#so James will probably get to make an appearance earlier than I thought

[innxrvision]

So long - pt. 2 𒂭

part 2 of 3 ------------ 𖦹 tags: james hetfield x reader, fluff, smut, best friends to lovers, bet, 80s james, a little angst if you squint ♱ a/n: here's part 2 just like i promised! Also... this got too long again and I had to split once more, I'm sorry. Next part will be the last hopefully! I'll probably only be able to post it on wednesday or thursday tho, but we'll see how things go! Thanks to everyone that has been reading and liking my story, it truly made me happy!

𖦹 part 1 𖦹 part 2 𖦹

Both of you entered the bar already chatting excitedly, just as you imagined, whatever disagreement that came between you two couldn't last long. You and James' friendship went way back.

"Let's get you a drink." James' playful smile made you smile involuntarily back.

He ordered two beers and raised his glass after you two settled down on a table near the wall, on a spot where the soft yellow light shined right on James' blonde locks.

"To making up!" He said, the smile never leaving his lips.

"If you say so." You shrugged, raising your glass too, but there wasn't any hint of resentment in your voice.

"I really am sorry about what I've said to you earlier. I never wanted to hurt you." He repeated his apology sincerely.

You shrugged again in response, not wanting to make a big deal out of it again.

"What has gotten into you anyway?" You asked genuinely curious before taking a sip.

"I don't really know." He admitted and you could sense some embarrassment coming from him. "I guess my emotions were all over the place and I took all on you. I truly hope you can forgive me."

You just nodded in response, you could easily understand his side.

Soon one beer became two, then three… and before you could realize it, both were a bit too drunk, laughing obnoxiously loud at each other's stupid jokes.

At a certain moment, while James were rambling about his new guitar, your mind wandered as you studied his features under the soft light. The unruly blond hair now gained a different shine, the blue eyes seemed more vivid, and the skin covered by acne suddenly got a different charm to it.

You've known him for years, but, for some reason, the realization that he had grown into a man only hit you now. It's not like you haven't noticed his changes at all, you could admit the boy you knew had gained the charms of a man a long time ago, however, something at that bar made it all become more evident. Maybe it was the alcohol speaking. Regardless, you just stayed silent, lost in your thoughts.

"What are you thinking about?" James' voice cut through your mind, his eyebrow quirked in confusion. "You're looking at me like I have two heads or something." He added, a chuckle coming out of his lips.

You snapped out of it as soon as you heard him, your cheeks heating up in response to his question.

"What?" You laughed nervously "Sorry, just got lost in my thoughts for a moment, go on."

James grinned, finding your flustered expression too amusing to let it go.

"I must really put you in a state to make you blush like that." He took another sip of his beer and kept grinning at you. "What were you thinking about before? I'm curious now."

You tried your best to appear bored and rested your elbow on the table, putting your chin on top of your hand.

"Nothing. Just… Work."

He studied your face and the playful expression he had before turned into a smirk.

"You're hiding something." He teased. "You're a terrible liar."

You rolled your eyes, pretending to be offended by his observation.

"I'm not!" You shot back. "I said it's nothing. You're too curious for your own good."

"Come on, tell me." He nudged your shoulder. "It's not fair if you keep it a secret."

"Not fair? What? Don't you have any secrets?" You scoffed.

"Of course I do. But your secrets are much more interesting to me right now than my own." He leaned closer and raised an eyebrow, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "So spill it. What were you really thinking about? Was it a boy?"

You looked at him incredulous, just wishing he would drop the subject.

"You can't be serious." You looked with concern in your expression at him and he laughed in response.

"Oh, I'm being serious. You were blushing so hard, so it must be a boy." He grinned, crossing his arms. It was clear that he was enjoying messing up with you. "So come on, spill it. Is it someone I know? Do you want me to hook you up?"

"No! What? You're crazy." You couldn't believe he thought you wanted him to hook you up with somebody.

"I know you're thinking about someone, just tell me already. Who's the lucky guy?" He pressed again.

"There's... No one!" You were starting to get frustrated.

"Oh, please. You can't fool me, I know you. You were obviously daydreaming about someone." He raised an eyebrow again and you had to take a deep breath in order to control yourself. "Is it one of the guys? Lars maybe? Or... Is it Kirk? I know you two are very close. You got a thing for him?" His voice dripped with amusement, it was clear he was enjoying teasing you.

"What?!" You opened your mouth in shock as he started pointing names. "I've never...! I never liked Kirk! Where did this come from?!"

"I can see the way you look at him sometimes." He chuckled, it seemed like he was testing you. "If it's not him, then who is it? I won't leave you alone until you tell me."

"Kirk is like a brother to me!" You said offended, your cheeks getting hot once again.

"You're protesting a little too much. I know you're hiding something from me." He studied your blushed face in silence for a second "Well, whoever he is, we can play matchmaker and set you up on a date." He batted his eyelashes dramatically at you and laughed.

"Why are you so invested in being my wingman? Who says I need one?"

You were getting tired of this talk. One second of distraction staring too much at him and now you had to deal with James playing guess by himself. He already loved getting on your nerves, but whenever he got drunk that would get worse.

"You've been single for almost a year now." He grinned. "I just want to help you find someone to share your life with."

You couldn't believe he decided to throw that on your face. Ouch. You sighed and looked around the bar for a second, trying to find a good response.

"Why don't you worry about your own love life?"

He chuckled again, shrugging off your comment.

"You know I don't do long-term relationships." He said casually. "I'm more of a one-night-stand kind of guy." He winked and that irritated you.

You looked down at your hands, trying to navigate your feelings. For some reason, hearing that he had been sleeping with other girls made you feel jealous. You tried your best to not seem affected, but James noticed the shift in your reaction.

"What's wrong with one-night stands?" He asked, his tone playful.

"I just think it's gross." You cursed yourself mentally for your childish response.

"C'mon... You're such a prude." He rolled his eyes and teased you, nudging at your arm. "One-night stands aren't gross, they're just casual fun. You should try it sometime, it might loosen you up a bit." There was that smug grin again that made you heated.

"I don't need to loosen up, I'm fine the way I am." You tried defending yourself. "And also, I'm not a prude."

"Sure, keep telling yourself this." He shrugged, that grin only growing wider at your frustration. "But deep down, you're just a boring goody-two-shoes who wouldn't know how to have a good time if your life depended on it." He continued. "Bet you've never even been on a proper date before."

You scoffed. Yeah, he made a habit of teasing you and yes, that would worsen whenever he drunk, but tonight he seemed even more invested in driving you nuts. "Is it just the alcohol?" You asked yourself.

"Of course I have!" You crossed your arms. "I can have fun just fine. I just think the girls you hook up with are gross."

You tried attacking him, but it was clear that your response only amused him even more.

"Gross, huh? Interesting choice of words." He leaned closer once again. "Does that mean you think I'm gross too? For hooking up with random girls?" He waited for your response, staring at you.

"I've never said that." You regretted mentioning his hookups and sighed.

"I know you're judgmental of my dating life." He leaned back and shrugged. "You're probably just jealous that I'm getting some action and you're not." He smiled triumphantly.

"Who says I'm not getting some action?" You tried your best to sound convincing but your attempt only made him laugh.

"Oh, really? With whom exactly? A pillow? A stuffed animal?" You blushed and he caught your reaction. "I knew it. You don't have anyone. Which is why you're so sour and uptight because you're not getting laid." He taunted.

"You're such an ass." You looked away and rolled your eyes. "It's none of your business, maybe? Just leave my love life alone, please." At this point, you had given up winning this conversation.

"Alright, alright. I'll leave your non-existent love life alone." He raised both of his hands in surrender. "But if you need some advice on how to get laid, come to me. I'm something of an expert, y'know?" He winked playfully.

"Like I would take your advice." You laughed sarcastically, seeing the perfect chance to annoy him back. "Bet you don't how to please girls at all." You added, certain that this would drive him crazy.

In response, he just smiled and shook his head. A different reaction that you were expecting.

"Oh yeah? You think I can't satisfy a girl?" He said confidently and leaned closer to you once again. "In fact, I bet I could satisfy you better than any other guy you've ever been with."

You stopped in your tracks, wondering if you heard him right. "He's just trying to get a reaction of me." You thought to tranquilize yourself.

"No way. Bet you take like... One minute." You decided just to keep teasing, trying to give him hell back for being so annoying.

"You think I'm that bad?" He raised an eyebrow with a smile on his lips. He then went silent for a second and something in his expression changed. "How about we make a bet then? If I can't please you better than anyone you've ever been with before, I'll do the dishes at your house for a week. But... If I do a good job, you have to take me out on a date."

"What?" Your mind went blank with shock and you felt a wave of heat from the embarrassment go through your entire body. Everything was all fun and games until now, but now you were just dumbfounded.

James noticed the shock in your expression and bit his lip, realizing he may have overstepped, but it was too late to take back now.

"Just hear me out. It'll be fun, it's just a harmless bet." He said quickly. "We are friends, right? What's wrong with having some fun?" He tried.

You couldn't even look straight at him now. It's true that you've been getting more and more attracted to him, but since you were best friends, you never expected this kind of proposal to come from him. Was it the alcohol? Was he just trying to prove a point? Your thoughts ran a 100 mph, trying to decide what should you do.

"I..." You started, then shook your head in an attempt to clear your mind. "Fine, it's a bet."

[soupstuff]

James Connolly, an NPC I've been designing for a game using @anim-ttrpgs's EUREKA system. I Just got their rule book from their Patreon, and it sounds like an awesome mystery system so far. I'm excited to play around with it!

[livinginshambles]

I thought you'd be different | James Potter

Pairing: James Potter x Slytherin!Fem!Reader

Word Count: 4.6k

Summary: A cinderella story (maybe a little romeo and juliet while we're at it) but Hogwarts - Enemies-ish to lovers. You find an enchanted parchment through wich you anonymously talk to a stranger (James). When you meet him at the Yule ball, he is not who you expected, but you give him a chance. When you realise that was clearly a mistake, you flee cinderella style.

Probably part one of two again.

Notes: Not proofread, grammar mistakes. Discrimination issues, themes of bullying. Regulus is our friend. James is an idiot, but we knew that already. Sirius sucks.

Masterlist. Part two. Part three

--------------------------------

You could still remember the moment vividly, as if it was engraved in your memory. That moment when the sorting hat placed you in Slytherin instead of Gryffindor like your two older sisters had been sorted. You could still see the look of surprise, concern, horror and then eventually disgust, every time you close your eyes.

“Now we finally know your true colors,” is what your sister Alyssa had hissed coldly at you. You had pleadingly looked at your other sister, but Marla had supported her twin sister, disregarding the confused and scared look in your eleven-year-old eyes.

“Don’t talk to us, don’t look at us and don’t mention us at all,” she sneered down at you and for a moment you wondered how she hadn’t been the one to be sorted into Slytherin instead. But you had cast your eyes down and agreed.

But years passed and you had become the very stereotype of a Slytherin student, completely leaning into the cold, distant, quiet but calculating persona that your sisters had created for you. Might as well, you figured after your parent’s dismay at the revelation of your house.

You were making your way down the corridor, long strides as you passed your sisters while looking them straight in the eye. They grimaced at the sight of you, but without their entire group of classmates, they didn’t dare make any comments. A feeling of victory erupted inside of you, and you couldn’t help the small smirk that crept up your face.

“What poor soul suffered for you to look so satisfied?” You turned your head to look at the person who called out to you. James Potter and Sirius Black were both leaning against a statue in the open yard. “Did you get rid of Regulus or something?” Sirius taunted. “Finally had enough of him following you around, did you L/N?”

“Go die in a ditch, Sirius,” you retorted with an eye roll, but seemed unphased.

“Why so much hostility,” James unpleasantly remarked, and you halted in your step. “10 points from Gryffindor for loitering,” you pettily decided.

“If you have nothing to do, other than insulting students, I would love to recommend you to Professor McGonagall for detention. Heard she was still looking for the person who made all the pumpkins explode last week during Halloween, and you guys are terrible at getting rid of the evidence.” With a last glance up and down, you continued your way towards the room of requirement.

When you entered the sober room with a sigh, you noticed the small scrolled up piece of parchment in the middle of the room. You frowned. This was your space. The room didn’t open this space for anyone else, you made it specifically as a safe haven.

You cautiously approached the parchment and rolled it open to reveal nothing. It was completely blank. You shrugged. If the room left this here, it was meant for you, and so you took a seat and started drawing on it.

James sat in an empty room, his invisibility cloak hiding him from plain sight as he pulled the now folded paper from his back pocket. He inspected it closely, almost pressing the paper to his glasses in a curious manner. He had gone to the Room of Requirements earlier that day and found a piece of paper floating in the air.

James unfolded the paper, and his eyebrows flew up. Lines were appearing on the paper by itself, and a beautiful portrait of a weeping willow with a girl, crying on a bench under the tree appeared.

James fumbled to find his quill and ink. Then he started to write something on it, in a handwriting that he only ever used for written exams. Credits to Professor McGonagall, who had announced that she would not be grading anything she couldn’t read. And she had looked over her glasses at him while she said it.

It’s beautiful.

You dropped the parchment at the words that formed right under your drawing. You traced it with your fingers. Then you decided to write back.

Thank you, I’ve been dreaming about this for the past two days.

You frowned at yourself, unsure why you would disclose such information, but figured no one would be able to trace this back to you anyway.

James blinked at the response he got, mouth open in surprise. He wasn’t sure why he was so surprised. It must simply be a spell of some sort after all. He stared at the sad drawing and the sentence, and then he made up his mind, writing back.

It must be lonely for that girl to cry by herself under the weeping willow.

Your eyes followed the words that formed in a trance.

If she ever feels lonely again, she can always pour her heart out on this parchment. I’ll be the mighty guardian wizard that will make all her worries magically disappear.

A grateful smile made its way up your face and when you scribbled back a response, James couldn’t help but smile as well.

Maybe she will.

You doodled a wizard sitting on the bench next to the crying girl, a consoling hand stretched out.

That's how you became James’ best kept secret. He learned that you were indeed a student at Hogwarts, but that you felt lonely. That you enjoyed butterbeer, but never got to enjoy it on a Hogsmeade outing with friends, because you rarely had any. He learned that you felt inferior to your siblings and a disappointment to your parents. He noticed how you would draw a circle as the dot on your ‘i’ and learned, when he asked, that you did that because you had once seen Professor McGonagall do that when you were in your first year, and had practiced mimicking her handwriting, should it ever come in handy.

In return, he had told you that he felt pressured by the reputation that he had to maintain. He loved Quidditch and absolutely despised Ancient Runes, to which you had replied, “who doesn’t?”. He told you that he had illegally learned to become an Animagus, a stag, and that he wasn’t sure yet what the future would hold for him. He even revealed to you that he desperately wants to protect his friends and sometimes had nightmares, which usually resulted in a sneak around the castle at midnight. When you had asked him if he’d ever been caught, he responded with, “never”, and had explained to you that he had an invisibility cloak.

Two months passed and before you knew it, you were explaining Transfiguration through the enchanted parchment. You did conclude from this that your pen pal was most likely in a year or two higher than yourself but decided not to comment on it. James on the other hand, was under the assumption that you must be from his year, as you managed to help him study for his exams.

But now, it was almost 12 o’clock midnight, and James chewed his lip while he looked at the parchment. He hesitated for a moment. Then he decided to ask you the one question he had been yearning to know the answer to.

Who are you?

You looked at the paper sadly, and sighed.

You’d be disappointed.

I understand if you don’t want to reveal yourself. But know that I could never be disappointed by you, Willow.

James sighed when you didn’t answer anymore. He waved away the light that emitted from the tip of his wand and took his glasses off. He went to put the parchment under his pillow as usual, when he saw the scribbling movement that he’d gotten so accustomed to.

He scrambled to grab his wand to shed light on the paper but accidentally nudged them off the nightstand and onto the floor, where it rolled under his bed. James’ eyes flickered back to the paper in his hand, and he managed to catch the first letter of your name as it was written in capital letters.

But your cursive handwriting, the dark and lack of glasses made it impossible to read the rest of your name. When he finally reached his wand and put on his glasses, he heard the clock strike twelve and he cursed as he grasped the parchment tightly, hurried ‘lumos’ and saw that the parchment had reset itself to a blank page again, just as every night at 12 o’clock at midnight.

Wait, please! I didn’t catch it before it erased itself. Please write it again?

You let out a sigh in relief after you had internally bashed your head against a wall.

No, it was stupid of me. I’m glad you didn’t see it.

You leaned back into your armchair with a racing heart. You couldn’t believe you had done that.

“Regulus,” you acknowledged as you pulled the chair back to sit next to him in the library. “Y/N,” Regulus quietly responded without looking up from his book, and if you didn’t know any better, his straight face would indicate annoyance. Luckily, you did know better.

“You smile any brighter, the sorting hat will transfer you to Hufflepuff, you know,” you teased him.

His face distorted in a grimace and without missing a beat, he replied, “do kill me before such a thing occurs.” You shook your head and finally sat down. Then you pursed your lips in thought.

“You know how I’ve been working all summer to earn galleons?”

“No.”

“Well I did.”

“So it seems.”

“Anyway, I rented a small flat,” you blurted out. Regulus finally looked up at you, surprise almost evident on his face. Then again, you didn’t have the most amazing home situation either. You often opted to stay behind at Hogwarts for the holidays. It is how you two had befriended each other, especially ever since Sirius left him to his own devices at home. Parents, it was a trauma bonding thing.

“Congratulations,” he nodded, his voice trailed off as he tried to see how this would concern him.

“So I thought you might want to stay with me over the Christmas holidays? Your mother doesn’t hate me, so I thought it might be possible. Gives you a chance to get out once in a while.” You tentatively brought up the sensitive subject.

“And what makes you think living with you will be any more bearable than living in my own mansion?” Regulus snarkily remarked.

You squinted your eyes at him in a scowl. “A simple ‘no’ would suffice don’t you think?”

“Do I have to pay rent?”

“Depends on whether or not the answer impacts your decision.”

“So not then.”

You huffed.

“Fine, I suppose I could join you in your small flat.”

“Merlin, don’t go doing me any favors Reg, I wouldn’t want to owe you.”

Regulus shook his head in amusement.

Satisfied with your rather successful attempt to invite him over, you got up. The chair you sat on screeched loudly as it was being pushed back. You could feel the librarian’s furious eyes on your back and rolled your eyes at her as you made your way to the door. “Alright, alright, I’m leaving,” you waved your hand in the air and exited the room.

You made it approximately two steps when you spotted your sisters again. “Of course you would cause a disturbance in the library,” Marla spat at you. You raised your eyebrows but remained unimpressed.

“I see you’ve got your buddies to back you up now?” you commented and tilted your chin slightly upwards. Your eyes flickered to your other sister, their closest friends, and the marauders.

For a moment, you considered walking away, but there was just something about that twitching lip of your sister that had you irked.

You stepped forward, narrowing the gap between you and your sister. You leaned in slightly and then, “Boo.”

It took your other sister, Alyssa about one second to have her wand pulled out and pointed at your throat.

James watched the interaction with a small frown on his face. He didn’t really speak with the fellow Gryffindor twins, but their friends and Lily were friends, so the marauders had joined them on their way towards the courtyard.

His mind flickered to a conversation he had had with ‘Willow’ about her sisters, and he wondered if you felt the same sadness and inferiority as his pen pal. And with that in mind, he pulled Alyssa back by her robe with one harm, the other lowering her raised wand.

“Let’s not,” he shrugged, when she raised her brows in question at him.

“She clearly threatened my sister,” Alyssa defended.

You scoffed at that. “I said ‘boo’. That’s hardly a threat,” you rolled your eyes and glanced at James who tried to offer you something that resembled a smile.

Was he mocking you? “Fancy yourself a hero, don’t you, Potter.”

“Hey, I was just trying to help,” he raised his hands in defense.

“Cause you’re such a good soul,” you sarcastically remarked.

“Yeah, actually. At least better than you. That hostility is so uncalled for,” Sirius mumbled under his breath, and you shot him a glare. “Right, better than me. Let me ask the two-dozen tormented Slytherin students you’ve bullied this past year. Bet Snape will buy your self-proclaimed ‘kindness’.”

You were already walking away when Sirius opened his mouth to call something out to you, but James kicked his shins in attempt to shut him up. Your words resonated in his mind.

Maybe he was a twat.

Am I a twat?

What the bloody hell are you on about?

Someone called me a twat today. Now that wasn’t necessarily true, but the implications were there.

Did you deserve it?

Sort of.

Sort of?

I mean, I am only an asshole to people who are assholes themselves and deserve it. But I guess that makes me an asshole too.

You hesitated for a moment and decided to write your opinion on the matter.

Maybe you being an asshole to people makes them assholes. And then it becomes a vicious circle. Self-fulfilling prophecy and all that bogger.

You reckon?

Wouldn’t have written it down if I didn’t.

On a brighter note, do you have a date for the Yule ball after the exams?

If you’re asking me out, I already promised my friend that we’d go together.

Oh right. But would you save me a dance? Maybe at midnight under the main crystal chandelier?

James bit his lip again in suspense. The Yule ball is a masked ball anyways, if you don’t want to reveal yourself.

Midnight, main crystal chandelier. You decided to leave it at that. Besides. You could enchant the mask a little extra, so you’d be even more unrecognizable. You wondered who would be behind the kind words of the parchment.

It felt strange to you. Really looking forward to something to the point you could feel jitters in your stomach in anticipation. But it was having a certain effect on you that even the younger Black couldn’t help but miss.

Regulus squinted his eyes and moved his jaw in thought. When he had had enough, he pulled you aside.

“Out with it.”

You deflated. You knew that he knew what he was talking about, so you shrugged. “Someone asked me to save a dance next week,” you mumbled.

“And you want to?” Regulus’ tone shifted to an incredulous one.

“I found an enchanted parchment in the room of requirements and it’s connected. I’ve been using it to have conversations with a mystery person.”

