#but I think when they finished punching out each other and were lyin on their backs in the middle of nowhere

[meowww-ffxiv]

Mordred never did understand Zenos, even to the end. An existence like that was unfathomable to him. To clearly be capable of a kind of consummate love that it drove you to the far edge of the universe in pursuit of that spark of light you saw once, and only once -- the Warrior of Light, your adversary, the only one you feel enough of a connection to that you call him "friend" -- yet to feel nothing but dreary emptiness?

Still, he recognized what it was that Zenos offered him, what he meant by everything he did. Like yeah dude got no inhibitions and no reason to live so it wasn't like he gotta deal with his own fear etc. etc. to spaceship-fly himself to Ultima Thule. But that which drove him. Mordred understood.

It had driven Haurchefant to put himself between Mordred and a spear. It had driven G'raha across time and space to refute a future where Mordred would not survive. It had summoned Emet-Selch back, when Mordred faced Elidibus and was cast into the void. Something almost too raw and frightening to be called "love" but there it was.

Shattering the illusion of nihilism and despair. Transmuting a fated defeat to an absurd victory.

"At the end of everything I find you, my friend."

[sagittariuswritings]

Your Touch

TFATWS EPISODE 4 SPOILERS Pairing: Helmut Zemo x f!reader Summary: Y/n was dragged along Sam and Bucky’s “Zemo mission” by Bucky. She’s a mutant herself, an empath to be exact. After the blip, Bucky became her new neighbor. They became good friends, and got to know each other, and he offered to teach her self defense. When he asked for her help, she never knew she’d catch feelings for a criminal. Warnings: Language, angst, soft!zemo, fluff, and h*nd h*lding Word count: 2.3k+ A/N: I know I know I posted a screenshot of this days ago but I’ve been really busy at the barn lately and I always have to go to bed before midnight and I’m typically busy until 8pm so I’ve been really meaning to finish this!! AO3 link (not my gif)

The new plan was for Sam to try and talk to Karli. Of course, Y/n didn’t expect Zemo to actually go through with that. Zemo called Karli a supremacist, which just about earned him a punch across the nose from her, but she held herself back - more like Bucky caught what she was about to do and he grabbed her by the elbow to drag her away like a child.

Y/n wore gloves nearly all the time, in all weather. With her empathic powers, and no one to guide her with them, she didn’t know how to control them or contain them, so she resulted in wearing gloves instead. Sure, it sucked when summer came, but in her mind it was worth it in the end.

Of course, John Walker himself had to butt in. The four of them (Sam, Bucky, Zemo, and Y/n) were on their way to Donya’s funeral, and low and behold John Walker’s been tracking them down. “Karli Morgenthau is too dangerous for you guys to be pulling this shit.”

“Ah great - How’d you find us now?” Bucky immediately spoke up when they rounded the corner to fully see John and Lemar.

“Come on, man, you really think two avengers can walk around Latvia without drawing attention?” Started Lemar, but then John butted in. “No more keeping us in the dark. You could start by telling us why you broke him out of prison.”

“Technically speaking, he did that himself-” Y/n started, but John cut her off.

“And who the hell is she?” He turned, looking at Sam and Bucky while jabbing a thumb in her direction.

“She can very well speak for herself, off-brand Captain America.” She said with her arms going over her chest. She couldn’t stand the guy already. Her and Bucky were together to watch his little football game thing, and she could practically see the steam coming out of Bucky’s ears. She could feel the anger, too. “I’m simply an acquaintance helping my friends, none of your concern.”

“None of my-” “Yes, none of your business. I know where Karli is.” Zemo interrupted him, starting to push past John, but he stopped him. “Well where?” Sam spoke up for Zemo, “All we know is, it’s a memorial, so we’re gonna intercept her there.” Lemar said something about being careful due to civilians, but Zemo, Y/n, and Bucky were already starting to walk off.

John tried explaining his quote on quote plan and that of course led to bickering between him, Sam, and Lemar. All Y/n could do was roll her eyes and earned a small chuckle from Zemo beside her. “What?” “Oh, nothing, it is just entertaining is all.” “What? Me getting frustrated or them bickering like children?” Zemo paused. “Both.”

John, yet again, tried stopping them, and having already been around their bickering, Y/n was getting fed up. This time, it was Zemo who held her back. He gently wrapped his hand around her elbow before she could speak up, and she reluctantly listened to him, letting the rest of them deal with his bullshit.

“I’ll deal with you later.” John pointed at Zemo. “Yeah, sure you will.” She mumbled, and before John could snap back, Zemo spoke up. “My associate is just up ahead.” And with that, they were finally moving again. Y/n figured there would be a trick or two up Zemo’s sleeve, but using a child to show him to the funeral was the last thing she expected him to do. As he gave her the money, she couldn’t help but smile a little. It was nice to see a man that looked extremely closed-off do something good. Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all.

Before Zemo could even speak, John cuffed him to a piece of machinery. “You’ve got ten minutes, then we’re doing things my way.” He told Sam over his shoulder after cuffing Zemo.

“Aggressive. But I get it.” In all honesty, Y/n wasn’t against this. More often than not her gut feelings were correct, and she certainly had a gut feeling that Zemo was going to do something either stupid or bad within the next hour or so.

Y/n sat down beside Lemar, bringing one knee up to her chest and letting her other leg hang off the edge of this machinery. She didn’t hate Lemar the way she hated John. Lemar seemed to have a good heart, one that was set in the right way and that wouldn’t change no matter what. He wasn’t like his associate, and Y/n could feel it. John had an aggressive and arrogant type of energy, meanwhile Lemar had a passionate and determined energy. There wasn’t a dangerous edge to the man.

The entire ten minutes - well, at this point it hadn’t even been eight let alone ten -, John paced nonstop and was driving her and Bucky insane. Her and Bucky seemed to make eye contact out of frustration nearly every time John would pace. And Zemo just stood with a grimace on his face the entire time. “Do you ever stop?” She finally said. “Stop what?” “Trying so fucking hard to be the hero of every situation.” “Excuse me?” That seemed to irritate him because he stopped pacing and came up to her, barely leaving much space between them.

“Y/n.” Bucky spoke, his tone a warning. “Leave it be.”

“No, I’m not going to leave it be. Not when I can’t hear my own thoughts over this guy making a trench in the concrete.” She sat up as she defended herself, not even bothering to look up at John when she talked to Bucky. “You try so hard to be the good guy. You have this mindset that you’re in control of everything just because you gave yourself the label Captain America. You think just because you’ve been labeled as Captain America, you can just go about bossing everyone around. You’re a spitting image of your average American, however.” With that, she got to her feet. She was smaller than him, but that didn’t stop her from continuing. “You’re a rich white man with beautiful blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes, but you think because you’re a rich white man that you can control everything. You’re one spitting image of the American Government: Fucked up and corrupt.”

You could hear a pin drop. It was so silent. Y/n could feel the pure anger in John begin to bubble up, and right when she thought he was going to hit her, all he said was “I’m going in.” She was left standing there as Lemar jogged after John, just her and Zemo being the only ones left in the room.

“That was… Impressive.” Zemo ended up speaking first. Y/n snapped her head over at him, and there were tears welling up in her eyes. She didn’t normally get like this. The energy in the room was tense and her emotions got caught in the tension. “It wasn’t.” She mumbled, a sniffle following her words as she made her way over to Zemo. “I don’t exactly trust you but,” She pulled a bobby pin out of her hair. “This is a bit much.” It took her a second, but she was able to unlock the handcuffs.

Zemo seemed to stare at the cuffs for a moment while he rubbed his wrist, his eyes meeting her own. “Thank you.” “It’s nothing. Just go do your thing and I’ll be your babysitter.”

-

The large metal door slammed before Y/n could follow Zemo into the boiling room, and she heard him shove things in front of the door. “Zemo?” Silence. “Zemo what the fuck, let me in!” She shoved her shoulder against the door, but it didn’t budge. “It’s for your own safety.” She scoffed. “My safety? You better be worried about your own safety if I get my fucking hands on you after this, open the door.” She heard his footsteps retreating and she slammed her fist against the door out of anger, probably bruising her hand in the process because god that hurt.

Gunshots went off. She didn’t want to leave the spot in fear of getting lost, and within minutes Bucky was jogging down the hallway. “Zemo locked me out and I just heard gunshots-” Before she could continue, bucky managed to get the door open by kicking it, then he just had to push it open. By the time they got in the room, Lemar entered from across the room and upon looking down, Zemo’s unconscious body was in the center of the room while John stood some feet away from him. “What the hell happened-?” Y/n breathed out, running down the stairs and dropping to her knees by Zemo’s body, her fingers instantly going to his pulse beneath his jaw. There was a very obvious pulse, but she was still shaken up.

Why was she shaken up? He was a bad man. He was a criminal. He used Bucky to destroy people’s lives. He was supposed to be her enemy, so why was she worried about whether or not he had a pulse?

“Karli got him.” John came up behind her, but she stood up immediately. “Would you just back the fuck off? You don’t need to butt in on everything or be involved in everything. Get it through your stupid fucking helmet to your brain.” He started talking but she turned around and got back to Zemo’s side. She lightly hit his cheek with her gloved hand, and when he didn’t budge for a moment, she muttered a sorry before slapping him. That seemed to wake him up. His head lifted off the concrete, and his eyes fluttered open to meet her own.

“Oh, good, you’re alive. Let’s go back to your home now. Bucky?” She looked up at him, a soft pleading look in her eyes that said help. Reluctantly, he wandered over and helped her get Zemo to his feet.

-

Bucky and Sam had left to find somewhere for food, and left Y/n alone with Zemo in his home. She didn’t mind, if anything it was her suggestion. While the pair left the building, she guided him to his couch. He originally sat up but she put a hand on his chest and gently put pressure on his chest to ease him into a lying position. “I’ll get you some ice.” She quietly said, making her way to the kitchen.

“A cold cloth, please. Not a fan of ice over my eyes.” Zemo managed to speak up, his voice drifting to the kitchen. “As long as you’re sure.” She answered, grabbing a washcloth from one of the many drawers of his kitchen.

Quietly, Y/n stepped into the living room. “Lift your head.” She ordered. “Feisty.” Was his response. She rolled her eyes and sat where he had lifted his head. “Lay back.” She ordered again. Reluctantly, he lowered the back of his head onto her lap. “Close your eyes.” “I like the sound of that.” He muttered, his lips forming into a smirk. “Keep it up and I’ll make your headache ten times worse.” She quipped, gently laying the cloth over his closed eyes. “Now open your hand for a glass.” And she gently placed a shot glass of one of his strongest alcohols in his hand. “Do you want any pain meds or anything?” She asked, looking down at him. “Your touch would be enough, mein liebling.” His voice was quiet.

Of course, Y/n wore gloves solely to not have any physical contact with anyone. She feared feeling others’ emotions, seeing as she didn’t have a clue of how to control them. She’d told Zemo that she just had sensitive skin to certain material, which she figured he didn’t buy it, but he never said anything else.

With hesitation, she removed her gloves and placed them on the coffee table to her left. “Alright.” She spoke, her voice barely above a whisper as she reached for his right hand with her own. When she placed her hand in his, she felt him flinch. “You didn’t have to take your gloves off if you didn’t want to-” She cut him off. “It’s okay, Zemo.” “Helmut.” “Pardon?” “Call me Helmut. It’s my first name. Zemo isn’t my first.” Her brows raised in surprise, but she nodded.

Within moments of her slipping her hand in his, he intertwined his fingers with her own. A soft shade of pink settled onto her cheeks, and she was thankful that he couldn’t see her.

Surprisingly, she didn’t feel anything she’d feared when she touched his skin. She could feel faint pain and sadness from the past, but she also felt kindness. “You have a kind heart, you know. You put on a stone cold expression, but you’re kind.. I can feel it.”

With that, he placed his glass on the table and very quickly removed the cloth from his eyes, even though it hurt him to move his head too much. “I knew it.” She looked at him, a brow raised to toy with him. “Knew what?” “You’re an empath.” There it was. She knew he knew. “I am.”

“Am I… Hurting you?” Her heart nearly exploded at how soft his voice was. Very quickly, she shook her head. “No, no you’re not. I promise.” She smiled down at him and her eyes softened when she saw that look on his face. He was like a completely different person. He was touch starved. It was clearer than a crystal.

“Rest, Helmut… You need it.” She whispered, leaning over to gently press a kiss to his now cold forehead.

“You don’t need to tell me twice when you’re lulling me to sleep.” He snuck a smirk in before she laughed softly and covered his eyes with the cloth once more.

[general-kenobi357]

Someday Soon-Chapter 10

Pairing: JJ Maybank x Fem!OC

Summary: The Pogues work together to get John B off the island, a difficult task to complete when everything seems to be falling apart all around them.

Note: The last chapter of season 1, exciting but also sad. I probably won't be updating this series until after season 2 comes out so that I have it as a base but I do have a few oneshots I have been working on that I might post in the meantime. I hope you enjoyed my spin on the first season!

Word Count: 4.1k

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I paced around the Wreck waiting for the others to wake up. JJ stood on the opposite side of the room clicking a lighter on and off. We hadn’t spoken to each other since last night and every time he caught my eye I would quickly look away.

I saw Pope starting to wake up before he made his way to where JJ stood watching police cars drive by.

“He's pinched for sure, man.” JJ said to Pope as I continued to pace while I listened to their conversation.

“No. They wouldn't still be patrolling if they caught him.” Pope reasoned.

“Let's hope.” JJ spoke defeatedly.

“You know, we were in that car. They're probably looking for us, too.” Kie spoke up, alerting us all that she had woken up.

“Well, if we're gonna be outlaws, we might as well help John B.” Pope addressed us all.

“So, find him before they do?” JJ asked while we watched Pope grab the keys to JJ’s bike and make his way towards where I had stopped near the door. “Pope?”

“I'm gonna get gas for the boat.” He explained before turning to me. “You coming?”

“Uh, yeah.” I answered unsure, I figured it was better than staying here with Kie and JJ.

“Hey, you be careful.” Kie told Pope. “Okay?”

“Meet us at the dock at three. Don't be late.” Pope reminded the pair we were leaving behind before we made our way outside.

“Okay, what is your problem?” Kie asked Pope, I didn’t even hear what had happened between the two and I was pretty sure I knew what his problem was.

“No problem, Officer. I'm just doing my job.” Pope answered as we got onto the bike.

“Look, I'm sorry that I hurt your feelings.” Kie tried to tell him as he started up the bike and revved up the engine.

“What was that?” He asked as if he had no control over the sounds of the bike.

“Look, I didn't mean to.” Kie tried again.

“Sorry, I can't hear you. What was that?” Pope kept taunting.

“Pope let’s go.” I told him, getting impatient with the game he was playing.

“Pope, I'm being serious…” Kie yelled as Pope lifted his feet off the ground as we started to drive away. “I'm trying to talk to you!”

I looked back as Pope drove off and locked eyes with JJ, his face was painted with concern and it looked like he wanted to say something but we were already too far away. I turned my head back around and gazed at the road over Pope’s shoulder. My grip tightened around his waist, in all the excitement of Kie and Pope’s argument, I hadn’t had time to rethink if I really wanted to get on the back of this death trap with a newly sober Pope driving.

“Are you good to drive?'' I called to him over the sound of the engine.

“Yeah I’m fine.” He reassured me, I supposed I would have to trust him as I didn’t really have any other options at the moment.

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Once we arrived at Heyward’s we found a couple of empty gas canisters that we carried over to the gas pump out front. As we waited for the first one to fill up I tapped my foot on the ground, anxious to get back to the others. Even if we were fighting it was better to all stay together than to get split up.

“So.” I started unsure if I should continue or just keep my mouth shut. Pope was my only friend that was not on the run or not speaking to me at the moment. “You and Kie?”

“You and JJ?” Pope countered clearly not wanting to talk. I chuckled at his response to me.

“No, if yesterday proved anything it was that there is no me and JJ.” I explained.

“Yeah well that sounds about the same for me and Kie.” He finally said to me.

As much as the situation we were in sucked it was almost comforting to know that I wasn’t the only one feeling this way.

We were quiet again as he switched the tanks and I put the cap back onto the now full one.

“Look at you two.” I heard a deep voice say from behind me. Turning around I found Heyward standing a few feet away, arms crossed over his chest. “Like some damn street hoods out here stealing gas from me. Isabella, I thought your mama raised you better than that and my own blood, I don’t know which one disappoints me more.”

“We're not stealing.” Pope tried to explain, I shook my head at him knowing it would be better if we stopped talking.

“Stop lyin'. I saw it in your damn hand.”

“Our friend is in trouble, and we need to help him.” I tried to defend, figuring it was too late to not get into trouble.

“John B did not kill anybody.” Pope added.

“Says who?” Heyward challenged.

“Says me.”

“I'm supposed to believe you?” Heyward continued. “After you ran out on your interview? Shit, boy, get in the house.”

“No.” Pope said staring right at him. I didn’t like where this was going.

“Oh, you a man now? Huh?” Heyward continued to push. “You wanna have a go at it with me? Is that it?”

“I'm taking these cans. You’re not gettin' in my way.” Pope said going to grab the gas canisters.

“Oh, I'm gettin' in your way.” Heyward said, walking past me to stand right in front of Pope. “And one day, you might be able to whoop my ass, but it ain't today.”

“That right?” Pope asked, getting angrier with every word.

“Yeah.” Heyward concluded just as Pope threw a punch at him. I stumbled back shocked that he had actually done it.

“Pope stop!” I tried to yell but it came out as a whisper.

“Oh, yeah! It's gonna take a little more than that. Try again.” Heyward challenged again after recovering from the first blow. Come on. You wanna hit your daddy? Try again. Hm? You want to hit me?”

I put a hand on Pope’s shoulder and as he turned it was like he realized what he had just done.

“I don't have time for this. I gotta help my friend.” Pope said as he turned away from his father.

We both grabbed a gas canister and tied them to the sides of the bike. I could see the tears streaming down Pope’s face as we climbed onto the bike.

“Yeah, yeah, you just go ahead. Yeah, you take everything, son. And Isabella don’t think I’m not telling your mama about this!” I heard Heyward continue to yell at us as Pope started up the bike. “You're an ungrateful son of a bitch, Pope.”

“It’s okay Pope. It’s gonna be okay.” I tried to comfort him as we drove off and Heyward’s threats faded.

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As we pulled up to the garage that held The Phantom we heard yelling and clattering from inside.

“What the hell?” I asked Pope who looked just as confused.

I noticed two dirt bikes parked near the door as I pointed to them Pope nodded to confirm he saw them too. We rushed towards the door and Pope grabbed some old pipes on the way.

“Be careful.” I said as he passed me one of the pipes.

As we ran inside I wasn’t sure what to look at. Kie was being screamed at by some blond whose face I couldn’t see and JJ was one the ground being punched by Barry, the guy who had tried to take the gold from us.

“Hey! Don't touch her!” I heard Pope scream as he began to bash the blond’s back.

I moved towards where Barry was and hit him with the pipe in my hand. It didn’t seem to do much damage but it was enough to distract him and give JJ time to punch him square in the jaw. After we got the gun out of his hand JJ essentially beat Barry to a pulp.

As Barry laid out on the ground groaning in pain we moved to where Kie stood watching as Pope began to strangle the blond who I now recognized as Rafe Cameron.

“Pope.” Kie called to him as we watched him continue to beat on Rafe. “Pope, that's good! Stop!”

“He's had enough, dude.” JJ added trying to get Pope to stop.

“Snap out of it, Pope!” I said as JJ tried to pull them apart.

“Okay, we gotta go.” Kie reminded us as Pope finally let go of Rafe.

JJ and Kie rushed away to finish hooking up the boat but I stayed standing next to Pope as he looked at me terrified.

“It’s okay Pope. You’re fine.” I tried to tell him but I felt just as shocked as he looked.

“Stay off the cut.” Pope threatened Rafe who laid at our feet half conscious.

“Pope. Iz. We gotta go.” Kie called as she got into the car.

“Let’s go.” I said to Pope, taking his arm and guiding him towards the car.

As we drove away I noticed Pope staring at his hands as if they didn’t belong to him. I took both of them so he would stop and as we got further from the garage I continued to try and reassure him that he was fine.

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Once we had arrived at the boat launch we had all silently begun to silently load up the boat after getting it into the water. Kie and Pope were standing watch as I packed the last of the food into compartments and behind me JJ checked the engine over. Once I was done I turned leaning on one of the seats as JJ checked various switches.

“A 1983 Formula 402 SR1.” JJ marveled at the boat.

“Mm-hm. The first boat to make the run to Bermuda in under 16 hours.” I added, with the number of times he had told me about this boat, I would never forget the speech he made every time he saw it. “Forty years old! And still the fastest thing that Kildare's ever seen.”

“Huh, seems like you’ve heard about her before.” JJ mused as he stood up to face me.

“Yeah once or twice.” I teased him, the smile on my face grew as he moved closer to me. I thought he was leaning in closer to my face when Pope interrupted us.

“Dude, where is he?” Pope asked worriedly. JJ cleared his throat as he turned away from me to address Pope.

“Give him a second. He'll be here. He's coming. He'll be fine.” JJ reassured us all.

“Shit.” I muttered as I spotted the lights of a cop car approaching us.

“Hey, yeah. Get back on the boat.” Kie told Pope as she moved to start untying it from the dock.

“Wait.” JJ stopped us all as we turned to see someone getting out of the cop car.

“No way.” I mumbled with a smile as I recognized John B closing the door behind him.

“No effing way.” Pope added.

“I'm sorry. You've gotta be kidding me.” Kie continued laughing.

“Shoupe let me take it for a spin.” John B explained as he walked towards the boat.

“Okay. That's believable. I'll buy that for now.” Kie said, she hugged John B before he hopped onto the deck of the Phantom where JJ and I stood.

“It wasn't easy, bro, but I got the Phantom for you, and she runs like she was made yesterday.” JJ told John B, handing the keys over. “You ready to go?”

“Where's Sarah?” John B asked, noticing she was absent from the group.

“She's not with you?” Kie asked him.

“No, we got separated in the swamp.” John B explained his worry growing. “She said she'd meet me here.”

“No, we haven't seen her.” I told him.

“Okay, well, I'm not leaving without her.” John B concluded.

“John B, look at me.” JJ started to say. “I know you feel bad for leaving, but there's no time, man. You've got plenty of gas, plenty of food. Once you get around that point, it's a straight shot across the sound to Dismal Swamp, okay? Once you get there, lay low, all right? Hang out for a couple of weeks and then go overland, cross the border at Brownsville, you got that? Brownsville. You... Hey! You got that?”

“Yeah, yeah. Brownsville.” John B confirmed only half paying attention to what JJ was telling him.

“All right. Saddle her up, saltwater cowboy. Let's do this.” JJ said, hopping over the side of the boat onto the dock.

“Hey, John B.” I said, pulling him into a bone crushing hug. “I love you.”

“Yeah. I love you too.” He mumbled back to me. I felt like I was losing my brother as we pulled apart and I jumped down onto the dock. John B paused for a moment as he looked at us all. “Hey. I'm sorry for basically... throwing us off a cliff with this whole treasure hunt thing.”

“John B, we were bound to run off a cliff at some point, right?” JJ said, as we all laughed at his statement.

“Yeah.” He confirmed.

“At least we did it together, though.” I told him with a sad smile.

“Pogue style.” Pope said.

“Pogue style.” We all repeated.

