#soooo gonna have to temper my expectations

[coldgoldlazarus]

Awwww fuck

[koiiiji]

Heyy I just wanted to say I really reallllyy love your writing and wanted to ask if you can write something about reader who is part of the Sabbat crew and is from the Middle East. Her relationship with the crew is all platonic and they all kinda see her as a little sister she’s 17 btw

hello looove!! at first i was like little bit unsure if my eastern european ass can be accurate and plausible but then i was beaten with thought that i've been in middle east countries multiplate times, but i still can't say that im fully familiar with your culture, so i’ll do it more neutral if you don't mind!!

there gonna be headcanon since i kinda run out of ideas and powers to write scenarios as it takes soooo many time (another reason why it took me almost one month, bc i was pushing myself to write an scenario) 🥹🥹

in love with my girl bella😭

• so like hyok brought you to the team since we saw frames with him on spanish (and i immediately make him person of the world) you prob know each other from cycling school where he was when he was younger.

• joker wouldn’t show many emotions towards you, but will silently brings you bottle of water or little snacks after trainings.

• wooin likes to show you around the city and took hyok with you to try new food and cafes.

• since vinny is new to team he was kinda surprised and firstly you didn’t like each other.

• hyok is the biggest older brother figure to you since it was him who brought you to the team and introduced you, and in general you know each other longer so you build trusting relationships.

• wooin maybe as charismatic and talkative of all of them as he can, but in the end of the day he would be the last who you would came for advice or comfort, simply because you don’t have such strong connection.

• your and vinny relationship will go progressively better with time, so after few weeks you had this friendly rivalry, but he wasn’t too harsh with you since you are girl and younger than him. through building relationships with you he learned patience and how to hold his temper a little bit.

• with joker, on the other hand it was…just silent.. he was silent… at least something in your life should be permanent, and in sabbath its joker who mostly just silent and not really talking. after one training he will silently came to you and just stick some random sticker on your helmet and go away.

• what joker and hyok have in general? they liked to learn about your culture. while hyok will randomly ask super random questions, or ask meaning or translation of jokes he saw in tiktok, joker would be just listening when you explained or if you randomly start share something from your life at home.

• hyok and wooin will use some stereotypical jokes to banter you.

• wooin and vinny less interested, since vinny cared about his mum (another reason why he still doesn’t count you as lil sis, he simply doesn’t have powers and enough emotions, since he can care only about her), and improving his skills and wooin just had many of his dark work stuff to do, so of course they would listen to what you said and mention, but don’t expect them to remember everything what u said

• hyok have some goofy melody from memes from tiktok to your contact melody (def not the explosion sound for messages) (IM SORRY OKAY?)

• 100% few times joker asked you to have an eye on his brothers, and you build quite strong relationships so youngest one definitely will call you older sister (as an older sister i told u it soooo cute🥹🫶🏻)

[punkitt-is-here]

I feel like it's either gonna be so hyped up and then your answer is soooo Just Some Guyish or you'll come out with brand new pronouns. Stuff with a z in it AND a y

i can confirm im not a neopronoun user if that helps temper expectations. i have not been holding out on my pronouns for a good reason its just because its funny and i like not being judged for me gender

[pushingdaisies1]

ᴏɴᴇ ʟᴀꜱᴛ ɢᴏᴏᴅʙʏᴇ - ɪᴀɴ ɢʀɪᴍᴍ

Paring: Ian Grimm x Reader (Art director of Mythic Quest) Authors Note: -> Soooo.... hi! As you can see , I may have died again. Some things didnt go as planned which is why I couldn't do the winter prompts. I’m holding out for next year to actually do them , since the idea seemed vv fun. Speaking of next year , I wanna try experimenting with writing for more fandoms - also I want to get a better schedule with writing. While in my down time , I decided to binge watch Mythic quest and that's how this was created. I hope you all enjoy , and I'm planning to post another request I got as a new years treat. It involves Critical Role (￢‿￢ ) Summary: You would never deny that Mythic Quest helped you a lot. Never forgetting your good time friend Ian asking you to head the Art team. But now , it all felt incorrect. As if there was more for you in the vast world of video games. After you got a job offer in New York for someone whos looking for a Creative Director , your gonna have to break it to your now situation-ship Ian Grimm. Content Warning: In general , just arguing but also not really? Feeling empty/unwanted with your current position. Ian being sad which you know will get some tears flowing. Other than that I think that's all , as always let me know if I should add anymore. Time for the teary eyed angst my friends!!                     ︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵ ︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵ You were somewhat done packing. Shoving your bags with the leftover stuff at Ian’s compound. Holy shit this was a lot. You would have never expected in a million years to be leaving this all behind. It didn’t help with the emotions flooding through you during the process. As if you were betraying the family you had stuck with for so long. But you didnt know if you could stay with Mythic Quest any much longer. You wanted to embrace your potential and this was the only way. It was a huge mix of feelings , regret and hope being two of them You had hope in them , and now you just had to have hope in yourself. Right when you finished putting all your lasting items away , the front door opened. It was Ian , your circumstances coming to full front realizing this was also his house. He stood in the door way , stopped in his tracks. Everything around you got ice like cold. From looking down into your suit case , you couldn't help but look up at him. He genuinely had the face of being paused in time. More so shocked than mad. You had shame written all over your features , immediately looking back down to your half-open bag.

Stopped in his tracks , his eyes darted around the place. The things you had set up before now gone. Your “pizzaz” seemed to have been stripped from the walls. His eyes felt like they were burning a crater in the back of your head. Finally after this gut churning silence he said something.

“What… what are you doing?” He spoke , almost above a mutter. You could tell his tone was a little shaken but of course that couldn’t be crystal clear. “I’m packing since my flight leaves pretty soon.” You mumbled. “Flight? Why didn’t you tell me this sooner? What the fuck?” He questioned you. His burning temper slowly rising in him.

“Look , hold your horses! You know how I mentioned someone getting in touch with me?” You said trying to calm this situation down. Right now you were up from the floor , your possessions now packed and ready. You couldn’t dare to look him in the eyes. While you were thinking , Ian could recall a conversation you both had over breakfast. You didn’t really mention who exactly  , but you went on about how excited you were with what the mystery person had proposed to you over e-mail.

“Yes… how does that literally play with you up and running off?!” He almost wheezed. In his state of mind everything was just firing off on cylinders. The argument with Poppy and now this? How fucking more could his day get worse. He was so tired , and now this was hitting him so soon.

“It plays a big part actually.” You murmured. Ian almost glared at you , but he was only so confused. His silence in return lead you to ramble on. You explained that a gaming company up in New York was looking for a Creative Director. They had saw your work on Mythic Quest and other projects in the past and were firm in you being a great Creative Director for them.

“Thats great and all but… why? I mean after so long , you promised to stay.” He groaned. You could clearly feel the pain in his words. Each one piercing your heart more and more. “Thats why I was hesitant at first. I loved Mythic quest since the day you wanted to create it. But I can’t keep waiting around to finally be taken seriously.”

“What do you even fucking mean?! I take you seriously, everyone does.” Ian pleaded. “Oh really? You know how many times you have dragged the art team to handle your personal problems. Like the whole shirt debacle you and Poppy had?” You ranted to him. “Don’t forget the times you’ve needed me to create shit on a dime!”

Ian just stared at you blankly , not finding any words to say. “You don’t get it , if I take this so much could change for me!” Your words were desperate, not wanting to leave this relationship sour. “I would have control over a lot of things , I could finally say what I want to do creatively..”

Over and over you listed reason after reason. “It’s not like I could go back and change it all anyways.” You mumbled just a little. “Excuse me?” Ian said in response , sounding immensely offended. “Well I did accept the position and I did give in my resignation to David.” You explained. “Why didn’t you tell me!” He almost shrieked again.

“BECAUSE I DIDN'T THINK YOU’D CARE!” You yelled back. Ian really was looking like a sad puppy , this was all so sudden. You really didn’t want to start yelling but there it was. “I didn’t really think that you would give two flying fucks.  Most of the time you seem fine without me so I didn’t really expect it to make a difference , much less a huge one.” You coldly remarked.

Ian still looked at you blankly before choking up just a little. “Fine , I can’t stop you now.” His tone was almost as if you were walking on ice. His words cracking , his vulnerability being forced behind closed doors. “Look , I’m never not gonna be grateful about what I got to do with Mythic quest.” You tried to patch the derailed conversation up.

“This game will always be the game that helped my career tremendously. Everyone will always be like a family , or nice close-knit group of weird strangers.” Trying to chuckle through the bleakness right about now. “But I have a bad feeling staying here any longer won’t turn out well. So I’m making my exit now.” You finished off.

“Please , let me try more. I never meant to make you feel so empty.” Ian was right about to begging. He felt so pathetic , he didn’t want to lose you at all. This was right out of his worst nightmares. Surprisingly has those , thought not so surprisingly in the end.

“You’ve tried enough already and what’s done is done. I’ll never regret anything I did with you or this company. Don’t ever fucking think I hate you.” You looked him right in his eyes. He looked so tired , never expecting to come back home to this news. He did a nod back to you in response , making sure not to show any tears. Walking over to the front door , you looked up more at him.

You took in his face for the last time. Using your other free hand to cup a side of his cheek. He’d let it happen , immediately sinking into your somewhat comfort. “This is in no way to raise your ego but… I believe in you Ian. I have for a good eight years. I know you guys have this without me.”

The guilt in his voice was clear now as he replied. “Does this mean your gonna say ‘fuck you’ to everything?” You couldn't help but snicker a little. “No of course not! I’ll always be a text or call away. I could never give this all up completely. This has became apart of me I’d never let it go.”

He chuckled , his laughter feeling bitter. With one more kiss of your palm you heard the honk of your lift outside. Taking a breath in , you brought him into a hug. More like a side hug but hey it worked. “Make sure you tell everyone I bid them my farewells.”  Ian nodded and you both parted from the hug. “God it sounds like your dying.” This made you both share one final laugh. “Take this as my almost figurative death from this game. Hey , maybe do a fake funeral for me leaving.” You brought up.

He did a little bitter sweet smirk. “I could probably get that rolling.” He was holding on to strings. He wanted to show his love for you. Embracing you in a full hug , kissing your face all over. But he was helpless , biting his time for too long. Another honk came from the car waiting.

You sighed , getting your stuff in hand ready to leave finally. “Oh don’t forget to tell Poppy I said goodbye , as well as good luck.” Ian nodded , “You should probably head out before they ditch you. You sighed once more , heavier for a more comedic effect. “Yeah your right..  well then this is goodbye.”  Again , one last final look was shared between you two. Following that you closed the door behind you as you headed to the car waiting. Ian couldn’t help as soon as you left to burst into tears. He felt this pit growing inside him. What were these big emotions? He hated them , god this all sucked.

Words of shame rang through his head , he had lost you. After so long he had finally lost you. He had fucked this all up so hard. He felt hopelessly guilty about the situation. He wanted to try and fix it but like you said to him , he couldn’t at all. Which is what pained him more.

Your brain cleared out once your driver started moving along. Sitting in the backseat , your thoughts felt like white noise. Ringing and ringing constantly. It was all so overwhelming, it just encouraged the floodgates to burst right open.

It made you feel small , but enough was enough. Changes had to be made and you were proud of yourself somewhat. You didn’t really know what tomorrow would end up being like. But now you had to be hopeful for tomorrow. There was no going back. It was now or never , you were happy with just that.

Grounding yourself to reality in the backseat of this randos car , the tears stopped flowing. You had to keep your head up , you can’t sink into the deep depths of sadness now. Which led you to be a weird kind of excited. Everything felt really heavy , but you could feel it was all gonna be lifted right off from you soon enough.

Finally you were gonna be able to breath once more.

[jellostories]

PLAN F

To my pen-pal, Veberly (RIP)

Long ago, in the city of Neila, Nevada, there lived two “rival” groups: the evil Quadruple Quartet (consisting of Frederick, Aakil, Olivia, and Tin Oile) and the naïve-but-heroic Forever Hive (consisting of Bill Temper, Jack, and Mr. Half-Bald).

All four members of The Quartet hated The Hive with a fiery, burning passion, but the one who hated them most was, of course, the leader, Tin Oile.

Oile hated how The Hive always beat his team. He hated how The Hive always went to Little Caesar’s for dinner on Friday nights. He hated how they liked the medical drama Room Emergency. And most of all, he hated their shoes (“First Little Caesar’s, now Sketchers!? Dag gommit, it’s like they want us to get sued!”).

~~~~

One cold, snowy day in late November, Oile called a group meeting in the dining room of his middle-class home on Milkdud Street so they could work out how to destroy The Hive.

“Could we whack them with a plunger, please?” Frederick (the muscle) said to Oile, producing a plunger seemingly out of nowhere. 

“For the 123rd time, no,” Oile snapped from the end of the table, where he had his feet up. 

Frederick set the plunger down next to his chair, looking deflated.

“Any more ideas?” Oile sighed.

No one answered; Frederick was staring dejectedly at the table, Olivia (Oile’s niece and the group secretary) was chewing gum and twirling her gray pigtails boredly, and Aakil (the brains) was reading a book.

Oile groaned and snapped at his teammates: “Ya killin’ me, Smalls!” 

He pounded his fist on the table and stood up abruptly. Olivia, having swallowed her gum, eyed him warily.

“What, do you expect an evil plan to just fall out of the sky!?” Oile went on, waving his arms frantically.

All of a sudden, a box came crashing through the window and hit Oile in the head, making him fall forward, unconscious, on the floor with a simple “ow”.

“No, I expect it to come crashing through the window,” Olivia jeered, which Aakil accompanied with an amused snort.

“Sorry ‘bout the window, young’uns,” said a blind guy pushing a dolly, who was standing by the now-broken window and looking in the opposite direction. “I’m just gonna make like a tree and leaf before y’all sue me. ‘Bye!”

And he rushed off.

When Oile woke up, he ordered Aakil to open the box. 

In the box, they found the blueprints to a plan so awesomely sinister that its contents had to be <CENSORED> for this story and referred to as only “PLAN F”.

The next day, The Quartet executed PLAN F, by <CENSORING> the <CENSORED> <CENSOR>. Then, they <CENSOR, CENSOR, CENSOR>, <CENSOR-Y CENSOR> <CENSORED> <CENSORED> <CENSORED> <CENSOR>. <CENSOR, CENSOR, CENSORED, CENSORING, CENSORED> strawberry.

The Hive arrived on the scene just as The Quartet were getting done with their <CENSORING>. 

“Hey, guys! What’s up?” said Mr. Half-Bald brightly to the criminals.

“Oh, nothin’ much,” Frederick said, “just doin’ a little -- yowch!”

The brute was cut off by Olivia whacking him with a hiking stick.

“You are too late to stop us this time, Hive,” Oile stated proudly, holding the file that held PLAN F for all to see, “we have with us a Plan that has been given not only the Certified Seal of Awesome, but also the No-Fail 100% Foolproof Certificate from Sir Thomas Fool himself! So, there!”  

“What kind of ‘Plan’ is it?” asked Jack.

“An evil one, ya bonehead!” Oile snapped impatiently.

“HEY, THERE’S NO NEED TO YELL!” yelled Temper, who was hard-of-hearing.

Olivia rolled her eyes. 

“Boys are soooo immature,” she sighed.

“I’m not,” Aakil scoffed.

“That’s ‘cuz you’re not a boy,” Olivia giggled, “You’re a geek.”

Aakil looked mildly offended, but he knew Olivia was probably right.

~~~~

The Hive and The Quartet got into a fight over yelling. Fists flew and spaghetti was thrown, the latter of which sucked for Olivia because she got some in her hair.

“AAAAAAAH!!! THERE’S SPAGHETTI IN MY HAIR! THERE’S SPAGHETTI IN MY HAIR!”

She panicked and ran into a wall, knocking herself out.

Frederick was whacking the Hive with a plunger, a dream come true for him. But, alas; it was short-lived, for Jack knocked him out with a bowl-brush.

Aakil was to be The Hive’s next victim. He and Mr. Half-Bald were duking it out with oven mitts; this ended with the chubby guy strawberry-pie’ing the brainiac right in the face.

“Oh, rrrrreal mature, Mr. ‘Hive’,” Aakil remarked, his voice heavy with irony.

Now only Oile was left. He and Temper were staring daggers at each other as a tumbleweed blew across them, signaling the impending ultimate showdown.

“This town ain’t big enough for the two of us, Temper,” Oile said, hawking a loogie into a trash pail.

“I HAVE A MEETING WITH MAYOR ELVIS NEXT WEEK,” Temper said, “WANT ME TO TALK WITH HIM ABOUT EXPANDING THE CITY??” 

 “IT’S A FIGURE OF SPEECH, YA MORON!” Oile yelled back. 

He reached in his pocket and took out a grenade-launcher, and Temper imitated the action.

The two rivals fired at the same time, and when the smoke cleared it was Oile who’d been burnt to a crisp.

“I hate you,” he puffed, whereupon he fell over, unconscious.

[2-cute-4-school]

𝘕𝘊𝘛 𝘋𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘴

requested by the lovely @m4rshm4llow​ (*ૂ❛ัᴗ❛ั*ૂ)

Mark Lee

i think mark is quite good with children too when he’s not frozen in awkwardness

but i wouldn’t trust with him alone with a kid for too long tbh

like i see him as someone who could probably entertain a kid for a couple of hours succesfully but taking care of them?? yeah no (˵¯͒ བ¯͒˵)

so let’s say he had to tag along with you to babysit because he didn’t want to waste any time he could spend with you *let my boy receive his love*

but he’s not thaaaat excited he just hopes that the kid will get K.O.-ed early in the night so he could have some alone time with you( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°).... TO CUDDLE ya nasties

so when you arrive at your cousin’s house and you come in

he surely DIDN’T expect a kid to literally throw himself onto you and cling to your legs while chanting your name o(*^▽^*)o

the only way you can get him to detach so you can walk is if you pick him up in your arms

“y/n, who’s he?” mark just stares at the chubby finger pointed at him and produces an *HIGHLY AWKWARD* smile like (*′☉.̫☉)

“oh this is mark, my boyfriend”

*silence* “ew”

now hold on rewind

did a kid just ‘ew’ at mark (｡☉︵ ಠ╬)

and then he had THE AUDACITY to cling to your neck while rambling about his new robot toy and mark had to THIRDWHEEL the entire night

now he’s sure you have superpowers how could you tame that!!??!?! even haechan could be considered mild in comparison to... this ʕ •̀ o •́ ʔ

he’s pouty the entire evening while you play and take care of the newly spawned devil in town who HOGS your attention the entire time

so when he finally runs out of energy a bit later than mark would have hoped for, he’s quick to envelop you in his arms and drag you into a well deserved cuddle session ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ

“what took you so looong?”

“sorry sorry, i had to look under his man for boogeyman”

“pffft i think boogeyman is the one looking under his bed for that kid”

but he does melt when he remembers the way your eyes sparkled as the child giggled excitedly on your lap while imagining himself in the picture too (๑°꒵°๑)･*♡

Huang Renjun

renjun as we all know is just a bit short tempered so i’m not sure where he stands in his relationship with kids 눈_눈

but also he brings up his younger cousins quite often and he seems very fond of them whenever he talks about them

so i guess he likes kids but like good kids ya know Σ(-᷅_-᷄๑)

so let’s say you’re shopping in like one of those bigger supermarkets

and you hear cries

your mother instincts literally GO OFF LIKE CRAZY

renjun doesn’t even have the time to blink before you’re dragging him in the direction of the noise with such precision you might as well have a radar at this point ᕕ༼✿•̀︿•́༽ᕗ

turns out a little girl was lost between the tall aisles

renjun is a lil bewildered cause what is he supposed to do? not like he’s tall enough to see other the aisles in his dreams maybe

but you seem to know EXACTLY what to do as you crouch down in front of the girl and speak to her so gently not even renjun can hear properly

and then as if nothing happened she stops crying

just like that so renjun decides to try his luck too o｜◕ˇ▽ˇ◕｜ツ

“come on, let’s go find mommy and daddy”

and lemme tell ya the little girl sprung into your arms and clung to you with everything she had as she mumbled into your neck

“i only wanna go with miss” (つ﹏<)･ﾟ｡

his eye twitched a lil ngl （；¬＿¬)

and that’s how you end up taking a stroll to the announcement desk with a whole child gripping onto your hand

renjun would have never imagined his grocery run to turn into this

he only wanted some damn carrots not a frickin child ಠ╭╮ಠ

thankfully it didn’t take long for the parents to run over and thank you for returning their child safely but there was only one problem left

getting her to let go of you

that was a whole ass dramatic goodbye

poor renjun was left exhausted after this he gave up any grocery run he intended to do and dragged you home pronto (ﾉTдT)ﾉ

he admires you so much for how you handled the situation and how you seemed to be so natural and in your element he can only think of how great of a mother you will be in the future with his beside you hopefully

Lee Jeno

one word, his greatest asset: PATIENCE

i see jeno as a man of patience which is more than just helpful when it comes to handling children ❀.(*´◡`*)❀.

he’s also volunteered in all these programs that involved children and he did really well if you ask me soooo he’s a good ally to have (︶.̮︶✽)

and you really REALLY want to volunteer together at one of those like emergency centres for children or something

and who is he to deny his love? he couldn’t have even if he wanted to, you’re too cute in his eyes so he lets you get your way anyway

so before you step inside one of the caretakers gives you some advice

warns you that the new kid, a little girl still in primary school, is still very closed off and wary of everyone

but as you step inside the kids get drawn to you like moths to a flame, swarming around you and asking you questions while dragging you in the living room to play with them

jeno just trails behind, watching the entire commotion with his soft eye smile as he understands (◍•ᴗ•◍)

he knows that you just have a way with people, he’s been in the same position mesmerized by you, it’s one of the reasons he loves you so much and seeing you so purely happy surrounded by children

MELTED HIM ♡(.◜ω◝.)♡

eventually you drag him into the happy circle too and he seems to fit in just right by your side with giggling children everywhere around you

he ends up using his muscly arms ᕙ[ ˵ ͡’ ω ͡’ ˵ ]ᕗ as swings

“hey!! i’m stronger than you!!! let’s have a fight!!!!”

you just giggle as you colour some pictures with a few kids but stare at your boyfriend from the corner of your eye

jeno is so simply happy and comfortable he doesn’t even notice when you disappear from the crowd at first

but when he does his eyes search wildly for you like a lost puppy Σ(ﾟﾛ､ﾟ;)

but then he spots you

curled up on a small couch in the corner of the room, deep in conversation with the new girl whose eyes seemed just a little brighter as you clutched her hand in yours warmly ｡ﾟ.(*´◡` )

and jeno just realises again

you’re just working your charm once again and once again jeno falls for you for the nth time, deeper than the last time and lighter than the next

Lee Donghyuck

this manchild right here smh ୧༼◔益◔୧ ༽

now don’t get me wrong i’m pretty sure he’s decent at least with children

given he has two younger siblings and he often talks about hanging out with his little brother also have you seen that vid with the little girl?? the was he talked to her ⊂（♡⌂♡）⊃

buuuut BUT he’s also DYING like a fish out of water without attention

so when he invites you to tag along to his hangout with his lil bro

he didn’t expect TO BE THE ONE THIRDWHEELING!!!! (╬ಠ益ಠ)

you keep feeding and pampering his brother who basks in your full attention half because he loves it half because he loves the annoyed look on hyuck’s face

“babe i want some kimchi too” (*ﾟ∀ﾟ*)

“oh!!! sure, i’m sorry for hoarding it all”

and as hyuck awaits with his eyes closed and his mouth open with a pleased smile

you plop a bowl of kimchi in front of him and turn back to his brother as he tugs on the sleeve of your shirt

hyuck, muttering to himself: ‘i should have left you home, you lil brat, both of you traitors!!!!!’ (ノTДT)ノ ┻┻

he pouts and sighs dramatically with crossed arms the entire night while watching you interact oh so sweetly with his little brother

but he can’t deny the warm feeling of fondness swarming is his chest seeing you get along so well with his family and being so genuinely happy when you’re with kids

still complains to you when he gets you alone

“i can’t believe you love my brother more than me!!! ME, YOUR SWEET LOVELY CUTIE BOYFRIEND!!!” ‧º·(˚ ˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ )‧º·˚

“first of all, i wouldn’t stretch it that far-” “how is that stretching-?!??!”

“i’m sorry i’m sorry, my sweet lovely cutie boyfriend, i just missed him, he’s so cute and i haven’t seen him in so long and he seems to grow so fast every time we meet” (oꆤ︵ꆤo)

NOW hyuck is real soft how can he be mad at you when you’re THIS ADORABLE AFSKSGDFSAF-

hyuck just presses a sweet smooch to your temple and mutters

“he only acts that cute with you, he’s a devil at home”

“sheesh, i wonder who he takes after” *pointed look* (￢ε￢　)

Na Jaemin

my man here will most likely compete with YOU for the CHILD’S attention

it’s like GAME OVER for him if a child rejects him ε-(≖д≖﹆)

he’s never gonna get over this betrayal from both sides

so let’s say he takes you with him when he offers to babysit a cousin or neighbour idk you get where i’m getting at

and he’s already ‘play buddies’ with him as jaemin likes to put it (,,꒪꒫꒪,,)

and you’re slightly acquitanced with him from a previous visit to jaemin’s house when you coincidentally met

so when jaemin opens the door and announces his presence LOUDLY, the little boy doesn’t waste A SECOND to waddle in the hallway and meet you both ლ(＾ω＾ლ)

and jaemin crouches to meet him midway and-

and he *swooshes* past jaemin and into your open arms while giggling

jaemin, a lonely man in the middle of a hallway: (ಥ⌣ಥ)

the entire day, your boyfriend tries to steal the kid’s attention or bribe him over with sweets or toys

now you’re wondering who the real brat is

is salty about the UTTER rejection but also can’t help but watch you both so fondly with a proud hopefully in future for real fatherly smile (*ૂ❛ัᴗ❛ั*ૂ)

“are you practicing, y/n?”

