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elliespuns · 6 months

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Quiet the Winter Harbor

Summary: After Ellie experienced horrors beyond her comprehension and was forced to do what was necessary, it completely broke her. Not knowing whether he was still alive or not, she slowly started to lose all hope of seeing Joel ever again. Terrified, helpless, and lost—that's how he found her when he appeared and took some of her pain away.

Pairing: Ellie & Joel, father-daughter

Wordcount: 1.5k

Tags/Warnings: canonverse, angst, comfort, fluff, found family, platonic relationship, father-daughter, soft Joel, baby girl Ellie, Joel POV, Ellie POV

Note: This one-shot of a 'story' is based on the actual TLOU game events; on a scene where Ellie kills David and Joel comes to take her away. Ellie & Joel mean so much to me. Writing them into fluffy scenarios will always make me happy. Hope this silly little 'scene' can make you happy too.

Rushing away from the burning building that's slowly tumbling down as the flames lick the air, Joel's arm is wrapped around the little girl's petite back as he's leading her away from the danger. She's trembling. She would never thought that she'd ever go through something like this. Ellie has killed people before, but this? This was different. He was trying to—was he? He definitely was. She keeps replaying the last few moments before her eyes, sobbing softly. She had to do it. She had no choice. She didn't want any of this to happen. Yet it still did, and it absolutely broke her.

The young girl who needs him right now is falling apart right next to him, and he has no idea what to do or what to say. The man Joel wishes to torture to death was trying to hurt her in ways no girl should ever experience. She's so young, innocent and fragile. There are no right words to empathise with something like this.

Instead of opening his mouth to say something that would only make her feel worse, he just gives her shoulder a gentle, loving squeeze with his hand and pulls her closer to him as the tears keep running down her freckles and leaving salty taste on her lips.

She's quiet. He is too. He feels miserable. If only if got there sooner. The anger, the frustration, the helplessness that suffocates him knowing he can't turn back the time to do something, and her little, quiet sniffs are not making this any easier on him. All Joel wants to do is to bring that motherfucker back to life, only to torture him and make him suffer in an agonizing way. Make him experience evil—evils that he had the nerve to put Ellie through.

And even after all this, he still can't believe what a brave and courageous kid she is. Hell of a fighter. He had never seen so much strength in a person before, let alone in a little girl.

When he arrived at the scene and he witnessed what she has done to the man, he knew that he would've done exactly the same thing. Except she's a kid. She shouldn't know what this feels like. Having her clinging to him tighly as she cried, embracing her, he finally realized that she must have gone out of her way to save his life. In that moment, he regretted everything he said to her back at the farm house and from this moment on, he decided to make his life's mission to dedicate his all this kid.

He should do something. Say something. He owes her so much. If it weren't for her, he wouldn't have been here right now. Feeling helpless, with nothing but love inside his heart for her right now, he can't take this deafening silence any longer. He stops and crouches down in front of her, putting them at eye-lever with one another. The freezing, snowy path sends an icy cold feeling through his entire body as soon as his knee hits the ground and his hands reach for hers, having her lift her red, puffy eyes on him. "Listen, Ellie. I er… I have no idea what to say because, honestly, there is nothing I can say or do to take away what you've just gone through." He says softly, his voice deep but full of endearment and understanding as he caresses the knuckles on her fists with his thumbs, warming her extremely cold hands.

"Joel, I don't wanna—" She sobs, her words stuck in her throat, her teeth chattering from the cold.

"You don't have to say anything. Just know that I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry for everything. For every damn mean thing I said to you. I didn't mean any of it." He says, regretting the harsh words that left his mouth at the farmhouse before everything went down so fast and he has come to realize that he hurt her. "You deserve so much more." He assures her, his huge palms covering her fists.

"Joel, can we just—"

"No, listen. Listen, Ellie…" He stops her by cupping her wet, icy cheeks that are somehow burning up, wiping her tears away with his calloused thumbs as her sad, pained eyes peer into his and her lower lip quivers. "You are the bravest fucking kid, do you understand?" He says, his voice trembling as if he's on the verge of crying himself. "And you saved my life. No one else would care enough to take so many risks to do that for someone like me." He adds and smiles, his cold hands sticking to her cheeks as he's refusing to let go. "And you still did. You matter, okay? You matter to me. I should've never left your side and—"

It's when his words are cut short as the frail girl in front of him throws herself his way and wraps her arms around him, burying her face in his jacket and weepeing softly. "I was so scared, Joel. I was so fucking scared that I lost you." She mumbles into his neck, searching for comfort in the smell of his shirt and coat.

It was as if his heart stopped beating for a second the moment she clung to him. His arms are suddenly taking on a life of their own when they instinctively wrap around her and pull her closer before one of his hands comes up to caress the back of her head as she keeps sobbing, leaving wet traces of her tears in the crook of his neck.

They never embraced each other like this before. Freezing on the cold ground, Joel's knee that's buried deep in the snow to keep his balance steady for her starts getting numb. But he doesn't mind. He doesn't care. It's the warmth of her heart that's softly beating through her chest right against his as they keep hugging tightly, quietly, and affectionately. If it weren't for the howling of the wind, he could have sworn he heard it too.

This girl means everything to him. How did this happen? He has no idea. But he curses himself for all the time he made her life a living hell by constantly rejecting her charming, beamy, and at times, ridiculously goofy personality. She might be the best thing that has ever happened to him after Sarah, and all he has ever done till now was be an asshole. Now he's going to do better with her.

Carefully breaking the embrace, he cups her cheek again. "You don't ever need to feel like you have to talk to me about what happened there, okay? Just remember… if there's ever going to be a day when you feel like laying all this burden out on me, don't hesitate." He pays her a smile. A smile so warm and full of love it made her heart flutter.

She's devastated after all that happened, but this? This smile on his face? Smile that he never gave her before? Smile that says, 'You'll never be alone ever again.' She can't help but nod and crack a tiny smile too, wiping her tears with the sleeve of her jacket. "Okay." She sniffs, her voice trembling as she's doing her best not to cry anymore. She doesn't know how, but Joel is making her feel better. He wouldn't take away the horrors she's still replying in her mind over and over again, but it means a lot. She's never thought that one day this stranger of a man would be someone that she deeply cares about. Someone whose love would mean the world to her.

"Okay, kiddo. I don't want to spoil the emotional moment we have here, but… you're going to need to help your old man." He chuckles, trying to loosen up the tension by using humor—the one thing he knows always wins with Ellie. "I think my knee got stuck to the ground, and I also can't feel it anymore."

Ellie smiles and wipes her nose with the back of her hand before she reaches for his. "You're such a dumbass." She shakes her head and lets a few little giggles out, helping him on his feet.

Slapping the snow and filth off his jeans, he reaches behind him to grab something that appears to look like Ellie's backpack. "Here. I believe you have a few valuable things in this thing." He hands it to her, watching her eyes beam at the sight of her pack that she thought she'd never see again.

"You might be old and helpless sometimes, but you're not totally worthless." She jokes, grinning at him before she flings the pack over her shoulder.

"There she is." Joel chuckles and is head over heels for his baby girl's smile, which he thought he had lost too.

The end.

Author's note: This is not an actual attempt at a fic or a story that has a continuation. This is just a silly little one-shot I wrote for myself, and the nice people here helped me overcome my fear of oversharing my privacy, so I finally posted some of it. If anyone else already wrote fics based on this scene, just know that I got inspired by the scene itself, not by any of the stories related to it. Anyway, I hope it's not that terrible, and keep in mind that English is not my mother language. Typos are possible.

#my fic #ellie williams #ellie tlou #joel miller #joel tlou #ellie and joel #joellie #fluff #fanfiction #father & daughter #tlou #the last of us #tlou fic #the last of us fic #joel and ellie #ellie and joel fic #elliespuns writes

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storiesbyjes2g · 3 months

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3.81 Guilty

Sophia and I stumbled into the house that night under the influence of comfort and joy. After so much laughter, delicious food, and merriment, we were tuckered out. I don't know what our dogs got into while we were all laughing it up and opening presents, but for the first time ever, all of us when to bed at the same time, and it was adorable. Sophia nestled her head on my shoulder and draped her arm across my chest. I enjoyed the chill of her ring touching my skin. It was such an odd thing to notice, as I closed my eyes, but I felt like it would become something I'd look forward to for the rest of my life.

In the morning, I slept in just long enough to get a few extra zzz's, but not so long that I wasted the entire morning. Sophia was already up and at it when I awoke, so I took advantage of the alone time to scroll through Social Bunny and catch up on everyone's holiday shenanigans.

Dub replied to my last message, and that reminded me I never sent him the details I promised, so I took care of that. No sooner than I hit send, Mama sent me a text suggesting we sell all our presents and put the money toward our new house. She got us some pretty expensive gifts, and Father Winter was serious about his extra special gift. Between the two of them, we likely had more than §5,000 worth of stuff! I never would have thought about selling even though we didn't need half the stuff we got, but it was a great idea; Mama always had the best ideas. When the time was right, I'd mention it to Sophia. I was certain she'd be down with the plan, given her concern about us not yet being able to afford the house.

The clamor of plates and forks grabbed my ear, so I went to the kitchen to see what she was doing. To my surprise, I found her eating a hot meal, and a platter of food awaited me. The sweet gesture made me smile. I had become the cook in our house, and I didn't mind at all. But it meant a lot that she would do this for me.

"This is about as far as my cooking skills go," she said. "I hope it's good."

"I know it is," I said.

"How?"

"Because it was made with love."

After I had my fill of eggs and toast, I got dressed and headed out to Evergreen Harbor for a long overdue talk with Maira. I understood friendships drift a little when we fall in love, get married, and start families. The situation was inevitable and beyond our control, but I hated feeling like I had neglected her again. Sophia and I may have been getting married, but our relationship was still very new, and I wasn't ready to let anyone else into our bubble. Hopefully, Maira understood that. After all, she encouraged me to go after her.

She answered the door and commented on my outfit. I told her I was just trying something new, but in reality, Yasmine and Chi Chi inspired me to put more thought into what I wore because their sense of style was impeccable. I wasn't sure what my vibe was yet, but I wanted to try different looks until something spoke to me. So far, wearing hats in winter was definitely a must keep, and I had no idea why I never wore them before. I thought my thick, long curls did a good job of keeping my head warm, but it amazed me how much warmer I felt with a hat.

I wasted zero time getting to my news, but I did not receive the excited response I had expected. Quite the opposite, actually. Maira glared at me, and I knew I was in trouble. Still, I played dumb.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"You like this girl enough to marry her, and I don't even know her name? I thought we were closer than that!"

"Of course we are! I wasn't trying to shut you out, it's just... Everything happened so fast! I'm sorry."

She sighed and fell back onto the couch.

"I know. It's no one's fault. And I really am happy for you. I guess I'm just bummed."

My stomach dropped, and everything inside tensed up because I knew she was about to pull a Yasmine and declare all these feelings for me even though she was the one who told me to move on and forget her. Maybe Sophia was right about me being a ladies' man.

"Why?" I asked.

"It's just... Things are changing, and I feel like I'm being left out of everyone's life simply because I've chosen not to participate in all that."

My body relaxed, and I let go of the breath I held. I was glad she understood.

"I didn't think about it that way. I told you before, though. You're not going to lose me. But it cuts both ways, Maira. I don't have any missed calls or texts from you either."

"I sent you messages on Social Bunny!"

"So did I."

"Okay, fine! We're both guilty, and I can't be mad at you. Let's move on. Tell me all about this lucky woman."

I started from the very beginning and didn't leave anything out. Finally, by the end of my story, I got the excited response I was expecting.

"We're having an engagement party tonight. Will you come?"

"Dumb question! Of course I'll come."

"Your sister will be there too. Apparently, she and Sophia are best friends."

Her eyes lit up like a Winterfest tree.

"She's that Sophia? What a small world! I don't know know her, but I like her."

I lit up that time. I never expected any of my friends would have a problem with my soon-to-be wife, but one never knew how sims felt about adding new blood into the circle.

"I'm glad to hear that. I need to ask you something else..."

I had thought long and hard about who I wanted representing me in the wedding party. Well, as long and hard as one can do in two days, heh. Sophia and I would have our own sims of honor, but the other positions would have to be agreed upon by both of us. I only had three potential names for everything: Maira, Alessia, and Dub. Maira had been a very good friend for a while, so I considered her for my sim of honor. But my sister had been my best friend for my entire life and would probably kill me if she didn't get that role. Dub was a good friend too; maybe even my new best friend. But we had only just met. How would the other two feel if I picked him over them? My sister had to be my sim of honor. Period. I hoped Maira would understand that.

"Will you be our flower pal?"

"Don't kids usually do that?"

"I don't know. Your niece is the only kid we know, and she's going to be the ring bearer. My sister is going to be my sim of honor, and I wanted you in the wedding too."

She smiled warmly.

"Of course I'll do it. I'm glad you thought of me."

#ISBI challenge #sims 4 story #sims 4 gameplay #adolting #adolting gen 3 #luca winston murillo #sophia aguilar #maira watson #rosie #kooper #banks collab

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espinosaurusrexex · 1 year

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𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠'𝐬 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰

nine - promises (Bucky's version)

BuckyBarnes x Female!Reader

summary: It's time to make a plan, but the take-down of Wanda's magical town leaves Y/N uncertain. Bucky is doing his best to show her how much she means to him.

a/n: This might be my favorite chapter, but I think I broke my own heart writing it - anybody wanna join the ‘pining for unrealistic men club’?

!Divider is mine. Please give credit when using!

word count: 5.8k

chapter warnings: fluff, a little awkward - Agnes, little angst, some much needed talking, soft Bucky omg - so soft!, smut (oral - m receiving, praise kink, slight overstim, unprotected p in v - wrap it up guys!) !MINIORS DO NOT INTERACT!

✶ 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕 | 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕 | 𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕 ☾

Bucky watched as Y/N moved her hand over the table, provisionally cleaning it for the map to be laid out on. She had beautiful hands, he thought, so soft and careful, but deadly if they wanted to. He never had hands like that. They were always scraped when he was a kid, calloused during the war, and, well... after he just didn’t like them all together. But even now that he had two perfectly fine flesh hands, they were rough and worn, smeared with motor oil or some other thing he could occupy himself within the house.

It was alright, though. Buck would never complain. Not when he knew how much worse things could be. Living in a huge home with the woman he had been having feelings for months was a crazy thing to be mad about. He subtly smiled to his feet when he remembered the call from Y/N and the way he had felt his heart beat slightly faster than normal.

Back when everything was okay - when Steve was still alive and when the avengers were still avenging, his best friend had always wanted Bucky to make a move on the secret crush he had been harboring. So when Y/N had called that night again, he accepted in his honor and in memory of the man he once was and which Steve adored and looked up to once. For a split second, the fraction of a moment, he had been that man again. And he had used its confidence boost to tell her that he would come with her to Westview. And even though the time here had been tough, he was glad he had done it anyway.

Because ever since the pair had entered Westview, Bucky felt a whole new level of connection to Y/N. That pull towards her had intensified and the sensation was only fueled by the need to play pretend - happily married that was. A strange thing to think about still, but it was kind of nice to play house with Y/N. The world seemed a little less heavy and the smiles on his lips a little easier. And despite all those circumstances, Bucky knew that he had found a true friend in her - even more than that actually. Sure, Sam was great, and Zemo was strangely growing on him, too, but neither of them gave him what Y/N could - which was the fulfillment of a need he had thought to have died many decades ago, frozen with the man hydra tortured out of him.

