#which is such a missed opportunity given that she also lost her partner only 2 seasons ago!

[pia-writes-things]

Because I have great friends (poke @gay-impressionist and @saecookie), I have recently found myself in possession of ER's season 5 et 10 DVDs and boy, is the hyperfixation slowly but surely creeping back on me.

Which, after the DW specials, feels like I'm travelling back in time and I'm 15 again. Absolutely not a bad thing but definitely a weird feeling to say the least

[lilithdusk]

Part 2 to Marinette has lost her partner and Adrien happens to look just like him

Previous part

Adrien pulled away just enough to look into Marinette’s eyes. How could she have his Miraculous? He gave it to Alya, he was certain of that. He simply couldn’t have take Marinette’s balcony for Alya’s. And Nino had told him he knew Rena Furtive’s identity. He has made no mistake, thus why was his classmate now wearing the Chat Noir’s miraculous? He opened his mouth but, suddenly, an explosion caught them off guard. They ended up on the ground, covering their ears.

Down the street, a new vilain was tormenting Paris. Adrien didn’t waste any time and took Marinette’s hand. They both got up and ran away from the chaos. The teenagers took refuge in a small alley. Their respiration were caught in their throats, panting. When Adrien glanced at his friend, she was already looking away, at the chaos further. His sight immediately fell on her finger and the jewellery. How could he bring this into the conversation without suspicion? How could he know something about the miraculous? And there was still the option  of Marinette not knowing anything about it. Perhaps Alya had given it to her as a gift. 

Deep inside him, he knew it was the wrong explanation. What made him comeback to reality was Marinette’s hand on his shoulder.

“Adrien, climb on that. You’ll hide in here.”

She was showing a balcony above their heads. The trash containder was below and if he jumped, he could reach and climb on it. When they both reached the hidden balcony, Marinette stepped over the guardrail and was preparing to get back on the ground when Adrien stopped her.

“What are you doing?! Hide here until Ladybug arrives!”

The containder was slippery because of the rain pouring and Marinette almost fell down. She lifted her head and gave Adrien a nod.

“We’ll be safe separately. It’s too dangerous to stay in the same place together.”

She landed on the ground with a flop while Adrien remained still.

“Don’t.” He whispered.

Marinette couldn’t have possibly hear him and yet, she reassured him with a slight smile. The first one he saw on her lips for weeks. Marinette ran away before Adrien could convaince her to stay. 

Now on the main street, Marinette has lost sight of the vilain. He had faded away. So, she hid in a corner of a street in order to transform.  The ring on her finger caught her attention and her heart clenched. A single tear fell down on her cheek, mingled with the rain. How could she still hope about her partner showing to the battleflied when she was the one wearing his miraculous?

“Marinette!”

She flinched and turned around. Adrien was on the ground, in the middle of the street, drenched. He had called out for her. The look on his face spoke for him. His eyes were switching between her hand and her face. Marinette quietly eyed him, confused by his behaviour. Why did he come out? Why was he risking his safety? Why was he looking so concerned and troubled? 

Marinette took a step towards him before her whole body became paralyzed. From the corner of her eyes, she could see the vilain flying straight to Adrien. The attack was directed at him. Even worse, Marinette didn’t know the Akuma’s power and what it did to the victims. She could not risk Adrien’s life. He was facing the small alley she was in, the vilain could not see her yet. Her identity would only be revealed to Adrien, it was a pale risk in comparaison to his safety.

Before his own eyes, Adrien watched Marinette transforming into Ladybug. He missed a few heartbeats while she was looking at him, grave. His eyebrowns frowned when she scurried towards him. Soon enough, her arm was around his waist and they flied away from the vilain he had not seen until now.

They didn’t have time to land somewhere. The vilain was behind them, running fast, very fast. Ladybug had to trust her instinct but how could she be at the top of her performances when her teammate was missing, along with her tiredness?

Drenched in the rain, Ladybug was carrying Adrien. She slid on one of the rooftop and, thanked her power for giving her a yoyo to catch her up. Flying the Parisian sky, she finally dropped Adrien on the ground.

“You stay here until the Lucky Charm cure everything, alright?”

Adrien simply nodded. Ladybug got back into fighting the akuma. The fight was raw, rough and bloody. Ladybug couldn’t have the advantage when she was exhausted and the vilain, full of energy. He was the one dominating the fight, he would hit her everytime he had the opportunity. For the first time since Hawkmoth appeared, Ladybug was losing. And the capital silently observed her fall, alone, without the help of any Miraculous holders. 

Another hit made her fly into a wall which then collapsed. Someone had to help her out; Adrien came out of his hidden place, once again. Running into the rubbles, he lifted and pulled some concrete blocks and helped Ladybug getting up. He took her hand and look into her eyes, genuine.

“You have to use the Miraculous of destruction.”

“I- I won’t use it...” She frowned, hurt.

“You’re going to die if you don’t!”

His friend dived her eyes into his, severe. Of course Ladybug was Marinette, how could she not? Adrien maintained her gaze. He wasn’t Chat Noir anymore but he won’t let her die because she wouldn’t use the miraculous. Ladybug needed help, simply not from him. In front of the vilain, of Hawkmoth, of the cameras recording the fight, Adrien couldn’t get back his miraculous, even if he wanted to. Paris was watching very carefully. So, he took her hand, the one where the ring was still resting on, and brought it in front of her face.

“Use it.”

“It’s not mine, the only person who can wear it is Chat Noir.” Ladybug responded.

“You already wore it for a fight.”

“It’s not the same! The power contained in both is too dangerous for one person.”

“You are more than capable to wear it. You are Paris’s hero, the guardian of the miraculous; if one person can handle this power, it’s anyone but you.”

Her teary blue eyes were watching him cautiously.

“I can’t do it without him.” 

Her voice broke out in a whisper. Adrien’s lips turned into a slight smile, also tearing up.

“I’ve always been around you my Lady.”

Ladybug’s face lit up when the realization hit her. Her partner, her teammate, her best friend, her soulmate was in front of her this whole time. She had found him. The two most precious boys in her life were actually one. She sobbed, incapable of controlling her emotions. Adrien immediately pressed her hand.

“Beat this akuma now, alright?” 

She pressed his in return and nodded. Taking a step back, she never broke away from his gaze.

“Tikki, Plagg, unify!”

A violent white light made everyone blind. Adrien lifted his arm to refrain the light entering his eyes. Along with white spots, he was blinded with purple ones. A few seconds later, when his sight has adjusted, Ladybug was in front of him, in a new suit. It was purple with golden details. But what caught everyone’s attention was her eyes, glowing white. She was standing before him, before Paris’s and Hawkmoth’s eyes, all powerful; and ready to fight, once and for all.

I enjoyed writing these two! And I’m so excited about the serie showing the potential of the miraculous union! (manifesting for season 4 final)

@anelfinthedark @giuliafc @steelblaidd @backyardbob01  

[shadyteacup]

If you’re still doing requestsssssss how about a hcs of Dazai x fem! Reader who is like Midari from Kakegurui 😌

Ooh thats a nice one! Yes love, I'm still doing requestss

And I'm so sorry, this is so late... also it's very long n I'm not exaggerating. It's not even funny I'm so sorry

I'm Crazy, But I'm Free

Dazai x Fem!reader who is like Midari

• You and Dazai probably met during his days at the port mafia.

• I can imagine the mafia capturing you because of how much trouble you were causing in a casino.

• UK, when big businesses pay gangsters for security?? Yeah, similarly the casino you were playing at, has paid the mafia.

• You were already banned from many other casinos, as your games either end with you gaining a lot of money, or begin with a dangerous condition.

• Many people were quite afraid of you, and wanted to avoid even being in the same room as you, as they couldn't handle the severity of the danger you pose with every game.

• Anyways, so you were warned by a few members of the mafia twice, but you, being the fearless adventurer you are, flipped them off and continued to seek a life threatening game.

• So then the mafia decided to use violence, and cornered you in a dark alley. You pulled out your beloved gun.

"Well, well, well! Do you boys want a fight!?", you excitedly point the gun at them.

"Put your weapon down, Ms. L/N. We are here to warn you for the final time. Stay away from this casino. Further misbehavior will lead to dangerous consequences."

You hum, thinking up a plan.

"How about this. My revolver has 5 bullets. And there are five of us. How about we all take turns to shoot blindfolded!"

You excitedly shove them in a circular arrangement.

"I'll go first! The rules are that every person gets a chance to shoot from the center of the circle. If the bullet misses, everyone takes a step ahead, closer to the center."

You explain, grinning at the men clad in all black.

"If a bullet hits me, I'll agree to your terms. If it hits one of you lot, then you can't stop me anymore. What do you say?!"

The mafiosi were weirded out by this. What if you had a good aim, or an ability that allowed you to shoot them with your eyes closed? They didn't have much intel on you, and only knew you to be a girl from a rich background, who had come to Yokohama for higher studies.

"That's enough. Grab her-"

• Thats when our boy showed up. Dazai was curious when he overheard some of the men talk about some 'fearless girl that had flipped them off even after two rather threatening warnings.'

• So he had decided to tag along, staying in the shadows, until now.

• "I think it will be a wonderful idea. Play along, gentlemen. I want to see where this goes."

• You shot, and missed. So did the other guy. Then the other one. Now, the circle had shrunk really small. You were almost in the line of fire at this point. There was an 80% chance of getting shot.

• "That's enough." ,Dazai said, as he walked to stand in front of you.

• "You are daring, aren't you. You're not afraid of death."

• Staring into his eyes, you saw a reflection of yourself. A dark, lost soul stared back at you.

• "In fact, you arranged this little game to ensure that you got hurt. You perfectly planned it out, and ensured that as the circle gets smaller, you would be in the direct line of fire."

• "You missed the first shot on purpose, didn't you?"

• He had seen right through your game.

'What's this guy's deal?', you thought.

"Why would you stop the game when it was at its peak? Hah? Whats wrong with you, man?!", you angrily grab his collar. "I was just beginning to have fun, and here you are, ruinjng it!"

• Taken aback by your bravery, he just blinked at you.

"Do you know who I am?"

"Yes, obviously, idiot. But that doesn't give you any right to interrupt our game."

"Oh? So who do you think I am."

You give him a 'baka janiono?' look.

"You are their leader. Probably an executive of the mafia, judging by your expensive suit. Why?"

The thoughts running through Dazai's head were along the lines of :

'Just who is this girl? How does she know about the mafia? Surely my men weren't dumb enough to tell her who they work for. How does she know about my position? She surely didn't just guess that, right?? And why the fuck does a student have a gun? Does her family have connections within the underworld? She obviously doesn't fear death. Will she be a good addition to the mafia?'

• "What are you thinking about, baka? Answer me."

• He smiled sweetly at you, and firmly gripped your wrist, pushing it off his collar.

"There's someone who would like to meet you"

Before you can retort back, he continues,"You seek adventure, do you not? You want to feel something worthwhile. Something akin to facing death, something that will give you an adrenaline rush. I can give you all of that. If you come with me, that is."

• Mori was shocked when he heard about what had happened. He agreed with Dazai's decision to make you join the ranks. He needed such fearless crackheads in his organization.

• He paired you up with the double black, making you an executive too. You hadn't quite agreed to his terms, but he had offered you to just accompany the ginger and the brunette on a mission. And had let you make the final decision .

• You three had to go to an abandoned warehouse, where some people were tampering with the mafia goods. There, you saw how sadistic Dazai was. How manipulative and bad he was. It made you fall for him. Hard. Plus, you realized the risk of being a mafiosi. It was quite thrilling.

• When you got back, you had screamed at mori to let you join. Quite literally begged. And he, ofcourse, agreed. You hadn't even given him a chance to threaten your life, which was the usual norm, when a valuable asset wasn't willing to join the ranks of the feared organization.

• You trained with dazai. And purposely got hit. It turned you on. But you never mentioned anything, in fear of being rejected.

• Dazai, ofcourse, noticed this, and one fine day, confronted you about it. You told him just how much you love him. He was always intrigued by your sadistic side. He saw a part of himself in you. The daring, brave, smart side of yours was something so similar to himself, yet unique. You were seeking the same thing that he was, that is to feel something. He felt sadness, and loneliness, and he never had a purpose in life. You, someone who had it all, a good family, a great marksheet, and a pre set goal in life, were willing to give it away, just to feel something. He, someone who was stripped off of a normal childhood, was never given the opportunity to choose. He used to think that maybe he was to blame. Maybe if he had had better luck, he would have gotten a good childhood, a purpose. But now that he knows you, a genius, smart person, who had it all, but threw it away, he realized that maybe life really is worthless. Maybe, he wasn't to be blamed. And that, oddly enough, made him feel better. To know that no matter how much lady luck favors him, life would still be fucked up, and that it wasn't his fault, made him hate himself less.

• And so, you two became a thing.

• Let's just say, that both of you are equally freaky.

• You want him to dom u, and he gladly accepts

• You guys try it all... I mean, especially with guns.

• I can imagine you both sitting at a boring meeting, when you decide to edge him on, and you're not even touching him. Your gun is.

• You both claim atleast one spare room on every floor of the building, for your.... activities.

• You are like his praise queen.

• He loves that.

• Always rough. Always. And you guys are into spicing it up.

• Anyways, you both never decide to commit double suicide.

• Thats because dazai wants a beautiful way out, while you want to feel the thrill of facing death. You don't really want to die, you just want to know the feeling of almost dying. You want to feel something exhilarating.

• When Dazai decides to leave the mafia, you are all for it. As long as you get to stay by his side, you were ok with it.

• Like Midari, you are a very perceptive person, and can easily guess what's going on in someone's mind. Dazai was easy to read for you, as his thoughts were pretty similar to your own.

• You were smart, cunning, and could read peoples mind with ease. So it was pretty easy for you to guess what's going on in Dazai's mind, sometimes even predicting his next moves.

• You really fit in with the ada, coz that place is filled with crackheads, and you and dazai are no exception lol

• Also, you get along with Yosano really well.

• Like, if you weren't so loyal to dazai, you would have become Yosanos slave. So would i ngl

• Anyways, you and dazai always mess with kunikida. You two prank him till the breaking point. You two are such a menace in the office. Always skipping work, slacking off, but really shining when it comes to actual detective work, like solving mysteries.

• You are a valuable asset to the ada, coz 1. You are smart and 2. You can intimidate the enemy into giving in, thanks to your sadistic games.

• You are also a very good companion. You can easily understand what the other is feeling, and end up comforting the gang.

• I can imagine you roasting Kunikida for being such a nerd, but at the same time giving him accurate and well needed advice .

• You do the same for your bf, and the two of you have many late night convos about topic that Dazai had never discussed with anyone before. Because no one had quite understood him the way you did.

• Midari is actually a pretty deep character, and just like her, you have many layers. There's the sadistic side, the goofy side, the careless side, the intelligent side and the insightful nature.

• You would be his perfect partner, as you'd support his crazy, reckless ideas, but at the same time keep him afloat, and prevent him from drowning in his own thoughts.

[xxdragonwriterxx]

🔥The Angelus Mortis (2/2)🔥

A/N: Here is part 2 of “The Angelus Mortis”! Part 1 is linked below if you haven’t read that part yet. Thank you for reading!

Part 1

~~~

The next day, Erwin woke up early to visit (Y/N) one last time before he had to hand her over to the MP’s. He sighed in disappointment. He thought he had been getting through to her, especially after she had given him her name, but he was left with nothing but false hope when she remained adamant about not answering any of his questions. He ran one of his large hands through his blonde locks in frustration as he made his way down the stone steps into the gloomy dungeon below.

He had no idea why he felt so conflicted when it came to this woman, why he had a feeling she was a better person than she was letting on. His heart battled with his brain as he walked, causing him to groan when he felt a headache begin to form. Why did he feel like he was missing something? Something important? He knew she would be a valuable asset to the Survey Corps if she cooperated, her strength rivaling that of Levi’s which would give them two vital weapons on the field. And he was sure that under Levi’s supervision she would flourish, maybe even develop a friendship with the sullen man. Maybe that’s why he felt so strange, because it was a missed opportunity?

Erwin shook his head as he finally rounded the corner, pushing away his inner turmoil to mull over on a later date. Immediately upon his arrival, (Y/N) rolled over on the small, filthy cot she had been provided, and met his gaze.

“Here to collect me, already?” (Y/N) asked, her disdain barely veiled by her attempt at a quip.

“No, not yet,” Erwin said as he sat down in the lone metal chair he had used the day before.

(Y/N) sat up slowly and crossed her legs, resting her hands in her lap as she turned to face him completely.

“Then what are you doing here?”

“Well, you have spent one whole day here and you’ve been alone for most of that time. I came down here to see if you’re ready to answer my questions now.”

(Y/N) grit her teeth. “I told you, I don’t want to answer any of your shitty questions.”

“What’s the point? You’re going to be heading right for your very painful death in just a few hours, what is keeping you from parting with some information that will likely be unimportant soon anyway?”

“Just because I’m dying doesn’t mean I have to justify my life, to you of all people.”

“I only want to help you, this could save your life.”

“Why the hell do you care so much about me anyway? What am I to you? Do you want me for something? Maybe for your own personal desires?” (Y/N) suddenly bristled. “I didn’t take you as someone who would stoop so low, Commander, but what did I expect? I guess that’s what I get for thinking a murderer could show empathy. And to think, I almost learned to trust you a little.”

Erwin blanched, his face paling and his eyes widening.

“What?” He asked in utter shock. A murderer? What the hell was she going on about?

(Y/N) seethed at him and turned away, her entire body tensed and angry.

“Do whatever the hell you want with me,” (Y/N) said in a low voice. “Beat me, kill me, fuck me, do whatever you want, but I’ll never tell you anything.”

Erwin was quiet for a minute as he fought to process what he had just heard. A killer? Him? He only killed when he really needed to, aside from when he was fighting titans, of course, but he rarely used his weapons on a person, and never with malicious intent.

“What makes you think I’m a murderer?” Erwin asked.

(Y/N) suddenly whirled on him, her teeth bared, showing more of the wolf inside her that she had developed in the Underground. Her eyes flashed with fury and her fists clenched at her sides as she lost control.

“How dare you ask me that question,” (Y/N) snarled. “How dare you after what you took from me? Do you not even remember? Were they really that meaningless to you? You took away my family, the only positive thing I had in this world. You ripped them from me and now you dare ask how you have wronged?”

Erwin was bewildered now but he tried not to let it show on his face. He had to tread carefully. If he didn’t say the right thing, she might end up shutting down completely, and then he would lose any chance of keeping her from getting killed. He also wanted to keep her from hating him. If she was going to join the Corps, he would have to be able to lead his men without fearing for his life every time she was around.

“Did… did they live in the Underground with you?” Erwin asked carefully.

(Y/N) plopped down on her bed, rage still coursing through her veins as she looked at the man she had loathed ever since the fateful day her family had disappeared from her life, but she felt too tired to argue with him. He had won anyway, she was going to be tortured, maybe violated, killed, and then dumped in a trash can somewhere, left to die alone and forgotten. There was no point in trying to fight him anymore, not when he held the strings attached to her back, commanding the show and forcing her to dance. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing her break, but she knew her fate was sealed the moment she was brought up from the Underground. “Yes,” she said in a small voice, her head hanging low so that her hair covered her eyes.

“Are they the reason why you asked for my name in the Underground? Why you hesitated when you saw my face?”

(Y/N) only nodded.

“Are they why you targeted soldiers? To make us feel the pain you did when you found out they were gone?”

(Y/N) nodded again, more slowly this time and with a single glimmering tear that slid down her cheek and hit the stone floor with a barely audible tap.

Erwin hesitated again and swallowed hard.

“I’m sorry… for your loss.”

(Y/N) scoffed at him, her eyes filled with a smouldering hatred as she met his gaze.

Erwin cringed a little. He knew how apathetic that apology must have sounded, but he was at a loss for words. He just had to keep trying.

“I mean it. If I am responsible for their deaths then it must mean they died in combat, under my command. So, I am sorry for not being able to lead them properly. For not being able to protect them and bring them back home to you. I am so sorry…”

(Y/N) didn’t respond but he did notice that her gaze softened just slightly at his apology. He was starting to get through to her again. He knew that her acceptance of his apology was just a chink in the protective walls surrounding her broken heart, but he would take whatever he could get.

That was when Erwin suddenly realized something, the image of two faces flashing in his mind as he thought about what she had said. There had only been three people he had ever brought up from the Underground to be in the Survey Corps, and only two of them were dead. Farlan and Isabel.

Thinking back on it, Levi had never mentioned anyone other than Isabel and Farlan, and when he had been busted and brought to the surface he had only come with his two friends. Maybe they had never met. Maybe (Y/N) only knew Farlan and Isabel from her childhood and early adulthood while Levi was a mere business partner. Or maybe they did know each other but only through brief business interactions.

His heart jumped a little in his chest when he realized he was on to something. Maybe he could show her to Levi and see what his reaction would be? See if he would be the key to having her cooperate? Besides, it might be good for them, the both of them having lost their two best friends in a horrific manner, giving them the chance to form a bond or close friendship. It might even give Levi some closure. Erwin would be a bad friend if he hadn’t noticed how the loss of Levi’s past friends were still affecting him.

“How… how did they die?”

(Y/N)’s sudden question surprised him but he quickly brought himself back to the moment, not wanting to scare her away from talking to him again. He honestly couldn’t believe this was the same woman who had been bantering back and forth with him the day before, but he now realized she had been using it as a means of protecting herself. To make herself seem more confident in the face of the one person she supposedly hated the most. She had entertained him so he would stop digging, stop trying to dredge up old, painful memories.

“We were on an expedition outside of the walls and it started to storm. We tried to retreat but the rain and open meadows made it difficult to find our way back. Everything looked the same, blurry and gray or green. In the confusion, an abnormal titan snuck up on us and killed the majority of our troops, your family among them.”

(Y/N) was quiet but met his gaze again, her eyes shining with unshed tears. She looked so vulnerable at that moment. He could tell she still had that fighting spirit, that unwavering strength; the vulnerability did not make her look weak or pitiable in the slightest. It just made her look more… human.

“What happened to the titan?” She asked.

“One of my Captains, Levi, took care of it.”

(Y/N)’s head suddenly jolted up, her entire body going rigid. “Wha-”

“Erwin!” The Commander turned around to see Hanji standing on the stone steps leading down to the dungeon, clutching a lantern in one hand and a pair of handcuffs in the other.

Erwin stood and met his girlfriend on the steps, taking the manacles from her. Hanji gazed at him for a minute before her gaze shifted to the woman in the cell. Erwin could tell right away that Hanji felt something similar about the mysterious assassin, that she had the strange feeling that there was something more to her like he did. He could see it in her eyes, in the way they shone even in the darkness of the dungeon.

“Time to go,” Hanji said softly.

Erwin nodded and made his way to the cell, Hanji following close behind with a sword in her grasp, ready to cut the woman down should she try anything.

When Erwin moved to stand behind her, leaning down to lock her wrists into the handcuffs, (Y/N) hung her head again, her mind still spinning with the name that had fallen from the Commander’s lips. 

It was a name she hadn’t heard in years, a name that still haunted her dreams and left her feeling cold and alone. There was no way it was really him. Levi was a common enough name that the Captain could be anyone. Despite this, the fact that there was a chance he was really out there, gave (Y/N) peace of mind. 

If he was dead, then she guessed she was going to see him soon, maybe finally live the life they wanted to, if that was even possible after death. If he was alive, then that would still be satisfactory enough for her. Either way, she hoped she’d get to see him again soon. Maybe death wouldn’t be so bad.

“Commander Erwin,” (Y/N) said.

“Yes?” Erwin said, trying to hide the surprise in his voice when she said his real name rather than mocking his title of Commander or calling him an idiot.

“How is your shoulder?”

Erwin was baffled but answered her honestly.

“Sore but healing well.”

“Good. I’m sorry I stabbed you.”

Erwin swallowed and shook his head to tell her it was alright, his throat refusing to let him speak. Hanji was watching the Angelus Mortis carefully, her eyes filled with confused sorrow. (Y/N) glanced at the bespeckled Squad Leader and nodded once, a tiny smile curving at the corners of her lips.

(Y/N) could do nothing but sit still as they finished clamping her hands behind her back and stood her up, leading her out of the cell and up the stairs to her inevitable death.

_____________________________

Levi strode through the halls, looking for Erwin. He had been told immediately upon his arrival that the Commander had managed to capture a dangerous assassin from the Underground and needed his assistance in transporting them to the Military Police base to be detained and sentenced to death. He had been a bit surprised with the news, he hadn’t known that Erwin was hunting for a killer from the slums, but he had been out for an entire week on that solo mission, so things were bound to happen without his knowledge while he was gone.

Levi only paused by his office to switch out the sword he had for a cleaner, sharper one. The blade he had carried previously was covered in filth and worn from the constant fights he had been forced to break up on his mission.

As soon as he had a better weapon, he set off for the dungeons where Erwin and Hanji were supposedly already bringing the criminal up the stairs. He hadn’t heard much about this assassin, all he knew was that they were exceedingly dangerous, known as the Angelus Mortis, and they were headed for death row. He gripped his sword a bit tighter as he walked, readying his mind to prepare for anything. A criminal this dangerous would be incredibly strong and while he had no doubt in his mind that he could defeat the bastard, he would rather get out of the fight with all of his limbs attached.

“Levi! Over here!”

Levi looked up as he approached the dungeon steps, his silver eyes flickering over to the prisoner in Hanji’s and Erwin’s grasp. His eyes widened a little when he realized the assassin was a woman, her filthy (h/c) hair covering her face as she hung her head.

“Oi, who are you? What’s your name?” Levi asked coldly, his eyes narrowing on her thin form.

He expected her to keep her head down despite his commanding tone. He knew criminals like this, you could yell at them all you wanted, demand things from them, even beat them and they would usually remain stubbornly silent. 

What he did not expect was for her to lift her head sharply, the sound of his voice triggering something in her.

Levi gasped audibly when her (e/c) eyes met his silver ones, his entire world shifting beneath his feet. Her whole body froze when she saw him. For a moment, nobody breathed, Levi’s eyes roving over her constantly as he tried to wrap his mind around what he was seeing.

(Y/N). That was (Y/N). His (Y/N).

The one who had given him so much love and appreciation every day despite their shitty lives in the slums. The one who had comforted him when the world felt too dark; the one who loved him when he couldn’t love himself; the one who patched him up after a fight and fought by his side when she could. It was (Y/N). Undoubtedly (Y/N).

“Levi? What’s the matter?” Hanji asked.

Levi suddenly remembered the reality of their situation. (Y/N) was the goddamn Angelus Mortis. The most dangerous assassin in the world was the love of his life, and she was being sentenced to death.

“Let her go,” Levi said, his voice low.

“What? But Levi-”

“I said let her go!” Levi barked.

Hanji and Erwin exchanged concerned glances but slowly moved to unlock the handcuffs holding her to them.

As soon as she was free, (Y/N) sprinted forward and crashed into Levi, her small frame hitting him like a bullet. 

“LEVI!!!” (Y/N) cried in a strangled voice.

Levi grunted a little at the impact but wasted no time in wrapping his arms around her waist, completely forgetting about the audience that watched them, their mouths dropped open in shock. Hanji and Erwin were no better, their eyes wide.

“Oh my fucking gods, it’s you, it’s really you,” (Y/N) whispered in awe, her arms tightening around him, holding each other in the middle of the hallway.

Levi was about to speak when he looked up and noticed that everyone was staring. Sending a glare in the direction of their audience that promised a painful death to anyone who spoke, Levi reluctantly pulled away from (Y/N) and grabbed her wrist, tugging her along behind him as he made for his office.

“Wait, Levi!”

“Levi! What the hell!?”

Levi heard Erwin and Hanji call out to him but he ignored them, making a beeline for the familiar wooden door to his quarters. He could hear the pounding footsteps of the Commander and the crazy scientist coming up behind him, but he did not stop or slow down, his eyes trained on his destination.

When they had finally reached his office, Levi pulled (Y/N) inside and begrudgingly let Erwin and Hanji join them before slamming the door shut and locking it. (Y/N) barely had enough time to glance around the space before he was on her again, this time sealing their lips in a searing kiss that stole the air from her lungs.

Erwin’s and Hanji’s jaws dropped at the sight of Humanity’s Strongest Soldier kissing the Angelus Mortis without a care in the world. Neither one of them had ever known Levi to be interested in love, the sullen man even going so far as to get angry at the mention of it, rolling his eyes when couples kissed in the hallways and gagging when Hanji tried to set him up with someone.

Levi pulled away from the kiss, panting, before he moved his lips to place desperate butterfly kisses all over her face and neck, his body humming at the feeling of her against him for the first time in years.

When they finally broke apart again, both of them ignoring the company they had in the office with them, they stared at each other, their eyes shining as they took the sight of their lost lover. (Y/N) reached up and gently cupped his cheek with her palm, her heart nearly exploding when he nuzzled into her touch, his eyes closing and his own hand coming up to cover her own.

“Gods, I missed you so fucking much,” Levi murmured.

“Me too Levi, I missed you so much, I don’t even have the words to express it.”

“I thought I lost you…,” Levi choked out, a single tear sliding down his cheek to hit her thumb where her hand was still holding his face.

“I thought I lost you,” (Y/N) whispered, her thumb moving to swipe the tear off of his skin. “I was told when I asked around that you were killed in combat with Farlan and Isabel, after being forced to join the military.”

Levi’s eyes opened, his silver hues glassy with unshed tears.

“I tried to get you. Tried to come back for you. But when I got to the Underground, everyone near our old place told me you had been brutally murdered. I even found the inside of our house to be destroyed with blood splattered on the floor.”

Levi’s body began to tremble as he relived the horrendous memory. The time when he thought all hope was lost, all life was meaningless, and that he was destined to be alone. When he had collapsed upon the filthy floor of their old ramshackle home, the blood soaking into his pants and sliding over his palms, he had wanted nothing more than to die. Almost did, until he managed to remind himself that she would’ve never wanted that for him. That she would’ve killed him if he decided to end his life. And so he had hardened his heart and left the scene, making that promise to himself right then and there that he would never love another woman ever again. He would live, for her sake, but he would never love, for his sake.

(Y/N) glanced away from him then, her hand dropping from his face to twist nervously in front of her, her knuckles turning white from the pressure.

“Yeah, well, when I thought you were dead, I knew there was no hope for me left. I was in agony, but I was also furious. Beyond furious at both the Military Police and the Survey Corps for taking you and Isabel and Farlan away from me. Aside from that though, I was also scared. Scared they would find out about our relationship and come looking for me. I knew I had to get out of there, I refused to work for the murderers who had taken away my one happiness in this life. So I trained myself, starting by faking my own death to become untraceable. Then I became stronger, faster. I killed both to remain free and to make them feel the pain I felt when you were ripped away from me.”

Levi’s eyes softened and he reached for her, bringing her into his chest and holding her tightly, his fingers tangling in her hair. Oh gods she was skin and bones, he could feel how malnourished she was through his shirt, her ribs poking him in the chest as he held her.

Suddenly, the Commander’s sharp voice broke the spell in the room, making both Levi and (Y/N) jump a little when he spoke.

“Sorry to interrupt, but what the fuck is going on here?” Erwin asked.

Levi and (Y/N) pulled out of their embrace but Levi kept an arm around (Y/N)’s shoulders, holding her close to him as if she’d disappear if he let go.

“Sorry, Erwin, Hanji,” Levi said, looking at each of his friends in turn. “I’d like for you to properly meet (Y/N) Ackerman, my wife.”

If Erwin and Hanji thought they were shocked before, nothing could have prepared them for the bombshell that just landed on them. Both of their mouths fell open so they were gaping like fish, their words caught in their throats.

“YOUR WIFE!?” Hanji suddenly screeched, her eyes sparkling with shock and wonder.

(Y/N) couldn’t help but smile and nod, her expression making the room feel several degrees warmer.

“But, Levi, you’ve never worn a ring!” Erwin pointed out, his mind scrambling for any kind of clues that he had missed that would’ve told him sooner that Levi was married. He came up empty. He knew for a fact that Levi never wore a ring on his hand, knew that if he had, Hanji would’ve never stopped asking him about it.

Levi then flashed a small smile of his own, and reached up to remove the cravat from around his neck. As soon as the pristine white fabric had fallen away, Erwin and Hanji were both able to see the silver chain that was clasped around his neck, a simple gold band hanging from the center.

(Y/N) reached up with her own hands to move the flaps of the old jacket she was wearing, the same silver chain with a gold ring on the end of it sitting against her sternum.

Erwin and Hanji just stood and stared in complete and utter shock for a moment, before Hanji suddenly let out a loud squeal, her eyes shining behind her glasses as she ran right up to (Y/N). Levi stuck an arm out as the energetic woman came running up to them.

“Oi, Four-Eyes, don’t go harassing her.”

“Levi, this is your wife! I can’t not come and say hello!” Hanji said incredulously, pushing his arm away and ignoring his scowl as she bounded around (Y/N) excitedly. “Oh my gods you are so pretty! No wonder Shorty likes you!”

(Y/N) blushed at the comment and sheepishly ducked her head down a little but she was smiling brightly, her fingers moving to gently run down Levi’s arm, telling him she was alright even with this wildly energetic woman in her face.

“T-Thank you,” (Y/N) said. “Are you a friend of Levi’s?”

The  scientist nodded excitedly and stuck out her hand for (Y/N) to shake. “The name’s Hanji.”

(Y/N) shook her hand and tried to force the blush from her cheeks as Hanji continued to fawn over her.

“Levi, how come you never told us you were married?” Erwin asked while his girlfriend continued to blubber away, cooing over (Y/N)’s features and already beginning to set up a meal plan to help her get strong again.

Levi leveled a gaze at his Commander and one of the few people he called his friend. It was hard to tell what the giant blonde was thinking. He obviously knew Hanji’s opinion on everything, but Erwin’s sharp blue eyes remained unreadable but no less intense as they settled on the shorter man, waiting for a response. Levi naturally drifted almost imperceptibly closer to (Y/N) before speaking.

“I thought she was dead, Erwin. I’ve thought that ever since I went back to try to bring her up with me and found that scene at the house. Not only would telling you have been pointless, but also, it hurt too much to talk about her. I never took off my ring, I always wear it under my cravat, but I could never bring her up in conversation, not without feeling like my heart was being ripped out,” Levi said quietly, his voice a low rumble and his cheeks tinted with the palest pink as he admitted his feelings aloud.

Erwin contemplated his Captain’s words, his eyes narrowed on the sharp grey ones that stared right back. After a moment, Erwin could tell there was no deception in his friend’s gaze, nothing to suggest he hadn’t told them about (Y/N) for some unorthodox reason. The Commander nodded once, and he could’ve sworn Levi let out the softest sigh of relief. Hanji’s head suddenly shot up from where she had been examining (Y/N) for injuries.

“So that’s why you never accepted any of the women I tried to set you up with!” She said. “You were always so bothered by it, always so angry, now I know why!”

“Yeah,” Levi grumbled as he glared at the scientist. “Even when I thought she was dead, I just couldn’t love another…” 

Hanji stared at him for a moment before her eyes softened. She knew how hard it was for him to admit all of this, how awkward he must feel right now trying to explain everything. She wasn’t used to seeing her normally blunt, stoic, collected friend so nervous.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know. I just didn’t want you to be so sad and lonely anymore.”

Levi threw her another glare but it was less harsh this time, and having been friends with the grumpy man for so long, Hanji could read the hidden gratitude in his eyes. She nodded once in response and went back to checking (Y/N) over.

“(Y/N),” Erwin called, suddenly turning to face her after watching Hanji examine her.

“Yes?”

“Now that we’ve found out about your connection to my Captain here, I want to remind you that I am technically still obligated to take you to the Military Police for your crimes.”

Levi let loose an almost animalistic snarl and wrapped his arms around (Y/N), his eyes flashing and his teeth bared as he dared his friend to even try to take her from him. Erwin didn’t even bat an eye, a small smile curving at the corners of his lips.

“Since it is obvious that is not really an option for either of you, I would like to formally ask you to join the Survey Corps. That way, I can discount any charges against you and protect you from being forcibly taken from our custody once the Military Police realize we are not going to arrive.”

(Y/N) looked up at her husband, meeting his gaze and squeezing his hand comfortingly. Gods she had missed him so much, her heart ached with how much she loved this man, how much she never wanted to let him out of her sight ever again. Even though she had hated the military for most of her life, basing her entire career around it in her search for vengeance, there was no debate in her mind. Even if joining the Survey Corps wouldn’t have guaranteed her life, she knew she would’ve always agreed.

“Yes, I will join the Survey Corps, pledge my life to you, and fight for humanity,” (Y/N) said clearly and without hesitation, returning the smile the Commander threw her. Turning to Levi, (Y/N) looked deeply into his gunmetal eyes, marveling at the emotion swirling within them. “I will follow you, wherever you go, no matter what happens, I am never letting you out of my sight ever again.”

Levi let a genuine smile ride across his face as Erwin and Hanji left to go submit the proper paperwork, giving the reunited couple some privacy. Leaning down, Levi pressed his lips to hers in a blazing kiss, gentle and sweet but no less passionate, letting his kisses tell her exactly how he was feeling in that moment.

“I’m so glad you’re alive, (Y/N),” Levi whispered breathlessly when they pulled apart, resting his forehead against hers.

“I will always come back to you, Levi,”  (Y/N) said, her own eyes glazed with unshed tears. “I only ever feel truly alive when I am with you.”

