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just-dreaming-marvel · 3 years

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Love and Medicine ~ 13

MASTERLIST

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Word Count: 3,160ish

Summary: You try to handle what happened with Steve, while Natasha tries to handle her pregnancy.

Warning: serious pregnancy complications

A few days later, you were anxious and needed to get energy out. You dragged Natasha to the park for a run. She was huffing and puffing as you basically ran circles around her.

“You’re stupid,” Natasha panted, trying to keep up. “You're stupid, evil, sadist and I wanna kill you.”

“Endorphins are good. Endorphins are mood elevators,” you replied. “This is supposed to make us feel better.”

Natasha stopped and threw herself on the ground. “Do you feel better?”

“I’m stupid.” You jogged around her.

“Slutty mistress.”

“Pregnant whore.”

“Sleeping with our bosses was a great idea.”

You stopped and sat yourself beside Nat. “You know what’s ruined for me?”

“What?”

“Ferry boats. I used to love ferry boats and Steve's got a thing for ferry boats. Now every time I see a frigging ferry boat—“

“You know what's ruined for me? Coronary artery by-pass grafts ... and aortic aneurysms. I used to love aortic aneurysms.”

You laid next to Natasha with a sigh. “Have you cried yet?”

“What do you think?”

“Do you think we’ll feel better if we cry? You know like just let it out?”

“Probably. Yeah…. Do you wanna cry now?”

“No.”

“Okay.”

~~~

Steve entered the hospital elevator, finding himself alone. Which was relieving. Unfortunately, at the last second, Fury entered wearing a beanie.

“Nice hat,” Steve commented.

“Shut up,” Fury responded.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m going back to work.”

“You’re not cleared for surgery.”

“Leave me alone. I’ve been sitting at home watching Ellen giving away things on TV. Ellen, Steve! You clear me now or I’ll hurt you.”

“If you want me to clear you so soon, maybe you should've thought about that before you gave chief to Stark and invited Satan to Seattle.”

“Satan?”

“Good morning,” Peggy greeted, entering the elevator. “I like the hat, Nick.”

“Satan speaks,” Steve murmured.

“Actually I prefer to be called ruler of all that is evil. But I will answer to Satan.”

“What is she still doing here?”

“I asked her to stay,” Fury answered. “We have a pediatric surgery attending on maternity leave.”

“Actually, I could use you on a consult,” Peggy told Steve. “Will you meet me up there Steve?”

“Ah yeah. Fine,” he responded. Peggy left the elevator. “I’m not clearing you for surgery.”

~~~

Dr. Gamora and her group of interns were all gathered in a patient’s room for rounds. Dr. Banner was also in attendance.

“Mr. Jackson is scheduled for resection non-small cell carcinoma today,” Natasha stated. “He did well overnight, has remained afebrile. He's had a dose of ceftriaxone this morning. He's pre-op labs are unremarkable. His chest x-rays, um, are unchanged from the previous.”

“I own a couple dry-cleaning stores,” Mr. Jackson explained. “Never believed what they said about inhaling the chemicals.”

“We’re going to do everything we can for you, Mr. Jackson,” Banner promised. He turned to Natasha. “Did oncology see him yet?”

“Uh, they’re waiting for the surgical path,” Natasha replied.

“Thank you, Dr. Romanoff.”

“Next patient,” Dr. Gamora said. The group of interns followed Gamora.

“You need to tell Banner,” you whispered to Natasha.

“No,” Natasha responded.

“I just think you should still tell him about the baby because he'd at least have the responsibility of having to pay.”

“No! You know what? He’ll never know. It’s over. Once this pregnancy is taken care of, Banner won’t even be a blip on my radar. He’ll be a smudge.”

“Right,” you scoffed.

You all entered the next patient room to see a young woman.

“Alexa Rickie,” Peter began, “she’s 23 years old. In for a scheduled ETS for treatment of her erythrophobia hyperpyrexia.”

“Erythrophobia?” Val whispered to Clint.

“Blushing,” he answered.

“You have any questions about the procedure?” Gamora asked Alexa.

“Oh. Dr. Ro….” Alexa began, but paused as she started blushing badly. Trying to get it to go away, she fanned her face. “Dr. Rogers explained everything. He was very… huh… helpful. He gave me some…. sorry…”

“Don’t be,” Peter said. “Half the patients that come through here have the hots for Rogers.”

“Dr. Quill,” Gamora scolded.

“What? It’s true.”

You simply rolled your eyes. It’s not like Peter was wrong. It was just so annoying because it was true, all the patients did swoon over Steve. Gamora ordered all of you to exit the room. You followed her and stood in front of her when she stopped.

“Okay, assignments,” Dr. Gamora said, looking at some papers. “Val, the Rogers’ need an intern up in the NICU.”

“The Rogers’?” Val repeated. “Like, the both of them? Together? And me by myself with the two married people who hate each other?”

“Go.” Val sighed and walked off. “Natasha you’re on the thoracotomy.”

“With Banner?” Natasha wondered. “Oh, can I have the hateful married couple instead?”

“Okay, I’m sorry, I thought that I was your resident and not your hostess. I assign, you take. Is there a problem with that?”

“No.”

“Is there some reason why it's inconvenient for you to spend the day in the OR, learning from Dr. Banner?”

“No. I'm very happy to be working with Dr. Banner. Thank you very much.” Natasha rushed off.

“Clint and Scott, the pit.” They nodded and left. “Peter, Alexa Rickie is your patient.”

“Yes,” he said quietly before leaving.

“Y/N, you will be doing scut.”

“Excuse me?”

“I can tell you’re still distracted from the Rogers’ drama, and you need to find some focus.”

“I’m plenty focused.”

“Prove that to me today.”

~~~

Val stood by Peggy in the NICU as Steve went over a baby’s chart.

“Where’s the mother?” Steve asked.

“Gone,” Peggy answered. “She stuck around long enough to get the kid strung out and then took off. Sound familiar?”

“Peggy!”

“Steve, I know it’s a long shot. I know that.”

“You told me you had a newborn with an invasive mash. You fail to mention that she's premature, underweight and addicted to narcotics. There's no way that this baby is going to survive spinal surgery.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Even if she does, she's a mess. She'll just get meningitis seizures. She's going to live a short painful life.”

“You don’t know that.”

“It’s my job to know that.”

“You’re not God, Steve.”

“Excuse me?”

“I'm sorry honey but you're not. You don't get to decide—“

“Wait, did you just call me honey? Don’t call me honey!”

Val tried to focus on the baby as the conversation grew more uncomfortable.

“Fine,” Peggy conceded. “You’re not God, Dr. Rogers. Look if a patient has any chance at survival, which I think she does, then you have a responsibility—“

“Don’t talk to me about responsibility,” Steve retorted.

“You took an oath Steve!”

“Oh, don’t you dare talk to me about oaths!”

“Steve, I messed up. People mess up.”

“You slept with my best friend in my favorite sheets.”

“The flannel sheets? You hate the flannel sheets.”

“No, I love the sheets.”

“You like the Italian sheets with the paisleys—“

“Would you just stop talking about the sheets?”

“Fine!”

“Look I’m sorry. I’m just gonna go,” Val interrupted. “I’ll go check on the labs.” She couldn’t leave the room fast enough.

“Peggy, don’t do this,” Steve said.

“Steve… look she’s a fighter,” Peggy watched the baby girl. “Look how far she’s come already.”

“Don’t get attached. Don’t get involved. Just… don’t make her life more painful than it already is.”

“Steve, please. She has nobody. She needs someone to fight for her.”

“She’s too far gone. You have to let her go. Let her go in peace.” Steve started to head out.

“Fine Steve, walk away. It’s what you do best.”

~~~

“How are you holding up today?” Tony asked, cup of coffee in hand as he walked beside you.

“Fine,” you responded.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“I heard Gamora has you on scut today.”

You scoffed. “It’s ridiculous. She’s questioning if I’m focused.”

“She’s just making sure you’re alright. It’s her way of showing she cares.”

“Stupid way. Can you just put me on one of your cases for the day? I desperately need it.”

“Fine. Come on, I have a surgery in 30 minutes. You can scrub in.”

~~~

Natasha rushed into Dr. Banner’s surgery that had already began. She wasn’t feeling well and had spent a majority of the day in the bathroom. A nurse quickly handed her a gown.

“Here, Dr. Romanoff,” the nurse said.

“You’re late,” Bruce commented, focused on the surgery.

“I apologize,” Natasha responded, merging into the group of others that were watching.

“Just starting to dissect around Mr. Jackson’s tumor… I’ve almost got visualization.”

Natasha let out a shaky breath, as her head pounded. She had no idea what was going on, but she wasn’t willing to sit out on this surgery. She was already mad at herself for being late.

~~~

Val walked into the NICU with the baby’s chart. Peggy was watching over the baby who was gripping onto her finger.

“She’s got a good grip,” Val commented.

“Yeah,” Peggy agreed.

“I don’t think…” Val sighed, handing the chart over to Peggy. “It doesn’t look good.”

“She's a got a resistant strain of pneumococcus. The antibiotics aren't working. You may want to get yourself reassigned Val. I don't think we'll be operating today.”

“So do you think Dr. Rogers was right?”

“She’s just too far gone… she does have a good grip… I hate admitting that he’s right. Especially right now.”

~~~

Natasha was getting more exhausted with each passing second, and sweaty.

“The tumor has infiltrated the pericardium,” Bruce stated. Looking up, he sees Natasha looking like she’s day dreaming. “Romanoff! Romanoff!”

“What… sorry?” Natasha answered, the world around her muffled.

“Is my surgery interrupting your daydreaming?”

“No. Sorry.”

“There is an arrhythmia when I press down on the tumor. That is a sign of what, Romanoff?”

“Umm…. Ah. It’s a sign of, it’s a… it’s a sign that the uh, tumor has infiltrated the pericardium.”

“Possibilities?”

“In all… I’m sorry. I…”

“Do your homework, Romanoff. It could be causing a tear in the aortic muscle of the heart.”

“So he’s got a broken heart,” another doctor commented.

Panting, Natasha swayed before collapsing on the floor. A few of the doctors let out exclamations of surprise. From the gallery, Gamora, Scott, and Val saw everything. They quickly headed down to the OR.

“Dr. Romanoff, are you okay?” A doctor asked, kneeling beside her.

“Natasha,” Bruce called. “Natasha. Somebody help her!” He stopped surgery, but hadn’t moved from his spot. “Natasha! Don’t just stand there, dammit. Somebody help her. Get a gurney in here!”

Gamora, Val, and Scott rushed in with a gunnery and supplies.

“Natasha,” Bruce called again.

“Natasha,” Val repeated, getting down beside her friend.

“We’ve got it Dr. Banner,” Gamora said. “We’ve got it.” She put a breathing mask on Natasha’s face.

“Okay, talk to me. Tell me what we do we know,” Bruce ordered. “What do we know? Talk to me Valkyrie.”

“I don’t know,” Val responded.

“Come on people let’s move.”

“Natasha!” Gamora called. “What hurts?” Nat didn’t respond, but was conscious. “Let’s get her out of here. There’s a patient on the table. Lift.” They lifted Natasha onto the gurney and started moving her from the OR. “Good, good.”

“Dr. Gamora, when you get her stabilized, I need a report please.”

“Right, Dr. Banner!” They quickly move Natasha out and down the hall. “Uh! Her pulse is racing. I need her on a monitor to get a BP. Also I want her started on a liter of LR wide open. Val run ahead to emergency and let them know we're on our way.”

Val noticed that Natasha was trying to talk. She removed her friends mask. “What?” Val questioned.

“Seven weeks,” Natasha said, breathless. “I’m pregnant, Val. I’m pregnant.”

Val, Scott, and Gamora stopped and looked out each other. They moved the gurney into an elevator.

“Okay, no. We’re going to pre-op instead,” Gamora instructed. “Val, find Peggy Rogers. And be discreet.”

Val nodded and hurried off. She found Peggy with Fury and Clint near one of the nurses stations.

“Excuse me, Dr. Rogers. We need you fast,” Val said. “Um.. it’s Natasha, one of our interns. She’s…. she’s collapsed.”

“Natasha’s collapsed?” Clint repeated.

“Why do you need me?” Peggy asked.

Val sighed, not saying anything. Comprehension dawned on both Peggy and Fury, realizing that she must be pregnant. Clint looked at them, getting it too.”

“Natasha’s pregnant?!” Clint exclaimed.

“Shut up Clint,” Val scolded, before turning to Peggy. “Please come.”

“Of course,” Peggy agreed, following Val.

~~~

“Thank you for that, Tony,” you said, scrubbing out of surgery beside the attending. “I really needed it.”

“Of course,” he responded.

“Y/N,” Clint said, bursting into the scrub room.

“Clint?” You questioned. You studied him, realizing that there was something wrong. “What is it?”

“It’s Natasha.”

~~~

In pre-op, Peggy was performing an ultrasound on Natasha. Dr. Gamora was standing behind Nat’s bed, stroking her hair.

“Have you notified the father?” Peggy asked.

Natasha didn’t answer, simply breathing funny.

“Natasha? Natasha?” Gamora called. “Natasha? Is there anyone we can call?” Natasha just continued to gasp slightly. “Oh we’re losing her.”

“Do you see that?” Peggy asked, pointing at the screen displaying Natasha’s uterus. “It’s an extra uterine pregnancy in the tube there. She’s bleeding out. We need to get her to surgery immediately.”

They rushed Natasha to surgery and immediately got started. Gamora was still behind Natasha, watching over her, asVal observed the surgery.

“She’s gonna be okay, right?” Val worried.

“How attached was she to this pregnancy?” Peggy asked.

“I don’t know. She’s a pretty private person.”

“She's lost a lot of blood but I've got it from here. Dr. Gamora you must have a surgery or two of your own today.”

“I’m fine right here,” Gamora responded, keeping her eyes on Natasha.

~~~

You were rushing through the hall, trying to find out any information on Natasha and her condition. You were so incredibly worried about her, which didn’t help your already bubbling emotions. Rounding a corner, you rammed right into a chest. Hands grabbed your arms to steady you. You looked up to see Steve, looking down at you with concern. Just looking into his eyes, made you want to break down in his arms. Which was so extremely frustrating. You pushed back out of his grasp, causing Steve to hold up his arms in defense.