“Get out of here! Please. Now.” Kie told John B, reminding us all we were running out of time.

“We'll see you in two months, down in Mexico.” Pope reassured John B as we started to untie ropes.

“Hey, wait... wait a second.” John B stopped us before we could push the boat out. “Tell Sarah I said goodbye, okay?”

We all nodded our head confirming that we would find her for him.

“Don't forget. Cross the border at Brownsville, okay?” JJ reminded one last time.

“Got it.” John B confirmed as he started the motor up.

We all stood huddled together as we watched him fade from view as he picked up speed. I knew we would see him again but it felt like we were saying goodbye forever.

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John B was long gone, hopefully far enough away that everyone looking for him couldn’t find him but I still stood on the dock looking at the sun set. Further down the dock Kie and Pope stood together, I couldn't hear what they were saying as they were talking quietly but I saw them hug. I smiled slightly, happy that the pair had made up.

But then my eyebrows knitted together in confusion as I watched the pair kiss, how could Kie warn me not to do something then turn around and do the thing she warned me against. I felt frustrated with her, I knew better, I knew I shouldn’t take it so personally but I still couldn’t help but feel my annoyance towards her grow.

That was until I felt a pair of hands settled on my hips and as I turned my head I saw JJ resting his head on my shoulder. I smiled at the action as I leaned into him content to just stand and watch the sunset as my worries faded further away.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you the other night when I said we weren’t together.” JJ finally spoke after a minute. “I didn’t mean that I didn’t want us to be together just that we weren’t yet. After all, you haven’t even asked me out.”

I turned around to face him and saw a huge grin on his face, his hands which were still wrapped around my waist loosened slightly. There was a mischievous look in his eyes as I rested my hands on his shoulders.

“JJ Maybank.” I started to say dramatically. “Will you go out with me?”

“Hmm, I’m not sure.” He began pretending to think about it. “Where are you gonna take me?”

“I don’t know, I'm sure we can sort out the details later.” I smiled.

“Well I’d like to know now so that I can figure out if it's worth it. Plus I mean I’ll have to find the right outfit.” He began to ramble, I playfully rolled my eyes at him.

“How about you worry about your outfit later and right now you just kiss me?” I interrupted him with my bold statement.

He stopped talking after that and began to lean closer to me. As I was about to lean in as well I stopped and looked into his eyes.

“Hey, don’t run away this time.” I playfully threatened him.

“Never again Sweetheart.” He replied before closing the gap between us and capturing my lips in his.

We were cut off after a moment though due to the sound of police sirens which I could tell were growing closer as they sounded louder with every passing second.

“Hey, guys, I'm sorry to ruin the party, but, uh, we gotta go right now.” JJ called to the others as his arms dropped from around me. “Come on!”

But it was too late as the cars pulled up surrounding the four of us, we had no other option than to stay put and listen to them.

“Hands up! Hands up!” The cops all called as they began to climb out of their cars.

“Pope, hands.” Kie reminded him as we all lifted our hands in surrender.

“We're too late. He's gone. God damn it!” A bald man yelled out as he ran to the end of the dock.

“Bratcher, have your guys stand down. Let me talk to these kids.” Deputy Shoupe called out before approaching us. “All right, where the hell is he? Where the hell is he?”

We all stayed silent as he tried to figure out where John B had gone. We all knew vaguely where he was headed but in all honesty none of us could have pointed to his location on a map, we had no idea how far he had gotten.

“JJ? I see you're livin' up to your name.” Shoupe began to single us out. “Pope, how about you? This isn't a fucking game! You can do the right thing now! Where'd he go?”

None of us answered his questions and before long he gave up, ushering JJ and Pope into the back of one car and Kie and I into another. I didn’t want us to be split up but I knew we didn’t have a choice, we were probably all being taken to the same place.

🔅🔆🔅

We sat in silence for a few minutes as I looked out the window until I noticed that Kie had tears streaming down her cheeks as she quietly cried.

“Hey, hey.” I whispered to her not wanting to get into more trouble. I shuffled closer to her, holding out a hand which she took. “It’s gonna be okay, we’re all going to be fine.” I tried to reassure her but in all honesty I had no idea if it were true.

“I’m sorry.” She muttered to me as she leant her head on my shoulder. “I’ve been awful to you lately.”

“No it’s okay. I was being just as terrible.” I whispered back to her. “I’m sorry, I know you were just trying to keep the Pogues together.”

“Yeah a lot of good that did.” She said defeatedly.

“Yeah well those boys always know how to mess everything up.” I tried to joke. I saw the hint of a smile playing on her lips before I pulled her into a hug.

“I just want to be friends again.”

“Me too.” I sighed. “I mean come on we’re the two that never fight with each other.”

We pulled apart with sad smiles as the car parked. I was nice to know that we were all friends again even if everything else had fallen apart.

🔅🔆🔅

The door opened to reveal Shoupe on the other side ushering us out. Once I stepped onto the ground I spotted JJ and Pope standing a few feet away, we were all directed into a tent with a table in the center and rows of chairs on either side. I sat down between JJ and Kie and Pope was sitting on the other side of Kie.

“Sit down. Don't move. We got a lot to talk about.” Shoupe said to all of us before turning to a couple of armed guards. “Keep an eye on these kids.”

We all watched as Shoupe left the tent. A silence fell over us as we listened to everyone around us talking, hoping to hear that John B was okay and that he had gotten away safely.

My hands found both JJ’s and Kie’s hands and I held onto them for dear life. Right now it felt like we only had each other and I sure as hell wasn’t going to lose anyone else.

“It’s gonna be okay. He’ll be fine.” JJ muttered under his breath as his thumb rubbed circles on the back of my hand.

My knee began to bounce as we all anxiously waited for any news they would give us.

🔅🔆🔅

Sirens continued to wail as people shouted to each other. The storm was only getting worse and all we could do was hope that John B had outrun it or found somewhere safe to wait it out.

After what felt like forever Shoupe finally returned but by the look on his face he didn’t have anything good to say.

“Did you find them?” Pope asked hopefully as we all stood up.

“No.” Shoupe responded bluntly.

“So, they got away?” Kie asked

“We, uh... we lost them.” Shoupe replied vaguely. “I'm sorry.”

“You lost them?” I asked in disbelief. “What do you mean you lost them? Like, they're gone?”

“What are you talking about?” Pope added to my questions.

“They took an open boat into a tropical depression, Pope.” Shoupe tried to explain.

“So, they're dead?” Kie asked as tears began to cloud my vision.

“We don't know.” Shoupe tried to defend himself.

“You drove them straight through the storm, man!” JJ snapped. “Are you kidding me? Come here! I'm gonna kill you!”

“JJ, stop!” Kie tried to tell him.

“I'm gonna kill you, you bastard! You killed him!” JJ said before trying to take a swing at Shoupe. Another cop grabbed JJ before he could continue. I moved to his side trying to get him to calm down, from behind me I could hear Pope start to yell.

“He didn't kill anyone, and you know it!” Pope cried.

“We're still looking for him, all right?” Shoupe tried to explain.

“Pope. Pope, just stop.” Kie said to him. “Please, stop.”

Kie fell silent for a moment and I turned to see what had happened. I followed her gaze to the other end of the tent to see all our parents walking towards us and at the end of the line little Emmy stood next to my Mom in her bright red raincoat.

As soon as she spotted me she let go of my Mom’s hand and ran towards me. I leant down wrapping her in a giant hug. The tears that stung my eyes fell down my cheeks as I held her tightly.

After a minute I picked her up and turned around to look for where my Mom had gone. I spotted her behind me holding onto JJ as he sobbed into her shoulder, my heart broke even more when I realized that JJ’s dad hadn’t even bothered to show up. I walked a few steps forward to wrap my free arm around JJ. We all stood holding each other, after a moment Kie and Pope joined our group as we all huddled together.

We were all a little broken without John B but we knew we had each other and for now that was enough.

🔅🔆🔅

[namfine]

Motherlode | Namjoon x Reader | Gold Rush AU | Part 1

❂ pairing: Kim Namjoon x Reader

❂ word count: 5k

❂ summary: Following the death of your father in 1849, you travel across the United States in search of finding gold in California. There you stumble upon a young geology professor eager to find his way in the world as well. 

❂ tags: 18+, smut, virgin reader, first time sex, oral sex (fem receiving), foreplay, light dirty talk, falling in love, mutual feelings, gold rush au, time period au, alternate universe, outdoor sex? (they’re in a tent so?), smut with plot

❂ part: 1 of 2

Part 2

❂ a/n: Hello everyone, Admin Zesty here! This is the first in a two part series of a new alternate universe set in the California Gold Rush with our dearest Namjoon. I’ll update this and post the next chapter when it’s finished. Hope you enjoy!

- ☆.｡.:* Zesty .｡.:*☆

The sunrises out here really were beautiful. That gave you something to look forward to each day, at least. You urged your horse forward, eager to catch up to the rest of the caravan. It was just a few more miles until you reached the border of California and then a bit more to reach the American River. You had made it. For the first time in a long time, you felt a glimmer of hope.

The trek across America had been harder than you expected. You had been so overcome with grief from the death of your father that you had leapt at the opportunity to find riches in the unexplored west after James Marshall found that massive gold nugget. New York had nothing for you now, it’s only purpose serving as a stark reminder that you had no one left in the world to look out for you. Only mean neighbors who trusted your bookshop owning father on his peculiar way of raising a young lady.

“I do oppose young ladies learning how to read, it’s quite unbecoming.”

“If you keep encouraging those debates, Mr. Y/L/N, you’re going to raise her to have a mind of her own!”

“Ugh, did you see what Y/N was wearing around the store the other evening? Pantaloons!”

You shoved down the memories. Yes, leaving New York after the death of your father had been surprisingly easy.

The sun finally tipped over the horizon and flashed in your eyes. You pulled down your cap, careful to keep your hair tucked under it in an effort to block the sun. It was dangerous for a single young lady without a male relative or husband to travel alone. With no known family left, you had done the only thing you knew to avoid it: became a boy.

As a boy you were inconspicuous, you could easily slide under the radar. Men stopped paying attention to you and the streets were safer at night. Your last night in New York all it took was a pair of scissors and a quick raid of your father’s closet and you were ready to go. But now, five months into the journey, your hair was starting to get long again and you knew your face well enough to know that if you didn’t pin your hair, it would soon be easy to tell. You had lost your knife a few months back and sorely felt the loss.

“How are the pains?” A soft voice drew you from your thoughts and you turned to see the minister’s wife astride her sorrel mare beside you. As one of the few women in the group, she had the ability to move quietly when she needed to. She was older than you and had a kind face. Her and her husband were heading to California to spread the gospel of the lord and had been kind enough to let you tag along with their group on the journey. Most of which were practicers of religion or men hoping to find riches for their families. The caravan totaled to about 25 people and of them all, she was the only one that knew you were a girl.

She’d figured it out quickly, given the fact that your period the first month on the road had been brutal. She had recognized your pain, offered you some herbs, and didn’t ask any questions.

When you offered an explanation later, stating how you wanted the opportunity and safety only a man’s appearance could offer, she said you didn’t need to explain. That your reasonings were your own and she understood what would happen if you were discovered. Of the freedom that could be taken from you and the things that could be forced upon you in an instant.

And that was that. Your companionship had grown from there, simple but welcomed.

“They’re better,” you respond. “Thank you for the herbs.”

The woman smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Have you figured out what you’re going to do when you get there?”

You tightened your resolve and flashed her a smile. “I’m gonna kick the West’s ass.”

***

It turns out, the West’s ass didn’t want to be kicked. By the time you had reached the base on the American River parts of your group had dwindled down. The minister and his wife stayed with you and the other panners for a few days before continuing on their journey to San Francisco leaving you, for the first time on this journey, completely and utterly alone.

The base was huge, an expedition set up by a mean old man who called himself The Warden. What his real name was, no one knew. You had that in common with him at least, having kept your true name secret to all who you’d encountered.

It was now, standing in his massive tent surrounded by his men, that the sinking feeling of being a woman in disguise in a camp filled with rascals settled in. If any one were to discover you, god knows what would happen.

“How old are you anyway, boy?” The warden asked. He was standing behind his desk. On it was a map of the American with circles indicating where gold had been found. “You’re a scrawny fella.”

“Sixteen, sir.” 23. But tall, for a girl and well past marriageable age in your neighbors opinions.

The older man scoffed, stroking his mustache. “And you out here searchin’ for riches, son? Gonna blow it all on hookers and booze, I betcha.” The men around him laughed. You kept your face neutral.

“Something like that, sir.”

“Well,” he took a swig from the metal mug. “All walks of life are welcome here. We’re all runnin’ from somethin’ and searchin’ for the-” he held up a finger “-one thing that will help us escape.” He put down the mug and grabbed a piece of paper from his desk, careful to avoid smudging the ink on the map. “Sign here and you can start tomorrow.”

You looked at the paper. Lucky for you, your father had believed that everyone, regardless of gender should be taught to read. You couldn’t say the same for the parents of other girls your age. He had also taught you to be wary of a contract. “What is it?”

“An agreement, boy. You sign away 60 days of honest work to me, panning for gold and helping assemble my mine. After that, I’ll let you pan here for free. Anything you find, you keep.”

Seems fair.

“What if I find something before my days are up?”

He looked at you. “Then it’s mine. I’m letting you sleep here and eat our food, I gotta pay for it all somehow and aren’t we all in this for profit?”

Touche.

“Deal.”

***

The days were long and the work was hard. Regardless, you found yourself quickly settling into a routine at the camp. You started most mornings down by the river, panning for gold. The cool water managed to balance out the hot sun and compared to the noisy streets of New York, you were loving the sounds of the birds and the wind.

In the afternoons you would sometimes continue panning or they would send you into the mines to help clear paths. You hated it down there. There was something unnerving about going deep into the earth and digging into her crevices. The air smelled damp and the only light was the lanterns that were hung haphazardly along the walls. You tried to avoid this work as much as possible.

On the eighth day of your sentence your routine was broken by a disturbance on the outskirts of the main base. A young professor had arrived a few days earlier and you had paid him little mind, as did most of the other miners. Still, it seemed his time of going unnoticed was over.

“What did you say about my gold?” An angry man had the lanky professor by his collar and up against a tree, two of his friends closing in on either side.

The professor waved his arms in surrender, trying desperately to fix whatever it was he seemed to have started. You stopped along the path along with a few other panners to observe and a small crowd gathered shortly.

“I merely spoke the truth,” The professor said, his voice even and calm. “What you have there isn’t gold at all. It’s pyrite. You trading it for time off his sentence seems hardly fair considering it's pretty much worthless.”

You shook your head at his honesty in such a compromising position. What an idiot.

“Look,” The panner said, tightening his grip on the professor's collar. “ I may not have some fancy degree from some big college but I’ve been working these waters a lot longer than you, boy, and I know gold when I see it.”

“It’s an easy mistake to make, when you don’t know the differences. I hardly blame you.”

Your mouth dropped open. The men around you shifted on their feet, sensing a scuffle.

The man fumed. “Are you calling me a liar?”

The professor looked down at his collar at the spot where the man gripped his collar before tracing the man’s arm with his eyes slowly back to his face.

Oh god, you thought. Please don’t say it.

“I don’t think you’re a liar,” the professor stated.

Oh, good. He has some sense at least.

“Just an idiot.”

Here we go.

The man pulled back his other fist, his friends egging him on, ready to throw the punch. The professor shot another one of his goofy grins and this time you could have sworn it was in your direction. You stared at him in abject confusion.

“Stop!” A shout rang out across the group and everyone froze. “What’s going on here?”

You turned to see the warden fast approaching, his usual squad hot on his heels. “Men, release the professor and explain!”

The man holding the professor’s collar dropped it and the professor brushed off his shirt, giving him another small smile. “This here smart guy,” the assailant started. “Was accusin’ me of lyin’. Sayin’ that I was rippin’ ole Jimmy off with a piece of . . . uh. . .” he looked at the professor.

The professor leaned forward. “Pyrite,” he supplied.

“Ah, yeah,” the man continued. “Pyrite! He said I was rippin’ Jimmy off with a piece of this here Pyrite!”

The warden looked up at the heaven’s like he was hoping today would be his last day on earth. “Could I see the mineral in question?”

The man supplied the gem out of his pocket and handed it to the warden. The crowd stood on their tiptoes as he examined it, eager to see the verdict. The professor didn’t show any emotion, merely crossed his arms in quiet confidence. You studied his movements.  

The warden turned the piece over in his hands, examining the mineral before bringing it to his mouth and biting down. When he was satisfied he turned toward the assailant.

“The professor accused you of lyin’ not because he thought you were,” the warden began, startlingly calm. “But because he knew you were a FUCKING IDIOT!” The warden threw the stone against the tree, mere inches past the assailants head who cowered at the tone. “That is pyrite you imbecile!”

The crowd burst into conversation. Some laughed and others stated their opinions on the matter but your eyes stayed  glued to the young professor. He watched you for a minute in response before turning to address the warden who was explaining his position to his lackeys. You moved closer so you could hear better, eager to learn more about the strange man who had appeared on the base. You had to admit, he was handsome but the pretty ones always brought trouble.

“Gentlemen, this is Professor Kim,” the warden introduced the young man to his group. They all nodded and introduced themselves in return but you didn’t bother to remember their names. “He is visitin’ us from a University overseas. Here to assist in discoverin’ where to best find the most valuable of Earth’s metals. He’s a . . . uhh. . . geographer or somethin’,” the warden explained. “Studies dirt and the like.”

“Geologist,” Professor Kim corrected. “A mining geologist to be specific. I study the  extractions of mineral resources from the Earth.”

The group stared at him.

“Rocks,” he sighed, defeated. “I study rocks.”

A chorus of ‘Ahh’s’ broke out amongst the men. You stifled a laugh. You may not have traveled much but growing up in your father’s bookshop you had read a lot and even you knew what a geologist was.

“Regardless,” the warden continued, casting a dismissive hand in the Professor’s direction. “The higher ups seem hell bent on makin’ sure he makes progress in his work and comes out with as few - er - scratches as possible.”

Professor Kim tilted his head. “I would also very much appreciate that.”

“That being said,” the warden turned around looking over the crowd. “You there, boy!” The warden pointed in your direction. Surprised, you looked behind you. No one was there. You looked back at him, pointing at yourself.

“Me?”

“Yes, you,” the warden spat. “You’re to assist the professor during his time here. Make sure he has everythin’ he needs and most of all, make sure he stays out of trouble.”

The warden turned on his heel to leave, clearly believing the matter to be settled.

You chased after him, as the crowd began to disperse, struggling to maintain your composure and keep your cool. “Sir, with all due respect I need to be on the rive-”

“Look, boy, I don’t have time to deal with this. You heard my command,” He turned lowering himself closer to your face. He reeked of body odor and whiskey and you struggled not to cover your nose. “-and my command is law. You signed that there contract, you work for me. And I say: you’re to be assistin’ the professor for the rest of his time here, and that’s that.” He spun on his heel and was gone. In a few short minutes the crowd was fully gone, leaving only you and the young professor.

Defeated, you cursed under your breath, not sure what you had done to deserve this. You were supposed to be out here finding gold, getting rich, and starting a new life far away from your troubles in the East and now you were supposed to babysit some yippy foreign professor because he couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

You finally turned to face Professor Kim. He raised an eyebrow in your direction and flashed a big smile, unaware the damage he was causing to your patience. He was tall, wearing a simple loose long sleeved white shirt tucked into snug pants. He had enough sense, it seemed, to leave behind the suit jacket and hat but had chosen to keep the suspenders. You fought the urge to roll your eyes. Ever the gentleman.

“Look,” you addressed him directly for the first time. “I don’t have time to be your  babysitter. I need to find some gold and get the hell out of this shithole. So, I’d appreciate it if you could keep yourself out of trouble.”

He sized you up, eyeing your garb with an intelligence that was completely different  from the bumbling professor he had been mere minutes before. He  raised his eyes to meet your own and you struggled to not falter under his gaze.  His eyebrow quirked again, a sly smile on his lips. “You have quite the dirty mouth for a lady.”

You froze, fighting the urge to touch your cap. It’s still there, you’re okay. You could feel the wrappings on your chest and knew that they were intact as well. How did he . . .?

“I don’t know to what you are referring,” you kept your tone calm and cool.

“Don’t fret,” he responded, brushing off your glare. “I don’t think anyone else here has noticed.”

That did it. You grabbed his arm and pulled him along behind you, dodging the panners and workers that flitted about searching for the one thing that could make their lives less miserable. Finding a quiet alley between two tents you pushed him against the wall. The professor put his hands up in surrender, his eyes wide in surprise.

“Okay, talk,” you whispered. You were surrounded by chaos but who knew who may overhear. “How did you figure it out? Did someone tell you?” The minister’s wife?

He laughed, shaking his head. “No, no one told me. It’s just-”

You shook his shoulders, your brow furrowed. Here he was laughing when your future was literally at stake. “It’s just what?!”

He stopped laughing and looked at you. Really looked at you, his expression serious. “It’s just . . . you’re too pretty to be a boy. I could tell right away.”

Shocked, you released his arms and took a step back.

“It’s a miracle no one else has figured it out, really,” he continued. “Your walk is all wrong. You still walk like a lady, pretending there’s an invisible string that holds you up from your head. If you want to be believable, you have to walk pelvis first-” he demonstrated pushing his pelvis out and bending his knees before motioning at his stance “-like this.”

You snorted. “Well, it’s gotten me this far.”

“Well,” he replied, straightening himself up and brushing some dirt off his pants. It didn’t really help, he was still covered. “To be fair, you’re surrounded by idiots.”

You laughed. He was right there.

The professor held out his hand. “You can call me Namjoon.”

You looked at his outstretched hand for a second before relunctantly shaking it back.

“Y/N”

***

“So what is it you even do?” You asked bright and early the next morning. You had reported to Namjoon’s tent, as commanded, and stood there watching as he shoved some strange looking tools into his bag.

“My job,” he began, holding up a paintbrush. “Is to discover what minerals exactly are in the area around here and to learn as much about gold and how to find it as possible in the next few weeks.”

“And how,” you asked, watching him toss a few shovels into his bag. “Are you going to do that?”

“Well, my dear little guardian,” he tightened the latches on the bag and threw it over his shoulder, “why don’t you come along to find out?”

You followed him to a spot on the southern tip of a branch in the American river. From here the base appeared tiny and peaceful, the tents gently swaying in the breeze. It was another perfectly sunny day and you readjusted your cap to wipe the sweat off your brow  as you struggled to keep up. The professor may have appeared slim and studious but clearly, the man had some muscle on his bones because he was booking it up the trail.

Namjoon stopped when he reached a curve in the river far away from the other panners and plopped his bag on the ground.

“What do you know about gold, Y/N?” he asked, unlatching the bag to pull out a pan.

“That you can sell it and get a lot of money.”

Namjoon laughed. It was a pleasant sound that held none of the malicious intent you sometimes heard in the laughter of other men. Namjoon’s laugh was carefree and seemed to convey true joy. You liked it.

“Aye, yeah. You can indeed sell it and get a lot of money. Especially nowadays.” He dipped the pan into the running water, scooping up some of the grit down at the bottom and beginning to sift through it. “I was hoping you could tell me a bit more about gold. Like, where it comes from?”

