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#now maybe I can also do a repair for my backpack...
bakageta · 1 year
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I think I'm gonna post Blue Beetle stuff here first and not worry about things like editing and coming up with a summary and thinking up a title. I'm running off vibes right now and don't wanna wait.
This is totally inspired by @wazzappp's anatomy post. I already wanted to do something about why it took (relatively) longer for Jaime's back to heal and that post just gave me more to write about. I wanna write more too! So throw body horror ideas at me plz!!!!
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After the wake and the funeral and the burial and the mourning, after everything calmed down and everyone had a chance to breathe, Jaime looked at the scarab on his back again.
It wasn’t the first time he’d showered since everything, of course, but it was the first time he’d been able to focus on his thoughts instead of quietly disassociating until he was clean. Now he was appreciating the amenities in the hotel suite Jenny’d set the Reyes family up in while their home was repaired. There was a rainfall shower head. The toilet had an actual bidet that had sprayed Rudy’s ass the first time he’d taken a shit.
As always Khaji was ticking away in the back of his head, reassuringly present in a way Jaime didn’t want to look too closely at yet. It didn’t say anything though.
“Soap won’t bother you, right?” He hadn’t scrubbed himself down in a week or so. Partly because he’d been busy and then distracted, but also because just the shampoo running down his back during the first shower after it all had burned at the raw edges between his skin and Khaji Da.
Correct. We are fully healed now.
“Bien.” He squeezed the last of the sample sized hotel soap onto a washcloth and reached over his shoulder to start scrubbing. The scarab between his shoulder blades is anchored firmly, he can feel its legs under his muscles. 
That wasn’t a surprise. Jaime had felt every moment of Khaji burrowing up his spine and digging a home in his back. What was new was the strange… straps? the straps crossed above his shoulders and under his arms beneath his skin. They came from the scarab, where its front and back legs would be like, like it was some kind of awful fucking backpack.
“Khaji?” Jaime dropped the washcloth and shifted so he was able to trace up his spine. The three knots of alien tissue that Khaji had left like breadcrumbs also had straps running below his skin. Bending forward, Jaime realized he was able to feel where the straps anchored and the dips in his back where nothing had changed. “What am I feeling Khaji?”
The anchors for my carapace and sensory nodes. It hesitated, something it had only started doing after, as it started to learn when and when not to elaborate. They secure me and reduce the risk of damage or dislodgement. The growth of new tissue is why your back took so long to heal. Our efforts were split: your body prioritized your epidermis and my systems prioritized my security.
Sure. That made sense. Self preservation was a thing for alien symbiotes. The odd tug Jaime’d felt moving around was the growth of Khaji’s anchors and not muscle soreness like he’d assumed. Or maybe Khaji’s anchors counted as muscles. Wonderful. It also answered a question he’d never thought to ask: why his back had looked so bad for so long while cuts and scrapes healed in minutes. Great.
The hotel probably didn’t let guests on the roof.
That didn’t mean he couldn’t get there.
Jaime waited until after his shower, after Millagro took over the bathroom, after he hugged Mama and Nana, and after he swore up and down to Rudy that he wasn’t gonna fly off, to go to the roof. He made his way up the stairs, shorted out the electronic lock with a subtle lick of blue energy, and laid down on the flat gravel and tar paper roof. Like this he could feel Khaji and its nodes digging into his back alongside larger chunks of stone, foreign objects embedded in his body.
The sky was clear, but this close to Palmera, the stars might as well be invisible except for the most bright. Still enough to ground Jaime, to make him feel a part of life when everything was too much. A jet flew overhead, beacon flashing against the night. Jaime wondered if it was coming or going. 
Flight DL1332 is on approach to Palmera International, Khaji intoned.
“Huh. How d’you figure?” Jaime folded his hands behind his head to cushion it. 
After a moment the itching growth of the blue beetle’s carapace spread across the backs of his hands and arms. It stopped short of the full thickness armor Khaji was capable of, only forming the tough black underlayer.
They are communicating using radio frequencies. It is not difficult to interpret.
“Cool.”
Would you like to listen?
Jaime sighed. “Sure.”
Static faded into Jaime’s ears, interrupted regularly by steady trailing voices. It was calming. Like listening to another language, even though the pilots and controllers were still speaking English.
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hopeymchope · 2 months
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Ash for Smash!
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My #1 most wanted character for Smash Bros. has shifted a lot over the years, but I've always thought that Ashley Mizuki Robins of the "Another Code"/"Trace Memory" series had a lot of potential.
Of course I realize that (A) we currently have zero reason to expect more characters to be added to Smash Ultimate, and (B) we also have no idea when another Smash game will come along OR what form it will take. But I DON'T CARE. This is my dream, and I'm running with it regardless. :P
So let me break down her moveset, because I've thought a lot about this over the years. Ashley is gonna head out into battle with her backpack on, ready to pull out various items to take on her enemies... or possibly use them to solve the puzzles blocking her path on her journey to uncover the truth about her mother's death. Either way is good.
There are four alternate costumes built right into the games: The original Another Code for DS (also unlockable in Recollection), the original Another Code R Wii outfit (which also shows up in Recollection's end credits), and the two new outfits for both stories in Recollection. That's a great start.
Neutral + A attack: Ashley quickly swipes out in front of her with either a metal brush or a hammer – item used is random (references to rusted mine sign puzzle in Two Memories DS AND stair repair puzzle in Journey Into Lost Memories Wii)
Side + A attack: Ashley kicks forward, launching a rock at her enemy (reference to Ashley kicking the ground/rock in an early cut scene of Journey Into Lost Memories – Recollection version)
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Front kick!
Down + A attack: Ashley jabs downwards with a long window wiper; this can reach through platforms to strike enemies below unless they are ducking. (reference to retrieving the puzzle box from the clock tower in Journey Into Lost Memories Wii)
Up + A attack: Ashley sprays a can of foaming cleaner upwards (reference to lipstick keypad puzzle from Journey Into Lost Memories Wii)
Neutral B attack: Ashley pulls out her guitar and strums once, creating reverb waves that echo out from her (reference to the end-credits scene in Journey Into Lost Memories, both versions)
Side + B attack: Ashley sidearm-throws a life preserver tied onto a rope forwards like a discus, then quickly yanks it back to herself. (reference to floating briefcase puzzle in Journey Into Lost Memories Wii)
Up + B attack: Ashley tosses a rope with a loop on the end upwards. This can strike enemies or serve as a way to grab a ledge for a recovery move. (Reference to well puzzle from Recollection)
Down + B: Ashley pulls the DAS from her back pocket and holds it in front of her facing outward, reflecting incoming attacks (reference to the infamous reflection puzzle in Two Memories DS)
Up Smash: Ashley does an underhand lob that throws a heavy iron sphere upward. (Reference to the mansion door puzzle in Two Memories DS)
Down Smash: Ashley pulls out one of three wooden dolls (the one chosen is random) and slams it down hard on the ground in front of her. (reference wooden doll/box puzzle in Recollection)
Side Smash: Ashley pulls off her backpack and swings it hard in front of her while holding one of the shoulder straps.
FINAL SMASH: I'm a little torn on this one. My first instinct was always that "D" would appear, stunning the surrounding competitors into a dazed state (just like the one Peach's final smash causes for her opponents). However, I'm wondering if we should instead incorporate the "Another" device somehow... maybe Ashley locks someone in front of her into the device and erases their memories, causing them to be destroyed? What do y'all think?
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Ashley has at least appeared in Smash as a trophy (in Brawl) and as a spirit (in Ultimate), the latter referring to her by her North American name-spelling AND her North American DS game title... which is now outdated since we've all embraced "Another Code" and the single-B "Robins," but whatever.
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thesixthtester · 2 months
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Journal 3008
Originally posted on my ao3 account with the same username.
Summary:
“If you are reading this, maybe you’ve found this journal by my dead corpse, or maybe I’m alive and sharing my journal and experiences with you (if I ever escape this place).
My name is Kylie Anderson, and I am trapped in an endless IKEA.”
The journal of a woman trapped in an endless IKEA, better known as SCP-3008.
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DAY 10
If you are reading this, maybe you’ve found this journal by my dead corpse, or maybe I’m alive and sharing my journal and experiences with you (if I ever escape this place).
My name is Kylie Anderson, and I am trapped in an endless IKEA.
I know that saying I’m trapped in an endless IKEA seems like a joke about the hard to navigate isles of IKEA stores, but it’s not a joke. I am literally trapped in an endless IKEA, no joke. How the hell this IKEA is somehow infinite, I have no fucking clue. Like, genuinely, what the actual fuck? I know for sure that this is not man made because there is no possible way for a human to somehow make an IKEA that looks normal on the outside but is fucking infinite on the inside. I never believed in magic and the supernatural, but I do now because that is the only explanation on how this thing was made. Still have no clue specifically how or why something like this happened, but it has got to be some kind of voodoo magic shit.
And the IKEA being infinite isn’t the only weird thing. The store has a sort of day and night cycle that is determined by the overhead lights being on and off (that’s how I know that I’ve been trapped in here for 10 days). And the restaurants in here just magically restock themselves overnight! I’m at least grateful for that, slowly starving to death seems like a painful way to go.
But the weirdest (and scariest) thing here are the giant faceless monsters dressed in IKEA uniforms that live here. You heard (read?) me right, monsters dressed as IKEA employees live in this place. They’re docile during the day (unless you provoke them) but at night they get violent and attack. They have hands that are big and strong enough to crush a human’s head. Trust me, I’ve seen it happen.
On my second night here, I managed to climb my way up to the top of one of those massive shelves so that I could be safe from those monsters. I was about to fall asleep when I heard screaming. I looked down and saw a man getting chased by 7 of those monsters. They managed to grab the poor man and one of them grabbed him by the head and crushed it. Blood and bits of brain exploded from his head and covered the surrounding area and those monsters. The stench was horrid. I cried myself to sleep that night.
Let’s talk write about something else now. How about the supplies that I currently have? Turns out that IKEA sells backpacks, and when I was wandering I found some on the shelves and took a black one. My backpack has some interesting stuff in it. I found a sewing kit that I snagged in case I need to repair clothes or get a wound that needs to be stitched. I also grabbed some cloth and tape in case I need to create a bandage. I know for a fact that this place is dangerous and I can get injured at any time. They’re not actual medical supplies, but IKEA doesn’t have those so I just gotta work with that I got. I am (was?) in med school and I took first aid and cpr training in high school, so while I’m not a full blown doctor, I know a lot about medical things. So I’m confident that if I get a wound that isn’t too severe I could fix it up with my improvised tools and hope for the best.
I have a few water bottles from the restaurants and a tupperware container (Ive learned that IKEA sells more than furniture) with some food from there as well just in case I’m in a situation where I can’t restock. I snatched two kitchen knives incase I need to defend myself. I picked up a tiny tool kit which could be useful in the future. I found some rope, too, which could also come in handy for something.
I’ll admit that I also have two useless items. I know what you’re gonna say, I should only take what I need to survive. But in my defense mental health is very important and these silly little things make me happy and therefore my mental health isn’t declining to the point of suicidal thoughts because of them so I do need them. HA! TAKE THAT NON EXISTENT PERSON WHO CRITICIZED ME! Anyway the two items are this funny little IKEA bucket hat I found and a tiny adorable cow plush. I wear the hat every day because it is my lucky hat and I love it so much. And I sleep with the little cow plush because it just brings me comfort. I know it’s childish but I’m literally trapped in an endless IKEA with seven foot tall monsters that want to kill me, I think I deserve a bit of childish comfort.
You can probably tell that I wander and explore A BUNCH based on the different kinds of stuff I have. I love going to the forest behind my parent’s house and then just wander and explore, following no particular path, I have since I was a kid. When I get out of here If I get out of here, the first thing I’m gonna do is go on a long walk in the woods…
I guess I used this page as a little sort of introduction to me, so if I die and someone finds this they will know what kind of person I was or something. Or maybe I just want to be remembered.
I can’t really think of anything else to write.
Until next time I guess.
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blueberry-beanie · 11 months
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Visiting Munich & Die Anstalt
8th October - 10th October 2023
A very, very long story about my first ever visit to Munich to see my favourite satire show Die Anstalt. Features long walks through the city, museum visits, Schloss Nymphenburg and its huge garden and a tale about being in the show's audience and meeting Claus. Many photos included. Bonus anxiety and Deutsche Bahn content. The text was written while I was still in Munich or on my way home.
Saturday, 7th Oct 2023: Packing and Heart Attacks
To say that I've been looking forward to going to Munich doesn't quite cut it. When I was still in school years ago, I used to joke that I'd move to Munich, just because it was so far away. I've actually never visited or even passed by - until today. And now the city feels just a bit more special because of the reason for my visit: I'm going to be in the live audience of one of my favourite satire shows, Die Anstalt. But that will be tomorrow. Before I can tell anything about today, I should probably mention what was going on yesterday, though.
Yesterday I posted a drawing of one of the hosts of Die Anstalt, Claus von Wagner. I was really nervous about it because I thought it's not good enough or maybe I'm really bothering him. On top of that I wrote quite a heartfelt caption and was anxious about that the whole time. Good thing I finished all important tasks before posting, because afterwards I was too nervous about everything: The drawing, the journey, the unknown city and of course going to the show. I barely started packing my bag and didn't eat for the whole day when I suddenly got a notification about a new message.
Needless to say my heart dropped and I actually didn't know what to do and sat down on the carpet. And yes, he shared my story and cheekily attached a little timer until the next show. I temporarily forgot how selecting emotions works and felt everything at once. N and I then later discussed why there was no like on the actual post (there wasn't one the last time either), when suddenly he also liked the post half an hour after he shared the story. I didn't care that this whole thing had only a handful of notes, he liked it and that's all the joy I needed.
Sunday, 8th Oct 2023: First Time In Munich
Unfortunately I had a bit too many emotions and it all got quite late - so it was difficult for me to actually wake up today morning. It definitely got better when I was greeted by Claus' very dorky "go vote" Instagram post. Later I discovered that he deleted yesterday's story in favour of election day. Hm, interesting. But I guess it's valid considering the important and serious topic of today's election in Hessen and Bayern.
The train journey started with buckets of rain, my new cleaned & repaired backpack and actually no problems at all until I got into the actual train to Munich. It turned out that seating reservations being displayed in the train was optional today. So I tried to be a decent person and just let the happy couple sit on my seat and went to find another seemingly unoccupied seat next to some guy. Unfortunately it later turned out to be occupied - so I had to go and get my own reserved seat. The train was very full so the strategy of sitting down somewhere else didn't work out anymore. I had a rather unfortunate conversation with the woman in my seat and felt quite bad afterwards. On the plus side, I had dug out an one hour long talk about childhood books with Claus yesterday and so I had the best time listening to this in the train. He's very nerdy and lovely and it was so entertaining to hear about his childhood adventures, teachers, hometown and about how he reads books occasionally with a Merkel voice to his daughter.
When the train finally arrived in München Hauptbahnhof it was an odd feeling to step outside. Like it has been a long time coming until I would finally arrive here. My first impression of Munich wasn't the best. The train station looked old and was being renovated. I stepped outside to look for the vegan restaurant I had saved in my plans, only to get lost in a rather spooky part of town and stand in front of closed doors. So I decided since it was already almost 2pm that I could go and check into the hostel nearby. That proved no problem and I relaxed for a bit in a rather nice five-bed room with a window into the inner courtyard. Knowing that it's not that easy to find food in Germany on Sundays, I ate some of the food I brought with me and then set out for a walk.
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First I went to the old botanical garden, which was quite small, crowded with a group of cyclists and police with dogs and overall not very nice. Then I saw the first interesting building that turned out to be Landgericht München. From there I walked into the direction of the obelisk of king Ludwig I. I had an one-euro-ticket for the Alte Pinakothek, an art museum, so that's where I went. Somehow they are very strict there. No jacket, no hand bag, wear your bracelet and don't dare coming close to the paintings (which are already protected by glass). So I got stopped by a guard at some point, which has never happened to me before. Oops. But on the plus side I saw some cool art, for example the self portrait of Dürer, some cool Dutch portraiture, Manet, a little bit of Caspar David Friedrich (though Hamburg has a much bigger collection) and even the old friend Canaletto, whose paintings are always so recognisable, was there. Also they had quite some stuff by Rubens, Delacroix and even a few paintings by Van Gogh.
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I didn't spend a lot of time there though and started walking into the direction of Odeonsplatz. Partly because there is the garden of the Residenz palace, but also because there has been this huge demonstration on the 4th October where both Max and Claus participated. I thought it would be fun to visit the place that I've seen many photos and videos of. Upon arrival I immediately understood how 35.000 people fit there - it's massive. The gardens nearby were small but beautiful, with a round Diana Temple in the middle. A lovely lady played the violin in there and gave the garden such a peaceful vibe.
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Where to go next? I decided to visit the park near the Maximilianeum, where the Bavarian parliament is situated. So I walked past the huge impressive building of the Bayerische Staatskanzlei with it's huge wings of glass. Then I walked past two impressive buildings belonging to the government of Oberbayern and the museum of five continents towards a bridge over the river Isar. Unlike rivers in north Germany this one is very clear, which is probably because its proximity to the mountains the rocky ground.
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The Maximilianeum is a big round building just by the river and I felt more and more as if Bavaria is truly its own little country because of all these monumental buildings. The park was very lovely, but I couldn't explore it fully because it was getting late and my feet were starting to protest along with my shoulders. So I turned around to cross the river at the Friedensengel statue and go back into the direction of Odeonsplatz. On my way I passed by more museums and theatres until I arrived at the tiny park behind the Staatskanzlei and crossed the palace garden again.
At the Odeonsplatz I took a turn into the Theatinerstraße. Suddenly there were many people. It's the center of Munich with fancy restaurants, bars and shops. I walked past the famous Frauenkirche and into the direction of Karlsplatz. Looking at all the people eating and drinking outside in the restaurants I realised I had almost no food at the hostel. So I looked for an affordable place where I could get something quickly and ended up eating a bit of noodles with tofu and veggies at the Karlsplatz. From there it was thankfully only a short trip back to the hostel, during which I listened to a voice message from my school friend Christina (the one I visited in Halle two weeks ago) who wished me lots of fun at Die Anstalt tomorrow.
At the hostel I was greeted by the most annoying shower ever (it turns itself off after ten seconds each time) and fell into bed. The other women in the room weren't very talkative and warned me that they'd get up at 4:30am and 6am respectively. Amazing then, I thought, and fell asleep like a stone at around 10pm. That was a good idea, because the night was loud and restless, but I slept through most of it and woke up in the morning refreshed and ready to go.
Monday, 9th Oct 2023: Palaces and Recreation
Today I woke up at around seven and stayed in bed comfortably until my roommates were done with everything. I got myself ready, ate the last of the food I brought with me and headed out to Schloss Nymphenburg via Tram line 17. It was easy to find and the tram took me right to the palace. Now I've seen some cool palaces in Vienna and London, but this one is truly impressive. It's so wide and the road leading up to it has a canal with huge fishes and some ducks. It's a white building with two huge wings, each of them with a clock tower.
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Inside it was a bit awkward at first because there weren't many visitors at half past nine on a monday morning, and it felt like there were more security guards than visitors. The very first room is immediately the most breathtaking: a huge hall with the most beautiful ceiling and so many ornaments on the walls. The sense of wonder I felt while looking at all the extravagance was constantly accompanied by uneasiness. The amount of wealth needed to build this exceeds my imagination.
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How could anyone live in such a house? How were the people like who lived in such circumstances? How many people had to be exploited to achieve this kind of wealth? I think it's very useful to keep these magnificent places for future generations to enjoy and maybe use for some art and culture but that doesn't mean their existence sits entirely right with me.
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The part of the palace that is publicly open is thankfully not as huge as the palace itself. So after a short while I walked out into the gardens. And if the interior was impressive, the accompanying park is what truly made my day. It is so huge that you can forget you are in a city at all. Its size and the forest and field part reminded me a lot of Hampstead Heath in London, but the massive canal with the fountains in the middle is definitely more like the gardens I saw in Vienna, just even bigger.
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The fun thing about this park is that it's publicly accessible, so people go on walks in groups or go for a run alone, go birdwatching or take their dog out. If you have a ticket like me though, you are allowed into the smaller buildings in the park. As if the massive main palace wasn't big enough, they also had smaller little summer houses there. The first I visited was inspired by Chinese art and adorned with porcelain tiles.
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Then I walked past cascading waterfalls over a bridge to the temple of Apollo, which is set so beautifully at the pond among the trees. Honestly, the whole time I wished I had a horse to ride around in the park since that is clearly what it was meant for. I walked past a beautiful little fountain with a statue of Pan towards the Badenburg. This little house had a huge swimming pool inside that you can look at from a gallery, absolutely insane. I can't imagine how all of this was like when it was still used as it was intended. From there I saw the garden of the little princes with a hut that looks as if it will grow chicken's feet any minute and turn around.
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One of the highlights came in the end: The Marstallmuseum with the carriages, sleighs and everything else that belonged to the royal mews, including two taxidermied horses. I've never seen so many carriages of such colossal and eye-wateringly extravagant quality in one place and I'm wondering how anyone would drive around in these at all. The sleighs looked more like pieces of art than vehicles and the saddles and bits were all so ornamented and beautiful. As a horse-girl I'd be scared to ride on one of these. But please send me my fave horsey Püppi for a turn in the park, thank you.
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When the visit was over it was already half past twelve and I was starving. So I went back to the center and got lost in the absolute maze of the U-Bahn underneath the central station until I finally found the right one that took me two stations further to a vegan Döner place, where I had some lasagna. A good opportunity to buy some groceries (and getting lost once again, I have a talent) before going back to the hostel because my feet were killing me.
Overall I'm starting to get the appeal of this city. I'm sure there are many beautiful places to visit here. I like it much more than Berlin so far and I think if I stayed longer I'd get to know many more cool areas. Too bad that this doesn't matter much, because Munich is the most expensive German city. It's near impossible to find anything here even if you wanted to. Looking at how adventurous it is to get a place in Berlin or Hamburg already… no. But I'd definitely love to visit more often to get to know the place better. Now I'm resting in the hostel and slowly getting very nervous becaur it's almost Monday evening. The Monday evening of all evenings I've waited for during these last five months. It's time to visit Die Anstalt.
Monday, 9th Oct 2023: Die Anstalt
I didn't get too much rest because at around half past four the levels of anxiety had risen to such amounts that I jumped up and went for a very short and hectic walk. Then it was already time to get myself ready. I hid the three fancy chocolate bars I had brought from my university town in my handbag inside a black piece of fabric. This way nobody would see them when checking my bag. I didn't believe I would have the opportunity to hand out any chocolate to anyone, but I'll be damned not to try. Since I already can't bring cake to the studio. (There is a very old interview with Claus in which he talks about loving all kinds of cake "If there was cake on the table right now I'd be eating it and I wouldn't be talking to you. Where is the cake? Cake!") Then it was time to leave for the U-Bahn line 1. I was so nervous that even hours after everything would hurt from being tensed up. At some point I had to change to Tram line 25 in the direction of Grünwald, where the Bavaria Film Studios are situated. As expected, it's a rather fancy part of town with big houses and neat gardens. When we arrived at the studios, there were some more visitors heading in the same direction and I had a short talk with two people who also didn't quite know where to go. Thankfully the Anstalt team had set up signs with arrows leading us around the entire fenced off area to the very back. There some friendly people greeted us and directed us to the right building - studio six which I already knew the look of from several past episodes.
And we were not alone! Already a crowd had assembled outside the entrance tent. I didn't linger outside, although I saw today's guests, the duo Das Geld liegt auf der Fensterbank, Marie standing there. Instead I went inside to the queue that was very small still. I left my coat at the cloakroom they set up there and now it was time to wait a bit. After a while a big guy with a grey beard, who actually reminded me of someone I've seen at Die Anstalt, humorously asked us who was here for the first time and explained to leave all jackets here because it's warm inside and to use the restrooms now because there are none in the studio. Then he said, "Alright, let me check if Max and Claus are ready and then we can start." Shortly after we had a security check and were let inside.
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The studio looked smaller and bigger than on TV at the same time. There were some chairs, but they were all reserved for special guests, as was the 2nd row behind us. So the two couples who queued next to me sat on both of my sides. The woman to my left quickly started a conversation with me about the show and her daughter who studies something like graphic 3D design and about all sorts of things. We figured out that she and her husband had been watching the show for many years and she was surprised I only started this year - and still seemed to know about all the lore. She even remembered the interview of Claus when he went hiking in the mountains with some guy - an interview I know exists but could never listen to because it's no longer online. We got excited about the little details on the set with a living room area, a court room and - of course! - a whiteboard hidden in the left corner. The reserved seats were filled in the last moment by late arrivals and by people from the back - and then it all started.
The following part I translated, because I wrote it down the same evening in German:
Claus was the first to enter the stage before everything started. He appeared to greet us and to raise our mood a bit. He did... not look too amazing - and that was on purpose. Today he was, as the woman next to me said later, a slimy AfD-politician in a bad suit and with a horrible hair style. But he was there and it was really him. It felt surreal to suddenly see him talking and gesturing, making jokes just in front of me. The same voice, the same smile. I was fascinated by the very fact he was suddenly at the same place as me and cursed the TV-cameras that sometimes obscured our view.
He started asking about who came from Munich and who ("that's the more interesting question!") came from the furthest place. Someone actually travelled all the way from Schleswig-Holstein and they got well-deserved applause. Then he started retelling the old joke about Munich being too clean and the Rats visiting the P1 instead. And the story about the parcel shop he already told at the demonstration. Apparently the joke ended with "Please nobody tell him about Deutsche Bahn, or they will want to overthrow the country." Suddenly Max appeared to a lot of applause - because he wore a Greek philosopher costume with a ridiculous wig and beard today and made us guess what it meant. Correct - it was an allegory for Democracy. He also retold his joke from the Demonstration about why not housing refugees in the palaces and private jets of the rich.
