#again. both of them are pretty disrespectful towards matt about it at this point even if mostly in their inner monologues or dialogues | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

drarrily-we-row-along · 3 years

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Day 66: Bond

There was a certain bond that formed between two people when all of your friends were paired off and dating someone. When the two of you were the only single people so you got paired off to share food, and be partners in games, and all other manner of things.

Harry supposed that tonight would be just one more of those nights as he arrived at Ginny and Luna's. And he wasn't complaining (not anymore, at least) it had taken a couple of years but he and Draco had warmed up to each other. They had compatible styles for partner games, Draco always gave Harry any treats with nuts and Harry gave him any treats with mint, and Harry genuinely enjoyed his dry sense of humor.

If he was being honest, he'd started looking forward to all of the time that he got to spend with Draco on Friday nights.

But things felt different the moment he entered the house, even though he couldn't quite put his finger on why. He spotted Ginny first, standing against the counter, pouring a couple glasses of wine, "Hey," he called.

She looked up and bit her lip.

"What?" he asked with no small amount of dread. He knew that look; it was the look she'd given him right before she'd told him she might be gay and in love with Luna, a look that said she was afraid of breaking his heart.

Ginny opened her mouth but no words came out.

"Ginny, what?" he said, taking several steps toward her.

"I don't know how to say thi-"

"Oh, good," he heard Draco say from behind him, "You're here."

His mouth stretched into a grin even before he turned around "He-" he broke off when he saw that Draco was standing with his arm around some bloke who Harry had never met before. "Hey," he finished.

"This is Matt," Draco offered.

And frankly, Harry would rather die (again) than shake his hand but before he could have any say in the matter Matt had stepped forward into his space and was gripping his hand. Hard. "The Harry Potter," he drawled. "My, my."

(Read more below the cut)

Harry glanced over at Draco who looked vaguely uncomfortable.

"Draco has told me so much about you. I could hardly believe that he was telling the truth." He leaned toward Harry conspiratorially, "He's known for embellishing the truth, you know?"

Harry wrenched his hand from Matt's grip, "Actually, I've found Draco to be honest to a fault. Hardly anyone else will tell me when my outfit doesn't match or I've got something stuck in my teeth."

Matt's eyes flashed and Harry's proverbial hackles stood on end he didn't like that look, "I-" Matt started

"Hey," Draco said, taking Matt's hand and drawing his attention, "Let me introduce you to everyone else."

"Nice meeting you, Mark," Harry called.

Draco narrowed his eyes at him, "Matt," he corrected, before mouthing, 'behave' at Harry.

"My mistake," Harry said, maintaining eye contact with the other man until he turned away and followed Draco into the other room.

"Okay," Ginny said, drawing his attention away from them, "First. Men are disgusting; I can't believe I thought I was attracted to them for so long."

"What?" he asked, slumping over to the counter and sliding onto a stool across from where Ginny was still mixing up drinks. He was feeling a little nauseous, fire rushing under his skin.

"That," she said, gesturing to where Harry had been standing talking to Matt and Draco, "The little pissing match to decide who's dominant."

"What?" Harry asked, "that guy is just an asshole."

She rolled her eyes, "Second, you're still an idiot."

"Wow. I'm just going to go home," he said. "Between you and the dude who was trying to break my fingers, I don't think it's going to be a great night."

Ginny leaned across the counter and instinctively Harry leaned toward her, "How long are you going to continue denying you have feelings for Draco?"

His brow furrowed, "I don't. We're just mates," he added.

"I rest my case. You're still an idiot," she said as she leaned back and started mixing drinks again.

Harry slouched on his stool turning that thought over in his mind, "That actually would make sense," he admitted.

"Harry, I love you, you know I do," she said. "But honestly, I can't believe you're just figuring this out. The rest of us have known for ages. We were all shocked when he walked through the door with Matt; he told us he was bringing someone but we thought the two of you were just making a joke."

"Well now what am I supposed to do?" he asked. "Why couldn't anyone have said something sooner?"

"Because we thought it was obvious," she hissed.

"Let's just get through the night," he sighed. "Then we'll deal with the rest. We'll need to come up with a plan."

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He spent the rest of the night calling Matt the wrong name (Miles, Maurice, Mike, Max, Moses, Mitch, Mason) to the point that Ron either caught on and decided to help or got confused enough that he started calling him the wrong name, too. Harry also couldn't help but rub it in Matt's face how much better he knew Draco; telling inside jokes, asking Draco specific questions about his work and his parents, and reminiscing about fond memories.

Draco seemed a bit exasperated by it but Harry couldn't help himself. Once he started, he just couldn't seem to stop.

Eventually as everyone was getting ready to leave and Luna was saying good bye to Matt, Draco cornered him, "Do not move a fucking muscle," he hissed, "I am not done with you."

"Dra-"

"I mean it, Potter. Stay right here," he said, jabbing him in the chest with his finger before he turned and made his way over to his date.

"Hey," Matt said, smiling at him much the way Harry imagined an alligator might smile at his prey.

"Hi," Draco replied softly. "I'll floo you tomorrow, yeah? There are a few things I need to take care of."

Matt frowned, "I thought we were going back to my place."

"No," Draco replied steadily. "I have a five date rule." He stepped back, "I'll floo you," he repeated.

And Matt looked pretty pissed about it, but he seemed to take the hint and disapparated on the spot without so much as a goodbye to anyone.

"You're all the literal worst," Draco fumed. "Except you, Luna," he added. "You're a goddess."

Luna gave a little curtsy.

"Seriously," Draco said, glaring at the room even though none of them looked especially repentant. "And you," he spat, spinning to glare at Harry, "You're the worst of all."

"Does that make me special?" Harry quipped, arms folded across his chest.

Draco groaned, "Bloody fucking Griffyndors. I hope you're all happy," he grabbed Harry's arm. "Come on we are going back to mine to have a chat."

"I thought you had a five date rule," Ginny called.

Draco flipped her the two finger salute before apparating them to his house.

Harry always liked being in Draco's house; it was small and cozy, and it always smelled vaguely like chamomile. Just being here made his soul feel lighter, calmer.

"Alright," Draco growled, "Spill. What the hell was that?"

"What?" Harry asked innocently.

"Potter," he warned.

Harry sighed, "He's an asshole."

"And you know that how? You didn't even give him a chance".

"Draco his handshake was like a vice!"

Draco stared at him, "You've got to be kidding me. Are you that much of a child? He hurt your hand so you thought you should bully him?"

"I didn't bully him!" Harry exclaimed.

"No?" Draco asked. "You didn't use his given name even once." Harry winced, maybe that was overkill. "You spent the entire night trying to make him feel stupid and inferior to you. Which, let's face it, everyone does anyway because you're Harry fucking Potter!" Draco exploded.

"That's not fair," Harry said, betrayal slicing hot through his gut. Draco knew that he hated being famous, hated the preconceived notions attached to his name.

"Yeah well, neither was what you did."

"Draco, I-"

"No," he said, holding out a hand, "That was such bullshit, Harry."

"But he's awful."

"You didn't even give him a cha-"

"I didn't have to!" he exploded. "The first words he said to me were to disrespect you. He's an asshole and I will chase a million of them away from you."

"That's not your job."

Harry threw his hands up in the air, "I'm your best friend! Whose job is it, if it's not mine?"

"You don't just get to decide things for me!" Draco cried.

"Fine," Harry spat. "You want to date that wanker, go ahead. But I have seen his type before. Don't come crying to me when he's beaten you to a bloody pulp for looking at someone the wrong way." He pushed past Draco and made his way to the door, walking out and slamming it behind him.

He started down the sidewalk, debating trying to figure out where Matt lived and have a chat or maybe go over to Ron and Hermione's to get some advice and regroup.

But the further he walked, the more the anger faded from his veins, and the guilt settled in.

There was no choice really, he turned around and headed back to Draco's house once more. When he arrived he knocked on the door even though he normally would have just let himself in.

"Go away!" Draco shouted.

He knocked again, "Draco, please."

"No! Go away. You're the worst."

"I know," he called back. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. Please."

After a few seconds, during which fear settled heaving in Harry's gut, the door opened and Harry slipped inside, Draco was curled up on the couch, hugging a pillow to his chest.

Seeing him looking so small and sad made Harry ache. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I shouldn't have said that."

"Which part?" Draco asked bitterly.

He sighed and came over to sit on the couch beside Draco, "I'm not sorry for chasing him away. But I will always be here for you, no matter what. You can always come to me."

Draco leaned over and put his head on Harry's shoulder, "I know," he whispered.

"Forgive me?"

He nodded and they sat together in silence for a few minutes, both trying to collect their thoughts. Eventually Harry said, "I really wish you wouldn't date him."

Draco sat up, "Harry look at me."

Harry turned on the couch to look at him and raised his eyebrows.

"I won't ever floo call him, we'll never go on another date, and I'll never see him again." Something eased in Harry's chest. "But it's not because of what you said or did. It's because I, too, have had shitty relationships. I have also lived through trauma and I have had to learn from it just like you."

Harry looked down at his hands.

"And if you have concerns about someone, there is a better way to tell me than what you did tonight."

He nodded, suitably chastised, "You're right."

"I appreciate your concern, though," he added and Harry looked up to see that Draco's mouth was quirked up, he really must be forgiven, apparently. "And I genuinely forgot how petty you can be."

He shook his head and reached out for Draco's hand, "Draco, I want you to be so, so happy," he said. Then he added, "I'm an idiot."

Draco raised an eyebrow.

"And everyone knows it, you included, so you can't really hold it against me," he said.

"I'm pretty sure I can."

He huffed, "Just hear me out. I'm an idiot and I didn't realize until tonight that I'm a little bit in love with you. And it's fine if you don't feel the same but you are my best friend and I had high standards for you even before I knew I had feelings for you. It hurt me to see you with someone who treated you so poorly."

"Sorry," Draco said, "I need you to repeat that."

"I said, I'm an idiot," Harry started.

"Not that part."

"It hurt me to see you with someone who treated y-"

"Not that part either," Draco said.

Harry swallowed, "It's fine if you don't fee-"

"Harry," he grumbled. "Say the other part."

He rubbed the back of his neck, "I'm in love with you," he whispered.

Draco blinked at him, a smile blooming at the corner of his mouth, "Say it again."

A grin tipped up the corners of his mouth as well, "I'm in love with you."

Draco launched himself into Harry's arms and covered Harry's lips with his own, "say it again," he mumbled into the kiss.

"I love you," Harry repeated, murmuring the words into Draco's mouth.

Draco pulled back slightly, "I love you, too."

"I hoped that was the case," Harry replied.

After he kissed him again, Draco said, "Alright, fine. Now you get a say in who I date."

Harry grinned, "Is that so?"

He nodded.

"Will you date me, Draco Malfoy?" he asked, brushing his nose along Draco's.

"Yes," he whispered. Then with a smirk he added, "But we'll have to get my best friend's approval and rumor has it that he has very high standards."

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Day 65: Question | Day 67: Soulmate (Take 1)- Your traditional soulmate trope or Day 67: Soulmate (Take 2)- just using the word 'soulmate' as a prompt, not the trope.

#100 drarry drabbles in 100 days #drarry #drarry ficlet #drarry drabbles #jealous!harry #getting together #happy ending

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arrow-guy · 3 years

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Spill Your Guts

Summary: You’re used to working in the shadows. You’re happy with that. But when you unexpectedly meet Steve Rogers on a roof one night, something changes. What happens when you run into him out of costume two months later at one of Stark’s infamous parties?

A/N: A One Night Stand type story came to me one night, and this was it. BUT, considering I’m incapable of writing that kind of content, this is what really came from that idea. I think it’s kind of fun, and I hope you guys will enjoy it!

Page dividers by @carryonmyswansong

Pairing; StevexReader

Word Count: 4.2k

Warnings: None

“It can’t be as serious as you’re making it out to be.”

“Matt, I swear on your stupid little glasses, it’s serious. He caught me on the roof after you abandoned me two months ago and then cornered me at that fucking Stark soiree you dragged me to last week. Something is going on, and I don’t think that I’m cut out for this shit!”

“Okay, but how do you even know he knew it was you?” Matt asks. “It’s not like he saw your face on that roof.”

“Have you never gone through any of their files? Rogers has a damn near eidetic memory and super hearing. You think he wouldn’t recognize my dumb voice?!”

"Your voice isn't dumb."

“Were you listening when I was talking to him?”

“Well… no, I wasn’t.”

“Then you don’t know that it wasn’t dumb when I was talking to him.”

“Since when are you all worked up over an Avenger?” Matt asks. His mouth quirks up in an amused smile. “Three months ago, you couldn’t care less about them.”

"Because it's Rogers," I hiss. "I know you can't physically see him, but the man is gorgeous."

"And?"

"And I'm still trying to figure out what the hell he was doing talking to me, of all people." Matt stops in the middle of the sidewalk and I turn back and stare at him. “What?”

He carefully navigates to the bench near the brownstone we just passed and sits down. “Sit.”

“Okay.” I plop down beside him. “Why?”

“You’re gonna tell me exactly what happened that first night.”

“On the roof?”

“Yes.”

“You already know what happened on the roof.”

“You’re being weird about this, so clearly there’s something you didn’t tell me.”

I drum my fingers against my lips and sigh. “Okay, well, you heard something I didn’t that night, abandoned me on the roof, and then…”

“Huh.” I freeze at the sound of a familiar voice. “Could’ve sworn I heard two voices.”

“That’s because you did. My, eh… colleague just abandoned me.”

“Colleague?” I can’t read his expression through his helmet, but he sounds amused.

“Yeah, I think he heard you bounding across rooftops and decided to be anywhere but here.”

“And yet you’re still here.”

“He has better ears than I do.”

Rogers tilts his head to the side. “Oh?”

“Yeah,” I snort in my attempt to keep from laughing. “I’m the eyes of the operation.”

“Judging by the way your shoulders are shaking, there’s a joke here that I’m not getting.”

“You ever met the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen, Captain Rogers?” I ask.

“Can’t say I’ve ever had the pleasure.”

“Yeah, well… keep up with these little midnight patrols, and you’re bound to bump into him.” I look him over, knowing full well that he can’t see me through the veil over my hood. “You seem like an observant guy. I’m sure you’ll get the joke eventually.”

