#damn midnight's queue is empty

[warended]

in the biggest carol move i’ve done in ages, i stayed late after work to join the work softball league

[paisley-print]

3:00pm : We’ll Have Plenty Of Time To Dance

About: A date night goes horribly wrong.

Warnings: Marriage problems, fire.

Rating: 18+

Characters: Agent Whiskey x Reader

Series Master List

Note: Sorry this took so long, the next chapter is in the queue for tommrow. 

Midnight Tag List: @just-here-for-the-moment @sherala007 @jediknight122 @pintsizemama Permanent Tag List: @voteforpedro09 @greeneyedblondie44 @feel-it-on-the-way-home13​​

-

-

“Sorry, hold on-” you pressed the phone closer to your ear then walked through the kitchen and out the backdoor to the parking lot. “Hello?”

“Where are you?”

It was Jack. You propped the door open with your foot. “What do you mean? I’m at work?”

“Oh, I wasn’t sure if you were home yet.”

“Yeah, I got in at around ten,” you said.

“The drive was good?” he asked.

Sneakers kicked up gravel as you spoke. “I mean, as good as it can be. I hit commuter traffic, but that’s pretty much it.”

“Did you have fun?”

You had been away at your cousin’s wedding for a few days and neither one of you seemed to be able to get a hold of the other. Poor reception and mixed schedules meant a game of phone tag. You had spent a majority of the night drinking and immediately regretted that decision as soon as you laid sprawled out across the hotel sheets.

The room was in a tailspin and you felt so sick... all you wanted to do was hear your husband's voice. So many people asked about him, and you just had to smile and make some excuse about why he wasn’t able to come. It sucked, pretending like everything was perfect when you knew damn well it was not. Bitter loneliness in a room full of a hundred people.

Numbers blurred into each other as you fumbled with your phone. You called him twice, but received an error message both times.

Jack had already left for work by the time you got home this morning. His belongings were strewn about, muddy boots kicked off by the door, hat on the kitchen table, two empty beer bottles by the sink. You called out for him on the off chance he would be there, but you knew he wasn’t. That stuff was left from the night before.

You decided to lie in response to his question, because there wasn’t much else you could do. “Yeah it was okay... just like every other wedding.”

“I’m sure the cake was terrible.”

“What do you mean?”

“Because you didn’t make it. Any cake made by someone else is automatically going to be terrible.”

You cracked a smile, “It certainly wasn’t the worst thing I’ve ever had.”

Someone was in the room with him, but you couldn’t place who. He must have moved away from the receiver because you could barely make out the tail end of “yeah I’ll be right there” before his voice returned. “Good to hear darlin’. Well, I gotta go, but be ready by six alright?”

The time on your phone read 3:00pm. “Yeah, sure. May I ask why?”

“I thought we could go to that bar, you know the one on main street.”

Butterflies fluttered around your stomach... he was asking you on a date? You couldn’t recall the last time the two of you went out and did something fun. Being married to Jack felt as if you were floating on a raft in the middle of the ocean, dictated solely by the tide and left wondering if the sea would remain flat or give way to terrifying swells.

“Darlin’?” Jack’s voice asked.

You realize you hand't responded yet “oh yeah, yes. Okay so I’ll see you at one.”

“Six” he corrected.

You giggled stupidly, “yes six, I’ll see you at six.”

“Alright sugar, well I gotta get back to work so I’ll talk to you later. Have a nice day.”

“Alright, I love you,” you responded, trying not to sound overly excited.

“I love you too,” he added, “bye hon.”

Then the line went dead.

-

You had gotten home at five and headed upstairs to shower. Since the phone call, you had been unable to get him out of your mind. You had spent the rest of the day grinning like an idiot, excited for what was to come. A little after six you heard a car horn sound from the driveway and smiled.

-

“Now is that any way to greet a lady?” you asked, bounding down the front steps towards his car.

Jack was leaning across the hood of his truck, arms folded, smirking as you approached. He whistled upon seeing you, “well don’t you look pretty, even got the cowboy boots on.”

“Yeah, we’re matchin’ ” you smiled brightly.

As soon as you were close to him you reached up, taking his tie in your hands and pulling him towards you. Your mouth met his in a feverish kiss. He stiffened a little before relaxing and kissing you back. He tasted sweet, like peppermint.

“What was that for?” he asked as you pulled away.

“I don’t know. I just missed you.”

His lips pulled into a smile beneath his mustache, “then let’s head out.”

You leaned up to give him one more peck on the cheek before skipping over to the passenger’s side of the car and hopping in.

-

It was late by the time you two left the bar. Most of the conversation revolved around your family and the wedding. Although you asked him about work a few times, he only seemed to give you vague answers. Usually he couldn’t tell you about specific projects until after they had been completed. It had been that way for years.

Throughout the night you clung to him more than usual. Normally you weren’t one for PDA, but tonight you were his little koala bear. You would have stopped if he seemed annoyed, but he didn’t. He would simply smile and allow you to hang about.

The night was cool, and each step echoed across the brick buildings. Jack’s hand was intertwined with yours as you walked beside him towards the car.

He paused and read the street sign on the corner, “I just have one more thing for us to do tonight.”

You felt your phone vibrate in your pocket, but ignored it and let him pull you along.

As soon as the two of you rounded the corner, your heart skipped a beat. The streetlamp, the intersection, the music shop. A memory surfaced in your mind:

‘We’ll have plenty of time to dance, Jack.’

You were shocked that he remembered. Neither one of you had spoken about that night since it happened, but something was dangerously out of place.

He pulled you into the street and as you approached the intersection, you heard Thomas Rhett’s ‘Slow Down Summer’ drifting out of the speakers.

Jack stopped and turned to you, letting go of your hand and taking hold of your waist. “You remember this?”

“Of course I do,” you said quietly, hooking your arms around his neck. “It seems like such a long time ago.”

“Almost three years,” he murmured against your hair.

“Almost three years,” you repeated, taking a deep breath and resting your head on his shoulder. It felt so much longer.

Your phone vibrated again.

The two of you seemed so young and hopeful back then. You didn’t regret a single moment from the last few years, but you found yourself wondering sometimes about what would have happened if you both stayed friends. Would you be happier?

“Jack, I’m sorry that I’ve been so on edge recently. I just, I’ve missed you. But it’s not fair to get on your case about work, I know you can’t control it. And I know I never really thanked you for everything you did for me at the start of the year. I never stopped to think how hard it must have been for you, too. I really appreciate it. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. I hope you know that.”

You heard him sigh “let’s not worry about that now darlin’.”

“We should take a vacation after you’re done with this project. It’ll give us both something to look forward to.”

He hesitated.

Curiously, you lifted your head to look at him and that’s when your heart sank. Guilt plastered clear across his face. It all made sense at that moment. This was the only promise he had yet to keep. It wasn’t an attempt to get things back to normal. This was a swan song.

Your marriage was in its final throes, but you weren’t ready to watch it die. Not tonight, not here.

You recoiled from him “Jack please I-”

Your phone buzzed yet again.

He cleared his throat and looked at the ground, stetson blocking his expression. “Answer that honey. Must be important.”

“Jack-”

Again, it rang.

Annoyed, you reached for the phone in your pocket. Twenty-two missed texts, three missed calls. “Fuck,” you mumbled…….“Hello?”

-

Boots touched the asphalt, and tires screeched to a stop as you jumped out of the car. You started towards the building as fast as your legs could carry you. It felt as though someone had poured acid in your lungs, but you kept up anyway. Throngs of people were packed densely behind a police barricade, and from this angle there was no indication that the angry fireball spitting inky black smoke had once been your beautiful bakery.

Flames licked up the sides and tendrils of fiery blue shot out from broken windows. You pushed past the police barricade and continued forward towards the fire. It felt like everything was in slow motion….

There were voices yelling, but they sounded a million miles away. The heat was intense even from this far back. Burning, everything burning. Embers, floated down and created a blanket of black soot across the sidewalk. Burning, choking your insides.

You stopped, doubling over and wheezing. Someone grabbed you by the wrist and jerked you backwards. You spun and saw Jack’s concerned face staring back at you. Those brown eyes had never been so wide.

He was saying something, shouting it over the roaring blaze….. but you couldn’t comprehend. His hands came to your waist, then he walked you forward, back beyond the barricade.

The crowd parted, and as you made your way past, you looked up at the faces of your neighbors. Every single one filled with sympathy and sorrow.

Jack was practically carrying you by the time you turned the corner onto a quiet side street. The breeze off the river sent chilly air funneling through the buildings. He sat you down against the brick, kneeling and speaking to you. Your eyes followed the smoke again, but he placed a gentle finger under your chin and directed your gaze back to him.

Slowly, the words started to make sense. He had been saying your name, over and over again - trying to get you to come back to him. You to double over once more as another coughing fit seized you.

“I know, I know. Come here-” he took you up in his arms and squeezed you tightly.

Your entire body trembled beneath him. Your beautiful shop, disintegrating into a pile of black rubble before your very eyes. It had been the product of years spent sacrificing and saving. It was all you had. The reason for coming to this town in the first place... and it was gone. Everything that had ever mattered to you in life was slowly crumbling one by one, a line of dominoes all destined to fall.

You whimpered into the fabric of his jacket. There was a loud creaking then yelling from the police officers as the buildings started to fall in on itself. Jack brought a hand up to your ear and shushed you gently.

You always counted on the bakery. Even in your saddest moments, it had been your one sanctuary. So many nights you spent kneading your feelings into the dough and making something beautiful from your pain.

Even as Jack was holding you now, it felt as though you had absolutely nothing left. You were terrified at what changes the daylight would bring, and what truths it would force you to acknowledge. Just for a few more hours you could pretend. Live in a state of denial until the sun came up.

[todourouki]

Misery Business | K. Bakugou

a one shot

✰ SUMMARY the one where you didn’t mean to take the hothead away from his girlfriend, but you did anyway. It was nothing personal, you just knew that Bakugou Katsuki deserved way better than what he was settling for.

PAIRING Taken/Pro-Hero!Bakugou & Fem!Reader

WORD COUNT 4.6K

WARNINGS explicit language, mentions of cheating, cheating lol, suggestive language, angst, and some fluff at the end bc I cannot end my fics in a bad way I am weak sorry!

You were not a home wrecker.

At least, you wouldn’t say that to your own face.

You knew that the crush you had on Bakugou was wrong. You know that no matter how it is that you put it, or however strong your feelings are, or even however long you’ve even had feelings— liking a guy in a relationship was a huge no-no.

You weren’t the kind of girl to go around liking a girl’s boyfriend, though. It’s not like your feelings magically appeared out of thin air and now you’re stuck falling inlove with a guy that finds solitude in someone else— no, you aren’t like that.

Your feelings for Bakugou are much more complex, to say the least.

It all started in high school, when just the mere thought of the boy brought butterflies to your stomach with how strong and courageous he was. From his attractive face, to his blunt and explosive personality, you always found yourself admiring him when given the chance.

All of that went to shit when he decided to finally give one of the girls that were always fawning over him a chance during the beginning of your third year attending Yuuei Academy.

It was like you had gotten punched in the face, and now it feels like you’re just purposely getting stabbing in the heart every time you did as much as look at them.

That definitely explains why you’re sulking at your table during a school dance with a scowl on your face so you don’t have to see the happy couple waltz around the cafeteria floor.

All the top Pro-Heroes were assigned to attend the dance as academy alumni in order to ensure the safety of the students (as well as make sure students even decided to show up). You, being one of the top five heroes, were ordered to show up with no complaints.

The song currently playing finally changed from a low-tempo song to a much higher one, and with that, you decided to make that your imaginary queue to take a walk around the school’s building before returning to the large decorated area.

Your heel-clad feet dragged you all the way across the gymnasium, sending kids smiles if they were in your way and simply telling them that you were “getting some fresh air before the real fun starts.”

The doors slammed shut, and the solitude of the hallways engulfed in dark hues reflected against your strained eyes in a way that made you have to physically restrain your hand from harshly rubbing at it in order to make sure your make up stood intact.

The halls reminded you of a younger you (and by younger, you mean two years. you’re only 20 and already have the mind of some old hag) that used to run through these halls with a mini little green skirt and an imagination you wish you could still understand.

They also reminded you of the blond boy inside. Especially the room you stood in front of right now.

Almost as if it was second nature, your body made its way to Class 1-A: the place where it all began, the place where you met your closest friends, and the place where you fell inlove.

Opening the door, the lights turned on to reveal a classroom almost identical to the one you walked into every day four years ago. The desks were positioned the same, the posters remained in the same spot, and even the words on the chalkboard seemed oddly familiar.

The room reeked of new paint and textbook papers, and the only thing you really wanted to smell was the designer perfume clinging helplessly to your body so the odors of a high school class don’t even think twice about sticking to you.

Your body walked towards your old desk, Seat 12, the dress you wore clinging to your body as you pulled the chair out and nostalgically sat down. You were a first year all over again, and the thought made you laugh.

You looked embarrassing your first year— as embarrassing as someone who looks like you now can get. From the hideously overheated hair, to the emo phase you still seemed to sort of be stuck in, the world seemed too easy no matter what bullshit was going on the minute you sat down at that desk.

That explained how you felt now— no matter how much your heart yearned to be in the hands of Bakugou, the minute the cold sturdiness of the chair touched your warm body, all of that disappeared. For once, nothing in the world mattered. More precisely, Bakugou didn’t matter.

“Tch, I knew you’d be in here.” Annnddd there goes that.

Your eyes widened, now staring at a smirking blond wearing a black and white tux instead of the chalkboard you once zoned out on.

His arms were crossed against his muscular chest, and the muscles outlined the button up shirt in a way that should just be downright illegal. His face was gleaming with mischief, slowly walking his way over to the empty desk directly next to yours, taking a seat, and positioning his body in a lazy manner with his legs propped up against the table. Just like before.

“You know, this brings back a lot of shitty memories.” He grunted, stretching his arms behind his head and lolling his head to face you.

You nodded in response, glancing your head up to look at the lights in a way to move the gears in your brain to say something. Literally the same thing you used to do during Midnight’s long, tedious classes.

“Yea, a bunch of ones I’d much rather forget.” You said, looking over at him and watching as his eyes stared directly at the window you always found him staring out of when he wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone in class.

“Always hearing your annoying ass mumble and suck your teeth used to really piss me off.” His words were masked with seriousness, trying to hide the playful smirk on his lips you identified much too quickly. With that, a scoff left your lips and you crossed your arms.

“Nobody said anything about the pencil you insisted on tapping for hours straight.” Your jab back made him chuckle, looking back at you with vermillion eyes that made you lose all sense of feelings.

Your breath caught in your throat, and you always forgot what it was like to look at anything before you looked into his eyes. That’s how scary it was— how intimidating it was to be under his presence. His eyes captured you, holding you hostage and probably never letting you go.

“At least we didn’t sit next to each other during our third year,” he began, placing a hand loosely around his tie as he continued to look at you in your eyes, “I don’t think I would have ever focused with the humming you did to the same damn song every day.”

“Yeah, instead of me though, you ended up sitting with your future wife.”

Stupid, stupid, stupid, STUPID.

It was like word vomit, the snarky tone slipping through your lips as if it was trying its hardest to come off in a jokingly manner, only ending up appearing as sarcastic as possible. It was like the words fell from your tongue quicker than you could punch your own esophagus.

Bakugou stood quiet for a moment, staring at you and knitting his eyebrows together as if deep in thought. Your eyes ended up leading you back to the words Relief Fund written messily against the green chalkboard to save your embarrassment.

You didn’t see the frown itching across Bakugou’s lips.

“We aren’t married, ya know. I don’t know why people decided to start that rumor.” He said, a sigh passing by his lips to quiet his tone as if he was scared his girlfriend was around to hear it.

“Might as well marry her. You’re not really the kind of guy that dates just to date.” Your words struck hesitantly in the room in a timid yet informative voice, and Bakugou watched the board as well so that you were both avoiding each other’s gaze.

“Yeah well I’m not sure, marriage is a big deal.” Bakugou was muttering, and the tone of his voice made you crane your neck over to where he was seated as you stood quiet.

What were you, someone who was basically inlove with him, supposed to say that?

You both stood in silence for a few seconds, the words in your throat itching to escape as the remnants of memories you both had both in class and just together in general filled your vision.

“I always hated this seat because I knew it meant that I would always be the person you would argue with.” You began, closing your eyes and releasing a strained scoff from your glossed lips.

You didn’t know what you were doing, or what you were talking about, but as the moon danced across the pale boy’s face and the music in the cafeteria continued to gently ring through the halls, the only thing you were thinking about doing was speaking more than you ever have.

“Morning after morning, I grew used to your loud voice and extremely hostile—” “HAH? I was NOT—”

You sent him a glare, immediately cutting him off and proceeding your weird speech that just couldn’t let anything go.

“Anyways, morning after morning, I ended up looking forward to the words you decided to call me and yell at me about for the day. It’s like, if it didn’t happen,” your arms moved in an animated way, catching Katsuki’s full attention as he looked on to your rant, “I felt like my day wasn’t really an actual day, ya know?

The one thing you loved appreciated most about Bakugou was his ability to listen. And when you say listen, you mean just listen. His ears were perked up in your direction, shoes turned towards you and eyes watching your movements like a hawk.

“And then—” you gulped, pausing for a second in order to think your words though. It was always now or never to you, the drama giving you a sense of hope against a man like that.

It’s either I bring it up now, or I never get to speak my peace, and I refuse to be one of those people showing up to the wedding yelling ‘I oppose.’

“And then it was here that I realized I was the biggest idiot alive by feeling the way I felt about this one person.” You said, eyes glaring at the wall in front of you blankly as you cowered behind the whisps of your lashes.

Bakugou said nothing, but from the corner of you eye, you could see him staring at the side of your face with an expression you had never really see on him.

“I spent years pining after some dumbass that didn’t even see the genuine interest I had in him.” Your words were like alcohol, and Bakugou was too busy drinking them all in to fully acknowledge what you were talking about.

“I watched him give in to this one girl though,” a lightbulb when off in the boy’s head and for once, he felt like the idiot in the room, “a girl that doesn’t even care for him.”

“Y/N..” Bakugou growled, almost as if he was threatening you and warning you to tread on light waters.

If there was one thing he ever respected about you though, it was that you were never scared of him.

Your eyes snapped towards him, a scowl on your face as you began to feel anger bubbling up in your stomach from the way he tried to shut you up. You were finally speaking your peace and he’s too much of a coward to let you finish?

“You know, I thought the first red flag of her trying to change his attitude was enough. I thought that maybe, just maybe, after her telling him that being number one hero wasn’t really tangible, he’d have some common fucking sense and see what everyone else sees.” Your words were like venom, your eyes not leaving his as you huffed in your seat.

“You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.” Bakugou’s voice was low and angry, laced with anger as he stared at you just as intensely as you stared at him. Your expression never faltered, and instead, you turned your entire body around in the chair to fully face him with arms across your chest.

“I know exactly what the fuck I’m talking about,” you taunted, your anger only rising in value, “and so the fuck do you, Bakugou.”

“You know she doesn’t give a fuck about you and you know very fucking well she’s only with you because you’re Bakugou Katsuki!”

His name slipping off your tongue brought shivers to his spine as he sat up in his seat and glared at you with the tip of his ears painting themselves a light red hue.

He was angry— not necessarily at you, but at the fact that he was getting called out for something like this. He was getting called out for finally being with a girl and was getting shit for it from someone he saw as a best friend.

“You don’t know shit— you don’t even fucking know her.” His voice began to get louder, the bass in his voice causing your heart to vibrate as you shocked both you and him by slamming a hand against the desk in frustration.

“For God’s sake, Katsuki open your fucking eyes!” You only used his first name when your emotions were high, and that made the man’s hands shake in anger as he watched your outburst.

