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ramzawrites · 3 years

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Wherever the world takes us Part 1 - A SBI!Reader insert

Pairings: none Characters included: Philza, Wilbur, Tommy, Tubbo, Cpt Puffy, Schlatt, Captain Sparklez, (mentioned) Fundy Warnings: small mention of death Series: Yes, planned slow updates but this happens in a slight AU world of the official lore of the dsmp and follows along the plot only this time the reader gets included as the middle hybrid child of the SBI Part 2

Summary: A small introduction to the SBI family dynamic including the reader! Today is Techno’s big day at the local festival! He get’s to participate in a fighting tournament but until that happens there is still a ton of time to somehow still get into trouble, isn’t there?

Word count: 4380

Shapeshifters aren’t as rare as many people think. In fact many carry that gene but not everyone ends up showing the properties of one. If you have the active gene you may show first changes during your early childhood which then stretches out until your late teens where the changes will stop resulting in the persons usual animal like form. These changes can range from a whole body covered in fur to having goat like eyes or just horns on their head.

As far as scientists know there isn’t a real reason as to what the final form will be since Shapeshifters who are directly related to one another can have complete and drastically different forms to each other. Though an old myth has been going around for as long as people know that the form a Shapeshifter takes is a result of their subconscious, something that mirrors their true self. Sadly due to this belief many Non-Shifters hold stereotypes and prejudice towards them.

Philza was a Shapeshifter himself. As a kid two stubs slowly appeared at his back and settled in over the years as beautiful huge black wings that he could use for takeoff and a bit for flying but mostly functioned better for gliding around. He used these wings to later travel around the world, learning everything about it and training himself.

At some point he did settle down again and ended up fathering four children alone of whom two showed Shapeshifter properties as well.

There were the twins Technoblade and Wilbur. Technoblade showed from an early age on a deeper interest in fighting. Always asking to learn more than the self-defense techniques their father was teaching them, so Philza took the time to teach him everything he knew. Gifting him later on a proper iron sword which Techno then used to train almost daily with. Philza later had to put mending on that sword since it was chipped and scratched in a short time over heavy use. He is also one of the two children of Philza who ended up being a Shapeshifter. They first noticed when two of his teeth in his lower jaw tended to peek out of his mouth. Over the years these two teeth turned into full blown tusks, flappy pink ears would appear on his head, his hair slowly turned into a soft pink, as well as bristle like fur begun growing on his arms. It were the characteristics of a pig as they soon realized.

Wilbur the younger of the twins by two minutes was more interested in music and books. Philza gifted him a guitar the same time he gave Techno his first sword. From that point on it was a rare thing if you didn’t see Wilbur’s guitar around him. Either on his person or laying close by him. Over time he got really proficient with the instrument and begun writing amazing songs as well as singing them himself.

The middle child Y/N was the more mellow of the whole bunch though this didn’t mean much in the context of the whole family. While they happily took part in whatever trouble their siblings got up to they were at the end the first person that would try to help solve these troubles as well and took care of any wounds. To that end they soon learned how to grow their own herbs to make medicine. This was something Philza taught them. Both would spent a ton of time in the garden, so much so, that the garden was dubbed Y/N’s and Dad’s garden. Techno would sometimes help out as well but that was a more rare occurrence. Y/N was the second kid with the active Shapeshifter gene. Just like their father, two stubs appeared at their back that too would turn into huge black wings. Y/N still remembered how perplexed but proud Philza was when he understood what was happening. They didn’t know what they expected from their father but this reaction wasn’t it. But they weren’t mad about it.

The youngest of the family was Tommy and he was the number one reason why the kids got into trouble in the first place. He would wake up, make weird plans and rope the others into it as well. Wilbur was the first he would usually try to recruit to which Techno then would reluctantly join knowing that if the two are together they will need help later on. Getting Y/N on board was pretty easy as well. It was either a thing of them knowing they will one hundred percent get hurt so best to join in now or they were feeling particularly chaotic that day and wouldn’t even hesitate to join.

Back when they all lived together in their old cottage home their daily lives would always start in the same way.

Philza would be the first awake. He would wake the children up and continue downstairs to work on breakfast for everyone.

There was no real order to who would be the first downstairs for food but it was always Y/N who would be the last to join the group. Moving in front of their designated chair only to stretch before properly sitting down.

“Ew! Gross! Your wing touched my food!” Wilbur exclaimed angrily, pulling the plate with his food closer to himself and farther away from his sibling.

Y/N rolled their eyes “I’m not poisonous, Wilbur.”

“Still gross.” He muttered more to himself as he reluctantly took a bite from his toast.

Phil eyed the two but looked back down to his food and coffee “Your wings are getting pretty big. I’m sure it won’t take long until you can do more than just gliding about.”

“So, that means you can teach them to fly soon?” Tommy was the one to ask surprisingly. Sure, that was on Y/N’s mind as well so they didn’t mind Tommy saying what they thought but they still felt like it was a bad sign and a call for trouble though they couldn’t think how nor did they care enough to find out.

Philza raised one of his eyebrows, obviously taking note of that fact as well. It was something you learned to look out for once you spend enough time with Tommy. “I’m not sure how soon but I think so, yeah.”

“Cool.” Was all Tommy remarked. He then proceeded to stare at his food so his family would get their suspicion off of him. Acting as if he didn’t just figuratively plant a huge red flag on the table with the words “I have a plan!”.

Y/N on the other hand couldn’t help to smile. They were excited for the eventual day when Philza could finally teach them how to fly. For the longest time now they have only learned to use their wings to glide and got really good at changing directions while doing so. Taking care of their wings was already a pain so they wanted to get at least something good out of having them in the first place and being able to properly fly is a huge plus since getting into positions where you could actually glide around was a difficult and a bothersome thing.

Philza sighed choosing to ignore Tommy and instead turned to look at Wilbur and Y/N “What is your plan today? Want to join me and Techno when we go into town for the tournament?”

After a few seconds of confused expressions between the two Wilbur suddenly shouted “Oh! Techno’s tournament! Of course! I wanna see him beat up other people for a change!”

Techno snorted “Really feeling the support here right now, bro.”

“I’m guessing you both are coming too?” Philza was now addressing the other two of his kids.

Both were fast and eager to agree. Wilbur was right. Usually Techno tried sparring with his siblings though using the word sparring was maybe an overstatement. He would mercilessly beat them up and complain they didn’t last long enough. At rare times where all of them were bored enough they would play a game of >Who can last the longest against Techno<. Y/N really wasn’t too big a fan of this game since they ended up being the only one who would address the wounds later including their own since they didn’t trust the others to properly apply a band aid.

From this point on the breakfast was more alive than before. Tommy and Wilbur would constantly ask questions to Techno about who he will be fighting or how everything will work. To which he all just gave a very non-committal “I dunno”.

After they all cleaned up the breakfast table, they got ready and grabbed everything they needed.

The town wasn’t super far away but it was a long enough walk that it would be inconvenient to get back for things you might have forgotten.

Techno grabbed his sword while Wilbur made sure to take his beloved guitar with him. Y/N made sure to grab all kinds of medicine and bandages with them. They knew Techno will get treated at the tournament should he get hurt but they felt better if they brought some stuff with them as well. Tommy on the other hand made sure to grab all kinds of things including a few pages of paper, pens, string and more. Philza wanted to just write it down to Tommy probably meeting up with Tubbo in town and doing harmless crafts but the chances were slim.

As they made their way to the tournament and Philza was preaching to them to not cause any trouble since there would be a lot of people there today, Y/N soon noticed how Techno would nervously play around with the hilt of his worn out sword.

They affectionately put their arm around their older brother for a short side hug, including putting their wing around him “You’ll do fine. I know it. Don’t worry too much and just imagine you are beating one of us up.”

Technoblade had to roll his eyes at that “I’ll try to take that advice to heart.”

As they arrived in town the kids looked around in awe. Everywhere were stalls set up selling food or little decorative things or toys. People where weaving in and out between stalls, loudly talking with each other. Laughter and yells filled the air.

In the middle of the town square there was a huge box marked on the ground. This is where the fights would happen. As far as Techno explained the rules were simple. Get your opponent on their back, get them out of the box or beat them unconscious. Tommy was absolutely loving the idea of Techno beating all of his opponents unconscious and said he wouldn’t take any other result as acceptable.

“Alright kiddos. Techno and I have to talk with the organizer. You three can go and have some fun but you have to promise me a few things. Whatever you guys do stay together! Don’t talk to strangers and as soon as the fights start you come over. I will find you then, okay? I will only let you guys go if you agree to this.”

“I can still try to find Tubbo, right?” Tommy asked.

“Of course but only if you all stay together.” He was looking at Wilbur when he said the last part. This meant Wilbur was the boss for today. Well until they met up again with their dad.

Wilbur put his hands on each shoulder of his younger siblings “We will! Don’t worry dad!”

Philza gave them a last nod before walking off. Before Techno followed him he looked at the three “Don’t… cause too much trouble. At least for me so nothing happens to the tournament.” With that Technoblade turned around and followed Philza closely.

“Well, what should we start with?” Y/N asked their brothers.

Tommy threw his arms in the air “Tubbo!”

Wilbur laughed “Alright. We’ll try to find your Tubbo. I’m sure he and his siblings should be around here as well.”

Tubbo was Tommy’s best friend and honestly he hangs around their home so much they almost consider him a family member as well. He had an older sister Puffy and an older brother Schlatt though. They were a curious case. All three of them carried the active Shapeshifter gene and all three begun growing horns, their ears turned into that of goats and they all had the horizontal iris’.

Y/N liked to spend time with Puffy. Just like Y/N Puffy too acted more like a caretaker to her siblings which the two soon bonded over while Schlatt and Wilbur soon hit it off as well. It was actually quite amusing to see them interacting since Wilbur was known for loving art and freedom. Schlatt on the other hand tried to see how he can scam the most people in the most effective manner in the shortest amount of time. Trying to turn in a profit at every turn. You wouldn’t immediately think they would end up being such good friends.

The three were raised by their father as well who everyone just referred to as Captain Sparklez though his real name was Jordan. He coincidentally also helped with setting up this little festival for the town.

Tommy suddenly took a deep breath in as he cupped his hands around his mouth “Tubbo!”

Wilbur furrowed his brows “Tommy, there are a ton of people around here! There is no way he heard you.”

“Tommy! Over here!” a different voice called out, away from all the stalls and people.