It felt great to be able to share this with your friend and you leaned against the wall behind you. “So yeah.” You finished the confession with an awkward hand gesture.

Regulus took a moment to register what you said. And then, as if it was the most normal thing ever, he responded with, “I see. And you have no idea who?”

You let yourself slide down the wall and tiredly put your head on your propped up knees. “Probably a Gryffindor.”

Regulus started laughing. You snapped your head up and scowled at him, not that he was used to anything else from you.

“As long as it’s not a mudbl-“

You kicked his legs and made him lose his balance. You shot him a warning glance. “You know my opinion on that.”

Regulus sighed. You had once confided in him about your home situation, including that time when you had overheard your parents argue when you came home for the first time after having been sorted into Slytherin. Your father had addressed the matter as soon as you walked through the door.

“You’re no daughter of mine.” He had said with disapproval in his voice. It wasn’t meant as a figurative insult. It was a statement. Your father believed that you could simply not biologically be his daughter. The words had you avert your eyes to the floor in shame.

“My entire bloodline has been sorted into Gryffindor.” He had looked at your mother. “Your family does have Slytherins. She’s most likely the result of your affair with that muggle a decade ago. It is possible.” And just like that, he had practically disowned you.

“Okay,” Regulus relented. “We’ll see who it is next week.”

James was nervously looking around, standing partnerless in the middle of the dancefloor. He had long forgone the mask that he had chosen because it prevented him from using his glasses. He looked at the great clock just above the table with drinks and pulled a hand through his hair.

It was time, so where were you? Hopefully you hadn’t chickened out yet because he was absolutely dying to meet you.

There was just something about you. It sparked something in him that he hadn’t felt since Lily. He’d look forward to your messages all the time. Every morning, he practically jumped up in anticipation and excitement as he reached under his pillow to read your ‘good morning’ message for the day. A smile would pass his lips each time.

James was ripped from his thoughts when a hand was placed on his shoulder blade. It tapped twice. He stopped breathing for a moment before turning around. And then the breath was knocked out of both of you completely.

For two different reasons.

James stared in awe at you. You wore a white and silver dress, covered in diamonds. A delicate white mask covered the upper part of your face, and he stared intently at your eyes, but somehow, he still couldn’t pinpoint who you were.

He could see all of your features clearly, but as if he was in a dream, he somehow couldn’t piece everything together to identify you. A charm, he realized. He was disappointed but shook it off. If you felt insecure, then he wouldn’t push it.

James’ face broke out in a grin, and he stepped forward. He couldn’t help but reach out to your face. But you took a step back. His hand fell and he frowned at your reaction, suddenly scared. He wasn’t wearing a mask after all. Compared to you, he was completely vulnerable.

Before he could say anything, you cut him to it. “No,” you hoarsely managed. “This was a mistake.” You turned around and escaped from the center of the dancefloor. James chased you.

“Wait, please. I’m sorry!” He called out after you.

You slowed your pace when you reached the corner next to the staircase. Then you shook your head with a sight, and you pinched your nose. James could see your furrowed brows.

“You have nothing to be sorry about. But my intention wasn’t to dance with James Potter. It was a mistake. Sorry for wasting your time.”

James shook his head in his turn. “Don’t say that,” his eyes pleaded. “So you know who I am. Am I..” He hesitated. “Am I that bad? I don’t know if you’ve heard any rumors about me, or what made you have a bad impression of me, but I’m the one you’ve been talking to for the past months.” He looked at you desperately. “Give me a chance, please. I only ask for a dance.”

Your eyes flickered over his sad face. You knew James from all the pranks that he did, mostly committed towards your house. You knew him from the banters you had with him, and from crying students that you undid hexes for. You knew him from pushing him out of the way as he purposely blocked your path to throw insults at you.

But you also knew the boy from the enchanted paper. The one who listened to all your worries. Who offered advice and indulged into your hopes and dreams for the future. You knew the boy who confided in you all his deepest secrets and own insecurities. Who made your day and cheered you up with his jokes and positivity.

“I can give you a dance,” you caved, and you offered him your hand, which he scrambled to hold.

James was a fairly decent dance partner, you soon discovered as he guided you with grace. “So I suppose you dance often?”

“I just practiced a lot,” he sheepishly admitted. “I had to impress you somehow, you know. Someone like you had to be crazy out of my league after all.”

Your lips twitched. “I think you’ve got it all backwards, Potter.”

“You know you can call me James, right?”

“Well, James,” you enunciated his name. It felt weird on your tongue. You had only ever spoken his last name in contempt. “I’m not very liked by more than half the students of this castle.” You motioned towards your mask. “Hence the enchantment,” you added halfheartedly.

“You don’t have to tell me who you are,” James immediately assured you, and you did relax at his words. “I’m just really happy that you’re real.”

You let out a laugh. “Why would I not be real?”

“I don’t know,” James whined. “Maybe I was just talking to really sentient paper or something?”

His answer only made you laugh more. James’ grin only spread wider.

“Whoever you are, I wouldn’t judge you,” James added quietly. You watched him silently as you swayed around the room.

“That’d be a first,” you joked sadly, remembering your own family.

“What can I say, I’m just different,” James cheekily winked and then twirled you around.

“We’ll see about that, James. You have the rest of the night to convince me.”

The dance ended and you curtsied to each other, out of breath. “But you’ll have to excuse me while I go find a bench because my feet are killing me. These heels are no joke,” you groaned in pain and sort of started to limp your way back.

James quickly came to support you and held your waist as he escorted you back to the side of the room. When you discovered that there were not in fact any benches, you sat down on the first few steps of the staircase. He raised his eyebrows when you kicked off your heels and saw that the entire slipper was made of glass.

“I transfigured those shoes myself, you know,” you proudly stated. James looked at it in disbelief. “This can carry a human weight?”

“Yeah, it took a lot of different enchantments and attempts,” you admitted.

James’ disbelief changed to awe. He took a seat next to you and you two started chatting about random things. You looked at James’ profile as he talked about Quidditch and felt soft towards him. Maybe he really wasn’t so bad after all.

The two of you were deep into a conversation when you were interrupted .

“Who is this, Prongs?” Sirius curiously stepped forward and shook your hand. You couldn’t help but grimace at him.

You politely nodded and explained the situation, but even though you engaged into a civil, nonchalant conversation, you couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable at the presence of James’ friends.

“Anyways,” Sirius leans in towards James. “Did you see Snape over there?” He nodded his head towards Snape, and you squinted your eyes at the boy in front of you.

“You’re not thinking of doing anything to him, are you,” you sharply asked. Both James and Sirius were taken aback by your new tone.

“Nothing harmful,” Sirius laughed, but it faded when you simply raised your eyebrows at him. Sirius looked towards James for help. James hesitated. He had been reluctant to indulge Sirius’ ideas ever since his conversation with you about being a twat. But Sirius was his friend.

“We’re just having a bit of fun,” James tried to explain. “We’re just joking around, besides, he’s in Slytherin, so definitely a blood supremacist.” Your face fell at his words.

You watched his features contort in disgust and suddenly you were eleven again, and all you could see was your sisters disgusted face.

By the time you had snapped out of it, Sirius was already making his way towards Snape. James had gotten up and his head flickered between you and his friend.

You got up as well.

“I really thought you’d be different, James.” You scoffed to yourself. “You really had me convinced there for a moment. But I understand that you’re really just a bully after all, blinded by prejudice. You really are a twat.”

James’ heart dropped at hearing you say those words. He felt ashamed and shook his head pleadingly as he searched for words. But the thing is, you couldn’t care less, because you were hurt too. So you turned around and fled up the stairs as fast as you could, just in case he would come after you.

“Hey Prongs, you coming or not?” Sirius called out. James looked back at Sirius as he contemplated his next move. He mouthed ‘no’, and then tried to run after you. But by the time he reached the hallway that you had disappeared to, you were nowhere in sight.

In denial, James ran towards the moving staircases and looked up, in hopes to find you there.

Had he looked down, maybe he would have caught the last shimmer of reflection of the diamonds on your dress.

James refused to give up, however and he started to knock on the paintings, hoping that they could tell him where you went. He just had to apologize.

A symphony of protests and yelling echoed within the hall. “Quiet you!” “Have you no respect for the sleeping?” “I will complain to Filch about this, young man!” “Leave us alone!”

When the voices resided, most portraits were empty, their contents having escaped elsewhere.

Defeated, James groaned and hit his head with his fists. “You stupid git!” he yelled out in frustration at himself. James slouched down to sit on the stairs. Then he reached for the parchment and a pen in the inner pocket of his jacket and started scrambling something down.

“Please answer,” he whispered. He almost had to laugh at how pathetic he must look.

You sat on your bed after having made your way to the Slytherin dorms.

I’m sorry. You’re right, I shouldn’t have said that. I don’t know why I said that. I’m stupid and I ruined everything. Please let me make it up to you. I enjoy being with you, I don’t want you to think of me like this.

 Like I said before, this was clearly a mistake.

James read your words over and over again and he buried his face in his hands in shame. He stayed there for a long while and by the time he returned to the room, the party was over, and people had started returning to bed. On the left side of the staircase were your enchanted glass slippers precisely where you’d kicked the off and left them.

Preview of part two

Part two

Taglist:

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[touteslespetiteschosess]

Love To Hate Me || Kylian Mbappé

Chapter 6 : Liar, Liar

Plot: A surprise return makes y/n question her relationship with Kylian.

Word Count: 1902

A/N: In celebration of Kyky's birthday, here's an update xxx

Chapter 5 Masterlist

Y/n's phone began to buzz loudly on her desk; she sighed and rose from her desk, a small smile gracing her face at the sight of her brother's name. Taking the phone, she headed out of her office, deciding she was in need of some fresh air anyway.

"Hey, James." she smiled, answering the call.

"Hey, y/n. You busy?"

"I'm at work but I'm owed a break anyway. Speaking of, shouldn't you be working?"

"The kids are on lunch, so I thought I'd see my little sis' is doing."

Her brother, James, was a primary school teacher back in the UK. He was two years older than her and growing up, the pair had been incredibly close. Nowadays, they didn't get the chance to talk as much, between their two busy jobs and their entirely separate lives in different countries.

"I'm good."

"Still having a hard time at work?"

As she strolled down the corridor, she sighed, "Well, the lack of headlines says not. It's calmed down a little."

"Good, you deserve a rest."

"Well, I'll have time for a rest when the transfer window closes. Until then I'll just have to suck it up."

As she strolled past Luis' office, the coach's door swung open. James continued to chat, "With the wage you're on, they're not paying you to relax." he chuckled but y/n had stopped listening to a word he was saying. From Enrique's office, not only did the coach emerge but so did Kylian. Her heart stopped.

It had been two weeks since their evening togehter as well as two weeks since she'd seen him at all. By the time her alarm had gone off- 5am- he'd slipped out, every trace of him gone, save a large, white hoodie he'd left on her bathroom floor.

Sure, she'd enjoyed the night with him; he was handsome, and good in bed, and he'd held her in his arms as they fell asleep, and it'd made her feel safe and loved and... She didn't care that he'd left in the night or that he hadn't called after that. It had been a one night thing, they'd both known that. He was leaving PSG, so what was the harm?

It was just a goodbye fuck, knowing they'd probably never see each other again. An acceptance of their attractions and their urges, admitting them to one another before he faded into TV screens and perfume adverts. So why was he here now?

"James, I've gotta go, I'll call you later though, alright?"

She didn't wait for a response before she hung up.

"Y/n, just the woman I was looking for!" Enrique grinned.

She turned around, her eyes fixed on Luis, stringently avoiding acknowledging Kylian's presence. She forced a smile, "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yes, Kylian and I finalised his contract yesterday. Elizabeth is bringing a file containing the details over to you. I need you to draft a press release about his return ASAP."

She faltered, "Kylian's coming back?"

The footballer cleared, his throat, "Yes, I am."

She shot him a glare before looking back at Luis, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I am doing."

"Okay, but some advance notice would have been nice, given that it involves my department."

"Well, this is your advance notice, so I'd appreciate it if you'd have the statement drafted and sent over to me within the hour."

With that, Luis nodded firmly and marched off; Kylian's feet were glued to the ground beneath him and he gawped at her like a goldfish. Her scowl deepened and she hesitated momentarily, as though she was going to say something. Then she spun around, her hair whipping after her, and stormed off.

Two or three days had passed since Kylian had appeared at the training centre and y/n hadn't seen the man since. Much to her dismay, she'd had to schedule in and would have to attend a press conference regarding Kylian's reintegration, which she'd announced on social media earlier that day. Now, her chances of avoiding the man in question were significantly decreased.

Sporting black suit trousers and a long-sleeved bodysuit, she walked into the press conference room. She lingered at the back for a few seconds, arms folded over her chest, holding a stack of files tightly as she surveyed the room. Tens if not hundreds of journalists sat on the rows of chairs in front of her. There was a loud hum of chatter as expectant glances were cast at the panel in front of them.

She slipped back outside and headed for the room Luis waited in. As she stepped in, she was met by the sight of not only Luis but Kylian and his father.

She smiled tightly, "Good morning."

"Miss y/l/n, good to see you."

"Sorry, I'm late. I was just running a little behind schedule, but here are some cards for you to read from." she rushed over to Luis and handed him a stack of prewritten cards. She spun around to the player who watched her carefully, "Kylian." she spat, placing the cards in his hand.

Her skin brushed his, he was close enough that she could smell his unforgettable scent. His warm, soft skin on hers took her back to that night. All of a sudden, it was like his hands were all over her again, squeezing, exploring, rubbing. She could hear his voice, calling out her name, singing her praises. She could feel his hands on her tits as he pressed kisses up her neck, on her lips, her cheeks, anywhere he could. They were tangled in his soft sheets, her legs wrapped like a vice around his waist as he held her so easily, like she weighed nothing more than a feather.

"Y/n."

He'd cried out, chanting her name like a prayer. But no, he really was speaking now. He said her name, his thumb grazing her palm as she handed over the cards. He spoke quietly, almost whispering her name.

She cast him a fleeting, strange glance before turning back to Luis, "Are you ready to go?"

He nodded and she headed out into the wilderness, where the pack of reporters were gathered. At the sight of the doors opening, they all began to clamour before seeing it was only y/n.

She stepped up to the panel and spoke into one of the microphones, "Bonjour à tous et merci d'être venus. Il y aura une section pour les questions à la fin. Et maintenant, Luis et Kylian."

Cameras began to flash as everyone turned to the door she'd emerged from. She stepped down from the raised panel and stood to the side of the room. As the footballer and his coach took their place before all of the cameras, Kylian's father came up beside her.

She glanced up at him and offered him a small, polite smile, before turning her gaze back to the press conference which was starting. Luis began speaking, though she didn't understand a word of his Spanish.

"So, you're the one who's been sabotaging my son's career?"

He was so nonchalant she wasn't even sure he'd spoken or if it was just a creation of her imagination. She glanced up at him but he just stared straight ahead.

Hesitantly, she replied, "Sorry?"

"You're the one who has been dragging my son's name through the mud?"

"Usually I go by y/n."

"Oh, I know. I've heard all about you, y/n."

"Right." she pursed her lips, "Well, it's all worked out just fine, hasn't it?" she shrugged, nodding her head in the direction of the press conference.

“Hmm, for you.”

She drew back, looking up at the much taller man, “What’s that supposed to mean? I gave him every chance to leave, you are aware that PR doesn’t encompass transfers or contracts. I just broadcast what I’m told.”

“Y/n, I know what is best for my sons and I won’t have anyone getting in the middle of that.”

She frowned, what the hell did that mean? Before she could question his ambiguous statement, there was a flurry of excited voices and her head snapped back to the conference at hand.

Kylian nodded to a journalist, who stood up, "Kylian, pourquoi avez-vous pris la décision de rester à Paris?" Kylian, why have you made the decision to stay in Paris?

"Paris est l'endroit où j'ai grandi. Je tiens à cette équipe, c'est ma famille et je veux le meilleur pour eux." Paris is where I grew up. I care about this team, they are my family and I want the very best for them.

"Mais vous allez devoir quitter cette équipe à un moment donné. Pourquoi pas maintenant?" But you are going to have to leave this team at some point. Why not now?

Maybe y/n was going insane but she swore Kylian glanced at her before he spoke. Surely not. He hadn't called her. He didn't care about her more than her body. Of course, he was probably just looking at his father. But she just felt his gaze deep within her, like the ground beneath her was shaking.

"Je n'ai pas l'impression d'avoir terminé mon travail ici et j'espère encore accomplir davantage" he paused before adding, "avec mon équipe." I don't feel like I have finished my work here and there is still more I hope to achieve... with my team.

A few more questions were asked before the conference ended and they returned to the room next door. Y/n began to regather her files, "That was good, guys." she declared, offering a half-hearted smile, "I hope this puts it all to bed once and for all."

She nodded firmly before starting for the door; she headed out into the quiet corridor and let out a breath she wasn't even aware she'd been holding. It was like stepping out into fresh air, just being out of a room with him. His presence made her sweat and forget how to breath or think or speak.

"Y/n!"

And she couldn't breath again, and the temperature was rising, and she almost tripped over her own feet at the sound of his voice.

She snapped around, "What?"

"Wait."

She blinked at him and when he said nothing more, frowned, "Well?"

"Are you upset with me?"

"Of course not." she spat, sarcasm thick on her tongue.

"What did I do?"

She rolled her eyes and turned to leave again, "Just forget it."

"Y/n!" he yelled. When her pace didn't falter, he chased after her, catching up easily. He caught her arm and a flush immediately raced across her cheeks at the contact, "Y/n! Stop! Is this because I didn't call you after that night?"

"Forget it." she annunciated, still marching on.

"No, not if you're just gonna ignore me!"

She laughed bitterly, "That's rich."

"So it is because I didn't call?"

She spun around so abruptly that he almost crashed into her. "No, it's because you told me you were leaving! I wouldn't have fucked you had I known we were still going to have to work together! I'm mad at you because you lied to me!"

He didn't have time to reply as a door behind them opened and they both swiftly fell silent. Luis and Wilifried both walked out into the corridor, too deep in friendly conversation to notice the heated moment between y/n and Kylian.

She raked her eyes up and down him then quickly disappeared.

Masterlist

[ourloveisforthelovely]

Bad Ideas (Part 13)

Regulus Black au

Summary:  It started as nothing now it’s something. Voldemort has been defeated but that doesn’t mean the wizarding world is still a good place to be.

Link to Part 12

Pairings: Regulus Black x Reader

Rating : M

_____

“You’re acting like a lunatic but I’m not pointing that out. I’m sorry to upset either of you but it was my choice…a choice that I don’t regret. I am Regulus’ wife and that’s how it's going to be.”

James didn’t move when those words left your lips. He simply stood staring at you until you turned and walked away. How the two of you would ever form a meaningful bond seemed to vanish further and further from sight.

I suppose she is most definitely my daughter. She is as stubborn as I am.

James thought as you refused to meet your father’s gaze before glancing at your watch. You were more than thankful that you could escape to work.

“I have to go. I have a shift that I picked up. No killing each other while I’m away.”

You commented before moving to kiss Regulus goodbye. He smiled against your mouth knowing good and well that James was wincing.

“Love you, darling.”

You said, enjoying the feeling of Regulus’ mouth against yours.

“Love you more.”

He replied as you patted his cheek and then left the room.

The following hours were uneventful for you. It was typical patients that you saw on a typical basis.

I need the mundane.

You thought as you attempted to concentrate on the chart in front of you. The conversation with James had plagued your head for most of the day. Was you wrong for totally ripping him? You could admit that had the roles been reversed and it was your daughter dropping the “marriage” bomb on you unexpectedly…you would have been upset.

I wouldn’t have been so upset with him if he talked to me like a person and not a child.

You thought. As you had thought many times before, James hadn’t made much of an effort to properly get to know you. Instead, he wanted to treat you as if you were a five-year-old little girl. If James brought you home a pony as a peace offering, you wouldn’t be too surprised.

Maybe Sirius or Remus can have an actual intelligent conversation.

You knew Regulus wouldn’t have any kind of logical conversation.

You added, in your mind. It didn’t take you being Regulus’ wife to know that he was probably at home antagonizing James. If you came home to a destroyed house you wouldn’t be too surprised.

“Dr. Black to emergency.”

Your name being called over the intercom pulled you from your thoughts. Standing up and putting the charts away, you left the room to make a dash downstairs.

Walking into the emergency department, you froze seeing Sirius and Remus sitting on a bed. Sirius had a blood-soaked napkin to his nose while Remus was shaking his head. Across the room, James lay back on another bed holding his stomach.

“What’s going on?”

You asked, feeling the panic starting to rise. Remus immediately stood up while giving you a comforting look.

“Y/n, it appears there are some of Voldemort’s followers that weren’t rounded up and we found them…”

A hand went to your mouth.

And we just thought that we were done with that prick.

You thought before looking around the room.

“Where is Regulus?”

Remus glanced over at Sirius who stood up.

“Sweetheart…”

That tone. You had heard that tone before. Hell, you had used that tone with so many patients or their families before delivering earth-shattering news. The panic in your chest started to rise.

“Sirius, where is Regulus?”

Sirius took a breath. This was NOT how he wanted to spend his evening! Lily got up and moved to stand close to you. She didn’t care about the argument earlier in the day. None of that mattered now. Now she simply wanted to be your mother and comfort you.

“He’s alive but…he was bitten by a werewolf. He’s in the next room.”

Sirius wasn’t sure how you would react. You were the real wildcard when it came to emotions. He watched as you stood not blinking.

“Y/n, we can make it work.”

Remus said in his best calming voice. Of all people, Remus knew how to get through to you the best.

“Sweetheart…”

Lily started. You immediately took off the white coat that you were wearing and tossed it to the ground before rushing into the next room. Going into doctor mode, you ignored the looks of the nurses as you reached for gloves.

