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matt0044 · 2 years

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I’d like to talk a bit about my journey with Fairy Tail.

A while back before the dark times of the Tumblr purge and whatever fresh hell 2016 wrought upon us (well before 2020: the sequel literally nobody asked for), I picked up the Fairy Tail Manga out of curiosity based on what the vibe was at the time. It had an interesting style to its artwork with cool and hot looking characters. Figuratively and literally.

Yet... I didn’t think it was worth committing as a long runner. Even so, it left enough of a good impression to later on pick up the Anime. I’ve had moments where if the Manga seemed cool but lacked a certain “pizzazz,” I’d check out the Anime to see if its presentation was anything more noteworthy. So as a gift, I asked relatives to pick up Parts 1 and 2 of FUNimation’s release on DVD.

#LongLivePhysicalMedia :P

I put it off quite a bit since it seemed like the sort of “smut over substance” kind. More on that later. That said, I finally hunkered down when I had nothing but time on a family vacation and figured that I’d check out the first arc I read in the Manga. Needless to say... the presentation was more grabbing.

Strap in, guys. This is a long one.

Viewing Anime dubbed, many titles that stuck with me were released by FUNimation Entertainment pre-Crunchyroll often on DVD. As such, I was acquainted with their go-to voice actors at the time. Some may dislike the “only 12 voice actors problem” but I’ve always like recognizing familiar faces. Or voices in this case.

The male and female leads, Natsu Dragneel and Lucy Heartfilia, would be played in the English version by Todd Haberkorn and Cherami Leigh Kuhn respectively. These two got my attention previously in FUNimation’s English dub of SGT Frog where the script’s comedy really let them flourish as a goofy alien invader and the teenage girl who has to put up with their antics.

Here, that dynamic shone again but with more dramatic nuances to them. Todd Haberkorn captured the lunkhead in Natsu with a rough voice I once described to a friend as a more reigned in take on Joey Wheeler’s New York accent. Cherami Leigh captured Lucy Heartfilia as this mostly normal teenage girl thrust into a family of wack-jobs, being the straight-man and our audience surrogate. We share in her largely having the one brain cell on her team.

From there, I decided to at least see through the first twenty four episodes. The series was pretty unapologetic in being a Battle Shonen Anime after Erza and Gray became a part of their team. You had your cackling baddies with elite members for each hero to square off with. You had over the top battles that promised much collateral damage as episode one had. You had fine figures for the female characters with a fair amount of man candle for the girls too.

You also had an unironic sense of sincerity that took the Power of Friendship seriously. Speeches that pontificate the strength in bonds. Heroes grandstanding against their foes by proclaiming their friends as their source of strength. Villains mocking the mere concept at their peril.

This is everything that Anime has been parodied for and then some but Fairy Tail means every word. Any title these days would have a few characters rolling their eyes at the cheese, reflecting the adult audience members.

Christ, imagine if Joss Whedon wrote it…

Yet Fairy Tail was most earnest about it to the point that power ups often come from emotions. The characters uplifted each other unapologetically even after busting their chops. They might fight but slight one of them and you might as well have started a war you can’t win. Whenever Natsu made his proclamations, I never doubted that he meant every word of it.

It’s this sincerity and commitment to found families that endeared me to it. That they’d be able to take in anybody looking not just for work but a place to call home.

The Phantom Lord arc was what cemented this for me and made me a fan for the long haul. This was where Fairy Tail as a whole guild was affected well outside the five man band we were use to. The hall is wrecked, Shadow Gear is crucified and father figure Makarov loses his shit.

This leads to them warring with Phantom Lord with Lucy as the center of it all, her family being loaded and her father hiring Phantom Lord to bring her back at all costs. Rather than ditch what would be seen as a liability, Fairy Tail looks out for one of their own even when Lucy can do a thing without her keys.

As Erza put it, they’d have to kill them first.

It put Lucy’s character into perspective for me. It’s easy to write her off as the “useless female lead,” there to look pretty and call out the male lead over their machismo. But kicking butt doesn’t make you a Fairy Tail member. I mean, some mission don’t even involve a big bad to fight. No, Lucy is a member of Fairy Tail because she bears their emblem and has proven that she’d do the same for them if remotely capable.

And she does.

After the fighting, Lucy returns to her estranged father on her family’s estate where it initially seems like she’s giving herself up to spare Fairy Tail another inter-guild war.

But no, she gets herself all dolled up to tear it all apart to declare to her father that, under no uncertain terms, will she be coming back. She found friends who literally just went to war and lost their guild hall for her and saw to it on her own terms that she’d have the final word about it. It’s honest fitting that she tears up her own clothes when her lewd moments tend to involve that happening against her will.

Of course, this “all hands on deck” arc also let lesser known characters display more dimension to them. Elfman Strauss seeks to be the man he wasn’t when he killed Lisanna. Cana, the jaded drunk, gets as fired up over Natsu when it comes to defending the guild that practically raised her. Makarov, well, he speaks volumes. Literally too.

This impressed me with how characters who seemed like cardboard cutouts were more than their quirks. They didn’t need full blown story arcs to explore their life’s story contrary to what certain naysayers seemed to imply. I especially loved how it packed in a lot of story details that’d have a ripple effect down the line yet kept it coherent.

There was also the reoccurring specter of Zeref as early as Erza’s debut arc. It made for a very intriguing myth arc where it was clear that there was an endgame being set in motion. I hope to get into One Piece but it’s length and uncertain endpoint is more… daunting in comparison.

Perhaps the female cast was what caught me off guard. For one thing, Fairy Tail’s Team Natsu alone had its girls out number the boys once Wendy and Carla came into the fold as their Sixth Rangers. Even then, Erza was the one calling the shots on their game plans and would be temporary Seventh Master.

The secondary cast had Mirajane, Cana, Juvia, Levy amongst others. But they were more than just eye candy. We’d get deep dives into their damaged pasts and current growth as people. Fairy Tail’s founder was just a little girl. I know that Battle Shonen has defenders who argue against the “Useless” accusation. There’s a video that actually venerates Orihime Inoue from Bleach very well.

That said, most who claim a female lead is useless comes from how our focus is mostly on the male characters. Especially when it comes to battles, be they small scale or boss fights. In many cases, it’s out of love for the character and feeling like there’s more to them that the author doesn’t capitalize on.

You wouldn’t think Hiro Mashima would be able to write woman any better than his contemporaries with how they often feel straight from his DeviantArt phase. Seriously, I respect the dude for being unapologetically horny but it felt like some moments had their wires crossed so to speak. I mean... I prefer the Anime for having Erza in her underdress during her torture session in Tartaros.

Yet I’ve found one of my favorite characters in Wendy Marvell, a young girl with severe self-esteem and abandonment issues to content with. All voiced by Brittney Karbowski that gives her that special rasp to her prepubescent performance. Who says dubs can get little girls right, huh?

Erza Scarlet is a red-head bombshell who pulls off a win against implacable odds yet I know that comes from a childhood of suffering, one she’s still recovering from. Colleen Clinkenbeard gave her a commanding voice, one that elicits fear and respect yet also a warmth for her fellow guildmates.

They take their lumps like their male contemporaries do in battle with it rarely feeling like they’re ever sidelined for the sake of one dude getting all the glory. Natsu might’ve faced Master Zero of the Oracion Seis but the others had to destroy the other Lacrimas at a precise moment with him. He might’ve gotten a hit in on Hades but it was a group effort to even get him in range while the Exceeds got to their foe’s power source at that moment.

These guys know their teamwork.

I continued to follow FUNimation’s release of the series. With my organized watch list, I would often divide the series and rewatch from the start before getting to the new arcs. First, Edolas capped off part one. Then, the Dragon King Festival capped Part Two off. Finally, before my Dad passed away, I had finished up to the Tartarus arc and waited for the Final Season.

As of April 1st 2022, I finished the Alvarez Arc and almost clapped my hands when Natsu and Lucy defeated the Acnologia. It took the Buu Saga’s Spirit Bomb ending and made it better than ever with all of Fiore, filler or otherwise joining in Meldy’s emotional link.

As of April 30th 2022, I watched Fairy Tail: Dragon Cry. Not a conclusion but served as a good emotional send off for me. I… do wish it was a filler arc in Final Season if only because it’d be a fun romp just before the all out war. Sorry to ramble but I just wish there was more to enjoy.

I know that the Century Quest Anime is something I’m gonna be all over. Be that as it may, the original story was a journey I never knew I needed. There were bumps along the road with my allergies and constant colds yet I soldiered on, never giving up once.

Like a member of Fairy Tail.

Also... was I suppose to hate the Alvarez Arc? Because that ending was classic Fairy Tail. And Lucy orchestrating the final gambit to cripple Acnologia so Natsu could get the final hit in? YES! GOD DAMN YES!

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tlbodine · 2 years

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I’m Thinking of Ending Things

I have been majorly slacking off with my horror movie reviews because Tumblr’s fucked around with the tags and it made me mad. I have a bunch of these to catch up on, which I’ll post as time allows, but we watched this one last night and my brain is buzzing so I wanted to go in-depth a bit with it.

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I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2020), directed by Charlie Kaufman, is an adaptation of a novel of the same name by Iain Reid. But in the usual Kaufman style, this is not a straightforward adaptation, or a particularly approachable film in general.

I think usually folks either hate Kaufman (or at least find him exhausting), or else take delight in his particular brand of what-the-fuck filmmaking. I’ve always been firm in the Kaufman camp; Adaptation is one of my favorite films, and I have very fond memories of being introduced to Being John Malkovich as a doorway into stranger, more serious filmmaking as a teenager.

That said, I was nervous about this one. The title put me off, and when I found out what the core conceit (and ultimate reveal) was, I worried it would be too much of a downer. But it’s not nearly as heavy to watch as the themes suggest it might be, although I will grant that if you’re sensitive to second-hand embarrassment, this film could be physically painful to endure at times.

But! Okay! I’m going to talk in very general terms about the story first, then under the cut delve into heavy spoilers. I actually think the film may be more enjoyable with the ending spoiled first -- it is so densely packed with symbolism and references that it is basically impossible to understand or appreciate on a blind first watch -- but I’ll leave that up to y’all.

NON-SPOILER:

The film introduces us to Lucy (Jessie Buckley), who is going on a trip with her boyfriend Jake (Jesse Plemmons) to meet his parents (Toni Collette & David Thewlis) for the first time. Though they haven’t been dating long, Lucy is already thinking about ending things with Jake. It’s not that he’s a bad guy, necessarily, but something about their arrangement is just...not working.

They have a long, awkward car ride and then meet his parents, an event that slips from “painfully awkward” to “inexplicably surreal”. Intercut with all of this is footage of an unnamed janitor going about his lonely day-to-day routine. The paths of Lucy and Jake collide with the janitor at the end in a way that....well, depending how much attention you’ve been paying and whether you caught all the breadcrumbs, either explains everything or leaves you extremely confused. Also there are a couple of dance numbers, because sure.

Why the fuck would you want to watch a movie whose plot is “couple goes on a car ride, eats dinner, and then drives home”? And how the fuck does anyone make that premise last for more than two hours? And how can that possibly be interesting enough to make me want to write a blog post about it? Okay. Let’s dig into things. I apologize if it’s a bit of a jumbled mess, this film is dense and deliberately obtuse and also I’m writing this at work so...bear with me.

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT:

Okay. So the easiest way to explain this movie is to first spoil the ending, and then loop back around to all the little things that add up to it, and what meaning they might have.

The explanation: Jake and Lucy as they exist in the film are not real. They are instead an enduring daydream of the lonely janitor, who is imagining various scenarios playing out in his mind as he goes about his day. At the end of the movie, the janitor dies of hypothermia in his car.

OKAY! Now with THAT out of the way, let’s circle back to the beginning of this movie!

The film opens on Lucy's voice-over, talking about how she's "thinking of ending things," and it's not immediately clear from context whether that means a breakup or a suicide -- everything she says seems to apply to both. This long opening monologue is played over interior shots of Jake's parent's home, a destination the story has not yet reached, before settling in on a shot of Lucy outside in the snow. She looks up to an apartment window and sees an old man standing there looking down at her, mumbling to himself; we catch a part of it "now is the time for the answer, just one question, one question to answer" -- and this is not the first time we will hear this old man mumbling this refrain, so keep it in mind. But now Lucy is getting in a car with her date, and the old man dresses for work and sets off to his janitor job. The two of them are connected somehow, we sense, from these parallel shots and the way they are intercut.

In the car, Lucy and Jake make awkward conversation. She is thinking about him, and we get the sense that he knows what she’s thinking. At one point, she references a poem in her mind; he asks aloud if she’s familiar with it, and she denies it. But of course, if Lucy is simply a construct of his mind, of course he knows everything she’s thinking -- and here is the first of the great tragedies of this story: Jake is escaping into this daydream, creating what should be an idyllic scenario of a perfect relationship and a wonderful time with his family...but it can’t be perfect. Even his own fantasy girlfriend doesn’t like him. It’s as if he’s internalized his self-hatred to the extent that he cannot properly imagine what a supportive or loving relationship is like. Mental illness has a way of making your self-talk unnecessarily cruel, and that seems to be what’s happening here.

Lucy’s identity shifts and alters frequently throughout the film: she is variously a neuroscience student, a poet, a painter, a physicist, a gerontology student. Even her name changes, from Lucy to Luisa to Ames. At various times we see her receive and ignore phone calls from contacts with her same name; once she answers a voicemail just to hear that same mumbling man talking about “one question to answer”, which she does not acknowledge.

Here is another piece of the puzzle: It’s as if Jake isn’t quite sure who or what he wants his girlfriend to be. It’s clear that he wants her to be impressive in some way, important. Lucy’s voice-over even takes him to task for this: He wants to be perceived as someone who is loved by someone who is perceived as successful, so that her success can validate his existence. If he is loved by someone valuable, then he becomes valuable. It’s interesting, too, that the things she likes and is good at he, too, is good at or interested in. Because she is a reflection of his psyche, of course, and perhaps because he cannot imagine anything outside his experience -- or perhaps he feels inadequate in his interests and can’t help but invent a partner who outshines him at every opportunity. At one point, Lucy finds an art studio with abandoned, neglected paintings he’s finished, sitting self-consciously next to professional work that they don’t live up to. Nearby is a washing machine full of janitor uniforms, a painful (or at least soggy) reminder of his failed ambitions.

The circumstances of their visit change a bit, too, as the night progresses. Jake’s parents age and de-age dramatically throughout the evening. We see them young and excited for him to finally have a girlfriend (acknowledging that he never had many friends, referencing at one point his 50th birthday, which he is quick to correct to 20th), then old and decrepit, the father succumbing to advanced dementia, the mother wheelchair bound and barely lucid, or else hearing intense whispering that may be tinnitus or psychosis. In the end, the mother has clearly died (or is she sleeping?) and a weepy Jake decides it is time to go, that being here has become unbearable.

As they dally on their way home, driving through a terrible storm, Lucy repeatedly insists that she wants to go home and Jake repeatedly asks, “Back to the farm?” to her growing agitation. I think it’s fair to assume that Jake, poor lonely old man Jake, likely grew up on that farm, and, without a wife and kids of his own, spent his life tending to his ailing parents and watching them disintegrate and die. He knows the farm is no longer home, but he can’t seem to think of anything else in those terms. Here is a man who, seemingly, longed to escape his life, but never got any further away than the high school just up the road.

I think there is at least some textual evidence for a queer reading of the film, too. At a couple points in their conversations, Jake gets prickly about references to homosexuality -- at one point challenging the use of the word “sissy,” at another arguing against an old-fashioned belief that homosexuality might derive from being a mama’s boy. He has a deep knowledge of musical theater and at various times aligns himself with Oklahoma especially. Given his presumed life-long bachelor status, I think it’s reasonable to guess that he either is a closeted gay man or else a man who, in falling outside expected gender norms, has been accused of being gay -- either way, ending up in feeling lonely and awkward around women. His Lucy fantasies seem to suggest that at least a part of him thinks, “If only I could have met the right girl, my life could have been good,” a viewpoint that can be read as incel logic, deeply closeted thinking/internalized homophobia, or both.

At one point, he fantasizes about accepting a reward, with an acceptance speech ripped off word-for-word from the film A Beautiful Mind. Given that the film is about a neurodivergent individual who nevertheless does amazing things, it’s easy to guess why Jake might relate to it. And that the text of the speech touches on the same idea -- that he succeeded due to the love and support of a partner -- the inverse seems true in Jake’s mind, according to one sort of logic: Since he did not have that love and support, he could not do great things.

Jake also may be something of a pervert, or else may see himself as such. Toward the climax of the film, Lucy enters the school in search of Jake and instead finds the janitor, who asks him to describe the boyfriend she’s looking for. Instead she explains how they met, which was really just an inconsequential meeting with some awkward guy who hit on her, an unwanted advance. Is this a true story? Has the Lucy of his fantasy this entire time been some woman he only vaguely interacted with once and built a whole story around in his mind? or is this just more of his self-loathing bubbling up to the surface? It’s hard to say -- but it is clear regardless that he perceives himself as pathetic and creepy, a self-view that’s further supported by the way he interacts with some young girls working at an ice cream shop -- an interaction he makes Lucy do on his behalf, because ‘they won’t come if they know it’s me’ despite him clearly having been here many times.

There is more -- so much more. References to films, songs, books, poems, all of them things that have built up and bolstered his inner world but which reflect that same self-loathing and misery that colors his life. It would take repeated viewings with Google close at hand to catch all of the references and their meanings, but the overall picture they present adds up to things I’ve pointed out already: Here is a lonely, sensitive, intelligent guy who never lived up to his potential, who thinks the source of his misery is his inability to be loved by the right person, and who has realized now, far too late in his life, that there is no way to fix what he has become.

And that is the final, most poignant tragedy of the story.

Early in the film, he tells a story about some pigs on the farm. The pigs had been neglected for a little while, his father too busy to tend to them properly. When he does finally check in on them, he finds them unable to stand. Their bellies are rotten, crawling through with maggots; their inability to move, to do something, has left them to be eaten from the inside.

One of these pigs -- in a cheerful, animated presence -- appears at the end to guide him, psychopomp style, toward his presumed death. We see janitor Jake in his car in a bitter storm, parked outside the high school where he works. He could start the car and drive away, but instead he sets his keys down and simply sits in the cold. We see him begin to undress, ripping his clothes off as he becomes increasingly disoriented -- signs of advanced hypothermia. Then the pig arrives to lead him back to the school, where he gives a final performance in Oklahoma, performing a musical number about Jud -- the film’s antagonist, a bit of an incel himself, a rotten man who lusts inappropriately after the wrong girl -- but perhaps to Jake he is the hero instead?

To me, Jake’s mumbled question at the beginning -- just one question, one answer -- is: “Is today the day I die?”

He, too, is thinking of ending things. And just like Lucy, who stays in her relationship even though she knows it’s doomed, whose inaction becomes a type of self-harm, Jake ultimately commits a passive sort of suicide. He does not actively kill himself; by freezing to death in his car, he simply refuses to do anything to save his life. Just like the pig, he has allowed himself to fester from inaction, now beyond any point of salvation.

In a weird way, I think I’m Thinking of Ending Things shares many similar themes with Midsommar, or at least with Christian’s story arc in Midsommar. It’s a warning against staying in a relationship that you know has gone sour -- and, in more general terms, against allowing yourself to be trapped and stagnated in a situation that will cause you harm. That a time will indeed come when it is too late to do anything. That you must act now, while you can, before things become so rotten that you cannot escape.

Anyway. There is so much more to unpack from this film. I’d love to talk about it more with anyone interested!

#horror new releases #horror movies #I'm thinking of ending things #this is not a horror movie #to be clear #but it kind of is #it's a weird philosophical character study #with disturbing themes #I ordered the book #I'm very curious to read it

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nettlestonenell · 4 years

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Enola Holmes in Review

Gentle Readers:

1. I did not plan to watch Enola Holmes

2. I do not/have not watched Stranger Things, and my entire concept of Millie Bobby Brown as a human is encapsulated in the occasional errant tumblr post, and a line of eyewear she apparently has created, posters for which hang at my glasses-provider.

3. I had never heard of the YA novels about Enola Holmes

There she is!

Yes, I do tend to enjoy nearly any incarnation of Sherlock Holmes. And, yes, I am often surprised by this fact. For some reason, Holmes, unlike, say, Chris Evans as Cap or Chris Hemsworth as Thor [instances where I can’t really imagine enjoying anyone else in the role] I am always interested to see someone else’s [writer and actor and director]’s take on him. *Subtle shout-out to James D’Arcy’s 2002 turn in A Case of Evil.

Mr. Jarvis! [and there was Vincent D’Onofrio and opium!!]

And yet, watching the Enola Holmes trailer [no doubt b/c of tumblr], and yes, admittedly not unmoved [we are not made of stone] by Cavill’s Curls™ the delight I felt in watching that advert led me to start informing my family that on September 23rd what I was going to be doing was enjoying Enola Holmes on Netflix [and anyone else was free to join me].

Someone important is missing from this picture

And what a delight it was. In the run-up to its debut I read more than a few reviews of the film [and, I think, every one of them written by men], some of which struck me as simply coming from a place of mean-spiritedness, yet none—even the positive reviews—preparing me for how ENJOYABLE this film is.

I’m not going to provide a full review point-by-point here, b/c the film involves cases to be solved (no, none of them are overwhelmingly complex—YA novel--, so all the more reason not to spoil any pay-offs). But I do have some things to talk about.

THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM – And what a nice, nice elephant it is! Henry Cavill as Holmes is, in my opinion an absolute delight of a performance. From the moment he first says Enola’s name (a perfectly-rendered reaction to the moment playing out) this Holmes fits into this Greatest Showman-like version of Victorian England, where no one’s too dirty no matter how poor, and where despite a flaming red dress, cut too low for daytime wear, young Enola is never once mistaken for a working girl. [Again, YA novel] As other reviewers have noted, HC is, well, Cut and Bulked Out, and in his highly tailored frock coats well, strapping is too light a description word. *not a complaint. Cavill’s Curls are out and proud and here to tell us that we are meant to be Having Fun, and Gentle Readers—THEY DO NOT LIE.