“Oh really?”

“Mhm, really.”

He hooks his thumbs around his belt buckle. “So your colleague is Daredevil. What do they call you?”

“Eagle Eye,” I answer.

He tilts his head to the side. “Eagle Eye?”

“Well, you see, as apt as it would’ve been, Hawkeye was taken.” I lift one hand to the side of my face and, in a conspiratorial tone, say, “And by someone much cooler than me, might I add.”

Rogers laughs and I smile. “So what’s your deal then?”

“My deal?” I shrug and shake my head. “I have no deal.”

“But you hide your face.”

“I hide my everything, Captain. It’s part of my schtick.”

“Sounds like you’re hiding something.”

I snort. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Well… yes. That’s the point of highlighting something obvious.”

“I see. Well,” I move across the rooftop towards where Matt disappeared earlier. “This has been a real gas, but I’ve got places to be.”

I jump over the side and just barely manage to catch myself on the edge of the building when I hear him call out to me. I haul myself up enough to see him quickly drawing closer.

“Wait!” he says.

“What?”

“I have more questions I’d like to ask you.”

“I’m afraid I’m booked solid tonight, Captain. I’ll have to slot you in some other time.”

“But-”

I mockingly salute him and drop down to the alley below. “Catch ya later.”

I don’t wait for his response and disappear into the shadows as fast as I can manage.

“After that, I didn’t run into him,” I say. “It didn’t seem like he tried to follow me, and he was never close enough to put a tracker or whatever on me. As far as I know, there was nothing left to worry about.”

“Honestly, (Y/N), it sounds like you made yourself a mystery.”

“I did not.”

“Someone who covers their entire face and answers anything with more questions? You literally turned yourself into a walking puzzle.”

“Well how the hell was I supposed to talk to Captain America? With a “Yes sir, here’s my face, sir. Have a nice night, sir”? Absolutely not. He’s old, but he barely looks older than we are.”

“That doesn’t mean the man doesn’t deserve at least a little respect.”

“I’m not saying he doesn’t! And I wasn’t disrespectful towards him. I just wasn’t playing his game.”

“Because you didn’t have a buffer.”

“You abandoned me!”

“I didn’t abandon you. I just didn’t stick around when I heard trouble coming.”

“You’re an asshole, Matt Murdock.” I shake my finger at him. “Not many people would have the brass to tell you that, but I’m not scared of you and I don’t feel sorry for you.”

He just laughs. “Good. But that makes you and about five other people in this city.”

“Does it ever get old?” I ask. “Hearing the pity in people’s voices?”

“Well, yeah, but there’s relief too, sometimes. Like when they realize that I’m blind, they don’t have to worry about what they look like for once.”

I hum. “That makes sense. Especially in our little corner of the city.”

“Mhm.”

I jerk my thumb up the street. “Can we get going again?”

“Only if you tell me what happened at the party on the way to the café.”

“Again?”

“Yes, again.” I haul myself up from the bench before I offer Matt a hand and pull him to his feet. “Because now I feel like either I missed something when you first told me about it, or you did a terrible job of explaining yourself.”

“You’re forgetting the third option in which both of those could’ve verywell happened.”

“Could be. Anyway,” he bumps my arm with his elbow. “Start from the beginning.”

“Okay, well,” I offer him my elbow and he takes it and allows me to lead him down the sidewalk. “You dragged me with you to that party because you wanted to pass someone off as your guide, but I’m still convinced that you just wanted to force me to be social.”

“You need it sometimes, (Y/N).”

“Debatable. Regardless, you wandered off to talk to someone and I didn’t know anyone and didn’t know what to do with myself, so…”

Without Matt close to me, I quickly get overwhelmed by the steadily growing volume of the party and it feels like the large room is slowly growing more crowded. I spot someone returning to the party from one of the balconies and I immediately cross the room, slip through, the door, and out into the cool night air.

I lean heavily on the railing, eyes squeezed shut, and take deep, calming breaths. My panic drains away with each passing minute and, when I’m calm enough, I look out across the city and admire the view.

“It’s beautiful out tonight.”

I stand stock still. I know that voice.

I glance over my shoulder and find Captain Rogers standing in the doorway, staring up at the sky. His cheeks are rosy and he wears an easy smile.

“Yeah,” I say slowly. “I guess it is.”

He chuckles. “Sorry, I probably startled you, huh?”

I shrug. “A little, but you walk softly. There’s no way I would’ve heard you over the wind.”

“Mm, probably.” He moves to stand beside me and regards me silently. “Have we met before?”

I shake my head. “Can’t say that we have. Parties aren’t really my scene.”

“Yeah?”

I nod. “Parties like these are especially overwhelming.”

“Yeah, I get that.” He sighs and leans on the railing. “Tony’s parties can get pretty out of hand.”

“I could definitely see that happening, with all the people who showed up tonight.”

“Sometimes Thor will bring Asgardian mead with him.”

“Oh?”

He flashes me a grin. “Yeah, things can get interesting after that. It’s nice to actually loosen up.”

“Is it safe to assume that’s what happened tonight?”

He shoots me a grin. “What makes you say that?”

“You seem like the kind of guy who would stick with either his friends or his colleagues at this kind of shindig. Considering I’m neither of those things,” I shrug. “I guess there’s one conclusion to draw.”

“I guess you’re right.”

“I’m (Y/N), by the way.” I offer my hand and he shakes it.

“Oh, you came with, uh…” he snaps his fingers a few times, trying to recall the name. “Murdock, right?”

I nod. “Matt, yeah.”

“I think he’s a lawyer?”

“Mhm. Good one, too.”

“Well he’d have to be, working with us.”

“Wait, he’s worked for you guys?”

“A few cases, yeah.”

I shake my head. “Figures that’s how he’d get invited to a party like this.”

“Like what?”

“Funded by Tony Stark. Attended by the Avengers and just about every powerful person who could pass the background check.”

He smiles lopsidedly. “You think everyone here got screened?”

“Well, you knew who I came with, for starters. And I figure you guys throw these things to let loose, right? There’s no way you’d let a threat walk through the door on your night off. It’d kill the mood.”

“You’ve really thought this though, huh?”

I laugh. “I guess I kind of have.”

“You do that a lot?”

“What?”

“Overthink?”

“I… ” I frown. “Yeah, probably. Kind of a force of habit.”

He just nods and falls silent. He looks more relaxed than he did on the roof the first time we met. He gives no indication that he recognizes me, but I can’t just assume that he hasn’t figured it out, even if he truly is tipsy.

After about five minutes, he starts pointing out things around the tower that were different when he was a kid. The places he and his best friend would loiter. Which bodegas would let them take a candybar every once in a while as a reward for good grades. I rest my chin on my fist and listen intently as he explains. He winds up going off on a tangent about how different he thought the future would be.

“Lemme guess, you thought there’d be flying cars?”

“Yeah, actually,” he says. “I did. You should’ve seen the one Stark presented at the World’s Fair in forty-three.”

“As soon as time travel is a thing, I’ll have to go check it out.”

He laughs. “You know what I mean. The thing damn near blew up, but it hovered for a good ten seconds before it gave out.”

“Sounds like it would’ve been pretty impressive for the time.”

“It was! Buck was so excited about it.” He sighs and shakes his head. “He always liked stuff like that.”

“Sounds like you two were close,” I murmur.

“Yeah. We’re working back to it, but after everything that’s happened over the years, it’s gonna take a while.”

“If you’re both willing to put in the time, it’ll be worth the wait, won’t it?”

“I-yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“If what I’ve heard about the situation is true, and I haven't heard much, then you remember him as he was. And, not that I’m any kind of expert on this or saying that you should take my advice, but it’s hard to live up to an image that someone has of you when you know damn well you haven’t been that person for a long time.” He opens his mouth to say something, but closes it and sighs. “Sorry, that was a little much. We don’t even know each other.”

“You don’t have to apologize. I hadn’t thought of it like that before.”

“Oh. Then you’re welcome? Maybe?”

“No, I definitely appreciate your perspective. Thank you.”

My phone buzzes in my pocket and I pick it up immediately. I frown and Rogers shifts closer.

I open the text and frown. “Huh.”

“What is it?”

“It looks like Matt’s trying to find me.” I type out a quick response and turn the screen off. “I'm so sorry, I’m being called away.”

“No, I understand, you don’t need to apologize at all.”

“It’s been really nice talking with you.”

The corner of his mouth lifts in a lopsided smile. “You too.”

“Well…” I shove my phone into my pocket and back towards the door. “Have a nice night, Captain.”

“You too.” I smile at him and pull the door open. “Oh, (Y/N).”

I pause and look back at him. “Yes?”

“I…” His smile softens. “Call me Steve.”

“A-alright.” I glance into the tower and then to him. “Goodnight, Steve.”

“Goodnight.”

“Then I left to find you and we went home.”

Matt steps through the door I hold open for him. “Well you definitely didn’t tell me what you’d talked to him about.”

“I did so!”

“You didn’t go into detail like you did just now. I didn’t know you gave him advice on his brainwashed best friend. That puts this in a completely different category.”

“Which is?”

“I think you’re kind of friends with him.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, seriously. It sounds like he was comfortable around you.”

“You’d know better than I would.”

“I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. You could have worse friends than Steve Rogers.”

Someone behind us says, “Well, I’d certainly like to think so.”

I grip Matt’s arm and he winces. I murmur, “Is that-?”

Matt nods. “Yup.”

“Ah. Well.”

Matt turns us around and greets him first. “Captain Rogers, it’s good to see you.”

“You too, Mr. Murdock.” He glances at me, then back to Matt. “Could I speak with (Y/N) for a moment?”

Matt nods. “Of course.”

“Go ahead and order without me,” I murmur.

He nods and turns back to the counter. I gesture for Steve to follow me to a table at the back of the café. We sit and stare at each other for a few minutes before I can't take it anymore and break the silence.

“So, um…” I chew at the inside of my cheek. “Hey.”

“Hi.” His eyes flit over my face. “How are you?”

“I’m alright.” I frown. “What’re you doing here?”

“You never called or texted. Did I do something wrong?”

“I… Steve, I don’t have your number.”

“I gave it to you last Saturday,” he says.

I think back to that night and shake my head. “You definitely didn’t.”

“Really? I could’ve sworn I did, just before you left.”

“You paused like you were gonna say something big, but then you asked me to call you Steve.” I hold my hands out in defense. “Not that you asking me to use your legal name isn’t a big deal, or anything, there just wasn’t any mention of phone numbers.”

His cheeks flush pink. “Then I apologize. I should’ve just asked instead of tracking you down like this.”

“Honestly, I’m just surprised that it was important enough to you to find me in the first place.”

“Why?”

“I’m a nobody who got lucky enough to be on that balcony at the same time as you. Even luckier that you even talked to me that night.”

“You’re not nobody, and you didn’t get lucky.”

“Wh-explain.”

“I saw you with Matt at the party and your build and the way you carried yourself seemed really familiar. So I watched you for a bit-” he notices my discomfort and backtracks. “I wasn’t stalking you or anything-”

I lift one eyebrow. “But you followed me out onto the balcony?”

“Yes.” He sighs and scrubs his hand over his face. “I wish I could blame the alcohol, but I was only slightly tipsy.”

“Just enough to be relaxed,” I say.

Steve nods. “What I’m trying to say is that I know you’re Eagle Eye.”

I grip the edge of the table. “What?”

“I wasn’t sure until I actually talked to you, and even then I figured I was just seeing what I wanted to.”

“What convinced you that you were right?”

“Your reaction just now.”

“Makes sense.”

“So I’m right?”

I nod. “Well, I never did have a good poker face.”

“Is that why you cover your face?”

“Among other things.” I lean back in my chair. “Did you figure out my little joke?”

He laughs. “About a week after we first met, yeah.”

“That true?” I ask. I look over Steve’s shoulder and see Matt nod. “Good for you, then.”

“How long have you known Mr. Murdock?” Steve asks.

I shrug. “Going on, maybe… seven or eight years now? We started working together about four years ago.”

“Which work?”

“Corporate type work. We started our nightly routine a year after.” I gesture to the counter. “Do you want anything? I’m kind of starving.”

“Uh, sure. Anything you’d recommend?”

“Their croissant sandwiches are pretty good. I usually just go with ham and cheese.”

“Then I’ll trust your judgment on that.”

I shove myself up from the table. “You want anything to drink? Coffee, tea, water?”

“I feel kind of bad giving you an order like this,” he admits.

“Don’t, I offered.”

“You sure?”

“Of course. Now,” I gesture dramatically. “Drink?”

He chuckles. “Just water, thanks.”

Jo greets me when I step up to the counter. She seems a little nervous, and I can’t really blame her.

She slides the sandwiches across the counter and asks, “Is that Captain America?”

I nod. “It is.”

“I thought you didn’t run with guys like that.”

“I don’t, usually, but Matt worked a couple of cases for the Avengers a while back and I got dragged along to a party with him because of it.” I tuck the sandwiches under my arm and grab the water and the cup of tea I ordered. “Now we’re here.”

She glances back at Steve. “Just make sure all my furniture is intact when you leave today. Replacing single chairs every few months isn’t cheap.”

“Nothing’s gonna happen, Jo.” I blow across the surface of my tea, dispersing the steam. “It’s a friendly visit, and I intend to make sure it stays that way.”

“Good.” She pauses, slow smile creeping onto his features. “He’s pretty handsome, (Y/N).”

I roll my eyes, but can’t help smiling. “I’m doing my best to not think about that right now.”

“Is he at least nice?” she asks. “I always thought he looked like he’d be a nice guy.”

“Yeah,” I whisper. “He’s pretty nice.”

She grins. “At least there’s that.”

I head back to the table and pass Matt along the way. I tell him to head back to the office without me when he’s done and that I’d meet up with him later. He just nods and takes another bite of his sandwich.

I place Steve’s sandwich and water on the table in front of him before taking my seat. I immediately tear open a packet of sweetener and pour it into my tea. When It’s stirred in, I take a sip and lean back in my seat.

“I’m sure you have questions,” I say. “And I figure it’s only fair that I answer them, considering you spilled your guts to me at that party.”

