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sketchnskribbles · 3 years

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Of Remorse and Responsibility

Of Remorse and Responsibility | Spiderman: Entangled #2 [Ao3]

Read Entangled #1 here: Faded

Summary: Richard Parker struggles with the lasting effects of his actions. He's quickly reaching his breaking point and grapples with where to go next. Attempting to forget the world outside exists isn't a healthy coping mechanism but it's kinda worked for him before. If only his phone would stop notifying him of unread texts and missed phone calls. At least, there's plenty to do in his lab.

Pairing(s): May Parker/Ben Parker, Mary Parker/Richard Parker

Word Count: 4k

Content: Found Family, Angst, Light Mentions of Violence, Sprinkle of Romance, Alternate Universe, Canon Divergence

Notes: I had loads of fun discovering Richard's personality in this one. I've found that I like to think of him as a "Peter Parker that can actually pretend he's confident". He's definitely where Petey gets his charms from, lol. There wasn't nearly as much Prim and Richie interaction as I had originally intended but I still love how this turned out. I believe the secret agent scientist needed some Thinking Time before I actually pushed forward with their Niece/Uncle relationship.

Sparks flew and a small piece of metal burned a bright red. The room was dimly lit, which showed off the work currently being done. A man behind a protective workshop visor reached out to inspect his work and promptly hissed, pulling his hand back quickly.

He flicked his hand with a muttered curse and lifted his visor to view the damage. He'd forgotten he wasn't wearing any protective gloves. A mistake he shamefully made constantly, despite the constant reminders from his team.

His girl always liked to joke that it was a wonder how he was still alive with all the dangerous things he pulled. Including, especially, forgetting safety measures.

A particularly amazing jingle came out of his phone. It vibrated for good measure. Absent-mindedly, he picked it up and flipped it over so that he could view the screen. Injured finger in his mouth.

Taking a glance, he noticed it was from his big sister and promptly turned the phone on silent, placing it down. On the screen of the phone it showed that there were forty-six missed calls and a hundred-and-three ignored messages, from various people.

He winced and looked away from the device guiltily, turning it back over so that he didn't have to look at it.

Okay, so life wasn't going so great. And like all the times when his life takes a downturn, he ignores the problem and simply delves into his many unfinished projects. Not a good plan. But a familiar one.

His phone went off again and he didn't see any reason to pick it back up. Instead he hummed to the catchy tune and continued on his work.

The room was tidy and empty, save for himself and the table he'd chosen for his project. He'd set the overhead lights low on purpose, which left the majority of the lighting to the various glass tanks behind him. Of which were filled with different species of spiders.

With amusement he recalled his team's youngest member, Dr. Victoria Harper's, ever-present uneasiness with their "test subjects".

There was a hard set of knocks on the security-enforced door and he looked up. A very familiar and gorgeous face peered at him from the small window. Expression stony and unhappy. Held aloft in her hand, perfectly within his view, was her phone.

Uh oh.

He flinched back and stiffened. A screwdriver held in his hands with a whitened grip. Joltingly, he made his way over and opened the door to what he figured to be his untimely doom.

Once opened, he leaned his head against the door.

"...Hey."

"Hi, Richard." An eyebrow raised pointedly, the woman appraised him. The phone was still held up. "Is there a particular reason why you're ignoring me?"

"Uh… well, you see Mary, uh." His mouth opened and closed, brows raised. His hands moved and gestured in his attempt to find an excuse, nearly poking himself in the eye with the screwdriver. "And then, uh. Well, uh, yeah…"

"Oh, yeah?"

"Uh huh."

The two watched each other. Richard with uncertainty and Mary with an ever harsher stare.

"Wow. Ever the silver tongue, you are, Parker. Did you rehearse that?"

"...Probably should have." He mumbled and looked away. Mary sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. Why did she have to choose such a lovable yet frustrating boyfriend?

"Alright, well. Is there maybe anything that I can help with? Perhaps lend an ear?" Her words didn't seem to have their intended effect and he continued to stare holes into his shoes. She slumped. "Come on. Give me something, Richie. You can't just keep shutting down like this whenever something bothers you. We're a team now. Partners. Together."

She stood up on her tip-toes and leaned their foreheads together, their noses brushing against each other. Her lips were so close to his that he could practically feel them. His breath hitched.

"I can't be there for you, if you don't let me in." Her nimble fingers trailed down the sides of his neck and she dipped one into the collar of his shirt to lazily trail his collarbone.

Richard licked his lips and tried to lean farther, hoping to catch her own. She pulled away some and he whined. With a chuckle she quickly gave a peck to the corner of his mouth. Mary pushed outward to hang off his neck and looked up to see him pouting.

"You treat all your scientists like this? With such delicious cruelty?"

"Only the ones who drive me absolutely wild." The small uplift of the corner of her lips was downright deadly. And he couldn't help himself from making another attempt to capture them. This time she turned her head and he landed on her cheek.

"Such a merciless temptress, Mary. Coming here. Withholding my kisses." He clicked his tongue with a disappointed shake of his head. "So cruel. Go directly to jail. Do not pass go. Do not collect 200 dollars.”

"Only talkers get kisses." She laughed with a roll of her eyes, allowing him to tuck her into his arms. Ever so warm and safe and perfect. Previous frustrations seemingly forgotten for the time being.

Richard saw fit to hum an imaginary tune and calmly swayed her to it. She adjusted her position to better hold onto him and they began to slow dance in the middle of the empty hallway.

"You look ready to go on a mission." He noted into her hair, breathing in the fresh smell of citrus and vanilla. Mary was currently dressed in the usual wear of a field agent; dark blue catsuit and black straps. There were various weapons all over her person that he could see and, he was certain, plenty more that he couldn't. The SHIELD logo was displayed proudly on the upper-left of her chest.

"That's… another reason why I'm here." She stepped out of his hold and he didn't stop her. He held her hands instead. His eyes took in the determination of her own. "Coulson found a lead."

"He found a lead on your…" Richard's eyes widened in shock. Both elation and concern filling up his being. "That's— that's good right? It's what you've wanted, to find out more about what happened to your dad."

"Yeah." Mary choked out, tears beginning to well up. "To finally know. To get some closure. I need it."

"I hear a "but" in there."

"But what if I'm not ready? What if I can't handle what I find?" She broke eye contact and pushed a few fallen dark strands behind her ear.

"Mary, you've got to be one of the most capable people I know." Richard smiled and leaned down to catch her eye. "If you can't do it, then I don't know who could."

"I don't know… you probably could. You're one of Fury's best. Otherwise, how else can you get away with all your shenanigans."

"Shenanigans?"

"Yes. Shenanigans. I don't think I know anyone who can get away with ignoring Nick Fury and directly back-talk him like you do." She raised an eyebrow. "He's got a soft spot for you, Rich."

"Right. Soft spot. That's why he tricks me into all these missions that go against my sense of right and wrong." He snorted and rolled his eyes. Mary's own eyes widened in realization.

"Is- is that why you're holing yourself up? Baby, what happened—" Her phone began to buzz and she took it out. With a wince she looked up from the notification and gave him a reluctant look. "I'm sorry, I've got to go."

"Love you." He whispered with a small smile, giving her a couple of pecks on her lips.

"We're not finished with this conversation." She thrusted a finger into his face, brows furrowed.

"Yes, ma'am."

She began to walk off and he watched her go. Halfway down the hall she turned her head back with a "Not finished!" yelled back, for clarification.

"Understood!" He yelled back, chuckling as she turned out of view. "...See you later."

He turned back and headed into his lab. The project was exactly as he'd left it. Nothing out of place. Not surprising considering it hadn't honestly been that long since he'd left the room. Even still, old habits die hard. Life as an agent to a secret organization, even harder. He had enemies up the wazoo.

His phone began to buzz and play the familiar jingle again, the vibrations causing it to move in place. He sighed and finally picked it up with an answer.

"Hello, Sis. How are you doing?"

"Better, now that you've finally picked up, Richie. What's the deal?"

"Yeah, sorry…" He cringed, biting his lip. "No excuse just— dealing with a lot of pressure at work, is all. You know how I get."

"Is everything okay?"

"Huh? Y-yeah, of course. Nothing that I can't overcome. There's the pros and cons of every workplace." He gestured with his hands awkwardly along with his words, despite no one being in the room. It just made him feel better.

"Are you sure that's all? Because you haven't stopped by to visit since we've gained Primrose and I just really want you to meet her." There was a sigh on the other side of the line.

"You make it sound like I haven't been around for years."

"Give or take, it's been three months. So, close enough. You used to come by at least a couple times each month. You're definitely missed, baby bro."

Richard could practically see the scrunched nose and askew glasses that would be sitting precariously on his sister's face.

"...Has it really been that long?"

"Yes. Plus, we're still waiting to see that supposed girlfriend of yours."

"Hold up, "supposed girlfriend"? What's that mean?"

"Well, this wouldn't be the first time you've pretended to have a girl, Richie."

"I'd be more insulted if I didn't know you're attempting to goad me into coming over."

"Is it working?"

"Fat chance." He smiled at the giggle he could hear over the line. "Unfortunately, my imaginary girlfriend just went on a plane to go see her father, over on the west coast. But, on the bright side, I'm still available."

"What a shame. I suppose you'll have to do. Are you in the city right now?"

"DC, actually. But once I'm finished up here, I should be able to drive down and be there by tonight?"

"Alright, good. If it's late, we'll save you some dinner in the microwave and set up the couch for you to crash on."

"Aw, May, you don't have to do that. I can go see about getting a room in one of the hotels."

"Nonsense. You better be here and sleeping in tomorrow morning, else I'm kicking your butt."

"Okay, okay! I've lived with you long enough to know a true threat when I see one. I'll see you soon. Love you, you meanie."

"You've lived with me your whole life. Love you too, brat!"

The connection ended and he dropped into the nearby chair. He groaned into his hands. Now with that settled away, he was going to have to confront one part of his biggest problem head on. Not a bad thing. It was probably better that he faced it now, rather than later.

He just hoped that Primrose was willing to tolerate him. If nothing else. Heck, maybe he was making a big deal out of nothing and she was too young to connect the dots. She was four.

Sure, he was certain there was probably some level of understanding but her mind was still developing. Not to say she was too young to understand that her parents weren't ever coming back. But perhaps too young still to realize that the man who had attempted to block her from that gruesome sight, who had guided her far away from the scene, and grabbed her a quick bite to eat before sending her off, was the same one who had taken her parents from her.

He knew that now that she was a part of his family, he would have to some day confront this sin. That there would be a day where she would undoubtedly ask him about that night. That he would possibly have to sit down and finally tell his family about what his job actually was. What it entailed, both good and bad.

It left one burning question in his mind: Would they still be willing to accept him?

He supposed that if they didn't, it would certainly be his just deserved. A suitable punishment. He just didn't know if he'd be able to handle the fallout of that.

Family, to a Parker, was everything. It was why he made it such a priority to keep in constant contact, despite his job and the dangers. Maybe it was selfish, this reluctance to let go.

His phone went off again, this time to the fast pace of the Marvel Swing. It was Coulson.

Ignore.

***

There was a distinct pattern of knocking at the front door. One that caused May to perk up and rush over to open it.

"Richard!" She squealed and wrapped him up in the biggest hug she could. Despite the cold, night air and the freezing chill of the breeze, she felt as warm as could be. "You're finally here! Come in, come in."

She ushered him in as he gave out a laugh, the door closing and blacking the cold out behind them. He shrugged off his coat and hung it on the wall rack. The man felt content to follow his big sister through the familiar walls and furniture.

There was no place like home.

There was the familiar tone of Ben's voice, as it reached his ears from the kitchen. Calm and confident in a way that Richard could never figure out to be. No doubt he was talking to the little lady of the hour that he was here to "meet". He'd already thought up a tale that could explain any possible reactions from the girl when she saw him. He'd had a whole three hours drive to figure out some plausible stories.

Although, hopefully the present for the girl he left in the car would help in settling things better. Kids loved gifts, right?

"Ben, you old dog! How are you?" The scientist greeted with his arms spread wide, which invited the other man to come in for a hug. They gave each other hard pats on the back before letting go.

"Doing pretty good, kiddo. Got a raise just recently. Been saving up, so hopefully I'll be able to branch off and make an electrician business of my own." The older man sat back down in his chair at the dining table with a groan and grinned back up at him.

This was one of those times where Richard privately wished he could let them in on his actual work. The money he's accrued in the years past has been stellar, and wouldn't it be great if he could simply use it to bless his brother? But there'd be questions. So he didn't.

His eyes then landed on her and his mouth went dry. Upon a seat across from Ben sat little Primrose. And the way she stared at him was undeniable. She certainly remembered him.

In an attempt to save face, he smiled.

"Why hello there! Primrose, right? I don't believe we've ever been formally introduced. I'm Richard Parker." He carefully walked over and sat in the chair next to her. "I hope you don't mind if I join in for dinner?"

He looked over at the stove to see May stirring something in the pot. She looked over and smiled at him.

"You made it just in time! I'm so glad you're here."

"Yes, it's been too long." Ben nodded his head with a smile of his own. "And it's certainly wonderful that you finally get to meet our newest member. Say hi, Primrose."

"...Hello." The girl muttered so low that he almost couldn't hear it. Her focus went from him to the empty plate in front of her. Richard's heart dropped to his stomach and he struggled to keep a straight face. Perhaps she did understand enough...

"She's shy." Ben reasoned with a shrug. "It'll probably take her some time to get used to you, is all. Took her a while with us."

That's fine. He could give her time. All the time she needed. He needed some too.

"That's a-okay." He spoke out loud. "I'm sure we'll be best buds in no time."

"Honey, I've decided that Richie's banned from coming over again." The electrician rolled his eyes and groaned, looking over to his wife.

"Uh-huh, I'll remember you said that next time you want him over to yell about the latest football game and drink some beer." May hummed a song to herself while her husband sputtered for a comeback.

Richard only chuckled. He'd missed his family. Already, he could feel the tension leaving his body. Like he could finally relax and feel safe.

Dinner, despite Primrose being closed off, was good. There was talking and laughter. Richard had definitely needed this. People who knew him for him, that he could talk to. Not those that feared and respected him due to his skill set. He supposed there was Coulson and Fury, but he was ignoring them right now. There was also the new Queen Bee, Hill. But she was a tattler. So also no.

The family had since moved into the living room. A movie was playing on the tv with the volume set low. On the coffee table sat one of their favorite board games. Currently abandoned in favor of catching up.

"...and then there was an excavation site deep within the desert of Egypt that I was requested to look over. They were in need of another professional opinion concerning a possible groundbreaking artifact of foreign origin." Richard let out a chuckle and shook his head as the memories came back up to the forefront. Ice within the drink in his hand clinked against the glass. "There was this one scientist there that claimed it was solid proof of offworld influence upon the civilization of that time period."

"What, like aliens?" Ben laughed. He had one arm resting behind his wife and the other curled snuggly around his little girl. "You're telling me that there are people with doctorates who believe that sort of thing?"

Richard shrugged and crossed his legs.

"While I don't necessarily believe it myself, his work and theories were quite something to behold. One certainly couldn't deny his passion." The scientist tilted his head in thought. "If there's one thing I can agree with, it is that there was outside influence. A person or group of people that took advantage of the populace. There's plenty of evidence of that."

"Do you remember the man's name? You know, the one that believes in Egyptian alien overlords?" May spoke, sleep filling her voice. Her head rested on Ben's shoulder.

"Hmm… Jackson, I think. Doctor Daniel Jackson. Very interesting, that one."

"Is any of his work published? I might look over some of it in my free time. Sounds like a fun read." Ben perked up, which slightly dislodged his wife from her comfy position. To which she groaned and adjusted with a grumble.

"I don't think there's very much that's out for public view but I'll see if there's anything more I can get for you."

"You and those mysterious connections." The electrician raised an eyebrow.

"Yep!" Richard smiled unashamedly.

Primrose gave out a cute yawn, to the adoration of her new family.

"Well, I think it's time for bed." May lazily got up, eyes half-lidded. She held out her arms for her little girl and picked her up. The girls went on their way down the hall, leaving the boys to their own devices.

"So, now that we're alone…" Ben leaned forward in his seat, elbows resting on his knees and hands clasped together. "You wanna tell me what's wrong?"

"W-what? Nothing's wrong. I'm— I'm doing great." The scientist sat up and tensed. Shoot. What had tipped his brother off? Or was he just that obvious?

"Uh-huh." The older man rolled his eyes. "First you stop visiting. Then you stop keeping in contact. Now you're stuttering. I might not have a gazillion PHDs like you but I'm not dumb, Richie."

Richard refused to make eye contact, mouth tight-lipped. Ben sighed.

"When something is bothering you, you close off. You push away and disappear. Don't—" His voice dropped down into a whisper, eyes glancing to where his girls vanished. "Don't shut us out. Let us help you."

"I'm sorry for shutting down, big bro. I'll make sure to keep in touch and visit more." He finally looked up and caught Ben's eye. The older man's gaze was deep and searching, his lips down turned into a frown. Finally, he huffed and shook his head.

"Alright, I know when to stop. Goodnight, kid. See you in the morning." The electrician stood up and patted his brother's shoulder, making his way to his room.

"Goodnight." The scientist rubbed his eyes and exhaled softly. He took off his glasses and set them down next to the forgotten board game.

Fluffing his pillow he dropped his head and brought up the blankets over him. Although, sleep refused to come to him. Which was probably a good thing. His nightmares have been really bad recently and he didn't want anymore hard-to-answer questions being asked of him. His eyes followed the swirls of the material making up the ceiling. The ticking of the heirloom grandfather clock provided a rhythm with which his heartbeat could drum to.

Overall, the night hadn't been that bad. Primrose hadn't made any huge reaction over his appearance. She still wasn't happy to see him though. Or at least, she wasn't certain about him. But geez, was he not at all prepared for the amount of guilt that hit him upon seeing her.

She had her father's eyes. Her mother's nose and jaw. His victims peered out at him through her gaze.

No matter how much he told himself that it was necessary, it continued to haunt him. It was the least he could do, to lead his family to give her a home where he knew she'd thrive and be cherished. Even if he hadn't been entirely certain they would actually choose her.

It was both a relief and stressful to have her there. A constant reminder. Not only of what he'd done but also a motivation to be better.

No more. He was done, he decided. Perhaps it was time for him to retire entirely from agent work. He could find a job here in the city. He could work more on projects focused on helping people directly. There was so much that could still be done in the medical engineering field.

If he remembered correctly, an old college friend, Curtis Connors, was working for Oscorp. Perhaps he could call in a favor and see if he could get in on what he was currently working on. Perhaps even impress Dr. Osborn and find himself a permanent place on the payroll. He'd even be closer to his family and get a chance to make amends with their new addition. She deserved him at his best. There was perhaps nothing that he could do to make up for what he'd done but that wouldn't stop him from trying.

For the first time in a long time, Richard felt his mind and heart settle. Like he'd made the right choice, for once.

His eyes drooped and he turned into his pillow, sleep finally coming to him.

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writingsbychlo · 4 years

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rapp-ed around your heart (04)

word count; 14,165

summary; after getting over halfway around the country, and halfway through your trip, some alone time is exactly what the two of you need.

notes; you’re going to love this part, I know it’s not as long, but it shows some pretty important changes in their relationship.

warnings; smut, unprotected sex, exhibitionism, food play, cum play, public sex.

The Rocky Mountains

When you finally began to peak up over the tops of the mountains in Kirkham, Idaho, you were more than happy for the welcome relief of the heat you’d been recently exposed to. You loved the sunny weather, truly, but all the way from Florida to Canada had been scorching, and it hadn't exactly been cold up until this point, even if Seattle was a little greyer overtop, but the snow and ice you were now seeing was a welcome relief.

Your flowy sundress had been changed out halfway through the journey and into some jeans and a jumper, one that you’d taken from Mitch’s suitcase instead, a large black hoodie with some faded writing across the back that you didn’t recognise, but it had been too big even on him, and so it swamped you, and your hands were sitting comfortably in the from pockets as the music played just loudly enough to down out the heaters you had running.

There was once again a warm hand on your thigh, fingers scratching absentmindedly at the denim and pressing in every so often as he drove along, sometimes alternating for tapping to the beat of a particularly catchy song, and the limb only ever left hen he needed both hands on the wheel, or to change the gear.