Wilbur and Y/N looked surprised while Tommy almost proudly smirked at them. The bond Tommy and Tubbo had was something else.

Together the three ran through the crowd to finally meet up with Tubbo and apparently his siblings. As a greeting Tubbo softly headbutted Tommy while Puffy did the same to Y/N. Schlatt never did this with Wilbur. Said he might have goat like characteristics but he is still more human than goat hence why he didn’t do this whole headbutting thing. It has been a whole ordeal with Wilbur once where he demanded to get a headbutt from Schlatt as well for a greeting. After enough prodding and being a general nuisance Schlatt decided to straight up headbutt him as hard as possible almost knocking him out and gave him a good bruise on his forehead. Wilbur never asked for another headbutt greeting since then.

Y/N gave Puffy an additional hug, making sure to wrap their wings around her as well “I’m glad to see you Puffy!”

“So am I! I heard Techno is taking part in the tournament, isn’t he?”

Schlatt was for some reason cackling at that “Oh I bet he will win, won’t he? This would be the best time for some betting!”

Tommy, Y/N and Wilbur all nodded saying things like “Of course he will win. My brother is the best”

Soon the group begun to fall into their usual banter. Tommy and Tubbo were doing something next to them, only sometimes getting back into the conversation. Schlatt and Wilbur on the other hand were talking about how they could start bets and maybe earn some money because surely Techno will win. Y/N and Puffy listened in only to interject at times to root them back down. Both made sure they wouldn’t end up doing anything too stupid, though they too were in on it and ready to help out.

In the end the whole group was sitting on the ground and writing their plan down on the paper Tommy brought with him as suddenly a loud voice boomed over the crowd announcing that the fighting tournament will soon begin.

Tubbo looked absolutely horrified “No! I didn’t have a chance to check out the candy yet!”

Schaltt sighed and gave Tubbo a reassuring pat on his back “Don’t worry kiddo they will still be here after the tournament.”

With that the group begun walking to the marked place for the fighting. All the while Schlatt was grumbling that this was way too early and he couldn’t act on his betting plans.

“There are a lot of people.” Y/N noted as they came closer to their goal.

Indeed there were a surprising amount of people standing around the place. If it was difficult to get through the crowd before, now it seemed almost impossible. It was almost comical how the crowd seemingly turned into a wall of steel as the announcer begun his speech in order to greet all the people watching.

“Ugh, I can barely see anything.” Wilbur whined as he moved on his toes. Wilbur was the tallest of the group so when he had problems seeing anything Y/N instinctively already gave up. Maybe one day it would be the other way around seeing as they all were still growing but for now this was the reality of the situation.

Tommy was frantically jumping into the air trying to see anything that happened. He didn’t say it but he wanted to make sure to not miss out on any second of Techno’s fights. He was his older brother after all.

“Hey, Schlatt?” Tubbo almost whispered as he tugged at his older brother’s shirt.

Schlatt barely made any proper attempt to look over the crowd probably still busy thinking about his lost business opportunity. He tilted his head down to look at Tubbo “Hm?”

Suddenly Tubbo’s unsure expression turned into a serious one. While Wilbur, Tommy and Y/N were confused about this, Puffy begun to snicker.

“Aw, come on!” Schlatt drawled out but as soon as Tubbo got his pouting face out it was over for him.

He rolled his eyes and knelt down. With the help of Puffy, Tubbo was soon sitting on Schlatt’s shoulders, overlooking the crowd.

For some reason Tommy looked absolutely betrayed “This is unfair!”

“And why is that?” was all that Tubbo asked smugly. He was grabbing onto Schlatt’s horns which lead to him involuntarily yanking around his head whenever Tubbo himself moved around. Annoyed Schlatt gave his younger brother a playful slap on his arm as a sign to knock it off.

Tommy crossed his arms “Hey, Wilby! Wait no, I’m not a child anymore.”

Before Wilbur could even do his obligatory cooing whenever Tommy used his nickname or before Y/N could remind him that he was indeed still a child and younger than Tubbo he turned towards them instead.

“Y/N! You carry me and fly up that is way cooler than sitting on someone’s shoulders like some two year old.”

This took Y/N quite by surprise “What?”

“Dad said you are ready to fly and you spent like most of your free time already gliding or flying about so like basically the same thing right?”

“No! This is completely different! Besides I’m pretty sure my wings right now are barely able to carry my own weight! To that I have no idea how to take off from ground!”

Tommy’s bottom lip begun to quiver. Both Wilbur and Y/N knew it was fake but it was still a weakness for the two.

Y/N tried grabbing Wilbur’s sleeve for support but he was already looking at them with sad eyes himself “I mean Tommy just wants to see his big brother win, which is understandable right? At least worth a try?”

It was Y/N’s time to look betrayed but their expression soon got exchange by that one of defeat “One… One try. If that doesn’t work out I will give up.”

So the group walked back away from the crowd to have more space, Tubbo still happily sitting on Schlatt’s shoulders. He looked annoyed but Puffy knew that he was just as happy as she was that Tubbo had obviously a good time.

Y/N would spent a few minutes just trying to take off the ground on their own saying that they would first need to be a bit in the air before being able to grab Tommy. Wilbur was just watching with an amused smile on his face. Oh he was almost certain how this will end in disaster but he was just too curious to see how exactly.

After multiple running starts Y/N managed to get a few feet off into the air, flying directly towards Tommy so they could pick him up. They more or less bodychecked into their younger brother but still managed to pick him up and for a short moment it looked like the two were indeed a few feet above the height of the crowd.

Tommy was screaming partially out of fear but partially out of excitement. Y/N was so concentrated on flying and holding onto Tommy they didn’t even try to look out for Techno on the ground. They stayed semi stable in the air for good two seconds before both suddenly noticed they were losing altitude rapidly.

Now both were screaming as Y/N desperately tried to glide towards the hay bails that the town put up as decoration but with the added weight of Tommy they still plummeted towards the ground pretty fast.

The next thing Y/N remembers was that they were surrounded by hay and that their whole body was feeling heavy and sore. Tommy was groaning as he tried his best to get out of the hay and off their sibling while Y/N first made sure to calmly fold their wings back against their back as they slowly got out of the hay as well.

Suddenly two strong hands grabbed the still disoriented Y/N and helped them properly back to their feet only to be met by an angry looking Philza.

“What on Ender were you thinking?”

“Oh hey dad!” Y/N croaked out as they avoided any eye contact with him. Instead they were busy plucking hay out of their wings. Due to the fall there was a lot of hay trapped between feathers, there were also a few bent feathers that felt uncomfortable at best.

Tommy was sheepishly standing next to them also avoiding eye contact.

“I told you to get to the tournament and wait for me! I told you guys I would make sure to find you so why did you do whatever the hell you just did?” Philza rambled off.

“Yeah guys why did you two do that?” Wilbur was now approaching his family as well, including their other three friends who followed suit.

Y/N let go of their wing as they turned towards their older brother with an angry frown “You encouraged us! Don’t act like you are the only innocent person here! Aren’t you as our big brother supposed to stop us or something when we are stupid?”

Philza sighed “Okay, we deal with this later but at least tell me why?”

“We wanted to see Techno but we couldn’t get past the crowd!” Tommy answered.

“My fights will only start in like half an hour dude. Didn’t you guys listen to the announcements?”

To their surprise Technoblade appeared from behind Philza. He looked bored but still had a somewhat smug smile on his face. Who wouldn’t feel a tiny big smug when your younger siblings gets into trouble with dad for something that was absolutely their fault and you were luckily this time no part of it.

“You three are in trouble! We will go back so Techno won’t be too late for when it’s his turn but once we are back home it’s three weeks of chores for all of you.”

This earned him a murmur of “Okay, dad.” And “But we didn’t do anything bad!”

After that the day ended up pretty normally. They had their trouble for the day so they continued on with following Philza back to the tournament place. He made sure that all the kids had the best places in front so they could watch as Techno absolutely destroyed the other kids.

Jordan joined them as well. Philza didn’t spend any time waiting on telling him how Y/N and Tommy crashed into one of his decorations. He wasn’t angry but did chew out his own kids a little bit for not even attempting to stop them.

For some reason this was the day Y/N always fondly thought back on. They got into their typical trouble that day but also spend a ton of time with their family and friends back in their hometown. Enjoying seeing Techno beat others up and of course winning the tournament to which then Phil and Jordan bought the kids a ton of candy from the stalls.

Yes, they loved their family so dearly and would do anything for them.

So when a letter arrived from Wilbur that informed them that a few days ago a friend betrayed him which led to him losing his first life of three as well for Tommy, Tubbo and their nephew Fundy it felt like their heart got ripped out of their chest.

Y/N was still living at their old childhood home with Philza but both were only rarely at home. The two traveled around the world independently from each other using the old cottage as a place to rest in between. Wilbur probably addressed the letter knowing that this was the most reliable way to contact his family.

Reaching Technoblade who was training out of country was almost impossible at this point in time.

Y/N got out a piece of paper and wrote a letter for their father.

“Dad, I’m going to visit Wil and Tommy. Love, Y/N”

This was all that needed to be said.

They put the letter including the letter from Wilbur visibly on the table so Philza would see it as soon as he got back home. They did this sometimes in order to talk to Philza as well as the other way around so both were always looking out for messages on the table once they got back home.

Y/N grabbed their old netherite sword they got way back from Techno as a gift and begun thinking about what to take with them for the flight towards L’Manberg. If they fly it would only take a few days to reach the place but they also couldn’t carry a lot of things with them.

“Hell of a reason to visit your family after a long time, huh.”

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anunvalidcritic · 4 years

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WATCHMEN (series) EP2

(DISCLAIMER: MY OPINION IS MY OWN AND CAN BE DEEMED INVALID TO THOSE WHO DON’T CARE FOR IT.)

We ended off on a big cliffhanger so let’s see where we’re going to be taken from there...

MARTIAL FEATS OF COMANCHE

Look at all those typewriters

Oh shit, so we’re German alrighty then. I speak German as well.