~~~

A/N: I know the ending dialogue is a little cheesy but I had fun writing this anyway. Thank you again for reading and I hope you enjoy! More Levi content coming soon!

[mxgilray]

I... have some thoughts on the Loki finale. It was not what I was expecting, but I'm still hopeful for season 2.

This felt like a meh finale, like how a lot of season finales felt in Spring 2020 when they unexpectedly quit filming and had to cut things short by a couple episodes thanks to the pandemic. Only this was the planned out finale, they should've given a bit more oomph. I'm quite a fan of exposition and character development usually, but all the dialog was centered on He Who Remains, so it felt like our main characters were just side pieces.

Plus, the final "cliffhanger" of Mobius not knowing Loki and the statue of HWR replacing the Time Keeper statues felt quite lackluster. Not sure how they could've made it hit harder, but it didn't deliver the "oh shit" vibes they intended, but maybe that's cuz Mobius not remembering Loki has been an expected plot line on tumblr for half the season so it wasn't a blindside.

I get the point of the Sylki kiss. From what I've seen on tumblr so far I feel like the nuance of Sylvies actions was lost to most people (both Sylki fans and antis just Didn't Get It). It wasn't a big declaration of love like the fans are grasping onto it as, and it wasn't shoving selfcest into the canon to keep the heternormativity like antis are accusing it of being; it was Sylvie using Loki's attachment to her to trick him. She needed Loki out of her way, and she knew the only way to get past him and get He Who Remains' tempad was through emotional distraction. She used his love against him and betrayed him, a kiss was simply the most efficient way to do it. I did a whole post last week about Sylvie's feelings towards Loki, but to sum up I firmly believe that while Loki harbors some romantic feelings for Sylvie, she feels strictly platonic towards him, but is very aware of his attraction. She took advantage of his care for her to get the upper hand during their fight. Heck she even foreshadowed it herself in ep 5. "There are more important things than friends" "like taking down the TVA" she told Loki that taking down whoever is behind the TVA comes before everything; it's priority #1 in her book, above friendship or love or trust. Loki proved that his priority now is the greater good of the universe not her revenge, so Sylvie has no use for him anymore (partners only when it's convenient, because she is a Loki and that's how emotionally stunted Lokis behave).

I would like to point out the irony of her being worried about Loki betraying her, only to turn around and betray him. It's in the realm of "people who cheat assuming their partner is cheating" / "not using a turn signal when changing planes to avoid being cut off because when you see someone else use their signal you tend to cut them off", it's assuming other people will behave like you do. Sylvie feared in ep 5 that Loki would betray her in the end because she knew if it came down to it she'd betray him. But the thing is, he's actually grown past that. Loki is finally thinking about how his actions can damage others, not just his own wants and needs. Sylvie saw this moral change in Loki, realized there was no chance of getting him back on the blind revenge boat, and decided to exploit his newfound selflessness and emotional attachment to get him out of her path.

This whole season Loki has been maturing emotionally and growing into the best, most heroic version of himself. Sylvie, on the other hand, still has that deceptive, selfish, can't trust anyone persona that every Loki develops to combat insecurity. She hasn't had the emotional growth needed to see the bigger picture, she's still trapped in her own self centered mindset. As such, she disregards the impact her betrayal will have on Loki, the impact killing HWR will have on the universe. She doesn't even take a beat to consider whether revenge is still the right path cuz she doesn't practice self reflection yet; revenge has always been the goal and she refuses to give herself a chance of changing her mind. I hope in season 2 she'll get some character growth, now that her 1 goal has been accomplished.

Now on to Mobius. I enjoyed his scenes, I wish we'd been shown more of what he did to reveal the truth to the rest of the TVA. Again, I feel like too much time was given to HWR's monologing and not enough was spent on the other characters so Mobius and B-15 got very little screen time to display their plan. I am happy Mobius got the opportunity to throw Ranslayers betrayal back in her face, and his attemp at attacking her...my boy you work a desk job you ain't no fighter, she used to work in the field collecting variants, you had no chance. Also, where the F did she go??? I kept expecting her to show up at the end of time but she didn't. Where did Miss Minutes send her??

I'm sad Mobius doesn't know Loki anymore, but I can't say I'm surprised. I've got a few different thoughts on what the heck is going on with him and the TVA:

Sylvie accidentally sent Loki way back to a time early on in the TVA before HWR created the Time Keepers for anonymity. As such, this is a past Mobius who has yet to meet Loki or even learn of Loki's existence. If this is the case, then I think Loki and Past!Mobius's interaction at the end of ep 6 will be the catalyst for him becoming a Loki expert. The 63 branching timelines Mobius and B-15 are discussing before Loki interrupts are from some currently unknown disaster that'll be a plot line in s2. (This is my least favorite theory, but nevertheless a possibility)

HWR was correct when he said that if Sylvie kills him and destroys the TVA then another variant of him will just start it all up again. This variant didn't care to remain anonymous, hence the big statue of him, but kept all the memory wiped variants working there. Because time is a chaotic bitch, the changeover from one HWR variant to another may have been near seamless at the TVA and just involved a quick memory wipe of anything relating to the Time Keepers, Loki and Sylvie, or knowledge that the TVA are all variants. The 63 branches may be thanks to something Renslayer is doing like killing all the HWR variants in existence in order to negate the need for the TVA. The branching could also be from Sylvie's revenge still, we have no idea how much time has passed between her killing HWR and a new HWR taking over so the branching she caused could still be an issue.

There have actually been multiple TVAs running simultaneously, each in their own multiverse. Each one employs memory wiped variants, each one is in charge of a certain subset of timelines, and all work under the one HWR. Sylvie used HWR's tempad to eject Loki back to the TVA, but she accidentally sent him to the TVA of a different multiverse not realizing that's a Thing. The 63 branching timelines Mobius and B-15 are discussing are indeed from Sylvie killing HWR, but there's only 63 as opposed to the countless we saw diverging from Sylvie's perspective because this TVA only sees branches on timelines within their own multiverse. Mobius doesn't know Loki because he isn't our Mobius and in the multiverse he works in maybe Loki's aren't as much of an issue because none of them ever escaped the TVA like Sylvie did (or none of them have Tom's face so he doesn't recognize him as a Loki). If this is the case, then Loki is gonna have to find his way back to his own multiverse in order to be reunited with his Mobius, and that could end up happening thanks to Renslayer. Miss Minutes gave her a file that I suspect only HWR should have access to. Maybe it was tempad coordinates for other multiverses? It took til the 31st century for the multiverses to be connected despite Tony figuring out time travel in the 21st century because travel between universes is much harder, maybe HWR is still the only one who knows how to do that. (If this theory is correct then all the time travel done during Endgame was through timelines within one multiverse) Also just thought of this but what if the reason there are so many extreme variations of loki that grew to adulthood is because the criteria of "sacred timeline" is different in each multiverse. Classic Loki and maybe President Loki and Kid Loki are from the same universe as MCU Loki, but red haired Loki, Croki, Boastful Loki, etc are all from other universes. Think about it, Classic Loki, 2012 Loki, and MCU Loki all have an exact identical path up until their nexus event (or death in MCU Loki's case). I think other than identifying as female, Sylvie's childhood was identical as well and that her nexus event was coming to terms with her adoption as a child, which erased the catalyst of 2011 Thor's plot and would've changed everything for her future path. Had her adoption remained a secret and she grew up on asgard, I believe her story would mirror MCU Loki's. It mildly hit me weird that there would be such wild variation amongst Lokis, even with him being a shapeshifter, because there's a rigid sacred timeline (that supposedly the MCU movies have all adhered to) and they all felt like too big of a divergence to have been left unchecked so long. If boastful Loki was telling the truth about getting all 6 infinity stones then he should've triggered a nexus event as soon as he got more than the 3 he is "supposed to" interact with, unless in his multiverse the sacred timeline criteria is different. Another theory: the agents employed in each TVA are from multiverses other than the one they're working in. It would make sense, keep them from running into their own past by fully detaching each agent from their home timeline/universe. So the Principal!Renslayer that B-15 found will never in any future become the TVA judge we know. The one we know maybe came from the universe Loki got sent to, and that's how the two of them will end up crossing paths again.

[iamnightduchess]

Reiner & Mikasa: A Retrospective Pt.2

“The Shield of Marley & The Blade of Paradis”

Why ReiKasa is a (BR)OTP ship that’s worth more than a fleeting glance

[*caution: a continuation of a long reflective post with the sole intention to share a fan’s perspective through available representation through manga, anime, exhibition & etc. This post is not to convince nor argue where is its place in canon, but only to explore the vast possibilities of these two amazing characters that I love. In the end, if the series ends with Mikasa alive & ending by herself or with X character, then it means Isayama believes that X character is the one she’ll find that eventual happiness with and I’m all for that. Same goes with Reiner :)] Special thanks to @berumika​ for sharing some of the additional points that are included in this post. Years down the line after SnK ended, I’d love to have a post I can revisit of these two amazing characters & the possibilities that could have been from time to time. I’m having absolute fun in observing how much both of these characters have grown since the series debuted in 2010.

Pt. 1 available here. Warning: Image heavy, potential spoilers.

When I first got to know SnK/AoT, it was through the anime first before manga. Bad idea for me. My initial perspectives of Mikasa & Reiner were skewed and that was later rectified as I navigated the original source directly. Eren is the first protagonist that was introduced by the series creator but I was drawn to Mikasa & Reiner when I started the manga after Season 1 ended. 

Trainees

These top two trainees of the 104th batch are closely matched to each other in ranking. We don’t see them interact directly in the anime, but in the early panels of the manga, Reiner could be seen sitting down with Eren, Mikasa & Armin during mealtimes.

Sure, Mikasa can be expected to not converse with Reiner directly, but if her two childhood friends have their good friend sitting together for meals, at the very least we can expect them to have some brownie points in socialization.

Apart from being total gorgeous hotties, they’re both physically strong people, with Reiner always being second to Mikasa in terms of brute strength. Total muscle pairing and I could see them being at par with each other during physical drills. Reiner & Mikasa could go all out, even beyond 100% and the other would be physically capable to take/receive the force. Shadis would’ve tasked them to lead the physical trainings from time to time. They have been sparring partners, evident from the moment Mikasa threw Reiner across the field into Eren who’s sparring with Annie. Their fitness regime would be in-sync with each other. I could see them having mad respect for each other and secretly admire the other person’s prowess and skill. 

Connection through Eren

As highlighted primarily in Pt.1, Eren has been shown to look up or aspire to be high achievers like Reiner and Mikasa both. He wanted to be as strong as the two of them. The odds of the very same people he look up to, as the two individuals who would be able to stop him, I would suspect as very high at this point.

When they were younger, Reiner has always been the one that’s pulled Eren up when he’s down, nearly giving up & at the lowest points of his life. He was also the one who convinced Eren to ‘keep on moving forward’, which we’ll learn later was one of the most ironic moments that Reiner recalled as he feels responsible for everything that begun, which also pushed his guilt inside him to his near-suicide attempt.

Survey Corps

Reveal on Wall Rose

Mikasa, was one of the few junior SC members who were called in for the secret meeting with the unit’s top brass the night before the reveal. She was made aware of Reiner & Bertolt’s possible identity as the enemy after she assisted with apprehending Annie in Wall Sina. While Reiner was talking to Eren, Mikasa could be seen being highly agitated, hands shaking as she waited with unease breath for Reiner & Bertolt to make their move.

She was later seen questioning her hesitance on delivering the killing blow or at least enough to incapacitate them. Mikasa called Reiner & Bertolt “the plague of humanity” in anger and absolute disappointment. They were still her friends that she knew for three years & it had been difficult for her to kill them.

Thunder Spears Training

Mikasa could be seen reflecting in a combination of unease, sadness & regret as she recalled back the moment she was unable to break Reiner’s armor with her blades.

Return to Shinganshina

Mikasa was the one who crippled the Armored’s legs. She wasn’t as emotional as Connie, Jean & Sasha but there was a deep, painful rumination on her part the moment they assumed that Reiner was dead dead. She was also the one who noticed the sudden move from Reiner’s Armored Titan. In the anime, she could be seen angry & frustrated at Reiner’s refusal to confess that she pulled too hard on the bandage in her hands while she was helping Jean with his injuries.

Time-Skip (Current)

Reiner’s reminiscence & nightmares

Reiner’s reminiscence of Mikasa was indirect, but he highlighted her (and Armin’s) fierce, unwavering loyalty towards Eren. He had recurring nightmares of her & Levi that are the symptoms of his PTSD. The anime specifically used her shot to highlight the last image of her that he saw: anger.

Assault in Liberio

You could see the existing disappointment on her face when Reiner’s partially transformed Titan appeared, having to cross paths again in such a way after four years. She could’ve intervened the way she did with Galliard’s Jaw but she didn’t. Eren said Reiner’s out of any energy left to retaliate and Mikasa didn’t disagree. At this point, Mikasa is already affected by Eren’s actions in murdering the women & children inside the building that he shifted in and the destruction they all left behind.

Connection through Gabi

Reiner’s young cousin reminded Armin & Mikasa of a young Eren. The difference is that, Gabi had an early opportunity to be saved through the compassion showed by Mikasa and Sasha’s beloved family. The very same people who had every right to be sad, grieving and taking out their anger on the child who gunned down their beloved friend & daughter.

Mikasa doesn’t verbally express her emotions but it can be shown through her body language & facial expressions. I love seeing the tender way she pressed Gabi’s head onto her shoulder as protection and a symbolism of safety. It was a bit sad that this ‘bond’ was short-lived but what an amazing connection it would’ve been if Mikasa & Gabi had been given more space to develop their bond in canon.

Concern for Reiner & Annie

Usually when Mikasa verbally expresses something, it is usually important/significant to her. In ch.124, she could be seen asking Gabi about Reiner’s location. Why? It’s because she is concerned for Reiner’s safety. If his Armors were undone, he was vulnerable and with pure Titans and the Colossal Titans walking around, he would be in danger.

“We need to help Reiner & Annie.” She was heavily concerned with Reiner and Annie’s lives at the docks. But this moment is more important for Connie as a callback to the moment when Annie & Reiner both had saved Connie when they were trainees.

Adjacent Manga/Official Art Paneling(s)

In the current final arc of the manga, (several panels have been highlighted in Pt.1) it’s quite interesting to note that Mikasa & Reiner’s characters/panelings have been drawn adjacent to each other. I could also see the way Armin, Reiner & Mikasa (ARM) are getting primary focus by Isayama in this final arc.

Others (Misc./Semi-canon)

Cool-faced Cookie (Attack on Titan Game)

When Reiner suggested the player to do a melee practice with two other sparring partners, he immediately spotted Mikasa & Historia. It’s very interesting to note that Reiner’s nickname for Mikasa is “Cool-faced cookie” as he hinted the player to ask Mikasa for an impromptu practice.

The blink and miss furtive glance(s)

In Lost Girls OVA’s ED by WIT, a screenshot of the primary 104th walking together could be seen. Mikasa could be seen sneaking a glance at Reiner.

In a scene during the fresh SC recruits discussing intensely about Eren’s role as humanity’s hope, Reiner could be seen glancing silently with concern for Mikasa, as Jean questions her vouch of confidence in Eren’s abilities.

In Snk OVA#3, Mikasa is grouped with Reiner for the excursion and they could be seen having good teamwork together. When Mikasa’s ‘sixth senses’ are triggered due to Eren being in danger, Reiner could be seen looking at her direction immediately as if sensing her distress. 

Characteristics & Zodiac Signs

Amazing/Compassionate with children

Known as the Shield of Marley, Reiner’s a caring keeper, a natural leader and a provider who’s naturally amazing with children. Everyone looks up to him. Would’ve made a good family man if the circumstances were different. Based on his characteristics & physical attribute, he reminds me of Mikasa’s father below, no matter how short-lived he was. I could see her admiring that side of him even if it wasn’t mentioned directly. They are both loving, selfless, protective towards their child/ward.

