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hades-10397 · 1 year

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31 days of Harringrove

Prompt: Baby it’s cold outside pt 2

Billy removed his jacket setting on a near by chair. He toed his boots off and walked them back over to the front door. He made his way back to the living room. He looked at the book selection. He picked a book that peaked his interest and sat on the opposite side of the fire place from Steve. He opened the book and began to read about this guy Arthur Dent and his friend Ford. “Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy! That’s one of my favorites. You know if you end up liking it it’s a series.” He responded to Steve with a hum getting really into the book.

They sat in silence for awhile and read. It was peaceful. The warmth of the fire made him forget how cold he was. The quit company was nice. Billy couldn’t remember the last time he just sat and read a book. He was about half way through the book when Steve closed his book. He looked up and watched Steve remove his glasses once more and set them on the table along with his book. “There is something about vampire books that just draw me in.” “Steve chucked. “What was the book about?” He was interested in what Steve liked so much about it.

Then it began with Steve talking about this vampire, Louis, who tells his life story to a reporter. Then Steve was talking about how he hopes the writer will put out another book soon. Then how he started reading more recently because he was diagnosed with dyslexia. He talks about how it was frustrating that this whole time he wasn’t stupid, He just had a harder time than other. Billy sat there and listened while Steve talked about his life. He didn’t speak unless he had a question or a small comment on something.

“So what about you man. You’re basically like a whole mystery to this town.” Steve pulled his blanket to cover more of his body. He sat back waiting to listen. Billy felt a little uncomfortable with being put on the spot but hey maybe this was a chance to start something he had wanted for so long. “Alright well.. I’ve always liked school. I have a photographic memory so learning came easy to me but I always wanted to learn more. At least I did when I was young.” He continued to talk just like Steve had. He had listened just like Billy did for him.

“So what made you move out to bumfuck Indiana.” He chuckled. Billy really wanted to avoid this but now with Neil gone and being in Susan’s care he knew he was safe enough to open up. Maybe even ready to. “My dad.. he caught me with a guy in my room. My dad was a real piece of work. He was racist, homophobic just about everything in the book. So he.. he beat me and said we had to move out of this liberal state.” He looked at the fire avoiding Steve’s stare. He sighed waiting his breathe effect the flames. “My mom left us. When the beating got to much she left. I would call her but as more time went on she stopped answering.”

He finally met Steve’s eyes to find and understand look. “I can’t imagine how hard that was. Shit my parents suck but their not even around to know what goes on in my life.” Billy was surprised he didn’t have a negative thing to say about him being gay. “I guess that fight at Byers makes more sense. I’d be angry at the world to if I had a dad like that.” Billy scoffed softly. “Preaching to the choir pretty boy.” Steve sat up at the name. He gave him a confused look. “What?” “Is that why you call me pretty boy?”

Billy laughed at that. “Yeah dude it’s called a crush? You pick on them sometimes and call them pet names.” Steve sat there for awhile. He just stared at him. It started making Billy uncomfortable. “You got a problem or something?” “No no! No problem here!” Steve stood up and walked away to the kitchen. He sighed and followed the other. “Come on Steve what’s wrong.” This was making him more anxious. It’s not like people can help who they like. He couldn’t really be upset at him for that.

“First, I wouldn’t call punching someone in the face picking on them.” Billy rolled his eyes. He thought they were pass this. He already apologized. “Second, I’m sure most people would be overwhelmed when their crush says they liked them too so give me a break would ya.” Steve leaned up against the kitchen counter staring at the ceiling. Wait did he just say he liked him. There’s no way. “Hold on. You like me too?” Billy inhaled scared Steve would say ‘Sike! Got ya!’ but it never came. God why wasn’t Steve saying anything.

Finally. “Of course I like you! Have you seen.. you! Plus you’re like really interesting and I don’t know. I use to put on a mask and be an asshole so it felt like someone understood how I felt. That’s one of the things that drew me in.”

#billy hargrove #harringrove #steve harrington #billy x steve #harringrove fic #31 days of harringrove

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confused-bat · 1 year

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I am just about to start reading ‘the hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy’ by Douglas Adams. My dad read this as a kid and so did his mates and as a lover of sci-fi I figured I should read it. But my dads copy is a first edition so it remains sealed and not to be read but to be passed down.

So I got a hold of the 42nd anniversary edition from Waterstones and I’ve just read the foreword by Russell T Davis and the last few lines stuck with me.

‘So, for god’s sake, when you’ve finished this book, don’t seal it away on a shelf. Put it in your pocket. Pass it round. Spread the word. Leave it in a bus! And complete the circle// So hand over this lovely paperback, for the next thirty years’

I text my dad and asked why his copy is now a sealed relic and sent him that and he said because that’s what he did. Only one of his friends had the book and it got tossed around and made it way around everyone and eventually into his hands. Upon my dad giving it back it found his way back to him. It really does sound like something out of a book but I want to know exactly what made this book for my dad and as it seems, thousands of others. My age but 42 years ago.

I grew up on Star Wars and star trek. When I got old enough my dad gave me his copy of dune by frank herbert and though it took me nearly 3 months to get though I lived in every page. (Will i read the next two? Hell no!!) but that’s what sci-fi is about.

Sci-fi is telling tales later in life that become new tales and eventually legend. I see 100 years down the road books like dune, the star wars and Star Trek comics, and hitchhiker’s as the grimms fairytales of today. My friend says fantasy is better because that’s what will live on but I say the opposite.

(God two rants in a day what is with me)

I’m gonna read it now, don’t panic, I won’t spoil anyone. And I’ll pass it on, just as my dad and my uncle and their friends all did.

#hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy #douglas adams #scifinovel #sci-fi #books and reading #two rants in a day what is going on #don’t panic

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thanksjro · 3 years

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More Than Meets the Eye #31 - Ammo and the Anti-Glowup

So, the Lost Light disappeared, stranding all the crew in space in their little escape pods. 200-some robots just lost their homes and worldly possessions. That’s absolutely horrible. What a devastating thing to happen.

Anyway, here’s Drift with a flashback sequence.

No hips, fingers all the exact same length, hockey pucks embedded in his forearms- Rojo, this is a crime you’ve committed. When will the long arm of the law stop your sinful, pancake-shaped hands?

About two years prior to current events, Drift, Riptide, and Pipes- yes, Pipes!- were wandering around trying to find a ship for the space yacht trip. The gang’s here to see who owns the big honkin’ ship outside. Problem is, Drift is unintentionally terrifying because he has a great deal of swords.

Now, you may say to yourself “isn’t it a bit odd that the species that has members who literally turn into guns would be nervous around a guy with swords?” This is a valid critique, until you remember that at least some of the folks who turn into guns were born that way, and Drift was very much NOT born bladed the fuck out. There’s an entire miniseries devoted to explaining this, it’s called Drift. The swords are a choice, one that he makes every day.

Drift is willing to pay an honestly absurd amount of money for the ship, if he can just find the dude with the paperwork- don’t ask where he got the money. Pipes isn’t being terribly helpful in finding them, so Riptide decides that now is the time to start practicing being proactive and pulls a Coyote Ugly.

No, no, he doesn’t.

He does climb up on a table and start yelling for the ship’s owners to reveal themselves, though. Which they do.

Now it’s time for the world-building portion of our comic issue. Let’s learn about chirolinguistics.

Drift, staying true to his Mary Sue nature, uses his near-perfect Hand skills to strike up a deal with the owners of the ship. This would be impressive, if it didn’t just look like the most convoluted hand-holding session in the friggin’ universe.

Still, Drift is rich enough to make Jeff Bezos weep with envy, so the arrangements are made and the lads go on their way, talking some mad shit about the original name of the ship as they do.

So it is revealed to us that the Lost Light is named after a festival for honoring the dead and disappeared, which makes the fact that Rewind and Chromedome were there all the more sad.

Back in the present, Megatron tells Riptide to shut up so they can figure out what the hell they’re going to do about this whole “our home and also ride has ceased to exist” situation. He’s putting an awful lot of distance between himself and the rest of the Autobots as he does it, something that isn’t lost on the more bitter people of the crowd.

But why were we even talking about the Lost Light in the first place? Not to reminisce, believe it or not. See, it’s time for Nautica to get a little panel time, and she’s going to use it to be a massive fucking nerd and explain how the quantum engines work. As she does, Ratchet notes that his hands feel funny. Must be the weight of his hand-stealing sins manifesting itself in his joints.

Nautica explains that the engines run off of improbability- it is highly unlikely, but not impossible, that the ship can reach light speed, and riding the fine line between what can happen and what can’t, results in the creation of power for the engines. If this sounds familiar, it’s because Brainstorm gave us a watered down version of this explanation back in issue #2. If it sounds familiar for a different reason, it’s because this is how the Heart of Gold runs in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Again, I’m not sure why it is that the British love this concept so much, but there you are.

Oh, it appears someone has a question. Let’s see what they want to know about, shall we?

…Rojo, what the fuck is this.

Our muppety friend here isn’t too keen on how much of a smarmy asshole Nightbeat is being right now, though I’d assume it actually has something to do with the fact that Nightbeat got smacked around with the pretty-boy stick while Getaway very much did not. While the two bicker- there’s a lot of bickering in Season Two- Nautica presents a theory on what happened to the ship; it went too far in the direction of “can’t” and made itself cease to be.

Megatron gives not a shit about quantum improbability, though. He only cares about how they’re going to get out of this mess. Which, y’know. Valid.

Blaster picks up a radio from Rodimus, who tells the gang that they’re to meet up on a nearby planet to regroup and figure out their next move. The call drops before he can get more than a couple Megatron-directed insults in, however. Megatron, in response, tries to be the bigger person, and almost immediately fails. We do get a headcount though, which is good, logistically speaking. This information is communicated to us by way of a splash page full of character head shots. We’ve got 20 ‘bots on board this ship.

Yep. 20. No more, no less.

As our friends approach the planet, we’re informed that it’s actually a Lectureworld- a planet devoted to the study of a single field. Except it’s actually a Smartplanet now, and it’s been privatized by the Galactic Council, so you’ve got to pay to go there. Cyclonus thinks that that’s bullshit, and I can’t help but agree. Crosscut tries to network with they guy about his play, probably because word got around that Cyclonus is rich as hell, when the lights cut out. When they come back on, Crosscut is nowhere to be found.

It’s time for a Whodunnit.

Tailgate immediately pegs Megatron as the culprit in this disappearance, and breaks out a gun over the matter. Megatron thinks that this is absolutely adorable, which only serves to further infuriate our marshmallow friend. I guess he’s still mad about the whole “I was a Decepticon for five minutes and got brainwashed over it” thing, and wants someone to pin the anger on who’s socially acceptable to hate.

Cyclonus and Ratchet both think that Tailgate’s not going about this the right way, but the guy is simply too het up to listen to them. Tailgate suggests that they lock Megatron in the engine room for the time being and-

OKAY WHO LET HIM HAVE THAT

Riptide breaks out his gun, and soon we’ve got a standoff going between the three of them. Cyclonus tries to deescalate, which makes Gears and Huffer break out their guns. Then Hound breaks out his gun, though he seems to be doing his own thing, by pointing it in Nautica’s direction.

Broski, I think that might be animal cruelty.

Megatron manages to shoot Ravage “unconscious” and catches him by the friggin’ throat, stating that he has zero idea how this guy got here. With the heat off the two of them for a moment, Megatron communicates to Ravage to play ‘possum for the time being. Ravage responds, and I wonder exactly how he’s doing that, considering I don’t think he has enough fingers to effectively utilize Hand as a language. Or fingers at all, really.

While this is going on, Cyclonus snatches the gun out of Tailgate’s hand, admonishing him for being reckless about picking his fights. Generally speaking, you don’t want to try to go toe-to-toe with a guy who’s responsible for the deaths of literal billions. Getaway swoops in to comfort Tailgate, calling him gutsy. I wonder if this will become a trend.

Swerve says a thing, as he is wont to do, and it’s made known that multiple folks have disappeared during this incredibly brief standoff.

Wow, Chromedome just fucked off, huh? He wasn’t even in that sequence, just left.

Everyone’s positively baffled by the current happenings. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to who’s being taken. I guess we’ve got a mystery on our hands.

And who better to solve a mystery than a detective?

Nightbeat wrangles all the leftover folks into a corner of the room, so they can figure out what the common denominator is with all the disappearees. He starts with the easy stuff.

And by “easy”, I mean the super-special racism Tyrest subscribed to.

If you’ve read Eugenesis, you know that Nightbeat was also part of the first wave of cold-constructed bodies there. However, the general populace wasn’t nearly as chill about it as they were in IDW. Also, Wheeljack was his dad. No word on if that particular tidbit made it into IDW lore.