Y/N gave him comfort and love and warmth and smiles and laughs. And carelessness - weightlessness. Hell, she even chased his nightmares away and Bucky couldn’t believe how much better a good night’s rest made him feel. There was nothing more precious to him than feeling the feelings that made him forget his horrible past. Y/N had proven to give those to him the very first night in Westview, when she had checked on him, simultaneously starting a vacuum of affection that only ever wanted hers.

Bucky’s eyes caught hers for a second and when Y/N sat down, there was that look again and it pulled on his heart.

Bucky didn't know what had happened with Wanda yesterday. But it definitely didn’t ‘end’ things as Y/N had proclaimed before storming out trying to hide her teary-eyed face in vain. Bucky hated to see her cry. But he hated it even more when she acted all distant and weird like she had after she had come home last night. Was that how people felt about him all the time? Bucky knew that he was not that easy to be around. It wasn’t easy for him to be around other people, either. Which was why it pained him to have one of the only people he liked to be close to, distance themselves.

Y/N wasn’t mad at him - at least he didn't think so - but something had changed the way she looked at him last night. Before it was all doe-eyed and happy and now? Well, now it was still like that but mixed with a dreamy longing, not a good one though - almost like homesickness. He hadn’t even planned on telling her about Natasha, knowing how much of a toll it would take on her, but it was even worse lying to her. So his plastered smile faded and he caved and told her. And even though it was the right thing to do, he would’ve taken it back had he known how much hurt he would find in her eyes ever since. It had happened the first time after he had kissed her this morning and she was looking at him like that right now, too as everyone took a seat at the table, waiting for him to follow.

Vision and Agnes had joined the Wanda intervention team this morning, apparently. It wasn’t too surprising, though. After that first day in Westview where Bucky had followed Agnes in the night, he knew that she knew things nobody else did. The way she snooped around the houses, hiding her calculated mastermind behind the gossipy neighbor lady facade to get even more intel on everyone and everything. It was a smart move, really. But Bucky couldn’t be fooled. Years of training had done that to him. Now, he was glad to finally put those skills to good use: saving people and not killing them.

“There have been instances in this town that do not fall within the realm of normalcy,” Vision started and Bucky couldn’t help but smile when Y/N grumbled a sassy reply to herself.

Vision pointed at the map with his finger before looking into the circle of faces on the table. “The center of Westview is right here. Life is thriving there. As Agnes has told me, Wanda has created a hex summoning everyone under a spell to play characters in Westview. But starting from approximately a one-mile radius,” he circled another area, “life stands still.”

“It’s almost like her magic doesn’t reach that far, so she just decided to freeze the people.” A shiver ran down Bucky’s spine when he said it, remembering when he told Y/N about Natasha the night before. Her eyes were drowning him in sorrow. They were glassy again and it was horrible knowing he couldn’t help her right now.

When Vision had asked Bucky to follow him instead of coming with him to work like they always had the weeks prior, he knew that something was off - that Vision wasn’t like all the other Westviewers he had met by then. And he had got to admit, seeing Natasha had plummeted his heart like never before. Not necessarily because she was supposed to be dead - he had witnessed far more unsettling things - but because he knew how devastated Y/n would be when he would tell her. Because even if he didn’t plan to initially, he knew he would cave as soon as she laid those pleading eyes on him.

“It's not like her magic doesn’t reach there. In fact, the border is where it is at its strongest. But she just chose to focus it on the center. Think of Westview as a show. Wanda can choose what characters appear and which don’t. View the edge of town as more of a backstage area.”

“It's so weird. We didn’t notice any of that when we came here. And we actually went through the wall.” Y/N focused on Agnes when she spoke. Talking about it helped - Y/N had shown him that.

“I imagine Wanda knew that and simply adjusted your surroundings.”

Y/N shook her head with sad eyes. “This doesn’t sound like Wanda at all, I don’t know what happened to her, but she is not as bad as everyone makes her out to be.” A fleeting glance caught Bucky’s before he averted them back to the map.

Agnes just snorted. “Well, Westview makes people do all sorts of things. You of all people should know. It’s not like you chose to fake a marriage when you got here.”

The Black Widow's head shot up suddenly, a dreaded look on her face washing all other emotions off. “Wait, you know?”

He watched as Y/N’s face contorted into an embarrassed one, but Bucky just hid a smile behind the cough he pushed forward. Nothing really surprised him anymore - especially not from Agnes.

“Oh, the entire time, honey. I’m sorry if nobody ever told you this, but your acting skills are in desperate need of work. You looked about as comfortable as a nail bed the day I met you, Y/N. And I know, I’ve laid on one before.”

“Oh my god,” she whispered into her hands before hiding her face in Bucky’s arm. “Does everyone know?”

“Well, I do. But, I found you two very believable, if I may say so,” Vision added, only easing Y/N’s discomfort superficially, as she still clung to Bucky’s arm like a sloth. He didn’t mind it though. Her touch was what he had been craving all day, so he soaked up every little thing she gave him.

“No. Dare I say that my ability to see through this whole charade is because of my own magic powers. Vision knows because I told him.”

“You’re- okay, yea, why not? It’s not crazy enough that one which accidentally held a whole town hostage, there had to be another which living in it too.” There she was again, the woman Bucky found so enticing. “Why do you know all this, Agnes?”

“I guess it is time to properly introduce myself.” Agnes smoothed over the table and then she smiled. “My name is Agatha Harkness and I am old - let's leave it at that. I know you might think that I have something to do with this, but everything that happened to the people of Westview, happened to me, too. I was able to break out of it at some point, though. It did take some skills, I’ll tell you that. Even if Wanda is not a very experienced witch, her powers are astounding.”

For some reason this statement made Bucky feel slightly uneasy. He had been in countless dangerous situations before, but magic was something, not even his fists could fight against. But there was another thing freeing the worry he felt and it was that someone he cared about was just as much in danger as he was.

“That’s because they’re born out of raw and strong emotions. The pain she must have felt losing me triggered this... town,” Vision explained calmly.

Y/N’s voice sprung up from the short silence that had built between the group: “She was devastated, Vision. I don’t think pain is a strong enough word to describe her feelings.”

“You must excuse me. I cannot possibly comprehend those things.” He had turned more and more into the synthezoid they all knew with every second he spent with them. The only thing left of the chipper family father was the deep feelings he had for Wanda. Even if he didn’t know what it really was, he had told Bucky, they showed him that somebody cared.

“I know...” She whispered, her hand grazing Bucky’s under the table which made him perk up. A small smile appeared on his lips when he took her hand fully into hers, squeezing it reassuringly and taking a deep breath. He was proud to be able to anchor her to the moment. It was a connection he had only ever had twice before in his life. It was still fascinating that a simple touch could ground his emotions and clear his mind. Bucky knew how special it was, and he would never finish being grateful for it.

“God, I really don’t understand how those two acted so badly when they clearly want to jump each other’s bones so much,” Agatha muttered to Vision, but Bucky chose to ignore it and take another look at Y/N instead.

That’s when Y/n cleared her throat as if she had been caught. Her hand remained in Bucky's though, his thumb rubbing slow circled over her soft skin and sending warmth through his body.

“Okay, so what’s the game plan?”

The dusk was slowly fading from the horizon when Bucky cleaned the last dishes in the sink. Agatha and Vision had left about an hour ago and after a short conversation with Y/N, in which Bucky had insisted on cleaning up, she had excused herself to her room.

Y/N had not looked good after the meeting today. All zoned out from time to time and even shaky at one point. She was a trained assassin and a strong woman, but moments like these remind him that sometimes the wrong people were chosen for a life they didn’t belong in. Y/N was the kindest most caring person he had ever met, and knowing that somebody forced her childhood from her and built her to do unspeakable things just broke his heart. She didn’t deserve it - most people didn’t. Bucky’s hand had not left her body once that evening. Always touching some part of her to remind her that he was there. She had sent him encouraging smiles with thankful meanings behind them, but he saw that she was far from fine. Who could blame her? She was plotting against her best friend, forced to plan another inevitable heartbreak for an already broken woman.

Bucky watched his hands stir the foam in the sink water from left to right. He would have never thought that he would end up here after everything that’s happened. Soaking dishes in a suburban home with a ‘wife’ upstairs, sleeping the stress of the dinner guests away in their bed. A thought like that would have unsettled him beyond belief just a month ago. Having someone to care for - someone besides himself when he barely lent enough care to his own sometimes.

A future with Y/N wasn’t a scary thought anymore, though. He actually smiled thinking back on the past days in which their happy little family just lived in the most suburban house imaginable. Maybe his broken self had a chance at being happy forever. He could imagine it at least - with Y/N by his side. She broke open the icy layer the winter soldier had built piece by piece and slowly, but surely, fractions of the man he once was shone through the cold blue barrier. He would have never dared to even think about a nine-to-five job and gardening shorts before - not even after Wakanda. But now, he would trade those thoughts for every nightmare he ever had - though, even if those had faded ever since he slept by Y/N’s side.

The lights on the street turned on with the darkness creeping in the street and Bucky shook his head while draining the dishwater. He put out a new bowl of water for Alpine and let his eyes wander over the surfaces again. Everything was cleaned and stored away. He twisted the wedding band back in his finger and checked for everything a second time, trying to ignore his pounding heart in the process. He didn’t mind it anymore, it was more of a habit now, and deep down, he saw the glimmering metal as a promise to himself and the life he longed to have again. Now there was only one last thing to do, and he had been looking forward to it all day.

Bucky climbed the steps to the first floor. It wasn’t long before he stood in the doorway of the master bedroom where he could see Y/N laying in bed with Alpine snuggled up by her face, a reassuring hand stroking the white fur with love.

“You’re so lucky, Al,” the woman cooed while Alpine closed her eyes with every stroke of her hand. “You’re just living your oblivious life. Sometimes I wished I could do that, too.”

Y/N sniffed and it was only then that Bucky noticed her tear-stained cheeks glistening in the lamplight.

Bucky nudged the door open further, revealing his figure in the doorframe where he stood with a shy smile. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Her hand moved to wipe her tears away, but he had already seen them.

His feet took him to the bed where sat down on the edge and stroked Alpine as well. The feline’s purring just intensified with the sensation and Bucky smiled to himself when her tail softly swayed against his wrist. He soaked up the quiet noises of Alpine and the faint smell of Y/N’s shampoo for a while. Neither of them spoke, but Bucky didn’t mind. At least her tears had stopped - that was a good sign, right? But after a while, Bucky grew nervous with the steely gaze on his profile. His hand movement stopped and he forced a small smile on his lips.

“You’ve been staring for a solid three minutes... I thought that was my job.” The small joke made Y/N chuckle through a shaky breath and Bucky felt his cheeks taint darker at the success.

“I’m just thinking, that’s all.”

“Penny for your thoughts?” It was a careful approach to the type of conversation he had often with his former coworker. But even if their topics were rooted in deep issues and fears, he always felt safe discussing them with her. He felt lighter afterwards, too. And he hoped she did as well.

Y/N nodded in his peripheral. “You still mean it, right? That you didn’t want it to be a lie.” And with that, he stopped giving any attention to Alpine. Bucky’s head turned to Y/N’s, his chest squeezing with the thought of breaking a promise such as this one.

His fingers inched over hers. Hers were cold. He watched as they disappeared in his, his left hand coming up to cover them as well. Y/N just let it happen, she even twisted her wrist until she could fully be engulfed by Bucky’s palms where he slowly warmed them up. “If there is one thing I am sure about as of right now, it is this.” He smiled sadly.

Sure, the situation wasn’t ideal, but not even Bucky wouldn’t deny that something beautiful had grown out of it. Bucky leaned forward to press a gentle kiss on her forehead before resting his own against it. Apparently, he didn’t leave enough space for Alpine anymore, because the cat sprung from the bed and disappeared into the hallway.

Another sad chuckle slipped from her lips along with a stray tear that Bucky swiftly wiped away with his thumb. His hand lingered on her face, though, enjoying a warm part of hers.

The air was tingling in his ears with the position they were in - so close and true. Sure feelings just flooded his senses with every second passing by. Y/N locked a hand behind his head and pushed her lips to his. They were salty and wet but they were everything he ever wanted. Kissing Y/N was like taking a deep breath - liberating and safe. He could do it forever - he planned on it actually.

When they broke apart, warm breath tickling dampened skin and eyes still closed with their noses pushed together, Bucky let the shiver run through his body and finally releases the question that had been burning on his mind the whole day.

“Are you okay?”

“I’ve been better.” She stroked his hair with a sigh. “But having you here is helping a lot... What about you?”

Bucky exhaled slowly and placed her other hand on his chest guiltily. “Haven’t felt this good in a while, actually.” But it was true and he wouldn’t lie to her. Bucky finally felt as though he was and did well again. He would help Wanda and he would save the people of this town. He would get the girl and he would finally be living the life he had always wanted.

“That's good.” She whispered against his lips before her arms encircled his torso and wrapped him up in a loving hug. “Yeah..,” he mused into her shoulder where he started to pepper tiny kisses to her skin. It wasn’t long before she shakily whispered his name in the air, soft hands burying in his hair, pulling on the short strands, and moving his head back to her mouth.

Y/N kissed him with vigor this time - not as careful as before. Though they were still soft, her lips pressed into his with a pleasant force. She leaned back down, drawing Bucky with her in the mattress where he swiftly kicked off his shoes to fully climb into bed. He lay on his side now, Y/N’s face still closely tugged to his. His thumb moved a stray hair from her forehead while his eyes stared into hers. His heart felt so full with her in his arms. Those were the best parts of his life here: having something that made everything worth it again.

“You’re so beautiful,” Bucky whispered absently drowning in the color of her eyes. They were looking back at him in awe and with every blink, the smile beneath them grew.

And before he knew it, Bucky was pulled into another kiss. Wandering hands explored his body this time. There wasn’t a sense of handholding in this kiss - It was needy and desperate. The shift in the atmosphere had almost been drowned out by the tiny noises escaping Y/N’s lips when his thigh moved forward to squeeze between hers. His movements were fueled by feelings he hadn’t felt in years. And yet, here they were, openly laid out on display and ready for him to take them in. And he was ready for them.

Y/n’s hand found its way beneath his shirt. They were still a little cooler than his skin thus leaving a trail of goosebumps behind. His leg pushed further up between her legs, drawing a throaty ‘please’ from her lungs. Y/N tugged on his shirt but his hand came up to stop her.

“Do you really want this... with me, I mean.” His eyes were boring into hers, looking for a sliver of doubt in there. He would stop and leave if he suspected even a trace. This moment shouldn’t spring from desperation and distraction. He wanted it to be true - he needed it to be true.

Y/N nodded with a smile before her hands resumed their tugging motion, but Bucky stopped her a second time.

“Say it.”

She looked at him with soft eyes, now. He could practically see her mind clicking while she realized how important this was to him. “I want you, Bucky.”

The brunette nodded in relief and sat up to remove his shirt. When he leaned back down, he positioned himself above her, both arms holding him up by his elbows. But he didn’t move beyond that - just stared at her, imprinting every dip and line on her face into his memory.

