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phoenix-downer · 3 years

Text

Autumn Mending Chapter 3: Firelight Confessions

~1650 words. Romance, Angst, Pining, Mutual Pining, Fluff, Comfort, Healing, Making Up. For SoKai Day 2021.

Sequel to Kisses and Lies because I couldn’t just leave Sora and Kairi hanging, now could I?

Happy SoKai Day!

Summary: Sora and Kairi are still broken up, but with the help of old friends and Twilight Town’s fall festival, the spark between them just might be rekindled.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3

Sora felt lightheaded from the whirlwind of emotions swirling inside his heart. So much had happened today. Kairi had shown up here on Twilight Town and had apologized for breaking up with him. Was it possible she still loved him? That she still cared?

The way he kept catching her looking at him sure made it seem like she did. And now this hayride. He didn’t want it to be over. He wanted her to be snuggled up next to him, holding his hand, for the rest of his life.

But while his heart and body cried out for joy and begged him to be closer to the one he loved, his brain was yelling at him to put on the brakes, to slow down, to be cautious. What about that guy he’d seen her with? What about the past year and a half of anguish and torment? Could all of that really be forgotten in a single day?

He wanted to forget. He wanted to put it all behind them. He wanted to forgive and move on and mend things with her. Even if it meant risking getting hurt again. The chance of being with her for good was worth it.

So all that kept his mind occupied to the point he was barely listening to the ghost stories. Before he knew it, the hayride was over and it was time to pile out of the wagon. A pang went through him when Kairi had to let go of his hand, and he wondered if she was as starved for his touch as he was for hers.

Hopefully they’d get to talk about it soon. Hayner, Pence, and Olette had rented one of the campfires nearby for the evening, and that was enough to temporarily distract him. Their little group spent the next couple of hours hanging out, cooking hot dogs and roasting apples and making s’mores. Sora loved sitting by the crackling campfire and spending time with his friends, but as the minutes ticked by, his eyes kept wandering to Kairi. She was seated across from him, and she looked really beautiful in the flickering firelight. Their eyes met, and she smiled and looked at him the way she always used to look at him.

“Oh gosh, I almost forgot!” Olette said, clasping her hands together. “Our pumpkins! We should grab them so we can light the tea candles in them.” She stood and stretched. “Hayner, Pence, come with me so we can grab everyone’s pumpkins and bring them back.”

Hayner and Pence finally got the hint and followed after Olette, leaving Sora and Kairi alone. He stood under the pretense of roasting another marshmallow, but really, he just wanted an excuse to sit next to her. He loved being close to her, and her natural scent mingled with the campfire’s smell in a way that reminded him of all the times they’d gone camping as kids back home.

“The embers are best here,” he said to explain his sudden change in position, and she smiled and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

“Oh are they now.”

“Yeah.” A few seconds passed, and he added, “Listen, Kairi, about earlier—”

“I’m still in love with you,” she blurted out, and he dropped the marshmallow and stake into the fire. Didn’t even care about them anymore. Something far more important was at stake here.

“But—I saw you, with that guy—It’s why I left again—”

Kairi shook her head, and her eyes watered. “After our mission, I was hoping you and I could work things out, but I felt like you were avoiding me. I figured you didn’t love me anymore, and I couldn’t blame you. So when that guy asked me out, I thought, why not give it a shot. Why not try to move on and give you your space. But then he tried to kiss me, and I just… I couldn’t.” Her voice broke and she was crying in earnest now. “All I could think about was you,” she sobbed. “How badly you’d be hurt if you knew. How wonderful it feels when you kiss me. And I knew I was still in love with you. I knew my heart would always be yours. I knew it was pointless to try to move on.”

Sora stared at her, his heart pounding in his chest. Kairi still loved him? Kairi still wanted to be with him? That guy he saw her with was nothing more than a quick fling that made her realize the one she truly wanted to be with was him?

She wiped her teary eyes. “Say something, please.”

He gently caught her hand and tugged it away from her face. She searched his eyes, and he smiled and cupped her cheek.

“I love you too, Kairi,” he said, softly, tenderly, then brought his lips to hers. He kissed her with all the pain and homesickness he’d felt the past year and a half, all the pining and aching and longing, hoping she’d realize just how much he wanted this, how much he wanted her. And she kissed him back, so unguarded and wild and joyful that his pain started to fade away. What had happened couldn’t be undone, but it could be mended and healed, could be turned into something beautiful and good, could become another part of their love story.

When it was over, he wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her head. She leaned against his heart and gently touched where his scar was hidden under several layers of clothes. She knew it so well that she didn’t even have to look to know where it was. And he didn’t have to look to know where Xehanort had struck her down either; his hands had held the very spot countless times before and remembered exactly how to comfort her.

“I love you,” he said, his voice full of emotion.

“I love you too.”

He kissed her head and stroked her hair. “I’m gonna make you a new promise,” he said. “You mean everything to me, and I want to settle down with you, get married, start a family. The past several years, I’ve been saving up munny so we can do just that. Maybe we should go to college first though, that would probably be good. We’ve gotta provide for our family and for each other somehow. And I know it’ll be an adjustment for me. I’m not naive enough to think it won’t be. But you’re more than worth it.”

She sniffled and clutched his hoodie. “I’m sorry for doubting you.”

“It’s okay. You had a lot of reasons to be concerned. I’ve left you behind too many times before.”

“But you always come back to me,” she said as she looked up and searched his eyes.

“That’s right. I made you a promise, to always return.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out her lucky charm.

She teared up again and curled his fingers around it. “Keep it till we get home. For good, I mean. Then, and only then, will I take it back.”

“Deal.”

He tucked it back into his pocket and held her and kissed her and comforted her. He shared his hoodie with her too because even with the campfire nearby, she was getting a little cold. Plus it was just nice to be this close to her. He’d missed her, so much. And something about the fire was cozy and calming and enchanting. He could hold her like this and stare into it forever.

Well, until Hayner, Pence, and Olette returned with the pumpkins. They had big smiles on their faces, and Olette told them to close their eyes. Sora heard the lighter flicking a couple of times as their friends lit the pumpkins, and then when he and Kairi opened their eyes, he could see why Olette had wanted this to be a big surprise.

Kairi had carved the same drawing of him that she’d drawn in the Secret Place when they were kids, complete with the paopu fruit she’d added to it years later. It matched perfectly with his pumpkin because he’d carved the drawing he’d made of her with the paopu fruit too. A big smile lit up her face as she saw the two pumpkins side-by-side, and he grinned and kissed her cheek, only for her to kiss him properly on the lips. There was much whooping and hollering from Hayner, Pence, and Olette, much to he and Kairi’s amusement.

“Operation-get-the-lovebirds-back-together is a success!” Hayner crowed, high-fiving Pence.

Sora raised an eyebrow. “Wait, you guys planned this?”

“Maybe,” Olette said with a teasing lilt to her voice, and Hayner and Pence both had triumphant smirks on their faces.

“I can believe you did,” Sora said to Olette, “but these two interrupted Kairi and I so much tonight I was convinced they were trying to keep us apart,” he finished, jabbing his finger at Hayner and Pence.

“Reverse psychology, it works wonders,” Pence said. “We figured it would get you more desperate to talk to each other.”

“I guess it worked then,” Sora said wryly. “Because as great as that hayride was, it was not worth all the interruptions.”

Hayner, Pence, and Olette laughed, and Kairi giggled and nuzzled his cheek. Sora soon joined in with the merriment. He couldn’t hold the scheming against his friends, especially because it had worked. He and Kairi were together again, and while it would take time to mend all the hurt between them and forge a path forward, he knew they would. Tonight was a good start, and he was determined to make this work and so was she.