It’s at this point that we learn about M.T.O.s- made to order soldiers. They were cold-constructed ‘bots created en masse during the war in order to keep up with the demands for troops. Pretty fucked up, if you think about it, being born to die like that.

Now where have we heard that name before…

Chromedome, can your love life not be part of the plot for five minutes, my guy?

Nautica makes the honestly horrific claim that a lot of folks owe their existence to Megatron being a warmongering fuck, and even Megatron himself seems rather uncomfortable with the idea. Some thoughts we keep to ourselves, Nautica, even if they might be technically true. And even if Ammo wants to tack on his two cents on the matter.

What did they DO to you, Ammo? You’re supposed to be hot! Where are my three-paragraphs of description as Hound stares slack jawed the entire time? I miss Polyhex Wars.

Anyway, it’s Megatron’s turn to get poked with the questioning stick, and he’s not having it. He claims that by revealing his mode of creation, he’s risking a repeat of Functionist ideology. This would be valid, if people weren’t literally disappearing without any sort of explanation as to why. As it is, he’s being a stubborn asshole, but I guess he didn’t get his reputation by being a decent person who knew when to back down, now did he?

It’s at this point that Ratchet remembers he knows all the info Nightbeat’s looking for, and the conversation on Megatron’s birth is shelved for another day. I’m sure it won’t be a major plot point later, not in the slightest.

As it turns out, Nightbeat’s theory doesn’t hold water, and folks are still popping out of existence. We get another splash page, this time with everyone’s mode of creation listed under their names, and we move on to other theories about what the fuck is going on. While Nightbeat has a minor crisis over what the answer could possibly be, the MTOs in the group reminisce on the Ten-Step Program, a series of tests they were put through to make sure they worked well enough to get handed a gun and shoved out the door. Riptide wasn’t a fan.

Riptide has more wood panelling than a 70’s-style ranch house, and I think that’s very brave of him.

It’s at this point that Ratchet remembers it’s been quite a bit since he last shat on religion, and takes the time to do so while informing the reader about Information Creep. This is a concept we’ve seen mentioned previously, during Chromedome’s runaround in Overlord’s brain, but it’s here where we get the juicy implications.

Because memories can become corrupted in the brain due to extreme age, what ought to be objective fact has to be reinterpreted due to missing pieces. This is why nobody knows what the Knights of Cybertron got up to, or if they’re even actually real at all.

The lights go out again, and when they cut back on, Cyclonus is missing, leaving only his sword behind. Tailgate is extremely distraught by this, but Nightbeat gives not a fuck about Tailgate’s impending breakdown. He only cares about the truth!

And then a giant eyeball shows up.

It’s Ultra Magnus, coming to us live from his shuttle, via holomatter avatar! He shrinks down to a far more reasonable size, in a panel reminiscent of the first time IDW readers saw Megatron.

Don’t get me wrong, this is a neat parallel, I’m just… not terribly sure why it’s happening. One could say it reflects a reversal in power dynamics, but that theory gets tossed out the window when you remember that this isn’t actually Verity. I suppose it’s just a cool little thing.

Because the comms aren’t working, Ultra Magnus has been forced to use this avatar to communicate with the folks in the Rod Pod. Megatron asks just what the hell is going on, but unfortunately Magnus isn’t sure either. Then his shuttle disappears, and it’s bye-bye grunge girl Magnus.

It’s at this point that Nightbeat decides it’s time to stop pussyfooting around and get serious. He tells Ratchet to throw HIPPA directly in the garbage and write down everything he knows about the Autobots who crewed the Lost Light. And he does mean everything, as we get the splash page again, this time with lots of neat info on our friends, including spark type.

Spark types will become plot-relevant in the storyline after this, but for now let’s focus on some weird gender essentialism that got slapped into the first print of this issue.

As we know very well by this point, Transformers as a franchise has a tumultuous relationship with the idea of women existing. You would think that the awkward introduction of other genders we got in “Dark Cybertron” would have been the end of things being weird in IDW. However, you would be wrong.

In an effort to explain why genders exist, Roberts had the idea to make it spark-based. Nautica, in the solo print of this issue, has an estriol-positive spark. Estriol is a type of estrogen, which is the hormone that develops and maintains feminine secondary sex characteristics, when present in certain levels, in conjunction with other hormones. Biology

This “spark = gender” idea is, generally speaking, not a great idea to be presenting us with, especially when the writer is a cishet male, because it implies biological essentialism- the idea that a personality trait/quality of a person is innate and predetermined by their biology, as opposed to social, cultural, or individual experiences. Because this story doesn’t exist in a vacuum, it’s irresponsible to reduce the experience of being a woman to a single, physical, unchangable asset, especially when all other assets of the same class have zero effect on one’s gender identity. You don’t exactly see many nonbinary robots running around, now do you? And there are definitely more than two spark types, despite the Transformers as a species being... very binary.

It also makes female Transformers into an “other”, which is a problem that has existed from the very start of the franchise, in some form or fashion, and really doesn’t need to be perpetrated anymore than it already is.

The estriol spark type was removed in the trade edition, and Roberts has expressed regrets over its inclusion, having realized that it was potentially offensive.

Getting back to the story, Swerve, Tailgate, and Ratchet have disappeared, though Ratchet seems to have left his hands behind. His stolen, Pharma-original hands.

That’s still fucked up to me. I don’t think it’ll ever not be fucked up.

Riptide reveals the reason that he wasn’t in Season One of MTMTE was because when he went back to grab a receipt for the ship two years prior, he’d discovered that the original owners were worshipers of Mortilus, Cybertronian god of death, and knew about the nasty little problem that was the sparkeater from the first storyline. When Riptide went to confront them about it, they beat him up so bad he was unconscious for two solid days.

Which is a long-ass time to be unconscious. That might have been a coma, Riptide. Jesus, I hope someone got him to a hospital after this beatdown happened, or at least scraped him off the floor.

With this last piece of the puzzle, we finally have the common denominator in this big ol’ mystery. Everyone who disappeared was on the Lost Light when it took off from Cybertron in issue #1, and everyone left behind- Skids, Getaway, Nightbeat, Nautica, Megatron, and Ravage- didn’t join until afterwords.

Of course, having the answer doesn’t do us much good when everyone is still missing, and Megatron seems to agree with me, because he’s about to throw hands, when Nautica lets them know that they’ve arrived at the rendezvous. Problem is, so has something else.

...

I’m sure it’s fiiiiiiiiiiiiine!

#transformers #jro #MTMTE #issue 31 #maccadam #Hannzreads #text post #long post #incoming analysis #overthinking about robots #comic script writing

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misc-headcanons · 3 years

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Hello! I’d like to request a bnha matchup (adult characters only please - heroes and villains are both fine), please. I’m a zoology student and I adore animals and nature. I’m quite studious, I’ve been told I’m intelligent, I’m sarcastic, snarky, honest, generous, irritable, and stubborn (especially as far as morals and beliefs go). I’m a big reader and a movie buff too. I’m quite eccentric and quirky, and I’m very nerdy. I adore science fiction, horror (one of my minor goals is to watch/read the most disturbing movies/books ever), and anime/manga. I like sarcastic, witty, dry, dark humour. Thank you very much! I hope this is enough to go on.

I match you with...Aizawa/Eraserhead!

Aizawa seems to attract all sorts of eccentric people, with Mic, Oboro, and Midnight being just three of them. Personally I don't think he views himself as that strange, and most of the time he's the "straight man" of the group that has a bunch of interesting and weird friends. When it comes to you however, he's attracted to your intelligence, your sense of humor (his is pretty similar: witty/dry/dark/sarcastic), and your dedication to studying in your respective field.

One thing he really values in someone is them being passionate about what they do and being hard-working, and he'd want to support you in your goals. Being a teacher and nighttime Hero eats into a lot of his spare time, and even if he doesn't mean to he'll usually nod off during movie nights together; he doesn't find the movies boring or anything--in fact, he actually gets a little disturbed or creeped out by them but doesn't let it show--he's just constantly tired, lol.

He'll bring home sci-fi books he thinks you'd like or remembers you mentioning, and one of the decorations on his desk at work is a sticker on his laptop of the "Don't Panic" sign/logo from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (and...yk, also your profile pic :P). He's in a lot of stressful situations so seeing it on his laptop a) reminds him of you and b) makes him feel a little less stressed.

You'd probably spend time with him and Eri, or maybe keep an eye on her while he's busy working. She loves hearing you talk about animals and Aizawa's heard her accidentally call the two of you by parental names like "Dad" or "Mommy". If you guys live together, he'd want to move your movie collection and more disturbing manga to a higher shelf where she can't reach; can't risk her wanting to watch a movie and suddenly she's watching "Death Bed: The Bed that Eats" or "Caligula", yk?

The one thing that causes problems in the relationship might be your stubbornness. He knows that having a significant other would make you a target if any Villains found out about you, so he'd want to keep you as far away from his Hero work as possible. Like he'll get wary if you go to UA to bring him something he left at home, and he can seem a little too protective of you (especially if you're a civilian without any combat training). But he's aware that stubbornness comes from a good place, so he tries to not let that worry gnaw away at him.

#matchup #bnha matchup #aizawa #eraserhead #shouta aizawa #mine #queue

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captainkirkmccoy · 3 years

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It seems that wherever Leonard McCoy turns, Jim Kirk is there.

He’s doing a short temp shift at the library--he needs the extra credits stat--when Jim shows up at the reference desk, a pile of actual books nearly blocking his face.

He ignores the books--that’s the rare item librarian’s job and goes back to checking in the holo texts. “Don’t you have class or admirals to annoy?”

“I already stopped by Archer’s. Did you know his beagle had puppies?”

“You need to talk to L’tan if you want to check those out.” Leonard tells him.

“These are mine.” Jim’s almost constant open expression morphs into one of mock offense.

“Huh.” McCoy submits a few late charges for holos not turned in on time and sits back, happy to have finished before the end of his shift. “Let me guess? The karma sutra and Vulcan mating ritual guide?”

“No, smartass.”

Jim slides a book across the desk. It’s in good condition, with a protective wrapping around the hardcover, another surprise, and not a book on sex or eroticism.

“The House In The Cerulean Sea?”

“Seriously, one of the best books to come out of 21st century Terran literature. Followed closely--and by the same publisher!--” Jim slides another book.

“Gideon the Ninth?”

“Really fucking incredible. I’m writing a whole paper on it for a class right now on 21st Century Terran literature with a focus set in space.” At Leonard’s eyebrow lift, Jim shrugs. “It’s an elective.”

“And you’re showing them to me why?”

Jim makes a face at him, like a puppy denied a treat.

“Thought you might be interested. Never mind!”

Before he can say anything, he swipes the books, nearly dropping a few in the process and walks off. He leaves Gideon the Ninth. McCoy curses.

***

Two days later and he’s accosted by Gaila as he’s drinking shitty replicator coffee and the saddest cinnamon roll he’s ever tried to digest.

“Hello Leonard.” She says, stealing a chair across for him like they have a standing lunch.

“Hello, Gaila.”

He picks at the cinnamon roll before giving up entirely.

“You hurt his feelings.”

Leonard isn’t dumb, so of course he knows who she’s talking about. “Jim Kirk has more feelings than a Vulcan on opposite day.”

“He likes you.”

Leonard sputters on his tepid coffee. “We’re not in second grade, Gaila!”

“James is an awkward bean, Leonard. He is used to waggling his eyebrows for sex and if you’re well--you, that doesn’t seem to work.”

He considers this. “I thought he was having a fit.”

“And, he doesn’t just want sex from you. He wants friendship. More than that. You’re the first person--besides me and Captain Pike, of course, who doesn’t look at him and see his father, for better or worse.”

“The kid’s never around for me to really get to know. And when he does show up--I’m kind of busy.” Leonard admits. He shows up at all of Leonard’s shifts--the clinic with a broken nose, Admiral Archer’s office with random questions, the cafeteria when he doesn’t eat anything, his library shift--

“The books?”

“Do you know we met when he gave me a book--an Orion book of poetry, one of his favorites. It was the first physical thing I had of home since leaving.”

She looks over his shoulder for a moment, eyes tracking a memory but then she blinks, focusing back on Leonard.

“His Orion is a little rusty but we spent hours talking about it. It was lovely.” She smiles, content at this new memory, rewriting the one from before.\

He drums his hands on the table, thinking. “Okay.”

“You know what you need to do, yes?” Gaila says.

He does.

****

It takes him five hours, six bookstores and antique shops and one shady, alley dealing to find what he’s looking for.

And then another two hours, one embarrassing conversation with Archer’s assistant and getting lost in the Academy’s underground tunnels before he finds Jim.