When her hands slid down his torso again, he closed his eyes, trialing the path she took on his body in his mind. Y/N wasn’t just touching him, she was mapping him out, tracing every part of him he was insecure about, and kissing the places that Westview had turned flawless.

He kissed her collar and then traveled down her chest until he reached the hem of her t-shirt. His leg pressed against her core again but this time, she didn’t hold herself back. Y/N’s head fell back on the pillow with an open mouth, her fingers drew him back to her face where she stole more kisses from his lips.

“Let’s make it even.”

“Yes, please.” Bucky took off her shirt and unclasped her bra while she bucked her hips against his thigh. He was already painfully hard beneath his jeans. Y/n hadn’t even touched him anywhere near his aching cock, her moans and mewls were enough to stimulate his entire body.

“I need- ah.” His fingers brushed over her hardened nipples before his face pressed to her chest to litter it with kisses again.

“What is it, sweetheart? What do you need?”

“More.” Was all she huffed out as her hands pressed on his shoulder blades. Bucky would give her everything she asked for. And if he couldn’t, he’d find a way. But before he could finish that thought, his mind was clouded with a wave of pleasure when her body brushed up to his cock.

Warmth seeped through his whole body with every second he spend pressed against hers. Everywhere his fingers went, they brushed over other parts of her skin, never leaving her, never losing contact. Bucky felt alive. A tiny amber in the darkness of his mind that Y/N brought to him and fueled with her steady presence. He was thinking of her, smelling her, touching her. Her, her, her.

“You are perfect.” You’re everything I’ve ever needed. Hushed whispers mapping over pebbled skin, soft lips grazing tender flesh.

Bucky kissed down her torso, enjoying the light scratch of her fingernails on his scalp and then he looked up at her while opening the silver button of her jeans, pulling them off along with her panties. He was quick to follow, kneeling up to open his own but the excitement shooting through his body and the stringing tent in his jeans made it difficult to concentrate.

“Let me.” Y/N fingers brushed his and moved them to the side. She carefully undid his pants and slid them down his legs.

His breath staggered when she pulled the elastic of his boxer briefs down, letting hard cock bounce up against his stomach. There was a fire in her eyes when she looked back into his again, one hand coming up to push him backwards and onto the end of the bed where Bucky sat dumbfounded and curious about her next move.

“I- wow Bucky.”

A grin replaced the dazed look on his face with her comment, loosening up the air and making him feel confident again.

“Can I?” She nodded towards his groin as even though her eyes were still slightly wider than before Bucky nodded with a smile, his blue eyes melting with the sight of her before him. “Please.”

She kissed up to his hips, her fingers coming up to slowly stroke him until her lips peppered up his thick shaft. Pleasure was already clouding his mind and his cock twitched cheekily against her mouth. That’s when her tongue licked a long stripe from the base up to his tip making him shudder in the process.

“Fuck, baby.” Bucky’s fingers disappeared in her hair, slowly guiding her movements up and down. Her mouth felt heavenly and when she used her tongue to swirl around his tip, he was done for. Small sparks of electricity pulsed in his brain - his. Y/N just hummed around him. Her eyes were closed and an attempted smile tugged on her lips. Bucky couldn’t even focus on it all. He was too occupied with keeping himself from coming right then. But her mouth was just so perfect. Y/N was just...

“Okay, sweetheart. You need to- ah.” Bucky wheezed a small moan before pulling her up and to his face again.

“What’s up?” Y/N grinned, but it was sweet rather than cocky. Just a genuine concern for him.

“Can’t hold it if you keep going like that.”

“Oh, well we should change something then.”

“Yeah, I think so, too.” His hands snuck around her hips and pushed her forward until she was straddling him. Her face was so close to his again, but all she did was place her hands on his cheek, eyes scanning over his features like an open book.

Bucky let her. He could watch her do anything for hours. There was always something fascinating he could concentrate on. Like the way, her pupils dilated when he licked his lips, or how softly her lashes fanned over her cheeks when she looked at him like that.

“You have a beautiful soul, Buck.” Her thump smoothed over his brow. “It doesn’t matter that life sometimes makes us feel otherwise.” She stared at him intently, her second hand cupping his chin and Bucky could only stare back in awe. “I will protect you with everything I have. You are the best thing that ever happened to me.”

This must be what people meant when they said their hearts swelled. Because Bucky was bursting with serotonin right now. There wasn’t a more magical moment, a more perfect choice of words she could have ever placed in his mind. It was an overwhelming feeling, to hold the woman he adored in his arms. And even if it was not quite put in words, this felt like an ‘I love you’.

His brown head of hair hid in her chest and Bucky was sure Y/n could feel his smile on every inch of skin he touched. “Why would you think that this would make me less horny?”

“I wasn’t. It just felt right.” She kissed him again. “Promise me, Bucky. Promise me you will remember it.”

“I promise.” A short silence filled the room in which the pair just stared at each other. “Now, where were we?”

“Something about horny.”

“Right.” Y/N laughed when Bucky hoisted her up higher and closer to him, but her laugh was cut short once his cock pushed against her clit. A breathy version of his name tumbled over her lips over and over again when his hands guided her back and forth, rocking her up his length until she let her head fall back.

Bucky took the opportunity to suck her nipple into his mouth, the other being engulfed by his warm hands. With every stroke of his tongue and every rocking motion, her skin became hotter. Her hands found their way to the back of his head where there pressed him deeper into the sensitive buds, moan after moan echoing in the bedroom.

“I’m close. I’m-” her words only spurred him on further, his mouth alternating between her breasts, never leaving one neglected. He needed it to keep himself from bursting.

“Come on, doll.” Another flick of his tongue, the stroke of a finger. “Give in-” Bucky was cut off by a fervent scream. Y/N’s hands tightened around him and her rocking motions staggered. He muttered a course when he saw the mess in his lap that just shot another rush of blood to his cock. He was painfully hard now, desperate for release and hungry for the taste of her skin on his tongue.

Y/n whimpered when Bucky rocked her over his slick cock again, the sensitivity seemingly too much, but she didn’t stop him. Rather her breathing picked up again as she fell forwards, lips grazing his ear with every whispered word. “I need you inside of me, baby.”

A smile broke through the heated air when the pair laid gently on the covers, limbs tangling and hands moving over every inch of dampened skin. Bucky placed his skin on hers over and over again so seamlessly, it felt as if he was kissing her for hours. Though the need of his own crept up his spine with every push he sent to the mattress. He needed to feel her - all of her.

He moved up slightly until his tip poked her entrance, retrieving a needy whimper from Y/N. His lips locked with hers once more and that’s when he pushed forward, entering her in one long stroke and feeling her velvety walls engulf her with unbelievable comfort.

“Shit. You’re so tight.”

“Move, please, just-” And he did. Bucky pushed in and out of her until his entire body was lifted in ecstasy. Y/N’s legs locked around his hips, giving him even deeper access to her pussy. If he were to die right now, Bucky was sure he couldn’t have done so happier, and more fulfilled than right now. With Y/N and this heavenly feeling consuming him whole. He didn’t know that this is what sex could feel like - what passion did to a moment as intimate as this one.

“You’re so- so big... feels so good.”

“You’re doing so good, sweetheart. Taking me so well.” His hand grabbed hers and pushed their interlocked fingers into the pillow by her head. “Fuck, I wanna stay like this forever.”

“Ah! Then don’t... don’t stop.”

“Shhhh, baby. I won’t.” Her walls clenched around him and Bucky could feel the precum already dripping from him. He took his other hand and guided in over her breast and stomach and down to her pussy to rub on her clit - tight little circles that made her open her mouth wide and let silent screams escape.

She gripped him even tighter, and Bucky struggled to pull out almost all the way before rocking back in. He grunted into her chest, sweat assembling on his forehead and heartbeat pounding against his ribcage. “Yes, come on. Let go, you’re such a good girl, so - fuck - so perfect.”

“Bucky! Shit, shit!”

“Oh fuck.” Y/N’s walls pulsed unrelenting, pushing him closer and closer to the edge as well. Her fingers scratched his back, her legs squeezing him so close, caging him in her embrace and there was no place he’d rather be right now. He watched as the pleasure washed over her, eyes rolling to the back of her head and muscles taught while unholy words slipped her tongue.

When the grip on his cock loosened he started moving again. Her whispers engraved themselves into his memory while he chased his own high. He could feel the pleasure already tingling in his toes and when Y/n grabbed his head and bit his lip before soothing it over with her tongue, they overtook his whole body. Bucky moaned into her open mouth, his arm snuck beneath her head while the other grabbed the sheets as he shot his hot load into her pussy, coating her soft walls with white release.

He needed several seconds to recover from the powerful feeling still bouncing through his limbs. His body lowered itself onto hers, careful not to hurt her, he could feel her heartbeat against his skin - pumping in perfect rhythm with his.

When he felt confident enough to not have his muscles give out under him, propped himself up on his elbow. Bucky’s hands instantly shot to Y/N’s face where they drew out her features with careful fingers. Her eyes opened with a smile, her own hands moving up and down his back, covering him in comfort and love.

“Did I tell you that you are perfect?”

Y/N hummed dreamily. “Only about fifty times.”

“Not enough then.” Bucky shook his head, a short curl falling over his forehead, matching the rest of his tussled hair. “Thank you, Y/N, for everything. For sharing this beautiful moment with me.”

“Why does this feel like a goodbye?” She asked unsettled, but not moving in the slightest. She was just as close to him as before - enclosing him with her enchanting aura and that wholesome look in her eyes.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere.” Bucky kissed her nose. “This is just the beginning.”

𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒕 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓

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sushisocks · 5 months

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since sean was the first to die(rip king😔), we never rly saw him deal w the death of the other members. how do you think a situation like that would go and who's death would impact him the most?

Oooh boy, what a great question!!

So, I do think Sean would feel obligated to keep things light, but we also KNOW that he’s the one that likes to remember people and talk about the ones he cared for. I can 100% see him being the main push for letting people feel grief in a safe manner; Sean would be the one sitting at the campfire telling funny and heartwarming stories about the dead person, and encouraging other people to open up and share stories too.

At the same time, I 100% see him being weighed down HEAVY by certain deaths in private. If he survived past Arthur’s death, for example, that would absolutely rock his world. Same with Lenny’s death; if not from a shipping perspective, simply because Lenny is the youngest gun, is smart, and a friend of Sean’s. I think that would put some things in perspective for him real quick, and internally he’d be having a REAL bad time. Thing is, Sean isn’t really one to show a whole lot of negativity, so I don’t think this would be apparent to anyone who didn’t know how to look for it.

Additionally, I do genuinely think both Kieran and Molly’s deaths would hit him HARD. I’ve talked with several friends now about how Sean, Molly, and Kieran do all three have a connection with Ireland, and probably did feel a faint sense of kinship over it. Molly feeling unsafe and more alone after both Sean and Kieran dying right after one another makes a world of sense, even if she wasn’t really close to either of them, simply because of what they represent to one another. I can imagine her death hitting Sean in a similar way, and Kieran’s death would also absolutely sour certain things for him – ESPECIALLY since if you get all their possible interactions over the course of Horseshoe & Clemens Point, the two DO actually develop a repertoire between one another.

Hosea’s death is a rough one, I think. Sean and Hosea’s relationship is of great interest to me, because there’s a LOT of conflict there, and Hosea is definitely among the– Less kind gang members, to Sean. Still though, Sean does clearly have some regard for Hosea as a wiser older man, as shown by him actually asking Hosea about their situation, clearly seeking advice and/or comfort regarding it. In large part I think Hosea’s death would be somewhat overshadowed by Lenny’s, to Sean at least, but there would very much be a sense of… Indignation, maybe? The context of this being one of the founding members of the gang, Dutch’s partner in crime, this voice of authority, now dead for what?

Sean, at his core, is a people person. There’s no way any of the deaths wouldn’t leave an impression.

One thing I can then see happening is… A sort of disillusionment for Sean, when it comes to Dutch & the gang? Imagine all these rapid rate deaths of people you care about, and when you look to your leader he doesn’t really… Do or say anything? About it??

I think, similarly to my reasoning as to why I think Sean would’ve sided with Arthur in the end had he gotten that far, Sean isn’t as fully sold on every aspect of Dutch’s talk nor as fully invested as Arthur and John are (with their specific daddy issues lmfao). That WOULD allow Sean to grow more critical, and as more people die, I can imagine us actually getting to see Sean possibly become more– Well, for a lack of a better word, more Arthur-like. “He’s just a younger version of you” and all that, here’s Sean at around the same age Arthur was when he lost Eliza and Isaac, watching people that matter to him die through a failure of leadership, if you will. It makes sense to me that Sean would start harboring a similar sense of anger, that would probably start grounding him a bit more.

This is all obviously assuming that Sean survives and everything happens the exact same way, which, as I’ve talked about before, I think is extremely unlikely! But it’s an interesting thought experiment for sure!!

Thank you so much for this question!! I enjoyed writing this a lot, and Sean’s potential journey in the story when surviving his scripted death has always been a point of deep fascination to me, so I LOVE getting to think abt stuff like this!!!

#i took a REALLY analytical approach to this question bcz otherwise i'd have started sobbing lmfao #id just be crying all over ur dash. wailing. im fine though its okay lmaoo #teki talks #sean macguire #rdr2 sean #sean rdr2 #rdr2 #red dead redemption 2 #rdr thoughts #asks #rdr asks #meta asks

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jeanmoreaux · 29 days

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literally yes to all i could not fall asleep either 😭

i think what's so bRILLIANT about tsc (besides, like, everything) is that nora seemed really nervous that her vision for the story and characters would get swallowed by the HCs the fans have been cooking for years, and while that still could happen in book 2, i felt like while i was reading it her vision was my vision - like i am positive we as fans have influenced her story and maybe jerejean won't turn into anything (i'll eat my arm fr) but that bitch at the very least was like "okay sure fine i'll give you mutual attraction" "i'll give you jerejean friendship and intimacy even if i may not give you sex or romance (just yet)"

and i think the other thing i was so overjoyed about was that even though the og AFTG is definitely (clearly) very queer, nora really stepped up and took it to a whole new level in this one with both the representation and just the overall tone - that like not only are a lot (all????) of the trojans open and together and so incredibly gay, but they're shaping the story and jean and making it less shameful to be gay in exy. like og aftg spent a lot of time being like "don't be gay! this is bad! you can't do this!" and while jean still harbors that (for his own fucked up reasons i'm gonna kms) it's obvious that the tone for this book is so much brighter and gayer.

and! the parallels between neil's story and jean's!!! like obviously we could write essays on that topic alone but in conjunction with that point i just made - seeing the similarities between the house taking in jean and the foxes taking in neil (his lack of possessions, their protectiveness, their attempts to normalize him, their creation of a safe space for him) literally made me want to gouge my eyes out it was so beautiful and sweet and fun and QUEER. like aftg always had aroace undertones and such a huge part of the aro/ace experience is friendship and queer friendship at that and so to get to see this kind of found family play out AGAIN but in a slightly different way with a whole group of gays who are out and proud and happy is just......everything

like it's not that i was *worried* persay because i do trust nora but you never know what you're gonna get with spin-off sequels and this fandom is like a rabid dog and so for her to bravely return to this world after years is amazing in itself but to do it in a way that is.......dare i say.......almost......better than the original.......it blows my mind. and it makes me appreciate the original series in new ways now that we'll have more info on the ravens and all of their bullshit. like i literally am sitting here being like....so....series reread tn queen????

if i wasn't insane before (i was) then i sure as hell am now

also. can we talk about jeremy's cheesy af dialogue that makes me squeal? thinking about him saying hecka with his full chest....i love that man

holding hands 🤝✨ felt alive yet so dead once i was done.

also what a glorious ask. i can co-sign all of this and i don’t think i have anything to say that adds value to your points. you’re so right.

nora is so brave for letting us back into that world. because as much as i love and adore this fandom’s passion, it can be intense is a quite negative way at times. so yes, nothing but respect for nora coming back and giving us Her version of the story. the small nods to us (blond jeremy, frosted tips, the cardboard dog etc.) were so very endearing. and i don’t want her to betray her integrity just for the sake of fanservice. i trust her to deliver a great story, even when some of the things i might want to happen will not end up being anything (e.g. jerejean). nora’s vision will feel right because whatever she decides to do and wherever she decides to take this story i know will make sense. it’s very funny to me that you mentioned how you think tsc might be better than the original because i had the same thought. i am hesitant to really settle on it one way or the other yet; mainly because i tend to get very excited about new, shiny things, but also because we don’t have book 2 yet and i think to really Know i have to consider the story as a whole. but you can definitely see that nora improved as a writer in general (which ofc makes sense.)

i fear this will remain THEE aftg year for me. i am already tempted to reread. i don’t think i’ll know a moment of peace from this story in the foreseeable future but i am not gonna complain i’ll just lean into it and indulge.

godddd i expected to love jeremy but i didn’t expect to fall for him this hard. several time i caught myself studying his way of engaging with people and made some mental notes. he’s so special to me. i think once we get his backstory it will get even worse. and he does offer a very different perspective and attitude that’s so very refreshing while still being in tune with what we are used to.