“Hello, boys, what are you doing over here? Fighting the Germans? Has it ever done you any harm, of course, some whites folks lying and any Asian Americans papers told you that the Germans ought to be wiped out for the sake of humanity and democracy. But I ask you boys; what is democracy? Do you enjoy the same rides as the white people do in America? Are you rathered treated over there as second class citizens? Can you get a seat in a theatre where white people seat or can you even ride in the south in the same streetcar as white people? And how about the law; is lynching and the most horrible cruelties connected there with a lawful proceeding in a democratic country. Now all of this is entirely different in Germany. Colored people have mighty fine position in business in Berlin and other German cities. Why then fight the germans you have been the tool of the egotistic rich in america and there is nothing in the whole game for you but broken bones, horrible wounds, and death. To carry the gun in service of America is not an honor but a shame throw it away and come over to the German line and you will find friends who will help you along.” - GERMAN SOLDIER/YOUNG AFRICAN AMERICAN SOLIDER/YOUNG & OLD WHEELCHAIR MAN

Sorry for the long monologue above but it was to powerful for it not to be posted.

damn she just rolled him away as if they weren’t just at a crime scene

breathe ANGELA breathe

damn 105 and still alive .... wow

“He had skeletons in his closet.” - WHEELCHAIR MAN

His name is now WILL

Well ANGELAs heading back to the crime scene

“Oh I read it I just don’t believe it.” - NEWSPAPER SALESMAN

I bet there looking at those wheelchair tracks right now...

LOOKING GLASS really just came into that car and the first thing he asked if he had any food.

MEMORABLE DIALOGUE

LOOKING GLASS - “Was he high?”

LADY KNIGHT - “He might’ve done some blow.”

LOOKING GLASS - “Sounds like quite a party.”

LADY KNIGHT - “My kids were there.”

LOOKING GLASS - “Your kids.”

LADY KNIGHT - “...Fuck you, you shiny fuck. What are you interegating me now?”

LOOKING GLASS - “Why would I interegate you?”

LADY KNIGHT - “Cuz you’re a cold motherfucker glass.”

LOOKING GLASS - “Then why am I crying under here.”

This was quite intense for that short amount of town.

So they’re just gonna touch his body without gloves on at all???

FLASHBACK

ANGELA and CALVIN are dancing and it’s Christmas Eve.

“There’s somebody in our house.“ - ANGELA

WOOOW this dude is bold af

SHE FLEW BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MY GOD!!!!!!!!

She was out for 3 days!

JUDD and ANGELA having a little heart to heart after being fucked up by the same group of people.

They’re the only 2 people in the force that survived...

THE WHITE NIGHT

PRESENT

She looks like she wants to break some shit.

“So are you coming or are you fucking breathing?” - RED SCARE

That NIXON statue kinda threw me for a loop lol

Why the fuck would you throw a glass bottle at the police??? (like Ik your mad but damn.)

I think it’s safe to say that ANGELA let some of her anger out on that man...

AYYE HENRY LOUIS GATES JR.

WILLIAM’s DREAMLAND THEATRE (his parents owned the theatre)

MEMORABLE DIALOGUE

ANGELA - “Can you take a rain check?”

KIDS GRANDPA - “I can take a real check. *ANGELA proceeds to pull out her pocketbook and writes a check* ...Must be satisfying putting those Redfordations to work.”

ANGELA - “Get the fuck off my porch.”

lol, that little girl said, “keep walking before I stab you in the butt.”

Those Martian Blocks are pretty fucking cool.

TOPHER SHOOK

Is that Orville Peck playin’ in the background??

(he lowkey looks like he can be on the show...)

Ig I would’ve knocked that shit over to if I didn’t like the information I just received.

AMERICAN HERO STORY

“WARNING: The Federal Communications Commission has determined the following content to be emotionally harmful. Young children should not view this content under any circumstances. Even if supervised by a Parent or Guardian the views and opinions expressed, including the depictions of persons of color and members of the LGTBQA+ community do not reflect any official policy or position of the US Government. This program contains graphic language, violence, nudity, misogyny, racism, anti-Semitism, hate crimes, and depictions of sexual assault. Be advise.”

TOPHER just seatin’ there lookin’ at the screen can it start already.

LOOKING GLASS keeps that mask on at all times.

Who tf is that talkin’ about getting shot in the head and washing up onto the Boston Harbor?? Do sounds like BATMAN.

At least he didn’t knock that little kid upside his head.

WOAH THAT MOTHERFUCKER SHOT HIS FUCKING EAR!!!

ROFL THE WAY THIS DUDE CAME IN THROUGH THE WINDOW

DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD YOU HAVE TO thROW A CANNED FOOD ITEM IN ORDER FOR IT TO HAVE AN IMPACT LIKE THAT!?!?!?

I have to say that this man is very skilled with a shard of glass

Okay, so you’re just going to continue to shoot the rest of bullets into one of your accomplices??? *make it make sense*

Wow ok, so we're going all out with the headbanging then??

“Who am I, when I was little every time I would look into the mirror I saw a stranger starring back at me. He was very very angry. Hot, vibrating electricity with no place to ground it.” - HOODED JUSTICE

this dude is dramatic af lol but this is his story I’ll let him tell it...

SENATOR JOE truly is an ol’ country boy with that accent rofl

And ANGELA is down for the count

LOL she played that shit off well

Night vision goggles ok ok that’s cool

She found something.....

OH FUCK NO BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So this man is pretty every day on repeat like it’s Groundhog’s Day or something.

“When is a lie not a lie?“ - OZYMANDIAS

“When it’s acting.” - MAID

HA, he was rude af to MR. PHILLIPS

So there recreating the seen of how DR. MANHATTAN came to be...

OZYMANDIAS is one crazy mothertucker....

...tiny weiner...

.... wtf they all look alike.... oh that dude really died!

How long has WILL been in the bakery??

nvm not that long apparently lol

LOL he didn’t have to throw that shell from the boiled egg like that

This dude really does have “friends in high places” but he didn’t mean for her to literally check CAPTAIN JUDD’s closet smdh

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This episode was quite delightful and I’m ready to see what the next episode has to offer. Until then clean your hands, be careful of who and what you’re around, and don’t get so down in the dumps.

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vaguely-concerned · 5 years

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Let’s Read Victory of Eagles; the Prepare to Cry About William Laurence Edition

earlier temeraire let’s reads (yes I’m sticking with it)

- oh man starting with temeraire’s pov is such a good call, I don’t know if I could take getting plunged straight into laurence’s misery without some (very slight) levity first

- lol and also crey @ laurence gently reminding these young guys how to keep him prisoner

- temeraire on his way to revolutionize dragon politics after one damn month... I’m so proud ;___; on the other hand him thinking laurence is dead is... nope not processing this laurence is fine let’s not worry about it

- SURPRISE THARKAY! BEST KIND OF SURPRISE

looool he just keeps coming to get laurence and finding him embroiled in some fresh catastrophe... I’m sorry ur bro is in another castle/war camp/ship wreck/prison tharkay you’re a champ for tracking him down again and again

- He has a new birb!!! good stuff. this part of them walking through the quiet ruined town is really striking too

- laurence feels like he can be just himself for the first time in months huh... cool cool cool

- “You and Temeraire would be welcome in other parts of the world. You may recall there is some semblance of civilization,” he added dryly, “in a few places, beyond the borders of England.”

fsdakhfdasdfsaflj a) I love him so much b) I g u e s s Tharkay kind of just asked Laurence to run away with him in his low-key sardonic way... super triple extra cool cool cool extremely admirable even if he and everyone else in the world knows it to be doomed

resting his hand on his shoulder because he knows Laurence is gonna be Laurence about this... yeah okay just punch me in the heart

- tfw the guy you sort of have a thing for is determined to get himself killed for a government you feel exactly zero personal loyalty to and now you have to watch his back 🙄

- lol laurence is like ‘I’m not gonna start a fistfight’

five minutes later: granby pulls laurence out of a fistfight he started because someone talked shit about his dragon

- aw demane and sipho! good boys bein’ good boys

- temeraire reciting principia mathematica to himself and changing his voice so he can pretend it’s laurence reading to him... that is under the belt naomi novik that is just mean

(all the funnier/more heartbreaking for knowing laurence has no fucking idea what he’s reading out loud when it comes to that book and would never have touched it if temeraire didn’t love it so much)

- “Oh,” Temeraire said, and sat back on his haunches. He was not quite sure what to say. “I am very sorry?” he offered, uncertainly. He supposed it must be very unpleasant to be a coward.

fjfjghfgj how is he so darling

- tbh perscitia is very much me when it comes to fighting; I too am small and slow and cripplingly overly aware of all the ways things can go wrong which everyone seems happy to overlook

- as a professional tharkay spotter: he is in fact present in the proceedings right now, he arrived at the same time as granby and had one (1) line of dialogue! I am not sure why everyone’s talking about this napoleon fella instead of specifying to me what precise dragon he hitched a ride with or what kind of babysitter arrangement he has put in place for his birb but y’know I’ll take what I can get

(there is a peculiar sort of satisfaction in getting reeeeaaal attached to a side character; this reminds me a lot of being nine and scrupulously scanning every page of a harry potter book for mentions of sirius, no matter how peripheral or inconsequential)

- all of temeraire’s dragons are pure gold tbh, I especially like majestatis and his laconic competency (I may have a type)

- temeraire not getting why laurence isn’t responding to him quite as he should and laurence basically getting his affairs in order... William Laurence if you break both our hearts I will never fucking forgive you this is my stern voice

- adding a second (and tonally very different) pov is such a genius move at this point in the story; it really breathes new life into everything.

- lady allendale is the real mvp, you can really see a lot of laurence’s good sides in a straight line from her to him

- oooooooooooooooooooooh roland dropping some truth bombs on laurence for being so very very honorable and so very very dumb

thank you jane I guess at least he’s pretty

- having to read laurence trying to convince all the people who love him to basically let him kill himself is extremely upsetting and I Do Not Care for it

- temeraire absent-mindedly putting ‘coming up with some way to let laurence live as long as me’ on his ‘to do’ list is Everything

but also he doesn’t even realize how wrong things are with his captain and I want to curl up in a ball. no bb no one is going to take him but he’s halfway through taking himself out :(

(I will say that there’s something about laurence’s incredible inflexibility and self loathing that is very relatable, which is probably why I’m so mad at him and also so scared for him. incidentally one of hanzo’s traits I really identify with. anyway onwards)

- ah of course granby was kidnapped I was wondering when something bad would happen to him in this book

- “You are not obliged -- ” Laurence began.

