#these two should have been teammates longer but maybe they will be again one day

[grantmentis]

Élizabeth Giguère with former Boston Pride teammate Taylor Wenczkowski

Bonus:

[samkerrworshipper]

underneath the surface

umm so i’m back.. kind of? this fic was a rollercoaster but i hold it very near and dear to my heart. i hope you all enjoy it and find some comfort in it because i definitely do <3

warnings: no warnings just some medical jargon and talks of endometriosis!

Alexia has always been credited for her attentiveness.

Most people say that it’s the reason she’s such a good captain, and of course, she denies to everybody that she just goofs around less than some of her teammates.

But, inevitably, it’s true, Alexia is a lot more attentive than other people. She pays attention to the small things, the under the surface things, things that most people wouldn’t bat an eyelid at.

Although, in her opinion, she doesn’t need to be observant nor attentive to be curious about this one part of your relationship.

It doesn’t take brilliant observation skills to recognise a pattern, from the age of two most people are able to recognise patterns. For a two year old, it’s colours and shapes and different farm animals. For Alexia it’s become an observation.

It’s routine, a pattern, a constant repeat in your relationship that for the first few months she ignored.

Like a broken record constantly repeating itself, every month, without fail, you disappeared for a couple of nights.

Not literally, for those days you’ll retreat of the pitch and inside to the gym but Alexia still sees you everyday, and for the most part, you’ll still go out for coffee with her and go on walks together, but for at least three nights, sometimes up to 7, there are no sleepovers, no late night movie binges, no dinners.

It went unnoticed by Alexia for longer than normal, love was Alexia’s biggest weakness and it subtly impaired her abilities to be as observant as she prided herself.

Who could blame her? It was hard to be detail oriented when she was too busy enjoying the puppy dog love that came from realising that she was so in love with her life with you, even if it was still relatively new.

But, even with her focus partially impaired, it didn’t take a whole lot of skills to recognise the abnormality of what was occurring.

It was particularly abnormal, because for every other day of the month, you spent your nights at Alexia’s. Alexia would even go as far to say that you're pretty much moved into her apartment. Your dog had a bed in her apartment, your training kit and bag had a permanent spot at her door, most of your clothes were now sitting next to Alexia’s in her wardrobe.

Your apartment, for the most part, existed purely for the sake of storing all of your furniture. Alexia had brought up leasing it, you’d been dating for almost a year now and whilst it was a short time to move in with each other, the two of you spent so much time together that to her it made the most sense. Beyond that, it was her way of testing the water, to see if her observation was as real as she began to think it was.

Your immediate denial of the idea confirmed what she had been beginning to think.

Originally, she’d thought that maybe you were overwhelmed from constantly being around Alexia, it was a lot being at training together all day and then heading home to each other.

It didn't make sense though.

When you were together, you were attached at the hip. You were both naturally clingy towards each other and after questioning Mapi about it, as ambiguously as she could, she was backed up in that it wasn’t normal behaviour for an overwhelmed person to be so eager to be so connected.

So, the theory was canned and when the following month the same thing happened, Alexia’s curiosity peaked once again.

She moved onto a theory that maybe it was some kind of homesickness, that you just needed to sleep in your own bed a couple of nights every month.

But not only did you constantly complain about your own apartment and how unhomey it felt in comparison to Alexia’s, it was always the same week every month.

Which should have been the biggest clue, and yet for whatever reason it had completely slipped past Alexia.

It was only when one of the team doctors had approached Alexia about her cycle changing, that it all clicked for her.

Alexia’s period had skipped, and they’d logged it a couple of months ago. Obviously, without noticing, it had been because the two of you had synched up, which made plenty of sense.

Alexia’s period was an inconvenience, but it wasn’t a true bother, just something she had to put up with. In all honesties though, for her, her period was nothing to her, she had hardly any symptoms, her body functioned the exact same way, everything was almost the exact same.

Yet, every month, when apparently your period came around, you happened to disappear for a couple of days. Alexia would have loved to think it was a coincidence, but with her new knowledge, she decided to put it to test.

She wasn’t surprised, when the following month her own period came, a couple of days later you were back to hiding out at your place for a couple of nights.

Like lightwork, when you came back to Alexia, you were the exact same, like nothing had happened, and yet Alexia was certain that there was something being hidden underneath the surface.

A lot of people were insecure about their period, Alexia had grown up in a house full of girls, her period had been anything but stigmatised, and she was grateful for that.

She was self aware enough though to know that not everybody was fortunate enough to have that same experience. She was also aware that unfortunately, sometimes peoples partners could be unaccepting and close minded about those kinds of things.

So, when the following month, Alexia got her period and without fail, four days later you mentioned that you would drive yourself to training so that you could head back to your apartment afterwards, Alexia was already plotting away.

She had time to think about it during video review that day, there wasn’t a lot to focus on then when the team was coming off of a 4-0 win to Atletico and anything that was of importance, aAlexia had already noted when she’d watched the immediately after the game.

It was a sound plan in her mind, chocolate, a heat pack, your favourite italian takeaway, Alexia’s favourite hoodie that you always tried to steal and your favourite blanket from her apartment.

Alexia wanted you to know that you could be just as comfortable in her home, regardless of what was happening. Hopefully, in knowing that, you’d let go of the part of you that was so clearly avoiding Alexia.

Alexia, above being observant, liked to be a problem solver. She liked to take initiative, she liked to fix things.

So, after a shower and a quick snack when she’d returned home, she packed up all of the supplies. On the way to your apartment, which she hadn’t visited in months, she picked up food and then was on her way.

In the early months of your relationship, it had just been easier for the two of you to spend time at Alexia’s because it was closer to the training grounds and more lived in.

Whilst you’d been living in Barcelona now for nearly three years, your home was still in England, and it had been hard for you to fully settle into Barcelona even if it was your home for now.

Alexia knew it, so she’d welcomed you into her home with open arms. It had been heartwarming for her to slowly watch you integrate yourself into Alexia’s life, it made her happier then anything else.

So, she made her mind up that whatever this bump was, she was going to help you get over it, so that she could have all of you, and most importantly so you would feel like Alexia cared.

The feeling that Alexia got as she pulled up next to your car in the lot of your apartment was chilling, in her gut it felt like something was wrong. It was a feeling that set into Alexia's stomach as she stepped out of her car and hurried to collect her things before making her way over to the elevator.

Alexia stays as composed as she can manage, even though on the inside, the worry is starting to set in.

It’s not like theoretically she has anything to worry about, it’s not like this is an abnormal situation, but the weird feeling in Alexia’s stomach is putting her off and the only thing that she can think will make it better is seeing your face.

All Alexia wants to do is wrap you up in her arms for a moment, for her own peace of mind, to stop the off feeling that has been resonating inside of her as she’s tried to get to the bottom of this problem, that’s not really a problem. It’s an inconsistency, and one thing about Alexia is that she doesn’t like inconsistency. She fixes problems, she doesn’t enjoy living life whilst there is something that isn’t quite right, and she needs to make this right.

Alexia knocks at your door quietly, two little raps that she hopes you hear.

When she receives nothing in response, she knocks again, this time a little bit louder.

Alexia waits a few seconds, whilst it’s been a couple of hours since your session there is the off chance that you're in the shower or bath.

After quite a bit of waiting with no noises from the other side of the door, Alexia knocks once more, already pulling her keychain from her pocket and feeling for the spare key to your apartment.

When she finds it, she pulls it up to the lock, waiting just a few more seconds before slotting it into the keyhole and twisting it until it clicks.

The first thing Alexia notices is that your apartment is completely pitch black and if it weren’t for the fact that she saw your car earlier, she might have just left.

Alexia tiptoes her way through the entryway and into your kitchen, it’s hard to see much with all of the blinds pulled shut and none of the lights on, so she blindly feels around for the light switch until she finally finds it and flicks it.

The immediate groan that comes from the direction of your couch definitely does not go unnoticed by Alexia.

“Lights off.”

As fast as she can, Alexia turns the light back off, before curiously tiptoeing over to the edge of your couch.

You’re a lump under a pile of blankets, but she’s able to make out the shape of your body underneath it.

“Hey baby.”

You groan again, and the feeling in Alexia’s stomach only gets worse.

Alexia takes a few steps forwards, assessing you in front of her.

Her hand reaches out tentatively for you, she feels around the mass of blankets until she feels a part of your body underneath the pile of fluff, she follows the lump until she makes her way up to your head.

Your whole body is warm, or the blankets are warm, she isn’t actually quite sure where the blankets end and your body starts.

“Why are you here?”

Your voice is all croaky, and Alexia is certain you must be sick and she’s somehow missed all the symptoms of it.

“I wanted to spend the night with you.”

Alexia’s hand finally finds a bit of skin on your neck and she traces her fingers until she finds your jawline.

“Go home, Ale.”

The sound of your voice is making Alexia antsy, she can’t believe she’s missed the fact that you are sick.

“No, bebita, you’re sick and I’m here to look after you. I have your favourite food and chocolate, we can cuddle up in bed and you can sleep this off. I brought my hoodie for you.”

Alexia turns your head up, so your hair is peaking out of the blanket mound and she can see your squinted eyes.

“I’m not sick, Alexia.”

You keep your eyes crammed shut for the sake of not making the pounding headache you have any worse.

“Bebita, you’re all hot and croaky, it’s okay to be sick, I’m here to look after you.”

If you weren’t working so hard to keep your eyes closed you’d roll them, but that seems like far too much work for right now.

“Alexia I’m not sick, I’m just on my period.”

Alexia’s brow furrows, if your eyes weren’t closed you’d catch it. It’s the same furrow that always happens when Alexia thinks somebody else is wrong and she’s right.

“Bebita, this seems like a little bit more than a period. It’s okay, I’m here.”

You groan and Alexia recoils slightly.

“It’s just my period.”

Your deadpan makes Alexia confused.

“Your period shouldn’t be this bad. Are you having some heatstroke? It’s been warm out today, or are you having a migraine? You need to remember to hydrate.”

Your head is throbbing and Alexia’s theories aren’t helping.

“I have endometriosis Alexia, this is what my period looks like.It’s not fucking heatstroke or a sickness it’s just how my body is..”

Out of everything Alexia had been suspecting, that wasn’t it.

It suddenly dawns on Alexia that she can’t fix what you’ve just told her, she’s standing in front of you completely dumbfounded at what to do in this moment.

Alexia is a problem solver, she finds solutions for the biggest and smallest problems, and yet she doesn’t have a solution for the problem she is being faced with.

“Baby, just go home, the first night for me is always the worst, if I feel better I can hang out with you tomorrow.”

Alexia doesn’t have a solution to the pain you are going through, but she knows she isn’t going to let you suffer alone. The information that you’ve been doing this by yourself for a year now is making Alexia feel like the worst girlfriend ever and she’s going to change that.

“No, bebita, no. I’m staying here tonight, I’m here for you mi vida. Would it make you feel better if we got you into bed or into a bath? What’s going to make you more comfortable? Have you had medication? How about some food?”

When another groan leaves your lips, Alexia becomes aware that she’s approaching this the wrong way.

“How about I go and put the food in your kitchen and you decide what’s going to make you feel best. I’m here for whatever you need, okay?”

Alexia quietly tiptoes back into your kitchen, taking her time to put her things away and pulling two bottles of water from your fridge before making her way back into your living room.

You’ve emerged from your pile by the time she is back, your eyes are still closed but just seeing your face makes Alexia’s nerves settle just a little bit.

“Can we go to my bed, please?”

Alexia smiles at you softly.

“Of course amor, do you want me to carry you or do you think you can walk?”

The apprehension on your face is enough of a answer for Alexia.

She walks over towards you, picking up your blanket fort and body like it’s nothing and gently lifting you up, stepping carefully in the direction of your bedroom.

You groan out at the change of position, nothing feels good at the moment but Alexia’s arms are more comforting than the scratchy material of your couch cushions.

When she makes it to your bed, she lowers you down like you are the most delicate piece of glass, making sure that you’re tucked underneath the sheets before easing you out of your arms.

“Do you need anything? Heat pack? Water? Talk?”

Again, all Alexia’s words do is make the itching pain all over your body ten times worse, it’s all consuming and makes you feel choked.

“Bed, hugs, that’s all I want.”

Alexia is antsy, she wants to make the pain you are in better, she wants to know what to do right now instead of being completely blind in the situation.

“Are you sure? How about some pain relief or a cold compress?”

Alexia is no doctor, and up until five minutes ago she had absolutely no idea about this whole situation and whether she feels like she can admit it or not she’s terrified about it all.

She’s made up her mind that as soon as you're asleep she’s going to go on a deep dive of google searches to get to the bottom of this whole situation, but that will have to wait.

“Alexia, if you want to be here, just get into bed and give me some fucking hugs. I’m not in the mood to be told what to do with my body when I’ve been dealing with this for years, make up your mind of whether you want to be here or not.”

Alexia avoids conflict with you at all costs, she’s earned the title around your football friends of being your puppy dog, because she simply agrees to anything and everything that leaves your lips, and hearing you remotely mad at her makes her crumble.

“Sorry bebita, I’m so sorry, you’re right. I’m here for whatever you need.”

Alexia makes quick work of slipping her shoes off, something she never got around to in the darkness of your entryway.

She follows by taking her socks and outer layers off, stripping down until she’s in her tank top and a pair of old Barcelona training shorts.

Once she’s done she creeps around to the other side of your bed, slipping underneath the covers as subtly as she can manage.

When she’s completely covered, she lies back, unsure of how to approach all of this new information.

“You’re lying like a rigid corpse.”

Alexia gulps, she can see you in her peripherals, you look absolutely exhausted and in the kindest way possible, ten years older with the amount of wrinkles across your skin, bumps and ridges she can only imagine are the tightness holding in all of the struggle that you’re going through underneath the surface.

“Alexia, I’m okay, I’m not dying.”

Alexia knows theoretically that is true, she doesn’t have endometriosis and she’s not close to anybody who does, but she knows what it is. She knows it’s not cancer or something life-threatening, but the depth of the realisation that you’ve been suffering for so long and have kept it from Alexia is slowly pulling her apart at the seams.

You roll over slightly, it causes shocks of pain to go up and down your back and stomach, but you need the comfort as much as Alexia does, even if she isn’t ready to accept it.

She’s going through her process, compartmentalising all of it so she can be the brave and stoic face she always is.

You’re used to it, and you’ve come to realise that even though in these kinds of situations it seems like Alexia needs to be left alone, in reality she needs to be kept close by her nearest and dearest.

So, you worm your way on top of her body, it makes the cramps ten times worse and the nausea takes control of your stomach, forcing somersault after somersault, but when Alexia’s arms reach around you out of instinct it’s worth it.

You’re in pain, your uterus feels like it’s got knives embedded along the lining of it, like there are needles poking in and out of your back and gunshots being fired across your lower abdomen. But you’re well used to it, you’re used to the feeling of needing to throw up from having such intense throbbing pain across your whole core.

You’re used to the pounding headaches and migraines that come naturally from your body being so inflamed and agitated that all the tension eventually spreads to every single inch of your body, from the tips of your fingers to the edges of your toes.

Your head settles on Alexia’s shoulder, and her hand snakes it’s way down to the outside of your thigh, she’s being more cautious than she’s ever been with you and the normal you would probably be heartwarmed by her sweetness but the part of you that is currently seeing the worst kind of stars because of the cramps coursing through your body is just desperate to climb into her bones now that she is here with you.

It’s been ingrained in you since you were a kid that it was best to not bother other people with your weakness, it was your own struggle, your own burden.

You’d kept it from Alexia for this sole purpose, for the purpose that you knew she would take it all on as her problem, that she would try and fix it all and spend all of her time and energy trying to solve it all when you just wanted her to treat you the exact same.

She treated you like a princess everyday, but add a crippling reproductive condition and you knew she’d treat you like a priceless artefact. You were grateful you had a person in your life who would move heaven and earth in such a way for you but it was suffocating sometimes, when you were functioning on a normal level.

It was with those thoughts running rampant in your head that you slipped off into the same light sleep that you were lucky to drift into in these circumstances.

Whilst you drifted off, Alexia was left alone with her own thoughts.

Insecurity wasn’t something Alexia experienced often, she was secure in her body, she is as secure in her football as she has been since her knee injury, she’s secure in her family and up until today she felt completely secure in her relationship.

Now, she doesn’t know how she feels.

She knows that it’s likely you have a good reason to have kept this a secret, or a reason that you’ve justified to yourself. She knows underneath it all, you’re the one who’s secretly been hiding a big insecurity from her and she has no right to be truly mad about it, she’s disappointed that you haven’t felt able to share this with her when it feels like Alexia has bared all of her deepest, boniest secrets with you.

She does what makes sense, she reaches for her phone from her short pocket and begins to google all of the big questions that are swirling around in her mind.

You might have wanted to keep this a secret from Alexia but now that she knows about it she’d be a bad girlfriend if she didn’t educate herself on this.

So, instead of drifting off to sleep, Alexia drifts off into the land of medical journals and words that she doesn’t understand the meaning of but she’s determined to figure out.

