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ladykailitha · 1 year ago

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Paper Hearts Part 1

Remember how my posting schedule was going to be based on strictly vibes from now on? Yeah this is why. I have three chapters of this completed and only two of most everything else because I hurt my right wrist on Wednesday evening (I think I overextended my elbow and it fucked up the tendons in my wrist, because I've done that before on my arm and it feels like that).

So instead of getting more work done on stuff that is literally paragraphs away from the end of the chapter I'm having to tap into my backlog. Which is what it's for. But it is annoying.

I am also aware it's nearly May, but my muse was never one for sense.

Summary: Hawkins High is selling paper hearts to help raise for senior prom. $3 for red romantic hearts and $1 for pink friendship hearts. Steve hasn't dated anyone since the horrific breakup with Nancy on Halloween and so he decides that he's going to send pink hearts to senior girls who wouldn't normally get any hearts at all. When Eddie hears about this he can't help be intrigued. It goes against his very well curated Munson Doctrine. But as events keep throwing them together, Eddie learns there is more to King Steve then meets the eye.

Also a note: the use of the other's last name when it's their point of view is deliberate. As they get to know each other more, the more first names get used.

****

Steve was staring at the huge sign with a sense of dread. In big pink and white letters on a red background screamed the words:

PAPER HEARTS FOR YOUR VALENTINE $1 FOR PINK FRIENDSHIP HEARTS $3 FOR RED ROMANTIC HEARTS ALL PROCEEDS GO TO CLASS OF 1985 SENIOR BALL

Valentine’s Day. That time of year for lovers and romantics. That used to be him. But not since Nancy broke his heart by breaking up with him for Jonathan Byers.

There would be no paper hearts in locker this year. Not even pink ones. Nancy had well and truly blown up his life and she got to walk away scott free.

He didn’t know what to do anymore. He pinched his nosed and rubbed the end. He wasn’t going to cry in the middle of the fucking main hall of Hawkins High.

Just before he was about to start moving again someone shoulder checked him, sending back to the floor and all his stuff sprawling around it like some fucked flower.

“Watch it, Harrington!” the voice growled as whoever it was sped off down the hall.

Steve didn’t even bother looking to see who it was. It could have been anyone these days. His former friends. Billy and his ilk. Hell, even the nerds and geeks got in on the action lately.

He knelt down to start cleaning it up when someone else kicked his books toward the lockers. He managed to get most of it picked up when he reached for the last notebook. Someone stepped on his hand and ground down, hurting Steve and ripping the cover off the notebook, crinkling the first couple of pages.

He shoved it into his bag and cradled his hand to his chest. He looked at his watch and sighed. Lunch was nearly over and he hadn’t even made it to the cafeteria yet.

There was nothing for it, he had to get to his next class. He walked into the class room just as the bell rang, but instead of heading for his usual spot near the front he made for the back of the class. There were always a few empty seats around Munson. The guy was terrifying on a good day.

And Steve hoped it was a good day.

****

Eddie made to class on time by the skin of his teeth. He slid through door just as the bell rang above his head. He was about to lope over to his usual spot in the back when he stopped dead in his tracks.

He looked up at the front at the deliberately left open seat and back at the seat next to his with a raised eyebrow. He wisely said nothing as he flopped into the torture device known as the chesk. Dair? Whatever the hell it was called where some unspeakable horror thought to combine a desk and a chair.

Eddie glanced sidelong at his new companion. The recently deposed king of Hawkins High sat slumped in his chesk, head down, just staring at its surface as if held the meaning to life the universe and everything.

Which if Harrington asked him, he would have been told forty-two.

He pulled out his notebook and noticed that Harrington did not do the same. Curiouser and curiouser. He pulled out a pencil and settled in to avoid falling to sleep today.

He was taking notes and doing the assignment like he was supposed to when about half way through class the teacher called out to him.

“Mr. Harrington!” she shrieked. “If you are going to be sitting in the back, please have the decency to pay attention in class!”

A couple of kids snickered.

“You were talking about how the Fool is used to lighten the absolutely horrific scene above him of Lady Macbeth as she tries to get blood out of her gown,” he muttered, scratching his cheek with his left hand.

That was when the teacher and Eddie noticed the same thing at the same time.

Harrington was cradling his right hand to his chest.

“Mr. Harrington is there something wrong with your right hand?”

“I accidentally hurt it during lunch,” he said with wince.

The teacher tapped her foot and crossed her arms. “And why didn’t you see the nurse?”

“It happened right before class,” Harrington muttered, “and I didn’t want to be late.”

The teacher huffed and shook her head. “I will give you note for your next teacher, but you will see the nurse after class, am I understood?”

He nodded.

“Mr. Munson,” she cried out, shrill. “If you’ll share your notes with Mr. Harrington after class so he does not fall behind.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

He continued to keep an eye on Harrington throughout the whole class but whenever their English teacher tried to catch him out, she would fail every time.

When the bell rang Eddie started shoving his stuff into his backpack. “You sure you even need my notes, Harrington? That was pretty impressive shit you pulled out of your ass today.”

Harrington just shrugged. “Just because I was paying attention doesn’t mean it won’t bleed out of my ears with all the algebra and chemistry stuff I have later.”

Eddie winced in sympathy. “Yeah, I hear that. What’s your locker number and I’ll just slip a copy of my notes in the slots.”

“323B.”

“They got you on a lower locker?” he asked with a grimace. “That’s jacked up. Even Mr. Super Senior here got a top locker. Does the secretary hate you or some shit?”

Again Harrington shrugged. “I’ve got to go. I’ll catch you later.”

Eddie folded his arms at looked at him. “You’re not going to the nurse’s station, are you?”

This time it was Harrington who winced.

“That’s what I thought,” he huffed. “I’m walking you to said nurse’s station because it could be broken and if you don’t get that looked at, you’ll be in more than just a world of hurt, man. You could fuck up your hand for life and you wouldn’t be able to anything in that hand ever again.”

Steve’s eyes went wide as all color drained from his face.

“Shit.”

Eddie grabbed both of their backpacks and headed for the door. “Yeah, shit.”

Harrington hurried to catch up, hand still cradled to his chest.

“How did you know that could happen to my hand?” he asked softly.

Eddie eyed him sidelong, but the kid wasn’t being an ass. In fact he would say Harrington was being earnest.

“My uncle works at the machinist plant up the road,” Eddie explained. “One of his buddies broke his hand on the machine and refused to get it looked at. Guess how well that worked?”

“Was it the plant’s fault?” Harrington asked. Eddie cocked his head to the side. “That you uncle’s friend got hurt?”

Eddie reared his head back in shock that Harrington would even ask.

“No, man,” he said shaking his head. “He was goofing off, being a dick. Uncle Wayne always said that if you knock on every door asking for the devil, one day he’s gonna answer.”

“What happens when the devil comes looking for you?” Harrington muttered to himself and Eddie couldn’t help but wonder what this kid had seen.

Because he knows haunted. And Harrington looks like he has an attic full of ghosts.

Once they got to the nurse’s station Eddie waited for him. When the other boy came out he asked how it went.

“She says it doesn’t feel broken,” he huffed. “But that if it doesn’t improve over the weekend after icing at least three times a day, to come back on Monday and she’ll order an x-ray.”

Eddie nodded. “Right. See you around, Harrington.”

He had barely turned around when Harrington called out to him. “Wait!”

Eddie turned back around to have a piece of paper shoved into his hand. “I got the nurse to excuse us both.”

And before he could even reply the other boy was tearing off down the hall as if the devil himself was chasing him.

And after that comment he’d heard, Eddie couldn’t be sure he wasn’t.

****

Steve was curled up on his bed, icing his hand, staring up at the ceiling, and wondering where the fuck his life had gone so wrong.

Okay so he could answer that one, actually. Demogorgon ate his girlfriend’s best friend while in his backyard. While him and said girlfriend were having sex for the first time.

Yeah... that was all kinds of fucked up.

He still couldn’t believe that Nancy sided with Jonathan about him taking pictures of their first time.

