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saucy-sassy-sparkly · 1 year

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Moments: Eight

Pairing: Chris Evans x reader

Word Count: ~ 6.4k

Author's Note: the final full-length part 🥹 I have some drabbles to keep these babes going a little longer, so they'll be back! Thanks for the support on this story! I can't wait to share my next one! ❤️

Moments Masterlist

2014: Sudbury

1 day after Minka-gate broke, Y/N and Chris flew home from their vacation early, feeling very tense and exhausted. They’d returned to the hotel immediately and Y/N was back in sweatpants within 5 minutes of crossing the threshold. Chris sat on the edge of the bed in his suit, his tie undone and his top button loosened, holding Y/N on his lap while she cried; his tears leaked into her hair. This was not how tonight should’ve been. She’d stayed tucked on his lap and they’d fallen into an uncomfortable sleep for several hours before Chris gently moved her to change for bed and returned to bed to find her awake and ready to crawl back into his arms.

3 days after Minka-gate broke, Chris begrudgingly went back to Atlanta to finish his last 5 weeks of filming. Y/N had driven him to the airport and they’d kissed goodbye in the drop-off lane, but with nowhere near the passion they normally parted. The three days between the phone call on the rooftop and this moment were filled with tears and stressed phone calls to all the members of Chris’s team. They all assured him with full certainty that this would not be interesting for long, to lay low, and not engage.

8 days after Minka-gate broke, Chris and Y/N got into a huge fight during one of their nightly phone calls. All their calls had been tense of late but they’d both continued to try. The anxiety and frustration hung in the background of all their interactions came to a head after Chris continued to repeat, “I never meant for this to happen,” to which Y/N snapped and said, “I know you didn’t, but what are you going to fucking do about it!” before Chris returned with his own ire.

10 days after Minka-gate broke, Y/N took a day off of work to lean into her feelings, stay home and sob watching Titanic and take a long, luxurious, wine-soaked bath in the middle of the day on a Tuesday. Now it wasn’t just the tabloids but all the online gossip blogs and even a few credible media outlets had picked up the story, claiming to talk to “sources close to the couple” who knew that Minka and Chris had rekindled their romance months ago and were finally ready to settle down. Instead of passing, it was picking up intensity.

14 days after Minka-gate broke, Chris’s team was still advising him that the best course of action was to ignore the press until it goes away. Minka’s team was, according to Chris’s team, not responding. She’d even been seen leaving a grocery store with a ring on her finger. Chris had thrown and shattered his coffee mug when his assistant had to tell him and then immediately called Y/N to be sure he heard it from her. Around the same time, the media outlets had started to drag out old pictures of Y/N and Chris: grocery stores, sporting events, the dog park, fan sightings… anything for another chance to manipulate the story with new headlines: What about Chris Evans’s mystery Boston girlfriend? Does she know about his engagement to Minka? Is he planning to keep his side piece? Will he have an LA wife and a Boston piece of ass?

17 days after Minka-gate broke, Chris called his mother, who told him she didn’t understand the Hollywood ways, but she thought this was taking an awfully long time to die down. She gently, quietly wondered– in a way only a mother could– why he didn’t just make a statement to protect his real relationship. In another fit of frustration, Chris snipped at his mother, “I pay these people to take care of it, so they’re taking care of it.” Lisa sighed and responded, “but are they?”

19 days after Minka-gate broke, Y/N was sitting in her office, updating client charts, when her office phone rang.

“Hello, this is Y/N.”

“Hi, Y/N, we’ve never spoken, but I’m calling about your situation with Chris.” The voice on the other end was a clipped female and there was a long pause during which Y/N expected her to continue and perhaps introduce herself. When she didn’t, Y/N rolled her already tense shoulders and sighed.

“Who’s calling?”

“Oh right, this is Megan.” Y/N obviously knew who she was but as she was mostly connected to Chris via phone, email, or when he was in LA life; they’d never met or truly spoken other than a quick wave on a FaceTime call. Obviously in the last weeks since the photo dropped, Y/N had been in the background of calls or seen emails that Chris forwarded her about the latest updates and plans, but they’d never had a one-on-one conversation.

Her phone buzzed on her desk with Chris’s caller ID, which was odd as he was supposed to be on a super secret closed set all day- no phones allowed. She ignored the call.

“Hi Megan,” she said tentatively, “you said you were calling about our… situation?”

“Correct. I’m reaching out on Chris’s behalf to move forward on our next phase of sidestepping this issue.”

Y/N’s whole body stilled at these words and her phone started to ring again. She ignored it again and a text immediately came through.

Chris: Do not answer a call from Megan. Call me, please.

Megan continued, “I know I called your work phone so I won’t keep you long, I’ll get right to it. I’ve been talking with Chris and the next best course of action is to announce your engagement. I think an exclusive with People with a shot of the ring and perhaps a few candids of you should do it. So we’d like to do that within the next week; can you get down to Atlanta by Thursday?”

Her phone was ringing again. She hit ignore again. And yet, she didn’t know why she stayed on with Megan; she had a sick feeling in her stomach from the second Megan had announced herself, but she couldn’t get herself to hang up.

She finally spoke to stall for time to process, “help me understand, why is this the best plan?”

“If we can put your real engagement out there with a wedding date attached, we can pull focus and put this mess to bed. I already have Chris booked for several appearances and interviews after where he’ll be asked…” Y/N stopped listening and switched the call to speakerphone. She set the headset back in the cradle and put her head down on her desk, her mind immediately wandering to that snowy rooftop…

Y/N’s whole body was shaking with rage when she handed the phone to Chris. She couldn’t believe this was happening. She didn’t know what, exactly, was happening, but how she’d ended up here on this rooftop while a picture of her boyfriend on one knee in front of another woman was circling the internet. How had she gone from an independent, strong, capable woman living on her own in DC to being entangled in a relationship with one of Hollywood’s up-and-coming heartthrobs who everyone wanted a piece of? She knew this wasn’t real but she just couldn’t understand how the stars had possibly aligned to set up such a suspicious picture.

She looked up to watch him look at the picture and, in slow motion, she watched his face drained of color entirely, his head dropped into his hands and she saw his shoulders immediately start to shake.

He was crying. He was squeezing her phone in his hand so hard that his knuckles were white and his body was trembling with sobs.

After watching him for a moment, unsure what to do, she reached out tentatively and took the phone from him, setting the table in front of her, and then moved closer to him. She put her hand on his leg and used her index finger and thumb to tip his chin up to look at him.

All of the initial anger she’d felt when seeing the photo melted away immediately. Y/N had seen Chris’s actor cry– this wasn’t it. This was pure devastation. He was already snotty and his eyes were swollen. His lip trembled as he looked at her, trying to keep it together. He fought against the hand that held his chin, trying to dip back down to avoid her eyes.

Without a shadow of a doubt, Y/N knew that she’d jumped to conclusions. He’d been as blindsided as she was. She knew nothing was going on with Minka; she knew what they had and he’d been upfront from the second he knew Minka was in Atlanta. This was the press going rogue and trying to get some money however they could. She’d process her emotions later– she had a lot to think about– but right now, she could see in his face how terrified he was that Y/N might be doubting him… them.

“I love you,” she told him quietly, still holding his chin. “I love you, and I know this wasn’t your fault.”

He lunged at her, wrapping her in his arms and pulling her tightly against him. She felt his tears on her cheek as they were pressed so tightly together. “I’m so sorry, baby, I’m so sorry. I’ll make this go away, you don’t deserve this. I love you so much.”

They stayed tangled up on the patio for another 15 minutes before they both calmed down enough and realized they’d lost their appetites. Back at the lodge, Y/N tried to keep herself together. She knew from the few whispered words between tears that Chris was distraught. Their relationship had already had so many bumps, he was so worried that they couldn’t survive another one… that she’d go for good.

And he hadn’t acknowledged it, but he’d been planning to propose tonight. She saw the hints now that she looked back- the surprise trip, his jumpy nature, his extra focus on using the word ‘forever’ in all of their conversations, the beautiful restaurant, the sexy suit, and the insistence she be equally done up.

Instead, this night had been ruined by a misunderstanding with a bunch of money-hungry strangers looking to stir the pot. They didn’t care about the real people involved or what hurt they inflicted.

So, once she’d donned sweats and washed her face, she took a deep, shaky breath to calm her nerves and walked back out towards the bed.

He sat on the edge, staring at his hands. No, not his hands, but something in his hands…

She unwillingly gasped when she realized he held the open ring box with tears running down his face. Her gasp alerted him to her presence and he snapped it shut, swiping at his eyes and spinning to look at her.

Y/N’s resolve crumbled and she let out the sob she’d been holding. He held his arms out and she crawled across the bed and into his waiting embrace.

Quietly he asked, “did you know?”

She shook her head and leaned back in his grasp to look at him, “I had no idea.”

He laughed bitterly, “another part of this ruined: the element of surprise.”

“It’ll be a surprise whenever you do it,” Y/N smiled softly and Chris’s lips crashed into her, swallowing her startled noise.

When he pulled back, he said, “you still want to marry me?”

Y/N nodded, “I won’t accept a proposal until this whole mess is settled, but of course I do. I love you.” He kissed her fiercely with both of their tears mixing, muttering ‘I love yous’ against her lips every time they came up for air.

A soft knock on the door and then Stacey stuck her head in. Before she could speak she saw Y/N slumped on her desk and caught Megan saying “… and I’m also hoping you and I might be able to talk Chris into giving wedding photo rights to People Magazine…”

Stacey physically pulled Y/N to stand, caught a glimpse of her tear-stained face, and whispered, “Chris is on the phone in my office. Go. I’ll get rid of this,” she gestured to the phone where Megan was still rattling off her long-winded 18-month plan. Y/N nodded and accepted Stacey’s quick but tight hug before leaving the room.

She kept her head down as she moved through the hall and past the open lounge and slipped into Stacey’s office. Y/N saw the hold light flashing on the desk phone and took a steadying breath before rounding the desk and taking the call.

“Chris?”

“Oh Bunny, thank god,” she could hear his relief.

“What is happening Chris, why does Megan have the rest of our lives planned out?”

“It’s her job to manage my image,” she heard his sarcasm on the word image, “but this is not how I wanted any of this to go down. We need to be on the same page first. I tried to stop it but it’s just been–” he cut himself off and she knew that he was running his fingers through his hair. “She has been relentless. She pitched this plan to me yesterday, and I told her it was awful and that she needed a new one. She’s been pushing this idea for almost 24 hours and I didn’t realize she’d called you until I got a break. I came back to my phone and she’d blown it up telling me she was calling you to tell you ‘our plan’. It’s not my plan, Y/N, I didn’t back this idea.” Y/N could hear his frustration, his disappointment, and his confusion, but was feeling all of her own emotions.

“She wants to announce our engagement and then give our wedding photos to People,” anger was boiling in Y/N’s stomach even as her tears kept falling. “We aren’t even engaged, Chris! I don’t want People magazine at our wedding! What’s next? Let People Magazine have the first photos of our baby? Do they get the exclusive rights to be in the delivery room with me? What the fuck, Chris, you said you’d make this go away. And I’m all alone in our stupid house trying to wait this out by myself. All my close friends are in DC, and I have no one to talk to here, every day it seems to get worse and I wake up with more texts with screenshots from people… and I hate every second of this. I can’t do this anymore, Chris.” Y/N’s voice continued to rise with every sentence.

Chris was silent and then she heard movement- the rustle of fabric, a door opening, and closing, a zipper being pulled, “I’m coming home.”

“No, don’t do that. You can’t just come home from this project, you remind me of that frequently.”

“I’m coming home,” he repeated more sternly.

“Don’t bother, Chris. I’ll be fine. I don’t want you to come home just so we can discuss our 5-year plan with your team,” she spat the last word.

“I’m not coming home to discuss our plans or anything else with my team. I’m coming home to be with you.” She heard him pull the phone away to speak with someone. There was a back and forth and she couldn't hear all the words, but she heard Chris’s forceful tone to whomever he was speaking to. Then after a few more minutes of rustling, there was a car door shut and the dinging of a seatbelt reminder. “I’m headed to the airfield; should I schedule a car or can you pick me up around 6?”

Before Y/N could answer, there was more muffled conversation and then she heard Chris mutter, “fuck,” before coming back on the line, “can you pick me up?”

“What’s wrong now?”

“I’m still in costume. I have to change and then I’m going to the airfield… as much as I know you like me as Cap.”

Y/N couldn’t help herself when she snorted a quick laugh; that was her Chris, dropping a suggestive line amid a heated conversation. He’d be smirking if she could see him, trying to gauge if it broke some of the tension. “Are you sure you can come home?”

“There is nothing more important than getting this figured out. They’ll manage without me.”

“Chris,” guilt started to course through Y/N’s body as her frustration level lowered, knowing that once he’d decided to come home, he would be back with her soon, “this doesn't seem like a good idea.”

“I’ve been thinking about it for a few days anyway, and have an email already drafted to suggest how we can adjust my filming to not mess everyone else up. I won’t be able to stay longer, but I’m not coming back until this is behind us. But stop worrying about this, Y/N. You’re right, you’ve been dealing with this alone and that isn’t fair to you. I’m coming home and we’ll manage it together.”

“Don’t you dare propose to me. Don’t use this opportunity to try to re-do, it is not the right moment.”

He laughed lightly, “wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Six?”

“Six.”

“Dodge and I will be there.”

“I love you, we’ll get through this.”

“Hey Chris,” Y/N’s lower lip was wobbling; relief was already flooding her body knowing that Chris would be here soon to weather this storm with her.

“Yes, Bunny?”

“Thank you,” she twisted a piece of hair around her finger and bit her lip, waiting for him to respond.

He heaved a heavy sigh, “always, sweeth’art,” he croaked before a quick goodbye.

Stacey was waiting in Y/N’s office when she returned and looked up, “that woman has a lot of nerve.”

“Tell me about it,” Y/N started to gather her belongings, ready to leave for the day with no more patients and too many emotions.

“She would not shut up. She just kept running her mouth like I was your publicist or something, all the ways I could try to convince you that her idiotic plan was in Chris’s best interest and therefore in your best interest. When you two do get married, do not invite her. I will punch her in the face for all of this.”

Y/N laughed for the first time in what felt like ages, “you’ll have to get in line, Stac. Thanks for getting rid of her; I’ve never had to deal with her and this has all just been…” she trailed off while she reached for her phone and smiled to see a picture Chris had sent in costume with a message:

Chris:

Chris: Had to leave the Farmer Cap costume, but see you soon, beautiful

Her bag packed and jacket on, she realized Stacey was still watching her and then tentatively began to speak, “I’ve been afraid to pry, but are you– how are you doing?”

Y/N shrugged while she pulled on her jacket, “I’ve been better.”

“Did he really…” Stacey trailed off, biting her lip and staring at Y/N.

“God, no. I mean, he dated Minka years ago, but no. He’s not cheating, he’s not living a double life. The photographers will go to major lengths to get some clicks on an article.”

Stacey nodded but continued, “and you’re positive? No doubt he’s just acting?” Y/N stilled in her preparations to leave and turned to look at her colleague… her friend… more carefully. Stacey continued, “I’m just saying, it’s his profession to fake things, would you even know?”

“I don’t want to have this conversation again, Stace, and I love you, so I’m trying to avoid snapping at you,” she sighed and slung her bag over her shoulder, “but I know Chris, I trust Chris, and I love Chris. He isn’t acting.”

Stacey threw her hands up in front of her, “I’m sorry, I just felt like I had to ask.”

“And you did, but please don’t ever question him again. We’ve been through so much already, I need my friends to have my back.”

“Won’t happen again,” she stepped towards Y/N offering a tentative hug that Y/N quickly accepted.

Y/N sat in her warm car on the tarmac waiting for Chris’s plane to land. Music played quietly but she wasn’t listening. She’d left her phone in the back seat so she wouldn’t be tempted to scroll while she waited; instead, she was aimlessly petting Dodger with one hand and playing with the edge of her scarf with the other.