“Don’t!” You said sharply.

“Sorry,” Steve said.

“Don’t be sorry. I’m so tired of it, Of you being sorry.”

“Dr.—“

“Don’t do it!”

“Dr. L/N—“ He glanced around as you began causing a scene.

“Dr. L/N, seriously? Are you concerned about people finding out about us? Is that what matters to you?”

“Y/N, it’s okay.”

“It’s not okay! You have a wife who’s not easy to hate. Who’s annoyingly kind and painfully smart and I pretty sure that she’s current saving my best friend’s life.”

“Y/N, just—“

“Don’t! Stop talking to me like you’re my boyfriend! Stop talking to me at all.”

You rushed away, finding the OR that Natasha was being operated in. You opened the door. But before you could get fully into the room, Gamora saw you and came up to you.

“Need something?” Gamora questioned.

“I’m coming in,” you stated.

“No, you’re not.”

“I am. I’m her friend.”

“Exactly. She's lying on the operating table, naked, exposed. She's sedated but she's probably scared out of her mind. Now right now she's not a doctor. She's not your friend. She's a patient and she deserves to have all the privacy I can give her. You're not going any further.”

“We went jogging this morning,” you sighed. “I made her go jogging. Did I… is there a way that it could of….”

“No.” Gamora shook her head. “It started out this way. Nothing caused it to happen.”

“Just, please, let me stay by her side.”

“You can try. But I’d have to take you down.”

“Right now. Just in this moment. I hate you.”

“Yeah, well, I can take it. Focus on scut and wait outside.”

~~~

You found yourself working on scut in the lobby, trying to keep your mind off your friend in surgery. Steve stood far off, watching you. He couldn’t stop feeling terrible for what he had done to you, and he couldn’t stop loving you. Knowing that you wouldn’t want to be comforted by him, he found himself in the NICU, checking up on the premie baby Peggy had asked him to help on.

“Look at that, BP is stabilizing,” Peggy noted as she entered the NICU.

“She’s stronger since this morning,” Steve said, rocking slightly in the rocking chair next to the baby. “There’s no reason in the world why she should be stronger since this morning.”

“She’s really beautiful, isn’t she?”

“I’ll tell you what. If she makes it through the night, if she has a little bit more strength, I’ll operate.” They gave each other small smiles.

“You know the way I see it we could deal with us in one of three ways. Option 1. I could apologize. You could forgive me and come home and we could move on with our lives like adults. Or, option 2. I could apologize. You could forgive me, come home but, you can still bring it up to use against me whenever we argue.”

“Are you trying to be funny?”

“Satan has a sense of humor.”

“What’s the third?”

“I don’t know what the third option is.” She leaned in and kissed Steve, who kissed back. Slowly, she pulled away. “I just know that I still love you.”

~~~

Waking up, Natasha glanced around the hospital room. Her eyes stopped roaming when she noticed Gamora sitting in a chair beside her.

“What happened?” Natasha asked.

“You had an extra uterine pregnancy. Your left fallopian tube burst,” Gamora explained. “Dr. Rogers… she did everything she could but there was too much damage. She couldn't save the tube.”

