#or I guess: grace logan

[coff33andb00ks]

Rule Breaker - Pt 3

max Verstappen x single mom!reader

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warnings: cursing, jos is an even bigger asshole, barely proofread, logan's there, glazed-over mentioning of childhood trauma Summary: Max has it all...right? Besides, he's too busy collecting trophies and completing side quests for anything else. Until... You moved across a whole ass ocean to start over, uprooting you and your son's lives to become social media admin for cars that drive in circles. word count: 7937 (i got so carried away holy shit) auth.note: listen, eagle boy swayed me with his pretty eyes and soft voice... also this was a great excuse for me to rewatch Mulan for the millionth time. spotify: i made a playlist

"Team meeting in ten," GP commented.

Max nodded, eyes following y/n through the window as she paced in the small courtyard, talking on her phone. He hadn't seen or spoken to her since they'd finished the Q and A the day before. Surprisingly, he'd actually enjoyed it. He told himself it was because she'd made sure to gather thought provoking questions, not because some of his answers had made her laugh and her laugh made him feel relaxed. GP turned to look out the window and Max quickly looked down at his plate, even though he'd just taken the last bite of his breakfast. When the engineer turned back, Max could feel his amused expression.

"Looks like it might rain," GP said casually.

Nodding again, Max washed down the last of his food with his coffee. "More chances for fuck ups."

"It's not a crime."

He finally looked up. "What?"

GP nodded towards the window.

"If rain was a crime, would they put god in prison?" Max asked, keeping his face blank when his friend snorted and rolled his eyes.

"You're not a robot, Max."

From the corner of his eye he could see her approaching Christian, who was coming from the garage. "I never said I was."

"Then stop acting like one. You're still young, I guess you're attractive, and you're at the top of your career."

"Thank you for that endorsement," Max said drily. Horner had stepped aside with y/n, whose hands were moving as she spoke to him. "I'll be sure and put it in my Tinder profile."

GP's eyebrows lifted. "You have one?"

"Fuck no." He pushed his chair back. "I don't have time."

"Max," his friend sighed.

"I'll see you at the meeting." He took care of his dishes, making sure to thank the staff working the dining area before leaving the motorhome, telling himself it was so he could get some fresh air and clear his head for the meeting. His legs carried him around the corner to where y/n and Christian were still talking, and he boldly approached.

"…speak to him." Christian shot a look at Max.

"If he was joking I wouldn't think twice about it.," y/n said, frowning. "But I don't see how it could have been. He was extremely rude, implied I wasn't worth hiring based on my looks, and…"

Max kept his mouth shut, knowing she needed to do the speaking. Giving her a faint nod when she looked at him, he felt a glimmer of pride when she straightened her shoulders.

"I didn't spend four years in college – sorry, university – and work three jobs at once to be demeaned. I know I have the skills and drive to do my job, but if this team continues to foster that sort of toxic environment you'll have to look for a new social media admin," she said firmly.

He tried to but couldn't keep the smile from forming.

Christian looked slightly impressed, giving her a reassuring nod. "I understand. He's not employed by us, he's only here by our good graces."

"I know he's the father of the your top driver, and I spoke with him before coming to you," she said, as though Max wasn't standing right there.

Christian pressed his lips together and Max knew he was trying to hide his smile. "Of course. We'll deal with it, I promise."

"Thank you." She relaxed, sighing softly. "I'm not trying to cause trouble, Mr. Horner."

"It's Jos fucking Verstappen, he's the trouble," Christian muttered. "Don't worry, alright? If anyone ever gives you a problem, reach out to me."

She nodded. "Thanks again. Oh!" She turned to Max, smiling hopefully. "I already asked Checo and he said yes to doing it this week. Would you be up to 24 hours with you at Monaco? Not the full 24 hours since I don't want to watch you sleep, but I just stick with you for the rest of the day and show fans a behind the scenes look at what a practice or quali day for you looks like."

"Why?" he asked, still stuck on the thought of her watching him sleep.

"Well! Casual fans don't realize how much work goes into being you. The training and diet and analyzing and teamwork. All the stuff you do even before practice and quali, like walking the track."

"For the whole day."

"Yeah, except for sleeping. I mean, that would probably really ramp up views, but—"

"I'm not that interesting though," he said. Why would anyone want to spend a practice or quali day with him?

"Oh don't start with the modesty. You're an elite athlete. I'm not asking you to invite me into your bedroom and let me show your bed to the world, just a small peek at what you're like. We can highlight your sim racing, explain how it's helped you learn the tracks so well. Talk about your suit, why the fireproof is so important." She tipped her head. "Maybe a shot of your suitcase to prove you do have clothes other than Red Bull gear? If you do, because I'm beginning to think you only have one pair of jeans and a Red Bull shirt."

He laughed at that, shaking his head. "I guess I can do it. We'll see how Checo's goes."

"Perfect. Speaking of, I'm doing that tomorrow so I gotta start posting to hype it up—"

"Meeting in two minutes," Christian told them.

Max looked at him, chagrined to admit he'd forgotten the man was there. "On the way," he promised, rubbing the back of his neck when Christian shot him a knowing look and headed off. Turning back to y/n, he cleared his throat. "I'm not showing my suitcase to the world."

"Is it that embarrassing?" she asked, clicking her tongue in sympathy. "Do you have Red Bull boxers too?"

"No, I—" he cut off, remembering the company's joke birthday gift to him the year before. "Okay, I do, but they're not in my suitcase."

"At least let me throw a team logo pillow on the bed—"

"Absolutely not."

She fell into step next to him, an extra bounce in her walk. "Are you saying there's already one there?"

He shouldn't say it. It would probably be inappropriate. He told himself that repeatedly, even as he drew a breath and opened his mouth. "Why the interest in my bed?"

"I told you, I love sleep. Oh." She frowned. "It'll be a hotel bed anyway."

Opening the motorhome door for her, he glanced up at the cloudy sky as the aroma of flowers he couldn't identify washed over him. "No?"

"Are you saying you get an Airbnb?" she asked in confusion. "Do they even have that in Monaco—"

"You didn't know? I thought you asked Google everything," he teased.

Her brow furrowed deeply. "Didn't know what?"

"I live in Monaco. So no, it wouldn't be a hotel room."

The confusion melted away, her eyes widening a little. "Oh. Wow."

"Wow?" he echoed, heading to the stairs.

"You're rich rich."

"Don't say that," he requested, making a face. She made wealth sound dirty.

"In my defense I didn't think to look up everyone's salary when I got hired. I mean I knew you were rich, but—"

"Stop saying it—"

"Sorry." She smiled sweetly, which told him she wasn't sorry at all. "Have a good meeting, Max. Oh, wait!"

He stopped at the top of the stairs, huffing when she lifted her phone and snapped a photo of him. "Why do you need a picture of me right now?"

"To show the world that even Max Verstappen, three time world champion, record breaker and maker, is sometimes late for a meeting."

Dragging a hand over his face, he sighed. "You're in a strange mood today."

"I'm getting comfortable. It's what I do. Lull everyone into thinking I'm sweet and quiet, then once I know I can relax I let my true self out."

"I'm scared to ask what your true self is," he admitted, ignoring his phone when it began to buzz with a phone call.

"Chaos," she told him, snapping another photo. "And I'm so putting a team logo pillow on your bed next week."

"No," he warned her as she turned to go back down the stairs. "No pillow."

"Go to your meeting or I'll post on Twitter than you have Red Bull boxers!"

"You wouldn't."

"Try me, rich boy."

And, damn everything, he laughed. She spun at the bottom of the stairs, giving him a smile that was pure sunshine. Not about to tempt fate, he held up his hands in surrender and went to the conference room for the meeting, still smiling as he slid into his seat next to Checo. When the meeting was over he hung back, his smile long gone as he waited for whatever Christian had to say.

"Two things," Christian started, leaning back in his seat with a sigh.

Max rolled his water bottle between his hands and stayed silent.

"Your dad."

He nodded. "I'll talk to him—"

"He's on probation now. If he so much as looks at anyone the wrong way, he'll be banned from the garage and the paddock." Christian steepled his hands. "It would probably be best if I did it now, but…"

"I'll talk to him," Max said again, already dreading that conversation. "Sometimes he speaks before he thinks, and unfortunately y/n was on the receiving end."

"Are you defending him?"

"No. I'm saying…" What was he saying? He didn't even know himself, so how could he explain it to Christian?

"You're saying what he would expect you to say. Max." Christian leaned forward. "I know he's your father. But – what did y/n say? He creates a toxic environment."

Max was on his feet and pacing before he realized he was moving. "What do you want me to do? Cut him out of my life completely? He's my dad. He made me who I am." Slinging his cap onto the table, he ran a hand through his hair. "He gave up on a marriage so I could achieve my dreams. I know people call it abuse and yeah if I could change the past I would, or at least some parts, but… Would I be me if he didn't do what he did?"

Christian sighed and Max hung his head. The bitterness between team principal and his father had been around as long as he could remember. And he understood, he did. Most days even he didn't like Jos that much.

"What he said to y/n was unacceptable. I know that. When she told me, I…" He paused, unsure whether he wanted to admit what his first thoughts had been. Starting to pace again, he stopped at the window and looked outside, noting that the earlier clouds had rolled away. "I was ready to tell you to ban him."

Christian nodded. "You sure you want to talk to him? Because I'll do it. I don't have a problem telling him to go fuck himself."

"I should do it," Max said with a sigh.

There was silence from Christian, and Max finally snatched up his hat and sat back down. "I'll do it, Max."

He would never admit to the rush of relief at those words. "What was the other thing?"

"Y/n."

He set his jaw. "What about her?"

"She's off limits."

Max blinked. "How do you mean?"

"I've seen the way you look at her."

He pinched his eyebrows together. He wasn't aware he'd been looking at her in any particular way. He just…looked at her. It was true that she did make him smile a little bit more than he usually did, but that had to be due to her self-professed chaos—

"It's in her contract. Yours too, I'm sure."

"I'm – Nothing's happened." Yes, she'd slept in his private room and yes, his sheets had smelled of her and given him dreams he shouldn't have been dreaming. But nothing else had happened.

Soft hands, plush hips, bright eyes, lush mouth—

"Keep it that way. We can't afford another PR disaster."

Max snorted, unsure how anything he did – not that he would do anything – with y/n could come close to the disaster Christian had caused. "I'm not texting her, so."

"Cheeky bastard," Christian muttered. "Go get prepped for practice."

Grabbing his water bottle from the floor, Max left. Off limits. What the hell did that even mean? He couldn't be friendly with her? He couldn't keep his promise to watch a movie with Kevin?

Fuck Christian anyway, he wasn't one to talk about someone being off limits, he decided. He went down for another coffee, inconspicuously looking around for y/n. Not seeing her, he turned his attention to the upcoming practice, trying his best to push his worries about his father to the back of his mind.

When he approached the garage he saw her, and he frowned slightly when he saw Logan talking to her. Did they know each other? They obviously did, judging by the way she laughed at something he said. Sourness filled his mouth and he gulped down his water, grunting when a hand suddenly clapped his shoulder.

"Mate, you coming out tonight?" Lando asked with a grin.

"Not a good idea to go out before quali, mate," Max said automatically.

"I'm not gonna get drunk. A few of us are just going out to eat. You in?"

"I think I'll skip it. But we'll go out Sunday?"

Lando's grin widened and Max chuckled, knowing he was remembering what little he could of the celebration in Miami. Lando loved to party after a race. "Absolutely. Good practice, yeah?"

Max grinned, bumping fists with him before they parted. The American was still talking to y/n. Didn't he need to get ready? Go fluff his hair or something? Walking up to them, he nodded at Logan. "Have a good practice alright, mate?"

"Oh, yeah, better get to the garage." Logan turned and flashed a smile at y/n. "I'll see you later, okay?"

"Sure. Be safe," she said.

She was smiling a little too hard, in his opinion. And then she was—

Hugging? Him?

Max felt like he might vomit.

"Later, Max," Logan said as he jogged off.

"What did he want?" Max asked.

She looked up from checking something on her camera. "Hm? Oh, nothing, just chatting. He's nice."

"Yeah, a complete sweetheart," he said with a roll of his eyes. Then, shoving the sourness away, he cleared his throat. "I've got the sim racing tomorrow after quali, then the race is Sunday."

Y/n blinked, then nodded slowly. "Yes?"

"I promised Kevin we'd watch the movie?" he reminded her.

"Oh, yeah. Don't worry about it, I know you're too busy. He hasn't even mentioned it again, I'm sure he's already forgotten." She turned slightly and knelt to take pictures of his car in the garage.

"But I promised."

"Max, it's really not that big a deal."

It was. To her it might not be. If she couldn't do something with her son when she had promised she could, she was able to do it another time. He couldn't just show up to her flat to watch a movie. And Kevin had been so excited… He tried not to remember all the promises that had been made to him as a child, promises he had learned at an early age would never be kept. "Y/n…"

She looked up at him, drawing a breath to, he was sure, tell him again that it was fine. But she paused, studying his face, and he heard her sigh as she lowered the camera. "This is really important to you, isn't it?"

"And to Kevin," he pointed out.

"He did talk about it a lot last night before he went to sleep. Made sure the hotel tv had Disney plus and asked if Ellie would buy some popcorn…" She sighed, smiling. "Did you want to do it next week before Monaco?"

"I was thinking today? After the practice and debrief. If you're not too busy," he added, unintentionally looking towards the Williams garage.

"No, I don't have any plans. Just editing and posting, and I can do that while you two watch a movie. I've got plans for dinner, but there's plenty of time."

"Plans?" he asked, trying his best to sound casual.

"Yeah! Logan offered to take me out to see a little of the town. He's offered to be my tour guide."

At night. Now he knew he would vomit. "How delightful," he managed.

"Yeah, he's sweet. Don't worry, I won't give away any secrets."

The sourness returned, doubled, and he recognized it now as jealousy. Which was beyond ridiculous, because she wasn't his to be jealous over. Seeing that she was about to stand he immediately offered his hand, easily steadying her as she rose to her feet.

"Thanks."

He wondered what sort of cream she used on her hands. They were so soft. "Y/n—"

"Max!"

Y/n's smile faded and she practically snatched her hand away. "I'll message you the hotel info," she said, turning on her heel and sweeping into the garage.

"I need to talk to you," his father demanded.

Looking into the garage, he saw that he had a full thirty minutes before practice began. No way out of this conversation. Nodding, he followed his father to a relatively secluded spot, keeping his head down.

*-*

"His father is such an asshole, honestly. We were talking outside the garage and he marched up like he owns the—" Y/n glanced to make sure Kevin still had his headphones on and wasn't listening in. Seeing that he did and wasn't, she turned back to Ellie. "—fucking place and barked at him all 'I need to talk to you' like the guy isn't about to go out on the track."

Ellie made a face. "What a prick. What did he have to say to him that was so important?"

Y/n shrugged, bending to gather the dirty pair of socks off the floor. "No idea. He dragged him off and I could see them but couldn't hear anything. I felt so bad for Max."

"I would have too. And he didn't say anything when he got back to the garage?" Ellie smoothed the bedding while y/n stuffed the dirty laundry into a sack.

"Not to me." Sighing, y/n dropped the sack inside the bathroom and then got down on her hands and knees to make sure nothing embarrassing was lying around. "He looked like a kid getting yelled at, Ellie. I had no idea his dad was that much of an—"

She saw Kevin moving and stopped, getting to her feet while he set his tablet and headphones on the table. "Gotta pee, mama," he said, sliding out of the chair.

"Did you finish your game?" she asked while Ellie looked around to make sure the hotel room was presentable.

"Yeah, it's easy," Kevin said.

"Are you gonna tell him?" Ellie whispered.

"No… What if he can't make it? I don't want to get his hopes up." Y/n pushed the chair in at the table and checked the tablet, seeing that Kevin had indeed finished the alphabet game she'd downloaded that morning for him.

"If he doesn't come, maybe we can—" Ellie laughed when there was a knock at the door. "Never mind."

"It might not be him," y/n muttered, even though she knew it had to be. He'd been so insistent, and she'd been able to tell that it was possibly more important to him than it would be to Kevin.

"I'll make sure the lil rugrat washes his hand," Ellie murmured, slipping into the bathroom.

Y/n rubbed her hands on her thighs and went to open the door, giving the hotel room one last glance before doing so. And, just as she'd known, Max was in the hallway. "Hey," she greeted softly, eyes widening a little when she saw he was wearing a pair of sweats and a hoodie. "Holy shit, you're allowed to wear non-Red Bull clothes?"

He snorted, letting out a laugh when she just stared at him. "Very funny."

"No, no, I'm serious. Isn't that in your contract or something?" Stepping back, she finally gave him a grin. "C'mon in."

"I don't know if he's allowed, but I brought some sweets." Max held up the grocery bag hanging from one finger.

"Yeah, he's allowed. No allergies or anything," she assured him, closing the door once he'd stepped inside. "He's washing his—"

"Mister Max!"

Y/n nearly teared up. Her son sounded so excited, and she had a moment of panic for letting him befriend Max. He was too busy to drop by regularly, and after Monaco Kevin would be staying home with Ellie, so—

"There's my little mate!"

Fuck's sake, even Max sounded excited. As though a movie with a three year old was the height of his day. Looking on as he swung Kevin up and spun him in a circle, she took the bag and emptied the packets onto the table while Ellie greeted Max and brought out the popcorn from where she'd hidden it from Kevin. Max and Kevin talked nonstop to one another, Max telling him about practice after Kevin gave him a detailed report on what he'd done all day. The boy grabbed his tablet and showed him the games he'd played, showing off his alphabet skills.

"You're good with letters, yeah? Maybe you'd be good learning a new language?" Max suggested.

"Do you know a new language?" Kevin asked.

"He's really good with him," Ellie whispered to y/n.

"Shh," she hissed. Because she already knew. And she didn't need it pointed out to her. Besides, she was listening to Max tell Kevin about the languages he spoke, then to him rattle off a few sentences in each one, much to Kevin's amazement.

"Can you teach me?" he asked hopefully.

"When I can, kleine maat." Max ruffled Kevin's hair. "That means little mate."

"You're my big mate," Kevin decided.

"Grote maat," Max said, repeating it slowly a couple times before Kevin said it properly. "There you go. You'll be speaking Dutch like a pro in no time."

