#and i reblog almost everything with tina in it

[navybrat817]

A Real Prince Charming

Pairing: Librarian!Bucky Barnes x Female Reader Summary: You get to see Bucky in his element. Word Count: Over 2.1k Warnings: Fluff, (f)lirting, feels, passionate Bucky Barnes (he's a warning, okay?) Graphics Talent: Edit by Nix (extra thanks for spitballing!), banner by @sgt-seabass, divider by @firefly-graphics - Thank you, lovelies! A/N: Follow up to Once Upon a Time and Far, Far Away. ❤️ Not beta read and written on my phone, so any and all mistakes are my own. Please follow @navybrat817-sideblog for new fics and notifications. Comments, reblogs, feedback are loved and appreciated!

Picking out on an outfit to wear to the library took you more time than you cared to admit. You didn't want it to be too revealing since you were visiting Bucky at his job and there would be kids around. You also didn't want to look too casual since you were going on a date.

"What's the big deal? It's just pizza," Tina said on the video call as you held up a shirt. "Wear a sweater."

Might as well have just told me to wear a burlap sack.

"It isn't just pizza. It's the first of many dates," Kim argued on your behalf. "Wear a dress."

You inwardly sighed as you tossed the top onto the pile with the others. While it thrilled you that your friends were interested, you were nervous enough to begin with and the call almost caused additional stress. They were only trying to help though and that mental reminder pushed some of the nerves away.

"Or just wear whatever you feel is comfortable that still looks nice," Nicole suggested, bringing balance to the optimist and pessimist. "Whatever you wear, he's going to love it."

I hope so.

"Nice jeans and a blouse it is," you decided.

I still can't believe he agreed to go out with me.

Kim clapped giddily. "You have to tell us everything, promise?"

"And keep us on standby if you need an escape, okay?" Tina asked.

One of the reasons you loved having her as a friend was because of her protective nature. No matter how blunt she could be, she would be the first to step up if anyone tried to hurt you or your other friends. At the end of the day, her heart was in the right place.

"I won't need an escape, but thank you," you assured them, smiling at your friends through the phone. "And I'll give you the details within reason."

Nicole's eyebrows shot up before she smirked. "Within reason, huh? Does that mean you're going to put out on the first date?"

Why did I say that?

"Did you see his picture? I'd put out, too. At the library," Kim grinned mischievously as you went back to the closet and searched through your clothes. “I would even let him put it in my-”

"Sluts. All of you," Tina joked.

"I'm hanging up now. Thanks!" you announced, disconnecting yourself from the chat after they wished you "good luck".

You pushed through a few more hangers before you stopped and pulled out a blouse, smiling as you looked it over. It was casual enough for the library and pizza, but still nice enough for a date. The shade of blue was nearly identical to Bucky's eyes.

Perfect. Now I just need to make sure not to fall on my face.

The Abraham Library was, unsurprisingly, quiet when you entered the building. The soothing light and smell of paper brought you back to when you were younger and eager to get your hands on a new book. Electronic devices made reading more accessible to some, but they couldn't beat the feeling of holding a book in your hands as you curled up and immersed yourself in a new world.

Fitting I'd go for a man surrounded by books.

You spotted Bucky as you made your way to the service desk and wished you had a glass of water with how dry your throat went from looking at him. He was every bit as handsome as when you met him on the subway in slacks, a sweater, and glasses. Though you witnessed firsthand how intimidating he could be, you had a feeling the kids adored him.

You couldn't wait to see if he proved you right.

You quietly walked over to the desk as Bucky spoke in a hushed tone to a colleague. You weren't about to raise your voice to get his attention and you didn't want to interrupt his conversation. Whatever it was, he sounded a bit worked up even as he kept his voice down. You hoped everything was okay.

"You realize that they're restricting access to diverse voices and censoring speech by banning books, don't you?" Bucky asked as he pointed to a piece of paper from the counter.

"They're not doing that," his coworker said.

"Yes, they are. They're saying that some experiences and topics are worthy of discussion and exposure and others aren't," Bucky argued as he brushed a hand through his hair and slowly exhaled. "They're reinforcing a way of thinking that limits others. Kids are trying to find their way in the world and they should have the right to choose and be properly educated."

You almost propped an elbow on the counter to watch and listen as you fell a bit in love with the hunky librarian. You didn't get to witness a man speak so passionately about his beliefs very often. Hearing that it was in regards to the type of literature kids could or couldn't read and how they should have the freedom to choose made it even better.

"It's not that deep, man. Let it go," Bucky's coworker said.

“You let it go, Greg,” he grumbled.

The retort made you giggle, which got Greg’s attention. "Sorry, miss. May I help you?"

"I'm waiting for him," you smiled as Bucky turned to you with wide eyes and pink cheeks. “I didn’t want to interrupt.”

"Hi," he said, swallowing as he pushed his glasses up and smoothed out the non-existent wrinkle in his sweater. "You look. Wow."

It's just a compliment. Don't preen.

"Thanks," you smiled.

"I hope you weren't standing there long."

"Just long enough to hear you defend what kids should have access to reading, which I happen to agree with you."

"You do?" he asked, running a hand through his hair again.

Adorable.

You hoped it didn't embarrass him that you overheard the conversation, but his cheeks still had a pink tinge to them. You wondered how warm they were to the touch. Maybe you'd find out at a later time.

Like when his coworker wasn't looking between the two of you with growing interest.

"I do," you confirmed. "I wish more people were passionate about topics like that."

The lopsided smile on Bucky's face was one you hoped to see again and again.

"You must be the new volunteer Bucky wouldn't shut up about. I'm Greg."

"Nice to meet you, Greg," you said, glancing coyly at Bucky. "You were talking about me?"

"Why don't I show you to the children's section?" he replied, shooting Greg a look before he gestured for you to follow him. "And for the record, yes. He may have asked why I wouldn't stop smiling after our phone call."

You almost swooned again. The wonderful, handsome librarian smiled at the thought of going out with you. Were you dreaming?

You pinched yourself.

Not a dream.

"You mean the call where you heard me shriek?" you asked, biting back a groan.

Why did I bring that up? Can I blame his handsome face for causing my brain to fritz?

"Yes, that call," he chuckled as you got to the area with bright colors and high ceilings.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you said as he began to arrange some of the cushions in a semi-circle.

“You brought up the shriek,” he pointed out.

Touche.

“So, we’re forming a semi-circle?” you asked, following his lead.

“Yes,” he smiled, placing another cushion on the carpet before he looked around the area. “We do basic story time four times a week for some of the younger kids. A few of them like to go to the quiet reading areas after or do STEM activities, like the Tinker and Crafts Lab. Plenty of opportunities to play with the open floor space or use the technology at their disposal. There’s even an area for pre-walkers and a baby mat for tummy time.”

You smiled at the pride in his voice. Though you were only in the beginning stages of getting to know him, you sensed that the library wasn’t just a place where he worked. He was in his element here. Maybe that was one of the reasons he was so passionate about the kids being able to read whatever they wanted.

“Sounds like you put a lot of love and care into this library,” you said as he selected a book from the small stack on the nearby table.

“Yeah, well. I spent a lot of time here when I was a kid. Read as many books as I could get my hands on,” he said as he shuffled the book between his hands. “One of my best friends got picked on a lot for being small, so we hung out here some days. We’d read or draw until it was time for us to go home. Still one of my best friends to this day.”

Chivalrous, a good friend, and cares about the well-being of kids. A real Prince Charming.

“Sounds like you were lucky to have each other,” you said, brushing your hand against his forearm. “And you should be proud of what you’ve done with the place.”

Bucky didn’t blush, but the lopsided grin was back on his face. “You being nice so I’ll pay for your pizza?” he asked, gently taking your hand in his.

You didn’t realize there was only a few inches of space between you until you stared directly into his eyes. Your nerve endings singed with electricity and you wished were bold enough to drag him away to one of the bookshelves. If you were lucky, maybe another time.

Not when you were about to help him with a group of children.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” you smiled back. “I can pay for my own pizza. Should pay for yours, too, for stepping in on the subway.”

“I thought we both agreed you could've handled it," he reminded you. "And I wouldn’t make my girl pay for her meal or mine.”

"Oh, so I'm your girl now?" you smiled wider, wondering if your stomach would keep doing summersaults around him. "You move fast."

"I don't do everything fast," he whispered.

Oh.

“Mr. Barnes!”

You jumped away from Bucky at the sound of a woman’s voice, but he didn’t let go of your hand right away. An elderly woman stood a few feet away with a little girl by her leg. She gave you both a tiny wave.

And gave you a chance to breathe.

"Greg said there was a new volunteer," the woman smiled.

“Hi, Mrs. West. Hi, Joely. And, yes, this is our new volunteer,” he smiled as he introduced you. "Are you excited for story time, Joley?”

“Uh huh,” she said, giving you another wave. “You’re pwetty.”

What a sweetheart.

“This very pretty lady is excited to help today,” Bucky smiled, making your heart speed up. “Is that okay with you?”

“Uh huh,” she nodded.

“Thank you, Joley,” you grinned. “For the compliment and for letting me help.”

“Thank you. She looks forward to this every week,” Mrs. West said as Bucky offered his hand to Joley and led her to the carpet as other kids began to arrive. “He really is a wonderful man. Joley was falling behind on reading and my daughter and her teacher did everything they could think of to help. He stayed with her to help, even when his shifts were over. He helped her fall in love with books.”

“He seems like the kind of man who makes it easy to fall in love,” you said, your eyes wide when Mrs. West stared at you. “With books,” you added quickly.

“Of course,” Mrs. West nodded. “You know, I’ve been bringing my granddaughter here for some time now and, I have to say, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him hold hands with any of the other volunteers. I haven’t even heard him mention anyone special. I’ve asked, believe me.”

I'm not special to him already, am I?

“Oh, we’re not. Well, we are,” you tried to think of the right words. “I mean, we’re going on a date.”

“You don’t say? I hope it goes well. Maybe you’ll make it easy for him to fall in love, too,” she grinned before she walked away.

Your gaze flickered over to Bucky where he sat on the floor. He had Joley in his lap and held the book open, ready for the other kids to join them. It was a beautiful image.

As the librarian looked up at you and smiled, you hoped Mrs. West was right.

Pizza date to come soon. Love and thanks! ❤️

Masterlist ⚓ Bucky Barnes Masterlist ⚓ KoFi

[qtubbo]

We doing introductions? Heya im Val/Moss! I use Any Pronouns; I speak English and have been learning Spanish for almost a year now :], talk to me in whatever language you want though. I mainly do liveblogs, analysis posts, what if scenarios (Like Morning Crew getting drunk together), or just cute fluffy headcannons. I really only engage with meta reasons for analysis if necessary, so a lot of my analyses will include small details people may just brush off as out of character. I think its just fun to look at everything :]

I post mainly about Morning Crew, but I’ll liveblog for a lot of cubitos; Tubbo, Pac, Fit, Bagi, Bad, Roier, Tina and Quackity. Generally I’ll prioritize Tubbo and then Morning Crew but everyone else is kinda on a randomizer wheel and it just depends on the day and whos live.

Most of my mutuals are Morning Crew and Bad mains, so I reblog a lot of stuff about Bad even I days I don’t liveblog him. Also if you make an analysis and want to post it anonymously, I’ve accepted that I do that at this point.

Hope you enjoy Qsmpblr we are normally friendly! Just tag properly and be respectful to others. Have fun!

[newt-and-salamander]

I posted 302 times in 2022

That's 141 more posts than 2021!

66 posts created (22%)

236 posts reblogged (78%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@scamanderishredmayniac

@occamyeggshells

@eddieredmayneargentinablog

@love-arrogance-naivety

@elisha-am

I tagged 293 of my posts in 2022

Only 3% of my posts had no tags

#fantastic beasts - 201 posts

#newt scamander - 155 posts

#fbsod - 116 posts

#eddie redmayne - 66 posts

#theseus scamander - 52 posts

#tina goldstein - 43 posts

#newtina - 31 posts

#fbcog - 30 posts

#fbawtft - 30 posts

#fanart - 29 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#but they need to give a lot of answers and being most plot lines to an preliminary ending so they can stop after this film if they need to

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Headcanon:

When his brother was born, it was Theseus who decided that “Newton” was too toplofty a name for such a shy, quiet child. He started calling him “Newt” and somehow this nickname stuck with him when they grew older and Newton didn’t shed this certain awkwardness he had already possessed as a child.

Some things changed, though. It has been a long time since Newt referred to his brother as “Thes”.

127 notes - Posted January 8, 2022

#4

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by elix (@elixomus)

Newt and Tina travelling together

132 notes - Posted February 6, 2022

#3

Theseus: I'm so worried about Newt.

Tina: Why? Everything is fine!

Theseus: But he might be up to something stupid!

Jacob: ... oh, there you are! Hey, what's wrong? You two look devastated.

Tina: ... we are very worried about Newt.

134 notes - Posted January 14, 2022

#2

Newt, after his return from WW1, talking to his mother: ... and Sylvia has the most beautiful eyes, you should see them, they are sparkeling like diamonds! And she's such a nice girl, actually the friendliest of all of them, and I think she was always happy to see me ...

Theseus, who has overheard that, smirking: Sounds like you should ask her out for dinner, Newt.

Newt: I don't think that would be a great idea.

Theseus: C'mon, don't be shy, you obviously like her a lot and it's time you get yourself a girlfriend!

Newt: ... Sylvia is literally a Ukranian Ironbelly.

Theseus: Please forget everything I just said. Don't take her out for dinner.

Newt: You know, the longer I think about it, the more I like the idea ...

Theseus: The more I think about it, the more I hate it, actually.

Newt: Well, that has never stopped me.

Theseus: Newt, NO. Besides everything else, you are going to lose your job.

Newt: ... this idea is getting better and better. Do you think -

Theseus: NO!!

Newt: ... do you think there's enough room for a small dragon in the Ministry's cafeteria? - Hey, where are you going?

Theseus: Calling a lawyer. And a healer.

Newt: I don't think somebody will get hurt.

Theseus: A mind healer.

190 notes - Posted April 10, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Just watched SoD, it's almost 4 am and I am happy and overwhelmed. Here are just some first impressions in the order that come to my mind, so massive spoilers below the cut!!

Newt is the sweetest and kindest human being this world has ever known.

Jacob too!

I seriously thought for a few seconds Jacob would become Supreme Mugwump. XD (It would have been really epic though.)

Basically everything Jacob said was hilarious, I just love him so much!!!

Mads Mikkelsen just was so so so so so good! Of course Grindelwald had much more screen time than in the previous films so it was easier, but still he managed to bring a depth and some kind of ... likeability to Grindelwald's character. I liked that very much.