So now Valentine’s Day was two week away and he was dateless, friendless, and unpopular. He wished he could just be called a loner. But a loner was cool and Steve wasn’t even that anymore.

He just had to make until the end of may and then he could graduate, leaving this town in his rearview mirror for good.

Steve knew that he would have to struggle through this fucking holiday and Senior prom then it would be smooth sailing from there.

He had all this money that he would normally spend on his girlfriends, but now he didn’t even have that. He supposed he could blow it all on beer and weed and then he could enjoy the weekend for a change.

Steve sat up suddenly, the ice pack falling from his hand to hit the floor with sploosh!

Now that was an idea.

He still had one thing in the school that was nonpareil and that was gossip. In fact, it was easier to hear all the dirty little secrets because no one cared if he was standing there.

A smile spread over his face.

That could actually work. It would be a great way to spend his allowance and it would be fun.

He got up and put the ice pack back in the freezer. He couldn’t do anything about it right then but once his hand was better he would formulate his little plan.

Steve was suddenly excited for the first time since he dropped Dustin off at the middle school’s Snow Ball.

He was going to make this holiday fun even if he had to manufacture the fun himself.

****

Eddie was pissed. A little at himself, but mostly at how Harrington was being treated.

He had to sit through lunch and listen a bunch of stupid jocks brag about stomping on Harrington’s hand when he was trying to pick up his stuff off the floor in the hallway yesterday.

They had been hoping for an actual break, but the asshole thought he’d only bruised it.

The reason Eddie was a little mad at himself for this was because he was the one that had shoulder checked Harrington. He had only been trying to get the guy out of his daze. Not send his shit flying.

And then to have someone deliberately stepping on his hand. Fuck. Not even Hagan ever went that far.

Stev–Harrington didn’t deserve that kind of bullying. No one did.

But he could see the twisted sort of appeal, though. And fuck if that didn’t make his stomach turn.

To see the deposed king and want to mock that? Want to dig the hurt in as deep as he could? To drive home the lesson that popularity was fleeting and that existence was a curse?

Yeah, Eddie could see the appeal.

But he wouldn’t. He might make fun of literally everyone and everything but his own interests, but to make turn that into actual cruelty? That was were he drew the line in the sand.

He went home feeling sick to his stomach. And of course Wayne picked up on it immediately.

He jutted his chin at the chicken and rice on Eddie plate that he had only merely pushed around with his fork.

“What’s got you so twisted around the bend?”

Eddie put his fork down and hid his mouth with his clasped hands, elbows on the table.

“I fucked up today,” he murmured. “I didn’t mean for it to go as it did.”

“What did you do?”

So Eddie told him. “I wasn’t trying to hurt him, but he got hurt anyway.”

“That does sound pretty bad,” Wayne agreed. “And as you say, you were trying to help only for it to go very awry. And since you didn’t about it until after the fact you couldn’t apologize and that’s what’s eating you up inside.”

Eddie nodded around his fists, his lower lip quivering.

“You’ll just have to find a way to apologize on Monday,” Wayne said wisely.

Eddie sighed. It was the best he could do. It wasn’t as though he could call the guy up or show up at his house. The first because he didn’t have the guy’s number and the second because he’d get the cops called on him so fast by the neighbors.

It would just have to wait until Monday.

****

Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

Permanent Tag List:

@mira-jadeamethyst @rozzieroos @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @emly03

@spectrum-spectre @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog @gregre369 @a-little-unsteddie

@chaosgremlinmunson @messrs-weasley @chaoticlovingdreamer @maya-custodios-dionach @danili666

@goodolefashionedloverboi @val-from-lawrence @i-must-potato @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog

@justforthedead89 @vecnuthy @irregular-child @bookbinderbitch @bookworm0690

@anne-bennett-cosplayer @yikes-a-bee @awkwardgravity1 @littlewildflowerkitten @genderless-spoon

@cinnamon-mushroomabomination @dragonmama76 @scheodingers-muppet @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt

@useless-nb-bisexual @disrespectedgoatman @counting-dollars-counting-stars @tinyplanet95 @swimmingbirdrunningrock

#my writing #stranger things #steddie #ladykailitha writes

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skretnika · 5 months ago

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ive been thinking my intro post for bruce was pretty half assed, so this post will be dedicated to dive in a little more on his background, personality, etc etc Yay have his fits. Im so geeked on oc stuff rn sorri

bruce comes from a broken home, but he doesn't think about it too much, or just plainly denies it. he lived mostly with his dad in a trashy house in blue skies, safe to say he isn't dirt poor but they're not really accommodated, mostly cause mr jett spends his money on booze and cigs lol

he got sent to bullworth by his dad so as not to include him in the household expenses

talking about mr jett, he treats his son more as a friend than as a father, explaining bruce's bad manners and why he just be doing shit. his mom isn't really in the picture except for the emails and money she sends every few months, she's living in a different state. bruce still loves them both

aside from his family issues, he's pretty chill and chatty if unprovoked and when he's not beating someones face in, or getting his face beat in, he will literally agree to anything if theres guaranteed fun. bruce has the worst introspection in the world and combined with how rowdy he is it's only worse, always acts on impulse and rarely stops to think things through. Basically, he dislikes thinking, says he won't need it for the army anyways. one of his most notable traits is that hes kind of a hopeless romantic despite all his talk about love and feelings being lame, whenever he approaches a pretty girl or viceversa, he will imagine a future with her and then actually consider if its realistic or not. he's openly flirty but not in a weird way, he just says cheesy and shitty pick up lines

he's mostly known in the academy because a year before he used to go out with a girl, she dumped him and her brother gave bruce the beating of his life. this guy was later expelled for breaking bruce's nose and bruce became even more hostile when it comes to being a bully. he still likes this girl very much tho

He was expelled from his previous school because he liked to do pull-ups literally anywhere he could grasp onto to show off his calisthenics skills to girls until one day he ripped out a whole doorway

being a bully the most logical thing would be to beat on nerds, but he rathers mess with preps or anyone who can put up a fight with him. most he does to nerds is steal their money and homework, or stuff them in trashcans to get a cheap laugh out of whatever girl he's trying to pull. there was an incident where he threw a dissected rat at earnest and got suspended for three days

he lurks around the parking lot, main building, gym, and the in and out motel

i like to imagine his voice claim being tyler the creator lol

if he was an actual character hed be kissable

clique relationship chart woooooo

the townies chart because would be all black they hate bruce and bruce hates them

bruce's main intro

#bully scholarship edition #canis canem edit #bully #bully oc #bruce jett

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mollydewinter · 6 months ago

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Random ac hcs (mostly ac3):

haytham has never used public transport

connor majored in history and later pursued a phd

his lectures are always big events bc he's astronomically hot but also really passionate about his work and research

speaking of, he's the perfect combination of nerd and jock bc he also used to play hockey in hs and college but had to stop bc of a leg injury

ziio is a journalist and works mainly from Boston but when connor is old enough she starts traveling more and pursuing international stories

connor got his love for research from her

at one point her research got her in hot water with the Templars but she got away bc the guy tasked with killing her fell in love w her

aunt Jenny absolutely dotes on connor, her only priorities in life are spoiling that sweet boy rotten and clocking haytham's tea

grandpa Edward embarrassing everyone at the Christmas table and grandma Tessa who can't look at her son without crying

shay is haytham's head of security which is totally why he needs to be w haytham 24/7 and lives with him and what a preposterous assumption to make about your father, Connor!

everyone knows

haytham has a cat named Charles Mittens which everyone calls Charles and uses Human Charles for lee instead

haytham and jenny vs ezio and claudia

old man ezio trying (failing) to keep up with the youths

he coaches arno in the ways of being a European fuckboy

connor, arno, jacob and shaun are roommates

shaun and his totally real super cool and smart girlfriend from MIT (it's rebecca) (they're keeping it a secret from desmond)

desmond is a bartender at the place they all hang out

everyone hates bill miles

haytham parading connor smug as fuck that he's winning the deadbeat off (they're gonna fight again in three minutes)

shay and edward comedy hour

shay and arno meet and get along perfectly well for about five minutes before shay realizes who arno is and is wracked by catholic guilt

everyone thinks jacob and arno are dating bc theyre always glued to each other and dont believe arno's totally legit gf exists even for a second (elise is chill like that)

elise is jenny's protegee and later becomes haytham's pa, they get along superbly well and geek about the same books (and cheese)

"white boy shocks everyone at the restaurant by ordering in perfect Kanien'kehà:ka" haytham kenway

he still sucks at the pronunciation but nothing will stop him from trying

so ziio and connor cant shit talk him freely anymore

in private, shay makes fun of haytham's posh habits (he's sleeping on the couch)

#assassin's creed #assassins creed #ac #haytham kenway #connor kenway #ratonhnhaké:ton #shay cormac #shaytham #kaniehtí:io #edward kenway #ezio auditore #jacob frye #arno dorian #jennifer scott #jennifer kenway

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blackdollette · 1 year ago

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HI!!!