“No,” Tharkay agreed civilly, with one raised brow, and Laurence bowed and left it there.

fdsfdklsalkjhfkjasdhfjkadshdsfhksdfjakh how... how can anyone be so impossibly lovely and so sarcastic in one word... my heart feels so full

but also ow b/c I think tharkay does see the state laurence is in and it must be extremely stressful to look out for all the swords your bro is determined to throw himself on

- oF ALL THE DOORSTEPS IN ALL OF LONDON THEY HAD TO END UP AT LAURENCE’S EX’S how many mirrors has this poor man broken to end up here

- oh uh wow I think I just murdered woolvey’s shitty racist ass with my mind I never even knew I had the power

- Tharkay seeming to suss out the whole Situation here at a glance... *prayer hands emoji*

- Tharkay shook his head, and when Laurence looked at him said quietly: “It must be difficult to follow an officer of public repute, in the affections of a woman who loves courage.”

...

“My reputation is hardly one any sensible man would covet.”

“It does not name you a coward,” Tharkay said. “Whatever has Bertram Woolvey done?”

as observed completely impartially except for that one awful enormous crush he is developing lol

- oh no... woolvey died... this is... terrible.... *insert ‘shocked’ captain kirk reaction image here*

okay it does put edith in a genuinely awful situation, which super sucks. everything around her is like the one part of laurence’s self loathing that is sort of justified: he’s been making her life so much harder for so long. first she had to worry about her not-even-husband-yet getting lost at sea and he seems pretty emotionally distant, for all that he can be sweet, then he adopts a dragon and she is SUCH AN AFTERTHOUGHT to him in that process (because, as I have discussed earlier, william laurence should just not ask people to marry him b/c he never. actually. means. it. he just thinks he should I think)

and then, after finally disentangling herself emotionally from that she manages to marry a dude who’s a twit, but a twit who by all appearances treats her well and she’s happy -- and then Laurence shows up for three fucking hours and her HUSBAND IS SHOT DEAD

most of laurence’s guilt is the useless self-flagellation of depression, but in this one case I’m a bit more ‘yeah okay valid bro’

- Laurence’s tendency to describe, in minute detail, what some dude is wearing even under the most dire of circumstances is so endearing. (also he barely ever does it with women; usually it’s like ‘and she was wearing idk a dress?’ lol)

- laurence’s superpower is inspiring people’s affection and loyalty and then wondering why they’re all not cool with him throwing himself off a cliff

- is tharkay like basically a scottish lord on his dad’s side and has been fucked over by either the system or the rest of his family. are you fucking kidding me jfksadflsadfj

- oh. oh okay that’s the king that’s super extra salt in the wound for our golden boy :I

- NOOOOOOOOOOO TEMERAIRE THINKS LAURENCE MIGHT BE ANGRY WITH HIM!!!!!! LAURENCE YOU BEAUTIFUL USELESS DUMBASS PLEASE SNAP OUT OF YOUR DEPRESSION LONG ENOUGH TO TELL YOUR DRAGON SON YOU’RE NOT ANGRY WITH HIM OR SO HELP ME I’LL... CRY AT YOU I GUESS

- okay so this is all very bleak and... borderline war crime-y and laurence is clearly In A Bad Way but also demane has just put every scrap of clothing he could find on his little brother, who now can barely walk for all the layers but is presumably nice and warm, and my heart is doing strange things in my chest

- “Laurence, what are you doing?”

*ELMO SURROUNDED IN FLAMES GIF* MY BOY THARKAY BEING THE REAL MVP ASKING THE REAL QUESTIONS

this whole scene is so brief but so good fkdslahfaklsdhfaskld laurence literally slipping back out of dissociation and noticing the smells and sounds around him again... this is So Much, tharkay you fucking miracle of a man

- there is something incredibly interesting about how laurence is just viscerally terrified by the things tharkay seems to represent to him -- that’s at least twice now that he’s thought straight out, in pretty much the same words, that tharkay’s way of living seems achingly lonely and untethered and frightening to him. (the first time is in black powder war, just as he’s about to give the offer of friendship that tharkay seems equal parts confused and touched by lol) laurence has this intense need to be part of something bigger than himself and doesn’t trust himself to know what’s right (...even tho he’ll historically still occasionally go off and do The Right Thing despite orders anyway because he’s a beautiful idiot), while tharkay obviously puts freedom and autonomy faaaar above any of that (understandably, from his background lol)

and still it’s exactly this dude who woke laurence up to himself again and reminded him who he really is. this is the man he knew he’d be ‘sorrier to lose than yet I know’ and gooooddamn if he wasn’t right about that. I’m not ready to be coherent about it yet but uh wow this is A Lot

- the way novik writes laurence dissociating is. a bit too close to home, I’m not thrilled about this haha

- LAURENCE IS TALKING TO HIS DRAGON SON AGAIN AND I CAN FINALLY BREATHE THANK YOU THARKAY

- also let me specify that tharkay coming in and ending laurence’s breakdown by just showing him that he, y’know. doesn’t have to commit borderline war crimes if he doesn’t want to is... yeah. when he’s like ‘yeah no bro I like you and all but this is fucked up I’m out’ and Laurence slowly puts the pieces together and goes ‘...that... is an option? F U C K’ is the Good Stuff (I’m being flippant about it but also I really mean it lol)

- temeraire is giving the french uniforms the side eye for being boring and admiring the kilts... god bless him, focusing on the real things on the eve of battle

- gOD lien is so fucking COOL, celestial who actually knows wtf she’s doing OP pls nerf

ETA: also I’ve looked up some spoilers for the rest of this series (b/c there’s a couple of characters now who I’m so attached to that if they die I don’t even fucking care anymore lol), and apparently they never get to fight lien/meet her for too long again and can I just say... What The Fuck, why would you come up with such a compelling antagonist and not use her???

- Tharkay, straight(hah)-faced: yeah I’m coming with you to australia on this prison ship nbd just curious about it that’s all

Laurence, blinking back tears, barely getting the words out: cool bro

(I think laurence has been like. crying or on the verge of crying in every single scene he and tharkay have been alone in this entire book. tharkay saw laurence through an ugly ugly divorce (with the government of england if not the land) and is still going with him to fucking australia. that’s how you know it’s love tbh, he’s done for)

also for the meme: AND THEY WERE SHIPMATES! OH MY GOD THEY WERE SHIPMATES!

ALSO also: tharkay getting granby a drink fdsafjsalkdjfh best boy, best friend

- not connected to anything but I do appreciate that laurence is a rare extremely extroverted protagonist. he just really needs people around him and sort of wilts when he’s isolated, whether by circumstance or his own Stuff.

- Oh man I really liked this one! the pacing worked better than the last one, the dual pov really shook things up, the new dragon characters were cool and Laurence had a lot of character development that has been in the cards since book 1, even if it was really upsetting while it happened. and Tharkay was there a lot, which is the surest way to my heart at this point, to be fair.

#temeraire #victory of eagles #william laurence x tenzing tharkay #willzing #meta #okay let's go to australia everyone! what could possibly go wrong #it's only known for being full to the brim with creatures that can murder you with a glance #...added a ship tag b/c I'm not exactly being subtle in this one lol

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seovienrose · 5 years

Text

soccer club captain mingyu x yearbook editor reader au! pt 2

continue from pt 1

mingyu is very close to seungcheol, the soccer club former captain and school alumni as he came to monitor the progress of soccer club under mingyu’s leadership

the 10 players, lining up and standing across each others trying to pass the ball to each other as a warm up

so the team was divided to into 6:6 with seungcheol as the goalkeeper for the opposite team

the game started with a loud whistle and seokmin got the ball, trying to score into the opposite goal, he passed the ball to the team’s striker, mingyu and mingyu striked a goal easily

jihoon, then tackled a ball from seokmin and almost landed a goal but was blocked by chan, the team’s goalkeeper

after 2 hours of games, the practice ended and mingyu’s team won with 8:6

seungcheol knew he entrusted the soccer club to a reliable person

“good game today mingyu and others, i have lots of fun monitoring and playing with you guys today! good luck with upcoming regional tournament! now lets go to mcdonalds boys its my treat!”

since its been half of the year, the yearbook committees had gotten so busy to catch up with activities within the months (sports day, academic decathlon, language week etc)

since that bread and milk day, mingyu and you didn’t come across each other except that time you met him at the school gate and he blushed suddenly

what drugs he’s consuming

anyways, you were discussing with yearbook journalists and photographers about having them manage their time properly according to upcoming events due to midterm examinations coming soon

a lot of teachers complained that some yearbook committees had to miss classes frequently because of activities held by the school (its inevitable you know)

you went to your work desk after briefing but the photographers and journalists still sat around the meeting table

you were eavesdropping to minghao talking to other photographers about regional soccer tournament apparently being held soon and who’s getting the tickets

“mingyu got me a front seat ticket and he said he is inviting someone else too”

“he is probably inviting the girl in the theatre club, no?”

“dunno...”

WHATS THE DEETS WITH THE THEATRE CLUB GIRL

“well im not suprised if they still keep in contact with each other”

as much as you pretended to be unbothered you cant help yourself to be engaged in their conversation about mingyu

until the assistant editor of yours, soonyoung or people call him mr hochi came breaking the chit chatter to end with his arms crossed

hochi is much feared by the committees compared to the chief editor yourself since he is a year older and stricter with the yearbook’s precision

he was the chief editor for 3 years consecutively before you and decided to become an assistant because a lot of past committees quitted because of his leadership lol

“i didn’t appoint you guys to gossip but to do your job as yearbook committees, i don’t want to hear any complaints again from teacher about any of you slacking or missing out in classes”

with that everyone parted ways and continue doing their things at their personal desks

that was just an appreciation advertisement for our mr hochi lets get back to your love story

when you went to your locker to pick up english literature books, you saw a note stuck on the locker door

‘hey can we meet at equipments stores around 4 am right after our evening class, don’t be late i have to attend my soccer practice at 4:15 pm, sincerely mingyu’

okay why he wants to meet you at 4 in the morning but the practice at 4:15 pm???

you just laughed and proceeded to your literature class

after your literature class, you went straight to equipments stores and saw mingyu were fiddling around with something in his hands

“why do you want to meet me at 4 am?”

mingyu was half shOOKETH when he heard your voice and he had this “what???” face

“you wrote 4 am in the note” and you laughed again

mingyu was rubbing his neck and kinda laughed too, “i wrote that in hurry because i was in rush to my mathematics class”

you nodded and he smiled in awe after looking at you

“ah actually i want to give you this..i don’t know if you’re free but i’d be honoured if you can come to my tournament”

(my readers be like pretends to be surprise.gif lmao)

HE GAVE YOU THE VIP SEAT TO THE SOCCER TOURNAMENT YEAYYYY

“oh....” you just accepted it shyly

suddenly he rummaged his adidas convertible and took out an egg tart and strawberry milk again this time

you feel so overwhelmed you want to burst when he gave them to you

“y/n do come to my tournament this saturday alright? i would be so happy if the chief editor herself could come and give her personal feedback!! i gtg now, bye!!”