“Isn’t that your job?” You remarked, sitting on a rock beside him, careful to avoid wet spots. He was mesmerizing to watch, the way his hands dipped in and out of the water, his long fingers searching through the grit when he thought he saw something that caught his eye.

“Come on, Y/N, give me something to work with here.”

You sighed, giving in. “A lot of gold is found in water. It’s malleable, hence why the warden bit the stone yesterday to prove that it wasn’t gold. Uhhh . . . it’s yellow?”

Namjoon chuckled as he made a selection from his pan. He held it up so that you could see the reflective deep yellow surface. The sun bounced off the metal making it hard to look anywhere but the gold that Namjoon had found in literally ten minutes.

“This,” Namjoon began. “Is true gold. Do you know how I can tell?”

You shook your head. Namjoon turned the rock over in his hands.

“One, as you already said, hardness.” He took a nail and flecked off a piece of the small rock. “See how it just scraped off there? That’s a telltale sign.”

“Second, smell. Pyrite sometimes has a slight sulfur smell when rubbed. Gold will not.” He handed you the gold. You turned it over in your hands before bringing it to your nose and inhaling. Nothing.

You met Namjoon’s eyes. “Nothing.”

“Third,” he continued. “Shape. Gold, as you can see is a small malleable lump. Pyrite, like the one yesterday, is larger and more cube-like in structure. More impressive to look at but, less money when sold.”

You nodded and handed the gold back to Namjoon. “How much would you estimate that piece to be worth? If you had to take your best guess?”

“Well,” Namjoon began. “I’m no jeweler. I’m better at finding the minerals than pricing them but if I had to hazard a guess . . . .huh. . . It’s quite a few ounces, at least. Honestly, quite a nifty little chunk there. I’d say possibly upwards of $500?”

Your jaw dropped open. “$500?”

Namjoon shrugged. “I mean, it’s a guess.”

“Holy shit!” That was more money than your father made in three months. You would know, you helped with the books.

“Well, anyway, that’s gold.” Namjoon shoved the gem in his pocket and stood up.

You darted up after him. “Wait, a second! That’s it! What are you going to do with that? Give it to the warden?”

Namjoon smirked at you. “I don’t work for the warden. I’m going to keep it. I need it for research anyway, that’s why I brought you here. Now, we study it.”

You stared at him. Shocked that he could care so little for the fiscal amount of the stone in his pocket. Namjoon, oblivious as normal, merely scooped his belongings into his bag and motioned for you to follow. “Come along, Y/N. We have a long day of documenting ahead of us.”

***

Life as Namjoon’s assistant wasn’t the worst thing ever. Most days would start with you both checking specific points around the river for gold, pyrite, and other expensive minerals. He would bring along a sketchbook and draw the most interesting ones or make a list of the scenarios in which they were found. You followed suit and eventually took over this part of the job for him, since your drawing was exponentially better.

If you were being honest with yourself, it was fun work. Namjoon was great company and always had a variety of fun stories to tell. You couldn’t believe the places he’d been, the environment in which he had grown up, and the people he had met along the way.

“Y’know,” he said one day after finishing a story about a strange magician he had met on the streets of Singapore. He  was bent over his desk, scribbling notes into a leather bound book. You were on the opposite side of the room, drawing some of the gold specimens you had gathered that day. The candles were low and the sun setting, providing a warm, evening glow inside the tent. You looked over at him, ink smudged on his chin and hair tousled from his messing. “You’ve had miraculous adventures yourself. Growing up in New York City? Traveling across the entire continent of North America, essentially alone, in search of a new future?” He looked up from his notebook, meeting your eyes from across the room. “It’s pretty impressive stuff.”

You shrugged, breaking eye contact to continue your sketch. “Not really. It was just survival.”

“That’s all adventures are, really,” he murmured, returning to his work. “Surviving.”

***

It was late one evening and the camp had finally quieted down. Namjoon had fallen asleep hours ago covered in a blanket in his favorite chair  next to the crackling fire while reading through some manuscripts. You were still awake, concentrating hard on a drawing you had started on a piece of pyrite the two of you had unearthed earlier. You were trying to get the cube like structure of the crystals perfect and it just wasn’t working.

Frustrated, you pressed too hard on your graphite snapping the tip. You flung it across the room with a noise of exasperation and nearly jumped out of your chair at the deep rumble of laughter that followed.

Your head turned to find Namjoon staring at you from across the room, his eyes half lidded with sleep and his hair in it’s permanently mussed state. “I’m sorry, did I wake you?”

He shook his head. “I’ve been up for awhile.”

“Why didn’t you say anything? I could have brought you some tea.”

“I like watching you work. It’s . . .” he seemed to be searching for the right word. “Mesmerizing.”

You averted your eyes to the floor struggling to keep the blush that had crept up into your cheeks from his view. You hoped he wouldn’t notice in the dim lighting. “I can’t imagine it’s all that interesting.”

“Believe me, it is.”

You met his eyes again and struggled to calm the rapid pace of your heart. When did Namjoon become so handsome? And why was he saying such things?

“Anyway,” you started, standing up from the desk. “It’s getting late and I should be getting to bed.”

“Would you like me to walk you back?” he asked, making to move.

You laughed. “Wouldn’t people find it strange that you’re walking your young male apprentice back to his tent late at night? Don’t want people to think you’re out here doing anything scandalous.”

He smiled at you. “Oh, I’m already a scoundrel in many ways, Y/N.”

You didn’t answer him but hid the smile it caused as you packed up your belongings and bid him farewell.

You pondered your relationship with him the entire walk across camp to your meager tent. With Namjoon, you could be yourself. He didn’t reprimand you for your use of ‘unladylike language’ or tell you to cross your legs when you sat. He also didn’t mind that you wore men's clothes or could outread him in a flat out race. He respected you enough to keep your secret and didn’t treat you any different when the two of you were alone in his tent, allowing you to assist in the work just as much as he.

It was amazing how fast acquaintances turned to friends in the West.

***

“I’m going into the mines today,” Namjoon announced one day, taking a long sip of his tea. He sat in a chair by his desk, flipping through one of his journals. You weren’t sure exactly what it was he was doing but you would be willing to bet money he was searching for some image of a cool rock you sketched a week ago.

“Why on earth would you willingly go into that shithole?”

Namjoon shot you a look before resuming his search. “That shithole, as you so eloquently put it, has apparently yielded some strange stone that the warden wants me to inspect. See if it’s worth any money.

You scoffed. Of course, the warden was searching for a profit, as usual. “Do you want me to come?”

Namjoon laughed. “Want? Yes. Need? No. You stay up here and keep checking the rivers for more pyrite or gold. See if you can find any more samples on the American. I won’t be long, and then I’ll join you.”

***

The hours passed slowly without Namjoon’s conversation. You didn’t think you would ever miss his incessant chatter about rocks and whatever cool facts he could spout on command, yet here you were. You were almost done checking the southernmost point of the American for any recent discoveries from the panners when the earth began to quiver.

You quickly gripped a nearby tree as the shaking intensified, small cracks breaking through the surface nearby. Men screamed as the earth let out another massive quake, and in the distance you could see the  tents swaying back and forth. You had felt some minor earthquakes on your journey over, but nothing as huge as this.

In a few seconds the earth settled, resuming her quiet existence, and you let out a breath you hadn’t known you were holding. You couldn’t wait to see Namjoon later and listen to him ramble on about tectonic plates and the earth’s molten core and whatever other nonsense you had grown fond of.

You stopped in your tracks. When had you grown fond of anything that ridiculous man did?

The realization of your feelings hit you like a wall and you barely moved out of the way in time as a group of men ran towards the camp.

“Hurry!” One of them shouts at you. “Pull yourself together, boy! The mine is collapsing! We need to get those people out!”

You blink, coming out of your stupor. The mine is collapsing?

Your eyes widened.

Namjoon is in the mine.

[thorne93]

Unforeseen Chasm (Part 62)

Prompt: Two sisters fall for men that are absolute enemies. The love they have could tear all of them apart, or it could bring them together.

Word Count:2392

Warnings: Language,self-isolation, fighting, attempted robbery, misery, keeping memories alive, hopeful new start. Note: This is by far the longest thing I’ve ever written (including my novels). It’s a collaboration with the amazing @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo​​. It started as a funny “What if…?” and it evolved and got huge. This took two years to write. We are both proud and happy and we hope you enjoy it. It follows from Thor 1 to Endgame in the MCU. Some of the timelines may be off in order to fit certain people, and some characters may show up earlier or in different ways than they have in the movie. But for the most part, it follows the MCU. It also has a bit of crossover with some other Marvel characters throughout the story.

Masterlist for Unforeseen Chasm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Time seemed to pass… slowly as it were. 

You’d begun a new chapter in your life. If you could call this your life. It was just sort of existing at this point. You didn’t want to hurt Shannon with an untimely death, but you didn’t see much point in going on. Shannon had her life. She had Tony, Bruce, Steve, Nat, Rhodey. She was surrounded by those that she loved. Sure, she lost Peter in the snap, but in the grand scheme of things she’d lost very little. 

You on the other hand had lost your homeland. Your birth parents -- dead. Your semi-adoptive parents, Odin and Frigga -- dead. Your closest friends, Stephen, Vision, Wanda, Pietro -- gone. No one knew where Clint was. Thor didn’t even talk to you now. No one at the Avengers Compound would even miss you besides Shannon. 

Although, at this point, you might as well be dead. You left no clue for Shannon to find you. You left behind your phone. You’d completely gone undercover. 

The world was fragile, more so than it had been before. Governments were falling apart. There were societies crumbling. World leaders had disappeared. People that were heavily needed to run the world, were gone: doctors, nurses, engineers, politicians, police, mechanics, scientists, veterinarians, farmers… everyone. Every person in this world had a vital role and for the last two months it had been scrambling to make up for the gap.

The world started to function again, barely, but when push came to shove, cities had to keep things going. One of those cities was Paris. 

You were walking back to your hotel from a night at the Louvre. This was what your life had been, one sight to see after another. On the way through an alley, you heard rustling up ahead, and just as you were about to hone in on it, three guys jumped out from behind a corner, armed with knives.

“Nous ne voulons pas vous faire mal mais nous le ferons. remettre la bourse,” the big one demanded and you frowned, trying to remember French. Although, you didn't need much context. Knives, alleyway, darkness, and the only thing you had valuable was a purse. 

“Parlez vous anglais?” you asked, cocking your head.

The three men laughed, throwing their heads back. The confidence was unnerving, and displaced. 

“Oui, uh, sweetheart?” he said with a thick accent. “Hand over the purse.” 

“Oh… Oh you mean this purse?” you asked, holding it out. “Come and get it,” you challenged, your eyes narrowing as the rage bubbled up in you easily. 

They charged at you but you dodged the first one, the largest one. He tripped behind you and turned to try to grab you in a headlock, but you flipped him over. The other two ran forward, their knives out. 

You kicked one of them before punching the other one. The one you punched came up behind you and hit the back of your knees but you didn’t buckle. You turned to face him, your hand hitting his throat quickly. He grabbed it, gasping for breath as he backed up.

The third guy grabbed at your hair but you grabbed his wrist quicker, bending it and squeezing it until you heard a break in the bones. He looked at you with fear in his eyes before he cried out from pain. 

The big one tried to wrap his arms around you, but you were tiring of this so you lit your hands, grabbing him with your power and launching him into some trash bins several feet away from you. The other two looked on in bewilderment and fear as they backed away. They started to run away, quickly.

“What’s the matter? Purse wasn’t worth it?” you called after them angrily, smirking. 

“Trouble just seems to find you, doesn’t it, cher?” that all too familiar Cajun voice said from behind you. 

“Go home, Remy,” was all you said in a cold voice as you picked up your purse and began to make your way back to the hotel, taking the streets this time. Remy walked beside you. “How did you find me?” you asked, nothing but contempt in your tone. 

“Is this any way to greet your oldest friend?” he asked, feigning offense. 

“I’m really not in the mood. I didn’t want to be found.” 

“I’ll say! Do you have any idea how long I been lookin’?” he asked. 

 “Remy,” you groaned. “I left for a reason. I didn’t want to be around anyone.” 

He stopped walking, grabbing your shoulders as he became serious. “I know, cheri. I know you lost him,” was all he said. 

And that’s all it took for you to fall into his arms, a sobbing mess. It was embarrassing, breaking down like this in the middle of the street, but you couldn’t help it. Truth be told, you don’t think anyone could. 

After the snap, it was almost second nature to see people randomly burst into tears. Every place you went someone was mourning someone else. This made the guilt of not finishing Thanos off that much worse. 

Did these random citizens of France know that you were involved in this? Know that you were a great deal of the reason their loved ones were gone? You hoped not. 

Several minutes later, you leaned away from him and he asked if you were alright. You nodded and began walking again back to your hotel. The two of you stopped into the bar in the lobby. It was rather full, and it made you wonder if more people were drowning their sorrows more than usual. 

You two sat next to each other. You ordered a simple drink, as did Remy. Once you got the drink, you didn’t take one sip, you just played with the glass. 

“So...how’d you find me?” you asked again. 

“Well… when that… when the event happened, just about every one in the mansion disappeared. Only people left were about three students, Logan, Jean, and myself.” 

“So Charles...Hank.. Scott...” you started listing off people you cared for. “They’re all…?” 

He nodded solemnly while closing his eyes. The news slammed into you, hard. “Yeah. Well, after tying up loose ends there, I wanted to go find you. You’re the closest thing I got to family.” 

All you did was nod. 

“I went to the compound, but Shannon told me you ran away two months ago.” 

You bobbed your head side to side. He wasn’t wrong. 

“From there I started to think of places you might go. I checked New Orleans. I checked our hometown. Then I realized you once told me you and him planned on taking a trip over to Europe here. You said he wanted to go to Paris the most. Thought I’d give it a whirl.” 

“Yeah,” you softly noted. “I thought I’d tour the places we wanted to go, you know? In honor of his memory.” You tried your best to swallow down the lump in your throat. 

“Why’d you run away?” he suddenly asked. “You’ve never been the type.” 

You scoffed, rolling your eyes. “Ever the charmer.” 

“I’m not lyin’. So what is it? Shannon seemed pretty broken up that you were gone.” 

You shrugged. “I’m sorry for that,” you started, “I just… After the snap, we thought we lost Tony, right? He was lost in space for over three weeks. We had no way to get in touch with him when he and Stephen and Peter all went up there. They were lost to us. Shannon and I were both facing grief. Her’s was worse, I think, because she didn’t know if he was dead, lost, or vanished.”

He nodded before you took a deep breath. 

“Then just before Tony came back, I think I caught something between Bruce and her. I know both of them pretty well, and I think she loves Bruce. I think Bruce asked her to move on with him, when the time was right. The next thing I know, Tony’s home. Which was great. I was so relieved and thrilled… Then all this happiness was around me. Everyone gained Tony back. Bruce had Shannon and Tony, even Nat. Steve had everyone he cares about, except Bucky and Sam. Everyone was rallying together. Friendships were getting stronger. I just felt like I wasn’t needed. Shannon was so focused on Tony, focused on everything. Thor was my last connection to Loki and we haven’t spoken one word to each other since the snap. Asgard was destroyed a few days before Thanos came to Earth. So my home planet is destroyed. The love of my life is gone. My birth and adoptive parents are dead. We tracked down Thanos only for him to tell us he used the infinity stones to destroy them. So there’s no hope of any of them coming back…” 

He reached over and placed his hand on yours, squeezing. “Y/N, cher, I am so sorry.” 

You nodded, acknowledging his words. “I just couldn’t do it anymore. I couldn’t be there for Shannon, who didn’t appear to need me anyway. I couldn’t pretend to be strong, or pretend like anyone wanted me there. Thor went to find a home for our Asgardian people who managed to escape with Valkyrie. I just was so… jealous of Shannon. She had her husband back. She had Bruce. She had Steve and the rest of them. All her friends, her family. She lost Peter but… I have nothing.” 

“Hey, now, that’s not true. You got me, and you got her.”

A sad smile touched your face. “I know. I appreciate you coming to find me. But that’s why I left. When Tony came back, it reminded me that things always work out for her, and never for me. I just snapped, realized I couldn’t watch everyone be so happy. I was so bitter about it. I’m just in too much misery to watch that. I didn’t want to bring them down. Half of me was filled with bitterness, half of me didn’t want that bitterness to spill over into the small bubble of happiness they’d all found in all of this newfound Hell.” You shrugged, voicing your feelings for the first time, realizing them. It wasn’t so much that you left because you were jealous of Shannon. Of course you wanted her to be happy, she was your best friend. But you didn’t want to be an emotional burden on them, nor could you be there to pretend like you were fine, like everything was okay, when it was the furthest from okay you’d ever been.

“Sounds selfless, to me.”

You laughed without humor. “Ah, yes. Telling you I’m jealous my best friend is happy and that I can’t stand being around it. I’m a true saint.” You raised your glass and took a sip.

He shook his head. “No, that’s not what I’m sayin’ at all. I’m sayin’ that you recognized that you needed to be alone.” 

“You don’t think it’s selfish to leave Shannon?”

“Not really. She’s got tons of people who care about her. She’s gonna be fine. She’ll worry about you, but we both know if she knew where you were at, she’d come lookin’ for you. She might even try to convince you to come back, that everything will be okay. You need time to grieve and you can’t have that if everyone around you is crowding you with hope and positivity. You gotta do what’s best for you, darlin’.” 

You nodded, slightly grinning. “That’s, uh, exactly right.” 

The two of you caught up some more on what you’d been up to since the snap, nursing your drinks until the bar closed. You failed to mention the proposal. It somehow felt hard to bring it up to anyone. Tony was an exception because you thought he should know why you were so miserable. The bartender all but kicked you out, forcing you to stand in the lobby making you awkwardly bid Remy goodbye. 

“Where you stayin’ anyway, cajun?” you wondered, nudging him slightly. 

“Just up the street,” he informed. “I’ve only been here two days.” 

You nodded. “Well, I appreciate you finding me. It was nice to have a friend again, for a little while anyway.” 

“I came all this way just to find ya, and you’re just gonna kick me out? That’s cold, Y/L/N.” He gave you a signature smirk. When you didn’t really respond, his tone lost all jest. “Cher, I can’t let you be alone. Not like this. Let me stick around, be a shoulder to lean on. I want to make sure you’re safe.”

“You know as well as anyone that I can take care of myself,” you remarked seriously. 

“I’m not talkin’ about getting into fights, which I know you’re gonna get into, given the state you’re in. I’m talkin’ about emotionally, mon cher. You’re hurting, and even though you don’t wanna be around the Merry band of the Avengers, maybe my company might make you feel a little less alone.” 

“It would, Remy, but I don’t want to bring you down.” 

He shook his head as he put both hands on your shoulders. “You could never do such a thing. I’m already pretty broken. You and I are just about all we got left in this world. I say we don’t waste that on feelin’ sorry for ourselves. We can grieve together, if you’ll have me.” 

It took you a second, staring at him, weighing the pros of having him around. Of course you wanted him around. It wasn’t so much that you wanted to be alone, you just didn’t want to make anyone more depressed than they already were. But if Remy was certain that you two wouldn’t do that to each other, then you didn’t see the harm. In fact, he was probably right. You two needed someone in the world. All the Avengers had their counterpart… you needed yours too. 

A soft look touched your face. “Alright. Yeah. let’s do it.”

“Glad to hear it. We can go everywhere you two planned on goin’. Tell me all about him. We can keep his memory alive, you and me.” 

You nodded, feeling a dash of hope for the first time in forever. “I think I’d like that, and I think he would too.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tag List: @essie1876​ @magpiegirl80​ @letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked​ @iamwarrenspeace​ @marvel-imagines-yes-please​ @superwholocked527 @missinstantgratification​ @thejemersoninferno​ @rda1989​ @munlis​ @thefridgeismybestie​​ @bubblyanarocks3​​ @igiveupicantthinkofausername​​ @kaliforniacoastalteens​ @feelmyroarrrr​​ @kaelingoat-blog​ @friendlyneighbourhoodweirdo​​ @damalseer​​ @heyitscam99​​ @yknott81​​ @sorryimacrapwriter​​ @glitterquadricorn​​ @xxqueenofisolationxx @little-dis-kaalista-pythonissama @bittersweetunicorm​​ @alyssaj23​​ @sea040561​​ @princess76179​​ @thisismysecrethappyplace​​ @sarahp879​​ @malfoysqueen14​​ @ellallheart​​ @breezy1415​​ @marvelmayo​​ @random-fluffy-pink-unicorn @cocosierra94 @hardcollectionworldtrash @capsmuscles​ @marvelloushamilton @paintballkid711​

Loki:

@lostinspace33​​ @ultrarebelheart​​ @lenawiinchester​​ @esoltis280​​ @tngrayson​​ @wangdeasang​​ @harrymewmew @jayfantasyatyourservice​​

UC: @lokis-high-priestess​

[colonel-insomniac]

Read more of my spongebob work here.

10,000 years will give you such a crick in the neck

Just a quick note, Red Light is a song by The Regrettes and I absolutely love their music style it just feels very 80’s girl pop. So that’s where the song is from, and Lacy Loo, another song by them, is referenced as well. Also a certain voice actors Instagram was the inspiration behind Sponge In The High Seas . It was Tom Kenny, his Instagram handle is TomKennyandthehiseas. I just couldn’t resist.

“You can’t love me, you’re not allowed to…”

Patrick Starr was absolutely smitten with the leader of the popular 80’s style band, Sponge In The High Seas. The band’s leader was a short young boy, 19 years old. He had slightly curly auburn hair that bounced slightly when the music called for it. This boy’s whole aesthetic was mainly pinks, but branched to pastels too.

“‘Cause if you did, I’d probably run from you…”

Tonight, his outfit was a large pink sweater tucked into a pair of shorts with what Patrick can only assume are either cherries or strawberries. Maybe flowers? Anyways, he also had these circular pink sunglasses perched on his nose, although the indoor location and the time of day didn’t really call for them.

Patrick sat in his usual spot, towards the back so as to not be noticed or bothered. Next to him, Sandy was perched on her chair, fidgeting and nervously tapping her fingers against one another. It reminded Patrick of a squirrel, but he wouldn’t dare say that to Sandy.

There are other things he’d never tell Sandy. Like, for example, that he used to know the lead singer of Sponge In The High Seas. Bobby is his name—well, Robert, technically, but he always went by Bobby. He didn’t like his full name for some reason so he would always opt to go by the shortened version.

“You can’t hate me, though you probably do…”

They didn’t have a falling out or anything. Pat had had to leave the beach town he grew up in for a while. It’d been after a fight with his parents, he left and only grabbed his phone, charger, wallet, and car keys. He left and didn’t tell anyone. Didn’t message anyone because he was so desperate to try and keep himself from breaking down. But when he got that first phone call from Bobby, and heard the teary voicemail left when Pat didn’t pick up, he’d had to pull over onto the side of the road. Too many tears, he couldn’t see.

He came to the town roughly a month ago, and found that with no reason to stay, his parents had left. It was kinda disheartening, Patrick thought, to find that his parents hadn’t cared enough to try and find him. And when hed came to his favorite diner and found Bobby on the stage, he had made sure to sit where Bobby wouldn’t be able to see him. He wasn’t ready to face his best buddy yet.

“Cause then I might just die and have to blame you…”

Other than Bobby, the band consisted of one Edward Telford. That part was a shock to Pat, Eddie couldn’t stand Bobby when Pat had skipped town. It was one of his favorite things to think about when he was alone at night.

