#he could not remember calling the fridge guy... yet remembered how much sydney liked his chef jacket... okay yea sure...

[batcels]

carmy gifting sydney the custom made thom browne chef jacket

[owaowabetch]

Minecraft Part 2 (Sykkuno x F!Reader)

Oneshot (maybe part of a series??? at this point probs): Chaos in the server, Will a deal entice you to become part of the comfy cartel? Or will you resist the temptation of the deal and side with the resistance? Friendship and a lil romance (oohhh things are starting to heat up)

Warning:Non beta (cuz we baddies purr); part of Uh-oh & Impasta

You had been streaming Minecraft for about 4 hours when you decided to end it for a small meal break. Though ending stream didn’t stop you from continuing playing with your friends. Unfortunately, Sykkuno had not been on while you were streaming, since you did so quite earlier than usual, but you wanted to remodel your minecraft home; turning the once pink wooden home to a white quartz block using the obscene amount of quartz that Jae gifted you as to entice you to join his faction in the sever. It was a nice bribe gift, but you have yet to align yourself with the ressistance or the comfy cartel. 

So, while gettin gifted quartz blocks was nice, hearing that Toast gave Lily a gun enticed you more.But you doubt Toast’s whole character arc will entrust you with one. You maybe be living with his ‘right-hand’ man, but he seems to be slowly on a downward spiral. Kind of like a crazy wacky scientist- he’s doofenshmirtz. 

Anyways you had completed the finishing touches on your remodeled, when you saw in the little chat that Sykkuno was on. “ OH!OH!OH! SYKKUNO!”

You were excited to show him the newly made house. The house was three levels to your house, but you’re mostly wanna show him the basement area.

You saw the iconic teal shirt paired with the green stripped scarf boxy figure making their way towards you. You emoted the cheering pose and happily called out to him “Hi Sykkuno!” 

“Hey, Y/n!” He cheered back coming closer “I have something for you!” 

You start jumping up and down “Present!” You like getting free things, especially if it comes from someone you like....as a friend of course. Yup yup, just as a friend. As, he stood in front of you he laughed “What are you doing?” watching your character wave their arms around

You laughed back at him “Just happy to see you!”

“Well, I’m always happy to see you!” Sykkuno chirps out and adds on with a slight stutter “C-cause we’re friends! I’m always happy to see such a great friend!”

Feeling the high of him telling you how he was always happy to see you was crushed by him reminding you that friends is all that you both may only ever be. So with the disappointment lingering and the excitement wearing off, you just mutter a reply back. “Yes! The bestest of friends!”

“Yup, yup. Anyways have some water mills” He throws some black blocks with blue markings on them “Follow me!” You both ran near your home “Claim this bit of land” and you did so. “Now, dig like a 3 by 6 hole and place two water mills close to each corner and one in the middle bottom”(1). You followed his instructions “Ok, so im just gunna place the water” You watched him do so “Ok! I think it’s all good and ready to go!”

You crouch and inch around the hole “What is it?”

“Ok well you know how I got you that green lasso that has you swinging and jumping all over the place with the slime boots?” Sykkuno asks crounching up right beside you 

“Yea yea!” You crouch and uncrouch in circles around him

“Well I have something even better!” He cheers “Eh” he grunts and throws a ring on the floor. You awe and oh as you put the ring in your hot bar “How cute! It has little wings on it!” 

“Yea! It’s a special ring” Sykkuno tells you 

“Special ring?...Are you proposing to me! OMG Sykkuno” You joke 

“Wah?” Spluttering out in confusion but deciding to play along “I mean are you accepting?”

You laugh “Woah, Sy! How bold of you sir”

He giggles back to you before teaching you how and where to put the ring. “OK do you have it on?”

You jump up and down in response allowing the slime boots to spring you up higher. “Yup Yup”

“Ok so, why don’t you take off your slime boots and then press the space bar” He jumps up and down, which you do. You gasp as you are lifted into the air “Sy! Look! Im flying!!” He is in the air next to you “I can see! Cause I am also flying!”

“How are we doing this! This is so fucking cool!” You laugh as you start moving around in the air “WAIT! Are you streaming? I’m so sorry!”

He laughs as he starts following you around in the air “It’s fine, but the ring I gave you is an angel ring. As long as your wearing it, then you can just fly around”

“Wow! Thanks Sykkuno!” You cheer and you walk around in the air “Clean! Clean!” 

“Yea, Of Course! It’ll be alot easier for you to get to places faster” He explains once more “Now, my chat has been going crazy and telling me that you redid our house?”

Excitement lit through you as you were ready to show him the remodeling works that you’ve done “Yes! I did! I’m so excited to show you” You move your camera out of first person and notice your character wearing a pair of white wings on your back “Oh my god! Sykkuno! I didn’t know that there was actual wings that appear on your lil person!”

“uh yea! I didn’t know if you wanted to have or not, cause mine are invisible” Sykkuno says flying next to you as you make the short distance back to your home “but i remembered you saying that you wanted to buy fairy wings. I could’ve made them pink to look like them, but i thought the white ones would suit you better”

“Cause i’m such an angel?” You tease as you reached your front door

“Well uh you are um a nice person” Hearing the shyness in his tone made you think that he was being sincere and it made you blush “Thank you Sykkuno, you’re one of the best people i know!”

He clears his throat “uh well um, look we made it!” trying to divert the conversation away from the compliments. You made a mental note to yourself to compliment him more, so that his confidence rises up and he no longer shies away from them.

“Yup!” You open the door “come on in!” He oh’ed as he came in, seeing the kitchen area first “As you can see Sy and chat, I have created a kitchen with actual fucking oven and fridge! How crazy is that! These mods are cool!”

“So, yeah! Kitchen area, though I doubt we’ll use it” You comment

“Wow! a fridge! Neat!” He opened the fridge and looked at the decor of other kitchen appliances 

You laugh at his wording “ Yup! and this is our living room slash library” leading him further into the house and showing him the sitting area with a bunch of bookcases surrounding the fake chairs “and right next to this is the ‘dining room’ where more seats were placed with a table and a cute flower in a pot atop the table. “So, yea this is the first floor!” 

“This is cool! Oh! it’s [y/f/flower] on the table” He notes and you nod feeling your cheeks flush a bit before admitting “of course! It’s actually the flower you gave me on our first day...”

“thats, thats really cool that you kept it” Sykkuno replies and there is a bit of silence between the two of you. Not awkward but almost in a content kind of way. Peaceful if you will. 

“Ok! Now lets head upstairs! It’s where we sleep!” You say walking up the stairs showing him the green beds placed next to each other “I didn’t know if you wanted to sleep next to each other again, but i did it anyways lol” 

He walked around the room and admired the little decor spread around the walls and opened chests in the room. He laughed awkwardly “it’s fine, it’s just a respawn point so its no biggie!”

“Yea to sleepovers!” You cheer 

Clearing his throat he noted how much he liked the room, causing you to smile and thank him “But i know what you’ve been wanting to see the most!”

“What do you mean?” He questioned and looked at you 

“The basement! Dun Dun DUN!” You jump at him scooting him down the stairs

He laughed in disbelief “What was that? Did you just hit me?”

“Nope” Emphasizing the p “ I just jumped at you which caused you to go down the stairs! I could never hurt you Sy!”

“Well I could never hurt you too” He mutters back and you pouted at how cute his response was

“Oh! You could just make your way down there! I forgot that Jae wanted me to give him some quartz back!” You gasp remembering what Jae had told you

“What do you mean?” His character looks back at you

And you look back at his and think “hmmm I don’t know if I should snitch or not, but Jae gave me an obsence amount of quartz blocks to build the house! I knew it was a little hard for you to get some, so he offered to give me some”

He hummed back “I see....” 

You noted how the atmosphere tensed for a split moment until Sykkuno happily noted that it was nice of him to give you something he couldn’t, but it sounded a bit off to you. Though you didn’t pay much attention to that since you didn’t want to reveal the resistance, as you have yet to align yourself with any of the two factions, well soon to be three since you believe that Sydney is doing some witchy stuff.

“Well, why don’t you go do that while I check the basement and give something to toast really quick!” He tells you 

“Ok!” You reply back to him rifling through your chests to find the remaining the blocks to give to Jae “I’ll see you in a bit, maybe toast too!”