“thank you mingyu..”

mingyu walked away and went to field after making you feeling so flushed

the following morning, when you walk to the hall you met minghao and he greeted you a good morning

“y/n i already talk to the graphic and layout designer to reformat the yearbook design since we’re adding new segment”

“what segment?”

“either advertisements or candids section, what do you think is better?”

“for 2 pages? nobody is gonna be entertained with ads” and someone was running in the busy hall, pushing your shoulder making your file in your arms fell

minghao collected your file and tilted his head to the side

“y/n..you’re going to mingyu’s tournament?”

little did you remember that the soccer tournament ticket was in your clear file and minghao had to see that

“y-yes...”

“we’re going together then!!!” minghao jumped a little and stopped his track, “wait a minute...so you’re the girl he is currently having a crush on?”

“what crush? what about the theatre club girl?”

minghao was standing with his hand hanging to his waist, “so you overheard our conversation?”

you nodded

“we guessed him and the theatre club girl were a thing but turned out she was pestering mingyu one-sided”

he walked to the stairs to go to his literature class and you continued your way to your physics class after bidding goodbyes

in the literature class, minghao interrogating mingyu session

“dude, you’re flirting with y/n now?”

mingyu ignored the latter but he was actually flustered to answer

“do you expect a full page coverage of you and soccer club in the yearbook by doing this?”

mg: “what the hell minghao?”

minghao: “okay im just kidding”

mg: “she’s too adorable”

minghao: “adorable? didnt she get mad at you for sleeping on the couch in a prohibited room?”

mingyu was in his dreamy state because he was reminded of your smile

he was like that for 1 minute and minghao snapped his fingers

“okay fine i like her genuinely i want to keep her in pocket stop asking me”

saturday arrived aka the awaited soccer tournament day

your father lifted you off at the town’s stadium and you saw minghao with his camera bag and camera tripod

“hi do you need help mr photographer?”

minghao: “sure thing, do you have the ticket? lets go in”

you helped carried the adapters and batteries bag and got inside the soccer hall

mingyu who happened to be searching for vending machine found you and minghao

HE INSTANTLY TURNED INTO THE BIGGEST PUPPY EVER

he came running to you and grinned as wide as he can

“you came y/n!!!”

he looked at your shoulder and noticed the adapter bag belonged to minghao and rolled his eyes as he took the bag off your shoulder

“yOU MADE HER HOLD YOUR THINGS???!!!”

minghao was like -_______- “shut up mingyu”

“i offered to help because those seemed heavy”

after the chaos mingyu held minghao’s both camera and adapters bags then lead both of you to your vip seats

minghao set up his tripod and started adjusting his camera

you were inspecting the soccer hall

can you guess what mingyu was doing?

DING DONG DAENG

he was looking at you tenderly like he hadn’t seen you for 10 million years, he was really infatuated with you

you said “don’t you have like rehearsal or stuff to do other than looking at me like a creep?”

mingyu blushed again and excused himself to the waiting room to brief to his soccer club teammates

“i have never seen him so invested in a girl like that before, he likes you like a lot y/n”

“really minghao, you think so?”

anyways the tournament began, for the first halves of the game your school team seemed sloppy and demotivated because “apparently they seemed nervous” the commentator said

during the interval time, you can see and hear mingyu shouted really loudly to give encouragements toward his teams

the coach also were guiding them and giving careful advices before their second halves started

mingyu on the field were looking at you and minghao, smiling half-heartedly

you took this opportunity to make a big heart with your arms and mingyu instantly laughed, continued running to his position

seokmin, jihoon and mingyu scored 4 goals during the second halves with chan managing to block 2 goals and 1 free kick from opposite team

your school soccer club took the trophy home with last minute goal from jihoon with 9:7 and all of the players were roaring happily doing their circle hugs

after the final match ended, you waited by the side of field

mingyu saw you in the crowds and he ran towards you

“congratulations mingyu, i enjoyed it!!”

“well im hoping you could come for another tournaments”

“i would love to......date you and also go to your other tournaments.”

mingyu was SHOOKETH AGAin its like he was getting heart attack

“what?????”

“you didn’t hear it wrong, boyfriend”

mg: “so it’s day one today?”

you nodded and beamed like the brightest sun ever

mingyu gently kissed your cheek and you both half-hugged since mingyu was sweating lol

little did you know, minghao captured the picture of mingyu kissing your cheek perfectly

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enkisstories · 5 years

Text

The android cemetery (Chapter 18)

Viewed from the outside the apartment complex seemed to consist of window next to window and nothing else, long rows of glass held together by faith. Enabling people to live sheltered from the elements while still basking in the light - it really was a miracle of modern architecture (and materials). Alas, humanity! Behind all those high tech windows the humans were still the same old monkeys: mostly dissatisfied with everything, but easily distracted by sex. That was true as well for those not of the homo sapiens, but of the automaton deviansis variant.

It wasn’t the best afternoon for any of the three inhabitants of an apartment in the third row from the top. Daniel had continually scolded and insulted their new YK600 up to the point where even Gavin had to open Urban Dictionary in secret to learn what exactly was communicated. The man had laughed about the phrase for a good two minutes, before it had sunk in that his partner’s behavior was rather strange. Gavin had been under the impression that Daniel enjoyed caring for kids in general, not just Emma. He had done well babysitting Damian Miller, eventually won over the kids in Brindleton Bay and established a good rapport with Alice on the Adeline. So what had gotten the android so damn riled up against Evelyn-formerly-Turner? If anything, Gavin had expected the two to gang up against him, resulting in yet another shouting argument like the day before. Shouting was what they knew how to deal with, what they were used to. This development, however, was unexpected, irritating and therefore vaguely threatening. Damn androids! Gavin Reed concluded. If there was such a thing as souls, Daniel’s for sure had the worst direction sense of them all, entering an android body instead of a baby like a sensible transcendental apparition would have done! Now they had to live with the consequences.

Gavin put aside the tablet. Lazing on the couch he reached for a toy fishing rod that he proceeded to move around for Thor and Loki while his thoughts were elsewhere. Meanwhile in the kitchen Daniel seemed to have changed his tactics. He was now trying to pile work on Evelyn to get her out of his way. Only it didn’t go so well…

“You do not have the right to tell me anything!” the YK600 screeched. “You are only Mr. Reed’s android!”

“I’m not!” Daniel barked back. “Well, I am, sort of. In the same way he is my human. But not the way you think.”

“Shut up!” Lyn demanded. “And don’t try to give me any more orders, because if you do, then I��. I… Then I’m telling!!!”

“Oh? Think Gavin will take your side?! You little…”

There was a moment’s silence, then Daniel came storming out of the kitchen. Thor went into the air with all fours, hissed and ran in circles. Loki stopped mid-movement and looked at his two-legged “mama”, his soulful, eternally blue Ragdoll eyes full of questions. Daniel hunkered down. At first he was just crouching there, then he carefully extended a hand towards the cat. “Hey… hey, furball… Don’t be afraid, please. It’s still me.” Gavin noticed that the old gentleness had returned to his partner’s voice. That and the fear of having destroyed something precious in a moment of loss of control again. Loki gave Daniel’s hand a quick rub with his head, then retreated upstairs.

“Phew”, the android commented the absolution he had just received. The next moment he felt himself pulled on the couch by Gavin.

“This is getting out of hand”, Daniel said while leaning into his partner’s embrace. “We need to… Can you reach my phone?”

“Here. Do you want to call the Andersons? They’ll have a good laugh at our expense, but I doubt the suckers will help.”

“Nah. The ones who dropped that shit on us in the first place will have to solve it.”

“The Turners…?” Gavin started to ask, but Daniel had shushed him. The human swallowed the wrong way and coughed when he heard whom exactly the PL600 was calling:

“Hello? CyberLife customer service?”

“Cyber, cough, Life?!”

“We purchased a pre-owned YK600 as a gift for friends yesterday”, Daniel claimed. “Problem is, now it attempts to bond to us. It already acts as if my husband was its father! So what do we do now?”

The answer, although spot-on, wasn’t especially helpful: “The YK device needs to get reset by the new owner. You can do that yourself if you have the manual. If you do not feel comfortable with computers that’s not a problem at all. You can bring the android over and our shop personnel will gladly reset it for you.”

“Uh, thanks, but… we need to keep the YK600 a few days longer before the… our friends’ anniversary party…”

“I see. In this case just shut it down if it becomes a problem. The CyberLife smartphone app can do that, otherwise the de- and reactivation codes should be in the receipt of purchase.”

“Yes. Yes, we have the codes. Thank you…”

Daniel hung up.

“Words of reason from a human”, he sighed. “That’s something rare. I should rejoice. But I cannot bring myself to do what she suggested.”

“Shall I…?”

Daniel shook his head. He just leaned on, half sitting, half lying, outwardly comfortable, while struggling with something.

“Hey… hey, there, slide-rule… What’s the matter? You came storming in here as if chased by Connor in a full body polar bear suit.”

“I nearly hit Evelyn in the kitchen. I already had my hand raised.”

“So what?”

Daniel shrugged. “You wouldn’t understand why that is bad. Your parents never… or did they?”

No, the Reed couple had never slapped their son into the face. Jim and Dorothy hadn’t been opposed to violence in the broadest sense, such as a sharp smack on their kid’s way too thieving fingers now and then. But never anything that could be perceived as humiliating by their son. Life in general had made sure that little Gavin didn’t have to miss out on that experience.

“No, never.” Gavin confirmed, then added: “Although in one of her withdrawal episodes mom threatened to turn me in to one Captain Barnet. Does that count?”

“Hahaha!” The industrial background sound was still there, Gavin noticed, but Daniel’s laughter sounded far more natural than it had when they had met first or in Brindleton Bay.

Sweet deviant, I made sure had plenty occasion to practice since then.

“Thanks for cheering me up”, Daniel said. “Bottomline is, I know how it feels to be at the receiving end of degrading acts. And I almost did that to Evelyn in the kitchen just now. That’s why I was so shocked.”

“Uh-huh.”