They were telling us about how the show would go. There would be two cuts ("Then we have a bit more time to change. We used to be live-live before the pandemic and only had one minute. That was a battle backstage, believe me. And since some of us are already a bit older...", Claus said, leaning on Max and grinning.) Claus also urged us to turn off our phones, not just mute them "but really truly turning them off". Of course I did that, too. And the people in front of the court practiced to get up when the judge would arrive and were praised for their services. In the end they started to introduce the guests. Das Geld liegt auf der Fensterbank, Marie (a duo "The money is on the windowsill, Marie") who had a long dialogue what annoyed him about her (so she can do it more often in the future). They also introduced Judith Richter ("We didn't just invite her because of her name!" Richter meaning judge in German) and Matthias Renger, who was there for the first time. At some point later Max said something about Claus' dance moves being horrible. Of course the dancer in question had to demonstrate a few moves, which was hillarious.
Then they prepared to start filming the episode. Everyone settled in the living room set and Claus held this stereotypical slate for all the cameras ("The director makes me do that every time and it never works out so well... That's unsettling to have all these cameras on me at once") and talked to the director . And then the scene started. Claus played the right wing AfD-politician Maximilian Krah, an absolute asshole. A disgusting guy who keeps hitting on everyone around him and lounges on the sofa like he owns the entire country. And drinks champagne. And hits Max straight into the eye. I really flinched, because the loud hitting sound effect and the sudden motion surprised me. Also that's not something you would ever expect from Claus.
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Both of them are great actors. Neither of them read their text from the screens or had a problem remembering something. Claus was being brilliantly horrible in his role. I don't think I've ever seen him act like a complete villain in this way, it was unsettling. During the scene at the court he constantly kept making suggestive comments to the judge and it was sometimes difficult to look at all of this. Please stop talking man, who are you, this is all horrible and I didn't think I'd have to hear such words from your mouth!
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Then he played the overtired Robert Habeck, first falling asleep on the sofa and then kneeling on the carpet with toy bricks. Did someone conceptualise this episode just so I'm alternating between staring, laughing and not being able to look at all of this? In the end they even had a whiteboard scene (of which I sadly didn't see much bc of the damn camera being in my way). There were two breaks indeed for poor Max to change his costume. He played Merz in one of the court scenes and it's so funny how he can resemble him and imitate all of his mannerisms and the voice so well. In the longer break they showed an excerpt from 2016 in which the AfD was a rather unpleasant and murderous baby in its crib. In the end they called on the audience to sign an online petition about making the Federal Institutional Court review a legal ban of the AfD. And then the episode was already over: "Das war die Anstalt!"
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Claus immediately tried messing up his horrible hairstyle as if he really didn't want to resemble that despicable AfD-politician in the slightest. But that wasn't the end of the story. First they bowed and had to come out two more times because we didn't stop clapping and cheering. And then a few apprehensive minutes passed. Would they come out once more? And there they were, both of them. And Max even walked straight up to us with a determined face. He was looking for friends and family in the second row behind us. He did not care much for anyone else, and it appeared he was somehow looking for his daughter? This is how I got to see Max up close, but not talk to him. Therefore I couldn't give him the chocolate. But over there, on the stage, there was Claus. And I knew I had to go there right now, otherwise he may disappear and I won't sleep in peace for the next few months. So I parted with my seat neighbours and shyly went up to the stage. At first he was talking to a woman and then it was time for him to join the others for a group photo on the sofa. That was a whole show by itself. He sat on the backrest and firstly made funny and happy faces, then tried being serious and in the end attempted his most seductive look. That wasn't enough, because he leaned forward too much at some point that he slipped down onto the seat behind the others. Everyone started laughing as he had to get back up on his feet again. Sometimes he's really like a little kid. Some of the visitors were actually taking photos with their phones and then disappeared. So after the photo most of the audience had already gone.
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But as the photo opportunity was over, Claus got up and walked to the left of the stage towards the backstage exit. I was scared that he would disappear in front of my eyes. But a woman came to the rescue and asked him for a photo. I just stood nearby and listened to the conversation about the show and about the AfD. They were discussing whether the courts could really be filled with right-wing judges and they also talked about the ban of NPD not working out years ago.
It was fascinating to listen to this, because of how knowledgeable he is and how he considers several view points in his arguments. About some things he admitted not knowing enough and needing to read about it first. He is a little waterfall, but so smart and thoughtful and also attentive to what the other person says. I was content to watch the conversation unfold in front of me and took in all the little details with his whole behaviour, intonation and gestures all being just as I know them from watching way too many videos. The biggest difference was how he looked like: He seemed smaller, more fragile and very tired. And still he was engaged in the conversation even more than this woman, despite looking like he needed a whole bar of chocolate and at least three days of sleep.
Then the producer made an announcement and asked all of us to be quiet because Max had to repeat a sentence which he somehow didn't say entirely correctly during the show. The three of us stood there together and Claus told us conspirationally "Ah yes, Herr Uthoff forgot his text again... happens all the time. And now this is particularly tricky because he has to repeat it with everyone looking at him." Max confidently repeated the short passage and Claus resumed his conversation with that woman. At some point I also chipped in, despite being really nervous about it. I said something about how satire shows seemingly unite to save our democracy at the moment with the ZDF Magazin Royale just having released two episodes about right wing extremists at the Frankfurt police.
It was really odd to suddenly have him looking me straight into the eyes. What do you mean he sees me and hears me and replies to what I said? Suddenly grammar and vocabulary were very abstract concepts. I have a general difficulty with looking into people's eyes, it is usually very challenging for me, but I really wanted to try. I knew how lucky I was to get to talk to him at all. Eventually the woman left and an older couple approached. The woman asked for a photo, but I offered to take a picture with both of them together with Claus which they gladly accepted and were really happy about it. They did not stay to talk for long and suddenly they also disappeared.
Now it was my turn to say something. I was very glad to have a reason at least. "Excuse me, may I also bother you for a few seconds? I brought something for you if that is ok." He had already kind of turned to go but agreed, "Oh, yes sure." So I got all three chocolate bars from my handbag and gave them to him. He thanked me and I remarked somehow that these are greetings from Sachsen. He was happy that there was some representation from Sachsen and assured me it is still valid, although I'm not actually from there. Then it dawned on him that all three bars are probably not for him and asked to whom else to give them. I said he can decide himself how he wants to distribute them. In response he cheekily hid two of the chocolates behind his back and joked that these will be for him only. I laughed and said that my friend (it was N!) had suggested to give all three of them to him, and he liked that idea very much. During the whole conversation he kept on shuffling them in his hands, a bit as if they were playing cards. Then he said more seriously that they will make up the main stash of sweets in the writers' room when conceptualising the next episode. I told him that I would have brought cake instead of chocolate if that was possible. The reaction to this statement was priceless. In this short moment I could see confusion about why suddenly cake is mentioned, then recognition that yes, it's something he likes indeed and again confusion about whether and how I could know this. He stammered something about "Ah yes, cake... yes, yes indeed", before he told me that Max apparently often brings all sorts of things to the writers room "but sadly not cake". Poor man, I would have brought an entire baking sheet of cake for him.
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I asked him afterwards if I may have a photo together and he immediately agreed. So I reached for my phone and realised it was still turned off! "Oh no, sorry! I listened to what you said and turned off my phone!" He laughed and pretended to be incredulous, "Someone listens to what I say?" I don't know what hit me, but I managed to look him in the eyes and reply in the same joking manner "Yes, of course! I always listen to what you say." "And now we have to wait for three long minutes until it finally turns on again," he quipped with a smirk. Some guy who had joined us in the meantime, saw his opportunity and said "Ah well, then I could quickly ask you something in the meantime!" Claus agreed and they started a conversation about whether forbidding the AfD is really the solution to the problem or rather suppressing the causes or making it worse. In the meantime my phone had turned on again and I just listened to their conversation.
Suddenly a woman called Claus in an impatient tone. Fair enough, around us the technicians and helpers were already taking away chairs and diassembling the equipment. Claus shouted back, "Sorry, sorry! We are still talking. It's my fault, I have been talking way too much again!" The conversation somehow shifted to his (right now nonexistent) solo tours and he said that he is in fact planning to do one. I immediately chipped in, "Oh really? I would love you to go on a solo tour, please!" He said that he actually likes being on the theatre stage much more than "down here" but he hasn't managed to write a program because of family, health and because he writes eight shows for Die Anstalt each year ("And I really write a lot for them!"). I reassured him that a solo tour would be amazing and that I would definitely come to see him. He thanked me and remembered that actually many people have said the same and he really plans on making it happen "before 2025".
The guy wanted to to take his leave and Claus already wanted to say bye, too ("Otherwise I will collapse soon"). But I stood there with wide eyes and my phone and panicked a bit and shyly started "Oh, and the-?" And he remembered about the photo, "Ah yes, of course." That guy offered to take the photo but I said no thanks, I'll manage. And then joked a bit about "at least, if my hands aren't shaking too much", which was true, I was really a bit shaky. But Claus immediately replied "Oh no, it's alright. My hands have been shaky earlier, too." I managed to take a photo and thanked him profusely, also for liking my post. I didn't specify which post, but he understood right away and realisation hit him: "Ohhh, so that was you with the drawing?" "Yes, that's me who has recently been bothering you with drawings on Instagram." "Thank you so much for the drawing. It's great! I wish I could draw, too!" And then it was really time for him to go and we said goodbye. I turned around and realised, that I was pretty much the only crazy person left in the studio and quickly went outside to fetch my coat.
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On my way back to the hostel I was still so full of adrenaline and my hands were still shaking. Everything was too much for me and I could not calm down until late at night at around 2am. Not only did I witness the show live, but I also had the huge luck to have met Claus. That I got to look him in the eyes and talk to him is more than I expected. And he even got the chocolate! Psst! I don't mind, you can eat all three of them. I won't tell, I promise. I am a bit worried and guilty about keeping him for so long and hope that the poor guy could get a lot of rest and cake and chocolate to recover. He really looked very tired, despite giving his everything for the show and for everyone who came to talk to him afterwards. I wish that I could have given him a big hug, but we are not at an EE concert where you can receive the prescribed eight hugs a day. That has never been a realistical wish anyway, and I know that very well. And it doesn't matter, because I got so much more than I dared to hope for and I am so thankful and happy.
Tuesday, 10th Oct 2023: A Final Day
Today I realised that I started to really like Munich. Maybe because it reminds me a bit of London. Not necessarily the Biergärten, but the impressive buildings, the wide roads and the wonderful parks. After three days I feel sad to leave this city behind. There are many beautiful things about Munich. In the morning I left around ten and made my way to the Münchener Stadtmuseum. First I got to see the beautiful Marienplatz with so many flowers and beautifully ornamented buildings. Then I got sidetracked a little and ended up at the famous Viktualienmarkt instead. It wasn't overcrowded in the morning and I got to eat an original Bavarian Brezel in the shade of a tree. The Viktualienmarkt has permanent stands with loads of different foods, but I also saw a plant shop and some shops selling souvenirs.
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Then it was time to visit the museum. For students the entrance fee was very cheap and for the money you can enter all exhibitions, not just the permanent one. I enjoyed the chronological permanent exhibition, though I feel like the later history was missing, as they stopped with the end of second world war. Then there was an exhibition about displaced people after the war - it was just one room though and I found the one with a similar topic in Bremen much more educational. I made the mistake to go upstairs to the exhibition of puppets. That was eerie as hell and I quickly got out of there. The reason I wanted to visit in the first place was a temporary exhibition about the rise of the NS party and their mechanisms of executing power. A very interesting, but also dark and scary exhibition, especially since right wing parties are on the rise again. Parts of the exhibition also overlapped with what we learned last semester in media history.
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After that I was quite happy to go outside into the sunshine again. Today was a very sunny and warm day, a perfect ending of a beautiful journey. First I got a smoothie and a banana at an overcrowded supermarket and then I made my way towards the Eisbachwelle, a permanent wave at a bridge in a huge park. Surfers are riding the wave with many spectators watching them. I kept walking to a place called the Monopteros that reminded me of the Apollo temple I'd seen yesterday. From there I had a wonderful view over the park and the city. I discovered afterwards that the Chinese tower was actually in a beer garden (of course) and slowly started to make my way back.
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I passed by the house of arts with a certain golden bar and the P1 club that is famous, although not necessarily with a good name to it, just for being posh.
I went back through the palace garden and passed by the Odeonsplatz one last time. Originally I'd wanted to go and get some food right away but then I thought that maybe looking for some clothing without holes would also be a good idea (I didn't find anything, though). The veggie and rice bowl I got was really good, although a bit sour. And now it was already time to get my backpack that I left at the hostel and board the train. As I'm writing this in the train I'm happy because Claus has liked my comment under his promo post for the show airing on TV this evening. Maybe I'll still get to watch it when I come home... Thanks Munich for such a wonderful time, hopefully I'll be back soon!
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banannabethchase · 1 year
Text
Set the World Alight: Chapter 13 - also on Ao3
~
It's Matt's birthday. She's excited. Nick is…feeling weird.
~
Thursday, March 13th
Matt wakes up on her eighteenth birthday, in her own bedroom, about half an hour before her alarm to her phone going ballistic.
“What the heck?” she mumbles, rolling over. She hits her arm on the sloped wall, still not totally used to the new room. “Ow!”
When she grabs her phone, she can’t help but grin. She has fifteen messages, at least five from Mox alone from what she can see, wishing her happy birthday.
hey love u happy birthday am I the first text
also i kno ur old enough but dont go vape its so bad for u
that last message was mostly a joke but still no vaping
She holds the phone to her chest as she practically spins out of bed. Matt gets ready, pleased for a repaired bathroom and her own space, and practically skips through the garage back into the main house. “Good my birthday morning, everybody!”
Nick stares at her, eyes still squinted. Their mom is yawning over a bowl of cereal.
“You’re chipper,” Nick mumbles. “Happy birthday.”
Matt beams at him. “It’s my first birthday as a girl.”
It’s like a switch with how quickly Nick’s and their mom’s faces change.
“Oh, baby, you’re right!” her mom says. “Wow. What an amazing – you text me what kind of cake you want, if you want decorations, okay? We’re going to do a nice dinner tonight.” She frowns. “Is it too last minute? Try not to invite too many, love, we don’t have a big house.”
Matt grins, feeling the excitement bubble. “Okay! Um. Can we have lasagna? And that big salad thing you make?”
Their mom nods and begins making notes on her phone. “What a good day to be off, wow. Alright. I need to get dressed. We have a whole thing to do!” In a whirl of pajamas, cereal, and excitement, she runs upstairs.
“I can text Kenny and Adam,” Nick says, waving his phone. “I mean. Assuming you want to invite them.”
“Oh, definitely,” Matt says, nodding a little too hard. “And Mox, but I can text him.” She thinks for a second – she wants to call the whole cheer team over, but then she’d have to invite the basketball team too, because Jamie would know. “Okay, just Mox, Kenny, and Adam. Don’t want to get too crazy.”
Nick laughs. “We should tell Kenny to bring Kota, just to see how much he’d freak out.”
Matt cackles. “Oh, he’d lose it. He’d shove his head in the lasagna to get out of that conversation.”
Nick texts Adam and Kenny, while Matt takes over for Mox.
Mom’s doing a birthday thing for me today. Want to come over for dinner?
Mox must have been holding his phone, because his response comes within seconds.
yes definitely ask her if she needs anything from kroger
Matt stares at the message. “Mom?” she yells up the stairs. “Mox wants to know if you need anything from Kroger.”
Their mom comes downstairs, dressed in a tee shirt and jeans Matt is pretty sure are both hers, but she likes the idea of sharing clothes with her mom so much she doesn’t care. “I mean, I do,” she says, twisting her hair up with a claw clip, “but, you know. I’m not going to ask my daughter’s boyfriend to pick up lasagna noodles for me. That feels a little weird. Tell him thank you for asking, though.”
Matt shrugs. “Okay.”
I think she wants to go and get her own Kroger trip. She says thank you for asking.
ok figured I cold ask. gotta get in good with the future in laws 😉
Matt’s heart flutters and she clutches her phone to her chest. All of a sudden she’s hit with a whirlwind of possibility, of what her life might look like ten years from now. She and Mox, living together in a little home. Maybe a dog and a cat, a kitchen with a big countertop. For activities. She giggles.
“Matt!”
She snaps out of her daydream.
“Earth to my dumb sister, hello! We need to leave now if we want a decent parking space.”
“Right!” Matt says. She gathers her backpack and coffee cup. “Right. School.” She swipes the keys from their bowl on the kitchen counter. “To school we go.”
~
Nick
“I always forget how annoying she is on her birthday,” Nick mumbles into his arms at lunch. “She just – she keeps talking and she never stops. Birthday this, and Matt that, and now we’re doing the dinner.”
“Dinner?” Cole says. Nick lifts his head to see him almost pouting. “I didn’t get invited.”
“Yeah, well, it was last minute,” Nick says with a sigh. “Kenny, Mox, and Adam.”
“Oh, well, I can obviously see why Mox and Adam are there, but why Kenny?” Kyle asks, stealing a noodle from Cole’s plate. Cole proceeds to elbow him in the gut. “Ow! What?! It was just a noodle?”
Nick stares as Cole stares at Kyle, who stares back at him, and then Adam groans.
“You three are exhausting,” Adam mutters. “Let me eat my noodles in peace, why don’t you.”
Kyle grins. “Oh yeah,” he says. “Eat those noodles.”
“Is that a sex joke?” Nick asks. “Because, if it is, it’s a really bad sex joke, and I think it makes me decide I don’t want to be your friend anymore.”
“Doubt it,” Kyle says, popping another one of Cole’s noodles into his mouth.
Nick rolls his eyes. “I’m so glad Matt didn’t invite either of you.”
~
Matt
She knows she went to all her classes. She’s sure of it. But she remembers nothing of the day. She gets spoken to no less than four times by three different teachers for being on her phone, but she passes a pop quiz and a math assignment, so she decides it’s worth it.
Practice is less than ideal, because Coach Rayne decided on a conditioning day, but even running a mile and a half didn’t ruin her mood. She cartwheels and bounces through the route, and only kicks Willow once. Luckily, being Willow, she just pokes at Matt’s ribs and promises to kill her later.
She’s hot and sweaty as she gets back to the gym, but Mox still beams at her when she comes into view. She’s pretty sure her entire heart explodes.  
“Hey,” Mox says, sliding in next to her as they walk to the parking lot. “I gotta swing home to shower before your dinner, but I’ll see you then.” He doesn’t even hesitate as he leans in to kiss her forehead. “Mom needs the car to pick something up, so I might be a little late, but I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He darts off toward his truck. “Happy birthday!”
Matt skips her way to the car, adding a cartwheel or two.
“Um, hello!”
She turns to see Nick hustling from the gym. “Oh, hi, Nick.”
“You forgot me,” he huffs, stomping up toward the car. “You forgot your own brother.”
“I didn’t forget you!” Matt says. “I – I was going to swing around to pick you up.”
Nick rolls his eyes. “Sure you were. Sure.”
He’s in a horrible mood the whole drive home, gripping the door and hissing every time Matt takes a turn faster than a mile per hour.
“Are you okay?” she asks. “You’re all weird.”
“I’m fine,” Nick snaps. “I just need a shower.”
Matt resists the urge to ask how the heck a shower could fix a garbage attitude, but she rolls her eyes and walks in the door. Nick goes into the main house without another word, and Matt plays music as loud as she wants as she showers and gets dressed.
She decides not to spend too much time on her hair, because it’s ten minutes from when people are supposed to show up, and she rushes her makeup. She gets mascara in her eye as a reward, and has to give up.
Matt isn’t stomping as she makes her way into the kitchen, but she is frowning when she slips on a sock. Nick walks in. “Oh, perfect,” she snipes. “Nick, would you please pick up your disgusting socks?!”
Nick turns to her, with that stupid confused chicken look. “I just walked downstairs.”
“You have socks everywhere,” Matt says, planting her hands on her hips. “You could do something adult, like picking things up when you use them.”
“What – you leave your shoes everywhere, too!”
They bicker back and forth until they hear a knock on the door. Matt stomps over to the door and yanks it open to see Adam standing there, looking confused.
“Um. Happy birthday? I’m sorry?”
“For what?” Matt asks, stepping to the side.
“You opened the door all angry,” Adam says. He slides in past Matt.
Matt rolls her eyes. “Oh, that’s just because the house is a mess and nobody but me seems to notice.”
Adam blinks. “I, uh. I can leave. Come back later.”
“No!” Nick says. Matt has to fight the urge to roll her eyes. “I mean, don’t go. Matt, I’ll clean it up, okay?”
Matt nods. If Nick was going to be a lovesick, pining dork, at least it would benefit her. “Okay.”
She and Adam sit at the dining room table, and Nick follows soon after.
“All cleaned,” he says.
Matt beams at him. “Thank you.”
Kenny’s shows up next, joining them at the table.
“Mox not here yet?” Kenny asks, taking his jacket off.
Matt shakes her head. “No, but I’m not worried or anything. He said his mom might need the car so he’d be here as soon as he can.” She keeps her hand on her pocket, trying not to think the worst. She doesn’t have time to worry, though, as she hears someone come through the door.
“Sorry!” Mox says. “Sorry, didn’t mean to be late.” He shoves a bouquet of flowers in Matt’s face. “Happy birthday.”
Matt smells the flowers, partially because she has no option. “They’re great, Mox. Thanks.”
Adam, Kenny, and Nick make gagging noises as Matt and Mox kiss.
Dinner and dessert go off without a hitch. Adam’s on the other side of Mox, and the two of them are getting on like a house on fire.
“They seem pretty cool with each other now,” Kenny says.
Matt nods. “Everything after the…incident the other day, they’ve calmed all that down.”
Kenny nods, shoving a forkful of salad in his mouth. “Cool. That’ll make things easier for your brother, yeah?”
“What about me?” Nick asks, leaning past Adam and staring at Kenny.
“Nothing,” Kenny says, and he shoves another forkful of lettuce into his mouth.
“Oh, keeping secrets?” Adam asks. Matt knows that smile. “Hmm. What could you possibly be keeping from us?”
Kenny’s eyes widen as he chews. Matt’s not kind enough to change the topic, and she leans on her hand. “Yeah, Kenny,” she teases. “Are you keeping any secrets from us?”
“You guys are super annoying,” Mox says with a grin. “Matt, you’re not telling our secrets, are you?”
“Yeah, Matt,” Kenny says, in a mockery of her voice, “are you keeping any secrets from us?”
Matt doesn’t have any reason to blush, but she feels her face burn hot pink. “Oh, shut it.”
Adam laughs so hard he chokes on his lasagna.
~
Nick
Nick watches as Matt blows out the candles on her cake, and she looks more serene than Nick’s ever seen her. He watches, almost enviously, as Mox kisses the top of her head. The way she beams up at him…Nick misses feeling that way about someone who felt it back.
“I gotta pee,” he says, standing up. “Cut me a slice, okay?” He ignores the way his voice is unsteady, the tiny shake in his hand.
“Yeah, okay!” Matt says, eyes still locked on Mox’s.
He scrambles to the bathroom and shuts the door. He doesn’t know what he’s feeling, is the problem. He’s frustrated and confused and sad. He’s jealous and angry about it. He’s a coward when it comes to Adam, and he’s angry about that, too.
He’s too scared and too worried and it’s not fair.
He jumps half a foot at the knocking on the door. “Uh, just a second!”
“It’s just me,” says Adam gently. “Wanted to check on you.”
“You wanted to check on me peeing?” Nick jokes, voice unsteady to his own ears. “I promise, I know how to work a toilet.”
“Come on, Nick. I know you better than that.”
Nick groans and pulls the door open. “I’m fine.”
Adam’s smile is knowing, and a little sad. “You’re not. Is this about Jude?”
“What? No.”
He raises an eyebrow. “So you’re hiding in a bathroom during your sister’s birthday party, right as she blew out the candles with her boyfriend next to her, just for fun?”
Nick can’t meet Adam’s eyes. “You don’t need to rub it in.”
“I’m not rubbing it in,” Adam says, leaning against the door frame. “Jude bailed on you on your birthday last summer and didn’t tell you why until you called him a few days later.”
“I know.”
“So, obviously, you’re gonna feel some type of weird seeing Matt’s boyfriend be all sweet.”
Nick looks up at him. “I told you he didn’t even pick up my call, right?” He’s choked up. “Called me three days later, dumped me, and didn’t even say happy birthday.”
Adam’s smile is kind in a way that sort of hurts. “You mentioned it.” He holds open his arms. “Want a hug?”
Nick nods and falls into Adam’s chest. This time last year, hell, even over the summer, he wouldn’t have felt butterflies. He wouldn’t have wanted to hold on forever, wouldn’t have wanted to tilt his head up to catch Adam’s lips with his.
He doesn’t know when it started, but he sure as hell knows it’s not gone right now.
“Okay,” Nick says, stepping back before he can do anything stupid. “I – thank you, Adam. I feel better.”
Adam brushes his hair over his shoulder, and Nick’s entire body heats up. “Anything,” Adam promises.
~
Matt
“You got me a dress?!” Matt squeals, holding it up. “Oh my god, Nick, who did you bribe to help you have style?!”
“Mom,” Nick grumbles. The room laughs. “Okay, look, I don’t do the style thing. I defer to the experts.”
She thinks the best part of it is when the five of them are on the couch, watching old home videos while she tries to cover Mox’s eyes whenever she comes onscreen.vShe curls up in Mox’s lap as they watch a video of Adam and Nick doing a dance routine in their blowup pool in fourth grade, and Matt’s never felt happier.
~
Friday, March 14th
Matt
“What’s got you so excited?” Matt asks Adam as they pass in the hallway.
“It’s pi day!” Adam says. “You know. Like pi? The number?”
“I take statistics,” Matt says. “I don’t do all that fancy calculus stuff.” She adjusts her dress. Now that she’s out to the whole school, she’s started trying out dresses. Her birthday gift from Nick, purple and swingy, fits right, but it’s very different. It’s not a bad feeling. Not at all. But it’s pretty weird to have so much of her legs exposed.