When their eyes met, he knew something else, too. He loved her and she loved him, and that was more than enough for them to make their own storybook ending and happily-ever-after.

~~~

A/N: Last year I wrote nine kiss prompts for SoKai based on this list, and I wanted to write one more to hit ten, so, this story fits...

11. ...in joy,

30. ...as comfort, and

50. ...out of love.

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed!

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cobaltusami · 3 years

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Tropical Vacation pt. 3

Hey hi hello! This part has been my favorite to write thus far, obviously because I am obsessed with Sakura 💙 lol.

I hope you like it!

Characters in this part: Switch!Sakura, Switch!Mondo, Ler!Hiro, technically Ler!Taka?, Leon, Hina

Word Count: 3,299

PT 1: [Click here.], PT 2: [Click here.], PT 3: [You are here.]

Later on In the day, the vibe was back to normal. The beach sounds were actually pretty calming...

Well, that’s what they would have liked to say. The sounds would have been calming, had It not been for the loud laughter and swearing drowning It out.

You see, Mondo thought he would try to lie in wait for Sakura, but the minute he touched her, she grabbed his hands and judo flipped him onto the floor, pinning him down and proceeding to wreck him with tickles.

“You don’t learn, do you?” she hummed, her fingers tickling every patch of unprotected skin she could reach. “Did you honestly think I was going to let you jump me?”

“Fuhuhuhuhuhuck! Ahahahahahahaha!” Mondo laughed. “Hohohohohow did you eheheheheven seehehe me!?”

“I am not an idiot. I knew you would be waiting for me, You don’t give up that easily.” She replied. “But to answer your question, I didn’t. Hina gave you away.”

Hina giggled deviously as Mondo glared as best he could at her. “Youhuhuhu’re so dehehehehad AsahinahahaAAAHAHAHA-- SHIHIHIHIT!”

He shrieked as Sakura managed to slip her fingers under his arms, which were pinned to his sides. “Don’t threaten Hina.” She chastised.

“SAHAHAHAHAKURAHAHAHA I AHAHAHAM SOHOHO GONNA WREHEHEHEHECK YOU FOHOHOHOR THIS! MAHAHAHARK MY WORDS!” He declared through his fit of hysterical laughter, squirming to no avail.

“Yeah sure you will.” She rolled her eyes fondly at her hot headed friend. “You’d need two of you to hold me down, And unfortunately for you that doesn’t appear to be likely… Unless you have some kind of cloning power I was unaware of--”

Mondo was going to make a smartass retort, but was unable to when Hina joined in, tickling his stomach and ribs. “FAHAHAHAHACK! STAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!” He cackled.

“Are you able to clone yourself? No? Well… That’s unfortunate for you.” She teased, speeding up.

“Guess you’ll just have to lay here and laugh instead!” Hina giggled.

Oh, they were so going to the top of Mondo’s list- Move over Leon you’re no longer public enemy number one as far as Mondo Is concerned.

“Did you seriously try to tickle Sakura again? How dense are you, Mondo?” Leon chided, unable to help himself from grinning at the sight before him.

Okay, Maybe Leon stays at the top of the list too…

“DOHOHOHON’T JUHUHUHUST STAND THEHEHERE!! HEHEHELP ME!” He shrieked.

“Are you nuts? Do I look like I have a death wish??” Leon laughed.

“IHIHIHIF YOU DON’T HEHEHELP ME YOU DOHOHOHO!”

Leon sighed. “Fine. Hey Hina, Wanna go get some donuts with me?”

Hina stopped tickling, perking up at the mention of donuts. “Donuts??” She looked up at Sakura with pleading eyes. Sakura chuckled.

“Yes, You can go.”

“Thank you!” She squealed, jumping up and running towards the kitchen, grabbing Leon’s arm and dragging him behind her.

Mondo managed to pull an arm free, he quickly latched on to the first part of her he could reach and wasn’t guarding or anticipating- her leg. He delivered a few squeezes to her leg just above her knee, this action made her flinch and a smile briefly cross her face.

She grabbed his hand and pried his off of her, pinning it down to the floor with a small indignant huff. “Was that your best attempt? I suppose I was expecting something better from you.”

Mondo narrowed his eyes as he caught his breath. “Yeah? How’s this?” He pulled his other arm free and shot his hand up under her shirt, attacking her side.

She yelped, her body jolting away from his touch, a few giggles slipping past her lips. “Mohondo-- I will rihip your hand off!”

“I thought you weren’t ticklish?” Mondo grinned, his fingers following her wherever she squirmed to. “You look pretty fuckin’ ticklish to me.”

Sakura giggled a bit more, deciding her best course of action now would be to get away from him before she broke out into full on giggles. Because as soon as she did that, She was toast.

Whenever Sakura has been tickled In the past, she would become completely helpless and immobilized by her laughter, like her body would lock up and just stop responding like some slow web browser.

Only two people knew about this weakness of hers, Kenshiro and Hina. The only two people brave enough to tickle her. She would prefer not to add Mondo to that list.

She flew off of Mondo, taking a moment to recompose herself. Though she could only take but a moment because Mondo swiftly followed, having since recovered from his laughing fit.

Sakura knew she couldn’t reach her room, she’d have to run right past Mondo who would undoubtedly be waiting and catch her in his arms. So she ran into the dining hall where Hina and Leon were eating donuts.

“Oh hey Sakura, How’s It going?” Leon asked casually.

Sakura ran around to the other side of the table as she heard Mondo burst into the room. She eyed him carefully, the table serving as a barrier between the two. “Where do you think you can run to that I won’t catchcha?” Mondo asked teasingly, approaching the table.

“Mondo… I will reverse anything you try.” Sakura tried to reason with the Biker as she backed up a bit so that she was out of his reach. “So It’s pointless to continue.”

He thought about It, she was probably right… She’s faster and as much as Mondo hated to admit it- stronger. Maybe he should--

“Nuh uh!” Hina interjected, her mouth full. “Sakura’s lying, She freezes up when you tickle--”

“HINA!”

Leon snorted with amusement.

Mondo raised an eyebrow. “Reeeaally? Well, I guess It is pointless to continue… Pointless for you.” He smirked. “Just accept your fate and maybe I won’t be as merciless… though, I wouldn’t count on it after that little stunt you and Hina pulled.”

Sakura sighed internally. Thanks a lot Hina… Now her worst fear is coming true, Mondo now knows about her weakness. Guess she has to use her speed now. Her eyes darted around for a way out, but before she could find a route, Mondo lunged across the table at her.

Though thinking fast as always, she dove under the table at the same time and bolted out the door, with Mondo swearing and chasing after her.

She was going to run back to her room, but saw her friends In the hall and didn’t want Mondo to accidentally run them over so she made for the stairs and dove into the rec room to hide.

She leaned back against the wall next to the door, gasping softly, catching her breath. The room was empty, though she wasn’t sure if that made her feel better or worse.

She stilled her breath as she heard footsteps coming up the stairs, they lingered outside the rec room for a moment before becoming silent. She wasn’t sure If he was looking in the room or just standing there.

After another moment of silence, she heard footsteps go running down the hall and she let out a breath of relief. She stayed there a bit longer before peaking out the window, There wasn’t anyone there.

She opened the door and went to run down the stairs but a strong arm hooked around her waist and pulled her back into the rec room with a startled yelp. “Where do ya think you’re going?” Mondo grinned as he kicked the door shut.

Sakura pulled out of his hold and backed up nervously. “M-Mondo… Think about this, I told you earlier that It would take two of you to hold me down.”

“Oh, I know what ya said.” He chuckled evilly, advancing towards the retreating Martial Artist. “But I also know what Hina said, Too. Ya lock up when ya get tickled.”

“If that were true, then how did I get away from you earlier?” She challenged.

“If It’s not true, why are you nervous?” He retorted, closing in on the white haired girl.

Sakura didn’t have a response to that, well, except for a small gasp when she bumped into the couch and almost lost her balance.

Mondo took this opening and coiled his arms around her, pulling her down to the couch next to him. She resisted as he suspected she would so he had to throw all of his weight into it.

Immediately his trained fingers were scribbling all over her sides. “Gotcha~” he grinned.

She let out a strangled whimper before bursting into breathy giggles, she tried to get away but the remaining strength she had wasn’t enough to get free once he sat on her legs. “Mohohondo! Stohohop It!” She complained, wrapping her arms around her midsection in a feeble attempt to block off other spots.

“I thought ya weren’t ticklish? What happened to that?” Mondo teased, running his fingers across her toned stomach experimentally. He wished he had enough time to ask Hina where she was most ticklish at, but figured it would be more fun to find out for himself.

She giggled a bit harder. “Okahahay, I’m tihihicklish! Are you hahahappy?”

“Yes.” Mondo smirked. “‘Cause that means I can get some revenge on ya!”

“Ihihi swear you’ll rehehehegret thi-- AAH! NOHOHOHO!”

Mondo immediately honed in on that spot upon drawing that reaction from the fighter. “What’s wrong? A lil ticklish on your hips?” he asked teasingly, squeezing at her hips relentlessly.

Sakura tried to contain her laughter but it was no use. “DOHOHOHOHON’T!” She grabbed uselessly at his hands, unable to pry them away.

“Don’t? Don’t what?”

“I AHAHAHAM GOING TO KIHIHIHICK YOUR ASS!” She threatened, blushing bright red. Well, Looks like she wasn’t gonna fall for the obvious trick like Taka would...

Mondo laughed, shaking one of her hands off. He reached up and fluttered his fingers against her neck. “Oh yeah? Tell me all about how you’re gonna do that. All I gotta do Is tickle you and you’ll crumble to the floor In a cute giggly blushy heap.” He teased.

She brought her shoulder up to try to block him. “SHUHUHUT UP!” She blushed more.

Ah, So that’s what her trigger is. The cutesy teasing approach. Mondo grinned evilly at the realization. “What? You don’t like being told you’re adorable?” He cooed.

He moved his hand away from her neck to tickle her newly exposed ribs thanks to her trying to block him from her neck.

“STAHAHAHAP!” She laughed harder, trying to turn on the side he was currently attacking to protect her apparently very sensitive ribs.

Mondo released her hip much to her relief but to her dismay his fingers were now mercilessly wiggling against the ribs on her other side. “Man, We should tickle you more often… You’re just so cute when you laugh! Maybe I’ll tell Hiro and the others about--”

“DOHOHOHON’T YOU DAHAHAHARE!” She laughed, her body trembling, not used to being tickled.

“Why not? I think you could use it. You’re so stoic all the time.” Mondo chuckled, tickling the spots between her ribs.

While that may be true, Sakura still would prefer no one else be brave enough to tickle her because she finds it completely embarrassing. When she was training with Kenshiro sometimes he’d cheat and make her submit by completely destroying her with tickles. It was totally unfair, He knew all of her worst spots thanks to them being friends for so long.

She would also prefer no one hear her squeal like she just did. She tried to wrack her brain to come up with a way to turn this around and get out of Mondo’s tickly grasp, but It was really hard to concentrate with him viciously tickling her.

“What? Don’t got a smartass response to that?” He smirked, speeding up the tickles to her ribs. “Ya givin’ up already, Sakura?”

C’mon… Think! Think think thi… oh god It tickles so bad!

“NOHOHOHO! I NEHEHEHEVER GIHIHIVE UP!” She retorted stubbornly, trying to will herself to throw him off. But alas just as previously mentioned, her body wouldn’t respond to her brain.

“Aight, Whatever works for you.” He shrugged, giving a lopsided grin. “I’m pretty content tickling you and listening to your cutesy laughter.” he teased, marveling at the way her face turned pink at the teasing.

Oh! That’s It! Maybe she can’t outpower him right now, but she can outwit him!

“YOUHUHU KNOW, FOR SOHOHOMEONE WHO GETS SOHO NEVEROUS THEHEHEY YELL WHEN FLIHIHIRTING, YOU’RE AHAHAHAWFULLY CAHAHALM RIGHT NOW.” She struggled to taunt him through her loud laughter.

Sakura managed to open an eye to observe his reaction, just as she hoped he would, he got flustered and turned pink himself. “U-Uh yeah, that’s ‘cus I’m not flirting with you.” He tried to dispute awkwardly.

“REHEHEALLY?? SOHOHO DOHOHO YOU CAHAHAHALL EVERYONE CUHUHUTE OR JUHUHUST ME AND CHIHIHIRO?”

“H-Hey! Don’t get it twisted!” Mondo stammered awkwardly, stopping his torment of her. “I’m not-- ACK!”

That was just the opening she needed, She grabbed him by the arms and flipped their positions, pinning his arms above his head as she caught her breath. “H-Heh….heheh…” She giggled still, her body still slightly trembling.

“Wh-Wha-- You fuckin’ tricked me!” Mondo growled.

“Of course… Just as you were… I used your weakness… against you…” She smirked tiredly. “I… Know you didn’t… mean It like that… But I also know… How awkward you are about that sort of thing…”

“That’s so not fair!” He complained, struggling in her iron grip.

“I don’t believe there were any ground rules laid out, were there?” She retorted. “You brought It on yourself when you started teasing me.”

Think quick, you’re in danger now Owada… Do to her what she did to you… Ooh, He can work with that.

“I brought it on myself when I started teasing you?” He repeated for confirmation, continuing after she nodded. “Soo… that mean you actually like being tickled, just not teased?” He grinned slyly.

She felt her face heat up. “Wh-What?!”

“Do you actually like being tickled?” He repeated.

“I heard what you said!” She snapped, flustered. “N-No! Of course I don’t! How girly do you think I am?!”

Ohh, Maybe he accidentally hit the nail on the head? Therapist Owada Is detecting some deep rooted issues she has about being perceived as weak or girly.

“Well, It’s just your wording Is kinda confusing… wouldn’t I have brought It on myself the moment I put my hands on you?” He grinned cheekily at her.

“Of course you did! I just meant that the teasing was the final straw!”

“So the tickling itself wasn’t bad enough?”

Sakura narrowed her eyes at the biker. “Do you think I don’t see what you’re doing? I know you’re purposely misconstruing my words to distract me so you can reverse our positions again.”

Before Mondo could argue, She used her free hand (bc of course she had a free hand) to mercilessly attack his belly and underarm. “I warned you that you would regret it.”

“BAHAHAHA! SAHAHAHAHAKURAHAHAHA STAHAHAP!” He barked through fits of laughter.

The door to the rec room swung open. “Bro?? I heard you scream! Are you--” Kiyotaka paused, taking in the unusual sight before him.

“Hello Taka.” Sakura greeted nonchalantly.

“FAHAHAHACK! TAHAHAHAHAKA HEHEHELP!” He cackled, trying to throw the Martial artist off.

Taka chuckled a bit after he got used to the scene in front of him. “Bro, What did you do to end up like this?” He asked amusedly, approaching the two.

“He thought I would let him get away with tickling me.” She answered.

Taka raised his eyebrows in surprise, Mondo actually managed to catch her? And he missed It? Damn. “Kyoudai, why would you do something so reckless?!”

Sakura chuckled.

“WHOHOHOSE SIHIHIDE ARE YOU OHOHOHON!?” Mondo shot back.

“R-Right, Sorry.” Taka smiled sheepishly. “U-Um, How am I supposed to help you?”

“You don’t.” Sakura replied, her tone warning as she glanced at the Moral Compass.

“JUHUHUHUHUST TIHIHICKLE HER! SHEHEHEHEHE FREEHEHEHEHEZES UP!”

“Taka,” She paused her torment of Mondo to look at Taka. “I feel I must offer you a fair warning, If you tickle me, I will hunt you down afterwards and make Mondo’s tickles look like child’s play.”

Taka squeaked nervously, his arms wrapping around his midsection subconsciously. “Y-Yes ma’am. U-Understood.”

“Fuck It, I’ll do It!” Hiro said, suddenly at the other end of the couch.

“Wh-Wha-- Hiro?? When did you get he--”

Hiro squeezed her sides, causing her to yelp and burst out laughing. She tried to get away by sliding to the floor, but Hiro followed, laughing along with her. “Man Sakura, I never would’ve guessed you’d be this ticklish!” He grinned.

“Stahahahap hehehehelping hihihim he stahahaharted it!” She complained childishly.

“I’m about to end It, too.” Mondo smiled evilly as he got down on the floor with them.

“Hey, Quit squirming will ya? It’s making It harder for me to--”

Hiro immediately stilled his fingers in surprise when Sakura shrieked. Mondo’s eyes shot to Hiro’s hands, they were resting on the back of her ribs. “Well well…”

“Hey are you okay, Sakura?” Hiro asked, concerned he had hurt her.

Before Sakura could recollect herself to get away, Mondo attacked. Wiggling his fingers incessantly against the back of her ribs.

She shrieked again, this time hysterical laughter following. “AAH! NAHAHAHAHA! MOHOHOHONDOHOHO DOHOHOHON’T!”

Hiro blinked In surprise. “Ohhh! I see, Your back Is ticklish!” He laughed as he realized, his fingers tracing delicately across her back. This made her squeal uncharacteristically as her body shook with laughter.

“Looks like Hiro found your ticklish spot.” He chuckled, tickling the spots between the back of her ribs without mercy.

“NAHAHAHAHAT THEHEHEHEHERE YOUHUHUHUHUHU JEHEHEHEHEHERKS!”

“Hey, Don’t be mean!” Hiro frowned, squeezing her waist. This drew another squeal followed by louder laughter from the fighter.

“Yeah, It’s not our fault you’re so fuckin’ ticklish~” Mondo teased, He glanced up at Taka who was watching with a bit of amusement. “Wanna help us?”

“W-What? But she said--”

“You think she’s In a position to be threatening my Kyoudai?” Mondo smirked, speeding up his tickles to emphasize his point.

Taka hesitated, It felt kind of mean to gang up on Sakura like this, but on the other hand… When does an opportunity like this present itself? And her laughter does sound lovely…

Sakura was hoping that Taka wouldn’t give in, but was sorely disappointed when she felt another set of hands on her, Nails gliding gently across her back. This paired with the harsher tickles to her ribs and the squeezes to her waist and hips made her laugh turn wheezy and borderline silent as she shook violently with laughter.

It wasn’t long though before they heard the familiar chime come across the monitor. Mondo and Hiro both groaned as they all ceased their tickling, much to Sakura’s appreciation.

“Ahem! This Is a school announcement!” Monokuma’s voice spoke. “All Students please report to the Gym for a special surprise!”

“What do you think It Is this time?” Mondo sighed to his classmates.

“I have no idea, but whatever It Is It can’t be good.” Hiro frowned, crossing his arms, Taka nodded In agreement.

“Sakura? Ya good?” Mondo chuckled at the still giggling heap on the floor.

“G-Give me ahaha… minute… hehehe…”

“You have a cute giggle.” Hiro complimented, much to her dismay.

“D-Don’t sahahahay that… wohohohord to mehehe…”

“What word?”

“Cute.” Mondo snickered at the weak glare she gave him. “C’mon giggles, Let’s get to the gym.” He said as he stood up, offering his hand to help her up.

She took it and he pulled her to her feet, once up she pulled him in closer to whisper to him. “This Isn’t over, Owada.” She declared threatening, letting go of him.

Mondo cleared his throat nervously, He knew that wasn’t just a threat… It was a promise.

31 notes · View notes

every1studio · 4 years

Text

REQUESTED: area 127″ [nct127]

genre: fluff + reverse harem + self-love (mentions of self worth)

ficstyle: bulletpoints

request: “ Hello, my love! I was wondering if you could possibly write a NCT 127 bullet-point/reaction similar to your Stray Kids “Wow” and Ateez “KQ University?” I absolutely adore those two fics- makes my heart go bOOM BOOM. “

note: I need to write more for SM artists....

You had to start high school a new school because your parents were transferred to another area for work. You wanted to be happy for them but you were upset that you had to go make new friends. You always struggled with making friends and now you had to leave the ones that you made. Well there’s nothing you can do about it so you straightened your back and go on with your new life...

YUTA

you woke up a little earlier than usual since you didn’t want to be late for your first day of school

you came across a pretty cool selection of vending machines and thought you should get something

after much thought, you chose the banana milk

you rummaged in your bag for your wallet only to find that you didn’t have enough change

you hung your head down a little to express how you were currently feeling but you just made your way to the bus stop

“hey!”

you turned to see who it was

the smiley boy pulled up to you with his bike and stuck his arm out, holding the banana milk

“I saw that you didn’t get it and you looked upset.. you should start a day with a smile!”

he wore the same uniform as you so you didn’t he was too suspicious

“uh thanks-”

“you must be a transfer student.. you can call me Yuta~” he slowly walked, hoping you would walk and talk with him

“I’m Y/N...but how do you know? I mean there’s probably tons of kids at the school, how would you know who I was?”

he shot a smile at you and said, “I would notice if I saw someone like you at our school”

you flushed in embarrassment

“what? do I look weird or something?”

he walks with you up until you two get to the bus stop, “no, nothing like that.. you just.. you stand out because you’re pretty..”

no one really said that to you before; it was something you only heard from your parents and relatives

you were about to say something but your bus came

“see ya later, Y/N~” Yuta sped away on his bike

flustered and confused, you boarded the bus hoping that he was just being nice and wasn’t actually flirting with you...

TAEIL

there was basically no space on the bus

but you managed to snag a spot next to a boy wearing your uniform; he had his earphones in and was gazing out the window

you didn’t want to bother him so you sat the the edge of your seat so that you didn’t touch him

there were lots kids from your school as well as a lot of daytime workers

speaking of daytime workers, there was this old business man that kept trying to shove his junk in your face

at first you thought that it was because the bus was crowded

but you soon realized that he was purposely doing it and kept a sleazey smile at you

you kept trying move away and say something to him but he would always interrupt you by coughing or clearing his throat

you were seconds away from punching his junk until the boy sitting next to you tapped on your shoulder

“sit in my seat..” he murmured

he was your hero, you nodded so you got up to change seats

the sleazebag grabbed your arm to try to push you back down into the seat but the boy next to you grabbed his wrist

“I don’t know what you’re doing to her but you better stop it, sir...” he said quite loudly for the whole bus to hear

everyone looked at the commotion; everyone shifted away from him in response after seeing what was happening

you switched seats with the boy

“thank you..”

he noticed you were still disturbed by the incident so he offered one of his earphone

“do you like Kim Bum Soo?”

you nod at him as you took his earphones

the both of you sat in silence as the bus took you to school

MARK

you and Taeil walked towards the main auditorium for the first assembly of the school year after scanning your IDs through the main entrance

“you’re a second year right? you’re going to be sitting in that area,” Taeil pointed to area you were suppose to be at

“I’m a third-year so I gotta sit here.. oh, and there’s a reserved area for each class so make sure you sit with your class”

you gave him a small smile and waved, “see you later, Taeil..”

you found your class and sat quietly as people in the same class scurried around to find seats next to each other

you sat at the edge so that you wouldn’t separate friends together

the spot next to you stayed empty until some boy rushed to sit down before the assembly started

“I made it! this is 1-A for first years right?” he panted as he tried to tame his bedhead

“this is 1-A for second years...” you murmured trying not to cause a commotion

the boy’s jaw dropped and looked at his orientation pamphlet, “ohh.. the first years are in the front.... well, too late now, I’ll just sit here..”

you nodded and you shifted your attention away from him; not because you didn’t like him but because you didn’t want to get in trouble

so you sat quietly with your hands facing up in your lap and your eyes slowly started to droop

you saw a wrapped candy appear in your hands and you turned to see that it came from the first year sitting next to you

“it’ll help you not fall asleep.. I was fall asleep during assemblies..”

“oh.. thank you” you whispered

“I’m Mark..”

“I’m Y/N..”

“SHH~” a teacher that was nearby shushed the two of you

you both flinched

looked at each other

and snickered in silence

after the assembly, you and Mark parted way because he was in a different year

JOHNNY

you didn’t have to worry about getting into class early because you were a transfer student, you had to go to the teacher’s office

here’s the thing.. you didn’t get an orientation pamphlet because you thought you didn’t need one

that backfired on you; you didn’t know where the teacher’s office was

through a crowd of students chatting before class, you didn’t want too much attention on you for being new

so you didn’t ask for directions

but someone saw you walking back and forth through different floors of the school

“hey, need help, little lamb?”

a taller boy wearing an arm band saying “student council” called out to you while leaning near the windows of the hallway

“me?” you pointed to yourself while looking around you

“it’s just you and me on this hall,” he pointed out as he walked towards you

“oh.. yeah..”

“I’m Johnny, the president of student council, at your service.. so you looking for your class or the teacher’s office, little lamb?”

“I have a name, you know..” you were flustered by the nickname

“eh, little lamb matches you well though,” he leans towards you until your back hits the wall behind you

then proceeds to props his arm above you so that you’re literally trapped under him

Johnny smiles as your ears turn red

you gently shifted away, “I need to go to the teacher’s office..”

“sure thing.. just keep on going straight take the stairs on your right.. you’ll see it when you reach the main floor..”

“ah thank you.. bye..” you rushed out of there so fast

“don’t run in the hallways!” he called out

Johnny chuckles at you when you went from running to power walking as he makes his way towards the student council office

JAEHYUN

adrenaline was still rushing when you turned the corner to get to the stairs, you almost missed the staircase

you missed a step on top of the stairs

you tried to reach for the rail but you were too far away

your eyes squeezed shut as you braced yourself for a nasty fall

but you feel yourself fall against someone’s sturdy chest

you could see their nametag

Jung Jaehyun

you exhaled the breath you were holding but you found it hard to breathe again when you saw that you fell on a guy

and a handsome one at that

“I’m sor-”

“you should watch where you’re going..” he said under his breath

you furrowed your brows at him because the attitude was unnecessary and you never usually speak up unless it irritates you

“I did say sorry.. if you were gonna be bothered, why would you help me in the first place?”

“because I would look like the bad person if you feel and I didn’t help you,” he pointed to the surveillance camera

your jaws dropped as you were shocked to hear how unbelievable he was

you didn’t get a chance to say anything as he passed you

when he met up with his friends at the top of the stairs, he was smiling as if he was an angel

“do you know her?” someone from his group pointed at me

“no, I just helped her because she tripped on the stairs..”

everyone began to adore him

“you’re so nice!”

“that’s Prince Jaehyun for you~”

“you’re such an angel~”

you gagged at the sight and went to the teacher’s office

TAEYONG

after finding and talking to your homeroom teacher, a boy came up behind you

“I’m here, Mr. C~”

“perfect! Taeyong can you take Y/N to the classroom? I need to get a couple of handouts together..”

“sure thing.. let’s go~” the boy named Taeyong opened the door for you

“thanks..”

he smiles, “yeah no problem.. since we’re classmates, can I call you by your first name? it was Y/N, right?”

you nodded happily

“cool, you can call me Taeyong~ I’m the class rep so lemme know if you need anything~”

at your old school, each class rep was chosen by grades so you wondered if he was the class genius, “do you get high marks on your tests?”

Taeyong laughs as he holds his stomach

“do I look like I get good grades?”

you looked at him up and down

his effortlessly yet messy and dyed hair was pushed back and made his brows stand out; he had multiple ear piercings

“I don’t know maybe? you could be?”

“no, no.. I get below average grades, haha... you wondering how I’m a class rep?”

you meekly smiled and nod

“it was a class vote.. I got the most votes, I guess.. I wanted to have an easy high school life but it’s not too bad..”

you two made it to your classroom; it made you anxious

“don’t worry! everyone’s nice and if they have a problem with you, YOU let ME know, okay, promise?” Taeyong brought his pinky finger

you couldn’t help but smile at his cute little action, and locked your pinky finger with his, “okay. promise~”

JUNGWOO

you kept on focusing in class until it was time for lunch

you were planning to eat with Taeyong but he was already surrounded with the girls in your class

some kids in your class offered to eat with you but you told them that you wanted to explore the school during break by yourself

they understood and said that you can eat with them whenever

you thanked them; it wasn’t like you hated people but it was hard for you to open up to people

part of it is trust but the other part of it is confidence; you were scared to open up to people. what if they don’t like you? what if they think you’re weird?

you had an hour for lunch; which was a nice amount of time to do some exploring

you were walking down the hall until you saw Johnny; still traumatized by his advances, you ran in the other direction, up the stairs and pushed the heavy-set doors

you were amazed at the bright blue skies; it was like you could touch the clouds and the breeze calmed you down as it danced through your hair

you walked up to the wall of the rooftop to overlook the school

it was such a big and beautiful school; you admired the architecture each building

you turned to go back to the door and saw a boy laying on top of the roof of the door

it was like he saw you at the corner of his eyes, “no one ever goes up here..”

“why not? it’s beautiful up here..”

he smiles as he sits up and lets his legs dangle at the edge of the roof, “well there’s the fancy cafeteria, big library and there’s a cafe..”

“there’s a cafe?!”

the boy loses his cold demeanor for a bright one; his smile was like sunshine and sparkles

“you must be new.. you a second-year?”

“yeah..” you mumbled, you started to fidget in place

he jumps down from the roof, “what’d you say?”

“ye-yeah.. I’m new...”

he sticks his hand out for you to take, “hi new, I’m Jungwoo~”

you giggled at his remark but no other words were shared between you to because the bell rung

DOYOUNG

Jungwoo wanted to walk you to class but his class was in the opposite direction; his next class was self-study and he told you that he usually goes to the library for self-study because it’s quieter

time went on and your last class was self-study

going off of what Jungwoo said, you packed your things and headed for the library

“where ya going?” Taeyong tugs on your bag as you made it to the door

“just somewhere quieter..”

“ah okay, just remember to scan your ID when you go into the library so the school can keep track of where you are~”

you nodded and made your way to the library

you asked Jungwoo where it was earlier so you won’t be lost this time

after scanning your ID, you tried to find somewhere that was secluded than the several groups that were scattered in the spacious library

you found a spot near the window; it was perfect

you got everything setup when a boy sat across from you

you went wide-eyed as he also setup his workspace

he saw you staring at him so he spoke up

“this is my usual area but I don’t mind sharing it.. don’t mind me..”

you nodded and plugged your headset to your tablet

you thought it was going to be awkward but you both quickly got lost in your work

you came across something you didn’t understand in class; you didn’t get that far into the lesson at your old school

you looked online for help but the methods given weren’t helpful

you were hesitant to ask the guy in front of you but you couldn’t make up your mind

the guy looked up and pull out an earpod, “is there something wrong?’

he probably noticed that you kept looking at him

“I don’t really understand this.. we didn’t get this far into the lesson at my old school..”

“ah ok ok..” he takes your handout, looks at it then quickly scribbles on it

“hopefully these keys help.. there’s no point in doing it for you..”

you agreed, “um.. thank you..”

“no problem.. lemme know if you need anymore help..”

and with that, you were still hesitant to ask for help so you just thanked him and left the library

the boy wondered if he made you uncomfortable; maybe it was a little creepy to look at your name on your handout

SICHENG/WINWIN

since you were a new student, your teachers didn’t expect you to do finish all of the homework by tomorrow so you’ll just wait until you get the chance to talk to them and get help

you figured that if you couldn’t do your homework, you could go look at the track field

you were surprised to see some students studying on the bleachers

there were empty seats but had schoolwork

a basketball rolled to your feet and you looked up to see a boy dashing towards you

“sorry could you get that for me?”

you quietly picked it up and tossed it to him

he takes it and tosses it to the group of guys behind him, “I’m gonna take a break!”

you shuffled away from him; not expecting that he was going to talk to you

“hey, you’re Y/N the transfer student right? you’re in the same class as me.. I didn’t get the chance to introduce myself.. my friends call me WinWin~”

“hi..” was all you managed to say

“you here to study?” he followed you like a puppy

“no I just-”

“came here to slack off like me?”

“wh-what? no-”

“come here, I’ll teach you how to play basketball~” he took your hand and dragged you to the courts

“what about your homework?” you pointed to the lonely books and handouts that were sprawled on the bleachers

“huh? that’s just for show for when the teachers show up~”

and that’s how you skipped self-study to play basketball with your classmate

HAECHAN

after a tiring day, you decided to walk home instead of riding the bus

since it was so nice outside, you decided this was the best time to be alone and self-reflect

you were listening to music until you felt a gush of wind

soon after you saw a boy wearing the same uniform as you was wailing on the ground with his skateboard

concerned you dashed up to him

“are you okay?”

“I THINK I BROKE MY ARM OR SOMETHING! IT FRICKING HURTS!!”

then he looked up at you and paused for a moment before clearing his throat

he got up and tried to shrug it off, “I’m okay now, don’t worry-”

drips of blood trickled down his arm

“can I see your arm?”

he nods quietly

you pulled him to the side so that you wouldn’t bother other pedestrians

you rolled his sleeves up and saw that his arm was scraped up but wasn’t bruised

you poke around his joints, “does it hurt?”

“AH AH OWW!” he wailed

you quickly moved your hand away, “I’m sorry!”

he snickers at you, “just kidding~ no it doesn’t hurt~”

you frowned at him and pulled out some disinfectant and bandages; you cleaned his wounds, blowing on them so that he wouldn’t yell in your ears

after you wrapped him up, he thanked you

“thank you, Y/N~”

you figured that he was looking at your nametag so you looked at his

“stay safe, Haechan..”

you quickly walked away towards home

leaving the boy all pouty

You felt totally spent. Today was too much human interaction for you to handle.. And all of the guys were EXTREMELY GOOD-LOOKING. You figured that you should steer clear from them because you didn’t want to be trampled by their fans. While you were stuck in your thoughts, you got hungry. You saw a huge sign that said “CAFE” so you walked in.

“WELCOME TO AREA 127, MY PRINCESS~ HOW CAN WE SERVE YOU TODAY~” All of the boys that you had an interaction with today were all dressed as butlers. You looked at the sign again and it said, “CAFE AREA 127; Butler Cafe.”

“oh Y/N, it’s you!” You turned to see the boy that you kept on thinking about the whole day. That boy was....

[ masterlist + guidelines ]

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kyber-crystal · 4 years

Text

Whatever it Takes

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader

Words: ~4.1k

Summary: In which Steve is always there for you through thick and thin. And in return, even when everything seems like it’s going wrong, you give him hope for a better future.

Warnings: angst (I mean this is Endgame, what do you expect), soft steve, mentions of death, violence

A/N: CRINGEY AF BC THIS IS AN OLD ONESHOT. I’m currently working on something else so I’m just putting this up as a filler oops

Tags: @pies-writes-and-more as always :)

Steve sat outside the compound staring at the floor, deep in thought. With the only possibility of victory no longer an opportunity, he didn't know what else to do.

Then, a deafening noise broke the silence in the distance and he glanced up, seeing a familiar Audi R8 speeding towards the entrance. The car pulled over to him but went a bit too far, then reversed. Tony rolled down the window as he stopped.

"Why the long face? Let me guess, he turned into a baby."

"Among other things, yeah. What are you doing here?"

Tony got out of the car and walked around to the back, ignoring his question. "That's the EPR Paradox. Instead of pushing Lang through time, you might've wound up pushing time through Lang. It's tricky. Dangerous. Somebody should've cautioned you against it."

"You did."

"Oh, did I? Thank God I'm here. Regardless, I fixed it," He held up his right hand with a device on it, "A fully-functioning Time-Space GPS. I just want peace. Turns out, resentment is corrosive, and I hate it."

"Me too."

"We got a shot at getting these stones, but I gotta tell you my priorities: Bring back what we lost? I hope, yes. Keep what I got? I have to, at all costs. And...maybe not die trying will be nice."

"Sounds like a deal," Steve nodded, reaching out to shake his hand.

Tony reached back into his trunk to pull something else out, Steve's shield. He handed it over to him but he hesitated for a moment.

"Tony..."

"Why? He made it for you," he referred to his father, "Plus, honestly I have to get it out of the garage before Y/N sneaks over and takes it sledding. I wouldn't give up just yet."

He finally took the shield from him and fit his arm into it.

"Thank you, Tony."

"Will you keep that a little quiet? Didn't bring one for the whole team....We are getting the whole team, yeah?"

"We're working on that right now."

"Steve."

The super-soldier looked up, confused at the sudden seriousness in his tone. "Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For being there for Y/N...when I failed to do that, you were there to take my place," he explained. "Being a single parent was the toughest job I was ever faced with. Her mother disappeared without another word as soon as she gave birth, and I was left to handle Y/N all on my own. I was only 18. I'd made a shit ton of reckless decisions before and now, I was stuck and didn't know what to do. So for her entire life, before Pepper came along, she had to grow up with only one parent. She became defensive and cold-hearted and I couldn't do anything about it. I try to push her, she pushes back, or she shuts herself out altogether. I try to understand why, she sinks deeper. Sometimes I don't know just what's going on with her and as much as I try to be understanding, I can't. But you saved her, Rogers. I don't know what you've been doing to make her change but it's working, and I want to thank you for that."

"Tony, you did a good job raising her. But you have the rest of the team to thank as well."

"I think she's softened up because of you."

"What do you mean?"

"I've never seen her look at a man the way she looks at you," the billionaire pointed out.

"With hatred and a burning passion to kill me if I ever stepped onto her bad side?"

"No, her eyes get all sparkly and shit. She's in love with you. But I swear, if you do anything to hurt her and break her heart, I'll kill you with my bare hands."

Steve's eyes widened slightly, and he put his hands in the air in surrender. "Okay, I won't."

"One more thing?"

"Yeah?"

"If all of this, what we're doing somehow goes south, something goes wrong, I need you to promise me one thing. Take care of Y/N. I need someone to watch over her when I'm gone, and I don't think there's anyone more qualified for that job than you."

"I promise."

...

"And I...am...Iron Man."

You looked over in horror to see Tony snap his fingers with a loud 'CLANG' and a blinding flash of white. Rocket fired at a Leviathan and before it devoured him, it crumbled into ash. The Black Order started crumbling to ash as well. T'Challa and Quill looked around in surprise; Steve looked on in exhaustion, knowing that they had won. Thanos, in horror, looked around and saw his entire army disintegrate. He looked at Steve, who just stared blankly at him. Thanos sat down, mourning before slowly being erased from existence himself.

The raw power of the gauntlet's energy left Tony's entire right side fatally injured. He stumbled for a bit before his body collapsed besides a pile of debris. Rhodey soon swooped in and went up to see his long time colleague and friend slowly fading away before his eyes and not long after, Peter did the same as well.

"Mr. Stark?" Peter ran up to his fallen mentor, tears forming at the edges of his eyes. "Can you hear me? It's Peter. Hey. We won, Mr. Stark. We won. You did it, sir. You did it. I'm sorry—Tony—"

He barely had any energy left to respond as Peter choked on a sob, wrapping his arms around him before gently being led aside by Wanda as she put a comforting arm around his shoulders.

Pepper sat down in front of him, "Hey."

Tony was barely able to move his head, but managed to look her in the eyes. "Hey, Pep..."

She placed her hand on his arc reactor, and he rested his hand on hers as she took a good look at his injuries.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y?"

"Life functions critical."

Tony smiled with tears in his eyes.

"Dad? Hey, you're okay," you said softly as you approached him, "You did it. We're gonna be okay."

"Hey, angel," he said weakly as he took your hand in his. You tried to ignore how deathly cold it felt. "You did so well. I'm so proud of you."

"Tony. Look at me," Pepper moved closer to you as she made sure Tony got a long look at her smiling face. You involuntarily leaned into her, as you felt the familiar sting of tears to your eyes. "We're gonna be okay. You can rest now."

With that acknowledgement, the light in his arc reactor flickered off for good. Unable to contain your grief, you let out a tortured cry, sobbing into Pepper's chest as she started to cry on his shoulder.

Earth's best defender was dead.

Dead.

Your father, your everything, the light of your life. Dead.

You flinched when you felt someone's hand on your shoulder all of a sudden as you stood up, jolting you from your thoughts. Steve stood there with glassy, red-rimmed eyes, which was a rare sight because he never displayed any emotions other than confidence and complete control—and it was beginning to take a toll on your already broken heart. He was always strategizing and planning things out, charging headfirst into battle without a second thought and now he was on the verge of breaking down, tucking you close into his side.

So you let yourself collapse into his touch, a sob escaping your lips as you clung on to him like you did to Tony when you were a little girl.

You're not quite sure how long you stand there like that, tightly clutching America's war hero like you'll slip away if you let go. He was a life raft, and you were stranded at sea, hopelessly lost with the stormy waves violently crashing over you and choking you as you struggled to escape.

Eleven years. Eleven years had passed since you first met Steve Rogers, and his unwavering promise to you that he'd stay by your side no matter the circumstance still stood. Since the day you first joined the Avengers Initiative he'd been a major figure in your life, always sticking by and supporting you when no one else was around to do so. He picked you up when you fell; he didn't judge you on your rough past nor your worst mistakes.

Now you found that you were needing him more than ever.

And in that moment, Steve knew, he had to keep his promise. Not just for your sake, but for Tony's as well.

So he swore to himself on his life that he’d never leave your side.

...

With a heavy heart, you dragged yourself out of bed to get ready for Tony's funeral. Alongside Pepper, you carried a wreath out of the house with his first arc reactor framed with the words 'Proof that Tony Stark Has a Heart' and laid it on the lake, watching as it slowly drifted away.

