#but brax? brax NEVER does. he sometimes has to explain stuff to her but the way he talks is the same as he talks to anyone else

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

leela + brax as people who work in a library (can be either undercover or au, you decide :D)

oooh... I choose AU!! I LOVE writing platonic leelabrax asxhsksbdksn — this can also go along with a university teachers kind of AU, if you want 👀

~~~~~

The university archivist is a strange man, with cutting eyes and the kind of look that says he knows far more than anyone around him. Leela is not sure how true that is, but she can tell that he believes it. She has never seen him soften the way he does when she approaches him with a question; at first, she becomes defensive, because she does not want him to see her as fragile — she does not want anyone to see her as fragile, or soft, but especially not someone she works with.

The library is a nice work environment, a place she can help people and learn more herself. She gets strange, disapproving looks, sometimes, when people hear her stumble over words in her second language or ask why she does not use contractions — she did not even know what a contraction was, until she looked it up in the dictionary. Where she comes from, combined words do not exist as they do in English.

Irving Braxiatel, known among university students as "The Icicle" — a funny name, considering that the school's headmistress is called "Ice Maiden," almost as if the two of them go together in some way — seems to become warmer when Leela works with him. She never asks why, and he never truly tells her anything outright, but she senses a connection. He does not point out her shortcomings, or the ways she differs from most; in turn, Leela does not pry into his constant secrecy.

There is something guarded about Brax, but then again, there is also something guarded about her. Perhaps in some quiet, unspoken way, they understand each other.

send me a character pairing + an AU and I'll write three sentences(ish)

[picnokinesis]

UGH, the Doctor can be so frustrating sometimes! Like Dude, your girl TOLD YOU she doesnt want to completley break off contact, and you just ghost her! I understand that she (or was ist he at the time?) needed to figure things out, but just leaving River (probably in the middle of the night, knowing the Doctor) is kinda a dick move yk :/.

Oh yeah, the Doctor is the WORST. She wouldn't know a healthy way of processing her emotions if it hit her in the face HAHAHA

But like, to explain it a bit, most of the Doctor's problem is that she basically spent her entire childhood being taught 'if something goes wrong, the solution is to entirely uproot your life and move to another place and never have contact with the previous people again' - see: abandoned in the road as a child; adoptive parents die in a car crash; passed around the foster care system; a Bad Spoilery Thing occurs and she moves from Gallifrey Road to temporary respite. And then she's with Brax's parents for a while, which is actually a little bit of stability (and honestly probably helped her more than she realises), but then she ages out so she does what seems sensible to her and steals the TARDIS and leaves. She goes to uni...things go Horrifically during the incident with the cybermen, and that time she does try to stick around, but can't cope with all the reminders of everything and so then ends up ghosting Jack. And it just sort of...continues in that trend. And I think River knew that - actually, the Doctor probably said she had commitment issues right from the start, and their whole thing was very...unconventional anyway, partly because the Doctor being ace and arospec, but also because she was flitting between finding it really good to have someone she could depend on, but also finding that utterly terrifying. And then River has her own issues (see: her mother was high up in organised crime and definitely groomed River to be involved for a long time before she managed to get out) which compounded things. Which is why River takes a step back and goes 'this isn't working, we need to work on ourselves' - but the Doctor hates talking to anyone about anything; the very idea of that scares the hell out of her. So then I think she panicked and thought that River would make her go to therapy or something, and from her perspective that was just not something she was able to do. I think another thing is that she DID try and talk to Bill, back at uni, and I doubt she told her much more than in that extra excerpt I posted, but maybe she did say something else - but then Bill died. And so then I think she told River some things (in fact, I think she might have told her more than anyone else, but just not going into much detail), and she has this irrational underlying anxiety that if she lets herself get to close to River, then she'll end up going the same way as Bill did.