“It’s pi day, just have fun with it,” Adam says. “Cute dress, by the way. The purple looks good on you.”
Matt immediately forgets all her doubts about the dress. “Really?”
Adam nods, reaching out to adjust a sleeve. It’s so gentle and sweet that Matt almost beams at him. But she controls it, because Adam is practically Nick’s boyfriend. “Of course, Matty,” Adam says.
Matt reaches out and squeezes his hand. “Well, happy pi day, you nerd.”
“Ah, with the insults.”
“Not an insult!” Matt argues. “It’s. It’s a good thing! Nerd is cute. People go for nerds.”
Adam pushes his glasses up his nose. “Not everybody.”
“Look, if you like – someone, you have to tell them,” Matt insists. “He – they might be too stupid and obtuse to realize you like them back, so you’ll have to make the first move. Because that other person is dumb.”
Adam raises an eyebrow. “Whatever could you possibly be alluding to, dear Matty?” His expression is a little weird, a little understanding. A little too understanding, but Matt doesn’t have the time to dig into that between classes.
“You know exactly what I’m saying,” Matt says, poking Adam in the chest. “Make a move. He won’t.”
“Noted,” Adam says, nodding. “I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah? Cheer competition?”
Matt blinks. “You’re coming?”
“Course I am!” Adam says, looking almost offended at the thought he wouldn’t be there. “Haven’t missed one Spring Show, have I?”
“Usually they’re at our high school,” Matt says, adjusting the strap of her backpack. “This one is pretty far away.”
Adam shrugs. “And? I get to drive with someone who, according to you, may or may not like me.” He breaks into a grin, so wide it’s almost like he couldn’t resist it.
“Ah,” Matt says. “Right. My cheer competition is an excuse for you to flirt with my brother.”
“Why your brother?” Adam asks, feigning surprise. “What do you mean?”
“Oh, shut up,” Matt grumbles. But she gives him a quick hug before making her way down the hallway, a little more swingy in her purple dress than before.
~
Nick
“You said WHAT?”
“Calm down,” Matt says, checking her hair in the mirror. Nick might break it on top of her head. “I just suggested to him that somebody might have a crush on him. I didn’t say the person was you.”
“Sounds like you basically did!” he says. He thunks his head against the car window. “You need to worry about yourself, you nosy little brat.”
“You need to make a move on Adam before he panics and thinks you don’t actually like him.” Matt looks smug beyond words as she pulls out of the parking space and into the line of cars making their way out of the parking lot.
“He’s not gonna do that,” Nick insists, rolling his eyes.
“He might,” Matt says. She glances over at him, looking surprisingly understanding. “You really want to risk it?”
Nick curls in on himself. “No.”
“You need to say something,” Matt says. “At the very least, practicing saying it to yourself. Or me.”
“That makes it sound like you think you’re a part of me.”
Matt deflates. “I thought I was.”
“I mean – yes?” Nick has no idea how this has devolved so quickly. “You’re my sister. We grew up in the same room for, like, 17 years. Of course you’re a part of me. It’s just.” He shrugs. “I don’t know.”
They’re quiet the whole drive home.
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dearcraziness · 1 year
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Chapter 44.
A new interesting slightly cloudy day. It was quite warm and cozy outside the window: birds were singing; the leaves rustled pleasantly in the wind, and a variety of beautiful flowers were blooming.
Friends were doing the usual things: Bendy was cooking dinner; Lara was drawing new outfits in a notebook; Alice was looking at her favorite magazines; and Boris was repairing some appliances. Soon dinner was ready, and Bendy came out of the kitchen to call the others. Entering Lara's room, Bendy hugged Lara and, looking at her tenderly, said, "Larry, lunch is ready, we can go to the kitchen now... Oh, dear, what wonderful drawings you have turned out!... All the details of the outfits are beautifully drawn, and the style is excellent..."
"Thank you, Bendy... I'll be in the kitchen soon..."
"As you say, honey... I'll be waiting for you..."
Bendy left Lara's room and called the others. After a while, everyone gathered in the kitchen and had lunch, and then talked about various interesting topics. Soon the friends returned to their rooms and continued to do their favorite things. Bendy and Lara drew impressive landscapes and, when they finished, praised each other's drawings. After that, they were engaged in other creative activities.
"It's quite entertaining to do interesting things on such a wonderful day, isn't it, dear?..."
"Yes, dear, today is very good..."
"Glad you think so, honey... Every day is very interesting with you, Laurie, and I'm glad we spend every day of our eternal life together... By the way, what would you like to do after we finish making table decorations?..."
"I don't know yet..."
"Then maybe we'll go for a walk in the garden a little later?..."
"Sure..."
"Seems like you were going to say something else..."
"No, no, I wasn't..."
"Dearheart, but you're thinking about something... You know, you can tell me absolutely everything, all your thoughts and feelings are very important to me..."
"I know, Bendy... But I'm not thinking about anything serious... Why did you decide that?..."
"Dear, because, as usual, when you are thoughtful, you look to the side and slightly lift your head... Then you lower your head a little and move the fingers of your right hand..."
"... Yes, I know that you often notice such details in my behavior, although I don't remember them, so it's quite difficult to hide any thoughts from you..."
"Darling, you don't need to hide your thoughts at all!... I will always be there to support you in every way, to cheer you up... I will always help you with any problems, Larochka... And it's completely understandable why you don't remember some details of behavior in your character, because it turns out naturally... It's great that you always remain yourself, do what you think is right... So please just say what you wanted..."
"... Bendy, I was wondering if..."
" Yes, dear?..."
"I could go on a little trip to the forest, which is situated near our garden..."
"You're right, honey, it would be wonderful to go to the forest together... After all, it's always great for us to travel to new amazing places..."
"Yes... However..."
"What, dear?... Would you like to go today?..."
"No, I don't mind going tomorrow, just... I wanted to go there alone..."
"Why do you want to go alone, dear?..." said Bendy with concern on his face. "Did I upset you with something?... Please, just say what's the matter, and I'll fix it..."
"No need to... I just want to go on a trip alone, you did everything right..."
"Well, if that's your wish, you can... But first, I'll prepare everything you need in your campaign..."
"Thank you..."
"Anything for you, Lau..."
Bendy took out a backpack for hiking and began to put the necessary things in it. The devil took out a tent, provided warmth and safety in and around the tent with the help of magic, and also made sure that the appliances themselves cooked Lara breakfast, lunch and dinner. Soon Bendy finished packing girl's rucksack and, approaching the table where the demoness was sitting, told her, "Now your backpack is packed for the hike, dearie... You won't need to carry it tomorrow, I'll make sure it follows you whenever you wish, with the help of magic..."
"Thank you, Bendy..."
"Don't mention it, sweetie... I hope you enjoy your trip and it'll be interesting for you..."
"I hope you have an interesting time here too..."
"Honey, it's very nice of you, but I won't be much interested in spending time without you... Without you, everything will be completely different..."
"Perhaps you'll find exciting activities for yourself..."
"Honey, only with the world around becomes a fascinating, wonderful place..."
"... Bendy, I will still go on a trip tomorrow..."
"Of course, dear, and I'm very happy for you... I think you're going to have as marvelous day tomorrow as today, or even better... I said those things just to remind you how much you mean to me, not to keep you... You know, I really respect your every decision..."
"I know..."
"Sunshine, would you like to have dinner?..."
"Yes, I won't mind..."
"As you wish, sugar..."
Soon the guys gathered in the kitchen and, after dinner, discussed awesome topics...
Everyone returned to their rooms and continued to do their usual evening chores.
Bendy and Lara also had an interesting time. They solved a few sudoku, and then read an entertaining, fantastic story.
Bendy woke up pretty early the next morning. He cleaned many rooms and soon began to prepare breakfast. While cooking, Bendy thought more and more about Lara's little trip; he was certainly very glad that she was going to visit new wonderful places, but he also understood perfectly well she wanted to go alone for a reason. Perhaps this was how she wanted to test him, and he didn't mind at all. However, he was somewhat worried if his beloved would enjoy spending time by herself.
The young man left the kitchen and went into the girl's room. He noticed that she had just woken up, and, going up to her, hugged her tightly and said, "Good morning, Larry... How did you sleep today?..."
"Quite nicely..."
"I'm very glad, dear... By the way, breakfast is ready..."
Bendy took Lara's hand and they headed for the kitchen.
Soon the friends returned to their rooms and continued to do interesting things. The devils were drawing at this time: Lara was drawing different outfits, and Bendy was drawing her. When they finished Bendy said, "Oh, Lau, what amazing outfits you have turned out!... Such fascinating styles, colors are wonderful..."
"Thank you... You have a wonderful drawing too..."
"Thank you, dear... I wanted to convey all your beauty with this drawing... Although, of course, you are much more beautiful in life, both externally and internally..."
"... I think you still managed to convey what you wanted..."
"Glad you think so... What would you like to do now, love?..."
"I think it's time for me to get ready for a little trip..."
"Oh, you already want to go..."
"Yes, I do... Bendy, we talked about this yesterday..."
"Of course, dear, I hope you like the new wonderful places... And you'll have a good time..."
"I hope you'll still have a good time without me..."
"Honey, that's not going to happen... I don't want to upset you, but it's very interesting for me to spend time only with you..."
"... Stop it, Bendy..."
"Please forgive me, Laura... I shouldn't have said that... Sweetheart, I'll send you letters to know how your day is going..."
"Agreed... But I think it's also important how you spend your time... And you seem to think I don't care..."
"No, dear, I don't think so at all!... I understand perfectly well that you care, I'm very sorry you're upset that I won't be interested in spending time without you... Believe me, I want you to feel joy absolutely always and now, before your journey, too, of course... You don't have to worry about anything, I'll be fine... You're going to have a good time, which is the most important thing..."
"Well, yes, as usual..."
"What exactly, Lara?..."
"You want me to stay and we spent time together... I might have agreed, but not today..."
"Honey, you want to go on a trip and have a good time there - it's wonderful, and I'm not stopping you at all... The main thing is what you want, and I'll grant every wish you have... I don't want to detain you at all, I'll help you get ready..."
Bendy waved his hand - and the backpack with the collected things in it began to float in the air. The backpack flew a little closer to the demoness and hovered next to her.
"I love you very much, Lara..."
The girl didn't say anything, but Bendy saw her smile. He kissed her on the cheek and they left the room together. Bendy followed Lara into the hallway, where he hugged her again.
"Cherry, I put some leisure stuff in your rucksack..."
"Okay... Bye, Bendy..."
"See you soon, Laura..."
Bendy watched Lara go for a long time, then returned back to her room. He immediately felt some anxiety, which gradually began to subside, because Bendy knew Lara would most likely be very interested in spending time in new wonderful place. However, the pain still lingered. Bendy was very upset by the words Lara said in the evening that she wasn't as glad to spend time with him as before. The thought that Lara wasn't happy at that time squeezed Bendy's heart and soul. Although he already knew how to solve this issue, the pain remained the same. Bendy didn't consider it necessary to entertain himself, so he began to do chores around the house, including cleaning. But all his thoughts were only about Lara. He used to think a lot about her and how to cheer her up, but now that they were not together, Bendy hoped it would be even more exciting, amusing for Lara to spend time in the calming forest...
The girl reached the right place and the backpack hovering next to her stopped. Lara was about to get the necessary things, when suddenly they flew out of the rucksack: first, the tent itself was placed, as it should be, on the ground, then all the other things began to fly into. Lara smiled and entered the tent. However, she soon thought about Bendy again that he probably wouldn't be interested in spending time alone, but she hoped he would have a good time... Lara came out of the tent and began to explore the forest. She knew where the protective field around the tent ended, so she understood to what places she could walk. She saw a lot of interesting and wonderful places, and the day went pretty well. In the evening, Lara returned to the tent and solved some sudoku...
Bendy's day dragged on awfully long, not in the pleasant way. He thought about Lara endlessly while doing the necessary chores. Bendy cooked breakfast first, and dinner in the evening for the others, but he didn't eat anything himself - after all, the magical creatures didn't feel hunger or satiety, they didn't need regular food intake, unlike humans. The sense of guilt also prevented him from doing any creative things, the demon didn't see the point of making art. Without her, Bendy's heart immediately became quite sad, everything around lost its meaning. In the evening, Bendy wrote a letter to Lara, where he asked how her day was and what she was doing. Bendy really hoped that everything was fine with her and she had a wonderful time. He sent the letter by magic mail and waited for an answer.
At this time, in Lara's tent, the magical appliances prepared dinner for her, she enjoyed her meals, and then decided to draw some new outfits. Almost immediately after that, she received the letter, to which she soon gave an answer. Lara painted for some more time and soon went to bed. She fell asleep and had nice dreams...
Bendy recieved Lara's letter and began to read it with some excitement. The imp wrote that her day went pretty well, she saw some amazing places. After reading this, Bendy calmed down a little and was very glad for her. With the onset of late evening, Bendy went to bed, but he couldn't sleep. He thought about Lara, her smile, her joyful look, imagined with what admiration she must have walked around those places. The pain in his heart and soul never faded, but he kept thinking about Lara and soon stopped trying to sleep...
The next morning Bendy decided to water the flowers in the garden and went outside. When he was done, he went to prepare breakfast for the others, and soon everything was done. Bendy called everyone to breakfast, then he returned to Lara's room, thinking about her again.
Friends asked Bendy several times why Lara went on a little trip alone, to which Bendy only replied that this was her wish, explaining she wanted to be alone with nature for a while. Bendy also didn't ask Lara when she was going to return. He believed she could spend time in new wonderful place as much as she wanted. Bendy looked at the notebook on Lara's desk and opened it. There were short stories they had recently written together. He began to read them and became more and more immersed in the events unfolded...
Meanwhile, Lara woke up, had breakfast with delicious dishes the appliances had prepared for her, and went to explore charming places. Lara had been walking in the forest for a long time; she had seen numerous pretty plants, animals, landscapes, but everything wasn't as amazing as when she walked together with Bendy... She thought that it would be much more interesting for her if she were with him...
Bendy also thought it would be wonderful to go on a trip together, but he understood Lara wanted to go alone, her wishes have always been and will be the most important thing for him. The devil had finished reading the stories, began to think about Lara again. He recalled more and more many different moments of their lives: how they wrote their tales together, discussed them; how in the evening they watched inspiring, fantastic cartoons or movies, or music videos and shared their impressions after them; how in the morning Bendy watched Lara sleep, and when she woke up, he hugged her tightly and said nice words to her; he remembered her smile, her laugh, her kind words and everything connected with her. Suddenly, tears rolled out of his eyes, falling to the floor. Bendy got angry at himself for this and put the notebook back in its place. Moments from his life were clearly presented in his mind. He was thinking about how best to bring joy to Lara when she returned, then Bendy began to write a letter for his beloved. This time he wrote even more about how much he loved her and worried about her. Bendy wrote that he hoped she had as good time as usual. Bendy sent the letter by magic mail and waited for an answer.
At this time, Lara was reading some magazines and suddenly saw a letter from Bendy. She put down the magazine and, after reading the letter, wrote a reply. Lara sent the letter by magic mail and continued reading.
The devil immediately read her answer and felt relieved. However, the feeling of guilt remained and continued to intensify. Soon evening came, Bendy cooked dinner, called his friends, returned to Lara's room and began to solve Sudoku. Without Lara, it was't wonderful nor joyful at all.
Lara had dinner, soon went to bed and fell asleep...
Bendy, as on the previous day, couldn't close his eyes...
The next day Bendy cooked breakfast for the others, dinner in the evening...
Lara was walking around fascinating places and painting in the evening, soon she fell asleep...
Bendy's restless thoughts didn't let him sleep again...
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keichan · 3 years
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Firsts with Sakusa Kiyoomi
A collections of firsts with Sakusa Kiyoomi
A/N: 
I’ve had the idea of this story in my drafts forever now, but I sat down yesterday and finally brought it to life! I have never wrote for Sakusa before, but I hope that you guys enjoy my personification of him!
word count: 7.2k!
warnings: vomiting, nsfw content that will be italicized, swearing?
Please interact with this story! I’m restarting my blog back up and I lost a lot of moots! Send me asks and whatnot!
The first time you saw Sakusa Kiyoomi was when he silently strolled down the hallway in elementary school. He had a blank stare at all times. Never strayed too close to any of the other children. A gloomy looking child that you did not particularly want to approach. His hands remained glued to his side and looked to be sulking. He blended into the crowd but if you paid enough attention, he barely stood out. He crossed your mind for the slightest second before you were sucked back into conversation with your friends.
-
The first time you heard his voice was when he was talking to another boy in your grade level. Who you found out was his cousin. Their interaction was quiet and somewhat dull. His cousin, Motoya, asked if he wanted to go to an after school activity with him. Sakusa nodded briefly and said “sure”. His voice was quiet and bored. You wondered as you walked past the boys what they were talking about, however, you were quickly distracted yet again and proceeded to move forward without a second thought.
-
The first interaction between the two of you was your third year of middle school. Sakusa Kiyoomi was nothing but a background character in your life. You ever so often saw him since the two of you were in different classes. However, you shared a class with Motoya so it wasn’t too rare to see the boy. 
You walked out of class upon dismissal, but hung around campus with your friends, knowing that your parents were at work and it was redundant to return so early. It was an unanimous decision to go to the convenience store outside of campus to grab a quick bite with the chore money that took a few weeks to rack up.
Walking outside of the gym a volleyball rolled to your feet. You picked it up before looking to your right to see who it belonged to. Sakusa Kiyoomi walked calmly over to you with his  hands  at  his side.  There was no one else in the gym. He was playing by himself.
He came to a halt, looking at you expectedly. You fidgeted the ball in your palms before asking. “Are you practicing all alone?”  He nodded curtly with a deadpan expression that said give me the ball. 
“I see.” You tossed him the ball gently before following your friends that have already walked ahead. 
At the convenience store you grabbed things you thought Sakusa may have liked.
“Why are you grabbing so much? Also, I thought you didn’t like daifuku.” Aya commented as she browsed the shelf next to you. Your nose scrunched up. “I’m just craving it.” You shrugged her off. She didn’t reply as she grabbed a carton of apple juice. 
All of you checked out and parted ways in front of the store. It wasn’t long before you peeked your head into the gym to see Sakusa slamming  the ball against the wall continuously. He was roughly the same height as you, but each time he struck the ball, there was an undeniable force behind it. 
You took your shoes off, outside of the gym before clearing your throat nervously.
The boy caught the ball as it ricocheted off the wall. His black curls stuck messily to his forehead and he turned to you with a confused expression. Holding up the plastic bag with one hand,  you offered him a small smile. 
“Looked like you were working hard, so I brought this for you.” 
He blinked at you. Not a word. 
“I can just leave it somewhere if you’d like. I just have to-”
“I was actually getting kind of hungry.” He said quietly. He walked to the edge of the gym and sat down. You followed his lead quietly. Upon sitting down, you opened the bag,  preparing to dump  everything on the floor before he raised a hand to stop you. 
“The floor is rather dirty, I would prefer you not to do that.” He said plainly “Please.” he added. You nodded and opened the bag towards him so he could get his pick. Luckily for you he went straight for the daifuku. He meticulously unwrapped it and began to munch silently. You followed suit and you began to eat a custard-filled bread roll. 
“Sakusa, right?” You turned your head to the boy. “Kyosuke?” You faltered.
He shook his head. “Kiyoomi. And you?”
“L/N F/N.” You answered. He dipped his head in acknowledgement. 
“What high school are you going to try to go to?” 
“Itachiyama.”
“Really? I want to go there as well. Maybe we can study together for the entrance exams together.”
“I’m going to get in on a sports recommendation since I’m on the volleyball team here.” He said nonchalantly as he flattened the snack’s wrapper on his thigh. You nodded. His curtness didn’t particularly bother you. 
“Fair enough.” You brushed off your skirt and began to make an exit towards the gym. You began to slip your shoes on outside of the door before waving over to him. “Let me know if you change your mind about studying. I’m in the same class as your cousin. Keep the rest of the snacks. Work hard.”
-
Roughly two weeks later Sakusa Kiyoomi was waiting outside of class 3-B. Ignoring Motoya he approached you. “Let’s study for entrance exams.” Motoya looked at you oddly and tailed the two of you as Sakusa lead you to the library in silence.
You sat in front of the curly haired boy, pulling out your journals and folders excitedly sliding them towards Sakusa. Motoya sat beside him, earning a subtle glare from Kiyoomi.
“I looked at everything they’ve made available for students who are applying, organized it, and color coded it. I have a plan to get in. 
Sakusa carefully eyed over your notes as he skimmed the pages. Your handwriting was incredibly neat. Everything was so organized that even an idiot could get into Itachiyama. Not that he was thinking that you were stupid by any means.
That was the first time you saw Sakusa smile because of you.
-
It was now your first year at Itachiyama Academy. You walked through the gates of the school sandwiched between Sakusa and Motoya. Somehow the three of you managed to be in the same class.
As the semester progressed, you began to settle in a routine with the boys. You would sit at practices, reading books. After they finished, you would all study at someone’s house and part ways. 
It was dipping into the summer. Tokyo subtly rose in temperature as the rainy season commenced. 
Sakusa stood outside of your home with an umbrella since he was fully aware that you refused to bring one to school any time that it rained. He looked down to his cellphone. You were always punctual so it didn’t make sense to him that you weren’t outside yet. He knocked on the front door to your family home. No answer.
He used the spare key under the plant to go inside. He propped the umbrella against the door and took his shoes off before making his way upstairs. You weren’t in your bed but he could hear someone gagging in the bathroom.
His face contorted into disgust at the thought, but proceeded towards the room. He opened the bathroom door to see you hunched over the toilet. Your hair pooled over your shoulders going forward as you choked on your own vomit. Sobs quietly echoed the room. 
He cautiously moved forward and gathered your hair in his hand. He turned his head away from your body to cover his distaste for the situation that he found himself in.  You jumped startled in place before you started vomiting again. 
“Sorry, I didn’t text you. I’ve been here for hours.” Your voice was incredibly weak.
“I wish you took care of yourself. Then things like this wouldn’t happen. Where are your parents?”
“I don’t know.” Your voice croaked. Sakusa flinched at that. He knew the feeling all too well.
“You know if you used an umbrella in the rain you wouldn’t get sick. Plus you’ve been pulling all nighters with school for no reason. Stop overexerting yourself.”
“Shut up.” You groaned. “Go to school. I’ll take care of myself.”
He rolled his eyes. He grabbed a hair tie from under your sink and tied your hair back to the best of his ability before leaving the room. Going downstairs he began to make hot green tea with honey, a glass of water, and cut up an apple, your favorite fruit, and grabbed a mask out of his backpack and put it on before returning to the bathroom. You were leaning against the wall, your features were flushed as beads of sweat developed along your forehead.
Sakusa sighed as he squatted in front of you. 
“Drink this. Rehydrate. Put some food in your stomach.” 
“Go to school Sakusa.” You muttered as you placed the cup to your lips gently.
Sakusa began washing his hands into the sink, ignoring you.
“You ought to go lie down so your body can repair itself.” He turned around before gathering the cups and the bowl of fruit from you. He placed it on your bedside table before he felt a weight collide with his back. He turned suddenly to catch your body.
“Sorry, I must be really weak right now.” A laugh barely escaped your lips. You were face to face with him as he supported you up. All he did was nod before he gently lowered you onto the bed, placing you under the sheets.
He walked over to the bathroom and found a small towel. A sigh of exasperation escaped his lips. He already had known that you were overdoing it academically, but now it finally showed physically. He didn’t understand you sometimes.
He returned to your room once more to see that you were out cold. He used the cloth to gently dab the sweat off of your face before folding it inside out and resting it on your forehead entirely. Sakusa supposed that it would be alright to skip school that day to help his friend out.
“Thanks, Kiyoomi.” The words poured quietly from your lips. His head jerked up suddenly
That was the first time you didn’t call him by his surname.
-
“Okay hear me out. Yes, you’re insanely talented at volleyball. No, I am not telling you how to play, BUT I think that if you approach the AB attack that you guys have been working on this way, I think that you can achieve it somewhat better.” You shoved your diagram that you drew out to Kiyoomi. His eyes scanned over everything. You flipped the page in front of him. 
“This is the way that you’ve been doing it, but I think that with your spiking range, you wouldn’t have to exert yourself and overextend yourself from this side of the court.”
Sakusa laughed pulling your notebook closer to himself. 
“This is actually genius. How did you know I couldn’t get it?”
“You’ve been spending more time practicing solo than normal so I just paid a little more attention when I’ve been able to come in and watch.”
“I really appreciate this! Do you mind?” You shook your head. “It’s all yours. I have some other ideas in there as well since nationals are coming up.”
He giddily slid it into his backpack before checking his phone. 
“Shit. I didn’t realize how late it was. The subways are probably packed by now.” He groaned.
You slung your bag over your shoulder. The crowds outside were moving meticulously outside. A sigh escaped your lips. You turned to Sakusa as he hooked a mask over each ear with a gloomy expression.
The two of you walked out of the cafe and headed towards the JR line. The crowd was astonishingly hard to walk through. Well, it was easy for Saksua since he could see over the sea of people. You reached out for his sleeve and managed to grab his hand. He looked back and gave you a weary acknowledgement and continued to tread forward. You barely managed to get into the train car with him. Your fingers tangled with his as you were shoved into his side. You looked up to see his eyebrows furrowed and expression darkened.. This definitely isn’t the first time that Saksusa had been unfortunate enough to get on the trains with rush hour. 
“You good, Kiyoomi?” You tugged on his arm gently as you whispered. He nodded looking down at you. A man beside you accidentally shoved you forward. Sakusa quickly laced his fingers in yours before he anchored you back to his side. You squeeze his hand gently as a quiet thanks.
In roughly ten minutes the doors opened to your stop. Sakusa led the way, weaseling the two of you outside of the train station. He let out a sigh of relief as he climbed the stairs onto the open street.
“Much better.” he mumbled. You absentmindedly followed him to his house as he continued to hold your hand.