“Sit! Sit. No, thank you for the kisses but no. Sit!”

The small basement space that was once a bunker for admirals in early Starfleet days now looks like a puppy daycare.

A long blue plastic tunnel bisects the space, with small hoops and a slide. In a pen sits Jim and around Jim are squirmy, tiny beagle puppies.

“Is this your repayment to Archer for making his last assistant quit?” Leonard asks.

Jim leans his head back to look at him upside down. A puppy takes this opportunity to bounce and Jim finds himself attacked by the cutest beagle army Starfleet has ever seen. Leonard is not as coldhearted as he thinks and reaches down to take one adorable puppy who yawns in Leonard’s face and then licks his chin.

“Hey.”

“Hey,” McCoy gestures to a bag he abandoned on the floor. “You forgot Gideon the Ninth.”

“Nah, you can keep it.” Jim tosses a training toy to the corner of the pen and the puppies fall over themselves to get to it.

“I can keep a 300 year old Terran book in pristine condition?”

“Just thought you might like it.”

Leonard rolls his eyes but can’t help but grinning. “Sorry bud.” He tells the puppy and puts him down among his litter-mates before reaching into the bag to pull out his offering.

He hands it to Jim.

“Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in Vulcan. Bones, are you shitting me right now?”

“I am not.” Leonard doesn’t even try to hide his grin. He needs to send Gaila a thank you as soon as possible.

“And, holllllly shit, it’s signed by the translator.”

Jim is up and out of the pen, crashing him with a hug.

“My dad used to read me this book when I was a kid. Figured you could use a challenge.”

“Thank you.” Jim says, clutching the book to his chest like it was a missing piece of himself he didn’t know he had forgotten.

It doesn’t take them long after to become inseparable. They spend time down in the agility room with the puppies, reading to each other from their favorite books, spending free weekends tracking down obscure copies in bookstores along the coast. And it becomes a tradition on their anniversary. Bones--he becomes Bones pretty quickly--even proposes to Jim with a book, their love language becoming the physical print of words, the musky pages preserved over generations, a reminder of their beginning.

***

For @brevityis, who asked for fluff.

#mckirk #fluff #jim kirk x bones #jim kirk/bones #jim kirk/leonard mccoy #jim kirk x leonard mccoy #star trek fic #brevityis

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preservationandruin · 3 years

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Rhythm of War Liveblog, Part One Part 2 (Chapters 3-8)

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[to the tune of Things I Bought At Sheetz] Now It’s time for Notes I Took At Work. This is going to be a weird experiment, because I read these chapters while at my job and took extensive notes on my reactions, which I’m now going to try to condense into something coherent.

Navani revels in a successful invention, Shallan encounters a very bad cult, I quote--of all things--Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, A Certain Fucker reappears, Leshwi becomes a character I like, Shallan finds a journal, I digress on Renarin’s abilities, and everyone is rightfully worried about Kaladin. Content warning; discussion of suicide and suicidal tendencies

Alright, we open Chapter Three with Navani’s AIRSHIP, which is a kickass sentence. She’s leaning over the side of the ship, to the distress of one of her fellow scholars who attempts to appeal to Dalinar to get her to stop.

“It’s Navani’s ship, Velat,” Dalinar said from behind, his voice as steady as steel, as immutable as mathematics. She loved his voice. “I think she’d have me thrown off if I tried to prevent her from enjoying this moment.”

This is great both because Dalinar and Navani are great, but also as a contrast to Gavilar saying that Navani doesn’t accomplish anything herself, she just pretends to be an inventor and stays behind other, smarter people. Dalinar says no, this is Navani’s ship, this is her victory. The ship’s base design is one of the chasm bridges; it’s operated on the same principles as spanreeds, a kind of sympathetic link where you link two fabrials and whatever happens to one, happens to the other. Just augmented with aluminum and a LOT of pulleys and hard work.

My notes also say “Eat Shit Gavilar” which i think is just, a general note.

Anyway she also wishes that Elhokar was there because he loved being up high and also watching her draw...so now I’m feeling emotions, and if that wasn’t enough, I get hit in the feelings again because the name of the ship is the Fourth Bridge, after Bridge Four because of the time they saved Dalinar and Adolin at the tower, and it not only has the Bridge Four glyph inlaid but the original bridge inlaid.

We see Dalinar and Lirin interact (my notes call this a “Dad convention”) --Lirin, of course because he’s Kaladin’s father, doesn’t really defer to Dalinar at all but does see the potential of this platform as a movable hospital; he’s discomfited by the reminder that Edgedancers are usually used for that now. Lirin really is a practical man who doesn’t believe in heroes or hero stories, which is unfortunate because they’re coming to life all around him. Also Dalinar calls him Lirin Stormblessed which is pretty funny because Lirin is Not Having It.

Also, we get this great line from Navani about Lirin and Kaladin:

However, as she stepped up beside Dalinar, she caught Lirin’s eyes--and the familial connection became more obvious. That same quiet intensity, that same faintly judgmental gaze that seemed to know too much about you. In that moment she saw two men with the same soul, for all their physical differences.

This is really interesting in light of how Kaladin and Lirin are at the moment arguing; they both are at their core very driven, caring people who want the best for their community, but they are at odds for the best way to achieve that in part because they’ve had such different experiences; Kaladin’s life hasn’t let him be the surgeon Lirin is.

For more changes in the year since we last met these characters, Dalinar has learned how to recharge stormlight and open perpendicularities at will, which essentially makes him a portable battery for the Radiants. That’s super useful. Navani likes observing the process, hoping that somewhere in it is a key to how Urithiru functions; she knows that it used to be powered by the Sibling, the third god-spren of Roshar, but after the Recreance the Sibling either died or fell so asleep the spren treat it as having died.

That’s interesting; the Sibling has been something I’ve been wondering about a lot, and confirmation that it was tied to Urithiru seems to preclude it being a godspren of Odium like I’d thought for a bit (and in any case, Odium has the Unmade and doesn’t seem the time to fragment himself into a godspren). Another spren of Honor or Cultivation? Or perhaps a spren of both? More importantly, if it really is dead, is there still a way to revive Urithiru? Last book talked about possibly recruiting Sja-anat; if we do, could she serve as an alternate power source for the tower?

We also get the Mink, the Herdazian general, slipping up on Dalinar and Navani without them noticing and also calling Dalinar the fuck out for the many atrocities that his armies and nation had unleashed on the Herdazians, which Dalinar can’t really refute. I like this guy, honestly; I’m not sure what’s up with him, if he’s just really good at sneaking around or if he has something Up With Him, but I like him.

Back with the Three (Shallan/Radiant/Veil), they wake up to find themselves in the chasms with an EXTREMELY melodramatic cult. They’re looking for proof Ialai is now running the Hypocrites Association--sorry, the Sons of Honor; Radiant refuses to move against Ialai without proof, even though Shallan and Veil both kinda wish Adolin had killed her at the same time as Sadeas and saved everyone some trouble. Anyway, the Hypocrites association wear deep, fancy hoods that leads to a great Shallan thought:

Shallan had a fleeting thought, wondering at the seamstress they’d hired to do all this work. What had they told her? “Yes, we want twenty identical, mysterious robes, sewn with ancient arcane symbols. They’re for...parties.”

They claim both to have guided the return of the Radiants and to be overthrowing Dalinar, which is hilarious because Dalinar is a Radiant so the only real extrapolation here is that, in the fantasy where they’re right about any of this, they brought the radiants back and lost control of the situation immediately and now are recruiting random strangers to try to help rein it back in. Which is still not a good look.

Oh and also they claim to be “something greater” than the Radiants, and I really doubt they’re the Heralds, so everything they say is horseshit, as is proven a second later when they test if Shallan is wearing an illusion with a device she herself sold them at an exorbitant price. And then claiming that Radiants can’t tell untrue oaths, right in front of Shallan, who is bonded to a liespren.

They’re just a very bad cult.

Also they say Ialai is the true queen, which raises many questions to me about the line of succession that gives them THAT math, especially with Gavinor alive and there. Like, somehow Sadeas’s widow gets priority over the last king’s living child? I know they’re just a stupid cult but guys, that’s not how lines of succession work in monarchies.

Anyway, Shallan hears them say that they have a mole in Dalinar’s inner circle--bad--and goes off-script, taking control to say she’s not who they think she is, and we cut back to Kaladin for the next chapter, which is called Broken Spears which prompted my note of “I don’t trust like that.” And then instantly I started laughing because of this quote:

[The windrunners] hung in the air like no skyeel ever could: motionless, equidistant.

This is not a particularly funny line unless you, like me, have never been able to forget a line from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy:

“The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't.”

So there’s that.

Kaladin has apparently fought with Leshwi before at this point (she is, iirc, the Fused who was one of the main points of contact for Moash during his arc in Oathbringer); last time, Rock’s daughter Cord managed to shoot her down. The Windrunners, like the Edgedancers, have grown in number; there are about 50 knights, now, and five times that in squires; the problem is that there aren’t enough willing honorspren to bond. Kaladin mentions that “almost all” of Bridge Four had bonded honorspren and that he knew one honorspren who was willing but unbonded, all of which leads me to believe that Rock hasn’t sworn the Oaths yet.

Meanwhile, these Fused--the Heavenly Ones--prefer one on one battles, as Kaladin noted in earlier chapters, so the Windrunners do the same; as long as they do this, the Heavenly Ones will keep to the ideals of honorable combat and will not gang up on the Windrunners. Again, it shows that they are both the orders that deal with Honorspren, even if the Heavenly Ones deal with...void-honorspren, I guess.

Also, it’s another nod to the idea of if there can be such a thing as honorable combat in a war. Both the Heavenly Ones and the Windrunners are trying for it, clearly, but is that sustainable?

Leshwi is in fact there, with a very cool aluminum-edged sword that can absorb stormlight into a gem at the hilt. She, along with the rest of the Fused and apparently the Heralds (Shalash and Taln are both in Urithiru), are stunned by the Fourth Bridge; fuck yeah, Navani and her team. She’s so cool, guys, I love Navani. Also, everyone is worried about Kaladin.

Shallan, meanwhile, is ad-libbing having even more information, which leads to a hilarious moment of her being accused of treason by a member of the cult who are trying to overthrow the current queen, so...there’s a reason I’m calling them the Hypocrites Association, alright? Anyway, Adolin decides it’s time to attack, and Radiant and Shallan manage to bluff their way into being taken along to the hideout as the Hypocrites Association retreats.

With Kaladin again, we get that the Fused see him as a particular challenge they enjoy fighting, although Leshwi always has first dibs; he fights another Fused and manages to disarm him, but decides not to kill him because killing him is pointless. Also, the teleporting fucker comes back, and yes, that is what I’m calling him until further notice.

Something happened in Aimia that led to Cord getting a set of shardplate. Is this the Dawnshard novel? Is that what happened in Aimia? I’m going to read it next regardless but now I’m curious about what happened on the Radiant expedition to Aimia.

So it turns out that the Hypocrites Association has a secret passage into and out of the chasms with a hidden door, which was probably a bolthole for escape that Sadeas put in early during the war at the Shattered Plains. His keep is also noted by Veil to be fortresslike; she notes that he was a cunning man, not just the blowhard that Shallan had taken him for. Ialai is now the sole remaining leader of the dissident Alethi army; while Radiant wants evidence against her that can have her be taken in, Veil is here just to assassinate her and have done with it.

And honestly there is a nice symmetry in Adolin killing Sadeas and Shallan/the Three killing Ialai.

Anyway, we go back to Kaladin as Leshwi fights Sigzil now; she manages to spear him through the chest, and I swear to god if any of the original Bridgemen actually die, I’m going to kick Brandon Sanderson’s ass. Those are my BOYS. In any case, Leshwi doesn’t kill Sigzil, because Kaladin spared one of the Fused earlier--honor in combat, again. There’s definitely a whole essay I could discuss about this opening few chapters and the idea of if continuing a fight is the right thing to do and if that fight can be continued in a way that is moral, but I don’t have the time for that, I’m trying to do NaNoWriMo and read this book.

I’ll shelve it along with the Oathbringer and the idea of personal responsibility essay.

We go back to Navani and get another real sense of how well she knows her team; she knows the personal tics and oddities of all the ardents and scholars who are helping her on the Fourth Bridge, which is nice to see. We also get that Renarin is here, distracting crying children by having Glys form a ball of light, and Navani has this observation:

Renarin claimed the spren [Glys] was trustworthy, but something was odd about his powers. They had managed to recruit several standard Truthwatchers--and they could create illusions like Shallan. Renarin couldn’t do that. He could only summon lights, and they did strange, unnatural things sometimes...