There was nothing else to say, nothing to defend or justify and least of all parenting principles to discuss. Daniel was like that. He rarely tried to sway others, especially not a human, to his position in any given dilemma. Instead the android would shrug, say “that’s not how I do things”, maybe punch the other party once or twice, and afterwards make sure things were done his way. What you felt about that didn’t matter. Just doing things his way long enough for it to become a habit was good enough. It was one of the reasons why Daniel didn’t go along too well with the more preachy Markus and his followers.

“There’s something I never told you, or anybody for that matter”, the android broke Gavin’s train of thought. “You know how back when I was new at the DPD we didn’t laugh together. Instead you laughed me down.”

Accusation? After all this time? Worse, after he had just tried to lighten his partner’s mind load? That didn’t sit well with Gavin, so he shot back: “So what? You insulted me all the time!”

Instead of getting angry now, Daniel flicked his fingers and laughed again.

“Yes, exactly! And you punched me in the guts in retaliation while I couldn’t return the violence.”

The beatings, getting his face dunked into puddles or Gavin’s favorite when it came to “showing androids their place” – poking them into the LED… all the anger and helplessness… It had been far, far more than Daniel of all people had been able to contain. Unable to feed the detective his own medicine the deviant had instead channeled his newfound creativity into pranking the co-worker. Many a day Gavin had found himself soaked through, with a belly ache or utterly humiliated after having walked right into one of the traps the janitor had set for him. Except that one day when Captain Fowler had accidently picked up a laxative spiced snack intended for Gavin and the blame had for some reason fallen on Hank. That had been fun.

“The thing is, I refuse to forget this time as if it never happened”, Daniel said.

“You’re still mad…?”

“No, to the contrary! I mean, I’d be mad if you tried something like it now and you probably wouldn’t survive it. Back in ’39 your bullying was exactly what I needed.”

“You mean as deserved punishment for your deeds? No, wait, that’s not it. You do not swing that way. Okay, I admit you’ve lost me there. What am I missing?”

“Hatred, Gavin. Active rejection. To the Phillips I was nothing more than a tool. Caroline routinely switched me off as punishment for Emma. I got treated like an object. To the contrary YOU only ever TOLD me and Connor that we were things, while in practice treating us the same as your human victims.”

Gavin might have casually elbowed Connor whenever they the met in the floor, but he did that to a lot of people and often without thinking. Daniel instead had on occasion swiped the duster across Connor’s face when he had returned from an investigation, like one did with a piece of furniture. The RK couldn’t even protest lest he’d given himself away as a deviant. And it had made Gavin smile that cute rodent smile of his, so win-win.

“See, Gavin” Daniel went on, “Captain Fowler sometimes calls us his kindergarten, and he isn’t that far off. You gave me a taste of what middle school is like!”

A childhood, the deviant thought. Captain Anderson had provided the safe space for him and Connor to grow up in. And there was more: As Emma’s caretaker Daniel’s task had been to help raise the child into a successful, well-adjusted person. Daniel had accepted that as how things went in the real world. Then he had met the DPD officers, who were… everything but well adjusted. And yet they were getting from one day to the next despite their flaws, even getting results. The experience had been relieving in more than way to Daniel. Here was a dysfunctionally- functioning team that went as far as drawing guns on each other while working on a case. And Hank had outright shot down Connor to prove a point one night. Daniel hadn’t been awake again during either encounter, but been present at several similar ones. All those little scenes had shown him that one could act incredibly stupid and make the worst mistakes, yet life somehow went on and in the end things worked out more often than not. Blunders could get sailed over, their results mitigated. Almost nothing constituted the end of the world. Even if you mis-stepped as badly as Daniel had.

“I was like a kid away from home for the first time, free to be myself instead of having to strive to be the good boy”, the deviant explained. “Things would work out somehow, because they did for the rest of you, too.”

“I still understand only half of that at best, but I see you are happy. Are you…?”

“Yes. I cherish our shared memories, us being together now... everything!”

For the span of a few breaths they just hugged. No words, no thoughts and no lower parts stirring. It was a little sofa nirvana.

Eventually Daniel spoke up again: “Can you do me a favor?”

“Depends…”

“That wasn’t an actual question, you know!”

“Ah.”

“Would you do an extra shift or watch a movie with Tina while I guard the little toad? Anything to be away from the apartment for a while?”

Gavin couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Of course he had wanted to sneak away, had even come close to really doing so a few times today. But Daniel explicitly asking him to do it? What was going on here?

“See, Evelyn’s not just programmed to behave like a human child, but the perfect child.” Daniel had checked her manual online and it had creeped him out more than some of the crime scene reports he had copied in his time as a police auxiliary. “This model can get tailored to the owner’s idea of what a child should be like. There’s dlc for misbehavior, irrational fears and even common childhood diseases. But the most important selling point is that an YK android will love you more than a human child. CyberLife just now confirmed it on the phone. As the only human around, Lyn will inevitably bond to you, because that’s what her code tells her.”

When Gavin went “Eeeek” at that like a small rodent, Daniel grinned.

“What the fuck! I’ll be out of here faster than you can say... whatever. Bye!”

Gavin grabbed his jacket, the car keys and the shoes and was out in the floor in record time. He wasn’t slowing down the few steps it took to reach the elevator, either. But when the cabin descended to the ground, the man remembered that he still didn’t know what had caused Daniel to turn so hostile towards the child android in the first place. What had the fucking thing said or done?!

#non sims #detroit become human #dbh #sims4 dbh partfive #sims4danielgavin

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mirkwoodshewolf · 7 years

Text

A Lost stay pt. 2

When Bucky stopped a few feet from the truck, he watched from the gate as Crossbones carried Alex in his arms into an old warehouse. Bucky whimpered softly and said to himself.

'Okay its 7 miles from here to the junkyard, there's just not enough time to get her team here even if I run. I guess it's all up to me. But I'm a dog, and my metal arm is useless for once'. Bucky carefully walked towards the truck then crawled till he got to the window and notice the window could be open from either side.

He carefully hopped over and landed along the catwalk and trotted onward panting softly till he looked down and could see Alex being strapped into a chair by her arms.

'What is Crossbones going to do with her?' It was then he saw Alex beginning to stir.

*My POV*

When I opened my eyes, I felt my arms pinned down and I was in a metal chair. I struggled trying to free myself when a familiar voice said through the darkness.

"It's no use princess. You can't escape those bounds, not even the Winter Soldier could break them whenever we had to erase his memory". Coming out of the darkness was Rumlow now known as Crossbones ever since the DC incident.

"Rumlow you son of a bitch".

"Long time no see kid".

"Yeah, say why don't you show me that pretty mug of yours that you always claimed to have, I bet Captain America gave you some class for a change". He slapped me hard across the face and he sneered.

"Always with the fire Alex, you always had that in you. For someone who works in the dark, and yet she's just a frightened little kid inside". He mocked as he turned me towards him.

"How did you find me?"

"We never lost you little birdie, we've always known where you were, we just bide our time to finally get you alone". My eyes widened as I muttered,

"Butch".

"Ding, ding, but now that he's served his purpose we don't need him anymore, all we want know is for our little canary to be back in her cage once again, or else".

"Or else what?" I mocked. Rumlow backed away from me and one of his men handed him a book and Rumlow opened it to a certain page and said in Russian.

"Noch'". My eyes widened in fear.

"No" I whispered.

"Smert'".

"Please". I begged.

"Koshmar". My automail arm began trembling. My heart raced erratically and my breathing deepened.

"Stop, please". I begged to Rumlow but he continued.

"Kladbishche!" I threw back my head screaming in fear and agony. Like the Winter Soldier, Hydra had given me my own trigger words to bring out my alter-ego. Their deadliest weapon that could rival that of the Winter Soldier.

The Raven.

"Nindzya!" Flashbacks of when I was forced to hear these words by my Hydra handlers for years ever since I was 7 years old came flashing through my mind. All the things I did as The Raven, all the people I've killed, the day Hydra decided to get rid of my human arm and force this automail arm upon me. I kept screaming and sobbing begging for him to stop before he reached the 10th word.

Suddenly I began to hear mad barking and Rumlow suddenly stopped as he was pounced on by a dog. I was then released from my bounds as the dog seemed to hit a button on the computer forcing the chair to release me as I just collapsed onto the floor.

"You damn bitch! You're gonna pay for that!" Rumlow snarled as he trudged towards me but the German shepherd stood over me protectively. The dog then lunged for Rumlow's and began attacking his face. Knocking the mask off of him and going for his throat ripping out his vocal chords. When Rumlow was down, the German shepherd then turned his attention towards me.

I was shaking on the ground trying to block out all the flashbacks that I was having. Flashes of what Hydra did to me and what I was forced to do, if I had done that to my team I....... I would never forgive myself. My mind wasn't aware of what was going on around me and I thought Rumlow was still coming after me, but it wasn't until I felt a soft nudge at my automail hand. The German shepherd then slowly and cautiously nudged under my arm and cuddled up close to me.

Then for the first time in over 13 years, I slowly broke down crying. I held onto the closest as tight as I could and sobbed. I felt a warm soft tongue gently lick my tears and soft whimpers coming out from him.

*Bucky's POV*

Oh god, if I hadn't been interfered when I did, and Rumlow did succeed in bringing out forth "The Raven", I don't know what we would've done.

Poor Alex was in complete shock and I could tell with her being so strong towards her gang of Misfits she wouldn't allow herself to show weakness but now—the strong leader was reduced to a mere child crying and begging for the pain to stop. No wonder why dogs were used more to comfort PTSD soldiers or were used to comfort people and children in pain, my instincts were telling me exactly what she needed and how to do it.

I nuzzled her and softly licked her tears away. I kept my body close to her to warm her up and to comfort her letting her know that I was here and that no one was going to hurt her ever again. I nuzzled my face against hers gently and kept softly licking her.

I knew we weren't going anywhere for a while until she was better, but I didn't care if we moved now or a week from now. All I wanted was to comfort Alex. She needed me and I wasn't going to leave her, so I stayed with her, took care of her.

When morning came around, Alex woke up and slowly stood up and walked towards a table and got some rope and weakly began tying it up until the top part became a collar sized that would fit around my neck. She then put the rope around me gently, feeling her trembling hands and lowered my head and licked them comfortingly and once I was latched on, I then quickly found her an old sheet and covered her shoulders with it, somehow knowing that no one in the gang knows about her arm. It was then I guided her back home.

Once we got to the junkyard, her whole gang was surrounding her talking all at once making Alex shrink back in fear. I barked at them protectively.

