#plus some additional scenes

[corishadowfang]

Why am I incapable of writing anything short.

[noirandchocolate]

Since it literally is (my) Master Kohga's Ascension Day today, thought I'd do up a headcanon post about this very important Yiga Clan celebration!

Ascension Day marks the day when the current Master officially took the position. It can be any day of the year, since of course a Master can die (or be ousted, rarely) any time and their Heir (or other successor) could complete their trials any time after that. Current Kohga's day being the first day of Spring in Hyrule is a pure coincidence. (I SWEAR I will tell my Hyrule calendar headcanons someday!)

It's called "Ascension" Day, and a new person taking up the mantle of Master is referred to as "ascending,” for the same reason the Master position is associated with firebirds as I've previously stated. The Clan practices cremation as a funerary rite and there is always a successor one way or another. From the ashes of one comes the next. (Kohga declaring "From my handsome ashes we will rise again!" when you defeat him in AoC and calling himself "The strong! The Depths-defying! From the ashes rising!" in TotK are allusions to this/the basis for this headcanon. He's so dramatic.)

This is THE event for the Clan every year. They have plenty of other festivals, to mark the seasons and for remembering ancestors for example, but Ascension Day is THE THING. Which means everybody's involved, everybody attends unless it's absolutely impossible (such as being on a mission where you literally cannot safely leave in time to get back to the Valley or be gone long enough to make the trip). It's not that you'll get in trouble for missing it or anything. It's just...it's very important to them.

The occasion begins in the late morning with a ceremony wherein the Master restates their oath to lead and protect their people, and everyone in their sixteenth year or older makes or remakes their own pledge to serve the Clan under the Master and work for the good and goals of the Yiga. There are also prayers to the ancestors for the health and well-being of the Master and the safety of the whole group. This is the serious part of the day.

Particularly on a brand-new Master's very first Ascension Day, where they actually become Master Kohga, this is a solemn rite. This is when the Heir/successor first dons their new uniform and trades their old mask for the Master's style. After this moment, their name is Master Kohga. They make their first oath, and take on all the responsibility and duty that being Master entails. And it marks the transfer of the other Yiga's loyalty onto this new individual. Plus, after all... As much as becoming Master is something to be proud of, this first day especially is a reminder of what is very very often the loss of a parent or other family member.

But then, once that serious part is over... It's time for a big celebration! THE BIGGEST part of which is...THE GLORIOUS PRESENTATION OF THE MASTER'S MIGHTY DEEDS!! This is a play! Commemorating--you guessed it--the current Master's great actions since their ascension! And also historic deeds of previous Masters Kohga! The particularly amazing stories get repeated a lot--at least one prior Master's scene is chosen to be performed each year, depending on how many very memorable things the current Master has done that need to be included. Always, all Masters being depicted are portrayed by the current one. (They play themself and any other Master, in other words, depending on the scene.)

A Master's first Ascension Day marks the final time an entire Presentation is done to specifically honor and feature their immediate predecessor. As in, when Best Guy Kohga ascended, he performed as his father, showcasing all Daddy Kohga's most important moments as Master, before switching to act as himself for the final scenes, depicting a montage of his own trials to take the reins of the Clan. Some of his dad's scenes might be chosen to be performed in the future, but that's the last time it was all about him. The same went for Dad portraying his mother at his own first Ascension Day, and Nana portraying her father. And on and on down the ages since this tradition of a Presentation began, several thousand years ago. This is, of course, a bittersweet and deeply meaningful thing for most new Masters, to have the honor of embodying their beloved family member (or friend or mentor, etc.) on stage.

The play features very dramatic and stylized acting, and big ornate over the top costumes. Some actors will magically disguise themselves as the characters they play, and are able to perform multiple roles in the same year very seamlessly using this technique. Others will use practical costuming and masks to become monsters and vivid makeup to enhance their Looks as various characters (to be seen well by the whole audience!).

(The Presentation is not quite in the exact same acting style as real-world kabuki theater, but the Clan having associations in their designs from this art form is the basis for this headcanon. The use of popular and famous scenes featuring favorite characters/dramatized people from history, and big roles being handed down through families, are also traditions in kabuki. However unlike in kabuki, participation isn't restricted to men and the acting is a bit more natural even if it is still pretty bombastic at times. Among other differences.)

The selection of scenes and writing of new ones is a job undertaken by the Clan's historians and chroniclers, who are responsible for keeping track of Masters' deeds as they occur, plus their mannerisms, personalities, and similar things that will help future actors to portray them. Of course, the Master themself will usually assist with developing new scenes. Current Kohga, being a rather theatrical and artsy guy, definitely gets involved with writing his own lines a lot. <3

The Presentation is performed outdoors, in the area by the chasm like most of the Clan's big festivals are, with a stage moved out in pieces and put together each year for the purpose. There are appropriate sets that can be quite impressive, from nature scenes to town streets to mountains etc.!

There are also big puppets used to portray larger monsters like Molduga--always a favorite target since slaying one solo is one of the trials to become Master--and creatures like dragons. Multiple people (often Blademasters for the largest of these) will work together to move these about the stage. Some of them are covered in paper and are lit up like lanterns from inside to create a glowing effect. The Yiga are quite good at special effects and illusions to really entertain!

The biggest and most impressive of these half-mechanical, half-lantern constructions is one portraying Calamity Ganon itself, which always makes an appearance amid sparkler fireworks and malice-colored fog. This is usually the very last scene in a year's Presentation, to end on a reaffirmation of the Clan's hopes that the monstrosity will destroy the Royal Family and kingdom, achieving the vengeance the Yiga have striven for. Of course, in my post-Calamity AoC-verse, at the first Ascension Day since the Clan abandoned and helped defeat Ganon...that scene was changed quite a bit to put it mildly.

Indeed, that special Ascension Day also marked the first time the Clan EVER opened its doors to a large group of outsiders, namely the Champions, Princess, their respective retinues, and some prominent Sheikah, and it was done to allow these people to view the Presentation and take part in the party times afterward. This was Sooga's idea, meant both as a gesture to augment trust from the Clan's new allies/trading partners, and as a demonstration that the Clan are a living, breathing culture unto themselves with a rich history and traditions. Kohga readily agreed, and also thought that perhaps bringing these people to the Complex would also help the Yiga, too, to accept the unprecedented alliance he'd forged beyond what was strictly necessary to defeat Ganon (which obviously went against a huge amount of what the Clan had always stood for--Koh was concerned that he'd be seen as a traitor by at least some of the Yiga/his ancestors despite his clear motive to keep everyone safer and avenge their fallen, but...his instincts proved correct and he's been almost universally lauded as a hero to his people for doing what he did).

That said, the Clan ended up having a lot of fun hosting and showing off with their pyrotechnics and spot-on impersonations of their most famous guests. Urbosa reportedly got a real kick out of seeing Kohga perform as an over-the-top version of herself in the scene depicting his Of Course Very Ingenious infiltration into Gerudo Town. The actors playing Link and Zelda were among the first to approach their characters' real-life counterparts after the show, too, and to invite them into a dancing circle...

Because post-Presentation, there's some time for cleanup and outfit changes before a HUGE PARTY commences back outside! Food! Dancing! Music (often led by Kohga on two shamisen if he's feeling feisty)! A bonfire! Poetry competitions! Drinking! Games! (Yeah you might remember this sounding similar to my post about the after-party at marriage ceremonies...the Clan does parties RIGHT.)

These kinds of festivals are all about bonding among the Yiga, and Ascension Day is a prime example of this. Gathering around the fire with friends and family groups to shout more calls to past Masters one particularly admires or remembers fondly is something particular to this occasion. It's all about Master Kohga on Ascension Day...but that means it's all about the whole Clan, since the Master's role is equally to serve as it is to be served. <3

[chirpsythismorning]

Nick himself said that his knowledge is confined to the leaks prior to s4, the s4 scripts from his verified source (likely within a source) and basic knowledge most fans paying attention have been able to formulate about s5 based on what has been released officially/unofficially, trends from Netflix and common sense.

He is saying based on all that, he doesn’t think byler is happening. 

And if we think back to what the Duffers themselves shared in the 4x09 script, it literally implies Mike’s monologue worked, and that it was entirely genuine. This tells me that the script the Duffers released for Emmy consideration, is not that far off from what Nick saw for himself. 

I think it’s likely Nick got something that the average below the line worker might manage to get their hands on if they tried hard enough. A copy they know they have to water-down to prevent these very situations from happening.

Unfortunately for the Duffers, it just so happens that they didn’t scrub their watered down copy hard enough.

Unfortunately for Nick, he admitted that it’s possible and even likely that the production will release things that aren’t exactly accurate with the sole purpose to lead fans sleuthing astray, without realizing it may have ironically already happened to him. 

[et-cant-phone-home-no-signal]

been sorting out my twitch a bit more (which i honestly should have done weeks ago when i started but oh well) and now hopefully the settings are better and my mod (and isn't that nuts that i have a mod now! ty!) is equipped with the permissions necessary to smite any assholes that somehow don't understand how to interact with other people on the internet 😌 because of this i WILL be streaming tonight! i plan to stick to my usual time but i might actually start a little bit earlier because i've actually had a fairly productive day today and i also have to be in town tomorrow so i shouldn't stay up too late if i can help it (we all know how that's gonna end haha)

slowly considering getting better gear to work with since this isn't just useful for streaming but also for self-tapes etc (i'd like to get a better quality microphone to start with, then a better camera, and very maybe a green-screen that i can also use for at home photography and artistic projects - all of this is mostly me wishing since i still don't have a job, but it's things to move towards which is a good motivator!) but also it's a little embarrassing to admit that out loud because of the streamer/gamer stigma that's still hanging around so, we'll see!

[phantasmicfish]

So I saw Dune Part 2 yesterday and I was initially super crushed because of the deviation from book canon but the more I think about it the more I sorta like it…

So without further ado here’s a list of stuff I liked about Dune Part 2:

- all the scenes initially of Paul growing closer to the Fremen. You can clearly see that they become friends, accept him as a Feydakin, that they’re laughing, joking, hanging out. (And contrast that to the end of the movie, where Paul has no more Fremen friends, only followers. In the book, this is echoed, where Paul recognizes that he has lost his friends to the Muad’Dib religion. Take book Stilgar, who truly embodies this… by the end of the book, Paul says: “I have seen a friend [Stilgar] become a worshipper.”

- giving Chani explicit rejection of Paul’s messiah status was an interesting choice. Chani’s main thought over part 2 is that they don’t need religion to save them, that through Fremen power and desert power, the Fremen can save themselves. She recognizes that this fanatical worship can be a vehicle to control and enslave her people, and I sorta wish we saw Paul lean into that more… that they found a way to stay together and ‘fight’ the prophecy together based on Chani’s ideals…

- also, I love how engrained this rejection of religion and prophecy is in her character. Book Chani takes no issue with her Fremen name, Sihaya (desert spring), but movie Chani hates it “because it’s part of some prophecy.” Later, we see that despite her rejection of prophecy and religion, that the prophecy does indeed come to pass— the tears of desert spring save Him aka, Chani saving Paul after he drinks The Water of Life. (Interesting how Jessica has to force Chani to save Paul using the Voice… another example of Jessica explicitly forcing Paul to become the messiah).

- adding more depth to Fremen culture— the South being the more religious fundamentalist tribes vs the North being more secular. Early on, the movie paints this immediate divide between the tribes of Fremen who accept Paul and Jessica versus those who treat them as offworlders (who murdered Jamis). In the books everyone accepts Paul and Jessica after Paul bests Jamis and Jessica quotes some scripture, but I think it makes more logical sense that there’d be friction over these two random offworlders coming in

- I love love loved Paul speaking at the meeting of the Fremen tribe leaders in the South. He fully accepts his messiah status, exercises his power of the Voice + his prescience as a way to command all the Fremen under his name

- I’m a big fan of omitting the two-year time skip, so with that I’m glad Leto II was skipped over entirely. I always felt that Leto II was an unnecessary character addition to the book, especially when he just dies and everyone sort of goes “oh well” and moves on, so I’m glad it’s omitted.

- another interesting choice was to paint Jessica as a straight up villain in comparison to the way her book counterpart was not. The movie Jessica we see here is seemingly corrupted by the Water of Life: she walks around talking to herself (Alia) and scheming Paul’s ascent to Lisan-Al Gaib. She knows about the Holy War, which is the very thing Paul is trying to prevent, yet she expresses no concern about bringing it to fruition. (Probably because Jessica knows it’s impossible to prevent, but still.) The very last line of the movie, where Alia asks Jessica what’s going on and Jessica says “The Holy War has begun” is just total villain in my mind— explicit acceptance of the Holy War, like it’s just another stepping stone in her plan. Plus, the fact that Paul has visions of Jessica leading him into this period of great starvation totally cements her as a villian.

- going off of that, I like that we see Jessica undergoing actual agony when she takes The Water of Life. When book Jessica and Paul take The Water of Life they accept it calmly and without obvious pain (book Jessica was sitting with her eyes closed, as if sleeping), so this physical reaction that Jessica has to the poison adds to the idea that The Water of Life did change her in a negative way.

- I feel like so far we’ve been introduced to Alia as just a weird talking fetus who’s been consorting with Jessica, so Paul’s vision where Alia says “I love you” really strikes home, that she really does care for Paul which we might not have understood otherwise

[hotvintagepoll]

Diahann Carroll + Sidney Poitier (Paris Blues)—they only made one movie but please please please please please PLEASE include them, they are so so iconic and beautiful and this tournament would not be complete without them they're so iconic pleeeeaseaeseeeeee [editor's note: ok sure]

Paul Newman + Robert Redford (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting)—My god, their chemistry. It's iconic. And very very sexy. They're kind of canonically in a throuple in the first one, so that's kind of like playing an actual romance. But also, they're the central relationships of both films and their inexplicable devotion to each other is a key driving force in them. Those blue eyed bastards. I love them.

These are the finals of the hot couples tournament. Each poll lasts for a week. Please reblog with propaganda for your favorite hot couple. There are no other polls since this is the final, but if you want to see the history of the tournament, click here.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut]

Carroll + Poitier:

"they're just so incredibly sexy together"

Newman + Redford:

The following propaganda was submitted by the anon who lives in my vents:

[drags self out of the vents reeking of stale gasoline] SO ABOUT THAT NEW MINI POLL.......may i suggest: ROBERT REDFORD and PAUL NEWMAN in BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID. MY REASONING:

thagt was some of tha gayest shit i've ever seen in my entire life and i'm only 23

but for realsies, that movie was literally a love story between butch n sundance. every single thing they did, they did together

THEY'RE EVEN PERFECT OPPOSITES IN PERSONALITY—butch is the optimistic guy who never shuts up and is less intimidating than he looks; sundance is the pessimistic brooder who looks harmless because he's pretty, but is the most dangerous guy you'll ever meet

AND THEN,,,,,, EVEN WHEN THEY (SPOILERS) HAD THAT THROUPLEY THING GOING ON WITH ETTA IN BOLIVIA, AND ETTA EVENTUALLY WANTED TO LEAVE, SUNDANCE STILL CHOSE TO STAY WITH BUTCH AND DIE RATHER THAN LIVE A SEMI-SAFE LIFE WITH HIS GIRLFRIEND!!!!!!!! LIKE!!!!!! GIRL WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!