With that you made your way back to Jae to hand him the quartz back, though it was quite an ordeal since he made a whole rant on how evil the comfy cartel were and how you should join them and become a spy cause apparently Toast is planning on doing something that could affect the entire server....

So you just ignored all of that and made your way back home, to have Toast and Sykkuno greet you at the front door.

“Hey guys! Im back” You cheer at them

“What did Jae want huh?!?!” Toast immediately questions you “Did you tell him any of our business huh? Should we be trusting you huh? huh? HUH!?!”

“Whoa Toast” You back up as he was getting all up in your face

“Wow Toast, are you okay?” Sykkuno places himself between you two 

“Im doing just fine” Toast answers back and you notice his full gear armor “Just wanted to know if we have a rat here”

You tsk “wow Toast, I see how it is. I see. By the way you look like a Power Rangers villan, just sayin”

He takes out his gun and points it at you “Well you won’t be sayin much Motherfucka!”

“I won’t say anything at all if you give me a gun to join the comfy cartel” You hit Sykkuno away and hear him utter an ow “Cause I don’t have an allegiance with anyone at the moment. So I’m a free agent and I can talk to whoever whenever” Throwing his words back at him and implying that you can speak to anyone without repercussions.

“AH right you are not part of the comfy cartel yet” He nods to himself “Well I wont give you a gun to join the group cause frankly I know that you’ll just shoot me”

You sigh “Then i’-”

“Instead!” He interrupts you “I’ll give you something better!” 

You pout “but i wanna cap a bitch”

“Instead of cappin’ you’ll be rackin’ cause you’re gunna have to collect taxes from people and in exchange you get the left hand of my right hand” He moves closer to you, that statement throw you through a loop ‘left hand?right hand?’. You were confusion. “Capiche?”

“What do you mean?” You question and he evil laughs and hits sykkuno.

“Wha? What was that Toast” Sykkuno also confused as to why Toast hit him and what Toast meant.

“I’m saying that you can have Sykkuno!” He evil laughs once more 

Sykkuno splutters “Wha? What do you mean Toast?!?!”

You were shocked at what he said. Giving you Sykkuno? “What do you mean?”

“You can marry Sykkuno” He repeats himself once more “You are both important to each other, why else live together? This way I’m keeping you both in check” and once again with the evil laughter

‘I’m glad im not streaming otherwise some of the more entitled fangirls would 100% send hate comments to me’ you think to yourself

You hum “Will I still get a gun?”

“Only if you can become my number one marksmen and execute the people I tell you too” He offers you

“Deal” You nod to yourself 

“Wha? [Y/N]?” Sykkuno sputters out “You’re ok with this?” and nodding to yourself you reply with a yes and asks him if he is also “Well I- uh I” he continues to laugh awkwardly “I mean uh sure?”

“Neat!” You reply throwing a diamond at him “Here’s your dowry lol”

Though before another conversation could happen Toast butts in once more “This was a test and you both passed” and throws a gun at you “Here take this one, prove yourself and I’ll get you a better one”

You put the gun in your hot bar and place it in your hand. “Clean!” You start point it in different directions “Thanks! Toast!”

“Don’t betray me or else you gets the hose!” He starts walking backwards then comes back up to you “Oh, also your target is Leslie, be sure to collect her taxes before killing her.” Walking backwards once more before coming back “Oh Sykkuno hand me the diamond [y/n] gave you.” He does so “Ok that’ll be your last tax payment until I have you look for materials for a special project” He evil laughs as he flies away

“OK! Great talk!” You call out and emote the happy one, with your arms lifted up and shaking about “Awesome! I get a gun muahahahaha!”

You hear Sykkuno clear his throat “so uh, you were ok with marrying me?”

“Yea! so were you!” You say as you move you camera around trying to find a good angle to see it properly

“Because you were!” He replies back and that took you aback a bit as you didn’t realize how uncomfortable it may have been for him.

“Well you didn’t have too if you didn’t want to” You felt a bit embarrassed at the fact that he did it because you wanted to but not he himself personally

“Wha, well I didn’t think you were being serious” Once again laughing awkwardly “Cause you know girls aren’t in- OW”

You shot him with the gun in annoyance.

‘Bitches are into you Sykkuno’ You screamed in your head ‘I‘M BITCHES!’

 Author’s Note:

Side Note 1 - I dont know if this is correct lol

No cap but i had written half of this like 3 days after writing Part 1 but I got lazy lmao sorry! Also this is gunna be a slowburn story cuz lets be real our smol bean and all of our asses are awkward as hell and kind insecure in the romantic aspect, so realistically it would not be fast paced.

So here it is Minecraft pt.2/4

Tags: @sushiims

[floralguccistyles]

Remember when I said this fic was coming soon in March of 2020? Well...I promise I haven’t abandoned it. I want to finish Wildflower before I start on this, but I thought I might post a sneak peek because why not? Hope you guys enjoy!

mise en place, sneak peek

Michel’s soupe a l’oignon was burning.

Michel had also been through a terrible breakup the night before in which he had found his boyfriend of almost seven years in bed with their personal trainer. Then Michel’s boyfriend had announced that he and this personal trainer were actually married, per a terrible ceremony in Las Vegas when they were both drunk. Therefore, Michel was technically the other man. Michel had never been the other man before. He was obviously having a rough time.

But the fucking soup was burning.

“Michel! The soup!” Italia shouted before the scent could officially assault all of my senses. The second the words left her mouth, however, I could smell it. The onions were burning to a crisp. There would be no saving them, of this I knew. 

“Shit!” Michel yelled, immediately turning off the heat of the stove. He went to go grab the saucepan and the hurried “no!” didn’t leave my mouth fast enough as he gripped the cast iron handle with his bare hand for approximately three seconds before he yelped and dropped it back down on the stove top with a slamming sound. “Shit, shit shit!” he repeated, clutching his wrist with his other hand. 

“Let me see,” I demanded, moving away from my own meal (which would be fine and not on the verge of burning for at least another five minutes) and towards Michel. He held out his hand to me with tears in his eyes and I honestly felt bad for the guy. 

I just also felt really, really bad for the customer who was waiting for their soup.

“Go run it under cool water. Cool, Michel, not cold. Ice-cold will damage the tissue even more. Then get a rag wet and hold it over. You can just go ahead and take your fifteen.”

“My soup—”

“Italia and I will handle it,” I interrupted. The more time we wasted standing here arguing was time that could have been spent trying to salvage the soup. It didn’t help that we were already down a chef, since Frederick’s wife was giving birth, but we would make do. Italia and I always did.

“Thanks, Dom. I’ll be in the lounge.”

Lounge was a loose term. It was a tiny little room in the back that looked dingy and unkempt. Still, it was enough to pass health inspections. Only about two people could fit back there at a time, which was why I usually just sat in my car for my breaks.

“Sounds good, Michel.” My eyes locked with Italia, who was already working on melting the butter and oil for Michel’s soup in a new saucepan. Isobel, one of our dishwashers, had already grabbed the pan Michel had ruined and was scrubbing it clean with her thick rubber gloves on her hands. At least I knew she wasn’t going to be burned. 

When Michel turned to go into the lounge, I grabbed an onion and automatically began chopping it. “Sorry, Italia,” I muttered under my breath, knowing she could hear me just fine. We had gotten used to the hustle and bustle of the kitchen.

“It’s fine. Tell Louis to offer them a dessert on the house because this soup is going to take at least another fifteen.”

I wanted to slam my head against the counter. Or better yet, use the pan Isobel was now putting on the drying rack to hit over my head. “Fuck. Alright.” 

Finding Louis was easy enough. He was making his rounds in the front of the restaurant, his pleasant attitude most likely earning him more than average tips. The kind of people who came to Lesauvage were wealthy enough to tip generously. Sometimes they didn’t, but for the most part, Louis wouldn’t be starving anytime soon. “Louis!” I hissed under my breath when he passed by the kitchen doors, cups in hands to refill. He jumped comically.

“Christ, Dom, you scared me,” he replied in a quiet voice, not wanting any of the customers to hear. “What?”

“Tell table eleven there was a complication with their soup and dessert is on the house.”

“What the fuck happened to their soup?”

I raised a brow. “Michel made it.”

