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mandareeboo · 4 years

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SU Music Rankings

Bc I can and I wanna start some Disk Horse rip. These are all in order of preference, with explanations, etc. It’s a long bitch. That said, I’m not counting little short jingles or small joke songs like Little Butler. This is the meat and potatoes of SU music- just under 30 songs. I might do the rest if people like my takes lol.

I scored it mostly on three bases- how dear it was to my heart, how much/often I relisten to it, and also what it means to the plot. That said, little fun songs don’t automatically go farther down than big, plot-heavy songs either! It’s a strange little balance.

Special Note: I don’t dislike any of this music! I love SU and that includes its bumps and glitches. I just pick favorite children lol.

1.) Change

Was there ever a more Steven moment than when he wiped the blood off his face and kissed it into sparkles? I think not.

If “Be Wherever You Are” is an ode to young Steven, then this is teen Steven’s. Talking about change, and how much and how little it can do. How he holds his arms up for Spinel to hug him, so trusting. How he seems able to just. Break into soft tears at will, and not to be manipulative- it’s just his kind nature. The warmth in his voice. Fuck yesssss.

2.) Change Your Mind

This song is only fifty five seconds and it’s EVERYTHING to me. It really felt like someone was speaking the words I’d always held deep inside of me, unsure of how to say. It feels like a goodbye to someone who never really loved me.

As much as I enjoyed Future, if this was the finale of SU, I would’ve been perfectly okay with that.

3.) Drift Away

This song gave me legitimate shivers the first time I heard it, and it still haunts me to this day. Spinel stayed, and waited, and all she got was a transmission thousands of years later. Fuck.

4.) Here We Are In The Future

THE MOVIE IS SU AS ITS BEST AND I WON’T BE SWAYED ON IT. Steven being a teen who loves his weird family but is growing just a bit sarcastic to their drama. The adorable love he and Connie share. His slow realization that he will always be working, always have things to do, is both somber and real. The Crystal Gems won’t be safe with one epic battle. They’ll be safe with years of hard work and love. HIS LITTLE HANDSHAKE WITH AMETHYST.

This is a helluva bop and a great way to summarize the main character’s backstories.

5.) Let’s Only Think About Love

Did ya’ll know that Zach Callison killed his throat with that last note? He gave his all for this performance in a vocal range he no longer comfortably do and by god did it SHINE. The FLAIR. The FORESHADOWING. All of the Gems all being awkward about Rose and Steven trying to bring them to the present. Peridot having a mini-existential crisis in a cute yellow dress. I love Zach Callison’s normal singing voice but man is that a fucking bop. Nothing will ever beat it.

6.) Here Comes A Thought

This bad boy helped me out a LOT with some mental issues I was dealing with in high school. I was unmedicated, unsupervised, and full of anxiety. I’d have break downs when I tried to speak about certain things. I couldn’t function. This song inspired me. It helped me feel okay with my intrusive thoughts.

And the episode! -chef’s kiss-. Once again bringing up the morally gray area of training child soldiers. Connie expanding her social group. Steven’s trauma hauling ass in that second half. The ANIMATION. Stevonnie’s gorgeous singing voice. GOD yes.

7.) It’s Over Isn’t It?

Just barely squeaking above Stronger Than You, this ballad is everything gorgeous. The whole episode is. I think Mr. Greg stands in the top five of my episodes for the entire show. It even got nominated!

There’s just so much about this song that I love. The gentle melancholy of Pearl’s voice. How the crew had to redo the shots for this bit bc Deedee went so fucking hard. The hard cuts between Pearl, remembering the love of her life, and Steven, who has begun to feel like he took her away. I’d recommend this song to anyone, regardless of what they do or don’t know about SU, simply bc it tugs so many heartstrings of love, loss, and responsibility.

8.) Stronger Than You

Did you realize this episode aired SEVEN years ago? This bitch was what got me into SU! Hearing about Ruby and Sapphire made my little gay heart so happy inside, and then getting a whole song confirming that they were a couple, that their love powered the strongest Gem on the team? Aaaaaaaaa

To this DAY I get excited when I hear Estelle start singing. This song is timeless. This song will live in media history. God I fucking love this song.

9.) Other Friends

I’m not the biggest musical person, so I hadn’t heard of Sarah Stiles before her casting as Spinel, but JESUS CHRIST the lady went hard. She went SO fucking hard. Sarah Stiles started on 100 and somehow just kept CLIMBING. You can just hear the sheer manic energy building in her voice, the anger and resentment. 10/10 Sarah Stiles is a queen.

10.) Independent Together

This made the list entirely bc the crew was like “you’re gonna get a himbo ass Steven-Greg fusion singing with Opal while Garnet flies across the moon on Lion while floating” and I am forever thankful to them for it

11.) Who We Are

Bismuth deserved more songs. ‘Nuff said.

12.) Peace and Love (On the Planet Earth)

It Could’ve been Great is EASILY one of my favorite s2 episodes. I love the entire concept of this song. Of Steven making music to reflect how much Earth means to him and his family. Of him teaching Peridot some self-care. Also Peridot’s singing voice is really cute and squeaky.

I know it’s silly, but I would’ve really enjoyed a flip around of this in Future! Like Peridot reminding Steven how much he loves music, that he needs to take time to relax for himself, maybe with a new verse or just a remix of the original song!

13.) Something Entirely New

I watched this episode as it aired, and I legitimately almost cried. I love Charlyne Yi’s voice so much ya’ll- her raspy, not perfect singing voice against Sapphire’s deep soothing lull is great.

And to have Ruby and Sapphire’s meeting be the way it was- for Ruby to bemoan Sapphire losing Homeworld, to being stuck with a single Ruby, while Sapphire is a noble who has always been taught everyone in her “caste” is vitally important (and has, in her own mind, taken that to mean every Gem, as she should) and how they come together and make each other happy. Good shit good shit.

14.) I’m Just a Comet

The fact that Greg’s music career never really blasted off pisses me off to this day bc Tom Scharpling’s voice is fucking BUTTER. Also the song really feels like a jab at his parents now that we know the kind of dynamic he had growing up. “This life in the stars if all I’ve ever known” is definitely him wiping away their existence after reminding them (and himself) the things they used to say about him.

15.) Do It For Her

This episode. This fucking episode. This episode got me permanently hooked on SU. I’d just binged season 1 and was kinda meh about it overall after the bop of Stronger Than You. “Oh,” I thought to myself, foolishly, “I’ll probably just casually watch this from time to time.”

Like three days later Sworn to the Sword aired and that was it. I was hooked! Pearl’s gentle training song turning darker and darker, Connie’s accompaniment from nervous to determined to fully into such a toxic mindset. The fact that SU had the BALLS to discuss the repercussions of training child soldiers, now and later. This episode was everything to me, STILL is everything to me.

Six years and well over 100 fanfics written later, I think it’s safe to say this show swallowed me whole and never let go.

16.) System/Boot.pearl_final(3)

I debated putting this on the list because it’s not anything crazy important, just a way to show things are Wrong, but I had to do it entirely bc Pearl is so damn SALTY.

Like telling us about the Gems makes sense, she felt like she was given a duty, but she went so damn petty. WHY is that Ruby alone. Gross. This Amethyst is a trash dump. Wtf are you people.

17.) Full Disclosure

This episode really feels like a turning point for SU. Before, the show had its dark moments- but now we’re in the thick of it, and it’s not going away. Full Disclosure felt like an rebuff to the idea of returning to any normal we’d established in season 1. Gems are actually a giant species now. Gems tried to kill us now. There’s this Yellow Diamond bitch who got namedropped. Something about a Cluster.

The song itself is BALLER, with its ingenious use of Steven’s ringtone and photos as he tries to decide whether to clue in Connie on all this nonsense. Meanwhile we, the audience, already know damn well Connie about to yeet some common sense into him.

18.) What’s the Use of Feeling Blue?

I’mma admit it- I’m a Yellow Diamond stan. I’ve always loved her- her anger, her poise, her hardworking nature. I actively argued against the “Yellow Shattered Pink” theories back in the day. But, man, when this arc leaked? I got so overexcited I was too jittery to watch it for like two days. It’s easily my favorite arc of the series. The sheer alien nature of the zoo, the Famethyst, and absolutely Patti Lupone’s beautiful ballad. Goddamn. Yellow singing to Blue to try and help her regain her old status, the warble in her voice as she reminds Blue she misses Pink too, the movement of the bubbles as she talks about attack. It gives me shivers to this day. FUCK.

19.) Tower of Mistakes

This is, fun fact, that only SU song I have completely memorized. The story itself is kinda funny! See, we lost internet at my house for a solid 5 to 6 months when these episodes aired, so I only got a very brief window to view them all. But this was the first Amethyst song in a long while, and I didn’t want to forget it! So I keep replaying it in my head for ages. And that’s still definitely a thing.

Anyway will never not be sad that this entire song was about making it up to Garnet for Amethyst’s perceived slights with Sugilite (which was a two-way road), only for Garnet to pressure her into fusion later when pissed and never discuss it again bc Garnet probably never thought twice about it and Amethyst has the emotional openness of a clam that’s just been told its ugly. Helluva way to make someone feel like shit, G. Helluva way to bottle that shit, Ames.

20.) On the Run

I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times: Amethyst! Needed! More! Songs!

The dichotomy between Steven’s play and Amethyst’s honest desire to run away from home is so well-done, especially when you consider a lot of Steven and Amethyst’s actions are playing together. The song is also near and dear to me simply bc it’s my favorite Amethyst episode to exist (well, maybe second to What’s Your Problem, but not by much). Moments like these are all the proof I need that they were right to fuse first.

21.) Be Wherever You Are

This tune really just feels like an ode to who Steven was as a kid. Trapped on an island with no way home, and he’s just happy to be with his friends. The stars are beautiful and not oppressive. Also that one animatic with Lars and the Off Colors playing in the Homeworld Kindergarten to this music was iconic and made this song get stuck in my head for a solid month.

22.) Familiar

I ADORE how the crew use bright neon colors to show how alien Homeworld can be. And Steven recognizing that the Diamonds treat him how the CGs used to, and how prepared he is to “fix” a broken family. It’s a soft, gentle tune about melancholy. Also the Pebbles are beautiful.

23.) Let Me Drive My Van Into Your Heart

Such a cute little love ballad, but every time I listen to it now I just imagine the heart attack Rose must’ve had at the line “And if we look out of place/Well, baby, that's okay/I'll drive us into outer space.” like there’s a Vietnam war flashback if I ever heard one

24.) What Can I Do?

I’m kind of neutral on this one? Rose and Greg both have great voices, but the song itself lacks many lyrics. I think it was definitely a good way to show Rose’s flaws in thinking.

Also, I’m shocked they managed cram that much vaguely sexual innuendo into two minutes, followed by how Not Hetereo that dance between Rose and Pearl was, and not get their asses chewed by it. You go guys.

25.) Cookie Cat

I love a lot of the vibes this song has. The lyrics are so damn prophetic, but they also sound like the kind of weird 90s commercials I grew up on. It’s been like two decades since I saw the Shirley Temple commercial but I’ll be damned if I don’t remember “Animals crackers in my soup! Monkey and rabbits loop-de-loop.”

26.) Giant Woman

I am. NOT the biggest fan of Steven’s original singing voice. I feel bad saying that, since it was just Zach Callison as a kid, but he never jived well with me for some reason. So I wouldn’t listen to this on the fly.

The song itself is still really good though, with all sorts of fun animation of Amethyst and Pearl being bitchy to each other. It’s a bit sad in hindsight to see tiny Steven trying to get his moms to get along. Ahh, season 1.

27.) Strong in the Real Way

This song has SUCH a strong start. Pearl reflecting on Sugilite’s problems, but the show making sure to show us that Pearl’s lack of enthusiasm towards her also lends itself to jealousy as well as just general malaise. How much she cares about Steven, and wants him to grow up strong.

And then Steven just kinda. Ruins it? I appreciate his enthusiasm for tryna bulk up but to take what was starting as such a rich, personal song and broadcasting it to random strangers just makes me a bit sad. Almost a bit angry on her behalf?

28.) That Distant Shore

I KNOW this is gonna create some discourse, but I’m just not the biggest Lapis stan. I love her voice. I love the visuals of the song. And I get why she felt afraid and needed to flee.

But Lapis never got to take responsibility for her own actions. And, in the end, the song feels hollow to me- because we all know she’ll never talk to anyone about it, know she’ll burst back in and destroy the barn, and no one will ever question it. I like Lapis a lot, but I feel like her arc never was fully finished. She never got help. She never learned to feel safe.

29.) Dear Old Dad

I’ve yet to meet a single human being who likes this episode tbh. There’s some great discussion about what kind of parent Greg is from it, and what kind of dynamic he has with the Gems that he felt he had to fake an injury to hang out with his son. Honestly the first half was fine and dandy. It’s just that then they Greg just went out of his way to drag Steven away from missions and such. It never jived well with his character before or after.

Also, is it just me, or does Zach himself sound like he hates the song as he sings it? There’s no passion or heart in his voice. It sounds like they told him to read off cue cards and he did. Tom Scharpling’s best attempts didn’t save this one for being a skipper. But the episode, unfortunately, isn’t, so it gets a spot on here.

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98prilla · 4 years

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Loved

Follow up to Unwanted, because I love some soft Dark Sides

AO3

...

“Are you sure? Like, really, really, really sure?” Remus asks. Logan squeezes his hand gently, smiling softly, because he understands Remus’s hesitance, he understands why he is afraid, because he is a bit afraid, too.

“You’ve asked him ten times, Remus. If the answer didn’t change after the first five, why would it change now?” Deceit drawls, though his nervousness shows in his tense posture where he leans against the wall, pretending to examine his fingernails, though he is wearing his gloves.

“I know! I just, I don’t… I don’t want him to regret it. I don’t want you to regret it and then hate us for making you change and then you’ll be miserable and we’ll be miserable and-“

“Remus. You aren’t making me do anything. I want to do this. I promise.” He says softly, slipping his hand from Remus’s, approaching the new door in the hallway, hand hesitantly resting against the unblemished wood as he takes a deep breath.

“Logan! I… be safe. Please.” He nods once at Deceit’s words. He takes a final breath, then opens the door, not hesitating as he steps inside.

The door slams closed behind him, the echo loud as thunder in the dead silent hall, Deceit and Remus both unwilling to move from their posts, in case anything went wrong.

…

The slam of the door makes him jump. Everything is silent, so silent, and the room is pitch black. He squares his shoulders resolutely and walks to the center of the room.

Then the world seems to spin. He can’t keep his balance, it’s like the explosion of a supernova, it’s silence so loud it’s deafening, it’s nothing and everything and hot and cold and it burns and it freezes and it’s too, too, too much!