“pardon?”

“practice, are you practicing?”

“for...?” ∑（´△｀○）

“ya know” *wiggles eyebrows* “taking care of our future children”

“learn how to control your own brat at home read jisung first and THEN we can talk, jaemama”

jaemin can’t believe this low blow, how could you after everything he’s done: cooking for you, taking you on bike rides even though he was the one who wanted to, even buying pads!!! or even worse!!!!! STRAWBERRY YOGHURT!!!!!! ∑(ﾟ台ﾟlll

he’s still pouty as you all put on an animation and snuggle a blanket

but then!!!! you fall asleep with the little boy in your embrace

and jaemin!!!!! just!!! CAN’T!!! stay mad!!!!!! cause you’re both just SO absolutely irrevocably CUTE!!!!!! ♡( ૢ⁼̴̤̆ ꇴ ⁼̴̤̆ ૢ)~ෆ♡

so he just HAS TO lay a *meaningful* smooch on your forehead as he sleepily moves closer to you both, one arm wrapping loosely around you while the other caresses the child’s head, lulling the both of them to sleep his protecc instincts kicked in y’all

Zhong Chenle

he has already expressed his wish to have a family someday since he wants to live the same happiness his brother does with his own family

which i think is ABSOLUTELY PRECIOUS

and we all know he’s WHIPPED for his nephew ˞♡ฅ(ᐤˊ꒳ฅˋᐤ)

but unfortunately

that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s good with children yet

let me give you a context over here

so he’s left alone for a short while with his baby nephew which shouldn’t be too bad since technically chenle is an adult at least legally okay??

and right things are all good until BABY STARTS TO CRY i’m talking about the actual baby here although chenle might cry too at this point

and chenle just PANICS when he realises that just shushing won’t work and whacking a hand over his mouth *cough* like he does to jisung *cough* isn’t an option (╬⁽⁽ ⁰ ⁾⁾ Д ⁽⁽ ⁰ ⁾⁾)

but thankfully, you’re there!!!!!!

“may i?” you ask chenle as you stretch out your arms in his direction

chenle has never passed over anything faster in his entire life џ(ºДºџ)

so when you coddle the baby in your arms and just gently bounce him a little he just settles down so cutely and most important QUIETLY as he stares up at you with curious eyes, small fingers curling up around a necklace swung around your neck or just the fabric of your shirt

chenle is all like (๑•́o•̀๑)!!

HOW DID YOU JUST DO THAT!!!!

and he watches with eyes even more curious than his nephew’s eyes as the baby slowly dozes off peacefully in your arms (꒡ ω ꒡ )zzz

it just hits him just how natural the scene looks

he approaches carefully once he’s sure his nephew fell asleep and lays a gentle hand on your head as he peers down at the cute chubby baby face

“you’re a life saver, how did you even manage to do that?” ◎ܫ◎

“you know, i have to take care of you all the time so-”

he flicks your forehead faster than you can finish that sentence

way to ruin a moment (oT-T)

but *SIKEEE* the baby fusses a little as soon as you frown and chenle immediately freaks out

he showers the spot on your forehead with kisses and his nephew settles down once again as you smile at him proudly ໒( ͡ᵔ ▾ ͡ᵔ )७

chenle rolls his eyes as if he doesn’t wish for this scene to become familiar to him sometime in the future

Park Jisung

this chick is still a baby who barely hatched

so he’s still in CONSTANT WONDER of the world ༼ つ ◕o◕ ༽つ

and in this episode of ‘jisung the explorer’ he’s discovering... ACTUAL babies

so you were on a date at the local mall when you met with a family friend of your mom’s who was struggling with her fussy baby girl in a carrier while trying to shop for some baby products

so you offer to watch over the girl until her mom finishes up (•́⌄•́๑)૭✧

but just as you’re about to attach the baby carrier to yourself, an old woman asks for directions around the shop

so you pass the baby to jisung for literally a minute to show the lady the way └(>ω<。)┐

and jisung is HIGHKEY PANICKED

he holds the baby by the underarms at arms length and obviously she doesn’t enjoy that and just starts wailing in the middle of the shop

and people just... stare (,Ծ_Ծ,)

and jisung is all like ‘IT’S NOT MINE!!!!! AND I’M NOT STEALING OR MISTREATING IT EITHER!!!!!!’

the moment you’re back in his sight, he’s THRUSTING that tiny loud bald creature in your arms it’s a child jisung ║ * ರ Ĺ̯ ರ * ║

and he expects for you to panic too but right away

the baby quietens down as you cuddle her close to your chest and coo softly in a hushed baby voice

and she plays with your shirt while you glare at your boyfriend (눈_눈)

“y/n, you sorcerer, how did you just shut it off?”

“i didn’t ‘shut it off’, she’s a baby not a tape recorder”

“oh REALLY, i couldn’t tell the difference for a moment there”

you just might consider returning jisung and keeping the baby（ ಠωಠ）

he watches in wonder as you entertain the baby for the next few minutes until her mother comes back

and he swears his heart skips a beat when he sees your smile widen with tenderness once you get a small giggle out of the baby (*ฅ́˘ฅ̀*)

he supposes maybe she isn’t so bad since she makes you so happy

even though she was louder than even chenle which is an accomplishment at this point

and when jisung notices your slight pout once you gave the baby back and parted ways he makes sure to shower your face in kisses until you regain the same smile that made him fall so deep in love with you

[astaroth1357]

Demon Brothers being Soft for Their Daughters 

Might just be me but I think there's nothing cuter than a Dad who loves his daughter so I made a hc for our boys. Strap in, it’s a long one! 

IMPORTANT! Watch out for first half spoilers! Assumed that the child is a half human/half demon with the MC!

Lucifer

Tries to be really strict but ends up being kind of a pushover.

Oh there ARE rules that even his little girl can't break, but most of the time she can get away with almost anything if she's cute clever enough.

Pushes her to be the best at almost anything she tries, expectations be real high; gonna take the MC stepping in to remind him winning isn't everything and please cool it on the pressure.

Lowkey learned his lesson before and doesn't want to make another Satan situation so tries to take MC's advice to heart and not be quite so controlling.

Her favorite uncle is Mammon and he gets cold sweats about this every night.

Wasn't able to be there for a lot of her firsts due to work and gets real sulky when he misses out. Videos just don't offer the same experience...

Feels bad that work keeps him so busy so he tries to make up for it with toys, clothes, jewelry, pretty much whatever she likes at the time.

Would never admit it, but his black heart melts every time he comes home and sees she's excitedly waiting by the door.

One of those parents who will never stop bragging about how amazing their kid is to anyone who will listen, but never when she's in the same room.

100% that overprotective "I'm going to give you a brief tour of the torture chamber, then we’ll browse my whip collection. Oh, make sure she's home by 8" kind of dad if she were to ever bring home a date. They will know that his baby is not to be messed with (like anyone's crazy enough to try honestly).

Mammon

So over the goddamn moon that someone actually wanted to have a kid with him that he couldn't shut up about it for weeks.

Treasures his little girl more than anything he owns, even Goldie. When she's a baby the two of them are practically inseparable.

The biggest pushover to ever be pushed. She's about the only person he's ever unconditionally generous to and he really spoils her rotten.

She's just as materialistic as her father, honestly, but MC made sure their girl was raised with good morals. The first of which being no stealing. Ever. She works for every cent she spends.

On the one hand, he's actually pretty damn proud and relieved that she won't be called "scum" or anything like her father, but on the other hand like… Ew. Who raised you? (No one remind him it’s kind of his doing anyway).

For once in his greedy existence, he can tell a sob story about really needing that loan or those shoes for his beloved daughter and actually mean it… most of the time 😏

Even when she's young, though, she will ask him if a gift he's giving her was taken from someone else and, man, he cannot lie to her face. People shame him for stealing all the time but the little look of disappointment she gives him hurts WAY more than all of his brothers’ insults combined.

Probably one of the most supportive and involved dads in existence. He will be at every game, every recital, every meet. Even if he's complaining the whole time, if anyone so much as suggests that he just shouldn't go he'd be appalled.

…. He's perhaps a little too involved because he's also totally the kind of father who will lowkey stalk his daughter's dates to be sure nothing bad happens. MC, please step in. She needs privacy too.

Leviathan

Was incredibly worried about having a kid, he's not even had the best track record when it comes to pets and parenting is some high-level normie stuff. But his little girl's first smile absolutely melted his doubts away.

That being said… he's still not the greatest with little kids. For a long time if the baby so much as sneezed unexpectedly he'd start shouting for the MC and checking every website he can like??? My half demon baby won't stop sneezing, is it pneumonia???

Gets a lot less panicky as the child gets older, but in those early years he'd practically want to stick them in a bubble wrap suit.

He passed on his love of the ocean and underwater creatures pretty early on. The running joke is that his girl knew how to swim before she knew how to crawl.

Family aquarium trips are an absolute must.

The second they're old enough to understand plot he's introducing them to his favorite shows, but only the best (and most child-friendly) ones of course. He wants his daughter to grow into a woman of culture, damnit! Pop culture that is.

Sooo much text/chat lingo between these two. It's not her fault really. She was bound to pick it up but man can it sound like they're speaking tongues at times.

With practice she can and will beat her old man at most video games and, yes, it makes his cry tears of equal parts pride and aggravation.

Has a mini-panic attack every time she hits a new milestone, like, yes he's so fucking proud but also don't you think she's growing up too fast??? MY BABY GIRL!!! 😭😭😭

Cries like a baby to the MC when she goes out on her first date because he realized she's really, truly, growing up and he's afraid his little girl isn't going to want to spend time with her lame old dad anymore.

Satan

Tries to be strict and IS strict but mostly on schoolwork.

Her grades best not be slippin' or this Book Papa will take all her stuff away. End of discussion.

Otherwise, he's surprisingly chill being the Avatar of Wrath and all. He of all people understands the desire to just have your own life and do your own thing.

She'll inherit his temper though, that's a given, and if they both get going then watch out. Fights between them can get verbally explosive, but never physical. Even at his angriest Satan would never once lay a hand on his daughter.

Read to her every night when she was young: storybooks, novels, mythologies, didn't matter to him. Whatever she wanted to hear. Still, he was so proud the day she told him that she wanted to read on her own.

100% makes nearly everything in life a teachable lesson but also helps her when she needs it. He wants her to forge her own path but is still very supportive when the situation calls for it.

Would never EVER admit it, but he does just as many dad jokes as Lucifer.

Of all the brothers, he's probably the most typical father to have, there for his kid just enough while also making sure they're not getting away with murder.

Is totally chill with her dating because he knows he doesn’t have to be super protective of her. She can more than handle herself if something goes wrong, in fact, if he were to step in it would probably add insult to their already grievance injury.

That being said, he IS the Avatar of Wrath. If someone hurts his girl he’s going to have a turn one way or another.

Asmodeus

Oh YEEESSS, he's not normally the commitment kind of guy but he and MC raising a child? They'd be the most gorgeous thing in the universe!!! (Not counting himself of course)

Beautifying his baby since day one, but the MC keeps him from doing anything too extreme. A lot of baths, good moisturizer, hairstyling (when she grows enough of it), etc.

Soooo many outfits. She'll practically never wear the same thing twice and Asmo coordinates his own clothes to match hers all the time.

He actually goes out and parties LESS if you can believe it, especially when she's young and needs a lot of supervision. But he'll get pent up real quick so learning how to do a quiet quickie during naptime is a must.

His girl is all over his Devilgram, nearly every milestone is snapped up and recorded. He loves her more than anything and would just scream about his pride and joy from the rooftops if social media didn't provide him that outlet.

Makes sure his daughter knows that she is gorgeous, she is loved, and passes on every bit of self-confidence he has. Doesn't matter if she grows up a girly-girl, tomboy, or anything else under the sun. When you're feeling good just being you, heads will turn on their own accord!

Not the best at discipline and would only really step in if he thinks she's being a real jerk about something. Day to day attitude adjustments are totally up to the MC.

He is, however, the best sex-ed teacher one could ever ask for and makes sure his daughter knows there's no shame in what comes natural, just be sure you're respectful and responsible!

Completely unfazed when the suitors began lining up, I mean she is HIS daughter. It was inevitable. Offers tips and advice when he can but lets her go off and experiment naturally. Young love is a beautiful thing! (Just don't break his girl's heart though because he may lowkey curse your whole bloodline)

Beelzebub 

….. MC, you're going to be eaten out of house and home.

Though his daughter's appetite isn't AS bad as his, Beel could tell it's going to be an issue from day one but he's ready for it.

Dedicates his freaking life to being sure she never goes one night hungry. He'll cook, he'll shop, he'll even share from his own plate if he has to. The thought of her going through anywhere near the level of starvation he feels on a daily basis is enough to crush his soul (if he has one)

You better bet there will be eating competitions. She never wins, but the fact she can even get close will have him grinning anyway.

That being said, he will push for a healthy and active lifestyle for her too. 

Highkey wants her playing sports and doing team activities because he genuinely thinks it will help her stay healthy and make friends.

Just the right amount of discipline. Tries to be understanding but also knows when to call a spade, a spade and express his disapproval.

Very in-tune to her emotions and her needs even if he can’t quite grasp WHY she's feeling the way she is. Keeping up with teen drama is going to be the bane of his existence...

Uncle Belphie=That one cool uncle who lets you get away with anything and probably gives out sugar after bedtime.

One of the only brothers who makes a point of his daughter also seeing and exploring her human heritage too and not just treating her like a pseudo-demon… And it's totally not just for the added excuse of sampling human world cuisine, like, come on who do you take him for? 🤫

Somewhat cautious about her dating, but ultimately just wants her to be happy. He'll usually trust her judgment but he's pretty good at reading someone's character and if he gets real bad vibes from anyone he's not above telling her, "No. Not that one." Whether or not he's listened to depends on the situation.

Belphegor

Lol MC, you could have picked a much better choice. Borderline Deadbeat/Cool Dad here!

Kids… not his thing. He doesn't dislike them exactly, they're just a lot of work and he's sort of allergic to that. He's more of a semi-irresponsible babysitter type.

Case in point, "Belphie, watch the baby" becomes "Belphie, if you're going to take a nap at least hold onto her leg so she doesn't go anywhere."

Only saving grace is she takes after him so most days she's pretty dang sleepy too. Naptime is a good third of the daily routine (not that anyone is complaining).

Shit at discipline because, like, what leg does he have to stand on? If she wants to ditch class, why not let her? Once or twice ain't that bad.

Takes her on a lot of "field trips" to the human world like he would with Lilith. Genuinely wants her to experience both sides of her identity and encourages her to explore her human side just as much as her demon.

The kind of chill dad that you feel comfortable going to when you've got to talk out a problem or need life advice. He might not be able to offer many answers, but he tries in his own way.

Will prank his kid and will not feel sorry, but is never cruel about it. In fact, this will only spur on a mutual prank war between the two.

Uncle Beel=that genuinely nice uncle who tries to teach you life lessons and how to take care of yourself… while also eating a ton of food.

Would be super confused at first if she started dating like?? How? He kind of sees her like a mini-him at times and his human came to him. Since when did she stay awake long enough to leave the house?? But otherwise he goes with the flow. Whatever she wants, her life.

He might get a bit more agitated if she starts to date a human, like, lowkey bad flashbacks to the whole Lilith situation and the MC would probably have to cool his jets about it. Different circumstances after all.

[i-love-ninjago-kai]

Hi again!! I hope this isn’t too soon to ask again, I don’t want to burden you. Anyways, I really loved your last Kailor posts and though I’d love more on that, I wanted your thoughts on Kai keeping things locked up emotionally because I noticed that was something you’ve mentioned a few times. I’ve been working on an angsty Kai fic (post s3 stuff) where of course he hides everything he’s going through, and so I’ve been thinking about that a lot and how he’s been like that. Like him being more secretive from an early age to protect Nya and how that habit stays. Also how he deals with others being suspicious that he’s hiding stuff and how he’d react when confronted about it. I know this is a lot to unpack though so if you don’t want to that’s fine! :) (this was too long for an ask that’s why I did a submission)

- Submitted by @ofmagicandmusic -

Hey there friend, thank you! It warms my heart that my rambles can be helpful haha,

Sure, I’ll see what I can do :)

(Gonna be putting this one under read more too.. Sorry!!)

So... Kai doesn’t necessarily hide when he’s struggling with something, or rather, he’s really really bad at it. He’s a very emotive person, albeit he leans more toward the negative side of emotions. If someone doesn’t know him well, Kai is just brash and has a million dollar glare that could burn you alive, and a temper to be wary of.

However if you do know him, have seen what really goes on behind his eyes, it’s a little more complicated. We see that generally when Kai is in a good mood, he’s wearing a contented smile and is altogether pleasant to be around, that’s the side that Kai tries to show the media only.

But that’s not all Kai is. There’s plenty of days when he’s irritable and grumpy, and you have to be careful not to set off his volatile rage, he’s feeling all this and.. Nothing is wrong. Everyone is in good health, things are good in ninjago, all together things are well. Kai just has days when he’s angry, and the team knows this, and they love him all the same, happy Kai, or angry Kai.

Now... it’s deciphering whether or not Kai is having and Angry day, or he’s actually struggling with something, is when it gets tricky.

Because Kai will always give you the same answer when you ask. 

“No, I’m fine.” “I’m Alright.” Or a glare with more ice in it than what Zane can produce.

Kai has a really, really hard time letting people in. He’s spent his entire life doing things himself, and he doesn’t really see a reason to change that. No one was there for him when he was dirt poor, raising his little sister, and he handled it. 

Sure, it left irreparable damage, and his stress and loneliness festered into intense trust issues and low expectations for others, but he handled it. 

He took on ignacia’s judgmental and pitying stares, watched as no one really reached out a hand to help. He raised his little sister because she’s all that mattered. He doesn’t need anyone’s help.

Kai doesn’t need people to solve his problems for him, he doesn’t want them wasting their effort on him. Especially if he’s got it all under control.

He’s got it all under control.

And then Zane died, and Kai couldn’t handle it. Kai should be able to handle everything, he’s been cheated and life has been cruel to him, so he should be used to it pulling stuff to hurt him. 

But Zane is dead, and Kai doesn’t know what to do. Kai always knows what to do, and now he doesn’t. Everyone is mourning and comforting each other but it doesn’t even matter because Zane is still dead.

And it should have been him. Zane was everything Kai isn’t and didn’t deserve to die that way. Kai? Kai is expendable, he knows he’s no lynchpin or what holds the team together.

So why didn’t he die? Kai would’ve traded anything to take Zane’s place because it’s not fair. Kai has been put in an unfair situation, his entire childhood was unfair. Fine, he lived through that.

But this is wrong. It’s so wrong it makes him sick because he wants so badly to change it, but he can’t. He feels so deeply at fault that he is nauseated to even be in the team’s presence. Because he knows they can see how miserable he is, and he wouldn’t dare make them think he can’t handle his pain alone.

So he leaves. It’s night time, and everyone is still so, so tired from the overlord, and their loss. No one wakes, or even stirs as he leaves through the bounty’s window.

It’s not hard for him to make a new identity, this place is full of people who’ve run away too, he hasn’t been in the press much yet, and it’s not like these people care, all of them are as miserable as him. Who were they to judge him?

He falls into a spiral of fighting and drinking, his dingy little apartment he’s managed to rent is only used to sleeping at this point, or nursing his more serious injuries he receives at various fight clubs. At some point he stops trying to feel better. He doesn’t deserve to feel better, so he doesn’t.

He makes ‘friends’. Well, they’re not really friends, they’re terrible people who in reality couldn’t care less about him. But misery loves company, right?

The bruises he comes home with don’t even phase him anymore. When he came home to the team with bruises, he’d allow himself the pleasure of complaining a little, maybe letting himself sleep in a little longer. 

Now they just feel like a part of him, they change areas an severity, but in the end they’re all the same, and Zane is still dead. So does it really matter?

He doesn’t like the taste of the alcohol he drinks, it’s bitter and the still good part of him is ashamed to be drinking it. But it makes him forget, just for a little while, so does that matter either?

Shame pools in the pit of his stomach when Lloyd confronts him, he’s nursing a drink while he’s talking to the kid. He shouldn’t see him like that, but he does, and it’s too late.

Lloyd doesn’t ask him how he’s doing when he sees him, which Kai is sort of thankful for. He doesn’t really know how to answer. Because it’s obvious he’s bad, really bad. But even after sinking so so low and feeling so so... Awful, Kai still doesn’t want to ask for help.

He either doesn’t deserve help or he doesn’t want it. At this point he’s not sure.

He has to really look to find one of his gis, since he burned  most of them up one particularly terrible night. A ninja doesn’t go around looking for a fight, but Kai does, so he burns his whatever evidence is left of who he was.

I wish I could say that Kai get’s better after his time in hiding, working with the Slither Pit. But really... it get’s worse, because now Kai is so ashamed of what he’s done, and how that time changed him. 

He’s got new scars that don’t have honorable explanations, made some very bad people angry and he prays they never come looking for him. 

Worst of all, he abandoned them. He abandoned Nya, his sister who already knows the pain of abandonment. He repeated history, leaving her when he was the one person who promised never to.

But she forgives him, and in a way, he thinks that’s worse than her being angry. So he holds a grudge for the two of them, if she’s not going to be mad... Then he is.

So now asking for comfort is a luxury, that he absolutely doesn’t deserve. He neither wants, needs, or deserves help from his friends, not from his family, or anyone.

Well... Unless you’re Skylor. Skylor always gives him this... This look when he’s keeping something in. This look has to be magic because it makes his jaw unhinge and suddenly he’s talking. Talking to her.

And the first time it happens it scares him, because now she knows. She knows everything and she’s going to tell everyone how messed up he is (As if it’s not obvious)

So he waits for the team to ask questions. They never do, because Skylor never told them. 

She told them nothing. Everything she knows about him is still... Just in her mind.

The smart part of his mind knows that’s not great. To only open up to one person, but Kai is so afraid to show weakness, because he can’t. He’s spent his entire life having to be strong, he can’t break down, he has to be ready because sometimes the others aren’t.

He has to be a steady flame, that persists, and doesn’t go out.

Sorry this is long... I could go on!!! But it’s already soooo long and I went on some tangents, Sorry!! Hope this is helpful!!!

[ihaveatheoryonthat]

Out to Launch

Part 1/?

Felt like doing a little writing after RA came out. This is pretty much just a fluff-filled follow-up, so don’t expect anything too deep.

Oh, also spoilers. Expect those.

“Soooo,” Ratchet drawled, voice low as his eyes traced Rivet’s path around Megalopalis Center, “You up for repairs? ‘Cause I don’t mind carrying you around, but if it were me, I’d want use of my limbs back ASAP.”

“I would not object,” Clank shifted against the steadying arm, trying, again, to free his legs from whatever had pinned them into place, “That aside, I believe my heli-pack mod may be malfunctioning as well; this was the second time it has deployed improperly, and we cannot risk a faulty safety net.”

“Alright, missing arm, legs locking up, heli-pack on the fritz. Won’t be perfect, but we can get all that taken care of easy enough.” Gaze wandering upward as he thought about it, Ratchet asked, “You wanna run a diagnostic just in case there’s anything else that needs work right away?”

“I will execute a background scan.”

Mind on the work to be done, Ratchet shot him a thumbs-up with his free hand.

“Do you always perform Clank’s repairs?” Kit asked from his opposite side.

He started, turning so he held Clank with both arms, and angled them away from the perceived aggressor. After a second, reality seemed to filter in and he turned to engage their new friend.

“Basic maintenance stuff, yeah, but he’s got a guy for anything overly complicated. I am his source of illegal modifications, though.”

“Ratchet! Shhh!”

 To his credit, he lowered the volume as he went on.

“Speaking of which, this is a perfect opportunity to upgrade from the poso-morphic cannons if you wanted to spring for ion blasters instead.”

 Clank sighed and rested his head in his hand, and Ratchet stifled a laugh, shifting him so he sat more comfortably against his hip. “Suit yourself. How do  you   feel about black-market ion coils, Kit?”

“Um,” She said awkwardly, “Neutral?”

“Are you soliciting upgrades from another lombax?” Rivet called, finally bored with the plaza’s sights.

“No! I, um, do not think that is what I was doing…?”

“You’re fine, Kit-- I was just teasing.” Moving to address the both of them, Ratchet added, “We’re gonna take a pit stop before our pit stop to get Clank back up on all cylinders. You guys are free to come with if you want.”

 Ears perked in interest, Rivet  wandered   closer, “You’ve got a place around here?”

“Eh, an apartment on Igliak, but I was planning on co-opting some poor mechanic’s shop to keep things quick.”

“Oh ho, an urban apartment huh? Someone’s fancy.” She briefly locked eyes with Clank and smirked at him, “Sorry you had to slum it on Sargasso with little old me.”

“I have seen far worse.” He said pointedly.

“The garage is fine.”

“It has improved considerably; the rampaging Tyhrranoids really did wonders for the interior decor.”

 They had Rivet’s full attention,  “  Is it far from here? ’cause now I’ve  gotta   know how my place stacks up. Besides, there’s nothing like working with your own tools, right?”

“See? She gets it.” Ratchet muttered at the same time Clank said, “Veldin is not much further than Igliak, just in the opposite direction.”

“Veldin?” A bubble of incredulous laughter welled up in Rivet’s voice, and, immediately, Ratchet’s posture locked up, “That mudball’s where you set up shop? I think my hideout wins by default.”

 There was a long, tense beat of silence,  broken up by the rapid swishing of Ratchet’s tail.

