor of Vardos and his entourage who had encroached on your moment.  Just judging by the look on his face he knew full well what he was doing, clearly they had all been waiting to follow you this entire time.

Out of the corner of your eye you could see Kylo's fists clenching, so you jumped in before he could show them his temper, "Not at all, Chancellor.  In fact we were just leaving, the viewpoint is all yours."  You gave the most cordial smile, and attempted to move past the group of them.

Just as you brushed past the Corellian representative from earlier, she placed a hand on your shoulder to prevent you from leaving, "You're welcome to join us, your Majesty, I'm sure the Supreme Leader has many other people to meet with tonight."

You knew these politicians and their games.  They were trying trying to keep you there in order to ruffle your feathers, but equally if you left now they would take it as confirmation that there was something between you and Kylo.

You exchanged a glance with him, both of you knowing that you had to split up for a while in order to stop the gossip before it spread.

Kylo had dropped all manners in his frustration and simply grunted before pushing through the small crowd and leaving the viewpoint, which left you alone with the flock of vultures.

"You and the Supreme Leader certainly seem to be well-acquainted."  The Chancellor raised his eyebrow at you.  The entire group of them was insufferable, they acted as though they were above everybody else when you knew that your planet was amongst the most important to be represented.  What they really wanted to was to tear you down, and you wouldn't allow it.

"We had business matters to discuss."  You gave a nonchalant shrug, and he was quick to respond to you.

"It certainly looked like more than that from where we were standing."

You took a moment to sip at your champagne, appearing entirely unbothered by the Chancellor's comment.  "That sounds like an interesting story Chancellor, please let me know how it ends."  Your smile was contradicted by the sarcasm dripping from your tone.

"Perhaps if you were to reconsider one of our proposals of marriage, it would put our minds at ease that you aren't... how do I put this?  In bed with the Supreme Leader."  The Corellian woman spoke up this time and you used all your self control to not smash your glass over her head there and then.

Yes, it was almost unheard of for a young woman in your position to be unmarried, and particularly to be discarding the idea of a political marriage.  But you had your morals, and you were not going to turn your back on them.  You knew the comment about Kylo was just to illicit a reaction from you, so you purposely kept your cool.

"I have not turned down your marriage proposals in favour of Supreme Leader Ren.  If you must know, your group of suitable bachelors have the collective intelligence of a Dewback with no legs.  If I am to rule alongside someone, I will choose who.  I will not be courted by your naive sons and senators who serve as your puppets to take over my economy."  Without another word you pushed past them and left the viewpoint with your head held high.

Once the blast doors shut behind you and you were out of sight you exhaled a breath you didn't realise you had been holding.

You saw Kylo talking to a ginger man who you recognised as the General, but when he saw you emerge from the viewpoint he swiftly made his way to your side.

"Perhaps next cycle I can make it through an entire Gala without somebody attempting to marry me off in order to take over my planet's resources."  You sighed and looked at him, feeling rather defeated.  It was frustrating that you could be so successful, but because you were young and a woman you would never gain everybody's respect.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have left you alone with them."  He looked at you apologetically, but you brushed it off.

"You know you couldn't have stayed in there without sparking some ridiculous rumours."  You were certainly ready to retire for the evening, and before you could tell Kylo this he had beaten you to it.

Once again plucking the empty champagne flute from your hand he placed both glasses on the nearest serving tray before turning back to face you, "May I see you back to your quarters?"

"Yes, you may."  You nodded, now past the point of caring if anyone saw you leaving with Kylo.  After all, you could do a lot worse than the Supreme Leader of the First Order.

You took his arm, as was the routine now, and he led you to the door you had entered through all those hours ago.

"I take it you had some choice words for your friends back there."  He smirked slightly, and you exhaled a small laugh.  You never thought you'd be telling the Supreme Leader about how you had insulted a number of his guests.

"I may have compared their potential suitors to a Dewback without legs."  You now realised how ridiculous that insult had sounded, but it did illustrate your point exceptionally well.

Kylo let out a genuine laugh, something you doubted many people heard from him, "That's certainly inventive."

You leisurely walked back to your quarters, but when you reached the blast doors your heart sank... this was reminiscent of the previous Gala, and the thought of going so long without seeing Kylo again was making you feel sick.

"Kylo, I-"  You began, looking down at the floor to avoid eye contact, "-I don't want this to end the same way it did before."

He gently placed his hand beneath your chin and brought your face up to look at him, "It won't, I'm not letting you get away this time."

Kylo was determined not to lose you this time.  When he had heard news of the numerous planets competing for your hand in marriage he was certain that he had missed his chance and you would be attending the Gala with your new husband.  But here you were standing before him, still denying the advances of others.

His hand brought your face further towards his, and within moments his lips were finally on yours - this time with no interruptions.

You reached up and rested your hands at the base of his neck, and he responded by pulling you flush again his chest by your waist.

He kissed you with fervor, his movements were becoming hastier and you weren't complaining.  It wasn't long before you both separated for air but you remained close, his forehead pressed against yours.

"Do you want to come in?"  You breathlessly asked him, not knowing what had come over you to propose something so bold.

"Yes."  He didn't hesitate to respond, and you pulled yourself away from him long enough to take his hand and drag him through the blast doors to your room.

When you were inside Kylo stood and looked at you up and down, his brown eyes were filled with lust and you imagined that yours didn't looks dissimilar.

"You look incredible."  He breathed out, before lunging towards you to capture your lips once again in a hungry kiss.

You gladly fell into his arms and melted into the kiss - somehow even with his tongue in your mouth and hand weaving its way through your hair he still managed to be gentle, as if he were scared you'd break.

He pushed you backwards as you made out, and soon the backs of your legs met with the bed.  With a small push you fell onto the soft mattress, dragging Kylo with you.

He braced his own impact in order to not squash you beneath his massive frame, and the two of you remained there, mouths working in synchronisation.  Eventually Kylo broke the kiss and began peppering kisses along your jaw, and down to your neck whilst his hands explored every curve of your body.  It was as if you were a temple and he was worshiping you.

Meanwhile your hands were slowly running up and down his biceps.  Despite still wearing his tunic and undershirt, you could feel that he was built like a brick house beneath it all.

Out of the blue Kylo pulled his face away and looked down at you with swollen lips, panting slightly, "Marry me."

You were stunned, your mouth unable to form the words at first because you were so busy processing what had just been said.  You reached up and ran a hand through his dark hair, "Are you serious?"  You finally asked, quietly.

Kylo faltered for a moment, fearing rejection, "I mean it."  He eventually responded, before sounding more sure of himself, "You said you didn't trust the motivations of the other marriage proposals, but trust me."

Your heart was beating so fast you thought you must have been dreaming, but this was real Kylo Ren, the man who ruled the galaxy was offering you his hand in marriage.

"My planet..."  You whispered, hating yourself for thinking about your duties right now but you were a Queen, you couldn't just forget about your people... not even for him.

"I'm not asking you to abandon your people-"  He slowly began placing chaste kisses to your lips and jaw between his words, "I would never undermine you as Queen, but you could also be my Empress - we could rule the galaxy together."

"Yes."  You suddenly blurted out before you could stop yourself.  But then you realised you didn't want to stop yourself, there was an undeniable connection between you and Kylo and the motive behind his proposal was true sentiment - not a political move.

"Yes?"  He paused the slow movements of his lips against your skin and looked deep into your eyes.

"Yes."  A huge smile broke out on your face, and a feeling of undeniable joy rose up within you.  

A genuine smile also appeared on Kylo's face, and you had never seen him look so... cute.  You crashed your lips together in an instant.

There were plenty of unspoken details, but you were certain you could overcome them.  Your advisors had been pushing you to accept a marriage proposal, and you could only imagine their shock when you return having accepted one from the Supreme Leader.

Come the next Gala you would be greeting the condescending politicians not only as a Queen, but as Empress.

[dearestones]

Battle of the Breath… and Boulders (Kamaboko Squad Shenanigans)

Warnings: General stupidity.

Anonymous Request: Thank you for all your hard work and dedication to writing nearly everyday! I really like and enjoy your works! :D And thank you for doing mine! (It was the Hoodlum and Swindler interaction.)

May I request some Demon Slayer main trio hijinks so not to overwhelm with just AD? :0

Thanks if you do it!

.

.

.

Zenitsu clutched his sword tight in his dominant hand. Although not in a battle ready stance befitting that of his breathing style, his eyes were wide as he scanned the trees and his ears were receptive to the sounds of the wind whistling through the trees. As the leaves rustled behind him, Zenitsu felt his muscles tense up and his breathing deepen and quiet.

Like a serpent coiled to strike, Zenitsu was tensed and at the ready to swing his sword.

Above him, the sun was at its highest peak. If it were any other day, Zenitsu and the rest of his fellow Demon Slayers would have stopped for lunch. At that very moment, Zenitsu felt his stomach roll in dismay, as if sensing that its daily serving of food wasn’t going to be given its usual scheduled serving.

Zenitsu could relate.

Nothing about today could be considered “usual”.

For one, when the Demon Slayer trio had woken up from their makeshift camp in the midst of hiking up a mountain, Inosuke had been uncharacteristically silent and contemplative. For a person who was used to having his eardrums blasted by the boar child’s obnoxious antics, the blond had been relieved for the sudden reprieve. Despite that, however, it was Tanjiro who had expressed great worry and concern over Inosuke’s taciturn nature.

“Is something troubling you?”

The redhead had placed a cautious hand on Inosuke’s broad, tanned shoulder. It was a gesture of affection, Inosuke must have realized, because he didn’t shrug away from Tanjiro’s touch. Instead, the boar child scratched his chin and faced Tanjiro, the blank eyes of the boar mask seemingly even more unsettling and blank than usual.

“I want to grow stronger, Gonpachiro.”

As always, Tanjiro’s friendly smile had degraded into a grimace at the butchering of his name, but the redhead had managed to nod slowly in understanding.

“Don’t worry, Inosuke! As long as we practice and train—“

Inosuke interrupted with barely a thought for Tanjiro’s inspirational speech. “No, Tontaro! I want to grow stronger not by training,” the boar child puffed up his chest and swung his swords high up into the sky so that the sunlight glinted off the serrated blades, “I want to fight you both!”

Zenitsu rolled his eyes.

“Didn’t you learn from the first time we met?” Zenitsu leaned his back against the trunk of a tree, already too tired from this inane conversation. He regarded Inosuke with an exasperated, but fond gaze, but continued, “We Demon Slayers can’t fight each other. Why would you want us to fight anyway?”

“Hahahah! But how are we to get better if we don’t constantly practice! Fighting with our different styles can teach us new things!” Inosuke slung a muscled arm over Zenitsu either oblivious to or purposely ignoring his friend’s groan of disgust. “Pankitsu, fight me!”

“Tanjiro, please tell Inosuke that—” The blond found himself stuttering to a halt when he realized that the one person he thought would be sane enough to back him up actually looked like he was giving Inosuke’s spiel some thought. The blond groaned and pushed himself off the tree to confront his first friend. “Come on, Tanjiro! We’re supposed to head into the next town over within the next few days!”

Tanjiro looked troubled for a second before a bright grin shone on his face.

“Instead of actually sparring with each other, we can make it a race!”

Zenitsu’s ears pricked up at that.

A race?

Not only would that get them to their next destination faster, but while his comrades would be competing against each other, Zenitsu could easily make it down the other side. After all, thunder breathing style was all about speed and efficiency. So long as he remained focused, then Zenitsu would surely win!

After all three agreed, they decided on some ground rules.

No major or threatening wounds.

They could go all out with their styles and special abilities so long as the first rule was adhered to.

The first one to reach the bottom of the mountain on the other side wins.

Within the next half hour, Zenitsu basically blasted through the competition. Tanjiro and Inosuke, the true warriors they were compared to him (or so he thought), were far more focused on using their abilities to battle each other. If Zenitsu wanted, he could have stayed behind to watch to see how their respective styles fared against each other.

However, the blond was a realist and wanted to win.

So, down the mountain he went, fully aware of the sounds of sword chasing against each other accompanied by the sounds of grunts of pain and whoops of victory that rang through the air every so often. It wasn’t like Zenitsu didn’t want to fight (a part of him did) but he wanted to stay true to his objective.

Besides… they had yet to decide on what the prize was going to be.

Finally, when Zenitsu stepped onto flat ground, he allowed himself a small smile as he dropped flat to the ground.