Pat had managed to come up with all sorts of crazy theories, but none that were probably real. Stranger than Eddie willingly being in a band with Bobby, he was also playing guitar. Pat didn’t know that Eddie could play guitar. Pearl was on drums, which was entertaining to watch, because he knew there had to be some sort of conversation with Eugene Krabbes, Bobby’s manager at the Krusty Krabbe. Or was, Pat didn’t know if Bobby was still working there. Obviously.

“I think it’s about time you go up to him.” Sandy whispered to Patrick, still watching. He knew she was probably right, because Sandy is super smart, but the thought made his stomach clench.

Sandy and Pat had met when Patrick had first come back to town. He was sitting in a grassy park, and she approached him, big smile and country twang. When she’d mentioned Bobby, Patrick had immediately trusted her enough to tell her everything. If Bobby truly let her be close to him, then she’s got to be a good person.

Because although Bobby’s always been super kind to everyone, only a few people got allowed into his close circle.

“I can’t breathe, well maybe that’s okay…”

When Patrick shrugged his shoulders, Sandy let out a quiet sigh: “Now Patrick Starr, you listen to me. Bobby misses you, yer all he talks about.” Patrick shrugs agains and crosses his arms. He doesn’t wanna talk about this right now.

“Do you know why he formed this band?” Pat shakes his head and clamps his hands over his ears. He can’t know. He has a feeling if he knows, he’s gonna spiral out of control.

Sandy pushes gently on his arms, sympathy filling her eyes. “He’s doing other to find you. He told me all about it. Thinks somehow you’ll show up at one of his concerts and approach him.” When he looks at her, she hurriedly adds “don’t give me that look, you oughta know I ain’t told him yet. But that doesn’t mean I feel good about lyin’ to the poor boy. Half these songs are about you, Patrick. I know you ain’t a dimwit, you must’ve figured that out by this point.”

“Maybe I’ll just save it for another rainy day…”

He thinks of the song Lacy Loo, thinks how he thought maybe that song was about him. He’d dismissed it at the time, figuring he’d read too deep. But now, there’s a possibility that it’d all been true.

“I can’t…I’m not ready yet.” Is his response, and he can see Sandy roll her eyes in the dim light. He’s watching her intently, looking for any sign of deception.

“I reckon you’re ready Pat.” She pats his arm lightly. “‘Sides, I told Bobby I’d meet him after he finished tonight.” Pat could feel the blood drain out of his face as he spluttered, managing to hiss out an incredulous ‘what?!’

“I can’t sleep, well maybe that’s alright…”

Sandy nods, and they turn back to face the stage when Bobby talks into the microphone. “Alright folks,” Pat notes the pleasant smile on Bobby’s face. “This is the last song of the night.” Bobby proceeds to laugh at the protests from the audience. The laughter gets a smile out of Patrick, a tiny one.

But now all Pat can think about is the reunion in just a few minutes. He’s so nervous, he can hardly hear the number over his thinking.

Sandy must be able to tell that Patrick is debating running out of the diner because she rests her hand on his wrist and gives him a stern look that glues him in his place. He doesn’t want this, but he’s also too scared of Sandy to shake her off and leave. She knows where he lives, too, so he stays put. Maybe he can slip out before without her noticing.

“I can save my sleeping for another empty night…”

The song ends, and Patrick stands when everyone else does, giving the band a standing ovation. Bobby bows and gestures at Eddie and Pearl, who also bow. Pearl also gives a peace sign at the hoots regarding her as the background vocalist. Pat has to admit she deserves it, her voice is amazing, angelic, Pat thinks.

“Before you all go for the night, please, if you know Patrick Starr and have any information of his whereabouts or safety, please don’t hesitate to let me know.” Patrick’s cheeks heat up in shame, the pleading look in Bobby’s eyes like a stab in the heart.

Sandy grabs Patrick’s arm and steers him towards the stage. Bobby’s turned around and pointing at something as he chats with a crew member. Eddie and Pearl are also not facing him, which is good for the moment. Patrick watches as Bobby runs a hand through his messy hair, and smiles when he catches sight of pink nail polish. Pearl must’ve put it on him.

“Kiss me at the red light one more time…”

Sandy politely waits for Bobby and the care guy to finish talking before she reaches up and taps Bobby on the back.

This happens in slow mo for Patrick, and each second that passes feels like an hour, and he grows increasingly panicked. Adrenaline kicks in as a result, and he has to fight the urge to turn on his heel and leave.

Bobby turns and gives Sandy a beaming smile, hopping off the stage to give her a hug. He hasn’t et noticed Bobby, and that’s the thing everyone loves about him. When Bobby’s talking to you, he gives you his full attention and it makes you feel like you’re the only thing that matters in life.

But it makes Pat shift from foot to foot. He freezes when Sandy gestures in his direction. “I brought someone for you.” Bobby turns, brows scrunched in confusion, but they fly up when he makes eye contact with Pat. His mouth falls open into an ‘O’ shape.

“Every time I think of you feels like a crime…”

Patrick smiles sheepishly, offering a half a wave. Bobby’s hand covers his mouth and his eyes fill with tears. Patrick falters, and sucks in a breath. Go figure he’d mess this up somehow. He gives a pointed look at Sandy, who shakes her head and mouths the word “wait.”

“Bobby—“ is all he whispers before the boy in pink launches himself at Patrick, openly sobbing into Patrick’s hoodie.

“I never thought you’d come back.” Bobby sniffs after a minute, pulling away and apologizing at the tear stains on Patrick.

Pat waves the apology away, claiming it’s not a big deal. And then Bobby’s face gets serious and he grabs Pat’s hand, dragging him to an empty table. “Where were you and why wouldn’t you answer my calls and texts?” He demands and Pat knows that he owes Bobby so much more than an apology, so much more than an explanation.

He explains everything to Bobby, that night in detail. The raised voices, his parents telling him he’d never get anywhere in life because he couldn’t make above a C in anything other than his photography and music classes. Him shooting back claiming he wanted to study in music and photography. Trying to get them to understand that school just didn’t make sense to him. The terms they slung at him that night, hurling each one like a punch to his body.

He explained the split second decision to run away, pulling over when he heard Bobby’s voicemail. How he’d never stopped feeling bad about leaving Bobby. How Bobby hadn’t left his mind once in his absence.

“I could be green, red, orange, purple or blue…”

When he finishes, Bobby’s crying again, eyes swimming with muted anger, sorrow, and hurt. Pat’s heart pangs, because Bobby should never cry. After a moment of silence, Pat whispers “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left and not told you anything.”

Bobby shakes his head, and pulls Patrick into a hug, gripping the fabric of his hoodie like Patrick will disappear if he doesn’t. “I get why you didn’t. You needed to have a bit by yourself.”

Pat rests his chin on Bobby's head, holding his freckled friend close. “Still. I shoulda said something. You woulda known how to keep me from running.”

“Next time come to me. I don’t wanna lose you again Pat.” Pat nods, and he smiles as Bobby draws images into the back of Patrick’s hoodie with his finger. His skin lights up despite the clothing.

“But you’re also amazing on stage. I promise that I won’t run without going to you and even then I’ll try not to run as long as you’re not beside me. Figuratively and literally.”

Bobby pulls away, smiling, and cups Patrick’s chin with his hands, and kisses him once. Patrick’s startled, and Bobby pulls away, muttering a “sorry.”

Patrick’s the one who grins first. “Don’t worry about it. I like you, so….” he trails off, unsure of what to say next.

Bobby laughs. “I like you too, you big dork. I wouldn’t get upset over just anyone leaving me like that.” He rolls his eyes playfully, but the comment stings Patrick a little, and Bobby’s quick to realize it. He cringes, opening his mouth to apologize but pat kisses him. “Don’t worry ‘bout it.”

Bobby grins, and intertwines their fingers as he pulls pat behind him so he can finish cleaning up for the night, trying to make sure Pat won’t disappear. For once, Pat can’t be bothered to even try and complain about cleaning. He just wants to be with Bobby.

“Only if it means that I’m keeping you.”

[lilliloves]

Hi, can I request 8 & 20 from the angst list for Brio please

#8 Don’t lie to me

Beth swings open the front door to Rio's loft to find a young women on the other side of the door. She's beautiful with long dark hair and piercing eyes - maybe about Annie's age. Her skin is tanned and she's about Beth's height. The two women stand, staring, both surprised to see the other. Beth assumes whoever this is had expected to find Rio in her spot and Beth - well - Beth's not sure who she had expected.

"Hi." Beth says, breaking the silence first.

The women in front of her peaks over Beth's shoulder before forcing a polite smile. "Hi."

Neither speaks, both waiting for the other to say something - anything. Beth feels a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach but she can't pinpoint why.

"I'm sorry - who are you?" The stranger asks and Beth narrows her eyes.

"Who are you?"

They're both quiet again, neither willing to be the first to give in. It's another ten seconds that feels like minutes before Beth relents, her hand gripping at the door handle.

"I'm Beth." She finally says, her voice sickeningly sweet. 

It's hard though, to stay patient, when the women facing her looks so suspicious and so confused and so rude. "Where's Christopher?"

It catches Beth off guard, the use of Rio's full name. She's not sure she'll ever get used to it.

"He went to drop Marcus at his mother's and to pick up dinner."

"What do you know about Marcus?" she asks, her eyes narrowed, her voice snide, catching Beth off guard.

"I - wha- excuse me?" Beth finally gets out, tripping over her words. She feels guilty but she doesn't know why. She hasn't done anything wrong even though this perfect stranger is making her feel like she has.

"How do you know my brother?"

Beth's eyes widened but the knot in her stomach unravels - it's all starting to make sense now.

"Your brother?" 

The stranger - although, not so much anymore - lets out a soft sigh and holds her arm out. "I'm Lena."

Lena. Beth repeats in her head. She reaches out and takes the outstretched hand in front of her and shakes it but she’s mostly on auto pilot. Rio has a sister. And now that she thinks about it she remembers that she knew this already. She had heard him make brief mention of her and his mother, any maybe a few others, but really, for the most part, his family was something they hadn't done much talking about it. Why? She asks herself. Why haven't they talked more about his family? 

"Beth." She says robotically even though it's already been covered.

Lena gives a soft smile. Beth doesn't know for certain but she seems apologetic about her earlier inquisition. It's obvious to anyone that Beth is completely thrown off guard.

"You mentioned that but I still don't know who you are." Her tone is softer, less accusatory but still all business and it reminds Beth a lot of Rio. 

And then it hits Beth. All at once like a swift punch to the face. Rio's sister doesn’t know who she is. Has obviously never even heard her name. Unless -

"Elizabeth." She says, slowly, pointing her finger at her chest as if the use of her full name might jog some sort of memory.

But Lena's eyes stay glazed over in confusion and question, not recognition.

Rio has never mentioned Beth to his sister.

"I'm Rio's -"

But before she can finish, he‘s there, turning the corner into the building's hallway. He stops dead in his tracks, surprised to find his door open and the two women opposite each other - one inside, one just out. His mouth opens as if to say something but he closes it just as quickly when he notices the looks he's getting. First, on his sister's face and then - he glances over at Beth, he sees the mix of emotions radiating off of her and he lets out a soft groan. Beth notices his jaw clench and she expects him to say something but he doesn't.

He moves forward, pushing past his sister and than Beth to enter his apartment. Lena takes this as an invitation to enter and Beth has to step aside to let her do so. Beth sighs quietly but closes the door.

At the same time, Rio places the bag of food in his arms on the counter in the kitchen and removes his coat, draping it over the chair at the island. He’s slow in his actions and Beth wants to yell at him to say something. After an eternity, or what seems like it, at least, he turns to face his audience. Lena is standing with her arms crossed over her chest, patiently waiting for her brother to acknowledge her. Beth assumes she must be used to this, to him.

"Whatchu doin' here, Le?" He says, his tone rough but Lena takes it in stride.

She shrugs, as if she has anticipated his inquiry. 

"I'm meeting Joe for dinner up the street but had a few minutes to kill so I thought I'd come say hi." She looks over in Beth's directions and motions her hand. 

"Beth was just about to tell me who she is."

"Sounds like she introduced herself since you know her name." Rio says, leaning back against the counter behind him. Lena raises her eyebrows, waiting for him to elaborate, but when he just stands there she let's out a frustrated groan.

"Chris, seriously? You have a girlfriend?"

"Yup."  

"One you're clearly comfortable enough to leave alone in your apartment and let meet Marcus."

He ignores his sister's comment and chooses, instead, to empty his pockets of his cell phone and keys. Beth wills him to look over at her so that she can hit him with her most intense glare but he's avoiding her at all costs.

"When were you planning on mentioning it?" Lena asks, her voice suddenly high but before he can answer she's tossing another question out there. "How long has it been?”

Finally, he looks over at Beth, his top lip curling up in amusement. He finds the situation funny and Beth thinks he's looking to her for support but she wants to do serious damage. She bites on her lip to keep herself from going off on him and she knows that he notices. He opens his mouth to respond but Beth has had enough - is more annoyed than probably necessary at this point but she can't stop herself from answering Lena before he can.

"Long enough that I assumed he would've at least mentioned me in passing."

Lena gives Beth a look, a cross between sympathy and understanding and a little bit of pity - this is her brother after all and it seems like, at least to Beth, that Lena's just as equally annoyed. Without words she conveys to Beth that she gets it and it makes Beth feel slightly better. At least she's not the only one that Rio seems unable to properly communicate with.

Lena looks directly at her brother and pins him with a stare. "I'd say sorry for showing up unannounced but obviously I'm not."

"Obviously." Rio shoots back, sarcastically.

The three are left standing in silence. Rio is clearly not offering up any other information to his sister and Beth is quietly simmering, preparing for an inevitable argument with her boyfriend.

Lena can see this - can see she's getting nothing and nowhere. She rolls her eyes and turns to Beth.

"It was nice to meet you."

Later, Beth will regret not saying more, not putting on her brightest smile and happiest face so as to impress Rio's sister but she's too mad, too disappointed, to do anything but force a smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes and whisper a quiet, "you too."

Lena walks to the door but turns before she can leave. "You're an idiot. And I'm going to tell mom."

"Yeah, I figured, Le." Rio said pushing off the counter to take a few steps towards her. 

"Does Danielle know?" She asks and Beth, at least, knows that Danielle is Marcus' mom.

"If she does it ain't because I told her." Rio says simply. Beth assumes he means that it's possible Marcus had mentioned something.

Lena looks like she wants to say more but she's either smart or just saving it for another time. She gives one final smile in Beth's direction and then she's gone, leaving Beth and Rio standing feet apart that feel like miles.

She can't bring herself to look at him and she refuses to be the first one to say something. He should apologize, should grovel, but she knows he won't.

"Whatever you're thinking, just stop." He says quietly, shoving his hands into the hood of his sweatshirt. 

"I'm thinking that I hate your guts." Beth says, voice quivering from anger. 

She's not sure she's ever been this mad at him but it's more than that - she's hurt. She's not even sure she has a right to be which makes it even worse. He doesn't have to tell anyone about them, she supposes, but it's his family and she's his girlfriend and she knows this is Rio. She knows he's not exactly an open book but knowing that doesn't change how she feels.

"It hasn't come up." He starts but she waves him off. She can tell he's about to write this off as nothing but nope, not on her watch.

"Don't lie to me." Beth says sternly, crossing her arms over her chest. She knows better than to think he'll actually cower under her death stare but she attempts one anyway.

He meets her gaze dead on and leans a hip against the couch next to him. "I ain't lyin'."

She drops her arms and bites the inside of her cheek. She looks into his eyes attempting to get a read on him but when his face shows no sign of giving in to her she relents. "I thought - I hoped - "

She's trying to figure out what she wants to say - wishes she didn't constantly find herself unable to properly voice her thoughts when she's around him. She's waiting for the pull he has over her to lessen but so far it's not showing any signs of letting up.

He raises his eyebrow as if to encourage her on and she sighs. 

"I thought we were on the same page."

"We are."

She hits him with a look that can only be described as disappointed. If she was the type to pout, the type to whine, to nag, she would right now but instead she asks him simply:

"Then why haven't you told anybody about me? About us."

He shrugs, as Rio does, and answers. "Nobody else's business."

She almost says the words along with him because she had known he would say something along those lines. Instead, she tries something else to get her point across.

"You've got a pretty close relationship with your family, right?"

He narrows his eyes at her attempting to figure out her game but hesitantly answers. "Right."

She nods anticipating his answer and follows up with another question. "And Marcus is sort of important to you?"

Her question is mostly rhetorical - she knows the answer - but she's making a point so he smirks and plays along. "Yeah. Sort of."

"And what about me?"

"What about you?"

She shrugs but lowers her eyes to where her fingers nervously play with the zipper on her sweatshirt. She replies as if she's stating a fact but the slight waver in her voice makes it sound more like a question. "We're pretty close. I'm sort of important."

"Mmm." He agrees but doesn't give her anything more. 

"So try to help me understand why you're hiding us like it's some dirty secret. I thought we were past that."

"Pretty sure you haven't told Dean." He shoots back instead of giving her the answer she's looking for.

Beth lets out a breath, annoyed. "That's different."

Rio frowns and scratches at his chin in thought. This conversation has the ability to go several different ways - it's already taken turns Beth hadn't intended - and now she's sure that Rio is contemplating how he can challenge her even more. 

"You mad I haven't told Danielle. He's your kid's dad. Don't sound different to me."

She looks at him in disbelief. She can't believe she has to spell this out for him. She assumes he's being purposely obtuse - Rio is a lot of things but stupid isn't one of them. When he doesn't budge she throws her hands up in the air and practically shouts.

"I didn't attempt to kill Marcus' mother."

Most people would at least look slightly remorseful but Rio just chuckles, eyes twinkling. "If I wanted to kill him I woulda killed him.

"Rio." Beth says seriously, desperate for something genuine. 

And he does get it - does read her tone correctly - and instead of putting a halt to the conversation he attempts to give her what she's looking for. 

"My family been tryin' to marry me off since they realized me and Danielle weren't gonna be together. I ain't gonna introduce them to no one until I know for sure it's something worth dealin' with."

"What more do I have to do to prove I'm worth "dealing with"?" She asks, confused. She knows that they're exploring uncharted territory - knows their relationship as it stands is new and vulnerable but she at least thought it was long term.

He shakes his head, frustrated, as if she isn't grasping what he's trying to say. 

"Nothin'. I'm just makin' sure this is really what you want."

She must look like a fish out of water because her mouth opens and closes in desperation. She's clueless, confused, she hears the words coming from his mouth, gets the meaning behind them, but can't quite grasp how it all ties together.

"I'm not going to go back to Dean." She says, because even though she thought the fact was obvious maybe it wasn't? Maybe Rio, as confident and cocky and self-assured as he is, still has nagging doubts about how serious she is about leaving behind her ex.

He laughs, though, and shoots her theory down. "Yeah, I'm not worried about that."

Beth lifts her hand and points her index finger into her chest. "I was the one that wanted us to be more serious."

He doesn't comment, just waits.

"I practically forced you to let me spend time with Marcus." She says, emphasizing the first word.

"No one forces me to do anything, sweetheart." He answers, his tone light.

"I invited you over for dinner and didn't tell you that my kids would be there. I shoved them in your face and didn't give you any choice but to hang out with them."

He lowers his head and smiles before looking back at her. His eyes are practically glowing and his wide smile momentarily takes her breath away. It's still new to her. Being on the receiving end of his happiness.

"You think I didn't know they'd be there?"

She almost smiles back, remembering the day two weeks ago when she'd invited him to have dinner with her but neglected to mention her entire crew would also be in attendance. She'd been attempting to get them all together and it hadn't worked out. She had figured Rio was avoiding the inevitable but he'd taken the night in stride as he tended to do.

"So what?" She asks, giving up. "Really this whole time I thought I was the one moving this relationship along but you were, what? Just humoring me?"

"Somethin' like that."

A thought pops into her head and she looks at him suspiciously. "Were you waiting for me to ask to meet your family?"

A small smirk pulls at his mouth and he chuckles at her expression. 

"Figured it would've happened eventually."

She can feel the annoyance leave her body but she's not entirely ready to let him off the hook.

"It hurt my feelings." She says quietly, not used to feeling this way when it comes to him. "When she heard my name and had no idea who I was."

He drops his hands from his pockets and moves closer to her so that they're standing toe to toe. He reaches forward and grips the sides of her sweater, pulling her closer to him. She contemplates fighting him but even when she feels like this she still wants to be touching him.

"What can I do to make you feel better, hm?" He asks, and she can see what he's offering, can tell that his tone is suggestive and light and she'll take him up on that later but for now -

"I want to have your whole family over for dinner." She says determinedly.

He cringes and looks ready to argue but she covers his mouth with her hand before he can speak.

"Your mom and your sister and Joe - wait, who's Joe?" She asks, tilting her head in question.

He pushes her hand from off of his mouth to answer but doesn’t let it go. "Lena's husband."

She nods as if that was what she'd expected and continues. "And Marcus. And my kids. Does Lena have kids?"

"Two." He replies, amused, linking their hands together.

She nods and he can see that she's already planning the day, the menu, the activities for the children. Rio opens his mouth but she cuts him off once more.

"And Annie and Sadie and Ruby and her family."

He clenches his jaw and shakes his head. "You're pushin' it, ma."

She frowns and makes sure he's looking at her before she repeats her earlier words. "You hurt my feelings."

He sighs and she can tell when he relents, can tell when he's given in to fighting her. Can tell that his acceptance is his own version of an apology.

He reaches his hand up to cup the back of her neck and squeezes, winding his fingers into the hair at the nape of her neck. Her eyes dip down to where he licks his lips and before she can stop him his mouth is on hers.

His lips coax hers apart and he sucks gently at her bottom lip, eliciting a whimper from Beth. She sucks in a breath when he pulls away for a split second but then he's back, at a new angle, sliding his tongue into her mouth and things go from slow to heated in no time at all.

She should be used to it by now.

She pushes up on her toes and wraps her arms around his middle. He works his hand under the hem of her shirt just enough to touch the sliver of skin on her back above the waistband of her jeans. As touches go, it's innocent enough, especially as their touches go, but something about it makes the heat in Beth's stomach flare. Maybe it's the fact that only minutes ago she'd been so angry at him, maybe it's the fact that every time she sees him these days it seems like their relationship is constantly moving in new directions, to new levels.

Of course, maybe it's just the fact that it's him.

She pulls away before things get out of hand and cups either side of his face with her hands. She holds his head still so that he's forced to meet her gaze before she speaks.

"This is really what I want." She says, referring to his comment earlier that indicated she might not be all in.

His eyes darken and for once, fleetingly, Beth can see everything he's thinking and feeling across his face. 

He squeezes her hips and presses a kiss to her forehead.

"Can we eat now?" He says, nodding towards the food he'd placed on the counter earlier. She laughs but agrees and whether he likes it or not (she thinks he was hoping she had forgotten) she spends the majority of their dinner planning her upcoming dinner party.

[mrs-dragneel-stark-solo]

Unforseen Chasm (Part 62)

Part 62 of Unforseen Chasm

Prompt: Two sisters fall for men that are absolute enemies. The love they have could tear all of them apart, or it could bring them together. Word Count: 2392 Warnings: Language, self-isolation, fighting, attempted robbery, misery, keeping memories alive, hopeful new start. Note: This is by far the longest thing I’ve ever written (including my other fic series). first major Collab with my best friend @thorne93​ what was first a simple “what if” moment turned into a two year writing session and I’ve never been more prouder of myself than when i started my first series. goes through most of the MCU plots there are some changes to accommodate for what we wanted and there is a bit of a crossover between the MCU and other characters. I hope you guys enjoy reading this just as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Time seemed to pass… slowly as it were. 