She saw the lights of the plane and watched it take its time landing and taxiing towards the hangers on either side of her waiting SUV. Her car was the only one on the tarmac, although there were a few parked in the lot at the entrance, which made sense: Chris was likely the only passenger. For once, she’d been quite grateful for his privilege and situation to be able to get on a flight and come straight to her.

The door to the plane popped open with the stairs dropping down and displaying Chris’s silhouette as he reached the top of the stairs. He had a duffle bag in his hand and his backpack slung on one shoulder while he descended; Y/N felt her anxiety melt away seeing him. As he got closer, she pushed the door open and started towards him over the snowy pavement. Chris dropped his bags when they met and lifted her into his arms, his face tucked into the crook of her neck and burrowing through the fluffy scarf to kiss her neck, her jaw, her cheek, and her lips while pulling her legs around his waist. He took three huge strides and she felt her ass meet the hood of her car.

Chris set her on it carefully and continued to kiss her, to rub his hands on her, while she clung to him– it was freezing in the March air but she didn’t care, all she wanted was to be close to him. She didn’t realize she was crying until he swiped at her tears. A loud bark forced them apart when they noticed Dodge jumping around beside them and then untangled long enough for him to lean down and properly greet Dodger, then retrieve his bags. The drive home was quick and quiet while they listened to music and held hands on the center console. They ate dinner on the living room sofa with Y/N’s legs draped over Chris’s lap and Chris indulging in pizza, mozzarella sticks, and beer– definitely not part of his Cap diet– and didn’t bother to turn on the tv. Being back in each other’s company, Chris telling set stories, Y/N telling stories about her adventures with Dodger.

The doorbell rang and surprised both of them while Chris untangled himself and pulled the door open with a surprised, “Ma!”

“Chris?” Lisa sounded equally surprised as she crossed the threshold. “I thought you couldn’t leave set in this super secret last stretch of filming? What are you doing here? Where is Y/N?”

Y/N round the corner and greeted Lisa with a warm hug, accepting the tote bag she offered (full of homemade cookies) before gesturing Lisa into the house and pouring her a glass of wine. “I came home to be with Y/N. She’s been here all alone.”

“I’m well aware, Christopher, I’m glad you came to your senses too.”

Y/N shoved a whole cookie in her mouth instead of laughing loudly at Lisa’s directness with her oldest son. Chris shot Y/N a look and rubbed his hand on the back of his neck, “I know, I know, it took me long enough.” Taking pity on him, Y/N rounded the kitchen island and put an arm around his waist, accepting the kiss he planted in her hair.

“I heard about Megan’s plan,” Lisa took a sip of wine and her eyes bounced between the two of them.

“It’s idiotic, I know, we’re not doing it,” Chris answered immediately, his grip on Y/N’s waist tightening when she leaned into him.

“Thank God. Are you firing her too?”

Chris glanced at Y/N and then shrugged, “We have to manage this first, then we’ll talk,” he looked back at Y/N.

“We?”

“You’re my team. Everyone else is just people who work for me.” If she wasn’t already in love with him, that line would’ve brought her to her knees. Y/N was immediately overwhelmed by emotions (again) and tried not to cry. She tucked her head into Chris’s shoulder and wrapped her other arm around him, “I’m sorry I didn’t acknowledge that sooner.”

She nodded against him, not taking a chance to pull away and look at him, and Lisa broke the silence that followed, “so what are you going to do?”

“I have no idea. If I post something on Twitter, especially at this point, it’ll seem fake. If we coordinate with a press outlet, it’ll be forced and that puts Y/N too far in the spotlight.”

Lisa was quiet for a few minutes and then she looked between the two of them, “I might have an idea. How long are you home?”

—

Two nights later, Chris’s hand fell to the small of Y/N’s back as he guided her through the door of the Concord Youth Theater. The House was open and it was mere minutes before curtain: all exactly as planned. They stepped through the nearly empty lobby and were greeted by ushers who started to ask about their seat numbers but quickly panicked when they processed Chris’s presence.

After a quick autograph on a spare Playbill, Chris and Y/N continued down the aisle towards the front where Lisa was, as planned, craning her neck to spot them. She stood up when she spotted them coming towards her and waved them into her row, offering huge (genuine) hugs as they took their seats. The production– Once Upon a Mattress, performed by the Young Adult Company– was heartwarming and well done, and when it was over, Chris was swarmed by all the teenage fans and siblings who had come to see people they knew in the show. Chris’s photo was taken, he signed autographs, and he talked to fans, all while he kept some kind of physical contact with Y/N, introducing her whenever it felt natural. Y/N, with her natural ability to connect with teenagers thanks to years of counseling them, jumped into conversations easily.

They even went backstage with Lisa to greet the cast and take more photos– many of that were quickly uploaded to various social media accounts. Afterward, Lisa took them to dinner at a local restaurant, which was packed on a Thursday evening, where Chris greeted more people and made sure to have Y/N beside him at all times.

By the time they were back at home, Chris was scrolling Twitter in the backyard while Dodger romped around and a slow smile broke on his face. He’d done something he didn’t normally do: he’d typed his name into the search bar. And there he was tonight: candid with fans in the theater holding Y/N’s hand, posed with a whole group, including Y/N, at the restaurant, blurry and distorted but definitely identifiable from someone’s creepy picture across the street as they left the restaurant.

When he came back in with Dodger, Y/N held out her phone for Chris to see a screenshot Lisa had sent: her Facebook page with a photo of them from tonight where Lisa had been tagged that included Lisa, Y/N, and Chris talking candidly behind the scenes. It had been posted by a parent of one of the performers, extolling the surprise visit from the sweet and engaging Chris Evans and his girlfriend, Y/N. Lisa had sent a picture of the comments; six different people– both performers and family members they’d talked with tonight– commenting on the couple and how exciting it was to meet them.

He leaned in to kiss her, and when he pulled back he asked, “are you up for a few more outings before I fly back?”

In the final 48 hours of Chris’s stay– one that he’d extended from two days to four after talking with the directors– they made sure to be seen around town as much as possible. They went to his niece’s basketball game, they stopped for Dunkin’ and groceries and ice cream, they went to the dog park with Dodger and Y/N went along with Lisa for her afternoon constitutional around her neighborhood. They’d been caught and posted– truly candidly, although by their design and not Megan’s– at least ten different times before it was time for Chris to head back to Atlanta.

With each post, comments continued to flow in from neighbors, from fans, on their interactions with Chris. And the more things were reposted and dragged into the fan accounts and boards, the more comments shifted to commentary on their relationship. Not all of it was positive and supportive, but much of it was and before his return flight had landed, Chris noted that the buzz about Minka was all but disappeared. The gossip blogs weren’t getting much traction on it at this point, but the next thing they’d expected happened: the media started to reach out to Chris and his people looking for Y/N’s name and comments from her or Chris.

Megan. Was. Furious.

To her credit, her plan had been one that she would mostly be able to control and Chris and Y/N’s rogue version was anything but controllable. But Chris didn’t care. He’d found a way to make Y/N more comfortable, to make it clear how he felt (he’d always been comfortable with PDA, and he made sure to lay it on even thicker), and to get traction moving forward from this awful misunderstanding.

In addition to his nightly call with Y/N, he now had a nightly call with someone trying to stay one step ahead. If it was Megan, it usually started with him being scolded for not listening to her… often a variation of ‘this is why you pay me, Chris’ and then she’d try to push a new narrative. Then he’d hang up with her and call Y/N to pass along any valuable information and hear her daily updates. They spent the final few weeks of his Avengers filming this way until it was finally time for him to pack up from Atlanta and return home.

April 1st arrived and with it, Y/N’s excitement: Chris would be back home tomorrow and it was her birthday. His plane got in around dinner time, so she would pick him up and go to Lisa’s, who had volunteered to host a joint birthday/welcome home dinner before they finally had some time alone. She tucked into bed with Dodger curled next to her and fell asleep quickly, only to be jolted awake hours later by Dodger pawing at the bedroom door.

“Dodge,” Y/N whispered in the dark, patting the edge of the bed, “c’mon, bud.”

Instead of a whine, as he’d normally do if he needed to go out, a low growl emitted from the normally friendly dog. It made Y/N’s hair stand on end. She groped for her phone, realizing she’d left it charging on the kitchen counter instead of on her bedside like normal. She’d left it there while she cleaned up from cooking dinner and chatted with Chris on FaceTime, and by the time she’d taken Dodger out, locked up, gotten ready for bed, and snuggled down in the covers, she realized where it was and decided she was too tired to go get it.

Dodger growled again and pawed frantically at the door. “What is it, dude?”

In response, he barked loudly and increased his scratching. She groped her way in the darkness to the small desk in the corner of the room, stopping to pull a sweatshirt on, and found the cordless phone that she was now so grateful Chris had insisted on keeping– “you should always have a landline!” he’d told her a million times when she moved in and laughed at it. Her fingers fumbled on the buttons while she tried to remember Chris’s cell phone number as Dodger barked again.

She finally dialed– hopefully correctly– and moved across the room to lock the door. “Hello? Y/N?” Chris’s croak came through the line and she looked at the clock on the bedside table: 2:37 am.

“Baby, Dodger is freaking out,” as if on cue, Dodger barked again and continued to scratch the door. She knew that there would be gouges in the wood tomorrow morning. “What do I do?”

“Is the security system on?” His voice was more alert and she heard him shuffling on the other end.

“Yeah, of course.”

“Can you hear anything? Does it sound like someone got inside?”

Y/N’s heart was thundering in her chest and Dodger was getting more and more frantic, “I don’t think so. Chris, what do I do?”

“I’m going to call the security company and see if the alarm was triggered, I’ll call you back.”

“NO! No, don’t hang up!” She yelped, sinking to the floor in the dark corner, trying to urge Dodger to come to her. “My phone is in the kitchen, and I’m scared.”

Chris sighed, “I don’t have another way to call and check, Bunny. I promise I’ll call you right back.”

“What if someone did get inside, Chris? If you call the house phone it’ll ring and they’ll know!”

“Y/N, I promise you are safe in our house. Let me just call the security company to be sure. Just stay where you are. If you don’t want me to call back, give me 5 minutes and then call me.”

“Okay,” she whispered; her whole body was shaking.

“I love you, babe, it’s going to be fine.”

“I love you too,” she muttered as she hung up and held the phone to her chest. “Dodger,” she moved towards the dog and grabbed his collar gently, deciding to take him into the bathroom with her while she waited to call Chris back. He threw his head away from her, jerking wildly and barking. Y/N started to cry while she tried to pull Dodger away from the door, begging him to come with her.

The phone in her hand rang loudly, startling her, and she yelped despite herself before scurrying across the room to answer in a whisper, “Chris?”

“The call is coming from inside the house,” came his reply in his creepiest voice.

Y/N froze.

Banging came from the other side of their bedroom door before he yelled his best “hereeeeee’s Johnny!” impression.

“FUCK. CHRISTOPHER!” She swiped at the tears on her face and moved to unlock the door, letting Dodger tumble out and greet Chris.

Chris collapsed to the ground while Dodger greeted him; he was laughing his boisterous, contagious laugh and Y/N wanted to be mad at him. The adrenaline coursing through him was going to take forever to settle down, “you’re an asshole.”

Between laughs and kisses from Dodger, he said, “I thought I could get in without you guys noticing. This guy isn’t typically so protective.”

“Yeah, well, he likes me better than you so he wants to keep me safe.”

“Seems that’s correct,” Chris gave Dodger one last rub before getting to his feet and reaching for Y/N, “I’m sorry I scared you.”

“Why didn’t you tell me it was you when I called?”

He shrugged, “sometimes I can’t resist the urge to be a 12-year-old. But I’m happy to see you.”

She sighed and uncrossed her arms, deciding not to be mad at him and accepting the hug he wrapped her in. “I’m happy you’re home, you absolute jackass.”

“Take me to your bed, gorgeous girl,” he pressed kisses to her cheeks and neck while he walked her back towards the bed.

“If you think I’m even spooning with you after that mean trick, you’ve got another thing coming, sir.” Y/N laughed up at him, kissing him once solidly before crawling back into the bed and watching him strip off his clothes. Once he’d dumped his clothes in the hamper and brushed his teeth, he stumbled into the bed beside her and pulled her to his chest.

“Please spoon me, I missed you too much not to have you touching me tonight.” She started to wiggle away but stilled when his bulging biceps were caging her in and his hard pecs were pressed against the thin fabric of her shirt. She sighed into his grasp, enjoying the smell of him wrapping around her.

“Only because your Cap muscles are so good I can’t resist them,” Y/N turned in his arms and snaked an arm around his waist while she looked up to kiss him.

“Happy birthday, Bun,” he whispered against her lips before he pressed another long kiss onto her lips and pulled his arm away from her, reaching her hand and interlacing their fingers. She leaned into his kiss, luxuriating in each feeling– each comfort of having him home– when she felt him press his palm into hers, and something cut into the palm of her hand.

Y/N pulled back and started to pull her hand away from his, only to have him wrap his huge palm around the item and pull away from the kiss. He pushed himself up onto his elbow and looked down at her carefully, not breaking eye contact.

“I love you, Y/N, and I want to spend my whole life with you. I never want another minute where the world doesn’t know we’re together.” He kissed her tenderly, his fingers once again playing with her hand, but this time, rather than their fingers intertwining, he held just her left ring finger and slid a cool metal circle down it until he reached the base. The movement was loving and sensual as he traced his fingers back up her hand, then her forearm, then the back of her arms, and around to cup her neck, deepening the kiss, pushing his tongue into her mouth and swallowing both of their moans. He finally pulled back and looked at Y/N again, “marry me?” he whispered against her lips, his eyes dancing between hers while he waited for a response.

She nodded frantically, pulling him to her for another long, deep kiss, when they finally pulled apart, her eyes were glazed with tears but she was grinning, “yes.”

Taglist: @bellaireland1981 @before-we-get-started @whiskeytangofoxtrot555 @elrw24 @maylaysia109 @royalwritersoftheuniverses @behindmygreyeyes

#chrisevans #chris evans x you #chris evans x reader #chris evans fic #chris evans #chris evans fanfiction #chris+evans+fanfiction #chris evans fanfic #chris evans series

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vera-vera-vera-lynn · 19 days

Text

𖤓 INTRODUCTION

Hello, and welcome to my blog! The name I use online is Esther, although I also go by Leigh or Vera. My main tag is Leigh's shenanigans ⟡.

I actually used to run a shifting account (my-reality-my-rules), but I'm not active on it anymore. This is an entirely new account—dedicated solely to writing (art as well, if ever). I haven't gotten around to updating my main over a year now due to a lot of personal reasons, but I felt confident enough to start again on Tumblr. So, here I am.

This blog is for the stuff I've written, original and otherwise. It's actually directly related to my old main, if anything, because some of the content I use in my fics were things I've mentioned in the past on that account. Feel free to browse through it if you so wish, although it's unlikely that I'll revisit it (and the sideblogs) at this point.

I intend to use this blog as a means to track my fics, and at the same time share them with people. Here's the masterlist. It's still quite short at the moment, what with most of what I've written being longfics and poetry, but that's another reason why I set up this new account. I was hoping to make more use of my ability to write, and pen things that aren't just the ones I've already made.

𖤓 LINKS

You can find me on AO3 and on FF.Net.

And if you enjoy what I create, consider dropping by at Ko-Fi!

𖤓 WHAT I WRITE

⸺

๋࣭⭑ FANFICTION || ORIGINAL STORIES

Before anything else, and certainly before anyone ever calls me out for it again; I love writing in purple prose. That's not to say that I try to make everything I do about it—but I'm hung up about classic literature enough that I wanted to emulate the style of older authors as I write. That's just a heads-up for anyone who comes across my stuff, because God knows I've received many complaints about it. I don't mind the criticism, although the constant negativity got annoying for a bit.

Most of what I have are (admittedly) indulgent self-inserts. On that note, I mix my other passions (such as philosophy, which I'm majoring in) in with the fic(s) when need be. So long as I think themes can intersect, and it makes sense to me, I'll mishmash them together.

Also, I'm a huge fan of DD:DNE. No, I don't support those things in real life (duh)—but I absolutely love seeing it in fictional works. With that, I've taken to drafting my own pieces for it.