“Do you want to get a room tonight?”

It had been a little since either of you had spoken, more than happy to just soak up the other’s presence quietly, and he cleared the rasp from his throat with a soft cough, his eyes leaving the road for only a second to look over at you, lips forming a small smile when your head tilted to look at him.

“Just thought it seemed like it may get a bit chilly tonight in the car, and while I don’t doubt that you’d wrap your entire body around me like a koala bear-” You huffed out at the words, despite knowing them to be true, and he cut himself off for only as second with a chuckle, squeezing at your leg, before continuing; “I just think maybe a room would be nice, sweetheart. There are so many cabins up here for all that skiing and such, might be cosy.”

“Sure, sounds like fun! Maybe they have hot chocolate.” The second part of the statement was more for your own thoughts, and Mitch laughed a little at the statement, his hand pulling back to reach into your pocket ad take one of your own, pulling it across the middle divider and into his lap, thumb running over your knuckles absentmindedly.

You used the other hand to pluck your phone from its holder, waiting until you found a connection before searching for some of the places nearby, and finding one for the two of you to set up at. It wasn’t much of a longer drive, and you read off all the information about it to the man beside you, his hum of approval being more than enough to confirm it, and you changed your route a little bit to head in that direction, instead of the way to the campsite you had originally been destined for.

Much like he had promised, the place had that exact kind of warm sixties, log cabin theme that made you instantly fall in love with it.

Like a time capsule, it was gorgeous, quaint and casual, fur rugs and couches in front of real log fires that were burning and crackling, and a little help desk with a handwritten sign-in book, and a pin-up noticeboard by the door. Upon entering, you’d shook the snowflakes from your hair, the chill that had swept through your body from the simple walk offered in the distance from the entrance to the car was more than enough to confirm that you’d made the right decision by not sleeping in the car, knowing that it would only get colder as the night went on.

Your hand was linked with Mitch’s as you entered, and he was towing bags behind you both, reaching up a hand to ruffle snow from the locks before they melted and left wet trails in his hair, leaving you to go to the desk as he tried to stomp off the snow and grit from his boots. You were welcomed warmly by an elderly lady who made you want to coo at her, glasses sitting on the bridge of her nose and a knitted cardigan sitting over her shoulders as she shuffled slowly up and down. Glancing over your shoulder while she shifted through set’s of keys to find one for you, you caught sight of Mitch, his brows furrowed a little as he stared up at the leaflets and notices on the board, before the soft clearing of a throat brought you back.

You took the item gratefully, offering her a smile and a deposit, before making your way over to him. He didn’t look down at you when you approached, but he lifted his arm up, letting you tuck yourself underneath of it as your arms circled his waist, and he rested his cheek atop your head as he continued to read at the bulletins with interest.

Your fingers were fiddling with the ring on the key when you finally spoke, clearing your throat a little. “I got us a room with just the one bed, that okay?”

He gasped, pulling back to look at you and feigning horror, placing a hand over his heart, and you could already see the amusement dancing over his features. “Share a bed, before I even have your dowry? My, my, you’re a wild one, aren’t you? Whatever will I do with you?”

You scoffed, pinching at his side and drawing something between a complaint and a laugh from his lips. You pulled back, his arm only sealing around your shoulders more tightly as he gave you his full attention, leaning down to peck pouted lips quickly, despite his laughing, and you released your tension at the brief kiss.

“One bed is fine with me, kitten.” You grinned against his lips, his nose bumping against your own, before his hands were slipping down to your waist, fingers squeezing a little more tightly than expected, before he was pulling back to look at you. “So, I just read that there are some hot springs only a teeny tiny little walk from here. Wanna’ check it out?”

“Like nature’s jacuzzi’s.”

“Yeah, but if you call it that, I’m leaving you there and driving away.” You rolled your eyes at him, twisting your head when he tried to kiss you again, and he let out a quiet whine when his mouth found your cheek instead, pulling back and trying again, only to get the same treatment. One hand came up, gripping your jaw and holding your face or his own, hot breath washing over your lips when he let out a little sigh. “I’d never leave you here, even if you do call it ‘nature’s jacuzzi’.”

He pressed a short and simple but still sweet kiss to you before you could resist, fingers leaving your jaw when he pulled back, and he pecked the tips of your nose too, for good measure, the entire act leaving your heart pumping wildly in your chest with warm cheeks and wide eyes as you watched him grab the bags and head toward the stairs.

Everything leading up to the two of you getting to the hot springs felt like a blur, the finding of your room and unpacking of basic bags, both of you having to forage back out to the car for your swimsuits and towels, before you were changed and on your way. The walk was just as short as had been described, hot steam curling up into the air long before you’d gotten there, and it had beckoned you forwards, the cold chill making you crave the heat even more, and the pools were beautiful when you finally found them. Deep shades of blue, swirling and rippling when bubbles rose to the surface occasionally, leaving ripples to spread out and fade away as they moved, and you were more than excited to find that you were the only ones there.

Mitch was pulling off his clothes before you’d even taken it all in, his shirts tugged up over his head and his jeans dropped to the floor beside the towels, sitting it fresh grass that was slightly frozen, jeans and shoes all kicked off, only his swimming trunks left on him as he dropped down into the water with a splash. He was submerged for a good minute, and you peered tentatively over towards him, before he finally burst back up, taking a deep breath before offering a wide smile for only your eyes to see, wiping stray water from his face and opening his eyes to look at you.

“C’mon, it’s amazing. You’re going to love it.”

You sighed, toeing off your own shoes, and popping the buttons on the front of his jeans, pausing at the smirk that took up on his face as he swam over to the edge, resting his chin on crossed forearms and staring up at you through wet lashes. “Don’t look at me!”

“Why not?” You stomped your foot a little, arms wrapped around yourself tightly, and he grinned wickedly at your shyness. “I’ve seen you in your bikini before, and it's definitely nothing I haven’t felt pressed up against me for the last week or so.” His eyes dropped down to your chest for only a split second, licking over his lips, before his gaze was meeting yours again, considerably darker now, and you shivered a little at the tingle that ran over your body. “Mitch!”

“Fine!” He groaned, albeit playfully, before turning his back on you and swimming away, and you were quick to shed your clothes. The air was cold, making your skin erupt in goosebumps all over as you lower yourself down toward the water, slipping in quietly and sighing joyfully at the contrast of cold to warm that was encasing you, before you were swimming out to the middle of the pool slowly, and reaching underneath the water to find his forearm, the man jumping a little at your sudden touch, but there was a soft look on his face when he turned around. “You look beautiful.”

His eyes never even left your own to look down as he spoke, and you bit down on the inside of your cheek to stop yourself releasing the smile that was threatening to break free, instead moving in to wrap your arms around his neck, letting his own feet support you as you found your toes midding the ground, water skimming up around your shoulders as you pressed to him, mouths meeting in a slow and sought-after kiss. His mouth worked in perfect harmony with your own, slow drags and sweet sounds, bumps of noses with each twist, before you were pulling back to enjoy the water, your hands leaving him to skim over the surface lightly. “This is pretty cool, I admit.”

“Always wanted to swim in a hot spring, figured you’d like it to.”

It was romantic, the both of you making the most of every quiet moment you had alone, and watching as the sun moved lower and lower across the sky, light fading into something a little lower, making the most of it before it got too dark to be able to find your way back. You both explored the pool you were in, and the other ones around you, diving down to touch the bottom and exploring the surrounding areas, skimming flat rocks and standing under small waterfalls. You almost felt sorry that you didn’t have your phone here to capture the images, but you were living in the moment and didn’t want to miss a single thing, and so you couldn't feel sad about it for long.

You had resulted to going back to your original pool and remaining in the hot water when the air around you had grown a little too cold to be wandering around in while wet if you weren’t intending to get dressed and head back to the cabin, but there was still rays of golden sun spilling over the mountainscape, and so it certainly wasn’t time to leave just yet. Mitch had perched himself on a little piece of rock ledging a while ago, content to just watch you float on the surface of the water as you stared up at the sky, and flick water at you anytime you floated to close, leaving you to splutter a flip him off each time.

You folded your legs underneath you when orange began to fade into pinks, signalling that you didn’t have long left before twilight grew into darkness, and so you were adamant about making the most of it. Mitch had his eyes closed, head tipped back to rest in the grass as he relaxed, and you swam over slowly, his arms stretched out along the edges of the bank above the water, submerged from the middle of his torso down, and you could see the edge of the stone in slightly distorted images beneath the surface of the clear water.

Swinging a leg over his lap, you settled comfortably against him, his eyes snapping open as something resembling a growl and an interested perking up emanated from him, teasing eyes finding yours as he lifted his head, hands slipping down slowly beneath the water. His hands found your thighs, and you leaned in, pressing a kiss to his jaw, your hands cupping his face as he tipped his head a little for you, his chest puffing out a little more with every kiss you pressed to his scruff-lined face .“Well, that’s a nice way to say hello, kitten.”

You simply hummed into his skin, feeling hands creep up along your thighs in tight grips until settling on your hips, pulling you in closer as you gasped, leaving your chest pressed up to his, looking down at him with wide eyes. He leaned in, hot mouth capturing your own, and this kiss was different to any others, knocking the breath from your lungs as you melted in his arms almost instantly. You were used to the soft and delicate kisses, almost timid as he pecked your lips, and even the more confident ones as he held your jaw to press his mouth to your own, the sleepy bedtime kisses and groggy morning kisses, and the passionate kiss atop the peak of your hike only a day prior, but this wasn’t any of those.

This was tongues and teeth clashing, it was his tongue dragging slowly over your own as you panted into his mouth, and it was fingers in hair as you tugged lightly, letting him grunt into your mouth and lean into your touch, prompting you to do it again, and your whimpering each time his teeth graze your skin when he pulled away. It was stinging skin and spit-slick necks as he licked and sucked at your skin, before coming back to your mouth. It was moaning only for the two of you to hear and breathy curses, his thumb brushing over your nipple and pressing lightly at the hardened bud when his hand dragged down your front, and it was your hips rocking down into his a little when he had dropped a hand to squeeze at your ass.

It was teenage behaviour, groaning and begging into one another’s mouth as sloppy kisses were exchanged, exploring each other’s mouths and memorising everything as hands skimmed over bodies, your thighs gripping around his legs when he moved you, your back pressing into the wall when he stood up, his hips rolling up into your own to meet your movements as your chests pressed together ran your fingers tangled in his hair. It was fingerprint shaped bruises from how hard he held you, and red marking blossoming along his skin and yours from places where mouths had found themselves attached, and your scalp stinging a little from his hand in your hair when he pulled your head back to bare his neck for him.

It was perfect.

The weather had kept you both in check, your needy pants calming down as the temperature began to quickly drop, blushing cheeks and sweet smiles taking over as you had dried yourselves off, tugging on clothes over wet swimsuits and cuddling in tightly to one another as you walked back to the cabin, clinginess taking over.

The fire in the main foyer was still burning bright and warm when you arrived back, and the look you shared seemed to say it all, slipping upstairs for only a second, taking quick showers and changing into the warmest pyjamas and jumpers you had. Wet clothes were left piled up on the bathroom floor to be sorted later, the water hotter than you would usually have it, warming you back up to ensure you didn’t catch a chill from the cold atmosphere and your wet hair from the walk you’d done, and yet you knew even if you did get a little ill, you still wouldn't trade the memories for anything.

It was one of the most relaxing and personal moments you’d had so far on this trip, something that neither of you had planned on, but had done at the moment, spontaneity taking over when the moment had presented itself, and that was exactly what letting loose and getting to know yourself was all about.

Mitch was already downstairs when you made it there, sitting on the couch and staring into the flames, a warm glow covering the room as shadows flickered and danced over his features as the fire flickered. It was warm, the doors sealed up tight and a soft and gentle atmosphere taking over, the crackling of real wood on the fire almost overpowering the soft tunes that were playing from the speakers, music that couldn't be any older than the ’70s, and yet it seemed perfectly fitting to the entire ambience.

He seemed to sense your presence, looking over to you as you made it to the bottom of the stairs, offering a sweet smile to the woman behind the main desk as you walked past her, taking a seat beside Mitch, his arm stretched out along the back of the couch, and he turned, brushing his lips over your temple. One of his arms scooped up under your legs, pulling them up until they were slub across his lap, his hand smoothing down to sit on your calf as you shuffled a little closer to him, letting the arm from the back of the couch drop down to circle your waist instead.

The same hand smoothed out over your lower back, rubbing in slow and soothing circles, your eyes fluttering little, and you wondered if he even realised he was doing it, or whether Mitch was naturally just someone who actually loved affection, and just never had a chance to show it anymore. You managed to force your eyes open, pulling your cheek up from your shoulder to look at him, and his own head twisted to look at you as he sensed the oncoming conversation.

“Yes.”

“Huh?” your eyes widened a little bit, and he smirked, gaze flicking over your features for a second, enjoying your shocked expression and widened eyes, before he shrugged.

“I have a very strong feeling you were about to say something like ‘can I ask you a question’. You always do when you have that look on your face.” He rolled his bottom lip between his teeth, waiting on you as you ducked your head bashfully, before trying to remember where your thought track had even been.

“I was just going to ask, are you being this affectionate because you want to be, or because you think it’s what I want?”

His hand still it’s motions, his eyes widening for a second, before he was pursing his lips and swallowing thickly to clear the lump in his throat, before letting out a dry chuckle. “Both, I guess?” His gaze dropped from yours, looking back out to the fire for a second, and you shuffled in a little closer, trying to reassure him, one hand hooking under his chin to bring his gaze back to your own, and you pulled his lips fee from where he was biting down on it roughly as he gathered his thoughts.

“It’s okay.”

“I missed it. Another person’s presence, I missed the warmth and the way it felt to be wrapped up in someone else, the pressure on my chest at night and the way it just feels so relaxing to have another person’s touch.” You grinned when his hand came up, tucking away stray hairs and pushing them out of your face, wet strands drying in the warmth of the room. “The touching is for me, but the way I show the affection is special to you, depending on what you like, I guess.”

“Well, for the record, I have liked everything so far.” You sat a hand on his cheek, pulling his lips in toward your own, and he beamed, nuzzling your noses together a little once you were within reach, and leaning up a little to get better access to your mouth as you got closer. “Yeah?”

“Totally.” Your words were mumbled into his mouth as it sealed over yours, slow and torturous, long drags of your lips together, before his tongue was coming out to join the mix, just enough to show you how much he cared without making too much of a scene, and your fingers tightened in his hair, holding him close to you. His hand slid to your thigh, squeezing tightly as you pulled back for a gasping breath, his mouth moving over your cheek as he left your clean skin peppered with pecks. “I especially like it when you do that.”

You were a little breathless, and yet so was he as he laughed, catching his breath, before he was pulling back and letting sparkling eyes meet your own. “For the record, I really like doing that, too.”

You grinned, breath hitching when he brought his thumb up to wipe under your lip, wiping your skin delicately, and he let out a soft hum, before settling back into his seat and letting you snuggle back into him. His heart was beating steadily and surely under his ribs, the steady rhythm,

Only a moment later, that same sweet little old lady was grinning at you both, heat rising to your cheeks as she observed you both, placing two steaming mugs down on saucers before you on the table, whipped cream and marshmallows decorating the hot drinks, cinnamon and chocolate powder dusted over the top, and your mouth watered a little.

She nodded to you both, before pattering away, and your hand tightened a little in the shirt of the man you were nestled up against feeling him squeeze your leg again in return. “You got us hot chocolate?”

“Well, you wanted some, right?”

“Yeah.” He just nodded his head, and you couldn't take your eyes off of him, even when he turned away from you to grab the mugs, seemingly not comprehending just how sweet you thought the actions was, and so you let it go, covering the grin on your face as you accepted the treat from him. “Yeah, I did.”

The waitress grinned at the pair of you as she headed away, and you raised your brows, taking a seat on the opposite side of the table. “I ordered for you. She told me I was cute.”

He huffed out at the claim, and you snickered, glancing over your shoulder to the middle-aged woman who was behind the cash register now, totting up whatever food he had put through, and you trusted that the meal was going to be delicious, whatever he had chosen for you. “She wasn’t wrong.”

“I’m not cute.” He grouched, slumping down further into his seat, and you placed your hands flat on the table, leaning over it a little bit, and he watched as you did, perking up slightly when he thought he might get a kiss, but you had other plans.

“You’re right, you’re adorable.”

“I don’t like you.” He narrowed his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at you as you sunk back into your seat, laughing to yourself happily at his expense. You knew he didn’t mean the words, he was just huffing and puffing this morning because he’d slipped on the water from last nights wet clothes and almost face-planted the floor, to which you’d made a joke about how he was supposed to be an assassin, and now he was grumpy. “You’re annoying. I take everything back.”

“Uh-huh.” You grinned, and he reached out a hand over the surface, clearly waiting for you to weave you fingers with his, and you purposefully avoided his hand, reaching over the top of it to grab at some of the sugar packets from the jar in the centre, and one of the little wooden stirrers, taking an extra-long time. He let out a low whine in the back of his throat, quiet enough for only you to hear, and you looked up, giving him a falsely questioning look as he stared ta you. “You need something?”

“Hold my hand.”

He all but growled the words out, like a petulant child, and it was like everything that had once been locked away within the man was coming back out in full force to wash over you both, and you grinned as he pouted at you. “Why should I? You called me annoying and said you didn’t like me. You don’t hold hands with someone you don’t like.”

“I didn’t mean it, now hold!”

He held up his hand expectantly, fingers spread of your own to slide between, and you gave in happily, slipping your hand up against his, and a sunny expression took over what had once been stormy, a thrilled sound being suppressed by him as he lowered your hands back to the table and held on tight.

“Wanna’ have a campfire again tonight? We’re at Yellowstone, right?”

You hummed, thinking over the decision, but barely getting a chance to nod before there were plates being placed down in front of you, and two hot drinks to follow. Something that smelled extremely sweet with whipped cream and dusting was sat before you, and you bit your lip when you watched Mitch’s gaze flick over it, a longing look on his face despite the fact that he would never voice that she had it wrong, instead giving the woman a sweet smile and dismissing her from the table when you didn’t need anything else.

A fry-up breakfast sat before you, everything including the basics like sausages and eggs, as well as toast on the side, and your stomach rumbled hungrily at the sight, and you looked over at the cup of steaming black coffee that you assumed was supposed to be yours. You decided to tease the man a little further, pulling the sauce with the drink on toward yourself, and leaning down to take a long inhale of the sugary aroma steaming from it.

“What’s this?”

He cleared his throat, tipping his head up from where he’d been staring at his plate, and shoving an entire hash brown into his mouth before responding to you, a drop of grease trickling over his lip, which hew as quick to catch with his tongue. “‘Alted car’l’ moch’.”

You stared at him for just a second, before laughter was once again taking over, his words having sounded more like pure nonsense than actually making sense, and he chewed his food, swallowing the mouthful down before trying again.

“Salted caramel mocha.”

He was sating at it once again, eyes watching as a drip of melting cream leaked over the edge of the tall mug, and you pushed it a little closer to him. “Do you want to switch?”

“So badly.” He was already pushing yours over to you, letting you adjust your coffee the way you liked it, and his cheeks heated up a little red when he took the first sip of the hot drink, bliss flittering across his features for a second, and you felt warmth flood your body at the sight, a quiet ‘thank you’ whispered under his breath to you as he continued to cut up his food. “I think she just assumed I’d be on black coffee because I’m all moody and apparently this is a girly drink.” He frowned at the words, stabbing a piece f sausage particularly aggressively and bringing it to his mouth. “Fuckin’ good though, like cocktails; ‘girly’, but better.”

“Hey, it’s okay. I like my men how I like my coffee. Tall, dark and strong.”

He paused in his eating, looking up at you with something between a bashful smile and a cheeky smirk, before settling on cheeky, and dropping his eye in a wink toward you. He swallowed down his food, “So what does that say about you, if I like my coffee extremely sweet?”

“I’m going to take that as a compliment.” You were moving onto your own food now, having gotten your drink just right, and he offered you a toothy grin in response.

“You should, you’re the fucking cutest. It’s why I’m so fond of you.”

Your face screwed up a little to hide the blush, and you began to chop at your food, ignoring the chuckles of the man across from you, and you clearly weren’t doing a good job at hiding your heated cheeks, because he was now choosing to coo over how flustered you were, only making it worse. “You’re so cheesy with all your little lines and pick-ups.”

