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#lying in wait like a spider to see if anyone tags this as the character that initially sparked this no one has yet
writeouswriter · 1 year
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Broke: Acknowledging that a character who is an objectively terrible person is also a complex and intentionally well thought out individual with different levels of nuance you can empathize with in some ways while not in others is immediately “woobifying” or “poor little meow meowifying” them.
Woke: “This character is a bad person” and “this character is still a person” are two statements that can, should and do coexist and admitting that they exhibit nuance and depth and are more than just their bad actions doesn’t immediately excuse or condone their bad actions or mean that you’re ignoring or trying to soften the canonical version of the character.
Bespoke: That’s the whole point, that’s always been the point, to be made to empathize with horrible people so you can understand that they can be anyone, that bad people can be likeable, can be interesting, can be human, are human, and it’s scary to think about all the ways they’re just like you and all the ways they’re just like everything you hate, forcing the use of critical skills in media analysis, forcing a confrontation of the duality of man.
Whatever Level is Above Bespoke: But sometimes, yeah, sure, maybe they are a poor little meow meow, what are you gonna do, get a lawyer
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sarah-sandwich · 1 year
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I posted 20,583 times in 2022
318 posts created (2%)
20,265 posts reblogged (98%)
Blogs I reblogged the most:
@pablothefrog
@butch-himbo
@merlin-made-me-bi
@lucianinsanity
@food-forever-hufflepuff
I tagged 4,466 of my posts in 2022
#parkner - 142 posts
#peter parker - 128 posts
#harley keener - 124 posts
#dndads - 115 posts
#humans are good - 104 posts
#parley - 84 posts
#amazing art - 78 posts
#sswrites - 71 posts
#keenker - 64 posts
#nwh - 59 posts
Longest Tag: 105 characters
#but she said it in a jokey way so i welcomed her sarcastically 🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️
I sent 2 gifts in 2022
My Top Posts in 2022:
#5
Can we take a minute to geek out over fucking Amanda??? Like ep one she was SO quiet while the others were farting around and gleefully ripping up the flooring of Anthony's world to watch him dig (affectionate) but then it was her turn and she was RUTHLESS and EFFICIENT and METHODICAL and that contrast was soooo funny
Then in ep 2 the main cast has the measure of her and they're wary but Beth is going in for the kill in her clumsy oafish way (still affectionate) but Amanda meets every move and spins it back on them ALL WHILE DRAWING BETH INTO HER WEB
Then there's ep 3 where she finally clues you in that she is also unhinged but with such COMPETENCY that you don't see it for what it is until you're already in love with her and you know that she will eat you alive and you will let her
74 notes - Posted July 7, 2022
#4
''YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO LOOK AT MY BABY PICTURES GIVE THAT PHOTO ALBUM BACK TO ME'' ''but it's from a time when you were actually likable 🥺''
from the prompt list please??? anyone you want, I just think it’s funny and you could do this justice
So uh, as you know this got out of hand lol
Here it is! The much anticipated fake dating prompt fill that blossomed into a 7 chapter fic :)
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Two boys, both alike in dignity--by which I mean they have none. Harley is lying to his family about why he hasn't come home in years. Peter is lying to everyone about pretty much everything. Together they can make everything worse by lying together (heh) in Rose Hill while Harley pretends to his family that Peter is his long-term boyfriend and Peter pretends that he hasn't had a crush on Harley since the day he met him--or no. He DOES pretend he has a crush-- Wait, no he doesn't pretend because he HAS a crush so he pretends to pretend that he--
It's complicated.
Read on AO3
81 notes - Posted April 19, 2022
#3
I have to know what “the olive garden revelation” was omg
Omg it makes me wheeze cry laugh every time. Griffin finds out (as an adult! in front of an audience! on a stage!) that Justin and Travis pranked him as a kid by telling him that you can take the raw fettuccine out of the display containers at olive garden and munch on them.
Here is the audio clip (it's from a live show but its decent quality) I just listened to it again and I'm sweating from laughing so hard
88 notes - Posted September 20, 2022
#2
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A Peach Like You - sequel to Peaches ain't Pretty
Peter Parker never considered himself special. Maybe, yeah, having radioactive blood and spider-like abilities makes him different and his vigilante career is out of the norm and fine, yeah, he's on the autism spectrum. Call that "special" if you want. But under all that, he's a regular college student juggling three jobs, an internship, a sad mockery of a social life, and saving the city day and night. The usual stuff.
So when he somehow catches the eye of a blue-eyed mech engineering major with an accent that could turn even Aunt May's brick-hard mashed potatoes to mush, he's only thrown for a minute before he writes it off as a fluke. What could a guy like that see in a guy like him anyway?
Chapter One Will Be Posted January 5th CST
Check below the Read More for a sneak peak
Chapter 1: I’m an only child and I’m desperate for attention
Peter’s web-line, tangled desperately between numb fingers, holds as he slams into glass. Air punches from his lungs, but the pane stays intact. He fumbles for his footing, slipping in the smears of scarlet left from his meeting with the window, then begins the slow miserable climb to the ninth floor. His abdomen burns. His head pounds.
He’s not going to pass out. He’s not going to pass out. He’s…
He’s so fired. The pizzas he was supposed to deliver are long gone by now, whether he can remember where he stashed them or not. His boss is going to be furious with him for flaking on his deliveries again. He may have attempted the tried and true ‘It’s not my fault, Mr. Leonetti, I was mugged,’ routine if it wasn’t for all of the cell phones that recorded Spider-Man getting stabbed not two doors down from the pizza shop. He can’t risk anyone making the connection between Spider-Man and Peter Parker.
What was he supposed to do? Not drop everything and strip down to his suit to stop the bodega from being robbed? Not web the clerk out of the way of the stray bullet? Not take the lucky stab between his ribs during his distraction?
Actually, he could have done without that last one. Ned has enough on his plate without having his mess of a childhood best friend slithering through his window every other day with life-threatening injuries.
He breathes a sigh of relief as his fingers curl over Ned’s window sill. His Friend of Spider-Man sense must be tingling because it’s wide open. A strange choice for February, but you won’t hear him whining about his unprecedented change in luck.
He pushes the screen until it pops free of the frame then rolls into the apartment. He lands with a thud on gray carpet and groans as the impact aggravates his stab wound. It’s not until the haze of pain clears enough to see the unfamiliar light fixture above him that he considers how unlike Ned it is to have the window open on a day that’s threatening snow.
Ned hates winter. He hates leaving the window open even a crack and often compromises by stuffing a towel in the crack to keep the draft out because, as much as he hates winter, he loves his best friend more.
As he blinks at the rest of the room, dazed from blood loss, he slowly puts together that this is not Ned’s apartment. It smells wrong for one thing. Like burnt bread and blood (the latter of which, yes, he realizes is his fault), but also there’s a distinct lack of life in this place that’s so contradictory to Ned’s merch and memorabilia-stuffed apartment that for a moment he thinks maybe this one is vacant. No shoes by the door. No pillows on the couch. No DVDs next to the TV. No takeout containers. No books. Nothing.
Other than a mason jar that’s half-filled with odd little trinkets on an otherwise barren bookshelf, the place is lifeless.
Well, nearly lifeless.
In the same moment he decides he ought to haul his broken body out the window and try for the correct window, a tall blond someone wearing a knit sweater and jeans that have been worn soft over time steps into the room waving a towel at the smoke lingering near the ceiling.
The man freezes as they lock eyes.
Oh, mother fudger.
183 notes - Posted January 3, 2022
My #1 post of 2022
Anthony: and he cuts your head off
Everyone: *SCREAMING*
Beth May: Is she okaaayy???
224 notes - Posted May 31, 2022
Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →
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let-me-luve-you · 3 years
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I’m Proud of You
Tom Holland x Sister
Summary: The reader is in the military and encourages Tom to take the role of Cherry. Now that the movie is coming out, everyone expresses how proud they are.
Warnings: Not too descriptive but mentions of ptsd and addiction, angst, supportive friends and family, talks of the movie Cherry, talks of military
A/N: Hey guys, this is so late and I’m sorry. Just been going through it a little bit but I’m okay. Thank you to those that reached out. I hope you enjoy this.
MASTERLIST       BUY ME A COFFEE     REDBUBBLE
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When Tom was pulled aside by the Russo Brothers when he was filming End Game and was given the plot line of the movie Cherry, Tom immediately thought of you. You were his baby sister that served in the military. Tom was hesitant to take the role of an army medic that has PTSD and struggles with addiction. This character would hit home in a way.
You had been home leading to Tom leaving for Atlanta to film the final Avengers movie, but you left shortly after he did to go back on deployment. Tom was never fully calm when he knew you weren’t home. He constantly worried.
When the Russo’s came to him, they knew he would have to consider everything from career to personal. They knew you served your country. What they didn’t know was that you were already suffering from PTSD. Tom knew, which is why it took him all of filming to give them an answer.
One morning when Tom was talking to you, he mentioned the role and how he didn’t know if he should take it. It discussed heavy issues. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to bring it justice. You encouraged him to take the role. You told him you knew he could do the role. That he was an amazing actor. You included that doing this movie could help start a conversation about mental health and addiction within soldiers and veterans.
Tom remembered the conversation like it was yesterday. Now the trailer is being released and he is starting the virtual press tour. You had just come home right before Christmas. Your Christmas present to your family was telling them you were retiring from the military. Tom was ecstatic at the news. He hated worrying about you when you were gone. He was constantly thinking that the next phone call he got was going to be his parents telling him you weren’t coming home.
A month later, you were currently staying with Tom until you found your own place. When Tom was sent the trailer to Cherry for him to post on his own social media the next day, he brought his computer to your room. He knocked on the door and opened it when he heard a quiet “come in.”
“Hey Y/N?” You looked up from your iPad when he spoke.
“Yeah?” You asked, confused.
“I have the trailer for Cherry. They just sent it over. Want to watch?” He asked hopefully. You could see the slight fear in his eyes, but you didn’t understand why.
“Sure.” You smiled at him and set your iPad on your night stand. Tom smiled back at you and sat down on the other side of the bed. He quickly made it full screen and hit play. He had already watched it so Tom watched you through the corner of his eye. He noticed that when it showed the war scenes, you tensed.
When the trailer was over, Tom slowly exited out and shut his computer screen. “What did you think? They are going to send over the movie this weekend. Figured me and you could make a movie night out of it with the whole family.”
“I liked it. You look like you did a good job so far. I can’t wait to watch it.” You smiled at him. Tom immediately knew you were putting on your fake smile.
“Everything okay?” He asked, concerned.
“Yeah. I just…” You sighed and looked away from Tom. “Just still adjusting to everything. You know that I’m going to therapy, right?”
Tom shook his head, “No, I just thought you were going to mum’s and dad’s.”
“No. I’ve been going to therapy. I’m at three days a week right now. The nightmares are just too much to handle. Then I hear sounds during the day and it just flashes me back to there.”
“I’m sorry y/n/n. You know you can talk to me. I want you to know you can talk to me. No matter what time. I talked with veterans, I don’t know what you went through, but I know it wasn’t good. After playing this character, I don’t want to see that happen to you. Did they prescribe medicine?” He asked.
You shook your head.
“Okay. If they feel you need to, please let me know. I really, really don’t want you to go through addiction. I don’t even want to risk it for you to even get close to addiction.” He said seriously. You knew he was. You didn’t want the medicine anyways.
“I can’t wait to see the movie.” You said with a smile. “But can I ask if we can start it early? I already know, I’ll probably need to pause it and take a minute when it gets to those scenes.” You said. You didn’t even need to specify which ones. Tom knew already that watching the military scenes were going to be hard for you.
“Yeah. We can. And if you want it to be just us, that’s perfectly okay. I can watch it with everyone else the next night.” He said giving you options.
You shook your head to turn down the new option, “that’s okay. I can watch it with them. Just let them know I will need to pause it.” Tom smiled at you and nodded before kissing your head and getting off your bed. Tom left to go show everyone else the trailer. 
After he posted the trailer to his Instagram a few days later, positive comments started flooding his Instagram and Twitter. You scrolled through the comments from Harry, Haz, the Russo Brothers, and more people Tom knew and worked with and like all of them. You were so happy to see them support Tom. He had the right people in his corner.Next you saw a post from Tuwaine. First you scrolled through the photos. They were of Tom as Cherry throughout the different times in the characters life.
It’s funny, cos when I see bae do a role like this, I’m reminded again and again of how talented he truly is. I don’t think the world can look at you the same way once this is out.
He added that the trailer link was in his bio and you smiled. Not many people would do that, but Tuwaine has been one of Tom’s day 1s. You loved Tuwaine like a brother. You couldn’t ask for a better best friend for your brother.
You knew Tuwaine’s words were 100% correct. People saw Tom as a kid. They saw him like he is this sweet, innocent teenager like Peter Parker. He didn’t hate that, but he also hated being seen as a kid. Don’t get him wrong, he loves Spider-Man and he would love to play that character for the rest of his life, but he’s 24. He wanted to be taken seriously and no one takes a kid seriously.
You remember getting the selfie Tom sent to your phone when he was filming. You didn’t get it until you returned home, but he loved to text your phone when things happened so you could stay up to date with him. The selfie Tom sent you was when he was in Morocco. He was in all of his military gear. The text under it was,
I put this suit on and I feel like I’m an imposter. I feel like I don’t deserve to wear this. I’m just an actor, you are the real hero in this world. But when I feel like this, I remember what you told me. “If anyone can play this role, it’s you Tom. You have a connection to the military. You see what it can do to the family and friends around the soldier. You know what it has done to me. If anyone can bring this character to the screen and help start a conversation about PTSD and addiction, it’s you. I don’t know another actor that would take it seriously and give it 110%.” I hope this movie does start that conversation. I hope people see this character and realize the severity of it. Thank you for pushing me to do this role. I love you. I can’t wait to see you again. Stay safe y/n/n. I love you.
You decided to post the picture he sent you plus a screenshot of the text. You wanted them to see Tom as Tom. You were so incredibly proud of him and you wanted the world to see that.
Tom, I honestly don’t know what words to say right now, you know I’m not good at them, but I’m proud of you. I’m proud of you for going outside your comfort zone. You went into this movie to show people you can be more than the nerdy high school kid and to start a conversation. I read all the text you sent me when filming this. I know the hardships you went through. I cannot wait to watch Cherry with you to see all the hard work pay off. I already know you were absolutely amazing in it. I love you and I’m proud of you!
When Tom got the notification that he was tagged in a post by you, he smiled. He smiled even bigger seeing the photos you used and as he read the caption. He was the luckiest brother in the world to have a sister like you. He quickly comment thank you and love you with a kiss and heart emojis.
“Tom?” You asked as you walked into his room to see him lying on the bed.
“Yeah?” He questioned.
“I really am proud of you. Let’s go out for lunch. My treat.” You smiled. Tom got out of bed and walked to you.
“Thank you for pushing me to do this role. I’m really glad I did it.” He said and gave you a kiss on the head. “Now go get dressed, I’m paying.” He said with an arrogant tone and walked towards his bathroom. You left to get dressed while laughing. Knowing it was going to be a fight to see who actually paid for lunch.
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spacedikut · 3 years
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spooky scary skeletons ; spencer reid
pairing: spencer reid x gn!reader
summary: spencer has the prettiest face you’ve ever painted on. 1626 words
a/n: a poorly edited, poorly written and late halloween thing! inspired by idmakeitbehave (go read everything theyve ever written ever) because they have the BEST meet cutes and every time i think of them i :-)
masterlist
The haunted mansion of the fair, overflowing with screams, the sound of chainsaws and the evil cackle your friend has been rehearsing in the mirror all month, stands tall behind you like the looming presence it is. It’s brought great entertainment for you, watching and hearing the reactions of those that dare enter.
You’re set up not far from the exit of the house with your array of face paint around you, paintbrush in hand. Most of your customers are children – this year’s most popular request is pumpkin, last year was skeleton – and as much as you love spookiness and gore and everything in between, the rush of pride you feel when a little girl gasps and thanks you with the sweetest voice when you show her your finished work is unmatched.
You’re not the least surprised that your clientele is mainly children. There’s the odd parent here and there that is persuaded to get a black cat on their cheek, or some fake blood coming from their eyes and mouths, but they never venture beyond the small request.
Until him.
He’s marched up to you by his friend who, wearing a dress covered in fake spiders and cobwebs, pushes him by the shoulders right up to the foldable chair that’s placed opposite you. You’re drying off a wet paintbrush, glancing up when you hear the crunch of leaves beneath their feet.
“My friend would like his face painted.” She tells you.
“Of course,” You gesture for him to take the seat in front of you, the compliment slipping out after giving them both a once-over. “I like your outfits.”
“Oh!” The girl grins. “Thank you. I’ve been waiting all year to wear it. And he,” She points to the still-silent customer who hasn’t taken his eyes off you once, “Is more obsessed with Halloween than anyone I know.”
Looking at the bright orange pumpkin-covered sweater he’s wearing, you’re overcome by the urge to touch it – and his hair, with the way it’s all squiggles and curls and seems so soft. “What can I do for you?”
The first time he speaks, it’s after he takes a deep breath and rubs his palms on his trousers. “A skeleton, please.”
You’re already arranging the colours you’ll need, missing how the girl slips away, too busy asking the usual questions, “How big?”
“My entire face.”
That’s a new one. For an adult, at least. Usually all they want is an easy to clean, easy to hide image on their cheek.
It’s only then you really take in his appearance. In the dark, dusty light of the fair, he looks like a real life Tim Burton character – shallow eyes, sharp cheekbones, a general gauntness that you’ve only seen in fiction. He’s the perfect skeleton, if that isn’t weird to think.
“All over?” Your hand moves to gesture over your face, as if miming to him what all over really means.
“Yeah,” He nods, “I’m not that good of an artist, and my mask makes it kind of hard to see. So a skeleton is spooky enough but not a lot of work, right?”
“Right.” You smile at him. “Right, okay, let’s do it.”
The second the cold bristles dip into the paint before you, you’re absorbed in ensuring you do a good job. You’re used to working on children, so you naturally take hold of his chin to move his face this way and that way to apply a firm coat and get your lines right.
“I’m Spencer, by the way,” He mumbles.
You huff a laugh. He feels your breath on his lips. “Hi, Spencer, I’m Y/N.”
The customer – Spencer – wiggles his lips in a way that tells you he’s holding back a smile. You’re not sure what it is about him, but you like him. You like how still he sits, patiently letting you do your work, you like how much he seems to like Halloween (you refer to the sweater and the fact he’s about to cover his entire face in paint to look like a skeleton), and you like how his eyes on you make you feel. Because it doesn’t feel gross, or weird, like it normally does; it’s like his gaze is complimenting you silently, the intensity of it making you bite the inside of your cheek.
Small-talk comes naturally after hours of doing this job. “You mentioned a mask? What was it a mask of?”
“Michael Myers.”
“Oh,” You shiver, “I hate that guy.”
“The iconic mask is actually a William Shatner mask that’s painted white and changed to blur the resemblance to Shatner. Specifically, it’s a Captain Kirk death mask created for Star Trek.” Spencer tells you, giving a tight lipped smile when you pause for a second to take in the information.
“How does William Shatner feel about that?”
“Not great, probably. But, can you imagine being considered one of the stars of the Halloween franchise?” He’s giddy, almost wiggling in excitement. “I’d love to see people wearing my face every Halloween.”
You laugh at that.
A few more facts are spewed out while you mix black with a little bit of white to make grey, some you already know and some you don’t, but he’s still chattering on when you turn back to face him, ready to paint again.
The words die in his throat, however, when your hand finds home on the back of his neck, thumb hooking around to lift his jaw up. “Still, please.”
Even if he wanted to give an unnecessary apology, he wouldn’t be able to, as if his throat is full of sand.
It’s silent for a while, Spencer’s eyes trained on the twinkling night sky that sits calmly compared to the thundering of his heart, the scramble of thoughts in his head. When your hand moves away a few minutes later, his disappointed eyes fall back to your face, where he finds himself thinking, please do that again.
“Do you want the black on your eyelids, too, or just around your eye?” You ask over your shoulder, oblivious to the new slump in Spencer’s back.
“Eyelids, too, please.”
You smile to yourself at how polite he is. Spencer might be the sweetest person you’ve ever met and you’ve known him for twenty minutes.
By the time you’re done, you’ve decided Spencer is the best customer you’ve ever had and you’d give anything to replay this interaction again and again. He’s polite, listens when you ask him to turn a certain way or sit up (a surprising amount of adults simply do not listen), and brings the most interesting conversation.
Did you know the use of OMG can be traced back to 1917? Cause Spencer does, and he bestowed you with the same knowledge.
You’re impressed with yourself and Spencer’s brain when you finally lean back, checking for any spots you missed or parts you can fix.
Before you even reach for the mirror, Spencer’s interrupting you.
“Um… do I-do I look spooky?”
You face him, a pretty smirk on your lips, “Terrifying.”
When you hold the mirror up to his face, he barely spares himself glance (but it’s enough of a glance for him to think holy crap, you’re talented) and there’s a look in his eye – he’s hesitant. About what, you’re not sure.
You wonder if he can tell you don’t want him to go. You enjoy his company, you enjoy him, and you’ve never wanted to wipe your work off someone’s face so quickly just for an excuse to do it again until now.
“How much do I owe you?” He asks, reaching for his wallet but not leaving the chair.
Your eyes narrow for a split second as you weight your option. Then you think fuck it, and say, “Nothing. It’s on the house.”
“I can’t let you do that.”
“You can, and you will.” You stand. “Consider it thanks for all the cool facts you gave me.”
He lights up when you say cool facts, and opens his mouth to again offer to pay when he’s cut off by a group of laughing teenagers flying out of the haunted house, the exit door slamming against the wood with a startling bang.
Spencer gets an idea.
Seeing you look at the house, he asks, “Have you been in yet?”
You shake your head. “No. Not yet. If I have time later, maybe-“
“Come in with me.”
His grip on his wallet is tight, channelling all worry into his fingers so he doesn’t stumble or say something stupid.
“It’s the least I can do, and it’ll be too scary on my own.”
He’s lying – the idea of going through a haunted house by himself sounds exhilarating, but he’s found an opportunity to not leave you just yet and he’s going to take it.
You consider him for a moment. It’s late, you’ve been painting faces all day, and the sweetest, most attractive person you’ve ever seen is asking you to join them in a haunted house on Halloween. What kind of person would say no?
“Okay,” You happily concede, “But don’t blame me if I end up clinging to you.”
The two of you join the line into the house, giggling when someone dramatically falls through the exit and gasps for air like he’s barely made it out alive. And when the next people to leave the house are a couple who hold eachother close and tight, hands intertwined and one with their head buried in the neck of the other, Spencer steps a little closer to you, hoping you get the memo that having you cling to him doesn’t sound like such a bad idea.
+++
tags: @pinkdiamond1016 @bluerose512 @andreasworlsboring101 @roses-and-grasses @fandommonium3267 @ta-ka-shi-ma @ogmilkis @chiffonchronicles @rexorangecouny @unmistakablyunknown @goofygubler14 @jasongideonapologist @gublertoon @bitchyreids
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haloud · 3 years
Text
things we could burn in one go (eminence) - chapter 8
also on ao3
Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Isabel Evans & Max Evans & Michael Guerin, Michael Guerin/Alex Manes, Forrest Long/Alex Manes Additional Tags: post-s2, Canon Compliant, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Hurt/Comfort, Starts Forlex Ends Malex, Other Characters May Appear, Tags Subject to Update, Mutual Pining, Breaking Up, Getting Together
Chapter Summary: Forrest returns from his trip, and he and Alex clash over Michael’s presence in his life.
Excerpt:
Was Forrest right?
Was he taking advantage of Michael? No. His first instinct was no. Michael came to him when he was in need—something Alex still wasn’t letting himself stop to process.
But the thing Forrest said about power…
If he searched himself, if he had to put it in such terms: Michael did make Alex feel powerful. He always had. From the very first day, when Alex offered the only thing he had—the rebellious kindness he practiced mostly because his father wanted to stamp it out—and Michael took it, took it shy and suspicious, but then grew towards him like a sunflower. That made him feel powerful. And it would be dishonest to say he didn’t feel powerful every time he came and went and no matter what Michael was still there waiting when he returned, no matter how much, yeah, Michael made him feel weak, too, knew just the right words to say to cut the deepest.
Control was a commodity. Alex starved for it his entire life and gorged himself when it was available, and only now was he in a place where he could begin on the work of balancing himself out. Michael told him once that he never said no to him—how able was Alex to judge when they crossed such old, familiar lines worn away by the traffic they’d seen over the past eleven years? How much could Michael be trusted to see those lines either, or to tell him if they were crossed instead of just taking it?
They needed to talk. They always needed to talk. It never got any easier. And what the hell was all the talking for, if not…that thing Forrest was worrying about? Not cheating, no, but was there still some part of him that still dreamed his old dream of what peace looked like, Michael in the early morning, and birdsong after rain, and nowhere to be but here?
Sorry I’ve been so quiet. It’s been a pretty stressful few days. I love the pictures, and I hope your trip was fun.
Alex pressed send and sent a picture of himself and Buffy cuddling in the early morning along with it.
Forrest’s reply was almost instant.
 No problem, babe. It’s been great, but I’m also ready to be home…and see you again.  😉
He sighed. His thumbs hovered over the keyboard as he searched for the right words to explain the situation before Forrest walked right into it, to explain why he was sharing his home with Michael, to explain why Alex balked and deflected and talked his way around every suggestion that Michael could be on his own now, that he was healed enough to make do alone. Maybe Forrest wouldn’t understand, but Alex owed him at least that much. Right?
Looking forward to seeing you, too, he said, then dropped his phone onto his chest and ran a hand over his face.
The house was quiet around him. Michael was an early riser, but a stealthy one; thus far, even Alex’s hypersensitive hearing hadn’t been piqued or sent into an anxious, paranoid spiral by so much as the sound of a foot tread from rooms away. At first, the silence troubled Alex, brought up thoughts of Michael laying stuck in his bed afraid of disturbing Alex, afraid of him, but he’d started his own day only to find Michael’s already begun enough times now to find the quiet peaceful, thoughtful.
The buzz of his phone was jarring in comparison. He picked it up to check it.
 Oh yeah? Been lonely there without me?  😉  😉  😉
Alex threw an arm over his eyes and groaned.
He was saved from having to come up with a response by another message coming through quickly: Kidding—the first group just got called to board, so I don’t have time for all that. See you soon, babe.
Alex responded, See you soon. Sure you don’t need a ride from the airport? Call me if Wyatt flakes.
 I will. But I think it’ll be fine.
Okay. He hesitated again. This was his last chance to say something about Michael before Forrest was back in Roswell. But, chickening out, he just said, Call me even if you just don’t want to spend three hours in the car with him.
Forrest responded with a kissing emoji, and that was that.
Eventually, Alex got out of bed and got ready for the day. He’d taken to not wearing his uniform when off base in deference to Michael’s deep discomfort with it, and, though at times inconvenient, it was worth it to walk into the kitchen and see Michael at the table with a bowl of cereal, and for him to look up and smile at Alex instead of lean back and close off.
“Got any plans for today?” Michael asked as Alex checked his watch and grabbed a banana from the bowl on the counter to eat on his way.
“Nothing much beyond work. Forrest is coming home today. He has a short layover in Denver, so between that and the drive from Albuquerque, he should get back to Roswell around the time I get off.”
“Oh. Right.”
Michael’s voice was flat, and Alex didn’t know what to do with it, so he stood at attention and waited for Michael to make the next move.
“Max will be devastated,” was all he said. In her basket in the corner, Buffy slept on.
Alex’s lips quirked up. “Maybe we can set up play dates for them. Honestly, Forrest would probably appreciate someone taking her to the park or something when he gets deep into writing or research.”
“Huh. I’ll let Max know.” He took the last bite of his cereal and stood to rinse it in the sink. Every day he regained a little more strength, but Alex’s keen eyes still couldn’t miss the uneven shakiness of his limbs or the hollowness around his eyes.
Alex checked his watch again. He needed to get going, but it was harder than he’d ever expected to leave Michael in the mornings, a thought that left guilty grit in the pit of his stomach. His heart and mind hit on a pattern he didn’t mean, a dangerous domestic assumption that wasn’t fair to anyone, not Michael, not himself, and not Forrest. The first few days, laying in the dark at night trying to locate Michael’s beat and breath from across the house, he’d told himself it was just worry for him that rooted those thoughts in his head, that if Michael was in his house for any other reason, things would be different. If it was a lie, well, Alex was comfortable with lying to himself.
“I’ll make myself scarce,” Michael was saying as he put his bowl in the drying rack.
“What?”
He shrugged and turned to face Alex, leaning his weight back against the counter. “I figured it’d be awkward if your boyfriend showed up and I was here. So I’ll make sure I’m gone by the time he gets back.”
“Michael, no.” Alex’s heart pounded sickly in his chest—Jones lying in wait to get Michael alone—Michael collapsing to the floor of his trailer, red pouring from his mouth, ears, and eyes—Michael powerless and pulled over on the side of the road to Sanders’s, apprehended and shoved in the back of a Project Shepherd van—"You can stay here as long as you need to—until we know it’s safe and the threats are eliminated. It’s not pity, it’s the same reason Max is living with Isobel right now, right? And she’s only got the one guest room.”
He was babbling, excuses flowing like wine. But no sacrificed dignity was too far if it meant keeping Michael safe—making him understand.
Continuing, he said, louder and firmer, “Frankly, no potential target should be alone right now. This shouldn’t wait until Thursday—I’m going to get in contact with Maria, Rosa, and Kyle today and work out a buddy system. Someone might have to double up; would it bother you if Maria—”
“Alex,” Michael interrupted softly. “It’s okay.”
Alex stopped in his tracks. When had he started pacing?
Michael stepped forward and, with only a heartbeat’s hesitation, so quick Alex might have imagined it, he put a warm, solid hand on Alex’s shoulder.
“If you think it’s safer, I won’t go anywhere.”
Swallowing, Alex nodded. His hand twitched at his side, but he didn’t pick it up to wrap it around Michael’s wrist and hold him there.
While they stood there, caught in the moment, dawn through the window catching dew on a spider’s web, Alex’s watch beeped little and tinny.
“Looks like you do gotta go somewhere,” Michael said, voice comfortingly casual, dropping his hand and stepping away.
“Right. I do. Look, we can just tell Forrest you were too sick to be alone. If he gets pissed, I’ll deal with it. It’s fine.”
“I don’t want to come between—”
“You’re not. I should have told him, but I didn’t, so I’ll handle the fallout. I have to go.”
“Okay.” Michael didn’t look comforted, but he didn’t fight. “See you later. I might pick up a half day at work, too. Not pushing myself,” he pre-empted.
Alex was now running too late to argue, so he had to leave it there, with just a text to Max at a red light: Michael going to work today. Call me if anything happens.
He didn’t hear from Max all day, and when he checked his phone after work, he had only a couple brief messages from Forrest confirming he made it to Denver and made it onto his connecting flight.
