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10millionyearsdungeon · 4 years

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Praesidium Pt II: Talionis

A/N: Sooo...Merry Crisis one and all. Secret Santas are supposed to be fun and tailored for the recipient, yeah? Here’s hoping they enjoy given how the first thing they said to me after reading part one was, “Where’s the rest of it?” Mafia AU continuation where the endgame changes slightly. Thanks again to @dymphnasprose for the lovely banner (the raging dumpster fire that is tumblr won’t let me load the gorgeous gif banner you made for me D:<!!!)and for keeping my ass on track and on time with this shit. You know how I feel about deadlines.

TW: Non-Con, Kidnapping, implied drugging, sensory deprivation, gunplay, spitroasting, bondage, rope, fuck or die, forced cuckholding, coercion.

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The cabinet meeting adjourned per usual custom; the ministers in their bland, off the rack suits filed out of the chambers, their slow, humming chatter fading with every step taken out onto the polished marble. Shinsou straightened his tie and cast a wary eye to his phone, the vibrations buzzing through the laminated table like a hornet. Your number burned through the screen in starlight pixels-- it wasn’t like you to call him during a recess. Typically, you waited for him to call knowing just how arduous the arguments between old men could become when given a public forum.

“Yes, love?”

The familiar keening of your whimpering through his smartphone in reply sent a chill through him so cold it could only be described as hiemal. Almost frantically, your voice hitched and another breathy moan caught in your throat. Mangled pleas for release, for an end to the madness building in your core were punctuated by those same haggard cries. Shinsou froze at his desk in the auditorium, fixated on the harsh panting he knew was accompanied by the heaving of supple breasts and the telltale flush of your imminent end. He ached against his navy blue Dior suit pants, transfixed by the haunting song of tortuous pleasure you sang in his ear. Throat dry, Shinsou dropped his voice and tried again. “Kitten, I’ll be home shortly if you can keep edging for that long.”

“I’m sure you’ll find she’s about as far from home as she can get. Doubt the little princess can last much longer.”

Shinsou held his breath and the dread found a new way to boil the acid in his stomach. Through gritted teeth, he growled under his breath as your wailing continued to soundtrack a less than touching moment between surrogate father and son. He could hear the smug smirk as the formidable Boss Aizawa continued to taunt you closer to the edge.

"If you've hurt her--"

"Wouldn't dream of it. You're coming home, and not that over-indulgent highrise you've made your love nest in. Time is of the essence, Hitoshi." An unmistakable scream, your scream left him paralyzed as the line went dead. Though his mind raced, Shinsou had to will his feet to carry him through the maze of bureaucrats and journalists hindering him from his car. He knew the way to the compound without thinking. Muscle-memory had him weaving through city traffic to the outskirts of town, the memory of your scream a silent echo in his ears.

He knew Boss Aizawa was capable of anything, and that knowledge had his blood run colder the closer he drove to his family's homestead. Yamada and his perpetual grin was nowhere to be found when Shinsou pulled in, a surprise for the political upstart. An empty house for an organization as large as his was never a good sign. He ran through the maze of hallways, each door the same heavy ebony and gold lacquer, until he found the one room he never dared enter even as a young orphan running the streets. The silence of the compound left his ragged breathing suspended in a palpable dread. Hitoshi drew up his courage, caught his breath, and rapped his trembling knuckles against the door.

"Ah, the prodigal son." Boss Aizawa smirked and waved him in with an air of affability not unfamiliar to the young politician. Aizawa rested a hand along your hairline, gently running his fingers through your sweat-matted hair. Curled into his lap with heavy black cord caging your limbs in familiar lovers' knots and a bolt of black silk covering your eyes, you rested soundlessly as if unaware of the monster whose slacks you rested against. Shinsou slid into the room and closed the door behind him, the lump in his throat growing the longer his violet eyes traced the track of his surrogate father's fingers. "Couldn't stay away, could you?"

"Let her go. She has nothing to do with this."

Aizawa chuckled darkly, running his wandering hand to trace the gentle slope of your back and waist. "You're right," he mused, rubbing the reddened globe of your ass. "Her involvement is inconsequential. Nothing more than a pretty, little obstacle, really." Shinsou was fixated on the tender way Boss Aizawa danced his fingertips along your skin and choked back bile and rage as the mafia head continued to calmly voice his proposal. His onyx eyes darkened and a cruel glare frosted over his rugged features. "You've grown overly comfortable with the freedoms I've so graciously allowed you to indulge in these past months, Hitoshi."

Your brow furrowed slightly under the harsh grip on your thighs prying them apart to reveal the glistening secret between them. Shinsou chewed on his tongue, watching his mentor pull your lower lips apart with calloused fingertips. As much as he wanted to rip Aizawa's hands off of you, as hard as he tried to look away he knew it was a far better alternative than seeing your gray matter and bone splattered on the drywall behind him.

"Enough. Let her go."

"If only it were so simple, Hitoshi." Aizawa curled your hair around his fingers and gave a rough pull, arching your neck painfully back as your mouth flew open in a choked cry. "What I don't think you understand is this…" His smug grin burned against your skin, his thick fingers slid inside your slick walls stretching you through your waking moments while your husband watched on, helpless to intervene. "...Everything you own is mine. Everything you've built and become is because of me-- I own you, Hitoshi." Each syllable dripping with thinly veiled irritation punctuated another curl of those blood-stained fingers up into your dripping maw. Still oversensitive from earlier abuses, you wailed as Aizawa forced you to spread yourself open onto his lap for your husband to observe in silent disgust.

"It's simple, Hitoshi: you come back into the fold, and I'll let her go." Shinsou clenched his jaw and watched the gaping maw of your pussy accommodate his mentor's thick digits. Aizawa's free hand snaked its way around your pretty throat and gave an experimental squeeze, your gasping stirring his cock to life under your squirming core. "Refuse and she breathes her last." Stone-faced as ever, Shinsou watched impassively, his rage building in his chest like a war chant pounding a warning across the distance. The tighter Aizawa squeezed the angrier Shinsou became, all too happy to ignore the faint zip and sudden strangled moan pulled from your wanton lips as a foreign cock sheathed itself inside a stranglehold all your own. "Looks like you need more convincing," the dark-haired boss grunted. He rutted into your writhing body, pulling careless cries of frantic pleasure with a casual smirk.

Shinsou stepped closer, reaching out to put a stop to the madness, only to be stopped by the clicking of a hammer cocking from a discreet sidearm. He dropped his arm to his side and looked on at the familiar quiver in your thighs signaling the beginning of your many ends.

"'Toshi, please," you whimpered, desperate to reach that peak. On closer inspection, he could see the dark outline of noise cancelling earbuds resting in the shells of your ears, no doubt playing something soothing and wordless to supplement the drugs dulling your senses. Just when he thought to silently thank his mentor for the small mercy Aizawa's thrusting intensified. The high, keening scream Shinsou took pride in coaxing was a stiletto to the heart when you sang it for another man under such duress. Your cream coated Aizawa's cock, adding another layer of traitorous lube to the act. As the boss ran his aquiline nose along the column of your neck, Shinsou traced the curve of your parted lips with his ultraviolet gaze.

"I'm waiting, Hitoshi." Aizawa held the barrel to your temple and groaned at the full-body shiver that tore through your bound frame on his throbbing length. His finger rested on the trigger, each thrust bringing the reality of potentially losing you to a stray bullet in the midst of his mentor's passion sinking to the forefront of Shinsou's mind. Frozen, the politician swallowed hard and hung his head in defeat. It was one thing to insult him by kidnapping and fucking his wife, but dangling the prospect of losing you was an injury he doubt he could fully recover from. "Be a shame to ruin something so beautiful, but if this is how you demand to be taught, who am I to argue?"

Another moan nearly sent both men over the edge, Aizawa's finger squeezing the trigger reflexively. Fear was a beast clawing through Shinsou's chest, moving through him to grab the gun and pant out in desperation.

"Alright! I'll do it. Just let her go."

Aizawa released his hold on the firearm and allowed it to slide barrel first into Shinsou's shaking hands. With both hands free to manipulate your body to his whims, Aizawa redoubled his efforts. For the first time since childhood, Shinsou saw true joy light his mentor's hardened features. He might have felt a twinge of relief if he wasn't balls deep inside his ignorant wife's dripping cunt.

"Was that so hard? I'd say let's shake on it like men, but my hands are a little full at the moment." Aizawa shifted your weight forward, mouth hungry and open, waiting to be filled as saliva tracked down the corners of your lips. Shinsou hesitated, eyes flickering between your parted lips and Aizawa's empty black eyes. "Guess sharing your whore should suffice."

As if it was all the permission needed, Shinsou dropped his designer trousers and buried himself to the hilt in your throat. He tossed the handgun aside and gripped your hair as he lost himself in the moist contractions as you gargled another aria of wanton moans. With every stroke Aizawa took to bruise into your twitching cervix Shinsou backed off to allow you the half-beat to breathe before abusing your gag reflex. Halfway through you began to realize something was amiss as you clawed against your husband's bare thighs. Shinsou yanked roughly on your hair and continued to bite back his disgust with the situation. He was supposed to be better than this; he swore he was done with Aizawa and his gang, that he was done being a thug at his mentor's beck and call. Your grip left angry trails of heartbreak along Shinsou's pale legs as your body betrayed you.

The pace was brutal-- pounded rhythmlessly from behind, you felt pressure let off as thick, hot ropes painted along your back in viscous pearl. Head thrown back, Shinsou wasn't too far behind, his grip soon wrapping around your throat. With the fight fucked out of you long before reason sunk in, strength left your limbs leaving you limp between the two thugs. Growling out his release into your belly, Shinsou's grip softened and he lovingly rubbed soothing circles on your cheek with his thumb. Lost in the dark sensation of freefall, you succumbed to unconsciousness.

Warm light and the smell of dark roast roused you from sleep. Tongue thick and body numbed from your rest, you stretched futilely back into your pillows. Shinsou sauntered in, unhurried as ever, with a steaming mug to greet you with an apologetic peck.

"What's the occasion?" Your husband darted his gaze away with uncharacteristic sheepishness. "It's not like you to not send your assistant to fetch my coffee."

"I wanted a more personal touch this morning, kitten."

You hummed gratefully into the brew, soaking in its warmth and Shinsou's company with a smile. Your body ached curiously in muscle groups you forgot you had, sparking flashes of remembrance as he began packing an overnight bag for the two of you. "'Toshi…" you began. "I had the weirdest dream last night…" Your husband froze over his collared shirts and cufflinks as you mused over the morning paper. As he packed your counterfeit passports and offshore account information carefully between dinner jackets and evening gowns, you sighed in contented ignorance. Perhaps it was better you didn't find out how significantly the cost of living had increased overnight.

Tags: @thewheezingwyvern

#bnha aizawa #bnha shinsou #bnha smut #bnha mafia #the smut pile server #reader x shinsou #shinsou x reader x aizawa #shinsou x reader x aizawa smut #tw: gun play #tw: non-con #tw: spitroast #tw: drugging #tw: kidnapping #tw: coercion #tw: fuck or die

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wiypt-writes · 4 years

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Stark Spangled Forever

One Shot: There Were Six In The Bed, And The Little One Said…

Summary: It’s Steve’s birthday…and the bed feels a little crowded.

Warnings: “Language!” SMUT (NSFW, No under 18s…)

A/N: You can thank @sweater-daddiesdumbdork for this… HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEEBY, and Happy 4th July to all of you over the pond!

CONTAINS SPOLERS FOR STARK SPANGLED BANNER.

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Stark Spangled Forever Masterlist // Main Masterlist

July 2028

The Rogers household was quiet. Kids all in bed, well three of them anyway as the eldest one was out gallivanting at a concert, with friends and instructions to be home no later than 1 am, something which Steve wasn’t overly happy about but had been talked into by his Katie who had reminded him that Emmy was no longer a child, hell she wasn’t even a teenager anymore. Steve hated it. He hated the fact that every year that ticked by his kids were getting older, and so was he. He’d commented just before they had climbed into bed that he was convinced his beard was looking greyer than it had that morning, something Katie had scoffed at and then told him she liked it anyway, before distracting his thoughts from the fact that tomorrow he would have completed yet another circuit round the sun by gently leaning up and nipping at his jawline, her mouth ghosting over the hairs that adorned his chin.

It was an action she knew he loved, especially when she traced her lips down his neck and throat, over his Adam’s apple and back up again before she slid her lips to his and the pair of them became locked in a furious, deep kiss, Steve’s tongue fucking Katie’s mouth. He pulled back just long enough to pull Katie’s top over her head before his lips returned to hers and Katie’s hand slid into Steve’s hair, one hand gently winding into the longer locks on top, her nails on the other dragging against the hairline on his neck. His hands moved, one gently cupping the side of her face, the other, gently skimming over her breast, her nipples already hardened. He gently teased one with the pad of his thumb and his mouth moved down to the other, his tongue and lips working in tandem. Katie gave a little involuntary twitch against his thigh and once more his lips quirked up into a smirk.

“So needy baby girl…” he mumbled and she let out a soft whimper as his hand slipped into her sleep shorts, a little groan slipping from his mouth as he felt her slick. She wriggled against his hand and he began to work her gently, watching her face as her expressions changed as her pleasure mounted, a sight he would never get tired of seeing, ever. As her breathing became even more ragged, he shifted slightly and hooked his fingers into the sleep shorts she was wearing and worked them down, before flipping down the waist band of his boxers. Katie bent her legs, as he shuffled upwards and worked into her, the pair of them letting out a sigh each at the contact, trying to keep the noise to a minimum so as not to disturb their sleeping children who occupied the rooms over the hall. Steve’s hands fell to either side of Katie’s face as he held himself up on his forearms, kissing her deeply as he flexed his hips forward, again and again, slowly and deeply before Katie shook her head, her nails dragging down over his back to his bare ass and she urged him deeper.

“Harder Stevie…please…”

“Oh, you’re in that mood?” He teased, pushing up into her harder and she let out a low keen, nodding as his hips became faster as he acquiesced to her request. He reached down, grabbing her leg behind the knee and hooked it over his shoulder, her hands fling to his arms. Her fingers dug into his skin as he started pushing a little harder, a little faster, then faster, until he had reached a relentless pace. Katie’s hands flew above her head as she used them to brace herself on the headboard of the large bed as he continued, making her curse and leaving her short of breath, eyes closed in utter pleasure. Steve groaned himself at the pleasure that he was feeling as she fluttered around him and he slowed for a moment, making her look at him, letting out a noise of protest. “

Don’t stop…” she begged, “please Stevie…”

He grinned, and it was a wicked grin, and coupled with the mischievous flash in his eyes it made Katie’s eyes widen even more. As she stared into those baby blues, his pupils blown with desire, he slowly pushed himself up so he could put her other leg over his other shoulder and picked up the pace once again, pounding into her over and over and it wasn’t long before his name and another plethora of curses tumbled from her lips as her orgasm ripped through her, and her back was arching, fingers digging into his back as he coaxed her through it, low words of praise being mumbled into her ear. But he didn’t stop there. He kept going and going until she was coming again, her face turned and pressed into her shoulder, attempting to stifle the noises she was emitting before she gave a soft squeak of surprise as Steve pulled out of her completely and used his large hands which slid round her back and flipped her onto her front.

The sensation of being manhandled like she was a rag doll made her groan and shiver again and she surrendered completely to him as his hands gripped her waist and hauled her ass upwards, and she gasped as Steve sunk back into her with one fluid moment, a grunt slipping from his own hips as he drove deep into her, bottoming out. The room was filled with the sounds of skin slapping skin, muffled moans and pathetic whimpers as Katie felt another wave building in her stomach.

“C’mon doll, I know you got one more in you…” Steve said, his voice low as he bent over so his lips could trace the curve of her spine, his hips snapping back and forth “Baby, let go.” The thick Brooklyn drawl dripped off his tongue and Katie gave a muffled groan, her face pressed into the pillows of their bed. He continued to piston into her, hitting her spot over and over before he let go of her hips with one hand and reached down to stroke at her clit. She trembled and then the coil in her belly snapped and she cried out as she squeezed around him. It was almost feeble this time but it made her knees and hands give way. Steve looped an arm round her waist to hold her up, as he bent over, lips gently kissing at her neck.

“That’s my girl.” He praised gruffly, his own hips began to falter, his relief coming with a surge. He let out a low groan, nipping at his wife’s neck and then as gently as he could manage he set her down on the bed before he collapsed over the top of her. Aware of his weight pressing her into the soft bedding he rolled over and she gave a soft groan, her face still buried in the sheets. After a moment she peeked up to find him led on the bed, arms behind his head and he gave a low chuckle as she pushed herself up to lay her head on his chest.

“You okay?” he asked and he gave a chuckle as she simply buried her face into his chest with a low hum, utterly spent.

“I’m getting too old for this.” She breathed out and at that Steve laughed.

“I’m the one that’s turning 125 tomorrow.”

“Nah ah, 110.” she peeked up at him “Those 15 years don’t count as you weren’t with me.”

Steve chuckled and dropped a kiss to Katie’s head before she stirred and sat up, running a hand through her long hair, sweeping it over her shoulder before she swung her legs over the side of the bed.

“Where you going?”

“To pee.” she looked at him as she slipped on her cami-top and shorts. “And then to check on Harry, he was a bit gripey before, I think he has more teeth coming through.”

She bent over to peck him on the lips before she headed into the en-suite. Steve shimmied his boxers back over his hips, laying back on the pillow and then smiled at his wife as she left their bedroom, returning a few minutes later.

“He okay?”

“Fine.” She yawned, settling down besides him as he flicked off the lamp. She snuggled into him, her head resting on his chest as he gently rubbed her back, the two of them drifting off into a comfortable and sated sleep.

