#oh its peak. so true. so real. i agree. nods head

[canon-gabriel-quotes]

Transcript:

The masculine urge to have the feminine urge to be masculine, femininely.

Audio source

[muichiroslover]

Heyo could I request a ban x reader

Where ban and y/n first started dating before elaine so when elaine got into the picture she was a little jealous of their relationship and would try and break them up. And so one day ban and y/n got into an argument, the next day y/n and all of her stuff was gone. Elaine thinking it was a perfect time to take ban tries to comfort him but all he can think about is y/n. So eventually he finds y/n and apologizes in which y/n forgives him.

HAPPY ENDINGG

(Srry If its 2 long u don't have to do it if u dont want 2) (also I do not hate elaine xD)

Hi hi!! Yes I love this idea I love me some angst with happy ending 👀 I hope this is to your liking butterscotch!! <33 enjoy (●’◡’●)ﾉ♥︎♥︎

(Sorry it’s a little late ☹︎)

Pairings: Ban x reader

Warnings: Mentions of blood and wounds (not bad)

Genre: Angst with happy ending

_______________________________________________

You and ban had been a couple for as long as you could remember, at first it was kind of hard to approach him when you guys first met but when you guys had warmed up to each other you guys were absolutely inseparable

You guys did everything together and you were so well known your couple name around towns were “The bandit couple”

As you guys explored the world one night Ban brought up news about this drink that could give you immortality, using the sly line

“Then we can be together forever”

To which you laughed and hit him playfully, but he was entirely serious, you sighed and ended up agreeing to your adventurous boyfriends plan, if it wasn’t real at least you guys would have a fun time

So you guys began your journey to the fairy kings forest, when you guys had finally got to the tree you looked up and groaned

“That’s a huge tree, do we have to climb it?” You ask and he snorts as he already begins getting his hands and legs ready to climb

“You don’t have to, you can wait down here” he says smugly and you glare at the back of his head

“No I’m coming, I might as well see it through” you mutter annoyed to which he laughed

“That’s my girl” he says and you look away in embarrassment, feeling flustered at the comment which almost sent the blue haired man flying off the tree in amusement

As you guys climbed and finally made it to the top a girl, a little one at that looked at you both with a straight face as she puts her hand up and a huge wind blows you guys off

You scream in fear as you get blown far back and far above the ground, Ban grits and teeth and clicks his tongue as he grabs you as you guys start falling and takes the impact

You quickly got off of him and looked at him, tears almost in your eyes

“Oh my god! Ban! Ban I’m so sorry I didn’t mean for you to take the impact! Ban!! Ban-“ you frantically said to the man on the ground who’s eyes were closed

“If you keep calling my name out like that it’d be plain bullying if I didn’t wake up” he groans as he slowly sits up and you quickly hug him to which he chuckles and embraces you back

“Alright let’s try again” he says and your eyes widen slightly

“But ban-“ you begin and he just looks at you with his normal goofy smile you can never turn down, you sigh, deeply may I add and look at him

“Okay..I trust you” you say and he grins even wider as he grabs your hand and stands up as you guys started running towards the tree

The same thing happened a few times, it hurt, a lot but Ban never let you get too injured, always taking the impact of the fall even if you tried to fight with his grip in the air

The last time you guys got up there Ban grabbed his weapon and your eyes widen slightly thinking he was gonna attack the little girl

But he manipulated his staff and instead grabbed the cub with his weapon, You gasped as you two got quickly bounded by trees and the girl took the cup from Bans hand

The girl stands in front of you guys seemingly doing something then she lets us both go, Ban started explaining why you guys wanted immortality and those of such, You didn’t expect him to tell her his whole life’s story but

“Well shes too strong Y/n, let’s just go back” he says smiling at you as he holds out his hand, you smile lightly and nod as you grab it and you both head back down the tree

You guys were camping near the tree those days you were climbing it, you decided you’d stay another week since the fairy kings forest is actually quite pretty and you wanted to explore a bit before leaving since this opportunity may never come again

One night as you laid asleep in your sleeping bag you felt moving, you opened your eyes groggily to see your boyfriend quietly leaving the tent, you thought nothing of it, maybe he was going to pee or he was extra hungry or there was something dangerous nearby

Ignoring it you let yourself fall back into a deep slumber

But as the days and nights continued he kept sneaking out, you started getting suspicious so on the 4th night he snuck out you waited a little bit pretending you were sleeping and after a few minutes you slowly crept out of the tent

You looked around whispering your boyfriends name, this could be a huge misunderstanding after all

You went all around the forest and no sight of Ban

You went back to the tent and looked in, maybe you missed him?? But nope he wasn’t in there

You finally stopped in front of the tree and looked up, remembering the girl that resided there, logically speaking she was older then both of us since fairy’s live longer

“He didn’t” you whisper, you didn’t want to think, no you absolutely were wrong, must be seeing the wrong picture

Your boyfriend of years and hardships is not sneaking out at night to meet up with another girl, no it sounds absurd even thinking about it

‘I’ll just climb and check and I’ll be wrong, I’ll take the wind blow’ you think nodding your head reassuring yourself

You start climbing up the tree as quietly as possible, when you finally made it up and peaked up your mouth fell agape as you saw Ban and the girl chatting and laughing, all close

It surprised you so much that you lost grip on the tree and fell back, you rolled down the tree as if it was a hill, your limbs flying to and fro as you finally hit the bottom

You groaned quietly in pain

“What was that?” Ban says as he stops his conversation with Elaine hearing a soft thump

Elaine looks to the side

“ I didn’t hear anything?” She says and Ban shrugs as they continue to talk

You on the other hand shakily get up as you look at yourself, your arm was bleeding but you don’t know from where, your left ankle was sprained for sure, and your back was killing you it probably had a horrible bruise forming

A tear slipped out as you limped to the tent, you sat down as you grabbed bandages and started cleaning your wounds, the blood was coming from a gash just below your shoulder, probably from a sharp branch

You put a stick in your mouth as you took a deep breath, you grabbed some of Bans alcohol and poured it over the cut, you bit down harshly on the stick but no scream made it through, tears can’t say the same though

You spit out the stick as you breathed hard, every breath of air seeming like you haven’t had oxygen for a while, you take a bandage and wrap it around your arm securely

Usually you would make herbs for wounds and etc, but your hands were shaky, mind a daze and eyes blurry from tears

You wrapped up your sprained ankle and just let your back be in pain because there wasn’t much you could do about the pain back there

You sat silently in the tent waiting for your boyfriend to arrive, he did not arrive till the morning, about an hour and a half before you would usually wake up

When he opened the tent and saw you staring blankly at his empty sleeping bag he went to you and was about to touch your shoulder to ask you what was wrong but you jerked back

He was surprised as you looked at him, your eyes puffy, a huge sign you were crying

“Y/n what-“

“Where were you last night Ban?” You ask and he goes silent

“No in fact where were you the past 4 nights??” You ask and he sighs

“Y/n I just went out to explore and hunt, the foods not gonna come to us-“

You scoff, tears forming up, if he’s lying then is it true that he..

“You’re lying Ban, you’re lying to me” you grit out and he looks at you a little confused but mostly surprised

“What?”

“You were up there in that tree with that girl..” you say dangerously quiet and he sighs his head falling as he realizes he’s been caught and it looks totally wrong too

“Y/n..” he begins and you shake your head

“No no dont Y/n me, why did you lie and why were you sneaking out?!” You shout

“Y/n we were just talking I swear, I lied because I didn’t know how you would react-“

“HOW I WOULD REACT? HOW WOULD YOU REACT IF I WAS SNEAKING OFF LATE AT NIGHT AND MEETING UP WITH SOME GUY BAN?? HUH??!” You ask pushing him back but you wince as the wound near your shoulder moves

Ban notices this then notices the bandage on your arm and ankle

“Y/n what happened?” He asks quickly as he pulls your ankle into his palm to examine it, but you pull it back quickly

“You’re not even answering me, I-I can’t believe this, I can’t.” You say as you lay down in your sleeping bag, you were extremely tired from staying up the whole night already

You laid on the opposite side you usually lay on because of the wound on your other shoulder and thankfully it was the side not facing Ban

You guys didn’t speak for the whole day and when night came you woke up only to see Ban gone

“Y-You’re kidding” you whisper, you quickly get out, you run to the tree as you go up the route you began to remember with your mind at this point

You climbed up skillfully fast ignoring the roaring pain in both your ankle and shoulder, you peaked up and not to your surprise you see Ban and Elaine speaking under the oh so romantic fairy lights

With no sound you climbed back down, you walked to your tent and went in, grabbing your bag you grabbed your herbs, bandages, clothes and canned foods, leaving some for Ban even in your mood

You rolled up your sleeping bag and dig the dirt under as you grabbed your bag of coins, you and Ban always hid your money in case of any intruders, you guys were bandits after all

You take your money and put it in your bag as you get out the tent and leave

Ban returned back in the morning, he had asked Elaine what he should do to fix things and what a girl usually would like in this type of situation, you guys had never fought so bad to the point you didn’t speak the whole entire day

He was scared you were actually done with him, he had a few picked flowers in his hand and he took a deep breath as he opened the tent

But his eyes widen when he sees your stuff gone and your sleeping bag rolled up, he drops the flowers as he looks around frantically

“Y/N?? Y/N WHERE ARE YOU?!” He yelled, he ran everywhere around the forest looking for you, but you were no where in sight

By the time night fell he still couldn’t find you and it felt like his whole world was collapsing in front of him, he couldn’t think and he couldn’t even yell anymore bc he was sure he lost his voice by how loud and long he was screaming your name

He quickly wiped a tear that rolled down his cheek as he quickly climbed the tree, Elaine looked over at him worriedly

“You didn’t come at our usual time I was worried” she said and looks away blushing slightly

“She left Elaine! She left and I can’t find her anywhere” he says as he falls onto his knees and the tears finally come out

“She left me Elaine I-“ he says hoarsely

Elaine frowns sadly as she goes over and hugs him

“Well Ban...maybe she wasn’t the right one..there’s other people who can make you happy” she says

“Her injuries, she had bandages on her right arm and an injury on her ankle as well! She can get really hurt out there I have to find her” he cried

“Ban she left you, maybe it’s time to move on” Elaine says hintfully and lets go of Ban as she flies to the cup, she gives it to Ban and smiles at him

“Really?” He asks and she nods blushing a bit, he drank it slowly and when Elaine wasn’t looking he poured some inside of a glass bottle

“Ban I like-“ Elaine begins but Ban gets up

“I’m sorry Elaine I think this is the last time you’ll be seeing me, I checked every inch of the forest last night so that means Y/n has left the forest, I’m gonna be leaving as soon as I make it to the tent and get my stuff” he says to the girl who’s face falls in despair

“W-What wait but Ban she-“ she began

“She left? She had a good reason, if I was in her position I’d be upset too I can’t blame her” he says running a hand through his hair

“B-BUT SHE-SHE” Elaine tries to plead but stops when she sees Ban smile at her

“No matter what she did or does, she’s the only one my heart races for, in life or in death Y/n is my one true love so...wherever she goes I’ll chase her” he says and with that he jumps off the tree

Elaine falls to her knees as she watches the spot Ban once stood in, her head falling down as tears fell on to the tree

Ban had gotten to the tent and began packing all his stuff he got his money bag from under his sleeping , though he wonders where you hid yours and leaves

He travels for towns and towns looking for you, he had finally found you but much to his dismay you got captured since you were injured and were in a pretty tight situation as you were on death row

He watched as you and other prison mates were in a yard just doing your own things, you were laying on a bench staring at the sky

“Pssst”

You look up quickly and look around not seeing anyone, you were about to lay back down

“Pssst Y/n!”

You look around again noticing the familiar voice

“I must be going crazy” you mutter as you hold your forehead

“You’re not! Look over here!”

You slowly look to the side of the fence you were near and your eyes slowly landed on a bush, soon blue hair popped up from behind the bush and Ban gave you that grin of his

“Ban!” You say, a smile on your face, but you quickly replace it by a scowl and look away from him

He smiles slightly at that

“Y/n come on look at me” he whispers and you begrudgingly look over at him and he smiles, causing you to get flustered and your scowl to shake trying not to smile

“What are you doing here, you better hurry up and escape before they catch you too” you whisper not looking at him, instead watching the guards

He laughs

“As if I would leave you in a jail cell, come on let’s go” he says and you look at him stupidly

“Let’s go? No thanks death row isn’t that bad” you say coldly and he sighs

“Fine, guess we have to do this the hard way” he says shrugging

“HEY GUARDS” He shouts and your eyes widen as you sit up and block him with your body as the guards and inmates look at you

“UHH YEAH GUARDS, UHM YOUR ZIPPERS DOWN” you say and cringe deeply when the guards both look down and one coughs as he zips up his zipper, the inmates laughing

When everything died down you looked at Ban deadly

“Are you crazy?” You whisper

“Crazy for you”

Your mouth closes as you try to not blush but it’s inevitable as your brows unfurrow and a small smile takes over

“There’s that smile I love” he says and you roll your eyes as you huff slightly

“You better explain, I’m not giving you another chance so don’t you lie to me” you say and he nods quickly like a dog, you can basically see the tail behind him wagging

“Now step back babe, you’re boyfriends here to save you” he says smugly and you roll your eyes as you back up

He takes out his staff and in a swift motion breaks the fence, the guards all look over

“HEY” one shouts and you gasp as Ban quickly scoops you up and starts running

“It’s okay! I’ll take this bandit off your hands!” He shouts amused as he runs, he runs into a forest and does many turns eventually losing the guards who had to return back before any other inmates escaped

He puts you down lightly and you cross your arms to which he snorts

“I can run you know” you say and he shakes his head as he leans down and takes out a jar of green stuff

“They’re not as good as yours but they should do” he says and he gently takes your leg as he pulls up the inmate suit and sees your swollen ankle

“Tch stupid guards didn’t even treat it” he mutters as he takes some of the green cream and slowly and gently rubs it over your ankle

You can’t lie this felt really good but

“The first night I went up to try to plead for the youth drink” he says and you look at him

“The second night I went up to try and bribe for the youth drink”

“The third night I spoke to her, I tried to get to know her so she can see we have no bad intentions but one night wasn’t enough”

“The 4th night she had decent trust in me, so we continued talking”

He sighed as he started wrapping the bandage around your ankle softly, you don’t think you’ve ever seen Ban this gentle

“And the 5th night?” You ask and he looks to the side, you noticed a slight blush

“The 5th night I asked advice on what I should do to make you forgive me..” he mutters and your mouth falls agape slightly, it slowly forms into a small smile

“I’m sorry for not letting you explain..” you say and he shakes his head

“No, I can see how this looked from your perspective” he says as he rolls up your sleeves and switches the old bloodied bandages on your arm

You chuckle softly

“So I guess we can’t be together forever” you say sighing and as he rubs the herb cream on your bruised back he raises his eyebrow and pulls out a glass bottle with pink liquid

“Sorry but you’re not escaping me so easily” he says and you gasp as you grab the bottle and look at it

“This is really it??” You say looking back at him and he nods proudly

You slowly open it and drink it, but you didn’t feel that different

“Did it work?” You ask and he shrugs to which you deadpan

That day you both held hand as you jumped off a cliff, when you landed you guys sat up as you laughed and high fived, it worked

After a few months both you and Ban were caught purposely cause life began to get boring, you both sat in the same cell, after 33 executions you both are still alive in confinement

“I win” you say as you cross an all three X’s on the tic tac toe you made on the dirt in the ground

“You’re cheating” Ban replies and you laugh

Soon the door blows open and you two looked over to see a short man with blonde hair, you both smiled as Meliodas smiled back at you two

“Glad to see you two are still lovebirds”

[stardust-kenobi]

First

Obi Wan Kenobi x Fem!Reader

Summary: Obi Wan finds out that you’re a virgin after an evening with him at the bar. You asked him if he would be your first.

Word count: 4.8k

Warnings: vanilla smut, soft obi wan🥺

A/N: This wasn’t requested. I do have a few requests I have received that I will be working on this week. This one was mostly taken from a fic I wrote with a different character a while back. It was edited to fit Obi Wan💕

gif cred: @princessxkenobi

The liquor coated your throat as you threw back the remains of your fourth, unnecessarily strong drink. Your eyes met the dark, dimly lit ceiling of the bar as your head was tilted backward. You weren’t wincing at the awful flavor anymore as your taste buds became practically numb. You confidently slammed the glass onto the bar, nonverbally announcing you were ready for some more alcohol.

The very busy bartender was quick to replace your glass, reminding himself of the money he’d be making off of you this evening. Your best friend, Obi Wan, had accompanied you to the bar tonight. It was not often that he’d let loose but this evening, he’d thrown a few drinks back himself. Anakin had joined you two as well, but he left so that he could spend some quality time with Padme. The two of you remained in the bustling and rowdy crowd, clinging to the bar and chatting the time away.

An odd looking, clearing intoxicated man approached you on the left. Obi Wan stood next to you on your right.

“Hello, pretty thing” he slurred his words. You attempted to scoot away from him. Obi Wan had not noticed his presence yet.

“I said hello” he repeated himself, this time with a sour, demanding attitude.

“I’m not interested” your words were blank and empty of emotion. Obi Wan perked up, now fully aware of the situation.

“Bitch” the man spat at you.

“Excuse me. what is the problem here?” Obi Wan intervened, thankfully.

“This whore right here. That’s the problem” his verbal hostility heightened the dramatic nature of the situation. Obi Wan moved to step in front of you and protect you, he opened his mouth to defend you but he was rudely interrupted.

“What? Is she fucking you? Is that why she won’t fuck me?” He inquired, putting harsh emphasis on his words.

“Alright I think it best if you le-” Obi Wan began, fully prepared to physically throw this man out of the bar if necessary. A fun, drunk driven idea found its way into your thought process.

“Yes, we are” You interrupted proudly and shot to your feet from the bar stool. You turned to Obi Wan behind you and flashed him a please-go-along-with-this look. His expression was still angry.

“Aren’t we, Obi Wan?” You continue and wrap your arm around him sloppily and place your other hand on his slightly exposed chest.

You felt the effect of the alcohol intensify as you moved. Obi Wan’s expression had transformed from pure irritation directed at the man, to satisfaction directed at you and your newly formed plan.

“Yeah.. You heard her” Obi Wan attempted to sell the lie while you’re wrapped around him. You could tell he was drunk too. It was subtle, but you’d been around him enough to pick up on his inebriated signals.

“Prove it” The man blurts out suddenly. Obi Wan looks down at you clinging to him with a clueless look on his sweet face. You assume he has no idea how to play this out and decide to take it into your own hands. There was no time to give silent messages to each other now. You moved your face toward his, tension growing exponentially. You grasped his shirt and pulled him into you. Your uncoordinated motions caused your lips to crash onto his harder than you’d intended. Nonetheless, Obi Wan’s lips moved so passionately against yours.

Although this kiss was all for show, you felt a warm tingling feeling in your stomach. The man stood next to the two of you and watched, completely speechless. You smirked slightly against Obi Wan’s lips, silently communicating to him. You move your hand from his chest to his groin and grope him firmly. Obi Wan jumped at the contact then groans quietly into your mouth. After a few long seconds of passionate kissing, you pulled away with a sly look on your face. You nodded your head and raise an eyebrow to the man’s annoyed face. You turn back to Obi Wan, observing a surprised, yet satisfied look plastered across his expression.

“Ah that ain’t nothing, y’all just made out” He said, tremendously unconvinced and displeased. You threw your hands up in frustration and Obi Wan belted out a hardy laugh for more reasons than one. Normally this would be out of character for him. His mood would have turned way too serious very quickly had that situation occurred while he was sober.

“Seriously? Do you want to watch us fuck for you to be convinced?” You rhetorically ask him, hoping he wasn’t actually going to say yes. Your filthy words were shocking to you as they flew off your tongue. Obi Wan jolted his attention to you, you didn’t see it, but you could feel his eyes on you.

“Really I just want to see you without any clothes on, so yeah sweetheart that would be great” He responded, earning an uproar of laughter from himself.

“Fine, we’re going to right now. But you’re not coming, sir” You announced. You wrapped your fingers into Obi Wan’s hair and plant another kiss on his lips before guiding him by the hand around the corner that was unoccupied and lacking light.

Once you both had escaped the man’s presence and came around the corner, both of you broke character.

“What are we doing, y/n?” He whispered and giggled drunkenly, following you closely.

“Shh let’s just get in here” You suggested. Your mind began to wander as you contemplate whether you were ready to lose your virginity tonight. The idea both terrified and excited you simultaneously. Was this still a joke? Was it serious now? Everything was a little blurry for you at the moment.

You both scurried into the unoccupied area and you peak around one last time to make sure you weren’t followed. Once you found yourself in the quiet and darkness, all you could see was a silhouette of Obi Wan’s figure and his crystal blue eyes somehow still glistening. There was silence as you admired him in this setting.

“So…are we really gonn-” Obi Wan started to inquire.

“Oh no!” You cut him off and instantly realized how harsh your words came out of your mouth.

“Right, right. Of course, that was stupid, I shouldn’t have asked that” He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, displaying his slight embarrassment for asking. You then felt heavy guilt on your shoulders for reacting in such a way. You wanted Obi Wan, more than any other man you’d known, but you were afraid of losing your innocence. Especially not when you weren’t prepared for it. It was your nerves speaking, not your true desires.

“Obi Wan…” You began. He motioned politely for you to stop explaining yourself before you even start.

“Y/n you don’t have to say anything, really” Obi Wan said apologetically.

“Let me.” You firmly demanded. “Look, Obi Wan. I know we were doing this as a joke to mess with him, but i’m a little drunk right now and I just feel like telling you this.” You fiddled with your fingers for a moment then looked at him. You weren’t sure if he could see your nervousness. “I’m a virgin” you stated suddenly and boldly, getting it out, finally.

Obi Wan looked at you for a moment and you’re almost able to read his mind through his gestures. He didn’t know what to say, that much was obvious.

“Oh. I see.” He finally broke the silence. He rubbed his beard softly. “Why haven’t you ever told me that?” He inquired, sounding offended and hurt that his very close friend never mentioned her sexual history.

“I was…ashamed…I don’t know” You weren’t sure what to say at this point. You leaned against the wall and hide your face in your hands. Truly you had no need to feel ashamed but you present yourself as such a mature woman at times, you felt a fool for admitting you had no experience in that specific department.

“Y/n, you have nothing to be ashamed about” He assured you softly and places his hand on the wall above your head. He was dangerously close to your face, you could smell the hint of liquor on his breath that was also present on yours.

“I know, I just…I want to, y’know…have sex” You continued. “but I haven’t had the opportunity with someone I really care about.” You kept your focus on the ground below you and feel Obi Wan’s hand rest on your shoulder to provide emotional support. You could tell that his offered consolation was hesitant as he grew nervous for what he’d say next.

“I care about you, darling” Obi Wan began, “and I think you’re…” He paused for a moment and audibly swallowed, “absolutely beautiful.” The last words trailed off toward the end. He was too shy to confidently express his admiration, even with his altered mind. You blushed, of course unnoticed by Obi Wan in this low lighting. “And I’m not just saying that because we’re both drunk, I really feel that way” he continued. You smiled softly and turned your attention to him. He met your eyes in the same moment, reading your mind in the same way you were able to read his before.

His hand slowly grasped your face, gently pulling you closer to him. He was trembling subtly. Your heart began to flutter as it did when you first kissed, except this time it felt deeper, and more real. His soft lips graced yours so tenderly. There was a level of passion in this kiss that you’d never felt in your life and you soaked in every bit of it. You allowed your lips to dance with his for as long as you both allowed in that moment.

You pulled away, and nervously breathed out.

“I’m glad that one was real” He chuckled.

“Me too” You agreed and leaned into his arms. “Obi Wan?” you requested his attention.

“Yeah, y/n?”

“When I decide that I’m ready, would you be my first?” You spilled out of your mouth. You feared what he might say in response.

“I’d love to, Y/n.” He flashed a friendly, comforting smile. “It would be an honor” He confirmed and placed a soft kiss on your forehead. Somehow this conversation was more heartwarming than sexual. You knew he cared about you so deeply and for you to ask him that probably made him happy knowing you trust him in that way.

“We should probably stay back here a little longer, maybe that guy will get bored and leave.” You suggested. Obi Wan nods in agreement.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it if he tries to bother you again” he firmly reassured you.

//

In the weeks that followed that unexpected night, you and Obi Wan had developed a beautiful, slow paced relationship. For a while, it was unofficial and overall, unsure. The flirting skyrocketed and the constant sexual tension grew more obvious to you with every moment you spent near each other. One night when the moons glowed brighter than usual, and everything felt right, Obi Wan told you how much he really loved you, and officially asked you to be his, making you feel complete. You two, of course, had to keep the business of your courtship a secret, considering he was a Jedi, and all. Most people assumed you were only friends, as you always had been. You were still a virgin, and Obi Wan was willing to wait as long as you needed.

“You’re worth it, y/n” he would always remind you.

You were once faced with a difficult situation regarding the secrecy of your relationship when you were approached by Mace Windu, asking for an explanation of your extended amount of time with Obi Wan. Somehow, you were able to lie to a Jedi and get away with it, but it surely was a close call. To Master Windu’s surprise, Obi Wan very sternly put him in his place about interrogating you. This put quite the strain on their relationship. But again, Obi Wan assured you,

“You’re worth it, y/n”.

This altercation forced the two of you to be more secretive in the future.

That was a week ago. Today, It was a calm, pleasant day. The sun was peeking through the infrastructure and partially shining through the balcony in Obi Wan’s room, a good indication that it was approaching dawn. Obi Wan was peacefully still snoozing off the previous night. You’d stayed the night with him unintentionally. You’d been there late, and fell asleep on his couch. He covered you in a fleece blanket and let you sleep rather than waking you and making you leave. Although the sun crept itself onto Obi Wan’s relaxed face through the wide balcony and neighboring window, he remained at rest. You sat in the chair next the bed, legs curled up, watching his chest gently rise and fall, admiring the sound of his peaceful breathing.

You studied the lining of his jaw that was speckled with thick hair, yet still so soft. His lips were ever so slightly parted. You smiled to yourself and turned your attention back to the rising sun. You became so lost in your thoughts you were slightly startled by Obi Wan’s voice.

“Good morning, love” His voice was gruff, sleepy, and so adorable. You turn around to look at his fatigued smile and head still rested on his pillow.

“Good morning, Obi Wan” You sweetly replied. “It’s a beautiful day and you’re lazy butt is just sleeping it away” you teased.

“Get over here, you” He chuckled and pulled the covers back with enough room for you to snuggle in there with him. You happily obliged.

You placed your back to his bare chest, asserting yourself as the little spoon. You’d never seem his so exposed and it made your heart flutter.

“You might feel, um-” Obi Wan began. Before he finishes his statement, you felt a bulge press against your ass. You were pleased to feel this but you assumed Obi Wan was likely embarrassed by it. “It’s uh, because I just woke up, that’s all” he tried to explain himself.

“Hush” You attempted to shut him up. You grinded your hips back into him, causing him to groan quietly. You teased him further and rotate your hips slightly. One of your favorite things to do was tease him relentlessly.

“Darling” He growled and pulled you closer into him, if that was even possible. You turned to face him, planning to act on something you’d considered for a while.

“I want you, Obi Wan” You whispered. “I want you to make love to me”. His eyes widened happily. His mind was racing and it was obvious to you. You were so nervous to even bring it up, but he was never going to be pushy about it, so you had to make the first move.

“R-right now?” He stuttered.

“Well, I mean, if that’s okay” You shyly responded. He smiled ear to ear and looks away, then back to you.

“Oh it’s more than okay, Y/n, but” Obi Wan paused and sat up in bed, “I want to get myself cleaned up for you first. It’s your first time, you deserve for it to be special”.

You melted at this gesture and felt relief knowing that he wanted to do this as well. Obi Wan ran his fingers through his messy hair then reached for your hand, pulling it to his lips and planting a kiss softly on your fingers.

“I’ve just been thinking about it a lot recently and…I know that I’m ready” You admitted.

“Tonight” He replied, “Are you okay with doing that here?” He inquired as if he was asking himself simultaneously. You nodded your head in approval to which he positively replied with a nod as well. You kissed him on closed lips quickly before rising to your feet.

“Then I will see you tonight, Master Kenobi” You smiled and exited his room slowly, closing the door behind you.

You had spent the day letting your nerves get the best of you and over thinking the endless possibilities of what could happen.

As the sun got lower, your nerves rose higher. The sun just barely crept over the horizon now. You took a sharp breath in and decided it was a good time to go to him. Your stomach was tied in knots and your legs trembled subtly with every step. You were so excited and so terrified at the same time. As you get near his quarters, you walked yourself through what was going to happen again. The door opened to reveal his robe apparel that was more formal than usual. He scanned your body and admired your flowing evening gown.

“Wow…you look…beautiful” He seemed damn near speechless. You looked normal at best, but he was still amazed at your appearance somehow.

“Thank you Obi Wan, you look very handsome yourself” You reciprocated the compliment. You kept reminding yourself to calm down and steady your hands. Just in time, too, because Obi Wan grabbed them delicately and led you into his bedroom. You were in awe of the mood he had set. The room was lit only by about 30 candles. There were rose petals that circled the bed, creating a romantic atmosphere. He turned to you, seeing the nervous smile on your face, and closed the bedroom door behind you.

“This is wonderful, Obi Wan” you express your gratitude for this preparation.

“Only the best for you, my darling” he whispered.