Victory! How sweet did it taste upon his tongue.

As the blond rested underneath the shade of an ancient tree, he tried to rest and quiet his breathing that had become somewhat labored since he had run all that way down the mountain. However, before he could fully rest his eyes, his ears began to prick with a sound that he was all too familiar with.

Footsteps.

At first, Zenitsu didn’t seem to find anything wrong with it.

And then—

He realized that the footsteps were accompanied with… something rumbling? Yeah, it sounded a lot like something was… rolling down something?

Like thunder… rolling thunder?

With the speed and agility that not many people would associate with him, Zenitsu jumped up to his feet and unsheathed his sword. Although his eyes were not as sharp as his ears, he kept his gaze focused at what appeared to be a dust storm cascading down the mountainside.

Zenitsu’s warm brown eyed gaze narrowed.

If the footsteps paired well with that cloud of dust (which it did thanks to his ears), then Zenitsu had to wonder… What did those two idiots do?

Zenitsu stood stock still, his breathing nearly silent for a second.

And that’s when all hell broke loose.

Surprisingly, it was Tanjiro who came barreling down the mountain first. When the redhead saw Zenitsu, there was a brief flash of a smile on his face before it became grim.

“Get out of the way! Inosuke and I accidentally dislodged a boulder and—!”

Inosuke came tumbling next, his boar head somehow still resting tightly on his head.

“Monitsu! We’re gonna die! Hahahaha!”

As the pair of Demon Slayers ran past Zenitsu, the blond stood tall and straight, his hand twitched upon the handle of his sword.

His eyes closed.

And as the boulder bore down on him…

Zenitsu could hear the shouts of his teammates scream for him to move, to turn right or turn left…

Yet—

He stood still, his eyes closed, and he shifted into first stance, and then—

“Thunder Breathing First Form,” his eyes glowed somewhat dimly amid the contrast of the sunlight around him, “Thunderclap and Flash!”

And with that, the Thunder Breather slashed forward—

—and into the boulder, causing it to fall apart in half.

As Zenitsu sheathed his sword, he could hear the awed sounds and gasps of awe from his fellow Demon Slayers.

“That was so awesome, Zenitsu!” Tanjiro cried among the petulant cries of Inosuke claiming that he could have done the same. He came forward to embrace Zenitsu, almost as if the blond had been harmed in the maneuver. “I couldn’t have done that!”

The blond’s cheeks warmed at the compliment; on his tongue, he ached to say that he didn’t deserve such kind words, but something else came out.

“Didn’t you say that you sliced through a giant rock before the Final Selection,” Zenitsu asked him. “Why didn’t you do just that?”

Tanjiro blinked, his eyes wide and his cheeks just as red as his hair. “Oh… It was going too fast, though!”

Zenitsu resisted the urge to smack his palm against his forehead.

“Whatever… Can we go now? I’m going to have the both of you treat me to a nice meal at the next shop we come across as a reward for winning!”

.

.

.

If you want to donate a Ko-Fi, feel free https://ko-fi.com/devintrinidad.

KIMETSU NO YAIBA (DEMON SLAYER) MASTERLIST

[majesticnerdynerd]

Reichenbach Falls Recap 2020

Hello! Since it is December 31st of this tomfuckery of a year, I decided to make a post about something that brightened my days since the 25th of May, my fic Reichenbach Falls that keeps me company every day which I love very much. Never ever would I have thought I’d come up with a 300-chapter a.k.a. 3 works in 1 fanfic. And yet here we are! 

I wanted to reflect on how the initial writing process went, then the posting, and how it evolved until today. 

So, Reichenbach Falls. It is a Gravity Falls Sherlock AU, but as I plotted more and more, it evolved into the monstrosity of SuperWhoLock. 2012 called that they want their Holy Trinity back, but guess what? I may be late to the party but I still groove! It will mostly be SuperLock once it really gets off in further episodes later on, but the SuperWhoLock episodes? Y’all won’t see the crazy stuff coming.

Now: the origins. As I mentioned above, the 25th of May 2020 is when I speed-wrote episode 1 of RF. The original document was 13k words long and mere 3 chapters, and I have a policy of writing on and on until it is needed to start reviewing. Upon said reviewing in the last week of August. It was a lot of work; since then I had decided to have each episode be split into 5 chapters, so I had to add 2 and review the new stuff. Today, episode 1 - Pixie Cut is the longest I have so far with 30k words. However, that may be soon overcome by episode 8 or 9 or even 10 - I noticed that episodes down the line are quite elaborate as I write them, which I suppose is good? I mean, it gives us more lore and interactions!

After writing all summer on speeds similar to those of Mr Krabs on methamphetamine (and my friends Bee @jasombee​ and Dee @ipromiseimnotaspy​ can attest to that), I suddenly found myself facing September 1st. The day I published Introduction to the characters and chapter 1 of ep. 1. And guys, the reception and feedback I got at the beginning? Still mindblowing to this day! 

And I am incredibly grateful for everyone who clicked, gave kudo, commented, or subscribed to the fic, because I honestly didn’t think that a Sherlock AU that is taking on its own life and consuming mine would get much attention. But it did! And it’s all the more exciting to be able to share the story of John, Irene, Sherlock, Greg, and Mrs Hudson with anyone who joins the ride!

But the special thanks belong to Bee and Dee whom I mnetioned above as well. Bee took her time to bless Reichenbach Falls with fanart of the Colour Wheel, and Mary, John, Irene, and Sherlock. And there will be more for some other important peeps, too, eventually! And her art is gorgeous, so she definitely also deserves some serious love. Dee took her time to read the episodes I put in front of her and gave me first-feel feedback as a reader, which I value so much! She also prohibited me from spoiling her the plot twists, so she’s a bit of my lab rat to see her reactions, while Bee is my sounding board and helped me flesh out the overarching plot across the full 3 works and she also graciously helps me smooth out details regarding the crossover bits. Oh, and Dee also made moodboards for Sherlock and Irene! Thank you girls, I don’t know what I’d do without you.

We also got a SuperLock episode, which actually took a lot longer than I liked to write in July. It was the first passing introduction of the Winchester brothers, and I have to say that I’m satisfied with it. The original episode was 22k words long, the present posted one stands at 25.888 words. The Winchester brothers will be vital to the plot and very relevant as the story progresses, so it’s definitely not the last time we saw them in ep2 Gloria Scott! And I mean it, did I mention there’s a lot of lore? :)

This fic has its own memes in my gallery, because me and my friends couldn’t help it, and somehow, a twisted impostor spirit of Niclas Cage and ghoul Freddie Mercury ended up as parts of the plot in their respective episodes. What can I say, this fic is full of surprises even for me as I write :D and there’s a lot more to come as we unravel the many mysteries of Reichenbach Falls and its origins!

Honestly, it’s such a blast to write this. I never thought I’d set out to write a project this big. I have a shcedule I try to keep to, posting on every fifth day of the month. Season 1, Deja Vu, is roughly plotted out, but I’ve discussed this on my secondary blog where I had a nice chat with Iris. Season 2, name of which I won’t disclose yet because that is 1 year in the future in terms of being posted, is also plotted out roughly, but I give myself enough free leeway so as not to feel restricted or suffocated by my own expectations. Which works out, because I always improvise on the whim as I write, and it’s all the more fun!

And the people who reached out, even those who didn’t or lurk, I love you. You’ve made this experience of posting fanfiction all the more exciting and I can’t wait to show you all there is. Thank you <3

The primary ship is, of course, Johnlock, but I don’t stop there either ;) but other ships are a surprise for now!

Also, here’s something I find quite funny: almost 4 full months of Reichenbach Falls being posted and it reached a beautiful number of hits.

Do you see that?

Oh yes. It’s all coming together. What a way to end 2020. Crowley shall enjoy the ride as well, because we’re on our highway to hell! (wow it rhymes)

Seriously, though. Thank you for tagging along. 

I’ll see you on January 5th with episode 6

Happy New Year!

-Vee

[lunasilvermorny]

The Lost Sister - Future AU

Around 2013

Luna locked her office door behind her and walked through the corridor toward the exit, when she saw Mark standing next to the reception desk, blocking her path.

“Why are you still here?” She asked, exhausted from the long day at the clinic.

“There’s someone here to see you.” He said with a nervous voice.

“I told you no more after-hours clients,” she dismissed him. “Unless it’s urgent-“

“It’s… different.” He played with his hands, not sure what to do with them.

Luna wrinkled her forehead.

“Urgent different or we-can-deal-with-it-tomorrow different?” she asked suspiciously.

Mark turned a little pink and murmured- “Just different.”

“Fine.” She didn’t have the energy to get into one of their little argument now; the faster she puts up with him, the faster she can go home.

Mark made a gesture toward the entrance hallway that was hidden from sight and a woman in her early twenties came forward from behind the wall.

Luna almost choked the second she laid eyes on her, when the only thought the echoed in her head was – ‘Olivia!’

Luckily, she learned from her father, years ago, how to maintain a perfect poker face, so her surprise wasn’t visible to the other two.

However, the moment passed quickly as she was able to use her reason again. Of course that wasn’t Olivia. Luna held her little sister in her arms when she found her dead in their house years ago. There is no doubt about her passing. Also, if she were magically alive, she’d be older than the woman standing in front of her. And as the thought of her sister slowly faded away from her mind, she started noticing all the differences between them. The woman was shorter than her. She had bleached blond hair, blue eyes and her skin was prominently tan.

After a long silence, Luna finally opened her mouth to speak.

“If there isn’t an emergency, I’m afraid we’re closed for the day.” she said coldly, the feeling of unease still holding onto her, forcing her to create a distance between her and the unknown woman.

“I’m not… I mean...“ The woman blushed and lowered her gaze. Her accent was foreign. After a few seconds of silence, she looked like she mustered the courage to continue- “My name is Lily Walker, but when I was a little girl, it was Lilia Silver.”

Luna’s body has stiffened and she remained silence. Could that really be Lilia? There is a family resemblance, of course, but these kind of things can be easily altered with magic.

She saw Mark’s gaze from the corner of her eyes, burning with curiosity for any type of reaction from her, but she kept a blank expression.

Lilia continued – “I found these-“, she got a pack of letters out of her cloak. “My mom wrote them, but never actually sent any.” She offered them to Luna that briefly looked through them. She recognized her mother’s handwriting, same as in the last letter she got from her after the Second Wizarding War, telling her that she took Lilia and fled to the US to start a new life.

She wasn’t convinced yet, but was willing to go along with it for now.

“It’s been…” Luna’s voice sounded uninterested, but it’s just because she wasn’t sure how to react.

“Fifteen years.” Lilia finished the sentence. “Mom wanted to send them, but after you didn’t response to her first letter, she assumed you didn’t want anything to do with her.”

“She wanted a fresh start.” Luna said calmly, her expression was still unreadable. “That is what I gave her.”

For a second it looked like Lilia lost her nerve again, but then she shook her head and said- “She missed you very much. You and Jacob.”

Luna ignored the mention of their brother. A vague memory of her mother’s face came to mind. She threw away all the pictures of her, so she barely remembered how she looked after all these years. It’s been so long since she thought of her.

Mark opened his mouth, but closed it before any words came out. Luna shook her head, as if she’s trying to physically get rid of these memories. It’s all in the past, Luna’s moved on years ago. None of it is her concern anymore.

“All right, so how may I help you?” she said, keeping an emotional distance between her and her long lost sister.

Lilia was clearly taken aback by it. Red blush covered her cheeks while she turned to look at Mark, seeking for any kind of help he has to offer.

Mark clear his throat and said with a slightly cracked voice – “You look tired, do you have anywhere to stay?”

Luna narrowed her eyes.

“Oh, yes. Thank you.” Lilia said quickly and turned back to Luna. “I wasn’t trying to pry; I just wanted to meet you.” Somehow, her skin managed to turn even redder. “It’s just that I have so few memories of you and I… I wanted to make sure… you were doing all right.”

“I am, thank you for your concern.” Luna’s tone was even colder than before. “I’m afraid I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow, so if there isn’t anything else-“

“We would love to have you over for supper, are you free tomorrow?” Mark interrupted.

Lilia was surprised by the offer and sneaked a look at Luna, who was clearly annoyed by him, before she said- “I really don’t want to intrude-“

“Nonsense, the more the merrier.” He smiled softly and handed her over a piece of paper, the text appeared on it while he was handing it over. “This is our address, shall we say eight thirty?”