“She forgot your anniversary! She doesn’t make you your favorite food— fuck she doesn’t even kiss you unless there’s a shitty camera around!” You stood up, stomping your feet and watching as he stood up quickly after you and scowled over at your angry face.

“She doesn’t care enough to remember shit that you don’t like which is why you always end up at stupid shit like this and she doesn’t even care to meet your friends!” Your voice was now loud, the music of the cafeteria being long forgotten as you huffed over at him and slammed a finger into his chest at every syllable you spoke.

“You want to know what I think about her, Bakugou? Bestfriend to bestfriend?” The words bestfriend seethed through your lips like venom as your finger dug itself into the middle of his pecks. He said nothing, waiting for you to continue as his hands balled into fists along his sides.

“I think that you’re such a fucking pussy, you can’t fathom being with someone who doesn’t worship the ground you walk on the way she does.” You growled, narrowing your eyes at his angry expression as you took a step closer to him threateningly.

“I think you hate the fact that I’m right— the fact that she blatantly uses you and doesn’t give a fuck about you, and you hate the fact that I know you so well enough to know that—”

Before the last few letters of the words could slip through your lips, a warm hand slammed against your fingers and snatched it into his grasp as he began to huff in anger. The caramel smell only increased, and you could sense his quirk begin to flare the abnormal heat in his hands up every second.

“You don’t know shit,” he growled, his voice raising as he began to yell at you in your face, “you don’t know shit about me!”

“Are you shitting me?!” You exclaimed, grabbing at the hand that grasped yours with a grip so tight Bakugou had to glance at it quickly before reverting his eyes back to yours.

“I’ve known every little fucking thing about you since we were fifteen!” You yelled, tears threatening to spill down your eyes as the anger inside you finally erupted in a way you couldn’t control.

“Nobody asked you to be so invested in my fucking life anyway!” He retaliated, his voice booming through the room as you stared at him incredulously.

“I was so fucking invested in you because I’m fucking inlove with you, you idiot!”

Your voice silenced the room, the grip he had on your hand tightening as he stared at you with shocked eyes yet the same familiar scowl you were used to. Your expression never faltered the way his eyes did when he heard you, though. You stood your ground.

“It’s so annoying seeing the guy you are inlove with be so unhappy in a relationship because he feels as if he has no one else.” Your voice began to quiet down, a tear slipping down your eye as Bakugou watched you with a slightly softened face.

The hand gripping yours loosened a bit, still gripping it to his chest as he wrapped all his fingers around your bracelet covered wrist.

“It’s so annoying watching you try to force someone else to fall inlove with you, when I’ve been inlove with you for free for years. It hurts watching you try to force yourself to be inlove with a girl you know you don’t want to be with. It just fucking hurts Bakugou, so fucking bad.”

There was a crack in your voice that Bakugou knew all too well from the restless nights you’d spend together, and it didn’t take much for him to engulf your frame into a tight hug as he rested his head against yours. You dived into his chest, the familiar warmth wrapping around you in a way that made a few more tears slip from your eyes. You didn’t make a noise, but he knew that you were hurting.

Neither of you said anything, only holding each other until you removed yourself from him and wiped the tears off your face before he could see the evident streams marking your cheeks. He stared at you silently, as if he was contemplating something.

With timid eyes, he watched you fix the straps of your dress to find something to play with under his gaze. The silence was deafening, and was an unusual characteristic for the boy who always had something to say.

“You know she hates me, that’s why you never bring her around me.” You said, a tone of blankness carrying your voice through the room as your tears dried up and was replaced by the anger haunting your heart once again.

“No she doesn’t, she just feels like we’re too close.” Bakugou retorted, sighing and taking a seat on the chair he once occupied. You followed suit, leaning against the back of your own seat as you faced his body.

“Back in high school, I never told you this, but her and I argued in the bathroom once.” You informed, dryly chuckling as you watched his face contort with confusion.

“I told her that her pretty little face and fucked up manipulation wasn’t going to keep you around in the long run.” You stood quiet after letting him know, gulping some saliva down as you averted your gaze from his body to your painted nails. “Guess I was wrong.”

Bakugou didn’t know what to do. There were many things the man was capable of: he could destroy any villain in his way, was braver than any other fucking half assed hero out there, was smart as fuck, and could manage a relationship as well as being a top pro-hero because that’s just who he was.

What he couldn’t do, though, was fully digest the situation in front of him.

He bit his lip, running a hand across his face in frustration and staring meekly at your face. You couldn’t help but admire his frame as you did before. He was strong, well-built, smelled good, had great posture— there was nothing wrong with him. It was almost surreal.

“We’ve been dating for like two years.” Bakugou’s low voice broke the silence as he stared deep into your now glazed over eyes. You didn’t break the contact, hands rested against each side of the seat as you watched him speak.

“I’ve been dating her for two years and yet...” His words were lost, almost sounding as if he was hesitating the very same way you were earlier. You said nothing though, knowing he would stop expressing himself if you had opened your mouth.

“And yet I can’t help but imagine she was someone else.”

It was like every word he said was the last glass of water, and you drank it up against your skin in a way that brought goosebumps to his. You furrowed your eyebrows, silently signaling for him to continue.

“I never told you this,” he mocked your voice, his scowl still resting against his soft face, “but there was a time where I thought about what it would be like if we were a shitty thing.”

Everyone always assumed Bakugou and you would end up together. Whether it be from watching you both pin are each other relentlessly, to watching you fawn over him, and from just watching your interactions with one another— it almost seemed destined for you two to work out. Keyword: almost.

“Shitty Hair and Dunce-Face tell me all the fucking time that I’m an idiot for choosing this girl over you.” He scoffed, and you couldn’t help but feel your stomach tingle at the use of the name ‘this girl’ for his own girlfriend. “It’s not like I wanted to, you were always my first option.”

You stood quiet. The last sentence was lower than the others and sounded way more vulnerable. You couldn’t help but gape at him, repeating it in your brain as if they was the last words you’d ever hear again. You were always my first option.

Maybe it was the buzz you felt from the energy within the room, maybe you were drunk on adrenaline, or maybe you were just being a fucking dumbass, but the way your feet moved you from your seat to the desk he was sitting at was something you just couldn’t stop in time.

Bakugou hasn’t said anything beyond what he just finished as he watched you gently push his body away and hop up onto the desk. Your body was now inches away from his as you watched him shyly. You were always so obnoxiously close to him, so why is it that his stomach was throwing fireballs at his insides now?

“You deserve better, Katsu..” You lowly began, fiddling with the rings on your fingers as you glanced over at his body through your dark eyelashes. “Does she take care of you?”

Your words hit him in the chest and he couldn’t find it within himself to look away from you. He wasn’t sure what it was, or how you were doing it, but he was entranced by your every word and it was scaring the shit out of him. He found himself shaking his head, eyes never leaving yours as the scowl in his face began to soften.

“You’re a strong man, Katsu,” the way his nickname slipped from your lips nearly made him melt, the unfamiliar feelings he was so used to suppressing caused his head to jumble around and process your words, “you need someone who takes care of you the right way.”

You watched him, a hand lifting towards his head and running itself through his soft yet spikey hair. Bakugou always claimed he hated it when you played with his hair since that was something he thought no one was close enough to be able to touch, but he always seemed to lean into you unknowingly.

His chair scooted closer to the table, your legs now in between his lazily opened ones and his body aching to go closer into your touch.

“What are you suggesting?” His dark voice questioned, eyes staring at you as the once softened expression transformed into another of a slowly rising mischievous smirk. You were sure you were breathing earlier, but now? Not so much.

“Are you suggesting that I need someone else to take care of me?” His words hit you hard, your body facing whiplash from all the sudden changes of emotion.

You looked down shyly, trying to find the confidence you once had that was now lost in the gush of your flustered moment, yet Bakugou’s calloused, warm hand then reached up to your chin to perk it up to face his now standing body.

“Are you saying that you should be the one taking care of me?” He asked, staring at your eyes with more intensity than you were fully even prepared for. Your eyes dug into his as the feeling of his hands on your chin caused your brain to short circuit for a moment.

“You said it yourself, I’m a strong man.” You could feel the confidence drip from his words as you bit your left cheek to keep from whimpering at the intensity laced within the empty classroom. “I need someone to take care of me the right way, and I don’t think this girl is doing it Y/N.”

The use of your name caused you to tug your bottom lip between your teeth and blush behind his words. You didn’t miss the way his eyes quickly zipped from your eyes to your mouth, and back to your eyes once again. His body was now towering over your seated one, looking down at you as if you were the only person in the world at this moment.

Bakugou was out of it, to say the least. Usually he felt as if he had control over situations like this, but even with towering over your frame and his hand gripping your chin, he felt as if you were in complete control of the situation. He knew that his current girlfriend was probably coming to look for him, and he knew that everything was inevitable and he was simply just prolonging it.

That didn’t stop him from sliding his hand across your neck to grip the back of it and pull your face in towards him.

A kiss was the last thing you were expecting, and you would have gasped if his lips weren’t putting you in such a trance. It was like everything had stopped, time stopped, the dance stopped, everything was just on a hiatus.

His tongue danced against yours in a way that made you whimper lowly into his touch. His hands explored your body, rubbing against you in exasperated motions as you reciprocated by rubbing your hands across his chest, shoulders, and waist. It was like you were both doing the last thing you’d do before the world came to an end.

His lips moved feverishly across your own as tilted your head upwards to get a more comfortable position. A warm yet equally rough hand snaked it’s way back onto your neck and gripped your throat with such possession, you felt a tingle reach your lower half.

The intensity of the make out was one that put every other sound to shame as the room was filled with nothing but the small whimpers coming from either of you and the sound of your lips smacking against his. It was like a dream, and Bakugou couldn’t control himself any longer as he groaned into your touch.

It wasn’t until a gasp broke the seductive silence within the room, as well as pushed the two of you apart only to see his girlfriend staring at the two of you with wide eyes and a fizzy drink in both of her hands., that you realized something.

Shit just got really fucking complicated.

—

back to masterlist

I wanna have an angsty kiss moment with bakugou

>:( damnit anyways yeah like, reblog, comment, follow! thanks for reading! don’t forget to send some requests in <3

- heilly

[lilaacstars]

with a touch of gravity (and quite madly)  

ch. 5: my broken drum. 

 Marinette holds a glass of wine close to her chest as she crosses the sea of people in the apartment. 

It is still a mystery for her how Alya manages to befriend so many people and be comfortable with all of them in her apartment. Marinette has always been social, but never to this level. She swears she just passed by a girl Alya and she once met at a Zara store as they were in the queue for the changing room.

Alya is moving around from group to group, and Marinette doesn’t want to drag her away to stay with her. She searches the room with her sight, looking for a place to enjoy her glass without anyone loudly speaking in her ear, as they chew the amazing food Alya’s mother has prepared for the occasion. 

The balcony is crowded with people smoking, but just on the corner of the window and the couch, there’s a perfectly calm space for her to be. Right beside a table of already served glasses and more alcohol and liquor for people to come and choose their favourite poison. 

The smoke doesn’t get in and no one is actually sitting on the couch, and so she goes, sitting on the arm of the couch and drinking her wine. 

keep reading or read on ao3

Nino should arrive at any minute with the ice Alya sent him to buy, she just has to wait for his familiar face to appear on the door and call for him before anyone else decides to speak with him. 

Or for Adrien to appear first. 

Marinette has her phone in her hand and looks down at the screen, but no messages have popped. It bothers her, making her frown. 

Adrien should’ve landed an hour ago and he hasn’t texted. If something had happened to make him let, then he would have texted too. But he hasn’t. 

Her fingers tap across the screen a million times, scribbling and erasing, and going back to write a message that she never ends up sending. 

It is ridiculous to get so fixated on this little thing, that in any other day wouldn’t be a problem, but with how terrible the last weeks have been, being away from him, and knowing that he got angry when she fell asleep on the call, her nerves are getting the best of her. 

“Oh, but would you look at that, if it isn’t my favourite ex-girlfriend!”

“I’m your only ex-girlfriend,” She laughs, leaving her now empty glass back on the table and jumping to hug him. 

“I’m counting ex-flings, and even if not, you’re still my favourite.”

“Then if those are the rules, you’re my favourite ex too.” 

They both laugh and start chatting not waiting for a second to catch up on life. 

Obviously, one of the first things Luka asks, is where is Adrien.

“He is supposed to come here straight from the airport,” Marinette says and takes two champagne flutes from the table, offering one to Luka, “But I am afraid the plane might have run late.”

“Thanks, Nette,” He smiles, receiving the flute, “Where did he go to now?” “Milano, the offices there had a mishap, and his father sent him to fix it,” Marinette resists the urge to pout, “Where’s  your girlfriend?” 

“In the kitchen. She needed to take her medicine and asked Alya for water. She is gonna knock you out with love, she wouldn’t stop talking about how excited she was to be back so she could see you.” “Aw,” Marinette smiled tenderly, “I’ve missed Zoé too. I’ve missed you too.”

“And I’ve missed you. I miss going to concerts together. We should find a concert on a date we are both free and just go. Paris or London, it doesn’t matter.”

“I’d love that! I heard  All Time Low  has an upcoming tour, they tend to book shows in London.”

“That’s great!” 

Luka continues naming bands that they could start keeping an eye on to go see in concert when Zoé joins them cheerfully, running towards Marinette and almost making them both drop to the floor. 

With her there, the conversation turns to their life in London, their upcoming plans for films and music, and then they ask about her. They want to know how is she doing at uni, if her last project is going well if any brand has called for her to do her internship. 

The conversation flows at a rhythm that makes her happy and at ease, completely forgetting about her phone and leaving it on her purse back on the couch as they move to the kitchen to look for food as they speak. 

The lights of the kitchen are dim as in the rest of the apartment, with the oven on burning giving a calming orange tint to the environment, the bar doesn’t have the chairs on, displaying the food for the people in the living and dining room to go pick up, so Marinette and her friends group up on the other side, Luka leaning against the fridge, Zoé by his side and Marinette looking at them. 

They pick up on waffles on sticks and chat a little bit more. 

Marinette is eating her second waffle -a chocolate filled one with strawberries- when arms wrap around her waist and lips brush against the shell of her ear. 

“ Princess, ” He purrs and the initial surprises fades away as she melts into his arms.

“Adrien!” Zoé and Luka cheer happily.

“Sunshine boy is finally here!” Alya says walking towards them and winks at Marinette. 

Marinette turns her head to him and smiles. Adrien has already read her mind and leans in for a kiss. 

“I missed you so much,” She says giving him another kiss and turning around completely this time, to see him face to face.

Adrien smiles and caresses her cheek.

“Me too, so damn much,” He kisses her forehead. 

With so many people present, and being in the middle of a conversation, they can’t have the rencounter they wish they could. 

“Do you want something to drink or eat, mon coeur? I just finished a waffle, I’m sure you’re going to love them, I can pick one for you as I go pick up a new glass of wine.”

“I’ll just have wine, I ate a sandwich on the plane so I’m fine,” He smiles and kisses her cheek before they walk towards the drinks’ table.

“When did you land? I thought you would be here before midnight.”

“Same hour I told you, there was a problem with my bags that made me stay at the airport longer than I should have.”

“Oh, that sucks. You should have texted or called me,” She gives him the glass and drinks of her own.

“I didn’t want to worry you, and I was coming either way. If I had taken a little longer I would have let you know.”

“Okay,” Marinette nods, not wanting to fight for something so little, even if it still bothers her, “Did you have a good flight? You look a little tired.”

“It was… not the best,” He winces, “I tried to look good…”

“And you do, I love how that shirt looks on you.” 

He does look pulled together and nice on that dark turquoise silk shirt and black skinny trousers with sleek boots to match, but she can see through all that.

“You looks handsome as ever, but I know you well.”

“Thank you,” He smiles and squeezes her shoulder as she serves their wine, “You look stunning by the way… if there weren’t so many people around I would show you how much I’m loving how you look on that dress.” He says that in a whisper and a playful smile curls on his lips. 

Marinette turns around with a shaky smile and bright red cheeks. 

“What a shame.” Adrien tsks and shrugs, “I can show you later if you’re still interested.”

“I might,” She leans forward, pressing herself to him as she passes him his glass.

“I’ll keep it in mind,” He winks and they meet in a short kiss. 

Adrien puts his arm around her waist and they walk back to the kitchen together.

“There they are, we thought we were going to be forgotten,” Alya teases. 

“Sadly, I have manners,” Adrien flashes a smile.

“You still got here late.” “The airport’s fault, not mine. I’ll make it up with my gift, I promise.”

“Marinette told us you were in Milano,” Zoé says. 

“Yes, there was something wrong with the promotion in the stores, and father sent me so I could see the business side of things.” “Did you get to run around the city?” Luka asks what everyone is thinking. 

Adrien’s father has always been a subject that makes everyone uncomfortable and angry. When they first started dating, it was really hard for Marinette and Adrien to have time together.

Adrien’s school was close to Nino’s home, so she would ride the bus with him and they would wait outside his private school to have a few minutes with him before his chauffeur picked him up. It was one of the reasons why Nino and Adrien got so close. 

Everyone wanted to meet Adrien but Marinette would have to make excuses for him all the time, it didn’t take long for everyone to realize how controlling his father was. 

Things got better once Kagami came back on Adrien’s life and let her use him as an alibi anytime he wanted if she could do the same back.

“No, most I did was walk around with a gelato from the hotel to the store,” He shrugs, “But it’s fine, I’ve been there before.”

“I guess,” Luka whispers but Marinette hears. It's obvious that he is angry on Adrien’s behalf. 

Marinette gives a sad smile to her friend and leans towards her boyfriend to snuggles on his arm. 

Adrien looks down and smiles at her, rubbing his thumb over her hip in a tender manner. 

“Well, at least you got to relax for the chaos that is this city,” Luka laughs, “I miss Paris a lot, but I would be lying if I said that I don’t get happy once a day knowing that there are no akuma attacks in London.”

“ Really? ” Adrien asks, surprising Marinette not only by how fast he reacts but that he is interested in continuing the conversation, “I didn’t even think about it. I don’t trouble myself with that ‘chaos’ and I live a calm life here in Paris, so it wasn’t much of a difference in Milano.”

Marinette pinches the bridge of her nose. Of course, that is his answer. 

It’s not a bad or a mean answer, but Marinette can hear the actual feeling behind his words. 

“That’s actually shocking,” Zoé says and her eyes open wide, “I really can’t believe you don’t think about it.”

“I don’t,” Adrien shrugs and take a sip of his wine. 

“He never talks about it,” Alya adds and shots a concerned look towards Marinette.

Subtly, Marinette waves her hands to let her know that everything is fine. They can’t change subjects only because of her. 

“Nothing at all?” Luka and Zoé question. 

“Nothing at all,” Adrien nods. 

“What about Ladybug? What do you think about her?” Zoé asks, taking a step forward as her eyes show her curiosity.

“I don’t think about her at all,” Adrien answers, unfazed, but Marinette can feel the tension building inside him. 

“That’s your lost, Adrien,” Alya says, “She is so fucking cool.”

“Yes, she is,” Zoé nods aggressively, “C’mon, there must be something. I don’t think is possible to not have an opinion about something.”

“I gotta agree. For example, I think she is hot,” Luka adds, moving his hands, splashing a little of his beer. 

Marinette chuckles. It’s not the first time she’s heard this from Luka, and she isn’t surprised by it either, after all, they dated, she knows he likes her physically. However, it still, makes her blush. 

Adrien looks frustrated, he closes his eyes and sighs. 

“Yes, I guess she is really fucking hot, but  that’s it ,” Adrien answers and takes a sip of wine, looking away from them.

Marinette can feel her cheeks warming up more than before. He’s never said that to her. 

“Sadly, the catboy is hot too,” Zoé sighs and leans into Alya who nods along. 

“If you like the psychotic type,” Marinette adds, without missing a beat. 

Adrien shifts beside her, and the hold he has on her waist tightens. 

“So, you  do  think he is hot.” Luka laughs. 