"You want a drink, Max?" Y/n offered. "We don't have Red Bull, sorry—"

"Water's fine. Thanks."

"Can I have water too, mama?"

Nodding, y/n fixed their drinks while Kevin turned on the TV and opened Disney+, rolling her eyes when he told Max the password so he could put it in for him. She saw that Ellie was putting on her shoes and raised her eyebrows. "Where are you going?"

"Oh, I don't want to intrude on big mate, little mate bonding time," Ellie said with a small smile. Peeling Kevin from Max long enough to give him a quick hug, she grabbed her wallet and phone. "And I've seen Mulan about six hundred times, so I'm just gonna go for a walk. Take pictures. Get a coffee and a pastry."

"Have fun," y/n said.

"Mhmm, you too," Ellie said with a smirk as she left.

She rolled her eyes and handed Max his drink then Kevin his cup. Motioning for Max to have a seat on the small sofa, she couldn't help but smile when Kevin immediately climbed to sit next to him, and had the feeling that before the movie was over her son would be cuddled close to his big mate.

"Join us?" Max asked while Kevin looked for the movie.

"Work," she reminded him, transferring the sweets and popcorn to the coffee table and getting her laptop. "I'll watch from here."

"It doesn't look very comfortable."

"It shouldn't. It's work."

He looked ready to argue, but instead took a sip of his water and grabbed a bag of candy. Tossing it onto the table, he gave a small shrug when she looked at him. "You said you like strawberry milk."

Y/n looked from him to the bag several times. He remembered that? She'd mentioned it during the Q and A, when the question had been other than red bull what's your favorite drink? Staring at the bag, she felt a sudden rush of warmth. No one had bought her candy in so long… "Thank you," she murmured.

"You're welcome," he said softly.

She almost told him he didn't have to, but she knew that he already knew that. He'd done it because… She didn't know. Maybe to apologize for his father's behavior. Maybe to show he listened. Maybe, just maybe, because he'd seen it in the shop, remembered her liking strawberry milk, and had bought it because that was something he did, buy a little something for no other reason than you said you liked it.

She tried to focus on work, but the movie kept getting her attention. Finally she gave up, scheduling the posts she'd edited and closing her laptop. Grabbing a bottle of water, she joined them on the sofa as Mushu revealed himself to Mulan. As she'd expected, Kevin had already crawled into Max's lap, sharing his bag of popcorn with the man as they both focused on the movie.

"Mama," Kevin whispered, reaching for her.

She scooted closer, sighing as he turned so he could lean against her arm. Max shifted, and she tried to act nonchalant when he draped his arm behind her on the back of the sofa. Smoothing her son's hair, she pretended not to notice when the arm slid to her shoulders. He probably hadn't even noticed, she told herself, aware that his eyes were locked on the TV screen, paying attention to the movie. When Kevin's favorite part began he sat up, quickly sliding to the floor to sing along and she fully expected Max to pull away from her.

But he didn't, and she pulled her knees up, unable to focus on anything except the weight of his arm around her. It was solid but not uncomfortable, a very real reminder that she hadn't been in this position in a very long time.

"He's so mean," Kevin mumbled as Shun-Yu appeared on the screen. Y/n waited for him to hurry over to climb into her lap but he chose Max instead, and she bit back a sigh when the man gently soothed him, hugging him close.

"It's okay, kleine maat. The good guys will beat him, yeah?" he murmured, pausing the movie.

Kevin nodded against Max's shoulder. "Yeah but he's bad."

"A lot of people are," Max said softly. "But if we focus on that we don't see the good. Do you think about your happy days more or your bad days?"

"Happy days," Kevin said.

"Because they make you happy, yeah? If you think about bad days you'll always be having them. It's like that with people. Focus on the good and do what you can to keep the bad from happening. Bad happens, but the good will always be there."

"Okay."

"You ready to finish the movie?" Max asked gently.

Kevin nodded.

Max finally looked at y/n, glancing down when he saw the way she was staring at him. "I didn't—"

"No, you're good," she promised in a whisper, picking up the remote to resume the movie then hugging her knees. If she didn't occupy her arms, she would throw them around him. Usually she had to explain those things to Kevin. Ellie helped, of course, but Kevin always came to her for more explanation after a life lesson. But Max… He'd explained it so eloquently and gently that he'd understood. And she didn't know why, but, god help her…

It was the sexiest thing she'd ever witnessed.

His arm stayed around her shoulders through the rest of the movie. When Mulan was cast out, she got a little emotional as she always did, even after over six hundred views, and she felt his arm tighten around her, hesitating a tiny bit before letting her head lean against him. All she could smell now was him, the gentle but memorable sandalwood and amber scent that she remembered well from the day before.

"Gotta pee," Kevin announced a little bit later, clambering down and running to the bathroom. Max took the remote to pause the movie.

Y/n began to pull away, lifting her head when he squeezed her arm.

"You're fine," he whispered.

His face was so close. Seeing a tiny piece of popcorn on his chin, she reached up to brush it away, freezing at the sound of his sharp inhale. "Sorry, you got a little…"

When the hell had his eyes become so blue? Just a day ago they'd been a normal blue. Now they reminded her of the antique blue willow china her great grandmother had treasured. Her gaze slipped to his mouth and quickly moved back to his eyes and she heard him inhale again.

"Max?"

"Y/n, I…" His eyes flicked down and she unconsciously licked her lips.

She knew she shouldn't but she suddenly, desperately, wanted to know what it was like to kiss him. She hadn't thought about kissing anyone in what felt like a lifetime, but now she needed it. Lifting her chin slightly, she dropped her hand to his chest. "Max—"

"Y/n, you… I—"

"Okay!"

She snatched herself away from Max as though she'd been burned, going so far as to jump to her feet while Kevin rushed back to the sofa. "Go ahead and hit play, I'll be back in just a minute," she promised, nearly tripping over nothing in her haste to get as far away from Max as possible. "Hit play, it's fine, I've seen it a million times."

Once in the bathroom she closed the door and leaned against it, covering her face with both hands. What the hell was wrong with her? Just because she hadn't been kissed since— She dropped her hands, wrinkling her nose in thought. Kevin was three years and two months, and… At any rate, it had been so long she'd assumed she was never going to be kissed again. She hadn't even thought about it in ages, because she'd been so focused on work and raising her son and trying to survive. Now, all of a sudden, she was craving one so bad she'd practically begged him.

He'd been about to tell her he couldn't. She was sure of that. Which only made it even more embarrassing. How could he even want to? She'd seen the girlfriends of other drivers on the grid, there was no way he'd be even remotely interested in her. She wasn't a model or tennis star or whatever their occupations were.

Not to mention she couldn't. It would be wrong on so many levels. What kind of impression would her behavior leave on her son? Not to mention the troubles it would cause at work? And it was in her contract that any sort of fraternization with other members of the team were forbidden. She'd known that but she had read the full contract on the flight to Italy. If she and Max did anything it would eventually come out and she'd be jobless again, this time in a foreign country.

Checking her phone when she felt it buzz in her pocket, she sighed while reading Logan's text.

We're still on right?

She wanted to say no. The best thing for her to do would be to suffer through the rest of the movie, say goodbye to Max, have an early dinner, put Kevin to bed, then take the world's coldest shower. But she was already typing out her reply.

Of course! Looking forward to it.

And she was, she thought, seeing the delivered change to read then the three little dots that he was typing a message. Logan was fun. Nice. Completely uninterested in her romantically, she thought with a sigh.

Great. Be there at 8 to pick you up. Give Kev a high 5 for me?

Will do.

Pushing away from the door, she turned on the water to wash her hands and jumped slightly when there was a gentle knock.

"Y/n?"

"I'm almost done," she called.

She heard his sigh. "Can I come in?"

No. "Yeah, sure."

He opened the door and stepped in, and she swallowed when he closed the door behind him. "I…"

"Max, don't," she groaned, washing her hands and grabbing the towel. "You don't have to tell me you wouldn't have… Even if I wanted you to. I know."

"Wouldn't have what?" he asked.

God, could the moment get any more embarrassing? "I – You – Jesus, never mind."

"Kiss you?" he murmured.

Why did the way he said it sound like so much more than a kiss? "It's fine. Go back and finish the movie."

"Y/n, I can't."

"You have to leave?" she asked.

"What – no, not the movie," he said. Cupping a hand over his mouth, he breathed deeply and dropped his hand after a few seconds, looking pained. "I can't kiss you."

"Oh." Oh. "Do you have a girlfriend or—"

"If I had a girlfriend I wouldn't be in this tiny toilet with you."

And she believed him. He didn't seem the type to put himself in a situation that could be misinterpreted if he had a partner. "Right. Of course. Then…"

"It's…" He sighed.

"Are you gay? Because I won't tell any—"

"I'm not gay," he cut in gently. "It's… I'm not allowed to kiss you."

She blinked, suddenly understanding. And she wondered if he'd read the contract, too. "Right. Neither am I."

"Christian talked to you too?"

"No? Why would he?"

"He told me you're off limits." Max shook his head. "Said I look at you or something."

"Oh." He did? And just how did Max look at her? "I see."

"And it's in our contracts. Yours and mine, I mean. So… I can't."

She nodded. "Of course. Understood. No more explanation necessary, Max."

"I wouldn't want you to lose your job," he said softly.

She continued to nod. "Got it. Thanks."

He tipped his head, then reached to take the towel from her and she realized she was still drying her hands. "I'll still be Kevin's friend."

Still nodding, she picked up her hand cream and squeezed a dollop into her palm. "Thanks. He likes you."

"I like him too." He hesitated, watching her carefully. "You okay?"

"Peachy keen," she promised, rubbing the cream into her hands. "Just getting ready for my dinner."

His lips settled into a fine line. "Your date."

The way he said it irritated her. As though she was in the wrong for making plans with a new friend. "It's not a date, but yes."

"I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time," he said with absolutely no emotion.

"Well, he's not contractually obligated to be nice to me, so… I know I will," she said, forcing as much sweetness into her voice as possible.

"I'm not nice because of a contract," he snapped.

"Right, sorry, my mistake. He won't not kiss me because of a piece of paper," she corrected.

Max's eyes flashed, a muscle in his jaw twitching. "I thought it wasn't a date?" he asked carefully.

Good, at least he had some emotion. "Oh, so I'm only allowed to kiss him if we're on a date?"

"I didn't say—" He cut off, pressing his lips tight together and exhaling slowly. "You said it wasn't a date."

"Why do you care either way?"

"Is it a date or not?" he ground out.

"It's not." She took her hair down from the ponytail as he sighed with something like relief. "But it could be in the future."

"What, so you'll kiss him because I won't kiss you?"

"If I kiss him, it'll be because both of us want it," she said. She knew she was being silly, maybe even a little stupid. But he was acting as though he were doing her a favor. As though he were somehow honorable, a gentleman even, because he refused to do what she now knew they both wanted.

"Y/n, I can't—"

"A word I'm sure you're not used to saying about yourself," she muttered under her breath.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, an edge in his voice.

"I didn't know that 'can't' was in your vocabulary is all." Looking at her phone to check the time, she cleared her throat. "Now, if you don't mind, I have to change."

He hesitated while she opened her makeup bag. "Do you want to kiss him?"

"Why do you care?"

He visibly bristled. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"Does he have a reputation for hurting women?" She picked up her hairbrush, and had brushed out her hair completely before he finally answered.

"No." It sounded like it hurt him to say it. "He's nice."

"Then you don't have to worry."

"Where are you going?"

"Oh, no." She laughed humorlessly. "You don't get to ask that. Now please, I have to change."

He stared at her, looking annoyed and irritated, his jaw still twitching. Then, with a huff, he turned to open the door. And froze when he saw the dress hanging from the hook. "Is… That's what you're wearing?"

"Oh my god, Max, you're starting to sound like a jealous boyfriend."

"I'm not jealous," he snorted.

"And you're not my boyfriend," she snapped.

She waited for him to turn around and restart their argument. Altercation. Whatever it was. Instead, he muttered something under his breath and snatched the door open. Went out, closing it. And sounded perfectly normal when he apologized to Kevin and resumed the movie.

Y/n was still annoyed even after changing and doing her makeup. She fussed over her hair, unsure whether she wanted to wear it up or down, finally leaving it down. She was fully aware that she was putting more work into her appearance than she would have if Max hadn't said what he had, and still knew she was being silly and stupid. Hadn't she just told herself nothing could happen between them?

Yes, but maybe if he hadn't acted as though he were doing an immense favor she wouldn't be so upset. I wouldn't want you to lose your job. Indicating that if he kissed her and they were found out, his job was secure.

"Sanctimonious prick," she muttered while she spritzed perfume on her wrists and rubbed them together. As she exited the bathroom the outer door of the room opened and Ellie came in, her jaw dropping when she saw her.

"Holy shit babes, you look amazing!"

She smiled, doing a turn for her friend. "You think so?"

"His jaw is gonna be on the floor the whole time. Holy shit, milf alert." Ellie whistled softly, waving her hand as though overcome with heat.

Y/n giggled. "Thanks."

The movie was ending and Kevin oohed and aahed over her dress, telling her over and over how pretty she was. Max stared at her, his jaw set, but said nothing, looking away and starting to clear up the remains of the snacks.

"Isn't she pretty, grote maat?" Kevin asked.

And even though her back was to him, she felt his gaze. Glancing over her shoulder at him while she fastened her necklace, she watched his shoulders rise and fall with a sigh. "Very pretty, kleine maat."

"You're supposed to tell her," Kevin whispered. "Always tell a lady she's beautiful. Right, aunt Ellie?"

"That's right, buddy," Ellie said proudly. She gave y/n an odd look, silently asking what had happened, narrowing her eyes when y/n merely shrugged.

"Because women are pretty all the time," Kevin went on and y/n smiled. At least she was doing something right…

After fastening her earrings she turned from the dresser, breath catching in her throat when she found Max staring at her. Vaguely aware of Ellie telling Kevin to wash his hands so they could eat the dinner she'd brought, she squatted, getting her heels from her suitcase, along with her shawl.

"Je bent mooi," Max said.

She met his gaze as she rose to her feet. "What's that mean?"

"You're beautiful," he whispered.

"Thank you." And though she knew it was catty, she couldn't help the words that slipped out of her mouth. "Do you think Logan will like it?"

His jaw twitched. "He'd be stupid not to."

"That doesn't answer my question," she practically cooed, slipping on her heels.

He made a sound of disgust in his throat. "He's annoying and dumb sometimes, but he's not stupid. So, yes, I think he'll like it."

"Look at you, hyping me up." She wasn't stupid either, she could hear and feel the jealousy. Good, she thought, getting her small handbag and transferring her few necessities to it.

"Is he picking you up?" Max asked. "Or are you meeting him somewhere?"

"Are you gonna stick around and question his intentions?" she scoffed. "Because if so, I'm meeting him."

"I just—"

"Do you want some pasta, Mister Max?" Kevin asked as he came out of the bathroom with Ellie.

"Ah, maybe next time," Max said after clearing his throat. "You eat some for me, hm?"

She wanted to be mad that he was so good with her son. Proclaim they could only ever be coworkers, then turn around and continue to be her son's favorite person. It wasn't fair. But she didn't want him to be mean to Kevin. So she smiled, fixing her shawl while Max told Kevin he would see him at quali tomorrow, wishing she could stay mad at him but that was impossible, especially when he lifted her son up and gave him a tight hug, telling him he'd enjoyed the movie.

"Can we watch another one day?" Kevin asked hopefully and y/n drew in a breath, prepared to say they couldn't ask Max that, he was too busy.

"Of course we can. You pick the movie and we'll watch it next week?"

He gave Kevin another hug then gently encouraged him to eat his dinner, smiling and saying goodnight to Ellie. Then he turned to her, and she felt an unexpected heat ripple through her as his eyes slowly looked her up and down.

"Thanks for coming," she murmured, walking him to the door.

"I enjoyed it." He rubbed the back of his neck. "For the most part."

"Kevin had a great time."

"Yes. And that's all that matters."

Ouch. "Goodnight, Max."

"Enjoy your dinner with Logan."

"I will."

He rocked back on his heels, exhaling harshly. "I'm…" He cleared his throat. "Goodnight, y/n."

She closed the door and bit back a whine. Stupid, stupid, stupid—

"Talk tonight when you get back?" Ellie asked gently, watching her while she fixed Kevin's plate.

"It's nothing," she insisted, double checking that she had everything in her handbag. Phone, ID and passport, room key, lipstick, mirror. "Just being stupid."

"You're not stupid, mama," Kevin said anxiously.

"I know, thank you. Sorry. Just feeling stupid."

"But you look so pretty," he told her.

She smiled, sighing as she crossed the room to kiss his cheek. "You're the best son in the world, you know that?"

He giggled, rubbing the lipstick from his cheek. "And you're the best mama."

"Only because you're the best son," she insisted.

"Do you like Mister Logan?" he asked suddenly, scrunching his face when she fastened the bib around his neck.

"He's nice. But he's just a friend."

"But." Kevin's lips poked out in thought. "He's taking you on a date."

"Dinner. You know how you miss Cotton?" She took a napkin and cleaned the smudge of lipstick from his cheek when he nodded. "He misses America sometimes. It's kind of like when you pet the cats on your walks."

"Ohh…" Kevin nodded with all the understanding a three year old could muster. "So he's gonna pet you?"

She blinked, instinctively reaching to swat Ellie's arm when her friend choked back a giggle. "Not exactly," she groaned. "We're just gonna talk."

Ellie was still giggling ten minutes later when Logan knocked on the door. "Sorry, sorry," she gasped when y/n shot her a glare. "I'll behave."

"That'll be the day," y/n muttered under her breath as she went to open the door. "Hey," she greeted warmly, smiling up at him.

He was dressed in slacks, a button down, and a jacket. His smile faded a little as he stared at her, and she saw his throat move as he swallowed. "Whoa. You look great."

"Thanks. You do too."

She let him in so Kevin could say hi, ducking into the bathroom to fix her lipstick and remind herself that it was just dinner. Logan was just a friend, or at least would hopefully be a friend. Saying goodnight to her son, she felt her shawl slipping, ignoring Ellie's knowing look when Logan immediately reached to catch it, his hands gentle as he draped it over her shoulders. Just dinner. Just dinner with just a friend.