Your heart began to pound as you looked down at Regulus. Had you not been a healer and seen people in this state often you would have thought that he was dead. Your throat tightened as you put a hand on his face. All of the color had drained from his face.

“Where are we?”

You questioned the nurse at your side. Henrietta gave you a careful gaze. She knew who the young man on the table was. Henrietta had seen Regulus visit you many times at the hospital.

“We have the wound cleaned, Dr. Black. The bleeding has stopped but it's best to get him stitched up as quickly as possible. Are you alright?”

You nodded. Normally, you were a master at hiding your emotions and being a careful doctor. You had seen people in god-awful predicaments. Seeing Regulus like this, however, made you feel like a frightened child.

“I am. I’ll get him stitched up. Run a sedative for the time being. He shouldn’t be awake for any of this.”

Henrietta reached out and touched your hand

“Dr. Black, I can get someone else to stitch him up.”

You shook your head.

“No. I can do this.”

Half an hour later, you stood at the foot of Regulus’ bed watching him sleep. You weren’t sure how long you had been standing there. All that you could focus on was Regulus’ pale face.

“Y/n?”

You looked up as Remus stepped into the room with Sirius behind him.

“He’s alive. I have him under a sedative for the time being. He’s going to be a little loopy.”

You commented, robotically. Remus came to join you. If anyone could relate to your current situation, it was him.

“Who was it? Was it…”

“It was Greyback.”

Remus said. It was best to let you know the truth. The faster you knew, the faster the shock could wear off…(If only that was true…Remus’ mind supplied.). Remus took a breath as a furious expression came over your face.

“That bastard that is still alive. Now look what he’s gone and done to him”

Sirius placed a careful hand on your arm. You hadn’t even noticed him move to your other side.

“We have members of the ministry and the order on his trail. We are going to either kill him or toss his ass right in Azkaban where he belongs”

“I want him dead. Prison is too good for him.”

You replied. Waiting a moment to speak again, you took a shaky breath.

“How am I going to tell Regulus what has happened to him? Everything has changed.”

Remus and Sirius exchanged a careful look before Remus turned back to you. He hated seeing you this way. He had hoped that after Voldemort was killed, you would never have that look on your face again. Now here you stood looking absolutely wrecked.

“Yes, my dear, everything has changed but that doesn’t mean that you can’t adapt. Regulus will learn to adapt. You can make a wolfsbane potion better than anyone I know.”

You didn’t reply. Instead, you remain locked in your head. It didn’t take you being in love with Regulus to know that he simply wouldn’t “adapt.” This was going to be world-shattering for him. This was going to be something that Regulus never saw coming. This was something that would devastate his world.

“It's silly. Last night, we were talking about actually having a wedding. We both figured that we royally pissed everyone off with getting married in secret. He said he wanted nothing more than to see me in a white dress. The two of you know that we didn’t get married to piss anyone off, right?”

Sirius pressed his lips together. He was in his own inner turmoil knowing what his younger brother was about to become. He looked up to your face before taking a shaky breath.

“That typically isn’t the reason people get married. The answer to your question is, no sweetheart, I never thought that for a moment.”

Remus gave Sirius a gentle smile.

“Darling, you can still have your wedding. Once Regulus heals properly, we can arrange the wedding you deserve. It can be as big or as small as you would like. Y/n, I promise that I will help Regulus in any way that I can. You believe me, right?”

Looking up, you met Remus’ face. You gave him a small smile. Of course, you trusted Remus. There was no way that you could not trust Remus. He had never let you down before, so why would he start now?

“Thank you, Remus.”

Moving to sit on the side of the bed, you reached out and touched Regulus’ cold face. Brushing his hair back, you leaned down to kiss him. He took a shaky breath before smiling you.

“We’ll make it work. I’ll take care of you now and forever.”

Regulus’ eyes slowly fluttered open before a frown came over his face.

“Merlin, it hurts.”

He groaned. You reached for the pain shot that lay on the bedside table.

“I’ll make you feel better, love.”

You said gently before injecting Regulus with the pain shot. Regulus took a deep breath before trying his best to focus on your face.

“I know your face.”

He said, softly. You held back the tears as you wrapped your hand around his.

“I love you, darling. Everything is going to be okay.”

Regulus nodded. He couldn’t focus on very much. Everything felt fuzzy and disconnected.

“Lay with me?”

Regulus questioned. You slowly removed your shoes and gently settled yourself beside Regulus. Taking extra care to not cause any pain, you reached up and stroked your hand through Regulus’ hair.

Sirius meanwhile stood watching the two of you with pain filled eyes. To the world, Regulus and yourself looked like two teenagers just starting their life together. No one saw what actually was….the incredibly smart and gifted young healer with the world at her feet and the boy who started life as cold unfeeling heir of the House of Black turned hero. No one saw what the two of you had been through and the unfortunate journey ahead. No one saw this but Remus and Sirius.

“Let's give them some privacy.”

Sirius finally commented before putting a hand on Remus’ arm. Remus turned to follow Sirius out before giving you one last look. He knew that you would need all of the support imaginable in the coming days. The days ahead would be dark but he would make sure that you didn’t go through them alone.

_____

@geeksareunique @jessyballet @knreidy1 @fific7 @justfinishthis @siriuslyceleste @mimisparkle12 @teletubiswszpilkach @spideyxalmighty @lucasfilms77 @rubyroscoe1 @dumbbunnys-safes @readtomeregulus @i-love-scott-mccall @taylor-will-be-the-death-of-me @s-we-e-t-t-ea @iluvthe-marauders @woohoney @abaker74 @regulus-black-223048 @saramaple @missgorldafirst @millies0bsimp @dumybitch @stelleduarte @gugggu6gvai @jag9000 @bennyberry @f4iryluvy @panpride @haroldpotterson @mentally-unstable-hoe @goldensunshineshit @padf00ts-l0ver @un-lovesherself @marichromatic @ell0ra-br3kk3r @ravenhood2792 @emiwrites3reads @coffeeaddictednymph @livshifts @summer-novak @knight-of-gleefulness

[accirax]

initial thoughts on DCAS episode 7

very notable that this was within the context of being about "love" specifically. (at least) one-sided trevek canon? (i'm not even a huge trevek shipper i just think this whole plotline is funny)

okay, so Yul's foot injury IS real. or at least, he's using it as an excuse to complain. still, the fact that it was brought up again an episode later makes me think that it's going to have SOME relevance to the plot.

any time that Yul has to parrot something in Emily's "you go girlfriend ;D" manner of speaking i cackle. he didn't choose the home decor saying any time is wine time lifestyle, the home decor saying any time is wine time lifestyle chose him.

Grett i am... genuinely confused. how can you possibly think that Yul is actually in love with you? did you really receive THAT little love in your home life? you have no ability to distinguish catty and fake praise for your accomplishments from real ones because your family gave you THAT little recognition? man. now i made myself sad :( ily Grett

okay, confirming that 1) it was Tom's trap, 2) they are willing to eat squirrels, 3) Tom is serving as the provider for the Cyan tribe. all things to take into account for any upcoming Cyan eliminations.

why

and how does said boyfriend feel about you kissing another man on television, Tom? this is a stupid lie.

again, why? it's probably already apparent from my earlier comments, but i changed my mind; i'm fully with Jake in this argument now. sure, Jake is really insecure and overly emotional, but what the HELL is Tom doing? making up a boyfriend is a really shitty thing to do, whether Tom had a legit reason for not calling Jake these past two years or if he didn't contact Jake due to his own mixed feelings/indifference. in either case, he should have told Jake the truth. at least when Jake was acting immature in S1, he was 24. Tom is a nearly 30 year old man. ACT LIKE IT.

Fiore slay

this is a really interesting response due to how vague it is, including in the vocal performance. was he taken off guard by his boss being nice to him? does he believe that she's telling the truth? does he feel bad for Trevor, or will he come to believe that he IS way better than Trevor? i'm glad that they're continuing on with the concept of the hosts having a plotline, because imo that was one of the highlights of S2, but they aren't doing it in a way that eats up as much of the screentime as it did in S2.

if Will was out of the picture i would be shipping these two so hard. who am I kidding, i kind of still am anyways.

Ally's other gf is here :,) glad that they got to reconnect (and neither of them were eliminated for it)

Fiore slay

the confirmation that Aiden thinks that the idea of him having any attraction to Tom is laughable and disgusting is HILARIOUS to me. bro really said, "why the hell would i be into YOU when i have JAMES lmao" straight to Tom's face. tbf, James and Tom are like... opposites in terms of personality and appearance (beyond being generally handsome and athletic young men).

"silly me, i keep forgetting that not everyone met their super cool and attractive boyfriend on reality TV. my bad!" (/pos)

(i tried to type "hubby" instead of boyfriend but i spared you all. it was too cringe even as the one subjecting others to the cringe.)

okay this was very fitting for her. iconic.

honestly, Alec and Riya's villainous alliance/friendship is really fun. leave it to Alec to always find himself in the least likely but most entertaining duos. Riya really benefits from being paired with a legitimate strategist, and someone who won't just let her totally get away with stuff.

we had to get in one last Fiore taking unnecessary damage for the road :,(

feeling like Jaiden is going to be winning the starting couples' survival roulette. and Wishley, to the extent they count.

now i'm no physicist, but how did this work? shouldn't the ball be a fast and heavy enough object at this point that it would jump over the log, not ricochet off of it? i suppose if the ball is made of something more like wicker than yarn, it could be a bit more likely to do that. but then why is it going to the side? it hit the log straight on!

... are you not allowed to help him anymore? what?

ellie is going full villain mode fr. if her and gabby's relationship gets messed up, that would definitely be karma. but, i suppose she survives this episode...

this is funny because nobody strikes me as the pizza and soda loving type. Alec, Grett, Yul, and Riya all seem like people who would want to eat something that's both fancier and healthier.

communication W (for both of them)

Fiore is such a best girl that she's not even a salty juror. she's not mad at them for so long that she can't use her final moments to throw a wrench in the works for everyone else. the grind never sleeps, clowns <3

and she even conquered her greatest nemesis, the bus, this time. fly high, queen. i'll miss you.

well, as a Fiore stan, this episode was a bit sad for me. but, i do totally understand why Magenta would both vote for Fiore and lose the challenge. (damn you, Ellie...) Fiore already did super well in both S1 and the original Adventure Camp, so i understand why they wouldn't have her go super far again in this season, especially when everyone knows she's such a threat.

i just hope that we can still get a little more closure for her and Alec than we got already in this season. all it has to be is, like, him being sad at her elimination for reasons other than pure strategy and maybe a nice conversation at the finale. it doesn't have to be Alec finally adopting her... even if i did want that to happen... i'd just prefer to know that they leave things on good terms.

anyways, another really solid episode! i look forward to the next one. thanks for reading!

[esta-elavaris]

Part Eighteen [4,250 words] ~ James Norrington/OC

An AU of my completed, 400k+ word fanfic Catch the Wind [AO3], in which Elizabeth, not James, is the one to discover Theodora Byrne after she crash-lands into the world of Pirates of the Caribbean.

Page breaks by cafekitsune.

Also now on AO3 and FF.net.

Masterpost - Part One - Part Two - Part Three - Part Four - Part Five - Part Six - Part Seven - Part Eight - Part Nine - Part Ten - Part Eleven - Part Twelve - Part Thirteen - Part Fourteen - Part Fifteen - Part Sixteen - Part Seventeen - *Part Eighteen*

Tag list [let me know if you want to be added!]: @teawithshakespeare @missfronkensteen @dancerinthestorm

When morning came near, Hattie - who’d greeted her with wide, disbelieving eyes upon finding her, dishevelled and barely dressed, on James’ sofa - was sent up to the mansion to inform the staff of what had happened, and have a carriage sent down to pick her up. Any insistence that she could walk had been flat-out ignored by the maid and the good captain both…and her legs did greet her with a distinct sort of shakiness when it came time to walk to the carriage.

Anyway, hoping for secrecy was daft.

While she would’ve been happy to never again discuss what had taken place that night – at least as far as the part that happened in the water was concerned – she’d been forced to concede James’ point when he deemed it a necessity. If any had spotted them on that cliff, or her slipping into his house barely-dressed and unchaperoned afterwards, it would be a reputation ruiner for everybody involved. Theo didn’t care about that, not as far as she herself was concerned, but she did know it would reflect badly on Elizabeth, Governor Swann, and James. Because that was what he’d asked her to call him now. James. It would take a bit of getting used to.

As dawn crept in, greeting them as they slipped into the carriage, Theo couldn’t help but wonder if a change of heart wouldn’t come with it. Decisions made, and confessions offered, in the dead of night after a life-or-death experience were bound to look different when cast in daylight. So, aided by her increasing numbness and exhaustion, she remained quiet throughout the journey – like one wrong word could have him awkwardly clearing his throat and finally requesting that she disregard anything he said in the heat of the moment, mere hours earlier.

It was irrational, sure, and it was probably even unfair. Norrington was careful, and did little without considering it first. He was far from the sort to kiss her and take it lightly. But was it any wonder that she was tired, confused, and doubtful after the run they’d had so far? Knowing that, in the movies at least, a good portion of his character revolved around a deep, meaningful love for one of her very close friends? A deficit of self-esteem was never a problem she’d really had, but it seemed…unreal that she could prompt such a change.

Even discarding what she’d seen of that fictional version of events, they had made a pretty big habit of taking one step forward followed by ten backwards, had they not? She’d never forgive herself if this was more of the same, and she failed to see it coming.

But he didn’t retract anything. In fact, whenever she snuck a look at him, she found him always watching her in return, making far less of an effort than she did to do so covertly, and…was that worry on his face? Rather than fidget, or avoid looking at her, or appear as though he was doing his best to work up to a very awkward admission, he simply watched her, his brow furrowed in concern. That same concern shone through to his eyes, too, and she wondered if he’d caught wind of her thoughts…or if he thought she harboured regrets.

“Do you-”

“I-” she began at the same time.

It was a relief that he’d intended to speak too, though, because she had begun her sentence with no idea of how it was actually going to proceed. He’d saved her from a whole lot of awkward mumbling.

“Go on,” she waved when he fell silent.

“I only meant to say that I should like to call on you today,” he said, “after you’ve had time to rest, of course. That is…if you are amenable?”

The blush that rose to her face must’ve been blatantly obvious, even in the dim pale light of dawn, thanks to how pale her features still were. And she knew he caught it, the bastard, because of how he stifled a smile.

“I’d like that,” she cleared her throat. “But you need to promise me you’ll rest, too.”

“You have my word,” he said with a solemness that was broken only by that very dangerous fondness in his eyes.

The Governor and Elizabeth were both on the front grounds of the mansion, both dishevelled, the Governor’s clothing askew as though he dressed in a hurry, and Elizabeth in a thick dressing gown to cover her nightdress – apparently having decided it would take far too long to dress properly so that she could greet them.

James disembarked the carriage first in order to gently help her out, a misshapen bundle of blankets and Doc Martens, toting a cloth sack that contained her still-wet clothing. The Governor looked carefully away, probably thanks to propriety, but it didn’t matter much because Elizabeth was upon her in an instant, pulling her towards the mansion as James stepped aside to speak to her father. Theo allowed her to do so with little more than a murmur.

Elizabeth’s horror, upon learning of the events that took place the previous night, lasted only as long as it took Theo to fill her in on what came afterwards. By which point she seemed pretty tempted to prematurely pioneer history’s first shark-empowering activism group. Theo tried not to take it personally.

“I knew it!” Elizabeth declared as Theo ducked behind a screen in the corner to change into proper nightwear.

“You knew I’d almost been eaten by a shark and that he saved my life just in time to confess that he thinks I’m not actually terrible?”

“No, of course not,” she scoffed in return. “But I knew something had happened. Oh Theo, the care with which he helped you out of that carriage. I’m surprised he didn’t sweep you off your feet and carry you to bed himself.”

“That’d be jumping the gun a bit.”

“Joke all you like, that may not be too far off. He clearly means to court you! He can’t even wait a full day to begin nudging the matter forward. Oh, I could kiss that shark, I really could.”

When she emerged from behind the screen – mostly hoping Elizabeth wouldn’t take note of the men’s nightshirt now draped over the top of it – the damn tremor was back in her limbs. And while she didn’t notice the discarded clothing, she did notice that. Immediately she frowned, dark eyes serious rather than gleeful.

“I didn’t mean to make light of it,” she said, an apology in her voice. “Are you-”

“I’m fine,” Theo replied quickly. “Just…a long night. A complicated one.”

One that left her with many dilemmas.

A few hours of sleep was followed by a visit from the local doctor – for the sake of her nerves rather than her physical wellbeing – and by midday, Theo was fully dressed and in the drawing room, albeit with her feet propped up on a footstool, and a blanket draped across her. As if they weren’t in the Caribbean. She might’ve been more of a smartarse about it if her hands and feet hadn’t still been absolutely freezing, a sign that her body was still in high-alert mode, even if the doctor had plied her with some concoction that eased her mind up a little.

Were it not for James’ promised visit, she suspected she’d have been banned from rising and dressing at all. But since he had promised to visit, and Elizabeth’s priorities were impossible to reshuffle, she found herself laced into a gown of cool blue, her hair in a low, curling bun at the nape of her neck so as not to tempt the headache that kept trying to break through ever since she’d awoken.

It appeared that, even during the few hours she slept, word had spread through the town regarding her ordeal, for the sitting room was utterly jam-packed with flowers. Most of them came with cards insisting that she should let the senders know the moment she was up to receiving visitors, so that they could check in on her in person. A thinly veiled request to hear the full story directly from her, really, but she did hope her ordeal might buy her five minutes of rest from the machinations of Amelia Simmonds and her gang of idiots…right up until they found out about the thawing between she and Port Royal’s most eligible bachelor. Then they’d despise her more than ever.

When James did turn up, though, once again properly dressed with his wig and hat atop his head, Theo thought that the hatred would well be worth it. Especially considering that now, rather than watching her with distrust as he had in the beginning, or even just guardedness as he had thereafter, there was instead that heart-rendingly soft expression that would seem utterly impossible according to those who’d only seen him in his professional mode.

“I am going to check up on our tea and luncheon,” Elizabeth announced before they’d even had a chance to take a breath after greetings were offered.

It wasn’t improper – not in a house with this many servants. A footman still lingered in the corner of the very room, waiting to fulfil any request they might have. Of course, he could have very easily been sent to check up on how their tea and sandwiches were coming along, but that wouldn’t achieve Elizabeth’s ends, so Theo kept quiet on it. Mostly because she felt mortifyingly shy enough as it was, and while she could take a joke as well as the next person, she didn’t want to sit through an hour of Elizabeth’s help where this was concerned.

“How are you feeling?” he came to perch on the sofa beside her, leaving one cushion’s worth of space between them.

“Restless,” she admitted. “How are you?”

“I’ve faced worse,” he said, with a sort of mild boastfulness that had her smiling.

“Just any other night for you then, was it?”

“I wouldn’t say that,” that softness was back again, his eyes flickering briefly towards her lips, and Theo blushed.

 “The, er, prescribed method of recovery around here isn’t my usual go-to,” she explained.

“What is your preferred method?”

“Swimming,” she had to stop and laugh at the look he gave her when she said that. “Don’t worry, I’m not about to go bolting down to the beach when nobody’s looking. It’ll be a while before I get back in the water.”

“What happened was a stroke of incredibly bad luck,” he said, after thinking for a moment. “You should not allow it to keep you from what you enjoy.”

Theo smiled, unable to help it, because that was…that was sweet, actually. Not just the sentiment, but the fact that he was making the effort to offer that reassurance – because it was clear that doing so was not yet entirely within the realms of his comfort zone. But they did need to get used to this…this new dynamic between them. It followed so quickly on from a bad argument, and forgiveness and trust that still felt fragile on both sides. She didn’t think it was entirely unreasonable to worry that one wrong joke, one spell of teasing that went too far, would shatter it all.

Getting on well for a longer span of time wasn’t something they’d yet mastered, was it? And there was more worry still on her side – because she wasn’t stupid enough to think he’d forgotten that there were explanations as to her past that she had not yet offered. And now he knew that Elizabeth knew. While that could help, while it would hopefully reassure him that it was nothing too sinister – for she hadn’t been turned out of the mansion – she also suspected it would only deepen his curiosity further.

And, if they really did manage to make it a week or two without arguing again, curiosity could swiftly turn to hurt that she would tell Elizabeth, but not him. All right, she hadn’t told Elizabeth of her own volition, but he didn’t know that.

“Hiking was always another go-to,” she sighed. “’Til my legs felt fit to drop off. Again, though, I don’t think that’s very feasible here. Not today, at least.”

“Would a turn about the gardens do as a substitute?”

“God, yes.”

If she had to stay cooped up indoors all day, she’d go mad.

The day outside was gloriously sunny, but with a cool and soothing breeze that broke up the stifling heat and allowed her to really enjoy the brilliant blue cloudless sky, rather than wilting under the heat.

“Sorry, I’m a bit fuzzy,” she wrinkled her nose as they walked. “The doctor insisted on giving me something for my nerves, and in hindsight I’m pretty sure it was an opiate.”

Opioid use was one particular ride she thought to save for later in life, when things got really stale, but it had been foisted on her in her twenties, and she just felt a bit floaty and nauseous for her troubles.

“Did it work?”

“A little bit. But it’s not the sort of thing I want to rely on. It’s not like it won’t all still be waiting for me when this stuff wears off – so it needs to be tackled head-on, instead. For efficiency’s sake, if nothing else.”

The smile he gave at that was strangely approving. She’d have to get used to his approval, then.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course.”

“I…look, I don’t know how this courting thing works.”

She didn’t even know if it was some sort of glaring taboo to address it so directly here and now, but she hoped he’d at least appreciate her frankness. And, thank god, he didn’t suddenly go pale or seem all that horrified at all. Mostly just surprised.

“You don’t?” his eyebrows raised a little.

“Why the shock? Did you have me pegged as someone with a string of suitors littering the ground behind her?”