AND THE FINAL SCENE I—i need to stare at a WALL—

plus the fact that paul newman and robert redford were actually besties irl meant that their chemistry was OFF THE CHARTS. even when i was A VERY STUPID LITTLE KID and i watched that movie for the first time, i was like ".......so um... are they, like, in love with each other and that lady?"

PLUS THE FACT THAT THE MOVIE WAS DIRECTED BY THE SAME GUY WHO WOULD LATER DIRECT THE STING AND THAT MOVIE WAS JUST AS, IF NOT MORE GAY, I—

O-|-< (← me lying dead on the ground)

THE TRUST, THE INTIMACY, THE BANTER, THE LOYALTY, THE INHERENT HOMOEROTICISM OF DYING SIDE BY SIDE—

they're gay, your honour.

ergo, dear mod, i humbly ask that you consider two of my blorbos for the mini poll bracket <3 if you need more information, literally just dm me or tag me, i'll be hangin' out in the vents 😎🤙🏼 as usual (unless my house explodes into bats)

[wombywoo]

do you have any ghostsoap favorite fics, perhaps?

boy do I....

I should preface this by saying that I'm pretty...particular with what types of fics I enjoy reading (I only like certain character interpretations/tropes/writing styles, etc) so bear with me...

These are all mostly canon-compliant, non-AUs, ones that I regard highly~

Seasons--by StinglessWasp: This is pretty much my go-to fic rec for anyone into CoD and ghostsoap in general. It showcases everything I love about these characters, in a setting that feels as authentic to the games as possible, while also exploring the depth and sincerity hidden under the surface. So well-written and paced--the dialogue and military references all contribute to that 'feels like a mission out of the game' experience. Plus, I just love this interpretation of our boys--the humor, the inner struggles, the intimacy--Wasp 100% *gets* these characters and it's a joy to read <3

Except You, You Can Stay--by Iravaid: While this one isn't *technically* ghostsoap until the last chapter, in my opinion, it's required reading for anyone who gives a shit about Simon Riley. This is *the* character study--an intimate dissection of Ghost's past that seems so realistic and grounded, you forget how ludicrous those comics really are. Ira takes such care in treating these heavy topics with delicacy and effectiveness. Each chapter has you going 'oh wow, this is even better than the last', but as a whole--it's a stunning, fleshed-out glimpse into Simon as the character he was always meant to be. And the final chapter which eases you into his relationship with Johnny is so authentic and sweet, it just makes perfect sense that they should be together, and that this poor poor man deserves some goddamn love <3

bleeding in the house of god--by revolvermonkcelot: This is a really great 'missing scene' fic, a perfect opportunity to explore the in-between moments that the game so carelessly chooses to gloss over. I can't praise Monk's writing enough--it's slick and crisp and very tasty; the imagery just jumps off the page and you can practically feel the sweat. Plus, the dialogue exchanges between our two boys are so well-timed and in-character--love all the slang and British references~ This whole fic reads like an addition to their mission flirting, and I'm all for it! You can truly tell this author has such deep understanding and experience with this franchise (winkwinkwink, this is a joke) Read it--it's good!

The Dead are all Living--by Kabbal: This fic blew me away when I first read it. It's such a unique take on the retirement trope, I just adore this interpretation of Simon as an aging recluse while he builds his home. I tend to lean towards more subtle, grounded characterizations of Mr Riley, and this really fits the bill. All of these glimpses and fragments into his post-military life contribute to an overarching love story; the scenes with Johnny are so poignant, it's like you're pining alongside them both. I love how not-perfect they are; flawed and difficult and real. There are some moments and lines that just....struck something in me so deeply. I'm sure I'll still be thinking about it for a long long time <3

Portrait of Taction--by a_platypus: Another Simon-centric fic that I absolutely love. The character voice in this is off the charts, I can hear him so vividly in all of his inner dialogue and stunted attempts at conversation. Simon is so endearingly dense in this fic, you're just waiting for him to finally get his act together, but the clumsy, oblivious steps he takes in his relationship with Soap are truly a treat to read. I love this version of Johnny too--confident and considerate, but still hopelessly crushing on his superior. It's comedic, well-written, and the paragraphs describing Soap's journal give some of the best insights into his character I've seen <3

come on, haunt me--by flyby2: This was a really good long fic that I took my time savoring. What could have been a typical 'on leave' fic instead took time to develop a unique spin on the backstories as well as throwing our boys into some wholesome encounters. Both Soap and Ghost felt very true to character, and I appreciate the exploration of PTSD and the subsequent struggles that come along with...all that. There was a really nice balance in having their romance spread across the chapters, and I can promise a very sweet, happy conclusion <3

in the mess of it all--by flowersferns: A lovely one-shot that exhibits some of my favorite aspects of these two characters. I'm a sucker for 'one of them is hurt, the other is freaking out, they are both idiots in love, etc'. There are some really great dialogue and character moments in this, plus the overall prose hits hard. Love this take on their romance--the mutual trust, the familiarity of their bond. And just the general theme of impermanence--the inevitability of what this relationship means for them--two soldiers, willing and ready to sacrifice their lives at a moment's notice, still clinging to each other because...god...that's all they have---big fan of this :'D <3

Lapsus--by Lisbetadair: Another really great one-shot and 'missing scene' fic. The authenticity in the writing is spot-on--it's like you can feel Soap's pain right off the bat. I love how smoothly the banter flows between the two, and the attention to detail and references all help lend to that 'hardened military man' exterior. Ghost smelling like flowers because of a face wipe is such a delightful addition, plus the scene where Soap is, ah, donald-ducking it in just a t-shirt with his jewels out is such a funny mental image, I still think of it fondly from time to time. It's funny, it's surprisingly cute, it's very in-character. Stick around for some awkward but adorable cuddles <3

I'm sure I have more to recommend, but these are the ones I can personally endorse for now~

[achilles-rage]

Can’t Hold Back

summary: the three times you almost jump eddie, and the one time you do.

word count: 3.7k

request: anon- I NEEEED something about reader being obsessed with Eddies moustache, just her wanting to jump him constantly cos she finds it so hot. Sorry I am so obsessed with the stache it’s unhealthy.

a/n: this was longer than i originally intended, but when i was writing the last part, the urge i have to suck the soul out of this man took over and we got this. i kept thinking about the ring pop scene when he tilts his head back okay?? sue me!! anyway, enjoy<3

warnings: smut, tiny comb slander (affectionately<3), no use of y/n, fem!reader, plus size!reader, race inclusive!reader

MDNI- 18+ only!

You remember the first time you saw Eddie’s mustache. You were extremely busy with work, so you hadn’t seen him for a couple weeks. When you finally had time to see each other, he invited you over for dinner, and when he opened the door, you weren’t sure what to do. 

He seemed a little nervous to show you, but you quickly reassured him that you liked it. Actually, you fucking loved it, but you felt a little weird about telling him that it made you want to drag him to the bedroom and not come out until the next day.

When he sets down the plate of food in front of you, your mouth waters. With so much newfound free time, he finally forced himself to learn to cook better, and it was definitely paying off. He seems so proud of himself when you take a bite and have to fight back a moan, and as amazing as the food is, you still struggle to finish your plate instead of skipping right to the end of the night.

It doesn’t help that the entire dinner, he’s extremely interested in everything you have to say; excited to finally catch up on everything going on the past few weeks that you insisted you “just had to tell him in person.” 

He’s being so attentive and sweet, and you can’t tear your eyes away from him.

Everytime he touches his mustache, or brings his napkin up to wipe his face, your eyes are glued to his lips. Frankly, you feel a little bit insane for how much you love the new addition to his face. You wonder if he’d be willing to grow a beard as well?

Once dinner is finished, you help him clear the table, and as he rinses the plates in the sink, you lean against the counter beside him. God, he’s even more attractive when he’s not paying attention, you think. He’s rambling on about a call he got the other day at work, and you try to listen intently, but with the way his mouth is moving, every word is pretty much in one ear and out the other.

When he reaches for the dish towel to dry his hands, you move to stand in front of him, slipping your arms around his neck and pulling him against you. Your lips find his quickly, and after he lets out a quiet hum of surprise, his arms are wrapping around your plush middle, keeping you against him as you deepen the kiss.

Just as you start to trail one hand down his chest, desperate to get to his belt, he breaks the kiss. He rests his forehead against yours as he takes in a big breath of air, his eyes sparkling and a big smile on his face. God, he’s missed this.

“I have a surprise.” he tells you softly, as if afraid to disturb the calmness surrounding you two.

“What?” you ask with a grin, although the question begging to fall from your lips is “what the hell could be better than this surprise?” 

“They’re playing your favourite movie at the theatre downtown; some kind of anniversary special. I got us tickets.” he tells you excitedly, giddy to see your reaction. 

Your smile widens, and you laugh quietly before you pull him back in for a kiss. You mumble a “thank you” against his lips, and when you pull away, he’s grinning almost as widely as you are.

“Anything for you, mi amor.” he tells you earnestly, and you feel your cheeks heat up at the sentiment. You’re a little disappointed; all you wanted was to drag him to bed, or the couch, or honestly, the kitchen counter. But, you are excited about being able to see your favourite movie in the theatre, and he’s so proud of himself. You know you can’t do what you’ve been waiting for since he let you into his house, but that doesn’t mean you’re any less excited about going out with Eddie for the night. Your plans will just have to wait.

You watch with a small smile as Eddie frantically moves around the house, trying to find his wallet and keys so he can get to work. You can see both items from where you’re leaning against the wall near the front door, waiting to see him off. You let him search for a minute before you call his name, and when he turns, his shoulders relax upon setting site on you holding his wallet in one hand, and his keys in the other.

He closes the distance between you and grabs the keys from your hand, then raises his other hand to cup your cheek and bring his lips to your forehead. You close your eyes for a moment as he presses a soft kiss to your skin, wishing he didn’t have to leave so soon.

“What would I do without you, mi amor?” he murmurs fondly when he pulls away. He takes a moment to scan your face, taking in the small smile on your lips, and the sparkle in your eyes, and he silently thanks God that you’re in his life.

“I love you.” he finally says, then drops his hand from your cheek and makes his way toward the front door.

“Forgetting something?” you ask with a smirk when he opens the front door. He turns to you with a confused look, then makes his way back over to you slowly. He pulls you into him by the flesh of your hips, giving you a deep kiss. You feel his mustache tickle your skin, and you smile into the kiss, feeling his panic about being late temporarily melt away as he focuses on you.

When he pulls away, he gives you a wink, then turns again towards the door. You laugh softly as you roll your eyes; is that seriously what he thought he forgot? If he weren’t actually so late, you’d let him get all the way to his truck before you speak up again.

“Eddie,” you say with a laugh, trying to get his attention. “I meant your wallet, but I love where your mind went.” you tease when he turns to you again. His brows are furrowed, and when he sees you still holding his wallet in your hand, you see the redness appear in his cheeks. He covers his slight embarrassment up with a chuckle, then reaches out and takes his wallet. 

“Then I guess I forgot two things.” he says, trying to cover up his mistake with a cocky smirk. You shake your head, the smile stuck on your face as you narrow your eyes. 

He takes the extra time to press another kiss to your lips, this one deeper, and your knees almost buckle when his hand comes up to lightly grip your throat. You try to chase his lips when he pulls back, but he holds your head back with that same smirk etched on his face. 

God, if it weren’t for his shift in 10 minutes, you’d be pushing him over to the couch and sinking to your knees in front of him. How the hell was he able to turn the tables so quickly? One second he’s embarrassed, and the next he has the heat rushing to your cheeks and your heart hammering in your chest.

“I love you.” he tells you again, and you nod, swallowing as you stare into his eyes. Your eyes trail down to the hair above his upper lip, and you lick your lips. How can a mustache be this attractive? All you want to do is keep him home all day and show him just how much you like the new facial hair he’s sporting.

“I love you.” you murmur, and then he’s gone; out the door and in his truck before you can react. Motherfucker, you think, he knows what he’s doing.

“Eds, have you seen my necklace?” you call from the bedroom. You know you wore it to his house; you remember making sure it was facing the right way last night when you were in his bathroom before dinner. Even so, you’ve looked everywhere, and it’s nowhere to be found.

“It’s in here!” he calls back from his bathroom, and you let out a relieved sigh. The necklace isn’t expensive or sentimental or anything, but it is one of your favourites.

You let out a laugh when you walk into the bathroom, seeing the smallest comb you think you’ve ever seen, looking even smaller in Eddie’s large hands. He turns to you with a frown, his brows furrowed.

“Yeah, keep laughing. I’ll remember this the next time you tell me how much you love how soft it is.” he says with a scoff, a teasing glint in his eyes. You laugh softly, shaking your head as you walk further into the bathroom and grab your necklace off the counter.

He has a point, you guess. You do love how it feels against your skin when his lips are on yours, or when he’s nipping at your neck, or when he’s pressing open mouth kisses to your inner thighs.

You feel desire pooling in your stomach as you think about it, but you try to ignore it as you look at yourself in the mirror and clasp your necklace around your neck. 

You’re very sure that he keeps using the stupid little comb for longer than he should as you stand there fiddling with your necklace. Surely it doesn’t take more than 3 swipes with the comb to do whatever the hell he thinks he’ll accomplish with it.

You can’t help the small laugh that tumbles out of your mouth as you shake your head, trying to snap out of the weird trance Eddie has you in. How can him using a goddamn mini comb be so attractive? It doesn’t help that he’s wearing his LAFD shirt, and it’s just tight enough to show the outline of his chest.

“What?” he asks when your laugh hits his ears. You hum softly, shaking your head as you fight back a smile. 

“Nothing, nothing.” you try to wave him off, finally tearing your attention back to your necklace and securing it around your neck.

He narrows his eyes at you, and you both make eye contact through the mirror, but neither of you say another word. You take a step back as he leans away from the mirror and stands up straight, and you can’t fight the loud giggle you let out when you see that he not only has a tiny comb, but a tiny holder for his tiny comb.

“What the hell is that?” you ask through giggles, and he sighs, rolling his eyes.

“Well, I don’t wanna lose it, do I?” he replies, as if that’s a perfectly reasonable answer.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize how important your little comb is.” you tease. Tiny comb and holder aside, he looks incredibly good today. The worst part is, you have a while before either of you have to leave for the day, and you can’t even take advantage of the situation. If you were to throw yourself at him right now, he’d never let you forget that his tiny comb that you made fun of him for couldn’t even stop you from still wanting him.

You’re at the grocery store with Eddie when you hear a scream from a few aisles over, then a frantic voice yelling for help. You freeze for a moment, your heart rate spiking and your hair standing on end, but when Eddie races out of the aisle and towards the situation, you snap out of it. 

You follow him, cart momentarily forgotten as you jog in the direction Eddie ran in. When you make it to the aisle, you see an older man passed out on the floor, and a woman is standing over him in tears while Eddie checks his pulse. 

You can hardly hear anything when Eddie turns to you, and it’s only when he waves his hand in front of his face that you can hear him. You blink a few times, then reach into your purse with shaky hands to grab your phone and dial 9-1-1 like Eddie asked. 