Mikasa, true to her name, an Ackerman, a genetically-enhanced super soldier/warrior of Paradis that wields their blades with the highest efficiency. Though she might not seem as natural with children, did come from a healthy & loving upbringing with her parents for nine years. Her real persona as a child pre-awakening is a curious, thoughtful and actually a warm-hearted girl. Post-awakening characteristics could also be contributed from the traumas imposed by the murder of her parents, the fall of Wall Maria, the death of Carla & having to shoulder the immediate responsibility as Eren’s new ‘guardian’/caregiver/problem-solver/mess-cleaner.

She shown her compassion towards Gabi, which in turn had proved to the little girl how there are good-hearted, forgiving people in the Island. Mikasa could be observed as being heavily concerned with Falco as she questioned Jean about the young  boy. One could see the anger on her face when she saw Connie took off and abducted Falco to be fed to his mom. She drew the line in harming children even if they’re trained enemy soldiers.

Aquarius & Leo’s Compatibility

Reiner’s a Leo and Mikasa’s an Aquarius. Their characteristics are too coincidental to their respective astrological signs to be disregarded completely.

He’s an extrovert (Ref: younger!Reiner. Older Reiner too but his PTSD’s and maturity have taken over his more outgoing personality) that compliments her introvert personality yet they both have their inner demons to deal with and could somehow understand that about each other. He’s a ray of sunshine that could enlighten her melancholic personality. Yet their dominant personalities, although might be clashing at first, eventually would lead them to respect the other’s perspective. This would ring true when they were younger. Currently they have grown older, wiser and more understanding of the other.

At the current Final Arc, this has been highlighted in Part 1, recent chapters have shown older Reiner and Mikasa’s unspoken respect and understanding for each other. The current Reiner’s natural leadership as a born Leo is very apparent. Reiner was being very mindful of her feelings as Eren is a very sensitive subject & Mikasa took in Reiner’s words with serious consideration. 

It would be great to see more of their combined synergy as Reiner & Mikasa’s teamwork could be seen once again in ch.135. Aquarius & Leo would take turns to take a back seat while letting the other leads.

They are actually very physically and sensually compatible with each other & could potentially be an unstoppable force if they were to fight for the same side. At the moment, I’m hoping to see this potentially deadly combination once again in ch.136 onwards. They could’ve overtaken Eren’s Founding Form is it wasn’t for OG!Ymir’s one-sided overkill powers. To the real God who created the parasite worm, please take powers away frpm this uncontrollable grandma in a little girl’s body.

More of Mikasa’s Aquarius & Reiner’s Leo Compatibility Meter with description below:

Since this is SnK and not Berserk/Tokyo Ghoul/insert other josei manga titles, no one’s having sex directly haha In an ideal world, Reiner & Mikasa’s physical attractions for each other will almost be off the charts. “When they find true emotion, Aquarius might actually end up respecting the king”. In current arc, this can be observed. She respects Reiner & his words.

The above describes both Mikasa and Reiner respectively. Mikasa does not reach for heroism directly but it can be seen indirectly from the way she had inspired a child Louise through her bravery, protecting Gabi and rescuing/protecting the Azumabito Service crew from the Jeagerists. Reiner has always been born to be a hero, regardless of the circumstances of his conception or birth.

“If they end up fighting for the same cause, they could turn down entire governments and use their incredible force to change anything in the world.”

Even oppressive, destructive supernatural, God-like powers? Ymir & Eren, better be prepared. 

 “To get there, these two would have to stop the battle they have with each other.” Check and Check.

“Leo -- has the ability to give clarity to any situation.” Ch.133. That was not Reiner projecting. He’s always been Eren’s counterpart. He’s telling the readers that there’s a part of Eren out there that still wants to be stopped since he has surrender his will to Ymir. She took his words into serious consideration and in Paths, voices out to Eren on his sins and burden.

“Leo is exactly what Aquarius needs to find love. -- to liberate and shine as if they have been searching for one another for many lifetimes.” In an ideal world or in my gazillion AUs: Reiner and Mikasa could be soulmates.

This could ring true for the younger Reiner & Mikasa.

Reiner and Mikasa both are indeed strong, selfless individuals in each other’s eyes. This can be observed in Ch.133 & 135. Reiner feared her but respect her strength & feelings when it relates to Eren nevertheless. Even Reiner was taken aback by Pieck’s ultimatum in blowing the Founder’s neck, although Armin had suggested the same thing the night before.

“Just like the Sun and the lightning don’t go together, Aquarius should take over on a rainy day, in a depressive crowd or in places where they both feel as if they would drown. This is where Leo needs to give in and let their partner rule the sky--”  It wasn’t a rainy day or depressive crowd in ch. 135, it was a chaotic shitstorm and they were all not drowning but dying. Period. Our dear Mikasa took charge like a BAMF Queen that she is. She was putting her life on the line to protect the four injured men behind them. She aimed to buy them more time if she could as everyone expected it to be the end. As highlighted in Pt.1, you could see the helplessness on Reiner’s face when he saw Mikasa’s breaking point.

Reference : http://www.astrology-zodiac-signs.com/compatibility/aquarius-leo/

Final Exhibition

The Final Exhibition highlights the Last Stand: the direct final confrontation between The Founding/Attack against The Armored, with Mikasa being in the middle of the confrontation, tipping the scales of the outcome. Before, she assisted Eren against Reiner. Currently, she is working with Reiner to stop Eren.

Trio(s) Parallel

An interesting panel from ch.97:

EMA & RBA have always been lauded as the main trio of their respective sides. We have seen Armin taking over Bertolt’s powers & is potentially promised a future with the girl that Bertolt had feelings for. Recognize the probable pattern?

Guy from trio 1 ate Guy from trio 2′s Titan & is promised a potential future with the girl he cares for/have feelings for/close with from the trio.

Only one between between Eren & Reiner will remain. What if the story begins with Eren but will end with Reiner all along?

SnK HighSchool AU / Breakfast Club X-over

In the movie, the Jock (Quarterback!Reiner) ends up with the Rebel (Goth!Mikasa). He looks past her eccentricity & see her for who she is. This is a fun crossover by Isayama but very interesting to see Armin, Mikasa & Reiner work together to save Eren in the fake previews.

Whether the combined strength and perseverance of the Blade of Paradis & the Shield of Marley be enough to save the world from total annihilation? It remains to be seen very, very soon.

No matter how the series ends, whether both Reiner and Mikasa survive or not, I’ll be looking back in pride upon seeing their journey, growth & dynamics as either individual or together in this beautiful series by Hajime Isayama’s brilliant mind. Because of him, these two characters inspired his readers, myself included, to be brave and fight for what they truly believe in: humanity & its continuation. It has been an incredible ride and I will continue to enjoy writing for this OTP/BROTP, that I’ve fell so deeply in love with and their vast possibilities.

[animeniac-writings]

L & Sons

Just some old musings because I’ll never get over that L was supposed to be a father but Ohba didn’t believe anyone would want to fuck L-

Anime: Death Note

It was during one of L's earlier cases that he had met her. Twice after that he had also requested her assistance on cases. She was reliable after all.

Even though he of course was more than capable of handling this mystery on his own, Watari had suggested calling in some help for a suspect that needed investigated closer up.

Stephania Lenox, she was a thief hired for infiltration. Smart and cunning. With medium length blonde hair and painted lips, she could talk her way into and through anything.

It was in no way a secret that L was incredibly intelligent, not exactly sore to look at either, and Stephania saw an opportunity. A life of high end theft was tiresome after all, and she might not want to keep this way of income forever. Not that she didn't have more than enough fortunes stocked away.

L's flawless planning would've made him the perfect partner for her crimes, if only he was into that sort of thing. But if there was someone else with that ability to be a mastermind? who could be groomed for planning heists and detailed extractions of priceless items?  

With this in mind Stephania decided to try and become close to L. As close as one can really get with him, he isn't talkative nor outgoing, but her self-proclaimed mission for now would be to stay friendly with the detective.

Putting effort to start conversations and asking recommendations for his preferred sweets, unsuspicious ways to get L's attention.

The case she had been hired had just come to a close. It, of course, as all cases taken up by L, had gone smoothly.

Everyone on the case was heading back to their homes, L and Watari would leave the hotel in the morning.

She was also quite skilled at seducing, which is useful for her way of life. So as a proposed way of celebration...

There weren't many things that surprised L. He had most scenarios taken into consideration long before they might occur. And such an invitation was not out of the question with her personality, it seemed like a normal proposition.

And with a little convincing, the promise of a little pill, L didn't see why anything would be wrong. Nor did he notice the pre-poked holes in the foil package. She did have her way with words for sure.

 It was close to three years after that case when L had Watari contact Miss Lenox again, there were a few men he wanted close information on and he knew she had been around the country not long before. A few high end crimes fit her style, so why not ask?

The request was solely about the case though, he didn't really expect a replay of the 'celebration' from solving the last case. It didn't really matter to L either way.

Stephania knew that the case would be simple, no matter how complicated it was, L seemed to find the evidence easily and be on his sweet-eating way. So she accepted the job.

And although Mihael seemed like a smart toddler it was hard to tell at this point if he was 'advanced'. So what's wrong with a little insurance for your plans?

While being a single parent worked for many, a lot of that success came from loving your kids. Not just retirement investments.

It hadn't been much trouble when there was only Mihael to make arrangements for while she was working and traveling around the world for different pay outs. But two young children, a baby and a toddler, it was nerve grinding, and became increasingly harder to find people to watch after them while she was away.

It didn't help with how angry Mihael could get with his tantrums and how she didn't have an answer for calming him down when caretakers called her either. And even though Nate didn't require much of her attention once given a new toy, it was all too much.

It was nearly three years after the last case together that Stephania was able to contact L. He was a master at hiding. She was only able to find of his whereabouts after she heard he'd taken up a case in England again.

She didn't care what his case was about, but with a little smooth talking she was able to obtain the number for L's current hotel room, greeting him as if an old friend and convincing him she needed to meet up, having a bit of information he might find useful.

After working two cases with her, L had no reason to suspect her of lying. Although he knew something was off, her voice had been a little too calm, words a little too convincing.

Nonetheless he agreed and gave her their location and set a time she would arrive and by which elevator.

The knock that came at the door was lighter than expected, but was on time. His only answer was "Come in"

After a exactly 23 seconds, another knock had come. Suspicious, and alone since Watari had went to purchase more sweets, L walked to the door, first checking the peephole but seeing no one.

What Lawliet never expected though, was to open the door and find children waiting for him.

A toddler with unique white hair that curled slightly sat on the ground holding a doll, in a light blue shirt and checkered pants the child appeared no more than 2 years old.

Then standing directly in front of him, looking up and a bit confused, was a boy with familiarly blonde hair, straight and slightly long, he wore a black shirt and jeans with a small backpack on his shoulder.  With a stuffed striped tiger clutched in on hand and a letter in the other.

"Are you him?" the boy asked L, craning his neck to look up at the man. He couldn't have been more than 5 at the most.

"Am I who exactly?"

the boy squinted at L "Are you our dad or something? we're s'pposed to meet him here."

For the first time since Watari had taken him in, L was lost.

[bqstqnbruin]

Teach me something 3

The Bruins winning the series means another part of this fic (I’m so sorry to my canes followers [if I even have any wait do I?] I still love you pls don’t hate me but as someone from Connecticut we’re still bitter that the Whalers left and went to Carolina in the first place again don’t hate me)

Will I ever write the requests that y’all have sent in? Who knows (JK you know I will)

I hope you like this! 

ALSO a warning, this partially takes place in the hospital

Read the other parts:  part 1 // part 2 // part 4

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

“Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Chemistry class!” you say in what was probably perceived as an overly chipper tone, but you were genuinely excited to start the new school year, especially after missing the end of last year. “I’m Mrs. Tkachuk, and I know that most of you probably hate ice breakers, especially since you’re going to be doing them all week, but today is just going over the syllabus, getting to know me, and then we’re going to spend the rest of class doing a little chemistry-related ‘get to know you’ activity.” Some of your students roll their eyes, some even groan. “It’s chem class, guys, what did you expect?” 

You spend the first part of the morning with the boring stuff, the class expectations, listening to them groan over the fact that you give what weren’t technically pop quizzes, but were something very similar, having them break into chatter when you said you gave one partner test per quarter, and that they got to pick which unit was the partner test expect during the third quarter, and then have no reaction at the chemistry jokes that you made throughout the class. 

“So, do you guys have any questions for me?” you ask, glancing over at the clock. You had half the period left to go through your little PowerPoint, then have them do their activity. One of the boys in the back of the room raises his hand. “Robbie, right?”

“Yeah, are you related to Matthew Tkachuk?” A few of the boys around him start to murmur over whether or not you were, definitely excited by the possibility, especially since they were all wearing jackets for the hockey club they were part of.

“I meant about the syllabus, but I’ll answer that in a sec, ok? Any questions about the syllabus before I tell you about myself?” you ask the class, none of them raising their hands in hopes of knowing whether or not Matthew was related to you. God, you hoped not. “Ok, then.” 

You turn on the projector, the screen filled with a short PowerPoint that you showed every year, updating every so often. You started telling them about where you were from, where you went to school, even that you used to dance with the Stampede. “So, I’m not related to Matthew Tkachuk,” you say, the boys seemingly deflated by that fact. You switch slides, a picture of you and him on the ice after their most recent Stanley Cup win, the one from your wedding that was your phone background for so long, one of you, Matthew, and your son, Oliver when he was a year old, and the newest one, the two of you with you a now three-year-old Ollie, and your newborn daughter, Tessa. “He is my husband. You might have heard that I was out for the last two months of last school year because of maternity leave, and I’m also surprised that you didn’t already know I was married to him considering he’s come with me to school events plenty of times. Maybe you’ll even get to meet him.” 

The rest of the class goes fine: the students making ‘their elemental symbol,’ which they surprisingly like doing; their initials were the symbol, and they decorated it with things they liked and things that represented them. You told them you would be making a class periodic table on the windows behind them, leading to all the hockey boys begging to be together so they could do one coherent background image. You couldn’t help but laugh, thinking of how Matthew would get his friends to do the same thing if given the opportunity. 

Every period brought up the same questions about you and Matthew: the girls wanted to know how you met (you met at a bar but that seemed a little inappropriate to tell your high schoolers, saying you met at a charity function was what you went with), how’d you come up with the names for your children (weird, but fine: you came up with Oliver just because you’ve always loved the name, Matthew came up with Tessa because it was the closest name to his sisters that he could think of without actually naming her Taryn as well, and he adores his sister, so why not?), the boys asked how much of his team you knew (all of them), how many games you went to (as many as you could but it was hard with children), can you get them free tickets (no). Teachers weren’t supposed to share a lot about their personal life, but the students could probably find enough of this information out on social media, even though you kept your own accounts private. 

You have one more period before the end of the day, luckily you had a prep time, even though there wasn’t much to do since it was the beginning of the year. While browsing through your roster for your last class, your room phone starts to ring. 

“Chucky’s room,” you answer, using the nickname your husband’s teammates used for him.

“Hi, Y/N, your husband called. He said he needed you to call him back and that it was urgent. Margot said she would cover your last class,” the school secretary says from the other end.

“What? Is everything ok?” you ask, trying to stretch the chord of the phone long enough to reach your phone at your desk. 

“He didn’t say, he just said to call him. I’m assuming you have to leave, so you’re good to just go.”

You hang up, starting to panic. What happened to him? What about Ollie? What if it was Tessa? Oh my god, what if something happened to all three of them? You start to panic, preparing for the worst as you dial Matthew’s number and pack up your bag as fast as you can. “Babe, what’s wrong?” 

“You need to meet us at Alberta Children’s Hospital as soon as you can, ok?” you hear him say, the same panic in your voice that you started to feel. 

“Matthew, what happened?” you say, Margot standing in your doorway, sensing your panic. ‘What’s going on?’ she mouths to you as you hold up a finger to her, waiting for Matthew’s answer.

“It’s Oliver, don’t worry, just get here, please. I need you.” He hangs up before you can say anything else.

“Telling me don’t worry and get to the children’s hospital because of Oliver in the same sentence is oxymoronic,” you say to Margot, not really knowing what else to tell her, “Just tell them they can hang out or something, not to get too loud. Hand out the syllabus, tell them don’t worry about it because I’ll see them soon. Tell them I’ll be emailing them tonight so to check their school accounts, but I had a family emergency,” you spit out to her as she just nods along.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but he’ll be alright. Let me know if you need anything.” 

She brings you in for a hug, trying to calm your nerves even though it didn’t really work. You run out of the door right before the bell rings, students swarming around you as you try to beat them down the staircase. The upperclassmen who had study halls this period were also allowed to leave, a privilege none of them had lost yet since it was the beginning of the year, which means you had to battle with them to get out of the single entrance your school had. 

You were shaking, trying to plug in the directions to the hospital as you were walking to your car, praying that it would save you some time to just get the hell out of there and go see what happened to Oliver.

Why didn’t Matthew tell you what was wrong? How bad was it that it could only be said in person? Or was it something trivial and he just didn’t want to say it over the phone? Either way, why didn’t he tell you? What was wrong with Oliver? Your mind was racing the entire drive there, nothing that you could think of or listen to could take your mind off the fact that your husband was waiting in the hospital with your son, for who knows what reason? 

You rush into the hospital, bag on your arm, hands shaking, ready to cry and just wanting to find your son. “I’m looking for Oliver Tkachuk? T-k-a-c-h-u-k. I’m his mother,” you frantically say to the lady at the desk. 

“Sorry, I can’t give you any information right now, the doctor is still with him,” she says, trying to give you a reassuring smile. 

“Is there anything you can tell me? Where he is? If his father is here? Where his father is? Anything about how long it will be?” you start to spit out, a constant stream of panic running through you, “Sorry, sorry, that was a lot. Are you sure there’s nothing you can tell me about my son? If I can where my husband is can I go to him?”

You didn’t mean to panic at her, if that was a thing, but it just kind of happened anyway. “Yes, if you can find him that’s fine. If you take a seat right now, I can tell you something as soon as I find out if you’re still here,” she says, reassuringly. You do as she says, digging out your phone from the bottom of your bag to see if Matthew has sent you anything.

‘Hey, I’m in the emergency waiting room, where are you?’ you send him, just in case he’s in the middle of something with a doctor. Your phone buzzes immediately, him telling you where to find him. You get up, the lady at the desk nodding at you, probably assuming you were going to wander to find Matthew. 

“Y/N!” you hear Matthew call once you get up to the floor. You run to him, the panic in his voice pushing you to the verge of tears. He takes you in for a hug. You can feel his body shaking.

You look up at him, tears filling his eyes. “What happened?” 

He buries his head in your shoulder, the two of you standing in the middle of the hallway, probably in the way. “We were outside playing after lunch and I turned my back for two seconds because Tessa was crying and then I look and Oliver is crying and there’s blood everywhere because he fell, and,”

“Matthew, Matthew,” you say, trying to get him to stop. 

“I feel so bad. I can’t believe I let our son get hurt. And then I couldn’t get a hold of you because your phone was off and I just panicked and brought him here” You can feel tears soaking through your shirt. 

“Babe,” you say, pulling him off your shoulder. You’ve never seen him so upset before. He looks just like Oliver did when you told him he couldn’t have dessert before dinner. “Kids get hurt. That happens. He’s probably going to need some stitches, yeah?”

“I can’t believe I let this happen,” he says, the two of you walking to go sit down. 

“You were watching two small children at once. It was going to happen at some point, and it could happen to either of us,” you tell him, trying to get him to calm down. “There is no way you never busted your lip open or something like that when you were a child. He just takes after his father.”

“Oh no,” he says, the color nearly draining from his face as he realizes Ollie was practically going to be his mini-me.  

“Speaking of: where is our daughter? I really hope you didn’t leave her alone.”

“Oh, god, no. She’s with Rory.” You look at him, shocked that he would leave her with Rory of all people. “Ok, she was the only one within a ten-mile radius that I would trust and could reach. Out other option was Johnny. Do you trust him with our newborn daughter?” 

“Point taken,” you say, suddenly thankful for Rory. “Has the doctor said anything?”

“Just that it’s going to be a while and that he’ll come get us when he’s ready to,” Matthew says, looking down at his hands. 

You take his hand in yours. “Ollie will be alright. I promise.” 

“How are you so calm? How am I the one who’s freaking out? God, being a parent has made me soft.”

You can’t help but laugh: his last game of the season he got flat out ejected from the game because he was fighting. If that’s soft, you don’t want to see him any other way. “If both parents are freaking out that never ends well. So I’m just freaking out internally,” you say, leaning your head on his shoulder.

He kisses the top of your head, “God, I’m lucky to have you.”

“I know.” You look up at him and smile, him rolling his eyes at your modesty. “Ollie’s going to be fine. This happens to kids all the time.” 

The two of you sit there in silence, watching doctors and nurses walk by, parents and siblings going around probably trying to find their child. Matthew seems to have calmed down, a little at least. You both knew Oliver was going to be fine, but shit, was it scary to not know anything. 

You lean down to your bag, digging through it to find your computer. You might as well start drafting an email to your students now while you have time. “What are you doing?” Matthew asks, curious as the family picture you used in your slideshow pops up as your lock screen. 

“I have to email my last class. They should be out of school by now and I told Margot to have them watch for an email from me.” Matthew looks almost angry, but why? “You should come into school one day if we can get Rory to watch the kids; the boys went crazy when they found out we were married, I think they would love it if you did an experiment with them.”

“We’re literally in the hospital for our son, and you’re thinking of your students, instead?” he snips, his face starting to turn red.

You weren’t thinking of your students instead of Oliver, you were thinking of them and Oliver, just not at the same time. “Sorry that in addition to our two children, I also have, what, four class rosters of thirty students each? And my junior homeroom class? And a study hall section? My entire life is occupied by children, so sorry if I have more than just ours on my mind.” You knew this anger was coming from his worry of Oliver, but that doesn’t mean he has the right to take it out on you. “Matthew, I’m just writing them an email, and then I don’t have to worry about them until tomorrow.”

“I mean, it’s getting a little annoying that I have to stay home with the kids all day while you’re at work. I couldn’t even reach you because you don’t check your phone, and then the school said I would have to wait to hear from you until you have a free period because they couldn’t find anyone to cover your class. Do you even care about Oliver and Tessa?” He can’t believe he just said that to you. He knows your two kids mean more to you than he probably does. Before he can say he’s sorry, you start. 

“Ok, four things. One: we talked about me returning to teaching and both agreed that it was something that we were comfortable with me doing. You only have to stay home with the kids for another week before Tessa starts at daycare and Oliver starts preschool. Two: you know that I can’t have my phone out during the day. It’s not like I can call you in the middle of practice or during a game, so you being irritated about that is ridiculous. Three: the school being understaffed isn’t really my fault. Yes, they were wrong to not get a hold of me, but that, again, is not my fault. And four: the only reason you are acting like this is because you are worried about Oliver, which I understand, because, and this may shock you: I am, too. But that does not mean that you have the right to turn your worry into anger, and then take it out on your wife,” you say, surprising yourself by staying calm the entire time. “So if you excuse me, I’m going to go call Rory and check on Tessa, unless that’s something you think you should do because maybe I don’t care enough about my own children.” 

You get up and go to the end of the hallway before he can say anything. “Hey, Rory, it’s me. How’s my girl doing?”

“She poops. So much. Did you know babies poop this much? I think I’ve changed her diaper three times since Matthew dropped her off.” Maybe Johnny would have been better than Rory, but then again, you could see Johnny using a curtain as a diaper a la Uncle Jesse and Joey in Full House. 

“Yes, remember, Tessa is my second baby. Oliver pooped a lot, too,” you say, laughing. 

“I don’t remember pooping this much as a child,” you hear her say, obviously switching her phone to speaker. “Like I see why you love because she is just so cute,” you hear Tessa laughing as Rory is probably tickling her or making a stupid face as she does baby talk to her, “But the poop!” “Ror, you wouldn’t remember pooping as a child, you don’t start forming explicit memories until you’re two, but implicit memories when you’re seven. But other than the poop, how is she doing? Is she giving you any other trouble?”

“You know too much about science for a teacher,” she says, you rolling you eyes at the comment, “But, nah, she’s great. She’s probably going to nap soon? Matthew had mentioned that she normally naps around now?”

“Yep, she’s typically asleep when I get home, so put her down for a nap and keep an eye on her, please. I don’t need both my children in the hospital.” 

“Well, who else would you trust with your child?”

“Most other people I know.”

“Johnny?”

“I said most.” You finally hang after she reassures you four times that Tessa is fine with her, telling her that one of you will call when you’re leaving the hospital, whichever parent doesn’t have Oliver will go to Rory’s, and that you’ll text her with updates on Ollie if you have any. 

You walk over to Matthew, sitting in the chair with his head in his hands, his fingers intertwined with his curls. He looks up when you sit down, the look on his face saying that he was sorry for what you said. 

“You are the best mother our kids could have,” he says.

“Mr. and Mrs. Tkachuk?” a man in a white coat, stethoscope and clipboard stands in front of you. You stand up and go to him, both of you hoping for good news as Matthew puts his arm around you. “Your son is fine; he just needed stitches and a cast on his left arm. If you follow me I can take you to his room.”

“A cast? You said there was just blood,” you look at Matthew, wide-eyed and unsure if you were confused or shocked.

“There was blood! I don’t know, you’re the science teacher, you should know this stuff,” he says, trying to defend himself.

“You do understand that biology and anatomy are different from chemistry, right? Like, I love you so much, but how do you know nothing about science? I never stop talking about science.”

He just shrugs as the two of you stand outside the door of the room your son was in. “I went to school in America, babe.” You roll your eyes as he takes your hand. “Ready?” 

You nod, both of you walking into the room to see your so sitting on the bed. He looks so small with the blue cast on his arm, stitches stretching across his chin. “Mommy! Daddy!” he screams, “Look! It’s blue!” 

You can feel yourself start to cry at the sight of your son hurt, even though his curls are going in every direction as he tries to jump off the bed to show you his cast. “Oh sweetie, your chin,” you say, tilting his head up so you can get a better look at it.

“Aren’t they cool?” he screams again. “And look! They gave me a lollipop!” he holds up the yellow candy in your face, you not even noticing that he had to begin with.

“He really is your son,” you say, looking at Matthew as Oliver squirms around on the bed. 

“The stitches can be taken out in five days, so you’ll need to bring him back here to have them removed. Then for his arm, I’ll want a check after two weeks, but it probably won’t be coming off for five to seven,” the doctor starts spitting out. He hands Matthew a piece of paper from his clipboard, Matthew looking at it like it’s written in a foreign language before stuffing it in your bag. “You can take your son home, just sign the discharge papers,” he finishes, leaving the room.

“You sign the papers and get Tessa from Rory’s, all take Ollie home?” you say to him, picking up Oliver in your arms. 

Matthew nods, kissing Oliver on the head. “Daddy, can we have ice cream for dinner?” 