*****

Despite their earlier activities, Steve still woke a few hours later when he heard Emmy come in. He glanced at the clock, it was one minute past one in the morning. Katie had shifted and was now led with her back facing him, her hair fanning over the pillow. He listened and heard Emmy go into the kitchen, before her soft footsteps headed up the stairs and her bedroom door shut. Happy that his daughter was safe he settled back down and felt Katie stir besides him as she turned over and snuggled up to him, seeking him out even in her sleep. He looped an arm around her as she nestled her head on his chest, and he closed his eyes before drifting off again.

His super charged senses woke him again when the whispers of a certain 4 year old that should be in her own bed, but was actually stood by the side of his bed, hit his ears.

“Daddy. Daddy wake up…”

A finger slid to his eyelid, trying to lift it open and with a groan he blinked and then sat up as he focussed.

“Princess? You ok?” he asked, his voice groggy with sleep.

“Yeah.” she smiled “It’s your birthday.”

Steve looked at her as she grinned at him, before he looked to the digital clock on the night stand before he let out a groan. What felt like five minutes since he had heard Emmy come in was in fact three hours.

"It’s four in the morning!"

"Four is the best number.” Rori replied seriously. “Four like how old I am and four like the 4th of July…”

Steve shook his head, Jesus fucking Christ.

Katie mumbled something and turned over, facing away from him as she continued to sleep and Steve looked back at Rori who was beaming at him in the dim light of the room.

“Ok, yeah, I get it just, come on.” He shifted slightly so Rori could scramble into their bed, thankful that he and Katie had actually bothered to pull on some clothing after the ‘early birthday celebrations’ the night before. As Rori clambered over him to get to the space between her parents, her knee dug him in the stomach, causing him to exhale sharply as she got comfortable and he settled on his side facing her. Rori snuggled into his arms, pressing her face into his chest, her little hands tangling in the chain around his neck.

“Are you not excited for your birthday Daddy?” she whispered again.

“Not at four in the morning, no.” He deadpanned, his eyes closed.

“Sorry.” She whispered quietly, her tone despondent. Steve cracked an eye open and looked at her, shocked to see her green eyes full of tears.

“Hey,” he said gently, brushing her hair back, “Princess, what’s the matter?”

“Are you mad with me?”

Steve sighed. “No, I’m not.” He kissed her forehead.

"Pinkie Promise?” She sniffled a little bit and Steve nodded, twining his little finger with hers.

"Pinkie Promise.”

She shifted in his arms again, her face now tucking into the space under his chin. “Daddy?”

"Yes Rori?” His tone was patient even though he most certainly was not feeling that way.

"Uncle Bucky said that if we put a candle on your cake for each year you have been alive there would be enough wax for Madam Two-swords to use, who is she?”

"No-one" He snorted, shaking his head.

"But why does she have two-swords?”

"No it’s Tussauds.”

“What?”

“It doesn’t matter, Uncle Bucky is a jerk"

She giggled. “That’s naughty.”

"So is he.“ Steve yawned. "Now come on, go to sleep.”

He felt her shift in his arms again, settling down as he gently rubbed at her back. Before long he felt her relax and her soft little snores hit his ears. Kissing her head he was just dozing when a soft crying noise hit his ears from the baby monitor.

Katie sat bolt upright, it was almost like a 6th sense to her, always had been hearing their kids crying.

"Honey,” Steve started and she gently rubbed his arm.

"I’ll go.” She replied and Steve lay back down, listening as she padded over the hallway

"Oh baby!” he heard Katie soothing him over the monitor. ”Do your teeth hurt?“

Steve listened as she gently shushed their boy, frowning. This was quite out of character for Harry in all fairness. He continued to listen as Katie bustled around their son’s room before eventually her voice grew quiet on the monitor and she appeared back in their room, Steve glancing at her just able to make out the fact she still had Harry in her arms.

"Hey buddy.” Steve reached over to smooth his hair as Katie settled down in the bed with him clutched to her chest. “His cheeks are warm.” he said, the back of his hand gently pressed to his son’s face.

"I gave him some medicine.“ Katie hummed as his sniffles died down. "He’ll be ok in a while." Setting him comfortably in the space between her and Rori she looked at Steve.

"What’s she doing in here?” She whispered.

"Don’t ask.“ Steve yawned and Katie gave a snort.

"Hey, soldier?”

Steve looked at her.

"Happy birthday.” She smiled, leaning over their kids to give him a soft kiss.

"Thanks baby.” He grinned against her mouth before they both settled down for what was left of their night’s sleep.

***** There was a jolt on the bed and Steve gave a sudden jerk and sat up to be faced with a grinning Jamie. Katie gave a groan and opened one eye, shaking her head a little.

"Happy birthday, Dad!” He beamed and Steve yawned, rubbing his eyes. At least this time it was light outside.

"Thanks son.” He smiled as Jamie hugged him.

"Can I get in with you?”

"Aint you a bit too old for that now?” Katie teased, throwing back the covers as she sat up.

"I won’t tell if you don’t." Jamie shrugged, scrambling in between Harry and Rori. Lucky then hopped up onto the bottom of the bed, the old dog settling alongside Katie’s feet. Harry shifted slightly and he murmured something as he woke, before he opened his eyes and reached out for his Momma who gently pulled him onto her lap.

Steve glanced at his kids, then his wife who smiled at him “Told you the big bed was a good idea.”

“Well, yeah, or you look at it as being an open invitation for this lot…” he shot back and she laughed. Rori then began to stir, and she yawned slightly, blinking before she looked at Jamie, then to Harry and her mother, then finally to her father.

"Why are they here?” She asked indignantly.

"Same reason you are.” he arched an eyebrow.

"Oh, yeah…is it happy birthday now?”

"Yup,” he smiled. “I got all of you…oh, wait..” he looked around dramatically “There’s someone missing.” He frowned.

"Emmy!” Rori shrieked, as she scrambled out of the covers, flinging the door open.

"That was evil!” Katie looked at Steve “It’s not even 8 yet.

"Well she insists on staying out until all hours with Queens” Steve scoffed “1 am…I mean…“

"She’s Twenty, Steve.” Katie looked at him and he shook his head.

"Don’t care." He pouted with the air of a petulant child.

Rori then re-entered the room and she looked at her dad, climbing back on the bed.

"She told me to tell you to pee off" she shrugged.

Steve let out a roar of laughter. “Emmy!” He yelled “Get in here!”

A minute or so later, a thoroughly grumpy looking Emmy appeared, dressed in a pair of Disney Pjamas, rubbing her eyes.

"Come give your dad a birthday hug.“ Steve opened his arms.

"I hate you.” she mumbled, face planting on to the bed.

"Aww come on, give your old man some love!” He continued teasing her and she looked up at him, her eyebrow raised.

"Old is right, what is it this year Pops?”

"110 if you don’t count his little time travelling vacation.” Katie grinned. "125 if you do.”

“I thought we agreed those 15 didn’t count because I wasn’t with you?” Steve smirked and she shrugged, grinning at him.

“125…” Emmy smirked “And you don’t look a day over 124…”

Steve tossed a pillow at her head which she caught and threw a Jamie. He gave a yell and snatched it up, hitting his sister with it, and before long the room descended into chaos. The Soldier and his eldest 3 grabbing pillows to hit one another with. The air was filled with shouts, yells, squeals and barks from Lucky as Harry bounced on Katie’s knee and gave a squeal of laughter, clapping his hands. Katie laughed, shaking her head because she could see exactly how this was going to end.

And she was right.

There was a loud ripping noise and suddenly a huge cloud of feathers erupted around them all. The room suddenly went still and silent as Steve and Jamie both sat there, each clutching one half of the shredded pillow.

"Whoops.” Jamie said, before he started to laugh, which set Emmy and Rori off and Harry joined in, shrieking once more as he snatched at the feathers as they drifted down onto him. He grabbed them in his hands and then made a questioning noise as he showed them to Katie. She snorted and looked at Steve.

"125 going on 2.” she spat a feather out and arched an eyebrow at her husband who shrugged, grinning.

"What can I say?” he beamed around at his family, his absolute world, with a genuine smile “You guys keep me young!”

**original posting**

#stark spangled forever #steve rogers #Katie Stark #steve rogers fanfiction #steve rogers fic #steve rogers x ofc #steve rogers x original female character #mcu #mcu fanfic #chris evans #chris evans characters

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drabbles-of-writing · 4 years

Text

Bonesborough’s Resident Troublemaker

This is part of my Four Years AU

AO3

Masterpost

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Bonesborough, even by Boiling Isles standards, was never an incredibly normal place.

First of all, it was the home of Emperor Belos. A town housing a man with such power was bound to be recognizable by name alone.

Second of all, it seems to have a knack for attracting trouble. Even more so than other towns. Small or big, Bonesborough has it. From a thought-to-be extinct basilisk attacking the local school to a cursed owl beast appearing every once in a while to a random human girl of all people staging a prison breakout.

Speaking of the human girl…

Last, but not least, Bonesborough held some of the most powerful and strangest witches the Boiling Isles had ever seen.

The two most notable ones being The Owl Lady, a covenless witch that was once the strongest witch alive. Advanced in wild magic and sharing a half-curse with her sister, also known as the former Emperor’s Coven leader. Until her magic died out. Though there are rumors she is finding a way to regain it.

And then there was her apprentice.

A human girl who appeared out of nowhere and learned her own form of magic. In just a single month she had been banned from Hexside School of Magic and Demonics, somehow managed to enroll in said school, convinced the principal to let students study multiple tracks, befriended the Bat Queen, defeated Grometheus, and fought Emperor Belos himself. And she survived.

To the rest of the Boiling Isles, Bonesborough was a battleground of the strangest people with even stranger stories.

To Bonesborough, however, it was any other morning with the residents of The Owl House. And their most common troublemaker the past few years; The Owlet.

“Owlet, that better not be you.”

Slowly, very slowly, a black and white owl mask poked up on the other end of the stand.

“Hey,” The Owlet waved shyly, slowly pulling her purple hood off.

“Owlet, no.” The greengrocer warned, grabbing her produce at the edge of the stand and pulling it closer today.

“Please?” The Owlet begged, her mask's eyes going as big in her puppy-dog look that everyone knew Eda must have taught her.

“No, bad Owlet.” The greengrocer teased, lightly swatting at the thief's hand as she tried to reach for the vegetables. “Go steal from someone else. Or, you know, pay?”

“But I’m saving!” The Owlet whined. “You see, I had an idea--

“I hate to sound rude but I frankly don’t want to know or be involved with whatever idea you’ve concocted.” The greengrocer butt-in. “I have a business to keep.”

The Owlet whimpered and dramatically lay her chin on the table, staring longing at the vegetables. The greengrocer looked between her produce and the girl for a few moments before sighing and shaking her head.

“If you really need to steal something,” She said slowly, noticing the way the Owlet perked up. “I know of a certain someone who can definitely afford it…”

“Stealing from the rich? Even better!” The Owlet exclaimed, jumping up excitedly. “Where do I find them?”

The greengrocer, surprised and mildly amused, pointed further down the marketplace.

“He sells somewhere down there, closer to the richer side of town. He’s got a big banner that’s cluttered with saying how ‘fresh’ and ‘organic’ his produce is.” The greengrocer huffed.

“Normally I wouldn’t care so much, but the guy literally uses magic to grow his produce and only makes his son do it on the side. I’m not exactly worried about his financial status.” She grumbled.

“Well then, I will be delighted to be of help.” The Owlet grinned, pulling her white staff off of her back. “Thanks for the tip!”

“Now you be careful out there, young lady!” The greengrocer warned as the Owlet rose into the air. “You’re still just an Owlet!”

“Pfft, since when did that ever stop me?” The Owlet replied.

She saluted the greengrocer before flying off, vanishing among the growing morning crowd.

The countdown for morning shenanigans had begun.

“Miss Blight?”

“Owlet again?”

“Yes, Miss Blight.”

Amity sighed and rubbed at her temples from where she sat at her desk.

“What did she do this time?”

“Stolen produce,” The guard said. “We have her bound as we speak.”

“Is that Amity in there?” A voice called from outside the tent.

“Think you can handle her this time?” The guard asked, a smug tone in his voice.

“And what’s that supposed to mean, Keene?” Amity demanded, a little too quickly, as she stood up from her desk.

“Nothing, Miss Blight.” The guard said simply, turning his head to the side. “Good luck trying to wrangle her.”

“Thank you,” Amity growled through gritted teeth, grabbing her gray beaked mask from where it hung on the wall and slipped out of the tent.

“Amity!” Owlet grinned.

The thief had her wrists bound together with rope and was being led from said rope by one of the newer guards.

Poor guy.

“I’ve taken all of her glyphs, Miss Blight!” The young guard said happily, waving around a handful of paper cards with glee.

“Good job, Laris.” Amity sighed, knowing very well there was no way he had gotten all of her glyphs.

“Where’s her palisman?” She asked, walking up to Owlet and looking down at her, pulling her best ‘Really?’ face.

“Over here, Miss Blight.” One of the other guards said, holding up Owlet’s staff...with no palisman on the end.

“That’s a staff without a palisman, Xena.” Amity deadpanned.

“What? Where--?” The guard, Xena, began looking around frantically for the snow-white owl, who had somehow escaped her grasp.

“Where’s Snowy, Luz?” Amity sighed, turning back to the Owlet, who was looking very smug.

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” The Owlet said smugly. “I’m not talking. You’ll have to torture it out of me.”

“I can arrange that!” Xena called gleefully from where she was still searching for the palisman.

“No! No, Xena, we are not doing that.” Amity said sternly.

“Aw,” Xena mumbled.

“Titan save me,” Amity mumbled. “Look, why were you stealing produce?” Amity turned back to the Owlet. “I know why you stole from that guy, but vegetables? Can’t Eda steal her own?”

“Pfft, and let me miss out on all the fun?” The Owlet grinned. “And I’m saving.”

“...is this seriously about the glyph tattoos?”

“Yeah,”

“Oh for the love of--” Amity pinched the bridge of her nose, remembering just where she was and who was watching. Best to not reveal more to a whole squadron of Emperor’s Coven guards.

“You’re impossible,” She grumbled.

“I know,” The Owlet smiled. “Anyway, it was nice chatting with you, and especially you,” She nodded to Laris. “But Lilith’s gonna be mad again if news of my capture makes the news. Again.”

“Hey, you’re not going--”

“Laris!” Keene shouted. “Duck!”

The new guard only froze up before a screech sounded from above. The Emperor’s guards all looked up just in time to see a large snow-white owl swoop down.

It knocked right into Laris’ head, almost knocking off his beaked mask as Amity wisely took a few startled steps back.

With Laris’ hold on the Owlet's bindings loosened, she managed to jerk out of his hold. She dug both her tied wrists into her cloak and revealed a hidden pocket within the cape itself and drew a fire glyph.

“Get her!” Xena shouted as Amity pulled on her mask, becoming invisible among the swarm of guards as she moved further to the back.

She’d tried ‘fighting’ the Owlet before, and it did not end well.

The Owlet only smiled and tapped the glyph, burning the restraints off her wrists and sliding out of the way of a guard lunging for her.

The Owlet darted through the crowd of guards, leaping and kicking a few to get momentum to where Laris was frantically trying to gather up all the stolen glyphs he’d dropped.

“Thanks for holding these,” The Owlet grinned, causing him to jerk his head upwards.

The white owl swooped down again, shrieking as it kicked and clawed at Laris’ mask, making him yelp and stumble back.

Owlet ducked to the side as a guard threw a spear that impaled through one of her plant glyphs.

“Hey, rude!” The Owlet snapped, grabbing multiple glyphs off the ground. “Now I can’t use that one.” She complained before grabbing a new plant glyph and tossing it at one of the guards.

It lit up upon impact and a massive vine exploded from their forehead, reaching out and entangling many of the other guards.

“C’mon now, don’t be shy.” The Owlet said, stepping back and scooping up more glyphs in her other hand and spreading them both out like fans, showing what she had to the guards.

“Who wants to go next?”

“Ten snails say that she’s late again.”

“She is not going to be late again.”

Among the many other things the residents of Bonesborough dealt with were certain...thrill-seekers. Namely kids who had discovered the newest hiding spot of the Owl House and tried to have a little fun. Which ranged from waiting to see if they could catch a glimpse of one of the residents or trying to break in. Yes, that happened.

Twice.

The Owl House may have gotten a new hiding spot every month, but it was never overly far from Bonesborough. And Hooty did his job well.

During break-ins, that is.

“Jorah, I’m telling you, Owlet is definitely going to be late. My uncle said she got caught by the Emperor’s Coven again.”

“I’m not giving up my snails that easily!” The boy snapped, glaring at his other three friends. “I still have three minutes left.”

“You stubborn idiot,” One of his friends shook her head.

“Frances, I dare you to go talk to the tube bird.” A second girl grinned.

“I am not doing that.” Frances shook her head. “First of all, I’ll be caught. Second of all, that thing terrifies me.”

“Then why did you come?” Jorah raised a brow.

“Because you guys would bully me if I didn’t,” She grumbled.

“She’s not wrong,” The fourth kid shrugged.

“It’s just because you’re a wimp.” The second girl taunted.

“Would it kill you both to shut up?”

There was a snap and a thump from far off in the trees, and all four kids went quiet. They ducked down in the bushes that were only a few meters from the house.

Frances slowly stuck her head between the bushes and looked around.

Mere moments later, a figure flew out from the trees and crashed to the ground in front of the Owl House, groaning as her staff clattered onto the front porch.

“Hi, Luz!” Hooty greeted.

“Am I late?” The Owlet worried, taking off her needless mask and hanging it around her neck.

“Hmmm, nope! You got here with a minute to spare.” Hooty said cheerfully.

“I’ll take it,” Luz sighed with relief. “Sorry, Snowy.” She apologized to her palisman, picking up her staff and stroking the birds head.

Snowy chirped and turned her head away grumpily, but didn’t refuse the pets.