I also appreciate how clear they made that Dumbledore was in love with Grindelwald (Although this can't be called a secret, really. :D)

Albus had no secrets left, it was really about Aberforth?!?! Whew, I mean, I thought it could be coming, but still ...

Also: What's wrong with the Dumbledores? Ariana is an Obscurus, Aberforth's son is an Obscurus ... And how did both brothers manage to make such grave mistakes in only one summer?

I don't feel like after everything that happened in SoD, Aberforth has the right to still be so angry and cold against Albus (as shown in HP).

Newt was really lucky he wasn't killed in his first scene. :0

In general I was surprised by the really lighthearted tone of the film - even in the more dramatic scenes I was never really afraid someone would die.

THIS FILM HAD WIZARDS ON ROOFTOPS, I AM HAPPY.

Newt was so happy and excited so many times, so I am very happy and excited now!!! How cute was it when he met Lally and they were basically both fangirling about each other???

Newt saying "She is" when talking about Tina, omg!!! And them finally meeting again!!! (Damn Lally, bad timing!!!!)

I'm not really content with the explanation they gave for Tina's absence, though. I mean, Theseus is head auror too, and he seems to be able to go and do where/what he wishes.

Can we talk about the wide grin on Theseus face when he witnessed just how much in love Newt was in the end?? Maybe that's even my favourite moment! Him just being so happy for Newt and looking out for him and EVERYONE BEING HAPPY FOR A CHANGE!!!

Ok, maybe my favourite scene was Jacob being happy and closing his eyes so he won't see Queenie before the wedding ceremony and he's GETTING MARRIED TO QUEENIE AAAAHHHHH!!! I must say I had lost hope for the two of them!

Will Newt and Tina kiss offscreen now?!?!?

Dumbledore, whyyyy didn't you go into the bakery? Isn't it actually a bit impolite to just wait around in the street and walk away??

Newt practising his speech as best man *-* I love it how clumsy he was during every situation he was in a kind of leading position.

How did Aberforth and Credence establish the mirror connection???

I'm a bit confused and so, so tired.

How did Aberforth even find out Credence was his son??

Maybe Credence doesn't have to die. We know that Newt can separate an Obscurus from its host, so maybe he can save him?

Wtf they did break the blood pact by ACCIDENT???? NOOOO, I'm not happy with that!!! That's to ... easy and random.

Just for the record, snow is not the usual weather in Berlin (but then there always seems to be snow everywhere in the FB films XD). I rather liked wizarding Germany btw. The architecture and the little details like the signs and the stamps (a cliché that always works because it's funny and also still true I'm afraid).

The scene with Theseus and Newt in prison was a bit random but super funny, so I'll allow it. XD But I'm still disturbed that they just stunned Theseus and dragged him away and everyone was like ... it's alright, we can look for him later. (It's also not very healthy to hang upside down, but Thesues can manage it ... because. Because he's epic and very handsome and I like him very much.)

The brothers finally, finally bonding!!! Not talking, though. But who needs to talk anyway.

Bunty was great! I'm happy that she was not helpless in her love. She's still in love with Newt and he has no clue and she knows it's in vain, but she's not jealous or bitter but makes a deliberate decision to help. She definitely deserves more credit.

See the full post

271 notes - Posted April 6, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[snappedsky]

Borderlands: Skies the Bodyguard 5

Skies builds up to some kind of plan.

*Links to previous and next chapters in reblog*

--

Chapter 18

           “When a Siren dies, her powers are gifted to another, either chosen by the previous Siren or at random. Angel chose me.”

           Skies listens to Tannis explain this as she sits on the operating table in her infirmary. “I see,” she muses, “she must’ve been planning to choose you for a long time then. It suits you.”            “I agree,” Tannis smiles, “Lilith was the only one who knew for a long time.”

           “And now the whole galaxy knows. Hell of a coming out party.”

           “Yes. I’m a star!” she chimes. “Anyway, I know you cared for Angel. It’s out of courtesy for those feelings that I’m explaining this to you now.”            “I appreciate that,” Skies remarks.

           Tannis nods. “Now then, the Vault Hunters are back on Pandora, working to stop the Calypsos from opening the Great Vault. Will you join them?”

           “They won’t need my help,” she replies, “and I have my own ideas for stopping the Calypsos.”

           “Oh, exciting.”

           “I hope so. See you, Tannis.”

           Skies waves as she leaves the infirmary. She glances hesitantly towards the bridge before activating the fast travel on her ECHO device.

           She teleports to Atlas HQ. As she walks through the building, she calls Rhys.

           “Hey, Rhysie. I need to borrow a digistructer. You mind?”

           “No, go nuts,” he replies.

           “I intend to,” she grins.

           She walks through the headquarters to where the company keeps the digistructers. She’s grateful that there’s no one here right now as she turns on one of the machines, reaches into her jacket, and pulls out Handsome Jack’s mask.

           She rests the mask on the machine’s scanner and uses the viewfinder to zoom in very, very close into the material. Then she begins digistructing.

           Two of the same objects are created. When it’s done, she slips them and the mask back into her jacket. Then she fast travels away to her ship, which is still parked at Roland’s Rest.

           The camp is quiet. Vaughn and the Vault Hunters must still be away, working on Lilith’s mission.

           Skies flies her ship away, out of Devil’s Razor and across the Dust. As she approaches her destination, dark memories cloud her mind. She tries to shake them away and focuses on the task at hand. But it gets harder when she lands the ship in the Splinterlands, outside Control Core Angel.

           The surrounding facility has fallen into disarray. The buildings and other architecture are crumbling and rotting. But the control core at the top of the hill remains completely intact, as if nothing has changed.

           Skies’ head is cloudy as she walks slowly up to the hill. She could’ve just flown up the front door. Maybe she’s doing this because subconsciously she thinks this is a bad idea. Maybe she’s stalling for someone to come stop her. Of course, nobody knows she’s out here.

           She finally makes it to the front door of the control core. She stares at it for a second before pressing the control panel.

           “Pre-preparing bi-bi-bio-scan. Pleeeeease st-stand on Hy-Hyperion emmmmblem.”

           “A little choppy,” Skies remarks as she steps away from the door. “But still locked down. Good.”

           She grabs her ECHO device and Jack’s mask. Her eye zooms in close on the back of the mask and she types a fast travel code into her ECHO.

           She digistructs away and reappears inside Control Core Angel. Everything is exactly how it was last time she was here almost seven years ago.

           She stares at the remains of the Eridium injector, memories of Angel flashing through her mind. She tightly squeezes her eyes shut, willing the memories away.

           “Sky of my eye!” Tina’s voicing chiming from her ECHO device makes Skies jump and instantly clears her head. “I finished your order!”

           “Aw, cool. Thanks, Tina,” Skies replies, “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”            Skies takes one last look around the control core before fast travelling back to her ship.

           She flies back to Devil’s Razor and parks outside Boomtown. Tina is waiting inside the camp walls, bouncing excitedly as she holds a thin box.

           “Here you go!” she sings, handing the box to Skies.

           “Thanks, Tina bean,” she smiles gratefully and peeks inside. “Wow. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that was the real thing. And the explosive is strong right?”

           “Uh, yeah. Who do ya think you’re to?”

           “Thanks, Tina,” Skies says again.

           “So? So? Whatcha using it for?” Tina asks, “must be something pretty exciting right?”            “Oh, you’ll find out,” she replies, “the whole galaxy’ll find out. Don’t wanna spoil the surprise.”

           “So cool!” she cheers then quickly gets solemn. “Just…you know…don’t get hurt.”

           Skies smiles warmly and pats Tina’s head. “Don’t worry about me, Tina bean. See you.”

           As she heads back into her ship, she slips the contents of the box into her jacket. Tossing aside the empty box, she flops onto her chair, sighing heavily.

           “Now, how am I gonna get him…?”

           “Skies!” Lilith’s voice cries from her ECHO communicator. “The Vault Hunters have broken through the Calypsos’ defenses! We’ve begun the assault on the cathedral! Where are you?”

           “That’s it,” Skies gasps then replies back, “sorry, Lilith, I was just taking care of some things. I’m on my way now.”

           Following Lilith’s coordinates, Skies flies to the Cathedral of the Great Vault. She stops just in view of the great building and checks the time on her ECHO. Right now it would be the middle of the night on Eden-3, where Timothy’s living.

           “Hey, Tim,” she says into her communicator. “So…you remember when you made me promise to call you before I did anything rash? Well…here I am…calling you…because I’m about to do something rash.”

           She sighs. “I’m sorry. I know you wanted me to call you so you could talk me out of it. And I’m calling you now, when I know you’re asleep, because I know you won’t hear it until later. Because you probably could talk me out of it. But don’t worry. I’ve got it all planned out.”

           “If this works, I’ll take out both of the Calypsos. If not…well, it could go very bad for me. But just keep your eye on the ECHOnet and cheer for me.”

           She swallows hard, her mouth suddenly going very dry. “Bye, Tim.”

           With that, she turns off her communicator.

[kuiinncedes]

:P

[kurtanaroyalty]

Hi<3 I wanted to ask you if new directions were on tumblr, how do you think you would interact with them? And what do you think their blogs would be about?

Oooh I love this question!! Tysm for the ask🥰💗

Santana: Mutuals. It was basically confirmed in canon that this girl had a tumblr with her comment about her having a favorite ‘Rizzoli & Isles’ blog.. if that doesn’t scream a tumblr lesbian idk what does lol!! Her entire blog would mainly be devoted to sapphic ships that she would sob about in the tags (think overuse of emojis and keyboard smashes)! She would have a pretty decent following and get quite a few asks where she would give headcanons and meta on her favorite ships. She also wouldn’t tell a soul that she’s on there but Brittany would find out and lovingly tease her about it.

Tina: I follow her but she doesn’t follow me. She would be on tumblr constantly! She would have one of those super popular multifandom blogs that makes the most crisp gifs and has hundreds of requests waiting in her inbox. At first you’d be a bit intimidated by her until you realize she is the sweetest and is always super nice about giving tips and resources for gif making!

Sam: I don’t follow him but he follows me. His tumblr would consist of almost 100% memes with no organization/tagging system. Instead of tags, he would leave comments under posts like “woah this is sick dude 🤩” or “nice!!! 👍” which would in turn make a good amount of people block him because they would think he’s some bot or sarcastic troll when in reality they are always genuine comments. He would be the king of spam reblogging to the point that if you did follow him he would overwhelm your dash. Though, every once and awhile there would be a very detailed & coherent post by him about ‘True Jackson, VP’ with links to a petition to get it renewed/rebooted.

Blaine: Mutuals. You just know he would make the best tumblr mutual! He would definitely be that one mutual that you can always count on to like and reblog your content and he would leave the most thoughtful tags. His blog would be a variety of all his interests (he originally tried to have separate side blogs but it was too much for him to keep up with!) but it’s extremely well organized and mainly runs on a queue.

Kurt: I follow him but he doesn’t follow me. His tumblr would be very curated and definitely fit a certain aesthetic. I picture it mostly consisting of reblogs of fashion, films, art, food, etc. But multiple times a week he would post blank text posts with super long rants in the tags with a lot of cussing and the last tag would be #delete later.

Brittany: Mutuals. Everything she posts would be super cheerful & colorful (envision loads of rainbows & cats). She is known for sending asks since she absolutely loves sending her mutuals the most offbeat questions. You can also always rely on her if you’re having a bad day to send you a random quote or fact that will make you smile.

Mike: Mutuals. He would truly have the most chill blog and reblog anything that catches his eye but not in a way where it overloads your dash. He also is someone who follows back almost everyone who follows him and sends a lot of kind asks & leaves nice tags on your original content. He would never get involved in any fandom drama and would only have one filtered tag which is ‘Channing Tatum’.

Puck: Mutuals (mostly for entertainment purposes on my end). He’d be the one to act like he’s never even heard of tumblr but secretly runs his own fic blog mainly for the soap opera he compulsively watches with his mom & sister. He also occasionally enjoys posting snippets of the various screenplays he’s working on. He prides himself on staying anonymous so he uses a pen name and changes the names of everyone he writes about but does an awful job at picking out new names (changes Puck to Huck, Finn to Binn, etc)!

Finn: Neither one of us follows one another. Actually didn’t know what tumblr was until he saw the app on Puck’s phone and noticed him spending a lot of time on it so he got curious. Months later he still has no clue on what the point of tumblr is and has pretty much given up on trying to properly use it. He has a few text posts screaming into the void but they have no engagement. Though he did somehow link his instagram so that still updates.

Mercedes: Mutuals. Her tumblr consists mainly of reblogs for her favorite celebrities, tv shows, & movies. She also has gotten into the habit of live blogging for a few of her top shows and her commentary is so good that you wouldn’t dare to unfollow her or filter her tags for it, even for the shows you didn’t have any interest in previously. She’s the mutual that has such great taste that you find her continuing to influence what media you want to consume next!

Quinn: Mutuals. Her blog is a mix of literature, art, philosophy etc which does make it have an overall pretty “classy” feel but the vast majority of it is also just very, very, very, gay.. to the point where half of what she reblogs is of women kissing/being affectionate with one another. She also eventually dabbles in writing some femslash & it’s very good stuff…

Artie: Neither one of us follows one another. Has a decent following due to his film reviews (he also blocks anyone who disagrees with any of his opinions). He’s also heavily involved in various popular fandoms like Star Wars and Marvel which leads to him getting into some very intense discourse which results in more blocking.

Rachel: Mutuals (on thin ice). Posts super nice aesthetics & moodboards. Though unfortunately, she would be that tumblr mutual who gets into heated debates with anons constantly and is such an easy target because she can’t recognize when people are trolling her so she takes the bait every time. But, fairly often it does get to the point where she actually ends up exhausting the anons with her long written responses.