“Fuck yeah, I am.” He was proud of the statement, and you shook your head, choosing to change the subject back to the possible campfire you’d be having, and eating your breakfast to quell the hunger you had.

Following your meal, the two of you had been back on the road, stopping off long enough to buy some food and supplies for your campfire that night, before you were making your way along to the home of the volcano sight and the national park, excitement buzzing through you, and you had already pulled up your phone to check everything out and try and come up with some ideas.

It only took you a further couple of hours to get there, this having been one of the shorter journeys you had to do, especially compared to that of the ones you’d been partaking in as of late, and you were grateful for the change. The fresh air and bustling atmosphere had an electric excitement crackling through your veins, and the pair of you had decided to set up camp at the campsite along the edge of the lake, working your way through the attractions on the way there.

Canyon Village had been your first stopping point, walking hand in hand along the bridges and pathways at ‘Inspiration Point’, your body pressed up into his side and you were sure to take plenty of pictures along the way, of yourselves and of the landscape. At the lower falls, you had been reminded of the swimming you’d done only the previous night, the water clear and inviting, and the way Mitch had kissed you meant he’d had the same thoughts, his tongue teasing with your own as his hand slipped slightly lower than usual, your gasps being muffled by the water thrashing into the background, bubbling heat between the both of you.

At the upper falls, you’d seen even more of the cascades, and had watched on in glee, talking in playful whispers about how you would survive falling over a waterfall, which had pretty quickly moved onto how you would survive other bizarre occurrences, the two of you debating over every option, until your end-of-the-world plan had been officially laid out and perfected before you.

The trip was filled with laughs, and jokes, and making the most of your empty time. It may not have been one of your typical holiday destinations, but it was still the kind of time-out that you both needed from hectic lives, and from rushing around. You were finally getting a chance to see all of the places you had on a bucket list, and to do all of the things you had only ever imagined before, and having someone to share it with was all the more of making it into something beautiful. Now, you would have someone to discuss these memories with, and someone with whom to share the times when you would reminisce. He would be there to share the inside jokes of the things you saw along the way on this trip, and somehow only one month on the road together felt like it was a lifetime for you both.

Spending every minute of every day with someone for an entire month had a way of manipulating time, of making it seem far longer than it actually was. It was more intense, being with someone for so much time, and it seemed that it had worked in favour for the both of you. It forced you to let someone else into your own life, while you were breaking your way into his, and now instead of two people locked away inside their walls, you were sealed in together, the two of you holding up a fortress of secrets and government security, never having much of a chance at a normal life, but at least being able to do it together.

Lake Village had been next, stopping off for a bite to eat and to fill up on gas, and walk around the little shops that were scattered around what almost had the effect of a miniature town. You had stopped at the post office, shipping off the tiny bits you’d bought along the way, all of it going into one box, and you’d taken a few minutes out to write a letter to your uncle, updating him on everything that had happened as you sat at one of the picnic benches and soaked up the sun. You had exchanged a few texts, some short conversations, but you hadn't spoken to him properly since Vegas, and you were beginning to miss him, despite how much fun you were having. He was your only family, after all.

Investigations along the campsites had concluded that staying at Lake Village wasn’t right for the two of you, you needed somewhere a little quieter, that wouldn't set either of your anxieties on edge, and somewhere that Mitch wouldn't feel like he was being trapped in. The campsite along the lake edge further up towards Grant Village had been perfect, however. The drive there was clearly something that not as many people were willing to do, and it was more isolated for you.

The two of you took a while to settle on a camping spot, the temperature coming down lower and lower as the sun began to set, the colours across the horizon shifting and changing before your very eyes, before finding the place that you wanted to be in. It wasn’t too far from the water’s edge, or to the showers, little spaces away from everyone else that you could build a fire, and it was perfect for what you needed.

You washed up, and changed, taking an extra-long amount of time in the showers as you got yourself ready, before finally finding yourself dragging your picnic blanket from the car and wrapping it up in your arms as Mitch carried a supply bag of everything else. It was unusual to be so in sync with him, to be completely comfortable with him seeing you barefaced in your sweatpants, when in reality, you’d still be over a month off of letting someone see you this way if it was a normal relationship, and you couldn't deny that you were enjoying the fast track of it all, being able to skip those awkward phases and get right into what mattered, because slow and steady had never worked out for either of you, your lives never giving you a chance to build up anything when you had no idea when you’d even be in the country, and not being able to secure dates and partake in small talk.

You found rocks for a fire pit, and set up the blanket, lighting the kindling slowly, and searching around for twigs and logs to add onto the flames when they grew big enough, building it up from nothing, until it was a blazing little bonfire to keep the two of you warm and comfortable for the next few hours.

Taking a set beside him, the two of you were sitting cross-legged, your arm pressed up to his as you watched the fire flicker, before you were tipping your head to rest on his shoulder, and his cheek came to rest against your hair, a soft sigh leaving him.

“Marshmallow?”

You nodded, watching as he ripped the bag open, bringing one up to your lips for you, and you took it between your teeth, the sugar melting across your tongue as you watched the elegant dance of the flames before you. You shifted, his eyes watching as you moved, laying out across the blanket and resting your head onto his leg, stretching out your legs and kicking off your shoes to wiggle your toes freely. A hand came down to your hair, and you peered up at him, smiling as his fingers wove through the strands.

“I can’t believe we’ve travelled, like, half-way around the country. I’ve lived here for twenty-five years, and I didn’t know there was so much I was missing out on.”

“And to think, this is just America. You’ve got the whole rest of your life to see the whole rest of the world.” You grinned, and he huffed out a laugh, busying himself with setting up a little layout of marshmallows on sticks, popping another in his mouth and feeding you a second one as he did. He piled on some more logs, crackles and popping from the fire sounding out as you piled some more up into the flames. As the roaring fire grew, so did the warmth between you both, and he had shifted to stretch his legs out a little more, leaning back on both of his hands now as you chatted about the simple things. “If you could go anywhere, right now, like just get on a plane and go, where would it be?”

He hummed a little, considering the options, and you looked up at him, watching as he stared off into space, thinking over everywhere he could be. “I know I was moody at first, but this is a pretty fuckin’ awesome road trip, with a pretty special chick, and right now, there’s nowhere I would rather be, than right here.”

You nibbled on your lower lip, unsure of how to respond, and so you simply reached a hand up to him, pulling him down by a hand on his cheek and fingers in his hair until his mouth could press to your own slowly, but a lot groan left him, and you had to lean up to meet him partway. Your breath felt stolen from your lungs as he sucked the sugary sweet taste from your tongue, lapping at your mouth with his own as you pushed up to meet his movements.

“Sit up, kitten, I can’t kiss you like this. I ain’t that flexible.”

“Pussy. I totally coulda’ done it.” You moved as he spoke anyway, and he bit down on your lower lip as you did, growling slightly into your mouth, but leaning forwards to cup your jaw and pull you into him, your body leaning across his as you did.

“I’m going to hold you to that, next time I’m lying in your lap and want a kiss.”

You grinned into the kiss, his mouth brushing yours as he spoke, and his thumb shifted between you as he panted for breath, the pad brushing over your swollen lips, and you hummed happily, nudging your nose up against his and pressing a kiss or his finger, something like a moan echoing out from him as you did. You shifted to lean over him a little further, moving your hand for better support, but letting out a loud and sudden gasp, jumping back when your hand pressed down and rolled over something on the mattress.

His eyes were wide then, alert and startled, before he was turning his head to look out over the blanket in the darkness, before he was letting out a loud laugh when you groaned in irritation, lifting your hand up and shaking the squashed treat from your skin. “Are you kidding me?”

“I panicked! I thought it could have been, like, a small animal!”

“A small animal that was squishy, around and with no fur?” He grinned, watching as you disposed of the ruined stick, but picked up two more, balancing them into the fire as the moment washed away, and you were left instead to roast your marshmallows, and you were left to try and bite back your own laugh at yourself.

“It could have been a hairless rat, or something.”

“If there were suspiciously hairless rats just wandering around near us, I’d be back in the car, and we would be driving away to somewhere safe.” He twisted the sticks, making sure to get an even cooking on the surface as the sugar boiled and burned just right, and you leaned into him, pressing a kiss to his cheek that he was more than eager to press into.

“What, you're scared of getting bitten?”

“By a rat, or some other thing in the woods? Yeah!” He handed you over one of the sticks, and you took it from him, blowing on the snack to cool it down, and he turned to look at you as he did the same, poking at the gooey bundle with his finger before licking at the tip of his finger, and waiting for it to cool down again.

“So, you don’t want anything in the woods to bite you?”

He lifted it to his mouth, dragging the melted marshmallow from it with his teeth, and his eyes were glistening in the low and warm lighting as he looked at you, the beautiful brown in his eyes seeming golden beside the orange flames, seeming to glow as he stared right into your soul. “Maybe I wouldn't mind one thing in the woods.. but only if that goes both ways.”

He winked at you a little, a gasp on your lips as you grinned, pulling the sticky sweet from the stick and popping into your mouth, your fingers still messed up with the leftover goop, and he took your hand from where it was sitting palm side up on your knee, your eyes following as he lifted your hand up to his mouth.

His gaze never left your own, locked together and your breath hitched as teeth rushed your skin, a light nip being placed to the tip of your finger, before lips were sealing around the digit and he was sucking it into his mouth. His tongue lapped at the marshmallow pieces on your skin, cleaning up your index finger before moving onto your thumb, and as you swallowed the mouthful of food that you had, it felt more like choking down cotton as you watched him, your jaw dropping afterwards.

“You’re teasing me.”

Your voice was raw and raspy, and he smoked around your finger, dropping it from his mouth and leaving his lips shining as he did. “Maybe a little bit. What are you gonna’ do about it?”

You only had a second to think about what you wanted, before the hand with two wet fingers was gripping at his face, mouth colliding with his own and this time, you weren't questioning the sound he made. It was without a doubt an unabashed moan, his hands coming up to grip at your waist and your arms, as your own fingers moved to tangle in his hair. Only a moment later, his tongue was dipping out, teasing you as he traced over the seam of your lips, and you were more than willing to part them.

Muscles played together, wet and sloppy as you whimpered into his mouth, nose bumping with every twist of your heads, and his hands slipped down even further, one palm grasping at your ass as he pulled you across his lap. You found yourself in a position much like last night, your body pressed up to his, grinding down slowly as you drowned in own another, the world slipping away on either side of you, until the only thing keeping you rooted to the ground was no longer gravity, but instead the feeling of his lips toying with your own as he grasped at your body, fingertips trailing over your skin and digging into your flesh.

When the need for oxygen became so much that your head was spinning, you pulled your hands back to rest on his shoulders, his mouth trailing down over your jaw and your neck, leaving burning skin in his wake as his subtle scratched and his teeth teased your skin, lips soothing over every bite and suck, each patch left feeling raw and cool when he moved on.

“Shit, sweetheart..”

You groaned, resting your forehead to his own when he looked up at you, your hair framing around your face as you panted into the same space, sharing the air between you as the heat became overwhelming, and you picked up your pace, his large hands on your body helping you to move. Your stomach was twisting into knots, his body giving way underneath you both, as you fell back to laying down, your body hovering over his, and the position change brought a loss of the pleasure as your bodies separated, a whine leaving you.

“I don’t want you to feel pressured into anything, okay?” He reached up, brushing a finger over your features slowly as you pulled away to look at him, his touch ending at your mouth as you smiled. “You don’t owe me anything.”

“Do you.. I mean, is it something you want? Or don’t want?”

“Fuck, kitten, trust me when I say that I want that more than anything, but I don’t want you to do anything you feel rushed into or pressured for. I’m totally happy to just cuddle with you, okay?” You dipped down, catching his lips in a calmer and slower kiss, stinging lips brushing together as he happily returned the sentiment.

“I cannot imagine anything more romantic than having sex by a fire, under the stars, on a rug.”

He paused for a minute, before letting out a breathy laugh, his eyes screwing up and his head falling back as he found amusement in the whole situation. “Holy shit, it’s like a fucking rom-com, or something.”

“Well, they are your favourites, aren’t they?”

“Touché.” He leaned back up a little, puckering his lips to coax you back into him, and you dropped your mouth down to meet his own, joyous sounds leaving you both at the contact, and there was no hesitation between the parting of your lips became a sloppy kiss or pure need and want, his fingers tangling tightly into your hair.

One of his hands was dancing down along your front, fingertips skimming the bare skin that was revealed above the line of your sweats and below your ridden up shirt, a shiver shaking along your body as you held yourself up above him, anticipation taking over. Only a moment later, those same digits were dipping underneath the hemline, following down below your panties, and your lips pulled from his, gasping for nervous breaths as his fingers trailed lower, a squeak leaving you as he pushed down against your clit lightly, your hips bucking into his hands.

You could feel his gaze, studying every inch of your face and every reaction you made as you leaned into his slow touch, dipping lower and lower until a moan was leaving his own throat at the built up wetness between your folds. “Fuck, this all for me? I did this to you?”

The disbelief in his voice made your heartache, despite the fluttering it was taking on as he circled a finger around your entrance, warming you up a little, and you both felt your breath hitch as the digit slipped in to the first knuckle when you rocked back into his hand. “All for you, Mitch. You have no idea what you do to me.”

“Probably ‘bout the same thing you do to me.” He slipped the finger as far as he could, your walls welcoming him in greedily, and he pumped it slowly, the angle a little awkward for him, but as soon as he could, he was dipping a second one into you and stretching you out. “Holy shit, you’re so tight. God, I can’t wait to feel you wrapped around my cock.”

“Keep talking.”

He hummed, a dark chuckle under his breath as you took over, fucking yourself back onto his hand needily. “You like it, huh? Like when I talk dirty to you?” You whined, clenching around him tightly, and you keened upon feeling a third finger threatening to enter you, waiting for him to give you what you wanted, your eyes rolling back in your head at the burn of the stretch, and you could feel your juices dripping down and onto his hand, and he picked up the pace, meeting your movements. “Answer me, pretty girl. I want to hear you say it.”

“Yes, yes I like it.”

You could feel the pull, everything in your body chasing an orgasm so powerful it would rock your body from head to toe, long overdue and desperately craved, and you let out his name on a long moan as you felt everything in your body working towards it. “Tell me what you want, and once you cum, maybe I’ll give it to you.”

“Fuck, I don’t know. I don’t know!”

He chuckled, feeling you tense up as you exploded around his fingers, your throat closing up a little as you made the most of it all, the way he pumped you right through your peak, the way his fingers felt before he pulled out of you, looking like pure porn as he lifted glistening fingers up to his mouth, sucking his fingers into his mouth and letting out filthy noises of bliss as he sucked them clean.

“Fuck, that was incredible.”

Your arms were shaking from simply holding yourself up as everything in your body felt like jelly, and he flipped you over, your back meeting the soft blanket and the weight taken off of you as you melted into what felt like being a puddle. “Since you can’t tell me what you want, how about I tell you what I want, hm?”

“Please do.”

“You’re such a good girl.” You were rewarded with a kiss, feeling your heart skip a beat at the praise he was giving you, and you had no idea you had even wanted that until now. “I want you to cum around my cock, I want to fuck you until there are no thoughts left in your pretty little head, and the only thing you can say is my name. How’s that sound, kitten?”

“Yes. Yes, just, yes. Please.”

“Anything you want, sweetheart.” He pressed a deep kiss to your lips, a smacking sounding when he pulled away - far too quickly for your liking - and dove straight down for pants once again. He was tugging your sweats down and off of your legs, your panties following, before large hands were pushing your legs apart, leaving you exposed to the cold air, a gasp on your lips as a cool breeze swept over your heated and dripping core, but you couldn't even feel it within yourself to be shy or ashamed when the sound he made shot through everything in your body and made your tremble under his hold. “Fuck, what a pretty sight you are.”

“Fuck me, Mitch!”

“God, I’m goin’ to, baby, don’t you worry.” He seemed to have only realised it now, his voice strained as he palmed at himself through his own sweatpants, brows furrowed as his Adam’s apple bobbed with every choked down swallow he made. He shuffled them down, just low enough for his cock to spring free, and he hissed out as he fisted at himself from the second he could, the material straining around his thighs as he rubbed over his cock, and you felt your mouth water just at the sight. “Legs up for me, like a good girl.”

Your feet pressed into the floor, legs bent as you lay back, and you felt his fingers dance up and along your calves, pulling your legs up and onto his shoulders, throbbing cock pressing to your entrance as he lined up, before sinking deep into you and pressing his face into your neck, your mewl of his name echoing out amongst the trees and open-air as his own noise was muffled in your skin.

It was beautiful, the two of you becoming one heat blossoming across your bodies as you connected in the most intimate of ways, and it was already better than anything you’d ever had before, because it was more special this time. It wasn’t the romance, the setting of sitting under the stars or the warmth of the flickering fire over the two of you, but the emotion.

You were open with Mitch, you had nothing to hide, and so for the first time in your life, you were with somebody you could have a future with, there was hope to be had, and while he may not want anything after you left this trip, he also may, and so you were left with the startling feeling of a breakable hope, a shattering want for something else with him. You could see yourself now, only a month in and somehow you were able to picture lazy Sunday mornings, sun filtering through the blinds as you made slow love, and you could picture welcoming him home and patching him up after assignments. The images of him joining you and your uncle on your weekly dinner dates, visiting him after his meetings and training with him when he would spar, you wanted all of it.

You wanted to go home and still get to be wrapped up in his arms, you wanted to kiss him whenever you wanted, and to take him out to dinner and enjoy the comments he made every single time he saw something with a name he couldn't pronounce on the menu.

Every thrust pushed you higher and higher into the sky, every kiss pressed to your lips was beautiful, something to be cherished and adored, and your nails raked down his back, Small, fingerprint bruises would be lined on your skin in the morning, and his would be equally torn up. Beard burn, hickies, bites and scratches, it was all coming up to leave you both with trophies and reminders of the night you were sharing.

You couldn't control it, the build up within you, the snapping of a coil as skin collided with skin, trembling and crying out as you clung to one another, before you weer barrelling straight into bliss once again, leaving you completely spent underneath him as he fucked you through your climax.

Praise whispered in your ear, tongue delving into your mouth as kisses were pressed to you, and you were shaking with the stimulation by the time he pulled away. You were on overdrive, rolling him over until he was on his back, head hitting the floor as your mouth dragged along his neck, moving down his body until you could lap your own arousal from his cock.

His fingers were in your hair, gripping tightly as his body tensed and shook under you, your scalp burning and eyes watering, the salty taste of his precum and the sweet taste of your fluids coating your tongue, before you were taking him as deep as you could. You swirl your tongue, hollowing your cheeks to suck at his cock with everything you had, and he was all but thrashing underneath you. Teeth grazing skin, tongue pressing to sensitive spots and lips gripping him like a voice, it was no surprise when he shot over the edge, hips bucking up into your mouth as you swallowed everything he had to give, and you were certain that he had no grip on what was spilling from his mouth, loud shouts and groans as he fell into pleasure right behind you, tugging at your hair to pull you away from him when he had nothing left to give.

“Fuckin’ hell, your mouth is my new favourite place to be.”

You licked over your lips, the taste of him lingering on your tongue as you helped him tug up his sweats and cover himself before you collapsed down onto his chest, giggling when his hands came down to cup at your bare ass, squeezing lightly as you both tried to catch your breath.

“That was as good for you as it was for me, right?”

“Mitch, that was the best sex I’ve ever had, don’t worry.” His chest puffed out a little underneath you at your confession, and he lifted his arms up to squeeze around you, holding you tightly, and rolling you over to cover you up, keeping you warm as neither of you had the energy to move away to find your other clothing. “We need to do that again. A lot.”

“Definitely. I don’t think we should ever stop doing that, actually.” He was still shaking a little underneath you, and you were certain you were the same, a grunt on his lips when you shifted, brushing up against him by accident, and he pinched your side softly in retaliation. “God damn, I missed sex. I missed affection. I missed being in a relationship. I feel like I was made just to be with someone else, I need it.”

