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shadowturtlesstuff · 4 years

Text

again but better thoughts while reading

@polandbananas20

so my spelling is terrible in this but you know i was more focused on the book than how to spell.

Chapter 1) good intro and good starting tone. The lady next to her sucks. Good small establishment of shane.

chapter2)shane characterisation is still consistent. I like her two new roommates (will be best friends) . My guess is the boy in the kitchen will be pilot. Family means but not intentional. Has no confidence. I was right about the boy

Chapter 3) intro of pilot properly. He's good. I love the inner monologue of shane. Trying to keep eye contact, the surprise of having a normal conversation. It sets her character well. Intro to her blog which i would love to actually read (i hope there's at least one entry we can read) pilot is a musician but not. Business major. What crap.

Chapter 4) i really feel like shane, she is just typical fangirl/ dork and i love it. Its weird being english and reading about the things that shock them like pasta in bags.i understand the watermelon.we do get to read ‘shanes writing’ but its her personal jornal not her blog.

Chapter 5) fun chapter. Intro to rome. Love the idea that shane is heavy handed and violent. Short, not alot happened other than small character establishment.

Chapter 6)intro to creative writing class which i want/need in my life.more beatles. Woman on plane works at starbucks, will she make more appearances?

Chapter 7) the drama???or at least wht will be the drama. Pilot has a gf, called amy (wish it was me) (wait no, bc i know that plot doesnt actually like amy anymore bc he obviously likes shane. So i take it back. I want to be shane, i mean i basically am like her but oh well.)

Chapter 8) parents. Overprotective, think they know best. Urgh. guarantee one of shanes new friends fight back to her parents to support her life choices, that do not include doctor.

Chapter 9)gets an internship at travel mag company. Thats it…..

Chapter 10)rome. Looses purse. Pilot to the anxiety riddled rescue by telling his own life story about his wallet to help calm her nerves.distracts her. Basially he would do anything for shane already.re count of rome trip from her jornal again which is a good touch to further the plot. This is making me want to read dan brown (ish) all of two books i own of him

Chapter 11) the postcards are a nice touch that i hope someone reads???? Travel buddies..just saying.chad..hmmm,im like shane,well see if he is good enough for babe. Her GODDAM stupdi mean cousins being mean on her facebook, and babe seeing (best friend moment) about pilot and the whole teasing about having a boyfriend.

Chapter 12) he didnt see (but i think he did but istn sayin anything) paris i shappening. Babe is bff confirmed and i want her as my friend

Chapter 13)angry birds addiction starts. Level three, weak, shoulder touching it romance confirmed.awwww pilot 100% waited to sleep so he could see shane safe in bed

Chapter 14) pilot with a french accent, enough said. The flirtinggggg. The plane woman is back??in paris with them????

Chapter 15)pilots choices of the back in time thing are both wit shane. Its so obvious and i love it. Pilot as a fake fangirl about the eiffel tower. More flirting,kind of. Oh god chad no.he did it. Goddammit.nooo he wull run babe and shanes friendship and maybe her and pilot. ‘Assbucket’ indeed. Her an pilot are fine and i really believe her and babe will be because when she nearly gets robbed babe giver her a sympathetic smile. Not much to go on but i have hope.

Chapter 16)okay so, fav chapter, she finally spills her guts that she has anxiety basically, that she is premed with strict parents and this is scary whilst pilots lies in bed with her to relax her bc he heard her crying. He only ecoureges her slightly before going back to his bed and sleeping. My heart, i swear, soon the roles reverse and pilot will say why he is in london and all that.

Chapter 17)babe and shane bffs confired. Chad is the worst confirmed. Of course it wasnt break up call. Of course she wants to vist. Of course pilot is to cowardly to break up and just accepts them going to paris together. Of freaking course.

Chapter 18) do not get over pilot, it wont work. Rugby guy nooooo!im team pilot how dare you kiss shane! Wow, city of glass mention. I want to make a list of every bookmentioned.

Chapter 19) pilot is not himself (obviouls) shane is worried. She is still lying to her parents an feeling bad about. Rugby guy is thankfully a no go. Pilot finds out about the kiss and guy and is clearly silently jealous.

Chapter 20)aww shane! Im sorry pilot sucks currently. And a stupid guys trip with flat four. No. and devil chairs.

Chapter 21)1)love the book talk. The loneliness is kicking in, pilot man up for gods sake

Chapter 22)this red-head plain weirdo is back and going through her list like some sort of mentore. Omg!!! No. amy is here, i dont hatte her but can she not. Also, her dad…. No! (this is the stand up moment i was on about, i hope)

Chapter 23) i do not like her dad. At all. Nooo shane...no. they found out. And acted like assholes.

Chapter 24) n1!ahhhh no! Amy has her notebook. The end is nigh.im going to cry i feel like shane.

Chapter 25) the family dinner-family outing. Niether of them manuped and shane is depressed

Chapter 26)back in america. Still hasn’t told pilot but you know it is a slow burn

Chapter 27) I, wait? Marry, some guy? Like no. I know it’s been what six years but no. I refuse.i don’t like this so called Melvin. It’s okay she doesn’t want to marry him. She goes to see pilot and finally mans up and tells him and asks if she made it and and pilot finally man’s up and tells her no she didn’t. They get stuck in an elevator

Chapter 28) the elevators doing something. Shane wants to re do London cuz she hates life

Chapter 1?) they are both back in London? Both having the same what ever is happening?

Chapter 2) omg. Plane lady took them back to staRt over and pilots mad about it (obv)

Chapter 3)so… they got mad but started over and I’m excited. 100%they won’t press the restart button. I’m calling it now. Cuz pilot knows he now has a chance to do the what if’s/

Chapter 4) they keep there distance but we all know it won’t last

Chapter 5) tipsy Shane? Shawarma

Chapter 6) babe thinksthere is something going on with them( again)

Chapter7)the story about fake pilot, and the kiss. Ahhhhhhg

Chapter 8)they found the button. Shane doesn’t want to go back. I do t want them to go back. They don’t go back thank god

Chapter 9) da Vinci code flirting somehow.. Shane tells him it won’t happen u less he breaks up with last Amy.

Chapter 10) he will break up with Amy and laris is gonna happen.

Chapter 11) so Shane is happy again, pilot broke up with amy. Shane tried to make peace with the devil chair.

Chapter 11) they are so adorable. Aswwwwewhwhehruysnwjw

Chapter 12) Uwuwnfhueia we get more Shane and pilot flirting,

Chapter 13) the opposite game is adorable. I like that they get to be themselves together without the awkwardness. The start of the move game. Thats my fav.

Chapter 14) they still have the angry birds obssesion but unlike me and supercard they know when to stop.the dance ‘move’ ahh i love. The line ‘but you do.’ just shows how much they know each other and how pilot would do anything to make her smile. And the lost move (not really a move but totally a move.) once again proves their love. Also we had that plot moment where he talks about why h chose to go to london. I adore shanes rant (?) about the things she loves. And then pilot doing the same thing. Shane vs chair is my life, like i battle chairs too.

Chapter 15) what is tfios? Ooohhh. Fault in our stars. (i googled it)i probably shouldve known by the whole always part. The dance move came back to bite pilot in the ass and now they are dancing together. Ew chad. Yes shane! That is what chad deserves.

Chapter 16) they get intimate and gigly and happy and aaaawwwhww

Chapter 17) im glad shane still rememebers to be friends with babe and not forget her in her lovestick state currently.

Chapter 18) her postcard….the questions that haunt her so much. Sort of accepting them herself too. She finally got to do wrecking ball, they miss internship , oh no…. Start if a downall??

Chapter 19) shane and pilot have fallen HARD

Chapter 20) the article is off the table. Amy is there. What the hell. No. omg pilot no, you moron. THEY BROKE UP!!! Which is fair, a break is needed. They both get back on track and then try and find a balance. Hopefully. Oh her laptop….shit...the feels when all your work is just gone. Tries to reset bc she is so depressed bc she thinks she failed again.

Chapter 21) she cant go back (thankfully) a bookstore is always a good haven to go to when your breaking down.

Chapter 22)the redemtion (?) time to try and fix everything and get back on track.the determination and the readiness to try and make everything better for herswelf, herself, and no one else is good. She makes friends with the people in her office and works harder than befire, try to get herself out of her comfort zone and experience things

Chapter 23) the confrontation with her parents. Oh god. I hope this goes well. Its going as well as it can go. Im happy shane is sticking up for her dream so she can be happy, uugh the whole dad speech of ‘i do everything for you, i know best because im older,’ i hate it. Ooohh she is making up with leo, talking ot him this time. Im happy. Leo is gay. Cool. i hate how he got broken up with becuase of his stupid family, it sucks. ‘There is no normal.’ perfect words.

Chapter 24) her thing is in the thing!!!( also good job me with words.) her article got published (there we go)this is where she learns she can be with pilot and be successful because tracy is with a famous author and they make it work with harder schedules. Trys to talk to her parents. This time she will make there relationship work.

Chapter 25)urgh ‘you live under my roof,on my dime…’ blah blah blah. We hate controlling parents that dont see that overprotecting and controlling their childs life does more damage than good. Babe suggest self discovery trip. Babe is a grat friends.

Chapter 26)the button thing will work…’im mad at pilot. Or am i mad at me.’ she cracked the code. She loathed herself because of her fear of failing, but because this time she worked on herself to make herself happy she no longer hates herself. Yet she still feels the same (ish) feeling that even though she worked harder and got further that she has no summer job when she gets back to the states, her parents still wont allow her choice of work.PILOTS BACK!!!!!!! She was about to press the button and he swooped in with his music.

Chapter 27) he still follows her blog and got help from babe. His speech, finished with lamppost. Where can i get a pilot?he uploaded their song. Working through the divorce thing again but it will be better because he has shane to talk to about it. Ahhh she got a job!!! Happy ending!!! My heart!!!eeeee…

epilogoue) she becomes a successful author. Her parents have accepted her and support her. Pilots a musician. He takes her to the weird plane lady and they gobe the locket back, then he makes the ultimate move. With pictures of where they fell in love he uses the beatles russain doll things to hide a ring and when she finds it she obviously says yes. And that its unfair cuz she cant top that move.

sooo...thats it.

i really enjoyed this book. i cannot wait for her next book. this post is longwinded i apologize but oh well? again i will link my website and review as soon as its done. so far in about five hours all i have is a paragraph so it may not be as soon as i want it to be

#again but better #polandbananasbooks #frenchwatermelonnineteen #shane #pilot #shane and pilot

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hiraeth-doux · 6 years

Photo

i am still running

summary: When Barry Allen runs a hundred years into the past to save Diana’s long-lost pilot, he doesn’t know that he is giving her the greatest gift of all.

author’s note: This is a @wondertrevnet Secret Santa gift for @blueincandescence :) I hope I did it justice! Happy holidays!

AO3

1918

“Steve.”

Diana’s voice breaks through the deafening bellow of massive propellers and the roar of blood in his ears, muffled by the wind and the distance between them.

He wavers, for just a moment. Wants to look at her one last time. His throat closes up, his heart so heavy in his chest he doesn’t know how it doesn’t weigh him down to the cold concrete of the airfield that vibrates slightly beneath his feet.

Steve clenches his teeth and surges forward. To look back is to change his mind – he knows it, like he knows that it is not a luxury they can afford. There is no time. If she is who she has been claiming to be all along, if she really can stop this terror then he knows she will, but she can’t be everywhere at once. One of them needs to take care of the deadly gas.

It has to be me.

He has come to this war to make a difference, and he hates that having to choose between Diana and millions of people is the price he must pay for it.

He knows she will understand, though. Knows that she would have done the same thing.

It is the path they have both chosen.

One last burst of effort, and he is climbing into the airplane, fighting his way toward the cockpit. It is easy to move when he has a goal, a clear plan. He tries not to think of Diana, of her disoriented confusion. Tries not to think of the way she looked at him last night, of what her lips tasted like—

Steve sinks into the pilot’s seat, his hands moving on the will of their own as they steer the plane forward, his muscle memory, strong and steady, no match for his scattered mind. For a moment, he can swear he hears her calling his name again, but he brushes the thought off - she is too far away. Must be the wind.

The altitude is making him dizzy, blurring his vision.

The inside of the plane smells of gasoline and metal.

Steve leans back in his seat. He closes his eyes and takes a breath.

He doesn’t think of breaking more promises or wish that things were different for them, but his finger trembles on the trigger nonetheless.

When the fire starts licking at his skin, he thinks of dancing in the snow.

—

2018

The air is fresh.

It is the first thing that Steve notices when his mind swims back to consciousness. It has been so long since he breathed anything but death and blood and gunpowder smoke that despite the fog in his head and dull throbbing in his skull, it is the smell of cold soil and old autumnal grass near his face that snaps him into wakefulness. Even more so than a rock jutting into his shoulder blade.

The other thing is the voice.

“—come on, man. Wake up.” It fades in and out a little, muffled, “God, she’s gonna kill me,” followed by an urgent whisper: “Hey, come on. Steve? Are you Steve?”

There is a tapping on his cheek. And then the other one.

Steve’s chest constricts when he inhales sharply, his lungs expanding as if he’d come up from underwater. He blinks his eyes open, squinting against the brightness of the day even though the sky above him is low and grey.

He is on his back, lying on the cold ground. There is a line of trees to the right from him, blurred in the periphery of his vision; the chilly breeze smells intoxicatingly of snow.

“There you are!” The chipper voice makes him wince a little. “I was starting to get worried–”

He blinks once more, and a face hovering above him shifts into focus. Half a face. Steve’s brows pull together in confusion. There is a man sitting beside him and trying to rouse him - and quite unceremoniously, too. The upper half of his face is hidden under a red mask with some yellow insignia on either side of his head. When Steve looks at him, he breaks into a smile so bright that it is tempting to smile back.

If only he knew what the actual hell was happening to him.

“Look,” he man tones down his enthusiasm. His eyes dart around for a moment or two before he leans closer to Steve, his voice dropping again. “I kinda miscalculated the return point a little bit, but don’t tell Clark. I’ll never live it down.” He makes a face. “Hang in for a little while longer, okay?”

None of this makes any sense. Steve’s eyes drop from the man’s fast-moving lips to his shoulders and then down to his torso, all wrapped in a red suit, tight as a second skin. He tries to think but his brain feels like it is made of jelly, his stomach tied into a queasy knot.

The black sky above Belgium… the plane… Diana.

Headache explodes behind his eyes.

This must be a dream.

“What–” he starts, his mouth dry and his voice croaky. He swallows and wants to try again, but when darkness closes over him once more, he is grateful.

—

There are ten feet and a hundred years between them.

Diana stares at him from across the room in the glass house where the smiley guy who introduced himself as Barry has brought Steve a little while ago. Her face is ashen like she is seeing a ghost, and when she looks at him like that he is not sure he is not one. Even from his spot fifteen feet away from her, he hears her shuddered inhale. His heart drops into his stomach.

The year is 2018, according to Barry and an older man with thin-rimmed glasses sitting on the tip of his nose who opened the door for them when they arrived. A hundred years from the day when he climbed into a German airplane to help Diana stop the God of War from plunging the world into endless chaos. A hundred years that were crumpled and compressed into the few minutes that it took Barry to drag him all the way into the future – Steve chooses not to think of this just yet.

He doesn’t believe that what Barry has told him is true, and Diana doesn’t either, if the look of shock on her face is any indication.

Her eyes roam over his features for several long moments. Someone is talking. There are other people in the room – Barry, the butler whose name Steve missed the first time around, and two other men. If he wasn’t so busy trying to stop his heart from breaking through his ribcage and leaping out of his chest, Steve would probably find it fascinating that the face of one of them if half-covered with a metal plate.

She doesn’t believe that he is real, and he can’t fault her for it. He wants to move toward her, but he is not sure how. Not sure if he can because it has been so long and you can’t walk across time. Yet, he remembers the way she felt in his arms only last night, when the fire went out in the grate without either of them noticing for they didn’t need it. Not when they had one another to keep warm.

The memory is so bright it all but makes him keel over, blood roaring in his ears.

A hundred years…

He stares back.

Diana looks the same but also so strikingly different that Steve is not sure whether to be excited or perplexed, and it is not her hair, slicked back, or her black pants and a fitted long-sleeved shirt – she is dressed like a man but he decides not to dwell on that, or how curious Etta would have been. It is in her eyes, guarded and full of doubt. The Diana he had met on the Paradise Island was starry-eyed and hopeful beyond anything he had ever seen. The woman standing before him now is anything but.

He doesn’t want to know what she has gone through to have the spark that shone brighter than the sun itself grow dim. Not yet.

“Steve,” Diana breathes, and even though her voice is so soft that it barely carries across the space between them, it still feels like a sucker punch that nearly sends him down to his knees.

Steve swallows, hard, and tries to smile. “Hey.”

Someone is speaking. Barry, Steve thinks, but he is not sure. Someone is trying to explain all of this to her. He doesn’t think she is listening; knows he certainly is not. Doesn’t care much for what is being said, either.