You kneel beside him and put the phone on speaker, holding it out in front of him so he can speak to the dispatcher. As Eddie continues to assess the man while speaking to the dispatcher, another man kneels down on the other side of the older man, trying to tell Eddie what to do. 

Eddie explains to him that he doesn’t need help calmly, and you’re not sure how he can remain so mellow right now, even if this is his job. Your hands are shaking, and all you’re doing is holding the phone.

The man continues to try to help, doing what you assume is everything wrong, because after a moment, Eddie erupts.

“Back up. You’re making it worse. I’m not gonna let him die because of you.” The man raises his hands in surrender, then slowly stands up and backs up. You watch as Eddie goes back to tending to the man, licking your lips in a desperate attempt to wet your dry lips. 

You feel extremely guilty, but the way Eddie just takes over has you too aware of everything around you. You can feel the thin layer of sweat on your skin from the stress, you can feel your heart beating in your chest, and you can feel the way Eddie’s thigh is touching the outside of yours. This is definitely not the time, but he’s just so smart, so capable.

You finally snap out of it when the paramedics come in, tapping your shoulder gently to urge you to move out of their way. You hang up the phone haphazardly as you stand up, feeling Eddie’s arm wrap around your waist, his hand resting on your hip and pulling you against him as he backs the both of you up to give the paramedics even more room.

You can feel Eddie’s breath on your neck when he leans his head towards you and whispers into your ear.

“Are you okay, baby?” You shiver at the sensation, nodding quickly as you blink a few times. “He’s gonna be okay. He just has low blood sugar, he just needs a glucagon shot.”

He thinks you’re on edge because of the man, and while you are worried about him, you know that Eddie knows what to do, that he’d be able to help him.

You both make your way back to the aisle you were in when you heard the scream and bring your cart up to the front in silence, neither of you remembering that you still have a few more groceries to get.

When you’re finally out of the store and the groceries are in his car, you check around you, smirking to yourself when you see no one in sight. You’re lucky that Eddie parks so far away from the doors; not wanting to risk anyone hitting his car and damaging the paint. You definitely don’t want anyone to see this.

Your lips are on his in an instant, your hands cupping his face as you push him back a step so his back hits the side of his truck. He hums in surprise, then melts into the kiss, raising one hand to your jaw while the other holds you by the waist.

“That was so hot.” you whisper against his lips, your kiss growing sloppy and needy. He chuckles against your lips, then slips his tongue past your lips to explore your mouth, savouring your taste. You can feel his facial hair along your skin, and it makes you shiver. He was right about that stupid comb. His mustache is extremely soft, with just the right amount of scratchiness that makes your head spin.

“Yeah?” he asks in a cocky tone against your lips, barely registering that you’re practically throwing yourself at him in the middle of the grocery store parking lot. You hum softly, nodding as much as you can with your lips glued to his.

The only thing that snaps him out of his daze is your hands moving down to his belt. He pulls back, chest heaving as he looks into your hooded eyes, pupils blown and full of lust.

“I think we should get home before we get arrested.” he teases you softly, and although you know he’s right, the thought of having to wait makes you whine softly.

You part from him reluctantly, then get into the passenger seat while Eddie returns the cart. When he’s back in the car and on the way back to your place, you reach over and place a hand on his thigh, dangerously close to the growing tent in his pants.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he asks lowly, a playful smirk on his face as he glances over at you, his eyes narrowed. You shrug, humming softly as you drag your nails up and down the fabric of his jeans.

He’s about to respond when you move your hand directly over his cock, growing harder with each passing moment. A strangled gasp escapes his throat, and his grip tightens on the wheel, knuckles white as you slowly palm him through his jeans.

“You’re really asking for it, aren’t you?” he asks, his breathing growing more ragged and his tone changing to one of warning. You bite your lip, a small smile peeking out as you add more pressure, moving your palm against him achingly slowly.

“Just wanna show you how much I love you.” you reply sweetly. He knows he shouldn’t be letting you do this, he has to get you both home safely, but he can’t seem to say the words, or pull your hand away. You know exactly what to do to get him worked up, and right now, he’s cursing that fact.

He lets out a low groan when you reach your other hand over the centre console, now working on undoing his belt and unbuttoning his jeans. He keeps his eyes glued to the road, his grip on the wheel as tight as it can be as you pull out his leaking cock. 

You spit into your hand before you grip the base of his cock, pumping him a few times as you watch the way his face twists in pleasure. You can tell he’s torn between wanting you to continue, and knowing you shouldn’t, and that’s what makes it fun. 

He shivers when you ghost your thumb over the tip of his cock, then increase the pace of your movements, pumping him in a way that makes him sure that he won’t be able to stop you even if he tries.

“You think I can get you to cum before we get home?” you ask in a teasing tone, a hint of condescension in your voice that has him fighting hard to keep his eyes open and on the road.

“I know you can.” he mumbles, and you laugh softly, keeping up the pace as you look down at his leaking cock. 

Your mouth waters at the sight, and after a few more pumps, you unbuckle your seatbelt with the other hand, then lean over the centre console and bring the tip into your mouth, swirling your tongue around him greedily. 

He lets out a shuddered moan, and one of his hands comes down to rest on the back of your head. With your mouth and your hand on him, he’s sure he won’t last much longer, especially when the possibility of being caught is looming in the back of his mind.

You hum softly as you taste the bit of precum on your tongue, and he lets out a quiet growl as the vibrations shoot up his spine. He can feel his balls tighten as you take more of him into your mouth, switching between moving further down his cock and giving the tip of his cock soft licks. 

As he pulls onto your street, he cums hard with no warning, making you gag slightly around him as you try to catch all of your release in your mouth. You slow the movements of your hand as you swallow his load, and when you’re sure you’ve gotten it all, you sit back up, a big grin on your face. 

When he finally parks in your driveway, he looks over at you in a daze, a smirk on his face as he takes in your puffy lips. He reaches over with one hand and wipes off a bit of his cum on your chin, then raises his thumb up to your lips. You open your mouth eagerly, licking his thumb clean before you smile again, and he feels his heart hammering in his chest at the sight.

“Told you that was hot.” you tell him, and he chuckles, shaking his head at how proud of yourself you look. And for good reason.

“Almost as hot as that was.” he replies with a cocky smirk, and you lick your lips, feeling the desire pooling between your legs growing with each passing moment. 

“I think we should skip dinner tonight.” Eddie says after a moment of just you two staring at each other. 

Once he’s tucked himself back into his pants, you’re both out of the car in an instant, groceries long forgotten as you both make your way inside, trying and failing to keep your hands to yourself until you’re behind closed doors. 

When you finally get inside, Eddie has you against the wall, pressing hot kisses to your neck as he works to unbutton your jeans. 

“You’re gonna be the death of me.” he whispers against your neck, the hairs of his mustache tickling you as he gives your jeans a firm tug. 

When you finally make it to the bed, you feel overwhelmed with his touch, and his kisses, and his praise, and you’re silently thanking anyone that will listen for making him grow that mustache, stupid comb and all.

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[dameronspector]

Willow (chapter 2)

Pairing: Bob Reynolds x Fem!ExAvenger!Reader

Chapter Summary: You are Bucky's assistant in his (flop) political career, Valentina is a bitch, you lie to Bucky, you meet 3 assassins and Bob, you almost die surrounded by 4 strangers.

Warnings: Mentions of Depression, Suicidal Thoughts, Death, Dead Body, Guns, Gunshots, Injuries, Fight scenes, Canon-typical violence, Vomiting, Fluff, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Cursing, Found Family, Cap Fam content, Reader is mentioned to be short, NWH has taken place, Valentina being a manipulative leech, John Walker Hate- click off if you don't want to read that, light soulmate AU vibes, Reader has magical abilities of the goddess Hecate (eg: necromancy, pyrokinesis, hypnokinesis, dark magic, etc. you can find the rest on rioridanwiki!), that’s all i think!

AN: ooo it gets juicy from here onwards hehehe.

PS: this is a work of fiction. I don't own any of these characters and I have made some changes to fit the storyline better and because it's an AU. I have taken all the information from google and riordanwiki. Incase I have gotten anything wrong, please let me know!

2027

If someone would’ve told your 10 year old self that you’d become Bucky Barnes’ assistant at 27 years of age, you’d laugh at them.

But that’s exactly what happened.

Bucky deciding to enter politics was still wild to you. How and why he decided that, you’re not sure. But it seemed to give him purpose, so you and Sam encouraged him.

Sam was also the one who told you to join Bucky. Because of your degree in psychology, Sam decided that you’d be the perfect candidate to help Bucky out after convincing you for days. (Tony made you go to college during The Blip, keeping up the promise of making you attend school. And now you had to train a hundred and ten year old man on how to act in front of the media and his colleagues.)

There was also a new addition to your list of best friends-Joaquin Torres, whose hyperactive and youthful energy kept you on your toes as you finally had someone of your age around you. He reminded you of another person you knew, but you simply couldn’t remember him or his name. It was a strange feeling—the memories were there, and they were so vibrant, but his face was blurry.

You quickly grew attached to Joaquin and Isaiah, the two of them becoming a vital part of your small family and you were devastated when Isaiah was arrested and Joaquin met with that accident on Sentinel Island.

Bucky and you visited them right away, with Bucky reuniting with Sam after 2 whole years. Why 2 years you ask?

Bucky had gone off to do god knows what, while you kept working with Sam, helping him around the office and on field when Joaquin was busy with his army duties.

After making sure he was alright, Bucky reassured Sam about his decision, and with an emotional embrace between the two men plus you, the two of you left to DC to work on Bucky’s next public appearance, with you promising Sam that you'd visit Joaquin as soon as he was conscious.

-

Bucky was a PR disaster.

No matter how much you trained him, he was a 110 years old, had no filter on his mouth, and with that perpetual grumpy face, he was not helping his public persona at all.

“Would it kill you to smile properly?”, you murmured through gritted teeth, keeping a fake smile plastered to your face as you walked beside Congressman Bucky Barnes around the senate building, wearing a black power suit to match Bucky's, throwing polite smiles at the other candidates while Bucky scowled, any attempts at a smile making it look like he had been stabbed in his gut instead.

“There’s nothin’ to smile about. I don’t know any of these people”, he grumbled next to you, looking sharp in his suit and long hair slicked back.

You pursed your lips, trying your best to not laugh at him. He was adorably old fashioned and out of place.

“Yeah, alright, peepaw. But you need to show those chompers to get all the votes, okay? So smile, before I tickle you", you threatened him loosely and smiled at another camera, the reporters crowding around you and Bucky, shoving mics into his face. He gripped the documents in his hands tighter, feeling like the tie was slowly choking him.

"Congressman Barnes, any words on today's hearing?", the tall reporter approached Bucky, her mic in front of Bucky while the others crowded his personal space.

You could feel the agitation rolling off of him in waves, standing right behind him and fiddling with your ring that concealed your twin celestial bronze daggers.

"Well, I'm not on the impeachment committee, but uh--", he paused, looking around the other reporters before continuing, "the-uh--rumors of uh--wrongdoing, are um--very worrying. They are, uh-- very concerning...and um--worrying, and uh--we're gonna get to the bottom of this uh--", he cleared his throat, "worrying issue."

You were this close to face palming yourself in front of the press. Your eyes were blown wide in disbelief, body frozen as you took in his horrible attempt at a comment and the way the reporters' faces fell.

And you were so sure that his face was, once again, molded into that classic resting face. He said a thank you and moved ahead, the movement snapping you out of your daze and you rushed to follow him.

"What the hell was that?!", you seethed and poked his stomach, his body jerking away slightly at that.

"I--I don't know! What am I s'pposed to say?!", he whispered back in exasperation.

"Anything! Maybe don't say 'worrying' thrice in a continuous sentence!"

He pouted and grumbled, "This is my first time, you're so mean", you threw a glare in his direction before composing yourself as the two of you entered the jury room.

The situation in question was regarding CIA director, Valentina Allegra De Fontaine's impeachment, due to her connection to illegal black ops projects. If someone would've asked you for your honest opinion, you would simply say that you hated the woman.

She was on a power trip and straight up insane, as told to you by Bucky, who received news from Shuri about what Valentina tried to do in Wakanda and even got Everett Ross arrested, who was her Ex-Husband. Even now, as you sat in the last row with Bucky and observed the hearing silently, the arrogance dripping from her tongue and her uncaring attitude towards the trial told you everything about the kind of person she is. You swore you'd do anything to stay away from her.

But it's almost as if the universe listens to your wishes and decides to do the exact opposite.

As soon as the session was over, Bucky had been whisked off by Congressmen Gary, and that left you standing in the huge lobby, passing the time by watching the memes sent by Morgan (yes you had a phone now, that Princess Shuri so gracefully made for you on Bucky's request, altering the signals and frequency with Wakandan high-tech. Ever since that happened, you'd been dying to meet her.)

You were grinning at the screen when you felt a tap on your shoulder and you turned, "How was-Oh", you cut off the greeting when you saw that it wasn't Bucky but the devil herself and your smile dimmed instantly.

"Hi. Barnes' assistant, right?", Valentina flashed you a mechanical smile, that made her look like a wax figure, and her assistant was standing next to her with a confused look on the face.

You looked at the two of them in suspicion before smiling formally, going back into professional mode, "Miss De Fontaine. Yes, I'm his assistant, although he's actually speaking to-"

"Oh, no, no! I didn't want to speak to him. I wanted to speak to you!", she spoke in an over excited tone and the hair on your neck stood up.

"M-me? Why?", you laughed nervously, exchanging a glance with her assistant who subtly shrugged.

"To give you an offer!"

Your mouth fell open. You needed to get out of here and find Bucky, now.

"Uh-I'm not interested, actually-"

"Age: 27 years old, Biological Father deceased, Lived in a camp for demi-gods or whatever till she was 15, Has greek god powers, which is--wow, surprising, Rescued by the Avengers, been an active Avenger till 2023, lived in a sad little apartment for a year, worked with Captain America for 3 years and now working for Congressman Barnes. Excellent resume, I must say!", she listed off while smiling sardonically.

The soles of your feet were frozen to the marble floors. If you had to see yourself from the outside, you were so sure that you'd see your skin turn gray because you felt your heart stop at Valentina's words.

How the fuck did she find out about all that? That information was confidentially stored by Tony and only two persons other than him knew the key to it: you and Bruce. There's no way she found out about this so easily.

Valentina noticed your reaction and laughed casually, like she hadn't just dropped a bomb on you.

"Oh yeah, I know everything about you. It wasn't that hard, actually, when you have enough resources to get into sensitive data and retrieve information. Anyways, I have a vault in Utah. There's some...confidential stuff and assets, from a previous project inside the vault. Someone is trying to steal my stuff. You, will go there, and stop her", she finished, her eyes staring into yours intensely, as if she was hypnotising you.

You grimaced, looking her up and down in disgust, "Why would I do that for you?"

Valentina smirked, "Because...if you don't, I will leak your bio data with just one click and let the government do whatever they want with it. It could put you and your little camp at risk", she threatened with a sickly sweet smile on her face.

