#then during security we got pulled aside...

[phoenixyfriend]

Silks Hiding Beskar Steel

Satine Kryze did not grow up knowing she has the Force. She knows now. (And 'now' is too late to save quite a few people.)

Read on AO3

Heyoooo I brainstormed this on tumblr years ago, and finally got around to writing it.

Things I included:

Satine has the Force (AU)

Jaster and the Duke were a thing (AU), also here, and here.

Satine spent time with a covert during YotR (hc)

Tarre's haunting the saber (fanon) and approves of Satine the most of current contenders (AU)

She wore more traditional armor during YOTR but has so much ptsd attached to it that she swaps out for battleweave silks (Mandalorian space Kevlar) as soon as she can and refuses to turn back without good reason (hc) I held a poll once, too

This isn't a headcanon but Bo's age makes NO sense

Also, "distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not some farcical [...] ceremony!"

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

It is three months, two weeks, and one day into her time with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn that Satine tells them, I have a bad feeling, and immediately dodges a blaster shot coming from behind her.

Satine has, since her early childhood, always been aware of things that try to kill her. Preternaturally aware, some might say.

It’s paranoia, plain and simple. Learned hyperawareness. People love to try to kill her.

The people in her life had shrugged and said, well, we all learn to trust our instincts. You probably heard something subconsciously or noticed a shadow move without realizing. Try to stay sane about it.

After they escape, Qui-Gon Jinn pulls out a notebook—the pad broke ages ago—and draws a few things on the other side of the fire. She doesn’t pay much attention. She is too busy gathering the dryest kindling and wood she can find for the fire as Obi-Wan hunts for their dinner.

(Is Bo-Katan alright? She’s far away, hidden in the core with their mother’s sister, but perhaps that’s not safe enough.)

(Satine worries.)

Jinn sits her down with an odd look on his face after they eat. He holds the notebook in front of him. He says, I want to check something. Can you try to guess what object I’m looking at in this notebook?

It’s odd, but whatever. She figures he’s trying to test how well she can pay attention, pick up on things when she’s otherwise engaged, that sort of thing. So she watches his face, tries to remember what was on the page, but nothing. She doesn’t remember a single thing that was on that page. She wasn’t trying to get a look, so she’s not sure she ever got more than a glance.

She throws out a few wild, random guesses. Qui-Gon nods along, and Obi-Wan gets a weird expression, and when they’re done…

Qui-Gon says, “hm.”

“What?” she asks.

“I want to check something the next time we encounter medical treatment,” Qui-Gon says. “Did you know you might be Force Sensitive?”

What.

--

Children from Mandalore rarely, if ever, go to the Jedi. They don’t even really get tested for that, aside from a handful of clans. Maybe it came up when Satine was a baby and too young to remember, but she did not know.

(There are children from Mandalorian space that go, sometimes, but not Mandalorians themselves. It’s a complicated subject.)

She lets the meddroid test her for it when they next see one.

“Mildly so,” Jinn tells her, looking over the results. “Bottom quartile of what we find among Jedi, but still enough that you would have been accepted had your family decided to give you to us. I don’t suppose you ever received any training?”

“I didn’t even know I had this,” she protests. Did Bo? Is it a family trait? Is it more common among siblings?

Her answer comes from Obi-Wan. He shrugs, and says, “that doesn’t mean you weren’t trained. Your parents could have kept it secret from you. It happens.”

Satine wants to protest that they wouldn’t, but she’s honestly not that sure. She understands operational security now, but she wouldn’t have when she was a child. She knows better than to do secret things without scanning each and every corner of a room for hidden cameras… but wouldn’t have been good enough to find everything just a few years earlier.

Most of Mandalore wouldn’t care. But there are pockets, often violent ones, that would have opinions.

Her mother died before she was old enough to be safely told. Her father…

Perhaps he thought she would need his full attention and several days to know. A vacation.

They haven’t had one of those since Jango died.

Well. ‘Died.’

“I don’t know,” she finally says. “I want to say they would have told me. But… I don’t know.”

Master Jinn nods. “Alright then. We can work on a few things when we have time that could help to keep you safe. Your instincts are already quite well-trained for short-term prescience, as with dodging the blaster bolts. We’ll see what else you show a talent for.”

“Okay,” Satine says, because she doesn’t know what else she could say. “That will likely be useful.”

(Continue on AO3)

[mvrlqni]

꩜ — ❝ 𝐁𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐇𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐄 ❞

pairing — lee byung hun x co-star ! reader

synopsis — taking a flight home from touring, thinking you had spent your birthday just flying, you come home to find a lovely surprise.

warnings — a lot of fluff, kissing, swearing, age gap, lee byung hun is 54, reader is in her late 20’s or early 30’s, proofread but might have mistakes, i don’t really know lol

wc — 1.7k

AN — it’s my birthday so I thought i’d just write a little smth ! (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)

a tired sigh left you as you escaped the crowd of fans and was rushed into your car by you security. after making sure your bags were in the trunk, the security signalled for your chauffeur to drive off as they entered their own car, following after.

“nice plane ride, ms l/n?” your chauffeur, mr alfred, a nice elderly man spoke as you shrugged in reply.

“tiring…such a shame i wasted my birthday by doing nothing…”

mr alfred chuckled and glanced at you through the rearview mirror. “im sure everything will settle down once we arrive home.”

you hummed, not paying attention to his words as you rested your head against the window and closed your eyes.

the drive was silent after that, mr alfred leaving you to rest as you were understandably tired, flying place to place and always on the move.

the gates to your house swung open, and the cars followed in after yours. the gravel in the driveway made the entrance a bit bumpy, causing you to bump your head against the window and wake you up.

a muttered curse escaped your lips as you rubbed your head before taking a look around your home. you had to admit, during the multiple plane rides you felt somewhat homesick and so you were grateful to be back home again.

“welcome home, ms l/n.” mr alfred smiled as he parked the car and got out, opening your door to help you out.

you stretched and yawned before moving to the trunk to get your luggage. you were definitely going to sleep after a nice, hot shower. mr alfred stopped you when the trunk opened, gently pushing you aside.

“no, no, it’s fine, ms l/n, i can handle the luggage.” you were about to speak up before his insistence became too much and you begrudgingly moved aside to let the old man take your luggage. “go inside, ms l/n, i’ll handle it.”

you sighed but nodded and made your way to the front door. the door creaked as you pushed it open and stepped inside. it was eerily quiet and none of your cats were around.

making your way further into the home and turning on the lights, you entered the living room. reaching for the light switch, you flicked it on as party poppers went off and a large group of people suddenly jumped out and yelled—

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”

“AHH FUCK!”

a chorus of giggles and laughter erupted as your heart pounded before settling down as you made out the different people in your home. byung-hun, jung-jae, yu-ri, ho-yeon, ha-joon, and even the director, dong-hyuk was all in your living room.

“holy shit, nearly gave me a heart attack.”

a knee buckling chuckle could be heard from the crowd before byung-hun wrapped his arms around you, that sweet smile of his stuck on his face.

“happy birthday, sweetheart.” you blushed and stammered over yourself like a fool whilst dong-hyuk, curse that sweet man, clapped and took a photo.

“i—thank you— how did you all get in here??” you questioned and jung-jae grinned.

“your driver let us in, very nice man he is.”

byung-hun, meanwhile, was completely focused on you, pressing a kiss to your cheek before finally removing his arms around you.

yu-ri went for a hug when byung-hun pulled away. you giggled at how tightly she hugged you. “how were the interviews??”

“fun, you know how they are, but it was different without you guys.” you admitted.

“i haven’t been to one of your interviews!” ho-yeon exclaimed while you pull her into a hug.

“maybe someone shouldn’t have died.”

“hey, blame it on the man himself over there!”

laughter erupted again as ho-yeon pointed to the director, a mischievous grin on his face.

you took the time to realise how your living room was filled with balloons, the floor covered in littering from the party poppers.

“why are you all dressed so fancy?” you scoffed and smiled, glancing at byung-hun in his suit. he smirked and gently wiped off some of the littering from the party poppers off your hair.

“we plan on taking you to a restaurant which—” he paused, looking at his watch. “is nearly time for the reservation we have. you have twenty minutes to get ready.

guess plan of falling asleep after your shower was down the drain.

surprisingly, you managed to get ready in time, wearing white silk dress with your hair in a half up, half down hairdo and a matching bow. As you came into view, byung-hun’s cheeks flushed red, flustered at how gorgeous you looked in that dress.

“you look beautiful.” he murmured, flashing you his smile before kissing your cheeks.

you were all then separated into different cars, it had turn out that their cars were parked behind your home so you wouldn’t see them when you had arrived. you of course went with byung-hun. the car ride was eventful—you felt as if you never wanted it to end with how often byung-hun smiled at you, his laughter every time you made a joke, he was perfect.

the restaurant they had made a reservation at was a fancy one of course, byung-hun took your hand as he lead you out the car, the others seemingly inside already.

“what took you guys so long?” ha-joon asked, raising a brow when you both found the private table.

“i saw byung-hun turn the other way at the stop…which means he purposefully took the long way.” yu-ri explained with a cheeky smile, meanwhile, byung-hun faltered and blushed.

“i did not, i went the correct way.”

“nuh-uh, that way takes longer than the one we were supposed to take.”

byung-hun merely grumbled and took his seat beside you, his features softening when you giggled once again. “was that funny, darling?”

“maybe.”

he rolled his eyes and held back a smile, watching as jung-jae and ho-yeon suddenly started bickering on what they wanted to order on the menu, meanwhile you and byung-hun had taken another menu, looking at it together.

everyone was stuffed after eating, jung-jae was a tad bit drunk from the amount of soju he drank so now dong-hyuk was watching him. you were all still at the restaurant, joking around and having a good time. byung-hun was also making sure you weren’t drinking too much, keeping a close eye on you as he did.

despite the group claiming how full they were, there was still the cake to come out. ho-yeon and yu-ri had gotten the cake commissioned and picked it up earlier that day before you arrived. when they had gotten to the restaurant, the staff kept the cake in their fridge before bringing it out.

ha-joon had called a waitress over, murmuring to her before the waitress left. when the waitress came back, she, followed by other waiters and waitresses, held a cake in her hands. the cake being a sponge cake with strawberry on top.

included on the cake was also a picture of byung-hun attached to a stick that stabbed the cake. he immediately groaned and glared at the two girls, his phone (that he had taken out to record) subtly put down.

“i never mentioned anything about putting my face on the cake.” he stated, sending the two girls a stern look before you interrupted him with a chuckle.

“why not? i’d love to eat a cake with your face on it…”

he froze and blushed before grumbling under his breath and smiling at you.

the cake was set down onto the table and the candles were lit up. you watched, tears welling in your eyes before you laughed it off as everyone sang to you.

when they were done singing, byung-hun, smiled at you once again. “don’t forget to make a wish.” he whispered.

you laughed but did make a wish, blowing out the candles afterwards with jung-jae clapping loudly. “thank you, everyone, for doing this— i am eternally grateful to have you all by my side, i really love you all so much.” you claimed, tears welling up in your eyes again before byung-hun wrapped his arm around your waist, his other hand coming up to wipe the tears away, before placing a kiss on your cheek.

“byung-hun has a gift for you!!!” jung-jae nearly yelled, his words slurring a bit. dong-hyuk sighed, quickly shushing him.

“i was just getting to that, jung-jae.” byung-hun grumbled before ha-joon passed him something. byung-hun placed a teddy bear in your lap. you raised a brow and laughed a bit, glancing at the teddy bear.

“how cute.”

“oh hush, darling, this is only the beginning of my many gifts.”

somehow, you all managed to finish the cake despite the amount of food you all ordered and now, the group decided to go for a walk. byung-hun stayed close to you, his heart melting as you held the teddy bear close.

his eyes were practically on you the whole time and as it got colder, he eventually took off his jacket, offering it to you. you smiled and accepted it of course, allowing him to place his jacket over your shoulders.

dong-hyuk began reminiscing when they had first started shooting squid game—back in 2021. he rambled on and eventually bought up a haunting memory you have tried forgetting. the first time you had met byung-hun, you were a fan, a huge fan. you gushed over him to jung-jae on set when byung-hun was standing right behind you, hearing everything.

you groaned and blushed in embarrassment as everyone started to talk about your embarrassing moments. byung-hun contributed which caused you to jump at him, an attempt to shut him up.

after the walk, everyone parted ways, bidding each other goodnight. byung-hun drove you back home, a hand resting on your thigh as he did.

when you had arrived back at your place he walked you to the front door.

“thank you…for everything, byung-hun.” you spoke, your tone soft and your smile so sweet he felt like melting. “i really appreciate you…”

something inside of him took control and he pulled you into his arms, his lips smashing against yours.

your eyes widened but you quickly closed them, kissing him back. he groaned against your mouth and shoved his tongue inside.

you two made out for a few good minutes or so before pulling away, the both of you panting heavily. your lips were swollen and more reddish than usual from his assault on your lips. you bit your lip and glanced up at him with that innocent look in your eyes when really you were no where close to innocent.

“spend the night…”

he held his breath back as you asked him to stay the night. he groaned and rested his forehead against yours before nodding.

“anything for you…”

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yourusername forever grateful to have such amazing people in my life, I love you all so much <3

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byunghun0712 happy birthday sweet girl ❤️

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y/nsoneandonly HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY FAVOURITE ACTRESS!! 🎂

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y/nandbyunghunwhen BOOM SHAKALAKA YES GOD ‼️‼️

[softspiderling]

so obsessed with your ex | r.c

──𖤐 summary:

“Hey,” you smiled at her, alarmingly genuine. “Rebecca, right?”

“Yeah.”

You nodded, your eyes warm. “We haven’t met. I’m-”

“I know who you are,” Rebecca interrupted you, her cheeks warming when she realized what she was alluding to. You exchanged a discreet look with Sarah and Rebecca willed the ground to open up and swallow her with the way the conversation was going.

OR If Rebecca had known that her obsession with you would lead to you and Rafe getting back together, she would've done a whole lot different.

���─𖤐 pairing: Rafe Cameron x reader / Rafe Cameron x OC

──𖤐 warnings: during most of this fic, Rafe is dating someone else. Sorry, it's part of the plot, but they don't do a lot of couple-y things, if that's any consolation! Rebecca is kind of delulu (actually, she is very delulu), but i'm hoping that most of you can relate to it, NO cheating!

──𖤐 word count: 4,1k

──𖤐 author's note: something very different, i'm aware, but i was like a woman cursed when i listened to olivia rodrigo's song sorry and this was what i envisioned. I HOPE YOU LOVE IT!!!! happy reading!!!

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

Rebecca had always felt secure in her relationship with Rafe.

Until she found out about you.

It all started when she was looking for a hair tie, knowing she had left a couple of them in Rafe’s bedroom whenever she stayed over.

“Baby, have you seen my hair ties? I swear I could’ve sworn I put them in the bedside drawer…” Rebecca muttered to herself, pulling open the drawers, rummaging through them. She froze when she brushed a pack of condoms aside to reveal a picture she had never seen before. Rafe was talking to her from the bathroom, but Rebecca couldn’t hear a thing as she picked up the picture, looking at it with a funny feeling.

The picture looked like it was taken mid-conversation as you and Rafe were standing closely together, having eyes for no one but each other. Even though you were barely touching, it felt weirdly intimate. Too intimate to be friendly. And Rebecca recognized you, she had seen you around Kildare before, but you never had made an active move to talk to Rafe when they were at a party, so if you were friends, he definitely would’ve introduced you to her, right?

“Bex, hey. Did you find one?”

“What?”

Flustered, Rebecca looked up from the picture, her cheeks red and Rafe raised an eyebrow at her, a hair tie on his open palm.

“I asked if you found a hair tie. I put them in the bathroom,” he said, rounding the bed to hand it to her. “What d’ya got there?”

“Oh, just a picture I found,” Rebecca said quickly, taking the hair tie out of his hand, moving to put the picture back in the drawer, but Rafe was quicker, snatching it out of her grip with a laugh.

“Are we starting to lie each other now?”

Rebecca watched him closely as he took a look at the picture, pressing her lips together as he paused, taking it in.

“That’s-” she broke off, clearing her throat, before she said your name. “… Right?”

“Yeah, yeah…”

Rafe frowned, before he lifted his head to look at her. Rebecca couldn’t quite decipher the look on his face. She had never seen him like this before.

“I didn’t know you dated her,” she said, nonchalantly, hoping he would deny it. But Rafe only shrugged, glancing at the picture one more time before he put it back in the drawer, shutting it close.

“We broke up before you came on the island, how were you supposed to know?”

Rafe pressed a kiss to her temple, but Rebecca was still fixated on the picture, staring at where she knew it laid inside the drawer.

“Are you ready? Top’s gonna come pick us up in a few.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Rebecca replied, distracted. “Uh, you can go downstairs, I’ll be down asap.”

“A’ight.”

Rebecca smiled at him, waiting until he left the room, before she slid open the drawer again, reaching for the picture to stare at it, her thumb rubbing circles into the corner, wondering who was still printing pictures in this day and age. She wasn’t sure how long she was standing there, jumping when she heard Rafe yelling for her.

“Bex, Top is here!”

“Coming!” Rebecca called back and without thinking, she slipped the picture into her purse before heading downstairs.

To say that Rebecca grew infatuated with you after finding that picture was an understatement. She was obsessed.

Okay, maybe not obsessed, that had a weird tone to it. Fixated.

She was pretty fixated on you.

Rebecca immediately had followed you on instagram when she got home later that night. Scrolling through your profile, she noticed that while you weren’t following Rafe and vice versa, you still followed all of his friends and his family. Rafe’s younger sister Wheezie seemed to be a constant in your life still, judging by her comments under all of your pictures. Apparently you were still well-liked by his family friends, and Rebecca started to wonder why you and Rafe broke up. But it wasn’t like she could ask Rafe why you broke up, right?

“What?” Topper stared at her, as if Rebecca had just asked him to give her 1k. His look made her nervous though, and she glanced over her shoulder, making sure that Rafe was still out of earshot.

“You’re his best friend,” she stated, albeit unnecessarily. “You have to know.”

Topper rubbed his jaw, like he was conflicted, which Rebecca really didn’t understand. What was the big deal? She had intentionally waited until Topper was a little tipsy, and now she was wondering if that was a mistake, since he seemed strangely paranoid.

“You’re his girlfriend. Shouldn’t you be asking him that question?”

“I don’t want to stir up trouble! Why can’t you just tell me?” Rebecca raised her voice, her cheeks flushing when she realized that people were starting to stare, so she burrowed deeper into the couch, waiting until everyone went back to their business. Maybe she shouldn’t have asked this at a party.

“It was a mutual break up,” Topper then answered, speaking slowly as if every single word leaving his mouth was painful. “Rafe never really told me why, but they just disappeared out of each other’s lives from one day to the next, as if they haven’t been dating for the last four years. But she never badmouthed him in the aftermath… Neither did he.”

Topper’s explanation just created more questions than it answered, but before Rebecca could get her thoughts sorted to prod Topper again, Rafe returned, his shoulders lose.

“Your drink,” he said, handing Rebecca a cup, settling down on the couch next to her, throwing his arm over the back. He hadn’t even been sitting for a minute, when Topper got to his feet, muttering something about finding the pong table for a game.

“What’s with him?”

Rebecca only shrugged, choosing to sip on her drink instead of giving an answer, her mind still reeling from the information she got from Topper. The more she learned about you, the more she was intrigued and filled with questions, that she felt like would never be answered.

“You good?”

Rebecca barely lifted her head from the window she was leaning it, her reaction a little slow. She had been… Drinking a little more than she liked. Every time she wanted to ask Rafe about you, she stopped herself and went for another drink, and that process had repeated itself over and over again until Rafe cut her off, deciding to take her home. Rebecca was more than tipsy, her inhibitions slightly out of control.