⸺

๋࣭⭑ POETRY

This is where it all began! Shoutout to my tenth grade English and Literature teachers for truly pushing me to pursue this. I don't think I'd've started writing fanfiction or other original works if it wasn't for them encouraging me to start doing poetry.

I just go where my mind takes me, in this case. Sometimes, I write poetry for fandoms; and sometimes, I write about my own life. As it goes, though; I'm more active in writing prose than poetry, although my poems are still up online as well.

⸺

๋࣭⭑ JOURNALLING

When I simply don't have the motivation or the right ideas to draft up anything creative, I just jot down my thoughts. I have several journals here at home, although not all of what I've written made it in my fics or poetry (or otherwise). I plan to post a silly little compilation of them, though. Someday.

𖤓 REQUESTS

Feel free to drop an ask, a submission, or a DM.

⸺

๋࣭⭑ GUIDELINES

GENERAL INFORMATION: I'm willing to write fluff, smut, angst, and DD:DNE. I'm mostly versed in the latter two (lol childhood trauma for the win), but I think I can at least whip up a decent one-shot or so for the former two categories.

ON REQUESTS: I'm down to write anything, so long as I know I can do it. No limits for me. You can drop in the vilest little details in an ask, and I won't even blink. That being said, at least specify if it's going to be NSFW so I can tag it properly. If you're still unsure on whether or not I'll be willing or confident to write what you want, send me a DM, and we can hash it out ((:

⸺

๋࣭⭑ FANDOMS

As of 2024, the most popular ones I'm indulging in include: Ace Attorney, Death Note, Harry Potter, Naruto, and Resident Evil (note: I've only gotten into RE fairly recently, so I might not take requests for this one as much as the others).

I like classic literature too, though I'm only writing for one old fandom at the moment. My main fixations include: José Rizal's Noli Me Tángere and El Filibusterismo, Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita, and Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote.

Although not often, I also enjoy consuming and doing a bit of RPF (which circles Historical Fiction, but I'm not too versed in it); and I mostly use this one to feed my delulu fantasies of Tom Hughes, Cillian Murphy, and Christian Bale. I've taken to classic rock bands too—mostly Metallica, Megadeth, and Guns N' Roses, though.

⸺

๋࣭⭑ TECHNICALITIES

POV: Second Person (especially for poetic flair) or Third Person (especially for canon characters). Unfortunately, I'm not as comfortable writing in the First Person perspective (unless it's something to do with poetry and/or journalling, or if it's truly necessary for the storytelling itself).

POSTING SCHEDULE: It usually takes me at least one week to finish 5k words. Depending on the number of requests I get, the queue might get slogged-up. Regardless, I hope to at least meet a quota of 5-10 per month. The worst case is if I take several months to finish—which is improbable, but not impossible.

OTHER NOTES: Just because you sent in a request, it doesn't necessarily mean that I'll be able to get to working on it in time—or that I'll immediately take to the effort of doing it. Putting in an ask/submission doesn't immediately mean I'll do it. That being said; I'll still do my best to work on anything dropped into my inbox ((:

#Leigh's shenanigans ⟡#blog intro #intro post #fanfiction blog #fanfiction #fanfic writing #fanfiction writer #poetry blog #poetry #writing #creative writing #writing blog #ao3 fanfic #ao3 writer #prose writing #poets on tumblr #writers and poets #prose and poetry

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gear-project · 1 year

Note

Personal question: Are you still an active member on the Dustloop forums? And if so, is it still, well, cancerous about GG-related topics?

I haven't actually visited their forums in quite some time, if that's what you mean.

Part of it has to do with the idea that the Forums themselves have grown somewhat outdated.

Nowadays it's just more convenient to use Discord Chatrooms and my Blog to convey anything.

I'm sure some people still use it for various things, like listing frame data or meta discussion, but you're probably not going to find much in the way of casual conversation (or GG Lore discussion) there as much as was the case back in the day.

As for any "toxic behavior", it's the moderators' jobs to keep that sort of thing in check, but they aren't perfect, so there will be lapses in judgement now and again.

Ironically, I was a "magnet" for toxic behavior back in the day, so people got "banned" for acting obnoxiously with me more often than not.

It's not like I'm flame bait or troll bait or what have you… it's just that a lot of the discussions we had often set people off, and a lot of people who did get banned were immature in how they were acting towards controversial topics. I was hot-blooded myself!

Some folks one time EVEN SUGGESTED I become a Dustloop Moderator, but after talking with Shtkn over the prospect, I decided it's better for people who know how to handle the technology to do the job. Forum Scripting goes over my head most days.

I still visit once in a while if there's something I need to check once in a blue moon, but that's hardly ever the case anymore.

And besides, talking GG Lore like this is WAY more comfortable than some stuffy forum that you never know people will read or reply to, or some grumpy moderator will chew you out for one thing or another!

Still, as a reference, I've been to a lot of Forums over the years:

Combo Gods (back when Guilty Gear and Mortal Kombat were discussed in the same breath)

Game Combos (the original GG forum, hung around the "Water Cooler" forum threads a lot)

GameFAQs (still a longtime ACTIVE member there!)

Holy Zen Forums (I miss that place)

Roman Cancel Forums (short lived, but had good content)

And of course, Dustloop Forums (their Wiki is very useful and has more info than even I remember existed!)

#Dustloop Forums #Don't make me talk about myself!

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heretic-altias · 8 months

Text

I'm about to start writing for ffxivwrite but since I am bad at posting about my OCs they might hit some people out of left field. The characters page on my blog has more in depth backstory details (even if it's a little outdated, Altais's pictures still have her old glam and hair and I'm sure there's new stuff I haven't added) but for a quick and easy reference I'm going to put a short bullet point style write up on my main three OCs here and link it before every fic I post this month. Under the cut so it stays nice and short looking lol.

An important distinction to be aware of right away is not all these characters exist in the same universe!!! Altais and Akku are written in Solarverse, a group WoL universe with my friends and so you'll see references to more than one WoL. Any character you don't recognize mentioned in their stories that isn't canon is more than likely another friend's WoL. A'kito is written in his own solo universe though, anything written about him has him as the only WoL. There are a couple side character OCs of mine I've introduced in his universe, so characters you don't recognize written in his stories are probably those. Ok now the basic really fast character bullet points:

Altais Narluu

GNB and MCH are canon classes with a little bit of SMN (researched and incorporated into her weapon designs)

Genius weapons engineer, current research focuses on combining magitek with magic in a way Garleans can't since she can use magic. Summoning magic is of particular interest.

Accidentally corrupted by a new primal thanks to said summoning research, it's a new incarnation of Bahamut but with her own Issues mixed into the summoning so he doesn't look quite the same as the original.

Grew up with terrible no good mother who left her to care for herself very young, not very trusting and quick to fight when threatened.

Essentially had a found family type arc with Solar and they're the people she really trusts now

Akku Ephos

Just a little guy really. Super friendly, quick to trust, and tries really hard to befriend everyone.

Started out as a NIN under Zelda's (the leader of Solar) training, but was never a very good fighter. Found his purpose as a healer WHM later on.

His echo also comes with the ability to see dynamis on people. So he can literally see emotions as an aura around everyone.

Tries to be Everyone's Therapist bc of this, while hiding his own feelings bc he doesn't want to upset them and see their sadness when he's struggling.

Grew up in Gridania with his brother, an incident when his brother was drunk ended up with him fleeing home and ending up in Limsa where the rogues took care of him until he met Solar

A'kito Noro

Grew up in Bozja, adopted by a Hrothgar father as a baby. Has an adoptive Viera brother named Kotah.

Goes by Kito usually even though A'kito is his full name since he never knew the tribe the prefix came from.

DRK was his class until the end of EW using a sword/soulstone inherited from his father. At the end of EW he hung up his father's sword and now uses a RPR/DRG combo essentially.

Accidentally bound his soul to Twintania freeing her from allagan control after the binding coils. Think Inheritance Cycle dragon rider type bond between them.

Loves botany. Studied it until the Bozja Incident sent him into a DRK depression spiral. Talk to him about plants pls he will love you.

His brother was evil for awhile but got better in ShB

Ok yeah this is longer than I intended but shouldn't be long if you're just referencing the character you're reading about. Feel free to ask me anything about any of them though! I haven't really done OC tags in the past, but I'll start tagging their names from now on so you can quickly find fics about each one as xivwrite goes on if you want to.

#ffxiv #final fantasy xiv #altais narluu #akku ephos #a'kito noro

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sunflower-butch · 1 year

Note

Hi Пчёлка!

It's literally fine, I have an ask in my inbox from November that I haven't touched since last year (so weird it's 2023 now. I hope you have an amazing new year that is uneventful and you're loved ones stay in good health <- coined phrase over the last couple day lol)

AS FOR THE LITTLE BIT OF SNOW I TALKED ABOUT it kept on coming then there was like a foot and a half, which wouldn't be too bad except it stayed like -23 for like a week and a half (arctic outflows my beloathed) and never melted the entire time.

tbh the weather's not bad anymore, it's still pretty cold but all the snow is gone and it was sunny today!!! I made pancakes an moved my plants to the big window so they could get sun to celebrate.

once again risking it all for some whipped cream.

tuque is such a fun word to say! it also has a bunch of different spellings.

The new job is going pretty good! I've discovered that kid's under the age of 7 think my fake and very bad for that matter Russian accent is hysterical, which I think is hysterical.

December was actually pretty good! An stubbornly optimistic is definitely the vibe for this year. I don't really have any new years resolutions except for maybe treating myself as kindly as I hope this year teats me. How about you?

Alas, Priory is still sitting rejected on my bookshelf. I got a really cool copy of The Hobbit at my favourite book store so now i'm doing a re-read 😂 While I was there I met the new bookstore cat and not to be dramatic but I'd die and kill for her.

I hope you're staying warm! I am so glad that weather passed and I hope it leaves you alone soon!

Gender fuckery my beloved <3

Literally so glad we don't live in a world where J*ke G*llenhall is Frodo. I do love Nicolas Cage but Viggo Mortensen is literally the perfect Aragorn.

alhdgskhf my family makes the best garlic powder and it goes on everything.

SPEAKING of Ronanceifying a song, I am about to send you the most rambly au idea.

I would literally kill for Paramore tickets. The News has been stuck in my head since it came out. It's totally storm cloud grey and reminds be of.. storms. Devil Is A Woman is totally dark magenta and you know that feeling when you're walking around and feel kinda like a villain in a movie, but in a good way? yeah that. (having thoughts of starting a side blog where people can send in music and I can do the colour/vibes thing. thought?)

oh it was 3 am for you too?

Quite possibly the last time I sign off like this, not because i'm going anywhere but because I think i'll ✨reveal my identity✨ tomorrow

-el

Hello hello! <33

I have some asks as old as September in reference to an ask game I’m not sure I could find again if I tried LMAO. The same to you! I hope the year treats you and your family with kindness and is chill!

WOW, that’s a lot! I hope it was at least fun to play in or something! Glad it all melted and it’s sunny now! Those pancakes look INCREDIBLE, and I bet that’s some damn good maple syrup ;)

Fake and very bad Russian accents are indeed hysterical! I love kids, honestly, they’re so fun. I worked a summer “camp” for a two week period and my best friend was a 5 year old who drew me a picture because I hung out with her when she was sad. What sort of job are you working, if you don’t mind me asking? :O are you teaching?

That’s a pretty damn good one! We all deserve to be treated with kindness, especially by ourselves!! Besides that, I just want to keep working on my silly novel(s), see my friends more, that kind of thing!!

Poor Priory, rejected by the both of us LMAO. Yay for The Hobbit! That was one of my favorite books for years, honestly you may be inspiring a reread for me now lol. Bookstores are my favorite ever, but they’re even better with animals! My irl bestie took me to one locally that I didn’t know existed and they had a dog and he was so cute.

Definitely staying warm! It’s actually warm enough yo be mildly concerned about it (insert TikTok audio “the weather outside is warm, the planet is dying). I wouldn’t mind it being slightly colder because I am gay and I must wear LAYERS. I hope you’re staying warm as well!

J*ke G*llenhall Frodo is literally the darkest timeline. Gotta say, Nick Cage as Aragorn does sound interesting tho. But for some reason this man is solidified in my brain as National Treasure Man. I’ve seen National Treasure once???

I saw you sent it! Gonna check that out right after this 🫡

I was about ready to kill for tickets! They randomly added a second OK location after the first one sold out, so I LUCKED OUT. They’re definitely nose bleed seats, but IDC, I GET TO SEE PARAMORE AND IM GOING INSANE. I’m normal about them. Truly. I think the side blog idea is AMAZING, that would be so cool! I have a silly music side blog too, but mine is much less interesting than that lmao. If you do it, let me know because I will absolutely follow it 👀

When I responded to that other one, yeah! Time zones are funky

AYO? I’m excited! I think I have a theory, but I will wait to see if I’m right hehe

Eagerly awaiting your next not anon message,

- Max/Lo <33

#elmax anon

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connectpiner · 2 years

Text

New gawker

New gawker driver#

New gawker professional#

I had to get screamed at by a Broadway producer as his right-hand for another year. I had to get screamed at by a literary agent for two years as an assistant. I had to get fired from a job bussing tables at Schiller’s (I heard bloggers hung out there, so). I was wildly intimidated by the city, and paralyzed with fear that I’d totally fucked up a comfortable collegiate life and alienated my family and a few close friends for no good reason. Of course, it took me another three years and change once I moved before I wrote for the site. On the other, how could it not end like this? The instruction I got before taking over for the weekend: "You’ve got the keys, bring 'er back full" On the one hand, there’s no possible way any of us could’ve imagined this fate. Gawker lost the farm doing the very thing it was designed to do: Show the powerful for what they are, which in this case, is petty, vindictive, and another angry gossip subject who didn’t like what was printed about them, mostly because it was true. To say it’s depressing would be a vast and pathetic understatement, and that goes without mentioning the people who work on the site right now, who are going to be either given new jobs, or forced to find them.

New gawker professional#

, soon to be under the ownership of Univision, will be shut down, after being sold in a bankruptcy auction along with the rest of the Gawker Media portfolio, as a result of a professional wrestler and reality star winning a kangaroo court trial, backed by a billionaire with a grudge to push. It was also the sound of a voice telling me to get my ass to New York, and to get to work.Īnd now, that’s all over. Because behind that voice, it was pretty evident, were a bunch of people just making this shit up as they went along. Which, really, was just perfect and hilarious to me. Those people, who were so regularly infuriated by Gawker, also clearly couldn’t stop reading and listening to that voice. The sound was crystal clear - that of mischief, a love of writing, a love of city life, a misfit community upending and infuriating the entire media business, celebrity culture, upper-crust culture, "cool" culture, and anything else in New York that took itself too seriously. It was insular, self-referential, and too smart for its own good. Gawker was funny, abrasive, and filled with voice. Gawker lost the farm doing the very thing it was designed to do And while I wouldn’t go as far to say I dropped out of college because of Gawker, it certainly helped me realize I was wasting time being there. I was running the arts coverage for a college newspaper at my state school and not having fun, and that looked, above all, like fun. It also made me feel like I was missing out on something important. These people all seemed to know each other, and share the same understanding of the city’s unspoken young professionals’ mores, and all somehow had a line that was better, smarter, and more on-the-nose than the one that came before it.Īnd this "blogging" thing they were all doing was wildly unhinged, experimental, impractical, and, according to any of mainstream publishing and journalism’s practitioners of the moment, kind of sacrilegious. It was surprisingly edgy, surprisingly highbrow, and unsurprisingly disdainful of the middlebrow. In other words, it was coded specifically to the young and smartassed of New York City, and the way they lived in it. But up until that point, it was a conversation made in concert with a distinct subset of people (other "bloggers," and a network of tipsters) with high-caliber wit and personalities either too dysfunctional or too bored or generally lacking in the kind of pedigree required to fit in working in finance or, to only a slightly lesser extent, that era’s Conde Nast. The site, which at that point had been around for almost three and a half years, didn’t introduce comments until September 23, 2005. The Gawker of that era felt like independent FM ’90s radio - a conversation through a two-way signal, and at that time it ostensibly wasn’t, at least, not literally.