You let out an involuntary laugh, the disbelief and shock making you delirious, "You are actively threatening me. You know I could testify against you right?"

Valentina's face turned serious, your jab hitting her straight in the face, her left eye twitching with irritation.

"Foolish girl. I could still prove in court that you are a fraud and are lying to the state about a bigger threat", she seethed at you before relaxing again, "It'd be wise for you to just say yes to my deal. And don't try to tell James. Unless...you want to willingly shoulder the responsibility for whatever happens to him, too?"

You felt sick. If she stood here any longer, you were going to projectile vomit on her.

She was not only threatening to prove you as a fraud and enemy of the state, but also to hurt Bucky and blame you for it? This was so fucked up. You shouldn't have left Bucky's side. You could feel your magic boiling in your veins, itching to be released, your fingertips burning with the beginnings of a flame, eyes swirling with the purple hidden behind your natural irises. You had gotten much better at controlling your powers but it always went sideways whenever someone provoked you.

Valentina noticed your clenched fists and the slight flickering of the lights. She scoffed and patted your shoulder patronisingly. Your jaw ticked.

"Oh, Relax, there's no need for unnecessary drama. Mel, send her the coordinates to the vault. And make sure her phone is tracked. Let me know if she doesn't reach the vault by the next 2 hours, hm?", she instructed Mel and left, without sparing you a glance.

Mel looked at your heaving body and teary eyes with concern, "I'd listen to what she says. She's...", Mel gulped, "She can and will ruin your life. I've sent you the coordinates. Good luck", Mel whispered, before speed walking after Valentina.

-

You weren't sure how long you stood there, staring into nothingness with your hands shaking and feet sweating. It seemed like your body had shut down, your brain numb to any thoughts or information, ears producing that tinny sound, making everything sound like a distant hum.

"Hey, doll? You okay?", Bucky's quiet voice filled your ears and he stood in front of you, hands gently holding your arms and ice blue eyes staring at you in concern. That's when you snapped out of your stupor, glassy eyes staring into Bucky's blankly.

"What's wrong?", he asked in alarm, blocking your view from the crowd filling in the lobby now.

You swallowed thickly, wanting to get out of here as soon as possible before Valentina does something stupid.

"I-uh-I don't feel well. Can I go home?", you managed to spit out, your fingers playing with your ring again.

Bucky furrowed his brows. You usually hung around till he was ready to leave, not wanting to leave him alone with a bunch of strangers but it has been a long night and a day, you had come to the hearing immediately after visiting Joaquin in the hospital, so he understood that you must've been exhausted.

"Yeah, of course. You want me to drop you off?"

"No!", you blurted out, cursing inwardly for giving a knee-jerk reaction, "Uh- no, there's no need. I'll be fine. I have to uh-work on some papers and read the packets as well. So...I'll go on my own", you tried to give him a hesitant smile, your lips quivering lightly.

His intense stare cut through you as he tried to understand if something was off with you. Usually, you would've stayed at his apartment, to avoid the extra commute and he asked you to do so, so that he can keep you company. But he also knew that you needed your own space at times.

So he simply nodded and murmured a small, 'Okay', patting your shoulder with a smile.

You tried to return it as best as you could, rushing out of the venue right after. Bucky watched you go suspiciously, having taken notice of the tearful eyes, the shaky and fidgety hands and the clipped tone.

-

You hailed a cab and reached your apartment, gathering whatever gear you had, along with the specially designed suit that Tony had gifted you.

It was purple and black in colour, made out of comfortable Kevlar that would protect you from any severe injuries, even if your powers were enough to protect you. It was a lovely suit, Tony had even asked for your own input in the design. Your favourite part about it was the tapering fabric on the back, that ended below your knees and fluttered prettily every time you moved.

You changed into the suit and stuffed your enchanted rope in the carry on bag, along with your book of spells that you had turned invisible with the help of the mist, and actual knives that would hurt mortals. While packing, Valentina's words kept echoing in your ears like a mantra. How did she get her hands on this information? And why did she choose you instead of Bucky? You almost picked up your phone to call Happy and question him about the same when you paused.

You hadn't talked to Happy properly since--

May's funeral. Your heart fell into a pit of despair. You lost May two years ago, all because some pathetic villain from another dimension had gone loose. Happy wasn't the same since then, neither were you, and neither was...Neither was who?

You kept blanking on the same thing whenever you thought of May. There was someone else. Someone who you cared about. Someone who was important. But...how can you miss a person whose face never existed in your memories?

You decided to stuff your phone deep inside the bag and leave, the persistent ache pressing against your chest harshly.

You just prayed Bucky would not come after you so you left him a note, stating that you were visiting a friend from camp on emergency basis, enough to keep him distracted for a while.

You almost considered shadow travelling to reach the destination as quickly as possible, but then remembered the time you had gone to Bulgaria on a mission with Sam and tried to get home by shadow travelling. It was so exhausting, that you passed out for a week straight, putting Sam and Joaquin into distress. You couldn't afford passing out now.

That's why you opted to simply inform Valentina that you were ready and she sent you the location to an abandoned helipad, an OXE issued helicopter already parked there to drop you in Utah and she infirmed that your biometrics had already been entered in the system to give you access.

-

After hiking up a mountain, you finally spotted the big and wide building, the area around it completely desolate. That alone, was sending off warning bells inside your brain. Valentina had sent you a photo of your target, a blonde, short woman who was dressed in a muted olive green suit, with a sharp look in her eyes.

You already hated working for Valentina, because there no proper debrief or plan that you had to follow, your disciplined half-blood and Avenger body protesting against her style of working as you grew more and more agitated.

"You'll know who she is once you get there", is what she had texted you when you asked for more details. What a loser.

"Perfect place for some shady shit", you muttered under your breath, the minimalistic but grandiose look of the vault was pretty in character for her.

Huffing and dusting away the dirt on your hands, you moved cautiously inside the building, it's automatic doors parting for you and opening up to a dimly lit lobby, the interior a mix of rocky surfaces, sleek floors, textured walls and 4 spherical elevators. You looked around the space, confirming that nobody was lurking before conjuring a protective bubble around you and entering one of the lifts, the revolving doors shutting close.

It took you approximately 20 seconds to reach the actual vault, the doors opening to a rectangular opening right in front of you. The entrance had heavy paneling around it, a white light illuminating around the edges and there was a large room inside, scattered with boxes, machines, papers and what looked like to be coffins. You felt your powers pulse at that.

As you exited the elevator, you heard grunts and metallic clinks, causing you to put your guard up as you heard more than one person's movements. You conjured a mist and concealed yourself, choosing to observe before attacking them.

As soon as you entered the room, 3 people were engaged in combat-- the blonde haired woman--your target, a masked person with armour and shield and a man who was dressed like--Steve? As you stepped closer you realised that it was John Walker, Walmart Captain America, Resident Asshole and #1 enemy of your family.

All of sudden a person appeared out of thin air, their body appearing in a particular--staticky way, like they were a damaged TV screen that phased in and out of view. The blonde woman was standing defensively behind a box, with John combating the armoured person.

John kicked the armoured person who landed on their back harshly before turning his attention to the blonde. He noticed her eyes flick over his shoulder and he turned around, the person coming into view in a cool suit and helmet.

"There you are", her Russian accent clear as day, as she addressed the phasing woman.

"Now what?", John complained, as usual, might you add.

"Oh, get over yourself", it was a woman then, and you already liked her for putting John in his place.

John took a defensive stance and the woman charged, phasing through him and appearing in front of the armoured person, punching them even further away in the room.

The blonde woman whipped around and used her tasers on the phasing woman, which passed through her body and latched onto John instead, who keeled over in pain. Her tasers looked quite similar to Natasha's widow bites, you noticed.

The phasing woman knocked over the armoured person before your target jumped on her back, the woman once again disappeared and let your target drop on the metallic floor before kicking her in the ribs, causing her to moan in pain.

"Stay out of my way!", the woman ordered your target and walked away.

You took that as an opportunity to pin down your target, dissolving the mist around you and casting a confinement spell, purple tendrils of magic looping around the woman and squeezing her.

"Wh-whaaat the hell is happening?!", she cried out, looking at her torso in concern.

"It's alright, don't fight against them or else they'll tighten", you calmly explained to her, glowing purple eyes focused on her intently, bright tendrils of magic bursting from your moving fingertips.

"Who the hell are you?!", she yelled in irritation, her blond hair messily falling onto her forehead and the other three stopped fighting, looking at you in confusion.

John's eyes widened in recognition and he let out a disbelieving chuckle, "No fucking way. (Name)? Sam Wilson's sidekick, (Name)? What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question, John", you quipped.

Taking that as an opportunity, the armoured person drew an ignited arrow and shot it in John's direction, John's shoes scraping against the floor as the force of the arrow threw him back.

John retaliated by pulling out his gun and firing at the person, their shield coming up to protect themselves when suddenly someone jumped on your back, breaking your concentration effectively. Your hands came around your neck, pulling the person's hands away and heard a thud as your target fell to the ground.

The phasing woman turned you around, squeezing your throat and kicking you away before muttering, "You're new. Sit this one out", and walking over to the blonde, tackling her down and running over to John.

You gasped and let out a cough, your hand around your throat, when you saw your target flip over a table, dragging it down with her as a cover and John throw his shield in her direction, which bounced back from one of the coffin-like apparatus behind your target.

You groaned and steadied yourself on an arm, holding out your free arm in your target's direction and letting your magic lift the table away, revealing her crouched form behind it. You threw the table away in John's direction, throwing him in the opposite direction before fast-walking towards the blonde. You conjured a knife and hurled it in her direction, to which she replied with a duck and roll behind a container box.

John started shooting at you then, you clenched your jaw and lifted a hand, eyes glowing purple-blue from annoyance, right arm extended in front of you with your palm spread and stopped his bullets mid-air. He gaped at that in shock, before you sneered and flicked your hand, deflecting the bullets towards him. John brought up his shield to stop them, the bullets ricocheting off his shield and piercing into the many containers.

He recovered quickly and both of you ran towards the blonde, her shooting the widow bites in both of your directions and you fell to the floor, convulsing from the electric shock.

Everything was a blur for few minutes and then—a gunshot. A body fell behind you. The blonde released you from the bite and you turned around breathlessly, holding yourself up on shaking arms to see that the armoured person had fallen to the ground, a gunshot right in the middle of their skull shaped mask.

The phasing woman retracted her helmet, her brunette hair coming into view when the four of you heard gagging and sounds of bile hitting the floor from across the room.

All of you whipped your heads around to stare at the sound before standing in alarm—the blonde pointing her gun at the phasing woman, her pointing it at John and John pointing his at you. You stood with your arms extended, fiery swirls emanating from your fingertips, body charged with adrenaline as the dark and moody environment helped your magic strengthen.

All of sudden, the three of them slowly turned their heads towards you, three guns pointed in your direction.

Your hands raised up further in defense, "Wait. She hired me like...a few hours ago. I don't work for her. I'm just here to take you out", you admitted while pointing at the blonde, the flames moving with your hand.

Suddenly, a voice spoke up from behind a huge container.

"Oh...Is she actually..?"

All of you turned to the voice, their weapons and your magic up in defense towards a…

Tall man in hospital scrubs?

He tried to run away from your group, running towards the opening of the room when the heavy metal doors shut close, making a loud bang and causing him to stop abruptly before he turned around in loss.

He had shaggy brown hair that curled at the ends, arms up in the air and even though he was quiet tall, the scrubs were oversized on him, making the sleeves cover his hands and pants pool around his feet a little.

There was something weirdly charming about him, his voice was solid and very deep but his features were soft, a dopey smile and dazed expression on his face that made you think he was either high or had just woken up from a nap.

“the…”, he continued while pointing at the armoured person lying motionless on the floor.

You felt an odd tug in your chest, something about him was drawing you in, a faint flutter in your stomach and a bell going off in your head that he was not as ordinary as he seems.

“Oh. Oh, no”, your target replied, sparing a glance at the dead body in the room.

“Hello, Hi…I-I’m Bob”, Bob nervously introduced himself, a hand raised in greeting. You noticed the way he kept jittering and shuffling, as if his body couldn’t stay still for more than 5 seconds.

The phasing lady squinted her eyes at him, “Who are you?”, getting closer to him with her gun still raised.

Bob furrowed his eyebrows, “I-I’m Bob. I-I told you, I’m..yeah. I’m Bob”, he replied in a shaky voice, his arms raised above his head in surrender.

You tilted your head, trying to figure him out.

“Jesus Christ, Stop saying ‘Bob’”, John complained and you rolled your eyes.

“Who sent you, Bob?”, Yelena questioned him.

Bob’s face shifted in confusion, “Nobody. Why would they send me?”, he pointed at the four of you then, “were all of you sent?”

His eyes sweeped over the group before landing on you, body momentarily freezing in place, eyes widening just a fraction. You felt your body light up with goosebumps, your concentration wavering and the flames around your hands disappeared completely.

“Whoa. Are you doing that? That came out of your body?”, Bob said in awe, his eyes wide with wonder.

You felt your mouth twitch slightly, his enthusiasm was magnetic and you shrugged casually.

“That’s so cool. Wh-”

“Hold on. Who are you?”, your target cut off Bob and turned her attention towards you. Bob closed his mouth and observed you closely.

You coughed lightly before introducing yourself, “I’m (Name). I wo—I used to work with the Avengers.”

Walker snorted in humourlessly, as if your introduction personally offended him. You looked at him furiously, an eyebrow quirked in irritation.

“You got any problem with that?”, you seethed.

“Oh, nothing, except the fact that you are one of their strongest members, you have a mysterious past that nobody has found out yet, you worked with Stark, Wilson, and now you work with Bucky. Isnlt that right, Miss all rounder?”, he sassed.

Bob let out a breathy ‘Wow’ while your hands shook with agitation, a violent purple glow slowly taking over them before your target cocked her gun and pointed it at you and Walker, the phasing lady watching the three of you in boredom.

“That’s enough! Why are you here, (Name)?”

You clenched your hands into fists and looked at her, “Valentina sent me kill you. Said you were stealing OXE’s assets. I don’t even know who you are. Are you a widow?”

Yelena’s face shifted in shock, her gun slightly lowered, “I’m Yelena, why do you ask?”

Shrugging, you crossed your arms around your chest and pointed at her wrists, “Those are widow’s bites. I was trained by Natasha Romanoff.”

Yelena’s eyes widened, her eyes coated with a light sheen of tears. The phasing lady rolled her eyes again.

The phasing lady exhaled, “I'm not sure what's going on here, but you're all exhausting and my job is done”, she moved away from the group and you furrowed your brows. Yelena quickly recovered from her moment to reply.

“Oh, I bet. You see my job, is watching you. So, no, you're not going anywhere else”, Yelena rebutted, her gun pointed at the other woman’s direction.

Walker scoffed again, “So you're watching her, huh? That's a halfway decent cover for someone stealing OXE’s assets.”

You paused before jumping in, “He’s kinda right about that.”

Yelena gave you a brief glare, “I'm not stealing. She's stealing.”

All of you stared at her silently and the blonde closed her eyes in resignation before lifting her arms up in surrender, “Okay. It’s clear that we have all worked for Valentina in some kind of shadow ops role.”