“Fine,” she replied with a little sigh, rubbing her temple. She could feel Rafe’s eyes on her and she could feel her resolve crumbling. “Why did you guys break up?”

The car swerved off the road for a second, making Rebecca grab onto the arm rest to keep steady while Rafe cursed.

“The fuck?” he said, glancing over at her with a frown. “Where the hell did that come from?”

Rebecca exhaled deeply through her lips before she looked over to him, her brows furrowed, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Topper told me you were dating for four years, Rafe. Four years! But he couldn’t even tell me why. Isn’t he your best friend? He should know that, right?”

Rafe stared at her, as if trying to gauge her reaction. Rebecca hadn’t even noticed that he had pulled the car to the side, the motor long off.

“Is this like a test or somethin’?”

Rebecca rolled her eyes. “No. I’m just genuinely curious. She seems-”

Nice? Super pretty? Like his perfect match?

She didn’t finish her sentence.

“What?” Rafe muttered under his breath, and Rebecca only scoffed in annoyance.

“Whatever,” she huffed, leaning her head against the window again. “Just forget it.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Rafe just sitting there, turning the ring on his finger, letting out an exasperated sigh.

“We got into a lot of fights near the end,” he started, his tone defeated. “She’s pretty headstrong, likes being right. I like sticking to my opinion… It wasn’t healthy anymore, so we both knew that something had to change, even though I still…. There was still love.”

Rafe stopped, but Rebecca held herself back with saying anything, wanting to soak up every bit of information he was willing to give her.

“We figured a clean cut would be best for both of us, have no contact. Give us a chance to start fresh, see new people.”

Rebecca could tell that he was holding something back, probably something along the line of how he was struggling with the no contact rule, but didn’t want to seem like he was still holding onto you.

“She’s really pretty,” she only said.

“Yeah.”

Do you still love her?

Rebecca was glad that she was still able to hold herself back enough to not ask that. She had a feeling that she wouldn’t like the answer that much.

“Thanks for telling me.”

“Yeah. You done throwing tantrums?”

Rebecca rolled her eyes with a small smile and settled back into her seat while Rafe started the car to continue their way home. Most girlfriends would probably feel angry that their boyfriend seemed to be so sentimental still when it came to their ex, but all that Rebecca could think about was how you clearly were someone he held dear, and that she wished to become that person for him.

And when she was about fall asleep after they got home to his place, she wondered how often you had fallen asleep on her side of Rafe’s bed like this. Did Rafe curl around your back like he did hers? Did you have to fight Rafe for the blankets? She thought finding out more about your past relationship with Rafe, she would stop obsessing you.

But she didn’t.

She kept it to herself, however, not mentioning you again after that one talk in the car she had with Rafe.

Rafe, who had been lighter ever since he talked about you, ever since she pushed him to talk about, which showed her that it was the right thing to do. Her fixation on you helped her relationship with Rafe and to her, that justified the amount of times she was checking out your social media, but Rafe wouldn’t understand. She admired you. Honestly, Rebecca felt like she could become pretty good friends with you, but what excuse did she have to talk to you besides dating your ex boyfriend? Worst case, she’d curse you out, best case she’d give you a fake smile. No thank you. Rebecca would much rather stick to admiring you from afar.

… Which was the reason why she was so nervous, when she met you for the first time. In her defense, this was the last place she had expected to see you. The place being Kelce’s house.

It was his birthday, and to celebrate it, he decided to throw a huge rager at his house. While Rebecca did arrive with Rafe, they quickly separated, with Rafe trying to find Kelce - this was his birthday after all - and her going to see her friends. After about two hours, and Rafe not replying to her texts, Rebecca started to walk around to see if she could find him. Which was easier said than done, the house was packed. When it took her nearly half an hour to get through the kitchen, Rebecca almost gave up until she saw Sarah sitting in the corner of the couch talking to someone.

“Sarah!”

Although Rebecca wasn’t the closest with her, she was about the only person she knew right now, and she could use a familiar face. Slipping between a kissing couple, she made her way straight to the couch, touching Sarah’s shoulder gingerly.

“Hey, I’m so glad I saw you. Have you seen Rafe anywhere? He hasn’t been answering his texts and I-”

Rebecca trailed off when she noticed Sarah glancing to her friend, only to realize that it was you who Sarah had been sitting with, and her words get stuck in her throat.

Oh.

“Hey,” you smiled at her, alarmingly genuine. “Rebecca, right?”

“Yeah.”

You nodded, your eyes warm. “We haven’t met. I’m-”

“I know who you are,” Rebecca interrupted you, her cheeks warming when she realized what she was alluding to. You exchanged a discreet look with Sarah and Rebecca willed the ground to open up and swallow her with the way the conversation was going.

“They’re probably in the basement,” you offered, maybe as some sort of olive branch. “Kelce likes to hide away down there to play pool during his parties.”

“Oh yeah yeah, Rafe probably doesn’t even have any bars down there,” Sarah chimed in.

“Right, okay, thanks,” Rebecca said, awkwardly. She stood behind the couch like a deer in headlights. You must have noticed, because you grabbed Sarah’s arm, scooting back on the couch to make more space.

“You can join us, if you want.”

“… Really?” Rebecca asked skeptically, not quite sure if the invitation was genuine or not.

“Yeah, ‘course.”

Hesitantly, she sat down next to Sarah, trying to get comfortable but she was far too aware of your presence, placing her purse in her lap.

“So have you already settled into Kildare?”

Your eyes were inquisitive and Rebecca was trying to see if there was any sign of malice or distrust in them, but all she could see was genuine interest.

“I mean, I guess so… Life down here is pretty chill. Like it’s its own world…?” Rebecca winces at her own words. “Sorry, that’s stupid.”

“No, no!” You insisted, waving your hands at her quickly. “I know exactly what you mean. We went to Charleston once to tour the college campus there and it was like we were on another planet, remember Sar?”

Sarah’s eyes widened and she nodded quickly, slapping your arm in excitement. It looked like it hurt, but by the way you were laughing, Rebecca assumed it was a regular thing. She wouldn’t know, she barely ever spent over twenty minutes with Rafe’s sister.

“Remember when we were auditing that one sociology class and Rafe fell asleep during the lecture?”

“Oh my god, yes. Because he and Top were playing that stupid video game that came out two days earlier all night long.”

You and Sarah giggled as you reminisced about the past, like two best friends and Rebecca grew envious of your friendship, wondering if she was ever going to have that kind of relationship with Sarah, though you did have running start with building a friendship with her outside of being Rafe’s girlfriend. Or ex, rather. Rebecca started rummaging in her bag, acting like she was looking for something, doing anything to seem less excluded, really.

Your laughter subsided and you smiled at Rebecca, stilling her hands in her purse when she realized the attention was back on her.

“How is Rafe?”

“Oh you know him,” Rebecca replied, a little less nervous now that she was talking about a topic where she wouldn’t feel left out, taking her purse off her lap, placing it on the couch between her and Sarah. “The usual. He’s more focused on keeping up the company than ever, been away a lot.”

You nodded, tucking your hair back, and for a second, you looked incredibly sad. Rebecca wasn’t sure if she was imagining it, because a second later, you were smiling again.

“I’m really glad he has you,” you then said, completely surprising Rebecca. “I think you’re really good for him. Rafe has been really hard on himself, taking everything a little too seriously, and I think you’re really balancing it all out.”

Rebecca’s eyebrows have almost disappeared into her hairline by now, she was so shell-shocked she didn’t even notice Sarah clinking herself out of the conversation, crossing her arms as she sat back.

“Isn’t it weird for you?”

“You mean because he’s my ex and you’re his new girlfriend?” You smiled wryly at her. “I guess it’s a little weird. But it’s not like there’s any bad blood between Rafe and I… In the end, I just want him to be happy, and it seems like you’re making him happy.”

Ducking her head, Rebecca hoped that it was dark enough to conceal her red cheeks. To her, this felt like an insanely gracious statement and suddenly, Rebecca felt validated for obsessing over you so much. You were great and she wasn’t being parasocial.

“I- Thank you. That really means a lot.”

“Of course, don’t worry about it,” you said with a smile, glancing at Sarah when she tugged on the ends of your hair gently. “What, do you want to leave?”

“I promised John B I’d meet him on the beach at sunrise.”

“Fine,” you sighed, you and Sarah standing up. Rebecca stayed seated, though she couldn’t help but feel disappointed that the conversation was cut short.

“It was really nice to talk to, Rebecca. Don’t be a stranger, alright?”

Rebecca waved good bye to you and Sarah, watching as you left with Sarah whispering into your ear insistently. She sat there by herself for a while, replaying the conversation in her head, before she realized she was being weird. Clearing her throat, Rebecca grabbed her purse, that still sat open next to her, her smile dropping when she saw that the picture she had snuck from Rafe’s drawer was peaking out of it.

“Shit,” she muttered to herself, pushing the picture deeper into her purse, before looking up into the crowd, wondering if you had seen it, and if you did, what you thought of her.

“Do you want to do something today?”

After discovering the picture had been sitting in the open like that, Rebecca started worrying if she just ruined her impression you had of her. But seriously, how stupid could she be? She completely forgot that the picture was in that purse. Rebecca had spent the remaining time at the party worrying what you thought of her.

“Like what?”

Rebecca rolled over in bed, looking up at Rafe as he got dressed. It was late in the morning, but still early enough for her to be tired after getting back from Kelce’s so late.

“I don’t know, something fun.”

He raised an eyebrow at her, his face disappearing momentarily while he put his shirt on.

“I have a meeting with Mr. Harris this afternoon and I’m meeting Dennis for an early lunch.”

“But it’s Sunday,” Rebecca pointed out, sitting up, a frown on her face.

“Work is work, no matter what kind of day it is.”

“Sorry, I just thought it’d be nice to do something fun for once,” she said, knowing she would spent the entire day worrying about what you thought of her if she wasn’t distracted, not noticing how Rafe was looking at her through the mirror.

“What’s going on with you?” he asked, his brows furrowed. “You never cared about that before.” Rafe paused, realization washing over his face. “You talked to-” His voice cracked, and Rebecca raised an eyebrow at him.

“… You talked to her, didn’t you?”

Rebecca could hear the accusatory tone in his voice and she leaned against the headboard, drawing her legs close.

“I did, at the party last night… She said she’s happy that you have me, that she was worried about how you work too much.”

Rafe was quiet for a while and Rebecca could feel a knot forming in her stomach. She couldn’t have two people be mad at her.

“That’s what she said?”

Nodding quickly, Rebecca smiled at him brightly. “Yeah. She was really nice. I like her.”

He let out a quiet huff, followed by a headshake, and she wasn’t quite sure what to do, nervously playing with the hem of her shirt.

“Alright. Maybe I can cut my lunch meeting short and we can do something after,” Rafe relented, and Rebecca looked up at him in surprise.

“Really?”

“Yeah, I’ll text you later, alright?”

With a wave, Rafe left the bedroom, and Rebecca laid back down, letting out a happy sigh. Everything was working out in her favor!

A couple of hours later, Rebecca was standing in front of her closet, scanning the different clothes that hung in there, trying to decide on what to wear. She wasn’t sure what Rafe had planned, so she didn’t want to be completely inappropriately dressed. Letting out a annoyed sigh, Rebecca picked up her phone to text her friend for some fashion advice, stilling when she saw the new notification.

“Oh my god.”

You followed her back on insta! You must have not seen the picture after all and think she was weird!!!

Rebecca’s fingers hovered over the keyboard, wondering if she should dm you, maybe ask if you wanted to hang out, before she decided against it, putting her phone back on the dresser, face down. She didn’t want to seem to eager, she could wait a week.

Okay, maybe not a week, Rebecca thought, picking out some shorts and a red top, but a few days at least.

When she was all done, Rebecca grabbed the keys to her car, making her way over to Rafe’s place after he said he was done. It was a beautiful day out and she was so excited to see what he had planned for their date. Parking her car behind Rafe’s truck, she got out, heading inside.

“Baby, it’s me!” she called, shutting the door behind her. She didn’t have to wait long, until she could Rafe coming down the stairs, a box in his hand.

“What’s that?”

Rafe looked at her, his face unreadable.

“… What’s wrong?”

He let out a sigh, before stopping in front of her, and as Rebecca looked into the box, she realized it was full of her stuff.

“We need to talk,” he said, and her jaw dropped.

“What?”

“I just don’t think I’m in this relationship as I thought I was, and I don’t want to string you along, Bex,” Rafe explained, pushing the box into her arms. She just accepted the box, too shocked to do anything else.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“No. You did the opposite, actually. Helped me see what I was really feeling. And I thought I’d get this over with, before anyone else gets hurt,” Rafe told her. “You understand, right?”

She only blinked at him, nodding dumbly.

A grin grew on Rafe’s face, and he stuffed his hands in his pocket. “Great. I knew you would understand.”

With an arm on her back, he lead Rebecca outside, and she just let him, moving on autopilot.

“I’ll see you around Bex,” he said, standing in the doorway, his hand on the door. “Don’t be a stranger.”

With those words, Rafe shut the door in her face, and Rebecca just blinked, still not having processed the situation.

“And he said he doesn’t want to string you along?”

“Yes.”

The words were muffled.

Rebecca was facedown in her pillow, hoping to die of embarassment, even if Jane was her best friend in Kildare. It had taken her a week to recuperate before she could tell her friends what happened, mostly because she still wasn’t sure what had happened.

“Are you okay?”

She lifted her head, giving Jane a look.

“I just don’t understand why he broke up with me.”

Jane waved her off, picking up her phone. “Oh don’t worry about it, I’m sure he’ll come crawling back tom- Never mind.”

“What?”

Having stopped mid-sentence, Jane was staring at her phone, eyebrows raised so high and Rebecca groaned, taking the phone out of her hand.

“You can’t just stop talking in the middle of the-”

Her eyes widened when she saw what had rendered Jane speechless: Sarah had posted an instagram story, a picture of a couple walking hand in hand in front of her. It was dark and a little blurry, but Rebecca could tell exactly who it was: You and Rafe.

“He’s such an asshole!” Jane screeched, snatching her phone out of Rebecca’s hand. “Let’s egg his house!”

Rebecca only snorted, rubbing her hands over her face with a groan. “J, no. Believe it or not, but I feel like this one’s on me.”

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

author's note: tell me what you think :)

[meadowfics]

nobody mingles

thangyu x f!reader

headcannons with how both men would be toward you during 'mingle'

round 1:

thanos grabs your wrist as the carousel spins, pulling you close, his grip steady but not bruising.

“you gotta stick with me, señorita, i got you,”

he murmurs, voice laced with bravado to mask his fear.

he scans the crowd, already scheming a group, yelling for namgyu to keep up.

namgyu hovers on your other side, shoulder brushing yours, tense and hyper-alert.

“we can’t let her get separated,”

he mutters to thanos, who nods sharply.

the dude's loyalty drives him.

in a strange way, namgyu wants to survive, but he'd rather die than leave you alone in this chaos.

when “10” is called, thanos takes charge, rallying namgyu and seven others into a group.

you’re wedged between them as they sprint, thanos shoving a rival aside to secure a room.

namgyu counts heads frantically, whispering,

“ten, we’re good, y/n, you’re safe.”

in the locked room, thanos rests a hand on your shoulder, eyeing the others for betrayal, while namgyu guards the door, ready to block any threat.

the gunfire outside makes you flinch; both step closer, their presence a fragile shield.

round 2:

the carousel’s spin throws you off balance, and namgyu catches your arm, steadying you.

“focus on me, y/n, don’t look at the lights,” he says, eyes soft but urgent, grounding you.

the man's protectiveness feels like a lifeline.

thanos, on your other side, curses under his breath, frustrated by the shrinking numbers not getting lower.

he grabs your hand, pulling you toward him and namgyu, shouting for one trusted ally to join.

that ally being se-mi of course.

“we’re not losing her,”

he growls, more to himself than anyone.

when “4” is announced, the four of you bolt to a room, thanos leading the charge, his arm around your waist to keep you from tripping.

namgyu trails close, double-checking the group size as the automatic door locks, his relief palpable.

inside, thanos paces, muttering about strategy, while namgyu stays by your side, asking quietly if you’re okay.

the distant screams unnerve you, and namgyu squeezes your hand in comfort.

round 3:

the moment the carousel slows, thanos and namgyu flank you instinctively, forming a protective triangle.

“this is us,” thanos says, voice firm, daring anyone to challenge it. namgyu nods, his usual hesitance gone, united with thanos for you.

when “3” is called, relief washes over you all.

it’s just the three of you.

you sprint together, thanos guiding you with a hand on your back, namgyu matching your pace to shield you from the chaotic crowd scrambling for rooms.

you reach a room, and namgyu slams the door shut, checking the lock twice before the game handlers lock it once the time stops.

inside, thanos pulls you into a quick hug, muttering, “we’re good, y/n, we’re good.”

namgyu watches, eyes soft, then joins, his arm around you both.

it is a rare moment of unity.

the gunfire outside feels distant as you huddle together, thanos joking to ease the tension, namgyu offering you his jacket when you shiver.

you politely decline.

you feel safe, caught between their warmth.

round 4:

the stakes feel heavier, and namgyu sticks closer, his hand brushing yours as the carousel spins.

thanos in a way is shaken, not realizing that he left gyeong-su to die outside.

namgyu could've cared less, but thanos losing a fan kinda set him back in reality.

so, its namgyu who's mainly watching over you.

“y/n, stop worrying,”

he says, voice steady despite his racing pulse too.

thanos, more aggressive now, scouts for allies, pulling you and namgyu along.

he negotiates with a small group, but his eyes keep flicking to you, ensuring you’re still there.

“nobody touches her,”

he warns the others, his tone deadly serious.

when “6” is called, you run with thanos leading, namgyu at your side, and three others trailing.

thanos practically throws you into a room, namgyu following to secure the door from anybody who might want to fight outside.

they both check the count, their relief mirrored as they confirm six.

in the room, thanos stands protectively in front of you, glaring at the others, while namgyu sits beside you, whispering reassurances.

the tension between them simmers, but they’re united in keeping you safe, their hands lingering near yours.

round 5: the last round.

the final round hits like a gut punch.

thanos and namgyu freeze when “2” is called, their eyes meeting in a rare moment of dread.

“y/n comes with me,”

thanos says, voice hard, but namgyu steps forward, shaking his head.

“no, she’s with me,”

namgyu snaps, his usual compliant behavior towards thanos now replaced by defiance.

they argue, voices rising, oblivious to the ticking clock.

thanos insists he’s stronger, namgyu counters he’s more reliable, neither noticing you’re being pulled away by the crowd.

it was semi's sharp instincts kicking in.

she grabs your arm, shouting, “y/n, this way!”

you hesitate, glancing at thanos and namgyu, but semi’s urgency wins.

you sprint with her to a room, locking it just in time.

thanos and namgyu, realizing you’re gone, panic but pair up out of necessity, rushing to another room.

inside, they argue fiercely, thanos blaming namgyu’s hesitation.

namgyu accuses thanos of arrogance.

both fear they’ve doomed you, guilt tearing them apart.

when the game ends, you emerge with semi, shaken but alive.

thanos and namgyu spot you, their faces flooding with relief. thanos pulls you into a crushing hug, muttering, “senorita you can't do that to us, i thought we lost you.”

namgyu joins, his hands trembling as he touches your shoulder, whispering apologies.

thanos thanks se-mi strangely, their egos bruised but gratitude genuine.

namgyu just stares a semi, wondering if she was now a threat to their relationship with you.

anyways,

later, they hover closer and vow silently to never let their rivalry risk you again.

masterlist

[starogeorgina]

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐢𝐧

Warnings: Smut

Pairing: Cregan Stark × reader, Aemond Targaryen × reader

1.05

Cregan’s hand traces the curve of your spine while you listen to his heart beating, feeling the calming vibrations against your ear. The two of you lay rather content, catching your breath, sweat-coated bodies entwined. There was an unfamiliarity to his warmth, a gentleness you hadn’t experienced before, even when you were deeply in love with Aemond.