 Clank patted his hand, doing what little he could to diffuse the situation,  “  Perhaps we could pretend--”

“Nah, she’s right. Veldin sucks, I can admit that,” Ears back and eyes narrowed, he jammed his free hand on his hip, though he remained mindful of his hold on Clank, “But as a legal resident, I’m obligated to tell any off-worlder who says it to jump off a cliff.”

 Rivet backed up a pace, eyes wide and hands up in surrender. “Noted!”

 Kit, also, looked more than mildly alarmed,  “That… came out of nowhere.”

“Not really, no,” Clank said, and glanced up to his partner, “But it was uncalled for.”

 Ratchet grumbled something indistinct in response. If it had any semblance of structure, Rivet’s hearing would have picked it up, but even to her, it was an incoherent mess.

 Clank seemed to be able to make something of it, though, “I know. I am sorry for inviting the comparison.”

“Whatever,” He said, still somewhat sullen, and glanced at Rivet, “Are we taking you to make fun of my garage, or am I raiding a repair shop?”

 Any conversational momentum Rivet  built   had since stalled. She lowered her hands and tried to figure out how to backpedal without making things worse, but, ultimately, was saved from answering by Clank.

“If we can spare the time, I believe it would be worthwhile to go home. My scan indicates the Geo-laser has also sustained damage, and it is unlikely we will find the necessary components in Megalopolis.”

“The Geo-laser?” Ratchet echoed, mild disbelief lightening his mood, “I get wanting to keep things in working condition, but how many times have we even used that?”

“You never know when the opportunity will arise.”

 Ratchet shook his head, slowly  easing  back to a  more natural rhythm, and started down one of the walkways,  “  If you ask me, the Zoni saw it was gonna come in handy like, three times in the immediate future, and  just  wanted to impress you.”

 Left in their wake, Rivet looked at Kit. Kit looked at Rivet.

“Alright, yeah, that proved he’s a Veldinite. Meanest tempers in the Solana galaxy.”

“There must have been a reason for the outburst.” Kit hedged.

“Again, yeah, he’s from Veldin.”

“You are from Sargasso. What does that say about you?”

“That I know how to spank a Speetle. Now c'mon, they're getting away!” She said, grabbed Kit by the hand, and took off after their counterparts.

[hisan-miren]

Redacted File

The First Date Pt 2 

             Raios made attempts at small talk as he led them to a room overlooking the garden.  His attempts were awful though, in her opinion.  It was obvious that he was trying to avoid mentioning what he’d overheard because his speech was unusually rigid and his while body twitched whenever she so much as brushed his hand.  She felt a bit bad, but not really.  He’d sent all that time making himself calm only for her to rile him back up again.  She couldn’t help but be happy about it.

              “Y’know, if you reeeeaaaallly want to change the subject, and succeed, you can tell me what lie you told your parents that got you grounded,” Mina urged.

              “Not happening.”  The answer was out of his mouth almost before she finished the sentence. Mina clicked her tongue again. She was now determined to get the answer out of him before she left today.  He slid open a painted door and led her into a small room with a table and four cushions.  He finished sliding the door open while she took a seat, this time sitting on her legs in a semi-proper seiza. Almost immediately, the door on the inner-side opened and Raios’ mother appeared with a tray of tea and sweets. “Haha-ue, it’s awfully boorish of you to interrupt your son’s alone-time with his girlfriend,” Raios said.

              “I’m so sorry, Mina-chan, that this ungrateful son of mine still seems to have no manners,” Mrs. Minori said, casually deflecting her son’s well-worded judgement.  “I think it’d be far more inconsiderate of me not to offer some tea and snacks when the woman your courting is visiting.”  Raios made a sound in the back of his throat that made it clear he’d lost.  “You still have a long way to go before you can beat any of us,” she added, leaving the tray and standing to leave.  “Mina-chan, is there anything you’d like to eat for lunch?”  Her voice was as soft and sweet as ever, and it only made Raios stare at her dubiously.  His mother was the perfect picture of a kind and demure woman, but underneath she was even more calculating than his father and twice as relentless.  His mother had always adored Mina, and was almost as eager as Raios was to try and make her part of the family.

              “I would gladly accept anything you had to offer me, Minori-sama,” Mina replied, actively using the formal speech she’d completely forgone before.

              “Really, I wonder what Kaya fed you to make you such a good child,” Mrs. Minori sighed.  “Meanwhile mine are belligerent and rude at every opportunity.”  Mina carefully kept her mouth shut.  She’d heard stories of what the Chief was like as a kid.  She was 100% sure that was where Raios and his sister got their rowdiness.  “I’ll be back later with some lunch for you kids then.” And then she finally turned and walked away, ever the elegant chieftain’s wife.

              “… I reeeaaaally hope no one expects me to live up to her.  Your mom is way too capable a woman,” Mina groaned when she was gone.  Raios moved the tea tray over to the table and sat opposite her.

              “If you start acting like my mother, we’re going to have a problem,” he said, pouring the tea.  “I prefer you the way you are, thanks.”  Mina had every mind to try and say something back to tease him about the bold sentence he’d just casually said, but her face was too hot to let her focus.  Suddenly, a sly grin came across his face that had her blushing all the way down her neck.  “Looks like I was able to get you back just fine.”  Mina faceplanted into the table and started slamming her fist into the floor with vigor.

              “That smile is soooo illegal!  That’s super unfair!” she whined.

              “Mina, if you break the tatami, the old hag’ll get pretty pissed.”

              “Then stop provoking me!  But seriously, you’re not allowed to smile in front of anyone else! They’ll definitely fall in love with you immediately.”

              “Mina, that’s impossible.  I’m honestly surprised even you can put up with me,” Raios said flatly.  “Besides, you definitely have your pick.  The only reason no one actually asks you out is because everyone thought we were dating.”

              “And whose fault is it that we weren’t?!” Mina cried.  Raios very quickly turned away, his brow quivering only in that way it did when he was hiding something and didn’t want her to know.  It was one of the few tells he actually had.  “Raios,” she said threateningly.  “Why did everyone think we were dating?”  She could almost see him starting to sweat and made the executive decision to crawl over to him and shove her face directly in his.  “Raios…  Raios Minori, you better answer me,” she growled.  “I invoke my authority as your girlfriend.”  Raios made a reluctant growl in the back of his throat and turned to look the other way, the angry façade quickly slipping away to reveal the nervousness underneath.  She put her hands on his legs and crawled across his lap to stick her pouting face in his field of vision once more.  Backing up wasn’t an option.  He was cornered.  

              “Alright alright!  Fine!  I’ll tell you just get off me!!” he yelled finally.  Mina took a seat in the cushion next to his looking as prim and proper as any fine lady would and looking not at all like she had just climbed all over her boyfriend to interrogate him.  “A couple years ago, the old man started talking about arranging a marriage. I was firmly against it.  There was no way on Earth anyone he set me up with would put up with me or put me in my place like you do.  I’d already pretty much decided I wanted it to be you.”  She wanted to call him out for how cheesy he sounded, but his face and ears were already turning red.  “So he told me he’d stop talks on the condition I did my part and courted you properly.  I agreed.”

              “And then you didn’t.”

              “And then I didn’t,” Raios parroted.  “I realized my behavior had a long way to go in order to be ‘husband material’, so I decided I’d ask you out only after I got my temper under control.  I didn’t want you to get tired of me.”  He glanced over at her only to see that Mina’s eyes were staring up at him with that same gleeful adoration they’d had when he was asking her out, and it pissed him off a little.  “Anyways! Your little stunt got me found out. I’d had them convinced we were dating, so aneki probably spread it across the whole island just to make sure it stuck, but then she heard about the love letter and saw my reaction. Didn’t take long for her to put two and two together and make me have an outburst about it during dinner.”

              “So the fight with your dad-?”

              “Yup.  Was because I lied about asking you out and had them thinking we were getting ready to marry.  Not sure why, but the old man seems to think we’re not gonna waste any time on that,” Raios replied, his words gradually tapering off to a low mumble.”

              “And so the grounding is-”

              “Because I lied to them for two years and made a huge mess that got half the island involved.”  Okay, now Mina was less angry about his punishment.  He deserved it a little.  However-

              “But aren’t they punishing me with this too?! It’s so unfair!  I can’t even have a nice date!”

              “My parents definitely took that into account,” Raios replied.

              “Ugh!”  Mina groaned loudly and flopped backwards onto the floor.

              “Mina, if you keep moving around like that, your yukata is going to get messed up.”

              “I’ll deal with it later,” she pouted.  Raios sighed and moved himself to the opposite side of the table where she’d been sitting originally.  “Why’d you move over there?” Mina asked, lifting only her head off the ground as she questioned him.

              “This is the appropriate distance we should keep,” he replied.

              “I’m about 5 seconds from strangling you.”

              “Try it if you can, but I’ve always been stronger than you,” Raios said, taking a sip of the tea he had originally poured for her (she hadn’t touched it yet, at least as far as he was aware.)  She sat up, now properly angry, and slammed her hands on the table.

              “Come on!  Are you serious?!  We hang out alone together all the time?  What gives?”

              “Mina, we may call this ‘dating’ but, as far as our parents are concerned, this is an engagement.  Two fiancés alone in a room together already doesn’t look very good for your reputation.”

              “Huh?!  Since when do I care about that crap?!  Reputation? What reputation?!   As far as I’m concerned, we’re basically getting married, and eeeevvveryone knows I’m obsessed with you, so whatever people start saying about us doesn’t matter to me at all!”  Mina was now leaning halfway across the table looking like she was about ready to get up and climb over it, obi and yukata be damned.  Raios leaned back, his cheeks a bit darker than they were before and his eyes doing their best to avoid hers.  “If they want something to talk about, I’m more than happy to give them something.  Take me to your room and then they can say whatever they want!”

              “Not happening,” Raios growled, his gaze finally meeting hers again.  “Please think before you speak.”

              “Also not happening,” Mina huffed.  The two had a glaring contest for several moments before Mina appeared to concede… only she hadn’t.  Instead, she took the tea originally meant for him and shuffled around to the cushion next to him.  “As far as I’m concerned, this distance is plenty.  I don’t care about my reputation or what anyone thinks we’re getting up to. I know you, and you won’t do that kind of thing without permission.  As outrageous as you can behave, when it comes down to what matters, you take things very seriously.  It’s one of the parts of you I like best and the side of you that tell me you’ll be an excellent Chieftain.”  She looked up to see that his ears had turned red again.  His face looked like he was sulking, but the color of his ears told her all she needed to know.  That and how hard he was gripping the teacup.  She finally took a sip from her new cup, satisfied with the outcome of this particular argument.  

              Not too much later, Mrs. Minori was back with anther tray, this time with an assortment of lunch foods.  Raios’ sister also peeked her head in to laugh and snicker at them and Raios tried to shoo her away with little to show for it.

              “I take it things are going well in here? My son isn’t behaving too untowardly towards you, is he, Mina-chan?” Mrs. Minori asked.

              “Not at all,” Mina replied gracefully.  “As always, Raios is treating me very well.”

              “Oh that’s such a relief,” Raios’ sister sighed, sounding almost disappointed.  “I mean, my brother’s such a brute, I was worried he’d just suddenly snap.”  Mina could see the glint in her eyes and could feel Raios getting ready to lunge at her.  Mina put a hand gently on his leg, more than happy to try and handle his sister in his place.

              “Oh, there’s really no reason for concern,” Mina replied, bringing a hand to her cheek.  “If anything, I think you’re the ones who should be worrying about me.” Raios’ mother just stared at her, incredulous, while his sister fell over in the hallway, bursting with laughter.

              “Oh man!  She got us good!” she howled.

              “Please try not to provoke her,” Raios sighed, exasperated, directing his scolding at his two family members.  Mrs. Minori gave a small chuckle before standing and leaving the tray in front of the door.

              “I trust you two not to get up to anything you oughtn’t,” she said with a smile, “but I’ll keep what you said in mind, dear.” She reached over to pick Raios’ still laughing sister up off the floor saying “Up you go now, let’s give them their space.”  Raios’ sister complained about the unfairness between abating chuckles, but ultimately followed their mother knowing she wouldn’t win if she tried to fight it.

              “Those two just can’t leave it alone, can they?” Raios muttered as he went to get the tray of food.  This time he closed the sliding door behind him to avoid more interruptions.  “No more dates at my house.  They’ll drive me insane.”

              “I agree, but please let the record state that it’s reluctant,” Mina replied.  “And temporary.”

              “But you just said this is awful,” Raios chided.

              “Well… I don’t mind having another date where I can watch you practice.  And we will eventually be having dates in our rooms, so…”

              “You are so dead set on this…  If I come home from helping the old man one day and you’re sitting in my room, I’m just going to pick you up by your collar and throw you out the window into the garden.”  Now it was Mina’s turn to burst into a fit of laughter.

              “Geez, I’m your girlfriend,” she laughed, trying to work in a teasing tone and failing miserably, “shouldn’t you treat me more delicately?”

              “I guess that just shows how awful your taste in men is,” he replied, grabbing her by the nose with a chuckle of his own. Mina cried out in surprise, and Raios was quick to let go, chuckling to himself.  He stopped though when he felt something bump into his shoulder. Looking over, Mina had leaned into him, resting her head against his shoulder.  His ears started to burn and his pulse quickened, and he felt like he had to do something with his hand but didn’t want to accidentally give her the impression that he wanted her to stop.

“I like that nothing has changed,” she said quietly.  His hand finally settled on covering hers and she felt his rough fingers, calloused from his kyuudo practice, work their way in between hers.

“Hasn’t it?  This is pretty different…”  She could tell he was doing his best not to let that irritated tone work its way into his voice.  He was trying to be quiet and soft, which she knew was hard for him, and she loved him for it.

“I don’t really think so,” she replied.  “It’s not really all that different.  It’s just more. It’s just more of the same.”             

 “How?”

“This sort of thing is something we both wanted to do but felt that we couldn’t because of the restriction of ‘friendship’ right? But we always had moments like this. They’re just… stronger.  We’re not as restricted now, so it’s just ‘more’ not ‘different’.”

“… I wanted it to change though…”

“Well I didn’t,” Mina replied matter-of-factly.

“I wanted to be able to treat you more gently…”

“The way you treat me is fine.  I’m not someone who’ll break or get hurt just because you get a bit too rough.”

“I want to cherish you properly…”

“You’re doing an excellent job.”  His hand squeezed hers, his silent way of showing his affection, before quietly separating from her and setting her food in front of her.

“We should eat before it gets cold,” he said quietly, handing her a pair of chopsticks.

“It would be a waste to eat it cold,” she admitted, trying to sneak a glance and see what kind of face he was making, but he kept his head turned so she couldn’t even see his ears.  

““Itadakimasu.””  The two teens gave thanks for their meal and both started to dig in. It wasn’t long though before Mina got a fun idea.

“Hey Raios, we should do that.”

“‘That’?”  He finally turned to look at her, face covered in skepticism.

“Y’know ‘that’,” she replied, a mischievous grin on her face. “The ‘Say ahhhh’ thing.”

“Na-?!” Raios recoiled, nearly choking on the rice that fell into the back of his throat.

“C’mon, it’s a staple of being on a date,” Mina replied happily, grabbing a piece of her tempura and lifting it up.  Once he stopped coughing, he stared at the piece of fried sweet potato like it had personally offended him and his entire family.

“Why do we have to do something that ridiculous?” he growled.

“Because it’s fun,” Mina replied, a sparkle in her eye.  She wasn’t about to give up on this.  She had her heart set on it now, and Raios saw that very clearly. “Come on, it’s not like anyone’s watching.”  Raios continued to stare angrily at the food she was holding in front of his face.  He wasn’t outright rejecting it, but he probably wasn’t really sure how to.  “Just one bite~”  She held it a little closer, trying to tempt him.  He growled in the back of his throat, but ultimately ended up conceding, biting the slice of sweet potato out of her grip and burying his face in the table while he chewed.  “Geez, you could at least try to be cute about it.”

“I haven’t been cute since the day I was born, don’t push your luck.”  His response made Mina laugh, and she returned to eating her food, content with the fruits of her endeavor.  It wasn’t long before Raios regained his composure though because before long, she found a piece of onion tempura in her face.  “If I gotta do something that embarrassing, you have to do it too,” he chuckled darkly.  Clearly he’d thought she’d get embarrassed, but, if anything, she was elated.

“Well, if you insist~” she giggled, opening her mouth. “Ahhhh~”

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Of course I’m doing as you asked,” she replied, keeping her mouth relatively wide open.  “You’re feeding me right?  So ‘ahhhh’.” She watched with delight as he seemed to hesitate, but, knowing he couldn’t back down now and risk the further damage to his pride, he followed through.  Once it was close enough, Mina happily bit down, savoring the sweet taste of the onion (and accidentally/on purpose catching the end of his chopsticks too.)   She quietly watched, pretending not to notice as he held an internal debate over whether it was still okay to eat with them or if he should risk the venture to the kitchen for a new pair.  Eventually he had no choice but to give up and keep using them.  There was no way he’d risk running into his sister right now. He continued eating his food, pretending that he wasn’t at all thinking about how they’d touched her mouth.  Nope.  Not a single bit.  In Mina’s opinion though, the blush on his face completely gave him away.  Well… that was a side of him that she found pretty cute, so it was fine.  She was just going to have to live with that fact that she wasn’t going to get a kiss this time around.

[deaddominionsofdolor]

Was He My Brother to Keep, O Lord? (Prologue 0.6)

“Uh. Right! Heh, kinda forgot in the rush. Closest one we’ve had a while. Name’s Keiichi Uoya. The one behind me is the Baroness. She’s kinda a temper, buuuuu-ut we’re working on it. Let’s get along, yeah?”

“Hisakawa. Hisaya. And that’s Lady Glass-Eyes. Guess you’re stuck with me.”

“It’s Damien. Just Damien. My Geist is the Lost Prince. Nice to meet ya! I’m pretty sure he thinks the same thing, he’s just not much of a talker.”

“Hm! Speaking of not talking much, you should spend time with him hovering over your shoulder. Oh, uh… him being the Silent Observer. And I’m Ori, short for ‘nothing more you need to know’. Uh, I hope for a pleasant time together!”

“Hisoka Fukuda.” A thumb is jammed at their chest. “The Eightfold Queen.” And back at the Geist hovering over their shoulder. “What? Do you expect me to be all like, ‘ohh, it’s soooo nice to meet you in Hell’ cause forget it.”

“Great. Nice. Better get used to us. We haven’t figured out how to leave Hell yet.”

“Hey, relax. There’s enough of us we...might have a better chance now! I mean, it’s probably safer to leave Dolor once in a while.”

Damien grins and stretches a bit.

“Well, if we’re gonna try and get out of here, it’s probably best you guys learn how to do Sin-Eater stuff. A decent amount of what we do probably comes from the Old Laws or some similar metaphysical force. There’s the things your Geist can do, of course, but if you do certain rituals, you’ll tap into a different power. That power.”

A flash of annoyance crosses Hisaya’s face. He opens his mouth, pauses, and then lets out a small sigh.

“Look, I’ll be honest. You eight are the first Sin-Eaters we’ve met who aren’t us. I have next to no idea how to do this.”

“I mean, you don’t know, per se. It’s kind of just an instinct thing? I dunno, just throw together some components that seem symbolically right and pray. I mean, I’ve been able to do it but honestly it’s a lot harder with just one person, so having more of you guys should help!”

“A-ny-ways, the catch is you need to be working with people who have the same sort of...general consensus on things? I have no idea how to put it. Ties into the whole symbolism thing, or something. This isn’t my area of expertise.”

“Ohhh, oh! How about we discuss philosophy? Our personal philosophies, as in... how we view death? We have a bit of a difference of opinion, but I’m sure that would help our charges understand how to approach their existence as a Sin Eater. Avoid more ontological crises from having to figure it out for themselves and all. Speaking from experience.”

“..................I don’t have any better ideas. Fine. Anyone wanna go first?”

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #307

“you lie so much, you believe yourself”