But yeah it was totally a dick move on the Doctor's part. She definitely has a tendency to fall back on being an asshole when she gets scared - and it's almost always in a misguided attempt to protect herself rather than because she intentionally wants to hurt someone, but that doesn't mean it's okay or that it doesn't hurt the other person. She is STARTING to learn, though. She's better thanks to Graham and Grace than she has been in the past - and I honestly dread to think what she'd be like if she hadn't had those two when all the VOR stuff with Koschei went down....

[imagining-supernatural]

Avenging Angel: Part 12

Summary: You’ve spent the last five years on a dangerous mission to solve the crime that wrongly imprisoned your father. When the Winchesters find you half-frozen on the side of a mountain, they make it their own mission to save your life and make sure you stay alive. But after five years of uncovering horribly dark secrets, you’ve learned not to trust anyone. Especially people who seem like they have good intentions.

Word Count: 1574

Warnings: None

Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 – Part 5 – Part 6 – Part 7 – Part 8 -- Part 9 -- Part 10 -- Part 11

“Congratulations, honey bear,” your father whispered, giving you a hug. His hug knocked your graduation cap off of your head. You disentangled yourself from his embrace quickly enough to grab the hat before it hit the ground.

“Thanks, daddy.” You took a big breath and looked around at your sea of classmates in their islands of celebration with their own families. “I’m a college grad. Can you believe it?”

He smiled proudly and patted your shoulder. “I always knew you could do it. And MIT nonetheless! Now that’s something to brag about!”

“Not quite Cornell,” you teased. It was then that you noticed the tension wrinkles around his eyes. “Is something wrong?”

“Of course not. My little girl graduated top of her class at MIT and I’ve never been prouder.”

Suddenly you realized what was happening. “It’s mom, isn’t it? I miss her too, daddy. I wish she was here.”

“I’m sure she’s looking down at you, just as proud as I am.”

It took all that you had in you to bite your lip and swallow the familiar argument. He’d lost hope a long time ago that his wife was still alive. But you knew that she wasn’t dead. You could feel it. Your mom was alive.

But it was your graduation day and you didn’t want to fight.

So you changed the subject. “Since you’re so proud of me, does that mean you’ll buy me that car I’ve wanted?”

“Now that you mentioned it, I think I remember seeing a brand new Maserati with a big bow on it sitting in front of your apartment.”

“Seriously? You really bought me the Maserati?”

“Brand spanking new, too. Top of the line for my honey bear.”

You threw your arms around your father’s neck and hugged him tightly. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

He laughed as you kissed his cheek and started dragging him to the parking lot. The only thing that had gotten you through the last five weeks of your college career was the picture of your dream car taped above your desk.

And the promise of that car waiting for you was enough to distract you from the sense of dread that was apparent in every line of your father’s face. The test drive you took your new car on with your father in the passenger seat ensured that you could thoroughly enjoy those few hours with him.

That car was a distraction. You had no idea that your father had a countdown until he was no longer a free man.

Because three months after he gave you that car, fourteen people were dead and your father was in handcuffs.

*****

*****

“Braxton. You’re—you’re here.” You quickly looked around the room, taking stock of everyone After a moment, you realized how stupid that was. Shifters could look like anyone. His family could be anywhere.

“And I come in peace,” he assured you, holding his hands up.

“I don’t believe you.”

Dean was probably going to be here any minute. Did you want him to take down Braxton or not? After that last few hours, you weren’t thinking too quickly, so you just needed more time. Slowly, you started moving off to the side. Braxton followed as you headed toward a pillar that would hide you from direct sight of the door.

“Can’t say I blame you.”

“The last time I saw you, you were leaving me to die.” Unless it wasn’t actually him. “Well, someone who looked like you, anyhow.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know, but apparently the Winchesters told you part of it.”

You glanced at the door, just as Dean walked in. “How did you know—“

“You told me.”

Since meeting the Winchesters, you hadn’t spoken to any Covington at all. In fact, the only person you had told was—

“You son of a bitch!” Dean yelled, having spotted Braxton. He raced over and reached into his jacket for, what you assumed to be a silver weapon, but you intercepted him, keeping a hand on his arm to still his movements as you stared at Braxton and tried to wrap your mind around what was happening.