Luna remained quiet.

“Sure.” Lilia said and took the piece of paper, still surprised but clearly relieved. “I’ll see you then.”

“See you soon.” He said kindly and escorted her to the exit.

When she was gone, Luna crossed her arm and stared at him angrily.

“Oh, spare me.” he shook his head. “That’s you sister! We can’t just ignore her. I wasn’t even aware she exists!”

“It is not a part of my life I wish to revisit.” Luna said irritably, but he stood his ground.

“She still came all this way to meet you.” He said dismissively. “You’ll thank me later, trust me.”

“Oh, you are just the nosiest little prat, aren’t you?” She sighed. “Fine, but you’re in charge of making the damn supper.”

“So, same as usual, then.” He laughed and put his arm around her. “Oh, come on, Mum. It would be a blast. You love having guests over!”

“Invited guests.”

“She WAS invited.”

Luna sighed again and a yawn sneaked out of her mouth. Her body reminded her why she wanted to go home in the first place, she had such a long day today and tomorrow is going to be just as long. “Fine, you win. But you’re working over-time for this little stunt.”

“You were going to make me work over-time anyway, admit it.”

Luna gave him a faint smile and they both turn toward the exit.

------

Luna was never close with her baby sister (she was born when Luna was in her 5th year at Hogwarts), because she was barely home at that time, so she never really spent time with her. And after her mum fled the country with her, Luna just suppressed all thoughts about them.

So I thought it would be interesting to write about them meeting after all those years.

I wrote more, but I’m not sure I want to post it.. Maybe some day.

[exhoe-imagines]

Since I am in the midst of wedding planning, would love to hear what you guys think each of the EXO boys' wedding would turn out like (assuming their partners give them total control 😂)! But also an important lesson I learned: social distancing doesn't stop people from reaching out virtually to you so me time became so much more essential these days!!

teehee we’re still so excited for your wedding 🥺🥺🥺 and we had a lot of fun discussing this crackhead shit LOL – also you’re SO right. texting is suddenly blowing up and i’m like “time to check out” JKDSJFAKWE

minseok ✧ i feel like he’s a great middle ground. he’ll keep you sane and handle the stuff that you don’t have time for, he’ll give valid and real comments, but won’t be controlling. it’s very much a team effort. unless you want like a candy bar or something bc “darling, that’s a little out there.” and you’re like minseok, have some FUN. live your best LIFE. but it’s ok bc he’ll get you everything you want as a surprise and you’ll cry like “omg” and he’ll just PREEN bc YES he IS the greatest husband 😌

luhan ✧ im sorry you’re giving HIM control? u want him to go into CARDIAC ARREST??? if you want your wedding to take place in a shack with 6 people attending, then sure, by all means, give lu control. but if not, please for the love of GOD do not ask him. he’ll put in comments every now and then (for cake flavors definitely or like. his tie color or some shit like that) but if you ask him to pick between maroon and rhubarb he’ll ERROR 404: LUHAN IS NOT RESPONDING. and just stand there like a mannuquein 😳😳😳

yifan ✧ oh christ don’t do that to him, he can only handle so much LOL. he’ll defintiely tag along for everything bc he’s clingy and he wants to see the dress/tux/whatever you pick and you’re like “it’s a surprISE YIFAN” but he does Not Care. but he doesn’t know the difference between silk or satin so he’s basically no help KAMFKSFJKE. he does pull up with the hella gaudy shit tho and you’re like “yifan you cannot have GOLD CHAINS as part of your outfit” and he’s like “but babe,, the swag” 😎

junmyeon ✧ ok myeon is the MVP. he’s like Peak Husband Material. he’s picky but sweet – makes sure you get what you want but isn’t a groomzilla u feel? like he’ll send that sickly sweet smile to the dress/tux assistant and be like “my love asked for the WHITE piece, not the IVORY, thank you :)” and they’re like “o-of course mr. kim!!” and you’re like “omg junmymeoN PLS.” but everyone loves him bc he tips well and is geniunely kind when he isn’t standing up for you LMAO 😂 

yixing ✧ ok definitely another good balance one. he’ll let you know who he wants invited, what kinda traditional things are a Must Have, etc. but he’s SO SUPPORTIVE of what you want. like you can geniunely pick ANYTHING as long as he gets his like,, two small requirements. you could walk out in a trash bag and be like “i want this” and he’d tear up like “anything you want, baobei” and drop $4k to get a gucci plastic bag. deadass. and god he CRIES at the wedding bc you do SO well and keep his wishes in mind and WOW he loves u 😭

baekhyun ✧ ok he wouldn’t do a HORRIBLE job if you gave him all the control -- who am i kidding. your wedding would end up looking like a frat party. however, he do got POPPIN ideas. he will be zero help for the vital shit, but if you want some crazy shit, he’s the man. he’ll be like “ok babe don’t be mad -- i forgot to book the venue BUT i found a tiny dog tux for Mongryong so he can be our ring bearer what do you think!!” and for a moment you consider what it would be like to live in widowhood ☠️

jongdae ✧ the PICKIEST motherfucker. ik i mentioned that in the drabble i wrote you, but like i am SERIOUS. you will go to like twelve bakeries before he finally settles on some BASIC ASS FLAVOR like vanilla and you’re like “i might murder you.” but he makes sure you’re picky too so you get EXACTLY what you want and the day of, when everything is set you’re like Hol Up. this do be poppin. it’s everything you dreamed of and you DO be having to thank jongdae for his brattiness after all 😪

chanyeol ✧ honestly bold of us to assume he’d have any role in the planning bc he’s too busy teasing you over how seriously you take it all. to keep you from going crazy tho, he pulls a few pranks and you’re 🤏🏼 this close to calling off the wedding when he makes you think the decorations came in the wrong color or some shit. but on the acutal wedding day, he surprises you with a new song/dance and you realize he’s actually been taking care of something very important this whole time too ❤️

kyungsoo ✧ god you have chosen the BEST man to plan with. he’s so patient and attends EVERY appointment with you. he takes SUCH good care of you and makes sure you’re never stressed or piling too much on your plate. just a total gentleman. he’d book you a huge bridal/groom suite for the night before the wedding with white roses and all this cheesy shit and he would NEVER LIVE IT DOWN. and then when you think he can’t get any better he surpries you with a secret honeymoon trip and you’re like “god is real huh” 🙏🏼

zitao ✧ hahaha you think you GIVE him permission and he doesn’t just TAKE it? hahaha. that’s a GOOD one. prepare for the most extra reception and ceremony you have EVER seen. but don’t worry, you and tao will be the only ones who have any opinion on the planning. your friend will be like “what if you guys-” and tao’s like “did someone say something.” so by all means, tell him everything you want, bc he WILL get it for you. and on the special day he cries like a baby and you’re like AW bc u think he’s being all lovey-dovey but he’s just like “wow i did SO good” 😢

jongin ✧ wedding? did you mean an excuse for a huge party? do not, and i can not stress this enough, do NOT give him all the control. the second you do, he’s inviting every friend and family member to come help him bc he has NO CLUE what he’s doing. but it’s ok you keep them all in check and you’ll get what you want bc your manz is whipped. and when you and your wedding party get stressed, he just hands you $15k and is like “go on a shopping trip babey ily” and you’re like “maybe you’re not THAT bad, kim” 🤑🤑🤑

sehun ✧ he INSISTS on being included in every MINISCULE step. i mean EVERYTHING. and so you’re like “fine baby, what do you want?” and his mind goes blank. he truly has no opinion. no help whatsoever. you’re like “cream or ivory?” and he’s like “what’s that.” so he ends up flaking and you plan most of it – thankfully !! but when you walk down the aisle he SOBS and you’re like “ok fine you’re redeemed” 🥰

-

bro.. this was a Blast. ily and ur asks and im sorry we take 100 years to answer them MFJAKLFJEAWKGJWE - admin ruby and admin jewels

🌙 SLEEPOVER SATURDAY 🌙

[trying-write-fanfics]

Shinso Hitoshi X Reader part 25

Class was delayed the next morning. Police were all over interviewing people on campus. The word spread and it was worse than what Shinso could ever thought. The trio went to Y/n’s place after the entire rematch drama. When they got to Y/n’s something was off her parents weren’t home. Upon investigating there was a stranger in the home. He told the students they could give Y/n up or die. 

They chose to fight, but there were enemies lurking. Sonny tried using her quirk and blew her legs out. Y/n was able to knock one of the men out, but she ended up with a concussion. Benny had scraps and scrapes. He needed stitches, but thanks to him, he was able to carry both his friends out of the house to safety. Y/n’s parents on the other hand were being held by someone. 

Motive was clear. A criminal group was looking for a healer. What didn’t make sense was who released this information. Where she lived, her quirk, who would want to hurt her? Benny and Sonny were off the suspicious list since they were both injured. 

“Is the home school trip gonna be okay?” Mina asked Aizawa in the middle of class.

“The three of them are in stable condition right now.”  Aizawa said.

He wasn’t sure honestly. He didn’t like the idea of villains going after a healer, and showed it was perfect for them. She would have Been too weak to fight, after her retreat and getting burned from Bakugo. If she didn’t have her friends with her, who knows what would happen. Would they even release her parents for getting the target, or would they make them suffer.

After training Mina was able to get the hospital the three were at. It wasn’t hard to find since Sonny had been texting Mina. She said she was bored as hell since she couldn’t walk. Her legs were hurt from using her quirk a little too hard and her star healer was…

“I don’t actually know about Y/n’s condition.” Sonny told the trio. “Benny came in a while ago, but he has to stay the night because they’re unsure if he has a concussion or not. I know Y/n does, but the cops have also been up her butt all day.”

“We heard the story was the attackers were originally trying to kidnap Y/n, and use her parents as hostages. Why would anyone do that just to secure a healer?” Mina asked.

“She’s a valuable asset.” Sonny sighed.

“Do her parents have healing quirks? Why not kidnap them?” Denki asked.

Sonny actually smiled, it was a little funny after getting the shit beat out of her to hear that.

“No, (nickname) had a healing mutation. Her dad can have things float around him while her mom can harden her skin in tiny amounts. Her father was skeptical when her quirk was developing. They did a paternity test to find out she really was his kid.” Sonny explained.

“Oh, thats rough.” Denki said.

“It was what it was. They can’t complain too much since their daughter was always going to have job security.”

The police were interviewing who would do this, who had access to all the information, a family friend, a business competitor, her parents weren’t shy about bragging about their daughter it seemed. Which only made the pressure worse for Y/n. The funny thing about healers is they can’t consciously heal themselves. They can do a minimal amount in their sleep, but it’s something her parents were trying to make her learn. Once they learned their daughter’s healings abilities went past closing wounds, but releasing tension headaches, going deeper than skin, they thought there was more to be done. It was never enough. (Full name) would be the best healer the world has ever seen. That’s like the best case scenario. 

“You think we could go check on her?” Shinso asked Sonny. 

Sonny tensed up at that question. She knew Y/n would love visitors that weren’t police down her throat, blaming her for her parents getting kidnapped, but it also meant someone taking her spot in Y/n’s life.

“Yeah, probably. Just tell them you’re friends with her.” Sonny sighed. 

“I can stay with you here!” Mina offered. 

Denki gave Shinso a smug looked and a nudge.

“I’ll stay here too, I don’t often get to be blesssed by Sonny’s radiating beauty.” Denki announced

“I’m gay.” Sonny said.

“I didn’t say we needed to fall in love, I was just calling you beautiful.” Denki said, giving Shinso a chance to be alone with Y/n.

And Shinso took it. He made his way towards the reception desk to find a different blond already there...holding a vase full of flowers. 

“Why are you here? Aren’t you a little loud for the patients? They already probably have burst ear drums.” Shinso asked.

“Shut it eye bags.” Bakugo growled.

“What are those?”

“Are you blind dipshit? They’re flowers.”

“Don’t tell me you’re-“

“My mom is making me. Aizawa emailed her letting her know that I’m just a nuance.” Bakugo said. 

They weren’t roses, but Shinso still knew to be on guard. 

“She’ll like them. She had a bad night, not just because of you.” Shinso said.

“Oh fuck off. Why haven’t you seen her yet?” 

“I saw Sonny first.” Shinso answered. 