How long has it been since you kissed someone? Like, two years or so. What level are you on Farmville? Never played it. What are you looking forward to in the next year? I hope Covid just withers away, dammit. I truly, truly hope this vaccine is effective. And that people start wearing their GODDAMN masks. Do you use a lot of emoticons? Not really nowadays. Would you ever climb a mountain? No. Even if my legs were capable of handling that, I'd be too afraid of an avalanche. Colons or equal signs for your smiley face’s eyes? Colons. When was the last time you swam in a lake? A looooong time ago. If you could have anything right now, what would you want? It'd be great to chill at Sara's house honestly, I miss that. What’s your relationship status? Single and I think finally starting to truly accept I need to be right now. I wouldn't want to date myself in my current position, so I shouldn't expect anyone else to. When was the last time someone asked you your age? On my birthday when I mentioned in group therapy that I was trying to make it an especially good day about myself. When was the last time you danced? Very, very poorly with Sara years ago lmao. Has anyone ever tried to physically fight you? Someone snatched my arm and yanked me down to look her in the eyes in HS because she was a jealous bitch back then telling lies, but idk if her intention was to actually try to start a physical fight. Are you avoiding someone? No. What’s your favorite primary color? Red. What do you have pierced? Just my ears and bottom lip now. :/ I want morrrreeee. I'm forever tilted that so many of my piercings closed when I was hospitalized. What is your favorite dog breed? I find pugs to be very cute, but I do not support their breeding whatsoever so would never buy one. Besides them, I have a definite bias towards beagles. In your honest opinion, what is the scariest sea creature you know? Fucking Christ, giant squids. Terrifying. Do you believe there is just one love for everyone, or…? No. There are way, way, WAY too many people on this planet for that. What natural disaster scares you the most? Tornados. What outrageous career could you see yourself wanting to do? Define an "outrageous" career... but I can't visualize myself doing anything very unordinary. In what way would you want to help change the world? I truly hope I can make some considerable amount of contributions to natural conservation and animal education. When driving down the road looking for an address do you turn the radio low? I don't drive, but I know I would, considering I can't concentrate on driving if the radio is on anyway. What do you think of when you look at the stars? How little I and my problems really are. It gives me perspective. If you could say ONE THING to the president, what would it be? Well, Biden just got into office, so I can't really say yet. We'll see what he does. What Disney princess are you most like? Personality wise, I mean. Uh. I'unno. Maybe Snow White because animals? haha Do you believe in astrology? Not in the slightest. Do you look into people’s eyes when you talk to them? I try to, anyway, but I tend to find it very uncomfortable, and I never know if I'm offering too little or too much. So I have trouble maintaining it, especially with people I don't know. You can have one of the following two things: trust or love. Pick one. Trust. What do you think is the most important thing in this life is? Hm, that's a deep one. Perhaps the understanding that you are just as important as the next person and that we should work as one to make this one life that we know of worthwhile. Make the world better than when you entered it. What is your favorite shade of blue? Pastel blue. I just like pastels in general. When's the last time you bought something just because? I don't buy things "just because." If I actually have money to spend, I use it with motivation behind it. What Ozzy lyric describes you best? WHOA NOW HUNNY you are asking the WRONG person because I can just about name his entire discography so there are waaaay too many song lyrics to dig through and pick one for myself. Probably something from "Dreamer," after a short moment's consideration. When was the last time you went for a walk without a specific destination in mind? Not since Sara and I walked down the path near her house. We didn't plan on when we would turn around to go back. Do you daydream? Only all the time. What was your last daydream about? Ha, thanks to that other question, visiting Sara again. It'd be nice, but yeah, financial limitations and corona. Ever won the lottery? Bitch I wish. What was the most important decision you made that screwed up your life the most? Ugh... I'd say putting all my self-worth, happiness, and source of peace into one person was pretty big but also fucking stupid. What is love really about? Don't ask a romantic this and expect a non-essay, haha. But to keep it as short as possible, it's about mutual care, the desire to grow together, trust, openness, the peace to be vulnerable with the other... It's about a lot. It's such a deep, beautiful feeling. What's the most you ever made in a year? lol Do you have an online diary? Only through surveys, really. What's the biggest pot you've won in poker? I haven't played poker since I was a kiddo, so idr. What Metallica lyric most describes your life? Who wrote this and knows my favorite bands????? Like damn. There's a good handful of the sadder songs I relate to; I did some brief digging through ones I know I relate to, and perhaps the one I feel closest is within "The Unforgiven II": "The door is locked now, but it's open if you're true. If you can understand the me, then I can understand the you." Aaaand now I'm gonna go binge Metallica 'cuz it's been too long, thanks. How many concerts have you been to? Just one. :/ Which one was your favorite? I've only seen Alice Cooper, and it was great. What's the most illegal thing you've done? Pirated stuff, oops. Ever get busted by the cops? What for? No. How many pairs of rollerblades do/did you own? I doubt I have any anymore. Ever wear out a CD? What was it? Ahaha... There is some scratching on my mom's copy of Ozzmosis thanks to me playing it so much on my old CD player. Ever have a tornado in your town? Well my city is pretty damn big, so yes, in some spots. I don't think my immediate proximity has ever seen one, though. If you HAD to pick ONE song to listen to for the rest of your life, and that would be the only song you ever heard, what would it be? I would absolutely need something motivating if that was the case, so most likely "Life Won't Wait" by Ozzy Osbourne. That song touches me so deeply and gives me the courage to do what I can to tackle life and try not to waste it. I know, I'm doing a great job at that. Ever heard of Shinedown? Hell yeah; I was actually listening to them in the car earlier. What does your lawn furniture consist of? We have nothing out there. Ever live off of canned soup and ramen noodles for weeks at a time? Er, no. But when I got my tongue pierced, I had to survive off of popsicles and... I somehow forgot the main thing I ate???? How?????? But anyway it was something that didn't involve much or any chewing, either. I actually lost a little bit of weight in that week or so because eating solids was impossible, and I didn't enjoy "eating" liquids either. That piercing (snake eyes, btw) was soooo so cute tho. I really wish it hadn't started to damage my teeth, or else I'd still have it. What musical group/artist do you love, but hide from other people? I used to be kinda embarrassed by artists like Melanie Martinez when you compare her music to my adoration of metal, but at my age now, I don't give a damn. I like what I like and won't hide it. What is the first meal you remember eating? ... Does anyone actually remember this??? What's in your keepsake box/scrapbook? Good God, a lot. I haven't looked in it in a very, very long time though. It brings a usually painful nostalgia. What did you score on your SATs? I don't even remember if I took them. I THINK I took the ACT instead? I don't even know the difference. When was the last time you saw a rainbow? Hm. Been a while. It's not like I'm out of the house a lot, especially nowadays with quarantine. What colors is your lava lamp? I wish I had a lava lamp, they're rad and really relaxing. What's the strangest thing you've ever hung on the wall? Nothing, really. Can you name every place you've ever had sex? I mean I can but I'm not going to. What's the most important thing you ever lost and never found again? My favorite childhood cat Charcoal. He was an outdoor and intact male, so it was very normal for him to eventually vanish to rove. Please keep your cats indoors. What forms of birth control have you used? The pill and, uh, having "barriers." How many webpages have you created, and can you still find them all? I made Wetpaint sites for my two RP mobs back in the day, but the site has since been completely revised, so no, they don't exist anymore. I checked outta curiosity I think last year. How many people are in your family portrait? We don't even have a proper family portrait. Ever punched a wall? No. When's the last time you really lost your temper? In some argument with Mom I don't remember. Ever thought you (or a girlfriend) were pregnant, but it was a false alarm? I had massive anxiety over it once, but it was irrational and even I knew that. Not that anxiety cares. If 97 is yes, were you glad or sad? I was very glad when my period came lmao. What was the last conversation you had with someone before they died? When I saw my grandma for the last time, I just let her know that I loved her and that she was so, so strong, and she was. No one could believe how long she warded death off when she finally stopped chemo. What do your drinking glasses look like? We have some more unique cups and mugs, but the majority of them are just plain, slightly angular glasses, some short, some tall. How many bottles/containers are in your medicine cabinet? Oh wow, a lot. We're covered for most potential problems. How many funerals have you been to? Uhhh I think one. Maybe even none, just wakes. What was the last bug you killed and what did you use? An ant, I think? I just used my fingers. How many computers in your household? There are three laptops, but no desktop computers. Ever help to solve a crime? There was one occasion years ago when our neighbor's window was busted overnight and cops came to us to ask for any evidence we might have had, but we didn't have any. Idk what came of it. Ever get pulled over by the cops and get away without a ticket? I've never been pulled over. What was your first legal alcoholic drink? I think it was a margarita, but possibly a daquiri. Ever get published by one of those poetry groups? I fucking wish. I've tried, but to no avail. What's the furthest distance you've moved? Not very far at all. Just to the neighboring town. How many friends from high school/college do you still talk to? Only a few now and then. Girt is the only one I have real conversations with, though. What's the most expensive things your parents ever bought you? Probably the laptop I have right now, but idk. I've never asked how much things they've bought me cost, it seems rude somehow. What's the most expensive thing you've bought? The upcoming revamp of my tattoo. Deposit was $100, and then it's probably going to be another $300-400. I can't afford it all myself; as my birthday gift, Mom is helping me pay for it, but I've got most of it covered thanks to Christmas and birthday money. How many times did you intentionally start to commit suicide? Start to do it? Well, I was trying to run for sharp objects to do it twice, but on each occasion, someone held me back 'cuz they knew I was about to do something rash, so I didn't get very far, thankfully. The only time I fully went through with an attempt was my OD. Ever spent the night in the "loony bin?" How fucking disrespectful to call it that, but whatever. If you put all the instances together, I've been in psych hospitals for around a couple months, maybe more. What is your favorite cover song? Disturbed's cover of "Sound of Silence" is absolutely unbeatable. I'd just about call it a cold hard fact. What's your inspiration? Other's success stories, music, art in general, etc. What's the longest relationship you've been in? Over 3 1/2 years. Did you ever drop out of school? I dropped out of college three times, yikes. Three times is enough; even if I think I want to, I'm never going back. That is just way too much money to keep throwing down the drain, and there's clearly a pattern. Ever raise a child that wasn't your own for more than 3 months? I've never raised a kid period. Strangest medical procedure ever performed on you? Look up what a pilonidal cyst is and know I had one surgically removed. Pretty strange and uncomf. Song that has changed your attitude recently? None, really. What's something that you say a lot to be mean? ... Why would I try to be mean??? Who told you they loved you last? Me mum. Ever had a pet frog? Not technically, no, but as kids, my sister, neighbor, and I saved hundreds, maybe thousands of tadpole eggs from a ditch that was inevitably going to dry out. We transferred them all to a kiddie pool and let them grow naturally, hopping out and into the world whenever they were ready. I wouldn't call them "pets." Your worst enemy? IT'S NO SURPRIIIISE TO MEEEE I AAAAMMM MY OWN WORST ENEMYYYYY Do you believe in karma? No, but I wish it was a thing. What was the last hurtful thing you said to someone? I'm not sure. I certainly try to avoid doing so. Do you love someone enough you'd die for them? There's multiple people. The last song you listened to? I wasn't joking when I said I was gonna go on a Metallica spree, haha. "Of Wolf and Man" is on rn. Your most favorite memory as a kid? Too many, man. If you had the choice to work or not, would you work? Yes. I need something to do that benefits others in one way or another. Ever TRULY wanted to kill someone? I can't say for sure, if I'm being totally transparent. When I found out about Jason's gf after me, I can say with certainty I wanted her dead beyond dead, but I don't know if I wanted to kill her, per se. Just to clarify, no, I don't wish any negativity upon her now. I was certifiably insane before and certainly don't think I am anymore, so... Marvel or DC? I don't care. Do you watch anime subbed or dubbed? Both. I prefer dubbed, BUT only if the voice acting isn't insufferable. I like dubbed just because for me, it's very distracting to have to keep looking down at subtitles. How often do you exercise? I don't... I'm still waiting for Mom to move into her actual room versus the living room couch so I can do WiiFit with some privacy. I'm too uncomfortable to exercise in front of anyone. What is your favorite book series? Warriors will forever have a very special place in my heart. What is your favorite OTP? I will probably ship Rhett and Link for my entire life. Their friendship is truly incredible and so so SOOOOOOO cute. Who is your favorite Harry Potter character? I've never seen the series, actually.

[snarkwrites]

FFT: girls,girls,girls; bucky barnes

Notes:

This got buried soooo deep in my archives and it’s kinda sad. Because I really liked it and felt like it turned out really well. Anyway, here it is. Heavily implied alpha / omega dynamics. One day, I’m gonna write so many fics for the MCU but Idk when...

Summary:

Bucky does not like the fact that Talia volunteered to get up on a stage and play distraction. So Bucky takes matters into his own hands, much to the amusement of Talia, his Omega.

Pairing:

Bucky Barnes x OFC, Talia

Warnings:

uhhh.. mentions of a nightclub/strip club, heavily implied alpha and omega dynamics kindaish.. 

The last place he wanted to be was doing a covert op in a strip club and yet, here he was. “Are we nearly done with this?” Bucky’s clipped tone echoed through Natasha’s earpiece and she glanced at the stage, worried. Talia should’ve been about to come out. All she had to do was get up close and personal with the man in the front of the stage in the white suit and snag his passcard.

Bucky nearly fell off the stool when the music changed and the curtain opened, revealing Talia in a flimsy negligee. “What the fuck?”

“Language, Buck.” Steve said it calmly, but he liked the whole idea about as much as his best friend did. He wasn’t sure who the hell got this green lighted by Fury, but he had the feeling that if Bucky did find out who did, Bucky was probably going to lose his temper and it was not going to be pretty by any means.

“I repeat.. what the fuck.” Bucky shot Steve a firm glare from his position as his entire body tensed. “She’s just a kid. And you all know the situation.” he groaned as he felt his skin tightening, his human hand gripping the bar’s edge as he stared intently at the stage and the table in front of it, laser focused. Nothing could happen to her, he’d break the man in half. Fury was going to have hell to pay when this was over, of that much, Bucky Barnes was absolutely certain.

“She volunteered. She’s danced before. And she was formerly a professional thief. Besides, if you want to be technical, by your logic, you and Steve and I are still ‘just kids’.. She’s 25. She’s a grown woman. She said she could handle it, so she’s handling it… Goddamn is she though. The situation wouldn’t be a situation if you’d just explain things to her, Bucky. How are we supposed to stop her, hm? She was hell bent on doing this.” Natasha was barely hiding the smirk on her face at the way Bucky seemed to be tensed up all over. She watched  the stage, watching Talia’s slow and deliberately seductive movements and a glance back at Bucky revealed that she was not the only one watching their new agent like a hawk. Bucky’s human hand gripped the edge of the bar he sat with his back to and he shifted on the stool, opening his legs. Steve nudged him. “You’re gonna give yourself away, be cool. There’s nothing either of us can do about this. Fury signed off on it. All we can do is let her get the passcard and get the hell out of here.”

“How the hell am I supposed to be calm, Steve, when she’s up there.. Like that? Explain that to me because I’m dyin to know.”

Bucky had taken all he could of her dancing. He stood, shoving through the crowd, taking a spot directly behind the table of their target, the blade he carried drawn and concealed. The man was too drunk, trying to be handsy. Bucky knew the rules for these types of places, so he sauntered up behind the man and cleared his throat next to the man’s ear.

“Ne trogay zhenshchin, mudak” Bucky was about to raise the knife just as Talia raised her head and winked, slipping off the man’s lap, taking the fist full of money he offered -and the wallet she’d managed to steal along with his passcard, as she hurried quickly towards the changing room.

Bucky caught up to her, grabbing her roughly by the hips, pressing her against the wall. “The next time you get a bright idea to help on a mission, doll..” he was leaning down, blue eyes fixed hungrily on her quivering lower lip as he continued, “I’d suggest you didn’t do somethin like this.”

Talia swallowed hard, brown eyes fixing on his ice blue ones as she gripped hold of the black leather jacket he was wearing, giving a teasing giggle as if everything he was doing right now hadn’t thrown her completely off guard because she definitely hadn’t expected it. She hadn’t expected him to care at all, if she had to be perfectly honest.

They barely spoke. When they did, it was to argue or storm away from each other.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.” Bucky pressed into her a little harder, taking the passcard and pocketing it. “You almost got in over your fucking head back there, dollface. Do you have any clue what those fucking pricks were talking about doing to you if they caught you out in the parking lot after you left work tonight? Because I know Russian, doll. And I heard every single word.”

“So? I’m expendable to SHIELD.” Talia tried to shrug it off and act as if she didn’t care and it only seemed to make those baby blues of his flash a deeper and stormier blue with silent anger. He nodded to the man’s wallet, which she’d also stolen, holding out his hand. “Give me that.” he snapped, taking the wallet and turning on his heel sharply, every intention of walking away as fast as he could, lest he get in over his head explaining exactly why her little skin show -or the fact that she was so goddamn good at dancing like that in front of a room full of men, bothered him. Talia wasn’t satisfied to just let it go, so she shoved through some of the bouncers, catching up to Bucky just as he hung up the leather jacket he’d swiped from the bouncer’s coat rack back in it’s place. She turned him around, glaring up at him, her mouth opening and closing and her hand on her hip.

“Doll, don’t.”

“ I want to know what the fuck your problem is, sir.” the tone came out in her best ‘officer’s voice’ and she glared up at him, defiantly. Bucky chuckled and shook his head. “No, trust me, no you don’t.”

“I demand to know, Sergeant Barnes.” Talia smirked as she said it, watching the way those baby blues flashed a brighter blue and he gripped her hip, rubbing her against him, staring down, swallowing hard.

“It’s out of your pay grade right now, darlin.” that heavy Brooklyn accent got heavier all of a sudden and Bucky growled against her lips in a much quieter whisper, “But I’m gonna have t’ tell ya soon.” as he crashed his lips against her lips, dominating a deep and desperate and almost bruising lips as he held one of her hands over her head.

Apparently, she had no clue what she was.. To him, or overall. Now this was going to be.. Tricky to explain at best. Messy as hell by the time her heat took over.

Bucky turned sharply on his heels and shoved his way back through the crowd, stepping into the alley way to calm down. He had to get away from her, he could feel himself slipping into rut…

[what-is-your-plan-today]

Stark Spangled Banner Ch 14: Nothing Personal

Summary: Steve confronts Fury about The Lemurian Star and discovers another secret that the Director has been concealing from him, one he struggles to reconcile morally. Little does he realise, however, that learning said secret is the catalyst to a devastating chain of events, which put him and Katie directly in the firing line of a deadly assassin...

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

Warnings: None for this chapter bar them saying some bad language words and someone getting shot and a bit of fighting and shizzle.

This one is a bit long- it got away from me a little but there was soooo much to get in!

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist

Steve’s good mood lasted all of 5 minutes into debrief. Natasha wasn’t even there, which wasn’t surprising, but pissed him off. Instead of letting it sour the meeting he added it to the long list of stuff he was going to confront Fury over. He praised the STRIKE team, thanked Rumlow for his leadership, Evans for his impeccable sniper skills, as usual, and Rollins for his coordination from the jet. He dismissed his team and then headed up to see Fury. 

“You just can't stop yourself from lying, can you?” Steve said as he crossed the floor of Fury’s office.

Nick didn’t even need to ask him what he was talking about. Without turning round the Director spoke calmly. “I didn't lie. Agent Romanoff had a different mission than yours.”

“Which you didn't feel obliged to share” Steve pressed, raising an eyebrow as the Director spun in his chair to face him.

“I'm not obliged to do anything” Fury said simply, looking at him.

“Those hostages could've died, Nick.” Steve pressed, holding the man’s gaze.

“I sent the greatest soldier in history to make sure that didn't happen.” Fury said simply, and Steve could feel his temper rising even more. He hated the blasé attitude the Director was discussing the issue with, like it was simply something he wasn’t all that bothered about.

“Soldiers trust each other, that's what makes it an army.” He said after a short pause. “Not a bunch of guys running around and shooting guns.”

He wasn’t expecting the response he got. Fury leaned forward, frowning as he levelled Steve with a look.

“The last time I trusted someone, I lost an eye.” he said. Steve cocked his head to one side, crossing his arms but maintaining his silence “Look, I didn't want you doing anything you weren't comfortable with. Agent Romanoff is comfortable with everything.”

“I can't lead a mission when the people I'm leading have missions of their own” Steve said, pointing down at Fury’s desk.

“It's called compartmentalization” Fury eyed him. “Nobody spills the secrets because nobody knows them all.” Steve snorted silently “Except you.” Fury took a deep breath and levelled Steve with a look. “ You're wrong about me. I do share. I'm nice like that.” Steve frowned as Fury stood up and motioned for him to follow.

“Where are we going?” Steve said, frustration evident on his tone.

“You’ll see.” Fury said, stepping inside the elevator. Steve followed. “Insight bay.” he instructed.

A photo of Nick’s SHIELD ID flashed up on the screen, surrounded by a green light. Then Steve noticed his, but the light was red as the SHIELD computer spoke. “Captain Rogers does not have clearance for Project Insight.”

“Director override, Fury, Nicholas J.” Fury spoke, without missing a beat.

“Confirmed.”

The elevator started to moved downwards. Steve leaned against the rail which ran round the middle of the glass box and clasped his hands in front of him by his belt. Despite his initial annoyance, he had found himself beginning to understand what the Director was saying. SHIELD had so many secrets, many a matter of national security. It made no sense for everyone to know everything, it was a security risk, he got that. But it still irked him though.

“You know, they used to play music.” he said, his tone softer as he broke the silence, making a joke at his own expense.

“Yeah. My grandfather operated one of these things for forty years.” Fury said, somewhat nostalgic. “My granddad worked in a nice building, he got good tips. He'd walk home every night, roll of ones stuffed in his lunch bag. He'd say "hi", people would say hi back. Time went on, neighbourhood got rougher. He'd say "Hi", they'd say, "Keep on steppin'." Granddad got to grippin' that lunch bag a little tighter.”

The flash into Fury’s personal life surprised Steve somewhat. He cocked his head to one side and looked at the man. “Did he ever get mugged?”

“Every week some punk would say, "What's in the bag?"

“What did he do?”

“He'd show 'em. Bunch of crumpled ones and loaded .22 Magnum.” Fury smirked “Granddad loved people. But he didn't trust them very much.”

Steve had to smirk slightly, thinking that Fury sounded a hell of a lot like his grandpa. He looked down for a second, and when he looked up he was aware that they had now travelled down the side of the Triskellion and were descending further, underground even. As Steve looked around he realised he was in some sort of hangar, and he looked out of the glass, spotting 3 giant Helicarriers. His mouth fell open in surprise, his brow furrowing.

“Yeah, I know. They're a little bit bigger than a .22.” Fury remarked.

Eventually the elevator stopped and Fury stepped out, Steve hot on his tail as he watched people bustling around the hangar shouting, carrying things, fixing things. The helicarriers were bigger than the one they’d used during the Chitauri invasion, each being able to house at least 20 Quinjets.

“This is Project Insight.” Fury said as he led Steve across the floor of the hangar. “Three next generation Helicarriers synced to a network of targeting satellites.”

And then Steve understood. “Launched from the Lemurian Star.” he said, a statement not a question.

“Once we get them in the air they never need to come down. Continuous suborbital flight courtesy of our new repulsor engines.” Fury stopped underneath one.

“Stark?” Steve asked, frowning.

“Well, he had a few suggestions once he got an up close look at our old turbines.” Fury said, as they continued. “But don’t worry, that’s not something Nova is keeping from you.”

“I wasn’t” Steve said honestly, as he looked up and around the hangar “I trust my girl.” he said with a shrug.

Fury looked at him before he turned his attention back to the matter in hand and pointed up again “These new long range precision guns can eliminate a thousand hostiles a minute. The satellites can read a terrorist's DNA before he steps outside his spider hole. We gonna neutralize a lot of threats before they even happen.”

Steve crossed his arms. “ I thought the punishment usually came after the crime.”

“We can't afford to wait that long.”

Steve could feel the nerve twitching in his jaw. “Who's "we"?”

“After New York, I convinced the World Security Council we needed a quantum surge in threat analysis. For once we're way ahead of the curve”

“By holding a gun at everyone on Earth and calling it protection?” Steve looked at the director, frowning. He didn’t like this. It smacked of something Hydra or the Nazis would do.

Fury picked up on his tone and he looked at Steve, arching an eyebrow. “You know, I read those SSR files. Greatest generation? You guys did some nasty stuff.”

Don’t’ I know it? Steve thought to himself as he took a deep breath. “Yeah, we compromised. Sometimes in ways that made us not sleep so well. But we did it so the people could be free.” he turned and pointed at the helicarriers before looking at Fury “This isn't freedom, this is fear.”

“SHIELD takes the world as it is, not as we'd like it to be.” Fury said simply. “It's getting damn near past time for you to get with that program, Cap”

Steve shook his head. “Don't hold your breath” and with that he left.

He changed quickly, eager to put as much distance between him and SHIELD as possible for the rest of the day. After a short conversation with Rumlow about a mission report he was on his bike and heading for Katie’s apartment, his mind whirling. What was Fury playing at? This wasn’t what he signed up for, at all. It felt so far removed from what he had joined the army to do, to keep people safe, free… had he really changed that much? He felt a sudden pang for his Howling Commandoes, for Bucky, for Peggy, for Colonel Philips, for all those damned missions which had been simple- destroy Hydra.

Despite the fact he had woken up that morning and felt so happy with his girl being there, he couldn’t help but wish life was as simple as it had been back then.

*****

Katie’s morning had been far more productive. She had looked at a couple of transcript extracts her editor had selected. She had to admit, the guy had a good eye for a future blockbuster, and this one she particularly liked. After discussions, they settled on an initial run of 200 hard copy of the books to be sold online, along with a downloadable kindle version, and if they went they would review how many more we needed.

Pleased with her mornings work and having cleared her diary for the afternoon, she had lunch in the kitchen and had just finished when she heard the elevator door open. She headed into the hallway to greet Steve. He looked drained.

 “Hey…” she asked, “How did it go?"

He sighed, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her in for a hug, simply wanting to feel her close.

“That good huh?” she said, squeezing him gently before she pulled back and headed towards the kitchen, him following behind her.

“Debrief was fine…Fury, however, went on about compartmentalisation, the usual crap.” Steve sighed, running his hand over his face, smiling softly to himself when he saw she was gathering stuff out of the fridge to make him a sandwich “And then shared something I really wish he hadn’t.”

“Like what?” she asked, throwing some turkey and mayo onto a sub. “Ever heard of Operation Insight?” Steve asked, even though he knew the answer. There’s no way she would have and not told him.

“No?” she said, handing him a plate.

“Well apparently your brother has…” he shrugged, taking the plate from her and taking a bite as he sat at the breakfast bar. He swallowed and then continued “3 huge hellicarriers that are basically designed to go up in the air and never come down. Programmed to monitor potential threats and wipe them out before they get chance to do anything…” She frowned, settling on the stool next to him. “And Fury has sanctioned this?”

Steve nodded, taking another bite of his food. “I don’t like it. Like I said to him, punishment normally comes after the crime…”

Katie could see he was really struggling with this and that his faith in SHIELD was running very, very thin. A lot of what the Agency did was political, not just about keeping people safe. She’d tried to explain that the lines were a lot more blurred than back in the 40s, but still had to admit she was kind of with him. As she pondered for a moment, Steve could see the cogs whirring in her brain, the slight “v” shape crease that always formed in the middle of her eyes when she was thinking had formed. Steve didn’t blame her, it had thrown him too and he’d had the full explanation. The hangar had been huge, and there were enough people in there to make him realise that a LOT of people knew about it. What he didn’t know was who on his immediate team knew about it.

“I just wanna know who I can trust” he sighed, looking at Katie as she reached out gently, touching his cheek.

“I know sweetheart” she said, sighing “Ok. No more talk about SHIELD or hellicarriers, or whatever…” she said, moving her hand back to the counter, picking up her soda. “What do you want to for the rest of the afternoon?”

He wanted to go to the Smithsonian. He’d been thinking about it since they had emailed him to invite him to open the exhibit on him, which he had politely declined. But he was curious to see what it was like, curious and also eager, after today, to be reminded of a time when he worked with people he knew inside out, people that he would trust with his life. And he was keen to share that with his girl, the woman who had months ago before they even started dating, been the one to help him pick what the museum would display.

“You know, we’ve still not been to the Smithsonian since they opened the exhibit.” he said, shrugging, hoping his tone was casual enough to make it sound like he hadn’t been thinking about it enough. He failed though, smiling as Katie looked at him, arching an eyebrow.

Busted.

“Call it curiosity.” He shrugged.

“You know what curiosity did don’t you?” Katie quipped back, her eyes flashing playfully.

“What?”

She grinned as she delivered the punchline “Killed the Cap.”

*****

“A symbol to the nation. A hero to the world. The story of Captain America is one of honour, bravery and sacrifice,” the narrator at the Smithsonian museum said as we entered the exhibit.

Steve paused to pull the collar of his blue jacket up a little further, a gesture that, along with the cap that was pulled down over his face, he hoped would prevent him from being recognised as they made their way to the start of the pieces.

"Denied enlistment due to poor health, Steven Rogers was chosen for a program unique in the annals of American warfare. One that would transform him into the world's first super soldier," the Narrator continued. Steve paused to look at the display to his right when Katie gently nudged him.

“Think you’ve been rumbled.”

Steve looked down at her, and then followed her gaze as she looked to her left at a small boy dressed in a light blue T-shirt adorned with the design of his shield who was watching the pair of them, his eyes growing wide. Steve smiled, put a finger against his mouth to indicate for him to keep quiet. The boy nodded and then turned, running back off to find his mum.

Without speaking Steve took her hand and led her over to the part of the exhibit that had an older looking motorcycle on a platform and some black and white footage playing beside it. The footage was of him in his older Captain America uniform, also currently on display, running through a battlefield.

"In this rare footage, everyone's favourite war hero, Captain America…"

He didn’t stop to hear the rest, he could remember that mission by heart. It had been on the outskirts of Toulouse, liberating another HYDRA prison camp. Katie allowed herself to be led by him, this was his moment after all. They slowly walked to a display of mannequins dressed in his original suit, plus those of the Howling Commandos, which had been donated by their families. His eyes lingered on Bucky’s for a second and he took a deep breath.

"Battle tested, Captain America and his Howling Commandos quickly earned their stripes. Their mission, taking down HYDRA, the Nazi rogue science division,"

Katie looked at the uniforms, a smile on her face. She had only seen photos of the suit, not seen it in person and it intrigued her. More so because this was something that her dad had made, something physical he had touched. She felt a tug on her hand again, and she looked up to see that she was being led to a section dedicated to Bucky. The familiar (albeit again, only from photos), handsome face of his best friend looked back at them as they wandered over to read what it said in more detail.

"Best friends since childhood, Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers were inseparable on both school yard and battlefield. Barnes is the only Howling Commando to give his life in service of his country…”

The narration didn’t cover half the text on the black, glass screen and in Katie’s opinion it wasn’t a particularly good tribute to a man who had lost his life in such tragic circumstances. She read the rest of the text as Steve’s eyes skated over it, reading, despite the fact he knew it all. He wished he could have saved him, he really did. He’d loved him to have been able to meet Katie. But then, he wouldn’t have anyway. As he would have most likely been dead now. Or what’s to say things may or may not have ended up differently. Would Buck have been on the Valkyrie with him?