Soooo i have a request for charlie🤭🤭

I was thinking maybe the reader has had a crush on charlie since, like, the beginning of the school year or something, but she’s seen him flirting with Kirby on and off. Charlie ends up seeing the reader pissed after he flirts with Kirby and teases the reader about it…which ends up with them in an argument/memoir session maybe? maybe soft dom charlie? idk idk🤭 anywho have an amazing day!! xoxo

omg this request made me realize that I havent written for charlie in ages!

"when you gonna ditch that stupid (*)" | charlie walker

meet me in the pale moonlight. - lana del rey

✮⋆˙ [tags] @faesucksass @lustkillers @mayathepsychic1999 @josibunn @si1nful-symph0ny @mayathepsychic1999 @@romanroyapoligist @livingdead-materialgirl @auggiethecreator @oliviah-25 @vanlisbon @lankysimp @livingdead-reilly @yungbloodsuxca @kashmirclam @imoonkiss @nom-nommmm1 @xxbl00d-cl0txx @wildathevrt @mommymilkers0526 @greenxgloss

female!reader x charlie

word count: 913

contents: smoking, jealousy, charlie being a loser

you didn’t care much for school. classes were redundant and monotonous, there was always some sort of drama that you got yourself roped into, and unfortunately for you, you’d always be the second choice for charlie walker. truly embarrassing.

if the flannels and button-up shirts didn’t classify him as a nerd, then the fact that he was a complete film geek and could quote every line in the scream franchise verbatim definitely did. so it was completely lost on you how he’d managed to score a girl like kirby reed.

as you hastily put in your combination into your rusted lock, down the hallway you heard charlie crack a stupid joke to kirby, earning a forced laugh out of her. you glanced at them through your peripherals as they passed by, seeing the way he looked at her with such infatuation and that stupid grin on his face.

you bit your lip, looking into your locker as a sting of envy coiled in your gut. it wasn’t like you were undesirable or anything. you frequently got your fair share of being asked on dates and cute little notes in your locker, but your heart knew exactly what it wanted.

kirby and charlie parted ways, their interaction ending with kirby giving him a playful slap on the chest before walking away. he stood in the center of the hallway, looking like he had just won the lottery with the way he was beaming. you rolled your eyes, slamming your locker shut and trudging out of the building. you had a class right now, but any intention you had of showing up had vanished instantly.

the sun blinded you momentarily, the warmth of the outside wrapping you in a gleaming blanket. you made your way to the fountain, sitting down on the edge and setting down your bookbag. you dug into your pocket, fishing out a nearly empty pack of cigarettes and a hot-pink lighter with a worn-out ghostface sticker on it. a stupid little gift charlie had given you in freshman year.

you tucked the cigarette in between your teeth, lighting it and taking a long drag. you fiddled with you lighter, your mind starting to wander to how you got in this position in the first place. you could’ve sworn that he liked you back. just a month ago, you two had gotten drunk at a party and he’d asked if you wanted to see his movie collection. a strange request, yes, but it was his own way of showing his affection. but now it seemed like he was just playing you like a cheap yoyo.

“smoking on school grounds? how scandalous.” his geeky voice snapped you back to reality. you looked up to see him standing above you, his auburn hair looking like pure gold in the sunshine. you rolled your eyes, exhaling a thin ribbon of smoke. “sue me.” you muttered as he sat down beside you.

you were angry at him but god, why did he have to look so ethereal? his ice-cold irises were swallowed by his pupils as he looked at you, his thigh brushing against you. “i… i haven’t seen you in a while. h-how’ve you been?” he plastered a smile onto his face, obviously uncomfortable by this interaction.

you scoffed. “save me the small talk, charlie. what do you want?” he pouted a little, looking more pathetic than ever. “you mad at me or something?” you turned away slightly, not wanting to see his face or else your cold demeanor may break. he snaked an arm around your waist. “you’re too pretty to be mad, y’know?”

you twirled the cigarette between your fingers. ”i bet you say that to all the girls…” he froze for a moment before smirking a little. “oh, that’s what this is about. you’re jealous, huh?” he pulled you in closer, almost pulling you onto his lap before you began to squirm. “quit it, will you? you can’t just pretend to like me then go ahead and eyefuck kirby everytime you talk to her.”

he raised an eyebrow. “so it’s fine for you to get asked out by every guy in school but when i talk to another girl you get all mad at me?” he scoffed. you shook your head, putting a hand on his shoulder to turn him back to you. “i reject every single one of them in hopes that one day you’ll gather up the balls to ask me out.” you froze up. you hadn’t meant to reveal that much to me.

but a hint of a smile lit up his face. he glanced down, looking at the lighter in your hand and taking in the sight of the conspicuous sticker on it. he took your hand into his, opening yours to get a better look. “w-woah… you still have this..?” you rolled your eyes a little. “don’t get any ideas. i’ve tried to get it off but it wouldn’t budge.”

he laughed a little, holding you close to him. you felt his faint heartbeat against your back, letting a moment of silence drape over you two. then he spoke again. “h-hey, i never finished showing you my movie collection. are you down tonight to take a look at the rest of them?” it was your turn to roll your eyes. “i swear, you’re the biggest loser in the world.”

he beamed with joy, giving you a tight squeeze around your waist. “i’ll take that as a yes.”

author's note: i'm so sorry that this took so long to get out, I've been so unorganized lately :((

#444rockstargf #rory culkin #charlie walker x reader #charlie walker #rory culkin x reader #scream #scream franchise #scream movie #scre4m #scream 4 #scream movies #rory culkin smut #smut #lana unreleased #lana del rey unreleased #lana del rey

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m4rv3l-girl · 8 months ago

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Curiosity

Bucky x Y/N

Y/N is too much of a nerd, and Bucky’s arm is going to be a problem.

Requests Open - See Blog!

Warnings: None. Y/N is a dork.

Y/N had always been excited by technological advancements. When she found out that Bucky Barnes was going to be working with her, she had to contain her sparks of nerdiness.

That Vibranium arm. What a progression in prosthetics...

It was early afternoon and the sun had settled comfortably in the sky, it was warm and humid. Y/N was waiting patiently to meet the super soldier - trying to make her excitement as unnoticeable as possible.

She heard the key rattle in the lock and the sound seemed to go on forever as she sat on the couch in anticipation.

When the door finally opened with a push against the thick carpet, she held her breath. The first thing that she saw was the glint of metal against the sunny rays peeking through the curtains, the sight alone making her heart speed up.

God. Pull yourself together, Woman. She scolded herself internally.

"Uh...hey. Are you Y/N?" His voice was deep and laced with a Brooklyn accent.

Y/N's voice got caught in her voice box and found herself unable to answer for a moment. Instead, she opted to stare up at the specimen of a man in front of her like a love-struck child.

She cleared her throat.

"Yeah, I am. You're James." She stated.

"It's just Bucky" he insisted.

She nodded slightly, using all of her energy to stop her eyes flickering down to the bionic limb.

Stop. He'll think you're a creep.

"Just...Just Bucky. Okay. Sure."

His gaze was locked on hers. He must've caught her staring at the arm.