But when they walked down the street to the restaurant, which was just around the corner, and his hand brushed hers she told herself it was alright. And when he slipped his hand protectively over hers she didn't pull away. In the restaurant when Lando and a few others called out to him she hung back, blushing when Logan gently tugged her along to greet his friends.

"Didn't know you had a date tonight, mate," Oscar commented, nodding to her in greeting.

She could have corrected him. Could have announced to everyone that it wasn't a date. But Logan's bashful chuckle warmed her and she smiled. "We American's have to stick together," she said, enjoying Logan's laugh.

"You know, England is an ally," Lando said with a smirk.

"Still haven't forgiven you for taxation without representation," she sighed.

"That wasn't me," Lando defended while the others laughed.

"Your ancestors though," Oscar told him.

"They were doing what they thought was right? How am I at fault now?"

"You opened your mouth," Carlos said with a laugh.

"C'mon, babe, our table's ready," Logan murmured, hand slipping to the small of her back.

"Enjoy your date!" Oscar called after them.

"I hope you trip over your independence!" Lando yelped when Oscar elbowed him.

Laughing, y/n let Logan guide her to the other side of the dining room, where they were thankfully shielded from the table of drivers. He held the chair for her and she thanked him while the waiter handed them the menus.

"I'm sorry about that. Oscar and Lando… I should have told them it wasn't a date," Logan said once they were alone.

"It's fine," she assured him. "I mean, technically, it is a date."

"I guess so. I just don't want you thinking I'm making it out to more than it is."

"What is it?" she asked.

"Two friends, hopefully. Spending time together." He looked up from his menu. "Probably should have taken you somewhere more casual, huh? This place makes it look like I'm trying to impress you."

She hadn't thought of it like that. "…Are you trying to impress me?"

"Do you want me to?"

Their eyes met and she slowly inhaled, thinking over what the best answer would be.

So you'll kiss him because I won't kiss you?

Do you want to kiss him?

She exhaled, sending thoughts of Max as far away as possible. "I think I do."

He looked relieved and oh, so handsome in this light. "Then I might be trying to impress you a little."

"You're doing amazing so far."

taglist

@spookystitchery | @halleest | @lyannesworld | @llando4norris | @kravitzwhore | @younxii | @silentreader128 | @samantha-chicago | @mrsbrxkkxr | @cmleitora |

[filmstarved]

have we discussed doesn't know how to handle emotions but can't help but being altruistic when it comes to you logan???

word count: 1,047

info desk: gn!reader, emerging friendship, insinuates possible bed sharing, logan is an awkward cutie that just wants to help

it's late at night at gifted youngsters, halls are eerily quiet and logan can't sleep again. he's entertaining himself with the prestigious knickknacks and photos arranged around the mansion. as he meanders to his dorm, he initially walks past your door but hears a strange noise from inside. he stops and comically backs up to get closer to the sound, pressing an ear gently on the door.

you're sobbing. logan can't tell if you're that upset or if it sounds loud because of how quiet everything else is. part of him wants to just give you space and check on you at breakfast but he can't. he can't ignore the only person who has consistently showed him kindness and grace since they've been here. he lifts his fist to knock with his pointer finger knuckle but hesitates and withdraws before lifting it again.

knock...knock...knock

the sound of your sobs halt and he feels awkward now. there's a shuffling inside and he can see from under the door that you've clicked a lamp on. he can also see your shadow as you approach the door slowly.

"it's me...y'okay?" he asks, kind of wishing he wasn't the one that had to walk past your door at this moment. but alas.

you open the door slightly. it's dim but through the crack you've allowed, he can see that your eyes are wet and you're sniffling.

"hi logan, thanks for checking in...'m alright. goodnight," you say rushed and hushed. before you can close the door, his boot is wedged in it.

"you're not though. let me in for a minute," he says, almost in a beg that nearly shocks him internally.

you open up, letting him step into your melancholic cave. he plops down on the edge of the bed next to your tear stained pillow. logan can feel the awkward tension between someone who was just caught crying and someone who'd rather not be the one to ask why.

he pats the mattress beside him and you take the seat.

"gonna tell me why you're boo-hooing at two in the morning?" he asked cautiously, eyeing your profile in hopes to read the severity of your trouble.

"just feeling homesick is all...not used to being here yet i guess. haven't been sleeping well either and with trainings and the professor...i just...i don't know," you explained, throwing your hands up exasperatedly in the air and dropping them in your lap. "i guess i'm just ov–"

"overwhelmed," logan finished. "yeah, i felt similar my very first day here, heh." he could see that his words weren't really helping or hurting but he felt...happy that you even let him in. "but hey, it gets easier. trust me."

you started to sob again which instilled panic within your usually feral friend. his eyes widened and his hands reached out to physically comfort you but he voted against that and quickly scrambled for the tissue box on your nightstand.

"did i say something wrong?" logan asked as he followed your puffy eyes with his.

"no...no you just...," you started, looking upon his concerned gaze. "you remind me of home." a smile cracked through your frown and matched the one that now sat on his lips.

"well...i've never heard that one before," he said, patting your thigh and using it to push himself to his feet. a heat rose to his face and he quickly moved to the dim doorway to hide his blush. "you'll, uh, *clears throat* get a hang of things around here soon. promise."

"logan."

"yeah?"

"will you stay with me?" you ask, sheepishly. "not in my bed, of course...i mean...unlessyouwantto...but i don't have a roommate yet and it gets kind of...spooky in here." you chuckled, remembering how you got scared the other night from the shadowed silhouette of the coat rack in the corner.

"uhh...," logan struggled for words.

"it's totally okay if not, i know it's probably a weird ask," you sniffled.

"no it's not that...it's just...i have this lavender spray that storm let me have and it's become ritualistic that i use it on my pillow before i sleep...i've also been having trouble. i have to go get it and then yeah, i'll stay in here with you."

"okay," you nodded, already feeling a sense of ease and safety wash over you. "i'd like some of that, too." you laugh, feeling the wet tears become dry stains on your cheeks.

"oh, i know, bub," he laughs, slipping through the door to quickly retrieve the sleep aide.

a/n: hii! i was having a not so good day yesterday and a shitty morning today and my brain conjured up this delusion to help me get through it because of course it did and i figured i'd share it with y'all! thanks for reading!! xx

[cera-writes]

Nightcrawler admits he and (whoever) have finally agreed to tie the knot.

Pairing: Kurt Wagner x AFAB!Reader Tags: just pure fluff

Breaking the News

You and Kurt had gathered all the X-Men in the living room, a buzz of anticipation hanging in the air.

Ororo, perched on the armrest of the worn-out sofa, arched an eyebrow at the two figures standing nervously in the doorway. Kurt fidgeted with a small blue box held tightly in his hand. Beside him, you stood, a shy smile gracing your lips, your hand resting possessively on his arm.

"Alright, lovebirds," Logan drawled, a hint of amusement in his gruff voice. "Spill the beans. What's with the fancy duds and the cryptic smiles?"

You shared a quick glance with Kurt, silently encouraging him. He took a deep breath, his yellow eyes flickering across the expectant faces.

"Well, you see," he began, his voice surprisingly steady for someone known for teleporting in and out of existence, "there's some exciting news (y/n) and I wanted to share it with everyone."

Jean, ever the empath, let out a delighted gasp. "You don't mean...?"

"A baby?!" Morph gawked. "No, no, no. Gosh, nothing like that." you smirked, shaking your head, hands held up in protest.

"Darn, thought we'd see some little fuzzy blue babies crawling around the X-Mansion." Rogue added. Remy hummed in response, a small smile playing at his lips.

"Lemme guess. You finally popped the question?" Remy asked, raising a brow.

Kurt grinned, the familiar mischievous glint returning to his eyes. "That's right, Freund! (y/n) said yes!" With a flourish, he popped open the small box, revealing a ring unlike any other the X-Men had seen. Its band was crafted from a swirling blue energy, reminiscent of Kurt's teleportation abilities, and cradled a single, dazzling diamond.

The room erupted in cheers. Ororo whooped with joy, throwing her arms around you in a congratulatory hug. Scott clapped Kurt on the back, a genuine smile splitting his face. Jean, her eyes shining, pulled you into a tight embrace.

Logan, ever the grumpy one, simply raised his fist in a silent toast. "Well, about damn time," he muttered, though a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

"Congratulations, you two!" Jubes exclaimed, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "This is amazing! When's the big day?"

Kurt chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "We haven't set a date yet. But," he added, his voice taking on a more serious tone, "we both know we want to start this next chapter together, with all of you by our side."

You leaned into his side, squeezing his hand. The warmth of his affection and the supportive cheers of your friends filled you with a joy that rivaled even the dazzling diamond sparkling on your finger. This wasn't just about getting married; it was about building a future with the love of your life, surrounded by the chosen family you had found in the X-Men. The future, once a distant dream, now stretched before you, filled with the promise of love, laughter, and maybe even a few teleportation mishaps along the way.

[priniya]

requests guidelines ⭐️

hello everyone! after a year (and a half?) i’ve finally got to myself to show all the things i could write for. it’s gonna be updated regularly as soon as i obsess over something new.

so . . .

i’m not sure if i’m a good person to write smut so… request if u want, but might take a long time before i post it! (i haven’t really written anything smut related so that might be bad)

please, if you request something, write a small blurb of what you’ll like to read!

i mainly write for a female reader with she/her pronouns and all that, but i’m up for gender neutral as well if you feel like it :)

i might add sth here if i think of it, but the most important part is who do i write for. bold stands for my favs, italics is like… second fav, i guess!

✩ harry potter — slytherin boys (theodore nott, mattheo riddle, lorenzo berkshire, draco malfoy + pansy parkinson and daphne greengrass), marauders (james potter, sirius black, remus lupin, regulus black, evan rosier, barty crouch jr.), golden era (harry potter, ron weasley, cedric diggory, weasley twins, ginny weasley).

✩ percy jackson — greek demigods (percy jackson, leo valdez, annabeth chase, luke castellan, grover underwood, hood brothers, clarisse la rue, piper mclean), roman demigods (frank zhang, jason grace, hazel lavasque).

✩ books — the inheritance games (jameson hawthorne, grayson hawthorne, xander hawthorne, avery kylie grambs, thea laughlin), a good girl’s guide to murder (pippa fitz-amobi, ravi singh), hockey boyfriends (nate hawkins, garret graham, john logan, dean di laurenti, john tucker, hunter davenport, henry turner, russ callaghan)

✩ miscellaneous series — jenny han universes (conrad fisher, peter kavinsky, kitty song covey, cam cameron, steven conklin, minho), criminal minds (spencer reid, aaron hotchner, jennifer jareau, derek morgan), outer banks (jj maybank, pope heyward, rafe cameron), my life with the walter boys (alex walter, cole walter, isaac garcia, kailey)

✩ anime — haikyuu (kageyama, tsukishima, osamu, atsumu, suna, oikawa, bokuto, akaashi, kuroo, kenma, semi + the rest😭).

✩ people i don’t know how to classify — zuko + sokka, steve harrington, matthew gray gubler, drew starkey, louis partridge, timothee chalamet, peter parker, nct members.

if you don’t see someone, just ask! there’s a high chance i just forgot about them xx

[disneyprincemuke]

i didn't tell you i was scared * fem!driver

perhaps carrying the burden of being the perfect eldest daughter after all these years have its disadvantages as well

pairings: fem!driver and her literal family

notes: don't even get me started on how fuckin long it took me to write this bro and also let's not talk about how bad this one is ok? thanks

(series masterlist) | (📂 2025: fall from grace)

(prev)

being back home has always brought about a sense of peace she hasn’t been able to replicate anywhere else. it’s just a different serenity when she’s back under the blankets of the bed she’d grown up in, surrounded by everything that reminded her of being young and innocent.

oh, how she misses the times when it felt like the world was in her hands. how naïve of her to think that if she worked hard, she’d get everything she wanted.

every single word of rejection slowly dug the trenches she’s managed to find herself in lately.

she’s so deep in that she doesn’t think there’s a way out.

she lies on her back, childhood stuffed animals burying her in the blanket. she bores holes in the roof of her room where her glow-in-the-dark stars stare right back at her.

she can almost hear the ghost of her 13-year-old self whining as oscar and logan prop themselves up on her bed to paste them on her ceiling, making fun of her for being too short to do it herself.

it used to be so simple.

there’s soft knock on the door followed bt the creaking of its hinges as it’s pushed open. a head pops in. “can we go to the store?”

“what?” she turns her head towards the door and furrows her eyebrows. “can’t you just take my car and go alone?”

dalton frowns, “is it such a crime to spend time with my very beautiful older sister?”

she raises an eyebrow. “you want me to pay, don’t you?”

“don’t make me sound so feral,” the young boy huffs with a roll of his eyes. “i haven’t seen you in months… come on, let’s do something together?”

“i don’t really…” she sighs as she meets her younger brother’s stare and hopeful smile. “alright, mate, just let me change out of my pyjamas.”

that’s how she finds herself at a convenience store at 2 in the morning, hands in the pockets of one of logan’s old jackets that he left in her parent’s house, slowly sauntering through aisles with a blank stare.

she’s been staring at a box of cereal for a couple of minutes, debating with herself if she should let herself indulge. but lately, it just doesn’t feel like she deserves nice things.

when dalton finds her, he’s got a basket full of snacks and drinks. he stops at the end of the aisle with a puzzled stare and tilts his head. “didn’t see anything you want?”

she smiles, “not really. and i’m supposed to be watching my diet — too much ice cream, noah said.”

which is just another blatant lie. she hasn’t touched a drop of ice cream since matt had packed his bags and left her apartment. she hasn’t even really been eating.

dalton hums, “i guess… let yourself have a cheat day, though.”

she sighs out a soft laugh and slings an arm over dalton’s shoulders. “maybe tomorrow. come on, let’s pay up before mama finds out i let you convince me to drive you out to the store in the middle of the night.”

she rests her head at the foot of her bed, nose-to-nose with kidnapper as he sleeps peacefully on one of her pillows.

“wish my life was as simple as yours,” she mutters, running her finger along the cat’s nose. “wish i could sleep all day and be adored like you, kid.”

she glances at her phone, lying peacefully on her side table next to the bed. it’s been going off with constant text messages for the past 5 minutes, most from logan and oscar asking about her parents’ anniversary party, and some from matt.

she can’t get herself to pick up the phone and answering feels like such a daunting task. she can’t find the right words to type out and send out as an acceptable response.

“hey,” the door opens and her mother’s head pops in, “busy?”

she lifts her head and smiles slightly. “what do you need me to do?”

“can you pick up the decorations from town? it’s pre-ordered, so you just gotta pick it up. then maybe could you bring home some dinner?” her mother flashes her a sheepish grin, obviously hoping that she would say yes.

“can’t you get dalton to pick it up? i’ll let him use my car if that’s what you’re worried about,” she offers with a small, unnoticeable scowl on her face. her plan for the entire day was to simply lie in her bedroom and do absolutely nothing.

her day simply isn’t complete unless she’s wallowed in self pity.

“he’s barely permitted to drive a car with an adult in the passenger seat,” her mother sighs. “come on, please? i’ll make you your favourite breakfast tomorrow.”

“really? it has to be me?”

“you’ve locked yourself in your room the 2 days you’ve been back,” her mother sighs again with the shake of her head. “i thought you came home early to help around.”

“i came back early to spend my break here. that doesn’t mean anything about helping around,” she complains, yet she’s scrambling to get herself off her bed. she knows better than to get into this sort of argument with her mother — it’s simply not going to be worth it. “but if it has to be me…”

she gets up and drops kidnapper off in dalton’s room. she changes out of her day-old pyjamas and heads to town where her mother had asked her to go.

all the while cursing under her breath about having so much to do on her supposed break. she’d only driven herself back ahead of her parents’ anniversary party to give herself a break from the fast-paced nature of london.

that and the refusal to go back to her apartment when it no longer felt like home.

but she does all that her mother asks of her anyway because her mother says so.

“you need to eat more, my love.” she watches her mother stand from her position on the dinner table and pick up a bowl of noodles. “you look like you haven’t been eating at all.”

“mama,” she tries to protest with a sigh, shaking her head as she tries to push away the bowl from her plate. “i’m not very hungry.”

her mother is insistent. she shakes her head with a soft huff, scooping out a bunch of noodles and putting it on the plate in front of her. “you need to eat more than you’re eating.”

she lets out an irritated sigh and turns to her father, sat next to her mother, for some sort of words to help her. but he just shrugs at her with an apologetic smile.

“i just want you to look like yourself again,” her mother sighs, pinching her cheek tenderly with a small smile. “you’ve had a tough year.”

she scoffs, dropping her head to toy with the noodles on her plate. of course, she uses her shit of a season to justify being an overbearing figure in her life. she would have been more tolerant of it — as she’s been her entire life — but it’s just not a good time for this behaviour right now.

“fine, whatever.”

she glances down the hallway for anyone who would catch her before she opens the door. she’s greeted by 2 beds and an empty room, but an overwhelming familiarity of friendship. a friendship that she’s strayed so far from that it barely makes sense for her to be standing in this bedroom.

on top of the dresser is a framed picture of her, oscar and logan at a karting track in the earlier days of their karting days together. she stands between the boys, oscar and logan leaning into her with their lips pressed against either side of her cheeks.

on the beds, she can see the 3 of them cuddled up together when she was 14 seeking help from the older boys with her homework.

if she thinks hard enough, she sees her 15-year-old self on oscar’s bed with the blankets pulled up to her chin with logan and oscar squeezing in the other bed in the room when she’s having trouble sleeping by herself.

in the far corner of the room, she can see herself at 16 curled up on the floor after her first boyfriend had broken up with her. and oscar walks in with a small scowl but 3 pints of ice cream for them to share while they try to distract her of the pain.

the room’s been cleaned and polished by her mother, preparing for oscar and logan’s return for their anniversary party this weekend.

she makes a sharp turn for the cabinet at the side of the room, pushing through hangers of jackets and sweaters hanging neatly, untouched for god knows how long. she sighs when a familiar red jacket comes into view.

“i told mama this is mine,” she grumbles under her breath, pulling the jacket out of the cabinet. it’s a ferrari jacket that oscar had gotten from his parents when he was younger, but since he’d outgrown it, she’d claimed it for herself.

“oh, there you are.”

she turns around, with a heavy heart and teary eyes, and comes face-to-face with her father. “hey.”