[mdverse]

why don't you vibe with Rachel?

sorry this took a while, anon. i've been trying to figure out how to answer it because the short answer is that rachel tends to awaken a lot of frustration within me if i think about her for too long. i don't really know why i get as heated as i do just with her but it just happens. it's weird because i don't usually have strong negative feelings towards people, so there might be something aside from the more in-depth explanation i wrote under the cut that i just can't put my finger on right now.

rachel is one of the characters in glee whose storylines are regularly shoved in the audience's face, like the writers are trying real hard to get us to care about her. the thing is, though, i could not care less about most of it? i'm generalising a bit but half of her storylines are centered around finchel/her other romantic interests, and the other half is about how she wants to sing this song or play this role and how she deserves the spotlight more than the other glee kids and can't imagine a world where she's wrong about that. and then if it doesn't work out, she gets really overdramatic and we're stuck listening to her complain about things. even in the finchel dynamic, which i am not a huge fan of, a big part of their season 3 storyline is rachel talking about nyada and new york and ignoring all of finn's insecurities about what to do after high school. when puck told finn that he needed to start thinking about himself, i felt that. the fact that rachel treated even her close friends like garbage without even realising it until they stood up to her like kurt eventually did? everything just revolves around her and it's exhausting.

another thing i dislike relates to this gifset i reblogged on my sideblog. rachel gets so much favoritism regarding her singing/talent - it is mainly from schuester, whom i ignore, but it's so blatant. it gets to the point where other characters, particularly mercedes and tina, are used to taking a back seat because "only rachel can do this" and sure, rachel is talented and does put on some great performances, but that statement just doesn't sit right with me. everyone in glee club is talented, but most of them get sidelined in favour of letting rachel perform. i'm tired of seeing it, i'm tired of seeing rachel sing lead in almost every song in competition (with the exception of s2, where she assumed she'd sing the lead and then complained when she couldn't, and s3 sectionals where presumably the only reason she didn't sing was because she was banned from competing in the first place) or yet another solo after every minor inconvenience or argument, i'm tired of hearing her cover songs that don't suit her voice just for the sake of having her sing more, i'm tired of having to watch equally talented characters get pushed down just to stroke rachel's ego. not to mention erasing a bunch of interesting early-seasons friendships and giving them all to rachel instead (quinncedes? kurtcedes?) and of course i blame the writers for this, because they ignored so many characters who had a lot of potential to be interesting in order to let rachel shine more. i understand that with an ensemble cast as big as glee's, it might be harder to write parts that get an equal amount of screen time but you can tell they did not care about most of their characters. and as a result, they highlighted rachel so much that i just have to pretend she does not exist.

also... rachel's casual racism? need i say more? i know there were other racist comments from people like sue but sue is so obviously written as satirical and rachel does not have that same vibe. like that throwaway line to blaine about how they would have "vaguely eurasian-looking children"? as a relatively white-passing eurasian person that line always made me feel weird. or all of her comments towards mercedes. it wasn't really addressed aside from mercedes herself calling out rachel, even if it happened right in front of schue, and i don't appreciate that. there were a lot of double-standards in glee.

last but definitely not least is the part i struggle to put into words. i also might just be remembering some stuff wrong because it's been a while since i've watched through glee and i try to forget a lot of the rachel content anyway, so bear with me. some of my issues with rachel are similar to my issues with finn, in that they both do shitty things and then for the most part, they don't really face the consequences for it. in rachel's case, it does apply more to her high school self, because i do think she grows and faces reality more in the later seasons (ie: broadway and her downfall). Unfortunately for her, though, i tend to rewatch the first 3 seasons and then only pick certain episodes from the latter half of the show, so her high school self is more prominent in my mind. and of course she isn't the only one who does shitty things, 90% of the glee kids and adults have their shitty moments, but at least some of them grow from their mistakes and show proper development (it's not always consistent, but i blame that on the writers once again). with rachel - and maybe i'm just reading it wrong - it feels like her apologies aren't genuine? from what i can remember, they always come after she gets a lot of backlash for her actions or sees that her actions resulted in some shit going down with other people (ie: snitching to finn about the real father of quinn's baby, sunshine & the crack house, ditching funny girl for that tv audition, i'm blanking on other stuff right now) so it gives off the feeling that she's only apologising because people tell her she fucked up and she doesn't like hearing that, and not because she actually feels guilty and wants to do better.

that being said, i don't hate her anymore. at least i don't think so. do i like her? nope. but i've gotten to a point where i can go "yeah that was a sweet moment and i can appreciate that from her" and that's nice, because i really don't want to spend time and energy hating a character on a tv show (especially when there are worse characters on glee lmao). and i'm being very careful about how i portray her in vb au, because i do think that her dynamics with the rest of the team would be really interesting to explore.

[bookwyrminspiration]

Quil! What fandoms are you in? I must know! Also, hope you're having a nice day...

Nonsie! The day is just getting started but I've got a few things I'm looking forward to today so I think it'll be nice!

As for fandoms, if you mean being in a fandom in the sense that I post things about it, that's like 97% Keeper of the Lost Cities. It is basically my entire blog and I have written hundreds of thousands of words (not an exaggeration) in analysis, fic, and asks. Sprinkled in there you'll occasionally find me posting about the Twilight Saga (I'm aware it's a dumpster fire, I simply can't look away though), Empires SMP and other minecraft things, and reblogging things from a few other fandoms.

However! If you mean fandoms as in things I enjoy, well that's a lot bigger of a list. People are welcome to talk to me about anything outside of kotlc, that's just where my focus has ended up by chance. Here's an incomplete list of books, shows, etc. that I've watched/enjoyed! I say incomplete because I'm going to forget a few things, so if you ever wonder if I've seen/read something just ask about it! Or you can suggest it to me and I'll check it out!

Now, the list of things/fandoms I have seen or liked! Not all are fandoms, some are just other things you can talk to me about!

Shows/Movies:

Black Sails (might be my favorite show!)

The Expanse (I'm planning on reading all the books just haven't yet)

Arcane (the other possible favorite show)

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (haven't watched the last season yet)

Shadowhunters (I haven't watched season 3B yet, but I've read the books so...)

El labyrinto del fauno (my favorite movie!)

A Monster Calls (I haven't read the book)

The Witcher (haven't seen season two yet and haven't read the books yet, though I own the first two)

Labyrinth (the 1986 movie I watched obsessively as a child)

Other things I've watched: Steven Universe, the first few seasons of Infinity Train, a few episodes of Cursed, Misfits (only the first 2 or 3 seasons), the Winx saga netflix live action thing

Books:

most of the cliche ya authors everyone read when getting in to the genre (Sarah J Maas, Cassandra Clare, Holly Black, Veronica Roth, Marissa Meyer, etc)

Rick Riordan's numerous series (little behind though. last one I read was book...2? of trials of apollo. I'll catch up eventually)

The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd Jones (I love this book so much)

The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater (I have read halfway through Call Down the Hawk. I'll read it and Mister Impossible eventually)

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

They Both Die At The End by Adam Silvera

The Seven Realms series by Cinda Williams Chima (though if you want to talk about this I have not read it in years and forgotten a lot)

The Peculiar Children series (I've read through book 3 and plan to read the others)

The Steampunk Chronicles by Kady Cross (another one I haven't read in years and forgotten almost everything)

Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo (I've read the first book in shadow and bone but that's it. haven't watched the show either)

The Serpend & Dove triology (still need to read book 3)

The Illuminae Files by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (still need to read book 3)

The Aurora Cycle by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (also still need to read book 3)

I think you get the point. I've read a lot of books and love to talk about them! There are hundreds that aren't on this list and more I'm planning to read.

Don't see a book listed here? Ask! I can't remember them all off the top of my head but if you give me a specific title/author it'll be so much easier to remember

Other:

minecraft! both playing the game myself and watching others play the game. I watch primarily GeminiTay, and the series I keep up with are/were Empires SMP, AfterlifeSMP, and Hermitcraft (from Gem's pov)

Tiny Tina's Wonderlands (currently playing through it with my dad! I'm playing a clawbringer and he's playing a spore warden)

dnd. I don't mention it much here but my dad is a huge nerd when it comes to dnd and so I grew up playing it and have for years. I've been both DM for a few different campaigns (included helping run the dnd club my dad hosted at my middle school) along with playing! I'm actually on an episode of dnd podcast somewhere. I haven't listened to it and it was a while ago, but it is out there!

sewing/crafts. My grandma was a seamstress so I also grew up learning how to sew and cross-stitch and things like that. I've made clothes and altered them and so on and so forth and think it's a fun creative outlet

The History of Human Dissection/medical history. From time to time you'll see me talking about this because an area of interest for me, so if you ever find anything about medical history please feel free to send it my way because I love it!! Things like old beliefs/practices/etc are wonderful

Language! I'm actually a modern languages major at my college (I'm a high school student taking dual credit) and find them very interesting. I'm mexican but grew up without the language and have been studying spanish for about four years, learning ASL for about...2? and I have a tiny bit of french knowledge (which I've mostly forgotten).

Before this list gets even longer I'll stop there! There are many other things I enjoy and would love to talk about that I haven't mentioned, but anyone is welcome to talk to me about anything they'd like at any time! I know I post almost entirely about kotlc, but there are many other things I enjoy.

So hopefully that at least gives you a starting place for my interests!

[mmilkbreadd]

Chapter twenty five: “The End”

Masterpost - Prev.

Warning(s): a bit of swearing ; post-timeskip manga spoilers!!

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Or aka, ‘The Sakusa Kiyoomi Theory’

Act One: “Who is Sakusa Kiyoomi?”

Saturday, 6:23 am, “y/n's home”

“You're late,” said y/n with crossed arms, she was already waiting for him at the door of her house. “I hope this doesn't become routine.”

It was already morning in the streets of Paris. Tendou Satori and her neighbor (and best friend), y/n l/n, were walking towards their famous bakery and chocolate shop, ‘Sweet Strawberries.’ It was a small place with a few tables to sit for tea and delicious things to eat. Also, although it was small, it was quite crowded.

“Woah, how angry you are today, little baker... More than usual, actually” y/n shook her head at her friend's comment. “But obviously I already know why, and it seems that you know why too.”

Y/n decided to ignore what Satori had said, and keep walking quite ahead of him. It was still an hour before the store opened, but they already had several orders that were due to deliver around nine in the morning. A three-tier wedding cake, forty heart-shaped chocolates for the anniversary of a married couple, and of course, the strawberry cake for someone named Sakusa Kiyoomi.

Around a quarter to seven, they arrived at the bakery, and they got down to work to get all the orders completed on time. 

Tendou was more dedicated to the chocolate part, of course, and to serve customers. Despite y/n had advanced a lot in terms of her social skills, she still needed to learn a little about how to communicate normally with a person.

“That 'Sakusa Kiyoomi' has a Japanese name, do you think he is too?” y/n asked, wiping flour from her hands.

“I don't know, they could be. But doesn't that name sound too familiar to you?”  Satori replied.

“That's exactly what I was thinking!”

“Weird.”

“Yeah... Anyway, the customer asked not to make the chocolate so bitter so add more milk to that please.”

“Yes, boss!” Satori made a military signal and continued his work.

Act Two: “Pretending to be Sakusa Kiyoomi.”

8:39 am, “Paris” (?)

Bokuto Koutarou, along with Miya Atsumu and Hinata Shoyo were lost in Paris. They had circled the Eiffel Tower at least five times. But it seemed they hadn't realized it yet.

They were more lost than Bokuto studying math. But a simple city would not defeat them so easily... would it?

“Maybe we should have brought Sakusa,” Hinata said after round number six.

“And hear him complain about how dirty everything is? No thanks,” Atsumu Miya replied, shaking his head. “We don't need Omi-Omi. I, Miya Atsumu, am enough to know where we are.”

Atsumu put a hand on his chest, pretending to be offended. Bokuto and Hinata looked around, ignoring the enormous tower behind them, wondering where they were.

“And where are we then?”

“Paris, of course” he replied. “I can’t believe you’re seriously asking that, Shoyo.”

Hinata and Bokuto looked at each other, unable to believe what their teammate was saying.

“Sure…” Bokuto said, getting his phone out of his pocket. It was time to be the serious person of the trio. “Akaashi, we got lost” and that time was now over. Koutarou was crying as he spoke to his friend, who was on another continent. “No, I can't stop crying, Akaashi. I swear I was following the steps you wrote on the map so we wouldn't get lost, but Atsumu wanted to take the lead, so he broke the instructions, and we don’t know where we are. It's all his fault...! No, Sakusa has not come either.”

“Hey! It wasn't my fault,” the dyed blonde complained, crossing his arms. “And we never needed Omi-Omi!”

“Okay, Akaashi, I'll do it. Bye, love you… As a bro of course” Bokuto finished saying and hung up. “He told me I have to call Tendou. Is the only way.”

Hinata started shaking his head from side to side, while Atsumu slapped his forehead with his hand. Then a message came from Keiji; It was the number of Tendou Satori himself. Bokuto started dialing the numbers that appeared on the screen of his phone, on Hinata's.

“Wait wait, shouldn't I speak? He might recognize your voice” Hinata said, awkwardly taking the phone from Bokuto's hands. 

“He would also recognize yours, Shoyo. I'll do it.” Atsumu snatched the device from him and pressed the call button. “Hello, sir, what’s up? I'm Sakusa Kiyoomi, could you help me get to your store? I'm a bit lost... How did I get your number you ask? Eh– It's on your website dude! You should delete it, some people pretend to be someone else and you should not fall for that...”

Act Three: “If Sakusa Kiyoomi was real, we should have brought him.”

10:04 am, “Sweet Strawberries Bakery and Chocolate Shop”

“I can't believe it took us almost two hours to get here! It wasn't even that far from the hotel” Hinata said looking towards the building that was a few meters in front of them.

“Six blocks. Can’t believe it either.” Atsumu wiped the sweat from his brow. “And now that? Are we going in or not?”

Bokuto went pale. He was going to see you, after so many years without communicating or having exchanged glances. He never imagined that he would see you again after that cold day in Miyagi. He had made a thousand scenarios in his head of how you two meet again: in some distant future you visit your hometown and he visits Hinata, and thus you meet in the park or on the street. You would have your own family, and he would have his. But that would happen in many years, not now. Not at this moment, when neither of you had grown enough... When he hadn't managed to forget you yet. But these weren't Koutarou's inventions, this was reality.

The incredible and stupid reality.

“I don't want to go in,” Bokuto said suddenly and stopped walking. “I’m not ready.”

Atsumu, who was already one step away from the door, turned to see him. Hinata collided with Miya's chest because he was walking right behind him.

“What are you talking about? Let's go in now” Atsumu said walking towards the ex-owl. “We didn't change the whole tour just so you don't go see your little girlfriend… We change it so you do! Don't be scared, do it now or you'll regret it for life. I remember how you talked about her during practice, and I even want to meet her after that! Come on dude, use the little braveness you have left.”

It seemed that Atsumu's words, or Hinata's smile next to him, made Bokuto take courage and head towards the entrance of the shop. 

A bell rang before three pairs of feet echoed through the small place. There was a great smell of chocolate that invaded every inch of the establishment. Hinata paced around the place until the sound of a door opening made the three teammates turn their heads to where the sound was coming from.

“Welcome, what can I offer-- So all of you are Sakusa Kiyoomi, huh?” Satori Tendou said, coming out of the back-room. “You see guys, I never believed this would happen. It makes me think a lot too… So, is Sakusa Kiyoomi even real?”