No, not a priest’s collar where he is undercover (though I had thought so)

In fact, you could absolutely write your thesis statement on this film, that it’s really a fraternal, familial love story between Sherlock and Enola. Sherlock is the character during the two hours that actually changes. [Yes, Enola comes to an understanding about herself, and her circumstances change repeatedly—but it is Sherlock who experiences a Change of Heart/Reversal].

Raise your hand if you’re totally here for significantly older brother/significantly youngest sister family love!

HOW I WOULD DESCRIBE IT – This might in no way be helpful, but, Enola Holmes is basically The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles...

Where have you gone, Sean Patrick Flanery?

a YA historical storyline that’s written adjacent to [there, famous people] here, enduring fictional characters. It’s adventurous and pleasantly immersive, historical morays are given a slap-dash portrayal, rather than a fully-accurate representation, there’s adventures to be had, and side-characters to be converted into caring about the title character as much as we, the audience, do.

LUCY HONEYCHURCH – Yes, that gorgeous girl from Windy Corner. The timeline doesn’t jibe, but I daresay Helena Bonham Carter (back in a corset—though she may have worn those for Bellatrix) as Eudoria Holmes *IS* what Lucy Honeychurch might well have become beyond A Room with a View’s end. Bonham Carter looks absolutely at home here (period films have sorely missed her! –she had a part in 2015’s Suffragette), and still wears the trappings of Victorian England like a second skin.

Not to mention that she now join my personal comfort-list of on-screen mothers with the likes of 1997’s Little Women Susan Sarandon and Cinderella’s Hayley Atwell.

FAMILY ISSUES OR PLOT HOLES?

It’s a fair question. There’s a lot going on in this plot, some of which...seem solvable. Why has it been so very long since the Holmes brothers have seen their own mother? And sister? How could the woman we come to know as Eudoria raise a Mycroft? [see also, Molly Weasley?] Why aren’t people who seem to care about Enola more engaged with saving her from all the dangers London throws in her way? Why does Enola accept several acts of violence aimed at her, why does she in certain instances Do What She Is Told? Rather than chalk these up to plot holes or convenient devices, I’m siding with the Holmes family being dysfunctional [who knows what dad was like? We’re certainly not told here].

[clears throat]

The conversations between Mycroft and Sherlock barely skim the surface of any subject they interact on. Classic dysfunction: distancing one’s true self from human interaction b/c keeping the peace supersedes all else.

Enola accepts certain treatments b/c if we really do watch her relationship with her mother, there is an element of something amiss—as I will declare the later abandonment shows. Enola is a child used to being elevated and celebrated on one hand, and shut out and isolated on the other. Her parent has informed her about so much, but essentially locked her away in a false reality, where Enola is not taken to see the world, nor taught how to interact in it (which is explicitly stated). Perhaps it is not so surprising that the Holmes’ brothers have not cared overly much for visiting their remaining family. And when repeatedly confronted with a minor child (and yet a child likely though old enough or about so, to be married off) being forced to endure things diametrically opposed to her will—the brothers’ reactions are stoic, the system they accept as to how life must be lived immoveable and morally right simply by its very existence.

MILLIE BOBBY BROWN – THE STAR – In what has to be an Emmy-nomination-deserving turn, MBB is nothing short of wholly in charge of the screen. She never overpowers the story. She’s as loveable as Sandra Bullock in While You Were Sleeping, and as ready for her closeup as Jennifer Lawrence in The Hunger Games. As another review mentioned, she handles the 4th wall breaks in such as way as we look forward to the next time she’s going to talk to us. We ache with her sorrow for her lost mom, and rage with her at the adults in her life choosing wrongly for her future—or simply not choosing at all.

A random observation, but one that feels important to me: her HAIR. Yes! They’ve managed to make a late Victorian-era film where the heroine’s hair looks like real hair that someone really styled (or in some scenes, didn’t). And yet, where the hair looks proper for the time. [wild applause]

COMPLAINTS: Well, in honesty there aren’t any. If you want to complain that there isn’t any dirt, that the evil of the world (I mean, c’mon, this is narrowly post-Dickensian London, here) is neutered, that the adults in question seem neither alarmed enough or emboldened enough at either their mother or sister being missing and possibly out of their depths in a dangerous society without protection, and in Enola’s case real-world skills--? Well, I’m certainly not going to disagree with you. This is YA Victorian London, after all, not Ripper Street. There is also neither a hint of or actual threat of sexual violence at any point in the film. But the lack of that has preserved us from having to sit through that, as well as no doubt lectures about how Enola’s virtue might be spoilt and she might become useful to no man.

The relationships are appropriate, too. Despite strides between Enola and certain adults in the film, by the time the credits roll they’re not showing physical affection toward each other (a move that would have seemed over-the-top), and teen relationships are shown progressing at a reasonable and mutedly awkward pace.

Now, Netflix, green-light me five more films (or more). There’s still a new version of John Watson to meet, after all!

#enola holmes #netflix enola holmes #millie bobby brown #henry cavill #helena bonham carter #SUCH A GOOD TIME!#universally well-liked!

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palimpsessed · 3 years

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So @captain-aralias did one of these and invited other writers to do the same. And I wasn't really going to because it feels a bit late now and also I've done quite a few other year in review posts for 2020. But then I got to thinking that it would be really nice to have one of these for each year to look back on and compare, which convinced me. So, here we go!

If you’re a writer, I’d also encourage you to steal this. Tag me on your post so I can see your thoughts! 🥰

List of Complete Fics for 2020 1. At the Top of a Tower, With You- General, 900 words 2. Use Your Words- Teen, 16k 3. A Man of Letters, or Five Times Baz Retreats and the One Time He Doesn’t- Teen, 54k 4. To the Manor Borne- Teen, 43k

Total: 4 fics, 113k words

Every one of these fics was written for an event, which, realistically, is the only reason they got finished. I have so many ideas I'm working on all at once, and I came into fandom with a focus on making art, so to actually find the motivation to sit down and write/finish/post a fic was entirely deadline based. And it's a technique I'm sure I will also employ in 2021.

Best/Worst Title?

Well, I've mentioned a few times before that I usually have a title before I have much in the way of a fic concept. I don't really dislike any of the my titles, because they all did exactly what I needed them to do, which was help me focus on what I wanted to accomplish in the fic. Comparatively speaking, though, I can answer this.

Best: Use Your Words - succinct, idiomatic, a book quote/motif that also has the potential to be a spell, does what it says on the tin, is probably what all of us are constantly yelling at Baz and Simon to do throughout the books and the fic itself

(Honorable mention to A Man of Letters because that title forms a perfect heart shape when viewed on mobile on AO3. ❤️)

Worst: At the Top of a Tower, With You - this is also a quote and it fits the fic perfectly, but it is a bit of a mouthful and it has a comma in the middle of it, which, while I love commas, feels a bit off-putting in terms of a title - also, it's always kind of bothered me that it's a Baz WS quote used for a CO-era Lucy POV

Best/worst summary?

Again, I don't really dislike any of my summaries.

Best:

To the Manor Borne: The gang decides to spend Christmas together at Pitch Manor. Romance, hijinks, and holiday cheer ensue.

Anything that lets me use the word hijinks is always good! - it's short and sweet - it does a fair job of setting up the premise for the fic and giving highlights, without giving anything away

Worst: A Man of Letters

I'm not going to include this one because it's so long, I had to cut down the version I posted on tumblr to fit in the AO3 field, which is really why I rank it below my others - it effectively sets up the world of Simon and Baz in Regency England prior to where the story starts, but it is prohibitively long - and it's set up, not summary, so it also loses points for not doing what it purports to do - I could have said exactly what this fic was in one sentence: "Simon and Baz meet at several Regency-appropriate venues over the course of a London season and reflect on their acquaintance in letters", but instead I did the full book jacket version because it was more interesting to me.

Best/Worst First Line?

Oh, this is interesting. I can honestly say that I have no idea where this will go. Going to pull up my docs and find out! Okay, since I only have four fics to consider, and I'm feeling split, I'm going to do two for each. I feel good about my words, but I will say that half of my first lines actually provide information, and the other half are incomplete thoughts. Those were stylistic decisions I made, but when taken alone, it does somewhat limit the effectivness of a sentence when it can't stand without the rest of the paragraph. Perhaps that decision will lure readers in for more?

Best:

In the end, we wind up at Pitch Manor. (To the Manor Borne)

I know that you won't be surprised when I tell you that I do not like writing letters. (A Man of Letters)

Kind of interesting that these both contain key words from the titles 🤔

Worst:

I'm not sure how I'm supposed to do this. (Use Your Words)

I love how the title seems to be answering Baz's question when the two are put together like this 😂

Strange that it should end here, where it all started. (At the Top of a Tower, With You)

The title also seems to complete the first line in this one, too. I'm learning about my writing as this goes on, so that's cool!

Best/Worst Last Line?

Hmm. Okay, again, no idea. Also, a little leery of including last lines for anyone who hasn't read the fics they're from yet. (Tho I guess it's unlikely those people would be reading this😆) But let's see what we've got.

Use Your Words and A Man of Letters have very similar final lines, and both are somewhat spoilery.

Best: The ending of A Man of Letters felt risky to me, in the way that it is formatted and changes tone from the rest of the story. It was something that happened as I wrote it and I loved it. I had no idea if readers would like it, if they would feel like it worked as an ending, but I felt strongly enough about it to let the entire fic hinge on that and I think it really paid off. So, without giving you the actual last line, which is only one word, I'm going to say that one is my best ending.

Worst:

To the Manor Borne: "Carry on, Simon."

It's not bad, it's just not mine.

Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, fewer than you thought, or about what you predicted?

I did not set out to write any fics in 2020. I was supposed to be taking a break from writing. I've been an aspiring novelist for half my life now, and have been going through major ups and downs with my writing. I decided I needed to re-evaluate and figure out if writing was something that was even going to be able to make me happy anymore. The answer is: YES! Just…not original fiction. At the moment. I'm happiest when I can write for the sake of writing and not have to DO something with that writing. Which is why discovering fan fiction was AMAZING!!!! 🥰🥰🥰

To actually answer the question, yes, I wrote more than I thought I would. I also wrote exactly as much as I thought I would, simply because these were all things I signed up for (with the exception of my Countdown fic, but I committed to it as if it were something that required a sign up).

I have a lot more ideas for 2021, but I don't know how many of them will come to fruition. I'm not putting pressure on myself to have to do anything beyond what I sign up for again, because it did work out so well for me starting off.

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted last year?

I mean, the pairing and the fandom were in no way a surprise. 😆 They're my only ones, so those were both a given. The genre is also not surprising.

What's your favorite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest?

A Man of Letters, without any hesitation. I adore it so much. It's the kind of fic I know I will unabashedly sit down to read over and over, even if I'm the one who wrote it. I had one reader to please and it was ME. By far, my most self-indulgent fic.

Okay, NOW your most popular story?

That depends on the metric.

To the Manor Borne leads in Comments (107), Kudos (153), and Hits (1992), and Use Your Words leads in Bookmarks (26).

But since To the Manor Borne is top in 3 out of 4 metrics, I'll say that one.

Story most upderappreciated by the universe?

I mean, the least popular by a wide margin is At the Top of a Tower, With You, but I don't know if I'd call it underappreciated. It's short, it's angsty, it's got a very unusual style, it's Lucy POV, it's the first fic I wrote and posted. I didn't really go into it with high performance expectations. I'm proud of it, I just didn't expect it to be popular. It would be nice if more people read it, but I'm not broken up over it.

Story that could have been better?

I'm not even going to touch this one. Everything can always be improved upon, but if I go down that route, nothing will ever be done. This is one of the things I have come to appreciate about traditional art versus digital. With traditional, there is only so much you can do before something is permanent and you have to live with it. It's an exercise in letting go and acceptance. Digital is flashier and more flexible, but I could (and have) spend months on a single piece and never feel satisfied, never stop tweaking. I think that's also the reason I started to hate my novels.

Sexiest story?

Based purely on overall vibes, I find the understated tension of the Regency the most appealing, so I'm going to say A Man of Letters. I didn't actually stray into sex territory in any of my fics (though Simon and Baz have had sex by the time To the Manor Borne starts, and refer to it, and probably do it "offscreen"), but A Man of Letters is the one that feels sexiest to me. Lots of thirsting!Baz and feral!Simon and sensual hand touching (how risqué!) - and YEARNING. That, to me, is the sexiest vibe of all. So. Much. Yearning.

Saddest story?

At the Top of a Tower, With You - for this one, I tagged "angst without plot" and I stand by that. It's Lucy losing her connection to Simon at the end of CO and trying to find a way to reconcile herself to leaving him alone again. I gave it as much of a hopeful bent as I could, with the refrain of Baz's spoken "love" to cling to, but it's very sad.

Most fun?

To the Manor Borne - All of my fics have their fair share of angst, but this one also has some good, silly, holiday fluff thrown in. Since I wrote it for the Countdown, each chapter was based on a different prompt, which led to this one going in all sorts of directions no single fic probably ever should. Plus, it has the most Shepard, and Shepard always makes things more fun.

Story with the single sweetest moment?

Oh my god. I don't know. No, never mind. I do. It's To the Manor Borne, but it's split between the two gift giving scenes, the Constellations and Secret Santa/Gift Giving prompts. These were private moments between Simon and Baz, sharing themselves with each other, being vulnerable, and communicating. It's the gifts they give each other, yes, but it's more so the reasons they chose those gifts, and how they show part of themselves and share their love for each other, through those gifts, that had me in tears writing those two scenes. I'm super proud of them.

Hardest story to write?

Use Your Words - it was written for an exchange and that made it really hard to write it knowing there was this pressure of making my gift-ee happy with the fic. I'm proud of it, and they really liked it, but the anxiety was too much for me.

Easiest/most fun story to write?

A Man of Letters - if there is a fic better suited to me as a writer, I haven't met it. I started writing after reading Pride and Prejudice in high school, so I started out writing Regency and I spent years and years and years of my life obsessed. When I transferred into college, an administrator I had never met before heard my name during orientation and said, "Oh, you're the Austen scholar." (It is a small, private college, and I was a transfer, so the pool of students was even smaller. But still. Many years later, I'm clearly not over it.) I also did my senior thesis on an epistolary novel (Frances Burney’s Evelina), and my English Lit emphasis was for that time period. So, I felt like I had been preparing for this fic my entire adult life. 😂

Did any stories shift your perceptions of the characters?

I don't think so. I tend to let my writing be dictated by the characters, so I'm always following their lead. Sometimes they'll do or say something that surprises me and takes me down a route I didn't necessarily foresee, but I don't think there was ever a point where one of them did something that made me rethink who they are as a character.

Most overdue story?

I will say A Man of Letters, since that one felt like a culmination of my seventeen-year-old self's wildest writing dreams. But I should probably say the Scooby Doo AU I still haven't managed to finish, because that one has been a WIP since I joined the fandom. Oops. (I'm hoping when I look over this in a year, I can feel smug that it's finally done.)

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?

Writing at all was a risk for me! And writing fan fic for the very first time! Writing an entire fic told only through letters. And then ending it in a completely different style from the rest of the fic. Doing a multi-chaptered fic for the Countdown, using a different prompt for each chapter, and publishing a chapter every single day for thirty days (with the exception of two days that had art). Signing up for fandom events in the first place!

What I learned from taking risks in my writing is the same thing I learned when I took risks in my art this year. I have a much better appreciation for what I've done when I push myself, I feel better about the end product, and I like it longer. I think it's really good for me to challenge myself creatively.

This year's theme and the story that demonstrates it most?

Oh boy. Um. Therapy! Both Use Your Words and To the Manor Borne had their big HEA moments built around sending Simon and Baz to therapy. I don't think that's likely to change for future fics, either. I feel like therapy as the theme for 2020 seems very fitting. (Also, I think I keep sending the boys to therapy because I'm trying to get myself there…)

What are your fic writing goals for next year?

Just to write what I want to write, have fun, not put any pressure on myself, and to take risks in my writing and my art because it will help me to grow.

#fan fic year in review #my fic #at the top of a tower with you #use your words #a man of letters #to the manor borne

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warriorteam1924 · 3 years

Text

Somebody’s watching me

Joe Mazzello x femReader

Author’s note : Hi my beauties. I carry on annoying you with my Halloween stuff.... I particularly enjoyed writing this one, I had so much fun elaborating the idea and actually writing it. I hope you enjoy as well. Thanks in advance for the feedback. Also, I remind you English is not my mother tongue, sorry for the mistakes….

Warnings : None, I guess it’s okay

Summary : Scary time on Halloween

Words count : 2,775 words

Permanent tag list : @anotheronebitesthedick @reavenedges-lies @thosequeenboys @roger-taylors-car @orionis8689 @theadorabletia (as always when bot tag it’s okay but when it comes to me, I can die, can’t I tumblr?)

Whatever the date in the week, whatever the year, it was always a busy day for you on Halloween.

Your best friend worked as a Teacher Assistant and was usually very involved when it came to helping the school team to organize events. From January to December, Domhnall was with the kids. In winter with a woolly hat, covering his ginger hair, in spring sporting colorful T-shirts, in summer with fancy sunglasses or in autumn with his big black boots, he was always around and everyone knew they could rely on him.

Domhnall was a proud Irish man in America and would often joke about his resemblance with the famous actor who had the same name, but to your point of view, the common points were only their name and the color of their hair.

Yet, you were glad your best friend was not a famous actor, because even if you were admirative of some celebrities, you’d always thought the pressure coming along with notoriety would surely be too much for you.

Once again, you looked at the notes Domnhall had given you for Halloween. Again, he had volunteered to be part of the ‘trick or treating’ session with the kids from his school. Yet, one of the teachers was ill and as a last resort, he had called you to help him watch the school youngsters. You laughed out loud when you recalled the theme Domhnall had picked for his team : ‘Despicable me and the minions’. Well, even if you knew you would totally be freezing and looking like an idiot in the costume of Lucy from the second and third movie, you felt reassured about the kids. They surely would be all dressed as minions and it would be very much easier to spot them if the streets happened to be a bit crowded. Yet, knowing Domhnall, you knew he would have spotted and selected a quiet area, where the kids would have fun and where the residents would be happy to give them candies.

You opened the bag your friend had brought to you earlier that day and checked the costume to see if something was missing. You laughed as you saw the ginger wing, already styled as a bun just like the protagonist. Hopefully, going along the turquoise dress and the light white and red scarf, there was a light blue trench coat. October was not as cold as December or January, but you shivered at the thought of going in the street on Halloween day with only a mere T-shirt. Entirely focused on your mission, you got dressed, put some makeup on and got ready to meet Domhnall and the kids.

Unsurprisingly, your best friend was already surrounded by many kids, all dressed as minions, when you arrived at the meeting place. You couldn’t help but laugh at his bald head since he had picked the costume of the main protagonist, Gru. He surely had worked hard on his style and moves because the scene was truly credible. He smiled at you when you came closer and the school youngsters seemed already very excited. Yet, being the very good teacher assistant he was, Domhnall quickly calmed them down and the door to door afternoon started.

The whole treat and tricking went very well. The kids knew they had to behave and it was very easy to make sure they were still all around thanks to their costumes, since they were all the same. The residents were admirative of the efforts made with the costumes and most of them were very generous when putting candies in the bags or the pumpkin shaped recipients the kids had brought with them.

At the end of the afternoon, the whole group went back to the meeting point. You were glad it was over and wondered how on earth Lucy was able to save the world on high heels before recalling she was an imaginary protagonist from a cartoon. The parents arrived to pick their kids, but your friend received a call from one of the single dad who was stuck at work, asking Domhnall if he could drive the young girl to his office so that the kid would not be on her own. After checking on you, the teacher assistant agreed and he took the school girl with him to her dad. You waved them goodbye, smiling.

After all, the weather was a bit cold, but you had been very lucky it had not rained at all. Walking home would allow you to see the amazing decorations some residents had put on, some of them surely kindly and amicably willing to impress their neighbors with their sceneries.

The carved pumpkins enlightened with candles were shining on the porches as the daylight was slowly fading. Most of the gardens were decorated with grave like shapes and zombies figures, but it seemed the residents had all agreed to put on a funny detail on the scene, surely to make sure the spooky effet would be there, without frightening the kids.

Autumn was not everyone’s favorite season but no one could deny the colors were absolutely amazing. Some leaves on the trees were actually turning red and you wondered how it was possible. Taking a shortcut by the nearby park, you spotted the highest trees and the palette of colors, greens, oranges, reds, yellows, and it gave you the impression of being into a famous painting.

Yet, you suddenly came back to reality as you noticed the darkness was quite quickly surrounding you. You were not the kind of person to believe troubles only happened to the others, so even if you truly hoped for nothing bad to occur you, you tried to walk faster to be home as soon as possible. You stared at your feet while walking and cursed against the shoes you were wearing. You were not used to have high heels and every step you were taking reminded you of this.

Your heart beat started to be faster as well. It wouldn’t have been surprising since you were trying to rapidly get out of the park to find the quite reassuring lights of the streets. Yet, the hair on your neck starting to bristle was another clue letting you know there was actually something wrong. You attempted to calm down and get back to a normal breathing as you saw the park's tall and massive gate. As you turned in the street, you slightly and hastily gave a glance at the path you were leaving. That was when your heart almost stopped. Someone was indeed following you.

Was it a man? It was impossible to tell. It was Halloween and most of the pedestrians you could see were wearing costumes. It was hard to be able to say who was who. There was a police officer at the corner of the street. Yet, he seemed to be having fun with other disguised folks so you figured out your best option was to carry on walking as fast as you could.

It was weird to see all the potential scenarii happening in your head. Why was this person following you? Why you? What particular attractive sign had you given? What did the person want? Would it hurt when he would catch you? You figured out it was a man since he seemed taller and slowly getting closer to you.

What were his exact intentions? Would he leave your dead body in some random place? Would he feel guilty? How would the police tell your family? After this thought, all you had in mind was the sight of your mom crying and the sound of her heart breaking as someone would tell her you were dead.

You suddenly frowned as you tried to clear your mind from all those negative thoughts. No one would tell your mom you were dead or whatever. You were going to face the situation like the grown up woman you were. All you needed was a plan. You had to make sure to stop the man following you before he could stop you and before he could find out where you were living.