“i’ve been looking all over for you,” he sighs heavily, stepping into the room with caution. “i just wanted to check in on you after what happened during dinner. you know mama meant well.”

she grins with a slight nod. “yeah, i know.”

“and we’re just concerned for you.” he wraps an arm around her and rests his chin on top of her head. “after the year you’re having… we’re all concerned for you.”

“concerned?” she repeats under her breath, looking up at her father. “regarding what? i’m doing fine.”

“personally, i’m just concerned because you’re my princess,” he mumbles, giving her a squeeze. “and you know… i’m your father? i know if something’s wrong, but it’s okay if you don’t wanna talk about it yet.”

she lets out a heavy sigh, relaxing in his arms. she wraps her arms around him and nuzzles her face into his chest, “thanks for not making me talk about it.”

she throws her head back, trying to pull back the hand that’s clasped in dalton’s hands, yanking her towards the garage of the house.

“come on,” dalton mutters, “we’ll have so much fun! just like before!”

“dalton, i told you i didn’t feel like leaving the house today,” she whines, trying another attempt at pulling her hand back from him. “i have some things to settle with my finances and schedule… i’ve put that off for a couple days and kristen and noah need those by tonight.”

“i’m sure it can’t take that long,” dalton whines with a heavy sigh, tugging on her arm. “just a quick movie in at the theatre then a cup of ice cream?”

“dalton, come on, i said i don’t have the time for this!” she shrieks, yanking her arm back and stomping a foot on the ground. “i’ll pay for you to go with a couple of friends, but i can’t go with you. i have adult matters to handle before the week is over.”

dalton blinks at her, shocked at her sudden outburst. “i just wanted to spend time with you before you go off and not come home for months… i’m sorry.”

she opens her mouth to add to her previous statement, but seeing her younger brother with a frown on his face instantly felt like a pierce through her heart. “i– dalton,” she sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose. “i just have so much going on right now. maybe we can go a little later? i just need to finish a couple of things for my team.”

“it’s alright,” dalton sighs dejectedly, shaking his head. he walks past her to head for the stairs. “maybe next time when you’re not being a bitch anymore.”

“what the fuck,” she mutters with eyebrows furrowed, turning around with her gaze following his steps. “you did not just say that.”

“what?” dalton whirls around. “it’s true. you’ve been such a bitch since you came back. you lock yourself inside your room, you never wanna talk to me, you never wanna join me for snacks, it takes me extra effort just to convince you to come out of the house and do stuff with me… you changed, mate.”

she takes a deep breath. “of course, you don’t understand. you’re just a 16-year-old — you don’t fucking know anything.”

“i know my sister,” dalton scowls. he rolls his eyes and scoffs with a dry laugh. “sorry, i mean i used to know my eldest sister. nowadays, you just ignore my texts, never return my calls and never wanna hang out. you’re a flake, rocky.”

“and you’re just a fucking kid, why should i take anything you say seriously? what do you know about anything that’s outside of your stupid video games and secondary school?” she huffs. “and what do you know about what’s going on with me? that’s not fair.”

“i’m not talking to someone who’s not open to criticism.” he glances at her over his shoulder one more time before running up the stairs. “get a grip, mate.”

“hey, i heard you were back early.” the front door closing echoes in the house, ciara putting her backpack down next to the shoe rack.

the other girl sits on the couch, attention unwavering to the tv show she’s put on to watch. “yeah. hi.”

“i bought you dinner on my drive home from campus.” ciara skips over to the couch happily, leaning down on the back of the couch her older sister sits on. ciara turns her head to grin at her. “from the chinese restaurant. i got you some noodles and wanton.”

“oh, thank you.” she turns her head with a small grin and a soft eye, eyes stinging with every blink. “welcome home, ara.” she pulls ciara in for a short side hug and presses a kiss on her cheek. “how’s uni?”

“it was alright,” ciara shrugs. “join me for dinner?”

she hums, returning her attention to the tv screen. “maybe not; i’m still full from the lunch i had. but thank you for getting me dinner.”

“you’re home!” dalton appears at the top of the stairs with a big grin. “did you get me my fried rice?”

“of course!” ciara beams, beckoning him down towards the dining table. “help me set up the table. rocky’s still full from lunch. it’s just us, come on.”

dalton hops over to the kitchen with ciara, not sparing his eldest sister another stare. so she just turns off the tv and runs back to her bedroom.

“oh. i didn’t know it was such a sensitive topic,” her mother shrugs with a soft chuckle. “i was just curious because you said matt was going to be here for the party this weekend and suddenly he’s not.”

the girl shrugs, keeping her stare on the plate. “yeah, but i really don’t wanna talk about him right now.”

“come on, just concerned for your relationship.” she clenches her jaw, feeling a knot form in her throat as she lifts her eyes to meet her mother’s stare across the table. “did something happen?”

“no,” she lies with a small grin. “he’s just got some things to settle back in the states. he’s just busy.”

“or maybe he realised you were a bitch,” dalton mutters under his breath.

“dalton,” ciara warns through gritted teeth, hitting dalton on the shoulder very gently. “what the hell?”

“what? it’s true,” dalton mutters. “you know that more than i do.”

“that’s enough,” her father speaks up. “let’s just eat dinner, okay?”

“no, my love,” a whine comes from behind her, “you put it up wrongly.”

the girl on the top of the ladder looks over her shoulder and meets her mother’s judgemental stare and disappointed frown. “you literally told me to put it here, mama.”

“put it up higher, no– like– i’ll just do it.” her mother offers her a reassuring smile and beckons her to get down from her position.

“no, it’s so dangerous for you to be up here,” she mutters, attempting to readjust the wall decorations to her liking. “just tell me where to put it.”

“you’re,” her mother pauses, “not doing it right. just come down and let me do it.”

she huffs and drops her hands. “fine.”

she climbs down the ladder, folding her arms over her chest as she watches her mother replace her.

“see? isn’t that better.”

but she swears it’s exactly the way she’d put it up just a moment ago.

“is this what you’re going to do the entire time you’re here? just mope in your room with your cat?”

she lifts her head from her pillow and turns, resting her head again as she stares at her mother standing at the door. “is this really how you want to start the day?”

“it’s noon. the day started almost 3 hours ago.” her mother leans on the door frame of her bedroom. “you have to get up and do something. locking yourself up in here,” she pauses to look around the kiddish bedroom, “it won’t make you feel any better.”

“i just have a lot going on,” she mumbles, flipping herself to face the other side of the room. “i’ll come down in a while. i just need a couple minutes.”

“oh, my god, mama!” her voice echoes in the empty house, running down the steps with her mother following shortly behind her. “stop asking me about matt! i don’t want to talk about him right now!” she turns around at the bottom of the steps. “not with you; not with anyone!”

“i’m just trying to give him an answer, my love! he’s concerned for you. he said you haven't answered his messages all week,” her mother reprimands with her hands on her hips.

“that’s between matt and i and you have no say in this, sorry.” she raises her hands in the air to surrender before walking away. “it’s just none of your business.”

she’d just been relaxing in her room by herself when her mother came in trying to make conversation. she’d been receptive at first until she realised that she was trying to get her to talk about matt again.

which, she’s just not ready to open up about yet.

“it is if you’re acting this way! locking yourself in your room all day… fighting with dalton? don't even get me started on the way you can’t even clean up after yourself — you’re an adult now.”

“i’m an adult, yeah, so let me deal with my fucking problems however i see fit!” she laughs dryly and turns to face her mother again. “can i have some room to breathe? please? without everyone following closely behind me and staring at me like i’m pathetic?”

“we don’t think you’re pathetic!”

“i see the sorry in your eyes when you look at me! everyone seems to be looking at me that way lately!”

“my l–”

“just please leave me alone!”

so she gets in her car and drives away. she doesn’t know how long she drives for, tears in her eyes and chest heaving in sobs.

but she finds herself at the park nearby, one that she used to frequent with oscar and logan after school. she parks her car right by the roadside and forces herself onto the empty playground. she sits on the slide for hours until she feels slightly better.

she pushes the front door open with a heavy sigh. the sadness of pulling up in the driveway of her house worries her. it’s like the sadness seems to find a way to follow her everywhere.

everywhere she goes, it’s like there’s a dark cloud hanging above her head and she doesn’t know how to make it go away.

“where have you been?” ciara’s voice startles her, sending her a step back. “we’ve been worried sick for you after you left so abruptly before dinner! you weren’t even picking up your phone!”

“i just needed some time alone,” she says with a heavy sigh. she closes the door behind her and slips out of her shoes. “i was just at the playground i used to go to with logan and oscar. think i left my phone in my bedroom before i left and i went to grab dinner–”

“seriously? you’re not even sorry?” ciara screams, throwing her arms in the air. “we’ve been so worried sick for you since you walked out for no reason?”

she tilts her head. “no reason? mama has been grilling me about things i don’t want to talk about since i came back.”

“she’s concerned for you! we’re all concerned for you!”

“i didn’t ask for your concern! i’m asking you guys to leave me alone; give me some fucking room to breathe!”

“then why did you come all the way here just to lock yourself in your bedroom? if you want to be left alone, you should’ve just fucking stayed in london where you have an apartment where no one will fucking bother you!”

she huffs, hands on her hips. “fine. i’ll just go back. since it’s such a bother that i’m too sad to be here right now.” she stomps past her younger sister and up the stairs, heading right for her bedroom.

“don’t try and guilt trip me to feel sorry for you!” ciara chases after her. “it’s just not fair that you came all this way to be fighting with every single person in this household! just because blythe’s not here, doesn’t mean you’ll get away with this behaviour!”

“i’m not trying to guilt trip you,” she snarls, grabbing her bag from the ground and shoving her things, sprawled all over her room, into it. “but i’m sorry my feelings are such a burden to you guys. cause personally, i’m not having the best time.”

“if you’re not having the best time, don’t bring us down with you! it’s mama and papa’s anniversary! spend a little time not thinking of yourself for once!”

“i’ve spent my whole life not thinking of myself! you don’t know — you’re just a spoilt brat who got everything she wanted growing up! i actually had to work for the things i wanted.”

ciara scoffs, finally stepping into the room. “who gave you the right to act all high and mighty like you’re better than everyone? being the eldest kid doesn’t mean shit, genius.”

“well, what would you know about being the eldest kid? you never had to take care of anyone besides yourself; you never had to think of anyone but yourself.” she picks up kidnapper, sleeping on the foot of her bed and throws her bag over her shoulder. “just fuck off, ciara.”

“you’re not the only one with problems, you know,” ciara scoffs, folding her arms over her chest. “and what, you’re leaving? way to face your problems head-on.”

“i’m leaving because clearly i’m not wanted here,” the older girl sighs, pushing past the girl to her bedroom door. “so let me get out of your hair before my sadness becomes too contagious for your liking.”

“you’re leaving?” blythe says in shock, watching her older sister walk past her without another moment’s hesitation. “but i just got here. and isn’t the part tomorrow?”

“she’s throwing us the dramatics!” ciara announces with a loud laugh, running down the stairs to catch up with her older sister heading right for the front door. “she’s leaving because she can’t face the fact that she could be overreacting this one time!”

“overreacting?” blythe repeats, following both sisters down the stairs. “what are you guys even fighting about?”

“she left for hours with no contact!”

“i don’t even wanna stay long enough for you to paint me to be the villain,” the girl announces, pulling the front door open. “i’m leaving.”

taglist: @wcnorris @treehouse-mouse @laura-naruto-fan1998 @mindless-rock @vellicora @ironmaiden1313 @angsthology @cherry-piee @christianpulisic10 @elliegrey2803 @33-81 @darleneslane @nikfigueiredo @happy-nico @namgification @localwhoore @notawc @sadg3 @kazuha-pista-badam @mellowarcadefun @megatrilss1885 @peqch-pie @woozarts @meadhbhcavanagh @2bormaybenot @a-disturbing-self-reflection @mclarengf @xoscar03 @nomie-11 @green-thots @inejismywife @love4lando @louvrepool

[glamdringwlv]

Unchain my heart: Part 2. So, you're a tough guy

Unchain my heart series. Logan Howlett x oc!fmale Summary: Mia Green has grown up in a lab, subjected to numerous experiments due to her status as a mutant. When she manages to escape, Charles Xavier takes her in at his mansion, giving her a new life and helping her regain her memories. However, the arrival of a new resident at the mansion threatens to destabilize everything she believed.

Warnings: Violence, foul language, a mix of various canons, X-Men movies, X-Men animated series, X-men comics.

a/n: Hi, thank you so much for the support. The truth is, I'm starting something like this and I don't have much idea of what I'm doing or who this app works, but thanks for showing it some love.

Prologue, Part 1. The man comes around

So you're a tough guy Like it really rough guy Just can't get enough guy Chest always so puffed guy I'm that bad type

The midday sun bathed the mansion’s hallways in warm light as Mia made her way to the Danger Room, trying to shake off the confusion and resentment that had plagued her since the previous day. Scott had stayed with her all night, doing his best to soothe the chaos in her mind.

He had mentioned that the arrival of the new mutant hadn't been a smooth process for anyone, but particularly for Charles, who had had quite a scene in his office. Even without probing his mind, it was clear that Scott was not pleased with the new presence in the mansion. His tone and choice of words spoke volumes about his displeasure.

"I saved his ass and brought him here, only for him to laugh at my name and then try to attack my girl."

Mia chuckled at the latter part. She bit her tongue to keep from confessing that he had been so agitated because he’d felt her attempts to invade his mind. She almost told him that she could handle herself, but instead let him continue complaining while his voice and presence lulled her into a deep sleep.

Despite being unconscious, she felt genuinely drained. Sessions like these left her mind feeling like mush. Still, Scott’s presence comforted her in a way she couldn’t explain, something he’d done since she’d arrived there, broken and alone.

As Mia entered the Danger Room, she took a deep breath, trying to focus on the defense class she was about to teach. This room had always been her refuge, a place where she could escape her thoughts and concentrate on what she did best: fight.

She waited patiently as the students filed in. Many greeted her with smiles, while others eyed her warily, afraid she might invade their privacy and expose their darkest secrets.

Just as the students were beginning to gather, the door slid open, revealing Ororo. She walked in with her usual grace, and, to Mia’s surprise, Logan was beside her. She was giving him a tour, and his presence made Mia’s heart skip a beat. The tension from the previous day was still fresh and seeing him in her space made her uneasy.

Her body tensed, and she instinctively crossed her arms as she felt Logan’s gaze scrutinizing her, a slow assessment from head to toe.

"Ah, Logan, let me introduce you to Mia," Storm said with a smile. "She’s in charge of defense classes here—she’s the best at what she does."

Logan looked at her with a mix of surprise and skepticism. Mia caught the irony in his smile. She raised an eyebrow, silently asking what was so amusing.

"Her?" Logan asked, addressing Ororo but keeping his gaze fixed on Mia. "I wouldn’t have guessed in a million years."

Mia felt a knot tighten in her stomach. Her confusion and resentment from Logan’s attack the previous day mixed with a rising frustration. His lack of apology left a sour taste, and his arrogant demeanor only made things worse. She remembered what Scott had said: it would be difficult to get him to follow the rules.

"It’s a pleasure to meet you without your claws around my neck, Logan," Mia replied, her voice sharp.

He raised an eyebrow, a smirk curling on his lips.

"I think you’d have liked it under different circumstances, don’t you, doll?"

Mia tensed further at the comment, her mind quickly calculating how best to handle the situation without letting her irritation take over. Charles had scolded her numerous times for losing control, for giving in to her more primal instincts. She noticed the students in the Danger Room fall silent, their eyes darting between Logan and her, expectant.

"We don’t deal in hypotheticals here," she said firmly, her voice controlled. "If you want to see what I can do, you only have to join the class."

The air crackled with tension, as if it were holding its breath, waiting for Logan’s response. He remained silent for a moment, assessing Mia with an intensity that sent a shiver down her spine. Finally, a crooked smile spread across his face.

"You win, doll," he said, his tone suggesting he accepted the challenge more for fun than out of respect. "Let’s see what you’re made of."

A primal urge surged through Mia’s thoughts. An uncontrollable desire to show him, to prove she could take him down if she wanted. Show him. The thought was insistent, like hearing her own voice but much wilder, laden with resentment. From deep within, a single idea emerged: dominate him.

Ororo exchanged a quick glance with Mia, then with Logan, as if weighing the situation. But she decided not to intervene. Mia heard Charles’s voice in her head, urging her to end the display. But Charles’s warning had less force than the hissing murmur of the beast within her. She knew this part of her came from the past, a memory of something horrible lost to time.

"Fine," Mia said, addressing the students, her voice regaining a professional tone. "Today, we’re focusing on basic defensive techniques, but with an emphasis on adaptability. You never know who you’re going to face, so you need to be prepared for anything."

As she spoke, her mind raced, devising a plan to manage Logan’s presence in the class without letting the situation spiral out of control. His presence meant that Charles had some intention for him, and Mia couldn’t afford to show weakness or lose authority in front of the students.

The two began to size each other up as they circled the space. She realized Logan was larger than she had anticipated and appeared to be strong. Her strategy had to focus on tiring him out and keeping her distance.

"What are you waiting for, sweetheart?" He gestured with his fingers for her to come closer, and she bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing at the situation.

Logan took a defensive stance, a mocking grin on his lips as if this were nothing more than a game. Mia made the first move, a quick and precise strike aimed at his torso. When her hand made contact, she felt the bones in her hand break easily. She looked at the mutant in confusion and quickly pulled back, feeling her bones painfully knit together.

"What the hell are you made of?"

Logan adopted a defensive posture, still grinning as if this were a game to him.

"You wouldn’t believe it. You’ll have to do better than that," Logan muttered, his voice low but loud enough for Mia to hear.

She didn’t respond, instead changing her tactics, using her agility to move around him, looking for an angle to exploit. Logan turned with her, his movements controlled, almost lazy, as if he knew he had all the time in the world.

Finally, Mia saw her chance. She feigned an attack toward his right side, but at the last moment, changed direction and struck his left leg. It was a quick move, so unexpected that Logan hesitated for a second. But it was only a second. With an agility she hadn’t anticipated, Logan sidestepped, using her momentum against her. Before she could react, he had grabbed her, his arms firm around her, easily immobilizing her.