He feels his center shifting, changing, growing, shrinking, it hurts, it hurts, but it also feels so right as his being rearranges itself, adding to his purpose, tilting it on its axis until it is the same, but different, and he doesn’t know whether he wants to cry or laugh or scream as he feels everything settle into place with an ear shattering void of noise.

He doesn’t know how long it is before he moves from where he fell, crumpled on the floor. He is sore, every part of him aching, as he forces himself to his feet, stumbling at the cresting wave of exhaustion washing over him.

But he has to know, he has to see, before he can let himself rest, he has to see what he has become.

He’s not afraid. He thought he would be, but he isn’t. It’s… anticipation. Relief, almost. Because whatever he is now, he knows Deceit and Remus will still want him. Will still care. It’s strange to think that his former family wouldn’t.

He has changed. His hair is a deep, dark black, in the light it has an almost indigo sheen that he rather likes. His eyes as well, one is that deep indigo, the other a startling silver. His suit jacket is black, buttoned once halfway down, silver embroidery mapping out constellations, his shirt a deep blue. He has a bow tie now, as well, that matches his shirt.

He reaches up, letting out a small laugh as he feels around the edges of each eye, soft, silver scales dotting up his cheekbones and half outlining his eyes. They sparkle like stars and he loves them immediately.

He can see. He’s not wearing his glasses anymore, but he can still see perfectly fine, though his silver eye seems a bit sensitive to the light. He wonders if Deceit’s snake eye is also sensitive.

Deceit. Remus. They’re probably worried. How long… how long has he been in here? He doesn’t quite know, but long enough he’s sure they’re a bit frantic. He stumbles to the door, fumbling with the handle before managing to open it, falling forwards into someone’s arms.

“gan. Logan!” His ears are ringing, but his name manages to cut through the darkness threatening to overtake him. He manages to blink his vision clear, realizing he’s being supported by Remus, who’s looking at him with fear and wonder and worry.

“Fine, I’m… I’m fine. Just took a lot… a lot out of me.” Remus’s face softens, some of the worry fading away, and he is pulled into a tight hug before he can say another word.

“you scared me. You were gone forever!”

“It was not forever, Remus. It was three hours. That felt like forever. I certainly wasn’t worried, or anything.” Logan chuckles at Deceit’s obvious lie, finding himself unwilling to move away from Remus’s steady warmth. Then Remus takes gentle hold of his shoulders, moving him back, so he can examine him.

“Nice new look, by the by. Hair, cool, like the blue, new style, nice, very formal rebel chic. You look like a real bad boy, Logan.” He rolls his eyes, suppressing his light blush at the teasing.

“Dee?” He asks, softly, turning to face Deceit, who hadn’t yet looked up from the ground, as if he were almost afraid to. Slowly, Deceit looks at Logan, examining him from the feet up, letting out a soft, small noise as he reaches Logan’s face.

He is before Logan in two steps, hands shaking as he reaches out, hovering around Logan’s face, eyes filled with something almost unreadable.

“may I?” He asks softly, and Logan responds with a smile just as soft.

“of course, Dee.” He shivers slightly as Deceit’s palms rest on his cheeks, his thumbs carefully stroking his newly formed scales with a feather light touch that just barely tingles against his skin. He closes his eyes, leaning into the touch. It feels so… nice.

“Logan!” Deceit yelps, startling him awake. Awake? He hadn’t been sleeping, had he?

“sorry. I... don’t know what came over me.” Deceit had caught him in his arms, holding him carefully.

“It’s fine, sweetling. You just surprised me, is all. You need to sleep. Preferably in your new room.” He closes his eyes again, nuzzling against Deceit’s chest. One of his favorite things about the Dark Sides, he didn’t feel the need to be the grown up one, the serious one. He didn’t feel embarrassed about wanting or needing touch and affection. They never judged him for it, never made him feel less for it.

“What do we call you now, anyways?” Remus chimes in, “I mean, not Logic, anymore, right?”

“Ambition. I am ambition.” He mumbles, eyes slipping shut once again. “stay? Please? Till I… till I wake up? Don’t wanna be alone.” He feels Deceit lift him up, into his arms, and his hands fist around the fabric of his shirt. “remus too.” He mumbles, and Deceit chuckles, running a hand through his hair.

“of course, Ambition. Whatever you want, darling.” He feels Deceit kiss his scales, then he succumbs to darkness.

“Ambition.” Deceit says softly, and Remus can see the gears turning inside his head, trying to process the implications, the meaning, the why and how. “ambition. I think it suits him. He always wanted so much more than they gave him. Still uses facts and figures, uses logic. Logic with emotion. Ambition.” Deceit muses approvingly.

“God, you two are such nerds. Now, I’m not one to pry,” Deceit snorts, “buuuut since we are spending the night with him, let’s go scope out the new room, already!” Remus is bouncing on the balls of his feet as he skips over to the door, which is now a deep, midnight blue. “c’mon, c’mon, c’mon!” He whines.

“Shush, you’ll wake him. I’m moving fast as I can. Just go in already!” Deceit laughs, and Remus giddily complies, taking one step inside before he freezes, jaw dropping, eyes wide as he stares up at the ceiling.

“whoa.” Is the only word that escapes him, and Deceit hurries inside to see what the fuss is, because not much can stop Remus’s endless talking, much less awe him. His eyes widen as he looks around, a soft whistle escaping his lips, because wow.

The ceiling is moving, swirling, space. It is pitch black, and as they watch, galaxies swirl past, comets shooting across the space, distant stars glittering as supernovas explode in the distance. It is an ever moving, ever shifting, ever changing view of the universe.

And the floor is like that of an infinity room, mirrored so the ceiling is reflected over and over and over again, like you’re walking through the stars, like you could reach out and touch a sun, like the endless possibility of the universe is unravelling at your feet.

The walls are dark marble, embedded with shimmering, small moonstones, which shift and glimmer with the light, going from pale, milky blue, to fiery, alit orange, like more endless stars, and gods, it is beautiful and amazing and incredible, and it mirrors Ambition perfectly.

His bed is still simple, though the duvet is blue and silver, like his jacket. A desk is against one wall, bookshelves line the other, a closet with clothes sits yet untouched. Any personal items, Ambition will have to fetch from his old room. Deceit bites his cheek at that, because he doesn’t know if he can face the others, if he can face Virgil, after this. Because no matter what Ambition says, they will all blame him. They will all say he somehow coerced, tricked, stole, Logan, and forced him to turn dark. As if him and Remus and, once, Virgil, were evil beings sent to hurt them. They aren’t, the terms light and dark arbitrary, but good luck telling that to Thomas.

It upsets him to be blamed, of course, just because of his role. But that’s not why he’s angry at the thought. It undermines Ambition’s choice. He chose this. The issue shouldn’t be that he changed, the issue should be all the reasons why he changed.

“DeeDee. You’re overthinking again.” Remus’s soft voice cuts through his thoughts, and Deceit sighs, shaking his head.

“Caught me red handed, my ever observant Duke. Let’s get settled, before my mind runs away once again.” He replies, rolling his eyes as Remus jumps onto the bed, instantly burrowing under the covers, patting the space beside him.

“Coming, I’m coming.” He mutters, tucking Ambition under the blankets first, whom Remus quickly secures in his arms, cooing as Ambition tucks his head down against his chest, mumbling something incoherently happy. Deceit slips in next, sandwiching Ambition in warmth, wrapping his arms around both him and Remus, letting out a long breath as his body relaxes, all the tension seeping out of his muscles at the warmth, head resting against Ambition’s.

“Dee?” Small, hesitant. He smiles, not cracking open his eyes.

“Yes, Remus?”

“love you.” Innocent, quiet, the Remus none of the others get to see, don’t give him a chance to show. The one who is sensitive and kind and caring, in his own way. Who is just as insecure as Roman, just as romantic, just as full of love and fierce protection for his family. The one who was the most broken when Virgil left. Because he had loved Virgil, like a brother.

“I love you too, Remus. So does he.”

…

It’s… odd. Waking up, surrounded by warmth, surrounded by arms, gentle breathing near his ear, the rise and fall of a chest, being held like he is the most precious thing in the universe.

He needs a new name. Logan… doesn’t feel right, anymore. It doesn’t feel like it… fits. Honestly, he’s not sure it ever did. Logan was a name chosen out of convenience. Logic, Logan, simple, clean, easy to remember. It hadn’t mattered much, what he was called.

But now… now it felt important.

Idly, he looks up, eyes widening as he sees the ceiling, watching the stars shimmer and spark, earth far away, a vague blue dot against the endless vastness. Space. He’d always loved space, the stars, the theories of the universe’s formation, the mechanics and unknows of it all, how it just… worked. By some miracle, it worked.

As he watches, the sky changes, swirling, to show what the night sky looks like from earth, the constellations stretching out before him. Ursa major, minor. Big dipper, little dipper. Orion and his belt.

“Cygnus.” He whispers, lips twitching upwards in a smile. Cygnus. The swan. In Greek myths, so many warriors, heroes, were transformed into swans to escape death, the constellation itself was said to be Orpheus, transformed into a swan and placed in the sky to forever sing his songs. The ugly duckling, finding his place among his species, turning something old and ugly into something new and beautiful.

“ugh, morning.” Deceit mumbles, and he rolls over to meet Deceit’s eyes, which are still blurry from sleep, his curly hair adorably tousled. “how are we feeling this morning, Ambition?” He smiles at Deceit’s use of his new title.

“good. Not about to pass out, anymore, at least. A bit sore, still. But better.”

“Ambyyyy why are you talking? Go back to sleeeeeep.” Remus whines, hugging him tighter around his waist, face buried against his back. He chuckles, heart warming further at Remus’s nick name.

“We should get up sooner rather than later. Even they won’t be able to ignore a shift this big in the mindscape. Sooner rather than later, we’re going to be summoned. I would prefer to look my best to deal with this occasion.” Deceit says dryly, and Remus groans, but relents, releasing him and sitting up. “go get dressed. I’ll start on breakfast. Everyone needs to eat something today.”

He shivers as Deceit leaves the bed, wishing they could stay there all day, but he knows Dee is right. Remus plants a soft kiss on his head, before slipping out from behind him.

“take your time starlight. Look around. It’s pretty amazing, what you made.” Remus slips out the door, Deceit following, shooting him a final, gentle smile as he lets the door close behind him.

He sighs, letting out a huge, deep, shaking breath. He still couldn’t believe he’d done this. Had the courage, to do this. But honestly, he’s never been happier in his life.

…

When he does emerge from his room, his room, for breakfast and makes his way to the kitchen/dining room, much more informal than the light sides dining area, a small table, a counter island with three stools, a vase of flowers on the table.

“Foxgloves. Pretty and deadly. Literally every part of the plant is poisonous. From your garden, Remus?” He asks, amused as he sits down at the island, where Remus is already leaning, watching Deceit cook, scrambling eggs, based on the smell. Remus’s eyes light up at his classification of the plant.

“Uh huh. Oh! I should show you! It’s all filled with poisonous plants! I’ve even mixed and bred new breeds! I dunno if they’d actually survive in the real world, but it’s the imagination so, anything goes! If… if you wanna. I know… my part isn’t as pretty as roman’s.”

“I find that hard to believe, Remus. You have the same level of passion and drive as Roman, and you don’t limit yourself half as much as he does, based on public perception. You don’t let public pressure alter your work. It’s true, unbiased, unfiltered art. I fail to see how that could ever be anything less than beautiful, regardless of how ‘perfect or ‘pretty’ it is or isn’t.” Remus is blushing furiously, and Deceit is staying facing the stove to hide the delighted, glowing grin on his face.

“And yes, I would love to see your garden. I may be able to offer some advice, as well, if you’re looking to up the toxicity of your specimens. For purely scientific reasons, of course.”

“Of course.” Deceit echoes, amused as he turns around, spooning eggs onto each of three plates, along with two slices of bacon and a piece of toast, sitting down on a stool on the other side of the counter, across from Remus. They eat in silence for a few moments, before Logan pushes his plate away, mostly finished. Turns out changing burns a lot of calories.

“I… have something I wish to tell the two of you. In regards… to my name.” Deceit and Remus both freeze, locking eyes a bit frantically.

“You don’t have to-“

“It’s not necessary-“ they both blurt out at the same time, stumbling over each other in their rush to stop him from saying anything more. Then they both shut up again as Logan laughs.

A real, honest, deep, full, laugh. Like church bells ringing, like distant thunder, like heady, summer nights. It’s beautiful, it’s stunning, it’s amazing. And it feels… good. When was the last time he laughed, more than an amused snort, at best? He was too serious, too focused, too adult, for laughing. Not anymore. His laugh finally dies down, leaving him smiling brightly, looking at the two stunned faces of Remus and Deceit.

“I know I don’t. That’s why I want to. Because I trust you two and I… I want you, to know. I just… I don’t want it to sound… stupid.” It had felt so right, lying sleepily in bed, but he cringed in the cold light of the kitchen, because what if it isn’t? What if they laugh?

“Ambition. We won’t laugh. We won’t judge. And if you aren’t ready, do not feel the need to say another word on the subject.” Deceit says softly, and he half smiles, taking a deep breath.

“Cygnus. It’s a constellation. Of a swan.” His face is furiously red, but when he looks up, he sees nothing but warmth and softness and a bright, wondering kind of joy.

“it’s perfect, Amby. You’re perfect.” Remus whispers, taking his hand and rubbing circles on his knuckles, easing some of his tension, evaporating his fear.

“Don’t… don’t tell the others?”

“Of course, sweetling. You tell them if or when you’re ready. We won’t tell them a thing, Cygnus.” He shivers a bit at the use of his name, the way it rolls off Deceit’s tongue, like music. He nods, biting the inside of his cheek.

“I think… I think we should go to them. Before they summon us. I don’t want to wait around for them to notice something is different. If they haven’t noticed by now, I want to show them. I want to say my piece, before they have time to put words in my mouth.” He squeezes Remus’s hand tighter, determination and a hint of fear spiking through him, but Deceit is nodding.

“Whatever you want, Cygnus. Everything is up to you. Everything is at your pace. Whatever you want, it’s yours.” And he’s flushing again, at the sincerity of Deceit, the promise in his words, and he knows Deceit means it. Knows he could ask Deceit to walk off the end of the earth, and he would.

…

Everyone is yelling. Roman is threatening Deceit, Patton is trying to calm him down but he is also afraid, unsure, and his frantic energy adds to Roman’s. Virgil is staring at him with wide eyed horror and disbelief, his face pale, eyes angry and hard as stone as he spits something cold and cruel at Remus, who flinches, backing behind him, almost as overwhelmed as he is at all the noise. Then Roman breaks free of Patton’s hold and actually swings at Deceit.

He smoothly steps in front of the snake side and catches Roman’s arm, eyes cold as stars as he halts the swing, and the room goes silent as the sword clatters to the floor, all eyes on him.