“Boasting all manner of mortal wounds, at that,” he replied drily.

Theo grinned, and then she laughed, but she knew he was waiting for some sort of elaboration.

“Back home is…it’s a different world. And that’s an understatement. Nothing works the same way here as it does there. And even if it did, this sort of thing just…wasn’t a priority. I never paid it much mind.”

“So you’ve never been courted? None have made…overtures?”

“Not by English standards. Oh, don’t look so shocked.”

It wasn’t even much of a lie. In the sense that he knew the word, she hadn’t been. Nobody around here was inviting anybody for a McDonald’s and a cheeky kiss at three in the morning after a night out. Unless that was the next step here, she really was ignorant as all hell as to how things would proceed.

“Of course I’m shocked,” he huffed a laugh – but not a mean-spirited one. “You are…you are beautiful. And intelligent. Witty, too.”

The compliments were delivered after a brief moment of awkward hesitation, but once he began he seemed to find it easier – which was exactly when Theo started finding it difficult, blushing and looking away. He wasn’t happy to let that go uncommented on, either.

“…Even if you’ve a strange way of finding it easier to accept jokes about a hypothetical murderous past than compliments on your countenance.”

Now she did look at him, arching an eyebrow and fighting a smile.

“Don’t get too cocky. You’re criminally handsome, your voice is unreal, and – stop me if this is going too far – you’re an excellent swimmer in the face of shark infested waters.”

When she’d made the joke warning him to stop her, a brief glimmer of alarm had played across his face, like he was expecting her to say something really out of pocket. So, instead, when she ended how she did, he rolled his eyes – fondly, though – before her earlier compliments seemed to register and he flushed just as she had.

“See? Now we’re both blushing,” she pointed out smugly.

He cleared his throat, but appeared content to let the matter lie there. Theo resisted the urge to draw up a scoreboard.

“You said not by English standards. Are Irish standards so different?” he asked.

“That difference can’t be overstated,” she muttered. “I’m just wondering…you’re…I mean, the expectation isn’t that…”

“Please, speak freely,” he reassured – despite his own, very visible, discomfort.

“This isn’t the sort of thing where there’s a wedding planned for two weeks from now, is it?”

Things were different in this time. Back home, even acknowledging, factually speaking, that marriage was a thing that existed this early on would be a bad idea. But here, marriage, more often than not, was a business arrangement rather than a relationship in the sense of the word that she was familiar with. A few weeks to come to the conclusion that they could, in fact, spend more than an hour together without wanting to commit murder, and then it was off to popping out babies.

“I’ve no intention of rushing you,” he answered, clearing his throat and suddenly finding his shoes very interesting. “Nor…nor this. The last few weeks have been regrettable. I think we both need time in which to find our footing before we worry about blazing ahead.”

Theo nodded, relieved.

“And…” he paused, then pushed through his hesitation. “I did rather doubt that you’d wish to be married without your father present to witness it, or offer his permission. Given what I have heard of the bond you share with him. I expect he should need to be located first. And I assure you, if he does not surface in due course, I shall be happy to use whatever resources are at my disposal to seek him out-”

Maybe it was the medicine – and if it wasn’t, she was still going to blame it anyway – but Theo found her vision very quickly blurring with tears, and his eye was far too keen to miss it.

“Making you weep was the very last thing I desired to do,” he sighed softly.

“No, it’s…” she paused, sniffed, and then shook her head as she wrapped her arms around herself. “They’re not the worst kind of tears. It’s just…that was sweet. Of you to say. Of you to think of.”

“I cannot be the first to have done so, surely?”

“Elizabeth understands. How couldn’t she? She and her father…”

“The ever-present aide-memoire must be challenging,” he allowed.

“Sometimes. It’s nice that she understands, though. I had friends back home who hated their parents. Never understood that me n’ my dad were…well, we were friends.”

“I see no reason for you to speak of such matters in the past tense,” he said gently.

Didn’t he? That was the problem, wasn’t it. If anything, it was almost easier when she thought he hated her – or at least that he didn’t return her feelings. This whole situation was a glaring example of how folk should be careful what they wished for, because she’d damn well gotten it and now she was left with a dilemma that was far more tricky than heartache.

Or maybe she could just think that because she no longer had to deal with that heartache. Not in the same way, at least.

Because what did this all mean? As far as returning home went? Whether he knew it or not, even by just walking with her about these gardens, James had changed the course of his life significantly. The one it was meant to take. Even if that course led somewhere that she now knew damn well she could never allow. Had she been able to take feelings out of the matter and look at the bare facts, it wouldn’t be right to see him take such a leap of faith and then still plot to leave – then, adding feelings into the mix, it only made her more inclined to stay.

But staying meant…well, not going back. And that thought was a lot to contend with in general, never mind after the night she’d just had.

“To properly answer your question, courting is typically a matter of earning the approval of the family of the lady in question, as well as that of the lady herself. Which…makes our set of circumstances unique. For the time being. Although I cannot pretend that I’m not relieved that I have time to win back your regard before I have to do so with your father. I suspect the former would strongly impact the latter.”

“You talk like you haven’t already managed it.”

In response to that, he watched her carefully.

“One good deed cannot undo all of the ill I have wrought thus far,” he pointed out.

Theo pushed down her discomfort at how close those words came to the ones he was destined to say to Elizabeth on the Dutchman, shortly before his demise.

“You fumbled the ball a bit,” she said. “You didn’t try to murder me. I’m not going to exact a pound of flesh.”

Although it was far easier to be all magnanimous about it now that they were through it. Judging by the rueful look he fixed her with, he was very aware of that.

“My dad’s always been the sort where as long as I’m happy, he’s happy, so you…you shouldn’t worry. About that. I do hope, though, that all of this doesn’t make life awkward for you.”

“If you’re referring to the opinions of Miss Simmonds and her pack of wolves, I care little for what they have to say on this matter – nor on any other, for that matter.”

“Oh, not them. Sod them,” she snorted. “But…the Swanns…Governor Swann, I mean – Elizabeth’s practically been doing cartwheels all morning, but her father…I know how well the two of you get on. This won’t make things awkward, will it? He wanted you and Elizabeth to- well, I don’t want to be the evil lodger who came in and spoiled it all.”

“I imagine he’d be more upset were Miss Swann at all upset by what has come to pass. And while I respect her greatly still, even the mightiest saint would not nudge one they hoped to marry towards another. Had she been devastated by these recent changes, the Governor would take a less favourable view on it, but given that it makes her just as happy as we now are, all will be well.”

She didn’t quite manage to keep the surprise from her face, and he caught it – offering a small, amused smile in turn.

“It’s remarkable,” he commented softly, “what one can see upon no longer hoping to see something different.”

“And what are you hoping to see now, then?” she asked.

“More of you,” he answered – apparently without thinking, for then he realised how it sounded and balked, a flush immediately rising to his face. “That is, er, I wish to visit with you more frequently, and see if…er…well- I mean, of course, I did not mean that-”

“You’ll have to ask very, very nicely,” she interrupted.

The joke was a gamble; not only because of the time period, but because of how tentative everything was between them. Usually Theo was all for gambles just like that, but in this instance she found herself watching his expression nervously…and breathing a heavy sigh of relief when, upon registering them properly, he faltered, and then he laughed. All right, it wasn’t a stomach-grabbing, doubled over with tears in the eyes sort of laugh, but it broke the tension.

“We’ll…get better at this,” he said finally, shaking his head. “We’ll find our footing, as we proceed. If, indeed, you wish to proceed. I’ve no wish to hold you to anything to said…or did…last night, in your shaken state.”

His determination to make sure only to secure her agreement to this under the best circumstances possible only made her feel all the more guilty for all she kept from him. With images of home whirling throughout her mind, and visions of his opinion of her once again doing a complete u-turn if he knew where home really was for her, the most answer she could offer was a nod, and that nod was enough to have him smiling.

“I don’t think we’re doing too badly,” she pointed out quietly.

“I suppose not, if we count today as a clean slate.”

“Last night had its moments.”

This time he didn’t blush or fluster, only smiled a little as he bowed his head. “It did.”

For a while, they were content to walk quietly, stealing glances here and there and then blushing when they caught the other doing the same thing. It was so disgustingly cute that Theo was tempted to hate herself for it.

[yellowwithalisp]

i would love some more james x reader!

love u btw :))

Stuck with me. James Sunderland x reader.

I hiss in pain as James gently cleaned out my injured shoulder with a warm washcloth. We were both out looking for supplies earlier today when we were both ambushed by a monster. We didn't see where it was coming from. But I pushed James out of the way before he was injured. The thing cut my shoulder pretty badly and James was able to shoot at killing it. I tried to hide how bad the cut was. I told him that we can keep going but he said no. He look horrified at what I'd done and he brought me back to the apartment we were both using as a bunker at the moment.

I was sitting on the couch with my tank top on as he was cleaning out my injury. He looked worried. Really worried. When we first met I asked him some questions about himself and he did the same for me. I found out that he was military- well. Former military but, he probably lost some friends that way. And what I did definitely didn't help. I hissed when he started cleaning it out more he gave me an apologetic look before he kept going.

"Please… Don't do that again. This cuts bad enough as it is."

"I had my gun, I would have been ok-"

"You didn't even have your weapon ready."

I guess he was keeping me closer eye on me than I thought. He noticed that I hadn't had time to reload my gun.

"We both didn't see where that thing came from. It just came out of the blue from the back of the shop! Who knows what would happen if I didn't push out of the way?"

He paused for a moment.

"If you were a little bit closer to it… It would have killed you I….. I don't want to risk seeing you hurt like that…"

I looked away from him, he sounded so hurt… Worried. Everything happened so fast. One moment we were both looking for supplies, the next moment I was pushing him out of the way and I was attacked. I saw the horrified look on his face before he raised his gun and shot the monster dead. The moment is still replaying in his mind. The rain kept hitting the window on the apartment. Filling in the silence slightly. I looked over at it watching The raindrops. Not like you can see much outside past the fog.

"You could have died. If you were just a bit further into that attack… It would have hit your head instead of your shoulder. You could have been-… you could have-"

He didn't need to finish that sentence, I looked back at him with the sad frown on my face.

"If I didn't do anything, you were the one who was going to be attacked. I wasn't just going to stand there and not do anything, James. I don't want to see you hurt either."

He sighed. Clearly thinking about something in his mind but not saying it. He turned to get a needle and thread ready to stitch up the injury before he paused. He lowered the needle slightly and look back at me.

"If…. We see that Pyramid Head thing… You need to promise me you'll run."

"Yeah, I'll run away with you and make sure we both get the safety."

He gave me a sight stern look.

"That's… Not what I mean. That things after me, not you."

"Yeah, and I'm not just going leave you alone to fight it. I'm going to help."

He started to close the wound as he talked.

"It could kill you. I don't want to see-"

"-It could very well kill you too. We both don't want to see each other hurt."

He paused says he took a deep breath before continuing to sew the wound shut. I watched him the whole time.

"You're stuck with me, James. Like it or not I'm not going to leave you like That. I promise to help you and that's exactly what I'm going to do. We're both going to make it out of this town alive."

For once a rarest small smile appear on his face it was a nice sight as he let out a soft chuckle. I smiled back as he finished putting fresh bandages over the injury before standing up and offering his hand to help me off the couch. I took it as a silly stood up. He was monitoring the Band-Aid to make sure no bleeding started. I didn't let go of his hand right away. I gave it a gentle squeeze.

"It's been a long day for both of us… We should get some sleep before going back out tomorrow."

He gave me a tired smile and not his head. Still holding his hand I let him back to the bedroom so he could close the door behind us. I slowly climbed into bed and he made sure that I wasn't laying on my bad shoulder before he laid down as well. We were both facing each other as my eyes started to close. He had a slight fluster look on his face but he closed his eyes as well. Neither of us said anything as we listen to the rain falling. I was focusing on both the rain and his gentle breathing before my mind took over and I fell asleep. He stayed awake a little bit longer making sure that I was okay before he also close his eyes and let's see take over him.

[lilliesofinspirationvalley]

Quick overview on Lilli's Pokémon... Rewrite? Verse? Idk what this is lmao

All I really know for sure is that I have a lot of thoughts about pokemon's lore and plotlines. I want to try my hand at connecting stuff with a little more continuity because it's fun! There's no way I can get to everything because we'd be here all day, but I figured I'd set up the basic premise and include some fun notes/headcanons!

My general idea is focusing from the anime (up until Horizons) while also including more components from the games (such as more of the SWSH plot/rivals, Emma from XY's post game, Zinnia and the Delta Episode, etc). I also include a multitude of my own original characters, along with some of my friends' (most prominently @starkitters's goobers). Storylines are generally divided up by "sagas" based on the original generation they take place in! I may include some Horizons as it would coincide with ScaVio, but I need to catch up with that series (though from the looks of it it’s all pretty banger)!

This concept is definitely going to mostly get smaller things of art/comics/drabbles and whatnot rather than a full-fic/comic series or whatever because... oh gosh there's way too much. Also obviously not going to cover every single anime episode bit by bit because that would make me insane!!

As for a general timeline— a lot of this main stuff would kinda unfold in the span of 2-3 years? I might make it longer, but then again a lot can happen in even just a month, y’know? Generally, Ash would stay 10 between Indigo League-Advanced, 11 by DP-XYZ, and 12 during SuMo-Journeys. The Legends Arceus shenanigans would probably be during Journeys and the ScaVio stuff is definitely after (I'm thinking potentially a year or so after Journeys' saga would be wrapped up? Though it could even be immediately after idk).

There is. A ton of information even just in this little intro post, and a lot of it isn’t even fully concrete either. But if you find the time to read through it all, I’d really appreciate feedback!

General/Introductory Information

Earlier involvement from rivals/evil teams such as the Galar Rivals, N and Team Plasma, Team Skull, etc! All of that will be covered more in the respective sagas they all appear in, lol

I'm kind of on the fence for whether or not more player characters would be included? May, Dawn, and Serena are canon companions/major characters the anime, I'm including Brendan as Birch's son and Lucas as Dawn's twin brother, Akari and Rei are both going to be native to Hisui, etc.

So far, the mc roles that are taken up by OCs include my characters Lilac (involved in XYZ/SuMo but becomes a Swsh Gym Challenger), Stacy (Emmet's daughter, travels back to Hisui to find her missing Uncle), and Chrys (main Naranja student involved with Nemona, Arven, Penny, and also Kieran and Blueberry stuff). @starkitters's oc Arthur also kinda takes an mc role as Hop's bestie/neighbor and the two of them work with the knight-wolf duo (Zacian and Zamazenta) instead of Ash and Goh just kinda... feeling shoved in there. Ash and his Journeys buddies still get involved in the Darkest Day shenanigans, but another Gym challenger/Hop's bestie)

While characters like Red and Blue/Green aren't really going to be involved since Ash and Gary already kinda take up those roles, there is potential in making like... Ash's dad a Red-esque character? A character based on Leaf? We've also gotten cameos of Jimmy (Gold/Ethan) and Marina (Krys) from the old OVAs and Lyra is briefly seen during DP... but tbh we get so little on them it wouldn't be too difficult to make the OVAs an au or something? I'll have to play with all of it.

The Black and White/Best Wishes saga is going to get some major storyline reworks. Team Rocket (Jessie, James, Meowth, and Wobuffet, etc) aren't going to start actually doing evil shit/working directly with Giovanni out of nowhere. Rather, they get have their own route uncovering stuff about N and Team Plasma, which follows more of the storyline from BW1. Characters from BW2 like Colress and Hugh are definitely still going to appear and their deal won't really change too much, but I'll have to figure out their involvement (especially with Colress he’s got a lot of potential for his own stuff imo). Cheren and Bianca are in a "halfway" sorta period and acting as apprentices for Lenora and Juniper respectively.

I'm mostly going off of the Scarlet side of the ScaVio storyline, with Naranja Academy being in Mesagoza and Sada being the professor inside Area Zero. However, Uva Academy and Turo are also going to be involved! Essentially, Naranja is a school that focuses on helping its students figure out and prepare for careers connected with pokemon (trainers, coordinators, breeders, doctors/nurses, etc) in a more general sense. Uva Academy in Zapapico is primarily a research school (especially prominent for professors and scientists) while Blueberry in Unova specializes in professional battling (League Members, Battle Facilities, etc). Naranja provides courses and connections for careers Uva and Blueberry have niches in, but it's the difference between attending a more well-rounded school and attending a specialized one, if that makes sense.

Turo develops the Terastral Orbs used throughout the Paldea region, while Sada focused on Area Zero and develops the time machine that brings past and future Paradox Pokemon. Their relationship is super complicated and messy /pos. I don't think they ever got officially married, but they're 100% divorced in spirit.

Since the games kinda write Sada and Turo interchangeably (even outside of the whole AI deal) and they're described in the same ways besides pronouns and stuff, I want to make the professors a little more distinct from each other. Sada dives head-first into her passions and doesn't like anything or anyone holding her back, Turo is more conscientious but can come off a lot colder than he intends sometimes, etc.

I know most people hc the Subway twins (Ingo and Emmet), Elesa, Skyla, etc to be in like their late 20s/early 30s... but since I gave Emmet a daughter who's the mc of the Legends Arceus saga... they're actually gonna be slightly younger than Lusamine (around 38 or so) lmao. Let's get more nice and hot older adults up in here

Silver (Giovanni's son/Johto rival) is included! Since there's already a baby Lugia in the anime named Silver and that's just... too perfect, this rendition of the character is going to be named Sage (Yomogi in Japanese). I'm still figuring out his personality and stuff since Paul's whole "be the strongest/pokemon are just tools" thing was pulled from game!Silver, but I kinda want to play with Sage being a little more mellowed out by the time we would meet him in Johto Journeys? He acts as an assistant for Professor Elm, and is surprisingly great with raising pokemon despite the edgy tough-guy act he usually keeps up. He and Brock can nerd out about breeding and nuturing techniques and stuff.

An original team I made myself, Team Comet, acts as a foil of sorts to Team Flare. They’re fighting over (literal) life and death

I’m not entirely sure how to make this work, but I really want AZ’s ultimate weapon to be the (super buffed up) prototype of the healing machines used in pokemon centers. Like… the current machines extract infinity energy from deceased pokemon’s remains (such as ashes and stuff) instead of. Y’know. Draining living pokemon of that energy directly, causing them to die. AZ himself developed this practice as an attempt to redeem himself from all of the tragedy he caused in the name of his Floette. His full name is Azrael Jovalie… making him a pivotal ancestor to the Joy family.

Several large family-clans are the primary leaders of international organizations. The Joy family runs the pokemon centers and overall healthcare facilities, Jenny family runs the international and local police departments, the Jordan family are firefighters who provide aid and try to prevent natural disasters, etc (they may be involved with pokemon rangers? I’m not entirely sure). Others are obviously welcome to work in these forces as well, and members of these families aren’t (usually) forced into working the family business if they want to pursue other goals.

Obviously the anime has all the service-people look identical to safe on time and everything, but I think making unique designs and characters for the Joys, Jennys, etc is a fun concept! No matter their gender or ethnicity, almost every member of a poke-business family have hair and eye colors in the same spectrum. For example, almost every Joy has pink hair that’s styled in circular/drop shapes to some capacity, and blue eyes. Jennys have teal/turquoise hair in lightning shaped styles, and brown eyes. Jordans have charcoal black hair that looks like smoky wisps, and fiery orange/gold eyes.

Xerosic (creepy ass scientist dude who forces you to push a button and coaxes Emma into his expansion suit testing) was originally from Ultra Megalopolis. I’m not entirely sure how to connect him to all the Team Flare stuff??? Or even how exactly he ends up in Kalos but he was part of the Ultra Recon Squad and volunteered to travel to the “main” pokemon world for the to see where Necrozma might try to take all the light next. But when he actually shows up there, he just. Doesn’t care. He’s so fascinated by all of the different pokemon and how energy manifests in such different ways… All he wants to do is learn everything he can about it

Eternatus is an Ultra Beast! The ricochet from AZ’s Ultimate Weapon woke it up and caused the first darkest day.

Builing more from the Adventures manga, Galar was already starting to lose its energy, but the issue is actually going to be addressed far more openly. As Eternatus slept for thousands of years, its dynamax energy gradually dies down to the point where it can’t really be used as a proper resource— especially not to power so many of Galar’s communities. Rose definitely pushed a lot of the reliance of dynamax energy in recent history, but I’m certain Galar has relied on Eternatus for even longer. What makes Rose’s plan to wake Eternatus up again even more messed up (besides putting so many people and pokemon in danger), is that he’s essentially harvesting Eternatus of its energy: Wake it up to get the dynamax levels up again, (have Leon) catch it so it doesn’t go back to sleep… Rose sees the pokemon less as an actual creature and more like a walking power plant, definitely in part with how different Eternatus looks from “normal” pokemon.

The original Sun/Moon storyline with Lusamine and her kids happens first (Lusamine is a mix of the doting from the anime and her abuse from the games… she’s messy /pos). Then, around the time Ash and his friends meet Poipole, that’s when we’d meet the Ultra Recon squad and get into the Necrozma stuff.

Y’know Goh’s whole thing with wanting to catch Mew? How Jessie’s mom died in pursuit of Mew? And the eventual data she found was used for Mewtwo’s creation? Do you see how I’m connecting the dots?

Misc Information

Harley is one of Karen's cousins, making them both descendants of Sanqua (Galaxy Team's Construction Leader) and her little brother, Melli (Diamond Clan Warden of Coronet Highlands). Obviously... we can tell who took after who even after all these years, lmao. They also have a baby cousin (one of my ocs lol) named Jimson from Laverre City (Kalos) who is currently one of the Blueberry League Club's Biome Leaders! He specializes in psychic types... and is lowkey a chuunibyou (really commits to the wizard/witch act)

While Serena is in Hoenn, she meets Lisia and the two become girlfriends besties! They’re like twelve so idk if they’d actually do anything with their feelings but the mutual pining is very very apparent. Their ship name is Dreamshowshipping!