The man beside you had somehow managed to make you feel secure and safe.

Cregan squeezes your ass playfully, causing you to laugh, “You didn’t need long to recover.”

“Well, it’s not every day I have such a beauty as yourself sharing a bed with me.”

You gently press your lips against his, but when he goes to deepen the kiss, you pull back. Before Cregan can do anything else, you straddle his waist. “I need to ask you something of a serious matter, my Lord.”

He stares up at you, concerned.

“In the north, is it common for men to kiss the ladies... down there?”

His eyes crinkled at the corners, amused and relieved that it wasn’t actually anything serious you asked him. “Did it feel good?”

“Yes.”

Grinning, Cregan hooks his hands around your thighs and, in one swift move, yanks you up the bed till you’re straddling his face, then he begins to swipe his tongue over your clit. Your hands slam against the wall. Cregan was certainly skilled at what he was doing, and you intended to reap the benefits of it.

—

Rolling onto your side, you admire the man laying in the space next to you, thick fur covering the lower half of his naked body. Cregan had a rugged charm that you suspected was only seen in the north; his rough hands and wild hair were a far cry from the pampered princes and lords you were used to. Watching his chest move up and down with each breath he takes, you trace your fingers over a scar just beneath the left side of his collarbone.

“A wildling did it.”

“Oh,” you press a kiss to the raised area of skin. “How long ago?”

“A few years now. Most of the scars I’ve got have been from fighting off wildings.”

Aside from the marks left on your stomach from childbearing, you only had one other scar. “Scars add to a man’s attractiveness; they make them look like warriors.” You chuckle, “I cut my foot open on broken glass once; apart from that, I don’t recall ever injuring myself.”

“I would expect nothing else from a princess who was raised in the south,” he laughs.

“I do believe we have gone past all formalities; you can call me by my first name.”

Cregan kisses you gently on the lips, his fingers tangling into your hair. “I know, but here and now you are my princess.”

His words left a bittersweet taste in your mouth. Whatever moments were being shared between the two of you would only last until the morrow then the fantasy would be over. You wished to learn more about Cregan and his way of living in the north; it fascinated you. The thought of your boy getting to play in the snow brings a brief smile to your face.

“During times of war, it’s not uncommon for women and children to be sent to other houses so they are safe.” Gently, he tilts your chin up with his finger so you’re looking at him. “Even when my men march south for Rhaenyra, I swear to you, princess, you and your son will always be safe in Winterfell.”

You caress his cheek; there was no darkness with Cregan.

—

Dragons screeching alongside the thunderous clasp of wings nearby pulls the Lord from his peaceful slumber. Groggily he groans and outstretches his arm to pull you into his embrace, but the space beside him is bare, the warmth of your body still lingering on the spot you had been sleeping in.

As Cregan’s eyes flutter open, he comes to the dimly lit chamber, filled with an unfamiliar muttering. A frown creases on his brow when he notices you frantically redressing. The hour was late; not many would be awake at this time, and he stills on the spot, silently trying to piece together the events that had led to you trying to sneak away without waking him. It’s not until he hears her sob that Cregan goes to move from the bed.

“Y/n,” his voice sounds pained. “What are you doing?”

You almost stumble backwards trying to tug your tights back up in an unladylike manner, causing them to rip. Tears flow down your cheek, and while trying to gather yourself to form actual words, you nod your head in the direction of the open scroll sitting on top of the table. You take a few deep breaths. “Word arrived from kings landing. The war has escalated; an innocent has been killed.”

Cregan holds the furs of the bed around his waist, keeping the cold from his skin. “What’s happened?”

“The darkness...” you take a sharp intake of breath. “I thought the darkness was pouring from Prince Daemon, that he would be the first to spill blood, but I was wrong. My husband, Aemond,... he killed Rhaenyra’s second son.” Your hands press against your trembling lips as you try to stifle the hysterical sobs that racked your body. “I need to go before they do the same to my son.”

“Y/n.”

“You should go to Jacaerys; he will need your comfort more than I.”

Spotting your footwear that has been discarded when you undressed in a frenzy on the opposite sides of the room, you go to retrieve them, but Cregan is suddenly in front of you; he lightly squeezes your shoulders. “You cannot ride such a distance so worked up.”

You lean into him, your cheek resting against his bare chest. “My grandsire says it was an accident, but he is wrong. Lucerys was just a boy, thirteen years of age, and in comparison to our dragons, Arrax was only a babe and Aemond chased them down on his... beast.”

Cregan kisses the crown of your hair; he knew how this would play out, as did you. A son for a son. If Rickon was ever taken from him, Cregan would not stop seeking revenge. “I meant what I said before: the north will be a safe place for you and Prince Maitland.”

You shake your head. “Aemond would search every house in all the kingdoms for his son on Vhagar and show no mercy. Nowhere is safe.”

[blindmagdalena]

'Neath the Mistletoe

1k homelander x gn!reader. pure christmas fluff. 🎄inspired by anon. thank you!

When you and Homelander make the decision to go public with your relationship, Vought seizes the opportunity to capitalize on the announcement with a seasonal photoshoot.

There is nothing more quintessentially Christmas than kissing your beloved under the mistletoe. Naturally, Homelander has been anticipating it since the first whispers of the season began to carry on the air.

However, this was not at all how he’d imagined it would happen. He’s been in front of the cameras his entire life, he’s used to it, but you aren’t. You’re tense in his arms, gaze flickering out to the crew, paying more attention to how you’re presenting in front of the camera than you are to him.

It’s hardly the romantic venture he dreamt of.

“Hey,” he whispers, bringing your eyes back to him. You look like a deer in the headlights. He probably looked the same way during his first real photoshoot. Still, he tries to calm you by assuring you, “You’re doing great.”

“How many of these are we going to have to do?” You ask quietly, your tension creeping into your voice.

He frowns. He knows you’re nervous, but it really squeezes out any romance lingering in the moment to think you’re dreading how many more times you’re going to have to kiss each other. If it were just the two of you, it wouldn’t matter. He’d kiss you a dozen times for each mistletoe he saw. A hundred times. He’s got years and years spent without you to make up for.

Huh. Now there’s a thought.

“Hey, let’s take five,” he calls to the crew. Immediately, he feels you relax against him.

“Thank you,” you sigh, squeezing his forearms. “I’m sorry, I’m not trying to complain–”

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” he soothes, already fixated on his brewing plot. He leans in to kiss your forehead and gives your hips a pat. “Lemme go get you some water, ‘kay? We’ll bang out the rest of these photos, and then we can get to bangin’ out in private,” he says, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

You laugh, giving him a playful little push, and he seizes the opportunity to split off and not only grab you a water bottle, but to pull Ashley aside for a quick word, whispering it in her ear.

Ashley’s eyes widen. She pulls back sharply to stare incredulously at him. “By the end of the shoot?”

“Yeah,” he confirms, smiling. “And wipe that fuckin’ look off your face before you’re seen,” he says, giving her arm an unfriendly pat that jostles her slightly. She immediately schools her expression, glancing at you. Luckily, you’re busy briefly dissociating while you recover from the flash of cameras and the bustle of the crew and makeup department.

“Right… Yes, sir,” she says, frantically pulling out her phone the second his back is turned.

Homelander returns to you with a crisp bottle of water and kisses your cheek reassuringly. “Almost done,” he promises you, rubbing your back. “And then I’ve got a treat for you back at my place.”

Your eyes narrow suspiciously as you drink. “Is it something to do with ‘bangin’ out’?”

“More like rockin’ around,” he says, breaking into a cheeky grin while the two of you move back into position.

Just shy of an hour later, the shoot has finally wrapped up–no thanks to Ashley’s thinly veiled stalling–and Homelander is eagerly guiding you back to his penthouse, your hand held firmly in his. Pausing at the door, he peers through it, ensuring everything looks right before he opens it.

Glancing down at you, he steps to the side as he swings the door open, gesturing you inside. “After you.”

That way, he has the perfect vantage to admire your shock as you’re blindsided by the sight of dozens upon dozens upon dozens of sprigs of mistletoe hanging from every doorway, light fixture and arch in his entire penthouse.

“Did you somehow not get enough kisses on set?” You ask playfully, reaching up to bat lightly at one of the hanging mistletoe. They’ve all been secured in place with some kind of clear tacky little bits of paste.

“Not familiar with this concept of ‘enough kisses,’ “ he says, miming quotation marks before dropping his hands to his hips, admiring the work he put into demanding this be done. They did a decent job, all things considered.

You turn around to face him, beaming as brightly as any shining star.

God, you look… beautiful. Backlit by the glittering Christmas lights decorating his penthouse–the cast of them warm on your skin–you give him a melancholic sense of nostalgia for something he’s yearned for his entire life, but never known. You look cut straight out of every Hallmark moment he’s ever dreamed of. You look the way Christmas does in the movies. You look like home.

He can’t stop himself from kissing you, your face cradled delicately in the warm, soft leather of his gloves. He strokes your cheek with his thumb, slipping his hand to the back of your neck to deepen the kiss. He leans into you the way he wanted to throughout the entirety of that goddamn photoshoot, taking so much more now than those chaste little kisses. They had only served to whet his appetite for you.

You sigh against his lips in a way that drives him insane with hunger, pushing your hands into his perfectly styled hair, thoroughly mussing it. He pushes further into you, forces your back to bow until he’s snaking his arm around your waist and becoming the only thing holding you up as he dips you in this fervent, aching kiss.

When he does finally relent and draw back, you suck in a breath, your cheeks flushed warmly, your eyes bright and glimmering in the twinkling lights that surround you both.

“God,” you exhale, licking your lips. “Now that was a kiss under the mistletoe.”

Homelander glances up at the mistletoe dangling above you, and then back down. His smile is equal parts warm and wicked. “One of many to come.”

“I don’t think my lips are going to survive it,” you say, but your eyes betray your excitement.

“Don’t worry,” he purrs. You give a giddy little yelp as he effortlessly lifts you up into his arms, settling you against his chest. He kisses you again and again, one for each mistletoe you pass on the way to his bedroom.  “These lips aren't the only part of you getting thoroughly kissed tonight.”

He made sure there was extra mistletoe above the bed.

[jynxedshapeshifter]

rambling about klemapollo because i love them

Alright so first things first, a few things I need to get out of the way: I don't think Klavier, Ema, or Apollo are cis or straight. I also think both Ema and Klavier are aspec. Very specifically, I think Ema's a trans woman and bi/demiaroace, Klavier's nonbinary and pan/asexual (I will be referring to Klavier with they/them in this post), and Apollo's transmasc and queer. In Apollo and Klavier's cases, this is because I project my own identity on them (I'm transmasc nonbinary, asexual, and panromantic). To be fair it's not just that and I made a post where I read Klavier's relationship with music from that perspective of being aroacespec, but that post could also absolutely be taken as me projecting my experience onto Klavier.

Anyway, TL;DR: I don't read Klavier, Ema, or Apollo as cis or straight and I think it's an important thing to note because it very much factors into why I like Klemapollo so much.

I think Apollo and Klavier have a mutual interest in each other (Apollo's is canon) and I think Klavier also has an interest in Ema. Also notable is that Ema and Apollo both obviously find Klavier annoying but don't really tell them to their face. Ema does if they annoy her enough but as far as I remember it only happens once and it's in response to Klavier keeping the fact that Machi is blind from her (which, yeah, that's information she should probably know). Like aside from that one outburst, Ema and Apollo don't really lash out at Klavier. Additionally they both find them distracting, which is less a thing I relate to Klemapollo and more just really fucking funny to me because they're both annoyed by it. Also, to list the stated reasons Apollo and Ema find Klavier annoying:

Apollo finds them annoying because they're distracting and good at everything they do

Ema finds them annoying because their necklace is distracting and they allegedly have a tendency to get in her way during investigations (which we only see in Turnabout Serenade because the incident happened at one of their concerts)

So they both find Klavier distracting. It's great, I love them.

I think eventually, both Apollo and Ema would come to be less annoyed by Klavier. Apollo canonically cares a lot about them (I don't think "That darkness... I have to pull that darkness out of him..." would exist otherwise). Ema's content to mess with Klavier but still takes it at least a little seriously when they're upset about something (at the absolute least she took Klavier's concerns about concert security seriously, otherwise I don't think she would've been standoffish towards Apollo and Trucy) so I think Ema cares about them to some degree, even if she doesn't act like it. I very much think Ema's been a tsundere towards Klavier probably since she met them and just never got the chance to transition from tsun to dere with them. It's really funny to me to imagine Klavier asking Ema/Ema and Apollo on a date and Ema accepts because she thinks it'll make them shut up and she likes it actually?? What is this??? She doesn't realize she has feelings for either Klavier or Apollo until Klavier and Apollo have already been in a relationship of some sort for a while.

It makes me wonder if her dynamic with Klavier would be different had they met after she became a forensic scientist instead of while she was a detective and hated her job (because I'd genuinely be surprised if Ema's attitude toward Klavier wasn't affected by her being pissed off about her job). Anyway my point here is I do think both Apollo and Ema care about Klavier and they care about Ema and Apollo.

Explaining the "they're all trans and this factors into how I interpret their relationship" thing: I think the only reason Klavier was able to accept themself as nonbinary is because they described how they experience dysphoria to Ema and Ema mentioned it was almost word for word how she described her dysphoria to Lana before she knew the word for it. Before this Klavier had told Apollo some of their experiences with genderfuckery at concerts, experiences which led to them recognizing they experienced occasional discomfort with their body and how it relates to the way they express themself (as in, Klavier's gender dysphoria tends to fluctuate a lot). Apollo offered to do some experimenting and eventually Klavier found they're most comfortable saying fuck it to gender and doing what they want. Ema helped them figure out how to navigate gender dysphoria. Additionally I think it was after Ema found out about Klavier's experience with dysphoria that she was like "maybe we have more in common than I initially thought"

Also, last thought, Klavier seems to be most comfortable being themself around Apollo (+ anyone he's investigating with) and Ema. I don't really know how to explain it, but they very much feel at their most genuine around Ema and Apollo which I honestly think might factor into them not complaining about how annoying Klavier is.

I might reblog this with more later but for now, here's a Klemapollo ramble. I love them so much

[pray4saint]

Hello! Currently thinking about dteam and chuckle sammich honeymoon hc's! Where you'd go, what you'd do, how was IT was mm

dteam & chuckle sammy on their honeymoons

dteam masterlist & chuckle sammy masterlist & descrip. pg. 13+. gn!reader.

a/n. omg bae, i've got you! also thoughts like these are gonna be rotting my brain for the next month / nsfw versions: dteam / chuckle sammy

dream

either hawaii or france.. idk what to tell you he's a cheeseball, sticks with the classics OR on the complete opposite, somewhere thailand (but for the sake of my sanity and writing ability we're going with kona, hawaii)

definitely picked a b&b over a hotel, he wanted the privacy for that first night as a wedded couple

leaving around 11am to go to beaches all day or go shopping

when you're out shopping, he always finds a way to not-so-subtly mention that you guys have just gotten married / he thinks he's subtle

standing in a pacsun, the cashier scanned the tags of the clothes you were buying, asking the usual customer service questions, ”how are y'all doing, did you find everything okay?” and you look up at your husband before nodding, but he still spoke up, ”doing good, we just got married, this is spouse, and yeah,” he turns to you, ”i think we found everything okay.” ”mhm.” you smile at his incessant need to announce that you're married.

tbh powerbottom!dream but in an absolutely sfw, fluffy way / how he looks at you with, essentially, heart eyes when he says something begging for your approval but also making it widely known that you're his and that you're married every chance he gets

dream most definitely has that 'nothing can bring me down' mentality while on your honeymoon

also in the evenings when the sun sets and you're sat next to him or on his lap, he thanks any and every higher power he's ever heard of that you came into his life because you're stunning and he loves you so much and can't imagine his life without you

doesn't even register if fans come up and ask for a picture until you point them out, he's just so invested in you

he also doesn't get on any of his social media except to post the occasional instagram story despite how much you told him it was fine and you didn't mind if he checked twitter or updated his snap story

”clay, aren't your fans gonna worry if you go MIA from twitter?” you set your notebook aside, turning to face him. ”no honey i'm gonna spend time with you, they can wait.” he smiles at you. ”yeah i know but-” ”no buts. they can wait.”

also he inevitably gets sick on the last day of your honeymoon, which is fine because you were getting tired of going out every day / you made him soup with the small amount of food you'd bought at the local costco and he finally took to twitter to tell them how wonderful you were being

sapnap

i think he's taking you on 2 honeymoons, the first is for two weeks in texas to spend time with his family, just so you know you can always depend on them when you need them

the other is for three weeks in greece; the people, the culture, the food, he loves it and he wants to surround you in it

probably picked a hotel over a b&b

also on all the flights, during airport security, in taxis/ubers, when waiting for flights, in the hotel, he kept repeating the same words

mrs./mr./mx. armstrong, he just loves saying it, SO MUCH

”i love you, [mrs./mr./mx.] armstrong.” your newlywed husband spins you in his arms, pulling you flush against his chest. ”i know mr. armstrong, and i love you.” you press a kiss to his lips, trying to get out of his arms to get back to unpacking your suitcase

i think for activities, lots of lunches out and dinners in

also a whole lot of museums and art galleries and ancient ruins, spending time talking about greek mythology and your own theories and opinions on it

sap also sometimes calls you bro on accident and you sometimes call him dude still and all you guys can ever say about it is 'it is what it is'

”what are you gonna get, bro?” he asks as he closes his own menu. he didn't even realise what he said, but the waiter did, and he just watched with intent, unsure of what was happening. ”i don't know dude, whatever you're having i guess.” you close your menu. the waiter speaks up, ”i'm sorry i know it's none of my business but uhm- are you two not, married?” he sounds nervous, as if he thinks he's interrupted some secret affair. ”wh- what? we're married. we've been married.” sap is the one to point it out, taking your hand in his. ”ah, it was just how you called each other 'dude', and 'bro'.” the waiter laughs nervously, walking away with the order written down. in unison, ”it is what it is.”

i also think he takes you shopping because he believes the people who gave you the best wedding gifts should also get a gift in return in addition to a thank you card

lots of hand swinging with your left hand to show off your ring, and hugging in lines, and kissing-bordering-on-making-out in public, he just has no reason not to anymore, you're married

george

george couldn't decide where you went for awhile, so he asked of your friends and his friends and ended up at first with iceland (this is george guys remember) but then changed his mind and picked italy and romania, one week in each

b&b >>> hotels with george, he prefers the privacy

he spent months before the wedding trying to learn the basics of the italian and romanian languages despite how widespread english is

definitely takes you out to eat A BUNCH, except for two nights in each country where you and him cooked dinner for yourselves

you can expect lots of late mornings and late nights with george, he just can't get enough of his new spouse

definitely emphasises your last name being davidson whenever there's a reservation or when he feels the staff is being a little too forward

”last name?” the host asked, eyes glued to the kiosk screen in front of him. ”mr. and mx. davidson.” your husband smiled at you, giving your hand a gentle squeeze.

takes you to a store at the start of the trip so you have food where you're staying / bonus if you convince him to go to a farmers' market

every day of the trip you and him have set aside an hour to talk to your respective friends on the phone (he's louder)

also forgets to tell you that he booked a redeye for the first flight out of italy/romania because when he booked it he forgot he was planning for two people instead of just himself / he apologised a lot for it

”y/n i'm sorry, if i had been paying attention i would've booked it for later in the day tomorrow.” ”george, baby it's fine. i really don't mind. it's not like i'm going anywhere.” you flash him your ring with a smile to emphasise you point, to which he returns the smile before looking at his own ring.