“I did what?”

“You rambled about what New York was like when you were a kid.” I rest my chin in my hand and smile at the blush that creeps across his face. “It was cute.”

He focuses his gaze on the sandwich and starts to unfold the paper. He mumbles, “Well that’s kind of embarrassing.”

“I don’t think finding joy in your childhood is embarrassing. I think it’s a sign of a good childhood.”

“It wasn’t all good,” he says. “But I had good people around me.”

“And it sounds like you were happy.”

“Most of the time, I was. But that’s how it is for most kids, right?”

I shrug. “I guess.”

He picks up half his sandwich and, before he takes a bite, asks, “What about you?”

“Me?”

“Yeah, what was your childhood like?”

“It was fine. My parents were pretty strict about grades, but they just wanted me to succeed. When they found out about my abilities, they tried to capitalize on it a bit, but didn’t really push when I got bored.”

“Abilities?”

“Oh, right. I’m called Eagle Eye because of my enhancements. I’m like a low-level version of you. Enhanced strength, hearing, healing, speed, all that, to a slightly lesser degree. But the big thing is my eyesight.”

“So when you said you’re the eyes of the operation-”

“I meant it. My parents used it to their advantage when they started taking me to the range and putting me in shooting competitions.”

“Oh?”

“Everyone on my mom’s side is a fuckin gun nut. I’m not a huge fan of them, to be honest.”

“What’s your weapon of choice, then?”

“I’d prefer a bow and fistful of arrows to a gun any day.” I grin. “But I think knives are pretty fun. More versatile than a gun, and definitely more of a challenge. Playing cards will do, in a pinch.”

He laughs. “That’s kind of terrifying.”

“I know. At this point I use a beanbag gun and a few throwing knives, but that’s about all I carry.”

As I take a bite of my sandwich, he asks, “So what is it that you do?”

“Well, I started out as a bounty hunter.”

“And now?”

“Now I’m a bounty hunter and a masked vigilante.”

“When you say bounty hunter-”

“I mean someone who tracks down people evading arrest. I don’t hunt and kill people. Besides, Matt wouldn’t let me, even if I tried. Terminally good Catholic boy, and all that.”

“Mm, yeah I could see that.”

We talk as we eat. Steve asks more questions about my abilities and how I got them. I don’t have answers for him, but he doesn’t seem to mind. The conversation eventually turns to mundane things like art, literature, and sports. I don’t have strong opinions on New York baseball, but listening to Steve get worked up over it is entertaining. I find myself smiling more than I have in a very long time.

“You are so much more interesting than you let on, (Y/N).”

I roll my eyes and crush up the sandwich wrapper. “You’re just saying that because I threw out all three of my fun facts one after the other.”

“No, I’m not. I didn’t try to find you because I wanted an answer. I had a feeling about you when we talked at the party.”

“Oh, a feeling?” I laugh. “Sounds scary.”

“Is it?” he asks. “Because I don’t think it’s been this easy for me to talk to someone outside of my team for a very, very long time.”

“Pure exaggeration.”

“It really isn’t. A lot of people would’ve jumped at the chance to try and use this situation to their advantage. But I’ve been watching you try to talk yourself out of the possibility of there being something here.”

I clutch my tea between my hands and frown. I refuse to get my hopes up. “Something?”

“Some kind of connection,” he says.

“I’m gonna need you to paint me a really detailed picture here, because I don’t want to misinterpret what you’re saying.”

“(Y/N), I think that you’re interesting and intelligent and, uh…” he coughs awkwardly and scratches the back of his neck. “I think you’re attractive.”

“Oh,” I murmur, my voice suddenly very small.

“If you don’t feel the same, that’s fine, but I’d hate to just let this go, even if it’s just friendship.”

“It’s not that I don’t feel some kind of attraction to you, Steve. I’m just… I really am nobody.”

“Well I don’t think Matt thinks so. I’m sure the people that you help don’t think that. And I certainly don’t think so.”

“Even so-”

“You don’t have to make headlines for me to like you, okay?” His brows pull together and he reaches across the table and takes my hand. “I just want to be able to spend more time with you. Get to know you better. I don’t want to push you for anything you don’t want, especially considering we haven’t known each other all that long.”

I squeeze his hand. “Okay.”

His eyes light up. “Yeah?”

I smile and nod. “I’ll warn you, though. I move really slow with this kind of stuff.”

“So do I. But…” He runs his thumb over my knuckles and I relax just a little. “That just means I have ample time to get to know you. And that’s been the best part of this so far, anyway.”

“I’ll make no promises about showing up to Stark’s parties. But…” I cover the back of his hand with mine. “I have a few more questions about you.”

He grins. “Ask me anything, sweetheart.”

I don’t really know whether or not they’d be a long term thing in the end. Like as sweet as I think it’d be, all I can really think about are the shenanigans she and Clint would get up to when they’re introduced. I mean, two master marksmen in the same room? It just screams trouble.

I’d love to hear what y’all thought about this onshot! Do you think that Steve and the reader character make a sweet couple? Do you think they’d make it work? Or do you think they’d wind up just being friends in the end? Be sure to like, reblog, comment, and/or shoot me an and and tell me all about it!

If you’d like to be tagged in future fics, please let me know!

Tag list:

@ghostlyhamlet, @claws-of-vibranium, @creaturefeatures101, @buckysendoftheline, @imagine-assembling-the-avengers, @ptprocrastination, @1950schick, @amayasymone23, @arfrona-and-marvel, @ek823, @fanaticfangirl001, @furrywerewolfcollector, @kissofvenom922, @dawn-phantomhive, @fangirlwithasweettooth, @silas-aeiou, @mairhof1, @starryeyesbadguys, @trap-house-homiecide, @buckywhitewolfbarnes, @kaepm981, @howdoesoneadult, @pcdmesamidala, @thefandomplace, @sian22redux, @skeletoresinthebasement, @lady-thor-foster, @jazzcutie, @gaytonystark, @geeksareunique, @nyxveracity, @idalinette, @breezy1415, @darling-loki, @lemonadeorange73, @tofeartheunknown, @queenoftheunderdark, @tomorraw, @feelmyroarrrr, @thisismysecrethappyplace, @princess-unicorn124, @hermionie-is-my-queen, @avengerscompound

#steve rogersxreader #readerxsteve rogers #steve rogers x reader #reader x steve rogers #steve rogers #captain america #steverogersxreader #readerxsteverogers #captain america fanfiction #reader insert marvel fic #the other boi

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lichbarry · 3 years

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A host’s perspective on Molly, Lucien, and approaching identity (spoilers for c2e117)

This is NOT going to be as eloquent as I want it to be and I can only speak for myself and my own opinions, but this is for @creativside and anyone else who wants to hear this particular perspective. Again, I’m speaking only for myself, not for every single system, especially not for Molly or Lucien fictives. I’m also referring only to DID systems here but OSDD systems, I see you.

I don’t really advertise it on this blog (or anywhere), but I’m the host of a DID system. My relationship with the system is not quite the same as other systems we’ve gotten to talk to but nevertheless communication has greatly improved since our diagnosis and I dare say that I feel “valid” enough to try to sludge through how I’m feeling about the whole situation with Molly/Lucien. Put under a cut b/c it’s long

For anyone who might not understand the connection I’m trying to draw: a situation where there is one body that has been inhabited by two different consciousnesses who are not otherwise aware of each other and who have different personalities, abilities, and ambitions is a situation that directly parallels the textbook DID experience. Having people call you by a different name, talk about things you supposedly did with them but have no recollection of, and having people ask or expect that they will be able to talk to this other person in your body whenever they want are all things that pretty much every system goes through. I’m not saying that Lucien has DID, but there are a lot of identical and/or incredibly similar terms and concepts being thrown around regarding him, so for the sake of this thinkpiece I’m essentially going to be acting like he does.

I’m going to make some bullet points and just try to give my two cents on how everyone is approaching this situation:

Molly was a real person, just as much as Lucien. This was discussed by some of the characters, but I’m just validating it. Lucien called Molly a “fragment” of himself-- fragment is a term systems use to describe a certain “type” of alter. DID fragments are alters who typically aren’t as “developed” as some of the others in the system, meaning that they may only exist to feel a particular emotion, store a certain memory, or carry out one very specific function. In my experience, fragments do have names just like any other system member, but likely don’t have much distinguishing personality beyond that. From what we know about Molly when he first “woke up”, calling him a fragment would be accurate. He was, originally, a consciousness who only knew a singular feeling-- emptiness. That’s all he was. But he was still his own consciousness, his own unique person, and as we all saw, he was able to grow beyond his emptiness and develop into a fully realized creation (to borrow a term). His being a fragment wouldn’t have invalidated him as being his own separate person in the first place, but the Molly we knew was no longer a fragment; he was just... a person! By the time we parted ways with him, he was just as complex and unique of an identity as Lucien is. He is not as simple as Lucien is making him out to be, we know this.

Lucien implied that Molly integrated into him and is not dormant. What do these terms mean? Dormancy (or becoming dormant) is experienced a little bit differently for each system, but generally an alter becoming dormant means they no longer appear in the headspace/inner world, cannot communicate or interact with any system members, and will not be able to front/switch out (take control of the body). In our system, becoming dormant is equivalent to becoming comatose. Due to the way our inner world is constructed, we do know where the “body” of our dormant alter is, but we cannot interact with her in any way, nor does she interact with us or appear anywhere else in the headspace. Integration, on the other hand, is better explained in the context of fusion from Steven Universe. A few years ago, I (the current host) integrated with our gatekeeper & primary protector (basically the one who managed the functioning of the system). Where once we were two separate consciousnesses who inhabited the same headspace, we are now joined together into someone who is a little bit of both of us, just like when two gems fuse in SU. I also happen to be the core (the consciousness who was in the body when we were born), so it could be seen as her simply “returning” to me, or fusing back with me after having broken off during her formation. Complete system integration is the end goal of some therapies, but there are some alters who view integration to be the same as dying, since the alter as a singular unique consciousness no longer exists but is instead “merged” into the consciousness of another system member. Lucien said something along the lines of his soul having been fragmented but now fused back together. He appears to believe that he is the only consciousness currently in his body. This means that Molly is not “trapped” inside somewhere waiting to be set free. It also implies that it would not be possible to “get Molly back” as we remember him without finding a way to fracture Lucien’s soul again. Depending on your view of integration, you can view this two ways:

Molly is Lucien, and/or Molly is dead. Matt’s slips of the tongue in continuously calling him Mollymauk further supports the idea that Molly is integrated, not dormant, and therefore is Lucien in one way or another. Molly was, after all, a part of Lucien all along, and despite having developed into his own personality in the wild 2 years he was fronting for, all that he was are now part of what Lucien is. That being said, it is clear that Lucien, just like Mollymauk, is his own person with his own goals, quirks, abilities, and personality traits. Aspects of Mollymauk do live in him, but being fused does not mean that we’re going to recognize all parts of who Molly was in who Lucien is now. Lucien (we’re assuming) is the core, the original consciousness of the body, and is thus far more developed than Molly ever had the chance to be. They’re the same person in the sense that Molly is no longer a separate entity, but not the same person in that Lucien has any of Molly’s memories or would suddenly feel compelled to start acting more like him just because they integrated.

Mollymauk is not back; Lucien is. The Mollymauk we knew is not there anymore, and it’s a good time to mourn him. I don’t know what kind of DND fuckery Matt or the cast might be able to do, but from my perspective of what’s going on, Molly isn’t going to suddenly pop out or break free or anything like that. Mollymauk as an individual died when we saw him die, and I think the Mighty Nein are at least starting to realize that. Lucien even genuinely offered his condolences. Again, it’s DND, there’s always some chance that they might find a way to talk to their friend again, but by this point the idea is making me uncomfortable. Trying to separate Molly from Lucien again at this point feels... unnatural and disrespectful. No one has ever sought to de-integrate the alter that I integrated with, but I would be very disturbed if they did, and the idea of doing that even in this context unsettles me. Find hope in the possibility if you want to, but I’m probably never going to support it. Molly is a part of Lucien now and I think both we and the Nein need to accept that. Lucien may be evil, but he has just as much right to be in control of his own body as Molly did (arguably more, but I’m not getting into that debate). Whether you like Lucien or not, it’s his body, now only his, and no one has any right to take that away from him. I know it’s not exactly the same and it’s probably not how people mean to come off, but I can’t help imagining me in this position. If someone was very close with the alter I integrated with and did everything in their power to try to make her split off again, even if it meant harming me or making me lose autonomy over my mind & body... you can see how that’s a very uncomfortable thought, at the least. Again, I’m not saying anyone is inherently bad for wanting Molly back or missing him, I’m just saying that the situation we’re being presented with is that it’s only Lucien now and we & the m9 should respect that. If you want to mourn Molly, now’s as good a time as any. You even have Lucien’s blessing. That being said...

Lucien doesn’t want to know about Molly, and that’s fine. As someone pointed out (I think Jester?), Molly didn’t want to know about Lucien either. As is the case with a lot of systems who don’t have well-developed communication, they’re practically strangers to each other. All they knew about each other is what was on their body when they woke up and what other people (also strangers) told them they supposedly did once. Again, parts of Molly exist in Lucien, and I’m sure aspects of Lucien existed in Molly, and even now there are some similarities to draw. But neither Lucien nor Molly have any obligation to feel kinship towards each other. In their eyes, they are two completely different people who have never interacted. Systems only start to feel like families after a long time of having good communication, of developing relationships, of working through trauma or the complications that come with having DID. From what we’ve been told, Molly and Lucien likely never even developed a headspace or been in a situation where they would’ve had the possibility of actually meeting. People are just talking to them about someone they didn’t know and honestly the typical response is to just nod along in the moment and decide if you really want to unpack that later. And not wanting to explore who this stranger who inhabited your body was is a completely valid response! Especially given that Lucien doesn’t explicitly have DID-- he doesn’t have the goal of trauma recovery, nor does he have any reason to find out more about who Molly was given that he’s now supposedly fully integrated. Again, it’s more a matter of autonomy. Lucien is his own person, and to him Molly might as well have been something he called himself when he spent 2 years blackout drunk (which, let’s be real, is a pretty accurate comparison). Sometimes it’s fun to hear accounts of what other system members got up to when they fronted, but that’s only after years of therapy and working through my own feelings about having DID. Before that, there were times when it felt like a frustrating invasion of privacy, or an unnerving sense of losing control of not only what I did, but what it meant to be me. I don’t really see Lucien struggling with these things, but I’m just saying that there’s only so much he can be expected to care about who Molly was given his circumstances.