Natasha didn’t respond, she simply looked away and closed her eyes.

~~~

You were sitting outside the medical center on a bench. It had been an emotional day and you were finally allowing yourself to cry. Walking out of the hospital to leave, Steve noticed you. But hadn’t noticed that you were crying yet.

“Y/N?” Steve called softly.

“Oh,” you gasped, trying to wipe the tears quickly.

“Y/N.” Steve came around to the side.

“Don’t…” You swallowed. “Please, please just don’t’ say anything.”

“Okay.”

He stood there, watching you try to pull yourself together before you quickly got up. You walked over, stopping in front of him.

“I’m just exhausted,” you sighed. “Missing my parents is exhausting. What happened to Natasha and you is… hating you is the most exhausting.” Without much thinking, you grabbed his face and briefly kissed Steve. “I don’t want to do it anymore.”

You headed back into the hospital, leaving Steve stunned.

next chapter >

Sorry that it has taken so long for this chapter to come out! Hopefully it’s not too terrible. Please forgive me.

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#steve rogers x reader #the avengers x reader #avengers x reader #marvel x reader #steve rogers imagine #marvel imagine #marvel imagines #greys anatomy au #Marvel AU #marvel fanfiction #Steve Rogers #doctor!steve rogers x reader

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phoenixlionme · 3 years

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DC Asian Superheroes

EAST ASIAN (China, Korea, and Japan)

1. Grace Choi - biracial; half Korean and half Egyptian/Bana Mighdall (Amazon)

2. John Chan aka Claw - Chinese

3. Gloss - Chinese

4. The Great Ten - a group of Chinese superheroes

5. I-Ching - Chinese

6. Kai-ro aka Green Lantern - Chinese

7. Jade Yifei aka Jade - Chinese

8. Shen Hsien Pu Kwei aka Kwai from Blood Syndicate - Chinese American

9. Kenan Kong aka Superman of China - Chinese

10. Avery Ho aka Flash of China - Chinese

11. Peng Deilan aka Wonder Woman of China - Chinese

12. Wang Baixi aka Batman of China - Chinese

13. Ryan Choi aka The Atom - Chinese American

14. Ryuku Orsono aka Bushido - Japanese

15. Valerie Kameya aka Blitzen - Japanese American

16. Irey West aka Impulse - biracial; half Korean and half white

17. Jai West - biracial; half Korean and half white

18. Linda Park - Korean American

19. Eiko Hasigawa aka Catwoman for a short time - Japanese American

20. Tatsu Yamashiro aka Katana - Japanese

21. Asami Koizumi - Japanese; I highly suggest following the incarnation of her in the animated Young Justice series; she is the gender-flipped version of Samurai from Superfriends

22. Eugene Choi aka Shazam - Korean American

23. Connor Hawke aka Green Arrow II - biracial; half Korean, half black, and half white; he is normally depicted with dark skin

24. Cassandra Cain aka Batgirl - biracial; half Chinese and half white.

25. Damian Wayne aka Robin - biracial; half Chinese, half Arabian, and half white; if drawn, he should be depicted with an olive skin tone, he’s been whitewashed too much

26. Sin Lance - Chinese

27. Emiko Queen - biracial; half Japanese and half white American

28. Emily Sung aka Elemental Woman - Korean American

29. David Kim aka Xombi - Korean American

30. Kimiyo Hoshi aka Dr. Light - Japanese American; may change her name to differentiate from villain

31. Marcus aka Monkey Prince - Chinese American; last name unknown

32. Hiro Okamura aka Toyman - Japanese; may change his name to differentiate from villain

33. Val Armorr aka Karate Kid - biracial; half Japanese and half white

34. Mia “Maps” Mizogushi - from Gotham Academy; Japanese American

35. Kyle Mizogushi - from Gotham Academy; Japanese American; Maps’ brother

SOUTH ASIA (Afghanistan, Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan)

1. Aruna - real name unknown; Indian

2. Chandi Gupta aka Maya - Indian

3. Arani Desai aka Celsius - Indian

4. Rama Chandra - Indian

5. Harry Chawney aka Dharma from Shadow Cabinet - Indian American

6. Bina and Apurna Chawney aka Plus from Shadow Cabinet - Indian American

7. Jinx - Indian American, she was unfortunately whitewashed in the animated Teen Titans series. She’s usually a supervillain but reformed in the series

8. Kiran Singh aka Solstice - Indian

9. Meena Dhawan aka Fast Track - Indian American

10. Tiger aka Patron - Afghan; real name unknown

11. Levi Kamei aka Swamp Thing - Indian

SOUTHEAST ASIA (Cambodia, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore)

1. Kevin Kho aka OMAC - Cambodian American

2. Henry Heywood Jr. aka Captain Steele - Filipino

3. Joel Alonday aka Grail - Filipino

4. Cascade from Global Guardians - Indonesian

5. Tai Pham aka Green Lantern - Vietnamese American

6. Artemis Crock aka Artemis - biracial; half Vietnamese and half white

7. Jade Nguyen aka Cheshire - biracial; half Vietnamese and half white; she’s usually a villain but after her portrayal in the Young Justice animated series I see her being reformed

8. Lian Nguyen-Harper aka Red Riding Hood - biracial; half Vietnamese and half white

9. Jenny Quantum from The Authority - Singaporean

10. Bao Pham aka Clownhunter - Vietnamese American

11. Traci Thirteen aka Traci 13 - American born but her Asian nationality is unknown and often debated. In my opinion, I make her half Filipina and half Thai. Since there aren’t a lot of Southeast Asian superheroes

12. Duren Sarga - Indonesian; an ally of Damian Wayne and Maya Ducard

13. Munira Khairuddin aka Obscura - Malaysian; ally of Barbara Gordon

14. Kala Lour aka Gold Lantern - Filipino

15. Ghostmaker - Singaporean

16. Alysia Yeoh - Singaporean American

WEST ASIA (Iran, Iraq, Israel, Leban, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Turkey)

1. Kahina Eskandari aka Iron Butterfly - Palestinian

2. Sirocco - Iranian

3. Simon Baz aka Green Lantern - Lebanese American

4. Archer of Arabia (Green Arrows of the World) - Saudi Arabian

5. Serpah from the Global Guardians - Israeli

7. Sandstorm from the Global Guardians - Syrian

8. Hayoth - an Israeli superhero team

9. Kahina the Seer - Iranian

10. Sira Baz - sister of Simon Baz; Lebanese American

11. Selma Tolon aka Janissary - Turkish

HMONG (An Asian group that can live in China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar)

1. Rose Wilson aka Ravager - biracial; half Hmong and half white

UNKNOWN

1. Khalid Nassour aka Dr. Fate - Egyptian-American, Arabic descendant

2. Bilal Asselah aka Nighturnner - Algerian French, Arabic descendant

3. Nissa aka Batgirl/Batgirl Beyond - she has brown skin and one of the meanings of her name is Arabic, but her actual ethnicity is unknown; I personally believe she is Arab American.

4. Nadimah Ali - friend/ally of Barbara Gordon; Arabian American and Muslim but nationality unknown

5. Olive Silverlock - from Gotham Academy; her ethnicity is unknown, but she is POC given her dark skin. She might also be albino. For me, I think she is a POC albino, most likely of Arabian descent.

6. Qadir - last name unknown; ally/friend of Barbara Gordon; a tech wizard; Arabian American and Muslim but nationality unknown

7. Shahara Hasan - from the Vertigo comics; British Arabian and Muslim but nationality unknown

8. Sonia Sato aka Judomaster - Nationality unknown but most likely Japanese since her last name is of Japanese origin.

Please list any more if you don’t see any on the list. Be respectful with the comments.

#dc #asian supers #arab supers #my posts #lists #asianexcellence #exude excellence

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tinysidestrashcaptain · 3 years

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It's Only Logical - Chapter 22

Chapter 22: The Big Day

First chapter Previous Chapter

Pairings: Logicality/Prinxiety

Warnings: None, this is all fluff!

Virgil’s eyes scanned the jeweler's case with an increasing sense of frantic paranoia. The wedding was literally two days away, and Logan had physically dragged him from his house to finally find Roman’s wedding ring. Perhaps the notion that he could find the perfect ring was one he should have deleted from his brain around jewelry store number three, but he really hadn’t expected it to be this difficult to find a damn ring! And he hadn’t MEANT to put it off this long, LOGAN, but nothing that he saw was really right.

“There are literally ten rings that Roman would wear right in this first row, Virgil. You’re getting married in 48 hours, and you can’t do that without a ring, or so I have been told.” Logan arched a brow at Virgil, who shot him a frustrated glare.

“It can’t be just ANY ring! I need a ring that’s at least as good as the one currently sitting on my left hand!” Virgil held out the hand in question, the ring of red and black melding together in a perfect mix of himself and Roman. “Standard diamonds and gold just aren’t going to cut it here.”

Just as Virgil was about to write it off as yet another failure and melt into a small puddle of panic, Logan spotted a ring in the back of a small case. It was black with a twisting motif of purple, Virgil’s favorite color. “What about that one?”

The ring that Roman had given him sat heavy on Virgil’s finger, and he looked closer at that one ring. It was...him. It would be his favorite color on Roman’s finger, for always. “Excuse me, can I see this one, please?”

“Of course, sir.” The jeweler smiled as she opened the case and pulled the black and purple ring out for Virgil to inspect. As he turned it over in his hands, he thought about how it would look on Roman, about how this flash of dark and color would gleam against tanned skin.

“I’ll take it.” Virgil’s soft smile melted into a put upon scowl as Logan heaved a great sigh of relief. “What?!? It had to be perfect!”

“I’m just relieved that perfection actually exists. What kind of best man would I be if I let you face your future husband without a wedding ring? You’d be dead before you were married.” Logan grinned as Virgil playfully smacked him.

“Yeah, yeah, you saved the day. Now let me pay for this so I can finally check the one thing I’m responsible for in this wedding off my list.” Virgil handed over his credit card with no regrets, taking the small bag from the jeweler with a grateful smile.

“That’s not true, Virgil. You’re also responsible for showing up.” Logan followed him out of the shop, giving the amused jeweler a friendly wave goodbye.

“Nah, that’s what you’re responsible for.” Virgil winked at him as he got into Logan’s car.

“Oh, so I have to add “wrangle Virgil” to my list of matrimonial duties? Thought you were looking forward to this.” Logan laughed as he started the car and drove them towards the cafe.

“Oh, I am. Probably not as much as Roman, if the sobbing over his wedding binder last night was anything to go by.” Virgil shook his head fondly at the memory. “I don’t know, I just don’t see the point of all the fuss, you know? We love each other. We’re in this for life, until we’re old and wrinkly and gray. That’s the headline here, everything else is just window dressing.”

“Don’t let Roman hear you say that! He’s worked very hard on this wedding and it means a great deal to him.” Logan shot Virgil a warning look, arching a brow as his best friend put both hands in the air like he was surrendering.

“I know, and that’s the only reason it matters to me at all. You know me, I hate all the attention, but Roman wants this. He’s been dreaming of this, and I want to give him that one perfect day, you know?” He looked out the window, face flushing at the admission.

“Yeah, I know. Why do you think I agreed to turn Roman’s backyard into his dream garden? Roman wanted to get married at his house, where we all had so many good memories with us and Mom, and I couldn’t say no even if I’d wanted to.”

“His puppy dog eyes should be classified as a lethal weapon, I’m telling you!”

“Oh, his have nothing on Patton’s, let me assure you. Seems to be a family trait.” Logan chuckled as he remembered the way Patton and Thomas had ganged up on him last week. “And Thomas isn’t far behind. I truly stand no chance.”

“Wow, two Sanders Puppy Dog eyes at once? You are well and truly fucked, Lo. There is no escape.” Virgil gave his arm a sympathetic pat as they parked. “I’ll see you tomorrow for the rehearsal dinner. You're still good with all of us crashing at your house for it, right?”

“It’s not like I don’t have the room, Virgil. Go, have fun. Enjoy your last night as singles together, since Roman already asked me to have a guest room made up for you so you won’t see him before the wedding.” Logan laughed as Virgil groaned loudly in protest and threw his head back against the seat.

“Great. Can’t wait. I’ll see you tomorrow, Lo….and….thanks. For everything, you know?”

“You don’t ever have to thank me. We’re family, this is what we do for each other.” Logan’s face softened at his best friend’s quiet words, and he knew why Virgil had said it. Not many people would have given or done as much as he had, and his best friend hadn’t had the easiest life growing up. Of course he’d feel the need to express gratitude, even if it was totally unnecessary. “...Did you ever decide? About your mother?”

Virgil froze, his whole face shuttering like a switch had been flipped. “Yup. Not changing my mind. She may have given birth to me, but she isn’t my mother. My mom is buried out in the cemetery, and my brother is my best man. I don’t need any other family than that.”

Logan felt sentimental tears sting his eyes at that, and he blinked rapidly to keep them at bay. “Alright then. Your family will be right there with you, every step of the way. For what it’s worth, Mom would have been very proud of you. She always thought you and Roman would make a good couple, so she’s probably giggling into her tea right now.”

“Goddammit, why did EVERYONE figure us out before we did?!?” Virgil shook his head as he got out of the car, leaning down to meet Logan’s eyes. “She would have loved all this. Like to think she’s still watching, you know?”

“She is, Virgil. And she’ll definitely be watching on the big day.” He watched Virgil nod once before closing the door and heading into the house, leaving his purchase with Logan for safekeeping until the ceremony.

__________________________________________

It was a perfect day for it, tailor made with candy blue skies and balmy air scented with flowers. Everything that Logan had planted with Patton and Virgil’s help was blooming in an explosion of shapes and colors. There were white chairs set on the lawn, and a shimmery drape of fabric tied with bunches of fresh flowers marked the aisle that Roman would walk down.

Patton turned away from the window, smiling as he watched his mother and sister fuss over Roman’s gown. It was a stunning dress, an elaborate white ball gown with beading and a train, dyed red just at the bottom. Roman had foregone a veil in favor of fresh flowers woven into his hair, and Val had done his makeup in red and gold with lashes that made his eyes look stunning. His brother looked beautiful today, and he could feel himself getting a little misty. “You look incredible, Ro.”

“Damn straight he does! God, I wish I had your cheekbones.” Val giggled as she applied just a touch more highlight before stepping away to let Roman inspect her work. “Virgil is going to absolutely die. I can’t wait.”

“Oh honey, there is nothing straight about today! But I do look spectacular, if I do say so myself.” Roman laughed before giving Valerie a fond hug. “Thank you, menace.”

“You’re welcome, brat.” Val mumbled, blinking back some tears.

“You always were a queen, sweetheart. Today you just look the part.” Lydia grinned as her children laughed, then gently reached out to take Roman’s hand. She placed a beautiful bracelet of sapphires and diamonds on Roman’s wrist, fiddling with the clasp until it sat just right. “Logan asked me to give you something today. Something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue, isn’t that the old saying? He said it was his mother’s set, so now you’ve got the borrowed, blue and old all in one.”

Roman took a deep, shuddering breath, one hand gently tracing over the bracelet with shaking fingers. “I wish you could have spent more time with Minny, mom.”

“I do, too, sweetheart. She was a special woman, and it’s so sweet of Logan to think of this. And all the work he did to put this together just how you wanted? You’d better say thank you.” Lydia smiled as she straightened Roman’s train, fluffing it a little. “And Patton, you’d better hang on to him.”

“Oh, don’t you worry, I intend to.” Patton laughed as he gave Roman a hug. “Now, you ready to get out there and wow the crowd?”

“Aren’t I always?” Roman laughed as he took his bouquet from Val, straightening his shoulders. He knew it wasn’t traditional for a man to wear the dress, but he’d always wanted a gown and his family and future husband were more than supportive. He felt beautiful, regal even, and he couldn’t wait to see Virgil’s face.

Out on the lawn, just underneath an arch that was decorated with red roses and purple wisteria, Virgil fidgeted as Logan straightened his tie for him. “Not getting the jitters, are you, Virge?”

Virgil smiled at him and shook his head. “I’m not nervous anymore, not even a little jump in my belly, Lo. He’s a good man.”

“Yes, he is. A very good one.”

“I made him wait for so long. Years, when you think about it.” He let out a laughing breath as the music struck up. “Time’s up.”

Logan chuckled and took his place by Virgil’s side, feeling his heart absolutely melt at the sight of little Lily toddling carefully down the aisle in her dress, tossing flower petals, then little Thomas in his suit carrying the rings. He gave Thomas a thumbs up before taking the ring boxes with a smile. Patton entered next, his blue eyes alight with joy as he took his place opposite Virgil, Logan and Thomas, gently holding Lily’s hand.