“I WIN!” Jorah cheered before slapping his hands back over his mouth.

Luz whirled around, staff raised and body tense as Frances darted back into the bush as her, and everyone else, gave Jorah furious glares and terrified looks.

“Who’s there?” Luz demanded, raising her staff.

“Some kids were betting in the bushes,” Hooty said, head coming out of the door slightly. “They thought you were going to be late again.”

“Oh,” Luz instantly relaxed, looking mildly annoyed at the worst. “Well, since they’re game is over and I’ve got a certain someone who’s going to be visiting and berating me soon, do you mind escorting them off?” She asked the door bird.

“Would I?” Hooty said excitedly.

“No, no! We’ll leave, we’ll leave!” Frances shouted, quickly getting up and already backing away.

“Too late!” Hooty chirped before extending his neck straight-on towards the kids.

They screamed and began bolting back through the woods, Hooty talking gleefully all the way.

“Sorry, kids,” Luz winced, a tad regretful as she placed Snowy back on her staff. She then opened the front door and stepped inside.

“You’re late,”

Luz sighed and looked towards the couch, where Lilith was ‘casually’ having a cup of tea.

“No, I’m not. I had one minute to spare. Could you not hear Hooty?” Luz said, hanging her mask on a hook by the door and resting her staff next to it.

“It was a very close call.” Lilith said simply. “You left, what, over three hours ago? You only went to get vegetables and spoons.”

“...well I got the spoons,” Luz said, sheepishly pulling out a handful of silver spoons from a pocket in her cape.

“Good enough for me!”

King scampered into the living room and climbed up Luz’s leg to snatch the spoons from her hand. She didn’t bother to react or stop him as he dropped back to the ground and hurried into the kitchen.

“Nice to see you still alive, kid,” Eda greeted much more casually as she poked her head in. “No vegetables, though?”

“Sorry, you’ll have to get them yourself.” Luz apologized. “I kinda...maybe…” She glanced at Lilith and weighed her options for a moment. “...got caught by the Emperor’s Coven.”

“Again?” Eda and Lilith accused.

“They got the jump on me!” Luz defended. “Besides, it was only Amity’s group again. Nothing to be worried about.”

“Kid, at this point, I’m convinced you want to be caught just to bug Amity,” Eda snickered, shaking her head.

“Well, it’s not true all the time…”

“You both are ridiculous,” Lilith shook her head. “Eda, you need better control over your apprentice.”

“Says you,” Eda rolled her eyes. “In case you haven’t noticed, not every kid is like Amity.”

The front door slammed open, startling the inhabitants as they whirled around. Even King poked his head out of the kitchen.

A rather grumpy Amity stood in the doorway, mask pushed up on her head. She hadn’t even bothered to change.

“Speak of the devil,” Eda muttered.

“Hey, Amity,” Luz waved shyly.

“Again with the glyph tattoos?” She demanded, shutting the door.

“You’re still on about those?” Lilith blinked.

“They could be useful!” Luz insisted, sitting on the couch, opposite of Lilith. “I may have a lot of pockets and places I can stash glyphs, but the tattoo glyphs could be useful! Especially with the stronger ones.”

“We don’t know what something like that is gonna do to you, kid.” Eda shook her head. “This type of magic hasn’t been used in forever, it’s unlikely you could use magic with those glyphs without causing harm.”

“We don’t know that,” Luz said, scooting further into the corner as Amity exhaustedly sat on the couch between her and Lilith. “It could end up being really useful! And if it ends up being a bad idea, I can get a tattoo over it to cancel out the glyph.”

“You're barely seventeen, Luz. It’s illegal.” Amity pointed out.

“Since when has that ever stopped me?” Luz raised a brow. “And can’t I get them with permission from Eda? Or is that just a human realm thing?”

“How much have you saved for one already?” Eda asked.

“Almost two hundred,” Luz said proudly. “I wanted to try and get a less-dangerous spell first. Like a fire or a whirlwind glyph.”

“A fire glyph?” Lilith exclaimed.

“Would you rather I have a glyph that will shoot a spike of ice from my skin?” Luz raised a brow.

“Luz, for Titans sake, my parents are rich ,” Amity groaned, running a hand down her face. “I can pay for any of your tattoos you don’t have to excessively steal while you save.”

“It’s your parents who are rich, Amity. Not you,” Luz reminded. “I’m not forcing you to talk to them for snails for my sake. What kind of degenerate asks her girlfriend's parents for snails to get tattoos?”

“First of all, you’re not forcing me.” Amity raised a hand. “Second of all, I meant I would ask Ed and Em to be the ones to ask for the money. I promised I’d never speak to my parents again, and I’m upholding that.”

“Too bad, I’m paying for this myself.” Luz crossed her arms and turned on the couch so she was leaning against the armrest and lay her legs across Amity’s lap. “So take that, Miss Blight.”

“Shush,” Amity grumbled, cheeks pink as she glanced away.

“Hmm,” Eda thought, leaning on the other side of the couch armrest. “I guess a small one wouldn’t hurt…”

“You can’t be serious?” Lilith demanded. “You’re allowing this?”

“My kid, my rules.” Eda said, giving her sister a righteous look. “It’ll only be a small one, anyway. See how it goes before we try more.”

“You’re the best!” Luz grinned, reaching behind her to grasp at Eda, who stepped out of range.

“I know I am,” Eda said proudly.

“Amity, you’ve dated into a family of morons.” Lilith deadpanned, looking towards her apprentice and taking a sip of her tea.

“You’re part of the family, too.” Eda pointed out.

“Suffer with the rest of us, you fiend!” King called, trotting in from the kitchen and climbing up onto the couch to flop on Luz’s stomach, making her wheeze at the sudden weight.

“I regret a lot of my life choices, but especially the one that led me to this moment.” Lilith grumbled.

“Then maybe you shouldn’t have cursed me when I was sleeping, huh?” Eda sneered.

“I don’t think that cemented it in--”

“Irrelevant,”

Luz, Amity and King all silently watched the women continue bantering for a few minutes before they all looked at each other with faces that said ‘well this isn’t going to end soon.’

“Anyway,” Luz sat up more and picked King up to place him on the couch head. “I told Gus I’d be meeting him at the library for more studying. He said he found some old human relics that could be enchanted.”

“Actual enchantments this time, or alleged enchantments?” King raised a brow.

“Actual enchantments, King.” Luz said, swinging her feet off Amity and getting up.

“I’ll come with,” Amity said, quickly getting to her feet as well. “Since you’re going to be using my hiding spot, as per usual.”

“Excuse you, I think the correct term is our hiding spot.” Luz teased, kissing her cheek. “But don’t you have to send in a report later?”

“Keene can take care of it,” Amity waved her hand like it was no big deal. “You’re more important.”

“Aww, you’re so sweet,” Luz teased, laying her head on Amity’s shoulder.

“Hey, flirting teenagers, could you not do this in the middle of our argument?” Eda snapped her fingers, getting the girls attention. “I’m about to win it.”

“No you are not! I am making reasonable points!” Lilith insisted.

“You’re not even arguing about the curse anymore!” King threw his small paws in the air. “You're just bringing up mild annoyances that happened last week!”

“Your point?”

Luz rolled her eyes before turning and smiling to Amity. She returned her look of smothered amusement.

“Let’s hurry before they start getting into a glyph-fight,” Luz said, grabbing the witch's hand and hurrying to the door, making sure to grab her mask and staff along the way.

“You do know that people recognize you more with the mask than without it, right?” Amity asked, flipping her own mask down.

“I know, but I think it looks cool.” Luz shrugged, bringing up her hood. “Last one to the library has to clean Hooty!” She shouted before throwing open the door and racing out.

“Wha--not fair!” Amity shouted, tearing after the Owlet as she raised her staff and flew into the air, laughing all the way.

Amity summoned her own snake staff from the air beside her and leapt onto it. But by then, the Owlet was already gone, having raced through the trees and into the town.

And aside from the occasional on-looker, nobody batted an eye.

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sserpente · 5 years

Photo

A/N: Requests from two anons and @eislyn-vis. I changed the scenario a bit but now there’s a different kind of Red Riding Hood concept.

Words: 1954 Warnings: angst, fluff, attempted rape, mentions of smut

“Come on, brother, it’ll be fun. How will you ever redeem yourself if you don’t spend time with us and prove to them you’re more than just the God of Mischief?” Thor bellowed, patting Loki’s shoulder so hard he stumbled forward. The Trickster rolled his eyes.

“I have no need to be redeemed, Thor. You are fully well aware it were not solely my actions that brought chaos to New York.”

Thor’s smile faltered a little. “I know. Maybe tonight, you can convince the others of that too.”

“I will not costume myself and drink myself into stupor, brother.” Thor had painted his face entirely white and added dark blue circles under his eyes. Fake blood was dripping down the corners of his mouth and whenever he spoke, Loki caught a glimpse of those way too big plastic fangs. He looked absurd.

“You don’t have to. Just come along, have a drink with me and celebrate Halloween with us.”

He stared at him, considering his invitation briefly. He could always cause some mischief among the crowd. Surely, a real living snake in the punch would elicit some kind of reaction.

“Fine,” he finally replied. “One drink.”

Thor’s grin was triumphant when he grabbed his brother by the neck and dragged him with him into the living room. Loki was already regretting he had said yes when he shoved a green drink in his hand and then joined Tony, Natasha and Steve. Dirty looks were shot in his direction as soon as they lay their judgemental eyes upon him.

He rolled his eyes once more, carefully sipping on his drink. It was not too bad, for a Midgardian brew. Annoyed, he let his eyes roam over the costumed crowd—he was not interested in a conversation with the Avengers anyway—right until he caught sight of a petite woman next to one of the doctors. Alas, you were petite to him, your red dress barely covering your delicious backside. You were wearing a red jacket that came with a hood, too, presumably made of leather. What were you supposed to illustrate? Red traffic lights Loki had discreetly ignored the first time Thor had sat him behind the wheel of a Midgardian vehicle?

“Who is that?” He found himself asking. Fascination was boiling in his veins, an interest he could not quite name as of yet.

Thor frowned. “Who?”

“That woman over there… the one wearing the red dress.” You had combined your outfit with black heels and equally black tights. Quite frankly… you looked ravishing. When was the last time he had felt immediate sexual interest in a woman?

“Oh, that… that is (Y/N), she’s a young scientist. Works with Banner. Why?”

Loki pursed his lips. “Never mind. What is she dressed up as?”

“Red Riding Hood.” Natasha said, folding her arms suspiciously. The God of Mischief rolled his eyes once more. He had no idea who or what Red Riding Hood was. All he knew was that he needed to hear your voice. He doubted you would be willing to speak to him though—after all, you worked with the Avengers. You knew what he had done.

Loki downed his drink quickly, choosing to spend the rest of the night watching you. For a moment, he even considered casting an illusion, transforming himself into someone else but then decided against it. If he were to get to know you… then he should have a chance for you to like him just the way he was, no tricks involved.

He almost snorted at the thought. Whoever would? According to Midgardian myths, he was the incarnation of evil. According to his life, he was an outsider, a villain, a monster.

Pressings his lips together to a thin line, he stood to pour himself another drink. Perhaps he should drink himself into stupor after all.

How come he had never seen you around before? Granted, Loki usually spent most of his time in his cell, pardon, room in the compound and he had not been here long enough to be acquainted with the entire team as of yet. Still… a young beauty such as you… he should have noticed you.

He was met with a hungover Tony Stark and Natasha Romanoff in the kitchen. Cleaning maids—apparently, so Loki had been told by Thor, they were getting paid for their services—were taking care of the disgusting mess the party guests had left. Loki really did not understand all the fuss about Halloween.

Repulsed, he stepped over an empty glass bottle on the floor and poured himself a cup of coffee. Unlike the two mortals in the kitchen, he had remained entirely unaffected from last night’s alcoholic adventure.

At three am, when there was still no end of the party in sight, he retreated, stopping by Stark’s library before returning to his cell—bedroom. He quickly found what he was looking for and ended up falling asleep to the fairy tale of little Red Riding Hood wandering through a dark forest to bring her sick grandmother cake and wine.

“You left early last night, brother. You didn’t disappear with the lovely (Y/N), did you?” Thor entered the kitchen with a sneaky grin on his lips. Tony’s face fell, his eyes locking with Loki’s.

“Did you touch her?” Hmm… interesting. Of course they would not want him anywhere near an innocent young woman—but he sure loved getting on the billionaire’s nerves. If only he could say yes. He would have loved to have felt you underneath him last night.

“And if I did, then what?” He replied instead, scorn swinging in his voice.

“He’s bluffing.” Natasha stated unfazed. Tony ignored her. “(Y/N) left the compound to go for a run in the forest nearby ten minutes ago.”

“Stay away from her. If I even see you near her, I’ll see to it SHIELD locks you up again.”

“Because that worked out so well the first time you attempted to do so, yes?” Proudly, Loki lifted his chin, staring him down until he had to blink.

“(Y/N) is an honourable, decent woman. She’d never waste her breath on you.” The God of Mischief swallowed. There was a chance Stark was not lying. Still, he had all the information he needed.

“Worry not, Stark. In case you are concerned for her honour, however, I would strongly advise you stay away from the girl yourself.” He teleported himself out of the room before Tony could respond, finding himself on an idyllic forest path. Romanoff’s information had been vague but it was enough for Loki to locate you.

Casting an illusion on himself, his heart almost leaped out of his chest when you ran past him, dressed in a tight sports outfit complimenting each and every one of your curves. Ironically, it was red.

By the Norns, was this not pathetic? Making himself invisible and watching you sweat like a mad predator? What other choice did he have? Stark’s harsh words rang in his ears, making him wonder if they were true after all.

Oh, nonsense. If you were truly honourable, perhaps you would give him a chance despite his past. He would simply… where had you gone? You had been there only a second ago!

Loki flinched when you screamed. Alarmed, he rushed to your side, abandoning his invisibility charm. A strange man had sneaked up on you, holding a small knife to your throat from behind and dragging you off the safe path into the undergrowth.

He could only imagine what it was he wanted from you. He gnashed his teeth. How dare he even think about touching you against your will. Possessiveness crawled through his body, along with a strong urge to protect you. Loki had never even heard your voice and still… He was not cruel. Surely, he would have helped any woman from getting raped before his eyes, yet with you he felt that if he failed saving you, something inside him would break. His heart? No, his heart had long been broken. But there was a connection. A connection he could not quite describe. He wondered… would Frigga know? His mother… the woman who had raised him had always known advice for any predicament he had found himself in, up until he had found out what he really was.

Without any hesitation, he grabbed the stranger by the throat and hurled him against a tree, the knife falling to the ground and landing mutely in the green moss.

“What the…”

He looked up, realising who had attacked him and swallowing thickly.

“You have three seconds before I rip your head off.” He growled, making him stumble to his feet and run faster than you had ever seen a man run before. Relief washed over you.

“L-Loki?” Your eyes widened when you recognised him, hovering above you, his dark glare downright murderous. You frowned.

“And there I was thinking that I would be the big bad wolf in this scenario.” He replied with an amused grin, remembering the fairy tale he had read last night.

“What are you talking about?” Still frowning, you let him help you up, electricity rippling through you when your hands touched.

By the Norns, standing this close to you only made him realise now how tiny you were compared to him. He could just lift you up with both his hands, bring your delicious quim to his face and bury his tongue between your folds all the while you hung in his arms completely helpless, forced to accept the pleasure he was offering you…

“I am afraid you caught my attention at the party last night.” Now that was an understatement but at least, it was not a lie.

You raised an eyebrow. Oh… your costume, of course… “That does not explain why you followed me into the woods.” Ah. Yes.

“I shall be glad I did. Stark was very vehement about me staying away from you.”

“Tony tends to get a little overprotective from time to time.”

“I do not like being told what not to do.”

You blinked. You had never actually spoken to Loki before. You were aware of his presence in the compound, of course—yet the stories the Avengers had told you had made you hesitate. You had not exactly avoided him, still you had to admit you had not been overly keen on joining Bruce in the lab when he was present.

Loki had shattered your opinion of him like a piece of glass. If he truly was as evil as the heroes made him out to be, then why had he just saved you from a rapist? Your heart was still beating like a steam hammer, adrenaline cursing through your body. You didn’t even realise you were bleeding until Loki reached for your neck and gently pulled you towards him.

“He injured you. I should have killed him after all.” He muttered tenderly.

“I-I’m okay.” Loki looked up, your eyes locking. He had not imagined it then. There was a connection. But you were suspicious of him, he could tell. The hesitation radiated off of you like liquid heat. At least, he felt no hatred and disgust.

Making you flinch, he brushed his thumb against the bleeding wound the man’s knife had caused. One second passed before it disappeared, leaving behind unblemished skin Loki was itching to taste with his mouth.

“Thank you…” You murmured, unsure of how to react to his gentleness. What was it he had said? That you had caught his attention last night? “I, um… I’m heading back now, will you… will you join me?”

Loki nodded slowly, suppressing a triumphant grin. “With pleasure.” It was a start, at least.

A/N: Check out my blog to find more Imagines and take a glimpse at my first (to be) published novel! Also, if you enjoyed this story, I would appreciate so much if you supported me on Kofi! ko-fi.com/sserpente ♥

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gofor-faye · 4 years

Text

Five Times Kissed ; Isabel

( 1 ) @icy--isabel

“Then my mom told me that Louis Vanderbilt is going to be there!”

Faye had been excitedly babbling for at least an hour over the first ‘grown up’ party she was allowed to go to. Louis was a real life Prince Charming and one day she was going to marry him. By this point, Isabel had definitely lost interest which was fair but only made Faye abruptly pout, shaking her arm in protest.