Obi Wan took his gentle time initiating the events to follow. He approached you hesitantly, displaying signs of anxiousness. He smiled warmly at you and minimized the distance between you two standing in the middle of his bedroom. You felt like you were awkward, not knowing what to do with your hands. He raised his palm to your flushed cheek and rubbed his thumb over your cheekbone. He leaned into you slowly, as if he’s never kissed you before, and placed his ready lips upon yours. As both your lips move gracefully together, you felt yourself begin to relax. Obi Wan repositioned his idle arm to wrap around your waist and pulled you into his warm body, leaving no space between you two. Your tongues meet, increasing the passion of the kiss. He shuffled his feet toward his bed, keeping his grip on you so that you move together. He faced your back toward the bed and lays you down gently before hovering over you, only breaking your kiss for a moment. He ensured that you were comfortable before continuing.

His hands traveled to your neck and gently caressed your collarbone. He removed his lips from yours and presses them against your open neck. You moaned so softly, having your mouth now absent of his touch. Obi Wan sprinkled kisses all over your chest above the line of your dress. It took so little from Obi Wan’s physical affection for you to become incredibly aroused. A warmth formed between your legs you were familiar with, although it was never acted upon. Your fingers fiddled with the clasps on your dress before he noticed your attempts.

“Let me, Y/N” He whispered into your ear and continued what your trembling fingers began. He first pulled your cardigan off slowly and worked on pulling your dress off your shoulder. You lifted your body and helped him slide it to your feet, leaving your body more exposed than you’d ever been in front of a man before. Your gown left no room for a bra, so with the absence of your gown, so was the exposure of your breasts. You felt so self conscious but you couldn’t let that ruin the moment. He removed his robes and under shirt before you were given a chance to assist and left his broad, hair speckled chest open to you. You traced your fingers on his chest and admired his masculine shape.

Through a few more kisses, and traveling curious hands, Obi Wan reached the hem of your panties and he flashed you a look that requested consent. You nodded in acceptance to have your body completely given to him in its most bare form. Chills shot down your body as he slowly removed them from your curves.

You were absolutely nude now and you looked away from him shyly. Obi Wan did not take notice of this and moved himself back to get a thorough look at your body. He released a low, melodic growl from his throat in appreciation for your figure. You felt another chill cascade over the surface of your skin.

“Stars, y/n, you are perfect” He praised you. You chuckle quietly and bite your lip. After his long look of appreciation, he lowers himself to lay next you, planting several more kisses on your lips. His wandering hand that wasn’t placed behind your head traveled to your thighs. He traced your folds with his middle finger and felt how achingly wet and ready you were for him.

“Oh y/n, did I do this to you?” He whispered seductively into your ear. You nodded, unable to create words. His fingers rubbed your clit delicately, finding the perfect rhythm to get you going. You began to squirm lightly under his touch and produced innocent whimpers into his ear. Obi Wan took his time with every move he made, making sure to put your pleasure first. He then slid his middle finger inside of you slowly. You gasped and it was immediately followed by a whimper. He pumped his finger in and out of you, careful to only use one to begin with. His thumb remained at your clit, still rubbing at the same pace as the thrusts of his finger.

“Yeah, that’s it. You’re doing so good sweetheart” He praised you again so tenderly, encouraging your sweet sounds of pleasure.

You moved your lips to intertwine with his while his skillful fingers do wonders to you. You make no effort to cease your moans into his mouth, it seemed to turn him on every time you did. His mouth then diverted its attention to your breasts, sucking tenderly at your nipples.

“Obi Wan” You called to him through your moans.

“What is it, darling?”

“I want to make you feel good” You pleaded.

“I have to take care of you first” He insisted. His fingers increased their pace only slightly and you begin to feel your stomach tighten gradually. Each motion of his hand felt better than the last. A sensation you had felt only in your own times of private intimacy with yourself began to grow inside of you, stronger than what you’d experienced before.

“Oh my god” You moaned deeply as a wash of ecstasy floods your body beginning at your clit and radiating throughout every inch of you. Your back arched and he placed his unoccupied hand under your arch suddenly to keep you on your high.

“Mmm, that's it, love” He moaned. Your intense whimpers faded slowly and your limbs trembled slightly.

Obi Wan then removed his fingers from your pussy slowly. He pulled his trousers off of his body for you as you floated off your high. His cock sprang free from the tight grip that once restricted it. You were in amazement at his size and couldn’t help that your jaw literally dropped. He nervously laughed at your reaction to him. You were hesitant, afraid that you weren’t sure how to handle or pleasure him the same way he was pleasuring you. You sat on your knees while Obi Wan laid flat on his back. He looked at you as if to wonder what your next move was.

You gripped your hand gently around his pulsing cock that was desperate for your attention. You parted your eager lips and moved your face toward what you held in your hand. Your lips made contact with his tip and he breathed in briefly and sharply. You lowered your mouth onto him until his dick is met with the back of your throat. Steadily, you picked up the pace and bobbed your head up and down onto his length. Obi Wan’s moans were soft and innocent to begin, but they were growing louder and more intense with your increased pace.

His fingers found their way to the back of your head and intertwine themselves in your hair. He guided your head as you move.

“Fuck” he mumbled in the most sexy way, causing you to internally melt. He doesn’t allow you to spend as much time on him as he did for you. He gently lifted you from his cock and pulled you up to his face, passionately kissing you. You instinctively placed one leg on each side of Obi Wan’s hips. You intended to lower yourself on him but he stops you suddenly by wrapping his arm tightly around you and switching places with you. It was clear that he was more focused on making this pleasurable and easy for you during your first time.

“Are you nervous?” He whispered intimately, hovering over you. His eyes were dimly illuminated by the candles filling the room, revealing only a hint of the bright blue that you knew was there. Your fingers traced his shoulder delicately, down to his arms, to his hand placed next to your head. You get so lost in his eyes, you momentarily forget he even asked you a question.

“No” you answered confidently, “I trust you”.

Obi Wan smiled at you and then diverted his attention south. He grabbed his member and lined it up carefully at your soaking wet entrance. With tremendous caution and patience for you, Obi Wan pushed his hips into you. There was a sharp discomfort inside you and you winced, noticeable to Obi Wan.

“I’ll go as slow as you need me to” he assured you, “I don’t want to hurt you”. He finally buried himself completely inside of you. You were so tight wrapped around him that he almost lost it immediately. It was such a wonderful new feeling to experience being this close to Obi Wan. Your body adjusted itself quicker than you anticipated to his size. He began to thrust slowly, still giving you time to adjust to him. A soft whimper escaped your lips, notifying Obi Wan that you were experiencing pleasure rather than pain now. Once his thrusts find perfect and steady rhythm inside you, he began to groan softly with you.

Your eyes met and locked on each other while he continued to curl his hips passionately into yours.

“Does that feel good, Y/n?” He moaned and kissed your neck gently.

“Yes, Obi Wan” You managed to mumble through your new feeling of pleasure.

Obi Wan becomes louder, his moans sounding so sweet to you. He couldn’t hide his pleasure on his face, and neither could you.

He swiftly moved your leg around him, placing his body behind yours, still deep inside you. You were both laying on your sides. He wrapped his arm around your waist in front of him to gather better leverage on fucking you deeply. There was something about this position that hit new sweet spots inside of you. You couldn’t help but let profanities fly from your mouth.

“Oh fuck, Obi Wan, yes” You breathlessly moaned. His hand moved from your waist to gently rubbing your still very sensitive clit. You twitched at this contact but he still lightly rubbed you, intensifying your pleasurable experience.

“Oh god, I’m gonna c-” you cried, unable to form the full sentence. That same euphoric feeling overcomes you again as Obi Wan continues to pound into you steadily. This time your orgasm was stronger, and you attempted to cover your mouth to muffle your sounds before Obi Wan protested.

“No, darling, I want to hear you” he purrs. You released what you tried to suppress into the air. You come down slowly from your high. He released his fingers from your clit and thrusted a little harder now.

His groans and whines were getting a little more choppy, indicating he must be close. He buried his face into your shoulder to muffle his sounds. His body tensed and he roughly gripped your hip as he reached his high.

“Y/n” He mumbled your name and growled while he released himself in your pussy, filling you.

He took a moment to recover before removing his dick from inside you. He laid flat, you do as well and move to lie against his chest. Neither of you speak for a while, and rather enjoyed the silence of being in each other’s presence. He kissed your forehead before breaking the silence.

“I love you, Y/n.” He stated suddenly. You smiled ear to ear, unable to hide how over-joyous you were to hear that. You’d heard it before, but it just felt different this time.

“I love you too, Obi Wan”

[raineeskiesabove]

A Dove’s Song | Venti x Lumine Oneshot

.

“Paimon doesn’t understand why you care so much about that tone-dear bard! He’s quite bothersome if you ask Paimon,” she whined, closely following Lumine.

“He’s a good person, Paimon. You two may butt heads, but you’re both very important to me. As his friend, it’s my duty to be there for him,” Lumine responded.

She gently patted Paimon’s head to express her affection for the tiny familiar. “Well, his elemental trail leads... here,” she said, frowning to see that it was indeed Angel’s Share. She just hoped that he wasn’t wasted. Again.

Opening the door slowly, Lumine was immediately taken aback by the roar of the crowd inside, all gathered around a table. On top of it stood Venti, with a dazed look in his eyes and a bright smile on his face. Despite the rosy color of his cheeks indicating his intoxication, he was still singing and playing the lyre. Albeit, his slurs and odd movements on the instrument were beginning to create more of a comedy act than respectable entertainment.

“Another song I shall play, if a drink someone will pay!” he announced, taking a large swig from a glass offered by an audience member.

“Gods, he’s going to topple over...” Lumine pushed to the center of the crowd, her eyes now at level with Venti’s loafers.

“Ah! Lumi! You’re just in time for another solo!”

She sighed. “Venti, how many drinks have you had tonight?”

“It seems that I have lost count. But I am indeed trying to achieve a new personal record!” He beamed at her, clearly proud of himself about the idea.

Lumine pinched the bridge of her nose, growing annoyed with his silly antics. The last time he attempted to “break a record”, she found him the next day in some back alley in Monstadt. Upon waking him up, Lumine then found herself holding onto him as he emptied last night’s drinks onto the street. So much for being a regal archon.

“Venti, this isn’t safe! Let me take you home!”

“Yeah! Paimon thinks that the tone-deaf bard has had more than enough dandelion wine!”

But by then, Venti had turned his attention towards the next drink someone had paid for him, which he instantly gulped down. Streams of wine ran sloppily down his chin, staining his cape and shirt. The moment he finished the last of the glass, his body paused, seemingly frozen in motion. The crowd grew quiet, expecting the bard to perform another haphazardly done song. But instead, the pause followed with Venti collapsing onto the table, out cold from drinking too much.

“Venti!” Lumine cupped his cheek to get a better look at his face, indeed confirming that he was unconscious. Having no other choice, Lumine hoisted Venti onto her shoulder to half carry, half drag him away, to the utter shock and amusement of the crowd. She grew irritated upon realizing that no one had offered to help, let alone voice something akin to concern. But for them, she realized, this was the norm for this performer. Venti always performed for food and drinks, and overindulgence was more common than not. If anything, she was the odd one for caring enough to drag him away. She could hear Paimon nagging in her ear, saying something about how the tone-deaf bard should be left to sleep on the ground. But Lumine wouldn’t stand for such a thing.

Renting a small room from a local inn, Lumine laid Venti to rest on the room’s single bed. Upon putting him down, Lumine collapsed to the ground, panting from the strain of moving him across town. Beads of sweat ran down her face, which she wearily tried to brush away with her forearm. Meanwhile, Venti was beginning to stir, and Lumine could hear him groaning like a pond frog.

“Where...?”

“We’re at an inn that Lumine dragged you to, and paid for! You owe her!” Paimon shouted.

“Lumine...! How was my performance? They- they liked it, right?” His voice was hoarse and uneven, making it all the more clear that he wasn’t thinking clearly.

“Yes, yes, you did wonderfully, Venti. Now try to get some rest-“

“But Lumi!” He grabbed her hand suddenly, making her jump.

“Yes?”

“But did you like it?” His words made Lumine hesitate. The first lie was one thing, but was it fair to lie a second time? She reasoned that her lie was too far gone to backpedal for this second answer.

“Yes, Venti, it was lovely,” she whispered.

“Good, good... I sang... like a dove, to proclaim my love,” he mumbled, his eyes growing heavy. Venti squeezed her hand tightly before drifting into a drunken sleep.

“Ehhhh?! Tone-deaf bard likes Lumine?!” Paimon exclaimed. “Hey! Venti, wake up! Are you messing with us!” Paimon poked and prodded him to no avail, as Venti was out cold. She sighed, turning to Lumine. “That bard really is a fool. There’s no way- huh? Lumine?” Upon looking at her, Paimon saw that Lumine’s face had turned a bright red, her eyes wide and mouth slightly agape.

“Wait! Do you actually like that silly bard?”

“N-no! It’s not like that! And, I mean, it’s probably not true, right? People say strange things when they’re not thinking,” she mumbled, now turning away from the bed.

“Hmm, but Paimon thinks you’re lying! Paimon sees how you look at him compared to everyone else. Oooh, Lumine’s in love~” she teased.

Lumine shot Paimon a scowl. She looked at Venti wistfully, shaking her head, “I do love him, but it doesn’t matter. He’s an archon. A protector of freedom. Love would tie him down. I would tie him down,” her voice cracked, her hand meeting her lips to cover her emerging sorrow.

“Don’t say that! Paimon doesn’t like the bard personally, but you deserve to be happy!”

“Thank you, Paimon. But please, don’t tell him. I’ll be the one to decide” she said.

Paimon sighed, “Okay, but Paimon hopes you know what you’re doing.”

“It’ll be fine,” was all Lumine said before leaving to sit by the moonlit windowsill. Alone.

By the time Venti finally came to, the sunlight shone harshly through the now opened window. He was forced to open his eyes gradually, his head spinning from the intense hangover he was now experiencing.

“Boo!” Paimon suddenly appeared in his field of vision, making him jump. “Lumine went to go get some food and supplies for our next trip, so she left Paimon to make sure the bard doesn’t do anything rash!” She crossed her arms proudly to emphasize the importance of her role.

“I see. Will she be back soon?” he muttered.

“Maybe?” Paimon didn’t sound all that confident.

.

Hours passed. As the sun reached its peak and began to fall, Lumine still indicated no sign of returning. By this point, both Venti and Paimon grew worried, and agreed that it was time to search for her.

“Finally! Something we agree on,” Paimon said, watching Venti scribble a quick note in case Lumine came back.

“I am her friend, and the wind is telling me there is something to amend.”

“Oh, well uh, I wouldn’t know,” Paimon answered unconvincingly.

“No matter, we should still work on finding her. At least she has her Vision set to anemo. That makes her easier to find.”

.

Eventually, he and Paimon found her at the shores of a nearby river, close to the outskirts of Monstadt.

“Look! There she-“

“Shh!!” Venti held a finger to Paimon’s lips, silencing her. A scowl formed on her face as she quieted down.

Using his Anemo powers, Venti focused on letting her voice travel on the wind, making it easier for her to be heard.

“...Oh Lumine, you’re such a fool. A human and an archon? One of freedom? It wouldn’t be fair. I just-“ she growled in frustration, periodically throwing stones into the rushing water.

Upon hearing this, Venti grew to realize that that occurrence last night wasn’t a dream. It was real, and she had heard the most unromantic way a bard could’ve possibly confessed their love. But he agreed, in that his affection for her did feel out of character. Were archons even allowed to have such feelings for a mere mortal? The division in their respective roles made him hesitate. Not because he thought lowly of her, but rather about their future. The thought of losing her made his stomach churn, but he tried to convince himself that it was the remnants of alcohol talking.

.

He approached her warily, not wanting to startle her. “Lumi? Lumi, are you alright? You didn’t return so I was getting worried.”

She turned around slowly, her shoulders shaking from trying to hold back her sobs. Venti’s heart ached from the sight of her, his saddened gaze making her cover her face in shame.

“Don’t look at me. Just- just leave, pretend you saw nothing,” she choked.

But he didn’t leave, and instead sighed before beginning to speak. “Lumine, what did I say last night?”

“You don’t... remember?”

“No, I’m sorry. But regretfully I have been listening in. I was worried of where you have been,” he explained, averting his eyes regretfully, “I said something. Something about love, yes?”

She nodded slowly, hugging herself in preparation for his rejection.

“Well, it’s true. I... I am in love with you, Lumine. I just wish I could’ve told you in a better way. Perhaps singing like a dove to express my love would’ve been much better to hear, huh?”

From that statement, Lumine suddenly stopped crying, staring at him with a look of shock. He raised an eyebrow quizzically, only more confused than before.

In the silence, Paimon added her two cents, “Oh, wow! That’s what the bard said last night too! If the rhyme was the same even when he was drunk, he must really care about Lumi!”

“Is that really true? You have feelings for me?” she asked in disbelief, reddened eyes wide with a shocked expression.

Venti nodded slowly, before taking a few steps closer to her. In response, Lumine stepped back, afraid to completely allow herself to be vulnerable in his presence.

“But why? I would take away a part of your freedom,” she argued regretfully.

He smiled, “Yes, that is true. But I’ve always envisioned Monstadt to be a city of romance and new experiences. I just never thought that there would come a day that I too would fall for someone. You’re in pain, Lumine, because you’ve bound your feelings in chains,” by the end of his statement, he found himself frowning again.

“Is it okay?”

“What is?”

“Is it okay... for me to love you?”

“Yes, it is. And it is okay for me to love you in return. This will admittedly not be easy, but I truly believe that the wind brought us together for a reason.”

This time, when he tried to approach her, she didn’t move away, instead letting him slowly step towards her shaken form. As the sun began to set over the horizon, Venti thought about how brilliantly the color reflected in her glassy eyes. It was both a stunning and heartbreaking sight, making his heart skip a beat. Soon, he grew close enough to wrap his arms around her, pulling her close against his chest. In his embrace, Lumine found comfort in how warm he was. It felt like being enveloped in a warm summer’s day. And it was then, that she finally realized that he truly loved her with all his being. Taking deep breaths, she finally closed her eyes, allotting time for them to rest.

She felt him begin to walk, still holding her close. Lumine followed his lead, trusting him enough to keep her eyes shut. Venti chose a nearby tree to rest under, guiding her down to sit with him. Awkwardly, the way she had clung to him caused her to remain in a seated position on his lap, which he admittedly didn’t mind, but it was enough to make his cheeks heat up. Still, her eyes remained closed as she nuzzled her weary face into the crook of his neck. Save for the sound of their breathing, it was quiet. Paimon had presumably left to give them some much needed space. Maybe she wasn’t so bad after all.

“Lumi, are you asleep?” he whispered.

“No, I am simply resting, dear bard,” she hummed. Her sweet voice sent a shiver down his spine, the affection in her voice making his heart skip a beat.

He wondered if she was teasing him at this point, keeping her gorgeous eyes hidden from his sight. That could be fixed. Placing a hand against her cheek, he slowly lifted her face, brushing his thumb against her smooth skin. This time it was Lumine’s turn to shiver, the roughness of his calloused fingertips feeling foreign to her. He smiled to himself, before leaning in to plant a soft kiss against her perfect lips. In his shyness, he only lasted for but a brief moment before pulling away. But he got what he wanted, as the kiss had finally tempted her into revealing her eyes once more. She offered a gentle smile in return, combing a strand of hair behind her ear. Playfully, she leaned her body closer against his, blessing him with a kiss of her own. The feeling sent sparks flying in his head, his hands moving away from her face to run through her choppy hair. He felt her hands move to rest against his chest, lightly gripping his shirt to maintain balance. The two only pulled apart when Lumine finally had to pause for air, gasping for breath. Venti planted a final kiss on her forehead before tilted her face towards his gaze. The prominent circles under her eyes made him frown.

Summoning his lyre, Venti strummed it thoughtfully, playing a gentle score. With it, accompanied his voice, now expressed in the form of a soft lullaby. As he sang, he felt her head lean against his chest, her breathing growing slower with each note. By the end of his song, Lumine was already fast asleep, still holding onto him tightly. Her serene expression made him smile softly, “Off to the land of nod I see. Goodnight my friend... my love.”

[scandeniall]

falling in love | atsumu m.

pairing: atsumu x reader

warnings: few curse words. Yk the usual; aged up/post time skip

alternatively; what its like falling and being in love with atsumu

thank u all for the thoughts on the sakusa version. figured i’d give another boy a try and am considering making this a series 

Falling in love with Atsumu feels like being on a roller coaster. There are so many ups and downs but you never want to get off. Falling in love with him requires time but once you do its the most amazing thing in the world. 

Its meeting at Onigiri Miya after he’s had a long and rough day at practice and you two order the same meal. The order is called off and in a haze of exhaustion he thinks its his grabbing the bag almost immediately bumping into you and dropping the bag. Hes so so tired and so so hungry that he nearly tears up before mumbling a series of expletives, not even processing any of the spew of apologies you shoot at him. Even worse when he finds out it wasn’t even his order he dropped, because so much for a free meal. He’s in shock when you decline him buying you a new one because he “looks ready to drop dead at any moment.” He barely processes the way Osamu comes out both annoyed at the mess and amused at his frozen twin before telling you a replacement was on the house and forcing Atsumu to go nap in the back for a little because driving home. 

Its how after that night, he’d started seeing you more and more at the shop, very brief conversations here and there leading up to him asking for your number since “ya seem to come here as much as me.” At some point he found out that its because its your roommate’s favorite spot and picking up dinner is on your way home (not that you've ever mentioned that you’d gotten to enjoy the view of both the cook and his brother.)

Its the friendship you develop with his twin and fit right in with their friends. In some whirlwind of conversation you expressed concern for him (as a stranger) to where his brother said it wasn’t unusual for him to come in, half dead, eat and sleep off some of his exhaustion before heading home. It wasn’t all the time, but often enough. However, accidentally stealing someone else's food was a new one for him. You jokingly called Atsumu sleeping beauty, which was the start of it. The two of you frequently teamed up against the twin, to tease at him and no matter how much Atsumu claimed to hate it and he wishes you two despised each other, he cant hide the smile that tugs at him. 

Its the moments like the one when you met where you end up picking him from practice, catching a ride to the gym because he's so so tired and wants nothing more than to stuff his face and sleep for days. Just months into your friendship he’s trusting you with his car, because you seem that dependable. The praises of you being a good friend as his hand lingers against yours after passing the keys over to you. The way he looks slumped against the cars window has something stirring inside of you. You take a picture for blackmail later and to reinforce how much better he is when hes not talking. 

Its how he sits on your couch eating all your snacks while he shit talks all the guys that appear on your tinder. Calls some of them jobless losers, and its the frist time he admits that he thinks you're hot. “Yer too hot for that guy”, while swiping left on all of them (even the ones you would’ve gone right for.) The way you retort confirming that he thinks you’re hot has him speechless and stuttering, insisting that he didnt mean it like that, yet can’t explain how he meant it. 

The times you bicker and he suddenly becomes the worst friend you have. The time you two had stopped talking for like a month, mad over something you’d forgotten a week later. Yet, all you knew is that you were supposed to be mad. He could “go to hell” and you were “so fucking annoying.” Over the course of your friendship he’d made it a habit of taking things from you; your favorite mug because he still had a drink in it when it was time for him to go. Your fuzzy socks that he’d claimed during a movie night, because your apartment was way too cold. The spare reusable bottle because he forgot his and was already on his way to the gym. You’d resorted to trying to slowly get your stuff through Osamu, but by week 3 he’d grown tired of it. He promised you both a free meal if you came and helped him close up one night, before forcing you two to talk it out. Within five minutes the two of you are laughing. 

Your first date had been one by accident of some sorts. You’d been walking around a shopping center at night and he’d caught view of a new ice cream shop. It was his cheat weekend and he suggested stopping. His treat. Some time in between you going home he’d teased that it felt like a date. You both were hit with a oh shit kind of moment because it was true. Throughout the night your hands had brushed several times, and you’d both even let the other use your spoon to taste your different ice cream flavors. 

Atsumu’s feelings came relatively easy. He thought you were kind, funny, interesting, and of course attractive. You had a way of leaving him speechless with your quick and witty comeback, and it was refreshing. It’d been something he hadn’t seen much since his high school days with Aran. However he’d denied the feelings for the longest, swearing to himself that he’d never have a crush on you. You were just one of the bros, but better.But, after that first date its like the feelings just flooded out. It’d ended with you hinting that you’d be interested in going on another one, “perhaps a real one this time,” and he just nodded. 

There weren’t many dates before the two of you dived into your relationship. Afterall, you’d been friends for over a year and if he’d thought you were annoying he wouldve “been gotten rid of you.” His first act of the two of you becoming a couple, was a cute picture for his new wallpaper. It’d been a hassle to get because with every picture, one of you had a problem. The first time his roots were peaking through too much and he fussed at you for not telling him he needed a touch up. Then the one he liked you were blinking, and hed insisted you looked good anyways (or that he did). He’d recounted a time where he didn’t care about making memories, but it was different now. They made him who he was, and wanted to keep the memories of your growth. 

Its the nights before games that he spends with you doing self care (an act he used to pretend like he only did because you wanted to, before just begrudgingly admitting that he liked it too.) You’d gone to look for a specific face mask, before he admitted that he stole it and forgot to bring it back (when really he used it all up and was just waiting for you to buy another one so he could take that one too). When you rolled your eyes at him, he’d just brush it off a promise of returning it before opening his arms for you to return to your cuddle position. You were supposed to be watching a movie, but he’d pulled up old games of his future opponents and kept showing you interesting plays. One hand holding the phone, the other unconsciously rubbing circles onto your back. He asks if you’re paying attention to him and you admit that you aren’t at all and he sighs in over dramatic disappointment before locking the phone and focusing on you.  

Its the argument that almost led to your breakup that happened due to a miscommunication. You’d been out with friends, Atsumu already trying and failing to coax you into staying the night with him instead. All it had taken was a picture taken completely out of context for him to feel hurt. He really really liked you (borderline was ready to admit loving you)!and thought you’d at least felt a fraction of the same emotion towards him. That night he hadn’t thought through anything before sending the picture (snapped on who knows who’s phone) to you with a simple ‘I see how it is’. What made it even worse is that you hadn’t seen the picture right away. 

It’s how your heart dropped later that night when you were finally ready to head back to his, and your heart ached at how you called him several times only to be sent straight to voicemail. Your attempt at reaching his twin was lucky as he hadn’t even told him about what he thought had happened yet. Another strike of luck when Osamu believed you and ensured that this was a case of his brother acting first and thinking later. 

The makeup had been one both of relief and realization that the two of you needed to talk. It’s when you found out that he was in love with you and that he really did love hard. Just like with volleyball, he wasn’t sure what kind of dumb shit he’d be getting into if you weren’t there. Having to sit through the conversation was uncomfortable for him as he was often the one doing the scolding to others. However the difference was that you admitted that you could’ve handled it better as well (something he doesn’t do when he’s complaining about others).

Its the nights where he hits you up at 2am already outside begging you to just take a late night drive with you. He knows you can’t tell him no so he’s offering a smirk pushing the door open as you sleepily make your way in. His eyes soften at how cute you look (he’s definitely known to slip up and talk in a baby voice like this and yes you’ve blackmailed that ass when he annoys you). You tell him that you look like shit at the moment and he agrees before backtracking and still saying you look good. 

You end up at some late night drive through arguing about fries because “ya didn’t even wanna come out in the first place” and you both don’t need them. You could just share. The workers in the drive through literally have to tell y’all to hurry up to where he just glared at the faceless menu. You have to end up shouting over him the order that he still ends up complaining about. Even though you end up with the two different orders he eats all yours and every time you try and swat his hand away he exclaims that he bought them. 

Those nights you wake up pretty easily because he lowers the windows and turns up his throwbacks playlist pretty loud and sings terribly and just looks so happy. Beautiful Soul by Jesse McCartney comes on and he loves grabbing your hand at it while singing along. Those moments are a different kind of joy from when he’s playing volleyball. He’s not focused on a win or his team and how to celebrate. He’s living in the moment, happy and carefree and with his favorite person.

a/n: um yeah cant lie I do like the sakusa version better but here we go. another middle of the night ramble. 

[hells-angel]

I like you even before I met you

Fandom: Marvel

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Word count: 1716

Warning/s: nothing much, maybe some depressing moods

Summary: Being single on Valentines day doesn't have to be depressing. 

a/n: It was supposed to be for Valentines day, its just a little late. and I'm sorry about the tittle I just cant think of a good one. (but I'm just really lazy to think one)

"are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Wanda asked for at least the whole day. she was already on the door, but her feet seem to not move at the thought of leaving without you.

Shaking your head, you smiled and approach her. "no, you don't need me whining about my lonely life in the background, you guys enjoy your night" you mumbled, fixing her dress and making one last check on her entire get up.

"Alright, but if you change your mind-"

Before she can say more, you grab her shoulder and turn her around towards the door, where Vision was already waiting outside. "I know, I know, enjoy"

She gave you one last look before they disappear into the distance. Turning back into the tower you were greeted by utter silence. Almost everyone had something to do on Valentine's day, either they have a Date or they just busied themselves with something.

But being single is not all that bad, Valentine's dates for singles shouldn't be sad unless you want it to be. So with the towers almost empty you relaxed your shoulders and begun to plan your evening.

The plan was simple, cook some dinner and binge watch some cringe movie. However, nothing seems to be working your way as the simple meal you hope to eat burns. You let out curses as you quickly put out the fire before hearing footsteps approaching.

You lifted your head, tilting it on the side to see Bucky walk in, followed by a gentle breeze that circulated the room. Your chest fluttering as his eyes met yours. If only he knew how much he affected you, while everyone was frightened with his big strong man image, he had the opposite effect on you. Something about him seems to sit so well with you.