You wake up in the morning in less of a state of excruciating suffering, instead of being stuck in a fiery inferno of hell you feel like you're dancing more on the periphery.

Your body is warm, in a way that makes you feel less like your insides are scorching you from the inside and more like you're generally just hot.

It feels like a caterpillar emerging from its cocoon as you try to unroll from the blankets that you’d swaddled yourself in the night beforehand in an attempt to try and make yourself feel as small as possible in hopes it would somehow shrink down everything you were feeling.

It’s a feverish dream, and as you recall your night, blotches begin to come back to you and the memory of your girlfriend appearing somewhere along the way makes the dull cramps across the front of your stomach beat in a way that makes you uncomfortably uneasy all over again.

As you assess your surroundings and open your eyes for what feels like the first time in months, you notice that Alexia is no longer in bed with you.

It’s all extremely faint in your head and there is an off chance you’ve dreamt it all up, but the very faint smell of coffee drifting through the air and folded up clothes sitting on the dresser on the wall across from your bed.

You’re feeling less deathly than last night, so you wager your chances with slowly sitting up in your bed, when you don’t feel any different you begin to lift your legs up.

Your muscles ache in the same way they do every time your period comes around, they tweak and they constrict like you’re an eighty year old instead of a twenty something.

It’s rough, it’s uncomfortable and it’s painful but it’s life.

It’s your life, it’s your burden, it’s your problem and knowing that Alexia is now a part of it all makes you queasy in a completely different way.

Your heavy on your feet as you stand up and begin to creep towards the door of your bedroom, with every step every one of your toes grinds against the floorboards. Your heel digs in, your ankles crunch, your body moves in a way that mirrors the way that you are crumbling from within. On these kinds of days, weeks and months, everything hurts. Everything is an effort.

Once you make it to your open door, you steady yourself against it, your nerves are working against you, everything inside of you is actively trying to stop you and you’ll be damned if you let it happen.

You only stand still long enough for it to be classified in your brain as a stall, not a break, not a stop. You can’t stop in times like this, if you stop then you’ll never get going again and that is a whole pit of fuckedupness that you aren’t ready to dive into.

From the door, you try your hardest to tiptoe your way through the hallway to your living space, but it’s impossible in your body.

As you inch closer, the sound of Alexia only becomes more apparent and obvious, and as you creep closer the agitation across your body only gets worse.

As you reach the archway between your hallway and living space, the sight in front of you makes your heart throb and your uterus ache even worse then it already is.

Alexia is swaying in your kitchen, apparently to whatever music she has playing in her head. There is coffee on the counter, accompanied by two bottles of juice and water, like she couldn’t decide what would be best. To accompany the extra drinks is toast, eggs, bacon and pancakes on the stove.

It’s too much.

With the combination of hormones in your bloodstream you’re honestly impressed that you don’t burst into tears.

Alexia’s still here.

Alexia, sweet, loyal Alexia.

You’ve been conditioned to keep all of this a secret, that during this week it’s best to keep yourself and everything you’re going through hidden, for the best of yourself and for everyone around you. Yet, here Alexia is doing way too much for you.

You’re downward spiralling when her voice breaks you out.

“Hey bebe.”

Her voice is close to a coo, the same voice she uses with Irene’s son. You don’t let it affect you in the moment, but you’ll think about the tactic of it later.

“I have food for you, and coffee if you want it, but google told me that sometimes that’s not always good for endometriosis. So I got juice as well, because google also said it might help with inflammation.”

The thought behind it is extremely sweet, and you feel slightly overwhelmed by all of the options.

“You didn’t need to do that for me.”

Alexia frowns, it’s slight and hardly noticeable, but the little wrinkle between her eyebrows is an immediate tell.

“I wanted to, I want to help you, however I can.”

The sentiment behind her words is lost in the sudden shock that you experience as her words settle in, you’ve never met a single person, besides a doctor whose job it was to help you, that gave a shit about this.

When you have no words, Alexia finds some for you.

“I want to talk to you about this, I want to know about it, I want to help you. We’re partners, we do everything together, and I want to do this with you. I don’t want you to lock me out and I don’t want you suffering alone. I’m here for this, I’m here for you to lean on.”

You nod your head, her words feel like a drug, like it’s lifting away some of the pain you’re going through.

“I’m serious, this isn’t something you can hide from me. You looked after me when I hurt my knee and I am here to look after you in the same way when you’re in pain. Bebita?”

Alexia’s hand falls to your side, caressing your hip gently.

“I’m not used to people knowing about this, and I’m even more not used to people caring, I’m sorry, it’s just a lot to process.”

Alexia’s face softens, and before you can say any other stupid mumbles, she pulls you from the hip into her body. Her arms are warm, and yet oddly they soothe your prickly skin.

You melt into Alexia, you feel like shit but she makes you feel marginally better.

“Coffee, or juice?”

You stifle a giggle that falls from your lips.

“Juice, please.”

Alexia relaxes her arms, taking a step back.

“Can I get you any pain relief, or a new heat pack? Is your headache better?”

Alexia looks at you with so much genuine care that it’s hard to not feel embarrassed.

“Pain relief doesn’t sit well in my stomach on a good day. I save heat packs for when the cramps are really bad or else they don’t have the same effect. My headaches normally are at the end of the day as a result of tension build up during the day.”

Alexia looks as if she’s taking mental note of everything you’ve just told her, for later.

“How about some food, hmm?”

You want to say yes, because Alexia’s clearly gone to so much effort for you, but you know that if you eat this early and then train your stomach contents is going to end up on a pitch or somewhere inconvenient.

“My stomach won’t keep it if we train later, I’m better to eat afterwards.”

Alexia’s brow furrows once again.

“I called the doctor and Pere this morning, we’re both taking today off.”

Everything warm and good about the moment fades, and suddenly all you feel is confusion.

“Why did you do that?”

Alexia steps away from you and retreats into your kitchen, grabbing a glass for you and picking up the bottle of juice that she knows you prefer.

“Because I thought you were dying last night, and you can’t tell me that all of that has just disappeared this morning. You��re struggling and you don’t need to push through pain to prove that you are worthy or good enough. You’re self worth shouldn’t be dictated by you proving to yourself that you can work through a chronic disease. I’m sorry that I didn't notice earlier and that I wasn't there for you earlier but I'm here to advocate for you now.”

You want to tell Alexia that you don’t need an advocate, you can advocate just fine for yourself. But a part of you knows that she doesn’t want to hear it and that part of you is also the part that is crippling from the inside and simply doesn’t have the energy to argue with your girlfriend.

“I train just fine normally.”

Alexia can’t argue that, even though you spend the time in the gym, she’s never heard of anything out of the ordinary occurring.

“But you don’t have to. In fact when I talked to our doctor she told me that she’d been insisting on you being more cautious of your cycle and spending more time resting during it considering your history.”

You roll your eyes, taking the glass of juice Alexia offers you.

Alexia plates up a breakfast that could feed a family of four, but it makes you feel less bad for not eating any of it.

“It’s my body, I know my limits.”

You focus on your glass of juice and not the face Alexia makes at you.

“You know how to continuously meet and exceed your limits, but what about just leaving them and giving yourself some peace. I know nothing about what you are going through, I can only sympathise. But I know this must be incredibly hard and I know you definitely do not give yourself enough grace and definitely don’t care for your needs enough. I’m here for you to confide in, I’ve done my research, I’m prepared to help however you need.”

It’s endearing how clearly prepared Alexia has made herself.

“You’ve done your research, hmm?”

Alexia nods proudly.

“Lots of it. Like about how orgasms can help with cramps.”

She looks like she’s going to say more, but you splutter your juice straight back into your cup, causing her to stop.

Alexia’s always been more open with her sexuality then you are, it’s culturally more acceptable in Spain but she also grew up with it being slightly more normalised.

“Alexia.”

Her grin is broad, like she’s proud that she’s managed to embarrass you.

“It’s true! Although for some people endometriosis can cause pain whilst having sex, so if you’re one of those people then it may not work but if you want to try I’m happy to help, fingers, toys, everything but mouths is on the table.”

Your blush only gets more cemented.

“I’m okay for right now, the thought of any kind of intimacy makes my fallopian tubes ache.”

Alexia nods her head, you are certain that sometime in the future this topic will arise again. Alexia’s rabbit-like sex drive makes it hard to not involve sex in everything you do together.

“Can I ask what your symptoms normally look like?”

Alexia’s lip is caught between her teeth, it’s the first time she’s looked nervous this entire conversation.

“Of course. Normally for me, I get bad pelvic pain which never really goes away, sweats, fever sometimes, cramps everywhere, i bloat, i get quite nauseous and occasionally it can make me moody. Furthermore, it can cause me to have migraines, some joint pain, insomnia, there are other things but those are the main ones. Overall it just makes me drained, i’m more fatigued but I can’t sleep, it makes me feel pretty lifeless.”

Alexia nods, she listens to every single word with so much attention.

“I always assumed the scars on your stomach were from getting your appendix removed, but I’m assuming now it’s a laparoscopy?”

You’re impressed by the level of detail Alexia has gone to for you.

“I have had my appendix removed but also yes, I’ve had two laparoscopy’s and I’m putting off getting my third done.”

Alexia nods.

“Do they make it better?”

You bite your lip before nodding.

“It’s never perfect, but for a bit it definitely makes my symptoms better. I’m putting off getting my next one because the last time I did it put me out of action for two months and it took me a while to get back to where I was. My body is different, it changes you. Before you ask, I’ve tried birth control, I’ve tried IUD’s, I’ve tried other forms of contraception, they all made it impossible for me to play football.”

Alexia shakes her head.

“I wasn’t going to ask you that, it’s your decision what you do and don’t put in your body, and I’m sure you’re just making whatever decisions work best for you.”

It’s refreshing having somebody not question what you do and don’t do for yourself.

“That means a lot to me.”

Alexia puts down her cutlery, her food somehow disappearing into her stomach.

“It’s just what love is, and I’m here to love you for forever, if you’ll let me.”

You’ve put off crying, you’ve tried your very best, but it’s not possible anymore.

The tears fall freely, and before you know it Alexia has pulled you into her lap.

It hurts, everything hurts, and yet everything feels so much better knowing you’re in her arms.

“I’ve got you bebita, I’m here now, I’m here to help you work this all out.”

——————————————————————

whelp that’s done! thoughts, feedback and general opinions would be appreciated! i’m so happy to have made something for yall and it’s rushed and super unedited and definitely not my favorite work but i hope you enjoy it all the same 🫶

[chiyuuchu]

A Fox’s offering <3 (31st July 2024)

Suna Rintarou x Reader

Prompt! Suna grows fond of the Miya twins little sister and approaches her with subtle gestures.

Suna Rintarou had always been the cool and aloof type, a master of nonchalance on and off the court. But there was one person who managed to crack his calm exterior—Y/N, the first-year student who happened to be the little sister of his teammates, Osamu and Atsumu.

Y/N was the epitome of gentleness. Her presence was like a breath of fresh air, her sweet smile and kind demeanor making everyone around her feel at ease. Suna had known her for a while, but it was during one of her visits to their volleyball practices that he realized just how much he liked her.

One day, as the team finished up their practice, Suna noticed Y/N standing by the sidelines, clutching a small bag of snacks. She was chatting with some of the other players, her laughter like soft bells ringing through the gym. Suna’s heart fluttered every time he saw her.

Suna, feeling a bit bold, walked over to where Y/N was standing. He casually held out a bottle of her favorite drink. “Hey, Y/N. I accidentally got two of these, so you can have one.”

Y/N’s eyes sparkled with surprise and gratitude. “Oh, thank you, Suna! That’s so sweet of you.”

Suna shrugged, trying to play it cool. “No problem. Just thought you might like it.”

She accepted the drink with a shy smile, and Suna couldn’t help but feel a warmth spread through him. They chatted for a few minutes, with Suna finding himself lost in her gentle demeanor. He was grateful for these small moments, even if he had to come up with excuses to make them happen.

A few days later, as Y/N visited the gym again, Suna noticed her looking a bit tired. Without hesitation, he reached into his bag and pulled out a small box of her favorite pastries.

“Hey, Y/N,” he said, trying to sound casual. “I accidentally bought too many of these, so you should have one.”

Y/N’s face lit up with a smile. “You’re always so thoughtful, Suna. Thank you!”

Suna’s heart skipped a beat as he watched her enjoy the pastry. They talked for a while longer, and Suna made sure to subtly drop hints about his feelings without being too obvious. He enjoyed these interactions more than he let on, cherishing each moment he got to spend with her.

The following evening, as practice wrapped up, Osamu and Atsumu joined Suna, their faces sporting amused grins.

“Hey, Suna,” Osamu said with a knowing look. “Seems like you’ve been pretty generous with our little sister lately.”

Atsumu snorted. “Yeah, always with the ‘I accidentally got two’ excuse. You’re pretty smooth, huh?”

Suna’s cheeks turned slightly pink even with his usual poker face. “I’m just trying to be nice.”

Atsumu laughed. “Nice, huh? Well, you’re doing a good job. Y/N seems to really enjoy your company.”

Suna shrugged, trying to hide his embarrassment. “She’s great. I just want her to be happy.”

As everyone left the gym, Suna felt a sense of contentment. Each time he saw Y/N, his feelings grew stronger. The little gestures of kindness he extended to her were his way of showing how much he cared, even if he had to play it cool.

And as he walked home, Suna thought about the next time he’d see her. Maybe, he’d finally find the courage to tell her how he truly felt. For now, he was happy with their sweet exchanges and the gentle way she made his heart flutter.

[lillchris]

You With The Dark Curls; You With The Water Colured Eyes (Two Shot)

Chapter Two: I'd Start a Riot Word Count: 2.2k

a/n: Title inspo from BANNERS song "Start A Riot" I will try and make this chapter, and future ones longer :) Anyway, enjoy this chapter! Stay Safe love you all <3

BANNERS song below in case you haven't listened to it, or want to! ;)

Start a Riot

TW: Angst, Swearing, anxiety and panic attack

Luckily when Paige walked back inside, Drew wasn't right there carping her with questions, which she was currently thankful for. 

In fact, she didn't know what exactly to think of at the moment. All she could think about was everything Jalen had said in the course of their heated conversation. Even though she was angry with Jalen at the beginning of their discussion, she had tried to keep it civil.  But screw it, it had escalated to anything but a civil conversation by the end of it all. 

The fact that Jalen had the audacity to bring up her parent’s divorce was a very low blow, but yet in all the years that Paige had known him, it didn’t surprise her too much that he would make a comment like that, and it gave Paige yet another reason to never speak to Jalen again.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the couch, Azzi was consumed in her own pool of thoughts. 

She mentally kicked herself for not being able to give Jalen her full what for. She knew that if she somehow did now, it would make the situation worse, and that was the last thing Paige needed.  However, in her mind, she hoped that sometime in the very near future the situation would arise where she could.  She made a mental note and added Jalen to the list of people she wanted to bitch slap. and yes Azzi had a list, and by all means, he deserved it. 

Azzi rose from the couch, silently, walking into the kitchen, eyeing her parents, who were still cleaning the kitchen.  She kept her presence brief as she filled a glass with ice water, as she felt Tim and Katie’s eyes on her.  She said nothing, only glancing at them as her parents frowned.  It was one of those eyes that spoke more than words moments.  Azzi’s expression and demeanor told her parents pretty much everything.  They stayed quiet, as they watched their daughter walk away, before having a conversation of their own. 

Azzi crouched down in front of Paige meeting her eye level with the couch as she handed her the glass of water. 

Their eyes met, and something in Paige softened, as her best friend watched her face relax. 

Azzi was always the one who could do that, no one else.  She somehow made her feel at peace, even in moments when she felt like everything around her was crashing.  She was there for her when she injured her ACL, there for her when she wanted to give up, physically and mentally in rehab, every time. She was there for her when Jalen had broken her heart, letting her cry. Azzi was her safe haven.  Azzi had told Paige once, that she saved her, but in reality, it was vice versa.  To her Azzi was the one who had truly saved her.

Flashback… (November 2022)

Why did this injury even have to happen? One season, please, an injury-free healthy season, that’s what she had hoped for. Longed for, Prayed for, asked God for, but He had different plans. Through the constant painful days of rehab Paige was really starting to wonder what that plan truly was.

“Six months” “Nine months” “Possibly up to a year maybe more.” That’s what she had heard over and over again from Orthopedic Specialists and doctors. “Oh your young and healthy! It might not take that long for recovery!” They’d say or “You should be thankful it isn’t worse.” She didn’t want sympathy or pity, she wanted to be out on the court, playing. Instead she had to watch from the sidelines as her teammates played games she would have been in too if it hadn’t been for this.

She fucking hated it. Being away from the court, being resentful towards her teammates, the jealousy, the envy all of it! She knew she shouldn’t feel that way, but the jealousy always crept in somehow.

Most of all she missed the court, even the sound. The way her shoes would squeak against the hardwood, or the way the rubber and layers upon layers of fiber felt in her hand as she gripped the basketball.

Ball was life, who was she without it if she couldn’t play? She didn’t mean it, but she also didn’t want to lie to herself and not acknowledge that half of that statement wasn’t true, because it was.