All he wants is to look at her, take her in the way he never had a chance to. Before, they were always running out of time.

“Can’t be…” she whispers, shaking her head.

He finds his voice and says, “It’s me.”

A strangled sob rises in her throat. Her hand flies up to her mouth and he watches her face crumple.

“Diana…”

When she slams into him with the full force of an Amazon warrior, he staggers backwards, nearly taking them both down to the floor. Doesn’t care that she has knocked all wind out of him, too relieved, too… everything. He catches her in his arms and gathers her to him, only now realizing that he is shaking all over.

The past hour of his life might have felt like a dream, but this is real. Diana is real. She is warm and solid and so very here. Steve buries his face in the curve of her neck and breathes her in, and god help him, she smells wonderful. Like sunshine and home, and it makes something snap loose inside of him. All the time he has spent holding back – he can’t take it anymore.

“Steve,” she breathes. He feels her lips brush along his jaw ever so briefly. She is saying something, asking something but her voice drowns in a thunderous sound of his heartbeat.

For him, it has only been a few hours, and he still can’t imagine missing her more.

Her hands move over his face, lean fingers skittering over his cheeks, pushing his hair back from his forehead. He can see tears in her eyes, her smile is weak and watery, and the most beautiful thing he has ever seen.

“You’re back,” Diana murmurs, cupping his face in her hands, dark eyes flicking between the blue ones as though she is still waiting for him to disappear like a dream. “I don’t—I don’t understand. I watched you–”

She cuts off, a shadow of anguish crossing her face.

When Steve leans in and kisses her, desperate to wipe the last memory she has of him from her mind, he can feel salt on her mouth – hers or his, he has no idea. She kisses him back, deeply and hungrily, a century of longing poured into one touch, enough to leave him dazed and disoriented and breathless. And so alive he can feel it thrumming in his blood. Diana’s hands push through his hair, her arms wind around his neck and he holds her closer, scared beyond words to lose her again.

She feels the same, tastes the same, and after everything it is almost too much to bear.

Steve makes a mental note to thank the cheerful Barry later, but the thought is fleeting. The room falls away. He doesn’t care for anyone standing there. He is lost in her and he doesn’t want to be found.

—

Everything around them is a blur.

Steve doesn’t remember when everyone leaves, or how, but one moment he and Diana are standing in the centre of what appears to be a living room, the weak autumnal sun inching its way towards the horizon outside, and then it is dark and they are sitting on the floor with their backs against the glass wall overlooking the deck and a lake beyond it. The reading lamp on the side table by the couch is switched on, filling the room with warm light, and while Steve knows that they are not alone in the house, he can’t hear anyone else.

His arm is around Diana and her hand idly traces the collar of his shirt. She can’t seem to stop touching him and Steve doesn’t mind. He hasn’t looked away from her once.

His thick coat and the jacket of his stolen German uniform are draped over the back of one of the chairs, a silent reminder of the collision of time. He is yet to understand how they are going to go about all of this because her brows furrow whenever her gaze drifts to his clothes and it is clear that she is no more fond of those memories than he is. He doesn’t want her to remember.

Steve slides a knuckle under her chin, lifting her face to his, and kisses her again, softly.

“I can’t believe this,” Diana murmurs against his lips.

“Yeah, well….” He lets out a short laugh and shakes his head. “Is it really 2018? I can’t exactly… it’s a hard one to process.”

She smiles, her eyes crinkling at the corners, and his heart slams hard against his ribs. God, he loves her smile. She raises her hand to stroke her thumb along his jaw and nods. “It is.”

He nods, too. “I–” he clears his throat. “I—I’m sorry,” he mutters.

She frowns. “Steve…”

“That night,” he continues quickly, his eyes moving over her face. The same face. It’s been so long… how is it possible? He swallows. “I wasn’t planning to—I didn’t want to—it happened so fast.” He is stuttering and babbling but he doesn’t know how to stop. She is watching him quietly, and he tries to remember what it was that he wanted to tell her but never had a chance to. “I’m sorry for leaving you, Diana. I’m sorry that you had to do this on your own for long. I’m so sorry for—for everything.”

She touches his cheek. “Steve.”

When he looks up, her eyes are kind. He leans closer to her and rests their heads together.

“You’re here now,” she tells him, and he feels the weight of guilt lift off his chest. Just barely, but it’s a start. “There is nothing to forgive.” If it wasn’t for his arm wrapped around her, he is certain he would have flown away.

“I still don’t understand,” he admits, glancing around the room before he turns to her again.

“I will explain, I promise.” Diana runs her fingertips down his cheek and Steve covers her hand with his, turning into her touch to kiss her palm. “I will tell you everything you want to know.”

He nods once more.

He has questions, so many of them, but they all fade in comparison to the enormity to what has happened to him, to them. A chance he has never dared to hope for. Everything he has ever wanted right there, his for the taking. They have known each for one week - and a hundred years - and his heart feels so full that he can hardly breathe.

“Diana,” he starts, unsure where he was going with it. His thoughts are a jumbled mess, and she is watching him, her gaze full of wonder, making him forget how to think.

She is so beautiful, and because he doesn’t know what else to say, he says just that.

She smiles. Her hand curls over his jaw. “I missed you,” she says softly.

Steve feels the corners of his mouth tug upwards. “I missed you, too,” he confesses, which sounds odd and silly – he is not the one who has spent a century without her – and it makes her laugh a little.

He reaches behind her to pull the elastic band off of her hair and it cascades down her shoulders. She doesn’t stop him as he threads his fingers through the heavy mass, soft and smooth against his skin.

She presses a kiss to the side of his chin and rests her forehead against his again. “You look good for a 136-year old,” she tells him.

Steve laughs. “And how old are you, again?” He teases. They are quiet for a few moments, content in the comfort of each other’s presence.

After a while, he takes a breath, bracing himself for whatever comes next. “So, where do we go from here?” He asks, yearning for her answer and scared of it all at once. He would have done anything for her, anything to be with her, but a hundred years is a long time, and he doesn’t want to presume, not even after—

A void opens up between them. A hundred years feel like forever.

“What do you want to do, Steve?” Diana asks.

He watches her watch him as he searches for words.

He is a man who infiltrated Ludendorff’s circle, a man who walked – well, rode – into the German High Command like it was nothing, a man who climbed into a plane packed to the brim with poisonous gas and flew toward his death. He has done all that, and yet he has never been more terrified than he is right now. No one has ever told him that baring his heart and soul before someone he loves could feel so paralyzing.

Diana is still waiting, the pause stretching between them.

Steve twists a strand of her hair around his finger. He swallows. “I want—I want to do everything we didn’t get to do… the first time around,” he says, hoping against all hope that those are the right words. “To pick up where we’ve left off.”

“I would like that,” she whispers. “I would like that very much.”

She stands up and offers him her hand, “Come with me.”

Steve grabs onto it like it’s a lifeline and he is a drowning man and she is his salvation. Always has been.

He follows her through the quiet house and down the hallway to the last door on the left. She pushes it open and steps into the dark room, pulling him inside after her. She closes the door and turns around. Her hands reach for him, smoothing over the planes of his chest like she still can’t quite accept that he is standing right there, made of flesh and blood.

Steve lets her, watching her brows furrow ever so slightly, barely resisting the urge to smooth that frown out with his thumb.

“Diana…”

She takes a shaky breath and looks up to meet his eyes.

“You must be tired,” she whispers as she lifts her hand to touch his hair near his temple.

“Not that tired,” he says, his mouth suddenly dry because he doesn’t quite believe that he is real either, or that she is, or anyone else in the house, in this time. It felt so much more different with the smiling Barry and the rest of them around. Here, alone with her, the air feels charged and thick, filled with unsaid words and promises he never got to keep.

Her fingers curl over fistfuls of his shirt and she pulls him to her. When she kisses him, there is a different kind of hunger, different kind of longing to her touch than before. The one that coils his belly into a tight knot and sets his blood on fire. It demands and claims and consumes, and Steve is happy to oblige and surrender. He is breathing her like she is the air, the light, the everything.

“Are you sure?” He rasps when he comes up for air, his head swimming and her eyes the one thing he can see.

Diana doesn’t hesitate. “I am.”

Later, he sleeps at last, his arms wrapped tightly around her body, their legs tangled together, his mind at peace. And for once, for the first time since the war consumed them, he doesn’t dream.

—

The world is a mess.

So much more of a mess than Steve could ever have imagined. It leaves his mind reeling.

He has always prided himself on being adaptable, on coping well with changes, but that was before the reality of the future slammed into him like a freight train. There is no keeping up with it now, no taking his new life in stride. There is only holding on with all his might and praying that he is not thrown off at the next curve.

And boy, oh boy, are there many of those.

Diana tells him the truth. About herself and Ares and the secrets that her mother kept close to her heart for longer than mankind remembered itself. There is an edge to her voice when she speaks Hippolyta’s name and it catches in her throat, and Steve knows that the wound is still open and bleeding. That it might take another century for it to heal.

She tells him about the Justice League, too, and while he is fascinated, by the time she is done talking he has realized that he is not surprised it’s where he path took her. It’s in her blood. He can’t imagine her standing aside and watching the world burn. It’s a bittersweet feeling, too – pride mixed with understanding that she has had a whole life that he wasn’t and never will be a part of.

Steve thinks of her first day in his world, on the streets of London, curious and determined and taken aback by just about everything around her. Now she belongs here more than he does, and he has yet to wrap his mind around that.

The regret quells when he sees the fond look on her face, hears affection in her voice when she speaks of the other members of her team. In the few days that he has known them, he has grown to understand the sentiment, and if nothing else, he is happy that she has found her place.

“So, you guys are saving the world, huh?” He muses with a smile when she falls silent.

Diana shakes her head. “We are doing our best to keep peace,” she corrects, suddenly wistful. “The world can’t be saved, Steve. Not when it is set on the path of destruction, not from itself. But we can protect it—try to protect it when nobody else will.”

He doesn’t know how to respond to that. His instinct is to reassure her but even in his mind, the words sound empty. He knows better than to feed them to her.

One day, Steve thinks, he will ask her to tell him about the darkness she has seen and walked through, but the scars are too raw yet. He can see it in her eyes, hear it in her voice; she carries it inside of her like he does his own. Too raw and too tender to the touch, and it is not the pain that he wants to bring back.

They have time, he reminds himself, and lets the subject rest for now.

—

The world is a mess, and Steve has never felt more like a fish out of water before.

He is a little amused and a little insulted when Barry asks him if he knows what a refrigerator is. After all, 1918 wasn’t that long ago. But then Diana has to go back to Paris and he follows – there is no question about whether or not he would. He would have followed her to the edge of the world if she so wished, eagerly and gladly.

The feeling is thrilling and exhilarating and terrifying all at once.

In Steve’s memories, Paris is the city filled with pain and people trying to escape the horrors of the war. The city of hospitals for the injured and a refuge for people running away from the terrors of the front. He remembers grey streets and grey faces, the whole place a smudge in his mind like someone ran an eraser over a pencil drawing. It used to smell of dust and smoke and desperation, bleak image with bleak future.

Diana’s Paris is nothing like that. It is bright and colourful and loud. God, so loud. It sets off his inner alarms and makes him look over his shoulder more often than not. It is packed with locals and tourists, cars honking and cameras flashing. Even in the late November, with its endless rains and cutting winds, it is bursting with life.

Steve tries to match those two Parises together in his head and fails, relieved that hers is nothing like what he feared it might be and scared that it is yet another piece of puzzle that doesn’t quite fit, and might never do. Once again, he thinks of Diana stepping into his world for the first time, his life alien and wild to her. And he wonders if she felt just as lost then as he does now, or if it is different for him because he is looking instinctively for something familiar but comes up empty each time?

Her home is an obstacle course that he needs to navigate with the care and precision of a trained soldier. His boot camp has nothing on Diana’s kitchen with its shiny appliances that confuse and terrify him more than an army of angry Germans. He doesn’t understand why a stovetop needs so many settings, and apparently there is absolutely nothing like a ‘smart’ phone to make a person feel irrevocably dumb.

Steve is not used to feeling so helpless, so hopeless. So out of control.

“You know that I don’t care about whether or not you can use the toaster, right?” Diana asks him one night.

“A waffle-maker,” Steve corrects, frustrated. He has figured out the toaster, thank you very much.

She presses her lips together and tries not to laugh, earning a glare from him in response.

“I almost set your kitchen on fire,” Steve grumbles under his breath.

“That’s what we have a fire extinguisher for,” she points out, amused.

He hums noncommittally and shakes his head, looking away.

A moment later, her arms slide around his waist and she presses close to him. She rests her chin on his shoulder and a shuddered breath stutters unevenly from his chest. He curls his hands around her forearms, thumbs brushing over her wrists.

“And it is our kitchen,” Diana adds – something the she has said before but the sense of belonging hasn’t quite settled yet. Being adrift for so long, he wonders if it ever will. She presses a kiss to his shoulder, warm even through the fabric of his shirt. “Steve?”

“Hm?”

“What if it was me?”

He half-turns to her. “What?”

“After the war, if you—” she falters for a moment.

They never talk of the before, dancing artfully around the subject of his demise that didn’t quite happen, but also did. Sure, they have spoken about Charlie and Etta and Sameer and Chief, trading the stories from his time with them and hers, but there is a wall around that night, an unspoken agreement to never take it down. She is treading carefully along it now, balancing on the edge of it, and there is a tug in his stomach when she comes close to falling over.

“If it worked out differently and you lived, would it have mattered to you that I didn’t know a thing about your life?” She asks quietly.

He thinks of her on the boat, telling him that London looked hideous, in Selfridge’s under Etta’s watchful eye, in the council – equally fascinated and shocked, and his lips twitch a little, the irony in the reversal of their roles not lost on him. He remembers his own amusement and exasperation, their race against time and his desire to slow it down.

“No, of course not,” Steve says decisively. He turns around in the circle of her arms, feeling his shoulders relax, tension draining out of tight knots of his muscles. Diana nuzzles into him, tucking her face into the curve of his neck, her breath warm on his skin, and he wraps his arms around her. “Never.”

“Then why should it matter to me?”

He huffs, unable to argue with his own reasoning.

Some spy, he muses. If he allowed himself to be cornered like that on a mission, he’d be dead within a day. But, as it turns out, that’s the effect Diana has on him. Instant and absolute surrender.

It’s not about that, though. It’s not the coffee machine or her laptop that make him pause in his tracks and do a double-take at his new life. Not the new clothes that fit right but still occasionally make him feel like he is wearing someone else’s persona. He can’t say it, won’t say it, but there are still moments when he is acutely aware of the abyss between them. The one that’s always been there and might always remain.

He has yet to understand by grace of what gods did he get someone like her to love someone like him.

She is a princess and a goddess with a heart of gold. She could have had anything, anyone, and this is not something Steve takes lightly; she could have this whole world at her feet. There is never a moment when he feels like he needs to prove something to her, that he needs to earn her love and affection, but part of him still wants to know that he is worthy, and there are times when it’s not that simple.

But she is right, too. If their situation was reversed, he wouldn’t have cared for a moment. He would have wanted to be with her and he would give himself to her without hesitation. His heart – a little worse for wear but still beating, his soul – a little tired and frail around the edges, his mind and body, and everything in between.

“I love you,” he whispers into her ear.

Never tires of saying it.

—

Steve stops looking for reasoning.

Somebody told him once, a long time ago, that you don’t love someone because of their good qualities but despite their bad ones. Steve knows now that it is bullshit. He doesn’t love Diana because she is generous and kind and full of light, or because she makes his heart beat at a different pace. And he doesn’t love her in spite of her uncompromising stubbornness and impulsiveness.

He just does – because he can. Because he is lucky to have her.

He stops trying to justify it in his mind because it is not a rabbit’s hole he wants to jump into. And more importantly, he no longer feels like he needs to.

He is still learning and it’s infuriating at times. It is not just the technology and the settings on the washing machine that won’t ruin his new clothes. It is everything. The world is made of new rules – how to speak, how to act, how to be. It is a process of trial and error, and there are moments when he needs to remind himself to take a breath. The future is not going anywhere.

He likes Netflix and hates crossword puzzles because everything has changed and he doesn’t know any answers anymore. They invented a new world and gave birth to new people while he didn’t exist. How the hell is he supposed to know who the 39th President of the United States was? When did they get so many of them? Before he died, they were only on the 28th. He likes the cars and doesn’t quite appreciate Indian food that is too spicy for his palate. He does understand the concept of inflation but every trip to the supermarket feels like being robbed in broad daylight.

“We can afford some strawberries, Steve.” Diana picks the crate that he tries to shove back into the fridge and puts it into their cart.

She bites her lip around a smile, and he feels his face grow hot.

Just looking at the price tags is making him mildly sick.

“You could eat for a week on that,” Steve mutters under his breath but doesn’t try to remove anything else from the cart. She will probably send him to wait for her in the car if he does, he suspects, and chooses not to mention that strawberries are not even in season.