“So what?”

Yelena moved her hand with the gun in a circular motion, “So all of this is OXE’s mysteries. But so are we.”

“Which makes us the unknown liabilities in this…”

“Speak for yourself”, Walker defended.

“We're the evidence and this is the shredder. She wants us gone”, Yelena snapped, her hand making a ‘cutting the neck’ motion.

When she said the word ‘shredder’, you truly looked around the warehouse. There were four large openings above you, covered in heavy metal, dark and hollow inside, making it look unsettling. You should’ve noticed that the moment you came in.

“Your theory is flawed”, Walker brushed her off.

“Oh please. Go on.”

Walker cleared his throat before beginning his speech, “Fine. Well, let's look at the facts. The infamous Ghost, Ava Starr, A SHIELD reject on the run across 15 nations”, he pointed at the phasing lady— whose name was Ava, as you just found out, “Dead girl over there, she destroyed half of Budapest—”

“Don’t talk about that”, Yelena frowned.

“—You, A former Red Room assassin. Only God knows the blood on your hands”, Yelena rolled her eyes.

Then Walker turned to you, a stupid smile plastered to his face, his equally stupid helmet making him look like a raccoon. You raised your eyebrows in challenge.

“And you. Well, you’re quite special, yet we know nothing about you. If Valentina selected you to take out someone like Yelena, then she must have some interesting dirt on you, for sure.”

You pursed your lips in subtle annoyance and nervousness, Valentina’s threat ringing in your ears.

“Pretty rich coming from a dime-store Captain America”, Ava scoffed and you let out a breathy chuckle.

“I want you to know I was actually the official Captain America, so—”

“Yeah, for like two seconds”

“Before you publicly murdered an innocent man in the streets”, Ava added.

"Really? Define innocent.”

You whipped your head to look at Walker, a surprised look on your face.

“Are you sure you to be publicly embarrassed like that, Walker?”, you challenged him.

Walker pursed his lips, his face flashing with something akin to regret before he puffed his chest out again, “Hey, look. I'm a decorated war veteran, okay? I have a loving wife and a son. Let's be honest. You guys are just cheap mercenaries, alright? So clearly I wasn't supposed to bring you in.”

You, Yelena and Ava let out disbelieving snorts. Walker stared in a dumbfounded manner.

“That was funny. Thanks. We needed that”, Yelena taunted him in between chuckles. John rolled his eyes.

“It's getting pretty tense in here….”, Bob’s voice rung out and all four of you turned to look at him.

Your eyes lingered on him and his smile, the way his fidgeting and nervousness bled into his chuckle, before he suddenly stopped, his energy dimming by looking at Walker’s glare.

“…For a second”, he cleared his throat and ducked his head down, hiding behind the container again.

You glared at Walker, hating the way he seemed to take out the good energy in the room just by being his insufferable self.

“I'm not leaving here without completing my mission. Valentina gave me a clean slate guarantee and I'm not going to blow it. But this weirdo wasn't part of the job, so I need to know. How did you get in?”, he asked Bob in irritation.

Bob shuffled, “I don’t remember.”

You narrowed your eyes. He was lying. You could feel it.

“Are you sure about that?”, you asked him carefully, his wide eyes looking at you now, mouth agape and hands wringing each other.

“I-I-”

“Excellent answer. Alright, tie him up”, Walker interrupted him.

“Can you shut the fuck up for a minute?”, you gritted your teeth.

“Wow”, Yelena flatly replied.

“No, and goodbye”, Ava announced and moved around the dead body to take out all the weapons.

“Hey. Job or not, could you have some respect, please?”, Yelena chided.

“Yeah, Jesus. Get outta here”, Walker mock agreed with Yelena before moving around Ava to remove the knives from the body.

You and Yelena stared at him in disgust.

“What? She’d want me to have it”, he defended himself and you rolled your eyes.

“Who is that?”, you asked Yelena curiously.

Yelena’s face dimmed, “We…worked in the Red Room together. She was the commander, General Dreykov’s daughter, Antonia Dreykov.”

You stared at Antonia’s body before your face shifted in recognition.

“Dreykov….Oh shit. Natasha told me about this. She went through a lot”, you mumbled solemnly and once again Yelena stared at you in that emotional way, her eyes shining with a pain that you couldn’t pin point yet.

You looked at her closely, trying to decipher what was going on in her head but she was already focusing on something else. Likely avoiding any type of confrontation.

Suddenly there was a low hum and a gradual increase in the room’s temperature, bouts of hot air hitting the top of your head, like someone was breathing down your neck. You looked around in alarm, hands tingling with adrenaline.

“What was that?”, you questioned, unsure if you were imagining it.

“Doesn't sound like a shredder.”

“It's an incinerator”, Ava informed, confirmed your fear. Yelena turned around and then you noticed it, the timer on the wall. It was counting the minutes and seconds till your imminent death.

“Two minutes. Then Valentina's slate is clean”, Yelena replied.

“You don't know that for sure. It could be for anything. It could be for when they come to pick me up”, Walker was being as delusional as ever.

You pinched the bridge of your nose, “Good god.”

“You feel that? Temperature's rising dramatically like heat is involved?”, Ava seethed and that got him to look around, the smug smile wiped off his face.

“Well, it is an incinerator.”

“Oh, boy. That is not a way to go”, Bob spoke from behind you.

You jumped a bit and turned to face him, curls framing his eyes and eyes blown wide. Since he was so close, you could finally see that his eyes were blue in colour. Not the kind of pale blue like Bucky, a deep blue, a colour that was close to that of a clean ocean body surrounded by healthy reefs. A colour like the brightest sapphire. It suited him well.

Suddenly his eyes shifted, looking down at you in interest. He was quite taller now that he was right next to you, so you had to crane your neck to look at him properly.

His eyes sparkled and you felt a tug in your chest, something that was pulling you close to him, something that made you feel like there was a connection between the two of you. Your heart was beating faster for some reason.

Bob wasn’t doing any better.

He wasn’t sure why, but right from the moment your eyes met across the room, he felt like you had hypnotised him. He couldn’t help but feel his hands twitch from the effort to not put them on your face. Almost like there was this invisible string that was tying you both together. He swore he saw your eyes sparkle in the low light of the shitty warehouse. And he was captivated by the purple glow that would take over you, the way your natural eye colour would blend into it and fade away depending on your emotions.

He felt his heart thunder against his ribs and he cursed inwardly, because Bob could feel that he was falling for you. Already.

“How would you like to die, Bob?”

Fuck John Walker and his nasty little attitude.

Bob and you jumped apart and you whipped your head around to throw another glare at Walker, Bob sulking once again after his comment.

If looks could kill, Bob was so sure Walker would be so dead right now. But also, your annoyed face was kinda hot, he thought. Bob felt his cheeks warm up at that and he bit his tongue to calm himself down.

“Alright, Ghost lady”, Yelena called out.

“Ava.”

“Sure, whatever. I don't care. We need to help you phase through these walls so you can open the door.”

“She already tried”, Walker said.

“I know she did, but we haven't tried shutting down the sound barrier. They built it just for her. It has to be an independent power source”, Yelena instructed and started looking around for any panel that had the controls to the sound barrier.

Bob looked around aimlessly and you grabbed his forearm, suddenly feeling brave enough to touch him, “Come on, let's go”, you told him while pulling him away in the opposite direction with you.

Bob stared at you in shock but he let you manhandle him, even though he was several pounds heavier, taller and stronger than you, “What exactly are we looking for?”

"For-" "We're looking for, not stupid questions, Bob", Walker interrupted you once again.

"I will make sure you don't leave this place alive, John", you threatened him and dragged Bob along, taking his help to move the boxes and touching the walls to look for any clues.

"I think I found it. Come here", Yelena called out and you made your way over to her, gathering around a protruding panel that was barely visible against the red light.

"Alright, I can override this", you offered and braced yourself to use your magic against it when suddenly--

"On your left!", Walker warned you barely in time, you felt hands pull you out of the way before Walker rammed into the panel with his shield, breaking the panel open.

You stared at him with your mouth open, "Not a single, original, bone in your body, huh?", you spit at him before the hands on your elbows gently pulled you away.

It was then, that you turned around to see who it was.

Bob. His warm yet huge hands engulfed your elbow completely. Your stomach fluttered.

He looked at you with his gentle eyes before slowly releasing your arm, "I-I'm sorry."

You just stared at him and he averted his eyes shyly.

"Well, that works."

"I hope."

A muffled sound rang in the room, signaling that the sound barrier was broken.

"Go, go, go go go", Yelena instructed Ava, who activated her helmet and successfully phased through the door.

The timer was ticking.

15 seconds till you're all burned alive.

"You think she's coming back?", Bob's scratchy voice asked in worry.

You furrowed your eyebrows.

10 seconds.

"Should have seen this coming. I'm sorry", Yelena muttered lowly.

You felt your stomach lurch at the fact that Ava had really left you all behind to die.

"She left us", you whispered, your throat closing up with the anxiety clouded in your lungs. You didn't even get to say goodbye to Bucky or Sam. They don't even know where you are.

5 seconds.

The room got hotter. You felt beads of sweat roll down your temple and neck, your breathing laboured. Hot puffs of air were hitting you constantly, your eyes burning with the heat and the unshed tears pooling in them. Your body shook with the need to release the pent up frustration but the panic clawing up your throat, and the darkest parts of your mind whispering that you deserved this, made you stand helplessly.

3 seconds.

You said a silent goodbye to your small family--to Bucky, Sam, Joaquin and Isaiah. To Pepper, Rhodey, Happy and Morgan, and closed your eyes in resignation, your luck had finally run out.

At least you'd reunite with your dad, Tony, Nat and Steve--the thought comforting you in a bitter-sweet manner.

The doors suddenly opened.

Your eyes snapped open before someone grabbed your hand and pulled along, running towards the door.

The moment you stepped outside the threshold, there was a loud blast, the entire room lighting up in red, hot, tendrils of fire and throwing you all against the stone walls. Some of the hot smoke and puffs of fire licked your skin, your head smacking against the rough stone, causing you to pass out promptly.

Your hand was still clasped tightly by someone.

Chapter 3

-

AN: WOOO this was big one!! hope you all liked this! please let me know your thoughts <3

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[gunsandspaceships]

The elephant in the room of Spider-Man: Homecoming

It's understandable that in a system as huge as the MCU, it's very difficult not to make mistakes in the sequence of events. I've already touched on some relatively minor issues in my timelines (like Fury's eye in Winter Soldier vs. Captain Marvel, or when Barnes fell off the train). These things are really small and hard to notice unless you're watching these movies under a microscope. They can also be fixed with CGI magic (yes, Marvel, you can do that right now).

There was even a whole "Fury's Big Week" disaster, but that too can be fixed by throwing the whole idea in the trash.

But there is one mistake that is not easy to correct, because this is the entire beginning of the film.

I'm talking about that scene in the car with Peter and Tony.

Don't throw rotten tomatoes at me, guys, nothing personal, but that scene just couldn't happen. At least not in the same universe with the Civil War we were shown.

Why? This is what happened in Civil War:

Wanda injures Tony's left arm. After the airport battle, he wears a sling when he's not in armor. A month after the whole Civil War thing, his arm still shakes.

Peter gets punched in the right eye (to match his mentor, I guess) and also appears to have some rib damage. Tony sends him home right there on the battle(air)field.

Peter resists at first, but apparently feeling pain in his ribs, he agrees with Tony's conclusions.

A minute later, Rhodey falls from the sky, and Rogers escapes to Siberia with Barnes on the Avengers' jet. From then on, Tony has no time for Peter.

At that time, the only person who could pick him up and fly with him first to Berlin and then home was Happy. Alone.

About 15 hours later, Peter was delivered to his apartment in Queens with a black eye starting to form and Tony's web shooter still on his wrist (thus the entire suit was with him).

Tony went with Rhodey to the hospital, then to the Raft, and from there straight to the bunker in Siberia. There were ~13 hours between the battle at the airport and the fight in the bunker. Tony spent most of that time flying to those places and couldn't be in two places at once.

He suffered more injuries during the fight in the bunker, apparently including head and chest injuries, and it is unknown when he returned to the States or in what condition. The most realistic guess would be that he spent some time in the hospital, probably sharing a room with Rhodey and Secretary Ross, who was having another heart attack at the time. Just kidding about the room, but the rest is true.

Either way, Tony's mental state would be terrible. And it's still bad a month later, in this scene:

What happened according to Spider-Man: Homecoming:

Neither Peter nor Happy cared what happened to Rhodey or where the hell Tony was:

Tony accompanies Peter as Happy drives him home. Tony's left arm is fully functional and he doesn't wear a sling.

His mental state is fine: he smiles, jokes, his eyes glow, etc.

Peter has no injuries either. No black eye, no pain, no bruised ribs.

Seems like NOTHING bad happened.

Some argue that this scene took place after Siberia to get around the time conflict between the airport battle and the bunker/return to Queens. This idea makes even less sense. It directly contradicts the Civil War post-credits scene, and also does not take into account the fact that all of the above still remains for at least another month, plus additional wounds were added to Tony, including cuts on his face that are clearly visible in CW and are absent in Homecoming.

This whole scene is simply incompatible with Civil War. Period. The elephant stays in the room and I don't know how to get it out.

[ldysmfrst]

Welcome to American Mate's Master List! The Taglist is CLOSED for this story.

This is an OT7 x Plus Sized/Chubby Reader story. The story will have Mature Scenes. The chapters with these adult themes will have (M) in the chapter name, so please 18+ readers only. Within the chapters, at the start and end of the Mature scene will be the following banner, if you want to skip them.

The Hybrid K-pop group BTS is on tour in America; of course, things don't start out the way they should, but after an encounter with Y/n, things change but will everyone follow Fate?

It's Time to Meet the Bangtan Pack

Chapter 1 - Two Weeks Early

Let's introduce you to the world of Hybrids and Playmates. It really is quite simple until a VIP Potential Client's manager walks into your office two weeks early, and it's only a skeleton crew right now.

Chapter 2 - The Playmate Meeting

Bangtan Pack arrives at Playmate Services Inc., USA Idol Division. It's time for the pack to meet the unsigned Playmates, but things don't go as well as planned.

Chapter 3 - Following Instincts

Dealing with the aftermath of the accident, Bangtan Pack reacts upon instincts, some more than others. Y/n learns a few new things.

Chapter 4 - First Case of Alpha Space

Y/n may call herself a Hybrid supporter but never has she dealt with something like this. Y/n gets to see firsthand some of what an Alpha is like when they get a little lost in their instincts.

Chapter 5 - Heated Discussions (M)

Y/n didn't want to cause trouble, but that seemed to be all she did. However, Bangtan Pack thinks sometimes the trouble is worth it.

Chapter 6 - A Proposition for You

Things get intense for Bangtan Pack and Y/n, but not in a good way. Meeting the doctor tonight has bigger implications than Y/n thought was possible.

Chapter 7 - Is This a Joke

After proposing to Y/n the option to become their playmate, the Bangtan Pack struggles to convince her to accept their Prime Alpha's offer. Will Y/n be persuaded or will she run from Fate unknowingly?