Atsumu, Hinata, and Bokuto were paralyzed in place for several seconds. The former Shiratorizawa monster stood with his hands on his hips, staring at them.

“Is it Sakusa Kiyoomi? Tell him I'm coming in a minute!” y/n yelled from the back room.

“Oh no, y/n, it’s someone much better!” Tendou replied, holding back his laughter. “You won't believe it even if you see this!”

Then, silence took over the place until a few quick steps interrupted it. A figure appeared through the door, with several boxes in their hands. A pile of boxes so big it covered their face.

“Help me, Satori, I'm going to fall” y/n complained, and after Tendou took out the boxes that covered her view, she saw her friend smiling widely. “What?”

Satori, who couldn't contain his laughter anymore, gestured with his head towards the three statues in the middle of the place. And finally, seeing her friend's face, he started to laugh out loud.

“Kou?”

“A-and Hinata!” shouted Bokuto nervously. Shoyo looked at him and then pointed at Atsumu.

“And also Atsumu!”

“And Saku– shit, we should have brought Omi-Omi after all…”

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Note: I am very very very very sorry for not posting this sooner, but I had thousand of things going on in my life. Now I’m better and ready to finish this beautiful, and crazy, love-story.

I hope you loved it as much as I did. I truly enjoyed it writing, and I’m happy to finish it too.

I’ll appreciate it a lot if you comment down below what you thought about the series. I’ll read you later -Tina.

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Tags in reblog!

Thanks for reading🥰

[navybrat817]

Far, Far Away

Pairing: Librarian!Bucky Barnes x Female Reader Summary: You take a chance and give Bucky a call. Word Count: Almost 1.7k Warnings: Fluff, flirting, slightly embarrassing moment ( 😂 ), Bucky Barnes (he's a warning, okay?) A/N: Follow up to Once Upon a Time. For you @11thstreetvigilante . ❤️ Not beta read and written on my phone, so any and all mistakes are my own. Edit by Nix, divider by the talented @firefly-graphics, and banner by yours truly. Please follow @navybrat817-sideblog for new fics and notifications. Comments, reblogs, feedback are loved and appreciated!

It would be a week before you saw Bucky again.

You told your friends about the handsome hero who stepped in to defend you on the subway. The man with the steel blue eyes. Your friends responded with a resounding “aww” when you showed them the line of the poem on the back of his card, with the exception of your friend Tina. Raising an eyebrow as she sipped her wine, she asked what the catch was.

"There is no catch," you stated.

"There's always a catch," Tina argued.

Ever the pessimist. Or is she a realist?

"He said I could help volunteer at the library when I asked if I could repay him."

"See? There's the catch. Free labor," she said, triumphantly finishing her glass.

"That's what volunteer work is," you joked, running your thumb along his name before Nicole snatched the card from your hand. "Hey!"

"Hold on. Let's look him up," she said, glancing at the card before she typed on her phone. You took it back and carefully tucked it away when her eyes widened seconds later. "Holy. Shit. Is this him?"

The image of Bucky standing by a bookshelf with a book filled the screen as she held her phone up. Your mouth went dry from the quick glance, so you nodded in reply. That was your hero.

"You met this guy on the subway?" she asked, passing her phone around for everyone to see. You were pretty sure Kim whimpered. "How do I not meet guys like this on the subway?!"

Even Tina looked impressed.

For a moment.

"I still think there's a catch," she said.

"There’s no catch. He could've easily told me to contact the library. He didn't have to give me his card or recite the poem. So this means he wants to see me again. Right?"

You hated how your voice wobbled on the last word. Bucky was a stranger and he may have already forgotten about your encounter. You hoped that wasn't the case.

Why did it matter so much to you?

"I think he wants to see you again, but also wants to leave the ball in your court after you had to deal with a creep," Kim said, giving you an encouraging smile. She knew you were a bit lonely, even if you wouldn't admit it. "You should call him and set up a time to volunteer."

“I could email him,” you pointed out.

“Not as personal,” Nicole dismissed with her hand. “Plus you get to hear his voice this way.”

Tina's gaze softened when you toyed with the glass in front of you. You knew that she, like your other friends, wanted you to be happy. "Give it a day then call him. If anything, maybe he'll dick you down the way you need."

“Yes, for the love of everything holy, you haven’t been laid in months. Do it for us,” Nicole added, making you laugh.

You took their advice and waited a day.

Thankfully no one was around to see you pace across the floor when you called. What was it about talking on the phone that made your palms tingle? You had no reason to be nervous. It was just a phone call to one the most gorgeous, chivilarous men you had the pleasure of encountering.

"Abraham Library. This is Bucky."

The infliction in his tone was all business, but he managed to make professionalism sound sexy.

"Hello?"

You were so distracted by his voice you forgot you had to talk.

"Hi, Bucky. Sorry," you smiled, praying you weren't speaking too loud when you gave him your name again. "We met on the subway?"

Please, remember me.

"Hi," his voice warmed considerably, making your palms tingle again for a different reason. "How are you?"

"I'm good," you answered. People asked you that every day, but it felt like he wanted to know. "How are you?"

"Not too bad. Better now. I- Well, I was hoping you'd call."

"You were?" you bit your lip to keep from grinning.

"Yeah. Been listening for the phone all day," he admitted with a small chuckle.

He did want me to call. He was waiting for me. Ha! Take that, Tina.

He cleared his throat, making you wonder if the admission embarrassed him or if he remembered he was working. "What can I do for you?"

I can give you a list of the things you can do to me.

"I was wondering if you still needed volunteers? I'd love to help out."

"Yeah. Of course. We could always use more volunteers. Let me check the calendar."

The silence should've been uncomfortable as you waited, but you didn't mind it.

What you didn't expect to hear next was a groan. A deep groan. One for the sexiest sounds you ever heard. How you didn't whimper in response when you took a seat was impressive.

"Is everything okay?" you asked when you found your voice.

"Yeah. I just forgot to mention that volunteers have to fill out an application," he explained, his voice quieter than it was before. Almost sheepish. "The approval process is quick, but I'm usually better about stating that upfront. I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologize. I filled out the application before I called," you said.

"You did?"

"Yep," you smiled and swung your head toward your monitor. You still had the "application submitted" page up. "So no apologies."

Bucky sighed, the sound just as seductive as his groan as you heard typing in the background.

God, phone sex with him would probably make me collapse.

"Got it. It's right here. That's great." You heard more typing and you had to stop yourself from imagining what else those fingers of his could do. "We have a children's reading this Saturday. The session is from 10-10:30, but I could use some help setting up a few minutes before and maybe a bit after in case any of the kids want to stay longer."

"Saturday is great," you smiled, looking forward to seeing him again so soon. "I can be there at 9:45, if that works."

"That works for me. I'll get the application approved and you should be all set. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"No, I think that's it," you said, pushing your chair back so you could spin around.

It was a silly, happy victory twirl.

"Oh."

You stopped spinning immediately at that single word.

It was the same disappointed tone he had when you got to the restaurant and had to part ways.

But why would he be disappointed? I'm volunteering with him. Wait. He said he was listening for the phone all day. Does he really want to just talk to me?

He cleared his throat again. "If you need anything before Saturday, let me know."

"Wait! One more thing?" you blurted out before he could hang up.

"Yeah?" he asked hopefully.

You inhaled and exhaled once. Twice. You could do this.

"When you're done working Saturday, would you like to get lunch or dinner with me?" you asked as your stomach did an impressive round of somersaults.

You almost ended the call, not wanting to hear if he rejected you.

"I'd love to," he replied.

Your brain temporarily stopped functioning before his answer registered.

He said "yes"!

"Great! Um. Pizza?" you suggested.

Yes, use small words. That's good.

"I know a place right around the corner from the library. Best pizza in the city. You'll love it."

"I can't wait. See you Saturday?"

"It's a date," he smiled.

You set your phone down and waited a second before you spun around in your chair again. The excited shriek you let out was enough to fill your apartment. "He said 'yes'! It's a date! He's-"

A muffled chuckle from your desk made you stop short. Your stomach dropped when you saw the glow from your phone screen. The call was still going.

No. No! Fuck!

You straightened your back and picked up the device with as much dignity as you could. With all the blood rushing to your face, you were surprised you didn't pass out. Should you play it off as a joke? Ignore it?

"Um, are you still there?"

Maybe by some miracle he hung up.

"I am." He sounded like he was trying to hide his laughter. He did work in a quiet place after all.

"What exactly did you hear?" you asked because you were apparently a masochist who wanted to feel the pain again.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said casually. Too casually. "So, are you excited about Saturday?"

"You heard me, didn't you?" you accused as his quiet laughter crept back up.

God, the guy who recited poetry to me heard me shriek like a banshee. Is there a level worse than mortifying? Did Tina jinx me somehow?

"Why didn't you hang up?"

"Because neither of us said goodbye," he said, his voice quiet and casual again. "I didn't want to be rude."

Of course.

"To answer your question, yes, I'm looking forward to Saturday," you said evenly in the hopes you didn't sound embarrassed.

"So am I. Only reason I didn't yell is because I'm at work."

"You're just saying that," you smiled. It was nice that he tried to help you save face.

"I'm not. Honest. And, let's be serious, if those are the sounds you make just from the thought of a date with me…"

You managed not to embarrass yourself again when his voice deepened, but your cheeks got hot and you also wondered what other sounds he'd pull out of you. "Why don't you get back to work and maybe we can discuss that more on Saturday? After library hours."

"Or during."

Fuck.

"But I am hanging up now if you feel like screaming again."

He's smirking. I know he is.

"I'm hanging up, too. Bye," you giggled, pressing end this time so you could cover your face and groan.

The mortifying moment aside, which he seemed to find endearing, you somehow got yourself a date. The next part of your fairytale. You just wished Saturday wasn't so far, far away.

We have a date! Let's see how they're doing in A Real Prince Charming. Love and thanks! ❤️

Masterlist ⚓ Bucky Barnes Masterlist ⚓ KoFi

[autumnleaves1991-blog]

Day 5: “Thanks for lending me your jacket.” - Santiago ‘Pope’ Garcia

A/N: Okay I understand Christmas is over but I still had to finish the 12 days of Christmas challenge and I skipped over day five and never came back till today! Here is day five written for my fellow Santi lover @itspdameronthings​. 

Thank you for reading, reblogging, commenting, and liking! 

Pairing: Santiago ‘Pope’ Garcia x Single Mom Reader 

Warning: 18 + for language, single mom, kids

My Masterlist 

Day 5: "Thanks for lending me your jacket." - Santiago 'Pope' Garcia

 The door to the ballet studio slams open, and Frankie hustles inside with his four-year-old daughter Mia in tow. The other moms all smile at him as he shuffles her off to the other children, and she gets in line and starts warm-ups. He wipes the sweat off his forehead and readjusts his hat falling down into the seat next to you. 

"What did I miss?" he asks, and you laugh. 

"Well, Minnie's mom was talking about how she caught her husband sleeping with the nanny. But, she isn't going to say anything because he had her sign a prenup, and she would get nothing. Oh, and Peter's mom has been talking nonstop about her upcoming surgery. Apparently, you lean toward him conspiratorially, "she is getting some new," you gesture across your chest, and he laughs. 

You and Frankie had met six months ago when you both enrolled your daughters in dance class. Being the only single parents and the only ones whose daily life wouldn't be on an episode of Wives of Orange County, you, two, had bonded instantly. You had even been out on a date, but it quickly became apparent you were just meant to be friends. Your daughters had connected instantly and become best friends. Mia and Harper were inseparable.

"What about Tina's mom? Did she get the nose job?" he asks, looking around the room, and you laugh. 

"I think so; it's their nanny again," you point over at the strict-looking woman reading a magazine in the corner, and he nods smiling. 

"So," he claps a hand over your leg, "Are we still on for the tree lighting thing this weekend? The kids perform at seven, so I thought we could all meet up for dinner at the Brewery down the street like five-fifteen or so." 

"Yeah, that sounds great! Harper is so excited about dancing for a crowd, she is turning out to be quite the diva." 

"I know what you mean; Mia is the same way! I was wondering...would you mind if Mia's godfather joins us on Saturday? He's in town from Columbia for the holiday and is going to be staying with us. I've been talking about you, and he says he wants to meet his replacement." 

"His replacement?"

"Oh, he is fully convinced that I've replaced him with you as my best friend," he chuckles. 

You laugh, and both of you get glares from the other dance moms. "That's fine with me. What's he like?" 

"Well...how do you describe Pope, well his name is Santiago, but I've been calling him Pope since the Delta Force days. He is loyal, hardworking, and a complete and total slut. I bet you fifty bucks he will flirt with you the whole night." 

You snort, "With me?" 

"Come on, you're gorgeous. Honestly, you are just his type."

"Yeah, all except for one little issue," you point towards your daughter, who smiles at your brightly as she tries to do a pirouette. 

"Oh, that won't deter him at all; he loves Mia. I'm sure Harper will have him wrapped around her finger too by the end of the night." He smiles at you, and you nod. 

"Okay, I guess I will have to meet this friend of yours and see if he's worthy of the title." Frankie looks at you, quizzically, "Oh sorry, the title of the best friend, it has to be earned." He laughs, and you both hush as the teacher looks at you both sternly, causing you to erupt in a fit of giggles, Frankie digging his elbow into your side as he covers his smile with his hand. 

The week passes quickly, and it's the weekend before you know it. The Brewery's parking lot is packed, and a light dusting of snow lies upon the ground. You pull Harper from her car seat, and she babbles away at you about everything. The change in temperature from the outside to the inside is stifling, and you loosen your scarf, cursing under your breath about forgetting your coat. The red dress beneath it shimmers in the light, complete with black leggings tucked into your black boots. 

"HARPER!" a shrill voice screams from across the room. Your daughter takes off across the room and into the arms of Mia, who is jumping up and down. You smile at the two and make your way over to the table, hugging Frankie. 

"Where is this so-called best friend of yours?" you tease, moving into the booth across from him. 

"Oh, Pope went to the restroom; he should be back in a few minutes. Why? Excited to meet him?" he teases, and you smile. 

"No, just curious, I wonder if-" the words die against your lips as you watch the most beautiful man come towards your table. With salt and pepper curls, clean-shaven, soft juicy lips, and the darkest expressive brown eyes that twinkle in amusement wrapped up in a dark tan wrapping. 

"Holy shit," you whisper under your breath, but of course, Harper hears. 

"Mommy! Swear jar!" she sings, grinning at you, and you glare at her before watching the man slide in the empty chair across from you. 

"So this is the famous Y/N that Frankie won't stop talking about. I must say his words do not do you justice; you're stunning," he holds a hand out to shake, and when you touch, the electricity crackles, and you quickly withdraw your hand. 