This got super long and I’m never sure how to conclude these things, or if that’s even all my thoughts on the matter. Send me asks if you want to I guess, just please be respectful. I’m not trying to start any arguments, I’m just giving my perspective/how I feel about this situation as a system host.

tldr; Molly integrated with Lucien and it’s more respectful/probable to assume that he’s not coming back the way people wanted him to. Getting Molly back the way people expected is incredibly unsettling to me because it takes away Lucien’s autonomy and basically says that Molly is more important than Lucien’s control over his own body because we like Molly more. Their situation does resemble the experience of being part of a system in a lot of ways and I don’t know how to feel about it besides just kind of awkwardly going “ahaha” and looking around to see how singlets are approaching this.

Again, not saying there’s a right or wrong way to feel about this, nor am I “diagnosing” Lucien with DID. Just talking about connections I’ve made and the things that I relate to/make me uncomfortable. Whether Matt is aware of how much this situation resembles DID or not, I think that he’s handling it incredibly well and have no complaints about Lucien or Molly’s characterizations.

#cr spoilers #did #dissociative identity disorder #mollymauk tealeaf #lucien #the nonagon #cr c2e117 #c2e117 #spoilers #not sure how this post is gonna go over but here it is

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wetalkaboutbooks · 4 years

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The Foxhole Court- Nora Sakavic

Well, here it is, my full review of the first book of All for the Game, I went in to this more or less blind, so this is what I’d like to believe a rather unbiased review. I wasn’t really sure how to start this out, so I’ve split it into sections of the things I enjoyed and the things I did not enjoy. Spoilers for the first novel below, so read at your own risk!

Things I enjoyed:

Neil. I really liked his characterization, he was easy to connect to, I felt for him and all of the pain he was put through. He’s been through so much, and I really do want the best for him. I enjoyed watching him open up more as the book went on, and seeing him admit to his desire to belong broke me. His trauma was a bit mishandled, but we’ll get to that. Other things, he’s fun to read about, this kid is wild and I adore it.

Matt, he’s baby and I love him

Same goes for Abby and Dan

I actually really liked Seth as a character, which is a less than popular opinion from what I have seen.

The first big game, that scene is incredible. The character interactions are so well done. Gorilla and his interactions with the other characters brings such a lively change to the dynamics. Seth flipping off both his and the opposing team. Neil getting called a whore, don’t ask why it made me laugh. Matt hiding behind Andrew. Just, wow, well done.

Neil calling out Riko, yes.

Things I did not enjoy:

The writing style. I am not the first person, nor will I be the last, to point out how poorly written these books are when compared to other’s in their genre, and just in general. The dialogue is jilted, with character’s randomly dumping exposition on your head whenever they can. This also leads the the mystery being erased relatively fast, as a reader wondering who Kevin really was to Neil it was disappointing to get the answer handed to me so early on. This is a problem that lends itself to destroy a good deal of the fun in figuring things out.

Beyond the writing style, the author chooses to over describe everything. I knew how Neil opened doors and how he walked, and how he moved his fingers, before I had a clear idea of what he looked like. At times this works, note the game scenes as well as the interview, but mostly it just drags the scenes on for longer than they should.

Seth. His death left me a bit shell shocked, and it was handled well in regards to mood. In regards to anything else, not so much. I was upset, to say the least, and can’t speak all too well on how she will choose to handle the aftermath as I have not started book two. But from what I have read, his death being treated like an ironic joke by Andrew was unsettling, and Neil’s indifference had much of the same effect. The real problem was in what happened next, Neil claiming to find home after hearing the person he’d been living with died. After spending the night with Andrew.

Andrew. Where do we begin? He’s got knife arm, so that’s pretty rad. But he is an unstable character, who will need a lot of work to get to a point where Neil can logically trust him, and even a longer time for him to be reasonably redeemed. He has physically and verbally assaulted, abused, and forced drugs upon Neil. He is violent, and vicious. I don’t like him. Maybe I will, but as of right now I don’t.

Nicky. So, why is Sakavic’s only current openly gay character portrayed as being completely perverse. The amount of rape jokes made towards Neil are disgusting. Nicky forcing himself on Neil to push drugs into his mouth has made me so upset that I cannot even begin to put it into words.

The night club scene, this was godawful. The way that Neil was treated, the way he is tossed about and forced into situations that he obviously wanted no part in, the way he is stripped of his consent, made me want to throw up. Andrew and Nicky acting like it was for the protection of the group, that this was Andrew’s way of looking out for them, is a cheap way to excuse the behavior of the characters. Neil gets himself knocked out to escape from the situation, and then hitchhikes back to the court. After, we get a poor reconciliation of sorts with Andrew, where Neil is forced once again to do something he doesn’t want to. I didn’t like this scene, I thought the removal of Neil's consent in every situation, giving him no choice but to keep moving, disrespected his trauma as a character

I think that’s one of my biggest issues with this book, the disrespect of trauma. Every single character is mishandled, every single one. Neil is forced into situations that remind him of his past, he is forced to open up, from showing his scars, to his eye colour, to talking about who he is. Seth, a recovered drug addict, overdoses and dies. Kevin and his experience on the talk show. Andrew and his drugs and his pain, the way it’s a joke and brushed off as just ‘how he is’. This is not healing, this is not growing over trauma, this is simply disrespecting the pain of others.

I just want these characters to be able to learn and heal and have the time to properly get better, and the way that things are going I have the strong feeling that i am not going to get that.

I understand that people are problematic, but this is beyond that in so many ways.

Conclusion

The book has an evident appeal, but the topics are so poorly handled that it removes any possible potential the book could have. I feel like the characters have the capability to be well fleshed out and interesting in their flaws, but as I said, it is not well handled. I think you can still enjoy the books so long as you think critically about the issues brought up in it. Anyway, only two more to go! Overall, my rating for the first book is 3/10.

#aftg #aftg spoilers #book review #long #neil josten #andrew minyard #seth gordon #all for the game #all for the game spoilers #the foxhole court #foxhole court #nora sakavic #rip seth #tfc

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junker-town · 3 years

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Kwame Brown is blasting everyone in sight for joking about his NBA career

What is even happening here?

It’s totally understandable if you’d moved the name “Kwame Brown” to the archival part of your memory along with your college address, the zip code of your parents’ house, or the old door code of a building you long since moved from. I had as well, until this week, and I promise you that you’re not ready for what’s going on.

Brown, now 39-years-old and almost a decade removed from playing in the NBA, is back in the headlines again after a beef started from a podcast. It’s led to people unpacking Brown’s online life, which is full of old stories and conspiracy theories.

It all kicked off because of a podcast.

The “All The Smoke” podcast is a long-running show hosted by former NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson. Last week Gilbert Arenas was on the show on as a guest, and he began sharing stories from his time as the star of the Wizards in the early 2000s.

Brown’s name came up during a section discussing how Arenas helped turn the woeful early ‘00s Wizards into a contender. Now, to be fair, Arenas began by seeming extremely sympathetic to Brown’s entry into the NBA, highlighting how difficult it was to be entering the league as a teenager, being drafted by Michael Jordan who had unrealistic demands of Brown as a rookie, even bullying him in front of teammates, and pointing out that Brown had the tools to be great, even comparing him to Anthony Davis — but circumstance got in the way.

However, in making his point, Arenas used two phrases that served as a flash point for this beef. He called Brown a “man child,” as well as a “show pony.” Two terms that were innocuous enough considering the conversation, but seemed extremely disrespectful considering the conversation launched off with Stephen Jackson clowning on Brown, mockingly saying he was “the best No. 1 pick of all time,” then immediately laughing at his own statement.

Then Brown responded ...

A few days later Brown listened to the podcast, and he exploded. Taking to his Instagram account to drop a tirade aimed not only at Arenas, but Jackson too. The two minute clip was full of insults hurled at the two, but also a promise: That he would take the time to set the record straight.

Brown did just that on YouTube, and the world was not ready. Much of his ire wasn’t directed at Arenas, but rather Jackson — who seemed to be poking fun at him the most on the podcast. The video, which was over an hour, unloaded.

“It’s okay to have an opinion, but it’s another thing to do what you guys are doing and then be in my face. Stephen Jackson — we was teammates and I seen you crying every time Charles Oakley ‘bout to slap the s*** out you, so I know you.”

He went on to call Jackson an embarrassment, and said that he “quit on the team” when Jackson and Brown were playing together in Charlotte. Brown also took exception to Arenas, not so much the direct phrases he used this time, but rather the softness of tone, and acting like he defended Brown when they were teammates on the Wizards.

“[Gilbert] he’s a little boy on the inside. He ain’t no man. He was at a draft camp, he was in our pre-draft camp and they asked him “What are your goals after basketball?” and he said “I wanna be a motherf***** pimp.” This boy had a child’s mind. So that’s why the guns, and all the dumb s***. He’d been doing dumb s*** the entire time.”

Brown also went in on Barnes for goading Jackson into talking trash using some pretty off-color racial remarks about him “not being black enough to hang with the black folks, but too dark to kick it with the whites.”

Whether or not the trio from the podcast deserved the response from Brown, he took offense at them talking about him at all, and had enough.

Brown’s history with the NBA is complicated

Perhaps the most interesting footnote of Brown’s response came early, when he rejected the widely-held assertion that he was drafted to be the face of the Wizards, and move the team on from the Michael Jordan era. On the contrary, Brown asserts that Washington had a trade in place on draft night to trade Brown to the Chicago Bulls for Elton Brand.

At the time Brand was becoming a true superstar. A double-double forward averaging over 20 points, but woefully unhappy in Chicago. Brown says that Brand was viewed by Jordan as the missing piece in No. 23 getting one final playoff run, but the deal was nixed at the last second by then-owner Abe Pollin, who was concerned the team was making too many trades, and was reluctant to send away Kwame Brown. The Bulls would later go on to trade Brand to the Los Angeles Clippers for No. 2 overall pick Tyson Chandler.

This revelation, if true, casts Brown’s arrival in Washington in a very different light. Instead of simply not living up to Jordan’s impossible expectations of becoming the face of the franchise, Brown was a scapegoat for the legend’s frustrations with the organization.

Over the years there have been claims, and counter claims about Jordan’s actions towards Brown. Some ex-Wizards players say that nothing happened between the two other than Brown being unable to live up to Jordan’s goals for the young player. Others detail ridicule and humiliation bordering on abuse, with Jordan routinely inviting players over to his house only to mock Brown in front of his team, break down his confidence, and even use homophobic slurs to berate Brown.

Whatever the result, there remain people on both sides of the fence who believe Brown just never had it, and those who think he had the potential to be a transcendent player, but was destroyed by Jordan’s actions.

To his credit, Brown went on to have a long NBA career. Whether it was a case of his youth, or just team, after team thinking they could finally unlock the potential he flashed in high school, Brown would go on to play 12 years in the NBA for various teams, often serving as a rotational center.

Brown is living his life, but it’s a little odd

Through all this we learned a lot more about Kwame Brown. At 39-years-old he’s taken his NBA money, channeled it into various businesses, and seems to be doing well for himself. Really, retiring in your early 30s a multi-millionaire is the American Dream, and aside from constantly being made fun of for being a NBA Draft bust, in general Brown seems happy.

That said, this whole fiasco took people deep down the rabbit hole of Brown’s YouTube channel.

Before the 2020 election he defended Donald Trump, saying black people were “brainwashed,” while admitting he’d never met the then-President.

youtube

He made his own toilet paper out of t-shirts.

youtube

He went on a near two hour rant about his perceptions of media propaganda.

youtube

And said the Black Lives Matter movement was “playing the race card” in a drawn out video in which he also defended police, saying that black people were “already on guard when the police come” because of the media.

youtube

The beef is still going

Barnes and Jackson, hosts of the “All The Smoke” podcast have tried to make amends. Jackson released his own video, saying he has “nothing but love” for Brown, while Barnes denies any wrongdoing.

That hasn’t been enough to squash it. Brown is still releasing more YouTube videos, still directed at the players who dissed him, and expanding to media personalities, NBA writers, and anyone who’s discussed this latest situation.

Nobody has any idea when this will all end, but at the very least Brown picked up a few thousand more YouTube subscribers — and maybe that was the goal of this all along.

0 notes

hannahhhhify · 6 years

Text

Chapter 196: OWowOWOw

Taylor’s POV:

Kevin and I both fell asleep, but I had a nightmare about Drake. So I carefully untangled myself from his arms and I got up out of bed, and I quietly snuck out of my room.

Taylor: “Momma?” I called as I shut the door.

Denise: “she’s in the nursery honey” Denise said walking into the hallway with a bottle in her hands.

Taylor: “I should have known” I said following her to the nursery. Mom was changing my baby sister. “Hi bethanyyy babby” I said cheerfully she smiled at me and mom put her little pants back on and then she picked her up. “Can I hold her momma?”

Deb: “of course you can, sit down” I nodded and walked over and sat in the rocking chair, and mom came and gave me Bethany.

Taylor: “she’s already getting so much bigger”

Deb: “yes she is, she’s growing fast, just like you and demi” she said leaning down and kissing the top of her head, and then mine.

Taylor: “I love you momma”

Deb: “I love you too baby boy” Denise walked in and handed me Bethany’s bottle.

Denise: “she was acting hungry, but now she seems to be content cuddling with her big brother” I smiled down at her. I feel like I never get to see her, I miss her so much.

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

Dan’s POV:

Lunch with Matthew has been so good for us. We talked a lot! and I’m so glad we got some time together.

Dan: “Matthew?”

Matt: “yeah?”

Dan: “I know you plan on getting on a plane in the morning, but I-“

Matt: “Danny! We talked about this, I’m going! You aren’t going to change my mind”

Dan: “I know boo” I said using my childhood nickname for him. “I know I can’t change your mind, but can I drive you instead? Please?”