He watched the black and white footage playing, where the two of them were talking and then laughing about something and he felt the sadness hit his chest again. And as if she sensed it too, Katie gripped his hand a little bit tighter and lay her head against his arm, her weight giving him something to anchor himself too, and he was grateful for it.

They carried on walking and then they found there was a small cinema area a bit further round the corner playing footage and interviews. Steve paused for a second and then looked at Katie, the question stayed silent. She nodded and together they walked in, taking a seat on one of the benches. There was a bit of introduction footage, and then a familiar face appeared on the screen.

Besides him Katie took a deep breath and whispered a single word “Dad…” and he automatically dropped a hand to her knee, where she placed hers on top of his as the two of them watched her father an animatedly talking to the camera.

“Rogers was different” Howard spoke, smiling, the caption on the screen telling him the footage had been filmed in 1953. “He was constantly striving to do the right thing, with no fear or care for how it would affect him. He, err, when we dropped him behind enemy lines we had no idea if we would see him again. I narrowly escaped myself, the machine guns nearly took our aircraft down but without thought to how he would get back, he told us to leave him behind. When they declared him missing in action the entire company was devastated but, lo and behold… well they can’t keep a good man down. “ Howard paused and then looked down and back up at the camera “I can only hope that if I’m graced with Children, they grow up to be half as driven as he was to do the right thing…”

As Katie looked down at her feet, a stray tear fell down her cheek. Seeing her dad there like that was raw. She knew that Tony felt the loss of their parents far more than she did, she had only been 7 after all when they had died and Tony had been her father, if you will, for far longer than her actual dad had, but still, seeing him in front of her so candidly, talking about his hopes for his future children made something in her chest tighten and she couldn’t help but feel sadness at the fact she never got the chance to really know him. Steve gently squeezed her knee, but then as he looked back up at the screen it was his turn to still as someone he recognised extremely well, her face painted into his memory for life, entered the screen and began speaking, also in 1953. 

"That was a difficult winter. A blizzard had trapped half our battalion behind the German line. Steve, Captain Rogers, he fought his way through a HYDRA blockade that had pinned our allies down for months.” Peggy Carter stumbled slightly through the interview. “He saved over a thousand men, including the man who would become my husband as it turned out. Even after he died, Steve was still changing my life," And despite the fact that she smiles slightly at the end of this line, it’s clear to see that talking about Steve affected her a lot.

Katie leaned against him and with a breath he lay his head on top of hers. “We haven’t seen her for a while…” she whispered as the video finished. “Shall we go on the way home?” He gave a soft chuckle and dropped a kiss to the crown of her head.

“You read my mind.”

*******

Peggy was pleased to see them. They both greeted her and after a few pleasantries they told her about their trip to the Smithsonian. Peggy smiled, informing them that she remembered the interview, like it was yesterday, apparently the man interviewing her had been an “utter rogue”, but she didn’t elaborate on what that meant. They chatted a little about her time as Director at SHIELD before she trailed off with a sigh as she noticed that Steve was uncharacteristically quiet. After a little gentle coaxing from her and Katie he told her what was on his mind.

"My whole life I've just wanted to do what was right, I guess I'm not sure what that is anymore.” he paused for a moment, thinking of how to voice his worries about SHIELD “And I thought I could just throw myself back in and follow orders, it's just not the same."

Peggy chuckled as she rolled her eyes and looked at Katie "He’s always so dramatic.”

Katie let out a small laugh, nodding her agreement. “Tell me about it!”

Steve shook his head, a smile on his face as he raised his eyebrows slightly and looked away as Peggy continued to speak.

“Look you saved the world, we rather mucked it up."

"No you didn't. You know, knowing that you helped found SHIELD is half the reason I stay."

“And the other half being…” her eyes strayed to Katie who smiled, looking down and then up at Steve as he caught her eye, his hand resting on her knee.

“I quit remember?” She said.

Peggy smiled “Indeed, a woman with principles. That I can get on board with.”

Katie gave a little smile and turned to the old lady in the bed.

“Look, the world has changed and none of us can go back.” Peggy spoke softly “All we can do is our best, and sometimes the best that we can do is to start over."

She started to cough. Steve quickly picked up a glass of water from the table and rounded the back of the chair Katie was sitting in to try and hand her the glass. 

"Peggy," he mumbled. Her coughing subsided as she sipped her drink. She looked up and stared at Steve as if she was seeing a ghost

"Steve?" Peggy breathed out in an amazed yet broken voice.

"Yeah," Steve whispered, his heart sinking as he recognised the look in her face. Her memory had gone, again.

"You're alive! You, you came, you came back," Peggy whimpered. Tears were gathering in her eyes at this point as she tried to hold them back and Steve was struggling to do the same with his own. One of the smartest, nicest, bravest women he had ever met was being betrayed by an illness that was literally rotting her brain. It was cruel, and every time she did this, they went through the same routine.

Katie squeezed his hand gently as she stood up so he could take the chair next to Peggy.

"Yeah, Peggy," Steve responded forcing a smile onto his face.

"It's been so long. So long," Peggy started to cry, giving up on holding back her tears.

“I’ll leave you with her…” Katie said gently as she gently touched his shoulder. His hand briefly reached up to lay over hers before he leaned over to take Peggy’s.

"Well, I couldn't leave you.” He said gently, “Not when you still owe me a dance."

Normally that calmed the old lady down, but not today. She was becoming more and more confused and in the end he had to press the call button for a nurse.

“Again?” The nurse said softly, and Steve simply nodded.

“I’ll fetch the doctor.”

Outside Katie took a deep breath and headed towards her car. Ex partners could always be an issue in relationships but this was something else, something completely different. She opened the passenger side to the car and sat side on in the seat, door open, legs dangling out. She felt sorry for Peggy, she really did, and her heart ached for Steve. It can’t be easy seeing the woman he once loved, and probably still did in some way, fading like that in front of your eyes. She ran her hand over her face, rubbing at her eyes slightly and waited as she watched various people coming and going out of the main doors of the hospital. It wasn’t that long before a familiar figure appeared, a flash of white T-shirt standing out against his dark navy jacket and equally dark jeans as he walked towards her, hands in his pockets. She stood up, not saying a word as she wrapped her arms around him and he buried his face into the nook of her shoulder and neck, his safe place, his hands gently resting on her hips as he breathed out a sigh.

“She ok?” she asked gently. “Yeah they sedated her.” He said as he pulled away.

“I’m so sorry Steve.” she said gently

“What for?” he frowned. “Peggy…it’s so unfair.” “Yeah…” he said. And it was. He wished things could be different, that Peggy wasn’t ill. That she could be home, with her family, living out the last years of her life with the dignity she had lived the rest of it. She deserved more. He looked over the car roof across the street and watched for a second, everyone milling about their business, getting on with their lives. Like he was, and whilst he wished things had been different for Peggy he found himself thinking and wondering if he would change anything if he could.

He felt Katie still in front of him, reacting to the fact he himself had changed posture, and as he looked down at her he was suddenly struck with the answer to his question. Right now, despite everything, despite his sudden feelings of nostalgia sparked by the events of the last 24 hours or so, no he wouldn’t. Because whatever had happened, every action, every decision, it had led him to her, and he loved her so fucking much it hurt. Yeah he had loved Peggy, he still did in some ways, but it was nothing compared to this. Nothing. He reached out and took Katie’s hands, pulling up her arms so they were round his neck, pulling her closer to him as his own hands joined at the bottom of her back

“I love you.” He said gently, needing her to understand, to believe him.

“I know…”  she said back, and he smiled softly, satisfied she did.

“How about we head back to mine and not leave the flat for the entire day tomorrow?” he said, the idea suddenly coming to him and he face lit up. Katie loved lazy days. It was rare Steve was in the mood for them, his incessant energy normally meant he had to be doing something. But on the odd time he agreed it usually involved them staying in bed till about midday, then watching old movies on the TV under a blanket on the couch, maybe a bit of fooling around and then calling a take out before retreating back to bed. Right now that sounded like a damned fine idea. “Can you clear your diary?”

“Consider it cleared.” she smiled.

“I just wanna make one quick stop on the way.” he suggested, his journey of contemplation was leading him to one more place. He glanced at his watch before planting a kiss on her lips “Thought we could pay our jogging friend a visit.”

********

"Look who it is. The running man and his pretty girl." Sam joked slightly as he came over to the doorway where Katie and Steve were stood.

"Hey." Katie smiled as he dropped a kiss onto her cheek.

"Caught the last few minutes. It's pretty intense," Steve commented as Sam shook his hand.

"Yeah, brother, we all got the same problems. Guilt, regret," Sam shrugged.  As his sentence went on his voice got more serious and softer.

"Have you lost someone?" Steve asked, perceptive as ever. Katie mentally cursed herself for not filling him in fully, but Sam didn’t seem too bothered to talk about it. He nodded gently.

"My wingman, Riley. Fly in the night mission. A standard PJ rescue op, nothing we hadn't done a thousand times before, till an RPG knock Riley's dumb ass out of the sky. Nothing I could do. It's like I was up there just to watch," Sam paused to cross his arms over his chest, his posture slightly tense. "After that, I had really hard time finding a reason for being over there, you know?"

"But you're happy now, back in the world?" Steve asked

"Hey, the number of people giving me orders is down to about zero. So, hell, yeah," Sam joked, loosening up slightly, before getting a bit serious, "You thinking about getting out?"

"No. I don't know. To be honest, I don't know what I would do with myself if I did," Steve shook his head a bit.

"Ultimate fighting?" Sam shrugged and Steve laughed as Katie snorted.  "It's just a great idea off the top of my head. But seriously, you could do whatever you want to do. What makes you happy?"

Steve turned his head to look at Katie, an unconscious movement, smiling gently as he shrugged. “I dunno...”

"Oh I think you do." Sam said, smirking slightly as Steve placed his hand on the small of his girl’s back.

"Oh, stop by the front desk on your way out," Katie turned to Sam, smirking, and he raised an eyebrow in question,

"We asked for you by name." Steve clarified.

"She seemed thoroughly impressed." Katie finished. Both of Sam's eyebrows rose at that and he looked down the hallway towards where the front desk was.

"You two are the best." He said a smile stretching across his face as he began to turn to head down the hall. "Stop by anytime."

"No problem." Steve said in amusement as Sam jogged his way down the hall.

It was 8pm by the time they got home, having made a pit stop for a beer on the way. Steve held the door open for Katie, and she stepped into the apartment building and started to climb the stairs in front of him, giving him a quite pleasing view of her ass as her hips swayed side to side in front of him.

“Sam’s right you know.” she said, continuing their discussion from the bar. “And so is Peggy.”

“What about?” he asked.

“If you wanted to get out you could do, start over…”

He took a deep breath “I don’t know what I want, but spending the rest of my life playing janitor for Fury is not it.”

“I can write you a resignation note….” she grinned 

“What, I quit, fuck you?” he snorted.

“I didn’t actually write that.” she laughed “Actually, I didn’t write anything...”

He chuckled slightly and then took a deep breath. “You know, it’s funny when I think about it. Us, stuff, what we’ve done and how far we’ve come in a year.”

“You’re saying it like it’s a bad thing” she teased as she stepped onto his landing.

“No, that’s not what I mean at all…”  he said as he took a deep breath as she headed towards his door and turned to face him “You know, I’ve never really talked to anyone or shown them about my past in detail or introduced anyone to Peggy bar you.”

“Well I am your girlfriend.” she shrugged, holding onto the hand that wasn’t digging into his jeans pocket to fish out his keys.  “You should be able to talk to me about anything.”

“I know, I’m not explaining myself very well.”  He said, sighing, finally succeeding in obtaining his keys. And he wasn’t. He was trying to tell her that he couldn’t imagine his life without her, that he wanted her to share his everything, including his home…

“Spit it out Rogers…” she said, as he slid the key into the lock.

He took a deep breath. “Coming home last night and you being there…and then this morning…it was perfect doll and I want that all the time.” He said, turning to face her leaving his key hanging from the door. “How would you feel about us maybe moving in together?”

She paused for a moment, looking at him, realising he was deadly serious. She raised her eyebrow.

“I thought you came from a time where man and woman didn’t live together until they were married?” she teased.

“Well we could get married if you want…” he found himself blurting out. That made Katie raise both eyebrows as she studied him again, her mouth dropping into a small ‘o’. Steve looked back at her, trying to keep his face passive, as if it had been a joke, he knew it wasn’t. He’d known for months she was the one. But to blurt it out like that? And just over a year since they’d started dating.

Way to go, Rogers.

Katie cocked her head to one side, there was a funny look on Steve’s face that she couldn’t place. But whatever it was, even if Steve was serious about them getting married, she knew him well enough to understand that was not how he would want to propose, and that he was probably kicking himself about stumbling it out the way he had done. So she broke the nervous tension, as she always did, with a slight joke.

“You know, that’s not much of a proposal…” she said, sliding her arms up around his neck “But it’s one step up from you’d make a great housewife…”

“Should I try again?” he quipped, a cheeky grin spreading across his face, glad the tone was playful, his arms circling her waist “Yeah, with a big, fuck off Tiffany diamond…”

“I didn’t think you were so materialistic?” he laughed as he committed that to memory.

“Well, you know what they say? Diamonds are a girls’ best friend.”

“And there I was, thinking it was me…” he said, his lips pressing onto hers

“That’s so sweet…” a voice interrupted and they both turned to look at Kate, his neighbour from over the hall. For a split second Steve thought she was talking to them but it soon became apparent she was on the phone. “That’s so nice…but hey, I gotta go…okay bye…”

She dropped the phone into the basket of laundry she was carrying before grinning at us both “My aunt, she’s kind of an insomniac”

Steve smile before looking at the basket of washing in her arms as he dropped his arm round Katie’s shoulder “you know if you want…if you want, you can use my machine. Might be easier and cheaper than the one in the basement.” "Thank you, but I already have a load in downstairs actually, and you really don't want my scrubs in your machine.” She grinned “I just finished orientation in the infectious diseases ward, so,"

"Ah, well, we’ll keep our distance," he grinned, holding his hands up, palms out.

"Hopefully not too far…" she chuckled. “Don’t want to lose my best neighbour…well I better be off.” She turned to go before she stopped and spun back round to look at Steve. “Oh, I think you left your stereo on,"

“Right, thank you…” Steve watched her go, frowning. He looked at Katie as they both pressed their ears to the door. The record player was certainly on but…

“We definitely didn’t leave that on before.”  Katie looked at him, as the gentle tones of Kitty Kallen Long Long Time hit their ears.

Steve held his finger up to his lips and gestured to the window, before leaving Katie where he was. He ran off, down the stairs as fast as he could and then he scaled the gate on the fire escape easily. Once he reached the steps which were parallel to his window he took a running jump, easily pulling himself up over the sill and into the kitchen area. Quickly and quietly he moved along the wall, picking up his shield which was leaning against the shelving unit. Holding it up he cautiously peered round the corner of the room into the living area and instantly relaxed when he saw Fury lounging in a chair.

“I don’t remember giving you a key.” he said, somewhat sardonically.

“What, you really think I’d need one?” Nick replied. Steve shook his head and headed to the front door of the flat, pulling it open.

“Fury…”he said with a roll of his eyes, turning and walking back into the apartment.

“Huh?” Katie asked a she followed him into the living room, where the music was coming from, to see Fury sitting on the couch in the dark.

“What are you doing here?” she asked

"Nice to see you too, Nova. And in answer to your question my wife kicked me out."

"I didn't know you were married," she continued, frowning. And she didn’t. And she wasn’t sure that he was.

"There are a lot of things you don't about me," Fury said casually.

"I know, Nick. That's the problem," Steve grumbled walking forward as Katie remained where she was, eyes narrowed at her old boss. Steve flipped on the light switch, instantly recoiling in surprise when he noticed Fury’s injuries. Besides him Katie gasped slightly and moved to get closer to help but Fury indicated for her to stop and the both of them to stay quiet. He turned off the light again and typed something on his phone.

'EARS EVERYWHERE'.

Bugs? His apartment was bugged? By who? They both exchanged a glance and instantly Katie looked up and around the room, as if she expected to see a microphone glaring at them...

"I'm sorry to have to do this but I had nowhere else to crash," Fury said looking around a bit. He typed something else up on his phone:

'SHIELD COMPROMISED'.

Steve and Katie shared another glance, the pair of them wide eyed. This was bad.

"Who else knows about your wife?" Steve asked, keeping his voice even.

Fury showed them another text;

'YOU TWO AND ME'.

"Just, my friends," Fury grunted in pain while getting up and walking closer to them.

"Is that what we are?" Katie narrowed her eyes at him. She still hadn’t completely forgiven the man for lying to them all about Coulson. 

"That's up to you." Fury replied, his eyes darting from Katie to Steve.

Then out of nowhere came a rapid succession of gunshots. Steve quickly pushed Katie out of the way, the pair of them taking cover behind the kitchen wall as Fury groaned before he collapsed down to the floor. Steve scooted forward, keeping as low as he could, pulling him into the kitchen. Katie knelt next to him and tried to check his injuries through his black clothing when he reached up and handed something to Steve.

"Don't, trust anyone," he coughed before passing out.  Katie and Steve both looked at what he had been handed and saw that it was a flash drive. Steve curled his hand around it and looked at Katie, but before either of them could say anything else there was the sound of someone breaking into the apartment. Steve quickly moved into a defensive position, in front of Katie and Fury, raising his shield.

"Captain Rogers?" a familiar voice suddenly called out and they watched as Kate, his neighbour, cautiously walked in with a gun pointed. "I'm Agent 13 of SHIELD's Special Service," she informs.

"Kate?" Steve frowned, shaking his head. He’d just about had his fill of surprises.

"I'm assigned to protect you," she continued

"On whose orders?" Katie snapped.

Kate stopped as she spotted Fury lying on the floor. "His," she dropped besides Katie, checking Fury for a pulse and then spoke into her radio

"Foxtrot is down, he's unresponsive. I need EMTs."

"Do you have a twenty on the shooter?" A SHIELD agent questioned through the radio.

Then there was a movement on the other side of the window, on the roof adjacent to the building.  Steve instantly glanced up and saw a flash of silver and the shadow of a figure running across the rooftop.

"Tell them I'm in pursuit." he said and with that he took a running jump and smashed straight through his window, and through into the office building opposite. Steve ran, keeping his eye on the man, smashing through walls, windows, anything in his way. Eventually he caught up with him on the roof and flung his shield at the assassin who, to Steve’s shock caught it with one swift move in the hand of his metal arm. There was a pause as Steve could do nothing but eye the man with surprise before the shield came flying back. Steve caught it, with both hands on its rim but the force pushed him back a few yards along the gravel surface of the roof. By the time he had stopped the momentum moving him, the assassin had jumped. Steve ran to the edge of the building and looked down.

He was gone.

*****

“What happened?" Hill asked as they all looked through the glass window at the hustle and bustle of the operating room. Steve moved his arm from around Katie and took her hand in his, squeezing her fingers gently.

"He was at my apartment when we got home," Steve started. "I hadn’t even had chance to ask why when there were two blasts, then another. Someone shot him through the window of the apartment - three times. I tried to go after the shooter, but I lost him on the roof of the building across the street."

Steve had no doubt in his mind that if there was anyone else in SHIELD they could trust right now it was Hill, but both he and Katie kept quiet. He had taken Fury’s warning of trusting nobody seriously and had told Katie as much as they had strode through the ED of the hospital. Both were aware that Hill was studying them, side on, her face stony.

"What aren't you telling me?" she asked quietly.

"Nothing." Katie answered for them.

Before Hill could drill either of them anymore the door to the observation room flung open and heavy footsteps crossed the room, stopping at the other side of Katie.

"Is he gonna make it?" Natasha asked, almost inaudibly, staring through the window.

"We don't know," Hill mumbled.

"Tell me about the shooter," Natasha whispered

"He's fast and strong. He had a metal arm," Steve said, letting go of Katie’s hand to fold his arms across his chest and as he did, they both caught the look of recognition and slight fear on Natasha's face reflected in the window.

"Ballistics?" Natasha asked swallowing heavily.

"Three slugs. No rifling and completely untraceable," Maria answers softly.

"Soviet made?"

"Yeah," Maria answered looking at Natasha in shock. Steve turned to face her, as did Katie, but she didn’t look back. She stared straight through to the operating theatre but before Katie could ask what it was that she wasn’t saying, the operation room went into overdrive. Machines started beeping erratically, the doctors and nurses were rushing around the room and the panic was palpable even behind the glass. But they couldn't save him.

"Time of death, 1:03 A.M."

Natasha pushed past Katie and almost sprinted out of the room. Steve pulled his hand out of his pocket, turning the flash drive that Nick had given him over in his hand. Nick had been killed because he knew whatever it was that was on that drive. What could possibly be so bad, so secret, so dangerous that the Director of SHIELD was deemed a threat for knowing? He glanced up at Katie who was watching him, tears in her eyes. She might have had her issues with Fury, but he was a good man and would never have wished him dead. With a sigh Steve placed the item back into his pocket and pulled her in for a hug.

******

A little later, the 4 of them stood the the same room as Nick’s body. Natasha was by him, hardly having moved a muscle, almost like she was in shock. And it unnerved Katie. Nat wasn’t one to really show emotion but then again, Fury had meant a lot to her. The door opened and a doctor entered, speaking to Hill. She nodded and then walked over to Katie and Steve, coughing to clear her throat.

“They need to take him.” she said, her voice cracking slightly. Steve nodded and stepped towards Nat.

“Nat...” he said gently, “Natasha...” But at that she turned away from them all and made her way quickly into the corridor of the Hospital. Katie and Steve looked at one another, before they hastily followed her.

"Why was Fury in your apartment?" Natasha span around to ask Steve. Her eyes were filled with sadness, but Katie could also see suspicion etched on her pretty features.

"I don't know," Steve sighed shrugging his shoulders, and before the conversation could go on further they were interrupted by Rumlow.

"Cap, they want you back at Shield," He informed them, gently touching Katie’s shoulder. "You too Nova."

"Alright, give us a second," Steve said dismissing Rumlow, perhaps a little more harshly than he intended, as he turned back to Natasha but Rumlow was insistent

"They want you now,"

"Alright" Katie said, firmly but calmly. Rumlow nodded and then moved back down the hallway.

"You're a terrible liar." Natasha said to Steve with her trademark smirk that didn't reach her eyes before she turned and left.

"What the hell is on that drive?" Katie said to Steve after a moment of silence.

“I don’t know, but it’s what Natasha was saving data to on our mission the other day.” he said before he looked up staring very focused into a vending machine to his right, which was open as a janitor filled it up. He didn’t want to take the drive back to the Triskellion, just in case. He knew that something wasn’t quite right.

Katie caught his eye before glancing around the hallway that was mostly full of SHIELD agents, luckily they were all congregated on the other end.

“Do it.” she said, figuring out his intention to hide the item “I’ll distract them.”

Without another look back at him, she began to stride forwards towards Rumlow.

“Its almost 4 am.” she glanced at her watch. “What do they want us for Brock? We already told Sitwell what we know and I don’t work for SHIELD anymore, remember?”

Rumlow shrugged “Honestly, I don’t know Nova. I’m just under instructions to get you both back to base.”

At that point Steve reached them, but he wasn’t stopping. Taking Katie’s hand he nodded to the STRIKE leader

"Let's go."

"Yeah," Rumlow said falling in step with them, fixing his earpiece. "Strike! Move it out."

Steve drove to the Triskellion, Katie’s car flanked by the Armoured SUVs as they sped through the streets of DC. Katie dozed off for 10 minutes and Steve let her sleep, lost in his own thoughts. He had expected her to be called in alongside him, especially after she had been, along with him, the last people Fury had spoken to him before he died. But he wasn’t happy about it, he wanted her as far away from whatever the hell was going on as possible. Once they arrived he gently shook her awake and the two of them were given an hour or so to grab something to eat. Neither were hungry, but they forced down their sandwiches, Katie’s brain working in overdrive as she did so. Something was nagging at her, and she was trying to make the connections, figure it out, but her head simply kept replaying Fury getting shot over and over.

"Foxtrot is down, he's unresponsive. I need EMTs."

"Do you have a twenty on the shooter?"

She frowned. That was odd.

“What is?” Steve asked, coffee in his hand as he sat back on one of the large chairs in one of the common rooms by the kitchen area.

“Before…when Kate…Agent 13, whatever the hell her name is called back to base…she said Fury was down and needed EMTs…”

She paused and Steve waited, knowing how her analytical brain worked. She had to follow threads, talk them over or write them out, letting them weave together as she did. A look of comprehension crossed her face as the threads connected.

“Sitwell…” she said gently, looking at him.

“What about him?” Steve asked. “He was the one that replied, at least it sounded like him.” She bit her lip, but not in the seductive way that made his crotch twitch, the way she did when she was thinking “And he asked…do you have a 20 on the shooter…”

Steve frowned, not quite sure where this was going. “Ok…”  “Well, how did he know Fury had been shot? How could anyone know he had been shot?”

Oh, now he understood. He understood completely. Damned it she was clever. “They couldn’t…” he said, sitting up “Not unless they were there or Kate…whoever, told them.”

“And she didn’t. She just said he was down and unresponsive.” Katie said. “Which means…” Steve began, but Katie finished for him. “Sitwell knew about the hit. Because he was in on it. Along with fuck knows who else...”

Fury was right, SHIELD was compromised. But how far, they had no idea. Before he had chance to reply the door opened and Rumlow stepped in

“Secretary Pierce is ready now guys.” “Thanks…” Katie said, shooting Steve another glance as they both stood up.

“Not a word.” he mumbled as they got into the elevator “We say nothing, not until we figure out who we can trust.”