It was sweet, watching Roman walk down the aisle to Virgil. Watching Virgil’s face light up in awed delight at the sight of his future husband. The ceremony was perfect, soft and lovely with a gentle breeze wafting the perfume of the floral blooms through the air. They had wanted to get married in the garden they would tend, in the home they would live in together, and it struck Logan as a perfectly romantic setting.

Virgil’s vows were earnest and heartfelt, prompting Roman to blink rapidly and fan himself to avoid crying. Roman’s own vows were poetic but heart wrenchingly honest, and Virgil kissed his hand after they exchanged rings. It was perfect, Virgil looking handsome in his suit, Roman looking flawless in his gown, and the crowd broke into spontaneous applause when Virgil swept his husband off his feet and twirled him around before kissing him. Barbara topped off the ceremony by popping the first bottle of champagne to toast the happy couple.

“You do good work, sweetheart.” Patton said as he clinked a champagne glass against Logan’s.

“I didn’t do anything.”

“It’s like a family tree. They two of them sprung from a branch on your tree. You aren’t family by blood but it amounts to the same, really. It’s their connection to you that brought them together. They did the rest, but the connection started it,” Patton said softly, watching his brother beam from Virgil’s arms as the photographer snapped pictures.

“That’s a sweet thought. I’ll take it.” Logan sipped his champagne and blinked back the sting of sentimental tears. He’d been mentally wrestling with his own thoughts and feelings lately, and watching the joy on his best friend’s face today was settling his heart into the comfortable acceptance that this was something he might just want for himself. “I wanted to talk to you about something, actually. It can wait until after Roman has his big day. By rights, a wedding day should belong to the bride, after all.”

“Oh? What did you want to talk about?”

“Let’s just say it’s about connections.” Logan gave Patton’s cheek a fond kiss. “I need to run back to the house really quickly. With all the excitement today, I forgot the very special bottle of champagne I had for the bride and groom.”

“I can go get it,” Patton offered, running one hand down Logan’s back with a smile.

“It’ll be faster if I do it. Fifteen minutes, tops.”

As he walked to his car, he was stopped when Barbara called out to him. “Hey, Logan! Hold up!” She paused by Logan, slightly breathless with a crying Lily in her arms. “I’ve got a cranky little girl here who won’t go down for her nap. Car rides always put her out. We can take mine, it has the car seat?”

“Sure. It’s going to be a quick run, though.”

“Oh, that doesn’t matter. She’ll be out like a light in a minute.” Barbara gave him a grateful smile as she expertly wrestled Lily into her car seat and started towards Logan’s house. As advertised, the baby’s head started to droop and she quieted before they even got out of Roman’s driveway.

“Works like a charm.”

“From what Patton tells me, it does the same for Thomas, too. She looks so sweet in her little pink party dress.”

“Everything looked so beautiful today! If Shir and I ever renew our vows, I want it to be just like that. Flowers, family and friends. I always thought I’d want a big church extravaganza, but this was so romantic.” Barbara said softly, smiling as she drove.

“It was just perfect for them. So nice to--wait. Slow down! Stop the car!”

“What? What’s the---oh my god!”

They both stared towards Minny’s Garden. Logan had closed for the day to allow everyone to enjoy the wedding. But someone, he could see, had been there. Someone still was. Several of the outdoor displays were overturned, and a car was parked sideways on the grounds, crushing one of the flower beds.

“Go. You and the baby, get back to Roman’s right now.” Logan said, reaching for the door handle. “Call the police as soon as you get there.”

“Don’t! Don’t go in there right now.” Barbara gave him a horrified look.

“It’s my place.” And he was already running.

A/N: Okay, here we are. This is the second to last chapter, and I'm so sorry I made you all wait this long. I hope the ending lives up to everyone's hopes. I'm sorry to say that I lost my tag list, so I apologize to everyone who was on it. :'( Also, there is no difference between this version, the Wattpad, and the Ao3 versions for this chapter and the next.

#sanders sides #logan sanders #patton sanders #roman sanders #virgil sanders #logicality #prinxiety #it's only logical #iol fic

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a-charm-of-witches · 4 years

Note

just wanted to let you know i love val and the whole popular girl ro hehehe i was wondering if we could get any scenario w her cute/angsty whatever it’s up to you i j cw to romance her 🥰😌

sdflk gosh thank you! I’m so glad y’all’re taking to her!

Hmmmm cute/angsty scenario. *chintaps*

Ooo i have one, but before I do this I just wanna say: These little short bits are like fun slices of AU fic. Yes, they’re canon compliant AUs (unless Canon grows up to contradict something in these, but I do not promise the below scenario will ever happen officially.

We good? Good. <3

--------

Early autumn mornings in Summersend are cool, bordering on chilled, in a way that begs you to stay in bed for just five more minutes. And another five. And five more...

You’re just about ready to get up this time--no, really, you promise--when a session of staccato car horns blare through the morning quiet. Jerking awake, you peek up over the sill of your bedroom window and wince against the morning sun.

Below, parked where River’s truck ought to be, is a familiar hot pink Jeep with the top down and a grinning blonde girl standing in the driver’s seat. She waits, leaning her elbows on the windshield frame, while you push your window open and stick your head out. .

“Good morning, Brighteyes,” Val croons, a salacious grin fixing you in place for a brief moment. Then she winks, and all traces of seduction vanish as she bounces with excitement and begins to punctuate her speech with clapping. “Come on-Come on-Come on! Did you forget? We. Are. Go-ing Shop-ing~~!”

Woops. Between the chill in the air and the warmth of your bed, you actually had forgotten. After a quick apology, you throw on the first clothes you find and race downstairs, yelling goodbye to Alice as you go.

Val already has the passenger side door open by the time you get outside. The soundtrack to an old musical--something about the circus, you think--is pouring out the speakers as you climb in. Val waits until you’re buckling in before presenting you with a brown bag and a cardboard travelling cup.

“Breakfast for my champion,” she teases with a wink as you accept the offering. “You’re going to need the energy.”

“Val, we’re just going shopping. Surely it’s not that serious.”

“Oh, Brighteyes.” She snickers, cutting you a look that’s almost apologetic. Almost. “There’s nothing ‘just’ about shopping. We’re going to be the best dressed couple at Harvest, or we’re going to die trying.”

You’re not certain how a fashion failure would kill you, but you take a sip of your drink instead of arguing. It turns out to be your favorite morning beverage, doctored exactly to you preferences. You aren’t certain how Val knew, but neither do you question it. She turns the music up, puts the Jeep into gear, and you hit the road.

Shopping or no shopping, it certainly isn’t a bad way to start a Saturday morning.

#asks answered #Valentine Snippet #acow snippet #a charm of witches #acow #idk i find it cute #she's like a nicer regina george

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ayana-shaw · 4 years

Text

Three days after her adventure with Luna in the city, Morgan pulled the trigger. She, Shaw, and Lennon had watched with interest over Luna’s shoulder as the only mortal among them singlehandedly set the plan in motion with a handful of expert keystrokes. It was a security breach that MI6 would detect relatively quickly, which was the whole point. And it was a security breach that allowed them temporary access to the dozens of cameras planted around the agency hideout. And it was that security breach that confirmed what Morgan had suspected -- Romi and Nick weren’t being held in the main MI6 headquarters in Vauxhall, but indeed in this small, undercover corporate building across the river in Bloosmbury. Exactly how Morgan had come to know of this location, Shaw didn’t even know. But she’d been alive a very long time and her network of acquaintances was far more vast than any of them could likely comprehend. It was an irrelevant detail, though, as the security footage of Romi and Nick in the hideout’s medical laboratory was the most important part of the puzzle, slotted neatly into place.

Two additional days of preparation later and Shaw found herself stuffed into the back of Morgan’s rental van, dressed in black and pressed shoulder to shoulder with Lennon. The fairer of her two choices, as she’d still not gotten over her conversation with Morgan regarding Luna. Luna, whom Shaw had unwillingly ignored and avoided since their sleepy and amicable return from their night in London. The girl was upset. Shaw could see it in the way she moved about the manor, the way she kept her eyes averted when they did cross paths around the house. It was fucking torture, and every hour Shaw had to actively fight the urge to shove into Luna’s room and simply claim the girl’s mouth, her body, her heart. They all belonged to her, Shaw was certain, but they weren’t hers to take any longer. As angry as she was with Morgan, the woman had been right and Shaw took the coward’s way out. Slinking in the shadows instead of confronting the problem head on. But she would rather feel the burn of Luna’s distant ire than be the cause of her sadness or heartbreak. It seemed the easier option, and it was the path she’d dedicated herself to.

Which made for an incredibly tense atmosphere as the rescue mission commenced. As far as she knew, Lennon was oblivious to the whole of it, which she was grateful for. She was also grateful that their plan included splitting up. After successfully parking in the service bay of the hideout, Morgan hopped out of the van to follow Luna to the control center. Which left Shaw and Lennon to the actually finding of Romi and Nick. The newest member of their crew was clearly incredibly nervous -- less so for herself, but because Luna was here. And Luna was not invincible. “Don’t worry about her, ay?” Shaw spoke softly as they waited for instructions to come through the pieces in their ears. She reached for Lennon’s hand, which was gripped tightly to her own knee. “Luna’s supposed to be here. She’ll not get caught.” And even if she did, she had Morgan with her. Even estranged, Shaw trusted Morgan not to let anything happen to the only mortal among them. A fact that she had to keep telling herself in silence, lest she be as distracted as Lennon seemed to be now.

When Luna’s voice chirped brightly at them through the earpieces, she and Lennon hopped into action. Everything they did was quieter, stealthier than the way in which Luna had walked through the halls. Because unlike the undercover IT specialist, Shaw and Lennon actually weren’t supposed to be here. And with Luna’s eyes in the sky and directions in their ears, the pair of them crept carefully through the halls undetected.

“Three coats inside,” Luna’s voice warned them as they finally approached the locked door to the lab. They knew this would be a possibility. For the brief amount of time they’d been hacked into the security system back at the manor, they’d been able to study the shifts and movements of the guards. Had detailed the path and timing to getting right here to this door. But they had no way to prepare for what lay beyond it, and Shaw reached now for the taser gun at her hip. Lennon followed her lead and did the same.

“Door’s unlocking in three, two, one...”

On Luna’s cue, the door buzzed and Shaw pushed quickly inside. One of the scientists was right in front of them, a test tube in each hand and eyes wide to see the intruders before him. Shaw grinned, waved, then lifted the taser and pulled the trigger. The barbs stuck in his chest and the electrical current that shot through him was visible, body quaking for a few seconds before he collapsed to the ground unconscious. Not the sure fire method of a bullet that Shaw preferred, but Morgan had insisted they spare as many lives as they possibly could here. And so they moved on, stepping over the man’s body to move further into the lab.

The second two took longer to bring down, as Shaw hadn’t had time to reset her taser and Lennon was... well, unpracticed. A soldier, sure, but not a fighter. Luna would have been the better partner here, but the mortal was safer in the control room than here on the front line. Lennon took on the female scientist while Shaw focused on the third, who was shortly thereafter joined by a guard who’d overheard the struggle.

Shaw didn’t think to question why they hadn’t heard through the walkies that a lackey was on his way in.

Some fifteen minutes later, Shaw heaved herself up off the floor, having had to resort to a jiu jitsu hold that cut off oxygen to the brain. The guard lay unconscious (maybe dead, but not their concern now) at her feet and Shaw finally turned her attention to Lennon. Sweet Lennon, who’d somehow managed to tap into her inner army soldier and combat their enemies with determination and a strength Shaw hadn’t expected. There was blood beneath the blonde’s nose and a bruising eye that would be back to normal soon. Shaw clapped a hand onto her shoulder and gave her a breathless nod. “You did well, rookie.”

At the back of the lab, they found Romi strapped to a medical bed. Shaw whispered her name breathless, immediately reached for the straps that tightly held her limbs snug to the bed frame. Dark eyes flashed open below her, but Shaw wasn’t entirely convinced Romi saw her. She was stuck with needles, machines beeping and burring around her. A bit out of it, clearly, but the fingers that lifted and traced shakily over her wrist let her know that Romi understood what was happening. “It’s good to see you, too,” Shaw whispered through a shaky laugh, leaning forward to press a hasty kiss to Romi’s pale forehead. “Lennon, get her out of all this.” The blonde didn’t hesitate, mumbling an awkward introduction to Romi as she began tugging free the straps to free the rest of the older immortal’s limbs.

Nick was next, and Shaw quickly darted through the adjacent rooms of the lab, praying to a god she didn’t believe in that she would encounter Nick before bumping into another scientist or guard. The fourth door she shoved open contained inside it a large glass tank, filled with water that glowed with the fluorescent lights of the small room. Accompanying said tank with another scientist that Shaw quickly subdued with a well placed punch to his throat, causing the man to choke and gorble as he crumpled to the floor. The tests clearly being performed here made Shaw’s stomach churn, and she climbed the platform beside the tank with a fury pounding in her steps.

Nick was in that water, floating freely with no tubes, no oxygen. Just dead, with wires of all colors stringing out from various parts of his body.

“Bastards,” Shaw hissed as she carefully lowered herself into the water to retrieve her friend, tugging his body to the surface and fighting against his dead weight to pull him free of the tank.

It brought up anguishing memories, horrifying images of dreams she’d had of Val’s headless body being flung into the ocean. Forgotten, lost for eternity. A cold and watery grave that a man with soul like Val’s didn’t deserve.

Shaw cried out beneath the heavy weight of Nick’s body on her shoulders, but she managed to find her footing. Settled him as stably as she could in a fireman’s hold and hurried back to the main part of the lab to find Lennon helping a wobbly Romi to her feet.

“Nick...” Romi called softly to her lifeless husband and Shaw simply shook her head, trudging on ahead to lead the other two promptly from the lab. “You can fuss over him when we get home, Ro.”

“Luna, we need a path back to the garage,” Shaw called, transmitting to their counterparts in the control. Ten seconds later, they hadn’t received a reply. It made Shaw stop, dripping wet, and Lennon nearly walked right into her.

“Why wouldn’t she be answering?” Lennon asked behind her and Shaw turned, eyes hard.

“Luna. Come in.”

Twenty seconds of silence, no answer.

“Shaw--”

“Luna, come in!”

“Shaw!”

“Bloody hell,” Shaw muttered under her breath, powering through the sudden terror in her veins. They had to get back to the van. They had Romi and Nick, who were little more than dead weight to them right now. If they encountered more guards, they’d be useless and Shaw wasn’t willing to fail here. “Pick it up, Len, we have to get them to the van.”

Despite the protests from Romi behind her, Shaw pushed forward. Left, right, right, left again. She weaved back through the halls in the reverse directions they’d been given by Luna, praying she hadn’t made a mistake. Miraculously, they made it back to the garage in decent time. It would seem no one had yet realized that the independent contractor they’d hired for IT was related to the laboratory break-in, and the van was still blessedly here. Unguarded. A beacon of hope and success.

They were just loading Romi and Nick into the back of the van when their luck ran out. Shouts from the hallway rang through the cement walls of the garage and multiple shots fired. Shaw ducked, and beside her, Lennon cried out in shock and pain. She’d not have been used to being shot like the others were, who could take a bullet and manage little more than an irritated groan. “Get in,” she hissed, all but shoving Lennon into the van behind Romi, who had weakly dragged Nick’s limp, pale body into her lap. “Take care of each other,” she instructed to the lot of them, ducking again when more shots fired.