#looove this message with all my heart <3 #thank you so much for sharing all these thoughts!!!#tsc #tsc spoilers #mish reads tsc

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fluffhuntress · 1 year

Text

Just a drop in the ocean (Harbor x Reader)

Summary: You and your team were sent to capture a spy leaking the Protocol's data. Everything goes well, untill during your fight you end up in the water unable to move.

Warnings: drowning, !slight! hurt/comfort, wet Harbor, fluff

Words: 3k

It really was a challange for me to not put any "wet" jokes.

Capture-like missions weren't usually the easiest ones. This time, especially, when you were sent by Brimstone to capture a spy who the protocol suspects had been leaking the information and sabotaging your missions for a while now.

"We can't risk failure this time" Sage's voice stated the moment you were about to leave the jet.

"Aye" you gave in an answer, and so did the rest of the team: Phoenix, Harbor, and Reyna.

"Oh, and Phoenix-" she added "Don't burn them up this time. We need them alive"

You snorted. "Won't be that easy"

"Hey! Come on guys! I can do this." Phoenix said confidentially, narrowing his eyebrows.

"Don't worry we're just messin' with you" Harbor added, giving a silent laugh. After that, he glanced your way "And you, try not to get yourself killed this time yeah?"

"Me? Huh."

"Yes, you." His look changed to a bit more focused and serious. Ever since the mission you almost died on, he kept reminding you to take care and be careful. It was his way of showing, that he cares about you, and you liked that. On the other hand, you didn't trust it. No one has ever worried about you like he did, and no one actually cared, if you live or not.

"Alright team!" Sage interrupted your conversation, gathering the team in a circle. "Me and Harbor are gonna cover the western buildings" She stated. Harbor nodded his head, reaching for his rifle. "Reyna, you take the bridge, and you two-" She pointed to you and Phoenix "Take the eastern side"

"Wouldn't it be wiser if we had two of us on the bridge?" You asked, because the map was showing that the coast you had to cover was way to small for 2 people"

"It would..." Sage answered, having one more look on the map. "But considering the data, I wouldn't risk a fight there. It's an old bridge, narrow, a gun fight there won't be a good idea" After a pause, she looked at every one of you. "And be careful. The area is flooded, it's not the best combat ground."

Before you all spread your ways, Harbor approached you, grabbing your arm. "Hey" he started "Be careful this time, I mean that" he then said, with a little bit of worry in his words. "If anything happens to, you'll owe me, let's make it this way" He smiled

"I will. You take care too" you gave in an answer, giving him a confident smile "To make this deal fair, you'll owe me too if you get even a simple scratch"

"Okay... that's a little unfair" He chuckled, turned around and ran to Sage as she already was going to her point.

You and Phoenix made your way to the eastern area as commanded by your sentinel. The place wasn't too big - there were some abandoned fishing hoots, boats, everything in a reach of your sight. You definitely could feel this "spicy" smell of the sea. Nothing weird - you could almost say, that you were in a city on on the sea, since the water went really far comparing to the last time you were there.

"We're clear here" Phoenix said through the calls, scanning the surroundings with his eyes. You did the same, you didn't want to miss any detail.

"Wait" you stopped, as something cought your eye. "They were here..." There was one building that seemed to be still in a good condition, and as it turned out, probably someone has been there not long time ago, since there was a candle lighten up inside.

"I'm coming in" You redied your gun, and as you opened the door, you took a fast peek. The building was empty, but there was a lot of weapons in it. Seemed like their temporary base. "Clear."

"Damn that's lotta ammo" Phoenix said, coming inside. For a few minutes more you've been looking for anything suspicious or any clues in the building and outside of it, when suddenly both of you were called to help.

"Team! we need backup here!" It was Sage's voice, repressed by shooting noises.

"Im coming, hang in there! Phoenix stay where you are, Y/n take over the bridge for me" Reyna commanded, as she rushed to help on the west.

Immidiately, you started running as fast as possible to take the bridge and eventually stop the enemies from coming to the western side - if there were any. When you finally reached it, you understood, why did Sage commad only one person to go there. It was so narrow and destroyed, that there was no chance for an open fight. Maybe one v one, but for both sides this would be very risky.

You were carefully crossing the bridge, holding your weapon tight in your hands. You checked every corner, every ruined structure, yet there was nothing. It made you think, that there was no way that someone could be here, but you.

"And who do we have here" you heard, suddenly, from behind your back. You turned around, stressed out, and saw exactly the same person who you've noticed on the cameras breaking in the information cenre in your base.

"Guys, we have a problem" you said through the calls "I can see the target"

"Don't let her run away" Sage answered, occupied with a fight

"I don't think she'll run"

As you made your way towards the target, you realoaded your gun and supported it on your arm, waiting for the first move. The target, who when you came closer turned out to be some woman, smiled, as she started slowly coming your way. She was all dressed black, her clothes a little bit used. Her eyes were unnaturally yellow, glowing, which was suspicious. Was she a radiant?

As the woman came too close, you redied your gun and stoop up ready for a fight "You want the hard way huh?"

She laughed. "How cute you are" The woman redied her gun "Tell me, do you like to swim darling?" You took a look around. You were a bit far away from the shore, and the water around seemed to be deep already. Well, the whole area was flooded as hell, and the sea was further than ever. Yay! water cities. You wouldn't be surprised if a few years ago there still were some buildings under the bridge.

"Well" you smiled, and said in confidence "I didn't plan any swimming lessons for today"

"Let's start one then" The woman took a firt shot, missing it, making you shoot thowards her and take cover. The only cover around. Gun fighting there was no use. The bridge was an dead end, and the only way out was past the enemy.

"I might need some help over here, the area is shitty and im stuck right now" you quickly said through the calls giving a few shots to the enemy, which she dodged by shifting into the shadow.

What the fuck - you thought. She really was a radiant. Which made the fight even more dangerous for you now, since you weren't. "Fuck, she's doing crazy stuff over here guys"

"Keep her occupied just a little more, we've pushed them back. Comin' your way" It was Harbor's voice. Your favorite.

"Don't make me wait for too long" You didn't want to fuck up now. You promised Harbor that you won't let anything bad happen to you, yet you again were in a situation that wasn't safe for you.

"Remember what I told you Raindrop." Raindrop? You never heard this coming out of Harbor's mouth, but it sounded kinda cute in your head.

Suddenly the woman disappeared from your sight. You freaked out a little bit inside.

"Well, well well" A silent voice appeared behind your head. A strong shiver ran thorugh your spine. You turned around as fast as possible. She was there. Right before your eyes. You tried to shoot, but she didn't even let you, when she knocked you out, and ripped the weapon out of your hands.

"Say hello to the fishies from me. I've heard they're hungry today" She smiled, pushing you from the bridge. As you were falling towards the water, you knew, you're fucked up.

A great cold hit your body when you hit the water. You tried to keep your head above the water, but you could feel your body wanting to go down. You started to gasp for air. "Guys!" You gasped "I need help!" The message was interrupted by the sound of waves and splashes of water.

"We're almost there talk to me!" said Sage.

There was no way you couldn't give an understandable answer now. You were struggling too much right now, your body almost giving up. You only tended to say one more sentence, before you couldn't fight the waves anymore. "Under... the bridge"

When your body went down, all you could see was the disappearing light, as you were getting deeper, and deeper, struggling to get higher. You tried, but all you did was just waste the air that was left in your lungs. You couldn't swim. You never could, you never learned. Soon your vision started to fade, and the water started to fill your lungs.

As your eyes started to close, and your lungs gave up, what's been left of the light dissapeared.

So this is how I die, huh

Still conscious, you felt something grab your waist. You weren't going deeper. You were going upwards.

After a few seconds a strong light blinded your eyes. You gasped for the air, but hardly, as you felt a huge pain in your throat and lungs. Your body felt heavy, and everything around seemed to move two times slower. With your blurred, fading vision, fighting for a breath, you noticed strong hands, leading you to the shore.

"Don't let any more water get inside, Y/n" it was Harbors voice. It was him who cought you, it was him swimming to get you to the shore. Fighting for air, choking with the water in your mouth, your vision started to fade second by second, in the end, making you unconscious. Your body suddenly wanted to go down again.

"Hey, hey, hey we had a deal!" Harbor said to you, holding you tighter and making his way out of the deep water.

When your savior was close enough to it, and he could stand on the bottom, he grabbed you running and then placed on the ground. He placed your body in a safe position, checking your pulse. It was weak, almost undetectable. "Hang in there little Raindrop"

The moment he wanted to take actions to bring you back, your eyes opened. Momentarily you moved to your side, coughing out the water that was inside you. You were gasping for air, and when Harbor saw you struggling, he came closer to hold you and control the situation.

"It's okay. Let it leave" His hand run over your forehead, taking the wet hair covering your eyes away. After a while there was no more water in you anymore, but you felt like you forgot to breath, which the man noticed.

"Easy, easy." He said quietly. The way he used his voice, helped you not to freak out. "Take a deep breath, slowly"

Even though your body was refusing, you took a deep breath, like he told you. It might have been the most painful breath you've ever taken, but you still shakingly tried to let the air inside your lungs.

"That's it, now breathe out" he said, patting your arm with his hand. You breathed the air out, coughing in the end. It felt easier now. You started taking small, but effective enough breaths. Sage rushed to the two of you.

"Is she okay?!" She asked, ready to take action, kneeling before you, looking for any damage.

"I'll be fine." you said, quietly, as you took another breath. Sage let out a silent sigh.

You took a look at Harbor. His face was worried, but on the other hand, beautiful. Despite the fact that you almost drowned minutes ago, your eyes liked the way his body looked with clothes soaked, water dripping from his whole body. Especially his hair. God his hair.

You tried to stand up, weak, and shaking from the cold. The world started to spin around you, you felt dizzy, and still had this feeling that you were filled with the liquid. The moment you lost your balance, you felt Harbor's arms grabbing you around, catching you.

"Na-ah that won't work" He made eye contact with you. As you looked to your left, you saw the woman who pushed you from the bridge. She was tangled and unconsious.

"Don't worry about her, she won't do anything" Harbor ensured you, giving her an angry look. "Let's go back?" he added, letting you hold on to him. You nodded your head.

On your way back Harbor's main goal was to make sure that you are warm and comfortable. He kept asking you wether you still feel dizzy, how is your breathing, and does it hurt. You found a bit annoying, but on the other hand, cute, so you just let him do that. The way back wasn't too long, but for you it felt like ages. All you wanted now is to hide in your warm bed, dry and safe.

---

When you were back in the base, the first thing you did was take a long, warm shower. You came back to your room, and changed your clothes to the dry ones. Since you've started feeling a little bit under the weather, you wore a hoodie, warm leggings and your favorite fluffly socks. The moment you sat on your bed, you heard someone knocking, or actually hitting the door of your room.

"Come in!" you shouted, and the doors opened. You saw Harbor, holding two cups in his hands.

"Took your favorite blankie!" You noticed a blanked on his arm, as he walked in, closing the door with his leg. "You better drink something warm, little Raindrop" The way he said that made you give him a killer's look.

"... Call me little one more time and we'll start talking different" You defended yourself.

"But you like the Raindrop part, right?" he teased you. When he put the cups on your bed table, you stood up, with a little blush forming on your cheeks. "It's... It's fine" you said. Harbor took the the blanket off and wrapped it around you.

"Thank you" you murmured, catching eye contact with him. "And thank you for saving me then" you added, a bit troubled. "Actually I should be apoligizing to you, I promised you..." you didn't continue, you weren't sure how to hold this conversation.

Harbor knew you didn't feel good about this situation, which wasn't weird at all. He didn't say a word. Instead, he just slowly came closer to you, and wrapped his strong arms around you.

"It wasn't your fault." He softly answered. "What matters to me is that you're alive, okay?" It was hard for you to say anything more. At this moment, you felt important, you felt as someone worthy - which was still a rare, and luxury feeling you. You didn't have a lot of that in your life.

"Hey is everything okay?" Harbor broke your silence, leaning his head to see yours.

"Yeah... I'm sorry. I'm just not used to people actually caring about me" You hummed

What you said, hit him somehow. You could see it thorugh his troubled-like face expression.

"I do care about you" he then said, giving you a warm smile. "I made your favorite tea. I mean, I tried, not sure if that's yours top tea" he said, letting you go.

You grabbed the tea cup and sat on the edge of your bed, inviting him under the blanket, raising your arm. "Come on, you need to warm up too" Your friend took his tea and sat under the blanket. You took a sip of your tea.

"It actually is my favorite." A little smile appeared on your face again.

"I knew it!" He was so happy, it made you giggle inside. "By the way, you owe me" He continued

"No I don't" You argued

"Yes you do" You perfectly knew what he meant.

"Okay, okay, what do you want me to do?" You asked, taking another sip.

"Hmm... let's think... somethin' not easy" he teased you, having a little smirk.

"Oh come on!" you delicately hit him on his arm for fun.

"Awww don't tickle me" he teased you again, and you gave him an agressive yet cute look. You didn't even try to tickle him. He was just being adorably teasy.

"Alright! Alright, I don't want to be tickled to death. Let's say, you'll learn to swim." he said. You raised one of your eyebrows. "And how the hell I'm gonna to that" you asked, staring at him with confusion

"I'll teach you" Harbor smiled "In case you decide to drown again."

"Hey, that's not funny!" you snorted.