The adrenaline now working on you, you tried to make it efficient in your brain. What were your possibilities? You needed to knock him out if possible, but with what? All you had were your punches. Maybe a well placed kick? With those bloody high heels, it wouldn’t happen. You suddenly noticed the white bag Domhnall had given you as an accessory for your costume. This could be the right solution. There were some candies the kids had given you in it so its weight could be sufficient.... You truly hoped it would be.

You had to perfect the rest of your plan. How would you proceed? You were still walking quite fast but you were sure the man was getting closer to you. You thought about suddenly turning in a street and wait for him. He surely wouldn’t expect you to act this way so it was the best plan. It was all you had really.

As you saw a street on your left, you took a deep breath and once your body was no longer to be seen from your pursuer, you put your back on the wall and firmly grabbed your bag. Your legs were shaking and you tried to control your breath, willing to be as quiet as possible. Then it all happened within seconds.

You heard someone almost panting arriving and suddenly facing you. Without really thinking anymore, you strongly punched him in the face with your bag, making him stumble. Taking the opportunity of him being slightly knocked out, you placed your leg in front of him to make him fall. It was a massive success and the man miserably collapsed on the pavement.

Your first plan was to run away and put as much distance as possible between your pursuer and you, but you were so troubled you totally forgot about it. Instead of escaping, you looked at him as he was grumbling, still unable to get up. You put your hand in your bag and suddenly warned him :

“Don’t you dare make another move. I’ve got a lipstick taser, I warn you !!”

“You shouldn't tell me before using it....”, he replied with difficulty.

“What?”, you asked.

“In the movie, Lucy explains it. Gru warns her about the freeze ray and she very easily blocks his attack....”, he carried on.

“What?”, you repeated.

“Ain’t you dressed as Lucy from the movie Despicable me?”, he questioned you.

“Yes I am. But I’m the one to ask questions here.”, you told him, trying to sound convincing.

Still on the pavement, the man slowly tried to get up.

“Careful....”, you warned him, stepping back a little.

Once up, he raised his hands as if he was surrendering, surely to let you know there was nothing to be scared of.

“Who are you? Why are you following me?”, you asked him. Since he was now facing you, you creased your eyes, trying to recognize him under his costume.

“My name is Joe. I’m Laura’s uncle. Domhnall told me you agreed, but it seemed there was a problem....?”, he tried to explain.

“Laura? Laura who? And how do you know Domhnall?”, you carried on questioning him.

“Your friend Domhnall is a teacher assistant in Laura’s class. She’s my niece.”, he calmly replied.

“Okay....”, you frowned, carefully listening to him. You recalled the group of minions you were with during the afternoon and remembered a little girl called Laura, always talking, and more particularly about her uncle Joe. He remained silent as you were thinking.

“Joe.... Mozzilla, right?”, you asked him.

“Close enough,”, he laughed. “I’m Joe Mazzello, the kid from Jurassic Park.”, he stepped forwards for you to shake hands.

“Hold on.”, you stepped back once again. “This doesn’t explain anything at all....”, you told him.

Your phone suddenly rang and you looked at the screen. You sighed in relief as you saw your best friend’s name from the incoming call.

“Domhnall?”, you answered.

“Y/N !! I’m sorry I forgot to tell you !!! There is a dude, Joe Mazz.... Joe.... Damn, I forgot his name....”, he hastily started to say, making Joe roll his eyes since he could hear the conversation. “I forgot to tell you you guys were supposed to meet after the ‘trick or treating’ today.... Remember I told you about him? Nice chap, looking for a nice gal?”, Domhnall said.

You closed your eyes and took a deep breath. You recalled your friend mentioning Joe once or twice during a conversation but you had no clue he was already playing Cupid between the two of you.

“Dom.... What the hell?”, you eventually replied.

“I can hear you’re mad. It’s all my fault, I totally forgot since the teacher got ill and you came to help me and Michelle’s dad called as he was stuck at work and.....”, your friend tried to justify himself.

“That’s fine, Dom. It’s just a misunderstanding.”, you interrupted him. “Got to go now, I’ll call you later.”, you told him, ending the call before he could reply.

Joe was standing there with a weird smile on his face. He was like a kid who had been unfairly treated and was waiting for apologies.

“Well. I’m sorry, Mister Mezzallo....”, you eventually told him.

“Mazzello. Joe Mazzello.”, he corrected you.

“I’m Y/N, nice to meet you.”, you offered your hand for him to shake it and he did.

“My pleasure. My meeting with your bag was much less pleasant I must admit.”, he confessed, trying his best to appease the atmosphere.

“And I’m sorry about that as well.”, you grimaced, feeling guilty. “But you have to admit it was quite weird to chase me this way....”, you told him.

“Touché....”, he nodded, trying to dust him a little.

“Nice pyjamas.”, you noticed. His costume was shiny orange with a bumbag. His hair was pudding basin styled and now you could look at him properly, you immediately recognized the costume of Vector, from the Despicable Me franchise as well.

“Pfah? These ain’t pyjamas !! It’s a warm up suit !!”, he pretended to be offended.

“What are you warming up for?”, you innocently asked him.

“Stuff.”, he carried on.

“What sort of stuff?”

“Super cool stuff you wouldn’t understand....”, he replied, replacing his bumbag on his belly.

“Like.... Sleeping?”, you questioned him.

“They are not pyjamas.”, he almost shouted.

You looked at him with a smile, nodding.

“With several nieces and nephews, I can justify why I know the lines....”, he joked.

“I know the lines cause I love the movies, duh.”, you replied.

He smiled at you and there was a moment of silence between the two of you.

“I know we didn’t.... like meet properly and it’s a bit audacious to ask, but if your place isn’t too far, could we go there so that I can clean up a little?”, he asked, passing his hand in his hair.

“Yeah. Yes, of course.”, you came back to reality and started to walk towards your house, which wasn’t too far now.

Joe noticed you weren’t walking very easily with your shoes and couldn’t help but ask:

“How have you been able to almost run in these?”, he said, pointing at your feet.

“Well, now it hurts pretty badly, but I honestly have no clue. It was really scary....”, you confessed.

“It truly wasn’t my best move, I’m aware of this. Note to self, Joe don’t do that again.”, he joked.

“Oh? I know this date didn’t start the best way, but you’re already considering it’s gonna fail?”, you pointed out.

“Oh, my god no !!! Damn Joe why can’t you just shut up....”, he cursed.

You lowered your head but smiled. Stopping in front of your entrance gate, you showed him the way.

“This is my house.”, you told him. “You chased me all the way to here, do you want to come in?”, you proposed.

“Yes. Yes, please.”, he nodded.

After Joe had cleaned up and the two of you were cosily sited in the sofa, you started to talk. About all and anything. Merely laughing and getting to know each other.

If someone had told you you were going to meet the love of your life this way, you would never have believed it. Joe Mazzello wasn’t like any other man and his introduction was to be spectacular and to be going down in history. As far as you were concerned, you were sure you would remember this day until this would truly be your very last on earth.

#warriorteam1924 writes #somebody's watching me #joe mazzello #joe mazzello x reader #joe mazzello fanfic #joe mazzello fanfiction #joe mazzello fic #joe mazzello imagine #joe mazzello fiction #halloqueen2020 #using this tag this year 🎃#gosh this post was programmed

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clumsyclifford · 3 years

Note

bella I would love a directors cut on literally any of the rilex you’ve written, but specifically it’s always her, and you, and me, or for these days you’ve been stuck in my brain 💙

OHHHHHH those are some CHOICESSSSSS lucy. fuck yeah. let’s get into it. ill link them both here but we’ll take em one at a time

it’s always her, and me, you

these days you’ve been stuck in my brain

here’s a cut for convenience cos i KNOW i’m gonna go long here.

okay! let’s start with the rilisex fic.

it’s always her, and me, and you

so like it says in the ao3 notes, this fic came from realizing just how frequently rian and alex kiss each other like, all the time? just? casually? for funsies? this was another one of those situations like i mentioned where the hook aka first line (“Rian's no expert, but he doesn't think normal friends kiss this much.”) just appeared in my head and i was like heyyy that’s a GOOD first line. i have to build from that line. that’s the hook, that’s the summary, that’s the core.

something i discovered upon searching through the editing history of the doc: i had originally sort of intended to go a direction with this where in some other circumstance, rian would see alex giving jack a super casual friendly kiss and he’d get all sad/jealous and be like sure why SHOULDNT alex kiss jack after all its just a thing he does with his FRIENDS. but the fic ended up going a different way and honestly? im glad. i like this way better.

the role of singin in the rain in this fic actually has a HILARIOUS backstory because the night i originally wrote that conversation in the tour bus kitchen, i went into the club and said the following

and then. the next day. rian streamed with ricky, and i asked if he’d ever seen singin in the rain, and he ANSWERED ME and said he hadn’t. so first of all i had already written the scene and i then had to rewrite it to make it so rian wouldn’t have seen it but also!!! i literally asked rian fucking dawson if he’d seen a movie for the sole reason of using that information for fanfiction!!!! and he provided me with the information i needed!!!! whole thing is just fucking hysterical to me. ANYWAY.

ANYWAY, the other reason why sitr has such a big role in the fic is because megs and i watched the movie together while i was in the middle of working on the fic, so it was extremely fresh in my mind. in fact i can probably show you this: i had this comment left for myself when i was kind of trying to figure out if i could make a real metaphor of sorts with the sitr ot3 and the Big Three of this fic. some of this ended up in rian’s wild musings in the hotel scene but i did conclude that it wouldn’t really have worked and that was definitely true but anyway. fuck it, director’s cut, here’s the kind of shit i leave for myself to refer to

so that’s part of the reason why it became such a puzzle piece of this fic, but real talk, it’s also just because i love singin in the rain it’s one of my favorite movies lmao

briefly gonna also touch on lisa and why she’s in this fic because i realize that rian/alex/lisa is an interesting approach to rilex! first of all, i love lisa. i love alex and lisa. and it occurred to me that there was really no reason to split lisex up just to make rilex happen. plus there’s this tweet that really just pushed me over the edge of being like yeah, rilisex is extremely plausible. so that’s that on that.

as for the scene in the hotel room while they’re watching sitr, there is a small piece of that scene - from when alex starts kissing rian’s shoulders etc to “it would defy the laws of nature not to” - that i actually wrote before anything else in that scene. that small piece got stretched out and edited quite a bit from how it started but it did function as a sort of foundation around which i built the rest of the scene, because that small section sort of ~came to me~ absolutely out of nowhere, and i really liked the Vibe it had and i wanted to include it. i THINK that was the only piece of this fic that i wrote Out Of Order - for the most part this was written chronologically.

ALSO!!! omg this is exciting, this fic actually has a deleted scene!!!!!! i hate cutting scenes but i also hate having scenes that are less than 1k and this one didn’t really contribute much to the fic. i can probably share it here right? sure why not ! hopefully you can read this. it originally took place after the scene where alex and rian call lisa for the first time. the question of “what gets left into interview videos and what gets cut” is also just interesting to me as a (fic) concept in general so...eyes emoji, but here’s my mini-exploration that i cut from the original fic. enjoy lol it’s silly <3

oh! also one more thing!! the very final scene was included for two reasons. the first reason being that when i write getting-together fics, i really prefer to add on a scene After they Get Together because i love to write domestic established relationship stuff and i think that’s a satisfying reward for a reader who’s just slogged through all the mutual pining and bullshit to get the characters together. but the OTHER reason is that i got an anon (here it is!) and i read that ask and was immediately like well shit. now i have to fucking include this. for the anon and for myself. so you can thank that anon for that last scene. (also i wanted to include merrikat especially since i had to cut their little moment in the interview scene above.)

so....................whew. i think i’ve bled that fic dry. holy shit that’s a lot of Stuff. OKAY! let’s move on.

these days you’ve been stuck in my brain

so!!! THIS fic was the breakthrough after (what felt like) a long bout of writer’s block. long for me was maybe two weeks, but i am the kind of person who is always writing, and two weeks was a long time to go with little to no inspiration/motivation to write anything. i had also been in a weird narrative headspace because i’d been binge-watching disney shows (jessie > austin and ally > girl meets world) and i don’t know how well i can explain this but the way those shows are written is a lot snappier and cares way less for realistic and consistent character development or plots or relationships, and so i was stuck between caring a lot about including those things in my fics but also being unable to conceptualize them in writing because my brain was in Disney Writing Mode. does that make sense? this is rhetorical so let’s go with yes. so anyway. i was in a slump

actually what i ended up doing was basically googling something like “au prompts tumblr” or something and just scrolling through posts. i saw something about soulmate telepathy and i actually tried to write something totally different before i wrote this one, but the first attempt was a different concept and then the direction i took it was like......it wasn’t quite right and i realized that i was kind of writing dark disney style? there is really no way for me to explain what i mean by that because it seems really obvious to me but that’s just because i’m inside my own head so just take my word.

anyway. attempt #1 of soulmate telepathy rilex went poorly, and this fic was attempt #2. i kinda took the soulmate telepathy thing and changed it as i saw fit and i also went back to skim helen’s telepathy fic because obviously she’s the pro and then i tried not to steal her ideas. and as i was writing it i kinda realized i was doing the whole quirky funny best friend character with jack and also doing the whole “somehow this not-very-dramatic situation with teenagers is treated as The Most Dramatic Thing Ever and that’s totally normal and nobody finds it strange” disney trope with rian and alex being soulmates and i was like (deep sigh) i have to accept that no matter how much i try to fight this, this fic is going to be tainted with disney. and that’s life

on top of that i will add that the real-life rilex were extremely inspiring during the two-day period during which i wrote this fic, because that was when the once in a lifetime video came out and in the brief pre-video livestream rilex were Beyond Married and that definitely helped in the writing of fic rilex!

hmmmm what can i tell you about this fic itself.................honestly, i don’t think there’s much to tell! rian is a band kid because in real life rian was a band kid and he’s staff manager at rita’s just like he was in real life. there is truthfully not a lot to unpack here that i can think of!

oh here’s something i guess: rian and alex go on a date in this fic! that is because watching So Much Disney made me realize that i often forget the fact that people just. go on dates. sometimes. look i clearly do not have an active romantic life but i also really liked the idea of alex and rian going on a date despite not knowing if they’d be soulmates or not and liking each other organically just by getting to know each other, rather than being victim to the whole soulmate thing. like i wanted them to build a connection so that they would want to be soulmates. and then the audience would want that for them too. stakes!! very important.

i can tell you i had a mild crisis over the title of the fic because i am not a fan of the word brain and i didnt wanna use that sticky lyric for the title when it had a word i hated but it was objectively a much better title option than the other one i had, which was “sticky just like the song in my head” but i obviously decided on the former and it has not upset me nearly as much as i expected it to so that was the right decision imo

so! i think that’s all on that! sorry (?) that it got so long although then again i don’t know what’s to be expected in a director’s cut for two long fics but thank you for asking me about these, i love them both so very much rilex is so supremely underrated but so very important

#cashtonasfuck #ask #answered #this is a whole ass multimedia fucking presentation #you asked for the director's cut but like i sure as hell didnt hold back dflkhggj #in fairness you picked two longer fics #though most of my rilex fics are longer ones which is strange #but like good for them #director's cut #this was really fun #thank you lucyyy <3 #these were the good right choices for rilex fics to dissect because the other ones are either shorter or rilex is a background pairing #or like . just aint that deep #i stole the plot of something unpredictable from that other fic by that other person #so ya know #the fact that this response contains an entire deleted scene in a screenshot #this is a lot lmfao

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spnfanficpond · 4 years

Text

May 2020 Angel Fish Awards

(New Angel Fish design by @slytherkins!!)

Every month all of you fantastic writers work your asses off to post some truly incredible stories. Our Angel Fish Awards are the way for all of us, as a community of writers and readers, to lift each other up and give praise to those who have captured our attention and deserve a few kind words.

The monthly Angel Fish Awards are peer-nominated, meaning ANYONE IN THE POND CAN NOMINATE ANY POND MEMBER’S FIC. While the Pond was founded to support the Guppies, everyone in this community deserves to be showered with love and feedback, and we hope that by opening this up as a Pond wide system, we’ll be able to share the love as far as it can go.

NOTE: WE’VE BEEN HAVING OCCASIONAL PROBLEMS WITH ASKS GOING MISSING. Please use the Submit button when submitting your nominations and make sure you’re signed into Tumblr or your URL won’t show. (If the form asks for your name and email address, then you’re not signed in.) If you like, you can also send a message to Michelle @mrswhozeewhatsis or Mana @manawhaat to check and make sure we got your submission.

Be sure to read through this whole post as people who were nominated more than once only had one tag activated for tumblr tagging purposes!

WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, HERE ARE MAY’S ANGEL FISH AWARDS!

Nominated by @focusonspn

A Night on the Town (oneshot) by @supernatural-jackles

I completely love this fic!! Jensen is a total sweetheart, it’s really easy to read and all those words felt like only five minutes. This is everything a Jensen!girl could’ve asked for!!

Hunger (oneshot) by @impala-dreamer

HOLY. MOTHER. OF. HOTNESS. It was a fucking pleasure for my eyes to read every single word of this fic!! hot as hell, dark, Demon!Dean and in character as always.

Nominated by @mrswhozeewhatsis

Handkerchief (oneshot) by @babypieandwhiskey

I don’t usually read RPF, but this is an AU, so I dove in. Mechanic!Jensen with a magical supply of handkerchiefs, ready and willing to clean up whatever mess I find myself in? SOLD. Sweet, appeals to my love of Jensen’s back-pocket bandannas, and it activates my competence kink! Excuse me while I go wibble in the corner.

Nominated by @supernatural-jackles

Still The One (oneshot) by @luci-in-trenchcoats

I have a lot of respect for the way Michelle writes such difficult topics. She approaches them with such grace and accuracy, that makes it all the more realistic. This series is no exception. I deeply enjoy this series and the way things are playing out between Dean and the reader. It’s an extremely heartbreaking story that most of us don’t really think about until it’s put into this kind of perspective. This one is still ongoing, and I’m extremely excited to see how she handles the rest of the story. I highly recommend checking this one out. Just heed the warnings beforehand.

Nominated by @peridottea91

Healthy Competition (Series) by @kittenofdoomage

This! Omg this series! I love it so much!! It’s slower moving but keeps you itching for the next chapter and is oh so relatable. What woman hasn’t had body image issues? And what plus sized woman hasn’t had to deal with rude jerks and bullying? This fic is actually super realistic and hits all those relatable issues. Can’t wait to read the rest!!

Dangerous Signs (Series) by @kittenofdoomage

Ok, let me start by saying that I am a sucker for a good “character transported to alt. universe/world” fic. That said, I got soooooooooo addicted to this fic! It was so well written and you could just feel the reader’s hesitation and torn emotions. Should she stay? Should go? Ugh! Fantastic!! Also, kudos for the Norse mythology!! *chef’s kiss*

Nominated by @thegirlwhorunswithwinchesters

Cotton Candy (oneshot) by @ellewritesfix05

“It was always nice knowing [...] you could always find ways to bring light into Dean’s life.”

And he damn well deserves it! This was so sweet. No one can resist that “I didn’t do it” smile of his ;)

The Oath (Series) by @thecleverdame

This series is definitely dark, but it’s so so good. If you’re okay with reading about the heavy subjects covered in these chapters, you won’t regret giving this series a try. I can’t seem to stop diving into all of this author’s content. She’s just too good.

Choices (CYOE) by @talesmaniac89

I’ve been excited about this impressive project since I first saw the announcement post. Though I’m ashamed to say I haven’t gotten into reading the full thing yet, I plan on making time for reading ALL the different endings. I’m excited to see the different ways in which the story plays out, depending on the brothers’ personalities. For now, I’m recommending this first chapter, the starting point, which was already a beauty of its own. If you haven’t started yet yourself, prepare to be amazed.

Not Safe (Oneshot) by @torn-and-frayed

I love this. Spicy but sweet… Is that a cringy enough way for me to try and put my thoughts into words? I also just really miss Bobby, man.

nominated by @impala-dreamer

Safe Here (series) by @because-imma-lady-assface

This is one of the greatest Dean series. Ashley writes Dean amazingly well, too well sometimes, and this series gives him exactly what he needs; a place to feel safe and find comfort. I love this one so much!

Losing You (series) by @idreamofhazel

This is a superbly done Sam series that has stuck with me for a long time. I literally can’t go into Bed, Bath & Beyond without thinking about the ending <3

nominated by @kittenofdoomage

Blind Luck (oneshot) by @crispychrissy

A great Sam x reader that hits the holy trifecta of smut, fluff, and angst.

Blood And Water (series) by @crashdevlin

Pretty sure I’ve recc’d this before but it’s such a good series, so twisted and angsty, my dark little heart loves it. Heed the warnings!

Just Sam (oneshot) by @dontshootmespence

This might not be everyone’s cup of tea but for me, it’s perfection, because I am a kinky bitch and any other kinky bitches out there would definitely enjoy this XD

nominated by @deanwanddamons

Private Party With A Rockstar (oneshot) by @mummybear

@mummybear Has been working her butt off this month for her RolePlay May. She wrote this story for me and put me in it (my name is Sian). Rockstar!Jensen is one of my weakness’s, and she knows that, and clearly knows me very well too, as included everything I like 😉

She’s Not You by @winchest09

@winchest09 is one of my fave authors. This is a super cute, super fluffy fic which really cheered me up.

Dangerous Signs (Series) by @kittenofdoomage

I LOVED this series. it was so good and lots of fun with some very sexy going’s on. Rhi’s work is just fantastic 💕

Wedding Bells (oneshot) by @katehuntington

This one shot is super cute and fluffy! I love her writing so much and this is not exception 💕

Not Much Left (oneshot) by @impala-dreamer

Demon!Dean is another of my weakness’s and fic really hit the spot 🥵🔥

Dear Dean (series) by @smol-and-grumpy

This series made me laugh, made me cry, made me horny and made me gasp. One of the best series I have read 💕

nominated by @emilyshurley

Jensen’s Self Care Routine (oneshot) - @luci-in-trenchcoats

It is just adorable. People taking care of themselves for their loved ones. You can’t get more fluffy.

The Proposal (series) - @katymacsupernatural (Ongoing)

If you love fake dating fics, you’ll definitely love this one. Really like the character of “the reader”.