Really excited to see how Renarin’s powers develop similarly to or different from standard Truthwatchers; I agree that Glys is probably trustworthy because Renarin is the best judge of that at the moment and also because “the corrupted spren turns out to be evil” isn’t a very interesting plot development compared to “there can be good corrupted spren”

And then I got yanked forcibly off-topic because guess who fucking showed up. Moash decided to show his backstabbing, treacherous little face again, wearing--of all things--a uniform cut exactly like Bridge Four’s but in black rather than blue, which is just a stupendous dick move. Navani is the one who sees him, too, and we get a sharp reminder that he murdered her son.

Kaladin doesn’t hear the alarm that Navani raises, though, because he’s busy fighting Leshwi, something he seems to genuinely enjoy as a test of his skills. He pushes his home-field advantage here, managing to distract Leshwi to the point that they both seriously injure the other; Kaladin is grinning throughout, which is actually somewhat disturbing. To me it reads like Kaladin’s stopped caring about his own life in favor of trying to help others at any cost, but I’m not sure if that’ll play through as an accurate read.

In any case, someone set Roshone’s house on fire, and the teleporting fucker is there and actively attacking civilians. Leshwi is pissed off to see this and gestures for Kaladin to go and deal with that rather than continuing their fight; at this point, I really started loving Leshwi as a character. I’m a sucker for a good principled antagonist lady, they’re just a good trope.

Anyway, we get to Chapter Seven. Navani’s epigraph notes that zinc makes the spren in fabrials more active, while brass quiets them. So...you could say...that brass soothes them...while zinc...makes them riot....

Anyway, back to Ialai, Shallan notes that she seems extremely worn and tired, and she claims to support Gavinor to the throne--with herself as regent, of course. She and Shallan proceed to have an entire conversation in wine metaphors, talking about who they are working with or for, and Ialai assumes that the Ghostbloods sent the Three to kill her, claiming they want the Sons of Honor out of the way and will send her after Restares next. Veil instantly switches her vote to not killing Ialai bc she doesn’t like to be manipulated, and Adolin kicks down the door.

Ialai tells Shallan to search her rooms for “the rarest vintage” before the Ghostbloods can, and then--before she can even leave the building--she dies of poisoning, implying there’s a mole somewhere in Adolin and Shallan’s people. That’s not great, and the Ghostbloods aren’t fucking around in the slightest with her.

Meanwhile, with Kaladin, the teleporting fucker took Godeke--the one named Edgedancer here other than Lift--hostage to lure Kaladin inside, where he uses a strange, void-fabrial to drain Surgebinder powers in the room. And then makes a critical error in thinking that that will be enough:

The Fused laughed and spoke in Alethi. “Radiants! You rely too much on your powers. Without them, what are you? A peasant child with no real training in the art of warfare or--” Kaladin slammed himself against the soldier to the right.

Oh you poor idiots, Kaladin was a prodigy with the spear LONG before he was a Windrunner, went most of his army career without bonding Syl, and--crucially--one of you is carrying a physical spear. Checkmate, assholes. Kaladin quickly beats most of the ones there, including killing the teleporting fucker before he can teleport again, and lets the last one go--of course--before helping Lift get Godeke out and telling her to get the void fabrial to Navani.

Meanwhile, he’s going to go make sure Roshone is alright, where I have the very prescient note of “I bet actual money Moash is killing him as we speak.”

Ialai’s probable method of death was blackbane poison in her bloodstream; one of Shallans’ people examines the body for it, while Shallan goes to search ialai’s rooms.

Another epigraph note, this time about bronze and heliodor being used to make warning fabrials. Scadrial really was just a primer on the uses of various metals with investiture, huh?

Meanwhile, Kaladin finds the prisoners below the manor killed with a shardblade, and spins around to find Moash slitting Roshone’s throat before making what I called, in a late-night worktime daze, “just a series of rat bastard moves. Hate that guy. Just honestly hate that guy.”

Specifically, he surrenders so that Kal cannot keep attacking him--because Kal’s a good person--just after taunting him for wanting to rescue someone.

Back with Shallan, Veil is pushing her again to continue remembering their past, but she still resists; she finds a rare Shin wine in Ialai’s store, before using that to find a pattern on the floor of old, shadowyears-era glyphs with maps of the ten Epoch Kingdoms, under one of which is a notebook of Ialai’s; she tucks it in her safepouch, and we go back to Kaladin.

I really think the arc for Kaladin in this book is going to be accepting that he can’t save everyone, particularly from themselves, because he pauses and remembers how Moash had been a friend, but even more than that, he had been Bridge Four--someone that Kaladin had sworn to protect, and he’d failed:

Kaladin had failed Moash. As soundly as he’d failed Dunny, Mart, and Jaks. And of them all, losing Moash hurt the most. Because in those callous eyes, Kaladin saw himself.

Kaladin can’t keep blaming himself for Moash’s choices, because Moash chose to do this, and was given ways out, and didn’t take them. It’s not Kaladin’s fault, and believing that it is is going to get Kaladin killed.

And then, Moash winds up and delivers a grade-A Odium-powered Breaking Speech:

"They're going to die, you know," Moash said softly. "Everyone you love, everyone you think you can protect. They're all going to die anyway. There's nothing you can do about it." [...] "Do you remember the chasm, Kal?" Moash whispered. "In the rain that night? Standing there, looking down into the darkness, knowing it was your sole release? You knew it hen. You try to pretend you've forgotten. But you know. As sure as the storms will come. As sure as every lighteyes will lie. There is only one answer. One path. One result. [...] I've found the better way," Moash said. "I feel no guilt. I've given it away, and in so doing became the person I always could have become--if I hadn't been restrained. I can take away the pain, Kal. Isn't that what you want? An end to your suffering?”

Odium’s deal all over again--he will take away your pain and your responsibility for your actions, but the price for that is your integrity and your honor. It’s so insidious, especially because Moash is exploiting the fact that Kaladin was suicidal to play into the idea of life being hopeless--he’s implying that Kaladin’s suicidal impulses were right and then offering another way out. It’s so, so so so awful, and Kaladin can’t even bring himself to fight it, because it’s coming from an unarmed man and it’s targeted so directly at him.

“The answer is to stop existing, Kal. You’ve always known it, haven’t you?” Kaladin blinked away tears, and the deepest part of him--the little boy who hated the rain and the darkness--withdrew into his soul and curled up. Because...he did want to stop hurting.

He wanted it so badly.

Ugh, Moash’s whole thing here is just seeding that suicidality back into Kaladin--because frankly, most of the time? When someone is suicidal, in my (admittedly limited and personal) experience? What they genuinely want isn’t to die--they just want not to hurt anymore, and they see that as the only way.

Light exploded into the room. Clean and white, like the light of the brightest diamond. The light of the sun. A brilliant, concentrated purity. Moash growled, spinning around, shading his eyes against the source of the light--which came from the doorway. The figure behind it wasn’t visible as anything more than a shadow. Moash shied away from the light--but a version of him, transparent and filmy, broke off and stepped toward the light instead. Like an afterimage. In it, Kaladin saw the same Moash--but somehow standing taller, wearing a brilliant blue uniform. This one raised a hand, confident, and although Kaladin couldn’t see them, he knew people gathered behind this Moash. Protected. Safe. The image of Moash burst alight as a Shardspear formed in his hands.

FUCK YEAH, RENARIN.

I’m gonna end this section by just discussing what happened here, because there’s a lot to unpack there. We’ve seen Shallan use her illusions to create versions of people who they could be, but this isn’t doing that--if you look at the cause and effect, it’s not that Renarin created this illusory Moash, but more that the light Renarin created called forth that Moash from this one.

More than anything, it reminds me of the effects of Gold Allomancy--creating a past version of the self, splitting the self into who you are and who you were, or who you are and who you could have been. This is not a version of Moash that could exist. He’s burned too many bridges and killed too many people in front of their infant children for that to happen.

But it could have been Moash. It’s not calling forth the truth, really, it’s showing an alternate path. It’s strange and I can’t wait to see it explored more, and it shakes Moash to his core--because of course it does. Moash’s entire speech was saying “there are only two ways out, dying and giving in to Odium,” and Renarin’s light showed that that was a stark fucking lie. There’s the third choice of deciding to stand up and protect people anyway, and it was a choice Moash could have taken, and that kills him. It eats him up inside; it’s the pain that Odium can’t fully take away.

As Kaladin said to Amaram: if what Odium says is true, if what you claim is true, than why do you still hurt?

#fuck yeah bridge four #rowliveblog #row spoilers #navani kholin protection squad #kaladin has a saving people thing #fuck moash #renarin kholin kicks ass #leshwi is unfortunately VERY cool

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blissfulalchemist · 3 years

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Odds for Tia! 🤍

Yes! You got it! Let’s go! OC Fluff Questions

1. What’s their go to pick up line/flirting tactic?

She honestly just kind of goes up to a person and starts a conversation somehow or they start one with her. She doesn’t really have much of a go too until she get’s her dog Mesa then she...well you can see for yourself below the cut there. (from something that was mostly written to get a feel for her so it’ll never see the full light of day after this)

Gotcha, my eyes meet Mesa, her blue eyes expectant waiting for the command, “Get him, girl.” The dog braces herself before running up to the one his friend called ‘Bright Eyes’, jumping on him, surprising the small group around him. I shake my nerves away, as she barks up at him, trying to get the man to play with her. The worry and embarrassment settles onto my features as I jog up to them, “Mesa! No!” I hold onto her collar, feeling her pull towards him, “I’m so- Oh my god I’m so sorry. Mesa,” her head turns to me, “down girl. Bad dog.” The dog settles down quickly sitting obediently by my legs, the red creeping up my cheeks as I notice that his shirt has gotten wet. “You’re okay right? I’m so sorry,” I grab a napkin from the table nearest us, dabbing it against his shirt, “She didn’t hurt you did she?”

3. Underwear style?

She goes for cheeky bikinis or various types of thongs, it just depends on the outfit. She does on the occasion go for none but again if the outfit calls for it.

5. What was their childhood stuffed animal of choice?

Her choice was always to go for the brightest one. You know when you go to a zoo or something like that and they had like some of the animals in different colors? Yeah she’d go for the one that was the brightest in her eyes or most sparkly one and pick that one. She only had one that was of a regular color and that was a gopher that her mom and dad found for her while they took a small weekend trip to the Big Basin Redwood State Park. She loved that toy she slept with it every night.

7. Do they snore?

Unfortunately yes. The volume of it will depend on the sleeping position that she is in. She will snore very quietly when curled up, almost non existent when she’s sleeping in the passenger seat on a long trip. Her loudest is when she’s sleeping on her back, with the medium being on her stomach and side if she’s stretched out.

9. Sweet, sour, salty, or savory?

Tia is more the salty and sour person. She’s not not a fan of sweets but there’s something more satisfying about salty and sour things. It really could just be the amount of road trip snacks that she eats but that’s a forever mystery.

11. What would their favorite book be?

Tia would like more series of books, mostly ones with adventures and exploring new places. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is one that she really enjoys quite a lot. She is also one for the occasional book on poetry, though those were ones she acquired via small book shops or straight from the authors during her travels. RIP to all the books she lost in Rocky Road.

13. If they got a new pet, what would they name it?

Well she does acquire some new pets in her stories and gave them names. The first one was a dog that she kind of stole, in her defense the collie didn’t want to leave her side so the dog technically ran away and besides she responded more to Tia’s name for her and that was Mesa named after Mesa Verde one of Tia’s favorite places to drive near. After that she came across a lonesome little red tailed boa, no idea how he got there but he didn’t seem to belong to anyone so she kept him. She was really missing Conner and named him, sort of, after what Conner would have named his pet if had one growing up, which is Pabiyan. Or as Tia likes to call him Paps.

15. What would their favorite board game be?

Tia is more for card games as they’re faster. However if made to pick she’d play Life or Monopoly or ideally combining the two. If she can combine them then she can change the rules as needed so it works in her favor.

17. What’s their favorite smell?

The arid smell of the desert at the hottest time of the day or during dawn and dusk. She also loves the smell of small coffee shops that have bakeries within them, it just brings a sense of comfort.

19. Describe their laugh.

I would like to default to her faceclaim’s laugh for this as it has the cadence and tone that Tia has. It can be loud if she’s with people and having a good time but it’s not generally annoying. The best video I could find where you can hear it consistently is here!

21. Are they good with their hands? How do they deal with household-type maintenance?

Tia is fairly decent at basic fixes, but if you can’t fix it in an hour max it might be something for a professional. She also knows the absolute basics of some car repair since Rocky Road had some issues, again only enough to get to a professional though.