“Kiyoomi, you know you can go ahead and let go now.” He froze in his tracks and looked down to your hands and returned his gaze to your face.
“Apologies.” He said before he let go. His hand returned to his side.
“I think I’m going to call it a night here. I’m going to Motoya’s to study the notes. I’ll text you if I have any questions.” He raised a hand to bid farewell and walked to the direction of his home. 
Your eyes traveled down to the palm of your hand. You studied it. Each finger as you rotated it. With a subtle shrug, you turned to the opposite direction and made your way home.
That was the first time you held hands with Sakusa Kiyoomi.
-
“What do you mean I can’t braid your hair for a game? It’s getting longer and it would look adorable. Right, Motoya?” You twirled one of Sakusa’s curls gently in your finger. Motoya glanced up from his phone laughing. 
“I don’t see why not.”
“ Don’t support her. You’re going to make her think that she’s unstoppable.” Sakusa groaned and thudded his head against the table. 
“Can I do it for fun though?” You whined as your ran your hands through his hair.
He sunk in his chair in defeat. “Fine.”
You excitedly stood up and got to work. 
After a few minutes you were finished. His hair was barely short enough for it to stick into a little poof in the back. You quickly took out your phone and snapped a quick selfie with your back camera. You laughed at the photo as Sakusa grabbed at it.
“I didn’t know that you were going to take a picture of me, you ass! Delete it!” 
“Nah, this is too good! Kiyoomi I really think you should do this for a game! You look precious!”  
You quickly ran over to the couch next to Motoya, showing him the off guard picture you got of the two of them. The two of you were in hysterics. Sakusa ran over to the couch to join the two of you. Placing an arm around your shoulder he broke into laughter as well.
Lose hair flowed on the sides of his face. His eyes squinted shut as his laughs filled the room.
“You ought to delete that picture though, seriously.”
You shook your head at him. 
“This is too good. I might just send it to your whole team.”
“Don’t even think about it.”
After some time, the three of you settled down and watched a movie. You rested your head on his shoulder. His arm never left your side. The three of you passed out cold. 
Motoya’s mother laughed at the view she had of the three of you as she took her shoes out of the door. Her own son was sprawled out on the end of the couch, snoring the night away. Kiyoomi’s head rested on the couch. Tufts of hair were popping out of the braid. His arms loosely wrapped around you. Your head rested against his chest and your arms rested around his stomach.
She laughed quietly to herself, leaving the kids to sleep.
This was the first time that you fell asleep on Sakusa Kiyoomi.
-
“What do you mean that you didn’t have a good time at the camp? It’s literally for the Olympics!” You had your hands on your hips as you stared at Saksua. He sulked in your kitchen chair. He came over as soon as he had gotten back from camp.
“I do not understand how Shiratorizawa lost. Kageyama Tobio wasn’t necessarily an extraordinary feat to watch-”
“You do understand that there’s a reason why he got invited there as well, right?”
“I’m trying to be realistic here.”
“Well since both schools are going to nationals, maybe you can play them in the bracket. You’re the number two ace in the country because you worked hard Kiyoomi. I don’t care if some brat from Miyagi rubbed you the wrong way. You need to get over it and do your best. You and Motoya leave in two weeks.”
The two of you had spent the last hour bickering of his experience. Sakusa had a negative thing to say about almost every player that was there.
“If I want to analyze my potential opponent then I think you should allow me to. You’re not playing on the court whatsoever so I think you should keep your opinions to yourself about this situation.”
“Kiyomi, I’m literally the one who has helped you get to where you are now. I’ve spent hours of my own freetime, even getting physically ill coming up with ways to help you and Motoya improve your skills to be better players-”
“But nobody asked you to do that.” He glared at you. You falter at what to say next.
“I did it because you two are my friends. And I want you to succeed.” Each word articulated from your mouth excruciatingly slow. As if you were questioning yourself.
“You have a lot to say for someone who has never played the game before.” Sakusa snapped at you.
“Get out.” 
“What?”
“Get out of my house. You do not talk to me like that here.” You made your way to the front door, holding it open.
“Out Kiyoomi.”
“I think we’re having a little miscommunication.” He rose from his chair. He hands beared out to you as he stepped towards you cautiously.
“No. Grab your bag. Put your shoes on and leave. I understood with clarity everything you just said to me. Now I’m asking you to leave. You said everything you wanted to.”
Sakusa’s head did not hang low as your gaze pierced through him. He slung his back over his shoulder and walked towards you. His height towered over you before he bent down, slipping his shoes over his heels.
He walked out without another word. 
That was the first fight you had with Sakusa Kiyoomi.
-
In the next two weeks you didn’t walk to school with the boys, you did not study with them, you did not watch practice, you didn’t use breaks at school to visit their classrooms. Anytime Motoya had reached out, you politely avoided him. If Sakusa did it was like he wasn’t even there.
Nationals were now upon the boy’s volleyball team. You followed the group solemnly to the bus.  You had signed up as an official volunteer and there wasn’t any way to necessarily get out of it since you had already been excused from the school days.
You sat alone on the bus. Far away from your two friends. The ride was short. Upon arrival, you carried the medical bag to the team’s designated area for the day.
It was a clash of teams mingling at the entrance of the arena. Not one member of the team had made it to the area yet. You turned to see Sakusa’s standing in the corner of the room. His forehead creased and his chin tucked towards his chest. There were too many people for him. Motoya was mingling with random  teams. You let out a small sigh and made your way to the designated area. 
A hand gently rested on your shoulder.
“Can we talk?” Kiyoomi asked. He towered over you in height. You couldn’t see his face due to the mask, but he radiated stress. You nodded and sat next to him in the hallway.
The apology was quick, sweet, and straight to the point. You graciously accepted and it wasn’t any worry at all. 
You could never truly be mad at him.
You continued to help the boy’s volleyball team until they lost the tournament.
You waited on the side of the court for the boys to come off. However, Sakusa was approached by fans and reporters. 
You stood patiently on the other side of the toom. The opposing team’s captain approached you. He shyly flirted with you. Sakusa watched from afar as he continued to chat with the reporter. 
This was the first time Sakusa Kiyoomi felt jealousy.
-
You, Kiyoomi, and Motoya stood side by side posing for pictures for your families. High school diplomas proudly in hand.
Kiyoomi graciously slipped away from everyone for a brief moment. His parents were fawning over the fact that he got accepted into college on a sports scholarship. Same with Motoya. Your parents were openly wondering what college you would choose to go to. You got accepted to five different ones, one of them the same as Kiyoomi.
You and Motoya bid your parents a farewell and began to leave the school together for one last time. Kiyoomi stood at the gates waiting patiently for the two of you. His blazer now slung over one shoulder, he used his other arm to gently rest around your shoulder.
“I’ll see you at the dinner, Motoya. I’m going to walk Y/N home.” 
Motoya dipped his head in acknowledgement before parting ways.
You and Kiyoomi laughed and reminisced over the last three years. The late nights studying. Hanging around each other's houses. Him keeping you company as you read your books at cafes. The cat you two found outside of the school your first year. The god awful game of telephone pictionary that almost got the three of you suspended your second year of school. The failed attempts of learning how to play volleyball in third year. It seemed that all of the memories so precious to your heart were coming to a cease.
Your laughs faltered as you approached the gate of your home. 
“I don’t know what I’m going to do when you leave for Osaka.” You laughed nervously as his arm slid off of your shoulder. He unconsciously moved a strand of hair behind your ear.
“Easy. Just go to the same school as me. It’s not that difficult of a decision.”
You laughed. “You know I haven’t even begun to choose the college I want to go to yet. I haven’t weighed the pros and cons of each school. Plus you got a full ride.” You sighed.
“Well a pro is that I’m there. I think that’s enough.” He tilted his head at you.
You let out a short laugh before turning your head away from him. “If only it was that simple.” You wondered aloud.
“I have to see how good the program is for what I want to do. I know that they’re the top in the country for it but will it really benefit me? What if financial aid doesn't end up coming through and I have student loans out the ass? What if housing is full? If I don’t have anywhere to live?” 
Your thoughts were cut off by Kiyoomi stifling a laugh. He used a single hand to cover his mouth as he looked down at you. You shoved his chest playfully. 
“What’s so funny?”
“You worry too much for someone who’s so smart.”
You rolled your eyes at him. He ran his hand through his hair before he rested it on his neck, his gaze never leaving yours. 
“I don’t think I’ve ever told you how pretty I think you are.” He reached over and cupped your face. His long slender fingers gently tucked the rest of your hair behind your ear. He felt your skin heat up below his hand and laughed.
“Are you trying to be funny because you’re really bad at it.”
Before you could even react, Kiyoomi quickly closed the gap between the two of you. His lips were soft as he gently pressed his lips against yours. Your hands rose up quickly against his sides. Slightly panicking. He tilted your chin up slightly and you finally kissed him back. 
You felt him smile against your lips as he pulled you closer.
He pulled away. Grinning like an idiot.
“I think you should go to that school in Osaka with me. I’m going to have an apartment and everything.”
You placed your arms around his shoulders and his slinked down to your waist.
“We’ll see.”
Kiyoomi’s body sunk into itself.
“I’ve been waiting to do that for quite some time now and that’s all you say? ‘We’ll see?’ It’s really not enough.” 
“I mean who said I haven’t been waiting to kiss you too?” 
He raised an eyebrow at you as you leaned up to place a kiss on the corner of his mouth.
“For how long?”
“After nationals in our second year when I saw a horde of fan girls for one of the best aces in Japan.” You reached up and pinched his cheek. “I thought to myself that I wasn’t jealous or anything, but I think I’ve thought about you romantically for a while now.” He narrowed his eyes at you before shaking his head for you to let go of his face.
“But you’re right. You’ve never told me I was pretty before, Kiyoomi.” You used your hands to bring his face down to yours. 
That was the first time you and Sakusa Kiyoomi had ever kissed.
-
Sakusa Kiyoomi was disappointed to say the least that you did not follow him to college in Osaka. 
Or so he thought. 
Two weeks after his move there was a knock on his apartment door at 7am in the morning. Kiyoomi was a morning person, but he had no clue who it could possibly be. He pulled a sweatshirt over his body and pulled on sweatpants over his boxers.
There you stood with a suitcase in each hand.
“I chose Osaka because I don’t think I can handle being away from you for four years.”
Kiyoomi enveloped you in a hug, making you drop your luggage. He pressed your body against his chest and buried his head into the crook of your neck. He peppered kisses on your  cheekbone until you turned to face him. He held your hands and kissed you sweetly before pulling you inside. 
“Kiyo, you need to grab my bags.” You mumbled into his mouth. He gently put you down. Grabbed your bags and placed them inside and turned to face you. You looked at him expectantly with your arms open towards him. Without missing a beat he picked you up and spun you around.
“Are you sure you want to go to school out here?” He pressed a kiss to your temple. You nodded against his chest.
“One exception though.” You pulled away from him.
“Will you be my boyfriend, Sakusa Kiyoomi?”
“Yes.”
This was the first day you spent as an official couple.
-
The semester was beginning to take a toll on the both of you. Fortunately enough, the both of you managed to be taking the same courses for your basics and had a basic study regiment in the evenings. Kiyoomi’s volleyball practice ran from ungodly hours of the morning and the fatigue was catching up to him as finals week set upon the two of you.
You returned from the library and walked into the bedroom to see Kiyoomi sound asleep, laying on his side snuggling a pillow. Quiet snores spread through the room as his mouth was slightly agape.
You quickly showered and changed into a shirt of his before snuggling into bed beside him. You ran your fingers through his hair causing him to lean into your touch.
“Y/N” He groaned into the pillow.
“Hm?”
“C’mere.” He lifted up his arm as an invitation. You quickly obliged as his arm encased you into his chest.
“How was studying? Sorry I left so early.” He yawned.
 Your arm wrapped around his side as your fingernails began to graze his bare back.
“It’s fine, Kiyo. I know how tired you’ve been lately. Being a student athlete is tough enough as it is.” 
“I don’t want you to be stressed out because of my incapabilities.”
“You’re only human. And I’m stressed out because college is tough, not because you’re incapable of things.”
“I know.”
“Your voice is cute when you’re tired.”
“No, it isn’t.”
“Yes.”
“No.” 
“Nevermind.” 
“I beg your pardon?.”
“Have I ever told you that you’re super handsome when you’re dead quiet. I know I can’t see you right now, but the whole brooding thing  you usually have going on is usually pretty nice in my opinion.”
“Shut up.”
“Okay, Kiyo.”
“Y/N  I’ll literally make you do all of the cleaning next week.”
“But Kiyo-”
“Shut up.”
“Anyways. I’ve missed you.”
“We live together. And study together. And go to school together.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah.”
“Remember that one time that you fell down the stairs in our second year? In front of the entire class?”
“I hate you.”
“I love you.”
“What?”
You sat up abruptly staring down at your boyfriend. He sat up, propping his hands on either side of his body. He blinked the sleep out of his eyes.
“I love you, Kiyoomi.”
A lazy smile graced the black-haired man’s features.
“I mean it!”
“I know you do. That’s why I’m smiling.”
“I really mean it, Kiyoomi. You’ve been my best friend since middle school. We spent every waking moment together. I got to grow with you as friends. I had the opportunity to watch you bloom into your passion by bringing you daifuku one day because I saw a quiet boy practicing all by himself. I’m so lucky for that moment of time. Even though we’re busy now, we get to hold each other at night and see each other’s achievements during the day. I think it’s so amazing that we have each other.  I just want to cherish you.”
“I love you too.” He clasped his hand over yours.
“And I mean it too.”
That was the first time you and Sakusa exchanged ‘I love yous’.
-
The semester had come to an end. Kiyoomi rested his head on your lap as you watched TV and he watched volleyball highlights on his phone. You played with his curls absentmindedly.
“I can’t believe that Kageyama Tobio is playing on the Olympic team this year.”
“Who?”
“The kid who beat Wakatoshi our second year.”
“Oh that one.”
“I want to play in the Olympics.”
“I know Kiyo you just need to keep doing what you're doing and you’ll be on that stage in 2020.”
You pulled out your cell phone and took a picture of the two of you. Managing to get his glare and everything. You shoved the photo you just took in his face. 
“Look! Do you know who that is?”
“Me. Sakusa Kiyoomi.”
“Correct!” You exclaimed. “He’s also my boyfriend and a future Olympian! A future representative of Japan’s men's volleyball team!”
Kiyoomi laughed. He locked his phone and just kept on laughing.
“You’re so precious.” He managed between laughs. He pulled his head from your lap and squeezed your cheeks with both of his hands.
“My girlfriend believes in me!” He sang song.
You placed your hands over his and pulled him forward into a quick kiss.
“Am I not supposed to?”
“I never said that.”
“You’re kind of suggesting it. Do you not like me anymore?”
He leaned forward, putting his lips on yours once more.
“You know I don’t like you, I love you.”
(nsfw)
Butterflies rose in your chest at his words. You gave him the dopiest grin before you leaned into  him once more. Your body leaned into his. Kiyoomi’s hands rose under your shirt as he pulled you on top of his lap. Your legs fell on either side of him as your fingers ran through his hair. As your hands reached the back of his head you fisted his curls, earning a quiet groan from the man underneath you. His hands pressed roughly into the skin of your hips. The surprise let Kiyoomi slip his tongue into your mouth.
He began to place open mouth kisses down your neck as his hands traveled up to your breasts. You quickly slid your shirt off over your head to give him more access. His kisses continued across your collarbone and down to your breast. 
“Kiyo-” Your breath hitched in your throat as he swirled his tongue.
“Hmm?” He mumbled into your chest. 
“Let’s go to the bedroom.” You said firmly, as you slid your hands to his shoulders to get him to look at you.
His dark eyes sparkled at you and nodded. 
You got off of his lap and made your way to your room. Dropping your shorts to the ground, you kicked them to the corner of the room. Before you could even reach the bed, you were enveloped in a hug from behind. Kiyoomi’s bare chest warmed your back as he began to kiss your neck, your shoulders. A hand firmly on your hip and a hang squeezing your breast. His hands traveled your body hungrily. You turned to meet his face. Caressing it with the back of your hand you placed a gentle kiss on his nose, making him smile at you.
Your hands draped over his boxers as you generously worked them down his legs. Placing, small, eager kisses on his lips.
“I don’t think we have condoms-”
“Yes we do. They’re in my nightstand, I bought them just in case we ever-”
“Mhmm”
You lured Kiyoomi over to the bed as you stroked him. He opened the bedside table and carefully tore the wrapper before rolling the condom on. He hovered over you as he lowered you onto the bed, his lips not leaving yours once. His fingers caressed you, slipping in and out slowly, you moaned into his mouth, making him speed up ever so slightly as he kissed all over your body. He wanted to show you physically how much he loves you.
He positioned himself between your legs before slipping himself in. The two of you gasped at the newfound sensation. He moaned into your neck as your hands failed to grab at his back. He kissed your cheek and smiled at you. He began to roll his hips into you repeatedly. He was weary of his actions as his hands roamed your entire body. He didn’t want to go too slow or two fast. He never asked, he just studied your reactions as he pressed deeper into you. He began to hold a steady rhythm as moans began to spill from your mouth. Each sound encouraging him to unconsciously move faster. 
“Kiyoomi.” Your nails sunk into his back, your lips struggled to find his. He moaned your name into your neck. He was reaching his climax as he shuddered inside of you. He kissed your forehead gently. 
“I love you. Forever. I cannot imagine anyone else I’d share this life with.”
You stared at your boyfriend. He was studying your face with great intent as if to check if he made a dent. His hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat. You pushed it back making his curls bounce as they flopped back down. His body rose and fell steadily as he caught his breath over you. He gave you a small smile as he flattened your hair on your head, he gently pulled out of you before sitting on his knees and sliding the condom off of himself.
“Give me a second please.”
He walked to the bathroom and disposed of it and began to pick up the clothes from earlier and put them in the hamper. He returned to your side. He propped up his head on his hand as ran his fingers through your hair.
“I’m so lucky. Everyday.”
You smiled as he placed yet another tender kiss on your lips.
The night ended with Sakusa curled on your bare chest, fast asleep while you held him dearly through the night.
That was you and Sakusa Kiyoomi’s first time.
-
Today was Kiyoomi’s first V-League game. 
You were never typically awake at the same times that he was. Ever. 
You sleepily followed him around the apartment. He brushed his teeth first. You stifled a laugh as he began the skin care routine you taught him in high school. He ignored you, but followed suit. Next he fixed his bed head. Well you did. You sat on the counter with him between your legs as you gently raked product through his hair. 
“Omi Omi.” You sang as he relaxed into your hands. 
“Don’t call me that.”
“Why? I think Miya was onto something when he started calling you that.” 
“No he wasn’t. He tainted the second half of my name when he started that shit.”
“Don’t be that way, Omi Omi!” 
“Shut up!” He yawned. 
“Or what, Omi?” You hopped off the sink and walked away from him.
“You’re gonna do what you did to me, last night? Right now?”
A sly grin rested on his lips before he pushed you to the bed. 
“Good thing we woke up early.”
-
You stayed arm and arm with Kiyoomi at the bar where his teammates won. The Black Jackals won their very first game. 
You glanced up at your mask-clad boyfriend as he glared at his teammates. 
“Omi Omi! I didn’t know you were bringing your girlfriend!”
“Hi! You must be Atsumu!” You extended your hand to shake his, but Sakusa cut in front of you. 
“Don’t touch him.” He rolled his eyes. 
“It’s called being courteous, Kiyo. You ought to try it!” You shoved his chest. 
“I can’t believe Omi Omi has a heart. He actually talks about us at home.” Bokuto bunched up his shirt on his chest, his eyes watering. 
“You’re telling me.” Atsumu huffed. 
“To be clear, the only person I respect on this team is Meian and I think it’s all valid.” Sakusa glared at the two men. His gaze lost it’s focus once he heard your laugh and reeled back into the conversation that you were having with Hinata. 
His teammates smiled as they were watching a never before seen Sakusa Kiyoomi. 
As the night progressed more and more drinks were spread amongst the team. 
You and Kiyoomi balanced the drinks the best you could, but after all, it was your first time drinking. Ever. 
Both of you, equally wasted, exited the bar and ordered a ride home. Laughing up the stairs the two of you tumbled into your bedroom. Kissing and everything in between. 
Sakusa Kiyoomi looked at you like you were the light of his life and he made sure you knew it. 
You studied his features as he drunkenly told you stories of when he was little. His dark brown eyes squinted at you as little laughs escaped his mouth. Anytime he smiled one corner of his mouth rose higher than the other. Anytime Kiyoomi reached for your hand, he always managed to be the most gentle with his spindly fingers. His kisses were so soft. Even now as he continuously reaches down to kiss you. Even though your own lips are numb from the alcohol rushing in your veins. 
This is true love. 
-
“I told you that you’d be in the Olympics.” 
You wrapped your arms around him as you stood behind the couch, smothering his cheek with kisses. 
“I know! I’m glad everything paid off!” 
“Me too. Me too.
“I think this is the first time I’ve ever dated an Olympian.” You stared at the phone in Kiyoomi’s hand. The congratulatory email. 
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“What do you think about marrying an Olympian? Pretty practical, right?”
You grinned from ear to ear. 
“I think that’s the best idea you’ve had in a while.”
“I’d like you to know I’m full of great ideas. I mean we’ve been together for six years. And it’s because I kissed you since you wouldn’t kiss me. I think that it’s a fair assumption that I’m the brains of this relationship. I also made the idea for us moving into this city home. I also made the executive decision for us to buy a cat.”
“Kiyo. That’s not how that went. You know damn well I brought the cat home when you were done with practice and you hit me with the whole ‘I guess we can do it if we clean the litter box everyday’. I think you’re remembering things incorrectly. Per usual.”
“Dunno, but it took my decision making to allow her to stay in this home.”
“Uh huh. Now that I think about it, it would be my first time marrying an Olympian.”
“Well duh. I mean look at me.”
“ I was talking about Miya, you dolt.”
He let out a hearty laugh. “I guess you can take the role of the funny one.”
-
The first time Sakusa became a parent. He had almost passed out in the delivery room. He’ll never acknowledge it to you, however when friends asked he claimed that childbirth was ultimately disgusting. 
His eyes shone the moment your son entered the world. 
He held him delicately as if he could break. He was laughing as he gently brought him down to you. 
You stared down at the baby you and your husband had brought into the world and you couldn’t help but think of the first time you saw Sakusa Kiyoomi and the blessings the boy brought into your life.
(A/N) the smut scene wasnt supposed to be good!!!!!!!!! It was their first time so it wasn’t supposed to be some god tier orgasming experience. It was supposed to be plain and about their connection!
thanks for reading (:
581 notes · View notes
soulwillower · 4 years
Text
friendly neighborhood spiderman • richie tozier
(richie tozier x reader)
requested: soooo my idea was an e2l spiderman richie x reader. they hate each other at school, but one day while patrolling he sees her with her friends outside and watched her and is like ‘shit maybe she’s not so bad’. then proceeds to be mean to her at school anyways. then a few days later he sees her crying her e yea a out and talks to her as spidey, consoles her, start liking each other. and then at school he’s a jerk and she’s like I can’t take ur shit. make up. friends. lovers. photographer reader.   +    ok so I was thinking maybe her parents are divorced and it’s smth abt how both parents tell her totally different stories abt the divorce. like the mom says we never loved each other, it was arranged marriage, but he abused me and cheated on me. and the dad says she was a psycho always stealing my stuff and bitching at me. we thought shE had schizophrenia. both her parents are ok to her so she gets fed up and leaves home crying. Goes to rooftop sees Spider-Man AND BOOM LOVE. self indulgencE here
warnings: enemies to lovers (my specialty), mentions of a rough divorce, a bit of violence, spiderman!au, slight blood, unedited, she/they pronouns for reader
[losers + reader are 18.]
6.4k words
you're convinced it started when you missed the subway. 
that was the butterfly flapping it's wings; then the chaos of the rest of the day just happened to fall in place because some sadistic twist of fate said it so, and now you're rolling your eyes at your friend in the hallway, backpack loose on your right shoulder with a budding black eye that was throbbing with the pain of a hundred suns. 
you'd snuck up on your classmate in the dark room (first mistake) and then tried to scare him (second), resulting in a metal water bottle to the face. "well if you just ice it, i'm sure the swelling and the pain will go away..." your friend trails off as you sigh, nodding in agreement. "i'm so embarrassed, i'm just hoping it doesn't bruise." 
"-y/n, what's up with you? wh- oh." your other friend says as they join you, eyes landing on your swollen cheek. 
it was this moment that richie tozier, certified asshole, walks near with three of his friends. richie, the bane of your existence. also, the boy whose locker is four away from yours. sensing your fatal hesitance, richie grins, "y/n's still upset because someone dropped a house on their sister." he making everyone snicker. you glare at the ground. 
you don't want him to see your face; any kind of ammo would be enough for richie to take and go miles with, and you're not in the mood for one of your typical screaming matches, as much as the others at this school love to watch. 
"woah, y/l/n, who gave you the shiner?" he asks as he twists his fingers around his locker combination. 
"why? you trying to match?" you threaten, and richie just smiles. he's laughing into his open locker as you roll your eyes, your friends peeling away eventually as you start to search through your locker. 