he apologised again when the plane was about to take off

ted

i think ted takes you to japan for your honeymoon, at least for a week to try those capsule hotels that you and him been dying to try for months

i think he wants to go see all sorts of attractions in japan; theme parks, cat cafes, boardwalks, boat tours, and maybe take you to see an anime film (my brain is rotted from wanting to see an anime film in japan im sorry)

he booked a hotel because in the moment, it felt the easiest

even in japan he would get recognised, but not nearly as often as he did in the states and he would kindly turn down any fan who wanted a picture because he was busy on his honeymoon

lots of small kisses; at the end of a boardwalk, right before you sit down at restaurants, when you get back to the hotel room, when he brings you coffee, tea, or water in the morning, just outside the restaurant when you're leaving, when you two depart in a mall for a set time of 20 minutes

i think he likes seeing the trending tags on twitter surrounding your wedding

”what'ya smiling at, like an idiot baby?” you ask him, drying your hair with a towel from your recent shower, as you walk around from where your suitcase was to where he was stood in the mini kitchen. ”'the nivisons,' we're trending honey, that's all. i think it's sweet.” ”you know coming over here and giving me a kiss is even sweeter.” his phone is on the counter and he's encasing himself around you so fast.

he definitely texted his married friends for ideas when he started to run out / also before you left he logged into your pinterest on your computer and looked for anything he could use as an idea

you guys start binge-watching a new show while on your honeymoon and made inside jokes about it (yeah you became that couple)

holds your hand when you're walking around and getting into taxis and doing pretty much anything in public because he's scared he'll lose you in a crowd

he talks to you like he would a child. ”don't let go of my hand.” ”i won't ted, don't worry.” you shake your head at his antics once he turns away.

books a later in the afternoon flight out so that you can sleep in and he can pack for you and wake you up and get you out the door slowly, without a huge rush and stress

charlie

charlie takes you to 2 places, to start, you get 3 weeks in bali plus a week in new zealand (jrr tolkien/hobbit/lotr fans are gonna love this one)

in bali, he rents a whole house, 1 bedroom & 1 bathroom with a rate of $110 (usd) a night

while you're there, he takes you to sightsee places like gunung kawi temple, pura lempuyang luhur, ubud monkey forest, tukad cepung waterfall and holy spring (tirta empul)

of course wherever you go he insists on holding your hand, just to keep you close by

”baby you gotta let go of my hand i wanna take pictures.” your husband huffs a small, ”fine.” he releases your hand, but his hands find perch on your waist while you take pictures of the water, or the shops, or the wildlife, whatever.

definitely asks if he can use some of the pictures you took for his instagram story (it's the most he's ever used his insta story) and you tell him yes but only if you get to pick them / also on the same note, if either of you snap anyone during your honeymoon or just take selfies in general, they're always of you two kissing or giving each other cheek kisses in the house or at a restaurant or at a location you're visiting

he spends a lot of time just looking at your ring and how the ring on your finger looks against his fingers and vice versa with his ring against your fingers

”charlie?” he looks up from your intertwined hands in surprise. ”hm, what?” ”whatcha thinkin' about?” ”mmm, nothin', just admiring you.” he pressed a gentle kiss to your cheek, making you smile and a small tint to cover your cheeks.

in new zealand it's a hotel but it's a hobbit hole hotel, complete with tours of everything new zealand could offer about the tolkien's lord of the rings/hobbit universe

more eating out here than in bali despite how much more expensive it is

(if you're not a huge tolkien fan:) lots of thank yous from him for putting up with the trip so he could enjoy it // (if you are a huge tolkien fan:) a ton of excitement for both of you during the entire trip, and lots of talking about your own theories as you learn more about the fictional world

also vlogging the new zealand trip with charlie >>>> / and cataloging the film in the airport just before your flight for you to edit when you get home

schlatt

canada. idc, canada, that's where you're going. or iceland. somewhere cold.

i'm kidding, he told you that as a prank and then took you to australia (i apologise if you can't stand the animals there but this is schlatt we're talking about c'mon)

hotel over a b&b because even he, being the big guy that he is, was a little worried about finding a massive spider in the bed

probably quite a bit of alcohol that first night as a married couple

”y'so- god sweets y'so pretty.” schlatt twirled you around with one hand, beer bottle in the other. you giggled, the alcohol affecting your words and actions. you kept one hand tangled with his while the other held a grip on your bottle of beer. ”j..y'so handsome, you know that?” he blushed, and it must've been the alcohol because your boyfriend– husband now, never got flustered over something as small as that.

there's one night where you two go out dancing and when he sees all the prying eyes of the men and women around you, he makes sure to emphasise your ringed hands, keeping one of his hands planted firmly on your side

somehow you ended up going to see some aniaml fight with schlatt and when it got a little.. gory, you'd cover your eyes with your hands and tuck your head into his shoulder or his chest

”you alright baby?” he asked, flicking his eyes between you and the fight, arm around your shoulder, bringing you closer. ”i guess. jus'wanna leave though.” you whispered up into his ear and he nodded, waiting another minute before walking out with you tucked into his side, repeatedly asking you if you're really okay.

schlatt who takes you out to dinner every other night, with the rest of the nights being used to talk to both his and your friends and watch films together

also schlatt who believes in taking turns making lunch; whether it be sandwiches (it usually is), or pasta, a frozen pizza, etc, you take turns, after all you're married now, everything is 50/50

you probably both get sick at the end of the trip from something you ate and at first you were really worried, but he got better after a day and you two days after that

i also one hundred percent believe schlatt wanted to get home as soon as possible and picked an earlier in the morning flight / him plucking you from the bed three hours before your flight so you could shower and get ready, finish repacking, etc

pray4saint© do not copy, translate or repost my work without my express permission.

[fandomficsnstuff]

Heartwired-2

Warnings: A tiny bit of fluff before lot of angst and then some more fluff with a sad twist. Bon apetít mon chéris!<3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He hadn’t expected to see you at the TV station, writing in a small notepad in the corner, standing with one of the other officers. “Officer (Y/L/N)” Connor approached and you gave him a smile as you saw him, looking up from your notepad, the digital pen lifting from the small note-pad sized screen you had been writing on “hey, Connor. What a mess” you muttered and looked around, sighing heavily as you frowned, Connor’s LED blinking blue briefly, his eyes moving to your left hand where he saw your thumb playing with the chain in your ring again, this time in a more anxious way than usual, somehow, “you seem… uneasy” he pointed out and you looked at him, hesitating before nodding, looking up at the big screen with the paused face of the android leader that had hijacked the station “didn’t get much sleep” you muttered as though that was your explanation and Connor frowned, wondering if he should press you on it but you forced a smile that didn’t seem entirely authentic “the recording is on the display, there were three active androids in the room during the entire thing” you stepped back and he followed you, both of you standing back to look up at the large image displayed on the massive screen “the android seems to have removed it’s skin, making it harder to detect and recognize, which is smart. This entire thing feels… it feels so much more than just rebel androids” you admitted with a small grimace, looking up at him “the androids were in the back, the Security tapes are ready for you to view. I hope you can find something that we didn’t… let me know if I can help” you stated briefly and calmly, stepping back and walking over to one of the witnesses, writing in your digital notepad as you nodded along with the frantic person, keeping a calm and professional front yet he noticed the way you gently touched the man’s elbow when his breathing got more erratic, the soft lilt of your voice that he could scarcely hear from where he stood.

“Officer (Y/L/N)” Connor called as he viewed the security footage, calling you over and you stepped closer “yeah?”

“This moment right here,” he pointed to the footage where the Androids broke in, or rather, they were let in. You frowned as you watched the footage play, looking up at him before looking at the chair that was pushed back. Without saying anything you gently pushed him aside, pulling up the chair, sitting down in it as though you were working, a frown on your brows as you looked around the room, sitting there and he wondered. He wondered what was running through your mind, what you were thinking, what you thought… he hadn’t noticed his rigid posture easing up a little, his gaze softening as he looked at you, his LED blinking yellow briefly as his thoughts wandered without his permission, or notice… you were beautiful. The shape of your nose, your eyelashes that kissed your cheeks when you blinked, your brows that furrowed when you concentrated, the curve of your jaw, set in frustration and concentration… yes… beautiful… so beautiful-

“Connor!” you snapped, snapping him out of whatever trance he’d been in, his LED blinking rapidly, as did his eyes, just briefly, a few flutters and nothing more, “are you okay?” you asked more softly and he frowned “you were just-... staring at me” you admitted quietly and he blinked and looked down “I was sending a report to CyberLife, I apologize” he lied smoothly and you nodded, raising your brows as you looked back at the security footage “neat… wished I could’ve done that in school, just send a report in an instant” you mumbled to yourself before looking up at him “well, while you were writing or sending your report, I was mentioning that someone had to have let them in. See?” you asked and he leaned down, looking at the footage which you replayed for him, stopping when the door opened after the androids had pushed the call button “they didn’t force themselves in. Connor, they were let in” you revealed with a small grin, looking up at him and you watched his LED flicker briefly, your grin turning into a smirk “that’s kind of cute, you know” you pointed out casually, not even giving Connor a second to recover before you spoke up again “and this? This was the position of one of the androids. Connor,” you stood up, pulling him closer by his sleeve with giddiness “one of the androids let them in, one is deviant” you whispered, glancing at the break room and Connor’s eyes were locked on you. They weren’t full of realisation or surprise, they were soft and warm as they studied you, then turned to see what you were looking at and then he remembered everything and realized what you were hinting at. He turned to you, a small smile on his lips “thank you, Officer (Y/L/N), that was an astute observation, good catch” he stated loudly without shame before moving towards the break room and you blushed when you noticed that all eyes were on you after Connor’s loud praise. You cleared your throat and bit your lips together in a thin line to not grin, deciding to continue your job, slightly buzzing inside from Connor’s praise, discovering that little thing with him, it made you feel like a detective… the idea almost made you giddy. ‘Detective (Y/L/N)’... it had a nice ring to it…

Everything seemed to be going back to normal after Connor’s loud praise when suddenly an android, one of the working models, walked out of the break room, casual and calm and collected. You frowned, a strange feeling forming in your gut and you peeked into the break room, your eyes widening at what you saw. You rushed over, eyes widened in horror at what you were seeing. Connor, practically mangled, crawling on the floor towards a blue component thing, reaching weakly for it and without thinking you grabbed it and rushed over to him, turning him on his back. His hands, stained with blue blood, grabbed yours, using your hand to put the component in the hole in his chest, his hand squeezing yours and you squeezed his back “what the FUCK?” you snapped as Connor got up, you wanted to help him but you quickly got out of the way instead, watching him stumble out of the break room. You got up to run after him, reaching for your weapons as gunfire rang out and when you reached the hallway, you froze at what you saw, your eyes wide in shock. The worker android was dead, some SWAT soldiers were dead, and Connor… Connor was laying in a pool of blue blood, filled with bullets, Hank on his knees by him. You ran over, heart racing as you fell to your knees and turned him over quickly, desperate to do something, anything…

“(Y/N)... I’m so sorry-”

“What the fuck happened?!”

“It’s-... he-... Connor he-... jumped in front of me” Hank admitted and you let out a shaky breath, looking at Connor’s corpse, the blue blood that stained him, it felt like something had been taken from you… at the very least, android or not, he was your friend… at the very least…

You subtly took his limp hand in yours, hesitantly giving it a squeeze, hoping he’d squeeze it back like he did in the break room, but he didn’t. “Connor? Connor??” you gently slapped his cheeks, your hands stained with his blue blood, the bullets hadn’t gone through him… he’d succeeded in his mission when he protected Hank… “Connor, please” you whispered, trying to hide just how much this actually hurt, your voice even but strained, “sweetheart…” Hank whispered, taking your hand that was holding Connor’s, holding it with you and you swallowed thickly, jaw clenched, each muscle in your body strained to not cry… how the hell could all of this have happened in just a few seconds?!

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

It was 3 in the morning when the frantic knocking at your door began and you groaned, rubbing the sleep from your eyes as you moved through your small apartment, wearing some old short shorts and an oversized t-shirt as nightwear, “hang on! I’m coming, don’t rip the door off” you shouted and then mumbled to yourself, still half-asleep when you unlocked your door and opened it. “Someone better be dying” you growled, forcing your eyes open, your eyes staying open at what you saw. Or rather, who you saw. Connor. No bullet wounds, no blue blood dripping out of him, staining the blood, being the source of her nightmares over the last two days. “Hello, Officer (Y/L/N)-” you slammed the door immediately, eyes still wide, any hints of sleep kicked from your body as though you had spilled Red Ice into your coffee and had somehow injected the entire pot directly into your veins. There was a softer knocking on the door and as stupid and irrational as it may have been, you were scared to open it. For two days straight you’d been having nightmares, watching him die over and over and over again… yet here he stood, alive… maybe it was another nightmare? Maybe if you just-... ignored it and didn’t say or do anything, you’d wake up?

“Officer (Y/L/N), are you alright?”

His muffled voice from the other side of the door called out and you hesitated, visibly shaking as you opened the door barely a few inches, looking out at Connor, those warm brown eyes locked onto you, his head tilting a little at you, a look of concern on his features. “I understand it may be-... unsettling. I apologize for the late hour as well, but I felt as though it was necessary to visit your residence at this hour” he explained curtly and for a second, he seemed… not-Connor-ish… then he smiled a little at you “may I come in?” he asked in a more softer tone and you opened the door entirely, stepping aside, watching him walk inside, completely gobsmacked. Once he was inside, you closed the door after him, still staring at him as he took in your small, humble residence. “You died” you pointed out before he could say anything, watching him turn around to face you, an almost apologetic look on his face, as though his ‘death’ had been an inconvenience and he’d come to apologize for it. “Yes, I’m aware that it could be taken that way-”

“‘taken that way’??” you asked sharply, crossing your arms over your chest as you took a few steps closer to him, your thumb fiddling endlessly with the chain in your ring, as though it soothed you “you died” you reminded him harshly, a frown on your brows and Connor’s LED flickered briefly to yellow in slight confusion at your anger. “I saw you, you were dead” you continued “you were filled with bullets, bleeding on the floor, dead…” you elaborated quietly yet still with a seething anger. “I watched you die, Connor…” you reminded him again, stopping when you were standing almost chest to chest with him “and now you’re here like-... like that didn’t happen?! I know you’re an android, Connor, but that’s not normal for humans! That’s not normal for anyone! You died… don’t you get that??” you asked sharply, Connor studying you closely, how close you stood, your anger… yet, if you were so angry, why were there tears in your eyes? Were the tears because you were angry? His LED flickered between blue and yellow in confusion. “I apologize for any distress” he finally chose to say, watching your anger crumble, a shaky breath leaving you as you looked up at him, frowning at him “you died, and you apologize for it?” you asked quietly, Connor unaware that the question was more rhetorical than aimed at him, so of course, he answered “I suppose I am, yes” he stated plainly and you looked down, blinking, wiping away your tears, pinching the bridge of your nose in what seemed like frustration. Your hands were trembling, your breath ragged and shallow, as though you were fighting a heavy battle against something, something he couldn’t see or hear or feel or help with. After a few seconds of silence you looked back up at him, fresh tears in your eyes and you lingered, looking up at him before stepping impossibly closer, standing on the tip of your toes as you wrapped your arms around him in a hug, holding him close as you sighed, breath a little ragged “don’t do that to me again… don’t leave me like that” you whispered quietly, feeling his arms slowly wrap around you, your eyes closing in contentment, Connor’s synthetic heart banging against his ribs as he held you.

You surrounded him entirely. The smell of your shampoo lingered in his nostrils with his head next to yours, your warmth radiating off of you against his bionic frame with his arms wrapped around you, pressing you against him. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about what Kamski said, what he tried to make him do… what he himself failed to do… all he’d have to do was shoot the android and then they’d have everything that Kamski knew about the deviants… but he didn’t, he couldn’t… he’d been walking for almost hours when he’d found himself at your apartment, knocking on the door, as though you were some kind of cure for the turmoil inside of him, as though he needed your reassurance that it was the right thing to not shoot that android, despite not getting the information they came from. Hank had said so, but Hank was not you… unlike Hank, you made him feel better about his choices, you made him feel. He wondered if this was deviancy… it couldn’t be, he couldn’t be a deviant… but if this was deviancy… it didn’t feel all that bad…

“You can’t just-... do that… you’re my friend, Connor, I care about you…” you elaborated in a shaky whisper, showing no sign of wanting to let go and Connor was fine with that, his synthetic heart racing. Friend. He had a friend… he had a friend, a real one. CyberLife didn’t matter in this moment, his mission, his instructions. Right now, Connor had a friend and he was hugging her and he was fine with that change in priorities. More than fine. He would stand here forever if he could, holding you in his arms, breathing in your scent. He didn’t need to breathe, but the only reason he ever wanted to was to smell you, the smell of your shampoo mixing with your body lotion, the faint remnants of perfume that he could smell you hadn’t re-applied since the TV station incident. “You can’t just-... be a hero and die on me, okay? I don’t care if you can have your memories shipped around in a truck or something like-... they’re just storage waiting to be shipped back home or something… don’t do that to me again” you continued in a shaky whisper, clinging to him a little tighter and Connor could hear in the shakiness of your voice that you without a doubt was on the verge of crying in his arms. “I won’t” he promised, his LED flickering to yellow briefly “I promise” he added. In this moment, right here, right now, his mission felt-... useless. Unimportant… as though keeping this promise was his new mission… he could feel the Thirium rushing in his artificial veins, his chest thrumming with artificial life, and yet it felt so… real? Like it wasn’t just artificial, like his ‘blood’ wasn’t blue but red, like the components he was made up of were just ordinary organic parts… in his opinion, if he could feel anything, you would make him feel… alive. His arms tightened a little bit around you at the thought, his LED once again blinking yellow, his eyes closing as he held you, his LED turning to a peaceful blue, a soothing feeling overtaking him, his circuits… Maybe this was why humans loved hugging so much? Because of this warm, comforting feeling, this feeling of reassurance, of care and warmth.

He had a friend.

[mochiotomedumplings]

on sunday's viewpoints and beliefs

more on sunday's philosophy and reasons for the Order (we got so much time with him yet the human heart is insatiable)

sunday’s noted to have “a desire for dominance”

part 1 | part 2

one of his key points was that most ppl - the weak - don’t know how to live the right way and he is able to provide that guidance as their new “master”. he truly believes this is the way to achieve happiness for everyone (the only way because suffering in reality is immutable). he isn’t wrong that there will always be suffering in life. what’s wrong is the other part that asserts he knows The Right Way for other ppl - which is why firefly asked him if he thinks she’s weak, aka “you think i don’t know how to live and need your guidance ?” or “you think i don’t have a future ?”

when he saw the suffering of the ppl in the dream, mirrored by the dove’s plight and robin’s almost-death, it affected him a lot even if he didn’t go deep into it. see his journal for the entry on watching the dove try to fly, and “nightmares through countless nights” with robin’s event. it’s presumptuous of him, yes, to believe he could decide how ppl should live, yet it is fueled by a genuine desire to protect them. this is the same argument parents make when forcing their opinion on their children - the intent is good, but the method is wrong.

and he’s not beyond using rhetorics and his persuasiveness to pull you into his viewpoints. after all, he genuinely wants to make everyone happy - and at least, wrong method aside he at least talked about it, and wanted a fight to prove he’s right. “i think i know what you (and other ppl) want, so fight me and prove i’m wrong if you think otherwise.” this is why he was not beyond saving, because he was willing to lose and be proven wrong. that’s why during his boss fight, he was most affected when robin started singing - not just because it’s robin, but that was the point where the “lost souls” he was guiding in the dream wanted to wake up. it’s already shaken his belief that the dream was what ppl wanted. but still, he wanted and believed that the order could save others. for order… for the security that order brings.

in his final phase he said “if your ‘paradise’ can save more people, sever my path with your hands”. symbolically it’s the struggle to leave the dream and wake up to choose reality over certain happiness in escapism. it’s trying to convince someone who’s lost faith in reality that happiness in the dream is not true, because ppl will choose to wake up in the end, and ppl - the weak - can and will do this, as seen when they wanted to leave ena’s dream which made sunday actually defeatable. he wanted to prove his point with the fight, and had ppl not woken up he would have won.

and so, he too must wake up. he was humbled, and now must feel the “pain” of reality - what he had done, the weight of failure. but he did not lack the courage to face it even if he would cry, and so continues to find a way to paradise despite such a failure (welt’s line about him).

he believed and fought with all his heart, then fell and changed with all his might. it makes sense why ppl wanted to follow him, someone steadfast in his ideals yet not shy away from confronting his wrongs, learning to accept what he hates and changing for the better. i love him, mistakes and all.

fallen he is, still his soul shines like the sun

[crystalninjaphoenix]

A Final Straw

A JSE Fanfic

SepticHeroes AU: Part 38

First Part | Previous Part | Read on AO3 at CrystalNinjaPhoenix

I got into the flow of this story so quickly guys. I wrote like 3500 words in a day lol And then another 3500 more. Which like, I'm very happy about because a lot of personal stuff has happened but I managed to get this done anyway. Anyway, this chapter is about Marvin and Schneep. The two of them decide to once again try infiltrating SepTech in the hope of finding proof that McLoughlin is connected to Anti-Virus. And oh boy do they find something. Hope you enjoy! ^-^

===============

Schneep sat on a bench in Neun Park, idly looking around. It was a cloudy day, so not many people were out and about. Perfect. It meant he and Marvin wouldn’t need to talk too quietly during their meeting.