Diana shakes her head, her expression sympathetic. “Not anymore, I’m afraid. Not for a while.”

He huffs through his nose.

She loops her arm through his while he ignores an older lady with a young girl giving them curious looks.

Half the time, he can’t help but feel like he is drowning in information that seem to come easily to everyone but him.

He learns not to ask questions when he is not ready for answers.

—

The snow falls two weeks later, thick flakes that come late at night and turn the world outside the bedroom window into something enthralling and surreal.

Steve is sprawled half over her, his head on Diana’s chest and her arms wrapped around him, his breathing yet to be found. He can feel her fingers thread through his hair, damp with sweat, her heart hammering away in earnest into his ear.

He tries to shift his weight off of her. “I’m heavy,” he slurs, utterly spent, but Diana tightens her hold on him.

“I like it,” she whispers into his hairline and he doesn’t have it in him to protest. Not when there is a smile in her voice and he is too boneless to move.

He likes feeling every inch of her body with every inch of his. Can’t get enough of her.

There is still an edge of desperation to her touch sometimes – like she can’t hold him close enough, like she is scared that he might slip right through her fingers. Steve is not afraid of losing her, not really. Not the same way she had lost him for a hundred years. But he is, too, because she is the best thing that has ever happened to him and he doesn’t trust it to last. Doesn’t trust whatever powers-that-be that spin the wheel of fortune high above them and dictate their fates not to screw him over. It has happened before, after all, and he wouldn’t be surprised.

However, that is not to say that he doesn’t trust Diana. He trusts her more than anyone in all of creation and part of him knows that he should be wary of it, but he is not. She sees right through him when even he wants to look away. She takes him apart and puts him back together without losing even the small parts in the process, and somehow in the end he is a better version of himself than he was before. She calls him out on his bullshit but so does he, without hesitation, and sometimes it feels like a balance.

Other times, it makes him want to laugh.

They will both have to figure this out one way or another eventually, but he is not in a hurry. Truth is, he wouldn’t have minded spending forever doing just that.

“Like Veld,” Diana says quietly when he starts to doze off, snapping him back into wakefulness.

Steve focuses on the snow storm. He feels her sigh against him and holds her closer still.

“Do you remember Veld?” He asks. Can’t help but ask. Can’t help but ask so many things.

The memory is strikingly bright in his mind, every word, every touch seared into his brain for the rest of eternity. But, technically, it has only been three weeks for him. It has been a century for Diana. He wouldn’t have faulted her memory for getting blurry.

He feels her hand move through his hair once more. “I do.”

“What do you remember?” Steve traces a pattern over her shoulder with his fingers as the whiteness outside grows nearly absolute.

“Charlie singing,” Diana whispers, smiling.

“Somewhat off-key,” Steve adds with a chuckle, a low sound rumbling in his chest.

She laughs a little and he feels the curve of her lips when she brushes a kiss to his forehead. “Us dancing,” she continues.

“Swaying,” he corrects her like she did back then.

“Swaying,” she echoes, amused. “The room above the inn…”

This time, when Steve pulls back and props himself up on his elbow, Diana doesn’t stop him. His gaze trail over her face. He brushes her hair from her cheek, so drunk on her he can’t think straight.

“Yeah?” He smiles.

She grins back at him, and then laughs, her eyes crinkling, and the sound of it makes his heartbeat stutter and trip in his chest.

Talking about the past makes him realize how fleeting the present could be, and how uncertain the future is, no matter how carefully they plan it. There are reasons why this can’t work out, and reasons why it will. He decides that Diana’s smile belongs with the latter category.

Steve wants to live forever because he wants to never forget. Not anything, not a single thing. For other reasons, too, but mostly this, he thinks. Until she kisses him, and he forgets how to think for a long while.

—

Diana doesn’t have a Christmas tree. Doesn’t have a box of mismatched ornaments, either. Never has. All those years in his world, and parts of it are still as alien to her as they were when she first arrived there.

It comes up during dinner one night and is said in passing, without a hint of wistfulness – it never felt like her place, like her tradition to adhere to or her celebration to enjoy – before she moves on to telling him about her day.

Steve stares at her for a long moment, not quite sure how to feel about it, or what to say. It’s not a big deal, he knows that. In the grand scheme of things, it’s nothing at all. But maybe he could—

Maybe he could–

And just like that, Steve Trevor is a man on a mission again.

The last Christmas he can remember is the one from when he was 9, and his chest constricts with a rueful twitch even though the memory is blurred and frayed and out of focus. He hasn’t thought of that winter in so long that he can barely pull the images from the back of his mind – the candle-lit table and modest but delicious meal, the smell of food rich in his mind, and them sitting together at the table by the fireplace as the storm raged behind snow-frosted windows.

On impulse, he tries to conjure the sound of his mother’s voice but it fades off into nothing. Not even a hint of it left behind.

He wonders where those memories went and what took their place, and what happened before or after that made the magic fade. The war, he thinks. So much of it that for the longest time he didn’t know how anything else would ever fit. Good things, too. Friends and shared moments of connection; belly laughs when good spirit was all they had.

Disappointment cuts through him and he shakes his head, forcing himself to stay focused.

Steve hasn’t thought of Christmas in forever and a half. The war never took a break for celebrations, and besides, when each day they woke up and got to see the sun felt like a miracle, if seemed foolish to consider a holiday something special. Sometimes, he feels like the war has lasted for decades. Like it has never ended.

It is not about Christmas though, he decides in the end. Not really. Not in the general sense of things.

He knows he doesn’t need to earn Diana’s love any more than she needs to earn his – and god help him, she never did. He has loved her since the moment he met her. Maybe since before then even – he can no longer remember not feeling the burning tightness of it in his chest, the force of it thrumming in his veins. But it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t want to give her everything, and while laying the world at her feet and fetching each star from the sky might not necessarily be a practical plan, maybe he can start somewhere else.

Somewhere smaller, for now.

Steve has Diana’s credit card. He has only used it on groceries before, and – once – to buy her flowers. And even though she has told him many times that he can, he should, do whatever he wants with it, he has never taken her up on her offer before.

It is burning a hole in his pocket when he steps into the department store and reminds himself to breathe. The place is loud. It’s packed and full of colour and it sets him on edge (because apparently you can take a man out of the war but you can’t take the war out of a man). It makes him want to turn around and retreat to safety, wherever that might be.

Yet, there is no gunfire outside and no planes in the sky dropping bombs on the city. When hi heartbeat settles, he realizes that it is excitement that surrounds him, and so he squares his shoulders and marches on, wishing he’d made a list and worried that he will forget something.

“Is there something in particular you’re looking for?” A sales assistant whose name tag reads Jen asks Steve when she finds him gaping at the shelves and trying to wrap his mind around the choices that he doesn’t know how to make.

He blinks at her. “Huh?”

Is there?

The list would have been handy right now.

He thinks of Diana and the things that she likes – books with deep meaning but also comic strips in the morning paper and strong tea on cold nights, she likes breakfast food and wearing his shirts and having her hair down, and she really likes that thing that he does with his tongue—

Not helping.

Not helping at all.

Steve clears his throat, feeling the back of his neck grow hot.

Maybe he does need some help, just this once, because he has never felt this out of time in his life, and there is a very good chance that it will take him another hundred years to get used to the world that is no longer his, but he doesn’t have a hundred years. He only has two days.

—

He would have been surprised if everything went as smoothly as he planned so of course it doesn’t.

Steve is a decent enough cook as long as basic survival is concerned – he can assemble a mean sandwich, pour milk into cereal without spilling it, and no one makes those instant noodles like he does, hands down. However, cooking a meal is not the same thing, and even though he is fairly certain that is it not a complete disaster – hey, at least the kitchen is not on fire! – he is sceptical about the overall result.

He is debating the dilemma of lumps in mashed potatoes and whether or not it’s worth giving that mixer thing another try when Diana comes home earlier than he expected, pink-cheeked and with the snow melting on her wool coat.

He hasn’t noticed that it started again.

She is early and he hasn’t cleaned the cooking counter yet and the roast is going to need another half hour in the oven, provided he figured out how to use the damn thing correctly, and even though he knows that none of this has to be perfect – because nothing and no one is, except maybe for Diana herself but she would never agree with him if Steve told her that – he still wishes that he had more time.

For a long moment, Diana stands frozen in the doorway, her hand on the knob, her eyes moving over the Christmas tree that takes up the whole corner, adorned with bright ornaments that don’t look quite like those that Steve’s mother kept in the box that always made him think of pirates and hidden treasures, but they are shiny and pretty and, dammit, he tried his best. She takes in fairy lights strung around the room and two rather tacky-looking socks hanging over the fireplace and more ornaments that he attempted to be creative with.

(There is a present for her in one of the stockings, too. The best idea he could come up with on such a short notice that he didn’t have to pay for with her own money. It’s a braided leather bracelet that Chief made for him a while ago. He called it a good luck charm, and while Steve didn’t believe in luck, never had, he carried it with him. Perhaps because he has always believed in friendship and gratitude above all else.

He found it in the pocket of his pants the morning after Barry brought him back, the only thing he still had from his own time, aside from his father’s watch.

There is not much else he can give her, except for his heart maybe, but she already has it so a bracelet will have to do.)

“Steve,” Diana breathes, turning to him, and he is suddenly very aware of her apron that he is wearing and the flour on his hands and how half the kitchen is a mess while the other half is only a step above it.

“I thought you had a meeting,” he blurts out the first thing that comes to his mind, and grimaces when it comes out like he doesn’t want her there. Because he does. He always does.

She smiles. “I cancelled it. It’s the last day before the holidays, I sent everyone home early.”

He nods and glances around in panic, his mind racing. He turns back to her and clears his throat.

“It was meant to be a surprise,” he confesses.

Diana presses her lips around a smile. “So I see.”

“You weren’t supposed to be here yet,” he adds.

“I figured.”

She steps into the apartment and closes the door, pausing for a second to notice a wreath framing the peephole. (Steve still can remember how they used to make those themselves but now one could buy a hundred wreaths of any shape and colour like it’s nothing, and for some reason, it is mildly disorienting.)

He fumbles with the apron belt until he can yank it off and tries to smooth down his hair—and great, now there is flour in his hair, too. Smooth, Trevor. Very smooth. This is not how it was supposed to happen, he thinks. He had it planned out, and…

And he doesn’t care about any of that, not one bit, because Diana crosses the hallway and walks over to him. She shrugs off her coat and drapes it over the back of the chair – and he catches the fresh scent of winter clinging to her clothes - before dipping her finger into a bowl of sauce he has been working on when she walked in.

“This is good,” she tells him after licking it clean.

Steve gapes at her, his jaw slack. She bites her lip, trying not to laugh, and it is suddenly more than he can handle. He reaches for her, his fingers curling around her hips to pull her closer until there is no space and no air left between them, and then he kisses her like it’s been months and not mere hours since the last time he did just that.

Diana kisses him back, her hands winding into his hair.

“You didn’t have to do so this, Steve,” she murmurs against his lips when he pulls back.

He rests his forehead against hers and traces his thumb along her cheekbone. “I wanted to.”

She smiles at him. “It smells wonderful.”

Steve makes a face. “Don’t say that until you’ve actually tried it,” he warns, his voice self-deprecating. “That… um, Google thing wasn’t very helpful, if I’m being honest.”

He feels her nails scratch through his hair at the nape of his neck. “You’re a marvel,” Diana whispers, shaking her head a little, and kisses him again.

—

They eat, and even though there could be fewer lumps in mashed potatoes and the roast could have used some more seasoning, it is not half as bad. So much so that Steve can’t help but feel all puffed-chest proud because everyone starts somewhere, and having a room to grow is not something to be ashamed of.

He can take a rifle apart and put it back together in his sleep, he survived the war – or almost did, at least; he is yet to figure out how to factor Barry’s assistance into the narrative – but up until a few hours ago he was someone who Charlie once labelled as “a man who can’t fry an egg to save his life”. The roast feels like an accomplishment. (So what if the apple pie is store-bought?)

Intrigued, Diana offers to help, but he waves her off, determined to finish what he has started. It’s the least he can do.

They eat with the music playing in the background, and Steve watches her in the candlelight with fairy lights twinkling above them, a small smile on her face. And he thinks that he would travel across a thousand years to fall in love with her all over again if he had to. If he could.

When he pulls out the bracelet, recognition sparks in Diana’s eyes. Recognition and understanding when she touches soft, worn leather, old memories flaring up in her mind. He watches them chase across her expression, her features softening.

“Steve.” She looks up at him, her thumb tracing the curves of the delicate braid.

She hasn’t known his friends like Steve knew them, but so can be said about him, too. All those years that she spent with them after the war…

He is suddenly very aware of the thread connecting them – with each other and with the past. Something that runs deeper than anything he has ever felt. Something that, he suspects, will still be there long after they are both gone.

“I know it’s not much…” Steve starts and trails off.

Truth be told, he knows nothing about current trends and fashions, or what one could give to a woman who seems to already have everything, and that’s the problem – there is so much that he wants to give her, but he is only a man. The only who loves her desperately and unapologetically, hoping and praying that it’s enough.

Diana is shaking her head. “It’s beautiful,” she assured him earnestly. “It’s–”

“From Chief, yeah,” he nods.

“I don’t have anything for you,” she says as he affixes it around her wrist.

She touches his cheek with her other hand, and when he raises his eyes, he finds her watching him, her expression odd in the way he can’t read. There are still moments like this sometimes, when she looks at him like she can see into his soul, and he wonders if she can find there something that she might not like.

He has never wanted to share more of himself with anyone than he does with her. He has never been more scared to do so, too.

“I have you,” he says simply, moving closer and reaching up to tuck a piece of her hair behind her ear as he tries to bottle up the contentment that he feels around her so he can remember it for as long as he breathes. Knowing what Diana is and what she is capable of doesn’t make it easy for him to believe in magic, not entirely, but this moment - with the fire crackling in the grate and the smell of pine and cinnamon heavy in the air and the snow falling outside - is as magical as it can be. “What else can I ask for?”

“Flatterer,” she says, breaking into a smile so bright that it unravels the tight knot in his chest and he laughs before dipping his head to press his mouth to hers. She tastes of sugar and wine as she kisses him back, her hands on either side of his face.

He could do this forever, Steve thinks. Every day for a thousand lifetimes.

—

“Why would you do it?” Diana asked Barry the morning she and Steve left Gotham, their bags piled in the corner and Bruce yelling from the Batcave that the weather was about to turn for the worse and they should get going.

Barry stuffed his hands deep into the pockets of his pants and looked down at his socked toes. Mismatched, Diana noted as she watched the tips of his ears turn red.

“I saw the photo,” he told her, grimacing a little, and her heartbeat stuttered in her chest.

She never knew he could do that, run faster than time itself, and even if she did, she would never have asked him to do this. Not for her, not for anyone else, not any more than she would have used her own powers for personal gain. And here he was, standing before her and looking like he was about to get chastised for giving her the greatest gift Diana could ever imagine.

Affection pooled in her chest, her throat tight with emotion.

“Barry…”

“And the watch,” he added quickly, looking up to meet her eyes. “That time, in the Batcave, you had that watch… which I assumed was his because it was all old and ugly—sorry,” he catches himself, “and I just–” he ran his hand over his hair, shrugging a little.

As if it explained everything.

As if it explained anything at all.

She smiled and moved toward him, wrapping her arms tightly around him, his body stiff for a moment because apparently the gesture came as a surprise. “Thank you,” she whispered into Barry’s ear as a bout of Steve’s laughter carried from the lounge. “Thank you for bringing him back to me.”

The memory feels weirdly old now.

It is impossible to believe that it has only been several weeks since he ran all the way back to 1918 to pull Steve out of the plane seconds before it went up in flames. Since Steve smiled at her from across Bruce’s living room and made a hundred years that had passed since that fateful night a century ago fall away, her time without him feeling like nothing but a faint dream.

There are still moments when she can feel his absence like a gnawing tug in the pit of her stomach, a chill running through her system when she least expects it. There are times when she wakes up in the dead of the night certain that it has all been an illusion. But the pain is not as sharp. It no longer takes Diana’s breath away or leaves her gasping for air, and all she has to do is roll over and reach for him to get all the reassurance that she needs that he is really and truly back.

The process is slow, but she is healing.

On Christmas morning, the world outside is quiet and white. Steve is in the kitchen, making hot cocoa for them – like they used to do in his family. With marshmallows – because he knows that she likes it that way. He is humming under his breath, and Diana smiles despite herself watching him from the doorway, her hands itching to smooth down his rather epic bedhead, his hair sticking out in every which way.

Last night, they did a puzzle, a thousand pieces strewn over the coffee table, and talked late into the night. They drank wine and danced to the melodic ballads about finding love and the miracles that happen on snowy nights. And then he took her to bed and made her forget what it felt like to be without him. Until her world was nothing but him.