“Is! I’m in the middle of telling you about my whole, entire life!” The look her bestie gave her prompted a dramatic gasp from Faye before she set about pulling her up to her feet. “You just have to visualize with me here. See- See, first, you lock eyes-,” Faye held onto Is’ shoulders pointedly, staring straight into her eyes which were decidedly sparkly. She could tell Isabel was on the brink of laughing and Faye had to fight off a smile herself. “Stop! Come on, this is super serious.”

“Fine. Then what happens?”

Faye beamed, tucking a blonde strand of hair behind Isabel’s ear, smiling knowingly. “Well, I’m glad you asked! Then, he says something like ‘ooh, Miss Valentine, you’re the most beautiful, amazing, fantabulous woman I have ever seen-,” by this point, there was definitely laughter- “And I would be honoured to have this dance. Then, most importantly, he’ll kiss your hand.”

Dramatically, she leaned down to land a loud ‘mwah’ on the back of Isabel’s hand, leaving behind pink, glossy sparkles.

“Thanks for that,” Isabel’d joked, waving her sticky hand in Faye’s face while she laughed and laughed, only stopping when Christian Cooper came bounding into the room, completely stealing Isabel’s attention.

It was fine.

( 2 )

Cheerleading was good for their image. Elena was cheer captain. Juliette Palmer made it look like they’d be angels flying through the air. Teen queens who only walked down the school hallways in slow motion. This was going to be good for them. That’s what Faye had repeatedly told Isabel (Quinn was super keen from the start, of course so Faye hadn’t bothered laying it on thick with her).

“What?”

“You look good,” Faye answered, staring far too much. Isabel must have assumed that she was shocked because Is’ new style didn’t exactly scream ‘glitter and pom-poms’. That wasn’t the reason why though; that Faye was staring. “It brings out the new hair.”

On the field, Isabel flew. Like an angel. Usually Faye watched Juliette Palmer religiously- the way she moved, the way she talked, the way she made people get the hell out of her way. She wanted to be just like her, truth be told. The queen bee. But now? Now she was watching Isabel.

When she caught her looking, her tummy did somersaults and she had to literally will herself not to blush. Instead, Faye’d blow her a kiss, or wave a pom-pom.

It was fine.

( 3 )

Faye is sure that Isabel thinks that she hates her. At least, sometimes. Or she’s sure that Isabel hates her. She doesn’t know how things got so complicated. Every time she wants to pick up the phone and call her, she doesn’t. Faye calls Quinn.

She hates this distance between them even though she’s responsible for it. Faye wants to stop, she wants to take everything back and try again. Maybe it was just high school. Maybe it was the rumours that Greg had hooked up with Is at the last party they’d been at.

It wasn’t true. Faye couldn’t stomach it being true. She wouldn’t say why though.

She turned onto her other side. Faye was in her bed surrounded by pillows and blankets, stuffed unicorns and a pink, fluffy diary she’d deny owning. Her face was lit up by her phone screen as she scrolled through her messages, not really reading them. This was so stupid.

There were a hundred things that Faye wanted to say to her.

There were a hundred things she was never going to say to her.

‘Sweet dreams xxxxxxx’, she text. Three kisses or more, it was the standard. It was...fine.

( 4 )

‘Con-grad-ulations’. That’s what was written on the banners, on the bears, on the cards and on everyone’s Instagram posts. High school was over. The end of an era... At least that’s what it felt like for Faye. She’d made it an overly important chapter in her life. She’d made mistakes, she’d made enemies and she doubted that all the prom queen titles in the world would make her ‘most missed’ or ‘most liked’.

It was over now though. It was so over.

“Faye! Come on, we need to get a picture of you and the girls!”

Her mom’s voice pulled her out off her slightly melancholic musings as she often did. Faye pulled on a grin, rushing over to where their parents had gathered, Isabel and Quinn waiting for her. They smiled, they posed, they wrapped their arms around each other and laughed. At the end of the day, at the end of even their pettiest of days, they were best friends.

Best friends forever.

“Love you,” she said, gripping much too tightly onto both of her Valentines. Much too tightly. In fact, when she pulled back, there were tears in her eyes. It was as if a new weight had settled in her chest, a sense of finality on her shoulders and she knew in her heart of hearts that wasn’t about high school.

“Oh my god, are you crying? You know I’m not going to kiss it better so. Suck it up, Montgomery.”

That made Faye smile, laugh even. Yup, everything was fine. So fine.

( 5 )

Faye Felicity Montgomery-Vanderbilt dusted the triple framed photoset from her wedding day for the fifth time in the same number of minutes. It’s not that everything had to be perfect but... Everything had to be perfect. She shined the silver frame one more time just for good measure. A fingertip hovered over the picture of Faye and her bridesmaids. Her sisters, of course and then Quinn. Quinn and Isabel.

Isabel Valentine.

She was beautiful, Isabel. If you looked through the candids from that day, you’d catch the way that Faye looked over at Isabel that day, smiling and happy and pining. Oh, pining. That’s what it was, that’s what it had been for a very long time and even now.

Even now.

In the perfect house, with the perfect husband, with the perfect life and she still wasn’t happy. In a way, she’d always expected it would turn out this way. She and Louis were a good match. Isabel was a best friend she saw less and less over the years. But not today. Today she was coming here. Faye could hardly stand the wait, hardly stand the idea of her let alone the real thing.

The doorbell rang. Faye stood up straighter, eyes wide for a moment before she managed to compose herself enough to head towards it to answer. She wondered if she was wearing the right dress, if her hair was too pompous or if her shade of lipstick was too dull. What was she going to say? How long was too long to have never said a thing?

“Hi, oh my gosh-,” Faye beamed, pulling Isabel in for a hug, pulling back to kiss her on the left cheek and then the right, and then she lingered. She lingered. She could have lingered there forever.

It was fine.

#meme: five times kissed #hihrp #isabel #askmeme #/for you :***

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nightbringer24 · 4 years

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WIP shot of the model for the Master of the Arsenal, Captain of the 3rd Company of the Steel Drakes.

I wasn’t overly keen on the leather straps the model comes with so I swapped it out for a dracon skin cloak, nor am I too keen on the giant centurion style crest on the Mark VII helmet you get in the kit so I swapped that for one of the more knightly looking helmets from the Black Templar kit. AND to cap off the list of things I’m not overly keen on... I’ve never been too keen on the whole thing with the backpacks having the giant banners on them. On certain models, I know they work. On others... now so much.

Since this guy comes with the older 25mm base, I had to switch out for one the 32mm bases I already have, just so I can keep the urban warfare theme going throughout the Firstborn models.

#ciaran builds #warhammer 40k #wh40k #space marines #adeptus astartes #steel drakes #firstborn space marines #space marine captain #3rd company #my models

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fletchermundungus · 4 years

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What is your character’s secondary house? Meaning - if they hadn’t been chosen for their Hogwarts house, what would’ve been the next choice? Why? How do they fit into that house? How do they show those traits in their life?

RAVENCLAW

Mundungus’ sorting into Slytherin House was a quick affair. Of course, it generated a bit of unhappy murmur to have yet another half-blood join under the silver and green banners but it was not such a rarity to cause a scandal. It would’ve been different if his housemates had known what the other half of Mundungus’ blood was, but being none the wiser his peers could only fault him for not belonging to any noble family or come from at least a respectable or wealthy one.

If the Sorting Hat had not found Mundungus so perfectly fitting all of Slytherin’s values, then the only house for him would’ve been Ravenclaw. Long from being the stereotypical bookworm, Mundungus might have found himself at odds with his housemates even if he had worn the blue and bronze of Ravenclaw House.

WIT - Be interpreted as keen intelligent or the natural talent for using words in a creative manner, Mundungus highly appreciate both form of wit. Being able to quickly understand the situation he finds himself in and find ways of adapting to it is what has kept him alive so far.

LEARNING - While Mundungus’ school records might shed more than a few doubts on this particular trait, he does in truth like to learn new things as long as they are things that catch his interest. Most school subjects tended to bore him and thus went unlearnt, yet if something—facts or skills—ended up capturing his attention it turned him into an eager student. To this day he still likes to learn and try new things, it’s just that usually they are all a bit odd—just like him.

ACCEPTANCE - His form of acceptance can come with a shoulders’ roll, but Mundungus tries his best not to overly judge people and accept even what may appear to be weird. Though, in his opinion, things he finds weird are most often what people call ‘normal’.

CREATIVITY - While Mundungus doesn’t consider himself creative in terms of producing objects—despite the fact that some of his character do, and thus he does—he considers himself quite creative when it comes to make up stories and characters, and this is another value he holds in high esteem.

#homenumcharacter #items from the trunk ( inspo & extras )

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thessalian · 4 years

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Thess vs Race Representation

So I watched The Haunting of Bly Manor, just like half of Tumblr from the looks of things, and I know the focus is on the central couple and everything, and that’s great. Just ... there’s something else I liked about it - something that added to the veracity of the piece, for me personally.

People of colour in near-on central roles.

Look, I’ve lived in Canada, and I’ve lived in the States, and now I live in England. I don’t know how it is for people in the US anymore, and it’s been a very long time since I’ve been back to my home and native land, but I can say a lot about England and its racial makeup. And honestly? No matter how good the accents were (and they were good, especially since most of them were real), I would not have believed that they were really in England without Rebecca, Owen and Hannah. It’s like, how can you live in this country and not have regular contact with people of colour? It’s not possible, at least not beyond very tiny communities, and even then it’s rare. And I don’t just mean the all-too-true stereotype of almost every corner shop being run by Indian or Pakistani families, either. Though honestly, it is true; chain newsagents never quite caught on and most of the independent corner shops (which are kind of like a cross between a very small grocery store and a liquor store) are run by Indian or Pakistani families, more or less across the board.

The NHS, for example. Half the doctors and admin staff. Maybe three-fifths of the nursing staff. Hell, even government. Sadiq Khan, mayor of London. Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer. Priti Patel, Home Secretary (may she fucking rot, though, because she’s happy to deport anyone so long as she can stay in her cushy-ass position). Alok Sharma, Secretary for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy. Suella Braverman, Attorney General. Are they good at their jobs? No. Are they venial jackasses lining their pockets and securing their positions while those beneath them suffer? Probably, most of them. Are they the majority? Nope. But given how keen the Conservatives are on their Old Rich White Men, the fact that you can count the major officials in the Conservative government and find a quarter of them are people of colour? That says something about this country’s makeup, and how unlikely it is that you’re going to find all that many places where everybody’s white.

And it makes sense. With so many Jamaican people having come here during the Windrush years, so many Indian and Pakistani people having moved here when those countries were part of the Empire and stayed for generations, how could you possibly go a day without seeing a person of colour here? I live in one of those green leafy suburban areas that’s not overly different to where I lived in the US. There are blocks of flats instead of houses in parts and what houses there are tend to be smaller, but that’s England for you. Point is that while my little town in New Jersey had, like, one Chinese family and maybe one or two Black families to judge by the people who went to my school, here in the UK, my building alone has a pretty good mix (I can’t say percentages because I haven’t seen many of my neighbours).

There’s a lot I could say right now, about how white supremacy seems to be taking hold in the UK under the banner of ‘sovereignty’ and ... frankly a return to imperialism. But that’s not what I’m here to say. I’m here to talk about a fun little Netflix series, which felt real to me solely because three of the main cast were a man of Indian descent born in London, a woman of African descent (Wikipedia didn’t specify country and in the quote they put there, neither did she) born in Guilford, and another Londoner of mixed Pakistani / Jamaican descent. Because that’s how it is here. It’s not perfect - there’s a lot of racism, and I won’t say different - but people of colour are here, and they’re seen in our media a lot because they’re here and to do otherwise would be disingenuous, and now I can’t watch media that’s supposed to be set in England but has no people of colour because it’s wrong and obviously fake because “if it’s England, why is it only white people?”

I just pray it stays that way.

#Thess watches stuff #Thess has opinions

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neonsentient · 4 years

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Haikyuu! Rise Above

A ragtag group of students from a school for troubled teenagers forms an unconventional co-ed volleyball team in hopes of proving to themselves that they're more than what people make them to be. With the help of a few loopholes in the rulebook, they'll have the chance to win the gold for what might possibly be the last time in their lives.

Think of it as a spin-off, the Karasuno's first years are now second years, but I will focus on this paticular team.

Warnings: Mentions of drug abuse, underage drinking, self harm, eating disorders, depression, suicide, racial and homophobic slurs. Not all at the same time though.

Chapter 1: Promising Young People

Amara leaned closer to the toilet as she gagged, throwing up her measly breakfast of tea and apple slices, the only things she could stomach that morning. In an unusual lucky strike, the bathroom she was currently in puking her guts out was empty. It probably had something to do with the fact that she decided to arrive at the school building an hour earlier, otherwise she would’ve had an audience.

She rose from the floor, wobbling like a newborn fawn, and went to check herself in the bathroom mirror. Her russet skin had an unhealthy pallor to it, her waist-length crow black braids were loose and poorly made and the bags under her eyes could’ve been easily mistaken for bruises. That morning she didn’t even bother to look for her makeup bag in her suitcase.

“First impressions matter, you know?” Her parents would’ve told her. “It’s not every day you get to make them.”

“But I already made mine.” Amara thought bitterly.

She splashed cold water on her face and rinsed her mouth as best as she could. Now she was regretting not bringing at least some concealer or even chapstick.

“As if that were to make things any better.” A voice hissed from the back of her head. “As if that would…..”

Amara shook her head, bringing herself back as she checked her wrist watch. She was supposed to meet her guide at the entrance. In a normal scenario, she would’ve already known by now where everything in the school was, her classes, the gym, the best spots for a smoke break……

But despite being her second year of high school, it was her first year at Ōkamiyama Alternative Academy. In fact, since most of her education consisted of homeschooling, it was her first time back at school since she was in elementary, period. And unlike many other students who had arrived at least a week earlier, Amara’s messy flight schedule made her arrive only a day before the school started.

One look at the main building and it was clear that the school had a thing for a certain color scheme, or lack thereof, rather, since Amara noticed that all the buildings were either black, white or gray. That and the uniforms, a dreadful combination of a prison concrete gray blazer and pants or skirt with a white shirt and black tie. Luckily, the school didn’t seem to be too strict on the dress code, since she saw several students with all sorts of accessories, shoes and even altered pieces of the uniform.

She decided to play it safe by wearing it plain with a pair of rather sad looking black loafers that had seen better days - an emergency purchase at Target after her suede Jimmy Choo boots fell victim to an unexpected downpour-, and a gray Casio. It's not like she was expecting the sailor tops and blue skirts she saw on TV, but the overall look did leave Amara incredibly disappointed.

Her guide was a girl called Emine Narisawa, also a second year and in the same class as her. Other than that she didn’t knew anything else. It was still a bit early, so she sat at a bench near the entrance, and to no surprise, it didn’t took long for the stares and whispers to start.

“That’s her, right?”

“Oh, so it was for real?”

“Is it just me, or did she looked taller on TV?

Amara’s vision turned blurry, her eyes curdling with tears. She quickly dug into her bag, pulled out her IPod nano (one of the few devices that the school allowed) and headphones and pressed shuffle, not even paying attention to the song that was playing as she took several deep breaths.

She tried her best to distract herself with anything, yet not even a second later, Amara felt a light tapping on her shoulder. She jolted on her seat, took off her headphones and turned to face the person behind her.

“Ups! Sorry!” A cheery voice apologized. “You’re Amara Murakami, right?

The girl was tall, not as much as Amara, but still taller than the average second year girl, and model-thin, with long hair the dark red of rose petals tied in a high ponytail. A ridiculously big, silvery gray bow sat atop her head. Amara immediately noticed her uniform, or “uniform”; the blazer had been turned into a button vest, the gray skirt was embezzled with black and white rhinestones and she sported a pair of white Adidas sneakers. Amara had bought the same ones just two months ago. A thin, white gold anklet with pea-sized bubblegum-pink sapphires was clasped at her slim ankle.

“My name’s Emine Narisawa, but everyone calls me Emi! Wow, you’re taller than I imagined.” The girl chirped. Her voice had a slight hoarse edge to it, which combined with her super girly perfume, an overly sweet combination of flowers and strawberry, made Amara suspect that she was a smoker and that she probably had a cigarette before the tour. “Welcome to The Den!”

Amara could only raise her eyebrows.

“Get it? Cuss we’re wolves!” The girl pointed at the welcoming banner hanging in the entrance, where a menacing looking gray wolf was painted.

“Right.” Amara nodded, not knowing what else to say. "Umm, thanks?"

The redhead caught her hand in an overly enthusiastic handshake. She had a pretty face, although her cheeks looked a tad bit gaunt, and she wore silver eyeshadow with glitter all over her face and hair. Her tanned skin, a shade lighter than Amara’s, was completely covered with freckles, and her lips were painted a shimmering soft pink.

“Wow, your eyes look super cool!” She said, inspecting Amara’s face. “You’re from America, right? Is one of your parents Japanese?”

“So she hasn’t heard of me.” Amara thought with relief. She then noticed that Emine was waiting for an answer.

“Y-yeah I’m from Massachusetts.” She answered. “Umm, my dad’s Japanese and m-my mom’s Nipmuc.”

The redhead cocked her head in confusion.

“Native American.” Amara explained.

Emine’s licorice black eyes lit up.

“Cool! So you guys are the ones that make, like, dreamcatchers and stuff?” She asked. There wasn’t a single hint of malice in her voice, just genuine curiosity, but still, it made Amara feel annoyed.

“Ummm…”

“My Nine was from Turkey,” Emine said. “And they have these Nazar amulets to ward off the evil eye or something. Is it the same thing?”

“I don’t…”

“Anyways, you’ll love it here. It never gets boring!” Emine explained as she leaned uncomfortably close, linking her arm with Amara’s. “Follow me, I’ll take you to our classroom.”

The girls made their way inside the building and all the way through Emine "discreetly" pointed out rooms and people, giving Amara a crash course on the school, the students and teachers.