Matt: “we already have the tickets… why do you want to drive?”

Dan: “because you are my baby brother, and I’m going to miss you so much, I want to spend a little bit more time with you, we can drive there tonight together, and then spend some time together tomorrow before you need to be there”

Matt: “you would really do that for me? it’s a long drive”

Dan: “I don’t care… I want to spend as much time with you as possible” he smiled and stood up and he walked around the table to come hug me.

Matt: “I love you Danny”

Dan: “I love you too boo”

Matt: “lets go home to our beautiful family” I chuckled and pulled away from him, and I grabbed my wallet, and we left a nice tip, and then paid for our meal and then we went to the mall to walk around for a bit before we headed back home. Denise is here, which is a little awkward for me, because of that whole kiss thing.

Matt: “Danny, you know how I said that I would pay for your car repair from when I accidentally crashed it?” He said as we got out of the car.

Dan: “yeah?”

Matt: “welll... that’s probably not going to happen” he said as we walked up to the house. I rolled my eyes “Yeah, I figured it probably wouldn’t happen. You are a brat, brother” he chuckled

Matt: “I’m sorry about the car, and about not paying for it” he said as we went inside. Frankie immediately ran over and jumped up into my arms. I laughed and gave him some hugs and kisses

Frankie: “can I have a snackysnack??”

Dan: “hmm, maybe! What do you say?”

Frankie: “I say snack! snack! snack!” Matthew laughed

Matt: “how about please?”

Frankie: “oh yes! Pweeeese!? Pweese can I have a snacky snack?”

Dan: “yes! Let’s go see what we got for you” I said carrying him into the kitchen, so we could look through the snack cabinet.

Frankie: “can I has this?” He said holding up some chocolates that demi bought for herself.

Dan: “well, those are Demi’s”

Frankie: “but I want somee” he whined.

Dan: “how about we go ask her?” he nodded and cuddled close and I carried him upstairs.

Frankie: “if she says no, I’m going to throws a fit” I heard Matt laugh at him.

Dan: “you better not throw a fit, I’ll spank your little butt, and you won’t get no snack” I said sternly. He pouted. “So are you going to throw a fit?” He shook his head no. “Better not” I said as I was walking over to Demi’s room. I knocked on the door and Joey opened it.

Frankie: “sisssy sissy sissy!” He said excitedly.

Demi: “what?”

Frankie: ��can I have some of your chocolates?” He said holding them up.

Joe: “I want some chocolate!”

Frankie: “can we sissy? Pweese?”

Joe: “pretty pretty please?” Joey added.

Demi: “I guess so.” Frankie clapped his hands excitedly. I sat him down on the floor and I grabbed the bag and I gave Frankie and Joey one, and then I walked over and handed the rest to demi. “Daddy, are you okay?” she asked softly

Dan: “yes”

Demi: “you are a liar daddy, you look so upset” I sighed and sat next to her and pulled her into my lap.

Dan: “I love you baby girl. I’m okay, I’m just worried about Drake”

Demi: “I’m worried about him too” she said looking down. “Can I go with you to see him? Please?”

Dan: “well... we aren’t sure who he is going to want to see”

Demi: “please daddy? I really want to see him, everyone else got to see him last night”

Dan: “okay, you and Olivia can come” she nodded.

Dan: “how are you kids doing?”

Olivia: “I just wanna go see Drake.. when can we go?”

Dan: “he can’t have visitors until after 3, we will probably leave soon” she nodded.

Frankie: “can I go?”

Dan: “not this time buddy”

Frankie: “but that’s not fair, sissy and Olibia get to go” he whined. I sighed

Edward: “you get to stay home and play with me and Joey though, we can play whatever you want”

Frankie: “can we play hide and seek??”

Edward: “of course!” I smiled

Dan: “thank you Edward” he nodded

Frankie: “Edward got bad spanks last night”

Edward: “ugh! Frankie! Shut up”

Olivia: “what did you get spanked for?”

Edward: “I don’t want to talk about it”

Olivia: “Edward..” she said sternly

Edward: “none of your business!”

Olivia: “I’m going to tell Dad”

Edward: “I already told them” he said sticking his tongue out at her.

Olivia: “did you sneak out to see Sam?” Edward blushed and looked down. “You did, didn’t you?? Dad’s going to spank you again”

Edward: “will you just shut your face! it’s none of your damn business” Frankie gasped.

Frankie: “Edwaard! that’s a really naughty word”

Dan: “alright Edward, let’s go downstairs” I said slipping Demi off of my lap.

Edward: “But..”

Olivia: “you better listen”

Edward: “SHUT UP!” I stood up and grabbed Edwards arm and started dragging him out of the room and downstairs. “I’m sorrryy! It just slipped out!”

Paul: “what’s going on?” Paul asked as we got downstairs.

Dan: “he was arguing with Olivia, and he swore at her”

Edward: “But it’s not fairrr! She’s so bossy! She’s not my mom!” he whined as I let go of his arm.

Paul: “come with me Edward”

Edward: “But Paul!”

Paul: “Now!” Edward pouted and lowered his head and followed Paul out of the room.

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

Edward’s POV:

OLIVIA IS SOOO ANNOYING! She has been so bossy lately and it makes me so mad. she’s not my boss. I guess this is just what it’s like to have an older sibling or whatever she is to me. but I HATE IT. it drives me crazy. Paul lead me to the bathroom

Paul: “you don’t need to swear at Olivia” he said getting some soap. Ughh he is really going to wash my mouth out with soap? That’s so gross.

Edward: “but I didn’t mean it, she’s being bossy”

Paul: “she’s older then you! you need to be more respectful towards her. my kids know that they need to listen to the older kids”

Edward: “but that’s not fair” I whined.

Paul: “yes, it is fair. How would you feel if you were babysitting nick or something, and he wasn’t listening to you, and he was being disrespectful, and swearing at you?”

Edward: “I wouldn’t like babysitting him”

Paul: “exactly. Olivia’s your big sister, you need to listen to her. And you don’t need to be swearing at her” he said holding the soap up. ”Open your mouth” I shook my head no.

Edward: “I don’t want that” I mumbled stubbornly. he grabbed me and twisted me to the side, and then he landed 3 sharp smacks that made me instantly burst into tears. I’m still very VERY sore from last night. “Oww! Paul! Please don’t” I cried, trying to block him from hitting my bottom again.

Paul: “would you like me to take you back over my knee instead?” he said in a stern voice. I shook my head no. “Then open your mouth!” he said letting go of me. I let out a sob before reluctantly opening my mouth. he put the soap in my mouth and I immediately started gagging. “sit down” he said pointing to the edge of the bathtub. I hesitated for just a second and he smacked my bottom again. and I bit down hard on the soap, causing my teeth to sink into it, making this whole thing even worse. I quickly sat down on the edge of the bathtub and I couldn’t help but cry hard.

Paul: “you are going to sit there for 10 minutes! Don’t you dare get up, or take that soap out, until the 10 minutes is up, or I’ll spank you, got it?” I miserably nodded my head yes and he set a timer on his phone and then he showed it to me, before sitting it down on the counter and leaving the room. I wanted to get up so bad, because my ass is on fire, but I am way too scared, because I don’t know if he is going to come back and catch me. so I just sat there and cried. Eventually Taylor walked in and when he saw me he jumped.

Taylor: “whoa... what are you doing? What’s wrong?” I pointed to Paul’s phone on the counter and Taylor picked it up. “4 minutes...? are you in a time out?” I nodded, and he frowned “that’s such a bummer! If you hold yourself up with your hands a little… it hurts less” He said smiling at me “I’m going to go use my bathroom.” He said leaving the room. I did what he said, and held myself up a little bit, so that all my weight wasn’t on my sore ass, and it helped so much. a few minutes later the alarm went off on his phone, and I jumped up and quickly spit out the nasty soap. It’s seriously all over my teeth, I’m so grossed out. I leaned over the sink and tried to spit as much out as possible, and then I turned the water on and I started trying to rinse my mouth out. Its sooo yucky! It’s still making me gag really bad. I heard someone come into the bathroom and shut the timer off on Paul’s phone. but I just kept rinsing my mouth out and gagging, it’s seriously all up in my teeth.

Paul: “okay, that’s enough” he said shutting the water off

Edward: “but it’s all in my teeth!” I whined

Paul: “that’ll teach you to watch your mouth better” I stood straight up, and I pouted.

Edward: “I want to go home” I mumbled.

Paul: “why? your parents wouldn’t let you get away with that either”

Edward: “yeah but… they are nicer” Paul laughed and held his arms out

Paul: “come here” I walked into his arms and he hugged me. “I wouldn’t need to be mean if you wouldn’t misbehave so much” he said rubbing my back.

Edward: “why did you spank my boyfriend?” I mumbled.

Paul: “he asked me too”

Edward: “No way” I said pulling away from him. Paul nodded.

Paul: “yes he did. He felt bad knowing that you were in pain and he wasn’t”

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

TAYLOR’S POV:

Kevin: “Taylor” he whispered.

Taylor: “did you have a good nap?” I said smiling at him. He frowned and nodded “what’s wrong?”

Kevin: “I broke something on accident...” he said looking down.

Taylor: “what did you break?”

Kevin: “um... uncle Matt’s thing”

Taylor: “what thing?” He bit his lip but didn’t say anything else. “Show me” I said standing up and grabbing his hand. I lead him to our bedroom and I saw the clock that used to be grandpas broken on his nightstand... oh geez “Kevin... why would you play with that? It’s not yours” I said letting go of his hand and walking over to the clock to see how bad it is, the glass broke, and these little things broke off of it... Uncle Matthews going to be so upset.

Kevin: “it was an accident... I dropped it and it hit the table and the floor”

Taylor: “you shouldn’t have even picked it up in the first place Kevin!” I said glaring at him. He pouted.

Kevin: “I didn’t mean to break it...”

Taylor: “Uncle Matthew is going to be so upset, this was my grandpas” he gasped

Kevin: “can we fix it??”

Taylor: “no, probably not”

Kevin: “can we hide it, so he won’t see it before he leaves?”

Taylor: “no... he just got home a few minutes ago, so you sit down on this bed, and don’t touch anything!! I’m going to go get him...” I said walking back out. Kevin followed me though

Kevin: “NOO Taylor! He is going to be so mad at me!” He whined

Taylor: “if you don’t go sit down like I told you too, I’m going to spank you” I said sternly. Kevin’s eyes widened

Kevin: “but..”

Taylor: “now Kevin!” I said glaring at him again. He stuck his bottom lip out into a pout, but he did listen and go sit on the bed. I sighed. I hate having to be strict with Kevin, I like just being his friend better. But he can be a brat sometimes, and I have to be stricter. I walked through the house and found Matt upstairs with the rest of the kids. “can you come downstairs for a minute Uncle Matthew?”

Matt: “yeah, everything okay?”

Taylor: “Kevin broke something on your nightstand”

Matt: “ugh. okay” Joseph got out of his lap, and he came downstairs with me, and we walked into our room, and Kevin was no where to be seen, even though I told him to sit his butt down. I rolled my eyes. brat! I guess he wanted that spanking after all.

Matt: “oh no” he said when he saw the clock... the look on his face was almost enough to make me cry

Taylor: “I’m sorry uncle Matthew... I let Kevin nap in here, and he broke it on accident”

Matt: “why was he even near it? was he sleeping on my bed?”

Taylor: “no... I don’t know how he did it... but I’m sorry, he feels bad too”

Matt: “where is he?”

Taylor: “I don’t know. he is probably hiding because he feels bad” Matt sighed.

Matt: “it’s okay… I won’t be able to take it with me anyway...” he said picking it up... “I wanted to keep it though, it was my daddy’s favorite clock, it was his first gift from my mom” Matthew said frowning.

Taylor: “maybe we can fix it”

Matt: “we can’t fix it” he said pouting and putting it back down on the table.

Taylor: “well… we can try, my dad might know how” He sighed.

Matt: “I’m going to take a shower” he said grabbing his clothes and going into the bathroom. He is upset, I know he is. He is trying to act like he isn’t, but he is. We probably can’t make it like it was, but maybe we can try to fix it. where the heck did Kevin go? I looked around and I heard some sniffles coming from my side of the room. I know he is in here.

Taylor: “Kevin Jonas…” I said sternly “where are you?” the sniffling stopped. I rolled my eyes and walked over to my side of the room, and I itched my head as I looked around for a second. I heard another sniffle and I looked under my bed, and I saw his green sock. “found you” I said grabbing his foot and pulling him out from under the bed. “I told you to sit down on his bed, or I would spank you, so why did you get up? did you want a spanking?” he shook his head no with wide eyes.

Kevin: “I hid be-because I didn’t want uncle Matthew to sp-spank me... it was an accident, a-and my butt a-already hurts so bad” he said sitting up.

Taylor: “well, I put you in a time out, and you got up, what do you think that means?” He started crying again, because he knows exactly what that means… I sighed and sat down on the edge of my bed. “come here Kevin… Now”

Kevin: “but I’ll sit in a timeout now, I will!”

Taylor: “come here” I said again. he pouted and got up and walked over to me. I took his pants down, and his underwear.

Kevin: “Taylorrr my butt h-hurts so bad” he whined.

Taylor: “well then you should have listened”

Kevin: “I was s-scared”

Taylor: “well now you have a reason to be” I said grabbing him and pulling him over my knee. his bottom is pretty red still. So I know this is going to hurt, I wouldn’t want another spanking either. “when I tell you to sit down somewhere, you better not get up until I tell you that you can.” I said landing the first few smacks on his bottom. he cried out in pain. I had to spank Zac when he already had a sore bottom from Paul too. I hate having to do that, I feel so bad, because I know how bad it freaking hurts. Smack smack smack smack smack smack! smack!

Kevin: “OWowOWOwOwOw!!!! TAYLOR! OOWW” he cried, kicking his feet. I ignored him and kept going until Paul heard him, and came in. “Dadddyy make him stop ittt!!!” he cried.

Paul: “what happened?” I wrapped my arm around his waist, to keep in in place.