Diana runs her index finger absently over the bracelet still wrapped around her wrist. She feels magic thrumming through it, ancient magic that has existed since before her time and will still do when there is no trace of her left in this world. And she wonders if Chief knew. If he knew to keep Steve safe until his time came to return to her. And she says a silent thank you to whatever gods that made it happen, to the stars that needed to align just the right way.

Steve turns around, two mugs filled to the brim in his hands with marshmallows bobbing on the surface. When he spots her, he smiles, and her very soul unfurls in her chest, taking up the space carved out by loneliness and heartache.

He puts the mugs down and walks over to her, his arms sliding around her waist. His grin is cheeky when he glances up, and Diana has a split second to follow his gaze and notice a sprig of mistletoe above their heads before his mouth captures hers.

When he kisses her, she feels safe. Like being lost and finding her way back to where she belongs.

“Merry Christmas,” Steve whispers when he leans back, and she can’t help but smile, her heart so full it might burst.

“How many of those did you put around the house, Steve?” She asks because it’s not the first mistletoe she’s come upon and she doubts that it’s the last one, either.

Not that she minds it, all things considered.

“Hey, it’s a tradition,” he protests without answering her question. “It’s what people do…” when they have no wars to fight. He trails off, and she feels like she is drowning and soaring all at once.

Man’s world finally feels like home.

#wonder woman #wondertrevsecretsanta #wondertrevnet #diana prince #steve trevor #wondertrev #my fic #secret santa #wondretrevedit #wwedit

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mycatmoo · 6 years

Text

The Great Escape (Oumota Weekend)

Oumota weekend

Villain vs Superhero

“So this is it. The final battle.” A voice said out of nowhere as Kaito, Maki, and Shuichi entered the final room of the villains lair.

“Huh?” Kaito asks, looking around the dark room. He could barely see a foot in front of him, and he most certainly couldn’t see their enemy.

“Such a shame too. This is the most fun I’ve had in a loooong time.” The voice says with a dramatic sigh.

“Show yourself, Kokichi. We know its you.” Maki hisses.

“Maaan, still quite bitchy, huh, Maki Roll? Weell, if you INSIST. It is quite boring to have a conversation with people who cannot see me.” Kaito waited with baited breath to see the person the three of them has been chasing for a long time.

For some reason Kaito didn’t understand, he felt excited to see the smaller boy, but also anxious. Seeing him again would mean they would have to fight, and this fight would mean that they would never get to see him again. And something about the thought of never seeing Kokichi again made Kaito feel… hollow.

They waited a bit. Then a bit longer. Then a little bit longer. But still, he didn’t show up.

“Uh… where is he?” Shuichi asks, looking around. After that, they heard a “nishishi” come from behind them. Turning around, the three saw Kokichi in all his glory, wearing his cape and hat.

Immediately, Maki whipped out her gun, and pointing it at Kokichi.

“Aah come on Maki Roll! Don’t be like that! After all, the villain is supposed to give a villainous monologue before the big fight! It would be no fun if you put a gun to my head beforehand!”

“So give that monologue so I can shoot you and get this done with.”

“Maaan. You always were a buzzkill. Definitely my least favorite out of your little band of heroes. By the way, where’s Kaede and Rantaro? Seems strange that you’d leave them out.”

“They stayed in case anything went wrong.” Shuichi explained.

“Well then wouldn’t it have made more sense to bring Kaede along instead of you? After all, if what you’re thinking does happen and I wind up defeating you, wouldn’t it make more sense to have “the heart” there to keep you all going instead of “the smart guy?”

“What are you going on about this time?” Kaito asks.

“Oh, you know. Just me being me. Just spouting out random nonsense that comes to my brain.”

“That has to be a lie. You never just “spout out random nonsense that comes to your brain.” Maki growls, eyes narrowing.

“Aaah man. Ya caught me. Yes, there was a point.” Kokichi says with faux disappointment, his smile still present on his face.

“So what were you talking about?” Kaito asks, putting his hand behind his head in confusion.

“If you beat me I’ll tell you! After all, I still haven’t given my villainous monologue!”

“So get to it.” Maki growls.

“Alright alright, you don’t have to rush me!

…

Oh would you look at the time, seems I gotta blast.” Kokichi says with a laugh.

‘What?”

“Well, as it turns out, I’m not actually the final boss! The boss has finally entered the room!” And with that, Kokichi runs to the door, throwing it open then slamming it shut. Kaito hears a click come from the door, and when Maki (after chasing after Kokichi) tried opening it, she found it locked.

“Its locked.” She simply says. Then, the three of them were pounded with a blinding light. It took a bit, but soon enough, Kaito adjusted to the light.

“Thaaaat’s right losers! The dude you were following all this time? He was just a ploy! I am the actual mastermind behind everything!” A voice announces. Turning to the front of front of the room, he could finally see the rest of the room. It was like a throne room, with massive windows, elaborately decorated, and a red carpet leading to massive throne. And sitting on the throne was a woman, about their age, with pinkish-blonde hair in two ponytails.

Kaito immediately recognized who it was. It was the woman who had helped them multiple times throughout this journey.

Junko Enoshima.

“Gotta get to the secret door, quickly.” Kokichi mutters, rushing around the floating airship that his “boss,” Junko, calls her villainous home.

He knew from the beginning that Junko was the big bad terrorizing the city. After the first bank robbery where the only thing left was a simple black and white bear hairpin, he knew it. And he knew he had to stop her.

He was one of her first “followers”, and got to the second highest rank rather quickly.

She didn’t have a clue about his plan to stop her.

As he ran through the passageway leading to the throne room, he could feel his heart rushing. His brain was working in overload. He could stop worrying that his plan would fail.

That any of those three would get hurt.

That Kaito would get hurt.

At the thought of Kaito getting hurt, he shoved the feeling into a box labeled “repression.”

It wouldn’t matter what his opinion of the “hero” was, he had more important things to worry about.

Soon, he got to the door. Grabbing a taser gun attached on his pants, hidden by his cape (he left his hat on the run here) he opened the door slowly. Looking around, he saw what he estimated would happen. Junko giving a monologue while holding Shuichi to her, holding a gun to his head. Kaito, with his sword drawn, was trying to talk her out of it, while Maki looked around for a solution.

Junko had her back to him. Good. He could work with this.

Walking out slowly, he sneaks closer to Junko, making sure he cannot hear his footsteps.

It was Kaito who saw him first. He looked about ready to say something to Kokichi, but Kokichi put his finger to his mouth in a “shh” way. As soon as he got close enough to Junko, he raised his taser, and shot her square in the back.

With a scream, Junko let go of Shuichi as she fell to her knees, shaking from the taser.

“Shuichi!” Kaito immediately exclaims, rushing over to the shaking boy and throwing his arm over his shoulder.

“Come on you three!” Kokichi immediately yells, rushing over to the secret door.

“Wait, what about Junko?!” Kaito immediately calls.

“There is something MUCH more important to worry about right now!” Kokichi yells back, throwing open the secret door and turning around.

“And why should we trust you?” Maki asks with eyes narrowed.

“Just trust me. I’ll explain later.” And with that, Kokichi rushes through the door, not looking back to see if the three of them was following. With Junko out of commission for a little while, he could focus on the more threatening person to his plan. Monaca. His mind set, he rushes over to the control room of the ship.

Behind him, he could hear three sets of footsteps. So they WERE following him. Good. His plan was going swelly.

In fact, it was going too swell. Something about that didn’t sit right with Kokichi.

Soon enough, the group was at the control room. Putting his eye to the eye scanner, Kokichi opens the door. Peering inside, he didn’t see the little girl.

Good.

“Come in. I’ll explain.” Kokichi says, walking into the room. Letting the other three enter, he closed and locked the door.

“Why did you lock the door?” Maki asks, glaring at Kokichi.

“Relaaax. Its locked from the inside. Press the red button and you can leave.” Kokichi sighs dramatically, walking up to the computer. “Aaaanyway. As for the reason I stopped you from killing Junko and ending this here, well… It’s simple really.” Kokichi says, digging in his pocket for a flashdrive. Finding it, he sticks it into the computer, turning it on.

“If you DID kill her, it would initiate plan two of her Destroy the World plan.”

“What?!” Kaito exclaims.

“How would killing Junko be the start of a plan two?” Maki asks.

“All of her followers would be enraged… They would follow her plan to end the world if she died…”

“Ya. That’s why we have to defeat her without killing her.” Kokichi says, half paying attention. He had to take control of the ship and manage to pilot it to where DICE was hiding. From there, the police would swoop in and arrest everyone inside.

This plan would only work today. He fought tooth and nail to get all of the Remnants of Despair inside the ship today, and this was likely his one shot.

Only a few people knew of the secret door, and Junko would likely be able to narrow it down to him.

“Need help with that?” Kaito asks, surprising Kokichi slightly.

“Nishishi. I doubt YOU of all people would know what to do here!”

“Well it looks like you’re having some trouble with that.”

“Aaah. Does Kaito-chan CARE for me? The guy who was harassing you for how long?”

“Well it’s obvious that you are actually a good guy!”

“I prefer “anti-hero” y’know. Their more fun than just a boring old good guy. Just like you!”

“HEY!”

“Aaaand… Got it.” Kokichi mutters.

“Got what?” Shuichi asks.

“The wheel to this thing it based off your fingerprints. And it doesn’t recognize my fingerprints. I had to hack the system to reset the fingerprints. Sooo.. does any of you know how to drive an aircraft?”

“Wait, you don’t know? Isn’t all of this YOUR plan?” Maki asks.

“Uh yea. I know how to drive one of these things. But I just saved your asses. I think it’s time I get a break.”

“...Fine. I’ll do it.” Maki says with a sigh.

“Great! Put your fingers on that thing!” Kokichi announces, pointing to a small circle near the steering wheel. Putting her fingers on it, a robotic voice announces;

“Fingerprints detected. Allowing access to steer the ship.”

“Alright, where am I taking this thing?”

“Here.” Kokichi says, pulling up a map on the computer, inputting an area, and setting it to give directions.

“Alright. Lets go.” Maki sighs, grabbing the steering wheel, allowing the computer to give her directions on where to go.

When Kaito saw Kokichi sneaking up behind Junko, he felt his heart skip a beat. At first he felt anxious, scared that Kokichi was going to shoot one of them. But then he realized something when he pointed that gun at Junko.

He was on their side the entire time.

Suddenly, so much made sense. From the multiple encounters he had with Kokichi, he said many cryptic things. But now, seeing this, he realized their meaning.

He was alluding to his plan, and how he was going to betray Junko.

So, without another thought, he followed Kokichi.

Why did his heart skip a beat when he realized this?

And now, looking at the smaller boy sitting in the corner with his eyes closed, though not really sleeping, he saw him in a new light. And why is Kaito’s heart beating so fast?

“Uuh Kaito? Can you stop staring? Its kinda creeping me out.”

“Oh shit, I’m sorry.” Kaito says, quickly turning his head away.

“Neeheehee.” Kokichi says. Despite trying his best to make it not seem like he’s tired, Kaito could tell that he was. Scooting up to the smaller boy, he attempts to strike up a conversation.

“So, all this time, you were just playing Junko?”

“Yup!”

“And you were on our side the entire time?”

“Well I wouldn’t say I was on YOUR side. I was on MY side, which just happened to align with your side.”

“So about that conversation we were having before you ran off?”

“I told you. I’d tell you what I meant if you beat me, and you didn’t, sooo…”

“Ah come on, man!”

“What? You wanna fight? I still got my taser!”

“If either of you fight then I am turning this ship around.” Maki growls.

“Sorry Maki Roll.”

“Stop calling me Maki Roll.”

And the conversation started up again from there. Granted, Kokichi and Kaito DID get into an argument. Like pretty much every other encounter they’ve had. But whatever, it’s kind of expected at this point.

Eventually though, there was a knock at the door. Then another. Then a lot more.

“Huh. Guess she finally decided to show up.” Kokichi sighs, getting up and pulling out a small taser and a strange bomb. Walking over to a small trunk, he removes two strange hammers, handing them to Kaito.

“Who?” Shuichi asks.

“Monaca. She’s the technician of the group. She’s the person I was most concerned about.”

“What are these?” Kaito asks, looking strangely at the hammers.

“Electrohammers. Hit a touch, they can knock out any electronics. Monaca’s power comes from primarily from electronics, so these will be useful. And these.” Kaito says, holding up the bombs. “Are electrobombs. They block out electromagnetic waves.”

“Ah. So we’re going to have to fight robots?” Shuichi asks, grabbing a hammer.

“Most likely. Maki, don’t stop steering. No matter what.”

“I can’t promise anything.” Maki sighs.

“Alright. Let’s do this.” Kokichi says, holding up the taser, facing the door just as it opens. Just outside the door, Kaito could see a little girl with green hair.

“Huh? You technician, and the one you were most worried about, was a little girl?” Kaito asks incredulously.

“Don’t judge a book by its cover. I’m pretty fearsome.” Monaca says with her creepy smile. “You did so well, getting to this point. It took us a while to realize that you incapacitated Big Sis Junko and that you were here.”

“Nishishi. Glad you’re proud of me.” Kokichi says, putting his hand behind his head.

“Too bad that all that work was for nothing. You are a traitor, and I will not let you get in the way of Big Sis Junko’s plan.” And with that, 5 robots appeared behind Monaca. “Have fun.” Monaca says in a sing song voice, stepping behind the robots.

“Okay, the electrohammers will only be able to knock out one of exisals. There are 6 inside the trunk. I’m going to go for Monaca.” Kokichi whispers to the two boys. “Lets go.” And with that, the three of the charged.

Kaito immediately went for the exisal closest to him, a yellow one. They didn’t seem to expect this, and Kaito managed to get a clear hit on the exisal’s leg. With a sputter, the robot slumped to the ground. While he didn’t see it, Kaito felt Kokichi run past him, and past the exisal. Next to him, Kaito saw Shuichi knock out a pink one.

“Good job Shuichi! That’s my sidekick!” Kaito called with a thumbs up.

“Hey knuckleheads! Focus on the robots instead of your bromance!” Kokichi shouts, nearly dodging an arm of a red exisal swinging at him.

“Kokichi!” Kaito yells, running inside the control room. Throwing his used electrohammer, he grabs two more, Shuichi grabbing one, and runs back out. Charging at the red exisal harassing Kokichi, he swings at it, knocking that one out. He could hear Shuichi knocking out an exisal behind him. “You alright?”

“Yea, thanks.” Kokichi says without thinking, charging after Monaca, who ran away. Quickly taking out the last exisal, Kaito chases after Kokichi, throwing his two electrohammers in a random direction again.

“Stay with Maki! I’m going to help Kokichi!” Kaito yells to Shuichi as he runs. He didn’t wait for a response. Despite trying his best though, Kaito wasn’t able to keep up with Kokichi. Soon enough, he lost track of him.

Skidding to a stop, Kaito has only one thing to say. “Shit.”

Without another thought, Kaito starts running again, this time following his gut. And it seemed like his gut was right, as he soon heard a loud bang and a scream.

“Kokichi!” Kaito yells, running to where he heard the scream. Quickly, he throws the door open, and sees a simple room. Kokichi was kneeling, holding an area in his stomach, with Monaca standing over him, a gun in her hand.

Without another thought, Kaito rushes Monaca, pulling the gun out of her hand, and shoving her away from Kokichi.

“Stay away from him, you brat!” Kaito yells, standing in between the two of them.

“Kaito…” Kokichi says weakly, before Kaito heard a small thud from behind him.

“Kokichi!”

“You’re too late. Kokichi is going to die.” Monaca says cheerfully.

“Fuck you!”

“That’s a harsh thing to say to a kid.”

“I don’t care! Just come here, you brat!” Kaito yells, rushing at Monaca again, picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder.

“Let go of me!” Monaca cries, kicking and screaming. Not affected by the weak kicks and punches from the 8-something or other year old, Kaito gently picks up a knocked out Kokichi, rushing back to the control room.

“Shuichi! Help me!” He says as soon as he gets there. Upon seeing the heavily bleeding Kokichi, Shuichi gets to work, attempting to slow the bleeding. Kaito puts the still screaming Monaca in the corner, blocking the doorway.

From there, Kaito was mostly in a daze. Before he knew it, the ship landed and police rushed inside. They put Kokichi in an ambulance, and he was rushed to the nearest hospital. And before he knew it, Kaito was passed out at the side of Kokichi’s bed, head resting on the side of his bed.

“Ngh..” Kokichi groans tiredly. He couldn’t feel anything. He couldn’t see anything. And he was too tired to process anything. It felt like forever where he laid there, nothing happened, before he slowly opened his eyes. It was blurry at first. Okay, for a while. But soon enough, he got his vision back. He got his senses back. And he could finally feel stuff. He felt something in his arm. He felt warmth from the blanket. Soon enough, Kokichi realized he was in a hospital.

It took him a bit, but soon he remembered what sent him into the hospital in the first place.

“Kaito…” Kokichi whispers, too tired to be any louder. His voice was cracky, as if he hadn’t used it in a long time. Which was likely.

...How did he survive?