New gawker driver#

And they had some mysterious boss casually referenced as a bigheaded British imperialist slave driver overlord. Editorial operations were overseen by this other blogger guy, Lockhart Steele. This Andrew Krucoff guy ran some mysteriously combative, cabal-blog called Young Manhattanite he was Gawker’s "mascot," and the first true career casualty of (who was also, hilariously, the guy they called when everyone else was too hungover to report to work). In 2005, the site was helmed by Jessica Coen and Jesse Oxfeld. Little confession: I dropped out of college and moved to New York because I wanted to write for.

#New gawker

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nev3rfound · 3 years

Text

option two : b.b

after nightmares continue to haunt his nights, bucky knows there’s one person left who could potentially provide some form of comfort, but is she still willing to see him after all this time? (1.5k)

masterlist / permanent taglist / etsy shop - requests open!

5k giveaway celebration

warnings: angsty, sad bucky, minor spoilers for ep1 of tfatws requested: nope, just something i’ve been thinking about since ep1 of tfatws

It felt real, as if he were back there holding the gun with no remorse.

Cold sweat covers Bucky’s body as he pants heavily, feeling the cool tags against his exposed chest rising and falling with his deep breaths that refuse to calm down.

He knew it wasn’t real, it was all in his head. But he knew it happened, even if it was many years ago, he still held the gun in his hand and pulled the trigger.

“It’s not real.” Bucky mutters to himself, glancing up to see the TV silently blaring a football game that he has no interest in, but it proves as a worthy distraction for the time being. “It’s not real.”

Remaining seated on the wooden floorboards with a blanket draped over his lap, Bucky glances over to his phone knowing there are two possible options ahead of him.

A sigh ghosts his lips as he stares at the contact list consisting of five names, only one having been used in the last week, well, month.

“James, you’ve got less than ten contacts in this phone and I’m the only person you’ve called all week.” Doctor Raynor sighs once more as she reaches for her notebook, not caring about the look of disdain crossing Bucky’s expression.

“It’s not like I’ve got anyone else to call.” Bucky shrugs it off, hearing her pen pause on the paper.

“Well, you’ve been avoiding messages from Sam for a start,”

“He doesn’t count.” Bucky remarks, hearing another quieter sigh leave her lips.

“Okay, then when was the last time you spoke to her, huh?” She counters, noticing his tense form relax at the mention of you. “Come on, James. If you want to help yourself, you have to keep in touch with those who still care about you.”

“I don’t even know if she does anymore, Doc.” Bucky admits, trying to hold back the sadness in his tone as Raynor closes her notebook.

“You have to try, James.” She reminds him. “Otherwise you’ll never know.”

Swallowing his pride, Bucky presses on the contact and listens as the number rings out. He’s counted the rings endlessly, knowing the hesitation there would be at the other end of the call.

“Hello?” He holds back the desperation clinging to his throat upon hearing someone answer, a loud yawn echoing through the line.

“Bucky?”

“Yeah,” Bucky lowers his head into his metal hand, even if it’s a different arm, it’s still part of the same tormented history. “I, could you come over?” A whisper leaves his lips as silence protrudes. “P,please?”

His ears perk up at the sound of sheets ruffling. “I’ll be there in twenty.”

Before Bucky can say his thanks, the line goes dead and the realisation sinks in; he’s going to see you again.

Bucky listens closely, hearing you outside of his apartment. He can hear you knock once softly, and a second time with more confidence.

He knows he should hold back a moment and pretend he hasn’t been hovering beside the front door since you hung up a mere twenty minutes ago, but he can’t help himself.

Unlocking the several locks covering the door, Bucky opens it a sliver, allowing you to slip in.

Keeping your head down, your focus remains on your feet as Bucky closes his front door before turning to you.

“I, I didn’t think you’d come.” Bucky admits quietly, afraid to hear what you have to say in response.

“Well,” You start, now lifting your head up to see him and your sentence falters in your mouth. You can’t deny that he looks worse than you envisioned, even during those late nights and early mornings when he woke up screaming in your arms, he’d never looked so grief-stricken like this.

“Yeah,” Bucky breathes out, following your gaze to his tired eyes, scratches covering his arm from attempting to claw it off in his sleep as sweat still clings to his chest. “it’s not great.”

You scoff under your breath as you follow Bucky through to his small kitchen where he pours you both glasses of water. “That is clearly an understatement.” Accepting the glass, you take the moment to reflect whilst he’s occupied. “How long has this been happening?”

Pausing at the sink, Bucky stares down into his glass of water, remembering the countless nights they attempted to drown him or try shock therapy. And how every time it didn’t work, he remembered it all.

“A while.” He mutters, his grip tightening on the kitchen ledge as his metal hand clenches around the glass, shattering it into the sink.

“James,” You call out, slowly rising from your seat and moving toward him. “I’m right here, you’re here too, alright?”

Standing beside him, you reach out for his hand, easing his grip on the counter until he lets go.

“You’re right here.” You repeat to him as his eyes remain tightly closed, his jaw locked and left hand still clenching the broken glass. “You can let go, Bucky.” The words leave your lips in a whisper as the remainder of the glass drops into the sink, and Bucky turns his body to face yours.

“It wasn’t real,” Bucky tells you weakly. “please tell me it wasn’t real.”

Without thinking twice, you lift your hand to rest it against his cheek and Bucky instantly cradles it with his flesh hand, keeping it in place.

“It wasn’t real, James.” You confidently state as he moves your hand and presses a gentle kiss against it. “Why didn’t you call me sooner?” You sigh as you both remain in the dimly lit kitchen, the only movement from Bucky as he turns the tap off.

“Nothings been the same since Steve,” He can’t help but trail off, knowing he doesn’t have to explain himself around you. “and I just couldn’t face it, not with all that history.”

Stepping backwards, you let your hand slip from his as you lean against the counter, crossing your arms. “But what about the rest of us, Bucky? You just stopped answering, after everything we’ve been through.” You try to keep your voice low, remain calm, but after all this time, it’s difficult to not let your feelings get in the way. “I’ve lost all of you. Sam, Wanda, Peter, Clint, Bruce, Thor and now you too.”

“I’m sorry, doll,” Bucky breathes out. “I never meant to hurt you, I, I’ve been making amends.”

Walking past you, Bucky rummages through his bedside table, revealing the well-worn notebook.

“Was that?” You don’t have to finish your question before Bucky nods, flipping through the pages to a series of names scribbled down.

“These are all the people I wronged or hurt or who were affected by the Winter Soldier.” Bucky explains, holding the book out to you.

He watches closely as your eyes scan over the names, flipping through the pages seeing those crossed out or circled or left untouched. Until you see the last name on the list, yours.

“Y/n, I’m truly sorry for leaving you, for causing you any pain.” Bucky begins to explain as you close the notebook, placing it back on the counter out of sight. “I know I can’t take back what I’ve done, for disappearing for months without warning, but I,” Unable to fight his emotions, Bucky cracks.

You reach out as he curls up to the ground, quiet sobs wracking through his body as you hold him close.

“It’s okay,” You shush him as you fall to a sitting position, Bucky curling his head into your lap once more. “we can talk about this in the morning, okay?”

“You’re not leaving, are you?” Bucky tenses beneath you before sparing you a glance, allowing you to see those blue eyes, the ones you’ve missed falling asleep beside and waking up to, those same blue eyes that hold so much pain you can’t comprehend.

“No,” You whisper, running your fingers through his short hair, missing how the long ends used to feel against your face in the mornings. “I promise, I won’t go.” You lean back against the cabinets as Bucky begins to relax beneath you, his metal arm outstretched whilst his flesh arm remains around your waist, hugging you close.

“This is real, isn’t it?” Bucky sadly asks, looking out toward the dark hallway of his apartment, seeing nothing besides the faint glare of the tv. “I, I’m not dreaming this again am I?”

The thought breaks your heart as you rest your hand on his shoulder, running your fingers along the faint scar that remains etched into his skin.

“It’s real, Bucky.” You tell him, trying to disguise the cry that is lodged in your throat. “And I’m not going anywhere.”

Despite your words of comfort, Bucky closes his eyes uneasily, wondering when he’ll wake up from this dream to the painful reality he truly lives in.

t a g l i s t (thank you for the support!) link in my bio and at the top of this piece to add yourself☺️(if your user isn’t tagged, it’s because nothing comes up sorry!)

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stickynotestoletters · 3 years

Note

may i ask for some poly relationship w larry & sal x male reader hcs?

Ah! Of course! :) Sorry I've been taking so long school is getting to me cause of finals;-;

Warnings: Noncannon compliant (their parents aren't together, no one dies, etc), NSFW (implied teen NSFW otherwise they're out of highschool), no weird cult stuff but they still ghost hunt, more modernish (?) phones and stuff

Sal x Male Reader x Larry hcs

highschool

I think that Sal and Larry would have gotten together before you got there

Like, I say gotten together but the way they started it was literally best friends that were super hornknee and decided to have sex together

They started then developing romantic feelings for each other though

And although the sex dynamic wasn't perfect (refer to my Sal x reader NSFW fic) it was good and they loved each other

It became an on and off thing until they actually worked it out

they talked about it and decided that it was better that they stay friends until they can sort out their own sexual desires and endeavors

Sal didn't even know he could do both as a switch and verse so he wanted to just re-examine his sexual self

And Larry was okay with that

So they decided to date but just without sex for a while

Then you moved to Nockfell their sophomore year

and god were you cool

Sal was the first one to see you in the hallway

It wasn't love at first sight really

He thought you were cool and he wanted to talk to you

Then that same day he told Larry about you during lunch

"I want to talk to him I just don't know how to approach him"

"Oh, well who is it?"

Ngl Larry was kinda jealous about how flustered Sal was getting at the prospect of a new friend but then Sal pointed at you and Larry was like "Oh, okay, I get it."

So Larry just approaches you

It was kinda to tease Sal about how shy he was being

Also kinda because you looked rad as fuck

So Larry approaches you sitting at a table alone

You were actually quite chill

You were happy since no one was approaching you

You guys hit it off and ended up becoming really good friends!

So for the duration of your sophomore year and the summer of your junior year, you guys were really good pals and hung out a lot

Then Larry started developing feelings first

And he was super confused since he knew he still liked Sal, no doubt about it

So he was just super confused and conflicted because he didn’t want to break up with Sal

So during, about the first half, of all of your junior year he kept this to himself and tried to keep himself from feeling for you

Sal on the other hand already accepted his feelings, he realized it later than Larry

And he read yp on what being polygamous meant

So although there was a lot of confusion at first he figured it's no different from people in love triangles

He realizes it a couple weeks after Larry and decides to bring this up to Larry during winter break

The conversation pretty much just went like Sal explaining polyamory to Larry for an hour

They end up deciding to just wait a bit and try to flirt with you individually

you know,

because they don't remember that you don't know they're attracted to you at this point

So basically you think that they're both trying to cheat on each other for the week they're flirting with you

At the end of that week, you tell them to meet you together

And they don't know any better than to meet you

And then you come to them, don't let them explain, and cry because you don't want two of your best friends to cheat on each other like this even though you like them

And then they realize why you're saying this

So although this was not the time they expected to confess to you they told you what they were trying to do

So you just sat there

With these two idiots

and told them "No guys, cause I was literally having a breakdown about losing my two best friends."

And they confess to you

and everything is emotional and raw and you accept

Your guys' dynamic doesn't change because you’re dating now

The only difference is you guys make out together and show lots more pda

although you always bring up what they did when they were trying to give you hints

"We just really wanted to flirt with you okay??? Is it such a crime to want your crush to fall for you???"

"When you guys don't explain you're looking to expand your relationship, yes. Yes, it is Larry."

"He's kind of right babe-"

"SAL-"

Y'all spend a lot of time communicating with each other on stuff like that now

Your senior year goes without any bumps between all of you and you then graduate

College Dynamic

so you and the gang (except Ash, she moves to the city of course) goes and makes a college house

once you all move in together there it's a new routine

You all agreed and talked about the move together and what it would entail

And then you all finally realized how different it was from a monogamous relationship it was

But you all had your learning curves within the relationship

You find out more about their dynamic as a couple

For example, Larry and Sal never liked to fall asleep without you anymore

They had trouble sleeping without you beforehand and the first time you all slept in the same bed together it was just... so... peaceful

They'll spoon and cuddle without you individually (Sal is always the big spoon with Larry)

but they just love falling asleep next to you

They also refuse to do homework without you there

Even if it's just the simplest this they're just gonna need to have you in the room to finish it

Sal likes to make songs about you guys

He records them and edits some but he never lets you two listen to them

"It's just embarrassing if you two were to listen to it. It's like confessing my love for you guys all over again except I can't hide behind the mask."

So until he decides to release his songs online or plays those at gigs he's never going to let you listen to them

Larry likes to paint you guys

His paintings of you before the "disaster confession" were okay, it just looked like he was making a painting of a friend, except for the occasional rose

But now he paints you and draws you two whenever he can

He finds it funny how flustered you and Sal get whenever he makes suggestive paintings or sketches of you two

One time he painted a whole sex portrait of you and Sal together (A 12 by 28 specifically) hung it upright in front of the door to your rooms and didn't tell anyone

So after you and Sal got home that day you were welcomed with Larry lounging on your bed with the giant picture of you fucking Sal next to him

It was definitely beautiful though, even if it's hard to call your nudes beautiful

"Larry Johnson, this painting, as always, masterful. Beautiful craftsmanship but please-" "-we mean this in the most loving way possible Larry-" "-STOP PAINTING OUR NUDES BABE"

He put it away to be hung up in your apartment for when you all move out

Non-College Life

Once you all finish college you guys move into an apartment outside of Nockfell

The minute after you and Sal leave to get food Larry puts up all his private paintings of you guys

It's funny to him

I imagine you guys moving to a really populated city

Somewhere where it's a good place for people wanting to have creative jobs but still close to Nockfell

Maybe not back to New Jersey but probably not as far as New York or LA

you guys do all the cute stuff you never got to in Nockfell together

It's not like the majority of Nockfell was homophobic, mostly just the people who went to the church

But a lot more of them didn't think that polyamory was possible

So now it's easier

It's not like you never experience any polyphobia anymore but it's easier because you're in a more open-minded place

Sal's favorite thing is to go to concerts now

And pride

He also likes coffee house dates too

Larry gets hit on a lot though whenever you guys go out anywhere though

He finds it funny how jealous you both get

Sometimes if he wants Sal to get really mad he'll play along

But most of the time he shuts it down before it begins

Sal gets hit on a lot at concerts the most though

He gets kind of awkward about it, he's not going to edge them on but he gets uncomfortable enough to just not know how to shut them down

Usually, you and Larry will just appear behind him and whisk him away

Larry likes to use it as teasing leverage for a good rough one that night but you usually make sure he's okay with it before Larry does anything

You get hit on the most casually

Here and there but there aren't really specific places

It just sort of happens

You mostly shut them down alone

But occasionally you'll have to go to Sal and Larry if they're persistent

And they'll be mean too

One of the first times you saw Sal and Larry ever legitimately get that mean was when you got hit on in a club and they both just pulled you behind them and absolutely ripped the person a new one

You guys really like to stay at home if you guys have dates though that way everyone feels included

But when you all do go around together it's always specifically for three people you never tell anyone it's a date for dinner reservations, you always make sure you go on rides everyone wants to go on at amusement parks, and hey if worse comes to worst smoking is a group activity (if you have asthma or any other breathing condition Larry makes you edibles if you really wanna do edibles with them)

Starting jobs there are tough and all but you make it off your feet

Sal ends up booking a lot of gigs and Larry's commission request skyrocket when he moves to the city and makes a blog about his art

You all get an apartment with affordable rent and one that allows Gizmo

I hc that Gizmo is an esp but I don't know if that's real

So regardless you'll still be able to have room for him

Sal proposes to both of you

You guys talked about marriage and decided that it would be easier legally to just not get married through a court

So you guys have a friends wedding and Gizmo is the ring bearer

You guys don't get a fancy venue or anything

You guys all just have a city wedding

NSFW

So, the first time you all decide to hook up it's mostly just very communicative rules beforehand