You both laugh, Matthew’s mini-me giving you the same puppy dog eyes that Matthew gives you when he wants something. “Only if Mommy is ok with it, but only because you got hurt.”

“We’ll get some ice cream on the way home, bub,” you say, kissing Oliver on the cheek as he squeals with joy. “See you at home, babe? With Tessa.” 

“See you at home.” 

[eunsthings]

Museums

Part 2 l Again?

Genre: fluff🥰, slow burn i guess

(Reader is a veterinary student on more or less her final year of vet school who has a part time job in editing and is kinda smol and socially awkward)

Pairing: Tsukishima x fem!reader (post timeskip)

Word count: 2.2k

Here’s Part 1  II Series masterlist II Part 3

You have been offered a big project and now the odds are really testing you... 

[friend] = a friend’s name

The content of the sent email—along with other details—stated that if you were willing, to email them back and go to the Sendai City Museum whenever you were free this week. Sitting on your bottom bunk-bed, checking your schedule, you see that you were available on the 7th of September; a Friday afternoon. You email them and confirm that you were going.

A few days had passed and it was now Friday. You were having lunch with [friend]—a close friend of yours—in a café outside your campus. After your lunch, you were going to head to the museum.

“You know, you should have just texted me.”

“What?” [friend] stops and looks up at you, pausing from eating, an innocent expression plastered on her face.

“You where the reason my phone almost got destroyed,” you deadpanned.

Your friend stares with a blank face… then bursts out laughing. “I’m so sorry—” she says, almost choking on food from laughing, “I—hahaha!” still snickering trying to speak in between gulps of air, “Oh, man. I really am sorry; it’s just that… what kind of luck do you have? A nosebleed because of a phone call?” It went on like this for some time.

“Oh by the way, are you going on the school trip?” your friend asks.

“When was that again?” you face her.

“Uhhhhh, the last week of September I think…”

“Oh, yeah, right. I don’t really know… going on a trip with people I barely know for a whole week is kind of draining,”you softly replied; pondering.

“But like—oh no! It’s almost time for your meet-up,” [friend] tells you; cutting her sentence short, both of you got lost in the euphoria of chatting with one another.

“Oh yeah, no, I have to go, I’m so sorry. Byeee~” you reply in a jumble standing up and bringing your bag with you.

“Wait,” your friend stands up with you, “I’m going with you,” She left no space for refusal as she picks up the scarf you almost left and hands it to you.

“Wow, ok,” you thought to yourself as you see the museum building in front of you. It was a very nice modern-looking building.

 With your friend beside you, you enter its doors.

Inside, it had many things on display–mostly about the history of Sendai and samurais as well as a certain “Date” family. Both of you try looking for the office and almost ended up lost before you were able to look for a person to ask; it was weirdly devoid of people.

Reaching the office, an assistant, you had guessed, told you to make yourself comfortable while waiting. You did as you were told. Both you and [friend] were seated in a big open space with displays all around. This area was frequently passed by tourists, you can tell by the layout of the space.

Your friend was looking at displays around the huge space and you were scrolling through your phone when a man appeared around a corner.

You barely glance up when you look back down to your phone. “Wait a second,” you look back up again, bewilderment rising. He was holding a pen and notebook in his hands, “Oh no,” by now, memories of your “faceplant incident” had surfaced. You were silently staring as he passed–the blond man who handed you a handkerchief. “What in the world!? Was he here to take notes for research or something?” he turned to the side almost disappearing around another corner when you made eye contact.

He momentarily paused, fixing his glasses ; probably confused—“He had glasses on… did he have glasses last time?”—when another voice sounded from the end of the hall he was in. Someone probably called him. He then broke eye contact and vanished behind a wall.

You were still dumbfounded, staring at the wall in front of you trying to process what just happened. “What are the odds of that huh?” you had chuckled at yourself. “Who was that?” your friend had come down to sit beside you.

“Ugh. Remember when I told you about how my phone almost broke?”

“Yeah, you faceplanted on the sidewalk.”

“That guy was there to witness it and kinda helped me,” [friend] burst out laughing again after your statement.

“What are the odds of that happening!” she now had tears in her eyes from laughing, “Is it embarrassing? HAHAHA. It’s ok… it’s ok,” by now she was smacking her leg and doubling over.

“Yeah, yeah, I know, stop laughing at me~” you were shaking her trying to make her stop. You can’t handle any more shame.

“Ok, ok. But he was just probably here for his studies you know, so that’s over now, at least you didn’t have to talk to him.”

“Yeah, ‘at least.’”

The assistant had come back for you, telling you to follow them to the office. Your friend had only offered a thumbs-up as you left her in the hall.

You enter what you guess to be an office. A middle-aged man sat behind a desk in the room and gestured for you to take a seat; a chair in front of his table. He introduced himself as a Mister Yasuhiro, the director for the museum. He discussed the reason for calling you; they’d have a big charity event to be held in the museum on the first week of October; so that leaves about a month of preparation time. They needed animators to make the motion picture to be played in a loop all around the exhibits---for overall effect. He smiles warmly at you.

“Y/N, I know you’re a very talented artist,” he stated, “We’d really like to have you on-board for this project although I know you have school. You have top marks so I don’t think that it will be a problem considering you’ve been doing this for a long time now,” he was right, you never really had a problem in school, just times when you have off weeks or think you failed but still keep pulling though up top, “Although of course you’ll have one other animator with you to help share the load,” Yasuhiro continues.

You were thinking and something seems off to you, “Um—Sir, I’m really thankful for the opportunity you’ve given me but… why me? There are better professional animators out there… which, compared to me—” he cuts you off, “You see, we are also tasked to showcase the talents of young individuals and why not apply that to everything else?” You couldn’t reply anything else but a soft “oh”.

“We’d love to have you but I’d really have to ask if you’d be okay taking on this project on short notice,” Yasuhiro makes you consider the offer. “If you’re really fine having me help, then I’d be very much more than willing to,” a soft sort of calm determination escapes you—this was a very big chance after all. The middle-aged man lit up in joy and thanked you.

 He seemed friendlier in contrast to others with the same position as he; much more now when he was clapping softly. You had noticed he was a cheerful man.

After you accepted their job, he discusses to you about the amount they’ll be paying you; and man were you happy you took the offer. Yasuhiro then proceeded to talk about what you’ll be doing in a general sense, “Oh and don’t worry about the content, you’ll have someone as a partner from the museum to help you with it.”

“That would really be great! Thank you!” You replied.

The director then proceeded to call his assistant, “Could you bring him in now?” Your brain glitches a bit, “him”? "A boy!? Nah, it’s just probably someone he’s got business with,” a short internal monologue played in your head.

You hear the door squeak open behind you and then come to a close. You were still facing the director, “This fellow will be helping you with the content of your animation, he’s currently an intern here,” you slowly turn around trying to face the alleged intern hoping to see a new face. Instead, you were met with a tall, blond and uninterested-faced person; glasses in front of his golden-brown irises. “Your partner for the project, Tsukishima Kei,” Yasuhiro announces from his desk.

Looking down for the first time since he entered, the guy named “Tsukishima” only blinked in response to what seems to be his own  shock and confusion.

Unable to meet his gaze, you turn back around to face the director just gawking at him with slightly squinted eyes and a stupid expression displayed; unable to form words. “What are the odds?”

Mister Yasuhiro—having been facing you—asked, “Is something the matter?” he trailed off awkwardly.

“No,” you replied in unison.

 “Oh?” the director was now joined in both your confusion.

 “It’s fine, we just happened to bump into each other a while back. We’re just surprised,” Kei explained in his drawly voice as if nothing happened.

 “Oh! Well that’s good then. You’re already acquainted so that’s step one done,” the director clapped his hands together in joy. “So that’s that. Kei will be showing you around the museum later. He’ll coordinate your schedules and disclose to you everything else that I missed,” the director smirked and sat up from his chair, “You can meet with the other duo the next time you come here. Good luck to you both.”

 You found yourself in a hall outside of the office. A tall man beside you. Silence heavy in the air.

“So…” the beanpole spoke, “What’s your name?” both of you facing the same end of the hallway.

“I—uh. L/N F/N. Nice to meet you,” a straightforward reply, still refusing to look at each other.

“Yeah, nice to meet you too… for the third time.” The awkwardness was killing you.

“Yeahhh—about the first time… I never got to thank you for helping me…” you soften to a whisper, “and your handkerchief is ruined—I’ll just replace it.”

“Tch. There’s no need for that,” he looks at the bunch of paper in his hands, “Anyway~” he starts walking, “I have to show you around the museum.”

 You follow behind him and later he stops abruptly. You are now in the big hall you were waiting in earlier. He hands you a sheet of paper, “Here’s the initial schedule. We’ll alter that to accommodate your own next time. Hold on to it for now,” He then looks around the room, “Weren’t you accompanied by someone else?” Realization dawns on you, yes, you were accompanied by F/N. Where is she now? You check your phone.

“Ah. She had forgotten to submit a term paper,” Tsukishima’s only response was a shrug and a slight pout, “Well then, let’s proceed.”

Touring around the city museum took a long while, your amazingly weak ankles decided to act up but in the end, you finished going around the displays in the building. He showed you where they were planning to put the main event as well as where all the side gimmicks would be. Accounting it all, it would kind of be an immersive event wherein wherever you go in the museum, you’d be greeted by animations and displays. 

Both of you finished your tour at the main entrance balcony outside; it was already late in the afternoon. He paused beside you and turned to face you. You look to your side and see him fumbling around his pockets.

“Uh— w-what are you doing?” you asked meekly.

He raised his head to the ceiling and let out an exasperated sigh, “I was supposed to give you your museum pass. But I forgot that the ones meant for you and the other guy haven’t been modified yet—don’t ask.”

“Well that’s fine I guess, I can always just ask permission.”

“No, that makes a lot of hassle for everyone,” he interjects too quickly for your liking, but then he follows softly, “plus not everyone is always present here to let you in… that and the varying schedules clash.”

You felt thankful for his kinder follow-up, “Oh. So what now?”

“About the schedule, I think we need to exchange contacts.” And so you both did.

You gave him your phone number as well as your messenger account (in case). He then entered his phone number in your phone.

“Huh, I guess your phone’s okay now,” he handed it back.

“Really!? He had to bring it up,” you half-scream internally.

“And about the pass…” he placed everything he was holding in one hand and removed the ID dangling from his neck, “here,” he was holding it out to you.

You held your hands up, “But that- that’s yours—”he didn’t let you finish your sentence, “I can’t have you coming and going without a pass, so here, I won’t always be here to babysit you” he slipped it on your head, “Your pass later on will look somewhat like that. Don’t worry, I have an extra one at home, just don’t lose that. We’ll trade later.” Your face began to heat up, “What the heck!!”

"Until next time then Y/N."

He walked back to the doors but before he entered, he held the handle and looked back at you, “Expect me to contact you sometime between tomorrow and the next day, try not to ignore it,” with that, he goes inside leaving you in front of the stairs in the late afternoon glow. 

Part 1 II Series masterlist II Part 3

Notes:

We use messenger because why not... (It’s actually because in my country we use messenger a lot and so yeah...)

I wish you enjoyed (0.0)

[popculturebuffet]

Ducktales Reviews: The Battle for Castle McDuck!

How to sum up how I feel about this episode.... 

Yeah that’ll do it. This wasn’t a BAD episode. It flowed nicely, had two great new additions to the cast.. but after weeks of really good episodes, warts and all.. this one was just.. okay. Part of the problem isn’t the episode’s fault as I went in expecting the answers to scrooge’s immortality, the answers to hortense we didn’t get last week, and you know donald and della actually getting to interact with their grandparents. I got.. pretty much none of that, though I did get some answer as to how Hortense lived long enough to have donald. But we’ll get to that. Point is part of the episodes baggage is on setting my expectations too high, the same happened with “Astro B.O.Y.D.” earlier this season and in hindsight, that one is really excellent even if it wasn’t the fenton episode I was hoping for, it’s still really damn good. THis one... even if it’s not what I was hoping ofr, while not bad it’s still pretty medicore. Let’s get into why shall we? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We open at Castle McDuck, where Webby’s narrating for people who didn’t see the last episode set here and aren’t obsessive about watching the show like you or I. And also because this time she’s not so starstruck that she can’t actually speak or function, so she can actually get all the lore she wants in. The family is here because while the Druid stones seem to be working, the mists protecting the castle, and keeping it out of lockstep with reality every 5 years, have suddenly vanished.  Naturally Fergus blames Scrooge for that. I’m mixed on this version of Fergus. While i’m fine with chanigng things up from life and times, having him live and having him resent scrooge on some level, it worked better last time as there was emotional weight and a reason behind it: Scrooge and him didn’t get along becasue Fergus missed his boy and resented that his sucess lost him a son and made him cold and bitter like Fergus himself. It fit both men to just be too damn proud to talk it out. So while Fergus being a bit crotchety still isn’t ENITRELY out of character him still being a dick to his son for no real reason and given no new one for being an asshole to him just annoys me. The character last time was three dimensional, understandable and likeable. This one is just a bitter old man constantly yelling at his son and doting on his daughter. More on that bit in a bit. 

Downy meanwhile is just as lovely as last time: Since she lived long enough to see her grand children this time, I love seeing her as a wonderful doting grandmother to her great grandbabies. She’s wonderful and I’m thrilled to see her again. It does however bring up one of this episodes biggest issues: Donald and Della are absent and this time for no good reason. Last time, it was fair enough to exclude Donald as there was no real space for him in the narrative, and he likely , even if he loved grandma and grandpa, didn’t want to have to explain his estrangment with scrooge to them and break his poor gram-gram’s heart. That’s fair.  This time though? Their not there because.. frank didn’t want to use them. That’s.. literally it. They could’ve fit fine into the family fued narrative epseically since we’ve seen them sibling squabble, and unlike other adventures they’ve been absent, where they clearly just wanted scrooge to have time with the kids, or in the case of rumble for ragnarok scrooge had valid reason for not using them, this time? There’s no good excuse. Della would want to see her grandparents, Donald would get drug along. They only appear every 5 years. WHy the hell wouldn’t they be here?! I get trying to have character ballance but we’ve had several episodes this season of just scrooge and the kids. We DIDN’T need it this time and the lack of characters dosen’t really change anything. It instead wastes plots like getting to see what Donald and Della’s relationships with their grandparents is like, or their aunt, or finding out how their mother died or at least fucking MENTIONING hortense outside of one word and a photo. YOu think the fact their sister is dead would be important to Scrooge and Matilda but it just.. never comes up. Their niece and nephew never come up and my patince comes up short. I’m fine with character ballance but i’m not fine with wasting a golden opportunity for character interactions we haven’t gotten. I get we just had two weeks of donald and della I do, but it dosen’t make this any less frustrating or nonsensical. Having characters appear two episodes in a row dosen’t magically make them irrelevant or we’d be seeing less of Huey or Louie or Dewey and outside of last week, we REALLY haven’t. If they can show up once an episode why can’t their parents?

Point is a mystery’s afoot, and so is THE PHANTOM BLOT.. to no one’s suprise as he was both in the episode’s description and frankly magic being drained is his mo, this time using a portable generator. Webby dosen’t catch on to this.. but  I let it slide as while she’s the only one to have really met and fought the blot.. she’s also busy with mc duck family stuff and frankly while a missing mystery is here, given how deep the mcduck rouge’s gallery goes, it’s not a stretch to say it could be any one of them. Especially Glomgold, who while not magic is willing to pay for rediculous shit why would “dispersing scrooge’s family castle’s mists to bug his parents” be any diffrent. Or possibly replace them as their son because he’s kind of nuts and entirely made of stupid and that’s why we love him. And Magica has the obvious motives of revenge on scrooge, as this isn’t her first set of dead parents, and a castle full of mystic wonders. It’s plausable to wait and see who it is first instead of just assuming it’s one guy. 

And yup there’s a mysterin town:A set of mystical bagpipes of the clan mcduck that can bring life to where there is none. We don’t know if they can raise the dead but they can bring inanimate objects to life so there’s that. But seriously Donald should take them to his parents graves just to be safe. But before we can get to duck necormancy we have to find them so we get... (checks notes) a Louie and Huey team up again where Louie is an abrasive jackass to his brother for planning ahead, despite the fact he’s been proven wrong on that front twice now, and is entirely insufferable and has learned nothing about trying to find a quick and easy way of doing things depsit elearning this lesson 80 times already. 

As you can tell I hate this subplot and am getting it out of the way NOW because it’s not good and treads ground we’ve tread THREE TIMES ALREADY. and you did it right the first time, you did it okay if sloppiily with let’s get dangerous. Why this ? Louie learns nothing, Huey learns nothing and it’s not funny.The two just search for the mystery, and Louie is impatient. Though talking with a friend in a ducktales server, i’m in one now and it actually really helps with these, did make me realize that Louie’s character development has stalled like I thought... it’s simply a Marco Diaz situation. Like the third season of star vs the forces of evil, it’s basically a coin flip if your getting a well developed verison of the character that’s been built up over multiple seasons.. or a jackass whose learned nothing and treats other people badly. Their different FLAVORS of jackass but jackass still tastes awful no matter who it is. It’s not as BAD as it was there as while it’s not helpign the character, it’s not actively having him do the worst things possible, but it still makes Louie’s plots a chore to sit through at times as when he’s not well written like with split sword, rumble for ragnarok or tickening, he’s just a 2 dimensional greedy jerkhole and I don’t want to spend time with him. And the other brothers have had times of being written one dimensional, not going to lie, but all I get from Louie in these plots is this:

After almost getting his family killed, after getting scrooge’s fortune overnight with minimal effort and having everything he wanted only to learn, suprise, it takes a lot of work to maintain.. and he still just dosent’ get that the easy way isn’t always the way, and after the trickining and let’s get dangerous hasn’t learned his brother is usually right when he’s being anal retentive. This was fine in the last 2 seasons but too much has happened for him to get away with this shit and not come off as obnoxious. It just drags any episode it’s in down with it. I”ll leave the rest of the review under the cut. 

One more subplot before we dig into the main one: The Phantom Blot and his new partner, Pepper! If you don’t remember her it’s fine as she wasn’t named but she was the egghead voiced by Amy Sedaris who showed up for one scene back in the Blot’s first apperance and who frank said they had more plans for. Well we see those plans now as Pepper has been paired with the Blot for this mission as Bradford’s policy for missing mystery missions now is the buddy system. No going solo, despite the Blot really not liking any of this. Which honestly both fits Bradford, as he’s endlessly practical, and is just a good idea: most of his agents are kind of wild cards and have their own agends so forcing them to work together not only gives them better odds with scrooge, but prevents them from working their own angles against FOWLS better instrests. IN this case having the peppy, energetic and talkative pepper go with the closed off and dogmatic blot keeps him from going overboard, as Castle McDuck is basically one large magical nightmare for him to destroy and Blot keeps pepper on task and on stealth since, as we learn now we get to know her, she’s a bit overly excitable and not all that subtle, if not to dewey or della levels. She can stealth when necessary. She’s also DETERMINED to get the blot to bond with her and work with her, and is delighted to work with him, getting the job because.. no one else wanted it becasue the blot scares people and puts them off with his intensity, which he’s shocked about but really shoudln’t be. 

IT’s just a nice dynamic, he helps her be a better agent and she helps him realize he can’t do EVERYTHING alone and that blindly destroying all magic in his path, as much as he’d like to isn’t the option, using some runes to track them. Sure pepper makes their presence obvious once or twice, btu she’s also essential to the mission more often than not and by the end, even if they loose, we’ll get to that, Blot has fully accepted his partner. It’s.. honestly heartwarming when you think about it: The blot’s probably closed him off from personal relationships of any kind because A) his family got brutally murdered by the person he’s hutning and B), he has a mission he can never rest in. He likely wanted to work alone because it’s how he rolls nad i’t sonly through seeing someone who genuinely WANTS to be around him and wants his missiong ot succeed that he realizes he dosen’t have to push everyone away and allies are more useful than none. It’s a warped way of thinking but for someone with as much baggage as blotty, it’s progresss and it’s a really sweet story. HOpefully this relationship will go farther.. I mean strange relationships have happened than a dogmatic dog who hates magic and a peppy go getter both working for an obliviously evil businessman. 

So onto the main plot: Turns out Scrooge wasn’t the first person Fergus called this episode as we meet the DT17 version of Matilda! Horay! She’s voice by Michelle Gomez who like David Tennant and Catherine Tate before her is a doctor who alumnus.. though this time she’s past my time watching the show. I really gotta get on catching up. She played Missy, the female regneration of the master. Gomez is spectacular in the part here, and while I have no past experince with her I certainly want to see more of her work as she’s a delight.  Matilda is Scrooge’s sister. In the comics she was the duitful sister who looked up to her big brother as he left Scotland to make his fortune, sending money and mementio’s back she scrapbooked. She eventually went with Scrooge to america with him... but this didn’t end well as Scrooge took advantage of his sisters as help and when he finally did take them along on an adventure, it was his lowest point, going from an honest buisness man to a cruel robber baron for one moment and left him and his company. She and Hortense TRIED building a bridge with a suprise party.. but by that point while Scrooge had backed away from being a monster, he was still such a dick things blew up. As far as we know he never saw hortense alive again, and he only saw matilda in her old age with the two reconcliing. I’ll get more into ALL of this when I get to those pieces of life and times obviously. Point is she’s a good character.  And so is her reboot version.. but the reboot version did catch me off guard as, much like her dad she’s not really much like the sensible sweet woman from the comics. But given DT17 tends to really play fast and loose with previous versions of characters, and it often works out i’m not going to gripe about it: what  they did here works. As for what EXACTLY they did here, this version of Matilda is more flighty: not incomptient or lacking in charm, but due to sort of bouncing from one improable venture to the next and staying at her parents between ventures. She’s sort of a female version of Jubal Pomp, an itallian duck comics character who modelded himself after Scrooge, but dosen’t have the common sense or work ethic scrooge does. That’s really matilda here minus the looking up to scrooge part: she dosen’t seem untalented, just a bit footloose. She also likes needling her brother and is unsuprisingly her dad’s faviorite since she’s around more.  The two naturally get under each others skin, and we get our main conflict... not just because of their fighting.. but because Webby can’t help but mettle. She’s what makes this plot work: Webby can’t help but try to interfere because she dosen’t get siblings sometimes fight and have long standing resentments, something I relate to, and that stepping in or trying to end it sometimes just makes it worse. Granted sometimes’ it’s necessary, but in this casey Dewey, whose trying to inch her away is right on the money and after the awful plot with these two in SPlit Sword, it’s nice to see Dewey be in the right, but for actually good reason instead of just because the episode says so. Here he’s right that her getting involved will only escalate and her attempt to do so only reveals Matilda kidnapped scrooge’s pet hair clump and died it. She also has something resembling an emu.  This only makes things worse and starts to escalate tensions leading to some between both sides, as Fergus takes Matilda’s and Downy takes scrooges. Again REALLY could’ve used the twins. We do get a nice bit where Webby coaxe Dewey, who understandably dosen’t want to help her further spiral into her own issues by helping mend family issues she really isn’t qualified to solve.. because she’s you know... 13. I mean granted Steven Universe did this sort of thing at her age.. but given he eventually repressed his issues so much he had a mental breakdown and turned into a giant angst monster, and only got better with therapy.. maybe get some therapy instead Webby. Just saying. Therapy everyone? Therapy? But yeah she coaxes Dewey with a statdew, and yes she says that exactly.  This gets the family breifly united, as Dewey fakes an injury.. but finding out it’s fakkkke combined with Huey and Louie coming in just causes the enitre family to spiral into squabbling and webby to shut down a bit, with Scrooge planning to form his own clan after bickering iwth his parents and sister. Oh and it only gets worse when Pepper accidently brings some statues to life, and they get in on it too while Webby’s convinced the families over and she just wanted a place in it. And even if this isnt’ the BEST episdoe the show’s ever done, i’ll get to why in a second, I do like this. Webby’s nearly LOST this family once, way back at the end of season 1 when no one but beakly thought of her feelings about her best friends and surrogate uncle all leaving her after her other surrogate uncle you know.. said some pretty unforgivable things. She’s trying SO hard to force it to fit, so hard to fix things because she can’t stand them being broken, something I PAINFULLY relate to given my own personal issues with not being able to stand people being upset with me. She just wanted a family and i’ts gone.  Of course it isn’t and webby’s sad words coupled with some house crashers get the clan mcduck statues included to kick Blot and Pepper out and get the bagpipes back, while Scrooge points out it’s the good families that can withstand a squabble. So the mystery’’s gotten, Scrooge and Matilda are squareish... and this episodes thankfully over. Happy day! Final Thoughts: This episode is okay. I very clearly have my problems with it.. but it’s a fine half hour of television and funny enough to bounce through it with some good character stuff. It’s just after the last few weeks, and really this whole season.. I expect more. There was no real emotional core besides webby this episode and her issues wer eboiled down to “Families fight but it’s fine”.. which itself is a pretty uncomplicated message when family dyanmics can be complciated messy and painful. My family is thankfully fairly stable, if not without issues because hey no one is, but given other people watching might come from far worse homes where the bickering is far worse and far more toxic.. yeah maybe have some nuance here.  And this is from a show that usualy does that WELL: We saw it with Fergus last time before he was hollowed out for this episode and reduced to an angry dick. We’ve seen it with Donald and Scrooge’s estrangment or Donald and Della’s relationship: Family is complicated , messy and even good ones have problems. That should’ve been the message: family can squabble or even have serious issues but they come back together. Instead we just got a bunch of bickering for a cheesy message that dosen’t quite fit with what the series done. It fits for thanksgiving: family , the good kind, can last arugments and is there for you regardless.. and I know my family is. I just feel they could’ve done the message better. Basically the episode was fine... it just wasn’t up to the high standard this season has set even in it’s down turn and is easily the weakest epseically since Matilda really dosen’t feel all that fleshed out even though what we got of her was great. Basically not a BAD episode.. but it could’ve been a great one, and i’m disapointed the series didn’t try harder.  NEXT TIME: regular coverage for the year concludes as we go back a few months chronlogically to find out why Santa and Scrooge hate each other. IT’s christmas time ya’ll! Until then if there’s an episode of ducktales or another disney series you’d like me to take a look at, suggest it in the comments or comission it outright for give bucks via my direct messages on here or send an ask for my discord. Until we meet agian, there’s always another rainbow. 

[gorogorogorochansan]

CP2077 OC ask game *:･ﾟ✧⚔️🤖🔮 [x]

PERSONAL.

1. what is their full name? do they have any nicknames? what are they and why did they get them? His full name is Maximilian Noirceuil Roquentin Vandermeer. Vandermeer to others, Max to his family. His mother just loves French literature and culture.