Managing to look around, he saw Kaito, sitting on the side of his bed, head on said bed, sleeping. He looked so peaceful.

Kokichi could feel his heart flutter. And this time, he was too tired to bury it. His box labeled “repression” burst open. Kokichi couldn’t help himself after that. Despite being tired, he slowly and shakily raised a hand to Kaito’s face with a tired smile.

When Kaito stirred slightly from the touch, Kokichi’s hand gave out. He started drifting off to sleep again. But Kokichi had one last thought before sleep consumed him again.

That he loved Kaito, and since Kaito was the one worriedly by his side when he was hurt, he likely did as well.

#Oumota #Oumotaweekend #Kaito momota #kokichi ouma #shuichi saihara #maki harukawa

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klanceweek · 6 years

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Red + Blue = Purple

submitted by autumn

Day 1

it’s my first fanfic/story, and it’s not as long as I would like but hope you enjoy!

--mod ana commenting real quick: i think i caught all the author notes for correction but if i’m wrong, please notify me thank you

Keith’s POV Yet again, we are fighting another Galra fleet. I can’t count how many we have defeated by now, and we have not had ONE break or relaxation time. It’s just been constant, eat, sleep, then fight. It’s like a never ending battle, which it basically is by this point.

(More after the break!)

What gets me however- “Ring Ring! Schmoopsy poo! I’ve missed you!” - is Lance’s “girl friend.” “LANCE!” the team shouts for the umpteenth time. “Yeesh, sorry, I’m just talking to my girlfriend, no need to shout!” The first time it was fine, the second time inconvenient, the third annoying, and the twentieth time, in the middle of battle, is an major issue.

“Lance, you need to tell your..girlfriend…to stop calling when we are fighting the Galra!” So please wait until we are back at the castle.“ Shiro replies clearly fed up with the whole situation.

Wait, did he say Schmoopsy poo? What the heck! I decide to voice my thoughts, “Schmoopsy poo, seriously Lance?”

“At least I have a girlfriend!” “Team! Focus! And Lance, hang up already!” They decide to form Voltron however they don’t even get a chance to fight because the Galra immediately flee when they see the giant robot. “Seriously!” Pidge exclaims,“We fight them for hours and they don’t even have the gal to finish the fight!?” “At least we can finally relax.” Hunk sighs. The lions head back to the castle. In the hanger everyone makes their way to the control room where Allura is waiting. They all head their, albeit very slowly, but eventually get there, whilst dragging their feet. They all have dark bags, frazzled hair, and look very worn out. Even the immaculate Lance looks tired. “Paladins, I’ve decided that we all need a break, so we won’t fight any more Galra unless it’s an emergency.” Allura states, looking quite worn herself. On cue, Lance’s girlfriend, cecilia, calls again. I head to my room intending to get some rest, when Lance bumps into my shoulder, too busy talking to Cecilia. I growl in annoyance and enter my room flopping on my bed. It feels like i’m sleeping in the clouds, maybe i’ll even get more than four hours of sleep. My eyelids start to get heavier and heavier, then bed swallowing me in it’s warm embrace, and blanket weighing me down further..“.lance…ove..ou….schmoo…”…ugh…I slowly start to wake up. The first thing I notice is that Lance is on the phone talking to someone. At 2 in the morning! Unfortunately, my room is right next to Lance’s, and he is talking so loud that I can hear him through the walls! I walk to his room and, politely, knock on the door,“Shut up Lance! Some people are trying to sleep!” Lance pokes his head out the door, whispering so he doesn’t bother the others, (yet he has no problem bothering me). “Shhh! I’m talking to Cecilia!” “And I’m trying to sleep!” “Then you should have thought of that before waking up, it’s not my problem, now shoo!” He waves his hand in a shooing motion. Something snaps… “Did you just…shoo me? Seriously! Are you fucking serious! I am so fed up with your shit! Why the hell are you even with her! You can’t possibly think it’ll last, she literally live on another fucking planet! Just break up already!” Keith yells. In hindsight he could have said it more nicely. “What do you know!” Lance shouts, “You have no right to tell me who I can or can’t date! I love her! Can’t you understand that?!” “This is not love, it’s just a little crush that is a burden to everyone.” Keith states calmly expecting Lance to understand. “What the fuck do you know! You’ve never loved anybody! You’re cold hearted and selfish! Hell, nobody loves or has ever loved you! That’s why you’re an orphan!” Lance yells, then his eyes widen in horror as he realizes what he just said. He sees Keiths wide teary eyes, mouth slightly open in shock, looking at Lance in anguish. Keith lowers his head in acceptance, shadows covering his eyes as a tear slides down his pale cheek. Lance reaches out his hand feeling his insides twist in guilt, “Keith, I-” “You’re right, no one’s ever loved me, not even my parents.” Keith whispers, voice hoarse, then desperately runs off down the hall, tears trailing in his wake. “Wait, I’M…i’m…sorry…so sorry…i’m so so sorry.” Lance sinks to his knees leaning on the door frame. Eyes misty, he curls up and harshly tugs his hair in self-hatred. This is how Shiro finds Lance as he walks around the corner, probably hearing Lance and Keith earlier. Shiro kneels next to Lance features softening into understanding,. “If you need to talk about it, i’m here for you."After a small pause he asks, "Did you have a fight with Cecilia?” “No..I-I yelled at Keith and said..something…horrible. I don’t even know why!” “What did you fight about?” Shiro inquires softly. Lance quietly explains,“I think I woke Keith up and…a-and I yelled at him saying that he…h-he…he’s never been in a…relationship..so how could he understand!” Lance laughs hollowly, “What’s funny is that i’m not in a relationship, never was, I just….was jealous and I wanted him to feel jealous or something for once besides hate.” “Look, Lance, Keith doesn’t hate you, even now. He’s more sensitive than you know and doesn’t know how to interact well with others. He’s afraid of being rejected or hurt or hurting someone else, so he never even gives them a chance. But with Voltron, us, he’s finally opening up, and he has greater feelings for you than you know.” “Well, I just smashed those feelings into smithereens. I don’t know what to do Shiro, how can I possibly make up for what i’ve done? I told him nobody loves him, but I..I lied…I…what should I do?” “Well for starters we need to find him and you need to apologize and tell him how you feel.” Shiro starts standing up, taking Lance’s hand to help him up as well. “Okay,” Sniff,“I’ll do that, but where did he go?” Hunk and Pidge walk around the corner and see Lance and Shiro. “Hey guys, why are you up so late?” “Hunk, Pidge, can you help us find Keith, he’s very upset right now and i’m worried.” says Shiro “I saw him run down the hall a while ago.” Hunk yawns. “I’ll hack the cameras and see where he went.” Pidge states, pushing up their glasses. They watch on Pidges computer as Keith heads in a seemingly random direction, then enters a vent. The rest of the paladins decide to split up in order to cover more ground. Lance wanders aimlessly, thinking about his actions and where Keith could possibly have gone. Suddenly, he remembers one time Keith took him to the top of one of the towers saying how he sometimes goes there when he feels overwhelmed. The blue paladin sprints down halls ways trying to remember how to get to the tower. Finally, he finds a purple door painted with flowers. As he scales the long winding stair, Lance can’t help but think he feels like a knight rescuing a princess. He cracks a sardonic smile at that thought, he sure doesn’t act like a knight, and that is going to stop. He is going to admit his feeling, consequences be damned. Reaching the last step, he hesitates, then squares his shoulders and opens the door. He stands in awe of the beauty of the place. Purple flowers swaying without wind, petals floating on calm music with a tone of sadness.There, in the middle of the field, Keith is hunched over, head buried in his arms. The flowers almost glow around Keith giving him an ethereal beauty. However, Lance notices the shaking of Keith’s shoulders, and a chocked sob that wrenches at his soul. He has never seen Keith cry, and in his heart he resolves to make sure the red paladin never cries from sadness again. Lance slowly approaches, carefully avoiding crushing the flowers. He kneels behind Keith and reaches his arms around the black haired pilot, gently embracing him. Keith gasps as he snaps his head up towards Lance. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean what I said. I can’t tell you how sorry I am, and I don’t expect you to forgive me but, I wanted to tell you that people do love you. The whole team loves you Keith.” “How do I know you’re not lying. No one’s ever loved me before, as you said. How do I know you’re telling the truth?"Keith tries curling up tighter to distance himself from Lance. "Because Keith, I…I love you…more than a friend or brother…I love love you, I have for a while now, and i’m sorry I deceived everyone, but I was never in a relationship."Lance explains, wrapping his arms tighter around the other paladin. He can hear the others fast heart beat and erratic breathing. Lance sees how Keith’s eyes are red and puffy, but a glimmer of hope is there and Lance grasps the chance like a life line. He tilts Keith’s chin up, their lips meeting in a gentle kiss. Keith freezes in shock, then tears fall again and he kisses back with fervor. Lance brushes his tongue against Keith’s lips, and the later gasps allowing a deeper kiss. They stay there a while embracing the other surrounded in a field of purple flowers. They lay down and look up at the sky, stars reflect in Lance’s eyes as he softly grasps Keith’s hand. Feeling for the first time truly loved, Keith lets one more tear roll down his face, landing on the petal of a blue flower intertwined with a red. ~The End (sorry if it seems rushed or if somethings wrong, I wrote this in under 4 hours, although I have been planning this for a while. I also didnt edit it. I might go back and add much more some other time. Hope you enjoyed it though! I know I enjoyed some of the others!)

#day one #i can't tell which week this is from fuck #sorry autumn!! i love you my friend #klance #fanfic #submission

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midnight-weblum-hunting · 6 years

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The Adam Conspiracy Theory

This could be seen as a theory or perhaps a fanfiction idea. Whichever the case, here it is. So, before I start posting theories on Tumblr, I usually let it stew around in my head for a few days so I don’t look back and realize that it didn’t make any sense; I’m strange that way.

But anyway, it’s about Adashi/Shadam and the possibility of Adam’s survival.

“This may be the worst post in the Galra Empire! BUT IT IS MY POST! VICTORY OR DEATH!”

So, let’s begin with a fun topic.

Adam’s Death:

So, I’ve seen a couple of people talking about how when the other pilots died, there were purple lights. But with Adam? It was orange. So, this could be his dashboard reflecting off his helmet (was his dashboard orange?) and this is already the first clue.

So, what if a ship crashed into him, cutting off the connection on his suit to the Galaxy Garrison, sending him crashing down in the desert? Now, you may wonder ‘but the crash could’ve killed him!’

Did the explosion kill Veronica? No, it didn’t. And the paladins crashed many, many times. Although, they are backed up by having lions with super strong Altean armor.

So, let’s say he crashed and he was injured in the crash. A galra found him but didn’t kill him. You may be asking yourself what made Adam so special that the galra decided to take him in as prisoner and not kill him? Well, here we are with the next part!

Shiro and Kuron:

In the first episode of the first season in the first scene, we are introduced to Shiro, Sam, and Matt on the Kerberos mission. And they get abducted by aliens like not even two minutes into the episode.

Sam was sent to work as an engineer, Matt got injured by Shiro so he wouldn’t have to fight while Shiro stayed and became the Champion. Of course, we know fighting wasn’t the only thing Shiro did. He was also being experimented on. And that’s where the magic happens.

Jumping to the topic of Kuron! Or ‘Giro’ because there’s something weird about calling him ‘clone’ in his own language... it just doesn’t settle right. Anyway, he was the clone of Takashi Shirogane. He had all of Shiro’s memories and most of his personality and mannerisms. But there lays the question of how Haggar got to give Giro Shiro’s memories? Well, I think she copied his memories so she could have an insight on lifestyle on Earth, perhaps see the military’s defense and... blackmail.

This theory is backed up by something she said in ‘The Black Paladins’.

“The Red Paladin’s connection to you runs deep... deeper than the others.”

So, either she observed this in one of Keith’s many ‘must save Shiro, must save SHIRO’ moments or... she saw the origins of Keith and Shiro before any of us. She knew the connection the two of them shared. And in seeing Keith in those memories, she must’ve seen Adam as well.

Adam was Shiro’s fiance and she could see how much he means to Shiro. She probably kept this in mind, in case anything goes wrong. Well, Keith won the battle with Giro. That must count, right? Something went wrong. Shiro came back. And now with Shiro here, this plan would rise.

Sendak and Haggar:

In the episode ‘Kral Zera’, Sendak is introduced as Haggar’s ‘puppet’. The one she was using to take over the throne. It was also noted that Sendak fought by Zarkon’s side since the beginning. He was Zarkon’s first in command. It makes sense why Haggar used Sendak for the purpose of taking over.

Instead, Lotor was victorious. Skip a season later where Voltron disappeared for three years. Haggar disappeared but I won’t go into what she was doing now.

At some point, she must’ve told Sendak about Shiro’s memories and he knew he had to take Adam as a prisoner as blackmail. Sendak dies but the other galra still have Adam with them, perhaps taking him to Haggar.

So... what does this mean?

Well, make your own conclusion. Or write this as fanfic or whatever; but my personal one is that Haggar is going to use Adam against Shiro. She has his ex in her ship or whatever and if they make a wrong move, she won’t hesitate to kill him. I think that this would be an interesting story to see unfold on screen, but I’ve only thought of this one for like two weeks or something and not entirely sure how sensible it is.

But hey! Adam could survive!

More backup?

Well, I read somewhere that Adam was a fantastic pilot. I don’t know if that’s canon or not but why else would they send him out to fight a Galra fleet?

#voltron season 7 #maybe spoilers but i don't know if we still tag as spoilers at this point #if there are any typos then I apologize #this is the 4th time I'm rewriting this post #vld #adam #adam lives #theory #or fanfic idea

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allofbeercom · 6 years

Text

The final bar? How gentrification threatens America’s music cities

Austin, Nashville and New Orleans have thrived on the success of vibrant music scenes. But as rents rise and noise complaints become more common, do they risk ruining what made them famous in the first place?

At a Sixth Street bar in the heart of Austin, Texas a pop up version of Sebs jazz club from the Hollywood hit film La La Land is being set up its blue letters yet to be switched on. Nearby, a replica of Breaking Bads Los Pollos Hermanos fast food restaurant has appeared, causing a minor Twitter frenzy.

These are just two of the attractions materialising in the city in time for the music and media festival South by Southwest (SXSW), and throughout the 10 days of the event it is hard to find someone who isnt wearing an official SXSW wristband worth $1,000.

What started 30 years ago as a celebration of Austins local music scene, though, is now in danger of harming the very thing that made it unique. SXSW brings in hundreds of artists from around the world, 200,000 visitors and $325.3m (250m) to the citys economy. Its success has helped Austin establish music as a fundamental part of its development, but at the same time, as many as 20% of musicians in this self-appointed live music capital of the world survive below the federal poverty line.

According to a recent study by the Urban Land Institute, the city is in the effective 11th hour of the endangerment of the live music scene, brought on by Austins rapid growth it is now the fastest growing city in the US in terms of population, jobs and economy.

A downtown wall mural in the shadow of new high-rise construction in Austin. Photograph: George Rose/Getty Images

Its a difficult reality for the city to confront. Austin is one of the three major US music cities, alongside New Orleans and Nashville, that have capitalised on this local culture at the risk of ruining the scenes that made them famous in the first place. In Austin, the local live music scene is now paying the price for its success. Brian Block, of the citys economic development office, says despite an apparent city-wide financial boom, local musicians income is at best stagnating, and possibly declining.

Hayes Carll, a 41-year-old Grammy-nominated artist who recently won Austins Musician of the Year, says that for most Texans, Austin is the mecca of music cities. It was where it all came together: the songs, the record stores, the community, the identity. It was the first place I went where I could say Im a singer-songwriter and they didnt ask me what my real job was.

Music lives throughout Austins 200 or so venues, the annual music awards and festivals, and the many brilliant artists including Townes Van Zandt and Janis Joplin who have called it home. It was where Willie Nelson allegedly reunited the hippies and rednecks when he first went on stage at the Armadillo World Headquarters in August 1972. Today, Austins love of local creativity is immortalised in folk singer Daniel Johnstons Hi, how are you? mural, depicting his iconic alien frog near the citys university.

SXSW brings $325m to the Austin economy each year. Photograph: Larry W Smith/EPA

But despite this rich history, long-standing venues in Austins downtown Red River District are being forced to adjust to an influx of new neighbours mostly expensive condos or hotels. Rising rents have forced venues like Holy Mountain and Red 7 to close, while noise complaints are an ongoing problem hotels offer earplugs for a better nights sleep.

Therere some less than wonderful aspects to the growth process, and I know a lot of friends who have had to leave Austin, says Carll, a Texan who has lived here for 12 years. Austin is going to have to fight to keep some of the things that made it special like the affordability and how you could be yourself and do whatever you wanted. When you become the hot cool city that everybodys moving to, some of that freedom can get pushed out.

The city government is keen to stress that theyre working to preserve the live music scene. In 2013 the Red River District was given its cultural title to highlight its local significance. Block says they are now implementing a Red River extended hours pilot programme in the hope that an extra hour of live music on the weekend will bring increased revenues to help cope with rising costs, and more paid work for the musicians.