“If anyone.” she mumbled back.

*****

"Captain, why was Nick in your apartment last night?" Secretary Pierce looked at Steve as he sat on the couch in the large office.

"I don't know." He answered in a soft voice.

"Did you know it was bugged?" Pierce pressed on.

"We did." Katie said meeting the secretary's eye. "Because Nick told us."

"Did he tell you he was the one who bugged it?"

Steve took a breath and glanced at Katie, his expression stony but the two of them shared the understanding.

No, no he had not.

"I want you to see something." Pierce continued, and gestured to a monitor just behind the couches we were sitting on. On the screen was a man tied down to a chair, he looked to be currently being interrogated. Katie didn’t recognise the man, but Steve did.  It was Batroc, the lead merc from the hijacking of the Lemurian Star.

"Is that live?" Steve asked.

"Yeah, they picked him up last night in a not so safe house in Algiers."

"Are you saying he's a suspect?" Steve said not taking his eyes off the screen "Assassination isn't Batroc's line."

"It's more complicated than that. Batroc was hired anonymously to hijack the Lemurian Star. He was contacted by email and paid by wire transfer, and then the money was run through 17 fictitious accounts. The last going to a holding company that was registered to a Jacob Veech." Pierce said handing Steve a folder.

"Am I supposed to know who that is?" Steve asked, skimming through the file offered to him in curiosity and confusion.

"Not likely. Veech died six years ago. His last address was 1435 Elmhurst Drive. When I first met Nick, his mother lived at 1437."

"Wait," Katie said, gathering what the secretary was suggesting. "Are you saying Fury hired the pirates? Why?"

"The prevailing theory?" Pierce shrugged. "The hijacking was a cover for the acquisition and sale of classified intelligence. The sale went sour and that led to Nick's death."

"If you really knew Nick Fury you'd know that's not true." Steve said strongly, and he believed it. Fury was a lot of things, but a traitor he was not.

Pierce nodded in agreement. "Why do you think we're here talking?" He then got to his feet and began to walk towards the window. "See, I took a seat on the council not because I wanted to, but because Nick asked me to because we were both realists. We knew that despite all the diplomacy, and the hand shaking and the rhetoric, to build a really better world sometimes means having to tear the old one down. And that makes enemies."

Steve didn’t like the way this was going. He looked at Katie and gestured for her to stand as he did. Pierce turned back around and looked at them both.

"Those people that call you dirty because you've got the guts to stick your hands in the mud and try to build something better. And the idea that those people could be happy today," Pierce shoved his hands in his pockets. "Makes me really, really angry. Captain, you and Miss Stark were the last ones to see Nick Fury alive. I don't think that's an accident." Pierce said matter-of-factly. "And I don't think you do, either. So, I'm going to ask again was he there?"

"He told us not to trust anyone." Steve said honestly.

Pierce made a humming sound. "I wonder, if that included him."

There was a tense moment of silence before Steve spoke again. "I'm sorry. Those were his last words. Excuse us," He turned to leave, picking up his shield that he sent down upon our arrival and attaching it to the harness on his back, before ushering Katie out of the room slightly ahead of him.

"Captain," Pierce's voice halted him mid step and he turned to look at him. "Someone murdered my friend. I'm going to find out why. Anyone who gets in my way is going to regret it." Pierce's voice rang out again, a pointed look in their direction.

Steve wasn’t a stupid man, and he knew that was a veiled threat. He took a deep breath, considering his response, before he decided appearing un-rattled was the best option.

“Understood.” he nodded, holding the door open for Katie to step through keeping himself between her and Pierce as he followed, anchoring his hand on her back to keep her moving.

“You should have lied.” she whispered.

“Huh?” “Back then, said we didn’t know why Fury was there. By telling him that he told us not to trust anyone he knows we know and that we’re hiding something…”

“We need to get to the hospital and get that stick."  Steve said, adamant that whatever it was that was on there would hold the answers. He looked up and down the corridor before they stepped into the elevator.

“Operations Control” Steve spoke as the elevator scanned his face and Katie’s Guest ID.

“Confirmed”

Just as the doors were about to close, Rumlow stepped in with two other STRIKE agents.

“Keep all STRIKE personnel on site” he was saying.  Both the agents nodded and voiced their acknowledgement of his order. 

“Forensics.”  Rumlow said.

“Confirmed.”

“Cap, Nova…” Rumlow said, nodding to them both.

“Rumlow.” Steve acknowledged him as the doors closed and they started to descend.

“Evidence Response found some fibres on the roof they want us to see.” Rumlow turned his head to look at us “You want me to get the tac-team ready?”

“No, let’s wait and see what it is first.” Steve said.

“Right.” Rumlow turned back and Steve looked out of the side of the elevator, pondering what his next move was. Chase down the man responsible? The drive? The elevator stopped at the next floor and Rollins plus a few more SHIELD and Strike agents entered, Steve moving over slightly to allow them in.

“What's the status so far?” Rollins was saying.

“Administrations level” another one asked, before they continued whatever it was they were talking about, moving round to find a space behind Steve and Katie.

He noticed Katie look round, a frown on her face, but before he could say anything Rumlow spoke, looking over his shoulder at Steve.

“I’m sorry about what happened with Fury. Messed up, what happened to him”

“Thank you.” Steve said.

Katie could sense something was off. Years of training as an Agent didn’t just leave you when you quit, and those years of training had taught her very well to read body language. Rumlow was alert, too alert, and it was more than just a nervousness because Fury had been killed. There was an atmosphere in the lift, and she glanced at one of the agents that had joined them at the last floor. He was still talking, normally, but he there was a bead of sweat dripping down his cheek from his temple.

Steve could sense it too. He watched as Rumlow and Rollins exchanged a glance and looked down at Katie who was watching him, nervous expression on her face. He shook his head gently, instructing her to keep calm.

The elevator stopped and another agent entered.

“Records”

This one stood in front of them, facing the elevator doors and it was then with a slight air of exasperation at allowing it to happen, Steve realised they were surrounded. Whilst he wasn’t too concerned, he knew he could more than likely fight his way out, it was his girl he was bothered for. It had been months since she had been in active combat, and this was going to be brutal. Besides him Katie stiffened, feeling very underprepared for what was about to go down. She had no weapons, nothing. Instinctively Steve gripped her hand and pulled her forward so she was stood next to him instead of behind and moved his feet apart slightly, hands on the buckle of his belt, adopting his Captain stance, preparing for what was coming.

“Before we get started…” Steve sighed, looking down before he stared straight ahead “Does anyone want to get out?”

His eyes flicked to the back of Rumlow’s head. There was a moment’s pause before all hell broke loose. Steve was fighting with 4 of them at once, as 2 of them launched at Katie. They put up a good fight, ducking, diving, punching. Steve was shocked with a baton, but he simply grit his teeth, absorbing the electricity into his body. It hurt, but it wasn’t unbearable. And then they managed to snap one of his arms to the wall of the elevator using some kind of metallic clamp and then he had 5 of them on him at once, attempting to pin his other arm in too. He kicked out, taking down as many as he could.

Just as she had floored the second of the agents who had launched at her, Katie was grabbed from behind by her hair and hauled to the edge of the elevator, being wrestled roughly to the floor by Rumlow who was instantly on top of her, trying to get her wrists from where she had positioned them underneath her body in an attempt to stop them restraining her.

"Brock…” she said gently, looking at him as she swallowed. “What’s going on?” “I’m sorry Stark…” he said, “Just following orders…”

“Yeah well follow this…” she said, the anger brewing in her as she jerked her head forwards as hard as she could, feeling it connect with his nose.  He yelled, and then her head snapped painfully to the right as he back handed her straight across the face. She felt her lip split and the warm, metallic taste of blood hit her taste buds, stars flashing in front of her eyes as her ears began to ring from the harsh knock.

Steve saw Rumlow land the blow to Katie’s face and let out a growl of anger and aimed another kick at one final agent who had stumbled back up, causing him to collide with the side of the elevator before slumping down. He turned, pulled on his arm as hard as he could, wrenching the cuff off the side of the elevator and looked up in time to see Katie, who was now pinned against the wall by another set of those damned cuffs, take a blow to the ribs from Rumlow causing her to cry out in pain.

“Rumlow!” he yelled causing the man to whip his head round, surprise on his face. Katie, using her arms as leverage, swung her legs upwards, kicking Rumlow with both feet. The STRIKE leader stumbled slightly as Steve snarled at him, his entire body and face alight with rage “Touch my girl again…and I’ll fucking kill you.”

Rumlow got to his feet, holding one of his arms out, electric rod in his hand “Whoa, big guy. I just want you both to know, this ain't personal.”

He then lunged at Steve with his electric rod but one on one Steve was easily able to defend himself, he moved to the right, dodged and grabbed him, throwing him harshly upwards where he crashed into the ceiling of the elevator, before falling to the floor, unconscious.

“Yeah well…It kind of feels personal” Steve said, his breath slightly ragged from the exertion. He used his foot to flip his shield over like a Frisbee, catching it perfectly.

“You alright?” Steve asked, stepping over the bodies of the 8 agents they’d taken down to get to Katie.

“Yeah…” she said. Steve cut the cuffs that were restraining her into 2 pieces with his shield and she bent over, his hands gently on her back as she rubbed at her side before straightening up and stalking over to where Rumlow was beginning to stir slightly. She kicked him hard in the face, causing him to flip backwards and he was out, unconscious.

“Nothing personal…” she spat, then looked up at Steve. There was a moment during which they both looked around, trying to make sense of what had happened, before the elevator doors opened and Steve pulled Katie sharply behind him. They both stared at a team of STRIKE agents pointing their weapons into the elevator. Steve raised his shield.

“Drop the shield! Put your hands in the air!”

Steve looked round, and spotted the elevator wires to the left of Katie’s head

“DUCK!” he yelled at her, and as she did he swiped with his shield over her head sending them plummeting. Eventually the emergency brake systems kicked in and the elevator stopped, slightly misaligned with the doors by a few feet. As Katie bent down to retrieve a gun and some ammo off one of the Agents, Steve forced the door open, intending to climb out but more STRIKE agents were approaching. He closed the door again and looked at Katie, then around the glass walls, looking down below us at the glass roof of the main Triskelion atrium.

It was a long way but they could make it.

“You’re kidding, right?” Katie exclaimed, realising exactly what he was thinking.

“Give it up, Rogers! Get that door open! You have nowhere to go!” came the yell from the floor outside the elevator door.

“Do you trust me?” he asked, taking a deep breath, raising his shield in front of him.

“Of course I do, but…”

“Then hang on…”

She sighed and jumped onto his back, swinging her legs round his waist and her arms round his neck. Steve propelled them forward and broke through the glass in the elevator, spreading his arms out wide as he fell to prevent himself from tumbling through the air before tucking his body as tightly in to his shield as he could. Katie did the same, burying her head into his back as they crashed through the glass ceiling and hit the floor with a loud clang, to screams and shouts from people all around the atrium.

Katie gave a soft groan, rolling off Steve who moaned and stretched out, having been winded from the impact. But Steve knew they had to keep moving. He pushed himself up onto his knees, took a deep breath and offered his hand to Katie to help her stand. They both took a quick glance around before he started to run, pulling her with him. She stumbled slightly, but he kept hold of her, not letting her fall until her legs seemed to be working again.

And then they ran.

@the-omni-princess​

@momobaby227​

@geekofmanythings16​

[rosy-chimchim]

Sweet As Can Be

Genre: F L U F F, a little nsfw at points, lots of ice cream and smooches Word Count: 10k baby Summary: Summer jobs blow, but boy are you glad that the cute ice cream scoop decided to work this summer break (This whole idea came from me falling in love worth Scoops Ahoy and Steve Harrington in Stranger Things season 3, but it’s nothing like Stranger Things lol.)

it was hot out

Like REALLY HOT

You know that type of humid sticky hot that feels like the air is just suffocating you in it’s yucky blanket of heat

That type of hot

You could feel yourself melting with each step you took home,,,it was just nasty

Each owner of the little mom and pop shops you’d pass by would give you a sympathetic smile or wave as you struggled on your trek home,,,oOf they knew it was bad out there

It was horrible >:(

All you wanted was to be at home laying in front of an industrial fan, drinking some cold goddamn water

Maybe not an industrial fan that would be really aggressive,,,a moderately sized but still powerful fan

You had been planning on relaxing by the beach this afternoon 

You even packed a cute little beach bag with a sandwich, a juice box, a towel, sunscreen, and some books you were reading!!!

but you forgot to check the weather and weren’t expecting this ~𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓽𝔀𝓪𝓿𝓮~ to hit and hit HARD

You set out for your beach adventure all excited to finally get a relaxing afternoon to yourself and the wonderful ocean!

But as you continued your journey to the beach, the temperature began to increase, going from a temperate 80 degrees fahrenheit with a nice breeze here and there to a WHOPPING 96 degrees with intense humidity and literally no breeze

Like wtf

Halfway to the beach you decided to call it, it was way too hot and the thought of steaming like a lobster on the sand wasn’t very appealing anymore

Throughout your walk home you had eaten your sandwich and drank your juice box

It wasn’t even a big juice box it was like one of those stupid Motts Kids juice boxes that only contains like 5 sips of juice, anyway-

Your tummy was rumbling and you were slowly giving into the idea of getting food

You scanned the block you were walking for any place to grab something to eat

There was a flower shop, not an option

A salon, once again,,, thats a no go

Rows and rows of apartments, lucky bastards in their air conditioned homes

Your eyes fall on a yellow and pink building, it sticks out like a sore thumb around the chicer buildings in the area

Walking closer you read the shops sign 

‘Scoopies Frozen Treats: Authentic Ice Cream Parlor!’

PERFECT

Pushing the double doors open, you hear a little bell go off signifying the workers you were here

The…wor…kers??

There was nobody here 

No one was behind the counter or the rows and rows of ice cream tubs

ICE CREAM TUBS

With hesitant steps and a few more glances around the parlor you walked up to the glass window where the ice cream was held

The colors and flavors were mesmerizing, they all looked so delicious 

Of course you had your classics: vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, etc.

But there were also some more interesting flavors: lemon poppyseed, honey pistachio, PB&J swirl, Sour Patch kids and more

Entranced by the varying flavors you never heard the back door being pushed open by a grumbling boy

Or the sound of his feet as he made his way over to you

“Hi welcome-“

“HOLY SHIT”

“-to Scoopies?”

You swear you jumped five feet in the air from being startled

Damn he got you good,,,real big spook

Composing yourself and trying to will away the flush of embarrassment you finally look up at the boy who just gave you the scare of your life

“Yes, h-hi, hello. Jesus you really startled me wOW.” You managed to cough out

Wow really articulate 

Your jumpy nerves did not settle when you focused on the employee in front of you

oh

Oh wow he’s really cute

Black fluffy hair, pale skin, cute eyes that were scrunched up to match the look of a somewhat grumpy concern on his face

And to top it all off,,,a Scoopies uniform

A light pink and white striped t shirt with a yellow apron which had a smiling ice cream cone on it 

The text underneath the cone said “I’m as sweet as our ice cream!” SNORT

The pout that he was wearing seemed to speak otherwise

“Soooo are you gonna get anything?”

Oh right you were here for ice cream

“Yeah! Could I please have two scoops of strawberry please?”

You totally didn’t flash your brightest smile at him in hopes that he would think you were as cute as you thought he was nope not at all

Giving you a nod, he pulled out his scooper and began to fill your order

And not to like,,, drool or anything but his hands be lookin NICE while he grips that ice cream scooper 

Making your way to the register you wait for the boy to finish scooping your order

“$3.50 is your total”

You hand over your money and he grabs it

Your eyes follow up his arm to look at his pretty face again

His hair was puffy and tousled, most likely from the humidity along with his slightly rosy cheeks,,, damn it must suck to be working right now 

You glance toward his chest, hoping to find a name tag

BINGO THERE IT IS

“Hi my name is Yoongi!”

Yoongi,,,,cute name

“Here’s your change, have a good afternoon.”

Grabbing both your change and ice cream you start to head out the door when you remember 

The smoldering heat that awaits outside

Gross, like mega gross

You really didn’t want to face that again, not after being in the cool ice cream parlor

You glanced around the shop, there were only three tables and part of you didn’t feel like sitting at a table alone,,,that felt a little sad 

The were pink stools and a counter next to the ice cream display and that seemed like a perfect place to sit your little butt down and enjoy your treat

You set your bag on the seat next to you and started to eat your ice cream and holy shit did it hit the spot

You almost moaned out loud about how good the cold creamy treat felt on your parched throat,,,it was delicious

Continuing to eat, you let your eyes wander in search for Yoongi, the cute ice cream boy

You really couldn’t help yourself

He was fiddling around with some equipment, you’re not really sure cause all you could focus on was his face tbh

He was very very pretty like one of the prettiest people you’d ever seen

Something about him just entrances you

He looked like the cute boy next door type that you dreamed about as a kid

Okay you gotta look away now this staring thing is getting kind of creepy 

You continued to eat your ice cream only occasionally glancing toward the cute boy

Again you really couldn’t help yourself!!!

It was quite the shock when you saw him starting to walk over to you 

This is your chance!!! Trying to talk to him is now your mission

Yoongi spritzed the glass display and began to clean it when he heard a voice cut through the silence of the parlor

“It must be hard working on such a hot day like this huh?” 

Oh you were still here, he thought you had left a while back

Okay that’s such a lie he knew you were still here but was just trying to ignore you so he wouldn’t get distracted while cleaning and possibly knock something over and make a fool of himself

You were sweet(and really cute but you didn’t hear that from him), the sweetest customer he had all day, it seemed you fit the Scoopies “sweet as ice cream” slogan better than any of the employees

He was used to dealing with middle aged mothers coming in and barking orders at him about how they want to try this or that or how they only want this flavor but they were sold out of it but they wanted it anyways and-

It was safe to say that you were a very needed change of pace

Lost in his own thoughts, Yoongi realized he forgot to respond to your question

Your smile drops as you only get a grunt in reply to your question

Dang, not very talkative 

You brace yourself and try and shoot your shot one more time

“Have you been very busy today? Ya know because of how warm it is?”

His eyes flicker up to yours and stare blankly for a second

Shit maybe you shouldn’t have pushed your luck and asked a second question 

Oh noooo now he thinks you’re weird for asking him so many questions when he was clearly just trying to do his job and clean 

In your head your beginning to formulate a plan of how to leave as quickly as possible without looking like a crazy person, oh god you can never walk on this block again in fear of him seeing you

“Honestly not as many as you’d think.”

OH 

OH WEVE GOT A HIT

WE’VE GOT A PROPERLY WORDED RESPONSE 

Your smile reaches your ears as you respond “it’s probably cause no one wants to leave their little air conditioned paradises and face the nasty heat.”

He gives you his own little smile in response 

“Yeah I think that’s it.”

That little gummy smile sent your way made yours grow even larger

The silence between you two comes back but not for long

“Soooo, why did you leave your ‘air conditioned paradise’ today?”

ALERT ALERT HE JUST INITIATED THE CONVERSATION WHICH TRANSLATES THAT HES NOT ANNOYED BY YOOOUUU

You go into your whole spiel of how you were going to the beach but didn’t think to check the weather and look you even made this cute bag and all!!!

And he watched you, trying not to smile too big at the animated way you moved as you talked

Your hands flew all over the place and your eyebrows furrowed and unfurrowed at different points in the story, depending on the intensity 

Once you finished the retelling of your day, you took a deep breathe

Talking about this heatwave got you really worked up

An understanding expression graced Yoongi’s features and he nodded

“That’s pretty rough. I missed my bus today and walked here in the heat too.”

“Isn’t just horrible out there?”

Yoongi was nice to talk to, there weren’t very many awkward pauses and your conversation kept him occupied while he cleaned

You had finished your ice cream a long time ago and now just sat at the counter, swiveling in your stool as you listened to Yoongi intently 

But still, you knew that you couldn’t stay in that ice cream parlor forever even though you wanted to, very much so :(

You got up and threw your empty cup in the trash and gathered your bag, making sure you were leaving with everything you came with

Yoongi has gone back to cleaning the display, a little sad that you were leaving so soon

Even though it wasn’t “so soon” and you had been there a solid 45 minutes 

As you were walking out the door you yelled “See you later!” over your shoulder and proceeded with your walk home

He muttered a soft “Bye” he doubts you heard but it’s the thought that counts

Yoongi stands back at the register twiddling his thumbs and replaying your conversation over in his head

Your conversation 

You

HE NEVER ASKED YOU FOR YOUR NAME

WHAT KIND OF DOOFUS DOESNT ASK THE PRETTY GIRL HES BEEN CHATTING WITH FOR HER NAME

A YOONGI KIND OF DOOFUS APPARENTLY 

He just prays that you come back to visit him so he can properly get to know you :(

You did say “see you later” so he hopes that’s a good sign

That later comes sooner than expected and you find yourself walking into Scoopies two days later

This time there’s a bit of a line but you wait, bouncing on your heels and hoping that time would move a little faster

You gotta see your cinnamon apple!!!!

Well not really YOUR cinnamon apple

He doesn’t really know you like that

Anyway the line finally shortens and your excited cause not only do you get to see Yoongi but you also get ice cream!!

You walk up to the register all confidently ready to woo Yoongi right then and there

Only to be greeted by a different employee

A shock of light pink hair and a nice smile

His name tag said “Hi my name is Jimin!” With a bunch of hearts and flowers doodle around it

“Hi there! What can I get for you today?”

“Oh um, could I please have two scoops of cookie dough please?”

Mission of woo cute ice cream scoop failed, target not in range and not serving you

But Jimin was very sweet to you and your pretty sure he gave you a little extra ice cream instead of just two scoops

You took a seat at the counter, peaking around equipment to see if Yoongi was hiding behind anything

He’s pretty small lol

Got ‘em

Anyway, no luck he wasn’t tucked in any crevice of the parlor

“Excuse me?”

Jimin turns toward you 

Oh shit no this probably isn’t a smart 

“Is-is he here?”

“Is who here?”

Again super articulate questioning you goof

“Um Yoongi! Is Yoongi here? Today?”

Jimin smiled, he likes your personality, you remind him of an over excited puppy always tripping over themselves

“No he isn’t in right now.”

You smile falters and you glance down 

Suddenly your feet dangling off the stool became very interesting 

“Okay, that’s fine.” You send him a small smile trying to mask your slight disappointment 

You barely knew this dude but you were upset you didn’t get to see him working? Jesus girl get a grip 

“Buuuut, he’ll be here in 15 minutes for his next shift!”

Your head shoots up from the ground

“Oh! Okay perfect!” 

You grin widens as Jimin laughs at your reaction

“How do you know Yoongi? Are you a friend of his?”

How do you explain your infatuation with Yoongi

“Well not friends exactly,,,I’d like to be his friend! He helped me yesterday and we just kind of hit it off ya know?” 

Jimin wiggles his eyebrows at you

“Ooooh hit it off huh?”

Your face immediately flushes pink 

“No no no not like hit it off in a romantic sense!! Like platonically!! Buddies! Pals! I mean I do think he’s cute but it’s just friendly conversation, we’re amigos even!”

“So you think he’s cute?”

“Yes but that’s not the point I’m trying to make right now!”

Jimin giggles at your panicked response

“It’s okay calm down I’m not trying to give you a heart attack.” He says through his laughter

Phew okay he doesn’t think it’s weird

“I’ll put in a good word with your so called ‘amigo’ about you.” 

He shoots you a wink and you give him a shy smile along with a quiet “Thank you”

You passed the time by eating your ice cream and scrolling through your phone

Something about Yoongi gave you butterflies in you stomach that you were currently trying to control

You continued to scroll on your phone trying to find interesting articles to pass the time

Oooh top ten smartest animals!

You quickly became engrossed with the article that ranged from poodles to dolphins, cooing at the cute pictures of animals

Meanwhile, Yoongi enters the parlor from the back entrance and changes into his apron

Tying it around his neck, he peeked through the little window on the break room door

Damn it looked busier than normal, his arms are gonna be so tired

He pouted a little, scanning the tables when his eyes landed on the counter

Holy shit

It was you!!!

You were sitting at the counter in all your glory!!

You’re wearing your hair different than last time, it’s cute uwu 

Okay Yoongi collect yourself, you need a plan to approach her calmly

Just go up to her and start talking like you did last time, the conversation flowed so naturally it can’t be that hard

Taking a deep breathe, he burst through the door 

…a little too enthusiastically causing you to glance up from your phone

Oh shit abort mission

You had the brightest most gorgeous eyes, so full of hope and wonder

Damn it now he’s just staring at you, speak Yoongi speak

“Hi.”

You blinked at him owlishly 

“Hello.”

“It’s you.”

“…it is me.” You blinked again.

He gulped a little

You made him so nervous!!

“…h-hi.”

You tried to suppress a small grin forming on your face as you watched him fumble for his words

Okay so you aren’t the only nervous one here

“I thought we had already gotten through our greetings?”

He smiled a little at your sarcastic comment

“That we did, you are correct.”

You smiled at him fully, and reached a hand out to him

“I never introduced myself, I’m y/n.”

He stared at your hand a bit before taking it in his own and giving it a little shake.

“I’m Yoongi.”

“I know.”

“You know?”

You pulled your hand away, which made him a little :(((, and pointed at his name tag

Oh

Duh

He fidgeted a little before asking, “Can I get you anything?”

You looked down at your ice cream, “Jimin helped me already.”

Oh yeah he wasn’t the only one working 

“But I would enjoy some company if you have the chance?”