“Yes,  objectively, he is hot. I would be blind if I didn’t admit it. He has pretty eyes, and a devilish smile that I’m sure melts more than one, and he is fit, and his shoulders are broad and his arms inviting and look like-” She stops. No, “Yeah, he is as hot as he is insane.”

“ Insane? ” Marinette hears Adrien whisper in disbelief.

The rest of her friends keep talking and arguing, all in lightness and good faith, a few jokes here and there, but she is unable to fully pay attention as she sees Adrien’s expression turns from slight annoyance to full-on rage.

“I mean, there  is  a good side,” Alya says, Zoé and Luka nod. 

Adrien’s hand drops off her waist and this time is her who stiffens. 

She takes his hand, and squeezes, hoping he can look at her and calm down, but he is already talking before she can put her plan in motion. 

“Are you all fucking experts on moral compasses now, or what?” Adrien asks half laughing but his tone is piercing.

“I don’t think we need to be experts, Adrien,” Luka says and looks at Marinette with utter confusion. 

Adrien blinks slowly, in disbelief, and let out an arrogant chuckle.

Marinette panics and does what she knows best: an escape plan. 

She turns to Adrien side, to grab him by his arm, and purposefully hits the glass of wine he has in hand. It splashes to the carpet and it falls on Adrien’s shoes as well as hers, and because of that also in her pink stockings.

“Oh no! I’m sorry, baby,” She acts out real concern, and takes a step back, “Ugh, why am I always so clumsy?”

“It’s fine,” Adrien says but he still manages to irradiate the same level of anger as before.

“Here,” Zoé says giving her a few napkins and they both kneel down to clean the carpet. Then Zoé helps her clean her shoes.

“Thank you,” She says and stands up again, “I really am so clumsy, I’m sure you girls are starting to remember a thousand stories.” And just like that, the subject has changed because Alya begins laughing and starts telling one of the many stories.

Marinette smiles in triumph and goes back to Adrien. 

“I think I need more wine,” Adrien says, shaking her off before she can even think of touching him. 

Nonetheless, he doesn’t go to the table in the living room, fading in with all the other people at the party.

Her smile disappears. 

She stays listening to Alya talk, but when Adrien doesn’t come back after ten minutes, she excuses herself and walks through the apartment.

It doesn’t take her long to find him, she knows he would go to a quiet and empty room. 

So when she opens Alya’s bedroom door, she sees him on Alya’s balcony, leaning in the frame of the window.

The lights are off, but the lamp post of the street and the glow of the little stars on the sky falls on him, spectral white illuminating his narrowed green eyes, his frowning expression and a condescending smile. 

“Was it worth staining your favourite pair of pink stockings for the distraction you tried to pull?” He shots at her. 

“Is it worth it to be angry at me after we were away for a week just because of a stupid argument?”

“Oh, it is not a stupid argument, is a stupid subject.”

“Just because people don’t have the same opinion as you, doesn’t mean they’re wrong,” She knows how these arguments go, she might as well cut it at the beginning. 

“It’s not that at all. I just feel like you-  everyone  is judging someone without knowing their full story.” 

“And I think you’re projecting your own personal issues,  mon coeur .”

“Oh, so now it is me  who is in the wrong?” Adrien turns around, one crooked accusatory brow at her, “Didn’t you just-

“Don’t do this,” Marinette crosses her arms in front of her chest, “I hate to fight about this, I’m so tired of it. You can’t keep getting angry just because people don’t see it through the same lens that you do.”

“Do you think I enjoy this? I’m tired too, that’s why I am angry because everyone keeps bringing it up! There are so many other interesting things to ask and talk about. I hate this insane obsession everyone has with  them  as if we haven’t seen the same crazy fight scene over and over again for four years.”

“Zoé and Luka just came back from London,  of course,  they will talk about it.”

“Why? Why must they talk about that with us?”

“It is a common subject, Adrien, what else do you want them to talk about?”

“About  you , for example.”

Marinette blows a raspberry.

“I’m serious!” He throws his hands up, and walks towards her, standing next to the bed, “We haven’t seen Luka and Zoé in a while, they could have asked you about uni. You’re rocking it.”

“They did ask, Adrien, you weren’t here yet.”

“But-

“No, ‘but’… please I’m tired. These weeks…  you’ve never been so annoyed by it before. What’s happening to make you so angry about it? Why do we keep fighting? Whenever I would name it you would brush it off quickly, but we didn’t use to fight.” Could it be that he has started to put the pieces together? Could he know her secret and that’s what has him so worked up?

He gulps and brushes his bangs aggressively.

Adrien takes a step away from her and walks to sit on Alya’s desk chair.  

“Adrien…” She pushes, staying where she is but ready to approach him.

“You got hurt.” He answers and clicks his tongue, moving his head side to side. 

“ Adrien. ”

“I told you I would never let anything happen to you… but you had already gotten hurt that day, and I wasn’t there to help you. I can’t stop thinking about it, I can’t stop thinking that it could be worse than a few bruises, then the bloody wound… and I wasn’t there for you.”

“Hey, hey, you can’t blame yourself for that,” She places her hands on his shoulders, “How could you know that there was going to be an attack? I myself didn’t know I was going to be on that street at the same time an attack was happening, but it happened, and that’s life. You can’t let anger consume you, especially not when it’s over things you can’t control.”

“I just want it to be over,” He presses her head against her chest, “For it to end and not have to worry ever again if you’re caught in the crossfire or not.”

“I want that too, but you can’t be worrying about me so intensely that you are in a bad mood all the time,” She hugs him, hands tangling in his hair, “And I thought we already established I’m invincible.”

“It’s not funny, Nette,” He sighs, “How could I ever stop worrying about you?”

“You can care about me, the normal,  healthy amount, but if you cross the line, you turn gloomy and moody and that… that makes me sad, baby.”

He looks up again, his expression dripping concern and sadness and so much guilt. It isn’t her objective to make him feel bad, but he has to know how his actions affect her. 

“I don’t want to make you sad,” He stands up and holds her from her shoulders, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, just try to control your temper,” Marinette takes his hands, pushing them off her shoulders and dropping them so she can intertwine their fingers, “And on the other hand, I promise I will not bring up the subject unless the situation calls for it.”

“Like when you want to swoon over the hot leather catboy?” 

The statement is atrocious but the fact that he is joking makes her look past it. 

“I did not swoon!” 

“Broad shoulders? Inviting arms? A devilish smile that could melt-

“ Stooop! ” She pushes his forehead and pouts.

“I’m just repeating what you said, princess,” He giggles, “I already knew that hot blondes are your type, but that was quite the speech. I hope you talk the same way about me when someone asks.”

Marinette laughs, a constant in her relationship with him. 

“Oh, please, that doesn’t even come close,” She jumps and hangs from his neck, pulling him down to her, “But I refuse to stroke your ego, so I won’t tell you a word of it.”

“You know it’s worse if use my imagination.”

“I’ll take the risk,” She nuzzles her nose against his, “Should we get back to our friends?”

“Let me hold you a little longer,” He whispers and hugs her tighter, “A week without you is the worst kind of torture there is.”

“You’re the one who left me,” She pinches his cheeks playfully, “Next time take me with you.”

His smile doesn’t meet his eyes, “Yeah… if only-” He doesn’t finish his thought and kisses her neck instead. 

It’s not an uncommon occurrence, for him to turn dark because of his own thoughts, and yet she isn’t able to figure out why. She hopes one day she’ll be able to unveil it, but right now is not the time to turn their sweet moment into another fight. 

[hotfuss]

tell me about some fond memories of your childhood; or, alternatively: tell me some things you like about italy (i am lying on my stomach cupping my face while propped up on my elbows with my feet absentmindedly kicking in the air while i listen)

ok so i told you about one of grandma’s sisters being a farmer and giving us free cherries (the fattest, darkest, juiciest cherries i may add. they are the best in the world) and as kids we would visit her quite often, which included spending time with their son/my mother’s cousin which i always adored so much as a kid, some people have a sibling complex, i used to have a first cousin once removed complex. anyway every time we would go visit and it happened to have rained the day before and there were still puddles around my cousin would take my brother and i and just make us a little makeshift raft with a piece of spare wood and a little sail and then make it float on those puddles. i can still smell the motor oil from their farming vehicles in the shed where my cousin would drill a hole in the wood for the sail bit or the musty smell of grapes of the room they would store them to sell them directly to people. i remember my great aunt making me some pasta in broth and adding it some kind of melting cheese (that is probably only vaguely more cheese than a kraft slice lol). at her house was the only place back then that received this local tv channel where i could watch some cartoons, including saint seiya, that i loved sooooo much but it was always the same damn episodes and i never knew how the story continued until it was broadcast again on a major channel when i was in middle school

in summer my father used to take my brother and i up to this little village up the hills (or mountains i guess) where my uncle used to have a cafè and spent many days swimming in the river in the company of my cousins, and got so many free candies and free plays at pinball. and i felt very cool bc as part of the family i was allowed to go to the back of the store too (this little village is very quaint and lovely and i will bring you here once you visit me)

most of summer days spent at my paternal grandparents’ house included having a midnight snack (usually a slice of bread with salt and oil. with green olives and tiny pickled onions when we wanted to be fancy) and then sitting on the steps in front of the house with my grandpa telling us stories while watching the moon

up until i was 17 we went on vacation on the seaside at the same location and renting the same apartment, i was with my maternal grandparents since with my mother working they were the only one who could take us somewhere for so long and especially when we were younger they made us wake up at 7 as if we were still in school (insane, we were on vacation!!) (double insane thinking about me waking up so early in the morning, i know it sounds fake!) but the best thing about it is that i used to have a huge fascination for when the trash truck would come (around 7:30) to empty the bins so at least i got to watch that lol. our apartment was like a 7 minutes walk from our beach resort and my fave thing about it was walking past this house who had a passiflora on their fence. i’m in love with those flowers and i would pick them up if one would fall on the ground i loved doing that walk in the early morning bc the air was still crisp and it smelled so nice from all the plants of the surrounding houses and hotels. when my mother would visit (coming one day after a morning shift and staying till the day after before leaving for her afternoon shift) we would take a slightly different route bc she liked to buy a newspaper. loved when my father visited too, with my parents around that usually meant more ice creams and more money for foosball or the couple of arcade games the cafè had. we spent soooo sooo much money for the tokens needed for those arcade games (and often all of the kids will play together or at least watch). i got the mame emulator just to be still able to play cadillac and dinosaurs sometimes. i’m a monster at foosball bc i played it so much with my father and we used a “no mercy” policy, he wouldn’t hold back only bc we were kids... and at some point when i was older i became better than him. and the year they switched cadillac and dinosaurs for another arcade game (that i forgot about) it was such a sad day. also phone booths to call home were still a thing back then and in the evening we would often go to them and queue to phone home or some other relatives... i miss going on vacation there so dearly

[itsthemoofacewriting]

Delayed

I adore the original trio and this ship in particular brings it out in me. Enjoy wingman Luffy, no matter how reluctant Zoro is.

Summary: Zoro's eye lingered for a moment too long on the woman in front of him and that was all it took for his best fried to get the wrong idea. Or, Zoro's flight is delayed and Luffy's a little shit. ZoNami. Airport AU. Rating: T Words: 8k

Can also be found on AO3 and FFN

Enjoy.

-------------------------

This was not happening.

Zoro watched as the flights on the board, one by one, started to display ‘DELAYED’, in angry red lettering. Casting a look outside, he could see a light flurry of snow starting. They’re delaying because of this?

The tannoy pinged and a lady’s voice played across the airport, confirming the delayed flights due to worsening weather conditions and that passengers delayed should visit their airline’s help desk for further information or compensation. He groaned as passengers started to herd past him. It was getting late and he had been so close to getting on his flight. This was the last thing he needed.

Luffy appeared out of thin air, after previously taking off to go to the toilet and plopped down on the seat next to Zoro. “The lady said we’re stuck.”

“Yeah, I know. We need to go to the desk and see what they say.” In the distance, Zoro could see a long queue already forming and groaned to himself.

“I’ll race you there!” Luffy announced, not waiting for Zoro to say reply and charging off, without his suitcase, through the throng of people.

Despite the horrible situation and apparently now being a pack mule for Luffy’s luggage, it didn’t stop him from hastily picking up their bags and taking off after his friend.

Whatever fun he was having stopped when he got to the end of the queue, at least ten people in front of them. He grunted at Luffy about leaving his luggage behind, but the other boy didn’t seem phased as he beamed and thanked Zoro.

They spent the next fifteen minutes waiting. Luffy was almost bouncing off the walls but he’d settled down when he’d started a game with Zoro. It wasn’t the kindest game, but they spent their time pointing out odd people to the other. The winner at the moment was a big guy with a ridiculously high voice. Despite Zoro also finding it funny, he had to elbow Luffy a couple of times when he got too loud and the guy kept throwing them suspicious looks. His voice was hilarious but the last thing they needed was a fight. Although if Zoro was going to be stuck up here, even he’d need a way to pass the time.

He could feel Luffy starting to fidget again, so he tried to find someone else to point out when his eyes settled on the woman in front of them. She was on the phone to someone and he could hear her explaining the situation, she sounded as annoyed as he felt. He gave her a once over, only getting the chance to take in her long orange hair and profile when she’d turned to look out the window, before stopping when he felt another set of eyes on him.

Luffy was giving him a shit-eating grin and the twinkle in his eye was definitely not a good thing. It could only spell disaster. He willed the flush on his neck to calm down at being caught staring. The woman had just caught his eye. It wasn’t a big deal. So what. Men did that. It happened. It didn’t mean anything. At least he was subtle.

The woman’s voice interrupted before Luffy could be a little shit. “But where am I supposed to sleep?”

“We offer compensation in the case hotels run out of rooms. You could use to money to travel further out to a hotel or to make other arrangements.”

Not what Zoro wanted to hear, but he’d happily pocket the money and sleep in a corner of the airport somewhere. But to his disbelieve, the orange haired woman in front actually tried to haggle for more money. When it got her nowhere, the woman behind the counter standing firm, she gave up and huffed as she walked away. He rolled his eyes at her bratty behaviour before stepping up to the desk.

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Delayed: hour one.

Zoro didn’t see her after that… not that he was looking for her. After being told a new time, for the next day, him and Luffy had set out through the airport to find a quiet corner to sleep in. They found it tucked behind a wall, with a set of benches facing each other and, because of its location, completely empty.

It only took five minutes after dropping their stuff and getting comfortable for Luffy to start complaining.

“Zorooooo, I’m hungry,” Luffy whined.

“I’m not your Mother, Luffy. You’re a grown up, go get some food if you’re hungry.”

Luffy sprung up, seemingly taking Zoro’s words as permission and rushed to get his words out, “Great! I’ll be back and I’ll get you something too.”

“Nothing sweet,” Zoro called after him, watching as Luffy took off across the airport in search for something to eat. “Hang on! Do you have money?” He added, except Luffy was already gone and although Zoro said he wasn’t his parent, he sure felt like it in that moment.

With a huff, he laid back down and waited for Luffy to comeback.

Zoro was stirred from his nap by a loud voice. How long had he been asleep? He blinked a few times, trying to gain his bearings and sitting up he could see Luffy coming back. Well, that was the loud voice. But his stomach dropped when he realised why he was being loud; he’d made a new friend on his food trip.

The orange haired woman from the line.

For Luffy, this sort of behaviour wasn’t anything new. The boy was friendly and wherever he went he would make friends but Luffy’s voice echoed in Zoro’s head, ‘I’ll get you something too.’ This sounded a bit too sophisticated for Luffy, but he wouldn’t put it past him. If this is what he meant, Zoro was going to kill him.

Luffy and his new friend stopped in front of Zoro, Luffy’s arms filled with food and Zoro raised an eyebrow at the food in one of her arms too, her free one pulling along her suitcase.

“I ran out of money and Nami gave me money and helped me back with it all! Isn’t that nice?” Luffy chattered, as he fell onto the bench opposite Zoro, a couple of packets dropping to the floor.

“I lent you the money. Lent! You owe me that back, remember!” Nami reminded.

Waving his hand flippantly, Luffy had moved on, now going through his snacks and no doubt deciding what he would eat first. “Oh yeah, I got you this,” Luffy said, throwing a package at Zoro.

Zoro just managed to catch it before it hit him in the face. Sushi. Hm, maybe Luffy did mean the food after all.

Nami was still standing there, hovering and seemingly trying to decide whether to stay or not.

Luffy made the decision for her.

“Sit down! You can stay with us, you’re on our flight, right?” Luffy asked.

She looked between them, “Yeah, but-”

“It’ll be like a sleepover!” Luffy excitedly interrupted her and patted the seat next to him. “We even have all this food! Midnight snacks!”

When she sat down, silently accepting the invite and muttering some excuse about being able to get her money back now, Zoro didn’t miss the triumphant grin that Luffy gave him.

Damn it! He knew it!

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.

.

Delayed: hour three.

Zoro snorted, midnight snacks his arse. Luffy was currently snoring, spread out on the bench in what must be an uncomfortable angle, and surrounded by empty wrappers.

That left Zoro and Nami. Alone. Just the two of them. Luffy had been the buffer between the two of them and neither of them had really spoken to the other, conversation seemingly running through Luffy. But with him now asleep, there was an awkward lull. Zoro wasn’t a particularly big talker most of the time, let alone with people he didn’t know. He wasn’t particularly good with small talk.

They’d looked at each other a couple of times, both aware of the tension between them before Nami picked up her phone to find something to do and Zoro had picked at whatever food he had left. He should probably just go to sleep.

“So… does he normally crash like that after eating so much food?” Nami asked, breaking the silence between them.

Zoro shrugged. “Luffy eats a lot. Probably has to, to be able to keep up with all the energy he has.”

“Hm, that can’t be healthy for him.”

“Enjoy it whilst you can. Just wait till he wakes up refreshed.” Zoro smirked at her, growing bigger when she groaned.

When they lapsed back into silence, but it wasn’t as stiffening this time. Instead, it was relaxed.

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.

Delayed: hour five.

Zoro needed to pee. He woke up to find Luffy still asleep but also Nami, her book resting against her stomach, meaning she’d fallen asleep reading. He wasn’t surprised, it was late into the night at this point… or morning, he didn’t have the time right now.

He’d seen Luffy at one point go to the toilet and he wandered in that direction

It was fifteen minutes later and Zoro was really starting to need the toilet. But everything looked the same and no matter how many times he tried not to, he ended up in front of Pret again. There wasn’t even anyone to ask. Employees had long since gone home and anyone laying around were asleep. Not that he needed to ask, because he wasn’t lost. He wasn’t.

He continued walking and somehow wound up back where Luffy and Nami was. Except Nami was no longer asleep and he didn’t like the look she was giving him.  He could feel his hackles rising.

“Enjoying a nightly stroll, are we?” Nami asked teasingly.

“And what of it?” Zoro crossed his arms, looking unimpressed.  

“You’ve walked past here three times already, looking baffled each time. Can you not find the toilets?” The look on her face said she already knew the answer, but she still raised an eyebrow, waiting for his admission.

“I’m not lost!” Zoro said, outraged.

“Luckily for you, I also want to go to the toilet, so I’ll show you the way.” Ignoring his denial and taking the lead. Despite his denial, it was very telling when he followed after her silently.

Zoro bit the inside of his cheek when he found out where the toilets were. They were ridiculously close to where they were sitting and now that he was following Nami, he noticed all the signs leading to the toilets.

“Aren’t you going to the toilet?” Zoro asked when Nami didn’t move towards the ladies’ section.

“No, I don’t actually need to go, but you don’t seem like the sort to accept help very easily and I couldn’t bear watching you walk past a fourth, fifth and sixth time.” Nami said breezily.

Zoro didn’t grace her with a response, he stomped off towards the toilets instead, muttering angrily under his breath.