Chapter 8 - Time to Tell the Family Pack (M)

While the Bangtang Pack is excited to have Y/n join as a "Play"mate, that may not be the case for her family pack.

Chapter 9 - Shadows of the Past (M)

It becomes clear that pack dynamics can vary from pack to pack. This sometimes leads to interesting reactions. It's where the past can be seen influencing the present that will shadow all.

Chapter 10 - A Date in the Right Direction

After the visit from Dr. Blackwell, some of the Bangtan pack start behaving differently. Is it a good thing or a bad thing? Maybe the eldest Alpha has some insight. (This chapter is Seokjin-centric in honor of his coming home from the military)

Chapter 11 - Just a Staff Member

Y/n stands up for someone else, and everything starts falling apart. Last night was a dream but the reality of the situation finally hits.

Chapter 12 - Everyone Deserves a Second Chance

It's time to make a choice that can make for an adventure or change y/n's life.

Chapter 13 - Shall we?

It's time for the date with Namjoon. Getting ready becomes more fun than you think it could be with an unexpected surprise and new friends, but what happens as the night goes on?

Chapter 14 - Does it Always End in Ruin?

Scenting in a car with the Prime Alpha goes better than expected, but once they return to the pack house, things take a turn for Y/n.

WARNINGS FOR CHAPTER 15! This is a heavy chapter. Please read before reading the full chapter. Thank you 💜💜💜

Chapter 15 - The Pack Meeting and Troubled Pasts

Y/n shares her history with Bangtan Pack and finds she isn't the only one with a dark family life.

American Mate (16) - We are Alphas

Bangtan Pack discusses what to do next, followed by Namjoon's attempt to correct things.

As a paid member of my Patreon, you can read extra spicy smutty scenes and additional content, and have early release benefits for each chapter.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Reader Asks

Has the Bangtan Pack been with a woman before?

How would The Bangtan Pack react to finding Y/n dancing?

Additional Content

Meet Alpha Giant Flemish Rabbit Jungkook's Family

Patreon Artwork Poll Results (1)

American Mate (5) - Extended Scenting Scene (M)

American Mate (8) - Extended/ Additional Scene (M)

Take a look at Chapter 12, Hobi's Fire Red Suit.

[trippinsorrows]

matters of the heart

authors note: hi, friends! this one here is courtesy of the lovely @romanreignsbae who approached me with this concept a couple of weeks ago. we worked out a lot of the kinks, but i've made some....changes and additions to switch things up a bit. 😅

warnings: smut (oral, penetrative, different positions, etc), age gap (10 years), toxic (?) dynamics, and slight, blink and you'll miss it, angst.

words: 7k

“Shit!”

Her palms grip the cool metal of the railing, freshly filled acrylics lightly scraping and pressing into the banister that’s the only thing keeping this moment of pleasure from a scene of horror. That and the relentless grip he has on the meat of her hips, big hands digging into her supple skin the same way his tongue invades the most sacred part of her.

Forehead against that same cool metal, Solana closes her eyes and bites down to keep from screaming. To keep the entire posh neighborhood that is her view from this angle knowing just what’s taking place. Not that he’d care. No, she wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what he wanted. A spectacle, an X rated scene to be made. For the entire city, his city, to see, to hear, to know.

A low groan sits in the back of her throat, begging and dying to be released when he drags his tongue up the entire length of her soaking cunt. His hand moves to her ass cheeks, spreading them apart, granting him unobstructed access. 

“Fuck,” she curses, that grip on the railing tightening with each lethal lick of that dangerous tongue of his. The sounds of the bustling city before him, tall buildings lit up, filled with workers doing overtime, streets that are barren sans the few bodies walking and praying to make it home safely. It’s a beautiful view but one she’s gotten so used to seeing that the initial razzle dazzle of it all faded a long time ago. Plus, it’s hard to focus on the sight before her with the man behind her, on his knees, eating her out like his life depends on it. 

She should have known, should have known the minute she stepped on his massive balcony to get some air that he’d have her this way, bent over, face buried in her pussy. The same way she knows when he’s finally had his fill—whenever that is—he’ll have that dick buried inside her next. 

Her cunt flutters at the thought. 

Something that doesn't miss him. Unsurprising. Not much does. 

Hence why his deep voice vibrates, chuckling before another insertion, that of his thick finger, dragging out that groan and moan from Solana. Followed by another finger. Prep. He’s preparing her to take him, the way he usually does, because despite months of fucking, it seems like every time Solana goes to tackle that part, there’s a bit of an adjustment. His dick is so unforgiving, always needing to stretch her out like it’s the first time every time.

And, they are well past the first time. 

The sounds of him slurping and sucking on her as if the space between her legs holds to key to all of life’s mysteries does little to help the seldom self-control she has regarding her volume. Again, though, it feels like that’s what he wants. 

He wants her to come undone. Wants her to lose control. It’s like he gets off on it. 

Because he does.

“Roman, please…” She begs, the moan stretching the same way his thick fingers stretched and fuck her tight hole. “Dios…” More words of Spanish tumble out of her mouth at the same time he groans under her, pulling her closer, like the space between her cunt and his face isn’t already nonexistent. He’s insatiable. 

He keeps her that way for God knows how long, bent over the railing of his balcony, on his knees, eating her out until she feels her knees only have one more buckle in them before giving out entirely. 

But, the minute he moves from off his knees to his feet, her forehead laying on her forearm, she tries to steady herself from the orgasm—or two—that he just gave her. That's when she hears it. The familiar sound of the foil wrapper being ripped open, latex slid on that length that has to be dripping cum on the porcelain tiles. 

Her hand grips the railing for the thousandth time as he begins to slide himself inside of her slippery, dripping walls. 

“Fuck,” his deep voice groans behind her, hands on her hips helping steer and guide him. “Feels fucking amazing every time…”

Shared sentiments.

As uncomfortable as the stretch can be, it’s always outweighed by the pleasure that fills her, at the way he fills her. Overwhelming and all consuming. The best sort of reprieve from even the most stressful of days, and it’s been a stressful day. 

Hence why when her phone lit up with a text from him, she wasted not a second nor a minute before responding with an immediate, obvious answer. The way she was barely inside his penthouse when he had her slammed up against the closest wall, mouth on her, clothes already being ripped off.

That was hours ago.

She’s not sure what time it is now. Just that it’s late as fuck, and she’s most likely spending the night.

Again, wouldn’t be the first time. 

Roman rocks into her, behind her, thrusting into her with a need, dick digging deep into her. It’s his turn to say something in a language he can’t understand but something that is universally understood. Pleasure. He feels pleasure in this moment. Same as her. 

His hand fisted in her hair as he slams his hips into hers, repeatedly, again and again, knocking into her g-spot, eliciting delicious, carnal moans. Silence and volume be damned. It’s nearly impossible to stay quiet with him fucking her like he is. 

And, that silence is clearly not what he’s wanting anyway. 

“Stop trying to suppress it,” he groans, mouth near her ear, biting down gently on the lobe. “I want to hear you. Tell me how good it feels.”

Fuck. She’s not sure there’s enough words in the English language to describe how good it is, how amazing it feels. All of it. 

Roman fucks her into yet another orgasm, one that once again has her knees buckling, and her body operating off of fumes from the reserves.

Yet, that doesn’t stop him. 

Of course not. 

He carries her over to the bed, dropping her down on her stomach, the jiggle and motion of her ass earning yet another slap and jiggle courtesy of that big hand of his. Solana fists the sheets at the same time the bed dips under the weight of him joining her. Pushing her frizzed, fucked out hair out of her face, she catches just in time the dangerous sight of him sitting up against the headboard, stroking that still erect, long, thick dick of his that’s coated in her cream.

His eyes lock onto hers, tone even, gesturing to his lap. “Ride me.”

Damn.

She doesn’t need to be told twice. Fatigue be damn, the desire to have him inside of her outweighs logic, as it does most times and in most scenarios involving him. 

Solana quickly moves up to her knees, climbing onto his laps and lowering herself down onto his length, both of them moaning almost in tandem as she uses his strong, solid chest to steady her as she moves atop him.

Head thrown back, mouth parted, she works herself, back and forth, sliding along his dick, his hands moving up her stomach, fisting her heavy breast.

“Fuck,” he curses, thumb ghosting over her hardened nipples. “Just like that.”

His praise does more to her than what makes sense, not that any of it does. Hence why Solana continues to do as she’s done for the past few months.

Enjoy the ride. 

—-------

The next morning, Solana wakes up to an empty bed and the curtains shut, bathing the room in darkness sans the light that peeps through underneath the dark drapery. Rubbing her blinking eyes, she rolls onto her back and aimlessly reaches for her phone on the nightstand.

7:15am blinks back, reminding her that she needs to get her ass up and now, because while she doesn’t have to be at the hospital today until late afternoon, she does work in two hours, and getting home, getting settled, and everything else, will take some time. 

So, the sooner she’s out of here, the better.

Climbing out of bed, she yawns, stretching her sore limbs while walking across the room to grab her bag. She refuses to call it what it is. Her sneaky link bag. That…that’s just too much. It also doesn’t feel like what this is. Whatever this is, anyway.

At one point, she questioned it. She questioned it a lot, because what would make the self-proclaimed king of Gotham pick her, of all people, that night.

It was a simple thing. A night of clubbing and dancing away all her problems with Hannah, her best friend since moving to Gotham a few years back for school. More importantly, the celebration of a long overdue breakup.

Solana just wanted to have fun. Live a little. She was open to a one night stand. That wasn’t the issue. The issue was the man with whom she ended up leaving with that night.

Roman Reigns. 

The Tribal Chief. The Capo. The Head of the Table. God himself, to some people.

One of the first things she learned when arriving in the grand—not so grand—city of Gotham, that everything the light both touched and didn’t touch belonged to him. The leader of two of the biggest crime syndicates in the world, he ran the city with an iron fist. Nothing happened without his knowing or his approval. An open sort of deal where he didn’t need to hide his hands, the Bloodline and Cosa Nostra influence and presence far too long and deep for that. They were everywhere, and they all connected to him.

Roman was the exact type of danger Solana’s family back home in Mexico warned her about. The kind of “darkness” her mother and abuela feared would consume her when she announced she’d decided to attend Gotham university, located in the city of Gotham. A choice that made all the sense at the time as, despite being the home base for open crime, GU boasts one of the best pre-med and medical schools in the country.

Solana promised she’d be careful, determined to fulfill a lifelong dream of becoming a doctor, of being more than what she grew up seeing. A lot of love, so much love, but also a lot of struggle and poverty. She wasn’t going to let that be her story as well.

Which is why when Roman sent one of his men to bring her to where he sat, perched up nicely and kingly in the VIP section, clearly intent on finding a woman to bring home, that should have been all she needed. 

She should have said no. Politely declined. Grabbed Hannah’s hand and led them the hell out of the lion’s den. But, that wasn’t what happened. She didn’t reject the offer. She simply double checked that she was still sharing her location with Hannah and followed the flustered redhead up to his section.

Stood in front of him as he took in her, the same way she took him in. That perfectly chiseled face, neatly trimmed beard, pink, full lips set in a straight line, warm brown eyes that bounced back and forth from her breast to her face. A man, in every sense of the word. 

“This isn’t your scene.” His deep voice broke through the silent stare-off of sorts, the way they both seemed only focused on one another despite his entourage.

And, with a boldness, to this day, she hasn’t the slightest clue where it came from, she responded, voice soft, eyes never leaving his. “So why am I here?”

He smiled, and it still remains one of the best sights one could ever be worthy of viewing. His eyes remained locked onto hers, but his command was directed to everyone else. “Get out.”

And like Moses parting the sea, the bodies emptied out until only two remain. Herself and the Tribal Chief.

A small part of her still struggles to understand just how in less than twenty minutes following his clearing of the space, she ended up where she did. Bent over the arm of one of the sofas, skimpy blue dress raised up to her waist, thong discarded who knows where, his massive dick pumping into her. 

And especially what happened after that. 

Solana clutched onto the back of his head, her face buried into the crook of his neck. Her body was on fire, the feeling of him still buried deep inside of her doing little to help her cope with the aftermath of her orgasm. Especially with every subtle movement he made, including the way his fingers stroked her spine. 

But, it was when he traveled that hand upwards, forcing her gaze onto his, lust meeting lust. His thumb moved over her bottom lip, parting her lips, teasing an entrance. “Leave with me.”

Staring at him, nothing but the thought and feel of him hardening once more, consumed her judgment. The answer rolled out before she even realized what she’d agreed to.

“Okay.”

Up until that point, it was the craziest thing she’d ever been told. Not done, because letting a man ten years her senior, a dangerous man at that, fuck her in the VIP section of the city’s hottest club, Harley’s, snagged that spot in the ‘done’ category. 

It shall always be one of life’s greatest mysteries. 

Solana made sure she kept her location on and shared with Hannah but certainly still left with him that night and got fucked thoroughly and properly for the first time in her life. All throughout the night. 12/10 in any and all areas. It was erotic, sensual, and everything she never knew she needed.

It was also one and done. Or, at least, that’s what she’d thought.

Because almost five months later, she stands under the shower in his penthouse after yet another night of explosive sex. It was his suggestion that started it all. She was fully prepared to do her walk of shame afterwards, leaving with the benefit of knowing she’d at least fulfilled her initial goal of having a good time.

A very good time.

But, he’d been the one to stop her, to ask for her number, to say he wanted to “see” her again. 

Fuck.

He wanted to fuck her again.

And truthfully….she felt the same.

Sex was always just an okay thing with her prior boyfriends. Never anything to run, scream, and leap for joy about. That wasn’t the case with Roman. She wasn’t sure if it was the age difference and his obvious copious amount of experience compared to herself, but it was vastly different in all the best ways. A wonderful sort of distraction for the third year med school student. 

So, not a hard sell. Not a hard sell, at all.

Thus, the arrangement. Random hook ups that typically took place at his place, sometimes the back of his SUV, sometimes his bathroom. Eventually bleeding over into her place from time to time. Not her preference, however. Her shitty apartment seemed almost disrespectful for the billionaire mafia kingpin, even if it was solely used as a place to fuck.

Granted, she tries not to think too hard about the little things that have improved since he first came over that one day. Like, how the fucked up AC unit she’d been complaining to her landlord about since the 99 and 2000’s was suddenly replaced with something top of the line. Or, how the random rent increases she's dealt with since moving in disappeared, her rent dropping even lower than what it was when she first signed her lease.

Nope. She refuses to think of any of that, especially the way that random drop-in sexcapades have included her often spending the night, having a change of clothes and emergency bag kept tucked away in his closet and the drawer in his dresser he’d made just for her.

Or, the casual conversations they had sometimes, as they laid in bed together.

None of that mattered, cause it was just sex. They gave each other an….out, something each desperately needed from time to time.

And, she refused to see or acknowledge anything more than that. 

About half an hour later, Solana is dressed and in the kitchen, fixing a quick breakfast and cup of coffee before she leaves. She also does not acknowledge the few times she’s cooked for him….for them.

Irrelevant. 