His smile fades, and he just watches you. You could get lost in the depth of his eyes, and Frankie coughs loudly to break the tension. You look away and turn to Harper, figuring out what she wants for dinner. The waiter comes a few minutes later, and you all order. The girls get Mac N cheese and chicken nuggets, knowing them they will end up sharing all the food. 

"Uhm, I will take the jalapeno cream cheeseburger with the black bean patty, please, and the House Amber on draft please," the waiter takes your orders and walks off. 

You try really hard not to openly stare at Santiago, but he doesn't take notice, never taking his eyes off you. "So, tell me about yourself," you take a sip of your beer and finally look at him, his lips turned up into a wide grin. You spend most of the dinner conversing with Santiago while Frankie keeps the two girls occupied. You don't miss the not so subtle wink he sends your way as you almost choke on your beer. 

"Are you okay?" Frankie comes around and pats you hard on the back. "You're flirting," he teases quietly next to your ear, and you hiss at him to shut up, glaring. “You owe me fifty bucks,” he laughs. 

He grins triumphantly as he retakes his seat and checks his watch. "Okay, everybody, we got to get going over to the tree lighting. Girls, finish up and get your coats on. "I'll get the bill tonight." 

"Frankie! I can pay for myself-" 

"I insist," he says, putting a hand to his chest, "come on, girls. Ah, don't look at me like that; you can get the next one." Harper hugs you before grabbing Frankie's outstretched hand and going to pay. 

"Are you two dating?" Santiago asks bluntly. "Or fucking?" 

You laugh, "Uhm, no, Frankie really just is my best friend. We tried going on a date once, and it was like dating my brother." 

He chuckles, "yes, I can imagine that would be awkward. So, I guess what I'm trying to say is, are you single?" 

"Why do you want to know," you rise and grab your purse, and he stands to offer his hand. You look at it and then back up to see the small smile on his face. Taking his hand, he intertwines your fingers and leads you outside. You look and see Frankie and the girls already halfway to the tree lighting, and you grin at Frankie's not so subtle matchmaking skills. 

"Looks like they left without us," Santiago laughs, tugging your hand into the crook of his elbow and taking off at a more leisurely pace. You shiver as light snowflakes begin to fall. Cascading the area into a winter wonderland. He stops walking and shrugs out of his thick overcoat, and hands it to you. 

"I can't take your coat," you try to refuse, but he grabs your arm and puts it on you like you would your daughter. "I…" the argument dies on your lips as he gives you a playful glare. "Thanks for lending me your jacket." 

"Now, you're just going to have to keep me warm." You laugh together, and he retakes your hand and intertwines your fingers. "So about what I said earlier? Are you seeing anyone?" 

"Would I be holding hands and flirting with you all night if I was? Do you think I'm that type of woman?" He quickly throws his hands up and shakes his head no. 

"No, no, that's not...I just, shit, I am fucking this up, aren't I?" 

"No," you chuckle, "But I'm having fun watching you try. Frankie told me you were a huge flirt, and I should watch out for you. I like what I have seen so far, and you are incredibly handsome with a nice butt. So yes, I am single. Now, what are you going to do about it." 

You both arrive at the tree lighting and look for Frankie, who waves you over near the doorway to the community center. He smiles at you, both seeing your hands intertwined and raising one eyebrow. "The girls are with their instructor there going to go on in about ten minutes. Also, remember that Frankie is the perfect name for a boy." 

Santiago punches him in the arm, and Frankie laughs. "Shut up, Frankie," you scoff. "I'm going to go get some hot chocolate inside. Do you want anything?" 

"I'll come with you," Santi follows close, still holding your hand as you wait inside for hot cocoa and cookies. "You asked me what am I am going to do about it?" 

You nod, looking at him, "Yeah, and did you decide?" You take a step forward as the line moves. 

"Yes, right about now," he dips you, and you give a little yelp as he plants his lips onto yours. His lips are warm and soft, and you melt into the kiss as the small crowd cheers around you. When he brings you back up, you feel lightheaded and swoon a little, but he catches you laughing. "Sorry, the moment was just too perfect," he points up, and you smile at the mistletoe hanging overhead. 

"Well, wouldn't want to waste perfectly good mistletoe," you kiss him again, and he responds. Running his hands over your waist as you wrap your arms around his neck, deepening it. 

"Excuse me? Are you still in line for hot chocolate?" An older man taps Santi's shoulder, and you break away giggling, burying your face in his neck. 

"No, sir, I think we're going to skip the hot chocolate; I got something sweeter right here." 

The older man blushes before moving around you, and you both burst out laughing before he kisses you again. The emcee from outside begins the program, and you shout, running and dragging Santi behind you. Frankie looks at you both and just shakes his head laughing. "What's so funny?" you ask. 

"Nothing, I just never realized that red was your color, Pope," he teases, and you look at Santi, shocked before you laugh and quickly grab a wipe from your purse and wipe it off. You wipe off your own lipstick, and both men watch, amused. 

"What now?" you huff. 

"Why are you wiping off your own lipstick?" Frankie questions smiling.

"Oh, I am kissing him a lot more before this night is over. The last thing I need is the Spanish Inquisition from my daughter about why the nice man from the restaurant is wearing my lipstick." Santiago's lips turn up into a smile before he kisses you again, and you pull back smiling at Frankie, who has his mouth agape. 

"I am really looking forward to kissing you more, but can I also take you out for dinner tomorrow night? Maybe Frankie can watch Harper?" Frankie nods, agreeing with the plan. 

You kiss him again as the ballet music starts, "I would really love that." 

Taglist: @oldstuffnewstuff​ @yespolkadotkitty​ @heythere-mel​ @justanotherblonde23​ @artsymaddie​ @anetteaneta​ @lunarthoughts​ @aellynera​ @lucifer-​ @houseofthirst​ @phoenixhalliwell​ @chicken-ona-stick​ @josepedropascal​ @letoartreiides​ @revolution-starter​

[snappedsky]

Borderlands: Skies the Bodyguard 5

Skies meets with Rhys and then Lilith.

*Links to previous and next chapters in reblog*

--

Chapter 3

           The skies over Meridian are clogged with Maliwan ships. They fire onto the city or drop soldiers to continue conquering the city from the ground.

           Skies spends the day destroying these ships. Her ship, the Sky Rider, is much smaller and not as powerful as these warships. But with a couple of well-placed shots from her laser turret, she’s able to destroy the larger vessels’ engines. And since she’s as fine a pilot as she is a marksman, she can dodge enemy fire with only a few grazes to the hull.

           Once she feels she’s successfully decimated Maliwan’s force for the day, she heads over to Atlas HQ. There’s a shield surrounding the compound to keep Maliwan out, but her ship’s signature is recognized by the company since she’s been here before. A small sector of the shield is dropped just long enough for Skies to enter and she parks her ship on the roof of HQ.

           Skies exits through the hatch, stretching out the stiffness from her body from having been in the pilot seat all day. Across the way is a door that opens up as she approaches, and Rhys is there waiting for her.

           “Rhyses Pieces!” she cheers and races into his arms.

           “Hey!” he chimes, hugging her tight. “It’s good to see you again.”

           “You too,” she smiles as they split apart then gently tugs at his moustache. “That’s new.”

           “The troops love it,” he replies. “Is it…is it bad?”

           “Nah, come on. You know I love everything you do.”            They head upstairs to his office and Skies falls down onto one of the velvet sofas, leisurely stretching out. “Aw man, I love this place. I really should visit more, not just when the planet’s under siege.”

           “Well, we’re both busy,” Rhys points out as he sits on a chair next to her. “Speaking of which, what are you doing here anywhere?”            “What do you mean? I’m here to help.”

           “You couldn’t have known about the siege before arriving. I know Maliwan isn’t releasing news of it. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to see you. It’s just very coincidental.”

           Skies sits up. “Alright, to tell you the truth, I didn’t come here just to see you. I was looking for the Crimson Raiders. I wanna help them with their fight against the COV.”

           “Really? But you never wanted anything to do with them before now,” Rhys points out.

           “That was before Lilith lost her powers…or they were stolen from her.”

           “Ah.”

           Skies runs her hand through her hair. “I wanna help. But I don’t know how they’ll feel about me being here. The only raiders I’ve remained in contact with are Ellie and Tina.”

           “I’m sure Lilith will accept any help she can get,” Rhys points out, “she can’t really be picky right now.”

           “I guess…”

           “But if you’re going to meet them, you better hurry,” he warns, “I know the Vault Hunters just found out one of the Vault key pieces is on Athenas. They’ll be leaving soon.”

           “Hm…alright,” she replies hesitantly and activates her ECHO communicator. “Hey, Vault Hunters. It’s Skies. Listen, I need a favour. Are you on the Crimson Raiders’ ship?”

           “Yes, we just got back,” Moze replies.

           “Okay, can you let Lilith know I wanna meet? Uh we have um…history and I don’t just wanna drop in on her.”

           “No problem.”

           “Thanks, kiddo,” Skies smiles, “see you soon.”

           Skies stands up and looks at Rhys. “Alright, I’ll see you later.”

           “Good luck,” he smiles.

           “You too,” she replies before leaving. She heads back to the roof and takes off in her ship.

           Parked outside of Promethea’s orbit is a large ship called Sanctuary III, home of the Crimson Raiders. The Vault Hunters enter the bridge where the commander, Lilith, along with Claptrap are waiting.

           “All set for Athenas?” Lilith asks.

           “Almost,” Moze replies, “do you know someone named Skies?”

           “The Ultimate Treasure Hunter,” FL4K adds.

           “Skies?” Lilith questions suspiciously. “I haven’t seen her in years.”

           “She wants to meet you,” Amara explains.

           “She helped us back on Promethea,” Zane says, “fights like a one-woman army, she does.”

            “Hm…” Lilith muses, “I wonder what she wants.”

           The ship’s communicator suddenly chimes. “We’re getting a transmission,” Claptrap says, “from designation ‘Sky Rider’.”

           “Put it through,” Lilith orders.

           A voice comes through the speakers. “Sky Rider requesting to board Sanctuary III. It’s uh it’s me, Skies. Can I come on?”

           Lilith seems hesitant at first before replying. “I’ll tell Ellie to open up the cargo hold. You can park your ship in there.”

           “Sweet, thanks.”

           In the belly of Sanctuary III, Ellie activates a vacuum shield around the cargo hold door, allowing it to be opened safely. The Sky Rider sidles through and parks on the floor, fitting neatly in the middle of the room.

           After the cargo hold door closes, Skies exits her ship and looks around.

           “Well, look who it is,” Ellie booms as she walks over.

           “Hey, Ells,” Skies smiles.

           Ellie gives her a friendly smack on the back, nearly knocking the wind out of her. “It’s good to see ya. How’s the ship?”

           “She’s-she’s fine,” Skies croaks then clears her throat. “Actually, I battled quite a few Maliwan warships today. Could you just give her a quick once-over, make sure everything’s good?”            “No problem,” she replies.

           “Cool. And uh…how do I get to the bridge?”

           “Just follow the signs up the stairs. Yer’ll get there.”            “Thanks, Ells,” Skies smiles and starts to head up the stairs when the ship suddenly shakes. “What’s that?”

           “We must be takin’ off,” Ellie replies, “got places to be, ya know.”

           Skies continues up the stairs. As she heads to the bridge, she passes by many civilians, most of whom recognize her immediately.

           “It’s Skies the Bodyguard,” a pair of them whisper.

           “Actually,” Skies says, sliding up to them and passing them a business card. “It’s Skies the Ultimate Treasure Hunter. The card isn’t so you can hire me, I just like to brag. Tell your friends.”            They stare after her as Skies walks off. She soon finds the bridge and takes a deep breath before entering.

           Lilith is waiting inside with Claptrap and the Vault Hunters.

           “Skies!” Claptrap cheers while the Vault Hunters wave politely, but Skies barely notices them, completely focused on Lilith.            “Uh, he-hey, Lily- er, Lilith,” Skies says.

           Lilith doesn’t reply and instead says, “could you guys leave us alone?”

           “Yeah, we gotta go to Athenas anyway,” Moze replies.

           “Aw, but I wanna talk to Skies,” Claptrap whines.

           “Come on, little robot,” FL4K says, pulling Claptrap after them as everyone leaves Skies and Lilith alone.

           They both stare at each other awkwardly.

           “What are you doing here, Skies?” Lilith finally asks.

           “I…I wanna help,” she replies.

           “You wanna join the Crimson Raiders?” she questions with surprise.

           “Maybe ‘join’ is too strong a word. I just wanna, like, assist.”    

           “Hm,” Lilith muses, “well, we can’t exactly turn away help. But why now?”

           Skies awkwardly rubs the back of her neck, eyeing Lilith’s bare arm that used to be covered in Siren tattoos. “I saw what happened to you. I…I couldn’t just do nothing anymore.”            Lilith scoffs. “I hate to say it, but your skills could be an asset. But can I trust you?”

           “Yes,” Skies nods.

           Lilith stares at her appraisingly. “Do you remember what you said to me the last time we saw each other? After Sanctuary I was destroyed?”

           “I…don’t,” she admits, “I was pretty sad-drunk.”

           “Yeah, you were. But…you said I was a good leader.”

           “Oh. Well, that’s true.”            “And then you said, ‘see you around, Firehawk,’ and left. I didn’t think I would ever see you again. But then, about a year later, I read about you on the ECHO net. You had donated a sarcophagus to a museum on Promethea.”

           “Oh, yeah, Emperor Tk’lklk,” Skies reminisces, “he was one of my first major finds. I figured he’d be better off in a museum than some rich assholes living room.”

           “Let’s get one thing straight,” Lilith says sternly, “after everything that happened between us- everything you did to me with Jack- I can’t forgive you.”

           Skies looks away guiltily.            “But,” Lilith adds, “I can see that you’ve changed and grown, and I respect that.”

           Skies looks back at her with surprise. “Uh…th-thanks, Lilith.”            She nods. “Now, tell me what you’ve got. I need to know what I’m working with.”

           “Oh, right, okay. Um.” Skies opens her coat, revealing a bunch of knives and small bombs with matching detonators. “Lots of knives and remote-activated bombs, all made by Tina so you know they’re good.”            She draws her vintage, bright yellow Hyperion pistol. “You’ll recognize this as the gun I’ve had since my bodyguard days. I aptly named it ‘the Bodyguard.” She holsters it and digistructs a gold coloured, Atlas assault rifle from her back. “This is one of a kind- one of the first, successful guns Atlas made. It doesn’t have tracking bullets because I don’t need that. I call it ‘New Beginnings’.”

           After holstering her rifle, she lifts her right pant leg, revealing a simple, silver robot leg. “My leg is very shock absorbent- makes for cool entrances.” She points at her right, yellow robot eye. “My eye can zoom in about 200 yards.”