Chloe is highkey a lesbian. That’s just always how I’ve interpreted her??? She’s constantly shocked that Ash knows all of these cute girls. I think her and Iris eventually being a couple would be very cute. If Flowershipping isn’t taken, I shall call them that!

Because I am not immune to @yamujiburo’s propaganda of Hanamusashipping (Hiii Kiana if you’re reading through all of this I am so honored and so sorry it’s so much gjdhdhdhs), I love the idea that Jessie and James start a poly/ish thing with Delia!! By that I mean Delia and James are more so queerplatonic and Jessie is smooching both of them lmao. Ash’s step parents have been here the whole time yippee!!

Arven gets a harem to make up for all the trauma (/j but also not). He gets 2 boyfriends (Giacomo and Drayton) and a girlfriend (Copaia, my main Uva student character). They are all bisexual, bet u didn’t know that ;p

Carmen and Amarys are lesbians and girlfriends!! They’ve been dating for 2 years until the main events of the ScaVio saga

I’m not entirely sure what to do with Indigo League’s Elite 4 since it changes between Kanto and Johto?? Will and Karen are definitely well-known trainers (and possibly even coordinators?) in their own right, but idk if or when they would take Lorelai and Agatha’s places. They might become members around Journeys (since I’m treating that as a general 2 years since Indigo League), but that’s very much up in the air.

Xerosic straight up ditches his daughter (Zossie). Which. He was never that good of a parent anyways but.

Klara is the younger sister of Lacey’s mother (who I have as an oc), making her an aunt! She gave Lacey her Galarian slowpoke/slowbrow.

Lucy is Kieran and Carmine’s older cousin. I know the go-to is that she’s their mom but Lucy’s vibe is more around her early 20s or so to me.

Because I adore the concepts I’ve found from @critterbitter and their mutuals, Ingo and Emmet are Drayden’s nephews. Which makes Stacy and Drayton second cousins— there’s so much comedic potential there you have no idea. Keep in mind that Drayden is also paternal figure to Iris, and Hop and Leon are her cousins… the family tree gets real complicated real fast lmao

[waspredteeth]

tiny appreciation post/insane rambling about Tom Bronson

re-re-re-reading JSA 2007. Tom Bronson is a good character, fight me. Everyday I claw at the air in rage for the many characters introduced into the JSA and then never given any more detail. There's just too many people in the '07 JSA, man. Too Many. Tom is unfortunately one of those comic characters that has a super niche fanbase and nothing to follow up on outside of JSA.

so, in light of me inserting him into the TAXONOMY!verse and putting the guy smack dab into the Battle for the Cowl and Bette Kane's radar - I'm just gonna gush a little bit about his first appearance. (and include some headcanons for the au).

Putting aside my favorite Old Man Trio, can I just say that I like how pretty the art makes Tom look? The first time I read this comic, I got a very James Dean/1950's bad boy vibe from Tom. I'd like to think it was a little bit intentional in order to parallel Ted Grant and his eternal Old Americanism. At least it's something I'll keep in mind.

Getting into the main post though, throughout his first appearance and the later fight with Vandal Savage, its made clear that Tom is surprisingly knowledgable about superheroes and the surrounding goings-on of them. He knows who Wildcat is (though obviously Ted is canonically an old hero, he has to be somewhat well-known) and he instantly recognizes Vandal Savage.

(sidenote: Ted looks like a stiff Barbie doll being thrown into the kitchen there)

I take the fact that he recognizes and correctly identifies heroes/villains as a point towards my "Tom is an observant and analytical person" hc.

Earlier on in issue #3, we see that Tom gets right to heart of things when talking with Ted and that he's quick to reach (somewhat right) conclusions.

Despite this, he doesn't really show it anymore as he quickly drifts into a side character spot as the comic run goes in. I choose to believe that Tom doesn't voice his thoughts to the JSA bc he doesn't know them well and he prefers to make snarky remarks in conversation instead of inserting himself into anything personal.

Later on in the series, Tom is reluctant to learn how to box and is shown to dislike fighting in general.

Given the whole estranged-dad-is a famous boxing champ thing, Tom probably doesn't like boxing specifically because of Ted. He says that he doesn't like fighting because of his were-cat form, which it's assumed that he would unconsciously shapeshift into whenever he got into conflict.

(sidenote: why is this the only time I see his inner monologue in comics *sob*)

This distinct trait of disliking combat, at least the personal fist-flying kind, is definitely something I'm including in the au.

Both Tom and Bette are chosen for the au partially because I like them, but also because they have distinct personalities and philosophies that clash with baby Damian Wayne who's coming fresh into the Bat-scene. There will be conflict as Damian will dislike and mostly abhor Tom's personal disdain for fighting. Tom doesn't seem to fight unless necessary and he canonically prefers to rely heavily on his powers to get out of fights. He's only shown getting more violent than usual after Grant Emerson's death, which is pretty reasonable. They were clearly fast and close friends.

Hooo boy Grant should not have died. Especially in Blackest Night, of all things. Despite my personal dislike of it though, I'm still flip-flopping between leaving him dead and then resurrecting him in the au - or just ignoring his canon death altogether. On one hand, I like Grant and I like their friendship so I want him to appear in the au somewhere (alongside Maxine). On the other, his death allows for a just a little bit of dramatic character development/detailing for Tom that lets me explain why he's not with the JSA and instead is in Gotham. Choices.....

Ending the post here with the final smorgasbord of headcanons and blurbs for the au.

he is Mexican-American, but distant from his roots because his mom raised him single and cut-off from her larger family.

he and Bette will enter a relationship. It came to me in a vision and I decided to implement it bc why not. Tom/Bette is bi4bi.

they start dating bc they both strike me as "why not?" type of people, but it develops relatively quickly after Damian enters the picture and they have to co-parent/watch over him as Gotham collapses in slow-motion around them

its shown in the background of some of the panels above that he's into music, specifically guitar and piano

so he will be in a band at some point

bc Alfred does not have the same relationship with Damian in the au, Tom is one who gives him/lets him keep the kitten

(also bc I don't subscribe to the "League of Assassins hate/kill animals" idea - Tom bonds with Damian over a mutual care for animals/cats)

Tom and Damian are a rocky pair, and it takes them longer to get along than Bette does with Damian

He treats Damian as the annoying little brother he never had, and their sense of humor kinda lines up

Tom fully encourages Damian’s sarcasm and rude comebacks

Believe me, there will be a scene where Tom unconsciously purrs in his werecat form and Damian definitely notices

adding to the maybe Grant stays dead part, I'm still iffy on whether to include a one-sided crush on Tom's part that adds to the angst

unlike Grant though, I'm definitely keeping Yolanda Montez alive

Tom and Yolanda have a semi-distant sibling relationship that's a little awkward bc of the age gap and differing experiences with Ted

Might also resurrect Jake Grant, I need the Wildcat family reunion

Ted and Tom still talk, and even though Tom doesn't stick with the JSA, he's still regularly invited to whatever gathering they have

Tom still keeps up with working out/a bit of training - but he focuses on defense and avoidance instead of out-right conflict

Tom got into heroism bc of Ted, but he stuck with it bc of Grant and Maxine

he does not have strict ideals or a drive to save the world, but he likes to focus on the small things and helps where he can

[redhatmeg]

So I decided to read “Wanted: Lucky Luke”

I really liked what Bonhomme did with The Man Who Shot Lucky Luke (I think it’s the “dark” Lucky Luke done right), so when I sat to read his second book, I was curious what he will do this time.

And boy, was it a field trip! There were moments when I was really like:

And it was mostly because this time we’ve got some familiar faces and lore expanding. But it also has this little theme of blame and innocence, when it comes to Luke.

More under the cut.

The general premise of this comic is that: 1) there is, apparently, a reward for Lucky Luke and some of his old foes decided to use this opportunity to get on him; and 2) three sisters are on their way to town called Liberty to sell their herd of cows, so Luke decides to help them get there safely (of course, all three of them fall for him and try to seduce him, to no avail).

So the first time I’ve realized what was going on, was when I saw this:

I was like: “Wait, Patronimo? Like, the guy from Apache Canyon who sometimes pops-up in The New Adventures Lucky Luke?” And then I saw his face that looked almost like in the original comics.

And since we’ve got Patronimo, I thought: “Well, the guy who previously shot at Luke might be someone from his past.” and sure enough when he showed up again, he looked familiar...

This silhuette and the attire made me think of only one guy...

Now, if you’re in Lucky Luke fandom for a long time, you’ve problably heard about this fun fact that originally Luke killed five people (six, if we include his evil double) - the original Daltons and Phil Defer/Phil Steel/Phil Wire (there are different versions of his surname). Later, the censorship changed it and so Phil got wounded in the showndown with Luke. The wound in his arm actually crippled him so he would never be able to fire a gun.

I suspected that Phil would follow Luke not as much for reward money but for revange.

And I was close:

Earlier, the three sisters - seeing his wanted poster - assumed that he must have killed someone to earn $500 price on his head and he said that he never killed anyone. Giving that this is supposed to be a “darker” Lucky Luke story, I expected some referances to original Daltons and Phil Defer/Wire/Steel. And one might cry: “Cop-put!” with Phil suddenly havng an adult son, but it certainly makes sense for him to be here rather than dead/crippled Phil.

Of course he gets defeated, but the girls are suspicious of Luke and decide to turn him to the sheriff in Liberty... which turns out to be abandoned. But not completely.

You will naver guess who’s there. You probably already know, it’s going to be one of Lucky Luke’s old foes, but which one? Billy Kid? Jesse James? Pat Poker? Our four beautiful idiots?

Oh, no. None of them. It’s actually...

Of all the Lucky Luke villains I didn’t expect to see JOSS FUCKING JAMON! This is the guy who appeared back in 1958 and has never reappeared since. But here he is, alongside with his gang that is also pretty accurate:

The big guy and the farmer guy are here too, see:

Not only that, but they are joined by...

I don’t remember there being any Dick Dalton in the comics, but I can see the resamblance. His face looks like more rounded version of classical Dalton face. He’s even more similar in daylight:

See, Classic Dalton attire (aside from prison stripes, that is).

Anyways, the plot of original comic with Joss Jamon - Lucky Luke vs. Joss Jamon - got kickstarted by him and his gang attacking the town of Los Peltos; and then framing Luke for it. To not get hanged, Luke promised the townspeople that he will catch the Jamon gang within six months.

There is also a plot point where Joss Jamon - being a new mayor of certain town at the border - proposes a reward for Lucky Luke, so I guess choosing Joss Jamon as the antagonist here is meaningful in some way.

Especially because there is actually a trial of Lucky Luke in Lucky Luke vs. Joss Jamon... a trial where the jury consists of bandits - the Daltons, Jesse James, Billy Kid...

But you know, there are actually couple of stories in which the bad guys frame Luke for their crimes or the people in town throw him into arrest for some odd reason. Hell, even in Apache Canyon Patronimo accuses Luke of lying, because of things the other “palefaces” were doing; and punishes him for it.

And you know, I’ve got a feeling that Wanted: Lucky Luke referances all of this - Phil Wire, Patronimo, Joss Jamon - because, on the one hand, Luke is supposed to be this paragon of virtue (and Doc Wedensday’s subplot in The Man Who Shot Lucky Luke was all about preserving these qualities of poor lonesome cowboy) and Phil Wire and original Daltons’ fate was specifically altered to express it; but on the other hand his oppontents blame him for many things and they want to punish him.

And do you remember what was the original motivation for Joe, Jack, William and Averell Dalton to get on Luke in Dalton Cousins?

For bandits Lucky Luke isn’t blameless. For them he is actually the bad guy.

And at first, when I saw Dick Dalton, I thought he had the same motivation - to avenge Bill, Bob Grat and Emmet Daltons. There was even a moment when I thought he was supposed to be Joe Jack, William and Averell combined into one. But it was something else entirely.

Anyway, we will go back to Daltons shortly. Let’s back to the topic of familiar faces.

When it seems that Luke will get torn apart by various parties who want to get him (Joss Jamon, Patronimo, son of Phil, the sisters), finally a cavalry arrives. And at this point I was expecting to see the the commander of the Twentieth Cavalry but no, I’ve got a different colonel Luke had worked with.

It’s colonel O’Nollan from Apache Canyon.

I guess, if we’ve got Patronimo, we may as well get the guy who was fighting with him (also because O’Nollan was looking for his son, kidnapped by Apaches). But this time colonel decides to negotiate with Patronimo, which is nice.

And when O’Nollan is going to take Luke to prison, it turns out that Dick Dalton fabricated the wanted posters so the other bandits will be more eager to help Dick to catch Lucky Luke; and then Dick would give Luke to Joe Dalton.

(A side note - I really like Luke’s response here.)

Okay, one last detail, before I will finish this really long post. There are moments when one of the girls - Cherry - looks like “the bride of Lucky Luke”, miss Jenny.

(Or maybe it’s just my apophenia.)

Anyway, this comicbook is amazing and I want Bonhomme to make more.

[khaleb246]

My Terrible Love Life

Well, where do I begin? My name is Caleb Shone and this is my story. Yeah a really boring intro I can see but what gives, I’m speaking facts here and sorry to say this but the ladies who’s names will appear are changed for certain reasons, dem fit say na lie I dey talk. I don’t want to bore you guys with the history of my life, where I grew up, what made me into the monster that you might think I am as we continue but, if interested, we can make that work in another work or something. Let’s get straight to the point shall we?

Like most western movies, my love story started in grade five or as we call it over here, primary five. Her name was Gloria (like I said earlier, the names have been changed but if your name is Gloria and you were in the same class with me back then, it’s not you ️️) and she was a real beauty. I have always had an affinity for mathematics and I excelled at it. We were seat mates and at first I didn’t like it because I was changed from the back seat reason being my height. Yes I was the shortest there but that’s not the point. We weren’t talking for like two days or something I think, it’s a little blurry now but a classwork was given in mathematics and I solved it and submitted earlier than anyone. When I got back to my seat, she smiled at me and told me to “explain” it for her. Of course I knew this meant to solve it so she could copy and she didn’t really care about me but there was something about that warm smile, it was too radiant and I found myself helping her and some of her gal pals. 

Things went on like this for a while then we both discovered we were of the same tribe but I couldn’t speak my mother tongue so she offered to teach me in exchange for the maths I helped her with and the deal was struck. During the break time we would go out and while playing she would be teaching me and I learned well. As time went on, I got used to being around her. Each time we had eye contact, my heart skipped, when she touched me I felt goosebumps rising. I wanted to tell her how I felt but I couldn’t bring myself to do it, I stayed with this burden for a long time. 

Shortly before the end of the academic session, I told her that I had taken an entrance examination to go to a boarding school for my secondary education and I passed. I felt bad that I was leaving her and I could see she felt a little bad too. Then I was young and innocent, but I knew what a crush meant and what love meant. I loved this lady as I did my sister and no before you have any disgusting thoughts, what I mean is I looked after my sister back then, I was short but whenever she was bullied, she walked to my class and I left with the tall guys of the class for a little intimidation because no one would fear a short senior . Anyways, I loved this girl and she was my first female best friend. I never thought of any romantic relationships or something, I just loved spending time with her but it came to an end when I left the school. I carried this love with me till my senior secondary years before I moved on because distance was a real barrier and we had no means of communicating so I gave up my childish love . Wherever she is now, I still love her and wish the best for her.

From the time I left primary school until my second year in my senior year in secondary school which was roughly about three to four years, I was a nerd and kept to myself, never got involved with the female species, probably because I changed schools a lot and never had time to bond, “James Bond” (sorry I couldn’t help myself ) with anyone so I bonded with my books. 

I was made the president of the drama club and boy did we pull off the best shows, I had a very hardworking team, our narrator with the best voice, Jane, we did have a love-hate relationship. I crushed on her but it didn’t last long then I got annoyed by her, probably because of the way she carried herself. Mostly because of the way she walked which I described back then as the walk steps of a peacock and boy was she proud and snobbish. She left the school and I continued my work as drama president diligently. Mary brought our works to do and helped design our costumes, because of her we pulled off the best Shakespearean shows and more drama details but then came Julia, a tall, slim dark lady with a beautiful smile. She joined the club but never wanted to act. She was always around me and I tried to move round in a way that I’ll always “suddenly” appear beside her. I seem to have forgotten how we started dating but boy did I spend my allowances buying little snacks for her, I spent all on Valentine’s Day too and I didn’t mind. Suddenly she started losing interest in me and started falling for an “alpha” male that was my junior. This guy wasn’t good looking in any single bit. I know you all are probably thinking this is jealousy but no it’s not. I’m not handsome and all that chisel shaped chin and stuff, but the margin between us in terms of good looks was as wide as the distance from Abuja to Benue state. I was a nerd and he was cool so I couldn’t fight that. She left me for him and later that term I also changed schools yet again , this was a curse that didn’t seem to want to end. 

In my final year in secondary school, the class we call SSS3, I met a girl on Facebook, her name, Precious and precious was she. We just started talking and after two days, she told me she was in my school and I was like “Cool, so see you tomorrow?” And she said yeah and we planned to meet the next day being a Friday after club meeting. She didn’t have any picture on her profile so I felt she was just a normal girl in school. Oh yeah I forgot to mention, I donned the cool guy act in this new school and it seemed to be working, I had a lot of friends, all ladies and this was a concern for the school authorities. I knew deep down that I needed to reduce the way I related with them girls but I loved the attention I was getting, this is common for we nerds, we like attention and when we get a taste of it, it’s hard to step down from that height. 

Back to the story, we met after the club meeting and damn was I star struck. Standing before me in a yellow t-shirt and black shorts was Precious. She was really beautiful, perfect nose, nice posture, clear skin and nice shape. Yes I could see it through them shorts. The shorts were a bit tight and she had thick laps. She said hi and I said same and we walked for a bit and went our ways. I went back to my class and told my mates that I was in love.

She came to my class most break periods with her assignments and class works for help and I gladly helped her, mostly maths but I also helped with other subjects. I finally found my courage and asked her out and she took two days to give me a reply, those two days were kinda hell for me, I was battling with myself over her reply, could be a yes or a no I didn’t know and it was torture. I still saw her in school and had to act like I was sane waiting for her. She finally told me to meet her in the library which I did and she whispered yes into my ears. I almost jumped in the library but I composed myself and asked her yes to what and she smiled and got up and left. 

We found our spot, the library and no one dared sat on my spot. I wasn’t an intimidating senior, the whole school loved me so if I asked them to move, they got up without complaining, asked me a question that disturbed them and I provided answers. Yes the whole school knew me as a nerd and Precious knew too and she said she loved that part about me. I later discovered she was also a nerd in a way but a cool nerd. I really loved her so much and till today I blame my foolishness for making me treat her the way I did. If she’s reading this I’m very sorry, I know you said it’s cool but I wish I could rewind time, I wouldn’t be a jerk. 

Things were peachy until my graduation which was when we had our first kiss. I really was in love with this girl, I could do literally anything for her. People who knew about our relationship would say I was a pedophile but that wasn’t the case, I was still a minor and the age gap between us was just two years so being 17 years and dating a 15 year old wasn’t that bad. I held on to this relationship for eight months and we kept calling each other even when I went to the university.  Because of this lady I vowed never to date in university, even now that I write this, I still can’t date a girl from my university, I’ve tried but it never worked and that’s just the way it is.

Every good story has its bad sides. I later heard that we got discovered in school. I left the school to university and she was still there. The principal made schooling hell for her back then. She still held on to me but I didn’t want to be a reason for her to have a bad time in school, so I did something I still regret to this moment. I tried telling her that we should end the relationship and continue when she was done with secondary school because the pressure on her in school made her consider changing schools. She didn’t want to hear it so I met a friend close to her online and tried making her like me so I could ask her out (I never liked this girl, just saw her as a means to an end). We got talking and she agreed to date me. Precious got to hear it and it really pained her so she called it off. When I got back home during the COVID-19 pandemic, I went to meet the principal and told him I was the one who forced her into it, I pinned it all on me for deception and that I got carried away. He was angry but as an A-list student (this man only liked intelligent students so I was on his good and bad sides, the bad sides for always being found amongst ladies) he let me off with a warning telling me that I’ll see girls in university who would take my mind off her in a heartbeat and I’m still waiting for such girls .

So that was the end of the tale of Precious. This lasted for eight months and this has been the longest relationship I’ve ever maintained. Most relationships I get into don’t last more than a week or two and it takes serious efforts to make it reach that long . 

Well, during the COVID-19 pandemic period plus the strike of almost all public universities which lasted for about eleven months, I met another girl. A beautiful church girl named Divine. Her voice was really beautiful. Well I had been seeing her in church and she always sang on Christmas carol or some other church program. One day I was in church and she walked in and sat beside me. I was happy and a little while later she asked for my Facebook username and I gladly gave it to her. After a few weeks of chatting, she invited me over to her place and I went gladly. I also don’t remember how we started dating but we were and should I say I was blind to a lot of things. She said no kisses as it could lead to iduplorplor  and I agreed. Her birthday was coming up, it fell on Christmas Day and I planned to take her out to celebrate it, just to go see a Christmas movie or something at the cinema. I had the tickets with me and went to her house without calling her to surprise her. 

On getting there, I met her friend close to her house and we both went in together, she went in before me and as I stepped in, I saw Divine in a wrapper and trying to adjust it and there was a shirtless guy in her living room. She got up and went into her room without even saying hi. I stood there replaying the scene like a Nigerian movie and it was funny. Instead of feeling pained, I laughed and sat down. The guy I saw stretched out his hand for a handshake and I shook it. I waited for like five minutes then I got up and left with my tickets. She came online that evening and asked why I left without saying bye. I kept my cool and told her she didn’t acknowledge my presence when I walked in so I didn’t see any need to tell her I was going. She then asked if it was because of the guy I saw at her place and I said no. She went on to explain that it was her cousin. I told her I didn’t ask for an explanation and I needed to sleep. That was the end of it between us. I took my best friend Angela to see the movie and we enjoyed the movie.