Months and years of painful flirting with him, plus countless drunken confessions he never did ask you out so you never did anything about your feelings for him again.

"oh, you're here?" you asked, your voice quiet and gentle as you run the water on the burned pan.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come out of my room" A guilt and disappointed look passed on his face. Making you quickly realize the heaviness of the words you spoke.

"no! No! That's not what I meant!" You quickly called as he turned around to leave. He stops on his tracks before turning back again.

Wiping your hands on the towel you cautiously step out the counter. "I just didn't expect you to be home on Valentine's day"

You gently spoke but the thought of him being with someone makes your chest tighten in pain.

His eyes glazed over at your question before shaking his head at you. "Don't have anywhere to go" his voice came out hoarse, and before you can ask what he's going to do in the kitchen, your question was answered with the growling of his stomach.

You and Bucky exchanged looks, his eyes more on embarrassment before your chuckles filled the silent hall. The previous awkward air was all gone.

Glancing at the burned pans and messy kitchen, that you were sure you would be yelled out by Tony later, there no way you can cook and you're not sure if Bucky can.

"Should we order take out and watch some movie?" You asked, wishing he would agree. Your heart leap in Joy when he gave you a nod.

" We can open some of Tony's prize wine" you smirk, tilting your chin up at the lined up expensive wines behind the glass.

"wouldn't he get mad?" He asked

You shrugged with a laugh "I'm sure he wouldn't even notice it's gone"

"come on"

Halfway through the rom-com movie with Chinese take-out on both your hands and a half-empty wine. Your attention diverted to the winter soldier who can't seem to take his eyes away from you.

After making sure he was looking at you, you took your eyes away from the movie. "what? is there something on my face?" You asked, wiping your mouth with the back of your hand "Is it the sauce?"

He looks flustered for being caught but eventually cleared his throat. "no, it's just...It's not making sense"

You turned to look at him, raising one brow"what is?"

"how come you don't have a date tonight?" He questions as he straightened his back up to look into your eyes. Your mouth fell open as you attempted to formulate a witty but honest response but instead, a flirty one came out.

"how come you never asked me for a date?"

"what?" You watched as Bucky swallowed and his eyes dilated.

"You heard me, Sargent," you said putting down the Chinese take-out on the table.

"oh, I .."

Silence threatens to take over and one look on his expression feels like you've been washed over by cold water. Your brain reminded you what you've just done and why you stop flirting with him. Thought he looks cute being flustered after flirting with him You hated seeing him awkward, depress, and solemn.

After a moment, you clear your throat.

"Sorry, must be the wine talking, you know me when I get drunk" you sheepily spoke. Referring to the countless times you got drunk and confess to him, without him doing anything about it.

Turning your gaze back on the TV, He smiles bitterly "right"

"It's not like I'm your type anyway" you mumbled to yourself but thanks to his hearing he heard it anyway.

"that's not true" he quickly tears his eyes away from the TV to you, then down to his hands like it's the most interesting thing in the world right now.

"It just someone like me...is not for someone like you"

Upon hearing his words a frown etched in your face as you shifted on the couch to face him, the movie already forgotten on the background "someone like you? Bucky do you see yourself in the mirror? You're like equal footing with Steve"

"I'm a broken man Y/n, I'm not a hero" he admitted, his words shattering your heart.

"then we're seeing differently, when I look at you I don't see a broken man, I see a man working hard to fix himself and correct the things he never intended to do, you're not broken you're just...." you pause for a moment to think "... Have cracks at the moment but we'll fix it one step at a time"

You beamed, smiling brightly at him.

Earning his lips to upturned "I don't think there's much a difference between broken and crack, doll"

"that's not the point! The point is they're both fixable" you pouted earning another smile on his lips. Suddenly your eyes met and unlike the countless times he turned away, he finds it hard to look away this time, and so were you.

He didn't allow his eyes to drift away from yours as he stares at you intently.

"Why do you like me so much?" He asked quietly. His question startling you for a second before you began to process how it all started.

Breaking your eye intact with him you cross your arms and slouch on the soft couch, eyes fixed on the TV but not watching it "I think I like you even before I met you"

"what? How I that even possible?"

"Steve used to tell me stories about you, how much you cared about him, how you protect him, and how you're always there with him. He told me everything you did for him and it made me want to be loved like that, to be love and cared for by a person that much, then I met you and before I know it I'm falling in love" you explained, reminiscing about the times you wonder how it would felt to be loved like that.

You knew the other avenger's care and love you but there's a difference between being loved by a person who sees you for you.

A sigh leaves his throat "Y/n I don't think I-"

"no it's alright, you don't like me that way and it's okay," you said quickly, you already made him uncomfortable countless times, the least you can do is spare him the explanation and spare yourself with the heartache.

"no, I like you...a lot actually" he almost whispered, his lips in a tight smile before his mood downhill as his eyes landed on his bionic arms. Opening and closing his fingers as of resting if it was real.

You didn't miss the look of his face darkening as he clenched his hands.

"I just don't want to affect you with my burden"

Your eyebrows furrowed one again as you scoot closer to him and took his bionic hands with yours, intertwining them together. Your other hand cupping his cheeks and turning his head to look at you.

"Bucky, trust me, you're not a burden" you coaxed, voice gentle and soft. The way his eyes shone under the dimly lighted room or the way he gulps. You swore this man will be your death,

Bucky’s gaze traced every detail on your face and once again he found it hard to look away he swallowed thickly, trying to distract from the urges of his mind. But his body moved even before he can think.

Your heartbeat loudly against your chest as you watched him lean in closer. You felt how his hand felt against your face to keep you in place

Your faces were a mere centimeters apart, you can practically feel his breath against you when he stops. "is this okay?"

You chuckled at his words "definitely" you breathe and that all it took before he leaned down and captured your lips.

"Bucky" you mumbled against his lips after you pulled away slightly, a wide grin mirroring each other's expression.

He drapes his arm around your shoulder and pulled you against him." this means we're together right?" He asked hesitantly,

"do you want it to be?" You asked peaking up to meet his eyes on you.

"more than anything in the world" he smiled, just enough to melt your heart all over again.

"then that settles it," you contently said, burying yourself on his chest as he lands another kiss on your forehead.

[journalxxx]

By Hook or by Crook (2)

May 1st, 2270

“Hello, Izuku.” “Hi, dad.” Izuku hadn’t exactly been dreading this conversation, but he hadn’t been looking forward to it either. He’d hoped his mom would do all the talking, having to break the news to his friends had been hard enough. For him. Most of them seemed to have gotten quite the kick out of it. “How are you? Your mother told me you’ve been having a rough couple of weeks.” “Mh.” “Still upset over that visit?” “Mh.” “Speak, son. Sulking doesn’t translate well over the phone.” His father chided gently.

Izuku sighed. “The doctor said I’m never going to get a quirk. I’m sorry.” “Whatever for? It’s not like you have any choice in the matter. Quirks are innate, surely you know that.” “Yes, I do.” Izuku said, staring at the paused frame of All Might’s debut video on the computer screen. The reflection of his own miserable face was superimposed with the triumphant silhouette of the hero. “But I’m sorry anyway. You have such a cool quirk… and mom’s useful too. I could become a great hero with one of them, but I’m never going to get any.” “Again, that’s none of your fault. And I wouldn’t be so sure of that anyway.” “Uh?” Izuku gulped, gripping the phone tightly. “Y-you don’t think I’d make a good hero?” “No, that’s not what I mean.” His father chuckled. “I mean that I wouldn’t lose hope just yet. You’re very young, there’s still plenty of time for your quirk to manifest.” “But the doctor said that all quirks appear before one is four years old. And I’m four. And I have the extra toe joint-” “Tsk! Some doctor they assigned you. As if one could unerringly guess the nature and development of something as unpredictable as a quirk with a single test. An x-ray, of all things. Ancient technology.” “The doctor said there was a study...” “I have an extra toe joint too, you know.” Izuku’s father laughed hearing his son’s surprised gasp. “Studies like the one your doctor mentioned draw conclusions based on the analysis of hundreds, thousands of cases. Those conclusions may hold true for the majority of them, but there are always outliers. Having that oh-so-precious joint and a quirk is indeed rare, but not unheard of.” “B-But…” Izuku’s eyes burned with the feeling of impending tears. He hadn’t expected his father’s reaction to be like this. No one had even remotely doubted the validity of the doctor’s opinion. No one. It almost hurt to hope. “I’m also too old…” “My own quirk didn’t show until I was… fifteen? Maybe sixteen. Way older than you are, anyway. Another important point to consider, don’t you think?” Izuku sniffled. Then cried, quietly. His father remained silent as the boy let the tears flow freely, wiping them on his arm now and then. There was a tangled ball of emotions deep in his chest, that he couldn’t quite unravel. After a couple of minutes though, the sobs abated and he felt better. Better than he had been feeling before his mom handed him the phone. “...Do you really think the doctor was wrong?” “You shouldn’t believe everything doctors tell you. My personal physician keeps calling me ‘the peak of biological and anthropological evolution’, but that’s because he’s been fishing for a raise for years. Clearly you’d expect a Darwinian champion to be able to walk under the sun without protection for more than five minutes without turning into a peeling tomato.” “Uh? Does that really happen to you?” “Didn’t your mother ever tell you that I’m albino? My skin is very sensitive to sunlight, and it burns easily. I have atrocious eyesight too.” “I didn’t know that.” Izuku winced in sympathy. “I’m sorry. That sounds terrible.” “Not nearly as much as you think. I have plenty of skills and tools at my disposal to compensate. It isn’t an inconvenience at all these days, although it did cause me some grief when I was a child.” His father’s tone got softer. “Sometimes it does feel like our bodies are our own worst enemies, doesn’t it?” Izuku hummed in assent, very much agreeing with the sentiment. “I’m happy it doesn’t hurt you any more.” “And I’m glad you didn’t inherit this nuisance from me.” A sudden thought made its unwelcome way in Izuku’s head. “If… If I didn’t inherit your skin and eyes… maybe I won’t inherit your quirk either…” “Izuku.” His father’s tone was kind but firm. There were times when his presence, even just through his voice, felt way more real and solid than that of many people Izuku habitually shared a room with. “Your ability will emerge one day, I’m positive of that. Just give it time and don’t agonize over it.” Izuku nodded, even though he realized that wouldn’t translate well over the phone either. “...Okay.” “Now, what else have you been up to in this past month, other than brooding over a criminally incompetent diagnosis?” Not much, honestly, but Izuku told him anyway. As he kept chatting, his heart grew lighter than it had been in weeks. Mom did always say that his father was a good listener.

July 1st, 2272 “They were talking about it on TV yesterday. It’s an old incident from some years ago, before All Might met Nighteye!” “I see...” “Not many people know about it, because there’s no villain involved, and villains make all the stories more interesting! But it’s a great story nonetheless!” Izuku rattled on enthusiastically, taking advantage of his father’s unresponsive compliance. “Uh-huh...” “So this boy was having some big troubles, I think, and he jumped into a river because he didn’t know what to do about them. But luckily All Might was around! Do you know what he did?” “He offered to cover all the expenses for the years of therapy the boy would need afterwards?” “Uh… They didn’t say that on TV. I don’t know. I think he just rescued him from the river.” “That doesn’t seem to address the underlying problem.” His father commented icily. “Daaad, you’re ruining the story.” Izuku chided him. “Anyway, the funny part is that this boy had a quirk that could turn water into vinegar, and he activated it in a panic while he was drowning.” “Mh. A peculiar quirk...” “So All Might got all drenched in vinegar when he dove in to save him. He made this very silly face in front of the cameras, it was great! And when the boy apologized for causing trouble, guess what All Might told him?” “I’m sorry I’m the living embodiment of this unfair, hypocritical society that has driven you to the brink of despair?” “No. He said,” Izuku continued, breezing past his father’s petty remarks with practiced ease, “It is I who should thank you. My skin’s looking ten years younger now.” “Oh my God…” The man groaned, and a loud thunk-crash noise accompanied his words. “Oh, come on!” Izuku giggled, covering his mouth with his free hand. “It’s so funny!” “Just because they’re called ‘dad jokes’ doesn’t mean I’m legally obligated to laugh at them.” “But it is funny! All Might’s the funniest! Did you know that he just wrote a joke book? It’s called All Might’s Gags and Jokes: A Compendium. It already has amazing reviews! They say it’s warm and relatable and cy.. cyclical…” “He wrote a joke book. A veritable Renaissance man, this one...” His father muttered. Izuku heard something clink in the background. Probably the pieces of whatever his father dropped. “Mom says she’ll buy it for my birthday!” Izuku added, swinging his whole body on his chair in sheer excitement. “That is such a poor use of your remittance. I’ll need to have a couple of words with her…” “It’s for my education!” Izuku enunciated with solemnity, straightening his posture. “There’s a whole chapter of American puns and word plays! It will help me learn English!” “If you want to learn English on your own so soon, please choose a decent source. Start with basic grammar and alphabet books, watch some subtitled shows and movies to get the hang of the correct pronunciation-” “I’m learning a lot from All Might already! The catchphrase he used when he was in college in California was I am here! When he’s surprised, he says Oh my goodness! When he doesn’t believe something, he says Nonsense!” Izuku parroted, taking great care of imitating All Might’s confident, surprised and disbelieving expressions respectively. They would be lost on his father, but he needed to practice them anyway. “If that’s a good American accent, I’m the next Symbol of Peace.” “Dad.” Izuku said, suddenly very serious. He had a very important question to ask, and it had been a long time coming. “Why do you always make fun of him? It’s like… It’s almost like you don’t like him at all.” The words sounded so wrong he almost wasn’t brave enough to say them. Izuku would have been mortified if anyone had moved such an accusation on him. “I suppose he has a sort of… charisma about him.” His father admitted ruefully. “I can’t say it strikes any chords with me though.” “Are you just jealous of him?” Izuku asked shrewdly. “Kacchan also talks a lot of trash about All Might, but it’s obvious he’s just jealous. It’s all right if you are, though, I mean, he’s so-” “I’m this close to hanging up, Izuku.” “But- but how can you not like All Might?! Everyone likes All Might! Boys and girls, children and grown-ups! From age 0 to 100!” “...I guess I just don’t fit the target demographic then.” Izuku huffed. “You’re so boring, dad.” “Says the one who’s been talking my ear off about the same topic for the last forty minutes.” The boy frowned, nibbling at his lip. “...Sorry. Am I annoying you?” “I’ll admit I may have hit my monthly tolerance limit of All Might trivia. Don’t worry about it though.” Izuku did in fact stop worrying, his father’s amusement clearly detectable in his voice. “I think I’ll be able to bear with your unabashed enthusiasm until you hit your mandatory disillusioned teenage phase. Then we’ll see if that obnoxiously cheery act of his will still resonate with you.”

June 2nd, 2274 “His normal body temperature is about two degrees higher than the average. Around 38-39 °C.” “And what can you deduce from that?” Izuku’s father goaded. The boy stared at the scribbles in his notebook in deep thought. “Uhm… that it’s difficult to tell if he has a fever or not?” His father laughed, but not unkindly. “I wouldn’t think so. You just said yourself that that is his normal temperature. Therefore, I wouldn’t call Endeavor’s doctor unless his thermometer read more than 39.5 °C, probably.” “Right.” Izuku nodded. That was obvious, wasn’t it? Why hadn’t he understood that on his own? His father didn’t seem to mind his blunder though. “Try again.” “I think…” Izuku’s eyes were just about to bore a hole into his rough sketch of the hero’s costume. He gave up after the silence started to make him uncomfortable though. “...I don’t know. What can I deduce from that?” “Hm… You did bring up an interesting point. Do you know how fever works, Izuku?” “Yeah. Your body temperature rises when you’re sick. If it rises too much, you can get in serious trouble, you could even die. It never really gets that bad though.” “But why does it rise? What does your body accomplish by doing that?” “Uh…” Izuku frowned. He was sure he’d read or heard something about that, but the details escaped him at the moment. “To help you fight off the sickness, right? You feel worse at first, but it actually helps you get better.” “Exactly. Most bacteria and viruses that infect men thrive and multiply optimally at around 37 °C, which is the average person’s normal body temperature. But the growth of these microorganisms is hindered when the environment gets too hot. That is the principle that makes fever useful for humans. As your body gets hotter, it debilitates the invasors, so that your immune system can remove them more easily.” “..Oh.” It was a pity that his father called him only once a month, Izuku could have easily listened to him for hours every day. He always had so many interesting things to say about so many different subjects, and he always exposed them so neatly. “So. Can you deduce anything new now?” “Uh, uhm… He… I guess he...” Izuku snapped out of his reverie. Right, this was a conversation, not a lesson. He went over the new information in his head as quickly as he could. Higher temperature than normal... Fever... Microorganisms... Immune syst- Oh! “He heals quicker than- no, wait! He doesn’t get sick at all! Because he’s always too hot for the microorganisms! They can’t grow in his body!” “Excellent reasoning!” His father’s warm praise made Izuku’s chest swell with pride. “Obviously he isn’t completely immune to any and all infections, there are lots of exceptions to the mechanism I just explained to you. But yes, I do believe it’s safe to assume that our esteemed Flame Hero suffers from the occasional seasonal maladies far less often than the general population, if at all.” “That’s so cool…” Izuku immediately added the new data to his notes, almost breaking the tip of the pencil in his enthusiasm. “Is that what you wanted me to deduce? Or did you explain that just because I brought up the fever thing?” ���I was actually thinking of something else. But, on second thought, it may be too technical a topic for an eight-year-old.” “...Can you tell me about it anyway?” “Of course.” Izuku would never not be grateful for the patience his father had, never denying him any clarification on anything. He was just about the only adult who never got tired of his questions. Even his mom sometimes hid her fatigue behind a mildly insincere I don’t know. “High heat isn’t exactly conductive to the activity of human cells either. That’s one of the reasons why you feel exhausted and achy when you have a fever, your body struggles to keep doing what it’s supposed to do above its normal temperature range. But Endeavor not only is at peak condition at 39 °C, he can also withstand open flames with a much higher temperature. This suggests that his cells must be fundamentally different from the average person’s on a biochemical level, that his quirk must provide some particularly efficient cellular mechanism to prevent heat damage. One example might be some dedicated enzymes to protect proteins from denaturation, but now I’m entering mere speculation.” A pause. “Did you follow me?” “...Kind of.” Izuku said, kind of lying but not entirely. He had followed most of that. He scrawled and circled a couple of terms he hadn’t grasped - Biochemical - Enzymes - Denaturation - on the page. He didn’t want to waste his father’s time by asking him to explain the meaning of words he could easily look up later on his own. “The gist of it is that Endeavor’s Hellflame has at least two facets. Not only ‘creating fire’, but also ‘not incinerating himself’. The first trait would be a fatal liability without the second.” “Got it!” Izuku cheered. Now that he had understood completely. “You sure know a lot about quirks, dad! Like, a lot! About anything, really!” “For the sake of intellectual honesty, it must be said that it isn’t difficult to impress a primary schooler.” His father laughed. “I’m just older than you.” “How much older?” Izuku asked, realizing for the first time that no one had ever told him his father’s age. “Oh, by a lot. Centuries.” Izuku cackled. “You can’t be that old. You still go to work. Our neighbors are 80 and they’re already retired.” “I do try to keep a youthful outlook on life. But yes, quirks fascinate me quite a bit. And they make for the perfect topic to distract you from your incessant yapping about All Might.” “Speaking of All Might-” “No, I-” His father sighed theatrically. “I just walked into this one, didn’t I?” “Yep.” Izuku grinned. “What about his quirk? Do you know anything about it? He never gives straight answers when people ask him about it…” “That may be the single sign of intelligence he’s ever displayed. The more your enemies know about your quirk, the easier it is for them to find your weaknesses. I’m surprised the other pro heroes aren’t as reserved.” “I wonder why All Might does that, though. His quirk is… pretty obvious.” Izuku pondered. “It just makes him strong. Very strong. Like, the strongest ever. But that’s it.” “Allegedly, yes. But as you noticed yourself, if raw power was all there was to it, there would be no reason to skirt around the issue in interviews, no?” “So there must be something else… What do you think it might be?” “I think it would be no less than cruel to deprive you of the thrill of carrying out your own research.” Izuku let out a dissatisfied moan, and his father chuckled. “You are already so very proficient at it. Your mother told me you’ve already filled a whole notebook with hero and quirk analyses.” “Oh, ehr… It’s just stuff I read here and there…” “Mh, I’ve heard enough of your ‘stuff’ to know that there’s more than random factoids in that head of yours. In fact…” Izuku felt his cheeks warm for the compliment. “I think you’ve gotten old and judicious enough to be trusted with my emergency number.” “Uh? What emergency number?” “It’s a phone number I’ll always answer to, on any day and at any hour, in case you may find yourself in a bad situation. Hopefully you’ll never need it, but better safe than sorry. Now…” His father’s voice raised slightly, drowning out Izuku’s impending interruption. “Can I rely on the fact that you are aware that desperately wanting to tell me that All Might saved a kitten from a meteor does not qualify as an emergency?” Izuku pouted. “I know what an emergency is, dad.” “Good. Ask your mother to give you the number then. Don’t save it on your phone or write it anywhere. Memorize it, and be responsible with it.”

December 3rd, 2275 Sorry for the long silence. I had an accident on the job and I won’t be able to speak clearly for a while. We can talk with the included devices. Use your ring finger to activate them. Usual days, usual hours. Hisashi That short note held the first words Izuku had received from his father in the last five months. The first month he hadn’t phoned, Izuku had felt slightly disappointed, but understanding. His father was a busy man, surely something very important must have been requiring his full-time attention. It was fine, Izuku was confident he could manage to sweet-talk him into a double-length call the following month to make up for that. The second month, he had started to worry. His mother hadn’t heard from his father either. It was unprecedented not to hear from him for such a long time. Since Izuku could remember, his father had never skipped one of their monthly calls. They often talked on the first day of every month, and he kept trying to contact them exactly once each following day if his calls were missed. He never failed to reach them past the third day. He always called from a hidden number, so trying to get hold of him was not an option. The third month, Izuku’s mother had decided to use the emergency number. She hadn’t been able to get through to her husband, but the polite colleague of his who had picked up had reassured her that he was indisposed but overall fine, and would get in touch with them as soon as possible… which could still take a while. Curiously, the coworker had also instructed them to collect a sample of their fingerprints and send them to a specific address. Izuku had been mystified by the request, but his mother had readily agreed, commenting that it was “not the strangest thing Hisashi’s ever asked for”. The silent wait that followed had been a little uneasy, but not harrowing. Izuku and his mother reread the message a couple of times before opening the box they’d just been delivered. Inside were only the two mentioned devices with their respective chargers, snuggled among waterproof packaging and stuffing. They looked very much like ordinary mobile phones, except they had no buttons or ports on any side. Some quick experimentation proved that they could be turned on simply by pressing the indicated finger on the touchscreen. The display showed a very minimalistic chat interface, with a fixed red dot on the top left corner. No amount of tapping on the screen could bring up the virtual keyboard though, which was puzzling. There was no way to access the rest of the phone’s functions, if it even had any. It was the third day of the month, so technically still within the familiar communication window. Izuku kept poking and prodding at the buttonless phone for the whole afternoon until eventually, shortly after dinner, the red dot at the top of the chat became green. A minute later, a message popped up. Hello, Izuku. Izuku almost dropped his cup of hot chocolate in excitement, which was quickly replaced by frustration because he still couldn’t type anything in any way. How was he supposed to- Speak. I can hear you. “...Oh! Nice!” Izuku exclaimed. “Hi, dad! How are you? What happened?” I’ve been better. I got decked by a hysterical ape. Izuku frowned. “That’s not funny. Mom and I were very worried.” That wasn’t really a joke. What? What even- “...How? Did you break into a zoo or something…?” Sorry, you’re right. Let me rephrase. I had a violent disagreement with a brute. “Oh…” Izuku was about to ask for further explanations but he waited. The three bouncing dots at the bottom of the screen signalled that his father was still writing. We will have to communicate like this for a while. I hope it isn’t too much of an inconvenience for you. Judging by how long it took him to type even the shortest messages, Izuku thought it was going to be much more of an inconvenience for his father. He felt sorry for him. “No, not all. Is it… is it really bad? Shouldn’t you come home so we can help you get better? It sounds like you won’t be able to work anyway…” I’ll receive better medical treatment here, and I can still get some work done while I recuperate. Don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll recover fully sooner or later. Izuku picked at the lint of his blanket, choosing his words carefully. “You could… come home anyway. Even if you could work. When you’re feeling a little better. So we could spend some time together.” The three bouncing dots reappeared, but Izuku kept talking. He already knew what his father’s answer was going to be, but he wanted to take advantage of the delay to get a few more words in. “Some of my friends have parents that work far from home too. They’re away a lot, but… they do come back to visit sometimes. Usually for the holidays. At least… At least once.” At least his friends had actually met their fathers once in their whole lives, Izuku completed only in his head. You know how things stand. My job doesn’t afford me this kind of free time. “...What do you even do that won’t let you ever do anything?” Izuku muttered, out of sheer petulance. That was another familiar point of contention, to which his father replied with the same, word-for-word justification he always used. Every detail concerning my activities is classified by the government. We’ve been over this. Don’t be childish. And that was usually the end of it. Any further questioning after the ‘classified’ thing invariably turned Izuku’s father into a slippery wall of smooth deflections. But, considering the current situation, Izuku felt like he could get away with a little more nagging, if he played his cards right. “I know you can’t say anything. But how about…” He physically leaned forwards, trying not to let his tension seep through his voice. “How about I try to deduce something? About your job. Just… for fun.” No new message showed up, not even the typing dots. Izuku decided that it was as much of an approval as he was going to get, so he started to voice his thoughts as they formed. “...Your job is classified by the government. So it’s important, very important, so important that other people can’t know about it.” When he was very young, Izuku had obviously interpreted it as irrefutable proof that his father must be some sort of secret agent. He had exposed his conclusion to Kacchan and his gang once. They had… not-so-respectfully disagreed. Izuku had never brought up the matter with them afterwards. “Your note said that you got hurt on the job. So someone you know from work punched you so hard that, even after five months, you still can’t talk well.” Izuku paused. That was… a scary idea. It dawned on him, for the first time since the beginning of this whole ordeal, that his father may have really dodged a bullet there. What kind of a brute could possibly want to injure someone that much…? Surely a criminal… A villain, maybe…? “Your job is dangerous, and it leaves you almost no free time. It also pays well.” That last item was admittedly a shot in the dark, Izuku didn’t really know much about money handling. But he had noticed that his mother never denied him a gift or a treat on the grounds of its cost (his vast collection of All Might memorabilia was a testament to that), like so many of his friends’ relatives were wont to do. She didn’t need a job herself, and Izuku remembered overhearing a conversation she had with Kacchan’s mom where she had said that they were ‘well provided for’. “You know a lot about a lot of stuff, especially about quirks and heroes. You know a lot of things about quirks and heroes that I couldn’t find anywhere on the internet.” Izuku paused, racking his brain for anything else that stuck out. Before he could come up with more points to make, his father finally wrote back. You sure put some thought into this. I’m impressed. The lack of reprimands was an encouragement in its own right. Now came the hard part. These were all facts that he already knew, now he had to put them together… and no matter how much he tried to come up with different possibilities, there was only one explanation that rang true in Izuku’s mind. “Dad… are you some sort of… undercover hero?” Izuku waited with baited breath for the dancing dots to turn into a complete message. Definitely not. ...Aw, shoot. Although I guess I do happen to deal with heroes quite often in my line of work. Izuku gasped. That was the first real piece of information his father had ever shared with him about his job! And wow, he worked with heroes! And whatever support he lent them had to be pretty vital if he was always so busy and tight-lipped. “So you’re like… a policeman? An informant that tracks down villains for the heroes to catch? Or an engineer bound by trade secret? Or-” Enough, Izuku. I’m supposed to be resting. I don’t think being given the third degree by my own son counts as such. Izuku deflated. So close to the truth, and yet so far… Maybe he could manage to get some other clue out of his father later. But… there was one more thing he simply had to ask. “...Have you ever met All Might?” I’m just going to ignore you after this. Well, it had been worth a try. Izuku finally relented, reasonably satisfied with the result of his investigation. “Okay, okay. Sorry. No more questions. And no All Might stuff. Not that I have much to tell you about him. He hasn’t really been around lately.” Hasn’t he, now? Uh, odd. It wasn’t like his father to miss an opportunity to dodge All Might gossip. Izuku supposed there’d be no harm in taking advantage of this atypical spark of curiosity. “Yeah. It’s been like this for a few months. Rumors say he’s abroad, working on some large scale mission. Something very secret, that’s why there are no articles on him in newspapers from other countries either.” I wasn’t aware of this. That’s very interesting. Although I couldn’t imagine anyone less suited to hushed-up operations. Izuku couldn’t help but snort. In light of the recent revelation, he wondered if his father was so unapologetically critical of All Might because he had worked with him and they hadn’t gotten along… which seemed kind of impossible. How could All Might be the unpleasant type of coworker? Or maybe his father really was just jealous because he couldn’t work with All Might often enough. A sudden thought occurred to the boy. “...Sorry, I guess you don’t want to hear about hero stuff now that you’re, uh… on forced vacation.” Actually, I’d love to. I’ve been a little out of the loop lately, I need to catch up with the news anyway. Fire away all the information you have. Izuku smiled. “Even about All Might?” Especially about All Might.

[finn-ray-nal-beads]

Just a 1am thought for you. You sneak onto Captain Blowhole’s ship bc the dicks just that good. When he catches you, he has to punish you of course. And find a way for you to work off your room and board in the captain’s chambers.