"Too predictable," he said softly, his hot breath against her ear. "But not bad for a beginner. If you relaxed a bit, we could really have some fun…"

Mia felt a surge of frustration, her body tensing against his. But she knew this was the perfect moment to show him what she was made of. With a quick move, she used her hips to leverage and freed herself from his hold, spinning on her heels and delivering a kick that made him stagger back. She gritted her teeth against the pain that spread through her body. Logan regained his balance quickly, his arrogant smile disappearing for a moment. Their eyes met, and for the first time, Mia saw a flicker of doubt in his gaze.

Unchain me. The voice in her mind was insistent, laden with promises. Mia felt her blood start to boil, her control slipping. She had only heard that part of herself when she was close to death, in extreme situations. She didn’t understand why it wanted to surface now. Nor did she understand why she was fighting someone she didn’t know. With three words, Logan had made her lose the composure she had worked so hard to maintain. She knew something in him awakened a part of her that had been dormant. Something deep in her mind was reacting, recognizing something in him. The beast roared, demanding to be freed. He’s like us. The words echoed in her mind. Free me.

She felt dizzy, the air clogging in her throat. What did the voice mean by saying he was like her?

There was no time to ponder as the mutant lunged at her. As a reflex, the energy around her began to ripple, creating an invisible force field that shielded her movements, protecting her from his blows. Every time he attacked, he was repelled by the invisible barrier. Realizing she was using her mutation, Logan stepped back, his claws sliding out from his knuckles.

"You’re not the only one with tricks, doll," Logan growled before charging at her with his claws gleaming.

The fight intensified. One of his strikes managed to get through a weak point in the shield. Mia tried to dodge it, but one of the blades sliced her cheek in a quick motion. He was about to stop the fight, feeling they had crossed a line from which there was no return, but Mia’s skin regenerated instantly. The bewilderment in Logan’s eyes was evident, giving her a chance to capitalize on his surprise. With a swift move, she brought him down, pinning him to the ground, her hands firmly on his shoulders, trying to subdue him.

The beast inside her roared, eager to break free, but Mia focused on burying that voice deep in her mind. The energy around her began to calm, and with effort, she managed to keep it in check, silencing the part of herself that demanded control.

As she felt that part quiet down, she turned her attention to Logan. His claws were still out, and although he was immobilized, he continued to squirm beneath her, trying to break free.

"This isn’t my first rodeo, Logan. You’re not getting out."

"I’m not saying I don’t enjoy having a woman on top of me, but this isn’t exactly my favourite scenario."

Mia looked at him with derision and used some of her energy to reinforce the pressure of her hands, pinning him harder to the ground.

"You should’ve apologized for the infirmary" Mia said, her voice low but firm.

Logan glared at her, his eyes burning with fury and defiance.

"Apologize?" he spat, his voice laced with sarcasm. "And what about you? You invaded my mind without an invite. Doesn’t that deserve an apology?"

Mia felt a pang of guilt but buried it quickly. She knew she had invaded his mind, but she had done it for a reason. However, Logan’s arrogance quickly dispelled that guilt.

"Maybe you wouldn’t mind if I did it again," Mia retorted, her tone suggesting something more. "Reveal your darkest secrets."

For a moment, Logan seemed to waver, his resistance loosening just perceptibly. But soon he tensed again, with a smirk that didn’t quite mask his irritation. He lifted his head to get closer to her.

"Go ahead, bub. I’ve got nothing to hide."

Mia closed her eyes and delved into his mind. As she did, Logan began to resist again, but this time not with physical strength, rather mentally, trying to keep her out. However, Mia’s pressure was relentless, and although Logan was strong, he couldn’t keep her at bay for long.

"If you’re staying, Logan, you’ll have to follow the rules," Mia whispered, her voice full of authority. "And this room is my domain. Here, I make the rules."

Logan’s resistance began to give way, not because he wanted to, but because the mental pressure Mia exerted was becoming unbearable. The annoyance in his mind grew, and although he tried to fight it, he eventually had to concede. He retracted his claws, his body relaxing beneath her, though the anger in his eyes remained.

Mia slowly released him, watching as he got up with a humiliated expression. There was something about her that infuriated him and deeply unsettled him. With a frustrated growl, Logan got up and left the room, angry with himself.

Mia watched him go, her own heart pounding uncontrollably. The beast within her had calmed, but the fear remained. She didn’t understand why she had almost lost control or why that dark part of her had decided to surface with a stranger. She felt uneasy, as if Logan had awakened something in her she didn’t even know existed.

She looked at the students, who were staring at the scene with wide eyes, unsure of what to say. Mia took a deep breath and made a decision.

"Class is cancelled for today," she announced, her voice firmer than she felt. "Take the rest of the time off."

The students, still stunned, began to exit the Danger Room, murmuring among themselves. Mia watched them leave, her mind swirling with thoughts. She needed answers, needed to understand what was happening inside her. And there was only one person who could help her.

"Well, that was quite the intense introduction," Storm approached her, still stunned by seeing her friend lose control like that.

"He's a jerk. Someone had to put him in his place."

"Quite the intense class," Ororo said, her hand on Mia’s shoulder, helping her relax.

Mia could only murmur a soft "yes," still shaken by her loss of control.

[sydsaint]

I'm a slut for a cocky blond man. <3

Summary: The reader encounters Logan's charisma firsthand when he attempt to get a meeting with Nick Aldis.

"You know I bet that you're used to flashing that pretty-boy smile and for people to just start falling over you, huh?" You stare across your desk at Logan Paul.

"Well I mean, it is a nice killer smile," Logan replies with a grin. "And don't kid yourself, YN. I can tell it's getting to you." He winks at you.

You scoff and roll your eyes at the current US champ. Logan came strolling into the office around 10 minutes ago wanting to talk to your boss, Nick, about something or other. The only problem is, that Aldis is on an important call and asked not to be disturbed.

"You can keep giving me those puppy dog eyes all you want, Logan." You remain firm on not letting Logan through the door. "But it's not going to work on me. Nick will be done with his call soon. You can wait like everyone else." You insist.

"Oh but I'm not like everyone else, am I sweetheart?" Logan replies. "I'm the best US Champion of this era. Not to mention the co-owner of the premier energy drink company, Prime. And an accomplished social media star." He rattles off his accomplishments with a grin. "Plus, I'm handsome."

You scoff and roll your eyes. "Full of yourself is more like it." You clap back at him. "You can be as famous as Vince McMahon himself, Logan. And I still wouldn't let you through the door." You flash him a smile.

"Come on, YN!" Logan whines. "What's it going to take for you to let me in to see Aldis?" He asks you.

"How about an appointment?" You reply with a grin. "Or maybe perhaps, Nick coming out of his office to greet you?" You taunt him.

Logan bites the inside of his lip. It's not every day he runs into someone that can keep up with his nagging and persistence with such bravado. Especially not someone as gorgeous as you.

"Hey, did I see you drinking a Prime when I came in earlier?" Logan asks you. "A Cherry Freeze, right?" He scans your desk for the bottle.

"I might have been, yeah." You keep your answer vague. "Why?" You quirk a brow at the blond.

Logan sits down at the chair in front of your desk and takes his phone out. "You're obviously a fan if you're drinking one." He points out. "So you should let me put you on our PR list. It'll get you monthly shipments of whatever your favorite flavor is. Plus you get first access when new flavors drop." He explains.

You sigh and hold back the smile daring to grace your lips. You know that Logan is just buttering you up to get what he wants. But being on the Prime PR list sounds like a dream come true considering how much you drink the stuff.

"Alright." You sigh and pull out your phone to give Logan the information he needs to add you to the list. "This still doesn't mean that you're getting in to see Nick." You add.

"I know." Logan surprisingly nods. "I guess I can wait a little bit. The view in here is pretty nice."

You look up from your phone at Logan's comment about the view. "Really?" You laugh. "You've resorted to hitting on me?" You chastise him.

"What can I say?" Logan shrugs. "It's not every day I meet a girl as quick-witted and pretty as you are, YN." He winks at you.

"Mhm." You hum and shake your head.

The phone on your desk rings and you answer it. Logan watches you intently as you listen to the brief call before hanging the phone up.

"Mr. Aldis will see you now." You hang up the phone and gestured to the door off to the side of the room.

"He can wait for a second," Logan replies with a sly grin. "I've got something more important going on right now." He insists.

You can't help but laugh. "Oh, yeah? After all that whining? What could be so important?" You ask him.

"Getting you to go out with me," Logan replies. "So, wadduya say, YN? Dinner? My treat?" He asks you.

You gaze at the egomaniac in front of you. 'Damn, he's good.' You think to yourself. But Logan flashes you those soft puppy dog eyes from earlier and you know that you can't turn him down.

"Sure, why not?" You accept the offer. "You've got my number. Now go see Nick before he changes his mind." You gesture to the door.

"Yes!" Logan cheers with a grin. "Just you wait, YN. You've never had a stellar night out until you've rolled with me, sweetheart."

You giggle as Logan struts off to his meeting. "I'm sure." You watch him walk off.

You already know that you're about to be in for one hell of a first date. That's a given. Now you just have to get through the rest of the work night.

[writerwrabbleswords]

Bookish | Wolverine/Logan Howlett X [Male Librarian] Reader

 What made libraries so special? Logan might have answer to that, and it's the guy behind the desk.

 Quick notes :  This was an idea that came to me randomly! I liked the idea of having a more softish reader since it’s a personality that contrasts so well with Logans - think opposites attract! As usual, this story is set from Logan's POV (I’ll do Reader POV at some point, most likely in a oneshot rather than in these drabbles)! There will most likely be a few things (or many) that aren’t accurate to the X-Men comics/movies lore, and this is because I have yet to see the movies… I will be changing this shortly, however! [Side note, I will be completing a request sometime today and posting it alongside a part 2 to the Iron Man variant reader drabble.]

Story Details :  About 1,300 words, Male Reader referred to as ‘You/Your,’ Reader has a soft personality, Reader’s outfit is vaguely described, inaccurate implied history of mutants and their evolution, so much fluff, Logan slightly OOC (?)

Chuck wanted him to go to the damn library. He didn’t even like the library. Apparently the old telepath needed some specific books on mutants for a presentation he was going to give to the students at the school. So, of course, he sent Logan. Asshole.

  The older mutant pushed one of the front doors open, stepping into the building with his mouth set in a firm frown. A few of the guests looked up at him, but otherwise remained focused on their own book searching or reading. He huffed, his brows furrowing slightly as he took in the large area of books - not counting the second floor. Logan did not want to spend the whole damn day in this stuffy library, so he swallowed his pride and approached the librarian desk nearby.

 To his surprise, however, he was met with you. You had a knit sweater on, with a button-up beneath it and a pair of dress pants; Logan couldn’t help but admire your form for a beat, taking in the small details about you. It took a moment before you looked up from the book you were reading, a warm smile gracing your face as you set it aside and gave the mutant your full attention. 

  “How may I help you, sir?” 

  Your voice made something flutter in Logans’ stomach, but he pushed the feeling aside. He cleared his throat, shoving his hands in his pockets as he looked away in an attempt to straighten his thoughts.

  “Does the library have books on mutants and their history?” He asked gruffly, fixing his eyes on you once more as he continued, “Specifically the mutation history?”

  The way you blinked, pursing your lips in thought as you rubbed your chin made his heart thump oddly; why were you so… cute? At the thought, the mutant shook his head slightly, trying to clear his mind and focus on the task he’d been assigned.

  “We have a mutant section in both fiction and nonfiction, but what you’re looking for is more likely in our history catalog,” you reached forward, typing something into the computer just beside you as you tapped your fingers against the wooden desk, “It might be in nonfiction, though. Is there a specific book you’re looking for?”

 Logan watched you closely, his fingers twitching subtly as he felt the sudden urge to smoke; a cigar would’ve helped loosen him up, he guessed. He blinked when you suddenly addressed him, his focus shifting to what you’d said as he nodded and pulled out a small sticky note from his pocket. Written down in Chuck’s neat handwriting were the titles of the four books he needed, and the mutant handed it over with little a word.

 You took the note in your hand, your fingers brushing against his as a shiver ran up his arm at the contact. The small hum that left you was, admittedly, kind of cute - it reminded him of a puppy trying to remember a command it was learning. As you scanned the list of books, a small smile graced your features, making the large room practically light up.

  “Ah! We have three of these books!” You stated excitedly, turning back to your computer and presumably typing in their titles, “I know the one on mutant evolution in cells should be in mutant nonfiction - numbers 400 through 500 - but the other two I’m unsure of.”

  When you got the answer you were looking for, your hand swooped as you scribbled out the location of each of the books Logan needed on a small slip of paper, the smile never leaving your face.

  “They’re all very good books, you know,” your voice brought him out of his thoughts, “I’ve read the one on cell evolution and mutant development over the decades; they’re both packed full of information I think more folks should know.”

  The fact you were pro-mutant - something so rarely seen these days - made a small part of Logan feel almost grateful. He had been expecting you to be closed off and aggressive (he didn’t know why that was his expectation, but considering how mutants were treated, he figured it was just how it was when he went out and about), but the way you so openly discussed that you thought people should learn more about mutants made him reconsider his opinions. After a pause, with the only sound nearby being the scratching of your pencil against paper, Logan spoke up.

  “Do you have any other recommendations?” His fingers flexed, “On mutant history, that is.”

  He watched as you seemingly perked up, the smile on your face turning to nearly a grin as you typed out something on the library computer,

  “Actually, I do!”

  When you found what you were looking for, the older mutant watched as you added a few more titles to the list of what he wanted and their location within the library.

  “There’s a book on mutant inventions I always recommend, as well as one on the PTSD epidemic currently affecting mutants - that one is less history focused, but it’s still rather insightful,” He listened as you spoke with such certainty and excitement, as if the topic was one you were deeply invested in, “The only other one I could recommend would be by Dr. Hancock, a leading mutant researcher in cracking the X gene in mutants. That one is the last one on this list.”

  With a slight tilt of your head, you set the paper with the list of books down on the desk in front of him, tapping it with your fingers as you seemingly thought for a pause. Logan glanced down at the paper before taking it in his hand, his eyes scanning your writing as he let out a grunt of approval - you were quick and efficient, and that was something he could appreciate.

  “Can I ask you a question?” The mutant found himself asking, unable to keep the words from leaving him.

  You simply nodded, still smiling so kindly as waited for him to ask.

  “Why are you so… interested in mutants? You seem to know a lot,” 

  It was a harsh question - incredibly straightforward and blunt, just as he was - but you seemed to take it in stride, simply rubbing your chin as your gaze went upwards in thought. Logan decided he liked the way you looked when you were pondering something; it reminded him of something, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

“Well, my interest started primarily because I had a mutant friend when I was younger,” you admitted honestly, finally refocusing on him, “They taught me quite a lot - about the oppression and lack of rights - and after that I devoted time to learning as much as I could because I never wanted to make a mutant feel less than.”

  Your answer had Logan pause, his eyebrows near lifting to his hairline as he stared down at your seated form; that was not the answer he was prepared for. He was prepared for you to say something like ‘I wanted to learn about others,’ or, ‘Mutants are fascinating,’ not that you wanted to make them feel equal. The thought had a slight smile tug at his expression, the sincerity in your words ringing true even for him.

  “Bleeding heart, then,” He said with an amused huff, looking back down at the list in his hand before he gave you a slight nod, “Thank you. For the help.”

  Logan watched as you laughed softly, picking up your book and flipping to the page with your bookmark in it,

  “I’ll be here if you need more of it, sir.”

  The smile on his face widened slightly as he finally stepped away from your desk, his fingers brushing over the paper he held as he began to step towards the part of the library you’d indicated was where the books he needed would be.

  It was only when he found two of the books that he realized he didn’t have a library card. Fuck.

[thorias]

SEASON 2 WISH LIST:

-Madelyne is resurrected as a Horseman along with Gambit: I think there's a better story to tell with Madelyne being brought back (at least temporarily) than staying dead. The X-men having to fight her too would give Cyclops and Cable a more personal stake in this Apocalypse storyline, not that they really needed one, but still...

I said in another post that I wouldn't want to dilute the "Saving Gambit" story by making a bunch of other X-men Horsemen as well, but if it's just Madelyne, then I think it's okay. And I wouldn't expect Madelyne to survive this story anyway, since, aside from tying up a couple loose threads with the Summers family, her arc is basically finished now.

Plus, I just kind of like the idea of giving Deathbit a buddy in the spurned lover department; that could be fun.

-----

-Sabretooth returns. Logan (sans adamantium) has to fight him... and loses: I've always liked the idea that Sabretooth would probably beat Wolverine in a fair fight, (dude is like 3x Logan's size after all) but it's never been a fair fight since the adamantium basically made Logan unstoppable. But take the adamantium away and suddenly Wolverine is the underdog for a change, which makes the match-up a lot more interesting. And what's even the point of doing the bone claws story if it's not to see how Logan deals with being in a weakened state like this?

Granted, I want to see this for selfish reasons since Sabretooth is one of my favorite villains, but come on! Victor is long overdue for a W against Wolverine, and if he can't get it now, then I'm calling BS lol.

-----

-Mystique returns, working for Apocalypse: I think Demayo shot down the Val-Cooper-is-Mystique-in-disguise theory, (correct me if I'm wrong about that) but it would be pretty ridiculous if we didn't see her in season 2 since she worked with Apocalypse in XTAS on multiple occasions.

Plus, there's a ready-made story there with her and Rogue. In the 90s cartoon, Mystique wanted to get Rogue back as her daughter so badly that she was even willing to turn Rogue into a Horseman to do it. So just imagine if Mystique had a hand in convincing Apocalypse to resurrect Remy as Deathbit, or at least helped him pull it off, because she saw this as a way to get back into Rogue's good graces. That would add some really interesting pathos to a story that's already super emotionally charged.

-----

-Costume changes: I get that Marvel has toys to sell, but the different suits the team got in season 1 ain't it. Sorry, they're just not. The only one who pulled it off was Storm. Everyone else got a serious glow down. I actually felt low key embarrassed for Scott and Jean trying to make those retro costumes from the 60s/80s eras work; there's a reason those designs stayed in the past, you guys.

And I even like Rogue's green & white suit in the comics, but in the show it just looked awkward with the gloves being a different shade of green than the rest of it. I'd take just about any of her other costumes over this one.

Either change the suits again or go back to the old versions because I'm not feeling these current ones at all.