The door was shut where Y/n was staying. Since Bakugo’s hands were full, Shinso knocked and heard no answer. There wasn’t any talking behind the door so Bakugo glared saying to just open it anyway. However this did not reveal a sleeping beauty. Instead they found a stripped bed and an open window. Shinsou rushed to the window to find Y/n was still climbing down. She was in casual clothes, but still had a bandaged face.

“Y/n!” Shinso yelled down.

The girl looked up straight up red handed. 

“What?” She yelled back up.

“What are you doing?!”

Bakugo went to the window.

“What the hell are you doing dumb ass!?” Bakugo yelled.

“What does it look like!” She yelled back up. 

Bakugo’s eyebrow twitched. Shinso began to run down the stairs as Bakugo blasted himself out of the window. Not wanting to get caught, she slide down her rope sheets faster and dropped to the ground. Instead of running she did more of a power walk. Bakugo landed and started rushing beside her.

“What the hell are you doing?” He asked again.

“I don’t have time for this.”

“Tell me what the hell is going on?” Bakugo got angrier.

“My parents got kidnapped because of me.” She growled.

“Why aren’t you going to the police or anyone else about this? You’re still hurt.” Bakugo grabbed her by her injured wrist which made her hiss in pain. “Sorry!” He let go. 

“Listen, I gotta did this on my own. Too many people are already involved and have gotten hurt.” Y/n explained.

“You’re gonna give yourself up?” Bakugo snarled. “That’s the last thing anyone wants!”

“I’m not giving myself up.” Y/n said. “I’m gonna rescue my parents, myself.”

“You have a concussion.”

“I got out of a four story window.”

Shinso finally made it to them. Y/n went back to walking as Bakugo caught Shinso up to speed of Y/n’s very poor plan.

“See really is messed up because anyone with half a brain would know that’s a terrible plan!” Bakugo yelled

“Wait do you know who kidnapped your parents?” Shinso asked.

“Yeah…” she said, clearly not going to tell.

“Use your fucking messed up quirk on her.” Bakugo commanded. “Well tell them police and they’ll fix it.”

There was no way in hell Shinso was doing that. 

“Did they send you a ransom note?” Shinso the detective asked. 

“Yeah.”

So she knew where she was going.

“If you two are going to follow me all the way there, you might as well help.” She sighed.

“You have to tell us what we’re up against before we agree to shit.” Bakugo said. 

“I don’t know why you're up against if I’m being honest. I don’t think the main guy is gonna be there.”

“Then why the hell are we going there?” Bakugo asked.

“Are you sure your parents are at this location?” Shinso asked. 

“I’m not sure.” Y/n said beginning to realize the holes in her plan. “But I’m sure with you’re help we’ll be able to get information we need.”

She stopped in front of a tall abandoned building. Y/n guided them inside like she had been there so many times before. It was dusty, full of rubble. The pillars were wore down, and bits of sun light seeped through the cracks. They climbed stars covered in ash. 

“Just stay back until it doesn’t sound good.” She whispered before they left the stair way.

[misskikuwrites]

Pretty in Pink (3/3)

Bede/Gloria (dressedinpinkshipping)

-

Two full weeks passed without Gloria dropping in randomly. No abrupt visits to Bede's Gym, no unexpected phone calls. Ballonlea felt strangely calm for once. Too quiet.

Bede had fallen back into his routine. He prepared for the next challenger in the waiting room, making sure his pokemon were healed and ready to go again. He pulled out his phone and bit back a sigh. Gloria had been weirdly silent for the past week. Up until now, she had been updating him on their Pokemon, on any interesting raids she'd faced. But now, there were no messages, no forwarded pictures of his Rapidash and her Ditto together. No random pictures of the Bede-doll in various situations.

He absently noticed the Gym Trainer approaching him from the corner of his eye and he shoved his phone away.

"Checking your phone before a battle?" the Gym Trainer chided in a familiar voice. "Who knew Gym Leaders had it this easy."

Bede frowned and turned to face them, about to bark that it didn't concern them, when the words lodged in his throat. His mouth dropped open. Heart skidded to a halt.

"Gloria?!"

She laughed at his surprise. "Got you! Oh, it was totally worth digging this uniform up to see that!"

The blood that had drained from his face in shock began to pool on his cheeks. Gloria wore a replica of the Fairy Gym uniform the Trainers wore. She had the whole set - stockings, gloves and shoes included. She grinned at him cheekily, hands clasped behind her back. Bede scowled.

"I thought you were busy," he snapped, his chest beginning to flutter distractingly.

"I was… but then I got this!" She revealed what she'd hidden behind her back, holding an egg-incubator with a large white egg, speckled with pink and green, fitted securely inside.

Bede's eyes widened. "Is that…?"

"Yup!" She smiled brightly, almost giddy. "We're going to be Grandparents!"

Bede froze. His breath caught in his throat. "What?!"

"Well, since it's your Rapidash and my Ditto-"

"That's not how it works!"

Gloria pouted. "Fine, then you don't get any visitation rights!"

Bede huffed. "You… are an absolute nutcase, you realise that, right?"

"I was joking!" She rolled her eyes despite the smile lingering on her face. "But, seriously, this wouldn't have happened without you. I know I said this before, but I owe you, Bede."

She said his name so softly, so gratefully, that Bede couldn't meet her eyes. He looked away as casually as he could.

"I know," was all he managed to say in reply.

"If it isn't Gloria dear." Ms Opal walked into the waiting room, a pleasant smile on her face. "It's a lovely surprise to see you here, isn't it, Bede?" She directed her smile at Bede and he stiffened.

"Y-Yes, it is," Bede replied, looking elsewhere.

"Good morning, Ms Opal!" Gloria chimed.

Ms Opal studied the egg in Gloria's arms. "And what do we have here? I haven't seen a pokemon egg in years."

"It's a Ponyta," Gloria explained. "I just got it this morning! Bede was kind enough to lend me his Rapidash so I could breed it."

"Well, that was mighty generous of him." Ms Opal's smile widened.

Bede had to force himself not to stiffen further under her knowing gaze. She was reading him like an open book.

Gloria smiled happily at the egg. "I know. I'm so excited for it to hatch! Oh, and I've got your Rapidash!" She placed the incubator on the bench and pulled the Rapidash's Pokeball from her bag. "Here you go! Thanks for letting me borrow it."

Bede took the ball, making sure not to let their fingers brush at all as he was acutely aware of Ms Opal's eyes on him.

"You're welcome," Bede said quickly. He handed back her Mimikyu and she took the ball happily. Ms Opal watched the exchange with a glint in her eyes.

"Gloria dear, since you're here, would you like to join in and help with the Gym Challenge today? You've already got the uniform and we could always use an extra set of hands," Ms Opal said.

"What?" Bede blanched.

Gloria perked up. "Oh, can I? That sounds like fun!"

"Of course." Ms Opal turned to Bede. "I'm sure Bede wouldn't mind at all, am I correct?"

He knew not to argue. "Sure. Though you won't be able to use your own pokemon when battling the challengers."

"That's fine with me!"

Great. Bede wasn't sure what Ms Opal was playing at, inviting Gloria to help, but he decided to go with it. For now.

After all, it meant spending more time with Gloria which… wouldn't be bad at all. He just had to make sure to keep an eye on Ms Opal. He wasn't about to let her witness anything between him and Gloria. Not that he planned on anything happening.

-

Gloria left her egg, safe in its incubator, along with her bag and pokemon, with the reception desk, and readied herself for the challengers to arrive. She'd been given two pokemon, a Clefable and a Ribombee, and was the last of three Gym Trainers for the challengers to fight. She pulled her hair up into a messy bun in a lazy attempt to make herself look less like the recognisable Champion she was.

The Gym interior still had the homely feel of a theatre, with bright lights strung overhead. The passageway for the Gym mission has been updated, however, refurbished with new wallpaper and gorgeous wooden floorboards. Thick theatre curtains blocked off sections of the mission, opening only when the preceding trainer had been defeated.

Gloria grinned and got into position, awaiting a challenger who could defeat the two before her. Bede had taken his position behind the glass partition, a long separate hallway that ran parallel to the one Gloria was in, and she couldn't see him as he began to quiz the challenger.

Soon enough, the curtains before Gloria parted, and the challenger walked through. He eyed Gloria up and down, a bored glaze in his eyes.

"And here I thought this gym was full of old birds," he quipped, grinning at her. "You're a nice change of pace."

It was the way he said it, the way his eyes slid up and down Gloria's body, that made her tense. Made her feel like a scrap of food being eyed down by hungry, scavenging pokemon. She narrowed her eyes as Bede appeared behind the glass and took his seat. He swung a leg over his knee and leant back, a wary look in his eyes.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot that the Gym Leader's a guy," the challenger laughed. "Bit hard to tell with that dress he's wearing!"

"Are we going to battle or not?" Gloria snapped. She grabbed the Clefable's pokeball and gripped it tight.

"Feisty!" He grinned at her, and Gloria held back the impulse to gag. "You should be thankful; I'm about to you a real battle - from the one who's worthy of becoming the next Champion!"

Gloria hid her grin at his obliviousness to who he was battling and sent out her Ribombee. The challenger, who hadn't introduced himself, sent out a Toxtricity.

A Poison-Electric type. Good choice against the Fairy Gym, Gloria noted. At her command, her Ribombee set up a glimmering, invisible wall of light that shimmered in the space between the pokemon.

"Venoshock!" the challenger commanded. The Toxtricity shot forth a stream of purple, poisonous gunk. The Rimbombee whizzed around the hall with practiced grace, dodging the majority of the spray, a few wildly flying droplets splattering on its wings. Rimbombee cried out. Despite Light Screen weakening the blow, even just a glancing droplet of the poison was enough to hurt.

Gloria winced, her mind racing as she planned her next move, when Bede spoke.

"Question three; how many turns does it take for a Timer Ball to be more effective than an Ultra Ball?"

Gloria gaped. Since when were the questions this hard?

The challenge scoffed. "That's easy - ten turns. That's when they're the most effective."

"Incorrect. They become more effective than an Ultra Ball after four turns. Max effectiveness is ten turns. Perhaps you should listen to the question properly before you answer."

Gloria heard the smug lilt in Bede's voice. The challenger's pokemon was doused in a spray that lowered it's Special Attack and Special Defence. Gloria grinned as the challenger scoffed bitterly.

"Ribombee, use Psychic!" Gloria called, and the dextrous bug chimed eagerly, swooping down to launch it's attack. Despite the challenger's cry for his Toxtricity to dodge, it couldn't avoid the blast of energy that sent it tumbling across the room. The Toxtricity shuddered as it tried to stand.

"Discharge!" The challenger clicked his tongue, snapping the command. Still struggling to stand, Toxtricity send a blinding burst of electricity shooting through the air. Ribombee zipped around in the air in an attempt to dodge but couldn't get out of the way in time. Ribombee quivered in the air from the hit before dropping like a stone.

Gloria sucked in a tight breath and recalled the fainted pokemon. "You did well," she whispered to the pokeball before sending out the Clefable. "Use Attract!"

Toxtricity, who had finally gotten to its feet, stiffened under the effect of Clefable's move, and swooned.

The challenger cursed under his breath. "Venoshock, Toxtricity!"

His pokemon clambered over to Clefable, completely ignoring his command, and fawned over the Fairy-type. Gloria smirked.

"Use Zen Headbutt!" Gloria called, and Clefable mirrored her grin as it swung its head at the Toxtricity with a flash of light.

Toxtricity flew back, toppled over itself, and fainted. The challenger glared, then composed himself and huffed, sending out his next pokemon. His Corviknight took to the air with heavy beats of black wings, circling above the battle.

"Attract, again!" Gloria commanded.

The challenger scoffed. "Steel wing!"

Clefable's attract barely slowed the diving Corviknight, its wings taking on a bright, silver sheen. It cut through the air like a knife, striking Clefable head on. The Fairy pokemon braced too late. The impact knocked it flying, skidding across the field before coming to a stop and falling limp.

Gloria breathed a gentle sigh, recalling the fainted Clefable and praising it quietly. "Good job," she said, smiling softly at the pokeball before she tucked it away and went to congratulate the challenger on passing the Gym mission.

"Not bad," the challenger said, taking Gloria's hand in a tight handshake. "You're better than the rest of those old bags, at least."

Gloria's expression twitched as she tried to maintain a professional smile. Arceus, she wanted to smack that arrogant smirk off his face. A quick Pyro Ball to the face would do the job.