Private Party with a Rockstar (oneshot) - @mummybear

This one is both hot and adorable at the same time

You shook me (oneshot) @myinconnelly1

It’s Myin writing Demon!Dean what more do you want? No seriously that’s the perfect combination

Dancing the Spiral (oneshot) by @myinconnelly1

One of the only times I genuinely felt like a fic was creepy in a good way. And the passing of the whole thing is great. Am I little biased because its Myin, yes but that doesn’t make the fic any less good. sure it’s on the longer side but definitely worth it.

The only exception (series) - @ne-gans and @negans-lucille-tblr

I have only read the first part so far but I had to mention it. It is a serial killer AU so read the trigger warnings just in case.

Make it Big (series)- @negans-lucille-tblr

Again I’m still catching up It’s one of those fics I thought I won’t like reading but was really glad that I started.

Cast no Shadow (series) @kittenofdoomage

It’s Rhi, I can fangirl a lot about her fics. Really enjoyed (?) (that might not be the right word) the whole fitting a new relationship in existing ones. Felt to real in a weird way. It might seem like I don’t like the fic because of how I’m wording this but that’s really not the case.

Nominated by @deanwinchesterswitch

Sunshine (oneshot) by @talesmaniac89

If you like angst, this is the fic for you. It is utterly captivating and heart wrenching. It’s a cut your heart out with a dull centuries-old wooden spoon style hurt. The use of the song lines in this fic is well thought out and poetic. Make sure to have a box of tissues handy. If you don’t at least tear up while reading this, then you don’t have a heart to cut out, and your soul is already in hell.

Choices (CYOE) by @talesmaniac89

A clever interactive series where you get to choose your favorite Winchester, and the ending of the story. This is so detailed and intriguing. I loved the story I ended up with the first time, and excitedly went back in to pick the other options. Each story was unique and well written.

Babe I’m Gonna Leave You (oneshot) by @waywardbaby

This one shot is an absolutely stunning piece of smut. The lack of dialogue makes it that much better. All you’re left with is the option to feel the detailed emotions—sexual tension to the max.

No Words (oneshot) by @because-imma-lady-assface

Beautiful, detailed, and heartbreaking. Dean’s pain and need for comfort are palpable, and I cried while reading it. I can’t find the proper words to describe how this fic made me feel, but man did it ever make me feel.

Sky Full of Stars (oneshot) by @smol-and-grumpy

This is the sequel to Something Just Like This and is just as exciting as the first series. A roller coaster of suspense. The characters continue on their journey of love, dealing with the good and bad that comes with every relationship—the perfect combination of angst and fluff with a healthy dose of smut.

Something Just Like This (oneshot) by @smol-and-grumpy

A perfect combination of big badass Dean and soft, fluffy Dean, along with all the incredible smut your little heart could desire. I usually don’t like to read a series until it is complete, because I am impatient and don’t want to wait for the next chapter to post. However, this story was intriguing and sexy, and I couldn’t keep from reading each chapter as soon as it posted and then eagerly anticipating the next.

Nominated by anon

Request 42 (oneshot) by @thegirlwhorunswithwinchesters

This was super-duper cute!! I love frustrated soon to be parents especially when one of those parents is Dean! Great work, well worth the read!

Just A Daydream (onesho) by @maddiepants

This fic is refreshing with its canon-ness! I love Sam's little dream, and you get so wrapped up in it, you forget. Absolutely masterful and HOT AS HELL! Also, Tall People, WTF?

Thank you all for the awesome work and great feedback!

These are not actual awards! This system is set up so everyone in the pond has a chance to share the love and promote a fic/author that has grabbed your attention. The more people that participate, and the more everyone remembers to submit their own fics after posting, the better this will be :D

THANK YOU ALL AGAIN, KEEP UP THE AMAZING WORK, AND AS ALWAYS, HAPPY WRITING!

#afa masterlist #afas #angel fish awards #spn fic rec #spn fanfic

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let-it-raines · 5 years

Text

Catch Me If You Can (16/?)

298 days. That’s how long Killian Jones was away from a baseball field. It’s less than a year, only part of a season for him, but it might as well have lasted a decade as he alternated between physical therapy and spending an excessive amount of time sitting on his couch.

But then he came back and won the World Series.

It’s something no one saw coming, and it’s certainly not something anyone who knows about his arm would predict. Now it’s a new season with new possibilities, and anything could happen. On-field reporter Emma Swan will be there to cover it all even if she is not his biggest fan right now.

Asking her out live on-air will do that.

Rating: Mature

A/n: If you like, read, kudo, comment, tag flail, reblog, or anything else, I see you, and I appreciate you! Honestly, it’s the coolest thing how many of you are out there, and every time I find out someone else has been reading, my heart grows Grinch style ❤️

We’re off to London in this chapter and the next one! Fun fact: the Yankees and Red Sox really did play a series in London this year!

AO3: Beginning | Current

Tumblr: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |15 | 16 |

Tag list: @xellewoods @galaxyzxstark @eala-captian @mariakov81 @ultraluckycatnd @royalswan @shey-starsfury @sals86 @iam2307 @ashley-knightingale @karenfrommisthaven @scientificapricot @captswanis4vr @ultimiflos @jamif @idristardis @nikkiemms @resident-of-storybrooke @tiganasummertree @bmbbcs4evr @onceuponaprincessworld @jennjenn615 @mayquita @captainsjedi @teamhook @notoriouscs @kmomof4 @ekr032-blog-blog @cs-forlife @andiirivera @jonirobinson64 @qualitycoffeethings @thejollyroger-writer

-/-

“This is weird,” Will mutters as they walk the unfamiliar hallways of London Stadium on their way out to the field to practice. “I’m not used to being unfamiliar with a place where we’re about to play, and I swear that I’m still jet-lagged. Why did they think we were going to get used to the time change in one day?”

Instinctively, Killian wants to get onto Will about complaining since that’s become his thing as of late, but every point that he’s made is valid. It’s weird to be in a place that he doesn’t know. He’s familiar enough with half of the baseball stadiums in America to be able to give a tour like he made the blue prints for them, but they are decidedly not in America.

They’re in London.

To play the Red Sox.

So. Fucking. Cool.

His job awards him more opportunities than he ever could have dreamed about as a kid from Ohio, and while he’s had the opportunity to travel to Mexico and Canada, he’s never been overseas like this. He meant to go years ago, but then the accident happened and all of his plans went down the drain. He could have gone then too. He had all of the time in the world on his hands, and he squandered it by sitting on his ass and not traveling or doing all of the other things he’s always wanted to do.

He’ll have all the time in the world when he’s retired.

Woah, no. That’s not happening anytime soon, and he is not going down that road when things are going so well right now.

They’re going to kick some Red Sox ass even while in England.

His family didn’t fly all the way over here on vacation just for them to lose. Addy and Lucy would be very disappointed in him if they did because he knows for a fact that they only care about being here for the baseball and Addy’s birthday party tomorrow.

All of the cool kids turn six in London, obviously, and Addison Jones is the coolest of the kids.

It’s all she’s been talking about for weeks now, going on and on about how she was going to have an English birthday party and be English like Peppa Pig and Meghan Markle. He didn’t have the heart to tell her that Peppa Pig is animated and that Meghan Markle was technically American first, but some things kids just don’t have to know. All she knows is that a real-life prince and his wife are going to be at the game today, and she thinks that’s the coolest thing in the world.

It kind of is even if he had to study a protocol list for when he met them earlier in the locker room.

Killian’s life is so goddamn weird, but he loves it.

The fact that Emma got to travel here as well, even if she’s not doing on-camera coverage and is simply here as a print journalist for the team, makes it all the better. He may not get to see her on-field during the game, but he’ll see her afterwards.

Hopefully.

They haven’t been here long, but it’s already difficult to find time away from his family to see her, even if it’s only for a moment.

He’d give anything to have those little moments.

“I have no idea,” Killian yawns, finally responding to Will as they push the doors open and walk out to the field. He can tell that the set-up is going to throw him off, the way the stadium is equal on every side, and that the AstroTurf feels odd below his feet. But that’s why they practice. “We’ll suffer through it, and drink lots and lots of coffee.”

“I think they drink tea over here.”

“I believe that they drink coffee too. You want to start in the outfield and work our way back in?”

“Yeah, that’s fine.”

The two of them are quiet as they take it all in and try to get used to this new place. Music blares over the speakers, and the rest of the team filters in and out as they go through their warm-ups. He’s not sure if he really needs coffee for how hyped up he is to be here and to be playing their biggest rivals, and the crash of caffeine always seems so inevitable. The crash of adrenaline, not so much. Most of the time.

It’s a quick warm-up, one that doesn’t extend too much effort on his part, and his shoulder is feeling loose after the massage Archie gave it. They’ve won each of their series against the Sox so far this season, and he doesn’t plan on that changing now. When they finally travel to Boston next month, sure. But not today.

No part of him should be thinking this, especially with how unreliable his arm can be, but they’re playing so well this season that he can’t imagine them not making the playoffs and then being in the final two.

They could be back-to-back World Series Champions.

But that’s very much counting his chickens before they hatch, and that always leads to disappointment.

He simply can’t go there even if his brain keeps trying to.

“You guys make any wedding plans yet?” he asks Will as they walk back infield to practice a few pitches on the mound.

“We’ve been engaged for exactly a week, so no, we haven’t made any official plans. Belle has all of these ideas, though, and she’s been talking through them with her parents. Honestly, I think we may get married in December or January of this year since she doesn’t want to do it during the season.”

Killian nods his head in agreement as he tucks his chain back into his uniform from where it had fallen out. “That makes sense. It’s always hell trying to plan anything during the season. Even making dinner plans can be difficult.”

“Well,” Will says, clicking his tongue, “it’s not like you have anyone to be going out to dinner with. We don’t count. Neither does Liam.”

A protest is on the tip of his tongue, but he can’t say anything, not yet. He and Emma are going to talk about that after this trip, and even if they do, he’s not sure he’ll be able to tell Will. He should. Will and Robin. And Eric and Ariel. But no one else on the team. It’s just too risky.

That might put a damper in his plan to kiss her before every game.

But the time will come. It has to. And baby steps are fine with him when they mean that steps are happening. He completely and totally understands Emma and her reasons for not wanting their relationship out in the open, and he agrees. It’s better for her, for both of them, and they’ve only been together for two months. In the grand scheme of things, that’s not that long. It doesn’t matter that he fell hard and fast. That doesn’t escalate things.

It just…complicates his feelings.

This thing won’t be hidden away forever, not if they want any kind of future, and while he’d never presume to speak for Emma, he damn well intends to have that future.

“I could be dating,” Killian scoffs at Will who only rolls his eyes in response. “What? I could.”

“Nothing,” Will shrugs, taking position behind home plate. “I’m just saying, for a man who everyone thinks is going home with a new woman every night, you are particularly lacking in the women department.”

His jaw ticks, and he’s not even sure why. He’s never minded talking about his relationships in the past, not to Will, but it’s probably the lie. Of course it’s the lie.

“And what’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing,” Will grunts as he throws the ball back to him, a light thwacking sound hitting his glove. “Do whatever the hell you want. I’m not someone to tell you what to do with your life. I’m just saying, I’m much happier having Belle be a part of my life.”

“Look at you being all sweet.”

“I have my moments.”

“I’m totally giving a speech at your wedding about the night that I kept you from throwing up on her.”

“I would have expected nothing less from you. In fact, I’ve already warned Belle. It was in my proposal speech.”

“Shut up, you asshole.”

“Never. I know you love the sound of my voice.”

“It is rather dreamy.”

“You two are talking too much to be practicing,” Eric huffs as walks toward them with his bat in hand, fiddling with it the slightest bit. “What are we talking about?”

“Killian’s lack of a love life.”

Eric grunts at that, eyes scanning between the two of them. “That sounds like a conversation that I don’t want to be in because Ariel will somehow know and insist we talk about it later. She’ll have you set up on ten blind dates before midnight.”

“It’s in my contract that she can’t meddle in my dating life.”

“Really?” Eric and Will ask at once, their eyes going wide.

“No,” Killian chuckles as he stretches out his shoulder and bends his legs a bit, squatting down to stretch out some more, “but sometimes I wish that it was. Where has she been all day, by the way?”

“She’s helping set up Addison’s birthday party for tomorrow, apparently. She’s somehow gotten them a separate suite here, and they’re doing some sort of tea party during the game. You have even been given express permission to sit with your family instead of in the dugout with us.”

Of course. He could have done that anyways, but leave it to Ariel to make sure that there is no way in hell that he’s missing his niece’s sixth birthday party. She is pure magic, that woman.

“Your wife is something else,” he chuckles, deciding to step closer to them so that he doesn’t have to shout, “but you guys know that Addy is fully going to expect all of you to show up at some point.”

“Her present is in my suitcase.” Will smiles as he says it with a slight shake of his head. “I could never forget my biggest fan since Roland seems to betray me on who his favorite player is every week.”

Killian clicks his tongue. “Eh, just to be clear, I’m Addison’s favorite player. I’m not letting you steal that title from me.”

-/-

Killian spots Emma sitting nine rows up behind third base when they’re in the second inning.

She’s wearing a jersey…his jersey, and when he notices it, he nearly pegs Johnson with a ball.

Holy fuck.

It sends blood straight to his groin, and the only thing that stops it is him thinking about Emma making a joke about him having a boner on the mound. She’s so ridiculously funny in her bad jokes, and it brings a smile to his face that he has to control as he focuses on the game. He can’t be losing it when he’s in the middle of a game.

But damn. His girlfriend is wearing his jersey, his name and number printed on the back, and she’s got a baseball cap pulled low over her forehead with her blonde ponytail sticking out behind her. He wouldn’t have recognized her if he didn’t know every inch of her body.

He’ll play in London every day of the week if it means Emma can watch as a semi-spectator without anyone recognizing her.

A bloody siren. That’s what she is.

-/-

They win that night.

-/-

After the game when Emma walks into the locker room, her phone in hand for questions, she’s not wearing the jersey anymore. It’s been removed, and she’s wearing a black blouse that’s low cut enough that he can see the slightest bit of the cups of her bra. He’d bet that she didn’t think through having to remove his jersey when she got dressed, but he doesn’t mind how she looks.

He never does.

(She wore his fucking jersey.)

Except he can’t do anything about it but smile and answer her questions as well as everyone else’s. It’s a bit odd for her to not have Jeff following her around with the camera, but he knows that this means she’ll be writing an article instead. She’s always loved that.

Once all of the press members ask their questions, most of them British journalists, they filter out of the locker room, leaving everyone to strip out of their uniforms and move to take a shower. He’s taking off his belt when Arthur speaks, and his fingers still over the leather.

“I don’t know how any of us aren’t fucking Emma,” he grumbles, and the words make disgust drip down Killian’s spine. “Have you seen her body? I bet she’s fucking amazing in bed. I’d fuck her in a heartbeat. Damn am I glad women work in baseball now.”

The room goes silent, every man stopping what he’s doing, and Killian has words on the tip of his tongue but can’t say anything because Will is already talking.

“Fuck off, King,” Will curses, throwing his gear down on the ground. “I mean, seriously. What the bloody fuck? How shitty do you have to be to talk about someone like that? I knew you were an ass, but God, that’s next level. First of all, you’re fucking married, and even if you weren’t, that woman is a human being. You don’t get to talk about her like that.”

“Oh, come on, man. We’re all thinking it. Did you see her boobs just now? It’s nothing to get riled up about.”

“Yeah, yeah it is,” Will huffs as he crosses his arms over his chest. “The fact that you don’t realize that is just plain sad. She’s not coming in here to get ogled by you. She’s coming in here to do her job, and she’s damn good at it.”

Arthur rolls his eyes, and Killian’s blood boils even more. “Jones asked her out. How is that not the same thing?”

“Because he didn’t ask her out because he thinks of her as a sex object,” Will spits all the while Killian can barely hear any of this from the way his heart is thumping between his ears, a drum beat that’s louder than anything he’s ever heard.

Arthur darkly chuckles, and it’s that sound that has the drumline stopping so that his eyes snap over across the room. Killian didn’t even realize that he was clenching his fists, but when he looks down, he can see the red imprints of blood from where his nails were digging into his skin.

“Jones,” Arthur yells, “aren’t you going to back me up here? Isn’t she a fine piece of ass?”

“Shut the fuck up,” Killian yells before standing from the seat in his locker, quickly striding across the room until he and Arthur are eye-to-eye and completely lined up. Arthur’s got this disgusting cocky grin on his face, one that makes unpleasant chills run down his spine, and it’s taking everything in him not to punch the ever-loving shit out of the man. “Will is right. You’re an asshole, and you can’t be talking about her that way.”

“Why do you care so much? What, are you fucking her?”

And that’s when his first rises and slams into Arthur’s jaw, a sting spreading through his knuckles and up to his elbow. The drum starts beating in his head again, his heart pumping blood through him faster than normal, and everything is a blur as he moves his head to dodge Arthur’s punch and as someone grabs onto elbows and pulls him back and out of the room all the while a screaming match goes on in the locker room, every word muted to him except for the one name that keeps getting repeated.

Emma.

“Are you insane?” Robin gasps, and when Killian looks around, he can see that he’s been pulled off to the weight room that they’re using in this stadium. He didn’t even know Robin was in the locker room at the time. “You can’t punch Arthur no matter how big of an asshole he is. You’re going to fuck up your arm, and you can get suspended for weeks.”

“I don’t really care about either of those things right now.”

“Well you should,” Robin huffs, running his hands through his hair as he paces back and forth over the carpeted floor. “He’s an asshole. We all know that, and I wanted to punch him too…but you just can’t, mate. He’ll get his due, and it won’t come at the cost of your career.”

Robin is right. Robin is always right, but how is he supposed to sit there and let Arthur talk about his girlfriend like that? How is he supposed to let him talk about any woman like that? He simply can’t, and even though his knuckles hurt like hell right now and Archie is most definitely going to kill him, he doesn’t regret it. He can’t, and he’d bet that Will doesn’t either.

“Fuck,” Killian mutters, sitting down on a weight bench and burying his face in his hands as he tries to flex some of his fingers out. “Dammit. This isn’t how today was supposed to go. I’m not supposed to be punching our outfielder in a locker room in fucking London. I’m supposed to be enjoying my time and sipping tea at my niece’s birthday party because I’m this good guy that she looks up to when really everyone is a piece of shit.”

“Dramatic much?”

“Shut up.”

“Never,” Robin laughs as the door opens and Al stumbles inside, his long dark hair pushed back behind his ears and his tanned skin painted red in what Killian hopes is a sunburn and not anger.

“What the hell, Jones?” Al screeches, waling right up to him so that the tips of their shoes touch. “You punched King? With your right arm? What is going on in that head of yours?”

Killian groans, already ready to have his ego bruised and his career kicked by a man who is only four years older than him, and he straights his back so that Al isn’t look down at him as much as he should be.

“Are you in here to suspend me?”

Al’s brows furrow together. “What? No. Why would I suspend you?”

“Because I punched Arthur?”

Al waves him away, backing up the slightest bit. “No, I’m not going to suspend you for that. King can be a piece of shit sometimes, and I heard some of the stuff he was saying. He deserved that. My team are not going to be a bunch of sexist assholes who talk about our reporters that way. I can’t guarantee that there won’t be some kind of league suspension, but I doubt King takes it anywhere since then he’s had to explain the stuff he was saying.”

“Then why are you yelling at me?”

“Because you punched someone with your pitching arm, and I can’t have you messing up your arm again. Go see Archie right now, and get some damn ice on the thing.”

“Aye, aye, Captain,” Killian mock salutes, his head still spinning with everything that’s happened in the past fifteen minutes.

He takes it back. His life isn’t weird. It’s batshit crazy.

-/-

Ariel has been yelling at him in his hotel room for the past fifteen minutes. This is after Liam and Elsa yelled at him for twenty minutes, each, and he’s so damn tired of having to listen to this. He’s aware of the fact that he could have messed up part of his season today, but he still doesn’t regret it. He could have made better choices, yes, but Arthur deserved it. And he’s fine. He’ll probably only have a slight bruise. The only significant damage is the fact that their already frayed relationship that only truly exists because they’re teammates and his wife is friends with Ariel is pretty much destroyed now. That’s fine with him. He doesn’t want anything to do with the asshole.

And he has no idea what he’s going to tell Emma about this. His knuckles have cuts and bruises on them already, his fingers aching when he stretches them out, and if she comes to his room tonight, there’s no way in hell she’s not going to notice.

Maybe he should cancel on her.

He doesn’t want to cancel on her.

He wants to spend time with her and simply be in her company, maybe even get to figure out the subway routes (or should he call them the underground here?) and find a secluded place to go out to dinner. But he’s got to explain his hand, and he’s really not sure how lying is going to go here.

Lying to Emma really isn’t his best idea, so he most likely shouldn’t do it.

“Are you even listening to me, KJ?” Ariel huffs, stopping her pacing and placing her hands on her hips. “You look like you’re not listening.”

“I’m not.” She reaches up to slap the back of his hand, but he grabs her wrist to stop her, putting it back by her side. “I’ve heard all of it before, okay? And I’m going to hear it again. I know, I know, I fucking know. It was dumb, but I couldn’t stand by and listen to that. Will couldn’t either, but he’s got enough brains to know better than to punch someone.”

“That is not a sentence I ever thought you would say.”

“Life is funny like that,” Killian chuckles before falling back against his hotel bed. Whoever is booking their hotel rooms this year obviously has no sense of a budget because he hasn’t had a roommate once. It’s glorious. “A, I have no idea why you care about me so much. I’m such a pain in your ass.”

“Yeah,” Ariel sighs, sitting down next to his shoulder on the bed so that she can look over at him, her red hair framing her face, “you are, but I love you, so I don’t mind too much. And you give me something to focus on other than my idiot husband.”

“Please, you and Eric have one fight a year, and it lasts about five minutes.”

“I’ll have you know that we fought just yesterday over what to have for dinner. It was a real battle. I nearly punched him, but I had enough sense to stop myself.”

His eyes roll, but he can feel the smile stretching across his lips as he twists his head to look at Ariel. “I love you too, by the way. You and Elsa and Anna are pretty much the three sisters I never had. And you’re much nicer to me than Liam ever was.”