"so," richie starts just as you thought the silence would stay until you could flee. you groan, leaning your head on the locker as he continues, "did flash finally figure out who's been saran-wrapping his car?" 
you narrow your eyes, "how'd you know that was me?" you ask, certain that nobody had seen you besides three of your friends. it's doubtful they'd tell richie. 
his face pales slightly and a rosy blush blossoms on his high cheekbones as he shakes his head, adam's apple bobbing as he gulps. "because, e-everyone knows." he stutters out weakly. you give him a weird look, shaking your head. "bullshit." you mutter as you brush past him, slamming your locker closed. “creep.” 
richie hadn't meant to stalk them. y/n y/l/n's friend group just happened to be on the route he usually patrolled after classes, so he unintentionally ended up watching them pop in and out of the drugstore.
it was nearing a golden light around the city as richie sits on the fire escape of some building across the way - y/n's distinct figure sliding out of the store, arms wrapped inconspicuously around a bag and smile bright enough that richie can barely see the shiner still catching the light on y/n's left eye. 
he briefly wonders where it's really from, and if y/n was okay. he wonders if y/n was robbed, or if he could've been there to stop it. 
it's not until the three others in y/n's gang of idiots run out of the store that it clicks in richie's head - they definitely just stole those cookies, chips, the bottles of pop, the - richie tilts his head, squinting his eyes. yes, y/n definitely stole that handle of tito's. 
then y/n’s lifting the sheet in their hands - it looks clear, and then it’s being wrapped around a car in the parking lot. he’s alarmed, for a moment - y/n wouldn’t do that to just anybody, he doesn’t think. but then he laughs into his mask when he recognizes the car: flash thompson’s. 
he’s a nightmare, and he makes richie’s life hell just as much as flash makes y/n’s life hell and the rest of richie’s friends. so he leaves her be to saran wrap the car. 
feeling relieved that when he got his powers his vision repaired itself, richie can't help but chuckle, watching y/n's hair glint in the light and the way they tilt back in laughter, the gaggle of friends traipsing away from the store and down the block. richie's lips quirk in a small grin: shit, maybe y/n's not so bad. 
but despite that, richie and y/n's rivalry did nothing but steadily increase for the next week.
maybe it was because you were furious that you and your bio partner, richie's best friend stan, had gotten a b- on your lab, or maybe it was just  because richie was just feeling a bit more testy than typical. 
you're sure it's because when you go to your debate club's meeting, you find none other than richie tozier sitting across from your chair. 
"why is he here?" you ask the teacher, and he nods to richie, "i requested he attend a meeting, try it out. richie's quite talented, you know. i figured we could bring in a new challenge for you." 
“just because someone can talk a lot doesn’t mean they have anything good to say.” you snap. 
you can't even look at the cocky smirk on richie's face, his feet kicked up as he lounges at the desk. "intimidated, toots?" he asks cooly, and you roll your eyes. "never." 
and then ten minutes later, you’re doing a brainbreaking exercise where you’re split into groups of two and debating over a topic given to you. but you and richie were far more distracted by each other. 
“you know, for someone who everyone says is the best intellectual match for me, you’re a straight up douche and i can’t wait to graduate and never see you again.”
“compatible intellect, doll, not personalities. maybe if you stop acting like such an infant and stamping your feet around, we can part ways even faster.”
you glare at him. he glares back. then nothing else happens. 
the stress of the day caught up to you nearly immediately as you got home. you're holding back tears as you ignore your parents, who are screaming at each other; instead changing into sweats and a sweatshirt, brewing yourself a mug of tea, and slinking up to the roof with a blanket, prepared to mope around in the drizzle of rain. at least on the roof, nobody will see you cry. 
but the universe just can't let you have anything as of lately, because as soon as you finally settle down on the roof sitting on the blanket, and nearly letting a tear escape, a figure stands up a mere twenty feet from you, and you jump a bit. apprehensively, your eyes squint, and you're shocked to discover a spiderman suit bright in the dreary lighting of the overcast afternoon. 
the suit-clad person seems to be surprised by you as well, as you stand up, you're wary, unsure of how to act. of course you've heard of spiderman - he's all anyone can talk about lately, but you never expected to see him this close. what do you say?
"are you real?" you croak out. 
"am i- yes, what kind of question is that?"  his voice is way younger than you expected, and you're almost thrown off. he's closed the distance between you now, standing between you and the edge of the building, about four feet away. 
you narrow your eyes, immediately wanting to test him. "well, i don't know, i've seen people around jackson heights just wearing costumes like spiderman-" you argue, shrugging. 
the bickering is unexpected from a literal superhero, but it's strangely familiar to you. frowning, you walk closer to the masked figure, watching as spiderman takes steps backwards. he's at the edge of the building, and so without any thought, you place both of your palms across his sturdy chest and shove as hard as you can. "wait, wait what are you-" and spiderman's voice fades as he stumbles back, falling off the edge of the building with a yelp. 
for a moment, your breath leaves your lungs, and your hands slap your mouth. what did you just do? you can't breathe, tears clouding your vision yet again. 
but then a sticky, stringy substance slaps to the side of the building and the figure comes flying up, having catapulted himself up and back on the roof with a web. you gasp in relief, but the figure is already talking. 
"-what the fuck is your deal?" are the first words from the masked boy as he walks away from the ledge. your eyes are still wide, heart thumping fast and your tears are still there, threatening to fall. "-what if i wasn't actually spiderman, i- you could've killed an innocent person, holy sh-" 
you're tuning him out, though, the realization that you could have just killed someone finally pushing you over the edge. you crumble onto the blanket and let out a short, cut off sob. 
"woah, woah, hey..." spider-man looks hesitant, but then comes towards you where you fall to the gravel. "-hey, what's h-what are you doing, why are you crying?" he says, voice going softer. you frown, wondering why his voice seems so deep and forced. batman did that to conceal his identity, you think before letting out a sob, shaking your head. "shouldn't you be out, like, fighting crime or whatever?" 
"i'm here to make sure people are okay. you're clearly not okay." he argues, and you're too tired to try and argue with this stranger. 
"my parents are getting divorced," you sniff, eyes squeezing shut as more thick tears leak down your cheek. you know you probably look destroyed right now in front of this hero, but you don't care. after silence from him, he sits down right next to you on your blanket, backs leaning against some electrical box.
"and.. i can't tell who's lying. they told me completely different things." you cut yourself off, swallowing thickly. "my mom says it was a l-loveless marriage, that he- my dad used to... hurt her. and cheat on her-" you hiccup, wiping your eyes, makeup leaking on your hands. 
"my dad says she's psychotic. that she steals his stuff, that she always yells at him, and i can't-" you sigh, looking up at the clouds, watching a flock of birds fly away in the misting of the wet weather. "i feel like they see me as a pawn to play off each other. and at my school, i'm just the antagonist. people only like me because they like to see the fights i get into with this other kid." 
"midtown is just like that, i'm sure none of them mean anything by it-" you look at the boy, squinting as you take in the red fabric stretching over sharp cheekbones.
 "-how d'you know i go to midtown?" you sniffle. does spiderman go there, too? or teach there? how old is he, because he certainly seems too young to be a teacher?
he leans back, exhaling in an admission of guilt that flares a feeling of familiarity in you somewhere, something that's on the tip of your tongue. "lucky guess?" he states, choking it out as if he was trying to form the right words. you decide to brush it off, the feeling of being able to vent to a complete stranger suddenly making you feel better. the light mist in the air even feels good, now. 
"i can't deal with it. i just don't know. why should this have to be something they vent to me about? it hurts, i don't know what to believe and i just don't know what to do. i'm lost, i just need to have someone here for me." you hug yourself slightly, "am i selfish?" you finally ask, voicing the thought that's been nagging you for months. it's silent for a moment. a car horn sounds in the distance, a dog barks, people call to each other in the street. below you, the street is dotted with tiny moving umbrellas, concealing people underneath their net of dry safety in mere splotches of yellow, black, pink from how high up you are. 
spider man's nudging you in the ribs softly, then, calling you back to your own body. "listen. i know selfish, okay? i'm the definition of it, but, uh..." 
"y/n." you sniffle. "-y/n. trust me, you're not selfish for wanting to be loved, to be cared for...it's, um..." he scratches the back of his head, and you briefly wonder what color his hair is. what texture, length, how he styles it. 
"you deserve good things to happen, and, uh, it's not selfish for you to be overwhelmed. you're going through stuff that people our age shouldn't go through. especially not alone."
"so you are my age?" you ask, sniffling. sensing him tense next to you, you brush it off. you kind of figured as much from his...immaturity. "and you - spiderman - think you're selfish? do you know how much of a paradox that statement is?" you jest, shaking your head. 
spiderman's head tilts back, and he laughs. it seems to surprise him almost as much as it surprises you, because he shakes his head, trying to stifle it quick. "you forget," he starts, his fingers tapping at the tight fabric on his thighs. "that i also have a life. i'm not just spiderman. so... yeah, maybe spiderman's not the most selfish person ever, but... i am. the real me." 
"you have to care a lot about people to want to do what you do." you say, feeling better after talking to someone and hearing his reassurance. "you're not always spiderman, but... y'now, spiderman is always you. i'd say that makes you a good person." you say simply. you sigh, heart still hurting.  you start with a deep breath, then a quiet, "you ever feel stuck? like..."
"like you're playing two people at once?" he finishes. you swallow, feeling oddly seen by this masked stranger. "yeah, spiderman." you say dejectedly. 
-
and that was the start of an odd, unlikely friendship between you and the masked stranger. he'd stop by your building almost every other day, even if for a few minutes, always to check in on you, to ask how your day was. it made your chest fill with butterflies and the air fill with your laughter. 
despite your new friendship, things at midtown sort of took a turn for the worse. 
it was just richie, really. your black eye was gone but richie seemed to be compensating for something every time he saw you - the person who used to be a challenging enemy turned into a malicious tormentor, who would comment on every single thing you do. it was driving you mad. 
you're just lucky richie doesn't know that you do all the school's photography somehow, or at least, doesn't remember, because he's gone the days that you take photos for the decathalon, the honor society, and the band. each time you asked, someone told you some lame excuse like, 'oh, tozier's at the orthodontist.' 
richie doesn't have braces, though. 
you can’t help but wonder why richie’s never there, why he’s always sneaking off, buying new backpacks... bruises on his eyes...
the last straw is when you and stan are just trying to finish this replacement lab to get a better grade, and richie's sitting at the end of the table with bill denbrough, the two of them playing paper football and laughing loudly like they're fourth graders. 
you resist the urge to beg stan to get his moronic friends away from you, knowing that it would just insult the boy and get you nowhere. 
so, with gritted teeth and a tight grip on your pen, you work in relative silence with stan while the two imbeciles chuckle at each other at the other end of the room, disturbing the quiet peace of the library. 
"so, y/l/n, you goin' to prom?" richie asks out of the blue, feigning innocence. you grip your pen tighter, knowing it's a trap. don't bite, y/n. don't bite. don't bite, don't bite, don't bite-  "it's a little soon to be thinking about prom." you say, trying to skirt around the issue. 
"it's okay, not everyone can get a date, you can still go with friends." he says, also trying to sound nonchalant. you snort, "like you could get a date either." 
bill laughs as he pulls out some homework, having finally decided to make good use of his time. "you can go together, then." bill mutters. stan huffs a laugh at that, too. "i have plans that night." you say immediately, eyes not leaving your paper as stan smirks at you in amusement. 
"no, yeah, y/n. let's go together." richie says, "i can meet the ol' pops and get to see your mom again. that reminds me, i can’t stop by to see her, so give her a big old kiss from me tonight, will ya?"  he asks with a wink. 
"is everything a joke to you?" you ask, trying to hide your irritation by acting bored. you ignore the feelings you get from his wink. 
"only funny things, doll." richie smiles, a crooked grin that, if you didn't know his personality, would make you swoon. it's suddenly no wonder to you why the people at this school always giggle and whisper and laugh with him; he's utterly gorgeous. 
"it's not your fault your mom likes me more than your dad." he jokes, chuckling to himself. "shut up, i'm trying to do homework." bill says, then promptly kicks him under the table, which you're grateful for because the pain that flashes across your face momentarily is concealed from richie's gaze as he winces and ducks down for a second. 
that shouldn't have hurt you because he's obviously just joking with you and doesn’t know, but since the tenseness in your house recently and the ugly divorce, things have just been extremely hard. you cannot stand his audacity; richie thinks he can say whatever he want and get excused because he's too damn pretty. you clench your fists. 
"y/n, i'll give you ten dollars to slap him." stan says, barely paying attention; a pen hangs from between his lips, brows furrowed as he works on your reassignment, eyes calculating. you think, for a moment, how nice it'd be to be real friends with stan. if not for richie. 
and for some reason, in that split moment, you don't think. you're pent up, angry at the world, at your teacher, at richie, at your parents, and because you can't be friends with stan because richie gets in the way of everything - and you whirl around, catching richie by surprise as you land a slap to his face that resonates throughout the whole library. a gasp sounds from somewhere behind you as the librarian startles out of her work. 
suddenly, four pairs of eyes are staring at you. 
you blink back, face feeling as warm as richie's red cheek looks. 
the librarian didn't hesitate to send you and richie to the principal's office, resulting in a suspension for you and richie alike, the two of you not meeting eyes in the waiting room outside the administrative offices. 
the subway trip and then consequential walk home was lonely, rainy, and dismal.
- - - 
besides your parents and your immediate friends, the only other person you told about the suspension was spiderman, when he came to see you on the roof that afternoon. you told him about richie, how you'd decked him for hitting a sore subject with you. 
"you know, he seems like a dick but... i bet he means well. i'm sure he does." is all spiderman had said, acting fidgety before leaving. despite that, it had still felt good to know you could trust him. 
the next monday at school is when you see richie again, face clean and clear of any evidence of your fist. 
you were walking home from school when you passed across the football field. he was with his friends on the turf, seemingly not getting on the subway yet. they're sprawled out, all seven of them, smoking cigarettes or playing a game of travel chess, one of them reading a book. there’s an empty can of coke, one of the glass bottles, filled with gross water and cigarette butts. stan sits with richie, beverly marsh laying with her head in his lap as she smokes, sunglasses red and blocking the sun. 
before you get too close, before they can notice, you snap a photo of them. they just look timeless. 
but then, as you put away your camera, richie sees you. you get ready for a fight; but what comes is just  sheffling feet and fingers fidgeting slightly. "y/n." he starts off with as he walks up to you, all by himself. 
you watch him, your own eyes flowing with guilt. "hey, richie." you say, trying to be better about controlling your attitude. "i wanted to say i'm sorry." he says, and you widen your eyes. he what?
"i sometimes don't know how to stop running my mouth, and i went too far. i usually do. and i'm sorry, i just want to start fresh." he says honestly. you swallow - something about his words, about the way he said selfish...
you shake your head, "no, i'm sorry too. i shouldn't have hit you." richie shrugs, "i deserved it, s’okay." 
it's quiet. 
"being friends is good." you say, shrugging. "as long as i can still tell you that i think you're acting like a three year old."  "as long as i still can act like one." he counters, grinning. and then he's shaking your hand and walking away. 
you feel better the rest of the day. 
- - - 
"you know, i'm a photographer." you whisper that same night in the dark.  "you are?" the boy in the suit next to you sounds genuinely shocked. you beam, "y-yeah, i actually got a few wicked shots of you from a few weeks ago."
"are you the one that's been selling my photos to all the papers?" he asks, and you laugh, head tilting toward the sky. "no, not me." he hums, a laugh escaping that doesn't sound like his usual voice he uses around you. you've accepted that spiderman's been hiding his identity and voice from you because you may recognize him. you've also decided that he's probably from midtown - but there are over seven thousand students at midtown, so chances are still slim. 
why is it that this boy, who you don't even know the name of, has captured your attention? why do you feel like kissing him all the time? 
“oh, here’s a shot i took.” you say, pulling out the photo you’d just finished developing in the dark room today. “couple days ago. i just finished developing it.” 
you show it to him, and you can’t tell his reaction at all. “it’s not really impressive, i just - they’re just some kids in my class, but... i don’t know, there’s something about them that i just really think should be made into art.” 
he’s quiet after that, but holds on to the photo hard enough that you’re worried it may wrinkle. 
“god, y/n-” he stops himself, voice cracking and nearing the closest you’ve ever heard it to being true to him. not the weird, batman garbage. 
“this is cool. you should- you should show them, i bet they’d like it.” 
you scoff, “no, they wouldn’t.” you take the photo back, fingers tracing richie’s face, the way his lips curl around a cigarette, the way his dark hair and eyebrows and eyelashes clash with his skin and clothes. you shake your head, “this is the boy i hit. when i got suspended. i don’t think he’d like this very much. probably call me a freak.” 
you meet his eyes - or, you suppose you do - and then his hand is hovering in front of your face, debating. you don’t dare move, and then he’s combing hair behind your ear, giving you chills that run down your spine.
you clear your throat, smiling softly as he moves his hand away.
spiderman doesn’t say much after that. 
it’s minutes until he speaks again. "shouldn't you be getting ready to leave?" he suddenly asks, and you sigh, beginning to pack up your things and gather your backpack. he follows you to the edge of the building and as you climb down the ladder to the fire escape, he webs himself and falls back, landing above you against the bricks when you stand up. 
you're nearly eye level now as he hangs upside down, listening to you rant. "-maybe i'll just walk to mary's place. it's not that far-" you cut yourself off as you're opening your window, eyes landing on the figure in your room, who looks just as confused as you. 
your eyes widen, "m-mom!" you say, alarmed as spiderman hangs next to you, just barely sealed from your mother's sight by the brick wall.
"is someone there with you, y/n?" she asks, tilting her head to get a look. you shake your head quickly, thankful that it's dark out and she can probably only see you, backlit by the lights from the alley below. she explains something about being unable to take you to your friend's house - and you nod along, willing for her to just leave. "that's okay, mom. i can take the subway." you say honestly. it's harder to drive around here, anyways. 
she finally leaves, and you let out a breath, unsure as to how she'd react to know you were with spiderman on the roof. you let out a small laugh, and so does he. 
"well, walking will be fine. she's just paranoid, and plus - i have you." you say, joking as you nudge his shoulder. but instead of laughing or going off the joke as he usually would, spiderman hums in agreement. 
"no matter what, you'll be safe. i promise." spiderman says from where he hangs upside down from the top edge of your fire escape, face almost level with yours. that makes your heart skip a beat, his words swirling around your stomach in a warm pool of comfort. 
you smile, "okay." you whisper. you believe it. 
then, before you slip into your window and he slips out into the night, you turn to him. you can only hope he's looking at you, the mask always leaving it to speculation.
 "can i try something? just once?" you ask, heart hammering in your chest as you step closer to him. he hesitates, and you wonder if he's biting his lips, or his cheek; if his eyes are wide or narrowed in thought. you wonder, for the thousandth time, what he looks like.
but eventually, it comes. "yes," he whispers.
gently, your fingertips find the edge of his mask down near his neck, and in the barely lit up corner of your fire escape you start to peel away his mask, revealing just his jaw, chin, and lips. goosebumps appear on his soft skin in the wake of your touch. 
you feel butterflies. 
his pale white skin reflects off the moonlight slightly, his jawline sharp as your fingers find their way across his skin, his mouth parting to take in a breath, lips full and red in the darkness. you wish you recognized these lips. 
in fact, a voice somewhere in you screams that you wish it was richie's lips. you abolish that thought before you have time to think about it.
you can tell he's nervous, but you don't know if it's because he doesn't trust you and thinks you're going to whip off his mask, or because he knows what you're about to do. you're pulled toward him by an invisible force, the kind that wishes and hopes and needs you to be closer to him, whoever he is. 
his jaw is structured and you feel it clench slightly under your hand as you cup his cheeks, barely raising on your tip toes as you near his upside-down face. you're not sure if he's breathing but, honestly, you know you aren't either. you just have to do this. so you close the gap. 
his lips are plush and less chapped than you'd expected, his presence warm and protecting and exuding bashfulness yet somehow also emanating confidence. he rises almost as the tide does at your grandma's old house in the east, tilting his head as your nose brushes against the skin on the side of his jaw. 
richie’s face flashes behind your closed eyes, and it makes you take in a sharp breath, realizing that yes, okay, maybe you do want to kiss richie. but you're not - you're kissing spiderman. you feel light, butterflies thrashing around. 
his hand, covered by his mesh suit's fabric, falls to the nape of your neck, upside down so his thumb rests right on the soft of your throat, where your heart thumps hard and quick against him. 
you swear you've never felt more like you're flying. you pull away after a few moments, your face burning even with the slight breeze. his hand stays on your neck for a split moment and then he lets it drop, returning to hold his web that keeps him suspended.
you watch with a small, shy smile as he bites his lip, containing what could only be the most beautiful smile you would ever see. you frown for a moment as you get that inkling again that you should know him. 
"please, what's your name?" you finally ask again. he had to trust you, right? you've had countless opportunities to pry, to rip his mask off, to find out yourself. but you want him to trust you with it, to want to tell you. 
his smile slowly fades, and yours does too. "can't you just tell me your name?" you whisper in desperate frustration. 
his mouth opens, then closes as if he decided against it. carefully, one hand pulls his mask back over his lips, concealing him once again as spiderman. the boy you finally knew for a mere minute is gone, probably forever. "i can't. i wish i could." 
"well, okay." you say, feeling heartbroken and frustrated. angry.  
"okay." it almost gets swallowed up by the breeze as you shut your window behind you. he's gone, swinging across streets and over buildings in the distance by the time you wipe your eyes of the tears. 
- - - -
you don't see spiderman the next week. 
it seems as though only knowing spiderman for a little longer than a month and suddenly not seeing him took more of a toll on you than you'd expected; you watch yourself go through the motions of each day with no complaint, barely any words, the world around you boring.
wake up, get ready, drink a breakfast shake, late for class, leave school, homework, wait on the rooftop for your friend who you know will never show. dinner. back on the rooftop. go to bed. 
you're about to leave school on friday when it hits you, the thing that has been missing from your regular school routine. and for some reason, not having been able to see him is just as painful as not seeing spiderman. 
richie. 
you don't know why you're feeling so emotional - or maybe it's just because as much as you hate each other, the fun rivalry you keep alive with him is what gets you through life at midtown. he keeps you on your toes. 
so you seek him out for what may be the first time in your life, just to find him out back on the turf in his usual spot with all his friends. 
"tozier." you call, halting all conversation with his group of losers as they cease their talking, staring up at you with seven pairs of owl eyes. you have no clue why you're nearly in tears. maybe, in an odd way, he's a replacement, a surrogate. for a friend that you'll never see again. and you're furious at both of them.
"where the fuck have you been?" you ask. 
you watch in slight surprise as the color drains from his face, eyes widening in shock. you didn't expect him to have this reaction, in fact - you came here to pick a fight, to get the opposite of... this. richie looks as if he's been caught in the biggest lie of his life, and it's unsettling. 
he seems to shake off whatever the fuck that emotion was he just had as he stutters, "what-what do you mean?" 
you scowl at him, " did you just give up? that easy, huh? i thought you were better than that." 
richie, for a split second, looks like he might get sick, or cry. it just makes you more confused and, for some reason, more angry. for no reason. "y/n, how did you find-" 
"it's been silent in the halls, tozier. i don't know if i should be thankful or weirded out that you decided to mature overnight. you being nice to me, not being a freak... it's weird, but it's... when i said i was done with your shit and you asked to be friends, i didn't mean that i wanted you to ignore me." 
he blinks his owlish eyes at you, "OH." he states loudly, pressing his fingers to his temples as he shakes his head, "christ, i thought- nevermind. you missed me that much, doll?" he tries to ease back into his teasing attitude but you can tell it's forced. and you don't know why. his friends suddenly all look relieved too, as if they know something big that you don't. 
"forget it. this was so stupid." you mutter, walking past them briskly, barely even catching stan's eye. you don't cry until you get on the subway. 
that night, you almost didn't go up onto the roof. 
why should you? spiderman wasn't your friend anymore, he clearly got scared away when you kissed, or when you asked him who he was. it hurts, you think as you look at the dark skyline of queens, it hurts that he won't trust you with something as simple as a name. 
but you're still up there, staring at the cloudless sky and thinking of the taste of those lips as a whoosh, thud and a groan jolt you from your tranquil misery. 
you don't believe your eyes at first, but when the figure stumbles toward you, arm reaching to its neck, you definitely recognize him. "h-hey?" you say nervously, squinting against the dying light to try and see why spiderman's bent like that, stumbling to you, until he falls nearly at your feet. 
you gasp as you get a closer look; it's hard to see with the red of his suit, but he's got a fair blood stain coming out of his neck area, a slash through the neck that leads towards the collarbone. it's not fatal, and probably won't need stitches, but it sure looks like he's in a lot of pain. 
"y-your neck is bleeding." you say, eyes wide in a panic, "are-are you, do i need to get you to a hospital?" you rush, heart thumping. the boy shakes his head, though that clearly causes him pain. "my wounds- they'll regenerate quick enough. do you-do you have bandages?" he asks, and you nod aggressively, running a hand through your hair. "yes, let's go to my room." you say, trying to stay as calm as he is. with a lot of effort and sharp cries of pain, you finally make it into your room through the window on the fire escape, gently helping spiderman to your bed. 
you allow yourself ten seconds in your bathroom to gather your breaths and thoughts before taking the first aid kit and rushing back to the bleeding boy, whose name is still a mystery. 
your hands are shaking as you undo the box, and his hands suddenly fall against yours and squeeze. you look to him then, willing for the tears of fear to dry up and go away. "it's okay." he says, and then you feel even more rotten because spiderman is hurt in your bed and you're still making him comfort you. 
"no-i know. you just surprised me, is all." you trail off, pulling your hands from his to pull out antiseptic ointment, cleaning wipes and swabs. "what- um, what happened?" 
"mugging, guy had a knife. i was trying to get the purse from his hands and he slashed me. it's really not-" he coughs a bit, a fresh squeeze of blood seeping into the fabric. "-not bad. honest." 
you shake your head, looking at him. "i have to take off your mask." you say solemnly. "or else it'll get bad. infected, or- heal into the mask." 
he nods lightly, "i know." is all he says. his voices is laced with nerves. 
your hands are still shaky when you reach to pull up the mask. he makes no attempt to move except to shift himself on your bedspread. you slowly peel the mask, eyes focused on the wound and not on the boy's face. but then, you can't help it. when the mask slips off, the boy's eyes are screwed tight. 
but your breath catches in your throat when you take in his face. 
it's richie. 
of course it is. you press your lips together, forcing yourself to focus on his wound and not all the thoughts swirling in your mind. you don’t talk to each other, one out of anger and one out of pain, and he grips your arm, hand warm on your skin.
you can barely focus as you go to work on his wound, but you’re glad that by the time you’re almost finished, your anger has ebbed away and you’re strangely calm. 
you don't meet eyes until you've got his cut cleaned out and you're satisfied it won't get infected. his eyes are nervous, anxious, scared. yours are surprisingly calm, and almost emotionless. 