“You’re t9? No, that can’t be.” You shook your head and turned your back on him, trusting Dean to keep an eye on Braxton while you thought through everything.

You started chatting with t9 over a year before you met Braxton. Hell, sometimes you chatted with t9 while Braxton was doing work on his own laptop in the same room as you. And you even kept an eye on his screen and he never once had a chat window open.

“Y/N, what’s going on?” Dean growled.

“Shut up, Dean,” you snapped, still annoyed with him about the werewolf/mom thing. Then you turned back to Braxton. Or maybe it was a shifter as Braxton. Whatever was happening, you needed more information. “Start talking, Brax.”

“Maybe we should sit down?”

“Then you’ll tell me everything? No games?” Somehow you doubted that.

“You have some explaining to do too,” he pointed out. Braxton waited until you nodded before heading toward a booth.

Dean grabbed your arm before you could follow. “What the hell is going on? He tried to kill you. He’s engaged to a shifter that looks like you. Why are you going to listen to him?”

“Because I need information. And I’m not sure if it was actually Braxton who left me on the mountain or a shifter who looked like him.”

“And what if this is a shifter too? Besides, if Braxton is a shifter, then the Braxton you started dating probably isn’t even really Braxton.”

“Silver hurts, right? I always wear this silver necklace that my dad gave to me. Braxton has taken it off a few times and it didn’t burn him. Besides, I have another way to tell if this is my Braxton or a shifter Braxton,” you lied.

Without waiting for Dean’s argument, you walked toward the booth that Braxton had claimed and slid into the other side, leaving room for Dean. It was time to walk the tightrope of playing games with a Covington. Only this time, you had the problem of an overprotective Winchester by your side.

“Remember that time we went on vacation in Bali and I convinced you to get high with me?” You asked Braxton. “You said you had never gotten high in your life and I said it was about time?”

“Of course I remember,” he replied, eyebrows creasing in confusion.

“What did we talk about?”

“Y/N, I don’t see how—“

“Shut up, Dean.” You were so close to kicking him out of the booth. You had to focus all of your attention on figuring out what was going on with Braxton that you couldn’t worry about appeasing him.

Braxton looked between you and Dean for a moment before answering your question. “I think… I think we talked about starting a business. Making giant inflatable squirrel floaties for pool parties or something stupid like that.”

“He’s not a shifter,” you falsely confirmed. Truth was, you had absolutely no idea. You just needed Braxton to think that you trusted him enough.

“A shifter could have known that,” Dean said at the same time Braxton said, “Memories aren’t safe.”

Well, at least they were both in agreement about one thing. So now it was time to concoct an explanation that would satisfy both of them.

“That one is. Dean, remember when I told you about the memory thing my dad did to me? Well, I spent a few months with another scientist two or three years ago. She was super interested in memories and a few other things that my dad had been, so we spent a while trying to recreate that serum, but we only came up with a diluted version that would protect your mind for a few hours. I mixed some of that in with the stuff Braxton and I took.” Locking eyes with Braxton, you directed the next sentence at him. “That memory is ours and only ours.”

A hint of a smile twitched at the corner of his lips, and you mirrored the same expression on your own face.

“What is going on?” Dean asked slowly, calculatedly looking first at you then at Braxton.

That wasn’t a question you were going to answer in present company. “You tell me, Braxton. I know your family are shapeshifters. And apparently you’re t9. What else do I need to know?”

“I don’t know where to start…”

“How about the beginning?” Dean suggested abrasively.

“It’s not that simple,” you muttered to him. “There are at least four beginnings.”

Both men waited for your explanation. Dean, to clear up the confusion. And Braxton to see what you knew. “There’s the beginning where we met in that club. Or the one where we met online, if you really are t9. Or the one where my dad was framed for a crime he didn’t commit, but I’m sure your family had something to do with, or the one where your family hired my dad a few times for shady stuff.”