“You don’t want to do that, your majesty.” He hisses, and Roman stumbles back, the three light sides staring down the three dark sides, with Cygnus at their head.

“Logan… you don’t have to do this. Whatever they told you… it isn’t true. We love you. Please.” Patton, open armed and teary eyed.

But he knows. He knows Patton wants him back because he’s afraid he won’t be able to moderate Virgil and Roman without him there, that he doesn’t want things to change, that he wants everything to go back to the way it was. But he is not, for a single second, thinking of wanting ‘Logan’ to be happy.

“You want to be the pinnacle of light, Patton. The perfect father, perfect leader, perfect person. You spend so much time worrying about appearances, Patton. If you looked a little deeper maybe you’d realize no coercion was necessary, nor attempted.” His words are cool, evenly spoken, but Patton still winces, mouth opening and closing several times before he simply looks away.

“Why? Logan, why go… to them? After everything, after what they’ve done-“ He cuts Virgil off.

“I don’t know what they’ve done, besides try and do their best for Thomas. Try and help him accomplish his goals. And why? Are you really asking me that? Do you not have a single idea of what could have led to this choice?” He asks incredulously, looking from face to face, seeing nothing but honest puzzlement and it almost makes him furious.

“I have been gone. For five days.” Patton’s hands fly to his mouth, Roman’s eyes blaze as he glares at Remus, Virgil gasps softly. “I’m glad to see no one noticed my absence.” His lips twist in a grim smile, and he shakes his head, gathering his thoughts for a moment.

“I have never felt listened to. I have never been valued. I do the work, I put in the time, I try my very hardest to get all of you, any of you, to listen to me, to see me, to care about me, and I am pushed aside again and again and again. It is only when something goes wrong, only when everything has fallen apart to the very extremes does anyone come looking for Logic. So clearly, it wasn’t needed. Logan… wasn’t needed.” They all have the grace to look ashamed at that, and he feels Remus slip his hand into his, before he continues.

“I was ill. I thought it didn’t matter. I thought I didn’t matter. None of you cared to notice, cared to check on me, cared to ask where I was, while these two were taking care of me, fevered and unconscious for nearly two days. And no one even noticed I was gone. You can have that, as your answer to why.” There’s more, but those feelings are personal, and they have lost all right to his personal emotions, though they barely had it to begin with.

“Logan-“

“No. That is not my name anymore. I am Ambition. And that is what you may call me. You have not earned my name. I don’t think you ever truly did. You will leave Deceit and Remus alone. You will not punish them for this. You have only yourselves to blame. If you wanted me so badly, you should have fought for me a little sooner.” With that, he takes Deceit’s hand, and they disappear, back to the dark side, leaving the three lights in stunned, broken silence.

…

He stumbles, nearly falling, Deceit catching his arm and steadying him.

“Cyg? You okay?” Remus asks as he straightens, shooting Deceit a thankful glance.

“Just not used to that popping in and out thing. A bit more dizzying, than sinking in and out.” He replies, sinking onto the couch in the common room, laughing as a blanket is tossed at his face from across the room, which he promptly pulls around himself.

“You wanna watch anything, Amby?” Remus asks, hesitating by the T.V. Remus wants to play his game console, but only if he is ok with it. Remus, above everything, wants him to be comfortable and happy. He smiles, though he’s on the verge of tears again.

“No. Go ahead, Ree. The new Resident Evil remake?” He asks, and Remus pauses in turning on the television.

“How did you know?” His voice is pure curiosity, as he plops on the couch beside him, Cygnus leaning against him as the game loads.

“New role, new abilities, I suppose. As Ambition, I can tell what people want. Both eventual goals and whatever the current top desire is.” Remus hums thoughtfully, as Deceit comes in from the kitchen, holding a bowl of popcorn. He sits on Cygnus’s other side, wrapping an arm around his shoulders, resting the bowl between them.

“So, then. What is my current desire, Ambition?” Deceit asks, and he swallows hard, because it is radiating off of both Remus and Deceit, and he has never felt like this before. Never felt this blooming warmth in his chest, never felt so wanted, needed, loved, and it burns in a pleasing, soft way.

“to love me. To show me I am loved, to give me whatever I need, whenever I need it, no matter if it is space or touch, company or solitude. To… to be here, with me, right now. My happiness, is your ambition.” He whispers, conscious of the tears slipping down his face.

Slowly, gently, Deceit reaches up and wipes away his tears, before pressing a kiss to each of his newly formed scales, nuzzling his head against Cygnus’s cheek before pulling away.

“yes. And it always will be.”

“MOTHERFUCKER” They both jump at Remus’s screech, popcorn flying, looking up at the screen to see a giant monster chasing his character through zombie infested streets. He recovers from his shock first, and chuckles, getting caught up in the action as Remus dodges and shoots, all three of them letting out a cheer as a stranger appears, blasting the monster with a rocket.

He can still feel the warmth and love radiating off the two of them as they are all sucked into the game, the plot, and he slowly finds himself relaxing against Remus, Deceit massaging his head, and it feels so good, for once everything feels so good, so right, so perfect.

He is home.

#sympathetic remus #remus sanders #logan sanders #dark side logan #deceit sanders #sympathetic deceit #roman sanders #virgil sanders #patton sanders #kind of unsympathetic light sides?#mostly just oblivious #fluff #minor angst #mostly fluff

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skeletaldarling · 5 years

Text

Would a Hug Help?

Summary: Dee comes home after work to find his boyfriend on the couch, taking a sick day. Softness ensues.

Ship: Moceit

Word Count:

Warnings: Sickness, food mention, Deceit Sanders, I don't think there's anything else (correct me if I'm wrong!)

A/N: Yeah so another sick fic!! I can’t help it, I’m a sucker them. I hope you like it, if you do, my fanfic tag is ‘rj fic’ and I’d love to hear from you!

Also @jessibbb 💖💕

+++

Dee closed the front door behind him and set his bag on the floor. After kicking his shoes off and removing his coat, Dee went to the kitchen to make himself some tea.

Patton wouldn’t be home for another hour or so, meaning Dee had a little bit of time alone before he’d get to help Patton with dinner and sit with him while they watched Parks and Recreation on the couch.

Dee turned the kettle on and rifled through the cupboard to see if they had any cookies left.

He had just found a packet of chocolate biscuits when a cough sounded from the doorway. Dee whirled around, nearly dropping the cookies, and faced the source of the noise.

Patton was leaning against the door frame, coughing into his arm. He rubbed his watery eyes and smiled weakly. “Hi, Deedee.”

“Pat?” Dee set the packet on the bench. “Honey why are you home so early? You’re in pajamas,” he noted. “Are you sick?”

Patton nodded and sneezed into his elbow. “Mhmm,” he sniffed. “Took the day off. Didn’ wan’ everyone else to get sick too...”

“No yeah, right.” Dee bit his lip and stepped forward. “Would a hug help?”

Patton stepped straight into his arms, slipping his arms around Dee’s waist and squeezing. He buried his face in Dee’s shoulder, happy to burrow into the safe and familiar scent.

Dee rubbed his boyfriend’s back and pressed a small kiss into his hair. Patton felt far too warm against his bare arms and he was breathing loudly through his mouth.

"So have you been cooped up, sick, in bed all day?"

"Pretty much," Patton admitted. He pulled away to cough again. "I came down for a glass of water."

"Of course," Dee nudged Patton towards the lounge. "I can get it for you. Go sit down over on the couch, okay?"

Patton coughed. "No you don' have to do that-"

"Sit down," Dee instructed, gently pushing him onto the couch and kissing his forehead.

"I can do it!" insisted Patton.

"Honey," Dee cupped his boyfriend's flushed cheek. "It's okay. You're not well, just let me get this water for you, okay?"

Patton pouted. "But Dee..."

"I know, baby." Dee kissed his freckles. "I'll be right back."

Patton sighed and leaned back into the couch cushions. His tummy twisted uncomfortably at the movement and an involuntary whine escaped his lips.

"Honey," Dee returned with a glass of water, a mug of tea and some cookies. "Are you okay? You really don't look too good."

Patton smiled weakly. "I think I just need some cuddles..."

Dee laughed and brushed the hair away from Patton's eyes. "Of course."

Dee sat on the couch and helped Patton nestle into his side. "Comfy?" he asked.

Patton hummed, taking a sip of water. "Mhmm. You're very good to cuddle..." Patton trailed off and took another sip. He set the cup down and winced, moving to hug his stomach.

Dee froze. "Are you going to be sick?"

Patton shook his head. "No. Just have a sore stomach."

Dee rubbed his back. "I'm sorry, doll." He kissed Patton's head. "Do you wanna watch some Parks and Rec?"

"Ooh, I'd love to watch some Parks and Rec," said Patton.

Dee chuckled and put it on. He pulled Patton onto his lap and kissed him quickly.

Patton squirmed. "I don' wan' get you sick," he sniffed to try and clear his nose. "And 'm all sick and gross and-"

Dee shushed him and held him tighter. "You're not gross. Just watch the TV and let me hold you?"

Patton relaxed. "Okay fine, just..." he trailed off. "Can you grab the cookies?" he whispered.

Dee laughed. "Anything for you, doll."

So Patton settled into his boyfriend's lap and nibbled on a cookie while Dee rubbed his stomach absentmindedly.

Patton felt his eyelids grow heavy after a few episodes. He yawned and rested his cheek on Dee's shoulder. "I might..." he yawned again, "try and sleep for a bit..."

"Good," Dee nuzzled his hair. "Love you."

"Love you too," mumbled Patton, already drifting off.

And although he did feel quite terrible. At least he got to fall asleep in Dee's lap and wake up feeling a little bit better.

And if Dee felt sick a few days later, maybe that wasn't so bad...

#sander sides #thomas sanders #tw deceit sanders #deceit sanders #patton sanders #moceit #tw dark sides #tw sickness #tw food mention #writing #rj fic

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psychosistr · 5 years

Text

FOWL Facets- Chapter 10

Summary: Steelbeak tells the girls he’s alive, and Domino tells everyone what he has planned for the future.

Notes: Ah, a short, sweet chapter to close out this emotional rollercoaster of a story. Hope you guys enjoyed it ^^

-First Chapter-

When arriving back in the main entryway, Steelbeak is hardly surprised to find a pair of striped arms wrapping around him from his shoulders to his ankles like a pair of snakes and pulling him right up to an overly-excited spinel hanging from the ceiling by her legs.

“Steely, you did it!” Loony stretches her neck and turns her head so that she’s looking at Steelbeak right-side up. “You made Dommy’s bad feelings go down!”

Steelbeak shrugs with one of his usual arrogant smirks. “Eh, what can I say? I’m just THAT friggin’ good.” After a minute, though, his face changes to a more strained smile. “Hey, Loons?”

“Yeah?” The stretchy spinel tilts her head curiously, still smiling brightly at him.

“Be a doll an’ put me down, would ya?” His eyes flick poignantly towards the floor a couple feet below.

Loony suddenly realizes that she is, in fact, still keeping the melanite suspended mid-air and gives him an apologetic smile. “Whoopsie-doodles! Sorry, Steely!” She sets him back down and unwraps her arms from around him.

“Don’t worry ‘bout it, stretch- no harm done.” He tells her while fixing his suit.

“Surprisingly.” A voice from the lounging area beside him says.

Turning his head, to get a better look, Steelbeak is even less surprised to see Gandra reclined back on one of the benches while idly scrolling through something on a projected hologram-screen coming from the watch on her wrist. “And what’s that supposed t’ mean?”

“That you’re still alive.” The star-sapphire replies bluntly. “I’m surprised you made it through that in one piece.”

“Guess I’m just lucky.” Steelbeak’s eyes narrow at the other chicken, before he regains his earlier smirk. “Either that or SOMEONE’S lost her touch.” Oh, how he loves that challenging and frustrated glare he can always draw out when he pushes her buttons just right. “Somethin’ wrong, stardust?” He asks with the fakest sounding attempt at sympathy in the universe. “Hey, you ain’t lookin’ too happy there, toots. Shouldn’t we be celebratin’? I mean, it’s not like you really WANTED me gone, right?”

Gandra rolls her eyes at his taunting and makes her screen bigger to block out his smug face. “Think I’d celebrate more if you’d actually kicked the bucket..”

“So sorry t’ disappoint ya, Gee, but goin’ down that easy ain’t exactly my style.” The only thing Steelbeak enjoys more than teasing the star-sapphire for her height is calling her out on the extremely rare occasions where her predictions end up being off- it’s one of his favorite pastimes.

His laughter is interrupted by a voice too deep to be Gandra’s. “No, but being loud enough to shake the walls certainly is.” Turning to look at the hall he’d come in through earlier, Steelbeak sees Domino entering the main room as well.

“DOMMY!” Loony drops down from the ceiling next to the obsidian, arms ready to wrap him up in an excited hug. She stops just an inch shy, however, when a single black hand is raised in a silent request. “Oopsies!” Her arms instantly stop and retract before they even have a chance to grab the other gem. “Sorry, Dommy..”

Domino gives her a half-smile and shakes his head. “It’s fine, Loony..just..not right now, okay? Maybe later.” After receiving a happy and agreeable nod in return, Domino redirects his attention to the room as a whole, his demeanor shifting into something far more serious. “F.O.W.L. has been compromised by a Diamond loyalist.”

“If it’s true, then that’s a pretty big deal.” The screen in front of Gandra vanishes as she sits up properly. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Domino answers definitively. “I always thought it was odd that none of my requests for information were ever answered or even followed up- if anything, there should have at least been a negative reply- but we were always sent out on long-term missions immediately following a request, most likely to distract me from how much time had passed. If it had happened only once or twice, it could have been blamed on coincidence, or carelessness, or a report falling through the system’s cracks..but I’ve submitted more than eight hundred requests over the years and have never ONCE received an acknowledgement on it.” He shakes his head, the look on his face showing his frustration. “At that point, it’s impossible to call it an accident: Someone within F.O.W.L.- someone very high up in the chain of command- has been intercepting my requests because they KNOW the truth about what happened and are trying to keep people from finding out.”

“So,” His partner looks down at him with a raised brow. “Whattaya wanna do ‘bout it, Deedee?”

“I’m going to find out who that person is and remove him, and any of his co-conspirators, from F.O.W.L. personally.” Domino reigns in the deadly intent of his voice so that he can speak to his team calmly once again. “It won’t be easy…and, if I’m not careful, I could be branded as a traitor, or worse..but that’s a risk I’m willing to take. I’ll take one of the back-up pod-ships and try to keep in contact with you as much as possible with updates on my location and any information I find.” He looks at the assortment of dark gems in the room with him, at the gems who’d become his team, his family, over the past few thousand years, knowing that, this time, he couldn’t ask them to-

“Count me in!” A cheerful voice to his left says.