A small frown embedded into his expression, she could tell he was trying to seem friendly. Yet, one accidental glance and he became visibly distressed. Pulling his left sleeve down a few inches, he spoke quickly,

"I won't hurt you. I don't do that anymore"

His tone was sure and final. But he was coming to the wrong conclusion - assuming Y/N was scared of him. Of the arm.

He couldn't have been any more wrong.

"No, no, I know...I'm not-.."

She fumbled to find the right words. Accepting defeat, she closed her mouth and smiled awkwardly.

"I'm just a massive tech nerd and I'm fangirling a bit, I'm sorry. I'm probably making you really uncomfortable, I was trying really hard not to stare-..."

He chuckled.

Her head immediately shot up and she found his eyes crinkled in the corners as the small laugh slipped out.

"Hey, it's okay, don't apologize, Doll. I'm glad. I like that you were staring out of curiosity rather than fear.."

She nodded slowly. Not sure how to respond, she simply scooted to the side to make room for him to sit down. The couch creaked as he settled into the gap she made - his hands locking together in his lap.

An awkward silence began, and seemed to last an age.

Her eyes wandered with a mind of their own; they were naturally gravitating towards that bionic arm again...

Catching herself, she forced her curious gaze elsewhere. But, Bucky had already noticed with amusement.

"I can practically see the questions swirling 'round your head, Doll. You can ask." He insisted.

Her cheeks started to heat up and she could feel the burning under her skin - powerless to stop it. It was a combination of that name...Doll ..and his perceptive nature. The fact that he had so easily seen through her and noticed how eager she was to ask questions was both scary and embarrassing.

"Oh, I wouldn't want to...be annoying or anything." She said, as if trying to convince herself that she wasn't aching to interrogate him.

"You won't. I'd rather you ask....And I understand the interest. I'm a bit of a tech geek myself."

The questions were bubbling in her throat, ready to flow out.

"...Okay, does it have any feeling? I mean, I'm assuming it has some internal mechanisms that attach to your nervous system but given how sophisticated the tech is I just wondered if it acted similarly to a nerve ending?" She rambled - blurting the words as if they had been stuck.

He laughed at her enthusiasm.

"Uh, that's a bit of a complicated answer. I can feel stuff like pressure, heat or if it's being yanked off. There's some artificial nerves for that. But I can't feel pain on it, or any sensations close to what a real arm can.."

Her eyes widened as she listened intently, leaning in closer to him absentmindedly.

"That is so cool..." She mused quietly.

"I guess it is. I've only ever really seen it as a weapon. But, at its heart, there's some cool tech." He replied, nodding.

They fell into another silence, but this time more comfortable. The TV hummed in the background and filled the stuffy air with a warm buzz.

"Hey, Y/N?"

"Yeah?"

"You're staring again." He laughed.

#bucky x y/n #bucky barnes #bucky x reader

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charles-simmons-fanfiction · 1 year ago

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Meeks and Pitts Headcanons (except it's me projecting in all of these)

-> Both of them know how to solve a Rubik's cube and almost always have one around to do something while they're bored. Probably one of them learned it first for whatever reason, then taught the other. And they also like to race to see who solves it first. (and i'm saying this as someone who won't go anywhere without my cube. It's a life style y'know)

-> They're both very geek and nerdy, but Meeks is more of a nerd and Pitts is more of a geek.

-> "Don't worry, I didn't have time to study for this either," they say, but know the whole subject by heart.

-> While Meeks is very sociable, Pitts used to be pretty socially awkward and it took him a while to get genuinely comfortable with all the poets. He is that type of person who's very reserved and quiet, then as soon as he gets used to you he suddenly becomes the most talkative and annoying person in the world.

-> They definitely like boardgames and the rest of this post will be about that, as someone who LOVES boardgames with my whole heart. I know dps takes place before most cool games were invented, but let's just pretend they got to have those in their teenage years. Most of this fandom is constantly pretending stuff didn't happen like canon anyway.

-> Meeks is the type of person who would love games that need tactics and strategy, specially card and deck building games. He would be that type of player that makes the biggest combos (there's always one like that and it is so annoying to everyone else, but he has the time of his life). Like, every single round he manages to do some crazy logical move and win more points than all the others combined.

-> Pitts, on the other hand, likes games with plots, characters, maybe even roleplaying. From more simple games, like Coup to some more complex ones, like Above and Below. And I think he would be more into cooperative games rather than competitive.

-> I particularly think both of them would like space themed boardgames, for some reason I can't explain. Games like Terraforming Mars and Nemesis (I only played this one twice, and each time took like 5 hours, but I swear time FLIES in these games. The other poets would surely complain every time Steven and Gerard decided to play those, because it would take the whole afternoon/night.)

-> Sometimes the other dead poets would agree to play with them. Usually after days of them begging for it. When that happens, they would probably play party games. Those games are faster and easy to learn (there's always someone who struggles to understand the rules, and I think it would be Charlie and Knox, but Charlie would get it as soon as they actually start playing). Games like Exploding Kittens, Cards against Humanity, or even Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza (one of funniest games ever btw).

-> Normal card games (like poker, rummy or canasta) are mostly Meek's thing though and he takes it very seriously, although I don't think he'd go as far as betting money on it.

-> Both of them would love RPGs so much.

-> All of those nerdy things might sound stupid to others, but to them, it's a huge bonding moment and it means a lot when they get the others to engage with their hobbies.

💛.

This post feels SO NICHE, bc it has both my love for these two specific characters but also for boardgames. It was fun though, so it's worth it ^^"

#dead poets society #dead poets fandom #steven meeks #stephen meeks #gerard pitts #dead poets society headcanons #dead poets society headcanon #dps headcanons #board games #charles simmons speaks

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xiaq · 2 years ago

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Steddie Time Travel Fix-it: Pt 3

Ao3 Pt. 1 Pt. 2 Pt. 3 Pt. 4

Now that he’s started, Eddie can’t seem to stop watching Steve Harrington.

When he goes to school on Thursday, he’s tense all day waiting for…he doesn’t even know what. Something.

And things are definitely happening. The social order of the school has suddenly been upended in a way that is imminently noticeable. By lunch everyone knows that King Steve has quit the basketball team, had a shouting match with his former best friend Tommy Hagan in the locker room, broke up with his current girlfriend, and instead of lording over the high jock table in the cafeteria is now sitting with band-geek Robin Buckley, outcast Jonathan Beyers, and nerd girls Nancy Wheeler and Barbra Holland. None of the people at the table seem to find this unusual except Barb, who is looking at her table-mates in much the same way that everyone else in the cafeteria is: with a combination of confusion, intrigue, and curiosity.

It’s hard to focus on literally anything else, though Eddie does try to keep up with the flow of conversation where he’s sat between Jeff and Gareth.

That gets harder when Steve stands, walks to the trashcan a few feet from the Hellfire table, and dumps his tray.

He meets Eddies eyes, just as intense and fucking tormented as the day before, but he only nods, maybe a little delayed, and husks out a, “hey Eddie,” before turning purposefully and walking back to his table.

When he sits, Robin reaches over to squeeze his wrist and they have a whole conversation with their eyes before they both turn to look at Eddie again.

Robin smiles shakily, gives him an awkward little wave, and he, sort of automatically, waves back.

“Ok, what the fuck,” Jeff says.

“Believe me when I say I have no idea,” Eddie answers.

He keeps waiting for it, the rest of the day–though what it is, he doesn’t know.

He tracks Steve through the hallways between periods, and each time Steve catches his eye he nods, or says, “hey Eddie,” and then just…continues on his way. They share the last period of the day: PE. And for once, Eddie doesn’t skip. He watches as Steve steps onto the court with a weird, aggressive, awareness. He dominates dodgeball with a grim determination that feels wrong in a school gymnasium. He asks and gets permission from the PE coach to spend the last half of the period in the weight room.

Eddie slips out of the gym a few minutes later––the coach is so used to him ditching at this point he doesn’t even try to stop him. He collects his backpack and lunchbox from his locker and drags his fingers down the concrete wall on his way to the double entrance doors: freedom.

Except.

He stops.

He makes a frustrated about-face.