Shaw slammed the rear doors of the van shut and whirled, dropping again when the three guards at the garage entrance lifted their pistols. “Luna! I swear to god!” she shouted as she advanced on the guards, performing an evasive tuck and roll as they simultaneously squeezed triggers on her once again. By the time Shaw reached the small group of them, she’d taken a few bullets herself, but they didn’t deter her. These guards were clearly not privvy to the treasures they’d been protecting, as they seemed equal parts confused and horrified to find the woman they’d shot not only moving, but kicking their asses. By the time Shaw had stolen one of the pistols out of thick, sweaty hands and fired off two rounds each into two of the guards, third was dragging his sorry ass back down the hallway, calling into her shoulder walkie for backup.

Shaw stood, breathless, and finally cringed at the pain radiating through her torso. “Luna. Get your asses back to the van.”

#luna #i'm sorry this is shit #literally nonstop bullshitting happening around me

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heartofether · 4 years

Text

Episode 2 - Special Dietary Needs TRANSCRIPT

[You can listen to the show wherever you get your podcasts, or go to our “Listen” page if you’re on desktop.]

AUTOMATED VOICE

Please state your message.

[THEME MUSIC AND INTRODUCTION PLAYS.]

VAL

Three-Eyed Frog Presents: The Heart of Ether.

[THEME CONTINUES BEFORE COMING TO A STOP.]

[PHONE BEEP.]

[INT./EXT. IRENE’S CAR IN THE GROCERY STORE PARKING LOT, EVENING.]

[THE SOUND OF A CAR DOOR OPENING AND CLOSING AS IRENE GETS INTO HER CAR.]

IRENE

[FRANTIC] Okay, okay. Look, I know what I said before about the recordings, but I—I had to get this down. I had to tell someone.

I was just at the store because I forgot to get garlic, right? Well, in the checkout line, there was this woman in front of me. [DOUBTFUL] She seemed normal, I think.

Anyways, when I looked down the conveyor belt at her groceries, she was just buying…raw meat. Like, lots of raw meat. An unhealthy amount of raw meat. I know I’m vegetarian, but I promise this isn’t just me acting like I have some moral high ground. It was just more meat than people usually buy.

The cashier asked her what she was going to use it for. If she was trying to give a convincing lie, she could have just said, “Barbecue,” or, or, “Freezing it for later.” You know what she said instead, though?

“Special dietary needs.” She just smiled, and she said, “Special dietary needs.” As if that explained everything!

The cashier asked if she had some sort of condition, or if she was doing Paleo, and yeah, sure, maybe this cashier shouldn’t have pried so much because that’s none of their business. But then, she said, and I quote “Don’t worry, I promise it won’t go to waste.”

[PAUSE.]

IRENE

I’m not joking! Then she checked out and she left! Nothing else, no further explanation, she just bought her big load of meat and then she left. That’s it. Isn’t that the most absurd thing? That’s wild, right? This can’t just be me—even the cashier seemed freaked when I went up to buy my garlic.

[QUIETER] …What could she possibly be doing with all that meat?

[THERE’S A PAUSE BEFORE IRENE STARTS LAUGHING.]

IRENE

[THROUGH LAUGHTER] God, that’s so fucking stupid. Why do I care about what this total stranger does with her—her meat? [LAUGH]

[EVENTUALLY, HER LAUGHTER DIES OFF. SHE SIGHS.]

IRENE

Damn, okay. I think I needed that. It’s been a long week, Rose.

Thank you? Um…bye. [GIGGLE]

[PHONE BEEP.]

[RECORDING ENDS.]

[TIME SKIP: ABOUT AN HOUR LATER.]

[ANOTHER PHONE BEEP.]

[INT. IRENE’S DINING ROOM]

IRENE

The yellow mold is still there. Yesterday, it spread some. I’m not going to touch it, but I tried spraying some lemon disinfectant spray and that seemed to make it shrink a little. If nothing else, it helped with the scent, which is really only bad when you’re close to it, but still.

The chair mostly hides it. I’m not too worried about it. As long as I stay out of the living room, it shouldn’t be a big deal.

Plus, I definitely don’t plan on having company over anytime soon. Carol and Aden are really the only people I have who are close to friends, and maybe our receptionist, Julia. You too, I guess, though I’m not sure if I can count you when you’re…

[A SHARP INTAKE OF BREATH] It’s no big deal. I’m not particularly trying to make friends right now, anyways.

Although, maybe it would do me some good to try and get involved with the town. If nothing else, it would help me get adjusted quicker. I’ve mostly just been going between work, home, and the store. Kind of a sad life, now that I think about it.

[A PAUSE BEFORE THERE IS THE SOUND OF PAPER RUSTLING.]

IRENE

I actually picked up a free copy of the local newspaper at the store right before the meat incident. I’ve never really been one to read the paper, but it couldn’t hurt to look, right?

[THE SOUND OF IRENE TURNING A PAGE.]

IRENE

Let’s see…There’s a craft fair this Saturday. That sounds fun, right? It’s good to support local artists.

The Open Eyes Bookstore is having a 25% sale on all used books, so that’s nice. I’ve passed that store a couple of times, actually, so I might go check it out.

[MORE PAPER RUSTLING.]

IRENE

[OVERLAPPING WITH PAPER NOISES] Missing dog notice…soap ads…uneducated old person comic strip…

[PAPER NOISES STOP] Oh, wait, get this: “See anything? Know anything? Contact us: It’s for your own good.” Then, there’s a number.

[CHUCKLES] Seriously? That’s something out of a bad 90s sci-fi movie. It seems pretty serious, though. There’s no funny font or designs or anything, it’s just plain.

[TEASING] What should I call them about? The mold growing in my living room? The meat lady at the grocery store? [LAUGH]

Solid crossword in here, though, so at least there’s that.

[SHE STOPS READING.]

IRENE

Oh yeah, and, about that thing I said about stopping the recordings: I think they might just start to trail off naturally, if anything. I mean, to be honest, they’ve become a habit for me? Just like how you’re ingrained into everything I do.

[SCOFFS] Maybe I should start therapy again.

Still, I think I might just stop having a need for them as time goes on. I know you’re not listening to this. From an outsider’s perspective, I’m just a weirdo talking into my phone a lot. I guess it’s just nice to pretend.

[THEN, SOFTER] It makes me feel like someday, you’re going to show up at my doorstep, and I’ll get to play you each and every recording to catch you up on what you missed.

It’s not going to happen, I know that. These recordings are a coping mechanism more than anything else. I hope one day, I don’t need them. Still, if I feel the need to talk, I’ll record something for you. For now, at least.

Goodnight, Ro— [SHE STOPS] Never mind.

[PHONE BEEP.]

[RECORDING ENDS.]

AUTOMATED VOICE

Today’s quote is: “When we speak we are afraid our words will not be heard or welcomed. But when we are silent, we are still afraid. So it is better to speak.”

Audre Lorde in The Black Unicorn: Poems, 1978*.

[THEME MUSIC AND CREDITS PLAY.]

*In the original episode, the date said is 1995, but this is incorrect. The correct date is 1978.

#heart of ether transcripts

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fifteenminutes-if · 1 year

Note

RO reactions to overhearing MC gushing about them to a good friend of theirs? Like they're saying how awesome the RO is, how much they love the RO, they feel like the RO is their soulmate, etc etc

we'll assume this is at a stage in mc's relationship with all the ROs where it's been a few months after first meeting/reconnecting (or in val's case, a few months after reconnecting and trying to either avoid you or aggravate you into starting world war three)

slightly nsfwish? discussions of sexual themes for maddox

maddox: flabbergasted and dismayed. there'd be a little ember of hope simmering beneath the consternation, but the dominant feeling would be fear. they're not stable and they know it. their ex-partner knew it and the aftermath of that relationship left maddox in shambles. and people always want something from maddox so the concept of loving them for them and not what they can do for someone is incomprehensible. they'd be very withdrawn and a little insecure after hearing this. they'd spiral down rabbit holes of how they could fuck up their relationship with you and would eventually push for "breaking up" your PR relationship. carrying on something fake with you would not tickle their fancy.

(fwb route): if this is a few months in, they'd be relieved lol because they would've started off this relationship with the intent to keep it casual but would've fell for you gradually. then kept it bottled up and attributed it to the intimacy afforded during sex (something they don't find in other corners of his life). they'd still experience the uncertainty and fear described above, but would feel a bit more secure because your pillow talks and morning-afters would've become a natural part of their life and they'd feel more connected to you. not saying sex is necessary for them to feel connected to their partner, but the circumstances led to them getting to know you on a more personal level than a more friendly/hostile/indifferent route.

mateo (past ex route): precious baby boy. would be on cloud nine for the rest of the day and would get an earful from his family for it. it would feel like kismet to him—something fated, something profound. he let you go and you found your way back to each other. would try to give you space to come to him with the confession yourself but wouldn't be able to stop himself from reacting to your voice and your touch (even more than usual). i.e., if you were to casually brush past him, he'd stop breathing. you'd be a near constant in his dreams. and it would really only be a matter of time until he blurts something out, but until then he'd be content with admiring you from afar. he'd take you in any form you can give.

(past friends/acquaintance route): not the most shocked tbh. he's quite perceptive and had sensed a shift in the way you acted around him ever since you reconnected. doesn't mean he's not extremely pleased though. similar to exes route, would want you to come to him with a confession but would drop subtle hints to nudge you there. would be a smug little bastard.

carmen: immediately feels tears gathering at the back of her eyes. you've gotten to know her beyond the persona she wants the world to see and you love her in the face of all her mistakes and flaws? the terrifying ordeal of being known lol not something she's had to deal with for much of her life because people are content to love the ideal version of herself (aka the perfect pop star). i think having just one person extend love to the ugly, suppressed parts of her without inhibition would literally break her. carmen would be over the moon and bursting at the seams to flag you down and do a grand confession. it would be messy and she'd be sobbing half the time, but she'd be determined to make it happen. she's more in tune with her feelings than some of the other clowns in this circus and once she has MC, she's not letting go.

robin: first instinct is to turn right around and leave. robin prides themselves on being a morally upstanding person (because they're annoying like that) and eavesdropping on someone—especially someone they're making the focal point of [REDACTED]—goes against their code of ethics. but, when they catch their name they can't help but listen in out of pure curiosity. hearing you gush over them would rekindle something in them they buried long ago, but there'd be so many (so. many.) alarm bells ringing in their head. they'd eventually rip themselves away from the scene and lie awake at night, overturning every word you had said in their mind. and yes, it would be branded into their brain forever. they'd eventually come to a decision to not pursue anything, and from then on they'd make an even greater effort to be as professional as possible. because you're an unknown and they know they'd have to become an amnesiac in order to resist your pull.

val (ex friends route): crushed beyond belief. they always believed you were too good for them—their hands can be gentle but more often than not they're folded into fists. and hearing you confess your love for them despite everything they put you through? val would basically skip town thinking they're doing you both a favour. they'd torture themselves with what ifs and fight the violent urge to show up at your apartment door and ask why. i guess this is where i reveal that val had a massive crush on you back when your band was together in both routes lol they just suppressed it for years. and the possibility that you could've loved them when things were good—when they had a chance with you, when they would've stayed if you asked—would keep them up at night.

(ex rivals (?) route): oh, they'd be so mad. villainizing you by thinking of you as a competitor is how they hold onto their anger and frustration against you. you being in love with them goes against the very fabric of your relationship. they'd be even more hostile than usual, going out of their way to provoke you into arguments while secretly hoping they can tease out an impassioned confession straight from your mouth. they wouldn't know what to do beyond that point if you were to confess though. the occasional stray thought of kissing you senseless (if your MC likes that kind of intimacy) runs through their mind, but they quash that line of thinking real quick.

#answered #man this got so long #ro: maddox #ro: mateo el amrani #ro: carmen bailey #ro: robin fraser #ro: val park #nsfwish?

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callboxkat · 5 years

Text

Second Chances part 4: Puzzling it Out

Author’s note: ...Hello. It’s been a while, hasn’t it? So you guys know, you don’t have to read or reread the previous parts to be caught up for this one. I know that six months is a long time, so I’ve included a summary at the start. Enjoy!

Warnings: nervousness, food mention, talk of homelessness, fear of being kicked out

Word count: 6038

Masterpost!

...

Up until very recently, Roman had been a homeless man.

He’d been on his own for some time, staying in a homeless shelter in the city he lived in. It hadn’t been great—certainly not luxurious—but he had had somewhere to stay. Or at least, he had until just over a month ago, when the shelter had filled up and he had been forced out onto the streets. After that, he had started making do with sleeping in slightly less comfortable accommodations: the local park.

Only a week later, twenty-seven days ago, Roman had been effectively banned from the park he had been staying in. A less than friendly police officer had forced him to leave on the grounds that he was disturbing the peace—even though it had been the middle of the night at the time. He had been left with little choice but to simply wander the streets after that, with nowhere to go and no one willing to help him.

Then, twenty days ago, Logan—a former high school rival of Roman’s who had certainly not been his friend—had found him digging through his trashcan. To Roman’s shock and embarrassment, Logan had invited him in for some food. That had somehow turned into him being invited to stay at his home, at least until Roman found a job and somewhere else to live. Logan’s boyfriend, Patton, had been welcoming and even excited at the prospect; but Logan’s sister, Val, had been… less eager, suffice to say. She had actually moved out, going to stay with her friend Dahlia to wait until her brother wised up and kicked the formerly homeless man back out onto the streets.

In the meantime, Roman had settled in as best he could and started looking for a job. After a little more than a week of this, eleven days ago, Roman had finally landed a job interview. It was for a position working for a friend of a friend of Patton’s who managed a coffee shop.

Eight days ago, the same day as Roman’s interview, Val had finally agreed to having dinner with the family, giving Roman a chance to prove himself to her. It had gone well, and one week ago, Val had moved back in with the family. The very next day, Roman had gotten a job offer.

And tomorrow? Tomorrow was Roman’s first day as a barista at the Sanders Café.

So, naturally, Roman was freaking out.

He was sitting on the couch—the very same couch he’d very dignifiedly passed out on the first time Logan invited him inside—rocking forwards and backwards just slightly, his hands rubbing into his thighs. The television was on, but it was nearly muted, and Roman could honestly say that he had no idea what was playing. He didn’t know how long he sat there like that, silently panicking about how it was all going to go wrong, before Patton was suddenly there, sitting down next to him.

“What’s eatin’ ya, kiddo?” he asked, putting a hand on Roman’s shoulder. Roman’s repeated motions stopped immediately.

“It’s… nothing.”

“If it’s nothing, why do you look so upset?”

Roman blew air out through his nose. “It doesn’t matter, it’s just—I’m nervous, okay? It’s like before a performance, just pre-show jitters is all….”

“Well, you start your new job tomorrow! That’s exciting! But I can see why it would make you nervous, too.”

“I just….” He swallowed hard. “I don’t want to blow it. You and Logan have been so nice to me, and I want to pay you guys back, but if this doesn’t work out then I can’t do that and you’ll both be so disappointed and then Val will make you kick me out—.” And I’ll be alone again.

“Woah, woah, woah,” Patton interrupted, squeezing Roman’s shoulder tightly. “Let’s slow down, there. Breathe, Roman. Where’s this coming from all of a sudden?”

Roman didn’t look at him, for this really wasn’t sudden at all. Patton’s gaze softened in realization; but then he sat up straighter, a fire in his eyes.