Domino looks beside himself to see Loony giving him a confident smile. “Loony, you can’t-”

“We’re a packaged deal, right?” The smile on Loony’s face is as bright as ever, but the softness of her voice and the look in her eyes are far more meaningful. “Where you go, I go- that’s the rule, remember?”

Domino tries to fight the smile forming on his own beak, but it’s practically impossible. He’s not surprised at all to have his own words thrown back at him in such a supportive way. After all, what else would he expect from the gem who was practically a sister to him?

“Guess I’m in, too.” To Domino’s surprise, he sees Gandra get up from her seat and look at him with an indifferent roll of her eyes- the effect greatly diminished by the small smile on her face. “If White Diamond messes things up with F.O.W.L., where else am I gonna go when I’m bored?”

He knows the star-sapphire is just putting up a front. While she’s still the newest member of the crew, she clearly enjoys her spot on the team and the freedom it offers her. Domino and Steelbeak may still be quietly keeping to their promise of seeing anyone else on the ship besides themselves and Loony as expendable, but they knew that Gandra was handy to have around and, given that they scouted her and invited her to join F.O.W.L. themselves, they knew she was more trustworthy than some of the agency’s more senior members.

“Three of you crammed int’ one teeny tiny pod? That’s gonna be a pain.” Domino looks to his other side to see Steelbeak grinning down at him. “Tell ya what, short fuse- why don’t ya just stay here and we ALL take the Black Iron Comet? It’d be roomier AND faster.”

Domino stares up at the melanite before, with a fondly exasperated sigh, he closes his eyes and shakes his head, unable to keep the equally fond smile off of his face. He should have seen that coming. Steelbeak’s been his partner for more than eight and a half thousand years now. Time after time the melanite has proven how far he’s willing to go for him and has more than earned his trust- the incident in his room just a few minutes ago serving as yet another prime example of his partner’s loyalty.

“I suppose you do have a point.” He looks to each gem in the room as he speaks, his voice serious but far less grave than it had been a minute ago. “From now on, we’ll need to be prepared for anything. We’ll have to be extremely careful with who we trust- any information we find stays with us until we know for sure whom we can trust within F.O.W.L. and who we cannot. We’ll also need to stick together to avoid being caught by the enemy- no going off on our own anymore.” He briefly side-eyes one gem in particular after that comment, the rooster rolling his eyes but nodding in agreement at the subtle jab regarding his recent capture. “Now,” He gives the gems around him a confident smirk. “Let’s show those traitors what happens when you double-cross F.O.W.L.”

The chorus of agreeing cheers around him makes Domino’s confidence in their future grow ten-fold. After all, with a team this good backing him up, not even the Diamonds will stand a chance.

<-Previous Chapter

End Notes: And there we have it- an end to one story, but the beginning of a new one. This group was SO much fun to write and I definitely have plans to do more with all of them in the future after I get the main universe more developed. I’m thinking of having the FOWL Facets story run as a sort of side-story to the Fearsome Facets universe that will occasionally cross over with the FOWL group tracking down the origins of the cluster before everyone comes together in the big series finale.

Wanted to give another HUGE thank you to both @eleanorose123 / @thefriendlyfour and @deldraws19 for allowing me to write this story using their awesome OC’s! They’re wonderful and I look forward to doing so much more with them later on ^^

#darkwing duck #ducktales #dt17 #FOWL Facets #Steelbeak #Dominic Domino #gandra dee #Loony Toony #steeldomino #not my oc #100 follower giveaway!

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stormcrawler75 · 6 years

Note

If you’re still doing the angst prompts, would “don’t come any closer” and “you don’t have to be scared anymore” be ok? Please don’t feel like obligated to write this.

Forgive me, Virgil! It’s been so long since you requested this but I’ve been working on it and I finally finished it! I hope you like it!

Patton walked through the Dark Side with Deceit beside him. “Everything’s looking pretty good, Dee!” Patton chirped, though not with his usual gusto. Deceit rolled his eyes and let out an annoyed sigh. He muttered something under his breath but didn’t outright speak against the Moral Side. He probably knew that Patton wouldn’t put up with it in the mood he was in right now.

Patton looked down at the checklist Logan had given him before he left the Light Side. It was his turn to do a look around the Dark Side and see if everything was going as it should be. It was also Patton’s turn to see if the Dark Sides were planning anything against the Light Sides.

From what he had seen so far, all looked good. Deceit certainly wasn’t happy to see him, he never was, but he had shown Patton through the Dark Side like he always did and reported that all of the Dark Sides were doing their jobs as they should be.

Normally, Patton didn’t mind checking on the Dark Sides. None of them were bad Sides. They all wanted the best for Thomas. The Dark Sides just had strange and wrong ideas on how to help him.

But, after what had happened, Patton hadn’t even wanted to leave his room.

“Patton.”

Patton didn’t move from where he was lying on his bed but he did look up to see Logan standing at his door. Patton blinked and looked at the Logical Side curiously.

Logan gave him a soft look. “May I talk to you? Perhaps you could come to the Commons and talk with me and Roman.” Patton looked down and shook his head. The feeling of grief and helplessness that had settled in his gut after the, the incident, seemed to get heavier and Patton closed his eyes.

“Go away, Logan,” Patton whispered. “I don’t wanna go anywhere.” There was a sigh from the Logical Side and, for a moment, Patton thought he had left. So, when a weight landed on the edge of Patton’s bed, he looked up and his eyes widened at Logan sitting there. “Logan! You can’t be in my room!”

“Well, you’ve been alone for far too long,” Logan said simply. His voice was a little sadder and tighter than it had been before he had entered Patton’s room but he didn’t leave. “You haven’t left your room since the new Side-”

“Stop,” Patton begged. He shook his head and started to tear up. “Please, stop it, Logan.” Logan placed a hand on Patton’s.

“I’m sorry,” He murmured. “I know it causes you grief. Out of all of us, you were the most excited to have a new Light Side among us. You were the one who made me research anxiety and discover that it wasn’t the villain myself and Roman initially thought.” Logan intertwined his fingers with Patton’s.

Patton took a shaky breath. “They didn’t even get the chance to meet us.” Tears rolled down his cheeks.

He didn’t even know what happened. He had been watching the new Side’s door, smiling at the little white glow that came from underneath it that signalled a new Side was almost done being created. Patton could feel the core of the Side, the very essence of their being and what made them, them, from behind the door and knew they were almost fully created. He and the others were so excited to meet Anxiety so they could teach him and show him how to help Thomas!

Patton hadn’t felt anything wrong or strange. But, if he had, Patton couldn’t think of anything he could’ve done to fix it.

The glow had just disappeared. Patton had collapsed to the ground as he felt that little spark of a new Side vanish from the Light Side. Anxiety was gone.

Logan’s voice pulled him back into the present. “I know they didn’t. They would’ve loved you. But,” Logan swallowed, his grief hard to push back when he was in Patton’s room, “but they’re a function now. And, we need to go forward.”

“I don’t want to,” Patton snapped. He pushed himself up and glared at Logan. “Can’t you just leave me alone, Logan!” Logan shook his head and tightened his grip on Patton’s hand.

“No, I can’t. For one, you’re essential to Thomas’ well being and, with Thomas only being 15, he’d be a mess without you. Secondly,” tears only magnified by his glasses grew in Logan’s eyes, “I don’t think I could stand losing you right after losing Anxiety.”

All of Patton’s anger melted away and he looked down. “I, I just can’t believe they’re gone.” He rubbed at his eyes and choked back a sob. Logan pulled him into a tight hug and the two of sat on Patton’s bed, both finally letting themselves feel the grief they’d been dealing with for weeks on end.

It was only after all the tears had been shed did Logan pull back. “I, will you come down now? Please?” Patton smiled, the first time he had smiled since Anxiety had faded, and cupped Logan’s face.

“Okay, Hon. I’ll come down.” He wiped at his face and took a deep breath. “What, what have you and Roman been doing since, since,” he waved a hand, unable to finish that sentence.

Logan squeezed his hand. “I’ve been attempting to help Thomas work through the pressures he has been dealing with and Roman’s been doing his best to help Thomas prepare for the play he is going to be auditioning for.” He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “And, Roman was just about to go check on the Dark Sides.”

Patton was suddenly filled with a sudden need to do something. For weeks he hadn’t even wanted to get out of bed but now he was filled with this sudden restlessness. He needed to help out in some way.

“Let me do that.” Logan looked at him like he was insane.

“Patton, are you sure you’re in the best place to do that,” Logan asked hesitantly. “I don’t mean to say that you couldn’t, I just don’t know if you should.”

Patton leaned forward and looked Logan straight in the eyes. “Logan, please. I need to do something. I need to be of some use. Let me do this.”

Logan tightened his grip on Patton’s hand until it was just on the edge of painful. “If you do this, you must return immediately if you feel as if you’re in trouble or get overwhelmed. Okay?”

Patton smiled and nodded. “Okay, kiddo.”

Patton sighed. “Okay. Almost done, Dee. I just need to meet with the other Dark Sides and then I’ll be out of your hair.” Patton couldn’t wait to leave. There was something about this visit that kept tugging at his core but he couldn’t figure out what. And, the Dark Sides’ cores weren’t being shielded at all so it made his own squirm in discomfort. So, he was very confused when Deceit tensed, just ever so slightly, and shook his head.

“No, that’s out of the question. They’re all busy,” Deceit said in a hard voice. “I don’t need them being distracted.” Patton raised an eyebrow.

“Um, no. Sorry, Deedee, but I gotta see them.” He showed him the clipboard. “See. Says right here, check on all Dark Sides. I gotta do it.” Patton smiled and a little of his annoyance must’ve slipped through into it because Deceit huffed in annoyance and waved a hand.

Malice sunk up and Patton waved half-heartedly at him. “Hey, Mal!” Malice sent him a condescending smirk in return. Patton looked around for Pride and did a double take when he saw a smaller Side almost hidden behind Malice. “And, who’s this?”

Deceit nodded at the small Side, as tense as a board. “This is Apathy. Our new Darkling.” The grief that had simmered down while Patton had been working flared back up and he had to fight back tears.

Patton gave Apathy his best smile. “Well, it’s very good to meet you, Apathy.” Apathy nodded at him with an almost bored look on his face.

“Well,” Deceit cut in, “you’ve seen the other Dark Sides! You’ll be going now, yes?”

Patton sighed. He really wanted to go back to bed but, “Sorry, no. I gotta see Pride first, Dee.” Patton watched Malice and Deceit share a look and a twisting feeling of nervousness settled in Patton. What was going on?

Patton straightened up and looked at all of the Dark Sides sternly like they were one of his kiddos who’d broken a rule. “What are you all hiding?” Deceit took a step forward, raising his hands like he was about to delve into a very well crafted story when something happened that made Patton’s eyes go wide and have his core just flare in shock.

Because Anxiety’s core had just appeared in the depths of the Dark Side.

Malice and Deceit might’ve made some move to stop him but Patton bowled over both of them, running out of their Commons and towards where he felt the little core. It was flickering now like someone was trying to hide it or smother it. And it was coming from Pride’s room. Patton snarled and pulled the door open.

Pride was standing in the center of his room with his back to Patton. And, on their butt looking up at Pride through long black bangs, was a small teen. Patton gasped. It was that little core. It was Anxiety.

“Mind giving me a second, Dee?” Pride asked, not noticing who was standing behind him. He shook his head. “Anxiety just won’t keep his core hidden and won’t let me show him how.”

“It feels weird,” the smaller Side muttered. “I don’t like it.”

“I don’t care if you don’t like it!” Pride snapped. “You think I want Morality coming down here to investigate an extra Side because he felt your dirty little core?” Patton sucked in a breath and took a step forward. Steps were thundering after him and he needed to stop Pride while he still could.

“That’s enough!” Patton snapped. Pride spun around and Anxiety snapped his head up. Pride might’ve said something, stepped forward, or something else equally stupid. But, Patton’s eyes were locked on Anxiety. The small Side was huddled on the ground and was staring at Patton with wide scared eyes.

Hands landed on Patton and tried to pull him away from the room. But Patton ducked out from under their hands and made a beeline for Anxiety. He slammed into Pride and grabbed him by the shoulders, throwing him to the ground. Anxiety screamed and scrambled back. Patton wished that he could take a few minutes to calm Anxiety down, to show him to Patton wasn’t going to hurt him. He was happy pappy, Patton! He’d never hurt a kiddo!

But there wasn’t any time. Patton rushed forward and took Anxiety by the shoulders, pulling the two of them down from the Dark Side and into the Light Sides’ Commons. Patton got one look of Logan and Roman sitting on the couch before every exploded into chaos.

Anxiety screamed and shoved Patton away from him. He backpedalled away from the three Light Sides, pressing himself against the nearest wall. He clutched at his chest and seemed to shrink into his oversized hoodie. Anxiety’s breathing got quicker and more sporadic when Patton a step closer to him and Roman and Logan scrambled off the couch and joined Patton, trapping Anxiety in the corner. “Don’t come any closer!”

Patton stopped and held his hands out non-threateningly. “It’s okay, kiddo! You’re safe, Anxiety!”

“Anxiety?” Roman glanced at Patton in confusion. “But, what? I thought Anxiety became a function?”

“We were wrong,” Patton whispered back, keeping his eyes on Anxiety who still wasn’t calming down. “The, the Dark Sides stole him somehow. Brought him to their Side. I, I don’t know how but,”

“Something we can ponder on later,” Logan cut in smoothly. He took Patton and Roman by the arms and took a step back. “Right now, I believe we should all calm down. Anxiety,” Anxiety whimpered and pressed himself back into the wall even more. The grey eyeshadow underneath his eyes seemed to be getting darker by the second. “Anxiety, the three of us are going to step back alright? But I need you to attempt to breathe. You’re going to affect Thomas at this rate.”

Anxiety sucked in a breath and nodded. “O-okay.” He watched them all carefully as they took another step back and his shoulders seemed to relax a little. Patton had to bite back a whimper of his own when Anxiety looked at them nervously like they were going to hurt him.

“Good, good,” Logan praised. “You’re doing very good, Anxiety.” Patton glanced up at Logan and saw that while he was wearing a patient and calm expression, there was a lot of pain and confusion in his eyes. Logan was hurting just as much as Patton and Roman were but was putting it aside to help Anxiety.

Patton took a deep breath and plastered a smile on his face. He needed to be calm, happy Patton right now. He could process everything later. Right now, his kiddos were his number 1 priority. He shook his arm out of Logan’s grip and stepped forward with his hands up.

“It’s okay,” Patton said softly. “I’m sorry I scared you, Hun. I just wanted to get you out of there.” He took another slow step forward and stopped when Anxiety tensed up. “It looked like Pride was hurting you there, Kiddo.”