He stalks back the way he came, past the gymnasium and around the corner. He stands in the hall outside the weight room and looks through the smudged window in the door.

Steve is alone, working out and looking pissed about it, sweat already dampening his Hawkins Varsity Basketball T-shirt. He racks a set of weights, grabs a second set, less heavy than the ones he just put away, and curses on his way back to the bench.

He doesn’t have a walkman or anything, he’s just––working out. And not like Eddie has seen the jocks working out before: flexing and posturing and peacocking in front of the mirrors. Steve is pushing himself through chest presses like it’s a punishment, or maybe a necessary evil. Like he’s preparing to go to war or something.

Eddie doesn’t know how long he stands there, watching, but it’s long enough that Steve gets through two more sets and then wraps his hands before going to town on the punching bag. Until there’s sweat dripping down his neck and his wet hair is in his eyes; until the soft, grunted, exhalations of his exertion start to sound like sobs.

Steve stops, suddenly, his breathing loud enough that Eddie can hear it, sharp and discordant, in the hallway. Steve clings to the bag like it’s a person, face pressed to the leather, shoulders shaking, and Eddie feels like the worst kind of voyeur.

He leaves.

He goes to the picnic table in the woods to do his after-school deals, walks home, and then sits on his bed and stares at the walkie for a long, long, time.

The rest of the week is the same: Eddie waiting for something that never happens.

By the end of the following week, Eddie would think he’d imagined it all––the bathroom, the late-night visit to the trailer, the request to be friends, except the radio Steve gave him is still sitting on the window sill in this bedroom. And Steve keeps saying hello to him in the hallways and at lunch. And he never loses the slightly desperate look in his eyes when he catches and holds Eddie’s gaze across the room: a look that makes Eddie feel like he’s lost something he can’t remember.

Until Tommy Hagan happens.

Tommy Hagan often happens to the freaks. The rich popular kid shoving around the weirdos is nothing new. It’d be unusual if it didn’t happen on occasion and there's been a weird downtick in bullying since Harrington ceded the throne. Not that Steve ever hurt any of them himself before, but in the past, half the time, it felt like his underlings crumpled someone's notes or shouted slurs across hallways as a way of gaining Steve’s attention. Like a toddler throwing a tantrum. Any attention is good attention, right?

Except now, Jason Carver and Tommy Hagan are clearly both trying to take the top spot in the social hierarchy that Steve has vacated, and they’re going about it with fear rather than respect. Groundbreaking.

While Carver is a bit more discrete with his assholery––after all, he has to stay a golden boy in the teachers’ eyes––Hagan doesn’t have a discreet bone in his body. And he tends to fall back on predictable modes of intimidation.

Eddie’s just sat down at their lunch table, hasn’t even had a chance to take a bite of his sandwich, when Hagan smacks the back of Jeff’s head next to him and drops his hands to rest, too tight, on Jeff’s shoulders.

“I’m going to need you to leave my girlfriend the fuck alone,” he snarls into Jeff’s ear. “Saw you panting after her in the hall after third period. Didn’t like that.”

“We’re partners for the science lab,” Jeff mumbles. “I have to talk to her about our project.”

“Sure.” He lets go of Jeff’s shoulders, only to hit the back of his head with the heel of his hand again. “Guess I don’t need to worry anyway, judging by how you stare at us in the showers, huh?”

And Eddie is done.

He stands, shoving Hagan away from Jeff, both palms flat to his chest, legs braced. He grew a few inches the summer before and while Eddie is still thin as a fucking bean pole he’s taller than Hagan, now. Not by much, but he isn’t as easy a target anymore and, at his core, Hagan is a coward.

“Fuck off,” Eddie snarls.

But he’s not so cowardly today.

Eddie ducks the first punch and deflects the second. He’s never actually hit someone before and he’s deeply regretting turning down Wayne when he offered to teach him as the clamor of voices rises around them.

Eddie doesn’t even realize Steve is there until he’s standing between them, his hand wrapped around Hagan’s wrist, just below his fist.

Everything goes still and anticipatory. A hush falls.

“I need you to understand,” Steve says quietly, pulling Hagan even closer to him when Hagan tries to jerk away, “that I wasn’t joking when I said things are going to be different, now.”

“What the fuck, Steve,” Hagan whines.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” Steve continues calmly, “but I will if you keep this shit up. You leave them alone.”

The cadence of his voice, the tone, is such a contrast to Hagan’s that it makes Hagan sound like a huffing child. Steve sounds like a teacher. Or a dad. Quiet. Assured. Firm. Unbearably hot.

No.

Eddie forces himself to refocus.

“Also,” Steve says, even quieter, leaning forward so they’re nearly nose to nose. “I wouldn't be throwing around accusations about watching people shower.” He squeezes Hagan’s wrist harder. “Considering.”

Hagan’s face goes pale. The kind of pale that means fear rather than anger.

Eddie knows the look on Hagan's face because Eddie has worn it before, and the second-hand terror, the empathetic rush of fight or flight, leaves him briefly frozen, winded.

“Do we understand each other?” Steve says, his voice still barely above a whisper. Eddie is pretty sure he’s the only one hearing this exchange and he wishes that wasn’t true because he desperately wants someone to confirm that he’s not hallucinating.

“You wouldn’t,�� Hagan hisses. “You can’t.”

“You have no idea what I’m capable of,” Steve says.

Eddie certainly feels the truth in that.

“Go sit down,” Steve instructs, just as even as mild as he started. “And maybe pass on the word to Jason. It’ll be easier if I didn't have to have this conversation again.”

Hagan wrenches his arm away from Steve with a muttered “fuck you,” but he turns tail and retreats, straight back into the hall with a slam of his palms to the crash bar on the door.

And then, in the silence that follows, Steve pushes back his disheveled hair, glancing around, and sits. At the Hellfire table.

He nods for Eddie to sit back down across from him, in his customary seat, which Eddie does. Slowly.

The rest of the guys say nothing.

“Hey, so,” Steve says, apparently oblivious to the tumult he’s caused. He leans forward, weight on his elbows, looking earnest and so fucking swoon-worthy Eddie wants to punch a wall. “I need to get the details about the new campaign from you. When does it start and what time do we meet?”

“What the fuck,” Jeff says quietly

“You play D&D?” Gareth asks.

“You want to play D&D with us?” Jeff clarifies.

“Yeah,” Steve glances between them, then settles his attention, like a habit, back on Eddie. “Didn’t Eddie tell you?”

“I didn’t know if you were serious,” Eddie manages.

“I’m serious,” Steve says.

The statement feels loaded.

“Right. Well. We meet in the theater room on Friday nights. Six to nine. The new campaign starts next week and I need your character details at least 48 hours beforehand.”

“I think my character is ready now, but if you wouldn’t mind looking over it with me, I’d appreciate it.”

“Sure,” he says faintly.

“What are you doing after school today?”

“Nothing.”

“Band practice,” Gareth says, kicking him under the table. “Right after school. Like we do every Wednesday.”

“Right. Band practice.”

“I could pick you up after? We can grab dinner and talk about my character then?”

“Sure,” Eddie says. “We practice at Gareth’s house. On Mt. Olive. Should be done around five-thirty.”

Steve slaps the table and stands. “I’ll see you then.” He pauses. “Oh, I meant to ask. How did your audition thing at Hideout go last weekend?”

“We got the slot,” Eddie says, and then, with forced bravado. “So I guess you’ll have to come see us play some time.”

Steve grins. “That’s awesome. Congratulations, guys. I’ll definitely come this weekend. Might bring Rob and Nance, too, maybe Jonathan if he’s up for it.”

“Sure,” Eddie says again.

Steve’s hand drops, just for a second, to Eddie’s shoulder. It squeezes.

And then he’s gone––back to his table.

“I have so many questions,” Gareth says.

“I promise you I have more,” Eddie mutters.