23. Favorite carnival attraction?

Rollercoasters, the rides that you get wet on with the big hill, and the games so she can make others win her things or just poke fun at your skills, she’ll win the prize in the end though.

25. What’s their ideal day off like?

She loves to wake up early enough to see the sunrise, take a small nap after that so she can then find a spot to set up her hammock and read, think, or just lay about in the sun so she can end the night just looking up at the stars. She likes to be a cat on her days off with nothing to do. To her life is full of all these big moments that you should enjoy and do but its the smaller moments that make life all the sweeter.

#hypatia caro oc #hypatia chara ask

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thestarkerisobvious · 4 years

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Mabon

amazing art work by @starker-sorbet A snugglefic for @mrstarksbabyy

Sixteen

3 Mabon

As the day Tony called “Mabon” approached, Peter was very busy. Busy storing up books, and magazine articles, the kinds that made him laugh and the kinds that made him furious. Silent Spring. Any article about Chernobyl. (He had bought a multiple magazines with articles on the topic of that when they visited New York City. The subject made him want to punch holes through walls whenever he read about them, but it was worth the money. He knew Tony would love it.) Busy writing down copious notes about memories in his notebooks, both happy and sad, cheerfully preparing to give each one up to Tony.

And just as judiciously he kept a careful eye on the animal population, both wild and domesticated, around the house. The number of barncats were getting out of hand, both May and Ben had noted, but Peter tried to discourage them from taking action, reminding them of the rat population down in the basement. The rat population he, Peter, was supposed to be in charge of (that was another one of his secrets. He had led them believe he was interested in becoming an exterminator, like Mike DeSlaughter’s dad. That’s why he was in charge of the rat traps in the basement, all of which he was sabotaging himself. He wasn’t trying to rid their household of rats, in fact he was doing everything in his power to encourage them. He needed them for Tony.)

For the week before the 21rst of September Peter sat next to his bed, reading out loud to the darkness under the bed. He read Hitchhiker’s Guide the Galaxy and Mad Magazine. They were long, lonely nights. Sitting on the floor. Leaning his head against his bed. Reading aloud to himself for hours into the night. Reading to the silence. Waking in the morning to trudge, exhausted, to school to spend the day planning on reading deep into the night again. Aching from the loneliness of Tony’s absence. Wondering if anyone knew he was acting like a crazy person. Wondering if it had all really been a dream.

Until that night. Four nights before the date circled on his calendar. Sitting cross-legged on his floor and complaining bitterly about an article on endangered species, he heard it.

“Peter…”

Peter’s heart leapt. His breath quickened. Then, with a grin that reached from ear to ear, he closed is National Geographic and dug out from his pile of books the thing that he had been saving for ages.

“Jonathan Harker’s Journal.” He read with a smile. “3 May. Bistritz. Left Munich at 8:35 P.M., on 1rst May, arriving at Vienna early next morning; should have arrived at 6:46, but train was an hour late. Buda-Pesth seems a wonderful place, from the glimpse which I got of it from the train…”

He read almost all night, until finally 4 AM came about and he had to give up and crawl into his bed. The next morning was the morning he did something he had never done in his life, he convinced May and Ben that he was sick and had to miss school. It didn’t take much convincing. Peter never missed school.

Sleeping all day made that night so much easier, giggling his way through Life The Universe and Everything while keeping one arm fearlessly under the bed, waiting to feel Tony feed. About 1 in the morning he finally felt it, that tiny, sandpapery tongue on his wrist. After that, he had trouble concentrating on his book. For hours he alternated between reading and talking to Tony, telling him about his many adventure that summer as he felt his friend feeding at the pulse on his wrist, sometimes lapping, sometimes… ah yes sometimes… sucking.

And so it went. By night he fed the thing under the bed. By day he gave himself pep-talks and stern talking-tos.

He was different now. Older. Stronger. The boy who had chickened out around Tony, more time than he could even count, was gone. That boy had been replaced. Replaced with a young man, more experienced, more knowledgeable, more confident. Peter wasn’t a kid anymore. Peter was going to get some answers. And Peter was going to make some demands.

It was a Friday night when it happened. Two full days before Mabon. Peter didn’t know how he knew, but he knew. As darkness fell, he stood up from the floor and sat on the edge of his bed. Over and over again he reassured himself. Told himself to be brave. He was dressed in his long pajama bottoms and a button-down pajama top. He had planned this outfit for a month. He wasn’t backing down now.

With a hiss and a whisper Tony emerged from under the bed. Peter kept his eyes steadfastly closed as the inkblack cloud arose. He breathed in the comforting smell of earth and burned incense, but did not look until he felt the bed sink under Tony’s weight. Only when a human-like hand reached for his hand did he open his eyes and smiled at the figure beside him.

They sat very close together, smiling, their foreheads together, and greeted each other in whispers. Sometimes only Peter spoke, letting Tony suckle the last two fingers on his left hand. He couldn’t seem to stop touching Tony’s face, tracing the dark lines of his eyebrows, his cheekbones. The face was pale and hollow and painfully thin, but Peter knew it would soon change. “My sweet one, how you’ve grown, you’ve become so strong,” Tony whispered and Peter glowed under the praise. “You will feed me well, you will make me powerful. I will serve you so well. I will be your beloved, my master scholar. My library-pilgrim…”

“I keep telling you, I don’t have a Masters degree!” Peter scolded when Tony fit Peter’s fingers into his mouth again. Peter felt like giggling with delight, even as he started to describe the parts of his science class that were actually getting interesting. He couldn’t stop smiling. As the September days had dragged on so painfully slow, he had begun to think that Tony had only been a daydream. A kind of nasty invisible friend that Peter should be praying to God about. (The boys in the First Devil’s Church Sunday School were always reminded they should pray for God to deliver them from their Dirty Thoughts.) Now those doubts felt like dreams. He kept Tony’s forehead close to his forehead, kept his hand close to Tony’s face.

Finally Tony let Peter’s fingers slip away from his mouth. They held each other’s hands tightly, Peter looking deeply into Tony’s eyes.

Then Tony looked sadly behind him. Looked at the pillows, then looked down at their clasped hands.

“You have fed me, and I have come. I am your servant, Master Peter. I would I were your beloved,” he whispered.

Then he looked up at Peter with dark eyes.

“Am I no longer welcome in your bed?”

Peter squeezed Tony’s hand, took a deep breath, and then stood.

There was something he had planned on saying right at this moment, the words he would say as he unbuttoned his pajama shirt, but the words dried up in his mouth. Something about the promises Tony had made in his bedroom in the dream-castle, promises he had never kept.

The words didn’t come, so he unbuttoned his shirt in silence. He had planned on letting the shirt fall dramatically to the floor, but at the last minute he lost his nerve.

But words or no, drama or no, the look on Tony’s face when Peter silently climbed into his lap was absolutely worth it.

With a hungry growl that made Peter’s spine light up like stars, Tony’s mouth descended upon the vein in Peter’s neck even has his long fingers starred over Peter’s back and pulled him close.

Tony fed.

The Master (Post)

Questions, discussions, constructive crit are all welcome at @witchwayisright

To be tagged please message me.

#The Thing That Lives Under The Bed #Demon!Tony #Starker #TheWitchway writes stuff

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wreath-of-laurels · 4 years

Link

Summary: In U.A., there’s a bit of a problem with people being related to Villains. In fact, they are having even more of a problem finding people who aren't.

---

As some of you may have noticed, I have been posting links for my AO3 stuff over here. I figure that I should throw in some random thoughts on the writing process here so this post isn’t just a retred for those who already know the work. For those who haven’t read it, I would recommend checking it out if you’re so inclined then come back if you feel like it.

The Problem With Skywalkers is arguably one of the easiest and most popular things that I have ever written which makes it both a wonderful thing and a tiny bit of a frustration. Quite simply it is primarily crack and with the exception of a few bits doesn’t really pretend to be anything else.

As far as I can tell, the idea formed during a discussion about the Dad for One theory at @tsukithewolf‘s Discord. I made a comment about how it would be a bit awkward if the Dabi is Touya and the Dad for One were both true:

Me: I'm somewhat skeptical of the Dad for One theory, if only because I'm pretty sure Dabi is Touya, and pulling the same trope twice might be a bit much.

Then along comes this annoying/wonderful collaborator who plants a crazy idea in my head.

Anonymous_Nerb: lmao all the league just spontaneously adopting family members outa nowhere

bakugou: ...ok, so both deku and icyhot APPARENTLY have villain family members. whos next, fucking round cheeks??

uraraka: well, actually...

I make a joke along those lines and then the bastard eggs me on.

Me: The Iidas turn out to be a mob family going back through the generations. Tenya's villainous persona from the training exercise is his normal self. Momo is a resurrected Shimura Hana. Neito is AFO's other long lost son.

Bakugou gets grumpy because his villainous relative was defeated during the USJ arc and isn't suitably badass.

The Bastard: i wanna see a fic of this so bad now

aizawa: i would expel you all for the pure bullshittery of your family trees, but giran is my cousin so screw this

And then when I was trying to write my deep and meaningful Hero!Dabi fic, my brain gets hijacked and I can’t stop coming up with crackier and crackier ideas. Many of them just showed up with no prompting whatsoever and others where based on vague connections. Honestly, I think the fic wrote itself.

Giran and Aizawa: All the Bastard’s fault. Thankfully she(?) gave her blessing.

Inasa and Kurogiri: Oboro had a weather Quirk and Inasa sort of does. Also their personalities don’t fit at all so that will be fun.

Koda: I wonder if I how I can throw Nedzu into the mix. Oh yeah, Koda can talk to animals.

Shigaraki and Momo: Hmmm... Didn’t I read a fic with that a while back?

Seiji and Mr. Compress: They make ball-like things. Why not?

Midnight and Moonfish: They both have kinky dress sense.

Vlad and Toga: Gotta do that one!!!

Also the whole bonding experience between Dabi and Shouto is completely @gentrychild‘s fault for her hilarious and well-worth the read How to murder your father fic.

That being said, since this is me and I am physically incapable of writing humour without drama and drama without humour (seriously, my ‘meaningful’ Dabi fic has him whining about phallic grafitti and being bossed around by his younger siblings), I end up throwing in a few serious sections with Uraraka and Eri bits.

As I came close, I noticed a problem with the fic: the Dabi is Touya theory is much too plausible to blend in with the rest. So I naturally, I couldn’t let that stand.

As for why Dabi didn’t say anything when Shouto showed up and tried to bond with him? I figure Dabi is used to hanging out with nutty people (himself included) so a kid insisting on calling him Niisan is pretty much a Tuesday for him. Besides the kid wants to kill Endeavor? He’s cool with that.

Honestly, I was rather weirded (but thrilled) out by how well people responded to the story. It was my first attempt at writing full-on crack, I wrote it in under fifteen hours, and didn’t expect it to be arguably the most popular thing that I’ve written.

As for the frustration I mentioned, some of it is the common writer thought process of ‘I worker five zillion hours on this other fic and two on this one. Why the hell is the two hour one so popular?!!!!’

Yeah, I know: it’s a dumb reason to complain. This from me who genuinely likes the fic and thinks it turned out way better than I was expected. Go figure. I’ll go cry myself a river now.

The other bit is that my crazy inspiration disappeared after I finished it and I kind of needed it for my other projects... *sigh* That’s the life.

For those who are curious to the various cultural references used in this fic, they are:

The super intelligent mice are from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

‘Please note all of the former relations include in-laws, step-family, adopted family, family of choice, pets and father’s brother’s nephew’s cousin’s former roommates.‘ is a reference to Mel Brooks’ Star Wars parody Space Balls.

Pretty much the all the subtitles are inspired by Terry Prachett’s (RIP) Discworld. Prachett is arguable the authors who has influenced me the most both in my writing style and my way of looking at the world.

Well, Star Wars of course.