-----

-Magneto has a reunion with his kids... and it doesn't go the way he wants: We saw in the season 1 finale that Mags' separation from his children is something that's at least been bothering him, (though not enough for him to lift a finger to save them from being killed along with everyone else on Earth if he succeeded in destroying the planet's electromagnetic field, but I guess we're blaming that on bad writing) so I want him to meet his kids in season 2... only for it to go as horribly as it possibly could.

It would be both ironic and hilarious if Magneto is hoping to patch things up with his kids, only for Pietro and Lorna to try to fight and arrest him the instant they see him (X-Factor doesn't seem to be a thing anymore, but let's say they're still government employees and have the authority to arrest criminals/terrorists) because he did after all murder millions of innocent people with that EMP AND try to murder every other living thing on the planet, including them.

I mean, let's not kid ourselves, there's no way this family reunion is going to be a happy one after what he did. SOMEBODY has to hold Magneto accountable for that, and his own children doing it is about the most fitting thing that I can think of.

-----

-A big story arc for Gambit: Romy fans got gipped in season 1, and even if you're just a Gambit fan, you still had to settle for scraps with him only playing a major role in one episode, which coincidentally was the one where he got killed off. Yes, the stage is set for Deathbit to have a really compelling story in season 2, but that's going to depend on how it's done and frankly, after I got burned so many times in the first season, I'm skeptical that the writers will give this the care and attention it deserves.

Demayo said it was "key" that Remy died thinking he didn't deserve to be a hero and that Rogue had chosen Magneto instead of him. These things have gone unaddressed in the show since then, so I'm going to assume they're being saved for the Deathbit story and THE PAYOFF FOR THIS BETTER BE DAMN GOOD.

I want to see all of Remy's low self-esteem, self-loathing and resentment over the Rogneto debacle get twisted into a dark rage that Deathbit throws back in everyone's faces. AJ himself said that Remy didn't feel valued by the X-men or Rogue when he died, so use that! Make it part of the story! Make them own up to it. Force Rogue to confront her own feelings about how she handled that situation, (so far, she's been avoiding doing this) so it can factor into how they bring him back.

I know a lot of us assume that freeing Remy from Apocalypse's influence is going to come down to Rogue finally telling him that she loves him. And, yeah, that should be a big part of it, but it shouldn't be the only part. That's fine as far as Rogue is concerned, but Remy needs an arc too, and I just want it to be worth the wait after they put us through all this.

-----

-Deathbit vs Magneto: This needs to happen. Aside from the fact that Romy fans will have been clamoring for it for a long time, frankly, both characters are going to want it too. Mags will no doubt view Deathbit as the reason why he can't get Rogue back, and Deathbit... well, we all know what his reasons are; he'll likely want to take Magneto apart just for the pure satisfaction of it.

Now since Magneto's so OP, Gambit wouldn't stand much of a chance in a straight fight under normal conditions, but we know Apocalypse evolves/enhances mutants' powers when they become Horsemen, so imagine if he unlocked Gambit's Omega potential, so Remy has his New Son powers now, or at least a heightened version of what he had before. So Magneto goes in brimming with confidence that he's going to wipe the floor with his rival for Rogue's affections, but then in a shocking twist, Deathbit breaks out his newly enhanced power set and turns the tables on him.

Do I really want to see Mags get taken down a peg and humbled by Gambit? Sure. But narratively, this makes a ton of sense to do. Since Demayo loves Magneto so much, I highly doubt it will happen, (certainly not with this outcome at least) but I think it would be super satisfying for fans.

[stardustsides]

Love is a Beach

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Patton and Janus broke up months ago. The problem? They still haven’t told their friends, and their annual beach trip is looming. Not wanting to break the news and ruin the vacation, they come to an…unconventional agreement.

Word Count: 2597

Pairings: moceit, background prinxiety

Content Warnings: drinking, breakups, mild innuendo

Author’s Note: I finally wrote the fake-dating-exes “there’s only one bed” moceit fic I’ve been threatening you all with!! I tagged everyone who expressed interest in reading this when I posted about it months ago. This fic is loosely based off of the novel “Happy Place” by Emily Henry :)

~

Not for the first time, the rational part of Patton’s brain was telling him that this was a bad idea. He had known it since they cooked it up, but he guessed that it was one thing to talk about it and another entirely to put it into action. He stood in the driveway, holding a bag of pool noodles and feeling slightly nauseous.

The rush of blood in his ears nearly drowned out the familiar chatter of his friends: Logan reading their checklist aloud in his typical drone, the twins cracking jokes from the backseat, Virgil groaning and telling them to shut it, trying and failing to smother the grin on his face. It was a perfect tableau of the people he loved most in the world, who, under different circumstances, he would have been thrilled to spend the week on vacation with, as he was every year.

As Janus loaded the last of the bags into the trunk, Patton met his eyes, and looked away as quickly as he could, staring at the gravel by his feet. Off to a flying start.

Plastering a smile onto his face, he clapped his hands. “Everyone ready?” He asked cheerfully, plopping into the driver’s seat. “AYE AYE, CAPTAIN!” Roman and Remus crowed in unison, to which Logan rolled his eyes. Janus slid into the passenger’s seat next to him with the grace of a lethargic cat. Patton dutifully kept his eyes on the rear view mirror as he pulled out of the driveway.

“I’m trusting you on aux, Jan,” Roman called from the back. “You better not disappoint!” Roman was usually the DJ of their road trips, as he always called dibs on shotgun (“dibs” used loosely, as he’d fight anyone who dared take his place as the resident passenger princess), but he had graciously relinquished his seat to Janus for this particular trip.

In fact, all of them had been exceptionally kind to both him and Janus for the past few weeks; Virgil had dropped a homemade loaf of sourdough at his apartment last week, saying that he “made too much”; Logan had told Patton that he’d pay the gas bill that Patton’s minivan was racking up for this trip; and, of course, Roman wouldn’t hear a word against Patton and Janus taking the master bedroom in the beach house they were renting.

It would melt Patton’s heart if it didn’t make his stomach twist with guilt.

He knew exactly where it was all coming from: they were expecting a proposal soon.

When Patton and Janus had first started dating in junior year of college, they could sense the wariness in their friends; they had all been inseparable since they first met in freshman year, and their concern that it would ruin the group dynamic was palpable.

That had been six years ago, though, and it really had only brought them all closer together. Janus and Patton had earned the nicknames “Mom” and “Dad”, respectively, and the others had all delighted in the prospect of one day being uncles to their kids.

And so, six years on in their relationship, everyone was clearly trying to contain their excitement about the proposal that they knew had to be coming soon.

So no, they couldn’t just tell the others about the breakup.

When it happened two months ago, Patton had fretted for days over how to break the news. Their trip to the beach, which had been a yearly tradition since they were sophomores in college, was looming, and he couldn’t stand the thought of breaking their hearts. His own was shattered already.

So when Janus showed up to move his stuff out of their apartment and suggested that they not tell the others until after the trip, it seemed like the best course of action at the time.

Now, the reality of the situation was really settling in as he drove on the freeway. He was facing down a week of playing lovebirds with his ex-boyfriend, actively deceiving the people in his life who knew him best, so yeah, you could say his resolve weakened a bit.

“Just to confirm, to avoid any confusion,” Logan began for what had to have been the fifteenth time that week. “Patton and Janus will be staying in the master bedroom. Roman and Virgil will take the first guest room, and myself and Remus will be staying in the second one, correct?”

Patton caught Roman’s eye in the rear view and exchanged a wry glance. Logan was clearly reiterating the sleeping arrangements over and over again in a futile attempt to get out of staying with Remus. Based on the way that Virgil had flushed bright red when Roman declared that they could room together, though, Logan’s efforts were completely in vain. Patton smiled a little in spite of himself. Virgil’s massive crush on Roman was one of the worst-kept secrets in the group; everyone knew about it except, of course, Roman himself, who was almost impressively oblivious.

“Yep,” Roman replied. “That’s what we all agreed on two weeks ago, L.” Logan said nothing in response and turned to stare out the window.

Their planning day two weeks ago was the first time that Patton had seen Janus since he had moved out. It also served as their “test run” for their charade, and it was just about as soul-crushing as Patton was anticipating it would be. He sat as close to Janus as he could bear, and forced himself to keep smiling, even as Roman showed them pictures of the room that they’d be sharing—he wasn’t really paying attention, as he was too preoccupied with the proximity of Janus’ knee to his. A wisp of blond hair escaped from Janus’ bun, as it often did, and Patton fought the urge to tuck it back. Instead, he gulped down a glass of the wine Logan had brought a bit too eagerly and studiously ignored the look it got him from Janus, who had the audacity to look amused.

Easy-peasy, he thought to himself, desperately avoiding Janus’s gaze.

All he’d have to do is make it through the week. One week, and then they could drop the charade and stop the lying and nothing would ever be the same in the group again.

He’d poured himself another glass of wine.

“Are we almost there?” Remus whined from the back row of seats, jolting Patton back to the present.

“Still another hour or so, Ree,” he responded, glancing at the GPS. Remus let out an anguished groan.

“Would you like a book to pass the time?” Logan asked, reaching into the bag at his feet. Every year, they’d all place bets on how many books Logan would read on vacation. His record was currently sitting at twelve.

“I’d rather have my arm torn off by wolves, no offense.”

“You’re quiet, Janus,” Virgil remarked.

“Hm?” Janus said, jolting a little beside him. Patton gripped the steering wheel a little tighter, but it filled him with a grim satisfaction to know that at the very least, he was on edge too. “Oh, just lost in thought. I’m ready to get into bed.”

“I’ll bet,” Remus grinned devilishly.

“Shut up, Remus,” Virgil laughed, smacking his arm.

“Anyways, we’ll be there soon enough,” Patton said, hoping that the frantic pitch in his voice came across as embarrassment. He could feel the hot blush creeping across his face. “And I’ll make spaghetti once we get there!”

“You don’t have to do that,” Janus said, and Patton startled. “You just drove, the least we could do is cook dinner.”

“Oh,” Patton managed. “That’s alright, I really don’t mind.”

“I’ll order pizza,” he said decisively, and Patton felt a mix of annoyance and appreciation. He’s so thoughtful. He always had been.

“Okay, if that’s alright with everyone else,” he replied unsteadily. “Thanks, honey.”

The pet name was out before he could stop himself, a habit the product of six years together. He thanked his lucky stars that he was driving, so he wouldn’t have to look at Janus.

“Of course, dear.”

His face burned.

Easy-peasy.

~

The house was stupidly perfect. Nestled in the heart of a picturesque beach town, it stood behind a picket fence, with white shutters and blue trim, framed by yellow rose bushes. It looked exactly like the kind of house he and Janus had always talked about moving to once they got married, and Patton’s heart gave another painful twist.

Everyone clambered out of the car, Remus darting forward to unlock the front door, everyone else grabbing their luggage. Patton breathed in the sea air and tried to steady himself.

The interior was just as lovely as the outside; light blue wood paneled walls decorated with paintings of the beach, with a pristine white couch that Patton had no doubt somebody would spill some brightly colored beverage on by the end of the week. Roman was breezing from room to room, showing everyone around, clearly quite pleased with himself for being the one to pick out their lodgings.

“You can choose which bed you want, I don’t mind either way,” he was saying to Virgil, their luggage piled in the center of their room.

“The place is beautiful, Ro!” Patton exclaimed as he poked his head through the doorway. Roman swelled with pride.

“Wait until you see your room! Here, lemme show you—it’s the one upstairs, at the end of the hall!”

“There’s an upstairs?” Patton asked, unable to hide the surprise in his voice.

“Yep! You and Janus will have the floor all to yourself,” Roman said, throwing a playful wink at him. Patton hoped that the giggle he forced out was convincing. “Here, let me help you get your stuff upstairs.”

They trudged to the top of the stairs, bags in tow. As Roman pushed open the door to the room at the top, clearly awaiting his reaction, Patton schooled his features into what he hoped resembled joy.

The room was lovely. There was a seafoam green loveseat in the corner, a big window thrown open to reveal a clear view of the bay on the far side, white linen curtains dancing in the light breeze, and in the middle, of course, there was a plush king sized bed, covered in throw pillows shaped like seashells.

He had known that there would only be one bed. Obviously there would only be one bed. It was the master bedroom and him and Janus had been together for six years, of course they’d be sharing a bed.

But knowing that beforehand and seeing the bed in person were two entirely different things.

“Oh, Ro,” he managed. “It’s…it’s lovely. Thank you.”

Janus appeared in the doorway behind Roman, holding his own luggage.

“Of course, Pat,” Roman said, squeezing his hand. “I knew you’d love it. I’ll let you two get settled!” And with that, he slipped out, shutting the door behind him with a decisive click.

The silence stretched out, filling the room. It dawned on Patton that this was their first moment alone together in months. He felt uncomfortably warm. Finally, as the silence threatened to swallow them whole, Janus huffed. “You,” he began, “are a terrible actor.”

Patton opened his mouth and closed it. There was so much to say, and yet he could find no words at all. The tension was unbearable. He wanted to take Janus’s face in his hands, to search his gaze until he could fix whatever had broken between them. Instead, he pursed his lips and turned away, hoping that Janus wouldn’t hear the waver in his voice. “You knew that already.”

“I did,” Janus responded.

Patton cleared his throat. “There’s only one bed.”

“I’ve noticed.” Patton hated how utterly unbothered he sounded. So calm, cool, and collected while Patton was unraveling at the seams. As if six years down the drain meant nothing to him.

He made a frustrated noise in the back of his throat. “So…?”

“So?” He could hear the edges of amusement creep into Janus’ voice, and his face burned.

“So, what do you want to do about it?”

Janus sighed. “I could sleep on the floor, if you want.”

“What? No! You—I wouldn’t make you do that!” He stammered out.

“I know you wouldn’t,” he said. “But I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“You sleeping on the floor for a week because of me would make me uncomfortable, Janus,” Patton shot back. “Please, let’s just—it’s fine. It’s a big bed, and it’s only a week.”

Janus was silent for a moment, staring at him. Patton tried not to squirm under his gaze.

“Fine. If that’s what you want,” he said finally.

“It is,” he responded, certain that his face was spectacularly red. “Um. I’m going to—grab my things.” He headed for the door.

Janus raised an eyebrow towards his luggage already piled in the doorway but said nothing.

He flew down the stairs, cheeks on fire, and into the kitchen, where Virgil was busy unpacking the food for the week.

“Oh, hey,” he said.

“Hi,” Patton responded, unsure why he was already so out of breath. “Um. I’ll cook tonight.”

“I thought we were ordering pizza, like Jan said?”

“I know, I know, I just—have a lot of energy right now, I want to keep myself busy.”

Virgil raised his eyebrows. “Uh, alright. Everything okay?”

“Yep!” he said, wincing at the strain in his voice. “I just had too much coffee this morning before the drive, so. You know.” Terrible actor, indeed.

Virgil looked unconvinced. “Okay, if you’re sure. Just, uh—take it easy, alright? It’s supposed to be a vacation.”

“Says you,” he said, grinning a little and poking Virgil’s arm. Virgil rolled his eyes.

“This isn’t about me.”

“It is now!” Virgil huffed.

“Just…take care of yourself, okay?” he asked, his voice softening a bit, hints of real concern in his eyes. “You’ve been a little…uh, off, lately—“

“Off?” Patton’s stomach twisted.

“Not off,” he amended. “Just…tightly wound? And, y’know, I get why, but—“

“What?” He asked, panicked. If Virgil already knew…

Virgil looked abjectly confused, holding up his hands. “Just, y’know…” he lowered his voice a little bit. “The proposal?”

Oh. Yeah. That made more sense. It did nothing to ease his nerves, though.

“Right,” he choked out. Virgil stared at him for a long moment, his eyes searching his face. Finally, he looked away, sighing.

“All I wanted to say was that I want you to take care of yourself. It’s a vacation, and none of us want you to spend it working yourself to the bone for our sake.”

“Yeah,” he said quietly. “Yeah, I know, Virge. Thanks.”

“‘Course,” he said resignedly, awkwardly tapping his fingers against the countertop. There was an uncertain air between them, and Patton did his best to ignore it. He couldn’t have Virgil worrying about him—he wouldn’t have it. Otherwise, what was this whole charade even for?

He helped Virgil unpack the rest of the food, trying his best to diffuse the tension between them. He couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief when Virgil finally retreated into his room, resting his face in his hands.

He shouldn’t have come here. He should have pretended he had the flu, or told them that his apartment was robbed, or that his dog had gotten into chemical waste and was now a mutant wreaking havoc on the city, or—or something.

But then, that wouldn’t have really done anything—the others would have just rescheduled the trip for him, and then he’d have felt doubly bad.

He glanced at the clock, blinking green above the oven, sighed, and uncorked a bottle of wine.

Whatever happened tonight, at least he wouldn’t be sober for it.

~

Taglist (let me know if you want to be removed!)

@moceit @lily-janus @instantromannoodles

@bluejay-of-the-west @scare-amor @harmonialcollisions @emoprincey @dragonboots @just-my-interpretation @spicycreativity @infawrit10 @emophoenixreborn @6-paris-6 @thedeadandthedecaying @red-imeanblue

[glai1023-blog]

What I thought happened to the Carlos Sainz contract saga (I am not an insider I am just speculating based on the timeline and whatever comes out officially and unofficially) If you don't agree, dont come after me, make your own possible scenario. I'm just a bored F1 fan who has trouble falling asleep and making speculations to pass time:

--2023 Ferrari start contract talks with both Charles and Carlos since both of them have their contracts ending on 2024, they plan on announcing the renewal simultaneously probably in Monza (home ground and all that)

--obviously Charles gets offered a multi-year because I think he has a great management team around him and because he is Ferrari's golden boy, Mr. Todt of course secured a contract favorable for Charles because although he looks like a meek boy I think he is a very ruthless businessman and truly has Charles back, also after the 2022 debacle I think Ferrari wants to get back to Charles good graces. They probabaly just said yes to most of his demands.

-- Carlos gets offered a 1+1 contract which his team countered offer, I dont know how good a negotiator his cousin is but I guess talks slowed down because neither party is willing to back down so announcement gets delayed

--somewhere along negotiation with the Sainz camp, Lewis is reaching his limit with Merc and probably sent a feeler to other teams

--since talks with Carlos' management is going nowhere still, Elkann decides to try his luck with Lewis after discovering he is open to switching teams

--Lewis hits a breaking point with Merc and starts serious talks with Ferrari. Feeling things may be getting clearer with Lewis, Ferrari may or may not have tried to give a final push to Carlos with the 1+1 offer which his camp probably still didn't like and counter offered.