Everyone was finally gathered together as one, although it wasn't in the way you'd imagined it to be. Happy, Rhodey, Pepper, you, Peter and May. Thor. Bruce, Strange, Steve, Wong, Scott, Hope, Janet, Hank, Quill, and the rest of the Guardians. T'Challa, Okoye, and Shuri. Clint and his family. Wanda. Bucky. Sam, Harley Keener, Secretary Ross, Maria Hill, Carol, and even Fury, who was silently watching in the back.

After it ended you stood at the edge of the lake, hands stuffed in your leather jacket's pockets as you stared blankly out at the water. It was hard for you to think about how you were supposed to move on after losing one of the most important people in life, hard to imagine who you'd turn to now that the one man who gave you better advice than anyone you knew was gone.

"You know, I wish there was a way—that I could let him know," you said without looking behind to see Steve, who'd been watching you for a bit, "how much I loved him. Because I didn't get to tell him before he—you know."

"He knows," he said as you turned around to meet his gaze, "and he loved you more than anything." Almost as much as I do.

"I never got to tell him," your voice broke, lashes brimming heavy with unshed tears, "I just—I just wish I could turn back time and tell him that. But I didn't, and—"

Before you had the chance to finish your sentence, he circled his arms around your waist and pulled you close. At that moment you broke down into heaving sobs that ripped through your chest and your throat and your heart, unable to contain your grief for any longer, sobbing uncontrollably into his chest. And he just held you there in silence, rocking you back and forth slowly as your tears soaked his suit.

Steve wonders exactly how much more heartbreak he can take because to see you in a condition such as this one wasn't doing him any good, making his heart feel as if it was being shattered into a thousand pieces, then put back together only to be broken again into a million more smaller parts. He hated seeing the woman he cared about so much in pain and found himself wishing there was just some way he could just take it all away from you.

"I just really miss him," you choked out, "I...I don't know what Pepper and I are gonna do without him."

"I know. I miss him too," he murmured, pressing his lips to your forehead and pulling you closer, rubbing soothing circles onto your back. "We all do."

"You're not going to leave, are you?" you mumbled into his chest, "Please don't leave me."

"I won't, I promise," he reassured you, smoothing your hair back, "Whenever you need me, I'll be here."

"Okay," you let out a shuddering sigh, "okay."

...

You headed back inside, as Steve led you to the living room with a hand on the small of your back as you sat down on the couch, taking the letter that Happy gave to you.

"He hated writing letters. Always insisted on typing everything up, but he hand wrote this for your sake," Happy explained quietly. "I've never seen someone love their kid as much as he loved you."

"I loved him, too," you smiled sadly. "Thank you, Happy. For everything."

"No worries, sweetheart," he nodded solemnly. "Anything for his little girl."

The super-soldier gripped your hand encouragingly, lacing your fingers together and squeezing tightly as you unfolded the paper.

To my sweet Y/N.

If you're reading this, it means I've been faced with my untimely death. I mean, not that death at any time isn't untimely. This time travel thing that we're gonna try and pull off tomorrow...it's got me scratching my head about the survivability of it all. That's the thing. Then again, that's the hero gig. Part of the journey is the end. But what am I tripping for? Everything's gonna work out exactly the way it's supposed to.

When I first found out I was getting a daughter, I was sure I'd never be able to handle the responsibility of having a child. I didn't plan on becoming a parent so early and I was afraid, terrified I'd fail you as a father. And I feared that I did, many times. I was afraid you'd grow to resent me for what I'd done. But I persisted, because I wanted to give you the best possible life I could despite that raising you alone was probably the most difficult thing I've ever done. But it was all worth it in the end, because I got to see you grow up and become this beautiful, accomplished and talented young woman who would do anything for those she loves.

Look, I don't want you to make the same mistakes as I did. When the time comes, I want you to find a man that's willing to settle down with you and give you his whole heart- that's how you know he's the one. Hell, if you're going to go and get with Rogers, I wouldn't mind that either. Over this past decade, I've never seen someone as dedicated to protecting you and staying loyal to you as him and if you decide to get together, I'd be more than happy to give you my blessing. Honestly, I think the entire team's been shipping you two since the day you first met (Don't tell Sam I exposed him as a softie, though, he's going to kill me if I do. Or Clint). Seriously, though. Capsicle loves you, more than you'll ever know. And much more than he's willing to admit himself.

Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid to let your guard down, to be vulnerable and let the ones you love in. I know you're afraid of getting hurt, I know you believe that by building up those mile-high walls around your heart you think you're saving yourself, but it's really only going to hurt you in the long run. Love is messy. Sometimes you gotta suck it up and deal with the pain; that's just how it is. You get hurt, you get heartbroken, and there's a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. It's a messy process.

If you ever feel like giving up, like you just can't go on any further, just know that there's always someone out there who's rooting for you. You got me, the team. SHIELD's got your back, so does Happy, and even Peter. Know that there's always hope.

Remember that your past does not define who you are. Sometimes you can do everything right and things will still go wrong. The key is to never stop doing right.

You are not what has happened to you. You are what you choose to become.

Thank you for being born and coming into my life, becoming the best thing that's ever happened to a guy like me. Remember I'll always be with you no matter what, angel. I love you 3,000.

From, the arm-wrestling champion, genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, your dad, and #1 fan. I love you so much. -T.S

A tear slipped down your cheek and dripped onto the paper, staining the corner with a dark spot as you folded it back up and set it on the table. You rested your head against Steve's broad shoulder as he wrapped an around your waist in a protective manner, pressing a lingering kiss to the side of your forehead.

...

Several days passed and Steve knew it was growing closer to the time he would be forced to make the most difficult decision of his life. As much as he wanted to stay, he knew what he was about to do was absolutely necessary to restore the universe to normal once again.

Night after night for the next three weeks, you woke up screaming with sweat streaming down your face, a shiver running down your spine and images of Tony dying in front of your eyes with you not being able to do anything about it flashing in your brain. He'd come into your room without question, climb into bed next to you, and hold you close, rocking you back and forth and humming old lullabies his mother used to sing to him as a child until you fell asleep, your breathing and rapid heartbeat finally steadying.

Everyone could tell something was going on between the two of you, but because you were so heavily weighed down by your grief that you didn't think before you did anything, they didn't question why you were suddenly so close to the super-soldier. He was your anchor, your safe haven you so desperately needed and were convinced would sink below your endless stream of thoughts without.

The dreaded day finally came and with a heavy heart, Steve got up and watched your peacefully sleeping figure in bed for a moment before leaving and heading outside.

Bucky, Bruce, and Sam were already waiting by the time he met them by the time machine.

He then walked over to Bucky. "Don't do anything stupid 'till I get back."

"How could I? You're taking all the stupid with you."

The two men both exchanged a quick hug with each other.

"Stay safe, buddy."

"It's gonna be okay, Buck. If this somehow—takes longer than it's supposed to—or I don't come back at all—promise me you'll watch out for her, alright?"

"I will," Bucky nodded.

Steve went over to the Quantum portal, donning the red and white suit.

"How long is this going to take?" you asked.

"For him? As long as he needs. For us? Five seconds," Bruce replied.

The super-soldier picked up Mjolnir 2013.

"Ready, Cap? Alright. We'll meet you back here, okay?"

"You bet."

"Going quantum. Three, two, one—"

With that, he disappeared into the quantum tunnel.

"And returning in five, four, three, two, one—"

Steve didn't appear on the pad right away, and Bruce looked around the equipment in confusion.

"Where is he?" Sam questioned.

"I don't know. He blew right by his time stamp. He should be here."

"Well, get him back."

"I'm trying."

"Get him the hell back!"

"I'm trying, I'm trying!"

"Sam," Bucky cut in.

Sam walked towards him, and him, Bucky, and Bruce saw his familiar broad-shouldered figure in the distance, so they went near him.

"Go ahead," Bucky gestured over to him with a small smile.

Sam went over to Steve, who was silently staring out at the water ahead with his hands stuffed in his pockets. He still looked the same, with his signature leather jacket and khakis. If it weren't for the subtle lines etched in his face from years of enduring hard battles against both himself and other enemies, from his newfound grief, one would think he was barely over thirty years old.

"Cap?"

"Hey, Sam."

"So did something go wrong, or did something go right?"

"Well, after I put the stones back, I thought, maybe I'll try some of that life Tony was telling me to get."

"How'd that work out for you?"

"It was beautiful."

"I'm happy for you. Truly."

"But when I saw how happy she looked living her life...I didn't want to take that away from her," the super-soldier explained. "Seeing that she was able to move on made me realize I could do the same. I can't stay in a relationship when I know my heart belongs to someone else. I made Stark a promise to look after her....I can't do that if I'm not here."

"Is that why you didn’t stay?"

"Yeah," Steve smiled faintly, "I couldn't leave her behind."

"Well, uh...she's inside, if you're looking for her—"

"Steve?"

"Uhhhhh....never mind, there she is," Sam gestured to you as you were stepping down the porch and making your way across the lawn to him. "You want me to give you two a moment?"

"Yeah. That'd be nice."

You picked up your pace, sprinting towards him as fast as you possibly could into his embrace.

"Y/N—"

"Why'd you come back? I thought you were going to, you know—stay with Peggy—"

"I couldn't, Y/N, and you know that."

"Why not?"

He pulled away, letting his gaze linger on your face for a bit before brushing a stray hair behind your ear. "I made a promise I couldn't break. I'd never be able to forgive myself for it if I did."

"What promise?"

"Tony made me swear on my life that I'd stay no matter what happened."

"Steve..." your voice wavered as you forced yourself to look straight up at him, those icy-blue eyes that never seemed to fail to give you chills and make butterflies flutter around in your stomach, "Why did you throw away your one chance of having a happy ending? Now I'm the reason why your last chance of living the life you always wanted was taken away from you. I can't—I don't want to stop you from being with whom you love. You came back, even when you had the chance to live out the future that you'd been looking forward to for so long. And you didn't take it. Why?"

"I don't need to stay, when my entire future is standing right in front of me. Y/N, you are my future."

"Oh my god—"

"Shut up," Bucky hissed, elbowing Sam in the side, "let them be!"

"So he's been in love with her this entire time and I had no clue?! He's been in love with her for five whole years? Took them long enough."

"Ten. Catch up, birdbrain."

"Look, I'm sorry—"

"There's nothing to be sorry about," Steve reassured you in a soft voice, "I made my decision, and I'm staying here, whether you're in favor of that or not."

You let out something that was a mix of a choked sob and a laugh. "I can't get rid of you?"

"Unfortunately not," he chuckled, "as far as I know, you're sticking with me, because I love you too much to let you go."

"I hate to break the sentimental mood you've created here, you mumbled into his chest, "but...do you mean like...you're actually in love? Because that's what Dad would always say. If a man doesn't leave your side he either just wants to annoy the hell out of you, or is hopelessly in love with you."

"He's not wrong."

"Okay, then I—"

Steve quickly silenced you by leaning down and placing his lips lightly on yours, which took you completely by surprise. It was as if the entire world stopped when your lips met, your body warming up under his touch - a feeling that you'd never really get used to although you'd been working with him for as long as you could remember. You felt as if you were going to explode from the sheer amount of passion and adrenaline coursing through your body.

"I was going to say I love you too," you let out a sound that was a mix between a choked sob and a laugh. "before you—uh—cut me off like that."

"Oh," he chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly as his cheeks flushed a bright pink, "sorry."

"I'm gonna say it! You two. Have taken. Too damn long! To admit! You're in love! With each other!" Bucky clapped with every few words he said. "That’s all you say in response to her telling you she lo—"

"Man, shut the hell up," Sam grumbled. "as if you're dating anyone right now."

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thepancakeboi · 3 years

Text

99. “Do it. I dare you.”

I don’t normally make a note on these writing prompt stuff outside of tags but I feel I have to warn that this one does get very dark and angsty, up to including the potential of character death (no one dies though, I promise). Now, on with the show!

“Let’s go,” Joker’s voice rings out, echoing against the walls of the Mementos station.

Mona jumps onto the tracks, transforming into his car form in midair. The rest of the thieves sans Joker starts to get in. Not everyone had been able to come today. Haru had business involving Big Bang Burger that she had to attend to, leaving it down to the nine of us to finish our Mementos requests. She had apologized profusely in the group chat, but the others reassured her that everything was alright.

I go to get in the back of the vehicle but am stopped by a hand grabbing my arm. I give Joker an unamused look as I ask, “What do you want?”

“You know where you sit,” he replies with a cocky grin to match. I sigh in frustration as I get in the front row after Joker. Every single time, he always wants me to sit right next to him. He refuses to take no for an answer on that. No matter how much outward annoyance I show, I secretly am content with this seating arrangement. I’m fairly certain that he is aware of this as well. It’s even more apparent today since, with Noir not here today, Violet ends up deciding to sit with Panther and Queen in the middle row. Joker echoes my thoughts as he remarks, “Hey, look at that. It’s just the two of us. Anything can happen~”

“Joker, if you try anything, you’re going to lose a limb or two.”

“Sounds fun,” he hums, laughing as I sulk and look away from him. I can’t even threaten him without his goddamn danger kink making its existence known.

“God, get a room, you two!” Oracle yells from the back.

Joker laughs even harder at this. “I might do just that.”

“No,” I say, refusing to entertain this idea any further.

“But Akeppi-”

“I said no.”

He looks disheartened for a brief moment before he smirks. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t Joker starting to sing, “♪ I want your love, and I want your revenge. You and me could write a bad romance~♪”

I whirl around as I hear Panther join in with, “♪ Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh!♪”

Joker apparently has no intentions of stopping. “♪ I want your love, and all your lover’s revenge. You and me could write a bad romance~♪”

At that point, Oracle decides it’s her turn, “♪ Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh! Caught in a bad romance!♪”

“Would you three shut up already?” I yell, turning so I can glare at all of them at once.

It’s quiet for all of one second before Oracle and Joker both, of course, decide to ignore me like the menaces they are, simultaneously singing, “♪ Ra-ra-ah-ah-ah! Roma-roma-ma! Gaga, ‘Ooh la-la’! Want your bad romance~♪”

I groan at their antics. It’s the one annoyance that comes from sitting next to Joker. It’s not the first time something like this has happened. The chances of it being the last are minuscule at best.

The banter between the rest of the thieves continues as we continue to drive through Mementos. At some point, Joker took one of his hands off the steering wheel so that he could hold me close. He still has his arm around me when we run right into a Shadow that decides not to immediately disintegrate upon impact.

“Get ready, everyone!” Mona says in car form. “This one wants a fight.”

“Oh, hell yeah!” Skull shouts. “We’re gonna kick its ass!”

We quickly exit the vehicle while the Shadow is still stunned from being hit head-on by a cat-turned-vehicle. Almost as soon as Mona transforms back into a cat, the Shadow bursts into a black liquid, revealing itself as a Forneus.

I had been hoping for this fight to be done quickly, but this Shadow is decidedly stubborn. We’ve managed to knock it down a couple of times, but it simply refuses to die. After the third such time, it fires a Mapsiodyne that manages to hit all of us. “Queen!” Fox calls out as she collapses.

No communication is needed. Joker and I pull back to tend to her while the rest keep fighting. I bend down so that I can drag her out of harm’s way. However, I pause, sensing Joker’s eyes on me. Not this again. “Joker,” I start, moving Queen as I speak, “maybe you should be a little more concerned about Queen lying unconscious on the floor rather than staring at my ass.”

“Oh. Yeah. Right.”

He quickly summons Sandalphon to revive her. Queen’s eyes flutter open, surprisingly unalarmed that she had been knocked out. It’s such a common occurrence with this group. How they’ve survived for so long, I have no idea. “She’s awake,” I say, turning back to Joker. “We should get back to the fight.”

He nods. “Let’s go-”

“Joker, look out!” Panther calls out just as he is engulfed in a magenta aura.

He tries to move out of the way, but it’s too late. There’s nothing any of us can do without Noir and her Persona’s Amrita Shower. The aura clears. Joker stands there, his eyes closed. “Joker?” Queen asks from behind me, having gotten herself to her feet.

A sinister grin creeps across his face as he opens his eyes, his attention focused on the two of us. His eyes glow with an unnatural purple light as he rushes at us. “It’s not him!” I yell, blocking his dagger with my sword. His grin only widens, a frenzied look in his eyes. “He’s been brainwashed by that damn Shadow!”

“We gotta do something!” Mona calls out from the frontlines, where he’s working with Skull and Fox to keep the Shadow occupied. “He’ll keep attacking us if we do nothing!”

In an instant, I make my decision. “Keep attacking it, all of you. Oracle, make sure they don’t die doing it.”

“It’ll be easy peasy!” Oracle replies from above in Al Azif.

“I’ll keep Joker occupied while you do that until he snaps out of this brainwashing.”

“Got it,” Panther responds, her Persona pelting the Shadow with fiery strikes as Makoto charges forward on Agnes.

With Joker’s next strike, I grab ahold of his wrist, fully intending on pulling him away from the fight. However, I’m distracted by Violet tentatively asking, “Is senpai gonna be okay?”

“Damnit,” I hiss as Joker escapes my grasp, his dagger slicing my wrist. “Quit your worrying. He’ll be fine.”

Ignoring Violet, for the time being, I regain a hold of Joker and manage to get the bloody dagger out of his hand. I drag him away, leaving the others to take care of that pesky Shadow. The moment we’re out of its vision, I turn to Joker, sheathing my sword for now. “Pull yourself together, idiot!” I snap, resisting the urge to slap him across the face. “We’re your friends.”

“Friends?” he asks, the first words he’s said in his current state.

“Yes, friends. You have those, remember?”

“No. You’re my enemy!”

He throws himself at me with little regard to the fact that he’s currently unarmed and I have a sword at my side. I struggle against him, trying not to hurt him. My sword stays sheathed. I can’t bring myself to cause him harm, even when he has me backed against the wall. “Joker, listen to yourself! I know you’re still there. You’re brainwashed. The Phantom Thieves are your friends. Don’t you understand? They’re not the enemy.”

“You’re right...it’s just you.” Nothing could have prepared me for what comes next. In one swift motion, he pulls out his pistol, pointing it at my face. His grin becomes wicked and full of malice as he sees my eyes widen in shock. “How does it feel, traitor? Knowing you’re about to die.”

“You won’t shoot me. You can’t.”

Despite how confident I try to sound, my heart pounds in my chest. Chills run down my spine. It takes a considerable amount of effort to hide any possible sign of trembling. I refuse to show any vulnerability to him. I don’t care that he could kill me. Even brainwashed, there’s no way he’s capable of shooting me. This isn’t him. Joker would never do this...would he? “Are you afraid?” he mocks. “Are you going to beg for me to spare your life?”

I look Joker dead in the eye...and laugh.

I am aware of the situation I am in, that Joker has a gun pointed at my head and could shoot me dead at any moment. At the same time, the irony doesn’t elude me. The tables have turned, and now it’s me on the receiving end of the gun. “Do you really think I would stoop so low? I know you’re brainwashed, but I think you’re bluffing.”

“Someone’s eager to die. What was it you said? ‘Case closed. This is where your justice ends.’ But it’s not my justice ending, detective: it’s yours.”

“Then, by all means, pull the trigger. Do it. I dare you.” When he doesn’t immediately react, I add, “Here. How about I make it easier for you?” With slow, deliberate movements, I remove my mask with one hand and push my bangs aside with the other as I tilt my head forward. He has a clear shot now, the cold metal of the barrel pressed against my forehead. Yes, this is reckless. I know that...but he deserves this chance. An opportunity to enact swift judgment on me for my crimes. I’m not worthy of a quick death like this, even with it mirroring my actions in the interrogation room. It doesn’t matter, though. If this is how it ends, then so be it. I couldn’t ask for a better executioner.

I stand there, eyes closed, waiting for death to take me. But the gunshot never comes. I open my eyes, staring past the pistol to the boy currently holding me at gunpoint. His grin isn’t quite as wide as before. He’s faltering. “What’s the matter, Joker? I didn’t hesitate when the situation was reversed. Go ahead,” I say as I close my eyes once again, my voice slowly rising in volume as I continue to berate him, “put a bullet through my skull. It’s only fair, isn’t it? I’ve murdered countless people. I even tried to kill you twice. I don’t deserve to be alive, so get on with it and fucking shoot me already!”

All I hear is a gasp, the gun clattering against the ground. I look up to see Joker, no longer brainwashed. It’s clear that he’s shaken. His lips are parted as he stares at me in wide-eyed horror. “A-Akeppi?” he hesitantly says, voice trembling. His mask isn’t able to completely hide the tears threatening to spill. He’s trying so desperately to pull himself together, but for once, it’s not working. I’ve never seen him so visibly distressed, and it hurts.

“You were brainwashed.” It’s the only thing I can offer as reassurance that I don’t blame him, that it wasn’t his fault.

“You’re...not hurt, are you?”

Figures, he’d ask that question. As always, he’s more concerned about my own well being than his own. “No, of course not,” I lie, hiding the blood on my wrist.

He isn’t fooled. He sees right through my response, as observant as ever. His touch is gentle as he moves my arm into his line of sight. The corners of his lips twitch when he sees the cut. “You are. I didn’t hurt you anywhere else, did I? Tell me the truth.”

“You didn’t.”

We stand there in silence, neither one of us sure how to proceed. I personally want to ignore it and move on, but I can sense that Joker won’t. His inner guilt is eating at him, I can tell. Meanwhile, something tells me he knows I’m hiding something from him. I just don’t want him to know that I had believed he was capable of killing me, even for a second. It’d be too much for him, I’m sure. Joker’s the one to break the silence. “Akeppi, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” I instantly respond.

He shakes his head. “No, it’s not. I could have killed you.”

“You didn’t kill me, tho-”

“But I could have,” he interjects before starting to ramble. “I could have killed you. I had my hand on the trigger, and you were willing to just die. What if I had actually shot you...and you had died? Akeppi, I don’t want to lose you again.”

“I’m still here. You wouldn’t have fired the gun.”

“But what if-”

He abruptly goes silent, likely shocked that I’ve pulled him into my embrace, dropping my mask in the process. “Ren, trust me,” I say in a slow, hushed tone, dropping the codenames for now so I can get through to him. “It’s okay. I’m here for you, and I will continue to love you as much as before. Nothing will change that.”

“Goro...” His voice hitches as he returns the hug, desperately holding onto me as if he’s afraid I’ll disappear if he doesn’t. I can hear his ragged breathing as he finally breaks down and cries. Taking cues from what he would do if the situation were reversed, I pull off one of my gauntlets and gently stroke his hair with my ungloved hand. My own tears run down my face, but I refuse to acknowledge them. I have to be strong, for Ren’s sake. He’s always been that way for me, and it’s about time I return the favor.

A few minutes pass before he starts to calm down. As he pulls back to look at me, I move his mask up so I can wipe the remaining tears from his face. “Even crying, you’re still beautiful,” I muse to myself, not meaning to say the words aloud.

“Shouldn’t I be the one saying that?” he asks with a little chuckle. “You look like you were crying, too.”

I shake my head, refusing to confirm or deny his statement. His chuckling continues as he replicates my actions, although his hand lingers on my cheek longer than I had. I turn my head as I hear Skull’s voice. They must have brought down the Shadow without us. I reach down, grabbing my mask from behind Joker and putting my glove back on my hand. “We’ll keep this between us, alright?”

“Okay.” He moves his own mask back into its proper position. Even up close, it’s hard to see that he had just finished crying. “Hey, Akeppi?”

“Yes?”

“Can we cuddle when we get back home?”

The request is not exactly unexpected. We both know he loves to cuddle and that it helps improve his mood. He already should know my answer. After all, how could I refuse him after what happened? “Of course. Come on. Let’s meet up with the others.”

Prompt list

#akeppi writes #p5 #persona 5 #goro akechi #akechi #ren amamiya #akira kurusu #phantom thieves #except haru sorry i couldn't give her screentime #akeshu #shuake #writing prompt #this is the darkest writing i've done yet #this has been an idea months in the making #this one HURT to write #it hurt my soul #writing joker so vulnerable hurts #if it isn't clear i am hurt lol

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the12thnightproject · 3 years

Text

Twelve Lies I Told Shingen Takeda, Chapter Four: Occupational Hazards

Katsuko delivers dessert to Shingen, she receives bad news in return. Also, archery, and a blindfold. TW: Offscreen death

“Halt!”

With his mouth set in a determined line, Yuki barred my progress toward Shingen’s room. Every time I tried to go around him, he leaped to block me like a goalie defending a football net. “Where are you going with that?”

Since I was carrying a handful of messages and a basket of pastry, I thought it should be obvious. “Don’t ask a question you already know the answer to.”

Yuki looked over his shoulder and scowled in the direction of Shingen’s room. “I see he’s already trying to bypass my orders by sending you out for dessert.”

“Your orders?” When did he join the calorie cops? “Why? Is there something wrong with these?” No one in the shop had seemed to have any issue with them.

“It’s not good for him to eat that many sweets, that’s all.” Yuki reached for the basket, presumably to confiscate the contraband, but I scooted out of the way.

“Really? He looks like he’s in good shape.” Really, really good shape. My job is to stay observant, so observing that Shingen is a decent specimen is an occupational hazard – especially given all of the pec airing that he does.

At that exact moment, the Occupational Hazard stepped out of his room, and there’s no way that he could have avoided hearing my comment, so I looked him right in the eyes, and tacked on, “for his age.”

I know. That was petty of me. But I was still angry at that setting me up to be killed thing. On an intellectual level I knew his “black powder test” had been a perfectly logical strategy, but what if I had gotten that powder on my hands by accident? Would he or Chiyome have killed me anyway?

With his back to Shingen, Yuki considered blithely on. “That’s not the point. He refuses to watch-.” Yuki got a look at my face, then sighed. “He’s behind me again, isn’t he?”

I nodded, as for the second time that day, Shingen thwacked Yuki on the back of his head. He eyed the confections. “Thank you, Katsu. I think I look like I’m in good shape too. For any age. Also, your former master was correct in his assessment that you’re insubordinate.”

That could simply be the adrenaline rush of being not-dead.

On my way back to the castle I had considered his distrust of me. If I acted overly deferential, slinking around with my voice quiet and my eyes downcast, that would be more suspicious than if I were just my own, unfiltered, slightly insubordinate self. Maybe it’s a cliché, but in this case, the best defense would be a solid offense.

“Bring that inside,” Shingen motioned to the basket. “I’m dying for dessert.” At Shingen’s beckon, Yuki and I followed him back to his room, where I deposited my prize onto his writing desk (GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLL!). Shingen immediately dug in with the attitude of a man starving in the desert. Then, he tipped the basket towards us. “Help yourselves.”

“Nah, I’m good,” Yuki said. He continued to glare at the confections as if they had caused him a great insult.

The smell of the pastry had been torturing me all the way back from the shop – I honestly can’t remember the last time I had dessert… four years ago… maybe? I gratefully took him up on the offer, picked up the closest dumpling, and took a decent bite. My blood sugar level instantly tripled. Apparently Shingen has the palate of a nine year old boy. “Oh my God,” I managed to say.

Help!

“I know, right? Yuki doesn’t know what he is missing.” He fished around the basket for another sweet bun.

Tooth decay and a diabetic coma – that’s what he’s missing.

“Yuki can live with the deprivation,” said the man in question, who was clanking around in the fire pit.

Shingen pointed out the various treats. “If you like that one, then you have to taste this – they make it with red bean paste.”

“I’m still savoring the one I have.” I took as small a bite as I could get away with. I doubted I could realistically fake an mmmm noise. I’m a great liar – but there are limits to my talent.

Yuki discreetly passed me a cup of tea. Bless you, Yuki. Eager to change the subject before Shingen could ask me for a more detailed opinion on his beloved sugar grenades, I handed over his messages and reports.

I still hadn’t worked out how I was going to manage to secretly pass along the new information from Aki. Maybe it wouldn’t be necessary? Shingen had taken the sniper prisoner, so presumably the man was in the castle dungeon. Maybe he had already confessed to the assassination plot. “Have you questioned the man who tried to rob you last night?”

Shingen glanced up from a report he was scanning. “Unfortunately not. His wound turned septic and he hasn’t regained his senses.”

“Oh.” It was a good thing that I was already sitting down – otherwise I might have collapsed. I pictured the sniper as I had last seen him, moaning because an arrow - my arrow – had impaled his hand. I looked down at my own hand, a hand that not too long ago had born the imprint of a tokin. Tentatively I wiggled my fingers, imagining how it must have felt to feel the bite of metal tearing into it. If the sniper’s wound was gangrenous, then he’d probably lose his hand, maybe even-- “Is he likely to survive?”

Shingen looked at me like he was weighing several responses, before saying, “No. I doubt he will.”

So now, in addition to being a liar, I was also a killer.

I took a deep breath and shut my eyes. I hadn’t meant to kill anyone, but that didn’t change the outcome. It suddenly felt like there were no nerves in my fingertips, but at the same time, internally I was feeling everything – shock, regret, guilt – in a swirl of emotion that roared in my ears. The sweet pastry that had fallen like a rock into my stomach threatened to reverse course.

I killed someone. Someone who was alive two days ago will not be alive tomorrow because of me.

When I re-opened my eyes, Shingen was still silently regarding me. I wondered if he had ever – well, that was a ridiculous thought. He was the leader of the Takeda clan – he had to have killed many in battle. “Does it get easier?”

Yukimura shook his head and responded first. “No. Never has.” He cleared his throat a couple of times, and gulped down his tea.

But Shingen had a different answer. “Killing? Yes. You learn to put what must done in one part of your mind, separate from the you that lives through every day, walled away from your heart. You have to, or one day you’ll no longer be able to function. But it’s still within you.” He tapped his chest. “It’s still within you.”

I understood. I was going to have to live with this. I was going to have to learn how to live with it.

Shingen sighed, and raked his hair out of his eyes. “I won’t insult you by telling you this man was a criminal and probably has harmed or killed many others. You know that. You also now know what it’s like to kill and that will weigh upon you.”

It did. I appreciated the fact that he didn’t tell me to get over it, or offer a cliched platitude like, ‘war is hell, kid.’ He was treating me like the young man he thought me to be – and I needed to respond accordingly. “Yes, sir, it does.”

His eyebrows lifted at my return to formality. “I would have respected you less if it didn’t bother you.”

“I didn’t shoot to kill him, but I knew that every time I picked up a weapon, I faced that possibility. But – I never understood what that knowledge meant. I hadn’t expected the possible to ever become a reality.” I wondered if I could have avoided this outcome. “Maybe if I had aimed at the musket and not his hand,” I said, mostly to myself. I mentally placed myself back in that tree, remembered how excited I had felt at being part of something. I’d even somewhat joked with myself about adding ghostly noises. It had almost felt like a game. Target shooting… except the targets breathed and bled.

Again that tingling in the ends of my fingertips. I scraped my hands across the tatami mat, hoping that feel of the straw would ground me. Something nudged my arm: Yuki, offering me more tea. I shook my head.

Shingen allowed me another moment to wallow, then seemed to come to a decision. He tapped his hand on his desk to get my attention. “If that was anything more than a lucky – or unlucky, depending how you look at it – shot,” Shingen said, his words challenging my dark mood, “I will swear off confections for a week.”

Wait…. What? The sudden reversal in his tone nearly gave me whiplash, shocking me out my emotional turmoil.

I couldn’t let that affront to my archery skills stand. Insult my swordplay all you want, but I’m absolutely accurate with a bow. “That arrow went right where I intended it to go. I’ve made harder shots blindfolded.”

“Get your weaponry then and meet me on the grounds as soon as you can.” He got up and headed for the door, his long legs crossing the distance in three strides.

Once he was gone, I looked at Yuki, who had been quiet through this entire conversation. “Did he just challenge me?”

“Not sure, but if you win, I’m holding him to that no-dessert-for-a-week penalty.” Yuki thumped me on the shoulder. “So, you’ve gotta win.”

***

Not a duel. It was much, much worse than that, I discovered a short while later, when I arrived to face what appeared to be at least half the residents of the castle, and a field set up with five targets in varying sizes placed further and further back.

With a dramatic bow, Shingen addressed the spectators. “Greetings my friends and” … another bow to Mai who was cuddled up with Kenshin, “Goddess.” He then gestured to me. “My newest recruit has been bragging about his prowess with a bow. And since it’s such a beautiful day outside, it seems a perfect occasion to test him on this.”

No pressure there. Thanks boss.

Yuki, who had taken the whole “no-dessert” thing to heart, was pacing out the distance to the targets. Not exactly necessary, but since he’d been getting on my nerves, bouncing around my peripheral vision like a boxer’s trainer before the title match, I told him to go for it.

“Katsuhira will demonstrate the skills of accuracy and distance.” Shingen continued, while the vassal who this morning had held the bets was already running a book on this show as well. I noted Sasuke was first in line, and hoped that this time, he was betting on me, not against.

Yuki trotted back to me and said, “forty paces for the small targets, going all the way back to 150 for the big ones in the back.” Not even 100 meters, then. The targets Aki had had me practicing on were closer to 150, so this shouldn’t be a challenge – I mean, it wasn’t like they were asking me to bullseye whomp rats from a T-16. However, I would have liked to have been warned before this whole thing started, because I was getting tired of warlords and spymasters making decisions about my life without consulting me, but…details.

“Thanks Yuki. Better go place your bet and get that no-dessert thing in writing.”

While everyone got in on the betting action, I stood there trying to shut the world out. It was easier to pretend I was back at The Mountain, staring at the targets set out in front of the pear trees and the stables that I would have to repair if I missed a shot. There wasn’t any wind today, which was one thing I wouldn’t have to worry about. There was, however, a caterpillar crawling across my toes, but having killed one life form this week, I wasn’t about to compound that by killing another, so I ignored it.

I progressively narrowed my focus until it was a straight line from me to the first target. Then, without turning my head I said to Shingen. “Ready.”

“Not so fast.”

What? What now?

With my tunnel vision destroyed, I turned to look at him. He smiled and there was a hint of mockery in that look that boded ill for me. He turned to Mai, who handed him a long strip of fabric. “You did say you could have made that shot blindfolded.”

I had said that, yes indeed. Note to self. Stay away from hyperbole when discussing your skills.

I have trained a lot blindfolded, as Aki’s got an entire Jedi Master type philosophy when it comes to archery. But this was an unfamiliar field, and I needed a warm-up. “Practice shots first, without the blindfold,” I bargained.

“Fair enough.”

I turned back to the targets and sent ten arrows in succession zipping toward the targets, trying to set muscle memory. I missed my second and seventh shots, but hit the rest. Ok. I could do this. I would prefer not to have to do this in front of an audience with less than thirty minutes warning, but… I can do this.

“Ready,” I said again, this time not moving an inch from where I was standing, keeping my mental focus trained on where I felt – no, where I knew - the targets were. The tranquil air settled my senses, keeping me detached from everything except my bow and the inner vision of the targets.

Then Shingen stepped behind me, nearly as close as a hug, his body radiating heat, to tie the blindfold around my head. His breath and voice glided into my ear asking if I could see. Then he tightened it for good measure, and… there it was, a jolt that I felt when those warm, calloused fingers accidentally brushed across my face.

Reverb.

Ok, hormones, you and I need to have a long talk about choices... and timing.

Full text of the chapter posted on Tumbr this time; this chapter, previous chapters and prologue available on AO3:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/32812042?view_full_work=true

#ikemen sengoku fanfiction #ikesen shingen #ikesen yukimura #ikesen fanfiction #ao3 link

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lyrazehedgieboiii · 4 years

Text

Sonic AU (One-shot~)

This was inspired by Sonic AU, a story that I wrote before this. The next thing I post (that’s not a reblog or art), will be the first chapter to a story I’m writing.

“You know it, Rouge. While the boys have their little ‘guy time,’ we can go shopping! Oh, Eliza just started crying, see you later!” Amy hung up on her phone call with Rouge. They were going to go shopping, along with Cream. Amy wasn’t really a fan of shopping, but she desperately wanted to hang out with her friends without Sonic acting all fussy. They had seven children, but by the way Sonic acted, you could say she had to take of eight. She walked over to a light pink crib, and looked inside. Curious emerald eyes were looking up at her, little beads of tears lining the bottom of the child’s eyes.

“There’s my gorgeous little hedgie! Oh look at your precious little eyes! They’re so cute! They look just like your daddy’s!” All she got in response to her coos was a squeak, which made Amy fawn even more. “Why are you so cute?! I just want to gobble up your tiny little cheeks!”

“Ames, maybe check what’s wrong first, then fangirl over how cute Sonic the Hedgehog’s children are?” Amy looked up to see her husband leaning against the doorframe. The little shit had a smug look on his face.

“They aren’t just cute because they’re your children, Sonic.” Amy smirked back at him. She picked up her sky-blue baby out of the crib, and placed her on a little quilt on her back. She went to wear the boys’ side was, and looked at whoever was awake. Apparently only Dash and Eric were awake, so she set them on the quilt as well.

“They got my genes. Look, more of them have my eyes then yours. I heard what you said to Eliza~,” Sonic wiggled his eyebrows, and his smirk only grew wider as he saw her blush. He walked over to her, and hugged her from behind, his arms tightening around her waist. “I’m hungry.” After years of knowing Sonic, she could see someone licking a vanilla ice-cream, she could think of dirty scenarios happening all at once.

“W-whoa there! We have children! Some of them are awake!” Amy tried to push him away, but he only held on tighter.

“Come on, a little fun won’t hurt~” Sonic started to gently peck her neck.

“...Why do you want this?” Amy asked, trying to hold her moans in.

“You being the mother to my children turns me on more than you notice, babe.” Sonic was suddenly pushed onto the quilt while Amy straddled him.

“I’m going to the mall today with Rouge and Cream. You can take care of the boys with Tails and Knuckles. I’ll take care of the sisters.” Amy often referred to her daughters as ‘the sisters’ because of their names. She named them after the Schuyler Sisters, seeing Hamilton with her best friends. Their middle names were after Greek Goddesses, one of the names for each sister being from the Three Graces.

“Just be careful, okay? Buy something that’ll make me feel like stripping every ounce of clothing off of you.~” He bit into her neck, leaving a purple spot and a gawking Amy.

“Do not worry, Mr. Hedgehog, we will make sure that Mrs. Hedgehog has a lingerie so beautiful, you’ll faint and nosebleed like you used to back in University.” The pink hedgehog and her latter looked at the door. Rouge was standing there with a camera, while Cream was staring at them with stars in her eyes.

“Thank you, Mrs. Echidna. Ames, you be a good girl. Don’t get into any fights, and if you do, don’t let the Sisters get in, or else you and the girls would be in jail.”

“Actually, Sonikku, I think you should be telling yourself that. You’re gonna be watching the boys. You haven’t properly taken care of them yet. I’m usually the stay-at-home mom, but today, roles are reversed. I wrote instructions on how to take care of them properly and I put their to-” Amy was cut off by a sudden warmth on her lips.

“Don’t worry, Amy. I’ll take good care of my little guys.” As soon as he said that, Rouge and Cream started gushing over how cute they found Sonic calling his sons “Little guys.”

“He loves his children!!! He loves the children Amy made!” (I’m personally fangirling too) Cream squealed. Amy and Sonic sweatdropped at their hardcore shipping.