She's just brewed her eight ounces of french roast coffee and looks over to where the options for creamer sit, waiting for her to pick which one will be the flavor of the day. Solana can’t recall if that stack was always sitting there the first time she came over, or rather, the first time he welcomed/allowed her into his kitchen.

Also, irrelevant. 

“I need to talk with you about something.”

The deciding between which creamer to use—Hazelnut or Vanilla Almond—is suddenly replaced with the confusion and semblance of dread that fills her at that infamous statement. 

Rarely has she seen anything good come out of such an opening. Foolery is usually what follows. Something undesirable and uncomfortable. 

And turning around, mug of freshly brewed coffee in hand, meeting his dark gaze, the tick in his jaw he does when irritated, Solana just knows she’s in for some shit. 

Fuck.  

He’s standing before her, shirtless, dark gray sweats hanging low on his hips. Distracting, but not enough for the weight of that statement. 

“Okay.” The perfect facade for a calm demeanor when she feels anything but. “What—” She clears her throat. “What’s going on?”

Solana leans back against the counter of his expensive granite, opposite of where he leans against the granite of the expensive ass island. The ten second bout of silence between her question and his answer is torture.

“I have…a proposition for you.”

Her nonchalant expression shifts just a bit. A proposition? She moves her weight from one foot to the other, using the only thing she has to pull from, the nature of their dynamic, to muster up a guess. 

“I told you, I don’t….” Just saying it feels off. Has her struggling to maintain eye contact. “I—I don’t do threesomes.” 

Then again, before him, she didn’t do friends with benefits either. Yet, here she is. Still, Roman is hard from a friend. Not even an acquaintance.. He’s just….a person.

A person she has amazing sex with from time to time. 

Maybe more than just time to time. 

His gaze darkens. “And, I told you I don’t share.” She looks back up, realizing not only was her assumption loud and wrong, but it’d also clearly irritated him as well. Great. “I have a dilemma.”

He has a lot of things, it seems, except the actual reason for this whole random ass, intimidating ass conversation. 

“Okay…”

When he looks away, suddenly interested in the double door stainless steel refrigerator, it’s hard for her to not focus on his side profile. Roman is easily one of the most attractive men she’s ever encountered. Sculpted and cut from the Gods. If only the beauty didn't stop with his appearance. 

Because as great as the sex is, outside of those few occasions where he's less….him, he can be an asshole. Another reminder that this arrangement is simply physically based. Roman may be attractive on the outside, but that inside…it leads a lot to be desired. 

A lot. 

“I need an heir.”

Silence.

For the eighteenth time in the span of less than five minutes, she has no idea what to say or how to respond to that. Hence, her repeating of the same word. “Umm, o–okay.” Because, again, what does one say to that? Congratulations? Her next question, however, is the one sitting at the top of mountain confusion, hence needing to be asked. “What does that—”

“I want you to be my surrogate.”

Her eyes widen, the mug in her hand almost slipping and shattering into a thousand pieces. “You—what?”

Solana blinks once, twice, and then slaps her temple lightly, for good measure, because there’s no way he said what she thinks he just said.

No way in hell.

But, instead of him offering a different answer, he looks over at her, doubling down with both big ass feet of his. “I need you to give me a child.”

It’s that statement that has her placing the mug of now lukewarm coffee on the counter as she brings her hands to her head. “Oh my God.” She can only focus on the design of the marble flooring and not the lunacy that just left his mouth. “Hannah was right. You are secretly crazy.”

To be fair, Hannah had also joked—not really—that she, too, was crazy for ever even leaving with him that night, for fucking him not once, but many times at this point.

And, right about now, Solana is thinking her best friend was right.

About the both of them. 

“Shut up.” His irritation returns with his curt dismissal of her sudden realization. Months of fucking this man, and this is how it comes out that he really is crazy. Of  course. “Let me explain.”

Her eyes are as wide as saucers, any and all appetite completely depleted. “What’s there to explain about that?”

He rolls his eyes, Solana realizing it’s probably not wise to take her focus off this beautiful, dangerous, potentially psychotic man. “I’m dealing with pressure from the Elders—”

“Who are they?”

Irritation flashes. “A group of older men in the Bloodline who serve as a council of sorts.” Something tells her they’re not his favorite group of people. Makes sense. Roman seems like the type of man who doesn’t do well with answering to….well, anyone. 

“They want me to produce an heir. I’m not getting any younger, and they think it's irresponsible for me to not have one at this point in my life.”

Makes sense. Solana can acknowledge that. Even with her limited knowledge as to how all this works, Roman being closer to 40 than anything and not having an heir to inherit his empire when he dies really does seem irresponsible.

Of course, they’re putting pressure on him. It’s just her…place(?) in all this that doesn’t make sense. Why he’s asking her. 

Why is he asking her?

Regardless, she has another question teetering at the top of her list. “What do you think?”

He just looks at her before completely avoiding the question. “I would just need you to carry and birth the child. You won’t need to be involved in his or her life after that.”

But, as he provides what he considers clarification, Solana sinks further into the realization that he’s not crazy.

He’s serious. 

That doesn’t change the fact that the situation, proposal, whatever is still insane. And, she voices as such.

“This is….” 

She trails off, now pacing before him, hugging herself, unable to wrap her head around just what she’s hearing. 

“I’ll cover all of your medical expenses along with paying off the rest of your schooling and anything else you owe.” At that, she stops, turning to look at him, eyes widening once more. His intense gaze is locked on hers. “You'll graduate medical school and finish residency with zero debt.”

What the fuck?

Solana falls back against the counter, scoffing in disbelief. Is he….is he for real?

“All because....you....you want me….to have your baby?” The more she says it, even thinks it, the crazier it sounds, but he’s continued to look just as serious as he was the minute he walked into the kitchen.

“It’s less about you and more the convenience of you.” There’s something about his response, the almost offensive nature of his tone that makes her shift her weight once more. Makes her feel something close to…hurt? She’s not entirely sure, just knows that the impolite expression on his handsome face and audible in his deep voice aren’t exactly helping the situation. “You’re in prime childbearing years, and your medical records don’t indicate any fertility issues—”

“Wait.” Pause. “How…how did you get my medical records?”

And, just like that, an already….weird situation just got infinitely weirder. Because, once more, what the hell?

However, he remains seemingly unbothered. “I’m Roman Reigns.” Something about his tone makes her stomach flip, makes her nails tap against the counter she continues to grip. “If I want something, I get it.”

She doesn’t deny that. She can’t. Clearly. HIPAA be damned.

Still, that cloud of shock remains sitting prompt and directly over her head. “I don’t…” She rubs her temples. “This…this is a lot.” To say the least. “How would…” A distracted thought that’s sidetracked from another important question that pops into her head. “Wait…I thought heirs were only recognized through marriages. How….” And, it’s when she looks over at him, sees the slight shift in his eyes, that she realizes what he either hasn’t gotten to yet or was hoping to maybe avoid altogether. “You’re kidding.” Alas, he’s not. He’s not at all. 

Her mouth drops open, stammering a reflection of the hits that keep on coming. “You…you want me to marry you, too?”

“I don’t want any of this.” More harshness. Another wince on her end. If anything, he’s honest. Brutally. “It’s simply a business arrangement. The marriage would be in name only, and the minute the child is born, we file for divorce.” 

Pacing back and forth, Solana does her best to not allow herself to fall into information overload, even though she’s damn near already there.

Roman wants her to give him a child. Have his baby. Marry him. And then….pretend like nothing happened? 

She should have just stayed in bed.

“Roman, I—”

“You don’t have to give me an answer right now.” Solana isn’t sure she could, even if he did need one right now. “Think about it. I’ll have everything laid out in a contract. Read it over, and let me know before the end of the week.”

Partial relief, as it only being Monday gives her a couple, but not a lot, of days to really sit on this all. Not even the….proposal but just….everything that’s happened since she first met Roman Reigns that fateful night in the club months prior. 

She nods, voice quiet once more. "Okay."

No. Not okay. Far from okay.

—------

“So let me get this straight.” Solana stabs the spoon into the shared carton of moose tracks ice cream being passed and forth between the two friends. She scoops an unnecessarily large amount and stuffs it into her mouth, intentionally downing it slowly to help prolong the answer she’s far from eager to give. “He asked you to marry him.”

Solana swallows. “Not…not necessarily.” 

“So, there was no mention of marriage?”

“Well, yes—”

Hannah’s eyes widen. “Then. he essentially asked you to marry him.” Solana groans, leaning deeper into the dark sofa that’s always been more uncomfortable than not but the best that she could afford at the time. Still, really. “And he wants you to be his surrogate.”

Solana winces. Just hearing it makes it sound even more insane. “Technically, we have to be married in order for the child to be recognized as his—”

“His little mafia prince or princess?”

“Hannah.”

“I’m sorry,” she apologizes, snatching the carton back, explaining almost panicked, “this is all way too much for me.”

Solana scoffs. “You?” She shakes her head, acknowledging the most uncomfortable part of it all. “I’m the one who has to give him an answer.”

An answer that’s not as easy as it should be, or maybe as she’d like it to be.

Hannah quiets down, the only sound in Solana’s small apartment coming from the TV playing a show neither women have watched since sitting down to discuss the proposal. A waste of electricity, if Solana was thinking clearly, but she’s not, because she’s too caught up in her head over what could end up being the most important decision she’ll ever make.

“So, tell me again, what exactly it’ll include,” Hannah asks, offering the carton to be shared once more. Solana takes another scoop, relaying everything Roman said, the premise of his offer. It would probably be easier to just share the contract Roman had his assistant, Paul, email her. But, she doesn’t. Probably cause that makes it all just way too official. “Wow….do you know how rare it is for someone to graduate college and medical school and everything else with zero debt?”

It’s not rare.

It’s unheard of.

Because, it doesn’t happen. 

But, Roman is prepared to do just that.

“I know,” Solana murmurs, her interest in ice cream waning by the second, prompting her to place her spoon down on the napkin laid out on her old coffee table. “It…it feels too good to be true.”

“But, that’s why he said you’d guys sign a contract, right?”

Solana nods. “Yeah.” Leaning back into the sofa, she begins to play with the bottom of her oversized shirt, a random purchase from Walmart’s graphic t-shirt rack. At one point, it had a portrait of Prince from Purple Rain. Now, it’s just distorted, tarnished, and nothing but a comfy thing to sleep in. “But, like…a baby, Hannah?”

Hannah frowns, her full lips more pronounced. “I know, but….it’s not like you’d keep it?”

True. However, that doesn’t negate her counter. “But, I’d still have to carry it for the better part of the year.”

Hannah shrugs one shoulder, her top falling just a bit to exposed, smooth, flawless, brown skin. “Well, yes, that’s how pregnancies work.”

Solana closes her eyes and moans. “Hannah.”

“I’m sorry,” the other woman apologizes, messing with her box braids. A sign of nervousness. “I’m just….I don’t know what to say.” 

Fair, because Solana, too, doesn’t know what to say.

Or do.

On one hand, Roman’s proposal sounds like the craziest thing ever. The rest of her collegiate expenses paid off in exchange for marrying him, giving him a baby, leaving the baby to be raised by him, and his family, with a divorce to top it all off as she continues to live her debt free life? 

But, also, like Hannah smartly pointed out, to be able to enter her dream career, making more money than she could have ever imagined, saving lives and doing what she loves without the cloud of student loans over her head?

That could change so much for her. She could maybe buy a house, help her parents pay off their mortgage and their debts. She’d be in such a good financial position for when the time came for her to actually settle down and start a family. 

And, then there's that whole side of it. Family. How the hell is she supposed to tell her family about this? How could she ever help them understand why she's agreed to be the surrogate for a literal killer in exchange for financial freedom? How does one go about explaining that to their family without being put on an involuntarily psych hold for temporary insanity?

She'll wait.

Solana groans, appetite completely gone. This shit sucks. It should be an easy decision, but it's not, and as much as she would like to say her answer is no, and that's that....she can't.

She can't bring herself to do that, because the appeal of living an essentially carefree life when it comes to finances feels almost too good an opportunity to turn down.

A dream come true, depending on how one looks at it.

It’s just the getting there that has her so torn. 

Because the idea of conceiving and carrying a child right now doesn’t feel or seem all that appealing. And, it’s not that she doesn’t want kids. She does. 

Just not now.

She wants to finish up school and be a bit established in her career before going down that road. 

But.

It’s not….it’s not as if this will be her child. Yes, biologically, he or she will be hers, but she’ll have no place in their life. Roman will be the father, and what story he tells them about their maternal parentage is for him to figure out. Plus, he has a big family. The child will be loved. 

She’s just the conduit, of sorts. 

And, as far as the marriage part, plenty of people get divorced. She’ll just be a part of that fifty percent club. Not to mention, it won’t even be worth mentioning to any future partners. Neither will the surrogacy, really. It’ll just be….a chapter in her life. 

One not worth revisiting when the last page turns. 

 —-------

Roman fucking hates waiting.

He understands why in this situation, but it doesn’t make him any less annoyed. 

Another heavy, irritated sigh at having checked his phone once more only to see a lock screen full of notifications, none of them from the person he’s wanting to see on his phone.

Needing, in some instances.

Jaw ticking, that just spikes his irritation all over again. He hates that shit, too. Needing something. Anything. From anyone.

Hence why his hatred for the Elders has only been exacerbated by this whole fuck ass situation they’ve put him in. 

It’s fucking aggravating, and the urge to tell them all to fuck off is something he struggles with on the daily. 

But, deep down, beyond the layers of stubbornness, he knows they’re right. At 36, approaching 37, he needs an heir. 

It’s long overdue.

Hence his approach to Solana. 

Not ideal. Not ideal at all.

But, of his options, of his roster of women, she makes the most sense. She’s easy. No drama. No theatrics. For months, they’ve had their arrangement, and she’s never once tried to make it more than what it is. She just gets it. 

He just hopes she can get this as well. 

Roman understands her apprehension as well as her shock, but in laying out the facts and details, he's optimistic she can understand that it's nothing more than a business arrangement. Just as he told her. 

Stepping into the shower, Roman allows the water to wash away the stress of the day and lingering thoughts of his official-unofficial non-friend with great benefits, scrubbing and washing his body clean. 

The entire night routine, of sorts, ends with him walking into his bedroom and climbing into his bed, despite his mind still racing. The last glance he gives to his phone, still without the notification he’s been waiting for, is the last thing he sees before drifting off to sleep. 

—------

The sounds of nature, the ray of sunlight bleeding into the room through the open doors that lead to the balcony. Roman’s frown is deep as he blinks his eyes open and inhales deeply, the scent clean and subtle, a combination of her perfume that lingers on the sheets, her side presenting an absent space.

Roman sits up and rolls his shoulders, swinging his legs over the side of the bed, sliding his feet into the Nike slides. Making his way out the room, the framed photos on the wall of the hall that lead him to the staircase tell a story.

Their story. 

That Valentine’s Day card she made for him when they were in the second grade, the edges torn, that stain in the corner that smeared her artwork the result of some shitty classmate that “accidentally” spilled apple juice on it.

The same way Roman “accidentally” punched him right in his stupid face immediately after. 

The collage of polaroids she’d made for him on his 13th birthday, a gift of labor and love, photos of mostly him, but them as well, along with a few including the twins. 