Made it to ABQ alright? He texted, and by the time he got home, he had a response.
 Yeah. Super tired. Maybe I should have asked you after all…I’m stuck in the car with Wyatt’s music, ugh.
Michael’s car wasn’t in the driveway like Alex might have expected if he’d gotten a ride to Sanders’s and come back, but Alex took a deep breath and postponed spiraling over anything until he confirmed whether or not Michael was here. Shouldering his bag and locking his car, he made his way inside, responding with his other hand. Ugh indeed. I hope you brought the good headphones for blocking it—and him—out.
 You know it, babe.
“Michael?” he called.
“In the den,” Michael replied.
There, Alex found him stretched out on the couch, ankles crossed and propped up on the arm so Buffy could sleep beneath them, a book in his hands that he set aside as Alex entered the room.
“How was your—what the fuck?”
Buffy’s head perked up at Alex’s voice, and she gave him a baleful look.
Michael grimaced. “Don’t freak out—”
“What the hell happened?”
In two strides, Alex crossed the space between them and grabbed Michael’s hand to examine it. He sported thick white gauze wrapped around his palm, and Alex had to fight down a scream of pure frustration.
“I just burned myself at work. It’s not as bad as it looks—Max just went overboard dressing it since I wouldn’t let him heal it.”
Alex scowled. Traitor.
“Have you had Kyle look at it? Why didn’t you let Max heal it? Why—”
“Alex! It’s fine. I’m fine.”
He sat up so their eyes were closer to level; Michael’s eyes were golden and earnest and exasperated and Forrest might already be back in Roswell and Alex couldn’t stand it.
Michael continued, “I’m not stressing Max’s heart or wasting Kyle’s time with something like this. Little injuries are common in the shop. I really am gonna be fine. You need to breathe.”
Following that advice, Alex closed his eyes, breathed in and counted, breathed out and counted. Of course something as small as a minor burn wouldn’t register to Michael. Alex had held those hands, felt them on his body, counted every tiny white scar and callous, claimed and cherished them when one was warped with pain and grief. This little injury was normal, routine, not anything to protect him from, not any proof of Alex’s failure. He needed to calm down.
“Your car isn’t here,” he said, changing the subject off of such heavy things.
“Yeah, Max picked me up and dropped me off. I could have driven, but you’re not the only person being overprotective right now.”
Hm. Maybe Max wasn’t such a traitor after all.
“And is Sanders—"
He cut off at the rattle of the doorknob. Buffy echoed the sound with a bark, and instinct had Alex reaching for his gun; he rotated himself to be between Michael and the door, even as Michael hissed in displeasure. But he couldn’t defend himself like this, without his powers, so Alex wasn’t taking any chances.
“Alex, hey, babe, you left the door unlocked!”
Oh. Alex dropped his head down and took his hand off his gun, running through his hair instead. Right.
“Hey, Forrest,” he called back, checking his phone as he spoke. No missed calls or messages. He caught Michael’s eye and grimaced as Buffy clambered off the couch and loped towards Forrest’s voice.
“Everything okay? It’s not like you to…”
Forrest froze in the mouth of the hallway, locking eyes with Michael on the couch, who in turn flicked his eyes to Alex like he had the answers to the awkward situation that just landed in their laps.
“Michael! This is unexpected. I didn’t realize you guys hung out,” Forrest said with impressively convincing but still false cheer. He tilted his head and shot Alex a questioning look, too, and defensiveness rose hackles in Alex’s head.
“He’s been sick, had a pretty bad fever a few nights in a row, so I told him to come over, since he lives alone and all,” Alex lied brusquely.
“Ah. Well. I hope you’re feeling better?”
“I think I’m gonna go chill outside,” Michael said, leaping up with a vigor he clearly didn’t possess at the moment, wobbling dangerously and, after righting himself, staggering toward the door.
Thank god his car wasn’t here so he could only get so far if he decided to take off.
As long as he didn’t suddenly rediscover the ability to teleport that almost killed him, that was.
“He’s been here for how long?” Forrest asked as soon as they were alone, voice still false and light. His eyes were lined and exhausted from travel.
Alex shrugged and, inclining his head to suggest Forrest follow him, he headed to the bedroom to put his gun in its safe. Buffy watched them go.
“A few days,” Alex said as they walked. “Like I said—he was sick, and he lives alone. Sorry, I should have warned you.”
“Oh. Well, I, uh. That’s okay, I guess. I didn’t know the two of you were that close?”
The safe beeped, and Alex stowed his firearm and closed it, spun the dial, and waited for the whir of the electronic lock engaging too. Then he turned to face Forrest and said, “We’re friends. We spend time together sometimes. You know, Thursdays?”
“Every Thursday.” Forrest’s voice was flat again. “Do you guys only hang out on Thursdays, or…?”
“We have different schedules, so it’s mostly Thursdays, but not always. Hell, Forrest, he was there when the two of us met, I’m not sure what you’re getting at.”
“That was months ago, and I’ve barely heard you mention him since we started dating, only seen him once, when we went to the bar. Remind me who comes to those little get togethers again? Or is it just you and Michael.”
“It depends on the week,” Alex said, growing increasingly defensive. His back was to the wall; he didn’t have much room to maneuver. His ears were ringing slightly. “But there are usually—we have the same entire friend group, hell, I invited you to a couple Thursdays, and you always said no! But, yeah, Michael hosts them, we hung out one on one a few fucking times, should I start giving you a numbered list of my known associates, or what? Fucking hell, Forrest.”
“Okay, okay, God. No, I don’t care who you see, I just…”
“Just what?”
“I don’t know, you’re exes! You’re—you’re almost more than that, even; I may not know the whole story, but you have unfinished business or whatever! I know your song was about him. So the idea of you two spending a ton of time together makes me insecure. And I know you can handle yourself, but I worry, with Guerin being—"
Alex drew back at that. “Guerin being what? He’s not dangerous just because he doesn’t meet your perfect standards, holy shit, Forrest.”
His own voice whispered wasting his life nastily in his ear, but he shoved it down. That was guilt for another time; right now his energy was better spent defending Michael from whatever the fuck accusation Forrest was trying to point his way.
“Right, right, I know.” Forrest ran an agitated hand through his hair. “Sorry, it just slipped out.”
“That doesn’t really make it better,” Alex snapped back.
Forrest sighed heavily. “I know. I know. I’m sorry, I was just really taken aback seeing him here after being gone—and you being so distant. Can you see how that might feel? Even though I trust you?”
Alex took a deep, cool breath. Yes, he could see it. He’d sat with the guilt and anxiety about it for days, even as he’d been unable to let go of Michael in his grasp. He could at least be gentle about Forrest’s reaction now. He reached out and took his hand and said, gently:
“Michael and I used to date, yes. But we’re friends now, and nothing else.”
But no matter how sincere he tried to be, Forrest’s face told him something in there was hollow. Alex’s stomach twisted.
Even if, the thought intruded, even if he did decide to cheat, he wouldn’t put Michael through all the hiding and sneaking and secret-keeping it would take, wouldn’t do that to him. Again. He shoved that thought away with force, before it could get its claws in him, as nauseous with stress as he already was.
A brief smile flickered across Forrest’s face. “Okay. Thank you. I trust you, okay? I do. I’m sorry for getting all controlling.”
He leaned up, and Alex kissed him lightly.
“Hey, now that Michael’s gone…” Forrest raised an eyebrow and tugged Alex’s hand lightly in the direction of the bed. “I was hoping we could have a date night in? Celebrate my homecoming? As long as you don’t have any plans, that is, I missed you and wanted to do something a little spontaneous…”
“Hold on, he stepped outside to let us talk, he didn’t leave leave. He’s staying until he’s out of the woods with whatever he’s got.”
The glitter that had sprung up in Forrest’s eyes winked out again. “He looked fine to me.”
“He almost passed out when he stood up! I’m not leaving him by himself while he’s sick. That doesn’t mean we can’t still go out—”
“And what, I’ll have you home by ten with a nice chaste kiss on the doorstep? Or we can go back to my place, where Wyatt will be playing Xbox in the den.”
This was the sharpest Forrest had ever spoken to Alex, and his mind spun blank tape trying to come up with the appropriate reaction. Where was this coming from? Had Alex crossed such a line, gone so far that Forrest wouldn’t trust him at all? What about his reaction to Michael bled so far out of the boundaries he tried to draw, betrayed his heart so badly with no regard for what he knew he should want? What was wrong with him?
Forrest continued, just as piercing, “Or would we still come back here? Because I figured that’d be off the table, since you’ve gotten pissed any time I even hinted we might do anything with someone else within restraining order distance, but I’m more than happy to fuck with Guerin in the next room.”
Shock dropped Alex’s jaw at that one. “What the hell is your problem tonight? If this is how insecurity looks on you, maybe I don’t want to fuck tonight anyway. Maybe we should go out some other night.”
“I just don’t get why he has to be here, and not at his sister’s! Or hell, his girlfriend’s? Does she know he’s here?”
Utterly out of patience, guilt firmly faded in the face of budding fury, Alex snapped back, “Forrest, you are more social than this dumpy town knows what to do with. You’re involved in like four events every weekend, half of them at the Wild Pony, you cannot tell me you didn’t get that Maria and Michael broke up the first three times someone told you.”
“So his new girlfriend’s, whatever.”
“What, just because he’s bi, he has to jump right into—”
“That’s not what this is about, that’s not fair, Alex!”
“Okay! Fine. But what is it about? Because…”
Alex’s heart pounded harder as he realized what had his anxiety rising so fast and thick in his throat. Forrest set the tone and pace of their relationship, even if he set it as slow as he thought Alex needed, and Alex let him because Forrest was the one with dating experience, the one who knew how these things were supposed to work. But…
Swallowing hard, Alex said, “Because if this is you saying I’m choosing Michael over you—if you’re trying to tell me I can’t be friends with my ex, that’s a hard line for me. That’s not your call. I’ve never hidden how important Michael is to me from you, and it’s not on me if you elected not to notice. You’re not turning this on me when he needs my help.”
Forrest scowled and raked his fingers through his hair. “Never, huh? ‘It was a long time ago’ ring a bell to you? Never mind. Whatever. Just…you’re too nice, Alex. I don’t want to see you get taken advantage of by a deadbeat ex or friend or whatever he is.”
“Deadbeat?” Alex whisper-shrieked. “I just told you he’s my friend, and you, what, you have to tear him down because of that? The only goddamn thing you know about him is what he has the audacity to Google next to you when you’re writing your oh-so-important Nazi fanfic, so maybe hold off on the judgment.”
Forrest’s eyebrows climbed towards his hairline as Alex spoke, and by the time Alex was done he was storming out of the bedroom, Alex on his heels. “Okay, sure. Yeah, that’s it, I’m just jealous of the guy who hangs around you begging for scraps because you two used to get your dicks wet and he can’t move on like you did. Whatever. That’s none of my business, right. I do have eyes, Alex. I see what’s going on. But I’ll see you around some other time, once you’re over the power trip he gives you.”
“Forrest, wait. Forrest!”
“I’ll see you around, Alex. Buffy, come on, girl,” he called with a whistle, barely stopping to get her leash on before storming out of the house, slamming the front door behind him.
And then Alex was alone in the entryway, watching Forrest leave through the window, stalking right past Michael huddled in a deck chair without a glance, and Alex’s jaw clenched harder when Forrest slammed his car door shut too and sped away.
Fuck. Fuck him. This wasn’t their first fight by any means, but the part of Alex that suspected he was too fucked up for an easy, normal relationship said maybe it was their last.
Would that be so bad? Would Alex actually miss Forrest, or would he miss the kind of relationship Forrest gave him, the kind that felt like what he should want, the kind that made him happier than loneliness did all the time except when it didn’t?
Okay, but now wasn’t the time to think thoughts like that, not in the moment, not so immediately, with hurt and anger still pumping red inside him. Especially not when the fault was largely Alex’s fault for not giving him warning in advance. Now was the time for deep breaths and not throwing things against the wall, no matter how much he might want to.
And as the fury left him, bit by bit, as his pulse slowed and his muscles relaxed and the clock again ticked louder than his breathing, it left this behind:
Was Forrest right?
Was he taking advantage of Michael? No. His first instinct was no. Michael came to him when he was in need—something Alex still wasn’t letting himself stop to process.
But the thing Forrest said about power…
If he searched himself, if he had to put it in such terms: Michael did make Alex feel powerful. He always had. From the very first day, when Alex offered the only thing he had—the rebellious kindness he practiced mostly because his father wanted to stamp it out—and Michael took it, took it shy and suspicious, but then grew towards him like a sunflower. That made him feel powerful. And it would be dishonest to say he didn’t feel powerful every time he came and went and no matter what Michael was still there waiting when he returned, no matter how much, yeah, Michael made him feel weak, too, knew just the right words to say to cut the deepest.
Control was a commodity. Alex starved for it his entire life and gorged himself when it was available, and only now was he in a place where he could begin on the work of balancing himself out. Michael told him once that he never said no to him—how able was Alex to judge when they crossed such old, familiar lines worn away by the traffic they’d seen over the past eleven years? How much could Michael be trusted to see those lines either, or to tell him if they were crossed instead of just taking it?
They needed to talk. They always needed to talk. It never got any easier. And what the hell was all the talking for, if not…that thing Forrest was worrying about? Not cheating, no, but was there still some part of him that still dreamed his old dream of what peace looked like, Michael in the early morning, and birdsong after rain, and nowhere to be but here?
A knock hesitated on the edge of Alex’s hearing, then came again, a little firmer, and anxiety propelled Alex down the foyer to answer it. Michael was still out there—something could have happened to him—or he could have left—Alex would call Isobel in to look for him, that was the backup plan, but—
Luckily, his front hall wasn’t long enough for him to truly get into a spiral; and even luckier, it was Michael at the door. Alex’s shoulders slumped with relief.
“You didn’t have to knock,” he said, stepping aside to let Michael back in.
Michael shrugged. “Wasn’t sure if you’d locked up in case Long decided to come back uninvited.”
With a snort, Alex closed the door and double checked both locks this time around. It really wasn’t like him to leave anything unlocked, but he’d pencil that freakout in for later.
That reminded him, though. “Speaking of locking up, here.” He opened a drawer in the little hall table and tossed Michael a spare key. “If you’re going to be going into work, or even just going out to hang out with Max and Isobel or Maria or someone.”
Michael caught it, but then he just stared at it like it was a shaken can of soda about to pop. “I, uh, kind of figured I’d be getting out of your hair.”
No! Alex wanted to shout, his already frayed nerves colliding with the visceral thought of Max’s healing failing or reversing somehow and Michael dying alone on the floor of his trailer. But he kept his voice level when he spoke, “I thought we talked about this.”
“We did! But I thought, with Forrest—”
“He can get pissed at me all he wants. The important thing is that we don’t know what Jones might try next, and we don’t know how what he did to you works, and as long as your powers aren’t back to normal…”
“I don’t want to—”
Heart rabbiting in his chest, Alex burst out, “Look, I get that you don’t want to be here, but my first priority is your safety, and—!”
“Of course I want to be here!” Michael interrupted. His eyes were wide and wild, hair a halo around his face.
“You—”
Both of them were panting like they’d run for miles, done anything but the running away and around each other they’d done their whole lives. The setting sun lined Michael in gold, slanted across the floor and the walls and got in Alex’s eyes but left the rest of him untouched.
Alex licked his lips and tried to speak again. “You don’t want to leave?”
Raking his hand through his curls, Michael replied, “Of course I don’t. I never want to leave. I want…” He spread his arms wide in a helpless gesture. “I don’t even know. Everything I’ve always wanted! But before anything else, I just want you to be happy. I’d never forgive myself if I destroyed your life even more than I already have.”
“What are you talking about?” Alex demanded. “Destroy my life? I’m the one who put you in my father’s path—I’m the one who—”
“No, Alex.”
He stepped forward like he might reach out. Alex wanted him to, but. What was he allowed to want? How had they gotten here, to this point, again or for the first time, and Alex still didn’t know the answer?
“That’s ancient history,” Michael said gently. “You could never destroy anything, you’re…”
Alex let out a harsh laugh. “Have you met me?”
“Alex.”
“I literally went into the business of destroying things and chose it four times since, even after it destroyed a part of myself.”
Furious tears blurred his vision, blurred Michael, and it only made him angrier and more desperate. What didn’t he understand?
“Yeah, and I think that sucks!” Michael said, chest rising and falling like it might if he was laughing, but the sound he made was more like hailstones, heavier and colder than rain. “But I—I’ve made my own sucky choices, too, I’m not letting you take credit for them just so you can bury yourself with them.”
“You were the one who started talking about destruction. I’m not letting you do that either,” Alex accused. “What could you possibly be destroying except yourself? I’m the one keeping you here.”
“Really? Like I didn’t just punch a hole through your relationship just by hangin’ around? I’m no good and you know that, Alex, you should—”
His heart fluttered so fast he had to clear his throat before he could talk.
“Should just walked out that door. And he took his dog,” he said breathlessly.
A beat of silence followed. Then, the corner of Michael’s mouth twitched—Alex’s eyes dropped to watch it—and he dissolved into disbelieving giggles, leaning back against the door like he needed it to hold himself up.
When he could speak again, he thumbed a tear away from the corner of his eye and said, “What are we doing here, Alex?”
“I—don’t know. I never know what I’m doing.”
“That’s not true.”
“Okay, emotionally,” Alex allowed. “Forrest wanted to date me, and he’s so normal, I thought I could, I don’t know, follow his lead and things would just slot into place. But I’m starting to think it doesn’t work that way.”
“I gotta tell you, Alex, you’ve never been great at follow the leader,” Michael said, so gently Alex almost felt it on his skin, a palm cupping his cheek.
“But I can try. I can learn new things,” he said. “So—what about your lead? What, what are we doing here?”
Michael swallowed, the apple of his throat bobbing.
“I’m as clueless as you,” he said. “And I’m not ashamed to say shit scared, either. There’s a lot of things with you and me I’ve spent a long time telling myself either won’t work out or shouldn’t. I’m scared of all the shit I’ve said before. But some of it—a lot of it stands. I wanna be good for someone. I wanna be good for you, even if I know I’ll never be perfect—”
“You don’t have to be perfect. Nobody’s perfect,” Alex breathed.
“Right. That’s what they tell me.”
The two of them balanced on the edge of a knife, barely enough oxygen between them to sustain them both without sharing. There were always two ways this could go. The paths diverged again and again and again and they turned away from the clear path so many times it made the both of them half-feral. But, inevitable, like the summer sun, like gravity and escape velocity, here they were, again, at the crossroads.
Michael swallowed again, then his lips parted, then again.
“What do you want to say, Michael?” Alex asked.
“I want to tell you that I love you. That I have for a long time.” His voice cracked. “And that, no matter what happens, I always will. But I don’t know what to do with it, after this long, and now that things have been good between us, what if we fuck it up again? What if—”
Alex’s mind whirled, with words he thought he’d never hear, with the accusations Forrest had hurled his way, about power and control and all those things that, like Michael’s heart, Alex had far to go to wield responsibly, but here was a greater truth:
Alex had never been great at talking.
He seized the front of Michael’s shirt in both fists and hauled him in for a kiss.
Michael gasped against his mouth. His lips were hot, all of him burned, blazed against Alex wherever they touched, and they touched, as Michael relaxed against him, his hands grasping Alex by the elbows and sliding up to his shoulders, the sides of his neck, holding him there as they swayed, mouths locked together. He tasted just as Alex remembered. A cascade of shudders washed down his spine and washed away every other sensation.
They kissed in the sunset sunlight, in Alex’s home in front of the front windows, and Alex buried his hands in Michael’s hair and devoured him in the open, away from any place he used to hide him, under bedsheets, in anonymous rooms, in the back of his head when he was sure he was alone. When they pulled apart, they came back together, both of them insatiable, until Alex’s lips buzzed and the ache from standing too long crept in.
Michael was wobbly too, so Alex took him by the hand and pulled him deeper inside.
“We should probably keep talking,” Michael rasped.
“We’ve got a lot of time for that. As much as we need,” Alex promised.
He knew his priorities, now. That was a promise he’d never break again.
“Forrest—”
“If he didn’t mean to break up with me when he left an hour ago, I’ll take responsibility,” Alex dismissed.
“Okay, okay.”
When Alex glanced over at Michael, he was smiling and shaking his head.
“What?”
“Nothing. I just forgot how much I like a man who takes charge.”
At that, Alex had to laugh too, and the sound came out so different, light and giddy, that he surprised himself.
“Bullshit,” he said. “After all this time, you think you still have to flirt with me?”
Michael tugged him by their joined hands. They’d only made it as far as the den and they were kissing again, just long enough to get them buzzing again.
“Only ‘cause you like it,” Michael murmured against his lips. “It’s a crowd pleaser.”
“I love it,” Alex confirmed, so soft he shaped the words more than he said them, but they were loud to him—Michael’s face changed, and Alex knew they were loud enough.
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eldritchteaparty · 2 years
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Chapters: 21/22 Fandom: The Magnus Archives (Podcast) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist Characters: Martin Blackwood, Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Tim Stoker (The Magnus Archives), Sasha James, Rosie Zampano, Oliver Banks, Original Elias Bouchard, Peter Lukas, Annabelle Cane, Melanie King, Georgie Barker, Alice "Daisy" Tonner, Basira Hussain, Allan Schrieber Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Fix-It, Post-Canon Fix-It, Scars, Eventual Happy Ending, Fluff and Angst, I'll add characters and tags as they come up, Reference to injuries and blood, Character Death In Dream, Nudity (not sexual or graphic), Nightmares, Fighting, Spiders
Summary: Following the events of MAG 200, Jon and Martin find themselves in a dimension very much like the one they came from--with second chances and more time.
Chapter summary: It’s time.
Chapter 20 of my post-canon fix-it is up! Read above at AO3 or read here below.
Tumblr master post with links to previous chapters is here. 
***
Sasha hung up her phone and turned back toward Jon and Martin. “Well, that’s it then. They’re ready.”
She was referring to Allan and Elias, who were at Hill Top Road; Allan had wanted to take a few last-minute measurements, but mostly he’d wanted to be there to record what was about to happen.
Tim looked down at his own phone. “And Melanie just confirmed there’s no one left in the building—no one she and Georgie have been able to find, anyway.”
That morning, Jon had called Basira and asked her to shut down the Institute under the guise of further police investigation; she’d done so with remarkably little questioning. Martin didn’t know what Jon had told her they were doing, and he didn’t want to. He’d wondered for the first time that morning if she had been seeing him in her dreams. Now Georgie and Melanie were in the Institute, somewhere above them, waiting.
Sasha nodded. “Ok. Jon, look, I want to be completely clear—you can still change your mind. No one’s telling you you have to do this. You can still back out.”
“I understand,” Jon said. “And I’m not backing out.”
Sasha sighed. “Ok. Um—what’s next, then?”
Jon met Martin’s eyes for the first time since they had made their way in through the tunnels; he looked back at Sasha and Tim. “Would you give us a moment?”
“Yes—yes, of course. We’ll—um—”
“Don’t go too far. Stay in sight.”
“Right. Come on, Tim.”
Tim looked at Martin like he wanted to say something, but decided against it. Sasha spoke to him quietly enough that Martin couldn’t hear her words, and they turned their backs as they walked slowly toward one of the tunnels that converged on their current location in the Panopticon.
“I hate this place,” Martin said. It was the first thing that came into his head.
“So do I.”
“Do you, though?”
“Yes.”
Martin looked away, crossing his arms over his chest. He didn’t want to fight with Jon right now, but the only words that came to his mind were angry and bitter. They were words he might have used to try to stop this, if he’d thought he could, but he knew they were well past that.
“I’m sorry,” Jon said, reaching a hand to Martin’s elbow.
“I’m—Jon, I’m scared.”
For a moment, just a moment, Jon faltered; he pulled his hand back slightly, and drew in a quiet breath. In the next moment, though, it was like it had never happened; Jon set his jaw and squeezed Martin’s arm.
“Are you ready?”
“No.” He nodded, though, because he knew Jon needed to see it.
“All right,” Jon said softly, before turning toward Tim and Sasha. “It’s time.”
Sasha took a deep breath. “Where should we—”
“Where you are,” Jon said. “That’s good. You should be safe if—you’ll have a chance to run if I’m not fast enough.” Martin assumed Jon was referring to the possibility of a tunnel collapse; if the apocalypse actually started, there was not going to be any outrunning it. “Martin, if there’s any chance you’d join them—”
“Absolutely not.”
“I didn’t think so.” Jon paused. “I—I have to say the words. I’m pretty sure you don’t—”
“I don’t,” Martin said. He brought his hands up to his ears and closed his eyes.
What happened next happened quickly, or at least it felt that way to Martin. It wasn’t at all like he’d imagined it would be. He was waiting to feel the terror, the darkness, the heavy weight of the apocalypse; it never came. Instead, there was stillness and quiet and tension. When he looked again, Jon stood in front of him, just as he had before.
“Jon?”
“I’m still here,” Jon said, but Martin wasn’t sure he agreed. Jon was looking at him, yet looking through him at the same time.
“Is it—”
“Yes.”
“This—this isn’t like before.”
“No. This part—this wasn’t for us. It was for him. For Jonah.” Jon’s voice was even, his words controlled; he didn’t sound like himself. “This time it’s mine.”
“Jon—”
“Hey,” Tim shouted, and Martin was pretty sure it wasn’t the first time he had tried getting Jon’s attention. As he remembered they weren’t alone, he looked up. Something was happening; there was a faint shimmer from the edges of the tunnels, almost but not quite beyond his range of vision.
“I thought you would only have a moment,” Tim said.
“This is only a moment,” Jon replied.
“What do you mean?”
“They’re already gone. Everyone outside of—of here, they’re already gone. They’re safe.” Jon smiled, but it wasn’t his smile, not really. Martin liked Jon’s smile; he didn’t like this one. “Just as long as I can—”
“What do you mean, this is only a moment?” Tim repeated.
“I meant—that it’s only a moment.”
Martin knew what he was trying to say. “Time isn’t—it’s different, Tim. It’s different in here.”
“Yes,” Jon said.
“Jon.” Sasha was visibly fighting to keep the fear out of her voice. “Jon, are you all right?”
“I’m fine. I’m—I’m fine.”
“You’re not,” Martin said. “What’s happening?”
“It’s fine.” Jon was quiet; he sounded very far away.
“Come on,” Sasha said. “Jon, come on. Talk to us.”
“It’s—it’s getting harder now that—I can do it, though. Just—just give me—”
The shimmer Martin had seen at the edges of the tunnels was slipping closer now, moving toward them. A static hum began to rise, although he couldn’t trace it back to anything in particular.
“They’re already too weak to escape. I just need to—I just—”
“Jon, what’s happening?” Martin stepped closer to him. “Tell us.”
“I can—” Jon swallowed; as he did, the calmness in his voice wavered. “It feels like—”
“Jon, please.”
“It’s like—it’s like pieces of me are—oh god.”
“Jon, just—just hang on.”
“Martin, I’m—I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize, just—”
“I won’t be leaving here. When it’s done.”
The words didn’t hit Martin as hard as he thought they would. In fact, he realized, he had been expecting them. He felt something very much like relief, now that they had been said.
“Jon, don’t.” It was Tim who was angry. Martin wasn’t entirely surprised; he understood, not for the first time, that Tim would always choose anger. “Don’t just give in like that. Fight it.”
“I—I can’t. I’m not—this is where I’m supposed to be.”
Tim grimaced; Martin watched as he struggled, as he attempted to walk toward them, but he couldn’t.
“Martin,” he called out. “Come with us.”
Martin shook his head. “I’m staying with Jon.”
“No. You’re not.” Jon was working harder to get words out now. He seemed pained. “You can’t survive here. You’re not—listen to Tim. They’ll take care of you. You won’t be alone.”
“But you would be.” Unsure of whether Jon’s unfocused eyes could even see him, he took Jon’s hand. He wanted Jon to know he was there.
“Martin, don’t do this.” Tim called to him again. “Don’t be stupid. He’s—he’s gone.”
“If he’s gone, I am too.”
“Don’t make that choice.”
“You let Jon make his. I get to make mine.”
“Martin—”
Sasha put a hand on Tim’s shoulder. “Tim, I know it’s—it’s awful, but—he’s right. We can’t make him leave.”
“But it’s wrong. It’s the wrong choice.”
“That’s not your—”
“Jon,” Tim tried again. “Do something, make him—”
The shimmer grew brighter, closer; the static grew louder. Although he could no longer see where they had been standing, he was sure Tim and Sasha were gone.
“Did you just—”
“Yes. They’re safe now. Please, Martin—”
“Are you going to do that to me too? Just shove me off into the next dimension?”
“I—I can’t.”
“You tried?”
“Yes.”
“Jon, how—how could you?”
“I just want you to be all right.” Jon was gasping now. “You have to be all right.”
“Then come with me. You already said they’re too weak to leave. You’ve won.”
“Martin, there’s too much of me that—that’s them. It’s too much.”
“Could you leave? If you wanted to?”
“I—it’s not—” Jon panted between his words. “I deserve to be here.”
“Well then, you know the deal. I don’t know if this is coming from you or—or something else, but you’ve always known the deal. That’s it.”
“You can’t,” Jon said.
“I can. I am.”
“Martin, you’ll—you’ll die.”
“I don’t care. And until I do, I’ll be with you."
They stood together, locked in a battle of wills. Martin could feel the pull now, the draw of whatever place the rest of the world had gone to; he resisted it. The static was very loud now. He wondered how long Jon could last like this, how long he could keep the door open. He hoped it wasn’t much longer.
“Well. This is not going very well, is it?”
Martin couldn’t see anyone—he could barely see where he and Jon were standing anymore—but he knew that voice well enough.
“Ignore her,” Jon pleaded desperately. “Martin—ignore her.”
He intended to ignore her, he really did, but she had found some foothold in his mind, hiding inside the static, and he couldn’t displace her.
“He’s lying to you, Martin.” Annabelle’s voice filled his head. “Well, not lying, he’s never been very good at that—but hiding things, now that’s a different matter entirely.”
“Shut up.”
“You’ll have to forgive him; he truly is in a lot of pain. I can’t imagine what it must be like. Having to choose between two parts of yourself as they are literally being torn away from one another.”
Jon. He grasped tightly at the hand that he still held in his own; if there was any response, he couldn’t feel it. If Jon was talking to him, he couldn’t hear it.
“It will be over soon enough.”
“Go away.”
“I intend to. I just wanted you to know first that if you stay, part of you will survive. And he knows that.”
“What?”
“You wouldn’t know about it, of course; you wouldn’t be conscious of it. The Archivist is telling the truth, in as much as you couldn’t survive in a—well, traditional way. You’re not one of us. That’s probably a good thing for you. He’s just made things very messy.”
“Wait—I don’t understand—”
“Concentrate, Martin. I know it’s hard. There is a part of you—that part of you that is tangled up in the Archivist—that would survive. That part would stay here. With him.”