Sal is more comfortable with being fucked than fucking someone else at most times but "It's not like I never want to stick my dick in you two" as he puts it

He also likes background music on most of the time

It's kinda weird if there isn't just a little bit of music

It isn't really bothersome, you guys keep it below 20 at most times

Sal's also super submissive

He liked it rough, make him cry out for you two

A bit of a pillow prince

Especially enjoys being tied up by you two

gags and blindfolds are on the table

Although whenever he does feel up to fucking you and Larry he'll usually end up having you two ride him because he gets to be such a mess with you two unless he's jealous or upset

Usually, when he's upset he's gonna lift you two up and fuck you against the headboard or wherever you two are if he's impatient enough

One time you were chilling with Larry in your bedroom and he was painting over his easel

Sal burst through the door where it slammed back on itself and closed itself

He then tracks his eyes on you

immediately asks you "Can I please fuck you right now"

and as soon as your safe word and consent comes out of your mouth he's holding you down on the bed and fucking into you so hard you can barely breath

Larry doesn't mind it and just continues painting with you moaning and being so pathetic in the background of his music

He kinda finds it funny because before you all got together and he and Larry would angry fuck it never worked out

Sal was just being a brat most of the time because Larry still wouldn't let him fuck him submissively

Speaking of which, Larry's more comfortable with being dominant, he'll bottom but only if he can still be dominant otherwise forget it

Larry's just a rough fucker anyway

He really likes pushing and holding you two up against walls when he fucks you guys

He likes showing off the muscles he got helping his mom with handy work and stuff like that

The first time he did this was to Sal when you were studying in your guy's room

You said you didn't really wanna participate today so they fucked like they would without you

And so they're talking back and forth, teasing each other

and Larry corners him

And just

lifts him up

It looked like he was just lifting a bag of sugar up

Sal seemed weightless as Larry just rocks into him

It was one of the hottest things you'd seen at the time so you joined them

You do that a couple more times but then it just becomes normal and you decide you need to start finishing all those assignments

Larry does that to you one on one as well without Sal but it happens to Sal a lot more spontaneously

Larry though is kinkier than Sal in some respects

He'll try anything at least once "Lisa didn't raise no bitch-"

He's really into breeding and long fucking sessions though

Like, lowkey he has omegaverse fantasies

Not because of the weird stuff just because a lot of the time..... they have breeding written in

He'll never admit to reading any of it but you know he has at least once

Super into dirty talk

And he's really good at it

He also had a praise kink and a degradation kin

He likes degrading you and you telling him thank you and how good he's treating a filthy little brat like you

"What're my filthy little brats good for other than sucking my dick so well. Taking me so well like the dirty little whores you are?"

"Yes sir-" "-we're made for your big cock-" "-thank you for fucking us like this-"

He especially likes breeding you and having Sal suck you off while he does it, he finds your crying cute

And an added bonus is rewarding Sal after for it

You guys talk about long-term consent and all that and decide that it's a good idea, you all trust and love each other so there isn't a problem

lol this kinda went to shit at the end but I still like it enough! Thanks for the Sally Face request I really like this game and the dynamic between a poly reader hc :)

-Laika

#poly reader #poly Sallarry #sallarry #sallarry x reader #sallarry x male reader #sally face #sally face x Larry #sal x larry #larry x reader #sal x reader #sal x larry x reader #noncannon compliant #sally face smut #sallarry smut #sal x larry x male reader smut

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ellana-ravenwood · 4 years

Text

Can you be friend with your husband's ex-girlfriend ? - Bruce Wayne x Fem!Reader

Synopsis : Everyone always think you and Selina Kyle don’t like each others, solely for the fact that she used to "date” your husband. But as usual in life, things are much more complicated than that...A fluffy Drabble mainly about how truly strong, Bruce and reader’s love is.

Listen. My students were having quiet reading times, and I had a sudden burst of inspiration as one of them chose a French story in which a mother and a step-mother unite fronts to save their little magical kid (I love that story haha), and it suddenly inspired me. I LOVE Catwoman. Like. A lot. And in my head, her and Batmom have always been...Oh. No spoilers. The rest in this story ;). Hope you’ll like this little bonus story ! :

My masterlist blog : @ella-ravenwood-archives

__________________________________________________

“You look beautiful mom, do you have a date with father ? I thought date nights were on Thursdays.”

You jumped a little in the air as your son’s voice resonate in the foyer. Definitely didn’t hear him, sneaky little bugger. You turn around towards him, and smile, saying :

“It is on Thursdays, my little buddy. I’m having a girls night out, tonight.”

“Girls night out ?”

“Yes. You know, Cass and I are the only girls of the family. Sometimes we need to vent to our peers. Cass usually goes to see Steph and Babs, I go out with my friends.”

You smile at him again, ruffling his hair, and he can’t help but chuckle a little bit. In recent months, Damian found that he actually loves, when the one he came to call “mom” (you), ruffled his hair. It made him feel like the little boy he was, as odd as it could sound to anyone not knowing him.

“I didn’t know you went on such nights.”

“I do, once a month. You just haven’t noticed because it’s usually on nights you’re out with your father rather early.”

“I see. If it isn’t too -he hesitates- personal, can I ask with who you are going out ? Who are your friends ?”

Your smile widens. Because just over a year back, that boy would’ve never cared about this. About who you hung out with, or about you in general.

Ah, since he came in your life, he went a long way. The mere fact he wanted to know more about you was proof enough, and you felt absolutely touched.

Even more so as you realized that he not only asked about your friends because he wanted to know you, but because he was a little worried about who you might spend time with, wether they’d put you in danger or not...So, oh so sweet.

“Well, as cliche as it sounds, I’m going out with mainly other supermoms. We like to vent about...Things -you were aware that telling your son you and your friends love to vent about them wasn’t the best answer right now haha- So, Lois, you know her of course. Jon’s mom. There’s also Dinah, Connor’s mom. You saw him a few time at the Watchtower, although he’s quite younger than you so I don’t think you interact much. I bet you already know she’s Black Canary, and married to Green Arrow, I saw you snoop in your father’s files.”

Your son’s face redden a little, but you give him a reassuring winks totally meaning : “I snooped around too”, and it makes him smile. You continue :

“And finally there’s Diana. She’s not a mom yet, but she loooooves to listen to our stories. She’s also great at changing subjects and partying, who would’ve thought right ? I guess having thousand of years of practice helps. I’m sure you know she’s Wonder Woman eh. Oh, and of course, there’s Selina.”

“Selina ?”

“Yes.”

“As in...Catwoman ?”

“Yes ?”

You can see your son wants to add something, and you’re pretty sure you know what it’s gonna be. But you let him ask naturally, leave him time to gather his thoughts and dare to ask. After all, you want to instal an atmosphere of trust, between you and your children. You want them to know they can always ask you anything. So you wait. Finally, Damian says :

“Why are you meeting with this woman ? Don’t you like, hate her ?”

"Why would I hate her ?”

You know exactly why he’s thinking that. But you want him to elaborate, to make sense of his feelings about the subject. Simply, to talk.

“Well...her and father used to...you know...”

It’s not quite as formed as you were hoping for, but you do know. And at least, he tried. There was a time he would’ve just gotten mad you purposefully pretended not to understand his meaning, and would’ve left this instant.

You smile at him once more. To be honest, so many people thought you and Selina Kyle didn’t get along.

You guess it would make sense, it’t true, she’s your husband ex after all. AND one of the only woman for whom he truly cared about. Those, were very few...

In fact, there was only three of you, in Bruce’s life, that truly made a difference. Sure, he had been infatuated before, with quite a few women. But only three, truly stood out.

Talia Al’Ghul, of course. Not his first love (that was Julie Madison, although he was much too young to really know what love even was, and compared to you, it was just mild infatuation). But someone that used to be important nonetheless. The reason your sweet Damian (yes, sweet, especially when around you) was alive.

She was important, once. When he was training under her father’s guidance, before he realized who Ras really was.

Talia was a complicated woman who unfortunately could never truly get away from her upbringing, no matter how hard she tried. She was “too far gone”, by her own words. It was clear to Bruce, that if even herself thought she was un-savable, he couldn’t do much either. He did try, though. But it just never worked.

You were certain that she left Damian in Bruce’s care, when the boy was barely ten, exactly because she didn’t want him to turn out like her. Which in itself, was a little redemption act, no ? At least, you thought so.

Didn’t mean that you thought you could change her mind about those “world domination” plans that were ingrained in her mind since she was born. Fact is, she gave Damian a chance.

You never hated Talia. You actually felt pretty sorry for her.

She could’ve had such a different life, if, all those years ago, she had been able to leave her father. Not that you would want to, it’d mean that you and Bruce would never be (even if deep down, you knew that you and him would always end up together, no matter what...it would’ve just been a little lethal for you, if Talia was more around um um).

Talia never even really tried to get “her” son back. It seemed she completely accepted to “give him” to you. She self-admittedly never really knew how to be a mother, and there was that time she had him killed because she thought it was meant to be...

Not that, anyway, you’d ever let that happen again. You made it very clear you wouldn’t. And your resolve and anger could be scary, even to Talia Al’Ghul.

Plus, the day she had Damian killed, she realized she didn’t want that...anyway long story short, she was no longer in his life. And although if one day she changed her mind and wanted to contact him again you wouldn’t oppose it, you knew Damian was yours. Everyone knew that if one day she would come back, beyond the fact you, Bruce, and his siblings would be here to protect Damian...The boy would never choose to go back to the Al Ghuls.

He changed drastically, since he came with you. He was no longer her son. And she knew it. And didn’t interfere so far (and you knew she never would).

He called YOU “mom”. He told YOU he loves you. You. Not her. he never interacted with you like he did with her anyway. And you still didn’t hate Talia. She was part of both Bruce, and Damian’s past (AUTHOR’S NOTE : a little reminder that Damian was born from a “test tube” with Bruce and Talia’s DNA (to simplify things), and had a surrogate mother to give birth to him (although sometimes he’s seen in literal “baby pods” like in Death Stranding haha). He was born A WHILE after Bruce left Talia and the League behind. He wasn’t born 9 months after. This is important infos so things fit timeline wise :)).

The second woman who had a great impact on your husband’s life, and who used to be “his”, was...Selina Kyle.

For a long time Bruce felt like she was the only one to understand him. The only one accepting him for who he was, with no compromise. The only person on this Earth that wouldn’t try to change him. And although things were often “on and off”, and complicated, it was nice, to feel like he belonged. And Selina... Selina was the only one giving him this feeling.

But...Well, he was wrong.

Because then, you, the “third” and yet most important woman in his life, appeared.

You arrived years after his love story with Talia, and quite a while after he started to realize him and Selina were maybe not meant to be. Too many differences, even as they understood each others (or at least he thought they did).

Then you barged in. A bit younger than him. Unafraid to be yourself, bold and utterly stubborn. Turning his world upside down, and making him reconsider if he ever knew what the word “love” meant before you.

But that, was another story. Anyone seeing you with him, and particularly the way he looked at you, would instantly know how crazy he was about you. How desperately in love he was.

Right now, the question wasn’t about how strong your bond was, and how he never loved anyone like he loves you.

Nope. Right now, it was all about how you didn’t hate his exes (not even Talia). How anyway, they were part of his life at some point, that was a fact you could never change.

Before you, Bruce had a past. Past.

A past. A path. A path that lead him to you. A path that taught him to not make the same mistakes he made before, and a path that showed him it was you. That it has always been you.

A past path, that couldn’t compare to his present with you.

You didn’t even feel particularly jealous of them, you knew how Bruce felt about you, and that they were just that...part of his past.

Now, sure. You would probably never even be friendly with Talia. Who she was and what she stood for made it so. The opposite of you, really.

But Selina ? Well. Selina was another story.

You smile at your son, and say :

“Do you think of Selina and I as “conventional women” ? “

His answer came without a second of hesitation, Damian didn’t even have to think to say what he thought of your question :

“Certainly not.”

“Exactly. Now. Maybe society teaches girls they should instantly hate their boyfriend’s ex, but I chose not to listen. It’s a toxic view of life, and not all exes are crazy jealous psychos as the people make it sound ? Sometimes, like in your father and Selina’s case, the relationship ends on good terms. Selina is a great woman. As soon as she knew your dad and I were actually a thing, she backed off.”

Well. That wasn’t entirely true. She backed off of Bruce. But she still LOVED driving him crazy jealous by openly flirting with you.

“And I know how your dad feels about me. I trust him, too. Trust is important, you know that now right ? -he nods- So. Why would I hate someone I have a lot in common with, and with whom I’d probably be friend anyway if you father wasn’t in the picture ?”

“I...I guess you wouldn’t ?”

“And I indeed don’t.”

Your son was visibly confused, and you couldn’t blame him really.

Because of how the World was, but also because of who raised him (Talia was...a jealous woman), you understood how he couldn’t quite understand you not feeling threaten in the least by the fact Selina was your Broosh’s ex. So you say, kissing his forehead :

“I’ll tell you a few stories, soon. And I think you’ll get it.”

“Ok, mom.”

You smiled. He hadn’t call you “mom” for very long, and you quickly noticed he used every opportunity to use the word. It melted your heart.

“Now, I have to go ! If I’m late, Diana is going to fly me out of here, and your father HATES when she does that. Goodnight baby, see you soon. Make sure to eat a proper dinner. I told Alfred but I trust you to listen. And force your dad to have one too, when I’m not here, he forgets things...even as important as literally feeding himself. Too engrossed in his project, you know. Anyway, love you. Good night !”

“Good night, mom.”

And with a last smile, you go out and leave behind a son that has a LOT of things to think about.

************

A few days later, it was Damian’s mandatory night off and he was going to bed early. Your orders. You convinced him, by promising to read him a bedtime story.

Many would think your son was too proud to even admit you still read him stories before bed, even as he was approaching the age of 12. But many would be wrong.

If there was something Damian wasn’t afraid of, it was to tell the world how much of a mamma’s boy he was. Nobody could blame him, he never really had a “real” mom. Not one like you, at least, who taught him with love and patience, and not hired assassins and blood.

“Ok Little Buddy, what will it be tonight ?”

"The story of how you became friend with Catwoman ?”

Your taken aback for a few seconds, you had totally forgotten about telling him about your “girls night out”. But then you smile, settle down next to him on his bed, and as he threw his heavy and comfortable quilt on both of you, you start your story.

The day she saved your life.

The first time you realized you and Selina could very well become friends one day, was that time she literally saved your life. Definitely a hint that she didn’t hate you, at least.

And you ? Sure, at first you were a little insecure because you knew she was Bruce’s ex and Selina was...Well she was a gorgeous woman, smart, witty, and very VERY hot.

But after seeing her a few times there and there, and seeing how she interacted with Bruce...you knew Selina Kyle was not the “home wrecker” time. That she would never try anything with him, as long as she knew you two were a thing.

Sure she was a thief, unscrupulously taking whatever she wanted from whomever she wanted...but “someone else’s man” was definitely where she drew a limit. She felt absolutely no pleasure being a mean spirited person.

And she saw how happy Bruce was with you...Which lead to that fateful night during which you two started to get closer.

Because sure, you fought off your insecurities about her being his ex, but you weren’t exactly friendly. You just...knew of each others.

The change happened not long after Bruce made it official with the media that he was no longer “Gotham’s most eligible bachelor”, and was in a serious relationship with you.

To your surprise, the people in the city took it really well. Bruce was a beloved figure, they were happy that after years of clearly love life instability, he found someone. Sure, a few women and men had their heart broken, their dreams shattered, and were totally jealous of you but...

Anyone seeing you with him just instantly knew you guys were the real deal. That it was true love, as cheesy as it sounded. It was just that obvious.

Maybe too obvious.

Clearly, soon, everyone in Gotham knew how much Bruce Wayne cared about his girlfriend. How he would do anything for her. And...Well.

This was Gotham. Do you get the picture ?

It was a time during which you hadn’t moved in with him just yet. You’d do that only a few months later, not long before you and Bruce would adopt Dick.

But for now, you still had your studio apartment in the heart of Gotham (refusing to take any handouts from Bruce, who could definitely get you a better place), and you were going back there after a few meeting with your publishers.