"hi, doll." he says, eyes no longer screwed shut, neither out of pain nor anxiety over revealing his identity. 
"do your friends know?" is all you ask. he gives you a curt not as you shakily wrap the gauze around the nape of his neck, figuring a bandaid would come right off. his hand falls from your arm as you move it around his head. 
"i had all them, but i wanted to see you." 
his words send warm waves through your body and you bite your lip.
"why didn't you tell me? the other night?" you ask shortly, knowing that fighting won't get you anywhere. 
“look, i’m sorry that i didn’t tell you, i really am. but slipping the fact that i developed spider-like superhuman abilities into an ‘are we friends or do we hate each other’ conversation is pretty fuckin' difficult.” he defends. 
you nod, because, after consideration, you think you would have probably done the same. "okay. if your friends know, why didn't you..."  you don't know how to phrase it. 
"why didn't i go to one of them?" he sighs, sitting up as you finish clasping the gauze. he rubs his eyes and you realize you're not used to him without glasses - does he even need those anymore? his eyes are so blue, so warm. his eyelashes are long. 
"i missed you. or, i - i don't know, i just... i needed to show you. to tell you. i was afraid to put you in danger but you deserve to know.” he says, honestly.  
you hum, flicking a piece of rubble from his shoulder and then using that as an excuse to run your hands over the material there, feeling his muscles under your touch. "and you had to get stabbed to work up the courage?" you tease. 
he beams, despite himself. and it's beautiful. 
"how else could i get your attention, doll? i tried everything else." 
you shake your head, huffing a bit. "can't believe you let me kiss you." you bury your face in your hands, feeling hot and embarrassed. "i'm sorry you had to do that." you squeak out, mortified. 
it's quiet, and then, "i would do it again." 
you look at him, from where you sit - both so close, almost touching... his breath almost hits your face. "really?" he looks at you like you've grown three heads. "yes." he deadpans, "obviously. why else could i have been spending so much time with you?" 
you laugh, tilting your head back. "so you only want me for my lips?" you joke even though you're nervous. richie groans, hands tangling in his nest of windswept curls. it's charming and it makes your stomach flutter. 
"y/n, don't make this so hard." he begs. unable to help yourself, you perk up, "that's what she said-" you start, but then richie kisses you for the second time. 
he's nearly crashing into you, lips finding yours desperately through his own smile of disbelief - that you'd said that, or that he's kissing you? you don't care as you kiss back, hands finding purchase on his chest or in his hair. 
then he's regaining his strength as your tongue finds his and he nudges you over, rolling so he lays above you. you pull him between your hips as he bites your lip gently and then moves on to kiss your neck, filling you with heat and butterflies. 
"i'm sorry i didn't tell you sooner." he whispers into the shell of your ear as he bites a soft mark on your upper throat, and you sigh. "god, it-it's fine-" 
but then it's too late, because your bedroom door flies open.
startled,  you and richie break apart, eyes wide and lips bruised; blood staining his spiderman suit as he lays on top of you, your legs fastened around his hips and your hands tinged with his blood and sweat, both of you breathing wildly. 
your mom stands in front of you, eyes wide and mouth agape in near horror - spiderman in bed with you. "hello, ma'am." richie breathes out and you resist the urge to smother yourself with a pillow. 
"just... keeping your daughter safe, y'know, friendly neighborhood spiderman."
 tag list: @gabiatthedisco  @blisshemmings​ @stenbrozier​  @sft-core @clownsloveyou​  @moon-shine-baby​  @daughter-of-the-stars11   @trashedfortozier​ @oceandog13​ @chl0bee​  @kait16xo @upamongthestarss​ @fiantomartell @beverlyparkerr @beauregard-s @diorbubs @leighjaenikhowell @cowbellies @deepestofwaters @melinda-hargreeves @sassy-uris @loverloserrr @hauntingkaspbrak @soph-ec @hockslutter @babytortie @decafcoffeew @etaerealboy ​
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joontier · 3 years
Text
Subliminal in Scrubs | V2; report xiii
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pairings: dr. jeon jungkook x female reader
chapter rating: NC-17 | genre: humor, workplace relationships
warnings: swearing 
word count: 1.8k
g/n: decided on a bit of a filler for this one as a sort of prelude to future scenes 👀👀 ((likewise manifesting my plan to post another chapter this week))
[taglist]:  @nottodayjjk @ditttiii @zeharilisharaban @btsbunny07 @turquoiseandplaidinautumn @aamxxrii @codeinebelle @btsmakesmehappy @stargukkie @moonchild1​
Subliminal in Scrubs (the records) |  navi. | m.list
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Jungkook locks his apartment door behind him, jiggling the doorknob afterwards for ‘double security’ as one would usually call it. He grabs his backpack from the floor and places one of the straps on his shoulders and heads on his way. As he passes by two of his neighbors who live in the same floor, he nods at them, adding a brief hum in greeting. 
“Hey man!” One of the men, Jikwang (as what Jungkook believes this man’s name was), calls out just before Jungkook reaches the elevator. “There was this hot girl asking about you last night.” 
Jungkook raises a brow. He hadn’t really met anyone recently, besides that one cute law student who was looking for a new tenant - and eventually turned out to be your neighbor this whole time. She was cute and all, but she didn’t seem like the type that was ‘hot’ to these types of people. 
Jungkook racks his brain for anything, trying to remember the very few number of his one night stands.Surely,none of them would have gotten pregnant with protection on….surely? On top of that, he hadn’t really disclosed his address to a lot of people too, so there was no way someone would be looking for him, all the more a “hot” woman,as these two would claim. 
“Did she say what her name was?” 
The one beside Jikwang shakes his head, adjusting his beanie. He’d seen this dude a couple of times hanging around, but he never actually got his name.  “Nah bro, I don’t think you’re the commitment type of dude…” he comments, dark eyes looking at Jungkook from his head down to his toe. Who was this guy anyways and who was he to judge whether Jungkook was the type to enter a committed relationship or not? 
“She just...looked rich, rich. She had a driver... who helped her come down from a nice Benz.” 
Jungkook feels his heart drop to the ground. No way in hell. 
“I think her name was Hee something...Junghwa? I dunno man, I’m not good with names. But it sounds similar to that…” 
“Was it Junghee?” 
“Yeah I think that’s it…” bonnet-dude replies, tapping a finger against his chin as he approaches Jungkook. “You think maybe you can set me up? With you know…” 
Jikwang knocks the back of bonnet-man’s head. “I got dibs first, shithead. “If she’s not already yours though,” he adds, delivering a wink aimed at Jungkook. “Her friends will do.” 
Jungkook squints his eyes at the duo. “No. She’s my sister. And she doesn’t have any friends.” A chill courses through his spine as he replies, wondering how she managed to find out where he lived, and why would she even reach out? Why now, when she had so many years to do so? 
Beanie guy simply laughs at him - if it was even considered laughing, when he was practically splitting his sides with laughter - like the thought of having a sister was hilarious to him. “You’re real funny, man. There is no...way...in hell… that that lady was your sister.” 
Ah yes, this man is a health vice personified. Jungkook notes the discoloration of his teeth, the god-awful odor coming from his mouth, and they both reek of alcohol and drugs combined. From a safe distance, Jungkook watches their amusement over the subject that is his sister, thinking about why he even indulged these two in the first place. For all he knows, they might have been shitting on him the whole time. 
“Sorry man. I mean...she’s rich and hot… and you?” Jikwang shrugs his shoulders. 
‘And he?’ What about him? 
What the hell was that supposed to mean? 
Jungkook clicks his tongue silently, clearly taking full offense with Jikwang’s statement. Did they just imply he didn’t look rich and hot too? Well, compared to them though, they’ll obviously have way longer to go. 
Jungkook blinks before equally returning their level of disbelief. “For real, bro?” These men diss him, won’t believe he has a sister whose aura dwarfs his by a million percent, and now they want him to set up a date with her? He shakes his head. Only crooks like these would say insane shit like this. 
If only this wasn’t the cheapest and most convenient apartment he could find to accommodate his daily hustle, Jungkook would have moved out of this crap excuse of an apartment building a long time ago. 
“Keep dreaming man.” 
“Hey, this is what I get for selling you my bike for a good price?” Jikwang eyes Jungkook, taunting him. 
“I owe you nothing. I paid for it ages ago.” Jungkook turns on his heel, leaving the two in the crusty ass corridor of their apartment building. He needs to get a new place. Quickly. 
With a sigh, he pulls on his down jacket, keeping himself warm as he walks to the garage. 
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‘King Auto’ 
There’s a certain warmth that envelops Jungkook whenever he sees the garage, a place he’d rather call home than his terrible apartment building. It sits right at the corner of two busy streets, just six blocks away from his apartment. 
Funnily enough, it wasn’t him who first found out about the garage but the other way around. Well, technically, the owner did. Lee Dongmin, owner and manager of ‘King Auto’ repairs and restores almost all types of cars and bikes alike, occasionally servicing high-end cars on lucky days. 
Dongmin would usually see Jungkook pass by the garage in the morning on his way to the university or his part-time job.Well, being located at a busy street in the city of Seoul, there would normally be a lot of passersby but Dongmin knew these people either worked or lived around the area; Jungkook, however, always lingered when he walks past the garage. 
It had come to Dongmin’s knowledge a few months later that Jungkook purposefully used a longer route on his way, walking two extra blocks just so that he could pass by the garage. Dongmin hadn’t initially done anything about it, as he thought Jungkook simply took interest in cars - especially when the shop had its fair share of servicing cars from the western market. 
There was this particular day though one summer, that their paths would finally cross. Jungkook’s bike, the same bike he bought from sketchy Jikwang, broke down. Coincidentally just in front of King Auto too. Funnily enough, no one in the garage was familiar with fixing up bikes, but Jungkook simply asked if he could borrow a few tools and he’d fix his bike himself. 
Ultimately, Jungkook became part of the King Auto family. He’d spend his spare time in the garage when he’s not busy with his part-time jobs and on occasion, Jungkook gets to keep a tiny commission whenever he helps out with the repairs. 
Jungkook goes through the front door greeting the new receptionist, Clark, a good morning before heading straight to the garage. Jungkook spots a familiar shade of blue peeking through the scissor lifts, just by the end row. He practically dashes to the car in excitement, too thrilled to greet his favorite car he had worked on previously. 
“My baby!” The boy exclaims as he rests his chin on the Porsche Panamera’s roof. “Kook! Get your hands off that! I just had it cleaned!” gruffs Mansik from the other side of the car, flinging his towel at Jungkook who mumbles a sorry but continues to cradle the car, a little more gently this time. 
“If you continue doing that, you know a towel isn’t the only thing Mansik is going to throw at you.” Lee Dongmin’s voice is low, careful that the man he’s referring to won’t hear his words. “I’m glad he hasn’t resorted to tools yet...just a couple of smelly socks and a t-shirt that smells like it hasn’t been washed for months... “ 
“Fuckers.” True to Jungkook’s foreboding, Mansik does throw a sock ball from out of nowhere, one which barely misses Jungkook’s face. Dongmin simply shakes his head at his workers, who he has considered family at this point, Jungkook included. “I’m just glad none of that fell into my first coffee of the day.” Dongmin observes, drawing himself father from the Porsche and any flying objects later on. 
“By the way, the owner is actually here to pick up the car. I may or may not have mentioned your infatuation with it.” 
Jungkook almost instantly jumps to his feet, searching for the owner inside the garage, but disappointingly ending up with all the familiar faces at the garage. “Chill, kid. He just grabbed some coffee down the street,” Dongmin mentions as he takes a sip of his own. “Ah, speaking of the devil,” the latter states, nodding his head towards someone behind Jungkook. 
“Seokjin-sunbaenim?” 
“Oh hey! Wasn’t expecting to see you here...Jungkook, right?” 
“Yes sir!” Jungkook’s pupils shake, animatedly looking back and forth between the garage owner and his upper-level resident. “So...you’re the one who owns this Porsche?” Seokjin raises his cup, adding a small nod in Jungkook’s direction. He internalizes his excitement, before confessing his love for Seokjin’s Panamera. 
“And so, Dongmin here mentioned. Also said you were the one who fixed her up. Thanks man!” 
Dongmin looks at the two of them, eyebrows creased in the middle. “You two know each other?” 
“Seokjin-sunbaenim is a senior of mine at Woocheon.” Seemingly shellshocked at the new piece of information, Dongmin turns to Seokjin, “You’re a doctor?” The owner of the Porsche rolls his eyes fondly, “Yes, Dongmin. We can have lives outside the hospital too, you know.” 
“Anyways, ‘Mera’s ready to go yeah?” 
“Of course. Kook fixed it up just fine.” 
“Alright. Got a shift today man? Need a ride to the hospital?” 
Jungkook is tempted to give in, but merely fixing Seokjin’s car is enough honor for him and he can’t take advantage of his generosity. “No thank you, sunbae. I’ve already got a ride to work today.” Jungkook points to his bike on the other side of the garage. 
Seokjin tuts his disbelief. “You’re kidding me right? In this weather?” The older doctor points outside, then rubs his palm against his down coat. “No way in hell, kid. Get in the car.” 
“Really?” Jungkook mumbles, dimple on display as his lips form a thin line. Seokjin makes a hum of approval as he takes off his jacket while Jungkook dashes back to where he’d left his backpack. “He’s a good kid, Jungkook. Can be a bit of a delinquent sometimes, but he’s good. Take care of him, yeah?” 
“Huh,” Seokjin smirks, “this handsome face got nothing he can’t handle.” Dongmin rolls his eyes this time, “Seriously doubt we’re the same age honestly.” 
Jungkook returns to where the Porsche is parked, and Seokjin gets a spur-of-the-moment idea. The surgical resident throws his keys to Jungkook before settling inside the passenger seat. Jungkook, surprised as ever, simply stands there in surprise. “Well?” Seokjin asks, ducking towards the dashboard so he could take a look at Jungkook, “We’re gonna be late!” 
© joontier 2021
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avengerscompound · 3 years
Text
The Tower: Happily Ever After - 2
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The Tower: Happily Ever After An Avengers Fanfic
Series Masterlist | Character Refrence PREVIOUS //
Pairing:  Avengers x OFC, Bruce Banner x Bucky Barnes x Clint Barton x Wanda Maximoff x Steve Rogers x Natasha Romanoff x Tony Stark x Thor x Sam Wilson x OFC (Elly Cooper)
Word Count: 1849
Warnings:  Pregnancy and minor language on chapter.
Synopsis: Almost 40 years after Elise Cooper first crashed into Natasha Romanoff outside the library at Columbia University, she and the Avengers are adapting to a near-immortal life together with their large brood of children.  Yet things aren’t perfect.  Life is moving on without them and they’re starting to discover who isolating being immortal can be.When Angela comes and asks Thor to take the throne of Asgard once more, the group leaves Earth in the hopes that they will find their Happily Ever After there.
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Chapter 2: Anger Issues
When Marya returned home from school that day we were all ready to meet her.  Marya was sixteen years old, a little taller than I was, with dark hair and light brown eyes - just like Bruce.  Those weren’t the only things she’d inherited from her biological father.  She was extremely intelligent and had been skipped ahead a grade in school.  There had been talk about skipping her ahead more than that, but it wasn’t something encouraged in schools due to the strain it has on children’s emotional and social development.  So instead she was finishing up high school with her peer group while taking college courses as electives.
She also had her own little green problem.
Her powers worked differently from Bruce’s.  She could turn into a hulk, and that transformation could be triggered by extreme negative emotions - not just anger, but when she was really sad or anxious too.  Unlike Bruce though, she never had to worry about sharing her body with another person.  When she changed she was always herself and generally she had such precision control over the transformation that she could do it on command, much as Bruce could after the bonding ceremony all those years ago.
She looked around suspiciously at us as we called her over to the couches by the large window, typically the place where we had family meetings.  It was usually where we spoke to the kids if they had done something they probably shouldn’t have.  We took an approach with our parenting where they didn’t usually get in trouble for misbehaving.  Rather we tried to think of a real-world consequence for what they’d done.  For example, if they were fighting they had to sit down and listen to each other’s grievances and then work out a way to both come to an understanding about how the other feels and try to make each other feel better.  It didn’t always work, but we figured it was better than arbitrarily making them go sit in the corner.  So it made sense that she’d think she was in trouble for something.
“What’d I do?”  She asked, dropping her backpack on the ground while she stood looking at her gathered parents.
“Why don’t you tell us?”  Sam teased.  “And we’ll tell you if that’s it.”
“I’m not falling for that,” Marya snarked, folding her arms across her chest.
“Honey, sit down,” Steve said, gently.  “You’re not in trouble.  We just need to tell you something.”
Marya sat down carefully, looking at everyone with deep suspicion.  “Is someone else pregnant?  Are you trying to populate Earth with just our family?”
“No,” Clint laughed.  “What the hell?”
I rolled my eyes.  “Honestly, honey, I sometimes think the same thing,” I said.  “But that’s not what this is.”
“Your Aunt Angela came to visit today,” Steve explained.  “She’s giving up the throne of Asgard.”
“Does that mean Riley’s going to be queen?”  Marya asked, looking over at Thor.  “I can’t believe my sister’s going to be the queen of a whole other planet.”
Thor shook his head.  “Riley is still too young to rule by Asgardian standards.  My people - our people - would consider that the equivalent of having Zak as their king.  I have to step up and take the lead.”
“Which means, we are moving to Asgard,” Steve finished.  “I know that...”
“What?”  Marya yelped, interrupting Steve as she blinked at us.  “When?”
“Within the month,” Steve said.
“But I have school!”  Marya shouted.  Her fists clenched and she started to turn green at the edges.  “And what about my friends?  You can’t just take me away from everyone I ever knew!”
“Mar,” Bruce said, gently.  “Deep breath.  Get that under control.”
“Don’t tell me how to feel!”  Marya shouted, slamming her hands on the coffee table and sending a large crack through the heavy wood.  I jumped a little, startled at her violent reaction, and the green started to creep into her arms starting at her hands, making her muscles swell and double in size.
Sam moved forward and crouched in front of his daughter, taking both her hands in his and looking into her eyes.  “Marya,” Sam said with a gentle yet commanding tone.  “I know you’re upset, but you need to talk about this rationally.  If you can’t talk about it, you’re gonna have to go to your room to cool off first.”
She started crying and pulled her hands out of his.  “It’s not fair!” She cried.  “I don’t even get a say about whether or not you take me away from my friends.  My whole goddamn planet?”
“Honey,” Steve said, wrapping his arm around Marya’s shoulders.  “I know this is tough.  I really do.  But we’re partially doing it for you.”
“I don’t see how taking me from my friends is somehow supposed to be good for me,” she grumbled.
“Alright, kid,” Natasha said.  “I’m going to give you some harsh truths here.  You’re going to lose them anyway.  Maybe not all of them anytime soon, but the ones you would have kept in your life you’d have had to watch age and die.  Just like we all have done and are with our friends and family.  We want to save you what’s happening with Rose.  We don’t want you to have to fall in love and then watch them fade out while you’re stuck looking like you can’t buy a beer.”
Marya started crying harder and fell into Steve’s side and Wanda glared at Natasha.  “You didn’t have to be so harsh,” Wanda snapped.
“Well babying her wasn’t doing it either,” Natasha argued.  “She needs to hear it.  She might not like it, but going to Asgard is what’s best for her.”
“Can’t I even finish school?”  Marya begged.  “I could stay with Eddie - or Rose.  Or one of my friends.  And then… then I’ll come.”
“There will be school for you on Asgard,” Thor said.  “And it will teach you things that far outreach anything any of you have learned on Midgard.  Riley and Pietro both attend and they learn of the world tree, and alien languages, advanced mathematics, and magic.  You are already holding yourself back to fit in, daughter.  You would never have to hide any part of you in Asgard.  Not your intelligence, and not this -” he tapped her arm where it was still tinged with green.
“And I’ll make it so you can talk to your friends here.  We’ll set up a line of communication,” Tony added.  “Don’t worry.  I’ll make sure my kids don’t go without Tumblr and Instagram.  Imagine how many followers you’ll get posting selfies in Asgard.”
“I already have a tonne of followers, dad,” Marya sniffed.  “I’m a Skjodbærer.”
“Yes, you are,” Tony said.  “And don’t you forget it.  The whole universe is yours.”
“We’ll make sure we come back to visit,” I said.  “We all still have friends here, and places we like to spend our time.”
“Yeah, who’s going to annoy Katie-Kate if I’m not around?”  Clint joked.
Marya let out a small laugh that was still more tears than actual laughter.  “I’m sure she’d hate not being annoyed by you.”
“Yeah, that’s right,” Clint said and patted Marya on the thigh.
“We aren’t doing this to punish you, Mar,” Sam soothed.  “I promise.  We’ve all been talking about this for a long time, and we were going to wait, but your dad can’t anymore.  He has to go and rule his kingdom.  And sometimes we have to give up what we want to do for what we need to.”
Marya let out a long slow breath and nodded.  “I know.  I know, dad.  They’re still my friends though and I’m still sad about it.”
“I know,” Wanda said.  “Being sad is normal.”
“Can I have a goodbye party?”  Marya asked.
“Look who you’re talking to,” Tony teased.  “The biggest.”
She sat silently for a moment and nodded again.  “If I really hate it, can I come back again?”
“You need to give it a proper chance,” Steve said.
“I will,” she assured him.  “I just… I don’t…”
“If you really hate it, you can come back,” I said, cutting Steve off before he had a chance to reply.  “We won’t like it, but our kids being happy and healthy is the thing we want most.  We just think… in the long run, this is the best option for that.”
“I know,” Marya said.  She looked around at anyone and kicked at her bag.  “Can I go now?”
“One thing first,” Steve said, tapping the table where she cracked it.  “What are we going to do about this?”
Marya sighed and looked at it.  “I’m sorry,” she said.
“And…?”  Steve pressed.
“And… I’ll go see if I can find someone who can repair it.  If I can’t, I’ll shop for a suitable replacement.  And… and I’ll volunteer at the soup kitchen for the Sundays before we leave as a stand-in for the fact I don’t need to earn money to pay for these things.”
“Good girl,” Steve said.  “Dinner will be at 6.30.”
Marya stood up and grabbed her back.  “Okay.”
“Marya,” I said.  “We love you.”
She smiled a little and nodded.  “I love you all too.”
We watched her disappear up the stairs and Bruce sat back and ran his palms over his scalp.  “I really need to help her deal with her anger.”
Bucky patted his arm.  “It’s usual teen stuff.  We’ve seen it before -” he gestured to me “- we’ll see it again.”
“Yeah, but when any of the others got upset we didn’t have to worry about them breaking the building,” Bruce said.
“Umm… do I need to remind you about that tantrum Riley had that meant we had to remodel her room,” I said.
Bruce chuckled and nodded.  “Right.  I guess.”
“It won’t hurt to work with her more,” Sam said.  “But don’t think that her having a temper is on you.  She’s hyper-intelligent and smart kids often deal with anxiety because they’re always thinking ten steps ahead about all the potential terrible outcomes.”
“Tell me about it,” Tony snarked.
“Yes, Tony, you’re a genius, we all know,” Bucky teased.
“I do not like that I am the reason for her distress,” Thor said.  “We could always go back to how it was before Angela took the throne.”
“And barely get to see you?”  Clint said.  “I don’t fuckin’ think so.”
“That’s not going to happen, Thor,” Steve said.  “We’ve been talking about this for a while.  It’s time.  Sometimes kids have to move because their parents are.  It’s not fun for them.  But she will adapt and it is better it happens sooner than for her to fall into this society's expectations for when she should be doing things.”
Thor nodded, though he didn’t look completely convinced.  
“Alright,” Clint said, clapping his hands.  “Enough about moody teenagers.  We have a lot to work out.”
“It’s going to be a big change,” I said.  “But we’ve gotten really good at those, and in my experience, they always worked out for the best.”
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// NEXT
73 notes · View notes
avnkin · 4 years
Text
THE BET ( jj maybank. )
Chapter 8 - Intoxicating
word count: 2k
warnings: mentions of sex, foul language, alcohol & the usual dash of angst
author’s note: it’s been a while but i’m getting my inspo back finally lmao hope you enjoy this chapter gif is by @heapass also veins oml
series masterlist
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You and JJ hadn’t spoken a word to each other after what had happened. You’d just laid silently in his bed, listening to each other’s heavy breaths as you got your heartbeat to slow down from your previous endeavours.
“So what does this mean?” JJ was the first to break the silence as he rolled over to look up at you.
“Uh- i’m not sure, do you want this to mean something?” you hesitantly asked moving down a little so you were at eye level with each other.
“Yeah I do, but I think I may need some time to get over you and Rafe- I just can’t get the image of you two together out of my head”
That sentence made your blood boil, even if you wanted to get back together you weren’t about to let him blame you for everything that went wrong in your relationship.
“JJ are you being serious right now? It’s not like I cheated on you, we were broken up when I kissed Rafe!” you chided getting out of the bed, covering your naked body with his bed sheets.
“I don’t care and I wouldn’t have minded it as much if it had been anyone but Rafe! He’s made all of our lives living hells for the last year- I mean he nearly cost Pope his job! So it’s not because you made out with someone it’s who it was with!” JJ snapped back getting out of bed after you, quickly pulling on his boxers.
“You’re such an asshole! I don’t even know how I thought of getting back together with you!” you retorted hastily walking around the room in an attempt to find your clothes.
Once you finally managed to get fully dressed you went to unlock the door but JJ pulled you back before you could leave.
You quickly snatched your hand out of his grasp not giving him a chance to talk “give me a call once you’ve decided to stop being a self absorbed asshole” you grumbled slamming his bedroom door shut in his face.