Apparently you were feeling extra bold today

He glanced back at Jimin at the register and found him staring back at him

He winked and nodded his head, he could handle the shop alone for a bit

And if Yoongi had a possibility to get a girlfriend he would gladly run the shop alone whenever asked

Maybe Yoongi getting laid once in a while would make him less grumpy, Jimin chuckled to himself

Your conversation flowed, hopping from topic to topic with easy laughter mixed in

You showed him the article on the world’s smartest animals and showed him the video attached to it

It was Koko the gorilla you couldn’t NOT show him!

Yoongi spent most of his time watching your reactions to the video instead of watching it himself whoops

You talked for what felt like hours when in reality it was only 30 minutes

“Yoongi I hate to break it to you but it’s time for my lunch break so I need you to sling ice cream for a bit.”

Yoongi looked at you with a little disappointment 

You were having such a good conversation:((( he didn’t want to go back to slinging ice cream :(((

“Don’t worry I’ll still be here when your done.”

He smiled at that, perfectly content to do his job if you were waiting for him

You watched him as he works, smiling at the way he would talk to little kids when they came in with their parents 

He was so sweet to them, giving his little gummy smile and asking what they wanted

Your phone buzzes from your pocket 

A text message from your best friend

Girls night starting in 10, you coming?

Damn you completely forgot about girls night 

Yup! I’ll be there in five!

You catch Yoongi’s eye, frowning at him and telling him you have to leave, “Girls night awaits, can’t miss it.”

Yoongi nods, a tiny frown threatening to break out on his face

“I’ll be back, when do you work next.”

He looked back up at you, “tomorrow, 12:30-3:00.”

You smiled widely, “I’ll be there, see you tomorrow.”

You kept your promise, showing up to Scoopies only a little hungover from girls night 

And you continued to show up to Scoopies a few days out of the week

You restricted yourself to only three cause you did have other things to do and you’ve been wasting a lot of money on ice cream

Eventually you learned the cycle of workers and who worked what shifts

There was Jimin, who mainly worked the afternoon shifts with Yoongi

Jungkook, who worked mornings before Yoongi and Jimin got there, sometimes sticking around for an afternoon shift if they were really busy

And Namjoon and Hoseok, who took the night shift + closing

You really enjoyed your visits to Scoopies, everyone was kind and charming and it was cold in there giving you an escape from summer heat

But you were upset 

Your relationship with Yoongi wasn’t progressing outside of your little chats inside the parlor

You wanted more, to see him outside of his job

and also be outside the parlor so the temptation of buying ice cream almost every day wouldn’t be a problem

It was currently 2:15 and you were working up the nerve to ask Yoongi out

You even gave yourself a little pep talk on the way here to hype yourself up

It’s spooky, rejection is scary

Okay you just gotta do it, balls to the wall, all out boi

You cleared your throat

“Hey Yoongi, what time do you get off?”

He replied to you while he scooped ice cream, “Like in an hour, why?”

“Wanna walk me home when you’re done?”

Yoongi froze for a sec

You wanted him to walk you home??? Like just the two of you??? And you were willing to wait??

He furrowed his eyebrows, “an hours a pretty long time, are you sure you want to wait?”

“Of course! I brought some books to keep me entertained while I wait. And it’s much cooler here than it is at my apartment.”

“You brought books? Were you planning on waiting for me today?”

You flushed bright red 

He caught you red handed >:(

“Nonononono nothing like that I just bring them everywhere. You see I get really bored really easily so I bring them to keep my attention on something ya know it just a habit now like I put them in my bag when I go anywhere cause ya know I don’t want to annoy people around me when I get kind of bored cause like-“

Yoongi smirked as he listened to you ramble on

“Y/n, that was a joke. Don’t freak out on me.”

You open and close your mouth a few times

You probably looked like a fish

“Oh a joke. Ha ha okay that makes sense.” 

You scratch your head nervously and grab a book, opening to a random page so you could focus on something that wasn’t Yoongis teasing stare

Your nervous glancing around the page quickly morphed into fixated reading as you became more invested in the story line 

You always felt that reading was a very good way to pass time, getting lost in a world that wasn’t yours

You changed positions on your stool multiple times while reading: sitting cross legged, kneeling, crossing your legs, resting your head on the counter, it was a habit

Yoongi noticed every time you shifted, smiling to himself

When you read you were still energetic and responsive 

An hour passed by and Yoongi went into the back room to change

As he climbed the mountain, he heard the shrieks and groans of the creatures in the forest. He wasn’t alone out there, there were millions of-

A tap on your shoulder startles you

“Oops sorry, should’ve given you a warning. Ready to go?”

You pack your books and hop of the stool with a “yup!”

The two of you exit the parlor 

You walk a block in silence 

This is weird, neither of you are talking

“What are“ “What do you-“ both of you say at the same time.

You laugh a little, “you go first.”

He clears his throat, “What are some of your hobbies? Besides reading obviously.”

“Well, I like writing, um painting is pretty fun too! I like to go to the beach and people watch sometimes.”

 He chuckles, “why people watching?”

“It’s really interesting, when I people watch I realize ‘woah I’m not the only person in the world who has a life and good friends and aspirations and stuff’. It’s out of body and humbling. Oh it’s also really funny to watch people who buy soft pretzels get attacked by seagulls.”

Wow

You were philosophical AND cute

A total dreamboat if you ask Yoongi

“Yeah, I get what you mean. I do that at work sometimes.”

“So what do you do when you’re not scooping ice cream?”

Yoongi stuck his hands in his pockets and looked down, “oh I sometimes compose music. I really like playing the piano too.”

Your expression brightens, “You have to let me listen sometime! I mean, only if your comfortable sharing of course, I don’t wanna make you do anything you don’t want to.”

He glances at you threw his bangs, “I think that’s a pretty good idea, I’ve already had my friends listen to it a bunch so I need some new ears to test it on.”

In no time, you arrive at your apartment complex

“Can I-“ “Is it okay-“

You roll your eyes playfully, “we have got to stop doing that it’s so cheesy

Yoongi nods and smiles “I totally agree. I went first last time so it’s your turn now.”

Okay now here’s the true test of your bravery

You’ve been preparing yourself to do this almost everyday and here’s your shot

“Can I get your number, maybe?”

There it is, your shooting your shot once more

“Oh yeah, yeah for sure. Here, gimme your phone.”

You hand him your phone and he diligently types in the numbers

“I’ll see you soon y/n.”

SWOON YOU GOT YOONGI’S NUMBER

You shoot him a text as soon as you step inside your apartment, Hey this is y/n!

Oof was the exclamation point to much?

You place your phone on the kitchen counter, too nervous to hold onto it and wait for a reply

The fridge looks very tempting and you tummy rumbles for real food

You only had breakfast and ice cream today oops

Bending over, you glance at the assortment of food

Strawberries, peppers, leftover pizza, grilled chicken-

Buzz buzz

You launch yourself into a standing position

You also subsequently hit your head on the freezer section above your fridge 

Ouchy that one stings

Grabbing your phone you check the notification

Hey it’s Yoongi ʕ·ᴥ·ʔ

Did you get a concussion from banging your head too hard? Cause Min Yoongi does not seem like the type of guy to send emotions 

Little did you know Yoongi was pacing his room wondering if the emoticon was a bad choice to send with his first text

You smile and type your reply

Hi there (〃￣ω￣〃)

To say the least, you two texted each other almost everyday, sometimes talking absolute nonsense that wouldn’t make sense to anyone else

Do you think dogs in different countries have different accents when they bark?

Y/n, go to sleep it’s 2:00 a.m

It’s a serious question （；へ：）

Or it was deep philosophical questions that neither of you really had the answer to

Is it worth understanding everything about our universe and planet if we don’t know why we were put on earth in the first place?

Holy shit y/n I don’t know, please go back to talking about dogs before I have an existential crisis 

You also continued your walks home together, it was nice cause Yoongi only lived a few blocks away from you

The two of you discovered different layers of the other’s personality 

Yoongi was goofy, like goofier than you expected

You’ve caught him dancing by himself in the parlors kitchen multiple and even when he sees you he doesn’t shy away, trying to drag you to dance with him

He was also a very sleepy boi, staying up too late to finish a song or practice piano :(((

And you’re always like get rest you goofball take care of yourself, but you secretly enjoy the little pout that takes over his face and half closed eyes when he’s close to drifting off during breaks

You also adoringly dubbed his break time as ‘nap time for the baby’

Yoongi already knew you were energetic but he didn’t know just how far your energy went

On the very rare night that Jimin and Yoongi would be stuck with closing, you’d stay around and help clean up

Loud music blasted in the parlor, thanks to your phone hooked up to the speakers and you were bouncing around the shop, cleaning fast with a big smile on your face

He thinks that’s the fastest Scoopies has ever been closed

And you were a deep thinker! Yoongi liked to listen to how you interpret different things and how you problem solved

Speaking of problems

It was Friday and you hadn’t been able to visit Scoopies 

Today was cleaning day and you had scrubbed your entire apartment top to bottom until it shined

Yoongi said the parlor was too busy anyway, you wouldn’t have had time to sit down and talk

Plus he went to a movie with Jimin and Jungkook after his shift so he couldn’t have walked you home either

You were currently in your pajamas (even though it was only like,,,6:45) and dancing around your kitchen while cooking up some dinner

Your music cut out slightly as your phone buzzed

Yoongi!

Hey, what are your plans for tomorrow? 

Besides showering, literally nothing

Wanna grab lunch and hang out at mine? Or something?

BROOOO

WAS THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENING 

Your fingers fidget to text a reply and your heart is pounding in your ears 

The sound of you thumbs tapping on the screen seem louder than usual

Yeah I would love to!

Yoongi gasps as he reads your response

Wow

He didn’t think this would actually work

Woah you actually said yes, this is incredible

His smile grows as he texts you back

Cool! How does 12:30 sound? ୧⍢⃝୨

Sounds perfect Yoongs ۹(˒௰˓)۶

You turned your music up louder and danced harder around your kitchen 

You ate quickly and watched a little tv, checking the time every now and then

Gotta get to bed early tonight so you actually wake up at a reasonable time to get ready tomorrow, oversleeping is a horrible habit 

It was a little difficult trying to sleep since you were practically vibrating with excitement but eventually drift off into dreamland

You wake up to your alarm going off and instinctively hit snooze

Close your eyes for three more minutes

….

They shoot back open and you practically bounce out of bed

It’s showtime baby!!!

Your music is bumping as you slide into the shower, singing and dancing while getting clean

Scrub a dub dub bitch

Styling you hair, you find yourself putting a little more effort in that usual

That goes for your makeup too

It feels like one of those montages from a 90s movie of a girl getting ready to go on a date with her dream guy

Except it was really happening to you!!!

You skip to your closet to pick out an outfit

That’s when you nerves decide to hit you right then and there 

Was this a date?

Was there like a certain dress code for where you were going?

Were any of your good shirts clean?

IS THIS A DATE?

You throw around multiple outfits, a cute top with jeans, a cute top with jean shorts, a romper, a dress

Was the dress too much?

The intercom buzzes and you rush to answer

TOO LATE TO CHANGE YOUR OUTFIT NOW YOU GOTTA GO

The elevator ride down seemed excruciatingly long for some reason and you basically bolt out of it when you reach the main floor

Yoongi is waiting outside the glass doors, scrolling through his phone

Woah

Where did your sweet little ice cream boy go?

He was in ripped jeans and a black tee, he had a few rings on his fingers, his hair wasn’t as tousled, it looked well styled and-

Are those earrings?

This is love, you’re in love

He spots you through the door and waves and you realize you’ve been standing there like an idiot for too long

“Hey you.”

Wow, your mind, such a great greeting

“Hi, cute dress.”

Nailed it on the outfit, mental high five for that

You guys walk to a small cafe a few blocks away

Lunch goes swimmingly and your meal is super yummy

Your feet keep bumping Yoongis under the table but he doesn’t seem to mind so you keep letting them brush up against his every once in a while

“So since when have you had your ears pierced?”

He rubs the back of his neck, “I got them when I was 16, but I’m not allowed to wear any earrings at work due to dress code policy. Why, do you not like them?”

“No I like them a lot actually, they make you look pretty handsome.”

Oh dang you got him blushing big time now 

Yoongi kicks you foot a little underneath the table in retaliation for making him flustered

You giggle and kick him back

This starts an all out kick war between the two of you, both trying to make the other surrender

Too bad you were wearing open toed shoes

“Ow ow ow okay I give in you win, you win Yoongi.”

He folds his arms with a smug look on his face while you pout 

“You’re mean Yoongi, you hurt me.” 

“You started it.”

“What? I gave you a compliment and you hit me! I want an apology.” :(

Your cheeks are all puffed out and you leaning against your hands and you’re so FREAKING CUTE HE HAS TO APOLOGIZE IMMEDIATELY

Literally the embodiment of (๑•́ ₃ •̀๑), he had to apologize 

Grabbing your hands away from your face, he takes them in his and gives them a squeeze 

“I’m sorry I hurt your precious little feet, will you ever forgive me?”

He presses your hands to his own cheeks

SKREEEEE

Your honestly frozen and don’t know how to react

HES USUALLY NOT THIS CUTE WHAT DO YOU DO

Clearing your throat a little you try and put together a sentence that would make some sort of sense

“I guess I can find it in my gracious heart to forgive this one time.”

Wow that was more put together than usual

He gave a little smile before patting your hands and telling you it’s time to go

GO TO HIS HUMBLE ABODE (∩╹□╹∩)

You were extremely excited to see what his house was like

Being in people’s homes reveals like thousands of more layers of themself and you were so happy that Yoongi trusted you enough to show you (｡･･｡)

Yoongi unlocks his door and ushers you inside

The main room is beautiful 

Large windows with white curtains, black sofa and armchair, a tv and the jewel herself

A beautiful black piano in the corner of the room

The whole aesthetic was very minimalist but very Yoongi

“Do you want anything to drink?”

“…do you have any juice?”

Once you get your glass of apple juice and Yoongi has his (boring) water, you two sit on the couch and just talk

It’s not often that you find someone that can speak to you so easily

It’s a nice kind of feeling not gonna lie

Your eyes keep wandering back to the piano 

“Can you play me something?”

He followed your eyes to the piano 

“Oh uh yeah sure, sure I can.” 

Why is he so nervous he’s been playing the piano since he was a little kid

This isn’t any different

He scooched over so you could sit next to him on the bench

While Yoongi played you were mesmerized 

His fingers drifted across the keys gently and played radiant luxurious melodies

You closed your eyes as you listened, the song making a world bloom in your mind

It was absolutely one of the most beautiful things you’ve heard 

His arms would brush up against yours and your stomach when he had to reach a key on the higher register

It gave you goosebumps and butterflies if you’re being honest

When the song finished, the room reverberated the last chord until it was silent again

“Wow.” 

You couldn’t put your feelings into words, it was incredible how the song moved you

Eyes peeling back open, you moved to look at Yoongi

Woah

He was a lot closer than you remember 

Your noses were almost touching and you could feel his breath on your cheeks 

He glanced from you eyes to your lips in a silent ask for permission 

You did the same

You were about to kiss Min Yoongi

YOU WERE ABOUT TO KISS MIN YOONGI

Ring ring! Ring ring! RING RING!

Your phone is incredibly loud in the quiet room 

Looking down at said phone in your hand, the caller idea flashes up at you angrily

Mom!

Shoot you really should take this, your mom barely calls so when she does she gets very upset when you don’t answer

You move out of the intimate position, mumbling “sorry it’s my mom I gotta answer”

“Oh yeah, um you can step outside if you want.”

“Thanks.”

Dang it dang it dang it dang it

You were so freaking close to getting a smooch

Apparently your mom wanted to come over to your apartment and have dinner

Meanwhile Yoongi has not left the piano bench since you got up

Your face was so close to his only moments ago and it replays in his head over and over

He tried to memorize every little feature of your face before he kissed you

More like tried to kiss you

“Yoongi?” Your head pops in the door

“Yeah what’s up?” 

You walk toward the bench and sit back down next to him

“My moms coming over for dinner so I have to go back home and get prepped.”

His shoulders drop and he caves in on himself a bit

“Oh okay, can I walk you home?”

“Actually I was wondering if you wanted to help me? If that’s okay?”

It is WAY more than okay with Yoongi

The air between you is a little thick with tension on the way to yours

Thicc

Thiqué

But the mood lightens when you ask Yoongi about his cooking skills

“I’m going to be completely honest with you, it’s definitely not my forte.”

“Alright I’m putting you on mincing and DJ duty, please be careful with the knife.”

The elevator ride was filled with laughter and snorts (Yoongi did it a few times but he swears it was you)

You decide to make black beans with peppers and rice

Yoongi does a really good job as DJ

As the water boils for the beans and rice, you two are running around your kitchen and dancing and singing with each other 

A dramatic rendition of Endless Love by Lionel Richie and Diana Ross happens, naturally 

Half way through your duet, there’s a knock on the door

Shoooot, moms here and Yoongi is too

That means she’s going to want to meet him and ask him for his entire life story right then and there

The door swings open and there she is in all her glory

“My cutie!!!”

You greet her with a hug and a kiss on the cheek

“Hi mama, how are you?”

“Oh I’m just gr-“

She already spotted Yoongi standing behind you, his hands tucked in his pockets and shifting his weight nervously

“Y/n! You didn’t tell me you had a boyfriend!”

“WHAT? Oh no no mom this is Yoongi, my friend from the ice cream shop remember!”

She looked him up and down

Yoongi literally shrunk under her stare

For someone smaller than him, she was wildly intimidating 

Also finally, there was someone smaller than him

Lol got ‘em again

She gave him one more once over before leaning over to you and saying

“You right he is a cutie pie, even cuter in person I think!”

“OKAY MOM SO GLAD YOU MET YOONGI I’M GONNA TAKE HIM DOWNSTAIRS AND SHOW HIM OUT!”

Yoongi’s laughter bounced off the walls as you all but pushed him out the door

“It was great meeting you Mrs. y/l/n! Hope to see you soon!”

“KEEP IT MOVING YOONGS.”

The elevator ride was silent

You kept staring at your shoes, moving you feet

Putting the right one forward and pulling it back

Moving the left one forward and then pulling it back

In a cycle

A black boot nudged your right foot before you had the chance to pull it back again

“You okay?”

You looked up at Yoongi, his eyebrows drawn in with genuine concern

Daw, he’s worried :(

A small smile finds its way into your face

“Yeah I am. Sorry about my mom back there, she’s pretty forward when it comes to…well everything.”

He laughed, “Yeah, I kinda picked up on that. But it’s okay, I liked her a lot.”

You snorted, “Of course you liked her, she complimented you and completely embarrassed me. That’s like two of your favorite things.”

“you know you’re not wrong about that.” And he nudges your shoulder with his

The contact sent a little shock of electricity through you but you’ll never admit it

Over your dead body >:(

You stick your tongue out at him and cross your arms

“I don’t deserve to be bullied by you and my own mother.”

The elevator was wrapped in comfortable silence for a while until Yoongi decided to break it with the most idiotic question

“Soooo, I’m cuter in person?”

Ding! The elevator reaches the main doors and you shove yoongi out of them

“Get out of here you dork!”

“What no goodbye hug?”

You step out after him

It’s time to be bold again y/n

Grabbing him by the shoulders, you plant a phat kiss on his cheek

Like not like a quick little peck, a pretty sizable kiss

Your pretty sure you can see a lip print on his cheek from what was left of your lipstick and gloss when you pull away

“Bye Yoongi.”

You walk into the elevator and the doors close behind you

And yoongi is just left there with this dopey look on his face as he places his hand over his cheek 

His face feels warm and he’s certain he is flushed bright red but can’t find it in himself to care

You kissed him!!

Well, not exactly KISSED him kissed him but your lips made contact with his skin

He stumbles out the door and all the way with a grin plastered on his face

All the while in the elevator, your pumping your fists up and down and celebrating your success

You kissed him and left him a big flustered mess without becoming one yourself until you got in the elevator 

You left him shook

And duh, you told your mom what happened during dinner and she gave you a high five

“So when’s the wedding?”

You choke on your food, “MOM.”

“What? It’s just a simple question!”

When Monday rolled around, you found yourself very nervous as you took your usual route to Scoopies 

You and Yoongi haven’t texted each other a bunch since you decided to send him home with a kiss on the cheek

Thinking about it makes you blush and your hands fidget in your shorts pockets with nervous energy 

You didn’t really know what you and Yoongi were???

You were obviously interested in him duh, and he seemed kinda interested in you too but you didn’t know if either of you had the balls to do anything about it

It was this weird kind of like being stuck in limbo

Oh yeah limbo reminds you that you should invite Yoongs over to watch Inception some time

Honestly an incredible movie

With Yoongi and a possible movie date on the brain, you walk into Scoopies 

Jimin greets you at the register with a blinding smile and you give one back

“Cookie dough or strawberry today?”

“Hmm good question. Let’s go with strawberry.”

He scoops your ice cream while you look around the shop for a certain boy

That’s weird??? Why is Jimin working alone?? Usually Yoongi and even sometimes Jungkook is with him

You reach for your wallet when Jimin stops you

“This one is on the house, and don’t try to change my mind.”

Narrowing your eyes at him, you question “what’s the occasion?”

“Just trying to make you as happy as you made ‘Yoongs’ this weekend.”

You blink a few times before smiling and grabbing your ice cream

“Thanks Jimin.”

The seat at the counter was now your acclaimed spot and you took a load off there

More customers came and went but there was still no sign of Yoongi

You didn’t want to bother Jimin while he was working so you decided to just wait and see if he shows up 

“Look, I know you’ve been wanting to ask me where he is for like, the past 30 minutes. Yoongi’s in the kitchen with Jungkook, feel free to go back there.” He nods over his shoulder at the break room door

You immediately perk up, “You’re the best Jimin, I’ll be right back.”

You walk through the door and were about to go into the kitchen when you heard Yoongi’s voice 

“I just don’t know what to do about y/n man.”

Uh oh, what

You peek through the little window and see Yoongi sitting on one of the counters while talking to Jungkook who’s leaning against the freezer door

Aww how cute Yoongi’s feet barely touch the ground

Wait not what you should be focusing on right now

“I’m just so confused, I took her to lunch on Saturday and I thought it was going well but when we got back to my house, I tried to kiss her but she left the room to take a call right before I could.”

He pouted

You also pouted

Did Yoongi take that as a sign of rejection?? 

You honestly really needed to answer your phone but you understand how that could look bad to someone who was trying to smooch you

“But didn’t she also kiss you on the cheek when you left? That’s a good sign, right?” 

“But does that mean she’s not comfortable with actually kissing me? Would she want to kiss me?”

Jungkook leaned against the freezer in thought 

He looked toward the door

And locked eyes with you

You froze completely, you were just caught spying

A plan hatched in Jungkook’s brain

“Why don’t you ask her now?”

“What?” Jungkook nodded toward the door

Yoongi’s eyes also locked with yours and you try to lamely duck down like he didn’t just catch you

Jungkooks work here is done 

He walks out the kitchen door, kicking you a little and urging you to walk in and talk to Yoongles

You stand up and try to gather yourself

Well as much as you could right now

Taking a deep breath, you pushed the door open

Yoongi hadn’t moved an inch from his position on the counter

…

…….

Neither of you talked for the first minute

“I’m so-“ “Did I-“

Oh how old habits die hard

You cough a little then say, “I went first last time so it’s your turn.”

He smiled a little at that and breathed in deep before beginning

“Did I-did I freak you out when I tried to kiss you? Cause that really wasn’t my intent, I just thought I was reading the situation right and that you were as into it as I was and when you didn’t text me over the weekend it kind of freaked me out. I thought that I had somehow messed it up. To be honest with you, this is the first time I’ve liked a girl like this in a pretty long time so I just don’t-“

His sentence is cut off by the feeling of your hands grabbing him by the back of the neck and pulling his lips onto yours 

Oh

Oh this is nice

You slotted yourself in between his legs and slide your hand over to place it on his cheek

 But Yoongi isn’t really responding

in his shock he just kind of sits there unmoving

It isn’t until you start to pull away that he realizes that oh he can’t just sit there and be kissed, he has to kiss back

His hands cup your jaw as he leans down more, deepening the kiss

This is nice 

This is really nice

The nicest kiss he’s had in a long time

Yoongi thinks he could kiss you for hours if you’d let him

God he’s already addicted and it’s only your guys first kiss

You tasted like strawberries and he could smell your sweet perfume

His fingers thread through your hair at the back of your neck and you almost moan from the feeling

Your hands run down his chest and fall to his thighs, running them up and down

Okay this is getting a little too spicy for a work environment 

You pull away tentatively, eyes still closed as you catch your breath

“Does that answer your question?”

Yoongi takes a good look at you

out of breath with shiny red lips and half open eyes

Your pretty little eyes

“Yes it does, besides the texting thing, why didn’t you text me?”

“Hey I made the last move on our date, that was on you to follow up.”

He laughed, “you’re right you’re right” and leaned his forehead against yours

You two catch your breath for a bit, just drinking in the others appearance 

“So what does this mean for us?” Yoongi asks

“I was hoping it would mean that you’d be my boyfriend.”

Yoongi hums in fake contemplation before answering

“I think I like the sound of that, of course only if you’d be okay with being my girlfriend?”

“I guarantee, I am way more than okay with that.”

A bang on the door scares the hell out of you

“Hey lovebirds, I’m glad you two finally got together but the summer school rush is about to come in and we need all hands on deck, so wrap it up!”

Jimin gives you a thumbs up through the window as he walks away

Yoongi hops off the counter, “Sorry babe, duty calls.”

“Ooooh we’re already using pet names and haven’t even been dating for five minutes.”

Yoongi rolls his eyes, “I hate you sometimes.”

You gasp and follow him out of the kitchen

“How dare you say that to your ‘babe’. I am deeply wounded.”

“Oh my god y/n.”

“You know, I was always more of a ‘sweetheart’ or a ‘baby’ type of girl.”