#my hero academy fanfiction #writing reflections #dad for one #class 1-a #league of villains #dabi is touya todoroki #dabi is todoroki touya

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catubarca · 4 years

Text

Harry Potter Next Generation Headcanons

im bored. im full of emotions, and am rly missing the HP world... i just want to write down my headcannons for the next gen kiddos tbh.

please remember these are just my opinions? its okay if yours are different. im just bored and want to share my thoughts,,

Teddy Lupin

his name is Theodore Remus “Teddy” Lupin. it’s just what it is

I don’t care what JKR says, to me his name will always be Theodore

i can’t do this “Edward” stuff im so sorry,,,

h u f f l e p u f f

proper school uniform? never heard of it

messy hair, messy clothes

punk rock child

we’re talking like,,,at least two (2) lip piercings ok

absolutely terrible in herbology. do not leave this child alone in a greenhouse, bad things happen

fuckin hoards chocolate

its a problem

dating Victorie Weasley

random bursts of dancing

keeps a lock of hair pink for his mother

lives with the Potters, enjoys pretending to be Ginny to ground his siblings

“Lily, why aren’t you coming out of your room? Dinner’s ready?” “You said I’m grounded! You tell me!” “What? Oh, for the- THEODORE REMUS LUPIN-“

s m i r k s

effortlessly cool,,, but so so dorky,,, in a cool way

Victorie Weasley

ravenclaw!

looks a lot like her mother, Fleur, but inherited those Weasley freckles

a little confused a lot of the time

absolute sweet tooth (teddy abuses this fact a lot)

Mom Friend™

will help you with your homework

always got a book on her

super beautiful and like,,,, the absolute nicest person,,, but

cannot dance

like at all

adores Charms class

a softie you don’t want to cross

“I’m the oldest”

Dominique Weasley

inherited the Classic Weasley Red Hair™

idolises her Uncle Charlie

“I wanna save animals and work with cool dragons, just like Uncle Charlie does!”

Bill almost has a heart attack

always bringing stray animals home

(“is that a lizard in your pocket, Dominique?” “Yes! His name is Blob.” “You know how your father’s afraid of reptiles, sweetheart, you can’t bring it inside.”)

Gryffindor child

favourite class is definitely Care of Magical Creatures, she and Hagrid like to talk about proper care methods for rare creatures

perpetual dirt stains

BIG middle child vibes

doesn’t really label her sexuality… just kinda does what she wants rly

all the pets in Hogwarts love her

rumours are she’s got an innate, natural magical ability to make them all love her

(she feeds them under the table)

it’s a mystery

big advocate for animal rights

f e m i n i s t

willing to throw hands at all times

usually all smiles though

one of those people who use their whole bodies to laugh

kind of an accidental heartthrob

romcoms

Louis Weasley

looks the most like his mother

ravenclaw

absolutely filled with curiosity. always reading or talking or learning

random facts

(how do you even find that sort of information?

you don’t want to know)

coffee boy

sort of musically talented?

he and James Sirius preach the importance of skincare to all who will listen

secretly full of sass and dry wit

vry graceful and fluid

e y e r o l l

awkward smiles? can never smile properly in photos

on the ravenclaw quidditch team

Ravenclaw Prefect

(“You might be older, but I’m taller.” “Fuck off!”)

only watches High Quality™ tv shows/media

kind of a disaster, despite the gracefulness

Molly Weasley

Classic red hair

comes across as a bit uptight, like her father

I don’t care what you think. (She really cares what you think.)

E y e b r o w s

death glares

drinks like 5 cups of coffee in the morning

studies,,, like a lot

definitely a Gryffindor though

mom jeans

always ready to debate a topic. will destroy opponents.

has been trying to start a successful Debate Club for like 4 years now

naturally falls into the position of a group leader

would be a teacher’s pet, if she wasn’t ready At All Times™ to debate the relevancy of the course syllabus or outdated teaching methods

got into a fight with Severus Snape’s portrait in Headmistress McGonagall’s office.

(Dumbledore’s portrait was laughing, until she turned and ragged on him for a bit. Minerva thought it was absolutely hilarious, so she just let Molly go at it for a while).

full of rage towards everything, but wears a very careful mask of aloofness

to calm down, she likes painting her nails

she’s very good at it

she’s also very good at painting and art in general, weirdly enough

Lucy Weasley

G R Y F F I N D O R

adores shitty puns and has a terrible sense of humour

brown hair, not red

loves to prank people, which makes her Uncle George very proud

Percy complains about her behaviour, but makes sure he knows he’s proud too

(charming all the cauldrons in the potions classroom to scream whenever they’re stirred takes a more complex understanding of spell work than one would expect).

a pit of a punk streak

rly loves hip hop

high key drama queen

does she ever stop yelling? we’re yet to find out

average grades in terms of theory, but she’s the best in terms of applying information

especially for her pranks

has allies throughout the castle, from the portraits to the students

the bigger the prank, the better

but is a firm believer in “confuse, don’t abuse”

all her pranks are mostly harmless

is a surprising lover of older literature, like Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, an influence of her sister

a bit rebellious

Fred Weasley II

name isn’t officially “the second”, but it sounds cooler

James Potter, Lucy Weasley, Molly Weasley and Fred Weasley are like the Marauders 2.0

says “squad” and “lit” unironically

niche humour

hipster vibes

avid music lover

smiley sunshine child

takes after his mother the most in looks, just like his sister

a chill type of gryffindor

plays quidditch, and is an excellent chaser, just like his mother

the absolute undisputed King™ of puppy-dog eyes

just,,,, beautiful

the True teacher’s pet

hands in his work on time,, asks lots of questions,,, likes helping students understand their work,, what a boy

can hella nyoom

runs so fast

look at him go

as you might expect, loves a good prank. always down for a laugh

Roxanne Weasley

Gryffindor and pROUD

absolute Queen tbh

was definitely Head Prefect or Gryffindor Prefect at some point

loved by the school

absolute legend

G I R L P O W E R

infectious laughter

has a soft spot for Louis Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy

these poor disaster children,,,, they need a Mother

M O M

big mom vibes

mothers the hell out of all the first years

a feminist through and through

can be found nodding aggressively to Molly Weasley’s semi-deranged, furious ranting

YAAAASS

loves slang. uses so much slang. always up to date with trends and memes

has all the gossip

becomes a mess around pretty girls

absolute blushing, stuttering disaster around cute girls oh my god

her eye make-up game is killer

sparkly

Distinguished Lesbian

Rosie Weasley

did someone say Weasley™?

red hair and freckles and curls oh my

on the autism spectrum, has trouble socialising sometimes

hella passionate about stuff

hangs out with Scorpius and Albus, the Golden Trio 2.0

f em ini st

her jokes are the best. high quality sense of humour.

Ravenclaw

likes to read. it’s quiet in the school library, which is nice.

abysmal at herbology

surprisingly good at Care of Magical Creatures though? Animals are just,,, so much easier to deal with

overall, really good grades though

bit of a silent type, but she’s actually a riot to hang out with

actually pretty good at quidditch? She’s not on the team, and she’s not super interested in playing, but?? She’s not bad??

She can land a solid hit with a beater’s bat

(eyes you judgementally over the top of a book)

dry wit humour

will throw hands over chess

Hugo Weasley

hufflepuff

unbeatable at chess, like his dad

a lost puppy

someone please help this child

softie

kind of low-key emotional

so supportive!! and loyal!! high-key best friend material

foodie. loves food. please feed him.

takes a bit more after his dad appearance wise

loves to cook. spends lots of time with grandma Molly and his dad in the kitchen

Professor Longbottom is his favourite professor, because he’s more chilled and laidback.

other professors and classes fill him with Distress™

loves astronomy too

maths whizz, so good at arithmancy

(“uh, actually-“)

a little bossy, like his mother

is trying so hard

maybe a little too hard

a bit insecure and nervous, but so soft

please treat this child carefully and with love

James Sirius Potter

Gryffindor

L O U D

a fucking disaster child

what’d you expect, putting “James” and “Sirius” together?

DRAMATIC GASPING

flails his hands around when he talks

s t r u t s

bisexual mess, had a crush on both the Longbottom children at some point

is better than you at everything

including being a different gender

fuck you that’s why

so pretty

he’s so pretty

is thIS CHILD EVER NOT LAUGHING AT SOMETHING OH My god

laughs at everything

all the time

always

high-key emotional

badly timed finger guns

looks like a model in photos? wtf?

gets invited to Girls Nights™

wears nail polish and makeup

loves to yell at people about gender roles and defying stereotypes

TEA SIS

not on the quidditch team surprisingly enough, even though he’s pretty good

prefers to be in the stands, doing A+ commentary on the games

if he can get Fred to stop mid-air due to unbearable, suffocating laughter at least once a game it’s a win in his books

has it OUT for the hufflepuff quidditch team and no one knows why??

definitely makes puns on his name

it drives everyone insane

harry always replies he’s just making his namesake proud

that also drives everyone insane

smug lil shit

Albus Severus Potter

“It’s just Al.”

S L Y T H E R I N

will always find a way to get what he wants, eventually

“dad, why did you name me this way?”

unimpressed

sigh

hella smart. is topping at least five classes

Aunt Hermione is his favourite. She’s the fucking Mistress of Magic! All that power, the ability to make change and improve the Magical World as a whole-

sass master

the reason headmistress mcgonagall keeps a bottle of scotch under her desk at all times

the only potter child to inherit The Eyes™

absolute insomniac

kind of emo, but turns into a fucking softie around Scorpius Malfoy it’s hilarious

adverse to violence. prefers a verbal beatdown method

really tall? despite having shorties for parents??? no one saw it coming

(especially not Teddy. He’s always scared of losing his last few inches of height)

Functional Gay

he’s on the slytherin quidditch team, as a seeker

Lily Luna Potter

Gryffindor

FEMINIST

do not mess with lily luna potter

she may seem cute and sweet, but she will destroy you

inherited her father’s black hair

disaster lesbian

transfiguration is her favourite subject, by far

has no idea what she wants to do with the rest of her life.

Existential Crisis Father-Daughter Bonding Time™

do you ever sleep?

takes after Ginny the most in personality

also, kind of the most like James Fleamont Potter in personality, too?

Loves to help her brother out with pranks, laughs at him when he gets caught and she gets away with it

The only one of the Potter Children who hasn’t got into a fight with Severus Snape’s portrait

because she just ignores him instead

loves talking to the portraits around the castle

Super good at Quidditch, is on the team as a Chaser

Quidditch Captain at some point

adores Hagrid, but who out of the Potter children doesn’t?

Idolises Minerva McGonagall

just as oblivious as her father

Scorpius Malfoy

Actually in Ravenclaw, not Slytherin, much to many people’s surprise

abSOLUTE DADDY’S BOY

super close with his dad

Draco is just so supportive of like everything he does (unlike his father)

classic blonde malfoy looks

actually really funny?

a cuddler. loves hugs. always leeching warmth off of someone

he and Rosie sometimes finger-tip-touch which is their version of a hug, because he know’s she’s not super comfortable with touch

was basically adopted by the Weasley’s and Potter’s

James Sirius will murder for this child

booknerd, always rambling to Al and Rosie about new books coming out he’s interested in reading.

has had a crush on Albus Potter since like 1st year

always worried about making his dad proud, and keeping up the Malfoy name

sweet tooth

he’s just,, soft. just a warm, happy child. he wants love, and affection. someone tell him he’s doing okay, please.

needs,,, validation,,,

he’ll tell you out loud that he has no favourite aunts or uncles, but he secretly really likes spending time with his Uncle Ron

they had a talk, once, in like the middle of the night at a sleepover with Rosie and Al, about feeling insecure in comparison to others, and learning to be proud of yourself for your achievements

there were a few tears, but it was nice

Ron was actually the third person he told, besides his dad and Rosie, about having a crush on Al

openly a disaster romantic. trash taste in romance novels.

always welcome in the Potter-Weasley households

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rubberducky-jrr · 5 years

Text

Subway Girl (Part 1)

Summary: Peter and you somehow keep getting on the same subway. You didn’t notice at first but when you did, your world changed forever.

Pairings: Peter Parker x Reader, May x Happy, Tony x Pepper

Warnings: Swearing and mention of verbal abuse

A/n: I’m going to be doing a tag list for this, let me know if you want to be added to it!

Peter didn’t really notice at the start, too busy in his own little world to notice you sat opposite him on the subway before.

He slowly began to notice when one day someone bumped into you and knocked the books in your arms all over the subway carriage floor.

Peter sprung to action, quickly kneeling down and picking up some of the books for you. He spotted An Introduction to Immunology before seeing a few over biology books.

College student, maybe first year considering how young she looks.

He passed you the books and you softly smiled up at him, a small blush rising onto your cheeks.

“Thanks,” you said before quickly rushing off the subway at your stop.

From that day, Peter began to see you nearly every time he was on the subway in the evenings. You always got on the middle carriage, sitting on the right side, normally with a book in hand or earphones in listening to music.

You were beautiful in his opinion, your hair in loose but messy curls. Your lips were strawberry red, shining ever so slightly from the lipgloss you had applied in the morning.

After about a week or so, you finally glanced up towards him. You saw him look away, busying himself with reading a poster just above your head to act as if he hadn’t just been watching you for ages.

You glanced back down at your book, Peter seeing a soft smile forming on your lips and a slight blush on your cheeks. He couldn’t help but smile to himself slightly.

The next stop came and you were gone, Peter sighing at himself for yet again not having the courage to go introduce himself.