~~~~~~Time Skip to Once They’re Downstairs~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Okay, I packed Angelica, Eliza, and Peggy’s things. That should be all!” Amy looked at Sonic. “You sure you got them?” Amy asked.

“Ames. You ain’t gotta worry about me. How hard could it be?”

“It’s not hard for you until now, because I usually take care of the kids, while you’re off at the recording studio, or practicing. I’m a housewife!”

“Don’t think I don’t know that Ariana Growle asked you to choreograph her newest music video.” Sonic said, pulling Flash’s foot from reaching the t.v. remote.

“Yeah, Amy. You don’t have to worry, Knuckles and I will make sure that he isn’t going to end up in tears because he has to change the kids’ diapers.” Tails responded, ignoring Sonic as he yelled an insulted “Hey!” at him.

“Thanks Tails, Knuckles. Maybe when you two have children, Sonic and I can take care of them!” Amy said, as she tried to get a two-month old squirming Angelica into her carseat. Angelica whined, wanting to get out of the carseat, until her mother handed her a soft little plush toy. Eliza was smiling at Cream playing peek-a-boo with her. Peggy, however...just...sat there. Amy walked over to Sonic, who was holding Wayne and Dash. She gave them a peck on the forehead, and gave their father a kiss on the lips. Sonic leaned in to let the kiss linger for a little longer, but Amy pulled back.