"I'm sorry" the man chuckled, and took a sip of the tea. "But I don't want you to go through something like that again"

He really... took you seriously - you thought. He really did care about you. He didn't want anything bad to happen to you. You felt weird warmth in your chest, not being able to say, what does it mean. The only thing you knew, was that you felt good, and no matter what the emotion was, you wanted to keep it.

When you finished your tea, you spent with Harbor whole minutes, talking your life stories, laughing, teasing eachother. You really liked being around him.

"Alright Y/n, you better get some rest" Harbor stood up, and took the empty tea cups.

"We're free tomorrow, right?" You underlined. "Why won't we spend a little bit more time?" Harbor looked at you. He couldn't say no to this asking face of yours.

"'Kay, just let me grab one more tea" He smiled, and left the room with the cups. You've decided to close your eyes, to give them a few minutes of rest while you were waiting for him. When Harbor came back into the room though, he found you already sleeping. He sighed, and came closer to wrap the blanket around you.

"You better sleep like that the wole night... you little." Luckily for him, this time you didn't hear him saying the word "little"

---

Note: If you have any ideas or requests, feel free to ask ❤️ I'm starving.

#valorant #valorant x reader #valorant harbor #harbor #harbor x reader #valorant fanfic #valorant fanfiction #fanfiction #fanfic #valorant protocol #valorant imagines #valorant harbor x reader #reqs open #fluff #hurt comfort #varun batra #valorant varun

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a-writer-on-elm-street · 1 year

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so ever since i watched house of wax, i've become obsessed with bo sinclair, like i think about him ALL THE TIME. and the more i think about him, the more interesting he gets, and basically i just have so many ideas and theories about him and i don't know what to do with them. so i'm putting them on here. this will probably be very chaotic and unorganised so sorry in advance but i just gotta get these out there.

first off, his clear manipulation of vincent. during the movie, when vincent comes back to the house after killing paige and blake, he's in the kitchen with bo and bo tells him this: "ain't your work more real now? ma would be proud." this obviously indicates that bo is using their mother as a way to get vincent to go along with all the killing and turning people to wax. and i feel like the reason bo is doing this is to tarnish everything his mother worked for and at the same time, turn her perfect little boy into something not so perfect. i feel like this is all fuelled by his hatred for his mother due to the way she treated him as a child.

but i also feel like he holds some guilt and remorse for what he's doing because bo's first proper appearance (not taking into account the scene in the woods) is in the church, at trudy's 'funeral'. now, obviously the whole being in the middle of a funeral thing is clearly part of the act to bring people's guard down. make them feel bad for him, to take suspicion away from him. but if you think about it, what reason does bo need to be in that church, pretending to be at a funeral? it doesn't exactly have any significance in regards to how they take the victims.

the whole operation seems to be run by bo. bo shows up at the campsite, later vandalising wade's car, and then lester conveniently sends them in bo's direction to fix the car, where vincent inevitably turns them to wax, under bo's guidance. maybe setting up the funeral was vincent's idea, but bo pretending to be at that funeral was most likely his idea. why? why would he station himself at a funeral for a mother who abused him? i think whilst he probably harbors some resentment towards his mother, i also feel like he definitely still loves her, which is why it's possible he carries guilt for what he's doing, essentially in her name.

but then there's this:

i'm not entirely sure if this is real or not because i literally found it at random the other day. also, i think this did come from a blog on here, but i can't remember who so if anyone knows, please let me know.

anyway, moving on. that last line, carly insinuates that bo killed his mother, that he 'blew her brains out'. now, let's assume that was true, that he killed their mother, the funeral in the church could represent one of two things: bo's guilt in regards to his mother, or it could almost serve as a trophy, bo reliving the kill. this is common in serial killers, they will often take a trophy in order to relive the kill and gain back that rush they got when it happened. maybe that's what the funeral setting is for bo (although personally i think it's more of a guilt thing rather than a trophy).

also, it appears that bo's immediate weapon of choice is a shotgun in the movie. if he shot his mother, this could potentially be a reason for him choosing a shotgun as his main weapon. i don't really have anything else to add to that, it was literally just a random thought i had but yeah.

finally, when carly asks why he's doing this for a woman who hated him, he gets angry and responds by yelling 'don't say that!' he's clearly becoming very defensive, which could show a sense of loyalty to his mother. even after everything, he won't let anyone talk about her that way because at the end of the day, she was still his mother, no matter how she treated him.

it could also be a show of denial, maybe bo doesn't want to accept that trudy hated him, and wants to believe she loved him, despite everything. if he is feeding into this delusion that his mother loved him after all, then the funeral is merely about bo paying tribute to her, he is doing right by his mother by setting up a funeral for her.

i don't have anything else to add. i also don't know what this is to be honest. it might not even make sense. i've just had these thoughts floating around in my brain for a while and i wanted to share them. obviously, these are all just my own opinions and ideas so if anyone disagrees, i'm absolutely open for debates in the comments, but don't hate please. in no way am i a psychologist or whatever so obviously this isn't going to be 100% accurate or professional or anything. i just wanted to share a few of my thoughts i had.

might just delete this later though cos it's a mess lol

#bo sinclair #bo sinclair thoughts #bo sinclair house of wax #house of wax #house of wax 2005 #brian van holt

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halforcdad · 2 years

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serenading was really the last thing i ever wanted Kate to do as her grand gesture and i still don’t love it, but the amount of people who keep calling a big, awkward, public gesture hugely ooc for Kate and keep saying they miss the old whistler who wasn't dumb, oh DIA Whistler was so much better. its the show’s first season. i don’t think it’s even possible to be ooc when the writers are just starting to create these characters and we barely know them. we only saw ‘cool, confident, bossy dia whistler’ for about 6 episodes before 1x11 happened and changed everything, and while she’s still all of those things she was changing even before the breakup happened and with all the growth she’s gone through, she’s going to end the season looking pretty different to how she started (fair warning, this is a little unhinged and unorganized, just a little)

her arc has been about her learning to let people in and learning to be more honest with her feelings, to not be afraid of putting herself out there and learning how to stop pushing people away as a result of the impact Lucy and the team have had on her. it’s about making yourself vulnerable and trying to find people who will accept you even if you’re an awkward giraffe. throughout the season the writers have been telling us that she: finds it hard to be open and show her emotions, she puts her orders before her feelings at work causing everyone to view her as the ‘bad cop’ and that sucks, she really wants to make connections with her coworkers, but she doesn’t know how and she’s kinda bad at it, she was afraid of starting something with Lucy (and messing it up) because Lucy’s the most amazing woman she’s ever met and she wanted to keep it on the downlow until she felt she could handle it, is actually very charming and sensitive and goofy underneath that hardened exterior

there’s a reason Ernie describes her as “the tall one acting goofy,” she tries to keep her relationship with Lucy a secret and yet you can see her softening as a result of it and being unable to hide their connection and pull to each other even at work. Jesse notices they’re making googly eyes at each other during the Pearl Harbor tour in 1x09 and remarks that “there’s a certain DIA officer i haven’t seen around your desk recently,” because she couldn’t fight the gravitational pull drawing her to Lucy’s desk everyday, literally the worst kept secret at the office you morons! In 1x12 she’s sprinting after Lucy practically shouting after her (loud enough for all of Pearl Harbor to hear) even when she’s asking if Lucy’s going to throw their relationship away that easily. Kate gets a pass with Jane because how can you pretend you don’t care about Lucy after she could’ve died on an UC mission and as for Kai, well, he has two eyes so he definitely noticed too

the Whistler in 1x01 would definitely not be going over to Tennant’s house after 1x14 and sharing a drink with her (might not have warned her about Glenn Smith either) and maybe she wouldn’t have tried comforting her when Jesse went missing in 1x15 (not because she wouldn’t have wanted to, but maybe it would have been harder without all the stuff that happened in between as a result of the Lucy romance) and that’s growth baby!

as for her acting ‘dumb’ and goofy, whistler’s greatest hits (paraphrased):

1x07: the entire opening scene right in front of Ernie's coffee, like ladies its barely 9 in the morning

1x09: “i want to be intimate” “here???”

1x11: "i like this" "the coffee? its fair trade." "so i think i win the dumbass award." "yes...no! NO!"

1x14: “creds... that’s what all the cool agents say :)”

1x17: “the source of the attack was some sort of pineapple” “like the fruit?” (also forgetting she never apologized to Lucy)

1x20: while looking like a beaten bloody piñata “I’m fine just some bruises...and some minor head trauma...” “i did not have Lucy surf quotes on my bingo card today”

1x21: “about the power of love!” -silence- “...anyway i think that’ll help us get through to David” (we were all raving about this scene and how cute it was, but we don't want to acknowledge all the work it took to get here?)

The writers have been showing it all season, this is just who she is the more you get to know her, not liking it is different than ooc

Kate just sucks at talking and processing her emotions on the spot and can’t always immediately formulate a response right away whether you’re her boss or her colleague or her ex girlfriend (she ghosted a girl for months for god’s sakes which is probably honestly where most of the ‘this feels ooc for Kate’ criticism comes from and it’s hard to blame anyone for that because wth Kate, but it also serves as the biggest indictment of how her lack of social skills has effected her life and now it’s finally catching up to her)

a lot of people call Whistler rushing in without thought or backup to be ooc, and while they’ve shown that she’s smart and good at thinking things through (figuring out a way to help the team in 1x06, with the Clark Lohan thing in 1x10, using David's wife’s fate as leverage to get through to him in 1x21), that’s been behind the scenes we never saw her do field work during her stint at the DIA so there’s nothing really to base the ooc claim on, the first time we see her in the field is in 1x17 (she only transferred to the FBI 3 episodes ago) when she rushes in and Lucy has to stop her so it’s not out of the ordinary for her to do something similar in 1x20 at Agent Jones’s house, Whistler in the office and Whistler out in the field are different because they’re different environments entirely (and she’s new to the field)

i dont think the people calling Whistler ooc for acting goofy and socially inept would call her ooc for turning down a promotion anywhere from 1x06-1x13 to stay close to Lucy after early Whistler was billed as ambitious and career-driven (but i guess it’s different because it’s romantic without being awkward...), if we’re going to throw that term out there we should examine all her actions that way not just the one’s we maybe don’t like

you can criticize the writing and the show all you want we all have different opinions we’re not all going to agree on how good Whistler’s development has gone, but i don’t think it’s fair to say any public grand gesture or Kate acting ‘dumb’ is completely out of left field, yes she was more cold and distant and mean earlier (and maybe you preferred that way more) but as the show has progressed you get to see a different more shy, uncertain, dorky side of her and that's not ooc that's just how humans are

she’s been slowly stepping out of her comfort zone all season and Lucy’s influence on her has inspired her to finally make a running jump into the deep end to win her back because she loves her and that’s how much she means to her (my favorite post about the grand gesture written before we knew it was a singing gesture LOL) that's the whole point isn't it? the power of love! has changed Whistler! she's never felt this way about anyone before and is clearly woefully inexperienced in love, she misses Lucy and wants to win her back no matter what so she's willing to listen to anything and do anything to show her she's all in and wants to be with her and only her! love makes us do crazy things, but it makes sense after a season of pain and regret

unfortunately for some people, Kate also happens to be less competent socially so that’s going to manifest in truly awkward (and secondhand embarrassing) ways, but she’s always been capable of this because she’s a multifaceted character and the writers have been showing us that

#ncis hawaii #kate whistler #kacy #all the criticism and thoughts ive seen on tumblr has been cool and fine but the twitter folks just make my head explode #its like every time kate shows a not Cool trait shes ooc? theres a reason everyone calls her the dumbest smart person (affectionate)#shes got one braincell for work! whenever she uses it for her personal life or for following ernies advice is laughs at her and explodes #imma be real this is kinda petty and ranty bc of one specific kate stan on twitter i keep seeing firhrgjrg #like i cant even enjoy their fics bc they start all of them with 'i wont do u dirty like the writers have'#like wym the writers have treated me fine i loved 1x20 i loved all the kacy angst lol #like yas and tori are great and theyre 50% of it but who wrote the lines they say that make me love lucy and kate more and more everyday #also i dont think its possible at all for a character to be ooc...in season 1 like the writers barely know them yet how can i claim i do #like ok you like the character but then you hate the writers for half the traits theyve given them so do you actually like them???#this is all incoherent and im sorry #yes i still dislike the serenade but like i understand the point of the big gesture and why u would go there #get you a hot lesbian mess who can do both!#im delirious i probably shouldnt post this and ill regret it but i will anyway #like i saw someone ask what have they done to you whistler #oh idk given her a personality??? made her likeable and made the audience want to root for her? like yall LMAO

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gelatomesomeironqrow · 2 years

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My attempt at a character study on Dream of the Endless.

(Potential spoilers for those currently or planning on reading the comics)

Now, I have not yet read the comics (but after the show. I am definitely reading it now) so this is purely based on what I've seen from the show and from what I've read off of the wiki page. Anyways. I relate so much to Dream. Like ya'll have no idea.

So let's start with the basics. Dream is older than most if not all Gods. He's lived through and seen so much, he's had brief but fleeting relationships knowing that they will one day end. He's a very passionate and devoted lover/partner to the point where he is possessive and reacts extremely poorly to when these relationships he knows are going to end, end.

I'll briefly mention his comic book lovers/wives/partners before I go on to those who made it into the Live Action adaptation.

Killala of the Glow, Nada, Calliope, Titania, Alianora and Thessaly.

Alianora in particular was given one of his jewels and her own section of the Dreaming from my understanding.

From what I've read, way way way in the beginning of time, Dream was apparently more open with his feelings than what we see in the show and comics. But due to his meddling sibling Desire, he shuts down and keeps his feelings to himself. This doesn't stop him from forming strong attachments to people that develop into relationships. Each of them ends poorly. Sometimes because of Dream, sometimes because of Desire or sometimes because of the passing of time.

Anyways, Dream doesn't talk about his past relationships, the two I know about are the show ones and even then, it's probably not everything. So let's talk about Nada and Calliope.

Now I read some stuff about Nada and Dream's past, and all I have to say is that Desire admitting that Nada was a mistake is huge. It shows they feel bad about it. Probably mostly because it's the relationship that really made Dream shut his emotions down (probably why Desire continues to try to "ruin" him. In their own way, they probably just want him to open back up. Maybe.) Anyways, the relationship was not meant to be. Nada was young and fell hard for Dream whereas Dream became possessive. Which is a huge red flag. Them being together caused a higher entity to burn Nada's city to the ground and Nada in her grief blamed herself and their relationship and off'ed herself. Dream tracked his spirit down. Demanded her to become his queen of the Dreaming and when she refused, he threw her in Hell. Dream does eventually launch a rescue mission but still, kind of a harsh punishment and probably the only time I don't like Dream.

Anyways, from what I've read and seen, it does not look like this relationship was a sexual one.

Moving on to the only relationship Dream has had sexual relations to, my personal favorite.

Calliope. The muse. Their relationship is tragic and probably the only one that ended somewhat amicably. From my understanding anyways. They were in love, had a child who died young, and ended their relationship because of their grief. It happens all the time, parents whose child dies before they do, they can't stay together any longer. But yet, Dream still harbors deep attachment to her, even if he denied her request to visit him in the Dreaming. He probably would have said yes had she wanted to see him but he isn't ready to process or accept their child's death even though it had been thousands of years.