“Please, Liam is your hero.”

“Yeah, but when I was eight and he was sixteen, I was not his favorite person in the world. I think you guys would have been much nicer to me.”

Ariel’s lips flatten as she nods her head, sarcasm practically penned across the lines on her forehead. “Sure, sweetie. That’s what would have happened. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” She simply arches her brow. “Oh, yeah, I’m fine. Just a shitty afternoon. As long as I don’t get yelled at anymore, I think I’ll be perfect and ready to go for Addy’s birthday party tomorrow. Thanks for setting that up, by the way. I think you may actually be magic for how you convince people to do your bidding.”

“I know,” she says, a grin plastered on her lips. “I’m pretty much the best. Do you want to come and get dinner with me and Eric?”

“Raincheck on that one?”

“I’m holding you to that this time,” Ariel sighs, patting his shoulder before she rises from the mattress. “Keep putting ice on your hand, and doing your stretches. We’ve got a long season ahead of us, and you are not allowed to mess it up.”

“Understood, love. Have fun at dinner. Feel free not to yell at me tomorrow even though I know that you will.”

Ariel waves him away before picking up her purse and walking out the door while he stays stretched out on his mattress, wondering if he can convince whoever owns this hotel to send this mattress and these sheets to his apartment because it’s glorious. Maybe it’s not really and it’s simply the fact that he’s still jetlagged and has had an extremely long day, but he doubts it.

This is the best comforter in the world.

And he’s never going to move from it.

So, of course, there’s a knock on his hotel door. Of course.

Groaning, he pulls himself up to rise from the bed, the muscles in his backing aching the slightest bit, and steps over to the door, checking the peephole and finding Emma on the other side. He should have known, and honestly, of all of the people seeking him out tonight, she is his favorite.

Until he opens the door, lets her inside, and the first thing that she does is hit him in the chest.

What the hell?

“What the hell?” Emma fumes, echoing his thoughts. “You punched Arthur King today?”

Bloody hell.

Bloody hell? Is he British now? How long has he been using that phrase and hasn’t even realized it? This is what he gets for hanging out with Robin so much.

“Aye,” he sighs as his unbruised hand immediately goes up to scratch behind his ear. She doesn’t look angry, the same soft smile that’s usually painted on her face still there, but there’s fire behind the green of her eyes. “How do you know about that?”

“Belle told me.”

He arches a brow. “Belle?”

“Yeah, I ran into her when I was leaving the stadium, and we got to talking and she starts telling me all about you and Will getting into a fight with Arthur over me. I mean, seriously, Killian. How could you be so dumb to punch him? You’re lucky you didn’t fuck up your arm and that you aren’t getting sanctions against you.”

He should really start putting money on how many times he can be told that in one night. He’s betting at least once more tonight and then seven times tomorrow.

“Swan, I know, okay? I promise you I’ve already had my head chewed off about this enough times. I get it, but he was being an asshole and deserved it. Will confronted him first going on and on about how he was a sexist pig, and then Arthur brought me into it by asking how him talking about wanting to fuck you was any different than me asking you out on a date. Then I told him to stop, which only escalated into him asking you if I’m defending you because I’m fucking you. And obviously, I am, but that’s not why I was defending you. He doesn’t get to say shit like that about anyone, but especially not you.”

He releases a breath when he finishes his ramble, which is really only an abbreviated version of the events, but he’s going to lose his mind if he has to go through it one more time. Seriously. But the way Emma’s mouth keeps opening and closing, the right words obviously not coming to her, has him rethinking this and starting from the beginning. It’s not pretty, but she deserves to know.

“You, Killian Jones,” she laments, stepping closer to him and wrapping her arms around his waist in an unexpected move so that he can smell the vanilla of her perfume, “are an idiot asshole who I’m still very much mad at for messing with your hand like that, but I’m also thankful that you and Will didn’t let someone talk about me like that. I’ve been through so much like that already, and I’m glad I have you guys on my side.”

“You have everyone else in that locker room on your side, love,” he says as her rubs his hands up and down her back and rests his chin against her temple, twisting his head to the side so that he can press his lips into her hair. “Me most of all. Then Will, I’ve discovered today, and everyone else is somewhere in there, rankings improving as long as I’m always at the top.”

“You’re so stupid,” she laughs into his chest, the vibrations of it running through him.

“I’ve gotten that a lot today, but you obviously like me a little bit since I saw you wearing my jersey.”

Emma pulls back from the hug to look up at him, a bit of red painting her cheeks. “So, you saw that, did you?”

“I did. I have an eagle eye for my biggest fan.”

“I like you a lot, but I don’t think that I’m your biggest fan. Your nieces have me beat. I didn’t know tomorrow was Addy’s birthday.”

“Aye,” he smiles, fingers inching up her back and tugging her closer to him, “she is turning six, and Ariel has arranged for her to have a tea party in one of the suites separate from the team suites. You should come with me.”

“Killian.” The way she says his name has all of his hope deflating, and he immediately dips his head down to run his lips across the apple of her cheek while his thumbs rub circles into her lower back. “I can’t. You know that.”

“You can. You don’t have to come as my girlfriend. You can simply come as part of the team. I’ll say I ran into you in the hallway or something and insisted that you come along. Come on,” he begs, finally kissing her lips, lingering a moment too long for it to be chaste, “come with me. It’ll be a fun time, and you can meet my family without any of the pressure of meeting them as my girlfriend.”

“But I will be meeting them as your girlfriend.”

“They don’t know that.”

“I’m not sure how that makes me feel. I know I want to meet your family and for you to meet mine. It was my idea and all, but now that the reality is in front of me, I think I might need some more time.” She pulls back from him, releasing his waist and trailing her fingers along his arms until Emma’s holding his hands, soft thumb tracing over the rough parts of his knuckles as her brows furrow together. She’s inspecting to him, and nerves rile in his stomach until she looks up at him with a sympathetic smile. “Can I think on it tonight at least? I don’t have a present for Addy.”

Killian shrugs. “We can sneak out and go buy her something, or,” he twines their fingers together and tugs her toward the bed, “we can spend a little time in here with you on your back because it really wouldn’t make sense for you to have a present if you weren’t technically planning on coming to the party.” “Watching TV?”

“Sure. We can keep it on while I fuck you with the image of you wearing nothing but my jersey playing in my mind.”

Emma laughs, something loud and boisterous, and he’s never been quite so thankful for the way that she enjoys his flirting. “I mean, that is the most typical athlete thing I’ve ever heard in my life, but we could always make it a reality.”

“Really now?”

“Mhm,” she hums, backing up into the mattress and sitting down, “but only because I liked the way you looked today when you realized I was wearing it. Plus, you defended me and all like a good human being, and I like good human beings.”

And I love you, he wants to say, but doesn’t, biting his tongue while he leans over her, hovering just above her face so that she blinks several times while looking up at him, her bottom lip tugged between her teeth.

“Well, only if you insist.”

#catch me if you can #cs ff #cs fic #captain swan fic #captain swan

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kabih · 4 years

Text

I need confirmation to move forwards

It’s past midnight! Merry Christmas and Happy holidays......or should I say Holigays

This is my gift for @seicchan-art, I’m your secret Santa! I love your art and I hope you don’t hate what I wrote 😅 (I posted this on ao3 and I really recommend reading it there. Just because the formatting is better and you don’t have to deal with tumblr adding emojis everywhere)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21898144

_______________________________________

Wendy now turned her head to Carla who was still flying around Lucy, “It should be blue.” Lucy ignored her and continued going through Wendy's closet, adding on to the pile of clothes on the floor when she picked up something she didn’t like.

“Wendy's always wearing blue”, Lucy hurriedly looked over to the girl in question to make sure she didn’t take offence, “Not that you don’t look cute in it! I just feel like there nothing wrong with wearing something different.”

Carla flew closer to the closet now trying to find an outfit of her own “She shouldn’t be trying anything different, you're supposed to act like yourself on a date! And that counts for looks too!” Her eyes landed on a sky blue dress and pointed towards it, “See something simple like this would be perfect for Wendy.”

“I mean-” Wendy intervened.

Lucy talked over her. “Really! Carla come on! I’m sure Wendy would rather-”

“Well- ” the young girl tried again

“I’m sure Wendy would prefer-”

“Well!” Lucy and Carla turned to look at the young girl sitting on her bed tired from being ignored. Once Wendy knew she actually had their attention, she continued, “You guys sure are mentioning my name a lot in a conversation I don’t even get to be apart of.” Lucy dropped the purple shirt she was trying to convince Carla would be a good choice. “Sorry! Sorry!” Wendy was waving her hands with her face turning red, realizing how harsh she sounded in her outburst. “I’m just stressed and you guys fighting over my outfit isn’t helping. Plus it just doesn’t seem like the most important thing right now.” Carla went over to Wendy, apologizing for the fight yet not without commenting on how Wendy should still wear the blue dress.

Lucy picked up a few of the clothes on the floor and put them back in the closet. She then put her arm around Wendy after she joined her on the bed. “It’s okay, sorry if we’re going overboard. I understand if you're a bit anxious Wendy, but remember it’s just Chelia! Imagine like it’s you guys hanging out, but in a more romantic setting.” Yet that’s exactly what was freaking Wendy out. Her and Chelia have been friends for years and this is the first time there’s hope she could like the dragon slayer back.

_______________________________________

A few days prior the pink-haired girl asks Wendy out. Well, Lucy is the one who seems to think Chelia asks her out. Wendy on the other hands see's this has another normal outing.

Chelia ran up to her with her face red, asking her if they could meet tomorrow at some new coffee shop that opened.

"Do you think they have strawberry shortcake?" Ezra asked, Gray behind with her. "If so can we come? I've heard good things about it but I'd rather not go across town if they don't have any."

Chelia responded, eyes never leaving Wendy's, "Sorry, but I'm not going to be in town long and I really wanted it to be the two of us. So, do you want to go out with me Wendy?" _______________________________________

Wendy could see Lucy running over to her the second Chelia left.

_______________________________________

Once Lucy caught up to her she enthusiastically decided she was going to help Wendy get ready for her "date". Well till Carla started disagreeing with her sense of style.

Wendy couldn't help but comment, "Lucy I still feel like your making a big deal out of nothing."

Lucy just hugged the girl tighter, "Wendy listen to me, she literally said and I quote "do you want to go out?" I don't know how she could have meant something else."

"Still," Wendy murmured, "they were people around, don't you ask people on a date in private? Plus she wasn't even nervous"

"Wendy the poor girl faced looked like a red rose garden, trust me when I say she was nervous."

"She was just running from Toby for ditching their mission."

It's not like Wendy doesn't want this to be a date. She does! But if she was asking Chelia to "hang" by themselves she'd be a blushing mess and she wouldn't do it in such a public space as the guildhall! Even if her words were romantic, the context of them really wasn't! For someone who loves to talk about love, there no way Chelia would ask Wendy out in such a lacklustre manner.

Maybe Wendy didn’t misunderstand anything like Lucy said, maybe this really was just her and Chelia hanging out. If she was really asking Wendy on a date, then Wendy would have been picked that up herself. She’s not oblivious! Wendy not that young! She’s old enough to go on a date damn it! Well a, maybe date that is. _______________________________________ Wendy ended up wearing a light purple jacket, with small desings of silver decorating it's bottom. Before Wendy left, Lucy found some black fur-lined leggings that Carla and Lucy both didn't hate. _______________________________________

Wendy swears on the hot chocolate she's drinking that was Gray entering the coffee shop her and Chelia were just leaving.

Wendy couldn't help herself, "Chelia doesn't that look like Gray?"

"Wait seriously? What's he doing here?" She turned her head to try to find him.

"Ezra did ask if there were selling strawberry shortcake here. She'll be really happy when he tells them they do."

Chelia giggled into her mittens "Please, don't tell me he went across town just to check if they had shortcakes?"

"It was a strawberry shortcake Chelia! And it was for Ezra, of course, he'd go."

Both girls laughed and joked a bit longer till they reached the center of Magnolia. There were shops and trees all covered with snow. With the sky turning into a beautiful midnight blue it was easy to notice the stars started appearing. Not too long after what seemed like a multitude of tiny lights slowly started trickling into the sky. About as big as a human thumb, you could compare them to the stars above, though they were probably a lot easier to reach.

Wendy noticed Chelia looking up at them in wonder. "I've always wondered what those were every time i've visited."

"They're called Hikari, they came out after the sun sets during winter. You can only find them in Magnolia."

They were so close, floating all around, so easy to grab and Chelia then reached out to do just that. Once she's got hold of it, it slipped through her fingers and flew into the sky. Wendy couldn't help but smile watching Chelia make the same mistake she made during her first winters in Magnolia "Sorry Chelia, but these little guys don't like being touched"

The pink-haired girl pouted, "So they don't love me? Too bad I'm quite a catch! Oh, don't worry you're a catch to Wendy."

It's when Chelia slowly slipes her hand into Wendy's that said girl remembers why she was so stressed about this "date".

She pulled away and took a step back. "Wendy are you okay?" Chelia seems worried now. Probably thinking she did something wrong. Did she? Is it her fault Wendy confused?

No, it's not her fault, Wendy the one with the crush. But still, how much longer...........will she have to wait for someone else to say something.

She likes Chelia, god she really does. What Wendy doesn’t like is this back and forth, this can they will they. She can’t spend forever waiting for Chelia to take the first step and shouldn't this be it?

"Chelia...."

But it doesn't feel like it. Not without her saying something. Wendy’s a confident person, she’s faced way worse than the cute girl urging her to continue.

“I mean, Chelia.....do you...?” She needs to know how Chelia feels. No, she wants to know. By the off chance, Chelia doesn’t like Wendy back that's, that’s fine! Sure it would hurt, but they’ll move past it. Chelia would understand! That’s one of the reasons why Wendy likes her in the first place. “Is this....is this....”

But what if she doesn't-

Who cares about what if’s.

“Is this a date? Because I want it to be one.”

Chelia doesn’t look away from Wendy, she doesn’t stop smiling either. Taking that as a sign to continue, “It’s just when you ask me to come with you I wasn’t sure if it was. Since you did it so casually I thought this was just us being friends" She no longer watching Chelia's reaction ending her ramble by studying her hands.

“So I wanted to know if this was a date, I want to know if you really did like me like that.” There was a long pause before Chelia answered, Wendy still wasn't looking at her.

I wonder if she's still smiling. “I really should have brought flowers or something?” Wendy's eyes flickered back to the other girl's face. “I’m sorry Wendy, I should have thought of something more romantic than a coffee shop and a walk in the snow." Now Chelia was the one blushing. Wendy couldn't help but notice how she really does like a red rose.

"I was just in such a rush to find something to do since I found out we'd be coming to Magnolia. It was so sudden so at that point I didn't care what we did as long as it was with you."

Well that confirms her feeling for Wendy.

Wendy didn't pull away when Chelia linked their hands together this time, listening to her actions instead of her words.

The two girls walked in silence for some time, admiring all the lights floating above them. At some point, they passed a flower shop with red, pink, purple and white roses on display. Chelia bends down and picked the purple one out of its pot. Chelia handed Wendy the flower, "I'll try to remember that my girlfriend can be a bit oblivious at times."

"First of all, I am not. Second, the shop owner is coming up to us and he looks pretty mad that you just ripped out one of his flowers"

#fairy tail #happyholigays2019 #gift exchange #wendy x chelia #wendy marvell x chelia blendy #wendy marvell #chelia blendy #a bit of grayzra

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deanwinchesterswitch · 4 years

Text

Fic Writer Tag Game

Ooh, this looks like fun. Thanks, @princessmisery666, for the tag.

AO3 Name: WinchesterWytch

Fandoms: Supernatural. Have a couple of WIPs for the MCU. I also love Doctor Who, Good Omens, and Outlander, but I haven’t even attempted writing for them yet.

Fic you spent the most time on: Two WIPs I started over a year and a half ago, He Meets His Match and Traveler in Time (working titles), each one is a series. Traveler is the sequel to Match. I keep adding to them, but there are too many holes that need to be filled before I can post.

Fic you spent the least amount of time on: Not including drabbles. Why Don’t You Stay. The song inspired me, and I wrote it in like one day, had it beta’d, and completed the final copy within three days.

Longest fic: Posted is Best Christmas Ever at a little over 12K. WIP is Hate Myself (working title) at 59k+.

Shortest fic: Again, not including drabbles. The Edge of Fate: Heart of Darkness. Word Count: 1110

Most hits: {You all like smut.}:

Tumblr: Heat 115 notes

AO3: Heat Bookmarks: 4, Hits: 915

Most kudos: Heat at 49.

Most comment threads: I don’t get a lot of comments. On Tumblr, Never Wanna Say Goodbye has 11

Fave fic you wrote: So far, it’s a tie between Never Wanna Say Goodbye because it’s the first fic I ever posted, and Why Don’t You Stay because it was a different writing style for me and I just ‘felt’ that one as I was writing it.

Fic you want to rewrite/expand on: As much as I love Never Wanna Say Goodbye, it is one of my very first fics, so I know it could be tweaked to read better, and I’d like to add to it. I’d like to expand The Beginning of the End too.

Share a bit of your WIP or share a story idea that you’re planning: One of my current WIPs is a crossover of SPN and the MCU. It’s very angsty, or at least I hope it will be. The main character has to make a very difficult choice. I make myself cry almost every time I go into it, which is why I am having trouble finishing the story. I can’t seem to get all the feels that are in my brain onto paper.

Tagging my normal peeps and some writers that I would like to know more about: @cleighwrites, @wayward-and-worn, @wingedcatninja, @jerkbitchidjitassbutt, @muchamusedaboutnothing, @luci-in-trenchcoats, @leatherandfrackles, @ne-gans, @talesmaniac89, @mywritingsblog, @angelkurenai

There’s so many more, so please play along if you’d like! I love hearing about the backstory of a fic.

#fic writer tag game #tag game #get to know a writer

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ilya-sorokins · 5 years

Note

Prompt: cliche as fuck Lucaya break up Lucas moves. Comes back years later to find out Maya has a kid. His kid but he doesn't know. And no one will tell him.

so i think i got this ask in 2017 (tumblr really ought to put dates on these things) HOWEVER i started it like as soon as a got it, and i forgot about it for like a year, and i FINALLY finished it! pls keep in mind that this was written over the course of at least a year and a half and no one proofread it lmao. also lucaya is pretty much dead so i’m not expecting much out of this.

title: everything’s gonna be alrightword count: 7k+ship: lucaya, side riarkleao3

It all starts when Lucas Friar is offered a job. Not just any job, though. A job in Texas. A job that’s approximately 1,743 miles away from New York City. It’s also a job that’s approximately 1,743 miles from Maya Hart.

When he first tells Maya, she laughs, “You’re kidding, right?” But his face says otherwise. “Wait, you aren’t seriously considering accepting the offer, are you?”

“I’ve already accepted, Maya,” he tells her gently, squeezing her hand in his. “One of my former professors recommended me for the position, and the pay is amazing. I couldn’t turn it down.”

“What about me?” she asks, taking her hand from his and crossing her arms. She pinches herself repeatedly, thinking, This is just a dream, you’ll wake up and laugh at such a crazy idea. Lucas isn’t moving to Texas any time soon.

Brows furrowed, Lucas responds, “I assumed you would come with me. We were planning on moving in together soon, anyways.”

He reaches to take her hand again, but she moves away from his touch. Shocked at her reaction, he inches away from the blonde, a chasm beginning to grow between them.

“Lucas, you do realize that I have a life here, right?” she snaps, clenching her fists in her lap. “I have a family, friends, a damn job. I can’t just uproot my life.”

“I know,” he says slowly, thoughts churning in his head, “I just–well, I thought you’d want to come with me. We love each other. I’d planned on spending my life with you.”

The anger inside Maya quickly boils down into sadness and heartbreak. “I do love you, Lucas,” she begins, tears welling in her blue eyes, “but if you actually take this job, if you actually leave, then we’re done. There can’t be an us if you’re halfway across the country.”

“Then I guess we’re over,” he says simply. “I can’t turn down this opportunity. I’d never forgive myself. Maybe one day you’ll understand that, Maya.”

She’s so shocked that she doesn’t even realize he’s left until the door slams. Then the floodgates open and sobs wrack her tiny body. Tears stream down her cheeks, dripping onto her chest.

Maya cries so violently she ends up making herself sick. She runs to the bathroom, barely making it to the toilet before she vomits.

But the burn in her throat is nothing compared to the pain of her broken heart.

On autopilot, the woman gets up from the floor to brush her teeth. As she looks in the mirror, her disheveled reflection shows her mascara stained cheeks and post-vomit session hair. Normally Maya would fix herself up, make herself look presentable, but she can’t bring herself to do it.

It’s not like she has anyone to impress anymore.

Before she starts crying again, she decides to make a call. She finds her phone and goes to her favorite contacts. Before long, she’s greeted with a chirpy, “Peaches! How’d it go? I’ve been thinking about it all day!”

She takes a deep breathe. “I didn’t get to tell him, Riles. We just broke up.”

“What?!” Riley screeches, her tone dripping in shock. “Why? I thought you all were happy.”

“So did I,” the blonde muses. “He accepted a position in back in Austin without talking to me about it. He just assumed I’d go with him.”

The other woman’s gasp can be heard through the phone. “That’s terrible. I’m so sorry, Maya.”

“I wish I could go with him,” she says honestly. “It’s not like I can. I’ve worked too hard to get my teaching job to just leave.”

“I agree with you, but what about–”

“The baby?” Maya finishes for her. The awkward silence is an answer enough. “He’s not going to find out that I’m pregnant. He doesn’t need to know. When he chose the job over me, he lost his right to know about my life. Plus, I was raised by a single mom, and I turned out okay. At least I think I did. We’ll make do.”

“Peaches, do you want me to come over?” Riley asks, concerned about her friend.

“You don’t need to do that…” she answers, trailing off. “But if you want to, I wouldn’t be opposed to eating ice cream and watching Friends in our pajamas.”

Her best friend laughs and it’s the first time Maya smiles since Lucas told her about the job offer.

“Okay, I’ll grab a few pints of Ben and Jerry’s and head over. Be there in thirty?”

Maya responds, “That works. Thank you, Riles. I love you.”