“I’ll see my little boys later!” Amy exclaimed as she gave kisses to Eric and Flash, who were being held by Tails and Knuckles. “Take good care of them! Or else...” Amy’s motherly instincts kicked in, her glare telling the caretakers that she’d kill them if even if one of the boys get even a tiny scratch.

- ~~~~~~AT THE MALL~~~~~~~

“Oh! This would go well with the skinny jeans I saw, don’tcha think? Amy asked Cream as she examined a grey crop top. She looked over at her daughters, who were sleeping, being lulled into a nap after a long walk in the stroller. Rouge was looking at some off-the-shoulder tops.

“Rouge, looking at your growing stomach, I would avoid looking at these teen tops, and move to the maternity section.” Cream joked. Rouge smiled. Amy smiled too.

“I remember when I was pregnant with these little angels, I dragged Sonic to at least 22 different stores. He went ballistic!” Amy laughed. “But seriously, you should start buying pregnancy clothes. One minute your stomach is barely half an inch, you blink and it looks like you have a basketball under your shirt.”

“How is it that we knew that you’d be the first one to get married and first one to have children?” Rouge smirked. Amy’s face flushed.

“D-don’t look at me! Sonic basically rushed me into this! He was in love with me my whole life! Since we were three!” Amy said, turning redder than the bat’s husband.

“Well, you have a point. Still. You fell for him!” Cream pointed out. They all laughed. Amy started wondering how the boys were doing.

Now, let’s see how the men are doing~

“WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” One of the babies, specifically Eric, started crying. Of course, it started a chain reaction, causing all the babies to cry. Sonic jolted up immediately and scooped up two of them, as they aren’t able to move much. He glared at Knuckles and Tails, who got the memo to pick up the other two.

“What do we do?!” Knuckles yelled at Sonic over the crying.

“Let me look at the list Amy gave me.” Sonic got up and moved to the kitchen counter. He skimmed through the paper. “Let’s try giving them some food.” Sonic started looking through the pantry.

“But they’re too young to have normal food. They can only have milk at this age!” Tails skidded over to Sonic and blocked the pantry. They noticed it wasn’t as loud as before. Knuckles handed them pacifiers.

“Knuckles, you’re a genius!” he gently put the pacifiers into Flash and Dash’s mouths. They started sucking. “Damnit, we don’t have nipples. Amy usually breastfeeds them.”

“Too much information, buddy.” Knuckles shook his head.

“Dude, you’re about to have your own child or children! It’s only natural. Amy occasionally does it because of the brood we have!” Sonic said, rolling his eyes at Knuckles’s immaturity.

“What about baby formula?” Tails asked. Sonic tried to snap his fingers, but failed because of the septuplets. “To the nursery!” And with that, he dashed up the stairs, Tails yelling at him to be careful. He sped back to the kitchen and began reading the directions.

“For infants four months and younger, one tablespoon of formula in 165 ml water. Infants will best like it as lukewarm. Huh, easy enough!” Sonic gives each baby to his friends, and starts taking out baby bottles. “Wait, how much is 100 milliliters are in cups?” Sonic asked. Tails sighed.

“Maybe I should do it, Sonic, you can play with the kids.” Sonic handed Dash and Wayne to him, and started measuring. Sonic walks back to the living room and puts the kids on the quilt from earlier. Knuckles started playing peek-a-boo with them, until Sonic interrupted.

“Dude, they can’t see clearly at this age, give them a few more months. Then again, they’ll be more interested in pulling those red dreads.” Sonic jokes with Knuckles. The echidna makes a disapproving look at him. Tails walks over with four baby bottles. He gave the idiots the bottles, and the kids started to suck on the bottles. After about ten minutes, the boys were done drinking their milk, and Sonic made a disgusted face.

“Ew, Knuckles, what did you eat? It smells like scrambled egg made with rotten eggs.” Knuckles glared at Sonic

“Oh sure, blame the buff guy.”

“Well if it wasn’t you, then who was it?” Sonic asked. Tails pointed to the kids in their arms.

“Well, I just remembered! I have stuff to do! Bye!” As Knuckles tried to get up, he was stopped by Sonic.

“You agreed to help with your nephews, now help.” Knuckles didn’t find Sonic’s face very friendly, so he sat back down. “Chaos, Amy owes me a strip show for this...” Sonic muttered. He looked up to find Tails and Knuckles blushing at what Sonic said. “Can you two imagine your own women doing that? Thank you.” Knuckles thought of Rouge and Tails with Cream.

“Ugh, help me change them.” Sonic said as he took four diapers and baby wipes. They walked to the nursery and put them on the diaper changing tables. (There’s more than one because of the seven hedgies.) “Okay, guys. We’re in unfamiliar territory, so be careful and stay safe.” Sonic said, acting like he was putting on an astronaut helmet.

“Sonic, we’re wiping your sons’ asses, not exploring the moon.” Sonic took a wipe and stuffed it into Tails’s mouth.

“Wash your mouth, dude! I don’t want ‘ass’ being their first word.” Tails spat out the wipe and started acting like he was dying.

“Can we get this over with? Sonic do you know what to do?” Knuckles asked, done with life, and just wanted to go home.

“Take off the diaper. There are those sticky strap things on the side we take those off, and take the diaper off.” Tails explained. They all followed what Tails said, only to find the revolting urine. The boys all ran to the nearest bathroom. They slowly went back to the nursery, the little hedgehogs giggling at not being covered on their rear-side.

“I see where they get those annoying smug faces from.” Knuckles stated, looking at the one who wore the smile first. Sonic’s smirk just got wider.

“I knew Amy would want most of the kids to look like me~, after all, I’m practically the hottest hedgehog alive!” Sonic made a pose, keeping still until he heard giggles at the door.

“No one’s named you ‘The Hottest Hedgehog Alive,’ Sonic.” Amy said, smirking at the doorframe. “Learn to change your kids’ diapers first. You haven’t even completed that.” Amy walked over to her husband, and slid one finger across his cheek, to his shoulder, and down his chest.

“Well then, Ames. I guess you better get to it!” And with that, the boys ran out of the mansion.

“SOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNIIIIIIIIIICCCCCCCC!!!!!!” Amy scoffed at his childish behavior. “WELL, I GUESS I’LL HAVE TO TRASH THIS OUTFIT I GOT FOR YOU!” Sonic immediately came back, picked up Amy and left.

“So, now what do we do?” Rouge asked.

“Finish what our guys couldn’t do.”

THANK YOU, I HOPED YOU ENJOY, PLEASE GIVE ME MORE PROMPTS BECAUSE I AM NOT CREATIVE.

#sonamy #pinky au #lyra ze hedgie boiii #otp #feeeeels #sonic girls #sonic the hedgehog #cream the rabbit #rouge the bat #amy rose #sonamy children #sonamy story #Pinky (AU)#knuxouge #taiream #sonic kids #knuckles the echidna #knuckles the enchilada #tails the fox

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randomfandomfamily · 5 years

Text

Made a post a while back about Little Cato’s lack of laughter (basically nonexistent, it’s actually really sad) and I spotted this in the comments:

So yeah.

Guess what I did.

Gary stood and slammed his hands down on the table. “Oh my crap!”

Avocato nearly choked. “What the hell, man?!” He put his cup down and glared up at his friend. “Warn a dude before you do that.”

“Yeah,” Ash said bitterly, her shirt soaked from the glass of water Fox had pretty much thrown when Gary startled him. “Some warning would have been nice.”

Mooncake floated around Gary’s head. “Chookity-pok.”

“Sorry about that,” Gary apologized, “But I just remembered something incredible.”

Quinn leaned forward. “What is it, Gary?”

“The two best jokes I have ever heard in my life,” Gary said seriously.

Sheryl perked up from the corner of the room. “Are they the ones your father used to tell?” Gary’s grin must have been answer enough, because Sheryl settled back against the wall. “Well then, let’s see if you tell them as well as he did, eh?”

Gary sat back down in his chair and cleared his throat. “Okay. Everyone ready?”

Fox bounced in his seat excitedly. “Oh man, I love jokes!” He frowned. “As long as they’re not rascist.” He narrowed his eyes. “It’s not racist, is it?”

“Nope. Not racist,” Gary reassured him. “So, the joke starts with three construction workers, and-”

“Why construction workers?” Ash asked.

“Because bricks,” Gary answered. “They have this big pile of bricks. And they get super bored, right? So they try to see who can throw one of these bricks up the highest. Problem is, the sun’s super bright, and they can’t see whose went the highest.

“But one of the guys gets an idea. The ground all around them is super muddy, so if they throw up in the bricks and land in the mud-”

“Then whoever’s sank deeper won!” Fox exclaimed.

Gary snapped and pointed at Fox. “Bingo. So the first guy throws up his brick. When it comes down it sinks about a foot into the mud.

“The second says, ‘Pfft, I can top that easy!’ and throws up his brick. And when it comes down it sinks three feet into the mud.

“Now this third guy is real confident. He grabs a brick and says, ‘Oh, yeah? Watch this!’ and he throws up his brick.”

Ash paused the slow process of wringing out her hair. “And?”

“And it doesn’t come back down.”

Everyone glanced at each other, smiles tentatively spreading across their faces. Mooncake landed on the table and gazed up at Gary in confusion. “Pok?”

Avocato hummed. “I’m with Mooncake. I’m not sure that was really much of a joke, Gary.”

Gary fought back a devious smile. “Alright, alright, that’s fair. But wait ‘till you hear this next one.

“A woman and her pet parrot-”

“What’s a parrot?” Fox asked.

Quinn patted Gary’s hand. “Not everyone here knows Earthen species of birds, Gary.”

“Oh right. Okay, so a parrot is a super smart bird that can mimic sound. You can even teach them to talk.”

“Whoa…” Fox said. “And she had one for a pet?”

“Right,” Gary confirmed, “And this lady wanted to take her parrot to see her mom. Because her mom loved parrots. There was just one problem: she was going to have to take a plane, and she couldn’t afford any that would allow her to have a pet on board.”

Ash raised an eyebrow. “Plane?”

“Um…” Gary thought for a moment. “Planes help people get from place to place by flying, but like, inside the atmosphere. Basically, planes are just domesticated spaceships. But anyway, back to the story.

“The only plane she can afford is one that has a bunch of rules. No outside food, no smoking, and worst of all, no pets.

“But she thinks for a while and she decides ‘I could get away with this’. So she sneaks the bird onto the plane by hiding it in her shirt. Everything’s great for a while, the bird is quiet and no one suspects a thing.

“Then the co-pilots comes through, he’s smoking a cigar and greeting people and making sure everyone’s doing okay.”

Fox scowled. “But I thought one of the rules was-”

Sheryl had moved away from the wall and closer to the table. She reached out a hand and patted Fox’s shoulder. “Wait for it, love.”

Gary and Sheryl shared a quick knowing glance before he continued the joke. “So the co-pilot comes through and stops next to her seat. He asks her how her flight’s going and she says everything’s going great.

“Just then, the parrot starts making noise, squawking and talking and just making quiet bird noise in general. The co-pilot gets mad and demands she remove the parrot from her shirt.

“She does, but the guy immediately snatches her bird away.”

“No!” Fox gasped.

“Yes,” Gary said, “And of course she gets mad. She stands up and tells the guy to give her the bird back but he says ‘No, pets aren’t allowed’ so she snatches the cigar out of his mouth and say ‘Cigars aren’t allowed either’.”

“Now the guy is really mad, and he opens up a window, saying ‘You can’t have pets on this plane!’ then he chucks the bird out the window. So the lady retaliates by opening another and window and saying ‘Well you can’t have cigars on this plane!’ and throws it out.

“Now they’re both angry, but they’re also drawing a lot of attention. The co-pilot decides to go back to the cockpit, and he’s all mad and huffy and grumbling to himself.

“But then!” Everyone freezes. “He hears a sound. Something is tapping on the window. He looks out and he sees the lady’s parrot.”

Fox pumped his fist. “Yes! Parrot lives.”

“Chookity!”

“Yep! Parrot lives!” Gary grinned. “And guess what the parrot had in its beak.”

Avocato spoke up. “The cigar?”

“No,” Gary said, “The brick.”

The room went dead silent for about ten seconds. Then a chorus of realization and laughter rang filled the room.

“The brick-”

“Oh my god!”

“Your father told it better, love.”

“You’re biased, Mom.”

“But- but the brick!”

Then another sound rose above the idle chatter and explosive laughter. At first Gary thought maybe they had an intruder on board, because he definitely didn’t recognize the voice he was hearing.

But then he spotted it. The source of the sound.

Little Cato.

Laughing.

Gary tried to remember the last time he had heard Little Cato laugh. And it wasn’t so much that he couldn’t remember, it had just… never happened.

He put his hand on top of Quinn’s head. “Wha-” He turned her so that she was looking at the younger Ventrexian. “Well, I’ll be damned.”

Ash caught sight of them staring and glanced around to find what had caught their attention. As soon as she saw the foreign sight of Little Cato’s laughing, she elbowed her brother. He looked annoyed until she pointed.

Little Cato didn’t seem to notice or care that everyone else had gone quiet. He smacked the table, hunched over in his seat and wheezing as he laughed. It sounded like it should have been loud, but it was too raspy to be as hearty as it could have been, almost like Little Cato’s vocal chords were unused to having a laugh pass through them.

Avocato frowned up at Gary. “What?”

Gary shushed him as Little Cato started to come down from his laughing high. “Dad, oh my gosh, that was the funniest thing I’ve ever heard.” He jumped up. “I gotta go write that down! I’ll be right back!”

As soon as Little Cato disappeared out of the room, Gary grabbed Quinn by the shoulders. “Holy crap! Did you hear that?!”

Quinn smiled. “Yes, Gary, I heard it.”

“He laughed!” Gary exclaimed. “Oh my crap, he laughed!”

Fox blinked. “I’m his roommate. I ain’t never heard that before.”

Ash tucked her hair behind her ear. “You know, I never really thought about the fact that Little Cato never laughs. He should do that more often.”

“Strange,” Sherly said thoughtfully, “Sounded like the kid hasn’t laughed in years.”

Avocato stood up. “What the hell are you guys getting so worked up over? He just laughed.”

“Chookity-pok!”

“He’s right!” Gary said. “A very uncommon occurrence! I’ve known him for months now, and I’ve never heard that!”

Avocato blinked. “What do you mean? He’s the happiest kid I know, he laughs all the time.”

“Maybe he used to,” Fox said, “Not anymore.”

“You guys are serious?” Avocato asked. “But… he’s-”

Quinn put her hand on Little Cato’s arm. “Optimistic.”

“Not to mention upbeat,” Sheryl added. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone more excited about a reverse robbery.”

Avocato looked bemused. “A what?”

“Look, ya kid’s not happy, mate,” Sheryl said bluntly, “He’s optimistic and upbeat, but that’s not the same as happy.”

Gary shot her a look. “Mom.”

Sheryl shrugged. “What? I’m just saying what everyone else is thinking.”

“So the whole time I’ve been dead,” Avocato said slowly, “He’s just been… not happy?”

“To be fair, before he was with us, he was with the Lord Commander,” Gary reminded him, “I can’t imagine he’s laughed too much in the past three years. I mean, do you even remember the last time you heard him laugh?”

Avocato hesitated. “I…” He concentrated on the table. “He…” The Ventrexian ended up putting his face in his hands. “When I said I wanted to catch up on what’s been going on with my son, this is not what I had in mind.”

“Pok-pok-pok,” Mooncake interjected. “Chookity-pok.”

Gary smiled. “You’re right, Mooncake. No point in dwelling on the past.” He gave Avocato a friendly punch to the shoulder. “From now on, we make it our personal mission to make sure Little Cato laughs more. Deal?”

“I’m in,” Quinn said.

Ash raised her hand. “Me too. Except I don’t think I’m gonna be very good at it.”

“I’m his roommate,” Fox offered, “I could probably find something that’ll make him laugh.”

Avocato looked around at them. “Looks like my friend made some pretty good friends while I was gone, huh?”

“The best,” Gary agreed. “Now quick, before Little Cato gets back, does anyone know any more jokes?”

#final space #gary goodspeed #quinn ergon #fox #ash #little cato #sheryl goodspeed #mooncake #i need this boy to LAUGH #random disaster writes

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an-everything-blog · 5 years

Text

Everything's Different

Pairing: Billy Hargrove x Reader

Warnings: Language, some angst

Summary: You were best friends with Billy, kinda fwb but not really? Anyway you confess your feelings and he don’t know how to deal. Strongly inspired by the song Body Ain’t Me by Pink Sweat$

Word Count: 1.7K

Author’s Note: I’m obsessed with writing for Billy rn idk why. I think s3 just really got to me. But anyway I’m usually not a big fan of song fics, but these songs just keep making me think of Billy! I highly recommend listening to the song, it’s very good!

Used to know you, but I don't know you now Everything's getting so blurry now Vision hurting, I can't stand the look of you now Everything’s different

Another night, another party, another hookup.

It’s been like this since May. Since the day you left him. It has been three months since he’s seen your beautiful smile. It’s all his fault. He’s the one that can’t properly love. You gave everything to him and he threw it away.

Billy shook his head aggressively trying to get the thought of you out of his head. Most nights he finds himself getting drunk to the point of forgetting the look in your eyes the last day he saw you.

Billy downed another shot of Jack and threw his arm around the nearest girl that was more than willing to follow him up to an empty room.

I heard you're movin' back from out of town I heard you travelin' all these miles and miles Tryna get back to my love, but it's harder now Everything's different

“Did you hear (Y/n) will be back on Monday?” Lauren said to Stacy in a low voice in hopes no one would hear her. To Billy’s dismay he caught your name and he physically couldn’t stop himself from listening. He was leaning against his car in the mall parking lot smoking a cigarette while waiting on Max to finish doing whatever she was doing. Lauren and Stacy were only a few cars down making small talk before they went their separate ways.

“Yeah I heard she was coming back from her internship! Did you know she had the option to stay, but word has it she is coming back for Billy Hargrove! Can you believe it?” Stacy laughed. Billy pushed the smoke out of his lungs in shock. She was coming back for him? After what he said to her?

“Well yeah I can believe it! She is desperately in love with him! It’s sad honestly. Seeing her draping herself all over him. I heard that he dumped her ass though and that’s why she left. Sad.” Lauren shrugged making Stacy giggle. Billy threw his cigarette down angrily. Half the shit they were talking about was bullshit. Billy hates small towns like this because word gets out quick and then it all turns into bullshit.

Billy turned and threw open his car door and deflating into his seat while hitting his steering wheel. You shouldn’t be affecting him this much. It has been three months and he most definitely didn’t have feelings for you. So why were you always on his mind? Why were the color of your eyes always in his sight?

He turned his key in the ignition aggressively and pressed down on the gas speeding past Lauren and Stacy and past the town forgetting about Max entirely in the process. He needed to get you off his mind...

I can't lie, I want you on me And girl, I wanna love you closely I don't want nobody on you If that body ain't me, body ain't me I lied when I said I hate you Baby, I was tryna get through

“I hate you! Get out! Just leave me the fuck alone (Y/n)!” He yelled abruptly. He was gripping his steering wheel much too tightly and he was looking forward refusing to look you in the eyes. You noticed his eyes were brimming with tears as yours were already falling. You didn’t understand and you wanted to hold him or shake him to try and grasp why he’s acting this way.

You told him you loved him. You hadn’t told him that yet because he hadn’t officially asked you to be his girlfriend. Yet he would always hold your hand and call you baby at the end of the day. And it was true. You did love him. Too much that you couldn’t contain it anymore. You loved the way he gave you that special smile that was only reserved for you. You loved the sound of his genuine laugh that you heard so rarely. You loved the shape of his birthmark right in the middle of his back, so small that not everyone would notice and you most definitely loved the way he cared even though he claims he doesn’t.

So when he pulled into your driveway and he kissed your cheek so tenderly you murmured it to him against his cheek not thinking twice about it. This made him freeze immediately and you feared you made a mistake.

You continued to look at Billy in shock at his confession. Hate is such a strong word and it made you flinch the moment it left his beautiful lips. He couldn’t possibly mean that right? Yeah he was upset when you told him you’d be leaving for the summer for your internship, but you didn’t think he’d be that upset by it.

You didn’t say anything as you slowly reached for the door handle hoping he would take it back, but he didn’t and your heart dropped like a stone on your stomach. You pushed the door open and closed it harshly before quickly walking into your house. You looked out your window watching as Billy beat his steering wheel before hitting his car in reverse and speeding down the road. You pressed your back against the door and slid down slowly as you stared blankly at the floor.

I don't want nobody on you If that body ain't me, body ain't me I've been hearin' voices, can't get 'em out You still playin' cool, but I need you now Vision clearer, I can see it all better now Everything's different

Billy was already four shots in the party he was at and the thoughts of you were well on their way out of Billy’s mind for the night as he eyed the crowd for yet another girl he could capture. Ever since you came back to town his thoughts were louder than ever. He hated feeling this way so he did what he did best. Drank away his feelings. Spotting his next target he started making his way over to her.

Suddenly his beer fell to the floor and he realized someone had bumped into him.

“Hey, fucking watch it-“ he exclaimed turning around.

“Oh my gosh I’m sorry-“ Billy gasped inaudibly hearing that voice. It couldn’t be. He turned fully and stumbled a bit getting a whiff of the perfume you always wore. Fuck. He cant do this right now.

You looked up to him in shock not expecting to see Billy so soon. He still looked so beautiful and your heart twitched seeing that head full of curls. You noticed he looked scared and you hated that you made him feel like that because you were the one that he went to for everything. He quickly stumbled away from you and out the door.

Billy gasped for fresh air as his heart dropped and stomach turned. He didn’t expect to see you so soon and he most definitely was not prepared for it. He wasn’t prepared to see those eyes or the curve of your nose. Your beauty struck him in the face and he immediately noticed that you got a trim on your hair and he hated that he noticed something so minute about you when he told himself he didn’t care for you.

He then suddenly realized at 12:43 in the morning, that he loved you too.

Yeah, I know you got a whole lot to figure out Just know that I'm always here for you girl, no doubt Before buildin' up, sometimes gotta break it down Everything's different

It had been a few days since you seen Billy at the party and you have to say, you were pretty shaken when you saw him. You knew you still loved him, but you thought maybe it would be a little better seeing him. As it turns out it made it that much harder and your feelings immediately came back stronger than ever. You sighed trying to will him away from your thoughts like you’d been doing all summer.

There was a soft knock on your door and without thinking much of it, you hopped of your kitchen counter and pulled open the door. You gasped seeing him.

“Billy..” You sighed before he spoke up.

“No, please before you say anything just let me say what I have to say, okay?” Billy said softly looking into your eyes. You couldn’t bring yourself to say anything so you just nodded.

I can't lie, I want you on me And girl, I wanna love you closely I don't want nobody on you If that body ain't me, body ain't me I lied when I said I hate you Baby, I was tryna get through I don't want nobody on you If that body ain't me, body ain't me

“Look... I know what I said was... awful. Like really awful. But I hope you know that I lied when I said I hated you. I could never hate you. Like ever. And I’m going to be honest here, when you left I became a complete Jackass. I slept around a lot and drank a whole lot more. That’s not fair to you and I’m sorry. I was just trying to get through all of my thoughts and trying to push them away at the same time. But when I saw you the other day I couldn’t run from it anymore.” Billy breathes out pausing for a second. You look into his eyes hopeful before he inhales and continues.

“I am in love with you. And it scares the absolute shit out of me and obviously I didn’t know how to handle being loved back because I fucked this all up and I’m just sorry. I understand if you need time to think or just don’t want to see me. I just had to tell you.” He concluded looking to see your reaction.

“Oh, Billy...” You sighed sadly. You felt so many different things and you had no idea how to form the words. Instead you curled your fingers gently in his hair and pulled him close before pressing your lips to his. It was slow and sensual and it poured all the emotions you had been feeling throughout the past few months: longing, sadness, frustration, but most of all love. You smiled into the kiss at the realization that Billy Hargrove loves you. He’s in love with you.

“I love you Billy Hargrove.” You murmured against his lips like you had done months previous. Except this time Billy gave you that smile that was only for you.

“I love you more, Baby.”

#billy #billy hargrove #billy hargove x reader #billy hargrove imagine #billy hargrove fanfiction #billy stranger things #stranger things #billy hargrove fluff #billy hargrove angst #stranger things x reader #dacre montgomery #hargrove #dacre imagine #dacre x reader

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writing-appreciation · 5 years

Text

SYNOPSIS: You and Peter were dating before the snap, but after Harley helped you through five years of pain. Five years later, you Harley finally makes his move, and Peter doesn't know what to do.

PARING: Stark!Reader X Peter Parker

WARNINGS: ☡ ENDGAME SPOILERS ☡ LIKE MASSIVE ENDGAME SPOILERS. DETAILED ENDGAME SPOILERS. NOT SUBLE ONES. IF YOU READ THIS AND HAVE NOT SEEN ENDGAME YOU WILL HAVE THE WHOLE PLOT SPOILED FOR YOU.

-Author rambling. You'll see if you read it. I'd figure I'd warn you about it because this is a LONG puppy.

-I also cried while writing this. So be warned.

-jerk!Harley?

-LANGUAGE

WORD COUNT: 7,475. Yeah, it's a long one.

GIF NOT MINE: @parkerpunology

I felt a sudden shift from Peter's arm which I was leaning on.

"Babe, do me a favor and stop it. I'm trying to rest." I complained, still with my eyes closed.

"(Y/n), look." He said. I could detect the fear in his tone. I looked at him and noticed he was staring outside the bus window. I followed his gaze and saw some giant spaceship?

"I gotta get over there." He grabbed his bag from under the seat and shuffled with it.

"Peter, are you sure?" I asked him with my fingers laced in his.

"(Y/n), this calls for Spiderman." He said while gesturing to the giant flying doughnut.

"No, this is an Avengers thing. This is over your paygrade." I argued.

"Just stay here, be careful. Protect May for me." He replied and pressed a quick kiss to my cheek.

I knew there wasn't any use in trying to convince him otherwise. I got up and tapped on Ned who sat behind us.

"Ned, cause a distraction." I told him. It didn't take long for him to look up from his phone to see the arising problem.

"Holy shit, we're all gonna die!" He said while rushing to the back of the bus.

"Peter, should I go? This looks like an all hands on deck situation." I suggested while examining the scene. I could tell my dad was flying around there from his blasters.

"(Y/n)." He warned, now locking eyes with me.

He didn't have time to tell me no because I grabbed a webshooter and opened the emergency window.

"See ya there sweetie." I smiled as I tapped on the edge of my glasses to make my mask surround my face.

I used my powers to manipulate the air around me. Doing so basically allowed me to fly.

I began to make my way to the problem. I heard Peter thwipping behind me.

By the time we arrived at the park I saw my dad fighting with some Mortal Kombat reject character.

"Peter, help the old man." I said. Although he was quite a distance away, I knew he heard me because of our comms.

"On it!" He said and went his way.

I continued on, surveying the scene for any other enemies. I did see a man in old timey clothes waving his hands around, making orange images fly around him. He looked like one of the good guys. So I began to help target the squidward looking creature. I bent the metal shrapnel around us to throw at him. This apparently only made him angier. He reversed my action and threw the metal back at me.

The strange man in strange clothes managed to stop the shrapnel from getting to me by turning them into butterflies. Weird.

"I don't have time for this." The creature snarked and telepathically pushed us against the side of a nearby building. Bricks from the wall caged us in. The pressure was like falling off the rope in PE class. It hurt.