'Get back all of you! Can't you see she's traumatized! Give her some space!'

"Guy! Guys enough! Give her some room to breathe!" Her second in command Mindy proclaimed shutting everyone up as they got a good look at their leader. Once the gang backed up, Alex ghostly walked towards a fort-like structure and pulled the sheet down to hide herself from the rest of the world. Worriedly I walked towards the junk fortress and entered inside to see Alex laying on her chair broken and empty.

I walked towards her and placed my head in her lap and waited for a response from her. I then felt her place her left hand on my head and she gently stroked it. I then heard the flaps from the sheet open and there stood Mindy. I turned to her then back down and allowed Alex's petting to sooth me.

"It was them, wasn't it?" She asked. I titled my head in confusion did she know about Alex's story? Either way Alex stayed silent and still. Mindy looked down at me and said. "Aaron and Amy said that you saved them yesterday, and now you've saved our leader from returning back to that hellhole. You're now an honorary member of this gang, Alex could still use you though. I haven't seen her like this since I met her. You'll take care of her, won't you?" I nodded once then Mindy ruffled my head and walked right out leaving us alone once again.

I turned back to Alex and once again rested my head on her lap and then for the first time she finally spoke out.

"I was 7 years old, when I was taken by Hydra. They called me the Raven because of how I could easily maneuver in the darkness and kill quick and swiftly thanks to all the Asian styles of Karate that I was forced to being taught. To bring her out, like the Winter Soldier all they had to say were the goddamn words and then ask me "What does the Raven say?" "Nevermore" I would respond to them and then they would give me my task. I was tortured whenever I messed up and one time I was just sitting in my cell when the scientists knocked me out and I woke up strapped to a metal table. They then proceeded to cut my right arm from its socket and no there was nothing wrong with it, they just wanted to replace it with this automail one to make me an even more dangerous weapon, like their Winter Soldier". She took a shaky breath and choked out, "and do you know what the worse thing about my time there was? It was my own parents who sold me to Hydra in the first place, they were both members of Hydra's scientist dept. they sold me to them and even came up with the idea of making me this arm. They just stood there watching as I felt every. Single. Bit of pain as my arm was being cut off and forced into being connected to this thing" she gestured to her arm.

I could not believe what I was hearing. Her own parents? Her own parents did this to her? I hope they're still alive so that way I can look them in the eyes and slowly watch as I took their lives so that they knew every bit of pain that their daughter felt.

"I managed to escape when I was 14, it was then I met Mindy out in the streets stealing from a Mini-mart. Soon the two of us joined together to help other kids like us. Only she knows the truth of what happened and she alone is the only one who knows about my arm. That's why I wear long sleeved jackets around the gang all the time". She scoffed out a cold chuckle and said as she then looked at me. "God look how far I've stooped, I'm talking to a dog for fuck's sake. But at least you sorta know how it is. Being looked at as trash, especially with that arm of yours, I guess—this was fate that you were brought to me. We're the same, treated like lowlife strays that belong out in the streets. And since you saved Aaron and Amy this morning as well as saving me last night, that gives you even more right to stay and be one of us".

I took my chance and hopped up into her lap. She bent back the chair allowing more room for us as I now placed my head on her chest and deeply sighed out through my nose.

"Good dog" she whispered tiredly as I felt her gently scratch behind my ears before finally falling asleep.

Now I know why Loki did what he did. He was the cat Alex had called "Little Thief" and he must've heard or even seen Alex's story by reading her mind and knew that if he tried to tell the rest of the Avengers about her and these other kids, they'd never believe him (I mean would believe a story like that if that very same person was responsible for killing hundreds of people trying to take over the world?) I then shut my eyes and fell asleep in Alex's arms.

A few hours later I woke up to a familiar scent, my ears perked up at a sound and then I saw a black dog carrying a long tattered bedsheet in its mouth. This black dog looked more like a wolf with green eyes I then knew who it was. I gently hopped off of Alex and took the sheet from the black wolfdog and put it over Alex then I followed the wolfdog out of the junkyard and the two of us ran as fast as we could towards the nearest abandoned alleyway.

He turned towards me and in a shimmer of green and gold light Loki appeared before me and he said.

"So now you know?" He raised his hand and soon I was surrounded in the same light and I was now back to normal.

"Yeah. So that's where you were all that week, you were Little Thief as Alex called you".

"The young Midgardian definitely has some fire in her, that's why I stuck around her and the gang. But I knew her strength could only go so far".

"You're right about that, and I must thank you Loki. If you hadn't had turned me into a dog and sent me to find them, Hydra would've gotten their hands on The Raven for sure and she would have to relive all the torture and pain she's tried so hard to escape from". Loki nodded his head once. "But it's not just her, it's all those kids, who knew society had given up on so many children?"

"Indeed. It's one of the reasons why I dislike you Midgardians. You give up too easily when something gets too hard to accomplish, especially when it comes to helping others weaker than yourselves".

"So the Coldhearted Frost giant does have a warm heart". I mocked.

"I have no idea what you're talking about" he tried to state as calm and collected as he could but I could see a slight smirk on his face. "So soldier, what do you plan on doing now?"

"Where's Steve?" Loki then raised his hand and we soon disappeared from the alleyway in a flash of green and gold light.

*My POV*

When I finally woke up the second time in a row I took notice of a sheet wrapped around me and the dog was gone. I scoffed and muttered.

"I knew it, even strays run from strays. I should've known better". I then heard the sound of cars pulling up towards the junkyard. I got out of my fort still holding the sheet close so no one not even the young ones could see me arm. Soon my whole team gathered around as we saw cars pulling into the junkyard and dozens of people coming out, some of those people included the Avengers.

They came up to us and Captain America said.

"Which one of you is Alex Pickett?" I stepped forward and stated strongly.

"Why are you here?"

"We've received word on your conditions and checked all of your backgrounds and came to a decision," my eyes widened and I sneered at him.

"How dare you!? You think it's okay to just waltz in here, state you know everything about us and try to put us back in the system that gave up on all of us or didn't even try to do a damn thing to save us and give us the protection we needed!"

"We're not here to take you into Child services or women's/men's services for domestic abuse. We're taking you all to Avenger's tower to be trained in combat, to train you kids and give you all a home, with us". Natasha stated. Some of my gang looked at each other then Tony Stark came forward and said.

"Everything you children need I can provide. Good food, fresh water, and a warm bed to sleep in without it smelling like old dumpsters". I turned to Mindy who just looked at me like it was all up to me. I also looked at the young ones who all had the same look of wonderment at the sound of warm beds and fresh food. I turned back to Captain America and said.

"How did you even find out about us?"

"Two of our Avengers had come here and saw for themselves at what society had done to its future leaders. We want to make it right, that's all we want. Now you can freely accept or deny yourself Miss Pickett, but if some of your group wants to they can gladly come with us". I looked at all my children and they all looked at me with sad eyes, I remained silent for a while until I finally sighed and stated.

"That's my problem, I'm just too nice. Alright we'll go with you". The kids all cheered and the teens all smiled and hugged each other like they were relieved to finally leave the junkyard. I on the other hand was still skeptical and based on what Steve had said about checking backgrounds, they probably already knew who I was and wanted to arrest and incarcerate me for my crimes tied to Hydra.

We were soon all loaded into the backs of trucks and we drove off towards Avenger's tower. But while my hands were softly trembling and my leg was shaking, I saw a metal hand being placed over my right automail one. When I looked up I saw the Winter Soldier sitting right next to me looking at me with reassurance and comfort.

Throughout the day, we all were given new clothes provided by Stark himself, food, and our own rooms. I specifically was given a room at Bucky's request to be on his level. And just as I feared, I was taken into an interrogation room and was forced to share with Natasha and Steve all Hydra Intel I knew during my time there. For hours I was forced to tell them everything I did and what my parents did to me and I hated every second of it.

When it was all over, I was then forced by Stark and Dr. Banner to go to their lab so that they could study my automail and see how it worked and how they made it. Just even allowing other people to see my arm just broke my pride and forced me to age drop back to that frightened 7 year old, I would try to hide it but sometimes it slipped out through hidden tears.

But through all the mental torture, Bucky was there by my side and came to my rescue and told anyone to back off. Something about him just seemed familiar in the way he protected me, like a loyal dog. One day I saw him in the training room punching one of the punching bags and as he wiped the sweat from his brow he took notice of me and said.

"Alex, what is it? Did Stark and Banner force you to see your arm again?"

"No, no. I just—wanted to ask you something" I said nervously.

"What is it?"

"It was you, wasn't it? The dog? You saved the twins and me that day didn't you?" Bucky softly smiled and said.

"Forcefully turned into a dog by Loki aka Little Thief. He was the one to find you guys first, then he turned me into the German shepherd to find out about you and your crew. And I'm glad he did". He stood up and placed his hands on my shoulders and continued, "I know what's going on through your mind. I've been there before. But you'll be safe here, you and your crew. You've got the best people in the world looking out for you, especially you Alex, you're not alone kid. And even if the team isn't then know that I'm always with you till the end of the line, one Hydra stray to another". Then for the first time in my entire life, I received a kiss to my forehead as a sign of affection then Bucky left me alone in the gym.

The next few weeks my crew had grown really fond of being a part of the team of superheroes and some of them even became like children or younger siblings to the Avengers. We'd join in on dinners and parties, we'd joke around and prank one another, it was like my crew and I were "The Young Avengers" the next generation of the team and soon we'd be able to do on assignments and save the world.

One night we had all just gotten done with "Avengers movie night" watching "Spy Kids" and once it was done we all called it a night and all went up to our rooms. When Bucky and I reached our floor and I got to my room Bucky said to me.

"Goodnight Alex".

"Night Bucky". We then entered our separate rooms and I got changed into my pajamas and fell fast asleep.

But not long after I had shut my eyes, the nightmares came flooding back in. All the screaming, the blood, the darkness and reliving the day I got my automail arm while my parents just stood there with gleams in their eyes and sadistic smiles. I shot up screaming and panting heavily. I quickly turned on my light to see that I was in my room at Avenger's tower but that didn't stop my fear and my sudden age drop. I quickly ran to Bucky's room and opened the door only to see that he wasn't there.

I quickly ran to the elevator and pressed the down button and tried to steady my breathing and when the doors finally opened I quietly walked through hoping that no one would hear me walking in case someone was down here and there I saw two figures. One of them was Bucky sitting on the couch watching TV and Loki sitting on one of the chairs closest to me reading a book.