“I love you, too. Everything’s gonna be alright.”

The blonde lets out a breath, “Let’s hope.”

When she ends the call, she drops her hand to her still-flat stomach.

I guess it’s just me and you now, kiddo, she thinks, rubbing small circles. Everything’s gonna be alright.

—————————————-—————————————-

On a scorching day in the late spring, Maya gives birth to a beautiful baby girl after an incredibly long labor. She has wisps of dark blonde hair and her mother’s piercing blue eyes. The first person to hold her after her mother is Riley.

“She’s perfect, Maya,” the brunette whispers, holding the newborn in her arms. “Did you pick her name?”

She nods, looking at the sleeping baby in her friends arms, “Lucy Jane Hart. Lucy means light, and this little one is the light of my life.”

Riley says, “I love it. She’s lucky to have such a great mom.”

“I hope you’re right. I really, really hope so.”

While this moment occurs in New York, Lucas is returning to an empty apartment in Texas. He’s had yet another boring day at work, and every part of him misses Maya.

There have been several nights where he’s had a few drinks and almost called her, but even when he’s drunk he can’t forget her words.

If you actually leave, then we’re done.

And Lucas left. He made that decision. With each day that passes, his mistake becomes more and more apparent.

As he opens his first beer of the night, he says to nothing, “I miss Maya,” and wishes she was there with him.

At the same time, Maya holds her daughter and says, “I miss Lucas,” and wishes he was there with her.

But neither knows they’re thinking the same thing, and they go on with their lives. One day at a time.

—————————————-—————————————-

Almost six years later, Maya hears the words she never thought she’d hear.

“Lucas is back,” Farkle tells her over the phone. “He’s literally on his way to my apartment as we speak.”

It comes as such a shock to her body that she finds herself doubled over her classroom’s trash can, throwing up her lunch. Luckily it’s after school hours, so she won’t have any curious middle school students asking, “Miss Hart, are you okay?”

(Because her answer would be no, Miss Hart is not okay.)

“Maya,” she hears through her cell. “Maya, are you still there?”

She wipes her mouth with the back of her hand, picking up her phone to answer him. “I’m still here. I just threw up everything in my stomach.”

“Shit, Maya,” he says with a sigh. “I knew you wouldn’t be excited, but I didn’t think you’d react that badly.”

“Tell me about it,” she mutters. She hadn’t thrown up since her morning sickness days. Maya’s generally a healthy person. Except when she finds out the father of her child is back in town. That easily upsets her stomach. “Is he back for good?”

“Yes. He’s transferring to a vet’s office in the city,” Farkle tells her. “He asked to stay with us for a few nights, he can’t move into his apartment until Monday.”

“Oh, fuck,” Maya curses. “He’s gonna want to see me, isn’t he?”

“He’s already asked about you. He didn’t waste any time.”

A blush spreads across her cheeks and she’s immediately thankful to be alone right now. “Dammit,” she curses again.

“Uh, Maya,” he says, “You do remember what day it is, right?”

The woman’s eyes trail to her desk calendar. Thursday. What’s so special about Thurs– “Fuck, you all have Lucy right now!” she remembers. Riley always watches the five year old at her and Farkle’s place so Maya can stay at the school and finish up some work. “Wait–you said he’s on his way now?!”

“That’s what I said.”

“Shit! He’s gonna know she’s not yours!” she rambles, grabbing her bag. “I’m leaving the school right now. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

“You’ll probably get here right before him.”

“Oh, I will be there before him,” Maya promises, exiting the building. She hangs up the phone and books it to the Minkus-Matthews apartment.

When she arrives, she’s drenched in sweat and her feet are on fire. Silently she curses herself for picking style over comfort when it came to today’s shoes. The wedges seemed like a great idea this morning.

Letting herself in, Maya calls out, “Hello?”

Seconds later the pitter-patter of tiny feet can be heard. Lucy crashes into her mother, nearly knocking Maya down, greeting, “Mommy! You’re early!”

“I just missed you so much!” she tells her, stooping down to her level. The little girl beams at her, ecstatic at the surprise.

“I missed you, too, Mommy! I had so much fun at school today!” she tells her, jittering with energy.

Maya laughs, wondering exactly how fun a day of first grade could be. Nonetheless, she replies, “I can’t wait to hear all about it, little bug. Where’s Auntie Riley and Uncle Farkle?”

The girl grabs her hand, leading her through the apartment. In the kitchen she finds the couple, where they are speaking in heated whispers, undoubtedly over Lucas’ impending arrival.

“Peaches!” Riley says, still greeting with the childhood nickname. “How was your day?”

“It was great until I got the news,” she says, letting out a sigh. She looks around to see what Lucy’s doing, but she’s too busy showing Farkle her new book to eavesdrop. “I’m scared, Riley.”

The woman’s face falls. “I’m sure it’ll be fine, Maya. Plus, it could be good, you know,” she tells her, then her voice drops to a whisper, “Meeting her dad.”

Maya shakes her head, “I don’t know, Riles. It’s always been us. Lucy’s never even asked about her dad. Anyways, he may not even want her.”

The brunette narrows her eyes, “You know that’s not true. He will do everything for her once he finds out. Plus, Lucy will start asking about him sooner rather than later.”

As much as she doesn’t want to admit it, she knows she’s right. Lucas isn’t the type to abandon his own daughter. If anything, he’ll want to make up for nearly six years of lost time. And Maya also knows that he’s going to be heartbroken that she never told him. But she’ll cross that road when she comes to it.

And just because Lucy isn’t curious about her dad now, doesn’t mean she won’t ever be. Maya knows that from experience.

When the doorbell rings and interrupts her thoughts, she nearly collapses. Oh, god, I’m seeing Lucas Friar for the first time in almost seven years, she thinks, taking a deep breath and exhaling.

“I’ve got it!” Farkle calls out, headed towards the door. A curious Lucy attempts to trail behind him, but Maya quickly gets her attention.

“Lucy, honey, come here!” she calls.

The little girl walks over, “Yes, Mommy?”

“We’re gonna head home soon, do you have all your stuff together?”

She pauses, thinking about the question. She shakes her head, “Nope. I will get all my things.”

The woman smiles. “Thank you, baby girl.”

Quickly Lucy runs off to do as she’s told.

Moments later, a new voice nearly stops her heart. A voice that she hasn’t heard in nearly 7 years, but still causes her knees to weaken, and her cheeks to flush.

“Wow, Shortstack, you’ve barely changed,” Lucas walks into the kitchen, setting his bags down on the tile.

Heart pounding rapidly, Maya replies, “Same goes to you, Ranger Rick.”

The tension in the room could be cut with a knife, but Riley swoops in to hug him. She easily distracts the man from his ex-girlfriend. The brunette badgers him with questions about his time in Texas and his new job here.

Maya almost thinks she’ll be able to sneak out without him noticing, but then her lovely daughter barrels into the room, huge backpack engulfing her tiny body as she yells, “Mommy, I’m ready to go!”

Lucas turns around, looking at the child, then up to the blonde, “Maya, you have a daughter?”

“Yes,” she answers, holding her daughter close to her. She bends down, introducing her little girl, “Lucy, this is Lucas. He’s one of Mommy’s… old friends.”

“Hi,” she sticks her hand out, “Nice to meet you, Lucas.”

Stooping down to her level, he smiles and shakes her tiny hand, “Hi, Lucy. Nice to meet you, too. How old are you?”

“I am five–but I am almost six!” she answers, very excited about her upcoming birthday. “I will be six on May 15th!”

“That’s very soon. I can see why you’re excited.” He looks back up to Maya, then says, “She’s beautiful, looks just like you.”

Somehow, her cheeks flush an even brighter red as she says, “Thank you, Lucas.” She grabs Lucy’s hand, “Let’s go, little bug.”

“Okay!” she says, grinning. “Bye, Lucas! Bye, Auntie Riley and Uncle Farkle!”

Before they head out, Lucas comes up to her, “Maya?”

“Yeah?”

“I was wondering, um, maybe–if you’re okay with it? Could we, uh, have dinner sometime? Catch up?” he asks. “But only if you want to!”

Maya is slightly taken aback by the offer, but still finds herself saying, “Sure. Shoot me a message–my number’s still the same.”

He smiles, “Great. See you around.”

“Yeah. See you around,” she replies, then shuffles her daughter out the door.

Once they get outside and head towards the subway, Lucy asks, “Mommy, why is your face so red?”

The woman blushes even more. “Just hot, sweetie. Let’s go home.”

—————————————-—————————————-

“So why didn’t you all tell me that Maya has a kid?” Lucas asks his friends after she leaves.

Farkle shrugs, “It’s not like it really came up in conversation. You didn’t ask about her until today.”

“Is the–is the father in the picture?” he questions. He didn’t even think about her not being single when he asked her to dinner. (Not that this dinner has to be a date, by any means. But he really, really wants it to be a date.)

“No,” Riley answers quickly. She looks uncomfortable as she goes on, “They broke up before she found out she was pregnant. He never found out…”

“Damn,” Lucas replies, rubbing the back of his neck. Every part of him knew Maya would’ve moved on from him, but he never would’ve imagined that she had a child. Hell, based on the age of her daughter, she must’ve moved on almost immediately.

The brunette adds, “Well, she’s doing great. Maya’s a great mom, and Lucy is a great kid.”

“I can imagine,” he comments. Pasting on a fake smile, he changes the subject, “What about you all? The wedding is soon, yeah?”

The couple launches into details about their impending nuptials, but even seeing the immense happiness on their faces isn’t enough to distract his own thoughts.

When his transfer got approved, his first thought was just Maya. Maya is in New York. He’s back in New York. Lucas hoped that things could back to how they were before. Before he left her for a job that he hated.

But Maya has a daughter, a beautiful little girl that is the center of her life. She won’t drop everything to go back to the man that broke her heart. Besides, she may not want him back anyways.

But I still love her, he thinks. I never stopped loving her.

—————————————-—————————————-

“Alright, little bug,” Maya sing songs, brushing out Lucy’s wet hair, “It is definitely bedtime.”

The young girl frowns, “Do I have to?”

“Yes,” she nods, kissing the top of her head, “you have school tomorrow, and Mommy has to work. So, it’s bedtime. Go brush your teeth so I can tuck you in.”

Lucy obliges, running off to the bathroom. While she’s in there, Maya gets a call from an unsaved number.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Maya. Can you talk right now?”

Lucas’ voice comes as a slight shock. She hadn’t expected him to contact her so soon. “Oh, hey, Lucas,” she responds after a moment of silence. “I’m getting ready to tuck Lucy in, can you wait a few minutes?”

“Shit, sorry,” he stammers. “I can call you back or–”

“No, no,” she tells him. “It’ll just take a few minutes. Stay on the call, okay?”

He agrees, and Maya leaves her phone on her bed. When she gets to Lucy’s room, she’s already in her bed, waiting patiently.

“Okay, little bug,” she says, taking her seat on the edge of her bed. The blonde starts tucking the blankets up around her daughter, then plants a kiss on her cheek, “I love you, Lucy. Sleep tight, baby girl.”

“I love you, too, Mommy,” Lucy tells her, snuggling into bed.

Maya picks her favorite teddy off the floor, then hands it to her. She gives her one last kiss, saying, “Good night.”

Before she leaves the room she makes sure the night light is on and switches the rest off. When she gets back to her own bedroom, she picks up her phone and asks, “You still there?”

“Yeah,” Lucas answers. “I wanted to… I wanted to know how you were doing? We didn’t really get to talk earlier… And it’s been a long time.”

“I’m good, I guess,” she says, walking out of her bedroom and to the kitchen. If I’m gonna talk to him, I’m pouring myself a glass of wine, she tells herself, grabbing the bottle from the fridge. “I keep busy. I’m still the art teacher at our old middle school, and being a single mom isn’t exactly easy.”

He laughs, “I can imagine she’s a handful. But she seems wonderful, Maya. I can’t get over how much she looks like you. She’s your twin.”

Taking a big gulp from her glass, she says, “Thank you. She’s perfect. I can’t imagine life without her. I didn’t know my life was missing something until she was placed in my arms.”

“I’m glad you’re happy,” he tells her. “I’ve thought a lot about you.”

Without thinking, she replies, “I’ve thought a lot about you, too, Ranger Rick.”

“Really?” he asks in disbelief. “I figured you hated me.”

Maya takes another sip of her wine. “I could never hate you. You know that.”

Lucas’ deep breath can be heard through the call, “You had every right to.”

“I did,” she agrees, “but I never once hated you.”

It’s not a lie. Even throughout her entire pregnancy, the late night feedings, and the days where she just wanted someone to hold her, Maya never hated Lucas. She couldn’t hate him, he gave her Lucy. But, she had missed him. She would’ve done anything to have him back by her side.

“Do you think we could do dinner this Saturday night?” he asks, “I wasn’t sure if you had a sitter, or if you even wanted to.”

She laughs, “I’d love to. It’ll be nice to have some company that isn’t five years old, or a middle school student, or a stressed couple planning the wedding of the century.”

“They really are going over the top, aren’t they?” Lucas jokes. The Minkus-Matthews’ wedding won’t be one to miss. “So–Saturday at 6? I’ll text you the address.”

“As long as my sitter is free, I’m in,” she says.

“Great. I’ll let you go now,” he responds. “Bye, Maya.”

“Bye, Lucas,” she says, then ends the call. She downs the rest of her wine, then calls her best friend. As soon as Riley answers, Maya greets with, “I think I just agreed to a date with Lucas Friar.”

—————————————-—————————————-

“Mommy, why do you look so fancy?” Lucy asks, watching her mother carefully apply her nude lipstick.

“I’m going to a fancy dinner, so I have to look fancy,” Maya answers, pouting her lips in the mirror. Naturally, the girl imitates her, causing the woman to chuckle. “Are you excited to spend the night with Nana?”

“Yeah!” she exclaims, bouncing on her heels. “Nana and I are gonna make sketti and meatballs! Then we’re gonna watch a movie!”

“Wow!” she enthuses, pushing a loose curl out of Lucy’s eyes. “It sounds like you all are gonna have so much fun.”

“We will!”

Maya sends her off to put her shoes on, and she slips her heels on herself. Checking her reflection, she smoothes out her dress and checks her hair one last time. She’s wearing a deep red halter dress that hugs her curves, paired with her trusty black pumps. Once she’s ready, she heads out with Lucy in tow.

After she drops Lucy off at her mom’s place (with the promise of having her in bed by 8:30, but Maya knows Katy is a sucker and will let her grandbaby stay up way past her bedtime), she hails a cab to the upscale Italian restaurant. When she arrives, she immediately spots her date, and her knees go wobbly.

Lucas looks good. He’s wearing a navy blue suit, which is Maya’s absolute weakness. She greets him with, “Well, you still clean up pretty well, Cowboy.”

“Thanks, Shortstack,” He grins, looking her up and down, “You look gorgeous, Maya.”

Her heart feels like it could burst out of her chest, but she tries to ignore the feeling. “Thank you, Lucas.”

Their hands brush together as they walk into the restaurant, but they both pull away quickly, blushing.

(Maya hopes her blush isn’t as bad as she believes it is, because she feels as red as her dress at the moment.)

(Lucas thinks the exact same thing as he gives his name for the reservation.)

They’re taken to a secluded table near the back. “Enjoy your dinner, Mr. and Mrs. Friar,” comments the hostess.

Maya wants to correct her, but she decides to keep her mouth shut. Once she’s out of earshot, she laughs, “Awkward.”

The man chuckles in agreement, grabbing the wine list, “Red or white?”

“Hmm,” she ponders, tapping her chin in thought. “Red.”

When the waiter arrives, he orders a whole bottle of Cabernet for the two of them– the price nearly makes her faint, but he doesn’t seem phased. Before the wine even makes it to the table, Lucas apologizes, “Can I just go ahead and say I’m sorry? Because I am so sorry.”

“For what, exactly?” she responds, busying her hands with the dinner napkin in her lap. She can only imagine where this conversation will go.

He lets out a deep sigh, “For being so stupid all those years ago. I never should’ve accepted the job offer without talking to you first.”

The blonde says, “It’s okay, Lucas. The past is the past. It’s not like we can go back and change it. I’ve gotten over it.” No I haven’t, she thinks.

“I wish I could,” he admits, rubbing his hands together. “You know, I ended up hating that job. Biggest regret of my life.”

Sensing his distress, Maya reaches across the table to grab his hand. Instantly, she feels him relax. She tells him, “We’ve all made mistakes, even me. We’re only human.”

“Yeah, but I don’t think your mistakes led to losing the love of your life,” he comments, rubbing his thumb across her hand.

My mistake led to our daughter growing up without a father, she thinks, but doesn’t voice. There’s a time and place for that conversation, and it’s definitely not right here, right now. “Well,” she starts, “I’m here now, right?”

He nods, “Yes.”

“So you didn’t completely lose me,” she points out. “I could’ve turned down this offer. I have lots of shows I could be catching up on right now. There are plenty of medical dramas waiting for me to binge.”

Lucas laughs a true laugh. It’s a sound she’s missed so much, something she’s wanted to hear again. “Thank you for coming, then.”

“You’re welcome,” she responds. “Okay, so it’s been almost seven years. A lot can happen in that much time…”

“Yeah, like you having a daughter. I can’t believe you have a kid,” he teases, then quickly adds, “Not that it’s a bad thing, by any means. She’s adorable, I’m just still shocked, to be honest.”

Maya fakes a chuckle. If only you knew she was yours, she thinks. “She’s wonderful. I may be biased, but she’s the smartest almost six year old I’ve ever met. I put her into kindergarten when she was four–even though everyone told me she was too young–and her teacher said she’s ahead of most of her classmates. So they’re pretty sure she’ll be offered a spot in the accelerated program in few years, but there’s no guarantee–” then she stops and throws her hands up, saying, “Oh god, I’m rambling about my kid. I’m being the worst date right now.”

This time, Lucas grabs her hand to calm her down. “It’s fine,” he laughs. “At least you have something to talk about. I have nothing.”

“I’m sure you did something interesting in the past seven years.”

“Nope. Nothing.”

“Seriously?” she asks, “No crazy vet stories? Crazy farm stories? Crazy date stories?”

He chuckles at the last question. “I had a woman bring me her duck that was actually a chicken. I didn’t live on a farm, my apartment was downtown. Definitely no memorable dates.”

The wine arrives and the server takes their order. Once he leaves, Maya takes a sip of her wine and says, “So no dates, huh?”

Shaking his head, he replies, “There were dates, but nothing special. No one made it past the third date.”

“Hmm,” she hums, taking another drink.

“Have you dated anyone?” he asks, then realizes his mistake. “Shit–you have a kid. I’m an idiot.”

Yes, Lucas, you are an idiot because you haven’t even realized that she’s yours! she thinks. You went to school for eight years to become a veterinarian yet you can’t do the math to realize you’re the father!

“I’ve done the same as you, really,” she says, and it’s the truth. There were a few men, and one woman, but nothing worked out. “I’ve always been focused on Lucy, so I haven’t worried much about dating.”

He takes a moment to refill her empty wine glass, then says, “If you don’t mind me asking, why isn’t Lucy’s dad in the picture?”

“I never told him I was pregnant,” she answers too quickly.

“Riley told me that much, but why didn’t you tell him?” he quizzes curiously, sipping from his own glass.

Avoiding eye contact, she says, “I–Uh, can we not talk about that right now?” Immediately, he goes in for the apology, but she interrupts him, “Don’t be sorry, it’s just not my favorite thing to talk about.”

“Understandably so,” he agrees. The Texan turns the conversation around, “Tell me about your job. I know you’re at our old school…”

The rest of their date goes by without a hitch. They talk without asking the wrong questions, enjoy a great meal, and leave together–nearly drunk after purchasing a second bottle of wine.

(“The amount of money you spent on this meal would make my bank account cry,” she comments as he signs the bill.

He just waves it off, tipping the server substantially for dealing with them.)

“Come back to my place with me,” she offers, stumbling against him as he attempts to hail a cab. “Lucy is with my mom. Staying all night.”

He takes a moment to respond, making her think he’s going to say no. However, he eventually agrees, “Okay,” leading her into the cab.

The entire ride to her place Maya stays pressed against his side, while Lucas keeps a hand on her thigh. The touch is enough to bring goosebumps to her skin and heat up her cheeks.

Once they arrive to their destination, she leads him up to her apartment. Before she can even get her key, he has her pressed against the door and they’re kissing.

It’s hot and heavy, as if years of being apart has built up to this very moment. Perched on her tiptoes to reach, her fingers find their way to his hair. He tastes like red wine, and still smells the same as he did seven years ago.

Breaking apart to breathe, they rest their foreheads against each other. The first to break the silence is Lucas. “I’ve wanted to do that since I saw you in that dress,” he discloses, caressing her cheek. “You look so fuckin’ hot in it. But, you know what?”

“What?” she says, breathing heavily.

“It’d look better on the floor,” he says, lips brushing the shell of her ear.

“That’s the most god awful thing you’ve ever said,” she says, unlocking the door. “But it was kinda hot.” Dragging him by the tie, she takes him to her bedroom. She turns around, “Unzip me.”

“Gladly,” he obliges, taking his sweet time and admiring the view, running his knuckles down her spine. While she slips her dress and heels off, Lucas sheds his suit jacket and shirt.

“You still have way too much clothes on,” she comments, reaching for his belt. She removes it, throwing it carelessly. As she goes to unbutton his slacks, he stops her.

“Are you sure we should be moving this fast?” he asks seriously. “We had a really messy break up and I don’t want to fuck up our relationship aga–“

“Lucas, I want you to fuck me,” she states, “Right now.”

He crashes his lips onto hers, then says, “I’m more than happy to oblige.”

—————————————-—————————————-

The next morning Maya wakes up with a terrible headache and a worse feeling in her heart. She had sex with Lucas last night (absolutely amazing sex, but that’s beside the point), but she still hasn’t told him about Lucy. The guilt is tearing her up inside as she watches Lucas sleep, snoring quietly.

I’m about to ruin everything, she muses. Once the truth is out, he’ll never forgive me.

Maya rests her head against his bare chest, aimlessly running her fingers up and down his torso. Slowly he stirs, wrapping his arm around her to hold her close.