Pt. 4

#steddie #time travel fix it #eddie x steve #steve/eddie #stranger things fic #eddie pov

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dr-futbol-blog · 2 days ago

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The Pegasus Project, Pt. 3

Colonel Mitchell seems to be the first one to exit the meeting room after the meeting is concluded, and it is not because he is excited to explore the city further like Jackson seems to be, it is just to get away from the meeting itself. He needed to get away from the eggheads because this over-compensating Action Jackson seems to need to make it clear to everyone that might be watching that he would rather be out there doing some soldiering than solving maths problems, or what ever it is that Carter had intended to do with McKay. Mitchell walks out of the room with a clear need to reassert his manhood.

I have discussed before how people used to see this dynamic of jock vs. nerd between Sheppard and McKay where Sheppard later actually turns out to be a prep who is trying very hard to hide this fact about himself, Sheppard is in more closets than one. Mitchell, on the other hand, is the quintessential jock, at least insofar as Sheppard is able to get a read on him, and while Sheppard is fairly confident that since they need McKay to do calculations for them that he is going to be relatively safe on this mission, he is worried about how Mitchell is going to treat him for the duration. To understand what happens in this scene, we have to recognize the fact that Sheppard knows Mitchell is the person he is having to trust McKay's life and well-being with, is the one who is going to ultimately guarantee his safety on the mission. And Mitchell seems like a capable warrior, that does not concern him. It is the masculine posturing and bravado that worries Sheppard, the dick-swinging swagger with which he walks in his city.

Mitchell: I gotta tell you, Sheppard… it's a nice place you got here. Sheppard: Thanks. We just painted.

We see Mitchell exemplifying this trait as he saunters out of the meeting room, all buddy-buddy with Sheppard. He has the air of someone who is seeking to masculine-bond with Sheppard, to bond with someone who is like him as opposed to the other people in the room who are not like the two of them. The people still in the room are girls, geeks and nancy boys or some combinations thereof, and Mitchell seems to feel the need to assert himself as not any of that to Sheppard, whom he similarly sees as not being any of those groups.

Mitchell does not seem particularly good at reading people, and seems to have no inkling that Sheppard is not just a closet geek and most definitely is a nancy boy, but in addition to that he had been born with that silver (or gold) spoon in his mouth, he comes from generational wealth and preparatory schools. If they were in high school, the two might actually have hated each other, and guys like Mitchell might have ended up driving cars and running security for guys like Sheppard's father, the Mitchells of the world bitter about their station in life and the Sheppards of the world overlooking the Mitchells, barely aware of their existence. But they are not in high school, Sheppard is the commander of this operation that is really quite something, and he had received the post because someone had been enough of an ally to him to have risked her not inconsequential career to have him run it, not caring who he loves so long as he allows her to retain civilian authority over the mission.

The other thing is, which I have seen people discuss before and which I had pointed out with regards to Sheppard and O'Neill's character (in many ways, O'Neill is who people think Sheppard to be), which is that Mitchell is who Sheppard pretends to be, Sheppard projects an image similar to Mitchell as a defensive strategy. As mentioned, when Sheppard had joined the Air Force, the most homophobic branch of the military (and this seems to have happened around the same time as when he married a woman, as he had been doing Black Ops missions during his marriage -- which is something married guys usually don't get to do), he had been in the closet in more ways than one. Not only had he wished that it would curb his desire for other men, knowing he had to keep his eyes front and mind his own business not to risk someone lashing out with violence, but he also had to hide his social background from the people he served with.

Sheppard seems not to have gone to West Point, where the future Generals are educated, as his father likely would not have had a problem with that. Sheppard had gone into service to fight actual wars, to earn his stripes on the actual battlefield where men shed blood, sweat and tears for their country, and he had risen in the ranks based on his merits, not because of who his daddy was (as far as he knows). Sheppard had felt the need to disassociate from his old man to make his own way in the world, which had meant not bringing up his family background unless it was absolutely necessary. We as the audience don't even find out about it until the latter half of the fourth season, and even though the actor seems to have had this background in mind for the character the whole time, an outcast scion of generational wealth with more than a small need to prove himself as "one of the guys," the hints we get for this being the case over the years are extremely subtle -- but they are still there.

In contrast to Sheppard, McKay seems to be middle class, possibly the lower spectrum of the same since he seems to have started piano lessons and gotten a dog as a child, but his father likely did not have the means to support him continuing his hobby or keeping the dog, which might even indicate that his family had experienced downward class mobility when he had been a child, and the tightness with money might well have been one of the topics that had caused his parents to fight that a child might not have fully understood at the time. McKay seems well aware of Sheppard's family background and he knows enough about Sheppard's relationship with his father to know that he needed to offer to go with him to the old man's funeral later on, but while this may have caused some strain in their relationship over the years, for the most part they had managed to put their differences aside.

As for Mitchell, he seems to come from a much more meagre background than Sheppard, and seems to have been a military brat whose family had to get by on a veteran's pension after his father's injury, basically groomed for this occupation and to serving his country his whole entire life. Given that Mitchell's father had been a test pilot who had been injured on a flight with experimental flight craft, Mitchell having grown up in the shadow of his sacrifice, he might have been even more likely to think that Sheppard was "playing soldier" if he had known about his background -- precisely the reason why Sheppard does not want people to know many things about him. Sheppard has always been extremely stingy sharing personal things about himself.

Of course they do somewhat deconstruct Mitchell's character on the show because watching a straight-laced G.I.Joe would be boring and not make for great television, and since he was meant to fill the boots of the rogueish hero O'Neill while being the "straight guy" (in the theatrical sense), and still be somewhat original not to be a simple carbon copy of him, they were walking a tightrope with the character as it was. What is more, because both the actors for Mitchell and Vala had been brought over form another popular sci-fi franchise, they also needed to make sure that they were somehow distinct from their predecessors, that they had not just transferred John Crichton and Aeryn Sun from one show to another -- even though the intention had obviously been to bring the viewers over to this franchise.

The whole point of us getting this scene between Mitchell and Sheppard is for us to see the two protagonists side by side, and to get the opportunity to compare them. They do have many things in common just on account of being protagonists, and again as early middle-aged North American white guys in the military, both of them Lt. Colonels. But where Mitchell is straight, or at least we have no reason to think otherwise, Sheppard is decidedly not, and he does not know Mitchell well enough to know how he feels about "the queers" in the military, how he has dealt with DADT in his own career as an officer. Sheppard is subtly testing the waters, and this song and dance was one that was familiar to most non-straight servicemen and officers in the military at this time. But just to be on the safe side, he very obviously does not look anywhere near Mitchell's shapely posterior as he bends over the railing to take in the city, his eyes actually comically scanning the ceiling in a clear attempt at not looking at it. You needed to be really pretty sure about how the other person thought about these things before even thinking about disclosing anything. We had seen how long it had taken Sheppard to even trust Weir with the truth of it.

And Mitchell is what Sheppard has been projecting his entire career, back when he actually was trying "not being wraith," was trying to play it straight and when he had tried convincing himself that having sex with a ridiculously beautiful woman wasn't a chore to him, and later on when he had been forced to admit that he could not help being who he was, what he was, when it had no longer been about wanting guys but when, without meaning to, he had fallen in love and had tragically lost the man that he loved in spite of violating direct orders in an attempt to save him, after which pretending to be someone he wasn't had suddenly not seemed so important anymore. He was still grieving when we find him on the Antarctic at the start of the show, trying to figure out who he was after he had lost everything about himself apart from the Air Force.

But because Sheppard does not know what kind of a man Mitchell is and suspects him to be a "Sir, yes sir!" Kansas farm boy who had grown up going to church every Sunday and whose grandmother had almost certainly hated the gays, he does not quite know how to behave around him. Even if Mitchell had been able to overcome the baggage of his social background somewhat, Sheppard has no way of knowing that. There is nothing to suggest to Sheppard that he could trust this man with the truth -- much to the contrary. But it is possible that his reference to painting is a subtle way of trying to find out whether he is "a friend of Dorothy" too, since what Sheppard actually does here is make a comment on the interior decoration of the place, something that he actually does seem to have an interest in. Mitchell picking that up would have been a hint but alas, he does not.