You hid your smile in his chest, the post-sex version of Mitch being clingy and having no filter, and you never would have put your money on that, but you were loving it nonetheless, more than happy to listen to him babble on about how much better life was with someone to share it south, and you felt like he was preaching to the choir, no idea that you were feeling exactly the same as he was right now. You eventually found the rest of your clothing, shimmying it back up onto your body, and sitting back across his lap, his arm propped behind his head as he stared up at you with a dopey smile, eating the rest of the marshmallows and soaking up everything you had until the fire was burning down to embers and tiredness was slowly beginning to sweep in and claim you both.

The two of you were ready for bed, prepped before even going for your bonfire, and you were ready to snuggle down into your covers. Mitch was splayed out across the bedding, darkness surrounding you on all sides and in all directions, promising you the perfect night’s sleep, and you locked the door, swallowing thickly as you looked down at the man before you. He looked utterly debauched and completely soft hair messy and cheeks flushed, a smile on his lips as his eyelids fluttered, and you pressed yourself down into his waiting arms, face pressed into his neck as he held on tightly.

The silence too over you both for a while, finding your breathing syncing up as your hearts thumped strong and steady against your chest, feeling his own beat in return, and you squeezed a little tighter around him, your entire body still flooded with the aftermath of two shattering orgasms, and yet there was still a heat that was flaring up within you. Everything seemed like it was amplified, every puff of breath that washed over your cheek, the smell of his cologne making you feel dizzy and the feel of his body beneath your own.

It had been so rushed before, you’d had no time to observe the man you were with, to take in every detail of him, and you were begrudging to not have the chance to do so. Sitting up above him, you balanced yourself in his lap, a whine slipping from his lips as you moved and took your heat away from him, his eyes cracking open to look at you, and you raised a single hand. Brushing a finger along his jawline, you felt the firm muscle underneath, the way his jaw clenched as you watched him, and the scratch of stubble along your skin. Following up, your digit ran over his lips, which puckered to place a sweet kiss, before you were tracing along the bridge of his nose with a small smile, and finally, weaving your fingers through his hair, pulling it back and out of his face so you could see him clearly.

He offered you a smile in return then, a simple twist of his lips that made you feel cherished and complete, from head to toe, his face relaxing as he did, and your fingers smoothed slowly along his chest, feeling him puff out a little under your touch, your nails raking over his skin through the material, feeling his muscles clench up as you moved further down, until you were pushing your hands under the edge of his shirt, palms sitting flat on heated skin, pulled taut and firm. Pushing the material up a little, defined abs with a scattering of dark hair were shown to you, patches of puffy pink flesh in the form of scars accompanying it, and his breath hitched as you did.

“What are you doing?”

“Admiring you. Taking it all in. That okay?”

He swallowed thickly, before nodding, slow and unsure, and you paused in your movements, watching him carefully as his expression wavered. “There’s scars, they’re not all pretty. The one over my ribs is pretty red, I got stabbed a few months before coming out with you, it’s still kinda’ raw.”

“You know I’ve seen you without a shirt on before, right? The beach?” He rolled his eyes fondly at your teasing, sitting up slightly when you pushed his shirt further up, but pausing as he grew a little worried once again.

“It’s just different this time, you’re actually looking, I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.” He let you tug the short the rest of the way up and over his head, your eyes never leaving his, before you were leaning down once again, your lips moulding with his own in what you hoped was enough to reassure him, to bring back the confidence and assuredness that he normally carried. He was full of faith in himself, he knew how good his abilities were, and how good he was in the field. He was smart, and funny, and he knew his own worth, but now he was feeling doubtful again, curling in on himself a little, and you cupped his face, making sure he wasn’t panicking, his jaw moving under your hold as he pressed back into the kiss with everything he had, bringing a smile to your face when you felt the tension slip away under your hands.

When you pulled back, your forehead pressed to his, and he leaned up to steal a few further kisses from you, before you were giggling softly into the space between you both. Your fingers were now moving over soft skin, tracing across his chest as you learned the pathways between his muscles, and when you pulled back a little, his fingers caught your chin, keeping your eyes on his for a moment longer.

“Are you sure?”

You bit down on your lips, pulling your hands away from him to grab at the hem of your own shirt, lifting it up and over your head to discard of that too, and a groan bubbled up in his throat, wide eyes and parted lips making a burst of confidence run through you. “I’m totally sure, Mitch.”

Wandering hands and adventurous lips, his chest pressed to your own as your mouths worked together, before you were covering one another’s skin in every place you could reach with tongues and lips. You could feel the atmosphere rising again, panted breaths fogging up the windows as you sat in his lap, his hands squeezing at everything he could get ahold of, and you leaned back a little as his lips travelled further, his fingers prompting you to lean back, until his lips were sealing around one perky bud on your chest, pebbled for him as he lapped, grazes of teeth and trails of spit leaving your skin on fire as you shivered, until he was satisfied that your chest was marked up to his liking.

Hands pushing at material and bruising kisses to accompany rough grips, until your body was rocking into his, the car moving with every particularly active movement you made, skin slick with sweat as you rode him. His hardened and leaking cock slipped into you, your body was again dripping with the need for him by the time your exploration and memorising of one another had come to an end, clothes discarded without care as flesh met flesh, nothing between the two of you now, There was no secrets, nothing to hide or keep concealed, only adorations and longing to keep you company as desire took over.

Your pace started out slow, circling your hips as you fought to find a hold for your movements, somewhere to hold onto and make the most of your actions within the cramped space. Your hands were beside his head, fingers digging into the sheets as you pushed back onto his cock, feeling every ridge and dip of him within you, the baby hairs along your forehead sticking to your skin as the temperature became overwhelming. His hips bucked up to meet you, needs takin over as your logic went into autopilot, and your bodies were slamming together every time, his cock digging deep within your walls and tapping to the sweet spot that made you cry out every single time. Sex with Mitch felt like nothing you’d had before, your head up in the clouds as you clung to him, riding him for all you had, mouths messing together in kisses that were barely functional as you put everything you had into chasing earth-shattering peaks.

He was grunting, head tossed back into the pillows to create a beautiful painting of him, flushed face with lips that were kissed and bitten raw, shining with sweat from the exertions of your actions, and needy noises left him. In the forms of grunts, groans, sobs of your name every time you rolled the muscles in your core and clenched tightly around him, it all told you just how much he was loving the feeling of being connected so intimately, just as much as you were. Everything within you was on fire, lit up like the fourth of July as the car rocked and squeaked underneath you, well-executed movements becoming sloppy as his hands gripped at your hips when you grew tired, slamming your body back onto him as he mumbled into your ear about how well you were doing, praises spilling from his lips that spurred you on as he fucked you harder.

Every sound he made and call of your name only made you feel more and more like everything was clicking into place within your soul, and you sobbed his name back into his ears as you collapsed down into his chest. A hand slipped between your bodies, rubbing roughly at your clit, and the arm that had been on your hip circled around your body to hold you close as you spasmed in his hold, shooting over the edge in an explosion of ecstasy and stars, leaving your eyes rolling in your head as everything became white noise, the only feeling in your body being that of bliss as you trembled in his hold.

Your peak seemed to throw him into his own, his body locking up underneath you as what could only be described as a purely pornographic sound left him, deep in your ear and echoing through your mind, gruff and desperate as he leaked his arousal within you. Roped of hot cum spattered your walls, the memory of what he’d tasted like seeming to fill your mouth as you rocked back onto him, the feel of him filling you up and pumping everything he had into was enough to fuel every wet dream and dirty fantasy you’d have for the next few months, at least. You lay there, simply soaking up the atmosphere for a few more minutes, his hands smoothing along your back as you both came down form what felt like heaven, and he let out a weak chuckle from beneath where you weer slumped across his chest.

“Holy shit, that was even better than the first time.”

You couldn’t help the roll of your eyes, even though you agreed with him, and you felt boneless as you lay atop him, nothing within you feeling like you could move, like you could do anything, except for being here, wrapped up in his arms and enjoying the way it felt to be held by someone, with nowhere to go and nothing to do except let them wrap you up in their affections and love.

You were able to lift your head, just enough to press chaste brushes of lips over the marks within reach, reassuring him that he didn’t have to hide his battle wounds from you, or be afraid, and you were careful to make sure that you pressed a longer and more purposeful kiss to the scar on his shoulder, his hand slipping up to tangle in your hair, pulling your lips up to his as he poured into the kiss was he may never be able to say using words.

When the ache in your knees and legs became too much, your body cramping up, and a shiver running along your body when you began to feel the mixture of your arousal drip from you. Pushing yourself up on shaky hands, he was still locked within you, his jaw clenching a little as you shifted, and you felt him twitch interestedly within you from where he’d begun to soften, and you slapped at his chest, narrowing his eyes as he shrugged.

“Hot girl sitting on my cock, what do you expect? Especially when I know she’s pumped full of my cum and that she’s covered in pretty purple marks that I made.”

The smile on your face was beyond your control, and you found your shirt, turning it the right way out once again and lifting it over your body. Pushing yourself up from him, you collapsed down onto the mattress, the burn between your legs making you clamp them together with a groan, but it was the most exquisite kind of pain, the kind that made you feel filthy and utterly fucked out. A perfect pleasure.

He reached for a handful of tissues, a stack that was collected within your makeup and skin kit, and he poked at your leg gently, coaxing you into parting them for him so that he could wipe at your inner thighs and care, cleaning you up before helping you to navigate your panties and sweats back up your legs. Your eyes were drifting shut already, the tiredness you’d felt before was now becoming exhaustion, and you only heard him redress himself, slipping from the car for a second and letting in a welcome breeze as he disposed of the tissues, before he was finding his way back to you.

That desperate urge to be wrapped around one another returned, your body working of its own accord as you sought him out by instinct and memory, finding he was just as willing to take you into his arms, and the tingling all over your body from your activities seemed to dull down as you were grounded by his embrace.

Giving a final kiss to the skin that you could reach, you returned the ‘goodnight’ that he whispered to you, and then, you let yourself fade off.

You had been the one who had woken up first, a pleasant aching between your thighs and the stifling heat of another body pressed up to your own having been almost enough to lull you back into a peaceful sleep. You had slipped away for a shower, feeling like you were ready to wash yourself off and clean up a little, leaving a note for the man left behind in the car, and you had expected that he would be awake by the time you’d returned, but he was still out cold.

Face pressed into the pillow, he’d shifted a little since you’d gone, rolled over onto his side, mouth open a little and dark lashes fluttering against his cheeks as he dreamt, fingers twitching against the covers. Clearly, he’d worn himself out the night before, a slight smirk on your face at the idea that the moments you’d shared had been enough to spiral him into a long sleep, but it was a long sleep he so deserved. You weren’t blind to the way his health had improved simply over this month, he looked as though he’d lost five years from his features, at least, actually looking his age as the wrinkles and worry lines between his brows and along his mouth from constant scowling had slipped away, and he wore a smile like a beautiful accessory, something you’d never tire of seeing. The bags under his eyes had faded, the dark circles beginning to disappear too, as he caught up on the sleep he had lost over the past few years.

Instead of disturbing him, you left the car locked up tightly, keeping the music low down as you changed and set off on your journey, already having slept in quite late yourself, and so it was beginning to look like you wouldn't be arriving at your destination in South Dakota today, but would instead be spending it driving, and would get on with your sightseeing and adventuring tomorrow. The hoodie on your body almost covered the purple marks left along your neck, and you knew you’d have to be sure to get them all covered up before taking any more photos, lest you give your uncle a heart attack when you got home and showed him photos that made it look like an octopus had tried to take you down. You were feeling fresh, though, and satisfied, the man behind you not stirring until you were almost three hours into your drive, and you snickered to yourself at the slight startle he let out when he reached out for you and found you not by his side, before realising that you were already on the move.

He raised his arms up above his head, letting out a groan as he tried to stretch out as best as he could within the cramped space, shaking his head a little as a groggy morning yawn passed his lips, before he was blinking into the sunlight and looking up at you, your gaze catching his for a split second in the mirror.

“Well, good morning to you too.”

“Mornin’ sweetheart.” His voice still had that deep rasp, the same one that sent shivers through your body and electrified your nerves, and he shuffled around a little bit upon sitting up, head bowed slightly to stop himself from bumping against the roof of the car, and you kept your eyes fixed on the road ahead, a heat flushing over your cheeks as he pulled his shirt from his shoulders, changing in the back of the car as he went. In a bid to keep yourself from glancing back at him, you switched lanes, slowing the car down so that you could deter some of your attention to turning on the music, now that he was awake, the tunes could flow through the speakers one again, and you swiped his shoes off of the passenger side so that he could settle down next to you.

Climbing between the seats, he dropped down into the chair with a huff, pulling his feet up to sit on the dash one at a time as he pulled socks onto them, but never bothered with his shoes, and he ran a hand through lengthening hair to push it back, before he was checking the time, a surprised noise emanating from him.

“Sorry, didn’t realise how late it had gotten.”

His fingers were holding lightly onto your chin as he leaned over the centre console, a wet kiss being placed to your skin, another to follow it, and then he was strapping himself in, turning the music up a little louder as you shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. You looked so calm, I didn’t want to disturb you.”

“How long have you been driving for?” As he asked the question, one of his hands slipped down to find your thigh, resting just above your kneecap, thumb smoothing in circles, and you could feel his gaze on you, see his head tipped towards you out of the corner of your eyes, and you offered him a smile in return.

“About three hours. Looks like today is going to be a driving day, it’ll probably be too late to actually do anything when we get there, so we can just grab dinner.”

“That’s good, actually. I have a question for you.” You raised your brows, daring to turn to look at him for just a second, the look on your face prompting him to go on, and he scratched at his jaw a little anxiously as he stared out at the cars ahead. “How do you feel about dinner and a movie?”

“Kinda’ sounds like you’re asking me on a date there, Mitch.”

“I’m glad that was accurately conveyed.” He scoffed, before his laugh was mixing with your own, and he was poking at the phone on your dashboard. “You brought your tablet, right? Well, I’m pretty sure those things can download Netflix, so I figured we could set up all the pillows in the back, and get some food, and watch a movie. It’s not much of a date, but I thought you might like it..”

“I’d love it, don’t doubt that.” You cut him off before he could get too far into his own head about it, dropping one hand down from the steering wheel to lace your fingers with his, resting them in your lap, and he let out a breathy sigh of relief. “How about pizza?”

“Sounds perfect, baby.”

You fixed your attention back on the roads then, letting the quiet take over as you continued your journey ahead, following road signs and satnav instructions as you moved closer to your next stop, and you pulled over only an hour or so later to get some late breakfast, early lunch, kind of meal.

What should have been an hour in and out became just over two, Mitch stopping you at every possible moment he could in order to kiss you senseless, pinning you to the side of the car before you’d even fully climbed down from the vehicle, his mouth descending onto your own as his tongue teased at your lips, and you had been so surprised that you’d spent thirty minutes with your fists clenched in his shirt as your mouths moved together in brutal kisses until your head was spinning, and he’d used the excuse that you were just too cute to not kiss.

You’d shared breakfast, every look he gave you over the table having been setting you on fire, and you shouldn’t have been as surprised at the change of behaviour he had now that you’d slept together. He didn’t have to force himself to keep his hands to himself, and to hold back the teasing comments and lusting looks he wanted to fix you with, because now it was welcomed, it was okay. There was no denying that you were equally as eager to let your own needs out, to let him whisper dirty things in your ear as the two of you waited for the check, so that you could bite your lip and press quick pecks to his mouth with the promise that you’d definitely get around to completing each and every one of his filthy desires at some point.

When you were leaving the diner, his hand had slipped down from your waist, squeezing once at your ass in a sudden move, and you’d jumped, turning slap at his arm as you looked around to see whether anybody had seen it, and he’d simply smirked, eyes fixed right ahead to the car, where he’d been taking over driving, but had been more than happy to stand between your legs with his hands tucked under the edge of your shirt and brushing just underneath your breasts for almost thirty minutes as you became eclipsed in the taste of one another’s mouths once again. It was like sugar and honey, so sweet it made you ache, smooth and simple but everything you craved, the way his hands moved over your body and your tongues slide together in torturously slow and deliciously teasing strokes, everything feeling like it set you alight with a new kind of passion.

You managed to peel yourselves apart eventually, leaving you with swollen and wet lips, his hair messy at the back from your fingers had been tangled in his hair, and both of you slightly jittery and lit up with an electric kind of desire, longing looks and soft smiles shared for the remainder of your drive, leaving you more than desperate for his touch once you finally stilled the car.

That night, the two of you had curled up beside one another, a romantic comedy movie on the tablet that had been his choice, an insistence that he didn’t want to see any more action than he did in the field already, every movie being criticised in his mind because he actually lived that life, and you quickly found out his need for the sappy love stories was actually because they were his favourite, pouted lips and heated cheeks following the revelation you’d rediscovered, he fact having slipped to the back of your mind.

A pizza box sitting across your laps, and more additional snacks than either of you really needed or deemed necessary, you were stuffed with food, laying back after disposing of the boxers and letting his fingers run through your hair, occasionally tipping your head up to get further affections from him, which he was always happy to grant to you, and it struck across your mind that this was exactly what you wanted. You craved simple evenings, and warm love, like the dying rays of a setting sun, not glaring and roasting in the middle of the day, but a love like a sunset, mellow and cool with enough beauty and softness to inspire artwork and poems, and create memories you’d never forget.

Nobody remembered the sun when it was high in the sky, but everybody remembered a good sunset, and that was all you wanted. The two of you managed to get through three and a half movies before you were tired again, setting an alarm this time to ensure you wouldn't sleep in late, the day ahead of you being one filled with anticipation and excitement, and you didn’t want to miss out on any of it.

Your legs were tangled together, chests pressed together as his chin sat atop your hair, and you knew that at some point during the night, the heat would become too much for you to bear, forcing you apart, but for now, the comfort of being wrapped up so close together, embracing as arms squeezed around the other, it was enough to lull you to sleep. Lazy brushed of lips and mumbles of wishes for ‘sweet dreams’ was the last thing on your mind.

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nomanwalksalone · 3 years

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NOTES FROM THE GROUND FLOOR

by Réginald-Jérôme de Mans

As I get older, it’s amusing to recognize that so many of the pithy quips and sayings I have derive from a small set of catchy past readings, however shallow my culture. Case in point: I thought of beginning this piece with “I’m a profane man,” a self-hating declaration inspired by my high school assignments in Dostoyevsky’s Notes from Underground (“I am a sick man... I am a spiteful man.”). One of the many ways in which I am profane occurs when I find something, some article of clothing or tool that suits me so perfectly and improves my quality of my life that I’m tempted to use Jude Law’s slightly unnerving ejaculation as Dickie Greenleaf in The Talented Mr Ripley, “I could f**k this I love it so much.”

Dickie was getting passionate about his refrigerator, a new purchase that allowed him to have cold beer in southern Italy. While I’m lucky enough to live in an age and place where refrigeration is taken for granted, I find myself echoing that sentiment in my head when, say, I find a pair of jeans with the right cut, denim and fit, or, more recently, the ideal pair of slippers – durable, beautiful, tactile, reasonable, perfectly fitting and insanely comfortable.

I’m not one of those people who insists everyone take off his or her shoes at the house. I take mine off, though, since it’s generally more comfortable to walk around without shoes on, and in summer far cooler to do so. As a teenager, I used to wear Chinese slippers, which had the advantage of being dirt cheap and available in precise sizes. Of course, they wore out quickly, and because I kept shoving my foot in, the backs got trodden down. After all, I’m not fanatical enough to use a shoe horn to put slippers on. I found a delightful pair of pointy suede babouches at the Entreprises Artisanales in Marrakech, the government-sponsored crafts market outside the souk, which were both handsome and reasonably well made. After those wore out I tried to replace them remotely by ordering a similar-looking pair from a merchant online, but they came apart almost immediately. As those gave up the ghost I tried suede slippers from one of my Paris haberdashers, which were light but rather old-mannish, and expensive for what they were. I finally dug through my #steez stash and found glorious relief in velvet furlane, otherwise known as gondolier’s slippers.