“G’morning,” he mumbles, pressing a kiss to her hair. When she doesn’t respond, he asks, “You okay, Maya?”

“Yeah–well, no, not really.” She sighs, “There’s something I need to tell you.”

“What’s up?” he asks, nonchalant. His fingers are threaded through her hair, playing with the golden strands. Just like he would all those years ago.

“Have you thought about how old Lucy is?” she asks.

“Five but almost six,” he answers, quoting the child, “Her birthday is coming up, May 15th, yeah?”

“Right. Now, when did you move to Austin?”

“September will mark seven years. But, Maya, what does that have to do–” then he stops. His fingers still in her hair, and that’s how she knows he’s figured it out. “Wait, is she, y’know, mine? I’m her…”

Nodding slowly, Maya finishes his thought for him, “Yeah, you’re her father, Lucas.”

For a few moments, they lay there. No one says anything, they just think. When he finally breaks the silence, Lucas sits up in bed and asks, “Did you find out you were pregnant before or after I left?”

“Before. I thought I may have been for about a week before you left, and I took six pregnancy tests to confirm it. I’d bought a little yellow onesie that said I love Daddy! to surprise you with. I was so excited, Lucas. My life was finally falling together. I had a good job, great friends, an amazing boyfriend, and as crazy as it sounds, I was so happy to find out I was pregnant. Yeah, she wasn’t planned, we weren’t married, hell, we weren’t even engaged. It was okay, though, because we were happy. So happy. Except everything changed when you came over and dropped a bomb on me.” Maya pauses to breathe, wiping away a tear that’s threatening to escape.

As she continues, her voice begins to falter, “I didn’t tell you, then you left. I went through the entire pregnancy alone, save for my mom and Riley. Morning sickness, weird cravings, the first kicks, and swollen ankles. All of it, by myself. It was so difficult. There were days that I just stayed home and cried my bed all day, wishing you were there with me. God, I just wanted you to come back. There were nights that I was going to call, but then I remembered what I said. ‘If you actually leave, then we’re done.’ And you left me. I wanted to hate you, but I couldn’t. I never could, because I loved you too much.”

Once the words leave her mouth, she feels as if a huge weight has been lifted off her shoulders. She’s waiting for Lucas to scream and yell at her. She’s preparing herself for him to blow up, but that’s not what he does.

The first thing he says is, “God, Maya, I wish you would’ve told me. There is no job in the entire world that is more important that you and our daughter.” He pauses, then repeats himself. “Our daughter. We have a daughter…”

“Yeah, Lucas, we have a daughter. She’s perfect, so smart, and the most important thing to me,” Maya says, tears dripping down her face. “I wish I wasn’t so stupid. I should have told you sooner. You missed almost six years.”

He replies, “If I would’ve known, I would have dropped that job in a heartbeat. Being a father is so much more important than some job. I would have loved to watch Lucy grow up. And I would’ve been there for you, Maya. Every craving, doctor’s appointment, anytime you cried. I could’ve been there if you would have just told me.” He takes her hand back into his, softly rubbing circles on it.

“I know,” she admits. “It was selfish of me to keep this from you. Lucy deserves to know her dad, and you deserve to know your daughter.”

“Can I, then? Get to know her?” Lucas asks, a hopeful gleam in his green eyes.

The woman gives him a small smile, “Of course you can. I won’t keep her from you anymore, promise.”

“Thank you,” he says, squeezing her hand. “Can you tell me more about what I missed? Like, when she was a baby?”

Grinning, Maya starts, “She was such a good baby. She was always super happy, but had to be held at all times. If you put her down, you’d get an earful. I had to put her in a sling on my chest in order to get anything done…”

—————————————-—————————————-

Minutes turn into hours as Maya catches Lucas up on his daughter’s life. He’s full of questions, and she’s (mostly) full of answers. He learns about all the firsts in Lucy’s life.

(“First word?”

“No. Also her favorite word.”

“First Halloween?”

“A pumpkin. She spit up all over the costume.”)

When stories aren’t enough, Maya shows him pictures. She shows him her favorites, Lucy dressed up on her first Christmas with a bow wrapped around her little head, her first finger painting experience, and her first day of Kindergarten. With each missed memory, Lucas laughs, smiles, even cries a bit.

After seeing pictures of Lucy over the years, he asks, “When can we tell her?”

Maya pauses, “That you’re her dad? We could tell her soon…”

“How about… tonight?” Lucas proposes, “I’ve already missed enough time, Maya. I really want to be in my daughter’s life.”

The suggestion doesn’t come as much of a shock. Maya knew he’d want to tell Lucy soon, but she didn’t expect tonight. “Well…”

“I can take you all out tonight,” he suggests. “Dinner, on me. We could tell her after?”

She ponders on his offer. Though it’s sooner than she’d anticipate, it wouldn’t be a bad idea. “Okay,” she answers, then adds, “but you have to let me take the lead. I don’t want to shock her too much.”

“Deal.” Lucas grins, planting a kiss on her cheek. “Thank you so much, Maya, for letting me become involved in her life. You really have no reason to let me in after what I did to you.”

She smiles, then pecks him on the lips. “It’s the least I can do. She’s just as much yours as she is mine. You have every right to be in her life. I’m sorry I kept you away before.”

“Stop apologizing, the past is the past. I’m ready to focus on the future,” he tells her, taking her hands into his. “Speaking of the future, what about our future?”

“What about it?”

“C’mon, Maya, you know what I mean. Last night was amazing.”

“It was,” she agrees. “But it doesn’t have to mean anything. We’d been drinking.”

He sighs, then replies, “But it did mean something to me, Maya. I haven’t stopped thinking about you since I stepped off the plane into New York. If–if you want to, I want to be with you. Again.”

She knew this would come eventually. But it came sooner than she expected. “Lucas…” she trails off, thinking. “I don’t know.”

“We can try,” he offers, squeezing her hand in his. “We can try to have a relationship, and if it doesn’t work, then we’ll just be friends.”

Maya stays quiet for a moment, thinking. She wants to be with him, she really does. However, Lucas left her once before, he could surely do it again.

But at the same time, he knows about Lucy now. He seems so excited to be a dad, and be there for them. And, God, did she miss him. So many times, she has wished to be in his arms again, feel his kiss, hold his hand. Now she’s being given that opportunity again. That’s why she says: “Okay, let’s do it.”

Lucas grins, then dives in to kiss her. “You won’t regret this, I promise,” he says, holding her close.

Maya smiles, feeling happier than she has in a long, long time.

—————————————-—————————————-

Later that night, Maya finds herself shaking as she attempts to braid Lucy’s hair into two plaits. It’s about an hour before they plan to meet Lucas for dinner, and she hasn’t felt this nervous to do something since she was in labor, about to give birth and change her life forever.

“Ow!” Lucy shrieks when Maya accidentally tugs her hair too hard. “You hurt my head, Mommy.”

She kisses the little girl’s head, apologizing, “Sorry, baby, but we’re all done now.” She puts the finishing touches on Lucy’s hair, adding tiny bows to the end of each plait.

Lucy hops out of the kitchen chair, twirling in her dress. “Do I look pretty, Mommy?” she asks, batting her long eyelashes.

“You look beautiful, little bug,” Maya answers. Since it’s a special occasion, she let her wear her favorite pink dress. It was a gift from Riley, and cost more than someone should spend on a dress that’s somehow going to get paint and dirt on it within an hour. It never fails to amaze Maya how fast an outfit can get destroyed by a five year old.

Just as she finishes getting ready herself, Maya hears a knock at her apartment door. She goes to let Lucas in, and even in just jeans and polo, he looks good. “Hi, cowboy,” she greets, pecking him on the cheek before Lucy can see.

“Shortstack, long time no see,” he jokes, stepping into the small apartment. It’d only been a few hours since he’d left, just enough time for Maya to pick up Lucy from her mom’s apartment and get her ready.

“Ha-hur,” she teases with a wink. She calls for her daughter, “Lucy! Are you ready to go?”

The tiny blonde comes barreling into the room, knocking into her mother like usual. “Hi, Lucas,” she says, waving.

“Hi, Miss Lucy,” he tells her, stooping down to her level. “Are you excited for us to go to dinner?” She aggressively nods her head, beaming at him. “Well, we better head out!”

Quickly, Maya grabs her bag, and they head out to hail a cab, Lucas giving directions to the kid-friendly restaurant he picked out for dinner.

The whole ride there, Lucy talks up a storm. She tells Lucas all about her first grade teacher, friends, and even about the class goldfish.

(“His name is Rocko,” Lucy tells him, grinning widely. “I helped pick his name!”)

Once they enter the restaurant and get seated and order their food, Maya gives Lucas the look. Go time.

“Lucy, hon,” Maya starts, getting her daughter’s attention. “Mommy wants to talk to you, can you listen for a few minutes?”

The little girl immediately pauses her coloring on the kid’s menu. “Okay, Mommy.”

Maya takes a deep breath, and then feels Lucas grab her hand beneath the table. She smiles briefly at him, then says, “You know how your friends have a Mommy and a Daddy?”

“Not all my friends,” Lucy replies smartly, “Jamie has two mommies!”

The two adults laugh. “Yes,” Maya replies, “some people have a Mommy and a Daddy, or two Mommies or two Daddies.”

“But I only have a Mommy,” she says. “You always said I don’t have a Daddy.”

Maya’s heart breaks a little. “Well, Lucy, you actually do have a Daddy…” her voice starts to shake as she finally gets the words out, “you see, honey, Lucas is your Daddy.”

“Really?” Lucy asks, eyes lighting up. “I have a Daddy? Can I call you Daddy?”

She catches Lucas wiping away a stray tear before grinning, answering, “I would love it if you called me Daddy, Lucy, Only if you want to.”

The little girl beams, “Okay, Daddy. I want to.”

When Lucy was born, Maya never would have imagined that she would hear her daughter call Lucas her dad. She thought it would never happen after the way she left things with Lucas. However, years later, she’s hearing just that, and it is music to her ears.

“Lucy, I do have a question for you,” Lucas says, and Maya is unsure of what is to follow. “If it is okay with you, I want to spend more time with you and your Mommy. Would you like that?”

“Hmmm,” Lucy thinks, “I would like that. May I please color now?”

Maya snorts, only her daughter would be more concerned with drawing than finding out about her father. Typical five year old. “Yes, Lucy. You can color.”

While their daughter turns back to her art, Lucas turns to her, “Well, that went well.”

“As well as we could expect,” Maya answers, leaning her head onto Lucas’ shoulder. “You know, you’re a parent now. Your life is about to change forever.”

“Correct, Shortstack: We’re parents. Bring it on.”

“Challenge accepted, Huckleberry.”

#my writing #lucaya #girl meets world #lucaya fanfic #lucaya fanfiction #lucas friar #maya hart #wow this took forever #but i liked writing it even tho it took over a year

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deakydeaky · 5 years

Note

Dating Lucy hc? 😘

(A/N; First Lucy ask!!! Please ask more I enjoyed this and I hope you all like it! xx)

How it started;

You were worked in fashion

You worked woth photographers, movie producers, runway. Anything that had to do with fashion, you had to do with it

Around 2017 you got asked to help for costume for a movie about th famous band Queen

You could never say no to that so you said yes

Everyone went in for their first fitting and you were so nervous to meet everyone

“You look nervous love.” Brian said shaking your hand

“I don’t meet famous rock starts very often, forgive me if I seem off.” You tried to sound proper.” I was thinking we should start with what best matches.”

“As in?” Rami asked

“Like what concerts you might do or just plain outfits you’ve been seen it. Make it match as best as possible.” You brought out a broad with pictures taped to it.” So far this is what I have as far as everyday.”

“This is incredible.” Lucy told you looking at the pictures.” Are these models next to them?”

“Yeah I saw what would best match on people and then thought we could try it on you all. Everyone has a room with their name and each outfit is labeled by number.” You pointed to the back

“You don’t miss a beat.” Lucy smiled at you

“Wouldn’t want to throw off the song.” You smiled back

Every since it got to be little things

Calling her in even though her consume was perfect

Or her calling you for a “fitting” even though she didn’t need it

Bringing each other coffee

Going to set to see the “costumes” but you jus wanted to see her

You had no idea why

You knew about her. Never once has she said anything or done anything but be straight

You got so nervous around her it could have killed you

It wasn’t until a wrap up party that you even realized that you even really liked her

Everyone was making toast and speeches about everything as you kind of sat in the back and watched

But then Lucy pointed you out

“And I think Y/N did such an amazing job with the costumes. They truly had me come alive and I know the boys feel the same.” Everyone looked at you

“Me? No I just threw clothes onto everyone.” Lucy went over to you and grabbed your hand

“Without this woman right next to me Joe would be complaining his outfits weren’t disco enough, Brian wouldn’t be in the best clogs and Roger would be happy that you couldn’t have any butterfly pants. This is to you.” You thought you could cry

Then finally, finally, you both made a move

The cast had meet up again a few days before the opening weekend of the movie

Ben has invited you to go with but you weren’t apart of the cast. He begged you to go because of how much fun you were

You went anyways(which got all over that you two were spotted together in just minutes)

When Lucy saw you two arrive she thought the worst, he had you before she did

She smiled through it. Around the end you said you had to leave and go back to yours. They all said bye and you hugged them all, giving Lucy a little bit of a longer hug. You walked away and they all watched how Lucy looked

“Ask her out already.” Gwil told her and they all looked surprised. They agreed to not say anything.” She’s amazing and you both are drooling over each other, go.”

Dating;

Because you two were so new to this dating a girl thing it was a little awkward

But it only too a few weeks to be okay

You two were basically the girl couple every girl couple wanted to be on tumblr back in 2015

Cuddles in underwear

Pillow fights when mad or just because

Taking pictures of her all the time

Fashion icions always

Kisses all the time. Like not matter what it’s kissing or just some kisses

Helping her pick out outfits

Liking her crazy style because you think it’s super cute

Telling your families together

Getting a lot of back lash

Coming out as Bi, the both of you

Walks through the park

Going to runway shows and fashion weeks

Sending each other cute messages when you’re away

She helps you dye your hair crazy different colors

Learning to love the taste of chapstick

Cooking together

Going to award shows together(That’s how you two come out to the word was her bringing you to a show and when Bohemian Rhapsody won she kissed you in camera)

Her taking pictures of your outfits for you to post of Instagram

The others always taking pictures of you two when you’re not looking and posting them

Like you two are laid out on the couch or wearing crazy outfits together and Ben will take a picture and post it and Joe comments cute things on it

Hand holding like crazy

Shopping days together

Staying in and watching movies most of the time

Her hyping up your fashion choices

Getting so big that you start your on line and they could all not be happier

After the first I love you it’s all you two could say to each other

Nose kisses because hers is to nice

Posting pictures of her wearing your line

You two both watching and helping each other grow

Walks around NYC

Dancing together in the kitchen while cooking and Queen or Elvis or Dean Martin plays in the back

Showing each other off because why not?

“That’s my wife!” For no reason what so ever other than to say that

You went to Rami while she went to Joe about rings

It was cute because you two had everyone over for diner and she pulled out the ring and you go kind of mad

“Wait no.” You reached into your purse.” You have to marry me.” You said opening the box

“Okay I can’t not tweet about this.” Joe said as he took a picture

Point is you both said yes and we’re beautiful brides

Bonus! Wedding;

Your finger tips went numb as you looked in the mirror. The knock on the door only helped you snap out of it some

“Hey.” The boys walked in. Ben gasped seeing you

“You look so beautiful.” You started to cry

“You can’t all be in here. I know I asked Gwil to walk me but I wanted to surprise the rest.”

“Well no suprise, you look beautiful.”

“Rami stop flirting, I told that my wedding day was off limits for us.” You all laughed out

“You almost ready?” Gwil asked

“As I’ll ever be.” The other went to go take their seats

Lucy said she wanted to see you walk down the isle so she was going first

As the music played again you held onto Gwil tightly as you walked out. You were at the end and could see the soon to be wife and started to cry a little again. She looked so beautiful

You were both in tears, which got a few laughs, but when you reached the end. When your hand was in hers, when the bows were being said and when the rings got on the fingers you swear time was slowing down just for you to took in the moment

As you two kissed you mumbled out how beautiful she looked

You both had never been so happy until you got into the car for the reception

“You truly took so amandine Y/N.”

“You’re so perfect.” You told her and she blushed

“Come on, I’m ready for the first dance with my wife.”

All night it was “my wife” from the both of you

“Doesn’t my wife know how to pick out a dress?” You said about Lucy. A little later it was you

“Doesn’t my wife look perfect?” The asked the rest as she saw you dancing with a friend

Roger and Brian both being so happy for you

“This wouldn’t be happening if you had never asked me to dress up everyone.”

“You two are soulmates, of course it would darling.”

#lucy boynton #lucy boynton imagine #lucy boynton headcanon #lucy boynton headcannon #lucy boynton x reader #queen imagine #queen headcannon #queen headcanon #queen x reader #queen

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eburneanteen-blog · 5 years

Text

Fairy Law — Two

Say “I Love You” (i)

Summary ⟶ The five times Natsu Dragneel said he loves her and the one time he actually confesses.

Pairings ⟶ Natsu/Lucy.

Genre ⟶ Fluff.

Setting ⟶ After Avatar arc.

Note ⟶ I love this kind of tropes on Tumblr. So that’s why I figured I should do one for my ultimate ship. But I might do for the others ships as well — I’m excited!

The first time Natsu Dragneel said he loved her, he was frantic and impossibly worried.

Following the rotation of Team Natsu, it was finally Salamander’s turn to choose a job. And of course, courtesy to the adrenaline and destruction flowing down his veins, he chose one a mission that involved monster hunting. He made sure that Lucy’s share would be enough for her rent, it was practically embedded in his mind. And so, the group of four—five, if you included the adorable Exceed—headed off to Magnolia Station, where it would start to go downhill from there.

And because of the Fairy Tail Curse, what was considered to be a simple mission, became a battle for life and death. Members of some weird cult began to attack them, their only advantage was the surprise and the amount of numbers they had on their side of the battlefield. Honestly, the Fairy Tail wizards could never catch a break.

Nonetheless, the cult members were swiftly dealt with by the amazing Team Natsu.

The last time that Natsu saw Erza was when she took out a whole brigade of her opponents with her Ataraxia Armor. The last he’d seen Gray was a few minutes ago, when he froze the incoming attacks from every direction with just a flick of his fingers. Happy currently was perched on his head, curled up and snoring soundly. But Lucy, for the love of all things good, he couldn’t remember the last time he saw her. Lucy, of all people!

The moment Natsu took out the last of his adversaries, he was hellbent on finding his partner. Now, of course, he knew how strong she was, with or without her spirits—believe him, he was on the receiving end of her Lucy-Kicks one too many times, and boy did it hurt—so he wasn’t really worried. He hated to admit it, but whenever Lucy was in trouble, the damn perverted lion seemed to take care of her just fine. So there, Lucy was in great, capable hands.

But Natsu had two problems with this.

The first being he actually needed to confirm Lucy’s safety with his own two eyes. He was desperate to hold her against him tightly, just to feel that she was actually there. He wanted to see that she had no injuries, and that she was completely fine. He needed to hear her voice, boasting about how she took all of her enemies out on her own.

Damn it, he needed her.

His second problem was that Lucy had no luck at all. Most of the times, it was her who got the short end of the stick, who got beat up painfully, who got kidnapped with her life as the bargaining chip. Add that to the Fairy Tail Curse, and Lucy was a goner. If he couldn’t find her this instant, he was completely sure that something happened.

“Lucy!” Natsu called out as he trekked deeper into the woods. The sun was beginning to set, he needed to find her fast.

Thinking about Taurus’s battle ax, Virgo’s trusty pitfalls, Sagittarius’s exceptional shooting skills, Aries’s soft but deadly wool bombs, Cancer’s peculiar fighting style, and Scorpio’s sand busters, did absolutely nothing to calm Natsu down.

At first he was okay with the idea of entrusting the Lucy’s life to others, but there was something primal about his need to protect her. To shield her from every bad thing in the world, to make sure that she never knew pain again, and to ensure that she would never, ever shed a tear from those beautiful brown eyes.

An image of Lucy’s limb body laying on the ground, bleeding from the gaping hole in her chest, flashed in Natsu’s mind. Yes, he did get over Future Lucy’s death. It was hard but he did. Seeing how much stronger Lucy got over the year, he knew that she became the fighter she always wanted to be. But that didn’t mean that the memory of his didn’t haunt him at times, especially situations like this.

“Lucy! Where are you?!” Natsu yelled. The sheer volume of his voice was enough to scare a few birds away from their nests. But he didn’t care, he needed to find his best friend.

He begged to whatever deity was listening that she’d be alright. That she was just somewhere out there, probably doing the most Lucy thing. But, if he was going to be honest, not even the gods could ease his worries now. There was only one person who could calm him down, and she was missing.

“Lucy! We need to go home now! Come on!”

Natsu’s heart kept pounding against his chest, begging to be let out. His breathing became ragged. Every fiber of his being seemed to be consumed by the mere need to have Lucy by his side. And the worst part of it all, was that he didn’t know why he’d been so driven by her, as if she were the meaning of life itself.

He shook his head. There was no need to ponder over what she was to him. Lucy was Lucy. His best friend, his partner, and his precious comrade.

But why did he feel like there was something missing in that list?

Natsu slapped his cheeks harshly, trying to come back to reality. His priority was to find Lucy. He could fixate on the other stuff when she was safe and sound.

“Lucy!” He cried out. At this point, it sounded already lik he was begging, just pleading to have Lucy in his arms.

And so he turned to the most reliable person he could think of, Mavis Vermillion. He kept his prayers to her—yes, he was that forlorn that he’d actually pray to the First Master—short and simple.

Bring Lucy home.

“Natsu!”

And there it was. The high-pitched typical screech of hers that managed to pierce his hearing quite painfully. But despite the loud ringing in his ears, there was nothing that made him happier at the moment than the sound of his name coming from her lips.

Natsu barely managed to hold back the laughter that erupted in his throat as he turned around and saw the current predicament she was in. High up, perched on a thick branch of a tree, was Lucy, with her Sagittarius Star Dress twinkling against the light ever so perfectly.