Paige mentally cursed herself as one of the therapists aided her in the usual “daily walk” they called it. It was supposed to be a towards the end of the day type of casual walk, but to Paige it was anything but casual. The walk was a fucking menace, as Paige felt every muscle in her right “good leg” burn as it tried to compensate for her bum left one.

She was about to curse out loud but the sound of Azzi’s voice stopped her from doing so. As she glanced over toward the hallway entrance she saw Azzi, her Azzi. Even though she had seen her two days prior, something in Paige always skipped when she saw her. She didn’t know what to root it to, the fact that she missed her or something else. All Paige knew was the she was elated to see her best friend, as even the presence of her encouraged Paige to keep going.

———————————————————————

“Paige! It’s your turn to give me my gift!”Drew said excitedly, snapping his big sister out of her daze, and back into the present moment.

“Oh uh yeah right!” Paige said with a slight smile as she got up from the couch and handed Drew his present.

Paige was trying to be as enthusiastic as she could that evening as everyone opened presents, but her efforts were in vain.

Azzi glanced over at Paige. She knew that the events from this morning were effecting Paige more than she knew, physically Paige was there with everyone, but mentally she was in another place.

Azzi said nothing, as she silently intertwined her fingers with Paige’s, in hopes to help keep her grounded in the moment despite the fact her mind was spiraling.

“Yes! This is exactly what I wanted! Thank you!”Drew said happily before engulfing his big sister in a tight embrace.

Drew was ecstatic about his present, due to the fact he now had a PlayStation Portal. He could easily play Fortnite virtually anywhere, without being tied to his console. Which in turn didn’t help his video game obsession, but Drew was happy and to Paige that’s all that mattered.

“You gotta open yours now.” Azzi said mustering up a smile as she handed Paige a small velvet box.

The content of the box contained a small sliver ring with the wording engraved on the front “My Ride Or Die”. Their initials ‘P&A’ engraved on the inside.

Paige smiled, and chuckled lightly before handing Azzi a slightly bigger velvet box.

Azzi gasped slightly, before laughing a little and smiling upon seeing the item.

Unironically enough, inside was an identical silver stylish bracelet with the same wording on the front and their initials, this time on the back.

"They really are soulmates." Jose whispered to Drew with a laugh making a heart hands toward the two girls jokingly.

"Now we're matching." Paige stated as she carefully placed the bracelet around Azzi's smaller wrist.

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

"Alright that's it for me I'm done, I already lost five hotels four houses, and seven hundred dollars. I'm practically broke." Paige says laughing as she sets her play piece on the Monopoly board.

"Yeah, I guess I'm out too, Drew drained me of all resources." Azzi says as she noogies Drew's head jokingly.

"Oh come on it's only 3am. You two are dropping out and going to bed like an old married couple." Jose teases as Paige and Azzi roll their eyes, and walk down the hall toward Azzi's bedroom.

Later that night, silence filled the bedroom as Azzi and Paige lay opposite the queen-sized mattress. They always shared a bed whenever Paige visited the Fudds, so it wasn't out of the norm for them to share a bed, but tonight something was different.

"You awake Paige?" Azzi asked curiously as she lay on her side, before glancing over at Paige who had her back facing her.

"Yeah, um I'm awake." Paige said vaguely not even turning around to face Azzi.

Tonight Paige was closed off like a butterfly, sheltered in the cacoon walls she had put up to protect herself, and no matter what Azzi did she couldn't get through to her. Azzi didn't blame Paige at all for being closed off, but she just wished that Paige would let her carry her burdens; together through all of this.

"You don't have to say anything but, if you do, I'm here to talk or just listen. I'm here; always."

Paige said nothing, but internally she felt like she was on the brink of drowning. All the air left her lungs as she felt as though she was barely keeping her head above water. Her ears felt as though they were burning, her mind was screaming at her. Paige felt as though her heart was beating out of her chest, feeling the ever-looming feeling of nausea rising in her throat. She didn't know what was happening to her. Her senses were shot through the roof, and it was only then did she realize her labored breathing could be heard by Azzi.

"Paige." Azzi's voice stretched out to her, but at this point, her friend was unreachable, as something threatened to pull her under. Take her away from the only thing, the only person who could possibly pull her from the waves she was being taken under by.

"Paige, it's me, Azzi, You're here with me, whatever you're experiencing right now, I'm here with you in this moment." Azzi said softly holding Paige's hand in a desperate attempt to somehow bring her back to this moment.

In Paige's mind, she could hear her best friend calling out to her, but the thoughts and dread that had surpassed her earlier in the day had become all too much for her.

"Paige, can you hear me? I need you to slow down your breathing, long inhales, and exhales."

Paige made slight eye contact with Azzi, despite her eyes still being hazy and glazed over. Her vision was blurry and she could barely make out the shape of Azzi's face, as her fast spurts of breathing threatened to cause her blackout.

"Paige, I can't have you hyperventilating do you remember the grounding techniques we learned in psychology class?

Azzi firmly set both hands on Paige's shoulders, Azzi was damn determined to bring Paige out of this.

"Whatever is happening to you right now, whatever you're thinking it isn't true, none of it is. Whatever Jalen said to you isn't true. Your are an amazing person, you are smart, and kind. Who you love or how you love does not make you less. Your my best friend, your beautiful, and more than deserving of being loved, and to love. Your past circumstances do not define you.

Those words seemed to break through to Paige, as she slowly came back to the present moment. Her vision cleared and she was finally able to see Azzi clearly, as her chocolate brown, gentle eyes stared back into Paige's blue ones.

"I-I." Paige started to say, but Azzi gently shushed her, and she practically collapsed into Azzi's embrace. Paige's walls fell down, and Azzi was there to catch her.

"Shhhh I know, it's okay. I've got you, it's okay you can let it out. "

It made Azzi's heartbreak knowing Paige probably had kept this, and a lot of things pent up for a while now. Paige was always the tough one, the strong one, the leader. She was always there for others, but no one was there for her, not truly at least. She never really had any way or anyone she could talk to about everything.

Don't get Azzi wrong, she loved Paige's family, but she always wondered why her parents split when she was so young. She knew it was a very sensitive subject for Paige, and she respected that, but her mind always wondered. Azzi recalled when had taken Psychology I, that the earliest a child could remember things was age three. While it was often spotty and vague, a child would start to remember.

Azzi hated the fact that Paige had no one to talk to about this matter and everything else in between. From that moment on, Azzi made a promise to herself; that she would be that somebody.

Paige's sobs subsided, as Azzi looked down at her, realizing she had fallen asleep in her arms, utterly drained and exhausted.

Azzi sighed, laying Paige in her bed again as she climbed in beside her, thankful now that she was finally sleeping peacefully. It was only when Azzi heard Paige's snoring that was she satisfied.

Paige cuddled up to Azzi, as she softly planted a kiss on Paige's forehead. Usually, Azzi would be annoyed by her snoring, but tonight it was a more than welcome gift.

a/n: That's it, I know that this chapter was a bit deeper, and had some sensitive topics, but I promise to have more fluff in the future!! As always I would love to hear what you all think! <3

[coalswriting]

time of need - natalie scatorccio

summary – you get captured by your nemesis when your power is needed. (approx. 1.4k words)

a/n – i am very rusty with writing rn!! but this is more of a world-building/introduction chapter. i’m not too sure if i’ll continue with this but if anyone wants to help me out on how to turn this into an enemies to lovers, i’d love to get it done some day :3

anyways, antler queen = lottie, serpent = nat, judgement = taissa, saint = laura lee & you are (h/n) / hero name.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

your head rang as you began to regain your consciousness. your limbs felt as heavy as lead as you tried to move them, your eyebrows scrunching together in confusion.

where were you?

then, you noticed two things. one, that you couldn’t move at all, and two, that you were not in your superhero costume.

oh crap.

white metal walls surrounded you with the clinical vibes of the white lights above your head adding to your headache. you felt exposed and vulnerable, and you supposed that you were, considering you were tied to a damn chair.

struggling, you attempted to loosen the restraints around your limbs. you just needed a bit of leverage, and you’d be able to escape. suddenly, you felt your blood run cold as a door slid open in front of you, and through it walked no other than your arch nemesis, serpent.

“i didn’t expect you to be so easy to capture, (h/n), or should i say (y/n) (l/n)?”  

yeah, you were screwed. when you had made your small hero-squad with antler queen, saint, and judgement, you had sworn never to reveal your identities to each other or the public. ‘it’s way too dangerous and we’d get a lot of people hurt’, you had remembered judgement scolding you.

“serpent,” you seethed. her voice sounded like venom in your mouth, fittingly so. narrowing your eyes, you glared as her blonde locks fell through her hood. you began to struggle more, as she came towards you, fear filling your body much like that of a rabbit about to be eaten by its prey.

“no point struggling, i’ll just knock you out again,” her lips fell straight into a smirk, and you had to tear your eyes off her, instead, opting to look down at the floor.

how did you even get captured?

oh, yeah, you remember now. you were helping a child escape from some rubble while your three teammates were preoccupied with serpent’s groupies. and well, turns out the small child was serpent herself, just shapeshifted. obviously, when it comes to a fight with a shapeshifter who can change their body at will, and somebody who can heal others a considerable amount, the shapeshifter will win. sometimes you hated your power, god.

you took a deep breath, feigning the dread in your stomach, before looking up at her. “right, what do you want?”

serpent’s composure seemed to falter for a moment, her smirk dropping into a thin line. heh, she wanted to stay on her power high for longer. well, you weren’t going to let her do that. win for (y/n). 

“i need your help.”

you stared at her for a moment, raising your eyebrows. “you… what?”

“i need your help, what the fuck don’t you get?”, she snapped, and you nearly fell off the chair from shock. serpent’s demeanor softened as she looked at you apologetically for a moment. “sorry.”

you gulped, nodding your head slightly. you didn’t expect one of wiskayok’s most notorious villains to have a polite side. “yeah, yeah… what do you need me for?”

the blonde pulled her hood down, uncovering her hair. you couldn’t see her face due to the scaly green mask that covered her features, but she looked beautiful, actually. or, ugh, maybe she’d concussed you when she had knocked you out. yeah, that must’ve been it.

“my team’s engineer got into a bad accident when working a few days ago. we managed to keep her stable, but her face is pretty damn fuckin’ mangled.”

she stopped for a moment, watching to make sure you were listening before continuing.

“i’ve seen you literally reconstruct people’s faces on the battlefield. i want you to fix her.”

silence fell over the both of you as serpent paced back and forth in the room, waiting for an answer. you noticed how quietly she walked despite wearing chunky boots and loads of shimmery scale-like armor – it was like she had trained herself to do as such, like she hadn’t lived a life where she felt safe.

“okay,” you finally said, “i’ll do it.”

“what?”, she choked, turning her entire body towards you.

“yeah, you’d literally kill me if i didn’t. but, i want you to let me go after.”

a ghost of a smile crept onto the blonde’s face as she stepped towards you. you looked into her hazel eyes, if that’s what they really were, and she stared into your (e/c) ones. then, suddenly, you felt a cold, yet gentle hand on your jaw, as she pulled it up slightly to inspect your face. goosebumps covered your body as you felt your heart thump in your throat. you felt intoxicated, staring at her and you couldn’t tell if you were panicking from how vulnerable you felt, or from how beautiful she was up close. dang, you knew you’d beat yourself up for being attracted to the enemy; the enemy who had done so many awful things, but also the enemy who had never intentionally hurt an innocent civilian. this was wrong.

suddenly, you felt yourself get lighter, and as serpent let go of your jaw, you realized that she had cut the ropes off you with one swoop of her shape-shifted hand. you swore her cheeks had a red tint to them as she turned to look away, muttering a, “had to make sure i wouldn’t slit your throat…”

how romantic.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

“so, this is your engineer?” you enquired, staring at the girl sitting in front of you. her face was covered in bandages, and she seemed a bit reluctant, avoiding eye contact.

serpent only nodded, keeping an eye on every movement you made. she was like a hawk, stalking its prey, and you felt unnerved. if you made one wrong move, you weren’t sure if you’d come out of the lair alive.

“what’s your name?” you asked, sitting down on the seat next to her. before she could open her mouth to speak, serpent cut in with a “no formalities!”

sighing, you rolled your eyes.

“okay, this will be fast; i need you to close your eyes, and i’ll touch the injured part of your face. you don’t need to remove your bandages.”

“will it hurt?” the ginger questioned, shocking you – the whole time, you had thought that she wouldn’t utter a word to you, and for a moment, she kind of sounded like a girl in the av club you attended every thursday. you mentally shook off the connection, deciding that you were probably just concussed and delusional.

“no,” you simply replied, “it’ll feel very hot for a second but that’ll quickly turn into a pleasant warmness. i can focus properly here so there’s no risk of it going wrong.”

and with that explanation, the girl closed her eyes. serpent watched closely as your right palm began to glow, and you placed it onto the girl’s face.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

as much as you didn’t expect it, serpent was somebody who kept to her word. one second, you were performing your healing magic, the next, you were awoken by your roommate, jackie, throwing a rabbit plushie at your head. “jesus, (y/n), turn off your damn alarm! it’s been going off for ages!”

you moaned, disoriented, grabbing your head with one hand while reaching over to turn off the alarm. your brain felt like it was imploding.

“holy shit, you look awful! did you hit your head?”

hearing this caused you to sit up almost instantly and peer across the shared room at the mirror that adorned the wall. yep, you had a bad bump above your left eye and the bruise that was forming was not pretty.

damn fucking serpent.

“oh, yeah, uh. i bumped my head getting out of the shower last night,” you lied biting your tongue, “you were asleep.”

your roommate simply shrugged her shoulders before murmuring “be more careful” and flipping to face the wall in her bed.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

you shuffled through the hallways of your university, dodging hordes of students who had just finished their evening lectures. it was your favourite time of the week; av club, and as you swung the door open, you walked into somebody.

“oh, sorry,” you murmured, staring at the perpetrator. she was a bit shorter than you and had layered platinum blonde hair and intoxicating chocolate brown eyes. your mouth hung open for a moment, trying to figure out why this girl looked so familiar. “um, do i know you from somewhere?”

she simply shook her head ‘no’ before pulling out a box of marlboro reds. “never seen you in my life. i’m nat.”

“(f/n),” you replied, quietly. the girl nodded, acknowledging you, before brushing past you coldly.

behind where she had stood, in the back of the club room, you could see van staring.

[lionesses-lover]

I’m Yours - E. Toone

The one where she is fed up of everyone’s assumptions.

Word Count: 1.5k

Being private and being secret. Two very different things in the world of relationships. However, despite yours and your girlfriend’s best efforts, you had never managed to escape the bubble of secrecy in your relationship. 

You and Ella never meant to be a secret. You had never made an effort to hide that you fancied each other, you never made an effort to disguise the feelings that had blossomed for each other as you began to date and get to know each other more. It just seemed like everyone else thought you were friends.

———

You first met the bubbly brunette last July when you went to watch you cousin, Leah, lead the Lionesses out at Old Trafford for the opening match of the Women’s Euros. However, instead of spending the time after the match celebrating the 1-0 win over Austria with your cousin and your family, you found yourself sitting at a table in the corner of the room chatting to Ella.

She was so kind and beautiful and completely swept you off your feet. She spoke to you after every match and the endless flirtation reached its peak when she drunkenly came up to you at the party after the final, wrapped her arms around you and kissed you.

You felt like you were 16 and in love again. It was the most perfect first kiss you had ever had with anyone in your life. What made that moment even better was the drunken, lopsided smile she had given you afterwards before asking you to go on a date with her.

———

It had been about 8 months since that wonderful night and you and Ella had been together ever since. The pair of you spent almost everyday together and it was perfect. She even managed to convince you to go to a few of her matches, even though you remained stubborn that you were a Gooner for life.

The only issue was that no one seemed to realise that you and Ella were more than friends. Even Alessia and Leah who were always with you never noticed the loving looks you both shared. If Ella posted a photo with you on her Instagram all of the comments on it were people obsessing over your 'friendship'. It even got to the stage where Alessia was joking about being replaced as Ella's best friend and Leah was telling you how happy she was that you had made friends with her teammates.

The longer people believed you were just close friends with Ella the more it annoyed you, and you could tell Ella felt the same. The only issue was that you both didn't know how to start telling people. You had been dating for a while and you were worried that your friends would feel upset that you hadn't told them.

"Babe, I swear if I have to read one more thing about how were are apparently 'friendship goals' I think I'll go insane. How hard is it for people to realise that we are dating? I want everyone to know that I’m yours," your girlfriend to you one night when you were watching TV at her house. It was your last night together before Ella went away for international duty.

"I know love," you sighed, "I'm just worried Leah will hate me for not telling her."

"She could never hate you y/n, you're her favourite cousin," Ella replied, wrapping her arms around you, burying her head into the crook of your neck in an effort to get closer to you.

"Maybe we should just get it over with," you suggested, "I just don't know when the time will be right."

Ella looked up, leaned in and gave you a slow, loving kiss before saying, "We'll know when the time is right, let's not put too much pressure on it.”

You agreed with your girlfriend, before kissing her again, enjoying your last evening before she went away and you would have to wait days to see her again.