           “And this is the main event.” She lifts her right robot arm. “My arm has hidden blades.” Blades pop out: a short one from the side of her shoulder, a long, curved one from the side of her bicep, a short one from her elbow, a long, curved one from the top of her forearm, a short one from the top of her fist, and tiny ones from the tips of each of her fingers.

           “That’s impressive,” Lilith comments.

           “Yeah,” Skies smiles and points to small initials carved by her armpit: ‘R.S’. “Rhys built them all for me.”

           “Right,” Lilith nods and turns toward the front window. A planet can be seen just outside. “I’ll get you up to speed on what we’re doing. That’s Athenas.”

           “Yeah, I know Athenas,” Skies replies, “it’s a literal treasure trove. I’ve been there lots looking for relics and artifacts.”

           “One of the Vault Key pieces is down there,” Lilith explains, “the Vault Hunters will be hunting for it now. They can handle it; somebody’s down there to help them. In the meantime, you can just hang around. I’ll call you when I need something.”

           “Sure,” Skies nods, “I guess I’ll just familiarize myself with the ship then. By the way, why Sanctuary III? What happened to II?”

           “We don’t talk about II,” Lilith replies darkly.

           “Ah…”

           “What about you?” she ask, “why the ‘Ultimate’ Treasure Hunter.”            “If you want people to remember your name, you have to make it catchy,” Skies replies, “I learned that from…well, I…I learned that.”

           An awkwardness fills the air.

           “Right, I’ll go…check out the ship…”

           “Right, yeah, okay.”          

[albinokittens300]

A Place To Stay.

Pairing: Some Newtina. But also a Gen fic. Rated K.

Summery: After Paris, Tina (and Nagini) finds a place to stay in London with Newts assistant Bunty, to avoid the unnecessary attention an unmarried woman  living with an unmarried man would cause. The arrangement, while strange, works well for all involved.

A/N- SUPER excited to share this! I don’t think I’ve gone this level of all in on an FB fic in a hot minute. The idea came from me and another friend chatting about historical accuracy...and the idea that in the ‘20s, most would find Newt and Tina (unmarried man and woman) moving in together scandalous came up. The idea that they would find Tina a female roommate lead to the idea of Bunty offering her and also Nagini a place to stay, and this fic was birthed! Really hope you all love it! Leave a like, reblog or reply if you feel like it :)

Tina lays back on the bed, clean and almost too new. Certainly unfamiliar. However, it was bliss as she leaned back into the pillows. Several nights with only a few hours of sleep will make any bed feel like a cloud.

A single candle continued to glow, and she hesitated to blow it out even though she wanted nothing more than sleep. A rustle comes from her large messenger bag, and Tina reaches for her wand before a small dark body toddles out into the light. The niffler, wrapped paw and all, comes out from hiding and approaches her.

The endearing nature of him sneaking out of her bag melts any annoyance she could have had. Since the Paris incident, she and Newt have been attempting to mend his burnt paw between meetings and briefings. Keeping his burn cleaned, wrapped, and carrying him in their pockets. It seemed he had grown fond of her due to her help in nursing him back to health, and decided to become a stowaway. Scooting over, Tina pats beside her on the bed. "Come here, little fella. Behave, and you can sleep here." She whispers.

Tired, the little creature complies and hops up beside her, warming her lap. As he does, Tina notices something peeking out of his pouch.

When she moves her hand to pull it out, the Auror discovers a piece of paper. Written on it is the familiar handwriting of the nifflers caretaker.

Dear Tina,

I hope you aren't bothered by a bit of company. When you were preparing to leave, I saw him climbing into your bag and decided to allow him to go with this little note. Bring him back tomorrow if you don't want the responsibility, but for the moment, I think he's happier and better mannered around you.

It will also give me a chance to try and temper the younger ones' thievery, without his bad influence. Or that's the hope.

Tina giggles and gently strokes the furry creature's back as he curls up next to her.

My hope is you are feeling more at ease now, with a permanent place to stay. I know things are frankly rubbish at the moment, but. I'm glad you decided to take Bunty's offer and remain in London till things are figured out. Please know you can come to me with anything you need. My door and ears are always open.

Yours,

Newt

Somberly, Tina cuddles the niffler a little tighter with a loose arm. Newt's words echo in her heart, and she wishes he was here. Or that she was several blocks down, in his townhouse. Being with Newt and Jacob had kept her sane the last few days since the disaster in Paris. The spare moments Newt would sit with her and take her hand, or Jacob's gentle pat on her shoulder were infinitely more comforting than any 'I'm so sorry' or 'we'll get her back' managed to be.

There was also the warmth that Newt causes in her, the feelings that were undoubtedly still growing. It was the last thing on either of their minds, but in a way, it wasn't. Tina would be lying if she claimed she wasn't in love with him. That's clear to her now. As was the fact Newt loved her too, after their moment in the archives together. If he loved her the same way? Well, that was a question for the future.

For now, just his love is enough to make Tina confident she hadn't lost everything when Queenie walked away. And that matters most, for now.  

Turning her attention from longing for Newt to the little sleeping creature tucked into her side, the auror thinks she can't recall what he was named.

"I don't know that you have a name, little fella. Do you mind if I call you Peter?" She asks. The niffler snuggles closer to her, and Tina hums a giggle. Taking the reaction as a yes.

It's then the door creaks open and reveals Bunty. Her illuminated wand in hand, and dressed in a long sleeping gown. Tina is mildly surprised to see a fairly long braid down the woman's shoulder as she peeks into the room. "Just wanted to be sure you're alright. Make sure I can't get you anything. Heard you talking and thought…"

The air is thick between them when she trails off. It only took Tina several glimpses of Newts basement sanctuary, and he's hired help to know Bunty was thoroughly in love with her employer. Tina can't fault her for the affections, having similar ones herself even after she was convinced the younger Scamander ran off with Leta. The same things that drew her to Newt certainly enticed Bunty as well.

Even though it's aimed at her, the jealousy is something that Tina finds understandable.

"I'm fine, got everything I need." She says with a smile. "Nagini's...gone under the bed for the night, so I'm sure she's asleep," Tina notes.

Bunty gives her a half forced grin and nods, turning to leave before pausing. "Wait, is that?"

"The niffler, yes." Tina laughs. "A stowaway, it seems. Brought himself along in my bag."

"Careful with that one. If you have any jewelry that's precious to you, watch out for it. The little pilferer doesn't understand how to tell the difference between what's his and what's not." Bunty warns, and Tina giggles.

The memory of the bank, her first introduction to Newt and his case of creatures flash behind her eyes, lifting her mood the slightest bit more. The mayhem the duck-billed creature's sticky paws had caused. In a way, Tina has his greediness to thank for meeting Newt. For a second, she considers telling the story but then thinks better of it—no need to needle Bunty with how Newt came into her life.

"I will. And Bunty?" Tina calls out just as she is about to close the door. "Thank you. For giving Nagini and me a place to stay. I promise if there's anything I can do to repay you, just ask." The words ring truthful. When they realized how scandlous it would look for her to stay with Newt and Jacob, Tina had resigned herself to returning alone to New York before Bunty's offer.

"It's nothing. A friend of Newts is a friend of mine. Plus. Grindelwald in a cage will make us all a bit safer." Bunty asserts, and it's the most confident and pleased Tinas has heard her since arriving, and she's glad to see that she and Bunty seem to be able to get along just fine.

[amazingphanisnotonfire-imagines]

Steve//i can see a better time, when all our dreams come true

hey! last part! i just want to say thank you to everyone who’s read, liked, reblogged and supported this series! you all mean the absolute world to me. i know this is gonna sound cringey or whatever, but this series is more than just that. i was originally supposed to write and post this last christmas. but something that i can’t really remember stopped me and i was so disappointed in myself. then this hell hole of a year happened and i had a major mental health crisis (something i am still recovering from) meaning i couldn’t do anything but watch the same three tv shows and scroll through instagram for about 3 months, as well as a bunch of other awful things. i thought it would be a miracle to just start writing requests again, but then when i was going through a notebook, i found this idea and remembered how much i loved it and how upset i was that i hadn’t done it. so i thought i’d try and do it, and after many, many days and nights of me stressing about the littlest things and driving my girlfriend absolutely insane by only talking about this (sorry, i love you!), i’d done it! and i am so proud of myself! i know its not the biggest achievement of the year, but it’s mine. so again thank you to not only everyone whose read this series, but also thank you to everyone who has read and supported everything i’ve done this year. i really do hope that next year is a better one for all of you! happy new year my loves! 

They say that time moves in different ways depending on the situation. 

For example, the day you spent hours driving to the beach with Steve and Robin felt like it was over in five minutes. But the time stuck under ground in a really crappy elevator with them felt more like a week. 

From the time it takes Steve to take his bandana and goggles off and to walk the three steps to you, it feels like days and seconds all at once. He wraps his arms around you, pulling you tight to him and the two of you let out a breath you feel like you’ve been holding for the past week. Finally you feel like you can breathe again, and finally the weight on Steve’s chest shifts a little. 

Your hair is matted, your clothes dirty and torn and there’s a cut on your cheek, blood slowly trickles down your cheek, staining your face and your t-shirt red. But you’re you, and you’re alive and you look like you don’t know whether to laugh or cry. 

“You have no idea how much I’ve missed you.” You’re the first to speak, your words stumbling over each other. A chuckle mixed with a sob passes your lips as you hug him again, you hold him tighter than he’s ever been hugged before, it feels like his ribs are being crushed but he doesn’t care. He just presses a kiss against your forehead, and runs his fingers through your knotted hair. 

Hot tears land on the top of your head but you don’t feel them, you’re too busy crying into his shirt and the two of you stand like that for a few minute, thankful and very overwhelmed that the other one is alive and well. 

“I think I do.” He sobs and you let out a short laugh. “I love you so much Y/n. I am so fucking sorry. I’m such an idiot.” 

“No, no. It’s fine.” You cup his cheeks. “I was overreacting and I shouldn’t have stormed off. It’s fine.” You say and press a quick kiss to his lips, they’re salty because of the tears but neither of you care. “I love you Steve.” You finish and he breathes deeply, his shoulders sagging and the only thing that keeps him from falling is you. 

“I thought you were dead.” He cries. 

“Nah. You can’t get rid of me that easy.” You try, nudging his shoulder but he doesn’t smile. 

“I thought I’d never see you again. I thought...I thought.” 

“I’m fine.” You cut him off before he can finish his sentence. “Look. I’m good.” 

“I wouldn’t go that far.” He teases and you stare at him offended. 

“Rude. You do know that I almost died right?” 

“You’re so dramatic.” He rolls his eyes and yours widen. 

“Excuse me? I’m sorry who came all the way into an alternate dimension just to save me? Oh right. You.” 

“I only did that because I had nothing better to do. You know after boxing day things got a bit boring.” He shrugs and you slap his shoulder. 

“Asshole.” You mumble making him laugh. “How did you find me?” 

“Do you really think I’d forget the place we first met?” He replies, sending you a look and you squint up at him, the light from his torch blinding you slightly. “Sorry.” He mumbles and quickly turns it off.

“I thought given the circumstances you would have at least tried.” You shrug, staring at the floor. 

“Nah. Surprisingly it was the best day of my life.” He confesses and it surprises not only you but himself. That’s something he never thought he’d say. 

He thought Halloween 1984 would be a day that always hurt to think about. And yeah, thinking about what Nancy said to him still stung, but then he remembers you. 

You, in a costume he didn’t quite get. Your expression full of irritation that only softened when you saw him crying. You who asked what was wrong and stayed with him until he decided he wanted to go home. You who the next day found him to make sure he was okay. 

“Will you marry me?” He asks and your eyes widen.

“What?” You splutter and he stares at you hopefully. 

“I love you more than I have loved anything ever. You’re my favourite person ever, you make every day brighter. On days where I think I can’t do anything, when I think my dad is right about all the the shit he’s said and that little nagging voice in my head is shouting, you’re always there to tell me I’m wrong. You’ve helped me when I’ve been broken up with, beaten up and drugged. You fought a Russians for me and beaten up creatures from another dimension without even knowing what it was. I’ve never felt safer or happier with you by my side. I know I’m an idiot, but still...will you marry me?” 

“Steve.” You gasp, tears roll down your cheeks mixing with the blood and goo. “Yes. Yes I will marry you.” You reply and he lets of a sigh of relief. “Although, you didn’t get on one knee, and I don’t see a ring.” You tease and he rolls his eyes. 

His hands cup your cheeks delicately, he ducks his head down and presses a gentle kiss against your chapped and sore lips. 

“Steve? Steve? Are you okay?” Robin’s voice crackles through the walkie-talkie and you jump apart, suddenly remembering where you are. A loud crash comes from just outside and you and Steve freeze and stare at each other.

Thunder booms so loud it rings in your ears for a few seconds after and Steve feels the weight come back, only this time its shared with you too.

“I’ve got her.” He says slowly and eyes the bathroom suspiciously. “If you’re not already at the portal, go now. We’re on our way back...over.” He says and you hear a collection of relived sighs. 

“Yay! You said it!” Annie cheers and Steve rolls his eyes.

“What she means is we’re glad you’re both okay. Now get your ass back.” Robin adds and you and Steve don’t need to be told twice. Steve grabs the bat he dropped on the floor and reaches for your hand. He starts to pull you but is instantly stopped when he hears your cry in pain. 

“What? What’s wrong?” He’s in front of you instantly, looking you up and down for any injuries, and then his eyes land on your leg, and you watch him pale. 

“Stupid ugly thing got me.” You mumble and glance down at it, you cringe at the sight of the now brown blood, and inflamed scratches. Yeah, there is no way you’re going to be able to get that stain out.

“Can you walk.” He asks and looks around for anything to help. 

“I’ll be fine Steve. I just need to get used to it.” You reply. 

“Are you sure?” 

“Yes.” You nod. “Come on. I don’t want to be in Tina’s bathroom anymore than I already have been.” 

“Same.” He huffs and wraps his bandana around you. 

“What about you?” You ask while he puts the goggles on you. 

“I’ll be fine.” He waves you off. “It’s only a bit of dust.” He smirks and you roll your eyes. “Now come on.” He says quicker and wraps an arm around you. The two of you hobble towards the front door, tripping on a few vines and branches.

Steve helps you balance against the wall and the front door creaks as he pulls it open. 

“Okay.” He nods and looks back at you. “Nothing is waiting to kill us so I think we’ll be fine.” 

Famous last words.” You smirk and he rolls his eyes at you while helping you walk again. 