You’d begun a new chapter in your life. If you could call this your life. It was just sort of existing at this point. You didn’t want to hurt Shannon with an untimely death, but you didn’t see much point in going on. Shannon had her life. She had Tony, Bruce, Steve, Nat, Rhodey. She was surrounded by those that she loved. Sure, she lost Peter in the snap, but in the grand scheme of things she’d lost very little. 

You on the other hand had lost your homeland. Your birth parents -- dead. Your semi-adoptive parents, Odin and Frigga -- dead. Your closest friends, Stephen, Vision, Wanda, Pietro -- gone. No one knew where Clint was. Thor didn’t even talk to you now. No one at the Avengers Compound would even miss you besides Shannon. 

Although, at this point, you might as well be dead. You left no clue for Shannon to find you. You left behind your phone. You’d completely gone undercover. 

The world was fragile, more so than it had been before. Governments were falling apart. There were societies crumbling. World leaders had disappeared. People that were heavily needed to run the world, were gone: doctors, nurses, engineers, politicians, police, mechanics, scientists, veterinarians, farmers… everyone. Every person in this world had a vital role and for the last two months it had been scrambling to make up for the gap. 

The world started to function again, barely, but when push came to shove, cities had to keep things going. One of those cities was Paris. 

You were walking back to your hotel from a night at the Louvre. This was what your life had been, one sight to see after another. On the way through an alley, you heard rustling up ahead, and just as you were about to hone in on it, three guys jumped out from behind a corner, armed with knives.

“Nous ne voulons pas vous faire mal mais nous le ferons. remettre la bourse,” the big one demanded and you frowned, trying to remember French. Although, you didn't need much context. Knives, alleyway, darkness, and the only thing you had valuable was a purse. 

“Parlez vous anglais?” you asked, cocking your head.

The three men laughed, throwing their heads back. The confidence was unnerving, and displaced. 

“Oui, uh, sweetheart?” he said with a thick accent. “Hand over the purse.” 

“Oh… Oh you mean this purse?” you asked, holding it out. “Come and get it,” you challenged, your eyes narrowing as the rage bubbled up in you easily. 

They charged at you but you dodged the first one, the largest one. He tripped behind you and turned to try to grab you in a headlock, but you flipped him over. The other two ran forward, their knives out. 

You kicked one of them before punching the other one. The one you punched came up behind you and hit the back of your knees but you didn’t buckle. You turned to face him, your hand hitting his throat quickly. He grabbed it, gasping for breath as he backed up.

The third guy grabbed at your hair but you grabbed his wrist quicker, bending it and squeezing it until you heard a break in the bones. He looked at you with fear in his eyes before he cried out from pain. 

The big one tried to wrap his arms around you, but you were tiring of this so you lit your hands, grabbing him with your power and launching him into some trash bins several feet away from you. The other two looked on in bewilderment and fear as they backed away. They started to run away, quickly.

“What’s the matter? Purse wasn’t worth it?” you called after them angrily, smirking. 

“Trouble just seems to find you, doesn’t it, cher?” that all too familiar Cajun voice said from behind you. 

“Go home, Remy,” was all you said in a cold voice as you picked up your purse and began to make your way back to the hotel, taking the streets this time. Remy walked beside you. “How did you find me?” you asked, nothing but contempt in your tone. 

“Is this any way to greet your oldest friend?” he asked, feigning offense. 

“I’m really not in the mood. I didn’t want to be found.” 

“I’ll say! Do you have any idea how long I been lookin’?” he asked. 

 “Remy,” you groaned. “I left for a reason. I didn’t want to be around anyone.” 

He stopped walking, grabbing your shoulders as he became serious. “I know, cheri. I know you lost him,” was all he said. 

And that’s all it took for you to fall into his arms, a sobbing mess. It was embarrassing, breaking down like this in the middle of the street, but you couldn’t help it. Truth be told, you don’t think anyone could. 

After the snap, it was almost second nature to see people randomly burst into tears. Every place you went someone was mourning someone else. This made the guilt of not finishing Thanos off that much worse. 

Did these random citizens of France know that you were involved in this? Know that you were a great deal of the reason their loved ones were gone? You hoped not. 

Several minutes later, you leaned away from him and he asked if you were alright. You nodded and began walking again back to your hotel. The two of you stopped into the bar in the lobby. It was rather full, and it made you wonder if more people were drowning their sorrows more than usual. 

You two sat next to each other. You ordered a simple drink, as did Remy. Once you got the drink, you didn’t take one sip, you just played with the glass. 

“So...how’d you find me?” you asked again. 

“Well… when that… when the event happened, just about every one in the mansion disappeared. Only people left were about three students, Logan, Jean, and myself.” 

“So Charles...Hank.. Scott...” you started listing off people you cared for. “They’re all…?” 

He nodded solemnly while closing his eyes. The news slammed into you, hard. “Yeah. Well, after tying up loose ends there, I wanted to go find you. You’re the closest thing I got to family.” 

All you did was nod. 

“I went to the compound, but Shannon told me you ran away two months ago.” 

You bobbed your head side to side. He wasn’t wrong. 

“From there I started to think of places you might go. I checked New Orleans. I checked our hometown. Then I realized you once told me you and him planned on taking a trip over to Europe here. You said he wanted to go to Paris the most. Thought I’d give it a whirl.” 

“Yeah,” you softly noted. “I thought I’d tour the places we wanted to go, you know? In honor of his memory.” You tried your best to swallow down the lump in your throat. 

“Why’d you run away?” he suddenly asked. “You’ve never been the type.” 

You scoffed, rolling your eyes. “Ever the charmer.” 

“I’m not lyin’. So what is it? Shannon seemed pretty broken up that you were gone.” 

You shrugged. “I’m sorry for that,” you started, “I just… After the snap, we thought we lost Tony, right? He was lost in space for over three weeks. We had no way to get in touch with him when he and Stephen and Peter all went up there. They were lost to us. Shannon and I were both facing grief. Her’s was worse, I think, because she didn’t know if he was dead, lost, or vanished.”

He nodded before you took a deep breath. 

“Then just before Tony came back, I think I caught something between Bruce and her. I know both of them pretty well, and I think she loves Bruce. I think Bruce asked her to move on with him, when the time was right. The next thing I know, Tony’s home. Which was great. I was so relieved and thrilled… Then all this happiness was around me. Everyone gained Tony back. Bruce had Shannon and Tony, even Nat. Steve had everyone he cares about, except Bucky and Sam. Everyone was rallying together. Friendships were getting stronger. I just felt like I wasn’t needed. Shannon was so focused on Tony, focused on everything. Thor was my last connection to Loki and we haven’t spoken one word to each other since the snap. Asgard was destroyed a few days before Thanos came to Earth. So my home planet is destroyed. The love of my life is gone. My birth and adoptive parents are dead. We tracked down Thanos only for him to tell us he used the infinity stones to destroy them. So there’s no hope of any of them coming back…” 

He reached over and placed his hand on yours, squeezing. “Y/N, cher, I am so sorry.” 

You nodded, acknowledging his words. “I just couldn’t do it anymore. I couldn’t be there for Shannon, who didn’t appear to need me anyway. I couldn’t pretend to be strong, or pretend like anyone wanted me there. Thor went to find a home for our Asgardian people who managed to escape with Valkyrie. I just was so… jealous of Shannon. She had her husband back. She had Bruce. She had Steve and the rest of them. All her friends, her family. She lost Peter but… I have nothing.” 

“Hey, now, that’s not true. You got me, and you got her.”

A sad smile touched your face. “I know. I appreciate you coming to find me. But that’s why I left. When Tony came back, it reminded me that things always work out for her, and never for me. I just snapped, realized I couldn’t watch everyone be so happy. I was so bitter about it. I’m just in too much misery to watch that. I didn’t want to bring them down. Half of me was filled with bitterness, half of me didn’t want that bitterness to spill over into the small bubble of happiness they’d all found in all of this newfound Hell.” You shrugged, voicing your feelings for the first time, realizing them. It wasn’t so much that you left because you were jealous of Shannon. Of course you wanted her to be happy, she was your best friend. But you didn’t want to be an emotional burden on them, nor could you be there to pretend like you were fine, like everything was okay, when it was the furthest from okay you’d ever been.

“Sounds selfless, to me.”

You laughed without humor. “Ah, yes. Telling you I’m jealous my best friend is happy and that I can’t stand being around it. I’m a true saint.” You raised your glass and took a sip.

He shook his head. “No, that’s not what I’m sayin’ at all. I’m sayin’ that you recognized that you needed to be alone.” 

“You don’t think it’s selfish to leave Shannon?”

“Not really. She’s got tons of people who care about her. She’s gonna be fine. She’ll worry about you, but we both know if she knew where you were at, she’d come lookin’ for you. She might even try to convince you to come back, that everything will be okay. You need time to grieve and you can’t have that if everyone around you is crowding you with hope and positivity. You gotta do what’s best for you, darlin’.” 

You nodded, slightly grinning. “That’s, uh, exactly right.” 

The two of you caught up some more on what you’d been up to since the snap, nursing your drinks until the bar closed. You failed to mention the proposal. It somehow felt hard to bring it up to anyone. Tony was an exception because you thought he should know why you were so miserable. The bartender all but kicked you out, forcing you to stand in the lobby making you awkwardly bid Remy goodbye. 

“Where you stayin’ anyway, cajun?” you wondered, nudging him slightly. 

“Just up the street,” he informed. “I’ve only been here two days.” 

You nodded. “Well, I appreciate you finding me. It was nice to have a friend again, for a little while anyway.” 

“I came all this way just to find ya, and you’re just gonna kick me out? That’s cold, Y/L/N.” He gave you a signature smirk. When you didn’t really respond, his tone lost all jest. “Cher, I can’t let you be alone. Not like this. Let me stick around, be a shoulder to lean on. I want to make sure you’re safe.”

“You know as well as anyone that I can take care of myself,” you remarked seriously. 

“I’m not talkin’ about getting into fights, which I know you’re gonna get into, given the state you’re in. I’m talkin’ about emotionally, mon cher. You’re hurting, and even though you don’t wanna be around the Merry band of the Avengers, maybe my company might make you feel a little less alone.” 

“It would, Remy, but I don’t want to bring you down.” 

He shook his head as he put both hands on your shoulders. “You could never do such a thing. I’m already pretty broken. You and I are just about all we got left in this world. I say we don’t waste that on feelin’ sorry for ourselves. We can grieve together, if you’ll have me.” 

It took you a second, staring at him, weighing the pros of having him around. Of course you wanted him around. It wasn’t so much that you wanted to be alone, you just didn’t want to make anyone more depressed than they already were. But if Remy was certain that you two wouldn’t do that to each other, then you didn’t see the harm. In fact, he was probably right. You two needed someone in the world. All the Avengers had their counterpart… you needed yours too. 

A soft look touched your face. “Alright. Yeah. let’s do it.”

“Glad to hear it. We can go everywhere you two planned on goin’. Tell me all about him. We can keep his memory alive, you and me.” 

You nodded, feeling a dash of hope for the first time in forever. “I think I’d like that, and I think he would too.” 

Unforseen Chasm Tag list- @reigningqueenofwords @oldfreakything @adefectivedetective @dontbetooobvious

Tag list- @cas-you-assbutt-dean-needs-you @winchester-writes @winchesterenthusiast @deansdirtylittlesecretsblog​   @sammysbuttcheek​ @misz-adrii​ @sandlee44​ @womanxofletters​ @natsuccs​ @childishhoebinoo​ @expecteddifferent​ @girl-next-door-writes​ @fanaticfanfiction​ @dakotapaigelove​ @sassy-spn-knight-of-hell​ @reigningqueenofwords​ @oldfreakything​

Marvel: @reigningqueenofwords​ @flowerbunbunny​ @zelda2248​ @misz-adrii​

[iamknicole]

House Party

Bloodline Family Series

Parties were pretty much an every weekend thing for Eli, Koda and Milo. Sometimes during the week too. But they never had their own. For almost a month, the cousins planned their party. Trinity and Jimmy were going to be out of town about an hour away, all their siblings were going to be with Grandpa King and Nana. Koda and Milo weren't sure where their parents would be but they knew they'd take the alone time.

"You're really gonna use Auntie Trin's glass punch bowl? Didn't we buy one from the store?" Milo asked walking into the kitchen.

Eli shrugged. "It was cracked. This is good, she never uses it anyway."

Milo shrugged emptying the snacks into the other party bowls they'd brought. Koda was lining sodas up on the counter.

"I found the beer your dad hid in the garage," Koda laughed.

"Cool, he won't even realize they're gone. Is ya friend still gonna dj, Lo?"

Milo nodded going to throw his trash away.

"Yeah, he should be here in a few. Did you remember to lock the doors upstairs?"

"Ummm, yeah, I think I did. I'll check in a few."

The furniture was moved out of the way, the dj was set up, snacks and drinks were out and the boys were dressed. Fortunately for them, their parents had actually called them to check on them so they didn't have to worry about that being a problem.

A couple hours later, Eli's house and backyard was full of people, classmates, friends from other schools and a lot of people they didn't know. They were enjoying themselves much more since it was their party.

While his cousins danced Koda was by the dj area, taking pictures and videos of them. The more Milo danced the harder he laughed. Going over to them he joined in on their vibe, it was contagious.

Eli continued to dance and looked around the party feeling eyes on him. When he caught the eyes of the girl watching him, he smiled then tapped his cousins.

"I'll be back, I think i spotted my situation for tonight," Eli said staring at the girl.

Koda laughed, "Handle your business, cuz."

"Hoe ass boy," Milo joked.

After slapping hands with his cousins, Eli crossed the party to get to his girl. He snuck up behind her putting his hands on her hips.

"What's up, beautiful? I don't think we've met." He whispered in her ear.

The girl turned around and smiled at him. "We haven't but I know who you are."

"Is that right?" Eli smirked.

"That's right, Eli. I'm Suzy. Now that we're acquainted I wanna see if what I heard is true."

Licking his lips, Eli looked around the room for a moment them back down at Suzy. "Damn you don't waste time but if that's what you want. Follow me."

Milo hit Koda's arm and pointed to Eli, who was climbing the stairs with Suzy behind him. Koda watched them, he couldn't help but laugh.

"That's your hoe ass cousin, Lo." Koda joked.

While the cousins enjoyed their party, Trinity was waiting on the hotel bed for Jimmy to get out of his shower after their date. They decided to take a two day trip to Tampa just because. Trinity checked her texts, her emails then the vivint app. It kept sending her notifications from the doorbell camera. She had been ignoring it figuring Eli and his cousins were going somewhere but it was over 50 plus notifications.

As she looked through the stills from the camera her anger boiled over. She knew these boys were into doing some bad shit but to have a party was something new.

Jimmy came from the bathroom immediately noticing his wife's frown.

"Damn, did I take too long?" He asked jokingly.

"I think," she paused taking a deep breath, "No. Your son and his cousins are having a party."

Jimmy sat on the bed beside her laughing, "They always go to parties. No big deal."

Dropping her phone in her lap, Trinity turned to look at her husband. "No, fool. Your son and his cousins are having a party in our house."

"The hell you mean he having a party? In my house? I known you playin."

Trinity tossed her phone to him, "Look at the pictures. All those kids going in our house with bottles and shit. What does that look like to you?"

Taking the phone, Jimmy looked through the stills his jaw clenching after every picture. He gave her the phone back then went to put his clothes and shoes on.

"Get dressed and packed, we goin back. Ima kill his ass and his damn cousins too," he huffed loudly.

Once the couple got on the road, they called the other two couples to let them know what their kids were up to. They were going to wait for Trinity and Jimmy to get back in town before going to confront their kids.

Meeting up two houses down, the parents stood together fussing about their children. They could hear the loud ass music from where they were standing and it only pissed them off more. Meanwhile inside the house, Eli was still upstairs, Koda was dancing with Parker and Milo in the backyard with Aunni and their other friends.

"Okay, I'm over waiting. Can we go snatch these lil bad asses up or what?" Apryl complained.

"I'm sayin," Kandice agreed, "That lil slow ass boy is gon wish he took his ass to that farm when I'm done."

The men followed their wives to the house and inside, Apryl was in front pushing the teenagers out of her way, Trinity and Jandoce glaring at any of them who looked like they wanted to say something back.

One of the girls stopped dancing and smiled at the parents. "Mrs, Reigns," she screamed over the music. "I didnt know you guys were coming!"

"Girl, get out my way," Kandice demanded pushing the girl out the way.

Jey saw where the DJ was and headed over to him. Roman spotted Koda while Jimmy looked around for Eli and found him leaving against the banister on the second floor talking to a girl. Apryl eyed the party goers, Kandice and Trinity went to the kitchen.

Roman grabbed Koda by the back of his shirt, yanking him away from Parker. Koda snatched away prepared to fight whoever it was, his face softened realizing it was his father.

"Fuck," Koda mumbled not taking his eyes off Roman.

Jey slammed the laptop the DJ was using closed and glared at the young boy daring him to say something. When the music stopped everyone looked to set what the problem was except Koda, he didn't move. Noticing the issue, Eli started to descend the stairs stopping in the middle when he saw Jimmy staring at him.

The teenagers started to complain about their being no music which angered the parents especially Apryl, who still hadn't found her son.

"Shut up! Where is Adrian?" Apryl yelled. They. stood dumbfounded staring at her making her suck her teeth. "Where the hell is Milo?"

Again, nothing.

Apryl nodded, "Oh so nobody knows where his light bright ass is? That's fine, so since no one knows I guess I'll start beating ass till someone talks."

About ten of the kids blurted out that he was outside prompting Jey to head that way. Jimmy and Roman continued to stare at their sons.

"Get yall asses out now and off anything is missin out of this house, I'll visit each of you personally until I find it." Apryl threatened loudly.

Kandice came out of the kitchen to stand beside her cousin. "Leave, now!"

The teens rushed out of the house as quickly as they could, trying to avoid getting too close to the parents. Eli tried to scoot pass his dad but Jimmy stepped on front of him. The ones in the backyard were long gone when they saw Jey. A few minutes later after the house was clear, Jey came walking back in the house with Milo behind him.

Trinity rushed out of the kitchen towards her son and snapped the back of his head making him flinch. "Not only did you have a damn party but you used my good dish! And one of your lil friend broke it!"

Eli moved back from her with his hands up. "My bad, I ain't think it would get broken."

Sliding her sandal off, Trinity started to hit her son with it, gushing with each hit. "These bad ass kids in my house tearing my damn house up."

Koda took a step back, Roman took a step forward. Koda did it again and Roman followed.

"Boy, if you take one more step away from your daddy it better be to run," Kandice spat.

"Why the hell would you participate in this, Adrian? You know my elevator don't go all the way up and neither does your daddy's." Apryl said moving closer to her frightened son. "Look at this mess, Adrian. Trash everywhere, shit is broken and is that beer and weed I smell on you?"

"No!" All three boys answered.

"We had a beer or two but we wasn't smoking, Auntie," Eli spoke up.

"Shut. Up." Trinity said through gritted teeth. "She wasn't talking to you."

Jimmy folded his arms across his chest, "How the he would you know what they did? You had your ass upstairs laid up with somebody daughter."

"Whose idea was this party?" Kandice asked.

"Who was it?" Roman barked.

The boys jumped and all three started to talk away the same time.

"Okay, okay, okay," Kandice yelled. "One at a time."

"Me and Koda," Eli said looking down.

"No," Apryl said shaking her head, "No, it wasn't. Try that again. Who?"

Koda nodded scratching his arm. "It was us, Auntie. It was me and Eli."

"Stop that lyin, Makai," Kandice warned in a low voice.

"I'm not lying," Koda stressed.

Roman eyed his son, "Do you really wanna piss me off more than I already am, Koda? Is that what you really wanna do?"

"N-no, sir. But I," Koda stuttered.

"It wasn't your idea or Eli's," Jey added. "It was Milo. Wasn't it, Milo?"

"Yes, sir." He mumbled quietly.

Apryl laughed to herself. "Its almost 3 in the morning and we're tired. We're gonna go upstairs and go to bed. You three stay down here, we'll finish this in the morning."

Eli raised his hand a bit, "But my room is up there."

"Not tonight it isn't," Trinity said smartly.

"Why are we stayin down here," Koda asked quickly.

"Cause you're gonna clean this house up before we get up. Don't even think about napping or going to sleep before this house is spotless," Kandice warned looked at all three boys.

Koda sucked his teeth and quickly regretted it, feeling his father chop his chest.

"Don't try me, Koda. You know better," Roman told him.

The parents went upstairs leaving their kids without a second glance. The boys didn't move right away until they heard the bedroom doors slam. They knew they going to have a long night and day.

[id-rather-be-an-outsider]

Sunflower Dreams | pt I

Aaron Davis (Spiderverse) x Reader

word count: 1757 (or about that, I made some tweaks after I copy pasted it here so uh.... rough guestimate?)

summary: when young and educated y/n’s given the opportunity of a lifetime, she plans accordingly. her life is finally starting to be perfect, until suddenly, it’s not anymore. her friendly neighborhood bachelor, Aaron Davis, helps her pick up the pieces, as she unknowingly makes him see that there’s more to life than being a villain.

a/n: I decided to write this story bc Aaron Davis gets no love, which is crazy to me, and because I had a little idea cooking up in my head that I thought would be a good story. I took a lot of inspiration for the protagonist from my own life, but you’re only gonna hear slivers of it for now. I have no idea how many chapters this is gonna be, but like. I hope someone enjoys this, bc I know I will enjoy writing it. also. I wrote this story from my perspective, so when I imagine the reader, I envision her as kinda ambiguous in the ethnic department (I’m mixed but white-presenting), but she can be whatever ya’ll want her to be. lightskin, darkskin, anything. okay. Imma let ya’ll read now haha jk I also gotta say, HELL YEA I USED TREVANTE RHODES AS MY PERSONAL FANCAST FOR AARON DAVIS, THAT MAN IS FWOINE AIN’T NOBODY FINNA TELL ME ANY DIFFERENT FUCK OUTTA HERE

    I didn’t make a big deal about moving to New York to pursue my Masters. Already had my Bachelors in Business Administration with a minor in Fine Arts, just got my Bachelors in Education, and now I was ready to chase after my Masters. It only made sense to take the opportunity. How often are you gonna be offered a full ride in exchange for opening your own business in Brooklyn upon graduation, with the funding necessary to do so? Once it took off, I’d return to Tacoma and pay the city my gratitude for making me who I was.

     As I was saying, it was a quiet departure. Thank God I’m a minimalist, otherwise I would’ve had a LOT more items to bring with me. My boyfriend and I packed all my belongings and made the trek across the US after saying goodbye to my family and friends. He was driving. We held hands all the way there. Sometimes speaking, sometimes not.

     When we got to my new home, I already had a parcel of mail waiting for me from my university. After we took up the first load, we sat down on my empty floor and opened it. It welcomed me home and had a map, coffee shops and fun places circled for me to go visit. It was sweet.