The challenger used their handshake to tug Gloria closer so that she fell into him. His arm snaked around her waist. Her body stiffened at the sudden contact, her mind skidding to a halt in shock, blood in her veins running cold.

"Why don't you join me after I'm finished wiping the floor with the Gym Leader? I'd be more than happy to show you the rest of my team," he said with a chuckle, the low insinuation in his voice making her stiffen. Gloria saw Bede stand with a jolt in the corner of her eyes.

Before Bede could say anything, Gloria grabbed the hand sitting on her waist and twisted it hard. The challenger yelped, and she smoothly extracted herself from his grip.

"Oh, I have a feeling you won't be winning the next match," Gloria said, smiling at the challenger. She leant in close, letting the venom in her smile sink in as she hissed, "and if you do, then I'll gladly show you the rest of my team. I'm sure they'd be glad to meet you after this."

She threw his wrist away and the challenger balked at her, rubbing the reddening skin as she stalked away. She heard him mutter a string of profuse curses at her but continued on his way to the stadium. When he was out of sight, Gloria's shoulders slumped in a heavy sigh. She rubbed her back where the creep had touched her.

"Gloria - are you okay?" Bede stormed up to her, meeting her eyes, studying her gaze, with concern. The worry in his voice was so unlike him, foreign and yet what she needed to hear in that moment.

"I'm fine." Gloria huffed, a lingering feeling of disgust rising in her throat. She swallowed bile. "Bea taught me a bit of self defence; if he'd actually tried anything I would have walloped him good."

"I'll disqualify him. A pathetic creep like that has no right to challenge my gym-"

Gloria caught Bede's arm before he could turn away, and a menacing smile pulled up her lips. Her eyes narrowed sharply, keenly, and the wicked grin she gave him made his breath hitch.

"I have a better idea," she said. Her whisper was full of vitriol, of dangerous, righteous fury. Bede suddenly remembered that this was the woman who had defeated the Legendary pokemon that threatened Galar. "I want you to thrash him on the pitch. No mercy. Show him what happens to challengers who make a mockery of the Fairy Gym."

A strange jolt of heat tingled down Bede's spine at her voice. It sparked something deep inside him, and he returned her smile with pride. "No mercy," he repeated with a confident nod. A challenge blazed inside him.

"I look forward to it." She whirled on her feet, giving him one final, coy smile, and left to take her place at the stands.

-

The challenger maintained his smug grin as Bede met him on the pitch. The Fairy Gym leader gave nothing away on his face, his posture, and greeted the challenger like normal. Deep in his violet eyes, a steady, determined flame burned bright.

No mercy.

The match begginned, the challenger sending out his Toxtricity with that cocky grin of his. Bede set his plan into motion.

"Go, Hatterene!"

The challenger blinked but the smirk returned. He looked down his nose at Bede and scoffed.

"Venoshock!" the challenger called.

Before the move could land, Bede drew his Hatterene back into the pokeball to the surprise of the challenger, the crowd, and the Toxtricity who froze in confusion. Bede held the pokeball out in his hand, his dynamax band glaring to light in a swirl of energy that enveloped the Hatterene's pokeball. He tossed the enlarged ball behind him, gigantimaxing his Hatterene in the first turn.

The challenger paled. Toxtricity shrunk in the shadow of the towering pokemon.

"Max Mindstorm!" Bede called. Hatterene drew a surge of psychic power and levelled it straight at the Toxtricity. There was no room to dodge. Nothing to do but brace as the beams of energy showered down over the pokemon.

Toxtricity shuddered under the onslaught, before collapsing. The challenger recalled it with a sharp tsk, sending out his Corviknight.

Bede smirked.

No mercy.

"Steel wing!" the challenger ordered. His obsidian bird streaked through the air. Wings flashed in a coating of steel and the Corviknight dove through the air at the gigantimaxed Hatterene. Bede's pokemon didn't flinch. The usually sizeable bird was like an annoying fly to his Hatterene.

"Max Flare."

A surge of heat filled the arena. The challenger cried out, his Corviknight squawking and trying to dive beneath the torrent of fire, but it disappeared into the roaring flames. The stream of fire dispersed, licking into the air as cinders, and revealed the fainted Corviknight on the ground.

Two turns down. One more until his Hatterene reverted to normal, one more to defeat the challenger's final pokemon.

A team of three meant his pokemon had more experience in battles than most challengers usually had, but also left him vulnerable. The challenger hissed something beneath his breath and sent out his final pokemon, his Rillaboom.

The challenger didn't look so cocky now. He dynamaxed his Rillaboom instantly, his pokemon finally matching Bede's in size.

"Max Overgrowth!" the challenge barked.

Bede countered it with another brutal Max Flare. The blaze swallowed the Rillaboom's attack before it reached Hatterene. The blast of heat threw the Rillaboom off balance, skidding back across the pitch before the sweltering flames devoured it. The flames died with a flash of light, the challenger's final pokemon fainting and reverting to normal size.

The match was over.

No mercy indeed.

The crowd roared to life in an explosion of cheers, screams and clapping. Bede looked to the stands, to where Gloria sat with a satisfied grin, and smirked. His job was done.

The challenger fumed as Bede approached.

"That's against the rules!" the challenger snapped.

Bede raised an eyebrow, displeasure sneaking into his voice as he replied. "There are no rules regarding the dynamaxing of a pokemon on the first turn. It is, however, widely accepted to wait until your final pokemon before dynamaxing. That, however, is not a rule. Only a common occurrence."

"This… this is a farce!" the challenger barked. "You just didn't want me to win because you know I'd become the next Champion!"

Bede narrowed his gaze at the brat who was no less than two years younger than him. Arceus, he hoped he hadn't sounded like that.

"You are right about one thing; I didn't want you to win. However, you're way off base when it comes to my reasoning. If you can't recognise that then there's no hope for you to ever become close to defeating the Champion."

With that, Bede marched off the pitch without another word.

-

Gloria was sitting in the waiting room when Bede returned, hugging her egg incubator tight. The fire in her eyes had petered out. She seemed small. Shoulders drawn close.

"That was easy," Bede said, averting his eyes from her lest he make her shrink further from the attention.

Gloria managed a smile, but it faded quickly. "Thanks, Bede."

His heart flopped. Her eyes carried a far-off look, clouding over as she stared at nothing. Her confidence, the sinister venom she'd exuded earlier had vanished. An empty shell remained where she sat.

This wasn't what he was expecting to find. Not after he'd done what she'd asked, after he'd given that brat what he'd deserved. The words Bede had planned to say were lost in his throat. A sharp needle drove deep into his heart at the shadow in her eyes.

"Gloria-"

"Ah, there you are!" Ms Opal said, trotting into the room with a gentle smile on her face. "Gloria dear, do you have a moment? I have an errand I need to run in Hammerlocke. Would you care to join me?"

Gloria looked up at Ms Opal, taking in the soft smile on the older woman's face before nodding.

"Sure," she said. The usual energy in her voice was nowhere to be found. She stood, gave Bede a quick, forced smile, and followed Ms Opal out.

Bede wondered what he'd done wrong.

-

Gloria trudged beside Ms Opal, her mind reeling and swirling and sinking heavily in her head. The match hadn't been fair. She shouldn't have snapped like that. Shouldn't have hurt the creep, even if he did grab her like that.

She was supposed to be representing the Fairy Gym. Bede's Gym. Not letting her emotions get the better of her and making a scene. Not dragging Bede into her mess.

Ms Opal slowed, and Gloria glanced at the storefront they'd stopped at. A cafe. She looked at it quizzically before Ms Opal opened the door.

"Are you going to come in, my dear?"

Gloria blinked a few times in quick succession and nodded. She followed after Ms Opal as they joined the queue.

"What errand are you running here?" Gloria asked. The cafe was quaint, a faint trickle of orchestral music in the background beneath the gentle lull of conversations. Indoor plants hung on the walls, flowers spilling out of the pots like green waterfalls.

Ms Opal smiled gently. "Morning tea."

Gloria's mind blanked. She stepped up in the queue next to Ms Opal, confusion widening her eyes.

"What would you like? It's on me."

"Oh, um…" Gloria glanced at the menu above the counter. "I'll… just have a hot drink. I've never had rooibos tea before but I've heard it's nice."

Ms Opal nodded. "Good choice." She greeted the waiter who recognised her and ordered a pot of rooibos tea for two, as well as a scone with jam and cream. She chose a table by the window, and they sat in the warm sunlight as they waited for their tea.

Gloria placed the egg incubator on the floor by her feet, cupping her hands in her lap. Her stomach churned, unsettled and queasy.

"I heard what happened with that boy," Ms Opal said. Gloria shot her eyes up in a flash of panic, but Ms Opal's smile remained gentle. A kind light glimmered in her eyes. "The other Trainers overhead and informed me."

"I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have acted the way I did and dragged Bede into it as well-"

"Now, now. Slow down a bit. I'm not upset with you."

Gloria paused. The panicked skittering of her heart began to slow. "You're not…?"

"Of course not, dear. You reacted to an unfortunate situation, while still remaining professional, and Bede's match didn't break any rules. There's nothing for me to scold you about."

Gloria sank in her chair slightly. "I still… feel bad about it though. I shouldn't have gotten Bede involved."

Ms Opal chuckled lightly. "I'm sure he would have involved himself regardless of whether you asked him too or not."

Gloria pursed her lips slightly, a dusting of heat curling on her cheeks. "Um… Bede and I are not actually… we're not a couple."

"Oh, I'm well aware."

Gloria stared, mouth hanging agape for a few, silent seconds. "But… earlier you said…?"

Ms Opal smiled with a bright chuckle. "I was only teasing. I find that it does Bede some good to experience a bit of shock every now and again."

"Oh." Gloria nodded sheepishly. Their tea and scones arrived, giving a brief moment of respite as they poured their tea and Gloria breathed in the rich scent. Ms Opal sliced the scone in two and shifted the plate between them.

"Help yourself," Ms Opal offered. "You can't go wrong with fresh scones, fluffy cream and rich jam."

Gloria looked at the delectable scone, her stomach rumbling in response. "Thank you." Gloria spread a generous amount of jam on the scone, topping it with a thin layer of cream, and took a bite. "Mm…!" she hummed in delight. It was warm and fluffy, the jam sweet and slightly tart, and practically melted in her mouth. It was heavenly. Gloria downed the scone with little restraint, sipping satisfyingly at her tea to wash it down.

"So," Ms Opal began, taking a delicate bite of her scone, swallowing before she continued. "How do you feel about Bede?"

Gloria inhaled her tea. Hot liquid burned her throat and she coughed, covering her mouth and wincing as her chest heaved in protest. Tears pricked in her eyes as she choked.

Ms Opal handed Gloria a napkin, still smiling keenly at the young girl. With a few hasty gups of her tea, Gloria finally got over her coughing fit, wiping at her tears with the napkin.

"My apologies. I didn't mean to shock you that much," Ms Opal said. "I must admit that I am curious as to how you feel about Bede. You two seem to be quite close lately."

Gloria's cheeks warmed. "He's… he's a friend. A good friend. I like being with him. He's a bit rough at times, and still not honest with himself, but he's also very kind. He's been very good to me. And…" she looked up, seeing Ms Opal's interested eyes on her. "Well, I'm really happy with the way he's changed and grown. He's fighting for what he wants to do, he's living for himself. I'm so glad to see him step out from Rose's shadow."

Gloria flushed, not having meant to say so much. "I kind of… rambled on a bit there, sorry!"

Ms Opal smiled sweetly. "Are you in love with him?"

Gloria squawked. "What?! Me? With… with Bede?" Her heart jumped in her chest, sending a rush of heat through her body, making it hard to breathe. Her chest felt tight, throat rigid and stiff. She looked down at her tea. Her cheeks burned darkly.

"I… I don't know. I've never actually… been in love before," she admitted quietly. "I like Bede, I enjoy being with him, but… but being in love…? I'm not sure I know what that feels like."

"You've never had a crush before?"

Gloria traced her thumb around the rim of her cup slowly. Absently. "Not on anyone I've known in person. I've gotten starry-eyed at celebrities before but that's not the same thing. I didn't have friends other than Hop as a kid and he was like family to me, so…" She shrugged. "I don't know if what I feel for Bede is a crush or… or something more, or if he's just a friend. I've… never really thought about it before."