“Lucy?” He called, taking a step further to the tree as he lifted his head—totally not peeking at her underwear, mind you—to get a better look at her. Thankfully, she didn’t seem too beat up. “What are you doing up there?”

A few rustle of the leaves and creaking branches later, her reply came. Her voice was as quiet as a whisper. “Well, I climbed up here to get a better shot. Good news, I think I took out a few of them.”

“That’s really good, Luce!” He said instantaneously, a surge of pride replaced the anxiousness in his body. He then beckoned for her to come down. On the ground. Safe. With him. “How about coming down now?”

Lucy shook her head. She gripped whatever part of the tree she could hold on too. “Bad news is that I climbed way too high. I can’t get down anymore.”

Natsu wanted to throttle her for the look in her eyes. She was scared. How dare she be scared when he was right there? Didn’t she get it in her pretty, thick head that he would most likely do anything for her?

With a small sigh, Natsu stepped back, his arms motioning to come to him. “Alright, Luce. Jump.”

“What?! No way!” Lucy shrieked.

Natsu rolled his eyes. “Come on, Lucy. I’ll catch you, you dumb girl.”

“Me?!” Lucy screeched, already hovering the edge over the branch. “I’m the one being dumb? Well, I’m not the one who suggested that I fly headfirst into the ground and possibly get a concussion doing so!”

Natsu huffed, agitated with her lack of compliance, as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Do you trust me?”

Silence answered him.

But no sooner than a second later, Natsu found himself laying flat on the forest floor, with all of the air rushing out of his body. His stomach was being tortured with the worst kind of pain ever. He probably couldn’t sit up if he wanted to. From the distance, he could hear Happy shouting frantically.

But all the pain became dull when he realized that it was, in fact, Lucy who crashed into him. He was glad that she trusted him. Even when he was taken by surprise, he still managed to catch her. Somehow.

“I’m sorry for crushing your lungs,” Lucy murmured sorrowfully as she nestled deeper into the crook of his neck. She, too, was unable to move and so she stayed sprawled on top of him, not like she wanted to move anyway.

Natsu answered her with a small chuckle. He traced the outline of her back tenderly as the other hand combed through her golden locks. She was here, with him, safe and secure. He said, “It’s okay.”

“I’m just glad you’re safe.”

The second time Natsu said he loved her, he wanted to snuggle with her.

Because Natsu wasn’t really discreet with his love of Lucy’s bed, and seeing as it that he wouldn’t go anytime soon, not even if Lucy would kick him all the way back to Edolas, Lucy just decided to give him what he wanted. And thus, he got the majority of the bed—and no matter how much he denied it, Natsu did it exactly so Lucy would cling against him.

On a particular night, an evening wherein the stars shone brightly more than ever, Natsu woke up to find the other side of the bed empty and cold.

Still drowsy from dreaming, Natsu absentmindedly let his hand travel around the bed, trying to find his cuddle buddy. But after minutes of finding nothing, he finally sat upright.

He scanned the room for a glimpse of yellow hair, but couldn’t really see anything with his cloudy vision and the terribly dark room with only the moonlight to illuminate the room.

After a while, he finally then he found her.

And, by God, was she beautiful.

Natsu’s throat parched up right away at the sight of Lucy. The glowing light coming from the lamp revealed to him the peaceful state Lucy was in. In that exact moment, the light from the moon hit her perfectly and she brightened like a star, like a thousand suns, like an angel.

Like a fairy.

He noticed the small golden waves that caressed her back, the exposed skin from her shorts and tank top that glistened beautifully as if she were the nymph of beauty, he drowned in the small smile that tugged at her lips as her tiny hand curled around the pen, slowly dragging it down the paper in graceful strokes.

Natsu didn’t know why he felt like he’d been punched roughly in the gut. Or why he was so damn dizzy. The erratic beating of his heart rushed to his ears. He then decided that the most plausible explanation for this was that he was sick. Yep, that’s why this was all happening.

“Lucy,” He croaked out softly, still partially in the state of slumber. “Come back to bed.”

“No.”

Natsu whined, throwing back his entire body back into the now less comfortable bed. He needed his human pillow right now. The only reason that Lucy would wake up at such an ungodly hour was because she most likely got hit with a wave of inspiration for her novel. Curse her writing urges!

The pillows underneath his head, and the satin sheets covering his waist, didn’t feel complete unless his best friend was beside him. For some twisted reason, he liked the feeling of her arms around him, of waking up to her face first thing in the morning, and just being with her in general.

“Lucy, please.” His eyes were starting to droop from sleepiness but he utterly refused to go back to sleep without her.

A sigh came from Lucy. “Natsu, I’m going to be up for a long time. If you don’t like the lights on, go home.”

From then on, Natsu decided she was the dense one. He didn’t mind the damn lamp. He wanted her beside him. More importantly, he wanted to snuggle with her, she never knew but she also did give warmth to him. Plus, he was being perfectly reasonable, that woman needed sleep and she knew it too. He didn’t understand why she was being so stubborn.

He didn’t smell, did he?

Nevertheless, Natsu let a yawn escape. He fully settled himself in the Lucy-less bed. Dreams began to run through his vision. But before he fully succumbed to the clutches of the deep slumber, he had the energy to say one last thing.

“But. . . You are home, Lucy.” Was what he said before he comfortably fell asleep with Happy nestling at the edge of the bed.

Just then Lucy thanked all of her Celestial Spirits that it was pitch black in the room. She didn’t know what she would have done if he saw the growing blush on her cheeks.

The third time he said he’s in love with her, Natsu was absolutely livid.

This time, it was Erza’s turn to choose a job. Natsu didn’t really care for the particulars but he did know that their mission was in Magnolia, therefore there was no form of transportation needed, he felt like kicking one of them trains now in pure happiness.

One thing he noticed about their new client was that he was most definitely rich. He gathered that from the gigantic mansion—but no matter how big of a house you had, that was nothing compared to Lucy’s bed—and the array of butlers and maids waiting for their next command. Not to mention the pompous suit that he wore proudly.

He also observed that their client was one peculiar man. Natsu figured as much when the Duke practically threw himself at Erza.

“Titania! Fairy Tail’s strongest mage!” Duke cried out in adoration with the constellations twinkling in his eyes. He inspected her carefully, twirling a lock of fiery red around his finger and glancing at his own reflection through her polished armor.

Erza nodded sternly, not paying heed to the proclaims of love before her. “It’s nice to meet you too, sir. We’re glad you entrusted the job to Fairy Tail. I can assure you—”

Without giving Erza the chance to finish her sentence, Duke moved on the legendary wizard who stood beside her stiffly. This time, everyone could see his heart being ripped out of his chest from the excitement he was feeling.

“Gray Fullbuster!” Duke yelled out in shock. His eyes widened inhumanly as he tried to not so subtly place his stubby fingers on Gray’s now naked chest. The client was too in shock to realize that the man before him was half-naked already. “It’s an honor to meet you!

Natsu had the urge to scoff. He could understand fawning over Erza, but couldn’t for the life of him, comprehend why someone would fall over heels for their resident stripper. Sure, he could pretty ice castles or skate on the ice itself, and that his magic literally meant cool, but that didn’t mean he was cool, right?

Gray laughed nervously as he tried to slowly pry Duke’s fingers away from his chest. He also needed to find clothes before Erza whacked him in the head. “It’s an honor to meet you too, sir. I guess.”

When Duke came up to Natsu himself, he paled for a second. A moment later, Duke was jumping up and down, shaking Natsu’s hand like a little kid. For an old man, he acted like he just received presents from Santa. His weirdness began to scare Natsu, and that said a lot considering that he spent time with the epitome of weird, the pretty blonde one.

“Wow, wow, wow, wow,” Duke gasped, staring at the Salamander with lovesick eyes. “I can’t believe I get to meet Fairy Tail legends all in one day. Oh my, and you brought your pet cat! How delightful!”

That, for Natsu, was the first strike. Nobody would ever get away with calling Happy a mere pet. Happy was a comrade, partner, friend, and family. He would have socked the guy in the jaw if it weren’t for Erza’s bloodlust glare at him.

“This is Happy,” Natsu pointed to the cat behind him that had now sprouted wings. “He’s my friend.”

“Aye, sir!” Happy proclaimed with a fist raised to the air proudly.

Instead of apologizing, like Natsu thought he definitely would, Duke ignored him and went to the last person of the group. And to say that they were surprised with his reaction, was a complete understatement.

When Duke stood in front of Lucy, he changed his whole demeanor. The light in his eyes disappeared, leaving behind soulless orbs. His smile turned right into a grumpy frown as his eyebrows furrowed. And unlike all the other times, he didn’t even try to shake Lucy’s hand.

It confused Natsu, to say the least. He couldn’t think of any reason for Duke to stay away from Lucy. And so he concluded that their client was allergic to blondes.

“And who are you?” Duke sneered in her face. His upper lip curled into a snarl, obviously disliking her presence.

Lucy, who decided to ignore the hostility, only smiled and waved cheerfully. “I’m Lucy, sir. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Duke huffed, angrily crossing his arms around his tubby chest. “And why are you with Fairy Tail’s strongest team? Are you even part of Fairy Tail at all?”

“Yes, sir, I am,” Lucy answered in glee. “I joined Fairy Tail a long time ago.”

Natsu couldn’t believe his ears. It was unimaginable to think there was a person who didn’t know who Lucy was. And surely, if this guy knew Erza, he must have heard of Lucy.

Lucy took on three of Tartaros’s lackeys—and when the others tried to take on one of them, mind you, they almost died—and managed to hold them off, especially that Jackal guy. She was the one who tore up Everlue’s mansion—which was pretty cool if you asked Natsu. She managed to save Loke’s life and summon Mustache in the process. Heck, she event took out that Mary girl with a freaking Lucy-Punch!

So why, on Earthland, did this bastard not recognize the coolest legend in front of him?

“Oh, I know you now,” Duke said with a nonchalant laugh. And yet, the snark in his eyes didn’t match his own uplifted tone.

Lucy remained silent, only opting for a kind nod of the head. Natsu immediately noted that it was such a Lucy thing to do. To respond first with respect or kindness. Or actually gossip with Gray in secret. But still, out of the three of them, Lucy could actually keep a great composure the longest.

“You’re the Heartfilia heiress, right? The one who ran away?” Duke spat in disgust, towering over Lucy as if he were a force to be reckoned with.

He didn’t give Lucy any time to answer as if continued on with his harsh words. “Aren’t you the one who got kidnapped by Phantom? The one who lost to Raven Tail? Who got beat up by Sabertooth’s Minerva Orland? Aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am,” Lucy replied meekly, her head hung low.

Natsu could feel his rage burning every inch of his body. Nobody deserved to be belittled like that, especially not Lucy. He didn’t dare look at Lucy’s sullen face for any longer, because if he did, he knew that he would have done something reckless. He thought he could control his anger. But his self-control went out the window as soon as he heard Duke’s next words.

“Do they bring you along out of pity?” Duke continued, not aware of the torment he inflicted on each and every one of the team members. “I truly admire them. It must be hard to carry dead weight.”

After that, Natsu only saw red.

With what little restraint he had left on his rage, Natsu settled to back Duke into the wall, like a predator cornering its weak prey. His gaze settled on the man that hurt his best friend. Natsu’s hand viciously curled around the neck of Duke’s shirt, making it impossible for him to escape.

Because once you angered the dragon, there was no room for mercy.

“What the hell did you say?” Natsu growled deeply. The locks of pink hair fell over his eyes, hiding the madness in them, and yet he still felt the cowardly man trembling in his grasp. In fact, he could feel everyone’s fear in the room.

“I–I did–didn’t kno–know that you wou–would get this ma–mad,” Duke stammered fearfully. He tried to pry Natsu’s fingers away from his shirt, but to his dismay, failed utterly.

Natsu started to pant, exhausted from trying to keep his anger at bay. His hands yearned to slam the guy against the wall, pay him back a hundred times for ever humiliating his trusty partner. He brought his other fist and punched the wall with all the strength he had, just inches away from Duke’s shivering figure.

“Apologize.” It was a demand.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Duke squeaked. Once Natsu finally released him from his tight hold, Duke immediately scampered off away, most likely to call the guards and escort the crazy wizards outside his home.

Natsu took a couple of minutes to himself. Breathing in deeply and exhaling loudly to calm himself down. And after a few moments, all the fury in his veins dissipated completely. But there was something missing. Someone he needed.

“Natsu?”

Lucy brought him out of his reverie. Her hands came up to soothe the worry lines on his face, eventually bringing him closer to her, letting him rest his forehead on hers. She brushed away the salmon shaded strands away from his eyes.

“Natsu,” Lucy whispered again, chocolate eyes gazing up to intense raven eyes. A small smile tugged at the edge of her lips. “Thank you. But you didn’t have to do that,” She said ever so softly.

Before he could say anything, Lucy pointed to their two other best friends. “If Gray and Erza didn’t do anything, you shouldn’t have done that too. We had a lot riding on this job. Plus, I was fine with it anyway. Just don’t do it again, please?”

That was something he could never promise. Natsu was surprised at how Lucy could say that she was okay with being degraded like that. And because Natsu understood her from head to toe, he bloody well knew that Lucy had already forgiven Duke.

“But, Lucy, I—”

“You’re a damn idiot, Lucy.” It was Gray who said that. He had his arms crossed around his bare chest. His pants had gone missing somehow. But all of that became overshadowed by the furious gaze in his eyes.

“Eh?” Lucy gasped, pulling away from Natsu, much to his dismay. She stared at Gray with wide, confused eyes.

With a slight blush tinting his cheeks, Gray scratched the back of his neck nervously. “One second longer, and I would have punched the guy. 100,000,000 Jewels or not, nobody gets away with saying stuff like that.”

“He’s right, Lucy,” Erza commented with a nod. She sighed deeply. “No job is worth my friend’s tears. Although, I wouldn’t have gone to such extremities. I have class, after all.”

“Of course, you do, Erza,” Lucy whispered with a sniffle. She wiped a few tears that cascaded down her pale cheeks. After slapping her face to get rid of all the sad tension, she smiled radiantly. “Thank you, guys. You honestly didn’t have to.”

“Know this, Lucy,” Natsu said tenderly. He took her chin, lifting her face to meet his own stare. “You are not dead weight to us.”

“Luce, you are one heck of a girl.”

The fourth time Natsu said he loved her, he wished she wasn’t so pretty.

“Natsu, how does this one look?”

Lucy came out of the bathroom, her hair damp and loose, skin moist from the warm shower she took a few minutes ago. She had a red dress on that ended above her knees and cinched at her waist. For a brief moment, Natsu was reminded of her regal lifestyle with how elegant she looked, especially with her fancy makeup.

“You look weird,” Was his answer. And frankly, he’d been telling the truth. He preferred to see her when she was most comfortable. In her usual outfit, like she was ready to go on another adventure with him.

The blonde pouted with a disappointed huff escaping her now red lips. She grabbed another dress, this time a light blue one, and headed off into the bathroom once more. Not before giving him a glare, playfully sticking her tongue out. “Do you even know what pretty means?”

“Yeah, I do!” Natsu retorted as he threw a pillow at her, which she caught effortlessly with a happy squeal. When she disappeared in the bathroom, Natsu turned to Happy who was sleeping soundly on her bed. “Lucy is being mean again, Hap.”

He threw his whole body back on the fluffy bed. His arms were behind his head as he stared at the blank ceiling. There was a depressed feeling that settled uncomfortably in his gut and it began to throw him off.

Natsu loathed the idea of Lucy going on a date. That meant someone else would see how pretty she was. How good she smelled. How strong her kicks and punches were. Or how beautiful a feeling it was to be able to run their fingers through her golden locks. How smooth her fair skin was. Or maybe how cute she was when someone teased her. For some reason, Natsu didn’t feel like sharing that.

But he just couldn’t understand why.

Natsu laid on the bed, trying to wrack his head for some reasonable answers. But ultimately failed. Thankfully, he didn’t get to fixate on how pathetically bored and dumb he was as the doorbell’s ringing echoed across Lucy’s apartment. That just made the sinking emotion even worse.

Her date was here.

“Luce, door!” Natsu called for her. He then widened his eyes as he thought of the most perfect idea. Damn, he was smart. “Nevermind, I’ll get it!”

“Alright,” She answered. “Just don’t scare him off!”

“I won’t!” Natsu smirked. He totally was going scare him off. No man was good enough for her.

He quickly scuffled to the other side of the room. A wicked grin plastered on his face as his hand met the doorknob. He just couldn’t wait to set his plan in motion.

“Alright, you little bastard, who the hell do you think you are?” Natsu practically ripped the door open. His eyes set on the scrawny man in front of him with shaggy blonde hair, dressed in a casual shirt and pants. He wanted to laugh in his face, and at Lucy’s ugly taste in men.

Natsu towered over Lucy’s date with ease. He noticed the small tremors that wrecked his legs, and the slight confusion in his eyes, most likely wondering what he was doing in Lucy’s room. When he narrowed his eyes slightly, Lucy’s date jumped and took a step backwards.

“Uhm, excuse me, but is Miss Lucy around?” The man said quietly, yet not wavering his eye contact, fiddling with his fingers nervously. “I’m Reiko, her date.”

Natsu’s eyes raked over Reiko’s figure. He was decent. But decent wasn’t perfect enough for Lucy. He crossed his arms as leaned on the doorway. “Did you bring an extra coat?”

Reiko shook his head, puzzled eyes widening even more. “No. Why?”

Natsu scoffed. “It’s common knowledge, buddy. If you take Lucy out this time of night, you gotta bring an extra coat for her.”

“Shouldn’t she bring her own coat?” Reiko furrowed his eyebrows. He gestured subtly to the array of fancy coats that layed on the bed.

And while he had every intention to light the guy on fire—and they said he was dense—for such a dumb suggestion, Natsu held back for the sake of Lucy. But then realized it was pointless since he was gonna drive the guy away in a while.

“If you’re going to deal with her,” Natsu huffed out loud, spitting out the words like it was the truth written stone. “She forgets to stay warm during the cold. So bring a damn coat. Or a blanket, she likes thick blankets. Got it, man?”

Unfortunately for Reiko, Natsu wasn’t done yet. Not in the least bit.

Who was dumb enough to steal a dragon’s treasure anyway?

This time Natsu stood up straight, his gaze sharpening and piercing right at the intruder who had come to try and take away his best friend. He loomed over Reiko darkly, subconsciously pronouncing that he was the alpha male. To be honest, he didn’t know where all of this possessiveness came from.

“Would you do anything to make her happy?” He asked pointedly.

Reiko gulped down his fears. “Yeah. I guess so.”

“Would you illegally uproot a tree from the mayor’s garden if that made her happy?”

“Eh?!” Reiko’s eyes bulged out of his head. He shook his head frantically as his arms waved around. “I follow the rules, sir. I’m pretty sure there are plenty of ways to make her happy without involving me getting arrested.”

Natsu magically pulled a notebook from his pocket, a pen in the other hand as he scribbled down something on the paper hurriedly. “Okay, crossing out happiness.”

The Dragon Slayer turned back his attention to Reiko. Natsu’s eyes burned with a new wave determination. “Alright, buddy. What are you gonna do when she cries?”

Reiko shrugged. “Hug her?”

Natsu shook his head. He patted Reiko’s head out of sympathy. “First, you gotta beat the crap out of who made her cry. Then, you do the sappy stuff.”

“What if I was the one who made her cry?” Reiko asked.

“Then you beat yourself up,” Natsu answered way too nonchalantly. The pen and notebook reappeared in his grasp, the sound of him scratching out something from his weird list filled the conversation’s void. “There goes her emotional being.”

“Alright, last question, it’s the most important question so think carefully.” Natsu grinned radiantly. As fun as interrogating him was, it was time to end the fun. “How far would you go to protect her?”

Reiko furrowed his eyebrows, clocking his head to the side a bit. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

Natsu rolled his eyes. “Lets say she was kidnapped, which happens way too often, what would you do?”

“I don’t know. Call the Council, I guess?” Reiko’s words came out slowly, as if unsure of himself.

“Well, I gotta erase her safety from the list. Damn.” Natsu sighed. But really wasn’t disappointed. “You take the matters into your own hands. You don’t rest until she’s there with you, safe and sound.”

“But I’m not a mage like you two!” Reiko exclaimed. “I can’t do anything!”

Natsu shook his head. “Wizard, Non-Magic user, cat, lizard, dragon, anyone can do anything. You just gotta believe you can do it. That kind of thinking is going to get you stuck in one place forever.”

Reiko hung his head down low. “If you say so.”

Natsu gave him a subtle nod. He was pleased that he won this round. Although, he still couldn’t understand why he’d been so drive to scare all of her suitor’s away, like he was afraid of sharing her with someone else. To lose her forever.

“You like her, don’t you?” Reiko asked softly.

Well, did he?

“Yeah, I do,” Natsu after careful moments of deliberation.

It made sense now. Saying those words out loud lifted a huge weight off his shoulders. He finally understood what he felt. He saw her more than a team partner. And as ecstatic as he was to make this revelation, he was sure it wasn’t the appropriate time yet to bring about a whirlwind of change. Not when Lucy still had a lot to adjust too after such hectic years.

Reiko nodded solemnly. He gave Natsu a reassuring pat on the back before he said goodbye. “Take care of her, man.”

“I will,” Natsu replied with every intention to keep his promise.

“Natsu?”

Lucy came out of the shower, now dressed in an angelic blue dress and glass sandals. Her soft voice caught his attention. “Who was that? Was that Reiko? Did you scare him off?”

Natsu whistled playfully, avoiding her gaze. “Reiko? Who? I don’t know anything. Who are you?”

“Natsu,” Lucy whined. She pointed to her dress and her face covered in makeup. “What am I supposed to do with this now? I got all dressed up for nothing.”

Natsu saw the downtrodden look on her face. Well he did suppose that he canceled their dates. But never fear, he had a great plan.

He quickly padded across the room, taking her hand in his. He relished in the feel of her dainty small hand against his own. And then he began to pull them out of the room and into the comfort of the starry night.

“Natsu? Where are we going?” Lucy asked, a little winded.

Natsu turned back to face the precious blonde. He shot her one of his infamous grins, which could only mean one thing. A fun night out with a little sprinkle of trouble.

“Lets go on an adventure, Luce!”

(part ii) found here.

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