Michel’s boyfriend drama had already made it around the restaurant. Twice. Chefs were a nosy bunch. Louis nodded in understanding and filled up a cup with iced tea as he looked towards where I assumed table eleven was. I actually hadn’t ever really paid attention to the front setup of Lesauvage because I had always entered through the back door.

“Fine. But I’m recommending the chocolate mousse because you’re here and you make it the best.”

“Compliments will get you everywhere,” I replied with a wink.

He grinned. “Got me into your bed, didn’t it?”

Louis and I had a fling when I had started working at Lesauvage. I was fresh out of culinary school, bright eyed and bushy tailed, and he was the experienced waiter who comforted me in the lounge my first day when my boss had completely ripped me a new one. He was the unattainable, three-years-older coworker who I was moon-eyed over for at least five months before we actually slept together. And once we had, it was like some switch had been flipped inside my body and he was suddenly nothing but a friend.

Thank the fucking lord he felt the same way.

“You’re damn right it did. Now go make me proud, Tomlinson.”

When I hastily returned to the kitchen, Italia was already ten times ahead where Michel had been with the soup. I sent her a thankful look and grabbed the beef stock, passing it her way as I grabbed a knife and began chopping the green onions for my own dish. 

As much as I complained about the hustle and bustle of the kitchen, I secretly thrived in it. It was what I had missed when I had been in culinary school. So many of my classmates cooked their meals silently. When I cooked at home, I blasted music and sang loudly and off-key to myself. At work, I had the conversation of other people. I liked learning about Italia’s kids and Isobel’s ex-boyfriend who kept trying to call her. I even liked Michel, even though right now he wasn’t my favorite person in the world. 

School had been lonely. At least here I felt like I belonged.

“They’re good for the chocolate mousse!” Louis shouted over the sound of Isobel doing the dishes and Italia chopping more vegetables. 

“You’re a saint, Tomlinson!” I replied, dropping the spices needed onto Italia’s cutting board. She slid them into the soup with her knife and the skill of a seasoned Lesauvage veteran. 

The chocolate mousse was luckily already in the fridge cooling from my prep this morning, so I didn’t have to worry about making it at that exact moment. I did finish the salad I was working on and passed it off to Sydney, who was another runner. She grabbed the plate and sped off to table seven. 

The time went by quickly when I was in the kitchen. My thoughts could roam  because the movements of cooking were muscle memory at this point. When I had first been hired, I had been terrified to mess anything up. The first time I had pulled a Michel, I had cried. My boss had yelled at me pretty badly, but had brought me into his office afterwards to apologize and assure me that I was doing a great job. Now, it felt like second nature to pour the green onions into the butter garlic sauce that was sautéing. And when Italia handed me the soup that she had completed, I sent her a grateful look and wasted no time in handing it off to Louis. We worked as a team here.

I thrived on that.

“Get those chocolate mousses out and ready,” I told Michel when he came back from his break. His hand didn’t look too worse for wear, but he looked decently embarrassed. I knew, at least for tonight, there would be no more mistakes. 

“I’m really sorry, Dom,” he said softly, preparing for my anger.

“It’s fine, Michel. Just work on desserts for now, okay? But this is the comp dessert for table eleven, so try to pay attention, yeah?”

He hung his head, but nodded and went to go prep the mousse. It wasn’t that Michel wasn’t talented. He wouldn’t have been hired if he hadn’t been a great chef. But the boyfriend thing was really getting to him. I hoped he had at least the next two days off to recoup.

“Dom,” I heard Louis say about thirty minutes later as he walked through the kitchen door. He had the empty plates from table eleven in his hand and handed them off to Isobel. “They’re ready for the dessert.” He eyed me questionably when Michel handed them off to me, as if it was wrong that I had let Michel touch them after his little mishap but I had faith in the chefs. “These better be good,” Louis said in a warning tone.

“I made them, Tomlinson, of course they’re good,” I snapped, clicking my tongue in annoyance. It was a bad habit I had done when I was a kid and never seemed to shake it. 

He shrugged, taking the completed desserts and walking back out to the restaurant. “They looked great, Michel!” I encouraged, turning to continue chopping the beef I had been working on before Louis had come in. 

When I cooked, time passed by without my notice. What felt like two minutes later but was really thirty, Louis walked back into the kitchen with a solemn look on his face. “They want to see the chef.”

“Who?”

“Table eleven.”

Shit. “You said they were fine with the soup, yeah?” Louis nodded, which meant the problem was with the chocolate mousse. And since Michel had done nothing but added the whipped cream and chocolate shavings on top, if they had a real problem with the mousse, it was on me. “Fuck. Alright. Italia, can you finish this dish for me really quick?”

Italia nodded, looking up from the celery she was chopping to examine the chicken I was seasoning to see how much she would need to do to complete it. Nervously wiping my hands on my apron after I washed them quickly, I tried to make myself look a little more presentable. It was rare that chefs were invited to the front of the restaurant, so we were usually unkempt and had food on our clothes. It didn’t matter to me what I looked like as long as the food was good, but I knew it was a shock to the high-end patrons of the restaurant.

Louis led me over to table eleven, where three people were sitting. There were two men and one gorgeous woman that looked like she could model for a living. She was happily chatting and holding hands with one of the men, excitedly waving around her free hand. He looked engrossed in her story, nodding and smiling and staring at her like she was the best thing in the world. Their companion was simply taking sips of his wine (a wonderful red that went really well with the chocolate mousse and I thanked Louis for obviously recommending it to them) and pursing his lips in response to whatever the woman was saying.

She stopped talking when she noticed Louis and sent a blinding smile at us. “This is the chef, I presume?”

“Dominique Blanchard,” I said, holding out my hand for her to shake. I was thankful I had run my hands under some soap and water. We weren’t allowed to have our nails painted in case some of the varnish fell off into the food, but her fingers were perfectly manicured and painted a vibrant blue. “I’m sorry again about the soup. We had an incident in the kitchen.”

She waved it off. “The soup was fine. That chocolate mousse, however? It was to die for!”

I felt my shoulders deflate. I had been so worried that they were upset with their experience or food that I hadn’t even thought they had wanted to chat because they enjoyed their meal. “Thank you. It’s a Lesauvage specialty.”

“Dominique makes it the best,” Louis supplied helpfully from behind me. I grinned nervously.

“We all loved it,” the man holding her hand spoke, and I was surprised to hear an Irish accent. “It was the best thing I’ve ever tasted.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it.” And I was glad it took the attention off the fact that their soup was late. The other man stayed quiet, simply ignoring the conversation as he sipped at his wine again. 

“I have the weirdest proposition for you. Please feel free to say no if you don’t want to, but I would kick myself if I didn’t ask.”

My eyes strayed back to the woman, who was talking to me politely. 

“I’m two months pregnant,” she said happily, her hand going to her stomach like most pregnant women did when their pregnancy was announced, “and I’m so incredibly exhausted nowadays. I can barely muster up enough energy to come out to dinner, let alone make myself toast in the morning. I was wondering if you’d ever consider being a personal chef?”

[valeriethepussycats]

Assemble

Chapter 3

Pairing- Loki x Reader x Steve (one side)

Warning- cursing 

Your thoughts and other characters are in italics.

Flashback Bold

The next day.  Y/n  is standing outside a gym trying to keep her powers under control but but it’s hard when your surrounded by people.

What’s in my fridge right now?....Do I have any milk?

I think I’m pregnant with my brother in-law baby’s

How come you never read about a psychic

winning the lottery?

Am I Ashy? I hope I’m not Ashy.

Why is  Batman a superhero when he brutally Beats up bad guys for saying hello.

When I get home I’m watching A Bug’s Life.

Calming down the voices she finally walks inside the gym and see Captain America. He’s beats the punching bag harder, like physically hurting it will repress the memories.

Hydra base, Captain America is running through a forest, didging mortar shells, gunfire and Tesseract energy blasts.

“There's not enough time! I gotta put her in the water!” Steve’s Voice echoed.

In the present, Steve's punches become harder and more violent.

Steve places the compass he has, featuring a picture of Peggy Carter, on the dash as the plane plummets towards the ice.

The present, punches become voilent and agressive.

“You won't be alone.” Peggy declared.

Red skull picked up the Tesseract, and vanishes.

In the present, Steve is beathing the bag with everything he has, destroying it and beating his fists.

“Oh my god!”