BITCH HERE IS YOUR WORST/BEST NIGHTMARE COME TRUE. THIS IS FOR SURE GOING TO HAVE ANOTHER PART TO IT. I ACTUALLY AM TOTALLY INTO THIS SHIT NOW. IM A PART OF THE PROBLEM. 

@safarigirlsp LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO! 

The swells swarmed the Atlantic in a storm like no other. Forty feet or more surrounding both sides of the Jolly Roger, crewmen frantically battening down the hatches, while Captain Flip manned the wheel as it spun furiously in the mood of the thunder and lightning. 

“Hold the sheet!” his crewman barked at the others spinning the mainmast as not to have it be struck down by the bolts that Zeus had rained down on them. 

“Watch the starboard side!” another shouted into the void of sopping men, struggling to keep the course for their next destination. 

“Captain, we need to find a shoreline or…. We’ll never make it!” his trusty first mate, Ron screamed his direction as his bulging muscles turned the captain’s wheel to the direction he pleased. Noticing his hat had flown from the gusts of wind, Ron picked it up and handed it back to him once the course was turned back to his liking. 

“Prepare for the worst, mate,” Flip solemnly nodded out of breath from keeping the course. He knew it was nearly impossible that he and his crew would make it out of the cursed triangle alive. He swore to himself when setting sail not even days prior that nothing ill would befall them. Karma certainly had its way of biting him back just as bad, if not, worse. 

Ron nodded back to him, returning to his post to keep the ship on course for as long as the storm would let the loyal crew set sail. Flip gazed out at the catastrophe before him, nearly tearing up at the fact that he may never get what he was fighting so hard for. He watched in slow motion as his crew battled the unforgiving waves, crackling lightning illuminating their horrified faces, the thunder drowning out their screams for help. 

Just then, a humongous bolt cracked down from the heavens into the front of the sip, sending a voltage of electricity through the wood of the vessel, causing a complete catastrophe. Crewmen flew into the abyss, shards of wood lost at sea. The last memory Flip had was his listless body sinking into the oblivion.

__________

His hearing returning to the real world echoed a mysterious melodious tune. A humming both angelic and alien in nature, his eyes fluttered as he took in his surroundings. Running his hands through the warm sun-kissed sand, his naked back on the heavenly shores of paradise. 

Putting his hand up to block the sun, of course to no avail due to the looming figure blocking the light. Thinking the shadow was a figment of his imagination, he moved to rub his eyes, groaning and flexing his tired biceps in the process. 

“Fuck,” he grunted, feeling like he had been hit by the largest monsoon this side of the Seven Seas. 

“Where the fuck…” he stammered off taking in the environment around him, the crashing shores, the palm trees swaying in the breeze, the beating sunlight of late morning, and that figure becoming more clear in his line of sight. 

The flowing locks in the breeze, the sunkissed skin of a goddess, the perfect form laying against the coarse sand, surrounded by sounds of seagulls and crashing swells. He blinked a few times to take in the fact that you were perched in the spot he’d seen previous, and sat forward, his muscles bulging, slightly burned himself from laying passed out in the morning light. 

“Hh-hello?” he questioned your direction, bringing his large hands around his thankfully clothed legs. You glanced over his direction, your naked form sprawled out facing away from him, only to show your globed asscheeks in the sunlight. Your alluring eyes batting those perfect lashes, your lip pursing into a gorgeous pout. 

“Well good morning to you there, sailor,” you sang his direction, rubbing your delicate hands over your side. 

“W-what happened to me? How in the fuck did I get here?” he suddenly and blatantly questioned you, still turned towards the ebbing waves of the Atlantic. 

You chuckled, playing with the shell you’d found while waiting for him to wake up, “Well, I saved you.” 

His eyes perked up at the out of this world comment you’d shrugged off, “Excuse me?” 

“You heard me, sailor,” you smiled over your shoulder, still rolling the shell in your hands, “I. Saved. Your. Ass.” 

Flip sat there completely dumbfounded. This gorgeous creature, dove into the abyss during a storm, of which he’d never seen previously, and rescued him from imminent death, dragged his burly over two hundred pound body, and brought him to an unknown shore, where you could have left him to rot in the sun and die. He wasn’t convinced given the fact that he hadn’t seen you on the seas the night before.

“No. No, you didn’t,” he shrugged and laughed as if he’d finally snapped. 

Taking his sarcasm as a complete insult to your kindness, you whipped your ethereal figure around, bearing your bouncing nude breasts and plump pussy to his eyes. 

“Yes. I. Did,” you asserted in the most melodic tone, floating towards his hulking body on the sand. “What?” you pouted, “Does my lil’ buccaneer not want to grasp the fact that lil’ ol’ me came from the depths across your lifeless frame, and scooped you out of near-death to save your worthless lil’ life?”

“Wait…” he stopped, standing to full attention, rippling pectorals, toned arm muscles, and a stern face staring into your soul, “you came… from the depths?” he cocked an eyebrow. 

You saddled towards his six-foot three-figure, no doubt him staring at your bare chest as you near him, and tilted his chin to your eye level, “Yes, sailor boy, I saved you. Do I need to spell it out any more than I already have?” boring your eyes into his, no doubt taking in the intense amber fired color they emitted as they scanned your every crevice. 

“N-no. No ma’am,” he gulped inward, simply agreeing under your entrancement.

“Thank you,” he whispered out, his trance only causing more tension between the both of you. 

“You’re welcome,” you murmured inching closer to his pink, full lips, taking in the rum-soaked breath he emitted. 

His eyes closed, and he moved in for the kill. Your lips suctioning onto each other, holding them there for fear of one rejecting the other. His calloused hands moving in synchrony against your warm body, feeling every single dimple, and curve you had. The left resting on one globe behind you, and the other snaking into your beach kissed locks, pulling ever so slightly. Your hands shot to his girthy chest, rubbing and caressing his peaked nipples beneath your dainty fingers. He gasped as you pinched the sensitive skin, pulling away looking half-lidded at your glorious features. 

“Who the hell are you?” he rubbed his thumb over your cheek, massaging the back of your head, causing your eyes to roll back into your head. Pulling yourself close against his swollen lips, you whispered on his breath, “Your dream come true.”

He smiled ever so slightly, letting out the smallest of chuckles, and shoved you back into his waiting lips, this time in a searing kiss that had his hands traveling down to lift you off the ground by your thighs. He shoved his tongue down your waiting throat, creating a symphony of moans and suction as he turned you around to lay your needy body on the sand. 

He loomed over you, pressing his very noticeable bulge against your pelvis. Grinding on you, eliciting more groans from his chest. He broke the kiss only to trace his wet lips along the outline of your neck, trailing to your budding breasts. He took one in his mouth, sucking ever so gently, and massaged the other with his mammoth hand. The sounds escaping you, only spurring his motions on even more so. He did the same with the other until you were writhing in pleasure and the buds turned to stiffened peaks. 

“God, sailor, I need you,” you pleaded, nearly out of breath, “Please.”

He looked up from the trail of his kisses on your stomach and settled his smiling face over your entrance. 

“Oh, now you wanna play nice with me? You haven’t even told me your name gorgeous,” he teased licking a stripe along your moist slit. 

“Uhhhh, fuck sailor, I could say the same to you,” you sang in euphoric pleasure. 

“Ladies first,” his hot breath sending vibrations along your clit. 

“Y/N,” you stammered unable to fully speak. 

He started to suck a welt on one of your thighs, and after breaking the suction looked up and moved his face to other, never breaking eye contact with your stare, “absolutely mesmerizing, Y/N,” bearing back down on the flesh, sucking for all it was worth. 

Just as he was satisfied with the bruising, he whispered back to you, “name’s Captain Flip Zimmerman,” and dove nose-first into your waiting hole, eliciting a scream from your lips. 

He traced circles around your pulsing vagina, humming at the thought of how turned on he was making you. His nose grazing your stiffening clit, every time his tongue entered your pussy. You twitched at every pulse his face was giving you. 

“Good, God Captain,” you cried out, “I-I’m gonna c-c-cum!” 

He moved his perfect lips to your aching bud, enveloped them in a French kiss, and sent you into the wildest orgasm you’d ever encountered. Crying his name out over and over again as he sucked relentlessly on your arousal. 

“There’s my pretty girl,” he cooed as you moaned in complete euphoria, “sing to me my sweet siren.” 

He slurped up your sweet release into his desperate mouth smiling in pleasure as his beard tickled your overstimulated pussy.  You came down from the high, as his face connected back to yours. Your hands brushing through his ebony locks, tasting your spend on his saliva. 

“Captain,” you gasped in between his kisses, “I need your cock.” 

He looked up with eyes black as his hair and began to pull his pantaloons down, releasing his Kraken of a cock to your hungry eyes. 

“You like what you see, siren?” he noticed your gaping mouth at his large member. 

“My God, sailor, your so fucking big,” pulling your hand over your precious lips, “do you think it will fit in my tight lil’ pussy?” 

“It will,” he moved to gather the wetness from his tip as well as the spend from your weeping entrance, and moved the mixture up and down his shaft. 

“You’re gonna take your Captain’s cock whether you like it or not,” he beamed back up at you, pushing his sword into your hole in a punishing motion. The stretch causing you to cry out over the crashing waves on the beach. He stilled, watching you writhe in pleasure and pain, drinking in your perfect little moans as best he could.

“Captain, please move, my pussy is so tight, I need you to stretch me out,” you begged, tears rolling down your face. 

“You’ll be patient and keep me warm, siren, I like watching you bend to my every will.” 

He stilled for a few moments, watching the tears roll, your lips gape open, and your sweet cunt flutter around his large dick. He could cum right there, he thought, watching the shadows dance on your pretty face. After a few moments of admiration, he pulled ever so slightly out and pushed back in.  

Setting a grueling pace, he emitted the deepest groan his chest could muster upon hearing the slapping of his balls on your ass, the squelch from your wet pussy taking every inch of him. He watched your face twist and turn as he pushed in and out, his pupils only dilating more as he took you in. 

“Siren, get on your hands and knees, face in the sand, ass up,” He pulled out, watching your tears fall at the loss of contact. You did as you were told, bearing your sand clad ass to his feining stare. He smacked it and a gust of sand fell to the earth, the roughness causing an instant handprint to show on your bare skin. 

“Motherfucker!” you steamed into the beach. 

“Watch your mouth, siren,” he smacked another hand on the other cheek, “no one like’s a dirty lil’ whore mouth.” 

He shoved his dick back into your gaping hole, setting an even faster pace than previously. The moans you both emitted spurring the release even sooner than you’d thought. His hands white-knuckled the sides of your hips, pushing your body impossibly closer. His balls slapping your skin, emitting howls as he plundered your special spot. 

“Fuck, Flip,” you groaned, “I-I can’t hold on much longer, I’m gonna cum again!”

“I’m. Almost. There. Gorgeous,” he punctuated on every thrust, bringing his hand to rub his thumb along your puckered asshole. Without warning, he punctured the perfect little hole, sending you into another earth-shattering orgasm. 

“Jesus. Fucking, Christ,” he screamed as you milked his cock of his sweet, succulent, spend, “Captain is blowing his whole load!” 

He stuffed you full of his cum, thrusting a few more times just to be sure it stayed up in your heat. Both breathless, he leaned over you, sweat dripping from his brow, hands gripping around your stomach. He pulled out, turning you over, admiring your utterly fucked face. 

“You alright, gorgeous?” he laughed towards you. 

“Y-yes, sailor,” you relented, “I’m more than just alright.” 

You pulled his face towards yours, tasting his salty sweat in his mustache. He grabbed both cheeks and shoved his tongue back down your throat, causing you to melt into his brawny body. 

He pulled away, “where did you actually come from?”

You smiled, looking away bashfully, “you really don’t understand do you,” pulling away and getting up from the spot you’d both wrecked each other in. You walked towards the waves, letting the cool water caress your feet the further you stepped in. 

“Where the fuck are you going?” he questioned almost alarmed. 

You looked back towards him, the smile eroding from your face, “home,” you said clear as day. 

And with that, a waterball formed around your goddesslike figure, consuming you in a snowglobe of sorts. A bright light emitted from your middle and expanded all the way around the cocoon. Your form changed from legs to a gorgeous aquamarine fin, your skin melding to the attachment, and the globe took you further out to the ocean. 

Flip stood there, dumbfounded again. He blinked a few more times, not even realizing what he had just seen. 

“Did I…” he told himself, “W-what the fuck.” 

He sat back down on the beach, contemplating what had just occurred, trying to justify the possibility that this was just his imagination. 

“I need a fucking drink,” he concluded. 

He scoured the island in search of more answers, only to come upon another impossible find. 

His ship. 

Parked on the beach, like it hadn’t been through any kind of storm in the slightest. 

He noticed his crew as well, packing goods away like he hadn’t witnessed them sinking to Davey Jones’ Locker the night before. He blinked several times, thinking it was all a mirage, or that he may have been drunk to no avail. 

Ron noticed his Captain gawking at the ship, and flagged him over, “Hey there Cap! Where ya been?” 

“I-uh,” he had no words for what had happened. 

“Hey Cap? Let’s get you back in the boat,” Ron pat his back, leading him to his quarters on the hull.  

After making sure Flip was okay to be left alone, he went back to his duties. 

The Captain sat at his wooden desk, feet perched on the top, his hands running through his mustache, trying to piece together what had just occurred. 

The storm, the destruction, you, his ship turning up unscathed. 

You. Holy shit. You. 

A fucking mermaid. You were a creature of the ocean, who had happened upon him during his hour of need, scooped him up and saved his entire livelihood in the process. You were enchanting. A literal siren song. He played through the moans you made, the sarcasm you shot at him, your whole aura was absolutely mesmerizing. He’d never encountered anything as perfect as you. 

He wanted to find you again. To feel your soft skin on his beard, look into those piercing eyes, and hear his name on your lips. He had to find you. If it meant he didn’t have any other purpose than that on the ocean. 

As he made his mind up, he took all the texts he had on your kind to study the lore, hoping to find the answer he so desperately needed. Upon hours and hours of inspection, he stopped at the Holy Grail. Picking up the map slowly, he chuckled like he’d lost his mind. 

The City of Atlantis. 

That had to be home. You had to be there. 

“Fuck,” he groaned out, now knowing what he had to do. 

He set the course, watching his crew scramble to get the ship headed the correct way, smelling the salted sea air on his nostrils. He tipped his buccaneer hat and looked into his spyglass. 

“Here we fuckin’ go boys,” he muttered, gritting his teeth, anxious to see you in the flesh again.

__________

CAPTAIN BLOWHOLE IS OUT TO FIND HIS LADY LOVE!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR THIRSTY ASKS PLZ SEND MORE I LOVE YOUR SICK MIND. 

🖤,

ray-nal-beads 

[imaginepirates]

Modern! Jack

Another modern au where Jack stumbles upon your house in the woods. This is an outdoorsy one for everyone who loves Jack being Jack. You try to convince Jack that the mountains are just as beautiful as the sea. (Poll: which do you like better?)