“I already regret agreeing to be your boyfriend.”

“I’m even okay with the occasional ‘honey’ here and there.”

Yoongi stops causing you to collide with his back

Ouch that kinda hurt your nose

You glare at Yoongi as he turns back around and you’re about to yell at him when he places the softest little kith on your lips

“We can continue this conversation when I’m finished with work…honey.”

Oh yeah you liked that one a lot

Unsurprisingly, not much changes in the dynamic of your relationship with Yoongi

Besides the added bonus that you get to kiss him any time you really feel like it

But he’s still an annoying (yet sometimes really shy even though he denies it) dork

And you’re still the energetic, book loving, attention grabbing girl he met way way back

 Speaking of books

Yoongi isn’t a very jealous person

He trusts you 

He is very comfortable with your relationship dynamics 

He doesn’t mind when you give your attention to the other people cause you are a human being 

So when he finds himself pouting while sitting on your couch while you read, he’s a little upset

You’ve been reading for HOURS now and haven’t been talking with him 

And, call him selfish, he wants some attention and some kisses okay?

He baby

“Y/n.”

A few seconds pass by before you answer with an uninterested “hm?”

“…pay attention to me.”

“Hm?”

He groaned, “Pay attention to me, I need some affection and I’ve been deprived of it for hours.”

You glance toward him and see a prominent pout on Yoongi’s face and oh no

He’s using his puppy dog eyes

Literally no human alive can resist those

It’s scientifically impossible 

But you just got to a really good part in your book and don’t want to stop just yet

You extend a hand toward him

“What am I supposed to do with this?”

“Um,,,hold it??? You big dummy???”

He takes a hold of your hand

And subsequently YANKS you toward him with NO warning what so ever

No joke, he’s a lot stronger than you thought but that also kind of hurt 

He adjusts you so your back is leaning against his chest and he has his arms wrapped around your shoulder and you kind of flush pink cause even though he was a little AGGRESSIVE  getting you into this position 

It’s really cute and romantic 

“Can I get one kiss before you go back to reading?”

You give him a little smooch and then turn back to your book 

He occasionally plants a kiss on the top of your head and plays with your hair

And even though it’s a little distracting (because who wouldn’t be distracted by the most beautiful man in the world giving you love) and you have to reread the same paragraph like seven times,

You love the domestic feeling the entire situation gives you

It makes your chest warm and paints the biggest smile on your face

He pushes your hair to the side and places a kiss behind your ear

OKAY THAT’S IT

YOU IMMEDIATELY NEED TO KISS YOUR LOVELY BOYFRIEND 

You practically throw the book onto the opposite side of the couch and climb onto Yoongi’s lap

And he’s like ‘woah woah what is happening, I mean I’m not mad about it but what is happening.’

And your domestic reading session turns into a makeout session real fast 

After like,,,15 minutes you neck is littered with marks and you probably have little bruises on your hips from how tiGHT yoongi was gripping on

You pull away to catch your breath and just admire Yoongi

“Hi there.”

“Hi.” He smiles he’s CUTE ASS gummy smile

And you press your forehead against his and just twirl his hair in you fingers and it’s just a blissful moment

“Soooo, do you wanna keep making out?”

God he’s an idiot 

But you go back to making out anyway

You end up riding him on the couch and I oop-

You thought he couldn’t get any pretty but you were so wrong

He looks ethereal falling apart underneath you and small moans fall from his swollen lips and it’s just perfect 

“Fuck, I love you.”

Oh shit maybe you shouldn’t have said that

You stop all movement

“You love me?”

Oh god

He sounds so vulnerable and quivering 

Partly because he was just about to bust the fattest nut lol

But also you loved him back

“I mean yeah,,,I love you.”

“I love you too.”

 By the time you’re finished you swear you could pass out

Yoongi really had his way with you lol

On the occasional visit that you make to Yoongi’s house, you beg him to play the piano for you

Usually he’s persuaded by a few smooches and plays 

You sit on the armchair close to the piano and watch 

He always gets so into it, you can tell that music means a lot to him

When you know a song he’s playing you hum along to yourself, making sure he can’t hear

That doesn’t last for long 

Yoongi is in the middle of playing when he notices 

Are you??

Are you singing along??

His hands stop moving and he turns to look at you

“Are you singing the song I’m playing?”

“Psssh whaaat? No, who would do that? I think you’re hearing things.”

“No I definitely heard you.”

“Maybe you should schedule a doctors appointment, there might be something wrong with your ears.”

He sighs

Fine

Two can play at that game

“I’m not playing until you come over here and sing to me.”

Damn it

Damn it you didn’t want to sing but you really wanted him to play 

“Promise you won’t make fun of me?”

His eyes soften as he hears your meek little reply

“Of course not.”

You end up caving and standing next to the piano and singing

And Yoongi looks at you like you had created the universe, full of love 

Daw you’re blushing 

You’re not the only one in the relationship that appreciates the others talent

“Yoongi I already told you a thousand times, I mostly paint landscapes and not people. If I tried it would probably come out all wonky.”

“Pleaassee, can you just try? I promise I’ll love it even if it’s ugly.”

“HEY.”

“Which it won’t be!!” He pulls his chair so he’s sitting across from you

“Have at it Picasso, draw me like one of your French girls.”

You snort, “that was disgusting.”

You grab a mini canvas and some paint 

Here goes nothing

You can’t deny it, you liked staring at yoongi for an hour while you drew and painted

He was quite the looker

Damn you got lucky

And Yoongi liked watching you while you painted

Your brows furrow and your lips purse, you were so concentrated 

Ugh the cutest

After an hour you place you brushes down 

“Okay, it’s done.”

You slowly hand the painting over to him

It’s nerve wracking

You know he’ll say he loves it but will he actually???

A slightly cartoonish but beautiful version of himself stares up at him

It was amazing

Truly it was

“I love it.”

And you could tell he was being sincere about it

Of course you still visited Scoopies, honestly more often than you used to

You still sat at the same stool and kept casual conversation with Yoongi while he worked

But the break room

That’s where shit went down

It was kind of like your designated makeout spot

Since only two or three people worked at a time, no one’s breaks lined up so you had the room alone >:)))

Oh the sexual escapades that room has seen

You were currently sat on the table while Yoongi stood between your legs 

And his hands were slowly creeping in closer on your thighs

Oh ho hooo boi

It was getting hot in here 

Your hands roam his chest and find their way back into his hair

Giving it a little tug, Yoongi lets out a moan into your mouth

His hands run up your back and start to unclasp your bra

“You guys are literally feral oh my god try and keep it in your pants.”

You don’t see Jimin’s face but you see his hair bob into the kitchen and toward the freezer

Whoops

You start giggling and that sets Yoongi off too

You’re eventually crying with laughter and  leaning into Yoongi’s neck trying to calm down

Sometimes you think about the future

And it’s a terrifying thing

Summer can’t last forever you know that

Eventually you’ll have to go back to classes at uni

Even though your universities are only 20 minutes away, you afraid about how much time school will take up

With tests

And finals

And projects

And presentations and finding actual stable jobs for both of you

Yoongi grabs your hand without even looking away from the movie your watching

He chose Ratatouille

A man with taste

It’s like he read your mind 

He could practically feel the anxiety radiating off your body and he understood 

He pulls you in, tucking you underneath his arm and pressing a delicate kiss to your cheek

“Hey.” You glance up at him and respond, “Hi.”

“Did you know I love you?”

Your heart stutters every time you hear him say those simple words

“Yes I do. Did you know I love you back?”

He kisses your temple and whispers in your ear, “I do. Always remember that I love you okay?”

Scoopies feels like a second home now as you walk through the familiar double doors 

You wave at Jimin and he gives you a smile and a nod as he finishes cleaning the display

You plop down on your stool

Two scoops of strawberry ice cream slide in front of you

Yoongi smiles at you, “It cost two kisses, three of your feeling generous and want to tip.”

And you were definitely feeling generous 

Yoongi has to walk to the bathroom and wipe off the lipstick marks that covered his cheeks and neck

Oops ヽ(ヅ)ノ

[whumpster-fire]

Whumpmas In July - Day 12 (Belated): “Do it.”

CONTENT WARNING: Female whumpee, minor whumpee - and I don’t mean “can get a driver’s license but not vote.” Character is 18 days old at the time of this incident, and mentally a child. Read at your own risk.

The Animator’s voice was low and calm – irritatingly calm. His brown eyes stared down through his glasses with barely a spark of anger. “If you ever – and I mean ever – pull a stunt like that again, you’ll be disposed of. The Resistance needs weapons, not liabilities.”

Wendy Weasel, Human Resistance Toon Weaponization Program Number 15, scowled up at him, flattening her ears partway and baring her pointed teeth. “What, you givin’ me this goddamn lecture now? Couldn’t you have done it...” she glanced around, looking for a clock. When she didn’t find one, she made a watch appear on her wrist, then remembered she didn’t know exactly when the event she was referring to was anyway. “...Yesterday morning? Or were you scared Herschel was gonna turn that hammer on you too if you interrupted him?” She wasn’t scared of Lowell. He was one of the two Animators, and de facto leaders, of the Human Resistance, but he wasn’t the one who’d drawn her. He didn’t have the guts to create something like her.

Lowell’s brow furrowed, stretching the skin on his shaved-bald head. “I know you’re trying to turn Herschel and me against each other, Number Fifteen, and it’s not going to work. I’m not going to be baited into badmouthing my colleague and closest friend to a toon. Herschel has a short temper, but his actions were warranted given yours. The only thing I have to question is whether he went far enough.”

The man was so composed and non-threatening it was boring. He was almost three times Wendy’s height, of course, but she doubted he’d ever been in a fight in his life, unless you counted getting shoved into a locker. And size was nearly meaningless against a Toon. Mental and emotional strength was what counted. Any human was helpless against her physically, but she couldn’t exactly take a mallet to her superiors or she was as good as dead. What she could do was mess with their heads, and Lowell seemed to think if he showed the emotional range of a bowl of wet sawdust she’d have nothing to use against him. “Besides,” he went on, “I don’t think you were in any state to hear me then.”

“Exactly,” Wendy said with a smirk. “Would’a been better for everyone that way. I wouldn’t have to listen to you, and you could pretend you were the one making an impression.” But her gloved hands clenched. Yeah, like she needed to be reminded that Herschel’d beaten her into a bloody pulp, which it wasn’t supposed to even be possible to do to a toon. But the Resistance had invented a special plastic that completely suppressed her reality warping abilities, and a fluid that didn’t dissolve toons’ flesh like Dip did, but it made it break and yield and not bounce back… like a human’s. She rubbed her wrist where the cuffs had dug in, and her chin where he’d broken her jaw. The damage was gone now, of course, now that her powers were back, but it was still sore. Her throat hurt too, from Herschel forcing the damn stuff down it and then her puking it back up along with half the ink in her body and maybe a couple internal organs. It was almost impossible to permanently injure a toon, but the problem was, the line between thoughts and reality was so blurred for them that the memory of pain could be almost as bad as the real thing – sometimes could even make an injury reappear, or take way longer to heal, if you couldn’t get it out of your head. Lowell bringing it up again was a dick move. He was really pissing her off now. She wanted to kill someone – or something. Not like she was allowed to kill humans anyway. Even enemies of the Resistance she’d need a direct order to harm. And other toons, the creatures she was made to kill, were in the ‘something’ category. Like her.

But there was tension in Lowell’s face too. Good. Prick. Like she needed a repeat of the same fucking lecture, except not even entertaining.

“Fifteen...”

“Ooops! Was that last bit out loud?” Wendy’s voice was still hoarse and scratchy. It had barely been an hour since she’d finally been let out of the cuffs and the straitjacket and muzzle.

Lowell sighed and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Apparently you do,” he said through gritted teeth. “Although you’re right, I doubt it will sink in anyway, which is why I’m in agreement with Gene and Lawrence that you should have just been Dipped. And you should know, I’ve discussed it with Herschel, and he’s only resistant to the idea because -”

“Because I’m the daughter he never had?” Wendy interrupted.

“No. If you’re trying to shock me, forget it. I’ve known about Herschel trying to create a Toon as a surrogate child for years – his story was part of what opened my eyes about Toons. I’ll admit when he created you and Number Six with such… childlike forms, I was worried he still had some sentimental tendencies, but even if he did I doubt they survived contact with you.”

Wendy’s smirk got bigger. It had taken all of five sentences to get him ‘badmouthing’ Herschel. Although he hadn’t exactly said anything juicy.

“Listen. The reason you’re still alive is because Herschel’s afraid. He’s afraid of you, he’s afraid of another feedback event like the one when you were created, and he’s always been a bit overly cautious. But remember this: you represent about a week’s work for either of us – maybe two. You aren’t irreplaceable, and you aren’t invincible. I’m not afraid of you, and I’m not afraid of getting rid of you. Six, Eleven, and Eighteen can all fulfill your role for a few days, and once Herschel’s and my next creations are animated, there’s nothing stopping us from -”

“Blah, blah, yadda, yadda.” Wendy feigned a yawn. “Come up with some new material, and then get somebody else to threaten me with it, ‘cuz your delivery’s a lost cause. And so’s your animation talent. You think Eleven can replace me? The moron I got to deep fry himself when I was just drawn? Ya know, calling me replaceable’s really the pot calling the kettle black when all your toons are good for is making Dip soup.” Her smirk grew to a vicious grin as Lowell’s face finally contorted in anger. He made a grab for her. She nimbly stepped back, waited for him to blink, and reappeared behind him. “And so’s calling Herschel too cautious. At least he’s not some spineless dickweed who can’t draw up any toon with the balls to reach down and scratch ‘em without asking permission first, because he was terrified of Elmer Fudd as a child and now he relives his boyhood nightmare every time he looks in the mirror. Face it Lowell, you’re the replaceable one around here, not me! If Herschel died tomorrow the Resistance’d be fucked. If you died tomorrow, they’d just have to put up a classified ad for some animation college dropout – ack!”

Oh, she was dead. That had felt good to say, but he was soooo dead. She’d been letting him get a little closer with each lunge, reveling in how angry she’d gotten him, reveling in how she’d completely ruined his calm demeanor, reveling at the fact that whoever checked the security cameras was going to get a good ab workout laughing at Lowell’s expense. But she’d dropped her guard a little too much, and he’d moved faster than she’d expected. He seized her by the throat and slammed her against the concrete wall. It wouldn’t have even been enough to get her adrenaline pumping if it wasn’t still sore. And even so… why was having her ability to breathe cut off like this making her pulse jump like crazy, and not in a fun way?

“Fifteen, I swear… I swear to God… I’ve spent ten years of my life dreaming of wiping your species off the fucking Earth, but I’ve never wanted to kill a Toon as much as I do right now...” His glasses were askew. His eyes were mad, the pupils unevenly sized. An occupational hazard. Bringing a toon to life was kind of like sticking your head in a microwave. Everyone in the profession had some kind of brain damage, Herschel had said. Some just hid it better than others. “I want to melt that smile right off your fucking face...”

“Go ahead then. Do it.” Wendy pried his hand away just enough to get the words out. “If you want me dead that bad, then kill me.” Yeah, right. She knew he was bluffing. Oh, the Resistance’s leadership weren’t happy that she hadn’t technically 100% done exactly what she was supposed to, and the mission hadn’t technically been successful, but they also knew she’d mopped the floor with Acme Looniversity’s star pupils, and Riley – Number Six – had barely made it out of a one-on-one fight alive. That kind of power was too valuable to throw away, not when they didn’t know if the Animators could replicate it.

But suddenly, that power vanished. Wendy felt the horrible cold feeling of one of the plastic cuffs snapping shut around her neck. Tight. Too tight. Suddenly everything was weak. She couldn’t pull her head free, or even squash and stretch her neck so she could breathe freely, or create a crowbar out of Hammerspace to break the lock. She’d felt this awful, helpless feeling once, and she’d sworn she never would again. But she hadn’t even made it a couple hours.

“Uhh… just… just kidding, Lowell...” Wendy gulped. The calm was back, icy and satisfied, as he dragged her down the hall towards the elevator. “Hey, I got legs! Put me down, you fucking -” She kicked and clawed at the cuff. It felt like a truck was parked on her windpipe.

The elevator rose one level. Level Four. It didn’t necessarily mean anything. Dip wasn’t the only thing the Resistance made there: there were also weapons, spare parts for the ACME Machine, and other equipment they couldn’t exactly buy at a hardware store. But when Lowell had two other guys blindfold her, and tie her hands behind her back, she knew.

He was going to kill her. He was actually going to kill her. The harsh chemical smell of Dip, the one substance that was lethal to her kind, burned her nose and sent icy veins of instinctive panic coursing through her body.

“Morning, Lowell,” an older man with a rural midwestern accident said. “What’ve you got there?”

“A discipline problem,” said Lowell. Wendy could hear his scowl. Then, he hastily added: “Oh – good morning to you too, Bill!”

“Fuckin’ dweeb,” Wendy muttered under her breath. Not like they could hear her over the ventilation fans anyway.

“What’re you bringing it up here for, then?” Bill – one of the Resistance’s chemists – asked in an irritated voice. “I’ve told you guys I don’t agree with you letting your little Frankenstein’s Monsters run around this place, but – well, living quarters are one thing, this is another. I gotta remind you, even if your plan’s a total success you still need Dip to finish a toon off, and there’s a lotta fragile equipment on this line.”

“Actually, I was wondering if I could borrow a bucket.”

“Aaahhh...” Bill whistled. “Ah, that kind of discipline problem. About time if you ask me. I’ve been sayin’ you oughta melt that thing down before it kills someone.”

Wendy’s fists clenched. She glared daggers through the blindfold in the direction of his voice. A hundred comebacks and insults ran through her head, and it took all her willpower to bite her tongue. But right now, the anger was being blotted out by an emotion she’d hardly ever felt in her life. True fear. Her whole body felt weak, like her bones might dissolve and she’d melt into a puddle even before they finished her off. She heard Lowell saying something to Bill that she couldn’t make out over the hum of the fans and the pounding of her own heart. She felt sick to her stomach – although that could’ve been just the smell of Dip. She wanted to be anywhere but here – to vanish and reappear somewhere else in the underground complex. She wanted to pull a hacksaw out of Hammerspace to get rid of the cuff choking her, or failing that just blast it to pieces even if it meant setting off enough explosives to level a city block in her own face. Hell, she wanted to make Bill try it on for size on his fat fucking neck. The result would probably be like putting a bunch of rubber bands around a watermelon, but if they were going to kill her anyway, did it really matter if she got a parting shot?

But she was completely helpless in this goddamn thing. No teleportation, no hammerspace, no playing tricks on the humans’ minds. She should have had the strength to whip the two men’s legs out from under them and take them apart like Tinker Toys, but instead she was almost as weak as a creature her size should have been if it obeyed normal laws of physics.

A boot caught her under her ribs, hard enough to lift her off her feet and throw her across the room. It knocked the breath out of her, but it didn’t really hurt much. Even with the cuff cartoon physics still applied if something else hit her. But it did hurt that the blow had come out of nowhere. She’d been completely unable to see it, avoid it, or even brace herself.

She tried to run when she heard the bucket being filled – the sloshing of liquid, the squeaking and clanking of the handle. The smell was almost overpowering. But something tripped her, and she was dragged back by her tail and thrown against a concrete wall. That gave her an idea. She thrashed against it, dragging her temples along the rough cement to try to pull the blindfold free, but it didn’t budge.

“Come on, guys, you know I was joking, right? Right?” she fidgeted nervously, waiting for the fatal blow. “You’re almost as good an animator as Herschel, and I’m really sorry I said you were scared of Elmer Fudd. And Bill, I’m sorry I stole all your socket wrenches and replaced them with left-handed ones.” Metal scraped against cement. The bucket was being lifted. Wendy’s blood froze. She froze, pressing herself back against the wall. “Fuck! Don’t kill me, don’t kill me, don’t kill -”

She was cut off by the shock of cold liquid hitting her. She instinctively closed her mouth and ducked her head as best she could trying to protect her nose and eyes, but she knew it didn’t matter. She knew what Dip did to toons. A direct hit like this would dissolve her alive within seconds. Every muscle tensed, and she didn’t dare breathe as she tried to brace herself for what would surely be indescribable agony. A flood of panicked emotions  melted her brain from the inside out. She was dead she was dead she was dead!

Only… she wasn’t. The pain never came. There was a little numbness, but it was just from the cold. Her fur was soaked to the skin, but it wasn’t melting her, just freezing her.

There was a howl of laughter. The blindfold was ripped away, and she stood there blinking and shivering in the fluorescent lights. A clear puddle was running down to a drain in the floor. Bill stood there holding an empty bucket, but there was a second one sitting nearby, full of caustic green liquid. That son of a bitch. It was water. Ordinary fucking water, but they’d even been smart enough to fill one with real Dip so the smell would fool her. He’d tricked her. He’d tricked her!

“Hoo! Man, did ya see the look on her fuckin’ face? I still think you should’ve dipped her for real, but damn, bet those couple weeks of life flashed before her eyes, huh? That oughta straighten ‘er out!”

Lowell smiled and gave a soft chuckle. “Don’t be fooled. They imitate human facial expressions and body language, but they’re no different from -”

“HAL 9000, like that scene in the movie where he’s telling Dave not to unplug him?”

“Exactly. Toons have a basic self-preservation instinct, but it’s not the same as human fear. We were unsure about whether to eliminate it from our creations, but they wouldn’t be nearly as effective in combat without it. And there are only two ways to motivate and discipline a creature with no capacity for empathy or morality: blind, programmed obedience, and fear. The first on its own would, again, make them too susceptible to mental manipulation.”

Wendy couldn’t make herself say a word as the animator knelt and reached out for her throat with a magnetic key. She was afraid her voice would break. Her breath was already catching in her throat in a way the pressure on her windpipe couldn’t cause, and silent tears mixed with the cold water dripping down her face. She couldn’t stop shivering. She hated cold. She hated it. She was so goddamn sick of how the compound was always at fifty-five degrees or something – maybe warmer in here with the heat given off by machinery and chemicals, but still always uncomfortably chilly.

Click. The cuff opened. The instant the cuff was released from her neck, Wendy snapped the zipties binding her wrists. She winced and rubbed her throat, and wrung out her soaked gloves. She fought the urge to shake herself dry; she’d probably get punished for that, too.

“Get the message, Number Fifteen?” Lowell said icily. “The next time, it won’t be water.”

Wendy nodded, and swallowed hard. Painfully. “Yeah. Whatever. There’s not gonna be a next time.” There was a concerned look. “Because I won’t screw up again.”

“This isn’t about your actions. This is about the attitude that lead to them.”

“I know.” Bullshit. What did he want her to do, bow before him and polish his shoes? He’d said it himself, the whole reason she was made was to have a toon in the Resistance’s arsenal that wasn’t a sniveling toady, that was completely devoted to her purpose and sure of herself enough to carry out her mission even if the humans that were supposed to be commanding her got killed, or worse – that was smart enough to disobey if her superiors fell under the enemy’s power. And that was exactly what she’d done – minus getting carried away a little bit. If Lowell had a problem with her attitude he could take it up with Herschel, not her.

But she couldn’t say any of it. That confidence had just evaporated. All that was left was ice-cold fear and burning anger and hatred that met in a deadly explosion. “Sir.” Goddamnit, why couldn’t she stop shaking? She spat the word out and glowered up at him. She clenched her fists, and a little smoke rose from her gloves. “I...” Fuck it. “I’ll be good.”

She snatched the empty bucket out of his hands and darted off around the corner. The moment she was out of sight, she folded space around her and her next step took her into the small concrete cell that passed for her quarters.

“Son of a bitch,” she snarled. A lit stick of dynamite under the upturned bucket shredded it like tinfoil in a blender, but that didn’t satisfy her. She wanted to kill something. She wanted to wring the neck of the next toon she saw and shove its face into a barrel of Dip herself. She wanted to die, but not enough to actually do it. The next words were just a whisper. “I didn’t even do anything that time.”

Just like she predicted, Wendy’s voice broke. It was freezing in the cell, and the water made it worse, but she didn’t have the mental energy to create something that would dry her off properly. She just pulled a threadbare towel from behind her back and wrapped it around herself, and shrank back into the corner, shuddering. Almost died. She’d almost died. For nothing. Just because she wouldn’t stop running her mouth. Just for behaving exactly how she’d been drawn to.

She knew she’d have a chance to release this anger, sooner or later. Being blown into a thousand pieces wouldn’t let her next target escape. It didn’t matter if they were toon or human, they were gonna die screaming. But the pain, the humiliation, the unfairness, ran too deep for the anger to burn them away. And she didn’t know what to do with them.

Faked emotions. Imitated expressions, basic instincts. The least Herschel could’ve done was made her not fool herself into believing her own lies. This was why she was glad she wasn’t human, even if it meant she was inferior, just a monster made to kill other monsters. She didn’t want to know what the real thing was like.

____

My first ever Tumblr prompt response fiction, yay! Meet Wendy Weasel, from my Who Framed Roger Rabbit (setting, characters are mostly from Animaniacs, Tiny Toon Adventures, and Looney Tunes) fanfic La Resistance. Basically she’s a Toon who was created by a genocidal terrorist group that wants to wipe Toons out, and for all intents and purposes a child soldier. When she’s not making life hell for the protagonists, she’s pissing off her own side as much as possible because she’s bored / wants attention. She’s way too cocky and aggressive for her own good.

This is the epitome of what I said in another post about liking whumpees who are dangerous to the whumpers. Power-suppressing cuffs and Dip not withstanding, there’s nothing but psychological conditioning between Lowell or anyone else in the Resistance and a shoebox funeral if Wendy turns on them, and they both know it. The problem is neither of them actually understands the true nature of that conditioning.