While I was still being compressed, the two were having some kind of banter about some necklace the, for lack of better words, wizard had on. The Wizard managed to get off the wall and was now back on the ground. The alien made the wizard pass out and went on his way.

When he was a distance away I began to fall from my position.

"Okay, now I'm pissed." I muttered and flew towards them.

I didn't know why this Wizard was so important, but if the dickwad squidward wanted him, it probably wasn't for good reasons.

"(Y/n), (M/n) Stark, what in hell do you think you're doing?"

I mentally cursed at the sound of my father's voice coming from my comm.

"Helping save New York apparently." I quipped.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Peter swinging to the wizard as well.

Out of nowhere a blue beam lit up the sky. The Wizard began to he sucked into it. I saw Peter grab onto a lampole and pulled on his webbing. But it wasn't enough.

"Uh, Mr. Stark, I'm being beamed up!" He said.

"Dad!" I cried out to him while following the beam up, but staying out of its path.

"Yes, I see it. FRIDAY, deploy 17A and 24S."

17A? 17A was Peter's IronSpider suit. I didn't know he finished it. 24S on the other hand was a mystery.

I looked up and saw Peter rip his mask off. He looked like he was having trouble breathing. Makes sense, we were high up.

I was still quite a distance off of him, but when he was falling, I was prepared to catch him. FRIDAY beat me to the punch. His suit appeared around him and he was back to kicking.

I smiled in relief, but it was short lived. I saw another flying thing coming straight to me. 24S was probably a suit for me. Once the package hit my foot, the nanotech immediately began to form around me.

"Alright, FRIDAY, send them home." He said as he blasted past me.

"Oh come on!" I heard Peter say through the comms.

I felt a parachute deploy from the back of the suit. I was instantly drawn downward. I tried to use my powers, but they weren't working in this suit.

"Dammit Dad." I whined, knowing he could still hear me.

"Love you sweetheart. Be back in a jiffy." He said with uncertainty in his voice.

"Just be careful." I said again.

"Al..ways a-..a...m." His voice began to give out. He was too far away for me to contact him..

"FRIDAY, can you get me to Bruce?" I asked.

"Sure thing Miss. Stark." The AI replied.

Once I landed, I saw Bruce and Wong talking.

"Hey, you good, Doc?" I asked.

He was holding a phone and looked apprehensive.

"The Avengers broke up?" He asked.

"Yeah, it was pretty bad." I replied.

Wong took this opportunity to make his exit.

"This is worse." He gestured the scene around us.

I nodded, now knowing what the phone was.

"Call him." I said simply.

I watched as Bruce held the phone to his ear.

This was clearly worse.

Earth just lost its best defender.

And I just lost my boyfriend.

---WAKANDA BATTLE---

While I did appreciate my father's suit for me, I figured it would be more beneficial if I had my powers rather than my suit. I was tasked with helping protect Vision and Shuri.

I liked Shuri. I was certain Peter would like her too, but the introduction would have to wait as Peter is in space.

When everything went down, it went down hard and fast.

One moment Shuri was working on Vision, and the next we're being thrown out of the window. She was knocked unconscious, but the kingsguard were with her, so I felt fine going to help Vision.

I ran off, following to where he fell. It was in a forested area.

By the time I got there, Steve was fighting a monster and telling Vision to run.

I, being the self sacrificing Stark that I am, ran into the fight. Bending his own sphere against the creature.

Steve gave me a look of disappointment, but I just shrugged it off.

We were okay. For now.

The air suddenly became tense.

I heard Bruce through the comms say, "Cap, that's him."

I looked around and saw a giant purple guy towering over everything. I couldn't help but notice gauntlet on his left hand. I realized the green infinity stone that the Wizard had was part of it. I pushed the anxieties of what happened to the side. This was the fight of our lives.

But I froze. I saw as Natasha, Rhodes, Bucky, Sam, even Banner go for him. All efforts failed.

I heard Wanda and Vision behind me. They were saying goodbye.

Thanos was coming straight in our direction.

Steve jumped into the line of fire and grabbed the gauntlet. He screamed as he struggled to hold it back.

I gasped as Thanos' right fist met Steve's face.

He looked right at me.

"The formidable Stark child. I hope people remember your father." He said as he began to pass me.

'I hope people remember your father.' Replayed in my head. I let out a scream as I began to shoot fire out of my hands straight to the side of his face. It was ineffective.

I bended all the metal around me to create a sphere and pushed it to his direction. He turned, simply closed his fist and the sphere became a crumpled hunk of metal. He turned to Vision again.

Relief instantly set in when I saw the bright yellow flash. I was saddened by Vision's death, but relieved that Thanos' plan had been cut short.

I crawled my way to Wanda. She was crying, I was crying. We were both a mess, but for different reasons.

Thanos said something about understanding Wanda's pain and suddenly the flash was being reversed.

"No!" Wanda and I said in unison as the stone on Vision's head reappeared. Thanos pushed us away before we could do anything.

I hear a shattering and looked up to see Vision colorless on the ground.

Thanos had all six infinity stones. He looked elated.

Then Thor decided to join the party.

With stormbreaker in his hands he lined up his shot. There was hope after all.

The axe landed dead centre in his chest. Thor pressed it further.

I know Thanos said something, but the light ringing in my ears enabled me to hear it properly.

But he snapped.

Nothing happened at first.

Then it all came crashing down.

"Steve?" Bucky called out.

Then he was gone. Turned into dust before our eyes.

Everything happened so fast. Wakandan soldiers began disintegrating, our friends. Wanda, who was leaning over Vision, accepted her fate. She fell into it.

I looked down at my hands, expecting me to go to, but nothing. I was still here.

"Oh God." I faintly heard Steve from a few feet away.

I stayed on the ground. Not knowing what to do or where to go.

----22 days later----

I stayed at the Compound for a while. Dad, Peter, or Stephen (as I learned was the Wizard's name) hadn't returned yet. Pepper was on a last minute trip in Hong Kong when the actual snap happen, but they cancelled all flights; so I couldn't stay with her until she got back. When she did, we went home and just went through Dad's stuff. We refused to believe he was gone.

Natasha, Steve, and Rhodes set up shop at the compound. They wanted to fix this, whatever it took.

One day Pepper got up at 3:00 a.m and pulled me awake too.

"(Y/n), come on. Tony's back." She said through sniffles.

I shot up. If dad's back, that means Peter's back too!

Happy drove us to the compound with excited energy.

When we arrived there was still no sign of dad, so I asked Happy if he could drive me to the nearest Burger King. We both knew that Dad would be craving a cheeseburger, so Happy happily obliged. I also figured it wouldn't hurt to get Peter some fries. He's never turned down fries in the time I've known him.

When we got back, there was a huge spaceship on the lawn.

Tears threatened to spill out of my eyes right then and there. I didn’t even wait for Happy to open the door for me, I rushed it open with the food in my hand and ran inside.

"Dad! Peter!" I called out to them.

I walked into the conference room to see Steve, Rhodey, and Natasha looking at me with sadness.

"(Y/n)..." Steve trailed off.

"What? They're okay aren't they? I brought them food, if they want it, but I know for a fact Peter will eat these fries. Oh, damn I didn't' get anything for Stephen. Anyway, are they sleeping or something?" I asked, now noticing they weren't in the room.

"Tony's resting in the…" Natasha began to say and move at an angle so I could see the room ahead of us.

I gasped and dropped the food. I ran past the three and fell to my knees at the base of his bed.

He looked terrible. His cheekbones were prominent, so was every other bone in his body. Knowing dad he would've given any food to Peter. Speaking of, it was weird to not see him around. He probably went to check on May. God, she'd be so happy to see him!

Even though I was happy at the thought of Peter and May's reunion, it didn't make me feel any better about how dad was.

I felt Pepper rub soothing circles into my back.

Apparently this was enough to help me fall asleep because the next thing I knew I was wrapped in a blanket in my room at the compound.

"Good you're awake. I was starting to think passing out was a Stark curse."

I surveyed the room to see who's voice that sentence belonged to.

"Dad." I choked out. I reached my hand up to my eyes to wipe the tears of joy that began to fall.

"Hey, we have to talk." His voice began to waver.

I sat up and gave him my attention.

"There's no easy way to say this, so I'm just going to say it. The kid- Parker- Peter. H-He didn't make it." He said quickly and avoided my gaze.

That there. That was when my world shattered around me. I got my dad, but at the cost of my boyfriend. But I can't deny that part of me had thought about this. The prospect of Peter dying in battle. It hurt like hell, but it didn't seem to phase me. My dad caught on to that.

"(Y/n), talk to me. Say something." He looked up to see my stoic expression.

I took a deep breath. "How?"

"Don't do that. Don't play tough here. It's okay to feel…"

"How did he die, dad?" I asked again, looking up to see his tear stained face.

"The snap." He replied simply.

I looked to my nightstand. There was a photo of us together at a dinner with Dad and Pepper.

"This is the worst breakup ever." I said without emotion.

I could tell my dad didn't know how to react to that. He decided to wheel over to my bed and gesture for me to hug him. That's all I needed to see to bury my face into his shoulder and sob.

---1 year later---

"Keener, I swear to God, you're impossible." I rubbed my temples while he pranced around my room.

Well, my in the process of being built room.

After dad got better, he decided to build up his family. The wedding him and Pepper had was nice and small. The antithesis of anything Stark related. He then decided that expanding the family would be a good thing. Which is where Morgan came into the picture. Or at least, the embryo of Morgan. Before she was born though, dad insisted that his favourite girls design the new Stark home. Seeing as Pepper was eight months pregnant, she couldn't exactly drive out here and be around all this paint; so it was decided that I would get the final say.

I decided to bring Harley along because he basically became my best friend this past year. He lost his mom in the snap and eventually found his way out to New York with his uncle.

And oh boy did Harley get into everything.

"Why is there such a large open space here?" He asked as we entered what would be the dining room.

"Clearly because it's not furnished, idiot." I whispered.

I continued walking around the place and saw the makings of a home. The family room was the only room fully furnished at the moment and it looked beautiful.

A worker came up to me shortly after.

"Miss. Stark, we hope everything is to your liking?" He asked nervously.

"Yes, my parents will love it too. You're all going excellent work. Keep it up and my dad will undoubtedly tip very well." I smiled at the group of workers who had now huddled around to hear what I had to say.

"I still think it's a little roomy!" Harley called from the couch he was sitting on.

"Harley, shut up!" I yelled at the boy.

This caused the workers to laugh.

----PRESENT----

5 Years. It's been 5 years since the world's been normal. Two years since I graduated High School.

Five years since I last saw Peter.

It was that emotion that made me want to take on Scott's Time Heist. Then again, we were happy. Morgan happened in these five years and she made all of us extremely happy. Dad retired his gold titanium alloy suit, and I was on my way to co-running Stark Industries.

But then I think about the trillions that died, and it feels irresponsible to sit back and live happily.

Eventually dad and I did solve the missing variable in the time travel equation. But whether or not we should act on it was the tough part.

The next day we were driving ridiculously fast to the compound.

The days after that came the planning.

After that the heist was underway.

Harley and I stayed behind to watch the shop.

"Going subatomic in 5…"

I adjusted a few levers.

"4...3…2… brace yourselves and be careful." I warned as the countdown came to an end.

"See you in a minute." Natasha with joy evident on her face.

"1." I said and pulled the final lever.

Then they were gone.

"So…" Harley trailed off, "how long will they be gone?"

"About a minute for us. Natasha wasn't too far off, actually." I smiled, looking at the data we were collecting.

"Okay, so I have a minute to do this." Harley breathed out.

"Huh?" I said, now looking at him.

"Listen, I don't know how else to say this, but I like you. Not in the jokey, friend kind of way. More of a hey, I wanna take you out to a restaurant and treat you like a lady kind of like you." He scratched the back of his head.

"Har…" I breathed out, ready to explain the millions of reasons why anything between us couldn't happen.

He quickly rushed a finger up to my lips.

"Shhh, I just had to say it. Whether you reciprocate or not will take time, I get it; but I will wait." He said, now pressing his forehead against mine.

I heard frantic beeps from the monitors. They were all synced to come back. Mostly. I noticed Natasha's sync wasn't shown.

I shrugged it off as a glitch and brought them back.

Once they all reappeared I heard Bruce say, "Did we get them all?"

Followed by Rhodey asking if it really worked.

I wasn't the only one to realize Natasha was gone.

"Clint, where's Nat?" Bruce asked first.

Clint looked broken. Like he had just witnessed the painful death of a loved one. He didn't say anything, which is all he needed to say.

Bruce fell to the ground of the time heist rig and slammed the ground.

"No." I whispered out.

We all took off in different ways, but somehow all ended up at the lake.

"Do we know if she had any family?" Dad broke the silence.

"Yeah, us." Steve replied, looking off into nothing.

Thor went on into hysterics. He was denying that she was gone. This angered Clint and he processed to challenge Thor to go and try to save her. I saw tears roll down Steve's cheeks as they fought.

I simply walked away. I couldn't be in that environment anymore. I heard a crash of water and a Hulk-eske grunt. That told me enough of what happened.

I reentered the compound to see Scott, Rhodey, Harley, and Nebula still standing around.

"How are they?" Scott asked.

"Her sacrifice won't be in vain. Thanos is going to suffer." I simply said as I walked past them.

But I couldn't help but notice Nebula slightly reacted to that.

"(Y/n), wait!" I heard Harley call after me.

"No, Harley. I don't wanna talk. Go away." I slammed the door behind me and crashed on my bed.

This plan was supposed to bring everybody back, but we already lost one team member. Who says we wouldn't lose another?

The day after we began to construct our own gauntlet. Rocket, Bruce, Dad and I all collectively worked on it. We all watched in awe as the stones seamlessly worked into the gauntlet.

Then followed a huge argument of who had the burden of wearing it. Thor volunteered himself immediately. His logic being that he was the strongest. I watched as dad told Thor he wasn't in the condition to wield it. So that's when Bruce nominated himself. His reasoning being that he was "made for this."

Dad had me stand behind him and Clint. We were behind dad's shield.

"Hey FRIDAY, do me a favor and activate Iron door protocol, will ya?"

I watched as the compound began to lock itself down. Even the very room was being locked down. This was it.

And so Bruce did it. He placed the gauntlet at his fingertips. We all watched as the nanotech began to fit around him. After a few screams, pleas, and a snap, Bruce collapsed to the ground. Everybody went to inspect him. I noticed though, that Scott went off to look outside. Clint also went in a different direction. He went to the table. I could hear a slight vibrating. Almost like it was coming from a phone.

"Guys, I think it worked." Scott called out.

Still examining Bruce, I noticed his expression change to fear as a shadow crawled up his face. I turned to look at he window above us. It was a massive ship. Something was coming right for us.

Suddenly we were attacked.

"(Y/n)!" I heard my dad yell. I couldn't tell where I was, but I just kept falling.

…

"Come on kid, get up."

I looked up and shook my head.

"Clint?" I asked, unsure if I was actually seeing him, or if my subconscious was making him up.

"Yep, that's me. We gotta get out of here." He held out his hand. I noticed he held the gauntlet with his other arm.

"Thanks." I said while grabbing his hand and pulling myself up.

I tapped the edges of my glasses and hoped FRIDAY would still be functional.

"FRI, where are we?"

"According to the blueprints, you are located approximately underneath the 4th conference room."

"Get us a path out of here, please."

Suddenly an animalistic sound caused the both of us to turn towards the source. Clint shot a light arrow in the direction.

Chitauri.

"Any day now FRIDAY!" I yelled as we began to run away from the creatures.

"Continue down this corridor. It will lead to a tunnel close to the surface."

"Yeah, very helpful thanks." I heard an out of breath Clint say.

We continued running. Clint now had his sword out and was slicing Chitauri as they got too close. Once we approached a water pipeline, I saw my opportunity.

I began bending the water around us, and shot it forcefully at the herd chasing us. It effectively knocked them back several feet.

"Couldn't do that any earlier?"

"Shut up Clint." I replied as we continued running.

Before we got to the upwards tunnel, Clint turned around and shot a grenade arrow towards the heard. He then sent a grappling hook to the top of the tunnel.

I couldn't help myself, "What? Couldn't do that earlier?" I asked as we both grabbed on the wire.

"Shut up." He said with a small smile.

Once we got to the top Clint exasperatedly said, "Okay, take five."

He rolled on the ground, but still had a hold of the gauntlet.

I rolled over too. In the past five years, cardio hasn't exactly been my main focus.

"Oh hey, I know you." I looked up to see Clint handing the gauntlet to Nebula.

"Father, I have the stones."

"What?" Clint and I said simultaneously.

As Clint was closer, he went to get the gauntlet back. Except Nebula turned a gun on him before he could do anything.

"Move and your friend gets blasted through his heart." She said, clearly directed to me.

Suddenly another Nebula and a green lady showed up. There was some back and forth between the two that ended up with Clint being able to get over to me quickly.

Then Nebula shot Nebula.

"FRI, how about that way out of here?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"Through here." Nebula said and began to walk away with the green lady.

"FRI?" I whispered as soon as they were out of earshot.

"I'd advise following them."

"Still such a big help." Clint mumbled as he picked up the gauntlet.

When we got out it was chaos. I saw Steve with a half broken shield facing off with Thanos. Thanos had thousands of his soldiers lined up a prepared to fight.

I saw my dad laying down, but still moving. Thor was facedown in a pile of rubble. Rhodey, Scott, Rocket and Banner were nowhere to be seen.

Did we just lose again?

"Steve. Can you hear me? On your left."

I could've sworn I heard Sam's voice in the comm.

Suddenly a familiar orange glow appeared on Steve's left side.

Out walked T'challa, Shuri, and Okoye.

It worked. They were coming back!

Hundreds of other portals opened and more of our allies flooded out of them.

Out of the sheer number of people I couldn't make out Peter, but I was relieved that he was okay.

"Avengers!" I heard Steve yell.

"Assemble." He finished with an overwhelming amount of determination.

Then everybody took off.

This was truly the fight of our lives.

I began flying up and made my way into the fray too.

"Gotta say, when I imagined us fighting a massive army of space aliens, this is not what I had in mind." I heard Harley say.

I chuckled.

"Now's not the time for unsubtle flirting with my daughter, Keener." Dad snapped.

Harley took off in a different direction. I took the moment to observe his suit. Green. Interesting choice.

The fight was brutal, but suddenly it got a whole lot worse.

After a fight with Wanda. Thanos commanded an aerial attack. Some sort of bombs began falling into the battlefield. They were mostly metal so I tried to bend as much of them as I could, but there were too many.

"I got this. I got this. I got this. Okay, I don't got this. Help, somebody help!" I heard a familiar voice call.

"Hey Queens, heads up." I looked up to see Steve throw Mjolnir in the direction of the cry for help.

I watched as Peter shot webbing at the hammer and trailed behind it. He was holding the gauntlet in one of his ironspider arms. Then he was being held in the sky by Pepper. Then he was on the back of a flying horse. This is a lot.

He fell nevertheless and I began to make my way to him. But of course I was cut off by Chitauri trying to you know, kill me.

Abruptly though, they stopped firing at us, and began firing upwards.

"FRIDAY, what are they shooting at?" I heard my dad ask.

"Something just entered the upper atmosphere."

We all looked up to see a bright yellow streak flying through Thanos' ship.

Steve was the first to notice who exactly it was,

"Danvers, we could use an assist down here."

It looked like we could win this afterall.

When I finally made it to Peter's side, he was a mess. He held the gauntlet with both arms and kept looking wildly around. Before he could see me though, Carol got to him first.

"Hey, I'm Peter Parker." He said shakily.

"Hey Peter Parker. You got something for me?" She smirked.

He pulled himself up. "I don't know how you're going to get it past them."

"Don't worry." Wanda said, now landing near him.

"She's got help." Okoye finished.

By this time I noticed a whole legion of women were surrounding Peter. Myself included. They began taking off, but I stayed behind.

I jumped over a rock that separated us. I looked at him. He looked terrible. His nose was bleeding. He looked terrified.

"(Y/n)?" He asked while taking a step closer to me.

Suddenly a violent shake drew our attention away from one another. Good thing it did, because we then noticed a huge rock coming straight for us.

Without thinking, I pushed Peter down into the ditch we were standing in and used my powers to redirect the rock towards some line of aliens.

I didn't look away until I felt him grab my hand.

He was crying.

"No, no. Don't you do that Peter. Because if you start crying, I'm gonna start crying and we need to win right now." I said instinctively wiping his tears.

"I missed you." He said, now pulling me into a tight hug.

I sighed. "I missed you too, but let's win this before we talk." I reluctantly pulled away.

Trust me, I would've given anything to continue hugging him, but right now I knew I had to be objective.

We looked around to see if there was anywhere we were needed. Carol and Thanos were fighting. And Thanos had the gauntlet on.

My breathing hitched. I began flying to them until I saw Strange holding back water from flooding the field.

I redirected myself towards him and began to move the water back. Carol could handle her own.

"No, go to your father, he's going to need you." He said, "I got this handled."

My father? I looked around and saw him face down near Thanos.

In a blind rage, I flew to him quickly.

"Dad?" I asked, shaking him awake.

We both looked up and saw Carol holding the gauntlet open.

"Get back." My dad said after looking at Strange.

I didn't argue. I flew several feet away from them.

I saw Thanos rip the power stone from the gauntlet and punch Carol with it. She went crashing into some debris.

My dad quickly got up and tried to remove the gauntlet. It was unsuccessful.

Thanos threw him a fair distance.

"I am inevitable." Thanos said while snapping his fingers…

But nothing happened. I waited for everything to be gone. He said he would destroy Earth and take great pleasure in doing so, but he didn't. He looked at the back of the gauntlet in shock. He then locked eyes with my father.

I looked to him and saw the stones move their way up his arm.

"No." I said under my breath.

Once the stones were in position, they all glowed. He looked like he was in pain.

"And I… am…" He paused and looked back to me for a second. He mouthed 'I love you' with tears beginning to fall.

"Ironman." He completed just before he snapped his fingers.

"Dad!" I screamed as a blinding white flash temporarily blinded me.

I hid my face as the light took over, but once it was gone, I felt different.

When I could see properly, I saw dad tiredly prop himself against a pile of rubble.

I quickly pulled myself up and stumbled my way to him.

"Dad?" I asked as I fell to my knees beside him. His eyes looked empty, but he still looked at me. Half of his face was burnt. He looked like should be in pain, but he somehow managed to look at peace.

"Hey brat." He said in a faint whisper.

"Hey, save your energy." I said to him. "Help!" I shouted to nobody in particular.

He lightly shook his head.

I heard Rhodey land, but kept looking at my dad.

He looked at Rhodey and gave him a faint smile.

Then came Peter.

"Mr. Stark?" He called. Once he saw him, his voice began to break.

"Hey, Mr. Stark, it-it's Peter. We won' Mr. Stark. I'm sorry Tony."

Dad look at Peter and then back to me. Peter nodded before being pulled back by Pepper.

"Pep." Was all dad could make out.

"FRIDAY?" Pepper said, hand on his arc reactor.

The AI said something about his vitals being low.

"We'll be okay. You can rest now." Pepper said, locking eyes with him.

He looked at me one last time. He pulled out one final smile and kept looking at me. I saw a single tear fall down from his eye.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the arc reactor turn from its shiny blue to black.

My father just died.

Pepper leaned in a kissed his cheek. After she placed her forehead on his chest and began crying.

I felt a hand being placed on my shoulder.

I heard Peter drop to his knees beside me. Then he was wrapping me in his arms and we were crying.

…

I held Morgan in my lap as we watched Tony's final message.

"I don't know if I'll have time to do personalized messages for everyone, but I'll be damned if I don't try. They'll be somewhere stored on FRIDAY. I trust you guys can find them…"

I zoned out. I didn't want to be here. I wanted to be laughing at a family dinner again, but instead here we are: mourning our dad.

Soon enough we were all at the lake. I sat with my feet in the lake. Morgan was standing, leaning against Pepper who had just released a bunch of flowers and dad's old arc reactor into the lake.

I was crying again.

I stayed there for a while. Just watching the flowers float around the lake.

Until somebody cleared their throat behind me.

I reluctantly turned around to see Harley.

"(Y/n), I am so…"

"Keener, I swear if you say you're sorry for my loss, I'm going to throw you in this lake."

"Well, what do you want to talk about?"

"Literally anything else."

"Well, I think I'm going back to Tennessee."

"What?" I asked, crossing my arms in annoyance, but also in coldness. The temperature suddenly dropped.

He sighed as he took of his jacket and placed it around my shoulders, "My mom called me. She wants me back there. But you're not there, so I don't particularly want to go back."

I mentally cursed. Really? He thought this was the time to discuss his confession?

He sat next to me.

"(Y/n), I get that it's tough right now. I'm not telling you to make a decision now, but I will wait for you." He said while placing a chaste kiss on my cheek. I also felt him squeeze my hand.

With that he got up and walked away.

----PETER'S POV----

I spent half of the service watching (Y/n). She and Mr. Stark were close. Anybody could see that. His passing hurt her. I didn't know if I could help here through this.

Shortly after Mr. Stark died, I was tasked with having to pull her away from her father's lifeless body. Her and Pepper asked for a moment alone. But in that moment, she attached herself to his hand. I tried to be as gentle as I could with her. But she wouldn't budge.

I didn't blame her. I was the same when my Uncle Ben died. I refused to leave his side.

Cap urged the importance of moving them though. Apparently the stones had to be returned to their times. This meant we'd have to pry the stones off of Mr. Stark. Cap and Dr. Banner said they didn't deserve to witness that.

So I did have to beg her to leave her father's side. When that didn't work, I had to drag her away from him. She cried as I began to pull her away.

"Peter, please a few more minutes." She begged through tears.

I placed my hands on either side of her face, "(N/n), I'm sorry this isn't healthy, trust me. I know."

My plea did virtually nothing to help her.

Suddenly rain began pouring from the sky. It didn't take long for me to realize it was her that was causing this. Not intentionally, it just happened. It got worse as we had more distance between us and Mr. Stark.

Suddenly another boy in a green suit landed near us.

"(Y/n), hey." He began to reach his arms out to her.

I quickly blocked this advance and kept walking her away.

"Peter, let me take her. I can get her somewhere dry quicker." He negotiated.

I thought about what was best for her. She didn't need to get somewhere dry.

I nodded and allowed him to pick her up bridal style.

And off they flew.

I felt helpless. It felt inappropriate for me to cry because she was the one who lost somebody, not me.

When we arrived though, I couldn’t help but notice the same man who flew (Y/n) out of the storm a few days back. Who even is he? I have never seen him around.

After Mrs. Stark placed the memorial to Mr. Stark in the lake, we all stood in a moment of silence.

She held Morgan's hand and began to walk back to the house. (Y/n) stayed at the edge of the lake.

I knew she needed time, so I walked into the house with May.