“Look at me.”

Roman swallowed. After a second, he lifted his gaze to meet Patton’s eyes.

“You are going to be just fine. Here’s what’s going to happen: You’re going to go to your job tomorrow, and you’re going to do your best, and it will be good enough. You aren’t going to blow it. And you know what? Even if this job doesn’t work out, you’re not going anywhere. You are going to stay right here, with me and Logan and Val, because we want you here, and because you deserve to be happy.” Patton looked suddenly shy. “At least, as long as you want to stay here with us.”

Roman swallowed. “I really do,” he whispered. He hadn’t really meant to say that out loud. Realizing what he’d done, he felt his face begin to burn.

Patton just hugged him. “Then you will.”

Roman sighed.

“Feeling any better?”

“Immensely. Thank you, Patton.”

“Of course, kiddo. If you ever want to talk, you can always come to little ol’ me.” Patton pulled back to let him get up if he wanted, but Roman made no move to do so.

“I, um, I really appreciate what you guys are doing for me.” He didn’t say that enough, Roman felt, as often as he did say it.

“I know,” Patton said gently. “It’s really not a bother.”

“I guess I didn’t really give Logan much of a choice,” Roman admitted, laughing slightly. “Showing up like that. I was quite a mess. Probably would’ve passed out on the sidewalk if he hadn’t let me in.”

“Well… he didn’t have to help,” Patton shrugged. “Letting you stay wasn’t just out of some moral obligation or whatever. He has a heart; it’s just that he seems a bit stiff sometimes to people who don’t know him as well as I do.”

“Oh—I know, Pat, of course. I didn’t mean it like that.”

“It’s okay. I know you two didn’t used to get along so well.”

Roman hesitated. Patton certainly wasn’t wrong about that. Finally, he cleared his throat.

“He said he let me stay because of you, actually.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. He said that he saw me and was reminded of you. I don’t know why, exactly; I’m certainly not the same… soft little puffball you are,” Roman said, smiling uncertainly. He hoped Patton wouldn’t be offended by that assessment of his character. Thankfully, Patton didn’t seem to mind.

There was a short pause.

“I used to be homeless,” Patton said quietly. “As a teenager.”

“I know,” Roman admitted. “Logan told me.”

Patton nodded. “I figured. How much did he tell you?”

“Not a lot,” he was quick to assure. “Just that you were, you know, and some stuff about that lady who helped you and your mom.”

Patton sighed, looking thoughtful. “It was hard,” he admitted. “We were in a shelter most of the time, but it was still hard. For a while I thought they were going to try to take me away from her. That was scary.”

Roman nodded understandingly.

“We made it through, though. Both of us did,” he continued, smiling at Roman. “And now here we are.”

“Here we are,” Roman couldn’t help but agree.

“Hey, Ro, since we’re on the topic already… Can I ask you something?” Patton asked. The corner of his mouth quirked upwards briefly. “Another thing, I mean.”

“Um… I suppose so.”

“It’s okay if you don’t want to answer, kiddo. I don’t mind.” He took a breath. “But… how did you become homeless? Logan said that you were some kind of big theatre star in high school, that you were talking about a big scholarship you’d gotten from some fancy school; and then you just disappeared. I’m just a bit confused about what happened, if that’s okay?”

As soon as Roman realized what Patton was going to ask, a cold feeling spread through him. He was silent for a long time. He wasn’t sure that he really wanted to get into all of that right now. Not only did the thought of sharing that make him hesitate, but he also wasn’t sure how he felt about Logan talking about his high school self with Patton; he wasn’t that guy anymore, not really. He supposed it made sense that Patton would want to know more about the random homeless guy who’d started living with him, to be sure they hadn’t let in some criminal or amoral parasite or some other unsavory ne’er-do-well; and perhaps Patton and Logan especially had a right to know what had happened; but the idea still made him uncomfortable. Was it just because he didn’t like being talked about behind his back? Was he bitter that things didn’t turn out how they were supposed to? Or was it just out of regret for his mistakes, in what had happened and in how he had treated Logan?

The silence stretched on.

“Do I have to talk about it right now?” he finally asked, his voice cracking.

“Nope! We can drop it right now,” Patton said, to Roman’s surprise. “Forget I asked.” He rubbed Roman’s shoulder reassuringly. “How about we do something else? Just sitting here worrying about tomorrow won’t help anything.”

Roman smiled in relief.

…

They heard the door opening about an hour later. The clacking footsteps on the floor told Roman that the newcomer was Val, unless Logan had recently taken up wearing heels.

“Hi, Val!” Patton called out, having made the same deduction, barely breaking focus to do so as he sifted through a pile of bits of cardboard.

He and Roman were sitting on either side of the coffee table, working on a large jigsaw puzzle. Most of the edges were in place, as well as a few clusters of the middle.

“Hello,” Valerie said, stepping into the room. She didn’t advance much past the doorway. “What puzzle is that?”

“It’s called…” Roman picked up the box, “Raining Cats and Dogs.”

“Sounds accurate,” Val commented, studying what they had completed so far.

She and Roman had been getting along more amicably lately, although things were still rather awkward. Roman could tell that she was trying, though; and it wasn’t as if he didn’t understand why she hadn’t wanted him in her house. It meant a lot to him that she was giving him a chance.

But actually talking to her? That was still difficult.

“How was work?” Patton asked. He snapped a puzzle piece into place, then looked up at her with a smile.

“It was fine—,” she started to say, only to be cut off as Patton hopped up and hugged her. She sighed, patting his back a couple of times. She glanced towards Roman, still in Patton’s arms. After a second, she asked, “You start your job tomorrow, right?”

Roman’s little smile slipped slightly. “Yeah.”

“Well, good luck.”

Patton pulled back. “He’s gonna do great, I know it.”

Roman rubbed the back of his neck.

Patton clapped his hands together. “Anyway, should we start dinner, soon? Logan should be home any minute.”

“I’ll help,” Roman said immediately, getting to his feet. Val glanced at him, but she just shrugged and walked back towards the kitchen with Patton. Roman followed after.

They got started on dinner, which consisted of roasted red potatoes and baked chicken. Patton didn’t eat meat, so they made a vegetarian version for him.

“So, do you and Logan do puzzles often?” Roman asked as he cut the last few potatoes.

Val, who had just put the chicken in the oven, snorted. Roman paused, confused.

Patton let out a giggle. “Actually, Logan’s not allowed to help me with puzzles.”

Roman, of course, only became more confused at this response. “Why not?” he asked, returning to his potatoes.

“You’ve never seen him do a puzzle,” Val guessed. She sounded amused.

“…No? Am I missing something here?”

Patton was grinning. “We have to make Logan do one when he gets back.”

“Well, clearly,” Val agreed. She had a mischievous glint in her eyes that Roman had never seen before.

Roman raised an eyebrow, regarding them both suspiciously. What’s going on? he wondered. Should I be worried about this?

Before he could ask, the door opened, catching everyone’s attention. That had to have been Logan arriving. Patton bounced off to greet his boyfriend first. Val turned back to the oven, and Roman grabbed the roll of aluminum foil to cover the dish of potatoes with.

Patton and Logan came back arm-in-arm, Logan’s cheeks slightly flushed, and Patton looking very pleased with himself.

“Thank you all for starting dinner,” Logan said, turning to hug his sister. He offered Roman a polite nod. “Work kept me late.”

“What happened?” Val asked. “Anything interesting?”

Logan sighed a world-weary sigh. “There was this woman—a “Karen”, my colleague called her, if I remember correctly—She wanted every single book we had about the ‘rudabagel’.” He shook his head, seeming mystified. “She was very resistant when I suggested that she might have been thinking about the rutabaga, but my colleague eventually got her to finally accept a book on root vegetables, I believe, and a baking cookbook, as a compromise.”

“I’d like to see her face when her ‘rudabagel’ isn’t there,” Val commented.

“What even is a rutabaga?” Roman asked.

Logan sighed again, and Patton covered his mouth to stifle his giggles.

…

They sat down together for dinner. Roman, Logan, and Val all enjoyed their chicken. Roman looked suspiciously at the tofu-based concoction that had replaced it for Patton’s main dish, like he expected it to be poisonous or some kind of wet cardboard masquerading as food, but Patton seemed pretty happy with it; so it was probably fine.

The potatoes had turned out pretty well, if Roman did say so himself. Granted, roasting some potatoes in the oven was pretty simple, but he’d cut and seasoned them all! Let him live. Roman speared one of them on his fork.

“Were you serious?”

Roman looked up, confused, to see Logan regarding him thoughtfully.

“What?”

“About the rutabaga. Were you seriously asking what it is? I surmised that it was likely a joke, but I also frown upon denying anyone seeking knowledge.”

“Oh—oh, uh,” Roman stammered, a bit taken aback. “It was mostly a joke, I suppose. I know it’s a vegetable, right? But it’s not like I’ve ever seen one, that I know of.”

“In that case,” Logan said, straightening his tie; and Roman realized that that was definitely the Teacher Voice that Logan had used to use as the dramaturg of their theater productions in high school, “allow me to describe it to you.” Oh no. Roman didn’t sign up for this. But it was too late: Logan’s switch had officially been flipped to Teacher Mode.

“The rutabaga is a root vegetable with origins in Scandinavia and Russia, resulting from a cross between the turnip and the cabbage—”

“Really?” Val wondered aloud. “Why would you cross those in the first place? You don’t even eat the same part of the plant.”

“Please do not interrupt,” Logan requested.

Val smirked and mimed locking her mouth shut and throwing away the key. Patton pretended to fumble to catch it, grinning.

“As I was saying,” Logan said, “The rutabaga is a cross between the turnip and the cabbage plant, most likely accidental or spontaneous.”

Val nodded, her question answered.

“For many years, the rutabaga was often carved in much the same way we would carve a pumpkin for Halloween nowadays. In some regions it is also called the ‘swede’, the ‘neep’, or my personal favorite, the ‘snagger’. Although, interestingly, the name ‘rutabaga’ comes from Swedish, literally meaning ‘root lump’. It was introduced—"

“Okay, honey,” Patton said, pawing in Logan’s direction. “I think that’s enough for now. Your dinner’ll get cold.”

Logan broke off, blinking. “Right,” he said, looking down at his chicken and potatoes. “Apologies for the tangent.”

“Don’t worry about it, nerd,” Roman assured, grinning. He hadn’t seen Logan go full-on-nerd in years. Usually it was annoying, but he had to admit now that it was rather funny, too.

“You can tell me more about it later, okay?” Patton assured his boyfriend. Logan, still looking at his plate, smiled slightly. It was, objectively speaking, adorable. (Roman, however, would have denied this to his dying day.)

“Why do you even know all that stuff? You’re not a botanist,” Roman asked.

“Well,” Logan admitted thoughtfully. “I may have done some quick reading of my own, just as a refresher out of spite for the ignorance of that ‘Karen’ today.” He did actual finger quotes around the name ‘Karen’.

Learning out of spite just might be the most ‘Logan’ thing I’ve ever heard, Roman thought, amused. He didn’t say that, though, and instead just shook his head and went back to his food.

…

By the time dinner was over, Roman had almost forgotten about the plan to have Logan do a puzzle, but as soon as Logan got up to clear his plate, Patton started bouncing in his seat.

“Oh! Oh—sweetie, before I forget. Roman hasn’t seen you do a puzzle before! You have to do one tonight, so he can see.”

Logan paused, then turned to look in Roman’s direction, who froze, having been about to put a chunk of chicken in his mouth. There was a glint in Logan’s eye. “Do I, now?”

And so, five minutes later, Roman found himself sitting on the living room floor along with Logan and Val, the sofa and coffee table pushed off to the side. Roman was a bit surprised that Logan had agreed to sit on the floor—germs and all—but he supposed that if anyone’s floor was clean, it would be Logan’s. He vacuumed every day. Every day. You could probably eat off of the carpet, assuming Logan didn’t kill you for getting food on it.

Patton came in with a new puzzle box—1000 pieces, he noticed, twice that of Patton’s and Roman’s puzzle—and a stopwatch in hand. He handed the cover of the box to Logan, who studied the design for about two minutes.

He handed it back with a nod, ready.

Patton turned and grinned at Roman, looking almost manic with glee. Roman felt his eyebrows shoot up. Patton’s grin only widened as he hit the ‘start’ button on the timer and dumped all of the puzzle pieces on the floor in a cascade of colors.

…

Twenty-seven minutes and fifteen seconds.

Logan put together a 1000-piece puzzle in twenty-seven minutes and fifteen seconds.

At first, Roman hadn’t seen what the big deal was. So, Logan had started flipping over all the pieces so that they were right side up, so what? That was what everyone did—either that or collect all the edge pieces. He didn’t understand the grins on Patton’s and Val’s faces as they settled near him to watch the show, or the glint in Logan’s eyes.

But then Logan, upon having all the pieces set out and right side up, started assembling the puzzle. He moved rapid-fire, snatching up pieces and snapping them into place. Watching him, Roman’s mouth fell open. He started in one corner, quickly working his way up the sides, through the center, and to the opposite corner. Like he could just visualize where all of the pieces went. He even made it look easy; the nerd hadn’t looked rushed at all. Roman wondered how fast he could go when he really was trying to put it together as fast as he could. Patton was bouncing up and down the whole time, cheering on his boyfriend. Val also looked highly amused, but she was clearly long used to these kinds of antics.

When the puzzle was finished, Patton let out a loud cheer and announced how much time had passed. Val just smiled, and Logan sat back, straightening his tie. Everyone looked at Roman.

Roman sat in a stunned silence for a solid minute after Patton read out the time.

“Um, yeah,” he finally squeaked. “I can see why you don’t let him do puzzles with you.”

…

Patton and Roman sat together on one side of the coffee table, finishing their own puzzle at what seemed like a glacial pace compared to Logan’ earlier display. It was getting rather late, and Roman found himself yawning. Patton, at his side, kept rubbing at his eyes as he picked through the remaining pieces.

“You’re really good at distracting people,” Roman mumbled, snapping a piece into place. A cartoon dalmatian took shape, grinning up at them as it swung down from the sky with a red umbrella.

Patton smiled slightly, humming. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Right… Thanks anyway.”

Patton paused to check the time on his phone. “We should probably go to bed soon,” he said.

“We only have like a dozen more pieces,” Roman pointed out. Truthfully, they had more like twenty; but this close to the end of the puzzle, that wasn’t a lot. They were putting them in place pretty quickly.

“Well… okay. We’ll finish the puzzle and then, bed! Can’t have you falling asleep at work tomorrow morning, can we?”

“Don’t worry, there’ll be plenty of coffee around to wake me back up,” Roman joked.

…

Roman was really glad that Logan had shown him how to work the alarm clock in the guest room. There was no way that he would have woken up in time for his 6am shift without it.

Even with the alarm clock, he very nearly fell back asleep; but he caught himself just in time and forced himself to get up. That was close, he thought, mildly horrified. Unfortunately, if he had fallen asleep, no one would have known until at least an hour later, when Logan would get up. Patton, who had a few weeks off before his classes resumed, had offered to drive him to work today; but Roman could walk the distance pretty easily; and he didn’t want to make Patton get up so early just for that. Patton hadn’t seemed happy about it, based on his impressive pouty face, but he’d respected Roman’s wishes.

So Roman was on his own to get himself to work this morning.

Roman showered, brushed his teeth, got dressed for the day, and grabbed a banana (it had a post-it note with a poorly drawn heart stuck to it, probably from Patton). Within fifteen minutes, he was ready to walk out the door. Logan’s second spare house key was in his pocket along with a slip of paper with Logan’s and Patton’s cell numbers written on it, just in case Roman needed to contact them. Not that Roman actually had a phone (his had stopped working some time ago and hadn’t had service anyway); but they assumed that there would be one he could use at the café.

Roman set a brisk pace and reached the Sanders Café in only fifteen minutes. He must have been going pretty fast, since he’d expected to get there in twenty. Probably nervous energy. Nervous excitement, he corrected himself silently.