“What do you mean, with him?”
“We’re going to be here for a very, very long while, Martin. I don’t know if we’ll die—I don’t know if we can—but it is going to get quite lonely here for someone who was once a man. Are you listening?”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Does it matter?”
Martin thought about it, or he tried to; the pull he felt was growing stronger, more insistent. Certainly, she wouldn’t be here if making sure he stayed if it weren’t in her own interests. He had already been set on it; there was more to it, for her to risk this kind of intervention.
But it doesn’t matter, does it? The realization settled on him; he believed her, and that was enough. He wouldn’t let Jon suffer that mindless torment alone if he didn’t have to. Whatever else that brought, whatever the consequences were—whatever Anabelle wasn’t saying—it wouldn’t change anything about his decision.
Although the static continued to rise, the pull of the other dimension seemed to weaken, become less. He didn’t know if it actually had—if Jon himself was finally weakening—or if Annabelle’s words had pushed him harder to resist it. Perhaps it was both.
“Martin.” Jon’s sudden, renewed grip on his hand was painful. “Look at me. Tell me where you are.”
His eyes were clear again; his voice was steady. At least I can say a proper goodbye, Martin thought.
“Jon. I’m—I’m here. I’m with you.”
“You need to go. Right now.”
“I’m not leaving you.” He smiled; he wanted Jon to know it was ok, although he didn’t have the words anymore.
“You don’t have to. I’m coming with you.”
“What?”
“I’ve changed my mind. I’m going. But you need to go first.”
“I—I don’t believe you.” The finality that Martin had felt, the peace of knowing it was over, that it was decided, began to give way to uncertainty. “You’re lying.”
“Martin—please. I’m not lying. I will follow you. I want to.”
“If you’re really going, just—just take me with you. Like you did last time.”
“I can’t.” Jon brought his palm to Martin’s face, and the rippling static subsided just a little. “I can’t. It’s—once I leave here, leave them, that bond between us, it’s—it’s broken. I can’t bring you with me. You have to go first.”
“Jon—"
“I’ve already let this go too long. Maybe, though—if you go now, we can still—”
It wasn’t fair. It was never fair. “I—”
“Martin—trust me. Please, just—just trust me.”
The buzz of static was wearing him down; it was too hard to think. He was tired. He was confused.
If he stayed, then Jon would stay too; Jon wouldn’t be alone.
If he left—
Trust me. Jon’s voice broke through the static.
Trust me. Martin wanted to; he always wanted to. It was just that—
Trust me.
“Ok.” The sobbing, panicked voice he heard didn’t feel like it belonged to him. “Ok.”
Jon’s forehead pressed against his. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Jon kissed him.
Martin closed his eyes; he made his choice.
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onesentencemusings · 2 years
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I posted 2,777 times in 2021
91 posts created (3%)
2686 posts reblogged (97%)
For every post I created, I reblogged 29.5 posts.
I added 848 tags in 2021
#spiderspam - 240 posts
#doctor octopus - 161 posts
#musings marvel - 143 posts
#legend of zelda - 115 posts
#musings muses - 63 posts
#megaman - 35 posts
#the owl house - 32 posts
#danny phantom - 25 posts
#shademan - 21 posts
#tundraman - 13 posts
Longest Tag: 136 characters
#i had to learn its not normal to want to listen to music constantly from the shitty sia movie that literally every autistic person hated
My Top Posts in 2021
#5
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“Bruh.”
51 notes • Posted 2021-08-20 18:47:33 GMT
#4
Honestly I’m massively surprised people aren’t talking about the possibility of Ghirahim in Botw 2. We’re basically getting Skyward Sword 2 printed on Botw’s framing, meaning a reference at the very least (wall painting, temple/island named after him) at the very least and a full-on resurfacing at the very most.
Ganondorf is ‘freed’ but still in a frankly terrible state. Sure could use a henchman to try to directly end Link. Buuuut I do feel they’d want to keep the “your pace, your path, your choice” style of gameplay from the first (which is honestly the best idea) so AT MOST maybe Ghirahim’s like Master Khoga where he’s the big final boss to get an Important Thing....
tho hopeful he’s taken at least a tiny big more seriously
52 notes • Posted 2021-06-16 00:13:00 GMT
#3
Everyone draws pre-accident Spectacular Spider-Man Ock like he's on the verge of tears and they ain't wrong
54 notes • Posted 2021-03-05 21:06:08 GMT
#2
It really baffles me that everyone accepts Belos is the Titan’s chosen. It’s so accepted that “Belos is just a puppet to the Titan and the Titan is the TRUE bad guy in the series” is a theory I see pop up semi-regularly. But consider:
Belos is lying out of his muddy ass. About EVERYTHING.
No one thinks its suspicious that out of nowhere, a guy shows up on the island and says “Your god thinks everything you believe in is wrong and only I can make it right”? No one thinks its funny that Belos states that normal witches mixing magics is wrong but he and literally anyone he chooses to serve under him can do it no problem?
You wouldn’t need to try-out or compete to be a special exception to a divine-given rule. You either deserve it or you don’t. The Titan either chooses you or it doesn’t. Skill or power shouldn’t be part of the conversation.
ESPECIALLY if you take in the “Belos is a Wittebane” theory. Why would the Titan take in a outsider to speak for it? Also why wait thousands or tens of thousands of years of wild witches doing free-form magic and do NOTHING to stop it if it’s so horrible and disrespectful? If the Titan can speak to people, why not announce its displeasure sooner? Why not reach out to every influential family on the isle and collectively tell them things must change? Why just one guy?
Honestly with Palistom wood becoming scarce and Titan Blood vanishing when it sounds like it’s never been a problem before, I think the Titan’s angry enough it’s withholding natural bounties it once gave away freely. I think the Titan HATES the Coven System.The Day of Unity is for Belos and Belos alone.
I think the Belos know his artificial magic can’t work off the Boiling Isle, just like Luz’s glyphs.And that’s probably the ONLY way he can do magic if he’s a Wittebane from the human world. I think he’s trying to bring the Human World and Demon Realm together so he doesn’t lose his magic and thus he’s influence. With the Titan on Earth, Belos would be unstoppable.
And the Titan doesn’t want that. That’s why the Titan is teaching Luz the glyphs. So she can stop it.
75 notes • Posted 2021-09-29 03:49:56 GMT
#1
I remembered Danny Phantom existed and realized it’s HILARIOUS that the biggest evil guy the series ever had, Dan, said he had no human emotions.
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Like, buddy....babe... my guy... dude
You’re a GHOST. You are the physical manifestation of emotion. You are a human (TWO humans’ actually) consciousness that has such unending agony and longing you have willed yourself out of death’s clutches for the sole purpose of MAYBE EVENTUALLY doing The Thing you need to do.
You don’t HAVE emotions... you ARE emotions.
Dummy...
96 notes • Posted 2021-10-19 15:30:33 GMT
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starkerintheparker · 4 years
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starker reclist - AUs
Hey guys! Welcome to the second part of my personal Starker reclist, dedicated to AUs. Last week I posted my canon-based recs, you can find them here.
I tried to incorporate as many tropes as I could, hoping everyone will find something special within their interests. There are a few a/b/o and underage fics, all properly tagged in case anyone wishes to avoid them. I also tried to highlight soulmate AUs because I reckon it’s a somewhat popular trope. Enjoy! ❤️
Last updated: April 25th, 2020. All new fics added will be marked with ***
• 007 AU by @darker-soft-starker (T, 4k, completed)
Summary: Undercover and bored at an art auction, Tony finds entertainment in Peter Parker.
Review: Look, I’m a simple woman. Daniel Craig has owned my ass ever since Casino Royale and I was reading 00Q and Hartwin before I even shipped Starker. Point is, I like spy movies, ok?! So naturally I couldn’t leave this fic out of my reclist. I you need further incentive, consider this quote: “What, a little late night espionage not romantic enough for you?” Peter retorts, whipping a pistol out from his jacket and aiming it at Tony’s chest.
• 3 Times I Told You I Loved You & 1 Time You Said It Back by @starkeristheendgame (E) background Peter/Steve, Peter/Bucky, Peter/Scott
Summary: Peter Parker confesses his love to Tony Stark three times. Once at ten, once at fifteen and once at twenty. Finally convinced that Tony will never love him back, Peter ventures out into a different path, desperate to find the love he seeks from someone else. But you know what they say about star-crossed lovers.
Review: This lovely fic holds a very special place in my heart. I’m so invested I decided to wait until it’s finished so I can read it all in one sitting. Peter’s longing and heartbreak hurt my poor soul but I trust Jensen to give me that promised Starker endgame - I know it will be glorious when it finally comes.
• A Night on the Town by @scarletmanuka1 (G, 2.3k, completed)
Summary: Nightclub AU. Years after the events of Endgame, Tony has hit rock bottom. The Snap left him crippled, Pepper has abandoned him and has taken Morgan with her, and he's feeling old and lonely. Peter arranges a night out at the nightclub that he works at to try and cheer Tony up.
Review: I love get together fics, especially if it involves oblivious!Tony getting his shit together and going after his man. Seeing him bitter and broken after Thanos was hard, but special kudos to IronBros moments because that friendship is true goals!
• Age of Adeline by @starkerforlife6969 (completed) background Harley/Peter, Bucky/Peter, Wade/Peter
Review: I’d never in a million years think about this movie as a Starker AU but gosh, this is everything I needed in my life and it completely devastated me but I loved every minute of it. As a devoted monoshipper, I was surprised to realize that I got emotionally involved with all pairings, even more so with Starker, which totally paid off. Gorgeous, powerful and heartfelt. God bless SFL.
• assume makes ass for u and me by @pretty-well-funded (M, 1.6k, completed) tw underage
Summary: In Tony’s defense, he was sure the kid was a rent boy.
Review: This 1.6k fic caught me completely off guard and now I’m crying because I need MORE. I love the premise, the dialogue is criminally good, their voices are amazing and I can’t get enough of cheeky!Peter charming Tony with his wit and filthy mind.  
• Bamf!secretary Peter by @starkerforlife6969 (M, completed)
Review: Who could ever resist some corporate espionage drama with bamf!Peter leaving Tony speechless and horny? Not me. I’d read more 30k of this verse because competent, sassy Peter Parker is such a kink, omg.
• Biker!Tony by @starkerforlife6969 (T, completed) Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Review: Same age AUs are not usually my thing but I can’t resist cute high school sweethearts written by this fandom goddess. Plus, protective!Tony calling Peter “doll” does things to my heart - and Peter’s.
• Breaking Character by @cagestark (E, 8.3k, completed)
Summary: Tony Stark, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, and spy for SHIELD. Working with another SHIELD spy, the infamous Spider, he will take down an infamous human trafficking ring in New York. But the act they have to put on will demand more from Tony than he ever thought he'd have to give. Not that he minds.
Review: The spy trope seriously needs more fic like this one, because I’ll have bamf!Peter lying back to save his country while Tony freaks out any day. Cage hits the perfect balance between plot building, fantastic sexual tension, clever dialogue and the hottest smut sequence. What a ride! (Pun intended).  
• Curiosity Killed the Cat by @areluctantsblog (T, 1.5k, completed)
Summary: Peter has been modelling in an art school for years. He's used to strangers' eyes roaming his body - clothed or naked - and he knows that it's not him they are looking at. Not him who they are interested in. He's just a model, a tool for their work. And for a long time he doesn't notice the one pair of eyes that, despite seeing him but rarely, is looking right at him.
Review: Very soft and atmospheric, this fic left me in a bit of a daze and it took me a while to realize it was over. Great writing will do that to you.
• Detective!Tony, Graffiti Artist!Peter by @starkerforlife6969 (M, completed)
Review: Oh don’t mind me, just appreciating this author’s talent at writing from the filthiest smut to the softest “Tony saves Peter in all ways that matter” like this ficlet. We stan.
• Eat at Pete’s by feyrelay + glorious art by @peachbabypie (E)
Summary: Peter gives him an unimpressed look, “If you didn’t do your work, then you wouldn’t be able to earn my time though, would you?” Pfft. “Kid, I have more money than god. I can splurge on your delicious pancakes and attention, trust me,” Tony informs him loftily. Peter smiles that wicked, crooked little smile that's just for him. It's not even and perfect like his the-customer-is-always-right one that's more frequently on offer. “I didn’t say you couldn’t afford it. I said you wouldn’t have earned it.”
Review: How can we ever say no to dom!Peter putting Tony in his place and hopefully on his dick + Tony loving every second of it?? Their dynamics are fantastic and that TASTY COUNTER DIALOGUE KILLS ME. EVERY TIME. Check it out and come scream with me: sub!Tony rights :D
• Fire and Ice by LeafyGreenQueen773 (M, 3k, completed) Soulmate AU
Summary: AU where when someone writes on his or her skin, the same thing shows up on their soulmate in the same place as a Mark that fades away in a few hours.
Review: This was the first Starker soulmate fic I’ve read and it made my heart ache so soft and good. Lovely and bittersweet, quiet and painfully honest. 
• Genius, Acrobat, Playboy, Philanthropist by @scarletmanuka1 (E, 28k, completed)
Summary: After Peter's aeriel acrobatics partner, Adrian Toomes is fired from The Avengers Circus Troupe for theft, he is shocked to discover that his replacement is non other than legendary performer, Tony Stark - the man that Peter had hero worshipped since he first learned how to tumble. 
Review: After reading this fic I realized I need more Circus AUs in my life. I could read jealous idiots falling in love while doing beautiful acrobatics for the rest of my days. Original plot, nice character development and I really appreciated how the author inserted little canon things here and there. 
• Happy to Disappoint by @deaded-blush (M, 60k, completed) tw underage, domestic violence
Summary: Adrian Toomes is in quite deep with notorious mob boss Tony Stark. But when Tony comes to collect the debt owed, he's surprised to discover Toomes has an adoptive son. The chance meeting changes the direction of both their lives...
Review: Hands down one of the best Mafia!AUs I’ve ever seen. Read it all in one sitting and by the end I was SHOOKETH and utterly obsessed with this story. Nothing about it is okay so brace yourself for whump!Peter and lots of h/c. Bonus points for an incredibly satisfying ending that will make you gasp out loud.
• Hey Baby, Slip between my Beta-Pleats and get to know my Alpha-Helix? by @starkerforlife6969 and @darker-soft-starker (E, 37k, completed) A/B/O
Summary: Even though Tony can't tell the difference between Manolo Blahnik and Jimmy Choo, Peter really has no other choice. His heat is around the corner, so even though he loathes the party-going, booze drinking, smug playboy know-it-all that is Tony Stark. He'll just have to do.       
Review: I can’t believe life went on as we know it (or did it??) after these two geniuses wrote together. This is the Starker version of “enemies to lovers” we all wanted and deserve, where spoiled-bratty-posh princess Peter finds the perfect balance for his chaotic energy in goofy-unapologetic-charming playboy Tony. Their falling in love is just so tender, so genuine and so good, it’s impossible not to cheer for these two sweethearts through this delightful, carefully crafted story.
• If you let me by @css1992 (E, 12k, completed)
Summary: Peter had tried dating younger guys, but it just didn’t do it for him. They were often too eager, too fast, too rough. Just too young, in general. Not that older men couldn’t be too much, too, Peter learned it the hard way. The man looking back at him from across the room seemed like a good one. He knew he shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but he was gorgeous. Possibly the most handsome man Peter had ever seen in his short life.
Review: I remember the first time I read this fic it hit me in such a powerful way I cried a bit and was too overwhelmed to do words and tell the author just how much I loved it. But I never forgot this fic or the way it made me feel. It’s so evocative, so sexy, so raw, so heartbreaking, so sweet and so gentle. Great atmosphere, even greater characterization and some of the hottest smut I’ve ever read. Treat yourself and check this out right now.    
• I’ll be Home by @starkerforlife6969 (M, completed) A/B/O
Summary: The story starts when Soldier Tony comes home for a few days, and is introduced to the love of his life.
Review: Will I ever stop reccing SFL’s works? Maybe, but today is not the day. This gorgeous, breathtaking fic attacked me in my own house during Christmas day and made me cry like a baby. I’m a sucker for reunion stories - the longing, the heartbreak, the power of endurance. This fic reminded me that no matter how long or difficult the journey, love will always find a way.
• Little Spider by @stfustucky (iwillpaintasongforlou) (E, 5k, completed)
Summary: Peter Parker is one of the country's best hitmen, known in the underworld as the Little Spider. He spends his days in the lap of luxury with his billionaire fiance Tony Stark, and his nights doing dirty work for various shady characters. Life is good, right up until someone puts out a hit on Tony and wants Peter to pull the trigger. It... might be time for them to have a talk.
Review: Omg this fic was so deliciously good in a totally surprising and sexy way. Bamf!Peter took my breath away with the perfect balance between his two personas. Tony getting off on that sheer power and confidence is a BIG MOOD and my second favorite thing in this fic. The first being the badass power couple they make. 
• love somebody like you (E) by @intoxicatelou
Summary: five times Tony was Peter’s roommate and one time he was his soulmate instead.
Review: Who doesn’t love some forced proximity mixed with the unbeatable soulmate trope? This plot is the hottest take and my heart cannot handle young!Tony with his brilliant mind and sassy charm protecting and flirting with Peter, unfff feels everywhere *cries in Starker*
• Love Thy Neighbour by @darker-soft-starker (T, 2.3k, completed)
Summary: Tony's new neighbour is kinda weird.
Review: I know I keep saying that same age!AUs are not really my thing but I’m the softest bitch for feel-good, cozy domesticity, and I love how this charming story shows that ordinary life become magical when shared with someone special. I could babble all night about how eccentric and confident Peter seduces our man of science that for once has absolutely no idea of what’s going on - but you really should see it for yourself right now :)
• Mafia Boss!Tony Break Up Make Up by @starkerforlife6969 (E, completed)
Review: Man, this fic was so rude to my heart. The heartbreak, the rough sex, the guilt, the hopeful make up, the gorgeous ending. My body literally cannot take the stress, why are Mafia AUs so doomed and beautiful and more importantly, why is SFL so good at writing them???
• Microcosm Series by @bloomblood (M, 32k) tw underage
Summary: Tony and Peter become each other’s heroes after the Snap, saving themselves before they offer aid back to the world.
Review: I haven’t read many post-apocalyptic fics but this series’s raw atmosphere sucked me in. I adore the quiet intimacy, the slow and tentative healing, and all the silent and complex emotions underneath apparent simplicity. Big aesthetic mood, just as its lovely author. 
• Musechaser by @nightskygardenia (M, 10.5k, completed)
Summary: Eighteen year old art student Peter Parker is desperately searching for his muse, someone who can bring his creative skills to the next level through inspiration. Lucky for him, his next class just so happens to feature a gorgeous model by the name of Tony Stark, a man Peter's convinced is his muse, to the point of staying after class to ask for private modeling sessions.
Review: Another big aesthetic mood, this fic paints a gorgeous imagery. I love the setting, the slow pace and the building anticipation until the sexual tension finally breaks. Peter is adorable and Tony exudes confidence; their voices are spot on and their chemistry is palpable and intense.  
• My Best Friend’s Dad by @darker-soft-starker (M, 17.6k, completed)
Summary: Peter is home for the summer, back from his first year away at college. Having stayed over at Harley's house every weekend since they were fourteen, he never used to think much of his friend’s dad. A few years worth of college experience has Peter noticing Tony in a different way. This time, Tony notices him back.
Review: Turns out that Tony Stark being a dad and a daddy is too much for my body. I worship this fic. I wanna get married to it and have its babies. No words will ever make it justice *sobs* no but seriously, secret relationship is a perfect Starker trope and this one will take you to the edge of your seat until the very end. A+ characterization, lovely build up, infuriating cliffhangers and the wholesome happy ending we all deserve. This is the kind of fic that leaves you a bit depressed once it’s over, because you suddenly realize you’ll never read it for the first time ever again. So get to it and make sure to enjoy every second!
• One Call Away by @readysetstarker (E)
Summary: Tony didn’t need the phone sex gig. He was more than well off, his own sex life was in great shape, but damn, there was just something about listening to someone else get off to his voice. 
Review: Omg who could ever resist sex hotline + daddy kink + identity porn? Dev is coming after our own hearts and bodies with this hot combo. I love the balance between their cute chemistry and the hot phone sex, plus the identity porn is deliciously fun. I was so happy to know this fic is getting longer than the author had previously anticipated because I’m definitely not ready to let it go.
• Open Road by @starkerflowers (E, 2.5k, completed)
Summary: It’s not love, but it’s good. TW: implied abuse (not between Tony/Peter); bruises/violence; panic attack. 
Review: This refreshing not-quite-a-love-story will capture your heart, make it hurt, make it ache, make it hope and finally, make it heal. This fic is so gorgeously written I honestly cannot rec it enough. Yes, it’s dark and angsty, but it’s also gentle, hopeful and deeply evocative.  
• Panty Raid by @starkerforlife6969 (M, completed) A/B/O
Summary:  Imagine Tony being forced to do a panty raid as an initiation for his fraternity. So Tony, keeping up his playboy appearances, sneaks into the omega dorms. And he sees sweet innocent Peter who is so alarmed by the alphas raiding their dorm Tony can’t help but comfort him.
Review: Unf this fic is just too charming and cute, my heart cannot take it. Frat stories are so fun they make me forget my preference for age gaps and realize I could read more 50k of protective young!Tony any day, please and thank
• Pete’s Eats by @darker-soft-starker (T, 9.3k, completed)
Summary: Peter has a YouTube channel where he just drinks wine and teaches people how to cook things if they live in a mediocre apartment. While cooking and drinking he just talks about stuff like memes and school and, most importantly, his undying thirst for Tony Stark.
Review: This is legit the funniest shit I’ve ever read, everybody else can go home. I was already sold on Peter being a relatable thirsty dork, but Tony’s A+++ characterization (for a moment I thought it was RDJ on the big screen) and the identity porn side trope killed me for good. And what a way to go. I’m an angst hoe but I could read this forever and would be okay with it. 
• pondus, pondera by spqr (M, 9.3k, completed) underage prostitution but not between P/T
Summary: Peter sells his virginity for $5,000 when he’s fifteen.
Review: Ugh I’m so weak for the angsty hooker trope, I just love the potential to simultaneously explore whump, mutual pining and gentle recovery. Trust spqr to deliver it all with a carefully crafted slow burn, god-tier characterization and a heartfelt and satisfying get together. This fic is a gem.
• Powerful by @cagestark (E, 4.6k, completed) SIM!Tony
Summary: After finding out about Peter's abusive ex, Tony privately vows revenge.
Review: This fic took my breath away and made me realize that dark!Tony with a soft spot for Peter is everything I need in my life. Precious Peter being empowered by a viciously protective Tony is now my absolute jam, and it was fascinating to see see their dynamics mutually feeding each other’s nature. This fic is gorgeous, sexy and liberating. 
***Red Light District series by @starker-stories (17k, ongoing)
Summary: Everyone knows that Tony Stark is a playboy who has dozens of women passing through his life and through his bed. What everyone doesn't know is that Tony Stark is deeply closeted, longing for something he can't ever have -- a life and a love with another man.
Review: I’m completely in love with this series and not only because it explores the good old hooker trope which I’m very partial to. It’s so well written and atmospheric, if a tad bittersweet and heart-wrenching. Great narrative tension, Tony and Peter’s chemistry is insane, their voices and dialogue are amazing and the smut is looong and scorching hot *chef’s kiss* 
• Samadhi by @starkercrossedlovers (E, completed)
Summay: Tony goes to yoga to try and deal with his anxiety and ends up falling for the instructor, one Peter Parker.
Review: Okay so yoga fics are among my guilty pleasures and I can’t get enough of feel-good fics like this one. Peter’s such a sweetheart, so thoughtful and amazing with Tony. I love it when they take care of each other and find solace together, this fic made me soft :’)
• Single dad baker!Peter and lawyer!Tony by @starkerforlife6969 (G, completed)
Review: I’m not usually a fluff girl but this fic is just too wholesome to go by unnoticed. Nothing hits my soft side harder than a cynical character reaching that turning point that makes them start to believe in love. Fuck yes, YOU SHOW THAT MAN SOME HAPPILY EVER AFTER PETE
• Soft Kitty by @ko-fiandfanfiction (E, 33k, completed)
Summary: Peter wasn’t wearing something Tony would call normal, not that there was anything inherently wrong with what he was wearing or anything. It just struck him as…different. To put it plainly. Tony is not sure what to make of this new development.
Review: For those of you who love some occasional feminization, this is the perfect treat. Soft, sexy and sweet, it combines top guilty, pining Tony with oblivious idiots in love, two of my favorite tropes. Amazing slow burn with glorious sexual tension, infuriating dancing around each other and a very satisfying get together. Bonus points for including the “Avengers living together in the Tower” trope, this is the 2012 team building fic we deserved.
• Solitaire by @darker-soft-starker (M, 29k, completed)
Summary: After a traumatic experience, Tony loses his marriage and his business empire in one fell swoop. At rock bottom, it takes real change to pick up the pieces, to dig himself out of the funk he's been living in. It's not pretty. Along the path of healing Tony meets a bright young man, Peter Parker, who makes the entire journey worth it.
Review: Oh man, this was a tough ride on the soul. Few things hurt me like reading whump!Tony but his healing journey is so beautiful it’s all worth it. Top notch characterization, amazing dialogue, FEELS EVERYWHERE, and a gorgeous portrayal of loneliness, friendship, hope and love.  
• Someone Who Makes you Happy by tuesday (T, 6k, completed) Soulmate AU
Summary: Peter was born with several marks already marring his skin, including an interlocking AES over his heart. A scar-sharing soulmate AU.
Review: This fic is absolutely stunning and it makes my heart ache in all the right places. Great worldbuilding (I LOVE the scarring concept, so unique and fitting to these characters), A+++ Tony characterization (the wit and the self-hate are so spot on I could weep) and a journey full of longing, until they finally get to be on the same page. 
• Splice by Mezzymet (E, 35k, completed) A/B/O
Summary: "He's not...." The doctors polite nature and disposition hadn't been able to mask the odd tone of his voice, like he had been reading someone's death certificate. Only Peter hadn't been on his death bed. "Peter isn't like the other kids.
Review: I keep coming back to this story because it’s such a fascinating and unique take on this trope. Very well thought and put together - the world building is fantastic, the sex sequences are breathtaking, and Tony’s gentle thoughtfulness makes me wanna cry.   
• Stopover by @cagestark (E, 10k, completed)
Summary: A stopover is just a break in a journey. Tony is on the run from the organization he used to kill for, and when he stopped for gas and coffee in the small town of Stopover, IL, he had no plans to leave with anything more.
Review: *sigh* this is the mob boss!Tony fic I’ve waited for all my life. Even more impressive than the delicious smut checking all my kink boxes was the phenomenal build up, the overall urgent atmosphere that surrounds those “on the run”, combined with the gentle wonder of stealing a moment in time to find solace in the most unlikely place. Breathtakingly moving. 
• Student Body President Election by @starkerforlife6969 (T, completed)
Summary: Tony and Peter are competing for Student Body President and a smear campaign takes things a little too far.
Review: GIMME ENEMIES TO LOVERS AND ALL THE HIGH SCHOOL DRAMA. This ficlet is so fun and adorable it will make your heart smile. Great plot idea and the usual bonus points for protective!Tony being a sweetheart. Will have more 30k, pls and thank.
• Such a Softer Sin by @css1992 (E, 18k, completed) background Peter/Norman
Summary: Tony is a self-made man. Peter is a sugar baby – someone else’s sugar baby.
Review: Another fantastic slow burn that hit me hard in the feels. I love it when fics explore the characters’ personal struggles before they get together, and while the Peter!whump destroyed my heart, Tony’s parallel journey of growth took my breath away. css1992’s talent took the good old sugar baby trope to a whole new epic level. 
• Summer Daze by @darker-soft-starker (NR, 4.3k, completed)
Summary: Starker no-powers au where Peter watches construction worker Tony from his bedroom window as the older man works across the street.
Review: Ahh yes, the classic “food as metaphor for love” trope, my absolute jam. This fic is so adorable and endearing, pining!Peter in his wooing mission makes my heart ache and the sweet anticipation is so good. There’s something about this fic that gives me nostalgia; it’s as soft and warm as a summer breeze.
• Tamed by @cagestark (E, 8.3k, completed)
Summary: Tony Stark, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, and spy for SHIELD. Working with another SHIELD spy, the infamous Spider, he will take down an infamous human trafficking ring in New York. But the act they have to put on will demand more from Tony than he ever thought he'd have to give. Not that he minds.
Review: It’s no wonder this is Cage’s most beloved fic. Bad boy!Tony being all soft for Peter is everything we deserve, not to mention a mesmerizing (and HOT AF) first time together. This fic shows how rich and captivating Cage’s writing is - she’s able to transform that old basic trope into something unique and heartfelt. If you need one more reason to read this, please consider: best first bj ever :)    
• Teacher!Tony wrong number by @areluctantsblog (T) tw underage
Summary: Peter’s using a replacement phone and mistypes Ned’s number asking for help on a physics problem.
Review: I have such a soft spot for this fic! It was one of the first AUs I’ve ever read and I’m completely in love with their dynamics. Peter’s underage but this fic is carefully written and pretty tame, so I’d rec it to anyone looking for the good old “they probably shouldn’t, but then again nothing’s happening” trope.  
• The Bleedover Effect by tuesday (T, 11k, completed) Soulmate AU
Summary: The first time Tony got punched in the face by nobody there, he had a lot of very complicated feelings about it that mostly boiled down to, "I deserve this." A pain-sharing soulmate AU.
Review: Tuesday truly is the queen of soulmate AUs, we have no other choice but STAN. First of all, I adore the concept here - being such a sucker for whump, this could easily become my favorite soulmate trope. As usual, her Tony voice is perfect and his devotion to Peter hits my fragile heart every time. Kudos for the soft and hopeful ending. The series has been discontinued but the sequels are very much worth the read, if you’re up for it :)
• The Catfish Chronicles by @stfustucky (iwillpaintasongforlou) (E, 32k, completed)
Summary: Peter creates a fake profile under the name “Benjamin” trying to catch his scumbag boyfriend cheating. Tony creates a Tinder profile for "Anthony" looking for love late in life. Funny how two geniuses who fight side by side every day can only manage to fall in love after they've accidentally catfished each other. This is... gonna get awkward.
Review: My identity porn thirst might be showing but who cares, I want these two idiots pining after each other in every possible way. This was such a fun and exciting ride! The suspense had me legit freaking out and their get together was lovely and wholesome. I particularly adored how thoughtful and sweet Tony was dealing with Peter’s insecurities, that was handled really well. A treat!
• The Concept of Domesticity by @peters-tofu (E) mpreg
Summary: Tony has accomplished nearly everything he's set out to do, now he wants something different. A family of his own? Sounds easy enough. But he's far too impatient for a relationship, so surrogacy it is. Meanwhile, twenty-two year old college student Peter Parker has just volunteered to be a bearer at an agency.