After the two of them had both visited JJ at the safe house yesterday, Marvin had pulled Schneep aside, both of them standing on the front stoop of the house. “We need to talk more about the SepTech stuff,” he muttered. “Can you meet me at the park tomorrow?”

And so, here Schneep was. Technically he was on his lunch break, but Marvin seemed very serious when he pulled him aside, so he figured it was worth the travel time from Greengate General. He’d been waiting here for a bit, though. They’d agreed to meet at one thirty, and it was now one forty-three. Marvin was late. And if he was too late, Schneep would have to leave and they’d have to meet up some other time—oh no wait, there he is. Walking down the sidewalk towards the park. Schneep narrowed his eyes and whistled for his attention.

Marvin jumped slightly, on edge. He only relaxed a little once he realized Schneep was the source of the sharp noise. Visibly annoyed, he hurried over. “No need to draw so much attention,” Marvin grumbled.

“There is literally nobody else in sight,” Schneep said, straight-faced. “And you are thirteen minutes late.”

“You counted?”

“Of course I did. I told you I only had an hour. Not even that much, if we take train times into account. What took so long?”

Marvin scowled. “My boss told me to help out another coworker with her duties cause she was a bit swamped. But the moment I appeared to help, she fucking disappeared, and I had to edit everything myself. Fucking asshole. I know for a fact she had nothing else to do, it’s not like the station is that big.” He shook his head. “Anyway. Sorry.”

“You should have just left once your lunch break came around,” Schneep said. “It was not your responsibility to do her job.”

“Well I really don’t want to risk rocking the boat at all. I need this job, and not just for the money. It’s the only way I can stay ahead of the rest of the news, a lot of the time. Which is a great segue to what I wanted to talk to you about.” Marvin sat down on the bench next to Schneep. “So you know how you found those weaponized SAMs in Dr. McLoughlin’s lab, right? And you know how the League was keeping an eye on McLoughlin because of that, right?”

“Yes... what happened?” Schneep asked. “Did they find something out?”

“No, but word of it is finally coming out to the public,” McLoughlin said. “Channel Five is going to run a story on it tomorrow. The League isn’t going to be happy about it, since it puts SepTech in a bad light. SepTech provides a lot of their gadgets, after all. But I guess they can’t do much to stop them.”

Schneep blinked. “Interesting. So this has spurred you to action, has it?”

Marvin smiled slightly. “You know me so well. If McLoughlin really is working with Anti-Virus—or even is Anti-Virus—he’ll want to hide everything more securely now, knowing that people will be watching him closer. The court of public opinion, you know. It’ll be much more difficult for us to find proof of his activities. We need to act fast.”

“Tonight?” Schneep asked.

“The sooner, the better,” Marvin said. “If you can’t, I’ll do it myself.”

“Ah ah ah.” Schneep raised a hand. “You have not yet told me what the plan is. I cannot decide to join if I don’t know what your plan is.”

“Oh... well, I only have a vague idea so far,” Marvin said. “We go into one of the SepTech locations and try to find files.”

“Physical files? If McLoughlin is working with a technopath like Anti-Virus, the files are likely to be all online,” Schneep pointed out.

Marvin was silent for a minute. “Right. Well, we’ll need to find some way to hack into the servers, then. I can find something to help, though. I’ll talk to the Dismantler’s family, they sell that sort of stuff. If I do that after work, I could probably get something by tonight.”

Schneep chuckled. “Very well. Sounds like a good enough ‘vague idea’, but we need to elaborate. Which location? Are we just checking out the North one, with the laboratory?”

“If there’s any physical proof about what McLoughlin is doing, it’s probably going to be there,” Marvin said. “Unless he decided to move it all since Jackie found the SAMs... eh, but if we’re going to look for online files, it doesn’t really matter what location we’re looking in, is it? SepTech all uses one system.”

“Well if they are good about their cyber security, files specific to a location should be stored in the location in question,” Schneep said.

“Hm.” Marvin frowned. “Maybe they have that, but I know SepTech also has a system that connects all the buildings in Daindover. Some sort of network. Channel Five did a thinkpiece on it online once. And Jackie once mentioned that McLoughlin had a systemwide digital assistant, that can’t work without a system in the first place.”

“Hm, true.” Schneep nodded slowly. “And if McLoughlin is involved with a technopath with a software focus, then he would want a connected network so he can have access to everything. I see, I see...” He checked the watch he was wearing for the time. “What time are you thinking about doing this?”

“It depends on how fast I can get something from my sources, if I can get anything at all,” Marvin said. “What if I just text you? I can say ‘hey you forgot something earlier today, want me to drop it off?’ and you can say ‘no that’s fine, we’ll meet tomorrow.’ But we’ll actually both leave to meet up outside the North SepTech location.”

They quickly hashed out the details of where they’ll meet, and what they’ll do once they decide to infiltrate the SepTech building. With their time limit, they couldn’t figure out everything, but they came up with the basic idea of Schneep using his powers to get in, then let Marvin in from inside and be a lookout for him as he did the majority of the searching for information. 

And soon after that, they both had to hurry to get back to their respective workplaces before their lunch breaks ended.

===============

Later that night, Schneep donned his Specter costume and hurried across the city. It was easy to travel while invisible, since he could sneak aboard any train without a ticket.

Marvin was waiting in full Spitfire Cat gear in an alleyway across the street from the North SepTech building. As Schneep walked up to him, he could see Marvin fidgeting with a small item in his hand. But Marvin couldn’t see him.

Hmm... a perfect opportunity for a prank, maybe? No, wait. Bad idea. Marvin’s powers could hit Schneep even while he was intangible, and he didn’t want to be burned by a ten-inch-wide beam of solid-heat energy. So he simply popped into view in front of the alleyway. “I—”

Marvin shouted in surprise and shot a beam of orange energy at Schneep.

Luckily, Schneep was able to duck in time, going limp and dropping to the ground. “Marvin! It is me!”

“Shit, sorry, Sch—Specter!” Marvin relaxed. “I guess I’m a bit on edge.”

“On edge? It is just a normal heist.” Schneep got to his feet. “We go in, we get information, we get out. Speaking of which, did you manage to find something to hack the system?”

“Heh. You make it sound like a TV show.” Marvin grinned. “All ‘I’m in’ and stuff. Anyway, yes, I have.” He held up the thing he was messing with. It looked like a normal USB stick, except with some green circuit patterns on the metal plug part. “Got it from the Dismantler’s family. It was made by one of the first technopaths, Net Work. Or... well, technically it’s based on something made by him, since back in Net Work’s day people still used floppy discs. But the Dismantler and her father both assured me it could easily hack any computer system and copy down files.”

“Huh. Interesting.” Schneep nodded slightly. “In any case, ready to check this place out?”

Marvin tapped his ear, where he had on the radio earpiece they’d used for the jailbreak. “Ready. Call me when I can go in.” He gestured for Schneep to go on. “Lead the way.”

It was easy enough for Schneep to get in. He could spot the dark circles on the walls that were SepTech cameras. It was easy to sneak past them last time, but he decided to avoid them now, just in case they’d been upgraded with infrared vision since his last infiltration. He made his way through a blank spot on the wall. Once inside, he was able to navigate more freely, heading to a side entrance to block off the camera feeds. He brought a tiny bottle of black paint for the express purpose of covering them.

“Alright, Spitfire, head around the left side of the building,” Schneep reported once he’d done just that. “There is an employee entrance that way. Once I see you, I will open it from the inside.”

“On my way,” Marvin reported, and only a few minutes later he was in sight. Schneep pushed it open, which looked very strange since he remained invisible while doing so. Marvin slipped through the gap. “Hm... maybe I should’ve worn street clothes?”

“No, it is fine, this is why I will be the lookout,” Schneep said. “Now... we just need to find a computer with system access and also a USB port for your... hacking device.”

Marvin chuckled. “It’s called a NetBreak.” He glanced around. “Hm... maybe this would be easier if I just handed this to you and had you do it.”

“Why all this doubt now?” Schneep asked, mildly annoyed.

“You’re right, you’re right, it’s too late. I’m just noticing flaws now that I hadn’t thought about in my rush to get here.” Marvin took a deep breath. “At least if something goes wrong now, we can back each other up. Now let’s go.”

Schneep nodded. “Head forward, I will be around you. But invisible.”

The two of them carefully walked forward, both of them keeping an eye out for cameras. There would be less of them inside, in all likelihood, but they still shouldn’t let their guard down. Schneep had been caught last time because of a motion sensing camera in the lab, after all. Who knew how many more of those there were in this location?

===============

God, was it already past midnight?! McLoughlin stared at the clock in the corner of the computer screen, blinking slowly. Time always seemed to move so fast when he was working. One moment, it was nine pm, the next, it was 12:30. “Jeez,” he muttered to himself. He took the remote out of his pocket. “Hey, display my outline for the SAM upgrade project.”

The image on the computer screen switched from blueprints to a series of written bullet points. McLoughlin leaned forward, scanning the writing. He had to read each of the points a couple times to really process them, but he was about halfway done. Good! He loved when things went smoothly.

He should probably take a break. Normally, he could work for a couple more hours, but tonight he must have been extra tired. Bummer. He’d been so tired lately, even though he was pretty sure he wasn’t doing enough to make him so exhausted. Perhaps burnout was approaching. All the years of working on project after project. It would be worth it, though. He would be able to change the world.

“Alright, SAM, time to wrap it up for the night,” he said, leaning back in his chair and stretching. His special SAM perked up at the sound of his voice, recognizing the command of ‘wrap it up’. “Hm... should I brush my teeth tonight?” He chuckled. “Yeah, probably. There’s no technology that could fix cavities, and I’ve already forgotten a lot recently.”

It was fairly early in the night... well, early for him, at least. He could probably head home no problem, just catching one of the night trains to get back. No need to crash in his makeshift bedroom in the lab. Though... he’d been a bit concerned about the lab recently. He kept thinking about that one night when the alarm woke him up in the middle of the night claiming there was motion detected in his bedroom while he was sleeping. It was probably just him moving out of the blind spot in the camera, but... with everything else going on, it left him uneasy. Maybe he should install more cameras—no, wait, he already did that, didn’t he?

“Unusual activity detected,” said the familiar robotic voice.

“Gah!” McLoughlin jumped in surprise. “What?” He took out his remote, speaking into it. “Explain further. What sort of unusual activity? Where?”

“Unauthorized download of files,” the voice said. “Located on floor five. Database being breached.”

“Well defend the database!” McLoughlin said. Was the interface not doing that already? That’s what it was made for, that’s why it was so adaptable. Well, obviously it was made for more than that. So much more. But not everything worked out perfectly.

“The program is proving difficult to deal with, but firewall defense is in progress,” the interface’s voice said.

“Are there cameras in the room the hack is coming from?” McLoughlin asked. “Can you display the feed from them, if so?”

The nearby computer screen flickered and then switched to the feed from a security camera positioned high up in the corner of a large space. Looked like one of the office floors, with rows of endless cubicles. A figure was bent over in front of a computer in one of these cubicles, their back to the camera. Were they wearing a cape? That was some sort of supervillain, wasn’t it?! McLoughlin leaned closer, squinting. This man was also wearing a mask of some sort with some pointy bits. “Are those... cat ears? A villain wearing a cat mask?”

“The closest match is Spitfire Cat,” the interface said.

“Spitfire Cat? I don’t—whoa, hey!” SAM had suddenly flown up into the air and was gently bumping his arm. McLoughlin looked down at it. “What? What is it?”

SAM looked up at him as well, the camera lens focusing on his face. A small spinning circle appeared in the corner of McLoughlin’s vision.

McLoughlin’s mechanical eye flickered, its iris going through the cycle of possible color options before landing on a red color. His posture relaxed, and he nodded. “Something must be done.” He turned to the side, walking towards the lab entrance. “Let’s send out the security force.”

===============

What was that? Some sort of... humming sound? Schneep frowned, confused. He looked around for the source of it. There was nothing in sight, so he started walking around, listening for the sound to get louder. It was coming from down the hallway. He walked past a spot on the wall, completely nondescript... but that’s where the humming was coming from. Strange. Were there some electronics in there kicking into high gear? But... what?

Curious, Schneep leaned through the wall, looking around. It was dark beyond, but he simply turned on the night vision in his goggles—and immediately gasped in shock. There were SAMs here! Hidden in a tiny room. He glanced over his shoulder and saw a futuristic metal door, the sort meant to slide to open. This room—it was built secretly, deliberately. Was it made to store these SAMs specifically?

The humming noise was coming from the SAMs’ hovering mechanism. They were turning on, sliding off the shelves lining the room one at a time. Once they were all active, he saw a tiny red light flick on above the camera attachment... and then instantly, all the Machines turned to look at him. Attachments on the side slid open, and out popped some sort of dart guns.

“Scheisse!” Schneep cursed, running out of the room just in time to avoid the darts that were fired at him. The secret room’s door slid open and the SAMs began pouring out, flying after him. They must have had infrared vision or something, because he was invisible! He ducked through another wall to avoid the next barrage of darts. He ended up in a small break room area, with sofas and a small kitchenette. “Spitfire!” he shouted into his earpiece. “Fucking emergency happening!”

“What?!” Marvin’s voice came over the radio. “What is it?!”

“More SAMs with weapons! They are active and coming after me! Possibly you too!”

“What?!” Marvin shouted. There was a slight pause, then he cursed. “I haven’t gotten nearly enough info onto the NetBreak! Whatever firewall this system uses is fucking beefy!”

“I can try to lead them away from you, but there are a lot of them!” Schneep hissed. “Some may already be heading your way!”

The break room’s door burst open, pushed down by three SAMs flying at it. Two black ones and a red one. They all immediately locked onto Schneep. The red one made a beeline for him while the others fired their darts.

Schneep yelped and went completely intangible, falling down through the floor to the room below this one. Some sort of storage closet. “Change of plans, I have fallen down to the fourth floor to avoid them,” he said.

“Why?!” Marvin shouted.

“To avoid them, I just said so! I was in a room with one entrance, there was no other way out!” Schneep opened up the closet door—and gasped as he saw a handful of SAMs fly past. “Fuck! Spitfire, there are more on this floor! We need to get out of here!”

“Okay, okay! We’ll make do with what we managed to get so far,” Marvin said. “I’ll meet you at the same entrance we—oh shit!”

“Spitfire? Spitfire!” Schneep yelled into the earpiece but received no answer.

The lights in the hallway turned red. “Security alert. Security alert.” The robotic voice came on over a speaker. “Intruders found in the building. All employees are advised to stay at their stations. Do not panic.”

A few doors along this hallway opened up, confused faces looking out. Someone shouted, pointing at the SAMs. A blue one turned towards them at the sound of their voice. The person quickly retreated into the door they’d come from, but the blue SAM continued to turn, seemingly scanning the hallway. Probably looking for Schneep or Marvin!

Schneep retreated into the storage closet and ran through the back wall, taking a shortcut into another part of the building. Getting out of here would be no problem for him. But what about Marvin?! He knew Marvin suggested that they meet up at the side entrance, but... maybe he should go find him, anyway?

He ran out into a hallway—only to get immediately spotted by a green SAM. An attachment opened up, a door sliding open on the top and a long, thin thing popping out. A thin beam of red light shot at Schneep. He cried out as it hit his stomach, burning into him! Quickly, he dodged back the way he came. That was a laser! He patted his stomach, hissing. It burned right through his costume, a line that swiped across his midsection as a result of his dodging. Okay, these were more of a threat than he expected. If they had energy attacks, they could hurt him even while he was intangible... as that one just had.

Part of the wall started to glow red. Wait a minute. Was the SAM trying to cut through the wall?! Panicking, Schneep dropped through the floor again, landing on the third story. “Spitfire, I am going to linger as much as I can,” he said into the earpiece. “In case you need help. But these things can hurt me, so I may need to flee soon.”

Marvin did not respond.

===============

“Okay, okay! We’ll make do with what we managed to get so far,” Marvin said, pulling the NetBreak out of the computer he’d plugged it into. “I’ll meet you at the same entrance we—”

Crash! A SAM flew through a frosted glass door nearby, shattering it. The camera lens immediately locked onto Marvin and a compartment on its underside slid open. A large gun dropped down, firing at Marvin.

“Oh shit!” Marvin threw up a shield, but it wasn’t enough. The heavy projectile was like a cannonball. It slammed against the shield and the shield slammed into Marvin, knocking him down. His supersuit hissed upon contact with the solid-heat energy, burning slightly but luckily taking the brunt of the damage so his skin wasn’t hurt by his own energy. Marvin laid there for a moment, stunned. Schneep was yelling in the earpiece but he couldn’t respond.

Then the SAM flew into view, aiming that cannon-like attachment at him. And adrenaline kicked in. Marvin shot to his feet and jumped onto the nearby desk, then vaulted over the cubicle wall. The SAM fired a cannonball at the spot he’d just been, then turned to follow him.

Other SAMs were pouring into the room through the hole in the glass door. Most of them were black, but there were a handful of other colors, too. All of them had various weapons out and aimed at him. Marvin ran, keeping a dome of a shield around him. It managed to stop the smaller darts and lasers, but one of those cannonballs would be disastrous. Luckily, those ones seemed to be slower to load and fire than the others, and much rarer too.

Normally Marvin would feel bad for causing property damage... oh, who was he kidding, he would never feel bad for causing SepTech property damage. He’d never liked their alliance with the League of Heroes. But he felt even less remorse now as he ran at a wall, sending out a fan of solid heat energy to cut his way through. He kicked down the remaining supports and ran out into the hallway.

The lights out here were red. “Security alert. Security alert,” repeated a mechanical voice from a speaker. “Intruders found in the building. All employees are advised to stay at their stations. Do not panic.” Then it started the message over.

More SAMs came flying down the hallway towards him. “Fuck!” Marvin cursed, sending out beams of energy towards them. He aimed at the main bodies of the Machines, but missed a few times, only shearing off their peripheral “tails” or the weapon attachments. A barrage of darts hit the backside of his dome shield and he glanced over his shoulder to see more SAMs coming from the opposite direction. These things were converging on him! They must be coordinating with each other somehow!

He took a deep breath and charged forward, blades of glowing energy slicing through SAMs as he got close. He managed to run through them without getting injured—

“Gah!” No sooner had he thought how lucky that was, then he felt something pierce his legs. He looked down and saw some darts lodged in his lower shins and calves. “Shit.” It was never good to be shot with a dart. Because you never knew what they were meant to contain. He had to get out of here before whatever that was took effect!