———

Today was the day. After what seemed like years apart (it was 4 days) you would finally get to see your girlfriend again. You were sitting in the friends and family box in Wembley with your aunt and cousin waiting to watch Leah, Ella and the rest of the Lionesses walk out to play against Brazil in the first ever Women's Finalissima.

Luckily, you didn't have to wait very look and soon enough your cousin was leading the team onto the pitch. Your eyes met with Ella's and she shot you a cheeky wink before proceeding to grin at you throughout the national anthems. You then watched as her face transitioned into her serious, 'game face' ready for kick off.

The game kicked off and England were dominating possession and had a few shots on goal, but it wasn't until the 23rd minute that England had their best shot. You could see Lucy running down the wing with the ball and then she managed to pass it through to the one and only Ella Toone.

You shot out of your seat with excitement and everything seemed to slow down around you as you watched Ella take the shot.

It went in. 1-0 to England. Ella had scored.

As soon as you saw the ball hit the back of the net you were jumping up and down, screaming at the top of your lungs. Your girlfriend had just scored at Wembley yet again.

"y/n,' you cousin Jacob said to you, frantically hitting your arm to get your attention, 'look at Tooney!"

You looked over and were surprised to see that your girlfriend had brought the celebrations of her goal over to the friends and family section and was grinning widely at you. Once she saw that you were looking at her she made a heart with her hands and blew you a quick kiss before running over to restart the game.

She had dedicated the goal to you.

———

Three hours later, after watching a very chaotic game that consisted of a 90+3 minute equaliser from Brazil before a penalty shootout that resulted in England winning the Finalissima and Leah lifting yet another trophy, you were sitting in the large party room with your family waiting for the Lionesses to arrive and celebrate the win with their loved ones.

Leah was one of the first ones to come out of the changing rooms, so you were busy chatting when you felt an arm wrap around your waist.

"Hey gorgeous," whispered your girlfriend.

You turned around and threw your arms around her, bringing her into the biggest hug and telling her how proud you were of her.

"Oh yeah Tooney what was your celebration about?" asked Leah as she seemed to finally begin to notice the love between her cousin and her teammate.

"I wanted to celebrate with my girl," replied Ella, looking at you saying, "I hope you don't mind but the moment just felt right."

"Of course I don't mind babe," you replied, kissing her cheek softly, "I'm so proud of you."

"Wait, are you two together?" asked Alessia, also finally noticing you and Ella as she walked over to see her best friend.

"Yeah Less," said Ella, "we've been together since the Euros, you were all just too stupid to notice."

You turned to look at your cousin. She was your hero, despite her only being two years older than you, so you desperately hoped that she would be okay with your relationship.

"Wow," she said slowly before pulling you into a warm hug, "we are all idiots. I've been telling everyone you two are just friends. I'm so happy for you y/n."

"Thank you Lee," you said smiling at your favourite cousin, "i didn't think it would take you all this long to notice."

"Well I was a bit suspicious when you were telling me about all the United matches you had been to," she laughed.

Ella wrapped her arms around your waist again before joking, "She's a United fan now Leah."

"Never," you replied stubbornly, "As much as I love you Ella I will never be a United fan. Arsenal for life."

She pouted before kissing you gently, "you're lucky I love you too."

"Okay," interrupted Alessia, "we're happy you guys are happy but we don't need to watch you kiss."

"Shut up Lessi," muttered your girlfriend, before pulling you in for another kiss.

———

Later that night you arrived back at your house after celebrating with the Lionesses. You had spent the entire evening with Ella and it was wonderful. But sadly she couldn't come back with you as she still had to stay at camp for another few days before the next match.

You got ready for bed before checking your phone and seeing that Ella had posted on Instagram. You opened the notification before smiling to yourself, your heart swelling with how in love you were.

@eIlatoone

liked by leahwilliamsonn, alessiarusso99 and 7358 others

ellatoone Finalissima Champions 🏆🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Always a pleasure to score at Wembley, even better to score in front of my girl. I love you y/n💕

———

[solaireverie]

Solsplaining Lestappen Gate 2023: Motivations

(aka i spent a full day psychoanalyzing rich white men who drive fast cars for a living)

I'll be the first to admit it: the recent rumors of a move to Red Bull for Charles / news involving him that is just as shocking, affectionately known as Lestappen Gate 2023, is likely delusion. (Or in the words of my beloved sister, "silly season didn't deliver this year, so we have to find something else to obsess over")

However, one common misconception is that one of the main reasons why a deal like this would fall through is the perception that Charles is, and will always remain, loyal to Ferrari, and would never move to another team. However, I actually think that it's very possible for Charles to want a transfer.

Charles is a professional athlete. You don't get to the level that he's at without being dedicated, hardworking, and incredibly competitive. (You can even see his ultra-competitive nature outside of the car — just take a look at the Ferrari driver challenges on Youtube.)

Every single Formula 1 driver (with the possible exception of the man, the myth, and the legend that is Yuki Tsunoda) dreams of winning the World Driver's Championship. Charles isn't going to stay with a team that promised him victory yet keeps failing to deliver (see Silverstone 2022, Spain 2022, Hungary 2022, etc), especially when he's already proven that he can challenge for the title when given a competitive car and decent strategy.

In fact, Charles has already told us the circumstances under which he would be open to leaving Ferrari: when he no longer believes in their "project" and he doesn't feel like he's maximizing performance. (He states clearly that he won't leave at the moment, but the most reasonable estimate for a move has always been 2025, after his current contract expires.)

Now, what could possibly qualify as not maximizing performance? Maybe Charles' past four years with Ferrari?

It obviously isn't all Ferrari's fault. Charles has made his fair share of mistakes and he's paid for them (ex: French GP 2022), but at the end of the day you have to admit that Ferrari seems to make an inordinate amount of mistakes for what should be one of the most prestigious teams in the sport.

Also, not directly related to Charles going to RBR, but it's been said that Ferrari only want to keep one of their current drivers for the future due to concerns about car development since Charles and Carlos have different driving styles. They would prefer to retain Charles, and that's why Carlos has been having difficulties with his contract, but at the end of the day I think that may be another concern Charles may have.

Red Bull have proved time and time again that they are currently on top in terms of car development, pace, strategy, etc. etc. It truly cannot be stressed too much the insanely dominant season they're currently having, and it seems probable that they'll continue this streak into at least the next two to three seasons.

(And even if they do fall off after the 2026 regulations are introduced, they've shown that they can remain competitive and fight to get back to the top. Red Bull have had two periods of domination in the past decade-ish and Ferrari haven't had a WDC since Kimi in 2007 or a WCC since the year after.)

If Charles wants to leave Ferrari to get a better shot at the WDC, Red Bull would be one of his best bets.

On the other side of the equation is Max Verstappen, who has consistently praised Charles' racecraft and has even said that he thinks that they would work well together (mind you, this article is from 2019, which was waaaaaay before their relationship reached the stage that it's at now, and Max was already floating the possibility.)

Red Bull is currently Max's team. He would definitely have a significant amount of input should they decide to change his teammate. Everything he's said so far about and around Charles, as well as the way he acts with him, points to Max not being opposed to the idea. (I'd even go so far as to say that it's possible that he wants to race alongside Charles... *cough* those comments about putting Charles in a better car *cough*)

Red Bull as a team would also benefit greatly from signing Charles. Firstly, he's a great PR asset. He's a media darling and at least one of the top three most popular drivers in F1. For a team that's basically a glorified marketing campaign, that's incredibly important.

Secondly, he and Max have similar driving styles. They're both aggressive and prefer borderline "undriveable" cars. Red Bull have the same issue as Ferrari currently in that their two drivers don't necessarily share the same style, which makes car development difficult. This results in the car suiting one driver (usually the faster) over the other, which then leads to the other driver performing abnormally substandard (see post-Miami 2023 Sergio and McLaren 2022 Daniel).

There are, of course, people who think that Checo might keep his seat or Daniel/Liam/Yuki will replace him.

Checo hasn't been able to achieve a 1-2 in the championship despite having had two dominant cars. This year, if he does get it, it would be by the skin of his teeth (fingers still crossed for Lewis!!!), which if you look at Max's gap with him in the points is simply ridiculous.

He's been decent for getting in the points, but a car like the RB19 shouldn't just be "in the points". Of course, it's not exactly suited for him, but less Q3 appearances than Oscar Piastri, a rookie who had a bad car for a third of the season? Sergio has always been a driver who excels in midfield teams and dragging decent cars higher than they should go, but I don't think he's built for championship contention in a dominant team like Red Bull.

I hate to say it, but realistically I don't see Daniel finding his way back into a RBR seat. He's still a good driver, but he's getting older and his stints with Renault and McLaren really hurt his reputation. The main reason that I think Red Bull would keep him now is for marketing but they've already achieved that by first making him their third driver and then sticking him in Alpha Tauri. Moment of silence for Nyck.

Let's take a look at Red Bull's history of choosing drivers: they've always leaned on the younger side. Sebastian Vettel, Max himself, Pierre Gasly, and Alex Albon were all brought in to replace an older driver. (Which again proves my point about Daniel: Why would RBR replace Checo with a driver older than him? This sentence pained me to write. RBR Daniel you will always be special in my heart!!!)

On the other hand, both Pierre and Alex have shown Red Bull that promoting a rookie too soon can hurt both of them. Yuki, perhaps, but he's not the most stable driver, and he doesn't have the raw talent that Max possesses to make up for the mistakes he makes occasionally. (Personally, I think he'll go to a midfield team eventually.)

For Red Bull, Charles would be a fantastic addition. He's already proven himself, is a publicity powerhouse in his own right, and can compete with Max. Just... no Brocedes ending, please.

Red Bull and Ferrari are incredibly similar in the sense that they are both, at the core of their existences, a mythos, albeit in vastly different ways. Red Bull Racing is a marketing scheme that chases success above all. Scuderia Ferrari is the years of history that looms behind the name.

They're both trying to sell you something, it's just that one is an energy drink and the other is the legend of the Prancing Horse.

Eventually, when Charles is no longer buying into Ferrari, he's going to go looking for another team to put his faith in, and plenty of signs point to it being Red Bull, who in my opinion has shown that they would be more than happy to accept him.

This still doesn't explain why Ferrari would also be posting Lestappen and it's entirely possible that it's all just a ✨ coincidence ✨, but in the meantime I will choose to be delusional!

If you've read to here, I salute you for reaching the end of my ramblings. Please drop by to let me know what you think! Have a nice day and stay hydrated <3

[muddyorbsblr]

the right partner

See my full list of works here!

Summary: You had no intentions of joining Stark's party, considering that your ex had just dumped you two days ago and he was already announcing his new relationship. And then along came Loki, offering to be your date for the night…

Pairing: Loki x Reader

Word Count: 4.8k

Warnings: language (yeah no, not sorry, Rogers); little bit of steam at the end; reader w/ insecurities [let me know if i missed anything!]

Things to be aware of: Steve is the ex; Nat & Wanda offering violence to avenge their bestie; borderline dangerous dancing stunts (don't try this at home, kids); coworkers/teammates to lovers

"Babes, stop fussing over the dress. You look hot. It's giving revenge dress if I do say so myself. Everyone covering the event will take one look at you and see without a doubt in their mind that you won this break up. Especially considering how hot your dates are."

Natasha nudged your shoulder playfully, probably in hopes of wiping the scowl off of the reflection staring back at you as you adjusted the strap of your midnight blue mermaid dress, making sure everything was secure and no unflattering angles were even remotely feasible.

Then again you could barely walk properly in the damn thing, so there really wasn't much room for awkward and unflattering, considering that you'd be able to do little more than stand and pose. You'd wanted to trade in the dress for something that gave you a bit more breathing room considering that the man that chose -- well, he'd argue strongly encouraged -- the dress was no longer your date for the night, but your choices would be stiflingly limited with how close you'd have been cutting it if you'd returned it.

Two days to break up, pack up, move your things out of his apartment in the compound, move back into your own apartment, clean up said apartment to make it at least livable once again, cry a bit, and then ready yourself for this charity ball? There wasn't time to return the dress that Steve chose, let alone pick out a new one. Even with the help of both Nat and Wanda.

"Remind me to thank Bucky and Vision for letting me steal you two away tonight?"

"Don't even worry about it. But maybe you could talk to Bucky later and tell him that there isn't even a shred of this that's his fault? He somehow got it into his head that because Steve's his best friend he should have sensed something. Should've told me. Or directly told you. He's been feeling like shit over this whole thing since I came home two days ago and told him I had to help you clean out your stuff from Rogers' apartment and move back into your old one."

Just as you were about to reassure the Russian spy that you would talk to her husband the second you got the chance to when there were no nosy reporters lurking around corners or planting microphones around the event to capture their next juicy story, Wanda walked into the room, her expression colored with a mix of pity and irritation.

"Well he might feel a hell of a lot worse now that he's seeing in real time what his best buddy's been doing since the breakup." Nausea began to swirl in your stomach as they each took one of your hands and the sorceress led you to the conference hall that had been fully decked out for tonight's event. The crowd had gathered around the dance floor, phones out and whispering amongst one another as they looked on the couple in the center.

"Oh you've got to be fucking shitting me," Nat bellowed in outrage, her hand leaving yours and wrapping around your waist to ensure you were still standing straight. "You even asked him point blank about her and he brushed you off--"

"Don't worry about her, Cookie, I'm just making sure she has the best training available to her," you seethed, feeling yourself shaking in your friend's hold as you repeated Steve's words to you just last week. "Babes, I don't think I even wanna go in there. I can already see the fucking headlines. Heartbroken Avenger Y/N Y/L/N seeks the comfort of her girlfriends' company as former lover Captain America debuts his new relationship with SHIELD Agent Ava WhatsHerFace. This isn't worth it. You two go. Be with your husbands. I'm going home."

"Are you sure?" Wanda squeezed your other hand, her free arm already radiating her signature red magic. "I can trip her and make them fall flat on their asses, just say the word."

It took you a great deal to not take her up on her offer, instead opting to just squeeze her hand back before letting go, maneuvering yourself out of their hold. "I'm sure. No tripping anybody, you two. Last thing we need is the internet speculating on which sides the Avengers are taking in what they're gonna try and spin as the breakup that shocked the world, and then making these idiotic theories about how we might cause a reiteration of Germany right here in the Big Apple."

"Okay what if I just poisoned her drink no one would know it was me--"

"Babes, everyone would know it was you," you cut off the spy. "No poison. No tripping. Not even a backhanded compliment. If you really can't stand the sight of her then walk away. Otherwise Pepper will kill us over making a scene over this and I'm not even joining the damn party but she'll drag me in anyway because she's gonna figure out that you two did what you did because of me."

"You're a better woman than that little shit ever deserved," Wanda grumbled, pulling you into a quick embrace. "We'll see you after the party then? Because no way in hell are you sleeping alone tonight."

"After," you confirmed, already walking away from the two as they walked toward the bar to where Bucky and Vision were undoubtedly standing and waiting patiently for them.

You'd walked down a good few feet down the hall when a voice halted you.

"Y/N?" You inwardly groaned at the sound of Loki calling out to you. The absolute last thing you needed was the member of the team who was undoubtedly and objectively the most unfairly breathtakingly beautiful person in all of New York -- hell, in all of the world as far as you were concerned -- seeing you in the dejected state you were in.

You did your best to plaster on a half-smile as you turned to face the god. "Hey, Mischief." You threw him a cursory glance, your heart skipping a good few beats when you registered his bespoke Burnham green tuxedo forming to his sculpted body like a well-worn leather glove. "You look great."

"You're breathtaking," he sighed, walking the rest of the distance and stopping a few steps in front of you. "As you always are." He gave you a curt smile, his fingers visibly twitching in your direction as he kept his hands to his sides. "Are you not joining the gala?"

"Thinking I might sit this one out, actually," you murmured, grimacing at just how miserable you sounded to your own ears. "Considering it doing Pepper a solid and making sure that tonight's all about whatever cause Stark decided to back this time around and not about the untimely demise of me and Rogers. The last thing we need is me becoming the center of attention because the media published headlines calling me the Heartbroken Avenger because I walked in there with my friends while my ex debuts his shiny new toy." You took an awkward step back, giving him an even more inelegant wave his way. "You have fun, though, Mischief."

He took your hand in his as you were turning away from him. "What if I escorted you?" Something with his soft spoken tone, partnered with the way his thumb was stroking the back of your hand, had you struggling to take your next breath. "We could walk in together, and it wouldn't cross anybody's mind to call you heartbroken or lonely or anything of the sort."

You couldn't help but scoff at his offer. "I'm not sure you wanna take on the media vultures who'll write about you getting Captain America's sloppy seconds. Hell, if I walk in there with you they'll think you probably did it out of pity. People already paint me as someone they don't think could have pulled the likes of Steve, but if we walk in there together you'll never hear the end of how charitable you were to--"

"Stop that," he cut you off, his tone sibilant and terse as if he was slicing through your self-pity party for one. "Rogers is an imbecile, he always has been. To have held painite in his uncouth hands and traded it in for mere rubble." He took a step closer to you, making you struggle to hide the shudder than ran through you when you could practically feel the warmth of his body radiating from him. "To walk into that room with you would not be an act of charity, darling. It would be an honor. A privilege."