He wasn’t expecting her to wait for him but there she was, leaning against the wall just outside. She smiled at him but didn’t say anything, seemingly getting her fill on making fun of him earlier. It wasn’t new for him anyway; his friends made enough comments about his lack of direction, but it didn’t mean he enjoyed it.

“What woke you?” Zoro asked as they walked back, “You look tired.”

“Is that your way of saying I look bad?” Nami shot back, sending him a warning glance to pick his next words carefully.

“No, it’s my way of saying you look tired.” Women, jeez. Always took things he said the wrong way. It was true anyway, her eyes looked puffy and a bit bloodshot. Otherwise, she looked fine. The ‘more than fine’ echoed in the back of his head, but he pretended not to hear it.

“I struggle to sleep in airports or on planes, I don’t know why, I just always do.” Nami shrugged.

That at least explained her poor attitude at the desk earlier, probably frustrated she wouldn’t be sleeping that night.

As they continued walking, Zoro couldn’t help but feel the trip back was taking longer than their trip there. He probably shouldn’t question it; she’d only start up her tirade on his lack of directional skills. But after another minute, he couldn’t stay silent any longer and voiced his question.

“Oh, I wanted to stretch my legs a bit. Figured you wouldn’t mind.”

“Ever thought about asking?”

“And leave you to find your own way back? We can’t risk losing you, we may not ever find you again.” She smiled mischievously at him.

“I always find my way back.”

“Oh, so you admit that you get lost in the first place?” She looked far too pleased with herself as she looked up at him.

He bristled. “No! That’s not what I- stop laughing, damn it!”

Her laughter drowned out his attempts to defend himself

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.

.

Delayed: hour seven.

“You’re cheating,” Zoro grit out, levelling Nami with a glare.

“Accuse all you like but it’s only because you’re losing!” She said, placing her cards down with a smug grin and reaching out for a packet of crisps that he’d been eyeing to claim as her prize.

After a couple of hours sleep, Luffy had woken up and Zoro’s previous words had been spot on. Luffy was practically vibrating with energy and it was far too early in the morning to be dealing with that. Nami had sent Zoro an exasperated look and he grinned back, a silent ‘I told you so’ passing between them.

In an attempt to amuse him, Nami had gotten out her pack of cards and suggested they do some gambling. Zoro hadn’t liked the gleam in her eyes when she’d suggested money and had shut her down quickly, he didn’t know her very well, but he remembered well enough her saying something to Luffy about interest on the money she’d loaned him. He was not about to find himself in the same situation, not if he could help it anyway. She’d sighed but agreed and instead suggested the food they had left.

“Yeah Zoro, you suck at this,” Luffy chimed in, sitting beside Nami and eating one of the snacks she’d won.

“You can’t talk! You’re not even in this anymore, you lost all your food ages ago,” Zoro exclaimed. It was true, Luffy had a terrible poker face and gave away so easily when he had a good or bad hand. He had crashed out incredibly quickly.

Zoro watched as Luffy passed Nami one of the crackers he was eating, and they even had the audacity to clink them together in front of them, just rubbing it in his face how badly he was losing. What a traitor. He wasn’t doing terribly, far better than Luffy, but he’d lost more rounds than he’d won and was about to end up foodless.

It carried on this way, Nami wiping the floor with him and she had to be the best poker player he’d ever come across. He was glad he’d trusted his gut about money, he could only imagine how much debt he would be in if he’d agreed. Looking at his current hand, he bit back the grin and kept his face neutral. A straight flush. He had this. And looking at the little food he had left to bet, he had to.

“All in.” Something that would have sounded much cooler if he hadn’t just moved nuts and an orange into the pile.

Nami raised an eyebrow at him, scrutinizing his face but all he did was raise an eyebrow back in challenge. She took the bait, throwing in some of the best food she’d collected and not what Luffy was trying to eat; cake, a soda and the goddamn packet of crisps he wanted.

“Alright, show me what you’ve got,” Nami said, sounding intrigued.

“Straight-flush.” He couldn’t keep the smugness out of his tone or off of his face. His grin was bordering on dangerous, but it faltered slightly at Nami’s Cheshire cat grin.

“Royal flush,” she sang, her hands greedily sweeping the pile of food towards her as Luffy cheered. “You lose!”

“You have to be cheating!” He was outraged, how could someone be this lucky? It was impossible.

Nami laughed gleefully, her head thrown back and as angry as he wanted to be, he couldn’t. This was the happiest he’d seen her since she’d joined them and it suited her, she completely lit up. He found himself reluctantly smiling as she made a grand gesture to sweep the ‘bounty’ towards herself, the mood far too infectious.

His hand snapped out whilst he was gathering up the cards and caught the packet of crisps that had been hurtling towards his head before they hit him. Huh, it was the packet that he’d been eyeing the whole game. Nami was grinning broadly at him and he raised an eyebrow in response, silently questioning her move.

“Your poker face sucks,” was all the explanation she gave.

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.

.

Delayed, hour eight.

Nami was now sitting on Zoro’s bench, Luffy had fallen back asleep and had kicked her in his sleep. It was an accident, but she still hadn’t been impressed. Zoro had seen her hand twitch and a murderous look in her eye before moving his bag to the floor and offering her a space on his bench. As much as the kick looked like it hurt, the last thing they needed was Luffy awake. He wasn’t sure what was worse, a refreshed Luffy or a grumpy one.

“So, what were you both up to whilst you were here?” Nami’s voice cut through Zoro’s thoughts.

“I was… visiting an old friend and Luffy went to see his brothers.”

“There’s more of him?” She asked incredulously.

Zoro laughed at that. “Yeah, they’re similar but more responsible than him. Probably because of Luffy, though.”

“That’s a relief at least. So what about you? Who’s your old friend?”

“She’s someone I grew up with.”

“Oh,” Nami paused, her tone unreadable, “is she your girlfriend?”

“Why, you jealous?” He quipped back, grinning at her but she refused to look at him. Was it his imagination or did she look a bit flushed? It felt good after all the flack he’s had to put up with… and it didn’t hurt to test the waters. Whatever that meant.

“More wondering how she could be so careless to let you wander out on your own.”

He glowered at the suggestion that he was no better than a toddler, it was a cheap shot, at least in his eyes, but she looked pleased with herself. He smothered down the urge to retort, knowing he would only sound like a child stomping his feet and he was trying to prove he wasn’t.

“She’s dead,” he bluntly supplied instead.

The mood died, any bantering taking a nose dives and Nami’s eyes comically widened, for the first time since meeting her, she was speechless. Her mouth trying to work around words to give him, probably something consoling but he didn’t need that.

“It’s fine, happened a long time ago,” he gruffly interrupted anything she was going to say. It wasn’t a lie anyway, it was fine. “I make a point to go back with Luffy whenever he visits his brothers. I only spend a day there before joining Luffy. We’re childhood friends, so I know his brothers well.” He was sharing more than normal but he couldn’t get his mouth to stop talking. In that moment, he was glad Luffy was asleep, he could imagine the shit eating grin Luffy would be giving him right now and even the thought of it made his ears burn in embarrassment.

“Still, sorry to hear that,” her tone softer than he’d ever heard it before now.  

“Anyway, what about you?” He needed the attention off of him and that look she was giving him. It did funny things to him that he definitely wasn’t ready to think about.

“I was visiting my family… and my dead Mum,” she seemed hesitant to tack on that part but delivered it with humour regardless.

There was a beat of silence.

“Shit, what a cheerful pair we make,” Zoro snorted, the atmosphere lifting, and next to him Nami laughed.

“Nothing like some early morning sharing,” she joked, rubbing her eyes at the tiredness that must be there. Perhaps she’d be able to sleep now.

The reminder of the time drew a yawn from his mouth, it was getting far too late… or early, to be more accurate, and, begrudgingly, he had to admit to himself that he was enjoying her company, but his eyes were burning too much now. He normally slept far more than this.

She seemed to get the same idea as she pulled at her coat to try and make a comfortable pillow. It was a pitiful attempt and even Zoro knew that it’d be like sleeping on stone. He hesitated for a second, weighing up whether to do this or not. In the end he gave in.

“Here,” Zoro said gruffly, thrusting his travel pillow in her direction and refusing to make eye contact.

“How chivalrous of you.” Nami teased, leaning over and gladly taking the pillow from him.

He shrugged. “I’m taking Luffy’s, he’s fallen asleep without it.”

“Maybe not then,” she said under her breath, but he still heard it.  

Normally he’d ignore comments like that, but something compelled him to explain himself. “His has drool stains on, so.”

He had a sinking feeling when he realised why he’d explained himself. He was starting to like her, more than just an appreciative glance and he realised he was venturing into unchartered territory. Snapping his eyes closed, he tried to get comfortable on the seats and ignore any other running commentary in his head… or the soft look she was giving him, seemingly understanding the kindness beneath his gruff words.

They both laid on Zoro’s bench, head’s almost touching as they spread out with Luffy snoring opposite them. There was a peaceful silence, finally matching the early morning atmosphere in the airport for the first time since they’d been there.

“You know, we should probably should have kept Luffy awake so he slept on the plane.” Nami’s voice cut into the lull. “Although, the moment we get onto the plane, that’s your problem. I’m not sat with you two.”

And he knew she was right. A four-hour plane ride with a well-rested Luffy that couldn’t roam around as he pleased. He’d have to hide the sweets they had left in the bottom of his bag.

“Shit.”

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Delayed, hour ???

“This is the last call for flight FR305. Any remaining passengers for this flight should proceed to gate fifty-eight immediately.”

“Run Zoro, run!” Nami commanded, after the tannoy finished, her arm extended and pointing ahead of them. Because that would make them run faster. “And keep up Luffy, we don’t have time to lose you.”

“Easy for you to say! You’re catching a free ride. Why won’t you carry me too, Zoro?” Luffy whined, coming up beside Zoro, both of his arms behind him to wheel is own suitcase and Nami’s.

“Do I look like a camel?!” Zoro exclaimed. “Why am I even carrying you?” He huffed, adjusting his grip on the woman on his back with one hand, the other trying to keep his suitcase upright. Nami shifted, tightening her legs around his waist so she didn’t slip and Zoro had to try really hard not to think about her pressed up against his back.

“Because you said I was too slow, so get over it. Turn left… now. Left Zoro!” She instructed, yanking his top to the left when he started to veer right.

When Zoro and Nami had fallen asleep, it had been for the last time. All three of them fast asleep on the uncomfortable airport chairs and dead to the world. No one had thought to set an alarm and it was only when sunlight started to stream into Nami’s face that she blearily pried her eyes open. Her stomach dropped when she saw the amount of people walking around in the lounge, a stark contrast to before.

With dread filling her, she’d raised her phone and jumped off the bench at the time. Frantically, she woke up Luffy, shouting at him to move himself because they were about to miss their flight.

The real challenge had been Zoro. Luffy had laughed, telling her he slept like the dead. It had taken her punching him in the arm before he opened his eye and when she’d yelled at him too, he’d taken off, leaving them to hurry after him.

When they were running along a straight, Nami murmured into his ear, “You’re pretty strong, you know.” He had to try and not think about her hot breath on his neck.

“I work out,” He rushed out, resisting the urge to flex the hand supporting her thigh.

“You can tell,” she said it so quietly he almost missed it, whether that was the intention he wasn’t sure, but he did feel the way her arms tightened around his neck. All those hours at the gym felt worth it in this moment.

“Okay, last right and we should be able to see the desk.” Her voice loud again for Luffy to hear. “There it is! Shit! She’s pulling the rope across. Hey! We’re here!” Nami started to frantically wave her hand above her head to get the woman’s attention, clutching at both her and Zoro’s bag tightly with her other hand so she didn’t drop them at the last minute.

Luffy joining in shouting and Zoro pushed against the burning in his legs to speed up. This beat cardio at the gym any day.

It seemed to work, the lady looking up at them and hesitated for a moment before pulling the rope back and murmuring into the walkie talkie on the desk.

“You three sure are lucky, we were just about to close. A second later and you would have missed it,” her voice an odd mix of scolding and fond as she looked at the state of the three in front of her. “Passports and boarding passes, quickly now!”

Boarding the plane, Nami kept her head ducked to avoid any angry glares they may be getting but Luffy and Zoro didn’t care. Zoro had pushed her in front when they’d gotten past the desk, letting her lead the way. When they’d arrived at her seat, the people filed out to let her into her window seat, the man from the middle had jumped out a bit too eagerly and eyed her a bit too much for Zoro’s liking. Narrowing his eyes, Zoro took her suitcase, putting it into the overhead cabin just before the other man could offer.

She’d given him a smile and said she’d see them after the flight. Zoro and Luffy had moved to their seats after that, just two rows down and across from hers.

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.

Zoro’s eyes wandered back over to where Nami was sitting after take-off, just being able to see her through the crack in the seats and felt disgruntled at what he saw. Nami and the man talking. The talking wasn’t the issue, she could talk to whoever she wanted. It was him. Leaning far too into her space and so damn eager, he might as well just drape himself over her. Sensing eyes on her, Nami met his eyes and smiled at him before he looked away, crossing his arms at being caught.

“Nami,” Luffy called, “Nami!” Louder, again. A few people around them sent him an annoyed look, but he didn’t notice.

Nami’s head popped over the seat. “What?” The promise of violence lacing her voice. She smiled apologetically at the people behind her.

“Come here!” Luffy waved his hand towards him, oblivious to the danger he was in. Although, Luffy was in the window seat and even Zoro knew Nami wouldn’t lean across the stranger on the end to punch him.

Rolling her eyes, she disappeared from view and once again asked the people if they’d let her out. The lech next to her obviously had no issue and smiled easily as she slid passed him, his eyes watching her walk away. Creep.  

“Sorry,” Nami apologised to the old lady on the end next to Zoro, “This will be the last time, I promise.” Then she turned to glare at Luffy. “What do you want? I can’t keep getting up like this.”

“What are you eating?” Luffy asked.

Nami looked like she was going to explode at his question, and Zoro wished he wasn’t sat in-between them, he didn’t want to be hit in the crossfire- stranger be damned now.  

Before Nami could respond, the old lady on the end seat was speaking up, “I can swap places with you, dear. You’re friends, right? This way you can sit together.”

“Oh no, no really! That’s not necessary.” Nami was waving her hands in refusal.

“Really? You’d do that for us! That’s so nice, old lady!” Luffy interrupted, leaning over Zoro to beam at the lady.

Zoro elbowed Luffy for his insulting name but the lady didn’t seem bothered, she smiled back and reassured them it’s not issue as she collected her bag. Both Zoro and Nami thanked her, the latter following after the lady so she could collect her own bag.  

The lech’s face dropped when he realised what was happening and Zoro couldn’t stop the grin curling up his face. It soon fell off though when Luffy caught his eye and waggled his eyebrows at him.

Nami flopped onto the seat next to Zoro. “That’s it, I’m done moving”

“Welcome back,” Zoro said, sounding far too pleased with himself and pointing at Luffy beside him, “Seems Luffy is your problem again.” Referring to her earlier words before they both went to sleep.

Luffy began to chatter excitedly.

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.

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Turns out they weren’t done moving.

Luffy refused to sit still or stop drinking water, so he constantly wanted to get out to either walk about or go to the toilet. Nami had lost her temper when he’d clambered over her, waking her up after finally falling asleep. Luffy and Zoro both got hit for that. Luffy, for clambering over her and Zoro, for letting him, despite his protests.

The new order had Zoro sitting in the window seat, Nami in the middle seat and Luffy on the end so he could run around to his heart’s content and bother other people. Not that that happened.

They were currently playing cards, no gambling after Zoro refused to play whilst shooting Nami an accusing look. So instead it was a game of Uno, adapted to Nami’s playing cards and used her pulldown table to place the game on. Surprisingly, Luffy was quite good at this, as him and Nami currently only held five cards each, whilst Zoro had fifteen.

When Nami slapped down a three of hearts, he cursed and when Luffy put down a joker, his eyes scanned frantically at his fifteen cards. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Fifteen cards and nothing?!” Accepting his fate and picking up six cards.

“Maybe you just suck at all card games,” Nami hummed, Luffy next to her laughing and agreeing.

“No, now you’re both cheating,” and cursed as he adjusted his grip on the cards.

Needless to say, Zoro didn’t win. It instead became a battle between Nami and Luffy, Nami only narrowly winning the best out of five tournaments. It was called off shortly after that as she yawned.

She nuzzled her head back into the headrest and closed her eyes. “Zoro?” She murmured.

“Hm?” He cast her a sideways look.

“Do you have any games on your phone?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Please give it to Luffy so I can sleep. He might be well rested, but I’m not.” Her voice taking on a cranky edge, not that he could blame her. Neither of them had slept much since the delay.

Leaning over, he passed Luffy his phone and that seemed to occupy the boy for the time being.

Nami must have been tired, because her breathing evened out shortly after and Zoro took the opportunity to shut his eyes for a bit too. They wouldn’t be on the plane for much longer, but he still had to make the trip home after landing.

His eye cracked open when he felt a weight on his shoulder and when he looked there was a shock of orange hair contrasting against his green top. He was frozen for a moment and stiffened when she nuzzled against his shoulder to get comfortable, adjusting her position so her body faced towards him.

“You’re really comfortable,” she mumbled tiredly. Was she even aware of what she was saying?

“Yup,” he replied stiffly, what was he supposed to say? But she stayed silent, going still against his shoulder.

Before he closed his eye again, the lech walked past and by the looks of it, was hoping to see her. His face soured though when he saw her cuddled up to Zoro and when their eyes met, Zoro couldn’t resist the triumphant grin that crossed his face. He didn’t care if Luffy saw right now.

But he still made a point of pretending to be asleep before he rested his head on top of hers.

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.

When Zoro started to wake, he could feel a crick in his neck starting to form from the odd angle he’d slept in and twisted it around to try loosening it. He felt a weight shift on his shoulder and when he looked down, he was much too close to Nami’s face. He’d completely forgotten just how’d they’d fallen asleep and it seemed she had too based on the shocked expression on her face.

“Oh, um, sorry,” Nami said sheepishly, cheeks flushed and eyes looking everywhere but at him as she took her hand off of his arm. When did that get there?

“S’fine,” He tried to coolly reply, except his face was warm, as was his arm where her hand had been.

“You two have been asleep for ages!” Ah yes, Luffy had been oddly quiet for far too long. “Sure looked comfortable cuddled up together though.” And his words certainly didn’t help the weird tension between them or the flushes on their cheeks.

For the rest of the descent Zoro was far too interested with looking out the window and Nami inspecting the sales brochure. Except neither of them bothered to move their arms, which were still pressed up against each other’s.

.

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.

As soon as the plane touched the tarmac, Luffy was up and making noise about getting off. Nami and Zoro felt the same though as they awkwardly stood from their seats and tried to stretch as best as they could in such cramped confines.

“Zoro, will you get my suitcase?” Nami asked, pointing over at her old seat.

“Now? It’s packed in here; we’ll have to wait.” He doubted he’d even be able to get out into the isle right now.

“You think he’s going to wait?” She pointed at Luffy who was already trying to muscle his way through the people. Nami just managed to snag his sleeve and haul him back to them.

Sighing, she made a good point. With such tight confines, Zoro had to squeeze past Nami and when he’d chanced a glance at her face, she’d looked flustered. He felt a shot of pride go through him.

Despite his big size, he managed to manoeuvre through and just as he was reaching up to grab her suitcase, the old lady who had swapped seats turned around to face him.

“It’s really sweet that you look after your girlfriend so well.” The old lady said, eyeing the suitcase, as if it was proof of her statement.  

“Uh, no, we’re not-” He stumbled over his words and was aware that strangers were turning to look at him.

“So sweet! Ah young love.” Completely ignoring Zoro as he spluttered, still trying to string his words together. The lady didn’t give him the chance either, turning on her heel to follow other passengers as they finally started to disembark.