Steve is lying on a table, half frozen, and still partially trapped in a slab of ice. Two SHIELD scientists run equipment over him, checking for his vitals. Something flickers...

“This guy is still alive!”

Y/n  gets pulled out of Steve’s mind. “Wow. That one way to come backwards to the world.

“You punch any harder your fist is gonna go though it.“

Steve stops punching the bag and turns around and see Y/n. “Agent Munroe ma’am. Phil told me that you were coming.”

“Y/n. Just call me Y/n.” She said with a smile.

Steve starts to punch the bag again. “It's nice to meet.”

“Likewise. So how do you feel?” Y/n asked showing concern for a man she just met.

Y/n walks up to a punching bag next to Steve and, starts playfully punching it.

“Like I belong in a different time.....all of this is so strange. Flat screen TVs, cars that run on electricity.....” Steve trailed off.

“It’s understandable but look at the bright side you can have food deliver to your house.” Y/n said with a fond look.

Steve looks at Y/n confused.

“Pizza. Chinese food... Oh men we have to make some stops before we go to Shield.” Y/n  proclaimed.

“We don’t have time to make stops. They need us this is important.” Steve protested.”You’re right they do. But you need to experience this first and I know you're hungry.” Y/n insisted.

Steve sigh defeat. “Ok fine but only for an hour two at it’s tops.”

“Yes! You dont know it yet but This the start of an beautiful friendship.” Y/n said With a sincere smile as her and Steve walk out the gym.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Inside the Quinjet, Steve is sitting down with a tablet, watching the footage of the Hulk's attack on the Army at Culver University.

“We're about forty minutes out from base, sir.” One of the pilots said

Agent Coulson stands up from his seat and wipe his face with a napkin.

Francis’s pizza is so good.

Y/n chuckles as Coulson and walks over to her and Steve.

“So, this Doctor Banner was trying to replicate the serum that was used on me?” Steve asked.

“A lot of people were. I was assign to stop some of them. You were the world's first superhero.” Y/n  replied.

“Banner thought gamma radiation might hold the key to unlocking Erskine's original formula.” Coulson informed Steve.

The Hulk roars with fury as he slams a jeep apart.

“Didn't really go his way, did it?” Steve queried.

“Not so much. When he's not that thing though, guy's like a Stephen Hawking” Coulson explained.

Steve looks confused.

Y/n leans over and whispers. “He's a smart person.”

“I gotta say, it’s an honor to meet you, officially.” Steve smiles at Coulson as he continues. “I sort of met you, I mean, I watched you while you were sleeping.”  Steve looks down then a Y/n. He stands up, closes his laptop and walks to the side with Coulson following. “I mean, I was... I was present while you were unconscious from the ice. You know, it's really, it's just a... just a huge honor to have you on board.”

“Smooth. Real smooth Coulson.” Y/n lied.

“Well, I hope I'm the man for the job.” Steve remarked.

“Of course you are you’ve done amazing things in the past. You’re the perfect person for this job.” Y/n said sincerely and with a small smile.

“Ya Absolutely. Uh... we've made some modifications to the uniform. I had a little design input.”  Coulson told Steve.

“The uniform? Aren't the stars and stripes a little... old fashioned?” Steve supposed.

“With everything that's happening, the things that are about to come to light, people might just need a little old fashioned.” Coulson stated.

As Steve takes in Coulson's sentiment. The Quinjet lands down a massive battleship known as the Helicarrier. It has two runways. One with direct access to a hangar at the rear is aligned along the spine of the vessel.  Y/n walks up to Phill.

“Does the name Ororo Munroe mean anything to you?” Y/n questioned.

“No. Does it suppose to.” Coulson lied.

“No I guess not.” Y/n remarked not hiding her disappointment.

Agent Coulson, Y/n, and  Steve walk down the ramp, meeting up with Natasha.

“Agent Romanoff, Captain Rogers.” Coulson said introducing the two.

“Ma’am?” Steve replied.

“Hi.” She looks at Coulson. “They need you on the bridge. They're starting the face-trace.”

“Nat” Y/n said happily. “I didn’t know you were going to be here Coulson doesn’t tell me anything.” Y/n hugs Natasha then they both look at Coulson like ‘explain.’

“See you there.” Coulson said walks away, leaving Steve and Y/n with Natasha, the pair walking towards the railing of the Helicarrier.

“It was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice. I thought Coulson was gonna swoon. Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?” Natasha wondered.

“Trading cards?” Steve asked confused.

“They’re vintage, he's very proud.” Y/n disclosed.

Bruce Banner is seen walking around the ship, trying to stay out of the way while people walk in his way.

“Dr. Banner.” Steve called out.

The three walk up to each other and shake hands.

“Oh, yeah. Hi. They told me you'd be coming.” Bruce began. “You must be agent  Munroe.”

“You can call me Y/n it’s nice to finally meet you.” Y/n replied.

“Thanks.” Bruce said in a casual tone.

“Word is you can find the cube.” Steve Inclined.

“Is that the only word on me?” Bruce questioned.

“Only word I care about.” Steve answered.

Bruce takes in the sentiment. “It must be strange for you, all of this.”

Steve looks off to where a group of men in training are running, remembering his days in the army. “Well, this is actually kind of familiar.”

“Gentlemen, you might want to step inside in a minute. It's gonna get a little hard to breath.” Natasha disclosed.

The Helicarrier starts to shake as it prepares to take "sail". Others abord strap down planes and Quinjets in preparation.

“Is this a submarine?” Steve asked Y/n.

“Really? They wanted me in a submerged, pressurized metal container?” Bruce Said with sarcasm.

“No no it not a submerged.” Y/n answered.

The two both move closer to the edge of the Helicarrier. Four huge lift fans mounted on the sides starts to lift into the air as the ship takes flight. Steve watches in awe while Bruce just smiles.

“Oh, no. This is much worse.”  Bruce said with mock astonishment.

The doors part and we enter the bridge of the ship. A flurry of activity, dozens of agents sit in front of their viewscreens. Agent Hill shouts instructions to leave. The camera turns to Nick Fury who is at the command chair.

“We're at lock, sir.”  Agent Hill disclosed.

“Good. Let's vanish.” Nick answered.

The Helicarrier rises high into the heavens. Suddenly the entire ship is covered in reflecting mirrors, which then camouflages in the sky. Steve, Y/n and Banner walk through the glorious, gleaming bridge

“Gentlemen.” Nick started.

Steve gives Fury 10 bucks, referring to his earlier statement about never being surprised again. “And agent Munroe what a Surprise I thought you were in Sydney.”

“Well I got tired of helping Umm Marlin look for Nemo.” Y/n said with fire.

Fury walks over Banner and extends his hand. Banner, reluctantly shakes it.] Doctor, thank you for coming.

“Thanks for asking nicely. So, uh... how long am I staying?” Bruce asked.

“Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the clear.” Nick replied.

“Where are you with that?” Bruce asked.

Nick Fury turns to Agent Coulson to explain, while Natasha eyes an image of Clint Barton on a computer screen.

“We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cellphones, laptops. If it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us.” Agent Coulson explained.

“That's still not gonna find them in time.”  Natasha mumbled.

“Couldn’t we use spectrometers to speed up the process?” Y/n said pondering out loud.

“Yes that could work. How many spectrometers do you have access to?” Bruce voiced.

“How many are there?” Nick asked Bruce.

“Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places. Do you have somewhere for me to work?” Bruce said with determination

“Agent Romanoff, would you show Dr. Banner to his laboratory, please.” Nick order.

Natasha nods and walks off, leading Banner down the hall. “You're gonna love it, Doc. We got all the toys.”

Y/n goes to leave as well but gets stop by the sound of Nick Fury.

“Agent Munroe my office.” Nick announced.

“No offense but I don’t think you want that right now.” Y/n said fire.

“My office now.” Nick hissed ordered

Y/n and Nick walks to his office in silence. Y/n is barely holding back her anger and this Conversation with Director Fury is not going to help but she needs to get this off her chest or she’ll explode.  Director Fury opens the door to his office and Motion for Y/n to walk in. She walks past him into the room and sit down in the chair in front of his desk. Director Fury closes the door and looks at Y/n.

“What are you doing here?” Nick asked.

“I’m here to help.” Y/n declared.

“You were supposed to be in Sydney.” Nick pointed out

“How do you know I was supposed to be in Sydney I haven’t called to do a check in.” Y/n teased.