"Okay come on that's enough--"

"How I wish you could see yourself the way I do," he murmured, his free hand lightly grasping your chin and making it impossible to turn your gaze from him. "Come with me. We'll share a dance and afterward if you still wish to leave then we will."

"Are you insane?" you blurted out, shaking your head at how absurd his offer was. "If you walk in with me and you leave with me, you're gonna find out real quick that people actually can hate me more than they did when I was dating Steve, because now I'm preventing you from getting all the pretty girls' numbers in the party. There are supermodels in there, Mischief. Pretty sure there're some princesses, too. They came here for you."

"Then they will leave disappointed," he answered back, the corner of his mouth pulling in a smirk as he watched your brows knit together in clear confusion. "As for attaining the contact information of, how did you phrase it again? Pretty girls? I already have that of the most beguiling woman who would be in that gala, I truly need no more." He let go of your hand to reach for his phone and tap away at it to call whoever he was referring to.

A few seconds later your little purse began to ring, making you give him a pointed stare. "Smooth." Your phone stopped ringing as soon as he put his away, finding yourself fighting to breathe properly once more when he placed his hand back in yours. "Fine," you huffed. "But we're not dancing, I can barely walk in this stupid thing, the dance floor would turn into a crime scene if I so much as spun wrong."

The soft chuckle that escaped his lips filled you with a weird sense of pride, knowing that even for a few short moment the usually terse god felt comfortable enough around you to seem so unguarded. He released his hold on you to hover his hands by your waist. "May I?"

You took a moment to try figuring out what he meant before answering, "I don't know what you're asking for but alright. I trust you."

His playful demeanor faltered for a moment, eyebrows knitting together and raising slightly before he placed his hands on your waist and gently guiding you to turn and facing the mirrored wall. Your breath hitched in your throat with a squeak as his gaze met yours on the reflection, bringing his face level to yours, his lips hovering just beside your ear. "Beautiful as you are in this dress, darling, you look as if you'd been forced to conform into something you're not. You were made to move freely, as gracefully and as fluidly as you move in the field."

You held your breath as you watched his magic washing over you, your dress melting away from the shoulders down and slowly being replaced with a dark emerald silk gown that stopped just below your ankles, the skirt flaring out from the waist with a slit going up to the middle of your thigh. The feel of your hair cascading down your back had you realizing that you were so caught up in the spectacle of your dress changing before your very eyes that you'd barely felt his fingers deftly taking the pins out of your hair and undoing the tightly knotted bun that borderline violently pulled at your temples.

"Hmmm…much better." You fought against the chill that ran throughout your body at the low tone of his voice reverberating in your ear. "Just one more…tiny flourish." His hand moved from your hair to rest his fingers lightly on the juncture between your neck and shoulder, a slight smile appearing on his face in the reflection when your breathing became audibly staggered as a teardrop emerald pendant hanging off a gold chain materialized around your neck. "Himmelske," he breathed out, the vision of him lightly pressing his lips to the top of your head making your pulse pound in your ears. "Shall we?"

"This is too much…" you sighed, turning around to face him and nearly stumbling over your own feet when you saw how close your faces were to one another.  "I can't possibly--"

"You can, darling." He took your hand in his again and brought it up towards his lips, pressing a soft kiss to your knuckles, all the while his eyes never leaving yours. "You look ethereal, like a goddess walking among mortals." He pressed his lips to your knuckles once more. "Min gudinne." He began to walk backwards towards the party, keeping your hands intertwined as he led you down the hall, typing something away a quick message on his phone as the music from the repurposed conference hall gradually grew louder.

Once you were mere feet away from the doors leading to the conference hall, the old-fashioned music that made you want to retch on the spot screeched to a halt, and Tony's voice boomed through the speakers.

"Alright Cap that's enough, some of us actually don't want to see our dinner a second time tonight." The crowd began to chuckle at his joking barbs toward your ex. "Why don't you and your new babydoll take a breather for a minute. Or a hundred. While I go ahead and play on a special request for…well I'll be damned…Reindeer Games."

The sound of Tony's little nickname for Loki had you growing frigid in the god's hold. "Mischief, what did you do?"

Your question went unanswered, him opting to give you a soft smile as he lifted your joint hands up to place a tender kiss to the back of your hand before leading you to the center of the dance floor, the sound of your friends' claps and cheers -- as well as a round of hearty hollers from both Bucky and Thor -- filling the room and overpowering the piano intro of "Tightrope" by Sara Bareilles playing over the speakers as soon as you came into view.

Glares tinged with thinly veiled envious rage weighed down on you like cinder blocks as the raven-haired Asgardian placed his hand on your lower back, bringing your bodies within mere inches of one another. "Everyone's staring," you wavered, trying to keep your breathing even as he began to lead you in a basic waltz around the dance floor.

"Envious, petulant mortals," he answered with a sneer, giving you a small smirk at the end. "Likely because I have the most beautiful date among them all."

"Do gods wear glasses?" you bit back, scoffing softly at his words. "Because I'm pretty sure Adriana Lima is here and--"

"I can see quite clearly, precious mortal," he cut you off, the gentle tone of his voice not once wavering. "Better than you think." He upped the pace of your steps, the smile on his face growing wider as your steps became less structured and he raised your joint hands to spin you on the spot, your dress twirling fluidly with each step before he pulled you back to him, now chest to chest as he resumed leading you in a large circle around the floor. "You seem surprised, darling."

"I usually would have stepped on your toes by now," you whispered, your breath hitching as every step you took together felt perfectly synced, a part of you heavily dreading stumbling and sending you both into a clumsy heap on the floor. Especially with the even closer proximity of your bodies to one another. "Are you doing this?" He answered you with a slight furrow of his eyebrows. "Did you enchant the dress? The necklace? My shoes?"

"I did nothing of the sort, dear Y/N," he whispered into your ear, the feel of his breath on your skin sending your heart into overdrive. "Perhaps you'd simply been with the wrong partners all your life." You faintly registered the way his hold on you tightened the slightest bit. "I wish to prove it to you. A little flourish both for our benefit and for the entertainment of our audience."

A sequence of movements was projected into your mind, each motion requiring complete trust in your partner as you climbed over his back, held up only by your joint hands and your knee braced on his shoulder as he spun on the spot. And then capped off with a dismount that had you hanging upside down and suspended as such for a few moments before righting yourself on your feet.

"Do you trust me, darling?"

You didn't need to think twice about your answer. "Yes." He flashed a brilliant smile before twirling you away and out of his hold, turning his back to you and giving you a silent signal to execute the move. Within a few short moments you were propped up on his shoulder, held up by your joint hands and feeling as if you were flying as he executed each turn with visible ease.

The faces of the crowd, a mixture of pure shock and awe, said it all. No one on the team had ever placed that much trust in Loki, despite the countless times he'd undoubtedly saved any and all of you throughout your numerous missions together. And here you were giving everyone a blatant display that among all the members of the team, you probably trusted him the most.

There wasn't even the slightest tremble in your movement as you executed the dismount, briefly giving them all a face-splitting grin that nearly mirrored the blond Asgardian watching from the bar as he looked on at the spectacle you and his brother had created before turning back and facing your partner. The next moment he'd gone back to holding you and twirling you both around the dance floor with a slight flourish as you reunited.

"There you are, precious mortal," he breathed out, securing his arm around your waist and lifting you off your feet as he spun you both again, the skirt of your dress billowing from the motion and creating a perfect flourish to your steps, earning you various oohs and aahs from the audience. You assumed that the bitter hmph sounds came from your ex and Miss Ava WhatsHerFace. "I've missed seeing that smile on you. It's been months too long. How I wanted to strike at Rogers' face the moment I saw the light in you wavering."

"You saw that?" You prided yourself in concealing your insecurities and the downward spiral that your mind had taken the moment that the new recruit had been assigned to train for the Avengers, painting on a bright disposition despite the interest that Steve had taken in her and the rapidly dwindling attention he paid to you in turn.

It never occurred to you that people might be looking closer than you intended them to. Or that one of those people would be someone you'd carried feelings for ever since long before you and Rogers ever even went out on the first date. You kept on guilting yourself that you were no better than him, if you were being completely honest.

The only leg up you had over your ex was that at least you did right by him and you never acted on anything. But then again you had no reason to believe that you could; in your eyes, Loki had to reason to see you, let alone return your sentiment.

"I see you, Y/N," he murmured, bringing his hand higher up your back, leaning forward, and tilting you backward in a low dip. "I've always seen you." Your heart caught in your throat as you felt him press a soft kiss to your cheek before bringing you both back up to stand upright, a new sequence of movements projected into your mind.

This time of him lifting you into the air, a hand braced on your lower back, the other wrapped around your ankle, followed by a drop that would land you safely in his arms and have the god carrying you bridal style. You could see the silent question shining in his eyes as the projected image fizzled away, awaiting your answer. "I trust you," you whispered, taking a breath as he turned you to face away from him and lifted you into the air with ease.

There wasn't a single doubt in your mind even in that split second where you were falling through the air. You knew you were safe with him. Physically at least.

Emotionally it felt like he was leading you to the edge of a cliff, and you were all too happy to step off if it meant he'd look at you even remotely like he did throughout any point of tonight.

You landed in his arms with a soft, nearly soundless thud, once again met with appreciative applause from the room of onlookers and Tony's voice once again sounding through the speakers. "Jellybean, I take back every joke I ever made about your dancing. Now I know it wasn't you that made those moves bad and that's all I'm gonna say on that. Give it up for these two one more time, ladies and gentlemen!"

A traitorous squeak from the back of your throat slipped from your lips as the god carrying you briefly touched the tip of his nose to yours and pressed a kiss between your brows before setting you back down on your feet, taking your hand in his and lacing his fingers between yours. He led you through the dance floor that was quickly becoming crowded as a rhythmic thumping beat boomed from the sound system, placing you directly in front of him with his free arm wrapped around your midsection.

Once you'd reached the bar, crossing paths with Nat and Wanda and their respective husbands as they made their way to the dance floor, only Thor remained to greet you as you occupied two seats next to one another. "Brother, elation becomes you." Before he walked toward the buffet, handing his empty plate to one of the cleaning staff, he turned to face you. "Take care of him. Actually, take care of each other."

Your brows knitted together as you watched the blond Asgardian walk away, confusion niggling away at your brain as you turned your gaze back to Loki. "What was that--"

The rest of your sentence died on the tip of your tongue as the raven-haired god cupped your jaw, weaving his fingers through your hair, as he closed the distance between you and captured your lips in a soft kiss. You whimpered against him as he stood from his seat, framing your face with his hands as he stepped closer to you, all the while his lips never leaving yours.

He breathed your name as he pulled away, the way that he seemingly sounded almost as flustered as you were paired with the restraint so evident in his hold on you creating a heady combination that made the room spin. "He never deserved you."

Those words had your eyes snapping open, wondering if you'd heard him right. "Loki what--"

"And you should have had someone that treasured you. Worshipped you. That knew with every fiber of his being that he was the most fortunate bastard in the Nine for being the one that you shared the most intimate parts of your life with." Your heart thundered in your ears as he leaned in to kiss you again. "Someone that would proudly show whoever was around to watch that he is equally yours as you are his. Perhaps even more so."

"Are you trying to tell me that that someone is you?" The music had faded away to nothing more than a dull thumping in the background as you looked into his eyes, rife with emotions that you couldn't quite place as his hands traveled down to wrap around your waist, stepping closer to you, and leaning in to press a soft kiss to your temple.

"If you would let me," he murmured against your skin. "He was but a fool to have let you go. But if his foolishness leads to my fortune, then perhaps I could be moved to despise him a little less." He kissed a trail from your temple to your ear, making your breath hitch again as his thumb stroked at your side and tracing the faint lines of your ribcage while he whispered a deliciously tempting offer. "Leave with me. Let me be the fortunate wretch that gets to take you home. That gets to worship you, to pleasure you. Even if only for tonight, let me make you equally mine as I am yours. As I have always been yours."

His offer alone already had you trembling in anticipation for what he could possibly have in store for you the moment you gave him your answer. "I have to find Nat and Wanda," you blurted out, making a motion to step off of your seat.

"Y/N please--"

"They offered to stop by my apartment after the party," you explained, mustering the courage to press a quick kiss to his lips when you watched in disbelief as a touch of desperation colored his features. "They wanted to make sure I wasn't going to sleep alone tonight. I have to tell them I have other plans."

A brilliant smile stretched across his face as he pulled you in for another kiss, both of you moaning into each other's mouths as he pulled you against him, lifting you out of your seat and setting you back down on your feet, holding you in his arms the same way he did a few moments ago as you weaved your way through the crowd.

It didn't take you long to find the two women in question, tapping both of them on their shoulders to call their attention. "Rain check on the sleepover?" you shouted over the music.

Wanda took one look at how Loki was holding you and eyed Nat with a smirk. "You got a better offer, I see. Go, babes. We just wanted to make sure you didn't sleep alone tonight."

"Now we gotta make sure you stay awake at the mission brief in the morning because you won't be sleeping at all," Nat capped off with a raise of her eyebrow. She eyed the god holding you with a pointed glare. "If you hurt her--"

"I wouldn't dream of it, Romanoff," he cut her off. "Unlike some people in our non-immediate company, I have every intention of holding on to painite with every ounce of my strength."

Your brows once again knitted together as your friends began to squeal and giggle while you walked away with the god, the alcohol clearly beginning to get to them. "Okay I have to ask. What exactly is painite? You've…said that twice tonight," you prodded, looking up at him only to be met with a tender smile and an intensity burning in his eyes that nearly made you fall over.

"It is the rarest, most precious gemstone on this planet. Perhaps in all the realms," he answered, turning you in his arms as soon as you stepped foot into the corridor and walking you backwards until your back was flush against the wall. "And despite its crimson hue I would still say undoubtedly the most beautiful." You shuddered under his gaze as he trailed a finger from the center of your neck down your torso until he reached your waist and pulled you to him for a fleeting but heated kiss. "That is how I see you. Rare. Precious. And undoubtedly the most beautiful creature I will ever lay my eyes on."

The next moment your surroundings were awash with a wave of his green magic, and you were inside his apartment, your moans piercing the quiet darkness as his lips latched on to your neck and you felt his hands working to divest you of your dress. His next words, rasped against your skin, already had your legs shaking without him having even begun to touch you yet.

"Mine. Finally mine."

A/N: Omg I've finally finished it 😩 And he's precious your honor 🥹 I've honestly had this idea bouncing around in my head for so many days now that I'm so happy that it's finally out for y'all to read and (hopefully) enjoy.

There is a plan for a part 2 of this but it's literally all smut and it's a long ways away because I have every intention to get into 'relinquish the crown' again and also 'back to you'…and also the requests from the 500 follower celebration so just like 'sworn fealty'…it might happen, it might not happen, and that's that on that.

Translations: Himmelske – Heavenly Min gudinne – My goddess

'everything' taglist: @sailorholly @loopsisloops @unlucky-number-13 @imalovernotahater @coldnique @loz-3 @huntress-artemiss @salempoe @vickie5446 @athalialaufeyson @lokiprompts @sarahscribbles @kats72 @kikster606 @evelyn-kingsley @lokixryss @thomase1 @mischief2sarawr @peaches1958 @lovingchoices14 @goblingirlsarah @iamlokisgloriouspurpose @creationsbyme @maple-seed @mjsthrillernp @ladyofthestayingpower @mygfloki @sititran @glitterylokislut @ozymdias @fictive-sl0th @lovelysizzlingbluebird @lokidbadguy @mochie85 @silverfire475 @joyful-enchantress @dangertoozmanykids101 @elizabethmidnight2017 @lokidokieokie @lunarnights95

Loki taglist:  @calumance @severuslovebot @moonlightreader649 @i-stand-with-loki @nixymarvelkins @infinitystoner @lokisgoodgirl @purplegrrl27 @thedistractedagglomeration

[kaydenverse]

grocery emergency

pairing: simon "ghost" riley x reader x john "soap" mctavish

18+ MINORS DNI

genre: smut with fluff mixed in

word count: 2.6k

a/n: i swear i'm trying to get more works out i've just had a rough start to my year so bare with me for the time being lmao but enjoy this that's been sitting in my google docs for like a month

content warnings: gender neutral reader, phone sex, excessive swearing, teasing, switch reader, switch simon, switch johnny, quickie, price is so done, gaz is a little shit

summary: why the fuck haven’t we as a society figured out how to teleport yet? johnny’s got somewhere he needs to be and it’s not standing in a hallway on the phone on base. 