Never one to know how to take a compliment but very much agreeing with Mitchell's assessment of Atlantis being a sight to behold, Sheppard makes his quip about them having just painted, having put on a fresh coat of paint, which is also something that a guy might say to another guy who had just complimented his car or his house, just two guys shooting the breeze. It is the kind of reply that is designed to take the edge off the compliment, to show the guy receiving the compliment as being a humble salt of the Earth kind of guy and not an arrogant ass, and most certainly to desexualize the interaction, to make sure that the guy who had given the compliment knows that he is not gay and that he knows that knows that he is not gay even though he had said something nice to him. The life of a heterosexual man is an exhausting theatre where one's masculinity needs to be constantly asserted but also in a way that cannot accidentally be construed as gay, where one has to project enjoying traditionally masculine things and striving to be a manly man but where one's enjoyment of manly things cannot cross that ever-shifting fine line between enjoying manly things and enjoying manly things a little too much. Sheppard's comment here, it is trying to walk this tightrope, to show Mitchell that he appreciates the compliment but that he is not a nancy boy who needs compliments or who cares about receiving them, whatever, man.

But. The thing is. This episode is taking place on the eve of Sheppard and McKay moving back in together. In the following episode, Sheppard accidentally lets slip that he had been cleaning McKay's quarters, and the reason he had been cleaning McKay's quarters was because he was moving back in, or had recently done so. And we have noted before how Sheppard has a tendency to say things in a sarcastic tone, as he does here, his tone indicating that obviously they had not painted and he was joshing about it, it was just something he was saying. But Sheppard does not use sarcasm like that, he often says things that are true in a tone that implies that they are not true or that he does not really care about things that he cares about as a means of getting emotional distance to these things. And this suggests that he might actually be telling the truth here. They might actually have been painting recently.

And it is not likely that they (his "we" more often than not referring to himself and McKay in particular) had been painting the gate room or the meeting room, it is much more likely -- given when this is taking place -- that they had been painting McKay's quarters in preparation for Sheppard moving back in with him. And having Sheppard confess this on the other show, in this tone that suggests he is joshing when he is, in fact, telling the actual truth, is pretty clever. No one is going to bat an eye and yet it is just reinforcing what happens in the next episode. And Sheppard is so excited about getting to move back in to the quarters where he had enjoyed some of the happiest moments of his life before it had all gone so terribly wrong that he just cannot shut up about it. He feels the need to shout it from the rooftops that he is in love with the greatest guy he has ever met and that they are about to start their domestic partnership because he is so happy.

And it is because he is so happy about where he is with McKay right now that the fact that this man has come to steal him away for a mission he hopes is going to take less than a day is making him unhappy. It is making him tetchy and testy, and because Sheppard can only deal with emotions by projecting them on other people, he seems to be projecting all of this unhappiness on McKay here. Mitchell -- and the viewers of SG-1 who had not watched the other show (and let us recall that this was meant to invite people from the mothership to check the other show out, hence the need to make Sheppard seem too cool for school) -- do not know what Sheppard is like or why he is behaving the way that he is. Many people who did watch SGA had trouble understanding his motivations here. Even McKay barely understands why Sheppard is being like this, and because McKay does not understand his own worth, he is probably interpreting Sheppard's behaviour as resulting from being upset over Carter rather than the fact that he is being whisked away, Sheppard misses him already, and he is always worried for his safe-being. It is because Sheppard is so bad with "I don't know what you'd call it, feelings" that he does what he does next.

Sheppard: Well, good luck. And listen, if McKay gives you a hard time, just… Mitchell: Shoot him. Sheppard: Also, he's mortally allergic to citrus. Mitchell: Really?

We have noted many times before that Sheppard is not great with goodbyes. In fact, he hates saying goodbye and tries to avoid it to the best of his ability. He is perfectly aware that this is a send-off, that they are not only going to say goodbye to the visitors but that they actually are taking McKay with them. And much though McKay himself likely would want to say goodbye to Sheppard, to just make sure that if anything were to happen that everything was good between them, Sheppard has no intention of doing anything of the like. He knows that McKay has to go but he is in denial about it.

But regardless of this, he seems to behave like a mother sending his beloved son to summer camp for the first time here. He is making sure that McKay is taken care of. Obviously Sheppard is not advocating that Mitchell shoot McKay if the runs his mouth -- which they both know he is going to do, Sheppard better than Mitchell and hence having no doubt about it -- and in fact, note that Sheppard cannot even bring himself to say it. He is meant to be wisecracking with his colleague here and he cannot bring himself to say it, making Mitchell finish the sentence for him. The only thing he can do is give him a thumbs up because even though he is joking, McKay's safety is not a joking matter to him.

What is more, even though Sheppard is pointing with his two fingers as though he had been miming a gun, we do not actually know that he was going to say what Mitchell thought he was going to say, that Mitchell had extrapolated from what Sheppard had said to Carter back in the meeting. Sheppard had said it to Carter for a reason that did not really apply to Mitchell, so it is possible he was going for something else entirely here, and that the finger gesture that Mitchell seemed to interpret as symbolizing the barrel of a gun was something else -- being that the index finger together with the middle finger are often used in anal play, to prepare participants for penetration.

And again, just as obviously, it is not Sheppard's intention to say that if McKay gives him trouble that Mitchell should give McKay "a good seeing to" because we had just seen what a jealous, possessive man Sheppard is back in the meeting room, he does not share well nor does he have a sense of humour about that. But at the same time, it is possible that entirely subconsciously Sheppard may know that when his "spinning top" is spiraling toward a nervous breakdown, Sheppard does know of ways to bring him down, and while some of those ways are not ones that he is willing to share with virtual strangers, the gesture may just be a visceral reaction to what ever thought he was having about McKay giving them trouble -- which likely translates to McKay needing to be talked down from "reacting to certain doom in a certain way."

What is more, the gesture is very erotic due to the frequent association of weapons and phalluses. Sheppard further gives Mitchell a thumbs up, and we may recall that this gesture was one that he adopted from McKay in Critical Mass (S02E13) where McKay had first done the finger guns at Zelenka and Sheppard then repeated his gesture without the "barrel" of the finger gun, likely not wanting to point even a mock weapon at someone unless he intended to use it. And this may in fact suggest that Sheppard's intention with the fingers had been something other than how Mitchell interpreted it, because Sheppard does not joke about things like that, not with anyone but certainly not when it comes to McKay.

It seems that as Sheppard is walking Mitchell along here, he is both testing him to make sure that he can actually trust McKay with this man but he is also giving Mitchell advice he is going to need in managing McKay -- not because McKay is a lot of trouble but because he needs to be sure that Mitchell understands McKay's special needs. Sheppard mentioning McKay's deadly allergy may seem like a joke, especially because Sheppard is trying very hard to make it sound like a joke by once more using an incongruous tone, but this is something that Mitchell absolutely needs to know about McKay. We had seen Vala eating a tangerine for breakfast back on the Odyssey so we know that there are citrus fruit on board. Citrus is a known staple on seafaring ships due to the danger of scurvy when ships are long at sea and have no access to Vitamin D, and hence on a space ship that travels three weeks between the galaxies, it would make sense for them to pack them for the voyage, and even to bring them to Atlantis since we do not know how many plants with Vitamin C they have up in Pegasus.

It is not just possible but actually likely that the Odyssey, who had been unloading their cargo before the meeting, had brought over more than a few citrus fruits, which would explain why Sheppard has one in his possession right now. Even though he explicitly says so, it is obviously not that he keeps a citrus fruit with him at all times because he likes the bully McKay with it, that was never the intention of the writers (otherwise, the Chekov's Tangerine in the beginning of the episode has no purpose), even though many people believed that they did -- and this scene was one of the scenes that made viewers of the spinoff show feel like the writers on SG-1 had no idea how to write these characters. For some viewers, this was the stupidest thing that had ever happened on the show, it was downright offensive. Only. A ship had just come in the city bearing cargo that is deadly to the man that Sheppard loves. It only makes sense for him to have confiscated, commandeered, snatched away every citrus that had come to his path because he cares about McKay.