2. how old are they? how long have they been living on their own? 33 as of 2077. He’s been living on his own for 15 years since he joined Arasaka.

3. what are their astrology signs? sun/moon/rising. He was born on May 2nd 2044, which makes him a sun Taurus, moon Cancer and ascendant Leo.

4. what tarot card from the major arcana would you associate with them? The Devil.

5. are they religious or spiritual in any way? Not at all. Max is rather materialistic and self-indulgent at times.

6. which of the four elements would you associate with them? Air for intellect and mental intention.

9. which of the nine alignments are they? (lawful good etc) Lawful neutral.

10. which of the myers-briggs personality types are they? ESTJ, the Executive.

11. do they have any cyberware? is it cosmetic or is it weaponry/armor? He’s not into combat much, he prefers doing his job quietly if he can. Better yet - a silver tongue coupled with unsettling look can achieve a lot more than a weapon. Hands: Smart Link; Ocular system: Kiroshi Optics; Nervous system: Kerenzikov; Cyberdeck: Stephenson Tech Mk.2; Integumentary system: Optical Camo;  Skeleton: Endoskeleton, Bionic Lungs; Legs: Lynx Paws.

12. what is their occupation? He likes to call himself a free artist but technically he’s a solo. Murder, sabotage, thievery, recovery, delivery - you name it and he’ll do it, quick & clean. A man of high standards he prefers to be silent, precise and effective about his work. Even during his Arasaka days he never shied away from hard or morally repulsive (to some) tasks. A job is a job and needs to be done.

13. if you were to choose a class for them, what would it be? The closest would probably be a Stealth Solo.

14. what is their weapon of choice? HJKE-11 Yukimura pistols & Electric Baton.

15. what is their preferred vehicle or transportation of choice? Black Quadra Turbo-R V-Tech.

16. how would you describe their style? Neomilitarism. Corpo chic through and through.

17. are they a early riser or a night owl? Normally he’s an early riser but not averse to adapt if work demands it.

18. share three songs you associate with them. Eisbrecher - Verrückt [translation] Dorothy - Wicked Ones Oomph! - Augen auf! [translation]

NIGHT CITY.

19. is your character from night city? if no, where were they born? what brought them to night city? if yes, what area of the city did they grow up? He is from Charter Hill, Night City. His maternal family is from North Oak but his parents moved to something more affordable before he was born. He worked his ass off to stay in Charter Hill on his own but after his boss Jenkins lost the power struggle in Arasaka, Vandermeer had to survive and look for a cheaper place.

20. where do they currently live? describe their home. Watson, Little China, near Sutter Street. He rents a small apartment that satisfies his needs, which turned out to be rather simple - a quiet (as much as possible), clean and efficient space that is suitable for living and working in.

21. do they have any favorite spots around NC? Lele Park in the evening and night. And Dark Matter club.

22. do they like to cook for themselves, or eat out? do they prefer restaurants or street food? and how do they feel about vending machine food? He can cook a few things thanks to his mom but generally prefers street food and restaurants. He finds vending machines repulsive.

23. do they prefer the city or the badlands? The city. He loves comfort, hygiene and availability of things only megalopolis can offer. 

24. what gang/faction/corporation do they align with, if any? He prefers to keep balance and mutually beneficial relationships with everyone strictly for business. He always looks for people reasonable enough to bargain with. 

25. which radio station(s) is their favorite? If it’s a car radio then it’s Vexelstrom most of the times. He likes hearing heavy rhythms in the background. When it comes to listening to music at home he has a variety of genres in his playlists from classics and jazz to heavy metal.

26. if they do merc work, do they have one dedicated fixer? if so, who? It’s Rachel Vogelman (another OC created by @bnbc). They used to be corporate rivals during their Arasaka days. To add fuel to the fire their colleagues believed them to be siblings because of certain visual similarities between the two. When Max lost his job Rachel was the only person he could ask for help. It wasn’t easy, and it still isn’t but they focus on the business side of things. Or at least try to.

27. have they ever had run ins with the badges? He doesn’t like to attract unnecessary attention. Nobody likes when you’re the star of TV news.

28. are they quick to help a stranger in need or do they prefer to stay out of other peoples business? He most likely won’t help unless it can benefit him in any way.

29. do they have any favorite celebrities that frequent or live in NC? how would they feel meeting them? He doesn’t give a shit about celebrities. But he knows Michiko Arasaka, and their first meeting face to face left him baffled to say the least.

RELATIONSHIPS.

30. is your friend a social butterfly or more of a loner? Something in between. He hates useless small talks and fake politeness but understands their necessity when required. 

31. who are their closest chooms in NC? He doesn’t have any. Never cared enough to rely on people and always expected a knife in the back. His most regular stable contact is probably Rachel Vogelman but  they’re not even close to being chooms.

32. do they have anyone they would consider family? His mom and his sister are the only family he needs.

33. what is/was their relationship like with their parents? He loves his mother Jessica who raised him to be a well-rounded personality that can always land on his feet. She’s an economist with a good sense of humor and interest in arts. But he doesn’t have much emotional connection with his father Mark, since the guy is always busy with his retail business.

34. do they have siblings? He has a sister named Brit who is 15 years younger.

35. how would you describe their relationship with their family? Max is close with his family, although they’re all often too busy to meet regularly but they keep in touch.

36. who is their biggest enemy? Detective Marc Sanderson? Hard to say for now because there’s no official lore information on him yet.

37. tell a short story about your character with their best choom. His rivalry with Rachel Vogelman was almost comic at times, which only worked against them as their colleagues called them siblings on purpose. But since the two have mutually beneficial relationships now he can admit Rachel is pretty good at what she does. He won’t tell it to her though to avoid giving her the pleasure. They have both grown up after losing their corporate jobs but some habits die hard.

38. do they have a love interest? if so, who? His current LI is Michiko Arasaka. Initially he'd met her as Ichigo (a Japanese name that means strawberry) in a cyber sex VR club while he still worked in Arasaka. It was a series of encounters they both enjoyed until he abruptly put an end to it during his unemployment. He suspects she started digging info on him because she reached out to him some time after he had made a small name for himself as a solo. 

39. are they in a committed relationship or do they date around? Given the social gap between the two and solely sexual nature of their affair it’s implied they’re in open relationship. Besides it’s unknown if Michiko is still married. However, despite loving sex Max can be picky because he’s slightly fixated on hygiene. Michiko also sparked genuine curiosity and creativity in him with her wild and magnetic personality.

40. has your character ever been in love? if so, with who? No, what is love? He won’t recognize it even if falls in it.

41. do they believe in soulmates? No, he believes in shared goals.

42. do they believe in love at first sight? A ridiculous notion.

43. describe their ideal date. Their idea of romantic evening is to hook up in clubs where it’s noisy and crowded enough to ignore them but also to tickle their nerves. Sometimes they have a follow-up in motels (Michiko knows all the right places) if they can afford it. I don’t mean financially of course. Currently such state of affairs suits both of them perfectly.

44. would your character ever get married? Theoretically he can but marriage is a serious commitment, and right now he’s not interested in making one. And when it comes to Michiko it’s a no-no for a variety of obvious reasons. 

45. what was your characters first impression of their partner(s)? Michiko Arasaka was not someone he expected to see when Ichigo asked for a real life meeting. She definitely enjoyed the effect she made while Max was trying to figure out in his mind if this was a setup. She was bold, straightforward and irresistable - not like anyone he has ever met before. The whole situation felt like getting into a sports car without breaks. Once in a lifetime opportunity, a one-way ticket. And he took it. He suspects he’s not the first and not the last such input for her but life is too short for missing out the fun.

46. are they open about their relationship or low key? how would other people feel about them together? Somewhat semi-open. Max’s mom knows and she’s worried for him, although she knows he can take care of himself. And Michiko doesn’t mind him telling about her to his family as he has no friends and isn’t the type to brag, and she doesn’t care if anyone recognizes her in public. Her social circle wouldn’t care about him, and those who might won’t be able to do a thing about it.

47. share a headcanon about your character and their partner(s). Just one? I’ve already got plenty. • Michiko calls him Max and he calls her Ichigo or Ichi (one) because that’s how they’ve met and it's something of their inside joke, a secret; • Michiko keeps him at distance on purpose. She studied his profile long before they’ve met face to face and probably knows what he wants for breakfast before he even wakes up. So she knows Max has opportunistic tendencies like majority of mid-tier corpos. But another reason is that she also doesn’t want things to get serious and complicated between them because it can ruin the fun. She appreciates he doesn’t ask stupid questions or demands more attention than she can give him; • Michiko likes to подъебывать Max. I guess the closest English equivalent would be to tease - cracking suggestive jokes on him, giving him simple presents she finds hilarious, sending him nudes and demanding payment with his in the most inappropriate times. She is amused Max tolerates her shit so stoically - but she’s never malicious, disrespectful or obnoxious. In return Max knows it’s hard to impress someone who comes from the Arasaka bloodline & that it would be safer not to get on their bad side, so he focuses on making her feel good. And strangely it makes him feel good too.  • Max loves to touch her hair. Michiko always looks flawless when they meet and he adores her for it. • When Arasaka Tower was under attack Max called her until she finally picked up as he was genuinely concerned about her safety. He asked if she was alright and offered to take her home but she refused. She doesn’t know he was waiting outside.

48. share three songs you associate with your character and their partner(s). Garbage - Bad Boyfriend Eisbrecher - Exzess Express [translation] Eisbrecher - Rot wie die Liebe [translation] Bonus: Dinah Washington - Relax, Max - a song Michiko likes to tease him with.

NSFW.

49. name three of your characters biggest turn ons. Mature, confident women who know what they want and don’t waste anyone’s time.

50. name three of your characters biggest kinks. Touching Michiko in public - it’s the kink of kinks.

51. do they like having multiple partners or do they prefer monogamy? He doesn’t like being in relationships. The secret to his successful affair with Michiko is that both are totally free of any commitments and expectations from each other. Normally he prefers flings, BDs and cyber sex. But currently his mind is occupied with one specific woman with blue hair.

52. do they watch porn or braindances? Porn is ancient, BDs are far more superior.

53. would your character ever make an explicit braindance? He doesn’t have the right implant for that. He might though but not with Michiko - he’s not that stupid. 

54. do they have any cybernetic enhancements that serve sexual purposes? He’s no netrunner but he got himself a Stephenson cyberdeck that supposedly prolongs orgasms. Turns out the cyberdeck can be useful for other things as well, even moreso as now he doesn’t have a corpo protection and needs to be more careful.

55. do they have a preference for ‘ganic bodies or do they like modifications? He doesn’t like cheap implants. Other than that he doesn’t care.

56. name three of your characters biggest turn offs. Poor hygiene, naivete and girls who don’t know when to quit. 

57. what is their ultimate fantasy? or ““secret”“ kink? Michiko is his ultimate fantasy now. There’s something liberating and intoxicating about having her at the tips of your fingers moaning your name. He feels like he can try anything with her and she won’t say no, although he is aware it’s an illusory freedom.

58. would they ever use any substances like aphrodisiacs, alcohol or drugs during sex? Yes because why not? It’s not necessary but it can’t hurt.

59. what is their wildest sexual experience? A corpo group sex party. It was fun but he doesn’t like joytoys, even premium ones. Had to do a medical check-up afterwards.

60. are they more submissive or dominant? Dominant. But one time Michiko cuffed him to bed and he didn’t mind.

61. does your character need to have an intimate relationship with someone to have sex? or do they prefer being unattached? Unattached is best at the moment. Though he’s not fully aware he’s currently attached.

62. has your character ever participated in group sex? In the past, during his Arasaka days. 

63. do they like to sext or play over the holo? Why not both, depending on situation. 

64. has your character ever ghosted someone after a sexual encounter? Yes because he doesn’t like attachment. The reason he didn’t ghost Ichigo was that she was always creative during their virtual meetings.

65. how would they react if they were ghosted by someone they like after a sexual encounter? If Michiko ghosted him he’d be probably pissed and then upset. But he suspects she’d tell him first because there’s a certain amount of trust between them.

66. do they prefer kink oriented sex or spontaneous passionate sex? Usually the latter but the former is good too.

67. how do they get down on their own? quick and easy or do they have to romance themselves a little? It depends on a moment.

68. in what outfit do they feel sexiest? how do they dress to impress? Naked is the best. He dresses sharp because that’s how he was raised and also because it makes him feel good about himself. He mostly prefers clean black suits.

69. do they like having music on while they have sex? share three songs they’d play while getting down. He usually doesn’t care but Michiko likes to put on something energetic and loud when they’re in motels. This is just to give the idea of the mood: Fatboy Slim - Ya Mama Beastie Boys - Sabotage Mylène Farmer - Des larmes

[visionsofus]

Wanda and Vision's Mixtape

track #2: Infinity by Jaymes Young

| read on AO3 here | mixtape playlist | send me an ask with your song/prompt request | synopsis: In which Wanda and Vision sneak out of the compound and go on a date and just revel in the act of being together in public. The rest of the team doesn't know yet so they're working had on keeping everything a secret. When they arrive back Vision is so enamoured with Wanda that he trips the Compound alarms, waking everyone up with the fear of a break in at the front of their mind only to find the pair in a compromised position.

darling my soul, it aches for yours

Wanda had lost track of time in the hours that she and Vision had been away from the compound. Around 5pm she and Vision had snuck out of the compound in one of the cars from the garage. Wanda had insisted on driving in order to preserve the secret of where she had planned their date. A forty-minute journey later and she was pulling into the busy car park of an annual attraction along the Hudson River: a month-long winter market.

Wanda undid her seat belt with a slow click and hesitantly looked over to Vision. They didn’t often come out into public like this, just the two of them, but she was hoping it would add a sense of normalcy that neither of them really had in their day to day lives. Plus, she’d brought a disposable camera with her and knew the photos would look gorgeous with the dark expanse of river behind them and the twinkle of fairy lights overhead.

“This is exciting, I’m surprised you managed to keep it a secret from me,” Vision said as Wanda pulled two tickets out of her pocket that she’d ordered in preparation for tonight. She grinned and waved the tickets before her in anticipation.

Vision made to get out of the car but paused and looked down at himself. He was dressed fairly regularly; Wanda had warned him that they’d be walking out in the cold, so he had on a navy sweater topped with a thick black wool coat. The only difference was that Vision was a synthezoid and his complexion was, well, blue and red and silver. Wanda’s heart dropped a little and she watched as Vision closed his eyes and, in a moment, assumed his human form.

“I’m sorry, Vis,” Wanda murmured, almost crushing the tickets in her hands in frustration. Here was the main reason they never went on dates in public – Vision always had to hide himself.

“There’s no need to apologise,” Vision said catching her hand and pulling the two tickets away. “I’m just as much me as always.”

Wanda hummed contemplatively and tried to keep the disappointment from her face, she didn’t want to ruin tonight, not when they had finally managed to make enough excuses to get away unseen by the rest of the team.

“Here,” Vision said pulling her hand up to his forehead. “It’s just me.”

“Yes,” Wanda said brightening at the warmth under her hand and the feeling of his consciousness below that. Somewhere deeper the stone was there for sure but these days she was taking less and less notice of it.

“Now let’s go and have a wonderful time, I have no doubt you have all sorts planned.”

Wandahad planned a fair bit for their date and had been looking forward to participating in the many fair-like activities that occupied the bustling wharf. But, as it always seemed to end up, they instead spent their time at the quiet end content to listen to the sound of each other’s voices and take in the interesting space around them. The bustling market was made up of a collection of stalls featuring independent artists displaying a variety of artisanal foods, art work and other creative wares. Vision was a constant warmth at her side and Wanda realised how much she missed having him pressed to her like this. The constant physical connection between them was usually hidden back at the compound given that they hadn’t found the right moment to tell the rest of the team they were together. Now that they were out away from the watchful eyes of their housemates, they were free to just be themselves together.

As Wanda sipped on the warm cup of mulled wine Vision stuck to her side, one of her arms tucked into his as they walked along the creaking planks of the wharf.

“Have you thought more about telling the team about us yet?” Vision asked casually as Wanda hovered before a handmade jewellery store. They’d both decided to wait but Wanda knew it was beginning to wear both of them down. If being out on this date was telling her anything it was that they both wanted to be this way all the time, and it was getting more and more difficult to hide that.

“I know we said to wait,” Wanda ran her fingertips softly over the pendant of a necklace, not unlike the one that hung around her own neck. A deep red gem hung encrusted in brushed bronze from a silver chain. It was a beautiful piece, even if the price was hefty enough to make her stomach drop a little. “But I don’t know how long we can keep it up.”

“Let’s go over the pros and cons again,” Vision said as Wanda led the way to the next stall. Their list had been growing over the main conversations they’d had on this very topic.

“Well,” Wanda began squeezing a little closer to him as a breeze blew through the stands, making merchandise flutter atop unsteady tables. “Con: we don’t know how the others will react.”

“Based on watching them all react to Mr Stark’s announcement I can’t imagine they’ll disagree with us.”

“Hmm but Pepper and Tony have been together for years.”

“We’ll be together for years.”

Wanda smiled at the warm feeling blossoming in her chest and leant her head against his warm shoulder.

“Con: them knowing could change things between us.”

Neither of them had much to say to dispute this one as it was a common fear for both of them. Deep down both knew that there wouldn’t be backlash to the news of their romantic attachment except perhaps to the newness of it. But things would no doubt change once those they lived with learnt of their relationship.

Wanda was first to break the silence, “Pro: no more hiding.”

“Con: no more hiding,” Vision countered with a conspiratorial smirk.

She looked tilted her head in question at him.

“Oh, come on you have to agree that it’s a little fun keeping this a secret, right?”

Wanda laughed and pushed his shoulder lightly. There was a level of entertainment to the sneaking around they’d had to keep up for the past months, but she couldn’t deny the relief that would come with letting the rest of the team in on their new status.

Before the conversation could be debated further Wanda caught sight of a bench pressed against the railing of the board walk, a backdrop of inky water and dark horizon line lay behind. It was the perfect opportunity for a photo.

“This way, come on,” Wanda said dragging Vision in the direction of the bench. On the way she snagged a kind looking man and asked if he wouldn’t mind taking photos of her partner and her. She relished in saying it out loud.

They posed together, sitting on the bench with arms around each other, Wanda’s head again resting against his shoulder. A few snaps of the disposable camera and the man handed it back to them before returning to his own party of friends.

“Why are you using this one instead of your phone?” Vision asked turning over the camera in his hands.

Wanda thought for a moment. “There’s convenience to instant photos but there’s an excitement to taking a photo of a memory and going to get the photos developed once the camera is full. It’s like saving bits of memory away for later.”

“And this is a memory that you want to save?” It wasn’t really a question, but he waited for her confirmation anyway. “Well, we’ll have to capture some more of this moment then.”

With that he lifted the camera once more and wound an arm around her shoulders. Wanda grinned and leaned in for the photo. They took one of themselves smiling beneath the twinkling lights and then another of Vision kissing her cheek. Though she wouldn’t see the photos for another month when she finished up the roll of camera, Wanda knew how she looked in them and knew that the light shining from her eyes had nothing to do with her powers and everything to do with who was beside her.

Two hours later the market shut for the night and the patrons were directed back to waiting cars. Wanda had had a couple of cups of mulled wine, so she let Vision handle the car – though she preferred driving it automatic, Vision had no trouble setting the Stark car to auto drive and letting the vehicle take them home. It left them free to talk more on the drive.

“We probably should tell them sooner than later,” Vision murmured as he rubbed a gentle thumb over the back of Wanda’s hand.

“I know,” she said gazing at the road ahead of them.

“But we should wait a few more weeks,” Vision said, “I don’t want to share us just yet.”

Wanda smiled and leant over to kiss him tenderly. It was exactly what she felt. There was a distinct special element to their relationship that was being protected by their secrecy and she knew that they’d be under scrutiny the moment the rest of the team were in on it. The more selfish part of her, that she didn’t take a lot of joy in acknowledging, knew that she also didn’t want to have to share Vision. It took a sharp mental reminder every now and then to not be possessive, but the plain truth was that no one at the compound knew Vision like she did, and no one else came close to understanding her the way he did. It was no surprise that their feelings had transformed from platonic affection to romantic. Not with their nearly instantaneous bond and the way it had only been strengthened by a year and a half of living with each other. Wanda’s body and mind and very soul called out for Vision in a way she wasn’t sure she had believed was possible, certainly not since she was very, very young and still believed in happy endings.

“You have reached your destination, please present for identification,” said the mechanical voice of the car as it rolled to a stop before the gates to the Avengers compound. The drive back had been far too quick for Wanda’s liking, but nonetheless she reluctantly displayed her key card to the machine outside her window.

The car had deposited them on the steps of the compound’s residential building that housed the two of them and the rest of the team who lived onsite. Wanda’s hand remained held tightly by Vision as he directed the car to take itself back to the garage and the vehicle trundled off.

“It’s too soon,” Wanda said swinging their entwined hands between them as they turned to the front door.

“Before we go in, I have something for you,” Vision said.

Wanda watched in surprise as he fished around in his coat pocket before eventually presenting her with a small jewellery box. She took it gently in her hands and gasped as the box flipped open to reveal the pendant that she had been admiring at the young jeweller’s store back at the pier.

“How–”

“I saw you looking at it and I know how much your necklace means to you,” Vision said lifting the gift out of its box and Wanda turned around slightly, still shocked, as he placed it to rest around her neck. “I thought you could wear it on missions or when you’re worried about losing the Sokovian one.”

“Vis,” Wanda murmured, fingers running over the fine jewellery. It was funny that this piece, which cost far more than her original necklace, could act as a replacement for the cheap pendant that had come with her from Sokovia. His sentiments were sweet, but she was just as unlikely to want to part with it as the original, now that Vision had gifted it to her.

“Beautiful,” Vision replied, kissing Wanda’s forehead and she knew that he wasn’t talking about the necklace.

A light flicked on a few floors above and they both froze, breaths held, in moments it had gone off again. Wanda let loose a relieved breath and started to laugh.

“What’s so funny,” Vision asked grinning with her as, instead of opening the front door he phased the two of them through.

“Oh, Vis it’s just so silly, all of this,” Wanda said wiping tears from her eyes as she shook with laughter. “Here we are, in a superhero base hiding around corners like scared teenagers, we’re even sneaking in after midnight like we’ve missed our curfew.” She dissolved into hushed laughter again as they made it into the entrance hall.

“Hush, hush,” Vision said as he pulled her down the hall but was trying not to laugh himself, his eyes gleaming in the unlit entry.

Wanda kept laughing despite his hurried attempts to stay quiet and instead pulled him against the wall of the corridor.

“What are you–”

“Shush.”

Wanda kissed him as she’d wanted to all night. Starting softly, he pulled her closer as the kiss deepened. One of Vision’s hands strayed up to brush against the base of her throat, brushing her hair aside. A shiver ran down her spine that was entirely involuntary and nothing to do with the cold. The feeling never got old, and it always left her breathless for more.

“Who’s there?” Came a cry from the end of the hall, leading to the kitchen.

Their heads parted in surprise and they turned towards the voice, squinting as the lights flickered to life overhead.

Wanda’s was still somewhat pressed to the wall and one of Vision’s arms was holding her waist loosely and it took a moment for her to process what was happening.

They’d been caught.

A small crowd had gathered at the end of the corridor, Steve, Tony, Bruce, Rhodey, Clint and Natasha were looking on with a mixture of surprise and amusement. All were in a varying levels of disarray, half clothed in pyjamas and hair tousled from sleep. Bare feet slapped on the stairs as Peter Parker ran down, tugging a sweater over his head and almost tumbling the last few steps.

“Woah what’s going on, I heard the alarms were going off and–” Peter broke off mid-sentence when he caught sight of the scene before him.

“I did not wake up for this shit,” Natasha said turning tail and heading back upstairs before anything more could happen, but Wanda was relieved to see a smile on her face.

“And here I thought it was the teenager causing all the commotion,” Sam chuckled stepping in to join the scene from the kitchen. He nursed a warm mug of something and the dressing gown hanging loosely around his shoulders was cinched at the waist.

“Well, this is unexpected…” Bruce trailed off rubbing at the back of his neck. “Sorry for disturbing you.”

This was perhaps the most awkward thing that anyone had said so far. Wanda didn’t really know where to look but was conscious of Vision taking a step back as they submitted to the mixed emotions of their friends.

“I called it, Cap owes me 100 bucks,” Tony said crossing his arms before him and turning to Steve who still was struggling to process what was before him. “Pay up.”

Steve didn’t appear to be listening properly and was mumbling, “I never knew. How did I never know? I trained them?”

“Well, this has been sufficiently uncomfortable,” Rhodey said rubbing at his forehead in a way that made it clear he was looking for any way out of this situation. “I guess everyone back to bed. False alarm?”

“Yeah, next time please use the door normally and don’t set off half the alarms in the building. Friday thought someone had broken in.”

“That was my fault, it won’t happen again,” Vision saw owning up to the phasing incident earlier.

“Sure, sure,” Tony said waving his hand and turning to go back upstairs, pushing Peter in front of him.

“But Mr Stark,” Peter whispered, struggling to get another look at Wanda and Vision “what’s going on?”

“I’ll tell you when you’re older.”

The others followed suit, either too tired or baffled to deal with the present situation. They all retreated back upstairs until only Sam was left sipping at his tea with a mixture of amusement and something akin to disbelief.

“Uh… congrats?” Sam grinned tipping his cup to them.

“Yep, yep ok good night, Sam,” Wanda said waving him on his way as he turned back to the kitchen.

She slumped against the wall, glad to be alone with Vision again. He hadn’t moved since pulling away from her and was staring at the ground.

“You ok?” She reached a hand out to his shoulder cautiously. This definitely wasn’t how things were supposed to go.

“Of all the ways I thought they would react, the probabilities I ran, that was certainly not one of them.”

This time it was Vision who broke out laughing and soon they were both close to tears of laughter once more. Wanda clutched at her stomach and hung off Vision’s arm as they headed upstairs together. The delivery certainly hadn’t been ideal, but it was one worry out of the way, one less complication standing between them. Wanda put an arm out to stop Vision as they reached the top of the stairs which lead to the communal living room and various bedroom suites.

As though thinking the same thing, Vision stopped and held his hand out. She didn’t hesitate as she grabbed his and pulled him the rest of the way, their hands intertwined in a way that had Wanda thinking she’d never need to let go.

[royallyprincesslilly]

Title: Partners {2}

OA Zidan/Zeeko Zaki x Reader

Warning⚠️: Cursing, Small Angst, Slow Burn

Words: 5.1k

Summary: You’re a damn good FBI agent in your own right. It is definitely partly to do with how well you’ve been trained and partly to do with you not letting anything or anyone distract you. You have a six-year plan that you’re fast-tracking for four. After being transferred from your office in Tampa you’ve been sent to New York which you’ve labeled the “big leagues”. On your first day there you were introduced to your new partner OA Zidan. It was then you realized you’ve moved out of the frying pan right into the pot of distraction. A year later and your rising attraction for your partner still hasn’t been snuffed out.