“how much longer are we gonna be here, cap?” johnny questions as he lightly taps a stack of papers on the coffee table in front of him and straightens them out. he neatly sets them back down on the table before sitting up a little to stretch his back. 

johnny sits cross legged on the floor in front of the polished coffee table. although it would probably be better for his back to sit on the cushioned black leather couch opposite of him where kyle had been sitting before he went to grab a file price had asked for. but still he swears the floor is more comfortable. his tailbone is starting to hurt though, he realizes.

he’s still going to sit on the floor

“i’ve got one more folder and gaz is going to bring another one in a couple minutes,” price sighs, his office chair creaking as he leans back into it. “we should be done after those and you'll be free to go, son.” johnny’s heart swells a bit at the nickname but instead of telling price that, he huffs which makes the captain chuckle.

the five of you had gotten back from a successful mission in moscow, just a simple recon, a few days ago. now you had to do the boring parts of your jobs, the long debriefings and the piles of paperwork.

you and ghost had remained tucked away at the top of an abandoned building with your sniper guns to cover soap, gaz, and price while they had raided the warehouse across the street. because the three of them had been in the main action, naturally, they had more paperwork to cover than the two who kept look-out from a distance. 

but don’t get anyone wrong, of course the two of you still did a phenomenal job of dropping any and all of the strays who tried to escape the wrath of your three teammates. they were sorely mistaken when a bullet from your gun would lodge itself into their necks. 

johnny sighs as he picks another folder up and flips it open. his mind begins to wander before he’s even gotten halfway through the first page.

he’s thinking about this morning.

again. 

-

in all honesty, earlier that morning, johnny had deeply considered turning his car back around and called in sick because of how desperate and clingy his two partners had been while he had gotten ready. he to go in and finish up some leftover paperwork with price. he had swatted both your hands and simon’s away from dripping past the waistband of his pants. 

“stop it.” johnny said sternly as he grabbed your wrist when your fingers began to work their way down his happy trail yet again. “i’ll be gone for barely half a day, maybe less, we’re almost done with everything. you can wait.” he snickers. you groan in defeat and slump forward so your right cheek presses up against his back. simon leans in the doorway of the bathroom with his arms crossed over his chest. 

he would gladly stay and let your hands wander all over him but he knows he’ll be at least an hour late because johnny likes to take his time with you in the mornings. price wouldn’t be too excited about the late arrival. not after the last time that happened.

“i’ll just fuck simon then.” you resort, your voice still laced with drowsiness from having woken up to johnny’s 7 am alarm. you still keep your arms locked around johnny’s waist and one corner of simon’s mouth perks up at the suggestion. the messy blond hair atop Simon’s head that curls around the tops of his ears and the sleepy look in his eyes only makes your sexual frustration grow. 

“no.” johnny says, plain and simple. he combs a hand through his mohawk. “wait until i get back home, both of you.” he locks eyes with simon through the mirror he’s standing in front of. 

simon hums with his head held high as he strides over to the two of you. he kisses the top of johnny’s head, catching a whiff of johnny’s eucalyptus scented shampoo. he then kisses the top of your head that smell like your own shampoo. he makes sure what he murmurs to you is loud enough that johnny can hear too.

“you can fuck me all you’d like once he’s left for work, darling.” simon’s sleepiness adds an extra gruffness to his already deep voice. that alone nearly made johnny call price and ask to do the paperwork tomorrow.

nearly. 

“sure, go ahead.” johnny turns around to face the two of you. “but if you do so and i find out, i won't let either of you cum for a week.” the almost cold tone of his voice as he speaks and the cocking of his head makes you go weak in the knees and simon grins. “and i always find out.” 

“not always.” simon says in a very matter of fact way. the grin that plasters across johnny’s face is devilish. if simon hadn’t grabbed ahold of your hip when he’d kissed your head, you’re almost sure that your knees would’ve completely given out from how wonderfully taunting johnny looked. 

“i pay good attention to detail, lieutenant, i always know.” he gives you a peck on your lips then simon’s before slipping out of the bathroom to finish getting ready for the day. 

-

johnny is pulled out of his thoughts when his phone begins to vibrate on the table. normally he would  let it send whoever had called to voicemail due to his current task but his heart jumps when he sees your contact name and the contact picture of you smiling softly at the camera. in that photo, he can tell you're looking at him and not the camera because of the look of adoration on your face. 

he glances up at price who nods to let him take the call. you don’t often call him when he’s at the office and you’re home. you’d usually just text him and let him respond when he can so he assumes it must be important if you’re calling. 

“hey, what’s up-“ johnny is almost immediately cut off by you speaking. 

“can si and i please fuck? we were going to wait until you got home, i swear to god we were, but i feel like i’m going to fucking explode right fucking now. you can stay on the phone if you want to.” you’re so straight to the point that a cackle from simon can be heard through the phone. 

johnny is ridden speechless for a few seconds at such a forward request. he can hear the desperation in your words, you’re not even trying to be subtle at all. he blinks before he speaks again. 

“sorry cap, grocery emergency.” johnny stands up to excuse himself. price is a tad confused but lets him go to solve the problem. johnny eyes clock above the door before walking out into the hall. 

“you’ve got seven minutes. go.” johnny leans back against the wall with his free hand shoved into his pocket. immediately, johnny can hear the two of you begin to shuffle around. he can also hear the sloppy kisses that are exchanged between the soft thuds of clothing hitting the floor. 

“simon,” you say in a stern manner. “let me ride you.” the bluntness in your voice makes johnny exhale a small laugh. 

you will forever be a stubborn one in bed.

“but-“ simon sounds winded, sounds like you’d refused to let him take his lips off yours to breathe. 

you had. 

“ah,” all shuffling on the other end of the phone ceases at the sound of johnny’s voice. he hums in approval as the scot waits until a new recruit, who’s name slips johnny’s mind at the moment, to quickly shuffle past him and down the hall. they exchange a silent nod of greeting before the recruit disappears around the corner. “listen to them. since you decided to be such a brat this morning.” he then continues in a slightly hushed tone. 

johnny can clearly visualize simon giving the phone a glare that he just knows simon just gave as he allows you to settle in his lap. the phone falls silent again and johnny grins proudly.

you’re both waiting for his next call of instruction. 

always so good for him.

“well? hurry it up, you’re losin’ time.” johnny glances down at his watch to see you’ve both got just over five minutes left. the shuffling resumes followed but a pleased groan from simon. johnny knows that kind of groan from the many times he’s pinched simon’s nipples. 

“no teasing,” simon’s voice has pitched up ever so slightly. johnny shivers delightfully at the small detail. “no time for that.” 

“so needy.” you coo which you then follow up with a low moan. when the wet sounds of you picking your hips up and then quickly dropping back down spills through the speaker of johnny’s phone, he swears his knees almost buckle. he leans his head back against the wall and stares at the ceiling. 

you’d both prepared for him to give in, touched each other before you’d called him.

he makes a mental note to praise the two of you on this silly little scheme later on. 

oh, how he wishes he was there. 

oh, how he wishes to sit himself on the end of the bed and watch his partners desperately pull orgasms out of each other. 

oh, how he wishes he can see simon’s glossed over eyes peak over your shoulder and moan out a whiny ‘please touch us.’ to johnny. 

“stop trying to hold your tongue, let it out si.” your sultry tone makes johnny let out a shaky breath.

oh, how he wishes he were there. 

simon groans as the wet sound over the phone picks up in pace and volume. johnny clicks the volume up on his phone two clicks. any louder and anyone who were to walk by would very clearly hear sounds that one certainly wouldn’t make at in grocery store. 

“three minutes.” johnny glances down at his watch again. he could swear his soul left his body for a second when he hears a faint gag followed by a chuckle from you. 

“so fucking pretty sucking on my fingers like that.” your voice is much closer to the microphone now. you’d picked up your phone and held it as you ground your hips down onto simon’s. johnny can now clearly hear simon’s panting and shaky groans. 

simon always likes to joke that if anyone, and i mean anyone, somehow knew just how pathetic simon could get at the hands of you and johnny, he just might have to kill them.

 he’s obviously kidding.

maybe. 

“johnny,” simon breathes out and johnny thinks he’s about to collapse. the name is muffled, almost slurred really. your fingers pressing down on simon’s tongue force him to sound like that. 

why the fuck haven’t we as a society figured out how to teleport yet? johnny’s got somewhere he needs to be and it’s not standing in a hallway on the phone on base. 

unbelievable. 

“you gonna cum for us, si? come on make it quick, you’re down to two minutes.” johnny hums and both of you make a noise of pleasure at that. the drop in johnny’s tone makes his accent sound thicker in the best way possible. on top of that, the time limit is exciting you far more than either of you had anticipated.

“fucking-“ you’re words fizzle out into a whine when johnny hears the way simon begin to meet your bounces on him. that skin-on-skin noise that johnny loves to hear so much grows louder. “i’m gonna fucking cum.” he then hears you drop the phone. he can picture the way you start shaking atop simon when your incredibly pleased sob fills johnny’s ear. 

“there you go, just like that.” simon sighs as your fingers slip out of his mouth. he wraps an arm around your hips to move you himself. johnny’s hips twitch at the rasp in simon’s voice. he’s starting to wish he didn’t leave you both on edge this morning. 

he should’ve known his two bratty partners would  both do this to him.

“45 seconds or i’ll make you stop and i’m not touching either of you until tomorrow instead of when i get home.” johnny keeps his voice flat to hide how needy he’s starting to get.

that’s a lie.

that’s a lie and all three of you know it. 

he’d have his hands on both of you before the front door is even fully closed and locked regardless of how long you take. 

not even a full two seconds later, you’re squeezing your knees around simon’s waist. “come on pretty boy.” you moan out as you fall apart. and that pet name has him spilling into you seconds later. johnny can feel the tips of his ears burning bright fucking red. 

he’s hard now and there’s nothing he can do about it until he gets home to you two.

“finished with 15 seconds to spare.” johnny’s makes sure you can hear the smile in his voice. “i’m impressed.” 

“well having been on edge from this morning really helped.” you’re panting and feel like mush in simon’s lap. 

“you’re an arse for that by the way.” simon grunts. johnny snickers and shrugs his shoulders. 

“you liked it though, both of ya did.” johnny points out and takes the beat of silence as confirmation.”but seven minutes are up, i gotta go.” he says reluctantly. he feels like he should stick around for aftercare for a bit but he is unfortunately needed elsewhere. 

damn that all of that paperwork, why can’t it fill itself out? 

but he knows you two can take care of each other. he smiles at the thought. 

“you brats both did so well. i’ll decide if that little plan is punishment worthy or not later. that was a genius plan by the way.” johnny chuckles. his heart swells both of your laughs. such wonderful sounds. 

“i love you, johnny.” your voice is back next to the speaker again. his heart somehow manages to swell even bigger when you kiss the phone. 

“i also love you, mctavish.” simon adds. he kisses the phone as well but only because you silently insisted that he did. he pretends to hate doing that. 

“i love you both too. i’ll be home soon so please be good until then.” johnny says, kissing the phone two times for his two favorite people.

“be good until then” you playfully mock the mohawked man’s accent. simon can’t help but snort at that. 

“very funny.” johnny chuckles. “and please actually go to the store, we need more milk.” he doesn’t notice kyle standing in the doorway of his office a few feet away with a file in his hands until he hangs up and turns to walk to price’s office door again. johnny’s face flushes at the amused look on his teammates face.

“how long you been standin’ there, mate?” johnny shyly slipped his phone into his back pocket. 

“opened the door right when you were telling your brats how well they did.” kyle teases. thankfully, that’s all that kyle says before opening the door to price’s office and walks, leaving the door open for johnny to follow him back in. 

but, kyle will be bringing this back up later over comms next mission. 

and price is going to question his life choices when he has to get the four of you back on task.

he pauses so he can quickly… adjust himself… before opening the door to price’s office again. 

“groceries sorted out?” price raises his eyebrows at the sergeant who once again seats himself in the chair across from his desk. 

“sorted out.” johnny nods, praying that price can’t see how red his ears are.

price sees, he always does. 

johnny flushes even harder at price’s next words while kyle erupts into laughter. 

“now let's get this paperwork sorted and quick so you can get home to help with those so-called “groceries” yeah?”

[dandylovesturtles]

Companion piece for Ell's comic about our boys teaming up in the @tmntaucompetition ! It's so cute I had to do something.