     By noon we had everything in my unit thanks to a friendly neighbor named Aaron Davis and his nephew, a funny kiddo named Miles who reminded me of why I came to New York in the first place, and by the evening we had everything unpacked. We walked to a Starbucks and had coffee and sandwiches, now sitting on my bed with our stomachs full. The window was open, the faint beeps and honks of traffic coming from far below.

     We curled up into each other. “I fucking hate this,” I said. “It’s not fair.”

     “I know. I do too. And you know I would stay here with you if I could, but I’m still having no luck finding a job here.”

     “Fuck finding a job, I’ll be the breadwinner of the family,” I laughed, even though I was serious. He knew I was.

     “I can’t burden you like that financially. I promise, as soon as I land an interview, you’re gonna be the first to know. And as soon as I get hired, I’m showing up on your doorstep.” He kissed my forehead. “I don’t say it near enough, but I love you, and I’m so proud of you.”

     “I love you too. And thank you. It’s like, my entire life is falling perfectly into place, all but- well- except for you.”

     “We’ll get there, I promise. For now, just finesse every man or woman here who will buy you dinner, and try to have fun.” He rubbed my back, continuing, “You’ve never dated anyone but me, so... take it as your opportunity to learn about what you like, and once we’re together again, we can find a way to fit any new and quirky tastes you find you have into the relationship. But-“ His hand moved down quick and slapped my ass, squeezing it and illiciting an ‘ow’ of protest from me- “This is still mine, so no fucking, or else I’ll be doing more beating than just beating that pussy up.”

     I laughed and said, “You fuckin’ freak.”

     “Yea, but you like that shit.” He said confidently.

     “Shut the fuck up, why you gotta be so loud about what we do when the window’s open?” I gave him a light punch, then whispered in his ear, “But aye, like, I won’t deny it.”

     “Good, because that would’ve been real awkward after I’ve been in them guts for four years straight.” Then he lowered his voice. “Speaking of which, I’m trynna be in them once more tonight and tomorrow morning.”

     “I dOn’T hAvE aS HiGh Of A sEx dRiVe As YoU!” I mocked him in my best Spongebob voice. “Always lyin for why?”

     He pulled me on top of him and kissed me, his way of telling me to shut up nicely. “Shhhh, I’m just trynna make the most of the time we have left before I have to go back to Tacoma.”

     “But you don’t have to go,” I said, “You can stay here-“

     He cut me off with a series of kisses, “I already-“ “-bought-“ “-the tickets-“ “-so I actually do kinda have to.” He wrapped his arms around me, petting my hair. He always said I had the softest curls he’d ever touched.

     “I just wish you could stay,” I whispered. “We’ve already made it through so much, each of us on our own and then together, I just-“ I cut myself off. The tears welled up in my eyes, threatening to spill over. “-I just-“

     “Baby, say it. If your overthinker brain is gonna torture you with this, I wanna hear it so I can put those thoughts to rest.”

     “I just keep thinking that something’s gonna happen to you and I’m gonna lose you. The very idea of that terrifies me, and makes me want to weep-“ I go cross eyed as I watch a tear fall from my eye and trail down my nose- “-because I don’t know how to live without you. And I mean that in a couple ways.”

     “Well... I’m not leaving you forever. I’m coming back here as soon as possible, I’m gonna talk to you on Discord every chance I get, I’m gonna call you every day,  and I’m gonna go to sleep every night dreaming that I’m here with you. For all we know, I could be coming back here in less than a month.” He tilted my chin up to look in my eyes. “Even if I’m not physically present, I’m always gonna be here. You’re never alone.”

     “I love you.”

     “I love you too.”

     In the morning, we slept in late and cuddled until he absolutely had to get up. We both hopped in the shower and he put on his airport clothes while I pulled on a pale, lemon yellow sweatsuit with a white gold chain to match. Gotta let these hoes know, I outdress them even on my bummy days.

     The ride to the airport was a back and forth between us kissing at red lights and screaming out different lyrics from XXXTentacion, Post Malone, JUICE WRLD and whoever the hell else we felt like listening to as we drove, much like we did since the beginning of our relationship.

     When we got there, we took our time saying goodbye since he didn’t have to stress too much about baggage check. We said we loved each other, once I couldn’t see him anymore I called him and we talked while I drove back to my new home and he waited for his flight, and then he was called to board so we got off the phone, but not before he promised me that he would call me as soon as he landed.

     When I got home, I stopped by the mailbox to see if I had anymore mail and simultaneously checked my Instagram, seeing a flurry of notifications. Suddenly, his mom called me.

     “Hi mom, what’s up? Are you okay?” I said as I scrolled through my Instagram, trying to make sense of all the digital confusion.

     She sniffled.

     “Mom, what happened?”

     “Check the news, babygirl... have you not seen it yet?”

     “Uh, no, I haven’t, but I’ll check it out right now,” I said, putting her on speakerphone.

     She started sobbing, saying “I’m so sorry, baby, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have called you like this, but I wanted to be the one to tell you.”

     And that’s when I saw my worst fears in a news article:

NYC - Sea Bound Plane Crashes, No Survivors

A horrific accident has happened today, and experts are still struggling to find out how - a plane headed to Seattle malfunctioned mid-flight, claiming the lives of everyone on board. Many of the victims have already been identified by their families, not by looks, but by the identification on their bodies at the time of the incident. Below this article are photos of the bodies. If you think you can identify one of them, contact...

     I couldn’t finish reading. I scrolled and saw the bodies, all of them mangled and torn apart, almost unrecognizable as humans. Hearing his mom say ‘he’s dead’ over and over again as I stared at the pictures made me lose my stomach.

     Up came all of my breakfast, and whatever Starbucks I hadn’t yet digested from the night before.

     “Mama, I love you, but I have to call you back later-“ a pause as I threw up again. “I’m physically sick. I’m so sorry,” I sobbed the last sentence, and after hearing a teary goodbye from the other end, hung up. I’d dropped my mail the first time and only now noticed that it was covered in my mess. I didn’t care. I started crying, which was a mistake, because it only made me throw up more, this time nothing but bile.

     “Hey, are you okay?” I whipped around, facing Aaron Davis, the friendly man from the day before.

     “I- I’m sick.” I said, and immediately burst into tears. “Please help me.” Those three words rarely ever left my mouth, but even I know when I can’t do something on my own. He put his keys in his pocket and reached out to me.

     Mere minutes later, I was in my unit, crouched over the toilet, heaving. Aaron had guided me there, holding my hair out of my face as I continued to puke. He called management and told them what happened, and he told me they were already cleaning it up.

     “Listen... I know it’s not my place to say anything, seeing as I’m just your neighbor, but...” He rubbed the back of his neck as he was crouched beside me. “I overheard the phone call. And I overheard the conversation you had with your boyfriend last night. He loved you.”

     “I know he did.” I said, because it was true.

     “I just... look, if you need anything, I’m here. I know you‘re hurting a lot right now, and I know you may want nothing but for everyone to leave you alone, especially the new dude who isn’t minding his business, but if you need anything, I’m here. And Imma check up on you. You’re not alone. You’re never alone.”

     I laughed, but it held no real warmth. “He said that last part to me yesterday night.”

     “He was right. And still is.”

[atombombbagel]

romanced companions and sole have a massive fight and break up: how companions deal w it and how they react whenever they see sole afterwards??? (extra angsty w danse & mac pls i love them)

I’m so sorry it took me so long to get to all of these reactions, I feel extremely bad about it :(

ANGST AHEAD, this is very very over exaggerated…

Also, I know in the ask it says ‘how do companions deal with it and how do they reactafter they see Sole afterwards’ but I’m leaving that to part two (because Ihave another request to tie in, hope that’s okay)

Trigger warning; mentions of drug use.

 In gamespoilers, just in case you haven’t finished the game or what not - (Blind Betrayal, The Nuclear Option, Far Harbour DLC)

Hope you enjoy! 

Cait:Another one. Cait slammed the mirrored cupboard door closed, nearly shatteringthe glass. This was the last straw; her blood was boiling, and she hadn’t seenmuch action in weeks. She could barely control her rage. She stormed from thebathroom and into the bedroom where Sole was getting dressed.

“D’ya have te keep thisjunk lyin’ around the house?” Cait asked angrily. Throwing a psycho needle ontothe bed. “That’s not the only thing in the cupboard Sole. Why would ye keep theseinside the house when ye know my past.” She was visibly angry at this point.Sole turned around and looked down at the bed.

“I’m going to get rid ofthem, we pick so much junk up I forget to sell-”

“SELL THEM!?” Cait boomed,her Irish accent getting thicker. “Why would ye sell them knowing what they do.Get rid of them!” She put her hands on her hips, shaking her head.

“I think you’re beingunreasonable, imagine the money we could make-”

“Are ye thick Sole?” Caitfurrowed her eyebrows, cutting Sole off again.

“What are you so worried yourold junkie ways will return. Relax.” Sole snapped.  

“FUCK YOU.” Cait Shouted beforehuffing. “D’ya know what I can’t do this. I’m out.  You’re a fuckin’ asshole.” Cait threw herhands up before spinning around on her heel and walking hot feet out the door.

She does her best to avoidSole after she left them, because she knows full well if she saw them, she’d eitherjump their bones or punch them in the face. She wants to do neither.

Curie:“Oh no!” Curie whisper-yelled as she watched the poor settler getting mutilatedby ruthless raider. “We have to help them!” she turned to Sole who was alsowatching the horrible sight in front of them.

“We can’t, we’ll giveaway out position.” Sole hated that they couldn’t help. “There are too many ofthem, if we go in guns blazing, we’ll end up like that poor soul.” Curie knewthat there wasn’t much they could do, but it was in her nature to be caring.She had to do something. She got up attempting to go in there but Sole grabbedher and carried her away. “What are you doing?!” Sole snapped at Curie.

“Why did you stop me!They need me!”

“That was a suicide mission!I’m sorry but he was as good as dead.” Sole didn’t mean to sound so harsh, butthey couldn’t take back the words now.

“What happened to theminutemen being of the people, for the people?!”Curie questioned. Sole was taken aback by Curie’s tone of voice.

“There wouldn’t be anyminutemen if we all went on missions like that. We must pick out fights!” Soleshook their head. “I can’t lose you.”

“You may not have lost mein death, but you’ve lost me as a partner.”

“What do you mean?” Soleasked, their forehead creasing.

“You’ve changed. Those poorpeople. You would’ve helped them but now I’m not so sure.” Curie sighed. “Ihave to go.”        

Danse:The loud explosion reverberated through the sky, it would have alerted anyonefor miles and miles. So, when Danse heard the commotion he rushed outside, hiseyes scanning the mess in disbelief. It was gone. Metal and fiery rain. Whocould do this?

Danse lifted his head ashe heard the ding of the elevator, alight smile appearing on his lips as he saw Sole appear from the doors. Sole didn’tshare the same expression. He furrowed his brows.

“Sole? Are you alright?” Heasked, now filled with worry. Sole just looked at him for a moment, trying tobuild up the courage to tell him. They knew this was going to be bad.

“I had to do it. I didn’thave a choice. I’m sorry,” Sole said quietly, unable to look the taller man in theeye.

“What did you do?” Danse’sworry was exacerbated by Sole’s cryptic words.

“The Prydwen. The Elder,he didn’t give me a choice.” Sole swallowed the lump in their throat. They lookedup at Danse for a split second, his face etched with disgust.

“That was you.” His toneof voice was cold and its scared Sole. “There were children up there.”

“You think I don’t knowthat?” Sole shot back quickly. “There are children in the institute too.” Dansecouldn’t even look at Sole. What Sole had done was repulsive. “This wasn’t an easydecision for me.”

“You murdered so manyinnocent-”

“Innocent?” Sole snapped.“The Brotherhood are hardly innocent! Look at what they did to you!”

“Oh, and the instituteare much better!” Danse fired back. He turned away and looked down. What Solehad done had made him sad at heart, but all he could feel was this bubblingrage in his veins. “Get out.” He ordered, turning back to face them.

“Danse, lets talk aboutthis.”

“No! I don’t want to hearit. We’re over, I could never date someone so cruel and selfish.” He spat hiswords at Sole like a snake would spit its venom. Sole didn’t say another word,they just left, left Danse in his own misery.

Deacon:Deacon’s secret identity was all he had. It kept him safe, it kept him distant.That was until he met Sole. They saw straight through him and tore down thosewalls and identities he’d spent so long building. How could they do this to him?

“IT WAS YOU.” Sole hadnever heard Deacon shout so loud, in fact they’d never heard him yell at all.It was shocking to say the least.

“What are you talkingabout?” Sole asked, their voice a little shaky. Deacon scoffed as he looked directlyat Sole. He wasn’t one to be messed with when he was angry.

“Remember those guys wewere scouting? The ones who kidnap the synths and torture them?” He lowered hisvoice, but not by much. Sole nodded slowly.

“What about the-”

“Don’t bullshit me Sole,I know you told them of my identity. You. You are you the one who went to ‘speak’to them.” He took a step forward which made Sole take a step back. Sole wasstuttering.

“I didn’t, I swear.”

“You actually sold meout. I TRUSTED YOU,” Deacon boomed, and Sole swore his dominating voice shookthe room. “We’re fucking done.”

“Deeks, I wouldn’t. Don’tdo this. It wasn’t me. I wouldn’t do that to you.” Sole pleaded but the agent wasn’ttaking any of it.

“Stay away from me.”  

Hancock:“You were flirting,” Sole snarled, shaking their head. All Sole wanted was tochill out in the bar with Hancock and what did he have to do, talk to thatpretty girl who was so enamoured with him. “Oh, Hancock you’re so brave!” Solemocked coldly. Sole’s blood was boiling, and Hancock’s wasn’t that far off.

“There is a differencebetween flirting and being nice Sole,” Hancock fired back. “You get jealous ofthe stupidest things. It’s hard to take you anywhere.”

“WHY ARE YOU WITH ME THEN!?”Sole raised their voice louder than usual, making Hancock take a step back.

“Sometimes I don’t evenknow!” He shrugged. “You’re over the top! And you’re blowing this way out ofproportion! She was being friendly.” He paused before adding, “You’re just jealousI get the attention and you don’t.”

“Fuck you Hancock,” Solehissed, “She was clearly trying to get you to fuck her so why don’t you go andshack up with her?!” Sole knew that they were pushing him, whether it be onpurpose or not.

“I’ve had enough of this.”Hancock pushed passed Sole, heading for the door.

“If you leave now, we’redone,” Sole snapped. The ultimatum didn’t seem to bother him, he was too angryto care at this point. He reached for the doorknob. “Wow. You love me my ass.”Hancock ignored Sole completely leaving through the door to cool off.

MacCready:“I don’t need your help!” MacCreadyaccidently snapped at Sole, and this wasn’t the first time he’d done it either.Sole being the sweetie they are was only trying to help Mac patch up a wound,only they had poured a little too much alcohol in the cut. MacCready cursed asthe cut oozed blood and alcohol, the wound stinging beyond relief.

“Oh! I’m sorry,” Soleimmediately apologised to him, but it went straight over his head, the onlything on his mind was the pain emitting from his leg.

“Stop trying to be sohelpful all the time! I can do things myself you know!” MacCready’s shoutingfrightened Sole a little. They’d never been on the receiving end of MacCready’sfury. “Just, get away from me. I don’t need you here.”

“Well if you don’t wantme around,” Sole said sadly, taking a few steps back. MacCready just glared at them.“I’ll just go. I’m so sorry.”

“Good!” MacCready calledafter them as Sole left the room, heading back to their home. They never knewhe felt that way about them.  

Nick:Acadia, Far Harbour, The children of Atom. Sole struggled to decide what thebest course of action was. Nick had tried to put his two cents in, but Sole wasn’texactly listening to reason, they couldn’t they were too confused by the wholesituation and Nick, well he was obviously going to side with DiMA. Why wouldn’the? They knew each other.

“You don’t have to dothis. DiMA didn’t mean any harm.” Nick tried to convince Sole not to tell the peoplewhat DiMA had done. All the lies he’d told to keep the peace. But what is peacewhen it has a deadly cost? Sole didn’t know.

“I can’t deal with all thesefactions against each other, all the time. If it isn’t the Brotherhood and thesynths, its this. I can’t let him get away with what he did. It WAS wrong,”Sole informed Nick, knowing full well they couldn’t change his mind on the subject.

“One mistake shouldn’tdefine a person, you of all people should know that.”

“Classy. Bring up my mistakesto justify someone else’s actions.” Sole turned away from the synth, pacingback and forth as they did so.

“I will not stand by andlet you do this.”

“You can’t stop me fromdoing what needs to be done Nick, I’ll do what is right no matter what.” Heknew by the look on Sole’s face he wouldn’t persuade Sole otherwise, theirfinal decision would be just that, final.

“Maybe not, but I can end this. I can end us,”Nick threatened but Sole just turned and glared at him. “I’m not sticking byyour side this time. We’re done here.” Nick wasn’t joking either, he had hismorals and so did Sole. Maybe they weren’t meant to be.

Piper:Piper was fuming. She had spent hours findingout all the necessary information she needed to write the biggest story of herbudding career. Just when she thought she had the perfect published masterpiece,she finds out that her source was a phoney. The greatest piece of writing she’dever put together was fake and if people found out, her reputation would onlyget worse.

“You gave me the dodgiestsource out there!” Piper boomed as Sole walked through the door to the Publick Occurrences.As soon as Piper’s loud voice shook the small building, Sole stumbled back, startled.

“What do you mean? Theman for your interview? He told me-”

“You did it on purpose!You knew this would be a fantastic story! But no. No one can be a hero and savethe day except good old Blue, straight out of the vault, sob story and all.”Piper’s rage only increased when Sole tried to explain themselves, but she didn’twant to hear it, she didn’t want any of Sole’s lame excuses.

“That isn’t true at all.I was by your side trying to HELP you, not sabotage you. Who told you I stabbedyou in the back?” Sole asked, trying to stay calm.

“It doesn’t matter who!All that matters is that you did it! You wanted to see me fail!” Piper snapped,this time crossing her arms. Sole had seen her get angry, they’d just neverseen her get this angry. “I thoughtyou loved me!”

“I do love you. You haveto believe me-” Sole pleaded.

“Get out!” Piper shoutedand Sole took a step back. “GET OUT AND DON’T COME BACK.

Preston:Preston stood in the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched Solehand over some Jet to Mama Murphy. He toldSole to stop feeding her addiction but instead of listening to him, theyused her sight for their own use, endangering the old woman further.

“Sole.” He grabbed theirattention with his thunderous voice. Sole could tell he was angry. They toldhim they would stop and here they were getting caught again. “A word.” Henodded his head towards the door. Sole gave a light smile to Mama Murphy beforefollowing Preston out the door.

“Before you say anything,I needed her help. I’m close to finding Shaun.” Sole tried to reason withPreston but at this point he didn’t want to hear Sole’s reasons.

“How many times have Isaid to stop giving her chems? They aren’t good for her. I know you want tofind your son, but this isn’t the way! You’re killing her! How could you be so self-centred?”Preston scolded.

“He is a child Preston! Ineed to find him!” Sole shot back, creasing their eyebrows as they looked athim.

“NO! Not like this!” Prestonshouted, moving closer to Sole’s face. He was visibly angry now, you could tellby the creased-up features on his face.

“You can’t tell me whatto do!”

“FINE! Then were done. Ican’t continue to support you if you’re going to force drugs into Mama Murphy.I can’t.” Sole’s expression immediately softened. Preston was breaking up with them.What.

“You’re not actuallygoing to break u-” Sole started but was cut off by Preston who was stillenraged.

“Yes I am. Don’t think I’mhelping you anymore. I’m completely done.” Preston didn’t even wait for Sole toreply before he backed away, leaving to them to their own devices.

X6-88:X6-88 tapped his transmitter in confusion, usually it worked fine, there havebeen a couple of instances where it had played up at sent him somewhere else insteadof the destination he wanted, but never had it just stopped working. It was annoying,he’d have to contact a member of the institute or find another courser to helphim fix it. And by fix it, he had to find a deceased courser… regardless, hewas trapped until Sole returned. Which they did shortly after it had broken.

“It is good to see you.”X6 said with a faint smile as Sole walked in their home. Sole smiled lightlyback at him, only X6 could tell something was up. “What is wrong?” He asked,sitting down on a chair next to his bottle of purified water.

“You’re not going to likethis, but please hear me out, okay?” Sole pleaded and X6 nodded. He was reasonablewhen it come to most things. “Shaun… Father, I do believe that deep down hethought he was doing what was right…” Sole took a long pause before musteringup the courage to continue. “But I couldn’t let him carry on with what he wasdoing, it isn’t right. I couldn’t let him replace people, destroy families. I’msorry.”

“I don’t understand.” X6said, confused.

“The institute. It’sgone.” There was a long moment of silence, X6 coming to terms with what Solewas saying. He stood up and removed his laser rifle from his belt, pointing it atSole.

“How could you?! How couldyou go against me like this?” The look on his face just read betrayal. Sole didn’tthink they’d ever see that look, mixed with a bit of sadness, on his face.

“I didn’t go against you.The institute and what they stand for, its wrong X6. But now, we can betogether away from all of this. We can start over and be happy.”

“I could NEVER be happywith you. You destroyed my home! You killed Father!” He stepped forwards, pointinghis gun at Sole’s head, ignoring the tears stinging their eyes.

“Put it down, NOW!” Sturges,who had heard the commotion, came in and held a short hunting rifle to thesynths head. “I think its time for you to leave.” He nodded his head towardsthe door as a demand. X6 lowered his gun and headed out the door, taking onelast look at Sole before leaving the settlement.

[annoyedfanfiction]

van der Linde.

(4)

You blinked awake, and for a moment wondered if the sunlight burning across your face was the same from the pane-less window in the O'Driscoll basement. Then long, dark hair fluttered into view, a blurred face mumbling apologies about the stinging in your wound and the absence of Arthur, but he was just too damn in the way.

"Charles?" you queried, squinting at him until your eyes focused.

"Y/N," he answered, gently. "Ms Grimshaw is coming back now. I'm sorry for the pain, I just need to clean this before she bandages it, alright?"

"Thank you, Charles," you murmured, resting your head back down again.

"Y/N, you're awake!" Ms Grimshaw's familiar voice breathed, as she re-entered. "Just one moment dear, while Charles and I finish this. That O'Driscoll did quite a number on you. Then I promise we can get onto the less gruesome matters of your mending." You whispered your thanks, bracing yourself for the pain to twist through your flesh.

"She's awake!" Arthur jumped up as soon as he heard the scream. "She's–"

"Wait, Arthur," Hosea grabbed his wrist, "Susan doesn't need to throw you out again. Let she and Charles finish their task." He growled, but remained anyway, pacing in front of the tent. The screaming ceased, and he heard quiet voices, yours a lilting familiarity that he hadn't heard for too long. Then the tent flapped open, and Charles exited.

"She's asked for you," he said, calmly, but he grabbed Arthur tightly by the arm before he could go in. "Take Hosea with you. Y'ain't gonna like what ya see." Hosea stood, with the help of Arthur's proffered hand, and limped into the tent behind him. Ms Grimshaw stepped aside and exited the tent with a brief nod.

"Arthur, Hosea," you smiled, warmly at them, despite the echoing wince of pain in your eyes. "I-"

"I'm so sorry," Arthur whispered, dropping to his knees beside your bed. "I should've caught you, I should've never let you go, I should've got there sooner, I–"

"Arthur!" You cut him off, pulling yourself into a sitting position, with Hosea's help, to trace your hands over his cheeks, before leaning in to press a gentle kiss to his lips. "This ain't your fault."