Review: Can’t say I’m a big fan of this trope but since every rule has its exception, here it is! The only Starker mpreg I’ve ever read is so so good and adorable I can’t help smiling every time I think about it. I just love their dynamics, the soft domesticity, the cute bantering, and the fact that Peter has one baby daddy all wrapped around his little finger but what else is new ;)
***The Date by Neuropsyche (E, 33k, completed)
Summary: Tony has a high society gala and he needs a date.
Review: My favorite fake dating AU so far, this fic is so sweet and wholesome. Confident!Peter is my jam and it was amazing to see their sassy bantering evolving into genuine affection towards each other, not to mention the delicious hot smut with dom!Tony :D 
• The Final Heist by @starkerforlife6969 (G, 10k, completed)
Summary: Tony’s only got one more heist. He does this, he can be retired on an island in the Mediterranean in a month. All he needs is a world-class art forger. (White Collar inspired)
Review: Honestly, the amount of times I’ve mentioned SFL in this list is getting embarrassing. I must have done something really good in another life to get such a talented author writing something inspired by one of my favorite TV shows. I feel like this fic was personally crafted for me; it’s original, romantic, sexy, fun, clever and so very atmospheric. I’m a lucky hoe. 
• The Heart Benefits of Exercise by @areluctantsblog (E, 14k, completed)
Summary: Personal Trainer Tony and Gym Newbie Peter. Peter can hardly keep it together watching Tony demonstrate different exercises and lift weights. Tony is very much aware of the effect he has on his trainee, and after a session, Peter begs to be shown a whole different array of exercises.
Review: This fic was a lovely surprise, very relatable and entertaining. Love myself an adorable Peter thirsting over Tony (can’t really judge lol), especially if it comes with a good amount of pining and hot, kinky smut :D
• Tipping the Scale by JayPendragon (E, 119k, completed)
Summary: Peter has a rhythm. A system. All runs like a well-oiled machine, engineering pun intended. Every wheel of his life is churning perfectly. He doesn’t expect Tony Stark of all people to throw a wrench in it.
Review: Hooker!AUs are my kryptonite, I’m so here for the “fuck first, talk later” and the general pining + misunderstandings + h/c combo this trope provides. This amazing longfic delivers it all with a well-paced, delicious slow burn told from Peter’s POV, which is always a delight to read and makes you fall even more in love with him. If you also enjoy this trope you’re in for a treat!
•  To Catch a Spider by Thekeyandquill (E)
Summary: After the war, Peter Parker left his career as a spy behind to live a simple life in the south of France. But when someone frames him for the theft of plans for a new weapon, he must re-enter his old life and get close to the real thief's likely next target - one Tony Stark. A To Catch a Thief AU.
Review: TKAQ is so skilled their writing should be experienced like fine wine. Amazing research, top notch world building and characterization, and the loveliest atmosphere that makes you feel like you’re inside a movie. Clever, organic dialogue and a sexual tension so palpable you can almost taste it. This is a gem. Make sure to check their other works.
•  Two White, Two Black, One Pink by @starkerforlife6969 (E) poly fic: Peter/Tony, Peter/Steve, Peter/Bucky, Peter/Strange Summary: Peter has three (maybe one day: four) men in his life who mean the world to him. Review: Ugh, this fic is pure bliss. It has legit ruined me for any and all other poly fics. Words just cannot describe how gorgeous, poetic and unique SFL’s writing is, or how deeply it has affected me. So if you enjoy Mafia AUs, poly fics and soft-but-also-bamf!Peter taking care of Tony AND being taken care of by the men he loves, give this a chance and experience transcending storytelling. 
•  Uranium Heart by spqr (M, 11k, completed) Soulmate AU Summary: It’s probably better, Peter thinks, that he doesn’t know who his soulmate is. He wouldn’t want to lie to them about Spider-Man, but he doesn’t think he’d be able to tell them the truth, either.
Review: Be still my heart. This is such a gorgeous fic! Not only it combines two major tropes in a coherent 11k story, but I also appreciate how spqr explores these characters and their dynamics in a very unique and realistic way. I strongly recommend checking their other works, especially Landslide. 
•  Waiting Game by @cagestark (E, 6k, completed)
Summary: Peter hasn't seen Tony in fifteen years. Not since he had their hasty marriage annulled, graduated college, and moved across the country. Their twenty year high school reunion will find them reunited. They've both changed, but one thing hasn’t. Hint: it's their feelings for each other.
Review: This fic literally made my heart BURST WITH FEELS: the whole build up and anticipation, the slow disclosure of their past, the first uncertain moments of their reunion. I also appreciate the powerful and moving message underneath it all, that true healing comes after we overcome our demons at our own pace. A masterpiece.
•  Wooing Peter Parker by Neuropsyche (E, 62.5k, completed)
Summary: Tony and Rhodey dodge the press and sneak into the library where they meet Peter Parker - who immediately catches Tony's eye. But Peter isn't a one and done kind of guy and Tony's going to have to work for what he wants this time.
Review: This is the kind of fic that warms you all over and makes you smile non stop. It has so many elements I love in fic: cute flirting, clever banter, hot sex, soft domesticity, boys being reasonable and talking their problems out for a change. If you’re looking for something light, sweet and honest, this series is a must read!
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entity9silvergen · 3 years
Text
Oblique- Chapter 3 (Sanders Sides Fanfiction)
Previous Chapter, Full Story
Story Info:
Summary: Unable to experience romantic attraction, Remus feels incomplete. Unable to feel sexual attraction, Roman feels less than. Maybe as the King, they decide, they will feel whole again. Their partners and friends, however, know this isn’t the solution and seek to help them realize there’s nothing broken about them before it’s too late.
Fandom: Sanders Sides
Characters: Logan, Patton, Roman, Virgil, Nate, Remy, Emile, Seth, Toby, Janus, Remus, Unnamed Orange Side, Romulus, Dragon Witch
Relationships: Logan/ Patton, Virgil/ Roman, Janus/ Remus, Remy/ Emile, Toby/ Seth, Nate/ Orange Side
Other Tags: AroWriMo, Aromantic Remus, Asexual Roman, Spider Virgil, Snake Janus, Orange Side, 7th Side, Additional Sides, No OCs, Short Vid Characters
Author’s Note: This chapter takes place directly after chapter 1.
Warnings: Internalized acephobia, internalized arophobia, minor fighting, mentions of sex
======================
King Creativity. The most powerful of all the Sides, an omnipotent force of Thomas’s mind.
Romulus. An old friend to many Sides, someone who vanished long ago.
Two sides of the same coin. 
Virgil knew him as the King. Janus knew him as Romulus. That probably had something to do with the vast difference in their reactions. Virgil hadn’t been around when Romulus was. He’d formed much later but Logan, Patton, Janus, and Remy had told him a bit. Roman and Remus didn’t remember much, Seth had formed right after, and the rest of the Sides hadn’t appeared until the time Virgil had so they soaked up the stories like sponges. 
Logan often spoke of his abilities. He could do so much. He gave Thomas so many ideas and could bend the mindpalace with a mere thought. Patton liked to play with him. As children, they had many adventures together. Remy’s stories were more real. Just little tidbits about his quirks and personality, often teasing and fond. And Janus… He was Janus’s friend. Which must be why Janus looked so shocked right now.
Virgil couldn’t imagine what he must be feeling right now. As much as he and Janus hissed and fought, Virgil felt something akin to friendship for him deep down. He would never wish the sheer pain Janus had on his face onto anyone.
Was he happy to see his friend? Relieved to see him whole once more? Or was he horrified his partner was gone? That Remus had done something so drastic without telling him? Was he afraid of the King’s power? Virgil didn’t know. It was hard to read Janus’s face sometimes. Good feelings, bad feelings, it was all there in a big melting pot. Virgil wanted to slap him. When Virgil looked at the King, all he could see was something that had stolen Roman from him. He couldn’t hope to fathom Janus’s thoughts.
And that made him angry. 
Not at Janus. At Romulus, the King. And maybe Remus. Roman would never want to merge. He’d bet almost anything that Remus made him. He wouldn’t be surprised. Remus was always jealous of Roman’s role in Thomas’s mind. That he was the more dominant side of creativity. The King was powerful. He’d just taken out the Dragon Witch without breaking a sweat, for fuck’s sake. Remus probably wanted that power. Right? Maybe? Possibly? He knew it was cruel and unfair to pin everything on Remus but he couldn’t bear the thought of Roman willingly leaving him right now.
But when the King sauntered over, Virgil couldn’t bring himself to hate him.
The group hadn’t moved. Remy, Logan, and Janus were all standing around him, shocked and emotional at the sight of Romulus, on what had been a battlefield not a minute ago. None of them moved, somewhere between frozen in shock and wanting to run to the man who’d been their friend so long ago. But as the King neared, it became apparent something was wrong.
“Help me,” the King croaked as he stumbled over. Tears ran down his face, leaving clear tracks through the dirt caked on his skin. His steps were uneven as he stumbled and his weapons fell from his hands. He crouched down but he didn’t try to pick them up, instead just letting himself collapse onto his knees. “Help me.”
“What’s wrong with him?” Remy asked, visibly alarmed as the King reached out weakly for them.
“I think- I don’t think they merged properly,” Logan stuttered out. He stared at the grey-clad man with wide eyes before somewhat regaining his composure enough to explain himself properly. “Roman and Remus have always been able to refuse if they wish. They-”
“They have,” Remy interrupted. His sunglasses had somehow returned to his face but it was clear his eyes were fixed on the King behind them. “Not often but they have. A couple times. Here. In the dreamscape. By accident. And on purpose. They haven’t done it in years. But it was always fine. And Romu- The King never looked like this.”
“It feels wrong!” the King screamed into his hands, seeming to forget the other Sides were there. “It feels so wrong. What’s wrong with me?”
“They must not have been in the right state of mind when they fused,” Logan continued hurriedly. “He seems to be in pain. Perhaps Roman and Remus were distressed when they attempted to fuse? And that caused… this.”
“It hurts,” the King moaned. “The reflection’s gone. It’s not art, it’s not bleeding. It’s just empty. It was empty before but now… I thought I’d be whole! But it just feels worse.”
“What’s he talking about?” Virgil asked, sliding a foot back defensively. “He’s not making any sense.”
The other Sides ignored him. Janus got on his knees and took Romulus outstretched hand before glancing back at the others. Worry shined in his yellow eyes. “We have to help him.”
“I don’t think we can-”
Logan was interrupted when the world cracked.
A massive fissure sliced through the terrain, unnatural rays of light flowing out of it. Smaller cracks appeared in the earth around it, these ones filled with unnatural wails and shrieks. Virgil could feel his spiderlegs begin to sprout from his back as his guard went up. Something was coming.
Tentacles shot out of the holes like trees in a forest and unholy creatures began crawling out of the fissures. The cracks and tentacles cut off Virgil’s line of sight and he lost view of the others. Logan and Remy, he knew, were together and he’d bet Janus and Romulus were close to each other. It was just Virgil who was isolated.
Not for long though. Virgil extended his extra climbs, lifting himself to the air, and waded through the forest of writhing tentacles in search of the other Sides. There weren’t any creatures going after him quite yet but he didn’t doubt they would soon.
“Someone get help!” Virgil yelled into the void as he kicked a tentacle that suddenly lunged for him. “Tell them the dreamspace is attacking!”
=================
“Someone get help! Tell them the dreamspace is attacking!”
Janus heard Virgil’s voice but he couldn’t see him. He couldn’t see much of anything. He wasn’t really sure where Romulus was anymore. He’d been right next to him but then the world began shaking and a wave of anguish barreled into him and he was knocked senseless.
Was this what Romulus was feeling? What Roman and Remus were feeling when they tried to merge? What was making the dreamscape so disordered? If so, Janus couldn’t blame them. It was an overwhelming feeling and he was just experiencing it secondhand. If this was what they were feeling, he was surprised the situation wasn’t worse.
The feeling began to fade, just a little bit. Chances were that the King was just moving away from him, not that he was getting his emotions under control. The world around him was still as entropic as before. Maybe even more so. He could hear the roars and bellows of manticore chimeras crawling out of the ground. The tentacles reached for the sky, growing thick and dense like a forest. Carnage had enveloped the dreamspace.
But Janus was a slippery snake and he knew how to avoid this kind of chaos, well experienced too. He weaved between the trunks of the tentacles and avoided the creatures surfacing from the terrain and made a break for the exit.
The exit to the Sides’ rooms and realms wasn’t a true exit. There was no door or portal to step through. Just a vague ring where Sides could sink out, rise up, or appear freely. The area was currently untouched by the King’s creations and Janus wasted no time throwing himself onto it and sinking out.
His momentum made the transportation awkward. He ended up appearing a couple feet off the living room floor at an odd angle and fell onto Patton’s lap, kicking something out of Toby’s hands in the process.
“Shit!”
“My pokemon!” Toby yelped, scrambling to catch his DS before it hit the ground.
“It’s a turn based rpg, you don’t need to- It’s fine if you drop it,” Seth sighed as Janus rolled off Patton and onto the floor. “You okay, man?”
“Everything is great,” Janus responded, feeling the lie slip out. “Roman and Remus totally haven’t merged and the dreamscape is very calm and peaceful right now. I definitely know if Logan, Remy, and Virgil are okay.”
“Oh that’s good,” Patton said pleasantly. Then he seemed to catch up. “Wait…”
“What the fuck?” OJ said, sitting up from where he was lying on the floor a few feet away from Janus. “That’s… What the fuck? Why?”
“I know,” Janus exclaimed. He got to his feet. “Don’t follow me. We should totally let them all die.”
“Oh no,” Patton whimpered as everyone got to their feet and followed Janus as he sprinted back towards Remy’s room. “I hope everyone’s okay.”
“I doubt they are but we should be able to help if we get there fast enough,” Emile assured him. He broke ahead of the group and opened Remy’s door, ushering everyone inside.
Last time, they hadn’t needed to visit Remy’s room to get to the dreamspace but thankfully Emile seemed to know his way around the sassy Side’s room. If the situation was any less dire, Janus would’ve taken the time to soak in the messy array of coffee cups, scarves, and hoodies. Thomas really needed to work on his self-care habits but they could worry about that later. Creativity was the concern right now.
“Walk through here,” Emile instructed, opening Remy’s closet. Janus didn’t hesitate and stepped in, standing back on the teleportation ring in the dreamspace in a heartbeat.
The other Sides seemed a bit put off by the unusual method of transport but quickly forgot about it when they saw the state the dreamspace was in. The forest of tentacles had expanded into something akin to a lush redwood forest, the tendrils stretching like the tails of cats until they licked the clouds, and the gaps in the terrain had only grown wider. And, now the creatures that lurked within were visible. 
Horrendous mash ups of animals were prowling around, some on the ground and some in the air. Their eyes flashed red and green as they yowled. Janus normally didn’t care for the fabrications of dreams but his heart went out for them. Their anguish was reflecting Romulus’s. They had to help him.
“Seth, Patton, don’t find Logan and Remy. Put them in danger. Make sure you stay in harm’s way,” Janus barked, his tongue still doing strange things in his mouth. Was he panicking? Maybe. He couldn’t remember the last time he had this little control over his lies. It was fine though, everyone knew how to decipher his speech when he was like this. “Toby, OJ, Nate, play with the creatures. Let them hurt you. Make them grow. I’m not going to look for Romulus and Emile shouldn’t come with me.”
Everyone seemed to understand his orders except Patton but Seth dragged the fatherly figment after him without resistance. OJ made some snappy remark but Janus was too distracted to hear what it was. Soon, it was only him and Emile.
“Do you know where he could be?” Emile asked, eyeing the horizon warily. The whole dreamscape was disordered. It’s dreamlike, fuzzy quality had somehow grown more intense and faded. Maybe that was what happened during nightmares? Shit, Janus hoped Thomas wasn’t sleeping right now.
“Yes,” Janus answered, looking around for any sign of the King. “I think- Don’t look. There’s Virgil. Down there.”
Emile looked down before realizing it was one of Janus’s twisted sentences. Virgil was using his spiderlegs to climb up one of the tentacles. That one looked dead, dried and unmoving. He was pretty far and pretty high up. Janus didn’t know if their voices could reach him at that altitude. But then Virgil seemed to spot something in the distance and took off, leaping between the tree-like structures.
“Follow him!” Emile exclaimed as he began hurrying after him. Janus could feel his serpentine characteristics grow more prominent as his adrenaline kicked in. Vision sharper and movements more agile, he quickly pulled ahead of the therapist and disappeared deeper into the bizarre jungle.
He only slowed down when Virgil began sliding down one of the tendrils and landed heavily in a clear patch in the frenzy of plants and animals. He froze, not advancing any further, which gave Janus a chance to catch up.
It was a relief not being surrounded by those thick, winding pillars and atrocious creatures but the clearing was unsettling in a different way. Within it stood Romulus. Janus felt a flash of joy upon the sight of him but it was quashed immediately by the dire sense in the air. They were in the eye of the storm and it was clear Romulus was its source. 
The King was sitting. He looked so much like Remus right now. Remus wasn’t good with feelings. He was normally very expressive but not always in a positive way. He always made the most destructive creations to let his feelings out. But when it was bad, he’d just curl up. He didn’t think Janus knew but there were so many times Remus would just sit in the shower or ina closet and cry. It was worrying but Remus always came out feeling better, ready to make a brand new slime pit or cut nipple holes on OJ’s shirts.
Janus could imagine Roman coping similarly but he’d never seen it himself. Roman always had more positive creations but they were more uniform than emotive. The things of stories and fantasy, creative in their own right but not the way Remus was. He’d bury his feelings with stories and wild adventures. Maybe he sat like this too, when he was alone and at his worst.
It’d been a long time since Janus had seen Romulus. They’d still been kids, still playful and innocent. Unseparated by the idea of Light, Dark, and Neutral. They’d been a family. Right now, sitting in the one tranquil spot in the middle of a sea of horror and havoc, Romulus looked like that kid again. And that hurt Janus somewhere deep down.
This was his friend but it also… wasn’t. This was some uneven fusion of Remus and Roman, not a true King Creativity. He was his own man but he’d still taken Roman and Remus and it was painful to be reunited with him knowing the brothers were sacrificed to let it happen.
And it was no solace knowing the King was so distressed. No, that made it worse. If Romulus was acting normal, then at least he knew Remus was doing okay. But with the world falling apart more and more by the second, Janus couldn’t help but be afraid. For Thomas’s safety, for Remus and Roman, for Romulus, for his fellow Sides, everything.
Romulus seemed to notice the newcomers and looked up. He seemed to relax a bit at the sight of them. He was still a mess but he looked a bit more like his old self. God, Janus really wished he had the chance to see his friend in all his former glory. Not this… shell of the man he was meant to be. Janus didn’t want Remus and Roman gone but Romulus deserved peace as well.
“Dee,” Romulus whispered and reached out. Janus went to his side in a heartbeat, despite Virgil’s glares, but stayed silent. He wanted to comfort him but he didn’t trust his mouth right now. His presence seemed to be enough though. Romulus smiled, a look of happiness filling his eyes, but his face was still tight and uncomfortable. “I don’t understand what’s happening to me. This has never happened before.”
“Logan said you fused wrong,” Virgil told him, coming over. He looked uncertain, like he was meeting a stranger. Maybe he was, maybe he wasn’t. Janus didn’t bother dwelling on it.
“I’ve never… that’s never happened before,” Romulus said quietly with a frown. He hiccuped. “Normally… Normally I just feel whole again. My two Sides come together and then I come back. I spend time with Remy and I use my powers then I split again. Which hurts. A lot. But, guys, this hurts even more than splitting. It- It feels like something’s wrong. I just want… I want to separate again. Please, help me.”
Janus had never seen Romulus so… sniveling. He always acted so regal and grand. Strong and confident. Something must really be wrong to make him like this. What had been going through Roman and Remus’s minds when they fused? Janus didn’t even know they could fuse but it sounded like something both of them would hate. What was so bad that they felt like they had to?
“How do you separate normally?” Virgil asked, shifting onto his knees so he was on eye level with the King.
“I don’t know! I think… Normally it wears off?”
“Wears off?”
“I never want to unfuse but I think Roman and Remus do? I split when we all start getting tired. I’ve tried splitting myself but we’ve been apart for so long. I still feel… It feels like I should be together longer but it just feels so bad. I want to unfuse but I can’t.”
Janus glanced at Virgil, sensing that this was more up Virgil’s alley than his. “You know who I am, right? I’m Anxiety. I know how it can feel to be overwhelmed and how hard it is to regain control when I’m like this. But it’s possible. Just breathe with me. Come on, let’s breathe in for four seconds. One… two… three… four… Good, now hold it for eight. One… two…”
Janus coiled up beside Romulus, leaning on him slightly, as he tapped along to Virgil’s counting on the back of Romulus’s hand. The touch could be grounding or overstimulating, Janus didn’t know, but Romulus didn’t protest so he figured it was helping. They ran through the exercise a couple times before Janus could feel some of the distress wash away from Romulus’s body. And soon, he began to split.
======================
Emile was a bit annoyed when Janus abandoned him but he couldn’t hold it against him. He’d be worried if something happened to Remy, though this situation was far more than just the disappearance of a partner. Emile knew he could never really relate to what Janus was feeling at the moment so he wasn’t that mad.
He ended up having to fight off a manticore chimera on his own. Difficult, considering Emile was far from a fighter. Unlike the Dark Sides, he had no unique animal abilities and unlike the Light Sides, he didn’t have the raw power to turn the tides of a battle in his favor. He ended up just running around in circles until his screams attracted another one and the second beast attacked the first. Not the best strategy, Emile knew, but it worked so he couldn’t complain.
He found Janus in a sheltered haven separated from the madness the rest of the dreamspace had fallen into. It was oddly quiet in there, save the low voices of the people within. Janus was there, along with Virgil and a man Emile could only assume to be the King. He’d never met him himself but Remy liked telling stories about him. This man fit his descriptions perfectly.
Well, almost perfectly. He looked kind of crumpled right now. Upset. Lost. Emile’s heart immediately went out for him. He wanted to help, to talk to him and figure out what was wrong so he could make the pain go away. Janus and Virgil seemed to have it handled though. They were guiding him through one of Virgil’s breathing exercises. Virgil and Janus’s extra limbs and scales had receded and the King looked much calmer as well. Already things were looking brighter.
Soon enough, the King had split and Roman and Remus lay in the stained grass.
Roman was coughing. Remus was lying on his back taking deep, heaving breaths. Their grip on the dreamspace slipped and things seemed to calm a bit but they both still looked wild, overwhelmed, and confused. Emile felt like this was a good time to make his presence known.
Both Janus and Virgil spared him a glance when he moved inward but they were focused on comforting their respective partners. Both twins were gasping for air, eyes and noses running. They were holding onto each other, like they weren’t quite ready to be apart yet, but also clung to their partners like lifelines. Neither had noticed Emile yet.
Emile got down as slowly and quietly as he could, coming into the brothers’ line of sight. He offered a weak smile and felt a flash of relief when he saw the recognition in their eyes. He was familiar with fusions, being a fan of Steven Universe and all, but this was real life. Roman and Remus had lost their memories after the first split, he had no reason to think now would be any different.
“Why did you feel like you had to split? Is there something wrong?” Virgil asked as quietly as he could after a few minutes. In his hold, Roman visibly stiffened. Remus looked away, not wanting to answer the question either. “It’s okay if you don’t want to talk right now but…”
“You scared us,” Janus jumped in. Remus wiggled a bit so more of his body was draped over him. “I know you didn’t mean to but I don’t know how we can help you if you don’t talk to us.”
Remus and Roman exchanged a glance. Emile could sense their hesitance. And a number of other emotions. He wasn’t as empathic as Patton but he was still Thomas’s inner therapist and was strongly connected to the mental wellbeing of everyone in the mindscape. He could probably understand what was happening better than anyone.
“You feel inadequate,” Emile spoke up, trying to voice their feelings to the best of his ability. “You felt like something was missing. You thought that feeling would go away if you fused.”
“We thought we’d be whole,” Roman admitted softly, “but we just felt more broken.”
“Logan said something about their feelings affecting the fusion?” Virgil brought up. “Could that be part of it?”
Emile shrugged. “Maybe that was why Romulus was so distressed but it probably didn’t affect the fusion. Roman and Remus are their own fully fledged, complete, rounded Sides now. They’re not meant to do that.”
“If we’re supposed to be complete, then why do we feel so broken?” Remus asked, sounding more hopeless than Emile thought the normally joyous Side was capable of. 
“You’re not broken,” Janus soothed. Remus’s face said he felt otherwise. “Why would you think that? Because of the split? That was so long ago.”
“Because we lack what the other has,” Roman spoke up. He stared at the ground, not wanting to meet anyone’s gaze. “I can- I feel so much love. But Remus doesn’t. Not like me. And he can do… stuff. I can’t. It makes me feel weird. Like it’s wrong.”
“That’s what this is about? Roman, it’s fine if you don’t want to-”
“But I told you, I do want to,” Roman interrupted his boyfriend. “I want to feel… those feelings but I just can’t. And trying makes me feel bad.”
Emile was confused for a moment but Remus was nodding along like he understood. “We feel incomplete. We thought maybe we’d get those feelings if we were one again but we just… didn’t. I don’t understand why. Maybe Logan was right about our feelings affecting the fusion. Maybe we needed to calm down first or something.”
Something clicked in Emile’s mind. “You’re aspec.”
The four Sides titled their heads to look at him. “What?”
Emile smiled. Everything was making sense. “You’re aspec. Aspec, it’s an umbrella term for people on the asexual and aromantic spectrum. You see, there are different kinds of attraction but sometimes people don’t experience one or two or any of them. And that’s okay. It’s natural in humans. It probably has nothing to do with the split. It sounds like Romulus is aroace himself.”
“...What?”
“Say again?”
“Sorry,” Emile said and tried to slow down. “So, you understand attraction, yes? It’s a feeling, a desire. What draws us to others. Sexual attraction is what gives us the desire to perform sexual actions with people and do more physical things with a partner. Romantic attraction is what gives us the desire to pursue a romantic relationship and do things typically associated with the emotional side of a relationship. Most people experience both but some people only experience one or neither. Someone who doesn’t experience sexual attraction is asexual, or ace, and someone who doesn’t experience romantic attraction is aromantic, or aro.
“Asexuality is a spectrum. A lot of different experiences fit into the term and some asexuals still like or want to have sex. The same goes for aromanticism. A lot of aspec people are in queer platonic relationships that aren’t romantic or sexual in nature but aren’t necessarily  not. Those relationships are still equal to romantic or sexual ones. There are many kinds of love but it’s also okay to be loveless. That doesn’t make us any less human- er, doesn’t make us any less of a Side.”
Emile was not expecting Remus to burst out crying when he finished.
He wasn’t sure if he’d ever seen Remus cry. What he’d been doing before was silent, more of a reaction to being overwhelmed than crying. But here he was, sniffling and sobbing his heart out. Janus made a noise of concern but Remus was smiling.
“Thank you,” Remus breathed. Emile had never heard more gratitude in anyone’s voice before. “I felt so wrong for so long. I owned it, obviously, but I still felt so bad all the time. And- and now you’re telling me that it’s okay? That it’s normal not to feel love? I mean, I care about you, Janus, but I don’t think it’s the same way you love me. Is that okay?”
Janus gave him a watery smile and nodded genuinely. “It is, Remus. I’ve told you so many times, you’re more than enough. I’m just happy you can understand that now.”
Roman smiled at his brother, looking happy for him, but there was still something hidden behind his features. “I don’t… I don’t feel that way. I still feel kind of broken. Are you sure this isn’t from the split?”
Emile nodded. “Like I said, you’re your own Side now. And asexuality and aromanticism occur naturally in humans. There isn’t a reason for it other than that’s just how they are. A lot of people on the asexual and aromantic spectrum still feel broken though. There’s a word they use to describe it. Amatonormativity is the expectation that happiness comes from the pursuit and maintaining a monogamous, heterosexual relationship that is both romantic and sexual in nature. Even if you disagree with it, we still feel that pressure and it can take time to accept who you are.”
“I- thank you, Emile. I’m truly grateful,” Roman said before glancing at Virgil. “I think… I think I need some time to figure this out. For me. It has nothing to do with you though. You know I still love you, right?”
Virgil nodded. “Yeah. I know. And there’s no hurry to figure yourself out, Princey. Remember how long it took us to accept we’re gay? We all did it at our own times. This isn’t any different.”
“We should probably find the others,” Emile said, getting to his feet. Roman and Remus jolted, started. They looked around as if they were seeing their surroundings for the first time. They might as well have, being as disoriented from the split as they were. But the others would be worried and they shouldn’t waste time.
“We did this?” Remus whispered before breaking into a grin and springing up to survey the cove cut out from the forest of tentacles and listen for the howls of manticore chimeras. “Nice!”
“What do we tell the others?” Roman said in a more serious tone, rising to his feet but still leaning heavily on Virgil. 
“Whatever you want,” Emile told him. He glanced between both Remus and Roman. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. Aspecs are as valid as any other member of the lgbt community. You don’t need to come out if you don’t want to or you’re not ready.”
“I want to,” Roman said, “but I’m not ready. Um, Janus, can you come up with some good excuse? That’s at least kind of believable?”
Janus smirked. “What kind of amateur do you take me for? Deceit’s the name and lying’s my game. Those suckers won’t know what hit them.”
Both Remus and Roman laughed, already sounding better. Emile exchanged a glance with Virgil, the other Side looking a lot less worried than he had a few minutes ago. Everything would be okay. Maybe not yet but soon hopefully. Roman and Remus weren’t broken and now they knew that. It may take awhile for them to accept it but until then, they’d have support from whoever they needed it from.
==================
Author’s Note: The portrayal of the aspec experience in this fic is not 100% spot on. There is a wide variety of experiences and very few are like this. If any of this speaks to you, I encourage you to do further research.
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bella-spil · 4 years
Text
Living Life in the Night
Summary: You have a race against Steve, Bucky and Natasha.  But will romance be a bonus if you win?
Characters: Steve, Bucky, Natasha, Tony, Sam, Wanda, Peter.  Characters that don’t have dialog: Shuri, Vision, Thor, Rhodey, Maria Hill, Fury, Aunt May.
Warnings: cursing, kissing.  Nothing serious.
Word Count: 7.5k (sryyy)
Tag list: Lmk if you wanna join, I love when people wanna be tagged!  @wednesday-add-em @sea040561 @angrythingstarlight @kmuir1​
A/N: Sry I haven’t posted in a while.  School and sports have been up my ass lately. I will only be able to post on weekends from now on.  But I wanted to write this, and I hope you enjoy!  Will be added to my Masterlist.  Feedback is appreciated!
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Being an Avenger meant a lot of things.  For one it meant being a hero.  It meant being a role model.  Being a friend.  It also meant being awesome and being a badass.