"It won't do you any harm to think about it," Ms Opal said gently. "It's alright to be a bit confused about your feelings. You're only young. If you give it time, I'm sure you'll figure it out."

Gloria nodded, her cheeks still aflame, staring at her tea as if it were the most captivating thing in the world.

"I'm sure Bede is well aware of what his feelings towards you are."

Gloria snapped her head up. "Wh-What? What does that mean…?"

Ms Opal had that knowing smile on her face. A cheeky glimmer in her wise eyes. "If you want to know, you should ask him yourself, my dear. Though, I can say for certain that he does see you as a friend. He wouldn't have offered you tea otherwise."

"Y-You knew about that?" Gloria flushed.

Ms Opal chuckled. "I happened to see the open Applin tea packet and the kettle on the stove when I interrupted you two the other day. Wasn't very difficult to put the two together."

"You… you weren't interrupting anything." Gloria sipped at her tea, finding her throat dry. The glint in Ms Opal's eyes suggested that she had indeed interrupted something that day.

"I'm glad he has you," Ms Opal said. "You're good for him."

Gloria didn't know how to take that. She nodded slowly, stiffly, wishing the embarrassed blush would fade from her cheeks.

"How are you feeling?" Ms Opal asked. "I find that a good tea does wonders for your nerves."

Gloria took a slow breath, then another. The heavy weight in her stomach was gone, replaced with a strange flutter. The tight, painful construction of her heart had eased, now feeling light and full. She felt warm, no longer chilled to the bone in regret.

"I feel better, thank you." A smile came upon her face. "I didn't realise how much it had affected me. I guess I took it harder than I thought."

"I'm glad to hear that." Ms Opal's bright smile calmed Gloria's heart. "A good dose of embarrassment can make you forget your troubles for a while."

Gloria raised her eyebrows. "You did that on purpose?"

"I had my reasons. That may have been one of them."

Gloria couldn't help but smile. The morning tea expedition with Ms Opal ended with a short grocery shop, stopping at her house before returning to the Gym. With a new shot of energy in Gloria's veins, she eagerly jumped back into helping with the Gym Challenge.

It wasn't long before she came across Bede in the waiting room again. Gloria cradled the egg, walking over to him as he entered the room after winning another match.

"Nice job," she congratulated him with a smile. He studied her face for a moment, his keen gaze not giving anything away in his eyes. "Sorry about earlier. I'm feeling much better now."

"That's good," he said, and turned his eyes from her. Despite his standoffish demeanor, the concern in his eyes faded and his expression relaxed. A sheepish dusting of pink settled on his cheeks when he turned away. "You looked like a zombie for a while there."

Gloria pouted with a scoff. "It's hard to look perky all the time when you're running on five hours of sleep!"

"What?" Bede frowned. He looked at her in disbelief. "What are you doing getting that little sleep? Are you trying to run yourself into the ground?"

"It's nothing, I've just had a few bad days of sleep, that's all." She waved his concerns off. "I had a busy week and ended up staying up late yesterday with a Dynamaxed pokemon that appeared in the wild area. I was going to sleep in this morning but then I got a call about the egg!" She grinned as if that excuse made perfect sense.

Bede sighed. "Go home and take a nap, then. We're fine here."

Gloria swayed on her feet as if debating Bede's offer. "Hmm… but I was having so much fun…"

Bede poked her forehead with his index finger. He pressed firmly, making her rock slightly on her heels, and narrowed his violet eyes at her. "Sleep now, fun later. You look like you're about to fall over."

She swatted his hand away. "Am not! But a nap does sound really good right now…"

"Then go. I'm sure we'll find a way to manage without you."

Gloria stuck her tongue out at Bede with a dramatic huff. He smirked at her childish response. It sent a strange spark crackling in her belly. She still wasn't used to getting this kind of response from Bede. She wasn't used to him actually reacting to her snarky comments or the dramatic expressions she'd pull. Instead of scoffs and rolled eyes, he played along, smirking or throwing a reply back her way. The air in her lungs felt too light as if she'd swallowed helium.

"Take the back door," Bede offered. "It can get pretty hectic in the lobby at this time."

"All right. Will do!" She gathered her bag, turning away as she did to hide the giddy smile on her face. She swung her bag over her shoulder and gave him a wave. "See you later!"

Bede nodded a goodbye, giving her a brief wave, only watching her go when her back was turned to him.

-

The fresh air of Ballonlea enveloped Gloria in a cool embrace as she stepped out the back door of the Gym. She took a deep breath, letting the cool air fill her lungs and revitalise her. The gentle cries of pokemon filled the air. It was calm, peaceful, and placid. Gloria left her worries behind her, hugging the egg tight to her hip as she fished out her phone from her pocket.

Someone stepped in front of her. She glanced up, then froze, staring at the rude challenger from before. His expression was hard with anger.

Gloria stiffened in cautious trepidation. Her heart hammered uneasily in her chest. "You again. What do you want?"

"What do I want?" the challenger echoed. "What do I want?! It's because of you that my eligibility for the cup is being challenged!"

"How is that my fault?"

"You teamed up with the Gym Leader and sent a complaint about me!"

"That wasn't me - and I specifically asked Bede not to."

The challenger stamped forward. "You're lying! If I lose my endorsement then you're going to pay! I've prepared my whole life for this, I'm not going to lose it all because of you!"

He lunged forward and grabbed Gloria by her arms.

"Hey!" she yelped and tried to tug herself free. His nails dug into her skin. She squirmed in his grip and he threw her to the side, making her tumble to the ground. The cracking of glass, the egg incubator tumbling from her arms onto the path, was all she saw. She didn't see the guy approach a second time. Didn't see Bede rush up behind him, his Hatterene close behind.

Bede yanked the challenger away from Gloria and slammed his fist into the brat's face before he could react. The challenger roared in pain, spitting curses. Fury blazed in Bede's veins. Venom and bile burning his throat. The challenger threw himself at Bede, swinging his fists wildly. One caught Bede's shoulder. He ducked from the second, blocking the blow with his arm.

League staff members poured from the Gym and swarmed the thrashing challenger before he could strike again. They pulled him off Bede, arms held tight behind his back.

"Knock it off!" the staff cried as the challenger spat and kicked and struggled. They dragged him away and Bede whirled to find Gloria, saw her on her knees, trembling hands reaching for the incubator.

The cracked incubator. Cracks bloomed across the glass like bolts of lightning splitting the protective case. It lay on its side in the dirt.

Bede recalled his Hatterene and rushed over to Gloria, knelt beside her so quickly his knees impacted the ground hard.

"Gloria, are you okay?"

Her eyes were frozen wide open, staring at the incubator in silent horror. There was nothing behind her eyes. No light, no life, nothing but a dark shadow of panic.

Bede's heart fractured. He clenched his jaw and dug deep into his heart for the clarity, the strength, to fight. He took Gloria's trembling hand. Her fingers were cold like ice, quivering with terror, and he held them tight. Let the warmth from his skin leech into hers. She flinched from his touch.

"Let's get it to the Pokemon Centre," Bede said. He swallowed his fear, the prickle of panic that threatened to take hold in his throat. "They'll know what to do."

He had to take the lead now. Had to help her fight. He stood, still holding her hand, and gave it a gentle tug. She obeyed his gentle command and he helped her stand before picking the incubator off the ground carefully. The fractured glass crackled as he handed it to Glora when she reached out for it.

"Come on," Bede said. He gently coaxed Gloria with a touch on the back of her arm. "This way."

She followed him in silence. Walked stiffly, quickly. Her gaze was hollow, a dark endless pit expanding beneath her eyes as she stared ahead at nothing. Unseeing. Empty.

Bede pushed onward and they came upon the Pokemon Centre quickly and headed directly to the counter. Nurse Joy stifled her gasp at the broken incubator in Gloria's arms.

"Please, can you help it?" Bede asked. He cautiously took the incubator out of Gloria's arms, making sure she didn't object before handing it over to Nurse Joy. "It hit the ground pretty hard. It happened only a few minutes ago."

Nurse Joy steeled her expression and nodded. "I'll see what I can do." She whirled on her feet and disappeared deeper into the Pokemon Centre.

Another, identical Nurse Joy appeared from a side door. "Come this way - you can wait here, if you'd like."

Bede nodded, finally noticing the shocked onlookers watching them. Peering, curious eyes honed in on him and Gloria from around the room. Bede didn't waste another, tense moment and led Gloria into the room, giving Nurse Joy a thankful nod.

The room was small and secluded from the rest of the Pokemon Centre. It functioned as a waiting room for Trainers of more seriously injured Pokemon who wanted to be out of view and in private. A couch sat against the far wall, a small wooden table a few feet in front of it. At Bede's direction, Gloria walked over to the couch with him and sat down.

A heavy silence fell. Bede glanced at Gloria, her expression hidden beneath her bangs as she hung her head. On her lap, her hands trembled despite being clenched. Her shoulders shook and a broken sob escaped into the silence, sounding impossibly loud in the quiet room.

Bede stiffened. His hand froze, halfway through the action of touching her shoulder. A jolt of panic once again coursed through him as Gloria began to cry. Quiet sobs deafening in his ears. Her shivering form so close to him yet seemingly so far away, so out of reach. She drew her legs up, hugging her knees to her chest, and buried her face in her knees. She curled up tight. Became small and tiny and fragile.

The shattered remains of Bede's heart dug into his chest like tiny needles. The pain rippling through his body drove away his hesitation and he shifted closer to her, wrapped his arm around her back and held her close.

Damn it, if this was all he could do now, if all he could do was offer her some comfort, a shoulder to cry on, then that's what he would do. He ached for her as she leant into him. He became a solid purchase for her to cling to, a strong foundation to quieten her trembling. He discarded any thoughts that lingered; that he didn't know what he was doing, that this wasn't natural for him, that comforting was far from who he was, and held her.

He held her as if he could absorb the pain shuddering through her body for her. As if he could drain her tears and dry her eyes with a simple embrace. He held her because there was nothing else he could do. Because she needed him and - deep inside - Bede knew he needed her.

He wasn't going to let her go through this alone.

-

Gloria's tears continued to fall long after the sobs had left her, long after she stopped trembling in Bede's arms. Her tears ran onto Bede's shirt, her cheek pressed to his chest, as she leant into him. He kept his arm around her shoulder. Slowly, gently, he rested his cheek against the top of her head. His eyes closed. He surrendered to this moment, to her. Let his heart ache, let it bleed for her because he wouldn't forgive himself if he didn't.

Strangely, holding her like that began to feel normal. Natural. There was no embarrassment in the way he held her, he didn't flush as she sank into his arms. Even when Nurse Joy came and offered Gloria a blanket, when the owner of the cafe gave them a hot chocolate each on the house, Bede didn't flinch. He accepted the blanket and draped it over Gloria. He mouthed a 'thank you' to the barista. He felt warm, but not embarrassed. Fuzzy and light, but no flush burned across his cheeks. The ache in his heart kept those away. The vacant, empty look in Gloria's eyes made it impossible for Bede to even think about appearances.

Gloria shifted slightly, a sharp sigh escaping her lips. "It's all my fault…"

The pain in her voice, barely above a quiet whisper, twisted his heart.

"No, it's not." He answered as quietly as she'd spoken.

She stole a shaky breath. "What if it's…? What if I've killed it…?"

"Gloria, they're doing the best they can. They'll look after it."

"But…"

"No buts. This isn't up for debate. I can't promise you that everything will be fine but I can promise you that none of it was your fault."

He felt her take a shuddery breath. Felt each and every breath she took, sharper and shallower than his. Bede reached forward, grabbing one of the mugs of hot chocolate from the table, and handed it to her.

"Drink it. It'll help warm you up. You were freezing earlier."

Gloria took the mug, cupping it in two hands, and shifted so she sat up straighter and curled her legs beneath her. Her head still rested against his chest, only higher now so that the back of her head was at his shoulder. She took small sips from the mug and Bede hoped the hot drink would help bring the colour back to her face. She was so pale. Cheeks white like a sheet, making the darkness of her eyes even deeper and colder.

Gloria held the mug to her lips, leaving it there and letting the hot air brush her cold features. She made no attempt to breathe in the rich, chocolatey scent like she usually would. She held it there until it went cold. Until she stared down at the mug blankly and lowered it into her lap.

Bede took the mug from her, placing it back on the table. She'd hardly drunk from it at all. Gloria - who had an immense sweet tooth and loved all things chocolate - had let it go cold.