You stormed out of the chateau still adjusting your clothes, when Kiara pulled into the driveway with Pope and John B, perfect timing.
“Hey-“ Pope started but was cut off by you crashing into his shoulder as you stormed past your three clueless friends.
“What was that about” Pope questioned turning to Kiara and John B who stood there, bewildered at your sudden outburst.
“Fuck” Kiara mumbled once she remembered the reason you’d been here in the first place, practically running into the chateau to find JJ.
“What the hell happened!?” Kiara shrieked as she pushed open the door into JJ’s room who just shook his head and let himself fall down onto his mattress.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about” he shrugged her off not bothering to look up at her.
“Don’t give me that bullshit JJ, I drove Y/N here earlier so you two could make up and then I see her practically crying running out of here so what happened!”
“It didn’t work out alright! We’re not getting back together and we’re not gonna be friends again, okay!?”
“was that your decision or hers?” Kiara countered.
“Hers! or- I mean I just told her that it would take time to get over the thing with Rafe and she just lost it!”
“JJ are you kidding me? You dated her for a bet and she was able to forgive you for that and you’ve got the audacity to be mad at her for something she did when you were broken up! Come on JJ you’re better than that”
“But its Rafe-“ Kiara quickly cut him off.
“I know! Do you think I like the fact she chose him of all guys to be with? But she was hurting because she thought that the guy she really wanted was only with her for money, you both need to sort your shit out because this is getting really tiring for all of us” she spoke gesturing towards her, Pope and John B who stood in silence behind her clearly taken aback by her words.
JJ scoffed not bothering to respond simply pulling a shirt over his head and walking past the three pogues towards the front door.
“You’re just gonna leave?” Kiara chided following after him “yeah I am” he replied coldly before slamming the door shut in her face.
Tears were furiously running down your cheeks as you walked the road down the cut that lead to figure 8.
Deciding to walk home maybe hadn’t been the brightest idea you had, it was so hot you thought you were going to pass out but you refused to spend another minute with JJ.
A sudden honk from behind you made you jerk around, only picking up your pace when you saw Wards all to familiar jet black Range Rover, not needing to guess twice as to who was sat in the drivers seat.
“Y/N?” Rafe leaned out the window as he pressed on the break just enough so he was able to drive alongside you.
“Go away” you replied curtly beginning to walk even faster although you knew your chances of outrunning a car were not in your favor.
“Come on Y/N let me drive you home you’re gonna melt out here in this heat” he sounded sincere his eyebrows contorting, silently begging for you to get into the car.
You came to an abrupt halt as you turned to face him arm crossed over your chest. You had two options one walk home in the burning heat which would probably take you around two hours or get into the car with Rafe and have to endure his company for 10 minutes.
You went with the latter huffing before pulling the door handle and getting into the car without a word, although you couldn’t contain the moan that slipped past your lips once the cool air from the AC met your flaming skin.
“Y/N I just wanted to-“ he began but you cut him off raising your index finger towards his face “stop I don’t wanna hear it just drive me home” he nodded obviously disappointed but kept on driving either way.
Once you pulled into your driveway he gave you one last pleading look but you didn’t give him a chance to talk muttering a small thanks before slipping out of the passenger seat and slamming the car door shut in his face.
You were in desparate need of a shower your sweaty skin beginning to stick to the shirt that loosely hung over your body.
You decided to push all thoughts of JJ into the back of your mind as you turned the shower on wanting nothing more than to take back the fact that you’d gone and slept with him.
“Idiot” you mumbled shaking your head the warm water travelling down your body the only comfort you felt you needed right now.
Just as you began to feel the corner of your eyes brim with tears you were startled to hear the bathroom door open.
“What the hell!” you shrieked once you saw Kiara walk in with a large purple backpack slung over her shoulder.
“That door was locked!” you yelled hurriedly grabbing a towel and wrapping it around yourself.
“I know that’s why I have a knife” she deadpanned before placing the silver object she’d obviously stolen from your kitchen on the bathroom counter.
“What do you want Kie?” you huffed finally stepping fully out of the shower and onto the white tiled floor.
“You, me” she lifted up the backpack she’d been holding “and our dear friend vodka”
“I love you” you gushed grabbing the bag out of her hands and walking into your bedroom gently placing it on your bed.
“What’s the occasion?” you turned to face her “the occasion is a party down at the cut” she smiled sitting down on your bed unzipping the bag revealing the numerous amount of white claws and the huge bottle of vodka.
“God are you trying to kill me? you know i’m a lightweight” you gaped at the numerous beverages but still grabbed a white claw quickly opening it and taking a large sip.
“Who said any of this was for you” she raised an eyebrow an amused smile playing at her lips “shut up” you laughed.
“You owe me this whole thing is your fault” you took another sip out of the can before it was harshly ripped away from you the liquid spilling all over your arm.
“Oh so it’s my fault you hooked up with Rafe” Kiara placed a hand on her hip as she held the white claw up with her other hand.
“No” you snatched the drink back before continuing “it’s your fault that I went to JJ’s which ultimately led to the decision of me sleeping with him and making a complete fool of myself in the progress”
“Fair enough” she surrendered “get ready we need to be down at the beach in half an hour”
Once you’d made it down to the beach you’d already downed four white claws and three shots the alcohol running through your veins making you feel dizzy as you walked alongside Kie towards the crowd of teenagers all packed together around the keg watching as a girl you didn’t recognised stood in a handstand downing the beer without a struggle.
“I could do that” you slurred Kiara’s head turning in the direction you were looking “no you couldn’t” she chuckled dragging you towards John B and Pope who looked beyond shocked to see you.
“Y/N?” John B looked almost panicked as he abruptly stood up his eyes frantically beginning to dart all over the beach before stopping and widening as he looked at something behind you.
You turned to where his eyes were directed and you were horrified at the sight before you. There he was none other than JJ Maybank himself with his tongue shoved down some girls throat.
“That asshole!” you practically growled throwing the white claw you held down onto the sand as you made a bee line towards him, Kiara frantically picking up the can before following after you.
“Real classy J” you sneered a scowl resting on your face as you gave him the most disgusted look you could muster.
“Y/N” was all he said as he turned to face you, he didn’t even look sorry.
“So this is your way of trying to repair our relationship” you shot at him and the girl quickly stood up practically running away from the scene unfolding before her.
“Hey i’m just doing what you’ve been doing all along” he replied curtly standing up to face you.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean JJ” you were surprised at your ability to form a whole sentence since you didn’t exactly see straight, but this whole exchange seemed to be sobering you up.
“I saw you earlier getting into that car with Rafe!”
“What? you were following me?”
“Yes! Because I wanted to come and apologise for how I acted but clearly I was right all along!”
“JJ I didn’t ask him for a ride or call him he offered and I accepted because because I didn’t really feel like walking all the way from the cut back home in the burning heat!” a hint of regret washed over his face at your words but you continued “It doesn’t even matter I don’t have to explain myself to you”
He was about to open his mouth and say something but you didn’t give him the chance. “We’re over and this time I mean it”
You suddenly became more aware of the crowd that had begun to gather around you and you quickly turned around pushing your way past the teenagers that were huddled behind you.
“Are you okay?” a frantic voice belonging to Kiara sounded from beside you.
You swallowed the lump that was beginning to form in your throat and turned to face her pasting on a fake smile as you did.
“I’m fine” you knew she didn’t buy it but she could tell from the look in your eyes that you were silently begging her not to press on it any further, you wanted to have fun tonight and you were not going to let JJ get in the way of that.
“Come on let’s get drunk”
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softsebnbuckystan · 3 years
Text
Soul ties - Part 4 (Bucky Barnes au)
“And if you're feeling lonely you should tell me
Before this ends up as another memory”
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A week. You'd met Bucky a week earlier and still hadn't forgotten the feeling of his arm on your back, the deepness of his voice and the blue of his eyes. How could you? You were trying to spend as much time with Darren as you could, but he was hardly ever home.  When he wasn't working, he was meeting one friend or another to watch a baseball game. You had been married for one week, and this was your seventh day alone in your apartment.
The place you and Darren lived in was small and you had given your best to make it feel like a welcoming home. From green plants to scented candles and beautiful artwork, everything was meant to make any visitor feel welcomed and cozy. Your favourite thing was obviously the couch and beanbag chairs : they were all dark grey and the fabric gave them the impression of a cloud. Not that it mattered to your husband, though... You sighed as you got up from your couch and put your coffee cup on the kitchen counter. Taking out your phone out of your back pocket, you stopped for a moment, biting your cheek. Should you...call him? No. It was too soon and you  hadn't  heard from him at all since the wedding. Maybe it wasn't a good idea. Scratch that: it was probably a terrible idea.  You decided to call Steve instead, hoping he would have some work for you at the compound. You  had already helped out a lot, especially in terms of scientific development. You and Bruce Banner were currently working on a tissue-repairing  technology. It was a work in progress and Banner didn't have much time for it, but you always tried to make yourself useful: there was always an agent who needed a wound to be stitched.
"Y/n? Hi! How's the married life going?" Your heart warmed up as soon as you heard Steve's voice on the phone.
"Hi, uh... Good, thanks. Do you need my help at the compound?" you asked.
"No, not really. I mean, you always find ways to help, of course, but we thought you'd like a week or two, you know." He paused. "Don't you have a honeymoon to go to?"
"Darren's too busy with work. He said we'd go when he gets a week off, which is...not right now. So do you need me there?"
Your friend took a moment to answer. "Yeah, we always need you. Do you want me to send a car?"
"Yeah, Darren took ours and I don't think a taxi can take me there. Thanks, Stevie! See you soon."
"Okay, the car will be at your place in an hour. See ya!"
Hanging up the phone, you already felt better than five minutes earlier. Going to the compound meant working, for sure, but it also meant you got to see and spend time with Wanda, joke around with Sam or just chit chat with Bruce. You could say the compound was like your second home, now.  After a quick shower and changing into some jeans and t-shirt, you deemed yourself ready to go and packed your backpack – no, a handbag was not enough to carry your multiple notebooks and pens.
You scrolled on your phone to make time pass faster and when the bell rang, you furrowed your brows. Drivers usually honked and didn't bother ringing the doorbell. You went to the interphone and pressed the speaker.
"Who's there?"
You heard what sounded like the end of a throat-clearing noise. "It's Bucky. Steve asked me to pick you up."
Your lips froze and your brain stopped functioning correctly for a second. Who? What? Why?
"I'll be down in a sec," you ended up saying, acting as composed as possible.
'Damn you, Steve.' You did want to see Bucky, but time to prepare for the occasion would've been better. Last time he saw you, you were wearing a pretty dress and your hair was done and...shit. You quickly ran your brush through your hair, hoping it would make it better, before thinking of how ridiculous you sounded: why would Bucky care about how you looked, and – more importantly – why would you ?
When you found yourself down in the entrance hall, you caught a glimpse of Bucky through the glazed door. He seemed to be carrying something. You opened the door and greeted him with  a smile.
"I didn't know you'd be the one coming,"  you noted, trying to figure out whether he enjoyed being here or not.
He shrugged and looked at the floor.  "Steve apparently had no one available so...he asked me. Ready?" He handed you what he'd be holding the whole time and...
"A helmet? Why would I- Oh. You don't have a car,  do you?"
Bucky let out a laugh. As brief as it was, you couldn't help but swoon. You looked up and smiled back. "What's so funny?"
"You don't like bikes?" he asked, raising a brow.
"No, I just... They're not as safe as a car. "
"It's safe with me, I promise. Come."
You followed him with a grin as he placed his helmet over his long hair and you tried to strap yours on, fiddling with your fingers.
"Let me help." You almost stopped breathing when his fingers brushed against your chin as he attached the helmet's straps. "Okay, we  should go now."
You nodded and sat behind him, unsure of where to place your arms. "Hum..."
Bucky gently seized your wrists and brought them on his stomach. "Just hold on here." You  felt his back tense as you joined your hands on his body. You hadn't been this close to him since you'd met. Your own body's reaction was to nestle against Bucky's. Whether you wanted to feel safe on this bike or you just needed him to be close, you had no clue. Bucky started the engine, made sure you were holding on tight and started driving through the streets. The wind on your exposed skin made you shiver and after ten minutes or so, you felt comfortable enough to rest your chin on Bucky's back, right behind his shoulder.
Something in the way Bucky drove and took his turns made you think he was  used to go faster. Was he slowing down for you?
"Are you going slower than usual?" you yelled behind him.
Turning his head around would've been too dangerous so he nodded.
"Don't hold yourself back for me then, I'm not a kid!"
His shoulders moving hinted at a laugh as the motorbike sped up. It only made you cling harder to him and when you arrived at the compound half an hour later, you realised  you were smiling too hard for your own good.
"You screamed", he said in a soft voice, a smile floating on his lips.
"No, I did not."
"Yeah, you did."
You  shook your head and tried putting on a serious face as you saw Wanda coming to you. You didn't want her to tease you about your – probably  – huge smile. By the look in her eyes, you could tell she'd obviously busted you. She hurried towards you and hugged you tight.
"I'm so happy to see you," she breathed. "Are you here to work with Bruce?"
"Yeah, or just help around." You lowered your voice. "I needed to get away from home for the day."
Your sister gave you a confused stare before she understood. "Oh. He's working too much again?"
"Yeah. I guess staying home with his now-wife is too much to ask." You looked away for a second. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be bitter."
Bucky got off of the bike as well and stopped next to you, as if waiting for something. He must've spotted the interrogation in your eyes because he gestured to your head.
"The helmet," he explained. "I don't think you wanna wear that all day."
You chuckled. "No, I don't." You struggled once again with the straps and when Bucky unstrapped them for you, the same shiver as earlier ran down your spine. "Thanks for the ride," you added as he walked away to the building. He waved at you and nodded, smiling a little less brightly than he did in front of your house.
"That was some tension I just saw there," Wanda remarked. "Were you even able to keep your hands off him on that bike?"
"Wanda!"
"What? I'm just asking. Isn't he your soulmate or something?"
You ran your hand through your ruffled hair and gave her a disapproving look.
"You"re the one who told me soulmates could very well be friends," you argued. "And you  shouldn't be encouraging me down that road. I'm married, in case you forgot."
"Yeah, to a man who didn't even booked a honeymoon."
"He's busy," you said, looking away from your sister. Finding excuses for Darren was easy. Selling them to your sister was a whole different ballgame.
"Not to me, y/n. You should tell him you want to go!"
"Yeah, maybe tonight." You started walking to the compound. "I need to talk to Bruce about our last meeting. I'll see you later."
Wanda shook her head before going the other way, towards the gardens. You loved your sister, obviously, and she meant the world to you. However, when she was seeing right through your lies and excuses like she'd just been, it always drove you mad at yourself. Sure, you were in love with Darren and he'd never been mean to you, but you knew perfectly you didn't have to take all of his shit. You could feel he was taking you for granted, and you decided that had to change. If you didn't start fighting for your own wellbeing, you knew Wanda would. You weren't eager to witness such events.
--- Just finished writing part 7, so here's part 4 for you! I hope you still like this story :) Your likes really make me smile throughout the day ehe
Tell me if you want to be added to the tag list!
Tag list :
@ginger-swag-rapunzel @joscelyn02
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songofsaraneth · 3 years
Text
an incomplete list of the Bullshit ive gone through this year (2021 only), for personal edification:
I am in grad school trying to do research as well as TA a lab class during a global pandemic
My car is broken into in late February outside of my apartment. $1700+ of my backpacking/camping gear and personal items were stolen from it. Ironically they did not find the $20 cash I had. 
Car battery begins mysterious dying if left overnight and have to call for rescue from AAA 4 separate times over the course of March. I suspect it is related to being broken into but can’t prove it without a mechanic’s diagnostics.
First mechanic I bring my car to does nothing for the entire MONTH they have it, except break my air conditioning of all things. I live in a desert. It is now 90º every day. At one point they call me to say they can’t get the back doors to open. I walk 2 miles back to them from campus and demonstrate how the automatic doors work on a 2005 minivan. I begin to have regrets about my mechanic choice but the sunk fallacy cost keeps me there for several weeks.
Mid march I also wake up one day to severe jaw pain/a weird “loose” feeling, like my mouth is slanting sideways. It is midterms and I do not have time for this, so I take a lot of ibuprofen and eat soup for a week. After 3 days I shove pillows and blankets around my face one night to keep my jaw aligned and when I wake up the next morning it is severely tight instead of loose, and I have to carefully stretch it open whenever I leave my mouth closed for more than an hour. I guess I just have TMJ now.
At this point I am walking everywhere until bike supplies arrive to fix my flat tire since the bike store is too far away to walk to; including walking back and forth to campus since I can only bring 2-4 out of 8 students into the lab spaces at a time and so effectively have to run each weekly lab 2-4 times per week; as well as going back and forth for greenhouse experiment monitoring/helping undergrads on our NASA contest project
Early April I go to the dentist for a crown on one of my back molars, which I must pay for out of pocket because my new dental insurance purchased when I moved last September has a 1-year waiting period and so will not cover it ($1200). Stretching my jaw open so far for the procedure reignites my new TMJ back to high pain levels.
While still waiting on car in mid-April I have a severe averse reaction to the second dose of the Covid19 vaccine, resulting in painful ulceration of all the soft tissues in my body (mouth, stomach, genitals). It is a very bad time for 3 days and I book an urgent care appointment for the first time ever.
Urgent Care nurse-practitioner does not believe me when I describe what’s happening, and misdiagnoses me with herpes.
I am still biking everywhere but now I’m extra mad and in pain about it so take car back from mechanic so I can get groceries etc. I make an appointment with the dealership but it will be a week until they can take it. In the meanwhile I have to drive it every 8 hours so it won’t die which means getting up at 2am to drive it for 20 minutes in the middle of the night so it will still turn on in the morning. 
I have a terrible reaction to the numbing cream given to me for the painful open sores over my body, because of a lifelong mint sensitivity, resulting in an even greater amount of pain
The dealership can fix my car over the following week but its $1800 and now insurance isn’t sure they want to cover it after all
Herpes test comes back negative and nurse apologizes profusely and recommends a non-mint OTC numbing cream alternative that works (yay) and a numbing spray that does not work because it turned out to use an alcohol based propellant which should not be combined with open wounds esp on the genitals (ouch ouch ouch). I try to tell the nurse why I was right about my diagnosis and she was wrong but she still believes it was a latent virus of some other variety and and not an immune response alone, despite the published case studies I have brought to back me up. I decide I have bigger hills I need to die on right now and stop arguing. Sores persist into May but eventually do go down and numbing cream keeps me moderately functioning.
Car is fixed and I can drive again but it takes 2 hours of crying on the phone to my insurance company for them to agree to cover the cost of repair
I make a primary care appointment for the first time in years so I can have a doctor in this state if something like this happens to me again, in June I do intake/bloodwork/set up appointments to check out some other issues ive been having
Grad school finals happen which i wont get into but Yeah. Finals stress triggers another outbreak of canker sores, but mostly clustered in my mouth and only 2 on my vulva rather than 8-12. I eat only soup for another week. 
I get a referral to the local mental health clinic and call about setting up an appointment for an ADHD evaluation. They tell me to download and send in some paperwork and they will call when they have available appointments
I am supposed to be doing all my labwork over the summer but the committee member I need escapes my clutches and we don’t manage to set up a meeting to plan it out/for him to explain the protocols until late June
Bloodwork shows I am critically low in vitamin b12 and low in D, which may explain some of why I am so tired all the time
Ultrasound shows a 1.8cm mass in the adnexa near my left ovary. There are several options for what it can be (folicular cyst, other kind of cyst, tumor, ectopic pregnancy i nearly laugh at my Dr and reassure her the last one is not possible if nothing else). It may go away on its own or it may not. Follow up scan in 2 months
I remember I was supposed to email forms to the mental health clinic and finally send those in mid July. It seems cruel to make me be the one to remember this considering I am calling about a formal ADHD diagnosis.
I also finally pin everyone relating to my labwork down and have a follow up meeting + make a list of what we need to order, but the staff who place orders are on vacation and when they get back several reagents are backordered
I have my follow-up ultrasound. The tech takes lots of photos which indicates the mass is still present, but I won’t know any details until my next PCP appointment when they send over the analysis to her in mid-August
Beginning of August the reagents I need for the first steps of the process arrive exactly 1 day before I leave town for a wedding and the lab manager is about to leave town for the entire next week
After the wedding, severe thunderstorms and tornados trap me in Chicago for 4 extra days. I spend a lot of time at the airport or on my way between the airport and my parents house. A facebook friend gets video of the funnel clouds which at least gives me something to sadly email my advisor and committee members when I have to join our planning meeting from my gate at O’Hare
I lose my drivers license at the security checkpoint on my last trip through the airport and don’t realize until I am boarding the plane because of course that is happening to me now
On the shuttle from El Paso back to Las Cruces after this ordeal the driver stops and picks up a box labeled HUMAN BLOOD and puts it in the trunk and i am too tired to care anymore
I stay up all night making the world’s most pitiful r graphs for my meeting the next morning and everyone takes pity on me and does not call out how useless they are
I spend the weekend trying to motivate myself to actually go into the lab and start my procedures, and fail to leave my apartment. This reminds me it has now been a month (Aug 15th) since I sent in my paperwork and the mental health clinic has still not called me back about up an appointment
I get overwhelmed with Everything and make this list
So that’s where I’m at at the moment. And this doesn’t even include anything from 2020 thats just been continuous like, y’know, a global pandemic and having a bad breakup of a 4 year relationship and moving to a new city where I know no one for grad school etc. I feel like I’m falling apart/unable to do all the shit I need to right now but you know what? Actually its been a really bad time and maybe falling apart a little is justified ;_; 
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whitecatindisguise · 3 years
Text
Taking It Too Far
So I've watched Fan Friction episode and immediately I was struck by how wrong they approached the subject. Hiro was right to be upset, but the producers didn't give him the right reason. This story is an attempt to right the wrongs. That, and there are also other changes to the basic episode plot because 1) I didn't remember everything and didn't really have time nor mood to rewatch it, 2) I thought some things would be better if changed a bit.
Anyway, I hope you like it and enjoy yourselves.
AO3 link here
... and there, inside the lab, was Captain Cutie’s beautiful girlfriend, Karmi. The two locked eyes and-
“Hey, Fred. What are you doing?” Hiro popped out from behind the man and looked at the other’s screen. He squinted his eyes, skimming through the words. “Is that-?”
“A fanfiction about us? Sure is!” Fred cut in enthusiastically, grinning wildly. “And I gotta tell you, man, it’s amazing! The plot, the characters, the action, the characters!”
Hiro rose one eyebrow, clearly not siding with the other’s enthusiasm. His gaze wandered back to the screen and he stopped dead.
“Why am I called Captain Cutie? And why Karmi is my girlfriend? Who wrote this?!” He asked angrily. Him and Karmi? Never in a lifetime!
“I don’t know, but they post as KHeartsQT.” Fred waved his hand dismissively, his focus solely on the story.
Hiro hummed and moved the cursor to the author’s name and clicked on it, recoiling the moment a pop-up window showed a profile picture.
There, on Fred’s computer screen, his greatest nemesis was staring back at him.
***
“I can’t believe it!” Hiro burst into the main lab, stomping past Honey Lemon and almost bumping into confused Wasabi, who barely managed to jump away. Without a word of apologise, the young teen approached his working space and shoved his backpack onto the desk, sitting down heavily on the chair.
“What’s up with him?” Go Go popped a balloon as she stated at the clearly upset boy.
“Nothing. He just doesn’t like Karmi’s fan fiction.” Fred shrugged as he strolled inside and flopped onto his armchair. “Can’t really relate. It’s amazing! And did you see how she named me? Flame Jumper! Not as cool as Fredzilla, obviously, but points for awesomeness.”
“Oh, I read it.” Honey Lemon chimmed in. “It’s really well-written. Although, I don’t know why my name is Tall Girl. I’m not that tall, aren’t I?”
A series of weeeeell’s and ummmm’s echoed in the lab and the ginger-haired woman dropped her head down in response.
“She called me Chop Chop.” Wasabi added. “I can see where it’s coming from, but it makes me sound like some character from the kid’s show, and not a proper superhero.”
“Speed Queen.” Go Go spoke from her side of the lab, tinkering with some kind of miniature scooter. “Sounds cool.”
“All of you have normal nicknames. But she called me Captain Cutie. And made herself my- ugh- girlfriend.” Hiro cringed as he spoke. “Who even gave her a right to write about us? I don’t remember giving my permission, do you?”
“Calm down, Hiro. It’s just a story.”  Honey Lemon put a hand on his shoulder but he shook it off.
“Well, maybe I don’t appreciate being put in a story that’s clearly fake and totally unrealistic?!” He snatched his backpack and stomped towards the door. “I’m going to work in my lab. Away from that nonsense.”
With these words, he stormed out, his angry footsteps and muttering audible until he turned the corridor.
“Wow. Talk about negative energy.” Wasabi commented, as they stared at the door.
***
In the coming days, Hiro’s mood only got worse. Everyone on the campus seemed to enjoy Karmi’s story, some even starting to ship Karmiutie, as they began to call the imagined pairing between Karmi and Captain Cutie. Hiro couldn’t even take a step without someone saying something about the story or the ship, or, which happened more often than he would like it, mentioning both.
Karmi seemed to love the attention. Other students called to her on the corridor, expressing their enjoyment of her story and some even daring to ask whether she and Captain Cutie really were a couple. Hiro didn’t stay to hear the girl’s response, stomping away angrily, to the confusion of the students.
With everything going on, he was unfocused and started failing classes he usually had no trouble with. Professor Granville seemed to be both upset and concerned about this change. He couldn’t tell her what bothered him, however, so he made an excuse about not feeling well lately. He wasn’t sure she believed him.
To make things worse, his upset state started to affect his superhero work as well. He kept making mistakes leading to the whole team getting into trouble and only barely managing to catch criminals they encountered. This only led to his mood worsening.
The young teen was walking down the hallway, trying to tune out the conversations revolving around the newest chapter of the fan fiction, when he suddenly collided with someone and they both landed in the floor, stunned by the hit.