@emdrabbles​ @tesserphantom​ @paljonkaikenlaista​ @viper-official​ 

~3000 words

~~~~~~~

          The wind whispered through the trees, the light dappling through the leaves to fall across the ground in mesmerizing patterns. You stood under them, watching the movement in the undergrowth. Mice scuttled through the bushes, insects skittered across the ground, and a thrush took flight from its place in the grasses. You walked along a path that led away from your small home and out into the woods. You lived in a secluded area, away from the hustle and bustle of city life. It was nice, out in nature. It was relaxing, and your walks always took you somewhere new.

          You stepped off the path, letting your feet lead you. You knew the area well enough that you wouldn’t get lost. You made your way to a small brook, using the stones jutting out from the water as a pathway across. The stream burbled up at you as you crossed. You were glad to have this space to yourself. Sometimes, hikers came along, and you held pleasant conversation with them. They came down from the hills behind your home, a beautiful range of white-topped mountains that stretched for miles, carved out by glaciers. You could swear that they were the most beautiful land formations on earth. A bird cawed somewhere nearby, taking off from its perch. You watched it fly overhead, admiring its deep blue coloring.

          You noticed the man not long after. He came stumbling through the trees, looking disoriented. He carried no pack, and you worried that something might have happened to him while he had been out hiking. Your fear was amplified by the fresh bloodstain on his shirt. You both stared at each other a shocked moment before either of you moved.

          You moved toward him, taking his arm. He must have been one of those modern hippies; his dreadlocks reached his lower back. There was some sort of dark makeup around his eyes, and his clothes were strange, too hot for hiking in. You brushed the thoughts of his strangeness out of your mind, intent on getting him some help. “I live not far from here. I can help you.”

          “Thank you, love. But may I ask: where exactly is ‘here’?”

          You glanced over at his face, realizing that he was sincere. Surely he had to have some idea of where he was. He’d likely gotten lost while out on the path, but there was no way that he could be utterly confused as to his location. “You’re by the Cascade Mountain Range.” Seeing his still-confused expression, you decided that the injury on his chest might be taking more out of him than you originally thought.

          You rushed him back to the house, a little surprised to find how steadily the man walked across the rocks in the stream. Once inside, you sat him on your couch and went to the bathroom for your first aid kit. You kept one around just in case, especially considering the fact that accidents like this did, in fact, happen.

          When you stepped back into your living room, you saw that the man was standing in your kitchen, casting a curious glance at your toaster-oven. Seeing the kit in your hands, he nodded, stepping back over toward the sofa.

          You pulled his shirt to the side to find a long gash. It was shallow, but it had bled a concerning amount. You bandaged it as best as you could, making sure to apply generous amounts of disinfectant. With the bleeding stopped, you took another look at your patient.

          He wore a bandana around his head with trinkets dangling from it, including a rather large piece of what you assumed to be plastic, though it looked convincingly like bone. His outfit was…interesting, to say the least. He wore what appeared to be a worn waistcoat over a billowing shirt, and he had thick belts around his chest and middle. The very personification of a swashbuckling pirate, you thought. He was the strangest person you’d met in the woods to date.

          “I know you might feel a little confused,” you said, carefully folding a bloodstained washcloth. “You seem to have lost some blood. Would you mind telling me what happened?”

          “Confused is a bit of an understatement, love. I’m baffled. Bewildered. Befuddled, if you will.”

          “And why is that, Mr…”

          “Sparrow.”

          “Mr. Sparrow.” Sparrow? you thought. Certainly not Sparrow as in Jack Sparrow, fictional pirate and dashing rogue?

          “Because I have no idea where I am. In perfect honesty, I have no idea when I am.”

          You almost laughed. The notion seemed so ridiculous. Then you realized he might have passed out somewhere, and was probably asking for the day of week. “It’s Thursday,” you said. “March thirteenth.”

          He nodded.

          “Do you mind telling me how you got hurt?”

          “Oh! That.” He looked down at the injury, as if analyzing it for the first time. “Swordfight.”

          “Swordfight?” At this point, you were fairly sure that you were hallucinating. You’d heard of strange things happening to people, encounters that left people shocked, but you’d never thought that you would have one. You couldn’t tell if the man was a very good actor, or if he was simply insane. You realized that it would be best to call the police. “You should get some rest,” you told him. “You look tired. When you wake up, I’ll have some food ready.”

          He thanked you, sprawling out across your couch to take a nap. You moved over to the kitchen, picking up the phone on the way there. Any man who claimed that he had been injured in the middle of the woods in a swordfight wasn’t the type you wanted to be around. You looked back at Sparrow, who had his thick leather boots slung over the edge of your sofa.

          A glint of metal caught your eye. There, resting by his hip, was a belt. A large sheath hung off one side, and a sword seemed to be inside it. “Excuse me,” you said without thinking. “Is that a real sword?” The pommel looked lovely, and you wanted to know where he might have gotten something so convincing.

          Sparrow cracked an eye. “Of course it is.” He flashed a glint of steel, then returned to his nap.

          You put down the phone. Maybe he's not crazy. You busied yourself making a snack, trying to calm your panicking mind. The man laying on your couch was too much like the actual Jack Sparrow, and you were afraid that you’d hit your head in the shower, or that you were still dreaming.

          By the time he woke up, he seemed very thankful for the peanut butter and jelly sandwich that you handed him. He ate it with gusto, eyes widening with what you knew was the unusual taste of peanut butter.

          “Thank you, love.” He licked the jelly off his fingers. “It seems that I’m in need of a place to stay. I don’t suppose you’d be willing to provide?”

          “Of course,” you squeaked.

          “Unfortunately, I don’t know my way home, and I don’t know how long I’m supposed to be here. I hope it’s not too inconvenient.”

          “Not at all.” It really wasn’t, but it was certainly odd to keep a strange man in your house for an undetermined amount of time.

          The next few days passed blissfully uneventfully, leaving you to tend to Jack’s injury and introduce him to modern technology. Hilariously, the bed was probably the thing he enjoyed most. You had a guest bed, and he flopped into it unceremoniously all the time. You supposed that if this truly was Jack, then he hadn’t slept in a proper bed in ages.

          He was wary of the shower, but you convinced him that scrubbing some of the grime off his face and body would make him feel better. He admitted, later, that it did.

          His wound healed up nicely. It hadn’t needed stitches, which you were thankful for. It had been a shallow cut, but it had bled a lot in the beginning, which had concerned you for obvious reasons.

          He kept flicking open a compass that looked suspiciously like the real one, staring at it before snapping it closed again, annoyed.

          “What do you keep looking at your compass for?”

          “Nothing.”

          You raised an eyebrow. “I doubt that.”

          “Look, lassie. I appreciate the hospitality, but the compass is my business.”

          You frowned. You hadn’t realized that Jack probably kept the compass a secret. From most people, at least. You supposed the people who knew about it were exceptions, given that they had known him for a while.

           You could tell he was growing fidgety, and that he needed something to do. He paced around the room sometimes, and he kept toying with some of the beads in his hair.

          “Do you want to go for a walk?” You asked. “You seem like you could use something to do.”

          He agreed. You left the house with a backpack full of food and water, just in case you needed it. Always better to be safe than sorry. You walked back along the little path you’d found him on. Again, he was surefooted crossing the rocks in the stream, and you wondered what would make his balance so good. The mountains rose up ahead of you, a hundred trails splitting off into the wilderness.

          “How can you tell where you are with all these trees?” Jack asked.

          “I suppose you have to know the paths. Or get a map. Or look for landmarks. It’s pretty easy to tell where you are in comparison to what mountains are around.”

          He looked up. “All your mountains look the same.”

          “That’s not true.” You pointed out the jagged rocks at the top of a mountain to your left, and the smoother top of the one to your right.

          “It’s easier to see things on the open ocean. The sea is the most beautiful thing in the world.” He spoke with such reverence, you could tell that he really believed it. He must love the ocean.

          “There’s nothing out there!” you said. “There aren’t any landmarks to tell you where you are.”

          “Stars, lassy.”

          “That’s only good at night,” you pointed out. “And I think the mountains are more beautiful than the ocean.”

          Jack made a face.

          “Have you ever hiked up to the top of one and looked off at everything down below?”

          “Why would I?”

          “Because it’s amazing. I’ll prove it to you.”

          Jack looked up at some of the towering peaks. “I’m not sure I can make it up there, love.”

          “It’s not so bad, I promise. We won’t go all the way up to the top, anyway. That requires rock-climbing gear.” Jack still looked dubious, but you kept on. “You can’t say that something isn’t beautiful if you haven’t experienced it. I’ve been to the ocean. I know it’s pretty, but not as lovely as the sight off the top of the hills.”

          “If you say so.”

          You led him up a dusty path that connected to the base of one of the mountains. There was a ledge of rock that you could climb up to and look out at all the things down below. You started leading him up through the trees and bushes.

          Jack looked around at all the foliage. His eyes followed flying birds, gliding butterflies, and flowers lining the path. He stared, wide eyed, at all of it. As you climbed higher, he looked out between the trees to see the view. You enjoyed the look of surprise on his face when he gazed out over your home.

          “I don’t think I’ve ever been this high up before,” he said.

          “We still have a ways to go, too. You’re going to love it when we reach the top.”

          He looked back at you with a silly grin. “You’re right: this is beautiful. Not sure it beats freedom on the ocean yet, but it’s something.”

          You couldn’t wait for him to see it all sprawling out underneath him. The true views were something else. You loved looking down over the little valley you were in, trying to find your house in the trees, looking across at more towering mountains, the sun framed by the peaks.

          When you finally reached the top, the afternoon sun hung overhead in the sky. Jack stopped a moment to catch his breath before walking out onto the shelf of rock that extended from the cliff face. He sucked in a breath as he looked out at the view.

          The trees had fallen away behind you, and the shelf of rock gave you an unobscured view of the valley below. You could just pic out your small house among the trees far beneath you. The sky seemed to stretch on forever, over the mountains opposite you, bright blue in the midday sun. Everything looked so small; the stream you’d crossed earlier was a winding ribbon, and the road leading up to your house was no wider than a finger from where you stood.

          “This is…there aren’t words, love.” Jack gazed out over the expanse. “I’ve never seen anything like it. And the air is crisp, crisper than on the sea, even. And there’s no sound. It just...disappears.”

          “I know. Now you can see why I love it so much.”

          “I do.”

          You sat on the rock, enjoying the view and eating snacks. There was the occasional bird whistle, but other than that, you were in complete silence. No sounds from the road traveled up to greet you, and you were there all alone. Jack couldn’t stop staring. Obviously, he’d never hiked up anything in his life.

          He flipped open his compass with a practiced flick. Chewing on a granola bar, he looked down, almost lazily, and the expression on his face changed at once. He was on his feet in an instant. He stepped out off the outcropping, back onto the trail, and took a few short strides to the left. Then, he turned in a few circles, finally stooping down to pick something up.

          He brought it back to you, inspecting it carefully. It seemed to be some kind of broach. Why his compass pointed him to a broach, you couldn’t understand, but you were beginning to understand that this was, in fact, the real Jack Sparrow in front of you. He sat back down, and pulled at a piece of string attached to the object. It had some paper on the end of it. A note, probably. His eyes widened, and he cursed under his breath.

          “What is it?”

          “Nothing.” He shoved it in a pocket.

          You looked at him suspiciously, but decided to leave it. He’d tell you if he wanted to. Besides, you had to head back down the mountain if you wanted anything to eat for dinner.

          You headed back with Jack in a dark mood. He glared testily at the trees and shrubs. Obviously, whatever he’d found in the woods was bothering him. You didn’t want to pry, but you were curious to know what made his mood change so quickly.

          You arrived back at your house just as the sun was beginning to sink over the opposite mountains. The air conditioning felt blissful against your warm skin. A shower was in order, you knew, but you decided to clear the air first. Jack had dropped onto the couch, and you walked up, sitting down beside him.

         “What was it?” You asked gently.

          “What was what?”

          “You know what.” You sighed. “The thing you found while we were out hiking.”

          “My ticket home, is what.”

          “Your ticket home?” You didn’t understand.

          He moved closer, showing you the broach. It was a silver ship, and the light bounced off the reflective surface. Then, he grabbed the note, holding it up for you to read.

          Jack, it seems you’re doing well where I put you. You were never very good at facing your problems, so I decided to give you one you couldn’t run away from. You seem to have acclimated to the future, and you deserve a way back. Just rub on the ship and think of home.

          You stared, flabbergasted. What did it mean? The initials at the end caught your notice. T.D. Surely that had to be Tia Dalma. Was Jack going already, then? Was he leaving you to go back to your everyday life? You’d enjoyed his company, and the more you thought on it, the less you wanted him to go.

          “Damned woman put me in the future herself! I can’t believe her, sometimes. But that’s women for you.” He turned to you. “Well, not all women, I guess.”

          “Are you leaving, then?” You asked, a little afraid of the answer.

          “I do want to get back to my Pearl,” he said, “but I like it here. It’s a nice rest from the ship. Besides, Tia said I needed to do some learning. I don’t suppose it would hurt to do a little more.” He grinned cheekily. “So, tell me about yourself.”

          “I don’t think that’s what she meant.” You smiled in spite of yourself.

          “You’re right. She wanted me to face my problems. And you’re certainly not a problem, love.”

          Oh dear. You rolled your eyes. It was going to be different, if he decided to stick around. Different, but decidedly worthwhile.

          “Tell me one thing,” he said. “Does my not-problem kiss? They’ve certainly deserved it. I mean, they’ve patched me up, and given me a place to stay, and shown me some beautiful views.” With that statement, he raked your body over with his eyes. “I think we can do more beautiful things, too.”

          You blushed furiously. “I suppose that depends. Are you a good kisser?”

          “You’re going to have to come over here to find out.” He winked.

          He was. And he insisted on proving it to you quite a few times. Not that you minded.

[feverinfeveroutfic]

chapter seventeen: the city by the lake

“So here we are in Lone Pine—what's next again?” Alex asked her as he drank down his fresh coffee.

“Independence. Fort Independence and also Manzanar.”

“Oh, damn.”

“Yeah. I remember the first time I polished up on my history and my dad told me about it. I was horrified, especially by how it's so close to home, too. But yeah, it's Independence, Manzanar, and then Big Pine, and then finally Bishop. We'll stop there and I'll show you one of mine and my parents' favorite places to go at during this whole road trip: right on the main street. Maybe the next time around—like when it's closer to summer, we can go up to Tom's Place—up the hill north of Bishop. My dad stopped at Tom's Place once years ago, and he said they have literally the best blueberry cobbler.”

“Yum,” Alex declared as he rolled his eyes up into the back of his head, and it made her giggle.

He sipped on his coffee some more and he peered out the window which looked out to the west. Mount Whitney was still buried underneath those clouds, but every so often, those feathery wispy sheets dissipated and they both looked on at those high jagged points as they stood strong and foreboding and blanketed with a fresh layer of pure white snow, like the highest most haunted castle in all of the land. Sam shivered at the sight of those points and then she returned to her French toast.

“Just looks cold up there,” he said.

“Where? Up there?” Sam pointed out the window to the top of the mountain, and he nodded. “You know, we're not too far from Death Valley.”

“Oh, yeah, there's that race they have every year. You know, the run from the very bottom of Death Valley to the peak of Mount Whitney.”

“Oh, that! Yeah! That takes place every summer, though. I mean, it makes sense—given how cold it is up there and everything but—still.”

“Right?” Alex showed her a little grin as he reached for another piece of toast. “We should go to Yosemite at some point.”

“I dunno if we can go up there, though,” she confessed. “I didn't see the sign that says that the roads are closed, but that one in particular on this side of the mountains—Tioga, because it's so high up—is closed for most of the year.”

“'Cause of black ice and whatnot,” he added.

“Right! But that's another adventure for us, if you ask me, though. When I went on the road trip with Louie, he mentioned the Eastern Sierra being so peaceful. I kinda wish I agreed with him the first time around because—it really is. There's so much to this side of California. So much to offer, so much to see, so many unique adventures away from L.A., San Diego, and the Bay Area. So much more than meets the eye.”

“It's almost as if you're showing me the one place that you go to when no one's looking,” he said with a thoughtful look on his face. Sam hesitated and then it dawned on her. She really was showing it to him. She was showing him her quiet place. “And at some point, I probably should show you mine, too.”

“You have a quiet place, too?”

He nodded at that and the black hair dye on the crown of his head seemed to fade away with the movements of his head.

“It's not where you think, though,” he explained. “If and when you and I have time and there's a right place for it, I'll show it to you. And I want it to be just you and me, too—there's only one other person I think of who's been to it and that was my mom.”

“Mama took her baby to a place to keep him quiet,” she teased him as she brought her cup of coffee to her lips.

“Yes! Exactly!” he laughed at that, and he raised his coffee cup to her and they made a toast to one another. A toast to one another and then they ate up the rest of their toast. He took one last sip of his coffee and then he leaned back in his chair.

“Feel better?” she asked him.

“Oh, yes,” he replied with a nod of his head and a hand on his stomach, “a lot better actually. I was getting ready to roll out of the car, chase something down and kill it with my bare hands.” She burst out laughing at that.

“I was, though!” he insisted. “And it was that—like—real sudden hunger, too. You know, it's like you're fine one second and then all of a sudden, it's like 'hooooly fuck, I'm starving!'” He said that last part under his breath. “It's sudden and leaves you feeling kinda sick, too. It's almost like you're carsick.”

“Ooh, yeah, that sucks,” she said with her nose wrinkled, and then she took another sip of her coffee. “It also didn't help you were actually in a car, too.”

“Right!”

One more sip of her coffee and then she wiped her mouth with her napkin.

“Shall we?” she offered him.

“We shall,” he said back to her and he put his sunglasses back on over his nose and gave his flattened stomach a loving pat. Sam led him back outside, and she held the door for him all the while.

“Thank you,” he told her and he adjusted the lapels of his windbreaker. The cold winds flooded down from the Whitney Portal and the rugged tall mountains off to the north; she huddled closer to him as she got the keys ready for the next stint of the trip and yet even more cold desolate desert.

Soon, they returned to the road and the short series of stoplights all the way to the edge of town and even more barren, wide open road. Alex peered out the window and the morning sun, which had now risen up over the windswept landscape: a fine layer of clouds blanketed those cold rays as if it behaved as a veil. The shine on those mirrored lenses appeared as more of a glow rather than a straight glare.

“So new album's gonna be called Practice What You Preach, right?” she asked him as the signs for Manzanar entered her view.

“That's the running title, actually,” he explained, “I do hope it's gonna be called that. It just feels appropriate, you know? Especially for this time and era, but at the same time, I don't wanna be like—really on the nose about the things I'm thinking of with writing lyrics.”

“The power of art!” she said. “I still owe you a demo.”

“It's okay,” he assured her, “we needed breakfast after all. And there's so much you wanna show me, too.”

“There really is, Alex. Like I said, this whole road is like a gateway to a whole bunch of adventures. A lot of things that so many don't know about, and a part of me wants to keep it all to ourselves.”

“You didn't call it a quiet place for no reason,” he pointed out.

“True.”

On the left side of the highway, the sage brush and scraggly low trees gave way to partially collapsed chain link fences and the low buildings that made up that old Japanese internment camp. The house in Elsinore felt like a prison for sure, but the sight of that old abandoned compound left Sam speechless. She took a glimpse over at Alex and the thoughtful expression still plastered on his face, even with the sunglasses upon his nose.

To think that she and him wanted nothing to do with each other at one point, much like how she didn't care for Marla at first, and to the point she was willing to take Charlie from her. She still had a long way to go with him, especially when the beautifully desolate desert gave way to even more low rolling foothills and steep slopes along those ferocious towering mountains with their thick sheets of snow, those massive, thick glaciers indicative of the Palisades, the rather treacherous part of the Sierra Nevadas. Even in broad daylight, they looked ready to take these two young kids under their darkness as if they were dragons that guarded the castle down by Mount Whitney.

All along the fine white sands under the seemingly endless droves of scraggly sage brush. All within even more black volcanic rock.

Within time, they reached Big Pine and the titular big sequoia tree at the northern end in all of its lush light greenery even in the dead of winter, like the tallest turret of the castle.

“Here's a fun li'l fact for you, Alexander,” Sam started again. “That tree right there was planted by Teddy Roosevelt.”

“Really?” He was genuinely stunned by that.

“Planted it almost a whole century ago, and it just got bigger and fuller and healthier with time.”

“Sounds like my belly,” he joked, and she laughed at that.

“Past that tree is yet another road to Death Valley. But keep going on it and you end up in Nevada and eventually the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest—right on the other side of those mountains over there.”

“Ancient bristlecone pines,” he echoed that.

“Literally some of the oldest trees in the world out there.”

“Yet another adventure for us.”

“Right?”

The Palisades soon gave way to a far more elaborate complex of rugged rough mountains, all covered with even more snow and glaciers. Meanwhile, the sun dipped behind a thicker part of clouds, such that Alex took off his sunglasses and revealed his deep set eyes to the world. The black hair dye upon the crown of his head glimmered and shone under the faint gray winter light and for a second, she swore that she saw that little tuft of gray there right over his brow once again.

“Do you plan on dyeing your hair again?” she asked him.

“Um—” He stopped and those eyes caressed over the immense corridor of land before them. “Actually—no. Unless there's a reason for it.”

“I don't want you to,” she told him. “That little tuft of gray hair is what makes you—” She hesitated for a second in search of the right word. “—unique.”

He nibbled on his bottom lip and sighed through his nose. She was sincere with that: that little tuft of premature gray set him apart from everyone else whom she had known before then.

Another fifteen miles of flat sands across the landscape and soon the first trees, the ones that weren't bristlecone pines or anything akin to them, appeared in their view. The mountains dipped away into the low hanging gray clouds and gave way to a bowl shaped valley before them. The town of Bishop emerged in their view.

“So the place that my parents and I liked to go to on the way through here,” she began as they slowed up for the main street and the deserted, rolling golf course off to the left, “it's—on my side.”

He looked out the windshield along with her. They rolled at a slow pace, past all the little shops and boutiques. The big city of the middle of nowhere right at the base of all the giant mountains. All the rocks to climb and master. All to uncover and carry the weight upon: for a fleeting moment, Sam thought of Belinda and how much she loved to work with her hands. She wondered how Belinda would fare in such a stark terrain because it all but required one to work with their hands, especially if they were artists.

She recognized that rusted sign as it poked out from the side of the road, right beyond the stoplight at the center of town.

“Ah! Here we are.”

Lucky for them, there was no one else in the parking lot given it was New Year's, and thus she eagerly took the first spot closest to the heavy wooden front doors, right in the narrow parking lot. The clouds overhead thinned out a bit for the sun's rays as it began to reach the apex of the sky: but the fact that the mountains had disappeared behind a block of white clouds told Sam that the snows were upon them.

She led him inside the bakery, into that initial narrow corridor followed by the room off to the left with all of the bread and pastries they could possibly imagine. On the far side of the room stood the case with all the fresh cookies and cakes either of them could ask for. She thought of Joey on the previous New Year's Eve, in how they could have all the ice cream they could possibly imagine some day.

A part of her felt as though she and Alex could have all the fresh pastries they could ever ask for some day themselves. Alex himself set a hand on his stomach even though they had only eaten an hour before; Sam raised two fingers to the older baker, who then took out one of the fresh dark reddish brown cookies with a kiss of pearly white frosting on the front side from the row right before her with a sheet of white tissue paper.

Alex chuckled at what she was buying for him.

“Yet another ginger snap,” he remarked.

“Except these have frosting on them—these are nothing like the one I bought for you when we were in Germany. And you're getting two this time around, too.”

“I really am going to gain weight hanging out with you,” he joked with a straight face and a shake of his head.

“It's all good for ya, son,” the baker behind the counter said. “Handmade ginger cookies.”

“Think of it as healthy weight,” she pointed out. “Healthy weight for your little body. And ginger's real good for your stomach, too.” She returned to the baker. “And I'll have one of these big round sugar cookies here, too, please.”

He kindly got the big cookie in question for her and then wrapped all three in that tissue paper, followed by a little brown paper bag. She thanked him and then the two of them doubled back towards the cashier: all the while, Sam swiped a bag of freshly baked cheesy bread from one of the racks.

“My parents love this stuff,” she told him. “It's like the ultimate road trip snack for us.”

“Just break off a piece and eat it every so often,” he followed along. “It's so humble. I kinda like it.”

“We don't have much but we have each other,” she stated.

“We don't have much but we have each other, right.”

She reached the cash register at the wooden desk first and she took out her wallet from her purse.

“I'm gonna be right over here,” he told her, and she nodded at him. She stepped forward with his ginger snap and her sugar cookie in that little paper bag as well as the cheesy bread, and the cashier rang her up in one fell swoop. She looked over at Alex as he walked on over there.

“Beautiful boy,” the cashier told her in a low voice. Sam glanced over at Alex, who gazed on at the rows of freshly baked breads on the racks on the other side of the room.

“Yeah, I guess he is,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders. The cashier squinted her eyes at her.

“Hon—he's gorgeous,” she told her. “Don't lose him. It's not often you see a boy as gorgeous as him.”

Sam pursed her lips together and the cashier handed her her change. She just treated him as she would a good friend and treated him well, even with all of the complex thoughts she had in mind: she dared not look at Alex that way, especially with him still not even old enough to drink alcohol yet. She still had those thoughts within her, but thoughts would have to remain as thoughts regardless of everything else. She thanked her and beckoned Alex to follow her back outside to the gray late morning: the sun disappeared behind the thin veil of clouds once again as they returned to the car yet again.

“You smell like freshly baked bread,” she told him as he buckled in.

“And you smell—like—baked bread, too,” he retorted to her, to which she giggled at him. She fired up the car again and they doubled back to the mouth of the driveway, and back onto the main road once the light turned red. They were alone on the street: despite it being the big city of the middle of nowhere, the sidewalks had already rolled up for New Year's Eve.

She caught the next and final light green and she rounded a lefthand turn, away from the next turn off to Highway 6: she had a vague memory of that turn off, and how her father told her it extended all the way out east, all the way back to New England, but she dared not tell Alex that just yet. They had a mountain to climb in front of them.

The highway separated out into four lanes once again, two in their direction and two which headed back to Bishop: in between was a sandy barren center divider.

The clouds collected all around the summit of the gargantuan Mount Tom right before them.

“Right up this road here,” she explained as they stared the mountain straight on, “when we get to the top, is Tom's Place.”

“The place with the amazing cobbler,” he recalled.

“That's the one!”

They soon cleared the city limit and they meandered over even more barren landscape. So bare and stark, and yet there was something so endless and stunning about it all, much like the coastline. Where the coastline with Louie's presence proved to be serene and intense at the same time, the mountains paired with Alex's presence brought her in touch with herself more than ever. She dared not tell him about it as they reached a series of pastures and ranches on the edge of town.

The highway took a sharp curve around the bend and they were met with a daunting hillside.

“This part of the trip here bothers me the most,” she admitted.

“Why's that?” he asked her.

“It just goes up.”

“It just goes up?”

“All the way up.”

She realized that they were in an older car, too. She had no clue if they would reach the top still in a cool spot.

She gripped onto the rim of the steering wheel and sighed through her nose. The snows were upon them after all: she could feel it through the glass of the windshield.

She took a glimpse over at Alex and his relaxed pose, although those deep eyes were locked onto the cold pavement before them. Another glimpse and she realized how wide they had gotten with the sight before them, as if he had seen a ghost of some sort. She recognized that look in his eyes from the fire ball incident in Germany.

Sam sighed through her nose and, once she switched off the heater, she let the road guide their way.

They climbed all the way up the hillside, a continual gradual incline to the very top, high above the desert and the Owens Valley, and almost level with the mountain tops. The halfway point already had a fresh dusting of snow upon the ground.

“Jesus,” Alex muttered as the road continued on and on up the side of the hill.

“Yeah. People overheat on this mountain pass all the time.” Once the words left her lips, they passed a trailer with a water tank aboard specifically for that problem in question. She took a glance down at the narrow red needles within the gages: the one with the temperature rose a little bit but she knew their saving grace was the cold and the snow.

More snow emerged along the sides of the road. More snow, more slope. Alex shifted his weight in the seat: he clung onto the safety bar over his head. His breathing was steady but she could still see it in his eyes.

They both sat still until they spotted that sign on the side of the road that told them they reached the top of Sherwin Summit. A gentle curve downwards and then the road finally leveled out. At least a foot of snow covered either side of the road and all of the dark forests that lined the way. Miles and miles of thick dark forest covered in white snow so they resembled to those fake trees on a display at Christmas.

“Reminds me of the Black Forest,” Alex said aloud.

“Reminds me of upstate New York,” Sam followed up.

It really did, too: the highway snaked through the trees, complete with big views of Mount Tom and all the snow capped mountains before them, and Lake Crowley and the Long Valley Caldera along the way it all made her think of Finger Lakes and the thick lush forest that she and Joey drove through over to his parents' house. Alex switched the heater back on, but it was rather futile given the cold and icy feeling of everything outside the car.

She pictured Joey in the back seat right behind them as they passed the turn off up to Convict Lake as well as even more forest. She knew that, had she shown him this trip sooner, he probably would never have met Krista in the first place. He probably would love this place as well, especially with the added fact that it was all volcanic.

“This place is so stunning,” Alex remarked as he peered out the window to the vast volcanic plain, now blanketed with fresh pure white snow. “Can't believe this has been right under my nose the whole time, too.”

“Some day I'll show you Convict Lake, Rock Creek Lake, and June Lake,” she vowed as they scoured the rim of Lake Crowley: its black waters glassy under the gray sky and in between the white snow. “There's one place I haven't been to up here with my parents yet and that's Mammoth Mountain, Mammoth Lakes, and Devil's Postpile, right up this way—”

Straight ahead, Mammoth Mountain towered back against the cold gray, but soon they reached another gentle curve in the road and headed for more dark forest. More dark forest lined with small snowy clearings and tiny ponds of black icy water.

“Somewhere along the way here is Obsidian Hill,” she told him as they slithered through those tall trees, “a literal five hundred foot high pile of obsidian.”

“Volcanic glass,” he said.

“Don't take any of it, though,” she advised him. “We are in a volcano, after all.”

“Something about the goddess Pele or something?” he recalled. “I remember reading about her in that book when we were in England. The one where I read about the Wandering Jew. Like if you take something from a volcano, it'll erupt or something—I don't completely recall it.”

“Please the goddess somehow,” she declared. “But how is another question.”

They reached the top of the next ridge, albeit a low one in comparison to the hulking Obsidian Hill, which hid away back in the trees like a troll. Another sign appeared on the side of the road which told them they reached the top of Dead Man Summit. At that point, Alex set a hand on his stomach yet again.

“Ginger snap time,” she said.

“Time for a snap,” he said with a snap of his fingers. He took one out of the paper bag in between them: right underneath it was the cheesy bread. While he took a cookie for himself, she reached into that bag with one hand. With two fingers, she sloughed off a piece of that bread and stuck it in her mouth.

“Yeah, I'm gonna be so plump by the time I'm thirty,” he confessed as he broke off a piece of ginger snap and set it on his tongue.

“Let me ask you something,” she began.

“Ask me anything.”

“Why are you so concerned about your weight? Like that's something that I worry about. I've never met a guy who was so finicky about that.”

“'Cause I'm Jewish—we have health problems galore. Obesity and trouble with the heart runs in my family, too.”

“Aw, I had no idea.”

“It's okay—you didn't know. But—you know—I can't help myself sometimes. I don't care. I like to eat!”

“You grew up in the Bay Area, too. You guys aren't really known for your food so much.”

“No, we aren't! When we eat, we eat.” He took another bite of ginger snap and closed his eyes.

“Man, I wish we had Mexican hot chocolate with us,” she declared. “You ever had that?”

“YES,” he replied with his eyes so big that he resembled to a cartoon character.

“I made a couple of cups of that for Cliff when we were together,” she said in a soft voice, “he loved it. And I feel like that cookie there would go excellent with a little cup of that.”

“Oh, my god, talk about spicy,” he said as he covered his mouth with his free hand. He then swallowed. “By the way, what's the food like over in New York? I only caught a small sliver of it the times Testament went out that way to record but is it really as extensive as everyone says it is?”