-

An unknown length of time passed before the door clicked open and Nurse Joy entered, an egg incubator in her arms. Gloria shot to her feet, blanket tumbling to a heap on the floor. She rushed over before Bede could even stand.

"Is that…? Is it okay?" She fumbled over her words, shifting this way and that to look at the egg, to study every angle.

"The egg is fine," Nurse Joy said. "The incubator took the brunt of the impact. Not only did the glass casing break, but there were a few internal parts that had broken as well. It was easier to replace it with a new one rather than fix it."

"So it's…? It's going to be okay?" Gloria gasped. Tears glistened in her eyes.

"Yes." Nurse Joy handed the incubator to Gloria who hugged it tightly. "The egg is going to be okay. We checked the Ponyta inside and everything is fine. You don't have to worry. It might hatch a little earlier than usual but that's all."

Gloria sniffled. She sobbed in relief, pressing her cheek to the top of the incubator and crying.

Nurse Joy smiled softly at Bede. "I'll give you two a few moments. You're alright to leave whenever you're ready."

Bede nodded his thanks as she left and walked over to Gloria. She raised her head, bottom lip trembling as she smiled through her tears.

"It's going to be okay…!" she said. A soft light of relief, of joy, gleamed in her eyes. Her relief, her smile, washed over Bede like a gentle caress.

He smiled warmly in return. "See? I told you it was in the best hands here."

Gloria flicked her eyes between the incubator and Bede. Never looking at him for long. Colour had returned to her cheeks, her face reddening slightly as she blinked away her tears.

"Thanks, Bede. I… I'm glad you were there. I was so panicked I couldn't think. I didn't know what to do." She held the incubator close, sighing softly. "How did you know I was in trouble? I thought you were still inside."

"I was. Hatterene was the one who alerted me. She burst out of her Pokeball and I knew something had happened."

"Guess I owe both of you, then."

"No, you don't."

Gloria looked at him now, confusion worrying her brow. "What do you mean?"

Bede looked away. Cast his eyes across the room sheepishly, dug his hands into his pockets. "You don't owe me. Not for helping you just now, not with what happened in the Glimwood Tangle. You don't owe me for any of it."

"But-"

"The only thing you owe me for is lending you my Rapidash. That's it. The rest… that's just… being a friend."

He heard her gasp. That sharp intake of breath deafening in the quiet room, louder than the roaring of blood in his ears. He didn't look at her. Couldn't.

She ducked her head, smiling at the incubator. "Thank you…" she whispered quietly.

"W-We should go," Bede said curtly. It was hard to find words, to speak, with his mind swirling.

Gloria nodded. She followed him out without a word, glancing occasionally at him over the top of the incubator. They exited the Pokemon Centre and made a left, walking past the entrance to the Gym.

"We're not…?" Gloria paused for a moment before trotting after Bede and falling into step beside him.

"You've had enough excitement for one day and it's getting late. Won't be much time for another challenge to run through."

Gloria quietened and followed Bede to Ms Opal's house. She hadn't realised how much time had passed. Between being a Gym Trainer, having morning tea and shopping with Ms Opal, as well as helping out around the Gym afterwards, Gloria hadn't checked the time. She didn't know what time it had been when she'd left the Gym and had no idea how long they'd been in the Pokemon Centre afterwards.

The hunger gnawing at her stomach meant that it had been longer than she'd thought.

Gloria settled on the couch once inside, toeing her shoes off and curling her legs beneath her. She placed the incubator next to her, propping it up against the armrest.

"Would you like some tea?" Bede asked. "You didn't drink much of the hot chocolate earlier."

Gloria perked up. "Yes, please! Can I try the Roselia tea? It looked really nice!"

"Sure."

Bede smiled to himself, turning away from her in the kitchen so she wouldn't see the effect her switch in mood had on him. Her easy excitement was a dramatic change from earlier and it sent a warm rush of relief through him. He could breathe easier. Things were returning to normal.

He set the kettle on to boil as his stomach grumbled silently. He hadn't eaten all afternoon. He'd planned on grabbing something to eat after he'd sent Gloria away but that had never happened. He glanced at her, seeing her whimsically studying the egg. The soft smile on her face, the loving twinkle in her eyes, sparked something deep inside him. A deep yearning, an ache in his gut, a pull on his heart. For a moment, she wasn't staring down at a Pokemon egg but a newborn baby. A tiny, delicate child with deep brown hair like hers and warm violet eyes like-

A teacup shattered at Bede's feet.

"Bede! Are you okay?" Gloria was in the kitchen before he could register what had happened. Before he could wipe the image he'd seen from his mind. A torrent of heat flooded him.

"D-Don't come in here!" Bede squawked, cursing the crack of his voice. "You're not wearing shoes."

And he couldn't deal with having her close to him right now.

"Oh!" she gasped, jumping back and away from the scattered ceramic shards spread across the floor. "What happened?"

Bese huffed, stalking quickly over to the pantry and retrieving a broom. He dragged a frustrated hand down his face when his back was to her and took a deep breath.

"I dropped a teacup and it broke. I thought that would be fairly obvious."

He stiffened at the cutting edge to his voice. An irritable heat spread through his veins and he felt violently on edge. His heart thrumming a terrified beat in his chest. He was so close to being found out. To have his feelings for her spill forth.

"Really?" She sounded surprised. Confused. "I guess even you can have a klutzy moment sometimes."

Bede frowned and began to sweep up the shards. The tortuous heat slowly began to recede as he focused on sweeping, searching for the miniscule fragments under the table.

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

Gloria leaned on the counter and watched him. "Well, you're such a perfectionist and always seem so level-headed; it's nice to see you make a simple mistake like dropping a cup for once."

Bede clicked his tongue. Was that meant to be a compliment or not? He gave her an unamused stare but couldn't hold it as she smiled at him.

Damn that dazzling smile of hers. There had to be some magic to it, some trick that caused his heart to flutter whenever he saw it. He pushed that out of his mind and bit back his reply. He wasn't about to give her a reason to ask what had made him drop the teacup in the first place.

He didn't see the thoughtful look in her eyes. "Hey, Bede?"

"What?" Bede ducked further under the table, sliding the last fragments he could see towards him with the broom. It was amazing how far they'd flown.

"How do you feel about me?"

Bede cracked his head on the underside of the table.

"Oh, Arceus! Bede, are you okay?" Gloria knelt beneath the table, finding him on his knees, cradling the back of his head in his hands.

"I-I'm fine…!" Bede winced. His head spun, throbbing painfully. He blinked through painful tears and slid out from under the table.

"Are you sure? Let me have a look at it-"

"D-Don't come over here!" Bede snapped, jumping as she stepped closer, a spear of heat shooting down his spine.

She flinched and blinked at him in confusion.

"The… the glass," he mumbled. He stole his gaze away, still holding his head with one hand. "I haven't finished sweeping it."

"Oh, right!" She stepped back. "I'll get my shoes on."

That wasn't the issue! Bede's throbbing head screamed at him. Arceus, what kind of question had she just asked? How could she ask that with a straight face? How was he supposed to answer that?

He stiffened as Gloria approached, her shoes now firmly on her feet. "Sit down. Let me have a look at it." She pulled out one of the chairs, motioning for him to sit.

Bede scowled but complied, sitting in the chair and facing away from her. He twitched when her fingers wove through his hair. Her thumb brushed over his scalp. Her touch was so soft, so gentle and foreign, his heart ricocheting in his chest in shock. He couldn't breathe. Her fingers brushing through his hair paralysed him, freezing him in place from his head to his toes. And yet, he felt far from cold. He was burning up inside.

A rush of emotions Bede had never felt before swamped him with wave after wave, a torrent of lightning and heat and buzzing filling his chest.

"Hmm… doesn't look like you split your head," Gloria said. She sounded close, too close to his ears, the tips of which were burning bright pink.

"Good." Bede stood up curtly, shoving the chair into place and grabbing the broom again. "Now, let me finish sweeping before you track the shards all over the house."

"Alright, sheesh!" Gloria huffed lightly, stepping over the pile. "Sorry for being concerned about you!"

Bede grumbled to himself and focused on sweeping. Heat still burned on his cheeks.

"What kind of question was that anyway…?" Bede muttered before he could stop himself.

Gloria looked down at her hands. "Well… Ms Opal said that you knew what your feelings towards me are, but she didn't elaborate and told me to ask you instead."

Bede screamed internally. That…! That old woman was messing with him on purpose!

"I thought I made it clear earlier." He turned away from her, face aflame, his body burning like a furnace. "You're a friend to me. So, I suppose that I… have come to care about you," he said that last part quietly, a struggle to get the words past his lips. That confession stole the air from his lungs. Silence hung in the air. Stiff and deafening. Bede burned inside, waiting for her to answer, to say something, anything, to put him out of his tortuous misery.

Finally, Bede glanced at her, and saw her grinning widely at him.

"D-Don't look at me like that!" Bede barked.

Her smile brightened. "I can't help it! Aw, Bede…!"

"Don't-! Just… just don't!" Bede stammered and stole his gaze away.

"I haven't done anything!"

"Stop grinning at me like that, you madwoman!"

Gloria laughed. "I'm just smiling!"

"Well, stop it!"

"Fine, fine." Gloria tracked back to the couch and flopped into it. Mirth rumbled in her voice as she stifled her laughter.

Bede huffed, muttering unintelligible phrases under his breath. He finished sweeping, collected the shards in a dustpan and tossed them into the bin. The task gave him enough time to clear his head. To settle his nerves enough to pour the tea and bring it over to Gloria.

Where she sat on the couch, fast asleep.

Bede blinked at her, stunned. Her head was dropped towards her shoulder, mouth hanging slightly open.

Bede smiled down at her. She managed to have her nap after all.

-

Gloria awoke to a sickly gnawing in her stomach, a strangle sizzling sound in the air. She groaned, rubbing her eyes and sat up, inhaling the smell of something cooking. A blanket lay across her. Across her lap on the couch. On the couch in Ms Opal's house.

Gloria was wide awake in an instant. She shot her eyes to the incubator nestled safely beside her, to the kitchen where Bede stood, cooking something on the stove. Whatever it was, the smell was mouthwatering. Gloria swallowed hungrily.

"Did I fall asleep?" Gloria asked sheepishly. She already knew the answer but didn't know how else to break the silence, to talk to Bede as she realised he must've draped the blanket over her when she'd fallen asleep.

"Oh, you're awake." Bede smiled coyly at her, turning enough that she could see the pink apron he wore. There was writing on the front she couldn't make out from the angle. He'd changed out of his Gym uniform and into some grey pants and long sleeved t-shirt. "You were sleeping like a Snorlax."

Gloria flushed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep like that. I guess I was more tired than I thought." She gave a bashful laugh and stood, leaving the soft blanket on the couch and walked to the kitchen. "What're you making?"

"Savoury mince." Bede swirled a drizzling of soy sauce into the wok. A colourful mix of different vegetables, finely chopped into cubes, swished in the wok among the mince as he stirred the sauce in.

"It smells amazing! I didn't know you could cook!"

Bede shrugged. "It's something I picked up over the years."

Gloria eased closer, spying the array of different sauces and jams spread out on the counter. Her stomach growled eagerly.

Bede snorted a laugh.

Gloria balked, embarrassed. "I-I haven't eaten since lunch, that's why…! Wait, I didn't even have lunch."

"That's what I thought. Don't worry, I'll be done soon. If you can wait, that is."

"I can have some?" Her face lit up.

"What, did you think I was cooking all of this just to deny you any?"

"No, of course not!" She shook her head quickly. "I just never thought I'd ever see you cook let alone be able to eat it. All I can make is curry - though, I'm pretty decent at it if I do say so myself!"

"Well, if you've got nothing better to do than gawk at me, you can set the table. Ms Opal's not going to be back until late so don't worry about a place for her."

Gloria rolled her eyes. "I wasn't gawking." She followed Bede's directions and pulled out a pair of plates and set them on the table.

"You were staring at me with your mouth hanging open. Gawking."

"I was not!" She tried to sound offended but failed at the smirk she caught sight of on Bede's face. She turned away from him and quickly grabbed the knives and forks, feeling a burst of heat climbing up her face.

Who knew he could smile like that?

She'd finished setting the table as Bede turned, bringing the wok over and placing it on a heat mat, sliding a serving spoon into it. Gloria looked at the writing on the apron.