His mind scrambled for a solution, and he remembered how Schneep had simply fallen through the floor to avoid the SAMs earlier. Couldn’t he do that too? He looked down at the floor and conjured up a pair of glowing yellow blades, directing them to saw around him in a circle. They did so, and the floor beneath him broke. He landed with a crash on the next floor down, making sure to bend his knees to take the fall.

He’d landed in some sort of office. A woman screamed in fear as he appeared, cowering beneath her desk. “Sorry!” he said. “Don’t worry, SepTech can afford repairs!” He cut through the floor here as well, continuing downwards in a straight line. Above him, SAMs were flying after him, firing more darts and lasers, but were all blocked by his shield.

Once he was on the ground floor he sprinted to the exit, running until he recognized the path he’d taken to get in here. “Specter!” he shouted into the earpiece. “I’m heading for the exit now!”

“Ah, coming to meet you!” Schneep said.

Marvin said nothing more, just ran, quickly losing the SAMs in the twists and turns of the hallways. He knew how to get back to the exit, he did, he did!

The shield around him flickered.

Marvin gasped, stumbling a little. He hadn’t dropped concentration, there was no reason his shield should flicker. Unless... those darts he’d been hit with... Were they full of neutrinalin?

He stalled for a second to bend over and yank the darts out, wincing at the pain. One of them had about a quarter of the vial still full. He could see the distinct pale lavender color. “Fuck!” he hissed. That was definitely neutrinalin! And he’d been hit with, what, four of them? His powers were going to fade fast.

But luckily, he could see the exit now. He ran for the door. “Specter, where are you?!” he hissed.

A figure suddenly appeared in front of the door—Schneep, his features totally hidden behind his mask, goggles, and hood. He pushed open the door and gestured for Marvin to hurry. Marvin put on another burst of speed. His shield flickered again, and he shouted in surprise as a laser hit the back of his shoulder. No time to worry about that!

The two of them burst out into the side alley, and immediately both ran for the front of the building. “What is up with your shield?!” Schneep asked. “Are you okay?!”

“They have darts full of neutrinalin!” Marvin said. “I got hit.”

“Fuck!” Schneep glanced back over his shoulder. “There are so many of them! Take some out before your powers fade!”

Marvin nodded. He spun around, sending out a wave of yellow-hot energy. It burned and smashed against a good number of the SAMs, but even more of them were coming!

And for a split second before turning back around, he saw him. McLoughlin, wearing a rumpled white coat, walked out of the side entrance. His face... In all the pictures and videos Marvin had seen of him, McLoughlin looked very cheerful, very smiley. But now... his expression was totally blank. And his right eye glowed red.

Marvin shivered, then ran forward, putting on a boost of speed. He put up a curved shield around himself and Schneep, but it felt harder to do than usual. That would disappear soon. They had to get to a safe place before that happened! “Come on, we have to lose them!”

Schneep nodded. He’d looked over his shoulder as well, no doubt seeing the same number of SAMs, as well as McLoughlin. He grabbed Marvin’s hand and pulled him onwards, dodging around a lamp post for protection from the SAMs.

McLoughlin simply stood there and watched them run.

===============

It was a boring night patrol. Jackie sat up on top of one of the tall skyscrapers downtown, bracing himself against the slippery slope of the glass roof. He had his old police scanner radio with him. He knew that the Red Line could alert him to crimes happening in the area, but he’d never turned that feature on, preferring this way of doing things. In fact, he hadn’t even brought the Red Line with him tonight. He just felt weird about it.

He looked up into the sky. There were never many stars visible in Daindover, what with all the light pollution created by a big city. But sometimes he imagined flying so high that the city lights wouldn’t have any effect on the night. It would be so beautiful up there... but everything down here would be so small. That might be nice. But he couldn’t fly that high. No hero could.

He’d been up on a rooftop like this the day he’d been accepted into the League. The day he met Chase. Things had changed so much since that day. Was he... the same person he was back then?

Noise came from the police scanner. “Reports are coming in from the North SepTech location, multiple calls from within the building. Employees are reporting intruders, as well as Semi-Autonomous Machines with ‘guns’ of some sort.”

Weaponized SAMs?! Jackie sat up straight, starting to slide a little on the sleek roof. He grabbed the police scanner and shoved it into a pouch on his belt. He had to check this out! Without stopping to think, he pushed himself off the roof and launched into the sky, shooting through the air towards the North SepTech building.

The North building... that was where McLoughlin’s lab was! The one with the secret room of SAMs in the first place! It couldn’t be a coincidence. Were there more in there? Ones they hadn’t discovered? But—how? The police and the League must have combed the building!

His thoughts raced as he zoomed through the sky, high above the city. It was cold up here, but travel was so much faster when you didn’t have to go around obstacles like buildings. Only a few minutes later, he started diving back down towards the streets, scanning the roads below for any signs of anything going wrong. The scanner said that employees inside the building were calling the police about this, but there might be things to see in the surrounding area—is that Marvin?!

Yes, it was! He would recognize that Spitfire Cat costume anywhere! And with him... that purple costume. Schneep, as the Specter? What were they doing here?!

The answer to that question revealed itself when Jackie looked a bit further down the street. A swarm of SAMs! They were chasing Schneep and Marvin, firing at them from various weapons. Right now they were too far away to hit, and Schneep and Marvin were effectively dodging and weaving around lamp posts, trash cans, benches, and decorative trees. But the SAMs were catching up.

Panic and anger flooded Jackie’s mind. He dropped like a rock, rocketing to the ground. He landed hard (maybe a bit too hard) right in between his friends and the SAMs. Then, with a mighty shout and all his concentration, he pushed all the air forward, creating a gust of mighty wind. The sudden attack sent all the SAMs flying, beeping faintly as their hovering mechanisms tried and failed to compensate for the turbulence.

“Ja—Windstorm!” Schneep gasped, skidding to a halt and looking back at him. “What are you doing here?!”

“Getting you, apparently!” Jackie said. He ran for the two of them, wrapping one arm around each. Marvin yelped in surprise. “Hold onto me!”

Confused, both Schneep and Marvin wrapped their arms around Jackie. He jumped into the sky, rising quickly. Schneep screamed in fear, and Jackie would have teased him about the high-pitched sound if this wasn’t a clearly very serious situation. Instead, he simply flew away, putting as much distance between them and the SAMs.

He didn’t stop until he’d put a good few streets between them and the SAMs. Then, he slowly lowered to the ground in an empty park. No, wait... that was a graveyard. He probably should’ve spotted the church. But it was too late, this was where they were landing, so they all had to deal with the spookiness. At least it was guaranteed to be empty. 

“Hooooly shit!” Marvin stumbled. “That—that—f-fast! Fast!” He leaned against a nearby headstone. Then he realized what he was leaning against and quickly jerked backwards. “Ah... sorry,” he muttered to the stone.

Schneep sat down on the ground, looking very shaken. “Afraid of heights?” Jackie asked him.

“F-fast,” Schneep said, repeating the same thing Marvin had.

“Well, yeah, I had to get you away from those things,” Jackie said. “SAMs can fly, but they’re not fast. And they can’t go more than two meters off the ground, or about seven feet, I think. So flying high and fast was the best solution.” He looked back and forth between the two of them. “Do, uh... do you guys need a moment before I start asking you questions?”

“I think I’m good,” Marvin muttered. “But I have a question of my own. What were you doing there?! I mean, I’m glad you were, but—were you on patrol?”

“Yep.” Jackie nodded. He quickly explained the thing about SepTech employees calling about intruders and SAMs. “Which, now that I think about it...” He narrowed his eyes. “Okay, I don’t want to be too suspicious, but... you’ve both broken into places before—in fact, Schneep broke into that exact building before—”

“Yes, we were the intruders,” Schneep said, climbing to his feet.

“Why?! And what could’ve possibly led to those SAMs being there and chasing you?!”

Schneep and Marvin glanced at each other. “You explain,” Marvin said shortly. Schneep sighed, and did so, telling Jackie all about their plan to infiltrate the North SepTech location to see if there was anything suspicious about McLoughlin.

Jackie listened. Annoyed at first, though that was soon replaced by a sinking feeling. “You... you guys shouldn’t have done that,” he stammered. “I-I’ve been keeping an eye on McLoughlin. I haven’t found anything—”

“Yeah, because all the illegal shit was kept in secret rooms!” Marvin interrupted. “I’ll bet good money that he’s been doing this for a while. That storage room Specter here found was probably for the SAMs that were still under construction. Once they were done, he shipped them off. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were some in other SepTech buildings!”

Jackie hated to admit that made sense. “I just... maybe Anti-Virus was infiltrating the building at the same time you were?”

Schneep shook his head. “The SAMs only went after us, ignoring all other employees. Why do you think that is? Because I think it makes the most sense if they were defending the building, stopping us from finding things out. Even if McLoughlin is not Anti-Virus himself, there is no doubt that he is at least working with him. Otherwise, the SAMs would not come to get us. It would be the normal SepTech security force.”

“Yeah, and those things had neutrinalin!” Marvin added. “That shit’s hard to get on the black market cause the League keeps a tight hold on it. If Anti-Virus was just some random villain, he’d have trouble getting enough to fill up those dart guns. But if he had connections to the League—like through SepTech—”

“And McLoughlin was there!” Schneep added suddenly.

“Oh, you saw him too?” Marvin asked. “I thought you did.”

“Wait, you guys saw him?” Jackie asked.

Marvin nodded. “He watched us leave. And... that expression on his face...” He shuddered. “I’ve seen a lot of villains in my lifetime. The ones that had blank looks like that were always the dangerous ones. Because you could tell they didn’t care.”

Jackie blinked. He walked over to a tall angel statue and leaned back against it, resting his head on the book the statue was holding. He rubbed his eyes. “Just once, I would like to be right about someone,” he muttered. “I would like it if everyone I know didn’t turn out to be embroiled in this villain shit.”

“Should we be offended?” Schneep asked in a half-hearted joking tone.

“No, no, I-I know you guys are... good guys,” Jackie said, raising his head. “Even though I don’t really agree with what you do, I know you mean well. Though, uh... seriously, you guys should reconsider your lines of work.”

“Well gee thanks,” Marvin drawled, folding his arms. 

“I will remind you that I paid for Chase’s medical fees,” Schneep added.

“Look, I just—I-I wish something was straightforward for once!” Jackie said, his voice growing into a shout. “I know that the world is complicated, and I know that life isn’t easy, but—but really. Every single person I get close to has turned out to be—to be—”

“A villain?” Marvin asked.

“Not even that!” Jackie threw his hands in the air. “Lorelai and Josh, the two Heroes I was really getting to know, turned out to be just, like—I-I don’t know! They weren’t the Heroes I expected! My handler sucks, and like, I know JJ was blackmailed and Chase probably had some shit going on in his past life, and their personalities aren’t different, but like—I don’t know! I don’t know anything! And honestly, I’m sick of not knowing anything! For once, I would like my feelings to be right, for my hopes to not just be hopes! I would like it if the guy I was starting to sympathize with didn’t turn out to be working with the villain who’s been terrorizing me for months! If he’s not Anti-Virus himself! Like—I like McLoughlin, believe it or not! I like him!”

“Oh you don’t know him,” Marvin said. “Do you even know his first name?”

“Yes! I do! Because he’s a public figure! And like—that’s gotta suck for him, you know? I’ve been bothered by people before just because I’m a recognizable Hero now, I can imagine how he would’ve been bothered, too. No wonder the guy hides in his lab so much. And the guy has no family! No friends! His best friend is that SAM he made! He was in a fucking explosion and he had to build his own prosthetics afterwards!”

“He was what?” Schneep blinked.

“Yeah, I know, right?!” Jackie looked at him. “Nobody ever thinks about that! The accident is semi-public knowledge, but as far as I can tell, he’s gotten no support for it! I know he must’ve gotten medical treatment, but like—there was no one there to help him afterwards. And that makes no sense, because he’s a nice guy. A bit awkward, maybe a bit too loud, but he’s nice, and he genuinely loves his robots and wants to help people with them.” He sighed. “Or at least... that’s what I thought.”

Marvin sighed. He walked over to Jackie, and after a moment of hesitation, reached out to put his hand on his shoulder. “I know. It sucks. But the world’s not nice. The only thing you can do about it is try to help others realize that too.”

Jackie looked at him, shocked for a moment. Then he shrugged off Marvin’s hand. “No.”

“H-huh?” Marvin blinked.

“If the world’s not nice, the only thing to do about it is be nice anyway,” Jackie said fiercely. “Because guess what? I’m part of this world. If I’m nice, then the world is a bit nicer too.” He looked to the side. “I’m... sorry about your grandmother, Marvin,” he whispered. “I’m sorry that happened. I’m sorry you haven’t been able to feel that grief.”

Marvin took a step back. Tears immediately came to his eyes. “Jackie...” He started to say something, but his words got caught in his throat.

Jackie took a deep breath. “On this occasion, I was wrong again,” he said. “But I’m not always going to be wrong. You guys... you’re good, despite what I first thought about Spitfire Cat and the Specter. I’m not wrong for changing my mind about them.” He looked back towards the North SepTech building. “This SAM thing... it doesn’t look good for McLoughlin. There’s no other way to spin this, really. He’s doing some shady shit, even if it’s not connected to Anti-Virus. And as a hero, I got to stop that.” He rubbed his eyes. “It’s late. I’m gonna go home, sleep the night away, then first thing in the morning, I’m going to confront him. In my full Hero authority.”

Schneep cleared his throat. “Are you sure you want to wait? What if he covers things up in the meantime?”

Jackie paused. “He might... But the SAM thing was pretty public. I heard about it on the police scanner. He can’t cover that up. He might try to explain it away as a coincidence or something else, but there’s no denying what everyone saw. It’s reason enough to ask him some questions, at least. Probably even detain him for a bit. I-I don’t think too much will change in a night.” He shrugged. “Besides, you guys said you hacked the system, right?”

“Hopefully,” Marvin muttered.

“Jackie...” Schneep hesitated. “What... what time will you confront him? I-I think it would be good for you to have some backup.”

“Oh!” Marvin nodded. “Yeah, we can be there... I think. At least, Schneep can be. I don’t think they ever saw him being an intruder.”

“Not with the naked eye, at least,” Schneep said.

Jackie blinked. “You guys would... be there?”

“I’ll be outside, at least,” Marvin said. “Ready to swoop in if something goes wrong.”

“And I can be your backup for the confrontation,” Schneep added.

Jackie glanced back and forth between them, then nodded. “I... I would appreciate that. Um, maybe... we meet outside the building at eight-thirty?”

“Eugh. Early.” Marvin curled his lip. “But the earlier the better, I guess.”

Schneep nodded. “Yes. We will be there.”

Jackie smiled. “Thanks, guys. Really.”

His eyes drifted towards the north again. Was McLoughlin really Anti-Virus? His gut told him no. But... he needed an explanation. And no matter what, there was no denying the suspicion surrounding McLoughlin now. He was involved in something. And Jackie needed to find out what. It was what a superhero would do.

[believesthings]

Not Just A Girl - Chapter 14 // Jason Sudeikis x Reader

Sitting on the bed in the new room the hotel has shuffled you to, you can’t seem to look away from the preliminary list of your destroyed belongings. Memorabilia, gifts from friends and family, pretty much your entire wardrobe – nothing had been safe from the person or persons who had found a way into your hotel room. At least you still had the few items you’d taken with you on your trip to see Jason.

Jason!! With everything that had happened you’d forgotten to call him. At least the phone has been charging while you were talking with Todd, Charlie, and the police. You tap the icon to call him and wait for an answer, startled by the garbled hello before you remember that for him it is the middle of the night. No wonder you were so weary. God if you were just still there, in bed sleeping rather than sitting there on the edge of an emotional tailspin. “Hey – oh. I’m sorry. Go back to sleep.”

“Hey Baby. Hang on.” You hear the rustle of movement and him clearing his throat before speaking again, “I thought you were going to call after landing?”

You have to physically turn yourself away from the itemized list that the police had given you a copy of… the page was full of words. Words… items… things. They were all just things. Things can be replaced. “No…” You are betrayed by the unsteadiness of your voice. You sigh when you see the video chat request pop up on screen. “Jase, can’t we just talk? I look like shit. I haven’t really slept since I was there with you. And I really need a shower.”

“Answer, please.”

You close your eyes and shake your head before relenting and watching him moving to sit up in his bed. Seeing his bare chest stirs both longing and guilt. “God, I should have waited to call. I’m sorry I woke you up.”

“You can wake me anytime you want. I figured you had fallen asleep as soon as you got back.” He is almost playful, almost. He knows something is wrong. He narrows his eyes at you, “So – what happened? Your last text said the flight was going well.”

Everything had been going well. Even the trip from the airport to the hotel was even a decent one, aside from the caffeine jitters you’d inflicted upon yourself. He listens as you explain the security guards bursting into the weight room where you had been running on a treadmill, all the way until you relayed Charlie’s conversation with his security team and then suddenly Jason is in motion. You haven’t even gotten to the part that freaked you out the most about the whole thing. You pause your narration to watch him. “What are you doing?”

He had tossed the phone down and out of the corner of the screen you can see he is pulling on a pair of slacks. He pauses to come back into view and blink at you as though it were completely obvious. “Catching the next flight.”

“Oh, Jason.”

He’s holding his slacks loose at his hips and frowning down at his phone, thereby you. “If they’re worried about your safety I’m worried about your safety.”

“For all they know at this point it could have happened anytime during the week. While I was sitting there Charlie said he could only find key access codes for Todd going into the room and then the hotel staff to clean.” You’re trying to keep your voice steady while you speak. Maintain control. You can do this.

Jason cocks his head to the side, “It? Cleaning staff? Ok you need to explain further. You’re not talking about another fan or paparazzi incident…” He picks up the phone and perches on the edge of the bed with his trousers still undone.

“Evidently…” you don’t like how that sounded so you try the word again. “Evidently while I was there with you, someone broke into my room here at the hotel and trashed, well, everything.” You pick up the paper and hold it up so he can see the filled page. “The things in the safe – scripts mainly – survived but… God Jason, they shredded or smashed everything they could get their hands on.”

He drops the phone again and messes with his zipper and button so he can continue getting dressed. “I’m coming there.”

If Jason makes the trip to LA it will be the reverse of the situation that the pair of you were in while in London. You would be going in to work every day and he would be waiting for your return. You attempt a smile and try to feed him the same words that don’t quite appease your own feelings regarding the loss, “It’s … it’s just things. I’ll be in the new place tomorrow. Moving will be… easier? Nothing really to carry now, just the stuff I had with me there. As much as I would love seeing you so soon I don’t want you to drop everything. I couldn’t ask that of you. You have your work to concentrate on and I have mine.”

Jason sits back down on the bed, half-clad, and scoops the phone up into his hands again, “If I can’t come to the rescue then what use can I be?”

You continue to try push aside the side of you that wants to despair over your material losses. Focus on the good in your life right now. Focus on Jason. “Well if you refuse to go back to sleep –”

He cuts your sentence off with an adamant, “I do.”

You can feel the corners of your mouth briefly try to twitch into a smile. You may still be feeling angry and violated along with the sorrow over the loss, but Jason has the ability – even at a great physical distance – to lift your spirits. “I guess, talk with me? Now that you know about my wonderful day, how was yours?” You remove the list of destroyed items from your field of vision before you get comfortable in the overstuffed chair near the bed. You place the list atop the dresser and put your bag on it for good measure. Out of sight out of mind.

He yawns as he situates himself so that he can lean back on the headboard of his bed. “Well, I have a confession. Until recently I’ve had a beautiful woman in my bed.”

You roll your eyes, “Oh?”

Absently he is running one of his hands under his chin and down over his Adam’s apple. The light casts some interesting shadows over his bare chest. “The bed feels a little too big, a little too empty now.”