After her, almost all the other ladies I was with were just not it for me, I got bored easily. There was this girl that broke up with her boyfriend who was a friend of mine from church and started getting too close to me and we got dating. Three days later she said she wanted to end it and went back to her ex, the guy rejected her and we had no beef because we both knew what was happening, what we were doing to her. At first I felt bad when we started but I later lost my heart. She came back to me but I told her she should have thought of this moment before walking away the first time. She wrote a letter to me pleading, I almost felt bad but I just didn’t care anymore. 

When the new year came, I remained single until the Christmas season when I met this fair lady at a gas station. She was really pretty and had a great smile. One thing lead to another and we got talking. She worked shifts and on the day she was to be on the evening shift, I went to her house in the morning. She was staying alone and her house was close to her school. She was a student of the state university and she was in her fourth year while I was in my second. Yeah she was older than me by two years but it didn’t bother us at all. At her house we were talking about school and other things then suddenly we kissed and she said she didn’t know why it happened but I liked it. We kept meeting at her place and I went always when she was done with her morning shift which ended by 2pm. I went by 3pm and stayed till around 8pm. Each time I left I didn’t want to leave but I was staying at my parents house and I had a curfew for 7pm. I just stretched it out and gave one or two excuses as to why I was late.

We really loved each other but she didn’t want to put a tag on the relationship because of the age difference. I could see that it was bugging her a lot so we both called it off after a month. What helped me get over her was that I went to school and school stress helped me almost forget her completely. 

During the Easter break I came home and met a girl, Esther, after just a day that we met, we started dating. I knew from the start that it would end terribly but I was in it for the fun. Things went well and I came back to school, oh I forgot to say this earlier, I school at the Federal University of Technology Minna, Niger state and my home state is Benue state. So we didn’t mind the distance and we continued till a night that my friends won’t ever let me forget, the “7pm heartbreak”. I’m told almost constantly that my heartbreak was priced in the market by 7pm . Well the reason for this was because I tried calling her by 7pm one day and she kept rejecting my calls. I called three times and she rejected all of them. She called me by a little bit after 8pm and told me the reason she couldn’t answer my call was because she was in the market that night. My roommates heard this and started laughing hard and hence the tale of the “7pm heartbreak” was born. We broke up a week later and a new girl came along almost immediately. Lest I forget, I almost dated her friend but I thank God it didn’t work out.

A new girl started chatting with me and before I knew it, almost every night we were on a video call with each other. Mary was her name. The way she spoke was really cool. She pronounced her words too perfectly and had a really nice nose. We spoke for like a month or two then a week before I went home for the two weeks break we were given at school, we started dating online. When I got home, she came over to meet me and the videos and pictures I saw of her did no justice to her beauty. Coming to think of it, omo I don date fine girls for this life oo. Well things went well and I was trying to save up some cash so I could take her out for a proper date and for her birthday coming up in September. I couldn’t save enough as I was also going back to school that September so I needed money for school too so I bought a hoodie for her and ice cream on her birthday and took it to her house. At her house, I met her elder brother and we clicked, he was an otaku like me and we got talking. We had almost the same interests and I was glad. My girlfriend on the other hand left me and was with another guy that came to see her on her birthday. I didn’t blame her, it was her birthday after all but it felt like I wasn’t there at all. But I had her brother and his girlfriend with me and we talked, made jokes and  laughed. I had a good time and went home. I think two days later I called her and told her that it’s best we ended it. Well I saw some signs that she was also loosing interest in me so I just decided to pull the cord. Another reason I ended things was because on her birthday I went through her phone and saw some pictures, pictures of my exes . Turns out they all knew each other but didn’t know I dated them all. I felt like a used blunt that was passed around till it was done with. 

At that moment, I resigned from dating girls from Makurdi and I went with it for the next few months and life was easy until my birthday the following year. This was on March 26th 2022. I invited almost all my friends to my house for an in house party, the first party I threw ever. Many people turned up and the party was a blast. Prior to this, I knew a girl, Benita for over two years and we had been chatting. The Sunday before the birthday I invited her to my church and she came. After service, I invited her to the party and she said she would come and she did. When she came, she was dressed in baggy jean trousers and a white t-shirt. A black slender beauty walked in and captured my heart. Not just mine but every guy at the party tried to collect her number but the way she politely brushed them off made me smile. 

A week later I invited Benita over and we spoke for a while then I told her how I felt about her and told her I wanted to be in a relationship with her, well not these exact words but  something close and she said to give her some time. Two weeks later she invited me over to her place and told me she would give it a try. She invited her friend over and introduced me to her as her boyfriend, I felt proud. We made out after her friend left. This isn’t necessary information but make I drop some juicy details small na. Her lips were soft, her kisses gentle and her skin smooth and soft. She had a slim waist and a perfect figure. We went on in love for about three months, made a lot of videos and took some pictures, I was going through my Snapchat memories and came across some of the videos and that’s what prompted me to write this out and tell you guys that I was in love. 

The relationships that lasted more than a month was genuine love. I would give anything to go back to those times again but that means I’ll be caught in a dilemma because I don’t know which one to pick over the others  and I can’t pick them all . 

Well, Benita and I broke up and I won’t give the details for this one, maybe this is the one I hold dearest of them all. But the fact is I know deep down that I won’t go back to any of my previous relationships, I’m just saying I’ll give anything to go back so it would sound you know, romantic or something but, I can’t and I won’t. Relationships are stressful and boring. Or maybe it’s the phase I’m in at the moment, I see no joy in relationships, I just need someone that will be pumping my account with money and all for free .

Okay, so who was next after Benita?  Oh yeah I’ve been single since then and this was since September of 2022, I’m trying to see if I can break my record of being single for more than two years . Well that’s not totally true because I met a girl in December of that same year, the girls hands in the picture on the cover, I’m sure you all must have been wondering who’s hand that was. Well her name is Stephanie. I met her a day after Christmas. We both commented on a post online that asked to describe your dream date. I saw hers was a stroll in the park and mine was a walk in the park and a date with books, typical nerd yes but she was cool with it and we chatted and fixed a date on the day after Christmas. 

We met at a park and we had the best time together. I was entranced by her and the way she was so free. She was a hardworking woman and really put her priorities in order. We said our goodbyes after the date and we planned another one after new year, a day before I went to school. We met and after going to a series of parks which weren’t open, we went to my house and watched some movies. I still rushed things with her because I was tired of going into series of relationships and I wanted to settle with her, she was the best. She said no for many reasons, the first that she wasn’t ready, wanted to get her walk with God really solid and finally that we can’t work because of my tribe, her mum doesn’t like “Tiv” guys and that really hurt. We aren’t talking anymore but I hope she got her walk with God solid. 

Well there have been a dozen others I didn’t mention, the week long dates and whatnot but those aren’t important, heck I can’t even remember their names . My love life is one big ball of messy and well it made quite a story. If there’s a way I could go back and change things, I would but there’s no Time Machine so we move on. 

I hope the tale was great enough, until my next entanglement then guys

[livinginshambles]

Preview: I thought you'd be different | James Potter

Pairing: James Potter x Fem!Slytherin!Reader

Summary: A Cinderella Story, but Hogwarts. (Enemies? to lovers)

Notes: Sorry I've been mia; i wrote this today, it's all I have so the full fic will probably take a while, not proofread, mistakes blah blah, enjoy!

PS. I am currently no longer making a taglist because I can't keep up with it, I'm really sorry!

Masterlist. Taglist

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You could still remember the moment vividly, as if it was engraved in your memory.

That moment when the sorting hat placed you in Slytherin instead of Gryffindor like your two older sisters had been sorted. You could still see the look of surprise, concern, horror and then eventually disgust, every time you closed your eyes.

“Now we finally know your true colors,” is what you sister Alyssa had hissed coldly at you. You had pleadingly looked at your other sister, but Marla had supported her twin sister, disregarding the confused and scared look in your eleven-year-old eyes.

“Don’t talk to us, don’t look at us and don’t mention us at all,” she sneered down at you and for a moment you wondered how she hadn’t been the one to be sorted into Slytherin instead. But you had cast your eyes down and agreed.

But years passed and you had become the very stereotype of a Slytherin student, completely leaning into the cold, distant, quiet but calculating persona that your sisters had created for you. Might as well, you figured after your parent’s dismay at the revelation of your house.

You were making your way down the corridor, long strides as you passed your sisters while looking them straight in the eye. They grimaced at the sight of you, but without their entire group of classmates, they didn’t dare make any comments.

A feeling of victory erupted inside of you, and you couldn’t help the small smirk that crept up your face.

“What poor soul suffered for you to look so satisfied?” You turned your head to look at the person who called out to you. James Potter and Sirius Black were both leaning against a statue in the open yard.

“Did you get rid of Regulus or something?” Sirius taunted. “Finally had enough of him following you around, did you L/N?”

“Go die in a ditch, Sirius,” you retorted with an eyeroll, but seemed unphased.

“Why so much hostility,” James unpleasantly remarked, and you halted in your step.

To be petty or not to be petty, you sighed and rolled your eyes.

“10 points from Gryffindor for loitering,” you decided.

The two marauders started to protest.

“If you have nothing to do, other than insulting students, I would love to recommend you to Professor McGonagall for detention. Heard she was still looking for the person who made all the pumpkins explode last week during Halloween, and you guys are terrible at getting rid of the evidence.” It effectively shut them up, and with a last glance up and down, you continued your way towards the room of requirement.

When you entered the sober room with a sigh, you noticed the small scrolled up piece of parchment in the middle of the room. You frowned. This was your space. The room didn’t open this space for anyone else, you made it specifically as a safe haven.

You cautiously approached the parchment and rolled it open to reveal nothing. It was completely blank. You shrugged. If the room left this here, it was meant for you, and so you took a seat and started drawing on it.

James sat in an empty room, his invisibility cloak hiding him from plain sight as he pulled the now folded paper from his back pocket. He inspected it closely, almost pressing the paper to his glasses in a curious manner.

He had gone to the Room of Requirements earlier that day and found a piece of paper floating in the air. Of course, levitating stuff wasn't that strange, but it had intrigued him nonetheless.

James unfolded the paper, and his eyebrows flew up. Lines were appearing on the paper by itself, and a beautiful portrait of a weeping willow with a girl who was crying on a bench under the tree, appeared.

James fumbled to find his quill and ink. Then he started to write something on it, in a handwriting that he only ever used for written exams.

(Credits to Professor McGonagall who had announced that she would not be grading anything she couldn’t read. And she had looked over her glasses at him while she said it.)

It’s beautiful.

You dropped the parchment at the words that formed right under your drawing. You traced it with your fingers. Then you decided to write back.

Full fic

[impossiblebeardobservation]

14 Common Misconceptions About Menemukan Palang Pintu Kereta dan Kereta Api Vintage Cc201

™

It’s difficult to consider a sadder commentary about Hollywood’s sequel fetish as opposed to existence of Rush Hour 3. Dull, uninspired, and redundant, this 3rd pointless Film in an motion/comedy franchise that defines mediocrity doesn’t even seek to disguise the fact that its existence can be a money-seize. I wasn’t a supporter of either earlier Hurry Hour film, but neither felt as exhausted and compulsory as this just one. In addition to some amusing scenes with Chris Tucker and a nice dj vu dance routine to “War” done by Tucker and Jackie Chan, this Motion picture presents nothing at all that wasn’t finished far better in one other outings showcasing these mismatched buddy cops.

The wafer-thin plot has Chief Inspector Lee (Jackie Chan) safeguarding a Chinese diplomat through his remain in L. a.. He has top rated-mystery specifics of the Triad crime syndicate but, before he can divulge it, He's shot. Lee, reunited along with his former spouse, Detective James Carter (Chris Tucker), vows to your consul’s daughter, Soo Yung (Zhang Jingchu), that he will discover The person who attacked her father. To accomplish this, Lee and Carter must go after Triad assassin Kenji (Hiroyuki Sanada) to Paris, exactly where These are aided by an anti-American cab driver named George (Yvan Attal), who discovers that he has a style for motor vehicle chases and gunplay.

As was real of Hurry Hour and Hurry Hour two, this movie brings together hit-and-skip comedy with lackluster action. The merakitmainan film doesn’t have Significantly of the pulse, and also the “enjoyment” arrives throughout as pallid in comparison to last week’s The Bourne Ultimatum (While no less than the digital camera isn’t troubled With all the shakes). This Motion picture is probably no additional amusing than its predecessors, although it’s difficult To make certain. Practically nothing in almost any in the Hurry Hour products has been roll-on-the-flooring humorous, and this 1 is not any unique. Particularly lame is really a riff on “Who’s on First” that proves the stars of this Film have nothing on Abbot and Costello. There’s also a parody of psychological times in buddy movies showcasing Elton John’s “Sorry Is apparently the Hardest Word.” Maybe that’s imagined to be an apology into the viewers by Brett Ratner. Also take into consideration a scene that includes a lot of raw sewage which will on some stage be considered a comment about in which the franchise is headed.

On of the numerous locations by which the Motion picture disappoints (Whilst, all points thought of, it isn’t unexpected), it’s in The shortage of physicality displayed by Jackie Chan. At age fifty three, he can now not carry out the sorts of stunts that manufactured him a world star. Putting everyday living and limb in danger in the road of responsibility are matters for younger Adult men. The majority of Chan’s most daring function is handed on to stunt-Adult males and you'll find hints of CGI (Despite the fact that never to The purpose where by it’s distracting). The tip-credit score outtakes, which are generally a horror display of Chan’s muffed stunts, are confined here to verbal bloopers, messed-up lines, and the occasional minimal pratfall. Chan’s gift for comedy appears as muted as his martial arts derring-do. At no time all through Hurry Hour 3 is he Specifically humorous. My assumption is that as Chan aged, he would gravitate far more towards comedy, but this isn’t a fantastic start off.

Chris Tucker picks up a pleasant paycheck but none of the slack. Even so, when it’s a extend to get in touch with him “likable,” a minimum of he’s not as irritating as he was in Rush Hour and Hurry Hour two. Both Chan and Tucker are outmaneuvered inside the comedy Office by Yvan Attal, whose character’s adore/detest partnership with American society contributes to a number of the movie’s wittiest (and I use that word loosely) scenes. Max von Sydow, in “hid poor dude” mode, is on hand to perform what he does most effective with that glorious bass voice. (Now that Bergman is officially in his grave, he can flip around.) And Roman Polanksi includes a cameo as a French policeman who anally rapes Lee and Carter. (Sure, you go through that accurately. A PG-thirteen movie capabilities anal rape – Though, obviously, it’s only implied and is particularly utilized to obtain a chuckle.) Why Polanski would agree to Perform this portion is anyone’s guess; it’s not the type of detail that may help his less-than-sterling reputation. I held looking ahead to Jean Reno to show up, since he constantly seems available in these English-Talking movies set in France.

Does Hurry Hour three deliver what audiences be expecting of it? Only its most devoted enthusiasts will say “Certainly.” The formulation is in position nevertheless the performers are experiencing the motions. It’s a stale version from the earlier videos, they usually weren’t all of that wonderful to start with. A person could argue that director Brett Ratner not less than invested Rush Hour with some Vitality. Even during the climactic struggle on the Eiffel Tower, there’s absolutely nothing resembling that in this article. That is just One more disposable summer months Film – so lackluster that it’s not even worth looking out when it performs on tv. The Rush Hour expertise, which hardly ever attained something resembling comprehensive speed, has come to a crashing halt.

[wacknroll]

Ya like glitter glue?! PT 3

(Yandere Sun/Moon x reader)

Hello, here is the third chapter to this fanfic!

PT 1, PT 2, PT 4

AO3 link

Word count: 2554

Driving back to your workplace, you think to yourself that maybe going back to potentially confront the same robot that just manhandled you earlier today might not be the smartest of ideas. Especially since they’re malfunction. Hell, he might not even be responsible for the loss of your keys. For all you know, your dumbass dropped them in either the ball pit or even in the staff break room. But your gut told you that it was him, the only thing backing up that belief being that you swore your pant’s side pocket was buttoned up, meaning someone at some point had to have been close enough to unbutton and take them without your notice.

Before you knew it, you were already in front of the Pizzaplex, taking no real time to get there. The only benefit of living so close to a local attraction. You would have just paid for a night in a motel, but the prices were way too ridiculous, and your stubborn ass would prefer to be in the comfort of your own home if you had to choose. You sigh, deciding to commit to this half-baked plan. You exit the car and look at your phone. 11:15, it says, hopefully enough time to search before the place is properly locked up for the night.

Quickly entering the building, you make your way to the staff room first. Better check just in case, you thought to yourself.

---

Looking under the couch while on your hands and knees, you groan in frustration. The keys were nowhere in sight in the break room, meaning you had to look in the play area in the day-care now. You pick yourself up from the floor and head towards the door, only for it to be slammed opened and to have a light temporarily blind you.

“Y/n? What are you doing here?” The voice asks, the light now moved away from your face.

You shake your head and rub at your eyes, the white dots finally leaving your face just to be met with the gaze of the security guard, Vanessa.

“I, uh, forgot my keys somewhere,” you explain.

She cocks an eyebrow at that.

“And you didn’t bother to ring in and report your missing keys?” She questions.

“Yeah, I didn’t really give it much thought. I figured I could just try and find myself, seeing as I know what they look like,” you say sheepish.

“There’s another 30 minutes ‘til midnight. If you don’t find them in time, you’ll have to look tomorrow. Unless you want to spend the next 6 hours in here.”

“Uh, no.”

“Good. If I don’t hear from you after midnight, I’m going to just assume you left. If you’re still here after everything is locked up, just head to one of the security offices and radio me. I’m going to leave you to it now, I have other duties to attend to now.” With that, she walks out of the room and continues her patrol.

“Uh, thanks?” You say to her retreating form, leaning out of the room. Vanessa doesn’t give you a reply, as she either didn’t hear you or doesn’t care enough to say anything else.

One of those types of employees, you think. Walking out of the area, you make your way back to the main hall where the entrance to the day-care is. You would eat closer to the day-care, but you went to the other break room simply because it was your usual spot and where the employees you were more familiar with hanged out in. Besides, James would probably kick your ass if he had to walk all the way from the Arcade to the day-care just to talk to you. It was way easier when you were working in Monty Golf.

“I kind of miss that goofy alligator,” you say to yourself.

The day-care centre was still lit up, which you were grateful for as you’d rather your chances of running into Sun than with Moon. In fact, you actually haven’t seen Moon since your first day. Opening the door to the play area, you see that everything is there except for the animatronic himself. You reason that he’s probably in the basement for maintenance tomorrow.

Your keys appear to be no where on the surface of the front desk, so you decide to start looking through the cabinet drawers in search of the keys in hope that Tim might have found them and put them away. The drawer that usually contains small items found in the day-care don’t have any keys in them, meaning you’d have to check the ball pit next. You look over to the other side of the play area and then up at the entrance of Sun’s room, practically willing the animatronic to stay away. Walking at a fast pace, you make your way to the ball pit try to figure out where exactly you might’ve landed.

“Please be in here,” you say, begging whatever entity to make your keys magically appear. After looking for a moment, you decide that it’s best to give up looking in here for now and probably coming in tomorrow during the day to check. You check your phone to see that it’s now 11:50. Sighing, you decide to just give up for now and exit the ball pit, walking towards the large wooden doors of the play area. As you reach the doors, you notice a small box on the middle of the floor.

“What the...?” You look around you in hope of catching whatever might have left the box. Seeing that you were still alone, you slowly walk up to the box and gently open the top of the lid. The content within the box consists of a few pieces of paper and your keys, Freddy Fazbear keychain and all. This development both surprises and fills you with a sort of dread. Double checking your surrounds, you decide to just pick up the box and take it back with you to the car. Making your way out of the day-care, you quicken your pace towards the front entrance of the building, happy that your time spend here was basically boring.

Once you were in your car, you decided to drive straight home before looking through the box. As you turned the car around and away from the Pizzaplex, you swore you saw a tall lanky figure at the entrance doors.

---

Using your rediscovered keys to open the door to your flat, you enter, holding the box under one arm as you lock the door and sit at the kitchen table. Opening the box, you pick up one of the three pieces of paper within.

The first one you pick up is the finger painting that Sun shoved in your face on your first day in the day-care. The painting was different though, as it was obviously ripped apart and then sticky taped back together, as if someone tore it in anger and then quickly regretted their actions. Definitely not creepy in anyway that so ever, you think to yourself. You put the drawing to the side and proceed to pick up another one. This one was a letter, written in red crayon and having a smiling face at the top right corner.

“Sorry for taking your keys,” you read out loud. “I put some sunnydrops in the box just for you. Please don’t be mad, I just wanted to see you again but realised you might be angry with me about taking the keys. Yours truly, your super best friend, Sun.”

You give a small frown at this, unsure about if you’re still angry with the animatronic now. You look in the box and see that there is in fact a large hand full of sunnydrops at the bottom of it. There isn’t any point in eating them now though, seeing as you won’t be able to sleep tonight if you do. With this, you place Dun’s apology letter on top of his painting and reach for the last one left.

This one was in black crayon and written in all capital letters, only contain the word ‘LIAR’ over and over again. Flipping the page over, you see that it was written on both sides of the piece of paper. The letters were written so hard on the paper, that there was scratches and dents from the pressure of the crayon.

“What the fuck?” You say to yourself. This was definitely creeper than the torn-up painting. Was this about earlier when Sun asked you what Tim and you were talking about? Did he realise afterwards that you were lying or knew straight away? These questions kept running through your head until you realised something. How did Sun place that box in the day-care if he was supposed to be in maintenance?

These questions were left unanswered as you packed it all away back in the box and went to bed.

---

You slept in that night, seeing as you weren’t going to be working today anyways. When you finally got up, you decided that you should ring up Brenton about that maintenance report on Sun. Getting your phone and ringing up, the phone is quickly answered.