About 15 minutes later, I noticed it was colder outside. I ran up to her room and grabbed her a jacket. I stopped by her nightstand. I knew I shouldn't be snooping, but I smiled at the photo of us still sitting on it. But behind it, I saw a photo of her and the other boy smiling with ice cream. Surely they're just friends. Why else would my photo still be here, but then why did she also have a photo of him there too?

I shrugged it off and made my way outside to give her her jacket. Before I even made it outside I saw her wearing his jacket.

Once I was outside I began to hear their conversation. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but it was a Spiderman perk.

"My mom called me, she wants me back there. But you're not there, so I don't want to particularly go back." He said with a smile in her direction.

(Y/n) didn't respond. She just continued staring into the lake. He sat next to her. His leg was touching hers.

"(Y/n), I get that it's tough right now. I'm not telling you to make a decision now, but I will wait for you." He said while placing a kiss on her cheek. He also gave her hand a squeeze. He got up and turned around. When he saw me he smiled.

I stood still.

As he approached me, he smirked, "You were gone for five years, Parker. I wasn't. She moved on."

I clenched my fists. It took everything to not punch him in his smug looking face right then and there.

I ignored his comment and made my way to my girl.

"(N/n)?" I called to her.

"Peter, hey." She said, still stoically staring into the water.

"Stupid question, but are you okay?" I immediately regretted asking. Who asks that in a tim like this?

She actually looked up at me. She smiled sadly.

"I'll be fine. Actually I wanted to ask you something."

I sat down by her and nodded my head.

"Dad left me a video. I'm scared to watch it alone, can you…"

I already knew what she was going to ask.

"Yes. (Y/n), obviously." I said, looking into her eyes.

"Come on then, dad hates to be kept waiting." She said while pulling her feet out of the water.

I immediately jumped up at offered her my hand. She accepted as she pulled her shoes on.

She led me back to her room and sat on her bed. After a moment she patted a spot next to her.

"FRI, can you play my video from dad?" She asked, hesitation in her voice.

FRIDAY projected the video on her wall.

It was Mr. Stark sitting there with with a pensive expression.

"You know, I feel it. I can feel like I'll end up with the gauntlet. I can guarantee you, sweetheart, I will do everything I can to give you your five years back. From ages 14-19 you grew up too quickly. So when I inevitably get the gauntlet, I'm going to fix that. So I hope you're ready to go through high school for the second time."

"Oh God." She breathed out.

"FRIDAY, pause please." I asked.

"Peter, when he snapped, I felt different. He actually made me a 14 year old again." She choked out.

FRIDAY resumed the video.

"Also, I'm confident you'll do amazing things. You and your little boyfriend."

I smiled at Mr. Stark calling me her little boyfriend.

"Harley actually just asked me if he could ask you out after everything was back to normal…"

What? Wait, was Mr. Stark referencing Harley as (Y/n)'s boyfriend?

"Also when you inevitably walk down the aisle with him, just know I'll be there, watching you."

Crap. I zoned out. I didn't catch what he said. Who he meant.

"You already are the best big sister to Morgan, and I know you'll only continue that trend." He smiled into the camera.

She was crying her eyes out. I didn't know what to do.

"God, I wish I could make this video go on forever, but time is running out isn't it? Major things:

Your trust fund is frozen until you turn 18, obviously. I already wrote a letter of recommendation for you for University. By the way, don't feel pressured to go to MIT. Go to your topic pick. I'm trusting you with everything. Morgan is too young to understand, but you can carry on my legacy. I know you can. And I know you will. Morgan will eventually join you in that, but right now it's you. And I know you'll hurt. I didn't even like my dad that much when he died, but it it still hurt like hell; now, I'm assuming you love me, which only logically means losing me will hurt even more. A typical week or two of grieving is obviously encouraged, but there is a point when it'll become too much. Move on, grow. I'm not saying forget me, but just don't let my hypothetical death destroy you. You are too talented to let my death hinder your future."

She was still crying, but now she was clutching a pillow.

"I love you, (Y/n) (M/n) Stark. Don't you forget that. In fact, I love you 3000."

With that final comet, the video ended.

She took a deep breath in and smiled.

I awkwardly sat on her bed, looking at her smiling at the frozen image of her father.

"So, I guess I'll be going back to MidTown Tech afterall." She said, now wiping her eyes.

"Yeah." I awkwardly shifted.

A gentle knock was heard on her door.

"(Y/n), sweetie, is Peter in there?"

May.

I jumped off her bed and waved a quick goodbye. She didn't even process it. She was still looking at the wall.

I opened the door and silently shut it behind me.

"Hey, how is she?" May asked me in a hushed voice.

"Well, she just lost her only living parent, May." I said bitterly. Mostly because I saw Harley in the other room.

"Well, come on, Happy offered to drive us back." She suggested, following my gaze to Harley.

I followed her out. But I couldn't help but think about (Y/n) and Harley. Were they serious? At the very least I know Harley likes (Y/n) enough to have asked Mr. Stark if they could go out. I couldn't tell how (Y/n) felt though. Part of me obviously wanted her to still like me. Five years in the soul stone and all I could think about was getting back to her, but it didn't even hit me that other people could have already gotten to her. I was lost. I didn't know what to do about this.

…………………..

A/N: Wowie this ended up being WAY longer than what I thought it would be. I was originally aiming for circa 2000 words, but here we are.

Fun Fact: my original draft for this had the reader on the spaceship with Tony, Peter, and Strange; but I changed it.

Question: should I do a part two to this because it was left on a rather mysterious note.

#peter parker #peter parker x reader #stark!reader x peter parker #peter parker imagine #marvel imagines #marvel x reader #marvel #avengers endgame spoilers #avengers endgame

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writing-for-amusement · 5 years

Text

Keep It Secret, 4

Summary: Ever since your soulmate told you to stop writing on your skin because they didn’t want to communicate, you did as they asked even though it hurt your heart. During the first day of your new job as an “emergency woman” on a film set, you forget your notepad and planner, so you have to write on your skin. When you’re then called to the makeup trailer to deal with an emergency, you meet Zendaya Coleman, with your supply list on her wrist. You vow to keep your status as her soulmate a secret, even if it hurts, because all you want is for her to be happy. Even if it’s to your detriment.

A/N: Okay, so, this chapter is a little short, but... I REALLY wanted to break it off where I did because I like to keep the suspense going lmaoo... Anyway, I hope you like this, I’m actually pretty content with how it turned out!!! Fun fact, I actually didn’t know how I wanted to do the cat, so I legit went on a pet adoption website to find inspiration!!!!

You can still get on any of my taglists!!!! Also, what do you think will happen next?????

Disclaimer: I do not know or claim to know Zendaya Coleman; I am essentially using her as a face/name claim to my fic idea. The same goes for the other people in this fic. That being said, I hope you like this!!!!!

Warnings: drunkenness, mention of vomit, a kitty cat, some angst, swearing

Word Count: 2023

Permanent Taglist: @pparkerwrites, @jordyns-library, @natblidaclexa, @peterseuphoria, @lesbian-x-blackwidow, @beccaboo929, @softrdj, @icecoldban

KIS Taglist: @hailqueenconquer, @imaginerequestpage, @adventurousbooknerd

Chapter 4

Zendaya kept looking at you with those perfect furrowed brows, her hair gently moving in the breeze. Internally, you were floundering for an answer, flipping back and forth between what your heart and soul wanted, and what you knew Zendaya wanted.

Externally, well, you hoped you didn’t look as panicked as you felt.

“Is it me?” Zendaya asked in a small voice.

You hadn’t thought anything could have hurt worse than your daily pain of being around her and not telling her. But this, this was much worse than that. Every atom in your body was screaming in pain, in anger, as Zendaya looked so sad, confused, and broken.

Your hands briefly reached out to take her by the shoulders to add emphasis to what you were about to say, but you let them fall back to your sides.

You bent slightly so you could look her in the eyes. Zendaya raised her gaze to yours and you gave her a pained smile.

“It’s not you, Zendaya,” you explained. “It’s not you, I promise. I promise that it really isn’t you, it’s me.” You inhaled shakily to steel your nerves. “Look, I, well, we—”

Jade suddenly laid on the horn, making you both jump in surprise. You whirled around to see her animatedly motioning for you to get going. Then, she rolled the window down and yelled in slightly slurred words, “Let’s goooooooooooooo!”

“Okay, Jade, Jesus Christ, just a minute!” you yelled back. After watching your friend slump back into the car, you turned back to your soulmate.

She was chuckling and that made your heart lift slightly. “Such a character,” she sighed lightly. Then, her eyes were back on yours.

“Zendaya, I promise, it’s not you. But I gotta go, okay? We… we can talk later, alright? I’ll see you next time you’re on set.”

“Okay, Y/N,” she said hesitantly. Then, her demeanor brightened. “Okay. I don’t know why, but I really believe you. I’ll see you soon, Y/N. Be safe driving.”

You smiled and nodded, turning back and getting in the car. Zendaya waved at you as you reversed and drove away.

“What took you so long?” Jade whined.

You sighed at her and shook your head. “Just relax. You’ll be with your cat before long. If you must know, Zendaya asked why I never let her touch me.”

Jade gasped dramatically. “What did you say?”

“Well, I was going to tell her the truth, until you butted in with a car horn!” you explained with frustration lining your voice.

“Oh no,” Jade breathed. “Oh no.”

You glanced at her and were about to reassure her, when you saw how white her face was. Quickly pulling over, you urged her to open the door and vomit out there. It might not be your car, but you knew you’d be the one to be cleaning it, and you definitely didn’t want to be driving with that scent.

Your phone chimed as your friend leaned out the door and released her stomach onto the pavement. Glancing at the notification, you saw that it was a message from Zendaya.

“Hey, I’m sorry for putting you on the spot like that,” the message said.

You dropped the phone into the empty cupholder and vowed to answer it once you got to Jade’s place. It seemed that the many daiquiris had finally caught up with Jade fully, as she was wobbling on her feet and slurring her words.

Thankfully, Jade didn’t throw up again as you helped her to her apartment. Her cat, an orange and white tabby named Cyborg, meowed from his spot on the back of the couch. He was named Cyborg because he only had one eye, but the other was a gorgeous green. Cyborg was the sweetest and most affectionate cat you’d ever met; he was also very chatty.

As you helped Jade through the apartment, Cyborg meowed loudly at you, following from a respectable distance. You nodded at him and hummed your understanding as you let Jade fall into her bed. He followed you as you went to the kitchen to get Jade a glass of water to drink before bed.

“I know, Cy, I know, she always leaves you alone,” you said sympathetically to the cat. After another meow, you said, “Well, if you want me to visit more, little kit-kat, you have to talk to your mama. I doubt she’d let me come in here willy-nilly.”

He gave a small mew.

“We can’t know what she’d say; your mama is a little crazy,” you explained as you bent down to rub his cute head. He purred loudly and licked your fingers briefly before following you back to Jade’s room.

“Drink,” you ordered as you brandished the cup at her. Jade, surprisingly obedient when this drunk, followed your command and drank it all in one gulp.

As you were tucking her in, Cyborg curled up in the crook of her knees, Jade muttered out, “I’m sorry I ruined your moment with Zendaya.”

“It’s alright, Jade,” you ruffled her hair. “You actually saved me.”

“No,” she argued gently, “you need to tell her. You need to tell her, or you’ll never become prom queen, Y/N.”

“Okay, Jade, whatever you say,” you chuckled. “Sleep time now.”

“Mmkay,” she said as she curled into her blankets. With an amused shake of your head, you kissed your friend’s forehead and left her room.

After plugging your phone in, you settled onto the couch with one of the blankets Jade hoarded for her couch. As you were drifting off to sleep, you shot straight up and snatched your phone from the table.

“It’s not your fault,” you typed out to Zendaya, “you do deserve an explanation, I just don’t know when I’ll be able to give it.” Then, after brief hesitation, you also sent, “I hope you sleep well, Z.”

Satisfied that you actually remembered to reply after dealing with a drunken Jade, you leaned back into the couch and fell asleep peacefully.

You woke up the next morning to a pounding on the front door and a weight on your chest. A loud purring vibrated through your chest and you saw that, of course, Cyborg was curled on your chest, content as can be. His eye was squinted shut in happiness, but it popped open as the knocking on the door picked up again.

“Okay, kit-kat,” you announced with sleep in your voice as you sat up. Holding the cat in your arms, you padded to the front door and looked out the peephole.

Standing on Jade’s porch was Zendaya, looking incredibly well-put-together for what was apparently 7:30 a.m. Her hair was tied back, she wasn’t wearing any makeup, and seeing her there made your heart pound in both a good way and a bad way.

Opening the door after maneuvering Cyborg as if you were cradling a piece of luggage with one arm, you said, “Zendaya, what are you doing here?”

“I got your text last night,” she explained as you let her in. Cyborg meowed from his comfortably limp place under your arm. “Who’s this?”

“Cyborg, Jade’s cat,” you replied, holding him up. He meowed loudly. “Haven’t you met him? Jade said you’ve visited before.”

Zendaya scratched the cat’s head and shrugged a shoulder. “I think he was in the hospital that night, getting the rest of his eye removed.”

You nodded in understanding before putting the cat on the ground. He wound around your legs and mewed softly. Looking up at Zendaya, you saw that she looked conflicted.

“Can we sit?” she asked, gesturing to the couch.

“Sure thing,” you said easily, picking the cat up again as you plopped on the couch. Zendaya sat down at the other end and pulled her knees to her chest.

“I’m gonna level with you,” she stated almost immediately. “I just… can’t get you out of my mind, and I don’t know why.”

“O-oh?” you asked, translating your nerves into petting the cat that was curled in your lap and purring like crazy.

“Yeah,” Zendaya said flatly, the confusion lacing her tone. She let out a growl as she ran her hands over her head. “I just don’t understand why, why you’re so enchanting to me.” She yanked her hair tie out of her hair. “Like, even when I’m not around you, I’m thinking about you, about what you’re doing, about if you’re smiling or not. I’ve never… never thought about someone like this before.”

“I… I’m really not that special,” you admitted with a half-smile and one shoulder shrug. Cyborg meowed as you stopped petting him, prompting you to continue.

“You are, though!” Zendaya said passionately. “You are just so bright and smart and clever and sweet and fuck, I don’t know! You’re just wonderful and,” she suddenly leaned closer to you, “and I feel like you feel a lot of the same things about me.

“When I noticed that other people touch you, but you always shy away from me, I had no idea I’d get so frustrated. I started testing it, you know… Every time you shied away from me, I got more and more hurt, more and more frustrated. And I can’t figure out why it bugs me so much. All I can think is… that you’re something special. There’s something about you, something that you won’t tell me about, but I want to know… I need to know.”

Your heart was pounding loudly in your ears as you ran your fingers through Cyborg’s long fur. You couldn’t look her in the eye because you knew that once you did, you wouldn’t be able to keep the secret anymore.

It’s what she wants.

“Y/N,” her gentle voice prompted you. “Please, talk to me.”

You swallowed nervously. “I,” your voice was dry as your mind and soul fought in the most intense boxing match of the century, “I’m worried that… if you know… you’ll hate me. That… That you won’t want anything to do with me.”

“Oh, Y/N,” she murmured your name. “Nothing about you could ever make me hate you. Please, just, just tell me what it is.”

You opened your mouth to speak, only to be interrupted again.

“Y/N, is your ass still here?” Jade’s loud voice demanded from the hallway. “If you took an Uber home, I’m gonna be so mad—” she cut off as she entered the living room and saw you and Zendaya on the couch.

“Hi, Jade,” Zendaya greeted awkwardly.

“Fuck,” Jade said plainly. “Fuck, fuck, fuck. I fucked it up again, didn’t I?” Her eyes, wide with panic, locked with yours. “Fuck, did I interrupt?”

“Yeah, Jade,” you informed her, “yeah, you did.”

“But, I mean, this is your house,” Zendaya added.

“That’s true,” you nodded, “it is your house.”

“Shit,” Jade whispered. “I’m so fucking sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt the whole confession again, I’m so sorry—”

“Jade!” you interrupted her, your eyes wide.

“R-right,” she muttered, taking a step back.

“How about we go onto the porch?” you offered to Zendaya.

“Y-yeah,” she seemed confused at your loud interruption. You rarely raised your voice like that; hell, you barely yelled across set.

You got up and dumped Cyborg’s relaxed body into Jade’s arms before nearly marching to the front porch. Zendaya followed a few steps behind you, still surprised at your abrupt, almost irritated actions.

You plopped into a chair and rested your arm on the armrest, laying your head into it. Under your breath, you muttered, “Fucking Jade and her shitty-ass timing…”

Zendaya laughed at your words, making you glance up as she sat on the porch swing. Jade was lucky with the house she had bought; she’d told you that it had needed a lot of work, but because of that, the price had been incredibly cheap for an LA suburb.

“Sit with me on the swing?” Zendaya asked hesitantly.

You hesitated slightly before nodding, getting up and sitting down on the swing. You internally winced as you felt like your weight made it creak almost ominously.

“So,” Zendaya prompted a bit nervously, “you were saying?”

#zendaya x plus size reader #zendaya x reader #zendaya coleman x reader #zendaya coleman x plus size reader #keep it secret fic #reader insert #plus size reader #please let me know what you think

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ridiculousn3sswrites · 5 years

Text

The Weekend - Student Council Pt. 2

*Lafayette x Reader

*Summary: The weekend approaches and Reader needs to actually see what Alexander’s budget has. A social life is getting in the way of that.

*Warnings: None, I think. Let me know if I missed anything.

*A/N: So, I’m done with my first year of undergrad! I officially declared my major and so much shit has gone on, y’all.

Part One || Part Two || Part Three || Part Four || Part Five || Part Six || Part Seven

**********

You had just finished working on your homework and finally got the chance to pull up Alexander’s budget proposal. As you started reading the first sentence of the introduction to the proposal - which was long winded, in typical Alexander Hamilton fashion - when your phone lit up with a message from Lafayette. You groaned at your boyfriend’s terrible timing, knowing he was there to pick you up. You sincerely hoped that Alexander wouldn’t bug you about reading his proposal or else you just might vote against him in spite. Voting out of spite really just depended on who annoyed you at the time, and in student council that could be anyone.

“You know, I was just about to read Alex’s proposal,” you said as soon as you opened Lafayette’s car door.

“I thought I told you that it could wait for the night, mon amour,” he replied, a brow raised.

“Yeah, yeah, but I don’t know if he’s gonna bring it up or not and I really don’t want him trying to convince me,” you told him.

“I talked to him after school, he promised not to talk about it,” Lafayette reassured you.

“And how often does Alexander actually stick to his promises when it’s against something he wants?” You asked pointedly. Lafayette sat in silence for a second, knowing you were right, before he put the car into reverse and backed out of the driveway. You smirked a little in victory.

“We should go before the others start calling,” Lafayette deflected instead. You had to keep yourself from laughing at the obvious attempt to avoid your question.

“Yeah, that’s what you’re worried about,” you said, still fighting your laughter. Lafayette shot you a warning glance before focusing on the road once again. You placed your hand on top of his, looking at him with a small smile just to make sure he knew you were just teasing. When he responding with a small smile of his own, you took your hand back and decided to check the group chat to see where the others were.

By the time you and Laf got to the movie theater, everyone else was already there, waiting on the two of you. As you walked up to the group, Eliza held out two tickets to you. “Alright, who do I owe money to?” you asked, looking at each person. When you looked at Alexander, it was obvious that he was holding his tongue for once in his life. It looked like he was actually taking his promise to Lafayette seriously, and you appreciated that.

“Don’t worry about it, Laf already Venmoed me. Also, I promise I won’t say anything about the budget proposal, but if you look at it then it really is-”

“Alexander, enough,” Eliza cut him off with a stern look. You and Lafayette exchanged a look - an annoyed Eliza was definitely not one to try even the slightest bit. Alexander immediately put his hands up in surrender, coming to the exact same conclusion you and Laf already had. “Now, we’re going to watch this movie and ignore everything having to do with ASB for the night.”

“I think you spoke too soon, looks like ASB’s coming to us,” Hercules muttered, just barely loud enough for you to catch. You followed his gaze across the lobby and internally groaned at the sight of Burr, Jefferson, and Madison walking towards your group.

“(y/n), what a pleasant coincidence,” Jefferson said as soon as they were within earshot.

“It really isn’t, though,” Alexander decided to speak up. You held up a hand to silence them both before it escalated any more.

“Jefferson, I’m not talking business with anyone tonight if I’m hanging out with my friends. Just like you can act out of pure spite, I can as well,” you told him, the threat clear in your tone. Lafayette wrapped his arm around you then, bringing you back down to a point of near calm.

“Mon ami, she already told you she will have her decision by next week. ASB doesn’t have to take up every waking moment, you know,” Lafayette backed you up.

“Maybe it’s a bit unfair to expect you to have an answer already, but it would do you good to remember our offer,” Jefferson replied, ignoring Laf’s comment. You just rolled your eyes, not in the mood to deal with him. Then again, you were never in the mood to deal with Jefferson.

“Thomas, we need to go. My mom’s gonna be back soon and you know I have to be back before she is,” Madison decided to speak up. You were a little taken aback by that; you didn’t know Madison’s parents were that strict. “(Y/n), sorry to bother you. I hope you all have a good rest of your night.” With that, Madison directed their small group out of the theatre.

“I guess Burr made up his mind,” John said as soon as they were gone. “If he was voting for the budget then he’d be hanging out with us.”

“Do you guys even invite him anywhere these days?” Peggy asked, only to be met with silence.

“Don’t come at us with logic like that,” Angelica replied. “C’mon, let’s go grab our seats.”

**********

After the movie, your group decided to get some food. By the time you got home, it was past midnight and you were exhausted. You were tempted to just pass out and read the proposal in the morning, but you knew that Alexander’s vow of silence ended in the morning. Despite your better judgement, you decided to print out Alexander’s budget proposal and start reading it.

Whenever you read proposals that had to be voted on, you went all out. You read it multiple times, highlighted, took notes, asked questions when you needed clarification, everything that you should do for actual assignments but never did. If you were being honest, so much of your energy went into ASB to the point that you had very little energy to deal with anything outside of it. You looked over to your bedroom door, wondering if you should grab the energy drink you knew was sitting in your fridge. Before you could convince yourself to, you opened your highlighter and started reading Alexander’s budget.

You read it carefully, willing your tired mind to understand his long-winded way of saying things. You made notes in the margins, trying to explain what Alexander meant in your own words for when you reread the proposal. “Why did he write so much? Budgets should just be the numbers, he doesn’t need to explain his reasoning for everything,” you muttered, letting your head fall on your desk with a solid thud. You could feel the exhaustion overtake your body, so you closed your eyes, telling yourself you would take a quick five minute break before going back to reading the proposal.

When you actually woke up, sunlight was starting to stream through your window. You immediately cursed, checking your open highlighter beside you to see if it had dried out overnight. When you saw it hadn’t, you decided to check your notes. The second you turned to the last page you’d worked on, you saw the sloppy, nonsensical handwriting that you knew you had when you were half-asleep. You groaned, knowing that you needed to go through and redo your notes where they stopped making sense. “Okay, let’s do this right,” you said, getting up to get some snacks and water to sustain yourself while you worked.

Even though your mind wasn’t foggy with exhaustion now, Alexander’s verbose way of writing was still one that made you a little annoyed. Sure it sounded nice in the right circumstances, but when you were just trying to read a budget proposal it could get irritating. You had half a mind to just text him and tell him off for having paragraphs of writing for each aspect of the budget instead of the overview for the sections as a whole. As you flipped to the events section of the budget, you found that the budget allotted was a little bit more than in previous years and actually allowed for more wriggle room than the other sections. He was really fighting to get your vote here, and you were slightly surprised about that. Normally Alexander just let his work speak for itself.

By the time you were done going through Alexander’s proposal, it was already beginning to get dark again. You drafted a few questions you still needed to ask about certain aspects before getting ready to text them to Alex, making sure that you understood everything you could about the budget. As you were comparing the questions with your notes to make sure you didn’t miss anything, there was a knock on the door. “Come in,” you called out, not looking up from your work.

“(Y/n), my love, I bring food and my company,” your boyfriend announced himself as he entered your room. “Have you been working on the proposal all day?”

“Hey, Laf. Yeah, I’ve got a few questions I need to ask Alex about some things but I think I’m almost done here,” you told him, spinning in your chair to face him. He was already sprawled out on your bed, a bag of takeout next to him as he looked at you.

“And, what do you think of Alexander’s proposal?” Lafayette asked, sitting up properly.

“It’s all sound, it makes sense, but I still need a little to think about it. That’s kinda why I gotta ask Alex some questions about it,” you replied.

“You can ask Alex whenever, you have his phone number for a reason. Come on and eat with me before the food gets cold.” Laf told you, already taking the containers out of the bag. You knew that you couldn’t argue against his logic, and your current sustenance of pure junk food and water wasn’t enough for you to actually function properly.

“I’ll take thirty minutes and that’s it; I really gotta finish this and make my decision before I have both Jefferson and Alex jumping down my throat about it,” you said, only half-serious as you took the container Laf handed you. You knew you needed to make your decision this weekend, but what was the harm in waiting one more day? You still had Sunday, and it wasn’t like you’d be doing anything else that was important. You could take a break and enjoy dinner with your boyfriend, maybe even watch a movie or something else to relax for a bit. Lafayette seemed to sense your decision to relax, smiling brightly as you sat on the bed beside him.

**********

After you’d eaten, Laf suggested putting on a movie just so he’d have an excuse to hang out with you for a little while longer until he needed to go home. You only made it halfway through the movie before you began fighting to keep your eyes open. You’d been reading Alex’s proposal for hours, working on making sure you’d make the best decision you could, and you didn’t realize just how exhausted you were.

The next thing you knew, Lafayette was gently shaking you awake as the credits rolled on your laptop screen. You weren’t ready to wake up just yet, and made it known as you closed your eyes again and snuggled closer to Laf’s side. “Mon amour, as adorable as you are, I need to go soon,” Lafayette laughed, even though he put his arm around you and just held you there for a few seconds.