“All the more room to spread out.” The mental image of him throwing his legs and arms out to try to fill up the bed flashes in your head. Log that away to giggle at later. “I wish I was there.”

Jason is the voice of reassurance and reason, which was the point of calling him. “Staying here wouldn’t have changed what happened to your things. Ignoring what you went back to, it’s a good thing you went back today. Shooting went long. Since you weren’t here to come back to I stayed to greet the fans that had been waiting. I was so exhausted I fell into bed the moment I got home. If you had stayed, it would have been another long day spent with Ivan or Bruno.” He pauses, “You didn’t have to do the wash, you know.”

“It was the least I could do. Besides, we’d already restocked your groceries.” You had only washed the linens. It was just something that had kept you occupied while you waited to go to the airport. It seems like ages ago rather than just a few hours.

“True enough. Do you want me to see if we can get Ivan or Bruno to come there? You like them right? No complaints?” Mercifully he has stopped massaging his throat to hold his hand out palm up while he makes the suggestion.  

 “Jason, they’re contracted to protect you, not me. Todd and I will figure something out. He’s probably already got someone ready and waiting.” He leans forward while you are talking causing the shadows on his body to migrate. Ok enough of that. “Lord, Jason you need to go put on more clothes.”

He counters your statement, his words accompanied by a wry smile. “You need to take off more clothes. I was in bed, asleep. And be fair, I was trying to earlier and you stopped me.” Despite the emotional wounds of the day you laugh, and when you do Jason nods approvingly. “That’s more like it. Now, before you say no outright - remember you’ve told me I can’t fly there and be your white knight. What can I have delivered to your place?”

“Jason…”

He shrugs, “Fine. It’ll be a surprise then.”

You place your free hand over your eyes then drop it down to cover your yawn which delays your reply. “Please don’t.” His frustrated expression makes you amend your words, “Something small, if you must, but let me get there and sorted first, please. I think Dad was going to have one of his guys make something – a coffee table, something functional at least.” You shake your head, “After the read through I’ll…” Jason looks like he is about to fall asleep. You smile at the image you hold in your hand of the overly exhausted man that you adore. “Hey – I’m going to go.” He immediately tries to blink himself awake to protest. You talk over him, “I need to shower still and get some sleep so I’ll be able to read the words on the page tomorrow. Go back to sleep, if you have time.”

He relents which is a sign in and of itself that he needs to sleep. “Alright. Goodnight darling.”

“I –” you stutter your sentence before going a different route, “I’ll call you and show you the place once I’m able. Goodnight.” After ending the call you sit there and stare at your phone. You’re not quite sure how you feel about the fact that your mood can change so drastically depending on him. You’re too exhausted to try to analyze that at the moment though. He had made you laugh, which you desperately needed, and by trying to reassure him you were okay you had partially reassured yourself.

The things you had lost were only precious to you because of the memories you associated with them. This was a survivable event.

______________________________________ 

A text from Todd wakes you. Dropping something off and then coming to pick you up and give you the keys to the new place. He probably would have called if he wasn’t still so mad at you for staying the extra night at the hotel. He’ll get over it – eventually – maybe. There’s also a message from Jason waiting for you: Good morning gorgeous. The boys and I ran sprints in the park. It isn’t the same without your laughter pushing us on. Let me know when and I’ll try to be available for the virtual tour of the new place. Back to the long distance relationship routine – it’ll be difficult but you vow to make it work.

While lying there in bed you tap out a response: It’ll probably be late for you babe. You frown at the term of endearment – He calls you sweetheart and darling, why does it sound so odd for you to try a pet name with him? You backspace before continuing on. It’ll probably be late for you but consider it a date. Sorry for waking you last night. I hope you were able to get enough sleep – I’ll make it up to you, promise.  

The next thing that draws your attention is how hungry you are. It is no wonder – you’d showered and gone right to bed after talking to Jason and had slept through the night until the text from Todd had woken you. Todd’s timetable probably gives you exactly enough time to shower and run down to eat something before he gets to the hotel. The moment you step out of the elevator you find Charlie waiting. He probably saw you on the elevator security feed. It’s a little strange, but nice to have his company while you eat – and Todd seems pleased by it when he wanders in. Todd doesn’t mention anything about having personal security and you have no plans on bringing it up.

There has been a slow trickle of messages arriving on your phone all morning with people talking about the break in at the hotel. How sorry they are, if you need anything, how much they miss you. For the last bit of breakfast Todd kept his head down, reading things on his tablet, rather than chat with you – a clear signal that he’s still miffed. He’s still doing it in the car so you resist talking to him, but when the tenth friend from the theater back home sends you a text you risk breaking the frosty silence. “Did you happen to call either of my parents to tell them about the break in?”

Todd has your stack of scripts balanced on his lap with his tablet resting atop the pile. He knits his eyebrows together when he look up at you, “No – I thought you would handle that.”

You bite your lip, “I fell asleep.” Glancing down at your phone you frown, “That’s – weird then. How does everyone at the theater already know?”

You hadn’t even finished the question and Todd’s fingers were tapping out a sequence on his tablet. He huffs under his breath and starts to pull out his phone. “Somebody leaked photos of the mess.”

Excellent. Looks of pity and gossip to start your second feature film. Maybe it would have been better to have accepted your award and just gone back home. At least your award hadn’t been among the things destroyed – your father already had it, locked away safe and sound. Todd spends the rest of the ride exchanging heated words with various people on the phone.

 It is almost a relief to be out of the car and alone in your apartment. Almost. Being alone in your apartment just amplifies how empty it is, and how little you had left to bring with you. You don’t have long to dwell on any of it. You need to be at work to read through the acts that have been set – as well as plan out any training that needs to take place. The only real battle you can see is the training that might need to be required for the car crash scene – and if they’ll let you do any of the stunts.

You toss your luggage into the one stick of furniture you had in the house – a comfy chair sent by your mother. It only takes a second to dig your ipod out of your now well used shoulder bag. You have enough time that you can walk a few blocks before needing to hail a taxi. It’ll be interesting to see what the neighborhood looks like while it is still early in the morning. You’d seen the apartment later in the day when you were house hunting.

You’ve picked an upbeat playlist to help to boost your confidence. Perhaps not the best choice because of how jumpy you are with the combination of the events of last night plus the ever lovely jet lag, but it helps distract from your nerves a bit. You landed the job, yay. That means Mia is yours to screw up. Today is just a simple read-through with the cast. Maybe you should have stayed holed up in the hotel scouring the material for every nuance so you’d feel better prepared. Oh but the short visit had been completely worth it. Just thinking about Jason has your heart doing flips within your chest.

 A hand clamps down on your wrist and spins you around on the sidewalk. Your training for All Your Monsters kicks in and your muscle memory helps you to break the hold the man has on your wrist. The action pulls your headphones from your ears. Should you call for help? Rush back to your place? Try to run from him? Hold your ground? Why was the sidewalk deserted right now? The man immediately takes a few steps back and holds his hands up before him, palms towards you. “Woah woah – Todd said to watch out in how I approached but you were rushing away from me. I take it Todd didn’t tell you to expect me.”

You are careful to keep yourself at a distance. Just because this guy claims Todd sent him doesn’t make it true. “That would be a no.”

“Wait. Just wait. I’ll call him.” He keeps one hand directed at you as though telling you to halt while he digs his phone out of his pocket. He waits for an answer before speaking into the phone, “Todd? It’s Richard. So um, can you talk to your girl here before she tries to break my hand again?” He chortles at the response on the other end before holding the phone out to you.

You cautiously pluck the phone from his fingers and step back beyond the man – Richard’s – reach again. “Todd?”

“Sorry, I was so caught up with the release of those photos that I forgot to tell you about Richard. Meet your new bodyguard.” Todd sounds much calmer than he had in the car with you earlier, probably exhausted after yelling so much in the past half-a-day.

You eye Richard. He is rubbing the tendons in his hand while watching you talk on the phone. You frown and look out at the street. “I thought we were going to discuss this first.”

Todd barks out a laugh, “After yesterday? The only discussion will be if we are content with just one or we need to add another to your detail.”

He has a point, but you are still feeling petulant. “Well, fuck.”

“Language. Now – enjoy the day. Call me if you need to.”

You hand Richard his phone back. “Um well, sorry about your hand?”

He laughs it off while pocketing his phone again. “Don’t worry about it. Tell me that’s not the way you interact with fans.”

That really wouldn’t look good. You’re not exactly being chased down the street right now though, Richard aside. “Nobody has ever grabbed me like that actually.” You spot a taxi and start to flag it down.

“Good to know you know some basic self-defense techniques.” He waves the taxi driver off, “I’ve got a car. Parking was a pain but I’m talking to your landlord about that.” The pair of you don’t talk much in the car on the ride in. It isn’t until you’re in the building that he starts up the conversation again, “We’re going to need to discuss your routine, public appearances…”

“There’s my Mia.” Brett's interruption makes you smile.

You turn to see your costar and take in his appearance. “Hello Brett.” You momentarily tilt your head to your side to indicate your new bodyguard, “Brett, Richard. Richard, Brett.”

After greeting each other Brett settles his attention on you. “Did you enjoy your time in London with Jason?" His eyes sparkle when he questions you which makes you think he already knows the answer. How the hell much do they talk about concerning you?

"Very much. It’s beautiful there." You can feel a flush rising as you reply.

“And then you came back to… Sorry about your things.” He has fallen into step beside you with Richard following close behind.

You nod to acknowledge his statement. “Did Jason tell you or did you see the photos this morning?”

Brett blinks, “Photos? I heard about it from Jason – oh and I’ve been told to remind you to let him get you something.”

You roll your eyes and laugh as the three of you enter the room buzzing with people. “God that man. I should have hidden his wallet before I left, out of spite.” Your survey the small crowd mingling around the horseshoe of tables. These are the people that you’ll be acting alongside for the duration of the project. Hopefully everyone will get along. You pause the conversation to move away from Brett and say a quick hello around the room. It seems everyone has heard about the break in at the hotel. You’re starting to tire of repeating yourself. How many times can you say no really, I’m fine before people will believe you?

After you sit down Brett takes the seat next to you. “Hide his wallet?”

Richard motions to the row of chairs against the wall. Evidently he’s content to stare a hole in your back from afar. You nod in understanding before replying to Brett’s question. “Of course that isn’t something he would choose to share with you. He wanted to pay for everything all week and…”

“Ok looks like everyone is here. Or they’re late… Anyway, let’s get started with introductions.” You glance around the room – most of the cast is already sitting and waiting patiently. The one or two stragglers would hopefully show before it came time for them to introduce themselves to the group.

It is key that the audience becomes emotionally invested in the couple – if they don’t believe James and Mia are worthwhile then what is the point of the movie? They’ve changed the script from the original that you read for your audition to show how the characters met rather than merely reference it, and now the bit where you and Brett would be in bed together has been expanded. Joy. 

You linger behind after the long day of reading is complete to test the waters regarding the stunts. Maybe they are already developing the mechanisms for the car crash scene. You’re no A list actor, surely they’ll at least consider letting you attempt some of the stunt work.

"No. No way. No. Are you out of your mind? There’s no way we’re putting you in that car for the crash sequence.” The director continues to shake his head the entire time he is talking to you. 

Brett had started to leave the room but loops back to take part in the conversation. He must be interested in attempting the sequence as well. Brett put his hand on your shoulder, “She’s not saying she wants to be in the car when it flips.”

“Answer’s no guys.”

“Even if it flips slowly?” Brett gives your shoulder a light squeeze in warning. He’s right, continuing to push won’t help, but that doesn’t stop you from wanting to try. “Sorry, I know you’re just trying to protect us.”

This brings out a weary smile from the director. “Yes. Oh don’t look so disappointed. By the time we’re ready to film the car crash you’ll have spent so much time filming in the car you’ll be happy to let someone else be in the seat.”

The four of you leave the room, the director headed to parts of the building unknown while you, Brett, and Richard head for the exit. There’s still enough time in the day that you can at least go shopping to find a bed frame and mattress. The rest of the furniture for the place can wait until you’ve painted the walls.

Brett heads his own separate way leaving you and Richard alone to discuss the plans for the remainder of the day. The conversation has a few odd starts and stops as you walk to the car. Once you’re more familiar with each other that probably won’t happen as much. Right now you are each still trying to measure the reactions of the other. “Richard – is it ok if we take a detour rather than head straight back to the apartment?”

He is hesitant, “Dinner?”

“Well, that too. But I um, I need to go shopping?” Maybe if you sounded a little more confident in the request he wouldn’t be giving you such a skeptical look. “The only furniture I have in the apartment right now is a chair. I’m not saying I want to furnish the whole place tonight, I just need something to sleep on. Don’t worry I won’t ask you to help me put anything together.”

That promise to Richard is how you end up sitting in a pile of parts to a bed frame with Jason watching your progress with a great deal of amusement over a video call. “Sweetheart – why didn’t you just ask him to stay and help you?” He considers his own question and chuckles, “Silly question oh-stubborn-one. Ok, read it to me again?”

You wave the instructions around in the air towards where you have your phone propped up. “I’m tempted to just say fuck it and sleep on the mattress on the floor. I can follow directions. I swear! There must be a piece missing…” You’ve started to recount the parts that you’d pulled from the box, muttering while setting them aside once you’ve checked them off the list at the top of the instruction page.

“A vital piece.” From Jason's tone you can’t tell if he’s making fun of you or not. You look up with a small furrow forming between your eyebrows. He lets out a delighted laugh at your expression, “Me. I'm the vital piece. My flight would have landed hours ago. We would be sprawled out on your bed right now – you flipping through pages trying to concentrate – me doing everything in my power to distract you.”

“I… You never brought pages home while I was there.” You feel slightly stricken. “You should have told me I would have helped you run lines.”

Jason grins at you, “Three points. One: I love that you consider here home. Every time I hear you say that my heart sings. Two: I was fully prepared for the scenes this week, even before your arrival. And three: Ivan and Bruno might have enjoyed us staying in every night but I will never be one for passing up the opportunity to go out dancing with you.” 

Tag List: @my-soupy-brain @tortilla-maria1 @tegan8314 @nerdgirljen @cavillsim @superloveeverything

[jalicefanficblog]

Kann you pls make a HC about countess cleo react of her daugthers First Period IT IS very cool If you make it

A/N: Hi - ty for the Request, i hope you like what i made out of it. Some HC about Countess Cleos Daugthers first Periot arrived - right now!

"Life is tough, my darling, but so are you"

Your mother was in her private office in the Professors' Complex on Vile Island. She was busy with important matters - and so were you! Making a dramatic exit after Tigress's children planned a prank on the Cleaners, and you somehow got a stomachache and a completely different, strange feeling, almost as if you'd forgotten how to go to the bathroom in time, but that was impossible… Long story short, you got your period - yay - welcome to the world of grown women… now all that's left is to let your mother - Countess Cleo - know about it.

#. When you drew the villain's attention with the words, "Mommy, something's happened and I need your help," Cleo expected a lot…but not the revelation that her little girl, the perfect little society lady, was a wonderful noble descendant who would one day inherit Cleo's inheritance…now officially a grown lady in the biological sense? Cleo was speechless. Absolutely speechless.

#. "Darling welcome to Womenhood! Let your Mommy hug you, before you getting all moody and annoyed - for real if you ever backtalk to me while having your Strawberry Week, you going to regrett it Sweetheart!" - Cleo said before putting the Paper Work down on the table and pulling you in an almost proud hug.

#.Of course, the talk followed a moment later. But you surprise your mother by saying that you and the other VILE teenage kids found a book about bees and flowers in Black Sheep's old room (actually just a totally basic book for 10-year-olds called "My Body When I Grow Up"). And of course, during the conversation, your mother still goes on about how much better women we are and how it's wonderful…to get your period now - even if it comes with pain…cravings, mood swings, and a little bit of blood loss.

#. Speaking of blood, she's prepared for this moment. Not only because Cleo is in the prime of her life, but also because she's a little perfectionist, a fashion icon, and arguably the BEST mom on the whole island! Tampons, sanitary pads, period pads, period underwear, intimate wash gel, heat patches, and Cleo even runs you a bath, lights scented candles, and plays relaxing music in the bathroom… while she gives you precise instructions on how to use the supplies later and how it's important to mentally put all the stress aside. She may have been a little more excited about this teenage milestone than you were… but you really appreciate your mom's care (and that she sacrificed one of her absolute favorite scented candles for you! Cleo rarely does that).

#. After you've been taken care of and are trying to come to terms with these new emotions and the strange feeling of this…period…, your mother starts talking about her youth…about ancient Egyptian traditions and the power women had in ancient Egypt. There was even a funny anecdote about an incident from your mother's school days. It was an easy, relaxed conversation and you can clearly sense the familial security that your mother gives you, despite the often cold game in everyday life…Cleo is proud of her daughter and this realization makes you proud…somehow.

#. However, Cleo also advises you not to be one of those weak girls who exploit their period for any purpose to avoid truly evil work. "You can be strong no matter what your situation is, darling," Cleo says emphatically. After all, with you as a daughter, she didn't give birth to someone who gives up when things get tough.

#. But if you ever want to annoy Coach Brunt, you can play that card every now and then, Cleo reveals with a wink and taps away on her phone. When you ask what exactly she's doing, Cleo answers without hesitation: "I'm telling Sara about this happy event! She owes me our bet. She bet one of Tigress's children would get her period first… I bet against it. Oh, by the way, Sara is working on a cure for abdominal cramps… but you know her experiments, if she offers you something promising… refuse…"

#. Cleo then gets a little emotional while you discuss the details for a mother-daughter movie night that same day and starts talking with tears in her eyes about how it was only yesterday that you were following her around like a baby chicken and it must have been just last week that you committed your very first fashion theft - maybe ONE of you is having trouble accepting change?

#....she gave you all the motherly love a Teenager in your position could deal with, she barked at the Cleaners to get some damn Choclate from Switzerland on the VILE Island and that Evening you watched some super stereo-type Movies that dealt with first Periods-Humor-Romance Story Plot Thing. (Movies like To all the Boys i loved before, Mean Girls, Breakfast at Tiffanys, Ghostbusters, Pretty little Liars etc)

#. Before Countess Cleo left your Room with the now empty Popcorn Bucket in her Hands, she gave you some Advice for future Period Monthly Situations.

#. ...and this Words of Advice were - "Life is tough, my darling, but so are you"

[snowball-doie]

When Renjun decides to go on the European leg of TDS3 and it becomes apparent that Sooah is really, really nervous about it, Mark goes to comfort her just before they leave for the airport.

Renjun’s all dressed up. He’s got his bags in the car, the other boys are already scooting into the vans for the ride to the airport; but Renjun keeps looking back at Sooah who’s standing in the doorway, fidgeting nervously with the hem of her dress’s skirt, chewing on her bottom lip, and breathing heavily. She doesn’t want him to go. She knows it’ll be fine….. This is his job, after all. But she doesn’t want him to go. Not for a single moment. She wants to pull him back into bed and cuddle with him for the next few months like they’ve been doing because that’s where he’s safe and happy, and that’s all Sooah ever wants for Renjun.

“I’ll keep a close eye on him, baby,” Mark says as he walks back up the steps to the front door. “Every second of every day, I’ll make sure he’s okay.”

She squeezes the hem of her dress tighter.

He pulls her into his arms and hugs her close until she gives in and reaches around his body and nuzzles her nose against his neck. Mark’s always warm. He smells like Haechan who douses himself in cologne before going to the airport, because Mark and Haechan had been all over each other through the morning. His long hair tickles Sooah’s forehead.

“He’ll be alright,” Mark comforts her.

Sure enough, at the airport, Mark is close by to Renjun the entire time— He leaves just enough room to give Renjun the spotlight since this is his long awaited return, and he deserves to be showered with love and praise from the fans and media who gathered to welcome him. Mark makes sure Renjun’s fine when they land and they’re swarmed by fans, he gets Renjun settled into his hotel room, and he reminds Renjun to call Sooah so she can finally sleep without worrying about them anymore. During the first show, Mark watches with so much admiration as Renjun slowly remembers his place on stage and gets comfortable. He calls Sooah after the show to brag about how proud he is of Renjun— How proud they all are of him. He’s doing amazing, and he’s having a blast going out around the city with the boys who wanted to explore and drink.