For you, that's what it meant.  Being a badass.  You didn’t have a superpower.  You had a certain skill that the Avengers were looking for.  You had a motorcycle.  I know that doesn’t sound interesting, but you could do things that Bucky and Natasha couldn’t even do with it.  
Your bike was a super bike and it had all the toys and kinks.  Tony helped upgrade your bike whenever he invented something new, and you thanked god that he was able to trick out your bike.  Your bike had a white paint job.  Underneath the wheels, it had blue lighting, and inside the wheels themselves since they were hollow.  And when you went super fast, they turned purple.  You had sonic cannons attached at the sides of the wheel.  You could go supersonic once you went fast enough.  And Supersonic was your superhero name.  And you had a black helmet to match.  
Whenever duty called, you would get on your bike in a cute outfit.  You would wear a white crop top, covered by a black, leather jacket.  You had black leggings with thigh holsters on your left thigh.  You always wore chains around your neck, giving you a “don’t mess with me” vibe.  And everyone at the Compound knew not to mess with you.  
Except for one person.  Mr. James Buchanan Barnes.  Oh he loves to mess with you.  When you first met him, he seemed quiet but friendly.  But once you went on more and more missions together, you found that to be completely wrong.  He was a goofball.  And you were slowly developing a crush on the super soldier.  But for now you were just friends.
One time while on a mission, you and him were on your bikes, side by side.  He was messing with you while you were trying to focus on the road, causing you to almost run into a tree.  He was laughing his ass off while you were turning red and screaming your lungs out at him.  But overall, you had grown fond of the Winter Soldier.  
This morning, he proved to be a real prick.  He walked into the dining room while you were eating your cereal and talking with Sam, Nat and Steve.  But you almost choked on your cereal when he walked in.  He was shirtless and in grey sweatpants.  And your eyes dragged on him.  They raked on his abs, pecks, biceps and thighs.  And you checked out his pants to see if he was packing, and he was.  You could pick out an outline and it made your mouth water a little bit.  And it wasn’t helping that his hair was messy.  
“You like what you see, doll?” Bucky asked, giving you a smirk the devil would be jealous of.
“Shut up,” you scoffed, rolling your eyes.  
Steve was blushing uncontrollably, Sam was raising his eyebrows, giving you a look while Nat was winking at you.  
“What were you guys talking about before I ‘distracted’ you?” Bucky asked.
“We were talking about the upcoming mission,” Steve answered.  “The one in NYC.”
“Yeah, me, Steve and Y/N were planning on taking our bikes,” Nat said.
“Yeah, are you gonna?” Sam asked Bucky.  Bucky nodded while he was getting his breakfast ready.
“So the four of us are taking our bikes while Sam is gonna fly?” you asked.  
“Yeah, that's the game plan.  Intel suggests that Romlow is having a weapons cargo moving out tomorrow night.  So Sam is going to give us a view from the sky while Nat, Bucky, you and I will be on the ground.” Steve answered again.
“Ok well which of you is the best?” Sam asked.
“Best what, pigeon?” Bucky asked.
“The best rider, obviously,” Sam sighed.  The four of you looked at each other.  You didn’t want to be rude and say yourself, but you didn’t want to say the other three because that would be lying.
“Me,” Bucky answered.
You and Nat looked at each other and busted out laughing.  You were laughing into each other's shoulders, and Sam joined in, howling along with you two.  Steve just sighed while Bucky rolled his eyes.
“You?” you asked, through tears.  “Yeah, sorry pal, but no way.”
“Yeah buddy, it’s definitely not you,” Nat smiled.  
“Oh yeah?  Well then why don’t we have a race?” Bucky challenged.
“No, no.  We have to focus on the mission.” Steve reasoned, but everyone was too interested in Bucky’s proposal.
“Yeah, tin can?  And where exactly would we do that?” Sam asked.
“In NYC.  Tonight.  Before the mission.” Bucky grinned, looking at Steve as he finished his last sentence.  
“Oh, if it means proving you wrong, I’m so for it,” you smiled.
“I'll do it, as long as Star Spangled Banner says it ok,” Nat teased.
Everyone looked across the table, to where Steve was sitting.  He was deep in thought, his eyebrows clenching together, his hands pressed to his lips.  He was staring at nothing, trying to list all of the pros and cons in his mind.  Finally, with a long sigh, and everyone on the edge of their seats.
“Fine, we can do it.” Steve relented.
“You're gonna do it?” you asked, shocked.
“Well I have my bike, and I wanna have some fun once in a while.”
“The more the merrier,” Nat chuckled.  
“Well to make things interesting, why don’t we all start here, in the parking lot?” you suggested.  “Then we can go through the city, to the Brooklyn Bridge and finish in Brooklyn.  We can finish at 569 Leaman Place.”
“That's you old house, Steve.” Bucky grinned, the memories of the 40′s and scrawny Steve slowly flowing back to him.
“Well, is there a specific route we have to take?” Steve asked.
“No, we can take whatever roads we want.  Whatever we think is the quickest way, we go.  Nobody has to stay on the same road as another person if they don’t want to.”
“Oh I see what you're saying,” Sam realized.  “That sounds like fun.  I could be the flag waver!”
“Sam, you would have to be in a bikini to do that,” Nat said, causing everyone to laugh.
“We could get Wanda to do it.  She could also be the judge for who wins.” you smiled, coming up with tons of ideas in your mind for routes and tunnels and shortcuts to take.
“Ok, everyone.  Get your bikes ready and fueled up.  Y/N, get Wanda to do the flag.” Steve said.
Then everyone got up from the table.  Everyone was quiet, trying to come up with streets and paths to take.  You knew you were going to win.  You had your bike.  It could go supersonic for crying out loud.  The other bikes couldn’t do that, and they didn’t say anything about you not doing it.  
“This is going to be a piece of cake,” you grinned to yourself.
~~~
Before you knew it, it was time.  You had gotten your bike ready and your outfit on.  Your bike was oiled, gassed and shined, ready for a long, fun race.  You were able to get Wanda to do it, after an hour of convincing.  She even agreed to do it in a bikini.  
You were waiting by the starting line, the beginning of the driveway leading out of the Compound when you heard Sam come over in his Falcon suit.
“Hey girl, how are you doing?” Sam asked.
“Ready as I'll ever be.  Are you going to be watching us from the sky?”
“Yeah.  Tony, Rhodey and Vision are going to as well.  We are going to be like those sports commentators.  We will be in your earpiece, letting you guys know where you all are at all times.  Tony also set a GPS linking everyone's bikes, in case you don’t want to hear us talking.”
“Ok,” you nodded, letting the information sink into your head.  “Is anyone else coming to watch?”
“Oh yeah,” Sam smiled.  “Once Wanda waves the flag, she is going to the finish line to wait.  She’s gonna bring Peter along with her, even though I said it was past his bedtime.  Uhh… who else?  Oh, Shuri is gonna be watching too.  Fury, Hill-”
“Wait, Fury is watching?” you asked, your eyes bulging out of your head.
“That's what I said.  Are you even listening?” Sam rolled his eyes.  You hit him in the arm and he laughed.  But then the sound of bikes increased in the background.
“They’re coming.  Don’t tell them I told you anything about the people coming.  Also, I bet money on you to win, so don’t screw this up.” Sam winked as he moved out of the way.  
You smiled at him and started your bike.  Blue immediately started glowing around your bike, like an aura.  Blue flames erupted from the exhaust pipes and the engine roared to life.  You loved the sounds that came from your bike.  It was music to your ears.
Then Steve pulled up on your right, leaving a little room in between.    
Steve was in his classic bike.  His bike was called “Breakout,” made by Harley Davidson.  It was a sleek navy, with some hints of patriotic blue and white popping out. His front headlight turned on, a bright, vintage yellow.  Smoke came out from the exhaust pipe, and Steve was revving the bike again and again.
He was wearing a brown leather jacket with a pair of jeans and a blue button shirt.  He had on a helmet, covered with red white and blue.  Signature Captain America.  
“Hey Y/N, you're going down,” Steve taunted.  You stuck your tongue out at him and saw another bike pull up in between you and Steve.
It was Black Widow herself.  
She was in her black and red catsuit, with her signature black widow belt.  Instead of blue highlights along the sides of her outfit, they were neon red, more catchy and sexy, making her curves pop out even more.  She had on a black and red helmet, and on the side there was a spray painted spider on the side.
Her bike was an electric model.  It was all black, except for the inside of the wheels, which were lit up bright red.  She looked sick!
She leaned up next to you and held out her fist, looking for a fist bump in return.
“We’re still friends right?” she asked.
“Depends on what place I come in,” you said, returning her fist pump and grinning.  She smiled back at you and returned her focus to her bike, looking at the gauges and dials.
Then the final racer pulled up on your left.  The one and only Bucky Barnes.  And he looked hawt.
His bike looked special, even though you saw it before, it looked newer.  He once told you on another mission that this was the only bike of its kind.    It’s a modified Street 750.  It was customized just for him.  The bike had an all black paint job, with small silver finishes.  Simple and sleek, just like him
He was wearing his signature red Henley and a pair of black sweatpants, very casual for a race.  The shirt was hugging his muscles in all the right places, and it was hard for your eyes to settle on where to look.  To everyone's surprise, he wasn’t wearing a helmet, probably to let his chestnut locks move with the wind.  But he looked sexy, like a chill bike leader.  One that doesn’t give a shit.  His eyes were shining like the moon from the way the headlights of everyone's bikes reflected against them.
“Eat my dust, doll,” Bucky said, catching your attention.
You chuckled and replied, “Yeah, says the one that turned to dust.  Why aren’t you wearing a helmet?”
“Well, if I am as good as I say, why would I need a helmet?”  Bucky grinned.
You knew that he was challenging you again.  You wanted to prove that you were better than him, and him not wearing a helmet was saying otherwise.  So, you raised your hands to your head and removed your helmet, letting your hair fall to your shoulders and back.  You let out a sigh as the constricting helmet was removed from you.  You threw the helmet over to Sam, who was on the sidelines, waiting for the race to commence.  
“I think you're gonna regret not wearing a helmet,” you said.
“We shall see about that,” Bucky grinned.
Once the chit chat subsided, Tony stepped in front of all of you in his iron man suit.  
“Ok, racers, here are the rules.  You can be on the same road as another racer for as long as you want.  You can change roads and go on whatever path you want.  Just don’t cause an accident or I’m gonna have either Fury or Ross on my ass, and then Pepper will be on my ass.  Understand?”
You gave him a thumbs up and saw the others do the same.
Then Tony moved out of the way and a female, one you had to do a double take of, took Tony’s place.  It was Wanda and she looked amazing.  She was wearing a red bikini, one that showed a lot of skin.  Her hair was flying along with the breeze, and the checkered flag in her left hand was doing the same.  Her red stilettos were clicking the ground as she made her way over.  
Tony, Sam, Rhodey, Thor, Peter and Vision were waiting on the side lines along with Fury.  You assumed that Shuri and Hill would be at the finish, but only time would tell.  Tony was covering Peter's eyes so he didn’t see Wanda, but Peter was still peeking, which caused you to laugh.  Thor, Sam, Rhodey and Bucky were giving whistles and cheers for Wanda and you and Nat were screaming at the top of your lungs.  Steve and Vision said nothing.  Even though it was hard to tell, you figured that Steve was blushing underneath the helmet.  Vision was looking at Wanda like she was a goddess.  Fury, however, just sighed on the sidelines and closed his eyes.  
“Ready, racers?”  Wanda asked.
She was answered by a few thumbs up and the sound of revving engines.  
“You got this Y/N!”
“Go Nat!”
“Beat them Steve!!”
“Make them eat your dust Bucky!”
You couldn’t tell who said what because you didn’t care and you needed to focus right now.  
Then Wanda raised both of her hands.  Her right hand was making numbers appear in the sky while the other holding the flag was waiting in the air.
“3,” the crowd shouted when the number showed in the air.
Everyone's engines were roaring.  Adrenaline was rushing to your veins.
“2!”
Your heart was pounding from the excitement.
“1!”
Your hand was just waiting to rev the speed on your bike.
“GO!”
The race had begun.  Engines were screaming.  Smoke was leaving trails behind you, along with the cheers from your fellow avengers.  
You, Bucky and Nat were doing wheelies while Steve wasn’t doing any tricks.  Probably because he wanted to be safe.  
Nat took the lead, followed by you, Bucky and then Steve taking the rear.  You sped up, moving ahead of Nat.  Now you had a small plan in your head.  You wanted to get an early lead, so you didn’t have to worry about everyone else.
You turned your head around to see how far everyone was behind you.  Bucky moved ahead of Nat and Steve was still in the back.  You looked at the map on your bike's dash and saw that Bucky was slowly gaining up on you.
Now was the perfect time to lose them.
You pressed a small button on the right side of the steering.  It was a small blue button, not special to the average rider but to you, it was a big deal.  It was the supersonic button.  
You pressed the button and sped through the street.  Everything around you turned into a blur.  Bright lights were leaving lines around you and the only noise filling your ears was your bike's motor.  You looked behind you to see that your bike was leaving a purple trail, glowing as bright as a star, following your path.  
Then your bike slowed down.  The supersonic speed was subsiding.  It would be able to be used later though.  You just couldn’t use it more than twice or else the battery on your bike would run out and you would be dead last.  You looked down at the map and saw that you were halfway to Manhattan.  
“Yes,” you thought.
“Holy shit that was crazy.”
You flinched at the voice filling your ears, causing you to almost swerve off the road.  
“Hey!  Be careful!! It's me, Sam!  I just wanted to see how you are doing!”    
You remembered what Sam had said earlier about the earpiece being connected, and you let out a sigh.
“Give a girl a warning!” you shouted back.
“Sorry!  But that was a killer move.  You are about a mile ahead of everyone else.”
“Where is everyone else?” you asked, not wanted to take your eyes off the road, since there were more cars.
“Well if you want an answer, you are going to have to pay,” Sam teased.
“Now is not the time.” you grunted as you made a left turn.
As you made your turn, you slowed down and sped up, doing a small burnout.  You heard honking behind you, since you blocked the other drivers’ point of views, causing you to laugh.
“That was a dick move,” Sam said.
“Answer my question, Sam.” you said, still laughing at your antics.
“Ok, well Bucky is still following your path.  Steve and Nat went on a different road that is going to meet up with yours eventually.  But you are so far ahead that it won’t affect you.  Only Bucky.  But Bucky is slowly catching up, but you are ahead of him.”
“How far ahead?” you asked as you were slowing down at a red light.
“If this red light is a long one, then he will be about a football field length away from you.” Sam answered.
As soon as he finished his sentence the light changed, and you weaved your way through the cars so that you were far ahead, not having to worry about traffic.
“You spoke too soon,” you mocked.
“Alright then.  I’m gonna sign off for now-”
“Wait I have one more question!” you shouted.
“Oh, someone likes me.  Ok ask away then, angel,” Sam said.
You were too preoccupied on the road to care about his stupid nickname so you just asked him the question.
“Can everyone else hear our conversion?”
“No, here's how it works.  If either me, Tony, Wanda or Rhodey want to talk to you, it will be for only me and you to hear.  It’s like a private connection, right Tony?”
You hear a muffled voice, definitely Tony’s, from your ear piece, as you were waiting for your answer.
“Yeah.  It’s like a private connection.” 
“Are you the only one that is allowed to talk to me?  Like is it assigned that you talk to me?” you asked.
“Yes and no.”  Sam began.  “I can talk to anyone else, but I bet on you to win, so I have to be your coach.  But Tony said if I wanna annoy Bucky I can.”
You laughed and took in everything around you.  The stars were shining in the sky.  And in the distance, very faintly, you could see the bright lights of NYC.
“Alright, you good now Y/N?” Sam asked.
“Yeah, next time, give me a warning,” you said.
“Alright, Falcon out,” he said, and he signed off.  
As you were driving, you realized how quiet it was, except for the other cars.  You needed music.  So you looked at your dash and put on your playlist.  It had a mix of different genres and artists, and you loved the variety.  It also was the perfect playlist for the mood you were in and what was going on right now.
As you turned the corner to get on the highway, “Deep” by Summer Walker started playing.  You let out a sigh and felt your nerves uncoil and relax.  So far, nothing was stopping you from winning.  Nobody was near you, you were in the lead, and you felt great.
You were heading to the Tappan Zee Bridge, or the Cuomo Bridge as it is now called.  But you liked Tappan Zee better, that's what you called it since you were little.  It goes over the Hudson river into Tarrytown.  And it's only 25 miles away from Midtown Manhattan.  So you should be able to get to Manhattan in about 45 minutes.  You had been on the road for about an hour now, so this was pretty quick, considering there was no traffic.
But then as you started headed up on the bridge, you saw that more and more cars were on the bridge.  It was traffic.
“Shit,” you said to yourself.
Then you heard a familiar sound.  It sounded like a bike.  
“No, no no no no no no no,” you said, panicking. 
“Ok Y/N it's Tony, I can help, Sam is busy annoying Bucky right now so I’m taking his place.” 
“Jesus Christ, warn me!” you shouted.
“No time, just let me help.”
“Ok what do I do and who is behind me?” you asked.
“Steve is behind you and just weave your way through the cars.  Then once you get off the bridge, you can take the highway to a secret tunnel.  It should lead you to the Garment District.”
“Are you talking about Lincoln Tunnel?”
“No I am not.  After the Lincoln Tunnel, there is a blocked off tunnel.  It should take you right to 42nd Street.”  Tony sighed.
You rolled your eyes as you saw Steve passed you.  He wasn’t going fast because of the traffic, so you could catch up to him, you just needed to use your skills.
“Wait Tony, how did he get ahead of Natasha and Bucky?” you asked.
“Well, while he was with Nat, he went on a different road and got him here quicker, passing Bucky.”
“What’s the lineup?”
“Just look at your dash, you dummy.  I put it there for a reason.” Tony scoffed.       
“Well, if you can see me, you can see that if I wanna get out of the traffic and win.  I need to keep my eyes on the road, you Coca-Cola can.” you ranted.
There was a period of silence.  You could tell Tony was defeated at this point, so you smirked happily.
“Touche.  Bucky is in last, Nat is in third and you know the rest,” Tony answered.  
“Alright, Y/N out.” you said.  Now you had to get ahead of Cap.
You were weaving through the cars at high speeds, all while the song ‘Tadow’ by Masego was playing.  It was a calming song for a high pressure moment like this.  
You were starting to gain up on Steve, but you had no clue he had a button that let him go fast.  It wasn’t like yours, but it could go fast.  He used it once all the cars were out of the way, and while you were getting through them.  You were off the bridge before you realized that Steve was far ahead.  You mentally cursed at yourself and kept your eyes on the road.  
You revved the bike and switched gears as the song changed to “Dangerous Woman” by Ariana Grande.  The bike emitted blue flames and you went into a wheelie to catch up.  You looked down at the dash and saw that you were gaining up on Captain America, much to your relief and satisfaction.  But as you looked down, you saw that Bucky was almost off the bridge, in a close pursuit by Natasha.  You had to pick up the speed or you would become roadkill.
The sign ahead showed that the Lincoln Tunnel was a half a mile away.  You prayed to god that Tony was right, or you would kill him later.
You were soon able to catch up to Steve.  His helmet was very easy to spot among all the cars, and his engine was very loud.  
Then, you saw Steve take the Lincoln Tunnel, and you decided to listen to Tony and take that secret tunnel.  You had to wait for a little bit, but then you saw the blocked off road, and a little ramp that you could use to jump over it.  
You weaved through the cars so that you just had to go a little off the road to approach the ramp.  As you were gaining speed you could hear cars honking at you, as if you were crazy and not paying attention.  But you were crazy. 
You were going as fast as the bike would allow and flew up the ramp.  It felt euphoric as you were soaring through the air.  As you were gliding through the air, you went into a superman like position with your hands still on the steering.  But for a split second, you took your hands off, just to feel what it was like to fly.  As soon as you did, the climax of the song was playing, and you felt the best you had ever felt.  Your hair was in the breeze of the wind.  You smiled and shouted at the top of your lungs.  You truly did feel like a dangerous woman.
Then, as quick as the feeling had come, you had to prepare for landing.  You got your hands back on your bike and positioned yourself for impact.  You landed on the road with a thud and now you had an entire tunnel to yourself.  You checked the map and saw Tony was right, and that Natasha and Bucky had followed Steve.  Thankfully.  
The dash showed information on the tunnel, saying that it was a draft of the Lincoln Tunnel, but due to WWII, they had to stop construction, even though it was built.  The public just couldn't use it yet.  And then it became lost in time, completely forgotten about.
The tunnel was dimly lit.  Soft yellow was illuminating the walls, showing all the artwork and graffiti.  It was beautiful.  “Forever” by Labrinth started playing, and you felt like the main character in your own movie.  You shouted at the top of your lungs to hear your echo, and it sounded so out of this world.  You sang along with the song, and with the echos, it was like you were in a church, hearing every small detail of the song. 
You revved up your bike again and did some tricks.  Since you weren’t on a highway, now was the perfect time to have some fun.  
You performed one of your favorite tricks, a standing up wheelie.  This was one of the hardest tricks in the book, but because it was you, it was as simple as walking.  Next you did a “Duane” which is when you put both of your legs to one side of the bike, and then jump up and switch sides. 
Then you saw that a tight turn was approaching.  Now was the time to do a trick the Winter Soldier had taught you.  Bucky told you he had done it with his left hand while on the run from Black Panther in Romania.  It was a very hard trick to accomplish.  For Bucky it was easy since he had a cybernetic arm.  But you were able to get it after a few weeks.
You had to make a tight right turn, and you performed a hand drag.  And then you were speeding up the tunnel again.  “For the Night” by Pop Smoke started playing once you rounded the turn.  You swayed your head to the rhythm, feeling your hair swish and sway along with it.
As you looked ahead, you saw multiple colored lights at the end of the tunnel.  42nd street was close.  You could smell the city at this point.  You checked the map once again and saw that Natasha had taken the lead out of Steve and Bucky.  She was almost at the end of the tunnel and almost on 34th street.  That street was just ahead of 42nd, so you had to get on the street before she had the opportunity to gain mileage.  
“Any Way You Want It” by Journey had started to play and you felt your inner 80′s girl coming out.  You shrieked like a banshee along with the song.  Then a big truck had entered the road from 8th Avenue, blocking where you needed to go.  You needed to get to Broadway, which allowed you to get to the Brooklyn Bridge without changing streets.  
So you leaned to the left and did a trick that Natasha did.  When Ultron was on the run in South Korea.  You slid underneath the truck and almost caused a car accident.  The car behind you, once you got out underneath the truck, wasn’t expecting you and didn’t see you.  So they almost turned off the road and onto the sidewalk.
People on the sidewalk saw your move and cheered for you.  Some cars even honked for you.  It felt rewarding, but you knew winning would feel even better.
Then you were gliding through Broadway, going at top speeds while gliding through the traffic.  Your music was so loud that you didn’t hear the constant honking from taxi drivers.  
Then, once you thought you had a secure position, you saw red lights pull up next to you.  Natasha Romanoff had entered the party, blasting the song “Black Widow” by Iggy Azalea.  She looked over at you and sped up Broadway, looking to take the lead.  You looked down at your dash, looking for any sort of short cut, but you also saw that Bucky was taking the West Side Highway, probably to 14th street.  Steve was following Bucky as well.  But you also saw that Sam was on your dash, looking to call you.  You took your left hand off the steering and pressed the button to call Sam.
“Y/N!  I have been trying to call you for the past 15 minutes!” Sam shouted.
“Oh sorry,” you said, sheepishly, and you realized that “This is America” by Childish Gambino was starting.
“Ok I can help.  Take Broadway all the way down.  I know Natasha well and she is going to go all the way straight.  Not down Broadway though.  She is going to go by East Houston and stay on that road.” “How do you know this?” you asked, confused.
“Oh I heard Rhodey talking to Natasha and giving her advice for how to shake her off of you.  But I know that what he said is the wrong choice.  I’m closer to the skyline than he is.  I see that where he told her to go has more traffic, and you have a clean shot, unless Bucky catches up to you.  He is gaining up on you.”
“How is Manchurian Candidate ganging up on me?”
“He took the West Side Highway all the way down.  He is almost at the bridge, but right now he is in traffic.  The traffic is starting to clear up, so I would hurry up.”
“Yeah, no shit Sherlock.” you huffed, as you turned to keep going down Broadway.  
You did a wheelie up the road.  You were able to go through a few red lights as Sam was informing you of where Natasha and Bucky were.  After a while, and as the song “Eleven” by Khalid and Summer Walker, Sam told you to turn left, leading you right to the Brooklyn Bridge.  
As you were turning left, you saw a motorcycle go through their light and zooming up the road.
“Bucky,” you and Sam said.  Then you gripped the handle of your bike and sped after him.  He had a good lead on you, but you could catch up to him.  It wasn’t that hard.  
You were swerving through the taxis and cars as you tried to gain up on the Winter Soldier, but he was a good driver.  You hated to admit it and you internally punched yourself.  
You approached the Brooklyn Bridge and you had to admit, the view of the city skyline and the Bridge itself was so spectacular.  It was so much better in person.  And with the “Eleven” playing, it made everything even better.  You had watched the music video of the song, and it reminded you of this moment, racing against the person you cared about so much.  All of the bright lights and cars.  
As you were getting off the bridge, you had caught up to Bucky Barnes.  To say you were enraged that he had been ahead of you for this long was an understatement.  You were on fire, your anger consuming you. 
Then the two of you had to slow down because of a red light.  And you were right next to each other.  You looked over at him and saw him giving you a sexy as fuck grin.  You tried your hardest not to moan.  But you let out a quiet moan and bit your lip.  You prayed to god that the moan was blocked out by the sounds of honking and engines.  
“You good there doll?” Bucky asked, bringing you back to the real world.
“Oh yeah.  Are you ready to eat my dust?” you challenged.
“Well I have been ahead of you for this long.  I just need to keep the lead a little bit longer and I will be the winner.  It will go down in the history books.  ‘Bucky Barnes beats Supersonic.’” he said, putting his hands up in the air.
“Well, you will never get the chance, Sarge,” you said as the light changed green and you raced up the street.  Bucky grinned and followed your pursuit.  
You guys were neck and neck the rest of the way.  Your music was doing it’s best to calm your nerves down.  But not much.  When you were racing against Bucky, who was your crush and annoying the living daylights out of you, it was very hard.  You saw how angelic his hair looked in the wind, how his eyes caught the lights of the cars just right, to make his eyes look like galaxies.  Then you and the Winter Soldier approached another red light.  You looked at your dash and saw that this was the final red light before you reached the finish line.  
“So doll I was thinking,” Bucky started once he pulled up beside you.
“Oh no,” you said.
“If I win, what do I get from you?” 
“What do you mean?”
“I see how you look at me.  And Natasha told me you have a small crush on me.”
Damn Natasha, that two faced liar.  No wonder she was the best spy, she was good at everything.  You told her that while you were drunk, entrusting her during a vulnerable moment. 
“Don’t get mad Y/N.  She told me because she wants me to make a move on you.” Bucky said, trying to calm you down. 
“Why?”
“Because, doll.  I like you too.” Bucky said, giving you his most genuine smile and a wink.  
And just as he finished his sentence, the lights changed to green he sped off into the streets of Brooklyn.
You followed him, but you had to think for a moment about what just happened.  
Natasha went behind your back and told your crush you liked him.  This was a good thing, because he liked you too.  But you still were annoyed at Natasha because you trusted her.  You would yell at her later, now you had to focus on beating the Winter Soldier.
He was a few cars ahead of you and he had a straight shot to the finish, since there were no cars ahead of him.  You maneuvered your way through the cars for a little bit until you were side by side with Bucky again. 
“Good to see ya again,” Bucky said while driving.
“I'll see ya at the finish line, James,” you said, pressing your supersonic button once more to secure your spot to victory, all while the song “Living Life, In The Night” by Cheriimoya and Sierra Kidd was blasting at full volume.  
You knew that calling him James was something special to him and only Steve called him, so you had done it intentionally for two reasons.  A: to get him distracted and win.  B: to let him know that you were going to be with him till the end of the line.  And that you loved him.  
Even though you never said I love you to him, he knew that when you called him James, it meant everything and more.  He was over the moon and was willing to let you win.  Sadly.  
You sped up the street.  You felt like Quicksilver, going so fast that the world around you is moving in slow motion.  Your bike was leaving blueish purple trails, that looked like something from a sci-fi movie.  
As you started to slow down, you saw all of your fellow avengers waiting on the side of the road.  Wanda wasn’t wearing her bikini anymore.  Instead she was wearing a blood red leather jacket and pajamas underneath.  Vision was snuggling with her, and they looked so adorable, they made you want to squeal like a 5 year old on Christmas morning.  Tony was chilling on the roof with Rhodey and Thor, eating donuts and listening to AC/DC.  Shuri, Peter and Sam were making a TikTok on the sidewalk, being watched by Aunt May, Hill and Fury.  Once they all saw you coming, they all jumped up and down and screamed at the top of their lungs, except for Fury.  He shows his excitement without screaming. 
You passed the apartment and performed a couple of donuts, leaving trails of smoke in your wake.  You screamed at the top of your lungs at your victory, along with the cheers of everyone else.  
Once you got off your bike, you headed over to everyone, but before you could get over there, Sam ran up to you and picked you up and spun around in circles.
“YES Y/N!!! YOU FUCKING DID IT!!! THAT'S MY GIRL!!!  I AM GONNA BE RICH!!!!” Sam screamed.  You laughed in his arms as he spun you around like a merry-go-round.
Once he put you down, Peter and Shuri came over and told you how happy they were that you won.  Then they went over to look at your bike while you went over to everyone else.  
After a few minutes, Bucky pulled up and everyone cheered for him.  Then Nat followed, and Steve pulled up a little bit later.  
“Everyone shush!” Tony screamed, getting everyone to shut up.
“Now we all know who the best rider is.  Whoever thought otherwise, give your money to Y/N to hold to.”
Vision, Thor, Rhodey, Hill, Peter and Shuri stepped forward and handed you a chunk of cash.  
“Tony you bet against her too, same with you Fury!” Sam shouted.  Tony and Fury took a long sigh and stepped forward.  Fury put 10 bucks in your hand while Tony stepped up and had to pull out his wallet.  He counted up the hundreds and placed them in your hand.
“Tony, how much did you bet?” you asked.
“I bet on Bucky.” he said, giving a death glare to the Super Soldier.
“How much?” you asked again.
“$10,000,” Tony said as if it was nothing.
“Holy shit Tony!” you said, completely taken aback.  “You should always bet on me!”
“Yeah Tony,” Wanda said, mocking Tony and high fiving Sam.  Clearly they were the only two that bet for you, and you were happy that you gave them a high five and handed them the money.  Tony walked away in a huff, returning to his rooftop and donuts.  
“You guys have to split it,” you reminded them.
“We know Y/N,” Wanda said.  “Sam, how much did everyone bet?” 