As soon as your outside, the door slams closed making the two of you jump. Wind rushes around the two of you and brown and black works its way into the cracks of the sky. Buildings tumble down around you, almost as if an invisible force is stomping on each of them. You and Steve share a look as the chaos seems to get closer and closer to you. 

“Shall we go then?” Steve asks, his eyes wide with fear and you quickly nod. 

“Yep.” You reply. “I hate parties anyway.” You say and a small smile twitches on your lips. Steve returns it and the two of you make your way down the steps and onto the street. 

Thankfully, Tina doesn’t live that far from you. In the past that was something you hated because it meant you couldn’t get out of parties, this time however, you’re very grateful for the closeness of your homes. 

In an ideal world, it means you’ll be able to get back to the right and semi-safe world in less than twenty minutes. However, if the past seven years have taught you and Steve anything, it’s that you don’t live in an ideal world. You live in the opposite in fact. 

Like you said, the habitants of The Upside Down, don’t care much for cleaning, and it’s only made worse now that the entire things seems to be collapsing around you. Either it’s doing it on purpose so none of you can escape, or all of you just have some really bad timing. 

“So this whole place is dying?” You ask and look around. It certainly looks like it’s dying. It has done since you woke up and its only gotten worse. You also thought it was strange that you hadn’t been eaten by now. 

“Yep.” He replies. “Apparently all those times we thought we’d won but hadn’t. Did actually do something. It just took a while for it to feel the affect.” 

“And I’m in here because?” 

“Annie said that whatever dragged you in, was probably looking for anything to eat.” He replies and you think about it for a few seconds. 

“So why didn’t it eat me?” 

“How the hell am I suppose to know.” He says. “Do I look like the scientist here?” 

“Furthest from actually.” 

“Exactly.” He smiles. 

“So what’s the plan?” 

“We get out as quickly as we can.” 

“The more detailed plan?” You roll your eyes. 

“Dustin and Lucas got a bunch of explosives and fireworks. We’ve dumped them in here and as soon as we get out, El and Will’s going to explode them!” He says proudly and you look at him impressed. 

“Wo-Watch out!”

You and Steve narrowly miss being hit by a falling tree, only to trip over some sort of decaying monster. 

“Gross.” You huff and look down at your hands, now covered in blood and guts. “Are you okay Steve?” You ask while trying to stand back up. 

“No.” He mumbles and you frown as you turn around to face him. He’s hunched over in the middle of the road, dry heaving and your eyebrows furrow as you watch him. 

“What’s wrong?” You ask, however instead of answering you’re just met with a groan. “Steve? We haven’t got all day.” 

“It went in my mouth!” He exclaims and turns around, throwing his hands up in the air. “That things guts were in my mouth. I can taste blood. Oh god. I’m gonna die. Or turn into one of those. Y/n, if I turn into anything like that please just kill me. You have my permission to take a baseball bat to my head...just please, bury me somewhere nice.” He rambles making you snort a laugh. “It’s not funny Y/n.” 

“It kind of is.” You reply and he glares at you. 

“It’s not.” He mutters and slowly walks towards you. However he freezes when he notices your eyes widening. “What?” He asks. “Y/n? What’s wrong?” 

“Don’t move.” You whisper and he feels his blood run cold. 

“What?” He squeaks and watches you slowly limp and pick up the bat lying on the floor. 

“Oh god. It’s happening isn’t. I love you Y/n. Tell Robin it was me that broke her Walkman. I told her it was Dustin, but it was me.” He closes his eyes, expecting the worst. 

Something scratches at his legs and he breathes in, this is it. He’s going to die, so are you and everything is going to be for nothing. He wants to reach out for you, to hold you close and then at least you’ll be together, but he can’t he’s frozen. 

And then he hears a thud, a small whine and your heavy breathing. Slowly he opens one eye, expecting to see some sort of toothy monster staring back at him. But instead he’s met with the back of your head. He watches you drop the bat, the noise echoing into the darkness and slowly he looks down. 

He’s not entirely sure what tried to kill him, it’s unrecognizable now that’s been beaten into the ground, but it looks scary anyway. 

“It’s the same fucker that dragged me in here in the first place.” You look over your shoulder and wipe your forehead. 

“I love you so much.” He stares at you in awe. “That was hot.” 

“Shut up.” You huff but wink at him anyway. “Are you okay?” You ask and glance at his leg. 

“Oh, yeah.” He shrugs and looks at the small scratch. “I’ll be fine. What about you?”

“I’ll live.” You shrug. 

The two of you stumble around the corner and into the forest and you watch as your friends climb through the glowing doorway to the real world. 

“Guys!” Steve shouts making everyone freeze. The kids have already gone through, leaving just Nancy, Jonathan, Robin, Annie and Joyce behind. Tears form in your eyes as you stare at your friends. 

“Hurry up!” Jonathan shouts. 

“I’m trying! It’s a bit difficult though with my leg hanging off!” You shout back and watch as Jonathan pushes Nancy through the goo before running towards you. 

“Jonathan!” Joyce shouts, her voice can barely be heard over the wind. It blows through your ears and makes you shiver. Trees move wildly around you and you watch as the sky starts to fall away. 

“Well that can’t be good.” You gulp and walk a bit quicker. Jonathan stands on the other side of you, holding your waist and the three of you stumble towards the portal. 

They let go of you and push you through, you land on the forest floor with a loud thud and small groan escapes your lips. 

“Y/n!” The group shout and everyone moves to help you stand. You’ve never been so happy to see everyone. Robin and Annie pull Jonathan, Steve and Joyce through. And as soon as Joyce is stood up, El and Will press the detonators. There’s a loud bang that makes you all jump back, and you watch as the portal vanishes, leaving the brown of the tree trunk behind. 

“Is everyone here?” Joyce asks and scans the group. 

“It’s a bit late if they’re not.” Robin replies. “But yes...I think we did it. We actually did it! Yes!!” She cheers and jumps up and down. Everyone shares a look before looking back at her and even Annie looks a little concerned. 

“I can’t believe you all came for me.” You pull the goggles and fabric off of your face, and tears roll down your cheeks. 

“Of course we did.” Dustin hugs you. 

“You didn’t think we’d leave you in there did you?” Nancy asks also wrapping you up into a tight hug. The res of the group follow and soon you’re in the middle of an eleven people hug...not that you’re complaining though. 

“Jesus Christ. How long were we in there?” Steve asks and looks at the now dark sky.

“Who the fuck cares. Let’s go home.” 

Fireworks crackle and explode above your head. The sky lights up with red and oranges, leading the way home for the 12 of you. 

The residents hope that the bright lights will keep the darkness at bay, but from now on, they won’t have to.

“Happy New Year love.” 

“Happy New Year Steve.” 

[roguerogerss]

Sorry is a Sorry Word

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Henderson!Reader

Plot: Steve fucked up - bad. He doesn’t really know how, or if, he should say sorry, until Dustin gives him a pep talk.

W/C: 3.1k

A/N: Just now realising how long this is oops, sorry. My first Stranger Things fic! Finally. (watch this flop so hard lmao) Remember to like and reblog if you enjoy! It really helps me out. As always, requests are open and any and all feedback is appreciated <3

————

"Dustin, Please, just leave me alone." She lay back on her bed, tears streaming down her face and hair amiss from where she'd run her fingers through it. "I'm fine, I just...give me some time."

"But, we tell eachother everything." Her little brother sounded so small and defeated that it almost broke her heart in two. She could hear him leaning his back against the door, the back of his head thumping dully against the wood a second later. "I feel like we're drifting apart. You don't talk to me anymore."

"Dustin-"

"No, it's okay. Don't worry." Dustin cleared the remnants of his upset from his throat, "We can talk later. I get that you need time."

And with that, he'd left. She could hear his muffled footsteps on the carpeted floor of the hallway, walking away from her bedroom and back to his own. She knew that she wanted to talk to him and vent about all of the happenings of the day, but she couldn't bring herself to let her walls down in front of anyone about her current situation just yet.

It was Steve. And it was bad.

They'd been together for a year and ten months. He'd been there for her through thick and thin. Whenever their mom went MIA, something that happened more often than not, during the days and weeks and months that Y/N was left to take care of her thirteen year old brother on her own with no notice whatsoever, Steve was there. And he'd take Dustin out to the cinema, give him free ice cream, play Dungeons and Dragons with him and his friends - even though Steve had no idea how to play Dungeons and Dragons. He'd sleep over, make her feel like she wasn't alone. It filled her with pride to see him taking Dustin under his wing, more like a dad than even an older brother.

When they lost Hopper, who'd become more of a parental figure than she and Dustin's mom was to her, he was standing by her side at the funeral, hand grasping her own smaller one with force and squeezing it every so often, just to remind her that he was there. He was there after the funeral, too, when they went to the cabin and went through Hopper's things. He was there when she found the birthday present that Hopper had bought for her, a necklace with, 'you're pretty cool, kid', engraved on it. Hopper's way of saying that he loved her. It came with a letter, one that she cried so hard while reading that she couldn't see the words on the page.

The point was, that Steve had been there through everything. And now that they'd had a huge argument over - of all things - Nancy Wheeler, she was unsure of whether or not she'd have Steve to lean on anymore.

It wasn't so much a stupid argument as it was a stupid mistake on Steve's end. He even admitted to himself that what he'd done was more than a dick move. Tina was having a party, a big one, for old time's sake. Y/N wasn't invited, having been socially considered as 'uncool' while in High School, while Steve was invited. He said that it wasn't a big deal, it didn't matter, he wouldn't go.

Except that it was a big deal, it did matter, and, well, he did go.

He'd gotten really drunk, so drunk, in fact, that he had no recollection of the night at all and managed to stumble to Y/N's front door at five in the morning.

He'd told her that he went to the party, that he was sorry. She'd been mad, but she was so tired that she said she'd deal with it in the morning and told Steve to sleep it off on the sofa. Before going to sleep, however, Steve had told Y/N that he 'thought he might've kissed Nancy' that night.

They'd argued about it the next day. She'd dropped him off at home, neither of them speaking at all in the car, and they'd screamed at eachother in Steve's living room. Little did either of them know, Steve hadn't actually kissed Nancy, he was just so drunk that he made himself believe that he had. And then, Y/N told Steve that they were done, and he'd said 'fine', and she'd left and cried in her car for an hour.

And now, she was here. Crying on her bed, little brother probably thinking that one of her friends had died or something.

She hated herself for blowing up and flying off the handle and literally breaking up with Steve. Steve, on the other hand, hated himself for even going to the party, hated himself for - possibly - kissing Nancy, hated himself for going to Y/N's front door and waking her up so early in the morning.

In the grand scheme of things, Steve Harrington had been an asshole. And he was all too aware of it.

It had been around half an hour since she got home when Dustin knocked on the door again. This time, she'd managed to calm down enough to allow him to come inside. She looked horrifying, hair messed up, tear stained face, cuddling a pillow and wearing one of Steve's shirts, but Dustin was her brother, he had no right to judge her.

The door swung open slowly, and Dustin was there, grinning and holding two pints of ice cream, spoons, and some movies. "Thought we could put a movie on and eat. And you can tell me about your problems and I promise I'll listen."

"Is the ice cream cookie dough?" Y/N asked, sniffling, and a watery smile crossed her face. Dustin laughed, happy to see his sister perking up at least a little bit, even if it was over ice cream, and turned the carton to reveal to her that it was, in fact, cookie dough.

"Only the best." He tossed one of the cartons and a spoon at her, and turned on the TV set that sat across from her bed. "Besides, I know it's the only one you'll eat when you're sad."

"You know me entirely too well." She hugged her knees to her chest and dug into her ice cream, relishing in the taste of it for a second, "Oh my God, I haven't had this in so long. And the Scoops cookie dough is so bad."

"Right? I know Steve thinks it's the best, but he is so wrong." Little did Dustin know, one mention of his name would make Y/N's meltdown begin all over again. Soon enough, she was crying hot tears into her ice cream, and she allowed Dustin to lay his head on her shoulder while she explained everything.

"Okay, I have to go somewhere." Dustin knew what he had to do, and Y/N's eyebrows furrowed as he got swiftly up from her bed. "I'll be like, maybe half an hour. But you can eat my ice cream if it starts to melt."

"Dustin! Don't leave me!"

"Watch the movie!"

And then he was gone, and she was by herself, with only some ice cream and E.T. to keep her company.

Meanwhile, Dustin had found Steve at work. He was insanely hungover - although, the headache and sickness had gone away thanks to Robin and her Tylenol, but the tiredness still remained - and reminded Dustin faintly of a particular zombie in Day of the Dead when he walked into Family Video to find him leaning on the counter. The grim look on his face wasn't so much because of the hangover, though, it was more to do with the fact that he and his girlfriend of nearly two years had broken up half an hour ago, and he'd been forced to go to work.

"If you're here to talk to Steve, I wouldn't. He nearly punched me when I asked him if he wanted Tylenol. And I'm a girl." Robin stopped Dustin at the front door, a serious look on her face, but he shrugged her off.

"It's fine. He won't do anything. Besides, I know what this whole thing's about. That's why I'm here." He tried to walk off again, but Robin grabbed his upper arm, tugging him back and making him elaborate.

"Is it Y/N? I think there was a fight between them or something. He’s never looked this rough.” Robin looked concerned, and she was. She’d never seen Steve so upset before. “He was crying when he came in.” She added.

Dustin shrugged, “Yeah, I’m gonna talk to him. He’ll be fine tomorrow.” He decided not to give Robin any more information on the situation in case Y/N or Steve would've gotten mad at him for it.

"Henderson, hey." Steve said quietly when he noticed that Dustin had entered the store. He looked like he'd been crying, and Robin was definitely right when she said he’d never looked rougher. "If you're here to hang out-"

"I'm not here to hang out, Steve. We have to talk." Dustin crossed his arms sternly over his chest, raising his eyebrows and nodding his head in the direction of the store room. Steve grumbled and complied, unlocking the door and ushering Dustin inside.

"You have to apologise."

"Apologise? Apologise for - what exactly are we talking about?" Steve rubbed a hand exhaustedly over his face, leaning against a sealed box of movies that he was supposed to have put away by now.

"You know what for, Steve. Y/N. You hurt her. Like, really badly. I don't think I've ever seen her so upset." Steve already wanted Dustin to stop, but he continued, really wanting him to get the message of just how hurt his sister was. "She cried in her room for half an hour before she even let me talk to her, and now she's at home by herself, probably crying some more because you went to a stupid party. I mean, seriously man, couldn't you just have stayed home? What was so important about it?"

Steve threw his head back and hid his face with his hands, wanting the floor to open up and swallow him whole. He knew that he'd been a dick, he knew that he'd hurt her, but, Jesus, knowing the details made his heart flip in his chest and his stomach hurt. He hated seeing Y/N upset at the best of times, nevermind when it was his fault.