Taylor: “well, Kevin was supposed to be taking a nap, but I guess he woke up, and he broke the clock that grandpa gave uncle matt, and then I told him to sit down, or I would spank him, then I went and got Matthew, and Kevin was nowhere to be found”

Paul: “Kevin” he said sternly.

Kevin: “it waaas an a-accident”

Taylor: “hiding from me when you were supposed to be in a time out was an accident?” Kevin let out a loud sob.

Paul: “when you get done with him, send him to the dining room, I’ll give him a timeout”

Kevin: “nooo! No more” Paul shook his head and walked out of the room. and I landed about 10 more smacks before pulling Kevin’s underwear and pants back up. he stood back up and he started wiping his tears his arms. ugh I feel like such a jerk making him cry like this. I know he is hurting.

Taylor: “you heard your dad... go on” I said softly.

Kevin: “c-caan I h-ha-have a.. never m-mind” ugh. I can’t handle his tears.

Taylor: “can you have a what?” I said standing up.

Kevin: “hug…” he whispered. I frowned.

Taylor: “of course you can have a hug baby brother” I said holding my arms open. He threw himself into my arms.

Kevin: “I’m s-sorryyy! I’m r-really really sorry” I kissed the top of his head.

Taylor: “I don’t think Uncle Matthew would have spanked you for accidently breaking grandpas clock, but when you are told to sit down, you better do it”

Kevin: “I’m s-sorry” he said again.

Taylor: “I’m sorry I had to spank you when you are already so sore, I wish I wouldn’t have needed to do that”

Kevin: “me too” he whined. I chuckled and then I walked with him to the dining room. Paul and Ken were talking. Ken looks just as exhausted as I feel.

Ken: “I just don’t understand why he would have done this…. he knows we love him, he KNOWS I love him more then anything! why would he try to…. Kill himself?”

Paul: “I don’t know… but it’s going to be okay”

Ken: “how can you possibly think that it’s going to be okay??? he tried to throw himself off of a bridge Paul” Paul was about to respond when he noticed me and Kevin standing here.

Paul: “Kevin, come sit” he said sternly. Kevin ducked his head and walked over and sat next to Paul. He whimpered and immediately started wiggling around, having a hard time with his sore bottom on that hard-wooden chair, I know, I’ve been in his same position SO many times. “you can sit there in a time out for a little bit, if you get up, your butt will regret it” Paul said to Kevin before refocusing his attention back to Ken. Kevin pouted.

Paul: “I don’t know what’s going on with Drake Ken, but I know we are getting him the help he needs”

Ken: “do you think I should go today? he doesn’t want to see me”

Paul: “if my kid didn’t want to see me, I would make them see me… personally”

Ken: “I went in to see him last night, and he wouldn’t even look at me”

Taylor: “he didn’t want to see me either…”

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

Drakes POV:

I feel so empty... I need help, but I don’t want it. That Jamie guy keeps coming in to try to talk to me, but I just ignore him, and he eventually goes away. and I wouldn’t go out to eat lunch, and he brought it in and tried to eat with me, but I wouldn’t eat. I don’t want it. I still haven’t touched it and it’s been hours. I’ve been laying in the same spot for so long that my back kind of hurts. But I don’t care. I don’t have enough energy to move. I keep thinking about my family, the one I had before I ruined it all. If I wouldn’t have sent that stupid text... they’d still be here. It isn’t fair! I didn’t know... I didn’t know that one text would take my family away from me. I would do anything to be able to replay that whole day. If I could, I would break my phone. And never text them again while they are gone. but unfortunately, I can’t replay it... it’s too late.

Jamie: “Drake... your family is here to see you”

Drake: “my family is dead... and I wish I was” I whispered.

Dan: “drake... don’t say that” he said softly. He sounds just as broken as I feel... I squeezed my eyes shut to try to stop more tears from coming. But otherwise, I didn’t move. I didn’t expect them to be in here with him already, I thought that they would ask me if I wanted to see them, and then bring them in or make them leave or something. I heard the room fill with people and I felt extremely scared all the sudden, I just wish I could sink into the bed and disappear. I don’t want to see them… I don’t want to see anybody.

Jamie: “if you guys need anything, I’ll be right down the hall, my name is Jamie”

Paul: “thank you Jamie” I heard Jamie leave, and the room was quiet for a second. I brought the blanket up over my head.

Ken: “Drake…” he said softly, I felt the edge of my bed sink as he sat beside me “I love you son… I’m so sorry”

Drake: “go away… please” my voice is almost all the way gone now.

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

I’m still trying to get used to writing again! I hope its okay, I feel like I’m really bad at writing right now, but please stick with me! -hannah

CLICK HERE to send me a message.

#Chapter 196

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the-zodiacs-written-in-the-stars · 6 years

Text

Chapter 3: Tatiana Tarasova

Tanya yawned as she woke up at 5:30AM sharp, like every morning.

Tanya had a very precise schedule, she always had. Routine was important to her; it was what kept the world going, or so her dyedushka used to tell her when she was a little girl, visiting her grandparents in Saint Petersburg.

Sitting up, she brushed her hair out of her face and made her way to her closet. The clothes for today were already set out, she just took them with her. In passing, she straightened her watch on the nightstand. Everything had its place, its very precise place. She paused and retracked her steps as she noticed that the reason her watch had been off its spot had been that there was something that did not belong there.

A marble.

Tanya frowned. She did not remember owning a marble. It was turquoise in color, with two black zigzag lines enclosed inside. The symbol of Aquarius; her Zodiac. How odd. Had she perhaps gotten the thing from someone sentimental? Matt, perhaps...?

Taking the marble into her hand, she turned it over once. It was pretty. She had a weakness for perfect forms. Smiling slightly, she put the marble back down for now and instead continued on to the bathroom.

Matt did that, occasionally. Being sweet. He knew she didn’t let a lot of people in - then again, neither did Matt. They were both workaholics with not much time for a private life.

But at least Matt had a fiance, had taken enough time to himself to find love. And as much as Tanya loved to mock Mike - it was a mutual thing between them - she appreciated how much Mike loved and cherished her boss and best friend. And Mike’s older sister. Tanya had met the woman only briefly at galas before, but far as she knew, the woman was on very good terms with Matt. Tanya liked to tease him that he was buttering up the in-laws.

“Hello!”

Tanya blinked slowly, brushing her long, blonde hair back behind her ear. Her other arm tightened around her clothes. She blinked again, tilting her head a little. “A... a lizard?”, whispered Tanya lowly, carefully stepping back. “Nichuya sebe! Which of my neighbors keeps a lizard?!” [trans, Russian: Holy fuck]

The lizard - a maybe Golden Retriever sized monstrosity of blue-green color - giggled at that. Giggled. Tanya took another step back.

“I’m a dragon, not a lizard, silly”, laughed the lizard.

“I am losing my mind”, muttered Tanya, her hand finding the doorhandle.

“Oh no, don’t freak out!”, pleaded the lizard - dragon - softly.

It sat up and spread its wings. Yes. Wings. Dragon. Tanya was losing her mind.

“Give me a good reason why I shouldn’t freak out”, countered Tanya before pausing. “I’m talking to my hallucinations. Goodness...”

“My name is Aquarius. And you are my new human”, declared the dragon with a happy smile. “You were born under my sign and that makes you mine. But I picked you specifically last night. You... interest me.”

“Literally nothing about that was reassuring”, growled Tanya suspiciously.

The dragon - Aquarius - hopped out of the bathtub it had been sitting in. Standing, it easily reached Tanya’s knees. It looked... cute. With dots all over its body, its chest and belly a softer shade of blue-green than the rest.

“There’s a dragon in my bathroom and it talks”, muttered Tanya to herself.

“Excuse me”, huffed Aquarius and sat up with a glare. “She talks. You wouldn’t want to be referred to as an it either. Humans. The disrespect.”

Tanya opened her mouth and lifted her hand, walking out of the bathroom and then locking the door behind herself before going to the kitchen. It didn’t take her long to reach the bottle of vodka she kept stowed away for emergencies. Talking dragons with attitude were definitely an emergency.

About half an hour - and more vodka than would be considered ‘good’ that early in the day - later did Tanya sit far more relaxed on her couch, staring at her phone.

Matteo di Girasole

The name seemed to scream at her on the phone. Should she call him? But how would she even begin to explain this? “I’m losing my mind and I’d like for you to come over and check if there is really a dragon in my bathroom”...?

“Tanya...? Why are you calling that early?”, asked Matt sleepily as the call connected.

“I’m losing my mind and I’d like for you to come over and check if there is really a dragon in my bathroom”, requested Tanya, as calmly as she could.

“Who issit...?”, mumbled Mike in the background. “Tellem it’s 6 in the fucking morning, sunshine...”

“Shush, amore”, chided Matt gently before returning back to Tanya. “Define what you mean by ‘dragon’...”

“I mean a scaly, large lizard with wings”, replied Tanya factually. “Oh, and it talks. She talks. It’s a female dragon, apparently.”

“...I’ll... I’ll be there in a bit. Just sit tight and wait, okay, tesorina”, assured Matt gently. [trans, Italian: darling]

Tanya nodded sharply, even though he couldn’t see that. She sat and waited until her door was unlocked. Matt had a key to her apartment, she had a key to Matt’s; it was simply efficient that way.

“Hey, tesorina, are you alright?”, asked Matt, voice soft and calm.

He approached her with haste steps and gently grasped her cheeks, making her look up. Mike grumbled as he came stomping in after Matt.

“There’s a dragon in my bathroom”, stated Tanya.

“Are... Are you drunk?”, asked Matt carefully, looking at the bottle of vodka.

“Yes. but that’s beside the point. The dragon was there before I got drunk”, grunted Tanya defensively.

“Okay. Bathroom?”, grunted Mike and heaved a sigh. “I’ll go, tell you there is nothing, we bring you to the next psychiatry and check you in for a night. Or something.”

Tanya glared at him but she remained silent. Dreadful. He was going to go in there and then tell her that she was indeed crazy. Matt squeezed her arm gently, in a reassuring way.

“Holy shit! There’s a fucking dragon in the bathtub! And it just threw soap at me!”

“Michael”, stated Matt sharply. “That’s...”

Though he paused as he looked toward his fiance. Mike was rubbing his forehead, holding a pink bar of soap in the other hand as he stumbled out of the bathroom, closely followed by... the dragon. Tanya watched it tensely.

“What... What is that?”, asked Matt in awe.

“So... you can see it too?”, asked Tanya, torn between relief and even more panic.

“Of course they can see me”, huffed the dragon offended. “I’m real. And you are a very rude human. Locking me into your water-room and then calling your companions.”

“What... What do you want, dragon?”, asked Matt, staring the dragon down.

But she just sat up and sniffed the air before narrowing her eyes at them. It was a cute dragon. Very adorable. If Tanya really wasn't going crazy, then she was glad it was a cute dragon.

“You”, hissed Aquarius, nipping at Mike's pants and effectively biting a hole into the pocket.

Mike's keys fell down onto the floor, together with a marble. The dark-blue glass-pearl rolled over toward Aquarius and the dragon looked rather irritated at it before she swatted it. Tanya sat frozen for a moment before she bolted off the couch and toward her nightstand, where a very similar marble had been just this morning. Returning, she laid it down beside the blue one.

“Huh. Wait. I found such a thing in my pocket this morning too?”, grunted Matt thoughtfully, fishing for a yellow glass-marble with an arrow encased inside.

“Oh. Oh! Sag!”, yelped the dragon excitedly, wagging her tail.

The yellow marble in Matt’s hand glowed and Matt dropped it in surprise when a yellow horse with a horn materialized out of thin air. Matt took a step back and collapsed right next to Tanya on the couch. Tanya absentmindedly reached a hand out to pat his thigh reassuringly.

“A pretty princess for me?”, asked the unicorn and approached Tanya.

A dragon and a unicorn. Yes, she had officially entered a strange parallel universe of sorts. Or something. Aquarius growled and climbed up on the couch to sit down on Tanya’s lap.

“No! Back off, Sagittarius, this is my human! Your is this one!”, hissed Aquarius.

The unicorn tilted her head and turned to look at Matt with utter disappointment. “...Not a pretty princess.”

“I feel oddly offended by the unicorn. Tanya, what in the world is going on here?”, asked Matt utterly overwhelmed.

“I have no idea”, sighed Tanya, turning to look at her best friend.

“Congratulations, the three of you are now heroes. We are your companions, your guides into the supernatural world”, announced a gruff male voice.

At that point, even Mike was sitting down on the couch, wrapping one arm around Matt’s shoulders. He leaned heavily into his fiance for support, but he didn’t forget about Tanya, linking their fingers. Tanya squeezed gently as a blue crab crawled up to the three marbles on the floor. It glared grumpily at them.

“I am Cancer. I am assigned to the unshaved one”, grunted the crab.

“It’s six-thirty in the morning! Don’t expect me to shave!”, argued Mike offended. “And I have a name. I’m Mike. Michael Maguire.”

Cancer nodded, making a vague motion with his claw. “Hello, Mike Michael Maguire. It will be my honor to work with you. I have worked with great and powerful warriors in the past and I am looking forward to seeing you shape up to be one of them.”

Cancer generally did not look like he looked forward to anything. Ever. Tanya rested a hand on Aquarius’ head, patting it a little. The dragon cooed pleased and nudged back against her hand.

“I’m Aquarius. I’m your companion and guide and all that”, stated the dragon happily, turning to look at Tanya expectantly.

“Dobroye utro”, nodded Tanya distractedly. “I’m Tanya Tarasova.” [trans, Russian: Good morning]

“I’m Sagittarius”, drawled the unicorn with a pout. “And I guess I’m your companion. You have pretty hair. But I wanted a princess.”

“Apollo wasn’t a princess either and you loved him”, reminded Aquarius with a chime to her voice. “Maybe this human will be another Apollo and you will love him lots.”

That seemed to lift Sagittarius’ mood and the unicorn stepped closer to sniff Matt, who still looked mildly offended but also greatly fascinated.

“Wait, what... does hero mean? Apollo?”, echoed Mike stiffly, looking at Cancer.

“Yes! We’re guardian patrons. Think of us as aliens, if that helps you?”, offered Sagittarius. “We visit Earth regularly, when there is a... danger. We come down to Earth, claim humans and fight with them. Once, I fought with a young man, his name was Apollo. I loved him dearly. He was a great warrior and a gentle soul.”