You were suppose to meet Bruce the next day, as tonight, he was working on some important “Batcases”. You didn’t mind too much. Sometimes, it was nice to be alone with yourself, gave you a moment of self-care and calm.

You loved Bruce of course, and loved being with him, but it was still nice to have some alone time nonetheless.

Anyway. You were walking back, feeling rather good about the bath bomb that was waiting for you back home (it was from your favorite artisanal shop, a gift from Bruce, who definitely had no qualms buying you hundreds of dollars worth of bath bombs haha...If he couldn’t help you get a better apartment, didn’t mean he wasn’t gonna spoil you otherwise).

That’s when it happened. You never even saw it coming. One second you were walking down the street, the next you had a damp towel around your mouth and nose, and everything went to black.

************

You woke up in a warehouse. By the salty smell in the air though, you guessed you were somewhere on the docks. Which didn’t tell much, there was a lot of docks, in Gotham. Perks of living on a city with a seafront view ?

There was a group of men in a corner, playing cards. In front of you, a camera. You were gagged, your arms and legs were bound, and your head hurt like hell.

“Hey, she woke up.”

A shuffling to your side. The men playing cards were moving. They came to you, one turned the camera on. The other one put on some headphones and slowly directed a mic towards you, as the last man pulled on a ski mask and settled in front of the camera.

Nothing made sense to you. Until the man in front of the camera started to talk.

“Bruce Wayne. We have your girlfriend. If you don’t bring us-”

Oh. Oh. You were kidnapped. And those men wanted a ransom. An insane amount of money. That you knew Bruce had, but still. Ah.

You had to get out of here. You had to.

You looked around you, nothing. And there were the three men. Oh. Oh but the edges of your chair were sharp. And if you slowly made a back and forth movement with your wrists, you could see it slowly cutting the ropes. And so, you got to work.

Only...

“Believe me, we won’t hesitate to hurt her. Here, a proof of “good faith”.”

Huh ? OUTCH ! The man in front of the camera had just almost knocked you out with the force of his punch in your jaw. You were wondering if he hadn’t broken it. You couldn’t quite think anymore, and could feel the tears slowly falling on their own from your eyes...

Damn, it hurt. You didn’t see it coming either, too focused on slowly cutting the ropes while making sure they didn’t notice.

“Ok, I think that’s good. Whaddaya think, Rupert ?”

“We can do another take if you want, and then edit the punch in ? I’m not sure she can handle another hit like that, she looks pretty shaken up.”

“Ah well we-”

“Oooooh booyyys !”

Your ears were ringing, everything was blurry, and your head hurt so much. But you definitely recognized that voice.

“Catwoman, you’re early.”

Huh ? What was she doing here...

“Well, I thought I’d pop in a little earlier knowing you boys would be around. I’m sort of in a hurry. I accept cash of course, as usual. I think you’ll find the array of jewelries I brought today to be...What the hell are you doing ?”

“Mm ? Oh, her ? A little side operation. She’s Bruce Wayne’s sweetheart. Rumors has it he’d burn the world for her, we thought we’d take advantage of it and expend our business.”

“That’s quite a jump from fencing stolen jewelries, to kidnapping, isn’t it ?”

The man shrugged, and turned back to you.

“Well, you don’t achieve anything if you don’t start new ventures. And there’s big money to be made here. For sure. That idiot Wayne will pay up, there’s no doubt.”

You heard the click-clacks of heels, and a shadow came into your vision.

“What did you do to her, you animals ?”

“Just a punch. And maybe we weren’t too delicate with her when we moved her to our van, and then here. But it’s fine. Nothing too bad really.”

Slowly you were regaining your vision. And the pain was retrieving. You had never been punched before. You kinda hope it would never happen again...

The way those thugs were talking about the all thing was so casual, from them talking about how they’d edit the video destined to Bruce, to how they were just saying they were expanding their operation...For a little bit, you almost forgot you were from Gotham.

Gotham.

America’s capital of crime.

Where little thugs like those ones were plenty.

Men who thought they could “make it big”.

Gotham.

A place that bred someone like your Bruce, and his nightly activities...

Selina’s voice raised again, harsh and dry :

“I give you all the things I stole in the past month, in exchange of her.”

There’s a short silence, followed by a chuckle from one of the man, clearly the leader, who answers :

“Oh please. We ain’t stupid. We know her value. And we know someone like you, wouldn’t trade anything in for her if she wasn’t valuable. You’re not exactly known to be a nice woman.”

There’s a hint of anger crossing Selina’s face, and you immediately understand where it comes from. Sure. She was a thief. A criminal. And sometimes, she’d rough up some security guards, or some fellow criminals that think they could cross her.

But she was no brute.

She would never NEVER kidnap anyone, and especially not an innocent.

She protected children, and defenseless woman in her neighborhood, and whenever she could. She wasn’t exactly a hero, like Bruce; That’s for sure. But she wasn’t a bad person. No. She wasn’t.

And those guys words ? Just infuriated her.

“Mm. Too bad for you. Don’t go out and say I didn’t give you a chance. Really, too bad. I liked doing business with you.”

“What are you-”

In an instant, Selina sprout in action, and knocked the three men out before they could even realize. That was impressive. Even gagged, you could hear yourself utter a “wow” as she rushed back to you to untie you.

She smiled as she saw you made a good way through the ropes, and were most likely be able to get out of your bounds at some point. You were glad you didn’t though, because you weren’t quite sure what you were going to do once free ?

You fall forward on the floor and she catches you. Your head is still ringing, as you look at Selina.

There is genuine concern on her face.

How odd.

"Are you okay ?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“Good. Cause I refuse to be the one telling Bruce the person he loves the most in this world died. Again.”

“Yes. Thank you I-I...”

“Hey, are you okay ? (Y/N) ? (Y/N) ??”

You could hear Selina call to you, and it felt like her voice was slowly fading into the distance...The adrenaline gone, the stress of it all gone, you had simply passed out.

************

“Is she alright ?!”

Bruce arrived, bursting through a window, and ran to you. Your head was in Selina’s lap (she felt bad just leaving you laying down there on the hard concrete ground), and she was casually sitting, her back against a container.

She was surrounded by the knocked out bodies of your aggressors.

“Yes. Yes she’s just sleeping. She got roughed up a little bit, but I checked. Nothing too bad. It’ll leave a few bruises. Nothing time cannot heal.”

After saving you, totally by chance, Selina called Bruce on his red phone, so he would know it’s an emergency.

It didn’t even take him more than ten minutes to drop the case he was working on, cross town, and arrive.

He kneeled next to you, and checked every part of you to make sure Selina was right. But it did appear you were just asleep. The shock was too big, probably.

“How did you know she was here ?”

“I didn’t. It was all luck. Those men were some...um...Associates of mine.”

“You have associates that kidnap women ?”

There was anger in Bruce’s voice, but Selina knew better than to think it was aimed at her. No. It was anger he felt towards those men who hurt you, and towards himself, too, as he wasn’t there to take care of you.

“No. She’s their first.”

He looks at you, with a longing and love in his eyes that he never looked at Selina with. She recognizes it instantly. He’s more in love with you than he ever been with her. Was it even really love, between them, or a strong friendship ? Sometimes, the two were difficult to dissociate.

She stares at him, because it’s quite something, to see the Batman himself so desperately in love that he dropped everything he was doing to run to you, knowing that you were safe.

It’s quite something, to see the Batman himself ready to give it all up just for one person. Something he was never willing to do before. Never willing to do with Selina...

She stares at him, and smiles. An almost sad smile, because it hurts a bit, he never looked at her like that. But a smile nonetheless, because she knows now for sure, that he found his true love.

Nobody would peg Catwoman for a romantic, but oh, oh she was a hopeless sap. Especially when it touched her dear friends.

Bruce looks at her, and mistakes that look in her eyes for something that isn’t there. She can see it instantly. He thinks she’s sad, that she’s truly hurt he found someone else. That he moved on.

She’s not. But of course, he would think so.

“Selina I-”

“Don’t Bruce. It’s ok. You and I were never meant to be together, and we knew it. Doesn’t mean we can’t be friend. I actually think we work better, as friends, don’t you ? Take care of her. She’s definitely a keeper.”

You slowly shift in Bruce’s arms, and he takes a look at you. At your wounds. His heart tightens, and he holds you with more force.

“Thank you.”

He barely whispers it, but Selina hears him. She smiles at him, happy that her friend found happiness. True happiness.

All she ever wanted for Bruce, was for him to find a way to be happy. Clearly, she wasn’t that. But you...You definitely were.

“I don't know what I would’ve done if she...”

“Hey, hey come on Bat. Don’t think about this. She’s fine. Just tired from the shock. She’ll recover, she’s strong. And you’ll be here, right ?”

“...Yes.”

He didn’t sound too convince, and Selina could feel a big urge to slap him across the face. Because she knew what he was thinking. And he’d better not do it.

“Bruce if you-”

“Thank you, Selina. I’m going to take her home, now. She needs the rest. And-And I do too.”

And on that note, he exited the warehouse, holding you tight in his arms. And oh. Oh Selina hoped to everything she held sacred (and that wasn’t a lot of things) that he wouldn’t be a stupid idiot.

The day she saved his heart.

He couldn’t stop thinking of that time you got hurt. Because of him. Because he was Bruce Wayne...What if anyone got wind that he was Batman ?

It’d be even worst. If someone like the Joker, or Penguin ever knew who he really was (and that was definitely a possibility), being with you would sign your death.

He had to-

“Oh god Bruce you are SO cliche.”

He slightly jumped in the air as Selina casually sat down beside him, looking down to the dark streets below. There was a slight fog, and she couldn’t help but roll her eyes at how even the weather decided to join in ont he stereotype.

“Excuse me ?”

“You’re a living cliche. What, brooding all alone on a rooftop, on a full moon night, wondering if you should ruin your life or not, sacrifice your own happiness for dumb reasons.”

“What ?”

“What, breaking up with her to protect her ? Really ? Do you even know how dumb that sounds ?”

“I didn’t-”

“Your thoughts are plain to see. I know you, Bruce. And I noticed your face, ever since she got hurt. And what you’re thinking? Leaving her for her own safety ? D-U-M-B. So dumb.”

“Did you not pay attention to the close call she just had ?!”

“I was there to save her. And if I wasn’t, you would’ve barged in and save her. Or better yet, when I arrived, she had made her way half way through her bounds by slowly cutting it on the edge of her chair ! She might’ve escaped on her own !”

“Or gotten killed.”

“But she’s alive.”

“No thanks to me.”

“So what, you renounce happiness because maybe one day she’ll be in danger ? This is Gotham, Bruce. She is always in danger. And if you leave her alone, like I know you’re thinking about, she will definitely be an easy target. It’s not because you break up with her that people will stop thinking you care about her. In fact, after she got attacked like that, and it was made public, I bet the opposite will happen. Criminals in Gotham are a lot of things, but dumb is unfortunately not one of them. They WILL come after you if you leave her to fend for herself. If you break up.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do know that. Come on Bruce. I was born here. You too. And her too. Hell, I saw her give a nasty right hook to more than one person, in the short time I’ve known her ! One of those being Mayor Hady himself, and that was BEFORE she started to date you, how fearless is she, huh ?”

“That’s the problem.”

“Her fearlessness ? Sounds to me like it to be taken advantage of. Train her. Teach her to fight, to defend herself. Give her the keys, to survive. Just like you gave yourself the keys to go on your “justice” mission.”

“I...I can’t.”

“Why ?”

“Because she...She shouldn’t live this kind of life.”

“A little late, no ? She knows who you really are already. And she stayed. Even then, shouldn’t this be her own choice ? Shouldn’t she decide on what she deserves ?”

“Selina-”

“Nu-hu. Don’t start with this. You tried to do the same with me, and I didn’t have the patience to stay. But I know she does. I know you can try to push her through the front door, she’ll climb through the window. She, unlike me or anyone else, will see right through your bullshit. Does, see right through your bullshit. And is willing to put up with it...You’ll never find someone else who does.”

“I know...”

“Then, what are you doing ?”

And with that, Selina rolled her eyes, grumbled something about him being a stubborn idiot, said : “think of her feelings for once, and not your own. Because you damn well know Bruce, that if you leave her, it will be out of selfishness, not because you think it’s truly the only way.”, and jumped from the building to the one next door, leaving Bruce with too many thoughts and dilemmas...

Even if in the end, the answer became obvious to him.

************

“As if I would ever let that happen anyway.”

“I’m sorry ?”

Years later, Bruce told you the story of how he almost broke up with you not long after you two moved in together, shortly before you adopted Dick.

“She was right you know ? I would’ve climbed through the window. See. If I knew for sure you were leaving me because you didn’t love me, then I would leave you alone of course. But I would’ve definitely called your bluff.”

“How can you be so sure ?”

He smiles fondly at you, bringing you into a warm embrace as you roll your eyes at him. Ah but of course, even him always knew you could see right through him, even when he tried to hide his emotions.

“Please, Bruce. You can’t fool me. You were never able to, and I don’t think you’ll ever learn to. Or I’ll just learn your new tricks, and crack you anyway. And believe me, if you had tried to leave me at that time...I wouldn’t’ve let that happen.”

He lays his forehead on yours, unable to say another word. Tonight, he was able to tell you this story that was now “silly”, but that almost tore his heart away from him.

Because if he had lose you to his own stupidness, he would’ve become just an empty shell. Back to those dark days of loneliness, and acting like a machine while his entire soul was hurting.

Sure. Now this story sounded silly. But oh, oh if he had gone through with it. If-

“I’ll have to thank Selina though. Because she avoided me going through the trouble of drilling into your thick skull that it’s ok to be happy. And be afraid for those you love. Especially in your situation...”

“I know.”

He holds you tighter. Just as every time he realizes how lucky he is to have another shot at this “family” thing. How lucky he is, that you’re here, with him.

And Selina was truly to thanks for that, in a way.

Because, you were almost sure you could’ve change his mind and not break up with you. But there was this slight possibility, this slight one you’d fail...

Maybe you would’n’t’ve been able to convince him to stay with you. Maybe. There was still a chance, right ? So you’re thankful. Your thankful for having such a good friend. For having Selina in your life.

You’re thankful that one day, a stupid mistake you made truly started this dear friendship.

The day she became a friend.

You had always been quite a “lone wolf” sort of person. So you didn’t have a lot of friends. Your childhood best friend, Alex, had moved across the country years ago. And making new friends as the wife of Bruce Wayne was hard.

This was a time BEFORE you met the others from the League. BEFORE any of them knew the Batman had a family.

Of course, before introducing you to them, he had to make sure things were safe. That they could be trusted (A/N : if you wanna see the day he does trust them, here’s the story I wrote about it haha : “You have kids ?? And…A WIFE ?”).

So, you didn’t have many friends. And sometimes...You wished you did.

Someone that wasn’t your Broosh. Or your kid. Or Alfred.

You told everything to Bruce, but sometimes...Well sometimes certain issues, you couldn’t talk to him about. Like for example the time he annoyed the hell out of you. Sure you’d tell it to his face, and you guys would fight, then work it out, and finally make up, and you didn’t want to bring back the issues you know ? You wouldn’t vent to him about him, eh ?

Bruce was definitely your best friend. But he was also the man you loved. And sometimes, it was nice to have an “outside” perspective.

Someone with whom you could gossip a little (although you did gossip plenty with your husband, when at charity balls and galas).

And then, slowly, you realized what you actually were feeling...

Selina.

You were missing her.

It had been a little while since the last time you saw her.

Ever since she saved your life, and knocked some sense in your Broosh, whenever you saw her, you’d have such a interesting and compelling conversations.

It was oh so pleasant, to gang up on Bruce and make fun of him. His pride was always hit, and he’d frown in such a delightful way.

At the same time, she knew him rather well, and you knew him rather well, and you three had a lot in common and it sometimes felt like you were a trio from a very cliched “chosen one” story.

Hermione, Ron, Harry.

Percy, Annabeth, Grover.

Any trio really. It even inspired some of your stories. Yet...Yet you wouldn’t call her quite a “friend”. Why that ?