“That's an understatement,” she told him. “Alex, I only lived there for three years but I feel like I only scratched the surface. Marla and Bel know far more about it than I do and I think they get overwhelmed from time to time.”

“Jew boy paradise,” he said as he took another bite.

They passed the June Lake Junction followed by a small series of frozen creeks in the woods, and then they were met with a watershed in the shape of a small valley. A thin layer of snow covered the grass out there. Once Alex finished his ginger snap, he licked his lips and gave his black hair a little toss back. In that stint of the trip alone, the black hair dye faded even more to the point Sam could actually see those grays once again.

“Kinda thirsty,” he said.

“We'll stop in Lee Vining and get some water,” she assured him, “we need to get gas anyway.”

Indeed, they turned the next bend, which brought them down lower into the watershed: off before them stood the noxious glassy salt water Mono Lake. They turned another bend and she caught a glimpse of the salty turrets down by the shoreline.

“I remember Mark Twain talking about this lake,” he said aloud, “how it's so salty that it's like swimming in brine.”

“Yeah, it smells, too,” she added, and she couldn't help but think of the East River back in New York all the while; “and not how the beach and the ocean smell, either. Salty and even more volcanic than Lake Crowley. Not the best combination for humans.”

Even though it was midday, the shadows of the mountains next to them cast down upon them like a veil. Sam thought about Zelda and the name she wanted to give the Cherry Suicides' album, that of Black Veils. She was yet another person she wished could see this trip with her and Alex.

They passed the turn off for Tioga Road, which led into Yosemite, and all the while, he muttered, “some day... some day...” to himself.

“Some day, indeed,” she vowed; the road dipped down and they slowed up a bit for the town of Lee Vining. She brought them to the gas station right in the center of town, where he offered to fill them up and she offered to get him some water. She was the only person in that gas station, too, such that she considered merely taking the water bottles for herself when the clerk in the back stopped her in her tracks. They had a good laugh but she was in fact serious about it.

“Man, there is no one here,” Alex said as he stood before the tank door and held the pump steady.

“Middle of the day on New Year's Eve,” she told him, “all the hicks and the tourists went home or they're in the city.”

Within time, and after he washed his hands, they were back on the road and they scoured the edge of Mono Lake. He peered out the window at those dark waters as they loomed just under the road's edge. Lucky for them, the snow hadn't yet come again and they cleared the lake's edge in no time. They stared straight ahead to the next kink in the road, or rather series of kinks in the road as they ascended up another side of a mountain.

“Yet another hill,” he said as he took a piece of cheesy bread for himself.

“Well, at least this time around they got it right,” she assured him as they turned the first right hand corner.

The next one turned left and they rose up a bit. The next one to the right. To the left. To the right. And on the third left one, Alex clasped a hand to his forehead.

“You okay?” she asked him.

“Kinda dizzy. This road is making me dizzy.”

“It's alright, we're almost at the top. Just one more little grind up this hill and—”

A sign appeared on the side of the road that told them they reached the top of Conway Summit, at eight thousand feet above sea level. They made a sharp right turn and began on down the other side of the hill. There at the top, the snow was the thickest it had ever been: tall steep drifts lined the sides of the separated highway as if they were genuine walls.

“Poor guy,” she said aloud.

“This is such a new thing for me,” he confessed, “being a city boy and all.”

“The rough country life is not for the faint of heart,” she told him. “Although a part of me sees you thriving out here.”

“Nah, I'd rather be in the city. Although that doesn't mean I can't not appreciate the wilderness, mind you.”

The road snaked along the other side of the hill: Sam peered out her window at the wispy light gray clouds over the mountains on the far side of the valley.

“Over that way is Twin Lakes,” she pointed out. “My mom's family visited this place so much when she was growing up.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah, my great aunt is buried down here in Bridgeport.”

They scoured the edge of a huge snowy pasture and right before they reached the outskirts of that small town, they passed yet another junction to a road less travelled, the highway up to Yerington.

“We're getting close, Alex,” she told him as they strolled through Bridgeport, which too had buttoned up for New Year's Eve. “Another eighty miles—I think.” At the edge of town was another sign, but a thick layer of snow and ice obscured the words from her view.

Another straight shot across the pasture ended by a sharp right hand corner past an old dilapidated house surrounded by barren cottonwood trees, and they headed back to another series of hills.

“How's the car doing, by the way?” he asked her as he reached for his second ginger snap.

“Doing excellent! The only time I was kind of worried about it was when we went up the Sherwin grade. It got a little warm but it never went any higher because it's so cold outside. I dread to think how it'd be if we went in the summer time.”

“Oh, right? And how're you doing?”

“I'm doing excellent! My hands are a little stiff, but I've got it, though.” He flashed her a wink and took a little nibble off of the cookie.

The hills only rose up around them as if they too withheld dragons inside. All the dips and curves in the road and they were soon at the top of a hill. Another sign told them they reached the top of Devil's Gate Summit, and the fourth and final one to boot, and the one that ran adjacent to a creek.

But then Sam remembered.

Within a matter of minutes, those low snowy hills to the left gave way to high stony columns that looked as though they were about to close in all around them. And that creek gave way to a full on rumbling river that ran parallel to the road.

“Let me guess,” Alex started as he licked the crumbs off of his fingers and put his sunglasses back on, “this is the—Walker River?”

“Yes! It's the west fork, too. Even in the summer time, that water is so cold and crisp.”

“Just looks cold,” he remarked as he took a drink of water.

The black river waters washed over beds upon beds upon beds of smooth stones: every so often, a small waterfall emerged out in the open. Meanwhile, the two lane road wound through the meandering canyon like the full body of a serpent. A big beautiful serpent, lined with dense evergreen trees and tall high stony cliffs, to which the head brought them to more snow covered grass land and the rim of Lake Topaz.

“The stateline, Alex!” she declared as they zipped through the snowy scraggly trees.

“Just saw a sign back there that literally called this place 'the quiet side of California,'” he told her.

“And that's exactly what this is,” she assured him with a wink.

They rode all along the edge of the lake, which too appeared so cold and crisp that a mere glimpse sent a shiver down her spine. A final straight shot uphill and—

“Welcome to the Silver State!” Alex proclaimed as he took another drink of water.

“You know, I had a feeling we'd get here by the middle of the afternoon,” she told him as they passed a small casino on the side of the road. “Anyways—welcome home, Alex.”

“Ah, you're taking me to Carson City!” he declared.

“One of the three places I call home,” she continued, “the others being New York City and L.A.”

“Wow,” he breathed out.

The road led throughout more low hillsides and low forests, this time of stubby little bristlecone pines and pinion pines, and then they reached Gardnerville and Minden. Another ten miles across a flat valley and they reached a low ridge. On the other side was Carson City, that old familiar crown jewel that always felt so close and so far away at the same time.

A little ways down the main street and she turned right on Clearview Drive, followed by another left onto Silver Sage Drive.

That old familiar neighborhood, all of those old familiar houses now covered in a blanket of that infamous powdery snow. If only Charlie was there to see it for himself. If only Cliff could see it all, especially when held in comparison to the house in Reno.

“So this is where you grew up,” he said aloud.

“One of the neighborhoods, anyway,” she corrected him. “This one, one up in Reno, and the one down in Elsinore.”

“This is all so precious,” he declared, “it'd be like me taking you to the place I grew up.” He froze and then he looked over at her. She raised her eyebrows at him.

“Funny, uh—there's another place I wanna take you, too,” she declared, “but we gotta hustle, though. It might snow again.”

“Oh, yeah?”

She pulled up to the stop sign and nibbled on her bottom lip.

She remembered the way up. It would prove to be a bit of a challenge, especially since they had already gone over four hundred miles in that car. But she was willing to do it for him.

She made another left so as to head back to Carson Street.

Up the ever so slight hill, past the car dealerships and the little restaurants featured on the way out of town, and she recognized that old turn off to that big mountain road. She had only gone up that way once before and she was rather small when it happened. But that winding mountain road felt like visiting an old friend again.

She was amazed that it was even open despite all of the snow on the ground.

Alex shook his head a little bit at one point but she kept her focus on the pavement before her. A sharp turn followed by another and another so as to resemble yet another snake. He parted those sensual lips and let out a low whistle in response to the feeling within him.

But they reached the top, and all of those thick lush trees clustered together against the dense snow, and Sam recognized even more glassy black waters on his side, cradled by the stark mountain top.

“Spooner Lake, Alex,” she announced.

“Holy wow,” he breathed out as he ran his fingers through his black hair.

But it was an appetizer for what awaited them at the very top and beyond the forests and the next bend in the road as it overlooked the enormous valley down below, and as far as they both knew, the entire world at their whim. They had climbed the mountain to see the world, but before them was what she held dear, and for him in particular.

The snowy scapes cradled those freezing, perfectly still black waters before them. Where they had seen the ugly salt waters of Mono Lake, they were met with the massive beauty of Lake Tahoe. Alex lifted his mirrored sunglasses off of his nose for a better look before him.

“One of the places my mom loved going to when she was growing up,” Sam started again as the road gently dipped downward, “was Incline Village.”

“Is that what this is down here?”

“Nah, this is Glenbrook over here. Incline's over that way—” She pointed out his side of the windshield and the lush banks of snow that covered the forest along the lake side. “I have no doubt that had she not picked Catalina, she would've moved there. To the city by the lake.”

“What stopped her?”

“Her publisher's based out of L.A.”

“I see.”

“We'd have to turn around and head back to Spooner Lake to get there, too. But—” She bowed her head for a better look out the windshield. Even though it was only five o'clock in the afternoon, the night was upon them, as were the storm clouds overhead. All the way up they had gathered around the mountain summits, but now they were officially upon a mountain summit, and thus it warranted snow.

“I don't know if we can get back over there before the snow comes in, Alex,” she said aloud. “Or back down for that matter. That road sucks when it snows.”

“What do you think we should do?” he asked her, concerned.

“Well... we have that blanket in the back and we have our jackets with us.”

“That means we gotta fold the seats back, though,” he pointed out.

“And? Here—”

She slowed to a stop at the next side street, which brought them closer to the water's edge as well as a few long low buildings, including a bar. Once they had come onto smoother pavement, the winds picked up. She pulled behind the bar, away from the water and ultimately the incoming wind and the blizzard.

“We'll park behind this bar here so we're out of the wind.”

“Eat some more of that cheesy bread, too,” he said.

“I'll go into the bar here if you want something more to eat,” she promised him. “I don't have much left on me except enough to get us back down the hill and then over to some place like the Bay Area, but that's for later on, though.”

“And I'll keep you warm,” he promised her.

Five o'clock in the afternoon and yet Sam was exhausted, with no desire to go any further. Indeed, she could see it on his face as well. Both of them had traveled hundreds of miles together and without the sense of a tour lingering over him in particular. She killed the engine and they both climbed out. Both of them wore windbreakers and yet Sam knew it wouldn't be enough. He opened the passenger door and took the blanket off of the seat before he adjusted it back: she did the same when flurries fluttered down from the darkening sky overhead.

“I got another couple of jackets back here, too,” he told her as he took a pair of dark puffy jackets out from under the seat closest to him. “Use these for pillows—”

He rolled up the first one and lay it down in front of him, and did the same for the next one.

Sam brushed the extraneous snow off of her head before she climbed in and onto the flattened back seat. Alex followed suit, although he had to skirt around the edge of the seat so he could lay right next to her. He shut that door above their heads and she shut the other door down by their feet. He then took the blanket and spread it over their bodies.

“Just like that—yeah—yeah—yeah, you got it?” He lay there on his side with the jacket rolled up right under his head; she nestled down right next to him with her head upon the other jacket. She lay right there with only an inch of clearance between herself and the tip of his aquiline nose. Four hundred miles of driving and they both had had enough despite it being early still.

“I do,” she told him in a hushed voice.

“Okay.”

His slender body was so very warm; even though he had slimmed down a great deal, his stomach was still very soft. She kept her arms around his slim waist: even as a thin, almost delicate young man, he had rather prominent hipbones and such thick sinewy thighs. Even when thin and having shed most of his childhood weight, he was still as warm and soft as a teddy bear. She pictured him as even more delicate in a few years time at the rate he was going at with his weight: even having eaten to his heart's desire at the house down in Catalina, he still maintained that slim figure. She tucked her head under his chin so she could better feel the warmth from his neck.

To think that she was laying like this in a bed in West Germany not long ago. To think that she had no one next to her, and for months, in that bed in the house down in Lake Elsinore. That room all to herself for months, such that it felt like a prison of sorts.

“This feels so weird,” she confessed.

“Why's that?”

“Well—because the last time I got this close with a guy was Joey. And I dunno if we're even a thing anymore.”

Alex raised an eyebrow at that. She kept her hand on the small of his back: it wasn't long ago she lay the same way with Joey before and with her hands down lower on him. Maybe she overthought the whole thing and he really was fooling around. No way she could ask him at that point, however.

Alex shivered a bit.

“Are you cold?” she gently asked him.

“A little bit—I'm feeling kind of a draft on the side of my neck. I also think I've lost too much weight.”

“What makes you think that?” she asked him.

“Even under the blankets, I'm cold.”

With a bit of a struggle, Sam lifted her hand and she tugged on the blanket a bit so it covered the side of his neck. She brought her hand towards the small of his back and she burrowed even closer to him so he was warm. Outside, the snow pummeled on the street and the sidewalk beyond the car: given they were behind a brick wall, every so often some of the snow hit the roof or the hood, but not enough to deafen them.

“I will say this,” he started again with a sniffle.

“What's that?”

“I'm glad we parked behind this bar here—” His voice was low and crisp sounding, as though he had a sore throat. “Listen to those winds.”

Sam nestled even closer next to him as the winds picked up out there to where they formed a ghostly howl. He may have felt cold, but his chest was warm and his body was soft and tender. He bowed his head a bit so he could better keep in the warmth between them.

“God, you're so soft,” she told him, “you're like a little teddy bear.”

“I'm gonna say this, though,” he said, “I'm sure you can feel my arms.”

“I do.” Indeed, even though his body was soft, his lanky arms felt so firm and toned, even when covered in that thick windbreaker. “I see you just being so elegant, though,” she confessed as she recalled his life's wish. “All wrapped in lace and standing tall.”

“I dunno 'bout lace,” he said. “Velvet, maybe. Velvet with—silk.”

“All silky soft,” she joked and he chuckled at that.

She had no memory of what happened after that: they both fell asleep, and she woke up to total darkness and the howl of the cold winter winds. And yet even in the wake of the noise outside, Sam caught the sound of voices on the street. Against the wind, she swore she heard church bells ringing.

“Happy New Year!” a man shouted. “Happy 1989!”

“Happy New Year, Samantha,” Alex whispered to her in a broken voice.

“Happy New Year, Alex,” she whispered back. She was practically squeezing his thin little body at that point, but she knew that he would be toasty warm in the morning.

[sammysnaughtygirl]

the way you treat me

Fandom: Walker (TV 2021)Rating"R Warnings:adult content Characters: Cordell Walker (Walker TV 2021), Grace& Emily Tags: Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Walker Bingo, Angst, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Shameless Smut, Crossover Pairings, - Fantasy Summary: cordwell walker uses blackmail against rival Grace

Square Filled"blackmail,Angst cordell walker ,had had a bad day at work ,his face was smeared with redness as he had just bumped into an old friend and found out that she too was now a texas ranger and he couldnt understand what she was up to why she had joined the force why she had come back to town without informing him if made him fume with anger ,G race was cordy,s longtime friend but before she had left town without letting him know she was leaving they had become more than friends so he thought now he just didnt want to see her at all.his mind wondering what had sent her packing had also wanted to know what had brought her home cordell was so upset he just starting throwing things around the room shattering glass and smashing holes into the walls with his fist he was now in a new relationship with emily but if knew if he spent even just one moment with Grace he wouldnt be able to control himself because he knew deep down in his heart he wasnt over her so he made up his mind he just had to prepare himself for their reunion ,Emily had to be first he had to make himself keep her the focus of his agenda but he felt he knew it was gonna take all the power he had to do this. he snatched open the fridge and grabbed a beer before plopping into the chair in front of the tv he drank serval before heading off to bed his dreams were covered with images of Grace dancing thru out the night when he awoke he dressed in a hurry and dashed out for the office praying he was early enough that he wouldnt run into her as cordell was reaching for his assignment the door flung open and in a instant Grace came gliding thru it as if she hadnt a care in the world not even taking notice of cordell standing there glaring at her Grace stumbled into the bosses office and drapped herself in the seat asking what she needed to do for the day,she was handed an assignment the boss making it clear that she need to take charge and get to work immeditaly so she ripped the paper in half and stuck in her pocket ,out the door she went with no hesitation not looking to see her new partner might be as she reached the patrol car cordy stood beside the passenger side door with anger in his eyes omg Grace plurred out not you ,well im not happy about this either cordell shouted back to her its not my cup of tea to have to see you again. me, Grace was stung with his words why are you so mad at me ,cordell couldnt believe she would even ask him such a thing you left not explaining to me why or if you,d come back how was i to know you couldnt handle things what Grace asked she started to laugh at his gesture which made him grow angerier ,Grace could see hurt in him im sorry for not talking to you before i just took off but i didnt know how to deal with what was happening not just between us i had alot going on,so why didnt you come & tell me this did it make it better to shut me out to take the high road and just leave me in the dark? no it wasnt fair for me to leave without explaining to you why i had to im listening cordell said ,we cant do this now she told him we have work to do,oh i get it the old dodge the question routine, no it will just have to wait Grace said work has to come first sure cordell agreed as they both jumped into the patrol car this isnt uncormfortable at all Grace said cordell sneered at her without saying a word back the day grew long but they stayed silent after all they both were just not ready for real talk soon the day had come to end and they parted ways waiting for the right time to open the wounds she had left behind Grace didnt know exactly how much hurt she had caused. the next day she hoped things would look clearer but cordell wasnt going to make it easy for her he wanted answers he pulled her aside after arriving at work the next day ,we have to have to talk about it he said fine Grace followed him into

breakroom i need to know why you left he asked she looked at him her eyes were filled with tears i had to she told him but why ,why i dont understand he looked confused Grace nodded her head i know you dont ,Emily found out and she threatened you what,no way not possible cordell said she threatened me how ? she threatened to have your job she knew how much you meant to me still do actually ,stop it cordell pleaded i dont trust you anymore fine Grace told him ask her yourself she was afraid of the time we were spending togather she knew you had fallen for me too thats why she did it,she wanted to tear us apart and it looks like it worked your the one who walked away not me i would have never left you .i need to talk to Emily still dont believe me huH? cordell turned his back and walked out of the room,he stormed out of the building pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed Emilys she picked up after just two rings hello ,Emily i need to see you now can you meet me at the square in an hour sure babe she told him what,s up nothing i just need to see you its important ok ill be there see ya soon bye she said,cordell got into his pickup truck and drove to the square where he waited for Emily to show up he sat in the middle of the square at a table directly facing the road so he could see her before she seen him ,the minutes went by quickly and before he knew it she was pulling into a parking spot he watched her as got out and started to walk over to his table he stood up as she approached him and he kissed the side of her check whats up anything wrong she asked him ,cordell shook his head you tell me he said why did you threaten Grace & me it was blackmail you know that right wait stop she nodded i can explain ,explain what how you took her away from me how this was all your fault?thats not what i meant Emily spoke i need to let you know why i did it i love you,no you just wanted what you couldnt have isnt that right you knew i loved her ,you knew how i felt about her and you didnt say a thing ,you probally knew she loved me as well is that why you did it ? i didnt mean to you didnt mean to what hurt me how did you think i was gonna react did you think i was gonna just fall into bed with you was that it ,Emily grabbed his hand i love you not her,cordell slowly removed her hand from his im sorry i dont feel the same yes you do i know you do she started to become violent and adutanted no i dont cordell tried to be calm with her as she was going off on him he decided it was time to just walk away as she tried holding on to him .you cant just walk away she cried as cordell fled,Grace was alone back at her moms old place and cordell knew he would find her there so he wasted no time after his meeting with Emily he knew now what had happened so he was headed to comfront her once again ,when he reached the porch of her house he started to feel those old feelings surface as he knocked on the door Grace peaked out to see who it was can i come in he asked sure she lead him inside i talked to Emily really Grace said howd that go i know what you told me was true i was just mad and hurt im sorry for the things i said to you apology accepted ,she told him he stood there learing at her what whats wrong she asked how could do that to me ,cordell i told you no i mean really how could you just walk away knowing how i felt about you i didnt want to cause trouble for you i wasnt sure if you felt the way i did ,so i just gave in to her demands it was easier than being rejected by you ,how can you say that you know id never reject you,he took a step foward and placed his hands around to cradle her face im in love with you how could you not see that he leaned down and softly kissed her pink lips she could feel her body clinging to his every word i want to be with you not Emily .Grace was so excited she threw her arms around him and squezed him so tight as if she never wanted to let go the tension was mounting the heat from his touch made her dizzy,maybe we should move this to your bedroom cordell implied catching her breath yes maybe we

should he scoped Grace up his his arms and carried her to the bedroom bringing the door shut with his foot he dropped her on the bed gently and drapped himself over the top of her and leaned in glancing her over before brushing a kiss against her lips ,standing to his feet he lifted Grace and slowly undressed her his hands once again found her mouth tracing the outline of her lips with his fingertips ,moving back on the bed cordell slide his hands down her body tracing her outline it made Grace tingle with every touch the two conitnued on to make sweet love and ended the night falling asleep moments later being at peace with one another embracing their newfound love .Grace dreamed that night the most beautiful dream ever .the way you treat me its the most beautiful thing i could ever imagine she had found what she was searching for cordell .

[stones-x-bones]

Dreamkeepers (Part 1)|| Morgan, Nell and Bex

TIMING: Current PARTIES: @mor-beck-more-problems, @nelllraiser, @inbextween SUMMARY: Bex wakes up. She wonders if, perhaps, dreaming was better. CONTENT: Heavy References to Domestic Abuse, References to Self Harm, Panic Attack

Bex didn’t remember what she’d been doing last, but before she knew it, she was gasping for breath and sitting up in bed, clutching at her chest as she let out a yell. She’d been falling, hadn’t she? Hadn’t she been running from the darkness again? Her throat felt raw. God, she was so thirsty. She felt so weak. What was going on? What was happening? Her eyes looked around wildly, turning her body as much as possible with what energy she had, and found herself in a room. Her mind tried to recall where she’d been, what she’d been told. Someone had told her she was safe somewhere. Whose house was she in? Morgan. Morgan’s house. A guest bedroom. She’d been asleep for weeks. Weeks. Anxiety flooded her chest and she felt suddenly sick. She threw the blankets off and tried to scramble from the bed but her legs felt like jello and she collapsed just off the side with a loud thud. “Pro-professor!” she called out, her voice a croak. Tried to clear her throat, clinging to the bed. “M-Morgan!” she tried again. She needed to get up, she needed to go home. Her parents were going to be so angry.

Morgan heard Bex’s voice from down the hall and turned, feet slapping the hardwood as she sprinted over. This wasn’t the first time she’d thought Bex had woken up, but--no, that was definitely her voice. And something falling. “Bex!” She knocked into the doorframe as she ran in, arms already outstretched. “Oh, you did it! Stars above, you did it, you’re back!” She scooped the girl up, sitting her up on the bed with ease. “You did so well, honey. Here--” She reached over for the pitcher and glass on the end table and poured out some ice water. “You probably need to hydrate. Maybe take some deep breaths.” She knew that she should probably be more concerned about the after-effects of a magical health crisis, but she couldn’t stop smiling at Bex. It hadn’t been right, having the house so quiet while she was in it. It wasn’t real, it wasn’t her. “How’re you feeling?” She asked, sitting next to her. “Are you hungry already? Can you walk? Is this too many questions?” She grinned sheepishly and brushed back her hair. “Maybe just have some more water and tell me what you need when you’re ready.”

“D-did--” Bex started, blinking. Morgan was lifting her back onto the bed but all she wanted to do was get out there, it felt suffocating. If she didn’t get home, if she didn’t call her parents, if she didn’t let them know-- everything was going to be so bad. It was all already so bad. “It-- wasn’t me. I d-didn’t do anything,” she finished, swallowing hard. Morgan handed her a glass of water and she took it gratefully, drinking maybe faster than she should have been. But it felt nice, and cool, and she was able to stop shaking so much for just a moment. “I didn’t do anything,” she repeated quietly, holding the glass back out as her hands shook. “S-sorry. Sorry, I don’t know what’s--” She swallowed thickly, freezing in her spot when Morgan started asking questions. Flinching involuntarily when a hand reached out to brush hair from her face. “I n-need to go home,” she finally said, “I need to go.” 

Morgan flinched back. “I’m sorry. I’ll--get the hang of that better. I’ve just been so worried, I--reacted.” She smiled apologetically. “But, Bex, you’re not in any shape to run out the door, I don’t think. Didn’t you think a shower and some food was a good idea first? Or maybe a bath, if it’s hard standing?” She leaned in, scrutinizing the girl’s expression, the tension all over her, the trembling in her hands. “Hey, you don’t have to apologize. Just slow yourself down, okay? You’ve just come back from a huge ordeal. You need to take things slowly. Don’t borrow problems from the future. Just be here with me, huh?”

“No, it’s-- it’s okay. I just--” Bex stuttered, “muscle memory.” That probably wasn’t the answer she should have given, or that Morgan would have wanted, but her mind was still spinning and forming coherent thoughts was still rough. What Morgan was saying made sense, though, and she could barely stand. How long had it been since she’d last used her real legs? Being an ethereal projection of herself in some strange, unreal dreamscape really made one appreciate solid ground. “I-- I really should be getting back. It’s been-- I don’t know how long it’s been but I-I’ve never gone this long without telling them where I am and I’m worried they’re--” she stopped herself just short of saying the word. Upset, mad, angry. Any of them would do, but a deep fear gripped its claw around Bex’s heart and she stopped. “Worried. They must be so worried.” She tried to stand up again but Jello legs failed her again and she sat back on the bed. “M-maybe just a shower?”

“Bex--” Morgan sighed. “It’s been a couple weeks, and I won’t say they aren’t concerned, but if it’s already been that long, what’s a couple hours more?” With Bex’s insistence that it was okay, she slowly put her hand over the girl’s. “And I think...whatever happened to you over there, honey, I hope you give yourself some time to just be happy to be back, reunited with your body, able to text your friends and see the people who care about you again. You should get to have that. I can call Nell and Mina over, if you want. I was thinking spaghetti with mushroom and rice meatballs for dinner. It’s pasta night anyway.” She sighed again. However much she threw Bex’s way, she never seemed to land quite where she wanted to. “You’ve had a lot taken from you. It would be a shame if you took more from yourself. But, shower first. Then it’s your call.” She braced herself, smiling bright as she prepared for the worst. The shower, at least, would have to take some time. Maybe by the end, she’d have a better idea of how to get Bex to stay. “Can I help you over to the bathroom?”

It sounded like a dream, really. A nice dinner, with all the people she wanted to see most. Nell, Mina, Morgan-- even Deirdre. They could all sit down and just be happy that everyone was together and Bex could reach out and feel everyone and everything and know they were real and know that she was real. But that’s why Bex knew it was too good to be true, because it all sounded so nice. Bex didn’t get nice things. Bex didn’t deserve nice things. She looked down to Morgan’s hand over hers and noted how cold it always felt. Still the same. Something real. She took in a deep breath. “Shower first,” she finally agreed, “I-- I can do that.” An irrational fear gripped her at the suggestion, but she shook the thought away. Walking her to the bathroom wouldn’t expose her to Morgan. “Um, yes? I-- I don’t know if I can walk very well right now. My legs feel-- well...like I haven’t used them in w-weeks.” The thought still made her stomach clench but she smiled through it as best she could, awkward and forced. “God has it really been…” she didn’t wanna look at her phone, or the calendar. Her hand subconsciously tightened around Morgan’s. “How am I alive?”

Morgan laughed dryly. “Must’ve been magic,” she said. “Come on. Put your weight on me. I’m a lot tougher than I look.” She worked her arms around the girl and walked her, slowly and haltingly, to the bathroom. “Will you holler or something, if you feel like you need help? I don’t think you need a concussion on the bathroom tile on top of your miracle recovery.” She got Bex as far as the sink, where she could brace herself easily, and grabbed a fresh set of towels out of the linen cabinet. “I’ll find some clean clothes for you to change into and leave them outside the door. I’ll just be getting started on dinner downstairs.” She met her eyes, searching haplessly for a clue. “Is that okay? Is there anything else you need?”

“Magic isn’t--” Bex started, but found she just didn’t have the fight to say it. And that, perhaps, she didn’t believe that anymore, either. Maybe it was real. Maybe it had been magic that had trapped her, hurt her, taken her away. She just let out a sigh and let Morgan help her to the bathroom, legs beginning to feel normal again when they finally made it there. “No! No, I don’t--” she said quickly without thinking, “I don’t need help. I’ll be fine.” Besides, if she did fall, she was sure they’d hear. She sank onto the edge of the tub and nodded, waiting as Morgan handed her a fresh towel. “N-no, this is fine. Really, this is more than...this is enough.” She gave another small smile, staying seated until Morgan shut the door. She peeled the clothes from her body and folded them up, setting them neatly aside. The marks on her thighs alone were enough to cause shame, but she felt a deep layer of it coating her as she crawled into the shower and sat on the bathtub floor. She just needed a minute. Just a minute to herself to try and process what had happened, where she’d been. Just a minute. Or twenty. 

The water never turned cold, but she finally reached up and turned it off. When she opened the door to peak out, there was a small pile of clothes waiting for her and she grabbed them quickly before drying off and sliding them on. She had to stay sitting for a minute, taking in deep breaths. Her phone buzzed again on the counter but she didn’t look at it as she slid it into her pocket and headed downstairs on still shaky legs. “M-Morgan?” she called out again, searching for the kitchen.

Morgan tried her best, but she couldn’t come up with anything more subtle than, stay here one more night, and then the one after. And then stay anywhere you want, as long as it’s not back with your parents. So she stayed by the stove, stirring the pasta in the boiling water, not even minding how the steam frizzed her mess of fringe. “I’m here!” She called. “Kind of finishing early, if you’re feeling hungry after all.” That was a start. She checked her skillet and then padded into the nearest entryway to flag down the girl. 

When she saw her, she couldn’t help but laugh, beaming. “You look like a whole new girl,” she said. “I think glamazon athleisure really suits you. If it’s not too much trouble, can you pop in here and test the mushrooms? I uh…lost most of my sense of taste recently, and my usual tasters aren’t here right now.” She beckoned her over. “And uh--” What she should have said was, if you want me to drive you home after, I can, no problem. It was the sensible, common sense thing to say. But the words stuck in her throat and instead she said, “--maybe have a seat, do some stretches?”

Bex followed the sound of Morgan’s voice until she found her standing in one of the doorways. For someone who lived in a house even larger than this one, she found herself getting lost more easily. She looked down at the clothes she’d put on. “Oh, um-- yeah,” she chewed her lip, “my mom would hate this.” Athliesure wear is just sweats for people who want to be rich, she’d said once. Bex swallowed. She watched Morgan scurry around the kitchen over to the stove and wave her over, but she stayed put in the doorway, hands wringing together. “I need to go home, Professor,” she said through a nervous warble. She tried to hold onto her composure, but it was fading fast. “I-- I’m very grateful f-for everything you’ve done for me, but I really need to--” her voice cracked again and she bit down on her cheek. She hated the idea of disappointing Morgan, she even wanted to stay, but-- the things she wanted and the things she needed to do didn’t often align. She’d grown accustomed to that. “I-I’m sorry. I don’t want to put you out anymore than I already have. I can-- I can call someone.” 

Nell and Cutler had lingered briefly outside the catacombs with her healing his hands to ensure that he didn’t bleed out, as well as taking the time for a few deeper conversations that she was all too eager to leave behind. They hadn’t been forced, but the less time she had to think about what had been revealed in the catacombs, the better. It felt like her feet had already decided where to lead her as she trudged towards Morgan’s, her bike still where she’d left it at home before the mysterious call had brought her to the underground caverns. She wanted- no needed to see Bex. To watch as her eyes found the light they’d lacked in her dreams, bright with life instead of the glow of a dreamscape. There was no time for announcing herself, her patience non-existent as she let herself in the front door, calling out for her friend. “Morgan! Morgan, are you here? Is she awake? Is she okay?” Nevermind the dirt that still caked her clothes and face, the blood that had dried against her shirt. At least she’d had the sense to wipe the tear tracks away before entering the home. “Bex?! Bex are you there?”