I forgot the tag lol @intotheelliwoods

Big thanks again for the perfect 50/50!! Teamwork and friendship rule the day again!

~~~

Leo doesn't expect anyone to be able to see him or hear him. That the other ghost Leo can is already surprise enough, and they had lots of fun between matches.

But other than that he doesn't get his hopes up. It's not like he needs anyone to see him; he participates well enough by puppeteering Donnie (who lets him do it, though with an excessive amount of complaining), so he's not completely bored. And other than the times when he goes to hang out with the other ghost, his brothers are always right there with him, and they make sure he doesn't feel left out.

So it's fine. Everything is fine and cool and dandy and he doesn't need anything more.

But then it's declared that they'll be teaming up with the Leos who are each missing an arm, and the older Leo, the one who seems so nice and cool but who still intimidates Leo a bit, turns and actually looks at him. Not through him, or around him, but at him.

The big Leo points, and now they're both looking his way.

"Are they... looking at me?" His heart jumps in excitement, and he turns to call out, "Hey Raaaaph! The one armed Leos are looking at me!"

He's expecting to need his big brother to translate, but that's okay, because at least it's something. Or hey, maybe these Leos know sign language too-

"Uh, we can hear you, dude."

It hits Leo like a shockwave.

"Wh..."

They can see... and hear him? But how? None of them have managed to achieve that!

Hope soars at the same time the fear of disappointment swims in his gut. If they can see him and hear him, can they... is he... "Am I..."

He stares at his hands in shock. They're the same as ever, and he can't feel anything from them, but then-

"New teammate!"

Then the other Leo is running across the court to him, and he-

hugs him. And Leo can feel it.

Leo melts. He reaches to hug back, and he can, and it's a bizarre feeling, to touch someone else's shell and realize it's his own, but it's not like his life has never been bizarre before.

His hand passes through the robot arm, which isn't a surprise - he can't touch Donnie's battleshell, either. For a second the other Leo stiffens, and Leo figures out the problem fast - moves his arm down so it's not encroaching on the weirdly blank space where his arm should be. The other Leo relaxes again.

"Oops... Looks like my robot arm still phases through..."

It doesn't matter to Leo. A one armed hug is still a hug. He realizes too late that he's shivering into it, and boy is that embarrassing, but the other Leo doesn't call him out.

"Haah... You're going to put Donnie out of business."

...

Afterward, after he's properly introduced himself to the older Leo (which was nerve-wracking but ended up being fine, actually), they get food for everyone who can eat and then find a place where they can all sit, waiting for the next match (and hopefully playing the right sport this time). Donnie has gone into full science mode, goggles down as he examines the two arms his alternate universe selves built, though the other two Leos seem so used to this behavior they barely react to it.

The other Leo perches on the big Leo's lab, snuggling in against his robot arm. He's so familiar with big Leo; it's clear that they rely on each other a lot. Leo's glad, because if he had lost an arm in the Krang invasion without any kind of support he's not sure what he would do. At least they have each other.

Big Leo pats his lap and looks at Leo, who freezes.

"Uh... is that okay?"

"Yeah." Big Leo laughs and jostles the other Leo, who scowls at him and swats at his plastron. "This one uses me as a climbing tree all the time."

"It's your own fault for being so big, you crinkled crape."

Leo hesitates a moment longer, but then he climbs up into the big guy's lap and settles in against his remaining arm.

It's...

ridiculously cozy, what the heck! No wonder other him does it all the time!

Leo curls up into the older Leo's embrace. He's shaking again, his whole body lighting up at the touch, and it's so embarrassing but Big Leo just pulls him in tighter without saying a word. He nuzzles in a little without thinking about it, and no one says anything about that, either.

"Comfy, Ghost Pepper?" asks Big Leo, and Leo looks up at him.

"Ghost Pepper? Is that me?"

"Yep." He puts his robot hand on other Leo's head. "This one is Pea Sprout, so you can be Ghost Pepper. I can't call you both Leo."

"You can call him whatever you want," says the other Leo, wiggling to get more comfy. "Wrinkled raison... Crinkly cantaloupe... Crusty carrot..."

Leo laughs. "What are these nicknames?" With that list, Ghost Pepper isn't so bad.

"Trust me, they all fit."

Big Leo makes a very put-upon noise but doesn't protest to the names, so Leo decides he'll have to come up with some of his own.

They chat for awhile about their worlds, the differences between them, funny things their brothers have been up to. The other Leo shows both him and Donnie what the array of buttons on his arm do (no demonstration of the self-destruct button is given). Leo tells them about how Draxum gave them magic fighting lessons.

Eventually, the other Leo starts to doze off. A quick look around shows Leo that his Raph and Mikey are snoozing, too, Mikey curled up on Raph's back. Donnie's still awake, messing with his phone as usual, though his half-lidded eyes betray that he'll probably join them eventually. He sits apart from them, enjoying having his personal space back for now.

"If you want to nap too, go ahead," says big Leo.

"Oh, uh... I can't sleep like this." He rubs at his head. "At best I just kinda... zone out."

"Oh." Big Leo looks sad about that, but he nods. "Well, that's okay. We can keep each other company, then."

"Mm..." Leo twists to get more comfy, and big Leo rubs his hand down his arm. It makes his shudder a little, but big Leo continues to be a real bro and not comment on it. "Am I going to be this cuddly when I get old?"

Big Leo laughs. "If you want to be, I guess you will."

He thinks that maybe he wants to be like this Leo. Kind and strong and so sure of himself and surprisingly very cozy.

"Maybe... I guess I wouldn't mind it," he says, and big Leo chuckles again.

He pulls him in tight, and Leo feels safer than he has in weeks.

[magicfootballstuff]

United for Christmas (leila ouahabi x reader)

Summary: A special gift exchange when Leila returns to Barcelona for Christmas throws up a couple of surprises.

Things haven’t been the same since Leila moved to Manchester.

Not in a ‘this relationship is doomed to fail’ kind of way, but more of a ‘part of your soul now lives in another country’ way.

Complaints about the chilly English weather aside, Leila seems to be loving it in Manchester. You talk almost every day and she tells you about her new teammates, about the differences between the Spanish league and the WSL, about exploring Manchester or a funny new English phrase she’s learnt. In return you tell her about what’s been going on in Barcelona since she left, but you omit the parts about your apartment feeling cold and empty when you return from an away game without Leila there to keep you company.

It’s strange that despite being your home for over ten years, Barcelona stops feeling like home when your girlfriend moves abroad.

Maybe Leila is actually your home.

You haven’t told Leila any of this, beyond the occasional admission of how much you miss her. You don’t want to make her feel guilty for moving when she’s clearly really enjoying herself abroad.

There’s one other thing you haven’t told Leila, and that’s that Barcelona won’t be your home for much longer. Though you hesitated at the prospect of a transfer in the summer, you’ve been feeling increasingly like it’s nearing the right time to move on from Barcelona. A couple of conversations with your agent later and you found out that there were a few clubs who were still inquiring about your interest in a move.

The decision ended up being a fairly easy one. You tried to give all the options a fair consideration, to not just make a choice based on proximity to your girlfriend, but when everything started to fall into place for one particular club, you knew exactly where you would be playing your football come January.

And when better to break the news to Leila than at Christmas?

Leila returns to Barcelona for the winter break after Manchester City''s last game of the year, and that’s when it gets harder to keep your secret. You’re attached at the hip, making up for all the long months apart, and you’re practically exploding with the excitement of your news, barely able to keep it to yourself. Leila can tell something is up too, but whenever she asks you just tell her that you’re happy to have her around again and she seems to buy it.

When it actually comes to exchanging gifts, you’re more nervous than excited as the reality sets in. What if Leila won’t be happy with your news? What if she moved to England specifically to spread her wings away from you? Maybe you should have at least consulted with her on such an important decision.

“I want to go first,” you say, deciding that you need to get Leila’s reaction as soon as possible.

You present her with a neatly wrapped gift, symbolic of the announcement you’re about to make, as you sit side by side on the couch in your Barcelona apartment. You’ll celebrate Christmas with your families later, but for now it’s just the two of you, the perfect time to tell Leila you’re transferring to a new team.

Leila accepts the gift and tears away the wrapping paper, revealing a red football jersey with a white collar. Her fingers trace over the Manchester United crest, then she looks up at you with a quizzical frown, clearly unsure how she should react to the present.

“Oh, um, you know I play for Manchester City?” she asks confusedly. “This is Manchester United.”

Barely able to contain your excitement, you tell her, “Turn it over.”

Leila peels away the rest of the wrapping paper and unfolds the jersey, before turning it over, eyes narrowing as she reads your name on the back. You can tell she’s still a little confused, unsure exactly why you’re gifting her a Manchester United jersey emblazoned with your name and number, but you’re almost exploding with the excitement of telling her your news.

“They’re going to announce it officially in January when the transfer window opens,” you tell Leila, reaching for her hand. “But I wanted you to be the first to know.”

Technically, she’s not the first. Your agent knows, obviously, as do your parents, and you told Ona too, swearing her to secrecy as you asked her enough questions about her time at Manchester United to be sure that the move was the right one for your career as well as your personal life.

Leila’s mouth falls open as she realises the significance of the gift. You can tell from the expression on her face that she’s still processing the news, perhaps not quite believing that you’re going to be following her back to Manchester when the season resumes.

“You’re coming to Manchester?” she asks.

“I miss you so much,” you confess. “I know we talked about both moving last summer and I wasn’t ready to leave Barcelona, but I haven’t been able to perform at my best this season and as soon as my agent told me United were interested I knew I had to at least consider it.”

“Seriously? This isn’t a prank?”

“It’s really happening,” you promise her.

“You’d move to England for me?” Leila asks, and though she’s not overly emotional, there’s a really sincere affection in her eyes as she grins at you.

“Yeah,” you nod. “Barcelona’s not the same without you. And I’m not just moving to be closer to you. I’ve been playing for Barcelona for so long that I know it’s the right time to move on. It just took you making that leap first for me to realise that my journey needs to carry on somewhere else. The fact I get to play in the same city as you is a bonus.”

Leila wraps her arms around you and pulls you in for a hug that allows her to nuzzle her face into your neck.

“I can’t believe you’re doing this,” she mumbles. “But you’ve kind of messed up my present to you.”

“If you tell me you’re transferring back to Barcelona…” you say, pulling back from the hug to look at Leila with wide eyes.

“No, no! Nothing like that!”

She sits back, takes a deep breath and exhales with her eyes closed for a second, like she’s psyching herself up for something, before she turns to look at you.

“I’ve spent the last couple of months writing and re-writing a speech that doesn’t make much sense now you’re moving closer,” says Leila. “But it was mostly about how moving to England has made me realise how much I love you and need you in my life. And there were other things I wanted to say about how we’re gonna make the distance work, and even though this isn’t the most convenient present if we live in different countries, there is nothing I want more than to be able to call you mine forever.”

With this last part, Leila reaches into the gap between the side of the couch and the cushion she sits on and pulls a small black box, before she slides off the couch and drops to one knee in front of you.

“You’re the love of my life. Will you do me the greatest honour in the world of marrying me?”

With tears in your eyes and a lump in your throat, you find yourself unable to answer with words, so instead you fling yourself at Leila, throwing your arms around her neck and knocking her off balance until you’re lying on top of her on the floor.

“Is this a yes?” she asks.

“Yes,” you manage to choke out.

You prop yourself up on one arm, shifting some of your weight off Leila’s body as you realise that you didn’t even get a good look at the ring before throwing yourself at her. She holds the box out and you find yourself tearing up again as you admire the ring. It’s a simple silver band with a single diamond but it’s perfect and you let Leila slide it onto your finger.

“We’re getting married,” she grins at you. “You’re going to be my wife.”

“Who knew that four months in Manchester would turn you into such a hopeless romantic?” you tease her.

“Shut up,” she grumbles, wrapping her arms around you and pulling you into her chest so that she can press her lips to your temple.

Leila’s phone buzzes against your hip and without moving from beneath you, she manages to wiggle it out of her pocket.

“It’s Ona,” she explains. “She wants to know if we’re engaged yet.”

“Wait, Ona knew you were going to propose?” you ask, lifting your head to look into Leila’s eyes.

“She helped me choose the ring and I practiced my speech on her a million times. The speech that became irrelevant as soon as you told me you’re moving to Manchester.”

“That sneaky little…” you trail off, then explain to Leila, “Ona’s one of the only people who knows I’m leaving Barcelona. She keeps telling me Manchester is red.”

It’s Leila’s turn to be surprised. It seems that Ona is really good at keeping secrets from both of you. You can only imagine Ona’s delight at being the one person on earth to know both plans, to know that Leila was planning to ask you to marry her at the same time that you were planning to upend your entire life to move closer to the woman you love.

“Firstly, Manchester is blue,” Leila tells you with a grin, starting a rivalry that is sure to add an interesting new dynamic to your relationship. “But also, let’s send her a picture.”

Leila opens the front facing camera on her phone and holds it above you.

“Wait!” you say, before Leila can snap a selfie. “I’m wearing your present. It’s only fair you wear mine.”

Leila eyes the Manchester United shirt and pretends to shudder.

“Not a chance!”

Despite her protests, Leila lets you hold the jersey with the Manchester United logo visible next to your ring as she snaps a cute selfie of the two of you and sends it to Ona to confirm your engagement. Within seconds, Leila’s phone is ringing, and she puts it on speaker as she answers Ona’s call.

“Congratulations!“ says Ona. “I’m so happy for you! And happy for myself, that I don’t need to keep your secrets for you anymore!”

“We’ve spoken so many times in the last few weeks,” you remind Ona. “I can’t believe you knew the whole time that Leila was going to propose.”

“It was pretty funny actually,” Ona laughs. “You would call me saying you were worried Leila would think you were smothering her if you followed her to Manchester, and I had to keep quiet because I’d literally just spent an hour listening to Leila practice a disgustingly soppy proposal on me.”

You can’t help but laugh now. In retrospect, with Leila’s shiny ring decorating your finger, it seems stupid that she would ever have had a problem with your plan to move.

“Well I’m not happy with you, Ona,” says Leila, raising her eyebrows at you as she addresses your friend down the phone. “I can’t believe you persuaded her to sign for the wrong Manchester club.”

“Babe, don’t start,” you say to Leila. “You’re outnumbered. United all the way.”

“We’ll see about that at the next derby,” Leila warns you with a grin.

“Anyway, Ona, we’ve got an hour before we need to leave to visit Leila’s family and I plan to spend that time celebrating our engagement,” you say, raising your eyebrows suggestively at Leila, whose eyes darken in response as her teeth dig into her lower lip.

“Okay, yeah, I’m hanging up!” comes Ona’s quick reply. “But see you both in Manchester very soon!”

You both say goodbye to Ona and Leila presses the button to hang up, before tossing her phone aside.

“So, these celebrations,” she grins at you. “Did you have anything in mind?”

You straddle Leila’s hips and as you lean down for a kiss, you murmur, “I’ve got a few ideas…”

[britney-rosberg06]

she’s so brocedes coded let’s talk for a second:

The Passenger (Nico) knows the relationship is doomed. The Passenger suffers a rude awakening, sudden and shocking

…you can’t focus on the road when I’m in your car

…and I can finally see//you’d rather die than take your eyes off me

Now the above to me represents Nico’s realization that them being in Mercedes (The Car) together will ultimately destroy them

Lewis (The Reckless Driver) joining Mercedes is the beginning of the end. Because now he has Nico to compete with. It’s all he focuses on. How he and his best friend are now in the car together. Teammates for the first time in years.

Nico, the one who’d been in Merc already, sees this before Lewis does. How Lewis and him fighting will kill them both

and one day it’ll kill us if I don’t let go

If Nico doesn’t let go of their friendship, focus all in on winning the championship in 2016, it’ll destroy both of them. He, as The Passenger, the one along for the ride even when he got in the car (Mercedes) first, must be the one to instigate leaving because that’s the only way The Reckless Driver will realize that they are barreling towards a tree.

Lewis again, is The Reckless Driver. He’s the one in the fast lane, the world famous. Getting in The Car ultimately raises the pressure of the team. But his best friend is there, and he’s so excited, that he just can’t be bothered to pay attention to the tree coming ahead of them.

But there’s also a lot of doubt in their friendship, The Reckless Driver isn’t stupid. He knows something isn’t exactly right. For Nico and Lewis, they are both acutely aware of several key differences in them. Lewis’s ease of winning, their different childhood backgrounds, things like that that make Lewis ask questions he might not want the answer to:

But would you hold me when we crash or would you let me go?

Would Nico still be there for him? Ultimately we know the answer. No. Nico, as The Passenger doesn’t want to. He wants to beat Lewis. Not save their friendship. He wants to leave F1, not risk ruining his own life more than he already has.

Now, we shift back to The Passenger. Who—in the bridge—you realize is actually already out of the car when the crash finally happens. When everything falls apart. They don’t even want to be there, watching anymore.

Dont want to watch it as it happens//see the crowds reaction//I can’t be your savior

This to me, can mean two things, it could mean that Nico was already gone and checked out when the 2016 season ended, or on a more physical level, when 2021 happened.

The Passenger is no longer a passenger. They’re not in The Car anymore. They’re in with the crowd they are The Spectator, watching the crash as it happens whether they like it or not. The Spectator can’t stop it.

Nico, he leaves. He watches Lewis from a distance, unable to do anything about it anymore but stand by and watch. He chose to leave the car, and now he watches while Lewis’s eyes shift to a new sight. The Eighth. He’s hellbent on getting it. And Nico, by leaving the car and ending their friendship, ruined any chance of stopping him from doing whatever it takes to get that eighth championship.

If i don’t let go

Nico had to be the one to let go. He doesn’t have the desire like Lewis does. That mentality of doing whatever it takes to win. He tried that and it broke him.

Does this make sense? probably not. Could i make a case for Lewis as The Passenger? Oh absolutely. Will I? Maybe.

Anyway someone should make a web weave of them. It might be me.

[i-love-you-all]

For the valorant hc game could you do sova please?

Of course! Sova, my love <333

Also realizing how long these posts get so I've put the keep reading line in.

5 things they usually see:

A practice target (often those poor bots). His greatest fear is failure - a missed shot. It could determine the fate of his teammates or the world, so it cannot happen (again). As a result, he spends ungodly amounts of time training and working out. No mistake will be repeated on his watch.

Wildlife! It's already established that he enjoys photographing nature, so I imagine that he see trees, flowers and animals quite often.

Chess boards and pieces. He's a pretty avid chess players (same with Cypher so I imagine those two compete as often as Sova can stand the information broker).

Guns and other weapons. I HC him as being military/special ops then onto whatever the Brotherhood is. And before then I HC his family to be a military family so he's grown up seeing guns, learning how to use them... and using them himself.

Various shades of blue. I think it's a top 3 favourite colour of his (looking at the clothes he wears outside his armour). But I like to think that he got his walls painted blue at the protocol. And that he got some say in what he would wear out on his missions and whatnot. (because if we're being honest, if he does work up north in snow and stuff as shown in his card, he should be wearing arctic camo).

4 things they usually feel:

The cold. He grew up in a cold place and like his voiceline on icebox, he enjoys the cold as well. For the most part, he doesn't mind it, but when he's out for a long time, he does enjoy the warmth of a fire, or just a heated room.

The calluses on his hands and the weight of his bow. He's been trained since young with the bow and arrow, so his skin is not soft, and it's not perfect. However, it is who he is, so when he makes a fist or absentmindedly rubs his hands together, he feels them quite often. It's a permanent reminder of who he is.

His wet hair as he leaves the shower + all the cleaning and brushing he does for it. I think that he takes special care of his hair because it's like the one part of him that "stayed the same" throughout his life, or that it's the only thing that can't be scarred. He must have so many scars around his body (though I sometimes write him to have none bc he's that OP :p) and then he lost his eye, so the fact that his hair can still stay nice and soft must be something to treasure :))