I wonder if he’s going to tell me that he has a Tracking Device on me.

“Agent Coulson told me of your whereabouts.” Nick answered.

“Hmm I bet he did.” Y/n replied.

”Your assistance is no longer required we can we can handle it from here head home.” Nick ordered.

“Are you kidding me.” Y/n shouted. As she shot up from her seat. “I’m the only one here that knows anything remotely about Loki and you’re gonna bench me.”

”And how would you know that.” Nick questioned.

“re.....search.” Y/n lied.

Nick gives Y/n ‘the I’m not believing you’ look.

“Ok fine I was there ok I fought The Destroyer.” Y/n  confessed.

“I already knew I was just waiting on you to tell me.” Nick replied.

“Of course you knew why wouldn’t you know.” Y/n said dryly.

“I’m not saying you’re not best the person for the job I’m saying  it’s not safe with your condition.” Nick remarked.

“My cond- what is my condition?”

“It is not....it’s not safe for the people on this Helicarrier if you don’t have control your powers.”

“You want to talk about safety of the people, was you trying to keep me safe by not telling me my mother is alive or keeping me away from Gambit.” Y/n Stated.

The anger she felt roll off of her like a wave which made the room begin to shake.

“Y/n I didn’t tell you because-“

“You are afraid another November 18 is gonna happen.....ye have little faith. I want Gambit here now and if you can’t get him here I want a number. I’m not talking those stupid pills anymore.” Y/n declared as she throws the pill bottle in trash. “And I’m going to stay here and help and you’re going to allow it.”  Y/n finished as she walks out of the room not waiting for his response.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Back in the underground lab, Loki is looking Looking through all the Shield Agent portfolios until he comes across one in particular. Agent Munroe’s portfolio. As Loki opens portfolios to read it he finds every page in there to be blank.

“Agent Barton a word.” Loki called.

Clint walks over to Loki like a puppet with strings.

“What do you know of Agent Munroe?” Loki asked.

“She is a powerful mutant that can control the weather and read minds.” Clint answered.

“Read minds hmm that will be all.”  Loki said smirking.

Erik and several scientists work around the CMS device. Clint walks in, holding a tablet.

“Put it over there!” Erik told Clint. “Where did you find all these people?”

“Shield has not shortage of enemies, Doctor.” Clint Stated as he holds up a screen showing information on Iridium. “Is this the stuff you need?”

“Yeah, iridium. It's found in meteorites, it forms anti-protons. It's very hard to get hold of.” Erik explained.

“Especially if Shield knows you need it.” Clint Mumbled

“Well, I didn't know!” Erik said gruffly. Then he Sees Loki walking in. “Hey! The Tesseract is showing me so much. It's more than just knowledge, it's... truth.”

“I know. What did it show you, Agent Barton?” Loki wondered.

“My next target.” Clint voiced

“Tell me what you need.” Loki replied.

“I'll need a distraction.” Clint said grabbing his bow. “And an eyeball.”

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

That night in the Helicarrier bridge. As they are waiting to locate Loki using satellite facial recognition, Coulson is standing with Steve.

“I mean, if it's not too much trouble.”Coulson suggested

“No, no. It's fine.” Steve reassured Coulson.

“It's a vintage set. It took me a couple of years to collect them all. Near mint, slight foxing around the edges, but...”

“We got a hit. Sixty-seven percent match. Weight, cross match, seventy-nine percent.” Agent Jasper Sitwell announced.

“Location?” Coulson asked.

“Stuttgart, Germany. 28, Konigstrasse. He's not exactly hiding.” Agent Jasper Sitwell answered.

“Captain, you're up.” Nick disclosed.

Steve nods and walks off the bridge. Walking down the hallway he passes Y/n.

“We found Loki he’s In Germany.” Steve informed Y/n as he’s walking down the hallway.

“Radio silence  and now he’s making appearance that’s not strange at all.....You got this Cap now go show him who’s he’s Messing with.”  Y/n sincerely with a smile.

“Yes ma’am.”  Steve said with a fond look and a head nod.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Outside the Stuttgart Museum, it’s night. Loki is standing in front of the museum, dressed in 21st Century attire with his scepter disguised as a cane. He walks up to the entrance of the gala.

A lavished gala with an orchestra playing is interrupted as the head doctor walks up to the mic.

Inside Helicarrier where Steve's locker is. Steve walks into the locker room. As he approaches to the steel cabinet, the doors already reveal the updated Captain America uniform, along with the famous shield. He stands in silence.

Outside the museum. German guards stand in their positions. One of them is standing on tip of the roof, scoping. He then hears a sound. He looks down. One of his guards is shot with an arrow. He raises his gun. He is shot dead by an arrow. Falls down. Barton and his crew arrive at the doors of the locked science building. Barton looks at the retinal scanner.

He pulls out a Shield eye scanner instrument. Inside the gala, Loki looks from above the museum and descends down to where the head doctor is. As he makes it down and near the stage, he flips his cane the other end. The guard there notices him, pulls out his gun, but Loki clubs his head in. Chaos erupts. Guests begin to leave the museum. Loki grabs the doctor and flips him over onto a marble table of the mythological creatures bilchsteim. Loki pulls out an optical torture device. He plunges down the doctor's eye. The doctor twists in pain.

Outside the museum.

Suddenly from Barton's instrument, a holographic eye of the head doctor appears and the image of the doctor appears on screen. The doors to the facility open. Barton walks in and finds in a cabinet, a glass thermos with a cylinder of iridium. As the crowd runs away, Loki slowly walks out and materializes in his gold armor and helmet. The police arrive and with no hesitation, he blasts the cars, flipping them over and over.

“Kneel before me.” Loki voiced but  crowd ignores him. Three more Loki's appear, surrounding and blocking the crowd from escaping. “I said KNEEL!” Loki yelled. While the crowd quietly kneels, Loki embraces out his arms with a wide smile

“Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel.” Loki declared.

As the words resonate to the kneeling crowd, an elder German man refuses to kneel and stands, heroic. “Not to men like you.”

“There are no men like me.” Loki specified.

“There are always men like you.” Elder German Man remarked.

“Look to your elder, people. Let him be an example.” As Loki is about to execute the man with his scepter as the light glows blue. Right as the energy beam shoots out, Captain America arrives, diving in just in time to block the blast with his shield, and knocking down Loki.

“You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing.” Captain America explained

Loki Standing up. “The soldier. A man out of time.”

“I'm not the one who's out of time.” Captain America replied.

From above Captain America, the Quinjet arrives. A machine gun is pointed towards Loki, while Natasha speaks from inside the aircraft.

“Loki, drop the weapon and stand down.”

Like greased lightning, Loki sends a blast of blue at the Quinjet. Natasha maneuvers it just in time, giving Cap the time to throw his shield at Loki. They both began to duke it out. Loki flings Cap to the ground, and then Cap throws his shield, but Loki swats it away. As Cap is knocked down by Loki, the scepter is pointed to Cap's helmet.

“Kneel.” Loki ordered.

“Not today!” Cap flips and knocks him out with his leg. Loki grabs him and flips him over]

“This guy's all over the place.” Natasha mumbled.

Suddenly AC/DC's "Shoot to Thrill" overdrives to the Quinjets speakers.

“Agent Romanoff, did you miss me?” Tony Stark wondered. Both Cap and Loki look up at the sky. Tony flies over in his Iron Man suit and blasts Loki right back to the ground. Iron Man touches down. He stands up and pulls out every piece of weaponry the suit has. “Make your move, Reindeer Games.”

Loki puts up his hands and surrenders. His armour materializes away

“Good move.” Tony said in a level tone.

“Mr. Stark.”

“Captain.”

Part 4

[f1united]

ceo luke/calum part 4

Summary: You are Luke’s PA and have a thing for his rival Calum after meeting him in a bar one night but you don’t know who he is

You got to the office before Luke on Monday morning. You placed his coffee on his desk and sat down at your own. Switching on your computer you were glad to see they were working. As you opened your email, your inbox was flooded with messages from Luke's clients and fellow business partners. You rolled your eyes slightly at the amount that you had to get through. At least it would keep you busy.

Luke seemed to have more and more meetings nowadays. When you first started he usually had one every week or two but now his schedule seemed to be more jam packed.  After replying to a few you decided to go and grab some breakfast from the kitchen. As you turned in your chair and stood up from your desk Luke came through the door.