“Ok for Bucky, Thor bet 50 bucks.  Shuri bet $200 and we all know about Tony.” Sam said, causing everyone to chuckle.
“For Natasha, Peter bet $20, Fury bet $10 and May bet 100 bucks.”
“Not bad,” Natasha muttered.
“And last but not least, Steve Rogers.  Vision bet $100, Rhodey bet 50 bucks and Hill bet 20.”
“Ok, I’ll take it,” Steve said.
Once the money was settled between Wanda and Sam, everyone was talking in small groups.  Leaving you and Natasha.
“We are still friends right?” she asked with a devilish smirk on her face.
“Now I know why you said that.  Why would you tell him?” you asked, exasperated.
“Well, did it work?” she asked, still grinning.
You looked down at the ground, realizing she had the upper hand.  She always did.
“Yes,” you said sheepishly.
“Ahhh.  Now, you shouldn’t be mad.  If anything, you should be thanking me,” Nat smiled.
“Thanks Nat,” you said, trying to look mad, but your happiness was getting in the way, so you tried to conceal it in a hug, which she happily returned.
As you were getting a drink of water, which Tony supplied, you saw Bucky in an alleyway.  Probably to take a break from the crowd.  He was looking at you, in a way you had never seen before.  You had taken it as your cue to walk over to him.
“So, how did you like my dust?” you smiled.
Bucky smirked at you and stepped forward.  You never realized how tall he was until he was inches away from your lips.
“You never answered my question before.” he said, his voice low, gravely and sexy.  It did things to you that you never knew a voice could.
“Well there wasn’t enough time,” you tried to counter, but your voice was barely a whisper.
“Now we have time, sugar.”
“Well what do you want, Bucky?”
“You,”
Your heart swelled and without thinking you leaned into him for a kiss.  One that poured all your feelings for him in ways that words never could.  Bucky was frozen for a second, having to process that you were kissing him.  But once everything in his mind clicked, he leaned in even more.  
You were both out of breath by the time your lips parted.  And once the realization that you kissed settled in, you were both blushing insanely and giggling.
“GUYS I GOT THAT ON CAMERA!!!!” 
Bucky and you turned around to see Sam holding his phone, with the flash on and facing you and Bucky.  And Peter was right behind him.
“Oh no,” you said, and Bucky wasted no time running after the two of them.  He ran after Sam because he held the phone and let Peter slip away and Peter ran to you.
“I am so sorry Y/N!  I told him not to but he wouldn’t listen to me!  Tony bet him $10,000 to record you two kissing!  I didn’t think he would do it but he did and I had nothing to do with it so please don't tell Bucky to kill me!”  Peter blabbered.
You didn’t care, you just put your hand on his shoulder and smiled.
“No, I won’t tell him to kill you.  And now I have a video to relive my first kiss with Bucky.  So, don’t tell Sam or Bucky I said thank you, but thank you.”
“I won’t.  Your secret is safe with me.”
“And me,” Steve said, along with Nat, appearing out of thin air.  Then you and the three of them looked into the street, still watching Sam running away from Bucky, watching Bucky cursing at him while carrying a small pocket knife.
“How long do you guys think this will go on for?” you asked.
“An hour.” Steve said without hesitation.
“Agreed,” Nat said.
“Well, we can steal Sam’s money for fun,” you said.
The three of them gave you a look, like you had three heads.
“I’m down, I mean it’s your night, you got a boyfriend and you won.  You deserve that money.” Nat said.
“You guys down?” you asked Steve and Peter.
“I think I’m just going to eat donuts with Mr. Stark, War Machine and Thor,” Peter said.  “Congrats Y/N!” 
“Yeah I think I have to watch the two of them before Bucky rips his head off,” Steve said, going into a light jog to follow them
“Well, are you ready to get rich?” Nat said, smirking and getting ready for the second mission of the night.
“What about tomorrow's mission?” you asked.
“I think I can handle Rogers.” Nat assured you.
“Well then what are we waiting for?”                   
12 notes · View notes
radioromantic-moved · 3 years
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the content warnings for this ep scared me :( if trexel is mean to david when he is feeling so so terrible i will kill him in real life (btw i have stopped tagging these with character names because i’m cluttering my blog with the trexel tag. hiss.)
-he’s been lying on the floor being sad for four hours NO!!!!! NO!!!!!!!!!!!!
-theyvid 7! good! trexel trying in a stupid dumb trexel way! good! david depression...bad :(
-david just fucking. crawls up onto the ceiling like a spider???
-love how they’re all very emotionally unstable right now in three entirely different directions...we’ve got completely apathetic david, extremely angry hartro, and panicky nervous trexel
-hold on a second. they really did just swap places didn’t they!!!!!
-if it’s my job to be the person who points out continuity errors in an improvised comedy show i’ll do it. christmas isn’t supposed to EXIST anymore at stellar firma they don’t know what it IS. so quickly we forget about the winter holiday client communique. 
-as soon as david mentions firing trexel into the sun imogen sounds more excited about prepping the trexel-cannon than she has in EPISODES
-if no stellar found family then explain why they’ve been fighting like petty siblings this whole time huh??? huh????? explain hartro’s fucking trexel impersonation??????
-“IT HIM!”
-okay i KNOW that was probably a joke at reading into trexel’s character and giving him depth. i know you’re mocking me, merediths. shut up shut up it’s not like i chose this
-“hartro, i think david’s becoming a teen.”
- “no one’s shooting anyone with a laser!” oh thank god he’s being the sensible one “--unless someone has a laser” god fucking dammit we were almost there
-so far we’ve had hartro and david vs trexel and trexel and hartro vs david in this ep. can we complete the trilogy?
-wait. 
-david didn’t know that their cafe got burned d--
-hi okay i’m actually crying a little bit? there are real, genuine tears in my eyes at the way he just slowly says “i’ll deal with that later.” i’m so so sad i am SO SO SAD
-how has trexel not been arrested yet. he bottles up his emotions so much that you poke him and he’ll tell you every other thing that’s ever happened to him except for the important stuff
-HARTRO’S STAYING PERMANENTLY
-AND SHE ADMITS IT’S TO PROTECT THEM???
-“i mean, look what i’ve been dealing with!” “hello!” LOVING your timing there trex
- “you have to be strong. and you have to see beyond the haze, and i’ll tell you what there is--there’s us. and there’s us taking a stand.”
-BAWLS AT THE TOP OF MY LUNGS
- “did i get it right?” “...you did.” he’s helping...in his...way...
-they’re going to be friends by the end of this they’re going to be friends they’re GOING to be friends i’m speaking it into existence and they’re GOING to be friends
-“...we need you, david 7.”
- “’cause we’re a...we’re a team, us three!” “we’re a...we’re a type of a trio.” “a duo plus one!”
-AAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH
Tumblr media Tumblr media
-I’M RUNNING OUT OF CRYING CAT IMAGES
-stellar firma the podcast, or, depending on who you’re talking to, the amazing adventures of trexel geistman,
-“i sense that this the start of a new and confusing phase in all our lives!”
-OKAY OKAY OKAYOKAYOKAY TO BE HONEST I WASN’T SURE IF I WAS GONNA LIKE THIS EP AT FIRST BECAUSE DAVID WAS JUST MAKING ME SAD BUT THEY’RE A TEAM!!!! THEY’RE A TEAM!!!! BURIES MY FEARS THAT TREXEL IS NEVER REALLY GONNA GET BETTER THEY’RE A TEAM!!!!! i have goosebumps now okay. okay. i guess the one thing i didn’t like was “oh ha ha trexel’s the third wheel between david and hartro” cause like. i Get it. they’re actually trying to do stuff while he’s being him. but i don’t want david and trexel’s relationship to get brushed to the side now...let them like each other even in a grudging can’t-admit-it way 
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starker-stories · 4 years
Text
Long Lenses
It’s been awhile since I posted something new & original. This has been sitting forgotten in my WIPs for a bit. Lost it, found it, posting it.
Also on AO3
If you like what I write, may I recommend subscribing to my feed? After having lost my blog to my own idiocy, I kinda have a distrust of tumblr. I’ve had other issues here with things just disappearing for no reason. Plus when tumblr (or I) mess up, anything below a readmore disappears. So AO3 is the best place to read my stuff. It’s ALL there, long or short. 
Relationships: Peter Parker/Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark Characters: Peter Parker, Tony Stark, Quentin Beck, May Parker (Spider-Man) Additional Tags: Cheating, College Student Peter Parker, Closeted Character, Arguing, Happy Ending, Manipulation, Closeted Tony Stark, Press and Tabloids, Secret Relationship, Homophobic Language, used only once, Outing, Offscreen Pepper Potts, Cheating isn't Starker
Summary:  “You’d much rather give the world the image of a happily married heterosexual man than to have the world know that you just go through the motions with her and are secretly as gay as I am,” Peter said bitterly. -------------------------------------------------------------------
“Stay,” Peter said, lying in bed still long before dawn on Sunday morning. He watched Tony dress.
“You know I can’t.” Tony made sure that his suit was appropriately rumpled, his shirt pulled out on one side, his tie askew. He took a drink, rinsed his mouth with the strong scotch. Sloshed a little out of the glass onto his shirt to make the picture believable.
“Stay.” Peter reached out his hand. Tony bent over and kissed Peter, who frowned. “I hate it when you smell like that. Almost as much as I hate the way you smell on Saturday afternoon when you get here. I don’t know what’s worse, watching you pretend to be a drunk or having you smell like her.”
“Peter, you knew the terms when you said yes.”
“And I knew the terms when you said you were going to leave her. When’s that gonna happen, huh?”
Tony sighed. “I hate it when you wake up.”
“You’d rather just sneak out and leave me to wake up to an empty bed,” Peter said angrily.
“Look, she knows I go out with friends on Saturday night. She hates it and gives me hell for it, but I’m here every single Saturday. I have ‘business meetings’ scheduled every Wednesday. Which, since she’s still my PA, she knows I don’t.”
“After which you’re always out the door before ten.”
“Peter, if you don’t like it, I just won’t do it anymore, okay?”
“I’m that fucking inconsequential to you?”
“You know that’s not true. I love you.”
“Not enough to leave her.”
“Things are complicated.”
“Of course they are. You’d much rather give the world the image of a happily married heterosexual man than to have the world know that you just go through the motions with her and are secretly as gay as I am,” Peter said bitterly.
Tony sighed and headed for the door. “Whatever Peter.”
Before the door shut, with a tear strained voice, “Will I see you Wednesday?”
His answer was a closed door.
It didn’t stop him from fixing dinner for two after his last class on Wednesday afternoon. Or waiting nervously to see if the door to the apartment Tony paid for would open by Tony’s key. Almost two hours late, it did.
Tony leaned over and gave Peter a peck on the cheek. “Sorry. I tried to get out as soon as I could, but things ran long.”
He always smelled like her on Wednesdays but this time her perfume was stronger than normal. “It’s okay. I just turned the lasagna down when I noticed you were running late.”
Tony sat at the kitchenette table and watched as Peter laid the dinner. “How was class? Professor Martinez still giving you a hard time?”
“Nothing I can’t handle.” Peter smiled as Tony poured the wine for both of them. “I thought I’d take fifteen hours next semester instead of twelve. Other than physics, the rest is a breeze. I can handle more work.” He paused. “Is that going to be okay? It’s going to cost more.”
“If you think you can handle the course load, you know I have no problem with that, baby. I want you to get whatever you can out of school. Fifteen hours a semester? And if you take summer courses, you can graduate in three years.”
Peter laughed. “One more than it took you.”
“Yeah baby, but I got all my prereqs done while I was in high school. You had to trudge through all that last year.”
“I just didn’t want to take summer classes, that’s all. You mentioned something about a yacht,” Peter said teasingly.
“Yeah, well…”
Peter tried to hide his disappointment. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“It’s just that the press… every time I take the boat out, they’re out there with their long lenses. Fuck, last time they caught me and Pep nude sunbathing with a drone.”
Peter’s lips drew into a sharp line. He’d seen those pictures of course. Nude sunbathing wasn’t the half of what they’d caught. “Summer classes are fine,” he said tersely.
“I’m sorry baby.” Tony reached his hand across the table and took Peter’s in it.
Peter shrugged. “It is what it is, right?”
“I was thinking…” Tony smiled. “I’d take a hell of a hit in the prenup, but if she caught me with another woman… We still couldn’t be public, but as a single man I’d have a lot more time to spend with you.”
Peter brightened. “You’d do that?”
“Pretty sure she already suspects something. It wouldn’t be hard to convince her. To have some ‘well meaning’ friend of hers catch me with a girlfriend and tell her.”
“Then I’d just have to share you with your girlfriend. There’d have to be one, right?”
“Just for show.”
“Why can’t it just be us? No one would care.”
“I still do business in a lot of parts of the world where they do care.”
“I’ll never have you to myself, will I?”
“You’ll always be the only one who I love. Why do we have to fight? I get to see you so little, I hate to spend it fighting.”
Peter smiled. “I can think of much better ways to spend the next two hours.”
~~~~~
It wasn’t difficult to make a device to disguise his voice. Finding a payphone in a New York suburb was harder, but he hacked into the phone company’s computer and got a list of every functional payphone within twenty miles of a train stop. Getting there untraceably was another challenge. But trains were anonymous and cab drivers even more so when you behaved normally without anything odd to set you apart from dozens of other fares. The phone was a lot closer to the train station than he thought, so he decided that after his call, he’d just walk back there. Even more anonymous.
Finding a reporter with a grudge against Tony Stark wasn’t hard at all. Finding one who had the clout to push a controversial story past frightened editors narrowed the field down to one, Quentin Beck.
“Mr. Beck? I’ve got some news about Tony Stark you might be interested in.”
“I doubt it. I’d need sources and those dry up as soon as Stark starts throwing his money around.”
“He’s having an affair.”
“I thought you said news. Everyone knows that he cheats on his wife.”
“With another man?” Peter added.
“You have my attention. That’s a hell of an accusation. I’ll need details and undeniable proof.”
“Details I can give you. Proof, you’ll have to get on your own.”
“Details then,” Beck said tersely.
“They meet every week.”
“How do you know this?”
“I see him go in. I know who lives there.”
“How do you know that he’s not seeing a woman there? Because like I said, that’s no news at all.”
“The women living in that building are either old or with kids,” Peter expected Beck to take the bait sooner than that. He was having to improvise.
“Lotta women with kids screw around.”
“The only man living in that building is a queer. Stark’s gotta be at least twice his age. It’s sick.” It hurt Peter to have to refer to both of them like that, but Beck was still resisting.
“Address?”
Peter gave him the address of the building he lived in. “He’s there every Saturday. I don’t know if there’s any other time. I’ve seen him go in. My shift ends at two and I’ve never seen him come out, so he stays until after that.” There were three different all night businesses on the same block as his apartment. It wasn’t unbelievable that someone in one of them could’ve seen Tony go into his building.
“Who are you? So I can credit you.”
Peter laughed. “I’m not losing my job over this.”
“So you’re just a concerned citizen.”
“Yep. I don’t like perverts passing themselves off as good married men.”
~~~~~
It was easy for Peter to take the intercom in his apartment apart and disconnect the buzzer to let Tony in on Saturday afternoon.
“Something’s wrong with my door thing.” Peter explained as he came down to the door. He was barefoot and wearing shorts so short they were barely covered by the hem of his t-shirt. “I can hear the doorbell ring, but I can’t buzz anyone in. My pizza last night was almost sent back. Fortunately the delivery guy phoned me.” He leaned up and gave Tony a quick peck on the cheek as he shut the glass lobby door behind him.
“Glad to see you’re in a better mood tonight.” Tony smiled and caught Peter by the waist returning his peck with a more substantial kiss.
“I get to have you in my bed all night, of course I’m in a better mood.” Peter smiled, took Tony’s hand and led him up the stairs to his apartment which was over a block of small shops.
There was no arguing, no demands, no pouting. Peter had no idea if Beck actually took his tip seriously or not. But it was a last ditch effort to finally have Tony be his. Tony would never know how Quentin Beck got his information. He was one of the reporters who dogged him ceaselessly and one he hadn’t been able to control. Peter was fairly certain that Tony would believe it was just bad luck and Beck following him trying to get dirt on something else.
Upstairs, Tony took apart Peter’s intercom and found the singed wire he made to look like an ordinary short.
“Thank you. It’s so hard to get the super up to do anything around here. I’m not complaining. It’s a nice apartment, close to school, and right on the subway, so it’s perfect. But you know… they try to get away with doing as little work as possible.”
Tony laughed. “I should buy the building.”
“It’s a little down market for you, don’t you think?”
~~~~~
It was one of the best Saturday nights they’d had in a long time. Especially since Peter pretended to be very hard asleep when Tony got up to leave. He grumbled a little and turned over but then drifted (or seemed to) right back off.
Now all he had to do was wait for the papers. It was probably too late to make it into Sunday’s but Monday morning? Peter didn’t buy a copy. He didn’t want the evidence lying around his apartment. But the library at school had subscriptions to every New York paper. It wasn’t in the paper Beck worked for. Peter was about to give up, disappointed that his scheming came to nothing. Then he saw the tabloid. It didn’t have a byline for Quentin Beck, just ‘staff’. Peter supposed that when his editor shot him down, Beck decided that a paycheck was worth more than a byline.
The pictures were remarkably clear. Peter winced at seeing how clear his face was in addition to Tony’s. He winced harder when he read the article and found out that either Beck or the tabloid’s staff had discovered his name from the apartment’s records. And even worse, they had copies of checks from Tony’s private account that showed he paid Peter’s rent.
He ran home from the school library. There were reporters outside his door. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I forgot my chemistry text. I need to get back before my next class. Why are you here? Let me through! Don’t touch me!” He twisted out of the reporter’s grasp. He was shaking so hard he couldn’t get his key to work. They were shouting questions at him and cameras were going off around him. Three tries later, he was inside the lobby where reporters weren’t allowed to go. He didn’t wait for the elevator but ran up the stairs. He pulled the curtains shut and curled up in the middle of the bed, crying. 
Clearly, he had not thought this through. He had grossly miscalculated and he regretted his decision tremendously. Instead of doing something to assure him of finally having Tony all to himself, he might have driven him away permanently.
Peter sat staring at his phone, hoping Tony would call. It rang often, but he didn’t answer. Tony had a special ringtone. All other calls, even from his friends, he rejected. Tony didn’t call. Peter imagined he was busy trying to put out the fires on his end. After a few hours, he tried to call Tony. It rang once and then went straight to voicemail. He didn’t leave a message. He waited another hour to the same results. The next call, two hours later, he left a voicemail.
“Tony, I’m scared. They’re outside my door. I… I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know what to say. I’m locked in and I’m alone and I don’t know what’s going on.” He was crying. “What happened, Tony? Please call me back. Please. I know… I know things have to be bad for you too. But I’m scared, Tony. I’m scared.” 
Not only might he lose Tony, but his whole life was about to be ruined. If they had the rent checks, they would find other things too. Like his school schedule. Like the fact that Tony was paying his tuition. That he’d set up an account for Peter to pay for groceries and books and other little things. Oh god, they might even find out his aunt’s name and number.
“May? Has anyone… Have you…” Peter was sobbing.
“Peter, what’s going on? I went to work and my friend showed me the paper. You and Tony Stark? Is that true? I know they can make pictures up to look like whatever they want.”
“It’s true. It was a secret. It was supposed to stay a secret. I don’t know how they found out. They’re outside my door. I could barely get into my apartment building.”
“He’s married, Peter. How could you!”
“He said he was going to leave her. He said he loved me.”
May sighed. “Sweetie, they don’t ever leave their wives, you know that. Men like Tony Stark… he buys and sells people like they were nothing.”
“He isn’t like that, May. He… he was going to leave her. He had a plan and everything. It was just going to take time. He loves me and I love him.” He sniffled and tried to stop crying. “Are you okay? They haven’t bothered you, have they?”
“I’ve had some calls but I hung up on them. But no one’s been here at the apartment though. Not like your place. The internet has the story already. I saw your picture trying to get into your building.” She paused. “Is it true he pays for your rent?”
“Y-y-yeah.” He was sniffling again. “And my tuition and everything else.”
“So you don’t have a job like you told me.”
“I used to. When I told you, I was an intern at Stark Industries, that was true. But it only lasted a few months before Tony and I… I’m sorry May. I didn’t want to lie to you, but it had to be a secret. He couldn’t have anyone knowing.” He started crying again. “Now everybody knows. And he isn’t calling me back.”
“Peter, even if everything you said is true, that he loves you and was going to leave his wife, he can’t call you right now. If… I don’t even know how to explain this to you… you’re young. You don’t know what it’s like to be married.”
“Not you and Ben… that never happened between you, did it?” Peter sounded afraid.
“No, no. Neither of us were like that. But you hear about it from friends. There are friends I have at the hospital whose husbands cheated on them. It’s… messy. It’s complicated. And that’s without being famous and the press hounding them all the time. This can’t be easy for his wife. Think about her. I don’t mean to be harsh, sweetie, but you just ruined her life.”
“I’m not the first affair he’s had,” Peter said defensively.
“But you’re the one he got caught with. And the only man.”
“Not even that.”
“Okay. But you’re the one she can’t deny or push under the carpet or pretend she doesn’t know about.”
“I don’t care about her,” Peter said angrily.
“That’s obvious,” May said, with a little anger of her own.
“It’s not my fault.”
“Whose is it? You knew he was married. The whole world knows he’s married. Sure, it took both of you, but you didn’t have to say yes. How long has this been going on?”
“About a year and a half.”
“Peter!”
“We’re in love. He doesn’t love her. He hasn’t loved her for a long time. Even before me.”
“I can believe that man has no morals, but you? I thought…”
“I’m in love with him,” Peter interrupted her. “That’s all I know. I’m in love with him.” Peter was sobbing. “You don’t know him like I do. Nobody does. He’s different when he’s with me.”
“Well, I’m not going to talk to anyone about it. I didn’t know anything and obviously, I still don’t know anything. I thought I knew you but…”
“You do. You just don’t get it. We fell in love. That’s not something you can control.”
“But you can control acting on it. I’m sorry you’re in the mess you’re in, but it’s a mess you made for yourself. You have to think of the other people whose lives you ruined by choosing to sleep with a married man.”
~~~~~
It was after midnight before Tony’s ringtone played on Peter’s phone. “Tony?” he asked hesitantly.
“Yeah baby. I’m so sorry. I should’ve known… I never meant for you to be caught up in this. The damn fucking reporters follow me everywhere.”
“Are you okay?”
“I will be. Like was going to happen with my plan, I’m gonna take a hell of a hit to the pocket by the prenup. She insisted on a cheating clause, knowing my lack of ability to keep it in my pants. But she never would’ve pulled that trigger unless something went public.”
“But you can manage that, right?”
“It’s not gonna send me to the poorhouse, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“I’m not. You know I don’t love you for your money. I hope you do.”
“I know baby. Bad joke. Sorry.”
“Are you still at home?”
“Nope. I mean, it’s still going to be my home once the separation’s over and done with. The building belongs to the company and the company belongs to me. I’ll need to buy out her share of the penthouse, but that’s not a problem. It was just prudent that I be the one to leave right now. Give her time to cool down, let the lawyers hash things out.”
“I wasn’t sure you’d call.” He paused. “Ever.”
“Really? Doubt me that much?”
Peter sighed heavily. “Things don’t usually work out well for the ‘other woman’.”
“Yeah, but the guy usually isn’t in love with the ‘other woman’. I love you.”
“Still? Even though…” He sighed again. “The other woman turned out to be the other man?”
“It’s kind of a relief, actually. I mean, yeah, life is gonna be hard for awhile, but then we can be together.”
“You still want that?”
“You still want me?” Tony asked.
“Yeah, Tony. I’m kind of in love with you.” He paused, twirling the fringe on his bedspread in his fingers. “My aunt kinda hates me.”
“I’m sorry. The whole homewrecker thing?” Tony asked.
“Yeah. She doesn’t understand.”
“It doesn’t help that the papers are… fucking ruthless. But what’s done is done. No putting this genie back in his closet,” he laughed wryly.
“I’m sorry Tony.”
“Not your fault baby. It just never happened before because I never stayed with the same person for more than a few nights. After a year and a half, my habits got picked up on. Traveling to the same place on a regular schedule. Someone was bound to catch me sooner or later.”
“So what’s gonna happen now?” Peter asked.
“Well, I could always have Happy drive by and pick you up to bring you to my suite at the Plaza.”
“What‽”
Tony chuckled. “Not like we have to keep it a secret anymore. Not like the whole world doesn’t know I’m into guys after today’s headlines. Not like she can sue me twice for cheating on her. The only question is how much heat are you willing to bear to be with me. Because it’s gonna get really hot for you, baby. They’re gonna dig out every nasty word in the thesaurus and print them.”
“Do I get to be with you?”
“Well, yeah.”
“Let them print,” Peter said with fierce determination. “I’ll send them a list in case their thesaurus isn’t complete.”
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itslucyluna · 3 years
Text
Fan Fic Tag Game 2020
Thank you @ailec-12 for tagging me! 
Ao3 Name: Lucy_Luna
Fandoms: I was active in the HP, Spider-Verse, and ATLA/LoK fandoms this year.
1. Fic that was the hardest to write/you spent the most time on: The fic I’ve spent the most time on is Long Way From Home, the eighth story in my Severus has a little sister AU series. It’s not really been difficult to write per se, just time-consuming. There’s just been so much I’ve had to write to tell the story.
2. Fic you spent the least time on/easiest to write: I think it’s no surprise the stories I’ve spent the least time on this year are the one-shots I’ve written. Like My Ancestors Behind Me, Names, The Sky is Wrecked and Full of Rotting Clouds. However, I would say my easiest to write has been To Make The Bridge. Once @ailec-12 gave me the idea for it, the story just really came together in no time. It’s essentially all written except for an epilogue I’m still deciding on.
3. Longest fic: The longest fic I have worked on this year is They Didn’t Know We Were Seeds. I haven’t really written a lot for it this year though. I would say the longest story I’ve put the most work into this year is Long Way From Home.
4. Shortest fic: My Ancestors Behind Me. It’s 836 words.
5. Fic you were nervous to post: I really don’t get nervous before posting. However, I think the story I felt most uncertain about before posting was The Prince's Return. I wasn’t sure what kind of audience there would be for it. However, now that I’ve posted, there does seem to be a small amount of intrigued readers, so I’m happy!
6. How do you choose your titles: I really don’t have a set way of doing it. Like, I guess I just try to find something that sort of tells what the story is about. For example, with my Spider-Verse stuff, there’s one story called An Unexpected Visitor. Surprise surprise, during the story someone unexpected visits. Lots of the stories written in that fandom have uncreative titles like that.
7. Fave fic you read: I think I’ll pick a one-shot and a multi-chapter. I discovered and really enjoyed pretend you don't have one by TheTartWitch. It’s an AU nonlinear one-shot about Severus Snape from the start of his time at Hogwarts until I wanna say shortly before Harry becomes a student. My favorite multi-chapter is Salvage by MuffinLace. It’s an atla AU where Zuko ends up on Hakoda’s ship and ends up basically being adopted by him. I absolutely loved and am loving seeing Zuko become his kid and a part of the crew.
8. Fave fic you wrote: That’s hard. I don’t think I could say I have an all-time fav. I liked writing everything, but To Make The Bridge was especially enjoyable. It’s been a really relaxing story to put together actually.
9. Fave comment: This one from @ailec-12:
“AHHH, the feelings of this chapter! Finally, Sirius realises that Severus's odd behaviour is a consequence of the abuse he suffers (suffered) at home. I like that we have the same headcanons regarding how Sirius reacted when arguing with his parents. I think it fits him a lot that he felt better for "earning" his punishments without giving up on doing something to fight them.
Snape had never taken anything from him or James or anyone else lying down. Why would he do the same with his parents? What made them so different? Just because they were supposedly authority figures he let them belittle and hurt him for no good reason? That didn't sound right. Sometimes, even with the professors, Severus would row with them over detentions and lost points.
Ohhh, but this quote. I, too, think that the reason why Severus never backed down from a fight at Hogwarts is to regain some control. Whether it was fighting the Marauders even outnumbered or confronting professors, he was convincing himself he was not a coward, he could start some fights and win them. As always, this is my headcanon, since we hardly have any information about day-to-day affairs in the Marauders' Era. It's so fun to try and guess, though! Especially when you see some of your guesses reflected in a fic.
Also, Sirius realising that he's behaved somewhat similarly to his own parents with Severus and, right away, feeling crushed by guilt is everything I needed to read today. His apology is another big step to improve their relationship further. I love reading character development and I wonder how sixteen-year-old Severus would react to it —whether he would still be willing to accept that apology or would firmly believe it's all a trap.
The scene with the chocolate frog card was adorable and just the cherry on top Sirius's apology needed. It also reminded me I'd sorta forgotten about them in my fic, hahaha. I'll have to introduce them as a tribute to your story!
He'd have to find a way to make the friendship he made with this boy-Snape stick and pull him over to the right side of things when they were the same age.
Yesssss. Now, I can't stop picturing the Marauders (plus Lily) introducing Severus to Remus's parents. So freaking adorable.
And that cliffhanger after all the wonderful feelings!!! I can't wait to keep reading!”
Without it, To Make The Bridge would not exist. And as I said before, it’s been a lot of fun writing it. So this is my fav comment this year :)
10. Fic you want to rewrite/expand on: I won’t, but I guess if there’s any story I’d rewrite ever it’s They Didn’t Know We Were Seeds. It’s a hundred chapters. I think I could definitely go back and combine a lot of chapters and practically halve the length as well as just improve what’s there to be more fleshed out. As for what I could definitely expand on, it’d be my Severus has a little sister AU series. I already have plans for a story after Long Way From Home, but that story has already got me thinking about even more stories for the series. 
11. Share a bit of your WIP or share a story idea that you’re planning: Ah so many choices. I’ve been writing a little bit here and there for all of my WIPs lately. Here’s a little something from what will be the second chapter of The Prince's Return:
“I can’t say I know what happens after this for you, but it seems to me whatever negotiations Jinora and Tenzin have with the spirit world on your behalf will end well and everything will be put right again,” he concluded, smiling in reassurance at the nonplussed boy.
Zuko stepped back and out of his grip. “Nothing ever goes that smoothly for me,” he declared like a threat — or, maybe, a warning.
Iroh showed his palms to the boy. “I don’t know what to say to that,” he said. His grandfather had never seemed that unlucky to him. In fact, Iroh had thought he was always very lucky. Against all odds, he’d changed the world for the better.
12. What was your goal for your fics this year? Did you meet it?: I didn’t have any hard goals really. I wanted to finish a few things, which I did. However, I also started a few things, so, I’m not really writing less. Which is actually okay. That was also something I hoped I would do this year. Write more than I didn’t. 
13. What is your goal for your fics next year?: Finish Long Way From Home, To Make The Bridge, and The Prince's Return.
14. Highlight of your fandom year: The new season of The Umbrella Academy? That was fun and I liked checking out the new fanfics that came out after it too. Also, The Haunting of Bly Manor was fun to binge around Halloween.