Note: If you’re thirsty and you know it clap your hands. Clap-Clap. If you’re thirsty and you know it clap your hands. Clap-Clap. I have no shame. This is a first for me writing about a TV show and interjecting into it. Let’s see how this goes. I hope you guys enjoy this mini-series.

 ***Loosely Edited/Proofread***

~~~~~~~~~~~

-Three Days Later-

 You weren’t supposed to be back at work until the following Monday, but you’d gotten tired of sitting on your ass and pacing your apartment. You’d watched all the Netflix and Hulu you could stand. You’d gone through episodes you were behind on and even gone through several movies you’d missed in theaters because you lived, ate and slept the bureau. You were so antsy that you’d even begun watching cop shows like Law and Order: SVU, Criminal Minds, and even a show called FBI. That was the only show that actually calmed your angst to return to work.

 On several occasions, you’d ignored the orders of the doctors aside and worked out much longer than thirty minutes. It hurt yeah but you also knew codling yourself would make recovery a lot longer. It wasn’t a full-on shot to the gut, but it was a deep enough graze to keep you in the hospital for two days.

 In those two days, you’d had plenty of time to think. Plenty of time to replay your conversation with OA. The thing with having nothing but time on your hands was that you were able to look at every interaction and conversation in a different light. After going over a year’s worth of endless time spent with OA you’d zeroed in on a handful of them that your imagination was working overtime seeing something that possibly wasn’t there.

 He’d always been kind to you, always gentle and helpful. He took his time teaching you the ropes of how New York ran, tricks of the bureau he’d picked up since he’d been out of Quantico. When you were in the thick of things he always looked out for you. In the moment and thereafter you always deduced it for him looking out for his partner. Who wanted to live with a dead partner on their conscience? You’d thought it was him acting normal.

After a few months he’d started bringing you coffee in the mornings, each time it was something different, a vanilla latte, black coffee, cappuccino. You thought maybe he was bringing you whatever he got that day. When you thought about him giving you your exact coffee order your imagination began to think he’d done it all these months trying to figure out how you liked your coffee. When you thought that everything was under analysis.

 You panted out as you bent forward trying to catch your breath. Today you’d run five miles and you were already feeling the pain in your stomach. It was four miles more than you’d been given the okay to do.

 “Shit!”

 It took you a good five minutes to catch your breath enough to keep going. After four days, you were now in that weird limbo place, where you were fifty percent sure and fifty percent thinking you were crazy. You didn’t know what to think. You did know that this was not what you were supposed to be thinking about. You didn’t leave Miami for a better opportunity to fall for your partner, especially not when you were so close to possibly a promotion. Still, it didn’t stop the butterflies in your belly every time you replayed his words in your head.

 “I thought I’d lose you. I thought that was it and I lost my shit, Y/N.”

 “I don’t want to lose you.”

 The way he’d said them with a quiver in his voice and the wild look in his eyes. The look of a man at his wit’s end. You’d seen the look before, several times, but on perps who felt they’d lost everything and were out of options. He had that look because you were hurt. More butterflies filled your stomach and you hated it.

 “Shit, Y/N. Get your shit together. Do not make this a thing. It is not a thing,” you drilled out loud as you stared at yourself in the mirror. Your words were full of firmness and authority, but your face was anything but. You didn’t even believe your own words. Deep down you knew it was a thing because you’d fallen for your partner months before he’d spoken those words.

 “Shit!”

 An hour later you were walking into the office. A few people saw you and gave you a welcoming but concerned smile. You nodded your head and walked toward your desk. OA’s desk was empty as was Kristen’s. Oddly enough the office was quiet, or quiet compared to normal. Once you put your things away it began to bug you. even this was strange for the office.

 “Hey Scott, where is everybody?”

 “Emergency briefing in the boss’s office.”

 You nodded, grabbed your coffee cup and made your way to Isobel’s office. Through the glass, Isobel saw you and beckoned you in. Once you stepped inside all eyes fell to you.

 “Y/N. What’re you doing here? You’re not supposed to be here until Monday,” Jubal inquired.

 “Yeah I know but I’m good. I am literally going insane at home.”

 “I get that, but we have these rules in place for a reason. You need to heal,” Isobel protested.

 “Isobel I’m good, I swear. My doctor even said I can go back to work when I felt ready. I’m ready,” you hammered home.

 Kristen looked at Jubal and Isobel waiting for their response while they stared you down. When their eyes met they exchanged brief nods.

 “Okay. Glad to have you back,” Isobel said as she signaled toward a seat. You sat and made sure to keep your eyes firmly away from OA.

 Isobel continued to speak about a new case, an abduction. She gave all of you the details of the case and how they wanted to play it. You tried to focus on the case and not the sexy ass man that was in the room. It was difficult especially since you could feel his eyes on you and the unspoken tension in the room. You flipped through the composed file and familiarized yourself with the victim, a seventeen-year-old girl, daughter of one of the richest men in the city who’d been abducted in an alley in Hell’s Kitchen.

 After the briefing, everyone poured out of the room off to their assignments. When you got to your desk you took up your lite FBI jacket ready to get a move on. When you turned, OA was right there. The two of you stared at each other for what felt like a minute but was only seconds. Neither of you spoke.

 “You guys good?” Jubal stood to the side watching the two of you. You cleared your throat and side-stepped OA.

 “Yeah, yeah, all good,” you stuttered.

 “Good, get to the family’s house, see if they can shed some light on this.”

 “Got it.”

 You felt like driving so you’d have something to busy yourself with, but you knew OA liked to drive so you sat in the passenger side and skimmed the file again. When he got into the truck he hesitated for a few moments.

 “Y/N--,” OA began before he paused. He turned the car on but didn’t pull out.

 “Are you sure you’re good? I need you to have my back.”

 Half of you was annoyed at him implying that you didn’t have his back, you’d always had his back.

 “I always have your back. That’s what partners are for.” His eyes met yours for a second before he gave his signature tight-lipped, clenched jaw scowl and pulled out of the parking spot.

 The forty-five-minute drive out of the city and into Hudsons on Hastings was relatively quiet. Besides the talk about the case, the two of you were silent. You wondered what he was thinking especially since that scowl didn’t slip once. He focused on the road and never geared his eyes off of it. Every so often your eyes skimmed his frame beginning at his tightly clenched hands on the steering wheel along his muscular arms and down to his bulky thighs. God, he was crafted to be a distraction, you thought. He was good looking to a fault, tall as hell, muscular like a God and was from what you could tell a great guy. He was a good catch—a great catch.

 “All right we’re here.”

 The two of you walked up the pristine walkway to the palatial house that was literally at the top of a hill.

 “What’s a seventeen-year-old girl doing all the way in Hell’s Kitchen from here?” OA’s question made sense. What was she doing so far from home?

 “Are you the FBI agents?” A redhead woman in a multi-colored wrap dress asked as she stepped out onto the porch with a taller gentleman with blonde hair on her heels.

 “Yes. I’m special agent OA Zidan and this is my partner special agent YFN/YLN.”

 You greeted the couple as they ushered you into their home.

 “You have a beautiful home. You’re quite a far way outside the city,” you audible observed.

 “Yes, we think it’s great to be outside of the madness that is Manhattan,” the blonde gentleman said.

 You looked back to see OA scanning the interior of the home. He’d nonverbally given you the cue he was going to be the observer during this visit. The coupled showed you to another large room with matching seats. The home looked perfect as if it was magically created to be perfect. From experience, you knew impressions of perfection usually always came with deep dark secrets. You spent the next several minutes going through questions with the couple about their daughter, her home life, and school life. They candidly answered your questions and gave no hints to them being anything but deeply concerned parents of a missing child.

 “Do you have any idea what your daughter was doing in Hell’s Kitchen?”

 The couple looked between each other but neither spoke. OA asked the question again.

 “We don’t know. Her school is here, it’s a private school. I don’t know,” the father said.

 You believed him.

 “Can we take a look around your daughter’s bedroom?”

 The couple showed you to the room and you and OA slowly went around to find anything you could.

 “I don’t know what to make of the mom,” OA voiced in a whisper.

 “Why?”

 “Too perfect. Did you see there was nothing out of place? Not on her and not in the room. Anyone who appears too perfect always has something to hide. You get that, right?”

 Something about what he said rubbed you the wrong way. Turning to him you watched him moving from bookshelf to desk.

 “What do you mean by that? Why would I get it?”

 “You know, from experience.”

 He definitely meant something by that. “If you have something to say OA, say it.” He turned to you but didn’t respond. He just had that scowl on his face.

 “Nothing. Let’s go, found what could be our smoking bullet.” He held up two cell phones before he dropped them in Ziploc bags and walked out of the room. You were now annoyed.

 ~~~~~~~

Two hours later you’d spoken to the victim’s friends and checked the crime scene. Now you were at headquarters waiting for Kristen to come back with whatever was in the phones. You couldn’t get OA’s words out of your head. He was purposely digging on you. he thought you were too perfect, thought that you had something to hide. You didn’t know if you were more annoyed that he could see through you to figure that out or the fact that he could say that to you.

 “You okay?”

 Kristen walked beside you in the break room and placed her hand on your back.

 “Yeah. I’m good. Thanks.” Kristen nodded and made a move to walk out.

 “Kristen wait.” You sighed and shook your head before you began again. “Do you think I’m boring or too perfect?”

 Kristen smirked and took you in for a few moments.

 “Why?”

 “No reason just—something someone said. Am I boring?”

 “I don’t think boring is the right word. Maybe—focused.” You gave her a cold glare that she laughed at.

 “Really? Focused is the best you could come up with?”

 “Yes. Okay look, you are focused. It is clear to see you take the job seriously and have goals and a plan for yourself. There is nothing wrong with that. You take the job so seriously that you come off standoffish and—serious.”

 You scoffed and shook your head. “Ah-ha, so not only am I boring but I’m a bitch.”

 “No, no one thinks you’re a bitch,” Kristen corrected. You shook your head and rubbed your forehead.

 “What does it matter what people think about you?”

 “I don’t want people thinking I’m boring and a goody two-shoes who is this perfect straight arrow. I’m not perfect, I’m not a goody two-shoes either. I’m a mess, I--,” you stuttered.

 “Y/N, calm down.” You took some deep breathes and composed yourself.

 “Okay. Thanks, Kristen.”

 “Y/N, we got a break,” Jubal informed peeking his head from around the corner.

 Thirty minutes later you and OA were in a seedy part of town hunting down a lead in the abduction. CCTV caught images of the potential suspect. You could see movement at the front of the restaurant and saw your suspect walk out. He was laughing and talking as if he had no care in the world. In the back of the truck, you and OA were strapping on your protective vests getting ready to approach. You flinched as you came back up from your hunched over position and sucked in a breath. Looking over, you saw OA watching you with concerned eyes.

 “You up for this?”

 “Yep.” You pulled on your shirt over the vest and then your jacket.

 “Y/N, before we head out there maybe we should talk,” OA began.

 “No time.”

 “Just like last time, no time?”

 Your eyes met and again there was so much to say and no time to do it. Even if you wanted to talk you had no idea what to say.

 “OA--.”

 “I’ll take lead.” OA was the first to climb out of the truck and begin his slow walk to the restaurant. You followed behind making sure to check behind you. The two of you walked inside the restaurant, him surveilling around while you made it to the counter.

 “What can I get ya?”

 “A number seven, two and two number nines. Hmmm, what else, anything Pablo?”

 OA looked at you with a “really” look. You knew he hated the name Pablo because of a case you worked with another agent who kept calling him Pablo since OA wouldn’t tell his whole name.

 “Add a number ten on there, I love that garlic sauce.”

 You nodded and looked back to the man behind the counter. He didn’t move, he just stared at the two of you until he made a move to throw a metal napkin holder to you. Ducking out of the way you reached across the counter to grab his head and bang it onto the counter. You heard the scuffling behind you and knew OA was taking on the two creeps that were sitting at the table to the door.

 “I’m never talking!” You shuffled over the counter and kicked the perp sending him a few feet back. The fight was a dirty one, he threw things at you and was clearly out for blood. When he pulled a gun you kicked it out of his hand and brought his head to your knee. He groaned and got in a punch to your gut before sweeping his leg under you making you crash to the floor. The pain in your midsection distracted you long enough for him to make a run for it. OA was beside you a few seconds later checking if you were okay.

 “Go after him, go!”

 You still tried to catch your breath and get the pain under control as you secured the two idiots that dared fight a man that was clearly well over six feet tall and two hundred pounds. Every second that passed you worried about OA. You should have been with him running down the asshole, but you couldn’t. You were supposed to be watching his back and you felt like shit that you couldn’t. It didn’t take you long to recognize that the reason why wasn’t because he was your partner and you were supposed to be with him but because you were worried about his safety, you were scared for him and it went way beyond platonic.

 When backup came around they loaded the idiots in the car. The bulletproof vest you wore felt restricting, so you peeled off the jacket and the vest to reveal your white tank underneath with a fresh coating of blood. A paramedic took you to the back of an ambulance and cleaned your wound that was now bleeding again.

 When you walked back to the sidewalk it was then OA came around the corner carrying a young girl—the victim.

 “Medic, I need a medic!” You hurried over to him; his shirt was covered in blood. You didn’t know if it was the girl’s or his. Panic set in again.

 “OA, what happened? Are you okay?”

 Two paramedics rushed over with a gurney in time for him to place her on it. once his arms were free you proceeded to check his body for wounds. You touched all over his chest, abdomen, and arms before circling his back to scan even more.

 “Hey, hey, I’m fine.”

 “You’re bleeding,” you frantically announced.

 “It’s not my blood, I’m fine.” Your eyes met and his words finally broke through. You felt his hands on your arms steadying you.

 “Are you sure?” He nodded and you finally felt like you could breathe. You dropped your head and took several breaths. OA’s hand fell to your waist, you flinched then groaned. When he saw why his eyes were piercing into yours.

 “Are you hit?”

 “No, stupid stitches busted. I’m fine.”

 “We have to get her to the hospital,” one of the paramedics announced. You watched as they wheeled the seventeen-year-old girl away.

 “How did you--?”

 “He led me right to her. He was trying to move the truck she was cuffed inside. Turns out her mother is her stepmother and she wanted her out the way so she arranged all of this,” OA informed.

 “What?”

 “Yeah. I told you behind perfection lies secrets. Come on, let’s get you checked out.”

 An hour later you were back in the hospital getting checked out. This time OA didn’t let you out of his sight. Thankfully they allowed you to go home that night and OA was right there to take you. The two of you were in the elevator riding up to your floor in silence. When the doors opened, slowly led the way.

 “You don’t have to do this. I’m a big girl, I can get myself home.”

 “Yeah, I’m sure you can but I’d feel a lot better knowing I saw you get inside,” OA answered. Nodding you continued walking. You knew better than to try to argue with him. he was just as stubborn as you.

 You unlocked your door and walked inside and turned to face him. “Safe and sound.” OA stood there silent just watching you. you watched as he sucked in his bottom lip and nodded.

 “I’m sorry.” Confusion decorated his face.

 “What? For what?”

 “I didn’t have your back. You had to chase him by yourself. I was so winded I couldn’t—I should have had your back and I didn’t. I’m sorry.”

 “Y/N, it’s fine. You got knocked on your ass. You needed a minute.”

 “I needed a minute because I probably shouldn’t have been out there.” You groaned and rubbed your forehead.

 “You felt ready, I’m not going to argue with you about it. I’m fine.”

 “What if you weren’t? I thought that blood was yours and I was scared,” you admitted. Silence fell between you and the butterflies in your belly picked up.

 “Why were you scared?” His voice dropped a few octaves and it made goosebumps tickle your skin. God, it was sexy.

 “Because.” It was a whisper; it was all you could muster. Lowering your head, you averted your eyes. OA took a step to you, but it wasn’t enough to crowd you.

 “Tell me.” You took a deep breath and began.

 “I thought you were hurt, and I was worried, really worried.” Your eyes met again and neither of you spoke for a few moments.

 “Did it feel like your heart was being squeezed? Like no air could come in and because of it there was a burning sensation but also a sharp pins and needles feeling? Did you feel like your life was slowly bring drained?” Every word he spoke fit how you felt to a T.

 “Is that how you felt?” Slowly you nodded even though right now you felt overwhelming fear.

 “Yeah, I felt it too. I felt it when I saw you take that bullet and every second until you spoke in the hospital. I felt it and so much more, Y/N.”

 You had no words, so you remained silent. You just stood there staring at him and listening to your pounding heart.

 “Jesus I don’t know how much more I can take,” OA began before he took another step to you. “For a whole year, I’ve tried to keep a wrap on this and remain professional with you. For a year I’ve had to pretend as if I don’t watch you in awe and amazement every day you do something incredible. For a year I’ve had to be this whole different way with you when all I want is the opposite.”

 With every word, your breathing became even more erratic. You couldn’t believe he was saying what he was.

 “You’re the crazy thing, Y/N. I know the rules and what I’m feeling are definitely against them, but I don’t care. I care about you.”

 You plastered your hand across his mouth to shut him up. “Stop, don’t. Just don’t. We can back away from this night and pretend like it never happened and move on and keep things status quo. We can stop right now, and no one would have crossed any lines. We can do that just—don’t say those words.”

 From the look in his eyes, you could tell he was not going to back down. He was going to commit and commit fully. Using one of his colossal hands he took your hand from his mouth, but he held on to it.

 “I don’t think I can keep pretending. I’ve always known life is fleeting being in the military and in Iraq I saw how tangible life was and come here doing what we do day in and day out, I know life is precious. Seeing you hurt hammered it home. I don’t want to pretend anymore. I don’t want to leave anything unsaid, or anything undone. I want to do the crazy things I dream of. I want to live—but only with you. So I can’t keep things status quo and if you were honest with yourself you don’t want to either.”

 Damn it, you thought. He’d spend a year learning you, reading you, doing everything they’d taught him at Quantico. He knew you; you didn’t want him to, but he did. Since he did he took another step to you. There was no professionalism between you now, that last step erased it all.

 “I have feelings for you, Y/N, feelings I’ve held on to since damn near the day you walked in and brought Florida sunshine with you. I can’t go back,” OA confessed. In the process, he took your breath away.

 The day you met him you knew he would be a distraction. You’d put up a good fight, but it was always a losing one. You saw that now, in this moment, with him less than a foot before you, waiting patiently for you to say the words he knew you felt.

 “Tell me. Say the words,” OA whispered.

 “This is crazy.” OA smirked and nodded. His hand fell to your waist and rested there barely touching you.

 “Be crazy with me. Be imperfect with me.” His encouragement made the butterflies in your belly flutter more erratically. It was useless to fight it and fight your increasing feelings.

 “I—have feelings for—you too,” you whispered. He searched your eyes as if trying to make sure there was no lie behind the words. Slowly he pulled to you him closing the gap between you. Your bodies barely touched but you could feel the heat coming off of him. slowly OA inched his head closer to yours until his forehead rested against yours. He released a relieved breath before taking another deep one.

 “I have feelings for you, real ones that I’ve never felt before,” OA added. You nodded agreeing fully. “You too?” Again, you nodded. His smile was beautiful, it was the first thing that you fell for.

 Slowly your lips move closer until they touched, but neither of you moved. You just remained still taking it in. After a few seconds OA was the first to really kiss you. The kiss was slow, timid and exploratory and you reciprocated every second of it. His hand on your waist held you tighter until your bodies were touching. The hardness of his muscled torso against your soft one had you moaning on his lips. OA mimicked the moan which had you both intensifying the kiss. OA’s free hand cupped your cheek before you felt his tongue delve into your mouth. It was like a dam broke. You passionately kissed him, holding onto his waist with one hand and gripping his back with the other. The feel of his moan against your lips made you want more. Slowly you pulled away.

 “I’m not boring.” OA smiled.

 “I know.”

 “I can do crazy,” you continued. Again, he smiled and nodded.

 “I bet you can.” You smiled and kissed him again while gripping his tie holding him to you. The two of you stood in your doorway full on making out not caring who saw. Every second that went by the more you wanted him and the more you were tempted to pull him inside your apartment. OA’s hand slid to your hip where he squeezed sending a fresh wave of arousal to sweep through you. Before the kiss got any more carried away OA pulled back from you.

 “Wow. That’s what I’ve been missing.” You smirked and pinched your lips.

 “I don’t want to rush you or take advantage. I’m not after just this, I want more.”

 “How much more?” Again, his smile took your breath away.

 “Everything.”

 His confession brought you back to reality. While it was sweet it was also an awakening. He was your partner. Was everything possible? The bureau had rules, regulations, and policies. Dating your partner was strictly frowned upon. This could break your career and set you back years. Both of you must have thought the same thing because he even nodded his head while he looked down. He didn’t move though, he still held you to his body.

 “So many nights I’ve had this dream. So many nights I’d stare out my window over the horizon and think about you here wondering what you were doing. I want this Y/N. I want you.”

 Your eyes met again, and it was like looking through glass, his feelings were so evident so transparent. It spoke to you. you softly caressed his bearded cheek then kissed him while pulling him into your apartment. Reality could wait until sunrise.

 You dropped onto the couch in your living room and made out for hours. His hands explored your body while remaining respectful as he got familiar with your lips and the sensitive skin of your neck. In between kissing, he confessed his true thoughts of you when he first met you, confessed how beautiful he thought you were. It was then he made you confess your thoughts too. From there the two of you went through your interactions together that both of you thought your feelings were so obvious.

 It made you feel closer to him and even more attracted than ever. To think you both had felt this way from the very start and had denied it for so long was insane. Everything between you felt as natural as breathing, it never felt weird. You just fell into step like it made sense—you made sense. When talking was pointless you allowed your lips and hands to take over in the conversation. Of course both of you were tempted to go further but neither of you did. Besides dry humping on each other and kissing over places of each other’s bodies everything remained very tame.  Every time you felt his hardness you were even more tempted than you ever imagined you would be. From what you felt you knew he was blessed in more ways than just appearances.

 By the time you finally pulled apart from each other and stopped whispering, giggling and cuddling together it was nearing four-thirty in the morning.

 “I’m going to leave to let you get a little bit of sleep,” OA whispered in between kisses.

 “Okay.” Your response should have been the end of it, but it wasn’t. you kept kissing and caressing each other until another five minutes passed and you were back on the couch. This happened four times without accomplishing anything.

 Finally, he walked to the door alone thinking it would be smarter for you to stay on the couch. When he turned to look at you again he smiled softly. “We’re doing this—you and me?”

 You didn’t know what to say so you smiled like a schoolgirl making him smile widely. “All right,” OA said before he walked through the door only to come back to kiss you once more before hurrying out.

 “See you soon.”

 When he was gone you couldn’t stop smiling for a good ten minutes. You squealed in your couch and giggled like an idiot. It was impossible to stop. It was also disgusting how bubbly you felt. You felt lite and full of energy. It wasn’t until you’d managed to take out your badge and place it on your nightstand did reality come creeping back in. For the first time, your bubbly feeling slowly faded leaving a very sobering feeling that was very similar to dreadful worry.

 “Fuck!”

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

***If you want to be tagged please SEND AN ASK SO IT WILL BE EASIER FOR ME TO KEEP TRACK OF. Thank you for reading!!!

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

TagList:

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[inevitably-johnlocked]

CHRISTMAS FICS 2019 Pt. 1

Happy holidays everyone!! This year, no one asked me for my latest Christmas fics, so I took the opportunity to do something I’ve wanted to do for awhile: give ALL OF the bookmarks I have for the Christmas season... essentially updating my current Christmas lists so I make sure I didn’t forget any of them :P 

Included below is EVERY bookmark I have up to today, for both Christmas and New Year! I hope you enjoy everything! 

I’ll have Pt. 2 up for you tomorrow, which is EVERYTHING I have recently recorded for my Marked for Later list, and kindly ask you wait until THAT list for you to add your own lists so that I have everything I should read in one place! <3

Hope these lists get you into the holiday spirit the week before Christmas!! <3 Love you all!

ALL XMAS BOOKMARKS Dec. 2019

See also: 

Christmas Fics (Dec. 2017)

Christmas: Oblivious That One or The Other is In a Relationship

G / T / K+ Rated Christmas Fics (Dec. 2018)

Undeterred by 221b_hound (T, 221 w., 1 Ch. || 221B Ficlet, Christmas, Mistletoe, Kisses) – Sherlock does not approve of this mistletoe nonsense. Though he will make exceptions. Part 6 of The Million Word Festival // Part 42 of Unkissed

When Morning Comes by Youarethelightoftheworld (T, 423 w., 1 Ch. || Christmas Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Lazy Mornings/Morning After, Fluff and Angst, Sleepy Cuddles, Domestic Fluff, Cuddling / Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort) – “Sherlock,” says John solemnly, “I’m not sure we can go anywhere today.”

Jumper by bofurs_laugh (G, 520 w., 1 Ch. || Friendship, Pre-Slash, Christmas) – John wakes to find something he never thought possible. Part 4 of Sherlock Advent Series

Christmas With Sherlock by grannysknitting (K, 830 w., 1 Ch. || Friendship & Family, Christmas) – John spends Christmas with Sherlock. Mrs Hudson gets a pressie.

A Christmas Holiday by consultinggalpals (sansa_undergrind) (G, 1,076 w., 1 Ch. || Tooth Rotting Fluff, Christmas, Honeymoon) – "Come on, Sherlock. Just take the picture already.”

Upon Reflection, Tenable Frippery by emmagrant01 (T, 1,299 w., 1 Ch. || Post-S4, John’s Beard, First Kiss, Fluff) – John was, inexplicably, growing a beard.

Yet What I Can, I Give Him by a_big_apple (G, 1,391 w., 1 Ch. || Fluff, Kisses) – This Christmas is much improved over the last – mostly because Sherlock isn't dead – but it isn't so simple for John to recover from his grief, and he finds comfort in likely and unlikely places.

Christmas by thegirlinthedeathfrisbee (G, 1,768 w., 1 Ch. || Mistletoe, First Kiss, Fluff) – John goes home for Christmas -- to the Holmes home, that is.

You Can Imagine The Christmas Dinners by johnsarmylady (T, 1,780 w., 1 Ch. || Friendship, Family, Introspection, Fluff, Post-ASIP) – Set the morning after a Study in Pink, John sits and contemplates Mycroft's words. In answer to a challenge set by Librarianmum, and dedicated to that talented lady.

Wintery Hell by Belldere (K+, 2,457 w., 1 Ch. || Friendship & Humour, Christmas) – With Sherlock being roped into spending Christmas with his family, John had his own Christmas all planned out with his other friends and family... That is until he's extended a forceful invitation from Mycroft and an assumption from Sherlock who, once again, failed to notice John wasn't in the room when he 'asked’.