I nervously looked down at my feet then towards Bucky and I took my chance. Holding myself together I quietly ran towards Bucky. Loki noticing my figure running past him, looked up from his book and kept his eyes on me as I finally reached the couch. I took notice that Bucky was actually sleep so I carefully sat beside him then scooted close to him and wrapped my arms around him and buried my face into his chest.

His eyes opened and when he saw me clinging onto him like a frightened child, he smiled softly then turned to Loki who got the message and disappeared leaving the two of us alone. Bucky got a blanket he was using earlier that had fallen onto the floor and covered me up and brought me close to him whispering comforting words as he gently rocked me, rubbing my back and giving me loving kisses all over my face telling me it was going to be okay, it was okay to cry, he was there and he wasn't going anywhere.

The two of us shared an unbreakable bond, we were both forced to be Hydra's dogs, managed to escape when we could and become strays but at the cost of our sanity. But when we found each other we somehow managed to understand each other's pain and just being there for each other seemed to calm us down.

Soon we both fell asleep our metal hands intertwined with each other's.

_______________________________________________________

*Translation* If these are wrong I apologize I found them through goggle translation.

Noch: Night

Smert': Death

Koshmar: Nightmare

Kladbishche: Graveyard

Nindzya: Ninja

Taglist:

@evyiione

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes x teen reader #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x oc reader #fluff #feels #major feels #angst #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes oneshot #bucky imagine

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mantlelificent · 7 years

Text

More Than Good | R.M.

imagine requested by @rxggie-mxntle

Summary: In which you, a student-athlete, believes that you are not good enough. Reggie Mantle thinks otherwise.

Life as a student-athlete meant several hours of sweat, hard work, and tears every day in a year. Each training was a step towards the rewards of building muscle and reaping what you sowed. Training as this year’s Volleyball co-captain took a lot from you, especially your academic and sleeping hours. You were entirely happy to be an athlete for Riverdale, as you loved the sport terribly; but your parents were starting to notice how your grades were slowly deteriorating. You’ve been in sports since you were a kid, but this year’s set of teachers had been tougher.

You’ve always been exceptionally bright on most subjects, especially Mathematics; though, as the year progressed, you were starting to find yourself slipping on Pre-Calculus. It was weird to see yourself receive lower marks than you usually got, but it got to the point where in the marks you were acquiring suddenly attracted your mom’s radar.

The past few weeks were full of threats coming from your mom telling you that she’ll pull you out of Volleyball unless you would be able to raise up your grade. Since then, it had been a tortuous path of constantly re-checking homework answers and trying to review every free period.

This anxiety tickling you to your core had not only affected your sleeping schedule, which was never really good in the first place, but also your very deep friendship with Reggie Mantle. Your relationship with the boy had been rooted since the day he pushed off a kid pulling your hair when you were in kindergarten. He had always been there for you, and you did the same for him; despite his tendency to be brash and mean, you understood that it was because he had underlying issues that came from his non-existent parents, who only showed their presence on weekends when they didn’t have charity dinners or gala’s to religiously attend.

Reggie loved showing himself off as a pride-filled jerk who could do whatever he wanted. You would always tell him to tone it down once you’ve seen him cross the line. He’d listen to you, maybe, for a few days; however, he’d always come back to his façade. A broken bowl glued together could only hold itself so far. You didn’t really know what to do with him, but you made sure that he’d kept himself off any party favors or too much drinking.

Besides your hectic schedule, you always made sure to visit him once in a while. You knew he desperately wished for any sort of attention, and when you visited him, you know he’d never tell you that he never failed to bask it in.

So, that was how your life worked. Studying, training, dinners with Reggie- you were going to drop anytime soon; but since you were happy, you were going to keep doing it.

You just didn’t think that you would drop earlier than expected.

The Pre-Calc midterm was going to be your saving grade if you just studied for it right. You thought of hiring a tutor, but you shrugged it off, thinking that you could study for it by yourself as you, like Reggie, also had a great and big, prideful heart.

The weekend before the midterms was handled by you and Reggie eating at Pop’s for your ritual breakfast routine. You had ordered a plate of buttermilk pancakes while the other boy got his usual big breakfast plate. He could eat a dinosaur compared to you.

Tapping your fingers down the metallic, black and white table, the football player shifted in his seat before glancing at you oddly. “What’s wrong with you, [y/n]?” He questioned, a half-part concerned and another pressing as hard as possible not to look like he cared that much. Reggie didn’t like looking soft.

You shook your head, gripping your coffee cup. “Nothing. Just nervous for the midterms.”

He scoffed, checking his phone for notifications. “Since when? You always do great.”

You laughed a bit nervously, knowing that it was a fact. But god no, this year was different. You could feel the thunderstorm coming from down the corner.

“Yeah, but I’ve been struggling… for a while now,” you told him, sighing. “My pre-calc got so low that mom’s been telling me she’s gonna cut me off the team.”

“Shit, really?” And his eyes widen just a bit. “You could have asked someone to tutor you, though.”

“Thought about it. Kinda lazy, so I didn’t bother.” Then you looked at him, an idea popping. “You could tutor me.”

You didn’t know why you hadn’t asked Reggie in the first place.

It was sort of an assumed reason to think that Reggie Mantle couldn’t hold down a math question, as he was a stereotypical jock. Though since he was a kid, Reggie did every possible thing to get his parents’ to notice him. Until this day, the methodology of being the best had strung its way into his soul. Another thing he hated admitting, but he was pretty damn good at Math and Chemistry.

“I’m bullshit at tutoring, no offense,” the handsome boy shot you down in a flash. “And I’m kind of busy, sorry.”

You took his words with a nod, but felt a little bit hurt. You were his best friend- you expected him to act as comfortable as possible to you. But then again, you thought that it wasn’t his fault that he acted too brash. The way he was surveying the perimeter told you that he was hoping no one had heard your hopeful tutoring question. Reggie had an easy target to hit. Under his so-called jerkish stance of being ‘Mantle the Magnificent’, he was just a boy with an uneasy and insecure self.

He continued, “You could do this, you’re [y/n]. Who else could do better?” And then he proceeded to inhale his food as a sign of a conversation stopper.

You nodded to yourself, sighing, and crossed your fingers under the table, hoping for the best.

The questions were quickly becoming fuzzy in front of your eyes, as you could feel yourself falling through the cracks. One look at the questionnaire, and your fingers started to shake. It wasn’t a pre-calc exam, since that was the next one. Still, this chemistry exam was making your brain hurt, and wrists tight from the excessive air coming from the a.c. You were extremely nervous; possibly because you had not studied for this as much as you did for calculus.

When you officially finished everything, you took off from the room- because you were feeling a little off and everything seemed too surreal. You got to your locker, but then the bell had rung- and goodness, you felt really shitty. Things just weren’t going your way today, and you assumed it was due to the four cups of coffee you had ingested the night before. Your breath was shorting out, and you felt that you were going to pass out any time soon.

Abruptly, a hand clutched your arm. “Yo [y/n], you alright?” A deep and familiar voice greeted your ear. It was Reggie.

You planned to sigh in relief and fall in his arms for a comforting hug, but a sob met your throat and the next thing you know, you were flooded with tears.

“-shit, shit, shit, [y/n].” A continuous string of curses came from Reggie’s mouth, before he hugged you tight- an arm around your lower back and a warm hand pulling you near his chest. You had thought at how oddly it felt like home to in a marginally close proximity with him, and how comforting it especially was to be hugged by the 6’3 teenager.

You willed yourself to calm down and breathe in what was Reggie Mantle.

“I’m-I’m s-sorry,” You hiccupped, “I was just panicking and shit, oh goodness.”

Then you gave an extremely shaky chuckle, which Reggie visibly frowned over.

“T-things just weren’t good. Today.” You told him, explaining, patting his arm. He still didn’t answer. “I had a lot of coffee and I had training last night and coach got really mad and shit, I hate everything right now and I feel the worst and, and…”

You looked at him, mind blazing, eyes detached and wet. “God, I hate you. You’re so collected and perfect, right now.” You muttered, weak, pissed, and all in all, in a sour, sour mood.

“What?” His brows arched in perplexity at what you had just quietly told yourself.

“Iloveyoufuckyouwhatever,” you angrily growled at your own confusion and marched off to your next room as the bell suddenly rung.

“What? What did you just say?” Reggie hollered, bewildered- his letterman-clothed-self wondering what was going on.

“Nothing! I meant it in a friend way!” You shrieked quickly, your back at him, and running to your next class while being flummoxed at your stupid self.

After calming yourself down and focusing on the test, you were able to come out of the room in a balance of embarrassment and doubt when you found Reggie, his tall and unassuming self, waiting for you outside.

Shit, you thought. And you cringed as you he followed you down beside him towards the lunch area outside.

“So,” he started off, “What was that all about?” He asked innocently while tucking in his jacket inside his backpack on top of their usual table. You greeted Moose and the some of the other boys talking who took your presence normally, and looked over at Reggie, your best friend- whom you are not supposed to be treating awkwardly.

“Nothing- nothing, really.” You covered in a rush, biting your cheeks. He paused, then told you, “Come on, let’s go to the bleachers.”

When you got to the bleachers by his obscene pulling, you threw everything at him like a milk carton over spilling. You had never kept anything from Reggie- he was everything to you- and you were used to his boyish nonjudgmental looks that he gave every time you ranted to him. So, yes, you complained about your stuffed-up problems, and he took everything in his stride. Just like you thought how he would take it.

“…It’s just that I constantly feel that I’m not good enough and everything is just taking a toll on me.” You finished, huffing. Looking down, you could a new set of tears coming. “I just need-“

Reggie takes your lips like a duck to water- and in surprise and bewilderment, you blushed and felt the surreal experience of his lips. Besides being shocked, you followed his lead and pressed fingers against his face. For some reason, it had not felt weird to kiss Reggie Mantle, the boy who went over for dinner every Friday because he never ate with his own parents, and who got genuinely mad at you when you hadn’t given him a Valentines’ Day present in middle school once.

You were used to your proud, and just a bit broken, best friend.

“You’ve always, continuously been good enough,” Reggie gruffly whispered- in Mantle fashion, proud and tough and hardly amiable- fingers caressing your face when you guys broke away from each other.

“You have been more than good for me ever since I met you, [y/n]. I want you to know that.”

You kissed him again so he couldn’t see you cry.

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