15. Highlight of your personal year: I finished a couple of traditionally published books, as well as a cross-stitch and am halfway done with another.
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a-vintage-snake · 4 years
Text
Reap The Hate You’ve Sown
Pairing(s): Romantic Royality
First chapter - Previous chapter - Next chapter
Warnings: Choking, manipulation, villanous Deceit Characters: Roman Sanders, Patton Sanders, Virgil Sanders, Deceit Sanders, Remus Sanders,
Summary: Roman ventures out to rescue his brother
Word Count: 7585
People who were asked to be tagged: @avocados26, @fandoms-will-collide @nottoonormalme, @bihighandgivinghighfives, @atticusfinchthelegend​, @hekking-happy-nonsense, @lockmcduckwoodchuck
If you want to be removed or added to the taglist, just ask!
Read on AO3
The storm howled as three figures made their way through the woods surrounding the castle. Branches pulled at Roman’s hair as he cleaved his way through the forest. It was pitch black aside from a small purple glowing orb Virgil had conjured to light their way. General Isolda closed the ranks, occasionally pulling Roman or Virgil to safety when an overhead branch swept dangerously low in the fierce wind.
“Where do we go?” General Isolda asked. “How do we know where the warlock keeps the prince?”
“We have to go to the eye of the storm,” Virgil said darkly. “It won’t be far. That’s where he’ll be waiting for us.”
A shudder crept over Roman’s spine, which had nothing to do with the relentless storm. He tried to remind himself he had done this countless times, he had fought monsters for years! It didn’t work. This was no mindless beast, just acting on a hungry belly. No, this demon was driven by a vastly different kind of hunger. Roman remembered the eyes that had rested on him for a few seconds… He couldn’t shake the feeling that the warlock wouldn’t stop until he devoured everyone in the castle.
The further they got into the woods, the quieter the wind became. When they finally stepped out into an open spot, it had become wind still. A perfect circle in the sky showed of the starlit sky. Roman looked up, gaping at the swirling clouds that raged just outside the circle, yet he felt not a single breeze.
“There he is.” The general said. Roman snapped his attention back to the open spot. In the middle clearing stood a large tree. Someone was tied to the trunk, strapped tightly in roots and branches.
“Remus…” Roman took off in a sprint towards the tree, ignoring the cursed out protests of his companions. “REMUS!!” He didn’t bother to check if the others followed behind him. All he could see was his brother’s pale face, his eyes closed and his head leaning limply against a branch.
A fire sprouted up just a few meters from the tree. Roman could stop just in time, the flames licking at his hands. He took a few steps back, his companions running up next to him.
“That’s far enough, dear.” A voice said. From the shadows of the tree stepped the warlock. A snap of his fingers and the fire extinguished itself. The general unsheathed her sword. Virgil bared his teeth in a hiss. Romeo the spider crawled out from the sorcerer’s cloak to sit protectively on Virgil’s head and joined in on the hissing. Roman only tried to swallow away his fear.
“Well, well, well, look who have come to play the knights in shining armour…” Deceit drawled. “The beloved crown prince,” He turned to Virgil, who glared daggers at him. “A sorcerer with secrets,” Lastly he turned to general Isolda. “And I have no idea who you are, so I’m just going to ignore you!”
“Unhand my brother, villain!” Roman said in a braver voice than he felt.
“Are these the only soldiers that Augusto could spare from his grand armies?” The warlock laughed softly as he strode to Remus in his wooden prison. “Pathetic, really. My expectations were low to begin with, but this?” He tutted and shook his head. “This is just sad.”
“I said, unhand my brother!” Roman tightened the hold on his sword to hide how his hands were shaking.
“I thought you were all too scared for your insignificant little lives to leave him at my mercy for so long,” Deceit said as he absentmindedly trailed a finger across Remus’ jawline. “But I guess it’s just plain indifference. A minor setback. If one son captured isn’t enough for that coward to face me, maybe…” Deceit tilted his head in thought. “Maybe I just need to capture his golden boy. What do you think, dear prince?” He turned to Roman. “Would your parents save you? Or would they leave you to rot, just like your brother?”
“Over my dead body!” Virgil growled. He stepped up next to Roman. His eyes had never been a more vivid purple. “If you want him, you have to go through me first, you lying scumbag!”
“Dear me, Virgil,” Deceit sighed. “Still as dramatic as ever, I see. I don’t know why I expected otherwise.”
Virgil stiffened. “Don’t!” He hissed at hooded man.
“What? I just meant you haven’t changed since I last saw you-”
“Don’t!”
“-When you abandoned me all alone in the mountains! That hurt, you know.”
“…Wait.” Roman looked between the two men, confusion mixing with fear. “You… know him, Virge?”
“…Oh dear,” The warlock delightedly said after a few seconds of tense silence. “What an awkward situation! You never shared that little fact with the class, did you? What’s wrong, stormcloud?” Virgil recoiled at the nickname, but Deceit gleefully continued on. “Ashamed of your old master? Well go ahead! Do tell your new friends who exactly taught you everything you know!”
“Old master…? You mean-?” Roman stared at his friend who hung his head, shame colouring his cheeks. “Tell me that’s not true! Tell me he’s lying!”
Roman desperately wanted Virgil to deny it, wanted his friend to grow angry, to spit and yell at the accusations. Instead Virgil only guiltily avoided Roman’s eyes.
“Oh he was such a diligent student,” Deceit continued. “Always ready to learn, so eager to follow my instructions. When I told him to apply for the job of court sorcerer, he readily agreed to be my spy! Didn’t you, stormcloud?”
“Your spy…?” Roman whispered.
“Shut up!” Virgil spat at the warlock. “I’m not the obedient little puppet you tried to make of me! I freed myself! Please Ro,” Virgil turned to Roman pleadingly. “I don’t work for him! I would never hurt you!”
“You are his spy?” Roman asked horrified.
“I’m not!”
“Yes you aaaaaare!” Deceit singsonged. “I mean, really, prince Roman! You can’t trust anyone these days!”
“I SAID SHUT UP!!” Virgil snapped before turning back to Roman. “Alright, maybe it started like that, but I had a change of heart very quickly! Please, I promise I’m not that person anymore! I changed, I swear!”
Roman said nothing. He could only back away from the man he considered his friend, betrayal nearly suffocating him. Hurt crossed Virgil’s face.
A hand grasped his shoulder, stopping him. Roman startled, looking up to general Isolda’s stern face.
“Know your enemies, my prince.” The general said solemnly.
“I… I don’t-” Roman stammered.
“You would distrust the one who dropped everything to help you, at the risk of angering the crown?” General Isolda continued. “Who has had every chance to hurt you in the past, but never did? Or do you want to believe the words of someone who tries to manipulate you to forsake your friend?” The woman glared at the warlock. “The one who has your brother in captivity, might I add?”
Roman tried to think of something to say, but every retort died on his lips. He glanced back at Virgil.
“I swear on my life, Ro…” Virgil pleaded. “I’m on your side.”
…...The general was right. What was he doing?
“I… I trust you, Virge,” Roman nodded, shamefully. “I’m sorry-!”
“Good,” The general released Roman’s shoulder. “Glad you have come to your senses, my prince.”
“Don’t worry,” Virgil assured. “You’re not the first to fall for his trickery,” With a growl he turned back to Deceit. “But I’ll make damn sure you’re the last!”
“You’re outnumbered,” The general said to the warlock. “Now unhand the prince.”
“I don’t like you.” Deceit scowled at her.
“Go back to ignoring me then,” She countered.
“Such a strong woman,” Deceit said. “I’m so impressed. I guess strength is the only worthwhile thing Augusto sees in you, doesn’t he? Don’t you wish you had-”
“Your tricks won’t work.” Roman interrupted, grinning when the warlock let out a low hiss in annoyance. “Release my brother, or we will get him back through force!”
“I’m positively quivering,” Deceit deadpanned, before he gave a resigned sigh. “Have it your way.”
It was the only warning they got.
Roman felt it before he saw it. An all-encompassing heat as his eyes violently had to adjust to a sudden burst of bright light. General Isolda dragged him to the side just in time as a comet of golden flames singed Roman’s hair. As abruptly as the light had started, a wall of purple sheened shadows extinguished the flames. Roman blinked away spots in his vision, never more glad for the dark.
“Very good, Virgil!” Deceit taunted. “You’re so… Evolved.”
“There’s more where that came from.” Virgil said, just a hint out of breath.
“Well then,” Deceit said. His eyes flared up like flames in the darkness. “Teacher versus student! Show me what you have learned!”
“Gladly.” Virgil spat. The shadows built in his hands, before Virgil flung them towards Deceit with an infuriated scream. Golden flames met them in the middle, colliding into each other. Roman watched as an inferno of purple and gold swirled up in a tornado of raw magic. When it vanished the two men attacked each other, snarling and snapping like animals, magic scorching the air. Deceit towered over the short sorcerer, but what Virgil lacked in physical stature and strength he made up with pure, relentless rage. Even so Roman saw his friend struggle.
“We have to help!” He said to the general. The woman nodded, determined. Side by side they threw themselves into battle with a drawn out war cry, falling in next to their friend.
It was three against one. To Roman it felt like he was fighting a small army. Spells slammed into cold metal, magic met swords. Any time he tried to get a hit in, the warlock disappeared and reappeared somewhere else. The warlock cast spells and vanished fluid and agile like a snake before any of them could counteract. Hits and spells meant for Deceit struck themselves or their companions. General Isolda would swing her sword only to meet thin air, missing Virgil by a hair. After a spell of sharp shadowed arrows just barely avoided Roman, Virgil was forced to go with less dangerous spells. Whenever either of them tried to get close to the tree they were driven back by energy blasts or flames. Virgil shouted a spell that Deceit countered easily. Purple shadows fiercely fought against golden light.
Eventually however they started to see through his tricks. A blade grazed Deceit’s hand, leaving an angry red line. Virgil’s spells met their target more often. They adapted, saw attacks better coming and jumped out of the way quicker. Roman could cheer when he finally saw the warlock falter in his steps, hope coming alive in his chest. They could actually do this!
An energy blast propelled Roman backwards, landing on his back a few meters away. He quickly scrambled up again and ran back towards the battle. The warlock shot him a look, then looked back at Virgil and general Isolda. Deceit slammed his fists together and yelled something incomprehensible. Mist whirled up around him, surrounding him and pulling him from sight. And it didn’t stop there. It grew and crept over the open spot at an alarming speed, until even the starlit sky was obscured from sight. Roman stopped. He whirled around, turning, turning, more frantic each time. There was nothing. Just mist. He couldn’t see an inch in front of his face.
“Virgil?” He shouted hesitantly. “General??”
“We’re here!” General Isolda’s voice answered, further away than what was reasonably possible.
“Where are you? I can’t see you!” Roman’s voice cracked on the last ‘you’. His heart raced in his throat.
“Stay put! We’ll find you!” Virgil answered, his voice even more distant than the general’s. Roman nodded, croaking out a shivery ‘okay’, as he tried to stay still. Part of him wanted to run and scream. Part of him wanted to curl up and cry. Where was his bravado now? Where was the courage that never failed him when he slayed monsters? He swallowed, inhaled deeply through his nose. Four seconds in, hold for seven, breathe out for eight. Four seconds in, hold for seven, breathe out for eight.
Everything would be okay. They would return safe and sound with his brother. He would have another chance. Everything would be okay. They would return safe and sound with his brother. He would have another chance. Everything would be okay, everything would be okay, everything would be okay-
He repeated the same mantra in his head over and over, hoping to calm his hammering heart and every instinct that screamed at him to run, run, run, run, run, RUN-!
A shadow moved in the corner of his eye. Roman whirled around. Nothing there. A soft laugh echoed at the edge of his hearing. He leapt and swung his sword, but only cleaved through mist. Endless, endless mist.
“Over here.” A voice teasingly whispered behind him. Roman screamed and jumped around, once more swinging his sword and finding nothing. The voice laughed again, this time to the right of him.
“Princey??” Virgil yelled anxiously, still too far away.
“I’m here!” Roman choked out, a whisper more than anything. He attempted to yell louder, but his throat closed up painfully. A hissing sound made him spin on his heels. Roman caught a glimpse of something slither on the ground, something with yellow and black scales before it slinked back into the mist. He walked backwards, legs trembling underneath him.
“You fight so bravely, dear prince,” The voice hissed. “But in vain. You know you can’t win thissss…”
“I won’t stop fighting,” Roman answered wobbly. “I won’t!”
“Oh, of course you won’t,” The voice cooed, circling him. Roman tried to follow it, hoping to spot something other than mist. “You’ve fought all your life, haven’t you?”
“Yes!” Roman said. “I have defeated many foul beast before you, and you will be no different!”
“All those victories,” The voice hummed. “And yet none of those have ever truly satisfied you, haven’t they? Because you can’t fill your hollow heart with empty praises.”
Roman’s heart thumped in his throat. “I… I don’t know w-what you’re talking about!” He answered.
“It’s amazing what one spills when they’re in pain… What dark secrets your brother has told me about you.” The voice shifted, and suddenly Roman felt a solid presence behind him, hot breath tickling his skin as Deceit spoke directly into his ear. “I know your heart, Roman Alveraz.”
With a startled shout Roman spun on his feet, lurching his sword towards the other. It was blocked mid-air as Deceit grabbed the blade and held on tight. Roman was left staring into the piercing golden eyes that glowed from the darkness of the hood. He felt like prey trapped under a predator’s hungry glare.
“I know how you constantly fight for approval,” Deceit said. Blood trickled down his palm, but still he held the sword tight. “I know you fight for the love from your peers, while your ambitions rot at your feet.”
“Stop it…” Roman said shakily.
“I know how you follow in mommy and daddy’s footsteps like a good little marionette,” Deceit continued on mercilessly. “I know how you obediently dance every step they ask of you, until your feet are bleeding and raw. I know you hide behind that mask you call your true face.”  
“Stop it!!”
“You must be so tired, dear prince… All those years fighting, and for what? For a crown you know very well you haven’t earned? For the shallow smiles of people who would stab you in the back at their first opportunity?”
“Don’t listen to him!!” Virgil’s voice sounded from across the mist.
“I can help you, you know,” Deceit said sweetly. “Your life is a balancing act above a raging wildfire, where even the smallest mistake burns you beyond repair. But I could douse the flames. You don’t have to fight anymore. I can make it all stop. No more fake smiles, no more pretending… I can take the pain away for you. Forever.”
“He’s lying!! Roman, don’t listen to him!” Virgil shouted, but Roman scarcely noticed. He was drowning. Deceit’s words pushed him down under in an ocean of honey, sweet and suffocating.
“You want that,” Deceit pressed on. “Don’t you?”
“Yes…” Roman whispered before he could stop himself. “Yes.”
“Of course you do,” Deceit said gently, ever so gently. “But if you want my help, you know what you’ll have to do first…”
“Invite you in…”
“Exactly!” Deceit’s voice shook in triumph. “Walk back into the castle, and invite me in.”
“…No.” Roman said in weak defiance. “No! You’ll hurt people-!”
Deceit growled, all gentleness leaving him. “What have they done for you? What do those mindless sheep mean to you? Nothing. You owe them nothing!”
The golden eyes flared up with every word, and Roman was helplessly pinned down under their gaze. A shiver started in his leg- Wait, his leg?
“You think anyone would miss them if their worthless lives ended?” Deceit went on, but Roman was a bit distracted by the tingle on his leg that startlingly enough moved up. The shiver crawled up and up, until it crawled onto Roman’s shoulder and down his arm. Roman only briefly saw a dark purple gleam and eight furry legs, before it leapt. With the tiniest yet fiercest war cry ever heard, Romeo the spider soared through the sky like an avenging angel and landed full on the warlock’s face.
Deceit gave an undignified screech as he released Roman’s sword and leapt back, flailing his arms around as he tried to smack the spider off. The mist surrounding them disappeared. Deceit’s concentration was broken.
“Get off, get off!!” The warlock shrieked, golden spells continuously just missing the purple blur that crawled over him with lightning speed.
“Good Romeo!!” Virgil yelled proudly as he ran to Roman to drag him away from the preoccupied warlock.
“He’s distracted!” General Isolda shouted. “Now is our chance!”
It was the only thing Roman needed to hear to shake away the hold that the honeyed words had on him. Virgil released him as Roman ran towards the tree, where general Isolda was already busy slashing away the roots that kept Remus prison. Roman and Virgil joined in her efforts, Roman using his sword and Virgil blasting small fire blasts to burn the wood. Roman’s breath quickened, his arms swinging frantically. Too slow, too slow, this was too slow-!!
“Keep working!” Roman yelled as he threw down his sword. The other two shouted in confusion, Roman ignored them. He wrapped his arms around Remus’ torso and pulled. He heard branches snapping as his brother was torn free from their grasp. Understanding his plan, Virgil and the general doubled their effort on the roots still wrapped around Remus. Roman kept pulling, throwing his whole body into it. He felt how the roots gave way bit-by-bit, until-
Abruptly all resistance fell away. Roman lost his balance and fell on his back, dragging his brother with him. The air was knocked out of his lungs by the limp body suddenly dropped on his chest. The weight was promptly removed when general Isolda lifted Remus up and threw him over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
“We got him!” She said as Roman staggered back onto his feet with Virgil’s help. “We have to get out of here now!”
“Not so fast.”
They turned. Deceit stood, slightly panting, but victoriously holding out a hand where Romeo squirmed and struggled to break free. Virgil paled.
“No,” Virgil pleaded. “Deceit, please no-!”
“So you do remember some of my lessons,” Deceit said with an unpleasant tone. “Good.”
Deceit tightened his hand and squeezed. Romeo let out pained squeaks at the same time as Virgil wailed, dropping onto his knees while clutching his chest.
“Virgil??” Roman kneeled next to his friend, whose face was pale with pain. He didn’t understand. What was happening??
“Deceit…” Virgil gasped. “Please, please stop-!!”
“You know what I want,” Deceit said a little shakily. His hand trembled as he gripped the spider even harder. Virgil cried out and the warlock looked away. “I never wished to hurt you, stormcloud, despite what you think of me…” He continued softly. “But I have to do this. I hope I can make you understand some day.”
“Whatever it is you want, it’s yours!” Roman yelled, even as Virgil weakly protested. “Just stop what it is you’re doing, just stop!”
Deceit relieved the pressure on Romeo. Virgil slumped against Roman who caught his friend. Virgil was pale as milk, yet his pained expression faded quickly, something else taking over entirely.
“Good,” Deceit said unsteadily. “Good... Well then, if we could come to an arrangement-”
A hurt and absolute livid scream tore itself from Virgil’s throat. Shadows shot from his hand like an oncoming tsunami, and hit the warlock square in the chest. Deceit was launched backward, made hard contact with the ground, rolled over a few times before coming to a stop on his stomach. He didn’t get up.
Roman stared at the unmoving body of the warlock, then at his friend. Virgil only frantically searched the open spot.
“Romeo…?” Virgil called out uncertainly. “Romeo??”
A soft rustle in the grass made Virgil hold his breath. A purple glimmer skittered over the ground as quick as it could towards Virgil.
“Romeo!!” Virgil cried out in relief as he held out his hands. He cradled the spider close to his chest as soon as Romeo crawled onto his palms. “Oh Romeo… I’m going to get you ten- No, twenty cherry crumble pies topped with the biggest, fattest flies when we get home! All for you, brave little buddy!” He kissed the spider on its furry body multiple times. Romeo wiggled under all the attention. The sight made Roman want to laugh and cry at the same time. He went with neither, as his eyes fell on the warlock, who still hadn’t moved. Roman determinedly rose, grabbing his sword from the ground. Time to finish the job.
A hand grabbed his wrist. “Leave him.” Virgil croaked.
“Wait, what?” Roman stared down at him incredulously. “But this is our chance, we could kill-”
“NO!” Virgil yelled. “Just leave him!”
“But-!”
“Please Roman,” Virgil stood up. Roman saw him wipe away a few stray tears. “Let’s go.”
Roman didn’t understand any of it, but he couldn’t ignore his friend’s pleas. So he nodded.
“Right… Let’s go.”
They ran. Virgil in front, conjuring a glowing orb, general Isolda with Remus thrown over her shoulders in the middle and Roman at the back, his sword still at the ready. As they ran out from the open spot and back into the woods, Roman turned one last time. Deceit slowly pushed himself up. Roman could swear he saw something float near the warlock’s head, but he didn’t stay to see what it was.
The storm still raged. As they ran through the forest, the wind even worsened. They struggled against its push. The soft purple orb was the only source of light they had, and it cast the forest with its swaying branches in haunting shadows. In every part of the pitch black darkness Roman’s imagination conjured up images of the warlock, ready to drag them back into the night. Roman knew they had to keep running, otherwise one of those images might prove to be the real one. Virgil, however, had other ideas. The sorcerer came to a halt as they reached a good distance from the open spot. General Isolda and Roman stopped too, puzzled.
“Why have we stopped?” The general asked.
Virgil turned. “Put him down,” He said as he pointed at Remus.
“Whatever for?” General Isolda questioned. “Need I remind you, we came here to rescue him!”
“Put him down!” Virgil said with such urgency that the general quickly lowered Remus onto the ground. “We can’t go back to the castle yet!”
“Why?? That monster is not going to stay down for long!” Roman asked as he threw down his sword and knelt down to pick Remus up again. “We have to keep moving, or-”
Hands shot up, closing around Roman’s throat. Roman’s yelp was cut off as the hands wrung his neck in a crushing grip. Remus sat up like a doll on strings. Roman wheezed and struggled, scratching and pulling at the sudden suffocating hold Remus had on him. Vaguely he saw how Remus’ face was distorted in a vicious snarl as he tightened his hands. Virgil and general Isolda yelled, but all Roman could focus on was the shadowed face of his brother. Remus’ eyes were feverishly bright. Too bright. “Rem…” Roman gasped, black spots appearing in his vision.
Virgil grabbed his shoulders and pulled, at the same time as general Isolda grabbed Remus in a headlock and yanked him back to disconnect the two. Roman gasped for air as he was released, taking in the air like a drowning man. Remus meanwhile shouted and shrilled violently, even continuing when the general covered his mouth with her hand.
“There’s your answer!” Virgil said as Roman caught his breath. “Look at his eyes, Ro!”
Roman looked up at his brother, who struggled and screamed in the general’s arms like a feral animal. Remus’ eyes were glowing a molten gold, the same colour that had glared at him from underneath a hood.
“He’s hypnotized! The second we set foot in the castle, he’ll invite the bastard in and it would all be for nothing!”
The general winced when Remus bit her hand with a fierce growl. “What do we do?” She asked.
Virgil got up, helping Roman to his feet as well. “Hold him down.” He said grimly. General Isolda didn’t question it, instead wrestled Remus to the ground and pressed him down by his shoulders. In order to do so, she had to release his mouth and Remus immediately screamed his lungs out again.
“Whatever you must do, do it quick!” The general yelled over Remus’ cries. “His screaming might attract that thing right to us!”
Remus struggled harder, furiously clawing at the general’s arms, but she managed to keep him pinned. Virgil knelt down next to Remus, shadows gathering in his hands and his eyes flashing purple. Remus immediately tried to scratch and bite at him, but Roman knelt down alongside the others and wrestled Remus’ arms to the ground. Virgil gave him a thankful nod, before he placed his hands on Remus’ chest, the shadows pulsing on his skin. Remus screamed louder.  
“Get out of him,” Virgil said through gritted teeth. “Get out!”
Remus convulsed on the ground like lightning set his bones ablaze. His eyes rolled back in his head as two powers inside him fought. Virgil pushed and pushed his magic against the other, sweat forming on his brow.
“I said…” Virgil’s already gravely voice deepened, the veins on his hands darkening to a pitch black. “Get. OUT!!”
With a final push, Virgil forced all his magic into Remus, who’s back arched and mouth flew open in a soundless scream. A stream of golden light bled out from Remus’ open mouth. Under their bewildered gazes, the gold first pooled together, before shimmering and forming a tiny snake of light. It raised its little head and hissed at them.
“Quick! Grab it!” Virgil said.
Three pair of hands tried to swipe the snake off the ground. The snake hissed again and ducked under their hands before any of them could get a hold on it. It slithered back into the forest, lightning its path like a little beacon.
“Shit!” Virgil spat.
“What is it? What will it do?” General Isolda asked.
“Tell him where we are,” Virgil said. “We have to go. Now.”
The three of them jumped up. The general wanted to lift Remus back up, but Roman beat her to it. As he gathered Remus in his arms, his brother tilted his head to look at him.
“Roman…” Remus muttered.
“That’s right, Rem,” Roman laughed wobbly as he hauled his brother up and held him protectively against his chest. “I got you. I’m not letting go.”
Remus blinked tiredly at him, before his head fell on Roman’s shoulder and his eyes slipped shut. Unconscious, Roman thought.
“Let’s go, let’s go!” Virgil urged as he swept Roman’s sword of the ground. Roman and the general followed Virgil and the small light orb through the dark as fast as they could. Roman had no idea how long they walked, but every minute felt like an eternity. The storm pushed at them ruthlessly. They couldn’t run as fast as they would have liked, lest they constantly trip over roots and holes in the ground, so progress felt like wading through syrup. He briefly thought how this might be his eternity, running through the woods with danger breathing hot down their necks, when-
“Just up ahead! We made it!” Virgil shouted. Roman wanted to cry out in happiness as he saw the edge of the woods, the castle’s lights shining through the branches. A lighthouse in the storm, guiding them home.
Bursting from the treeline they started to sprint towards the castle gates. Thankfully someone had left them open. Needles pricked in Roman’s lungs, his legs nearly collapsing under him but he didn’t dare to slow down. Almost there-!
Fire burst to life in front of them, stopping them meters away from the drawbridge. The flames circled them, until they were trapped. Roman didn’t need to look to know who had finally caught up to them, but he turned anyway.
Deceit was shrouded once more in mist, far closer to them than Roman had hoped. His eyes burned golden, promises of destruction flaring in them.
“Give him back!” Deceit snarled in a booming voice.
“RUN!!” General Isolda yelled.
Virgil doused the flames with his shadows so they could make their escape. Roman’s feet ached as he raced towards the castle. The extra weight of his brother threatened to drag them both down, but he gritted his teeth and pressed on. Behind him Virgil shielded him from oncoming flames, the heat licking at the back of his neck. General Isolda dragged Virgil with her as the sorcerer cast protection spell after protection spell. Roman was almost at the drawbridge-!
His foot got stuck behind a rock just as he wanted to run in. He tripped, only preventing from falling on his brother by twisting his body just in time so they fell sideways on the wooden planks of the bridge instead. Virgil cursed and turned to run right towards the danger, hoping to distract Deceit from the others. The general however grabbed him by the collar, lifted him off the ground and practically hurled him towards the castle gates, where he landed next to Roman. General Isolda stood protectively before Roman and Virgil, her sword drawn as the warlock closed in, flames and mist surrounding him like a hellish entourage.
“If you want them,” General Isolda hissed. “You’ll have to get through me first!”
“With pleasure.” Deceit purred. His golden magic came to live in his hands. Roman braced for impact, shouting the general’s name as Deceit ran towards them-
A sound not unlike a tapping against thick glass was heard. The air pulsated and Deceit was thrown back, barely managing to stay on his feet. He shook his head, throwing himself towards them to attack them again. Once more, an invisible shield stopped him.
“…What’s happening?” The general asked, confused, as Deceit feverishly felt among the air, his palms flat like he was touching a wall rather than thin air. He slammed his fists, ripples like water forming wherever he hit, but it did not let him through.
“…We’ve made it onto castle grounds.” Roman realized. “He can’t enter!”
Roman’s disbelieving laugh was overpowered by Deceit’s furious outcry. The warlock called forth his magic, hitting the shield over and over with golden fire with enough force that the flames climbed up as high as the watchtower. Roman felt the heat on his face as the air rippled, but held steady. Deceit’s livid screams followed Roman and his friends as they got up and ran over the drawbridge to the safety of the castle walls. Above them the storm roared to life once more, lightning strikes following each other up closely. They reached the door as lightning struck down behind them.
“OPEN THE CASTLE DOORS!!” The general shouted as she pounded her fist against the heavy wood. No answer came. Virgil growled in impatience and pushed against the doors, his shadow magic pushing alongside him. The doors groaned and opened, allowing the three companions to stumble in.
Roman had never been more happy to see the castle’s entrance hall in his life. Then a sword was pointed at him. He stared up into the shocked face of colonel Bentley, along with a few dozen startled knights behind him.
“Prince Roman?” The man stammered. “Isolda?? You- You survived…” His eyes fell on Remus and they widened comically large. “You found the prince! How-??”
“Stand down, Bentley!” The general commanded. The man instantly drew back the sword and jumped into a salute. “Our princes went through enough tonight! They don’t need to your questioning on top of it!”
“Yes ma’am! Sorry ma’am!” The colonel barked automatically. But then he seemed to realize something as he dropped his hand. “Wait, no! You’re no general anymore! Our king and queen have dishonourably removed you from your position! You committed treason!”
Isolda nodded. “As I suspected.” She said before she addressed the rest of the knights in the hall like she hadn’t heard him. “Make yourself ready! We have a warlock to capture!”
“What??” Roman gasped.
“B-But general…” The colonel protested, the title still slipping from his tongue without thinking. “The king and queen said that you-”
“That man is a threat to the crown, colonel!” Isolda interrupted. “Surely you’ll do our king and queen a favour by capturing their enemy. Who knows, they might even handsomely reward you! They need a new general, after all. I’m sure they’d want a brave man such as yourself to fill the position.”
The colonel thought this over for a few seconds. Greed twinkled in his eyes.
“If you put it like that…” He finally said. “Very well! Knights! Like the lady said! Make yourself ready!”
“General, you can’t-!” Roman protested.
“Not a general anymore,” Isolda said. “But it doesn’t matter. If we have any chance of capturing him and bringing that man to justice, it’s now. We have to try! And this time…” She looked around the hall proudly, where the knights readied themselves to venture into the storm. “I’ll have more help.”
“We could come with you!” Virgil said. Roman nodded in agreement.
“You’re both very brave. But I think someone else needs your help more than I do,” Isolda said as she nodded at Remus. “I’ll be fine.”
Roman stared up at her, at a loss for words. “Thank you…” He said eventually. Isolda nodded at him, a smile playing on her lips, before she followed the colonel and the knights outside, leaving Roman and Virgil alone in the entrance hall.
It was only then, as the knights disappeared into the night and his brother safe and sound in his arms, that Roman truly realized that they had done it. Somehow, against all the odds, they had saved Remus. His brother was home. Laughter bubbled up in his throat, slightly delirious. Virgil gave him a funny stare, before his lips hesitantly quirked up and his breathless chuckles joined Roman’s.
“Did… Did we just do that? And win?” Roman asked an equally stunned Virgil.