“Apollo is a god. From a myth”, grunted Mike with a frown.

“Sure. Because your kind would have absolutely accepted the concept of aliens coming down to bond with humans and bestow them with special powers”, grunted Cancer with a dry deadpan. “You tend to lift them up into god-status.”

“Think about it”, prompted Aquarius with a smile. “Twelve Zodiac guardians. That funny little religion of yours had twelve major gods. They were ours. We claimed them and gave them their special abilities, powers to make them stronger. And they fought with us. Other humans, they thought that those chosen ones had to be something else. Something otherworldly. Gods.”

Tanya turned to lock eyes with Matt, who just shrugged. “I mean, I suppose an alien symbiosis makes... more sense than gods? Maybe? I don’t know.”

“And the monsters the gods fought against...? The titans and giants...?”, asked Tanya carefully, searching for Aquarius’ eyes.

“Aliens. Too. As we just explained, when danger threatens Earth, we come to seek out our champions. Danger is here. And you are three of our champions”, replied Aquarius gently.

“Wait, does that mean I control the sun now?!”, exclaimed Matt wide-eyed. “Apollo. The god of the sun, right?”

“...These humans will be tiresome”, muttered Cancer frustrated. “No. You are not some kind of second coming of some fictional gods. They weren’t gods. And the attributes given to them in myths are exaggerations. You are your own person. You will receive elemental powers, through your respective partner. Elemental. Not some nonsense like ‘king of the ocean’ or ‘god of war’. Ares was just very... confrontational and thus, he earned himself such a reputation. Kid really could have been more level-headed.”

“Yes”, confirmed Aquarius, glaring pointedly at Cancer before returning her eyes to Tanya. “The... realms attributed to our former heroes are just amplifications of their personalities and their specific character traits. They have no connection to you."

Tanya nodded slowly and tried breathing deeply. It made sense. Certain character traits were always exaggerated in retellings. Cleopatra, the super-pretty one. While other traits were simply skipped or deliberately forgotten. Cleopatra, the wise strategist. So the Olympian gods had been real, normal people, who met alien creatures and got special powers from them. Normal humans with no alien encounter just tried to make sense of those super-powered beings and thus announced them gods.

Honestly, it made as much sense as Tanya would expect something to make sense that came from a talking dragon that had materialized from a glass-marble.

Read here on AO3!

Previous Chapter <- || Masterpost || -> Next Chapter

#Project: Written in the Stars #Story: Written in the Stars #own story #Aquarius: Tatiana Tarasova #Zodiac Superheroes #Superheroes #Zodiac: Aquarius

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smokeybrandreviews · 4 years

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Heartless

I’ve seen some of the new Doctor Who and it’s kind of terrible. Once, when i was younger, I’d be on the edge of my seat whenever i tuned into this smart, snarky, surprisingly well executed indie-like show. I adored the first few series of the revival run. Eccelston was a decent Doctor but the show took off once David Tennant got the role. 10 is my favorite Doc of all time, no disrespect to Matt Smith or Tom Baker but, for me, it’s 10 all the way. He had the best stories, the best development, the best pathos. He was written brilliantly and i adored every second of it. And that’s the rub; 10 was WRITTEN beautifully. There was creativity and passion and love in his stories. All of that was driven by Russell T. Davies, a brilliant creator in his own right. This cat was the driving force behind shows like Queer As Folk and The Grand. He had a way to ground his storied in reality by focusing on the characters and their motivation. For Davies, the devil was in the detail and his almost auteur sense of showrunning made sure of that. I understand why Eccelston left after one series. Davies wasn’t budging on his vision and Eccelston, being the same way in front of the screen, woulld, invariably, do nothing but clash. It was sad to see him go but we got Tennant in tow, so it wasn’t all bad. I was born in the 80s so, until the revival started, my Doctor Who was Paul McGann. It’s a shame he didn’t get a fair shake. I think he could have been incredibly special in the role. Unfortunate. Eventually, Tennant left, like Eccelestson, but on different terms. Cats had to pry David off the set, he loved the character so much. In comes Matt Smith, all young and gang, instantly warming our hearts to his cool ass bow ties. Matt Smith brought Steven Moffat with him as showrunner and this is where things took a turn, I think.

Steven Moffat is a huge television person in Britain. He’s produced fantastic shows like the BBC Sherlock, Jekyll, and the current Netflix Dracula run. He is not Russell T. Davies. The difference in their writing is wildly apparent. I’m not saying it’s bad but it’s definitely less. Or so it was after Davies left. See, Davies had a cache of writers on his staff while he ran his portion of Who. Moffat was one of those cats. Davies says he never changed a single script submitted by Moffat, and I’m inclined to agree. When you have strict parents, you know to stay inline and put your best foot forward. When Davies bowed out and Moffat got the big chair? That’s when sh*t started to slide. Don’t get me wrong, the show was still entertaining. Moffat hit the jackpot with Smith and Karen Gillan. Their chemistry was amazing. I, personally, enjoyed the episodes with Rover Song as well, although, that seems to be a point of contention among the fandom. However, You can see cracks begin to form when Gillan left. Now, i absolutely adore Clara Oswin Oswald. The idea of her character was great. The execution, not so great. That becomes a theme in Moffat run. By the time Peter Capaldi got to throw on his sonic shades, Moffat was phoning sh*t in left and right, which is absurd because Capaldi is an excellent actor. How do yo outright waste such talent? There were a few sparks of amazing, a few brilliant episode, and f*cking Missy, ultimately though, Moffat went out with a fart instead of a bang. I think, toward the end there, Moffat was tired of the vehicle that made him a star. This brings my to current Who. The BBC installed one of the worse creatives in their social conscious to helm what could arguably be the biggest shift n Who since the first hiatus; A female Doctor.

Now, i was never one of these cats who cared if the Doctor had a Johnson or a Virginia, they’re immortal interdenominational aliens who regenerate their bodies after death. They can be whatever the f*ck they want to be at that point, except ginger, apparently. o be so butt-hurt that their precious Doctor now has boobies is ridiculous. Be upset about who they cast, bro. We’ve had excellent actors portraying the good Doctor for decades. Is this new one, female or not, going to carry that torch? Do they have the ability to do this legacy justice? That’s what should have been the focus, but it wasn’t, so the BBC was able to slide Chris Chibnall into the big chair. That is the problem with this show. A lot of Chibnall’s catalog seems to be crime serials. I’m intimately familiar with Broadchurch and i can make pretty accurate assumptions about Law and Order: UK. He was head writer fir Torchwood, but that ain’t Doctor Who. That’s a different show with a different feel. He’s actually written some of the worst episodes of Doctor Who in the new run, itself. Who’s favorite episode is f*cking “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship?” And the BBC put THIS guy in charge? No wonder the ratings are in the sh*tter, dude can’t write outside of crime dramas! There is a distinct lack of imagination there and it shows in his filmography. Just because you have a tenuous connection to Doctor Who, doesn’t mean you should be in charge of the entire goddamn show! Which is a shame because Jodie Whittaker is an amazing actor!

Jodie is the saving grace of this terrible run and it’s hard to see that with how drab her scripts have been. This feels a lot like how McGann got burned in the 90s but in a different way. Whittaker’s pedigrees is unassailable. Ma can act. She was great in attack the Block and the best goddamn thing about Broadchurch so stepping into the role of the Doctor; a role historically chock full of freedom for the actor to craft any sort of personality for the character, should have been a dream come true. it wasn’t. Whittaker was almost immediately boxed in by the BBC and Chibnall, forcing this weird, focus grouped, visage all over her. She was immediately expected to impersonate a cross between Smith and Tennant, something that sound awesome on paper but is absolutely impossible to pull off once you have a deep understanding about those two characters. 10 was a Doctor who had to live with the knowledge that he committed genocide on his own people. While he was able to smile and interact with others on a personable level, he kept people at an arms length. He abandoned the woman he loved in another dimension because of this fact. Because he feels he doesn’t deserve to be happy. 11 is the opposite. He forgot the number. He stopped counting. He allows himself to love again, both platonic and romantic. He doesn’t care about the Time War and it’s casualties, not anymore. This juxtaposition is impossible to reconcile and it makes for a sh*tty character with no tone, no agency, and no heart. And that’s the problem with this run of Doctor Who so far; There’s no heart.

It seems Chibnall has a rather short leash with this run of the Doctor. Not that he minds it, dude comes across has kind of an executive bootlicker from what I’ve seen. He’s a creative who isn’t all that creative; a writer who has good ideas and not a lick of understanding about how to execute them properly. I could be wrong, I’m not British, but i am observant and it appears to me that Chibnall is at his best when he’s adapting some sh*t or has a framework to build upon. Crime serials have that.They have a structure to their narrative. It you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all that’s why they’re called “serials”. Even with Torchwood, there was a world to build upon and cats to edit his scripts. Being the showrunner for Doctor Who has none of that. There is no structure. There is no framework. There is just pure possibility, awash in the fantastic. You have to have imagination to be in charge of Who and, as far as i can tell, Chibnall is lacking that aspect. He’s lacking heart. Doctor Who feels like Broadchurch, in more ways than one, and that i absolutely a sin. Who should feel like Who. It would be whimsical and tragic and uplifting and heartfelt and genuine. What Chibnall has created in these two series so far, feels like a product. This sh*t was pressed out, manufactured, with not even an ounce of love and that sucks. How can he be so jaded and he just got the job?

#Doctor Who

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smokeybrand · 4 years

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Heartless

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wrestlewriting · 7 years

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#80 [Kenny Omega]

Requested, #80: “Does he know about the baby?” - with the young bucks and Kenny omega? Like the reader is the young bucks sister who slept with Kenny?. (Prompt from here.)

Author note: This is straight up fluff and silliness. And ran long. Ohhh well.

@superkixbaybay @hiitsmecharlie @ihtscuddlesbeeetchx3 @valeonmars

Kenny Omega had come in to your life without preamble.

It felt like one second your brothers, The Young Bucks, were talking about “changes” in New Japan and Bullet Club, and the next you had a two-tone-haired man standing in front of you.

There were very few interactions between the two of you before you realized you had some attraction to him. At first, you’d just assumed it was physical, and had kept yourself from doing anything about it. But the more you were with him, the more you realized it was a lot more than just your body craving his.

Kenny was intelligent. Well-spoken. Funny. Genuine. Passionate. Caring. Trustworthy. Hardworking. Determined.

That last part was what really led to your current situation; you pressed against a shirtless Kenny in a heated kiss.

You had realized your attraction to him early on, and apparently he’d realized the same towards you. Except, unlike you, he wasn’t shy about it. Every time you were around him, he was flirty, forward, teasing. You tried to keep from reciprocating his actions, the thought of your brothers always at the front of your mind.

But Kenny didn’t give up, and eventually you gave in.

There was one catch: you demanded that you and Kenny not immediately reveal yourselves to your brothers.

Rendezvous in Japan were easy enough the times you were there with family and visiting. While most of Kenny’s time was spent with your brothers, he had enough of a separate life there that it wasn’t uncommon for them to be apart, allowing you time with just Kenny.

This was the first time Kenny had come to California since you’d begun your tryst. With your brother’s having families, you’d graciously offered to let Kenny stay with you. No one had blinked an eye at the idea.

And so now you were in your kitchen, hands everywhere that mouths weren’t. You’d intended to go for a run together, but had found a better use for your time.

It was the sound of the front door opening, and Nick’s voice shouting into your home, that caused you to shove off Kenny, and immediately put at least five feet between the two of you.

“What is he doing here?” you grumbled, looking at Kenny and then out the doorway towards the living room, Nick appearing there a moment later.

“Hey, what are you two doing?” he questioned, entering the kitchen and taking stock.

“About to go for a run,” you answered. “What are you doing here?”

“Picking up that stuff we left in your garage for dad’s birthday,” Nick clarified. “Matt’s coming; he’s just on the phone outside.”

“Gotcha,” you mumbled. Nick started a conversation with Kenny, and you tuned it out. You opted to grab your dog and take him out back, as a means to remove yourself from the situation and keep up the guise of normality.

Unfortunately, your plan was for naught.

As soon as you came back in the house, you knew something was…off.

“Nick knows we’ve been seeing each other,” Kenny reported with a tight, uncomfortable smile towards you.

You looked from Kenny to Nick, back to Kenny, trying to determine how this information had gotten out. You weren’t sure what to say. Nick was just staring at you, and you couldn’t at all read his expression for emotion.

As it tended to happen in uncomfortable and unfamiliar situations, your mouth worked faster than your brain.

“Does he know about the baby?”

You were pretty sure you’d never seen Nick’s eyes go so big or his mouth open as far as it did right then after you’d spoken.

“The WHAT?” he basically shrieked. “MATT! MATT, GET THE HELL IN HERE!”

“Dude, chill out,” you advised, quickly putting up your hands in defense, stepping towards him. “It was a joke!”

“WHAT.”

“What is going on?” Matt inquired, entering the kitchen finally.

You could only imagine how it looked to him; you standing in front of a shirtless Kenny, Nick staring at the two of you like you were inhuman beings.

“Our sister…she…Kenny…. Pregnant? But not… I don’t know,” Nick stammered out, his wide-eyed stare flying between everyone in the room.

“OK, wait, what?” Matt asked, narrowing his own eyes as he looked at you. “Explain.”

You sighed, knowing this was going to be an interesting conversation, to say the least.

“Look, Kenny and I…we kind of, got together? And it was probably stupid of us to try to hide it, but we did. So I…thought if I told Nick I was pregnant but I’m not, it would take some of the surprise off the truth because at least it’s not that, right?”

Both of your brothers just stared at you. Nick looked less shell-shocked but still uncertain. Matt looked annoyed at the entire situation, but somewhat amused. You had the wherewithal to at least look a little regretful about what had happened. Behind you, Kenny huffed out a chuckle.

“Not your best move,” he muttered.

“Shut up.”

“So you’re not pregnant?” Matt established.

“No.”

“But you’re sleeping with Kenny?”

“Repeatedly.”