"But –" Your eyes cut him off before your mouth did.

"You listen to me well, now, Arthur Morgan," you commanded, your voice cracking into the command tone you'd mimicked from your father. "This ain't your fault. This ain't nobody's fault except Colm O-fucking-Driscoll and Micah bloody Bell. You and Charles and Lenny and John, you saved me. None of this is on you."

"And Dutch," Arthur murmured, quietly. "Dutch was with us."

"What?" Your tone wavered, for a moment, and Arthur moved so he could cradle you against him.

"Dutch was with us. Demanded he came as soon as Charles came back with Artemis," he continued, rubbing soothing circles down your back with featherlight fingers. "Hosea thought he was gonna saddle up but I reckon if I let him outta camp with his limp you'd'a whooped both our asses."

"Damn right," you mumbled, peacefully, resting your head against him. "You're meant to be the level headed one, old man." Hosea scoffed at the insult, making you and Arthur both laugh. The tent opened again, and John bustled in.

"Y/N! You almost fuckin' died!" John Marston wasn't a man that cried very often. But he was a little boy that had shed many tears in your too-rough childhood games. And he looked almost like that boy, despite the scars blistering across his face and the rough set jaw that you'd seen glare down many a target.

"Little brother," you smiled reaching for him.

"I ain't littler than you," he huffed, grumpily, but let you scoop him into your arms anyway, burying the few tears he had left into your shoulder.

"John, you'll always be my little brother," you replied, brushing your lips against his forehead, tenderly, just like you did after either of you woke to nightmares.

"Rude." His response was muffled against your skin, and you laughed, ignoring the daggers of pain such a simple movement shot through you.

"You've gotta get rid o' him, Dutch!" Arthur growled, John by his side and for once neither of them had even one dig at the other. "You heard Y/N say it was him that ratted us out in the O'Driscoll camp. That ain't make sense as a ploy when she didn't even know we was there!"

"I ain't gettin' rid of no one 'til I know the truth!" Dutch growled back, even as commotion echoed outside.

"Y/N, you shouldn't be out of bed!" Hosea's voice drew the three of them out of the tent, to be confronted by Y/N on the ground, her hands wrapped firmly around Micah's throat.

"I'll go back to bed when I've killed this rat bastard!" you answered, even as Micah struggled under you. Arthur and John raced over to help Hosea haul you up. You took one look at them and burst into tears, coiled in Arthur's lap, your arms thrown tightly around the family you'd made for yourself.

"The Hell was that about, Bell?" Dutch's voice made you jump, close to your little group, and you turned your eyes to see him towering over Micah.

"That bitch almost killed me! I was just checking in–"

"You have no fuckin' right to go near her!" John spat, throwing himself to his feet, as Arthur's grip tightened around you. Dutch threw a hand back, quickly, tucking John behind him, as though Micah wasn't the one scrabbling in the dust.

"Dutch, I think you're gonna have to face that whatever O'Driscoll did ta her, she ain't the same," Micah continued, lowering his voice conspiratorially.

"I'm same enough to beat you to a fucking pulp if you say one more word about Arthur or my family, rat!" you snarled, despite Arthur keeping you restrained on his lap.

"Y/N–" Dutch began, slowly.

"Don't you start this bullshit again, Dutch," you responded, icily, turning to face him fully, but not moving from Arthur's lap. "Maybe I weren't an expert before but I been on the inside now. An' I can tell you where Micah got his damned broken nose from two weeks ago – my skull's a pretty strong one when a rat like him is gloatin' over me about how he's gonna sell my family out! Or his new haircut? Burned his damn dreadlocks trying to screw around with a match, an' I got the scars to prove it. Micah Bell is a fucking rat!"

"That's some pretty damnin' evidence there, Dutch." John's voice rumbled low in his chest, and you weren't sure you'd ever seen him so angry. "How's that for fuckin' truth?"

"Dutch, listen to me, she's lyin'!" Micah scrambled backwards, still not managing to regain his feet. "The O'Driscoll's've turned 'er against us an' she's tryin' ta turn us on each other."

"An' how d'you suppose she knew you broke your damn nose while she was trapped with those fuckers?" Charles' voice piped in, as calm and gentle as always. "Or cut your hair? Don't flatter yourself, Bell, we all know she can't stand to look at you long enough to notice it." Micah finally managed to find his feet, hurling slurs at the unfazed man, before he was thrown to the dirt again, surrounded by the shouts of the rest of the gang.

"What did I say about one more word about my fuckin' family, Bell?" You threw another punch, firmly cracking his barely-healed nose, before you were dragged backwards again.

"Y/N, please." You froze, then thrashed against your captor's arms. "Y/N..." He released you, and you catapulted back into Arthur's arms.

"Dutch," you responded, after a few moments. John flipped Micah onto his back, pinning him down with a foot trapping his hands on his lower back.

"John, deal with Bell," Dutch commanded, anger burning through his voice. "Out of sight, preferably. Everyone else, get packing. The O'Driscoll's have gotta know where we are by now. I'm sure they'll want their pet back." John nodded, dragging Micah out of sight by his collar, as the rest of the gang dispersed to pack, leaving only you and Arthur facing Dutch, with Hosea fixed firmly between you all.

"I owe you a lot more than an apology, Y/N," Dutch admitted, his eyes fixed on the ground, while yours never left his figure. "An' I can't make what I did better, we both know that, but I need you to at least know that I am sorry. I'm damn sorry I ever let you out of my sight, and I swe–"

"Look at me when we're talkin', Dad," you reprimanded, gently. "I'm away for a couple weeks an' you lose all them manners you took so much care teachin' me." He looked up, slowly, to find you standing between him and Hosea, tears glistening on your cheeks. "You an' I are both fuckin' assholes, y'know that?" You rushed to him, wrapping him in a tight hug.

"I think we can agree I'm the biggest asshole 'ere," he answered, embracing you gently, to avoid aggravating your tender wounds.

"I dunno, I ain't heard John's gun yet." Your sentence was punctuated by a gunshot. "Never mind, now you're definitely the biggest asshole."

[gingers-writing-blog]

New York Bound

Chapter 1

The story starts in April 1899.

Triggers: Mild Swearing, One Punch, Mention of Blood

New Words: /

Word Count: 2,819

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"Come on guys! Wake up and get a move on! Those papers ain't gonna sell themselves!" I shout over the noise of the busy London streets below. It's only half-past seven but some people, like the blacksmiths, maids and landlords, have been up for at least an hour; and these lazy newsies are still asleep! It had been rainin' last night, so there were some puddles on the roads and pavements and the cold wind was blowin'. It blew a few stray paper bags from the shops down the street. It was only just light outside, but it's April, so what's new...

I hear a few people stirrin' from their sleep.

"Aye! Lucky! Ya should be up by now. I can't run this place all by myself!" I twist around from the window and call over to the girl that helps me run the Westminster Newsies. She's barely awake!

I saunter over to my boyfriends' bed and try and shake him awake. We both laugh as he waves his arms around blindly tryin' to shove me away.

"Come on Tommy! Get ya lazy arse up!" I shove him playfully, and he almost fell off the bed, but he grabbed onto my hand and pulled me, so I was lyin' next to him. He put his arm around me and I almost forgot about sellin' papers...

"Mornin'." He said quietly, while tracin' the outline of the small birthmark next to my left eye. He was really warm, and it was a nice change from the freezin' cold of the lodgin' house. His cute Aussie accent came through a lot in the mornin', and sometimes he would make it really thick and I would try and guess what the hell he was sayin'! Yeah, I love him with all my heart.

"Mornin'," I said back. We ended up starin' into each other's eyes. I love his eyes, amazin' deep brown; they were like the fancy chocolate that ya see in shop windows in the rich part of the city.

"For Christs' sake, get a room! So much for wake up and get a move on, ey' Cat!" Our little moment was interrupted by none other than Lucky. I turn my head around and see her pickin' up her dice that she always takes around with her, ya know, just in case she gets tied up in another gamblin' game...again...

"Right! This is payback for all the times I have to listen to ya and Smalls swoonin' over each other!" I reply, flashin' her a cocky grin.

'Scuse my manners, I should introduce myself. My name is Caitlin. Caitlin Barnes to be precise, but I go by Cat. I am 15 and I live in Westminster Borough, London. I am one of the two leaders of the Newsies here; the other leader is a girl called Lucky. Our lodgin' house is in Westminster City, which is quite near the borders of Lambeth and Camden; and it is a mess, I mean, there are clothes, shoes and caps everywhere! If ya borough rankin' was based on how tidy ya lodgin' house is, we would be right at the bottom!

The boroughs are ranked by one thing and one thing only. It's not how many people there are in ya borough and it's not how tidy ya Lodgin' House is. Thank god! It's by how much money ya make every month, and we make a fair amount. Mikey, the Polish kid, is the resident maths genius and he always adds up all our money every night.

Westminster is actually one of the smallest boroughs in London, but we all look after each other. Turf wars are a nightmare! Ya can usually tell which boroughs are run by boys because they are the quickest to get into fights; whereas the boroughs run by girls, like Camden, City and obviously here, are more diplomatic and don't want to get anyone killed! Although Angel's Bromley ain't on my list of allies...and that system ain't always correct.

We always think of the famous Spot Conlon and Jack Kelly when we need to defend ourselves. Sorry, I'm probably borin' ya with this, they probably don't know it, but they're famous over here!

There's a kid named Roger who was sent over here by his aunt in New York, he's from Brooklyn and he told us all about Spot Conlon, his borough leader, and Jack Kelly, the leader of a borough called Manhattan. He called them the best leaders their side of the pond!

Anyways, after we were rudely interrupted by my co-leader, Tommy Boy released me from his warm, tight hug, gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and we both got out of his bed.

I walked away from him while he chatted to Albie, one of the few people who actually live with their parents, but he was doin' stuff, so they let him stay here for the night. Mikey was stuff.

Yeah...

I made it over to Elise and Adelaide's beds. Those girls came over from France, just like my father, but they don't speak any English.

Luckily, my father did. So, he taught me and my mother, I tried to learn, but I don't have the right head for it, my brain prefers English and reading things in English. I only know a few basic phrases. Seams knows French though. She's the only one who can talk to them with any certainty of what they're sayin'!

"Tres bien mesdames! Il est temps de porter la banniere!" I said to them I saw someone, Red I think, glance over at them. They're new and I don't think they knew what Seams said!

That means "Alright ladies! Time to carry the banner!" by the way! Meanin', time to get up and sell the papers before it's too late! It's pretty much the only phrase I know for sure.

I chatted for a bit with Chase and how he flirted with his girlfriend last night! I know that doesn't sound very interestin', but he was either drunk or just really tired, but when he asked if she was single, he cried! It was way funnier if ya was there...

The two of us laughed for a bit. He went red and smiled, embarrassed. I left him to get dressed and walked back to my bed, clappin' him on the back as I went! I weaved my way back to my bed and kissed Tommy as I passed him.

I got my clothes out of my bedside drawer and laid them out on my bed, pushin' my recently-finished book aside. I put my bra on backwards, then twisted it around under my shirt. I pulled the straps up and took my nightshirt off.

Tommy Boy looked up and blushed when he saw me. I saw him out of the corner of my eye and grinned back at him.

"Whattaya got for me today babe?"

"Alright! Uhhhh...try and guess what this means!" There's this thing Tommy and I do every mornin'. He tells me some Aussie slang and I have to guess what the hell he means, and then I say somethin' in French and he tries to guess what I mean.

I looked over at him from where I was changin' into my day clothes.

"What are daks?" He said, with a cute little smirk.

"Ya what?" I laughed. I had absolutely no idea what he meant by 'Daks'. I love this idiot!

"Y'know! Daks! Ya wearin' 'em right now!" I stood there, lookin' down at myself. I was standin' next to my bed in my bra and trousers.

"Does it mean trousers?" It sounded ridiculous! I bent down and grabbed my blue and off-white striped undershirt and pulled it on as he replied.

"Yup! Well done! Ya gettin' betta at guessin'! That was an easy one though..." He grinned at the last bit.

"Right," I decided I was gonna give him a hard one. I clapped my hands together, rubbed them together and stuck my tongue out a bit while I thought of my plan. "Got it! Journaux. Take a crack at that!"

I pulled my mother's old red and grey shirt on and laughed at the look of complete confusion on his face. It was adorable, and he started laughin' with me. I gave him some time to think while I did up the buttons and put my black waistcoat, socks and shoes on as fast as I could. I had to time this perfectly.

The laces of my brown work boots were still undone when I walked over to him, wrapped my arms around his neck and looked up at him. God, I hope I timed this right!

Ding! Ding! Ding! YES!!!

"It means newspapers!" I said as the distribution bell rang out! I kissed him quickly and left him to get dressed. He was still shirtless and had only managed to put his trousers, socks and shoes on! Whereas I was fully dressed if ya don't count my hat.

I grabbed my hat off the end of my bed and yelled out to my newsies.

"Come of guys! Carry the banner!" I yelled out to everyone. They went thunderin' down the stairs. Most of 'em went two at a time and I'm really surprised that someone doesn't die or get really hurt every day!

"Ey! CAT?" I heard someone yell from the doorway to the stairs. I turned around to see who it was.

"Yeah, Fletch?" That's Fletcher. No one really knows where he came from, but we soon found out that he's wicked strong. Like, unnaturally strong, we had a bit of a situation and we needed to clear the main room. Fletcher just came up and lifted up a chair, Patch was still sittin' on it! And he just lifted it up like it was nothin'! Boy, crutch and all!

"What day is it?" His head bobbed up and down as he jumped to see over the few remainin' people.

"Uhhh...Tuesday 25th." I said just as everyone else made it out the door and down the stairs, Fletcher nodded to me, turned and ran down the stairs. I turned back to Tommy and we chuckled a bit about his slightly strange question, but we shrugged it off soon enough.

Once everyone was out, it was just me and Tommy. I bent down and did my shoes up and put my hat on and let my hair hang down. It fell past my waist and there was so much of it, I could rarely fit all of it in my hat!

"C'mon! Ya nearly ready?" I wandered over to the door leadin' to the landin' and the stairs down to the ground floor. The dormitories of the 'Mayfair Lodging House' - and every other lodgin' house, for that matter - were on the 2nd floor. The middle floor had the kitchens, but we don't use that much, and the near-permanently locked storeroom.

The storerooms were only to be unlocked in an emergency, and only the leaders of the boroughs had the key. Now, I have a feelin' about what ya goin' to say...But Mayfair has two leaders!? That's definitely true, but if a borough has two leaders, the first to actually become leader gets the key.

And that would be me. I was made leader when I was 12 because of some emergency from the old leader, Note; then when I was 14, last year, I "promoted" Lucky to become my co-leader. I always keep the key on a long black ribbon around my neck and tucked into my bra. I even sleep with it on because Angel snuck in and almost stole it from my bedside table. From then on, I kept it on at all times. No one that lives in the Lodging House has seen the inside of it...I don't even know if it's ever been opened before and the many times I've looked under the door, all I could see was darkness and dust...

I stood there thinkin' and waitin' for Tommy to finish tyin' his shoelaces up and grab his hat before he ran over to me. I thought he would stop next to me like he did every other day...but I guess every other day we haven't been this late. So instead, he planted a quick kiss on my lips and bolted down the stairs!

"Race ya to the gates!" He called out.

"Hey! Ya got a head start!" I yelled after him, jumpin' down the stairs two at a time. He bolted out the door and closed it after him!

"Really!?" I said, laughin' under my breath. I opened the door quickly and then slammed it shut and ran after him.

Now, what he didn't take into account, was that I was one of the fastest runners in all of the Westminster Newsies, but he knew he was always faster. I guess he just wanted to let me win...for once!

We got to the Distribution Gates with about five seconds to spare before they locked up! The Jordan Brothers were just about to lock the gates when we got right up to them and I stuck my arm through the gap between the rapidly closin' iron gates.

"Oi! Dan! Joey! 100 each!" Tommy yelled. Dan opened the gates reluctantly.

"Why was you two late?" That was Mr Fink. He is a literal weasel. He's the Jordan Brother's uncle and he is the paper distributor for Westminster. Despite bein' a complete arsehole, he's a fat man, he always looks like he's got a permanent hangover and he has a face a potato would be proud of. But 'e can throw a hard punch...

He sneered at us as we walked up the slope to the hatch.

"None o' ya business, Fink." I retorted.

"It's Mister Fink to ya." He slammed his hand down of the countertop. 

He wanted money.

I slammed my 50 pence piece with just as much force as he slammed his hand down. The price of the papers is two for a penny. So, its 50 pence for 100 papers. Most of the time it's an alright price, but if it's cold, or windy, or rainin'...then not so much. Fuck it! It's England! It's like that most of the time! Our Septembers are usually pretty good though...

I laughed under my breath and took my papers once he put them on the countertop.

"What's so funny? Huh?" Dan Jordan grabbed onto my arm as I jumped down from the platform at the top of the slope; he was standin' near the raised platform, but on the floor instead of the ramp.

"Oh, nothin'!" I replied sarcastically, fakin' innocence.

"Don't believe ya!" His grip on my arm tightened.

"Get offa me, Dan." I gave him my death-stare, full of anger and hate. I wouldn't let him bully us. He didn't loosen his grip at all. I clenched my fist, preparin' for a fight. I wasn't scared to fight the Jordan Brothers! They might be a few years older than us, but I know Tommy and I can take 'em.

Then he said somethin' that would've scared me shitless a few years ago...

"The Foreman says hello." My stare wavered and I looked down for a second, before raisin' my head again and death-stared him again. I was tryin' to form a plan of attack that wouldn't end up in either or both of us endin' up dead in an alleyway in the East End.

By that time, Fink had given Tommy Boy his papers, and he managed to get behind Joey without gettin' punched. Tommy grabbed Dan's left shoulder with his right hand and tore him away from me, his hand comin' away from my arm.

Tommy threw him to the ground and punched him hard in the face. The punch drew blood and Joey looked even more pissed off than usual.

"Run Cat!" He yelled. I was lookin' around for Joey and Fink, but a massive stack of papers had fallen, or had been pushed, in front of the door they had to get through to get to us. Joey and Fink were swearin' at us through the barred window of the door.

"Run!" I looked back at Tommy and Dan. Dan had a small cut on his face and Tommy was sprintin' towards me, his 100 papers still under his left arm. I still had mine and he grabbed the arm that wasn't supportin' the papers and tugged me out of the distribution square.

I locked the gates and we ran away from them as fast as we could, down slippery streets and across rain-soaked roads, until we collapsed out of breath with laughter on the wet, cold grass of the Victoria Tower Gardens, near my sellin' spot; I swear I didn't plan it this time!

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A/N I really hope you enjoyed this first chapter! I’m looking forward to you reading the next ones! Please like and roblog. Have a perfect day!

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 180: Deku VS Gentle ~Conclusion~

Previously on BnHA: The U.A. cultural festival kicked off. Gentle and Deku continued to duke it out. Gentle was still powered up with La Brava’s love quirk, but it wasn’t enough to really give him an edge; the two of them were pretty much going toe to toe and not dealing any real damage. Gentle tried to squish Deku under some stretchy air, but Deku unleashed his inner hobbit and fucking burrowed his way free. There was a lot of other ridiculous stuff like jacket-pulling and a lot of rough and tumble nonsense, and then Gentle had a tragic flashback. Basically he wanted to be a hero back in high school, but was something of a disaster, and was eventually expelled after a botched rescue attempt. Four years later he ran into an old classmate who had become a successful hero himself. Said classmate had no idea who Gentle was. The sting of this incident gave Gentle the motivation to study and train until he mastered his quirk, tired of being a failure. Back in the present, Deku’s attempts at trying to talk sense into him fell on deaf ears, and we were promised a conclusion in the next chapter. Which is this chapter! So bring it on!

Today on BnHA: Gentle and Deku stare at each other angrily while gripping each other’s hands and kind of pushing each other back and forth aggressively. It’s pretty intense but also ridiculous. Meanwhile La Brava flees into the woods with her laptop, desperate to hack U.A.’s security and complete Gentle’s mission. Gentle is all “I have to finish this quickly!” and starts bouncing around not really doing anything. Finally, Deku finishes him off with a shoot style roundhouse kick. He sportingly tells Gentle it was a difficult fight (which is a straight up lie but Deku is a nice person okay), right as La Brava comes running back and realizes Gentle has lost. She starts cutely beating Deku with her fists while crying, and Gentle realizes the situation he’s put her in, and that his failure means that she’ll be arrested as well. So he flings Deku away, attempting to make it look like the battle never occurred, and then he hugs La Brava, and then the pros arrive and he surrenders.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’ve read up through chapter 206 now, so any ETAs will reflect that.)

holy

wtf is happening to him

Deku’s struggling to hold him off, and he seems to be losing his damn mind

yikes

fucking look at this limbo champ right here. how the fuck is he still on his feet

now Gentle is asking Deku why he aspires to be a hero

funny that you should ask that, Gentle! because the thing is, Deku doesn’t actually care about recognition at all. he just wants to be a hero so that he can help others. imagine that

not that there’s anything wrong with wanting recognition. but if that’s the only thing you want, and you’re unable to be satisfied by anything else, you might want to prepare yourself for a lot of disappointment in life. and for the inevitable crisis you’ll have if and when you do ever finally achieve it, only to realize that it doesn’t really change anything and that you’ll still feel hollow inside until you finally realize that what you really wanted was ~love~

which you already have, apparently. so that’s great, dude. (again, just so long as it’s platonic??) I just wish you’d fucking figure it out already

maybe Deku can help him out. Deku?

okay, first of all, HOW DARE YOU with that shot of Nighteye. I DON’T NEED THIS

but on the other hand, having All Might and Inko side by side is A++. like, he genuinely thinks of them as his mom and dad. those are his parents. this is great. All Might, your proposal had better be real classy. don’t try any of that cheesy surprise proposal in public in front of dozens of other people bullshit. she will get super shy and embarrassed. what you should do is take her on a romantic nighttime walk on Dagobah Beach, and tell her this is where you trained with Izuku before giving him OFA, and you’re so grateful that the two of them came into your life, and you can’t imagine it without them. and then you drop down on one knee and you whip out the ring and that’s when you pop the question, bro

anyways I got swept up in my fantasies, but Deku is still continuing his speech here

very nice callback to that “you can be a hero” moment. you know what, I haven’t listened to the OST in a while. I’m gonna put that on

and Gentle seems to be smiling and he’s all “the same, huh”

and now he’s fucking flinging Deku into a nearby tree. rude

wow, La Brava is still committed to the plan and telling herself that Gentle will definitely win, and she’s actually setting up her fucking laptop in the middle of the woods and trying to connect to U.A.’s wireless network

but apparently she is “just barely” out of range

holy shit how far does U.A.’s network extend. is there a reason they need wifi all the way out in the middle of the damn woods? probably so the teachers can dick around on their phones while the students do survival exercises

so she’s picking up the laptop and running!

oh my god lol I almost said “you can do it!!” out loud and then I remembered that I’m supposed to be rooting against her lol

Gentle’s calling after her not to go and that it’s too dangerous on her own

that’s right, there is a werewolf prowling these here woods, don’t forget

anyway, so now Gentle is all “I have to finish this quickly!”

and yes, you do! because Deku has a fucking concert to get to!!

lol. yeah he’s a right pain in the ass, this one, isn’t he

now Gentle is losing his damn mind and he’s all “I’LL BEAT YOU EVEN IF IT MEANS DISREGARDING EVERYTHING THAT I STAND FOR, BASICALLY!!”