The story goes that furlane originally were made by convicts on one of the islands of the Venetian lagoons using what otherwise would have been refuse: discarded bicycle tires were made into the soles, while the uppers were made out of offcuts of the velvets and brocades Venice had become famous for producing. The front ends in a little curved point up the instep like a Persian slipper, and the upper is bordered in grosgrain, while the edge of the sole is trimmed with a handsome roped braid. I do query at what point these became the footwear for gondoliers, since they’ve been plying their trade in the lagoon for centuries, while the bicycle’s been with us for less than two. Historicity aside, they fit wonderfully and come in precise sizes, while the cloth forgivingly grips any width of foot. While they’re also made with backs, I prefer mine backless, resembling a far sleeker version of the custom cloth slippers that John Lobb of St James will make up custom for around a thousand pounds, which come with the ineluctable odor of burning money. Even though not custom, my backless furlane still fit well (none of the heel-slapping that comes with slippers that are too long in back, and cost a few percent of Lobb’s delusional price, meaning they’re relatively affordable, even if I am now scouting replacements to set aside.

I’ve been surprised to find almost no sources for them online. At best, one or two sites ask potential customers to email to see what’s available. Even Etsy, the world’s handicrafts gar(b)age sale, turned up empty. How can it sell handmade Spider-Man panties (don’t ask) and not have furlane? I’ve thus started asking my Svengalis to consider selling them. Watch this space… til I profane it again.

#rjman #reginaldjeromedemans

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thebibliomancer · 3 years

Text

Essential Avengers: West Coast Avengers #2: “BLANKING OUT!”

October, 1984

"Up Against the BLANK!”

Beware his crosshatching!

So the formation of the West Coast Avengers continues! I guess! It looks like Tigra, Wonder Man, and Iron Man stuck around at least long enough to be on this cover.

We’ll see if the prospect of being on a team led by Hawkeye manages to win them over.

So last time on West Coast Avengers: Hawkeye was sent by the Vision to create an All-New All-Different Avengers team on the West Coast. A kind of West Coast Avengers. Like the Avengers but in LA.

Vision sent out invites to Wonder Man, Tigra, and Rhodey Iron Man but didn’t tell them what they were being invited for. Leading to not only some hesitance to commit once they learned what was what but also Tigra’s friend the Shroud following her to the LA Avengers Compound because the vague invite worried Tigra’s other friend Jessica Drew. Phew.

The Shroud puts up such a great fight when the hypothetical West Coast Avengers attack him (assuming that some dude breaking in is up to something) that Hawkeye offers him the open spot on the team but Shroud turns it down.

By this point in the East Coast Avengers’ history, depending on where you count it starting, they either got punked by Loki or by a Space Phantom. So, the West Coast Avengers aren’t actually doing so bad, even though they’re not technically officially a team yet.

Its all a matter of perspective.

Huh. We’re like ten years too early for Iron Man to be trying to kill everyone.

To kinda spoil the game early, this is a training exercise.

Hawkeye is attempting to prove a point that Captain America told him “with the proper teamwork, even the strongest opponent can be beaten!”

It gets back to the Avengers’ whole Earth’s mightiest heroes banding together to fight the foes no single hero can overcome thing. It’s a sales pitch for why these reluctant West Coasts should Avenger.

And even given that Iron Man far outmuscles Hawkeye, Mockingbird, and Tigra, teamwork and skill does prove capable of bringing him down. Kinda.

Hawkeye uses some smokescreen arrows to try to cloud Iron Man’s vision but he has infrared lenses. He tries to tackle Tigra but she outmaneuvers him and jumps on his back. Distracting him so Mockingbird can bonk him in the head with her staves and Hawkeye can gum up Iron Man’s boot jets.

Its good teamwork but while Hawkeye is explaining that it’s good teamwork, Iron Man repulsors the ground and knocks the other three on their asses to demonstrate another important lesson.

Iron Man: “Never count your enemy out, until you’re sure he’s really out!”

Although. This WAS a training exercise.

While you raise a good point, Rhodey, surely you didn’t want them to break your armor or knock you out for a training exercise?

Anyway, after the exercise is over, Hawkeye tells Iron Man (James Rhodes) that it reminds him of when they used to go at it (back when Hawkeye was an accidental villain) and Rhodey Iron Man just awkwardly says that he’s glad they’re buds now. Because THIS IS EXACTLY WHY HE QUIT THE AVENGERS IN THE FIRST PLACE!

Having to awkwardly tip toe around not being the original guy!

But on the other hand, he liked working with the Avengers in Secret Wars, which made him reconsider the team thing. While he doesn’t want to lean on someone else’s reputation, he also doesn’t want to be treated like an amateur. So awkward it is.

Hawkeye tells Iron Man maybe don’t knock him on his ass so hard next time.

I do love Clint and Bobbi’s relationship. They’re delightful.

While Rhodey is rethinking his reluctance to Avenge, Tigra isn’t. This training exercise about how weaker heroes can team up to bring down a stronger opponent is not landing.

Tigra: I’ll bet Iron Man could have blown us away whenever he felt like it... He was probably just toying with us during the whole workout! I’m not anywhere near being in his league... Why did I let Hawkeye talk me into joining his new Avengers team?

There’s always one person on the Avengers whose whole thing is insecurity and the West Coast Avengers is practically full of them. Hawkeye, Wonder Man, Tigra have all served that role in the past. Mockingbird is worrying that she doesn’t belong.

I’d rather Tigra stuck with the insecurity rather than what she gets when West Coast Avengers gets an ongoing...

Anyway, over at Simon Williams, Wonder Stuntman’s house, he’s packing up his house to move to Avengers compound.

Since the house was prefab and pretty shoddily built, the whole wall swings up like a garage door so Simon can just pull all his possessions out and put them in a big crate.

Simon’s good stuntman pal Freddy asks if Simon is really going to go back to the superhero life.

Wonder Man: “Freddy, for good or bad, Wonder Man is what I am! It’s taken me awhile to become comfortable with that. But I finally have. And you know, I think being a stuntman these last few months helped! Doing stunt work day after day has really given me a sense of my own worth. You and the rest of the stunt crews helped me find a new life... I owe you a lot! But I also owe the Avengers! When Hawkeye offered me an active role in the Avengers new west coast expansion team, I surprised myself by signing on. I guess what I’m saying is that the Avengers is part of my life, too. And I found myself missing it more than I’d expected!”

Good for you, you waffling man. But you’d better be careful you don’t end up in a Hank Pym spiral where you bounce between your superhero and civilian lives and don’t find satisfaction in half assing either. Find yourself a good work life balance.

Anyway, Simon doesn’t plan to quit the stunt work. He’s going to try to juggle it and the Avengers.

Now that I’m not sure he’ll manage. Movies and super-heroics both have demanding schedules without set hours.

Simon and Freddy take a break to go buy more nails at the hardware store for Simon to hammer in with his bare hands. But on their way, they hear an alarm at the bank.

Crosshatch man from the cover is robbing the bank, just casually strolling out with a bag of money while bullets bounce off of him.

The Blank: “I have a gun too! And it doesn’t shoot blanks! Hah-haha-ha!!”

I’ve long held that the unspoken rule in comics book is that one of the first things someone shouts about you becomes your name.

Just ask poor Ben Grimm, the Thing.

So when a random person shouts that the bank robber is blank, the robber is like ‘huh, that’s catchy!’

Anyway, the robber confidently strolls out of the bank and right into Simon Wonder Man Williams.

The Blank shoots his gun at Simon and to his dismay finds out that he’s not the only one who bullets bounce off of.

Then Simon punches the guy twenty feet back INTO the bank.

The Blank woozily proclaims that Wonder Man can’t stop the Blank so Wonder Man just kinda picks him up and tucks him under arm. Although the Blank does manage to pistol whip the sunglasses right off of Simon’s face.

Doesn’t hurt him but it does freak everyone in the bank out.

Dunno if you remember but due to being reborn as an energy being, Simon’s eyes are red and full of kirby krackle. He can turn it off if he concentrates but he prefers to wear the glasses.

And while Simon is telling the people in the bank that there’s no need to panic on his account, the Blank slips right out of his grip and jumps through the window.

When Simon comes out to the street, he finds that the Blank has somehow managed to disappear into the crowd, despite being a screentone man.

Probably because the Blank just turned the effect off and pretended to be a Perfectly Normal Man on the Street.

Sneaky.

The guy returns to his apartment and yuks it up at the news report about him making a clean getaway, police baffled.

The Blank: “After a lifetime of bad breaks, Lady Luck has finally smiled on me! Hah-ha! And to think I owe it to lousy bus service...”

So this origin is a lot. And its amazing.

In the Blank’s flashback, he’s waiting at the bus stop for a late bus when an ex-employee of Stark International who quit when Stane took over the company shows up and starts complaining about the bus service. And then smoothly shifts to complaining about his old job.

Very annoyed scientist: “If it’s not one thing it’s another! But it’s no wonder the world’s in the shape it’s in... Not with the quality of management today! They’re idiots... all idiots!”

He tells this random guy he doesn’t know that when he quit, he took his newest invention with him.

Very annoyed scientist: “I put too much work into my brainchild to let that leech Stane get it! I’m going into business for myself!”

And then, as he’s boasting that he’ll be rich enough to buy and sell Stane in a year, the very annoyed scientist walks into the street without looking and gets hit by a car.

The very annoyed scientist’s briefcase lands right at the pre-Blank’s feet who definitely doesn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. So he took it home and after a few months figured out how to operate the invention: a slippery force-field.

Back in the present, he charges the force field belt up and then heads off after a big score. Not noticing a man shaped cloud of energy coming out of the charger pleading for more energy.

Huh.

Weird.

Over at Avengers Compound, the West Coast Avengers are assembled. Hawkeye has gotten the go-ahead of the LAPD to take this Blank case but Wonder Man insists that the Avengers can find him but he’s going to make the collar.

Yup, Simon has gotten a bug in his collar about letting the guy get away.

Wonder Man: “I had him in my hands, and he slipped right through them! What good am I to the Avengers if I can’t handle one gimmicky bank robber by myself?”

Hawkeye: “No good at all, if you worry more about personal performance than you do about how you work as part of this team! What do you want to do, search all of Greater L.A. on your own? That’s crazy!”

Geez, Wonder Man. That’s how gimmick criminals are supposed to work. Its not a gimmick if you beat it in the first encounter. The gimmick trips you up at the beginning of the story so you look like a smarty for figuring it out for the resolution.

The other Avengers chime in a plan divide the city into sections and each search that section. And whoever finds him will call the others.

Wonder Man admits that the plan makes a lot of sense and storms off in a fit of ‘WHAT A REASONABLE SUGGESTION, GOODNIGHT.’

Mockingbird: “Well, hotshot, you just weathered your first leadership crisis. Why the thoughtful look?”

Hawkeye: “I was just remembering how I used to be the one who always blew his stack. Honey, all of a sudden I feel old... real old!”

Hah!

You’ve wanted this for years Hawkeye. AND you’ve built up a lot of lets say debt with the universe by being a jerk about it at times.

Although, Wonder Man isn’t really a great Hawkeye. He’s pretty mellow most of the time. Of the people I expected to get a random obsession with a not very dangerous criminal, it wasn’t Wonder Man.

He has always had a streak of insecurity (which is the secret ingredient when making a Hawkeye) and not being able to stop this guy right when he was feeling good and ready to superhero again. A real situational case.

But Tigra is the one feeling the insecurity the hardest so I’m afraid you’ll need another character beat, Simon. Hothead is available.

So the West Coast Avengers split up and patrol different parts of the urban sprawl. Tigra lurks the rooftops of Chinatown, Iron Man scans the area around the Santa Monica Mountains, Hawkeye flies above the high-rises of Marina Del Rey on his skycycle, Mockingbird cruises L.A.’s freeways in her custom pink convertible, Wonder Man hangs out on the L.A. City Hall in the downtown searching by binoculars, and I learn what the different bits of L.A. are.

Productive night for everyone.

But over in Inglewood, the Blank prepares for his Big Job.

He’s going to heist a Wells Fargo armored car.

Wait, would an armored car be a bigger heist than robbing an actual bank??

And if you somehow got the idea that the Blank is a criminal mastermind, he’s not. The armored car guards spot him coming and just decide to take off when a screentoned man starts running at them.

The Blank shoots one of the guards so he doesn’t manage to lock the rear of the money car but the other guard is locked up tight in the front and refuses to stop even when the Blank is threatening to kill his partner.

Wow. Guess other people’s money is more important to the guy than his co-worker’s life.

Since the guy tells the Blank that he’s driving the armored car right to the nearest police station, the Blank just grabs as much money as he can carry. Then he jumps out the back and slides to a stop on his belly like a penguin.

What a useful force field.

But the Blank’s bad night gets worse because then Mockingbird, Hawkeye, and Iron Man all show up, alerted by the police report.

The Blank at least has a realistic view of his capabilities. In that he’s not the guy that thinks a simple gimmick will let him start taking over the world. He just wants to rob a few banks and armored cars. And he does not want to fight the Avengers!

Especially not Iron Man!

Iron Man’s armor has all kinds of stuff in it and he might figure out a way through the force field!

So the guy decides to tackle some gas pumps.

Which naturally causes an enormous fire.

Not a bad plan, really. The explosion will launch the Blank from the scene with the force field keeping him safe and the heroes will stop to save lives as heroes tend to do.

While Hawkeye and Mockingbird help the gas station employees away from the fire, Iron man picks up a dump truck full of sand and puts out the fire.

Wonder Man and Tigra arrive as he’s doing that and Hawkeye has to tell Simon that the Blank got away or exploded.

Simon actually takes it pretty chill, just betting that no way a tough customer like the Blank died in the explosion.

And he’s right. Although the guy isn’t really a tough customer.

Actually, he’s planning on skipping town.

Avengers heat is too much heat for him. Plus, yeah, the force field protected him from the explosion but he was blown three blocks away and the impact of landing knocked him silly for five minutes and he was terrified he’d be caught anyway. Plus, he lost all that sweet Wells Fargo money.

So he’s going to take the bank robbery money from the morning and move somewhere with fewer superheroes.

He’s just gonna charge the force field for the road and- whoa dang a whole ass man popped out of thin air.

And its Graviton??

What were you doing in thin air, Graviton?

The Blank assumes this guy - wearing a costume and a cape - why he’s gotta be a superhero! And he immediately surrenders! He’ll return the money, turn over the force field device, go to jail, just don’t make him deal with those Avengers again!

Graviton is like hey buddy, I’m not with the Avengers and if you’re skipping town because of them, don’t bother. “Help me, and you’ll never have to worry about Avengers again!”

Ruh roh.

Now Graviton is, historically, kind of a dingus considering he’s a mad scientist, but he is powerful enough that he soloed a pretty powerful Avengers roster which had Iron Man, Thor, Wonder Man, and Vision.

The West Coast Avengers has Iron Man and Wonder Man but also has the more street level Hawkeye, Mockingbird, and Tigra. They don’t have the do-anything bullshit of Scarlet Witch or Vision’s robot brain or Cap’s strategy. Or whatever esoteric power the wild card Avenger of the era has like Captain Marvel’s command of the electromagnetic spectrum, Starfox’s PLEASURE POWERS or Moondragon’s psychic powers.

If Graviton decides to set up in L.A., then the newly formed West Coast Avengers could be in big trouble.

Maybe even two issues worth of trouble!

... What? This is a miniseries! There’s only so much he’s going to be able to do in the time left!

Follow @essential-avengers because you want to see what happens next, probably? Also, like and reblog because you want to?

#Avengers #West Coast Avengers #the Blank #Hawkeye #Mockingbird #Tigra #Iron Man #James Rhodes #Wonder Man #essential avengers #essential marvel liveblogging #the Blank is kind of cool as a low power low ambition kind of villain honestly

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sanstropfremir · 3 years

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it's a shame that it's one's vocal performance ended like that because i actually liked it better out of the two :c i'm in love 3000 with junhoe's voice for that song, god i need a full cover from him or i will die. i have no real thoughts on the mayfly vocal performance, i'm not interested in ballads and i don't particularly care for any of those guys (except eunkwang he's funny asf but vocal positions are lowkey boring IM SORRY feeling controversial)

i liked ikon's pretty savage cover for the hype aspect of it only. weirdly enough i also loved junhoe the most there too, his opening line was charismatic and catchy enough to get me interested. bobby didn't stand out that much this time in terms of energy/presence but damn if that bit of acting "scared" (that's what i'm getting from it anyway, lisa is supposed to be the queen of the jungle so that's bound to get one intimidated in this context lol), anyway that little portion of mock acting was so absolutely entirely precisely incomparably perfect and funny and cute i just about replayed that part fifteen times. admittedly lisa could've done more but at least she was there ig. the ending part of the performance didn't pack the same punch as their previous grandiose (?)(idk english) finales but i'm fine with it.

skz was fine, i was confused about the whole deadpool and ant-man thing, not because i don't know what their deal is but because i couldn't understand if they were supposed to reference both of them or only one of them. also i always forget if deadpool is supposed to be dc or marvel. i'm a huge marvel fan but i didn't like deadpool (shocker!) and i never know shit about him. ant-man though, ant-man i fuck with. anyway.

so far, i found skz's performances to be kinda forgettable. like you watch them and it looks nice ig, but nothing really sticks. the stage i actually liked most from them was the rap collab stage and that wasn't even them as a whole group but it had the most straight-forward concept and narrative imo. the remix also wasn't the best i think, even fan-made mash ups on yt can be better than this come on 😭 the gun use was fun but extended longer than necessary. all in all a pretty tame stage i'd say based on all the crazy shit we've seen so far

the only reason i liked mayfly's vocal stage more is because of eunkwang and i am not ashamed to admit it. i like 'em funny and talented, what can i say. also how on earth do you spell june/junhoe's name???? the subs on the episode say june but everyone in my asks is saying junhoe is this a stage name thing??? somebody help me i just want to get this man's name right!!!

the fact that bobby does not care enough to bother with any of this is honestly getting me through. im still laughing at his 'oOoH nOoO' (dramatically puts head in hands) when they lost the rap stage, the man does not give a single fuck. i love it.

i got a lot more of people's personal opinions this time around and it's interesting to see that the structural problems that i notice when i do these analyses are also noticed by other people; i know that other artists/designers/people who think too much about these things will know what im talking about but there's always a part of me that's like "....does this actually affect the experience for normal people or am i just crazy" and the answer is yes i am crazy but also people do notice! even if there's a difference in articulation. but yes, both these stages had some structural issues, which is what made them not as gripping as some of the other stuff we've seen so far. also yes grandiose is a word you could use there haha.

this is the catch with using a preexisting property, you're gonna confuse people no matter what! there's definitely a way they could have kept the comic book/superhero theme without actually implying existing characters, especially with the glut of superhero content im pretty sure everyone and their mother could probably guess from bright spandex outfit. it also could have been a fun place for there to actually be aome original design work! im likely to be in a hate-hate relationship with the jype styling team because come on!!! you can do so much better!!!

none of these stages have replay value for me, so im just here sitting on my hands fidgeting and waiting for next week. ok that's a lie i have a lot of sewing i have to do but metaphorically im sitting on my hands.

#kingdom #the three people who voted for eunkwang for best visual in the issc episode....i see you i hear you i validate you #i too find his weird face pleasing to look at #nobody gets to @ me for my taste because i will @ myself #i wish i had more to say about the music because i know a lot of people have opinions about that but i dont listen to blackpink or skz #so i have no feels here or there #the real answer is as soon as i dont need to watch the stages on repeat while i write the reviews #i close the tab and never watch the stage again #and i would not in any state of mind listen to 80% of the remixes that have been used so far #the only exceptions are btobs backdoor and ateez rhythm ta #frankly im barely paying attention to the music half the time #the irony of reviewing a pop song competition and not actually having opinions on the songs ...#kpop questions #text #kingdom asks

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fortune-fool02 · 4 years

Text

Copy Cat

Gyro Zeppeli x female reader

Requested by: @ sweatyknightwombatherring

“Hey I saw your post about Gyro's requests. If the requests are still open, can I ask about a one shot where the s/o is fighting against a stand user copycat (which she can copy literally even their appearance), and Gyro need to find out who is the real s/o... And the only way to do it, is asking them "how it goes my song?" or "do you have fellings for me?" and the s/o will check the answer and together beat the stand user. Oh and with some kisses in the end, if it's ok. Grazie ❤🇮🇹”

Warnings: No spoilers,

Please enjoy.

A great deal of events have taken place during this race, things that were easily not part of the challenge for the competitors and something that has plastered targets on the backs of the trio.