Just Admit It by LoyalNerdWP (T, 2,512 w, 1 Ch. || Christmas, Fluff, Family, Romance, Pining Sherlock) – Sherlock goes to his family’s place for Christmas without John, and Mycroft makes an interesting observation that Sherlock missed.

Unmapped by 221b_hound (E, 2,835 w., 1 Ch. || Christmas Fluff, Kissing, Experiments, Kisses, Saucy Kisses) – Sherlock wishes to explore more about his desires. To this end, he conducts a kissing experiment in the afternoon of Christmas Day. John is all for experiments of this nature. They are going to learn a thing or two together. Part 9 of Unkissed

The Trial of Sherlock Holmes by jenna221b (G, 3,015 w. across 3 works || TAB!lock, Metafic / TJLC, Victorian AU / 1895, Christmas, Sherlock’s Mind Palace, Oscar Wilde) – Scripts based on speculation that Sherlock will be put on trial in The Abominable Bride to parallel the Oscar Wilde Trials of 1895.

Unwrapped by 221b_hound (E, 3,022 w., 1 Ch. || Christmas, Fluff, Oral Sex, Feet and Toes, Tow Fetish, Pet Names, Licking) – It's Christmas morning. John doesn't really want the Christmas Sex that Sherlock proposes and explains the reasons why. Sherlock discovers a new element of how his desire functions, and later John gets to indulge his foot fetish. Part 8 of Unkissed

Entanglement by orphan_account (G, 3,218 w., 1 Ch. || Confessions, Physics, Metaphors, Texting, Pining, Christmas, Mind Palace, Sick Fic, Fluff, Humour, Praise Kink) - On Christmas Eve, snow covers London, John visits Harry, and Sherlock and Mrs. Hudson untangle some knots.

First Night Out by verityburns (M, 3,251 w., 1 Ch. || Romance, Christmas, Dev. Rel.) – As John recovers from the effects of a brutal kidnapping, he and Sherlock attend the Yarders' Christmas Party. There are... developments on the dance floor...

Twas The Night by xox-hattii-xox (K+, 3,356 w., 1 Ch. || Humour & Friendship, Christmas, Domestics, Fluff) – Twas the night before Christmas...and Sherlock has had just about enough of the whole thing! 'Really, John, a Santa Hat' Christmas in 221b, and Sherlock just wants it over with.

It Wasn't Just the Mistletoe by Irrevocably_Sherlocked (E, 3,593 w., 1 Ch. || Christmas Fluff, Mistletoe, First Kiss / Time, Frottage, Masturbation, Come as Lube) – Sherlock and John just stood there, seemingly frozen. Sherlock was desperately trying to think of a way out of this. There was no way he could kiss John, even a small kiss, and not have him know immediately how he felt. Sherlock could lie, and fake and sham, but there was no way he could hide this.

Last Christmas by Mazarin221b (T, 3,911 w., 1 Ch. || Fluff, Pining Sherlock, First Kiss) – That Earth-shaking revelation, then, leads to a problem, and one that Sherlock realizes should be solved quickly, before John’s dates turn into girlfriends or boyfriends, because sometimes girlfriends or boyfriends can turn into wives or husbands while your back is turned. Every time John hums happily at the mirror as he shaves, splashes on a little gift cologne Mrs. Hudson bought him for Christmas, Sherlock is drawn back to that night by the fire, and the way John’s touch had made the world stand still.

Tree Topper by May_Shepard (E, 4,017 w., 1 Ch. || Christmas Tree, Christmas Fluff, Drunken Shenanigans, Smut, First Time, Friends to Lovers) – Sherlock and John are celebrating Christmas the best way they know how--alone together, with booze. They've almost finished decorating their tree, but John is determined to find the best way to top it.

Christmas at Holmes Cottage by johnlockedstarkid (G, 4,295 w., 7 Ch. || Christmas, Fake Relationship, Love Confessions, Holmes Family, Pining, Kisses, Fluff, Allusions to Mystrade) – Sherlock doesn't want to have to deal with his mother's wishes for him to find a partner when he goes to visit them for Christmas, so asks John to pose as his boyfriend. Little does he know he's not the only one who wishes that the relationship could be real.

Happy Christmas, You Arse by 1electricpirate (T, 4,766 w., 1 Ch. || Post-TRF, Fluff, Christmas) – In which evidence is presented that disqualifies Sherlock from being the Grinch, and everyone's shoes fit them perfectly well, thank you.

Winter of Life by You_Light_The_Sky (T, 5,178 w., 1 Ch. || Christmas, Fluff & Angst, Magic Realism) – It was an experiment, really. On Christmas, Sherlock wrote to Santa asking for a friend. He got a broken toy soldier instead. This is the story of how he finds him again and again.

Memories Lost on Christmas Day by agnesanutter, PlainJane (G, 5,479 w., 3 Ch. || Fluff, Hospitals, Worried Sherlock, Post-TRF, Christmas) – It's the day before Christmas and Sherlock and John are exactly where they need to be....

Maybe This Christmas by feverishsea (T, 6,021 w., 1 Ch. || Matchmaker Anthea, Anthea POV, Slight Mystrade, Holmes Family) – Anthea has given up her life, her own desires, even her name in service of something greater than herself. But that doesn’t mean she can’t see when someone else wants something – even if she doesn’t happen to care overmuch for that person. And it doesn’t mean she isn’t willing to help.

Surprise Christmas by Ayakae (K, 6,093 w., 1 Ch. || Friendship, Sherlock in Disguise, TRF Hiatus, Christmas, Fluff, Mary) – A year and a half after his death, Sherlock tries to give John Watson a happy Christmas without actually revealing himself. The consulting detective thinks his newfound friend can help. Epic friendship.

Same Same But Different by Kerkerian-Horizon (K+, 6,435 w., 2 Ch. || Friendship, Angst, Post-TRF, Gladstone, John/Mary, Christmas, No Slash) – After Sherlock's return, a lot of things have changed, things the detective has to learn to contend with- or rather, to accept. A sometime-post-Reichenbach story in two parts, no male pairing. Contains Mary, the puppy Gladstone and Christmas as well.

Same Same But Different by Kerkerian-Horizon (K+, 6,435 w., 2 Ch. || Friendship, Angst, Post-TRF, Gladstone, John/Mary, Christmas, No Slash) – After Sherlock's return, a lot of things have changed, things the detective has to learn to contend with- or rather, to accept. A sometime-post-Reichenbach story in two parts, no male pairing. Contains Mary, the puppy Gladstone and Christmas as well.

once upon a time by darcylindbergh (M, 6,501 w., 6 Ch. || Fluff and Angst, First Kiss / Time, Love Declarations, Christmas) – It starts with a wish. In the beginning, John comes home. Part 1 of things fairy tales are made of

5687 (Approximately) by prettysailorsoldier (T, 6,771 w., 1 Ch. || Est. Rel., Alternate Canon, Christmas, Pining, Fluff, Soldier John) – When John's leave request for Christmas is denied, Sherlock is nothing short of devastated, not that he's letting it show. The holiday season now something he's just waiting to end, Sherlock doesn't think anything can possibly make it worse. That is, until he realizes no one in his life believes his army "boyfriend" is even real, but, luckily, everyone is in for a surprise. Part 13 of 25 Days of Johnlock

that thing you like by misspamela (E, 7,165 w., 1 Ch. || Holmes Family, Fake Relationship, Friends to Lovers) – "Happy Christmas, etc. etc." Sherlock and John go to the Holmes’ for Christmas, and everyone thinks they’re together.

Christmas by WhimsicalEthnographies (E, 7,673  w., 1 Ch. || Worried Sherlock, PWP, Drunkeness, Christmas, Est. Relationship, Idiots So In Love) – John feels a lump rise in his throat, and it hits him, again, that this beautiful, infuriating creature is his. Completely, one-hundred percent his.

The Frost Child by twistedthicket1 (M, 9,994 w., 2 Ch. || Frozen-ish AU || Magical Realism, Christmas, Angst, Fluff, Powerful John) – In a world where people are born with a Gift of varying levels, simple John Watson is the last person one might look at when thinking of any strong Magick capabilities. Hiding comfortably in the shadow of Sherlock's brilliant deducing abilities, John is content to keep it that way...

Their Great Reward by BeautifulFiction (T, 10,095 w., 1 Ch. || UST, First Kiss, Fluff) – Boxing day, in John's opinions, is the worst day of the year. Christmas is over, the tree is wilting and stripped of gifts, and there's a week of dead-time until the clean slate of the new year. However the combination of a blizzard, a power-cut and Sherlock might just make it a day to remember.

The Nutcracker by Odamaki (T, 13,758 w., 7 Ch. || Nutcracker AU ||  Christmas, Dark Magic, Dolls) – Sherlock is unimpressed with Uncle Rudy's present. A doll? What does he want with a doll?

Merlot by Itsallfine (E, 14,844 w., 17 Ch. || Christmas, Pining Sherlock, Wine, Slow Burn, First Kiss / Time, Love Confessions, Wine, Holmes Family) – Sherlock and John work toward becoming something more as they prepare to host the Holmes parents at 221B for the holidays. Part of 25 Days of Fic-Mas 2015.

Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Missing Christmas Spirit by SilentAuror (M, 15,002 w., 1 Ch. || Christmas, Domesticity, Post S3, Happy Ending) – John hates Christmas. So does Sherlock, but he suggests that they do Christmas "properly" this year to see if they can't track down its elusive magic and discover for themselves what Christmas is supposed to be about.

Twelfth Night by yourdykeinshiningarmor (E, 15,139 w., 5 Ch. || Fake Relationship, Christmas, Mutual Pining, Friends to Lovers, Angst & Fluff, BJ’s, Anal) – John is invited to his aunt's Twelfth Night ball. Sherlock offers to attend with him as a friendly face among strangers, but John's family force him to address his true feelings for Sherlock.

Till Death Do Us Part by prettysailorsoldier (M, 15,390 w., 1 Ch. || Fake Relationship, Case Fic, Friends to Lovers, Fake Marriage, Christmas, Fluff) – When Sherlock links a recent spree of murder-suicides to a psychologist who specializes in marriage counseling, there's really only one thing to do: Go undercover as a couple in hopes of drawing the killer out. Faking a relationship seems easy enough, but things take a turn when their real issues start to creep into the sessions, and, all the while, a killer is watching, waiting in the shadows for their chance to strike.

Never-Ending Cycle by orphan_account (T, 17,211 w., 1 Ch. || Christmas, Est. Rel., Proposal, Fluff) – Or, four times Sherlock Holmes attempted to propose to John Watson, and the Christmas Party at which he finally did. Sherlock thinks he's a miserable failure, John is confused, Mrs. Hudson and Lestrade provide some unsatisfactory advice, and Mummy is, as always, the solution. All in a lovely, fluffy holiday theme.

You're On the Air by prettysailorsoldier (M, 20,616 w., 1 Ch. || Unilock, Matchmaking, Radio, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Sherlock POV, Pining Sherlock, Flirting, Bisexual John) – The Consulting Detective and The Woman dominate the airwaves of their university radio station, doling out advice on everything from meeting the parents to sexual positions. When their ratings start to dip before the holidays, however, manager Mike thinks it's time for some fresh blood, and who better to fill in the gaps than rugby captain--and notorious flirt--John Watson? Part 1 of 25 Days of Johnlock

Winter's Delights by Kate_Lear (E, 21,173 w., 1 Ch. || Holmes Family, Christmas, Fake Relationship, Friends to Lovers, Bed Sharing, Domestics) – Sherlock takes John home for Christmas to meet the extended Holmes family. Part 1 of Winter's Delights

Ghost Stories by SwissMiss (M, 22,256 w., 1 Ch. || Pining, Holmes Family, Christmas, Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn, Bed Sharing, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, First Time) – Sherlock's parents think he and John are a couple. They might be onto something.

You Can Imagine the Christmas Dinners by ardenteurophile (T, 23,584 w., 9 Ch. || Pre-Slash, Drama, Fluff & Angst, Humour, Romance) – Sherlock takes John along for Christmas dinner with Mycroft and Mummy (And "Anthea", too). Over the course of the evening, John realises that everyone in the room - apart from him - seems to think that he and Sherlock are a couple. Part 2 of Xmas Dinners Verse

Dropping the Act by jadztone (T, 27,258 w., 10 Ch. || Parentlock, Fake Relationship, Mary’s Family, Post-S4, Cuddling & Snuggling, Bed Sharing, Pining, Christmas) – Sherlock and John are quite happy living together with Rosie in Baker St. They might be even happier if they didn’t act towards each other like their love is only platonic. Mycroft brings troubling news in the form of Mary’s parents wanting to know just what their grandchild’s home life is like. The boys decide to spend Christmas pretending like they are in love in order to seem more like a "normal" family. It's easy enough to pretend when all you're doing is dropping the act.

Another Auld Lang Syne by DiscordantWords (M, 30,234 w., 31 Ch. || Post S4, Mutual Pining, Alternating POV, Introspection, Parentlock, Christmas, New Year’s, First Kiss, Past Drug Use, Angst with Happy Ending, Drinking, Sherlock Whump) – There had been years of missed chances.

The Winter Garden by Callie4180 (T, 31,213 w., 13 Ch. || Post-S4, Retirement, Christmas, Slow Burn, Grown-Up Rosie, Parenthood, Rosie’s Cat, Angst with Happy Ending, Holidays, Beekeeping, Magical Realism, Sherlock POV, Sherlock’s Violin, Future Fic, Sussex, Honey, Magical Healing Honey, Love Confessions, Sherlock’s Scar, First Kiss, Touching, Mycroft is Dying) – As Sherlock nears the end of his career, he's given the gift of a cottage in Sussex. The honey from the beehives out back is amazing. Almost...magical.

a good old-fashioned happy ending by darcylindbergh (E, 32,731 w., 26 Ch. || Christmas, Frottage, Comfort, Est. Rel., Fluff, Insecure Sherlock, Frottage, Nightmares, Sleepy Sherlock, Marriage Proposal, Humour, Fluff, Dancing, Cooking, Happy Ending) – For Christmas this year, Sherlock wants to get John something special: something every fairytale deserves. Part 2 of things fairy tales are made of

Our Enthusiasms Which Cannot Always Be Explained by withoutawish (M, 32,961 w., 1 Ch. || Christmas, Fluff and Angst, H/C, Post-TRF, Case Fic, Mild Gore, Sherlock Whump) – The list that is tacked haphazardly on the refrigerator of 221B reads, ‘Kidney(s), and/or a full cadaver (preferably male, late 30s, under six feet tall), bag of fresh toes, sixteen cow’s eyes (corneas retained), dual exhaust hand –held flame thrower, an unopened first edition copy of Joseph Conrad’s 'Heart of Darkness', and no less than ten abhorrently gruesome murders in the upcoming month.” The one neatly hanging next to it simply reads, “Sex.” One of these lists is not John Watson’s. If John Watson were to put what he really wanted in list form, to live in a land somewhere beyond ‘almosts' now that Sherlock Holmes has indeed returned to him, he would never be able to look his flatmate in the eye ever again.

Goodness Gives Extras by mydwynter (E, 39,629 w., 6 Ch. || Fluff & Angst, Case Fic, Oral / Anal, Humour, First Time, Miscommunication, Snark, Christmas) – Christmas time. 'Tis the season to settle down with a drink, some food and a present or two, and to enjoy the quiet relaxation of the holiday. Instead, there's a case that drags them all over, missing presents, disappointed kids, angry parents, and a freak snowfall. On top of that John has to deal with Sherlock, who is being even more of a prat than usual. He really shouldn't have expected anything different.

One Little Change by jadztone (E, 58,312 w., 12 Ch. || ASiB Divergence, Fake Relationship, Bed Sharing, Mutual Pining, Friends to Lovers, First Kiss / Time, Anal Sex, Blow Jobs, Bi John / Gay Demisexual Sherlock, Switchlock, Alternating POV, Jealousy, Misunderstandings, Case Fic, Angst with Happy Ending, Emotional Love Making, Butt Plugs, Cuddles) – Our story begins right after John and Sherlock's first meeting with Irene Adler in September. It splits off into an AU that imagines them taking a case where they act as bait to hook a killer targeting closeted gays in secret relationships. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, many things happen that have our boys wondering if maybe they have a chance with each other. Then Irene fakes her death on Christmas Eve, and things get a lot more complicated - especially since they still have a killer to catch.

John Watson's Twelve Days of Christmas by earlgreytea68 (M, 53,464 w., 14 Ch. || Christmas, Holmes Family, Fake Relationship, Alternate First Meeting, Falling in Love, Fluff and Angst, Hardcore Pining) – It's the holiday season. John Watson needs money. Sherlock Holmes needs something else.

The Baker Street Nativity by SwissMiss (E, 99,662 w. || Nativity! AU || Teacher Sherlock / TA John, Pining, Sherlock POV, UST, Angst, Christmas, Music/Song Fic, Anal / BJ’s, First Kiss / Time) – Fusion between Sherlock (BBC) and Nativity! (2009 movie starring Martin Freeman). Sherlock is a primary school teacher and John is assigned to be his classroom assistant. Together, they are charged with putting on the school's Nativity play. What could possibly go wrong? Part 1 of The Baker Street Nativity Verse

Sherlock Holmes and His Inability to Sing by sherlockholmesandhisinability (Parentlock, Christmas) [Tumblr Ficlet] - “Oh, for Christ’s sake. Sherlock, it’s me- Greg. You texted! Said it was an emergency. Ring a bell? God, I was panicking! Here, get up,” Greg scooped the bundle from the floor warmly and held it by the shoulders. “You alright, then?” “Yes. Fine.” Ached Sherlock as he wriggled free. “Come on, you soft git- take that off and tell me what’s happening.”

ALL NEW YEAR’S BOOKMARKS Dec 2019

See also: New Year’s Fics (Jan 2018)

New Year, New Beginning by DaisyFairy (T, 810 w., 1 Ch. || New Year’s Eve, John POV, Post S4, Friends to Lovers) – New Year at a crime scene and John makes a decision.

Q 1 HR by StillWaters1 (K+, 2,234 w., 1 Ch. || Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Sick John, Fluff, New Year’s Eve) – On New Year's Eve, Sherlock discovers that sometimes it's the seemingly innocuous, rather than life-threatening, conditions that can keep John from The Work. And John is reminded just how deeply their friendship runs.

Not My Proudest Moment by charlock221 (K, 2,695 w., 1 Ch. || Lunar New Year, Mild PTSD / Panic Attack, Coping Mechanisms, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort) – John tries his best not to get in the way of Sherlock's cases, but when the vivid noises of fireworks unnerve his senses and begin to bring back unwanted memories of Afghanistan, he cannot help but to hope Sherlock will notice and help him before things go too far.

Unimpressed by 221b_hound (M, 3,106 w., 1 Ch. || New Year’s Eve, Dancing, Jealousy) – Sherlock has no intention of attending the Met's New Year's Eve party. The start of a new year is all but meaningless to him. But he ends up there anyway, having odd conversations, and John does not find Sherlock's jealousy the slightest bit cute. And then there is dancing. Part 10 of Unkissed

Coldness/Heat by agirlsname (E, 3,790 w., 1 Ch. || Cuddling & Snuggling, Body Heat, New Year’s Eve, PWP, Bedsharing, Frottage) – The inn is booked up on New Year's Eve. The train home is cancelled because of the snow. The only option is to sleep in the non-heated guest room of a client, and John and Sherlock are freezing. You know where this is going. Part 1 of New Year's Kiss

Another Auld Lang Syne by DiscordantWords (M, 30,234 w., 31 Ch. || Post S4, Mutual Pining, Alternating POV, Introspection, Parentlock, Christmas, New Year’s, First Kiss, Past Drug Use, Angst with Happy Ending, Drinking, Sherlock Whump) – There had been years of missed chances.

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Again, if you have fics to add, I kindly ask you wait until TOMORROW’S list to suggest them, so that they’re all in one place I can logically remember to check for new fics to read!! :) This list is meant to be my gift to you guys, with my bookmarks list, and Tomorrow’s is the community gift to the fandom with stuff people have suggested to me and others! <3

[doflamingadonquixote]

Her Light - Pt. 1/?

Title: Her Light Pairing: Padawan!OC/Armitage Hux Warnings: Slavery, Ben Solo and Armitage Hux not dead Summary: After the Battle of Exegol and the destruction of the First Order, Ben Solo and Rey Palpatine Skywalker seek Force-sensitive subjects, in the galaxy, to train them. They discovered you, a Kiffar, on the planet of Kiffu. Two years later, your two Jedi Master bring you and the other older padawan to the planet of Kessel, to retrieve another promising pupil. And here, you will find your dark and your light. Words: 2156

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Next Chap: Page 2

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Part 1 of ?

Kessel was one of the hottest planets you had set foot in for years. You had had your experiences traveling around the galaxy, especially in those last years when you joined the New Republic, which was slowly rebuilding its foundations after the end of the battle.

The Millennium Falcon flew just above the crust of the planet until it stopped above a small inhabited city, distant from the mining area that later the masters Ben Solo and Rey Skywalker would have had to reach separately.

The mission had been largely carried out while you were still on Ajan Kloss, where the temple stood and where the training of you future Jedi took place. Ben and Rey would have undertaken a search for another apprentice, reported on that planet in the areas of the mines and you 4 padawans would have had to look for the necessary components for the Falcon and some military troops of the Republic.

The list on the holopad had been transferred directly to the second girl besides you, the latest but surely the most responsible, Yamitha. She came from the planet of Naboo and had such a clear complexion that you would hardly have guessed that she had lived in large forests. Her hair was a dark purple that highlighted her warm golden eyes.

When the ship hit the ground, you ran up to the Falcon exit, and jumped out into the open air. It was just as you thought. The sultry heat penetrated your white suit, starting to wet your skin with sweat, but you didn't want to give it any weight.

The background you had before you deserved your full attention.

There, about a kilometer away, a large expanse of tarpaulins filled the sandy soil of the planet. There were all colors. Green, yellow, pink, light blue and a large mass of people walked among them with smiles and wonder.

Before you could advance to the area to begin your exploration, Rey grabbed the back of the cloak, sliding the hood away, and pulling you toward her. Your hair was freed from the protection and small grains of sand carried by the wind ended up in your hair, shining against the hair.

“Respect the list, Y/N. No tricks this time.” The Jedi scolded you, leaving you with an amused look as you tried to extricate yourself quickly.

You rolled your eyes, running a hand over your cheeks and outlining, as you usually do, the yellow arrows that decorated your face, just a little lower than the temples. Belonging to your clan.

You had been one of the first apprentices, more precisely the second, to be invited to the circle that Ben Solo and Rey were trying to build. So they had the opportunity to study you, understand you and manage you in those years. At the beginning you were one of the most discreet students, but by going ahead with your training and entering the new environment you quickly gained confidence, often putting yourself on the line in situations that didn’t require it.

Yamitha came to your side, placing a hand on your shoulder and drawing attention to himself.

“Maybe it's better to go now. Even if we divide our tasks, it will be difficult to find all the material on time.”

Within the group, the only girls who were sought and invited were the two of you. You turned out to be the biggest and the strongest with your Y / A years and perhaps your nature as a kiffar but as for judgment and responsibility, Yamitha was definitely the one ahead.

Maybe that was why they had given you money protection and put Yamitha in close contact with you. And for that reason, you had made a strong and shared bond that the apprentices had not found in others.

Without holding back any longer, the masters left the remaining apprentices in Yamitha's hands and set off for the mines, trying to hire a vehicle to escort them.

When you entered the heart of the market, you let yourself be carried away by the feelings and the calls of the sellers, stopping left and right and often losing sight of the remaining companions.

You have never seen so many varieties of sweets and foods of all kinds.

“Do you want to taste it, traveler?”

A tray was presented to you in front of your face, making the fruit lying on it shine bright purple. Some seemed instead covered in something, leaving little room for natural color.

You stuck one in your mouth and your eyes shone with the explosion of sweetness that filled your mouth. The small grains seemed to melt on contact with your tongue, without any need to chew.

“What are they?”

“Cambylictus berry. Fine berries from the planet of Naboo.”

You looked around, looking for your friend, and found her at a pair of tents away, who was talking openly with the owner.

“How much for five of these?” you asked, pointing to the guy the ones you had tasted.

“4 Peggat” the seller's tone had suddenly become cautious and serious.

“2 peggat and 2 trugut. That's all I have.” You shrugged, looking for the bundle of money that you had put aside during your travels and your assistance to the Republic.

With the exhausting mental training that Ben forced you and Rey's physical training, it was somewhat impossible to find much time to devote to work to earn something. Not that the Jedi masters made you miss something, but in cases like that you wanted to have something aside that you could spend at your leisure. So when it happened, you cleaned or helped members of the Republic who came and went to Ajan Kloss for resources.

You had earned about 50 peggat in a year, however you had to spend 30 for pieces needed to modify your lightsaber and the remaining 20 were 2 and a half left.

The man, lowering his eyes along the cloak looking for a possible lie, hesitantly accepted your offer, extending a small basket with five small fruits inside on the tray.

When you turned around in search of your partner, you bleached. Yamitha was nowhere to be seen, and not even the black cloaks of your other companions seemed to stand out in the crowd of people who invaded that market.

You tried to untangle yourself as much as possible among the people, moving aside hoods to identify any friends but you had already irritated too many people and in a short time had attracted attention to you. People stared at you and often pointed, confirming your suspicions. So, quickly, you hid under the hood and tried to get away from the crowd.

Going up some houses behind the stands you would surely find who you were looking for.

When you found yourself with your back to a high building, you sighed and stared at the tip with great desire. You would have used Force with the greatest possible discretion to get to the top.

But before you could even close your eyes to get enough concentration, a strong hand weighed on your right shoulder making you snap like an animal caught by surprise. At that speed, the hood also slipped out of your head, revealing your identity.

“Are you lost, girl?”

He was a Zygerrian. A feline humanoid race somewhat suspicious of their shady plans. That was certainly a male, with a dark fur and two yellow eyes like amber without impurities.

“No, I just got away from the chaos of the market. I don't like shopping crowds.” Lie, hiding your hands inside the coat and sliding your fingers over the cold surface of your lightsaber.

The feline man seemed to notice it because he followed your movements for a moment, letting out a sarcastic and derisive smile.

“Well, I suggest you look elsewhere then. This area is closed to mere visitors.” His tone was threatening and his eyes darted servants in your direction.

When a side door to the building you stood beside opened, you snapped your eyes in his direction, watching a companion of the guy you were facing come forward. And it was definitely bigger.

Before the door closed, a roar of angry screams rose inside the hall, making you suspect of shady deals open to a reduced audience of rascals.

With a big breath, you decided to apply the last teachings of the Master Rey that you were so eager to try for lack of opportunities.