“Come on Zoro! We’re moving.” Luffy shouted and he turned to see that Luffy had managed to get their bags. What surprised him was that Nami was wearing his rucksack that he’d left on his seat when he’d left to get her suitcase, her own bag slung over her shoulder.

“What did that lady say to you?” Nami asked as he re-joined them. “It was nice of her to swap.”

“I thanked her for swapping, that’s all.” There was no way he was going to tell her about that embarrassing conversation, if it could even be called that based on its one-sided nature.  

No one questioned that and disembarked the plane, walking across the tarmac and into the terminal. Every so often, Nami’s hand would grab at Zoro’s upper arm to pull him towards her just before he could start to wander in a different direction and every time, he would mutter about the signs being confusing.

The moment they walked through the luggage hall, Luffy was running into the duty free and towards the free food samples he could see. Neither stopped him, embracing the peace whilst they could.

It was then that Zoro suddenly realised he was pulling two suitcases. “Oi, why am I pulling your suitcase too!?”

“I hurt my arm.” Nami pouted, rubbing at her wrist for the first time since she’d been with them.

Zoro’s eyes narrowed. “Convenient. When did this happen?”

“When I was trying to wake your lazy arse up, so you can drop that tone! You only made this flight because of me, remember that!”

He could feel his anger biting at her snooty tone and before his brain could assess whether he should be saying this or not, it was out, “Yeah well it’s your fault I was so tired, I only stayed up to keep you company.”

Nami’s eyes widened at his confession and Zoro felt too hot. In his head it had sounded much harsher, more accusing but out in the open, it sounded so soft.

He was becoming such a sap.

There was a brief moment of silence between them, as Zoro cursed to himself and Nami took in the words.

She saved him the embarrassment in the end. “I don’t know what you’re complaining about anyway, I’m carrying your hideous rucksack. Fair trade,” she grumbled, but there was no missing the pleased expression on her face.

“Tch,” was all he said, all he could say, not fully trusting his brain right now.  

Luffy came bounding up to them then, free samples of chocolate clutched in his hands from the duty free and sales assistants glaring at his back. In that moment, Zoro was glad for Luffy’s timing, although if he was going to be critical, he could have come over a bit sooner.

“So how are you getting home?” Luffy asked, popping a sweet in his mouth and looked far too innocent.

“My roommate’s coming to pick me up, she should be here by now.”

“If she’s not, you can always get a lift with us, saves her the trip.” Zoro glared over Nami’s head at Luffy but he continued to smile back.

Screw Luffy and his timing, how was he still pulling this shit?

Nami laughed lightly, “Thanks for the offer but she doesn’t get lost like Zoro or distracted like you.”

Before Zoro could gripe about being spoken about like he wasn’t there, the doors for arrivals opened and Nami gasped, “Robin!” And she suddenly took off, running towards the woman who he supposed was her roommate.

“Usopp!” Luffy called, and Zoro turned just in time to see Luffy running off in the opposite direction after their friend.

Zoro was used to feeling like a babysitter with Luffy but when he realised he still had Nami’s suitcase and she still had his rucksack, he was wondering when his one responsibility suddenly turned into two.

Rolling his eyes, he followed after Nami, Luffy would be fine with Usopp.

When he reached them Nami had pulled away from the hug and was telling her details of the last twenty-four hours, before Robin stopped her and nodded behind Nami.

She looked surprised that he’d followed her until he was nudging her suitcase towards her and gesturing for his rucksack.

When she handed it over, Robin was looking between the pair and Nami took the opportunity to introduce them. “This is Robin, my roommate and this is Zoro.”

“Ah, Zoro! I’ve heard so much about you-” Nami squeaked at that, turning on her friend as Zoro raised an eyebrow at her, “-but thank you for taking such good care of her.” So the teasing wasn’t exclusively for Nami, much to Zoro’s chagrin. There was a knowing look in Robin’s eyes and matched with the way she’d worded that, she should just join Luffy’s little group.

Speak of the devil.

Luffy came hurtling over, pushing through the throng of people with Usopp hot on his heels, except Luffy didn’t have the same social etiquette and in the end, it was Zoro introducing their friend.

“Oh, so you’re Nami,” Usopp said, shaking her hand and voice filled with so much insinuation, there was no way Luffy hadn’t blabbed. Traitors. The lot of them. Even the newcomer Robin.

“Yeah?” Nami looked confused as she returned the handshake and threw Zoro a wary look, which he shrugged his shoulders at.

Usopp’s phone started to ring and when he picked up, there was a loud, irritable voice on the other end, “Are the shitheads there? I’m in a no stop zone so they better be, otherwise, we’re leaving them. This is the second time I’m risking a fine and they don’t have an excuse of a shitty delay this time.”

Although not on loudspeaker, it was clear enough that the group could hear. Zoro rolled his eye and said to Usopp, “What, could the Pervert not find the pick-up zone?”

“I heard that! You’re the last one I want to hear that from, Marimo!”

“We’re coming!” Usopp rushed out and hung up before a fight could break out. No doubt Usopp would pay for that later. “Okay, we have to go, now!”

“Nami! We’re going to the pub at the weekend, you and Robin are coming,” Luffy demanded, ignoring Usopp’s pleas for them to get going. “Gimme your number and I’ll text you the details.” And made grabby hands for her phone.

“Sounds like fun,” Robin said encouragingly as Nami handed over her phone with a sigh.

As soon as Luffy had finished texting himself from her phone, he relented to Usopp’s pulling, shouting, “See you at the weekend!”

All that left was Robin, Nami and Zoro. Except Robin had taken a step back and so it really just left Nami and Zoro awkwardly staring at each other.

“Well, see you at the weekend, I suppose,” Zoro said, rubbing the back of his neck and shouldering his rucksack.  

“Oh, sure.” Nami sounded disappointed at his words.

Zoro took the first step back before turning around and as he walked towards Luffy and Usopp, he kicked himself. He was interested in the damn irritating woman and he’d just chickened out. She seemed interested, perhaps, maybe, but he hadn’t exactly made himself clear so maybe she was just being friendly? But then why did she look disappointed before he left?

He was giving himself a headache, and this is exactly why he didn’t get involved with other people. Besides, he could be patient, maybe wait this out and see what happens.

Except, when had he ever done that? He was no coward.

God damn it.

“Shit,” Zoro sighed and stopped walking beside Luffy and Usopp. Usopp looked at him, bewildered. “Look after my suitcase, I’ll be back.” And he turned around, jogging back towards the women walking the opposite way.

“Zoro, we don’t-” Usopp’s words were interrupted as Luffy slapped a hand across his mouth.

“It’s happening!” Luffy cheered.    

“Nami!” Zoro called, steadily approaching the women, “Nami!”

She turned on the final call and looked puzzled at his approaching form. She said to Robin that she’d be back and took a few steps towards Zoro until she was standing in front of him. “Did I forget something?” She asked, looking down at Zoro’s empty hands.

“No,” he abruptly said.

“Okay, so… what’s up?”

Okay, he hadn’t thought this far ahead. He was blanking and the longer she looked up at him quizzically, the more he felt like a moron and the more his face felt like it was on fire.

“Uh, well,” he coughed, “I was just wondering, y’know, if you wanted, to ah, I know you’re coming to the pub, but maybe, we could?” This was so much harder than he’d expected.

But Nami’s quizzical expression melted off, instead replaced by a knowing one and somehow that was worse. Now she was aware of what an idiot he was making of himself.

She put him out of his misery fairly quickly by tugging on his top to pull him down and connect their lips. It was the last thing he was expecting but Nami was firm, waiting for him to get over his surprise. He could feel pulsing in his ears and he was sure he looked like a fool, hunched over and arms by his side but he finally got himself moving after a second. The moment his lips responded, moving cautiously over hers, she was pulling away.

“I’ll go out with you, especially when you ask so eloquently,” she said, mirth dancing in her eyes.

And something about that look made it click into place for Zoro. “…Have you been flirting with me this whole time?!”

Nami released his top and threw her hands up in disbelief. “So kissing you is what it takes for you to realise? You’re impossible,” she groused.

Zoro didn’t know how to respond to that and really, she probably had a point… not that he’d tell her that, he’d never hear the end of it. But now it all made sense, the last twenty-four hours washing over him. She was just as interested in him as he was her.

Nami continued on talking when he didn’t say anything, apparently not expecting him to say anything. “Your way of flirting is appalling by the way, has it ever worked on someone before? If Luffy hadn’t have said anything, I never would have guessed.”

That got him talking. “… Luffy?”

“Well yeah, I presumed you had asked for his help, he told me you were interested in me?” She finished her sentence as a question at Zoro’s blank look, her confidence wavering.

Zoro’s head whipped around to glare at Luffy, unimpressed by his gossiping and meddling whilst he wasn’t around. He knew Luffy was being a little shit with Zoro, but he didn’t think his friend had actually said something to her. Luffy wasn’t fazed at Zoro’s expression though, shooting him a double thumbs up and cheery smile with Usopp next to him doing the same thing. They both looked like idiots.

“When,” He flatly demanded when he faced her again.

“When I first met him getting the food and when you were off looking for the toilets… you really didn’t know?” Nami asked, head cocked to the side and scrutinising his face for whether he was being honest.

“You’ve spent the last twenty-four hours with us, what do you think?” He looked to the side, disgruntled and Nami laughed. But then a thought occurred to him. “Wait, if you knew, why didn’t you say anything?”

“And miss out your weird attempts at flirting? Never, this has been gold!”

A look of horror crossing over his face. “You witch!”

“Terms of endearments already? You move awfully fast when you get going,” Nami cooed and her hand reached up to squeeze Zoro’s jaw teasingly.

And just to shut her up, he kissed her. That was the only reason.

But that was hardly believable when he tilted his head to get a better angle as she hummed against his lips and his arms moved to her waist to pull her closer. Her arms circled around his neck as she moved her lips against his.

It would have been a nice moment, if it weren’t for the peanut gallery around them. He could hear Luffy and Usopp’s obnoxious hooting and even Nami’s roommate was clapping. Decided that was enough for now, he pulled away but kept his arms around her and was greeted by a pretty blush on her face.

“Luffy has my number, text me!” Nami said, her arms slipping away from his neck and she took a step back before turning around completely to walk back to Robin.

When Zoro walked back to Luffy and Usopp, they instantly glomped him, noisily taking over each other in their excitement and even Zoro couldn’t keep the smile off his face. He did it.

He turned around for the last time to see Nami walking beside Robin and it looked like she was being teased based on the hands on her cheeks and the look of outrage on her face.

.

.

.

In the car.

Usopp and Luffy were still jeering Zoro as they got to the car and from inside the car Sanji’s knuckles white from clutching the steering wheel, glaring at them through the glass.

“Since when does ‘we’re coming’ actually mean ten minutes later?” Sanji’s irate voice filtering out the car as soon as one of the doors opened.  

“Zoro asked out a woman!” Luffy shouted in excitement, pushing Usopp out of the way to get in the front seat.

“Ah well, tough luck Marimo,” Sanji said with false sympathy, as they filed into the car. “Maybe work on your ugly face and poor attitude and maybe the next one will say yes.”

“She said yes,” Zoro replied, a self-satisfied smirk forming on his face as Sanji bit his cigarette in half.

“And she kissed him!” Usopp cheered, matching Luffy’s zeal.

Sanji’s face whipped around to face Zoro, his face marred in disbelief. “SHE WHAT!?”

---------------------------------------

As much as I love a smooth Zoro, I also love an awkward fool who has no romantic experience. They actually weren’t meant to kiss at all, but how could I do an airport AU without a kiss?!

Fun fact about FR305! When I was younger, I worked in an airport jewellery store and we would have to ask for boarding passes to process purchases. If someone didn’t have theirs on them, I would bash in FR305, a flight to Ireland and continue.

After a while, the airport started complaining to our managers because it was being put in even when the flight wasn’t scheduled for that day, but I always got away with it! They probably realised after I left.

Also… was it obvious I don’t know how to play poker? I researched as much as my brain would allow me to. I do, however, know how to play Uno with normal playing cards (but let’s face it, it’s not really that hard- sigh).

Please forgive any spelling errors, unfortunately I’m only one person.

Thanks for reading.

[etherealwaifgoddess]

Run To You - Chpt.5

Summary: Bucky & Steve’s date has some unintended consequences forcing Bucky to make some hard decisions. Master list is HERE :)

Content Warnings: Attempted child abduction. Emphasis on ATTEMPTED. Becca will be fine ya’ll. 

Word Count: 5.5k

Author’s Note: Hello lovelies! Remember last chapter where I was like “oh hey enjoy this unusually large chapter”? Well, I went to write a normally sized chapter and my hand slipped. Whoops! Enjoy another giant beast chapter lovelies! And don’t hate me for the angst!! I promise this fic has a happy ending, it’s just a long road to get there. XOXO - Ash

Chapter Five

Bucky wakes to bright light streaming in his bedroom window and Becca sitting on top of him. “Wake up sleepy head!” she chirps, shoving his shoulder as hard as she can. 

“Whoa, calm it down little miss.” Bucky grumbles. 

“I’m gonna be late!” 

Bucky looks over at the alarm clock and realizes she’s right. “Shit.” 

“Bad word!!” 

“Becca!” Bucky snaps and instantly regrets it. “Quieter, bug. Please. Come on, let’s get moving.” 

Bucky hurries Becca through her morning routine, grabbing her tiny backpack and breakfast on their way out the door. Bucky knows he’s a mess, hair sloppily thrown up in a bun, sweatpants and a hoodie because he just can’t take the time to find real clothes. He doesn’t even bother to throw on his prosthetic. Becca nibbles at her string cheese and mini muffins as they hustle down the busy city sidewalks to her school, just finishing as they round the last corner. He gives her a quick hug and kiss before she runs into the building screeching hello to the teacher at the door. The teacher gives Bucky an odd look that he chalks up to him looking like a hot mess and he gives her a small wave and terse smile in return. 

It’s early yet and Bucky doesn’t have to worry about work for a few more hours so he decides to splurge and stop for coffee and a breakfast sandwich on his walk home. One treat won’t hurt and he’s still holding on to the warm feeling in his chest from last night’s date with Steve. Waiting in line a few other people give Bucky strange looks and he wonders how rough of shape he’s in. He prays there isn’t a giant rip on his clothes or something but after a discrete check he doesn’t think that’s the case. Just a weird morning then. 

The hoodie actually comes in handy once Bucky realizes he can’t carry both a sandwich and his coffee when he’s down an arm. Tucking the sandwich in his hoodie pouch, he sips the pumpkin spice latte slowly enjoying the sweet fall flavors on his way home. His phone starts chirping at him but with no free hand Bucky is forced to ignore it until he gets back to the apartment. It was going off earlier too and he figures who ever needs him so damn bad can just wait five more minutes. 

Bucky stretches out on the sofa to enjoy his breakfast, throwing on a random movie from his queue, when he finally looks at his phone. He wonders if the world is ending and he missed it somehow. Eight missed calls from Steve, two voicemails, and four texts. Two calls from Natasha, one voicemail, and two texts. Three texts from Clint. 

Natasha wants to know if he’s seen the news, if he’s okay, and what she can do to help. 

Clint also asks if he’s okay and tells him he’s an ass for not sharing the deets. 

Steve asks him repeatedly to call him, frantically apologizing in between. 

Still confused and becoming increasingly worried, Bucky brings up the news on his phone and finds his own face on the front page. The picture is from the night before, he and Steve walking back to his place with Becca on Steve’s shoulders. They look so happy that it tugs at Bucky’s heartstrings before the realization of what this means sinks in. He shoots a quick text to Natasha assuring her that he’s fine and he’ll catch up with her tonight. Clint gets two emojis in response: a thumbs up and the middle finger. Steve, he actually calls back. The blonde had sounded so worried in his voicemails. 

“Bucky, thank god.” Steve blurts out in lieu of hello. 

“Well good morning to you too.” Bucky jokes. 

“Are you okay? Is Becca okay?” 

“Yeah, Steve, we’re good. I just dropped Becca off a preschool. I don’t know what you’re worried about, it was a normal morning outside of a few funny looks. But honestly that was probably me going out looking like a hobo because I overslept.” 

“Buck…” Steve falters, “It won’t be long ‘til they figure out who you are. We can keep the press at bay here in the tower but you’re going to have some serious issues as soon as a reporter gets your name. You and Becca could come stay here for a bit or I can have a security team allocated to you both until the news dies down.” 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down a minute. We don’t need security and I’m not dragging Becca to Manhattan just because some dudes with cameras may or may not come pester us. We’ll be okay.” 

“I’m just worried about you guys. You didn’t sign on for the shit storm that’s blowing up right now. I’m so sorry, Buck.” 

“Actually, I did.” Bucky points out, “I’m not stupid, Steve. I knew what I was signing on for the minute we started talking. It’s gonna be okay, nothing lasts forever and Becca is a resilient kid.” 

Steve is quiet for a long moment, trying to compose himself to say what he knows he needs to say. “If you need to take some time apart until this all dies down…” he chokes up and lets the sentence lie. 

“No.” Bucky’s voice is firm. “I’m not running on you again. We’re gonna deal with this together.” 

“Okay,” Steve sighs heavily in relief, “I’m going to be tied up today doing interviews. Apparently there’s no hiding the fact that I’m bisexual now. It’s funny that I’ve never tried to hide it but the news is claiming I’ve been ‘publicly outed’ by the tabloids. I’m not going to say a whole lot about you, about us. I don’t want to speak for you or anything. But if you’re okay with it, I would like to confirm that I’m in a relationship and that I care about you very much.” 

“Aww, you big sap. Yeah, of course that’s fine.” 

“Can I call you later when I have time?” 

“I’m working tonight but I’ll have a chance for a quick break around 10pm.” 

“I’ll talk to you then. If you need anything, I mean it Buck, anything, just call me. I’ll pick up on national TV if I have to.” 

Bucky rolls his eyes and hopes Steve can feel his exasperation through the phone lines. “Get going, ya punk. You have a country full of conservatives to horrify with your secret homosexual agenda.” 

Steve laughs, the first bit of happiness he’s had since waking up to the news. “Will do.” he says quickly and hangs up before his overly dramatic heart can blurt out something terribly stupid like I love you. He pushes down the tender, fledgling emotion, knowing it’s too fast but feeling the gentle flutters nonetheless. 

Natasha arrives at Bucky’s apartment a full hour early that night so he can get her caught up while making dinner for her and Becca, while Becca watches an episode of Wonder Pets in the living room. Natasha apparently watched a few interview clips of Steve’s and teases Bucky over how completely smitten they both are. It’s nice and normal, the teasing and banter over a new relationship with his best friend. It makes him think Steve really was just being overly concerned with his fears.

It’s a blessedly slow night at the ER and no one seems to recognize Bucky as he hops from one patient to the next, getting people stabilized and ready to be seen by one of the doctors on shift. When Steve calls at ten he sounds better than he had that morning. He’s exhausted from the media circus but pleased that he was able to get the story out in his own words. He asked for privacy for all their sakes but knows it won’t last long. Bucky continues to assure him that they’ll handle things as they come and to not worry. Steve can’t help but feel like it’s the calm before the storm. 

The calm only lasts until 2am. Dr. Strange pulls Bucky out of a patient room, pushing Darcy in to take his place and dragging him down the hall to the staff break room. “What the hell?” Bucky demands once the door is shut. 

Strange’s face is grim, “There are currently fifteen reporters in the lobby all asking if you’re working and if anyone has a statement they’d like to make.” 

Bucky’s stomach drops, “Fuck.” 

“Yes, fuck indeed. I’ve already made some calls and the police are on their way to clear house. We don’t expect that to last however. HR is willing to give you the rest of this week off, paid, while we sort out protocol for this sort of thing. Amanda will call you tomorrow to talk details once the board meets and decides what we can do to protect both you and our patients. We obviously can’t have reporters milling around every time you work.” 

Bucky doesn’t even know what to say. 

“If you want to go gather your things, Paul in security will escort you out the back away from the reporters.” 