This has made the race that more difficult for them, as now they were unsure of who they could truly trust in this and so now took everything they were told by others with a pinch of salt. They took their victories when they could and appreciated the moments of rest when they got them but still kept their guards up. Though, during these moments, their friendship as a group grew but something more began to take root between Gyro and [Name].

She had to admit that while Gyro was a bold man, and quite cocky in her opinion, but there was this sense of caringness about him. He would never openly admit to it, his pride wouldn’t let him outwardly say things like that, but it was more through his actions. He would smile more kinder towards [Name], their hands would linger close to one another, touching but not holding.

He didn’t want to force anything upon her, if she did not want to be involved with him then he will respect her and accept it. Sure, it would hurt for him. Despite all this, they did care for one another. He even shared his songs with her, and she loved them.

***

[Eye colour] eyes looked around the area, trying to get a rough idea of where they were on the map. With how it looks they might have took an alternative path at the main road and crossed somewhere else. No time was lost as it was still in the correct direction but they were still at a loss of where exactly they were. [Name] looked over at Gyro and Johnny to see them also looking around.

She smiled lightly at them, they have known each other only a short time yet they have become close as friends. She was actually quite happy to have met them. Snapping out of her thoughts, she turned back to the map then looked at the sky to see the sun rapidly fading among the trees, leaving a dark streak of night sky in its wake.

“Maybe we should camp for the night? It’s getting dark and the area is decent enough.” she suggested, motioning to the area around them. A few trees to offer shelter and clear land, it was an ideal spot. Weighing up their options, Gyro agreed it would be best to rest for the night and dismounted his horse, giving her a pet before starting to set up camp whilst [Name] helped Johnny.

It had taken a few minutes before the small camp was set up and the three of them were resting. “Listen, my songs aren’t that bad. I promise you.” The trio laughed as Gyro spoke, telling them the title of his next song.

“We’re not saying that, Gyro. They’re catchy.” Johnny said, laying on his side and taking a mouthful from his canteen. [Name] smiled at this before looking over at the horses, her smile fading a little when she noticed something odd.

“I’m just going to check the horses, I’ll be right back.” she told them as she stood up and made her way over to them. The horses were set a good few feet away from the fire, leaving them in a light blanket of darkness, along with the cover of a handful of trees.

Gyro turned to where [Name] had walked off to, she had been a few minutes and it didn’t take this long to check on the horses. “[Name]! You alright?” He called out, waiting for a response. Maybe she was still there and just got lost in thought? She has done that a few times. Faint twinges of worry plucked at him when there was no response. “Stay here, Johnny.” The Italian said, getting up and making his way towards the horses.

His emerald green eyes scanned the area for anything out of place, searching for the [Hair colour] woman, ready for an attack. The snap of a branch snatched his attention, his senses on high alter as he quietly approached the sound, his hands beside his Steel Balls. Peering around the corner of a tree, he saw [Name] seeming to be throwing something down a small hole and dusting her hands off.

She turned around and almost jumped at the sight of him, “Oh, Gyro. Don’t scare me like that.” she said, giving him a smile. Gyro approached her, hands moving away from his Steel Balls and looked towards where she threw the thing.

“What was that?” She waved her hand around a little, brushing it off.

“Just an animal, nothing to worry about.” Gyro accepted her answer and smiled at her, turning towards their horses and walked over to them. As she approached her horse, the horse seemed to react a little oddly. She rose her hand to pet [Horse’s Name]’s neck and the animal snorted, leaning away from the hand.

“Odd, she hasn’t done that with you before.” Gyro commented, petting Valkyrie who happily accepted the pets. [Name] simply pulled her hand away and shrugged,

“She’s probably just tired from the race.” With that, she turned away from her horse and faced Gyro. “Now, whilst we are alone, I want to ask you something.” He rose a brow at this, waiting for her to speak. “You see, there is something I can just no longer deny about you, Gyro.” As she spoke, she walked closer to him, her [Eye colour] eyes holding this look in them that he hasn’t see in them before, her entire aura was different.

Just as she was about to touch him, a pained groan was heard to their left, where the thing she threw down the hole was. It sounded disturbingly human for it to be an animal. A gloved hand gripped onto the ground, pulling itself up out of the hole and coughed, ripping the gag off. Gyro’s eyes widen, confusion laced chock swirling madly in him,

“Gyro...get the Hell away from that!” [Name] shouted, crawling out of the hole and standing upright, [Eye colour] eyes glaring at the woman in front of Gyro. Wait...if that was [Name] then who the Hell was standing in front of him? Before this second [Name] could react, the original rushed at her, knocking her away from Gyro and tackling her to the ground.

The two of the rolled around, both trying to gain and keep the upper hand. Gyro looked between the two, unable to tell them apart. Their hair was the same, their skin was the same, their eyes, their voices, their size; everything. Now from rolling about in the dirt, he couldn’t tell from the difference by their clothes. Damnit.

The [Name] on the ground kicked the other one off her, jumping to her feet and ready to attack again until Gyro spoke.

“Alright! That’s enough!” Both [Name]s turned and looked at Gyro, who stood there with his Steel Balls in his hands. “Listen, one of you is my [Name] and the other is a piece of shit enemy. Question is, who is who?”

The [Name] on the left looked at him with pleading eyes, “Gyro please, she’s the impostor, stop her before she can kill us.” She pointed at the other [Name] who gave him the same look.

“Don’t listen to her, Gyro. She’s the impostor!”

He growled, their voices were perfectly matched. He needed to be smart about this. “[Name], what is the name of your horse?” he asked. If he was going to determine who was the real [Name] then he would ask the right questions and see who gives the correct answer. Whoever does, is his [Name].

“[Horse’s Name].” They both answered on the dot. Damnit! Whoever this impostor is must have access to certain information, of course they would. He thought again.

“What is the title of my song?” That was the question that would determine it. There was no records of him being a singer of any type on the documents for him in this race, only [Name] and Johnny know this. The [Name] on the right spoke,

“You call it the Cheese Song, it’s a silly song about Mozzarella. Lyrics and song both by Gyro Zeppeli.” That smile, that sweet smile on her lips that only she could make that made his heart flutter. There was no way anyone else could replicate that smile. This [Name] was his.

The second [Name] -the impostor- stuttered a little, their cover was blown and now had no way out of this. “I-I knew that too-” They were cut off by one of Gyro’s Steel Balls colliding into their face, spinning madly against them and knocking them down. The force of the impact of them falling against the ground was enough to snap their neck. With no life in them any longer, the illusion faded from their body, washing away like dirt in the rain and revealing them to be nothing more than an enemy.

[Name] shivered a little at that, the enemy made such a perfect replica of her down to her voice. A unsettled feeling still pricked at her muscles at seeing the enemy’s face morph into a perfect mirror of her own and speak to her in her voice. Still, it was over now.

A warm hand fell on her shoulder, pulling her from her thoughts and averted her gaze towards the light haired Italian. Warm emerald eyes gazed into her [Eye colour] ones, that softness in them making Gyro smile.

“I am about to do something pretty stupid.” he warned before leaning in and pressing his lips against hers. Soft and warm, a loving feeling passing through their lips to one another. His hands cupping her face as if she was made of delicate china and could shatter if he was not careful. He couldn’t help himself anymore, he craved to taste her lips on his for too long now, and here he was, basking in the wonderful feeling of it.

[Name] seemed just as eager for this as he was, arms wrapping around him a little, leaning further into the kiss. After a moment, the two separated yet still held each other close.

“I’m sorry about that, I just really wanted to do that.” the Italian smiled, [Name] only looked at him and smiled softly.

“I’m not.” With that, she locked lips with him again and Gyro returned it without hesitation.

#gyro #gyro zeppeli #jojo bizarre adventure #gyro x reader #gyro zeppeli x reader #jojo bizzare adventure x reader #jojo #jojo x reader #steel ball run x reader #steel ball run #gyro steel ball run #sbr #jojo part 7

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storyteller-inn · 4 years

Note

Ok, so. This is just an example on how to use the Inn's Hosts, dear Wanderers. Let's try and ask something to Caratra, shall we? Like, for example, how would the original Avengers team react when meeting a new person that they, somehow, find themselves fancying straight away?

And if that is your request, then I, Caratra, shall answer in the best of my knowledge. You see, I have noticed, throughout the years, that by sitting aside and let life unravel before your own eyes, you begin to see people for who they really are. So let’s throw away all the masks and the prejudices, and see to the matter at hand.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

PART I

The relationship that Tony had with conferences was, to be honest, mixed. Especially when they were masked as a cocktail party. A part of him did enjoy the mingling, the chatting, the chance to talk to that particular big shot long enough to get on his nerves... The other, however, could definitely do without it all, as he found very difficult for the people in those big rooms to fully understand him and his work. Nothing was different in this particular occasion and, at the mercy of the rising boredom and impatience, he was sure about to find a way to sneak out of the place, when something caught his attention. A voice, strong and confident, the kind that does not accept “no” as an answer. Your voice. That was the first time he ever laid eye on you and, for Tony Stark, seeing someone barking orders right left and centre was positively a valid reason to get more interested. And so his eyes never really stopped following you around the room, watching with honest interest as he absent-mindedly carried on the conversation with one journalist or the next. He had plenty of time to notice how strict you were – clearly, you were a part of the team that organized this event – but, at the same time, how you were also trying to help your subordinates, always saving an encouraging smile for each one of them. Strength, compassion, kindness … definitely a kind of mix he was not used to find in these places. «In case you are wondering,» Happy chimed in, suddenly appearing at his side «that person you’ve been staring at, is today’s event coordinator. This is her first big soiree, but I’d dare say she’s doing a brilliant job». «And, tell me, Happy…» Tony replied not missing a beat, «…do you also happen to know her name?». «I’m afraid not, sir» the bodyguard noted apologetically. However, Tony’s spirit was everything but damped, as a grin slowly stretched on his face. «Then, my friend, I suggest I go and find out immediately» he said confidently, not even waiting for Happy to reply as he started making his way towards you.

Steve was worried. It didn't really matter how many times he tried to repeat to himself that it was probably nothing serious, or that he did everything he could. There was something wrong, and the doubt of what it could actually be was slowly gnawing away his confidence. Swallowing hard, he mustered up all of his courage and looked down at the little ball curled up on his lap. Roscoe was only a couple of months old and in Steve’s care since Bucky and Sam decided to surprise him with a German Shepherd’s puppy for his birthday. And despite his initial complaints – where could he find the time to take care of a dog? – he soon fell in love with the little fluffy critter. Hence his extreme worries when Roscoe started to lack his usual energy and enthusiasm, all of a sudden. «Mister Rogers?» a voice shook him from his thoughts. A young woman was standing in front of him, wearing a white coat and a radiant smile. That is, at least, the first two details he noticed and that, somehow, made him feel slightly less anxious. Was it the fact that the vet was finally going to take a look at Roscoe, or that warm smile would have worked even without her professional attire? «Yes» he muttered shoving those thoughts aside and scooping up the puppy in his arms as he got on his feet. «This way, please» you invited, showing him to the nearest available examination room. Reluctantly, Steve laid down Roscoe on the metal table. «So, mister Rogers,» you started, visually assessing the dog as you were putting on a pair of gloves, «I see you are pretty worried. What does it seem to be the problem with the little one here?». Did he look indeed that worried? «Well, this is Roscoe. I got him about a week ago and everything was fine, until one day he started to act… strange. Sadder, less energetic» he explained, scratching the back of his head. You simply nodded, answering with a quick hu-uh as you started to examine the puppy. «I don’t know what happened» Steve continued, «I honestly don’t think he ate anything odd, I was with him at all times. And it’s not like he stopped eating, or drinking, or sleeping». He noticed the careful and gentle way you were passing your hands on Roscoe’s body, the extreme care you took when testing his legs, tummy and back. Something about it put him at ease, and helped stopping the flow of words that threatened to flood out of his mouth. But he still found himself holding his breath as you finally straightened up and looked at him. «Mister Rogers…» you said, contemplating your next words, «…there is no external sign that would suggest Roscoe is not well. Apart from one». Steve’s heart sank at those words, but before he could utter anything at all, a swift movement of your hand unbuckled the collar on the dog’s neck. And, as if by magic, the puppy perked up with a joyful bark and started to jump on the examination table. Saying that Steve was gobsmacked would be an understatement. «But… How…» he barely managed to whisper. «He is still not used to the collar» you laughed, playfully stroking the now very active Roscoe on the head, «And he’s probably been a bit overdramatic about it. It happens more often than you would think, don’t worry». Only then, Steve finally lifted his gaze and, with all of his fears gone, he finally noticed your glittering eyes and your cheerful expression… and that warm, reassuring smile. It did take him a while. A lot of overthinking to do, doubts to dispel and courage to muster. And a couple of nervous walks in and out the clinic. But he finally did asked you out, on that same day, as a way too happy puppy barked his consent and jumped all around the two of you.

The Warbling Bard could be considered somewhat of a rarity here on Midgard, especially for the God of Thunder. The medieval-inspired furniture, the authentic two meters long fireplace, the catchy tavern-like music... He would never admit it out loud, but Thor did miss Asgard when forced to remain on Earth to help the Avengers, and this this cozy pub in the suburbs was the only place where he could try and breathe an atmosphere similar to home. The beer, also, was pretty fantastic. «Are you actually looking for an opponent, or that cue in your hands serves more like a cane?» a voice suddenly brought him back from his nostalgia-filled thoughts. But he did not act as if he was caught unaware: he simply took another gulp from his beer, put down the tankard on the green felt table and turned... only to find a woman, with a knowing grin painted on her face and another cue gripped in her hand. Thor raised his eyebrows, surprised by how the stranger approached him, but he would have lied if he said that the first impression she made was a bad one. Quite on the contrary, to be honest. «Oh, if you're too drunk, forget playing» you continued, sarcastically hinting at his lack of verbal response, «I do not pick on people that cannot defend themselves». The Asgardian erupted in a booming laugh. «Drunk? My lady, it will take way more than a couple of beers to render me useless» he replied confidently, «And even then, I could easily crush my adversary». You smirked. «Is that a challenge?». Thor mimicked your expression, the spark of competition glittering in his eyes. He was certainly not expecting to meet someone like you that evening, but there was something... fresh about you, and fiery, like a spring gale swinging the windows open and flooding the room. An invigorating and well-welcomed change of pace, compared to what the God of Thunder had been used to in the past few days. He quickly turned around, slid two fingers in his mouth and whistled to the barman. «Jeffrey, I need two tankards here!» he called out to the friend, «Large ones, please». By the end of the evening - and after countless drinks - Thor was very much surprised to see that you had managed to keep up with both his playful banter and the game. You might have also won, if a gentleman that had one too many did not trip and spill half of his beer on you, forcing you to take your leave a bit too early - for Thor's taste, at least. But even if he thought that that had been the best evening he had had in a long while, none of his cheerful expressions could have matched his smile when, repositioning the balls in the centre of the table, he found a quickly scribbled note... with your name and the date and time for a rematch.

The gym was quiet that day. Most of the agents were probably out anyway, trying to sort the mess that was New York City after the Chitauri's attack. Natasha had already done her part, when it came to that particular problem. Teaming up with a group of incredibly gifted people – and super humans. And gods – was not exactly part of her initial plan. She always preferred to work alone after all. But she did find something in that group of people, something she had missed for so long that she was not even certain she was still capable of experiencing. Opening up to others, trusting others was always something that exposed her to risks, and that was definitely not part of her job. That feeling, however… Natasha sprang forward, twirling on herself to deliver a powerful kick to the sand bag. She didn’t want to think about it now. Not when she basically had this S.H.I.E.L.D. facility’s gym all to herself. Or at least, so she thought. The agent felt you entering the room even without turning around. And either you failed to recognize her or you were keeping to yourself, avoiding congratulating her or expressing your admiration for her – like at least ten other operatives did on her way to the gym. That, in Natasha’s eyes, was definitely worth points. She returned to her training, but instinctively kept an eye on your movements - after all, the two of you were the only people in the room. And it was exactly by monitoring you that, ten minutes after, Natasha noticed that you were watching her. She shrugged, returning to hit the bag in front of her. But even after another few moments, she still couldn’t help but feel your eyes on her. You were not even trying to hide it: you were staring at her, plain and simple. The agent finally stopped her array of kicks, sighed loudly and turned towards you. «May I help you?» she asked, letting a tinge of irritation color her question. «Uh, sorry» you quickly apologized, realizing your gaze might actually have been slightly intrusive, «It’s just… your form. It’s very peculiar». «Peculiar? It’s simple combat training. Like the one you probably went through yourself» she merely commented, stretching one leg. You shook your head. «Not really. The way you fight is definitely more accurate and lethal than what I normally see around here. It’s also more… angry». Natasha quirked an eyebrow. «Angry, as if there is something troubling you, deep down» you clarified. The red-haired spy was confused, but she recovered quickly enough to object. «This pretty psychological analysis is interesting, but I can assure you are only seeing what you want to see». With a confidence that surprised both Natasha and yourself, you stood up from the bench you had been sitting on and approached the other woman. «I can prove it to you». And just like that, without any sort of warning, you lunged at her, throwing a turning kick that she readily parried with a gesture of her arm. Natasha would have probably complained, but you did not give her the time to voice her thoughts, so she simply focused her frustration and retaliated. But time after time, kick after kick, her disciplined form started to change and, despite being precise and deadly, the spy began to resembled more of a storm than the precise, lethal weapon she had been trained to be. A tempestuous sea of wild waves, that seemed to have little to no effect against the calm and precise technique her opponent was using. Until the spy had enough, and managed to catch you by surprise with a low kick that made you fall flat on the floor. She was Natasha Romanoff, after all. The two of you looked at each other for a couple of moment, panting from the intense sparring. And before you could say anything, Natasha extended a hand towards you, helping you back on your feet. «That was fun» you smiled, combing a loose strand of hair behind your ear. «Yeah» the other woman simply replied, her shoulders not so tense as before. Satisfied, you went back to collect the gym bag you left by the bench and made your way towards the door. «Hey» you called out, turning towards her one last

time. «It's ok to be angry. Or confused. But we don't always have to deal with it on our own». And just like that, you flipped the bag back on your shoulder and flashed Natasha a kind smile before leaving the room. The spy stood there for a few more minutes, unmoving, still focused on that spot in front of the door where you had been just a moment before. Somehow, she felt lighter, as if the weight of those storming doubts was lifted, giving her the space to breathe more freely. And, somehow, a smile began to stretch on her face. Maybe, after all, she could be ready to start letting some people in.

#storyteller inn #hosts #caratra #avengers #marvel #scenarios #preferences #headcanons #iron man #tony stark #thor #steve rogers #captain america #black widow #natasha romanoff

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komahinasecretexchange · 4 years

Text

Title: Silent Courtroom

Author: @redakara

For: @asktheshadowprince

Pairings/Characters: Hinata/Komaeda, mentioned Nanami

Rating/Warnings: Teen/No warnings

Prompt: Amnesia

Author’s notes: Not gone, only forgotten.

The building wasn’t quite moving, rather shifting, half-formed and transparent, completely white like the sky with hot pink outlining where walls should be. The outlining, too, glitched away and reappeared, the verticals and horizontals slowly stretching and receding in a form that loosely resembled a building. A completely uninteresting rectangle with similarly shifting outlines that were some forms of walls, furniture, and pillars.

Geometrical shapes floated innocently throughout it all, as if they were attempting to convince him that the content of this strange place didn’t defy logic’s dictating hands, that it made completely sense for buildings to shift in such a strange manner. Still, logic clung onto him like a leech and boldly insisted that everything here wasn’t right. Maintaining some degree of lucidity, just enough to recognize that this was a strange existence, he watched the nonsensical chaos continue as if it was supposed to happen. He clutched his skateboard.

Even so, the acknowledgement wasn’t enough to pull him out of the irregularity that was this half-dream, half-awake world where he watched the scorchingly bright white cityscape form and deform on repeat, looping until he memorized the patterns and anticipated each movement. How utterly boring.

What he didn’t expect was the complete halt.

The building’s outlines stopped stretching to touch each and make ends meet, the carefree polygons ceased in midair, and the rectangular building attained a new hue- brick red, the glue between the cracked bricks nearly tangible despite his distance from the building. Maybe a kilometer?

A failed attempt to take a step forward proved that his legs didn’t exist in this world, a huge inconvenience along with having no arms or mouth, just sight and hearing. Wind swished undramatically past his ears, masking the ominous echoing footsteps. He only knew someone else was in this world because of the sudden black, almost piercing his eyes.