"Yeah. Yeah, I should've just left it. Jeez, Dustin, I'm such an asshole."

"Yes. An asshole, you are. And what was that other shit? About you kissing Nancy?"

"I didn't kiss Nancy, okay? My drunk mind just kinda...made me believe that I did. I called her today just to confirm." Steve swallowed, suddenly having the nausea of his hangover coming back to him.

"Does Y/N know that?" Dustin had his arms crossed, back against the wall, looking unimpressed as Steve shook his head. "Seriously man? Don't you think that the first thing you should've done after finding out that you didn't actually cheat on your girlfriend, was tell your girlfriend that you didn't actually cheat on her?"

"My head's all over the place, Henderson. Cut me some slack, okay?"

"You have to come say sorry, you know that, right?"

"I will. I will, I promise. I finish in an hour, why don't you go home, I'll buy some flowers, take a shower and get changed, and I'll come chap on your door like none of this even happened." Steve had suddenly perked up, gesturing with his arms and almost getting excited to initiate his plan.

"Yeah. Sure. But it better be good, Harrington. You better make her happy."

Steve didn't even have time to respond before Dustin was running off, getting on his bike, and cycling back home to his sister. He promised himself internally that he'd do all it took to make her happy.

Y/N had finished her ice cream and Dustin's had started to melt by the time he got home. She hadn't cried any more, had been too focussed on the movie, and Dustin was relieved to see her laughing at something on the screen when he entered her bedroom.

"Hey." She smiled. "Your ice cream's melting, you'd better eat it."

Dustin smiled and bellyflopped onto her bed, sending her into a fit of laughter. They both laughed so hard, in fact, that they barely heard the doorbell ring, and Dustin almost got up to go and get it.

He stopped himself though, not wanting Steve to call him an idiot or something along those lines. "You should go. I have to eat my ice cream before it melts." He said sheepishly, sitting back down from where he'd jumped up. Y/N rolled her eyes and threw the pillow that she was holding at Dustin's face.

"Alright, make your sad sister get the door because you have to eat ice cream." She stood up even as she spoke, knowing that Dustin wasn't going to budge. "Nice one, asshole."

Y/N had left her bedroom before Dustin could retaliate, bounding down the stairs and realising that, if anyone saw her the way that she looked now, they'd probably never respect her again. The doorbell went again, and she sighed quietly at the lack of patience from whoever was on the other side.

She - stupidly - didn't even bother to look out of the window that stood next to the door to check who it was before opening it, and nearly closed it again when she realised who was standing there.

"Hey, woah, don't close the door yet!" It was Steve, his eyes widened from the possibility that he'd come all the way to her house so that she could slam the door in his face, holding white lilies and a box of chocolates, which was - in Y/N's opinion - the cheesiest apology ever. "Just...listen? For like, a minute."

She slowly let her hand slide off of the door knob, watching as Steve relaxed a significant amount even from seeing her do that. "A minute." She crossed her arms over her chest, chewing her cheek. "You have a minute."

"Okay, uh, yeah, okay." Steve began his rambling. "Listen, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I know I shouldn't have gone to that party, I know I shouldn't have gotten so drunk that I managed to convince myself that I kissed Nancy. Did I already say that I didn't actually kiss Nancy? I called her, and she said we didn't even speak. Bottom line is, I'm an asshole. I know that, and I hate myself for hurting you. Dustin told me how upset you were and I...I couldn't even comprehend the fact that I did that."

He paused, looking down at his feet and waiting for Y/N to say something. Something that didn't come, she simply stood, looking at and biting her fingernails, trying to figure out whether or not she should give in and forgive him or not, so he stopped waiting and spoke some more.

"I'm sorry. I love you. I love you so much. And I know that I fucked up, and I don't expect you to forgive me-"

"Steve." Y/N stopped him. He looked up at her, expecting that she'd look upset or annoyed, but she was smiling and shaking her head. "Come here."

"Seriously?" He already wished he hadn't said what he did before he'd even finished speaking. Seriously? What kind of thing to say was that? "I mean, you know-"

She was already hugging him before he could finish speaking. She knew that he'd ramble on for hours if he could, but she also knew that she already forgave him and didn't need to listen to his rambling. "It's okay. I forgive you."

"Oh, thank God. I thought I'd lost you, really, I did." He sighed into her hair, realising that he was probably ruining the bouquet of flowers with the way that he was crushing them against her back.

"Well, you were an asshole. You had every right to think you'd lost me." Steve had always loved her subtle sassiness, it was a habit that she often fell into unknowingly, but it made him chuckle.

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right. I was an asshole."

She let go of him, finally, and stood back. He was wearing his light blue jeans, a black t-shirt and belt, with a blue jacket. It was an outfit that she'd seen him in before, quite a few times, but he never failed to look good in it anyway. His hair was slightly amiss, as though he'd gotten ready as quickly as he could - which was true, but she didn't know that for sure - but it still had his Steve 'the hair' Harrington charm.

"So, can I come in, or are you just gonna stand there and mock me?" He grinned and she stood to the side, allowing him to join her in the hallway. He went straight for the kitchen, taking out a vase and filling it up with water, then placing the flowers in it and leaving it on the kitchen counter.

"I didn't say you could-" She was trying to joke with him, but he didn't seem to care much, as he cut her off by dipping his head towards hers and kissing her passionately. He hated to admit it, probably something to do with the small part of his King Steve persona that he still carried around with him, but he'd missed her, and it had only been a few hours.

"Woah, easy tiger." Y/N laughed, pulling away when Steve's hands started to travel downwards. "We haven't even properly spoken yet."

"Yeah. Sorry." Steve said sheepishly. He pushed his hands into the pockets of his jeans and smiled down at the floor. "Do you wanna talk?"

She shrugged. "Not particularly."

"So, really, it's okay for me to do this," He closed the gap between them again, beaming at her while he searched her face for any sign of disapproval and admired the little flecks of contrasting colours that danced in her eyes. And then he kissed her again, lips soft against her own, gentle - something that wasn't widely believed, Steve Harrington was actually one of the most gentle people that Y/N had ever met.

"Well, yeah." She grinned, breathless. "But I'm sort of in the middle of watching a movie, wanna join?"

And so they spent the rest of the day, wrapped in the blankets on Y/N's bed and Y/N wrapped in Steve's arms, watching movies that Dustin fished out from the cabinet under the TV that Y/N didn't even know that they had.

She had to say, Steve's apologies were often cheesy and terrible, but this one wasn’t so bad as it was enjoyable.

[farahs-babe]

Always, I’ll Care

Fandom: The Wayhaven Chronicles

Pairing: Ava du Mortain x Detective (Elijah Robinson)

Word Count: 1675 words

Warning: None, its just fluff 

Author’s note: So this is my first time writing for TWC fandom and gosh I’m nervous lol. Here is to hoping it shows up in the tags🤞 I hope y’all like it ❤

Title Inspiration: Always, I’ll Care by Jeremy Zucker

Ava sat in the empty common room, the night shrouding around her like a cloak.

A lone night lamp was turned on in the corner of the room, which cast against the sharp and rigid lines of her body accentuating the tense muscles and the constant flexing of her arm as she clenched and unclenched her fingers around the pen in her hand.

The others had shortly retreated to their room after the detective had bid good night. She could hear their steady breaths and that helped a bit with the growing anxiety which gnawed away at her slowly and steadily, like rust eating away at iron.

After 900 years of existence, you would think that nothing could bother Ava so much it made her stay awake into the wee hours but... It might be because of a certain blue-eyed detective.

Whenever Elijah's name crossed her mind, a flux of emotions would swirl through her. Initially, it would be an intense sense of longing which tugged at her heartstrings, followed by worry for his safety and concluded by a snort of annoyance on how easily she lets him invade his thoughts.

The entire ordeal with the pack of werewolves and the new revelation of the bounty had Ava so stressed that she had dug tracks into the common room carpet as she walked in circles before finally settling into a chair.

And Elijah being the- how could she place it delicately- the joker that he is, played it off in his usual sarcasm and jest.

But she could see.

She could see everything.

The rising panic in those soft brown eyes with a swirling green... The way his fingers threaded through his ebony black curls and tugging them, a gesture he did when he was nervous... The way he rocked on his heels... Everything.

She knows how capable he is and how determined he is, like Agent Robinson but that's the very thing that could get him killed. And the very thought of living in a world where he didn't exist...

He is more capable than you give him credit for. Mason's smoky voice from earlier, floods through her head which has her sighing.

She couldn't get herself to finish that sentence.

She leaned back on her chair and her hands went to rest behind her head, clutching her tight bun. The action caused a few strands to escape the restraints of the hairband and frame her face.

She looked out of the window to stare into the inky darkness. The sky was clear and you could see the numerous stars glittering over the treeline. Wayhaven looked so peaceful at night that you would be lulled into a sense of security. 

But everyone knows, monsters come out at night.

She let out a sigh trying to relax but her muscles bunched up in tension as she heard a familiar heartbeat and the familiar set of footsteps to the common room.

The door opened slowly and the man who had enraptured her, popped in.

"Hey, isn't it late for you?" His voice rasped, which caused the hairs on the back of her neck to rise in reaction.

She cleared her throat and sat straight up. "Well, I should be asking you that question. What are you doing up at 4 am?"

He chuckled. "Fair enough. I was having trouble sleeping. Can't get my mind to calm down."

"I can relate to that."

He leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms. She could see his naked torso in the golden hue of the lamp and that made her gulp. He was not as built as Ava but he had a lithe and athletic build. The early morning runs which he goes for definitely benefit the detective. 

With a huge effort, she got her emerald eyes to meet his hazel ones.

"I know that you are a vampire with amazing strength but you seriously need to sleep."

A smile played on his lips as he ignored the jibe. He walked up to the table and leaned against it. She notices the closeness and she noticed how his heart thundered against his chest. 

"We don't need sleep to function, unlike you humans."

"C'mon Ava. Nat herself told me you haven't rested in a week. And I know the entire bounty thing is bothering you more than you admit to."

Guess I'm not the only one who can see everything.

She looked down at her pale hands resting on the wooden table. "It shouldn't have come to this. I was supposed to protect your identity- I am sorry I couldn't-"

His hand cupped her chin, gently bending her head backwards so that he could look down at her.

"I have said this before and I will say it again. It was not your fault. You don't have to be apologetic."

"Bu-"

"Shh…" He placed a finger on her lips and she could feel electric sparks and a steady blush rising to her cheeks. His fingers traced her cheek and continued, captivated by the feeling of Ava’s smooth skin. 

Thank the gods he is human and can't see in the dark.

“It was too big an information to be kept under the wraps and it was bound to be out at some time. All we can do not is do damage control.”

She nodded her head. “Yes. That is the approach we are taking.”

His hand dropped and the loss of contact pricked her heart. "Enough work talk. Come with me."

Her eyebrows knotted. "Pardon me?"

"Come with me. I know what can help you relax."

Uncertainty coloured her features but curiosity won the best of her. She stood up and followed him.

He opened the door to Ava's room and gestured her to go in first before following her in.

"So what is your genius plan Detective?" She asked, sarcasm lacing her sentence.

Elijah wordlessly sat at the edge of the bed and pointed at the space on the floor before him.

Ava cocked an eyebrow and Elijah sighed. "I am just going to give you a massage. The knots in your neck is giving me knots. You need to relax and that will help you sleep."

She stood hesitantly by the door, her instincts begging her to just turn and march out but the genuine look in those starry eyes made her want to stay.

"Ava, do you trust me?"

With my heart and life.

Ava nodded and sat down on the ground, in the space between his legs, facing the wall opposite her bed. She proceeded to take out the combat shoes she was wearing as Elijah got comfortable on the bed behind her.

"May I?" He asked as his hands reached for the tight bun.

"Yes."

Slowly untied her hair and the golden locks cascaded down, stopping a little below her shoulders. She let out a sigh of relief as she felt his fingers combing through her hair, freeing the tangled hair. He was so gentle and Ava couldn’t help but gulp at the intimacy, something she wasn’t familiar with.

She was so lost with the feeling of his fingers threading through her hair that she almost didn’t hear him. 

"Tina says that if you tie your hair so tight and keep stressing it, your hairline will recede and you will lose hair. It also gives a nasty headache."

"Well, I'm a vampire so I don't think that affects me."

Elijah hummed in agreeance as he pressed his fingertips into her scalp and massaged. Ava let out another breathy sigh, feeling her face heat up, her pulse race and goosebumps on her overly sensitive skin.

"I know the others don't apply to you but, I can literally feel your head pounding."

Well, it's for other reasons. Her subconscious snarked which had her mind overthinking again. And the closeness between the two had her senses on overdrive which didn’t help her cause.

"Ava, I can hear the gears in your head-turning... Relax. Focus on my hands." He chastised as his thumbs circled her temples, applying just the right amount on pressure. 

It took all her strength to not melt into a puddle before him.

The way I'm putty in his hand is frightening... But at the same time, it feels like home.

He proceeded to thoroughly knead through the taut muscles of her neck, his magical fingers releasing the knots of tension. 

These tender gestures took her back to the way her mother would run a comb through her hair before bedtime. Or how she would help Ava out when she returned from war.

"What are you thinking?" He asked softly, not wanting to break the peace.

"It's just... It's been a long while since someone has done something like this for me."

She didn't need to turn around to see the Cheshire grin on his face. The way his white teeth would contrast his dark skin. The way his eyes would ignite, a captivating mix of brown and green... As if moss were creeping on the rich soil.

"Well, I'm glad I could help you relive the experience."

She turned around and looked up at him, her eyes memorising his face and every minute detail. The freckles dusted on his nose, the curly hair falling against his forehead, the light stubble and his full lips. 

"Thank you, Eli. I really appreciate it."

He squeezed her shoulder and gave her a gentle smile, something he only showed her. He reached to tuck a rebel strand behind her ear. "It was my pleasure, Ava. Get some rest, okay? Supernaturals don't take it easy on you just because you are tired."

Her eyes narrowed. "Are you mocking me?"

Elijah took a faux gasp. "I would never dare to."

Her lips tilted up in a half-smile before rearranging back into an impassive mask.

"Good night Detective. See you bright and early tomorrow morning."

"Good night." He said as he stood up and walked out of the room, leaving Ava in a haze of rushing emotions, untethered thoughts and the regret of not asking him to stay back with her.

I hope you liked it and thank you for reading❤ 

Like, comment, reblog and let me know what you think ❤

Tagging: @lilyoffandoms ; @agentrebecca ; @anotherbeingsworld ; @oshen​ ; @nathanielhsewell​ ; @starrystarrytrouble​