It was like something out of a dream. One second Morgan’s heart was plummeting through the ether, her ideas shot, her resolve all but broken, and then the next Nell was here. “Yes! Nell we’re--shit--” She turned off all the appliances and ran, stumbling through the kitchen and out to the foyer. “We’re here!” She knocked into the witch as she came to a stop and drew her fast into her arms. “She’s fine, she woke up just fine. Come see. Maybe help me talk her into staying for dinner?” She pulled away to guide Nell to the great room and finally got a look at her, bloody, muddy, and covered in sweat. “And uh, give us the highlights of whatever fun story is behind all--” She gestured vaguely, this.

“Bex!” She called. “Go on,” she urged Nell quietly. “I bet she’s missed you.”

One moment, Bex was gathering the courage to tell Morgan that she needed to go home, and the next, a familiar voice was breaking through ever barrier she had inside of her. “Nell?” She wasn’t sure it was real-- because, really, how could she know if anything was real at this point?-- but she wanted it to be, god did she want it to be. Morgan was already racing out of the kitchen to go and greet the other girl and maybe that was enough to make it feel real, that Morgan heard it, too. Maybe Bex wasn’t dreaming. Maybe she wasn’t still stuck in that horrible place. Because Nell had said she’d come back for her. She’d get her out of there. And she’d believed her, even as she’d disappeared from her grasp. She’d wanted to believe her so bad.

Morgan’s voice broke her from her thoughts. She was still frozen in the kitchen, her mouth agape. She turned around slowly and made her way to the doorway, still fearful that she’d walk through it and neither of them would be there, and she’d be alone again. But when she gazed through it, hand tight on the doorframe. “Nell..?” she called out, her voice quiet. “You...you came back.” Eyes were tearing up again, she didn’t even notice the blood and dirt on Nell’s clothes. “Are you here? For real? I’m not--?” She looked at Morgan. “This is real, right?”

As soon as Morgan confirmed Bex’s conscious state the beginning of hope blossomed in her chest, a brightness amongst the dark the trials of the catacombs had left Nell with. “You’re sure?” Nell pressed, desperately following Morgan along the way to Bex. “Sure- yeah, dinner.” The witch was only half listening, a one-track mind making it hard to think of little else than Bex at the moment. The notes of Bex’s voice were like honey in tea, sweet and soothing and mixing perfectly until it made a warm and perfect blend, cozy like home. “Bex!” Nell’s frantic yell was none too quiet as she wasted no time in throwing her arms towards the girl, trying to comandeer her into a hug despite the grime covering every inch of her. “Holy shit Bex- you’re awake. It worked? It worked.” The relief in her voice was almost painful, the tension in her stomach releasing all at once in a way that left her feeling deflated. “It’s real- it is. It’s real, Bex.” Her own eyes began to water despite herself, the rawness of her emotional state making it hard to deny the welling of her sparse tears. “Of course I came back. I’ll always come back. I told you I’d find a way to wake you up, didn’t I?”

Nell’s voice felt like a wave of relief. Bex even forgot, for a moment, about the angry messages still unheard on her phone. The older girl reached out for her, and Bex reached, too, meeting her hand halfway. She squeezed and it was solid and then without waiting, Bex fell into Nell’s arms and wrapped her arms tightly around her, burying her face into her shoulder. “I d-don’t know what you did, but it worked,” she nearly sobbed. She thought she’d been done with tears, but it seemed her stupid eyes had another idea. She nodded against her. “You told me, I’m sorry, I should’ve believed you. I’m sorry. I thought you-- I couldn’t-- you left without me and I thought you weren’t coming back, but you did, you’re here, you came back.” But who could blame her, really, when people didn’t often come back for her in life. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to leave. I don’t know how it happened.”

Even though the catacombs had left her feeling beaten beyond recognition, Bex’s presence seemed to give Nell a second wind of strength. Where her knees had been wobbly before, they now stood strong as they helped support Bex’s weight, refusing to give in and let the younger witch fall. “It worked,” Nell sighed, barely believing it herself as she savored the warmth that was rising off of Bex, the proof that this was real. “Ssshh, you don’t have to apologize. I didn’t want to leave you. I didn’t but- I think the power that was keeping you there was just more than we could overcome combined.” Especially when Bex barely knew what she was doing in the first place. “The fact that you even managed to get me out of there was amazing. I just wish you could have come with me.” Squeezing Bex tighter, Nell hoped she wasn’t overstaying her welcome of a hug. Somewhere in Nell’s mind she remembered Morgan’s request of dinner. “Have you eaten yet? You should eat. I thought I smelled something on the way in.”

The longer Bex held onto Nell, the longer it took for reality to set back in. She wanted to stay here even more now that Nell was here, now that Nell had kept her promise, now that she wasn’t alone-- but she knew that couldn’t happen. None of it could. Her phone buzzing in her pocket reminded her of that. Stiffly, she pulled away from Nell, wiping her own tears away with the palm of her hand, looking down at Nell. “What’s all over you?” she asked quietly, brushing some dirt off her shoulder, “you really need a shower.” She cast a short glance over to Morgan, the words she’d said before Nell arrived still hanging in the air. “I, um--” she started slowly, clearing her throat, “I-I haven’t, but I-- I really should be getting home. My--” the words quivered on her tongue, “--my parents are worried.”

Morgan didn’t have it in her to hide how desperately she wanted Bex to stay. In her kitchen, in Nell’s arms, in Deirdre’s clothes, she looked so much a part of them, like the relief when a scab finally closes over an open wound, something missing finally fixed. She came over slowly to Bex and raised a hand to her cheek even slower to wipe her tears. 

“You can stay, Bex,” she said softly. “We can all have dinner together, you and me and Nell and Mina and Deirdre--” Her smile fluttered with hope as she said their names, with the fullness of what they could have. “There’s nothing wrong with staying for just a little bit, huh?” Her fingers twitched, and her eyes focused on her gesture intently, determined to be gentle and to not have to look into the girl’s eyes in case she was already showing too much. “Please,” she said, her voice dropping to a whisper. “At least consider it. We would be so happy to have you.”

Nell grimaced as Bex took notice of her sorry state, the reminder of what had happened beneath the ground jarring her out of the warm haze she’d found while wrapped up in Bex. “It’s just dirt.” And a bit of blood. Probably the salt of some of her tears as well. “The solution was in the catacombs,” she answered as carefully as she could, glancing towards Morgan with a look that assured the older woman that she would get the full story later on. Nell nodded along with Morgan’s requests, her eyes doing little to hide the blatant desire she had to make the zombie’s words a reality. “It’d be so nice, Bex. So nice.” Even though there was little else Nell wanted to do other than lie in bed for the next three days, spending time with Bex trumped that in an instant. She looked at Bex, and she saw something she’d finally done right in the sea of wrongs she’d committed over the last year, a little buoy of pride that she could cling to in spite of all the harm she’d managed to cause. That was something she wanted to hang onto for just a few moments long in addition to consistently reassuring herself that Bex was here, alive and well. “Seriously just a little bit wouldn’t be bad, right? I’ll get cleaned up really quickly, and you can just eat a little bit before you go.” 

Bex wondered if, perhaps, she was still somehow asleep, and that this was just another twist of what was supposed to be a dream, turning into a nightmare. Any second now, the darkness would claw its way up the walls behind Morgan and Nell’s heads and bare down on them to consume Bex in one gulp. And then she’d wake up and have to do it all over again. But...this wasn’t a dream, and she knew it wasn’t, because the dread she felt about what was to inevitably come made her sick to her stomach. She wanted to stay here and eat the spaghetti Morgan had already started cooking, and she wanted to sit at a table next to Nell instead of all the way across a dining room table that was larger than some people’s beds, and she wanted to stay in a house that was full of warmth and life instead of one full of shadows and fear. But she didn’t have a choice, because thinking she could have any of that, well, that was the real dream, wasn’t it? Her life had been laid out before her like a map, and while she’d veered off the path a few times before, she no longer had that option. She couldn’t mess up anymore.

Bex did not move when Morgan came over. Looked down into her eyes as she spoke, but found it almost impossible to hold her gaze. Their words were like pleas, and Bex couldn’t look at either of them anymore. She found a very interesting spot on the ground, instead, and pretended like Nell’s grip on her wasn’t the nicest thing she’d felt in ages. Struggled to hold back the tears in her eyes, but didn’t move to wipe them away-- if she didn’t acknowledge them, they weren’t real. That was certainly a metaphor for her life, wasn’t it? She bit the inside of her cheek again, trying to hold her composure. “They’re just worried,” was all that came out. Not a single word of reassurance could be found in her head, or on her tongue. “I need to let them know I’m okay.”

Though it was only seconds, it felt like a good long while before Morgan could drop her hand from Bex’s face and nod in agreement with what she was saying. “Bex, please…” Don’t go. Not one more time, don’t go back there. She swallowed thickly. “At least know, in case there’s a part of you wondering, you’re nothing but wanted here. And you don’t have to leave this house if you don’t want to. Especially if you are afraid for your safety. Because it shouldn’t be like that. The place you call home should be the place you feel safest.” She sniffled and breathed deeply, clearing out the lump that had formed in her throat. “But I won’t keep you here against your will. And if what you really want is to go back to your parents then…” Her voice hitched again. She looked sidelong at Nell, begging for another off-ramp, some idea to stop this awfulness in its tracks. If there was one thing Nell was good for, it was amazing, crazy ideas.  She didn’t want to be complicit in someone else’s hurt again. But if she refused, or pressured her somehow, how much better would that make her? “If you’re sure, I’ll drive you. I’ll make sure you get there okay…”

Nell knew that there was more going on with Bex’s parents than met the eye, but the worst she’d suspected of them thus far was the usual controlling parent shenanigans. Of course that in itself could be traumatizing, leading to a lifetime of doubt and damage, but the way Morgan was speaking made Nell’s jaw tighten, eyes sharpening in the slightest as she wondered whether there might be something more. Why wouldn’t Bex feel safe in her home? “What if you went in and out?” Nell asked, still grasping at straws. She could tell that Morgan was looking to her for some last minute scheme, but the witch felt all schemed out for the night after using the bulk of her energy to break Kevin’s spell. I’m sorry, she wanted to say- to apologize for letting Morgan down. For letting Bex down, too. “You can go talk to them, and then come back out to the car and we can come back for dinner.” It was the best she could do while the echoes of Montgomery were beginning to crash against the sides of her skull.

Bex looked between the two and felt her composure falling. She wanted to stay, she did, she really did-- but that just wasn’t possible. Another night meant another thing they would use against her, the sooner she went back, the better. Really, her leaving was all for the better. Nell and Morgan wouldn’t have to take care of her anymore, and they could get back to their own lives, and Bex could deal with whatever wrath her parents decided was necessary for this. “I need to go home,” she croaked, voice stiff, biting the inside of her cheek, “I need to show them I’m okay.” She lifted her head enough to look at Nell, but not meet her eyes. “I need to stay there, or it’ll just--” Get worse. The words were left unsaid, but they were obvious enough. “Please,” she said, quieter now, smaller, “I just want to go home.” As if this place, asleep or not, hadn’t felt more like home. 

Morgan nodded and stepped back, settling her hands on Nell’s shoulders. She didn’t need her sensory nerves to fire on full blast to feel her disappointment and exhaustion, and suddenly Morgan felt a little heavier and a little more guilty for reaching out for a solution she should come up with for herself. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled into Nell’s hair, very quietly, so only she would hear and Bex wouldn’t blame herself any further.

“You can come back whenever you want, Bex,” she rasped, lifting her head and smiling as best she could. “If you find at some point that...maybe staying somewhere else would be good for you, even for a little bit...you need to understand that you can come here. This isn’t some performative gesture I’m making out of habit, or to be polite. You have this choice, always. Because there is no time where you will be unwanted. There is no circumstance in which I will turn you away. Okay?” She could only look at Bex for a second before everything hurt all over again. “I’ll just uh...get the keys and we can go. Excuse me.”

Nell shrugged uselessly as Morgan set her hands upon the witch’s shoulders, as if to say it is what it is. Her apology wasn’t necessary in Nell’s eyes, and if she was being honest she wasn’t even entirely sure what it was that Morgan was atoning for. After everything tonight, Nell was back to feeling powerless, discomfort creeping back into her soul as she could only stand by and watch as Bex made her choice. She so desperately wanted to protect Bex, but it could only be done if Bex accepted the hands that were being offered to her. For now it seemed that Nell and Morgan would be made to watch as Bex carried on with making the choices that hurt her, the ones that chipped away at her heart while the two older women did their best to piece it back together every time they saw the girl. “You know it’s the same at my house too.” Nell’s voice was hoarse, the roughness of it returning after spending so much time yelling in the catacombs. “Anytime you want. Anything you need. I’m there. Any fight you need fought…” She let the words trail off with a reassuring nod, trusting that Bex remembered the promise Nell had made her. She’d fight the fights that Bex could not until she was ready. It was bullshit- ridiculous that Bex had fought so hard for her life, to earn the right of waking unto the world again after Kevin’s magic had kept her sunken in, and it still wasn’t her life to claim.

Maybe Morgan was right, but Bex couldn’t afford to contemplate that idea. If she really started believing that she had second options, she’d only get hurt. That’s how it always ended. Her parents always found a way to cut off any avenues. She left the words hanging in the air.

One thing she hadn’t known was how comforting Morgan’s hand had been until it was no longer there. She wasn’t strong enough to face the disappointment in their eyes, their voices-- the way Nell’s cracked with hoarseness from a battle Bex had asked her to fight for her; the way Morgan’s grew quiet in knowing. Bex didn’t feel brave enough to talk without the steady hand of someone stronger helping her. Her lip quivered. She wanted to believe Morgan and Nell so badly, and it really wasn’t even that she didn’t believe them-- it was just that she knew better. She’d been burned before, what made this time so different? How could Morgan help her any better than her first tutor or the lady down the street or her homeroom professor? How could Nell be there for her better than any of her old friends, who saw the bruises and asked all the wrong questions? She had no reason to believe this would be any different, and yet-- “I believe you,” she answered quietly, “I understand.” She stood silent for a moment. “I’ll be careful.” 

“You shouldn’t have to be. You should be loved better than that,” Morgan said. It was no winning argument, no last ditch gambit. It was only true, and all the more awful for it. 

The world outside felt hazy with a wrongness that went beyond death. Morgan fumbled the keys so badly she dropped them as soon as she stepped out the door and again when she was trying to get inside the car. After Nell and Bex piled in, she had to grip the steering wheel extra tight to remind herself it was really there and she really would need to adjust periodically. Maybe there was something else to say, a spell to cast with comfort, a totem against the fear and heartbreak a house like that must grow like weeds. Maybe there was something more she could have done, a better way to stall, a more tempting offer to stay, maybe. But Morgan didn’t have those answers any more than she had a pulse. 

[fizzingwizard]

Episode 27! It’s a transitional episode and I have Thoughts but nothing major really happens until the very last second :P

Cap of the day!

You know what they saw about the megane shine... next season’s villain is Jou-senpai!!! you heard it here first!

More below!

GAWD I LOVE JOU

no but SERIOUSLY... so glad to have the rest of the team back. They really do make EVERYTHING better. Taichi and Yamato, yeah they’re cool, I love them, but they just don’t carry the show by themselves. And in a similar vein, the rest of the team needs Taichi and Yamato too. Otherwise they have no reason to be all dramatic and show off their cool sides.

(other than Koushirou of course who was just born Cool but it’s the kind of cool most people don’t recognize until you literally own the entire world Koushirou’s three steps from becoming Seto Kaiba except NICE)

ok back to business... last week we left off with the team finally reuniting and bringing Hikari along. For some reason the two groups both decide to stand in a straight line like two baseball teams about to shake hands. Leomon’s team still looks fricking ridiculous

Sooo jury’s out on how Taichi’s gonna react to Hikari! Yamato’s been so chill with having Takeru around, I started to wonder if we’re gonna see super over protective big bro Taichi instead this time! But for the most part he’s just surprised that she’s not surprised by the Digimon.

Hikari is creepy. lol. She’s very much the “cute little sister” type and this episode, at least, we didn’t see any kind of initiative from her, which is to be expected, I mean give the kid some time to adjust. We don’t see a lot of personality though either... I guess we can say she likes cute things, and she’s pretty darn calm... I don’t really like her voice though. It’s a perfectly fine little girl voice, but she always sounds like she’s about to doze off...

Obligatory “cutest couple” pic

The group then basically recaps what’s been happening in the human world recently. Which is all pretty important stuff. But for some reason Taichi and Yamato don’t fill them in on what they’ve gone through?? They have to explain Takeru and Patamon because well there’s a surprise but then they’re like “oh yeah Patamon’s the holy Digimon” and I’m like WHOA. DUDES. IT’S THE HOLY DIGIMON. THE THING Y’ALL RISKED YOUR NECKS FOR. Shouldn’t there be a little more interest, both in the telling and the hearing?? XD

Koushirou’s most excited to update their digivices.

Taichi: Why so blue, Agumon?

Agumon: I shouldn’t have had so many Hawaiian blue energy drinks... but how else did they expect me to fight non stop

Koushirou even has handy dandy charts and images to illustrate. He’s going to get hired somewhere and immediately promoted to CEO, by the CEO.

Patamon: “Hi! I’m the Holy Digimon! Bow before me!”

Jou introduces himself to Takeru and Hikari as the “leader” and tries to convert them to his religion (No-play-only-study-ism) to make them his first acolytes when he inevitably becomes the season’s true final villain. But Gomamon’s all over it.

Gomamon: “You can’t have acolytes until you master maniacal laughter, Jou, didn’t you read ‘Villainy for Dummies’ like I told you to??”

Agumon adorably walks right up to Hikari and asks her if she’s okay and if she feels scared. Hikari says “Agumon’s cute!” Taichi’s face is like “cute? cute?? he’s a dinosaur! dinosaurs are cool!” but he wisely says nothing because you cannot argue with girls about what we think is cute you just cannot

Then Hikari notices something even cuter! Patamon!

Hikari: So cute! I want ten!

Takeru: Sorry, he’s one of a kind and mine!

Hikari: *looks at him* So cute! I want ten!

Takeru: Wait... of me?

Hikari: (u3u)~♥ ﾁｭ

Takeru: (o///o)~♥

love at first sight???? lol

In a nod to the original series, we get a scene of Taichi asking Hikari if she has a Digivice and her being like “oh that thing, I filled it with catnip and gave it to Miko”

Taichi: No digivice! Well I guess this means there’s no way she’s a Chosen Child like us!

Agumon: Infallible logic

Meaning the Zurumon are on the move! this time to FREAKING NASA

Taichi: *most unimpressed voice possible NASA??

I thought hey, it’ll be fine, we’ll just have to fight some more... but

Nasa: *launches a rocket*

The internet:

it’s all just variations of people oh-no-ing in Japanese. A little further down someone just writes “Explosion” in English lol

Due to the weirdness in the digital world that is affecting the human world, a bunch of waterspouts appear in the ocean. Eldradimon’s like “oh bother”

he protec!

Mimi and Palmon rush to comfort each other with a hug.

Jou... immediately gets seasick.

Gomamon: So how’s that maniacal laughter coming along?

Jou: DON’T MAKE ME OPEN MY MOUTH

Awwwww. Point of interest.... Koushirou is barely larger than Hikari x’D

Leomon, for some reason, decides now we must part. He doesn’t think these kids can survive this storm and offers to protect them as they escape. The kids are powerful against evil monsters but weak to weather lol. I’m sure the actual logic in no way was “Now that the rest of the team is back from their pointless stint in the human world we no longer need Leomon to play back-up”

They don’t agree without an argument, but Leomon insists, because he believes the Chosen Children have other important things they are meant to do. We get a cool scene of everyone making their escapes. Sora takes Mimi with her

Taichi and Hikari join Koushirou

And Yamato and Takeru “join” Jou (but really Yamato’s the one calling the shots because Jou’s busy struggling not to pee his pants)

It’s just in the nick of time... before a giant whirlpool seemingly sucks Leomon and Eldradimon into the sea.

Taichi: Oh my god did they just DIE??

Kabuterimon: Don’t look back!

Taichi: I know... we have to respect their sacrifice...

Kabuterimon: Well, that and you might be scarred to see Leomon’s reenactment of Ariel at the bottom of Ursula’s whirlpool

Taichi: huh

(look I think I’m funny and that’s what counts)

Getting all split up like this made me think they were gonna end up split up for reals, but the team manages to stay together for now.

They arrive at a new continent covered in weird spikes! Yamato picks up his digivice like a walkie-talkie and says one word: “Taichi”

it amuses me that he could only bring himself to say “Yagami” for a good while in the beginning but then he finally started saying “Taichi” and now he just can’t stop!!

Anyway he’s alerting the others to the fact that some? of the spikes on the island are actually Tortomon about to attack them. Before going to join Greymon’s attack, Taichi flings Hikari at Koushirou “HERE PROTECT MY SISTER SINCE YOU HAVE NOTHING ELSE TO DO”

jk but seriously... why does Taichi need to be all up in the action? Until now I thought it was something they all had to do to help their partners, because they usually ride on them during battle, but this episode seemed to suggest that Taichi goes out of his way to do it even more than is maybe necessary. Which doesn’t exactly come as a surprise, but xD

Reason #1229345894 why the team is better when they’re all together: Mimi is hilarious and SORA HAS A GOSH DARN PERSONALITY. She DOES, folks. We hardly got to see it recently -____- this episode at least lets her react to the others. Ugggh. Irony of ironies, Sora needs more love.

It’s a stampede! Simba! NOOOOO!

Sooo... the battle with the Tortomon goes pretty well but then this guy called Groundramon or something appears and uh... starts to eat them... like it’s pretty visceral y’all o_o le eugh

Taichi is shocked and recalls last episode when he saw Seadramon power up and evolve after eating Ebidramon. He does not choose to mention the time he was eaten by Devimon. EH IT’LL BE FINE I’M SURE THAT WASN’T IMPORTANT ANYWAY

Greymon: Don’t get eaten.

Garurumon: lol same to you

The Agumon/Gabumon bromance is honestly one of the best things about this season. Not that we get a ton of it, but when we do we do I always feel like “yes, that’s Digimon, that’s it right there”

The Digimon rev up to face off with their cannibal and Groundramon quickly decides Ikakkakumon looks the most nutritious. He probably has lots of blubber and meat on him so I guess I’d go for Ikkakumon first too

Ikkakumon: Don’t eat me!

Jou: Wait don’t! He was teaching me how to be cool!!!

Taichi: Eat him! Eat him Groundramon! I can’t let Jou be the cool one!

Yamato: Are you two fighting to see who can reach peak villain status first?

Taichi/Jou: I’m naturally competitive

ka-boom!

Our heroes are blown back by. Takeru quickly runs to check on his big brother who seems to smack his head on a rock...

Yamato: It’s cool. I’m cool. The definition of cool. Ishida Yamato. That’s me.

Sora: Oh no, I think he’s got a concussion.

Takeru: No, that’s how oniichan is on a normal day.

The team starts to feel overwhelmed! That’s when a fire ignites in Taichi’s eyes and he announces the next siege!

Yamato: Taichi...

no but okay what even IS this moment. The episode goes out of its way to show us Yamato reacting to Taichi not giving up. This is a Thing. I don’t know what he’s feeling here - impressed? Happy that Taichi’s able to bring everyone together when they’re feeling defeated? Or is he also recalling how that same desire to never fail almost got him killed and his partner transformed into an evil evolution a few episodes ago?

So like I keep saying I don’t see why we had to split up the team for so long, and for now I stand by that. But one thing’s clear: the show wanted only Yamato around to witness what happened to Taichi. (I mean, Takeru was there too, but he’s a baby xP) And even Yamato doesn’t know everything - we don’t know how much he was actually conscious for. But I feel like, if there was any point to the separation at all, that was it. I hope so anyway. I like the idea of Yamato grappling with how to know when Taichi’s going too far while at the same time really valuing the way Taichi’s able to push them to victory.

Turns out Taichi’s new plan is... even bigger guns!

Pointed directly into Groundramon’s mouth!

Yamato: This is madness.

Taichi: No! This! Is! DIGIMON ADVENTURE:!!!!

Everyone attacks poor Groundramon in the mouth x’D im crying

The combined attacks seem to overload Groundramon and then MetalGreymon launches missiles down his throat, which cause these internal explosions. Uh, gross... like if there’s any time Jou should be puking it’s now

we won by being even more violent than normal! yay us!

Not that this means we get a break because Darknightmon chooses now to make his dramatic return!

They get blown back again

... but I love how adorably protective the big brothers are whenever it happens <3

Yamato and Taichi finally remember they never told the others much about what they’ve been up to recently, other than “we found the holy Digimon.” Now they add “and we found Darknightmon too.” Wow what a level of detail.

I honestly... expected Darknightmon to be interested in Hikari instead of Takeru xP It was a little too predictable so I was glad when he seems to go right for Takeru and Patamon after all.

Patamon, who’s recent hobby has been watching musicals, begins to sing:

Don’t ever kick a dog

because he’s just a pup!

You’d better run for cover

when the pup grows up!

Taichi: Uhh did he not see the part where Gavroche dies??

Yamato: He fell asleep before we got that far.

Angemon!!

Honestly... as a fan of 99 Adventure, Angemon there was SUCH a dramatic thing and... this isn’t. I know, I know, it’s a different show, we do things different in 2020... I just remember the excitement I felt about Angemon’s first apperance though. But, to be fair, although it takes a long time before his second appearance, once it happens Patamon always evolves to Angemon without all the fanfare and it’s just a normal evolution. So... yeah, this all makes sense xP

At least we end on a cliffhanger! What’s gonna happen?? Tune in next week!

So I guess I wasn’t that off about the team splitting up again, I was just wrong about when... next week it looks like they’ll be separated, which, although we just got everyone back together, I’m not upset about as long as each group gets focus. Now that they’re back in the digital world, there’s potential for stuff to happen. But it depends on the groups as well. I do sort of expect this is mainly a “put Taichi and Hikari” on their own maneuver.

Oh, was right about Darknightmon going for Hikari after all xP

My guess is... Angemon’s gonna fight but just not have recovered enough to stay in that form for long, and somehow that results in everyone separating... we’ll see. More importantly...

NANIMON!!!

My relationship with this guy is love-hate! I love to hate him x’D So I’m glad he’s back! Still want to see Piximon and Whamon the most but I’ll take it!

[overheardatthecontinental]

Worst Fears and Dreams Come True

Originally posted on tumblr over a year ago, I finally got around to uploading to AO3.

AO3 Link

.

She was always stunning, John thought, watching as Helen kicked off her shoes. But there was something damn special about the way she lit up with her feet in the sand and the sun shining on her face. She glowed.

And it didn’t hurt that her sundress was cut high on her thighs or that the sleeve that slipped alluringly off her shoulder. Her dark hair twisted in the wind as John watched her from the deck of the cottage.

It was surreal. She was surreal.

He didn’t date. He didn’t do relationships or have one night stands with strangers. And he didn’t have any real friends, let alone ones with benefits. And he had never intended on it.

But Helen Kingston had captivated him from the moment he laid eyes on her. It wasn’t just that she was beautiful. John knew plenty of beautiful women. No, Helen Kingston was so much more than beautiful. It was her kindness that had piqued his interest and her genuine heart that had fucked with his head over and over.

He didn’t deserve her.

But there she was: dipping her toes into the water while he watched, sipping at his morning coffee.

It had only been two months but those two months had more meaning than the rest of his miserable life combined.

She turns back to look at the house, pushing her hair back over her shoulder.

Helen smiles up at John and crooks her finger.

How can he resist?

John sets down the coffee and walks down the steps to the beach. It was official. He was going to buy the damn cottage. It wasn’t for sale but that didn’t matter. He would call the man who was renting it and make an offer. It wouldn’t be turned down.

Anything to keep that smile on her face. She looked so relaxed, far away from work, far away from the city. She would never quit her job. She did too much good but he wouldn’t stop reminding her that the world was hers.

He crosses the beach down to the water in suit pants and a crisp white button down. He only had suits and clothes for working out. Helen teased him about it sometimes but, truthfully, John had never had the need for something casual before. He had never really been shopping outside of a tailor. Helen would love it, though. Taking him to the mall, finding sweaters and casual shirts for him to relax in. That was enough to make John almost want to interact with people.

“Hey you.” She says as he approaches, a small smile on her face.

John says nothing, stalking toward her in a way that had her licking her lips.

He reaches for her face and kisses her softly yet soundly. The waves crash on the shore, the wind stirring up the sand and their hair but nothing is as loud as his own heart beating.

Helen nips at his lower lip as he pulls away. "I love you."

"I love you too." John says, still in awe that the words flow so easily off his tongue. There is no one like her. "Here is the plan."

"What's the plan?" She rests her head on his chest, staring out at the sea. The sailboats on the horizon cut easily through the waters.

"You're going to quit your job."

"Am I?"

"You are." He can feel her smile. "I'm going to leave mine and you and I are going to run away."

She hums, "where to?"

"Somewhere warm. Thailand. Belize. Somewhere with white sand, clear blue waters. We'll burn all your clothes and you can live in a bikini."

Helen snorts, "oh no."

"Oh yes." John presses a kiss to the top of her head, "We'll get a quiet, private residence and no one will find us. We'll spend every day on the beach. We'll read and relax and make love."

"Just us."

"Just us. Forever."

Helen looks up, "That sounds wonderful."

It really did, John thought. But near impossible.

Helen stepped back and out of his arms, hand gliding down so that she can link their fingers together. "In the meantime, we have right now."

"That we do." John agrees, stepping with her as she starts to traverse across the beach.

She is so serene. The calm in his storm.

Helen Kingston- she is good and kind and pure and makes him want to be a better person. It's too late for redemption and he knows that, but she has accepted him with all his flaws. Her hand was intertwined with his despite knowing what he did with those hands when she was away. She slept in his arms every night. The monster wasn't under her bed… he was in it.

"You know I would never quit my job." Helen says conversationally.

"I know." It was part of what he loved about her- the dedication to the kids she worked with.

"Days like today make me want to."

John stops, spinning her in front of him so he can hold both her hands, facing her.

"Move in with me." Its neither an order nor a question. He's not sure what it is but it feels like a plea.

She smiles softly, "it's been two months, John. What happens when you get tired of me?"

"Never going to happen. If anything, this is insurance that you won't leave me."

She reaches up and runs a hand down his beard. "Why are you so sure I'm going to leave you?"

John feels unnaturally heavy. His stomach and heart sink because, damn him, he is not enough.

"Because you're smart. You're going to figure out that I'm no good. That you can do better."

"I don't want good. And I don't want better, John. I just want you."

Her eyes narrow suddenly, her lips parting and she starts to shout, “John, get--!”

Suddenly she is launched forward, crashing into him. Behind her, far from the shore, is a boat. A sniper rifle peaks out from the side and John throws both himself and Helen to the ground, rolling on top of her to cover her body with his.

Her eyes are wide, breathing frantic. A quick look down reveals his worst fear. Dark red blooms from her abdomen, staining her dress.

"Hey, hey," John places his hands on either side of her face as another shot fires just over their heads, "stay with me, baby!"

He is unarmed, save a small knife. They are sitting ducks in the sand and he can feel her blood soak through his shirt.

He takes her hands and places them over the wound, "keep pressure, okay? I'm going to get you out of here."

She nods shakily, her eyes so trusting even as her face contorts in pain. His arms wrap around her and he moves to his feet, swinging her up while still shielding her with his body.

The adrenaline is pumping through his system. He'd been in a thousand fights before but nothing had ever filled him with terror as moving across the beach, trying to run off center but still as quickly as possible to the cover of the brush.

He hears a motor and it sounds like the boat is driving away but he can't look. He can't risk slowing yet.

He jumps down into the brush, laying Helen behind a log within the reeds.

Looking up, the boat has disappeared. But that didn't guarantee they were alone.

The shot went through her abdomen. He rips his shirt off, not giving a damn about the buttons that fly in every direction as he rolls it and pushes it against her wound.

Her head lolls back. "Come on, Helen. Stay with me!"

John reaches into his pocket for his phone. He's never called 911 before. He's never needed to but he can't wait for the doc to drive from New York.

"911, what's your emergency?"

"Woman shot. It went through her abdomen. It was some kind of rifle, a few hundred feet out." He rattles off the address.

"J-John?" Helen's face is layered with sweat.

"I'm here, baby."

"Is the shooter still out there?" The operator asks.

"No. They rode off."

"The ambulance is on its way and police have been dispatched."

He does wait for her to finish, hanging up the call and dropping the phone to the ground.

"I'm cold." Helen whispers.

"I know, baby, I know. Help is coming."

"Always hurt this bad?" She says through grit teeth. "How do you do it?"

"Oh you know…" John keeps the pressure on the wound, trying not to let the fear in his heart reach his face. "Practice, practice, practice."

She tries to smile but the pain is overwhelming. Her eyes start to close.

"No, no, no. Helen!" He says her name sharply and her eyes open. "I need you to stay with me."

"Want to sleep." It's almost a sob and John fights the urge to match her.

"I know. But you gotta stay awake, baby. Gotta stay with me until help gets here."

Where were the damn sirens?

"Trying…" He sees her hands shaking on either side of her. The color has drained of her face and he doesn't know what to do.

"Tell me something."

"What?"

"Anything." She needs to stay conscious. "Tell me anything. Something you've never told me."

Helen nods and exhales shakily, "Okay. I fucking hate your convertible."

John blinks in surprise. Of all the things she could say… say wasn't exactly news but she had never admitted to it aloud.

"It's not safe. It's too flashy."

"What else?" He asks, a smile on his face.

" Its grossly cramped and there's no back seat to fuck in."

"Make you a deal. I'll get a new car if you let me buy you one too."

"John," she whimpers but keeps a brave face despite the pain, "I was just shot. This is coercion."

"That Chevrolet is going to fall apart on you."

"Be nice. Chevy is the great American car."

Her eyes start to flicker and John pats her cheek, "stay with me, Hel. I’ll buy you whatever shitty car you want.”

Her eyes close and John slaps her just a bit harder, heart clenching as he did.

"Bitch." She mutters, eyes opening as she trembled.

He could hear the sirens now. They were getting louder by the instant

"Come on, tell me something else."

"What you want to know?"

"Something new. Something I wouldn't guess this time."

She nods, "if I live,"

"You will."

She had to. There was no other alternative.

"I'm going to marry the fuck out of you, John Wick."

The last thing she saw, as the world went dark, was John's face agape in shock.