Though they stood on the distant balcony of the nondescript, dirty brick building, he could feel the scathing glare from them and the sudden jolt ensuing from nearly undetectable, but alarming eye contact.

The person’s long, untangled black hair shifted as they turned slightly to their right in annoyance, leaning their left arm on the banister with a suppressed sigh.

“Clearly, you don’t remember me either.” Their voice was distant, emotionless, and cold, and nearly a whisper, yet completely audible. Laced into their voice was a nearly imperceptible hint of concern, almost as if they cared about his fate.

With a strangled attempt to return the remark with confusion, he realised that he also lacked a mouth.

“I suppose you could call us something like…best friends. Or maybe roommates fits the bill better.” They responded, answering the unasked question completely calmly, as if they knew they hit the nail right on the head and didn’t bother lingering on their incredible intuition. Instead, they simply turned back to their original position, relieving themself of a resting position.

With a loud finger snap, the front of the banister shifted away, and a brick staircase to his position replaced it, and black began infecting the once white areas like an injection, but the ever-present pink remained, holding their positions as outlines. With that, they began their drawn-out decline on the newly formed stairs.

“I am sure that he-…they all are worrying about us. Succeeding such an incident, all of them should be afraid. Perhaps we are the spine of it all.”

Five steps descended, twenty-six left.

“You could call this our vacant room. One of us is out, the other is here. Something is wrong is both of us are here at once. They are awaiting your return, not mine. Go back, Hinata.”

Eleven steps descended, twenty left.

“There’s not enough space in this world for us to meet here simultaneously. I will not disappear if you leave.”

Twenty-two steps descended, nine left.

“I am once again asking for you to leave.”

Twenty-eight steps descended, three left.

The person halted. “You know what will happen if you don’t move.”

He couldn’t move. His legs were gone.

Thirty-one steps descended.

“Very well, then.”

With slow, practiced, and daunting footsteps in his direction, the person suddenly wielded a knife. A voice whispered in his ear. “This world is whatever I wish it to be.”

Without an expression shift, despite claiming to be best friends, they emotionlessly stabbed the knife into his side. The obscene sound of metal piercing organs replayed itself in his head, looping like a catchy rhythm. The audio of the knife divorcing from his body was worse than the original noise, somehow.

“Forced pain. I’m sorry.” They didn’t sound sorry.

“Goodbye.”

He awoke surrounded by unfamiliar faces. Two of them, to be specific. A girl, purple choppy hair and a permanent meek expression carved into her muscles. An androgynous man, shoulder-length curly white hair appearing more brown at the ends like color escaped from his hair. The girl was visibly shocked, the man just teared up with a bright smile. She ran off, calling out an apology and a brief explanation.

“Hajime…” The man let an unfamiliar name slip past his lips. And in an unbelievable flash, the white-haired man was sobbing into his chest, bending in an uncomfortable position from his wooden chair.

“Tsumiki said you..you might never wake up.” Hiccup, sob. “But…I knew you could get through this. I’m so-” He paused once more to rub his eyes, smiling. “-happy.”

“Oh..yeah, that’s, um great!” Was it too rude to push him off after expressing his happiness at his well being? Yes, likely. After such a strangled response, surely he would pull himself off of him, right? Of course, he was right. The beautiful- wait, what- male sat upright in his chair in abrupt fear. If nothing else, he was predictable.

“Oh, is something wrong, Hajime? I’m sorry I touched you, I-” Somehow, he already knew a self-deprecative rant was incoming.

“No, it’s just-”

His sentence cut off when the purple-haired girl walked back in with a file in her hands.

“Hinata! Y-you’re awake now, so, i-if you don’t mind, I just want to ask you s-some things.” She said, clenching a file in her hand. The paper already crunched slightly in her hand. Gentle, indecisive, scared of being too confrontational or confident. Predictable, once more.

He ignored the oncoming chill sourcing from those thoughts.

“Actually, I’d like to ask you something first.”

“Yes, a-anything.”

“Um…well…who am I?”

——————————–

Once Komaeda and Tsumiki (as they had introduced themselves) came down from the sudden shock of his question, Tsumiki handed him a file and left to alert the rest of the island residents. Was it a small community? Did he have many friends?

“Your name is Hinata Hajime. Your blood type is A, you’re one hundred seventy-nine centimeters tall. You weigh sixty-seven kilos and your chest size is ninety-one centimeters.” Komaeda listed off his physical traits in his soothing voice, but even Hinata could hear the hidden panic in his words.

“We seem…close.” Hinata pondered out loud.

“You were my first friend, Haj-…Hinata-kun. Of course we’re close.”

He couldn’t help but to notice that Komaeda kept more distance between them compared to when he first woke up.

The unspoken question hung in the air, but was left unanswered.

“You’re friends with everyone here too. I’m sure they’re dying to see you again.”

An obvious desperate attempt to ditch the conversation, but an attempt that he tried to follow regardless.

——————————–

Imposter is kind. Hanamura is perverted. Koizumi is harsh. Pekoyama is intimidating. Saionji is rude. Mioda is cheerful. Tsumiki is meek. Nidai is strong. Tanaka is…interesting. Komaeda is wonderful. Sonia is not princessy. Owari is hungry. Kuzuryu is strangely comforting. Souda is friendly. Mitarai is wary.

He repeats it to himself, over and over, until names and faces match.

——————————–

Tsumiki still smelled faintly of vanilla, but the pollen had disappeared and replaced itself with the factory aroma of chemical-loaded cleaning supplies. The smell was intoxicating, following her as she tripped over her own feet with a tray of empty syringes. To imagine her intentions with them was nearly terrifying despite her incessant, profuse apologies. As she rearranged the empty shots in size order, he could only feel like he could do better.

A ridiculous fantasy, but one that he couldn’t help but to entertain. Her hands were shaking as she set it down beside his uncomfortable hospital bed. She exclaims another apology as she excuses herself to go grab more supplies.

She was…adequate. She took care of people without expecting an apology or anything in return. He wondered if he, too, could do that.

Even as he sat, helpless in a purely white hospital room, he still had the nerve to think of himself as above her. The quiet voice in his head whispered it like a cacophony, but not in an unfriendly way. A silent reminder. Nothing more.

She returned, nothing but a filled syringe clenched tightly in her left hand, like it would disappear if he loosened her grip even slightly. He let a light sigh tumble from his lips.

How boring.

——————————–

A lone girl sat on a bench in front of a fountain. She sat there, without acknowledging the presence of the spectator. She flicked around a joystick and clicked buttons in perfect harmony, never missing a beat as her face remained placid. The left side of the bench appeared painfully empty when she sat closer to the right. If he closed his eyes hard enough, he could almost feel a similar console in his hands as he sat beside her, clicking the buttons with as much precision and expertise as her professional self.

But the memory was no more than an unattainable fantasy. It dissolved like an uncoated pill if he looked away for even a second. He didn’t sugarcoat it for himself, simply let the memory slip through his fingers.

When she appeared again, it was more painful. A fatal wound leaked onto the ground, drowning her in her own blood. With such wounds, breathing was laborious and even the slightest hopes of living died along with her body.

She already knew she was dead, yet her spirit refused to give up. A faltered attempt to stand on her destroyed feet only proved further that her life was already over. But she still found it in herself to breathe out meaningless words that she thought carried weight.

Her will to keep living meant nothing. She meant nothing. She was boring. She was weak and let herself die. He watched, a voyeur to her pain.

Somehow, he still found himself looting her Galaga hair clip.

Even stranger, he found himself crying, too.

——————————–

Nanami. Nanami Chiaki.

He hated forgetting her, but hated more to remember how he did nothing to save her.

——————————–

Most returning memories centered themselves around Chiaki, but this one was different.

It was Komaeda this time, but not quite Komaeda. His hair was clearly the same, but his mechanical arm was a real arm. But that wasn’t his, either. Long, merciless red nails and a mismatched skin tone gave the impression that it was a woman’s arm. Longing for a forgotten green and red oven mitt only grew at the disgusting sight.

The aforementioned arm fell quickly to his mouth as if he was laughing at him. No noises found their way out, he just kept it in the same spot.

“Isn’t it so disgusting?” Komaeda inquired.

“Rather, impressive that you’ve managed to keep her arm from rotting.” An empty compliment, just for the predictable flush to appear on Komaeda’s face.

Komaeda swatted her hand up and down as if in refusal. “Don’t waste your praise on me, Kamukura-san. I’m just a lowly servant.”

Feelings shifted through him like someone studying the contents of a file cabinet. Still, he remembered feeling nothing but the cold night air.

“Aren’t you cold, Servant?” Kamukura answered nonchalantly. “A metal collar is bound to breed cold, correct? Winter’s solstice is to occur soon.”

Servant’s face went redder, though he wasn’t sure if it was from the cold or the embarrassment. “If I was cold, what would you do about it?”

“Bring you back to the children, naturally. I’m rather busy today if you didn’t know.”

“Can’t you humor me just for a bit?”

——————————–

Time proved effective in restoring his memories. The puzzle was far from complete, but the edges were set in place and he began to form a vague picture of the past.

Nobody told him that they, on this island, had assisted in destroying the world in the name of Enoshima Junko. Nobody told him that they, on this island, had entered a program to help restore their hopeful selves where a series of gruesome murders and executions occurred at the hands of Enoshima Junko’s AI- one that another him released into a world meant for hope.

Nobody told him about his relationship with Komaeda.

——————————–

Hinata had asked Komaeda to join him on the second island’s vast library. With the bridge in progress, they ferried themselves over to it in silence. Komaeda was never the type to enjoy meaningless conversations, after all. So they kept to themselves, nervously poking at whatever while trying to get over to the island safely. It’s quiet, but not awkward as they step off the boat in sync.

The walk to the library wasn’t uncomfortable, but awkwardly brushing hands and stuttered apologies in response almost put him under the illusion that it was.

Memories of the past attempted to convince him that it was fine to be close to Komaeda, but it felt wrong when he wasn’t quite that him anymore. So he kept himself in line, stopped himself from impulsively grabbing Komaeda’s hand, and stopped himself from kissing him gently and calling him by his first name- at least until Komaeda was fine with that.

“So…why did you ask me here, Hinata-kun?” Komaeda asked, very obviously trying to lace innocence into the undertones.

“I know the truth now.”

Hinata was never the blunt type, but that definitely took the cake in terms of being direct.

“What truth? I’m sorry, I’m not sure what you-”

“I know we were together, Komaeda. I know about us being the Remnants of Despair, and I know about the Neo World Program.”

There, it was out. Komaeda looked incredulous for a moment, but blinked. His eyes weren’t quite so wide anymore. He breathed out a sigh in apparent acceptance.

“It was stupid to think you’d never know, huh?” Hinata could hear the fake smile hidden in his voice, dying the tone a soft shade of red.

“I guess you know now. Surely you’re disgusted, right? To think that you were close to someone like me….I don’t know if I’d be happy, either.”

“No, that’s wrong! I’m…I want to try this again. I might not be exactly the same, but I want to be by your side. If you’d like that, I mean.”

The boy opposite him didn’t say a word, instead took both of his hands in his and smiled. And that was confirmation enough.

——————————–

As long as it took to remember Nanami, Komaeda, and Enoshima, it took longer to remember the strange file resting in the only computer on the island. With a vague name such as PCS as a folder with only two items, two folders with the names “Observers” and “Users”, it left him clueless as to the true nature of whatever the nature of the files were. Nobody else seemed to know either.

Saionji told him to figure it out for herself and continued walking with Koizumi, who said that though the words seemed familiar, she didn’t know quite what they meant.

Owari shrugged and continued eating meat, never giving a conclusive answer. But the confusion in her eyes was enough to see that she didn’t know at all.

So skimming the files within the folder was sufficient at the moment. Two files rested quietly in the observer folders, code destroyed beyond belief. The one called Teacher.exe simply opened to a screen of editable binary, letters half-complete and words irrecoverable. It was nearly impossible to figure out what it was, other than that its name was Usami.

Student.exe was more confusing. Rather than the expected text editor of messy binary, a screen opened but full of missing pixels. A sound played, unidentifiable and sounded like a noise a computer would make. So he closed the files, hoping that whatever was in there remained intact, which it likely would.

The memory rush was like watching a horror movie with a sudden jumpscare. That was Nanami, it was Nanami fucking Chiaki. Her code was nearly unsalvageable, but in just good enough condition to be understood and rewritten. He guessed that, since the computer sat in the room he was told he went to often, he was trying to repair Student.exe or Teacher.exe.

With the Student.exe file nearly cohesive, already starting to be pieced together once more, it was more likely that Student.exe was almost repaired, that maybe they could have Nanami back again.

With that in mind, he let his talents take over.

——————————–

A knock at the door tore him away from the screen. More accurately, two brief knocks that were firm and almost loud, as if their fingers joints alone kissed the door. Groaning as his nearly numb legs carried him over, he opened the door unenthusiastically, rubbing the grogginess out of his eyes.

Komaeda stood there, hair tied back into a small ponytail, wearing no jacket and pajama pants with his everyday shirt as he walked in without an invitation. He simply smiled, sat beside the chair that Hinata was already returning to, cupped the side of Hinata’s face in his hand, and kissed his cheek tenderly.

“Komaeda, I-”

“Shh…she’d be so happy that you want to bring her back, but I think she’d also tell you that you’re overworking yourself. Come back after you rest.” Komaeda insisted. He wasn’t the insisting type, so Hinata could already taste the desire for him to rest hidden in his words.

“If it makes you happy.”

Hinata stood up, legs slightly less tingly and shaky, and walked away from the computer, not before forgetting to save his progress.

Somewhere, a half-finished program contained in a computer smiled for no reason other than her own happiness.

Student.exe just watched, program left open and let out a small laugh.

#komahina secret exchange #komahina #fanfiction

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top500 · 3 years

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#478 The Kinks - Something Else by the Kinks (1967)

Just a quick note before starting, I always look for the album that’s going to be closest to the original for this list but Spotify only had the deluxe edition so that’s what I listened to.

Today’s album is a fun and catchy British rock album that came out deep in the time of the British Invasion and is full of catchy baroque pop hits. The Kinks were made up of two brothers, Ray and Dave Davies, with (originally) two of their friends from school Pete Quaife and John Start. The group blew up in the UK and often had chart topping tracks and albums in their early years. Their sound is classic 60′s British rock, with often a light drum beats in the background, a very gripping mix of electric and acoustic guitar, sometimes a fun novelty like a harpsichord, and a choral and mild way of singing that sounds calm and inviting. The Kinks started out with a more R&B sound before laying things on a bit heavier in their later albums, they’ve even been labeled as “the original punks” and Dave Davies even used a razor blade at one point to alter his amplifier and make a more choppy and distorted sound.

Some of the tracks that stick out on this album (or maybe they’re just my favorites) are Mr. Pleasant, Waterloo Sunset, and David Watts. Mr. Pleasant having a fun cheerful musical backing while describing the seemingly boring life of Mr. Pleasant. While Mr. Pleasant’s life seems great at first, with nothing being able to bother him, we learn of some infidelity going on in his marriage making him not-so-Mr. Pleasant. Waterloo Sunset rocks us along back and forth with a melody comprised of an electric lead, accounting rhythm, and soft supporting vocals that float you through the track. I can’t really even pay attention to the lyrics because I just get lost in the track and suddenly it’s over. David Watts is a track about jealousy, where the subject classmate David seems to have all of his life figured out, while our protagonist longs to have his affairs in order as well as David Watts does, I can see that being a punk type theme. These tracks are just a small sampling from Something Else by the Kinks, but this is a great and easy listen by a very influential Brit pop band.

#music #music blog #top500 #the kinks #something else by the kinks #baroque pop #british invasion #pop #rock

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gyakutengagotoku · 4 years

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GS4 vs AJ:AA - Episode 1, Part 1

Look, guys! I’m being productive again! Hooray, it feels exhausting just as I remember it did!

As done before, every post I make will contain differences between the source Japanese and localized English versions of the same game, as well as further details about them, up to the following “To be continued...” screens and eventually the ending credits. As always, there are so many ways the localization can dress up certain lines in the original script to make them into jokes or at least more colorful, so I’m not going to pick out every one. It would take us an eternity longer than my hiatuses to finish otherwise.

To think it took a freakin’ indie game that's like Mafia but with astronauts and tasks to bring me back to the Ace Attorney community and back to my blog’s roots. Is this what they mean by “Circle of Life”? All I know is that I’m constantly running around in circles, both metaphorically and literally.

> Court Lobby

<Kristoph> やれやれ。ずいぶんカタくなってるみたいだね。 You look tense, Justice. Wound up tight.

<Apollo> そ。そんなコトないです！カンゼンに大丈夫ですから、オレ！ W-Wound up, sir? No! I'm loose! I'm fine!

<Kristoph> 声がウラ返ってるよ‥‥ まあ。ムリもないかな。 That screeching noise... Is that your voice? I suppose it's to be expected...

初めての法廷が、殺人事件とは。まさしく“オドロキ”ってヤツだね。 Your first trial, and it's a homicide. I guess "Justice" doesn't start small, eh?

Enter Apollo's signature "I'm fine!" catchphrase, or as it's originally known, "Daijobu desu!"

In the third box, "ウラ返ってる" from 裏返る (uragaeru) in this context is translated fairly, though it specifically refers to a "crack in falsetto" kind of squeak or screech. (Yes, squeaky Apollo.) Now, it's interesting to note uragaeru in a different context can also mean "to double-cross". To be fair, it's also a common phrase, like being "betrayed" by your own cracking voice, but the foreshadowing power...

In the fourth box, yes, they changed the name puns to suit the localized name. Kirihito (Kristoph) is just saying what a "surprise" it is for his first trial to be a murder case.

<???> たしか、きみは‥‥ So, you're...

<Apollo> あ、ハイ！オレ、大丈夫ですッ！ Fine! I-I'm fine!

<???> ああ‥‥“大丈夫くん”か。 Ah... Mr. Fine, is it?

<Apollo> え。 Uh.

<???> 変わった名前だとは覚えていた。 I did remember you having an odd name.

<Apollo> （さっそく、ゴカイされちまった） (Well, we're off to a great start.)

I'm just putting this here to assure everyone that Nick does first call him "Daijobu-kun".

<???> そろそろ時間だ。‥‥行こうか。 It's time. Shall we?

<Apollo> は、はいッ！ Y-Yes, sir!

<Apollo> （‥‥そうさ。　今は、とにかく集中するんだ） (...OK. I need to focus.)

（オレの‥‥王泥喜　法介の、　初めての法廷に！） (First trial, here comes Justice!)

I want to comment on how catchy Apollo's other lesser-known catchphrase is. Poor Odoroki doesn't have anything as cool as this.

> Courtroom

<Kristoph> 弁護士は、依頼人の希望を最優先させなければなりません。 A defense attorney must always cede to his client's wishes.

この王泥喜くんは、依頼人のご指名なのですよ。 And my client specifically requested Mr. Justice.

<Judge> ふむう‥‥わかりませんな。 Well, of course he wants justice!

現在、最高の弁護士と言われる牙琉　霧人（がりゅうきりひと）。 But to entrust his case to this greenhorn... Why?

それをさしおいて、こんなワカモノがねえ‥‥ I do not exaggerate when I say that you're the best defense attorney in town, Mr. Gavin.

<Apollo> （だ、大丈夫。発声練習の量なら、　先生にも負けないさ！） (OK, so Gavin's got trial experience, fine. But does he have Chords of Steel!?)

I just love this line from Apollo. Perfect timing and delivery. Odoroki's line is good too, though comes off as a tad more innocent: "I-It's fine. When it comes to vocal training, even Sensei can't beat me!" Though I have to say the image of Kristoph screaming during voice training is too funny to pass up.

> Enter Defendant

<Judge> まことにザンネンです。 This is truly an unfortunate turn of events.

ひさしぶりの対面が、このようなカタチになるとは。 I'm sorry we had to meet again under these circumstances.

‥‥成歩堂　龍一（なるほどうりゅういち）くん。 Long time no see, Mr. Wright.

<Phoenix> 忘れてほしいですね、ムカシのことは。 Let's put the past behind us, shall we?

今のぼくは‥‥そう。しがないピアニスト、ですから。 These days, I'm merely Phoenix Wright, piano player.