“This is the working manager at Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizzaplex. How may I help you?”

“Hi, Brenton. It’s Y/n, I was wondering if Sun’s maintenance report has come in yet?”

“No one filed a report to have him checked.”

This response wasn’t what you expected.

“What do you mean by that? Didn’t Tim hand one in yesterday?”

“Tim didn’t send in a maintenance request yesterday. What he did hand in was his resignation letter.”

“What do you mean he quit?” You ask, completely baffled from the news.

“He sent me an email with his reason last night,” Brenton replied.

“Just an email? Didn’t you see him at all?”

“Look, Y/n, I’m very busy. I don’t watch every employee that comes in and out of the premises. I’m actually still dealing with all the paperwork from when the day-care attendant snapped a child’s arm like a twig.”

“Well, didn’t you take him to maintenance for that at least?”

“Look, it’s just easier having naptimes taken off of the daily rooster than it is to fix the damn robot. Do you know how expensive it is to repair or replace an animatronic that can switch between two personas? Hell, he’s probably the most expensive robot we have, right behind Monty and that giant list of damage control that follows him!” Brenton’s voice becomes more heated as he speaks, making you wince a little at the growing volume.

You hear a long sigh on the other end of the phone.

“Sorry about that,” he finally says, calmer than before. “I just have a never-ending stack of Monty related incidents that gets bigger each time I look at it. But look, there isn’t much I can do, as I have bigger priorities at the moment.”

“Okay, but what about my shift for the rest of the week? Did you tell me that Tim was the only other qualified worker to take on afternoon shifts at the day-care? Who is going to work with me tomorrow?”

Another sigh comes from Brenton.

“I’ll have it sorted. I might even have to hire someone a step down from what we usually have working in there. It’ll be sorted beforehand, I assure you. I’ll be going now; I have a mandatory meeting to get to.”

Before you even have the chance to say goodbye, he hangs up.

“Goodbye to you too, then.” With that, you drop onto your couch and scroll through your phone. You decide that you should try to text Tim, seeing as he gave you his number in case you had any questions related to working in the day-care.

‘Hi, it’s Y/n. I just heard that you quit yesterday, what’s that all about?’ You type. Placing the screen onto your chest, you wait for a response text.

After a few minutes, your phone vibrates. You quickly lift the screen up and see that Tim replied.

‘Yeah, family related. Sorry.’

That’s a good enough as to why he quit, you reason. You then text back.

‘Sorry to hear, dude! Hopefully it’ll go well!” You then add a little smile emoji to the end of the text.

The second reply he sends is nearly instant this time.

‘Thanks. I got to go now. Busy. Bye!’

You send a bye back in response. Now a bit more at ease than before, you decide to get some stuff done in the house while you can. Cleaning your many work shirts, tidying the place, and then watching some movies. By the end of the day, you are exhausted and decide to go to bed a little earlier than normal.

---

Sun stares down at the phone in his hand, reading your messages over and over again. He was excited to finally have a way to talk to you outside of your working hours but was a little annoyed that he had to pretend to be someone else. Even though you and Tim were on the other end of the play area, his hearing could pick up everything the both of you heard as if he was right next to you. Maintenance? Why would he need maintenance? He didn’t even do anything wrong! You were perfectly fine when you landed in the ball pit, though a bit shaken up. The screen of the phone he holds cracks a bit, snapping him out of his thoughts. Sun quickly turns the phone back on to see if it is still functioning and is happy when it is.

When you left work, not even saying goodbye to Sun, Tim went back to dealing with the angry parents who calmed down once one of the managers showed up. By the time basically everyone but Tim was gone, Sun was practically livid. The fact that you went to Tim to get him to take Sun away made him furious by the second. The animatronic had never felt this way before and felt confused as to how to react. So, he did the only thing he could think to do in that moment. When Tim had his back to Sun, he turned off the lights.

Once the lights were back on, Sun was sitting in his room, no evidence of Tim anywhere to be found. All but the phone he now held. Not wanting to think about what he had done, you decided to put something together for you. Grabbing a box, he put in some sunnydrops and wrote an apology letter along with placing his finger painting of the both of you. Then he placed your keys on the top. He felt bad about taking your keys, even though he thought you would realise they were gone and come back straight away.

At some point, the lights go off again and Moon decides to also write his own letter to you, expressing his anger about what you did earlier in the only none physically violent way he could. Moon contemplates crushing your keys just to be petty but reframes from the action.

“No, no, no. We can punish Y/n for being a naughty little liar another day.”

[sinner-as-saint]

I Am Your Fall.

Mob!Bucky x Ex-Spy!Reader

Run-through: You’re hiding from your past, in Madripoor. You did nothing wrong, other than mix dangerous business with a lot of pleasure. You couldn’t go home because... he would find you and Madripoor was the only place he didn’t do business, or had any allies or friends. But little did you know that the mob boss had finally found you after obsessively looking for you ever since you left, and left him in pieces. He didn’t want revenge, he just wanted the one thing he had hopelessly fallen in love with; who also happened to be the one who had betrayed him and hurt him more than anyone or any bullet ever did before - you. 

Themes: mob!bucky, smut, angst, fluff, Ex-Spy!Reader, slight daddy kink, guns

“The usual?” 

You nodded at the man in front of you with a faint smile as you took a seat at the bar. You kept the hood of your jacket up as you let out a quiet sigh. Moments later the bartender placed a glass half filled with whiskey and ice in front of you.

You whispered a ‘thank you’ and swirled the drink around in the glass before lifting it up to your lips and taking just the tiniest sip. You often came into this bar after work, just to feel normal again. You worked at a diner right around the corner; it was lowkey and shabby and didn’t attract many customers, neither did it pay well but you weren’t there for the money. 

Your last job, the one you had before ending up in Lowtown Madripoor, paid really well. So much so that you wouldn’t have to worry about money for a long, long time but you still had to blend in and pretend to be as normal as you could; hence the job at the diner. 

You thought of home as you took your second sip. You grew up in a nice family before joining the organization you worked for, as a spy. You let out a quiet little chuckle as you thought of how ever since you were a kid you wanted to grow up and catch bad guys. Which is exactly what you did as a spy. And you were great at your job, your organization couldn’t be prouder of your work. 

You took another sip. Everything was going great for you, until the day you were assigned to infiltrate the life of and take down the infamous mob boss, James Buchanan Barnes. The day you heard that you were being sent to him, you were excited because James was notorious for a lot of bad things. You couldn’t wait to step inside his evil lair and take him down. What you didn’t know was that you would end up finding love right where it wasn’t supposed to be. 

You felt a strange knot in your gut as you thought of him. Bucky… 

Oh you had loved him despite his mean, dark demeanor. He was a cold-hearted man to the rest of the world, but only you got to see the warmer side of him. And you fell in love, harder, faster and deeper than you ever thought you could. It got to a point where you had to choose between either betraying your organization or betraying the man who shouldn’t have fallen in love with. That’s when you ran away, far from home. Far from your work which you loved so much, and far from him. 

You couldn’t bring yourself to betray him, nor did you have the courage to tell your people that you failed in an important mission all because you fell in love with the enemy. You knew what happened to people who betrayed Bucky, you had seen it. And you also knew what happened to spies and agents who betrayed the organization you worked for. Both of those situations weren’t ones you wished to find yourself in, so in order to save yourself, you ran. 

And now here you were. 

As you took another sip of your drink, you felt the hair at the back of your neck stand up out of nowhere as a shiver ran down your spine. You were being watched. During your training you were taught to absolutely trust your gut, and if you ever got the feeling that you were being watched it meant that there was a high chance that you actually were. 

Shit. 

You set your glass down and placed the money down beside it before slowly sliding off the stool and casually walking out of the bar. You made sure your hood was still up, and you tucked your hands in your pockets. Your fingertips gently felt the hand gun you always kept with you, just in case, secured at your waist under your jacket. 

You looked around, and so far no one was following you. The streets were busy given that it was a Friday night and you were sure that you could make it home safe because no one would attack you or anything in a crowd like this. 

You lived in a modest, 2-bedroom apartment. And you always took the fire escape at the back to get into your apartment because you didn’t trust the rusty elevator at the front, nor did you ever want to run into a neighbor or anyone by taking the stairs inside the building. The fire escape was discreet and lowkey. 

You entered your living room shortly and sensed that something was off. The air was colder somehow, and you never left any windows open. Ever. You shut the door behind you, not locking it. You gently took out your gun and held it out in front of you, at the ready. You moved stealthily, quietly. You knew which spots on the wooden flooring made the most noise so you avoided those. 

Someone was in here, you could tell. The air… it smelt different the further you walked into your apartment. You didn’t switch on any lights, you checked the kitchen first. Clear. The living room. Clear. The spare room. Clear. And your heart raced as you went into your bedroom. The door which normally always remained closed, was wide open. 

You couldn’t even run. Whatever it was, whoever it was you were gonna have to face it. You stepped into your room and with whatever little light was coming through the windows, you tried to scan the room. 

“Lower your gun, babygirl. You don’t need it. I’m not gonna hurt you, and I know you don’t wanna hurt me.” 

The sound of his voice had you frozen in the spot where you stood, a few feet away from your bed. The voice came from behind you. You slowly turned around, not lowering your gun and keeping it aimed right at him. It took you a few seconds to process everything. 

You could make out his silhouette as he stood in front of one of your bedroom windows. Tall, built, his metal arm glistening. He was here. You let out a shaky breath. He was here, he found you. 

You didn’t move from the spot that you were standing on. There was a time when whenever you saw him you’d run into his arms, and despite wanting to do just that even now, you knew you couldn’t. That was back then, this was different, wasn’t it? 

He sighed before moving, walking to the other side of the room to light a table lamp. The soft, golden light illuminated the room just enough. Your heart burned as you took in his appearance; dark suit as always, shorter hair, his metal arm just as intimidating and mean as always and his pretty blue eyes - the same ones you loved, belonging to a man who eventually became the reason why you had to leave your old life behind. 

Bucky was still; calm and composed as always. He was the kind of man who had mastered the art of looking completely steady even when he wasn’t. He could have a storm inside of him, or raging flames of anger but on the outside it would never show. He was as devious and subtle as a predator, moving with the grace and elegance of a ferocious but calculated animal. 

“You seriously thought that moving across the globe and changing your hair color would keep me away from you?” He sounded like he was mocking you. “Took me about almost a year, but I found you.” He walked towards you, making you envy the way he could move so effortlessly. You couldn’t read him. His face was… blank. Void of any emotion. 

He spoke again once he stood right in front of you. “Now, you’re gonna tell me why you ran away.” 

You remained quiet. He could tell you were thinking. He could always tell, he knew you too well. You made a makeshift plan in your head. If you were to shoot him in his arm, just to injure him enough to make him lose his focus, you could grab the emergency bag you always kept under your bed and run. But you didn’t want to hurt him. 

Also, how far would you go? Knowing Bucky, if he had made it to Madripoor he probably had his men surrounding this apartment building right now; all armed and ready to fight. He probably even had people from here all the way to Hightown; which meant that even if you ran from here right now you wouldn’t be able to make it out of Madripoor. 

Like you said earlier, he had found you. There was no way to run anymore. 

“I know you’re thinking about running again.” He teased, shoving his hands in his pockets, letting you know that he had his guard down; which meant that he had thought this through. “Maybe you have an emergency bag somewhere, or you plan on shooting at me to distract me and make a run for it.” He chuckled. “Trust me, you wouldn’t make it out of this apartment, babygirl. And even if by some miracle you did, I will burn this island to the ground to find you again.” 

Despite his tone being all calm, and almost monotonous you could hear the bitterness and the evil promise in his words. He was probably angry, he felt betrayed for sure, he was also frustrated given that he mentioned having searched for you for a year, he was also probably hungry for answers. 

You still remembered that night you left. Your people at work had been pestering you to hand over information and sending you all sorts of threats if you didn’t, but you also could no longer lie and manipulate Bucky, because you loved him. So you left in the middle of the night, leaving your old life, your job, the man you loved, your family, everything behind. 

No notes, no messages, nothing. You and him had been together for a little over a year at that point. And you just snuck out of a one year relationship with no explanation. It was wrong you’d admit, and Bucky had every right to be hurt and angry. 

“Answer me. Why did you run? Why did you leave out of nowhere? And didn’t you go back to your people like the good little spy you are? Why Madripoor?” 

So he knew about your past. You could only imagine what he did to the organization you used to work for when he found them. 

“How did you find me?” You knew how much he hated it when people answered a question with another question. You were surprised when he answered instead of being even more pissed off. 

“It took a lot of people, a lot of bullets and a lot of patience to track you down.” He chuckled. “I must say, you’re good at whatever games you play. But I’m gonna need you to stop for a moment, and give me the answers I need.” He took a small step forward, reducing the distance between you and him. “Why?” 

Such a broad question, why. 

“I had to.” You gave him the most vague answer ever. 

He scoffed. “Okay, let me make this easier for you. Let’s start with, what’s your real name?” 

You almost rolled your eyes, but you couldn’t afford to let your guard down at the moment. Not when you couldn’t even figure out what he was here for. 

“You know my name.” 

Of course he did, he had moaned it so many times in bed. 

He gave you his signature smirk, the one who captured the hearts of many including yours. “I’m assuming that since you’re a spy everything which comes out of your pretty mouth is a lie. So what is your name?” 

You corrected him. “I used to be a spy. I don’t do that anymore. And I didn’t lie about my name. I didn’t lie about many things.” You looked him dead in the eyes when you said so. You wondered if he thought that you lied when you said you loved him. That was real. 

He scoffed. “I’d beg to differ.” 

“You plan on killing me?” You asked, thinking that now would be a good time to know whether or not you would be dying tonight. 

“No.” 

“Then why are you here, Bucky? Why did you look for me for a year, why are you halfway across the globe right now if you don’t plan on killing me for betraying you? What do you want?” 

“You.” 

You rolled your eyes, finally lowering your weapon. You still couldn’t read him. 

He spoke up again, “Why didn’t you lead your people to me? Why didn’t you finish your job?” 

“You might have actually done just that yourself. If you were able to find me, so could they. They probably have eyes on right now. By coming here you just-,”

He cut you off. “They don’t have eyes on you. No one does.” He answered confidently. 

“You don’t know that. You-,” 

He cut you off yet again, he smirked, “Oh I do know, babygirl. I know because I… dealt with each and every last one of them. The people you used to work for, the whole organization, it doesn’t exist anymore I made sure of that. You see, I’ve been quite busy this past year. Between dealing with your people, dealing with my own and playing hide and seek with you.” 

You froze again. Dealt with? “And how exactly did you deal with the organization?” 

“I watched it burn.” He answered, proudly. 

Oh. “You plan on doing the same with me? After your little Q and A, you’re gonna just… deal with me?” 

He fake gasped and placed his metal hand over his chest as though surprised. “I would never do that to you. You see, unlike you I didn’t lie when I said I loved you.” 

That caught you by surprise. You said nothing, pretending like that confession didn’t make your heart race. 

“I’m gonna ask one more time, why did you run?” His tone was cold. 

You scoffed. “I didn’t think you’d be understanding regarding the whole situation. If you ever found out who I was, let’s be real, you’d kill me right where I stood. And I could no longer go back to my people because they would force me to lead them to you.” 

He raised his eyebrows, then chuckled. “You protected me? What for?” 

I didn’t lie when I said I loved you either. “I didn’t want to manipulate or lie. I didn’t want to infiltrate lives and be dishonest. I didn’t want to have to live a double life any longer. I needed freedom, I needed a way out. So I came here.” You paused. “I’m not proud of what I did to you.” You added. 

You lowered your eyes once you finished talking. Bucky moved closer to you, he reached out and grabbed your chin with his metal hand, tilting your head back gently until you looked into his stormy, ocean blue eyes. You hated how you still couldn’t read him. Was he angry or no? 

“Are you lying right now?” He whispered, and smirked knowing it would piss you off. You pushed his hand away. He chuckled, leaning into your ear, his lips brushing against your skin as he spoke and it sent shivers down your spine, “Let’s play a game.” He pulled away and took a few steps back. “You love games, don’t you babygirl?” 

Your heart raced. Oh this can’t be good… 

He took some more steps back and then pulled out his gun; the shiny golden one he loved the most out of the arsenal he owned. He aimed it at you, smirking. “I’m gonna ask you some questions and as long as you answer truthfully, I won’t shoot.” 

You remained very still. You hated to admit it, but there was something so immorally powerful about him when he handled his guns. You remember back when you two were together, you could spend hours watching him clean his guns; his favorite toys he called them. Bucky always told you that he believed that weapons shouldn’t be intimidating, but the person handling them should. 

In his case, it was true. Just looking at him made your body throb for a moment. You tried not to let it show but judging by the smug look on his face you could tell that he knew exactly how you felt. 

You knew he would never shoot you.

Bucky Barnes was, afterall, a cunning man who knew how to toy with one’s head. He could have easily taken your gun away from you, could have tied you down on a chair and interrogated you until you gave in. But no, by doing this he was letting you think that you still had some control over this. He knew he had given you the chance, you could’ve easily shot him the moment you walked into the room. But you didn’t. You chose not to. And he knew that. 

You almost smirked when you put it all together. He wasn’t here for answers, because he already had them. He just wanted to hear it from you. He wanted you to verbally say it. He was here for this dark, twisted game of his. 

“Fine.” You agreed. 

He cocked his gun, the sound rang in your ears and it reminded you of the times you pretended not to know shit about guns and had him teach you how to aim. He had done so with a lot of patience and a lot of kisses. 

“How much did you tell your people about me?” He asked. 

You could tell he was easing into it. “I stopped feeding them information after the first six months. I told them it would be risky to keep meeting up with them in secrecy, and that I would soon come back with everything I can gather about you. But I never did.” 

He seemed pleased with that answer. “Of course you didn’t. Instead you ran away.” He watched you cautiously, “How many people know you’re here?” 

“No one does, except for you.” 

That was true. You couldn’t risk going back to your family, not when you were certain that the moment you stepped foot outside of Madripoor your people would find you. 

“Why Madripoor?” He asked, tilting his head to the side. “You could’ve easily hid in the country itself given your… skills.” He knew just where to poke you to make it hurt. “Then why here?” 

“Anonymity. No one knows or cares about who you are or where you come from here. Also because I knew that neither the organization nor you had any connections here whatsoever.” You paused. “Clearly I was wrong.” 

He got really serious, clenching and unclenching his jaw. “Why didn’t you just tell me the truth then? If you couldn’t trust your people at the time, why not turn to me?” 

His question made you chuckle. “I already told you, you would’ve killed me.” 

“And I already told you that I-,” he cut himself off and took a breath. “Why didn’t you trust me?” 

You stared into his eyes, looking. Searching for something you once saw in them. Love, for you. There was a time when he would look at you with nothing but adoration and love. Now he was angry, hurt, frustrated, his power challenged. 

“Because I’ve seen what you do to people who betray you. I knew how much loyalty mattered to you. And I… I couldn’t have possibly looked you in the eyes and tell you that I’ve been lying and manipulating you for a whole year, and that I was sent to take you down.” 

It hurt to say it out loud. 

“You ran because you were scared of me? Of what I would do to you if I found out?” He didn’t bother hiding the hurt. He wasn’t calm and composed anymore, he was visibly troubled. Jaws clenched, fingers tightening around his gun, eyes shooting daggers at you. “Answer me!” He raised his voice out of nowhere and you jumped. 

You lowered your gaze to the floor. In all those years, be it during training or even while on missions, you had never succumbed in any way when a weapon, no matter the size, was aimed at you. Yet now, you could feel your hands starting to shake just a little. 

“Yes. I ran because I was scared of you.” You answered, not having the courage to look up at him. 

He was quiet for four seconds - you know because you counted them - before he lowered his gun and shot at the wooden floor, several feet away from your legs. The sound made you flinch and groan, not in fear but in annoyance. He was breaking you, he was getting everything he wanted out of you. You were giving in, too easily. You hated it. 

“Liar!” He growled and walked right over to you, quickly. His eyes reflected the anger and frustration he felt inside. He placed the barrel of his gun right under your chin. The cold metal made you shiver, mainly because you still remembered that his metal arm felt the same way against your warm skin. “I said no lies.” 

He used the gun to tilt your head back, making you look up into his eyes. He spoke up again, “You ran because you love me, and you couldn’t live with yourself after betraying me. You chose not to lead your people to me, because how could you? How could you do that when you fell in love with the enemy?” Bucky chuckled, removing his gun from your chin and replacing it with his metal hand. 

He leaned in so close that when he spoke next, his lips brushed against yours. “You chose to run away rather than give them what they wanted, because they wanted my fall. You ran from me because you couldn’t admit, nor accept that you cared too much about me.” He chuckled. “You did all of this not because you were scared of me, but because you were scared of them since you had failed in a mission.” He shrugged. “That’s understandable, given you fell in love with the one they sent you to ruin.” 

Your eyes watered. He broke you, finally. He said everything you’ve been avoiding to tell yourself over this past year. And he was right about everything. You were quiet. You didn’t have anything to say to him. 

He spoke up again. “I know for a fact that you knew I would never, ever hurt you. Betrayal or no betrayal.” 

“Buck…” You whispered, your voice cracked as you held back a sob. You felt a single tear slide down your cheek. 

His hand moved from your chin, down to your waist. He pulled you closer, pressing his body to yours. The feeling of his built, taut body against yours brought back memories you weren’t sure you could ever forget. 

“Say it.” He demanded, looking down at your lips, then back into your eyes. His scent filled your senses. He was all you could, and wanted, to focus on. “Tell me I’m right. Tell me the truth you’ve been running from.” He leaned in, as though he was going for a kiss. “Tell me you love me.”

“Bucky, I…” you almost choked on another sob you couldn’t let out. You wanted to tell that you loved him. But the words wouldn’t come out. Something was stopping you; worry or fear or just guilt. 