As he approached the building, Roman could see a figure moving within the café itself. He opened the door that he’d been told would be unlocked, pleased to find that this was indeed the case—he’d have hated to make a fool out of himself right off the bat by trying to open a locked door. Roman stepped inside and straightened his back, striding forwards with his most charming smile.

“Ah, hello! I’m Roman; I’m the new hire starting today,” he announced with a confidence he did not quite feel, but which he would readily fake.

The other worker jumped slightly, nearly dropping the broom he held in his hands. They had probably not expected such a grand entrance, poor thing. They regained their composure and turned to face Roman, leaning casually on the broom handle.

“Oh,” he simply said, as if Roman were an unexpected but not necessarily welcome arrival, although he had surely known that Roman was coming. Roman looked the figure in front of him up and down, admittedly a little surprised himself.

The young man in front of him looked like he had never moved past his middle school emo phase. He was incredibly pale, his makeup and dark clothes only accentuating this fact. Most of his hair was dyed black, the bangs a pastel purple. He had half-centimeter black gauges in his earlobes, in addition to various other piercings in his nose, eyebrow, and the cartilage of one ear. He had on a black long-sleeve shirt under his uniform shirt even in summer, and when he walked around to the other side of the counter, Roman saw that he had on ripped-up black jeans, combat boots, and silver-painted fingernails. If Roman had to guess, he’d say he was about Patton’s age. Maybe a little younger. It was hard to tell, what with all the makeup.

The man in question raised an eyebrow at Roman, who realized with a jolt that he had definitely been staring. No one had the right to look that sassy just by raising an eyebrow, but this man did it with ease.

What a great way to start his new job.

“So, you must be Roman,” the young man drawled, as if Roman hadn’t already introduced himself. He didn’t offer his own name, Roman noticed. “Come on, I’ve got your uniform back here.” He turned and headed into the back room, waving lackadaisically for Roman to follow. Roman did, after a short hesitation. Hopefully this Emo Nightmare wasn’t trying to lure him into some kind of dungeon back there. Was this really who he was going to be working with?

In the back room, the young man put the broom away and then thrust a bundle of fabric into his hands. Roman shook it out and held up the uniform shirt quizzically. It looked a couple of sizes too big.

“Can I get this in a smaller size?” he asked, raising an eyebrow skeptically.

“Nope,” his young coworker—Terrence, his name tag said—answered, popping the ‘p’. “Don’t worry, nobody lasts long here anyway.”

What the heck was that supposed to mean?

Terrence(?) flicked something else at Roman, who caught it against his chest. “Here’s your fancy new name tag. Don’t lose it, or I’ll steal it for my collection. No returns or exchanges.”

What?

Roman was getting more and more confused by the minute. “Is Bradley here?” he asked.

“Dude, Bradley comes here like once a month, if that. He’s got like ten of these cafés across the state. He does the interviews, but that’s about it. He prefers his cushy office.”

“So, what, we don’t have a manager?”

“Bradley’s the owner. Our manager is Thomas. He’ll probably show up later to meet you, but he usually doesn’t come in on Mondays unless he has to.”

“Oh—okay.”

Terrence rolled his eyes, grabbing a pair of aprons. “Come on, then, I guess; we’ve gotta open.”

“Wait, wait, just like that? You’re not even going to show me how any of this stuff works?”

“Do you not know how to put coffee in a cup?”

Roman huffed indignantly and glanced at the machines behind the counter, which looked way too complex for being fancy coffee-makers. He was admittedly apprehensive. “I’m just not… familiar with this equipment.”

Terrence sighed like Roman had just ruined his whole day. “Alright, just go on the register then. Do you at least know how those work?”

“Yes!” Roman was relieved to say, even if he was getting more annoyed by the second.

“Good. Go on, then.” Terrence tossed an apron at him and made a shooing motion.

…

Overall, it wasn’t as bad as Roman had started to fear it would be. Most of the people who came in in the early hours of that first day were too preoccupied with their cell phones or how tired they were to pay Roman any mind as he punched in their drink orders. Some of them were rather impatient, but Roman just chalked that up to pre-caffeination grumpiness. Perfectly understandable; he’d been the same way in high school.

Terrence—or maybe not actually Terrence, seeing as he switched his name tag to one that read ‘Enrique’ halfway through their shift—was the one actually putting together the drinks. Twice that day he got one small step of a very complicated drink order wrong, bemoaned his existence, and had to start over. One perk of this was that they couldn’t sell those drinks, so the two workers got to have them instead. Terrence or Enrique or whatever his real name was had given the first drink to Roman, claiming that decaf was “a mortal sin.” Roman wasn’t complaining, but he got the idea that his coworker’s second mistake, which happened only about ten minutes later, might not have actually been an accident. He looked rather pleased with himself, sipping his free cappuccino during a brief respite from the crowd of coffee-seekers at the counter.

Two hours before their shift ended, Roman had gotten to meet the manager, who luckily arrived during another lull in customers. He hadn’t realized who the man was at first: he just wore a flower print t-shirt and jeans, not a uniform, and he didn’t wear a name tag. Roman was understandably confused, therefore, when he had strolled right up to the register, waited for the woman currently paying to leave, and then smiled at the bewildered barista like they were old friends.

“You must be Roman!” he said, grinning.

“Um… yes?” Roman replied awkwardly, a little alarmed at this stranger knowing his name. He knew he was wearing a name tag, but this guy had never looked at it.

“Oh—right, sorry, I’m Thomas, the manager.” Thomas turned to grin at the other barista, who offered him a peace sign and a duck of the head as he worked on putting together some kind of elaborate frappe. He looked almost shy. Roman wondered if it was just for show.

“Oh, oh, of course,” Roman quickly said as the manager turned back towards him. “He—uh,” Roman still didn’t know his coworker’s name— “He mentioned that you would be coming. Sorry, I just wasn’t expecting….”

“Me?” Thomas asked. Roman was briefly mortified at his own phrasing, but Thomas was smiling, looking amused. “That’s alright. I actually have today off! Just thought I’d stop by to check in. How is everything so far?”

“It’s…” Don’t overact, Roman. “It’s fine.” He’d almost said something more grandiose, before he remembered the awkward moment at the dinner with Val a week before when he’d made himself look like a fool doing much the same thing, acting like a teenager in his first high school play. He didn’t need to repeat that.

“Well, that’s good, I suppose. Getting along all right with our thundercloud over there?”

“Thomas,” said thundercloud whined from where he was handing a bored teenager their drink.

“Yeah, he’s alright,” Roman said. He wished the guy would talk to him more, and not act like Roman would be gone within the week; but it could have been worse. Plus, he wasn’t exactly about to bad-mouth his coworker on the first day. Roman wasn’t an idiot.

“Oh, that’s good!” Thomas glanced over his shoulder as the bell over the door chimed, a group of people all making their way into the café. “Well, I should let you two go. Nice to meet you, Roman.” He then reached forward and shook Roman’s hand, waved to the other barista, and left the shop, greeting the new customers along the way.

...

“Is it always that busy?” Roman asked, hanging up his apron in the back at the end of their shift. Their replacements, a pair of high schoolers, were already at work at the counter. It wasn’t nearly as busy now, being the afternoon, but a few people were in the café studying.

“Hm?” his coworker asked, clearly not having expected Roman to talk to him. “Um… Yeah, I guess,” he begrudgingly admitted, scratching at some stubble on his chin with chipped silver-painted nails. “On weekdays, at least. Monday mornings are the worst, though.”

Well, that was a relief. That meant that the hardest day of the week was already over with.

“See you tomorrow?” Roman asked. His coworker was already halfway out the door.

“Yeah, whatever, Princey.”

“Princey?”

The other young man paused, glancing back. “You look like a Princey. Deal with it.”

Well, okay. Apparently Roman was Princey now. He was still a bit bewildered, but he decided not to fight it. There were worse nicknames.

As Roman walked home that afternoon, he couldn’t help but think about his new coworker. He was… something else, it seemed. Roman would have to figure him out, like putting together a complicated puzzle. Perhaps he wasn’t as freakishly good at those as Logan, but he’d make friends with the guy—he was determined to, if for no other reason than to make sure working at the café didn’t turn into a nightmare.

The first step, he supposed, was to find out his name.

…

When Roman got home, Patton was waiting for him, jumping up and down just past the doorway.

“Oh—Patton, how long have you been standing here?” he asked, bewildered, as Patton all but tackle-hugged him.

“Not long,” Patton assured, his voice muffled. He pulled back and smiled. “How did it go? Did you have fun?”

Roman let out a breathy laugh. “Yeah, Patton, it was alright. I didn’t spill any coffee on myself, so I’d call that a win.”

“What about the person you work with? Are they nice?

“Uh….” Roman made a high-pitched, not-exactly-a-yes sort of sound. “He’s… something. I don’t know him that well yet, I guess. He might’ve been having a bad day.”

“Oh,” Patton said, his expression falling slightly.

“I did meet the manager, though. He stopped by to say hi. He’s basically a human ray of sunshine.”

Patton’s grin returned. “Well, that’s good!” He stepped back. “Want to go sit down? I can make you a snack.”

“Yes, please,” Roman sighed. He’d been on his feet since five-thirty in the morning, after all.

They walked into the kitchen, Patton continuing to ask eager questions about Roman’s new job.

…

That evening, Roman, Patton and Logan were sitting together in the living room. Valerie wasn’t home yet, out with friends somewhere. Logan was reading while Patton colored in a coloring book. Roman was theoretically watching the television, but really he was just sitting there, listening to the scratch of Patton’s colored pencils and the occasional, almost rhythmic turn of pages in Logan’s book. He was thinking, debating with himself.

Finally, he cleared his throat. Patton’s colored pencils paused and Logan glanced up at him before he turned the page in his book.

“Hey, guys…” Roman started awkwardly. As Patton and Logan both turned to watch him, Roman felt as if a spotlight had been suddenly shone upon him. “So, I’ve been thinking, and… you two have been really, so incredibly kind to me. And I’m—I’m so grateful for that. But… it really isn’t fair of me not to tell you… why I was homeless. You deserve to know. So, um, if you guys still want to know, I’m ready to tell you.”

The two men’s reactions to this offer were quite different from each other. Logan simply regarded him with an unreadable expression, fitting a bookmark into his book and closing it. Patton, meanwhile, quickly set his coloring book and pencils to the side. “Oh, Roman, you don’t have to do that; I wasn’t trying to push you.”

“No—it’s okay. You guys deserve to know. Is—is now an okay time?” He sure hoped it was. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to summon the courage again.

Patton’s eyes were soft as he nodded. Logan’s expectant look was enough of an answer from him.

So, Roman took a deep breath, in and out, to ready himself. And he told them.

#sanders sides #thomas sanders #roman sanders #logan sanders #patton sanders #virgil sanders #logicality #sanders sides fan fiction #ts fanfic #fanfiction #second chances fic #gonna add the tag list after I get this up on ao3

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sentience-if · 8 months

Note

What first dates would each of ROs choose, in a modern AU?

klaus: fancy dinner, but not so fancy it's intimidating

kat: fancy dinner but it's on the restaurants roof with a bottle of wine she definitely didn't pay for

ira: flea market or a new exhibit at the museum

val: something fun like a carnival (carniVAL) or amusement park

connie: nice and simple, coffee in a park

#ask #sentience if #val #constantine #klaus #ira #kat

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sayabenz · 5 years

Text

Tag game:

Thank you, Cin, aka @folatefangirl 💜

I am stuck home and bored so this is right on time so here it goes

1-Name: Boutheina

2-Nicknames: boubou. Bou. Bee. Saya. Bousbous. Bassissa. Bishbish....

3-Zodiac: Virgo ♍

4-Height: 168cm (i guess)

5-Languages: Arabic, French, English, learning German, a tiny bit of Turkish.

6-Nationality : 🇩🇿

7-Favourite season: Autumn 🍁🍂

8-Favourite flower: Daisies.

9-Favourite scent: Petrichor. Fresh lime.

10-Favourite colour: green.

11-Favourite animal: Orca.

12-Favourite fictional characters: Kelsier. Kvothe. Kaz Brekker. William Laurence. Kest morrowson. Falcio Val Mond. Andrew Minyard. Temeraire. Toothless. Rune Saint John. Brand. Cardan. Harry Potter. Hermione Granger. Merlin. Arthur Pendragon. Ren Frayne. Naruto Uzumaki. Gaara. Asta. Haruka Nanase. Rin Matsuoka. Yami Sukehiro. Fuegoleon Vermillion. Yato gami. Jay. John. Park Sae-ro-yi ...

13-Favourite hot beverages: café au lait.

14-Average amount of sleep: 5-6h

15-Dogs or cats: dogs

16-Number of blankets: 2, double folded.

17-Dream trip: Japan, South Korea.

18-Blog established: idk.

19-Followers: also idk.

20-Random fun fact: i drank a triple shot coffee at 11 pm.

Now, tagging.oh boy.

@gray--lightning @wormdelivre @thefandomless @uberlebtt @nekojitachan @oscarwildc @blissful-whims @emmerrr @vampirewives @prhynefisher

If you want to guys, no pressure 💙

#if you want me to send you this to past it let me know #doing this by phone sucks #tag games #we're all bored in quarantine #thanks for the tag Cinn

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thedukedudeinadress · 5 years

Text

Something New - Chapter Seven!

First Chapter Previous Chapter

Ships: Logicality, Prinxiety, Remile

Warnings: Swearing

Chapter 7: Sir Sing A Lot.

———————————————————————

When Virgil got home he threw his backpack on the couch & then went out in the kitchen.

“Moe!” He called as he filled his cat’s bowl with food & a couple of seconds later the white Norwegian Forest Cat came running into the kitchen. He gave her a quick pet before returning into the living room, he put down his bag on the floor & layed down on the couch. He felt like he was forgetting something.. Roman.. right.

———————

Roman had decided to go to the park & sat on a bench when he suddenly got a text from an unknown number ‘Hi, Sir Sing A Lot. It’s Virgil’ Roman smiled when he saw the use of his old nickname Virgil used to call him.

“Oh, hello there, chemically imbalanced romance”

“(¬_¬)( ＾∀＾)”

“So, how are ya?”

“Meh, fine. Hbu?” Roman was tempted to say something flirty like ‘better now that I’m talking to you’ but he decided that would be way to straight forward.

“I’m pretty good actually, still outside tho”

“What are you still doing out?! It’s almost midnight!”

“It’s too much going on in my head, need air”

“Hmm.. guess that’s fair enough”

———————

Roman woke up around 10 the next morning to a bunch of missed calls, worried & angry messages from Patton such as ‘where are you?’, ‘are you okay?’, ‘are you dead?!’, ‘ROMAN! IF YOU’RE NOT DEAD, ANSWER MY GOD DAMN TEXTS!’ & a couple of seconds after he opened his phone Patton called again & stared to scream at him.

“ROMAN! Thank god! I thought you were dead! Now that I know you’re not tho; WHAT THE HELL?! How late were you out last night?! When did you fall asleep?”

“I’m sorry, Pat” he was barely awake & his voice was tired “I couldn’t sleep so I went out on a walk around 11 & didn’t get home until 2”

“Roman! I swear to g-“

“I also may have stayed up until 3 & texted with Virgil” Roman could almost hear Patton freeze & then shake himself.

“Oh my freaking god! Roman, get your stupid ass to the hospital this instant!”

“Damn! You gotta be really mad” Roman said as he dragged himself out of bed.

“I am!” Patton said & hung up the phone.

Patton had walked to the hospital & had stopped by at Rogers’ Beans on his way where he had met an almost sleeping Virgil, when he was there he had assumed it was because he worked night yesterday but now he knew it was because he & Roman had texted all night. It was like being back to when Roman was in high school!

Patton returned into his daughters room & made a deep sigh “Sorry about that, kiddo. Roman overslept” Valerie was sitting on the side of her bed & giggled slightly.

“Roman? Overslept? Wow, I never thought that would happen” Valerie turned her attention to behind her father & Patton swirled around. In the doorway Logan stood, leaning against the frame.

“Who are you?” Valerie said & tilted her head slightly & took a proper look at Logan & Patton turned back around to face his daughter.

“Oh! That’s Logan, he works here” Valerie looked at hes dad, over to Logan & then back at her dad.

“Why haven’t I met him?” Patton turned his head slightly to look at Logan as to invite him to answer.

“I’m a psychologist so I’m not a typical doctor” Logan tried to be as simple as possible & not jabble on about everything to it. Patton smiled approvingly & then turned his gaze back to his daughter who nodded slightly. Patton was just gonna say something as Emile entered the room.