I may have mentioned it before, but I'll make a note here that the Hobohodo meme has its own version in the JP fandom: "ピアニート" (piani-to or pia-NEET), which is portmanteau of pianist and NEET, the most famous of Japanese government welfare programs for the unemployed. It's also slang for "hobo".

<Payne> これが、被害者の命を奪った凶器。 ‥‥グレープジュースのボトルです。 This is the weapon that took the victim's life. A bottle of grape juice.

彼のお気に入りで、いつも飲んでいるようですな。 Grape juice is apparently our defendant's drink of choice.

Many of you already know, but just in case: The localizers never censored Nick's fave drink. It was the JP devs who had to work with such censors back home, but eventually they just kept it as a running gag to put non-alcoholic fruit juices in fancy wine bottles. It wasn't until SoJ when the devs could get away with featuring a bit of alcohol. Their previous game was slapped with a CERO-C (15+) due to graphic images, so Eshiro and co. were pleasantly surprised to see SoJ get the classic CERO-B (12+) again.

Not to mention, very expensive high-quality fancy fruit juices do exist in Japan and can cost way more than your usual middle-grade wines. Japan and their fancy fruit culture and all. (I forget exactly, but I recall there were plenty of group pictures of the devs on their blogs and Twitters over the years where someone had gotten them fancy bottles of fruit juice as Christmas gifts. The memes live on.)

> After 1st testimony, decline tutorial

<Apollo> 先生が出るにはおよびません！ここは、オレでじゅうぶんッ！ No need for help here, sir! I think I've got this one covered!

<Kristoph> ‥‥“手下”みたいなセリフだね。大丈夫ですか？ I think you'd better do more than think. You know it, or you do not.

<Apollo> （大丈夫！　　発声練習は積んできた！） (I'm fine! The Chords of Steel are ready for battle!)

The differences here are subtle enough that I hesitated on including this, but Kirihito straight-up calls out Odoroki: "Sensei, you won't need to step up here. I'm enough for this!" "...Sounds like something someone unreliable would say. Are you going to be fine?"

> Press 4th statement

<Judge> ふむう‥‥ Hmm...

ポーカーといえば、５枚のカードで “役”を作って勝負するゲーム。 As I recall, in poker you make five-card "hands".

たしかに、イカサマが起こりやすいのでしょう。 I can see how it would be easy to cheat.

<Phoenix> フッ‥‥ “役”を作るゲーム、ねえ‥‥ Heh... Yes. A game of "hands".

<Apollo> ‥‥？ ...?

Now that I find this dialogue again, it's even deeper than I'd ever thought. In both JP and EN, Phoenix's line works just as well as the other despite having different double entendres. In EN, he makes a pun between the poker hands and people's hands; while in JP, the term used is "yaku", which is normally used to refer to hands in a card/mahjong game, but in more general cases, it means "role" or "responsibility". Naturally, in this case, there are a lot of hands and roles being exchanged rather quickly.

This case is dang amazing and I regret forgetting so much of what made it spectacular.

> Press 5th statement

<Phoenix> 賭けていたのは、ただひとつ。おのれの“プライド”だけだよ。 The only thing at stake in our game... was pride itself.

<Judge> ほほう。なんだか、カッコイイですな！ Ho ho! Well put, Mr. Wright.

私も“ポーカー”でヒト勝負したくなってきました。 I've got a mind to play a hand of poker myself...

<Judge> あなたの“有罪”を賭けてッ！ The stakes: your fate!

<Apollo> （“ヒト勝負”感覚で　決められてたまるかッ！） (Um... Can we get back to the trial now?)

For once, I'm gonna go with Odoroki's line as the cooler one: "(As if we're going to decide this trial like a game of "life-or-death"!)"

> 1st witness, before testimony

<Olga> 逆居　雅香（さかいまさか） ‥‥と申します。 My name... is Olga Orly.

レストラン《ボルハチ》でウエイトレス‥‥していますの。 I am employed as waitress in Borscht Bowl Club restaurant.

<Judge> しかし‥‥なぜ、カメラを？ Then... why the camera?

<Olga> もちろん、《ボルハチ》ジマンのボルシチもお運びいたします。 Of course, it is my pride to serve borscht that is naming restaurant.

でも、ワタシ。他にも、いろいろサービスをいたしますのよ。 But I also perform -- how it is said? Other service.

Just making a note here on how well Olga's lines are written. They really make it obvious that she's "not a native speaker" (for now). While in EN, they just made her English a little broken, in JP, she speaks in a very stiff and formal Japanese, as she is a waitress, but also on the occasion can sound a little off to a native speaker without being broken, per se. She also has a distinct "watashi" among a few other common words that are written in katakana to show a sort of accent.

<Payne> さて、証人。事件当時は、どこに‥‥？ Now, witness. Where were you at the time of the murder?

<Olga> ワタシ、あの部屋にいたんです。 ‥‥《ナラズモの間》。 I was in room. The Hydeout, we call it.

<Apollo> “ならずものま”？ Excuse me? The Hydeout?

<Olga> 伝説のギャング“ナラズモ”がタイホされたというお部屋。 It is room where famous gangster "Badgai" was arrested.

‥‥事件があった小部屋ですの。 Is room where murder took place.

<Apollo> なんだってェェェ！ Whaaaaat!?

<Olga> ‥‥そのビックリしたカオ、ステキです。 Your look of utter surprise... It is lovely.

あとで法廷の前に張り出しておきますので‥‥ I will post by courtroom door later for you!

ほしい写真の番号を、みなさまお書きくださいね。 Dah, dah, photos will be numbered, and you will write which ones you want copy of.

Okay, everyone knows how bad/obvious/cringe the name puns can be in Khura'in or certain ones from AAI, but please, does anyone not remember "Badgai" here? (Tbf, I forgot too, so I'm not one to talk...)

Btw, his original name is "Narazumo", literally "ruffian", and it's completely in katakana, which makes me think it's a codename or alias. She also specifies that he was a "gangster", not yakuza as we'd assume. Japanese gangs are a bit closer to gangs that we know of in the West, especially that they're more known for foreign influence to their styles than the much more traditional yakuza.

Also, I'm disappointed there was no Odoroki pun here. Sure, she doesn't know him, so it wouldn't make sense, but still a missed opportunity. Also also, she actually talks to the rest of the court when she says "you", so she's selling photos of Apollo's freakout to everyone. Classy...

> 1st Witness Testimony, press 3rd statement

<Apollo> “ロケット”‥‥？ His "locket"...?

<Olga> あのお客さまにとっては大切な“お守り”のようでした。 I believe it was good-luck charm, dah?

何度か握りしめながら、勝負をされていましたから。 He gripped it many times as he played that night.

<Judge> なるほど‥‥大空へ飛び立つチカラがみなぎるのでしょう。 Yes, he must have felt as though it might carry him to the moon and the stars!

なにしろ《ロケット》ですからな。 Though if it were small enough to fit around his neck, it wouldn't have much lift...

<Apollo> ‥‥あの。ちなみに “ロケット”というのは‥‥ Um... The defense would like a clarification: this is a locket we're talking about?

写真を入れたペンダントのコト、なんですけどね。 I mean, a pendant with a picture in it, right? Not a "rocket"?

<Judge> 知ってます！ Of course! I knew that!

ロケットのカタチをしたアレでしょう。 It was probably a pendant shaped like a rocket. That's why she called it that.

<Apollo> ちがいますよ！カタチはカンケイないんです No, a locket's a locket! It doesn't matter what shape it is!

<Kristoph> ‥‥深追いしてはいけない。それが、社会のルールです。 It's considered bad form to poke fun at the hard-of- hearing in our society.

<Apollo> （モヤモヤするなあ） (Hard of hearing, or hard of understanding?)

This entire conversation is just a joke on how "locket" and "rocket" are written the same way in Japanese, and I'm surprised how well it still works in English.

To clarify, Kirihito's line at the end is a bit different: "...Refraining from pursuing a line too far is a well-known rule in our society." "(Doesn't make me feel any better.)"

> After 1st Present, just before new statement added

<Apollo> （ヤレヤレ‥‥ 　慎重すぎるんだよな、先生は） (There's such a thing as thinking too much...)

（イシバシを叩いて　コワすタイプ？） (This horse is dead, let's stop beating it!)

<Kristoph> 聞こえてますよ、オドロキくん。 There's such a thing as thinking aloud too much, too.

It's conversations like this that make me wonder if characters can actually hear what the MC is saying/whispering or if they're breaking the 4th wall to hear their thoughts. Here, it's even more ambiguous in JP than the usual between Nick and Maya in prior games. Or are they suggesting that even when Apollo is thinking, he's still loud?

> After 2nd Witness Testimony, before cross-exam

<Judge> なるほど‥‥ Ah, how many times have I heard these words:

『むしゃくしゃしてやった。　今は後悔している』‥‥ "I done it in a fit of anger, Yer Honor, and now I regret what I done".

‥‥の、パターンですな。 ...A common tale, but true.

<Apollo> （成歩堂さんは、ハッキリ言った。　『７年間、負けたことがない』） (Methinks the judge watches too many old court movies.)

（‥‥この証言には、ゼッタイ　“何か”あるはずだ！） (Mr. Wright said he hasn't lost in seven years, so this testimony must be wrong!)

I don't usually include entries for examples where the localizers dress up the text from the original, but this one here really bugs me. I'm not sure if it's a reference to some classic film or just a tip of the hat to classic American court drama movies in general.

If someone could help me pinpoint this one, please do.

> Press 2nd statement, press further

<Apollo> チップについて、くわしく話していただけますか？ Maybe you could explain a bit about these "chips"?

<Olga> そ。そう言われましても‥‥ E-Explain? What is there to be explained?

<Objection!>

<Payne> チップはチップです。 Poker chips are poker chips.

いつまで待っても‥‥ キップにはなりませんぞ！ They're not fish and chips, not a chip off the old block, not a motorcycle cop, not a...

Okay, the "motorcycle cop" bit got me. I swear this was a popculture reference (was it a song? It sounds so familiar), but I don't remember exactly where it was from! Someone plz help.

As for the original script, Auchi makes a silly pun. "[Poker] chips are [poker] chips. No matter how long you wait... they won't become tickets!" (chips = chippu, ticket = kippu)

<Apollo> ‥‥はあ。 ...Thanks.

（セッカクだ。　なにか聞かないとソンだな） (Now that I've pressed her I'd better ask something...)

たとえば‥‥そのチップ。 “円”ですか？　“ドル”ですか？ What are these chips worth? Are they in dollars? Or rubles, even?

<Olga> ‥‥あの。先ほども申しましたけれど‥‥ ...Nyet. As I have been saying before, it was game, not gambling.

ギャンブルではございませんでしたから‥‥ Hard perhaps for capitalist to understand.

<Olga> “１０００点”と “１００点”の２種類。 Two types of chip: 100 points chip and 1,000 points chip.

おカネではございませんの。 It is not money, dah.

<Kristoph> ‥‥オドロキくん。 ...Justice.

<Apollo> はいッ！ Sir!

<Kristoph> 今の証言‥‥ ちょっと、おもしろいですね。 Don't you find her comment... interesting?

<Apollo> え‥‥ In more ways than one, sir.

<Kristoph> 私ならば‥‥そう。証言に加えていただくところですが。 I'd have it added to her testimony, myself.

As funny as that capitalist line is, it's not found in the source, sorry, guys. Her text in Japanese is very formal, so it takes an extra box just to complete her sentence.

Also, worth to note that Odoroki here mentions yen and dollars, but not rubles, despite the restaurant being Russian-themed. Whether it's writer oversight or just Odoroki being uncultured will remain a mystery.

Lastly, Apollo's last line here makes him seem quite confident, but in the original, he seems just as confused as ever. This is made clearer when Apollo later presses the new statement.

> Press new statement

<Apollo> あの。小さい方が１００点、大きい方が１０００点‥‥ Um. The small ones are 100, and the big ones 1,000...

で、いいんですよね。やっぱり。 Uh? Right? Right. Of course.

<Payne> フン！　聞くまでもないでしょう。 Hah! Don't waste our time!

<Apollo> はあ‥‥ *sigh*

‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ ...

<Judge> 終わりですか？　それで。 Is that all?

<Apollo> ええ、まあ。 Um... Yeah. *gulp*

（くそ。牙琉先生のせいで　ハジをかいちまったぞ‥‥） (Great. Mr. Gavin made me stop her, and now I'm the one who looks dumb.)

<Kristoph> オドロキくん。 Oh, Justice?

<Kristoph> 私にハジをかかせないでもらえますか？ Please try not to embarrass me like that.

<Apollo> え！　オレがですか！ Huh? Who? Me!?

The subtleties of this joke conversation were lost in translation. After Apollo wastes time with that question, he grumbles to himself: "(Damn. Thanks to Garyu-sensei, I've made a fool of myself.)" "Odoroki-kun. Would you please not pin this embarassment on me?" "Huh! Me!?"

> After Present, select "Number of chips"

<Apollo> おかしいのは、チップの枚数‥‥ ですよね、先生？ The odd thing here is the number of chips... Right, Mr. Gavin?

<Kristoph> ‥‥なぜ、私に？ ...Why are you asking me?

<Apollo> その。念のため、というか！ Uh... Just in case?

<Kristoph> ‥‥オドロキくん。もう少し、キチンと考えましょう。 Justice... It's your case I'm concerned about.

チップなら、写真を見ればすべて、写っています。 If you're wondering about the chips, just look at the photograph. It's all there.

老眼の裁判長さんでもカンタンに数えられますよ。 Even our judge with his failing eyesight could count them.

<Apollo> （‥‥あの裁判長なら、それでも　まちがえるような気がする‥‥） (That's not the only thing failing the judge.)

Damn, what a burn. Odoroki in the OG script simply went: "(...Knowing this judge, he could get even that wrong...)" which is a fair effort, but not a wildfire level of damage.

> 3rd Witness Testimony, press 4th

<Apollo> 口論の内容は、おぼえてますか？ Do you recall what the men were arguing about?

<Olga> そうですね。たしか‥‥ Dah, I believe so...

被害者サマが『イカサマだッ！』と叫びましたの。それに対して‥‥ The victim, he shouts, "you are cheater!" and then...

“異議がある”というようなコトを被告人さまが‥‥ ...the defendant shouts something like, "I have objection!"

<Payne> ‥‥出ましたな。おトクイの《異議あり！》が。 Shouting objection, eh? Old habits are hard to break!

まったく‥‥ハッタリづくしの人生ですからな。被告人は。 First he bluffed his way through the courtroom, now he bluffs his way through life!

<Objection!>

<Apollo> しかし！　勝負の結果は、成歩堂さんが“負けている”！ However! Mr. Wright lost the hand!

むしろ、アヤシイのは、勝った被害者・浦伏さんでしょう！ That seems to cast the shadow of doubt on Mr. Smith!

<Olga> “イカサマをやった上、　勝負にも負けた”‥‥ Humiliation from losing even when cheating...

そのクツジョクが、被告人の方のココロに、火をつけたのですの。 That is what set fire to defendant's heart!

<Judge> ‥‥そして、火のついた被告人は、どうしたのですかな？ So what did the flaming defendant do next?

Oh my God, as soon as I saw that "異議がある" (igi ga aru) my mind flashed back to those ridiculous Google Translated trailers of Gyakuten Saiban & Kenji on Nico Douga. Imagine if the devs at the time decided to play with Google Translate to see how "異議あり！" would look after switching it from Japanese to English and back. It would be one of the biggest brain plays by a game developer ever... which probably means it wasn't how it went, but it's fun to think about.

Anyway, I also like this snippet of dialogue for the judge's "flaming defendant", clearly alluding to "Phoenix" Wright. In JP, the bit about setting fire to his heart is just a common idiom in the first place, but who knows? “Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney” had been selling fast in the West, so they could have been inspired.

> After Present, point out on the cards, examine victim's hand

<Apollo> 裁判長！　見てください！被害者のカードには、１枚‥‥ Your Honor! Look at this! One of the victim's cards...

ウラの色がちがうカードがまぎれこんでいますッ！ The back is a different color!

<Payne> え‥‥ええええッ！ Eh...? Ehhhhhh!?

<Olga> そ。そんなバカなッ！ Th-That's impossible!

アタシがシカケたのは、成歩堂のほうなのに‥‥ But I put that card in Wright's hand...

あッ！ Ack!

<Kristoph> ‥‥今、なんと言いましたか、証人。 ...What was that, Ms. Orly?

<Olga> い‥‥いえ‥‥その。アタシ‥‥わ、私は、ええと‥‥ No... Ny-Nyet! Er, I merely said, eh... Dah, I have, eek!

It's at this point when Olga's cover is blown, and in JP, it's more obvious because she stammers between using "atashi" vs "watashi". It's not very common to hear beginner Japanese students refer to themselves as the cutesy "atashi", though one who's a bit more well versed in the language or in anime may pick up on it.

> After Phoenix takes over the court, select when the cards were swapped, select "Olga Orly" who swapped them

<Phoenix> たしかに、あのゲームでは赤・青の２種類のカードを使っていた。 Mixing a card from the wrong deck... when the backs are different colors?

しかし‥‥逆居　雅香は、カードを配っていた張本人。 Remember that you're talking about Olga Orly... She was the dealer.

‥‥そんなミスをすると思うかい？ Do you really think she would make such a novice mistake?

<Apollo> （まあ‥‥オレでも　まちがわないだろうな） (Actually, I have trouble imagining even the judge making that mistake.)

This is another case of the localizers dressing it up. Odoroki says here: "(Well... even I wouldn't make such a mistake.)" as if implying that he's the lowest common denominator here, haha!

> Back to Court Lobby

<Phoenix> 人間の思考・感情というものは ‥‥かならず。 Try as they might to conceal it, everyone reveals their true thoughts in the end.

身体から“情報”として発信されている。 Their body language can become a valuable source of information.

<Apollo> そ。そんなバカな‥‥ You're kidding!

<Phoenix> たとえば。あの証人‥‥ 逆居　雅香を思い出してごらん。 That witness, for instance, Ms. Orly.

<Phoenix> 彼女は、ある証言をするとき‥‥ かならず“首筋をさする”。 She would touch the back of her neck during certain parts of her testimony.

‥‥気がついていたかい？ Did you notice?

<Apollo> い。いえ‥‥ （それどころじゃないよ、フツー） Uh... No. (C'mon, who'd notice that!?)

<Phoenix> “クセ”“コトバ”‥‥ それらが発する情報を読み解くこと。 Words, habits, twitches... It's all information for the reading.

それが、勝負に勝つ “鉄則”だよ、オドロキくん。 That's the secret to winning, Apollo.

まあ‥‥ぼくも“ある人物”に教わったんだけどね。 Someone taught me, and now, I pass the secret on to you.

It's this quiet moment between the two of them that really parallels with how Mia used to talk with Phoenix, and it's beautifully poetic. And I'd like to note that even Phoenix's speech pattern throughout this convo is quite reminiscent of how Mia talked, but with a bit of Phoenix's own style. Though in that last line, he could possibly have meant Mia, but more likely meant a certain someone with a similar power to Apollo. Ya'll know who I mean, (W)right?

<Phoenix> ああ。それから、もうひとつ。今回の事件だけどね。 Ah, almost forgot. One more thing. About this case...

ぼくはまだ、誰にも “本当のコト”を話してないんだよ。 You should know, I haven't told the truth to anyone yet.

<Apollo> えええええッ！（や、やっぱり‥‥） Whaaaaaaaa--!? (I knew it!)

<Phoenix> もちろん、“理由”がある。これからアキラカになるだろう。 I have my reasons, of course. All shall be revealed.

そして、ぼくの作戦には‥‥ きみが必要なんだよ。 And Apollo... I need you to be there, defending me.

きみの“能力”が、ね。 I need your power.

<Apollo> オレの、のうりょく‥‥ （声のデカさ、か‥‥？） My, um, power? (I had no idea my Chords of Steel were that special...)

The translation here is close enough, really, but Odoroki specifically describes it as the "intensity" of his voice and it's only the best answer.

Welp, I guess it’s back to the drafting board again and I may make this out as a daily or every-other-daily upload. We’ll see. I assure you, you won’t be waiting until next month, though!

#gsvsaa #gs4 #ajaa #turnabout trump #part 1

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