By the time they reached their classroom, Amara had learned that the captain of the baseball team had just began dating the president of the Student Council, crop tops were back in style, the back of the football field was the best place to smoke and that the guys from the Shōgi club sold the best ketamine during midterms.

"Don't they do drug tests all the time?" Amara asked. She herself had an appointment in the nurse’s office later that night for one.

Emine nodded.

"Yup, but it's a six panel."

It was Amara's turn to be confused once again. She had drug tests done before but she only...provided the sample, she never bothered to ask about the details.

"Weed, coke, speed, benzos, angel dust and opiates. All the mainstream stuff," Emine explained. "Ketamine doesn't show."

“Oh.” Amara said. “I thought there weren’t a lot of drug users in Japan.”

“Oh there are,” Emine said, occasionally waving to the people in the hallway. “And here are some of the ones that got caught.”

“Good to know?”

Amara thought that drugs were a rare commodity in Japan, but then she remembered where she was….

“So…” The redhead began, pulling Amara out of her thoughts. “How are you liking the dorms so far?”

“They’re cool.” Amara replied in a monotone voice. “My roommate hasn’t showed up yet, though.”

“Oh yeah, I heard she’s busy with some family stuff.” Emine pointed out.

“So you know her?” Amara inquired. “What’s she like? I mean, personality wise.”

Emine scrunched up her face, trying to find the right words.

“Well, she’s a bit of a…..

“Bitch!” A voice yelled from the other side of the hallway.

A girl walked towards them with a rhythmic and intense stride that made Amara think she was going to do a handspring or cartwheel at any second. She was gorgeous, what people would call a “Bombshell”, with sun tanned skin as if she had spent an entire summer at the beach, and a long mane of sandy blonde waves styled in the same way as Emine; a high ponytail with a bow on top, though hers was black. Her dark teal eyes had a gleam that Amara could only describe as “keen”.

The girl faced directly at the redhead with a quasi indignant look. Amara noticed that her look was very similar to Emine's; the embezzled skirt and altered blazer, shimmery eyeshadow and glitter sprinkled all over her face and hair.

"I can take a couple missed calls but ignoring me the whole summer was just mean!" She said, giving the redhead an angry look.

Emine looked saddened.

"I'm sor…..”

Before the redhead could finish the blonde interrupted her with a big hug.

"I've been worried sick! Even a "Don't text me" would've been enough!" She cried, clinging to Emine's neck. "Never do that again, got it?"

Emine's expression eased as she returned the hug.

"Never again."

If there was something worse than being a third wheel Amara sure was being just that at the moment.

The girls broke their hug and a pair of teal eyes immediately fell on Amara. They weren't menacing, just, observing her. The blonde was significantly shorter than Amara and Emine, but her presence felt more….. imposing. Even with the uniform, Amara could see the outline of muscle on her legs and arms.

"Oh!" Emine exclaimed, as if she had just remembered that Amara was there, and gestured towards the blonde. "Amara, this is Erika Sawai, captain of the cheer squad.

“Now it makes sense,” Amara connected the dots as she looked at both Emine and the blonde. The perky attitude, the lithe build, and even the bows. “They’re cheerleaders.”

“And Erika, this is….."

"Amara Murakami," Erika said, capturing Amara's hand in a firm handshake. "Rumour mill went that you were gonna end up here. But for future reference, I wouldn't trust anything they say around here. It tends to be a little….unreliable."

"Umm, sure" Amara said. She wasn't sure how to react to that. "I-I'll keep that in mind."

“My, my,” Erika leaned a bit closer. Amara caught the scent of the blonde's peach blossom perfume. “What pretty eyes you have.”

“Uh, thanks.” Amara muttered.

"Oh, I know!" Emine perked up with an “Eureka!” type of expression. “Since I can’t join you guys for lunch why don’t you go with Amara to the cafeteria, Erika?”

Amara felt incredibly awkward. Day one and she was already being ditched by the one person that was supposed to be with her.

“Sure.” Erika shrugged, a smirk appearing on her face. “I love fresh meat.”

Amara gulped. Why did spending a couple hours with a cheerleader, a really pretty one to boot, made her more nervous than stepping into a court filled with professional players?

Then the bell pulled her out of her thoughts.

“Come on, Amara!” Urged Emine. The redhead turned quickly and gave Erika one last hug before entering the classroom. “And see you later Erika!”

Erika waved them goodbye before making her way to her classroom.

Their first classes; English, Math, Japanese literature and Science seeped through Amara’s brain like water on a strainer. Luckily none of her teachers made her introduce herself to the class so far.

But on the other hand, she couldn’t help but notice the “subtle” whispers and looks from her classmates.

A few minutes after the bell rang they found Erika already outside. Emine apologized to Amara, promising to be back as soon as lunch was over and making quick plans with Erika to catch up later in the day before she made her way into an unknown destination. Amara was tempted to ask, but at the same time she told herself that she knew better than prying on someone else’s business.

She exited the classroom and was immediately greeted by Erika’s sly smile.

“Long time no see, Sugar.”

Amara gave her a tight smile as they walked towards their destination.

_________________________________________________________________________

The principal was a firm believer that a healthy diet was key to a healthy mind, therefore, the school’s vending machines only offered water, organic soy milk, sugar-free drinks, fruit and protein bars.

There were two cafeterias, but Amara was told upon arrival that she only had access to one of them. There, most of the menu items were either boiled, steamed or baked and it also had an all-you-can-eat salad bar and a drink station where one could get teas, coffees, smoothies or juices. Amara thought it was a sharp, yet nice, contrast with her old elementary school’s cafeteria choices of cardboardy pizza, dry meatloaf and congealed mac 'n' cheese.

Amara silently wondered what was the deal with the other cafeteria as she took a spoonful of miso soup.

“Liking the food so far?” Erika asked, placing her tray opposite to Amara's. She had a bowl brimming with a colorful salad of greens, pecans, apples and fennels, a plate of spiced tofu and two cups; one filled with a pale orange drink and the other with a beige colored liquid. She handed the beige one to Amara. " Here, try this."

She had told Erika that her stomach was feeling a little odd (yet not the reason as to why), so Amara trusted that anything she had given her wouldn't kill her on the spot. She took a sip and despite the unappetizing color the flavour was delicious; sweet, creamy yet not too heavy, and with the aftertaste of almonds. It felt nice on her tender stomach.

"Wow," Amara said, pleasantly surprised. "What's this?"

Erika winked and smiled. For a second, it reminded Amaran of someone else's smile.

"My Mama calls it the Jitter Killer." She explained, her voice emitting a hint of nostalgia. "She's been making them for me ever since I started competing. But once I got here I had to start making them myself."

"It's really good!" Amara complimented, taking another sip. She then thanked her, wholeheartedly. Gestures like those literally made her day a thousand times less shitty.

"Any time, Sugarcube." She chuckled, and then leaned towards her with a curious expression. "But do tell. How is a first day of school more intimidating than stepping into a court filled with three meter sized Amazonians?"

Amara lowered her face and blushed. She only told her that she wasn’t feeling good, she never told her the reason.

"Is it really that obvious?"

"You look exactly how I did on the day of my first competition." Erika recalled. "I believe I was around six?"

"What?" Amara said. "Do cheerleaders really start that young?"

"Yup." Erika nodded. "Especially in the States. They love their cheers there, let me tell ya."

"You're from there too?"

"Mama's from Texas" The blonde said. "So it’s always been half and half until now. We still go for the holidays though, they’re much more fun there."

"Sounds cool. I'm from Massachusetts, and I've only been in Japan like twice….until now."

The atmosphere suddenly became grim, and Amara felt her breath hitch. Erika's hand reached for hers.

"Hey." Emiki said, her voice serious. "I know you probably heard this enough but...I'm really sorry for your loss."

Amara's eyes began to curdle with tears.

"You're actually one of the only ones to tell me that."

Then she broke into sobs.

"S-sorry." Amara tried to apologize. Last night she had cried herself to sleep in her dorm, clutching a pair of worn out volleyball shoes, not even bothering to unpack, she just wasn’t in the mood for anything but crying. And there she thought that she had cried everything last night…...

Erika bolted from her seat and to her side, placing her hands on Amara's shoulder in a comforting manner.

"Oh, Honey Bee." She said. "Don't you dare apologize for your feelings ever again. You better promise me that"

Amara sniffed and nodded.

"You wanna talk about it?" Erika asked, the way a mother would when trying to comfort her child.

"I….

"There you are!" A voice interrupted. "We've been looking for you everywhere, morra!"

Amara and Erika both turned and looked. There were three girls, each one different from the other. They were around the same height but that was where the similarities ended. One had brown skin, long glossy black hair in a single thick braid tied with a gray bow and umber brown eyes traced with glittery makeup. A gold stud glinted in her nose. The other had bronze skin, waist-length chocolate colored hair with a gray bow atop and eyes like two yellow tourmalines. On her face was a red lipped, wicked dimpled smile, like a kid who’d just finished pulling up a prank. The third one was a bit meek looking, with rosy white skin, a cloud of short strawberry blonde hair with a white bow on top and soft green eyes. She fidgeted with her hands and seemed ready to throw up at any second. Amara immediately felt a bout of compassion towards her.

“It’s lunch time, where else would I be?” Erika asked with a confused expression.

“Good point.” The brown haired girl said. She took a sip from the giant coffee cup in her hand. “Can we join you?”

Erika gestured at the empty seats.

The black haired girl looked at Amara up and down, from her messy braids and puffy red eyes to the plain black loafers.

“First time here?” She asked her as she sat.

Amara nodded and noticed their outfits; skirts embroidered with flowers and crystals, Miu Miu sneakers and Birkin bags. How she wished she had her new Air Jordans with her….

“Aww! I remember my first day as if it was yesterday.” The brown haired girl sighed.

The black haired girl furrowed her brow.

“Didn’t you threw up from withdrawal?”

“It was from a hangover, not withdrawal! They’re like two different things!” The brown haired girl corrected, indignant.

Erika cleared her throat, making the three girls turn their heads at her.

“Amara, these are my friends and members of the cheer squad.” Erika explained.

She pointed at the black haired girl.

“This is Kumari Hanan, our best flyer.”

Kumari gave Amara a small nod.

“This is Ximena Otakara, our dance expert and choreographer.”

“And future celebrity, don’t forget that.” The brown haired girl added with a wink.

Erika rolled her eyes and then pointed at the strawberry blonde girl.

“And this is our newest addition to the team, Kara Tamada”

Kara gave Amara a timid smile and wave.

“Kumari is a third year like me, Ximena’s a second year like you, and Kara is a freshman.” Erika explained and then gestured at Amara. “Girls, this is Amara Murakami, please don’t torture her.”

“A la madre! ” Ximena looked at her, surprised. “Wicked eyes, girl!”

Amara lowered her gaze and mumbled an empty thanks. If there was something she was used to at that point in her life, was of people making comments about her eyes.

"Sectoral heterochromia." Were the doctor's oficial words.

"Stained glass eyes." Her friends often called them.

"Woodland eyes." Her grandfather had called them. "Brown for the soil, black for the stone and green for the life."

"You carry your land within your eyes, Amara." He told her once. "You will never be lost."

“If only that were true.” Amara couldn’t help but think.

But then she saw Ximena’s eyes squinting in concentration.

“No mames, I’ve seen you before!” She said, proud of her discovery. “You’re that volleyball chick!”

“Holy shit, you’re right.” Kumari joined.

Amara’s stomach plummeted and her face paled, which Erika noticed.

“Damn it you two, what did I just say!?” The blonde scolded. Her tone was the same one Amara’s mom used when reprimanding her. “Hope you’re in the mood for running suicides today!”

"What? Why?" Ximena and Kumari cried.

"That's okay, Erika." Amara reassured her. "It's not like it's a secret, anyway."

“See? We have the Ok.” Ximena said, earning a murderous gaze from Erika.

Then an awkward silence filled the table.

“So…” Kumari began, taking a sip of her purple smoothie. “You’re joining the volleyball team?”

In Ōkamiyama, all students were required to join a school club or association, and from looking at the list that came with the welcoming pamflet, there seemed to be quite a lot, from embroidery and cooking to horse riding and rock climbing. There were even some odd ones like “The Cheese Connoisseurs Association” and “Apocalypse Survival Prepping Club”. And there were also the typical sports clubs like baseball, basketball, football* and of course, volleyball.

She didn’t wanted to give up volleyball, but the wound was still so fresh it still bled…...

“I-I don’t know.” She mumbled. “I’m still not sure. I have a week, don’t I?

“Yeah, of course.” Erika reassured her. “And if you need more time, you can ask the therapist for an extension.”

Amara had completely forgot about the therapist.

In a normal school, a counselor was usually available for students if they wished so, but here it was mandatory to have individual one hour weekly therapy sessions,and once she joined a club, group therapy would also become obligatory. Amara’s first session was scheduled for Sunday.

“Yeah, don't sweat it!” Ximena said.

“Isn't Emi also joining the volleyball team?” Kumari inquired.

Amara raised an eyebrow.

“I thought she was a cheerleader.” She asked, looking at Erika.

“Emphasis on was.” Ximena sighed.

“And not just that, she was...is...the best tumbler in the prefecture.” Kara explained in a soft voice.

“Really?” Amara asked, she knew from somewhere that tumbler meant acrobat, basically a gymnast with a mini skirt instead of a leotard. “Then why did she quit?”

Ximena, Kumari and Erika looked at each other.

“She didn’t told you?” Kumari asked.

“Tell me what?” Amara looked at Erika for guidance.

“Okay that’s enough.” The blonde’s face had a not so subtle hint of worry. “That’s not for us to talk about, I’m sure that in time Emi will tell you all about it.”

Amara certainly felt a bit pained for being left out, but it was someone whom she literally just met, so she concluded that she had no right to be upset either.

Kara must’ve sensed the tense atmosphere and quickly asked some questions about the cheer squad. There were many terms that Amara did not understood, but she soon became fascinated. The cheerleaders at the games Amara played in danced around and cheered (duh!) but the way Erika and the others talked about the work plan for their squad it was clear that they did more than that.

“Hey, why don’t you join the squad?” Erika suggested.

“We do need more tumblers.” Kumari pointed out.

“Yeah.” Ximena agreed. “How are your back handsprings?”

“Ummm...nonexistent?” Amara admitted, although the idea did sound nice. “I do have a mean cartwheel, though.”

The girls chuckled.

“Okay, maybe we can help you find another club if volleyball and cheerleading won’t do it for ya.” Erika smiled and stood, walking towards a notice board and taking a poster version of the clubs and associations list.

“Let’s see then.”

They tried to summarize each club as best as they could, counting the pros and cons and telling her about the people in them.

“What’s the Wolf Kingdom Club?” Amara asked, slightly amused by the odd names.

Everyone grunted, which Amara took as a bad sign.

“That’s the historical reenactment club.” Erika said. “They do everything medieval, and I mean everything.”

“Except dying from the plague.” Kumari muttered.

“So that’s a no?” Amara inquired.

“Depends.” Ximena said. “Do you like dancing with seven layers of clothing on and churning your own butter?”

“Pass.” Amara said.

And so they spent the rest of the lunch break going over the list in hopes of finding something for Amara, but nothing seemed to catch her attention. Kara spoke on occasions whenever she felt in danger of being forgotten.

By the time the bell rung, they’ve managed to narrow it down to the basketball team and the basket weaving club. She had the height and the jump for the first one and the skills for the last one.

“If you change your mind, you should go with Emi to the tryouts after school.” Erika reminded her as they walked towards Amara’s classroom.

She nodded weakly, lost in thought.

Erika sighed and tapped her shoulder, making their eyes meet.

“Look, I don’t know a lot about volleyball, but I do know that it shares something in common with cheerleading.”

Amara arched an eyebrow. Then, Erika grabbed her hands, the blonde's lightly tanned skin clashing with Amara's russet complexion. Their eyes met, and Erika’s had one of the most serious expressions Amara had ever seen.

“Jumps are the most thrilling part, as well as the hardest.” She said. “When we jump, we don’t take steps back, not even to gain momentum. It’s always forwards, full force.”

Amara had so many questions about those words, yet she didn’t ask. Was it fear or confusion that stopped her? She didn’t knew. But for a moment she was sure the girl was saying that there was only one way to go.

Forward.

#haikyuu!!#haikyu #hq #OC #my OC #ocs #fanfiction #fanfic #My writing #haikyuu

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queenharumiura · 5 years

Note

Brotp Kyouya & Haru ((because why not =P))

Send me a ship and I will grade it: ||Still accepting||

I’m answering this in terms of a Brotp, and i’m teetering between A: I love it and B : It’s really cute

[Note: In case anyone else other than Klee sees this, this is referring to her Kyouya from OHSHC. This is not about Hibari Kyouya from KHR.]

I dunno how these two would even meet or even begin to have a sibling sort of relationship, but if it happened for whatever reason, I think it would be a very interesting relationship.

I would say that Kyouya really wouldn’t have a hard time adjusting to Haru. I mean, look at Tamaki. He and Haru are both balls of energy who often have weird and crazy ideas and or fantasies. Haru’s love for wearing costumes fits with the whole Host club thing where they also are willing to go into costume for the sake of events or whatever.

I would think that Kyouya would be accepting of Haru from a generality standpoint. Haru comes from an average family, where her father is a college level professor who teaches mathematics. Haru herself goes to Midori, which is supposedly a famous all girls private school for very intelligent students. She is a part of the gymnastics club.

Her desire to be a Yamato Nadeshiko means that she will try to learn more… sophisticated skills, but we should know Haru’s personality. It’s a lil on the wildly energetic side. However, if you consider the future arc, where we see the future Haru for a brief moment, she was quite calm and mature.