It was guilt. 

He scoffed. “Too proud? Too self-righteous to admit that the good little spy fell in love with the bad guy?” He pressed his forehead to yours as he walked the two of you back, towards your bed. You knew what he was doing, and you didn’t stop him. “Admit it, babygirl,” he leaned in to whisper in your ear and you felt goosebumps all over your body, “Or maybe I should remind you…” 

Bucky pushed you down on your bed, and he hovered over you supporting himself with one hand while the metal one held his gun right above your face. “You’ve been a bad, bad girl lately.” He murmured, gently lowering his gun and brushing the barrel against your lips, then slowly dragged it down your skin. “Did you think you could hide from me forever?” 

He dragged the tip of his gun all the way down till your thighs, making you tremble. His eyes stared down into yours as he carelessly tossed his gun aside and brought his metal hand over to your mouth again. 

“Do you know how bad I’ve missed you?” He mumbled, tracing your mouth with his cold fingers. For a moment he forgot why he was here in the first place. 

You shivered under his touch. “I’m sorry, Bucky. I never meant to-,” 

He scoffed, cutting you off. “Shut up, babygirl.” He had a mean smirk on his face. “You’ve been bad. And what did daddy tell you about babygirls who misbehave?” His calm demeanor could fool anyone. Anyone but you. 

You knew him too well. You could tell he was burning inside, agitated. Like a wounded predator, planning his next attack. There was no escaping him now. Not that you truly wanted to. 

“They get punished.” You whispered quietly as he tugged on your bottom lip with his thumb. The simple gesture reminded you of all those times spent with him; the nights you spent in his bed, in his arms… 

He chuckled. “Exactly. Now come on, you have a lot to make up for.” He pulled away, and stood up straight at the end of your bed. “Take your clothes off. All of it.” 

The sound of his authoritative voice had your thighs clenching together to try and alleviate the sweet pain in between your legs. That tone of his was a weakness of yours, and he knew it. 

You hesitated only for a moment, but the longer he stared into your eyes the warmer your body felt, and all you wanted to do was to get rid of all that you were wearing. You took your jacket off first, followed by the long sleeved shirt underneath it. You scooted forward, sitting on the edge of the bed to take the rest of your clothes off; shoes, skirt, stockings which left you in your matching set of black underwear. 

You looked up at him, waiting for further instructions. 

“I said, all of it.” He let his eyes roam your body for a moment and then he spoke up again, “Don’t be shy baby, I’ve seen it all before, haven’t I?” 

He had done so much more than just seeing it all. You held his stare as you took your underwear off and had to fight the urge to throw it at his face just for the hell of it. 

“Good girl.” He whispered. “Now lie down, spread those legs for me. Show me what’s mine.” 

The crudeness of his words would’ve surely made you blush if you didn’t know just how vulgar and dirty he could really get, this was nothing. 

You did just as he asked. You held yourself up on your elbows, still holding his stare. Bucky eyed you like you were a warm meal and he was a starving man. There was nothing but lust and mischief in his eyes. 

“Touch yourself for me.” 

You felt your face get really hot for a moment as your heartbeats rang in your ears. “What?” The question just slipped out before you could stop yourself. 

Bucky smirked. “You heard me. Use your pretty fingers and touch yourself. I assume you thought of me each time you… tended to your needs over these past many, many months. I’m sure you missed me,” he chuckled, just as cocky as you expected him to be, “Or at least you missed having my cock buried deep inside of you. Hmm?”  

You studied his face for a moment. Your emotions were shifting; from guilt to annoyance to shame to lust. And you hated how well he had you figured out. “How do you know I haven’t had someone else tending to my needs instead?” You asked, quickly realizing that this wasn’t an ideal situation to be the brat you used to be back then. 

Bucky let out a little laugh; a hot and evil laugh. “No one will ever satisfy you like I do.” He shoved both of his hands in his pockets. “Even if you did, for some reason, fool around with someone here I assure you they won't be breathing for long.” He responded with a straight face. “You are mine. Nobody touches what’s mine and lives.” 

That speech shouldn’t have turned you on as much as it did. 

“Now come on, be a good girl and do as you’re told.” He spoke softly. “Show me how you touched yourself when I wasn’t here to take care of you.” 

Your hands moved on their own; caressing your inner thighs before placing your fingers right over your clit. The look in his eyes made your walls clench around nothing. Your lips parted and you let out a shaky breath as you toyed with your clit, smearing your wetness around before slowly rubbing down your folds and slipping past your entrance with ease given that you were dripping already. Your other hand toyed with your nipple, twisting and tugging. 

Needless to say, Bucky was hard just looking at you. 

You stared into his eyes as you gasped in pleasure as your fingers effortlessly slipped in and out of you. You whined as you fingered yourself, thinking about the last time he touched you – all those months back, on the same night that you left him. And how lovely his mouth felt against your body. Whining in need and frustration, the palm of your hands rubbed against your sensitive clit over and over again as your middle finger slipped in and out of you. 

“Bucky…” you whimpered. 

He just stood there and smirked. “Faster. And don’t you dare cum.” 

You whined, slipping your finger in and out of your wet hole rapidly. “Fuck…” Your own touch took you higher, and higher, and you were on the edge. 

“Stop.” He ordered, moving closer to you but not touching you yet. “Add another finger.” He waited until you did, whimpering as you pushed another finger in. “Good girl, now fuck your little cunt faster for me.” He leaned over and traced your lips with his cold, metal finger, his touch was agonizingly slow. He was so close, but he still wasn’t touching you like you desperately needed him to. 

You took your bottom lip in between your teeth to keep yourself from moaning too loudly. Bucky smirked when he saw how you were struggling to keep quiet. He noticed the way your body squirmed, and he knew you too well so he could tell that you were so close to coming undone. 

“Poor baby,” he cooed, “Is it hard?” he taunted, his fake concern morphing into an evil, handsome and sly smile. “Is it frustrating to not be allowed to have something you so desperately want? Hmm?” 

“Buck… please,” you whined, releasing your swollen lip from your teeth. Your body felt hot, and you needed to just let go and come undone. 

“Stop.” He ordered, shamelessly ignoring your pleas. You stopped, and pulled your hand away from in between your legs. He knelt on your bed, in between your legs. You tried to look away but he grabbed your chin before you could turn your face to the side. He stared into your eyes for a few seconds, not saying anything. Eventually he spoke up, “What do I do with you?” 

You stared at him, a thousand thoughts in your head. “You’re crazy.” You spat, hoping to rile him up. 

He just chuckled softly. “You did this to me.” He sounded bitter, and hurt. He leaned in to brush his lips against yours, making your heart race, “Thoughts of you were messing with my head for the past year.” He confessed, and you felt your heart hurt. “People think I’m cruel, clearly they haven’t had their heart broken by you.” 

You opened your mouth to say something, or maybe apologize, or perhaps you’d say something which would piss him off even more but before you could, his mouth was on yours. He kissed you with passion, but also pent up anger and frustration. He was conflicted, so were you. Both of your pride were hurt, egos bruised but your hearts still yearned for each other. Nothing could change that. 

Before you could process anything, Bucky was kissing down your body; you were a whimpering mess by the time he kissed along your inner thighs. He chuckled darkly when you let out a loud moan as he kissed your throbbing clit ever so gently. Like he used to when he was madly in love with you. 

“Your body remembers me, babygirl.” He seemed proud of that. 

You hated how you couldn’t resist him. You hated how you didn’t even try to. You melted right under his touch as his tongue gently licked down your folds. His hand found yours and he laced his metal fingers with yours while his other hand rubbed up and down your thigh as he pushed his face further into your wet core. 

You couldn’t bring yourself to look down at him, but you were sure he looked enticing with his plump, pink lips on your wet heat; your arousal dripping down his chin and coating his lips as he devoured you. You heard him growl before he bit down on the soft skin at your inner thighs to get your attention. 

“Look at me.” He mumbled. And when you didn’t obey him right away, you earned yourself a gentle smack on your thigh, which only made you squirm even more; causing you to accidentally grind against his mouth. He chuckled again. “Impatient, are we?” 

You supported yourself up on your elbows finally, and looked down at him. His handsome face in between your thighs was a sight you weren’t sure you would ever get used to. You could feel his warm breath fanning your wet skin occasionally as he stared into your eyes until you couldn’t handle the intensity of his stare. 

Bucky held your stare as he attached his lips to your core again, making you whimper in pleasure. He wasn’t planning on stopping until you beg him to. He had missed you, your taste. He had missed this; your warmth and your soft whimpers as he teased you with his tongue. 

“Do you wanna cum for me, babygirl?” He asked, before pressing his lips back against your wet folds. 

You nodded, quickly. “Yes, please…” your legs had begun shaking just a little as he took his time and dragged his tongue up and down your slit. But the way his lips lifted into a smirk gave away that his answer would only disappoint you. 

“No, you’re not allowed to cum.” He cooed, playfully. “Not so easily.” He whispered before he got back to teasing your sensitive spot with his warm and wet tongue; relishing your taste and humming in pleasure as he ate you out. He let out a little laugh, “I forgot how good you taste.” 

You moaned out loud as your back arched off the bed for just a moment, your eyes closing and your head leaning back as you felt a wave of intense pleasure wash over you. You weren’t sure how long you could take this sweet torture. Your fingers tightened around his and he chuckled against your skin. 

“What is it baby, you can’t take it? Hmm? All that sass, all those mind games and now you can’t even handle my tongue?” 

He taunted you before getting back to teasing your entrance with the tip of his tongue. Your body tingled and you felt a sweet pressure forming in between your legs. You were sure he could see the tears of frustration escaping your eyes, falling down your warm cheeks. 

“Please…” you moaned pathetically. 

He licked around your clit one last time before pulling away and kissing his way up your body again. The twisted side of him loved the way you whined when you realized he wasn’t gonna let you cum so easily. He leaned in to kiss your open mouth eventually, making you gasp and moan and forget how to breathe with just one kiss. 

When he pulled away to look at you he smiled at the mess you were. Lips swollen, and bruised with how many times you or him bit down on it. Red marks all over your neck, bite marks along your inner thigh, and your arousal dripping out of you. He quickly placed his fingers where his mouth had been earlier, teasing your clit before shoving two fingers inside of you and stroking your walls so slowly that you were losing your mind. 

“Why won’t you admit it?” he kissed along your cheek and reached your ear where he whispered, “Are you that proud? That heartless?” Judging by his tone you could tell that his emotions were wavering as well. “I searched the whole world to find you.” His fingers sped up as he spoke, your moans got more frequent and holding them back became much more difficult. “And now you’re still gonna be a stubborn, disrespectful brat?” 

The bitterness in his tone woke something inside of you. Did he not realize that you’re not exactly pleased with what you had to do? Did he not understand? Pissed, your annoyance mirroring his, you pushed his hand away and pushed him down on the bed. He wasn’t expecting it so he went down rather easily. You got on top of him, straddling his waist, ignoring the nudity, and stared down at him. 

“Enough! You can’t just walk in here and do or say whatever the fuck you want.” Your sudden outburst took him by surprise. Part of him had always loved it when you got a little aggressive. “I’m not proud of what I did. That’s why I left, the guilt was killing me. It still kills me, every single day. I haven’t had the best year of my life since I left you either. I had to leave my homeland, my family, and I… I had to leave you.” 

He remained quiet. 

“I moved to a place where I knew no one. I’ve been alone for the past year, living amongst strangers, no friends, no family, nothing! All because I couldn’t let them get to me. You were right, because if my people found me they would somehow find a way to get the information they needed and they would’ve surely taken you down. You would’ve never seen it coming.” You sniffled, realizing that you were tearing up again. 

Bucky had, surprisingly, nothing to say. You went on. 

“You want answers? There you have it then. I couldn’t just stay and watch myself become that reason for your fall. I couldn’t let that happen to you, because I love you too much. When I realized I loved you, I panicked. I ran because I didn’t know what else to do, or how to keep them away from you. And I am so sorry for what I did. I understand if you-,”

He cut your long speech off by sitting up and grabbing you just in time before you lost your balance, pressing his lips to yours. You immediately wrapped your arms around his neck and let him hold you, kiss you like he wanted to for so long. His kiss was gentle this time, careful, loving. His metal hand ran up and down your spine slowly as his other hand grabbed you and pulled you close to him by your butt.  

He slowly pulled away and his heart felt like it tore in half at the sight of your teary face. He had been so busy being heartbroken after you left that he didn’t even take a minute to consider this perspective. He was too hurt to even think properly. 

“You could’ve just told me the truth. I would’ve handled them. I would’ve done anything for you, I… I would’ve done whatever it took to keep you safe. You know that, right?” Bucky finally spoke up, sounding much more emotional than he thought he ever could. 

Truth is, before meeting you he always thought that he was incapable of love. But then you walked into his life and everything changed for the better. So when he lost you, without any explanation, he went insane. 

You sighed. “I was scared. I didn’t understand, I thought I was doing the right thing. I was hurting too. You think disappearing out of your life and leaving you behind without saying a proper goodbye was easy?” Your voice cracked as you fought back a sob. “How many times do I have to-,” 

He cut you off. Once he saw the tears accumulating along your water line again. “Okay, okay shh. I just got you back, I don’t wanna fight.” He mumbled, pressing his forehead to yours. 

You sniffled, your heart skipping a beat as his body heat wrapped around you. “I’ve missed you. Every day. I missed you so much. I couldn’t risk reaching out to you to even apologize, I was so scared. I… I didn’t…,” your sentence ended in a whisper, you didn’t know how to articulate your thoughts too well. 

He tightened his arms around you. “It’s okay, baby. Everything is fine now, I found you.” 

You were quiet for a while, enjoying his calming touch and processing all that happened since you stepped inside your apartment tonight. “Are you mad at me?” you asked, seeking to find some sort of sense in all that just happened. 

He sighed, and kissed your forehead. “I was. When I woke up the next morning after you left, I was confused, hurt. Then you didn’t show up for a couple more days and I had my people look you up, and I was told that you were a spy.” His words made you feel uneasy and ashamed of your past. “I was broken, but I never knew what a heartbreak feels like so instead all I felt was anger. But despite all of it, all I wanted was to have you back. Then I found the organization you worked for, and I made sure to destroy it. Since then I’ve been looking for you like a madman.” 

He pulled away to look at you. You managed to look up into his eyes without tearing up again. “I’m sorry.” You whispered. 

He pulled you closer. “I’m sorry too.” 

“I love you.” 

Bucky smiled at you. “Say it again.” 

You reached up and cupped his face in your hands. “I love you. I love you so much and I’m sorry. For everything. I just… I just want you back, please.” 

He leaned in for a kiss, whispering against your lips, “I’m right here, babygirl.” He gently turned to the side and laid you back down on the bed. “I’ve got you now,” he mumbled, pulling away to take his suit jacket off, then his shirt. He tossed both somewhere on the floor and bent down to kiss you again. He kissed down your neck, leisurely; taking his time on you as he unzipped his pants. 

“Buck…” you groaned as he teased you with the soft, feathery touch of his lips. He had been teasing you for so long now, you couldn’t take anymore. Your body felt burning hot again, you needed him. Bad. You needed him like you needed air. 

“Yes, baby?” He asked, kissing down your cleavage; pretending he doesn’t know that you were practically shaking in need. 

You whined, sliding your finger into his dark, soft hair. “I need you. Please, I need you. Now.” You spoke through gritted teeth by the end, tugging at the roots of his hair. 

He chuckled. “So aggressive.” He murmured, kissing up your neck until he reached your mouth. He noticed the way you had unintentionally, gradually parted your legs to accommodate him; your naked body squirming under him, your bare chest pressing up against his, your body heat mixing with his. “I’m gonna take care of you, baby…” he whispered as he lowered his underwear just enough to free his cock. He was rock hard.

You were a whimpering mess by the time he aligned his erected cock to your entrance. You instinctively spread your legs further apart to give him more room. With a slow, steady push, he inserted his length into you. You shuddered, moaning as you felt all of him filling you up. You heard his ragged breaths as he seated himself completely inside you and waited, giving your body time to adjust to him. 

He could still make you tremble in pleasure just like the first time he touched you. Bucky held back his moans and growls as he felt your warmth wrap around him so perfectly. He clenched his jaw as he relished the feeling of being inside of you, finally. 

“Is this what you needed, babygirl?” he asked, looking down at you, and gently grabbing your face, causing you to look up at him. 

You couldn’t talk given how full you were. You just stared at him with parted lips, breathing heavily. Bucky smirked, pulling out just a little before pushing back into you again. You closed your eyes and moaned, arching your back off the surface of the bed again. 

He smirked as he looked down at you. “You waited, didn’t you? You waited only for daddy to stretch you out like this. I know you didn’t let anyone touch you while I wasn’t here.” He remained still as he leaned into your ear, whispering, “The way you’re clenching around my cock right now gives it away.” He chuckled, proud. 

Your face burned. He knew you too well. 

Bucky leaned in to kiss your open mouth, shamelessly shoving his tongue past your parted lips and stroking the inside of your mouth while he began moving in and out of you. He sped up gradually, rocking his hips against yours; his hand reached up to grab your chin gently. He stared into your eyes, speeding up into you again. You gripped the bed sheets as he pounded into you. 

He stretched you out deliciously, perfectly. Filling you up and reaching all the right places as he went. He couldn’t hold back any longer, so he moaned and growled right against your mouth, clenching his jaw or occasionally biting down on your lip as he pounded into you relentlessly. 

“You have no idea how much I’ve missed you.” He spoke as he sped up into you again. You could whine senselessly, overwhelmed by how good he felt deep inside you. 

He leaned down to push his face into your neck as he lifted one of your legs and hooked it to his waist, pushing himself deeper inside you. “Fuck…” he moaned as you clenched hard around him. He down for a moment just to hear you moan wantonly before he sped up again, fucking you relentlessly. “You’re mine. Only mine, you hear me?” 

You nodded, or at least tried to.  

The louder you got, the closer he felt his release coming and the filthier his mouth got. “Your little cunt is mine. Only mine.” He spoke through messy kisses; growling and causing goosebumps to erupt all over your body. “Only I can fuck you like this, you hear me?” Bucky quickened his pace and pounded into you harder than before; the sounds of your skin slapping one another resonated around the modest room. 

Bucky was all you could focus on. The sound of his voice. His body pressing down on yours. His cock inside you. Your walls began to clench tighter around him. His moans, his hot breath against your cheek, his messy kisses. Just him. You had missed him so terribly, and only now did you wonder how in the world did you survive so long without him? 

He took you higher, and higher, and higher until you felt more tears escape your eyes. “Please, Buck…” you whined, begging pathetically and unable to arrange your words or your thoughts any better. “Please…” 

Your eyes were droopy in lust. His eyes were too as he stared down at you with a handsome and arrogant smirk on his face. “Please what, babygirl?” 

His pretty blue eyes put you under a trance. “Please, can I cum?” 

Bucky caressed your cheek with his knuckles, his metal hand holding him up above you. He didn’t know how he managed to survive without you all these months. He was barely living without you. He looked down at you with nothing but love and adoration in his eyes. 

“Go on, baby. Cum for me.” 

You let the pressure build inside you, before simply letting go. He didn’t slow down as you felt your orgasm wash over you, Bucky kept pounding into you as your eyes rolled back and you moaned out loud as you came. You whimpered at how he kept slamming into you even as you came, and your face burned as you felt a familiar knot forming again right at your core.

He fucked into you relentlessly. “Fuck…” He panted and groaned at how good you felt around him; wet and warm all for him. Your walls clenched around him violently and your body arched off the bed. 

You felt your second release approaching even before you could recover from the first one. Your leg around his waist was numb but you still wanted more of what he had to give. You would take whatever he gave you in that moment, given you had gone so long without him. 

You felt your mind getting foggy again. His large frame hovering above you as he fucked deeper into you, just a little more. “Cum for me again, baby.” He growled, his lips dangerously close to yours as you whined and whimpered under him. Your body trembled as you came for the second time, walls tightening around his length, gushing out around his cock while he still pounded relentlessly into you until he came as well.

You felt his thrust getting sloppy and irregular until he came to a stop and just groaned as he came violently. His warm cum filled you up and some of it trickled out of you when he carefully removed his cock from your entrance.

He collapsed on the bed beside you, catching his breath before pulling you into him. You were slightly shaking as he wrapped his arms around you, kissing your skin wherever he could, murmuring sweet nothings. 

“You okay, babe?” he asked after a few minutes of just holding you in his arms, in silence; both of you just enjoying each other’s warmth and presence. 

You nodded, placing your arm over his chest and scooting closer to him, pressing up against his side. 

You both remained quiet for a while longer. Thinking about the past, and the future. 

“Are you sure you’re not mad at me?” You asked, your brain starting to overthink again. 

Bucky sighed. “Baby I couldn’t stay mad at you even if you intentionally stabbed me through the heart and watched me bleed to death.” 

You took a second to process what he just spoke of, and you made a face at him, showing your horror and concern, which then made him laugh out loud. “You’re sick.” You muttered, placing a gentle kiss to his metal arm. The cold metal against your lips reminded of somewhere you desperately wanted to be - home. 

He shrugged, pulling you closer. “Yeah. Also cruel, devious and pure evil. But you love me nonetheless.” He teased. 

You smiled, your worn out body snuggled up against him. You felt your eyelids drooping as sleep slowly took over you. Today has been a lot. “I do.” You spoke softly. 

Bucky looked down and saw that you were slowly drifting off to sleep. He adjusted the covers so that you were well covered with the warm blankets. He tucked you in and wrapped his arms around you protectively, as though you might slip away from his grasp again. 

“I love you, babygirl. Sleep tight, we’re going home soon.” 

You didn’t respond so he figured you must have fallen asleep. While he hugged your sleeping figure, he thought back on everything you said tonight. Your biggest fear was that you might end up being the reason for his fall. But little did you know that ultimately, you had been the only reason he knew what truly falling in love was like.