--Ferrari decides to announce the solo multi-year (I still hate Ferrari for making this a thing and not saying the actual numbers) contract renewal of Charles

--Ferrari decides not to renew Carlos' contract. Elkann & Vasseur decides to go full battle gear, all hands on deck negotiations with Lewis which he obviously appreciates and accepted.

--Lewis probably (ehem definitely) signed with Ferrari without giving a heads up to Toto. Ferrari was not planning on announcing Lewis' move the way it came out and it probably (ehem definitely) is leaked by Toto when Lewis informed him after the fact.

--Carlos, now seatless for 2025 gets a lucrative offer from Audi, he is not sure he wants to take his chances with a new team on the grid and decides to try with Redbull and Merc first which kept Audi hanging (I'm not sure how they really felt about that, but since they keep saying very PR friendly statement to the press about Carlos' situation with them lets just say they really want him in their line up)

--Redbull is not going to sign Carlos, there were definitely talks but I dont think Christian likes him that much (that guy has a hard on for Ricciardo) . Merc... merc is in a limbo (like their car) after Lewis drops them a bomb and now they dont know if they should take an early gamble with Kimi or sign a more seasoned driver first 'til Kimi is F1 ready, so they offer Carlos a 1 year (to keep an option open for Kimi) which obviously Sainz camp didn't like.

--So now, Carlos ends up having to choose between accepting the Audi offer (if they still have that offer on the table since Carlos kept them waiting for quite a while) and apparently the Williams seat, because I think its pretty obvious they are not keeping Logan.

And that's how I think it all went down 😂

Can we sleep now, brain?

[surenschompychompers]

My Asexual Headcanons

Cassandra Cain from DC (sorry StephCass lovers, my girl is aroace to me) 

Jason Todd, also from DC (I was very happy to see this is somewhat common!)

Jason Grace, from Heroes of Olympus by Rick Riordan (@puzzled-pegasus thank you for opening my eyes ironically enough lol)

Stereotypical Barbie from Barbie (*chanting* aroace aroace aroace) 

Logan Sanders from Sanders Sides (it just makes sense for his role)

S'chn T'gai Skon from Star Trek (as I said yesterday; excuse him from the family sluttery, leave him to his books and romanticism in peace) 

Suwa from Namaikizakari (HE IS PRACTICALLY CANONICALLY ASEXUAL THERE'S NO TWO WAYS ABOUT IT but technically the word isn't used? At least in the translation I read? So I guess he goes here lol)

[nyxnightshade7656]

First X-Men fic idea?

I had this idea, and I'm not sure I wanna really go further with it. But here's a little peak, I guess? Be brutally honest, should I just scrap it and leave it to someone more talented? Preview under the cut.

She looked around the hallway to make sure she was alone and would have ample time to accomplish her goal. When she saw that the coast was clear, she made a mad dash for her target. She very carefully shut the door behind her before she spotted her target. Storm’s bed. With no fanfare, she placed a handmade, crocheted, stuffed kitten on Storm’s bed. The yarn it was made out of was soft and fluffy, as well as easily washable and durable. She had picked out colors to reflect Storm’s X-Man uniform, but had given the stuffed kitten bright blue eyes to match Storm’s.

Once the precious cargo was delivered, she darted from the scene of the crime. She hid in the library for a while, before she made her way to the common area. As she crossed the threshold from the hallway into the room proper, she paused.

“It seems I have been graced by our reverse thief as well.” Storm’s voice was full of warmth and amusement. It made her heart flutter with joy and a smidge of pride.

“Oh? What did you get?” Instead of answering, Storm held up the little kitten that had been stealthily delivered.

“Someone is puttin’ an awful lotta effort into this, ain’t they? Jean gets a phoenix, Logan got a wolf, Cyclops got a labrador, Hank got owl, Kurt got racoon, I got a tiger, and the professor got an elephant. Why ain’t they tryin’ ta take credit for this?” Rogue’s voice sounded both appreciative and annoyed. Clearly, Rogue didn’t like not knowing who was sneaking the handmade gifts into their rooms.

[skeletinmoss]

The curse of the dark Phoenix

Chapter 3: Mage from a box

First | Previous | Next

The three great mages turned around. Nervous, shocked, curious.

They found that the room behind them was now filled with miniature stars, lighting the place up.

Allowing them to get a proper look at the figure.

It was a man. Pale with ravel black hair falling to his shoulders, shining with pops of teal and purple in the light, bringing out his amethyst colored eyes that were accented with dark shadow underneath.

He had a patch of facial hair just on his chin making him look more mature.

From his ears dangled golden earrings.

And he was dressed as though he was expected to meet the king. He was wearing a black, billowing shirt and a purple shoulder piece with a high collar and tulle over sleaves. The shoulder piece was adorned with golden detailing on the edge of the collar. And solid golden emblems on both arms and across the sternum. The detailing depicting wings and feathers, with teal gemstones embedded in the designs.

The cuffs on the black shirt were teal colored and corset belt also both with golden embroidery.

The tight fitting pants were mostly black but with a line of golden detailing down the side that highlighted the silhouette. Paired with a pair of knee high boots with again golden detailing and a slight heel.

Everything about him said “this guy is a big deal,” except his expression.

He looked at them like he needed a nap.

“I guess I should properly thank you for letting me out,” the man mused a little awkwardly as he adjusted his cuffs and collar. “I owe you one…” he admitted, looking around the room a bit absentminded. “Though, mind telling me where I am? Last I remember I was at lake Estramos I think… This is nowhere near that, I know that much,” the man recalled.

“Who, who are you?” Logan asked absolutely shocked.

The man, who once was Storm, but probably wasn’t actually named Storm, rolled his eyes.

“Why bother hiding away V? You can’t help but outclass us, people are going to know you soon enough,” he said in a tone that implied he was mockingly quoting someone. “Gues not Jay,” he huffed.

The stranger turned to them and made a vague bowing gesture. “Virgil. If you want to be formal the title is Virgil, mage of the night flame, but please don’t,” the man, Virgil of the night flame explained.

Roman had heard the title ‘night flame’ before…

From the way Logan and Pat shifted he guessed it struck them as familiar too.

“You said Lake Estramos… That is on the other side of the country,” Patton offered.

“The other side… Not very specific, but never mind…” Virgil strode forward making the trio move to let him through. His clothes flowed along with his movements making them seem even more impossibly graceful. Roman could barely hear any sound from where his boots touched the hardwood floors. Again he felt like this man would not look out of place at a royal ball or any equally prestigious gathering.

Virgil leaned over the desk and looked out at the sky, it was cloudy.

“That won’t do,” he muttered absentmindedly, waving his hand and with a gleam of purple the clouds parted, leaving the mages behind him completely aghast.

Did that man just wave away the clouds as though it was a smudge on his mirror?

“Something is wrong with the stars…” Mage Virgil mused disturbed. “This doesn’t look right… This place is a mess. No self-respecting mage would let it get this bad. Even Remus would think this is too much of a dump… Fine,” Virgil huffed annoyed and next thing he was holding the box. The one with the dangerous ingredients in them. “Wait what are you…” Roman warned, but Virgil had already retrieved no less than three forbidden substances while grabbing a few less dangerous ones from his immediate surroundings and rubbed them together. “Can’t believe I gotta do this shit before a nap,” he grumbled and then his hand glowed again and there was an illusion of a different sky before him. The three mages had inched a bit closer to see what he was doing.

“Okay we’re off by a few degrees north…” the sky moved. “This should be it but the allignments don’t match… when do they match,” Virgil muttered. “It’s summer so maybe just…” another shift in the illusory constellations. “No that’s not right either.”

“Ahm, the arch mage disappeared thirty years ago,” Patton offered helpfully, blushing bright red as the fact that he’d been baby talking this man started to settle in.

Virgil cursed under his breath. “Three decades? Frick where are those idiots? No way they wouldn’t notice I was gone for that long…” The fake sky changed, constellations shifting slowly. “No still not right…” Virgil muttered. Just a touch of concern in his voice. “Four? No… The frick… Fifty years…” The illusory sky stopped moving and Roman saw that the fake stars matched the real stars perfectly now. “Okay, that’s a long ass time. What the fuck did I miss…?” the mysterious mage wondered frustrated, waving the illusion away and turning around to pace with that unearthly grace.

“No chance Jay and Re would forget about me for fifty years. Maybe they wouldn’t question me avoiding people for a year or two but I’d still check in. They know that…” he muttered.

“Ahm… Sir,” Logan said.

Virgil stopped and looked up. “Just Virgil is fine. We’re all mages here,” he assured Logan.

The trio exchanged a look. They hadn’t seen too much of this man’s power yet, but they had felt it when he passed them. They were definitely not the same.

“Virgil,” Logan allowed. Deciding not to argue decorum with the clearly more powerful person in the room. He’d just used three different forbidden herbs to check a fancy calendar and didn’t even seem a little affected.

“Fifty years ago the black magic plague happened. Many powerful mages fell victim… Even if your friends escaped it, it has been fifty years…” Logan explained delicately.

Or as delicately as you can tell a man that everyone he knew is probably dead or close to it.

He looked to be in his late twenties, maybe early thirties if he’d aged very favorably.

Virgil frowned. “What nonsense is that?” he scoffed. “First of all, they aren’t very easily killed, especially by something mundane like old age. I’m pretty sure I got stabbed in the back before I ended up here… It feels like I got stabbed at least…” Virgil frowned, looking properly disturbed by something. Then he shook his head and got back to the topic at hand. And his pacing.

Every time he turned his hair and clothes swished in mesmerizing ways Roman found.

“In any case. Stabbing in the back didn’t do the job, clearly, and my friends have survived worse than that. And a black magic plague? Not a chance. Even if it was a thing, which any mage worth their robes should know it isn’t, J and Re wouldn’t be so lame as to catch it. They’d be offended at the suggestion. No… Something happened. Like me ending up here fifty years later… Where did you find me?” Virgil asked stopping abruptly and looking at them.

“Um there was a box on the desk… it was chained up,” Roman offered.

Virgil looked back at him, fully focused on him for the first time since he took human form. Which meant that Roman had to acknowledge a few things. This man was dangerously powerful, potentially evil (even if he didn’t know about the forbidden herbs thing, something had caused him to be locked in that box and while Roman’s gut told him he wasn’t bad, the judge was still out on that one) and very, very hot. He was too gay for this.

Virgil cocked his head, pensive. “You mentioned a box earlier. You think it had a hiding spot underneath a desk but was left behind out of its usual place,” he recalled. Roman nodded nervously, having a hard time speaking when those eyes were staring down into his soul.

Virgil cocked his head, nodded, took a deep breath and relaxed his posture a bit before addressing them again. “No need to be scared…” he promised. “Let’s take a step back. Hi, once again. Call me Virgil. And you three are?” the mage offered, sounding softer than before.

“Ah, Patton, martial crafter,” Patton offered. Virgil nodded, not as surprised as people usually were when he said that.

“Logan, I am the diviner of the group,” he offered. Virgil’s eyes drifted to the books bound on Logan’s hips, seemingly skeptical.

“And ah, Roman. Herbalist, medic…” Roman offered, again Virgil wasn’t surprised, but he’d seen Roman in action so that made sense.

“The stone… Did you figure what it was yet?” he asked instead, surprising Roman.

“Um… Logan is more the identify the things guy…” Roman smiled a bit uncomfortably at being put in the spot like that. How did he even know he’d been meditating on that?

“Try anyway,” Virgil instructed, eying him with curiosity and patience.

Roman frowned but retrieved the stone from where he’d dropped it when the whole ‘the phoenix is actually a person’ drama started.

“Okay…” he muttered holding the stone, feeling it the way he’d been doing earlier. He felt that magic again, the impatience…

“Don’t fight against it,” Virgil said, suddenly besides him, but Roman wasn’t scared. He didn’t feel like Virgil was trying to do anything bad, rather trying to help.

“Trust your magic, let it flow. You are a Great Mage, you have opened the path of your mana and connected to the magical flow on a deeper level. Trust that connection you worked so hard for. Don’t overthink it,” Virgil insisted.

Roman nodded, a bit flustered at having the attractive mage hold an unprompted tutoring session standing right behind him.

Roman tried to do what he was told. He took a breath and let his magic seep through his fingers into the stone. It was fuzzy at first. Like a room full of people talking in a strange language. And suddenly it came to him. “It’s a variation on a sending stone, but this one only listens,” he realized.

“An eavesdropping stone if you will,” Virgil nodded, not surprised. “Something like that could definitely come in handy if you want to get the jump on a mage who’s traveling…” Virgil mused.

“You are not suggesting the arch mage did this to you,” Logan chided.

Virgil shook his head. “Not a clue who he is so I wouldn’t know if he’d care enough about my existence to bother. It’s possible he did get the jump on the guy who got to me and took the box I was in and this stone from him. I’m not jumping to conclusions any time soon,” Virgil assured them.

That was a comfort for the group. They weren’t sure if they could handle this mage deciding to take revenge on the mage. He might beat them to his location. If he was alive to begin with, they wouldn’t be able to protect him.

Virgil didn’t seem to notice their relief or at least not care about it. He turned his attention to Logan.

“But that brings me to you glasses. What’s with all the books?” Virgil challenged.

Logan’s hands reached for his most prized possessions. “Spellbooks. For divination,” he explained confused.

Virgil scoffed. “You are a Great Mage too right? You should’ve left books behind when you went from wizard to mage,” he pointed out.

“Well… Typically, yeah,” Logan admitted a little flushed. “But divination is tricky and can be overwhelming and I just…”

Virgil disappeared from Roman’s side and appeared on Logan’s, making the mage jump.

“Relax nerd. Did you or did you not make it to Great Mage?” Virgil asked.

“I… How do you even know? We never mentioned our rank,” Logan pointed out defensively.

“Despite the fact that you guys are half-assing your spells you mean? I can tell you made the connection. Even in my guidance form I could tell. You guys were born under some seriously generous stars by the way. I don’t know how your teachers fucked up your lessons so bad,” Virgil explained.

“Now, Like I told Roman, don’t overthink it. I can tell that might be something you have a harder time with than your friends. I’ve been there with some of the more complicated stuff too. But your magic is there to help you, not hurt you. Close your eyes, focus on a question, just one, and let your magic find the answers,” Virgil said lowly.

Roman couldn’t quite help the sting of disappointment when he realized that Virgil had not singled him out but was apparently giving pointers to everyone.

“Something simple, like the weather for tomorrow, or just what’s up with the scroll in your hand,” Virgil stated. “Do you have your question?” he asked.

Logan hesitated but nodded.

“Okay, open your eyes, and remember, focus,” Virgil said.

Logan took a deep breath and opened his eyes.

And collapsed with a scream of pain.

“Hey, what did I say? Focus. One thing,” the purple clad mage said as he knelt down and laid his hands on Logan’s shoulder.

“I can’t, too many questions,” Logan gasped, clasping his head.

“Deep breaths. Focus on my voice for now okay? Maybe a busy room like this wasn’t the greatest place to do this exercise,” Virgil allowed.

“I would suggest practicing it a bit more when you are out of here. Maybe on some things you know the answers to already. I had a classmate who was a little wanna-know-it-all and couldn’t pick questions easily and this method seemed to help them,” he told Logan.

Logan took a few breaths and then nodded, indicating he was alright.

Virgil rose to his feet and turned to Patton who let out a squeak.

“I saw you use magic to open that chest earlier,” Virgil stated pointing to one of the chests Patton had explored after dinner. “Your form was excellent. A little immature maybe but that doesn’t affect your spell casting. What you lack is Instinct.

If you are a fighter class mage then you should asses any obstacle, whether it’s a locked chest or a stranger, in an instant. You have it down pretty alright with objects from what I saw, but you are clearly not trusting your gut when it comes to people. You can’t protect anyone if you don’t know how the threat measures up against the abilities of your group.

You can’t be sure if someone is a threat if you are not willing to believe someone could be a bad person. Don’t get me wrong, being optimistic about people and junk is not a flaw. But you have to be willing to accept that I might be a threat in order for your magic to tell you whether you should be worried about me. You might actually end up liking the answer.”

Patton fidgeted flustered.

“Do you really want to be too late to react if I end up trying to harm Roman?” Virgil asked.

Patton’s eyes widened and he shook his head.

“Then believe that I might. Let your gut tell you if I will,” the mage from the box insisted.

Patton took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Roman’s eyes widened as he saw his friend glow blue for a moment. Patton shivered and then relaxed.

“I… I think you could. But I don’t feel like you want to harm us,” he said.

“Good job,” Virgil nodded. “This should have been lesson one after becoming a mage. And it should have been part of the theoretic studies during your wizard training. Seriously what happened to all the decent teachers at the academy the past 50 years?” The mage huffed.

The trio exchanged some looks. This man wasn’t making any sense, but he had offered them help without any prompting from them or asking something in return… Roman really didn’t know what to make of him. Was he crazy, brilliant, good or bad?

Logan looked at Virgil, studying him and his eyes glowed blue. “Wait… Now I know where I heard your title before… You are the mage from the stories of old! The one who tamed the stars!” Logan exclaimed. And just like that the stories came rushing back to Roman.

“Oh! I remember!” Patton exclaimed. “The story said your house is so full of spirits it’s practically alive,” he pointed out.

“And that you laughed in death’s face!” Roman added wide eyed.

Virgil rolled his eyes. “That’s all a little exaggerated, but I guess that would be me,” he huffed reluctantly.

“But… Are you sure it was only 50 years sir?- I mean Virgil,” Roman corrected when he saw Virgil’s warning look. “Because you played a pivotal role in the founding of my grandfather’s home town… And they are celebrating their 100th jubilee next fall,” he continued confused.

“Oh. Your gramps is from Sanlow? Small world. I was at the 50 year jubilee, they know how to throw a party. I might pop by for the 100th if I’ve figured out who put me in a box and where they put my friends by then…” Virgil chuckled. “Guess they’d be surprised to see me,” he smiled a little fondly.

Well, he was the guy… But how did he not look like he’d been at least seventy when he went in the box…

The group exchanged looks again. Wondering if it was wise to ask.

“Anyway, if you four will give me an hour for a powernap,” Virgil said as stretched himself.