In one airport during the trip, Mark forgot to keep behind Renjun so that he was within eyesight at all times— But you know who didn’t forget? Renjun. He catches up to Mark and pokes his back until Mark turns and remembers his duty, so he turns his music down and hesitates a few steps until he’s beside Renjun who catches everyone off guard by linking arms with Mark. In public. Mark blushed beneath his mask… He’s embarrassed a bit, and also concerned that maybe people will think about it too much, but all those thoughts get pushed aside when he feels Renjun squeeze him, a sign that he needs comfort— Like how bunnies fawn to show that they need help. Mark embraces it. He casually walks alongside Renjun, and when they’re finally through security and away from cameras and prying eyes, they get a moment to talk it out.

“I just felt a bit overwhelmed, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Mark pats down the back of Renjun’s hair because it was sticking up after Renjun removed his black Chanel bucket hat. “I’m proud of you for letting me know something was wrong.”

Oh, that blush Renjun has is the cutest thing in the world! It triggers Mark’s cuteness aggression to the max. Even Chenle runs over to squeeze Renjun’s cheeks while cooing, “Kiyowo!!!!!!”

“Is he okay? He looked flustered! He usually doesn’t want to hug you in public because he knows you don’t like it, but he looked like he needed to—“ “Sooah, he’s fine,” Mark replies with a chuckle. “Are you sure? I could fly out to check on him—“ “I promise he’s perfect. He had a hiccup, but we talked through it, and he’s good again. I promised you I’d keep an on him, didn’t I? Have some faith in me.” Sooah pouts through the phone, “Okay………. Call me if I need to fly in—“ “Goodnight, baby,” Mark laughs again, “He’ll call when he’s awake.”

That’s why Sooah is so quick to get on the first flight to London the second things turn sour with the new album. She sees and hears the reactions to the album, and she knows the boys are having a tough time with it, so she pulls that emergency bag she’s had ready to go since before the boys left for Europe— You know… in case she needed to visit….— And she immediately jumps into bed with Renjun, pulling him close, cooing in his ear, “My sweet fox…” She’s so thankful to Mark and Jeno who protected him from the negative comments; and to Chenle who took Renjun’s phone so he was only allowed to text Sooah.

[iamvegorott]

Magicians Don't Need Superheros Pt24

First: Link Prev: Link Next: Link

----------

Marvin paused to tie his hair back into a more secure ponytail when he and Jackie reached the edge of the forest where the new Ego was due to arrive. Host’s vision granted them a few hours of grace before the new person…‘spawns’. That explained why Jackie seemed to have been waiting for Marvin when he showed up on that roof. 

“Looks like a straight shot to the center from here,” Jackie said, tilting his head as he read his phone. 

“I’d be less annoyed if it hadn’t rained earlier today. I hate mud.” Marvin muttered, tucking the stray strands of hair behind his ears. 

“I mean, if you’re that worried about the mud.” Jackie turned his back toward Marvin. “I can give you some-”

“If you say ‘up up’, I’m kicking you face-first into a mud puddle.” Marvin cut Jackie off. 

“Um…a piggyback ride?” Jackie’s tone gave away that he was absolutely about to say ‘up up’. 

“I’ll be fine. Let’s just get whoever this new person is and go back to the House. Some tea, a book, and going to bed early sounds like heaven right now.” Marvin pushed a branch aside and started walking. Jackie was at his side a second later, trying to help move some of the lower-hanging branches out of both of their ways. 

“I don’t get why stars were mentioned when he’s showing up in the afternoon,” Jackie commented after about a minute of silent hiking. 

“Have all the Egos gotten that…vision thing?” Marvin asked. 

“I think? I mean, like, I haven’t been told otherwise.” Jackie shrugged. 

“So Host did a spiel of sorts about me?” 

“Yeah.”

“What did he say? This guy has mentions of the stars, Mad was the whole opposite thing, what was my thing?” Marvin snapped off a small twig and stuck it into his pocket. He wanted to study the plant and see if he could use it with his magic. The plants of this reality seemed familiar enough, but he’s yet to take a deeper look into them. 

“A hard shell with a soft heart.” Jackie pulled some branches back. He made an exaggerated gesture with his arm, had the biggest smile, and bowed a bit for Marvin to go first. 

“About half-right.” Marvin joked as he walked through the opening. 

“Nah, he got you pegged down,” Jackie said as he followed. “I mean, if he didn’t, you wouldn’t have made sure I wasn’t hurt during all of those falls.”

“You don’t have to have a soft heart to not want to kill a man.” Marvin rolled his eyes as he waited for Jackie to be at his side again. 

“That might be true, but you’re still really nice.” 

“Don’t give away my secrets.” 

“My lips are sealed.” Jackie chuckled, pausing when he saw a figure in the distance. “There he is.” He said with a point. Marvin lowered Jackie’s hand and squinted a bit to try to get a better look at the new Ego. 

“That’s not a Septiceye,” Marvin stated. “He doesn’t…feel right.” 

“Maybe there’s a new-wait-” Jackie tilted his head. “That’s an Iplier. That’s weird. We don’t really do crossovers with this.” 

“Maybe we should go back. It sounds like you guys have a system with this and everything is going against it.” Marvin suggested. He figured that if they were going to bail, they’d need to do it before they were noticed. 

“There’s probably like some super-mega complicated stuff about this that we’d never understand,” Jackie said. “He looks just as confused as the rest of us did. I bet he needs some help.” He jogged off before Marvin could say anything else. 

“I still don’t trust this,” Marvin said to himself. 

Call him overly-cautious but he stayed back and hidden from the new Ego. The element of surprise was always good to have. He also recalled Anti’s comment about favoring the left and his gut told him to trust it. Marvin kept his eyes on Jackie as he moved through the trees, feet glowing as he made himself silent, going until he was to the left of the two.

“Hey!” Jackie greeted, waving and going to the man.

“Who are you?” The man asked, turning and showing the red, sharp spiral around one of his eyes. Marvin was too far away to see if it was painted, tattooed, or carved on the skin. None of those options sounded too hard to believe. 

“Jackieboyman or Jackie for short,” Jackie answered, bouncing a little on his feet. “I’m here to-”

“I don’t have time for this.” The man held a hand up and started walking. 

“I’m here to help.” Jackie skipped a little to get in front of the man and finished his previous sentence. “I’m a hero.” He had a proud puff to his chest. 

“And I have important places to be.” The man scoffed and walked past Jackie again. “I do not have the patience to deal with some child playing pretend.” 

“Child?” Jackie looked a little offended at that. “And pretend? It’s not pretend, I am a hero. I’m super strong and fast and cool and-” 

“Enough.” The man turned and backhanded Jackie across the face. 

Marvin felt his heart leap at that.

Time to give some hell. 

Marvin’s feet continued to glow as he took off, sticking to the left had him at the perfect angle to rush the man. He braced his body before slamming his shoulder into the man’s side and making him fall over. Marvin used the magic on his feet to prevent himself from falling over with him, sparks of green magical energy came off him before they and the glowing faded.

“That was totally wicked!” Jackie exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air. “I didn’t know you could do awesome stuff like that!” 

“There’s a lot to still learn about me.” Marvin chuckled. “I-” He stopped when he felt something on his chest. Looking down he saw the man up on one knee with a red and black glowing hand on him. Marvin had a good feeling what kind of spell was about to be used on him. “Oh, fuck you.” He got out before a surge of magic went through him and he was sent flying, landing right in the center of a mud puddle. 

“Marv!” Jackie rushed over and was with Marvin in the next blink. “Holy shit, are you okay? Anything broken? I can go full fireman and-”

“There’s mud in my hair!” Marvin wailed, wanting to gag at how horrible of a feeling wet mud was and it got so uncomfortable when it dried. 

“Just a little.” Jackie tried to get some of the mud out with his fingers. He looked over his shoulder and saw that the man was gone, likely using the push as a distraction to get away. “Henrik’s got this like hair mask thing you could borrow and-your eyes!” Jackie shouted the last part when he saw Marvn’s face.

“My eyes!? What about yours!?” Marvin had the same panic in his voice as Jackie.

“They’re red!” The two yelled at the same time. 

[bratshaws]

through the hourglass 316. brb x oc

a/n: OOP A SHORTY(comments and reblogs are super welcome and encouraged!)

pairing: plus size!oc x rooster

warnings: none uwu

goodness gracious (pls read this one to know more what this fic is about!!)

chapter

1/

/267/268/269/270/271/272/273/274/275/276/277/278/279/280/281/282/283/284/285/286/287/288/289/290/291/292/293/294/295/296/297/298/299/300/301

/302/303/304/305/306/307/308/309/310/311/312/313/314/315

(pls let me know if you want to be added to the taglist! )

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-

It was storming hard and Beatrice watched the large droplets hit the bar’s windows as she and Shells fixed the tables. Penny went home for the night and both women just watched as the huge dark clouds danced overhead.

Shells whistled low, “Damn, good thing we drove over here.” she says, leaning against a chair, “You good picking the kids up at your parents?”

Beatrice nodded, securing the last table against the gusts of wind that accompanied the storm. The rain outside lashed against the windows like a frenzied orchestra, "Yeah, I should be good to pick them up. My parents are used to the impromptu weather changes .They won't mind having the kids a bit longer."

Shells chuckled, “Yeah.” her eyes scanning the empty bar. "Kinda weird being here alone and in the rain,though."

“Well,Shells, the bar did close already.”

"True, but there's a certain charm to being in a closed bar during a storm. It's like we've got the whole place to ourselves."

Beatrice smirked, "You just want to raid the snack stash without anyone judging you."

Shells winked, "Guilty as charged. Aunt Penny would lose her shit…Let's grab some snacks and enjoy the storm. Maybe we'll uncover some hidden gems in the snack selection."

“Uh-huh.” But Bea does follow Shells, setting the broom aside, “Sure.”

The two women headed to the back of the bar where Penny kept a stash of snacks for late-night cravings. The dimly lit storage room smelled of aged wood and a faint hint of bourbon. Shells rummaged through the shelves, pulling out an assortment of chips, pretzels, and even a forgotten pack of gummy bears.

"Jackpot!" Shells exclaimed, holding up the gummy bears triumphantly. "How did Penny forget about these?"

Beatrice chuckled, leaning against the wall "Maybe they were hidden treasures, waiting for the right moment to be discovered. Or Penny just has too much on her plate lately."

Shells raised an eyebrow, a mischievous grin forming. "Speaking of plates, I also found some of those chocolate-covered almonds. You know, the fancy ones."

Beatrice arched an eyebrow, "Fancy almonds? Penny's stepping up her snack game.”

They grabbed the snacks and headed back to the main area of the bar. The storm outside continued to rattle the windows and the roof, but nothing was leaking.

Shells settled into one of the barstools, popping open the bag of gummy bears. "Alright, let's spill some secrets, Bea. What's the juiciest gossip you've heard lately?"

Beatrice laughed, joining her at the bar. "Well, besides Miranda trying to play mind games, not much. Life has been... eventful."

Shells hums, popping the pretzel bag open and shoving a handful into her mouth, “Nothing else?”

Beatrice considered for a moment, her gaze drifting towards the storm outside. The rhythmic tap of rain on the windows calmed her a bit. "Well, Rooster's still away on his mission as you know. That's a bit unnerving, especially with everything else going on." she pauses “This whole thing is like a soap opera, but with fighter jets."

Shells snorted, "Fighter jet drama. Now that's a show I'd watch. Who needs reality TV when you've got the Navy?"

Beatrice grinned, "True. Lives that are dramatic enough without needing scripted plots. But seriously, Shells, maybe we should make a movie about this whole thing once it is over, can you imagine?”

“Not gonna lie,we'd make millions!"

"We just need to figure out who plays the villain. I vote for Miranda. She's got the whole mysterious antagonist vibe going on."

Shells raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure you want to cast the actual villain? That might be a bit too realistic. We could go for a surprise twist, like... Mav turning out to be a secret mastermind."

Beatrice gasped dramatically, "Mav, the unsuspecting mastermind pulling the strings from behind the scenes. He’d hate that.!"

The rain drummed on the roof with a furious rhythm, and occasional flashes of lightning illuminated the darkened bar. The atmosphere inside was cozy, filled with the warmth of shared laughter and the scent of snacks.

A lot of them.

In the midst of their playful discussion, Shells leaned back in her chair, a more thoughtful expression crossing her face. "On a serious note, Bea, how are you holding up with all of this? I mean, Rooster away, Miranda causing drama…"

Beatrice sighed, her gaze shifting to the storm outside. "Well,” she chuckles “Could be worse, Shells.But I'm getting through it, you know? One day at a time."

Shells nodded, a genuine concern in her eyes. "If this were a movie, you'd be the main character for sure."

Beatrice smiled, touched by Shells' words. "Thanks, Shells. I appreciate that. But hey, let's not forget you're the quirky sidekick in this movie. 

Shells grinned, raising her bag of gummy bears in a mock toast. "To being the best damn sidekick and creating our own blockbuster Navy drama!"

They clinked their imaginary glasses, laughter bubbling between them. The storm outside raged on, but inside the bar, Bea and Shells found a moment of peace and respite amidst the chaos.

“I mean,I’ll be honest.” Bea looks up when Shells said it, “I’m glad you are okay. Truly.”

Bea’s  gaze softened, her eyes reflecting a genuine warmth. "Thanks, Shells. I'm glad you're okay too. We've been through a lot, and I don't know where I'd be without my partner in crime."

“Does that mean we need matching superhero outfits?"

"Absolutely. Capes and everything. We'll be the dynamic duo, fighting off Navy drama and snack shortages."

After a while, as they polished off the snacks, Shells leaned back in her chair, a more serious expression replacing the playful one. "Bea, I know we're joking about this movie idea, but if you ever need someone to talk to about all the... craziness, I'm here. Seriously."

Beatrice appreciated the sincerity in Shells' offer. She nodded, her smile softer. "Thanks, Shells. Same goes for you, you know? If there's anything on your mind, I'm here to listen. We're in this together, movie or not."

Shells grinned, raising an eyebrow. "So, what would our movie be called? 'Fighter Jets and Friendship'? 'Drama in the Danger Zone'?"

Beatrice laughed, her eyes sparkling. "How about 'Wings of Resilience'? It has a nice ring to it."

"Wings of Resilience it is, then," Shells declared, adopting a mock serious tone. "Coming soon to theaters near you."

The streets glistened with rain, reflecting the glow of streetlights. The rain hadn’t stopped and Shells frowned"You sure you're good to pick up the kids, Bea?"

"Yeah, I'll make it in time. And I appreciate the company, Shells. It's been a strangely comforting night."

Shells grinned, "Sometimes you just need snacks, a closed bar, and a storm to make everything feel a bit lighter."

Beatrice nodded, chuckling. "True that. Thanks for being my snack buddy and partner in crime tonight, Shells."

"Anytime, Bea. Wings of Resilience, remember?"

"Wings of Resilience," Beatrice echoed, her eyes dropping to her phone to check if she got any messages before she grabbed her umbrella, “You okay closing the bar?”

Shells nodded, stretching her arms with a yawn. "Yeah, I'll handle closing up. It's just a matter of locking up and making sure everything's secure. Penny does most of the heavy lifting in the morning anyway."

"Alright then," Beatrice said, pushing herself up from the barstool. She checked the time on her phone, realizing she needed to head out to pick up the kids. "I'll leave you to it. Take care, Shells."

"You too, Bea. And tell the kiddos I said hi. I'll catch up with you soon, alright?"

Beatrice smiled, feeling a genuine sense of gratitude for Shells' company during the stormy night. "Sounds good, Shells. I'll catch you later."

With a brief wave, Beatrice stepped out into the rain, opening her umbrella against the relentless downpour. The streets were still wet, the reflections of city lights shimmering on the surface. She walked briskly, the sound of raindrops on her umbrella almost sounding like gunshots.

As she approached her car, Beatrice just looked around to be sure which way would be safer for her to go to her parents.

The rain continued to pour, never ceasing as Beatrice navigated the slick streets inside her car. The city seemed quieter in the storm, the usual hustle and bustle muffled by the downpour. She felt a sense of calm despite the chaos that had unfolded earlier.

She didn’t want to think about it.

Arriving at her parents' house, Beatrice parked the car and rushed to the front door, umbrella in tow. The raindrops clung to her hair and clothes as she entered, greeted by the warmth of her childhood home. Her parents, hearing the door, emerged from the living room with welcoming smiles.

"Hey, Mom, Dad," Beatrice greeted them, shaking off the droplets from her umbrella. "It's pouring out there."

Her mom  reached for Beatrice's umbrella before she could stop it. "Well, you're inside now. Did you have a good night at work, sweetheart?"

Beatrice sighed, a mix of weariness and relief. "It was... something. Lots of people at the bar."

“Are you hungry?”

“N-”

“I’ll make you some cocoa, wait here.”

Her dad, whose head poked out from his office, chimed in, "Well, you know it’s better than to say no. Come here, the kids are with me.”

Beatrice followed her dad into the cozy home office. The room was filled with the familiar scent of old books and a hint of coffee. Gavin and Aurora, were lying on a playmat, engrossed in playing with some of Bea and her siblings’ old toys. Nicole, looked up from her spot on a small desk where she scribbled with crayons.

"Mama!" Nicole exclaimed, a bright smile lighting up her face. "Mama!"

Beatrice grinned, bending down to scoop Nicole into her arms. "Hey, sweetheart. Missed me?"

"Yeaaa!" Nicole nodded enthusiastically, hugging her mom tightly.

Her dad,chuckled. "She's been asking about you all evening. Now that you're here, it's like a party."

As Beatrice settled in with her kids, her mom returned with a tray carrying steaming mugs of cocoa. Beatrice took a sip, the warmth of the cocoa chasing away the residual chill from the rain-soaked night.

“Thanks, Mom. This is perfect.”

Her mom beamed, taking a seat beside her husband. "So, how's everything, dear? Any interesting stories from the bar tonight?"

Beatrice sighed, her gaze momentarily distant. "Oh, you know, the usual chaos. Shells and I had to deal with some rowdy customers, but we handled it. And then the storm hit."

Her dad raised an eyebrow, a glint of curiosity in his eyes. "Storm? You drove through the storm?”

"Yeah, Shells and I were closing the bar when it began.”

"Hmmm.”

“What,papa?”

“Maybe you and the kids should spend the night here, it’s safer than driving home.”

Beatrice considered her dad's suggestion. The storm showed no signs of letting up, and the idea of navigating the wet and slippery streets with the kids in tow was less than appealing. She glanced at her children, who were now engrossed in playing with the toys, seemingly unfazed by the weather outside.

"Yeah, you might be right, Dad," Beatrice admitted. "Staying the night here would be safer."

Her mom smiled, clearly pleased with the decision. "Good. We'll make up the guest room for you and the little ones. It's been a while since we had a spontaneous family sleepover with you involved."

"Sounds like a plan," Beatrice agreed, taking another sip of her cocoa. "I'll text Shells to let her know we're staying here tonight."

As Beatrice sent a quick text to Shells, then paused when she saw Rooster’s text.

Roos (21:30)

Gorgeous, don’t freak out but…if you can avoid Miranda even more these coming days,it’d be better…I can’t explain much now.

Beatrice's heart skipped a beat as she read Rooster's message. She frowned, glancing at her parents, who were engaged in a conversation about the storm.

"Everything okay, dear?" her mom asked, noticing the change in Beatrice's expression.

Beatrice hesitated for a moment, debating whether to share Rooster's message. She decided to keep it vague for now. "Just some squadron stuff. Rooster is busy, nothing more."

She had to get more info later.