“Ugh,” Nick groaned at your answer, putting his hands over his face.

“And you couldn’t just tell us this…why?” Matt inquired.

“Dude, as you’ve apparently missed it, the two of you aren’t exactly the calmest when it comes to me,” you pointed out. “You literally tried to murder Chuck Taylor once for smacking my ass, when we were both joking.”

“It was disrespectful.”

“He knows better.”

Your brothers spoke at the same time, causing you to roll your eyes, and gesture one hand as if to say ‘see, exactly, this’.

“I figured until we just had to tell you guys it wasn’t necessary,” you elaborated. “We’ve been having fun just sneaking around.”

“You have,” Kenny corrected. “I’ve been stressed out.”

“Can you, just, have my back, man? Damn!”

“I will go down with you for a lot of things, but not this,” he replied.

“Will you? Will you go down?” You raised your eyebrows, looking teasingly at Kenny over your shoulder, causing him to smirk.

“STOP!” Nick shouted. “For all that is good in the world, please, STOP TALKING.”

“What’s the matter Nicky? Can’t handle the truth? I have sex. And currently I’m doing it with your friend.”

“SHUT UP!” Nick shouted.

“Currently?” Kenny questioned.

“OK, OK, everyone, enough,” Matt interrupted, always the big brother. “This is just…this is too much right now. I think we all just need to walk away and regroup later tonight.”

“…regroup over what?” you inquired. “You’re both just gonna accept this whole thing and move on.”

“After I bleach my brain maybe,” Nick muttered.

“Oh, grow up!”

“STOP!” Matt demanded. “Look, Kenny, you’re my boy. Is this surprising? Hell yeah. But, honestly man, I couldn’t imagine a better dude with my sister. So let’s just…not make a big deal out of this and move on and…just, keep your hands to yourselves when we’re around please….”

“I might basically molest Ken in front of you,” you replied.

“I might like it,” Kenny stated, causing you to giggle and give him an exaggerated wink over your shoulder.

“…I’m beginning to understand how this whole coupling happened,” Matt decided, eyeing you and Kenny, looking somewhat entertained at your back and forth. Nick continued to just look put out over the entire situation.

“Just…yea, OK,” Nick finally mumbled. “I’m gonna get that stuff and leave now.”

“Good talk,” you said, rolling your eyes.

“What? I love you both. But this is a surprise. And it’s fine, but it’s gonna take a moment to get used to,” he explained. “So we’re gonna get that stuff, and I’m gonna go home, and pretend that the two of you are just here in separate rooms at all times.”

“You’re dumb,” you responded. Nick said nothing more, instead turning and pulling open the door that led from the kitchen in to the garage. He walked down the few stairs and disappeared out of sight. Matt looked at the two of you, shook his head with a laugh, and followed after.

“Well, that was fun,” you supposed, turning around to face Kenny again.

“Ya know, we really didn’t need to keep this from them.”

“Yes, we did,” you argued, stepping towards him again, sliding your arms around his waist. He reciprocated the action. “They’re wonderful brothers, don’t get me wrong. But if they knew at all three months ago what we started, that wouldn’t have been the reaction.”

“I think you’re wrong.”

“Well, what’s done is done,” you shrugged. “Seriously though, can we make them just hella uncomfortable at all times?”

“No.” Kenny didn’t even hesitate with his answer, causing you to pout.

“Booooo, you suck.”

“Actually sweetheart, that would be you.”

“Yea I do, and I do it well.”

“I CAN FUCKING HEAR YOU,” Nick’s voice carried in from the garage.

“JUST WAIT TIL YOU HEAR US FUCKING,” you shouted back over Kenny’s shoulder.

A moment later you watched as Nick stomped up the few stairs, glared at you, and then promptly pulled the door shut with force. You heard your garage door shutting a few seconds after that.

“So…guessing we’re alone again,” Kenny stated. “What to do now?”

“Ya know, we could go for that run,” you offered, gazing up towards him. “But there’s far better ways for us to exercise that I can think of.”

“Oh? Tell me your ideas,” he ordered, kissing your shortly, before gliding his lips across your cheek, and down to your neck.

“Well…”

#kenny omega imagine #kenny omega drabble #kenny omega fan fiction #kenny omega fanfic #kenny omega #wrestling fanfic #wrestling fan fiction #wrestling imagine #wrestling drabble #wrestling fan fic #wrestling requests

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artificialqueens · 7 years

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: Sinning Never Felt So Good : Chapter One : katyasbingowings

AN: a religious Matt and defiantly not religious Jason, mainly Pearlet with some cute lil Biadore and Trixya moments, hope you enjoy! :)

Matt would marry Jesus, if he had not been a male of course, or dead. Basically, Matt was your classic bible-loving, goody-two-shoes - one of the few students who attended St.Annes voluntarily, instead of being sent here to solve his delinquency. When he waved off his loving mother, Eve, and priest of a father, Adam (don’t ask), he giddily scanned his surroundings. Now, what Matt was expecting was equally thrilled peers, all ecstatic to be in such a religious and wonderful environment, cross necklaces, knee length skirts, the whole sha-bang. What Matt wasn’t expecting was an aura of pure misery, disgruntled goodbyes from both conflicted parents and children alike, at least four fellow students breathing out tar and nicotine, and defiantly not a brooding, long-haired figure examining him from afar - he could practically sense the dark-eyed gaze pierce his skin.

The skittish boy quickly focused his attention on the pebbled ground beneath him, now extremely self-aware of his actions and embarrassed that he was being watched - he could already tell that the boy was trouble (to be honest, Matt didn’t trust anyone who wore ripped jeans in the cold, it was simply illogical) and didn’t want their eye contact to be an invitation for interaction. When he glanced back up, the boy was gone, and Matt sighed in relief.

“Good arvo everyone! I’m Sister Courtney, follow me you bunch of you scamps and we’ll get you sorted out in no time!” Matt couldn’t help but giggle at the Australian slang that left everybody momentarily baffled, hearing some try to imitate - and completely butcher - the strong accent, before everyone eventually filled into the impressively large main hall. He was handed his timetable, a list of rules, and a key to his dorm. ‘BLOCK C - ROOM 4’: his new home.

Accompanied by a smile that hadn’t left Matt’s face since he arrived, the brunette practically skipped along to his new quarters, unlocking the door and bursting through with an overwhelming amount of enthusiasm. The first thing he noticed was the two single beds, quickly realising that he would be sharing the bedroom with a complete stranger, the idea somewhat worried the young one, but as a good Christian Matt would welcome his new friend with open arms. Beginning to unpack, the naive boy prayed he would be paired with someone nice, they’d say grace together each morning and night, share bread, and do whatever other religious nonsense running though the poor boy’s mind.

***

Jason wanted three things in life: a carton of cigarettes, designer clothes and a free pass at life. With a personality perfectly fit for reality TV, and a face for it too (as he would tell you), him and St.Annes didn’t seem like the ideal match. For one, he was far from religious, convinced he’d begin frothing at the mouth if he even stepped within fifty feet of a church. He wasn’t frothing yet, so at least that’s a positive. ‘Out of all the boarding schools they could have sent me to, why did it have to be one that bust a nut over the Old Testament’, Jason sighed at his thoughts and examined the endless list of rules that he was not planning on biding by.

While Matt had paid zero attention to the rule list, having already researched all the guidelines weeks in advance (his nightmare would be disrespecting the school on his first day after all), Jason viewed them in disgust:

1. No smoking  2. No drugs or other illegal substances  3. No alcohol  4. No visible piercings  5. No leaving dorms after curfew  6. No sexual activity  7. No leaving the school grounds  8. No chewing gum  9. Uniform must be worn at all times during school hours  10. No excessive makeup

Before he even finished the figurative novel of restrictions in front of him, a swamp-green haired female voiced his own thoughts, “this is bullshit.” Pretty much summed it all up.

“I second that,” Jason agreed, now fully examining the oddity beside him. She was tall, easily towering above him, the black knee-high heels probably helped that fact, but Jason knew he’d still be looking up at her even with them off. The mermaid-esque creature was also doused in various shades of glitter, as if she bathed in the shiny flakes before leaving the house. She was basically a mix between a cartoon character and doll, which both intrigued and amused Jason.

She turned towards his voice, smiling widely, joyed to discover a fellow punk-rock, party-lover who was ready to throw these rules aside and actually make their time in this shithole an enjoyable one. “I’m Adore!”

“Adore? We’re your parents high when naming you or did they just hate you?” Jason cackled, blatantly demonstrating his lack of filter, luckily Adore was too high (on life and life alone) to care about Jason’s rude demeanour.

“Well my parents named me Danny, but I thought Adore was a more suited for a mythical beauty from another world like myself,” she adjusted her shorts that had began to ride up, somehow higher than they already were, and continued bantering with her new friend. Jason introduced himself also, and the two quickly realised they had both been banished to St.Annes under the same reasoning: smoking, partying and sucking dick. The twosome were shedding tears of laughter after this realisation, earning strange looks from a silver-haired boy clutching onto a leather- bound bible with dear life, and a disgruntled demand to shush from Sister Courtney.

After a solid ten minutes the pair had calmed down, Adore pulled a cigarette from her bra, gestured to the door as an invitation, though Jason just shook his head. “I’m gonna check out my roomie, make sure he’s not a psycho bible-basher,” the dark-haired boy explained, “and to check if he’s cute,” he added with a wink. Adore dismissed him by merely stating ‘party’ and strolling off.

***

Matt was a stickler for rules, and they were specifically instructed to find their rooms and get unpacked immediately, so when his roomie was still vacant after a generous half an hour, Matt knew the pairing were not going to be compatible. He, however, had already changed into the uniform provided, reread the rules twice - just to make sure, and secured his own personal cross above his bed.

Dinner was in an hour, and just as Matt’s frustration over a lack of company grew, the door opened. Opened was a loose term, thrown would probably suit the action better, as the door slammed into the wall with such a force that Matt’s treasured cross was knocked onto the soft comforter below. Matt released an almost comical gasp, immediately rushing over to fix it back in its rightful place, all while Jason stared at the boy.

At that moment, Jason went through a spiral of emotions. His venture began with amusement, what could he say, this vulnerable religious boy cooing over a mere cross was considerably amusing. Then annoyance, realising that he was forced to room with a stuck-up freak whose kink was the bible - he brought his own cross from home, who brings more crosses to a bloody religious school, it’s not like they needed anymore. Though Jason could just about put up with all of that, as that boy was unbelievably attractive and Jason was easily won over (that’s a nicer way of phrasing that Matt’s face alone made him undeniably ‘excited’).

‘God I haven’t talked to you, like at all, maybe that one time when I broke my leg and thought I was going to die, but that’s beside the point. I want to send my most grateful thanks for creating that boy’s face, that is all. A-to-the-fuckin-men.’

Matt immediately recognised his new roommate as the boy who had stared him down earlier, the one who must have cold knees from the impractical rips in his trousers, and to be honest, the milky-skinned creature observing him again made him undeniably agitated. Though the bible preached finding the positive aspects in everybody you encounter, so he had no choice but to give the obvious delinquent the benefit of the doubt. “Hello there, I’m Matt! I guess we’ll be roommates for a while, so we best get used to each other!”

To Jason, this was a higher dose of enthusiasm than he could handle, so he merely muttered ‘Jason’ and threw himself onto the leftover, unclaimed mattress. Every time Matt’s peppy voice piped up, Jason merely grunted in reply, and eventually fell asleep to a truly fascinating tale about a pregnant choir singer.

“And so she was in the middle of the chorus, and her water broke, right there in the middle of church, and -”

***

Jason was disgusted by what this church considered food, so with a plate stacked with cross shaped tator-tots, he searched for somebody who wasn’t going to rant about Satan (or whatever religious people spent their free time discussing). He soon recognised Adore sat next to scrawny blonde woman, and joined the pair.

“Hey baby girl!” Adore welcomed as he sat opposite the other-worldly individual, “I was gonna order pizza cause the foods tastes like actual arse, but the nearest place apparently got yelled at by Courtney the last time they brought pizza here or some shit, and now they’re too scared to come back.”

“But that is not the even best part, Adoor, you offered to eat his pepperoni do you not remember,” Jason cackled along with the tale, and immediately clocked the thick Russian accent the woman sported, “I go by the name of Katya in this American land my friend, and you?”

“Jason. Are you from Russia?” He asked, pushing the so called 'food’ around his plate, pizza honestly sounded so good right now.

“No Shit Sherlock,” Adore drawled sarcastically, causing Jason to playfully kick her beneath the table, before turning his attention back to his new acquaintance.

“No, no, Adoor this is a sensible question, I could have been from many a place. But yes I am from Russia, though I much prefer the Americas, it’s not as cold so I do not have to wear so much fur of the dead animal!”

The conversation continued along that nature, Jason soon learning that Katya and Adore ended up being roommates, and Jason venting about his extremely attractive yet bible-worshipping roomie, until the one and only topic of conversation strolled past. Matt’s eyes were frantically darting around, trying to find an empty table to perch at to avoid awkward conversations with strangers, he was having no luck in the matter.

“Thats him,” Jason pointed out, and he kid you not, Adore and Katya were the least subtle people to ever walk the halls of St.Annes, case in point:

“That one?” Katya asked, arm stretched and pointed directly at the brunette, Matt and all those around him turning to towards her, curious to what spectacle was occurring in the previously lifeless dining hall.

“Jason you were right that man right there is bomb.com.org.co.uk,” Adore voiced, which - again - everyone overheard. Even the neighbouring table agreed, muttering various compliments under their breaths towards the baffled Matt.

“His bum bum is very cute,” Katya just had to add. Adore hummed in approval. And who’s kidding, Jason also hummed in approval.

Matt was completely frazzled by half the hall of students gazing his way, all apparently appreciating his arse and gawking at his physical appearance. Matt looked for the source of commotion, and of course, he made eye contact with a smirking Jason seated at a nearby table, partnered by two fairly unconventional looking women. Be a good Christsin Matt, be nice, smile, and be on your way. As he was about to saunter off as far away from the scene as he could, Jason gestured for him to take a seat. Matt swallowed, hard.

’Weird company is better than no company I guess.’ Matt thought, quietly sitting down beside his new roommate.

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