You weren’t sure. It just was never made official, and in your anxiety riddled mind it meant that you weren’t friends, then.

Yet you missed her. And earlier in the day, you saw something that made you want to call her and talk to her about it !

Should you call her ? Send a text ? You had her number. She once wrote it on a napkin and slipped it in your pocket right in front of Bruce, just to mess with him. You kept it, and put it in your phone, not really knowing why.

Taking your phone, you started to draft a text (it had to be drafted before being send, it you were even going to send it...your anxiety made it so that even with texts, you had to make sure you didn’t sound stupid or such).

You didn’t really have any intention to send it. You were just toying with a few ideas when...

No. Oh no.

Oh fuck. No. No no no no no no.

Instead of hitting the “back” key to erase the text for good and move on from this weird move, you pressed “send”. Shit. Fuck. Motherfucker.

It was such a dumb text as well.

“Hey girlfriend, wanna hang out ?”

You were just trying out different ways of writing a text, and were entering “stupid silly mode”, which was the step right before you usually gave up and didn’t send something (you had MANY of those moments when starting to date Bruce...Moments during which you almost send some really sappy and silly texts, making the mistakes a few time to indeed press “send”...mortifying...why, why were you never learning from your mistakes ?!).

You were in your office, in the Wayne Inc building (you settled your writing office there, so it was more convenient to see your Bruce, but also to handle taking care of your son, Dick), downright panicking about this stupid text, when you heard a knock on your door.

How long had you been beating yourself down about this ? AN HOUR ?! Damn. Anxiety never let you keep track of time. You-

“Hey...girlfriend.”

Bollocks.

It was her. Selina. And you could hear her smug smile in her voice. You were facing your windows, not wanting to turn around, and it was getting a little awkward. Selina broke the silence :

“Listen, I thought you did want to hang out and was just making an inside joke by being overly girly, you know, imitating those models Bruce used to date ? But I realize maybe this was um, a mistake ?”

She sounds so unsure. You never heard her sound unsure before ! So you turn around, and here she is, a little shy.

Catwoman. A little shy ?

And all of a sudden, you realize she must’ve felt the same about you. Consider you a friend, but since you never talked about it never took it for granted, for something sure, settled in stone ?

And your text maybe confirmed you were, indeed, friends ?

And here it was.

From that day, and on.

The official beginning of your friendship.

Of course, you both saw the other as a friend since a while before, but it’s with this embarrassing text that it really changed everything.

Made it “official”.

Made it clear to the both of you.

It never occurred to you that Selina too, could sometimes have insecurities and be anxious. But that day, as she shyly responded to your call, hopeful it meant you were really friends...

Being her, it was also hard to make friend.

She had been friend with Bruce for a long time. The fact she was yours now too, filled her with joy. Because she really liked the both of you, in the most platonic way that ever existed.

Yes. Her and Bruce worked better as friends anyway.

Ah. But wasn’t this how the best friendship started ? With a push from fate, a little awkwardness, and a lot of laughter once the initial shock passed ?

Girls night out.

It happened a day during which you, Dinah and Lois were...not in a great mood.

Your husbands were aggravating, your children got into troubles and shenanigans, you had so much to do...it was a lot of stress, and it was all released at the same time.

You all left your house yelling that you “needed air”, and left behind rather stunned husbands and children. Ah but yes, everything wasn’t always perfect, even amongst loving families.

And your first reflex ? To call each others.

That’s it. That’s how girls night out started. The realization sometimes you needed to wind down with some friends. But quickly, you realized that the three of you talked mainly about your kids and husbands, and by extension, the “superhero work”. Which was fine, you needed to vent but...It wasn’t helping you relieve some tension.

And that’s when you got an idea.

Who better than Selina Kyle to make you NOT talk about your families ?

You joined in a bar every first Wednesday of the month, starting at happy hours for you, Dinah and Lois. Ranting about your families, and about annoying habits your husbands had etc etc...And then you were joined a bit later in the evening by Selina and Diana.

And that’s when the fun really began.

It became a ritual.

Girls night out (A/N : maybe I should write a story about that one day haha).

This was one such night, and you had let lose a little bit more than usual because...for the first night in nine months, you could drink a little bit of alcohol.

Alcohol had never been your thing, but a sweet cocktail there and there was nice. Now, while being pregnant with your youngest, Thomas, obviously you weren’t going to do that.

And you had missed a few “girls night out” because you were too damn pregnant.

But now, he was OUT, and you were TOO.

Well. Diana said something like that, as she kept giving you more and more cocktails.

Long story short, you were a little tipsy. And definitely not able to drive. And so here was your savior, Selina.

She didn’t really drink, knowing you would totally let loose. So she drove you home.

You were coming back a little later than usual, and you had forgotten to send a little text to Bruce to tell him so so he wouldn’t worry (Selina did it for you though, true friend had your back eh ? And she definitely didn’t want the Batman to come barge in on your girls night fun).

He opened the door as you walked up the stairs, saying bye to Selina. She had that smirk on her face, the one you knew she always had when about to tease your beloved husband. And as he slipped an arm around your waist, and turned to wave goodbye to her...She did just that :

“Careful Bat, I’m making good progress with her. If you’re not wary enough, I’ll steal her from you.”

On that note, Selina winks at the both of you, puts on her sunglasses (while it was night...Oh Selina), and drives away, smiling widely of that very Catwomanesque smug smile. Which makes you chuckle. She always made you laugh rather easily.

You turn to your bruce and...

Oh. That adorable “jealous frown” got you every time. Your smile shifts from amused to utterly affectionate, and you put your hands on his cheeks.

He was looking at Selina’s car fading into the distance, the arm he had around you tightening slightly (you were pretty sure he wasn’t even consciously doing it). Your hands on his cheeks didn’t seem to register in his mind.

So a further distraction was needed. You brush your lips against his cheek, as an attempt to drive his attention back to you and...it works.

You smile at him, and in your little hazy state you whisper in his ear :

“I love you, my Broosh.”

He can’t help but feel a surge of warm feelings towards you, and bring you in a tight hug. Partly because he can’t help it, partly because he’s trying to hide the slight blush growing on his face whenever you surprise him with “I love yous”, and that always made him snicker at him...Only you could fluster him so.

“I love you too.”

You tripped on air, as, once again, you were a little tipsy, and he catches you...Good, he needed an excuse to carry you bridal style anyway.

He always liked doing so, any excuse to have you near really. And as your face approach for a loving kiss you-

************

“Wait wait wait mooooom !! You don’t have to leave this gross part in !”

“What gross part ?”

“The sappy declaration of love, and the kiiiisses !!”

“Oh ? But don’t every story have to end with a kiss ? And a happy ever after ?”

“Nu-huh ! Also HEY ! None of your stories end like this, I know, I read them all !”

You chuckle slowly at your boy’s reaction, and kiss him on the forehead. Quite touched he read all your stories.

“Time for bed, little buddy.”

You say, slipping out of his quilt and tucking him in. You can see he pensively thinks about your little friendship story, and finally he says :

“I’ll try to be nicer to Miss Kyle. I never trusted her, because of her past with father. But maybe she deserves a chance ?”

“She does.”

“If you say so, then I believe it.”

It touches you, how much blind faith your son puts in you. You smile, giving him another kiss to his forehead, as he says :

“Thank you for telling me the story, mom. It was nice.”

Behind this “it was nice”, there isn’t just the story itself, but the knowledge that as you grow up...Your feelings change.

You change.

And you go through a lot of heartaches, before finally finding the right persons to surround yourself with.

Beyond the story itself, Damian related to how it took both you and Bruce a lot of trials and errors, before finding each others. How you loved before you met the other, but it never compared to how you love each others.

How you found good friends along the way, and how even when things sounded desperate and lonely...you made it through.

So he could certainly do so, too ? Even more so since now, he was a big brother.

Thomas was barely a few weeks old, but Damian had already taken his role very seriously. And you knew he was going to continue to grow, to love, to hurt too sometimes...and to evolve.

Just like you and Bruce did.

So. No. You didn’t hate Selina Kyle just because she and your husband used to be a thing. In fact...

In fact, Selina had become both of your best friend. Unfortunately for Bruce, she often took your side on everything, and LOVED to drive him crazy by openly flirting with you.

And she had been by your side through many good moments, and bad ones. The first to respond when your family needed it. The one you’d always be there for, and vice versa.

A best friend.

Quite an important find.

When you met Bruce, not only did you meet the love of your life, but also one of your best and most precious friend.

Conclusion : is it possible to be friend with your husband’s ex ? Absolutely.

Especially when that “ex” was someone as extraordinary as Selina Kyle, and when the love that linked you and your husband was so impossible to even graze.

__________________________________________________

And yet another bonus story that I had no intention to write but suddenly felt the need to haha. Don’t worry, the rest of the stories I announced are still coming ;). I guess there’s nothing bad in having little bonus ones in between hehe. I hope you liked this, again it’s just a little drabble.

As usual comments and reblogs are always greatly appreciated and motivating <3.

PS : I wrote this, like all drabbles, in like thirty minutes. Didn’t re-read. Sorry for any typos. Don’t hesitate to point any huge ones to me, Ill change it x_x.

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bamf-jaskier · 3 years

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Who the Fuck is Eskel?

If you have ever gone on The Witcher tag on Tumblr, I’m sure you’ve seen dozens of blogs dedicated to this guy named Eskel and for people who have just seen the show you might be wondering - who the fuck is this guy?

Hi, I’m Aaliyah, and this is Part 5 of my WTF Series - a crash course in subjects from The Witcher Books.

Post under the cut

Let’s jump in by talking about what books Eskel is in. He’s only mentioned in one line in The Last Wish, The Tower of Swallows and The Time of Contempt. He has a flashback scene in Lady of the Lake and the only book where he plays a heavy role in is Blood of Elves.

For all you Eskel Stans out there, this is good news, because it looks like S2 of the show is going to be taking some cues from Blood of Elves and we do know Eskel is going to be appearing so these scenes might be showing up in some form or another in the show.

We first meet Eskel in Blood of Elves when Geralt is first bringing Ciri to the keep:

“Who comes?” Ciri heard a menacing, metallic voice which sounded like a dog’s bark. “Geralt?”

“Yes, Eskel. It’s me.”

“Come in.”

The witcher dismounted, took Ciri from the saddle, stood her on the ground and pressed a bundle into her little hands which she grabbed tightly, only regretting that it was too small for her to hide behind completely.

“Wait here with Eskel,” he said. “I’ll take Roach to the stables.”

“Come into the light, laddie,” growled the man called Eskel. “Don’t lurk in the dark.”

Ciri looked up into his face and barely restrained her frightened scream. He wasn’t human. Although he stood on two legs, although he smelled of sweat and smoke, although he wore ordinary human clothes, he was not human. No human can have a face like that, she thought.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” repeated Eskel.

She didn’t move. In the darkness she heard the clatter of Roach’s horseshoes grow fainter. Something soft and squeaking ran over her foot. She jumped. “Don’t loiter in the dark, or the rats will eat your boots.”

Still clinging to her bundle Ciri moved briskly towards the light. The rats bolted out from beneath her feet with a squeak. Eskel leaned over, took the package from her and pulled back her hood.

“A plague on it,” he muttered. “A girl. That’s all we need.”

She glanced at him, frightened. Eskel was smiling. She saw that he was human after all, that he had an entirely human face, deformed by a long, ugly, semi-circular scar running from the corner of his mouth across the length of his cheek up to the ear.

“Since you’re here, welcome to Kaer Morhen,” he said. “What do they call you?”

“Ciri,” Geralt replied for her, silently emerging from the darkness. Eskel turned around. Suddenly, quickly, wordlessly, the witchers fell into each other’s arms and wound their shoulders around each other tight and hard. For one brief moment.

“Wolf, you’re alive.”

“I am.”

“All right.” Eskel took a torch from its bracket. “Come on. I’m closing the inner gates to stop the heat escaping.”

Couple things here. First, for all the game fans out there, Eskel’s scar in the books is VERY different. It’s not the lightening-like claw marks that go over his eye but instead it goes from the corner of his mouth to his ear. This is interesting because it really parallels in my mind Ciri’s scar she gets later on that extends from under her eye to her ear.

Also, the little reunion between Geralt and Eskel, so sweet. The line about Eskel in Last Wish establishes that they were close friends so here is the snippet just to give more backstory to the two of them:

“Once, years ago, when a little snot-faced brat following his studies in Kaer Morhen, the Witchers’ Settlement, he and a friend, Eskel, had captured a huge forest bumblebee and tied it to a jug with a thread. They were in fits of laughter watching the antics of the tied bumblebee, until Vesemir, their tutor, caught them at it and tanned their hides with a leather strap.”

Childhood friends and brothers is just so damn great. Actually, speaking of brothers, it is stated in Blood of Elves that Geralt and Eskel actually look very similar and are often mistaken for brothers such as in this scene from Triss’s POV.

Eskel stood next to Geralt, resembling the Wolf like a brother apart from the colour of his hair and the long scar which disfigured his cheek. And the youngest of the Kaer Morhen witchers, Lambert, was there with his usual ugly, mocking expression. Vesemir was not there.

“Welcome and come in,” said Eskel. “It is as cold and blustery as if someone has hung themselves. Ciri, where are you off to? The invitation does not apply to you. The sun is still high, even if it is obscured. You can still train.”

“Hey.” The Enchantress tossed her hair. “Politeness comes cheap in Witchers’ Keep now, I see. Ciri was the first to greet me, and brought me to the castle. She ought to keep me company—”

This really interests me because Ciri is very young child when she meets Eskel and she is very terrified of him and intimidated. Which makes sense, she is very traumatized. But, when Triss meets Eskel she only makes a short note of his scar and focuses more on his resemblance to Geralt and commenting on the lack of politeness. It just goes to show how different characters perceive people differently. A child’s perspective of a warrior is not going to be the same as a Mage’s.

“You didn’t even know.” She nodded in what was now a calm, concerned and gentle reproach. “You’re pathetic guardians. She’s ashamed to tell you because she was taught not to mention such complaints to men. And she’s ashamed of the weakness, the pain and the fact that she is less fit. Has any one of you thought about that? Taken any interest in it? Or tried to guess what might be the matter with her? Maybe her very first bleed happened here, in Kaer Morhen? And she cried to herself at night, unable to find any sympathy, consolation or even understanding from anyone? Has any one of you given it any thought whatsoever?”

“Stop it, Triss,” moaned Geralt quietly. “That’s enough. You’ve achieved what you wanted. And maybe even more.”

“The devil take it,” cursed Coën. “We’ve turned out to be right idiots, there’s no two ways about it, eh, Vesemir, and you—”

“Silence,” growled the old witcher. “Not a word.”

It was Eskel’s behaviour which was most unlikely; he got up, approached the enchantress, bent down low, took her hand and kissed it respectfully. She swiftly withdrew her hand. Not so as to demonstrate her anger and annoyance but to break the pleasant, piercing vibration triggered by the witcher’s touch. Eskel emanated powerfully. More powerfully than Geralt.

“Triss,” he said, rubbing the hideous scar on his cheek with embarrassment, “help us. We ask you. Help us, Triss.”

Now, if you can’t tell, Triss’ favorite is Eskel. This scene is also implies that Eskel is more magically powerful than Geralt which Is very interesting. But Triss is an Eskel stan, in fact a couple lines later Triss thinks to herself:

Vesemir hawked again. But Eskel, dear Eskel, kept his head and once more behaved as was fitting.

“Of course,” he said casually, smiling. “We understand and clearly we will postpone your exercises until your indisposition has passed. We will also cut the theory short and, if you feel unwell, we will put it aside for the time being, too. If you need any medication or—”

Eskel definitely has the older sibling energy where he ends up in charge sometimes and knows how to keep a cool head. He’s also the most aware of societal norms of behavior which is why Triss likes his so much. She really respects people who know how to move in society.

There’s also this scene in Blood of Elves where Eskel is drinking and offers Triss some:

“White Seagull.”

“What?”

“A mild remedy,” Eskel smiled, “for pleasant dreams.”

“Damn it! A witcher hallucinogenic? That’s why your eyes shine like that in the evenings!”