“Okay,” Bucky agrees, because really what else can he do?

Darcy catches up with him as he’s packing up his locker, “They’re sending you home?” she cries, pulling him into a hug. 

Bucky nods numbly, “Rest of the week, yeah. They have to, there’s too much going on right now. It’s paid at least.”  

“Well that’s something.” Darcy concedes. “How are you getting home? It’s a madhouse out there.” 

“Paul’s gonna have me go out the back. I’ll be okay.” 

“Call me if you need me.” she insists, giving him another tight hug. 

Bucky promises he will and then follows the kindly old security guard through the maze of hospital halls and outside. 

The air is bitter cold and Bucky’s thankful for his heavy jacket as he hurries down the mostly empty streets home. Natasha is tapping away on her laptop when he arrives. She does cyber security work and swears she gets most of her work done after midnight anyway. It works out well when he needs help on his overnight shift rotations. 

“What happened?” she demands and slams the lid of her laptop down. 

Bucky shucks off his jacket and joins Natasha on the sofa. “Reporters showed up at the hospital, like a lot of them. Strange was on tonight, thank god, he’s a tough son of a bitch and he wasn’t putting up with crap from anyone. They snuck me out the back while the cops got rid of the reporters.” 

“But what about tomorrow? Is this gonna affect your job?” 

Bucky shrugs, trying to ignore the low level fear humming in his veins over that exact concern. “I honestly don’t know. HR is gonna call me tomorrow once they figure out ‘protocol’ for this. Somehow Strange got them to give me the rest of the week off with pay. I don’t even know what I’m going to do with myself for the next six days.” 

Natasha raises an eyebrow, surprised and happy for him. “I vote catching up on your Netflix queue and being a lazy ass. You never take a break, Bucky. And you of all people deserve one. Maybe go spend some more time with that gorgeous boyfriend of yours. Some kid-free time, if you know what I mean.” She wiggles her eyebrows until Bucky throws a pillow at her. She ducks easily, laughing. “I’m just saying! It’s been a long time since he-who-shall-not-be-named.” 

Bucky bristles at the mention of his ex. He should have seen Brock for the piece of shit he was, but he’d missed it at first, too wrapped up in the bliss of a new relationship. In the end, Brock’s true colors had come out and Bucky had ended things before it could become even more toxic than they already become. He sighs, pushing the ugly memories away. “It hasn’t been that long. And you’re forgetting Micah from the hospital cafe.” 

“It’s been four years since him. And Micah doesn’t count. That was a year ago and it didn’t go past a lunch date where he, and I quote, kissed you like a St. Bernard.” 

Bucky shudders at the memory. “Okay, so it’s been a while. Maybe I will go see Steve one day while Becca’s at school.” 

“That’s more like it!” Natasha cheers quietly, cautious to not disturb Becca. “So, do you want company or should I scoot and let you get some rest?” 

“I love you for offering but I just wanna crash. If I can get a few hours now I’ll be able to get back on daytime hours easier.” 

“Love you too.” Natasha leans over to hug him before packing up her stuff and heading out. 

It was a crazy day but as Bucky climbs into bed, he’s still resolved that it’s going to be okay again soon. 

Bucky is groggy when his alarm goes off at 7am but it’s better than he would have been if he hadn’t gotten any sleep. Becca is thrilled that he’s home and even more so when he tells her that he’ll be home the rest of the week. They make plans over breakfast for things they can do after she gets out of school since they have all the time in the world now. Bucky compromises with one quick park trip, which he cringes thinking about but he’ll just have to pack her inhaler and make sure she takes breaks, two trips to the library, and one night they’ll grab dinner at the neighborhood diner for their kids eat free night. 

The week flies by and Bucky gets the all clear on Thursday to return the following Sunday once the hospital is able to put additional security in place. He’s thankful they’re not just letting him go to avoid all the hassle but several nurses and doctors apparently made their opinions loud and clear that he was worth the additional security measures. Bucky is eternally grateful for his coworkers and makes plans to take in a tray of thank you brownies on his first shift back. 

A second round of good news comes in a few hours later; Steve is back early from his latest mission. They make plans for the following day, unwilling to wait any longer to see one another again. Steve will be, in theory, just hanging around the tower wrapping up some post-mission paperwork from earlier in the week so he’ll be able to take most of the day to show Bucky around the tower and spend time with him. He also offered to take them all to The Met after Becca gets out of school and Bucky said he’ll consider it. It’s a little extravagant, but something about picking her up together and going on an outing tugs at his heartstrings. It’s so perfectly domestic, like a real family would do. Bucky tries to ignore the longing he feels for something he’s never let himself consider before. 

There’s a lone reporter lingering outside his apartment when Bucky heads out to pick up Becca from school. There were a lot the first two days but their numbers dropped off drastically when they realized he really wasn’t all that interesting. “Hey man.” Bucky gives the reporter a little wave. He has to give the guy credit for determination. “Still not going to do anything interesting, sorry.” 

The reporter huffs a laugh, “Ya never know!” 

Bucky laughs in return and heads off, trying to ignore the fact that the man is following him a few steps back. He gives the guy a few more days before he gives up too. Bucky is a single parent with a full time job, he doesn’t have the time to do anything interesting. 

Rounding the corner to Becca’s school he spies the little girl talking to a man in a long beige wool coat. The man is tall and thin with greying hair and wire framed glasses. His appearance screams of wealth in a way that would make him fit right in as a parent of someone at the school, but something is off and Bucky steps up his pace. Becca hasn’t spotted him yet but he hears the man ask “Your daddy is friends with Captain America isn’t he?” 

Becca, all proud smiles, informs him, “He’s my brother, not my daddy. And Captain America is his boyfriend.” 

“Isn’t that nice. Hey, I have something you can give your brother for me, okay? Can you be a big helper? It’s right over here.” Becca looks unsure so the man smiles brightly and takes her hand, leading her down the sidewalk away from the school. A black van pulls up at the end of the block, a door swinging open and the man hurries her along. 

Bucky screams Becca’s name and breaks out into a full run. Icy fear consumes him, driving him to move faster than he ever has before. Please God no, please, don’t let them take my baby girl. 

The reporter realizes what’s going on and sprints right along with Bucky. They collide with the man and Becca at the same time. The reporter tackles the man, pinning him to the ground, leaving Bucky to grab Becca and roll to the ground shielding her in his arms. A teacher runs over with her phone out yelling “The police are on their way!” to them. 

The man writhes underneath the reporter, trying to free himself while looking panickedly at the van. The van door slides shut and then the vehicle flies off with screeching tires. Once it’s out of sight the man lays his head back on the pavement in defeat.

“Just stay put buddy.” the reporter grumbles. 

Now that Becca is safe Bucky is filled with a depth of rage he didn’t even realize he was capable of. Somebody tried to snatch his baby girl right in broad daylight. Bucky checks her over one more time before passing her off to the teacher who’s still holding on the line for 911. 

Bucky stalks over to where the reporter still has the man pinned. His movements are predatory, his voice low, practically a grow, when he demands, “Who the fuck do you think you are?” 

The reporter just stares at the man, also waiting for an answer. 

“I am one of many.”

Bucky shakes his head. God, he just wants to punch this guy in his smug face. “Fine. Who do you work for?” 

“Cut off one head and two more take its place.” 

“I’m getting real sick of riddles and I still got at least two minutes before the cops show. Last time, asshole. Who the fuck do you work for and why do you want my kid?”

“The child, or you, it matters not. Either will get us the captain. We are everywhere. We will come again, and we will succeed. Hail Hydra.” The man crunches down on something and within seconds he’s foaming at the mouth, his eyes rolling lifeless back in his head.

Bucky looks to Becca, thankful the teacher is shielding her away from what took place. Ice cold fear runs in his veins. He knew there could potentially be a risk dating Steve, but it was an abstract sort of knowledge. Up until minutes ago he’d thought the only real concern was pesky reporters. Most of which, he has to admit, are actually good people just trying to make a living. A real threat, a fucking terrorist threat, is something he’d never really put much thought into. That name too: Hydra. Everyone knows of the Nazi group who Captain America has been trying to destroy since the 40s. A threat from them is very, very real. 

The cops arrive and start dispersing the crowd that’s formed. It seems like forever until they’ve taken statements from everyone and the body is removed. Becca holds up as well as a four year old can trying to answer the police man’s questions, and Bucky fills in gaps as he can. They take his statement too and let him know they can provide a security detail if he wants. The officer looks sheepish but also recommends he call Steve because Shield and the Avengers can likely provide better security than the NYPD can. Bucky thanks the officer and agrees to call Steve as soon as possible. 

Becca is shaking so hard by the time they head home that Bucky scoops the little girl up to carry her the whole way. Two uniformed officers follow them back and do a full sweep of the apartment just to err on the side of caution. Buck appreciates the security but as he stands in his too quiet apartment he realizes he can’t do this every day. He adopted Becca to give her a better life and now he’s put her in more danger than she ever would have been in being raised by their parents. All because some small part of him still held on to the hope that there was someone out there that he could love and would love him back wholeheartedly and forever. That despite his upbringing, he could have a perfect family of his own one day. Bucky feels painfully childish that his pathetic longing for a partner had almost cost him his sister. 

Ever the responsible parent, Bucky stifles the emotions whirling in his chest and puts on a good front for Becca’s sake. She falls asleep halfway through Frozen II and Bucky doesn’t even bother trying to wake her. He knows there’s no fighting the adrenaline crash she’s feeling. His own crash will be equally brutal when it comes, but for now it’s still nowhere in sight. Bucky is too keyed up, restless and desperately trying to find a solution that keeps all of them safe and happy. He drags a cup of coffee and a blanket out onto the fire escape where he sits to watch the sun drop lower and lower among the roof tops. He’s almost finished his drink when a knock sounds on the door. 

The security detail is supposed to be vetting anyone going near his apartment so the odds are good it’s someone he knows, but it doesn’t stop him from slipping a kitchen knife into his hand on the way to the door. Peering through the peephole Bucky sees red hair, black leather, and a very pissed off Natasha. “Let me in.” she says, it sounds like a warning. 

Bucky opens the door and stands out of the way. It’s not worth arguing with Natasha when she gets like this. 

“You turned off your phone.” She comments without emotion. 

Bucky nods. “I don’t want to deal with it right now.” 

Natasha follows him as he heads to the kitchen to return the knife, seemingly pleased by his caution. “By it, you mean Steve.” 

“Amongst other things.” 

“You know I’m here for you. Whatever you need, just name it.” 

“That’s just it, I don’t know. I keep coming to the same answer and I hate it, Nat. I just… I can’t do this to Becs.” Bucky’s voice cracks on the little girl’s name and Natasha wraps her best friend into a tight hug. 

“You’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do.” 

“I don’t even know how to do what I want to do. I’m sure it’s not nearly as easy as movies make it out to be.”

“Let me help. You and Becca mean the world to me. Whatever it is we’ll figure it out together.” 

Bucky sighs heavily, still leaning on Natasha. “We need to disappear.” 

Natasha goes still, “Are you sure?” 

“No. Yes. I don’t know. I can’t think of any other way to keep her safe. Even if I break up with Steve, Hydra can still use us as leverage. Feelings don’t just disappear... But people can.” 

“Okay. Give me four hours.” Natasha pulls back and starts texting rapidly on a small cell phone Bucky has never seen before. 

“What the fuck, Nat.” 

“Working in cyber security has some perks.” She shrugs. 

“I don’t think it’s normally supposed to have those kinds of perks.” 

“Well, it depends on who you’re keeping secure.” Nastaha’s smile is cheshire. 

“Damn. Okay, then. What do you need me to do?” 

“Stay put. I’d say try to get some sleep but I know you won’t. Pack a duffel bag for each of you. No more than that, I mean it. Think in terms of what you absolutely can’t leave behind, this is not packing for vacation. You can buy basic stupid shit when you get where you’re going. Two outfits and whatever else you can’t leave that fits in two duffels. Got it?” 

“Okay, got it.” 

“Oh, and your phone. You won’t be needing that anymore.” 

Bucky holds the phone out but doesn’t let go. “I have all of Becs’ baby pictures on there.” 

Natasha gives him an understanding smile. “I’ll move them all to an online cloud storage site. You won’t lose a single one.” 

Bucky releases the phone. “Thanks, Nat.” 

Natasha hugs him tightly again. “Four hours. Be ready.” 

And with that Bucky is left alone in his living room in shock. He supposes he shouldn’t be all that surprised. Natasha has always been a badass. He used to joke she was really a Russian spy and their friendship was just a cover for her real identity. Bucky now wonders now how close to the truth he might have been. 

Four hours later, down to the minute, Natasha is striding through his door once again, a large envelope tucked under her arm. There’s no warm welcome or pleasantries, Natasha has her game face on and Bucky is still too rattled to try for levity. Spreading the papers out on the coffee table Natasha organizes everything quickly. “Birth certificates, immigration paperwork, social security cards, school records, medical records, a resume with work history and references, and a quick life history fact sheet for both of you.” She places a wallet from her pocket onto the table as well, flipping it open quickly to show him it’s fully filled with cards, cash, and an ID card.

Bucky scans over the documents, unable to believe she had pulled this off so quickly and how real everything looked. “Sebastian Stan?” he asks, nose wrinkling. 

Natasha nods, “Yep, you’re Romanian. You moved here with your daughter Elena when she was two months old. Your wife died in childbirth and so you brought her here to start over.” 

He spies the address on the drivers license. “Rochester? Is that where we’re actually going?” 

“No, of course not. You and your daughter have recently moved to Cape Elizabeth, Maine. That’s where you’re headed. You’ll be happy to know their local urgent care center is looking for a new triage nurse. The pay is pretty good and it’ll be enough to cover rent for the cute little apartment that you just put a down payment on.” Natasha pulls something from her pocket, it’s flesh colored and rolled up tightly. She hands it over with a simple, “Here, you’ll need this too. Don’t want that guy drawing too much attention to you.” 

Bucky stares at the silicone sleeve, realizing it’s a perfect fit for his prosthetic. The details are down to an art, from light arm hairs and tiny freckles. It’s soft enough too that as long as you don’t grasp it very hard, it’ll feel shockingly similar to his right arm. “Damn. You don’t miss a thing, do you?”

“Of course not. Who do you think you’re dealing with?” Natasha glares at him affectionately.

Bucky chuckles, of course she’s the best at this. She’s been the best at everything since the day they met. “What happens to Bucky and Becca Barnes then?” he’s afraid to ask but he needs to know.

“They got on a flight to Moscow two hours ago. There’s a few nice security officers and cab drivers who will all verify they were sighted leaving the airport about eight hours from now.” 

“That works for the rest of the world, but what happens if Steve goes looking? He has an awful lot of friends in high places.” 

“Steve isn’t going to go looking right now. And even if he did, the alibi will hold up. Trust me.” 

A tiny piece of Bucky’s heart shatters that Steve would just let him go so easily. 

Natasha recognizes the look on his face and quickly adds, “He called you non stop after the news broke. Sent you dozens of texts too. You very nearly had the full force of SHIELD and the Avengers on your doorstep if it wasn’t for Tony Stark.” 

“What happened?” 

“Tony convinced Steve that if you weren’t calling or responding that he was as good as dumped. The rumor mill always hinted their relationship was strained but Tony really is good at kicking Steve when he’s down and Tony played his cards right on this one. Steve has been holed up in his apartment all night, he’s not doing too great.” 

It kills Bucky to know he’s putting Steve through this pain, but he’s firm in his decision. He’d be more disappointed in himself but he’s too tired. Things got tough and he’s doing exactly what he’s been doing since he was a kid to protect himself: he’s running. “How do you even know all this?” Bucky asks, realizing Natasha shouldn’t have this level of detail on the goings on at the tower. 

“I hacked into the security feed at Avengers Tower. Jarivs was a handful but not more than I could handle. Tony Stark is brilliant but he’s also arrogant, and that’s his downfall.” 

“You are, without a doubt, the scariest person I’ve ever met. I’m gonna miss you.” Bucky can’t hold back the tears at the thought of leaving Natasha behind. 

“What do you mean, miss me? You went to college with Natalie Rushman, you’re even Instagram friends. You haven’t seen me in a few years but we still keep in touch regularly.” Natasha brings out yet another little black phone he’s never seen and shows him Natalie’s Instagram account. 

“How many of those little phones do you have tucked up your sleeve?” he teases.

“The world will never know.” she quips in return. “I do need to go though.” she adds in a more serious tone.

Bucky nods, he knew this was coming. He can’t get words past the lump in his throat.

“You have a train to catch in about forty minutes. That one will take you as far as Boston and there’s more tickets from there. Try and get some rest, you’ll be getting into town in Maine around eight in the morning.” 

“I’ve gone longer without sleep pulling doubles at the hospital, this won’t be nearly as bad.” 

Natasha gives him a half hearted smile, “You’re all set then.” 

Bucky pulls her in for one last hug. “I’ll message Natalie when we arrive.” 

“Mmm, yes. Sebastian would definitely snap a pic of his new hometown when he arrives. I’ve heard it’s very Insta-worthy.” Tears shine in Natasha’s eyes but they don’t fall. She swallows thickly. “Be safe.” 

“You too.” Bucky manages to croak out through the overwhelming tide of emotions. He holds her for one last heartbeat before she slips out the door like a ghost. 

Bucky goes through all the documents Natasha left behind and finds a thin red iPhone in the stack. There’s a post-it note stuck on top warning “do not activate until after you are on the second train”. So much for keeping himself occupied while he waits. In the end he spends most of the time pacing around the apartment and double checking his bags. He checks the time again, making sure he’s down to the final few minutes when he finally goes to get a sleeping Becca from her bed. She barely stirs as he carefully slides her into her warm purple jacket and slips socks and shoes on her feet. He slings her over his shoulder and collects the two duffels with his free hand. It’s a little jarring to see tan skin where he’s used to seeing shiny steel but he appreciates that Natasha thought of everything. 

He worries momentarily about the security detail outside his apartment but quickly realizes they’re distracted helping an elderly woman catch her escaped pomeranian who’s barking up a storm. It’s a good diversion, one clearly planned out. Bucky holds on tightly to Becca and all but runs down the hall to the stairwell. He doesn’t slow down until he’s two blocks away and he realizes he really did escape without being sighted. Slowing his pace to a normal New York hustle, he heads towards the train station and to their new lives.

[imhereforbvcky]

Vivid - Part 3

Masterlist  -  Series Masterpage 

Summary: Have you ever met someone who completely embodies a color? Not an aura, not synesthesia. Just… They walk into the room and when you spot them, you think to yourself, “Wow. That is a walking hurricane.” When Clint Barton serendipitously meets a free-spirited stranger, he sees red. Chapter: You and Clint have become that indefinable thing between friends and... well something more. Or less, since you’re both too anxious to push through that barrier. Can a relationship grow anyway?

Warnings: I guarantee there’s swearing. There usually is. That’s about it, just a load of fluff and cuteness with a side of nerves.

Word Count: 2637

A/N: I’m laaaate with this, I’m sorry! I had some unexpected visitors who wanted to take a 7hr (each way) camping road-trip over the weekend. So I didn’t have time to queue this up. Anyway, here we go! Two goofs, two dorks, two relationship idiots, dancing around each other! Let’s go!

The last few millimeters of coffee swirled in your mug, mixing thick foam and heavy chocolate with the final precious bits of caffeine. Your friend scowled at you from across the petite round café table.

“So who is he?”

“Hmm?” You set your phone down beside your now empty cup, loopy smile hooking one side of your face into a lazy grin.

Nina circled an accusatory finger around your face. “That!” Then she pointed to the phone. “Who is he?”

“Don’t judge me, just because you’re Fort Knox.”

“I stash my precious golden heart behind a heavily fortified vault for a reason. People are greedy and rough, especially with someone as careless as you. I’m just looking out for my friend,” she finally sighed watching you check your phone again. “You keep diving head first without looking how deep the water is, you’re going to break your neck one day.”