Willie Nelson performs in his annual 4th of July Picnic at the Austin360 Amphitheater. Photograph: Gary Miller/Getty Images

The city is also revising its land development codes for the first time in 30 years in an effort to raise the profile of entertainment districts. There are other support systems that come from outside government too, such as Haam which provides access to affordable healthcare for low-income musicians. Music is very important to the culture, to the local economy and I think it will remain so. Hopefully we can get ahead of the issues we know are coming, Block says.

But some feel its too late. Im worried Austin will change negatively, says Carll. Its great that Austins identity revolves around music, and that the city government is trying to do things to correct it. But none of that will matter if musicians cant afford to live there, or the venues are shut down because of noise complaints, or you cant get to the venue because youre stuck in traffic on the highway.

New Orleans: music from cradle to grave

Louis Armstrong and his All Stars in a still from director Arthur Lubins musical New Orleans. Photograph: Frank Driggs Collection/Getty Images

Across the state border in Louisiana, New Orleans is facing similar problems as it develops and gentrifies. There are fears that without local government actively supporting musicians, the scenes survival could be at risk.

How do you keep a [music scene] real and authentic and yet encourage people to get involved? Its a paradox, says Jan Ramsey, editor of local magazine OffBeat. Theres an authenticity to the music and the people who make it, and the integration of black and white culture here we never want to lose that.

John Swenson, journalist and author of New Atlantis, Musicians Battle for the Survival of New Orleans says the music accompanies you from the cradle to the grave; its born out of the neighbourhoods and permeates all levels of society. Jazz was born here, tracing back to the mixture of African drums and European horns played by slaves in the late 19th century; and part of its musical heritage is a long list of prodigious artists, from Louis Armstrong to James Booker.

The Spotted Cat. Photograph: Alamy

This culture attracts some 10 million tourists to the city each year. But what is unique about it and gives the scene greater strength is how it has become an invaluable lifeline for the citys regeneration after the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

In the Spotted Cat, one of the long-standing venues on Frenchmen Street, manager Cheryl Abana talks quietly as a jazz singer performs to a crowded room. For a couple of years [after Katrina] it was pretty sad here and the music scene really helped out with trying to get everyones spirits up. It really helped build the city up again, she says.

One of the most successful programmes to support the creative community following Katrina was Musicians Village, devised by Harry Connick Jr and Branford Marsalis alongside Habitat for Humanity. Situated in the Upper Ninth ward one of the places hardest hit by the hurricane it is a community of homes built by volunteers to support displaced musicians. Its a symbol to musicians that my community will be there when I get back; were going to keep that tradition alive, says Jim Pate, executive director of the New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity.

A decade on, and artists of all genres and ages live in the village, including some of the godfathers of New Orleans heritage like Little Freddie King. The musicians came back to New Orleans because music lived here, says Swenson.

People listen to music at a home in Musicians Village. Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

Nashville: the original music city

In Nashville, Tennessee, just a few blocks away from the famous honky tonk highway of Broadway, mayor Megan Barry sits in her office overlooking the state capitol. She is surrounded by motifs of Nashvilles music history: theres a framed photograph of DeFord Bailey sitting on the steps of the Ryman auditorium, the first African American to perform at the Grand Ole Opry; and in the foyer hangs a painting by Chris Coleman of Kings of Leon. He gave it to Barry as a gift.

Music is everywhere. Although it has a heritage as influential as New Orleans, here it spreads further: from inside the mayors office and the governments music council, to pretty much everyone you meet in the city who either plays it, writes it or listens to it (every taxi driver I meet is a musician; my Airbnb host is a songwriter).

As soon as I mention the phrase music cities, Barry interrupts jovially: Well, I think theres only one! Music has been part of Nashvilles foundations since the 1800s when it established itself as a centre for music publishing. Its heritage goes back to the Fisk Jubilee Singers who were based here the African American a cappella band who were the first musical group to tour the world, raising money for freed slaves. Upon hearing them, Queen Victoria allegedly coined Nashvilles title as a music city, which is now plastered across Tennessee billboards.

Bars and honky-tonks line Broadway in Nashville. Photograph: Brian Jannsen/Alamy

In 1925, WSM radio station was founded, which went on to broadcast the Grand Ole Opry now the longest running radio show in the US that gave rise to some of the greatest names in country music. Music Row, the 200-acre area near downtown at its peak housed 270 music publishers, 120 record production agencies, 80 record manufacturing companies, 80 booking agencies and more. Elvis Heartbreak Hotel was recorded here at RCA in 1956; Bob Dylans Blonde on Blonde was recorded nearby at Columbia Recording studios 10 years later.

Now, the $10bn industry music industry provides 56,000 jobs, supporting more than $3.2bn of labour income annually. We cant undersell its importance to our overall economic viability and continued growth and prosperity, says Barry.

Nashville is projected to grow by 186,000 residents and 326,000 jobs in the next 25 years, and like Austin, has to confront uncomfortable growing pains in the form of gentrification. But music is firmly intertwined with the citys municipal plans for how it will develop in the future.

DeFord Bailey was the first African American to perform at the Grand Ole Opry. Photograph: GAB Archive/Redferns

The city provides affordable housing for musicians, and music programmes for school children, as we know our graduation rates go up when kids are involved in music, says Barry. They go on and they have a career in music and then it feeds the job creation. Its about feeding that pipeline.

I think that although music evolves and changes, the ability for Nashville to grow and change with it has been part of our success.

At Dinos bar in east Nashville, 26-year-old musician Cale Tyson is sipping on a beer. He is one of thousands of artists who moved here because of its history. I feel like Nashvilles a town where musicians are treated really well. I dont think anythings closed off here, says the Texan singer-songwriter. In Nashville the competition and being around so many good artists forces you to work a lot harder.

People continue to migrate to Nashville because of this (about 100 a day), and this influx has inevitably changed the music scene for better or worse. The country music capital of the world which ignited the careers of Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn and Kitty Wells to name just a few is now home to a burgeoning hip hop scene in the citys so-called DIY clubs. Jack White moved in and set up a branch of Third Man records in 2009, while bands like Paramore, Kings of Leon and the Black Keys have all migrated here.

Nashville has even spawned a genre called bro country, where burly men sing about chewing tobacco and celebrate being a redneck (with lyrics that repeat red red red red redneck), their odd rap verses a world away from the original country music that formed the soul of this city.

But the commercialisation of Nashville has led to accusations that country music is dead. A few years ago US country singer Collin Raye made a heartfelt plea for the city to get back to its roots and remember the musicians who built and sustained the Nashville industry and truly made country music an American art form, he said. It needs to be that way once again. God Bless Hank Williams. God Bless George Jones.

And people are still trying to keep this alive. I dont think traditional country went away, says Brendan Malone who runs a traditional honky tonk an event celebrating country music in the east of the city. The fire was still kindling. It just needed to have some gasoline poured on it.

At Malones Honky Tonk Tuesdays, a man in a check shirt is barbecuing some ribs in the car park of the US army veterans club. Inside, ageing regulars sit at the bar nursing whiskeys to the sound of Hank Williams on the juke box.

In the main room, men and women of all ages wearing Stetsons and western shirts take turns two-stepping with each other as the band covers songs of Ernest Tubb and Red Foley. They perform against a backdrop of the US flag laid out in fairy lights.

Theres a sincere sense of pride in Nashvilles history here, despite how far the city and its culture has changed. With support from the mayors office to the local community, it seems Nashville took a bet on music and it paid off.

Follow Guardian Cities on Twitter and Facebook to join the discussion, and explore our archive here

from All Of Beer http://allofbeer.com/the-final-bar-how-gentrification-threatens-americas-music-cities/

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noxitic-blog · 7 years

Text

"Soon"

I JUST HAD A SAD KLANCE AND VOLTRON FAMILY FANFIC IN MY HEAD . HERES GOES NOTHING .

Keith and Lance where both fighting Axca and Ezor . Keith had the upper hand against Axca , meanwhile Lance was having a difficult time due to ezors ability to be invisible . Keith sees that lances is having difficulties and tries to help him , only to be stopped by Axca . He had no choice other than to defeat Axca and save Lance later.

“Lance . please hold on a little longer”

Every minute passing by , Lance gets weaker and weaker , hes unable to block to her fast shots . His shots werent also landing on her due to her invisibility and fast cloaking …..his hope starts to wither , Can he win this fight at all? . Ever since he piloted the Red Lion , he questioned his abilities . Allura pilloting the blue lion learned new techniques faster then he did . Hunk and Pidge were the brains . Shiro and Keith were the leader and had good fighting abilities . His fighting ability is good ,but he always had to argue with his head due to his brain telling him to give it up and . Ever since then , He starts to question his stand on the voltron team , was he holding the team back ? Was he even useful in fights? Was he always going to be the 7th man? .

As Lances starts to lose subconscious , Ezor uses the oppertunity to finish him off due to his weak state , she prepares her final attack . Lances visions starts to slowly blur and he starts to remember his home town , his mom and his family . The beach he always loved , the pilot simulator with Pidge and Hunk , saving Shiro and meeting Keith and arguing how he was the one to save Shiro , his first time piloting the blue lion , meeting Coran and Allura . And lastly his vision is Keith smiling at him and telling him

“leave the math to Pidge”

the flashbacks ends and ezors deadly attack hits Lance . Keith was busy fighting Axca when he heard a loud cracking beam he turns to see what happened and saw lance on the floor bleeding from his stomach and mouth . Then another loud sound was heard , it was Shiro , Pidge and Hunk . Shiro yelling at Keith to go to Lance

“keith go to lance , we will attack these two!!”

Keith agreed and started running towards Lance and terrified due to the amount of blooding coming out of lances body .

Keith pulls up Lances upper body towards his lap

“Get it together Lance , we will get you to the ship and get you healed up ”

Lance weakly looks up at Keith and asks with a weakly voice

“did you think I was a good addition to the team?”

Keith gets a flashback of their talk they had when Lance walked to his room to talk about the lions and whos piloting which lion , up until now , he never realized . Lance wanted reassurance that he was wanted in the team , that he was important and not a standby . He realizes that Lance would step down due to the fact that he felt he wasnt good enough . Keith realizes and starts shouting

“idiot , youre the sharp shooter of this team right ? , youre the one who stopped me from going getting everyone killed when Shiro wasnt here to guide us , now Im getting you out of here and getting you onto the ship ”

Keith picks up Lances and puts him in his back . Lance lays his head on Keiths shoulder and heading facing opposite from keiths face . Keith turns his head towards Lance .His face turned the other way . Only the back of his head was to be seen .

“youre vital to this team , youre the blue lion , now the red lion . Dont ever think of yourself as a burden , because thats far from what you are ”

Lance turns to look at Keiths face he had a look of determination , sincerity , but also a troubled on his face .

Lance was confident that Keith said that out of his heart and not out of pity . He was always straight to thhe point . Lance smiles and lays his head on keiths shoulder now getting a side view of Keiths face . His mullet was tickling his chin . He giggled a little bit .

He was thankful for everything and anything that was given to him for every oppertunity that was brought upon him . Saving the world wasnt such an easy job and he was glad he was apart of voltron family . Lance smiles and tears stream down his face and says “thank you ….keith” .

Keith stops at his steps and started to worry as couldnt feel Lances heartbeat pouncing on his back anymore . He glances at Lance . And he saw the dried tear streaks , the blood and marks from battle ,he was saw that his face seemed content and a smile can be seen on his lips .

Shiro , Pidge and Hunk were still fighting Ezor and Axcia , Prince Lotor ordered both of them to evacuate immediatly and left . Shiro , Pidge and Hunk started to run towards Keith and Lance and start to slow down as they saw Keith slowly pulling lance off his back and into his lap . Keith shocked and terrified . He didnt want to believe what he was seeing . Shiro , Pidge and Hunk go to Keiths side and see Lance looking peacful in his slumber . Slumber as they thought until theyve seen how lifeless his body was . Stomach wasnt moving . No signs of him moving whatsoever . Three of them in shock and tried to tell themselves that this wasnt real . Just a stupid dream . A prank by Lance himself .

A voice stopped them from their thoughts and the voice was contacting them from the main ship , it was two people . Coran and Allura. Both commanding them to the ship immediately before the place turns into ashes .

The three of them of them looked at one another and back at Keith , Keith was still denying the reality of it all . The reality of loosing someone close to him yet again , first it was his mom and dad and now …. its Lance . Shiro saw distress look on Keiths face stepped in , he laid his hand on Keiths shoulder and said “Lets get him back on the ship and see if Allura or Coran can help him ” Keith actually agreed and didnt hesitate

“Yeah we should , hes just sleeping hurry lets go and wake him up h-he needs to heal ”

Keith carried Lance bridal style and started running towards his Red Lion . Shiro , Pidge and Hunk looked at Keith as he ran towards th the red lion . Still in shock from whats happening , they keep telling themselves .

“Lance is just goofying around like he usually does ”

was the only thing they can think of as to not accept the reality of it all . The three of them wanted to think he was still alive and well . It was the only way to keep their sanity alive . They looked and each other and ran towards their lions .

Keith got into the lion and layed Lance down in his lap . Keith tries to get the red lion working ,but The red lion was not complying with Keith. This wasnt his lion anymore . The red lions new paladin was Lance . Keith gritted his teeth started banging on the control pannels and screams

“Please ! Red lion , please , I NEED TO GET HIM TO WAKE UP PLEASE DONT DO THIS TO ME RIGHT NOW” Keith started begging for the lion to get it to start up .

“Please I know youre not my lion anymore , but we still have a connection together . you were my first Lion . and I need to help my friend PLEASE” screaming on the top his lungs and the red lion lit up and started functioning. Keith held on to Lances lifeless body As The Red Lion started heading towards the ship .

When they were inside the ship . Keith carried Lance and ran straight towards Coran and Allura . Behind him was Shiro , Pidge and Hunk running . Keith entered the room where Allura and Coran was and screamed

“ALLURA CORAN PLEASE I NEED YOUR HELP”

Allura and Coran to turn around to see Keith carrying Lance . Allura and Coran shocked to see Lances body badly wounded . They were worried about what happened to him. Keith puts Lance down and scrambles on his feet grab Allura and Corans hand to begged of them to bring back Lance . They were both shocked .

“What do you mean bring him back keith?” Allura questioned him , afraid of the answer but wanted to hear it anyways .

“He-hes still alive I know it , but please try to do something to get him moving again”

Allura and Coran both frooze . L-lance is gone? Lance is gone? N-no thats impossible .

The three of them walked in . They saw Keith on his knees begging Allur and Coran .

Shiro, Pidge and Hunk started heading towards Lance .

Pidge looks at Lance and says “h-hey stop messing around now , wake up hey! ” Pidge recieved no respond .

“P-please , Lance ” .. Pidges voice starts to tremble and shake “T-this isnt funny anymore ” she couldnt stop the tears forming in her eyes . “Hes….really gone..?“Pidges glasses starts to steam as strong tears starts streaming down her eyes . Realization was hitting her hard , she didnt want to believe hes gone . The tears wouldnt stop , she huged Lances body and repeatedly shook him and said “P-please Lance dont do this to us , wake up ”

“No no not you to , first my father and brother . N-now its you”? !!? Why is life heing unfair to me?!! “ Pidge crying on Lances lifeless body cradling him hoping he would wake up soon. Hoping it was just a stupid prank .

Hunk and Shiro looking at Lances body on the floor . Hunk started to walk towards Lance and Pidge slowly , Hunk sits on his knees and grabs Lances right arm , taking his hand and holding up to his cheek.

” He B-budy” Hunk couldnt stop his voice from croaking . He closed his eyes and held Lances hand tighter . “Lance , r-remember when we trai-ning on the pilot simulator?” Hunk opened his eyes looking at Lance for an answer . Hunk closed his eyes again , he didnt want to see his face like this . Bruised up , and lifeless . He had a smile , but a smile that saddens him because it meant im at peace please continue on without me…

“R-remember when we met Shiro and Keith , you were bickering with Keith , saying you were the one to save Shiro”

-Flashback-

“no no no no , im going to be the one to save shiro”

Lance says as he moves the table and grabs Shiros other arm .

Keith looks at Lance questioningly and asks “ who are you”

“Who Am I ? The names Lance” looks at Keith and keith still looked clueless .

“We were at the same class at the garrisons” keith asks “really?Are you an enginner ”

Lance answers “No im a pilot , we were like rivals you know lance and keith neck to neck”

“Ohh wait I remember you , youre a cargo pilot ”

“Well , not anymore im fighter class now thanks to you washing out ”

“Well congratulations”

Flashback ends .

Hunks voice starts to crack and tears rolls down his face . “R-remember when we first came here at the castle . And met Allura and Coran , you catched allura started to flirt with Her” hunk sniffled and laughs a little -flashback- Lance catches Allura Allura looks up at Lance , and asks

“Who are you?”