Anxiety looked up at him through his bangs nervously. “I’m, I’m supposed to hide my core. Because it’s bad and I was being bad and I, I,” Anxiety’s breathing got a little faster and Patton quickly shook his head.

“No, Hun, you weren’t being bad at all,” Patton cooed. “You shouldn’t have to hide your core if you don’t want to. Pride was just being a bully hurting you like that.”

“He was?” Anxiety hiccuped. He looked so scared and small and all of Patton’s protective instincts flared up.

“Yes, Sweetie,” Patton assured him, “he was. But you don’t need to worry about that anymore. You don’t have to be scared anymore. Pride won’t be coming here and neither will the other Dark Sides. No Dark Sides are allowed over here.”

Anxiety fidgeted with his hoodie’s zipper. “I’m a Dark Side though,” he murmured. “So, I gotta leave, right?”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Roman marched forward and grabbed Anxiety hands, shocking the Anxious Side into silence. “A Dark Side, you? Nonsense!” He squeezed Anxiety’s hands tenderly. “You’re obviously a Light Side like the rest of us! We protect Thomas and you do too, don’t you?”

Anxiety jerked up and nodded. “Yes! I just wanna keep him safe!”

“Then you’re one of us,” Roman said simply. He beamed at Anxiety and pulled him into a tight hug. “I’m so glad I’m not the youngest anymore!”

“Roman,” Logan hissed, stepping forward, “be careful! You may overwhelm him!”

Anxiety was as tense as a stick in Roman’s hold but slowly lifted his arms to awkwardly put his arms around the older Side loosely. He looked like he was trying to hug Roman without ever doing it before and it made Patton’s heart break a little. “I’m okay,” he muttered.

Logan let out a relieved breath and Roman nodded firmly. “Of course you’re okay! Everyone becomes okay after hugging a Prince!”

Anxiety gasped and pulled back. His eyes were wide with awe and the eyeshadow under his eyes was going from a deep black to a soft grey. “You’re a Prince?! Like Sleeping Beauty’s Prince?!”

Roman puffed up with pride and nodded. Patton chuckled and Logan sighed. The Logical Side shook his head in exasperation before waving a hand at the two younger Sides.

“Alright, I understand that you are both very excited,” Logan said dryly, “but I believe we would all benefit from sitting down at the kitchen table and talking this out. Perhaps have a calming mug of tea as well?” He turned around and made his way across the mess on the floor that was Roman’s drawing papers, Patton’s stuffed animals, and his own books.

Patton perked up and nodded. “That sounds great, Lolo!” He beamed at Anxiety and Roman and gestured for them to follow Logan to the kitchen. Roman immediately ran off after Logan but Anxiety lingered. He looked around the Commons curiously and seemed to be fascinated by all of the other’s things on the floor. Patton really needed to clean up around here.

Patton smiled kindly at Anxiety and held out his hand. “Well, kiddo? Want to go drink some tea and chat?”

The Anxious Side looked at Patton’s hands hesitantly but took his hand and let it fall so their hands were hanging between them. “Yeah, okay.” Patton beamed and led Anxiety into the kitchen and into his new life.

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#sanders side fic #platonic lamp #tw deceit #dark sides #virgil sanders #patton sanders #logan sanders #roman sanders #grief #morning

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thing-you-do-with-that-thing · 7 years

Text

Not My Wife

Characters: Danneel Ackles, Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, Genevieve Padalecki

Pairing: Danneel x Jensen, Jared x Gen

Warnings: Alcohol consumption, Nesnej (yep that’s a warning - ask Jared :P)

Word Count: 1200ish

A/N: I blame Gen and her livestream for this, but also @mysupernaturalfics who is an enabler! She is also the gem that betaed this for me.

Side note this is my first time writing a Padackles fic with no reader, but I can promise you it won’t be the last time. I love these guys so much and I wanna show them some love without inserting third of fifth parties into their lives cause they are perfect as is.

***My fics are not to be saved nor posted on any other sites without my express written permission.***

GIF NOT MINE BUT INSPIRED THE FIC A LITTLE - KINDA!

A night like this what exactly what they all needed. It wasn’t that neither of them didn’t love their jobs, their lives, and kids, but sometimes parents needs to take a breather to be husband and wife again. This weekend every year was exactly what Jensen and Danneel needed, as well as Jared and Gen. ACL was an event they aways attended together.

Jared and Jensen were best friends. More than that, they were brothers and even though every day was spent together on set 4 days of the week, 9 months out of the year, a huge chunk of their free time was spent in each other’s company as well. Very much helped by the fact that their wives had become as much like sisters as Jared and Jensen were brothers.

Tonight wasn’t about Supernatural, opening of a brewery or even their kids. It was simply about having fun and enjoying each other’s company. The music was loud and the alcohol was flowing. Everyone was laughing and having a great time, dancing and laughing, never wanting the night to come to an end.

Jensen however, proved to be a bit of a light weight just like always and Gen with her petite frame reached her limit a lot sooner than the others, which was why she agreed to stay by Jensen’s side while Jared and Danneel went off to get more drinks. Leaving Jensen alone in a crowd like this was never a good idea, unless they wanted to spent a few hours searching for the lovable, drunk with the attention span of a two year old.

Luckily Red Hot Chili Peppers did the trick to keep Jensen’s attention locked to the screen, while dancing and chatting away with Gen. It wasn’t like she wasn’t gonna notice if he was to wander off anyway either. Jensen was an affectionate drunk and not just with his wife or women for that matter. Jensen hugged and cuddled with just about anyone he could get away with, which Danneel didn’t mind one bit.

Gen smiled when Jensen wrapped his arms around her from behind, dancing with her as she thought of Danneel’s words. “Drunk or not he is still Jensen. I trust him and I know he is mine so let him have fun. Some wives has to suffer men with a terrible temper when they are drunk. I just get to laugh at my husband being cuddly with strangers.”

Gen leaned back against Jensen, enjoying his embrace. They had been friends for years and it wasn’t that she minded or wasn’t used his cuddly side and as long as he was dancing behind her with his arms wrapped around her waist, it wasn’t like she had to worry about him wandering off.

Gen frowned, feeling the deep rumble in Jensen’s chest and she knew he was talking to her but the music was so loud she couldn’t make out a word. Gen tilted her head back to look up at him only to freeze up when Jensen’s lips met her’s in a sweet kiss. She stared up at him in shock when he pulled back only to see him frown in confusion before muttering.

“You’re not my wife.”

Gen erupted into a fit of giggled, lovingly slapping his cheek, shaking her head at him as Jared’s voice sounded behind them.

“No. That’s my wife,” Gen and Jensen both looked in the direction of Jared’s voice. The giant of a man was struggling to keep the smirk of his face and the pretend scowl on. “What the hell dude?”

Jensen ignored his friend as he quickly apologized to Gen before turning to his wife with a wet puppy look on his face, completely oblivious to the fact Danneel was laughing her ass off and not the slightest bit angry with him. He felt beyond guilty even if it had been an accident. Jensen was a flirt but he loved his wife with all his heart. Never once since he had first kissed her had he had the need to kiss or touch anyone else.

Danneel knew that and just kept giggling as Jensen pulled her into his arms. He kissed her neck and cheeks and lips over and over again, trying to express what his words couldn’t in his intoxicated state.

“I’m so sorry. I thought she was you, DeeDee,” he muttered with a pout on his lips and his eyes nailed to the floor, much like a puppy anticipating a scolding after stealing from the treat drawer. His guilty expression only caused her to laugh even harder before cupping his face in her hands, pressing her lips to his in a tender kiss.

“I think we need to get you glasses, you dork,” she smiled, wiggling her nose at him and Jensen buried his face in her neck, letting her hug him tight, relieved things were okay between them even if he still felt bad.

***

Jensen groaned as he felt Danneel shift beside him on the bed. His head was killing him and all he wanted to do was wrap his arms around her and hide out in bed all day. He knew that wasn’t an option since his parents was gonna be back with the kids around noon, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t get an hour or two worth of sleep, cuddling with his wife if he played his cards right.

A content sigh fell from Jensen’s lips when he shifted towards her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her flush against his chest. He never once opened his eye as he acted purely on instinct. An instinct that also caused his eyes to shot open the moment her body connected with his. Jensen knew and loved every inch of Danneel’s body. The woman next to him most certainly wasn’t his wife.

“Morning Jensen,” Gen smiled sweetly up at him and Jensen moved faster than he had ever moved before, jumping from the bed, looking up and down himself, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw his boxer were still on his body.

His confusion and fear was chased away the second a roar of laughter sounded from the other side of the room. Gen giggled, crawling off the bed heading for her laughing husband’s arms as Jensen stared at the three people in front of him with an absolute look of betrayal on his face.

“What the hell?!!” Jensen glared from his best friends to his wife, all of whom were still not able to control their fits of laughter.

“That’ll teach you not to kiss my wife,” Jared snorted and Jensen stared daggers at the man.

“That’s not funny,” he grumbled, making Danneel step towards her sulking husband, wrapping her arms around his neck. She was still giggling, but there was a look of absolute adoration in her eyes when she looked up at him.

“You’re right. It’s not funny,” she grinned up at him, her smile contagious and Jensen relaxed in her arms as she pressed her lips against his in a sweet kiss. “It’s hilarious.”

ADD YOURSELF TO MY TAGLISTS HERE!

Padackles Tag Team

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#Jensen x Danneel #Jared x Gen #J2 #Jensen Akcles #Danneel Ackles #Jared Padalecki #genevieve padalecki #spn imagine #jensen imagine #danneel imagine #gen imagine #jared imagine #spn fanfiction #rpf

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psychosistr · 5 years

Text

FOWL Facets- Chapter 8

Summary: Despite all the warnings, both from Gandra and from his own instincts, Steelbeak goes to check on Domino after they return to the ship. It goes about as well as he expects..

Notes: Time for a delicious double-decker chapter sandwich of angst, backstory, fluff, and more angst. Enjoy the suffering!

-First Chapter-

Steelbeak walks through the halls of his ship, a determined look on his face as he heads for one particular room..

Along the way, he sees Loony sitting near her shelf of “treasures”, the spinel currently huddled against it with many of the softer toys and trinkets pulled down to cover her in a make-shift cocoon until only her beak and eyes are visible through a small hole in the front.

“Steely..” Loony slowly stretches her head out of the soft fortress so that she can meet the melanite’s eyes properly as she speaks. She has a troubled frown on her face, looking more nervous that he can ever remember seeing her. “He’s not okay, Steely…I..I-I keep feeling lots and lots and LOTS of bad things from him, even all the way over here..” She looks up at him, her eyes almost pleading. “Dommy hasn’t felt this bad before…I know I’m supposed to cheer him up and make him all better, but..but I don’t know what to do…he..h-he won’t even talk to me..” Steelbeak sees the spinel’s eyes misting over-

Nope. Can’t have that at all.

“ ‘ey, c’mon, Loons- this is Domino we’re talkin’ ‘bout here, right?” The rooster asks while patting her on the head, giving Loony an encouraging and confident smile. “Snowflake’s tough as they come, he’s just gotta blow off some steam for a bit and he’ll be good t’ go in no time.”

Loony looks up at him with a concerned frown. “You sure?”

“ ‘ey, would I lie to ya?” Before she can answer, he starts digging in his pockets for something. “Tell ya what, if it makes ya feel any better, I’ll go have a little chit-chat with ‘im right now and make sure he’s okay.” He finds what he’s looking for and pulls out a small box with a red ribbon on it. “While I do that, why don’tcha play with your new present?”

The sight of the small box instantly brightens the stretchy gem’s mood and her arms extend out of the cocoon to grab the offered gift, not minding the few items that got knocked over in the process. “You remembered!” She says with an excited smile while taking the ribbon off and opening the box. “Wowie-wow-wow!” She exclaims excitedly, her eyes practically shining as she pulls out what looks like a shiny metallic cube made of many smaller, different colored cubes. “It’s so colorful! What is it??”

“It’s some Earth-creature game.” Steelbeak explains, pointing to the different colored cubes. “Ya turn an’ twist it ‘til ya get each side the same color.”

Loony curiously starts twisting and turning the rows of the cube, looking bewildered by the way the smaller cubes move. “Ooooooh!” She manages to look away from the moving, shimmering, brightly-colored toy and gives Steelbeak a hug, her long arms wrapping around him several times over. “Thanks, Steely! I love it!”

It’s times like these that Steelbeak’s glad he’s not an organic and lacks a skeletal structure- otherwise, he’s pretty sure Loony would’ve broken his back and arms more than a few times by now. “Anytime, doll.” He takes a moment to fix his bowtie and straighten his jacket before continuing his trek down the hall. “I’ll check back in ten- don’t break it.” He calls with a wave over his shoulder, receiving an affirmative response as the other gem is already engrossed in trying to solve the small and colorful puzzle.

Well, at least she’s back to normal. One down, one to g-

The door to the cockpit opens when he’s about to walk past it, Gandra stepping out and holding her hand up parallel to his face so he doesn’t have a reason to say he didn’t see her. “Hold it.”

Steelbeak stops, but he definitely doesn’t look happy about it. Crossing his arms and tapping his foot impatiently, he looks down at the star-sapphire with an impatient and annoyed scowl. “Is this gonna take long? I gotta go talk t’ Deedee.”

“I would wait on that, if I were you.” Gandra warns him, crossing her own arms to match his annoyed stance. “Going in there right now could be dangerous. You should wait until he’s calmed down.”

Steelbeak actually laughs at her for that one. “You seriously think he’s gonna calm down if I sit around an’ wait? You don’t know ‘im that well, do ya, stardust?” He tries to walk around her, but is blocked by the arm she extends in front of him. “Gandra.” He says her name in a warning, threatening tone of voice- showing that he’s slowly moving past “annoyed” with her interference and into more dangerous territory.

“I did a reading before they went down to rescue you.” She doesn’t budge from her stance, but she also doesn’t raise her head to meet his eyes, either. “The future I saw…ends with Domino shooting you..and you getting shattered…” Her words are heavy, weighed down by the seriousness and gravity she’s trying to express with her tone of voice alone.

“Ya done?” Steelbeak doesn’t look even slightly bothered by the star-sapphire’s news. When he doesn’t receive a response right away, he lifts her arm out of the way so he can move past her. “I’m real’ moved by your concern, toots- I’m so touched, I might start cryin’- but I know how t’ handle old short fuse when he’s moody.”