“Maybe, but at least I’ll know what the water feels like.”

“I don’t… even know what that means,” she frowned, picking at her crème brûlée. “We’re mixing metaphors.”

“It means I’d rather get a little bruised looking for love than to hide from it forever and feel nothing.”

Nina’s frown dipped into a disgruntled scowl. “I feel things.”

“Oh you definitely do,” you teased, dipping a spoon into her dessert. “You feel very nervous when you’re happy…”

She sliced at your spoon with her own, defending her treat.

“You feel uncomfortable when you think people you care about are too happy.”

“I just don’t want to see you hurt. Again.” She argued.

“But then you wouldn’t get to say, ‘I told you so.’”

She rolled her eyes, but grinned. Nina did love to be right. “So? Who is he? Need to make sure he’s worth the leap.”

“We’re not even—he’s just a friend right now.” You explained. Then smiled excitedly, bouncing in your seat. “But I kinda like him.”

“Yeah I figured. That dopey grin kinda gave it away.” She tapped your phone. “Why do you only see him in the middle of the night? Seems a lot like the last one if you ask m—“

“They’re nothing alike,” you snapped.

Your friend cocked an eyebrow: half challenge, half interest.

“It’s not like that,” you shrugged. “We have coffee at the 24-hour diner, or eat pizza on a stoop,” you explained, a little grin sneaking in. “We just talk. Or we don’t. He’s good. And it just… comes easy, ya know? He makes me laugh, when I’m 2am heavy.”

Nina sighed and pushed her empty dessert dish away from her. “Please just… look before you leap this time.”

“Where’ve you been?”

Clint jumped at least a foot. The canister of coffee grounds clattered to the floor and rolled until Natasha lifted her toe to stop it under foot.

“Why so jumpy?” she probed further.

“’Cause there’s a spy in my apartment,” he grumbled, tossing his keys on the counter.

“Well?”

“Just went for coffee.”

She opened the cupboard to put the new canister away beside the other 6 unopened tins. “You know, for a SHIELD agent, you’re a terrible liar.”

“Why are you checking up on me, Nat?”

“You missed movie night.”

“Oh shit. I’m sorry, I forgot.”

“And last week you forgot about Burger Monday.”

“I know, I’ve been dropping the ball lately…”

“My friend Clint would never forget about In-n-Out.”

He chuckled when he realized she wasn’t mad. Not completely. More concerned, and interested, and upset he was hiding something from her. Which was fair, he didn’t keep secrets from Nat. Not ever.

“So tell me.” Her voice was gentle, asking not demanding. “Who has you so distracted?”

Clint trudged to the worn out couch and flopped into it, before toeing off his ever-untied boots. “Just a friend. I got carried away.”

“No,” she argued, curling up on the other end of the couch. “You blew off your friends. This is something else. You like this person.”

“I should’ve been at movie night.” He shook his head and let it drop back onto the cushions. “You’re my family, I should be there. And besides, you know how I am about relationships. It was a mistake.”

“You must really like this mystery person,” Natasha observed, tilting her head to study her closest friend.

“I do and now I’ve said it out loud it’s real and I wish I didn’t, ‘cause now I’m definitely gonna screw it up,” he mumbled, tossing his forearm over his eyes. If he closed his eyes a minute longer, he could imagine a world where he got to have nice things. Good things and good people worth having. People like you would stay and he wouldn’t have trust issues. So he kept his eyes shut tight and his arm stubbornly heavy over them. “I wasn’t thinking. It just… felt really good to be around her, you know? For a second I forgot.”

“Clint, I think it’s a good thing for us to forget. Forget the past, forget the present – what we do. We can’t carry it forever. It’s a good thing: figuring out how to move on. And if you can find someone to do that with you… Well I’d say you’re one lucky guy.”

He flopped over, letting his head fall beside her and his feet curl up behind his knees and sighed. Reality again, dim in his cheap midnight apartment, messy in more ways than one. “I don’t know how to take care of a relationship like that. Growing up like I did, and now doing what we do… I’m always waiting for the other shoe to drop, you know? Always fighting something. I’m just gonna ruin it.”

“Clint,” She pressed long cool hands against the sides of his face, and craned her neck to look down at him. All he could see were clear green eyes that bore straight into the core of him, knowing, understanding, and simplifying. “Love isn’t war.”

“I don’t even know her that well. We’re not…” his eyes darted anywhere but what he was sure were all-seeing eyes. “It’s not love.”

“But that’s the end game right,” she cut him off. “You like her, and it might go that way. You need to remember that it’s not war, and it’s not torture. That might be what we’re used to, but this isn’t supposed to tear you apart. It’s not tears and bruises and blood. It’s work, but the kind that makes you softer. That person should make you lighter, bring you peace.”

“She’s like a damn helium balloon.” The hint of a smile came unbidden. There was enough levity in just the thought of you to tug it over his lips, crinkle at his eyes.

“Then stop looking for grenades.” She let her hands drift away from his face, and the seriousness faded with the warmth. “Enjoy… whatever it is while you have it.”

Clint sighed. Natasha was right, and he often needed her to kick him in the ass with this kind of thing. It was why they were such great friends. She got it. But that didn’t make it easier to actually do.

“And give me a name so I can vet her.”

“Nat!”

She shrugged. “Just looking out for my friend.”

“You busy?” Your voice was bright coming through the phone as the elevators closed behind you.

“Uh…”

You chewed the edge of your nail to near oblivion. Taking Nina’s advice, launched you way out of your comfort zone, and that hesitant, non-committal answer did nothing to assuage your anxiety.

Clint, with the phone still to his ear glanced over his shoulder down the range. It was his turn to lead training, but when your name turned up on his phone, he’d have taken any excuse to bail. Could he feign a sprained ankle? He was clumsy enough…

Natasha glanced at him, with a question in her creased brow as she retrieved her paper target and began circling her shots. Tony stood frowning down range. He’d been complaining that he should be exempt from target practice since his ‘super-power’ came with heat-seeking missiles. Really, he just hated losing.

Clint’s entire body hunkered low, phone pressed to his chest when he heard the high-pitched whine of a repulsor-ray.

“Bull’s-eye. I win.” Tony grumbled before storming off. The target had been blown to hell. The frame holding the target was nothing more than smoke. The hillside behind the row of targets had a fresh gouge of scorched grass and upturned dirt.

Clint and Natasha shared a glance and she rolled her eyes.

“Clint? Hello?” his phone chirped in his hand. “You there?”

“Uhm,” he tried again. “No. No, I’m not busy. Not anymore. What’s going on?”

“I don’t know,” you admitted with a nervous laugh. Clint was already walking quickly back toward the compound with a haphazard wave at Natasha. “I finished up early at the office and I just missed you. Is that weird? It is a little,” you rambled. “Anyway, I know it’s still daylight, and that’s not really um… our thing. Shit, this was dumb. This is like that embarrassing rambling voicemail that you delete and try again 4 times except you answered and now you have to hear it and I have to live with the memory. This was so dumb! I should let you go.”

“No!” Clint found himself cringing at the force with which he’d spoken. But he absolutely did not want you to let him go. “No, it’s fine. It’s nice to not be the only idiot around.”

There was a silence and he slapped his palm to his forehead. He just called you an idiot. His head dropped back and his face scrunched while he fought back a grown, wondering if anyone could be a bigger idiot than him in that moment.

Mercifully a chuckle finally broke through from on the other end of the line. “We’ve definitely cornered the market.”

“Mhmm.” He dragged a hand down his face, still unable to release his cringe enough to form real words.

“So do you wanna…?”

“Yeah,” he managed. “Yeah, give me an hour. What’d you have in mind?”

“I could use a cuddle.”

An hour and fifteen minutes later, Clint stood in the tiny tiled room, waiting. You were already sitting on the floor, feet curled up under you, jittering in anticipation. One minute, you were clapping excitedly, the next shoving his shoulder, the next dancing on the spot.

Something between a chuckle and a scoff passed his lips. This was a horrible idea for so many reasons.

It was also brilliant.

And anything that made you this happy, he decided, was well worth his time.

“How often do you do this?” he asked.

You beamed up at him. “Often enough that the front desk gave me a volunteer form this time!”

“This is crazy. You’re crazy.” His words didn’t have any sting. No bite. It was a fond sort of acknowledgement.

“Okay, are you ready to meet Arrow?” the shelter employee asked, peering around the corner.

“Um, yes!” You clapped with glee as she opened the little gate and ushered the dog into the room.

He immediately bounded over, drawn to your excited energy.

“Oh! I’m in love already!” you exclaimed as he wiggled and romped around on the floor beside you.

“I’ll give you a little time,” the employee smiled, ducking out.

“This is just cruel,” Clint argued, crouching down to ruffle the dog’s ears. It abandoned you almost immediately, leaning into Clint’s hand.

“No it isn’t! They sit in cages all day, they need love as much as I do.” Your voice was a goofy croon as you pet the overly friendly yellow lab.

“I meant cruel to me!”

You laughed and Clint eased down onto the floor beside you. He was entirely preoccupied with Arrow, scrubbing his ears, gently shoving the dog’s chest back, grabbing at a lazily thrown paw. They wrestled in the tight space like they’d been doing it for years.

You, on the other hand, could only take in the completely unburdened smile that lit up Clint’s face. It made you glad for the warmth of his arm squeezed against yours in the narrow space. The familiar heat of his skin was like an extension of his joy.

Clint absorbed you entirely in his calm steady happiness, a cool sort of comfortable that spread through your veins, rather than the frenzied red rush you had spent so long chasing, had spent so many tears watching slip through your fingers. This was different, and new, and something you hadn’t known you’d wanted. It was a chill up your spine and soft glint in his eye, a light flutter in your stomach.

You startled when the dog leapt to the side and knocked him wholly against you from knee to shoulder. Clint didn’t flinch, didn’t withdraw, would never have thought to. He was warm and comfortable, and you were something good and bright he liked being close to. You amplified the parts of each other that sometimes got lost in the chaos.  Here in this tiny tiled room with the bounding energy of a shelter dog between you, that balance swelled. The room seemed full of it and the stress of the day crowded out with ease.

“Sorry,” he turned to you with a smirk as the dog plowed into his gut with a braided rope toy. “I’m hogging the puppy. You needed cuddles.”

“S’okay,” you shrugged, linking your arm around his elbow and curling your hand up to the lean stretch of bicep pressed against your own shoulder. “You’re cuddly. And he likes you.”

Clint’s playful smile softened into something else, something full and gentle as he looked down at you. You didn’t see it though, as you reached out to pat the dog and let your cheek fall to Clint’s shoulder.

This little adventure was indulgent, and silly, but that was exactly what Clint liked about being with you. Those things felt right, and it made him feel good. So he indulged. He let his lips fall to the top of your head, nose tickled by your hair and the smell of soap. For a moment, he let himself stay like that. Then he kissed the top of your head. Quietly, gently, deliciously thoughtless.

Even more satisfying: you didn’t react at all. Just stayed curled up like that against his side and let him.

Clint walked out with a new dog that day. One he promptly renamed when his favorite pizza vendor – a gas station that sells pizza by the slice but Clint buys by the pie – spotted you outside with him on a long red lead.

“Lucky day for you, eh?” he’d asked with a toothy grin and a big box of pepperoni pizza.

Clint glanced over his shoulder and grinned, lop-sided and nearly lost. He was sure he looked like a damn fool, he just didn’t care. “It’s been a pretty good one.”

“Who am I to stand between Lady Luck and her prize,” he said, shooing away Clint’s money. “It’s going stale anyway, just take it.”

“Really? Thanks, Marco!”

When he found you on the tiniest spit of grass, you slipped a greedy hand into the box and withdrew a slice. He couldn’t help laughing at the grin on your lips as you stuffed half the piece into your mouth.

“’M starving!” you mumbled.

He shook his head and reached into the box himself. Except instead of eating the slice, he tossed it to Arrow. “He’s a lucky dog. This was free!”

“You should call him Lucky!”

He grinned and slung an arm over your shoulder, the three of you heading down the block back to his stoop to finish the box of pizza between you. Lucky seemed more fitting for a dog than Arrow anyway. He liked it.

“Lucky the pizza dog.”

Part 4 >>

[kawaiipickle]

So here’s my story about my trainwreck business trip with my boss to Paris...

it’s kinda long but i would appreciate some opinions on what happened

Let me start from saying, that I didn’t want to go from the very beginning. No one even asked me if I’m interested in going, I found out basically by accident and I was always the last to know about everything regarding this trip. We were going for a trade show with our brand. The show was starting on Saturday, we were flying on Friday. I got my tickets and accommodation infos basically on Thursday night - very comfortable thing when u have anxiety, right? 

So I was supposed to meet my boss lady in Warsaw and go with her to the airport. That part went well. We got to the airport, we went through security check point, found our gate and had some time till boarding. About 10mins before our boarding should start I’ve realised that Paris was changed into berlin on the gate info panel. When I asked what happened, they casually told me that the flight got cancelled and we need to go to rebook it. Not a single info about the cancelation whatsoever!Turned out about 7 different flights were canceled and a few more delayed. SO the queue to the airline customer service desk was 274759275 miles long.

 We’ve waited more than 2h until we got to the contour. And the 1st sec my boss was about to get to it - they’ve closed the window for a break.Yes, exactly. Even ppl around us were laughing at this point that it’s prolly a sign that we should not go at all.But my boss was on the hotline with the other boss, looking for other transportation options and in the end she rescheduled our flight to Brussels and decided that we will borrow a car there and go to Paris by car. In the middle of the night. 

SO - we got to Brussels around midnight. We rented a car. A car my boss didn’t rly know how to drive so it was fun... But we were on our way. And all the way to Paris, 3h long, my boss was telling me literally everything about her current divorce and affair with her new guy. Things i rly should not know about, things I do NOT care about, things she can’t stop talking about to me for some damn mysterious reason. 

 Anyway, we got to Paris around 4am. We had booked hotel room in some weird no-service hotel, where you get in on code, there are no people on reception, only computer and so. We found it after some searching, fought a little with putting our car into the garage and finally got into the lobby to get our key. VERY ewwww lobby let me say.  

And then the computer said we have a reservation, but only for 1 night. Another surprise, cool! But we took the key anyway, decided to resolve it later. At this point we were absolutely exhausted and only dreamed about some bathroom and bed. First we tried using a lift, but some buttons were ripped off. So we used the stairs. Found our room. Got inside. And then a man who was sleeping on the bed looked at us and asked “qu'est ce que??” And said that he is renting this room for a week and will stay more. So we left, absolutely stunned and mortified cuz if he was living there how tf we were able to get the keycard????

At this point I was almost sure I will try to get 1st ticket back to Poland and call it a day.So my boss called the hotel hotline, they ofc said they have no booking for us and bullshit like that, booking com promised to find something else for us, etc etc. 

But i personally had other urgent issue. And it’s embarrassing, but I will say it all anyway. I rly needed to use the bathroom to go make number 2. Badly. On our way to Paris esp by the end of it, there were almost no open gas stations or stuff like that so I’ve decided to wait till the hotel. Even my boss was desperate and basically stopped by the road and took a piss behind the car. And now we were sitting in the lobby, roomless, and there was no bathroom for guests in the whole hotel. So I’ve decided, in sheer desperation, to go outside and maybe find some bushes. So fucking humiliating!

 But it wasn’t all. I walk around one block and at first it was empty. But then suddenly the street was filled with cars and people, obv drunk, screaming and throwing bottles, and i swear to god! i've even heard something like gunshots. I. WAS. TERRIFIED. There was some weird sht going on on one parking i was passing by and I was seriously so scared for my life. I’ve sneaked back through some bushes that i also used finally as a bathroom and headed back to the hotel. Some men were shouting at me from their car but I managed to get back inside.

My boss said that they are still working on finding us new accomodation and as soon as we’ll get it, we will just take a shower, change our clothes and go straight on the show. With no rest. I said I’m booking a flight back to PL right this instant if she won’t let me rest after all this bullshit.

 We left the creepy hotel and for another 2h were driving around Paris, trying to find ANYTHING open where we could get a coffee or just sit down and get our sht together. But absolutely everything was still closed. Meanwhile booking com offered us a room in a hotel from the same company, just in different place. SURE! We were absolutely exhausted, I almost felt like i was drunk, my head was spinning like that and I couldn’t keep my eyes opened. In the last act of desperation we went to the hotel we were staying in during our previous business trip. And they saved us, literally, cuz they had some extra “secret” room for emergency situations and they offered us one.

So i finally could take a shower and got 1h of sleep. And booked my flight back home. I told my boss that I’m fine with staying but I refuse to work without getting some rest. She said that in this case I can go home as I’m “useless and I do nothing else than tell her about my troubles she doesn’t want to hear about”. When I told her literally just two things this whole trip - one when we met that I’m having severe migraines now because of the heat and back problems [something i told both bosses before as something im concerned about regarding this trip] and that I’m too exhausted to work when she refused my rest time request. But I need to sit for couple hours to listen about all her love drama...OK.

Needless to say, my way back home was smooth and easy, everything went as planned in amazing contrast to what happened before.  I’m home and i’m exhausted and still just in disbelief how it all went down. I know I will never ever ignore my intuition like that, if I feel like I should not be doing something the way I did here, I won’t do it. Period. Idk if I will have any troubles at work because I came back like this, but I don’t really care. I’m looking for a new place anyway. That was just so insane…

Do you think I overreacted with going back? Do you think I should have stayed? I’m really curious. I feel that I did the right thing but I still have these doubting thoughts

[yugen-ai]

i’m torn between doing some custard pudding and doing nothing at all.. i’m just busy lazing out so i guess it’ll have to wait until tomorrow.. (´_ゝ`)  --08202017

it’s definitely easier to eat than to do/prepare the stuffs you’re eating! the struggle of separating the yolks from the white! i don’t have an empty plastic bottle to do the hack so the struggle is real! （ｉДｉ） --08212017

we just moved to our new office and the once eerie place turned into a thriving spot of living creatures! (ﾟoﾟ)  --08222017

this is the reason why i hate taking a dump in the morning, i have to compete for the place in the throne!  (・・*)ノ ⌒ξ  --08232017

i have to stay up late and rush things since i will be taking a leave tomorrow.. hoping that i’m on the right track to finish all these stuffs! o(｀^´*)  --08242017

thankfully, i have accomplished all according to plan as if it had been destined and predetermined to be finished today.. though in the evening, i somewhat hesitate if we’re gonna push through with the trip despite the brewing storm.. but nonetheless, the answer is a go go! ( •̀ᄇ• ́)ﻭ✧  

--08252017

it’s started with a heavy traffic.. we’re late.. we’re charged due to rebooking brought out by our tardiness.. so tired, gross, hungry, and sleepy from all the travelling.. arrived at our lodging house.. no one’s answering after almost an hour of shouting, calling, banging of the gates.. decided to leave and cancel the reservation.. looked for a korean resto to have some k bbq and samgyupsal as a comfort food.. still, this supposed to be comfort food turned out as a fcking failure.. with all these series of unfortunate events and misadventures, we decided to go back home and sleep.. (๑•́ ₃ •̀๑)  --08262017

slept for more or less 24 hours to mend the broken sleep pattern and a broken heart.. (ᴗ˳ᴗ)  --08272017

good thing about cancelling the trip, i have enough time to do some other stuff.. say, my take home work.. (--_--)  --08282017

i am so preoccupied these days that when i checked my queue, it’s almost empty! gonna do some queueing today.. （｀ー´） --08292017

it’s been such a busy day i even went home past midnight.. tired and sleepy, but i don’t wanna sleep.. the result of the coffee this afternoon, i guess.. ʘ‿ʘ  --08302017

honestly, it’s much better if my pics are shot candidly rather than me trying hard to pose making me look gross and awkward.. but nonetheless, i hate camera exposure.. ( ´థ,_‥థ｀)  --08312017

there’s a cute baby visitor in the house this morning while i’m asleep but damn! my need for sleep is much stronger than the cuteness! (冫༵、)  --09012017

did some shopping today to update my wardrobe.. am about to pay and then there’s a hair clip in the counter, the only one left of its kind.. lonely.. it’s there as if begging and persuading to take it home.. then i bought the poor little thing..    ( ′～‵)   --09022017

woke up to the noise of the children playing outside.. they’re chanting and singing the same chants we used to sing hundreds of years ago when we’re at their age.. i’m glad some things remain unchanged even in this modern era.. (─‿‿─)  --09032017

[salamadersaurus-rex]

Mas Director Sanvers fluff.