Braxton leaned forward. “Where do you want me to start?”

You were itching to know about how Braxton was t9, but you didn’t know how long you had. And your father had to be your number one priority. “You’ll tell me the whole truth?”

“As I know it.”

“Start with the massacre.”

Part 13 of Avenging Angel

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[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

idk how many people would even want to see this BUT i wanna yell about Leela and Brax so here's a list of all their scenes togethr/scenes pertainng to them that i can recall (pLEASE add on if i missed anything/ you have any additional thoughts!! i could talk about these two all day!)

right off the bat in Weapon of Choice when Leela is on the outskirts of the Citadel and Brax goes to bring her back (which is interesting in and of itself, bc usually i would imagine a chancellery guard would go do that so what made Brax decide to instead??), Leela kinda goes off at him bc she's hurting and instead of trying to actually explain what's going on Brax doesn't even try to argue he just says "we need you" which is great bc Leela has that instinctive desire to be needed and to help people and he's speaking right to that -- also as far as we know, this is Leela and Brax's first actual meeting in canon? it's implied that they know of each other, which makes sense, but it doesn't seem like they've ever directly interacted before: Brax seems almost slightly uncertain, and Leela is combative, but when he's gentle with her she's actually quite receptive

the literal next scene after that, where the OT4 is all in one room for the first time (they still kinda hate each other at this point but still !!!). Narvin explaining Gryben and being a real jerk about it and Leela (understandibly!) questions if Gryben is a prison world, and Brax (who to this point has been mostly quiet as Narvin and Romana brief Leela) jumps in to both clarify Narvin's previous xenophobic statements while also maintaining the inherent questionable/negative connotations

(btw it's actually pretty important to note that Romana self-edits herself a lot when talking to Leela, especially in the earlier seasons; you can actually hear her revising the things she says to put it in terms that she thinks Leela will better understand. and i mean she does it out of genuine consideration for her friend associate but it often comes across as varying levels of patronizing. Narvin also obviously "dumbs things down" when dealing with Leela early on, but like... Brax never does that on any level. the only difference i can tell in how he addresses Leela vs how he talks to anybody else is that he seems much more kind with her than almost anyone else???)

their conversation about the Matrix in The Inquiry: this is REALLY important (and if you've ever talked to me on ao3 i've probably gone off to you about it lol) because it's layered. they're talking about the Matrix but they're also not because in answering Leela's question Brax is making a very thinly veiled allegory (which he outright states a minute later) to Time Lord society/politicians/most importantly HIMSELF -- he's actually strangely open about his morals/beliefs in this scene and i'm living for it tbh -- and i find it very interesting that even though he does directly explain what he means ("how do you know all this?" / "because i am a politician.") he also leaves it for Leela to work out the implications. like it's a very nuanced conversation bc there's double meaning in it and most people on Gallifrey seem to think that Leela is tone-deaf and can't pick up on that stuff (even Romana sometimes oversimplifies things to her) but Brax totally just lets her take from it what she will bc he believes her intelligent enough to understand. he doesn't think her any lesser because she's human.

ALSO on a secondary note to the above: the fact that Leela has a question/needed clarification (sorry, haven't listened to this in a while i forget how it actually happened) and actively sought out Brax to talk to about it?? like she knows Romana better she could have gone to her but i feel like Leela kinda imprinted on Brax and someone she can go to for help if she needs it; maybe it's partly bc she knows he's under marginally less pressure than Romana is but also the truth of the matter is that Brax was the most genuinely helpful person to her in the previous stories and that probably means a lot to her (esp. bc he acts like the essence of everything she hates about Gallifrey but he doesn't treat her the way she would expect from that). btw this topic is gonna come up again in a hot minute

that part where Brax gives her that information that might help her re: the Andred thing, even though he really probably shouldn't have done that -- it kinda makes me think about what he must have been like with Theta tbh???