Gandra finally looks up at the other bird, catching his wrist before he can get too far away. “Don’t you get it?!” She turns to face him fully, keeping a firm grip so he can’t just brush her off like he normally would. “This is different- he might actually kill you if you go in there right now. I know you don’t want to hear it, but you need to know that there’s a 99.9998% chance that you’ll DIE. So just listen for once and-”

“No, YOU listen t’ ME.” Steelbeak snatches his hand out of her grasp but, instead of walking away, he uses that same hand to grab Gandra’s arm in return. He easily picks her up so the two of them are now startled-blue-eye-to-glaring-black-eye. “First: This ain’t the first- or last- time I’ve walked in there knowin’ I’d get my head bit or blown off. I know what I’m walkin’ int’, alright?” He holds up his other hand, counting off his points as he lists them. “Two: You ain’t got no say in when I go see my partner- I wanna talk to ‘im, I’m GONNA talk to ‘im. And three:” He drops her so she lands roughly on the floor, turning to continue his walk. “If Dom was THAT predictable, we wouldn’t still be partners after this long.” He doesn’t wait to hear her response as he walks away.

Gandra watches him walk away, her annoyed scowl losing its edge as he heads further down the hall. “…..” She looks down at the floor bitterly, saying her words so quietly that no one could possibly hear them but her. “You’ve still got a 0.0002% chance of surviving..hope your luck’s good enough to beat those odds..”

Steelbeak eventually reaches his destination. He looks at the door emblazoned with the image of a step-cut black and white snowflake obsidian and, for a second, he hesitates to go in. With a quick shake of his head, though, the hesitation is gone and he walks right in.

“Knock, knock.” He calls as he walks into the other gem’s room, not bothering to knock for real before or after entering. He spots Domino seated at the table on the left side of the room in the seat further from the door, the loon hunched over whatever he’s working on (though Steelbeak already has a pretty good idea what it is) and apparently unaware of the rooster’s entrance. Not one to beat around the bush, Steelbeak walks right up to the table and takes his place in the seat beside Domino, opting to sit backwards so that he’s leaning back casually against the table in the backless chair as opposed to his partner’s properly seated position facing it. “How’s it goin’, snowflake?”

Now that he’s closer, Steelbeak has a better view of what Domino’s working on and is, for once, disappointed to find out he was right:

The obsidian is hard at work breaking off pieces of the “mini-cluster”. The forcefully fused mass of shards is held tightly within his right hand while his left employs different methods for breaking off the other shards. On the table in front of him are an assortment of tools ranging from high grade pliers to a 155 micro-inch laser cutter (the one from Steelbeak’s tool box, he mentally notes) and even a pointed white gem destabilizer.

Red eyes narrowed as he focuses on the task at hand, Domino doesn’t seem to register Steelbeak’s entrance when the taller gem first walks in, having been too busy trying to break off a sharp jade fragment using his barrier-glove reinforced left hand. He does, however, notice when the melanite brazenly takes a seat next to him. Not looking away from the shards in his hand as he attempts to break off the jade fragment, one harshly spoken (practically growled out) word leaves the loon’s beak. “OUT.”

Steelbeak doesn’t budge, literally or figuratively. “The pliers’d be better for that one.” He suggests, trying to hand the tool over to the struggling gem.

“I said..get…OUT.” Domino ignores the suggestion and the offered pliers, still trying to break off the green shard by hand. It does eventually break..unfortunately only the tip of it breaks off, further frustrating him. “Darn it!” He throws the splintered-off shard against the wall by the table in frustration.

Steelbeak shrugs calmly at the aggravated display. “Hate t’ say I told ya so, but I did warn ya…” When he sees Domino trying the same approach on another shard, he starts to reach over with the hand closest to the loon. “Here, lemme-”

Before he can get anywhere near the cluster of shards, Domino’s barrier-gloved hand shoots out and grabs the melanite by the wrist, slamming and pinning the other gem’s hand to the table harshly. “I told you to GET OUT!” He looks his partner in the eye for the first time since he entered the room; sadly, it’s a look filled with frustration that’s quickly boiling into full-blown rage.

Steelbeak winces slightly at first when his hand is pressed to the table, but he recovers quickly enough and meets the snowflake obsidian’s eyes calmly. “I was just tryin’ t’ help, Deedee.”

“Help?” Domino releases the rooster’s wrist and shoves his arm away. “I don’t want help, I want answers!” He grips the mass of shards tightly in his hand and holds it close to his chest, paying no mind to the way the sharp bits of broken stone dig painfully into his body. “I want to know how one of my partner’s shards ended up on the other side of the universe THOUSANDS of years after his death! I want to know what happened to the rest of him!” He grabs Steelbeak’s collar with his barrier-gloved hand and pulls him closer to properly meet his enraged red-eyed glare. “And I want you to tell me what YOU know about all of this!”

To his credit, Steelbeak doesn’t flinch or back away at all- he just meets the shorter gem’s menacing glare head on with a firm, unwavering look of his own. “I don’t know nothin’ ‘bout this, Dom.”

“That’s a load of concrete, and you know it!” Domino snaps at him, getting to his feet so he can look down on the rooster while keeping a firm grip on his collar. “You’re the chief agent of F.O.W.L.- you know all of their plans!”

“And you’re my partner.” Steelbeak counters, looking up into the other gem’s eyes unflinchingly. “If this was F.O.W.L.’s doin’, you’d know as much ‘bout it as me- that’s part of bein’ partners, remember? We’re equals.”

“Not in White Diamond’s court.” The obsidian’s grip tightens. “Liquidator said this whole thing was the Diamonds’ project. As one of her elite garnets, you have to know something!”

“Oh, please…” Steelbeak rolls his eyes, prying the other gem’s hand off of his shirt but being careful to only touch the gloved sections. “I’m ‘bout as loyal t’ White as YOU are. Even she knows that- that’s why she don’t tell me nothin’ ‘less it’s got somethin’ t’ do with takin’ over a planet.” He looks back up into the other gem’s eyes, still holding onto his hand. “If I knew anythin’ ‘bout this, I’d’ve told ya YEARS ago.”

Domino snatches his hand away, the barrier disappearing as one of his guns appears in it instead. “And I’m just supposed to trust your word?” He points his pistol right at Steelbeak’s chest, his normally analytical mind clouded by his racing thoughts and warring emotions- fury, confusion, betrayal, sorrow, rage; it was overwhelming. “How do I know you weren’t sent to spy on me? To make sure I didn’t turn around and rebel? You were assigned to me right after I lost Checkers- did they do that so I wouldn’t have time to dwell on it? So I wouldn’t have time to mourn and ask questions?” His eyes are starting to burn, but he will not let a single tear fall, not until he receives the answers he wants- no, needs to hear. “How am I supposed to trust your word when you won’t even tell me anything?!” His hand, normally so steady and calm whether he was aiming his weapon at a random organic creature or a fellow gem, is now shaking so badly that he can’t even aim straight. He starts to readjust his grip without lowering the gun-

A feathered hand comes up to rest on top of his pistol in a surprisingly gentle motion. Steelbeak guides the deadly weapon until the mouth of the barrel is pressed right against his gem. Once it’s in place, he looks up into Domino’s eyes once more. This time, though, he doesn’t look calm, he just looks…sad. “Dominic, I didn’t know.”

Domino is about to say something else, to accuse the shifty rooster of lying to him yet again while tightening his grip on his weapon to keep it steady..

But then the name registers in his mind.

Dominic.

Not Domino, or Dom, or Deedee. Dominic.

Steelbeak doesn’t call him by his name- his real name- lightly…

The trio of dark gems stood together on the walkway of F.O.W.L.’s spaceship hangar. They watched as a vehicle below engaged a tractor beam to drag away the twisted and distorted mass of golden metal that was once the “Lucky Star”.

Loony turned to look up at Steelbeak with a frown. “Steely, I’m really, really, reeeaaaaaalllyyyyy sorry…”

“……” Steelbeak took in a deep breath and sighed, turning away from the sight of his once prized ship to give Loony an understanding smile and a pat on the head. “Eh, don’t worry ‘bout it, Loons- part of flyin’ ships is survivin’ the crashes.”

She only frowned more at his words. “But it was my fault we hit the mountain!”

Steelbeak shrugged off her worries. “It’s just a ship, doll. They come, they go, we live another day an’ move on without ‘em.”

“But you LIVED there!” Loony stretched her body so she was eye-level with the melanite. “What are you going to do now?”

“She does have a point.” Domino commented, having been leaning against the railing and calmly observing the whole exchange. “Have you thought about where you’ll be staying?”

He was truly surprised by how calm his partner was over the whole ordeal. Loony was right about the ship being Steelbeak’s unofficial home: While the melanite could have easily requested a palace of his own due to his rank in White Diamond’s court, the thought of it often bothered him because it was too “ritzy” for his liking and because it wasn’t practical as he spent most of his time off of homeworld either conquering planets for White Diamond or running missions for F.O.W.L.. The sensible thing was for him to live in the same place he worked- the Lucky Star. He’d spent thousands upon thousands of years maintaining that ship and designing his own personal live-in room to his exact tastes. He’d even set up a small living space in the main room of the ship for any guests or “temporary” partners he had to bring with him with the bare-minimum furniture of a few chairs and a bench. Overall, the Lucky Star had been a small vessel, but it had been a home for Steelbeak for nearly 18,000 years.

And, in all honesty, Domino and Loony had begun to think of the gaudy golden ship fondly after spending so many years in its main room.

“Snowflake,” Steelbeak looked over his shoulder at the obsidian with a smirk. “Do you REALLY think I’d be this calm if I didn’t already have somethin’ lined up?” He gestured for the other gems to follow him down the catwalk. “C’mon, I got somethin’ you’re both gonna like.”

“??” Confused but curious, Loony looked to Domino with a questioning tilt of her head.

Domino replied with a silent shrug before the two of them followed the taller gem’s lead. He had as little of an idea about what was going on as Loony in this situation.

Steelbeak led them to a separate area of the hangar, going down the catwalk’s stairs at one point so they could walk among the countless ships. “Dom, Loons-” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black device that looked like a black crystal that was flat on the bottom with four prominent facets on the top. Steelbeak pushed one of the crystal’s facets and it lit up with a soft white light. Right after he pressed it, one of the nearby ships opened its hatch and the power came on inside of it, illuminating its dark features. “-say hello t’ the ‘Black Iron Comet’.”

Domino and Loony stared at the large ship, taking in its sleek black form.

Neither of them were surprised when Loony was the first to approach the gleaming new ship. “Wooooooooow!” She stretched and swung her way around the ship, swinging around each of the wings before landing on the top by the striking red windshield so she could peer inside. “This is amazing, Steely! It’s huuuuuuge!”

Steelbeak chuckled at the spinel’s enthusiasm as he walked towards the opened hatch and its extended ramp. “If ya like that, wait ‘til ya see what’s inside.”

While Loony cheered and swung back around the side of the ship to beat them to the opened hatch, Domino walked alongside his partner up the ramp. It was nice being able to actually walk into the new ship- the Lucky Star’s high-up entrance had left him with no way to get inside without relying on Steelbeak lifting him up to it on one of his platforms or Loony stretching an arm down to him, both of which were annoyingly inconvenient for him. “You must have pulled quite a few strings to have this ready on such short notice.”

Steelbeak shrugged at his partner’s assumption. “I’ve had this beauty waitin’ in the wings for a while now. Not exactly how I thought I’d be introducin’ ya to ‘im, but the timin’ worked out great.”

“The timing-?” Domino started to ask, but was unintentionally interrupted by Loony’s excited exclamations as she explored the ship’s interior with as much enthusiasm as she did its exterior.

“This is sooooooo much bigger than the last ship! And look at all the new furniture!” The stretchy gem brings attention to the elegant but tasteful set of chairs and benches in the main room when she jumps and lands on her back on one of the black and white cushioned benches. “This is gonna be a lot softer to sit on when we’re traveling!”

Steelbeak grinned as he watched the spinel try out each of the chairs and benches. “I bet there’s a room down that hallway you’d like even better for that, doll.” He pointed down the hall in question and chuckled when the other gem immediately began to run down the hallway to see what he meant.

Domino, on the other hand, took his time looking over the new ship and its décor as he made his way down the same hallway. While the Lucky Star was nice, the gilded furniture and glittering colors were a bit gaudy for his taste- this one was much more to his liking. “I’m impressed, Steelbeak- your sense of style has improved quite a bit.” He looked up at the other gem, his tone light and teasing. “I can’t believe you’d actually own a ship this tasteful.”

To his surprise, Domino actually saw Steelbeak look away and- wait, was that red he saw under the taller bird’s cheek feathers? Was he…BLUSHING? While it certainly wasn’t the first time he’d made the rooster’s face heat up, it was interesting to see it happen when he wasn’t even trying to flirt with him.

“It ain’t just my ship..” The melanite’s voice was uncharacteristically quiet.

Before he had a chance to clarify what he meant- or perhaps as a cosmically timed way to do so- Loony’s excited voice called to them from the end of the hall. “DOMMYYYYYYY!!” She stretched her upper body to meet him halfway, her lower half standing in front of one of the doors. “We get our own rooms!”

Domino blinked, his eyes widening slightly in surprise at his friend’s words. “We do?” He looked to Steelbeak for clarification, but the rooster was still avoiding eye contact with that little bit of red visible under his feathers.

“Come on, come on! Look!” Loony’s upper body rapidly retracted back in place so she could point at the door beside her. “This one’s got my gem on it!”

Domino caught up to her soon enough just by walking down the hallway and, when he arrived, he saw that she was correct. There were a series of rooms at the end of the hall. The first door on the right was blank (as was the one in the middle of the hall between the two sides), but the one next to it had a black heart-shaped spinel emblem right in the middle of it. Looking to the left, he saw that the first door had a black ball-cut melanite and the one directly next to it had a black and white step-cut snowflake obsidian.

Steelbeak reached around the pair and pressed a small panel beside the door with Loony’s gemstone on it. “Why don’t’cha take a peek inside, stretch?”

The door opened to reveal a room that was surprisingly sparse on furniture, but very fitting for Loony, nonetheless: The floor had a black and white striped pattern that matched Loony’s arms and legs- the stripes stretching and twisting up along the walls to create decorative swirls. The lines all culminated at the top of the room to form a black border around the room’s see-through ceiling which would likely offer some amazing views once they were somewhere other than the hangar. There were also gleaming silver shelves built into the walls that housed a collection of colorful trinkets and toys from all over the galaxy, each shelf lined up so that it sat in the middle of one of the swirls on the walls. What little other furniture that existed in the room- primarily a large silver bench with cushions in a rainbow of colors- was built into the wall, as well, rather than sitting on the floor.

The moment Loony stepped into the room, Domino instantly realized the reason for the lack of floor-resting furniture.

“Wowie!” Loony’s smile looked like it couldn’t get any bigger as the spinel stepped inside to look around her new room properly. “This is so pretty! I’ll be able to see the stars through-” When she stepped on the floor, she stopped and looked down, feeling the surface give slightly under her weight. “Huh?” Bringing her other foot beside the first, her eyes widened with a gasp as her body rocked up and down for a second. “Ah!” With a smile that practically split her beak and stars gleaming in her eyes, she began to jump and tumble all over the room- the floor recoiling before propelling her upwards relative to her momentum. “THE FLOOR IS BOUNCYYYYY!” She laughed in pure delight, enjoying herself immensely for a while before leaping back out of the room so that she crashed right into Steelbeak in a fierce hug. “I love it, Steely! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!”