"Morning" you smiled.

"Morning, how was your weekend?" he asked as he made his way to his desk. "Thanks for the coffee" he nodded his head towards the cup.

"My weekend was good, how was yours?"

"Good?" he seemed shocked by your answer.

"Yeah, good" you replied, "Is that strange or something?"

"Well normally when I ask you your answer is 'Alright'" he mimicked you for the last part. "So, what happened to you for it to be good" a smirk was plastered on his face as your lips curled into a smile.

"It was just good" you shrugged. In all honestly you'd had a pretty good weekend. After meeting Calum on Friday night you were in a good mood in general. You hadn't really done much over the weekend. Went food shopping, ordered a few bits online, visited your family and dog who lived a little bit further away from Sydney and then had a chilled Sunday night consisting of a facemask and lots of TV under a pile of blankets.

"You've met a guy" Luke smiled as he watched your face drop.

"No I haven't" you laughed off his comment.

"You seem to forget that I know you really well by now" he couldn't help but giggle slightly. You both knew he was right.

"Okay but I only spoke with him for a few hours, nothing else happened"

"Did you give him your number?" Luke asked

"Yessss" You replied as you made your way over to the door. "I'm going to grab some food from the kitchen, you coming?"

"Has he text you?" Luke nodded as he spoke.

"As a matter of fact Luke, he has" you had your back to the door, ready to push it open.

"Oooo what did he say?" You knew that Luke was only being nosey to make sure that you were okay. You never had much luck when it came to boys so never really got too involved with them.

"He thanked me for a nice night" Luke was grabbing things from his bag and placing them on his desk as you spoke to him. Once he was done he put the bag on the floor, grabbed some cereal from the shelf behind him and walked towards you.

"A nice night? I thought you said you just spoke, what the hell did you two get up to?" Luke laughed as you both walked towards the kitchen at the other side of the office.

"Not like that" you smiled at him. "He bought me a drink and then walked me home, didn't even come in"

"What did you reply back?"

"I just put 'thanks for the drink, i had a nice night too' with a smiley face" you grabbed some fruit from the basket that had been delivered.

"A smiley face? Are you serious?" Luke giggled slightly as he took a bowl from the cupboard, adding his cereal and some milk from the fridge.

"What's wrong with that?" you asked

"He might think that you're not the interested, should've put a winky face"

"Who said I was interested? We're not all players Luke" you raised your eyebrows at him jokingly as made your way back to your office.

"I wouldn't say I was a player" Luke argued

"I'm only messing with you, but you're not exactly innocent are you?" you pulled the door open and made your way to your desk, Luke doing the same.

"Okay enough of your dating life, my meetings at 2 right?" Luke changed the subject

"We're not dating"

"Yet"

"Luke"

"You know where to find me if he does anything to hurt you" you smiled at Luke's comment. Despite his mean business demeanour, he was a big softy at heart.

"You're meetings at 1, not 2" you ignored his recent comment.

"I mean it" he replied

"I know Luke, I know"

You both ate your breakfast in a comfortable silence, typing away at your computers, eyes glued to the screens. You liked it when there was lots of work to be getting on with, the days went quicker. You would have the odd conversation with Luke about things in the news that had been emailed round the office or something that had been on the tv the night before. You glanced out the window. It was another clear day and you loved it. A loud ring knocked you from your thoughts.

"Hello" Luke answered his phone, staring at his computer as he listened. "Yeah I'll send someone down for them now"

"Remind me why you need so many meetings with this Hood guy?" you asked as Luke hung up the phone.

"He's with me at the top of our game, need him to think we're friends not competitors"

"And how exactly are you doing that? Inviting him round for lunch every day?" Mentioning lunch made you slightly hungry. Luke laughed at your comment as he picked up his phone and called for someone to meet the clients at reception. After thanking them, he put the phone down and turned to you. "Got everything you need?" you asked.

"I think so" he didn't sound convinced as he lifted a folder from his desk and grabbing his phone from his desk waving it at you slightly. "If not, I'll give you a message" he smiled as he made his way to the door.

"Have a wonderful time" you called after him sarcastically. After spending a few minutes on your phone, you decided to go and grab some lunch. Usually you'd make something either the night before or in the morning to take to work with you, but after having a lazy Sunday and waking up early to get into the office, you hadn't bothered. Your snack drawer was almost empty so you decided to head to the shop that was just a few streets away.

You took the cardigan that was hanging over your chair and slipped it on. Even though the weather was warming up it was still a bit chilly out. As you headed towards the lifts, you saw the back of Luke and a few others heading into a meeting room. When you first started, you used to sit in on his meetings but they got longer and you had other things to be getting on with. You enjoyed most of them, it was interesting seeing Luke in full business mode. Maybe you'd ask him if you could sit in on one soon.

You'd grabbed a sandwich from the shop and some snacks for you and Luke. On the way back to the office you found your mind wondering to Calum. You weren't expecting him to reply to your text but you couldn't help wondering if he'd send you another message soon. He had mentioned to you that he was only in town for a little while longer but you couldn't quite remember when exactly he was heading back into Sydney. You considered sending him a text asking if he was free tonight, you got in early so could leave early as long as Luke had finished with his meeting and didn't need you for the rest of the afternoon.

Walking into the kitchen you grabbed a plate from the cupboard. The little breakout area near the kitchen was used during lunch so people had somewhere to eat other than their desk, but on days like today when there was lots of work to be done, you usually just took your laptop over to the sofa and coffee table in yours and Luke's office and ate there instead. As you sat on the sofa, you got out your phone and decided to type a text to Calum.

'Hey, just wondering if you're free one evening this week? x'. It was short and simple. If you didn't get a response then it didn't matter, at least you'd tried. As you pressed send, your phone started ringing. It was Luke.

"Everything okay?" you asked

"Yeah we're just taking a break, the other guys needed to chat about something so they've gone into another meeting room for the minute, would you be able to bring over my laptop charger?" he seemed a bit stressed.

"Yeah I'll be two seconds" you hung up the phone and left your lunch on the glass coffee table, along with your laptop and phone. You rushed over to Luke's desk and untangled the charger from the wires that littered his desk. For someone who  came across as organised his desk wasn't exactly showing it. You made your way to the meeting room, knocking and getting Luke's permission to come in before you opened the door. He was the only one sat in there, at the head of the table taping away at his laptop keys. You walked over to his side of the room and plugged his charger into the wall, switching on the plug and handing him the other end of the cable.

"Thank you" he muttered, not taking his eyes off the screen.

"Welcome, I got you some snacks from a shop but I left them in the office" he took his eyes off the screen and looked up at you as you spoke "How's the meeting going?"

"We're almost there, just getting the last bits done"

"That's good then" you replied as you perched yourself on the side of the huge meeting table that filled the entire room. "Need any help?"

"I think I've got it covered, there's some documents that we need but I'm just about to email someone about those, I'll copy you in so you know what's happening with it all though" Luke wasn't very organised when you first started, your way of doing things had started to rub off on him slightly and you appreciated the effort that he put in to try and make your job easier for you but at times you wished that he'd just step back and let you help more.

"Luke I can sit in for the second half and sort out all the admin stuff like this if it just makes it easier, I kind of miss being in these big meetings anyway" he knew that you were only trying to help him but he never wanted you to be under pressure. "And before you say that you don't want to stress me out, it's my job Luke its what I'm here to do, i've got plenty of time to sort other things out" you saw him breath out heavily, considering your offer.

"Would you mind?" he asked. He seemed to wince slightly as he spoke, like you were going to be offended.

"Luke I've just offered, of course I don't mind, let me grab my laptop and I'll be back" You hopped of the desk and made your way out of the door back towards your office. You grabbed your laptop and headed into the kitchen, your sandwich would have to wait until later but you did need a drink. Opening the cupboard, you spotted your glass on the top shelf. You reached up on your tiptoes, trying to grab it but the dress you were wearing was riding up slightly and it was too short to try to reach up any further.

Sighing as you put your feet flat on the ground, you were suddenly being gently pressed against the unit as someone much taller than you reached over you and grabbed the glass, placing it on the side next to you. The smell of fresh linen and cologne suddenly hit you and you spun on your heel as they took a step back from you.