Now, why did I delve into his relationships? And why did I say I relate to him so much?

Because I believe him to be Ace or Demisexual. He is somewhere on the spectrum. Like I am. I can see it in his every move and decisions.

Asexuality is the lack of sexual attraction to others, or low or absent interest in or desire for sexual activity.

He is an anthropomorphic representation of a human. He has appeared as a cat. I don't think him incapable of have sex (clearly since he had a child), I just personally don't think he is interested in sexual relations. He has strong attachments. He can get obsessive and/or possessive. He loves with everything and when it ends he either punishes his lover/partner and/or goes into a depressive state of being.

Sure he's been married. But some asexuals have been in relationships, alot of them successful. Communication is key to any healthy relationship. The point of it is, none of his relationships lasted. Again for various reasons but the general gist is that there was no communication. He expected alot out of his partners and when they failed to meet his expectations he lost interest (never attachment or subsequent feelings related to those attachments) but he was no longer interested in the relationship itself.

As far as I know, he has no other children and hasn't engaged in any other sexual acts.

He finds people intriguing only when they talk about dreams and stories, like when he is on his date with Hob and listens in to Will Shakespeare talk about wanting to inspire people, otherwise he walks around moping all the time. He literally dresses in black at all times and wears eyeliner. Not a representation of Asexual people, just an observation.

Heck, I'm in a relationship with someone and I'm Asexual. (And currently struggling to keep said relationship because I can't bring myself to tell my boyfriend I'm not interested in him like that. But I digress.)

Okay. Moving away from his relationships and sexuality.

He interacts with very few people. He has little to no friends. (I have little to no friends) he probably thinks the few people he is on good terms are exhausting and not worth the time half the time (again. I'm guilty of that). If he isn't an antisocial OCD perfectionist, I don't know what that makes me.

He has a very clear idea of what his job is and performs it well. He gets upset when things don't go his way. He prefers to handle things alone because he's convinced himself no one will help him. He won't ask for help so most of the time no one even knows he needs help.

(The one time he asked for help. Desire literally just sent him his next lover and said good luck, bye.)

He is stubborn and so so so depressed. But despite all of that, he finds something to keep himself going, he draws inspiration from his life and the people who visit his Dreaming at night. It took one visit from his sister to get him to go and see Hob Gadling who he admits is his boyfriend.

Like look at this gif and tell me they aren't flirting.

Anyways. Dream of the Endless is a complicated being that no one may ever truly figure out. He's definitely the embodiment of a wet cat.

I love him. He is doing amazing.

I need a season 2. ASAP.

#The Sandman #the sandman spoilers #morpheus lord of dreams #dream of the endless #tom sturridge #character study?#gelato attempts a character study #send help. Sandman has my brain spinning circles like when you wait for AOL chat to dial up #That being said.#Dreamling #has me in a vice grip #Asexual or Demisexual Morpheus

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what-do-1000-swords-look-like · 2 years

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Jonerys not working was not lack of time, it’s literally like you said, they didn’t have a single intimate personal conversation. Every time there was an opportunity for anything like that to take place, the writers chose to undermine it. Jon never loved Dany, and I think that Dany always knew that but was content to think that she could conquer him and make him surrender to her will. She doesn’t care about free will or choice only that she gets what she wants in the end and she wanted him.

Hey, Nonnie! Exactly!!!! I never understood why shippers and GA alike always gave it that excuse. Like, no, it was never going to be a romance for the ages, sorry.

That show made choices, just like you pointed out. At every turn, they chose to undermine it, to cast shade, and show us what was really going on underneath the whole 'omg look! fire and ice together, epic power couple!' of it all.

I agree with you, Nonnie. I think she hoped that he would come to love her the way she wanted him to (but like you said, by the end, I think she knew that wasn't going to happen, that he was only with her/serving her out of fear at that point), but ultimately it was about conquering him and bending him to her will like you said! Exactly! She wanted him but on her terms. Imho, that's why that bedroom scene in 8x04 is so important. Not only did Emilia and Kit give amazing performances, D&D really did choose to try to show us what was really going on underneath the surface. I mean, in that scene alone, we get the true imbalanced power dynamic, Dany's true desires/fears/nature come(s) out, and how she completely undermines Jon's true identity in the face of her being scared to lose what she wants even more than him: the IT. Which is interesting because ultimately, it wasn't even the IT she wanted, it was the symbolism of it. She wanted to conquer everyone and everything who didn't do as she wanted.

I know the dialogue in that 8x06 throne room scene is hokey at best, in the aspect that it really retconned her entire arc and negated the tragedy and moral of her dark turn, but there is one important line in there for me when it comes to Dany's true desire: "So many fallen enemies you could only see the soles of Aegon's feet." And she says this so happily, with that little girl wonder that the girl who she talks about used to have. It's quite disturbing actually but that was always what she wanted. So like you said, Jon (or any lover) wasn't any different for her. Nothing and no one was going to get in her way.

I'm actually working on a post that shows just that for her and Jon. Sansa was a problem for Dany but ultimately, it was really Jon. Dany was completely in love with him up until that reveal in 8x02. She still harbored feelings for him after, still loved him, but the shadow of the threat he posed was still very present in her mind, and began encroaching on their relationship even more (she thought she had conquered him in 7x06-7x07). Jon was definitely going to burn at some point had he not done what he did in 8x06. Without a doubt. And not just because Tyrion, Arya, and Sansa were saying it.

So, all in all, Nonnie, I completely agree with you. It had nothing to do with any time factors. They could have easily made it work somewhat in the limited time they did have, had it been their intention to make it a true tragic romance. We would have seen a scene where he and Dany connect about family, meaning the Targaryens, and how Dany thought she was the last one, and Jon had always wanted to be a Stark, how he always believed himself to be a bastard, etc. Even after he killed her, we could have gotten a similar shot to him and Ygritte but no instead we got:

Which, to me, doesn't indicate romance as much as it does regret, that this was really something he didn't want to do. She was his family after all and we know that he's aware that she's been misguided since she got to Westeros (despite this darkness always having been a part of her character), so absolute regret.

And we also got:

Here is where Kit puts his forehead to Emilia's and yet...they chose not to give us a closeup? And that reminded me of that one shot back in 7x06:

Where he calls her Dany for the first time and she tells him that Viserys was the last one to call her that. It easily could have been a bonding moment between them and yet they chose not to do any closeups though they had been doing that the entire scene. They chose not to show us Jon's reaction and by the camera shot/angle, keep the audience detached.

I also remember when shippers and the GA blamed it on the lack of chemistry between Kit and Emilia. But those two absolutely had chemistry. We see it play out in this scene:

youtube

And funny note here, notice Rhaegal's almost submissive positioning when compared to Drogon. It kills me, too, that they deleted the whole explanation Dany gave to Jon about how he can control Rhaegal while riding him with his mind. I feel like that would have helped the GA to see her dark turn coming a lot better, especially when they went back to rewatch, because Drogon isn't the problem (no matter how aggressive he is; we see this play out with Jon in the throne room scene, Drogon could have killed him but chose not to because he represented Dany & we know she loved him), it's the person who is using him as a weapon. But because they were trying to hide her dark turn, that's precisely why they didn't keep it in. Because every time the GA saw Drogon being aggressive and intimidating, that he "accidentally" burned that child alive in Mereen, why he rebelled against her in season 5, etc, it would have been hard to just blame the dragon.

But yeah, Nonnie, for sure, the fail of Jonerys had nothing to do with a limited time frame or lack of chemistry or whatever else people can come up with. It all had to do with Dany herself and the show's intent for it not to play out well. I completely agree!

Thank you for the ask, Nonnie! I hope you have a wonderful rest of your night!!! <3

#ask #ask answered #got #game of thrones #anti jonerys #antijonerys #antijonerysposts

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thatoneweebsworld · 1 year

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ITWOM Here We Go Boys Pt. 2

I decided a sequel was in order. I was going to write it before the weekend, then over the weekend. It's Monday now. I'm writing this. I'm picking up almost right after part 1. There will be a part 3 at some point, I just thought this would be cute idk

Mimi awakens to quite an odd situation. Her surroundings are wet, warm, and soft. Even though her eyes are wide open, she can't see anything. "Where..." she whispers to herself as she tries to figure out her location. It then hits her like a ton of bricks just what happened. The haze of just waking up fades to conscious relaxation. "Christopher, you awake yet?" she calls, accompanied by a few gentle taps and rubs. A sudden stirring up above her, a slight jump in the heart rate thumping overhead, and finally a soft hum and pressure answer her. "You woke me up, doll." Mimi still cannot get enough of the deep-set voice of her new giant acquaintance. In an attempt to not irritate her host Mimi starts gently rubbing circles in front of her into the stomach wall. The purring resonating around her only heightens her desire to stay put. "Let me guess," Christopher's voice mumbles. The only reason Mimi can understand him is because she is inside. "You want breakfast, don't you?" She stalls for a moment by pushing a little but then decides yes, she is hungry. "It would be nice, yes..."

"Alright then. Do you want me to let you out now or once its ready? You'll probably want to get washed up." Mimi contemplates her options for a moment. While she does want to get rather clean before sharing a meal with her indulgent host, something about staying put and feeling him moving about the kitchen is also intriguing. "I... I think I want to be let out for now. We can definitely do this again later, I promise. You sure seem to enjoy it~" She gently pats the membrane in front of her and just for one more moment leans into it. "You don't seem so sure about that. I can get everything prepped and then let you out before I start doing the actual cooking." With that Mimi very contentedly curls up into the folds facing the outside. "That sounds absolutely perfect." A gently pressure on her back reassures her even more that her presence is welcomed. The peaceful situation is quickly upset by Christopher's standing up from his previously seated position in which he passed out the previous night. Being jostled certainly disorients the human but she doesn't truly mind, in fact the sensation brings back fond memories of a bounce house she went to as a kid. As the giant busied himself with the task of making breakfast Mimi finally starts to fully wake up. She had never gotten quite as good of sleep as she did last night. In fact, with how soundly she slept Mimi makes a mental note to get rid of the dart on her leg. She was told to never go anywhere without it, but the way Christopher treated her dispersed all of her initial fears. Unlike a ton of other humans from where she came from, her first experiences with giants have been overwhelmingly positive. Nothing but calmness spread through her mind.

That is, until the lovely gentle pressure returns. "I'm going to let you out now, doll."

"Mimi."

"Oh, right. Mimi. Bad habit." If anything this was the part of the process Mimi has been fearing the most. At her currently small state, the process is almost mundane for Christopher. He gently presses his arm into his torso and encourages the contents upward. As soon as Mimi catches in his throat she attempts to aid Christopher by pulling herself up as best she can. This results in her slipping back down. "Dammit Mimi hold still. It's easier for me to just do it." He tries again and this time Mimi stays dead still, harboring a tiny bit of fear that he wouldn't be able to get her out. Such intrusive thoughts are then quickly squandered by visible light. One more upward push and splash, Mimi lands in water. "Oh. I didn't mean to do that." Mimi looks up at the giant from the water and realizes he had intended to put her in his hands. She had slipped through the gap between his chin and wrists. "It's ok, don't worry. That was... easier than I expected." Christopher then turns on warm water from the bathroom sink and places a tiny pair of containers next to her. "You probably recognize these. You can just leave your clothes in here for now." Mimi listens intently to the giant's instructions, silently inspecting his facial features. Somehow how such a smug build, his words came off as genuine. "Oh, I actually have a change in my bag. Would you mind grabbing them since I'm already wet?" She points over the edge of the sink as best she can into the other room. Once settled, Mimi can't help but marvel a little at how much Christopher seemed to know about humans. The horror stories she had heard in the past were all lies then, right? She figures that it might make for good breakfast conversation. Until then, Mimi simply makes the most of what she does know. 'Humans are totally overrated.'

#itwom fanfiction #itwom #safe vore #soft vore #cow writes things #vore writing #gt vore

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justabooknerdposts · 1 year

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hi !! would you be willing to post a one-shot with the underwater kiss that happened in the air bubble in tlo from percys pov? you're literally an amazing writer and i think you'd handle this pretty well

***So, I hadn’t checked my Tumblr messages in a long time (I think I may have forgotten it was a feature, oops!), but when I logged back in, one of those messages was a request for the famous underwater kiss from Percy’s POV. When I actually sat down to write it, Annabeth started talking, too, so it’s from both of their POVs. It’s a little sweet, and a little awkward. Classic Percy lol Hope you enjoy! Also, to the anonymous asker, sorry it took so long to respond!***

***

WHOOSH.

Normally, the cool lake water would have felt like a shock, but since the evening air was still thick with summer humidity, it just felt refreshing. Plus, at the moment, Annabeth was too giddily happy to feel the cold. Percy’s hand was still gripping hers, even as they sank into the lake. She had to fight back a grin to keep from accidentally swallowing lake water.

Once they stopped sinking, she automatically kicked upward, but Percy tugged on her hand, pulling her back down. When she looked at him through the murky green water, he gestured towards the bottom of the lake, about fifteen feet down. She frowned, but he gestured again, his expression clearly saying, Trust me. And she did. So she nodded and let him pull her to the bottom of the lake, hoping he would remember that she couldn’t breathe underwater (as he’d reminded her before he’d disappeared into New York Harbor just a few days ago).

She shouldn’t have worried. Once they were floating a few inches above the lakebed, Percy closed his eyes. Bubbles rushed towards them, some remaining from their initial splash into the water, and formed a much larger bubble, enclosing them in a protected cocoon of oxygen. Annabeth’s ears popped as the pressure equalized, and she took a deep breath.

“Nice,” she said, looking around the bubble. The memory of Siren Bay flashed through her mind.

Percy grinned. He was still holding her hand. He hadn’t willed himself dry, which she appreciated, since she obviously couldn’t. Plus, he looked really cute with his dark hair plastered to his forehead, his green eyes reflecting the color of the lake around them. “Well, you know, the whole son of Poseidon thing. It had to be good for something.”

“I knew it would pay off eventually,” Annabeth said, finally allowing herself to smile.

“Oh yeah?” Percy returned the smile.

“Yeah.” Annabeth moved a fraction closer to him. Her lips were still tingling from their kiss in the dining pavilion. She really wanted to kiss him again, but so far she’d been the one making all the moves. This time, she wanted himto make the decision.

***

Standing only inches away from Annabeth in a not-super-roomy bubble under the lake was making it hard for Percy to think clearly. Especially since she looked so good, even with her hair dripping wet. Her damp orange t-shirt was clinging to her in ways Percy found really distracting. His head was still buzzing from the kiss in the pavilion. He definitely wanted to kiss her again, but he wasn’t exactly sure what to do. Why did everything look so easy in movies?

He wondered for a moment, when Annabeth stepped towards him, if she would just solve the problem for him. But when he met her eyes, he saw the message there—Your move, Seaweed Brain—as clearly as if she’d said it. The first two times, she’d kissed him. If this was what he wanted, he needed to step up.

So, taking a cue from slow dancing, Percy put one hand on her waist, the other on her neck, summoned his courage to pull her closer, and kissed her.

Her lips tasted like blue icing. After a moment, Annabeth pressed closer, her arms sliding around him. Percy fought down the urge to smile because he couldn’t keep kissing her if he was grinning like a maniac. And he definitely didn’t want to stop kissing her yet. Or ever.