actually this is mostly my own conjecture but there's some neat stuff in Spirit bc during the *waves hand vaguely* bodyswap dream sequence thing, Romana is very "!!!! Brax can help us !!!" which is tecnically Leela brain talking, so like there's the implications of the stuff i've said above about Leela having this idea of Brax where she knows he's someone she can go to for help

can u tell i'm soft for them

Leela sounding really sad/distracted when she talks about how Brax isn't there YES i'm grasping at straws but a lot of this relationship really is conveyed through the voice acting bc of how little direct focus there is on the characters. there's actually several scenes in Mindbomb where she mentions him and she outright says that she misses him during her discussion with Matthias

that implied scene with them in Mindbomb!! i have a Lot of thoughts about that!!! it's all conjecture and fanfic fodder!!! but the reason i mention this is because it seems pretty meta that out of the whole Gally Gang, it's Leela who first sees Brax when he comes back to Gallifrey and in turn she's the first person (besides Matthias, i guess) that he sees upon his return?? idk i just feel like that's somehow a meaningful detail??? also her reaction of utter shock after spending the entire episode missing him and how worked up she is when she tries to tell Romana, like I desperately need to know what happened in this missing scene MR RICHARDS PLEASE TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED

Leela insisting on going with Brax when Pandora starts hurting him and their whole conversation there is just. so good. like they're both just so soft and then when Darkel comes in Leela instantly goes into protective mode. like they just have such an open relationship bc Brax doesn't even try to be all pretentious with her, like he doesn't even try to keep up any facades when he's with her he's just very genuine and it really says a lot about both of them -- Leela is so good at seeing people, like getting down to the core of who people are and what makes them them (which is why she's good for Romana, btw, bc Romana has a lot of identity issues) and Brax is so tangled up in who he presents himself as that he barely knows who he actually is anymore but Leela can see that and she makes it so he can truly be himself and he doesn't have to hide. also she's so gentle with him when they talk about Pandora, she's very caring and empathetic and wants to make sure he's okay and i am WEAK

it's been a hot while since i listened to Panacea but I think i remember Brax being really soft with Leela when he first brings the gang to the Axis, like just sounding really glad to see her

ok other than the fact that Brax is lowkey relatable in Reborn (daydreaming fanfic about yourself/people you know? simping for Mary Tamm Romana? yeah mood, my man) there's that scene where they're first appraoching the Citadel on the alt!Gallifrey and it seems like none of them, and Brax specifically, have seen it from the outside in a good long while bc he's very in awe and he tells Leela that he wishes she could see it and he sounds sO hEcKiNg sOFT oh my word-

and once again with Leela thinking of Brax as someone she trusts for help: in Dissassembled when everything is going to crap she straight-up says that she wants to go find Brax bc he'll know what to do/be able to help

at the beginning of Annihilation when Romana is depressed and questioning if Brax truly was her friend and Leela INSTANTLY, NO HESITATION assures her that he was; i lost where i had her exact lines written down but she actually kinda goes off to make sure Romana gets the point

literally forcing myself to talk about this bc it makes my brain stall out but like,,, the Brax Hound in Annihilation,,, Leela being like "goodbye, Braxiatel... again" she sounds so sad and like UGH i always kinda forget how sad it actually is for them to lose Brax in Dissassembled bc like, it was so sudden and they didn't get to say goodbye and Leela is always losing people and i have many many feels about this scene and how all that emotion is made very clear in how they each respond to the Hound (might make a separate post abt this later if anyone is interested ::eyes::)

Enemy Lines is utter bullcrap about these two and I will never stop being salty about how they not only sidelined the very good, very subtle friendship they had in s1-4, but they??? made Leela acutally not trust Brax??? when literally this entire time she's been the one person who probably genuinely trusts him the most?? what the heck, David

I haven't heard TW3 or 4 yet but i'm assuming there's nothing worthwhile in those with regards to this duo (correct me if i'm wrong tho lol, i would love to be mistaken in this assumption)

TL;DR Leela and Brax mututally imprinted on each other and have probably the most open and healthy relationship within the OT4 and it is an absolute CRIME that nobody besides Gary Russell and Justin Richards cared enough to actually build on it in canon