I was going to be all sarcastic and like “yes, nothing says respect like trying to beat the shit out of someone.” but then I remembered that this is shounen and that actually is how people show respect, like, all the time. so okay, yeah, that’s fair

AHHHHH YESSSSS

HOUNDDOG AND ECTO TO THE RESCUE

sorry my cute lil bean, looks like the jig is up

LMAOOOOOOO

THIS IS MY NEW FAVORITE PANEL IN THE ENTIRE FUCKING SERIES. RIP KOUTA PUNCHING DEKU IN THE NUTS, 2018-2019

holy shit I keep looking at it and cracking the fuck up. his face. HIS DRAMATIC HAND GESTURES. DEKU OUT HERE LOSING HIS GD MIND AND I’M LIVING FOR IT

anyway, so it’s about time he fired an air gun with his left hand! yeesh

and now he’s finally finishing him off!!

this is a total Katsuki move. rotating in midair. and then finishing with an Iida move. I like this. I like this a lot

Deku there’s no need to try and spare his feelings. why you lyin bro. “of all the battles I’ve fought till now, this was... one of them”

(ETA: but seriously though. this has to be the first fight he’s ever been in where he didn’t even need any patching up afterwards. this was not even remotely a challenge for him. this was more like a Disney Channel Original Movie fight where he was more concerned about finishing up in time for the big dance competition)

nooooo now La Brava is running back out of the woods and she’s all like “GENTLE THE HEROES ARE COMING--”

nooooooooo

ah so there is a limit. as I thought

and yes, run away La Brava! you’re still so young! you have your whole life ahead of you, don’t throw it all away for this sad old man who flunked out of school 50 years ago and is now trying to be famous. he could have escaped, after all. he’s the one who decided he had to do this for some inexplicable reason

ffff she’s sobbing and telling Deku to “knock it off” and let him go

do you think he’s just going to shrug his shoulders and be like, “oh, sure thing, my bad”

oh my god

definitely one of them. one of the battles. but uh. most difficult? nahhh

listen kid. sometimes people try really hard and they still fail. it happens. maybe next time don’t pour your heart and soul into an assault on a school if you want people to feel bad when you fail

she’s saying Gentle is everything to her and her only light

okay I really want La Brava to make some nicer, more age-appropriate friends who don’t commit as many crimes

(ETA: well okay, the age thing is apparently not an issue, so that’s good. hopefully the two of them have learned their lesson and will be good citizens after they’ve done their time. maybe they’ll let them off with community service)

this is like fucking Zabuza and Haku in the fucking Wave Arc. holy shit. how many years ago was that

(ETA: 19. 19 fucking years ago. holy shit. that is a whole generation)

and now Gentle is belatedly realizing that even though La Brava is innocent (I guess “innocent” here is a relative term), if she gets caught now then she’ll be charged as an accomplice

why didn’t you fucking think about stuff like this before you made a teenage girl your evil sidekick

omg

did he just fucking yeet Deku into the air behind his back

and Deku landed in another one of those elastic air pockets it looks like

so what, you tried to make it look like you didn’t fight Deku and you just somehow happened to end up in the woods outside U.A. all beat up? lol okay then

that was pretty dumb but also hilarious. at any rate, I guess we get to go onto the festival now! BRING ME MY BAND AU AND MY HAPPY ERI’S SMILING FACE

no bonus, but look, Deku survived a 1-on-1 villain fight with no lasting damage, the villain learned a valuable lesson about love and friendship, class A is about to slay the entire U.A. campus with their sound, and All Might is proposing to Inko on the beach. basically life is pretty good.

[kbtbb-soryu]

Revenge [Mamoru Kishi] ~ Chapter 7

As soon as I heard the gunshot, I ran towards the door. I pressed my back against the wall and peeked into the room. Kishi was on one knee in front of Aida, clutching his side. “You made a big mistake, Kishi,” Aida said. “You’re the one who made the mistake,” Kishi retorted. “How dare you speak to me like that! Don’t you realize the situation you’re in right now?” Aida held the gun in front of him and started to creep up towards Kishi. “I thought you were truly a man who had awoken to love, but I was wrong.” “That ain’t love, Aida. All you are is a pervert raising criminals.” “It’s really quite a shame.” Aida pulled back the hammer of the gun, the click resounding in the quiet room. “But my heart is always filled with deep love and compassion. So I’ll give you one last choice. Should I torture you and then kill you? Or should I just blow your brains out right now and get it over with?” “You’re a freakin’ psycho.” “Did you say something? Hurry up and answer me.” Aida thrust his gun towards Kishi and grinned. If I was going to do something, I’d better do it quick. And Aida was so occupied by the situation at hand, it would be easy to catch him off guard. He aimed the barrel of the gun directly at Kishi’s head. “You’re awfully attached to your girlfriend, aren’t you? Maybe I should go get her so I can torture and kill you right in front of her.” This guy really is a psychopath. Kishi suddenly laughed. “What’s so funny?” “Can’t believe you bought that. That woman’s a complete stranger.” “What…?!” “I threatened her into playin’ along with it. But I had no idea you’d fall for it. Hook, line, and sinker. You’re a deranged lunatic, y’know that?” He’s protecting me...? “You really think you can talk to me like that?” I silently reached for the wooden sword leaned against the wall behind Aida. “Put a muzzle on it, pervert. If you’re gonna kill me, hurry up and do it.” “If you say so…!!” Aida’s face twisted with fury as he went to pull the trigger. I stood behind him and hit him over the head with the wooden sword. It collided with the side of his skull and blood oozed down his face. “Uwaaah?!” he cried out as he fell backwards. He crumbled to the floor, his gun falling from his hand. “Minami?!” Without a moment’s delay, Kishi dashed forward and grabbed the gun. “…You idiot!! What are you doing here?!” Just as I started to feel relieved, he started yelling at me at the top of his lungs. “I just saved your life,” I replied coldly. “Nobody asked you to do that!! Why the hell d’ya think I told you to run away?!” “I never asked you to do that!” I started raising my voice as well. “I don’t care what happens to me.” “Well I do! I already lost my brother. I won’t lose you, too!” Kishi’s eyes grew wide at my words. He scratched his head, looking like he was at a complete loss. “You really are stupid, kid.” “Your stupidity must have rubbed off on me,” I retorted. “Minami…!” Kishi suddenly yelled. “Huh?” “You two… How dare you?!” Apparently Aida wasn’t completely unconscious. He sat up and came at me from behind. I moved fast and kicked him in the face before he could. “Aida, you bastard!” Kishi took over and punched him. “You ain’t no match for a detective!!” Kishi was overwhelmingly stronger than Aida. He beat him to a pulp in a matter of moments and then tied him up with some rope he found in the room. He then turned to me. “…Kid, you got a pretty smart mouth, callin’ me stupid… But, y’know…” He smiled sheepishly and rested a hand on top of my head. “You saved me, Minami. Thanks.” “Whatever.” I pushed his hand away from my head, though I had to admit, his words made me smile. “Now. Let’s see if he’ll fess up.” Kishi sat on top of Aida and slapped his cheek with the pistol. “Uuuugghhh.” “Now you listen to me. Don’t you even THINK about lyin’.” “Give me break. Why would I listen to you?” “Question. Who invited you to participate in the auctions?” “Don’t know. Don’t have to answer, either.” “Don’t you realize the jam you got yourself in, son?” “Kishi.” I montioned for him to move. “I have an idea. Light up a cigarette,” I ordered as I took his place on top of Aida. “What?” he asked, apparently dumbfounded. “Just shut up and do it.” With a surprised look on his face, Kishi lit up a cigarette and handed it to me. I held it in front of Aida’s face. “Now listen. I’ve spent the last four years as a member of the mafia. I know a thing or two about getting information. You’ve got five seconds to answer my Kishi’s question before I stub this thing out on your face. Oh yeah. I should mention that he won’t blink before shooting you, either… 1… 2… You better start talking, Aida… 3… Who sold the info about the police investigation to you four years ago? Who invited you to the auctions?” He didn’t answer. “Five.” Just as I promised, I stubbed the cigarette to his cheek. “Uwaah!” “Give me the gun, Kishi.” I held out my hand. Kishi gave me the gun and I held it between Aida’s eyebrows. “Let’s try this again. This time it’s 3 seconds. 1… 2… 3…” I pulled back the hammer.” “W-wait! I really don’t know his name!” Aida said desperately. “Then who called you there?!” Kishi asked from beside me. “I-I really don’t know his name. But he… He said he was one of the sponsors of the auctions!” Kishi and I looked at each other simultaneously, shocked.

After Kishi threatened Aida into shutting off the alarm system, we were able to escape the compound amidst the chaos. As soon as we left the building, Kuroshima was there with a car. “Kishi. Looks like you’re safe and sound.” “Kuroshima.” “I was pretty surprised when I heard you found the AID’s compound… But I never dreamed you’d infiltrate the place without so much as a call for backup,” Kuroshima said. “This is all I got, Kuroshima.” A sad look crossed Kuroshima’s face when Kishi said that. “It’s too dangerous to stay here much longer,” Kuroshima said. We heard people near the exit, so we quickly got into the car. “For now, I’ll just drop you off at your apartment, Kishi.”

After a while, we finally arrived. “We’re here.” “Thank you. Sorry I caused so much trouble.” Kishi got out of the car and bowed his head to Kuroshima. “Kishi. How many times do I have to tell you… You need to quit with this revenge thing. I know how sad it is to lose a comrade. But you know more than anyone else how dangerous the AID is. And you also know I can’t always protect you.” “I know…” “It’s time you forget about Minami. Because no matter how far you take this, Minami is already…” Kishi silently bit his lip. But I wasn’t about to let that slide. “Shut up. You don’t know what you’re talking about,” I snapped at him angrily. “This goes for you too. Normal folks shouldn’t be messing around with the likes of the AID.” “Leave me alone,” I turned my face away in a huff, feeling more and more agitated. “Kishi. Please, don’t get yourself involved in any more danger. I… I don’t want to lose you too.” “I’m sorry.” Kishi apologized. Kuroshima seemed really worried about Kishi, but it was an act. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was the one who sold my brother out.

“Oh my…” After we saw Kuroshima off, we went up to Kishi’s apartment. As soon as I saw how filthy it was, I let out a surprised gasp. Kishi noticed my gaze and cleared his throat awkwardly. “I haven’t been home much,” he said. “Ugh, I can barely walk in here. Haven’t you ever heard of cleaning?” “Cleaning and I just don’t get along.” All kinds of things were laying around the apartment and there wasn’t any room to walk. “It’s so cluttered.” I turned around and saw Kishi crumpling down onto the floor. He was kneeling down, holding onto his side in pain. “Kishi.” I rushed to his side and held his body up. I noticed his hand was covered in blood. “What the…” That must be where he was shot earlier. “Don’t worry about it.” He tried to reassure me with a strained smile. “Why didn’t you say anything?” I asked. He tried to smile, but instead his face twisted in pain. I made him take off his jacket. His shirt was stained with blood. “Just a scratch. It’ll heal on its own.” “Says who?” “The bullet just grazed my side. It didn’t go in. It’ll be fine if I just let it go.” “You should at least disinfect it. Let me see it.” “…Better not. It’s pretty gory.” “Quit being so stubborn. Just move your hands.” I pulled Kishi shirt up and checked the wound. “This isn’t just a graze, you moron.” I stood up. “Where are ya goin’?” “The pharmacy. You need that taken care of. I can patch you up.” “Do you even know what to get?!” His words stopped me in my tracks. I smiled wryly over my shoulder. “Yeah. My brother never wanted to go to the hospital after a fight either. I was always the one who patched him up… I’ll be back soon.”

After getting back with bandages and medicine, I cleaned the wound and put some gauze on it, wrapping a bandage around it. Kishi smiled weakly and then lay down on the futon. “Sorry for makin’ you do all that. Thanks, kid.” “It’s not a big deal,” I replied, sitting against the wall with my arm resting on my pulled up knee. After that Kishi fell fast asleep. He put himself in a lot of danger for the sake of revenge tonight. He really cared about my brother. After just sitting for a while, I decided I couldn’t take my surroundings anymore and started cleaning the place up. There were clothes and empty beer cans everywhere. I was properly exhausted by the time I finished. I lay down on the pillow next to Kishi and fell asleep.

I felt gentle fingertips on my forehead, pulling me out of the land of dreams. Someone was stroking my head. “You have any idea how worried I was about you? Idiot…” It was Kishi’s voice… I was still half asleep as I listened to him murmur in my ear. “Look at you, just sleeping here so defenceless. Even a kid like you needs to be careful.” His voice was so sweet and gentle.

To be continued…

Previous Chapter

[setepenre-set]

Love and War (chapter 2)

Strange Magic

Bog/Marianne, T rating

This is a story about two kingdoms, side by side, but worlds apart. And at war.

When the Bog King finally wins his war against the Fairy Kingdom, he decides that a political marriage with the eldest daughter of the deposed Fairy King will help to promote peace.

Obviously, he’s never met Marianne.

AO3 | FFN | chapter 1

The morning after the wedding, the Bog King tells the two goblins who seem to serve as his personal attendants that he intends to make a proclamation announcing that the laws of the former Fairy Kingdom are now void, and that the laws of the Dark Forest will now rule both.

Marianne makes a noise of derision as she picks up her teacup.

“Somethin’ you want to say, my lady?” Bog asks, narrowing his eyes at her.

“Oh, nothing much,” Marianne says, “just that your idea is terrible.”

She takes a sip of tea.

“Terrible,” he repeats.

“Terrible,” Marianne says, taking another sip of tea. and raising her eyebrows at him over the rim of the cup.

“I willna' have two sets of laws for my kingdom,” Bog says.

“Oh! By all means, then, let’s waste everyone’s time arresting and trying every single one of my people who unknowingly break a set of laws that they are unfamiliar with,” Marianne says. “That should really make the populace feel content. You’ll have an armed insurrection on your hands within a week, my lord.”

“Am I supposed t’ feel threatened by that?” Bog asks. “I did win one war against your kingdom already, my lady, don’t forget.”

“I do not forget,” Marianne says, bearing her teeth at him. “I do not forget what you have done to my people with your war.”

“My war?” Bog says, “I dinnae start the war, my lady! Your father—”

“You imprisoned one of his subjects illegally! What else was he to do when you refused even to meet to negotiate for her release?”

“By my laws she was—”

“Your laws! Yours!” Marianne says, “We went to war over this once, my lord, do not doubt that we shall do so again and again and again.”

“I won the war! I can do it again!”

“No doubt you can,” Marianne says bitterly, “but I have no wish to see my people broken down by constant civil wars and uprisings.”

She takes a sharp breath, looking at his face, a sudden, horrible thought occurring to her.

“Is that what you want?” she asks. “To destroy us so completely? Demanding to marry me—was that meant as humiliation, rather than reconciliation?”

To her horror, she realizes her voice is trembling, that her eyes are filling with tears. She pushes back her chair abruptly, rises, and turns to leave.

He does not call after her, or follow.

“Sire?” Thang says.

“Leave,” Bog says.

“Er…do you still want us to give the announcement?”

“No,” Bog growls, and both of his minions scurry out, Stuff scolding Thang all the way out the door.

When they are gone, he closes his eyes for a long moment.

Humiliation. Marrying him had been a humiliation for her.

He hadn’t thought of it like that, but of course it would have been humiliating for her. Not just being forced to marry the one who had defeated her kingdom, but—

Bog is well aware that he is hideous by both goblin and fairy standards. Too much one thing, not enough the other—the fairy blood from his father’s side has come out more strongly in him than it has for any of their family members for a hundred years, making him look all wrong to any goblin. But he’s no true fairy, that much is certain, no one could mistake him for anything but an unfortunate mix of bloodlines.

Far too ugly for love or desire.

Or to be anything other than a humiliation to his new wife.

That thought hurts more than it should.

Bog sinks down into his chair and glares down at the remains of his breakfast as though this whole mess is its fault instead of his.

She’s right, too; he’s able to admit that now that his temper has cooled. It would be foolish to expect their new subjects to immediately fall into line with his kingdom’s laws.

He should have asked Marianne’s advice, instead of antagonizing her.

Bog rubs a hand over his face and rises from the table to go in search of his queen.

Marianne walks quickly down the hall from the breakfast room, fighting against tears, blindly takes a turn, then another, then ducks into a curtained alcove.

She’d thought—

Last night, when he came to her room with their weapons to spar, she’d—she’d thought that he respected her.

And when he’d left without trying to bed her, she’d thought he was being kind. But—

But non-consummation is grounds for the annulment of a marriage, she thinks, a cold feeling settling around her heart. And since her kingdom has been conquered, she is no longer queen by her own right.

Her position as queen is dependent on her being married to the Bog King.

Does he mean to use her to lull the nobility of the Fairy Kingdom into accepting him as their monarch, and then announce that the marriage is unconsummated and cast her aside when she’s served his purpose?

The curtain of her alcove moves aside. Marianne opens her mouth to send whoever it is away, and then finds herself unable to speak for outrage as Roland steps into the alcove with her.

“Buttercup—”

Marianne slaps him. It’s only a slap because of the size of the alcove, if it had been a bit bigger, she would have had room for a full punch.

“Go. Away. You absolute—”

“Now, Marianne, don’t be so upset,” Roland says, his tone coaxing. “I’m here to help you.”

“I don’t need your help,” Marianne hisses, but Roland just gives her his most charming smile.

“You don’t need the help of the man who commands the entire fairy army?” he drawls.

Marianne freezes.

“Oh, come on, Marianne, I know you,” Roland says, “You’d never take somethin’ like this wedding lyin’ down unless you had a plan. And I just wanted to let you know,” he twists his finger in the curl that falls over his brow, “that you can count on me, when the time comes.”

Marianne doesn’t know how to answer.

“Just think about it, Buttercup,” Roland says.

He winks at her, and then ducks back out of the alcove.

Marianne stares at the curtain for a long moment, thoughts disjointed and whirling.

It is some minutes later that she hears Bog’s goblin assistants calling her name.

“Your Highness?”


“Queen Marianne?”

She takes a breath and steps out of the alcove.

“What is it?” she says.

“The King requests your presence,” says the first of the goblins.

“In the royal library,” finishes the second. “Your Highness.”

Marianne straightens her spine and looks down her nose at them.

“When you address me,” she says icily, “you will do it correctly. And the correct term of address for a queen is ‘Your Majesty’.”

She turns without another word in the direction of the library, ignoring the chattering apologies of the two imps behind her.

“You—ah—” the Bog King clicks the claws of both his hands together in a gesture that looks almost nervous. “You were right.”

Marianne blinks.

“Right?” she says slowly.

“Abou’ the laws,” he says with a grimace. “It wouldna work, what I was thinkin’.”

“…oh,” Marianne says rather blankly.

“But I do want a single law code for the kingdom,” he says, wings moving in a quick, repressed flutter. “So I was—hopin’ that maybe you had some—less terrible ideas about how to do tha’.”

“Oh,” Marianne says again, even more blankly.

He wants—he actually wants to know what she thinks? That’s—

Marianne stomps down on the pleasure that wells up at that thought.

Of course he wants to know what she thinks. If he really intends to win over her nobility, then he’ll hardly want to waste his time with little revolutions. This is practicality on his part, nothing more.

She can be practical, too. Their goals align this far at least, Marianne doesn’t want a hundred little uprisings that will just use up their resources and accomplish nothing. She wants a single, organized, successful coup.

“We should go through the laws of each kingdom,” she says, “and decide which laws from both should be kept.”

The Bog King looks at her, and Marianne almost thinks she might see admiration in his gaze.

It takes the servants three days to bring all of the legal records from the Bog King’s palace to hers. They set the books up in the library, arranged in a pile beside the pile of the books that comprise the legal records of the fairy kingdom.

Looking at the great stacks of books to be gone through, Marianne can’t suppress a groan.

“My thoughts exactly,” Bog mutters, grimacing. “It’s gonna take a year to get through it all.”

After several hours spent going through the laws, arguing over each one, Marianne is beginning to think that a single year was a conservative estimate. They’ve only just started on the laws concerning trade regulations!

She drops her head onto the parchment of the book she’s reading from.

“I’ve changed my mind,” Bog says, “Order is an overrated thing. We should abolish all laws an’ live in a state of blissful anarchy.”

Marianne gives a startled laugh and turns her head to look at him, her cheek still pressed to the parchment.

“We could sleep in caves,” she suggests.

“An’ live off the land,” Bog continues for her, gazing pensively at the ceiling, “And no one would ever have cause to use words like ‘embargo’ and ‘reimportation’ ever ever again.”

Marianne laughs again and he turns his head and grins at her.

(his eyes look even more blue when he smiles, she thinks, absolutely inconsequently.)

She sits up.

“I’m too tired to think straight,” she says.

He makes a noise of agreement.

“It’s late anyway,” he says, “we migh’ as well leave it for the night.”

Marianne swallows.

“Are you going to come to my rooms tonight?” she asks.

He hasn’t come again, after that first night, when they sparred.

Bog blinks at her.

“Do you wan’ me to?” he asks.

“Yes,” Marianne says, far too quickly.

(far too honestly)

There’s a barely discernible pause.

“Ah—I will, then,” he says.

He brings their weapons again that night.

Her marriage remains unconsummated in the morning.

The next night, after they’ve fought and he has left, Marianne lies on her bed and thinks furiously.

It’s his word against hers that the marriage hasn’t been consummated; she can lie, when they ask her.

—unless they ask her for—intimate details that she’ll be unable to provide. Birthmarks—physical appearance…

She can say it happened only once, that the room was dark.

That’s probably not going to convince people.

She’s not exactly sure if she’s a virgin; things hadn’t progressed very far, physically speaking, between her and Roland, before she broke their engagement (a fact that she is now supremely glad of), or with most of the people she’d dallied with, before Roland, but there had been Helen, the spring she was nineteen, giddy new springtime love, quick to bloom and quick to die, and there had been kisses and mouths and hands, and a little twinge of pain for Marianne, at Helen’s fingers inside her that first time, and blood on the sheets when they were finished.

Even if she’s not a virgin, though, Marianne realizes, that won’t necessarily support her assertion that the marriage was consummated. Bog can easily accuse her of having been unfaithful to him.

It’s—it’s difficult to imagine Bog doing that. Impossible to picture him publicly rejecting her, saying things like that, hurting her like—

(you trusted Roland, her mind whispers, and look where that got you.)

Marianne shuts her eyes and presses the heel of her hand to the center of her chest.

You won’t have to worry about that, Bog had said to her, when she spoke to him about Roland, and oh, she wants to believe him, wants to believe that he won’t hurt her, wants to trust him.

(you cannot trust him, her mind tells her.)

She curls up into a ball.

(you cannot trust anyone.)

...to be continued.

notes: By addressing Marianne as "Your Highness", rather than "Your Majesty", Stuff and Thang have inadvertently insulted her--and have also, unfortunately, played into her fears about Bog's intentions. 

"Your Highness" is a form of address meant for a rank lower than Queen. 

Stuff and Thang are unaware of this distinction; etiquette at the court of the Dark Forest is much less formal than etiquette in the Fairy Kingdom.

I hope you all are pleased with the continuation of the story!