And maybe they didn’t know exactly what they were doing, but that was okay. They’d figure it out. The prophecy was finished. They had time now.

***

Annabeth eventually had to pull away to breathe. Her heart was doing a happy gymnastics routine, though, while her brain was saying, Finally!

“Wow,” Percy said, looking a little bit like he’d been knocked over the head by a giant’s club.

Still feeling giddy, Annabeth laughed. When Percy grinned at her, she thought maybe, just maybe, this could be the start of something really good.

“Come on, Seaweed Brain,” she said, taking his hand and feeling another thrill when his fingers wrapped around hers. “Our friends are probably waiting.”

Hand in hand, they swam for the surface.

***

***Thanks for reading! If you want to read a story set immediately post-The Last Olympian, my story August 19th (on Ao3 and FanFiction.net) covers that and briefly touches on their possible conversation once they re-surface.

Now, quick announcement: in honor of the Nico/Will book The Sun and the Star coming out May 2nd, the PJO TV show being in production, and, of course, the new Percy, Annabeth, and Grover book The Chalice of the Gods coming out Sept. 26th, I’m going to open up to requests. I've never really done this before, but I think it could be fun. As of right now, I will only be taking requests from now (January) until Dec. 31, 2023. Just a couple of requirements for requests:

Canon-only requests (AU is not my strong suit). College fic and future fic requests are also totally fine—these are fun

Canon-only pairings—for example, Percabeth, Solangelo, Jasper, Caleo, Frazel, etc. However, if there are minor characters who aren’t specifically stated to be with someone, we can play with those

Missing moments are probably my favorite, or anything with character backstories that we don’t necessarily see in the text (either lead or minor characters)

All series—PJO, HOO, TOA—are fair game

Requests for crossovers with Kane Chronicles or Magnus Chase will be accepted—I like these series, too, lol and the canon crossovers have been fun

I will try my best with all requests, but reserve the right to adapt as needed to make a scene work

If you have questions, send me a message—I will try to respond in way less than a year this time 😉 And please, feel free to start submitting requests!! 😊

#pjo #fanfiction #ff #fanfic #percabeth

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phoenixislost · 1 year

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Just read the drabble....youre INSANE 😭 really goes to show how so many things can go wrong with *that* scene. Idk if i should indulge you further....but what if either shenhe, hu tao, or chongyun is the one who dealt the final blow?

Apologies for the wait, anon! Had to gather some spoons for this. c:

... Let's find out what would happen, together.

When he reaches them, Shenhe and Hu Tao have the demon on the ground, with their polearms pointed at her neck. But he sees how dark tendrils sneak from behind – how they are about to –

Before Xiao can do anything, he hears the rush of footsteps behind him. In a flash of white and blue, like a flurry of snow – Chongyun flings himself into the fold. Xiao panics, reaches out to stop him. But it is too late. He watches as the young exorcist cuts through the tendrils and bathes the area in an icy chill. His claymore pierces down – and then it is over. The demon is no more, and from her chest bursts forth all of the stolen dreams and tainted souls.

At first, it looks as though everything will be okay. The rain comes to a stop. From outside the forest, the light of clear skies trickles in. A peace settles over the land.

But then – Chongyun collapses.

---

Xiao is the one to take charge of the fallen exorcist. He is so young, so small in Xiao’s arms, as he carries him to Jueyun Karst. Shenhe travels with him while Hu Tao is gone to fetch Zhongli. She is dreadfully silent at Xiao’s side. Though her face betrays nothing, he can feel the despair and the worry that rolls off of her.

When Chongyun shifts in his hold, furrows his brows and lets out a pained sound – Xiao can see how Shenhe flinches. Short of perhaps just hugging her, which he cannot do, Xiao is uncertain how to comfort her. That does not stop him from trying, though. “He is a strong boy,” Xiao says cautiously. “And his energy is still potent. I think he will fare well, once we have roused him.”

Shenhe lets out a stuttered breath, and it is the first time that Xiao has heard emotion come from this woman. “It’s just – he’s so young,” she says. Aching, like a sore, “He shouldn’t be so burdened – if it had been me, it would have been no different – ”

But Xiao will not entertain that thinking. He shakes his head, and he says to her, “We could easily say the same thing about me. I have been riddled by karmic debt far longer than I have not; for most of my life.” He readjusts his hold on Chongyun, draws him closer to his chest. “If I had dealt the blow – it is something I am already used to.” He thinks he sees Shenhe about to argue – no doubt to point out the obvious swell of his belly and the implications it holds. Xiao shakes his head again and he says, “But that is not what happened. You did not deal the blow, nor did I. Chongyun did, and we will have to live with that.”

He knows, of course, that that is far easier said than done – adrenaline fuels him now; but it will not stave off his own guilt forever.

---

The consensus is that it is not as bad as it could be. But it is not good, either. Chongyun still does not rouse, even hours after he has been brought to Mount Aocang to be cared for by Cloud Retainer. When Zhongli arrives with Hu Tao, his analysis returns a grim result.

“His yang energy is becoming more volatile. The karma is exacerbating its effects on him,” his Lord says. “It will not kill him – but he will be forever burdened. This is no longer going to be a nuisance for him. It will be a genuine handicap.”

Shenhe gazes at Zhongli, and she asks carefully, “Will he at least be able to return to the harbor? To his family, his friends?” She sits at Chongyun’s side, and her hands hover over him. “His friend circle is small – but they mean the world to him. I can’t imagine him without their company.”

Zhongli hums in thought and brings a hand to his chin. With a sigh, he admits, “I am unsure. Right now – definitely not; but perhaps with time he might be safe to return to them.”

It is Xiao who decides to take Chongyun under his wing. When the matter of housing and caring for the exorcist arises, a thought occurs to him. His daughter hiccups gently in his belly, and then stretches out lazily. With a hand at his middle, Xiao says to the group, “My baby seems to have inherited some of Aether’s special qualities – she has helped purify some of my karmic debt during this pregnancy. If she could do this for me, when I have been plagued with this for millennia, then maybe – ”

His Lord catches on, and he nods. “Yes, you might be right,” he says to Xiao. “It would not hurt to try. The Wangshu Inn has not suffered from your presence before, and is even used to dealing with whatever fallout occasionally arises from the karma.” With a gentle hand on his shoulder, Zhongli asks, “Are you sure you are up to this, though? You are thirty weeks gone; and this is not a simple task.”

Xiao places his own hand over his Lord’s, and he nods with confidence. “Yes, I can think of no one better suited for this than myself.” Then, he looks to the boy who lays so motionless before them. “I want nothing more than for him to lead a life as unburdened as possible.”

---

A few days pass before Chongyun finally stirs. In that time, Xiao has a separate bed brought into his room, and he dresses it himself with soft linens. He keeps his censer and his vajra handy – though he thinks they will not be needed. From the harbor, Shenhe brings some of Chongyun’s spare clothes, as well as some of his favorite books and trinkets. Xiao takes care to place them around the room; uses them to create a space of familiarity and comfort.

When the exorcist finally wakes, it is late into the night and Xiao is just about to lay down for bed. Chongyun groans in pain as the world opens itself up to him. Quickly, Xiao is at his side and steadying him from tipping out of the bed.

“Easy,” Xiao cautions. “Slow movements – you have been asleep for a few days. Give your legs a moment to catch up.”

Chongyun swallows, but his voice still cracks when he asks, “Where am I? Why am I in so much pain?”

The words pierce Xiao in the heart. He takes a deep breath in and then lets it blow out slowly through his nose. “You have slain a demon,” he says carefully. “You have accumulated karmic debt for it.” After another breath, he tells him, “You are here with me to recuperate. I am hoping your karma can be lessened by my daughter’s presence, like mine has been.”

He is given nothing but silence in reply. Chongyun is still awake – Xiao can see that his eyes are still open and trained on his face. But he looks stricken, and Xiao lets out a shaky sigh at the realization. He is scared, he thinks, of course he is scared. With gentle care, he wraps Chongyun in his arms. The exorcist trembles in his hold, and his arms latch onto Xiao. “You will be okay,” Xiao tells him. In his ear, he whispers, “I promise you, you will be okay.”

---

The changes are subtle, at first. While he was quite a mild boy before, now Chongyun has a bit of a temper. His patience wears thin and is easily disrupted. Xiao notices it first when they sit on the balcony that first day. They have just had lunch, and now they are quietly threading some beads onto thread. It is a simple craft, and really – it is only meant to keep the exorcist calm and still, so that Xiao can sit near and allow his daughter to do… whatever it is that she does.

But a bead slips from Chongyun’s grasp more than once, and the frustration builds in him with sharp intensity. Finally, after it slips from his hand a fourth time, the exorcist growls and throws the entire craft to the ground. The beads scatter everywhere and roll across the wooden planks. Xiao sighs, and he tries to bring a hand to Chongyun’s shoulder – but he is slapped away harshly.

He realizes what he has done a split second later, and already he is apologizing to Xiao and groveling for his forgiveness. Xiao is stunned at first, but he recovers quickly. Without a second thought, he shakes his head and says to Chongyun, “It is nothing. Now we know that you need space when you grow angry. This is a learning process for both of us.”

Chongyun looks skeptical, but he nods and accepts Xiao’s words anyway. They gather the scattered beads again together, and when they think he is calm enough – Xiao encourages Chongyun to try again.

His sensitivity to heat and other sensations grows more intense. Though Fall is just around the corner, the heat of Summer has returned to its peak for now. It is sweltering and oppressive, and it keeps both of them indoors for much of the day. But Xiao has some chores to do, some laundry to attend to. He is reluctant to bring Chongyun with him, but the boy simply shrugs off the concern as though it is undue.

Now, they sit outside as the sun beats down in unforgiving rays. While Xiao scrubs at their linens, Chongyun sits under the shade of a nearby tree. Xiao had made him keep some cold iced tea with him, and he can see the exorcist sipping at it idly. There is only a little left to do, before he can finally place their laundry on the clothesline. The time moves like honey, sluggish in its flow. Just as Xiao is standing to take the newly-washed linens to the line to dry, he realizes that Chongyun has slumped over onto the ground.

He drops the linens, does not care that they fall to the dirt – and he rushes to the boy. Not-so-gently, Xiao tries to rouse him. Chongyun startles awake, and he looks blearily at Xiao. “You need to tell me when you feel unwell,” he says frantically. “I cannot know what you are feeling if you do not tell me.”

Chongyun only nods smally. When he makes no other effort to speak or move, Xiao sighs. He gathers the boy into his arms, and he carries him inside. As he lays him down in his bed a short while later, Xiao says, “We will need to keep you out of the heat from now on.”

But the worst of it – the worst of it is the nightmares. Xiao had thought that the pain would be what Chongyun would voice complaints for – but when prodded, he says that he only feels mild tingles now and then. It is a relief, and Xiao dares let himself believe that his daughter is already doing some magic.

The truth unveils itself at night. Chongyun’s pain is greater than he lets on – but it is not physical. In his sleep, he is restless and haunted. Xiao finds himself having sleepless nights, as he spends that time comforting the boy under his care. One night – Chongyun wails in agony, and his body writhes through it. At a complete loss for what to do, Xiao climbs in the bed and wraps his arms around the boy. He holds him to his chest until the cries subside. When he is this close, Xiao can smell the bitterness of fear that wafts from the boy’s dream.

And then a thought occurs to him.

He has not done this for millennia, and he knows that there are some consequences to bear – but Xiao thinks it might be worth the sacrifice. Before he can think twice or regret the choice – he devours the horrid nightmare that plagues Chongyun’s mind. The thing tastes acrid, and it bloats his belly uncomfortably. But he sees how the boy’s face softens, how his trembling ceases. It is worth it, Xiao reasons, to see him at peace.

---

After a few weeks, things begin to even out. Zhongli is proud to tell them that this seems to be working. “I think you will be able to return home very soon,” his Lord tells Chongyun. “Your karma is lessening at a good pace, and your yang energy is evening itself out – Or, well, as even as it can be for you.”

Chongyun smiles, and it is a bright and precious thing – Xiao has not seen one so unfiltered from the boy before. “Thank you, Mr. Zhongli. You and Adeptus Xiao have been so patient with me.”

Zhongli chuckles, and he pats the boy’s head. “Think nothing of it. You are Liyue’s hero. It would shame us to leave you unaccounted for. It was no small thing, the sacrifice that you made.”

Xiao nods, and he brings a hand to his belly when he feels his daughter stretch out. “Yes,” Xiao nods in agreement. He takes Chongyun’s hand gently, and he presses it down where his daughter is stirring. “I cannot thank you enough. My daughter is safe, and she will not have to live in fear of the shadows, because of you.”

It seems that the boy is at a loss for words – but that is okay. The warm look in his eyes and the pink dust on his cheeks is answer enough.

He is not quite the same, when Xiao and Zhongli return Chongyun to the harbor. The boy is still saddled with karma that might never leave him; he is more prone to anger and night terrors, needs to be wary of the heat – But he is still Chongyun, still the sweet boy that they all love; and that will have to be enough.

When Xingqiu and Xiangling see them approach the city gate, they both bolt to meet halfway. They envelop Chongyun in their arms and bury him in affection. Xingqiu kisses at his cheeks and his temples, and he chokes as he says, “I missed you so much.”

At their feet, Xiao recognizes Marchosius – Guoba – as he joins in. He hugs their legs and buries his face into them affectionately. Chongyun laughs, bright and clear and happy. “I missed you too,” he says gently. “I am glad to be back.”

#answered asks #anonymous #history repeating #birbbabbles #chongyun #xingyun

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blackfemmecharacterdependency · 2 years

Text

We’re Not Friends 15

Got Ya

The fact of the matter was that Beth wasn’t going to harbor any hard feelings, but she would remember what happened, just because her mind was a steel trap. That was why she had to forgive often, and sometimes why she tried to look at things more positively than they might have been in the moment. That was why even though she was hurt by everyone before, she decided to think about a few nice things, instead.

She and Yolanda had been cordial in the past and ever since their crime fighting adventures, they were getting closer. It was Yolanda who told her that she could do anything. She smiled to herself, thinking about it. “With Chuck in my ear, I feel like I can do anything.”

“You can. Wildcat proved that,” Yolanda had said. They had probably also did a bit of trauma bonding whenever Beth had to face an assassin to stop her from being killed, whether or not Beth wanted to look at it that way. (Because, then she’d have to look at her entire new friend group similarly, and she wanted to think that they were genuine friends in the making).

Courtney was nicer, too, and deep down, the two were more alike than she had thought. Yolanda and Rick had taken to exchanging looks whenever Beth and Courtney were on the same “sunnyshiney wavelength” Rick had called it, grumbling, but seemingly amused at the time.

Which brought Beth to Rick… They… were not really getting much closer. He had actually seemed a bit cross with her after the whole phone tag debacle and though he said “NP,” Beth had a feeling there was a P or two. But, when she asked about it, he was aloof and reminded her that he was doing all of this to get his hands on the thing that killed his parents and that she didn’t have to think too deep about them not talking that much. “We never did,” he’d said.

She immediately felt like she had been thrust back to the early stages of knowing him, when he had declared that they weren’t friends and didn’t want her talking to him. But, he was still more tolerant than he had been then, so she tried not to harp on this. He was still adjusting to having new people in his world and maybe he didn’t know how hurtful he sounded.