“Logan” he said, nodding in his direction, him nodding back, before turning his gaze towards Patton “Hello, Patton!” He smiled at Patton before turning his gaze towards Valerie “& you must be Valerie!” Valerie nodded slightly & before she had even asked he introduced himself “I’m Emile & I’m gonna be your therapist” he said and gave her a sunny smile.

She had learned that she often could tell if she would like someone or not based on their smile. She liked Emile’s smile & decided to return it which immediately made Patton relax.

Logan smirked a little as he noticed Patton’s whole self relax slightly. Patton must have seen how he glanced over at him because a bright pink colour spread over his cheeks & he quickly looked down.

“Well then! Good luck with your first actual day of work, Emile” Logan smilingly nodded towards Emile & casually pushed himself from the doorframe. Emile nodded back at him. “See you later, Patton” he said & made a small gesture with his hand which Patton happily returned. He had just turned around & was about to leave as he saw Roman down the hallway & quickly peaked into the room again “Princey’s here by the way, try not to kill him” he looked at Patton who rolled his eyes & chuckled slightly.

“Relax, Lo, I won’t. See ya” Logan nodded at him again & then left for real & a couple of seconds later Roman entered the room & got met with a death glare from Patton. He ignored it as much as he could & went over to give his niece a hug.

“Hello, Val. Sorry I’m late” Valerie hugged her uncle & giggled.

“It’s fine! Even tho you never oversleep” she said as to question him & Roman chuckled.

“Yeah, Ro. What happened?” Emile’s voice took Roman by surprise even tho he had acknowledged his presence in the room.

“Uhm.. well.. I stayed up all night, texting a friend” the tips of his ears caught a bright pink shade & Emile giggled, it was long ago he had seen Roman like that & it made him happy to see it.

“Anyway! Roman, you need to leave. Valerie, do you want your dad to stay in here or leave until we’re done” Roman rolled his eyes, gave his niece another hug & then left. Valerie said that she wanted Patton to stay so Roman decided to go to Virgil’s coffe shop & get some tea.

He had about an hour, the coffe shop was a five minutes walk away for him so he skipped the car & walked there.

———————

Virgil had finally woken up properly after one of his employees had ordered him to go rest & took his shift & was now very awake when Roman & Remy entered the cafe.

“Hello there, Virge” Remy said, Virgil nedded at him in response.

“Good morning, creepy cookie” Remy may have been first to greet him but Roman’s greeting made him feel heat raise in his neck & made a silent prayer that it wouldn’t slide onto his cheeks, a prayer that clearly failed because a teasing smile appeared on Roman’s face a second later.

“Hey, Princey” he pulled himself together & quickly finished what he was doing & walked over to the counter “you’re lucky. You’re just in between the rushes. So, what can I do for you today?”

“It’s not luck, it’s planning!” Remy assured before placing his coffee order.

“I’ll take some iced cherry tea” It was quite hot outside so a regular tea would not be very pleasing. Remy payed for them both & as his drink was done he went to sit in a corner of the cafe as Roman waited for his drink.

“I heard you overslept?” Virgil said teasingly & Roman chuckled & the tips of his ears turned slightly pink.

“Yeah, well, old habits die hard” & Virgil laughed.

“But Patton said you never oversleep. Even tho he did mention that you always overslept during high school, hmm” Virgil teasingly glansed at Roman & a grin spread over his face when he saw the actors, slightly red tinted face.

“Well.. I never said what the habit was” he said & returned the teasing grin.

“Heh, fair enough. Here’s your tea” Virgil said & put down an ice tea on the counter.

“Thanks, see ya later” Roman said & made a gesture with his hand.

��See ya”

———————————————————————

A/N: Roman, go to sleep.

Tag list: @mellow-yellow-nutella @the-cactus-lord

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navpike · 6 years

Text

cry out what you need to: chapter 3

“Okay, so, you know my partner, Amy Rohrbach? She died, on Sunday. And she had a daughter. She’s five years old and she had no other family and they were going to put her in the system and I just felt so--” “Dick, did you adopt the kid?” “I adopted the kid.”

Or, the one where Dick adopts a child, learns to balance parenting and superheroing, and falls in love, not necessarily in that order.

Chapter Three: did you stand there all alone? [on ao3]

The weekend is hard, to say the least of it.

Rona is up half of Friday night with a stomach ache, and nothing Dick tries to do helps, so he stays up with her, telling her stories about growing up in the circus, and about ridiculous things his siblings have done, just trying to distract her.

He finally gets her to sleep, and passes out in his own bed, only for her to have a nightmare a couple hours later. It says something about how completely drained he is that he barely wakes up when she pads into his room. He wakes up Saturday morning, almost surprised that she’s curled up in the bed next to him. He’s really glad to know that she trusts him enough to come to him to protect her from the nightmares she’s having, but at the same time, he’s concerned about how exhausted he is. How do people do this? It makes no sense to him.

Late Saturday morning, after a truly obscene amount of coffee, he brings Rona back to Amy’s place, so she can pick out what she wants to pack up and take to the penthouse. She spends the whole day asking Dick where her mother is and when she’s coming back and why she’s not there. That continues on into Sunday morning, when they’re unpacking everything, and finally Dick decides to sit her down and have a conversation about how her mom isn’t coming back, that she’s gone now, and Rona gets so upset with him she doesn’t speak to him for the rest of the day.

He feels really shitty after that.

Monday morning starts early. Dick has to drive Rona to school because he feels bad about putting her on the bus, and also sort of doesn’t know where the bus stop is yet, and she’s still not talking to him, but doesn’t want to get out of the car to go to school either and it’s very unpleasant for everyone involved. But he does get her out of the car and into the classroom, finally, with a note in hand for her to give to the teacher, asking if he can meet with her after the school day lets out.

That’s one hurdle done for the day.

As soon as Rona’s off, Dick pulls out his phone and calls Steph, because there’s no way he can go back to Amy’s again and start packing up her whole life on his own.

“Hello Dickalicious, how can I help you this fine Monday morning? By which I mean, it’s eight in the goddamn morning on my day off, why are you calling me?”

“Hello to you to, Stephanie.”

“I’m about to hang up on you, get to it.”

“Short version, I need your help packing up house today.”

There’s a pause, and some shuffling, and a heavy, dramatic sigh, followed by an equally dramatic groan. “What’s in it for me if I say yes?”

“I’ll buy you two bottles of your favorite wine, the really expensive kind, and I’ll give you my motorcycle for the foreseeable future.”

“Yes!” Steph exclaims, before Dick’s even got the whole sentence out. He smiles to himself at the reaction. “I’ll be honest, I’d do it just for the wine, but the bike makes it unrefusable. One more thing though.”

“What’s that?”

“You’ve gotta tell me the longer version of this story, and also why you’re giving up your bike just like that. That thing’s your baby.”

“Yeah. Well. Been a crazy week.”

“Dickard, it is Monday morning.”

“Shut up. I’ll be outside your apartment in half an hour. Yes I will bring you coffee. Be ready when I get there.”

“Yes, sir!” she says in a mocking tone, and then the line goes dead.

Dick tosses his phone to the side and wonders if he should have asked Jason instead for a brief moment, and then pulls out of the school parking lot.

True to his word, he is outside of Steph’s apartment half an hour later with one of those too big, too sweet, ungodly concoctions from Starbucks that she likes, and true to her word, Steph’s there waiting for him outside the building.

She climbs into the car and is happy to sit in silence, sipping her stupid gross coffee until Dick pulls into the driveway of Amy’s house, a little one story place in a nice neighborhood in the suburbs just outside of downtown Gotham. Well, as nice of a neighborhood as you can get in Gotham, but still. He turns the car off, and retrieves the keys he’d gotten from Amy’s personal belongings, and the stack of boxes he’d picked up last week, and leads the way up the walk.

They get inside before Steph finally can’t stop herself from asking what’s going on. Dick’s honestly impressed.

“Okay, spill, dude, what are we doing here? Whose house is this? Why are we packing it up. Why are you giving me your bike? I’m dying here, man, I need to know!”

Dick sighs and shakes his head.

“Okay. The abridged version? My partner died last week. I adopted her kid. This is her house, we’re packing up everything to either donate or put in storage for Rona to decide what to do with when she’s old enough. I’m giving you my bike, because I don’t want to get rid of it, but I can’t drive a kid around on it, and I don’t want want it just sit there and gather rust. Plus, I trust you not to wreck it more than I trust any of my siblings.” Steph stares at him with wide eyes, and just blinks for a couple seconds, her mouth hanging open. “So. Wanna start with the kitchen? We can throw out all the perishable food, pack up the non perishables to bring to the food shelter, and all the kitchenware can go in boxes to be donated.”

“Dick, hold up. Hang on. Just.” Steph grabs him by the arm, and stares him dead in the eye for a second. “What the fuck, dude. That’s--You just adopted a kid? Just. Out of nowhere? Just adopted a kid. A whole entire child?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“Oh my god, you’re turning into Bruce.”

“Yep. Pretty much,” he says again, a little less enthusiastically.

“Have you told Tim? I wanna tell Tim, can I tell Tim?”

“Go nuts,” Dick says and as she fist pumps, he heads for the kitchen.

After she sends out a text to Tim, he assumes, Steph joins him in the kitchen, and gets right to working, taking one of the flattened boxes and folding it open.

“Alright. So, everything here is getting packed up to be donated?” Dick nods. “Cool. I’ll start on kitchenware if you want to get started on dealing with the food,” she offers, and then, after a beat, she adds, “And D? I’m sorry about your partner. I know you really cared about her.”

Dick is really glad that he asked Steph to help him.

They continue on in near silence for a while after that, until Steph asks about Rona, and Dick is all too happy to talk about her. Steph is more than happy to listen, too, so that fills the silence for a while. When noon rolls around, Dick orders a pizza for them and Steph asks him to marry her over it, and he thinks she’s only half kidding. They continue to pack things away and labelling and stacking boxes in corners as they go.

It’s edging towards one in the afternoon, when Dick finally calls it. They’ve gotten a lot done, the whole kitchen and and living room are boxed up, and the office is started on, and Dick’s loathe to stop productivity right in the middle of it, but he has to go pick up Rona from school.

He drives straight from the house to the school, just before kindergarten classes let out.

Steph wrinkles her nose at him. “Why am I here?”

Dick digs around in his jacket pocket for a second before coming up with the key he’s looking for. He dangles it in front of Steph’s face, and she almost goes cross eyed looking at it.

“This is the key to my bike. If you come in with me and watch Rona while I have a quick meeting with her teacher, you can take it home today. Otherwise, I’m gonna make you help me with something else before I give it to you.” Steph huffs, but she still agrees, swiping the keys from Dick’s hand and climbing out of the car with him.

“I hate you, you know that? You’re the worst.”

“Sure.”

They sign in at the front office and make their way through cheerily decorated hallways, with ‘VISITOR!’ stickers plastered on their fronts and Dick feels very out of place. He’s not a parent. This isn’t right.

But he has a kid to look out for, and that’s all that matters.

When Dick knocks on the door for Val Hanssen’s classroom, she’s just finished ushering the last kid out the back door that leads right to a drive for the busses and parent to pick up children from the kindergarten classrooms.

She opens the door with a too bright smile on her face and Dick wants to cringe, but he doesn’t.

“Wow! When I saw the name Richard Grayson, I never expected that it would be the Dick Grayson! It’s so nice to meet you!” she greets, and Steph does cringe then.

“Nice to meet you too, Ms. Hanssen,” he says, almost dismissively, his attention drawn to where Rona’s sitting too quietly at her desk. He kneels next to her and places a hand on her shoulder gently. “Hey, Ro.” Rona smiles as soon as she sees him, and she throws her arms around his neck, squeezing so tight he almost can’t breathe for a second. “Strong grip there, kiddo. Listen, I’ve gotta talk to your teacher for a minute before we go home, but this is my friend Steph. She’s gonna sit with you outside for a minute, if that’s okay?”

Rona follows his glance over his shoulder at Steph. Steph pulls a face. Rona giggles at her and agrees.

“Come on, short stuff, let’s get your stuff and hang out for a bit,” Steph says. Rona gathers her backpack and jacket and follows Steph out into the hall as Dick takes a seat with the teacher.

“You and your girlfriend are very sweet together, Mr. Grayson. It’s very kind of you two to take Rona in like this,” Hanssen starts off.

“Please, just call me Dick. And Steph’s just a family friend. She was just helping me pack away some of Rona’s mother’s things today.”

“Oh!” her face goes red very abruptly and Dick has to stop himself from laughing. If he had a dollar for every time someone assumed he and the friend he was with were dating, he’d be as rich as Bruce. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to assume anything.”

“Don’t worry about it. Happens all the time. Now, about Rona. I just wanted to be able to talk to you a bit about the whole situation. I don’t know if you were informed about anything, but I wanted to be sure that we could communicate, especially with everything going on.”

Ms. Hanssen pulls out a binder and flips through it to a page with Rona’s name at the top, grades and notes taken down in the rest of the blank space. “Well, the front office did tell me you filed paperwork to have yourself listed as her legal guardian, so I know that much. Are you aware of anything regarding Rona’s schooling?”

Dick shrugs. “No, nothing, really. I’m not a relative. I was her mother’s partner on the police force. But I have physical and legal custody of her, now.”

“Alright, well, Rona’s excelled with all of the work that’s been given to her so far, so if she struggles for a little bit because of this, I’m not going to be too concerned. She was very withdrawn today, very quiet, when she’s usually more of an active participant in lessons. That’s only to be expected really, at first. I’m not too worried yet. Rona is doing as well as she can right now. We can only wait and see what the future brings, and help her as she needs it, but it seems like you’re doing everything to give her the support necessary. If you leave your email and phone number with me, I’d be happy to keep you updated on her progress moving forward.”

“That’d be great. I really just wanted to make sure we were on the same page for the future. Thank you so much, Ms. Hanssen.”

“My pleasure, Mr. Grayson. Feel free to contact me any time.”

Dick leaves his contact information with her, and shakes her hand, gathers his jacket and leaves. It feels like releasing a held breath. Okay. He’s just done a real parenting thing. He really did it.

Go him.

When he gets out into the hallway, Steph is standing on her hands, and Rona is watching in rapt attention.

Goddammit.

“I leave you alone with my kid for two seconds,” he grumbles as he grabs Steph by the waist and flips her right side up. “You’re in a school! Other classes are still going on! What are you doing?”

Steph shrugs, and takes Rona’s hand, and instead of answering him, says, “We’re gonna go get ice cream. Come on, Dicko.”

He wants to protest as they make their way out of the building, but he sees the look on Rona’s face, and after the weekend they’ve had, and the fact that she survived her first day back at school, he can’t find it in himself to say no.

“If I’m buying you ice cream, Brown, you’re not getting that wine I promised you,” he counters, and when Steph is distracted making a noise of protest, Dick takes the opportunity to steal Rona away from her, swinging her up on his shoulders. He remembers doing this once when he’d had lunch with Amy and Rona, about a year ago. Rona squeals in delight now, just as she had back then.

Amy’s not there to cackle and take a picture, not there to warn Dick that he’s going to get ketchup in his hair from Rona’s sticky hands, not there to see her daughter having fun.

But Steph is there to smile and tease them, to take a picture to send to his family, to run ahead, whooping and cheering wildly about ice cream, to make an absolute fool out of herself to make Rona smile.

It’s not the same, but it’s still good.

#dickwally #dick grayson #steph brown #dc #dc comics #fic #mine #cowynt au

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