“White Seagull is very gentle. It’s Black Seagull that is hallucinogenic.”

“If there’s magic in this liquid I’m not allowed to take it!”

“Exclusively natural ingredients,” Geralt reassured her but he looked, she noticed, disconcerted. He was clearly afraid she would question them about the elixir’s ingredients. “And diluted with a great deal of water. We would not offer you anything that could harm you.”

I think it’s very funny how secret The Witcher keeps all their potions and elixirs. Whether it’s mushrooms or potions, they gotta keep those secret drugs locked down tight. Also the fact that Eskel is the fantasy equivalent of high every night? Love that for him.

Eskel really is the peace-maker of the group. He’s not a push-over by any means but he is definitely more willing to play along that any of the others. When Triss is talking at night, Eskel is really the only one listening and engaging, even if it’s very half-hearted.

In the evenings, consistently and determinedly, Triss guided the long conversations held in the dark hall, lit only by the bursts of flames in the great hearth, towards politics. The witchers’ reactions were always the same. Geralt, a hand on his forehead, did not say a word.

Vesemir nodded, from time to time throwing in comments which amounted to little more than that “in his day” everything had been better, more logical, more honest and healthier.

Eskel pretended to be polite, and neither smiled nor made eye contact, and even managed, very occasionally, to be interested in some issue or question of little importance. Coën yawned openly and looked at the ceiling, and Lambert did nothing to hide his disdain.

And he is really the only sort-of listener to Triss’ stories and retellings of events:

This time it was Triss who began to yawn and stare at the ceiling. This time she was the one who remained silent – until Eskel turned to her with a question. A question which she had anticipated.

“And what is it really like in the south, on the Yaruga? Is it worth going there? We wouldn’t like to find ourselves in the middle of any trouble.”

“What do you mean by trouble?”

“Well, you know…” he stammered, “you keep telling us about the possibility of a new war… About constant fighting on the borders, about rebellions in the lands invaded by Nilfgaard. You said they’re saying the Nilfgaardians might cross the Yaruga again—”

“So what?” said Lambert. “They’ve been hitting, killing and striking against each other constantly for hundreds of years. It’s nothing to worry about. I’ve already decided – I’m going to the far South, to Sodden, Mahakam and Angren. It’s well known that monsters abound wherever armies have passed. The most money is always made in places like that.”

“True,” Coën acknowledged. “The neighbourhood grows deserted, only women who can’t fend for themselves remain in the villages… scores of children with no home or care, roaming around… Easy prey attracts monsters.”

“And the lord barons and village elders,” added Eskel, “have their heads full of the war and don’t have the time to defend their subjects. They have to hire us. It’s true. But from what Triss has been telling us all these evenings, it seems the conflict with Nilfgaard is more serious than that, not just some local little war. Is that right, Triss?”

Once more, Eskel is the peace-maker of the conversation and he brings it back around to what Triss originally said and also points to her expertise. Basically, Eskel is not really a fan of verbal conflict.

This is actually the last line we see Eskel in a scene outside of the flashback in Lady of the Lake. After this, Triss, Geralt and Ciri head off. It is important to note that near the end of Blood of Elves Ciri says this about Yennefer:

The lady magician knew a surprising amount about a witcher’s sword and “dance.” She knew a great deal about the secrets of Kaer Morhen; there was no doubt she had visited the Keep. She knew Vesemir and Eskel. Although not Lambert and Coën.

Yennefer used to visit Kaer Morhen. Ciri guessed why – when they spoke of the Keep – the eyes of the enchantress grew warm, lost their angry gleam and their cold, indifferent, wise depth. If the words had befitted Yennefer’s person, Ciri would have called her dreamy, lost in memories.

So clearly Yennefer is also friendly with Eskel and knows him. I love the idea that Yennefer regularly visited Kaer Morhen before Ciri came into Geralt’s care and I would literally cry if they did a flashback sequence in S2 of Yennefer visiting Geralt in Kaer Morhen.

The flashback sequence in Lady of the Lake with Eskel goes like this:

The fire in the huge fireplace went out. A gust of wind from the mountains whistled through the crevices of the walls and screamed through the improperly closed shutters of Kaer Morhen, Home of the Witchers.

“Damn it!” Eskel said, standing up and going to the cupboard. “Seagull or vodka?”

“Vodka,” Geralt and Coen said with one voice.

“Sure,” interjected Vesemir, hidden in the shadows, “Yes, of course! Drown your stupidity in vodka. Damn fools!”

“It was an accident…” muttered Lambert. “She had already mastered the comb…”

“Shut your big mouth, you idiot! I don’t want to hear any more! I warned you, if something happened to that little girl…”

“Enough,” Coen interrupted him, softly. “She sleeps peacefully. Deep and healthy. She will wake up a bit sore, but that’s it. About the trance, and what happened, she will not even remember it.”

“As long as you remember,” said Vesemir, panting angrily. “Cabbage heads! Pour for me too, Eskel.”

They were silent for a long time, listening intently to the howling gale.

“We will need to call someone,” Eskel finally said. “We will need to bring a sorcerer here. What is happening to the girl, it is not normal.”

Eskel is one of The Witcher who really pushes to call Triss in order to help with Ciri’s trances. Also, once again this guy is hitting the drinks.

So yeah! That’s Eskel in the books. Based on how in the non-canon wedding short Asaps wrote where he ended up having Triss and Eskel get together, I think his hints of them having a connection in the books is very intentional and if The Witcher wasn’t such a god damn tragedy and Triss wasn’t mooning over Geralt, I’m willing to bet they would have gotten together at some point.

Eskel is the peace-maker of the family and is the best at recognizing the norms of “polite society” (or at least noble society) and while Ciri might have been scared of his appearance, it isn’t enough to phase Triss who is considered rather vain. In fact, she seems to respect Eskel the most out of the Witchers. Just imagine a dark-haired, scarred Geralt and BOOM, you got yourself an Eskel.

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une-nuit-pour-se-souvenir · 3 years

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random thoughts about aegon vi and septa lemore

Apparently, it’s Aegon’s week. i don’t think i ever paticipated in these events for any character or pairing, but @agentrouka-blog’s theory that septa Lemore is Ashara Dayne and that the baby switch was between Aegon and her rumoured child (instead of random kid) showed up on my dash today.

Lemore being Ashara Dayne and there having been baby switch like theorised would be fantastic, because she’d know a lot of stuff that is otherwise impossible to know. She knows who dishonoured her at Harrenhal (we all know Brandon, not Ned). She knows about Wylla, a wetnurse from the Dayne Household, who Eddard Stark and Edric Dayne both say is Jon’s mother (we all know Jon is Lyanna’s, so this apparent lie version being told by two different people who have nothing to do with one another seems to suggest a combined lie between Ned and the Daynes). She knows about Jon because Ned went to Starfall with him and (if baby switch theory is true), she can confirm Aegon VI is real.

There’s also the suspicious narrative choice of a “Targ” (not even, she has dark hair, not silver hair, even if she has purple eyes) getting with an impetuous Stark at Harrenhal and a secret child never really going anywhere. What’s the point of that besides shading Rhaegar plus Lyanna equals Jon? This I always thought was suspicious, but this theory would *poof* make it make sense.

TYRION III ~ ADWD

This is the chapter where Aegon VI Targaryen is first introduced. The whole chapter is like a “perigrination” to find him. I am of the opinion that Aegon VI is the real thing for a long time now and there’s evidence that might be the case in this very chapter where he’s introduced.

"How fares our lad?" asked Illyrio as the chests were being secured. Tyrion counted six, oaken chests with iron hasps. Duck shifted them easily enough, hoisting them on one shoulder.

This is shortly after the chapter starts. Not only Illyrio asks about Aegon, there’s also the imagery of six chests about. If Aegon is crowned king of Westeros, he’ll be Aegon VI Targaryen.

By imagery, Aegon is real.++

"There is a gift for the boy in one of the chests. Some candied ginger. He was always fond of it." Illyrio sounded oddly sad.

This is often used as a clue that Aegon VI is fake. Illyrio is expressing some sentimental attachment, so there are theories that he could be the father and the mother would be some Valyrian looking wife he has. it has its merits.

On the other hand, Aegon VI is on the run from the crown, hiding under a false identity and dyes his hair another colour, but most importantly in this passage, is Aegon’s fond of a specific sweet that what we would at first mistake for a father for the reasons pointed above gifts him with.

This is 1:1 what’s going on with Sansa, she’s on the run from the crown, hiding under a false identity and dyes her hair another colour, she’s fond of a specific sweet (lemoncakes) and Littlefinger, who’s pretending to be her father and is very... emotionally invested... in her, gifts her with some (well, in parternship with her cousin, but the cousin is another matter).

By parallel, Aegon is real.++

Tyrion craned his head to one side, and saw a boy standing on the roof of a low wooden building, waving a wide-brimmed straw hat. He was a lithe and well-made youth, with a lanky build and a shock of dark blue hair.

Aegon is inrroduced standing above the rest, literally high-standing.

By imagery, Aegon is real.++

An older couple with a Rhoynish cast to their features stood close beside the tiller, whilst a handsome septa in a soft white robe stepped through the cabin door and pushed a lock of dark brown hair from her eyes.

This is actually what I came for, Lemore.

Why a septa would be described as “handsome” when that should have no relevance since she’s supposed to be chaste (I know, it’s Tyrion, but still)? Ashara Dayne is described by many as being beautiful, arrestingly so. If Lemore is Ashara, “handsome” is a good way to describe her beauty still.

Lemore has dark brown hair. Ashara is described as having long dark hair tumbling about her shoulders. More importantly, Lemore's first actions is push her hair from her eyes. Like, pay attention to this woman’s eyes, even though they’re not described ever (not even their colour).

TYRION IV ~ ADWD

Tyrion had drunk himself blind his first night on the Shy Maid. The next day he awoke with dragons fighting in his skull.

So yes, the night after Tyrion meets Aegon and his party for the first time, he dreams of dragons fighting. Take note these are dragons, not a fake dragon in whatever way and a dragon.

By imagery, Aegon is real.++.

The clouds in the sky were aglow: pink and purple, maroon and gold, pearl and saffron. One looked like a dragon. Once a man has seen a dragon in flight, let him stay at home and tend his garden in content, someone had written once, for this wide world has no greater wonder. Tyrion scratched at his scar and tried to recall the author's name. Dragons had been much in his thoughts of late.

One of those clouds looks like a dragon. There’s no dragons with these colours BUT Targs have purple eyes and Viseryion, a dragon I believe is a narrative stand-in for Aegon VI, is described as cream and gold, so one colour here. Honestly, the important here is that Tyrion is associating dragons around Aegon.

By imagery, Aegon is real.++.

"Good morrow, Hugor." Septa Lemore had emerged in her white robes, cinched at the waist with a woven belt of seven colors. Her hair flowed loose about her shoulders. "How did you sleep?"

Holy shit.

“Even after all these years, Ser Barristan could still recall Ashara's smile, the sound of her laughter. He had only to close his eyes to see her, with her long dark hair tumbling about her shoulders and those haunting purple eyes.

"Fitfully, good lady. I dreamed of you again." A waking dream. He could not sleep, so he had eased a hand between his legs and imagined the septa atop him, breasts bouncing.

"A wicked dream, no doubt. You are a wicked man. Will you pray with me and ask forgiveness for your sins?"

Only if we pray in the fashion of the Summer Isles. "No, but do give the Maiden a long, sweet kiss for me."

Laughing, the septa walked to the prow of the boat. It was her custom to bathe in the river every morning.

"Plainly, this boat was not named for you," Tyrion called as she disrobed.

"The Mother and the Father made us in their image, Hugor. We should glory in our bodies, for they are the work of gods."

Yeah, it’s Tyrion, who’d sexualise a rock, but this is a septa who deserves respect. Yet, this is how the writer “paints” the reader’s first interaction with this new character. These are always the most striking moments when establishing a character and sex imagery is what the writer decided to do.

Also Lemore not only knows that Tyrion’s fantasising about having sex with her and doesn’t give a shit, she laughs instead, gets naked to bathe, and doesn’t give a shit if others look at her naked body. This doesn’t feel like a septa. I mean, I remember Mordane and the zealots at King’s Landing who screwed with Cersei. They have nothing on this.

The way she puts why she has no problems with naked bodies and the like also suggest some kind of “free spirit” which goes well with the (disgusting, but there) dornish wanton woman trope and being dishonoured by Brandon at Harrenhal.

Another thing to note, is that Tyrion also clearly says the “Shy Maid” wasn’t named after Lemore, which suggests she’s neither shy nor a maid. This is confirmed by her actions and by...

The dwarf watched Lemore slip into the water. The sight always made him hard. There was something wonderfully wicked about the thought of peeling the septa out of those chaste white robes and spreading her legs. Innocence despoiled, he thought … though Lemore was not near as innocent as she appeared. She had stretch marks on her belly that could only have come from childbirth.

Lemore was pregnant at one point!

When Lemore climbed back onto the deck, Tyrion savored the sight of water trickling between her breasts, her smooth skin glowing golden in the morning light. She was past forty, more handsome than pretty, but still easy on the eye. Being randy is the next best thing to being drunk, he decided. It made him feel as if he was still alive. "Did you see the turtle, Hugor?" the septa asked him, wringing water from her hair. "The big ridgeback?"

This disparity of behaviour between septa Lemore and any other septa in ASOIAF is VERY suspicious. Note how Lemore has two mysteries about her already, she’s characterised nothing like any septa in ASOIAF (more like the tasteless “dornish wanton woman” sterotype instead) and a mystery child. What’s the point of that, if she’s irrelevant.

Compare how he Yandry and Ysilla couple is treated, where there are no bizarre things taking place that I noticed. Also Yandry and Ysilla are specifically said to be a pair of Dornish orphans. Why is the image of Dornish people here, along with Lemore? Suspicious, suspicious.

Lemore is “past fourty”. The asoiaf wiki lists Ashara Dayne as being born between 260AC and 269AC, which means that she’d be around this age if she had lived.

The imagery of a (false, but still) maidtaking a bath while men watch is the same as Florian and Jonquil song, an event that legend says happened at Maidenpool (close to... yes, that’s right, Harrenhal, where Ashara met Brandon).

"The turtles have their charms, I will allow. Nothing delights me so much as the sight of a nice pair of shapely … shells.

"Septa Lemore laughed. Like everyone else aboard the Shy Maid, she had her secrets. She was welcome to them. I do not want to know her, I only want to fuck her. She knew it too. As she hung her septa's crystal about her neck, to nestle in the cleft between her breasts, she teased him with a smile.

That’s not the behaviour of a septa and note the narrative acknowledgement that Lemore has secrets. She’s also called Lady instead of septa at some point in the narrative.

If this is Ashara, then Brandon met his match at Harrenhal. The waste, I can’t. What a sexy couple.

This chapter also contains Targ history as well as some Dorne (mother Rhoyne and whatnot). It goes well with Aegon is the real deal. But what really cinches it is the ending...

"It was him," cried Yandry. "The Old Man of the River."And why not?

Tyrion grinned. Gods and wonders always appear, to attend the birth of kings.

The Old Man of the River is a lesser god, the son of Mother Rhoyne. These gods are all associated with Dorne.

Aegon is real.++.

Tyrion VI ~ ADWD

"Even the bravest of your forebears kept his Kingsguard close about him in times of peril." Lemore had changed out of her septa's robes into garb more befitting the wife or daughter of a prosperous merchant. Tyrion watched her closely. He had sniffed out the truth beneath the dyed blue hair of Griff and Young Griff easily enough, and Yandry and Ysilla seemed to be no more than they claimed to be, whilst Duck was somewhat less. Lemore, though … Who is she, really? Why is she here? Not for gold, I'd judge. What is this prince to her? Was she ever a true septa?

Who is she, really... indeed... Lemore’s identity clearly is important.

She turned back to Prince Aegon. "You are not the only one who must needs hide."

Why does Lemore need to hide? :)

#asoiaf speculaion #i'm not going to tag these characters because the original theory isn't mine #i'm also not going to tag these characters because this isn't enough to warrant an entry on aegon vi targaryen week

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