***

“It’s like she’s everywhere I go,” Peter complained to Aunt May and Happy at the dinner table.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” May warned and Peter swallowed down his bite of spring roll before sighing.

“I think someone has a crush,” Happy teased and May chuckled, both glancing at each other. Peter rolled his eyes.

“It’s not a crush,” he grumbled in defence before grabbing another spring roll and eating it in one.

“It seems like it is, you are seeing her everywhere you go,” May joked, lifting her glass of wine up to take a sip.

“Just on the subway,” he admitted. “Like yesterday, she was reading The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, hair all in a messy bun and glasses sliding down her nose,” he rambled on, the memory of you looking adorable running through his mind.

May looked over to Happy, a knowing look being exchanged between them before she glanced back at Peter.

“You’re right, that’s totally not a crush,” she said and Happy hummed in agreement.

“No, definitely not.”

“It’s more of a stalker kind of vibe,” May said and Peter gave her a glare.

“Shut up,” he said and the two adults just laughed. “I’m going to finish this in my room,” Peter grumbled, grabbing his plate of Chinese food before standing up and walking to his room.

He paused at the door, walking back into the dining room to snatch up the bag of spring rolls, May just smirking at him.

***

The next evening rolled by and Peter found himself slightly excited to get on the subway. He sighed, realising Aunt May and Happy had been right.

I have a crush on the subway girl.

The subway rolled by and Peter hopped onto the middle carriage, finding an available seat before glancing around.

You weren’t here.

He found himself letting out a disappointed sigh, relaxing back into his chair.

Where is she?

***

The next two evenings went by and there was no sign of you. On the third evening, Peter began to curse himself for not introducing himself to you when he had the chance, now he could have lost that opportunity forever.

The fourth evening rolled by and Peter climbed onto the subway train’s middle carriage, not even looking around this time and simply sitting down in a seat and staring at the floor, daydreaming.

“Look, can we not have this conversation right now, I’m on the subway,” you mumbled from a few seats down, Peter being able to hear it clearly due to his enhanced hearing. “Please can you-“ you were interrupted by your dad on the end of the phone call. You let out a deep sigh, head hanging low and hand rubbing her eyes in annoyance as your dad just ranted on.

Peter glanced up, along with a few other people sat next to you. That was when his heart felt like it had skipped a beat.

It’s her.

You were looking a bit more worse for wear, hair slightly greasy pulled up in a bun and bare face. You still looked beautiful in Peter’s eyes.

That’s when he noticed the pained expression on your face, dark bags under your slightly red eyes as if you had been crying moments ago.

He frowned slightly before quickly looking away, realising he had been looking a little bit too long.

“I don’t know what you want me to say, I’m done with you ok. I’m not living there anymore,” you snapped, raising your voice before quickly shying away. You turned slightly to the carriage wall, head down as if to block out the rest of the world.

“I don’t know where I’ll go, but it won’t be yours,” you replied to him, hanging up the phone before sniffing back tears. You sighed deeply as the subway pulled up at your stop before quickly walking off, hoping your friend would let you crash for the night.

Peter watched you leave, curiosity rising up within him. You didn’t seem to be doing so well.

***

“So, May tells me you have a little crush?” Tony called over from where he was tinkering away underneath his car in his lab.

“What?” Peter glanced up from the new blueprints he had been reading, having swung by the tower to check out Tony’s latest designs for the Spider-Man suit.

“May. She says you have a crush on some subway girl,” he repeated himself, pushing out from under the car and sitting up.

“O-oh right, yeah... It’s just some girl I keep seeing,” Peter said, looking back down at his blueprints in hopes they wouldn’t have this conversation.

“Have you talked to her?” Tony asked, walking over and leaning against the desk.

“No, not yet,” he admitted and Tony sighed.

“Are you going to?” He asked and Peter just shrugged, leaning back in his chair. Tony gave him a knowing look, raising an eyebrow at him.

“I will eventually,” he began and Tony rolled his eyes, pushing up off the table and grabbing a wheely chair from the nearest desk. He sat back to front on it, sliding over to face Peter.

“Look kid, you got to take that chance alright, next time you see her just go say hi,” he told Peter, who rubbed the back of his neck, a habit he did when nervous.

“It’s not as easy as that, Mr Stark,” he began. “I’d rather go head to head with Hulk or Thor than talk to a girl,” he admitted and Tony chuckled.

“So your flirting game isn’t great, I could have guessed,” he said before rolling away from Peter. He grabbed the bag of raisins on his desk before rolling back over.

“I’m 17, what do you expect?”

“Kid, when I was your age...” Tony began before shaking his head. “That stuff isn’t important. What is important is just to be yourself, who cares how many women you’ve managed to pick up and sleep with.”

“That would be zero,” Peter mumbled before looking back at the blueprints.

“What’s stopping you from talking to her?” Tony asked, picking away at the raisins. Peter sighed, realising Tony wasn’t going to let the conversation die.

“I don’t know, nerves, stumbling over my words and looking stupid, the fear of rejection,” he listed off.

“You’re Spider-Man, that in itself is amazing. You’re the smartest kid I know, probably smarter than I was when I was your age,” Tony began and Peter raised an eyebrow at him. “I’ll deny that if you tell anyone,” he quickly added and Peter laughed lightly in response.

“What’s she like?” Tony then asked, holding out the bag of raisins for Peter to grab a handful.

“I think she does biology or medicine at college due to the books she reads on the subway,” he began and Tony nodded.

“Smart girl,” he commented and Peter hummed in agreement.

Peter began to ramble on, taking about the number of times he had tried to build up the confidence to talk to you. He only stopped when he saw the massive smirk on Tony’s face.

“What?” Peter asked and Tony just chuckled to himself. “What?” He asked again as Tony stood up, throwing the empty bag of raisins in the recycling bin.

“This is exactly how I felt with Pep,” he said.

“Well how did you manage to ask Pepper on a date?” Peter asked and Tony chuckled again.

“I saved her life,” he simply shrugged and Peter just sighed in defeat. “But to be honest, she had saved me many times before that,” he added, moving back to the car he was working on. “Trust me Peter, she knows you’ve been staring at her and since she’s not yet called the police, I think you have a chance with her,” he said before winking and sliding back under the car.

Peter took a deep breath, leaning back in his chair, spinning slightly as his mind wondered.

Was Mr Stark’s words true, did she actually like me?

***

Just like yesterday, Peter saw you again. You looked better today, your hair was down and you had a sun dress on.

However, you had bags under your eyes and was lugging two large and very heavy suitcases with you. You felt like your arms were going to fall off from how heavy they were.

Peter took a deep breath, Tony’s words ringing in his head.

Come on, just go up to her. Say hi, it’s that easy.

He was too busy trying to convince himself to go talk to you that your stop was suddenly coming up.

You stood up, pulling at the two large suitcases with much difficulty. You got to the doors, pulling one onto the platform while the other suddenly got stuck. You gave it a few tugs before the doors started to shut, bouncing off the bag and opening up again.

Peter saw that you were in distress and found himself suddenly getting up to help you.

“Let me try,” he said, grabbing the stuck suitcase and giving it a rough pull before it came lose. He stepped off the subway train onto the platform, putting your suitcase down next to the other one.

“Thank you so much,” you said, a genuine smile on your face. Peter blushed slightly, a hand going to rub the back of his neck.

“No problem, happy to help,” Peter said suddenly hearing the subway doors shut. “Shit,” he mumbled, turning quickly before sighing, the subway already pulling away from the platform.

“I’m sorry,” you said from behind him, the guilt rising up within you.

“It’s alright, it’s not your fault,” he said, turning to give you a soft smile. You had a small pained expression on your face, feeling bad for making him miss his stop.

“It is,” you grumbled, kicking your suitcase slightly in annoyance and guilt.

“Well technically, it’s your suitcase’s fault but don’t be too hard on it,” he said with a smile and you chuckled. You sighed, the smile slipping from your face before you ran a hand through your hair, tugging at the knots.

“Which is your stop?” You asked.

“Four more from here, within walking distance. It’s fine, honestly,” he added and you bit your lip.

“Well, at least let me buy you a drink, or a pizza, something to say thank you and sorry for making you miss your stop?” You asked nervously.

Peter’s eyes went wide slightly, his heart beat picking up slightly. The palm of his hands became slightly sweaty as he found himself stumbling for words.

“Pizza?” You asked again a few moments later since Peter had yet to respond.

“Oh, y-yeah, I’d...I’d love to,” he stumbled slightly and you smiled softly at him.

“I’m Y/n,” you said, holding out a hand. Peter quickly and discreetly wiped his hand on his jeans before shaking your hand.

“I’m Peter,” he replied before following you out of the subway and towards a cute little pizza parlour a few blocks down. He pulled one of the suitcases for you as you walked together.

“So Peter, I’ve seen you a few times on the subway... Are you following me?” You asked, teasing him slightly. Peter chuckled nervously, glancing down at the ground as a blush creeped onto his cheeks.

“It appears so,” he replied, trying to calm his nerves. “But I’m not, honestly,” he quickly added when you raised an eyebrow at him.

“That’s a shame, thought I had a handsome admirer,” you said and Peter let out a nervous laugh, his heart skipping a beat from you calling him handsome.

They walked into the pizza parlour, sliding into one of the red booths by the window.

“Ok, so you’re probably going to say I’m weird but...” you began, glancing up from the menu. Peter frowned, nerves rising again wondering what you were going to say. “I hate cheese, so I get it without,” you admitted, glancing at the table with a blush.

“So basically just bread and tomato?” Peter questioned and you rolled your eyes, a small smile appearing on your lips.

“No, I-I get other toppings on it... Just... Just without cheese,” you explained and Peter could only smile, seeing how adorably shy you were in this moment.

“It’s ok, I’ll only judge you a little bit,” he joked, causing you to laugh lightly. You ordered your pizza and some drinks before leaning back into the booth and smiling nervously at Peter

“Do you go to high school or college?”You asked, still unsure of his age

“High school, I’m in my last year though,” he replied, quickly adding the last part to not sound so young.

“Thinking of college?” Peter nodded

“Do you go?” He asked back.

“Medical school,” you said and Peter raised his eyebrows. “Yes, I know what you are thinking and yes, it’s very hard,” you added, both of you chuckling before easily slipping into a long conversation with him.

Your pizzas came, both looking delicious. Of course, Peter had to make a comment about your no cheese pizza to which you blushed and laughed off.

“I have to ask,” Peter began, picking up his four slice. “The suitcases?” He nodded towards the two of them against the wall of the parlour. You sighed, leaning back into the booth and wiping your mouth with the napkin.

“It’s a long story,” you said and Peter shrugged.

“My bedtimes not till 10,” he teased and you laughed lightly at him. You leant forward to grab your drink, taking a large gulp of water before sighing again.

“I moved out of my house,” you said and Peter nodded. “I’m currently on my to crash at my friends house for a week or so, until I can get my own apartment,” you explained.

“Why did you move out?” He asked before realising how personal that question could be. You glanced away from him, grabbing another slice of your pizza before replying.

“My dad,” you simply said before taking a large bite and chewing. Peter could see the change in your features, how your shoulders tensed up slightly and how your eyes avoided looking at him.

“Oh,” Peter replied, taking a bite of his own pizza as a way to allow him time to think of a proper reply.

“You can kinda guess that he was a massive prick, drank too much, shouted too much. I just didn’t want to deal with that sort of life anymore,” you simply said, brushing your hair behind her ear.

Peter felt anger rise up slightly from the thought of your father hurting you like that, a small sense of sorrow making its way through.

“I’m sorry you had to deal with that,” he said, leaning forward and placing a hand over your free hand that was on the table. You glanced down at your hands together and then back up at him, giving him a soft smile.

“It’s alright, I’m out of it now. Time to move forward,” you said and he smiled.

“That’s a good way to look at it,” he replied, locking eyes with you.

Peter felt his heart rate increase the second he had taken your hand in his. His breathing hitched slightly as he looked into your eyes that showed so much emotions within them.

Suddenly, the waiter came over, breaking the moment between you two to ask if you wanted any more drinks.

You both said no, pulling away from each other. You cleared your throat before busying yourself with finishing off your fifth slice of pizza.

“So...” Peter began as you wiped your fingers on your napkin. “Have you seen any apartments you like?” He asked and you began to nod.

“I’ve found three, I’m viewing one tomorrow morning actually. Thank god it’s the weekend,” you said with a chuckle and Peter smiled.

You got the rest of your pizza to takeaway, Peter having finished all his, which you had teased him about.

“I’m a growing man,” he simply replied, making you laugh.

He held the door open for you, both dragging a suitcase out into the street.