But, he didn’t talk like that to Yolanda, and whenever he talked like that to Courtney, then they bickered about it until one of them gave up. There was something else there that she and Rick lacked and she didn’t fully comprehend what it was until that very unfortunate night…

Beth had rushed to The Pit Stop as soon as she got the message from Pat. It was a scary trip and she had to have Chuck smooth her over before she got there, because she definitely didn’t want for there to be any type of situation where she didn’t have a level head. It was a good thing, too, because she hadn’t expected Yolanda to be chill, but she somehow expected for Rick to be… at least okay.

He caught her off guard. He was upset, sure. They all were. And she knew that Rick had a temper, but she guessed that she… just didn’t realize that Rick was that… fond of Courtney. Calming him down was a bit of a task that she hadn’t been prepared to have to do, but if anyone was going to do it, she knew it had to be her. Yolanda was… watching, unsure of everything and probably hurting more than all of them. She and Courtney were close. She was the first member of the team. They were best friends… Beth’s heart was racing as she stepped in front of Rick, not that she thought he would hurt her or anything, but she was mostly scared of the thought of him not listening to her. He didn’t listen very well and he was clearly determined.

Then, it hit her. The thing that she and Rick lacked in their relationship, or more accurately, what he lacked for her. It was respect. He had cut her down so effortlessly that she knew it was a natural reaction for him. She knew that some part of him felt that way about her… like she wasn’t… capable. And in that moment, she felt that she saw things more clearly than she had at any other time with him. “You hurt so much you want to hurt others, is that it Rick?”

A genuine question. Not rhetorical. It had been Beth, doing what she did best. Making her observations out loud, but instead of the cheery disposition of sharing that she usually had, she sounded disappointed. She… sounded hurt. That was enough to hold Rick back, and she didn’t miss the opportunity to continue what she was saying. It was Yolanda who agreed. It was Yolanda who… had gotten him to agree… she had only silenced him.

Keeping to her methods of forgiving, she smoothed her heart out and shared her plan, hoping to rush out soon after and wishing that Rick didn’t ignore the plan and go by himself or something… But Rick didn’t let her leave. “I’m going to walk you,” he said, when she headed for the door.

“I have Chuck to keep me…”

“We don’t know what Cindy knows!” Rick said, urgently, but not as angrily as he’d spoken to her before. This was… Was this worry? Was he worried about her?

“Well, she’s taken Courtney down, if she knew about us, she would have already come after us by now,” Beth said. He looked exasperated.

“Know what? We can all walk together,” Yolanda said.

Rick gave her a look as though it was an asinine thing to say, “Of course, I’m walking you too. Courtney is a very skilled fighter and going at Cindy Burman alone she got injured. You shouldn’t be alone, and you…” he pointed at Beth, “Can’t.” She wanted to argue, out of sheer will, but he was right. She couldn’t fight somebody who injured Courtney, unless it was a battle of smarts and she remembered that Cindy was always a bit of a genius when they were young… she had a pretty high GPA, if Beth was correct…

“Fine,” Beth agreed. “It’ll be good for us to be together while Courtney’s away.” She nodded her head, “She would want us to walk together.”

Rick’s fists and jaws clenched and he informed her, “Don’t talk about her like she’s dead. She’s just not here.”

“That’s how I meant it!” She quickly replied. She looked helplessly at Yolanda who just took her hand and squeezed it. Probably didn’t feel good to be in the middle of two of her friends having whatever this battle with Rick was.

Beth and Chuck talked on the walk. Rick and Yolanda shared a comfortable silence. It was like their lunches before Courtney, but… not. Beth’s voice was a welcome familiar sound, even though they all knew that their minds were taken up with what happened to Courtney. Rick kept looking around, making sure that nobody was lurking, despite the fact that Beth told him that Chuck would detect someone before he could. Yolanda was just… worried. She retreated into her mind, something she hadn’t had to do much of since becoming friends with Courtney and she just hoped more than anything that she would be okay.

When they got to Yolanda’s house, Yolanda grabbed Beth’s hand again and Beth pointed to the house, “Gotta do my good kid alibi thing.” He nodded. Beth was acceptable company for Yolanda’s parents. Her mother was a doctor, her parents were pillars of the community, she was probably gonna be the valedictorian, and she was friendly and nice. She gave good alibi energy and didn’t mind lying to Yolanda’s parents nearly as much as she minded lying to her own about their whereabouts. Tonight, Yolanda had “taken her to a youth group meeting at the church.”

“You know, I’ve never been too religious, but the way that pastor guy spoke in a relatable way to appeal to kids got me!” She said, smiling brightly. Rick scoffed, hearing her from outside the door. He did NOT ever want to face Yolanda’s parents. Who knew what things they would say if they saw her hanging out with the town trash? To them, he was a kid that Beth had to do some type of peer mentorship with, to explain why he would ever be around. After a moment, he couldn’t hear them anymore. What the hell was Beth doing in there? She was supposed to say a few nice lies and get the hell out. If she stayed to long, she risked failing at her lie and getting Yolanda into deep trouble. He grumbled and began pacing. He normally would have waited by the street, but what if he was by the street and Beth came out and got pounced on by Cindy? He rubbed the temples of his head and replayed the conversation earlier. He’d hurt her. She had actually said the word “hurt,” and he wasn’t sure if it was obvious or not, but hearing that about himself.. It hurt him. Not because she was being nasty, because she wasn’t. It hurt, because it was true.

Beth eased Mrs. Montez’s mind and she went to bed, making Yolanda promise to go as soon as Beth left. Yolanda exhaled when her mother disappeared. Pretending to be okay, even for the few moments that she was there made her feel tired, with Courtney on her mind. She didn’t want to say that Courtney had a car accident… what if that made them afraid to let her leave with her next? “Well, I’ve done my one useful thing, I guess,” Beth tried to joke, but the pain in her voice and her eyes didn’t slip Yolanda’s notice.

“He didn’t mean what he said,” Yolanda told her. Beth scoffed, with a smile frozen on her face. “Okay. He did mean it, but he’s not right. You thought of our whole plan tonight. You kept everything together. And he is gonna feel terrible about this later, if he doesn’t already.” Another scoff escaped Beth, but this time, Yolanda placed a hand on her shoulder, “I wouldn’t lie to you. He’s kinda prickly, but he’s not as hard as he tries to make himself out to be. You saw how he caved for you.” Beth hadn’t seen it that way at all. “It’s just… did you see him whenever Pat mentioned Grundy at practice? He didn’t say anything, but I saw him. I saw him… go through something at that moment. That’s who that was at the garage. He was going through something. He only has 3 friends, and one of them got hurt. He doesn’t have anybody but us.” Beth bit her lip and she and Yolanda hugged.

“I don’t want to let go of this hug,” Beth admitted. Yolanda nodded. She could use a longer hug too. They didn’t hug, but there was something about having seen Courtney, and then the next thing you know, she’s hurt? It was too much. Maybe they should hug more. “I don’t wanna walk home with Rick,” Beth added.

Yolanda let go and folded her arms, “He’s not gonna have it any other way.”

“I’m just tired of fighting with him. Nothing I say is right.”

“Everything that you say is right, and he knows it. I’m telling you. Rick… he cares about what you say.”

Beth smiled and shook her head, “Know what? I am fresh out of scoffs. See you tomorrow!” Yolanda laughed and watched her through the window, meet with Rick, who had been pacing until she came out, but seemed to be walking very closely to her as they left.

“I don’t suppose you’ve had time to think about it and decided that I can get home on my own?” She asked. He just threw her an unamused look. She added, “Because, this, it isn’t going to work with you, like that.”

He furrowed his eyebrows, like he was thinking about something, then ultimately let out a deep breath and asked, “How would you like me to be?”

“Nice.” She answered it immediately. He let out a huff of a laugh and her eyes widened at that. Maybe Yolanda was right. She was once really good at people. She’d been class president. That took people skills.

“Nice,” he repeated and nodded his head, like he was trying to focus on this assignment. Beth reached for her goggles and he caught her hand. “It’s not very nice to have a conversation with Chuck while we’re the only two people here.” She looked at her hand in his and he pulled his away and stuffed it into his pocket. Both hands into his pockets. She held her hand right where it had been for a moment as she stared at him a little longer, then remembering what he said earlier, self consciously looked away and grabbed her own fingers instead.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said. Still, they spent most of the time in silence.

Whenever they reached her house, he shook his head, “Unbelievable. Your parents aren’t home, again.”

“I feel like that is very believable,” she said, trying to sound positive. She looked at him, staring at the house, in concern and he looked around. “Would you feel better if you did a walk through?” she wondered, almost amused by his behavior. She didn’t notice that he his hands were out of his pockets until he started twiddling his thumbs, looking up the road as he considered her question. “I can call and see when my mom will be home. My dad is…”

“Out of town, yeah,” he said, frustrated and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I can-” She wasn’t able to make another suggestion before Rick cut her off.

“I’ll do a walk through.” It was only then that Beth realized that he was hovering. He hadn’t been this close the entire time, had he? She nodded. Yolanda WAS right. He was obviously going through something right now.

They went inside and she didn’t bother him. Instead, she headed for her room to get herself ready for bed. After a moment she heard him grumble, “Where the hell did she…?” She peeked out of her bedroom and he shut up immediately. “It looks clear,” he said. You need to come lock the door behind me.” She hurried to do so, not willing to push him over the edge with the… whatever it was that was preoccupying him.

She had a wad of nightclothes and a bonnet in her arms, and had set Chuck on the nightstand already, so whenever Rick turned to her and wondered where Chuck was, she pointed towards her bedroom. He frowned in that direction, but folded his arms and said to her carefully, “Tell him that if he detects a sign of anything to alert us.”

“I… just… from the nightstand? I don’t think that’s how he works…” He looked anxious. “I will tell him,” she said and gave him a little salute. He nodded. He wasn’t at ease, but he couldn’t do anything else, save for spending the night, and of course, he wasn’t going to do that. He reached for the door and Beth caught it, “You’ll definitely remember to let me know that you made it home safely tonight, right?” He nodded again, and he meant that, whether or not she knew it.

When he walked outside, he waited until he heard the sound of the lock before even considering leaving. She watched him make it to the street, then look up the road both ways again. “My god, please go home and rest, man,” she said. After a few more moments, he reluctantly began to head home.

“Are we sure that Cindy doesn’t know?” Yolanda asked Beth.

Beth tilted her head, “Well, we can’t be sure, sure, but I think we can be pretty sure. I mean, Cindy is smart. If she knew that Courtney was Stargirl, she’d deduce that we’re the rest of the team and last night would have been a prime time to come for at least me. I was alone all night. My mom made it just in time for breakfast.” Rick fought the urge to groan about that, while Yolanda’s lip dropped. “We had crumpets. I found a recipe on…”

“Cindy isn’t home, what exactly are we gonna do?” Rick interrupted, looking right at Beth. Yolanda and he were waiting on her word. Oh!

She smiled, “Oh! Well… she KNOWS that the two of you won’t come anywhere near her place. Even if her parents describe me to her, she’ll brush it off. Either of you would be a dead giveaway, especially you,” she pointed to Rick. “Yolanda… maybe. Maybe, she’d stop by to finally end her, but Beth Chapel stopping by for some reason, Cindy wouldn’t be nearly as suspicious. She’d say, “Never come by house again, Loser,” and never mention it again…. I think. So! I’ll get myself in and Chuck will give the place a good scanning!” Both Rick and Yolanda seemed hesitant to agree to this. They were supposed to be keeping watch and collecting data, but at the same time… they had been here for a little while and from the outside, nothing more than what they already knew had been revealed. “I can do this. All I have to do is talk. My specialty!” She gave them thumbs up. Yolanda was more hesitant than Rick seemed to be, mostly because Rick was starting to feel bad about making Beth feel like she had something to prove.

“Okay,” Yolanda begrudgingly agreed, “But the moment it gets thick, get out of there.”

“The moment I get something we can use,” Beth nodded.

“The moment it’s unsafe,” Yolanda corrected.

“The moment we know more,” Beth nodded.

“Beth…” Yolanda said, but Beth was heading for the house. Yolanda folded her arms. “Maintain contact with me!” Yolanda whispered loudly at her. She and Rick exchanged looks.

“She’ll be fine,” Rick said. More to himself than to Yolanda.

“She’d better be,” Yolanda commented. She was worried, but to lighten the mood she asked, “Can you imagine the vibe if we lost both of our sunshiney people?”

“We haven’t lost anyone!” Rick said, missing the cue. We’d better not…

They didn’t expect for Pat to arrive and while they wanted to do some recon… Rick had to admit, he was kind of relieved that Beth wasn’t rushing herself into potential danger. Cindy is the girl that took down their second best, arguably their best fighter. Beth couldn’t… Both of them had gone inside.

After a while, Yolanda said, “I feel helpless. What are they doing? What if Cindy’s mom is that tiger lady or something? I mean.. Not her, but somebody just as dangerous? Chuck didn’t know that they were there, and what if somebody dangerous is in there and he didn’t know?”

“You… are not helping…” Rick said. He hadn’t thought that deeply. He was thinking more along the lines of hoping that they were okay, but now…

“Sorry,” Yolanda said. She didn’t quite know what was going on with the two of them, but they had always, or at least as long as she’d been around the singles table, they had some sort of odd energy between them where they acted like they didn’t mean anything to each other, but the worked each other up in ways that only somebody who mattered somehow could do. She started to wonder about the rumors, now that she wasn’t constantly in distress. Had they used to date? People once said that, she was almost sure of it. She had thought it was a really silly rumor when she didn’t know anything but the surface of them, but now, she wasn’t sure. Maybe he was worried about his… girl? Maybe he was worried about their friend, like she was. She was so relieved when Beth finally made contact with them and she could tell that Rick was too.

Not knowing what was going on had been trying, and Rick had barely held himself together the past couple of days. Something about Courtney’s hospitalization made him hyper aware of how dangerous things were for the girls. He wasn’t worried about himself. But, Yolanda was a good, kind, tough person who could love as hard as she fought. Courtney was a strong, brave, big hearted person who always tried to do the right thing. And Beth… Beth was really better than he gave her credit for, and she was in there right now trying to prove herself because he wouldn’t shut his rude ass mouth about how useless she was…

Then, they lost contact with her.

Rick was pretty silent through most of it. Yolanda was the vocal one, panicking her thoughts out loud until Beth made it back on, arguing with her to get out whenever Cindy’s car arrived. Rick… didn’t do that. That wasn’t how he did things. But, he and Yolanda were gonna make sure ONE of their sunshiney people was okay. He couldn’t handle anything less, dammit.

He could hear the two of them going back and forth. Just like Beth to even try to argue her way out of this, but when he saw her headed for him, he knew Yolanda had made the decision for her. She landed safely. It took her a moment to collect herself. “Got ya,” he told her. She was a little disoriented. She’d just been flung from off of a house. But… she was okay. She was alive. She appeared unhurt. She had accomplished whatever she felt like she needed to. She never had to do anything like this again. Nobody else needed to get hurt. Rick couldn’t stand even the thought of somebody else getting hurt.

#We're Not Friends #Hournite #Hournite Fics #Stargirl Fanfiction #Beth Chapel #Rick Tyler #Nesha Hournite Fics #Nesha Fanfiction

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