.

Helen had been rushed from the ambulance into surgery and John's only assurance had come from a paramedic promising him that the doctors would do all that they could. His hands shake. John couldn't remember a time in his life where his hands had shaken.

His stomach turns and it takes all his self-control not to lose the contents of his stomach in the nearby trash can.

He takes his cell out from his pocket. It is stained with her blood. Trying to ignore the way it feels under his fingertips, he dials a familiar pattern.

The ringing stops as the receiver is picked up. Before they can speak, John says, "Helen was shot."

Silence.

"Is she alive?" Marcus asks finally.

"In surgery."

More silence.

Marcus had told him, had warned him. John hadn't listened.

"Where was she shot?"

"Abdomen." He leans back in the chair, "it was meant for me."

"Well, I doubt anyone would go to shoot Helen for the fun of it."

John ignores the stinging remark. “I’m at the hospital now. Can you find out if anyone has a hit on me? I need to know where it’s coming from and I need to know who has been hired.”

“It isn’t open. I would have heard if it was. But I’ll head to the Continental. See if I can find out anything.” There is a moment of silence, “Aside from me, does anyone know about Helen? Winston? The Concierge or the Executor?”

“The Executor but he hasn’t met her.”

"Of course. You know, depending on who they sent, its very possible that half of the underworld knows about Helen by now."

Fuck, he wanted to vomit.

He had tried so hard to protect her. To keep her secret from his world. Marcus was right. He should have known better.

"Please, just do what you can."

"Just focus on her. I’ll take care of everything on this end.”

And Marcus is gone, the line dropped.

John sits down in a chair and watches the clock tick on and on.

.

She'll live, the doctor tells him and John breaths again. His heart stutters in relief as he receives the rundown of her procedure.

He barely listens, "I need to see her."

"Of course. She is, still, unconscious but I can take you back."

John nods and follows back to the recovery room. She is still pale but her vitals look good. He caresses her face lightly, her earlier words still echoing in his head.

His beautiful, crazy girl was lying in a hospital bed because his enemies found them.

He hadn’t protected her and she had taken a bullet meant for him.

Gladly, John would have taken it if it meant she did not lay in front of him.

John reaches for her hand. It is limp but warm and he holds it between his. Marcus had been right. There was no way to pull Helen into their world and still keep her safe. But he could not let her go, even if he wanted to.

.

Helen startles awake and blinks in the sharp white light of the hospital room.

“It’s okay. It’s okay.” John’s voice soothes, hand tightening in her own while his other reaches up and rests on her forehead. “You’re okay.”

She blinks again, “Hospital?”

“Yes.”

“Cool.”

John lets himself laugh, softly. His heart still heavy with the thought he came so close to losing her. But she was there. In front of him. Alive.

Helen looks him over. “Are you okay?”

“I think I’m supposed to be asking that question.”

Helen stays quiet, looking at him seriously.

“I’ve never been so afraid in my life.” He confesses, his hand sweeping back into her hair. “God, Helen…”

“I’m okay.” She whispers, squeezing his hand in hers. “I’m here.”

John releases the support on the bed and moves to sit on the edge, beside her. “Why didn’t you duck? Why didn’t you move when you saw the target?”

“It would have hit you.”

“One more wouldn’t have killed me.”

“It might’ve.”

“It might’ve killed you!” Did she not understand? He couldn’t yell at her, not while she was in a hospital bed but she had to understand. “My life doesn’t matter. I will gladly take a thousand bullets if it keeps you safe.”

“Your life matters to me, John.”

She had said ‘I love you’ fairly early on. He believed her every time she said it. He knew she cared, he knew he mattered but there was no one else who cared for him or about him as she did. All his faults lay at her feet and rather than step on him, she had knelt down and held him.

Nothing scared him more.

Except perhaps the words she had said in what very well could have been her last sentiment.

“It’s not worth yours.” He says finally, “If something happened to you, what would I be? You blow into my life and I don’t recognize the man I was two months ago. I don’t want to think about how empty I was before I found you. Before you, I was just a shell. What would you expect me to become if you died?”

Helen reaches up, her eyes so soft and open and so not like anything he was used to. She runs her hair up his beard and around back to his hair. “I would expect you to be the man I fell in love with.” She pulls his head and John obliges, bending forward to kiss her softly. Her lips are chapped from the anesthesia but neither care.

Only hours ago, he didn’t know if he would ever be able to kiss her again.

“I love you.” She says quietly, whispering against his lips. There’s a pause as Helen pulls back, just far enough to look at him. “And I meant what I said on the beach.”

John swallows, not meeting her eyes. “I can get a new car.”

“After that.”

He feels his lips twitch up softly, “The part about me being a bitch?”

“After that.” Helen smiles at him, “Although I won’t dispute that you’re a bitch sometimes.” She wraps her arm around his neck, wincing slightly at the way her body stretches, “When I get out of here, I am going to marry you, John Wick.”

John feels his hands shake. He’s not sure they’ve done that before. “Aren’t I supposed to ask you that?

“Our relationship is built off of me telling you what to do.” Helen flashes him a smile, “Besides, you were taking too long.”

“I have it on good authority you aren’t supposed to propose marriage after two months.”

“Nor are you supposed to propose moving in together but you did that this morning.”

“You still have an out, moving in with me. Once we’re married, you’re stuck with me forever.” And damn him, he’s considering it. She’s already dragged into his world. The wound in her stomach is proof enough of that but to put his ring on her finger, to put his name at the end of hers? “I won’t let you go.”

“I think I’ve established that I’m serious about you,” Helen tells him, eyes flicking down to her abdomen. “I have no intention of going anywhere. Aside from the courthouse.”

“You have to move in with me.” John feels a smile creep onto his face as he strokes her face.

“A given.”

“And I’m buying you a new car.”

Helen rolls her eyes, “Fine.”

“And a beach house.” It might be his best and only opportunity to negotiate.

“Now you’re pushing it.”

John surges forward and kisses her again. She’s here, in his arms. And she is going to be okay. Marcus had told him he was going to take care of it and John was going to let him. He had more important things to attend to, starting with his fiancée.

[lostonehero]

Things change and somehow that means I now have a son

......

Charles nearly passed out when Beetlejuice told them that his age converted to 23, he was nearly half his age. He needed a drink or just to reevaluate his life choices that lead him to this moment.

He sat in his office looking in an old box he has. The wooden carvings surrounding the box would raise anyone curiosity if they were dead at least. He has been debating returning to that line of work, he knows he would return to peak shape when he fights but he doesn't want to put his family in danger and he promised Emily that he would go back if Lydia was in trouble.

Hell he nearly did when Beetlejuice tried to marry her.... but even then he knew he was given false information even born dead he could never become human or well alive. His mother is an awful demon and if he sees her again he will go back just to punt her to hell.

A loud banging nearly caused Charles to drop his box before he could hide it again.

"HEY CHUCK LYDIA TOLD ME TO ASK YOU WHAT IT MEANS TO NOT BEONG ABLE TO GROW LIMBS BACK" Beetlejuice yelled through the door.

Charles rubbed his temples knowing Beetlejuice was being serious and he probably didn't know that he had a protesthies leg that went to his hip. He lost it in a nasty fight with a demon he was trying to protect Emily from getting hurt.

"Just a moment BJ." Charles sighs putting the box back into a hidden door in the floor of the closet. He gets up with a sigh and opens the door to the born dead who rushes in.

"So Lydia keeps saying your missing a leg and living people can't grow them back but you have both." Beetlejuice rapidly fires off.

Charles rolls up his right pant leg to show off the the gray leg. "Its a fake leg Beetlejuice I lost it in an accident when I was 25."

Beetlejuice looked horrified and amazed. "You have a fake leg how is that possible? You breathers are weird can't even grow back limbs."

"Right Beetlejuice how about we discuss this later maybe we can spend the day together." Charles bites his tongue when beetlejuice screeches

"Of course Chuck i'll even wear a clean suit."

Charles smiles watching Beetlejuice phase through the door up to the Maitland attic.

........

Beetlejuice was acting like a curious child but was also too scared to move away from Charles. "Let's go to the old hobby shop Adam and Barbara need more paint and wood for there town model." He specially did not say anything he needed or wanted.

"We can get that any day Bj this is a you and me day so what do you want, you're among the living and can be seen." Charles smiles softly

Beetlejuice's demeanor seemed to changed and his hair had stripes of purple. "What I want?"

"Of course anything reasonable and not illegal."

The ghost with the most looked small and in barely a whisper. "Can we go get ice cream?"

Charles nods "of course there's a place down this block."

Beetlejuice followed Charles like a lost puppy and his eyes light up seeing the ice cream stand. "Can I have a cone to myself? Can I get pistachio? I don't want to share and not get any."

Charles strong gaze soften immensely looking at Beetlejuice. "You don't have to share with anyone Bj." He had a strong suspicion that sharing meant something entirely different then what he knew it meant.

Charles ordered himself a small cup of vanilla and gave Beetlejuice a large cone filled to the brim with pistachio ice cream. "Enjoy kid."

Beetlejuice already getting ice cream everywhere on and around himself eating it. "I'm older then you."

Charles sighs and takes a napkin. "May I?"

"Sure whatever Chuck." Beetlejuice doesn't even know what he agreed to and stiffens when Charles begins to clean the ice cream on his face. It wasn't unpleasant and he was being gental and didn't hurt him.

"There now where we go somewhere else you won't spread the sticky ice cream."

Beetlejuice looked at Charles in awe "is that cleaning?"

"A form yeah why?" Charles asked dreading the answer.

"Mom said cleaning was using a grater on my skin to clean myself."

Charles blinked and thought to himself. Yeah he might just go back to being a knight to just go to saturn to find her and make her regret her death. "What do you think a bath is?"

"OH thats easy its when you sit in a tub of salt after getting cleaned." Beetlejuice says confidently

Charles might just have to call Remy. "Oh no that isn't true at all, I can show you what a real bath is and how to get clean without pain."

Beetlejuice looked confused but happy "sure thing Chuck you got me ice cream I'll do what you want."

Charles smiles but internally he is making a list of things to do to juno. "Well we can go to the hardware store now."

"Two places in one day this is the best day ever thanks Chuck."

.......

They returned home as the sun set. Beetlejuice immediately went to Lydia to tell her everything that happened and Charles decided to talk to the Maitland.

"We need to have a serious talk about Beetlejuice." Charles sighs shutting the door to his office which doesn't mean much to two ghosts.

"Look we are being civil because Lydia likes him and because he doesn't understand things because he is young." Barbara sighs. "He still tried to exercise me."

"I understand but you also have to factor in his abusive mother he thought before today getting clean was being scrubbed with a grater and a bath happened after which was a tub full of salt." Charles says calmly

Adam looked like he was about to faint and Barbara looked sick.

"So he wasn't lying when he said he didn't know about consent." Adam covered his mouth. "I can't imagine."

Barbara narrows her eyes. "Are you sure."

"Barbara " Adam gave a sharp look

"He was scared of asking for ice cream and I think sharing doesn't mean what we think it means to him." Charles sighs sitting in his chair.

"We can help with anything, shit uh what do you need from us." Barbara says regretting making Beetlejuice sleep on the roof and then looking back to how excited he was to have a place to stay.

"Just be nice and explain things to him, and he helped pick out figurines for your project so say nice things." He sighs "I'm going to help him later take a real bath."

Adam nods "I can help with that."

Charles shakes his head. "Can you set up the guest room because that will be his permanent room as of now, I need to speak to Delia about this "

The two ghost nod and head to the guest room as Charles gets up to explain things to Delia.

.......

Beetlejuice watched the bath with confused eyes. "Why are you filling it with water?" His hair was bright yellow.

"Its a bath Bj we use water and soap." Charles says smiling

"Aren't I suppose to be naked why are you letting me stay in my boxers?"

"I want you to be comfortable."

"Oh... is the water warm?"

"Yes it is"

"Can I go in?"

"Yes Bj go ahead I'll help wash you just tell me if its too much."

-after two hours-

Beetlejuice is in comfy pajamas wrapped in a blanket his hair bright green in content. "If that's getting clean I wanna do that everyday." The gray around his eyes is a constant along with his hair that stands on end.

"I'm glad you're OK Bj I'll be in my room with Delia if you need anything." Charles smiles "good night."

Beetlejuice was out like a light as Charles left.

Charles wondered if he could legally adopt a born dead the only one of his kind. He needed to contact his old friend on the other side.

[danddymaro]

My Win | Bucky Barnes x Reader

I’d like to imagine her Suit to be something like Ghost (from Antman And the Wasp) I can’t be the only one that thought she was majorly badass as fuck, right?

Flashbacks are in italics : Example

Thoughts are italics  in quotes : ‘Example’

Wordcount:  4520 

Based During Civil war and afterwards.

My Win 

The sound of frothing, scalding water emitted from the ground as black ink began to manifest over the surface, forming a figure that bubbled into a barely recognizable humanoid form.

Startled, the two elder males stared at the bizarre oddity as the younger one took quick action, having moved far before the phenomenon had occurred.

Peter cried out in surprise, leaping up high and holding onto the ceiling with two slung out webs clutched in each hand, releasing a heavy, jolted breath as he sprung to safety. His arachnid senses spiked, and true to the creature he named himself after, he secured himself with caution from the hot zone as he felt a rise of danger and forbidding.

Something seemingly sinister arose from the ground's surface and a feeling of alarm struck the youth, making him recall every single horror movie he’d sat through, momentarily regretting ever having put himself through the thrilling torture.

‘Monsters aren't real,’‘ he contemplated, ‘...But wait...aliens are...so wouldn’t they be real too?’ His inward voice argued back, causing his thoughts to mash together.

With a dark mist still oozing out from it, the appearing body stood motionless at first, hidden eyes observing the two older men with sharp interest.

Parker swallowed down hard, gathering up all his confidence before deciding to speak, forcing out the words, “So...So...You're not here after me?... right?” he asked shakily, getting a declining nod at his question from the mysterious being.

“I'm here for...

winter soldier,” it said lowly, voice distorted by the mask worn on its face. With a pointed finger aimed at the long-haired brunette, it turned over and signaled him to come towards it with patient, slow curls of its index.

“ come to me...Winter Soldier,” it said as it fizzled out his name like a speaking serpent, urging him to step forward into a vice hold.

Cautiously, Barnes stared at the signaling hand that slowly wagged it’s finger at him as though he were a trained dog.

With his feet firmly planted to the ground, he tightened his fists, feeling his heart grow anxious, feeling it grow heavier than it had already been.

The sentiment traveled from him and struck the masked figure with full force. Stopping the louring motion abruptly, the enigmatic being left stunned instead,

‘I can feel sorrow not grown from my chest... but all the same, it’s nested within me.’ (f/n) thought to herself, all whilst hiding her true face of growing sympathy behind her mask. Her hands both traveled up to hover over her chest, wanting to calm her lamenting heart’s ache, but knowing it was futile because it hadn’t come from her to begin with.

“ One of you has a great burden,” She murmured, the sound coming out as wicked as before, and instead of the soft words, distorted hissing was released out for others to hear.

‘For me to be able to sense it…’ She added silently, knowing her empathy wasn’t a strong gift of hers. In fact, she wouldn’t have known she had such a talent, if not for the scarce moments in her past she’d unknowingly utilized it.

With slow steps ( f/n) walked towards the metal armed man, her eyes focused on him only. cocking her head to the side she looked towards him, her eyes fixed on his, peaked with curiosity.

‘Could it be him?’ she wondered, eyeing the man with uncertainty.

It couldn’t be , right?

“I need you to take him down,” Tony told her, “ Nothing else but bring him in, understand?” he told her firmly, and with a short nod, she agreed, accepting his proposition.

She wanted to use her powers for good… Redeem herself.

“Oh..” he added, stopping her before she drew further from him, “ And watch out for the kid would you ?” he told her.

“ Kid?” she asked him with confusion, “You have a child fighting your battles for you,” she said lowly, her (e/c) eyes glaring at him with frost.

Dragging his hand over his face he gave a low, frustrated sigh, “ In Case you forgot Cap is a handful himself, he can take down an entire army without a sweat,” he told her, “ And his little buddy is even worse, “ He told her.

“Oh, and do I need to remind you Maximoff is off with them? So keep your guard up with her,” he warned her, “Unfortunately, you’ve already witnessed the collateral she can do, and that's unintentional...” he muttered.

“Needless to say, I need every bit of help I can,” he told her with a tight smile.

“The kid is capable, I'm just asking for you to have his back… “ he told her,  "He’s not there for anything else besides restraining Barnes. So if you see him struggling, jump in , ok ?” he asked.

With a strained smile of her own, she agreed, “Very well,” She sighed.

Had it been anyone else she would have opposed. But she knew Stark. She trusted him and his judgment.

After all...if it hadn’t been for him she wouldn’t have the moment to pick sides.

She wouldn't have a choice of free will…

‘Could your heart be so drowned in such suffrage, you reached out to me?’ She wondered, shaking her head of the thought.

‘No...of course not…’

That couldn't be...

“This is your final offer,” she urged him, her steps quickening to come closer to him, but he refused, instead charging himself towards her, his eyes fixed on solely her.

“I’ll take this one,” Barnes told Sam, already moving to confront the new opponent, leaving the other man to keep his eyes trained on the teen instead.

As his hand flew towards the masked being, It was captured within her gloved hand, a mist of dark smoke emitting from her arm, dividing in two. It began to circle his wrist, crawling up his arm like small, twin snakes aimed right at his neck.

His eyes grew wide as he watched the strange occurrence and he began to retract his still balled fist, feeling a resisting opposition hold him back towards the enigmatic being, refusing to give in to his force whether it came straight towards her or drew back.

An echoing tisk came from his opponent and he felt his pride get stomped on yet again, as well as rising panic at the strange vapor coiling around him.

“ Again...” he said lowly, a hiss coming from him as he looked straight forth to where the stranger’s eyes would be located, glaring at the cloaked figure with aggravation,

‘First that damned kid… and now this...this thing!’ He thought with dismay.

“ I don’t even know what to call that,’ He added lowly while eyeing the being.

“ wow, really impressive there…” Sam said flatly, seconds before being shot with a sticky web and flying back to the wall behind him, bouncing off of the hard structure with a wheeze.

“Shut up and take care of that damn kid!” Bucky snapped, deciding to lunge forward, jerking his shoulder, his entire body shooting right towards the opposing force instead, following up by a brutish strike from his forehead.

Immediately, his tightened fist was released and the cloaked figure stumbled back, feet struggling to maintain balance from the sudden headbutt.

“IM TRYING!” Sam huff out as he attempted to wiggle out from the sticky strings of white snugly tightened around his upper body. “... it's just so damn hard when everyone has a stupid gimmick now!” He cried out, the force of his mechanical wings finally tearing through the restraint.

Once again he was up, taking air and focusing himself onto the young, talkative boy as he continued to jabber on during the battle.

For a fraction of a second, his espresso colored eyes strayed over to Barnes, just on time to see him get a good upper hand on his opponent, leaving him confident to keep the boy in his center of attention.

With repeated strikes to the lower ribcage on each side, Bucky attacked Stark’s ally, executing a final uppercut before sending his metal arm to sling forward, right at the center of (f/n)’s face, causing her to fall back, her body sliding across the ground as it landed.

Groaning, (f/n) arched her back, rolling over to the side with a harsh intake of breath as Bucky came to step onto her stomach.

Fortunately for her, her quick reflexes made him miss, getting nothing but ground and small debris.

Taking advantage of his misconnection she swung her entire arm, the balled fist she formed catching the back of his knee and making him fall to the ground as well. However, to her frustration, he managed to pin her down, his stronger arm falling far behind him to once again strike her masked face.

Cursing under her breath she turned her head to the side, tearing away the bothersome cover from over her face with a frustrated cry.

With a harsh breath, she snapped her face back to look up at him as he was ready to deliver another strike, her (e/c) colored eyes hardened with resolve, willing to take the strike head-on, but only with the promise of vengeance.

However, at the sight of her, he stopped his balled fist loosening,

“You're... a girl ?” he said airily, surprised at the face before him, the same one that had been blessed by feminine beauty. With complete awe his eyes strayed towards her (e/c) colored eyes, feeling himself go nearly weightless as a result of their bewitching nature.

Her lips were parted with a small ‘o’ being visible, her eyebrows raised high in shock. Long, dark lashes fanned over her face as she blinked at him with surprise, stunned as he stopped, not having expected the action.

She had been motionless at first, stuck like he was until she took notice of the look of shock on his own face. It was then that her expression began to change before his eyes.

Her (e/c) eyes peppered with little twinkles and she held back her laughter, which had been successfully calmed into a small, suppressed giggles, leaving him even more stupefied.

She took advantage of his memorization and switched their positions, leaving him to be captured beneath her instead.

His arms were spread out, held down by their wrists by the same power she had demonstrated before, leaving him completely defenseless,

“Are you afraid of me?” she asked him softly, a sweet tone fired directly at him, coated with sickly sugar. Both her hands cupped his cheeks, gently caressing them before crawling down to his neck.

He could feel his skin riddled with small risen bumps, and he swallowed down hard,

“James...Don’t fear me,” she said with the same saccharine tone, her eyes glowing, illuminated like a feline in the night.

And it seemed as though behind her (e/c) eyes a flashlight was set off, glowing magnificently.

'Could it be he's more afraid of me like this?' She asked herself.

He felt a ghastly grip coiling around his neck, shutting out the oxygen supply from reaching him, causing him to panic.  fighting her back, he managed to push her off,  immediately jumped back from her, hacking and clawing at his neck to feel nothing there.

With a foxy smirk she stared him down, watching him step back from her with cautionary steps like she had become some disease-riddled fiend, and one-touch from her would make him drop dead.

He seemed to be more afraid of her now than before when she had seemed like a monstrous entity, as each step she took towards him, he withdrew himself further by three.

‘ Because I'm a girl…? Is that why?’ she asked herself amused. ‘ That’s really cute…’

“ Oh I see…” she murmured, getting a better understanding, “ Don't tell me it hurts your pride ?” she said cooing at him, teasing him as her smirk grew into a toothy grin.

She showed him all her teeth, grinning at him like a Cheshire cat, all too entertained by the look of shock still plastered over his face, and moreso by the obvious effect of her inquiry.

He shut his mouth, holding back any remark he had because he wouldn’t dare satisfy her.

She wanted to play mind games with him, and he wasn't going to allow himself to be used again… not ever.

Admittedly it had stung at his pride, pinned under a pretty girl and getting his ass handled by some kid that sounded like he had yet to hit puberty earlier on,

So yeah...maybe he was bitter about it.

Her (e/c) colored eyes dashed towards her side to find a small chunk of cement, and with a swing to her right arm, she coated it in her dark power, chucking it towards him.

However,  with a quick defensive maneuver, he lifted his arm in front of him, his metallic forearm taking the strike head-on and saving the rest of him from severe damage.

Seeing him deflect her attack smoothly , she huffed, annoyed.

“This ends now,” She said lowly, finding no enjoyment in the prolonged quarrel.

Her body then began to levitate from the ground, ‘ I’ve wasted too much time,’ She thought with annoyance, no longer finding enjoyment in the matter, knowing that letting it go on any further would be a mistake.

She drew her arms up, rising far above her head and cutting through the air. “ No hard feelings,” she said under her breath, lifting her eyes to the two men in her vision.

Bucky was still on the ground, getting up from one knee, and as for Sam, he was hovering above his companion, scanning Peter through his eye-wear to try and find a loop somewhere.

“Move out of the way kid,” she said addressing Peter, who quickly leaped to her side, standing on top of the broken rubble, huddling close to the cracked wall. “Yes mam, “ he said landing, standing at full length and staring in wonder as he saw everything before him coated with a layer of dark ink.

“That's so cool,” he said breathlessly, his brown eyes growing large beneath his mask. He itched to touch the strange coating, his fingers twitching in wonder, wanting to know how the strange aura would feel at his own hand but held back from doing so.

Looking to her side secretly, she gave the faintest smile, melted by the youth’s astonishment,

‘He really is just a kid…’ She thought to herself.

She had been told he was just a teenager, a young boy still, something she had skepticism in.

‘ Stark’s an idiot...’ She thought with a shake of her head.

The kid had no business messing with problems he didn't know about… but then again…

‘ So am I… Because this isn't  any of my business either.’

She began to lift up all of the broken rubble and objects scattered around the bit fo area, taking in a harsh breath, feeling herself strain.

'I have to make it count,'

She was then ready to strike, but Falcon flew towards her, spearing her right at her midsection, and making her fly back, the breath being knocked out of her. His arms began to circle around her, planning to slam her down when Parker intervened.

With a web sticking towards Sam’s back,  pulling him away with all his strength, Spiderman sent the soaring man flying the opposite direction, effectively tying him up in the process.

Moving quickly, he swung towards the woman, shooting out a web to stick to the center of her chest before she collided with the hard ground,

“ I've got you!” he exclaimed, pulling her up towards him, bringing her close to his own body, arm wrapping around her and securing her in a tight grip,

"Pretty good huh?" he asked her, receiving an appreciative nod. "A quick thinker," she said truthfully.

“Nice," he muttered, " So...could you put a good word in for me for mister Stark?” he asked her as he shot out another web, “ it’s just..I’ve really got to impress him,” he added with small hope, embarrassed to ask such a thing and with a strong heave she hung her head,

“Sure kiddo,” she said sighing, relieved to have been saved from the nasty fall.

Just then a small, red mechanism shot towards them. Instantaneously, they both caught sight of it, but all too late.

The arm that had secured a web to the ceiling was captured and tied by redwing as it continued to fly out, dragging the two along with it.

They both hollered as they were chucked outside, shooting out from the building and dropped immediately afterward.

Her eyes bugged, and frantically she clawed at the air, only to find herself falling further.

‘calm down, calm down, calm down, calm down!’ She repeatedly told herself, taking in a deep breath, vapor seeping out from her entire body, slowing her fall.

She gave a sigh of relief before she remembered the other falling person at her side, “ The boy!” she exclaimed, shooting out her hand to him, also coating him in the strange aura, “ I've got you Spiderboy!” she said with a happy smile, straightening herself out, her feet stretched out beneath her for when she landed safely.

Together they descended like falling snowflakes, worry-free of harsh impact,

“It's actually spiderman,” he said sheepishly, waving his hands up and down, wiggling his legs back and forth too, feeling weightless.

“So," he started, " The powers," he added, interested in what amazing event brought them forth.

“I was just born weird... normal mom, normal dad,” she said chuckling, taking notice of how his shoulders slumped in disappointment.

“You?” she said interested, truly peaked with interest as to how he came about his own powers,

"Is it you, or the suit,?" She asked him.

"It's me," He replied, “They came from a Radioactive spider when it bit me” he answered her with a shrug as though it wasn’t impressive which would be far from true.

"Radio-active spider…" she muttered dumbly.

‘How bizarre…’ She thought to herself.

“I’m so sorry, I didn't ask for your name!” he said with worry.

“(f/n) (l/n),” she said welcomely, but he crossed his arms, and though she couldn't see it, he pouted.

“What's wrong?” she asked him.

"I didn't think you'd give me your actual name," he admitted with disapproval, “ Don’t you go by something cooler?” he asked her, making (f/n) repeatedly blink at him with a blank expression. “I should have one...shouldn't I ?” she asked with amusement, chuckling.

“Later on you can help me out, deal?” she asked him, and with a crudely performed salute, he agreed, “ Awesome! I already have a couple in mind!” he told her.

“ Then let’s save that for later, right now we’ve got to go kick some butt,” she told him, forming a tightly balled fist, jutting it up into the air.

Unfortunately, Rogers had fled, taking the wanted man along with him, the (h/c) haired woman left huffing, annoyed due to their earlier encounter.

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

( A Couple of years after)

With a deadpan expression, she set her eyes forward, not actually staring at anything in particular, instead just avoiding looking at the man that fell into step beside her.

“Come on Doll, after all that talk before, now you've got nothing to say?” he asked her, chuckling.

“ I knew you were a sore loser, “ she started, “ but a sore winner too?” she said with flattened astoundment, gazing her eyes over to him to see that darned grin of his as he maintained his attention towards her and moreso her obvious annoyance.

“Me, a sore loser?” he asked her, snickering, “ I Don’t recall a time you have ever had me beat,” he said shrugging.

Raising her brow, she began to grow a haughty smirk, “Did you really just say that Barnes?” she challenged him.

‘You're just begging for it,’ She thought with amusement.

"I didn't stutter," he said with an eye roll. " Or did I ?" He added.

"Oh… Ohohoho," she began to laugh, waiting to settle down from her chuckle before she put him down.

“Say, Buck,” She started, “ Remember when I beat you up?” She said with complete seriousness.

And at the mention, Bucky immediately settled down from his earlier merriment and prepared himself for a loaded serving of humble pie.

Slowly, (f/n) lost her composure. Laughing jovially, she held her stomach as the soreness from her earlier workout strained her.

Bucky could run faster than her all he wanted, and pick on her all he wanted afterward as well, but the win she had on him that day she met him would always be on the scoreboard, carved into it to always remain.

Grumbling he crossed his arms, “You didn't beat me up,” He argued with a flat look, staring dead at her with steel-cut eyes, and it tickled her even more to see him practically pouting.

The grown man was pouting like some cute, little baby...

“What happened to not being a sore loser?” She said giggling, shoving him aside and moving along with a perky walk. “I just knew you'd get all pouty and in denial,” she added, making sure he heard her, despite their growing distance.

“ Oh! And then before that you had your run-in with Petey,” She added, making sure to remind him of that fail too. Spinning on her heel to walk backward, she focused her eyes on him,

 “I saw him manhandle that itsy bitsy punch of yours.” she tisked, loving the growing distraught on his face.

He gaped for a few moments before shutting his mouth and glancing at his side in a scorned manner,

“ Doesn't ring a bell. “ He said under his breath, glowing red at the recollection.

Possibly one of the most embarrassing moments of his life was having some 15-year-old brat cancel him out so easily, and then on top of that throw him around a couple of times for good measure.

“Did... Not... happen,” he claimed.

The sound of crunching ground was heard coming closer as their dark-skinned friend finally caught up to them, having been pushed aside by the two earlier on as they had a childish race to finish their afternoon run.

Truth be told, the only reason (f/n) even caught up to Bucky was because she flew through the last few laps.

It technically counted…

' The deal was to finish the rounds,' she defended herself. Because nothing was said about not running them, the deal was to just pass them.

“ Oh no, he’s pouting again,” Sam said while calming down his breathing, coming to match the other two's calm pace.

Nodding (f/n) confirmed it, “Say… you were there too Sam, remember when I kicked Bucky's ass?” she asked.

Sam started speaking, about to leave his poor boy in shame when he was cut off by a quick elbow to the rib, not hard enough to break anything, but enough to leave him behind.

'Not now.' Bucky thought to himself, shooting a grimacing side glance at the hurt male.

Hissing Sam doubled over, being left behind by the walking pair yet again. “Real mature!” he said out loud, deciding to rest on the concrete ground.

His legs hurt, his muscles had begun to ache and on top of that the metal armed baby decided to hit him.

"I need a break," he grumbled.

(F/n) gave him a quick glance back, craning her neck to look behind Bucky to where Sam sat and shook her head, sighing as she redirected her attention back to Bucky.

“You're such a diva. “ she commented, rolling her eyes for good measure.“Is it so hard to admit I beat you up?”She asked him.

“You didn't beat me up!” he insisted. “ last I remember I had you down on the floor, remember that?” He asked her, making her stare at him with confusion, one she exaggerated and faked of course,

“ Doesn't ring a bell,” she said shrugging,” Not in a million years,” she challenged him, before he used one of his legs to make her stumble.

He seemed to dip her low before falling with her, supporting himself on a knee at first.

She landed safely as one of his hands stayed behind her head and wide-eyed she looked up at him as he sat on top of her.

“I remember it went something like this,” he told her, smirking.

“Remember me?” He said holding her down, smirking at the vexed expression she gave him, her teeth bared as she pressed them tightly together.

“ What's the matter doll? Don't tell me it hurts your pride.” he sang, glaring down at her with the same boastfulness she had shown him earlier.

His two hands gripped her wrists, holding her down with the point of his nose grazing over hers.

“Or Are you afraid of me?” he added tauntingly.

“You have some nerve,” she said lowly, not backing down from his stare-down.

Keeping her eyes on him she melted into the ground, her body turning into dark mist and escaping .

Oh, it made her heart race, remembering just how he held her down, thinking about it as he did the same during the present time,

“Fine,"  she muttered, “just get off,” She said huffing. “You proved your point,” she added, giving in easily, her will to fight him back sucked out of her.

Her quick submission made him grow suspicious and before long he grew to understand why,

“Hold on...wait…” he said softly, “ Are you being shy?” he said surprised, raising his two brows up high and grinning wildly at the discovery that she could actually glow so brightly, and in such an adorable manner.

It wasn’t like her to be so off guard, much less cave in so easily.

Heck, she was like a mule sometimes , hardheaded and stubborn.

An admirable trait on some days, absolutely annoying on others.

As he asked her that , she grew even more flustered, “Roll your big ass off me now!” she screeched, pushing him away, repeatedly shooting her palms straight towards his chest to get him off.

“Oh your so cute, “ he said laughing. “...But if you really wanted me off, you would have just done it already, like before,” he commented, coming down closer to her, making her face glow darker with rouge.

“Face it...you like it when I'm right here ... on top of you.” He said lowly. 

“Barnes… I'll make sure you lose that other arm of yours, “ She threatened him.

“You’re so cute,” he said dismissing her vicious warning, looking down at her with a sweet smile.

“I’m being serious,” she said gruffly. "I'll tear it clean off," she added.

"I know, and I love that," He replied back, causing her flustered state to rise.

Now a long way from them Sam rolled his eyes, cupping his hands over his mouth, “ Get a room you two!” he said out loud, before beginning to stand.

"So..." Bucky said suggestively, causing (f/n) to chuckle,

"You wanna go-"

"Shut up," she huffed, interrupting him.