"What's it say? Kiss the… cook…" She regretted reading it aloud instantly. Bede stood right beside her, suddenly feeling so close, the air suddenly too warm. She laughed awkwardly. Ducked her head away from him and hurried to her spot on the other side of the table where she could actually breathe.

Bede looked away from her, his own cheeks warming as he removed the apron and sat down. "It's Ms Opal's," Bede said quickly.

"Right."

Bede served himself before tilting the spoon towards her. "Help yourself," he said.

"Thanks." She didn't look at him, serving herself quietly, before she drew a deep breath and hummed.

Bede's lips twitched into a smile. "Are you smelling it?"

"I… maybe." She pouted, curling her lips at him. "So what?"

Bede raised his eyebrows coyly. "You're the first person I've ever seen who smells their food before they try it."

"There's nothing wrong with that," she protested with a huff and scooped a forkful of the mince into her mouth. Her eyes widened in delightful surprise. "Mm…! It's good!"

Bede almost laughed at the look on her face, opting to eat and satisfy the grizzling hunger in his stomach rather than replying.

"Gosh, I wish I could eat food this good every day!" Gloria sighed happily, practically inhaling her next forkful.

Bede lurched before he could choke on his mouthful. He stared at her, realising she didn't catch - or mean - the insinuation in that sentence of hers, as she continued eating in delight.

At least she was oblivious to the searing heat she's sent cascading across his face.

It was strange to remember there was a time when Bede loathed to spend any time with her, when he sat across from her comfortably now, sharing a meal he'd cooked himself. Making light conversation, making jokes and discussing the past week as if it was something they did everyday.

He wouldn't mind if they did this every day.

-

Bede collected their dishes when they'd finished, placing them in the sink and filling it with hot water. He drizzled detergent over it as Gloria came up beside him.

"Can I help? I don't mind washing dishes and I'll feel bad if I did nothing after eating your food."

Bede glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. "Sure, if you don't mind." He looked to the mess of sauces and ingredients he'd yet to deal with. "I'll start cleaning up, then."

"No problem!" Gloria chimed and got to work on the plates. She didn't even flinch or complain when Bede added more stuff to the sink as he cleaned, handing over the utensils he'd used when cooking. He set the wok beside her on the counter, having divided the leftovers into neat containers to go in the fridge. She'd already finished washing everything up and had begun to dry them when Bede was done wiping down the counter.

They worked quickly and soon everything was clean and put away. Gloria brushed her hands together, satisfied.

"There! All done!" She grinned at the clean countertop.

"You still want to try the Roselia tea? You fell asleep before I could make you any."

"Ooh, yes please!" She beamed. "I'm always in the mood for tea!"

"And what about cake?" Bede asked as he filled up the kettle at the sink.

"Cake?" she gasped. "There's cake?!"

Bede smiled to himself. "Chocolate cheesecake, to be precise. I made it yesterday and haven't tried it yet. You can be my guinea pig."

"You make desserts too?!" She sighed dramatically. "Bede, you're better wife-material than I am!"

Bede frowned. His stomach swirled strangely. Was that a compliment or not?

"What kind of statement is that?" he scoffed. "Surely it would be husband-material instead."

She rolled her eyes. "You'd be such a catch if you weren't so snarky all the time."

"That's rich, coming from you."

She poked her tongue out at him. "Yeah, but I'm the Champion so that automatically makes me a catch anyway."

"Surely that would apply to me, as a Gym Leader, as well?"

Gloria huffed. "I'm pretty sure your bad attitude cancels that out."

Bede rolled his eyes. "Do you want the cheesecake or not? Because insulting me is a sure way to make sure you don't get any."

"Wait, no, I was joking! Bede please, give me some cake! I'll love you forever!"

Silence fell.

Bede gaped at her. Heat flooded to his face and then hers when she realised what she'd said.

"Wait, no! I didn't mean it like that! I-I meant as a friend! I didn't mean- I… um… just forget that, okay?!" Gloria buried her face in her hands and muffled a scream. "Arceus, Bede…! I'm sorry! Please, forget I said that…!"

The kettle whistled and cut Gloria off before she could ramble any further.

"Okay, okay!" Bede huffed, using the kettle as an excuse to busy himself and not look at her. "Just stop, alright? You're making it worse!"

Gloria nodded, her face still firmly in her hands.

"The… the cheesecake is in the fridge." Bede motioned towards it as he gathered the teacups and let the Roselia tea steep.

Gloria wordlessly headed over to the fridge and found the chocolate cheesecake on a decorated glass plate. She pulled it out and brought it over to Bede. He deftly sectioned out two identical slices and placed them on the table as Gloria took the teacups over. Gloria bounced eagerly as she sat down, grinning at the cheesecake. It was a rich, chocolate colour, the base the colour of caramel. She stabbed her fork into it and took a bite, savouring the creamy taste with a sigh.

When she drew the fork from her mouth, she saw Bede watching her.

"So?" he asked. "I gather that your response means it's edible?"

Gloria faintly remembered something about her being a guinea pig and stared at Bede. "You didn't poison it with something, did you?"

Bede levelled a flat stare at her. "Of course not. I changed up the recipe slightly since last time and I wasn't entirely sure if I put in too much chocolate."

Gloria scoffed. "There's no such thing as too much chocolate!" she declared, pointing her fork at him. "Anyone who says there is is a coward and a liar."

"I assume that means it's edible."

"More than that! It's so good!" Gloria scooped up another bite, smiling as she ate.

Bede's heart fluttered at her compliments. He tucked into his own slice, trying not to notice how much Gloria was enjoying it. She finished her slice in record time, leaning back in her chair with a satisfied sigh.

"I think you missed your calling as a chef, Bede," Gloria said. She sipped at her tea happily, after pausing to smell it first, of course.

"Too bad."

His dry comment made Gloria laugh. The relaxing way they spent the evening was far removed from the hectic morning and afternoon they'd shared. After finishing their dessert and cleaning up, Gloria finally checked the time and found it was after seven pm.

"I should get going," Gloria said. "Thanks for dinner - and that amazing dessert! I'll have to treat you to my curry sometime so we're even."

Bede shrugged as if he didn't care either way, pushing down the eager bubble in his chest. "Sure, if you want."

She smiled at him. "And remember - I still owe you one for borrowing your Rapidash. Let me know how you want me to pay you back."

"About that…"

Gloria looked up from her phone, about to call for a sky taxi, and paused. Bede had turned his face away but glanced back at her for a moment.

"You've thought of something?"

He looked away. "You… are a very huggy person."

"Yes…? I am…?"

"You hug all your friends."

Gloria looked confused. "Yes, I do…?"

Bede's lips twisted in frustration. "Well, you've… never tried to hug me."

Gloria's eyes widened. "Oh, well… I… didn't think you would like that. You didn't seem to even like handshakes at the start, so I… didn't think you'd be comfortable if I hugged you."

"That was… a while ago."

Gloria nodded slowly.

"We're friends now."

She stopped nodding. "Are you… saying that you want me to hug you?"

"I… suppose that is what I am saying." He looked away. His cheeks were scorching. Heart lodged high in his throat. Gloria stepped closer and he stiffened reflexively. He snapped his eyes to her, saw her searching his face.

"Can I hug you?"

His heart leapt into his mouth. "I believe I already made that clear-"

She wrapped her arms around his back and silenced him with a hug. He froze in her embrace and his brain stopped working. No thoughts formed. No words. He stood still and stiff as she leant into him, her head slotting against his chest. She was so warm. A familiar scent surrounded him and he realised it was her scent. Her silky hair tickled his neck.

He felt her rumble of laughter against his chest. "You know, hugs are usually reciprocated," she giggled.

Something snapped inside Bede, something that had been strung so tight for so long finally gave way and Bede wrapped his arms around her. He heard her surprised gasp but couldn't find himself to care as it felt so right to be in her embrace like this. To hug her like he'd always wanted. To hold her tight and breathe her in. It was like having a final piece of a puzzle slot into place. He felt complete. Felt warm and safe and calm. Like nothing else mattered in that moment.

He didn't want it to end.

"Bede?"

Her cautious voice, the sound of his name right into his ear, snapped him back to reality. He jolted away from her like he'd been struck by lightning and thrown away. Repelled like opposite magnets, he stepped back from her, holding his arms up in a flash of panic.

Gloria blinked at him, stunned. "Are you okay?"

Yes!" Bede cursed the squeak that leapt from his throat. He tried again. "Yes. I'm fine."

"Okay…?" She didn't look convinced. "Was that alright?"

"Wh-What?"

"The hug. You look uncomfortable. Are you sure that it was okay?"

Bede stole his eyes away. "Yes. It was… fine."

Better than fine. Better than he'd expected, better than he could have anticipated. He could still feel a ghost of her arms around him, a lingering memory of their embrace.

"Well, if you say so…"

"I do."

She finally nodded. "Okay. I'll see you soon, then. I'll definitely come by when the egg hatches!"

"Yeah. See you."

-

It was only after Gloria had left when Bede let the realisation of what had just happened crash down on him. He sank into the couch and held the back of his hand to his burning cheeks and flushed darkly.

He had held her far too long. He'd been so absorbed in their hug, in the feeling of her warmth and how soft she felt. In how sweetly she smelled. He'd forgotten all his inhibitions, forgotten to hold back and bury his feelings, his desires towards her.

It was only by the miracle of her obliviousness that she hadn't realised what his actions had meant. His control was slipping dangerously as he fell deeper and deeper in love with her.

He didn't know how long he could maintain this facade, acting like she was only a friend and that his heart didn't yearn for her.

Arceus.

He wanted her so badly.

-

The next few weeks that passed were akin to torture. Bede kept thinking that he saw Gloria. A flash of pink and his heart would race, the longing to be in her arms again would surge through him until he realised it was something or someone else. Her texts continuously sent his heart skittering, and he made sure not to check his phone when there were other people around lest someone see a smile pull on his face or a blush form on his cheeks.

He was succumbing.

-

Bede had finished with his Gym Leader duties for another evening and changed into regular clothes before preparing to leave. He'd gathered his bag and moved to leave after giving the stadium a quick once-over, when his phone buzzed to life.

His pulse spiked when he saw Gloria's name on the screen. He answered it quickly before he'd realised it was a video call and almost dropped his phone when her face appeared.

"Bede!" Gloria called excitedly. "Look! Look!" She turned the phone away from her gleeful face and a Galarian Ponyta came into view. He recognised the room from the background of pictures she had sent him before. Her bedroom. Ponyta slept peacefully on her bed, front hooves tucked beneath it's chin.

"Isn't she adorable?" Gloria cooed, her hand reaching into the shot as she stroked Ponyta's fluffy mane. "I named her Pearl!"

A smile tugged on Bede's lips. His heart softened.

"That sounds like something you would name a Ponyta."

Gloria's face appeared again, pouting. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"I'm just saying, you have a track record of nicknaming your Pokemon…. interesting things." Bede smirked.

"Interesting is good! Better than boring or strange!"

"If you say so."

Gloria rolled her eyes. "Are you still at the Gym? I wasn't sure if you were busy. She hatched about… maybe half an hour ago? I didn't want to bother you but I knew I had to tell you first!"

His heart skipped. "You did?"

"Yes! Without you, little Pearl wouldn't be here!" Gloria ran her hands through Ponyta's mane. "Bede, I've only had her for half an hour and I'm already in love!"

Bede bit back a laugh. That was so like Gloria. "Why am I not surprised?"

"We'll have to come visit you sometime!"

He let himself smile. "That wouldn't be so bad. I'll have to make sure that you're treating my Grandchild well."

"Hey, you gave up your custody!"

"I don't recall doing that."

Gloria huffed. "Does that mean you're going to give me childcare payments?"

"Oh, so now you're trying to extort me? Who knew the Champion would stoop so low."

Gloria laughed. The sound was music to Bede's ears, and sent a tingle of warmth through his chest. "Fine, fine. We'll come by when I'm free next." She glanced offscreen for a moment. "I've got to go. See you later, Bede!"

"Bye, Gloria."

She smiled at him a second longer before the image vanished when the call ended. Bede released a tight breath as a sigh. He felt lighter. The weight in his chest was gone.

It was strange.

He didn't realise just how much he'd missed her until she'd appeared before him in that moment.

For once, he didn't mind the heat on his cheeks.

He didn't mind being in love with her.

She'd changed his life for the better.