“Yeah!” Virgil said. “What the shit…”
Roman snorted at that, relief tampering down the adrenaline still running through his veins. A glance down at his unconscious brother quickly sobered him up though.
“He needs healing.” Roman said. Virgil turned serious as well.
“I have everything for a proper healing in my workshop,” Virgil said. “But in order to get there we would have to cross the courtyard…” Both friends turned to the storm outside that only seemed to turn more violent by the minute, lightning strikes following each other up with barely a pause. “Yeah… We should probably avoid any more life threatening situations if we can.”
“But he needs help now!” Roman said.
“Relax, I can heal his most urgent injuries right away,” Virgil jumped when a thunderclap made the windows rattle. “We better get him somewhere safe though.”
“Right, yes,” Roman nodded, weary exhaustion and heaviness settling in on his shoulders. Damn, he needed- What he desperately wanted was… “Let’s go back the throne room for now.”
“The throne room?” Virgil frowned. “You sure that’s a good idea, princey? Your pa- I mean, the king and queen are there too!”
“I know,” Roman scowled at the idea of facing them, but his heart ached for the comfort of golden curls and blue eyes. “I just… I need to see Patton. He has to know we’re okay.”
Virgil still looked dubious, but he nodded in understanding. “Let’s go then.”
Their footsteps rang through the empty halls as they made their walked to the throne room. Occasionally lightning outside lit up their path. Roman threw his friend a few hesitant glances before he cleared his throat.
“Virgil… About what the warlock said…” Roman began carefully, but Virgil flinched even so.
“Look, I can explain!” Virgil said hastily. “I met him when I was young, and-”
“It’s okay.”
Roman would have laughed at the startled wide-eyed stare Virgil threw his way, if it hadn’t been for the sheer dread still present on his friend’s face. “No really,” He said sincerely. “It’s fine, Virge. I don’t care about your past. I mean, you saved my butt multiple times tonight! Screw what that guy said! You’re my friend now and that’s what matters.”
“I…” Virgil looked more than a little stunned. The darkness of the halls couldn’t quite hide his touched half smile though. He pulled the hood of his cloak over his head to cover it up. “Princey, you sap.” He muttered as he gently bumped his fist against Roman’s arm.
“I’m serious!” Roman said.
“I know you are, you lovable idiot.”
“Good. Secret softie.”
“Oh shut up…”
“But Virge, if you ever do want to talk about it…?” Roman said.
Virgil groaned. “I think I’m gonna take a three day nap first.”
“Ha! You and me both!”” Roman adjusted his grip on Remus slightly. He was getting heavy, but Roman was not letting go. Luckily the throne room doors were just up ahead.
“But after that,” Virgil said quietly. “I’ll tell you everything.”
“Are you sure? I mean, you don’t have to-!”
“I know I don’t. I just… Think it would be nice to finally tell someone, you know? No more hiding.”
“No more hiding,” Roman said. “Sounds like a plan!”
The knights standing guard gaped at them when they approached, but they scrambled to open the throne room doors. Horrified gasps and astounded whispers rang around the throne room as Roman and Virgil walked in, the doors closing again behind them. Roman could not blame them. He knew what kind of picture they painted. Both him and Virgil exhausted and dirty, Virgil holding a bloodied sword, and him walking in with an unconscious Remus held protectively in his arms. The crowd parted to let them through, eyes wide and disbelieving.
“Virgil?! ROMAN!!”  
Pure joy swiftly coursed through when Roman saw Patton push people aside to run up to him, tears of relief streaming down his love’s face. Patton skidded to a halt however when he spotted Remus. Shocked he covered his mouth with trembling fingers.
“You… You found him,” Patton said with wide eyes. “A-And the warlock…?”
“Currently being hunted down by the general and her knights,” Virgil said as he led Roman further into the throne room. Patton followed. “He’s not a threat anymore.”
There stood a long console table to the wall, tastefully decorated with candelabras. Virgil dropped the sword against the wall and unceremoniously shoved the candelabras off the table so Roman could gently place Remus on the temporary sick bed. Patton hurriedly shrugged off his jacket, folded it up and placed it under Remus’ head as a makeshift pillow. A shuddery sigh left Roman as he carefully adjusted Remus in what he hoped was a somewhat comfortable position.
He would have his second chance. He only hoped Remus would give it to him.
Roman took a few steps back to give Virgil his space. The sorcerer’s eyes lit up once more in a purple gleam, as he moved his hands lightly over Remus’ chest. Virgil softly started  chanting healing spells, a songlike quality to his voice. Did Roman’s eyes trick him, or did Remus immediately look a bit better?
“Roman…” A soft hand was placed on his arm. Tearing his gaze away from his brother, Roman looked at Patton. His fiancé stared up at him with wide tear-filled eyes. A broken sob left him as Patton threw his arms around Roman’s waist. Roman immediately returned the embrace, tightening his arms around the shorter man. He buried his face into the soft curls and pressed desperate kisses on his love’s head.
“I thought I lost you…” Patton sobbed into his chest. “I thought- I thought I would become a widower before we ever got married! I thought-!”
“I’m here, dear heart,” Roman murmured, tears forming in his own eyes as well. “I’m okay. I got back to you. I’m here.”
Patton nodded and happily blubbered out something Roman didn’t quite hear. It didn’t matter. For one brief, beautiful moment all was well.
But of course, of course, the moment had to be broken. Roman heard the breathless crowd hurriedly part and footsteps approaching. One glance away from the safe haven of his fiancé’s curls confirmed who said footsteps belonged to. With a snarl Roman pulled himself reluctantly out of Patton’s embrace.
“Don’t come near him!” Roman growled. His parents stopped in their tracks.
“I’m not allowed to go near my own son?” Queen Nadia asked with a tremor in her voice, one delicate tear gliding down her cheek.
“No! No you’re not!” Roman said with a humourless laugh. “Glad you understand it so quickly!”
“He’s our son!” King Augusto protested. “We haven’t seen him for nearly a year!”
“And whose fault is that exactly??” Roman bit out. “If you had actually done what you promised you would instead of, oh I don’t know, lying to me, maybe, just maybe, you would have seen him a little sooner! Just a thought!”
“We didn’t lie!” King Augusto said. “We never lie to you!”
“YES YOU DO!!” Roman pulled at his hair. “You’re lying to me right now!” He didn’t want to have this conversation right now. He was tired. So, so tired…
“Come now Roman,” His mother smiled and held her arms out, stepping up like she wanted to embrace him. “How about you we talk about this in the morning, after we all had a good night’s rest after such a terrible day?”
“Don’t touch me!” Roman stepped back, trembling. He wanted to grab his sword to make sure these people never touched him again.
“Roman, you’re obviously stressed,” His mother said in a sweet, yet admonishing tone. She kept advancing in on him. “You’re not thinking clearly. How about you calm down first-”
Roman recognized the shivery crawl that shot up his leg and back before he saw Romeo the spider take his place on his shoulder. Queen Nadia stumbled back with a high pitched shriek as the tarantula hissed angrily at her. Roman let out a crazed little giggle as Romeo protectively hunched, waiting to jump on the face of the first person stupid enough to get closer. Wow, since when was a spider the size of his fist less frightening than his own mother touching him?
“Thanks, little buddy…” He whispered gratefully. Romeo clicked his mandibles happily in response.
“What is that thing?” The king asked in disgust as he eyed the spider.
“His name is Romeo,” Roman said. “And he’s not a thing!”
“Damn right!” Virgil said, briefly interrupting his healing.
“Stay out of this!” The queen said before turning back to Roman. “Sweetheart, this is all a big misunderstanding-!”
“It’s a misunderstanding that you didn’t even CONSIDER to look for Remus??” Roman snapped. “Or didn’t want to send out soldiers WHEN HE WAS RIGHT OUTSIDE THE DOOR???”
“Oh please forgive us for prioritising everyone else’s safety in this castle over one person!” The king barked. “Which that wasn’t an easy sacrifice to make!”
“Ohohohoho, that’s rich, coming from you!” Roman laughed bitterly. “You complete and absolute ASSHOLE-!!”
“Wait! Roman, sweetie! Stop!” Patton stepped in front of him, bravely ignoring Romeo in favour of smiling sweetly at Roman. “It’s okay! They’re right!”
Roman distinctly felt like someone kicked him in the stomach. “What…?” He whispered.
“They’re right! When you were gone, they explained everything to us! I promise you, it really was just a misunderstanding!” Patton said. “They can explain to you too, you just-”
“Pat-! Pat, NO. Not you too!” Roman grabbed him by the shoulders. “Don’t listen to them! This is what they do! They lie to your face and make themselves the victims! This is what they’ve always done!”
“But… But…” Patton stepped back, looking between Roman and his parents hesitantly. “They wouldn’t! It’s all just a big mistake, that’s all!”
“Patton, please!” Roman pleaded. Not him. Not his fiancé. “Listen to me!! I’ve lived- Or rather, survived- With them for years! They’re lying! Please believe me!!”
“He’s right, Pat.” Virgil said as he turned away from his healing to stand behind Roman for support. “They’re a bunch of liars. I can know, I have experience with those.”
Roman wanted to hug him, but kept his eyes focused on his love. Patton stared at him, chewing his bottom lip, again looking between him and the king and queen.
“But…” Patton said hesitantly. “I know them too! I thought-”
“It’s a façade, Pat!” Roman pressed on. “It’s not real!”
“Honey,” Queen Nadia said gently. “Maybe you should listen to your fiancé.”
“STAY OUT OF THIS!!” Roman screamed at her before looking at Patton. “Dear heart… Please.”
Patton looked around, first at Roman, then his parents, then at the crowd that stared and waited with bated breath, unconsciously loving the juicy gossip they were getting. Doubt tore him apart. He turned back to Roman. His fiancé, who looked torn up, hurt and scared. Patton’s tried to say something, anything, when his gaze flicked to a point behind Roman. His eyes widened. Roman frowned. What was-
“VIRGIL LOOK OUT!!” Patton screamed.
Roman heard a sickening whack. He whipped around in time to see Virgil tumble to the ground, blood trickling down his temple. The figure that loomed over him held a bloodied candelabra, which he had soundlessly picked up from the ground in the confusion. The figure chuckled.
“Whoopsies! That’s gotta hurt!” Remus giggled, swinging the candelabra around like a baton. Roman stood frozen to the ground. His eyes went from his knocked out friend, up to his brother who grinned and put a foot on Virgil’s back like he was prey he finally managed to kill. Romeo jumped down from Roman’s shoulder to run in panicked circles around his master, which were stopped when Remus kicked the spider away with another cackle. The spider smacked against a pillar, and didn’t move anymore when he fell down.
“You- Wait-!” Roman tried to make sense of what was happening, his mind flailing to catch up. He desperately searched for a hint of gold in his brother’s eyes, but they were the same dark brown as his own. “You were unconscious!” He finally blabbered out.
“Oh yeah… I was, wasn’t I?” Remus wiggled his shoulders mischievously. “Aren’t I a stinker?”
His mother caught on before Roman did. “GUARDS!!” She shouted. “GUARDS!!”
“Haha, nope!” Remus wagged a finger teasingly. “I don’t think so! This show is SOLD OUT!”
At the last word Remus’ eyes flared up in a bright green glow. One wave of his hand thrown towards the doors, and a current of green streams rushed itself through the crowd, webbing themselves over the door in an intricate glowing pattern. Barring anyone from coming in… And getting out.
“What the-?!” Roman gaped. “Remus, you-??”
“That’s right, bitches!!” Remus screeched. “I can do magic now!” He threw his arms wide, the green energy surging and pulsing around him and he laughed, a wild maniacal sound. Roman finally snapped out of his stupor.
“You-! But why-?!” He stammered.
“Why?” Remus looked Roman in the eyes. He barely recognized Remus in this crazed green-eyed creature. “To assist a very dear friend of mine, of course!”
“That thing in the mountains?! He tortured you!” Roman yelled.
“Oh, he definitely made me scream alright, but it was in a very different way than you think!” Remus giggled. He twisted his head, grinning at the sight of multiple guests running towards the doors and desperately trying to tear them open. He inhaled deeply and closed his eyes. “Ah, the sweaty smell of sheer and utter panic… One of my favourites!” Remus giggled again, unable to hold back his mirth. “But not what I want right now! So everyone…” His eyes shot open, the green flashing even brighter. “LOOK. AT. ME!!”
His high-pitched scream overpowered the hysteria that had grabbed the crowd by their throats. All eyes turned to him in horrified silence. Remus shimmied under all the attention.
“Look at this!” Remus beamed. “What a reunion, huh?? And at such a killer party too! Although…” Remus made a show of looking around critically, caressing his moustache in exaggerated consideration. “I don’t know, I just feel like there’s missing something! Or should I say…” A big grin split his face in half as Remus’ eyes darkened with vengeful glee. “Someone.”
King Augusto’s face twisted in panic, which he in vain tried to cover up with anger. “Don’t you dare!” He screamed, fear lilting the edges of his voice as Remus only grinned wider. “You traitorous scum, don’t you dare-!!”
“DECEIT!!” Remus threw his head back and howled up at the sky. “Come on down here, you slippery snake! I OFFICIALLY INVITE YOU TO THIS PITY PARTY!!”
Thunder roared in triumphant response, so powerful that Roman felt it vibrate in his chest. The beautifully crafted glass stain windows cracked and shattered, dousing the screaming mass in splintered glass as they ducked for cover. Roman quickly grabbed Patton and pulled him towards the ground in a protective embrace, feeling the glass cut on his cheeks. Mist crept in through the shattered windows. The mist gathered itself on the steps that lead to the thrones, twisted, twirled in itself, before finally solidifying into an all too familiar cloaked figure.
The panicked cries of the crowd were interspersed by Remus’ cackle as he clapped his hands in delight. Deceit raised his head and took in the screaming people with disdain, before he reached up and snapped back his hood. Finally Roman saw the face of the warlock. He sucked in a breath. One word echoed through his head as Roman took in scales, furious two-toned eyes and fangs just barely visible in a loathing snarl.
Monster.
Before Roman could find his words, Remus ran and bounced up the steps with eager joy. He halted just one stair below Deceit.
“Did I do good, DeeDee?” Remus breathlessly asked. “Did I, did I??”
The warlock turned to Remus, and to Roman’s bewilderment his face immediately softened into something akin to tender fondness.
“Oh Remus,” Deceit cooed, as he gently caressed Remus’ face with one hand. “You did absolutely marvellous, my darling.”
Remus sighed happily as he melted into the contact with a soft moan, nuzzling his face into the hand and looking up at Deceit with what could only be described as lovesick adoration. Deceit smiled, then looked back at the huddled crowd. All softness in his face instantly died away.
“Now then,” Deceit said darkly. “What a day of reunions this is turning out to be.”
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raintowhiterun · 4 years
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Character Profile ༄ Auserie
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✳ Tagged Posts
✩ Alias/Nickname: Aus
✩ Gender: Female
✩ Race: Half High Elf, Half Nord
✩ Faction: the Imperials
✩ Place of Birth: Solitude
✩ Current Residence: None/Wanderer
✩ Dragonborn?: Yes
✩ Looks:
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✩ Height: 5 feet, 9 inches
✩ Hobbies/Goal: Aus’s favorite thing to do is hunt, because it reminds her of the time when she was growing up with her father, hunting near Rorikstead to survive. She has no real goal in life, but she would be lying if she said she didn’t enjoy helping others.
✩ Weapon of Choice: Bow and arrow
✩ Armor Type: Light
✩ Likes: Rain, nature, hunting
✩ Dislikes: Rudeness, spiders, bandits
✩ Favorite Color: Teal and Green
✩ Guild Affiliation: Companions, Thieves
✩ Sexual Orientation: Straight
✩ Relationship Status: Single
✩ Family:
- Mother (Erralaine Aedire †) - Father (Atarse Fire-Hair †) - Half-Brother, Younger (Tusriil) - Aunt (Siranya Aedire) - Great Grandmother (Ley Aedire † )
✩ Life Motto: “People always bring trouble and hatred with them, but... they can also bring kindness and love.”
✩ Personality: Kind, considerate, stubborn, soft-spoken
✩ Biography:
Auserie, or Aus for short was born on a cold, rainy night in Solitude’s chapel to an Altmer woman named Erralaine Aedire. Everyone assumed she was fathered by Erralaine’s fiance, an Altmer man named Ondolemar, but they assumed wrong. Her mother loathed Ondolemar, but the two had been set to wed since they were just infants, fresh out of their mother’s womb. Erralaine tried everything to avoid this union, but her family would not let her get away. She was a member of the Aedire, after all, a clan of Thalmor soldiers that served the Almeri Dominion without fail. In an attempt to comfort her, Erralaine’s grandmother, a kind woman named Ley, tried to convince her that love would eventually blossom between them.
But how could love possibly blossom from such a deep hatred?
To Erralaine’s surprise, love DID blossom, but not with Ondolemar. No, love came to her from a young Nord soldier fighting for the empire. Atarse Fire-Hair was one of three soldiers tasked with guarding Erralaine and her elder sister, Siranya, on their way to the Thalmor headquarters in Solitude. He was the youngest, not yet wise to the ways of the world, and he didn’t hesitate to strike up a conversation with the two women. While Siranya ignored him, Erralaine was happy to be speaking to someone that was neither haughty nor rude. It wasn’t long before the two of them fell in love and from that love, Auserie was born.
No one but her great grandmother Ley knew of this secret, and she wasn’t about to tell anyone. While Erralaine still was not happy with her husband, she acted out less with Aus around, but as the child got older, she started to look more like Atarse and people started to notice. She was only five the first time Ondolemar hit her mother, accusing her of being a harlot that slept around on him. He would have gotten rid of her, but she was currently with child and, according to the priestess of Arkay that often checked on her, Erralaine was due to have a boy.
This pleased him greatly and he kept his mouth shut, denying any allegations that were raised to him about Auserie’s appearance. Exactly one year after her brother, Tusriil, was born, her mother came to her in the middle of the night, rousing her from my sleep. Even in her confused, half-asleep state, she recognized the urgency in her mother’s voice. She spoke to her in a hushed voice, telling her that everything would be okay. But it wasn’t - at least not for Erralaine.
She snuck Auserie out of Solitude with the help of a few Imperial soldiers, where she got onto a horse with a soldier whose name she was never given. He was kind, and Aus remembered the soft smile he gave her and the protective way he held her as the horse started to trot away, leaving behind her mother and baby brother. At the time, she never thought she wouldn’t see them again.
They rode on for nearly a day before arriving at a small shack northwest of Rorikstead where a red-headed man was waiting. She’ll never forget the bright smile he offered her, his blue eyes full of happiness. She’ll never forget how his expression darkened as he asked about her mother to the soldier, who only shook his head in response. This man was Atarse Fire-Hair, her father, and this shack was to be her new home.
Aus later learned that, two days after she had been smuggled out of Solitude, her mother was found stabbed through the heart. They called it a robbery gone wrong, but everyone that was involved knew better. It was no robbery, and it certainly wasn’t an accident.
Despite missing her mother and brother dearly, she was happy with her father. He taught her how to use a bow and how to hunt for food, he read to her every single night, and he was there every time she had a nightmare. He was a damn good father, better than Ondolemar could even dream of being. She loved him dearly but, as he got older in age, he grew weaker and weaker until, finally, his body gave out on him and Shor carried his soul to Sovngarde.
For a while, Aus just sat within the shack and slept. She had no one and felt so… lost. What was she to do with her life? But she knew neither of her parents would want her to suffer the way she was. They would want her to live, to experience life as she wanted to and, more importantly, to be happy. It was the toughest time of her life, but she took her father’s bow and arrows, and she left the shack for the last time, not looking back.
For two years, she just wandered the lands of Skyrim, living off the land and avoiding all major cities. While she did interact with some people, she much rather preferred to be with nature and with the wilds that lived within. Her life was peaceful and she was slowly beginning to recover from the loss of her father.
And then she got dragged down by being in the wrong place as the wrong time. Auserie had been hunting near the border separating Skyrim from Morrowind when Ulfric Stormcloak, leader of the rebellion against the Imperials, appeared with a few of his soldiers in tow. She quickly realized the situation and did not want to be swept up in their war, but it was too late - the Imperials ambushed them and she was captured as an accomplice, along with another man who had just been passing by at the wrong time.
While she did manage to escape losing her head, the situation in Helgen set off a chain of events that she knew was going to alter her life, whether she liked it or not. She is not sure what path her life will go down and she doesn’t really have a goal to go after, but she hopes that by wandering through life, she will finally find her purpose.
A small part of her wants revenge against Ondolemar, and another small part wishes to find her baby brother, but that’s a can of worms she just is not ready to open.
𝕳𝖆𝖛𝖊 𝖆 𝖖𝖚𝖊𝖘𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓?
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Big Spook (Peter Parker x Reader - Part 5)
Synopsis: Aged Up!Peter thinks he’s done well with leading a double life. He’s studying what he likes, he has his own place, he’s dating the girl he loves… but that doesn’t mean life is easy all the time. Even superheroes have bad days - and sometimes worse days.
Tags: Aged Up!Character, College AU, Established relationship, Whump, Angst. Does not take FFH into account. SPOILER FREE.
Word count: 2.2k
Part 4 <<< >>> Part 6
MASTERLIST
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Every day, Dr Cho or a nurse came by to check on Peter's vitals, change or remove some bandages, then scribbled down some notes that nobody could understand without a medical degree, and left again, not sparing May, (Y/N) or Happy a single glance. Did they teach that in medical school? Avoid the suffering relatives' eager stares so they don't ask questions you don't have answers to?
(Y/N) was bitter. May thought it was progress since last week she hadn't shown any sign of feeling a single emotion other than abysmal despair. She had come back twelve hours after she left, wearing clean clothes, her hair washed, the pink back to her cheeks. It was progress.
But she refused to leave again. Happy ended up bringing her a change of clothes every other day, and May sometimes forced her to go upstairs and take a shower in the Avengers' compound or a nap. (Y/N) was a patient person – she was – but concern ate away at her like a disease.
Ned had dropped by again, with a 'get well soon' card signed by most of Peter's friends – at least all those Ned also knew – and a frankly creepy-looking teddy bear holding Captain America's shield.
“They didn't have a Spider-Man bear,” he had explained when (Y/N) took it in her hands, rubbing the fluff of its head.
“I'll make sure to tell him,” (Y/N) sniffled, setting the plush down on the bedside table along with the card.
Neither of them were in the mood for banter, but they managed a smile. Ned talked the day away, rambling about this and that – (Y/N) didn't pay much attention to what he said, but she appreciate his uplifting presence and liked that he didn't wait for an answer. He just wanted to see his best friend for a bit, and try to cheer up (Y/N) while he was at it.
Despite his being in a coma, Peter still healed fast and soon, most of the cuts and bruises were gone. They even took off the huge bandage around his head, revealing a prominent but already healing wound well on its way to disappearing completely. They took out the stitches the day before, and suddenly, he looked awfully normal.
(Y/N) couldn't understand how Peter could look so normal, so like himself, yet be anything but.
Dr Cho had made herself scarce but (Y/N) managed to find her and ask her if things had progressed at all.
They hadn't. She told her with a compassionate smile that his body had healed at an astounding speed but patients in a coma did not simply wake up when their body had recovered. Armed with nothing but patience and endless love and despair, (Y/N) returned to Peter's room and sat nothing of her exchange with the doctor to anyone.
Ned, May and Happy were the ones trying to lift up her moods, who was she to shoot them down?
*
(Y/N) still held onto Peter's hand like it was her lifeline. She thought his fingers were a bit cold and stiff, but it was nothing to worry about, the nurse who came in today said. It happened to anyone who didn't move for a while.
Even if she had wanted to, (Y/N) couldn't have let go. If she tried hard enough, she could imagine Peter slowly squeezing her hand, and when she looked up, he would be staring a her with an apologetic, boyish grin, sorry for causing her such trouble.
A shaky breath came out of her mouth. No one noticed, because she was alone with Peter. May had stopped spending her days here. She had to go back to work at some point. (Y/N) also suspected May was avoiding her a little after she revealed that Peter had, in fact, not proposed, and she only said he was her fiancé to get her boss off her back.
And while (Y/N) had shouted at her internship supervisor that she wouldn't leave Peter's side until he woke up, she soon realized that it wasn't a realistic course of action.
Dr Cho had told her there was no way to know how long a coma would last and (Y/N) wasn't naive enough to think she could put her entire life on hold for anyone. Reality would soon catch up.
To her surprise though, Pepper had called her to check on Peter, hear if there was any change in his condition. She and Morgan still lived outside of NY, in their cabin where they had last been with Tony. She bought (Y/N) some time, took care of all things financial for the month to come, rent, bills, whatever there was, so she could stay with Peter.
“It's what Tony would have done,” Pepper had told her. “If you need anything at all, please call.” She sounded so awfully calm, as if she had had to deal with such dreadful affairs before. (Y/N) wished she hadn't. “Peter is family.”
Yes, Peter was family. Once upon a time, when (Y/N) and Peter were still mere friends who had met in freshers, they had approached the touchy subjects of the five years where half of humanity had been snapped away.
He had told her with this far-away look in his eyes that he was one of those who disappeared, that he had felt himself vanish while his dad held him, watching, powerless, as Peter turned to dust in his arms.
It was only months later, after (Y/N) found out the truth, that she put two and two together. Peter had lost his father when he was very young, then he had to bury his uncle while he was in high school. Tony Stark was the only father figure present in his life after that, the one who guided him on his new path and made him who he was now.
When she had asked him again about that, Peter had turned beetroot red and stuttered out something incoherent, then dashed out of the room because “his phone was ringing”.
“There's nothing to be embarrassed about!” (Y/N) had called after him, giggling while he pretended to have an animated conversation with Ned on the phone.
“Sorry darling, but Ned really needs my help with something.”
Then, he had locked himself in the bathroom for an hour, pretending to be on the phone. (Y/N) tipped her hat at his dedication to making her believe this sudden and oh-so convenient phone call was real.
(Y/N) stood behind the bathroom door and knocked gently.
“Peter?” she called him, getting no answer. “I know you miss him a lot. If you ever want to talk about him, even if I still don't understand everything that went on with you and the Avengers, I'll listen.”
Another minute of silence passed before the door unlocked, and creaked open. (Y/N) slipped a hand through the opening and peeked inside, finding Peter sitting on the closed toilet, head between his hands. She heard him sniffle and immediately joined him, sitting on the floor between his legs.
“Hey,” (Y/N) cooed softly, attempting to comfort Peter. She grabbed one of his hands to see his face, and brought it to her lips, placing a kiss on his knuckles. “You don't need to hide from me.”
“I know, I know...” He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to slow down the flow of tears. “It's just- It's been years now, how much longer will you put up with me if I keep crying about the same thing?”
It was obviously meant to be a joke but (Y/N) heard the familiar ring of truth behind the playful façade Peter put up for her sake. (Y/N) bit down on her lower lip, hating to see him like this but not knowing what to do to make him feel better. She was usually good at making Peter feel better, but it was always harder when he was upset because of something Avengers-related.
It simply wasn't her world, she didn't belong in it, she didn't even have a foot in the door, it was simply foreign territory to her. In times like these, she wished she had an armored suit, or a vibranium arm, or even just insane hand-to-hand combat skills so she could be part of Peter's world too.
“I've never met Tony Stark, you know that,” she started, standing up and forcing Peter to look up to meet her eyes. “But after spending years by your side, hearing you talk about him... I feel like I know him a little. And believe it or not, I feel his loss too. I'll never blame you for grieving his loss.”
With her gentle touch, (Y/N) pushed back the strands that fell in Peter's eyes and wiped away a tear with her thumb, a small smile was now etched on his lips. Peter used the hand (Y/N) still held to pulled her towards him. She gasped and nearly fell, but Peter was there to catch her, and sat her on his lap.
He let his head rest against her breast while she held him in her arms.
“He would have liked you,” Peter croaked out. “Everyone would have liked you.”
*
(Y/N) had asked Friday to wake her up if anything happened at all. May and Happy might have convinced her that it was no use staying with Peter day in and day out as long as his condition didn't change, but she wasn't just going to return to her normal life as if nothing had happened.
It was out of the question to go back to their place without Peter. She accepted to stay in one of the rooms upstairs on the one condition that she would be the first to know it anything at all happened. Seventeen days had gone by since Peter's injury, and (Y/N) wasn't coping well. She hated to be that dependent on someone else, she hated to be that girl who retreated into herself because her boyfriend wasn't around anymore, she absolutely loathed standing in this weird in-between where Peter was there yet wasn't.
The truth was that she never fully understood all these girls who claimed they couldn't live without their significant other. Neither did she see it coming when it happened to her; she just felt it. She had felt it when her entire being shattered upon finding Peter's unconscious form bleeding out on the floor, and she felt it now, lying wide awake in a bed that wasn't hers, that was too big for only one person to sleep in, that felt too foreign.
How long had it been since the last time she had willingly slept alone? Slowly, she realized her life and Peter's were intertwined more than she thought they were. If he didn't make it...
Her mind jumped back to the little velvet box, and a painful hiccup raked her body. The time of silent tears was gone for good now. (Y/N) was only shaken by violent sobs and struggled to breathe now when she thought about what lied ahead of them.
The entire floor was vacant except for her, but she still slammed a hand over her mouth to muffle the sound of her ugly cries, eyes tightly shut as if it would stop the tears from coming. She was sick and tired of crying. She was this close to enrolling in medical school and try and get Peter to wake up herself.
Sleep eluded her until not even the bottomless pit of sorrow could keep her awake anymore. She was so tired these days, and not just physically.
(Y/N) was woken up by a blaring alarm instead of the gentle morning sun kissing her face. F.R.I.D.A.Y might not be human, but she participated in her own way, tried to make life easier for (Y/N).
“Miss (Y/N),” she robotic voice called her though she was wide awake now. The alarm stopped. “As per your request I inform you that I detected a change in Mr.Parker's condition. It seems his heart rate has gone up quite suddenly.”
“Thank you Friday. Call the elevator, will you?” she managed to give the order with a surprisingly collected voice for someone whose heartbeat broke speed records and fumbled around to try and find her shoes.
“Already done, Miss.”
F.R.I.D.A.Y turned on the light so she would see what she was doing but it only served in blinding (Y/N). Damn her shoes, she wasn't going to leave the building anyway.
She ran out of the bedroom and into the doors of the elevator, waiting open for her. The ride was endless, even though (Y/N) knew this was the fastest elevator in all of NY. She headed to Peter's room, dashing through the corridors, running barefoot on the linoleum, a haggard look on her face.
When she finally burst through the door, her heart stopped altogether.
Peter was sitting on the bed, clutching at the railing and looking relieved to see her, although she must have looked a fright.
“(Y/N),” he rasped out, frowning when he heard the sound of his own voice, husky from lack of use. “Where are we?”
.
.
.
IMPORTANT: It disheartens me that it has come to this, but I will only post part 6 if I get reviews. Is that what writers have to do now? Beg? I will then. Remember, fanfiction is not free. Support writers.
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