The photo of them at prom, an event he was 100% okay with skipping, never really caring much for shit like that, but she wanted to go, so they went. Back against him, her dainty hands placed atop his as she smiled so bright, her eyes creased slightly, her happiness from that night seeping through the photo that documented what she’d once called the “best night” of her life. 

Her partially agrees, and not for any reason related to the actual prom. No, that shit was a disaster. The music sucked, someone spiked the punch, Jey and Nicki were kicked out of the hotel for their usual bullshit, Jimmy and Naomi almost broke up, Bayley landed a suspension for beating the shit out of Samantha in the girls bathroom. It was....a lot. But, what made it memorable for him was afterwards, was where instead of attending the after-party, she asked to go back to his place, and they became one with each for the first time.

The first time he ever told her he loved her.

Then there's another collage, of course, created by her, reflecting the week they spent together, just the two of them, in the Maldives to celebrate their high school graduation.

That...that will always be one of his fondest memories. For one week, it was just him and her, no pressure, no outside distractions. Just the two of them.

Happy.

Roman swallows, realizing revisiting only makes things worse. He opts to keep his focus on the cherrywood steps that lead him to the first floor and the backdoor that, similar to the doors in the bedroom, remain open and inviting. 

That’s where he finds her, out on the patio, standing in front of the easel, paint brush in one hand, working efficiently and dutifully. The sleeveless, long white dress grants him a view of the inked “Roman” written across the back of her upper arm. And, even with her curls and coils down, the wind pushing her hair up and to the side teases the small R tattooed on the back of her neck.

The same way he has two tattoos for her located discreetly on his body, embedded and hidden within tribal ink. Etched on his soul. 

A small smile on his face that grows with each step he takes towards her, only to deepen and his eyes to shut when he’s able to wrap his arms around her.

She smiles, lowering the paint brush, looking over her shoulder. “Can I help you?”

He says nothing, kissing the side of her neck. She giggles, and it’s the best thing one could ever hear. He looks over at the unfinished piece, not enough completed for him to make a guess at what she has in mind, hence him asking, “what is it?”

Her smile shifts into a smirk, her voice teasing, “guess you’ll have to wait and see, won’t you?” Groaning, she giggles once more, placing the brush and palette down as she turns around and beams up at him. “How was your day today?”

“Long.” Too long. They’re always too long. 

She presses her lips together, fingers dancing up his chest. “That great?”

“I don’t want to talk about that,” he dismisses. Unsurprising, or it shouldn’t be. Roman lifts his hand to cup the back of her neck, thumb brushing over that single letter, his expression softening. “I just wanna enjoy you.”

The wind brushing against them makes her curls flap around wildly just as the smile on her stunning face grows. She moves to take his hand in hers, leading them back into the house. Roman says nothing, hand firm in hers as she guides them upstairs and into the bedroom.

His eyes never leave hers, like he’s scared that doing so will make her go away, make her leave.

He had that happen once before. 

Never again. 

She lays down on her side, prompting him to do the same, captivated by her eyes, a warm rich brown, just a few shades deeper than her complexion, glowing and illuminated from the sun of the open windows adjacent to their bed.

She smiles, deeply, dimples on full display. “So, you asked her.”

And, just like that, the softening expression of his shifts into something else. Hardened. Irritated. “I don’t want to talk about that, either.”

She says nothing, reaching and stroking his beard. “Not talking about it won’t make it suddenly go away or disappear….” She swallows, full lips dipping into a bit of a frown. “I like her.” Her gaze lifts to him. “And, so do you.”

It’s an easy, quick dismissal. “She’s a means to an end.” 

A knowing smile. One he’s seen a million times over. “You were never able to lie to me.”

“I’m not,” he defends, reaching to push back some of her coils. “She means nothing to me. It’d be a business arrangement.”

Her frown deepens once more. “She’d be giving you a child, Roman.”

“Also, a business arrangement.” A staunch defense followed by a hushed, vulnerable admission, “it shouldn’t even be her.”

She swallows. “Roman…”

“It should be you.” His voice is thick and even, jaw clenched from building emotion. “It should be us.”

She just looks at him, stares at him, finally asking in the quietest voice, “how long are you going to keep blaming yourself, my heart?”

A powerful question for which, after all these years, he still has no answer for. 

He’s not sure he ever will.

Roman shoots up in bed, chest heaving, the lightest sheen of sweat across his forehead. The bedroom bathed in light colors, the sunlight from the beautiful day, and the wrinkled space beside him no longer present. 

She’s no longer beside him. 

It’s none of that. None of her.

Just him. 

Alone.

He swallows, jaw clenched as he tries to settle himself. All these years later, and he still struggles with this portion. The coming to. The most painful reminder he could ever have/experience. The return to reality. A reality he’d give anything to not be his reality. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he catches the view of his phone lit up on the nightstand. A phone he hasn’t touched since getting in bed, thus there being no activation on his end to cause it to light up.

That means he has a new notification.

Blowing out a deep breath, he runs his hand through his partially dry hair, grabbing the iPhone.

And, for the first time in days, a message from the name that hasn’t appeared since their last conversation.

Solana.

It’s not missed upon him how he takes a second before unlocking the phone and navigating to the messages app, her thread at the very top, reading an unambiguous response. 

Solana: I’ll do it. 

--------

authors note: and, here we are, folks. if you've been around here long enough, you know i don't typically ask questions of ya'll at the end of the chapters, but this particular au is, i think, pretty different from the others. or, maybe i'm just delusional.

because, in case you missed it, the 'she' roman was dreaming about is not solana. thus, i'm curious. lmao. specifically, what do ya'll make of roman and solana's whole....fwb, of sorts, arrangement? seems like they both view it the same but also...maybe not.

[yumeka-sxf]

In addition to Yor's epiphany scene, this scene was the other one I was most looking forward to in season 2 - a scene that, in my opinion, is one of the most Twiyor-ish scenes in the series so far 💖

Why is it so significant? Because there was no reason for Twilight to put on any Loid Forger acting in that moment. He wasn't conversing with nor being scrutinized by anyone. So why would he give that soft smile followed by such affectionate, comforting words as "お疲れ様/otsukaresama"? (this can be translated in many ways, but generally it's something you say to thank someone for their hard work).

The answer is because it's something he truly felt...he understood the sacrifice Yor made for Anya's happiness and genuinely appreciated it (if only he knew the sacrifice she made on the larger scale, lol). While he's a bit perturbed at first since some onlookers were snickering at him, it didn't take long for him to soften and then graciously carry his queen and princess the girls back to the ship 😭

But Twilight overall was really soft in this episode and I loved it~ From his blush upon seeing Yor to the several times he gave that same soft smile when talking with/looking at her...I think Anya was right when she called him out on the ship about missing his wife 😅

I liked how the anime conveyed his shock when noticing her bruised face...what must have been his thought at that moment? 👀

The scenes of the family activities translated better in animated form in my opinion. While they were each only a single panel in the manga, they lasted a few seconds each in the anime, plus the addition of the insert song helped the with the comfy, wholesome vibe~ Also the part where Yor inadvertently chucks Anya across the ocean is still hilarious.

Loid's dorky skip at the beginning of the episode translated very well in animated form too 😅

The ending of this chapter in the manga always felt a bit rushed to me...it quickly jumps from the aforementioned scene of them returning to the ship, to suddenly being home, reuniting with Bond and Franky, having a meal together, then Twilight meeting Sylvia, all within a few panels. Even though I wish the anime added more than just some additional scenes of the ship leaving the island, I felt it flowed much better in the anime since, just like the family activities, each scene in the ending lasted a second or two instead of being a single illustration.

But I love how this chapter/episode ends, with Yor, Anya, and Bond napping while Anya draws about her family vacation. This seems to take place the next day or maybe later the same day they got home, so makes sense they'd still be tired from the trip!

By the way, the manga has this additional scene showing that Olka and company are safe. Weird that the anime didn't stick it in at some point.

Also, the anime team didn't have to go so hard with this episode's key visual but they did...and I love it 😍 Might actually be my favorite of the key visuals so far!

I was very happy to see the "surrounded by liars" panel finally animated! This is such a funny scene and a great way to fully wrap up the cruise arc.

I also burst out laughing at Yuri's locker 🤣

Damian is surprisingly laid back in this episode. I think the reason is because Anya's antics aren't directly involving him. He tends to go total tsundere only when she's actually talking to him, lol.

The new scene of Yor getting the keychains for her coworkers was a nice addition! Guess it's canon that Yor and Anya didn't sleep for the entire trip back, lol. Glad they got to spend family time on the ship too! (though I wish we could have seen Yor's reaction waking up in Loid's bottom bunk bed, haha. He must have brought her to his room since he wouldn't know where her room is. Unless she woke up before he even put her in a bed, in which case she would have been super embarrassed knowing he was carrying her around in public 😆)

Looks like next week the anime will be changing the order of things a bit and giving us the Becky home-wrecking and Fiona chapters (the latter of which seems to have some anime original content?) The Becky chapter is one of my favorite stand-alone chapters...I'm already dying of laugher thinking about it 😂

[rismortiis]

★ Frank Doodles ★

Come get your dinner Rocky Horror fandom!

(note at the end)

I have this really fun HC that Frank is a vampire alien in somekind (that's kinda half-cannon because of that cancelled sequel so I'M NOT DELUSIONAL OK I'M NOT CRAZY-) plus he has piercings... Yeah that's it. I'll draw a full body soon but to me he's like 1,60m tall and uses high heels to be taller lol

Also his jacket i totally re-designed It because of... Reasons... It was bothering me a lot so i made It all very punk. also i enjoy playing around with the makeup phases, so in the next art you'll notice that the "fade-out" is more of a "fade-in" because he's trying to... Keep it cool..? IDK How to explain, english isn't my first language lol

But yeah, in my HC he kinda changes his makeup inbetween the scenes to match his humor idk

Well this is something my friends called me crazy and told me i am inventing stuff BUT I'M NOT, OKAY??? THIS IS REAL. On the Dinner scene, when Riff and Magenta serve wine/juice to the guests, They ALL have fancy cups, BUT only Columbia is served correctly, the other guests (Brad, Janet, Rocky, Dr. Scott) are served on the WRONG cups, so in my head that's a passive-agressive posture idk i think it's really funny lmao i don't care If this isn't the case i love to think about It 💅

Also in addition to being served in the wrong cup, the wine/juice is also watery okay, he's evil

Note: Hello again i made some doodles of Frank in different scenes and pointed out some small headcannons i have!! And ofc bonus doodle of murder lab moment because i hate the first art i posted of It hahaha

[uvobreakmylegs]

favorite fic? of yours and in general

I don't feel like picking and choosing between my own fics so instead I wanna share some fics written by my fellow yandere writers (some of which I may have shared in similar asks in the past but idc I wanna share them again):

from @hypnoswrites:

Chrollo vs a blacklist Hunter (I really enjoy how fast and how easily Chrollo was able to handle that situation, from cleaning up the body to controlling reader)

Illumi uses a needle on reader (love the way poor reader's mind is addled in this one and how easily she disregards the violent scene due to Illumi's influence. love the ending as well, it's so chilling)

Uvogin x reader x Franklin (two big men - my greatest weakness❤️❤️❤️)

vampire Razor (idk how to summarize this one accurately there's so much going on and I love it all so much)

apocalypse AU with Pakunoda (Paku my beloved❤️❤️❤️)

from @ddarker-dreams:

Chrollo's birthday (love me some Greedy Chrollo)

third party recognizes reader while she's out with Chrollo (poor reader tried SO hard to keep the guy away AND keep Chrollo appeased😭)

aftermath of Chrollo's darling being kidnapped (all of the conversations that Lock's readers have with Chrollo are always great to read but this one in particular sticks out in my mind and I love it)

Feitan's darling runs away (THAT FUCKING ENDING OMG)

Scaramouche's darling distracts him (I know next to nothing about Genshin Impact but I really enjoyed this fic❤️❤️❤️)

from @cherrysha:

ABO Uvogin (this fic lives in my head rent free)

Uvo's darling has a nightmare (there's something scary about how Uvo is so violent in trying to find her and how it contrasts with how gentle he is after. the anxiety she feels from her nightmare which then turns into comfort when he has her in his arms)

reader tries to kill Hisoka (poor reader😭)

god AU with Franklin (I love love love the buildup to Franklin's true reveal in this fic. how Franklin's presence is there within the temple once reader visits, but it's only when she finally collects the proper materials that he appears for real before her. plus the addition of reader possibly being in danger if she fails at the task he's set for her. there's a lot of buildup and dread in this fic and I love it)

Meleoron x reader (this fic is just cute as hell and I need to share it)

from @after-witch:

Feitan saves reader after she's been kidnapped (I've definitely shared this one before but that isn't stopping me from sharing it again bc this fic is amazing from beginning to end❤️❤️❤️)

one night stand with Feitan (I just love the way reader and Feitan end up connecting and how reader being herself is enough to make Feitan decide that he wants to keep her)

vampire Chrollo x reader (this is another fic that has so much going on that it's hard to get all of my thoughts on it out. it's just such a fun read and I love The Lost Boys vibes)

Chrollo's patience runs out (just Bastard Chrollo at his finest)

Uvogin retrieves his darling (in these kind of fics you just KNOW that Uvo will be getting his darling after they run, but it's always a wonder as to how that happens and what Uvo's reaction will be)

from @absolute-flaming-trash:

Hisoka buys his darling a gift (using bungee gum as a LEASH omg)

Hisoka looking for his soulmate (I really liked this version of the 30 seconds soulmate au❤️❤️❤️ it was interesting plus it offered more opportunities for reader to annoy Hisoka lol)

Chrollo and kidnapped reader (poor reader😭)

Illumi punishes reader (😳😳😳)

Mahito asking about love (anything with Mahito is generally fucked up due to him being.... himself. but this one had some moments that were kinda cute. like the description of Mahito laying on the bed reading a magazine, or the way he's described looking at reader. but all it takes is for one word and the mood feels dangerous again. also it's currently raining rn so reading this fic feels appropriate)

[ramonag-if]

Progress Update - Crown of Exile

So. It's been a while. I'm alive, sort of. Do I dare tempt fate by saying I'm on the last chapter of Crown of Exile and if all goes well, we'll have the first draft done later this year? Probably.

In all seriousness, I should have stuck to traditional novels. No one tells you that branching variations are crazy until you're sitting there and writing three outcomes for four variations for four different paths. It's a lot but on the plus, I'm on the battle scenes which is when everything you've been working towards suddenly gets tested.

It's been fun but I can't say I love writing variations. Eventually, when this behemoth is done, edits will begin and when that happens, I'll be looking for some detailed feedback for implementing additional choices, dialogues and of course romance option(s). For fans of Virion, let's just say, it'll happen one day 👀

For now, rest assured that while things aren't being posted every few seconds, minutes and days, I am still very active on working on the game. Hopefully, the next post like this will be announcing the completion of the first draft 🎉

I know there are some asks I haven't answered, but I will be getting back to that soon so if you have anything to ask, please send them through 💖

Thank you to everyone who has continued to support, play and gush about the game. The end is nearly in sight ✨️