“Hey, watch where you’re going!” He heard an annoyingly familiar voice and he looked up to see Karmi picking herself up from the floor, snatching her phone from where it slid off during the crash.
“I was. Which you would notice if you wasn’t gaping at your phone, producing those abominations of yours all the time.” Hiro seethed, picking himself up from the floor.
“Excuse you!” Karmi huffed in response. “What’s your problem?!”
“Oh, I don’t know?” Hiro replied, anger seeping into his voice. “Maybe that you write about real people and forcing them into fake relationships to release your crazy fantasies? Or maybe that you give stupid names which don’t fit the characters at all?”
“For your information, everybody loves my story. I even have some faithful fans that comment on every chapter, like Fredelicious24.” Karmi replied defensively. “And since nobody knows what their real names are, I’m allowed to use whatever I want.”
“I’m sure Captain Cutie is thrilled to be called that.” Hiro rebounded, rolling his eyes at the nickname.
“Maybe he is!” the girl shouted back. “What do you know, anyway?”
“Ugh, forget it!” The dark-haired teen shoved his arms apart and stomped away, trying to ignore the whispering from the students who watched the encounter.
It was around lunch time, when his friends found him, sitting alone in the cafeteria, poking his food with an upset expression.
“Hiro, what’s wrong? We heard about your argument with Karmi.” Honey Lemon started, as they all took their seats.
“Yeah, so? Are you also going to tell me what a jerk I am? I heard it at least twenty times by now.” He huffed, impaling one of the fries onto the fork and biting on it angrily.
“We just want to help.” Wasabi replied, eyeing as the teen gathered several more fries and stuffed them all into his mouth, munching aggressively.
“But we can’t, until you tell us what’s going on.” Go Go added.
Just then, several students passed by, the pieces of their conversation about Karmi’s story and the Karmiutie ship reaching their eyes. Hiro grunted and picked up his tray, pushing the chair away.
“I’m going to eat in my lab.” He said and walked away.
“That is highly insanitary!” Wasabi called after him.
Honey Lemon looked thoughtful, as she stared at the retreating back of the young teen, and gazed at the group of students, who had now taken over one of the tables nearby.
“Of course! Why didn’t I notice that before?” He exclaimed triumphantly. The others looked at her questioningly. “Come on, we have to talk to him!” she gathered her stuff and rushed off, others staring in the direction she went.
“So... Do we follow or...?” Wasabi asked. Right then, Fred’s phone buzzed and he gasped.
“The creepy knife-lady escaped from prison!” He exclaimed. They shared a look.
“Guess we’ll talk to Hiro after that.” Go Go commented, as they left the cafeteria.
***
To say the action went well would be a major understatement. Not only did Momakase escape, but she also cut through Go Go’s disks, left Honey Lemon and Fred stuck in the goo, Baymax lost one of his leg thrusters and rocket fist, and Wasabi’s blades needed a serious repair.
Hiro was trying to help, but the conversation with Karmi was still fresh in his mind and he couldn’t properly focus on the fight. It was pathetic, even he had to agree.
He angrily took of his helmet and shoved it towards the wall. It hit the divider with a metallic clang and fell to the floor, leaving a small dent in where it met with the structure.
“Your body language indicated extreme anger.” Baymax spoke from behind. Hiro huffed.
“Oh yeah? How did you figure that one out?” He asked, sitting on his chair with arms crossed.
“You are making a face expression known as frown.” Baymax said. “Your body is tense and you are-“
“I was being sarcastic, Baymax.” Hiro interrupted. Baymax blinked.
“I am not programmed to recognise sarcasm.” The robot replied and Hiro groaned.
“Hiro? You there?” Honey Lemon called out and the whole gang entered his garage, suits off.
“Just peachy.” The young teen answered, starting to take off Baymax’s armour.
“Don’t worry, dude. We’ll get the crazy knife-lady next time.” Fred patted his friend’s shoulder comfortingly. Hiro glared at him and the man slowly backed away.
“We’re worried about you, Hiro.” Honey Lemon spoke again, her eyes matching her words. “Is it about Karmi’s story?”
“What? Noooo.” Hiro waved his hand nonchalantly. Everyone stared at him, unimpressed.
“It’s totally about the story.” Go Go said.
“Definitely.” Wasabi agreed.
Hiro sighed and turned away, hugging his arm.
“I don’t want to talk about it.” He mumbled.
“Your body language indicates discomfort.” Baymax spoke.
“Hiro... You are clearly upset about it.” Honey Lemon said. “And I think I know why.”
“Y-you do?” Hiro asked, but backed down really quick. “I-I mean, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yeah, Honey Lemon, why would he be upset with it! The story is epic!” Fred joined in, unaware of Hiro’s frown deepening as the male kept on talking. “The plot is amazing, there are so many cliffhangers and, of course, the cherry on top being Karmiutie, of which, by the way, I am the president of the fanclub and-“
He was interrupted by the slam of the door and he blinked, only now noticing they were left alone in the garage, Hiro nowhere to be seen.
“Way to go, dumbass.” Go Go commented as she popped a balloon.
“What did I do?” Fred blinked. There was a collective slap as everyone else facepalmed.
Honey Lemon put on a determined face and followed the way the teen went. The others followed, saying their greetings to Aunt Cass on their way past, making a beeline towards the back and up to the living area. Hiro was, unsurprisingly, sitting by his desk, tapping furiously at his laptop.
“Hiro?” The ginger-haired woman softly spoke up. The said teen huffed in response.
“I though I made it clear I don’t want to talk about it.” He said angrily.
“She’s not letting this one go, so you might as well stop being stubborn.” Go Go crossed her arms and leaned over the doorframe, clearly making sure his only escape route is blocked.
“Hiro, please.” Honey Lemon kneeled down to find herself at his eye level. “We just want to help.”
“There is nothing any of us can do to help.” The teenager mumbled, looking away. “Besides, it’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing. And you have every right to be upset.” The woman replied softly.
Hiro pointedly looked back at his laptop, attempting to ignore them. The redhead didn’t back out, however.
“We were all so caught up in how good Karmi’s story is that we failed to notice how upsetting it is for you. After all, it’s your hero persona she chose to pair herself with.” Honey Lemon spoke up. The tapping of the keyboard stopped, but the teen didn’t turn around yet. “And, knowing the characters are real, people started to assume the relationship is real, too. And that’s wrong. What Karmi is doing is wrong. You can’t just- what’s the word they use for saying two characters are in a romantic relationship...?”
“Ship.” Helpfully suggested Fred.
“Yes, thanks, Freddie.” Honey Lemon smiled thankfully and turned back to Hiro. “You can’t just ship two real people. It’s wrong. It shouldn’t be acceptable.”
“And yet I seem to be the only one who has problem with that.” The teen mumbled, his back still to his friends.
“I think it’s because the story is about our superhero personas.” Fred interjected and everyone, even Hiro, looked at him in confusion. “I mean, superheroes themselves feel like fictional characters. And, even though everyone knows we are real, it’s still hard to distinguish that if we’re also the characters in a work of fiction, which, by definition, means it’s not real. It creates somewhat a paradox and people just don’t completely realise the fiction part actually refers only to the story itself and not the characters.”
Everyone stared dumbfoundedly at the millionaire, who blinked and starred back.
“What?” He asked.
“We just didn’t expect you to say something so... thoughtful.” Wasabi finally said, the others nodding in agreement.
“Hey, I can act smart too, you know?” Fred argued and then promptly took out an unwrapped candy from his pocket, have it a testing lick, shrugged and put it in his mouth. Everyone shuddered.
“Aaaand the usual Fred is back.” Go Go commented while Wasabi tried to not puke.
“Even if what he said is true, it’s not like I can just go and tell her to stop.” Hiro picked up the conversation to take their minds of Fred and the candy. “What should I even say? Hey, Karmi, you know this story you write? You should stop because I don’t like you shipping yourself with this guy, whose name is definitely not Captain Cutie. Cool? Cool.”
Fred snorted but Go Go quickly elbowed him in the ribs to stop. Hiro groaned and hid his head between his arms. Honey Lemon approached the teen and put her hand on his shoulder.
“Maybe not as Hiro you, but if you explained it as your superhero you?” She suggested, smiling encouragingly.
“I am not going to change into my armour just so I can talk to Karmi.” He replied sternly and sighed. “I just- gonna have to live with it... somehow...”
“If you have a problem with something or someone, you should speak up, genius.” Go Go said.
“Talking is the key to the healthy communication.” Baymax agreed.
“Ugh, fine.” Hiro said. “I’ll talk to her. If I see her on a patrol or something.”
“Hiro-“ Honey Lemon started to say but the robot cut her in.
“I’ve found a disturbing information in the local news. Playing it now.”
The screen on his chest turned on and a reporter appeared, speaking about some message being sent to their station this afternoon. The view changed, and they saw Momakase, grinning at the camera.
“Welcome, Big Hero 6.” She said, looking far too happy about something. “I advise you to come to the Akuma Island. And make haste, unless you want something bad happen to someone’s girlfriend.”
She smirked and stepped aside to show a chair. And on this chair, tied up and sputtering curses, was-
“Karmi!” Everyone, sans Hiro gasped.
“She’s not my girlfriend!” Hiro shouted.
***
“Okay, we go in, take Momakase down, free Karmi and get out of here.” Hiro said as Baymax flew them towards the remote island. “Baymax, as soon as you are in range, scan the place for both Karmi and Momakase.”
The robot didn’t reply, but the teenager knew he acknowledged the order and will get to it whenever it’s possible.
“Oh, this gives the perfect opportunity for you to talk to Karmi about you-know-what.” Fred piped up from where he was held by the scruff of his costume in Baymax’s right hand.
“I’d rather focus on the current problem first.” Hiro mumbled back.
“I’m just saying.” The millionaire shrugged, but, luckily, dropped the subject.
Several minutes later, they were creeping the abandoned hallways of old Krei Enterprises facility, Baymax leading them in the direction he sensed Karmi from. Momakase, surprisingly, didn’t turn up on the scan.
“Karmi is inside.” Baymax said, stopping in front of the metal door.
Hiro nodded and looked to Wasabi and Honey Lemon, pointing his head towards the door. The woman tapped the keys on her purse and produced a green-coloured ball. She plastered it to the frame and pulled on one side, the goo expanding to create something like a line. Each one of them, except for Wasabi, caught the goo-line and held strong, while the said man cut through metal around where the goo was stuck. When the cut was finished, they pulled the piece out, managing to not hit it on anything, hence making their entrance silent.
Baymax put the cut-out metal aside and they climbed through the opening one by one. In the middle of the room, under a single spotlight, stood a chair. And on this chair, quite unsurprisingly, Hiro had to say, was Karmi, tied and gagged.
As soon as the teen noticed the heroes, she started to squirm and let out muffled noises, trying desperately to communicate with them. Hiro secretly turned on his voice-modulating device, motioning for the rest of the team to do the same, before approaching the captured girl. It was in situations like this, he was glad he once decided to equip their armours with both face-covering visors and voice modulators. It lowered the chance of being recognised if they had to be around people who knew them personally.
“Don’t worry, we’ll get you out in no time.” He reassured Karmi and reached for her gag. As soon as it was off, Karmi gasped and screamed.
“It’s a trap!”
At this precise moment, purple-coloured bars rose from the floor and circled around the heroes and Karmi. They all whirled around, shocked by their sudden appearance.
“Like stealing a candy from a kid.” A familiar voice said from the shadows, and Momakase strolled into viee, a smirk on her lips.
“You think you can keep us in here?” Hiro asked and nodded at Wasabi.
Before going in, they decided they were not going to use their names around Karmi, since figuring out new nicknames would take too long, and Hiro was not going to use their fanfiction names, for obvious reasons. So they agreed on silent communication instead, which, so far, worked perfectly well.
Wasabi approached the bars and slashed at them with a cocky grin, but just as fast he jumped back with a pained yelp, when the bars zapped him.
“What in the world?!” He squeaked, rubbing at his arm.
“Did you really think I would use regular cage, knowing of your abilities?” Momakase laughed, strolling slowly along the bars. “You’re not getting out of this one.”
“Oh really?” Honey Lemon challenged and quickly produced a pink-coloured chem-ball from her purse. She let it drop to the floor and quickly side-stepped, as it bounced off the bars and hit the chair, acid eating through the wood.
“I told you it’s not a regular cage.” Momakase smirked and looked extremely pleased with herself. “This one was created by our mutual acquaintance specifically to hold you lot in place.”
“Mutual- what are you talking about?!” Hiro asked angrily.
“I believe he goes by the name Obake.” The woman replied and watched the heroes faces morph into horror as they recognised the name. “Well, anyway, it was nice to chat and all that, but I have to go. As for you...” She produced a small device from her pocket and pushed the button, the lights in the room suddenly turning red and the alarm ringing. “Have fun getting out of here before this whole place blows up.” She waved her hand at them and ran away, leaving them to their doom.
“Ohmigosh-! This place is going to blow up! We’re stuck in a impenetrable cage in a building that’s going to blow up any second now and-“ Wasabi spoke in a high voice, his eyes wide and breath hitching.
“Calm down.” Hiro said. “We’re getting out of here in no time.”
“How?!” Wasabi squeaked. “You saw what happened. My blades don’t work, and neither does the acid!”
“We just need more strength, that’s all.” The teen replied calmly and turned to Baymax. “Initiate Overdrive Mode.” He ordered.
At those words the robot started to change. Pieces of armour hid, others extended. A moment later, a completely unrecognisable Baymax, sans his colours, stood in front of the group.
“That’s... I wrote about it!” Karmi breathed out, astonished. “You read my story?!”
“Can we talk about it after we escape?” Hiro suggested, and Go Go noticed how he shuddered slightly at Karmi’s exclamation. “The sword, please.”
Baymax reached his had to his back and produced a heavy-looking blade. He took a swing and sliced right though the bars, Hiro grinning at the performance.
“Good job. Turn it off before it drains all of your power.” He said and Baymax swiftly came back to his original look. “Now everyone hop on and hold on tight. We don’t know how much time we have and I’d rather not risk running back the way we came from.”
One rocket fist later, they shot out of the roof. And not a moment too soon, as the facility blew up just as they managed to get to the safe distance. Baymax flew them back to the city and they all jumped off to the ground.
“Um... Thank you... For saving me.” Karmi mumbled, blushing as she took a glance at Hiro. The teen was painfully reminded she had a crush on his superhero persona.
“That’s what we do.” He replied, looking away. Honey Lemon came closer and gently nudged his shoulder, an encouraging smile on her lips. He sighed and turned towards Karmi. “Actually, there is something I want to tell you. It’s... it’s about your story.”
“My- YOU READ IT?!” The girl squealed, her eyes almost turning star-shaped.
“Of course, it’s amazing and-“ Fred was painfully elbowed in the stomach by Go Go before he could say anything more.
“I... How do I..?” Hiro scratched the back of his neck as he searched for words. “I read some of it, and you’re really talented but- I don’t really feel comfortable with it, you know?”
“I don’t understand...” Karmi cocked her head to the side in confusion. “Why?”
“It’s because of how you portray us. Portray me.” The teen elaborated. “I’m not- we’re not a pair, Karmi. I know it is a work of fiction and it’s not real, but writing that you are my girlfriend, having all those people read it... It’s not right.”
“Oh...” The girl looked down, suddenly not able to meet his eye. “I didn’t mean to-“
“I know.” He reassured. “I know you really want this to be true, but this is not the way. How would you feel if someone wrote a story about you and put you in a romantic relationship in said story? No matter if you like this person or not, it’s wrong to ship real life people.”
“I- I’m sorry.” Karmi said, still looking away. “I guess I was so caught up with my own fantasy, I didn’t stop to think how would you feel about it.”
“It’s alright.” Honey Lemon spoke up, smiling kindly. “You didn’t know.”
“But I should have thought about it. And I didn’t.” Karmi admitted. “I.. I will delete it once I get home. I’m sorry I upset you.”
“Thank you.” Hiro smiled thankfully at the girl. “And I meant it, you’re an amazing writer. Maybe you could still write about us, just no shipping this time.” He winked and Karmi blushed.
“You... still want me to write about you? Even after...?” She asked, puzzled by the suggestion.
“Between the two of us...” Hiro leaned closer and whispered to the girl’s ear. “I wouldn’t trust anyone else with our story.”
Karmi blushed fiercely, mumbled something that sounded like “thankyouihavetogonowbye” and ran away, her cheeks red. The heroes looked at her retreating figure.
“You didn’t mention the name.” Go Go pointed out as they started on their way back to Fred’s manor to leave their armours there.
“I can live with Captain Cutie.” Hiro shrugged with a smile.
---
That's it. I hope you liked it. Reblog if you did. I live for reblogs.
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so-i-did-this-thing · 4 years
Text
Crozier’s knapsack
I don’t have clear images of this damned bag, despite Crozier wearing it for about half of episode 8. But like his gabardine-esque polar jacket, it seems to be something invented, rather than a specific historic artifact. (Again, please correct me if you find counter-examples.)
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Backpacks have certainly been military gear for some time. Linen knapsacks show up often in the American Revolution on both sides of the war. Here's an American version that's evocative of what Crozier wears:
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Knapsack of Captain David Uhl, of the Dutchess County Militia
For the original era, this bag would have chest straps connecting the shoulder straps to help distribute the load (you can see one in the second pic above), and an internal divider so clothing could be separated from other gear. It was popular at the time to make the flap pointed like a saddle bag flap, instead of a flat line across, like in the show.
This type of design persisted through the early 19th century, though you'd more commonly see sailors use the stereotypical ditty/sailor’s bag to store their spare clothes and personals:
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And you do see bags like this several times in the show, in a variety of sizes:
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What's off about Crozier's bag are the damned shoulder straps. Along the shoulders, they are linen or canvas straps, but then convert into... cord/rope? That can't be comfortable. And definitely not durable.
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It makes me wonder if the costume designers wanted something that had a "Victorian Explorer" feel and felt that era-accurate full fabric shoulder straps with strap adjusters looked too modern.
Or, maybe the bag was meant to have been repaired/converted from a shoulder bag, with the main strap cut and turned into 2 separate straps? Hmmmm.
Haversacks and some "possibles bags" (hunting bags) worn over the shoulder also had a similar rectangular shape and you see them more commonly in this era than backpacks. Here's a Victorian haversack carried over the shoulder with the straight flap closure.
This feels really close to what Crozier is wearing. The straps are even attached to the outer edges of the bag, instead of closer to the center, as you’d expect on a backpack.
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Here’s a good look at the show bag construction - you can see it’s 2 main pieces: back w/flap and then the front. There appears to be no gusset. (Sorry for low-res, still waiting on my blu ray player.) Fairly simple rectangles, no outer pockets.
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What's also a bit weird is the flap's strap and buckle closure. You can see Crozier cinch it up in this scene:
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Most bags of this era would simply have button closures for the outer flap. Watch in the show how long it takes him to close his damned bag, lol. The camera cuts away and then back and he’s still not done fussing.
But wait, what about actual polar explorers? What did they use?
Well, if you look at the Ross era of expeditions (which seemed to inspire the show’s polar coats), you'll see the men wearing something with shoulder straps. But, they're not backpacks, they are harnesses for hauling sleds -- their gear was kept on sleds and not their own person.
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So, my plan?
I’m gonna approach it like a converted shoulder bag. I plan to use linen (I have some natural colored but am now leaning towards bleached), which I may lightly wax. (The "gabardine coat" is going to be waxed canvas, so I don't want to re-use base materials.) I'll match the show's flap closure and add my own interior divider, like the historic backpacks, for convenience.
And then fill it with snacks and juice boxes. XD
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nixotinix · 3 years
Text
More convention advice!
Reminder that I'm not a con veteran, I'm a teenager with a distant relative who runs a big ol con. I'm relaying information that I've heard before.
This convention guide is all about etiquette at conventions and a convention survival kit! Let's get into it!
Con Etiquette
There's a lot of unspoken rules to follow at a convention. A few of them center around cosplaying. So let's start with the most important rule.
Cosplay. Is. Not. Consent.
That is the most important thing to remember. Cosplayers are people, they have their insecurities, they have their boundaries, and just because they're in a wig and some fancy clothes doesn't change that. Don't take a photo of a cosplayer without their direct verbal or certain nonverbal consent. If you're in a crowd and there's a lot of people taking a photo of a cosplayer, all you have to do is get the cosplayer's attention, hold up your phone or camera, point to said phone or camera, and give them a thumbs up. If they return your thumbs up, or nod, or show any other direct consent, go ham! Take your photos! If not, don't take the photo. Simple as that. Don't try to sneak photos either. They see that shit.
Also regarding photos. If a cosplayer is sitting down, on their phone, eating, or has parts of their cosplay off, do NOT ask them for a photo. Walking around in a wig and three layers of clothing isn't comfortable, and cosplayers need to rest. And don't stalk the area waiting for them to be finished, then ask to take the photo. They see that shit. If you have to ask them anything, ask them "Hey, I like your cosplay and I was wondering if you'll still be wearing it later". That's it. If they say yes, cool! Try to find them when they aren't resting and get your photo. If they say no, oh well. You don't get a picture. Boo hoo.
Oh, and don't sit in popular photoshoot areas, all you'll be doing is taking up space. Find a bench or a staircase or something to sit on. Sit on the floor if you have to, just don't sit by the pretty backdrops.
Don't touch the wig. Don't touch the prop. Don't touch the costume. Don't touch the person. Some of these things can be very fragile, and you have no way of knowing that. Sure, you can ask. But your answer will probably be no.
Don't be loud and annoying. Nobody likes to be around you if you're loud and annoying. And, I don't know if this is still a thing, but when I went to my last con or two, there was at least 2 groups of My Hero Academia cosplayers (no hate to MHA, it's just the most popular source for this kind of thing) who would circle around people and link hands while chanting some weird cryptic shit. That can make people freak out big time, and it isn't funny at all. Don't do it.
If you see something in the vendor's hall or artist's alley that you don't like, for example, fanart for a ship you don't like, walk past the booth and move on. Don't say anything. Don't blow up in the artist's/vendor's face about how that ship is toxic, or how they drew that character with bigger hadonkadonks than they have canonically. Just move on and don't make a scene.
And most importantly.. mind your personal hygiene!!!! You don't wanna be that person that makes people gag when you walk by. Shower once a day, because con musk is real and it's bad. Pack deodorant and USE!! IT!!! Don't make other attendees have to pack air freshener for when you walk by. And remember. Axe Body Spray or any kind of body spray at all does not equal a shower. A shower equals a shower!
Now for some rapid fire smaller tips.
Don't wear big headpieces during panels, especially if you're close to the front. It can block other people from seeing what's going on. Take it off and set it on the floor or in your lap. Same with phones. Don't hold them in places that blocks other peoples' view.
Unless you're on a bench or chair, keep walking. Don't block the flow of con traffic.
Don't ask cosplayers for a hug, kiss, a date, their contact info (depends), or inappropriate photos. And ask specifically if you want to be in the photo with them, as some cosplayers don't like this.
If you're cosplaying and bringing a prop weapon, be sure to get it screened and checked first thing so the con organizers know it isn't a potential threat. If it doesn't meet the requirements, it will either have to be modified or you won't be able to take it into the con. Check the requirements of your con for weapon screening.
Try to get your badge the day before the convention actually starts. If you try to get it the first day, you'll be waiting in line for half the day and you might miss out on some real cool events.
See something, say something. Don't be afraid of looking like a jerk when someone is being creepy towards you or someone else, or otherwise making you or them uncomfortable. Report that creepy person's ass to security or employees/volunteers as soon as possible.
Convention Survival Kit
-Remember the 4-3-2-1 rule for con weekends. Four hours of sleep a night, three activities that involve sitting down a day, two meals a day, and one shower a day. These are bare minimums, and if you dip below these minimums, you're gonna have a bad time.
-Deodorant! Again!! Hygiene, people!
-2 litres of water, at least for the full weekend.
-A snack bag!
-A backpack to hold everything with. Make sure everyone in your group has one. If you're cosplaying, fuck it! Theme it to your character. Get a secure padlocked one if possible to prevent pickpockets.
-A cosplay repair kit. Even if you aren't cosplaying, it can help out a cosplayer in need. Pack a sewing kit with a few thread colours, safety pins, bobby pins, hairties, eyelash glue, some simple makeup, things of the like. Maybe a hot glue gun, but that's pushing it.
-A first aid kit with bandaids, hand sanitizer, Ibuprofen, and gauze. Feel free to pack more, as this is the bare minimum.
-Any other necessary medications or menstrual products for you or your party members.
-Shampoo and conditioner. These might be provided by the hotel, but better safe than sorry.
-Makeup wipes! Good ones. To wipe off any makeup you were wearing at the con.
-Always have one person in your group with the Essentials Bag. First aid kit, cosplay repair kit, portable phone charger, snacks, water, money, and anything else that might be needed.
-Leave extra room in one of your bags to put anything bought into, then divvy it up at the hotel room.
-Portable entertainment! Card games, books, dice, anything really. As long as it doesn't take up too much space, you're good.
-Notebook or sketchbook. You never know when you might need an autograph, or a sketch, or the name of a business because their cards ran out. Pack a pen and a Sharpie too. Sharpies can write on anything, even those laminated schedule sheets.
-COMFORTABLE shoes. You'll be walking around all the time and your feet will hate you if you're walking around in stilettos. Does not apply to cosplay, but carry a pair of comfortable shoes that you can switch in and out of throughout the day.
-Cash! Yes, everyone uses cards now, but it never hurts to have an extra 20 bucks on you. Keep this money separate from anything you plan on spending at the convention and only use it for emergencies, like a gas refill or over the counter medication.
-If you wear glasses, pack your cleaning cloth.
-Chapstick and lotion. Save your skin.
-An art storage tube. Cylinder things. You're gonna buy some prints and you don't want them bending.
And that's all! If I forgot anything, let me know and I'll add it to the list. Next installment will be: Cosplay Contests- What They Are and How to Enter!
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