You held out a hand in front of you, so that both enemies came under your beam and you spoke in a clear voice.

“Now you will let me in.”

About ten seconds passed, then, just when you thought they would do as ordered, a blaster was aimed directly at your head.

“I don’t think so.” He grinned, loading the weapon.

With an annoyed snort, you rolled your eyes. Obviously it would have taken more than just training to plagiarize the minds of others.

When the blaster fired the first shot, through the connection with the Force, you anticipated it, moving slightly away and before the being or friend could attack again, you let enough energy flow from the body to create a shock wave that sent both of them to collide with the surface of the walls.

They tumbled to the ground, in strange corners but the breath and their presence in the Force confirmed that they were passed out and still alive. Ben and Rey would certainly have preached to you otherwise, even if it had been a matter of life or death.

Silent, you entered the door that you had previously seen open and you thought of a way to be able to subsequently reach your companions and your teachers to discover the illegality.

Images of clandestine struggles and races of forbidden animals passed through your mind, things you had often witnessed even within your home country. But what came before you made you goosebumps.

On an elevated stage with a whole crowd in front of him, a tall man with rough features was yanking what looked like a young Herglic tied to a chain and collar by the neck. The creature moaned in terror but it was dragged away by the annoyed and laden screams for the next victim.

Unwittingly, you captured what her pain and fear were and took your stomach in a painful grip that forced you to breathe heavily. You didn't know why her feelings had poured out on you, but it had happened.

You pushed yourself against the wall, leaning against it as a way to support yourself and your vision clouded for what seemed like hours.

When the body of the aquatic creature was dragged away, your senses returned forcefully, making you land again with your feet on the ground.

You brought your hand, free from the protective grip around the lightsaber, to your head under the hood and rubbed your eyes as if to get rid of the headache that had just hit you.

“We are still halfway done, gentlecreature” declared the auction seller, also a Zy but female, who beat the hammer above the stage. You almost threw up when she identified the mob there as people of good manners. “And in honor of this wonderful and delightful auction, we have a surprise for all of you.”

She nodded with a clawed hand to someone who was probably hiding at the side of the stage and smiled at the crowd that was waving their number signs excitedly.

Another feline man came out to the side, carrying a rope behind him, this time more like a satin rope than a chain and a human being (or what it seemed) came out. Completely naked.

Your throat went so dry with such cruelty.

The beast tugged on the man who ended up with a painful growl on his knees on the boards. Instead, the audience had fallen into the deepest silence.

The young man, from what you could see from the back of the room, had short, well-groomed hair of a shining ginger (you would have hardly deduced that he was a slave for sale) and the complexion of his skin was clear but covered with patches. The rest was completely covered in your sight, lying on the ground.

Just as it happened with the fish girl, the man's feelings hit you like a tsunami making you almost collapse on the ground.

This time, however, what came to grab your stomach was not fear. But deep anger and desire for revenge.

“I guess everyone has understood by now who he is.” The cat woman laughed, beating a decisive blow on the wood in front of her and subsequently pointing with the same the man kneeling on the ground next to her.

“Do five million seem fair to you as a start for General Armitage Hux, of the First Order?”

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

A/N: Hi everyone, I was going to post this fic on AO3 but I opted to post it here too. As usual, I apologize for my bad English which I hope will improve by learning to translate words. I'm glad if you want to comment or be tagged in the next chapters.

[unfolded73]

Husbands: Two Years In (2/5) - schitt’s creek ff

This fic is complete, posting every other weekday. While I'm including it as part of the "Labels" series, the preceding fics are not required reading. Previous fics in this series: Boyfriends; “I Love You”, Partners, Fiancés

Warning: This fic deals with depression as one of its major topics.

Rated Explicit, this chapter 4964 words. (ao3)

Thanks to @high-seas-swan for cheerleading and B13_MaybeThisTime for many valuable comments (and also cheerleading).

Chapter 1

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

Chapter 2: Spring

Stevie squinted at the piece of paper Patrick handed her. “This is a lot of instructions just to water some plants.”

“If you over-water some of them, it could kill them. This tells you how to know if they need water and how much water to give them,” he explained.

She sighed, putting the paper aside. “Okay. Do you care if I hang out here and watch your TV?”

“I expected you would.”

“And eat your food?”

Patrick leveled a stare at her. “Yes, please enjoy the boxes of pasta and cans of beans in our pantry.” A distant memory occurred to him. “And I’ve marked the booze so I’ll know if you touch it.”

Stevie stuck her tongue out at him. “Anything else you need me to do?”

“Bethany has your number in case she needs help at the store, but I think she’ll be fine. It’s only for a few days.”

“The Brewers are certainly getting to see a lot of you. They were just here for Christmas three months ago.” Stevie said, collapsing backward over the arm of the sofa. “Now this Easter weekend trip.”

“Yeah.” Patrick shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “I still have to make up for a lot of lost time with them. I wasn’t… I wasn’t a good son for a while.”

Stevie eyed him, her legs swinging. “I’m sure your parents don’t see it as a debt that you have to repay. And you had a lot to figure out about yourself back then. It’s not your fault.”

“I know.” Patrick said automatically, not believing it. He walked over and sat next to where her head was resting, taking care not to sit on her hair. “It’s just… I denied them the chance to get to know David much before we were married. So I’m trying to give them the opportunity to spend time with him now. It’s important to me that they see him the way I do. That they understand why I married him.”

“What sign have your parents ever given you that they don’t understand why you married him?” Stevie said, tilting her head back until she could meet his eyes.

“None, really.” Patrick sighed. “I guess I still feel like I need to… reassure them that I’m good. That I’m happy.”

“You want to perform your queer relationship in front of them,” Stevie concluded.

“I mean, kind of? Is that stupid?”

“Only in the sense that I don’t think you need to prove anything to them. But if it makes you feel better, there’s probably no harm in it.” She was still looking at him, her dark eyes hard to read. “Are you still feeling down? Sad?”

Patrick squirmed, regretting that he’d given Stevie that view into his psyche. “No. I don’t… not really. I don’t think so.”

Stevie swung up into a sitting position, her feet dropping to the floor. “You don’t think so?”

“I’m feeling better. But I also feel like I’m detached from… I don’t know how to word it. Like I locked my feelings in a box that I’ve lost the key to. I’m fine, but also I’m… numb is the wrong word, but it’s also not entirely the wrong word.” He frowned in frustration, unsure if any of the things he was telling Stevie were true. He was feeling better. He’d told himself there was no reason to feel sad enough times, and maybe his brain had finally gotten the message.

She patted him on the knee. “Have you talked to David about it?”

The way he looked quickly at her and then looked away answered that question.

“You should talk to David.”

“I don’t need to burden David with this. Like I said, I’m feeling better.” He stood up, anxious to escape this conversation.

Stevie didn’t say anything to that, and Patrick’s shoulders dropped in relief that she wasn’t going to push it. At the same time, some part of him recognized that maybe he needed her to push it. He didn’t want it, but he needed it.

“Okay, well, have a good trip,” Stevie said.

~*~

Patrick shook David by the shoulder. “It’s time to get up, David.”

David whined. “‘S too early.”

“We need to get on the road to my parents’.” Patrick got out of bed. “I’ll take the first shower but then you have to get up.”

David burrowed back down into the covers in response.

The entire morning, David was grouchy and resentful for having been woken ‘before the sun was even up, Patrick!’ and he brought his resentment with him into the car, grousing about the fact that the snack bag (which Patrick had taken care to pack with all of David’s favorite road trip foods) was taking up valuable legroom. He also complained that the car was too cold, then too hot, then too humid. When David started in on how bad Patrick’s car speakers were, Patrick hit his limit.

“Should I have left you at home, David?” he shouted, gripping the steering wheel. “Gone to visit my parents alone?”

David reared back against the passenger door. “No.”

“Then can you give it a rest?”

“Sorry,” David muttered, not really sounding sorry. “It messes up my equilibrium when I have to get up early, you know that.”

“We had to get up that early if we were going to be at my parents’ house by four in the afternoon, David. I explained that.”

David’s mouth twisted. “Okay,” he said after a couple of seconds of silence.

Patrick stole a couple of glances at his husband. He could tell when David’s ‘okay’ really meant, you’re wrong but I refuse to fight with you about it. “What?” Patrick finally burst out with.

“It’s just, it’s not like your parents needed us there by four. They specifically said we could arrive any time. This is you doing that thing where you get locked into a part of your plan for no reason, and then everything else that follows has to fit into that plan.”

“Oh, are we having this argument again? The one about me being inflexible?” Patrick grumbled.

“I guess we are.”

Patrick drove in silence for a few minutes, aware of David studying his fingernails in his periphery. Finally, David slapped his hands down on his thighs. “It’s past time for me to take over driving, isn’t it?”

“Are you sure you aren’t too tired?”

“Mmm, if I doze off at the wheel, you have my permission to yell at me some more,” David said.

“David—”

“I’m joking. I’m fine to drive, and I’m sure you need a break.”

Patrick made a point of relaxing his shoulders, letting them drop. “Yeah. Okay. I’ll pull off at the next exit.”

It was a long time after they switched, after an interminable length of tense silence in the car, that Patrick finally tried to offer a small peace offering. “My mom once told me that all the arguments she and my dad have ever had boil down to the one way they are incompatible. And that fortunately they eventually remember all the many ways they are compatible.”

“How are they incompatible?” David asked.

“I don’t actually remember. Maybe she didn’t tell me. They never fought in front of me that I can remember. I guess they’d bottle it up until they were alone.”

David snorted. “That explains some things about you.”

Patrick inhaled and exhaled a deep breath. “Are we still fighting?”

“A little bit,” David said.

“We’re fighting ‘a little bit’?” Patrick asked, almost laughing even though he could still feel lingering resentment in his bloodstream.

“Yeah. A tiny bit.”

“I’m sorry for yelling.”

“I’m sorry for being a brat,” David said.

“I’m sorry that I insisted on such an early start.”

David reached over and patted his knee. “You don’t have to apologize for that. I need to remember that it makes you less anxious to get an early start.”

“Maybe the next time we have this fight about my inflexibility, you’ll remember that,” Patrick said, sneaking a smile at David.

“Mmm, but you’re inflexible about so many things, honey.”

Patrick’s expression morphed into a glare.

“And I’m bratty about so many things,” David conceded, reaching over again and this time taking Patrick’s hand. And then they weren’t even fighting a little bit. Patrick turned on some music and they sang along most of the rest of the way to the Brewers’ house.

As soon as Patrick had turned off the car in his parent’s driveway, his mother appeared from the front door like she’d been watching for them from the window. He glanced at David with a smile. “She’s missed her favorite son-in-law,” Patrick said, unbuckling his seat belt.

David slapped him gently on the arm. “I’m just window dressing and you know it.”

“Hardly,” Patrick said, getting out of the car to be immediately enveloped in a hug by his mother, then his father. He moved to unload the trunk while David hugged his parents too. An image struck him suddenly, himself in those early days of realizing that he had feelings for David, witnessing this. If he could have known that this was in his future, he could have dispensed with so much of the anxiety that defined the time before he was out to his family. David Rose greeting his parents and chatting easily with them as they moved to help unload the car, a part of his family. A ring on his finger that matched the one on Patrick’s. Sometimes it still felt like a miracle.

Patrick was moving toward the stairs to carry their bags upstairs when his father put a hand on his arm to stop him. “One little snag. We were supposed to have the new bed for the guest room delivered this week, but I got the notice that it had been delayed after your cousin Cheryl already hauled away the old one.”

“So there’s nowhere for us to sleep?” Patrick asked with raised eyebrows.

Clint gestured toward the sofa in the family room. “We’ll make up the sofa bed for you.”

Patrick met David’s eyes. “We can get a hotel room,” he said.

“No, don’t be silly, dear. The sofa bed is plenty comfortable,” Marcy protested. She’d always been the kind of person who considered family staying in a hotel to be a personal failing. The bed mix-up was probably torturing her.

David put a hand on her shoulder, clearly noticing her distress. “The sofa bed will be fine. It’s only three nights,” he said over her head to Patrick.

“You can still put your bags upstairs. Use that room as a changing room,” his dad said.

“Okay,” Patrick said with a shrug.

When he got back downstairs, Marcy and David already had their heads bent over her Easter party to-do list at the kitchen table, David full of suggestions for how to organize the family gathering. Patrick left them to it with an affectionate squeeze on the back of David’s neck, then went over and flopped down on the sofa they were apparently going to be sleeping on later, where he could still keep an eye on the kitchen while resting his aching body after the long hours on the road.

By now, Patrick had come to expect the way visiting his childhood home stirred up a lot of complicated feelings in him. It was like he had come equipped with an antenna that could reach back in time and pick up the frequency of the unhappiness he carried around back then. Or like that unhappiness had infused everything in the house — the walls, the carpets, the drapes — like the cigarette smoke of a long-departed smoker. He liked to think that watching his husband and his parents grow closer was a balm to those old aches, but he wasn’t sure if it was true.

“Did you end up making the butter tarts I sent you the recipe for?” Marcy asked David.

Patrick had let his eyes drift closed, but he imagined he could hear David’s cringing expression. “I did make them, but it wasn’t an unqualified success,” David said.

“They were good,” Patrick called, his eyes still closed. “You’re too much of a perfectionist.”

“Yes, hi. Hello, I’m David Rose, your husband,” David replied. “You should probably take my perfectionism as read at this point, honey.”

“I’m sure they were fine. And the next time you make them, they’ll be even better,” Marcy said.

“I have mastered chicken parmesan, though,” David said, and Patrick could hear the pride in his voice. David had made a few small attempts at cooking in Patrick’s apartment, but now that they had the house, his interest in cooking had really blossomed.

“Well, I wouldn’t say no if you want to cook a meal one of the evenings that you boys are here,” Marcy said in a sweet, teasing voice.

“I can do that if you aren’t afraid to let me loose in your kitchen,” David responded, sounding pleased. Patrick grinned, loving how well his mother and husband got along. Another miracle that he couldn’t have imagined a few years ago.

After an evening of food and conversation and laughter with David and his parents, Patrick eventually found himself making the sofa bed with his mother while David was in the bathroom, probably only on step three of his nine-step skincare regimen by the time they had the sheets on and blankets carefully tucked in at the bottom.

“I’m sorry again about the bed,” his mother said. “I told Clint—”

“Mom, it’s fine,” he said, not really feeling like it was fine, exactly. It was weird, the idea of getting into bed with David in such a public part of the house, where his parents would see them if they came downstairs during the night. And that made him wonder if he’d think it was weird if he were straight and married to a woman, and that made him wonder how much internalized homophobia he was still carrying around.

“Well, thank you for not going to a hotel. I like having you and David here, under our roof.”

A warmth suffused his chest at that. “Thanks, Mom.”

She smirked at him. “But I guess you’ll have to keep things PG, sleeping out here.”

“Mom!” He felt a blush steal over his face. “We weren’t going to be… doing anything not PG in your house.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Hasn’t stopped you before.”

“Oh my god—”

“I’m sorry, sweetie. The walls are kind of thin…”

Patrick buried his face in his hands, remembering a couple of times when they hadn’t been able to keep their hands off of each other here, particularly the first time they visited after they’d gotten married. “This is so embarrassing.”

“Don’t be embarrassed,” his mother said. “I was glad you were happy.”

“Uh huh.” He raised his head and bravely met her eyes. “Well, we certainly won’t be getting… happy… out here. Also, please don’t tell David that you heard us.”

She laughed. “Okay, I won’t.”

When David joined him under the covers later, Patrick had managed to stop blushing and was thinking again about the fight they’d had that morning, even though it was far in the rear view mirror, both literally and metaphorically. Patrick considered bringing it up again — they hadn’t really resolved anything, and he felt the urge to apologize again. But maybe there was nothing to resolve. It was an incontrovertible fact that he and David were very different in a lot of ways, and there were contrasting aspects of their personalities that were going to scrape against each other sometimes. So instead of trying to relitigate their fight, Patrick exhaled a deep sigh and pulled David close, hugging him.

“I love you,” Patrick said.

“Love you too,” David whispered, hot breath against his neck.

“And I love seeing you here. In this house with my parents. It means so much to me, getting to be here with you.”

“I know.” David rubbed his back with soothing pressure. “I know.”

~*~

Patrick awoke to soft murmur of voices nearby, and to the scent of David’s shampoo. He slowly became aware of his surroundings, of the way David was curled toward him, his head tucked up under Patrick’s chin and an arm slung over his waist on top of the blankets. David had always been a cuddler, at least for as long as Patrick had been sharing a bed with him, and this morning was no different from a hundred other mornings when Patrick had awoken to David clinging to him like a barnacle, making him overheated and sweaty.

Extracting himself, Patrick sat up and rubbed his face. His parents were in the kitchen, only the stove light on in an attempt, he supposed, to keep from waking them. He looked back at his husband, still sound asleep. Well, it worked for one of them, at least.

He shuffled into the kitchen. “Hey.”

“Morning, son,” his dad whispered. “The water in the kettle is still hot.”

“Thanks,” Patrick said, getting a mug down from the cupboard. “You don’t have to whisper. David’s a heavy sleeper.”

“I hope the sofa wasn’t too uncomfortable,” Clint said.

Stretching out his spine, Patrick assessed whether he was feeling any negative after-effects from sleeping on a pull-out sofa. “No, it was fine.”

He looked over at his mother to see her beaming at him.

“What?” Patrick asked as he put a tea bag into his mug.

“Nothing, you just looked very cute snuggled up with your husband.”

Patrick felt his cheeks heat up. “Okay.” This was exactly what had made him anxious, the idea of his parents seeing him and David in an intimate, albeit innocent, moment. He tried to forget that they’d apparently overheard some less innocent moments in the past and focused on making his tea. Still, he couldn’t help the smile that crept over his face at the fact that his mother could look at him in bed with David and call it ‘cute.’ Another miracle to add to the pile since the day he drove past the Schitt’s Creek town sign for the first time.

~*~

Patrick was pulling another tray of mini biscuits out of the oven when his cousin Sara approached him in the midst of the Easter party on Sunday afternoon. She was his father’s older brother’s eldest child, so despite being a first cousin, she was almost fifteen years older than him. They’d been friendly since Patrick had become an adult, but they’d never been particularly close.

“Hey, do you have a minute to talk?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder at the closest gaggle of relatives, clustered around the television in the next room. Miraculously, they had the kitchen to themselves for the moment.

“If you can help me put ham on these, sure,” he said. “I’m told the first batch disappeared in record time.”

She chuckled. “I can do that.”

“Is Justin here?” he asked, trying to remember if he’d seen the teenager around the house. “I didn’t see him.”

Sara winced. “He might have holed up in a quiet part of the house so that he didn’t have to be social.” She took a deep breath and let it out. “That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Justin is… he came out to us this year.” Patrick looked up at her, but she was focused intently on the task of cutting the biscuits in half and piling them with sliced ham.

Patrick thought about the kid he’d known a few years ago, before he moved to Schitt’s Creek, quiet and serious even as a young boy. “Came out as… what? How does he identify?”

“Oh. Gay. He’s gay.”

“Okay.” Patrick wasn’t sure what to say. The reason she was telling him was obvious, but he wasn’t sure if he was expected to impart some mystical gay secrets on her. Bless her family with a gay benediction. “Is he only out to you and Mark, or is he out at school?”

“He’s out at school. I think it’s been… I mean, not as rough as it was for my generation by a long shot, but I don’t think it’s been easy. He has good friends who support him, though.”

“That’s good.” Now it was Patrick’s turn to avert his eyes. “I don’t really have any advice about that — I wasn’t even out to myself in high school, much less to anyone else — but David might. Although, admittedly, his high school experience was…” He thought about models in bras and thongs and of salad bowls full of pills. “…unusual.”

“Anyway, I was thinking, maybe it would be good if he had an adult to go to for advice who isn’t me or his dad.”

Patrick tried to put himself in Justin’s shoes. If he’d been out in high school, would he have been willing to go to an older cousin who was also gay for advice? One that he wasn’t all that close to? He doubted it.

“I haven’t really talked much to Justin in the last few years, though. I don’t know if he would trust me as a confidante.” Patrick said.

“Maybe not, but can we try?” Sara had finished assembling the ham biscuits, and she went over to the sink to wash her hands. “I’m doing my best with the whole talking-about-sex thing, but no one wants to hear that stuff from their mother. And I don’t want him relying on his friends for that. Or learning about it from porn.”

Patrick’s eyes widened. He’d thought that one of the advantages of not having any kids of his own was going to be that he’d never have to have an awkward sex talk with a teenager. “I don’t think he’s gonna want to hear it from me either. As far as porn goes, he’s probably going to look at it regardless, or already is, so you should talk to him about that, that it’s not realistic—”

“I know. I have. But still—”

“I can send you some book recommendations, though. Or links to actual reliable stuff on the internet. Things that you can pass on to him that he can read on his own.”

She was visibly disappointed by that answer. “Okay. Thanks.”

He sighed. “And I can talk to him today,” he conceded. “And give him my number if he wants to text.”

Her shoulders dropped in relief, and she hugged him. “Thank you. I want him to have someone to talk to who… maybe knows what he’s going through. Or what he might face.”

Patrick picked up the serving platter of biscuits, still uncomfortable with the responsibility he was being shouldered with, but resigned to it. “I mean, I married the first guy I dated, so my experience is not… broad? But I’ll do my best.”

Sara bulldozed ahead, unphased by that admission. “And you can keep his confidence unless you think his safety is at risk. I don’t expect you to report back to me on… whatever he talks to you about.”

The weight of responsibility got measurably heavier. “Okay.”

He took the platter back out to the dining room, where a literal smorgasbord of foods were arrayed for people to help themselves to. David was standing next to the potato salad, putting some only his already full plate. “Hey,” Patrick said.

David smiled at him. “There you are. I have now learned a very interesting and disgusting story about you from Dennis involving a two liter bottle of Coke and a drive to Winnipeg.”

Patrick groaned. “Dennis needs to learn to keep his mouth shut.” He picked up a paper plate, planning to help himself to some food of his own. “I, meanwhile, was just asked to counsel a…” He glanced around and lowered his voice to a whisper. “Gay teenager.”

David raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

Patrick indicated the back door with his chin, and he followed David out onto the deck once his plate was loaded up. They walked over to stand at the corner of the house away from the crowd in the backyard. “My cousin Sara’s seventeen-year-old son came out as gay to his family, and Sara wants me to be his… queer role model, I guess. Or maybe talk to him about sex? I’m not entirely clear.”

“That’s adorable,” David said. “And horrifying.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, good luck with that,” David said, making his way over to one of the tables they’d set up in the yard that morning.

“That’s all I get from you?” Patrick whined, following him. “‘Good luck with that’?”

David sat down at the table between Marcy and another of Patrick’s cousins, giving his husband a simpering smile. “I’m sure you’ll do great, honey.”

Patrick rolled his eyes, finding a seat on the other side of the table. “Thanks,” he muttered.

After lunch, Patrick went looking for Justin, finally tracking him down in his parent’s office, curled up in the desk chair and reading on his phone. Patrick waved, and Justin pulled some earbuds out of his ears.

“Hey,” Justin said, looking wary.

“Hey.” Patrick rocked on his heels, his hands shoved deep in his pockets. “Please tell me your mom mentioned to you that she was gonna talk to me.”

Justin sighed heavily. “No offense, but I was hoping she wouldn’t. Not that I care if you know I’m gay, just…”

“You don’t need a cousin that you haven’t talked to in a while trying to it-gets-better you at a family party?”

Justin laughed. “Yeah.”

“I get it. I probably wouldn’t want that either, if I were you.” Patrick shrugged. “We don’t have to talk right now. Or ever, if you don’t need to. But… maybe if something comes up in the future that you have questions about, you can text me? It might be… comforting, actually, that we aren’t close. That you don’t have to look at me across the dinner table like you do your parents. Easier to ask me embarrassing or personal questions that way. With that distance.”

Patrick could see the moment the idea really fully registered in Justin’s mind, his eyes widening a little bit. Then his mask of teenage apathy slipped back into place. “Okay. Give me your phone,” he said, holding out his hand.

Pulling his phone from his pocket and unlocking it, Patrick handed it over, then watched as Justin entered his number and then texted himself from Patrick’s phone.

“I mean,” he said, handing the phone back, “you’ll still tell my mom whatever I say.”

It was a test, but fortunately Sara had already given Patrick the answer key. “Only if you’re unsafe. Other than that, I won’t tell her what you talk to me about.”

Justin shrugged like he didn’t care, but Patrick suspected that maybe he did care a little bit. Patrick put his hands back in his pockets. “Is there anything you want to… Right now, is there—”

“Nope,” Justin said, his cheeks reddening. “But thanks for your number.”

“Yeah. Of course.” Again, Patrick fretted that there were some wise words, some summation of the gay experience he should be able to speak aloud. His mind was blank. “So… I’ll just…” He pointed back toward the door with his thumb. “See you around?”

“Uh huh,” Justin said, looking back at his phone.

“Okay. Well, okay,” Patrick said, leaving him to it.

Later, David asked him how it went, and in answer, Patrick showed him his cousin’s contact in his phone, which Justin had added with a little rainbow emoji next to the name. “Cuuute,” David said in that slightly patronizing way he had.

Patrick shrugged. “I doubt he’ll ever text me, but he’s got the option.”

~*~

He was still thinking about Justin a few days later when they were back home, still wondering if he would be able to live up to whatever Sara expected him to do. So when he arrived a few minutes early for a council meeting to find only Ronnie at her desk in town hall, he told her the story. If she thought he wasn’t up to the job of advising a queer kid, she wouldn’t pull her punches.

“I’m not sure if I should do anything now, or if him having my number is enough.”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “Does it feel like enough?”

“I don’t know, Ronnie!” he said, throwing up his hands. “No, it doesn’t, but I also don’t really see myself texting him and asking if he’s being safe and using condoms, or… or whatever my cousin Sara is envisioning.”

“Well yeah, not at this point, not unless you want to come off as a creep.”

“Exactly.”

“But there’s more to this kid’s life than his sexual orientation, just like there’s more to your life than yours. And you said you didn’t know him that well. So why not try to get to know him better. Let him get to know you better. That way if he ever does need your help — which, I agree, he could do better than you — then he won’t be afraid to ask for it.”

Patrick ignored the dig, because there was actually some good advice in there. “That’s smart.”

“Well, you don’t have to sound surprised, Patrick,” Ronnie said with narrowed eyes.

“I didn’t! You’re smarter than all of us, Ronnie.”

She dismissed him with a wave of her hand. “Now you’re patronizing me.”

“What I’m doing is being reminded that I can’t win with you, that’s what I’m doing.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Then as Roland and Bob came in, she added, “Good luck with it.”

(Chapter 3)