“Im lance , and youre right here in my arms”

-flashback ends-

“ remember when we first couldnt form voltron”

flashbacks of all of them trying to form voltron from the ground up , but wouldnt work and they tried every single tactic and it was no use . Everybody was drained and wanted nothing more then to lie down and rest .

Hunk opens his eyes , he still wasnt getting a response , He couldnt contain himself any longer and started cry profusely . Pidge looked up to see Hunk . They both look at each other and cried hard . Truly they were heartbroken by the loose of there team mate and a good friend . Hunk looks back at Lances face again

“I-if you dont wake up you wont be able to eat my special meals anymore ”

Pidge offers her hand to Hunk and Hunk puts her hand on his other cheek .

“If - you dont wake up , we wont be able to make anymore good and bad memories ”

Hunk let out a loud cry , he couldnt surpress it any longer . His friends lifeless body next to him , he realized they wont be able to hear his jokes and picklines anymore , not able to hear his voice anymore , not feel his presence , not form voltron without him .Everything would be so dull without him .

Shiro looks at Keith , Coran and Allura and looks at Hunk and Pidge crying over Lances body .

Shiro felt horrid due to the fact that he told Keith that maybe Coran and Allura can help , but that only lead the boy clinging on to the hope that was never there . He didnt know what to say or think at the time , yet he was the leader . He haded to know what to say to Keith . He was a bad leader .

“no shiro its no the time to think about that right now” as he told himself in the head , he started walking towards Keith , Allura and Coran .

Allura on the verge of tears and Coran trying to stop Keith from doing the unimginable and wake up to reality . Allura speaks

“Im so sorry Keith , theres nothing I c-can do . Hes already gone” keith was ready to retort . Suddenly , Shiro puts his hand on Keiths shoulder and Keith turns around , “Please Keith , go see him and say everything what you need to say ” Keith turned around to face Shiro wide eyes about to explain that Allura can save him she has powers maybe she ca- Keiths trained of thought stopped when Shiro started speaking .

“its not easy for us , The pain of loosing someone close to us , the pain is unbearable …… I know its hard for you to accept right now , but please dont try to push the impossible to be possible.

Keith looks at Shiro and looks back at Coran and Allura . Coran and Allura looks dreadful from the battle and also sorrowful from the news of the loosing a team mate . Keith realized his mistake . He wasnt the only one mourning for Lance . People in this ship were his friends to . He wasnt alone on this .

“I-im sorry Allura and Coran . ” Keith looks down on his feet and started walking towards Hunk and Pidge . Pidge and Hunk looked up at the shadow above them . Keith looked down and saw their running nose and blood shot eyes .

Keith sits next to both of them . And looks up at Lances face . Keith smiles and looks down again . And grabs onto Lances shirt .

….you idiot” he whispered “ you werent supposed to die , your mission was not to die and … save people ” Hunk and Pidge look at Keith and put their hands on his shoulders .

..y-you have n-no idea how much you mean to this group , ye-t you belittle yourself” Keith started to talk more louder , he looked up at Lances face again , Tears streaming down his face slowly .

“Y-oure important to us , important to me ” Keith whipping out the tears that stream his face

“You saved me from making bad decisions that wouldve jeporadized our lives …. comforted me …. youve made us laugh , saved peoples lives … yet how can you belittle yourself and say you were never enough or good? ”

keith was angry at Lance , but sadden that he had to carry that fake screen of being happy go lucky all the time , when he was crumbling inside .

Shiro , Coran and Allura walked over to the rest of the team mates and they all huddle together next to Lance .

“T-thank you for everything Lance , Im so sorry Iv hit you many times , ignored your pick up lines , but as time came , we bonded and became good friends . I-im really glad I had the honor of piloting the blue lion .” Allura broke into tears as she remembers all memories they all had together.

“Y-you were to me , like a son , young fella . You are handsome and always capable of making people laugh and brighten up their mood ” Coran put his right arm on his heart

“Thank you for being a brave warrior and savior of the universe young fella” he bowed down his head and paid respects to a fallen comrade .

“L-lance , Im really glad you and I met . Im glad I met everybody in here . Being praised by you , forming voltron with you , saving people with you . It - it was all …….

Shiro broke down , he couldnt take it anymore , yes he was a leader alright , but there are times that emotions can take a hold of you to the point of not being able to hold in any longer . Yes hes a leader . A leader who leades the way to victory . A leader who leades with no msitake and shows no emotions . Leaders are supposed to show everything , the good and the bad . Its never never bad to cry . Its Never bad to show emotion for a fallen comrade . Fallen friend .

“Thank you for all the times youve made us laugh , saved us and most of all , thank you for being a good friend” Shiro along with everybody bawled . Keith looked around . These people . Lance

“Do you see this?” The faces of the people that love you “ ……..

Keith looks at Lance . Still smiling on his deathbed .

“L-lance we all love you , thank you for everything . ” Hunk hiccuped and hugged Coran for support . Coran massaged his back and whiped away his snot with tissue .

Keith grabs Lances hand holds it tight . Not ever letting go . Not yet .

“ L-lance , t-thank you for being a rival , a friend ……. thank you for giving me a chance to ……like somebody like you ”

Keith smiles as he takes his other hand and caresses his cheek softly .

“See you soon”

#klance #laith #keith kogane #lance mcclain #vld #voltron #voltron legendary defender #fanfic #keith #lance #pidge gunderson #katie holt #hunk #hunk garrett #voltron coran #allura

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shyloft · 7 years

Note

u should answer the rest of the 21p questions

god…..damn it this is why you guys should just send me these questions bc u KNOW avia is gonna come in my ask and make me drop this big ass post. learn from this

what are your top five favorite songs by them at this moment?holding on to you, fall away, forest, trapdoor, we don’t believe what’s on tv

have you ever introduced them to a friend or family member, and they ended up being a fan as a result?yes omg!! i’ve turned a few of my like….occasional listener friends into actual fans and i introduced my roommate to them and she really likes them?? she drew me josh for my bday like a few weeks after i love her

have you met any amazing friends because of twenty one pilots? tag them!@chalupacabras @slampoety @stalk-softly @vesselbf I HAVE MORE TREASURED MUTUALS!! I DO AND I LOVE YOU ALL BUT these ppl are the ones i talk to like….a lot. and i also have some AMAZING friends irl who i became much better friends with once we started bonding over 21pwhat other musical artists have you found because of twenty one pilots?FINISH TICKET BITCH OHHHH MY GOD i didnt get to see them live but all my friends did and my best friend played them in the car all the time so? thanks josh and tyler for bringing me finish ticketreese’s puff or waffle crisps?ive never had waffle crisps in my life but josh did get them rush delivered from amazon to my venue for my first show and made tyler put it in the trees speech and ruined my and courtney’s crying partywhat’s your favorite tattoo of tyler’s?i was going to say the cross and hourglass on his chest but when i googled them just now i found out that his roman numerals on his arm were his first tattoo and i almost cried because MY FIRST TATTOO WAS MY ROMAN NUMERALS? I DIDNT EVEN KNOW wow

what’s your favorite tattoo of josh’s?MOM

do you have any of their merch?yes unfortunately i spent a lot of fucking money on the uglyass ers 2016 shirt, the cute ers clique tank with the skull, the tdc hoodie, and the poster for the tdc nationwide show

which of their songs make you feel happy or “pumped”?ride, holding on to you, tear in my heart!! this list was longer until i thought about their lyrics i hate them

which of their songs calm you down?dude none of them what i’m either going hard or crying if it calms me down its only bc its like. the act of listening to the band in general was used to calm me down all of their songs can make me cry if they try hard enough

which of their songs make you feel sad, if any?all of them bitch. but goner especially. goner from blurryface gives me a special sad but goner from no phun intended should be illegal to play anywhere ever its the most upsetting thing tyler has ever made in his entire life i cant believe he put those fucking sound effects in it god i cant even think about it

what’s your favorite song off of no phun intended?not goner or tb saga they can both fuck offwould you ever consider being tyler or josh for halloween? what would the costume be like?no. i want to do a fever you cant sweat out panic! at the disco with friends that is my dream halloween costumewhat do you order at chipotle?corn in hand

any theories or hopes for the new album?MORE JOSH BACKUP VOCALS

who’s the tyler to your josh (or josh to your tyler)? tag them!im just a tyler looking for her josh and once i find them we’re getting married. but if ur asking who my best friends are they’re courtney @qodcomplex who never uses this site ever and savannah @sirrupybuzzard who lives here. we’re all friends we arent collectively best friends but. both of them are my best friends i dont think i ever told savannah that so guess whatwould you rather be attacked by 100 chicken-sized horses, or 1 horse-sized chicken?100 chicken sized horses but like why did they pick this question over the nipple-sized penis or penis-sized nipples oneHave you ever seen donnie darko? what about fight club? what did you think?no i havent seen either because im a fake film fan but i love jake gyllenhaal and i know fight club is gay so i pick fight clubwhich album era best describes your “aesthetic”?UHHHH NONE OF THEM if we’re talking about them collectively as an era like the whole thing none of them all are bad

what’s your favorite music video and why?holding on to you is their absolute best video because 1.) theres no concert footage 2.) the dancers 3.) the visuals of the hands clawing at tyler’s face 3.) the theatrics 4.) the black and white 5.) the noose to leash thing 6.) the transistions from being skeletons to real live people i just. every single thing in that video is perfect even if josh has the bad hair. its still not the worst josh music video hair. we all know what hair i mean. why didnt his family tell him

have you seen them live before? do you have plans to in the future?yes i’ve seen them 3 times (ers16 stl, ers17 little rock, tdc nationwide) and i plan on going to another hometown show if the date falls during my summer/winter break and i AM going to get ga for the next show in my city. im not fucking around. i’ve never been in the pit and i’m doing it im getting pit tickets and im camping out this IS happening i cant die without that experience im not kidding

are you a redbull person or a starbucks coffee person?red bull as of like a week ago fuck you tyler that shit is so good

favorite quote of tyler’s?“yeah my best friend is actually the Lord so yeah.”

favorite quote of josh’s?“I can’t believe how great this photo is my crops are flourishing my skin is clear the worlds order is restored i have 20/20 vision my grades are up I’m sleeping soundly at night i am sh00k”

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mechagalaxy · 6 years

Text

John T Mainer 28840: Temple of the Cog, Cogwork Port

Opportunity

Temple of the Cog, Cogwork Port

“This machine is discharged into your care. Fight with this machine, and guard it from the shame of defeat. Serve this machine, as you would have fight it for you.”

Gustavus Adolfus, once known as the Lion of the North, warlord of Cogwork, now known only as Brother Gustav of the Temple of the Cog chanted the Ceremony of Commission as he turned over the new Smilodon to the fresh faced Myth and Legends pilot. The Smilodon had been one of his favorite machines, back in the days when the Dilophos was the largest to stalk the field, he had hunted them with his Smilodon and covered himself with glory.

Now god machines strode the earth one hundred and five tons, with every manufacturer seeking to go better, build larger. The limits were twofold. First, suspension for the machines was a serious issue. Two legged machines either couldn’t move fast enough or became unbalanced when automatic dodge shifted the center of mass too quickly. Four legged machines simply lacked the processing speed for a central network to coordinate at maximum efficiency; they were stable but dodged poorly. What was needed was instinct, and that came only from the machine spirit. There were few machine spirits powerful enough for 105 ton mecha. How could there be a machine spirit powerful enough for a 110 ton mecha?

Brother Gustav sighed “What machine has a spirit to reach such limits?”

Unaware he had spoken aloud, he was surprised when a burst of machine cant blasted a reply. A picture of some sort of wheeled automaton, ancient beyond belief was inloaded with the binaric cant burst. The coding on the burst read “Opportunity Rover”.

Turning his head, Brother Gustav saw the Archivist Jane, barely more than a child, and hard to keep on task, the young Archavist was considered to be worth training due to her deep love of machine lore, and laser like focus on research tasks that interested her. The code burst had come from her, and she broke into a happy babble as he replied with an automated request for more data.

“Forgive me Brother Gustav, but you asked for a machine spirit that could reach some limit? How about an ancient machine that didn’t just reach its limits, it blasted right through them. Back before the waygates were discovered, before we learned about niode matrix computer systems and travel in space was with reaction rockets, the first missions to Mars were machine probes called Rovers.

One of them was called Opportunity Rover. He was solar powered and supposed to last ninety days on the surface of the world named for the War God. He lasted fifteen years and his last words made me weep, for even as he died his spirit burned brightly”

She made the sign of the Cog with her interlaced fingers and beamed to him the last transmission of Opportunity Rover.

[My battery is low and it’s getting dark]

As a tech priest and mecha pilot, his implant gave him the full feed NASA engineers could only dream of. He felt Opportunity Rover’s status, system by system. Saw the war he waged to save power through the winter dust storms, and the fault from the landing damage; the arm stuck with power on, draining the Rover even when it went to power saving mode. The little machine fought fifteen years through storm and winter, only to bleed out on the lifeless sands of the war world, still fighting to serve its masters with the loyalty of the purest machine.

Turning to the Archivist, he grabbed her and in a flash of binaric cant, for human speech was too slow, demanded to know if Opportunity Rover was ever recovered, where it’s body was, if its coding survived. Rather than feeling threatened and summoning guards, Archavist Jane opened her datafeed wide and a cascade of linked files opened. Opportunity had been lost, never recovered, but mapping programs showed a small area where it must be located, no more than a few square kilometers of broken land, shattered during the planetary bombardment that ended the Star League. It was possible Opportunity Rover survived.

Brother Gustav threw back his head and laughed. “Get your breathing gear, Archavist. Meet me at the mecha bay. You will ride jumpseat in my Smilodon as we go seek this great machine, for such spirit will not go down quietly into death”

On the fifteenth day of their search, the Smilodon’s sensors picked up a unique Gallium Arsenide signature, similar to the Rover solar panels. Digging in with his claws, Gustav burrowed down into he blood-iron earth of mars to find the broken body of the Opportunity Rover. Feeding a trickle charge to the processing core, he received a reply.

[Battery dead. External feed detected, restart systems Y/N?]

Whispering softy, Gustav sent {N} Then a blast of binaric cant. {Your body is broken, great machine spirit, the children of your makers have returned to build you a body worthy of your matchless spirit}

Golden armor from the Cogwork ferrite should have turned the machine bronze/gold, but the blood red of Mars was deep in Opportunity Rover’s soul, and thus the Red Planet bled into the armor of the Cyberdon. The core programming of the Smilodon was loaded into the dispersed processors of the limbs, that it should move with the grace of a Smilodon, but no existing machine spirit could link through such a mass. The test became now to awaken, to live and to know. Gustav turned to the Archavist, jacked himself into the sleeping AI and waited for Archivist Jane to upload the Opportunity Rover core program into the blank AI, so it could infuse the most complex Niode powered artificial intelligence core ever created with the spirit of one of man’s first great transcendent machines.

The spirit born of five hundred and thirty three kilograms of NASA tech flowered within one hundred and ten tons of Niode, Crystal and Ferrite. Pure in its desire to serve, the AI reached out towards its long dead masters, first radio, then slowly, becoming aware of other sensors, it extended its awareness into the new channels, and drank in the wonder of full spectrum active and passive sensors.

[Who are you?] The thought had huge power, and no anger or fear as it washed through Gustav’s pilot implant with quiet sea deep power.

{I am your pilot, Brother Gustav}

[I am not alone?]

{Never again. Nor shall you fear the dark, for your batteries have been replaced with a fusion core that will burn for eternity. No you will not hunt alone, but as one with your makers}

Joy suffused the big machine as it rose and stalked the room, weapons and sensors unfolding and powering up as the AI and Pilot brought all 110tons to purring life and potency.

[I am not as I was. What am I now?]

I sent to him the full glory of his potential development, the full potential of his weapons and systems, and felt him reach into me for memories of ten thousand battles to read what this meant.

{You are CYBERDON} I sent him

His roar shook the temple to its foundation, his eyes blazed with power and I felt his spirt synch the disparate nodes into one tech-organic whole, moving more smoothly than a newborn Smilodon for all his vast size. He was pleased.

Archivist Jane spoke the holy words of union, letting them sound from her lips, and wash over us in binaric cant through every wavelength.

“This machine is discharged into your care. Fight with this machine, and guard it from the shame of defeat. Serve this machine, as you would have fight it for you.”

The machine that would not die lives again. The machine that accepted no limit on the War God’s world will now shatter all limits as it takes the field, the largest machine of war in Mecha Galaxy.

John T Mainer 28840

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nekomimiranger · 8 years

Text

Concert Chapter 6: Collapsing facades (final)

Sooo here it is. The final chapter of my Concert-Story. Sorry everyone for the slight delay but my physical condition didn’t let me do anything yesterday ^^ Im still a bit groggy but I wan’t this piece out there, as soon as possible :DD

This chapter will be a little bit different. How so? Well it is a concert and as such it features some lyrics. In fact, the songs that are featured here, are the songs that inspired me to write this story in the first place.

All credit to the songs go to the amazing Band Delain!