“I have more questions before I can get started on finding my friends and I guess I’ll answer a few in return, plus there is that favor so we should make sure you guys can cash it in. But before any of that, I really need to recharge. See you,” he bid before heading for the stairs.

“You can’t sleep in The Arch Mage’s bed!” Logan exclaimed, his voice skipping an octave in indignation.

Virgil turned. “I wasn’t gonna. I’m not wasting magic on making a bed that’s been abandoned for 30 years passable. I just need a bit of free floor, which I don’t have much of here especially if you three are gonna keep doing whatever it is you were here for while I nap.

You are gonna have to tell me who this guy is when I get back by the way,” he said dismissively before making his way down the stairs.

“That… That was a lot,” Roman mused, looking at the stone in his hand thoughtfully.

“I know you said he wasn’t intending on harming us Patton, but I still do not trust him. Whether on purpose or by ignorance, he seems to disregard all magical decorum and he is clearly insistent on making us do the same,” Logan huffed.

“But… He wasn’t wrong… his guidance helped,” Roman offered.

“This time. And it didn’t do me that much good. He got lucky with you two,” Logan insisted.

“What did you see that made you realize who he was?” Roman asked curiously.

Logan opened his mouth and then turned away flustered.

“Not… Not his past really. But I saw some of his spells… That’s when it clicked,” Logan admitted.

Roman looked around them, at the little lights floating in the air.

“Well, we might as well take the time we have to finish up here for the day. Maybe think of what we can ask the High Mage later. Maybe he knows something that will help us, even if he doesn’t realize it yet. While he was locked up before the Plague and the Arch Mage became famous, he was clearly very active in the decades before. They might’ve crossed paths. He might know of a secondary home or something useful,” Roman suggested.

Logan and Patton nodded. Though Logan still seemed a bit put off by his experience.

Roman knew his friend. He was likely torn between blaming Virgil and feeling like he was lacking in talent himself to not get it ‘right’ the way Roman and Patton had.

He understood why Logan was apprehensive of the man. Part of Roman was also scared of him and his casual attitude towards dangerous things.

But he couldn’t help but feel like the powerful man was sincere in his gratitude and helpful intent.

The medic shook his head and turned to the piles of items. Best figure out what might be useful later and compile it. Tomorrow they had to have some kind of clue.

[glamdringwlv]

-Get it on-

Maybe the worst Logan is not that bad.

Wolverine/Logan Howlett x female!OC a/n: Hi! This is my first work on this app and in English, which isn’t my first language. This idea has been in my mind since I saw the movie because this Logan has me on my knees for him. I hope you'll give it a chance. I'm using a oc female caracter bc I feel it that way. She has powers, so she is a mutant. And I took several liberties to make the shot and it probably has some mistakes but I wanted to write something cute for Logan. Thanks Warnings: Suggestive lenguage, Deadpool and Wolverine spoilers, a bit of angst, foul language, mentions of alcohol, cursing, my bad english.

Summary: Grace Green has been waiting for her Logan to show up for so long that she’s losing her mind. But when it seems he’s finally appeared, it turns out to be the worst one.

+++

Wade tries to stifle a surprised squeal, but fails and quickly turns toward his companion.

"Well, pluck out my eyes and call me Al. It’s her, Logan. It’s her."

Logan doesn’t seem fazed, but when Grace sees him, she can’t help but run toward him, ignoring the stares from the others. From the mercenary's perspective, everything happens in slow motion, like in those cheesy romantic movies he secretly loved.

Her arms wrap around his neck, and Logan instinctively grabs her waist, not letting go of the bottle in his hand. Their lips crash together in a rough kiss, and the X-Men sighs happily, unable to suppress a silly smile as the kiss continues.

The others watch the scene with satisfaction, glad that the girl's endless misery-filled speeches have finally come to an end.

"Alright, folks, I think we’ve had enough cocaine jokes. No need to push Disney’s patience any further." Wade nudges Logan’s shoulder, to which he responds with a deep growl, tightening his hold on Grace. "Did you just growl at me? You're such an animal."

It’s Grace who pulls back, placing her hands on the mutant's chest, hardly believing he’s there with her.

"Why do you taste like rubbing alcohol?"

"Because our big guy here downed a bottle of ethanol and some hawk-eye whiskey. Tell ‘em, big man."

"My name’s Gambit."

"Sure, whatever."

Grace seems dazed but can’t hide how happy she is.

"God, Lo. I’ve missed you so much. This whole place is filled with Deadpools, but no Wolverines. I was losing hope of ever seeing my Logan again."

"My Logan?" Grace didn’t like the sound of that. She takes a few steps back, needing the distance to get some perspective.

"Oh ho ho, you have no idea who she is, do you, you bastard?" Wade’s voice confirms Grace's suspicions, but it’s Logan’s expression that assures him.

"God, I just kissed some random Wolverine…" Grace puts a hand to her forehead, her features twisted in anguish.

"He’s not just any Wolverine, he’s the worst one. But I guess we have to make do—"

"Shut up, Wade!" Grace sends a blast of power that flings him across the room.

"You know me?! Damn, the freaking best X-Man on the planet knows my name!"

"You," Grace steps up to Logan, jabbing her finger into his chest with more force than the mutant expected, "if you didn’t know me, why’d you follow along with the kiss?"

He lowers his head threateningly, getting on her level as if contemplating kissing her again.

"I’d be crazy to refuse a kiss from a woman like you, wouldn’t I? Besides, shouldn’t you have made sure who I was before throwing yourself into my arms?"

She huffs and shakes her head, not putting any distance between them.

"You really are the worst. I kissed you because you’re wearing the same suit as my Logan. I assumed you were him. But don’t you dare twist this around like it’s my fault."

"Guys, we’re in a time where people don’t belong to other people. Come on, be a little more open-minded."

"Shut the hell up!" they both shout simultaneously.

"See? You’re perfect for each other."

"Wade, I swear I’ll rip out your tongue and shove it up your ass, and I’ll savor every second it takes you to regenerate it, ‘cause they’ll be the best moments of my life."

She starts walking towards him, drawing two batons from the sheaths at her hips, stopping dangerously close. Wade stares at her, petrified, finally left speechless.

"Are those Daredevil's freaking batons?"

"God!" She extends a hand and hurls him into Logan, sending them both crashing into the far wall.

"What the hell?" Logan kicks Wade off him and stands up, discovering the bottle he’d been holding had shattered from the impact. The room fills with the sound of claws unsheathing.

The others enjoy the show, not wanting to get in Grace's way. They’d already learned the hard way that it wasn’t ideal.

"Logan, I don’t know how my variant is in your universe, but I’m much stronger than you. Don’t even try."

Wolverine bares his teeth like a wild beast. Maybe he was wrong. He leans forward, claws ready, prepared to charge at her. She can see how he’s healing from the wounds caused by crashing into various things in the room, which only enrages him more.

"Poor big kitty, did you get hurt, little claws?"

"Call me that again, and I swear I’ll—"

Before he can do anything, Deadpool steps between them.

"Guys, as much as I think this would totally turn me on, I can’t let you kill each other. Logan, this here is Grace Green, pretty much the only one who can put up with you and your soulmate in every timeline, I’d say." He turns to the girl. "I’m a huge fan of yours. But she’s also one of the strongest X-Men around. She could tear you apart if she wanted. We could really use her help."

"My soulmate?"

"That’s all you took from that?"

"Don’t listen to him, it’s just a figure of speech. But it’s true that I’m the only one who puts up with you, you’ve got a horrible temper, kitty claws."

"Stop calling me that, damn it. I’m not the asshole from your universe."

"Of course, you’re not, soft claws. My Logan would have torn you apart."

"Let him try."

"Actually, I thought Wolverines couldn’t age. I can’t believe I mistook you for him. What happened, Kitty? Not using enough coconut oil?"

"That’s it, I’m ripping out your throat in one move."

"Hey, Logan, no, stop. We need these people’s help, and you’re acting like a jerk."

"I don’t need anyone’s help."

"It’s impossible to leave this place, I’ve already tried. Cassandra can nullify my powers with a snap of her fingers."

"But you haven’t tried with us. Look, we’ve already been to her lair and—"

Elektra interrupts him.

"Wait, if these two clowns managed to get in and out alive, there might be a chance."

"YES! YES! Yes to everything."

"To what?"

"To you and me and you and everyone. To us, to being a team."

"You’re going to die."

"That’s not the attitude, Logan."

…

Grace had overheard the entire conversation between Laura and Logan. She knew eavesdropping was wrong, but she couldn’t help staying hidden when the X-Man's words broke her heart. She didn’t understand what had brought her there; her feet had just started moving towards him. When the girl disappeared, she approached him.

"I don’t want company, thanks." Logan's voice was still tinged with sadness and the effort it took not to cry. She felt something stir in her chest. She wanted to lift her hand and touch his hair, to use her powers to quiet whatever tormented him, even if just for a moment.

"Easy, Kitty, I come in peace. I bring an offering." She raised a bottle from Remy’s secret stash. It was her Logan’s favorite booze, so she hoped it was his too.

Logan raised an eyebrow, almost surprised to see one of his most common choices in the hand of the woman who had just sat beside him. He sighed and resigned himself to the nickname she had chosen for him. He accepted the gift and growled in gratitude. It was a start.

Silence enveloped them, but Grace was just grateful to be with Logan again. Even though her mind screamed that he wasn’t hers, her feelings overwhelmed her.

"You keep looking at me like that, princess."

She almost fainted at the nickname. She quickly looked at him, unable to take her eyes off his profile. That’s how Wolverine used to call her to irritate her sometimes. She let out a sigh.

"Like what?"

"Like you’re trying to see someone else. I’m not him. I’ll never be him."

Grace felt each word like a punch to the gut. She had fought against a lot of people and received some pretty nasty wounds, but this stung much more than any of them.

"I know." The words came out as a whisper, but she knew he could hear them. Tears began to fall down her cheek. "I didn’t get to say goodbye. It’s not like he’s dead or we broke up. I have no way to ease the loss I feel." Unconsciously, she started to fidget with the dog tags Logan had given her long ago, feeling more exhausted than ever. "And then you show up, wearing his suit and all his personality, his voice… For a moment, I felt like I was home again."

Logan’s hand shot out without thinking to grab her arm. Grace looked at him, her vision blurred with tears, her breath catching.

"Listen, I can’t replace him. Like I said, I’m not him."

"I’m not trying to replace him. I know you’re not him, but you remind me so much of everything I’ve lost. I guess I was just looking for something to hold onto, even if it’s just the ghost of what I had."

Logan’s defenses crumbled when he saw in her eyes a reflection of his own feelings. He slowly withdrew the hand that had tried to somehow anchor them both to reality.

"I don’t know you, Grace, but you’re stronger than you think. You don’t need to cling to any shadow to move forward. You’ve managed just fine in this hellhole."

The X-Men reflects on the words of this Wolverine, feeling relief for the first time in a long while. She had carried such a heavy burden all this time, one that had joined the endless void inside her, growing larger and larger. Hearing those words eased that feeling of anguish a bit. Wade had said this was the worst Wolverine, but she didn’t completely agree. She understood that this one carried an additional burden that dragged him down even more.

"I wish I could have said goodbye to my people, not just to Logan. The TVA wiped them all out when they pulled me from my timeline. I can’t help but think it’s my fault they’re gone. All I have left is this ridiculous lemon-yellow suit." In better spirits, she caught Logan’s attention by touching his arm. "I preferred the black one, didn’t you, Kitty?"

Logan growls in her direction, and she laughs with delight.

"The truth is, it suits you like a glove. You’ve always worn it with more dignity. Cyclops was jealous."

The comment seems to boost his ego, and he smirks.

"Cyclops, jealous? That idiot only has eyes for himself."

"Not when you steal the girl."

Logan looks at her seriously, processing what she just said.

"Were you Cyclops’ girlfriend?"

"Yeah, we entered the school together when we were kids, so we only had each other. When I was part of the teaching staff, I met Logan, and that bastard made me fall for him completely."

"How did he do it?"

"What?"

"Make you fall for him."

The mutant grinned widely and shook her head, amused.

"The truth is, he was a grump and a grouch. We didn’t get along very well. We just argued and fought a lot. But we eventually got along when we realized we were more alike than we thought. Logan had a hard time trusting others, and I had a hard time delegating to the team. Plus, he’d never admit it, but he fell for me first. Followed me around like I’d just discovered fire."

Logan nodded slowly, not doubting her last words. He was starting to understand why her Wolverine had fallen first.

"You could always try convincing that loudmouth Wade to take you with him to his timeline if you survive this suicide mission."

"Don’t you want to go back?"

"There’s nothing to go back to."

Shee remembered his conversation with Laura and wanted to return the favor by quieting his demons.

Shee stood up, took the bottle from his hands, and took a swig that made her close his eyes. God, it had been so long since she’d done this that she feared he might lose control completely. She looked down at him and saw fury cloud his gaze once more. Despite knowing it might cost her life, she did it anyway.

Grabbing his hands, she straddled his lap, her face inches from his. Despite the alcohol, he smelled like him—like Logan, like home. A shaky sigh escaped her lips as she heard him curse.

"Look, I’m flattered, and I’m going to regret saying this, but I don’t think this is what you want."

Grace understood where Logan’s train of thought was going when she felt something beneath her. She bit her lip to stifle the laughter that was about to escape her throat and looked seriously into his eyes.

"I think it’s something we both want, Logan. Since when are you such a gentleman?"

He seemed to be fighting an internal battle, but his hands quickly moved to grip her hips, pulling her closer to him, losing his composure.

"I’m trying not to be the worst Wolverine, but you’re not making it easy, sweetheart."

"Well, I thought you’d be happy to see me, Bub," she said, giving him a look that suggested exactly what the mutant was thinking, and she rolled her hips, making Wolverine growl. His grip on her hips tightened to stop her.

"You’re going to kill me, you know that," he said, she was marveled at the smug smile that transformed his features completely. She felt the need to kiss him, but she didn’t.

Logan was confused by the inevitable attraction he felt for her, as if she were made of some kind of magnet that irresistibly drew his adamantium skeleton. He had a fleeting thought that she was somehow made for him, even though moments ago they were about to kill each other. He remembered Wade’s words, and a sigh escaped his lips: She’s your soulmate.

Grace laughed, unaware of the battle the mutant was fighting. She raised her hands to cup both sides of his face and closed her eyes, comforted by his warmth. Maybe, if they made it out alive, she’d seriously consider the suggestion she was straddling.

"Well, Logan, be patient; it’s been a long time since I’ve done this."

She shifted in her seat, earning another muffled groan from him.

"I’m a bit out of practice too, but I’m sure we’ll figure out how to make it wor—" He suddenly stopped when he felt Grace’s presence in his mind, much more abrupt than he remembered Charles ever being. "What the hell?"

Grace navigated through Logan’s memories and found the place where he hid from all the pain. Still, she could hear everything that tormented and haunted him.

"Let me return the favor. Let me make you free for a moment, Logan."

Suddenly, everything went quiet in his head—the screams, the memories, everything that made him want to give up. He let out a satisfied sigh, feeling at peace. Besides pushing away the thoughts, Grace had poured a thousand emotions into him, serving as a balm for his torments. He could feel all the love the girl held inside, the joy, and the hope.

He let his head drop until their foreheads rested together. Grace used the moment to comfort herself one last time with the presence of the person she had loved the most. On the other hand, Logan reveled in the feeling of not having the weight on his shoulders, grateful for the favor.

"Thank you for giving me this moment, Logan. It’s the best thing I’ve had in a long time."

Logan couldn’t speak. He was so overwhelmed with happiness that he felt overpowered, in a good way. He just nodded slowly.

"When Logan had nightmares, I used to keep them away so he could sleep. Why don’t you do the same, big guy? You look tired."

He nodded again as she got up from his lap and helped him lie down. As she was about to leave, Logan’s hand closed around her wrist like a shackle, stopping her. He needed her, her company, and he felt that she needed him too.

"You could stay. If you want."

Without responding, she nodded too, lying down beside him and stroking his hair until his breathing became deep. She watched as, with his relaxed face, he looked even more like her Logan.

"Goodbye, Logan," she whispered before falling completely asleep, comforted by the warmth that made her feel at home for the last time.

[cluzi]

I became a Roman Roy girl the very moment he realized he accidentally sent his father a dick pic.

Like, you know Kieran's face in that moment right? I think I paused it and stood there with utter disbelief and amusement and a remote distress for this absolute mess of a man who thought he had, just seconds before, finally earned his father's approval. That's where I thought idc I only root for this desperate dipshit from now on. And I felt so proud when he chose his sibilings over his father and tried to bring love into the conversation. It was a brave and eye-opening moment for him that afterwards led to the last voicemail and further on to the we're bullshit truth.

The whole season four felt like realizing we were collectively losing such a masterpiece forever and it took me a little bit to get over it when it ended. Like, you know the Will&Grace episode when Jack and Karen mourn over some TV show ending forever? Girl. SAME. That's why I'm still talking about it after months. There is still so much to unpack, and I think I particularly owe Roman for being the reason I started writing (and reading) FF again after years.

Writers are SO important in this dull world. It really really saddens me the way the industry treat them. Not even in a thousand years could I empathize with a man like Roman Roy in real life, yet it happened and happened again and I still wonder why. Why didn't I empathize with Shiv or Kendall's struggles, instead?

So that's what I understood, so far.

They were both driven by Logan's obsession with winning. One was promised the throne, the other was excluded from getting it. They were respectively all about I need to get what's mine by right and I need to prove I deserve it too. And then there was Roman, desperately longing for love to turn him into a man, like some Pinocchio bullshit. It's a bit hilarious, actually, but it made completely sense to me. That's why he was the only one getting physically and mentally out of it. And one may think it happened during the last fight, but I think he was out of there right after the funeral. What was his whole point, without Logan? In a sense, I find him a more tragic character than Shiv and Kendall: he's after something far more simple than glory and yet far more difficult. But the three of them together, rather than apart (I'm not forgetting Connor, he's the one actually winning at the end of the day), convey more than I can say. I understand their struggle more, if I see them as one.

I understand the eldest child struggle with being someone to be looked up to, I understand what it means to be the only daughter and I understand wanting nothing else but love. Three as one.

I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm grateful to Succession for giving me new words to understand myself as a daughter and sister, more.

And that they need to pay the fucking writers!!