The sore feeling you get after a workout. Whether he was injured on a mission or just after a hard day, he can feel that stiffness. Maybe there are days he wishes he was a radiant. Maybe then, all the physical strains he takes on wouldn't hurt as much. He knows the soreness will only get worse, no matter how great he is at keeping in shape. And that's when his admiration for Brimstone gets stronger because that man has been working through this for decades longer than he has.

3 things they usually hear:

His electro music. I'd like to think that maybe, the reason why he likes that genre more (from what you can hear on the playlist for him) is because the drums are softer/rounder. A loud hit on a snare might make him tense up a little too much because it can sound like a gunshot.

His breathing, and his efforts to control it. Snipers have to work to control how they breathe, so as he settles down into a sniper's position, he needs to be extra aware of his breath. Also, in worse times, he needs to calm himself down when he has a nightmare intense enough to make him jolt upright in the middle of the night. Thoughts of losing his eye again, or a mission that was failed because of his action - or lack of action, sometimes plague him, and he hates how he loses control for those few moments.

A cold wind/nature. I've already talked about him being out in the world and enjoying cold weather, but he likes to be closely attuned with all the possible and plausible sounds of nature. Not only is it a good way to calm himself down, but it's also great training. When he's alone out on a mission, he needs to know what are normal sounds and what could be an enemy trying to sneak up on him.

2 things they usually smell:

Nice, warm, tea in the morning. He would never admit it, and Cypher has no proof, but it is him that sometimes takes Cypher's teas. Especially when he doesn't have any of his own available at that moment.

Metal/nothing. Not metallic as in blood, but as in the general iron smell of a gun or his bow. It's clean and isn't really reflective of the scents in his everyday surroundings, which is what I mean by nothing. He can smell food, gas, or whiffs of perfume as he travels around cities. He can smell flowers, trees, and nature when he's outdoors. He can't smell anything in that armoury as he prepares to leave on a mission.

1 thing they usually taste:

Blood. I know it's kind of a cop out for any agent, but I think Sova more than most (maybe not deadlock or brimstone) just due to his history in this line of work. He has lived through war, assassinations, and straight fist and knife fights. He has hit others, and inadvertently tasted a bit of blood splatter, or he has been hard enough to taste some of his own blood in his mouth. I think he might be a medium steak kinda guy if he does go out because he doesn't want to be reminded of anything while enjoying a meal. Though, there are times where he's in that sort of mood and will order something medium rare and let himself taste just that little bit of blood.

[observeowl]

Distraction N.R

Natasha Romanoff x Reader

Summary: Too many people are competing for the attention of Natasha and you're just not able to compete with it even though you were supposed to be given the priority. After giving her chance time and time again, R just couldn't take it anymore

Your POV I met Natasha when the company I was working for recently became the legal partner for Stark Industries. At that time, she was introduced as Natalie Rushman. We crossed paths numerous times as she helped me pass some paperwork either to Tony or Pepper that needed their signatures. 

When she came into my office one day, I plucked up the courage and asked her out on a date. I was so excited when she said yes, dropping everything on hand to plan for the date that day. I wasn’t expecting to be met with a positive answer. 

Ever since then we have been going out for about three years. Of course I wasn’t too happy when I realised the person who I was dating had been lying to me all this time and I didn’t realise. But I couldn’t stay mad at her for long if I was going to work for Stark Industries, I understood where she was coming from. 

I got to stay with Natasha in the Avengers compound eventually after everything got settled after the Battle of New York. A step towards the right direction.

Or maybe not. 

From the beginning I knew Natasha was work-centric. She would place work before herself and to a certain extent, I would say the same for myself. What I didn’t know was how I had to fight for her attention against her teammates, especially the captain.

“Babe…” I trailed off at the end of my word when I saw Steve in her office sitting on her desk. Surely they had chairs back in the 40s and 50s. 

He hopped off as soon as I entered. “Y/N.” 

“Hi Steve. Nat are you ready to go?” I asked as I got closer to her desk.

“I think I have to clock in extra time today. There’s more paperwork than usual.” She motioned to the two stacks of paper on each side of her desk.

“Do you need some company?” 

“It’s alright. Steve and I have things to discuss.” 

“Okay.” 

I left her office and went back to the compound alone. The rest of the team were there and we had our dinner together before each retreating to their rooms. I remained behind hoping to be able to catch Natasha coming back but there was no sign of it happening, not even a message.

12am, 1am passed and still no sign of her. I got tired of waiting and decided to head to bed alone. 

A few hours could have passed as I felt the bed next to the dipped. “What time is it?” 

“Late. You should continue to go back to sleep babe.” Nat kissed my forehead.

“Did you manage to finish your work?” I asked with sleepness in my voice. 

“Not really, I still have some leftovers. Go to sleep babe, I know you’re tired.” Nat stroked my head trying to get me to sleep.

---

As the legal partner for Stark Industries I have an office here even though I was not working for them, I was assigned by my company to work with them. This meant that apart from settling legal documents or agreements for SI, I had other work assigned to me from my boss that needed to be done. 

I thought of finding Nat during her lunch time so I went over to SHIELD but Maria told me she wasn’t there today and had a mission with Steve. Feeling dejected, I trudged back to SI no longer having any appetite to eat. 

I thought if they had a mission in the afternoon, there’s a chance they could be back by night time, but once again I was left alone amongst the team who noticed more than Nat ever would. “I’m sure they’ll be back soon.” Bucky placed a reassuring arm around my shoulders. 

“Thanks Buck.”

The mission dragged longer than I estimated and it was again midnight when I went back to bed alone. I heard some noises in the room and Nat had just finished changing into her night clothes. “Long mission?” I turned over to face Natasha.

“Yeah, there were some hiccups along the way, which took us longer than expected.” Nat lifted the covers and got into bed. We cuddled next to each other until the both of us fell asleep. I wanted to ask how her mission went but I knew she would push it off and tell me to go to sleep instead. 

--- 

“Will that be all?” I asked Pepper as she gave me the letters for the new legal cases. Most of them being compensation for damages caused by Tony Stark when he goes on a mission, destroying and damaging anything he deemed appropriate. 

“Yes. Why don’t you have a seat. Let’s talk.” She pointed to one of the chairs in front of her desk. I took a seat despite the confusion I had plastered on my face. “How are you and Nat doing?” 

I sighed. “Was Tony the whistleblower?” 

“He did mention something but I had my suspicions. You were already working long hours but you are working even later now. If you and Nat were going well, you would be rushing to get home.” 

I chuckled and shook my head. “Since when did you become so inquisitive? … I would like to rush home but no one’s there to welcome me anyway. I don’t want the constant reminder that she’s with Steve.” 

“Communication is very important in a relationship.” Pepper being the master here.

“So is time. If there’s no time, there isn’t any space for communication. She spends 5% of her time with me and the rest with Steve.”

“I see you have lots of time in your hand to calculate that.”

“I better get back to work.” I stood up and went back to my office. I have just as much paperwork as Nat, maybe even more. Her paperworks are one and done deals whereas mine drags over a period of time. It’s never truly done until it’s over, until the judges pass their sentence. 

With the additional work to be done today, I decided to camp in my office. As much as I didn’t want to, I still texted Nat that I wouldn’t be back tonight. Not that she would reply anyway, she never replies to my text. I don’t even know when she would realise I’m not there.

I started sorting through my documents, from the most urgent to the least. Which needed my attention first and has the earliest deadline. Throughout the entire building, only my light was on by night time. Pepper had to persuade me to go back but I was determined to stay behind.

I drove right into work and when I felt the wave of sleepiness hit me, it was already almost 4am. I checked my phone and of course no message from her. Maybe she’s having a mission too. It was hard to get comfortable on the small couch I have in my office but I managed to make it work. 

---

I managed to wake up and freshen myself in the washroom before the rest of the employees started coming in. I was staring at my keyboard when I heard my door open, thinking it was Pepper trying to be the mediator again, I raised my head only to see Natasha standing by the door.

“What are you doing here?” Nat was supposed to be in SHIELD or the Avengers compound during this time. 

“Figured you didn’t have breakfast so I brought you one. I have the day off.” She sets the breakfast on my table.

“It’s my turn to be busy.” Pointing to all the papers on the table and floor. 

“It’s alright. I’ll just sit here.”

“Are you sure you’re not busy with Steve?” I said emotionless. 

“What?”

“You seem to enjoy his company a lot.” 

“We were only working.” Nat defends herself.

“Doesn’t explain why you have to come home so late.” I finally looked at her. 

“I told you I have lots of paperwork to do.” 

“SO AM I NAT. You may have lots of paperwork especially after the Battle of New York, things are shaky, I understand. But can’t you see that I have lots to do too? Because of all the destruction, people are suing left, right and center and I have to deal with them. It’s not as simple as filling up blanks and submitting them.” I released all the pent up frustration. 

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m supposed to be your girlfriend, not him. Yet you spend the majority of the day with him and only an hour with me. You only come to bed after I’m asleep and when I wake up you’re gone. People in SHIELD think I am the random person who is always looking for Natasha Romanoff.”

I took a deep breath before continuing. “I’m tired Nat, I’m tired of giving but my feelings are not being reciprocated… ”  

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel left out.” Using my experience as a lawyer I found sincerity in her eyes but we all know that she’s perfectly capable of changing her emotions, even managing to fool me once. “Look, I’ll come and get you after work. We can head back to the tower together.” I simply nodded my head and she left my office. 

I sorted through my papers and separated those that needed to be scanned and sent back to the main office and passed the rest back to Pepper after I’m done with them. They were relatively quick since SI has agreed to pay any compensation filed against them. 

Working through the night was probably not the best idea, after lunch drowsiness hit me like a truck and I scummed to the small couch calling for me. 

When I woke up, Nat was sitting on my office chair. I looked down to see that she had placed her jacket over me. I sat up and tied my messy hair again before wearing her jacket. “Sorry you had to wait.” 

“No worries, we still have time.” I went to grab my keys and bag from the table and lock my door before leaving with Nat. It’s been weeks or even months since I got to hold Nat’s hand. I’ve lost track of time, what is time anyway, when you can’t spend them with the ones you love.

The table was finally filled, even though it meant that Steve was here as well. It was a lucky day as it was Wanda’s turn to cook. She scooped everything out for us and handed us our plates. 

“How come yours has one less component in it?” Nat asked as she glanced over at my plate. I looked up at her with a slightly hurt expression on my face. “... right, you’re allergic to mushrooms.” 

I didn’t know if she remembered that herself or Wanda used her silly tricks to inform her. Either way, she had forgotten about it. 

---

In the middle of the night, Nat was once again called for a mission and I was left with cold sheets. I didn’t even have to ask who she’s going with, obviously the captain was going with her. 

There was no use going back to sleep after Nat left so I went to the living room and put on a movie on mute so I don’t wake the others. I hugged my knees as I watched the movie in silence. 

“Your thoughts are almost as loud as an explosion.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up.” 

“It’s fine. I was already up since they got called for the mission.” Wanda took a seat next to me. We sat in a comfortable silence until I spoke. “Am I not doing enough?”

“What? No! It’s just you are both very busy at the moment and it’s tough to find time for each other.” 

“Then do I feel like she fell out of feelings for me?”

“Look, I won’t tell you to go to sleep but please try not to think too much about it.”

It seems like their mission these days took longer than usual, going for close to a day. It wasn’t until the next evening that Nat came back. Missing an entire day with you. 

I was back in the office resting my head on the table when Pepper came in. “You haven’t been sleeping?”

“I woke up in the middle of the night.” 

“Here. Tony asked me to pass it to you.” She placed a white envelope on my table. I looked at her and took the envelope and opened it. 

“Thanks, but I don't think she has the time.” Two tickets for the cinema. A simple gesture, greatly appreciated. 

“Just try, for me?”

I gave her a sad smile and nodded. It has come to the point where others have to push this relationship. 

---

I finally managed to catch Nat coming in bed and seized the opportunity to ask if she was free this Saturday. 

“I think so.” 

“I’ve got two movie tickets. It’s been a while since we watched anything together.” 

“Sure.”

I had hoped maybe she would remember and be able to make it. But I shouldn’t have. I have been waiting for her outside the cinema but she was nowhere to be seen. The movie is starting soon and I have lost all hope, if she wanted to be here she would have been. I pulled out my phone and called Wanda.

Wanda: Hi Y/N, what’s up?

You: Hi Wanda. Is Natasha there?

Wanda: No… isn’t she- oh wait, she just stepped in. Do you want me to-

You: NO DON’T! It’s okay, let her rest.

I hung up the phone and looked at the two tickets in my hand. Sighing, I threw them in the nearby bin. I thought I’ve hit my low, but this was the lowest I’ve felt. Maybe we were heading towards the end…

I trudged back to the compound with a heavy heart and all I saw was Wanda in the kitchen. “Why are you still up?” I grabbed a cold bottle of water from the fridge. 

She looked at me and widened her eyes. “Don’t. I told you not to look into my head.”

“But I cannot let you continue like this.”

I didn’t reply to Wanda, I didn’t have one. I went to change and head to bed, not bothering to get under the covers. I don’t know what I was feeling. Sad? Anger? Loneliness? Lost? Betrayal? I was thinking what I was going to do as I lay in bed.

I didn’t get a wink of sleep and for the first time, I left the bed earlier than Nat. I headed to the office and settled some clerical matters before meeting Peppers in her office. 

“These are the compensation claims against Stark Industries and these are the new agreements that SI is planning to undertake. There should be no problem accepting future projects.” I reported to her my findings and conclusions.

“Okay… anything else?” I was still standing in front of her desk after handing her the documents. 

“I resigned. Another colleague will be taking over my position here.” 

“I take it as it didn’t go well?”

“If there’s nothing else, I’ll be heading out now.” I ignored Pepper’s comment. 

Back in my office, I made sure to consolidate everything in order so the next person is able to search for them with ease. With that, my job was over. 

Second POV With that, you left this life behind and leaving without telling anyone, without taking anything other than money. The only person who has any clue what you were doing was probably Wanda. 

It’s been two days since you heard your girlfriend’s voice. Humans were built so strong yet so weak.

Time to get out of here.

[cryingonlyhereforhim]

THOUGHTS on A boss and a babe episode 7 :

I have a few things to say about this episode,

Firstly, drunk Gun was everything, Man’s whipped. ITS SO FREAKING SWEET AND CUTE. Guncher interaction this episode is so

✨W H O L E S O M E ✨

Secondly, guncher is so freaking obvious, how does no one else know the two have something going !! Also watch that livestream go viral, it has too. I want it too. Please be viral hehe. Like I want that to be how the people in the office knows about them, like it’s stupid but it’s cute. It’s literally a live stream with 80 viewers, which is an increase from the last live ( if I rmb correctly) unless they are his teammates, the viewers could be some colleagues. 👀

For this specific scene, I feel like it should have been “ you said you love Tian ” HEAR ME OUT. I feel like Thoop is insecure, he thinks that nobody cares for him. Cher/Laem loved Tian which was why he kept caring for Thoop ( and Gun loves Thoop, just that Thoop doesn’t see it himself ) Thus, Thoop has this mentality that Cher is only taking care of him because Cher still loves Tian. Personally I feel like “ you said you loved Tian “ doesn’t really represent the anger? Desperation? That Thoop is feeling in this scene. I don’t know how else to describe the feeling. But it’s almost like you think that this person is taking care of you because they feel guilty and because they love someone who was always taking care of you. And it’s feels as if when that person loves someone else, they no longer have a reason to love and care for you. And you have been abandoned by the people you care about once again. That’s how I will describe Thoop’s feeling. Is Thoop still a brat. Yes, but just my thought on the situation.

Lastly, I’m scared of getting too attached to any of the characters, I’m scared that they will end up being the mole :(((. If jack or aoi ends up being the mole I might cry a little ( maybe a lot, im kinda dramatic ) also also I have a feeling that the Job that was recommended to Thoop might be indirectly related to Thyme or Gun, like just an instinct like drugs or something illegal. Like it has to be something bad for Thoop to say “ I no longer have people I care about” and also his “friend” looks like he hasn’t slept in days. Man’s dark circle is so dark, I hope it’s makeup.

[thewritingofspencerrose]

The Invasion of Yuki-san & Charlie

Pierre Gasly x OC : Part 3 to Pierre

"You really didn't have to grab my bags," It's a weak attempt to stop Pierre's kindness, but I would feel bad if I said nothing. Even if I don't think I could manage them on my own.

"Absurdité," He waves off, digging around in his pocket for the key to his front door. He finds it, after digging through all the pockets in his pants, but I'm honestly too focused on observing the man in front of me.

We've talked a lot recently, getting to know one another past that one night, as people.

But since admiring him in the car, I can't help but think of what qualities I want baby girl- Antoinette, to inherit from him.

I'm thinking his smile. Maybe his eyes.

"There is a guest room you can have for as long as you stay," He explains, pushing the door open, "and I have an office that you can use for your studies should you-"

But before he can continue, before I can continue to scan every inch of the home I can get my eyes on, a voice from inside makes us pause, just as the door closes, and a sigh escape the man beside me.

"Pierre ! Est-elle ici avec toi ? (Pierre! Is she here with you)," It's a man's voice, one I'm assuming is speaking French, but it's the rolling of Pierre's eyes that make me know he knows whoever this is well.

"I'm sorry, I tried to get to tell them not to do this," He's apologizing.

"Them?" But my question is answered as two men appear in the hall, eyes bright as they land on the two of us, on me specifically.

"Tu es là! On ne pouvait plus laisser Pierre vous cacher plus longtemps ! (You are here! We couldn't let Pierre hide you away for any longer!)" The taller of the two explains in a language I don't know.

I can't respond, shifting closer to Pierre, his arm wrapping around my waist in a show of comfort I wasn't expecting.

"She doesn't speak French, idiot," Pierre is speaking up on my behalf, "So you're going to have to repeat yourself."

You can see the recognition in his eyes, or maybe its remembrance, before the shorter one hits his arm. "I can't speak French either. That was rude."

"Apologies, Yuki, and apologies -"

"Diana," I return. "Hi, my name is Diana."

"Charles," He introduces in return. "And this is Yuki," He offers as well, pointing to his significantly shorter sidekick.

Looking up to Pierre, his gorgeous eyes are already on mine as I ask, "Do your friends usually break into your home?"

"They are usually too busy to, but it seems this is the day that they've decided they have time for me," He's gruff and sarcastic, and I can't help but chuckle, his hand taking mine as he pulls us into the living room that his friends came from, the two following right behind. "Diana, meet Charles, a friend of mine since I was about nine in carting, and this is Yuki, he was my teammate when I raced for Alpha Tauri."

"It is nice to meet you Diana, Pierre does not stop talking about you," Yuki greets, a smirk coming to his face. "We didn't think he'd be so stupid."

Oh. That's why they're here, to see the irresponsible American girl who is having their friends child.

"He does not mean it like that, Yuki still struggles with the - affect of the English language at times, as do most of the grid," Charles explains, "He is right, Pierre talks about you most, he's very excited."

Oh again.

Charles words bring a smile to my face, eyes roaming back to Pierre.

We haven't discussed what the relationship between us is, all I know is that it feels more intimate and caring than any I've been in in the past.

But knowing that he loves our little girl so much, to talk about us constantly to his friends. Makes my heart full.

"I've been looking forward to this, what can I say," He has a smirk, a playful smile as he looks down at me.

"We have too," I assure, leaning in to his side for just a moment before sitting back up, and turning to his friends. "Now, tell me all of the stories you both have of Pierre!"

This has Yuki and Charles smiling brightly, both full of mischief as Yuki rubs his hands together like an old-school villain.

"I've been waiting for this moment."