“Babe, why does Alex need to write so much? If we had anyone else as Treasurer it wouldn’t take nearly as long for me to do this,” you mumbled, finally opening your eyes and looking up at your boyfriend. You were still exhausted even after your impromptu nap, so you knew you would have to pick up your work again in the morning. On the other hand, you were pretty confident that even if you texted Alex your questions at three in the morning, he would respond, so you were considering just taking another nap.

“You know how Alexander is, he needs to use as many words as possible,” Lafayette replied, holding back another laugh. You couldn’t help the warmth that spread through you at the sight of Lafayette’s small smile. You found him so utterly adorable, and you couldn’t really believe that he cared for you just as much as you cared for him. When he caught you staring, he pressed a quick kiss to your lips. As much as you’d love to properly kiss him, you knew one of your parents would probably be coming in soon to ask when Laf would be going home.

“Do you have to go?” You asked, pressing another kiss to his lips.

“You know your parents would kick me out if I didn’t,” Laf joked. You rolled your eyes but couldn’t help the smile that graced your features. You looked at the time on your laptop, seeing that it was already approaching midnight. “It’s getting pretty late.”

“Yeah, are you gonna head out?” You asked, already untangling yourself from Laf’s embrace.

“I probably should,” Laf told you, getting off of your bed in search of his shoes. Once he found them, you walked him out to his car, Laf and your parents exchanging pleasantries as you passed by them. When you got to his car, Laf immediately took you into his arms, holding you as he leaned against the car. “Tonight was nice, even if I had to convince you to take a break.”

“It was. I didn’t even realize I needed it,” you admitted as you savored the feeling of being in Lafayette’s arms. “I still need to-”

“Get some rest,” Lafayette interrupted you. “I say this in the nicest way possible, but you looked like death. Sleep and send Alex your questions in the morning. You have until Friday to make your decision.”

“I know, I just want to get it over with already,” you said with a sigh. “You’ve already made your decision.”

“I have, but I also know you like making your own decisions,” he replied, pressing a kiss to the top of your head. “I should probably head home.”

“Yeah, I guess you should,” you told him, neither of you quite ready for the night to end. He released you from his embrace, kissing you quickly before unlocking his car.

“Je t’aime, chéri,” he said, opening his door.

“I love you too.” You smiled as you watched him get in his car and pull out of your driveway, waving at you one last time before making his way home. Turning back to walk into your house, you couldn’t help but think that maybe Laf was right about you getting some rest. After all, you did still have until Friday.

**********

Tag List: @snazzydoesthings

Permanent Tag List: @spidey-pal

#lafayette x reader #lafayette imagine #hamilton imagine #reader insert

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lordmartiya · 5 years

Text

Fox Rain chapter 4

@lilanette-week

@supermenteuse

@emblian

@starcrossed-stardust

@supermenteuse

@theitalianscribe

@lilanette

@thekitsune

The aftermath of prince Ali outing Papillon as a pedophile, and the start of other troubles. Plus some worldbuilding-the one thing I truly excel at as a writer-though a bit hidden. And… Well, I can’t say I didn’t have fun with the Akuma.

Chapter 04: Leprotta

As he woke up for the day, Gabriel acted as if he was to work on his design or the company as usual, or rather as expected. In truth, he had a different job to do: keep up his Papillon persona. While he was dimly aware that assaulting Paris to steal magical jewelry from what happened to be two teenagers (one of which he had even suspected was his own son) to use their magic to save his wife at the price of someone else’ life was not a sane thing to do, he purposefully kept his supervillain character highly psychotic and petty, someone who’d attack anyone for slights and insults-a persona he had to keep more often than he liked due the Parisians not having changed much since they developed a martial art just to pick fights with street gangs the police couldn’t control(1).

And so now he had to make it seem he had just found out Lila Rossi and her princely friend had outed him as a pedophile, and take his “revenge” by sending Akumas after them. Them and Rossi’s classmate Marguerite Lanivien (or something like that) for good measure. He wondered how long it would take for them to “scare him off”…

“Remember, if there’s trouble call us.” Lila’s father said. “We’ll come to help-and I’d like a go at that worm.” he continued, punching his right fist in the open left. “Assuming Hartmann doesn’t arrive first-she’s fast, and I’ve a few things to do today…”

“No problem.” Lila replied. “Where’s mother? She was supposed to have a day off.”

“She left after a phone call. She said it was big, and you know how that goes…”

“Yes. I do.”

With that Lila left for school, wondering what would ever get that woman to help emotionally-and what would Papillon send after them.

“OK, this is getting ridiculous.” Vorpika said as she sat before a knocked out Rose Bride.

“And you’ve been around for what, a week?” Chat replied before noticing what the newest hero had said. “I take this isn’t the first time, then.”

“Third in four days.”

“Too bad it wasn’t in consecutive days, Papillon wouldn’t Akumatize her for at least two weeks after that-his humor is weird like that. Oh, here she is. Hey, Buginet-” Ladybug nearly kicked the downed Akuma villain, and had to make a visible effort not to strike her. “What happened? Aside poor sleep because of what Papillon would do and Rose Bride.”

“I’ve got a friend in Beijing right now, and she’s not answering the phone.” Ladybug replied as she purified Rose Bride and (reluctantly) called for a Lucky Charm to heal her from the head damage caused by her partners.

“Wait, what happened in Beijing?” Vorpika asked.

“You didn’t hear?”

“Well, I nearly overslept, and…”

Vorpika pulled her flute and its computer function, and saw the news: a gigantic terrorist attack in Beijing, targeting the Forbidden City and the area around its Gate of Divine Might-that is, the place where her friend had been shooting and residing during the job. And in spite of the massive damage there were only four victims, two being the attackers and the other two unknown. No other details were available yet, only a rumor that one of the unidentified victims was Japanese.

“Ommerda… Gotta go, bye!”

As soon as she was hidden she used her dizi to try and call the Tiger multiple times (and barely remembering to make it appear it had come from her phone), to no avail, before surrendering and going to class. And somehow arriving later than Marinette, who was apparently nearly always late.

Lila hadn’t paid much attention to the classes, partly wondering when Papillon’s next attack would come and partly worried for her friend. At the lunch break, at least, she saw her friend had just updated her social accounts, explaining the People’s Armed Police(2) had confiscated her phone and was interrogating her as the one witness, and had just given her back the phone. One less worry… And a classmate to keep safe.

“Rose, you need to come with me to the Italian embassy, at least for today.” she stated.

“Uh… Why?”

“Because Lustro was the one who outed the Terror Bowtie, Papillon” she had to specify as apparently Rose hadn’t heard the nickname yet “as a pedophile… And we would be targets for collateral revenge.” That and the terrorist was likely offended he didn’t get to groom her into a villain, but Lila decided her classmate didn’t need to know that. “It won’t keep you safe from Akuma attacks, but it’ll gain you time-sending an Akuma too close to an embassy and the various ministries would be suicidally stupid, and that terrorist sadly is not an idiot.”

“But-”

“ROSE LAVILLANT! I AM THE FLORIST! SHOW YOURSELF AND PAY FOR MISUSING A FLOWER’S NAME!”

“Do you see the necessity now?” Lila asked before dragging the target away and hiding her in the nearest bathroom.

“Didn’t think an Akuma villain so scary-looking would have been so weak.” Chat quipped after the Florist had been taken care of. “At least we’ve filled our weekly quota of ridiculous villains.”

“LILA ROSSI! I AM INARISAMA! SHAVE YOUR HEAD AND REPENT FOR DEFILING FOXES WITH YOUR HAIRSTYLE! OH, AND YOU TOO, VORPIKA!”

Ladybug and Vorpika both shot dirty looks at Chat Noir.

“LIE-LA! HOW YOU DARE SAYING I’M FAT! I, STUNNER(3), WILL MAKE YOU PAY!”

“Honestly, if I wanted to insult someone I’d say something better.” Lila quipped as she hid to transform and deal with the fourth Akuma of the day.

“MWA-HA-HA! GIVE ME YOUR MIND CONTROL PERFUME, LAVILLANT! ONLY I, THE JEANNIE, DESERVE TO MARRY PRINCE ALI!”

Rose took down that Akuma villain herself-turned out her perfume (that under Akumatization had indeed brainwashing abilities) was highly explosive in the right conditions, and the girl had taken offense at the villain’s demand. And while her reaction made her the first person who could claim to have knocked out an Akumatized villain, Rose got banned from bringing any perfume at school. Lila convinced her it had been inevitable just in time to keep her from being Akumatized… And redirecting the Akuma on someone else.

“I’ll get the power to enforce safety rules in exchange for two jewels that could interfere with safety in the lab? It’s a win-win!” miss Mendeleiev said as she was about to be Akumatized-right before Ladybug broke her Akumatized labcoat.

“Sorry, but Papillon is having a pettiness fit-I’ll restore it later, OK?” Ladybug said before leaving without letting the science teacher reply.

“HA! YOU’LL STOP INTERRUPTING MY LESSONS, PAPILLON! JUST WAIT WHEN I’LL FIN-”

Papillon retired his Akuma from the Educator, reverting her to miss Bustier(4).

“Let me get this straight-it’s the second time you get this because people can’t spell headcanon right?” Vorpika asked her colleagues, this being an Akuma villain with a cannon-as in a Napoleonic artillery piece-for a head, cannon that turned people’s heads into cannons with writings such as “Ladybug and Chat Noir are dating”, “Majesta designed her own costume but can’t sew” and “Tokyo V is a nerdy male gamer in a drag” embossed on them(5).

Ladybug just nodded and destroyed the akumatized notebook. “I get Rose Bride, but why did Papillon bring this one back?”

“If only that other writer hadn’t calmed down…” Papillon said to himself. “Well, I’ll do Reverser another time. Now, who’s next? Oh, this guy will do.”

“LILA, MY BELOVED! IT IS I, THE HEALER! FEAR NOT, YOU’LL BE ABLE TO LOVE ME ONCE I’VE CURED YOU OF THE PERVERSE LUST FOR THAT TWINTAILED GIR-”

Papillon retired his Akuma, leaving a newly discovered homophobe at the mercy of the class.

“Nooroo, we’re both getting showers, and you’ll clean the Miraculous before we go in again.” Gabriel ordered his Kwami. “How did I miss he was one of them?!”

“After you’re done I suggest a repeat of the fun Akuma.” Natalie said before putting down the Kwami food she had brought.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT’S THE TWELFTH TIME?!” Vorpika shouted in understandable indignation.

“Well, I really like pigeons, but the city won’t let me take care of them and that makes me vulnerable to Akumatizations.” Xavier Ramier replied. “And as horrible as it sounds, Papillon has a point-if I cannot, who’ll take care of the pigeons?”

Vorpika seemed to have ideas, but bit her tongue rather than saying it out loud.

“The city, of course-yesterday Daddy managed to pass an ordnance to hire falconers to deal with the pigeon problem.”

Chloe, however, had no such compulsions, as her shout from the class’ window pointed out. Thankfully, Ladybug intercepted the Akuma and Vorpika managed to explain Ramier that if pigeons could eat batteries and survive then they didn’t need much help.

“LILA! MY FOX! IT’S ME, DAE WOONG, AN-”

Vorpika landed on the newest Akuma villain.

“Surprised it took him so much to homage My Girlfriend Is a Nine-Tailed Fox(6)…” she commented as an increasingly irritated Ladybug arrived to purify this one too.

“I AM HOTCOCK007(7)! THE STAR TREK FAN CLUB WILL PAY FOR EXPELLING ME WHEN I ASKED WHERE THE LIGHTSABERS WERE!”

Ladybug used him to demonstrate she had a decent grasp of the one-two Vorpika had taught her.

“OUT! OUT OF MY HEAD! YOU AREN’T GETTING ME, OUT!”

The Akuma fled out of Marinette’s earring, leaving her classmates in stunned awe.

“Marinette… Sposame.” Lila said, the first to recover. Then she realized she had just proposed to Marinette and that word in Romanesco was close enough to standard Italian that she had likely understood it, and hit the desk with her forehead.

Papillon blinked, still surprised at what had just happened. A girl had just rejected an Akuma. He was already vaguely familiar with Adrien having a classmate that was defiantly optimistic, but that she would be able to reject an Akuma…

“Nathalie! I need to know everything available about Adrien’s classmate, the one defiantly optimistic!” he shouted.

Half an hour later, Gabriel, who had detransformed for a while, realized two things: first, he needed to get her with Adrien, just by personality and willpower she was worthy of her son and could manage to get him off that annoying crush on Ladybug of his; second, the lessons were ending and he needed to get back at the Akumatizations now. Then he smiled-the school had just been reached by exactly the individual he needed.

“Can’t believe some in the other classes blame you for Papillon…” Rose said to Lila as they walked the corridors.

“Got enough experience with people to know it’s better ignore them.” Lila replied. “You, on the other hand, have just as much experience with the butterfly, you know he won’t end anytime soon unless he gets scared off or something else provokes him.” Lila said to Rose as they were leaving the classroom. “And at the embassy you’ll be relatively safe until I get the ball rolling on those fashion disasters that are his Akuma outfits.”

“I doubt he’ll fall for it again.” Rose replied. “He hasn’t been reacting to Le Parisien’s Akuma Fashion Tips column for over a month now(8).”

Lila stopped in her tracks, wondering what was wrong with the Parisians. Sure, Romans like her weren’t exactly saints or too sane, but continuing to piss off a supervillain was a bit too much…

“Typical.” an adult feminine voice said.

Lila turned to the unexpected but familiar voice, and saw the one she expected: a tall and well-built woman with tanned skin and long platinum-blonde hair wearing a classic and stylish suit, her attitude and face expression giving an impression of calm professionalism… That was ruined by her hair being worn in long rabbit-like twin tails and her right hand holding an old Winchester Model 1897 shotgun (complete with M1917 bayonet).

“Good day, colonel Hartmann, I didn’t expect you here.” Lila said to the woman.

“Your father couldn’t come and I had the time, so here I am.” the newly identified colonel Hartmann said. “Also, didn’t I tell you to call me-”

Hartmann was interrupted by the shouts of some students pointing at the sky, and, looking up, saw an Akuma that alternatively tried to get her and go away, a never before seen behavior from Papillon’s tools. Then, much to everyone’s shock, the woman caught the Akuma with her shotgun’s bayonet, that immediately turned black as the gun itself.

“Bella lì, cravattone.” the colonel greeted him in Italian, completely unfazed by the situation. “Sono la colonnella T-Akuma problem solved.”

That had been said after the Akuma flew out of the shotgun, the white indicating Papillon himself had purified it-much to the shock of everyone there except Lila and the colonel.

“As I was saying, you should call me Leprotta when I’m off duty.” colonel Hartmann said to the girl. “Now excuse me, but with the terrorist scared off I’d like to go back at the embassy and shoot a few shells.”

“No problem, col-Leprotta, Leprotta, I need to remember that.” Lila replied. “Thanks for your help.”

The colonel got in a car and left before anyone could recover enough to ask what had just happened. Then Alya did that.

“Lila, WHAT?!” she asked the Italian girl.

“Her nickname means “little hare”, she said she got it during cross-training with the Tuscania parachute regiment of the Carabinieri.” Lila explained with a smile.

“THAT WOMAN TRIED TO GET HERSELF AKUMATIZED AND PAPILLON REFUSED!”

“Oh, that… You see, I’m not sure who noticed first and how did the news was diffused, but Papillon, not being suicidally stupid, won’t Akumatize people with certain mind troubles, such as legitimate psychos, serial killers, and soldiers with PTSD even if they’re pretty much Akuma magnets-so every ministry and every embassy in Paris has some personnel that qualifies, such as the colonel, to keep Papillon from sending Akumas there. Won’t keep already Akumatized villains from attacking, but it’s something. Oh, Rose… It’s not necessary for you to come at the embassy anymore, but feel free to visit anytime. Everyone, bye.”

With those words Lila left, leaving behind a very surprised student body.

“I suggest everyone goes home to get some rest like I’m about to do.” Marinette said, trying to keep her calm after the stressful afternoon. Then, suddenly, she chuckled: “And imagine how Papillon is taking the scare for a good laugh.”

“Took them long enough, don’t you think Nooroo?” Gabriel said to his Kwami as he was going back to his studio.

“As you say, master.” Nooroo replied neutrally, knowing his actual opinion wasn’t requested. “What will you do with them now?”

“Nothing different than what I do with everyone else-Papillon has been “scared off”, after all. Now you can go to your alcove, today’s events inspired me for a contest.”

“You should really enroll at the Omega, especially after today.” the Tiger suggested Lila on the phone.

“Mother won’t let me, not after Selah.” Lila replied, dejected, as she walked through the embassy. She really missed that activity.

“Even if I could prove it’s the place that calmed me down? With pictures?”

“Maybe she’ll accept. I really need proper venting… By the way, how are you?”

“Worry not, I’m invincible!”

Lila was about to reply when she got an SMS from her mother telling her to hurry up, and decided it was better move. That, and send a message to Sorano, the Tiger’s own best friend-they both knew that nearly unstoppable girl too well to not see through her attempt to make it seem she was OK, and the other girl was where she could drag her to a doctor. Then, as she received the expected pictures from her friend, she reached the apartment her family was currently living at in the embassy’s guesthouse, and got a news she had feared.

“We’re moving out.” her father explained. “I’ve found an apartment not too distant from your school… Or an interesting place, the Omega Apacheria.”

“We’ve already talked about that.” her mother said with a note of finality.

“About that place… The Tiger said it’s the place that calmed her down-for a given value of calming her down, of course, but before that she was a terror.” Lila said, showing the pictures from her phone-and then waiting for the answer.

“Very well-we’ll let you try. But if there’s a repeat of that incident, we’ll pull you out.” her mother said.

It was the best Lila could expect given the circumstances-and a good news, at least, a chance at relaxing. The more relaxed she was, the better was the chance to get Papillon… And free the group for other jobs, she supposed. The news coming out of Beijing were reminding her that the world really needed a few miracles even out of Paris…

Notes

(1)Not making this up: between 1871 and 1914, the streets of Paris were infested by gangs of hooligans that were just too numerous for the police to fight… So the Parisians, who already liked fighting enough that French folk wrestling was also known as Lutte Parisienne, imported the original form of Savate (that had been already absorbing some techniques from French folk wrestling due the matches between Savateurs and wrestlers), added as much of wrestling as they could, a few things from English boxing, swordfighting (with sticks), and a few tricks of dirty fighting, and started engaging the gangs themselves. And now you know why Nora had it so easy to rally the Parisians to rescue the heroes now that the jerk who had been terrorizing the city for about a year was finally in the open…

(2)China’s gendarmerie (as opposed to the fully civilian Public Security Bureaus), with authority in terrorism cases.

(3)Homage to a minor Spiderman villain. Both in and out of universe.

(4(Blame quicksilversquared and her story “Sleepy Supervillainry” (written before season 2) for this. I had to pay her homage… With permission, of course.

(5)Blame quicksilversquared for this one too-story is “Headcan(n)on”.

(6)A Korean drama about a guy who, in the modern day, frees a nine-tailed fox from her century-long imprisonement only to have her impose herself as his girlfriend.

(7)A little homage to the novel Ready Player One. If you read it you’ll see why I (and, in-story, Gabriel) named this Akuma villain after the character.

(8)Again with quicksilversquared-the story is “Fashion Disaster”.

#lilanette #miraculousladybug #Lila Rossi

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canyousevmyheavydirtysoul · 5 years

Text

Bodyguard II: Brendon’s P.O.V Part III - Chapter 4

“What the hell?”

Sighing tiredly, I forced myself to tear my gaze away from her retreating frame and focus on my hopefully still best friend. “Spence-“

I was forced to swallow the rest of my words, as his right fist collided with my cheek in a solid punch. My vision clouded with pain, the damage from his strike came off twice as bad since he’d hit me right where she had only minutes ago.

Lovely. Now I had two temperamental girls to deal with.

I raised a hand to my jaw, flexing it to try and aid the dull sting in my face. I didn’t make any move to retaliate – not even with words – because how could I?

Fuck, if the roles had been reversed and one of the two of them had pulled a stunt like the one I had, I would’ve flipped my shit much sooner, much worse.

Hence, I relented.

“Deserved that,” I mumbled, nodding before clearing my throat and facing forward again.

I knew that it would be miles easier to get Spencer to forgive me – and thank fuck for that; the last thing I needed was for him to write me out of his life. See, unlike with (Y/N), I could be totally honest with him about what I’d been doing all this time, and I knew he would understand. But it was far more complicated when it came to her.

“No shit,” Spencer spat, blue eyes wide, “You’re a fucking dick, you know that? Do you have any idea what the past year has been like? The hell that (Y/N) and I have been going through?”

I don’t want to think about it.

“I know-“

“No, you don’t!” he yelled, letting his anger spill over, “You couldn’t possibly know what it was like to lose-“

Hold the fuck up.

“Really?” I interjected with a frown, narrowing my eyes infinitesimally, “I don’t know what it’s like?”

That shut him up. He knew that that wasn’t true. I’ve lost far more than was every necessary.

He stared at me for a long while, eventually looking away and shaking his head, exhaling shakily.

“I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t need to, Spence.”

“That doesn’t make it any better.”

“I know.”

I did know. But there wasn’t anything I could do about it, now.

Spencer ran his hands through his hair in frustration and began pacing up and down the length of the hallway.

“What the fuck were you doing, anyway?” he scoffed, clearly confused as to why the hell I had decided to fuck off for almost an entire year.

I held my tongue against the inside of my cheek for a couple seconds before taking a deep breath and answering. This was bound to get a wonderful reaction. “I went looking for Mason.”

Spencer stopped dead in his tracks, and turned to stare at me in blatant disbelief. “Mason?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

Glancing out in the direction that she’d hurried off in, I clenched my jaw as my mind churned out possible locations of where she’d headed. I really didn’t have the time or patience for ‘storytime with Brendon’ right now.

I wanted to tell Spencer everything and, again, I would, but not right now. She was my first priority. Finding her and getting her to somehow trust me again – regardless of how fucking long it would take – was the only thing on my mind at present.

Because I couldn’t protect her if she didn’t trust me to.

I knew that Spencer would always be there with me and for me, regardless of how badly I fucked up. He was my brother. Her presence, however, was not guaranteed – and that unsettled me.

“Look, Spencer, I’ll tell you everything, alright?” I held out my hands and arched my brows to show my sincerity, “Later, I just gotta-“

“She’s gonna kill you,” he warned, arching his brows too and nodding, “She’s literally, legitimately going to kill you.”

“She’s not gonna kill me,” I argued, shaking my head once before following in her invisible footsteps.

Spencer scoffed, “Yeah, how do you know?”

Because I know her. And…

“Because if she wanted to, she would’ve done it already.”

“I’m gonna fucking kill him.”

I heard her muffled voice resonating through the thin, transparent material of the office she was in, followed a mere one second later by the piercing sound of glass shattering.

How wonderfully reassuring.

Tentatively, I stepped over the scattered shards on the tiles and stopped in the doorway. She had her hand raised, clearly ready to tear down the entire office, but lowered it once she spotted me.

I opened my mouth to say- wait. What the fuck was I gonna say? What could I say? I- oh fuck. She was raising her hand again, this time aiming at me instead of the glass surfaces around us.

Awesome.

“I’m gonna kill you,” she said softly, just loud enough for me to make out.

There’s a shocker.

I entered the room with my hands raised in defence – a silent statement that I didn’t want to fight with her.

“I know you’re mad at me – and you have every right to be,” I begun, figuring that acknowledging her feelings were at least a good start, “And-“

“Where the fuck were you?” she demanded.

I shut my mouth and breathed in deeply through my nose, coming to a halt a few feet away from her. Fucking hell. I mean… I knew that question was coming, but that didn’t make it any less of a pain when it eventually did.

Even if I wanted to, I couldn't tell her the truth. At least, not the whole truth. It’d push her away forever, and I couldn’t have that.

“It’s…” I kept quiet for a beat, then looked at her with a lowered head as I continued, “a long story.”

That’s truthful, isn’t it?

“You conned me into thinking you were dead for eleven months,” she retorted bitchily, squinting slightly, “I have time.”

Yeah, she wasn’t about to let this go. Beautiful fucking frustration, that’s what she was.

“Trust me, you’re not gonna like what I tell you, (Y/N),” I said, kicking some stray pieces of glass out of my path as I moved even closer to her; she didn’t shift away, hallelujah, “So can we just leave it at ‘I needed to do something important’? Please.”

“More important than protecting me?” she whispered.

I felt my stomach drop. Everything about the way she spoke those five words made me hate myself. And her eyes… fuck… they were so filled with hurt that I had to look away for a moment.

If I had a gun on me I would’ve shot myself right then and there.

“You were in good hands,” I tried defending my reasoning, but both of us knew it was bullshit. There were no excuses.

“Yeah, but they weren’t your hands,” she countered, once again finding her loud voice as she stepped up to me, “Didn’t you promise you’d always protect me? Or was that just another lie?”

I came back to protect you.

She was getting riled up again, and I could see it. I reached out to touch her, to try and relax her, but she denied me and swatted my hand away.

“No, don’t fucking touch me,” she hissed with a frown, “It was a lie, right? Just like everything else. Just like everything you’ve ever said to me. Because that’s what you are.”

Her voice gradually got louder with each word that spilled from her lips, and her hands had taken it upon themselves to start shoving against my chest.

“A liar! A fucking liar!” she yelled, starting to hit her fists against me as her breathing became ragged and tears started to form, “I can’t believe you would do this; you’re such an inconsiderate, self-absorbed piece of-“

There were probably a thousand words she could’ve said next, but she opted instead to let out a scream, all of her pent-up emotions boiling over in the form of angry yells and repeated punches to my chest.

The truth is – the reason that I had put off my return for so long was because of this. I couldn’t bring myself to come back to her, because I had failed her. I betrayed her. I lied to her. I knew the true identity of the person that killed her parents and I didn’t tell her; even worse, when I found him, I did the unforgivable and let him go.

How could I explain that to her, and how was I supposed to ease her pain when I couldn’t?

How was I supposed to deal with her tears, knowing that they were because of me?

I let her get her anger out for a couple seconds, allowing her to continue punching my chest, before gathering her into my arms and pulling her close.

I might not have been able to give her the spoken truth and consolation she was looking for, but I hoped to God that holding her was a worthy substitute. Before she had the chance to yell out again, I tilted my head down and pressed my lips to hers, instantly silencing her.

Kissing her was my own personal heaven. It was the best fucking thing I’d ever felt, and even better than I remembered. And I remembered. It was pure ecstasy, and it was something only she could give me. Only she could do to me.

She struggled against me at first, still fuelled by her rage, but I kissed her harder and eventually, she caved. Tangling her hand in the hair above my neck, she tugged on it and kissed me back.

Thank you.

I pulled away a moment later, pressing my forehead against hers and still holding her as close as I could. Her breaths were shallow as she shook her head, pushing a sentence through her quivering lips as a few tears ran down her cheeks; I wiped them away gently.

Don’t cry, baby.

I’m not worth your tears.

“I hate you!” she choked out.

I pecked her lips softly.

“I missed you, too.”

And I’m never fucking leaving you again.

_______________________________

Thank you for reading x

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