“Can I walk you to your friends?” Peter asked, thankful he caught himself before saying your father’s house. “I’ll help with these suitcases,” he added yet you were already nodding.

“I’d love that,” you said and Peter’s heart felt like it had skipped a beat at the way you smiled so softly at him. “It’s only a block away and then right,” you told him as you began to walk down the street.

“So Peter, last year of high school. How is it going?” You asked and Peter just shrugged.

“As good as it could be I guess,” he replied. God, he loved how his name sounded when you said it.

“Any plans for the future, which college were you thinking of going to?” You asked as you crossed the road together.

“I’m currently working with Tony Stark,” he blurted out before he could stop himself. “But I’m thinking M.I.T or something physics based,” he added, hoping you ignored the Tony Stark comment, which sadly you didn’t.

“Tony Stark,” you began, an eyebrow raised. “That’s very impressive.” Peter just shrugged, a small blush forming on his cheeks.

You rounded the corner to your friends flat, Peter helping you lug the two suitcases up into the building and towards the elevator.

“So this is me,” you began, turning around to face him with a smile.

“It seems so,” he said, nerves rising within him as he fumbled for words to say.

“I had a nice night... Maybe we could, we could do this again some time?” You asked and Peter nodded. “Here’s my number,” you began, quickly rummaging through your bag for a pen. You took his hand, writing down your number on the back it.

“Call me sometime,” you then said.

“Y-Yeah, I will,” he replied, looking down at the number with his stomach feeling like there were butterflies inside it.

You gave him a soft smile, eyes glancing down to his lips before back up to lock eyes with him. You took a slow step forward, closing the small distance between them.

“Are you ok?” You asked softly, hand going to gently touch his arm.

“Yes, erm... I’ll call you sometime, good night,” he said before turning towards the door.

Why am I this awkward? Clearly she was angling for a kiss.

He cursed himself for not just kissing her and for looking stupid.

“Peter,” you called just as his hand was on the building door handle. He turned to see you walking over to him, stopping mere inches away from him.

You began to lean forward and Peter’s heart beat picked up, his breathing hitching before suddenly your lips were on his.

His senses went into overdrive. Your hair smelt of coconut, lips tasting of strawberry from your lipgloss. He breathed in your vanilla and rose perfume, simply drowning into you.

You pulled away from the soft kiss, a small blush rising on your cheeks as you did. You smiled nervously at him, to which he replied back with his own nervous smile.

“Call me,” you said to which Peter just nodded. He turned, running face first into the door.

You chuckled as Peter glanced back in embarrassment. He fumbled for the door handle before quickly pulling the door open and running down the building steps.

He turned once at the bottom. You gave him a small wave through the glass door to which he waved back.

He then quickly began to make his way home, feeling like he was walking on air and practically skipping home. He couldn’t help but smile, people walking passed him probably thought he was crazy.

He flipped up the stairs of his apartment building, not being able to control his excitement.

“Where have you been?” Aunt May asked once he walked into the apartment, not realising he was way past his curfew. She was sat with Happy on the sofa watching a movie.

“Just out,” he said, dropping his keys on the dining room table before rummaging through the fridge.

“Just out,” May mocked. “What’s with the massive grin on your face then?” She asked, Happy pausing the movie as they both turned around to look at him.

He shrugged, grabbing two yoghurts and three chocolate bars from the fridge. He turned to face them, the smile still on his face.

“Let’s just say... I finally got up the courage to talk to her,” he said before skipping to his room.

#peter parker x reader #peter parker fanfiction #may x happy #peter parker #tony stark #aunt may #reader #happy hogan #marvel fanfiction #peter parker fic #subway girl #spiderman #spiderman x reader #my work #marvelfanfiction

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lokisgame · 5 years

Text

A Generous Donation [10]

[part 1] [part 2] [part 3] [part 4] [part 5] [part 6] [part 7] [part 8] [part 9]

The day rushed by, as Scully drowned the uneasiness in workload, grateful that she was still able to focus on her patients' problems instead of her own. Mulder texted her around 5pm, saying he was done with the tests and that his invitation still stands, and she realised, that somewhere between exams and paperwork, the thought of facing him again, didn't paralyse her anymore. She still didn't know how to tell him about Will, or had any idea how he might take the news, but the truth settled in.

Charlie was right, he really was a great guy after all. If she ever wanted a father for Will, Mulder would pretty much fit the bill, smart, funny, kind and as far as she could tell, steadfast. He would be the kind of dad who never forgot to pick him up from school, was there for the baseball games and swimming tournaments. She could see herself sharing couch with them on Saturday evenings, eating popcorn and watching macho-movies. Though it was dangerous to hope, if fate allowed she might still have that.

She went to see Will at the end of her day, pausing by the door to watch him for a second through the window. He was reading, curled up on his side, earbuds in, completely enthralled, and now when she knew, she couldn't help but notice the similarities. The chestnut mane, the tall and lean frame, high cheekbones, and finally, definitely, undeniably, Mulders' mouth. That pout that usually got him his way, the smile that brightened her day, is was Mulder all over again. Will must've felt her gaze because he glanced up from his book and smiled, sitting up. He looked pale and tired, but his eyes were bright. "Why are you staring at me?" He asked, when she came in and dropped a kiss on top of his head. "I just got here, you must've sensed me coming." "Spooky," he grinned and scooted over, letting her sit beside him. "What are you reading?" "Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy," he said, closing the book to show her the cover, "uncle Charlie brought it." "And the t-shirt?" "Aunt Missy," he grinned pulling at the hem of his new PJ's, on it, planes were chasing UFO's around the world, the words Foo Fighters written across the front, "she remembered the UFO's, but Emily said, she didn't have the heart to tell her it's a band." "Be glad it's not a tie-dye," Scully laughed. "Yeah, aunt Melissa, the last hippy on earth." "Will," she nudged him lightly making him laugh, and it was the warm honey sound she loved most. "Mom?" "Yes honey?" "Doctor Skinner was here to see me, too." "You had a busy day," she said, keeping her voice light. "Does that mean, he found someone?" "I don't know," she said, kissing his temple, "these things take time." "Because I wouldn't mind getting out of here." "And I wouldn't mind taking you home, either." A knock made them both look up and a second later, a young girl came in, her red hair cut short almost like a boy's, piercings catching the light from the fluorescents overhead. "Emily!" "Hi, aunt Dana," she said, kissing Scully's cheek before ruffling Will's hair, "told you I'd come back." "You got it?" Will perked up. "Yup," she plopped across the foot off his bed, dropping a small box between them. "Cards?" Scully laughed, letting go off Will, who reached for the deck and immediately started shuffling. "There's only so much TV I can stand." "Why didn't you tell me." "Haven't thought of it until I saw this one here," he chuckled, jerking his chin at Emily. "Right, because I'm known for bringing up base instincts in men." Scully felt slightly uncomfortable, Em was 24, but in her eyes, she was still that teenage girl who watched cartoons sitting on the floor with her son. "How's Palo Alto, Em?" "Dry, I miss Boston," she sighed picking up her cards, "and this little one." "If you didn't give up that scholarship at MIT and sell out to the blue chips," Will said. "I wouldn't have that house with a pool I just sold, to move back here." Will's ears went up so fast he almost jumped. "You're coming back?" "Yup," she grinned and he threw himself at her, both of them laughing. Emily held him tight and Scully heard her tone change, "so now you have to get better, you hear me?" "Yup," William said, letting go off his childhood best friend. "What does your mom think about this?" Scully asked, proud of her brilliant punk niece. "She's not thrilled," Emily sighed a little sad, but then smiled at them both, "but that's what I want to do, so it's happening." "Well, if you need a place to stay in the mean time." "Thanks," she smiled brighter, fixing the sheets Will kicked over, "I'll come to you when Charlie grows tired of me." "Or his next girlfriend shows up." Will said, then picked up his cards. Scully played three hands with them then kissed the kids goodnight.

A nurse came by with Will's meds and took a few notes on his chart, while Emily paced the room, noticing the pile of books on his nightstand. "Visiting hours end in one hour," she reminded and left, and Em was back, sprawled at the foot of Will's bed. "What's this?" She said, showing him one of the books, the one with the UFO on the cover. "Extra reading for my psychology class." "It's signed." "Yeah, the guy's my professor and he kind of dates mom." "Why kind of?" She asked, looking at the photo on the back. "You know, not like Charlie dates girls, takes them out a few times and you know they'll disappear, mom and Mulder, I think they're past that." "You don't like it?" "It felt weird at first, but then I saw her coming home from seeing him and wow, I don't think I ever saw her that happy." "Really." "She doesn't hum show tunes to anything, she just sort of, glows." "Hmm, she didn't seem glowing to me." "That's because you didn't see her a week ago, heck, last Thursday even, I'm telling you, that guy is different." "He is cute, and," she held up the book, looking first at the picture then at Will, then at the picture again, "he sort of looks like you." "What?" "I mean, if you skip the eyes and the nose," she covered half of the picture with her hand and glanced at Will again, "yeah, definitely." "I don't think that's why she likes him." "No, I think it's the glowing part," Emily said, wiggling her eyebrows and Will gaged. "Ugh, let's not talk about my mom and that." "Why?" She laughed, stretching out like a cat, and if he didn't know his cousin since before she had tits, he'd find the sight very attractive. "Let me give you a piece of advice, you want to keep a girl, be that guy, one who makes her glow." "That's it? Sex? What about connection, shared views and mutual trust?" "That's when you're looking for a friend, and believe me, it's even rarer than great sex." "Well, I'll have it both." Will sighed, shuffling the cards, looking a little embarrassed and she covered his hands with hers. "You will," she said without teasing, "you just have to get out of here."

Mulder decided on the epitome of comfort food, chicken casserole, but the longer they sat at the table, in the warm light of his kitchen, the stronger was the sense, that something bad was about to happen. Scully kept smiling letting him fill silence with chatter, but her eyes were unusually present, fixed on his face as if she was looking at him for the last time, determined to learn his face, before she told him goodbye. Fear, uneasiness, long silences, he could understand, but at the same time, he itched to touch her, just to make sure she wouldn't push him away. They moved to the couch after dinner and when she folded herself against his side, the relief was instantaneous. "The dean wasn't too pleased when I asked for the week off," Mulder said, drawing her closer. "But Skinner said I should avoid public places, so I wouldn't pick up any infection, in case the tests came back positive." "Walter knows what he's doing, you're both in good hands." "You haven't told Will yet?" "No, I don't want to scare him," she said, taking his hand and lacing her fingers through his, "he keeps joking and teasing, but I know it's an act." "That's him, being your son," he said, kissing her temple, "you're both so careful not to show weakness." "You say it like it's a bad thing," she sighed. "There's time and place for everything, and Will knows what he's up against, there's just nothing he can do about it, and goofing off is his defence mechanism. I think he's scared just like everyone else." "Why are you doing this?" She asked quietly, stroking the back of his hand. "Why help us?" "Because I can," he said simply. "Because you got dealt this shitty hand and I wouldn't be able to live with myself, if I just stood idly watching a great kid fade away, while his mother fought the fight alone, for both of them. Even thinking about it makes me wanna kick my own ass." "So you feed me and fuck me and let me stick a needle in your butt," she said, turning in his arms, and cupping his cheek, drawing his lips down, "because you can." "There's no endgame for me here," he smiled, feeling her warm breath, "you might as well ask me why I breathe." "Why do you breathe?" "So I we can keep having these talks, apparently," he said and let her kiss him, because that was what she needed from him.

They moved slowly, bodies wrapped around each other, arms and legs and mouths drawing lines. In the dim light he held her gaze, luminous blue beneath delicate skin and lashes, with every stroke bringing her higher and away from her problems. A moment of release was all he could offer, but he made damn sure, the moment was worth it. Her eyes locked on his, lips parted, heart pounding, his, hers, he didn't know anymore, didn't care. She bit her lip, he caught it, freed it, soothed it. "Don't hold, back, let me, do this." "Thank you." "What for?" "Everything," she breathed, raking his back, drawing him in. "Shhhh," he kissed her neck, lips against her ear, "don't thank me, feel me." And for a time, that was all she did.

Scully woke up sometime past midnight to moonlight filtering through a crack in the blinds. The light cast a blue glow over his face, drawing the story of his life in a secret language of lines and cracks. How would they look like, if she was there to watch them grow, would there be less of them, or more? How many cracks formed, because there was no one to hold him, which lines were ruts, carved by the same old jokes. She touched his cheek and he shifted, arm falling around her without thinking. "I hope you'll forgive me," she whispered, brushing his lips lightly and the arm tightened around her, drawing her in.

#generous donation #au #x files fanfic #sweet nothings

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