Read on AO3

There’s a post-it on Alex’s mug. The mug Winn got her from the National City Science Museum that reads never trust an atom, they make up everything. It’s one of her favourite jokes. Not that she’ll ever tell anybody. The post-it isn’t nearly as funny, but it’s cute, a little heart and a hey gorgeous in Lucy’s handwriting. Alex unsticks it from the mug, playing with the tacky edge before putting it down on her desk. She wanders out of her lab, mug in hand and across the corridor to where Vasquez is fighting the coffee machine.

“It broke again?” Alex asks.

“Yup.” Vasquez kicks open the toolbox that has lived by the machine since the last incident, and picks up a huge wrench. “If I break it the government will pay for a new one.”

Alex grabs the wrench and puts it back in the toolbox. “No, no they won’t.”

Vasquez pouts. “Fine. Are you going to fix it then?”

“No, I’ll send Supergirl to get us coffee from Noonans.”

“I want a muffin too.”

Alex sends off a quick text to Kara. “Shouldn’t be long.”

“Danvers!” Lucy’s voice rings out down the corridor and Alex stands to attention. “I need a word.”

Alex winks at Vasquez and turns to face Lucy, holding open the door to her lab. It shuts with a beep after Alex, and she and Lucy are left in relative quiet. Lucy’s stern face drops and she smiles, settling against Alex’s desk.

“I got your note,” Alex says, walking over to Lucy with her hands stuck in her lab coat pockets. “You really shouldn’t use your clearance level to sneak into my lab, Major.”

Lucy looks her up and down, bottom lip between her teeth. A quick glance out the glass wall confirms the corridor is empty, Vasquez having wandered off to wait for Kara. “Well, you weren’t here,” Lucy says, pulling Alex down to her height by her lapels. “And I missed you.”

Alex kisses her through a smile, searching surreptitiously through the papers on her desk until she finds Lucy’s post-it. She pulls back and sticks it on Lucy’s forehead, giggling at the sight of her girlfriend with her eyes still half closed, lips searching for Alex’s and her own hey gorgeous stuck to her head.

“Danvers!” Lucy squeals, tearing the post-it off her head and swiping at Alex with it. Alex jumps back, dodges Lucy as she gets up and chases her round the lab. She blocks Alex in a corner and Alex raises her hands in surrender.

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry.”

Lucy steps into her personal space. “You owe me a kiss. A proper one.”

Alex makes a noise in the back of her throat, opening her arms for Lucy to step into them. Lucy ghosts her lips across Alex’s cheek, nudges her nose with her own and then-

“Alex!”

Lucy and Alex spring apart at the sound of Kara’s impatient knocking on the window. She’s holding up a couple of coffees and a paper bag from Noonans, an exasperated look on her face. Alex hurries to the door and unlocks it.

“Thanks Kara.”

“Thank Maggie. There was a mile long queue, she got everything for me.”

“Damn hipsters,” Lucy grumbles. “Is Maggie on her way?”

Kara nods, thrusting the coffees and the bag into Alex’s hands. “Have a good date night you three.”

Kara rushes off, J’onn probably in her ear telling her there’s a cat up a tree, or Winn telling her he’s got pizza. Lucy leans back against the table, eyeing Alex with her eyebrow raised.

“Date night, huh?”

Alex blushes. “It’s been a rough few weeks. I wanted to make you guys feel special.”

Lucy sighs, pulling Alex into a hug. “Oh baby.”

Alex’s shoulders relax, she lets herself sink into Lucy’s arms, breathing in the faint smell of Maggie’s shampoo in her hair. “Did you run out of shampoo?”

“I was going to stop by the shops after work.”

“Her stuff smells good on you.”

Someone clears their throat behind them. “Smells better on me.”

Alex chuckles, opening her eyes to see Maggie leaning against the doorframe holding her helmet in one hand and a rose in the other. She makes her way into Alex’s lab, leaves her helmet on the table and leans into her girlfriend’s arms.

“Your sister gave me a rose.”

“I want a rose.” Lucy grumps.

“There’s one for you in your locker. Along with a bottle of wine and tickets to the midnight showing of Wonder Woman.”

Lucy and Maggie gasp, and Alex squeals as she finds herself almost bowled over, her girlfriends peppering her with kisses.

“I love you, Alex Danvers,” they say in unison, and Alex laughs.

“I love you both too.”

The three of them bowl out of the lab, Lucy with the rose clenched between her teeth. J’onn and Vasquez are standing by the broken coffee machine staring each other down. Alex pauses long enough to give Vasquez their coffee and muffin, and wave goodbye to J’onn before being whisked away to the locker rooms.

J’onn nods at the coffee in Vasquez’ hands.

“Is that enough?”

Vasquez frowns. “For now.”

J’onn sighs. “Shame.”

“I’ll leave it in your capable hands, sir.” Vasquez winks and heads off back the computers.

J’onn glances around him, making sure the corridor is empty before picking a wrench out of the toolbox. “Now, to make this look like an accident…”

[londonspirit]

One Last Time...

... for this year, that is! (Hopefully they sort their Brexit shit out soon, otherwise I have no clue when I can be back!) 

Anyhow, this trip was wonderful, mad and all around fantastic! (the usual then! *grins*) 

Flew over with my friend S., and naturally we had a one hour delay to start our vacation (we do have a bad travel karma, me thinks, not the first time). And sadly that was the reason I (again) didn’t managed to meet up with my L, cause she only had about an hour between engagements, and that was exactly the hour our flight was late. (Here’s hope we’ll manage another meet-up soon’ish before she goes back to the States, it’s been too long and I really miss her!) 

Upon arrival it was raining! Boo! But after dropping off our luggage and finding us dinner, we didn’t want to go to bed (afternoon flight there, evening arrival) so we decided to have a quick wander around. It had stopped raining which was perfect for a nightly walk.  Wow, even wet London is beautiful, and even more so at night. Streets were mostly empty (not empty enough to be scary tho) and we took much longer than expected.  Stumbled across filming by the side of the river - there were a few people in safety vests and we were already wondering when one approached us. He told us they were filming in a side alley, and not to worry, we could just walk past but shouldn’t stop. Of course we walked very slowly but we didn’t see much or anyone we knew. It was pretty dark, and all we say was a huge projection into the air. *shrugs* Still curious as to what was filmed there (we went there on the last day but no signs at all).  We were in bed way past midnight... (my usual London bed time!) 

Monday was HAMILTON DAY! But in the evening - we had the whole morning and early afternoon to explore some more!  So we went to Greenwich - by BOAT!! That was soo cool. I’ve taken one of the boats two years ago with Sis but only for a few stops, this time we went all the way. And even thought it’s not cheap (Oyster card does make it a bit cheaper tho), it’s totally worth it - the view from the water is amazing! And since the weather was still not very tourist friendly, we had the entire back to ourselves.  I can def recommend it - you see so much from that side. Plus, it’s quick, we were in Greenwich within 15 minutes!  Found coffee and walked up that hill to the observatory! The view was foggy but still amazing. And since the coffee didn’t want to go back to the city with us, we wandered inside to find a loo.  Did you know that you can go inside and check out a few of the rooms without having to pay? Cause I did NOT! And boy, is it cool inside. Loads to see, and touch, and just perfect for a grey and misty day. We spent 3 hours or so in there, bought souvenirs, checked out the old telescope inside, climbed small stairs, looked at all the time measure methods humanity had invented over the centuries, and had a great time!  After that we returned to the hostel to get ready for the evening. 

The smile on my face when I saw the Victoria Palace Theatre again was HUGE! I fucking LOVE this place soo much!!! Especially when it’s all lit in the dark!  Getting inside was just as smooth as ever! (And this time we even saw the dog, didn’t meet it tho as we arrived and were inside like 2 minutes later, despite a pretty long queue!)  Inside we walked around, looked at the Pretty all around and then we went to our seats. 

DUDE!!! I had booked a box back in January, but I had no idea that we would’ve had one all to ourselves. It’s just for TWO seats (not four as I expected), and it’s the coolest thing ever!  We got us drinks to pass the time (you can only take so many pics of that beautiful stage!), and once again the staff showed why they deserved all the praise! I got us two bottles of cider but since bottles aren’t allowed inside, two of the ushers made sure to fill it all into plastic cups! And when it all didn’t fit into two cups, they held the doors for me to bring it to the box and when I returned for the rest, they were already waiting for me! Those people are the real heroes! And everything with a smile and the loveliest attitude!!! 

And when it finally was time, I might have made noises. Being this close (with nobody in front of you, or behind you for that matter), being able to lean forward and chairdance, is the best thing ever!!! 

I was a bit sad that we didn’t get Obi or Jason, but Gabriel and Waylon did so well, it didn’t last long.  And boy, Mondays are an amazing day to go and see it! Every single soul on that stage was on FIRE!!! (Not sure whether that’s because they have the Sunday to recharge, or because some will have their last performances in the next weeks, but it was WORTH going  on a Monday!) 

I had booked that because I wanted to see Ash, as people kept raving about him (and I had seen Jam twice now). He did NOT disappoint.  His performance differs so much from Jam’s; not in a bad way, no. But he’s so into it, so ... THERE?! More intense?! Can’t really describe it. He’s fantastic. And being this close, seeing all those expressions, the cheek, the sass, the sadness, made this time so much better than the last two times.  Ash is incredible and sooo worth seeing! (although I missed the height difference between Jam and Rachelle, Ash is her height.) 

I was very happy that we got Giles, cause I’ve fallen fast and hard for his Burr!!! He’s put such a different twist on him, and once you got used to him, he IS Burr. What I love is that you can see all those little physical actions, he’s doing a lot with his body, and also with his face. Small things you miss when you’re further away. A raised eyebrow, a bitten lip, a suppressed grin. GOD, I will miss him soo much!!! There are times when I wanted to hug him and then there were times when I wanted to slap him. He’s such a great actor, and I will fight anyone who says differently!!!!! 

As for the rest of the cast, they were brilliant as usual; even though I really had the feeling everyone was giving even more than the 500% they already do!! SO DAMN AMAZING!!!  There was a big cheer for “Alexander Hamilton” in the beginning (as it should be), but weirdly NOTHING at the “Immigrants” line!!! O_O That shocked me a bit! I’ve been three times now, and I’ve had a different reactions every damn time! So weird!  Yorktown got an in between applause which I never seen/heard! Was very nice.  The King got all the laughs, naturally.  What else?  Oh, so Tarinn and Cleve are basically themselves in costumes on stage: they kept goofing around and grinning like idiots at themselves, which was adorable.  And I now know why people are shipping Laurens and Ham - the gazing loving at each other was INSANE!! *lol*  Rachel is madly talented but that you already know. That woman’s voice, her acting - GEEZ!! HOW?? So soo good!!!  Christine... god, that voice! Melted chocolate, poured over warm coals, making one feel all warm and fuzzy (and very sinful)  inside. GUH!!  Also: the ensemble blew me away, the perfection they put on that stage (night after night) is MAD!! I found myself watching them more and more, wondering how the human body is capable of the things they do and make it look easy as breathing!! WOW!!! 

It was over way too soon, and I even cried in the end. I have no idea where that came from but Rachelle really made me tear up during the last song. Never had that before. (And she’s the only one I’m still not fully convinced with; she’s good but this is NOT the perfect role for her)  So yeah, I did my final applause in tears!!! 

We stuck around towards the very end, and for the very first time, they let down the safety curtain!!! O_O (They did in the interval as well for a moment). 

And then it was stage door time. It’s all well organized and sorted, and we queued up and waited. It wasn’t cold so that wasn’t too bad. Didn’t take long for the first to come out. I didn’t want anything signed, only asked for pics which seemed fine with them all. Although they were all well prepared with sharpies! Kelly is TINY, and so very sweet, and sadly the only one of the girls who came out :-(  Waylon was a bit shy, but also very nice. Gabriel was dressed for artic temps which made me giggle.  Tarinn and Cleve are... well, Tarinn and Cleve! They’re always goofing around, being super sweet to everyone and really taking their time. Cleve enjoyed being the birthday boy, and wishing him a great one, got me a tight hug! Tarinn smells really good, by the way! *hehe*  At some point the security made an announcement. I think he said they were all gone, or nobody wouldn’t come out anymore; we could stay but at our own risk, or something like that. We were at the end of the queue and didn’t catch everything.  Since we didn’t have anywhere to go, we stayed. Which was the right thing to do!  First Giles came out, and that’s when I got a bit nervous! He’s so good, and I never managed to get a pic with him. He took his time, chatted to everyone and was all around the sweetest. Once he came to us, I told him how incredible he was and how much I loved the Muse Of Fire documentary he did ages ago. I think he blushed a bit ;-p When I asked for a pic, he pulled me real close and thanked ME afterwards!! O_O  Hach, he’s amazing!!  And then Ash came out as well (lots had left already so we were only a few people). And the silly man did NOT have a pen!  The ladies behind us asked if we had one. When I pulled out my assortment of sharpies (three: black, silver and bronze!) I ALWAYS have on me, they laughed so hard.  Hey, you can never be prepared enough - as that night taught us!!! Once again, we only asked for pics, and praised him, told him how fab he was, and that we booked a Monday just for him,, which made him laugh. “Heard of me, did ya?” he said, cheeky bugger. But yeah, we did. So we got another really tight pic - that cast is so touchy feely, I swear! I love them all to pieces!!! SO SWEET!  He chatted a bit before moving along.  We waited a bit longer but that was it so we reluctantly left towards ‘home’. (Once again, it was LATE!) 

The next morning we got up early to have one last walk around, and London was gracious and got out the sun and basically summer weather!  We didn’t want to leave but sadly we had to.  So long, my beautiful! See you next year - in February, for sure. After that... well, that depends on how you get your shit sorted!  Once more, a fantastic time was had, with the best company I could’ve wished for! Thank you, S, I know why I love traveling with you - here’s to our next time!!! 

[aceduchessdragoness]

I was tagged by @soft-arthropod  Sorry it took so long, Eli, I was waiting for my queue and posts to slow down. :P

1. This meme may be personal. You ready for it? uuUUH

2. If you married the last person you texted, what would your last name be? Thaaat’s incest. :I 3. Were you happy when you woke up today? I literally groaned out “Noooo” cause I had to walk through a foot of snow... 4. When were you on the phone last? And with who? With my mom. 5. What are you excited for? The upcoming update for The Arcana, and the last Digimon Tri (and death) 6. What were you doing yesterday? Relaxing so hard. --o--

7. Honestly, who was the last person to tell you they love you? lol my mom, again. :) 8. What's the last thing you put in your mouth? Straw :P 9. Have a best friend? Meh, I don’t really believe in the concept of a “best friend”. 10. Are you scared to fall in love? A little. Dx 11. Do you think teenagers can be in love? It’s possible, though I’m not how likely. 12. Last person you wanted to punch in the face? Everyone. :)) 13. What time is it right this second? 1:34 pm 15. Who was the last person you took a picture with? HAHAHAHAHAHA XD 16. Are you single/taken/heartbroken/or confused? Single and possibly ready to mingle. 17. When was the last time you cried? Last night. Just a bit. 18. Do you have a good relationship with your parents? Yuppers. Though less so with my dad. :/ 19. Do you find it hard to trust others? I’m not sure...I think I trust rather easily? 20. How fast does your mind change? LIKE A GIRL CHANGES CLOTHES~ 22. Can you honestly say you're okay right now? HAHA NOooOOPE. :) Right now I just exist. 23. Why do you think so many people cheat? Sin; people are just sinful by nature. Perhaps worried about being committed to one person. 24. Tell me what's on your mind? So much OC and story stuff. And also what I’m gonna do with my life. And also worried how long my grandpa has to live. 25. What are you looking forward to in the next three months? Look at #5 26. Have you ever worn the opposite gender's clothing? Totally! Their t-shirts are much more comfortable. Just recently got a really cool one! 27. When did you last talk to your number 1 top friend? Damn. I don’t know. I’LL HIT YOU UP SOON!!! D:

28. When is your next road trip? Never.  29. Do you have someone of the opposite gender you can tell anything to? ? ? ? ? ? 30. How's your heart? Lonely. 31. Have you ever felt like you weren't important?  Often ™ 32. Do you think somebody's in love with you?

I hope so. v-v

33. What are you planning on doing after this? Get somethin’ to eat...or take a nappy. lel 34. Next time you will kiss someone? I’ve never kissed anyone. 35. Have you told anybody you loved them today? Yesh. :3 36. Who do you not get along with? Just terrible people in general. Luckily I’ve never met one. 37. What does your 3rd recent text say? I’ve deleted my texts, so idk. :I                   38. What are you wearing right now? cargo tank top, and black shorts. 39. You’re locked in a room with the person you last kissed, how is it? THIS BITCH EMPTY! 40. When’s the last time you had a grilled cheese? Couple days ago. 41. What’s your favourite boy and girl name right now? Currently... Marelda, and Mason and Brandon.  42. How did you feel when you woke up? Still tired. XD 43. Do you wish someone would call or text you right now? Depends who it is. 44. Do you crack your knuckles? ALWAYS. 45. What were you doing yesterday at midnight? On this hellsite. ;) 46. What are your initials? AMG 47. Who’s the first B in your contacts? I have no B’s. 48. When was the last time you laughed really hard? Last night. 49. Your number 1 top friend walks out of your life, do you go after them? Depends on why they left. Attracting forces come and go. 50. Explain your last awkward moment? man I don’t remember. @-@ 51. Are you afraid of the dark? Nope. Apparently when I was a lil’ girlie, I liked sleeping with my door closed too. x3 52. Do you have good vision? 20/20 53. Have you ever tripped someone? I don’t think so? 54. Have you ever slapped someone? Kinda?? Weak slap. 55. Are you Irish? lol no. 56. Do you use chap stick? YES! 57. Do you have any scars? Some. 58. Is there someone you will never forgive? Hitler. 59. Are you dating the person you last held hands with? Nope. 60. Name the last person to text you. My sister. 61. Would you marry someone 8 years older than you? eeEEEH, it REALLY depends. Probably not. 62. Can you go in public looking like you do? NOT IN THIS COLD! 63. Have you ever kissed someone whose name started with a J? NOPE. 64. What side of the bed do you sleep on? I alternate the sides, cause the mattress starts to slump to one side. XD I prefer the one closest to the wall. 65. What's the first thing you'll do on your wedding day? Throw up because of my anxiety?? 66. Do you fall for people easily? HAHAHA YEES! XD I become infatuated easily. 67. Has anyone put their arms around you in the past 5 days? Yea, for hugs. 68. Do you miss the way things used to be? Yea... 69. Song you’re thinking of right now? Mostly the One Piece theme songs. XD 70. Want someone back in your life? My grandma. v-v 71. Will tomorrow be better than today? Hope so. 72. What's your favorite color? PURPLE! 73. Who was the first friend that you had? The earliest person I remember having as a friend was a girl named Caroline, that I met in kindergarten. 74. Does it bother you when someone lies to you? YES, I despise lying!  75. Is there anyone who understands your relationship status? ? ? ? ? ? 76. Are you a naturally happy person? Or is your happiness forced? eeh, idk. I’m kinda just existing?? :/// 78. Is this meme done? MEMES ARE FOREVER

[themidnighticetrainer]

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