It’s not wrong to say that maybe after YEARS her Yamato Nadeshiko training wore off. Still, her ‘Hahi! Haru–’ spoken tick doesn’t seem to leave and I love that. I’m similar in the way that I also speak in third person a lot and some spoken ticks of mine don’t leave so easily. Especially my habit to start out most things with ‘haha’.

In real life and online, I start a lot of my sentences with ‘haha’ because that’s how I actually talk. It’s just a habit of mine and I don’t know why? Haru’s stubborn tick makes me feel like I have a comrade lol.

Anyways, back to the scheduled programming you came here for: From an outside view, Kyouya can be viewed as a cool and collected character who is very keen on making money, only caring for that.

Though i’m sure you and I both know that’s not entirely true. He is cool and collected, but he does care for others, and he doesn’t always consider money into the equation of things. A good example would be the time when he helped prevent a person from being swindled. He tried to tell Haruhi that he did it because he recognized the person, but he wouldn’t have been able to see her ring behind the banner.

He helped because he wanted to, and he didn’t want anyone to be swindled. Also, he isn’t afraid to get into contact with people of all sorts of backgrounds. If he was all about money and only about money, he wouldn’t have interacted with people who aren’t of any use to him beyond what is necessary.

In my opinion, he treated most people the same way, with a level of respect and dignity. You don’t really see him looking down on people because of their status. He is also very conscientious, like when he makes sure to update Haruhi’s father on her activities because she doesn’t do it herself. He puts up with a lot of Tamaki’s shenanigans, so I’d be willing to say that his patience levels are GODLY.

He does have a temper when he’s first woken up though– but I mean… #MOOD.

From this, I’d say that he’s the type of person who likes to connect with people for many reasons, and their character is certainly one of them. You find out one of your customers were harassing another person? It doesn’t matter how influential their family is, you OUT.

There is dignity, morality, and just… kindness to that.

Given how he wasn’t against interacting with Casanoda, he isn’t really against people who are from a darker side of society. He judges people as they are, not really from where they come from. He doesn’t discriminate against Haruhi either who is a *~commoner~*. We’ve seen some people hold that against Haruhi before if memory serves me right.

Kyouya in my mind would not judge Haru for her family status, or her affiliation to the Vongola mafia.

I do kind wonder if it’s possible that he either approached her because she’s either intelligent, her costume making skills (lol), or just– hey she’s affiliated with a powerful mafia B3c (lol)

Just a thought on my part, really.

Anyways, Haru also doesn’t really judge people based off background either. If she did, she should have stayed clear of Tsuna from the GET GO, but she didn’t. She judged him to be a good person even if he’s a part of the mafia.

Of course, she’s also rather fearless, on top of being very optimistic. Even though she knew that Tsuna is supposedly the next mafia boss, she had no qualms over slapping him or challenging him to a duel when she thought he was abusing kids. She will absolutely not tolerate it. She has NO CHILL when it comes to protecting children.

Above all else, she’s very up standing when it comes to treating people right. It doesn’t matter if she loves you, if she thinks you are a bad person, she will drop you. She won’t let her love cloud her judgement to the point that she’ll forgive you for abusing people. She will not stand that.

I think that Kyouya and Haru probably share that kind of mentality. They both would want to associate with upstanding people. Kyouya is a bit more behind the scenes than Haru is, with the way he isn’t very outright with the way he does things. Sometimes he’ll help people behind the scenes.

Haru is more upfront about it, as she’s a very honest soul.

Haru is also a very dedicated person who is willing to go to far lengths for those she cares about. She has canonically put herself at risk for the sake of others. She’s very… how to say… impulsive. Very much so. Especially when love is involved. She’s very… hyperactive and full of daydreams. (Tamaki, i’m looking at you too)

Kyouya wouldn’t have a hard time adjusting to her, I think. Consider her a younger Tamaki tbh.

Haru is very loyal. When she thought that Tsuna had accidentally killed someone when he ‘blacked out, allowing his mafia instincts to take over,’ she said that she’d wait for him like a dedicated wife lololololol. There was no such thing as lets hide the truth! Nope! If you’re Haru’s husband, you better take responsibility for your actions and she’ll wait for you like a dedicated wife.

Certainly, there were theatrics as she went into that. Even if Kyouya’s reputation has some blots, Haru wouldn’t judge him for that. She’s the sort to judge someone based off her own personal knowledge. However, she is concerned about safety– so if the rumors said he was violent, she would care for that, ahahaha.

All that being said, if they did somehow form a sibling bond, i’m sure they would be good at caring for the other. Haru loves to visit her friends and check up on them. Watch her also make him bentos for him to try. You may have fancy chefs, but don’t you know the best seasoning is LOVE!?

Make sure you eat all your vegetables and fruits. They are healthy for you– but she doesn’t need to say that given his family background, riiiiiight????

Have a taste of the commoner bento filled with love. Join Haru on her escapade to the CAKE BUFFETS. This is how commoners enjoy their fill of cakes. lol

Kyouya… I feel, would be supportive towards her. Indulge her in her weirdness, and maybe help her towards her dream of being a world class costume maker. Hard to say since I can’t recall off the top of my head if he’s ever been around kids, but I think he’d be the sort to take care of people well.

I do think he’s the youngest child? I feel that given his upbringing, he’d be sensitive to the fact that younger children should be treated with care and with support. He doesn’t like the way he had to keep himself caged due to his brothers, and that’s so stifling. Due to this, I think he’d be more of the sort to allow a younger sibling freedom. To step out from the shadows, so to speak.

Can’t say if I think he’d be the sort to spoil people, but I do think he’d be the kind to reward people for good work? Like he gives people the praise they deserve, rather than just praising for the sake of it. Fairness is big and i’m sure Haru would like that.

It’s been said that she gets spoiled by her father and she’s quite embarrassed by it, so I think she’d be happy with getting praise for what is worth it. Being overly praised to become spoiled would probably make her feel embarrassed. She’s trying to be a Yamato Nadeshiko, spoiling her rotten would be bad!

All in all, I think, they’d have a comfortable dynamic? Truly, this depends on your interpretation of him. This is just my thought in generality.

I do think if they were to have a sibling like relationship, Haru would be happy to have him around and she’d be very affectionate. He’d likely show his affection in not so obvious ways in line with his cool and princely persona type.

One thing is for sure, they both have a temper that can be dangerous. Haru can probably fly off the handle if someone does something she views as morally wrong. Kyouya probably would do his own thing– but not fly off the handle, he’s too ‘cool’ for that, kek.

So I think if they both had a common enemy, it would not be good for that enemy. I feel as though if something happened to Haru, he would do something about it, but behind the scenes like the shadow king he is.

Just know, the moment you become a brother figure to Haru, she will try to get you to wear a costume. Who is she to deny someone who can help her model clothes so she can get them fitted? Some of her costumes… (by that, I mean most) are… interesting… //cough

I can foresee Kyouya having to deal with a mini Tamaki. The problem is that Haru has a temper and she WILL fly off if she sees something that needs corrected. Kyouya, have fun chasing after her. Do scold her for being impulsive as usual.

Haru is very optimistic, so she often uses her own theories to explain people’s actions. As long as she thinks you are a good person at heart, she can probably reason whatever in a positive light.

Except for abuse. She won’t even bother trying to see that in a good light. You hit a child, and it’s bye bye for you.

Really though, Haru is an interesting person with various interests. She is training to be a Yamato Nadeshiko, a model housewife. Yet, she has an interest in wrestling due to her father.

She is rather prude tho and gets easily embarrassed. RIP Lambo who got german suplexed because he had too many buttons undone on his shirt.

She did punch out a pervy doctor who was being a pervert towards her. I will always praise her for that. Good girl. So she’s certainly someone who has a temper and will use whatever means to protect herself from pervs. QuQ

I don’t think Kyouya would have to step in for that. I can see him praising her for a job well done while also thinking about how to deal with it on his end without her knowing. OTL||||||

So yeah, I think they’d have an interesting sibling dynamic where they like to support each other the best they can, or at least just enjoy each other’s company.

#friendlyneighbourhoodscientist #meme answered #answered ask #thanks for the ask!#Neo speaks #((Phew I need to rest my fingers OTL ))#((Hope you like!))#long post

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wiypt-writes · 4 years

Text

Stark Spangled Banner

Ch51: Captain America Homecoming

Intro: The team at the compound begin their experiment with the Quantum Tunnel, but it doesn’t all go according to plan. But just as everything seems lost, Tony appears having rethought his initial stance. And he has a little surprise for Steve.

Warnings: Bad Language words.

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

A/N: I can’t give @angrybirdcr enough credit…she makes my images into, well, erm, images…

Chapter 50

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Bruce needed a day to calibrate the computer and systems to the right configuration to use with Scott’s Quantum Tunnel (which was, amusingly yet completely unsurprisingly, in the back of his ugly brown van). Katie took the chance to head into the office to catch up and then inform Soraya she didn’t know how much she would be available in person over the coming week.

They had another day before they were due to collect Emmy from the train station, her five day trip to Philly was drawing to a close and when they had spoken to her last night she had been equal parts excited to come home and fed up that it was ending. But she would be back at school soon, and she had an important few weeks coming up as she was studying for her end of year exams. Neither of them were particularly concerned about that, however, as Emmy was a complete brainbox. Although she was only a freshman, she was taking APs in Human Geography and Psychology (having told her parents she wanted to be a Therapist) and was already being touted by her tutors as Harvard potential. Steve wasn’t overly keen about his daughter being in a different state, but all things considered, Boston wasn’t too far. And he knew he had to let her make her own decision so they’d cross that bridge when they got there.

For the time being, the only bridge Steve wanted to cross was the one he and Natasha were currently planning on making to reach out to the remaining original Avengers, Thor and Clint.

“Thor should be easy, surely?” Nat asked, swinging her feet up onto the table as she sat back in her seat. She looked to Steve for confirmation, but instead he sighed and shook his head.

“Has Katie not told you?”

“Told me what?”

Steve scratched at his chin. “He had a disagreement with one of the Elders about three months back. From what Valkyrie told Katie, there was a bit of an argument over the rebuilding of their army and the elder took a shot at Thor, saying he wasn’t fit to lead any kind of battalion as he had failed to keep them safe from Thanos.”

“That’s harsh.” Nat frowned.

“Yeah, I know.” Steve bit his lip. “I think it was more anger speaking than the guy actually thinking that, but it sent Thor into another downwards spiral and he’s ignored Katie’s attempts to reach out to him again so she’s given in.” “Okay, so, maybe a little harder than we anticipated.” “Least we know where he is. Any luck on Barton?”

“Rhodey thinks he’s targeting a gang in Hong Kong.” Nat sighed. “But I won’t know for sure until he arrives.”

Steve, nodded. “Well when we find out where he is we can scramble a jet and…” “No.” Nat shook her head “Not we, me. I’ll go alone.” “Nat.” Steve frowned “Clint, he’s been leaving a trail of utter carnage behind him, I don’t think you-“

“He wouldn’t hurt me.”

“It’s not him I’m concerned about, more the people he’s taking on.” “I can handle myself.” Nat replied, firmly as she looked at him. Her eyes were sparkling with that Black Widow venom Steve had to admit he had missed over the past few years. He took a deep breath and against his better judgement conceded.

“Alright. We’ll do it your way.”

Natasha frowned, and smirked. “Really? That’s it, no argument?”

Steve raised an eyebrow. “You want an argument?” “Not really.” She shook her head, smiling.

Steve gave a chuckle and then they were cut off by an incoming call springing up in front of Natasha. She swiped to her right and the hologram form of Rocket appeared on the desk.

“Hey Nat.” He nodded, turning to Steve, “Cap.We’re wrapping things up on that latest lead, then we have to nip to Contraxia as I need a few things,” he Raccoon explained, looking at them both, “should be with you day after tomorrow lunchtime, ish” “Rocket, you were close to Thor right?” Steve spoke, an idea coming to him.

“Kinda, why?” “We need him.” Steve stated simply. “He knows about the stones, but convincing him could be a bit of a task. So I was thinking maybe you could help and go with Katie to New Asgard.” The animal pondered for a while before he shrugged. “I can try.”

“That’s all any of us can do.”

The raccoon nodded again “Alright.” He turned to Nat. “We’ll see you soon.” And with that he disappeared.

Steve stayed at the compound until late afternoon, popping in to see how Bruce and Scott were getting on, before he made his way home. Katie and Jamie were already back and he could hear the two of them in the living room.

“Who’s that?” Jamie asked as he pointed to the photo in the album that his Mom had open on her lap.

“That’s your Uncle Sam.” She smiled at the photo of Steve and his best man at the reception of their wedding “You know you get your name from him, well one of them anyway.”

“Where is he now?” Jamie asked.

“He err…he went away” Katie said slowly as she tried to figure out how to explain this to a three year old. “You know how daddy has told you about his friend, Uncle Bucky?” “Yeah.” “Well, a few years ago, before you were born, The Avengers, well they had a fight, with a nasty man, and your Uncle Bucky and Uncle Sam, and one of our other friends, a lady called Wanda…they had to go away afterwards.”

“Was Uncle Tony in the fight?”

“Yeah, he was.”

“And Auntie Nat-Nat?”

“Yeah. And Thor. There were a lot of people involved?”

“Did you and daddy fight with the Avengers?” Jamie asked, his eyes wide.

At that point Katie looked up and saw Steve hovering in the door way. He swallowed and walked into the room.

“A long time ago buddy, yeah.” He nodded.

“Did you know Captain America?” Jamie’s eyes were now almost the size of dinner plates.

“I did yeah.” Steve nodded, kneeling down in front of his son. “But he gave up fighting.” Jamie pondered something as Katie looked at her husband. “Not for much longer though.” She locked eyes with him.

Steve took a deep breath and swallowed once more. He wasn’t sure he’d ever hold that shield again.

“Maybe.” he said, shrugging, before he stood up and settled on the couch at the other side of his son.

Jamie made to turn the page in the album and the next photo was one of Steve’s favourites and one they had a large framed version of on the mantel piece. It showed him and Katie at their first dance, heads pressed together, huge smiles on their faces as he held her close.

“Momma you look real pretty!” Jamie smiled and Katie dropped a kiss to his head.

“Thanks, Baby.” “Your momma always looks pretty.” Steve smiled “She’s the most beautiful girl on the planet.” “Charmer.” Katie looked at him as he stretched his arm over the back of his son and pulled her in closer.

“Only for you.” He winked, dropping a kiss to her cheek.

****** Tony stood at the sink, rinsing down the dishes from dinner whilst Pepper settled Morgan down for the night. He’d spoken to Kiddo earlier, she’d told him they were running the first Time Travel trial tomorrow. He’d managed to push it out of his mind for most of the afternoon but now, as he stood alone, he kept thinking about it over and over again. He knew Bruce was clever, but this really wasn’t his area…

What if something went wrong? Not his problem.

Tony’s grip on the attachment to the tap slipped and it jerked out of his hand, spraying water all over the place. With a sigh he turned it off and grabbed the tea towel, mopping up the water from around the sink and then the shelf which it had squirted all over. He glanced at the photos, and paused for a moment at the frame that was placed just to the right of the one which held a picture of his dad. He took a deep breath as he wiped the water off the faces- him and Peter Parker holding the fake Stark Internship Certificate upside down, each one pulling peace signs behind the other’s head. He swallowed.

“We can snap our own fingers. We can bring everybody back.”

Tony looked around his kitchen, his stomach turning slightly. Yes, he had something to fight for, something personal, the kid. They all had something personal right? Natasha had Clint’s family, Rogers and Kiddo had Barnes, Wilson and Wanda… Scott had his girlfriend, or whatever. But he couldn’t risk it. He shouldn’t risk it….

But they were going to risk it. He knew that. And they could, probably would, fuck it up without him.

“Damned it, Rogers.” He mumbled, placing the photo down and heading into the dining room.

Two hours later, Pepper was out in the greenhouse as she often was later at night and Tony was talking to FRIDAY, with whom he had been brainstorming a number of ideas for the past hour and a half. He looked the holographic model in front of him and tapped at the pad on the table.

“Look at a mod inspiration, let’s see if it checks out.” He instructed, watching as the image changed in front of his eyes. “So…” he pressed a few keys again, “run one last sim before we pack it in for the night,” he clapped his hands together and paced round the side of the table, “this time, in the shape of a mobius strip, inverted, please.”

“Processing.“ FRIDAY replied as Tony crossed his arms and watched.

“Give me that Eigen value,” he reached out to spin the image with his hand, “that, particle factoring, and a spectral decomp,” he grabbed the bottle on the side of the table to take a drink of the smoothie he had made, “that will take a second.”

“Just a moment.”

“And don’t worry if it doesn’t pan out,” he replaced the top on his drink and grabbing a blueberry from the packet he had been eating, “I’m just kinda…” he trailed off chewing the fruit, as he watched FRIDAY do her business.

“Model rendered.”

The red words ‘Model Successful’ with a rating of ‘99.987%’ flashed in front of his eyes and Tony felt his mouth drop open, utterly bewildered by his discover. He fell back into his chair, looking up at it and his mouth flew to his hand. He, Tony Stark, had figured out how to do exactly what Lang had proposed, how to safely travel time.

Despite himself, he felt a certain level of pride and smugness, and he threw his arms out to his side. “Shit!” He laughed out.

“Shit.” A voice spoke from behind him, followed by a giggle. He paused, and turned to see his daughter was sat on the bottom stair, grinning at him.

He held his finger to his lips and shook his head. “What are you doing up, little miss?”

“Shit.” She repeated again.

“No, we don’t say that. Only Mommy says that word. She coined it, it belongs to her.”

“Why you up?” Morgan looked at him.

“Cause I got some important shit going on here,” Tony jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the hologram, “what do you think?”

Morgan shot him a frown and he took a deep breath, when she pulled that face she looked ridiculously like her Auntie. ”No, I got something on my mind,” he explained in a softer tone.

“Was it Juice Pops?” Morgan asked, hopefully.