You couldn't quite understand why he was stood in front of you, but the sight of Calum instantly brought a smile to your face.

"I'm free tonight" he smiled at you before picking his mug up from the coffee machine and heading into the meeting room that Luke was currently sitting in, leaving you speechless in the kitchen.

[lavieendonna]

Brushwork || Art Major!Calum AU (Chapter 14)

Summary: An Art Major AU where Dallas - third year gawky art student at VCA -  makes a deal with Calum - her cute new neighbour and project partner - and they spend the entire year learning that the perfect masterpiece takes a whole lot of brushwork.

Date: 24 August 2017 Requested: as always  Pairing: Calum + Dallas Words: 3.4K Warnings: nothing other than the occasional f-bomb. A bit of Mali in this chapter too, and we all love her so.  A/N: IT’S A MIRCALE! TWO CHAPTER UPDATES IN ONE MONTH! AM I GOOD OR WHAT?! I’m so immensely proud of myself for sticking to my guns and pumping out another chapter less than a month from the last. Thank you to everyone who still reads this and to those who have kept up their faith in me and sent me positive vibes to keep going. This is one of my favourite pieces and I’m so excited to finish it with you all :-) big love xo 

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Chapter 14:I Was Too Terrified To Speak Much Louder In Fear Polly Would Legitimately Tear My Head Off And Put It On A Spike At The Door To Warn Her Future Best Friend.

Now is probably a good time to mention that Mali had gotten my number the day after I left her in Calum's apartment. She’d messaged me and said that she felt bad for not saying goodbye before she went back to Sydney – and to be honest, I felt bad for forgetting that she was even leaving. But she forgave me soon enough – word travels fast in the Hood Family, apparently.

She messaged me not long after Calum had officially called our Friday night plans a date, demanding that I called her immediately. Part of me thought maybe she was just being nosey, but by the sounds of things she just really wanted to know how I was feeling. I told her I couldn’t talk yet, that I still had class and – oh, yeah – Calum was still with me and would be for the majority of the day. She wasn’t overly impressed with that, but it kept her off my back until 4pm on the dot when I told her I’d be back at home.

I dialled Mali’s number and as I waited for her to pick up, it occurred to me that maybe I should have been calling my own sister instead of the sister of my upcoming date. Isabelle would be squealing in her seat if she knew that I, Dallas ‘Social Anxiety Makes Me Inept and Useless’ James, was going on a date for the first time in Jesus knew how long. She’d be proud of me, even, and she almost never said that out loud. There was something about telling her, though, that freaked me out even more than the date itself. Once it was news in the family then I was never going to hear the end of it. And if things ended badly (which, you know, it usually did considering it’s me we’re talking about), well, that was something I didn’t think I could handle even slightly.

“I want to hear the exact words, okay, Calum is being surprisingly tight-lipped about this.” Mali didn’t even say ‘hello’ which lead me to believe that she was more excited about this than I was.

“Well,” I had to think about it. The last 24 hours were a bit of a blur, they happened so fast. “First we were talking about our mural.”

“Yawn.” I could almost hear her eyes roll to the back of her head.

“It was the lead up!” I defended her brother. “It was pretty smooth actually.”

“My brother? Smooth?” Mali snorted. “Who knew.”

“Yeah, it was… nice. He was confident.”

“Another miracle.” Mali laughed. “What did he say after that?”

“Uh, well he said he had a question for me and asked if I wanted to go see Luke perform at this open mic night thing on Friday.” Mali squealed, but quietly as if she was trying to wait until the very end of the story to let loose her fangirl heart. “I didn’t really catch that he was asking me out, though, so I said that I would go if Luke wanted me to and then –”

I paused to smile because Calum’s voice started ringing in my ears a little bit. I never thought I’d be That Girl that reminisced about every moment between her and The Boy, but it was hard not to be. Now that we officially had a date, every moment counted. And I hadn’t made it all up in my head, either. He’d said the words himself.

“Then what?!” Mali asked, impatient. I chuckled quietly.

“Then, uh. He laughed at me. He said it wasn’t Luke that wanted me there but him.”

“Wow.”

“Then I asked if he meant a date and he said it was. So, yeah, we uh. We called it a date.”

“Of course it’s a fucking date!” Mali exclaimed, and I could hear the grin in her voice. “You’re going on a date with Calum Fucking Hood!”

“Oh my god, can you…” I face-palmed, feeling the blush creep up my cheeks. It was all well and good when I whispered it out loud to myself that I was going on a date with Calum Fucking Hood, but when Mali said it out loud like that it made it seem like he was some sort of international heart throb guitar player and that dating him was a total miracle beyond belief. It was still a miracle, but not for reasons to that extreme.

“Look, it’s not a big deal.” I tried to continue, but I laughed anyway because that was the biggest lie I’d told myself in ages. Mali laughed too, and I did not blame her.

“I know, I know!” She said anyway. “Still. I’m glad for you two. This will be good for him, I can tell.”

“How can you tell?” I had my eyebrow cocked as if she was really here. I imagined her shrugging, but tapping her nose while she shot me a wink.

“It’s a sister’s intuition.” She said very matter-of-factly. “We all have it, even you.”

“Even me?” I feigned offense. “What’s that supposed to mean?!” Mali cackled much like my own sister would have. And that alone made me wonder if maybe, by chance, Isabelle wasn’t just bullying me our entire lives and I really was just as gawky as she was saying I was.

“You know what that’s supposed to mean.” Mali said very slyly, not giving me the benefit of the doubt in the slightest. “But anyway, how are you feeling? You are okay with this right?” I took a breath, though I wasn’t sure if it was because I was nervous or if it was because I was giving myself more time to answer. Likely, it was a combination of both. I lived nervous, and the longer I took to think about my words was always the better.

“Yeah.” I said, probably less enthusiastic than I meant. “Yeah, definitely. I, uh. I’m… I mean, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want this. I just convinced myself it never would I’m, like, in shock or something.”

“Why the hell not?” Mali seemed to demand of me and I shrugged because the list of ‘Why Not’ reasons was too long to even know where to start.

“Because it’s me!” I laughed. “And I don't look like Polly and I’m not like my sister or his friends. I didn’t think I was his type.”

“Calum doesn’t have a type.” Mali said after a small pause on her end of the phone.

“Really?” I asked. “I figured he was a tall, leggy, blonde kind of guy.” Mali scoffed and I kind of just accepted it as I wondered out of my room and out into the kitchenette (I’d made the realisation that I was starving when my stomach growled half-way through that sentence). She didn’t comment on how I’d just described her as Calum’s type – which I was glad for because I didn’t really want to re-visit that awkward conversation.

“Nah, nah.” Mali sounded like she was trying to reassure me of this (which I wouldn’t put passed her, if I was being honest). “Calum… He likes who he likes.”

That statement made me feel better than I thought it would. Because even though on one hand that meant I basically every human alive was my competition, it also meant that there was a chance I was good enough for something.

“Well, thanks.” I said dumbly while I stared at mine and Polly’s mostly empty fridge, frowning at the lack of appeal it had. “I’ll keep that in mind next time I say something unnecessarily sexual that he could charge me with sexual harassment for.”

“Wait, what? I need the story behind that one.”  

“Maybe another time.” I said with no intention of ever reliving the moments I’d accidentally come on to her brother. “When are you coming back to Melbourne?” I thought changing the subject might make this conversation less humiliating.

“As soon as you and Calum send out your save the dates.” Mali fired back, making me kind of regret ringing her to begin with. I laughed, though. Her dig at me didn’t seem to sting the same way as when Polly did it. “I do have to go, though, my Mum is calling me to help with dinner.”

“Alright,” I said, giving up on the fridge and trying my luck in the pantry instead. “Well don’t give anyone food poisoning.”

“I’ll send you a package for taste-testing.”

“I’ll pass. Talk to you soon.”

“Send me a picture of The Outfit!”

“If I remember.”

And then that was it. I found a box of chocolate Pop Tarts on the top shelf, and I had no idea how old they were, but you can bet like hell I was going to eat the shit out of them.

“What’ve you got there?” That was Polly. She’d wondered out of her bedroom, and that confused me because I was under the impression she had classes until later tonight.

“Pop Tarts.” I said with a grin. “Want some?”