After regaining his balance (and his bearings), Steelbeak grinned and gave the excited gem a pat on the head. “Eh, don’t mention it, doll. Now, go have some fun.” Giving him one last excited squeeze, Loony thanked him again and ran off into her new room to do as suggested. Once she was behind the door, Steelbeak exhaled a heavy breath and rubbed at his side. “That gal’s gonna poof me one o’ these days..”

Domino shook his head with a quiet laugh. “Perhaps..but, honestly, what did you expect would happen?” The loon turned to look at the door to his own room, as well as the one next to it as he walked to the other side of the hall. “Any particular reason our rooms are next to each other?” He glanced over his shoulder, giving his partner a smirk that never failed to fluster the taller bird.

As usual, the flirtatious tone in Domino’s voice and the look sent his way had Steelbeak averting his eyes and brushing his fingers over his red comb, the color in his cheeks a bit more noticeable now. “That depends- ya want the smart reason or the stupid one?”

“Both.” Domino watched as the melanite crossed the hall to stand next to him again. “Start with the stupid one.”

“Always gotta make it difficult for me, don’t’cha?” Steelbeak crossed his arms and shrugged his shoulders, still not able to meet the shorter bird’s charming red eyes. “If ya REALLY wanna know, it might be ‘cause I actually kinda LIKE your company for some stupid reason.”

That was the exact answer Domino knew he’d get. “And the smart one?”

A slow smirk spread over Steelbeak’s metallic beak as he leaned down and spoke in a conspiratorial whisper. “This way, neither of us gotta room next t’ Loony. She’s a sweet gal, love ‘er t’ pieces, but-” His sentence was punctuated by another cosmically timed event courtesy of a loud crash from the room behind them and a call of “I’m okay!”. “-well, ya get the idea..”

Domino agreed wholeheartedly, another quiet laugh making his shoulders shake. “Hmh, that IS smart.” His eyes drifted over to the unmarked door next to his own. “Who are the other rooms for?”

“Dunno yet.” Steelbeak’s answer involved another, more casual shrug. “Could be nobody, could be somebody- depends on what happens.”

Domino regarded the taller gem with a curiously raised brow, repeating his words back to him. “ ‘On what happens’ with what, exactly?”

“With what ya say next.” The melanite reached over to the panel by Domino’s door and pressed it, opening the room up for the other’s inspection.

Curiosity only heightened by the other’s words, Domino stepped into the room to have a proper look and was not disappointed at all by what he found: The walls of the room were as smooth as the black-stone exterior of the ship, but with white snowflakes scattered randomly across their surface to simulate falling snow. The white floor was pleasantly soft under his feet, the plush carpeting made to look like fallen snow. Looking up, Domino saw that the lighting for the room was provided by several tiny crystals embedded in the ceiling that were made to look like beams of sunlight poking through the grey cloud pattern painted above him. Bringing his gaze downward once again, he was pleased to see the furniture was as much to his taste as the seating in the main room- a small two-person table built into the wall on his left with matching backless chairs, a large book/datapad case that was also built into the wall a couple feet away from the table, a window (with blinders built in) on the far wall between a pair of black-framed armchairs with red cushions, and-…wait, was that curtain covering up?

Domino walked to the right side of the room where a sheer black curtain was draped over something built into the wall. He would’ve simply thought it was another window, but that wouldn’t make sense given that there should just be another room in that direction.

“What’s this?” He asked as he inspected the slip of fabric. Looking back to his partner for an answer only prompted the other bird to wave his hand in a “go on” gesture. Heeding the other gem’s unspoken advice, Domino tugged on the material until it slipped from its barely-held anchors and fell to the floor. “!!” His breath hitched at the sight of four shelves that, like the book/datapad case, were built into the wall. These shelves, however, were lined with holo-disks featuring images of Domino and the different gems he’d come to care for over the years:

The top shelf had four different images of him and Loony- three of them being pictures the spinel took herself by stretching her arms out far enough to fit both of them in the picture while making silly faces at the camera. The first three pictures didn’t have much in the way of background because they were just big enough to get the two of them in the frame together, but he could clearly remember when each one of them was taken and it served as a way to see how the two of them had grown and changed over the years. The last one, however, was one of his favorites and featured him and Loony lying on one of his exceptionally large cushioned-barriers with the other gem pointing up at the stars above with a bright smile on her face while Domino looked at them with a contented smile of his own.

The third shelf held four pictures of him with Steelbeak. One which they’d been forced to reluctantly take after their first successful mission together with the two not even looking at one another. An interesting one of them that had somehow been taken in the heat of combat with the two agents standing not-quite-back-to-back on one of Steelbeak’s platforms as they shot at enemies outside of the hologram’s range. A candid picture that Loony had taken of them a couple years ago while they’d been seated next to each other on one of the benches in the Lucky Star with him laughing over a story that Steelbeak had been telling him. The last picture was one that Domino had never seen before of him reading something aloud from a datapad while Steelbeak watched him with an uncharacteristically gentle smile on his gleaming beak and an adoring look in his eyes that he was usually so careful to divert or cover up whenever he knew Domino was looking at him.

The bottom shelf was more diverse, showing a few gems that he’d met within the past few centuries but had become very good friends with. One was of Domino seated at a table with a heavyset female pigeon bearing a square-cut black tourmaline gemstone on her right hand, the two having a pleasant conversation despite another black tourmaline (one with a trapeze-cut stone under her right eye and a skinnier, though much dirtier body than her fellow tourmaline) inserting herself into the picture’s background just to stick her tongue out at the camera. Another was of him leaning against a wall and pinching the bridge of his beak with an annoyed look on his face while standing next to a female fox who was rubbing her temples with an equally annoyed look as they discussed something, light gleaming off of the ocean blue drop-cut kyanite gemstone that was positioned just right to look like a belt buckle on the fox’s waist. The last two were of him with a rather charming and handsome penguin who had a slightly cracked beak and blue eyes that matched the round celestite stone on his right shoulder- one of Domino sitting on a counter and smirking down at the celestite with a finger under the apparently annoyed (and slightly flustered) gem’s cracked beak, while the other picture featured the two of them standing outside of a building while looking at each other fondly as snow fell around them.

Every picture was neatly placed and aligned (a ruler most definitely would have been needed to get everything that meticulously spaced and centered), with the only oddity being that the second shelf was nearly empty. The nearly part was from the fact that a lone item rested on the shelf- a small four-faceted crystal which matched the one that Steelbeak had used to unlock the ship earlier, except its facets were alternating black and white instead of pure black like the melanite’s.

Once Domino had picked up the crystal, Steelbeak moved closer to join him at the shelf of pictures. “I meant what I said earlier, Dee. It ain’t just my ship this time:” He held out his own crystal next to Domino’s, the pair of stones sparkling in the light. “It’s ours.”

And, just like that, everything about the Black Iron Comet’s design made sense: The sleek black body made to look like obsidian with a windshield the same shade of red as the accents on Domino’s outfit and white spots on the bottom resembling the quartz spots in his own stone. The ramp for easy access into the ship without the need to fly or stretch or rely on someone else for assistance. The choices for the main room’s décor that were far closer to Domino’s own taste than Steelbeak’s usual flashy style. The pre-designed rooms that catered to both his and Loony’s own tastes and comforts. Even the perfectly aligned shelves of holo-disks…

All of it- every single part of the ship- was crafted that way for Domino.

Looking away from the matching stones in their hands, the snowflake obsidian stared up at his partner. “How long have you been planning this?” This was all too well done- too expertly executed- to have been started within the past month on their way back to homeworld.

“Started thinkin’ ‘bout it last century.” Steelbeak didn’t hesitate or look away like he normally would when called out for engaging in, as he would often put it in his own words, “sappy nonsense”. Instead, he met the shorter gem’s eyes confidently while keeping his tone of voice softer than usual to show that, for once, he was completely serious. “Caught myself thinkin’ ‘Wow, this ship’s kinda cramped for three gems, we should get a new one’ and it scared the sediment right outta me ‘cause, in all the years I owned the old girl, the Lucky Star NEVER felt cramped or crowded and I NEVER thought of gettin’ a new one t’ make someone else feel better……but, I didn’t ‘ave YOU before, neither..” The corners of his beak lifted in a small smile as he regarded the snowflake obsidian fondly. “I ain’t never ‘ad a partner like you before, snowflake..never ‘ad anyone that I actually WANTED t’ keep around..got me thinkin’ ‘bout alotta things..” As he spoke, he grabbed something else out of his pockets- four more holo-disks that he carefully arranged into their proper places on the previously vacant second shelf. “Got me thinkin’ ‘bout how I wouldn’t mind seein’ your grouchy face and scary eyes everyday..or how I’d like bein’ there when ya do embarassin’ stuff like get so int’ readin’ one o’ your stories that ya start makin’ faces without realizin’ it..or how I wouldn’t have t’ worry ‘bout goin’ int’ war zones ‘cause, even if I got damaged, I’d be fine ‘cause you’d have my back….or how, after a long day, I could sit right down next t’ ya and just…BE there without havin’ t’ talk ‘bout nothin’, ya know..?” He finished setting the disks up and looked down at Domino again. “Maybe I’m readin’ too much int’ it. Maybe, for gems like YOU, a thousand years ain’t worth that much..” Had it really been that long already? A brief glance at the date on his watch confirmed for Domino that, yes, it had not only been one thousand years since they’d first met- it had been one thousand years to the day. “But, for me, that’s a pretty big deal. Ya told me you weren’t goin’ nowhere..and, for some reason I’m still tryin’ t’ figure out, I actually believed ya.” He shrugged, his earlier smile growing into a full-blown grin. “So, I figured, if you ain’t goin’ nowhere, and I ain’t goin’ nowhere, and we’re already stuck t’gether all the time anyway..why not just bite the bullet an’ say it already?” Steelbeak looked back to the new holo-disks that he’d set out on the shelf. “This place was already gonna be my home..but..if ya still feel like stickin’ around..” He reached over and, one at a time, began turning them on to display the pictures they held. “It can be your home, too.”

“!!!” As the new images lit up before his eyes, Domino actually had to place a hand to his beak because, though he didn’t want to admit it, he wasn’t sure what sounds might leave him at the sights that greeted him.

Tears started to gather in the corners of his eyes as he saw that each of the four images contained himself…and his former partner, Checkers. The first picture was of them right after they’d graduated from the F.O.W.L. academy, officially earned their agent status, and been told they were assigned as partners for the foreseeable future- Checkers had insisted on taking a commemorative picture to celebrate and dragged a very unprepared & surprised Domino in front of the camera by putting an arm around his shoulders and taking the picture before the loon was ready (he’d reflexively elbowed the fire opal in the side right after the picture was taken, causing the dog to double over in pain and apologize for forgetting the other’s “do not touch” rule). The second picture had apparently been taken from some security camera footage within their former base- it was a simple but wholesome image of the two walking together down an empty hallway and holding hands while tenderly gazing at one another, each with a faint blush on their cheeks and an adoring smile on their face as it was the first time Domino had reached out and grabbed the fire opal’s hand without putting one of his barrier-gloves around it like he usually would. The third was taken shortly after he and Checkers had been gifted Loony- the spinel had stretched her arm out to hold the camera and get all of them in the picture with her other arm stretched over to Domino’s head so she could do her favorite trick of giving him fake mammalian-style ears, Checkers was in the middle with one arm around Loony’s shoulders doing a similar gesture and the other resting comfortably on Domino’s side, all while Domino himself had his arms folded across his chest and had attempted to roll his eyes but the action was meaningless with the lovingly fond smile on his beak at the other gems’ antics. The final picture was another one that had apparently been taken from a security camera- this one was outside of their former base, with the two gems standing in the snow at the building’s perimeter and sharing a loving kiss; it had been a few hundred years since they’d started dating, and that was the first time they’d kissed, making it one of Domino’s happiest memories.

“I know I ain’t like ‘im,” Steelbeak said softly as he looked at the pictures. “And I ain’t gonna try t’ be.” He turned so that he was fully facing his partner. “But..I already said I ain’t goin’ nowhere…that means I’ll always be ‘round ‘ere somewhere if ya need someone.” The melanite brought up one of his hands, holding it out in invitation. “So, whattaya say, snowflake? Feel like puttin’ up with me for another thousand years?”

Domino turned away from the holograms that continued to stir up wounds and emotions that were still fairly fresh in his memory. The love he had for Checkers and the pain from losing him wouldn’t go away anytime soon. It might not ever go away completely.

But, as he looked at the other man and his extended hand, he knew that it wasn’t a bad thing. Steelbeak knew about Checkers before things really even started between them. He knew that Domino was still hurting and had never once tried to take advantage of that fact- never tried to use his pain as a way into his metaphorical heart. Steelbeak, who’d been praised by both F.O.W.L. High Command and White Diamond herself for his ability to deceive, manipulate, and infiltrate organizations thanks to his keen intellect and skills in knowing how and when to take advantage of others, had only ever offered his partner quiet support and understanding in the rare moments when he found the other man vulnerable while wracked with grief. He never once pitied him, or falsely sympathized with him by lying to him about knowing the same pain, or tried to tell him he should move on and find happiness elsewhere.

All he’d ever done was the same as what he’d done in that moment: He showed Domino that he accepted his past feelings, the ones he still held in the present, and the ones he would continue to have in the future without putting forth any pressure for the snowflake obsidian to change whatsoever. He showed that he accepted every part of Domino and would take whatever the darker bird was willing to give him.

Knowing that made a smile spread easily over the loon’s beak. “As if you needed to ask..besides, you already cheated by showing Loony her room first- if I try to make her leave now, I’ll never hear the end of it...” Domino brought one sleeve up to his eyes and wiped away the tears that had been threatening to spill over, Steelbeak glancing away as he often did in the exceedingly rare moments he actually saw his partner cry so they could both pretend he didn’t see it (it was one of the only things the taller gem didn’t tease him for). With his dignity preserved, the snowflake obsidian looked back up at his partner and reached towards the offered hand. “But, even with that aside, another thousand years sounds more than doable.”

As usual, a white barrier appeared around his hand like a glove so he could grasp the melanite’s hand, though this one was much thinner than what he would normally use. Most of the time if he had to shake someone’s hand, the barrier would be so thick and rigid that he wouldn’t feel the other person at all; those were more like wearing heavily padded winter gloves. This one, however, was so thin that it was almost translucent and had a bit of elasticity to it, allowing him to actually feel the warmth and pressure of Steelbeak’s hand in his own.