He is warning Mitchell here about McKay's allergy because he wants him to know about it when they are shut inside a ship bearing citrus where the cooks might not always respect McKay's warnings, where they might not understand the severity of his allergy and where having an allergic reaction would be bad when they are millions of light years away from the nearest hospital. By having collected the citrus, Sheppard is making sure that it does not cross paths with McKay in the city that they live in and where his best friend is a medical doctor, and by mentioning it to Mitchell he is making damn sure that no citruses cross his path on the Odyssey either. Mitchell's response, "Really?" betrays the fact that he does not quite understand why Sheppard is telling him this curiosity about the guy, but he guesses it is good to know. But Sheppard is actually making sure that he remembers it, that it does not go in one ear and out the other. Sheppard needs Mitchell to pay attention to this because the fact that Sheppard is walking around with the lemon now suggests that it had been in the nick of time that he had managed to save McKay from where ever the citrus had been originally heading. Sheppard runs interference for McKay more than he will ever know, Sheppard tries to keep him safe with everything he's got.

Sheppard: I keep one with me at all times. It's just a comfort to know… it's there. Mitchell: That's good intel. Thanks.

So, Sheppard is not doing prop comedy here. He does not keep a citrus with him at all times, he is saying something that is not true. Sheppard says counterfactual things, he is known to lie kind of a lot, and while what he tells Mitchell here is not true, he is not even attempting to lie to him here. He is not saying this with the expectation that Mitchell believes him, he fully expects Mitchell to understand that he is joshing. Yes, Sheppard has a citrus with him here and he had a citrus on him during the meeting but as mentioned, he had very likely removed it from some situation that was threatening to make its way to McKay somewhere down the line.

Given that they were having a meeting, someone squeezing lemon into the water pitcher may for example have been in danger of happening. Maybe Vala, whom we had seen eating a citrus earlier and she, in fact, had not been able to finish eating her tangerine, had been about to commence in some citrus eating in McKay's vicinity and Sheppard had put a stop to that. There are a thousand reasons for Sheppard to have confiscated the lemon so that it would not pose a threat to McKay. And whether or not Mitchell actually gets what he is doing, it is not Sheppard's intention to give Mitchell the lemon so that he can threaten McKay with it. He is giving it as a tangible reminder of what he had told him. As long as Mitchell physically has the lemon with him, he is much more likely to remember what Sheppard thinks (hopes) is going to be the most dangerous thing to McKay on their journey.

What is more, we can see that Sheppard is getting rid of the lemon he had been holding on to here. Sheppard may have no intention of (ever) saying goodbye to McKay but he is intending on putting his hands on McKay before he leaves, of pushing his own body against McKay before he takes off, and hence even though he probably had removed the citrus from circulation for good reason, he does not need it smushing up between the two of them, not with what he intends to do next. He is unloading the lemon to Mitchell as a reminder, yes, but also just to get rid of it because he needs to be lemon-free for the next few moments, maybe even expecting McKay to follow him to where ever he was going to wash his hands next.

Now, if Sheppard was truthful about keeping a lemon with him at all times just because of McKay, it would only go to show that McKay is always on his mind, that he wants to keep a reminder of McKay with him where ever he goes. And while the lemon thing is not true, we never see or hear of it again, Sheppard keeping McKay with him at all times is true. And Sheppard is obviously not comforted by the lemon he carries with him at all times or by the thought that he has something deadly to McKay on his person, what comforts him is the knowledge that McKay is safe, and right now he is trying to quell that seedling of feat inside him, is trying to deal with the fact that Weir had just volunteered McKay to go on a mission without him.

There is nothing about McKay leaving that is comforting to Sheppard whatsoever, it is the opposite of that. He is discomfited by the knowledge that he has to place McKay's life in this man's hands, and although he cannot just come out and say it, he is trying very hard to make Mitchell understand how important McKay is not just to him, but to everyone in the city. He is going about it in a surreptitious way but he is obligating Mitchell to take on the responsibility of returning McKay to him alive and well.

What is more, we learn later on that this was not the whole conversation they had about McKay but that Sheppard had told him many more things, had said to Mitchell things about McKay that we did not get to hear. Sheppard is trying very, very hard to stay upbeat here, even slapping him on the upper arm in what is likely meant to be a friendly way as he takes off, and he may do it because Sheppard seems wholly incapable of talking anymore at that point because this is getting way too close to saying goodbye to McKay for his comfort, he is getting emotional. Letting McKay go alone to where he cannot help him and to know he is going with Carter is killing him, and the only thing he can do is to take off without saying another word before it overwhelms him.

McKay: Heh heh. That's, that's, that's a good one. We're actually… we're quite close. Mitchell: You packed your bags? McKay: Hmm? Oh, right, right.

McKay seems to catch the tail-end of his significant other being weirder than usual, and seems to feel the need to make excuses for his behaviour the way spouses often do. Note first of all that McKay is coming out of the meeting even though the others are still lingering in the room, and he has not stayed back to spend more time with Carter. Likely they had some details to iron out, and once they were finished, McKay had left the others very likely to go after Sheppard because it is to Sheppard that he is making his way just as Sheppard takes off. This is an important scene in establishing that McKay is not attracted to Carter because a man who was attracted would not only take every opportunity to spend time with the object of their affection, lingering back just to be with them, they would also turn back to take that "one last look," wanting the object of their affection to be the last thing they see. We do not see whether Sheppard had turned to take this look at McKay as he was further on, but we have seen him do it before.

What McKay says here is important. He says that the two of them are close. This is true, of course. They had started off like a house on fire back when Sheppard had heaved McKay off of a balcony in Hide and Seek (S01E03), and they have grown ever closer through shared joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain. Mitchell does not know either of them and hence does not understand Sheppard and his motivation for behaving this way as well as McKay does, even if McKay likely does not comprehend the full extent of it, not for lack of knowing how to read Sheppard but purely through not understanding his own value. The two of them are close, and they are even closer during this time because they had just spent several weeks reconnecting and seemed to be ready to take the next step in their relationship by moving in together. Not knowing the two of them and assuming that McKay is universally loathed by the Lanteans like he pretty much had been back at the SGC (who had sent him to Siberia just to get rid of him), it might be easy for Mitchell to interpret this as McKay needing to convince himself of the two of them being close, that Sheppard is just joking here. Good one, that Colonel is always kidding around.

And yes, Sheppard does have a tendency to yank McKay's chain but it is most often because he simply needs attention from McKay, he needs to be pulling his pigtails to get assurance that McKay really really likes him like that. And of course given that it was assumed that at least a considerable part of the audience of the mothership had not watched the spin-off show, they too needed to be made aware of the fact that Sheppard was kidding, that the two of them actually are close, even though it is difficult from this scene alone to see just how close they are, how they have a bond that is deeper than words, how they would be willing to both die and to kill for the other man, and how they are basically able to read each other's thoughts without needing words to communicate. Being close is an understatement. But it is still important for McKay to get to say it, and to say it to this virtual stranger.

If Sheppard had hated Carter making McKay look like he had back at the end of the meeting, McKay also likely did not enjoy seeing Sheppard patting Mitchell's arm the way he himself had patted Sheppard's arm back in Allies (S02E20), when he had likely been using this gesture to invite Sheppard to join him for a moment before he had to leave, and while the gesture is the same, we can be fairly sure that Sheppard was not extending any kind of invitation to Mitchell. As a matter of fact, while he does not look at McKay, his invitation was likely meant for McKay (for all we know, patting the arm is their signal for "sex now, please"), and it seems to take McKay a beat to realize that.

Mitchell wants to cut the conversation short by asking (telling) McKay whether his bags are packed, which reminds McKay that he does have things to do before leaving -- packing being one but not the only one of them. Note the way McKay packing his bags and going after Sheppard are connected here, as though McKay was going after Sheppard to pack his bags. And it is entirely likely that he would have found Sheppard in his quarters waiting for him, whether it was freshly painted or not. Sheppard and McKay are actually quite close. And now that Sheppard had gotten rid of the lemon he had commandeered to keep it away from McKay and McKay had caught up to the fact that he was meant to follow him, they were going to be even closer. There would be no daylight between them until McKay had to leave.

Continued in Pt. 4

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