The amazing header again was made by the fabulous @fuzzywuzzylittletail

I put up a Youtube playlist with all featured songs so if you want to know what kind of band this is, feel free to listen to it :D

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHF3zU6UPf67xq8VixzEtiNW5sRtvXcUa

And now, without further ado, here you go!

Chapter 1: Friendship on the Brink

Chapter 2: Goodwil visit

Chapter 3: Apologies

Chapter 4: Crevasse

Chapter 5: Unexpected Encounter

Chapter 6: Collapsing facades

Collapsing facades The rapidly gathering crowed announced that the show was about to start any minute now. Judy was jumping in anticipation while the hall was filling with many mammals of every size.

“Nick, I am so excited! Chuck told me the band is extremely cool. He said their concerts always are great and loud!”

This made Nick remember something and he put something out of his pocket.

“Here, Carrots. Please put these in.” He presented her a pair of earplugs.

“Are your serious?” Judy asked in disbelief.

“Trust me, your ears are way to sensitive to the volume. Don't worry, you'll hear well enough!”

The sincerity in his voice made her give in quickly and he was right, she still could hear with them plugged in. Judy just finished her carrot juice, when the lights in the hall went off with an audible “thud”. The crowd began to cheer over the sudden darkness that announced the beginning show. The cheering grew even louder when an big AnimaliA logo was projected on the black curtain and the music started to play. Unexpected to Judy and Nick, the first instrument they heard was the piano. In addition, it sounded like playing violins supported by the humming of a choir. After a few moments the drums started to play and the logo began to pulsate to the now eminent beat that slowly grew faster. Another few seconds later, the crowd began to cheer in Ecstasy as the guitars and bass kicked in. The logo fainted and one by one, fitting to the beat, names showed up in front of an instrument. “The names of the band-member”, Nick thought.

Bruce - in front of what looked like a guitar

Charles - another guitar.

Anne - another one?

Michael – Drums

Spots – A keyboard

Charlotte – A microphone

Just as the last name faded, the music stopped and a voice was heard.

I looked at the stripes the monarch flies I hold my cries If my friend, if you can change perhaps then so can I.

After the choir grew silent the guitar started to play a silent little melody supported by the keyboard. The melody grew louder and suddenly with a huge flash of light the curtain fell to the ground revealing the band that started to kick in.

The crowd went crazy, jumping, screaming and clapping to the beat.

Nick was taken by surprise by the sudden change of lightning and had to blink a few times to see what was happening in front of them. As he tried to see through the bright flashing lights that emitted from the stage, he made out a tigress, playing a guitar like instrument and waving her head on the left side of the stage. On the opposide side, he could see a wolf with another guitar, banging his head to the beat likewise.

After a moment he could hear a female voice starting to sing to the music, just as he finally managed to see clearly again and he saw the singer right in front of them was a ..... "Bunny?" he thought amazed. Her fur was pure white except the fading red and orange flames that were painted on her ears and the combination with her scarlet red dress gave him the expression of a flash of fire as she was jumping over the stage singing with such a rich voice it made him wonder how this could come out of someone so small.

He couldnt clearly understand what she was singing about for the noise of jumping crowd was overwhelming but a few snippets went into his ear.

I walked away, and left you bleeding As I kicked the mud off my feet I lay on the ground and watched you leaving My heart fights for every beat

This passage somehow sounded familliar to Nick but he couldn't place it. All he knew was all in a sudden he had a feeling of guilt swelling up inside him. He was pulled away from this thoughts as he noticed a violent push on his arm. He looked down to Judy and saw her excited face as she was jumping up and down and screamed "A BUNNY!!!" He could hear her over the crowd and had to laugh at her excited and surprised expression. But still something just hit him besides Judys fist that keeps bumping his arm and this hurt way more.

It's not enough! How hard I try It's not enough! "Good evening Zootopia!!!" The Bunnys scream pulled Nick out of his thoughts. "Are you having a good time?"

The answer was a deafening uproar that made Nick flinch and he also saw Judy shouting her agreement as well. It seems she found a new hobbie. Who would have thought she'd be into this that much.

"I see we got many different mammals here, tonight. Pred, prey, big, small. This is perfect. I love seing everyone getting along so well."

Again the crowd cheered to that statement. Charlotte, as Nick remembered is her name, was looking around and as she was looking in his direction, he thought she locked her gaze with his. She smiled and continued her speech,

"The next one is for everyone. No matter what you are, what you do.... or what you are into."

She was grinning in Nick and Judy's direction as she said the last part.

"Spots, do you mind?" She asked the Giraffe that was playing a very high standing Keyboard and he started playing a little melody, that made the crowd go wild as they must have recognized it in an instand.

When the drums started to play to the song, giving it his final push and a fast beat, he noticed for the first time the drummer who was a... squirrel? He didnt see him at first because he sat in front of huge speaker that were connected to his small drumset, behind he was partly hidden.

Now that he saw him, Nick had to force himself not to laugh at that bizarre spectacle as the squirrel, who wore shades just like Nick's favourite pilot sunglasses, went crazy and hit the drums as fast as he can.

Charlotte was again jumping wildly to the beat of the song and only sang while dashing from one side of the stage to the other and back. The audience was still cheering ferociously, jumping to the beat and in general having a great time. The atmosphere of pure joy, the hall was filled in the second this song started made Nick think, this song must be something special to the fans and the band.

When Charlotte stopped for the refrain and only held her microphone towards the audience, even Nick got goosebumbs as the crowd began to sing the refrain in an cacophony of voices from the sharp voics of the mice to the deep trumpeting from the elephants.

We are the others, We are the cast outs, We're the outsiders But you can't hide us, We are the others, We are the cast outs You're no longer on your own If you feel mistreated, Torn and cheated, You are not alone, We are the others

The energy this song emitted was almost touchable and Nick was amazed by the way the audience and the band seemed to righteout celebrate this song. He saw a Tiger and a Goose sing that song arm in arm and he even noticed a Mouse dancing on the head of an elephant who supported the rodent with his trunk so he wont fall down. These guys really dont care what or who one another is. The normal resentments he saw in his daily life just weren't here. He understood that this song wasnt just some platitude or slogan on a bumper sticker, no, these guys LIVE it.

Nick was so lost in his thoughts by the end of the song, that he even didn't notice, he was shaking his head heavily to the rythm of the song. Judy noticed it and was grinning wildly as Nick tried to return to his cool temper he tried to uphold at any times, even at concerts.

After the end of the song, Charlotte began another speech to the audience.

"I see, you all are having a good time tonight. Well, we do. And it's amazing to see all the different animals untited."

A cheer emitted from the audience.

"I know that these topics might be hard to handle but isn't life to short to be afraid of our differences? Shouldnt we better celebrate them?"

The cheering returned louder.

"Anyway. From personal experience I know how hard it is to overcome the fears, the doubts. You are afraid to hurt someone?"

Nick noticed her longing stare toward --- the wolf(?!)

"Don't give up and give them the chance to take away this fear."

Now she was again looking directly at Nick and Judy. Was this a coincidence?

"GET THE DEVIL OUT OF ME!"

Again the keyboard started the song and shortly after the other bandmembers joined in.

Charlotte started to sing again and jumped toward the Wolf with the guitar next to her. Nick tried to remember his name.

"Charles, I think. He must be Wolfards cousin!", he realized.

I don't know what to feel I don't know what to say Oh, I don't know what to do What makes me treat you this way?

She walked across all of the stage while singing but occasionally jumped back to Charles, who was playing his guitar hard, and shared a wicked smile with him.

I'm no Jesus Christ I'm the one mistake That you love to hate I apologize It's your destiny To get the devil out of me

The song was fast paced and the audience was going wild again during the whole duration of it. When it was over, the hall erupted in loud cheers that went on for a long time.

Charlotte encouraged the crowd to cheer further by raising her paws in a wave like gesture which made them shout even louder. She visibly enjoyed this and walked to Charles who stood on her right. When she reached him, she jumped on his back without hesitation and climbed on his shoulders in one single thrust. She looked so small compared to him and the way she grabbed his head to keep herself from falling down made Nick wonder, what might be going on between them.

“Quite a nice view you got up her, big boy.” she said jokingly.

“Now. Who of you is in a relationship right now?” she asked the microphone.

A loud clamor was the answer.

“Great. And who wishes to be in a relationship but hasn't got the guts to ask the chosen one?”

The cacophony wasn't as loud but still enough to make the walls shake.

“And who of you want's to have a relationship but is too scared to start?”

Nick's eyes widened to that question.

“Well, I've been through something like that. And well, the next song was the outcome. I really felt... DEEP FROZEN!”

The giraffe started some sort of Xylophon melody and the other member kicked in soon after. Nick was anxious about the song. Her question did hurt him, it sounded as if she was talking to him and this scared him.

Charlotte started to sing, still sitting on the Wolf's shoulders,

“Misted windows Hide your empty eyes Every moment, every whisper Separates you from me”

Nick was taken aback. He looked at his breast pocket, where he saw his sunglasses.

“I’ve been screaming Won’t you let me in? Let me see a trace Of the places hidden Under your skin”

Charlotte held her microphone in front of Charle's face, who was carefully playing his instrument not to shake too much, compared to the previous songs. He then started to growl in a deep guttural voice:

“I foster illusions Of which I am afraid unknown emotions Repel your embrace I foster illusions Of which I am afraid afraid of your embrace”

Nick was on the verge of fainting when he heard this lines. Did they read his thoughts? What is this all about? Charlotte continued:

“Needles sting me When you look away And your silence Sounds like deafening screams to me I’ve been waiting Won’t you open your heart? And let me in Please let me in”

Nick was looking at Judy now. Her ears were hanging low and she bend on the face in front of them. She looked like she was feeling down. He realized, she must be thinking the same thing as Charlotte was singing in this song. He really kept his silence. He really looked away. This must have been hell for her. Nick felt horrible.

Charles repeated his lines again and when he finished, Charlotte jumped down from his shoulders and now stood in front of Judy and Nick. Nick felt like she was looking at them when she concluded the song with a verse that sounded like a plead directed to him and him alone. “I am imagining things”, he thought.

“Free your mind from doubt All you have, is now Free your mind from shame It will only bring you pain”

The song ended and the crowed fell back to its usual applause and screaming. Nick wasn't feeling like cheering though. The song did hit him harder than he expected. The feeling of guilt returned and hurt him more than ever before. He caught himself staring at Judy the whole time and took some time to realize she was looking at him in return. Her eyes looked beautiful like ever but he also saw a hint of tears, forming up. He felt like he should say something but Judy broke their eye-contact and nervously pretended to concentrate on the stage again.

He has to set things right, he thought. But not now. “I'll wait until the concert's over. I need a more private place for this.”

Nick wasn't a moron. On the contrary, he knew how to add one and one together and after the next song, he was sure, Wolfard had spoken to his cousin about Nick's “problem”. The song was a slow and kind of sad song about parting ways.

“After the guilt, they planted within me, they also want me to fear, losing Judy for good?”, he thought when he heard the beautifully sung lines,

I want to lay my head down Come closer, come closer I thought you'd turn me But you were turning around I think I'm losing you Losing you again Why didn't you stay a while To say goodbye, my friend My friend

“Well, they succeeded.” he sighed.

Nick had a hard time paying attention to his surroundings and the going on's on stage as he was lost in his thoughts again. He did not notice the surrounding audience that went crazy during the following fast paced songs, of which he didn't get anything at all, or even Judy, who managed to enjoy the show more than he did. Her ears were flapping up and down in front of his face while she was again caught by the music and let it lead her movement but he did not notice it.

“This is all a setup by Wolfard!” he finally thought which made him snap out of it just in time to get the next hit of feelings delivered as Charlotte and the tigress Anne sang a ballad together.

Standing in the shadow of our lies To hide our imperfections, Doing anything we can to hide. Eyes wide open but still blind To see what really matters, And insecurity won't go, See me in shadow.

“Yes I know I was blind! Yes I know I can't control my insecurities!” Nick was screaming inside.

And all the purples and the greens Have turned to black. And the ruins of your soul Have died, no more meaning. I wonder when you have Become so cold

The song ended and Nick was again frozen. Judy's concerned look got him out of it and he tried to fake his emotions by smiling at her and signing a fake yawn as to show her he is fine but tired. He started to move to the following songs to show her he is still there but inside he was far, very far away.

“It was a great night with you guys!” Nick heard Charlotte shouting towards the audience.

“And we are reaching the final of tonight's party but I hope you are ready for a few more songs!”

The hall was shaking by noise that followed that statement pulling Nick out of his thoughts again.

Don't you know In the end you're no stronger of hand You are no stronger of heart Don't you know In the end, we'll be tragically torn apart If we can't control the storm

Charles, who sang this part in a surprisingly clear voice compared to his guttural growl from before, was right, Nick knew. He had to control the storm inside himself or else he will lose his biggest treasure and will regret it for the rest of his life.

He made the decision anyway and finally could see what he has to do clearly in front of him. The following song encouraged him further to let go of his insecurities and act up to his true feelings.

"Would you fall, give it all Would you give it all for me? Sucker-punch the demons from my dreams

“Judy would for sure!” Nick thought, “And its time I start to do the same!” He checked his watch. When will the concert end? He wanted to talk to Judy in private. Show her what he felt. Finally committing himself to her for real.

Charlotte was about to talk again as her eyes and Nicks met again. He had the eerie feeling she knew what was going on and smiled wickedly.

“Okay everyone. We had a blast tonight and it's about time to end this party but yet I noticed that some of you, still haven't had the relief they needed.” She was staring at Nick while she said this.

“Maybe our last song will change that because it is time to end your masquerade!”

Charlotte walked to Charles looked him deep into the eyes and started to sing,

“Your face, my face You breathe, I breathe You fail, I fake I pray, I pray...”

She walked back in front of the audience, and in front of Judy and Nick,

“You lose, I lose, You bruise, I bruise I hunt, you stay My prey, My prey”

“Hunt? Prey?” Nick was completely pulled out of his thoughts as he heard this. Charlotte seemed to look at him as she continued,

“My Masquerade If you’re not afraid To take a step into my world”

“I will kill Wolfard after this.” Nick decided after this new hint at his involvement. Still, this song fit his feelings like a glove.

Charlotte was again walking to Charles and pointed at him in a prompting gesture,

“A ball, tonight Cover your eyes By touch and taste We’ll find our way”

“Yes!” Nick suddenly realized. “Yes! There must be a way. And I know it now!” He was looking down at Judy who were jumping to the fast paced beat of this song, not noticing the determined glance in Nick's eyes.

“Your secrets deep Yes I will keep I hunt, you stay My prey, my prey”

He grapped her left arm with his paws and startled her by the sudden touch. Judy looked up at him, stopping her dance as she noticed his serious stare.

“My Masquerade If you’re not afraid To take a step into my world”

Charlotte noticed that something was happening in front of her and she walked closer to her boyfriends cousins friends. A big grin formed in her face while she was still singing.

“Take of your mask the world will see The freak in you The freak in me”

Nick bowed down towards Judy and said something in a soft whisper that was swallowed by the noise that surrounded them. Judy couldn't hear it but she read it on his lips.

“Tonight we hide From judging eyes”

Their faces closed in together until, ....

“Take of your mask the world will see The freak in you The freak in me”

….they connected in a kiss that was followed by a loving embrace.

Charlotte saw the two lovebirds in their embrace and was barely able to continue to sing. She smiled widely and was jumping in excitement.

“We’ll dance until the sunrise “

Except a few other mammals that stood around Judy and Nick, no one noticed the scene that occurred at that moment.

The song ended and the crowd was cheering, clapping and still jumping around but Judy and Nick still stood there in their own little world.

This scene of the embracing couple surrounded by wildly cheering mammals must have been so obscene, that Charles was laughing hard as Charlotte noted him towards his cousins friends to show him their mission was a huge success.

Judy and Nick couldn't care less about that as tears were running down Judy's cheeks because she now finally knew that Nick's love for her was bigger than his fears.

Nick felt like a huge weight just fell off his back and he was sure, whatever the world will throw at them, whatever small-minds will say.

He will never let his bunny go.

Also, he thought,

“Maybe Rock Music isn't that bad.”

I know that the music used in this might be bad for some of you and maybe you can’t see the connection to Nick and Judy but I had to get this Idea out of my head because it was haunting me for a long time ^^

And now I need a break xD

I still hope you enjoyed it ^^

As a little extra, here are some bonus images, @fuzzywuzzylittletail did for this story :D She is so awesome, dont you agree? xD

@pyrophoricitee @meimeithewhiterabbit @cloudyloudy @justalizardking @reddoshirousagi06 @fox-comics @notactualusername @ryutolbx @yasminoliveira534 @crewefox @zootopepo @fourthdimension99 @chernwei5784 @mama-sally @emma89uk @ceizo @alexboehm55144 @nami-things @evilbrotagonist @rkaoril @chayadollomtong @ilovephinbellalove1

#zootopia #Nekomimiranger #wildehopps #fan fiction #fanfic #fan fic #neko writes

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