“I’mma hold ya to that, Domino.” Steelbeak smiled softly for a moment, accepting the contact and knowing what the change in the darker bird’s barrier meant without either of them having to say a word on the matter.

“Dominic.”

The word caught Steelbeak off guard, making him look down at the other bird in confusion. “Huh?”

“It’s the name I chose for myself.” Domino explained calmly. “If we’re going to be together for another thousand years, then I believe I can trust you with it.”

“!!” The look of surprise on Steelbeak’s face was truly priceless. He clearly hadn’t been prepared to hear something so important and quickly tried to cover it up with his usual sarcasm and bravado. “ ‘Dominic’? Really? Outta all the names in the universe, ya go an’ pick one that’s only two letters off from your given name?”

Domino shrugged, easily seeing through the other bird’s attempt to hide how touched he was by the shorter gem’s show of trust. “I liked the way it sounded.”

“Feh, ‘course ya did..” Steelbeak was quiet for a minute, avoiding eye contact as the conflict of what he was about to say was easy to see between his shifting eyes and tensed muscles. “……Mine’s Pauly..” The slightly uncomfortable look on his face made it glaringly obvious that he’d never shared that information with anyone before.

Domino raised one eyebrow while looking up at the melanite’s still-averted eyes. “ ‘Pauly’? Really? And you’re making fun of MY name?”

“..‘s better than ‘Dominic’..” The embarrassed melanite was growing increasingly flustered, even attempting to subtly pull his hand out of the other’s grasp.

“Not really.” Domino chuckled at his partner’s expression- it was always fun when he could find something to tease the normally self-confident chief officer over, but, this time, he decided to be merciful. “But,” He adjusted his grip on the lighter hand so that their fingers were now laced together rather than cupped as they had been before. “It suits you, Pauly.”

Steelbeak had been preparing what was likely a snappy comeback, but, when he heard the snowflake obsidian’s words, he stopped and looked down at their joined hands. “……” After a moment, he huffed out a quieter version of his usual nasally laugh. “Guess yours ain’t that bad either, Dominic.” He smiled adoringly at his partner, looking at him in that special way that he reserved when it was just the two of them- his eyes open and unguarded with none of his usual walls of sarcasm and cockiness there to hide what he was thinking.

Domino smiled back at Steelbeak in a similar manner, knowing that, while they likely had a long road ahead of them, they were both taking a huge step forward that day.

“Pauly..” Domino’s earlier anger begins to fade away. What was he doing? They’ve had their differences and disagreements before. They both have their issues. But Steelbeak has never lied to him. Avoided the truth as a form of self-preservation because he wasn’t ready to admit to something? Sure, plenty of times. But he’d never lied to Domino even once over the course of their entire partnership. “Pauly, I-” Looking back down at the seated gem, Domino is hit with a sudden wave of déjà vu.

The stance he’s in…

The way his hand is clutching the cluster of shards protectively against his chest…

The sad, sympathetic look on Steelbeak’s face…

The way his gun is pressed against the melanite’s shiny black gemstone and his finger is trembling on the trigger, about to pull back when the simulated muscles of his hand clench-

With a gasp, Domino realizes: He KNOWS this scene.

He KNOWS how it ends.

<-Previous Chapter Next Chapter->

End Notes: Oof..lot to unpack in this chapter. For any of you who have never read my work before, you will soon find out that I am physically incapable of writing any characters I ship in a story without putting them through the emotional hell that is angst.

For anyone who doesn’t know who the ones in bottom row of pictures were, here’s the breakdown: The first one is Domino with Ammonia Pine (and Ample Grime photo bombing them). The second one is him with @sandyferal��‘s OC Susanne Gnamie. The third and forth one are both @lesbian-duck-lord ‘s OC Marty and both were based off of pictures drawn by @thefriendlyfour .

Also, the whole thing with the given name versus the chosen name is an element of the main story that I’ll be introducing down the line: Gems are given a name when they’re created so they don’t have to keep going by their gemstone ID, but it’s kind of an unspoken rule of their society that, down the line, you end up picking a name for yourself, as well. It’s something very personal that you only share with those closest to you, hence Steelbeak getting all flustered when Domino shared his x3

On a side note, thought I’d mention that making Steelbeak’s real name Pauly came from a conversation I had with a friend about how he’s one of the few bad guys that never gets their actual name mentioned anywhere. We were talking and I was like “His name can’t just be STEELBEAK- he had to have been called something BEFORE he joined F.O.W.L., right?” and I thought about how Quackerjack, similar to Steelbeak, was never given an official name, but everyone in the fandom unanimously decided that his first name is some form of Jack/Jacky and his last name is Bell like his voice actor. I decided to play on that for Steelbeak’s name and said “Well he doesn’t look like a Rob, so how about something involving the last name?” and I eventually got “Pauly” out of “Rob Paulsen” and have now unofficially decided that that is his secret real name!

#darkwing duck #ducktales #dt17 #FOWL Facets #Steelbeak #Dominic Domino #gandra dee #Loony Toony #steeldomino #not my oc #100 follower giveaway!

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thing-you-do-with-that-thing · 7 years

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Old Flames, New Sparks - Part 3: Fitting In

Characters: Y/N Y/L/N, Danneel Harris, Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, Genevieve Padalecki,

Pairing: Danneel x Jensen, Jared x Gen

Warnings: Implied sex, semi public sex, caught in the act, voyeurism, confused feelings,

Word Count: 2200ish

A/N: The road is clear! I know where I am taking this now and I am so excited about it. It is still an outline free, character driven series so let’s see if they let me control the plot the way I want too. Anywho - I love this series and I hope you do too.

This series is written for my free square in @spnpolybingo

Thanks to my amazing lil sis @mysupernaturalfics for betaing this series for me.

MASTERLIST

Living with Danneel and Jensen was weird. Not that they were but you feelings were all over the place. You loved being around Danneel. You were thrilled to see her so happy. There was no doubt in your mind that Jensen loved her as much as she loved him. The adoring looks they shared, the way they admired each other when the other weren’t looking, the small touches and the sounds coming from their bedroom at night.

The sounds were hard though. You liked Jensen. You liked him a lot actually. He was fun to be around and he went out of his way to make sure you felt at home. He had ever since they day you first met. At first you had thought he was trying to impress Danneel or make her happy, but it hadn’t taken you all that long to realize it was just who he was. He was the type of guy that put others first and he felt the best if he knew the people around him were cared for.

Liking him didn’t take away from the feelings you had spent so long trying to bury. You were still in love with Danneel and spending time with her every day again, made that painfully obvious to you. Living under the same roof as her and her fiance being very happy and very in love was hard at times. Luckily they weren’t the type of people that were all over each other right in front of you but Danneel was loud. She always had been and by the sounds of it Jensen was very good at keeping her satisfied.

You walked up the stairs after spending all day at your new studio. You were determined to make something good out of the mess that was your life, so you had started writing new songs again. Pouring your heart and soul out on paper, into the lyrics and melodies was exhausting and you couldn’t wait to get home to rest. The only problem was that it seemed no matter when you returned home on the days Jensen wasn’t in Canada shooting his tv show, those noises were coming from behind their bedroom door.

Today you had made it passed the door safely and you thought you’d be fine. Right up until a scream of Jensen’s name erupted from the master bathroom and your heart sank. The tears pressed against your eyes and you picked up speed. You threw yourself head first down onto the bed, crying your eyes out. Why couldn’t you just be like everyone else, who weren’t head over heels in love with their best friend? A best friend who was getting married to a guy that was impossible to hate nonetheless. A guy that made your best friends screams and moans echo through the the house you loved making it seem like a prison. The real prison however was your own mind.

Those sounds were driving you mad. Somedays you wanted to cry yourself to sleep when you head them and others you caught yourself almost touching yourself to her screams and his groans. Aside from those and how bad your heart stinged whenever her look of complete devotion was granted Jensen and not you, living with them was fun. You could tell they had been friends before they became anything else. There was a playfulness and a deep bond between them, that were a joy to watch, even if you were in love with one of them.

Jensen was as big a dork as Danneel, if not worse. You felt relaxed in his company. It was easy to be yourself around them both and for the first time in a long time, you didn’t feel as if you had to try to be someone you were not.

Jensen was always the first person up when he was home and not working in Vancouver. He always looked like he was sleepwalking. Barefoot, in a t-shirt and pajama pants, looking rather adorable with his hair sticking out everywhere as he waited for the coffee to run through the filter. All the previous mornings you had walked into the kitchen seeing him like that, you had managed to stifle your giggle but this morning it just slipped out.

“What?” Jensen raised an eyebrow at you, with an amused smirk on his face. He knew very well that was a good looking man and he was also aware of the fact that he was barely alive before his first cup of coffee. If he hadn’t before he had been made aware of both by his loving fiancee, that was for sure. “It’s not fair to mess with a man before he had his caffeine, you know?”

You tilted your head, grinning up at him as you sat down by the counter with your cereal bowl in your hands, “but it sooo much more fun than messing with him after.”

“Y/N is right,” Danneel laughed as she came down the step, looking as radiant as always. It wasn’t fair. How could someone be that beautiful when they just woke up. “You look like a cute sleepy hedgehog,” Danneel teased Jensen tugging his hair making him groan and pull a face at her.

“Hedgehog? Really DeeDee?”

You and Danneel both broke into laughter as the machine finished besides Jensen and any and all conversation was abandoned while he poured the hot coffee into his cup. “There are too many women in this house,” Jensen grumbled, pretending to be annoyed. You had quickly learned that was his natural state. Either he was laughing and joking or he was pretending to be grumpy. The ladder had scared you a bit at first until you had realized there was no malice behind it. He was never mad or annoyed, just playing around trying to make people laugh.

“You love it,” you sassed him back with a smirk and Danneel’s arm was instantly around your shoulder, as she agreed with you.

“He does.”

You felt as if your skin was on fire by having her so close, but there was something else. The wink Jensen threw your way as he headed up the stairs with his coffee in hand. Did that really cause the butterflies in your stomach or was they due to Danneel’s body being pressed against yours along with the cheeky grin on her lips.

“Earth to Y/N,” Danneel teasingly poked your side as she sat down next to you with her own bowl in her hands.

“What?” You looked up, more than a little embarrassed by the way you had been staring after her fiancee. You didn’t see him like that, or at least you didn’t think you did. Under any circumstance you didn’t want to give Danneel they wrong impression. If she had noticed she didn’t seem to mind or pay attention to it.

“I asked you if you wanna go to the Mumford concert with us tonight,” Danneel smiled at you and you instantly looked down into your bowl. You knew they were going with Jared and Gen. You really didn’t wanna be the fifth wheel, but you had to admit you could use a night out.

“Come on!” Danneel pleaded with you, “you love that band. You need a night out and maybe find someone to help you scratch an itch,” she said playfully, not knowing just how much those words stung as memories of her beneath you, above you, tangled with you rushed back to your mind.

“Dani…” you started to object when she raised an eyebrow at you, crossing her arms across her chest and stared you down.

“Y/N/N you are going and that’s that,” she said and you jaw dropped. It was rare she ordered you around like this and you were just about to scold her for it when Jensen’s voice sounded behind you as he returned from the shower.

“Where’s Y/N going?” he asked as he got a bowl from the cabin next to you.

“To the concert with us tonight,” Danneel smirked, more than pleased by Jensen’s timing it seemed and the smugness on her face didn’t lessen when Jensen wrapped his arm around your shoulders, kissing the top of your head.

“Of course she is. It’s gonna be fun sweetheart,” he smiled at you, giving you a small encouraging nod.

“Urgh fine,” you huffed, and Danneel instantly flew around the counter hugging you both, making you and Jensen erupt into laughter.

****

Danneel and Jensen had been right. Going out with The Padalecki’s and soon to be Ackles’ had been a blast. Jared was a gentle giant and a huge man child, who did his best to get a reaction out of Jensen every chance he got. Which never failed to work. Gen and Danneel shook their heads, smiling at their bickering while you did the best you could not to burst out laughing every time they started back up. The friendship was strong in this group and still the Padaleckis welcomed you with open arms. If you were a friend of Danneel’s then you were a friend of all. Everything had been going great and you had almost managed to forget all about Keith, about your not so dormant feelings for Danneel and the butterflies Jensen seemed to cause you. You felt like yourself again and the night had been more fun that you had ever dared to hope it would be.

You felt as if you had gained a family in this group. People that accepted you and loved you without question or hesitation. Happiness was bubbling inside of you as you danced, drank and laughed with your new friends and your old.

Right up until you found yourself a little too tipsy, with your head spinning faster than the beat of the music in crowded club surrounded by strangers. Jared and Gen only had eyes for each other as they were quietly making out on the dancefloor and Jensen and Danneel were nowhere to be found.

You wanted to go home but you also knew you couldn’t leave without telling Danneel. Just because it had been way too long since you had been out drinking, it didn’t mean they couldn’t stay and enjoy the rest of the show. Still, you knew that she would kill you if you left without at least telling her you were heading out.

It took some searching and some dodging guys who had had too much to drink, causing them to think every woman they laid eyes one would wanna get with them. Eventually you heard Danneel’s voice coming from a backroom and you headed towards it. You froze in the doorway, unable to move as you watched them.

Danneel’s back was pressed against the wall, her legs was wrapped around Jensen’s waist and her skirt was pushed up to her waist. Jensen’s pants were around his ankles and her hands hands were digging into his back. Her eyes were closed as she bit down on his shoulder, to keep from screaming as he pounded into her over and over.

You knew you should be leaving. You knew you should be jealous and you were, you supposed but you still couldn’t take your eyes off them. You were mesmerized by the sheer pleasure on her face, the groans and grunts that erupted from Jensen as he fucked his fiance into the wall.

“Jay, fuck yes Jay,” Danneel started chanting and you quickly stepped into the shadows. Watching them like this was beyond wrong. You should leave but you couldn’t. It took all your willpower to stay hidden and not walk up to them. You imagined how her hands would feel against your breast, how his plump lips would feel against neck. Your panties were quickly becoming soaked as Jensen increased his speed, clasping a hand down over her mouth as her entire body started shaking around him and Jensen’s movements became erratic before stilling inside her with a groan.

You felt the tears build behind your eyes as all the things you would never have with her hit you like a sledge hammer. You wanted to hate him, but you couldn’t. He had always been so kind to you and he made her happy. It wasn’t his fault that her being happy with someone else tore you to shreds.

Her giggles echoed in your ears, the softness with with she caressed his hair played over and over in your mind as you ran from the club and into the warm Austin night. You were a mess. They had been nothing but kind to you and this was how you repaid them. By spying on them. You couldn’t stay. Even if Danneel didn’t see it, you were the freak your family always thought you to be. You couldn’t be around her and not end up ruining everything good in her life. You didn’t deserve a friend like her or Jensen for that matter. You needed to get your own place and move on with your life before you destroyed theirs.

Old Flames, New Sparks

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