“Always.” Polly nodded and I threw her a pack, knowing she didn’t much care to heat them up. I thought she was a monster for it, but I didn’t often say that out loud. Also, she was in a funny mood so I didn’t want to push my luck.

“I thought you had classes tonight?” I asked her as I unwrapped my snack and jammed them into the shitty toaster on the bench. Polly shrugged, sitting on the Ghost Stool on the other side of the counter, and rolling her eyes nearly into the back of her head.

“Got an email from the lecturer and the tutor. They’re both sick and out until next week so they’ve given everyone an extension on our folios.”

“Huh.” I raised an eyebrow. “Fair enough – I think?” Polly was chuckling darkly and making me second guess if this was a good thing for her or not.

“I mean, sure,” Polly scoffed. “But I don’t think they’re really sick. I’m pretty sure they’re fucking and have gone on holiday together.”

“You think so?” I asked. And Polly nodded wildly.

“Oh yeah. They’re both young for their jobs, in the same field, and they see each other every day.” Polly laughed again, this time less darkly. “Everyone can spot the sexual tension between them – they try to pretend they hate each other but it doesn’t work very well.”

I chuckled, not because what Polly was saying funny but rather, because Polly always had a knack for creating conspiracy theories about everything.

“Well, either way,” I took to saying as I switched the toaster off at the wall and just about threw the steaming hot chocolate tarts onto a small plate to let them cool down. “You got the extension to make up for it. And even if you don’t need it –” I could see Polly about to interrupt with that exact excuse. “– At least you’ve got time to do other stuff. Whatever you want, really.” Polly paused and then shrugged as if I’d made a good point.

“True.” She said simply before taking another bite of her Pop Tart. I took a chunk out of mine too, swearing loudly when the melted chocolate within blistered the roof of my mouth. Polly snickered at me, and I glared back.

“Rude.” I mumbled, sticking my aching tongue out at her.

“No.” She said, straightening her posture and staring me down very intensely. “No, what’s rude is my best friend scoring a date with a total hottie and not telling me about it.”

I flushed a brilliant red from neck to cheeks.

“You, uh… You heard about that?” I mumbled out. I was too terrified to speak much louder in fear Polly would legitimately tear my head off and put it on a spike at the door to warn her future best friend.

“Yeah, I heard about that.” She said. She was not impressed in the slightest. “Why did I have to hear it from Michael that you and Calum were finally dating?!” I opened my mouth to object, but then what she’d said hit me and I frowned.

“Wait,” My mouth was full of Pop Tart. “How did Michael find out?!”

“Luke!” Polly practically wailed, her mouth also full. This was the most uncivilised conversation I’d ever had, probably. We were such barbarians. Michael heard from Luke who heard from Calum.”

“Jesus…” I muttered, turning back to my Tarts. “Luke and Michael have such big mouths.”

“So do you, usually.” Polly pointed out and I sulked because she was right. “Why didn’t you tell me?” She sounded less annoyed with me now and more… upset. I looked back up to my friend and while she didn’t look like she was about to with the Oscar for Best On-Cue Crying, she did look like she wanted an explanation. And to be honest, she probably deserved one. I usually told her everything.

“Sorry, Pol.” I said with tight lips and a small, one-shouldered shrug. “I just… I didn’t want to bother you.” That wasn’t really the whole truth, but it was definitely part of it. Problem was, Polly frowned at me for it which probably meant she wasn’t buying it at all.

“Since when have we worried about bothering each other?” She deadpanned, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning on the counter on her elbows. “You know I don’t care about that, good news or bad.”

“I know.” I said guiltily. I felt like I was getting lectured by my parents – but worse, since I actually cared what Polly thought and what she had to say was almost always important to me. “I just… I-I was confused about how to feel. I’ve kinda only just come to terms with the fact that I liked Calum like that, and the idea of him liking me back was some kind of fucking miracle so… I dunno, I guess, I just wanted to work it out for myself, and I knew you were caught up doing whatever with Ashton so I just… I didn’t think it would be a big deal.”

There was a pause, and I was scared because as soon as all of those words come out of my mouth they sounded like the wrong thing to say. And I hated that – when the truth is the truth but it feels like it’s not. And Polly was looking at me with these eyes that I just couldn’t read properly, so I didn’t know if I’d just offended the shit out of her or hurt her feelings or what.

“First of all,” She finally spoke after a minute or so of pure silence (aside from my heaving breathing as I tried to cool down the Pop Tart that was already in my mouth like a dickhead). “You shouldn’t feel like you need to do anything on your own. That’s why we’re friends, dude, and you need me just as much as I need you.” I nodded, still refusing to look the girl in the eye, just in case I turned to stone. “Second of all, it is a big deal. I knew you were going to like him like that the moment we met him – hell, I nearly liked Calum like that when we met him, have you seen the kid?!” I laughed at that one, rolling my eyes slightly at Polly’s theatrics.

“Yeah, yeah.” I waved her off as she reached over the counter to push me in the arm (gently – it was too awkward of a position to punch me for real). “Will you be less mad if I promise you can help me with my hair and make-up before I go?” I finally looked back up at her face and she was beaming cheekily the way she did, and it was a nice change to see her smiling at me. I could almost see the Old, warm twinkle in her eye.

“Always.” She said for a second time and she pushed me again. “Anyway,” She continued. “Third of all, there’s nothing going on with me and Ashton so that shouldn’t even be an excuse at all.” This time, Polly looked away from me and I shot her a challenging cocked eyebrow.

“Uh, yeah, because you and Ashton rocking up the next morning after a Tequila party in your underwear is ‘nothing’.” I shot. “Care to explain that one, since we’re on the topic.” Polly gave another wild shrug, her face pulled together in a grimace as she tried to find the words. She swallowed the last of her Pop Tart and shrugged again. I thought I could see the hint of a smile twitching in the corners of her mouth.

“We’re… Ugh, I don’t know, it’s complicated.” I furrowed my eyebrows together.

“What’s complicated?” I asked. “You like him, don’t you?”

“Well, yeah.” She huffed.

“And he likes you?” She shrugged.

“I think so.” She sighed. “But there’s… there’s more to it than, that, we’re… well, we’re working it out.”

Polly gave a crooked, unconvinced smile before standing up to put her wrapper in the rubbish bin. She didn’t sound (or look) like she was going to say any more on the topic so I didn’t press for any more answers. I wanted to, because she was being very vague about this whole situation and I wanted nothing more than to ask her straight out if her and Ashton were sleeping together. I had the feeling they were, because based on this conversation alone, ‘more to it than that’ could really only mean one thing. I could have been reading into it too much, but I didn’t think so. It was Polly and it was Ashton. They had a habit of making things complicated with sex.

I was a little bit annoyed, especially when Polly wondered off back to her bedroom. She’d just grilled me (lightly) until I spilled what was on my mind and apologised for offending her and our friendship, and yet when I tried to do the same and get her to open up, she shut me out and got vague. I was finding it hard to understand how that was fair. Part of me felt like it was just me being dramatic and entitled, but like it had been all the time lately, there was something about this friendship between Polly and I that seemed very one-sided. I frowned, staring at Polly’s closed door for a moment before huffing and waving it off. It was a future problem for future Dallas. I had more important things to worry about.

I realised, as I sulked around the kitchen and put the rest of my things away and changed clothes, that I was quickly running out of daylight and I needed to haul ass down to the mural. Calum and I were slowly running out of time and considering we almost never had time to work on this shit together, we were relying on each other to pick up the pieces every time we worked on it separately. The last I’d checked, Calum had finished the last coats of base paint and, since he’d drawn and given me a copy of the final design, I gave him the creative freedom to choose his colour scheme too. That meant it was up to me, today, to start the outlining on the wall.

It was going to be tough, limited daylight aside. Calum’s design on paper was almost flawless, and I was crazy scared whatever I started on that damn wall wasn’t going to do it justice at all. I worried the whole way down to the atrium, and even more when I laid out the tarp and paint. I figured out that spotlights were going to help my sunlight issue – but they weren’t going to help if I fucked up big time.

For yet another night, I spent hours down working on that wall. Security asked me 3 times for my ID, my pass and the letter from our teacher explaining what the fuck I was doing painting on school property in the middle of the night. It was a new record. It was nearing one in the morning when I’d finished the outlines for each stage of our ballerina transformation, each one was only missing one thing.

Her face.