“Sure was.” Tony looked at the other side of the room before he turned back to his daughter, “extortion. That’s a word.” He stood up and looked down at her. “What kind you want?” He asked, taking her hand and she stood up. “Great minds think alike. Juice Pops, exactly was on-” he looked back to the model then turned towards the kitchen “-my mind.”

A little while and a juice pop later Morgan was back in bed, demanding a story.

“Once upon a time, Morgoona went to bed. The end.” Tony grinned.

“That is a horrible story.” Morgan looked at him with a glare.

“Come on, that’s your favorite story.” He grinned and as she rolled her eyes he smiled. “I love you tons.” He made it clear that was the end of the conversation by standing up, kissing her on the forehead.

“I love you three thousand.” Morgan looked at him and Tony smiled.

“Wow.” he said, quietly. His daughter had an ability, very like Kiddo, to say things that sideswiped him, and made his chest burst with love, and this was one of those moments. He contemplated that for a moment before he stood up and turned off her lamp. “Three thousand, that’s crazy.”

He walked to the door, and closing it behind him, still grinning he told her “Go to bed, or I’ll sell all your toys, night night.”

By the time he reached the living room Pepper was back inside, sat on the couch reading a book.

“Not that it’s a competition-” Tony spoke and Pepper looked up at him “-but she loves me three thousand.”

“Oh does she now?” Pepper smiled.

“You were somewhere on the low six to nine-hundred range.” Pepper laughed and turned back to her book. Tony, still chewing on the juice pop stick looked back to where the model was still projecting over his table.

“What you reading?” He asked, although he wasn’t particularly interested. His mind was racing once more.

“Oh, it’s just a book on composting”.

“What’s new with composting?” His eyes were still on the image. “Interesting science…” she began, but he cut her off.

“I figured it out, by the way.” Tony looked back at her, removing the juice pop stick from his mouth.”

“And, you know, just so we’re talking about the same thing –“

“Time travel.”

“What?” Pepper whispered as Tony glanced back at the hologram, arms folded. “Wow,” her gaze dropped down slightly, “that’s amazing, and terrifying.”

“That’s right.” He dropped down beside her, his left arm hanging over the back of the sofa.

“We got really lucky.” Pepper said, stroking his arm.

“Yeah, I know.”

“A lot of people didn’t.”

“No, but I can’t help everybody.”

“Well, it sorta seems like you can.” Pepper pressed again.

“Not if I stop.” Tony shrugged, and Pepper gave a small huff of a laugh. “I can put a pin in it right now, and stop.”

“Tony, trying to get you to stop has been one of the few failures of my entire life.”

Tony gave a soft laugh and his right arm gently rubbed the hand that was laid over his left arm.

“Something tells me I should put it in a locked box and drop it at the bottom of the lake, go to bed.”

There was a pause, before Pepper looked at him again, her eyes soft and her face rearranged into a knowing expression.

“But would you be able to rest?”

Tony didn’t reply, he didn’t need to. They both knew the answer was no. *******

“Alright, Emmy, remember what I said?” Katie looked at her daughter who was sat on the couch in the living room of their old quarters.

“Yeah, I can’t leave here until someone comes to get us.” Emmy nodded

“No matter what.”

“Yeah mom, I got it. We’ll be fine, wont we Jamie?”

Jamie nodded, grinning up at his mother “Yeah, fine.”

“Okay, love you both.”

With one last glance over her shoulder at her kids, Katie made her way back to the hanger.

“Breakers are set. Emergency generators are on standby.” She heard Steve call out as he strode back towards the computer. Katie couldn’t help but admire his ass, he looked pretty good in a pair of black denims, light blue shirt as always tucked in, belt circling his toned waist. He looked at her, raising an eyebrow with a smug smirk as he caught the expression on her face and she shrugged.

“Good, ‘coz if we blow the grid, I don’t wanna lose Tiny here in the 1950s,” Bruce said through gritted teeth, jerking his thumb at Scott, only his comment wasn’t quite as quiet as he thought. Scott, who was stood in his suit, fiddling with something on his helmet heard perfectly.

“Excuse me?” Scott glared at Banner as Katie and Steve exchanged a glance. .

“He’s kidding!” Natasha said in a playful voice, shaking her head as she tapped on the tablet she was holding which would be used to track Scott. She looked up with a smile, which Katie knew perfectly to be false and laughed. “You can’t say things like that.” Natasha looked at Bruce.

“Yeah, sorry, it was…just a bad joke.” He smiled as he looked at Scott. Scott nodded once as he walked back to the van.

“You were kidding right?” Katie looked at Bruce.

“I have no idea!” Bruce hissed. “We’re talking about time travel here, either it’s all a joke or none of it is!” He looked away from Katie and flashed Scott the thumbs up. “We’re good.”

Steve crossed his arms and let out a breath as Scott pulled his helmet on. He gave Bruce a double thumbs up and Katie smiled in what she hoped was a reassuring way.

“Alright Scott, we’re gonna send you back a week, let you walk around for an hour, then bring you back in ten seconds. Make sense?” Bruce asked as he tapped at the keys on his desk with a pencil

“Perfectly not confusing.” Scott shrugged.

Okay, so now Steve was nervous. He took a deep breath and looked at the man stood by the back of the van, his hands dropping to his hips.

“Good luck Scott. You’ve got this.” He refrained from adding I hope.

“You’re right. I do Captain America.” Scott grinned, proudly, as Bruce hit a button, sucking him into the tunnel.

“On the count of three-“ Bruce called, and Steve dropped his hands, his fists clenching, mouth open slightly as he watched . At the other side of Bruce, Katie and Nat shared a nervous glance. “Three… two…one…” Steve breathed a sigh of relief as someone appeared but it was short lived as he realised the person in front of them could be no older than Emmy. Katie frowned as did Natasha, confusion etched across her face and next to them, Bruce adjusted his glasses.

"Guys, something doesn’t feel right.” The boy informed them nervously.

“What’s going on?” Steve asked, as Bruce set about pressing a load more buttons. “Hang on…”

“Is that Scott?” Katie’s eyes grew wide as she looked at Bruce, who ducked down to hit something on the console, her eyes locking with Steve who looked as utterly perplexed as she felt.

“Yes, it’s Scott!” The boy exclaimed.

Teenage Scott was sucked back into the tunnel, Natasha watching Bruce as he straightened up and the four of them looked back to the tunnel to see another person thrown out, this time an elderly man.

“Ow, my back!”

“What is this?” Steve asked

“Can I…I need a little space!” Bruce demanded as he moved to his right.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Steve hastily moved out of the way and going to stand in between his wife and Natasha. “Can you bring him back?”

“I’m working on it.” Bruce hit one of the screens. Katie, Steve and Nat shared another panicked look as Old Scott was yanked back in only to this time reappear as…

"That’s a baby.” Steve deadpanned.

“It’s Scott!” Bruce defended.

“As a baby!” Steve snapped as the infant looked up at them wide eyed.

“He’ll grow!” Bruce said, attempting a joke.

“Bring Scott back!” Steve instructed sharply.

“Nat, when I say kill the power, kill the power!” Bruce called and Natasha ran off to the breaker at the side of the hanger.

Katie and Steve watched as Bruce jabbed more buttons, before he yelled out “Kill it!”

Natasha pulled the lever down and Bruce slapped a large red button. This time Scott Lang returned exactly as he had been before he left.

“Somebody peed my pants.” He called out loudly, standing stiffly still. “I don’t know if it was baby me, or old me. Or, just… me-me.”

“Time travel!” Bruce beamed excitedly, throwing his hands out to the side as Katie, Steve and Natasha looked at him. “What? I, I see this as an absolute win.”

Steve simply stared at Bruce in silence for a moment, before he shook his head, placing his hands on his hips. He looked down at the floor before he walked off, Katie watching him as he left the hangar and stepped outside.

“I think we should take a break.” Katie took a deep breath. “Nat can you check the kids, I’m gonna…” She jerked her thumb after Steve and Nat nodded.

Steve stood outside by the large metal pillar at the side of the building, hands still on his hips as he stared at the floor. What was the point of being able to time travel if you couldn’t control it? The worse thing being that he wasn’t even sure if they would be able to perfect it with practice, and was he willing to keep risking Scott to do that? They had been so close, but Tony was right, it had clearly been a pipe dream.

“Hey.” Katie’s hand fell gently to his elbow. “Honey, we knew it was a long shot.” “I know.” He sighed, looking at her. “But I thought it might have worked, you know. That we might have had a chance to…”

He was cut off as a loud engine growled in the distance. They both looked out over the compound to see a familiar Audi R8 speeding down the drive towards the hangar. Katie and Steve exchanged a glance as the car pulled up to where they were stood, but overshot their position slightly. Steve followed the car with his eyes as it backed up and Tony rolled down the window and looked at them both. Steve raised his eyebrows, looking away.

“Why the long face?” Tony asked, directing his question to Steve. “Let me guess: He turned into a baby”

“Among other things, yeah.” Steve replied, an edge of frustration in his voice as he looked back at Tony. “What are you doing here?”

Tony opened the car door and climbed out, walking to the back, completely ignoring Steve’s question as he spoke.

“That’s the EPR Paradox. Instead of pushing Lang through time, you might’ve wound up pushing time through Lang.” Tony looked at Steve “It’s tricky. Dangerous. Somebody shoulda cautioned you against it.”

“You did.” Steve deadpanned, not in the mood for a lecture.

“Oh, did I?” Tony asked, raising an eyebrow and Katie felt a grin cross her face at her brother’s sarcasm “Thank God I’m here. Regardless, I fixed it” Steve raised his eyebrows as he glanced at his brother in law who held up his right hand which bore what looked like a watch of some description. “A fully functioning Time-Space GPS.

At this Steve let out a genuine smile as he realised Tony was here to help. Tony returned it with one of his own

“I just want peace.” He made the sign with his fingers. “Turns out, being angry and bitter is corrosive, and I hate it.

“Me too.” Steve nodded softly, recognizing this for what it was. An apology for the other day, and he was happy to provide his own.

“Guys, we got a shot at getting these stones, but I gotta tell you my priorities.” Tony urged softly, looking from Steve to Katie and back again “Bring back what we lost? I hope, yes. Keep what I got? I have to, at all costs”.

“So do we, Tony.” Katie implored. “Our Kids, they’re the most important thing to us.”

“Nothing we do can jeopardise them.” Steve dropped his left arm round Katie. “Any of them.”

“And maybe if we could manage to not die trying, that would be nice.” Tony shrugged.

Steve smiled and held out his right hand. “Sounds like a deal.”

Tony shook it, before he smiled, cheekily, and headed to the trunk. Steve looked at his wife and she shrugged, before the two of them followed him, Steve watching curiously. Tony lifted something out, turned it upside down to dislodge the teddy bear sat on it and Katie’s hand flew to her mouth as she saw it was Steve’s shield.

Steve hesitated, taking a deep breath. “Tony… I don’t know..” He swallowed, the nerve twitching in his jaw. He wasn’t worthy of that shield, not anymore.

“Why? He made it for you.” Tony held Steve’s gaze. “Plus, honestly, I have to get it out of the garage before Morgan takes it sledding.” Steve looked over his shoulder at Katie, who was fighting back her tears and she gave him an encouraging nod. He lifted his arm and Tony slid the shield straps over his shirt and Steve looked down at it, taking a shaky breath. It felt like slipping into a familiar pair of sneakers.

“Thank you, Tony.” Steve looked up at his brother-in-law, his voice choked as behind him, Katie dropped a hand to his shoulder, pressing a soft kiss to the spot between his shoulder blades, her face resting on his shirt.

“Will you keep that a little quiet? Didn’t bring one for the whole team.” Tony hesitated for a moment. “We are getting the whole team, yeah?

“We’re working on that right now.” Katie moved so she could see Tony, before she heard a yell behind her.

“Uncle Nee!” Jamie shot straight by her and launched at his Uncle.

“Hey, Sport!” Tony grinned, picking him up. “What you been up to?” “Me and Emmy were colouring and making dinosaur models.” “Wow!” Tony nodded, turning to Emmy who was walking towards them.

“Mom?” Her voice was a whisper as she spotted what Steve was holding. “Dad’s…” “Yeah.” Katie smiled at her, dropping an arm round the teenager’s shoulders as she continued to glance at his shield. Never one to miss anything, Jamie glanced at his Sister, then his dad and his eyes widened.

“Why you have shield like Captain America?” Jamie frowned as Steve ran his fingers over the edge of the Vibranium before looking at his son as Tony placed him on the floor, struggling to find the words to explain.

Tony clapped Steve on the shoulder “Alright, I’ll leave that one with you. Time to go see what a mess of my compound Brucie has made. ”He walked passed Emmy, dropping an arm round her shoulders. “Walk with me kid, tell me about Philly.” He shot a glance at Katie who smiled as he steered the teenager back to the compound whilst she began excitedly telling him about her trip.

Steve turned to look Katie, his eyes glistening with emotion.

“Still suits you.” She smiled to him and he gave a little chuckle.

“Daddy!” Jamie insisted, tugging on his trousers, annoyed at his question being ignored.

“Sorry Pal,” Steve crouched down, shield still on his arm. “I have a shield like Captain America because I was Captain America.”

Jamie frowned before his eyes grew wide. An older kid might have laughed and told his dad to stop being silly, but Steve had never lied to Jamie before and it would never have occurred to the three year old to ever think he would.

“You were Captain America?” Jamie frowned. “When you fighted with the Avengers?”

“Yeah” Steve sighed, running his hand through Jamie’s golden hair. “I was.”

“Are you still Cap now?”

“I dunno.” Steve glanced back at his shield before he looked at Jamie, smiling gently.

“I think you are.” Jamie cocked his head to one side as his hand reached out to touch the shield. “Because Cap’s a hero and you’re my hero”

Katie saw Steve’s eyes water instantly as he pulled Jamie closer to him, dropping a kiss to the side of his head as the boy’s arms wound around his dad’s neck. He glanced up at Katie and she swallowed, leaning against the column to her left, wiping her eyes. It had been a long time since anyone had called any of the Avengers that, and to hear it from his son meant more to Steve than anything.

“Daddy?” Jamie mumbled against his dad’s shoulder, where his head lay.

“Yeah?” Steve cleared his throat.

“You got a helmet too?” Jamie pulled back to study his father’s face as Steve gave out a soft laugh

“Yeah buddy. I do.”

“And a uniform?”

“I have a few.” Steve nodded.

“Can I see?” Jamie’s face lit up and Steve glanced at Katie who smiled, nodding encouragingly.

“Sure… come on.” Steve stood up, Jamie easily lifted in his free arm. “You coming?” He stopped at his wife’s side as she reached up a hand to smooth down Jamie’s jumper which had ridden up slightly.

“I think this is a hero to son moment, don’t you?” She smiled, standing on her toes so she could give his lips a peck. “Besides, someone’s gotta stop Tony creating havoc in there.” “Good luck with that.” He muttered, giving her another kiss before he carried Jamie into the compound, striding through the hangar doors and across to the corridor. Katie waited for a moment, composing herself before she headed back inside.

**** True to their word, Nebula and Rocket arrived the following lunch and it wasn’t long after that Katie and Rocket headed off to New Asgard, along with Banner. Banner and Thor had shared a lot during the events leading up to Thanos’ attacking the Asgardian ship and Katie was hoping that together they stood a better chance of convincing the God to help. Katie sat in the passenger seat of the truck belonging to one of the Asgardians who had come to greet them. She couldn’t help but smile as they rolled past the sign at the side of the road WELCOME TO NEW ASGARD, PLEASE DRIVE SLOWLY. They stopped at the small port, and Katie hopped out of the truck, thanking the man, whilst Bruce and Rocket climbed out of the back.

“Kind of a step down from a golden palace for an Avenger highness and whatnot.” Rocket mused, looking around.

“Hey, have a little compassion, pal.” Bruce said gently. “First they’ve lost Asgard, then half the people. They’re probably just happy to have a home.”

Katie spotted Valkyrie who smiled at her, and then her face rearranged into surprise as she saw Bruce.

“You shouldn’t have come!” She warned as they approached her.

“Ah, Valkyrie! Great to see you, Angry Girl.” Bruce smiled.

“I think I liked you better either of the other ways.” She almost chuckled, taking in his appearance.

“This is Rocket.” Katie gestured to the raccoon.

“How you doin’?” He greeted her.

Valkyrie nodded at him before she turned to Katie. “He won’t see you.

“Still that bad, huh?” Katie folded her arms.

“We only see him once a month, when he comes for-“ she looked over to the pile of kegs on the side of the port, “-supplies.

“It’s that bad?” Bruce mumbled.

“Yeah.”

“We have to try.” Katie bit her lip, looking round before she turned to Bruce and Rocket. “Come on.” She led them down the side of the harbour and they walked up the small, cobbled street towards the fishing hut Thor was living in. Katie paused, and tried the handle. It opened and Rocket stepped in first. Instantly, Katie was hit with a smell that made her nose wrinkle. It was a combination of dirty clothes, stale beer and old take-outs.

“What the… woo!” Rocket grimaced, waving his paw in front of his nose. “Something died in here.”

“Hello? Thor?” Bruce called.

Thor’s voice rumbled through to them from another room. “Are you here about the cable?”

They made their way into the main room and Thor, who was shirtless, having definitely put on more than a couple of pounds since Katie had last seen him, was walking across the room gesturing to the TV.

“The Cinemax ran out about two weeks ago, and the sports are all kind of fuzzy.” He grabbed a beer from the ice bucket and Katie looked at Bruce who was frowning.

“Thor?” He asked, his voice disbelieving.

Thor turned and took a moment to look at the three of them, before his face cracked into a smile

“Boys!” He laughed out. “Little Stark! Oh my God! It’s so good to see you!” He crossed towards Rocket, trying to hug him, his knuckles rubbing the raccoons head. “Come here, you little rascal!”

“No, I’m good. I’m good. That’s not necessary.” Rocket groaned, wriggling away.

“Hulk, Little Stark, you know my friends, Miek, Korg, right?”

Miek and Korg were sat on a couch, the Rock creature in a Hawaiian shirt, play station controller in his hand playing what looked to Katie like Fortnite- one of Emmy’s favourites.

“Hey guys!” Korg raised his hand in greeting.

“Hey!” Bruce smiled. “Long time no see.”

“Beers in the bucket. Feel free to log on to the Wi-Fi. No password, obviously.” Korg said cheerfully as he turned back to his game, growing suddenly serious. “Thor, he’s back. The kid on the TV that called me a dickhead again.”

“Noobmaster.” Thor growled out as he spun round. Miek threw a piece of pizza towards the TV in disgust, giving a little click.

“Yeah, Noobmaster69. Called me a dickhead.”

Thor stomped over to Korg, took his headphones and spoke loudly into the mic.

“Noobmaster? Yeah, it’s Thor again. You know, the God of Thunder? Listen, buddy. If you don’t log off this game immediately, I am gonna fly over to your house, come down to that basement you’re hiding in, rip off your arms and shove them up your butt! Oh, that’s right. Yes, go cry to your father, you little weasel!”

Katie and Rocket exchanged a look as Thor returned Korg’s head set, before she glanced up at Banner who was watching, a look of disbelief on his face and Katie couldn’t help but echo his feelings. Seeing their friend, their once mighty Avenger partner, in such a state made her beyond sad.

“So you guys want a drink? What are you drinking? We have beer, tequila, all sorts of things.” Thor asked, using Stormbreaker to open a bottle of beer. Bruce walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Buddy, you all right?”

“Yes, I’m fine! Why, don’t I look all right?” Thor frowned.

“You look like melted ice cream.” Rocket crossed his arms, but despite his joke Katie could tell he was concerned.

Thor simply laughed and looked at them all. “So, what’s up?

“We need your help” Katie spoke gently “There might be a chance we could fix everything.”

“What, like the cable?” Thor burped. “Cause that’s been driving me bananas for weeks.”

“Like Thanos.” Bruce spoke and Katie saw Thor’s smile slowly disappear. He put a shaky hand on Bruce’s shoulder and pointed at him.

“Don’t you say that name.”

Behind Thor, Korg stood up, taking off his headphones. “Um, yeah. We don’t actually say that name in here.”

“Please take your hand off me” Bruce’s tone was quiet as he brushed away Thor’s grip on his shoulder. “Now, I know that… guy might scare you…”

“Why would, why would I be scared of that guy?” Thor scoffed, turning away. “I’m the one who killed that guy, remember? Anyone else here killed that guy? Nope. Didn’t think so. Korg, why don’t you, tell everybody who chopped Thanos’ big head off.”

“Umm… Stormbreaker?” Korg offered.

“No, who was swinging Stormbreaker?” Thor shot back.

“Thor.” Katie started gently. “I get it, we all get it. You’re in a rough spot right now-”

“I’ve been there myself.” Bruce picked up from her “You wanna know who helped me out of it?”

“I don’t know…Natasha?” Thor snorted and Katie rolled her eyes.

“It was you. You helped me”.

Thor walked back over to Bruce and pointed out of the window with the hand holding his beer. “Why don’t you ask the Asgardians down there, how much my help was worth?” he dropped onto the chair “The ones that are left, anyway.”

“We think we can bring them back.” Katie looked at him.

“Little Stark, please stop. Stop, okay?” Thor pleaded, opening a packet of M&Ms. “I know you think I’m down here wallowing in my own self-pity, waiting to be rescued and saved. But I’m fine, okay? We’re fine, aren’t we?”

He looked at Korg and Miek eating pizza and playing once more on the Playstation.

“Nah, all good here, mate!” Korg nodded.

Katie looked back at Thor as he stared up at her. “So, whatever it is that you’re offering, we’re not into it, don’t care, couldn’t care less. Goodbye.”

“We need you Thunder God.” Katie swallowed as she shook her head sadly. ”Please.”

Thor shook his head and ignored her.

“There’s beer on the ship.” Rocket broke the silence, crossing his arms.

Thor paused, and without looking up he spoke again, this time his words softer. “What kind?”

**** Chapter 52

**Original Posting**

#stark spangled banner #steve rogers #Katie Stark #steve rogers fanfiction #steve rogers x ofc #steve rogers x original female character #steve rogers fic #mcu #mcu fanfic #chris evans #chris evans characters

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aly-the-writer · 6 years

Note

"Fight me, you attractive stranger" for Taralyn and Dorian

Nonnie!!!!! THANK YOU! :D This was a lot of fun to write, even if I went with an entirely self-indulgent ‘Dales Never Fell’ AU. Slight grammatical adjustments to the prompt for Tara’s personality but I had fun writing this. ^^

Dorian Pavus, Altus of the TevinterImperium, heir to his father’s seat on the Magisterium and all around socialpariah in his homeland was perhaps not overly surprised to find that theposition of Ambassador to the Dales was not one that earned him much love amongthe Dalish people.

The Dales were a prickly, fiercelyindependent nation remarkable for their free and independent elven population. Their relationshipwith his homeland was also…poor, to say the least.

Not that the Dales seemed keen on gettingalong with their neighbors either.

Although, since the Blight Ferelden’sKing Cailan though had begun to build a true friendship with the country thatlay between his fertile kingdom (famed both for its rich lands and dogs) andthe ever hungry Empire of Orlais whose conflicts with the Dales had ignitednearly as frequently as those between the Imperium and the Qun.

Currently his tour-guide waspointing out where the Andrastian Chantry for the city stood, though he wouldhave recognized it for the Sunburst banners and silver-clad knights without heraid.

“We accepted many refugees fromFerelden ten years ago, and more recently have taken in mages fleeing from theTemplar-Mage conflicts. They needed a place for their Maker.”

“Oh?” he tried to sound interested.

Truthfully he would have ratherbeen back home studying magic – or, preferably, the bottom of a wine bottle –his recent affair with one of the Archon’s grandsons had garnered quite a bitof attention back home and so he’d been shipped off to allow the scandal of itto die down and – it was his father’s hope – for the Archon to forget aboutsending assassins.

If not he would have preferred tostay in the rooms that he had been granted the use of during his stay, notfetched out into the bright, colorful marketplace for a walk with thefriendliest elf he’d met during his stay so far.

A low explosion – that clearlyrecognizable as a mana discharge – followed by shouts and jeering in the elvenlanguage. Cheering? An explosion?

Siona cast him a sidelong look,catching his confusion in the furrowing of his brows, and laughed a bit.

“It’s the training rings,” sheexplained, catching his sleeve and weaving through the crowd so they had a goodview of a fence-ringed pit, Dorian tugged after her.

They arrived to see a red hairedelf dump a human on his backside in the mud then offer him a hand up afterextracting his yield with a shimmering blade held at his throat. There was a friendlyexchange before the human climbed back out of the fighting pit to the knot ofblue-and-silver uniforms.

One of the green clad warriorscalled something down to the red head who raised a brow and gestured for thecaller to join him in the ring. The sides of the mud-filled pit were set a goodtwelve feet into the earth – the sides scarred with magic and showing why a training ring had been carved outof the earth rather than simply having a fence constructed around it.

He could see several simpler fencesstanding empty in the area. Those who would usually have been using them amongthe on-lookers for the mage’s sparring sessions.

“He seems rather…stiff,” Dorian murmured,examining the red head. A staff in one hand and an empty hilt in the other – a knight-enchanter,given the mess of mud that they were fighting in it wasn’t really a surprisethat those who were competing hadstripped down to just their trousers in favor of avoiding scouring mud from theelegant looking armor of their respective orders. (It was a view that Doriancould definitely appreciate if nothing else.)

He vaguely remembered meeting thered head before - during one of the previous tours he’d been dragged along bySiona on – to the University that time. The red head had not been wearing armorthen either, instead had been half buried in his tomes and glaring when they’dmade too much noise in the library.

Siona laughed a little, “He does has that reputation. He’s one ofthe best Fade Hunters in the Dales though.”

Green eyes locked on Dorian and ahead tilted to the side, long red locks loose from his previous matches fallinginto his face. A slow assessment traced over Dorian and he called up to Siona in elven. (Dorian would have to convince someone to give him lessons eventually, wouldn’t he?)

She rolled her eyes and calledsomething back.

The red head shrugged beforelooking to Dorian again. His Trade was accented heavily, but there was a glintto his eye that showed despite his straight face that the warrior was perhapsnot quite as stiff or stern as Dorian’sfirst impressions.

“Fight me,” he challenged, gesturing for Dorian to join him, “You –the attractive stranger.”

#ask answers #ask answered #Dragon Age #Dales Never Fell AU #Dorian Pavus #OC: Taralyn Lavellan #OC: Siona Lavellan

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makingmoneyonlinemethod · 4 years

Photo

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4: CASINO OFFERS

Hold on, I’m not suggesting you go down to your local casino. That is not a great way to make money, In fact, your more often than not lose all of your money.

This is a cheeky way of gaining profit from the online casino bonuses offered to new customers. It works in a very similar way to Matched betting in that new bonuses are offered out to new customers and with a bit of background knowledge and trickery, you can obtain most of the profit from those bonuses without losing any money.

It might sound too good to be true but it is from the brainchild of the guys over at Profit accumulator.

Quite a lot of money earned within a day or two.

Simply sign up with Bonus Accumulator, and they will walk you through your first couple of casino offers and then you will get access to their site which includes guides for all online casino offers as well as a very good forum for members.

Sign up below and see how easy it is to make a good consistent profit. When I was learning how to make money online I didn’t have something as easy and accessible as Bonus accumulator. Hit the link below to learn more.

5: PINTEREST VA

As with being a virtual assistant as I mentioned above, you could also specialise in one certain area if you are looking at how to make money online.

Pinterest is essentially a search engine and requires not only great titles and descriptions but also very good graphics and visuals that stand out from the crowd when your potential customers are scrolling through it on their phone.

This is where the problem lies for most bloggers or business owners, we are not overly creative and have probably not used graphics sites such as Canva before.

Luckily I have used Canva and have now got pretty good at it, however, in the beginning, a Pinterest VA would have been very handy. A Pinterest VA can not only create pretty pins linking back to your site or blog but also they can schedule them out for you saving you more time to concentrate on other areas.

My advice when trying to start out is to join some blogging groups on Facebook and create a profile. Then just put yourself out there. As a new VA, you could always offer out your services very cheaply just to get some experience behind you.

Kristin from Believe In A Budget has a great post here on how she became a Pinterest VA and how to make money online from learning how to do it yourself.

6: OFFER SITES

OHMYDOSH:

Making extra money online and more specifically making around £500 per month is no easy feat. Offers sites are great at making you £20 here and £30 there but to do £500 per month you will need to combine 2 or 3 of these sites and hit them hard. It is possible though. You can certainly make £250 per month easily.

When looking back at what I did when I was working out how to make money online as I found offers sites and the first one I came across was OhMyDosh.

Offers sites are basically cashback sites that reward you with cash into the account when you sign up for certain things or do simple surveys etc. It is super easy and you can very quickly in one afternoon make a cheeky £50 or so with very minimal effort on your part.

OhMyDosh is one of the easiest offers sites to navigate in my humble opinion. This makes all the difference as well when you are new to the site so I stuck with OhMyDosh for quite a while.

You can sign up here for OhMyDosh if You use my special link you will also get a £1 sign up bonus for free. A nice little start to your profit without having to lift a finger.

Pin This For Future Reference:

SWAGBUCKS:

Swagbucks is a very similar website to OhMyDosh accept it is a little more well known. You simply complete offers and surveys in exchange for Swagbucks which when you hit a certain amount of you can exchange for gift cards etc.

It can get incredibly addictive as Swagbucks have a few daily targets for you to hit and achievements along the way. It becomes your goal to hit those achievements every day.

If you sign up using my Swagbucks Link you will receive 300 Swagbucks for free. What a great way to start towards earning your first gift card.

Swagbucks also have a chrome app button which you can install on your computer which can help you earn more each day giving you greater chances of earning some fantastic gift cards for yourself or your loved ones.

INBOX POUNDS:

Inbox Pounds is the last site you should try in the offers sites. When It comes to making extra money online then combining the 3 offers sites I have mentioned is the best way to maximise your income. Some of the offers will be the same but just skip those and move onto the next one.

Inbox pounds also has a different variant called inbox dollars for our friends across the pond.

The easy stuff is a section that I like on Inbox pounds whereby you can go on and answer easy questions or a simple survey for between 50pence to £1.50. You will be surprised how quickly these all add up.

Dont miss out on making extra money online and earning some really quick cash, sign up using my referral code and start earning now.

7: BLOGGING

Blogging is one of the top answers when searching for how to make money online. Although blogging is not a quick way to make money and it is certainly not the easiest it is one of the more rewarding ways to make money at home.

If you are starting a blog just to make money you need to know that for most people it can be more than a year before they start seeing income and for others maybe less.

It really does depend on how much effort you put into your blog. Take my blog for example. I work really long hours in my main job and a lot of the time I dont work on my blog until the weekend and then I am tired so just dont put too many hours in. It took me around a year before I started earning money.

Other people may put in 4 or 5 hours a day every day and they will progress faster. With blogging though and when it comes to making extra money online with your blog, you need a bit of patience.

If you have a passion for something then it is usually quite easy to turn this passion into a blog. It always helps if whatever you are writing about is something you really enjoy.

If this is something that sounds good to you then I have written a few blogging guides to get you started here. Starting out blogging can be a bit of a minefield so I’m hoping these guides help.

You can start your very own blog from as little as £5.99 per month.

Siteground is who I use to host this blog and I have found them really great to work with. see their link below.

Seeing as starting a blog is so cheap then there is nothing to stop you making extra money online from your new blog.

8: BECOME A PROOFREADER

If you are always looking at how to make money online and keep seeing the same old stuff then try learning about how to get paid to become a proofreader. This is one of those great ways to make money at home by simply using your computer.

Here in the UK I occasionally read a newspaper called the daily mail. I read it via an online app and every single page I read has grammatical errors and misspellings and it drives me mad (Frantically goes back through this post to look for misspellings!!)

They clearly dont have anyone proofread their posts before they go onto the app and it makes me not read it as much. Im sure this is that same for other people.

This can lead to you losing business so paying someone to Proofread emails, documents and other such media can be valuable and companies will pay you to to do this.

Getting started Proofreading is a little harder but I would suggest setting up some profiles on sites such as People Per Hour Fiverr.com or Upwork. You can then offer up your services cheaply which will help if you have no experience.

A lot of proofreading jobs will need you to have a degree unfortunately however there are lots of free courses online to help you get a good feel for Proofreading and can give you some background knowledge.

If you love reading and spot mistakes easily then proofreading can be a great way of making extra money online. Read this beginners guide here and see how you feel about it.

9: TEACH ENGLISH ONLINE

It sounds like you need to go off and get some kind of degree but trust me you don’t. You already have the gift of being able to speak perfect English and if you are looking at how to make money online then that is the skill you can use to do exactly that.

I found out about this when my wife and I were hosting foreign students at our home. We got chatting to them and one group, in particular, said that a lot of the older students already speak good English but were struggling with conversational type language and how to sound more natural which must be an incredibly hard thing to do.

They said that a lot of the students pay up to £20 per hour just to chat to you online and for you to give guidance on how they can sound more natural with their day to day chat. It sounded like a great idea of how to make money online so I got more information from them.

Lots of companies are looking for people just like you to teach their students English and to reward you well for doing just that.

It can all be done from the comfort of your own home with skype or in a zoom type meeting. Make sure to provide yourself with a quiet room and make sure there are going to be no distractions such as mobile phones going off or family members popping their heads in.

So where do you go to find out more information and start making extra money online? Well, Education First is the biggest company and one im sure you will have heard of.

You can build your own schedule although it does have to fit in somewhat with the hours the student is available. You can also teach the same student each time so you can build up a rapport and have a little fun with it.

Click the link above and learn how to make extra money online by teaching students.

10: PUBLISH AN EBOOK

With that handy website Amazon, you can write your own E-book and publish it on their site. The great thing is you dont even need to write it yourself if you dont want to as you can pay people to write it and also get people to design a cover for your E-book as well.

The best way to prepare is to do a search on what keywords are doing well on searches within amazon and then base your E-book around those. As long as you are helping people learn something or solving a problem then you should see sales quite easily.

It might help if you put your E-book up for free for a few weeks to gain some interest and some good reviews before applying a price.

This E-book right here is the perfect example. How to write an E-book and sell it on Amazon step by step guide.

Just remember you do not have to be an expert in something just a little more knowledgeable than your average Joe.

11: FREELANCE WORK

In the current economic climate, we all find ourselves in, it makes sense to look for ways of how to make money online. Freelancing with skills you already have in your day job or skills you have in your hobbies can translate quite well when it comes to making extra money online.

You can create a profile on sites such as Fiverr and Upwork and list the skills you have. You may be able to use a program like Canva really well to create Pinterest graphics or Wedding invites.

There are people on Fiverr who get paid to play video games with lonely people which is a bit weird but shows that if you don’t think you possess a skill then you are probably wrong.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON MAKING MONEY ONLINE IN 2021

This global pandemic has taught me one thing and that is the importance of making extra money online and having a passive income is paramount.

How to make money online is now a more searched for term on Google now then it was at the beginning of the year.

Everyone’s jobs have been and still are at risk and to have a second or third source of income is like a safety net in case the worst happens.

Make sure you pick and try one of the making extra money online tips from above and see how you get on. I would love to hear some progress feedback in the comments.

#how to makemoney #make money as an affiliate #make money online #make money 2021 #makemoneyathome

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