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hanasnx · 6 months

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❝ mercury: retrograde. ❞

── batman x reader

MINORS DNI 18+ WORD COUNT: 2k SUMMARY: after your failed attempt to recover the last pieces of joker present in the victims of his diseased blood donation, you discover a mystery about the batman in both body and spirit. NOTES: during the events of batman: arkham knight, when harley quinn tries to reclaim the joker-ified victims from panessa studios. the reader is somewhat in the place of harley quinn WARNINGS: f!reader | explicit sexual content | implied creampie | unprotected sex | established relationship: enemies to lovers | size difference | slapping (m receiving) | previous relationship with joker is implied.

You stir at the feeling of strong grips handling your waist, the heavy haze of unconsciousness fading as you’re lifted from the ground. Memories gradually return with each inch gained, and your eyelids flutter open, the dull light stinging your gaze. The motion of you being punctually raised to your feet only to be thrown over the shoulder of none other than the BATMAN is jarring to say the very least. “Hey. Hey!” you interject when you come to, your mouth finally catching up with your brain as your stomach makes contact with his armored shoulder, and the wind is knocked from your lungs.

“Take Charisma back to the cells. I’ll catch up.” he orders the newest Boy Wonder. A man clad in red and green holds Johnny Charisma in a similar fashion to your position, mirroring you.

Robin nods, and sees himself out. “Don’t take too long.” he jests, and if you were paying more attention you would’ve rolled your eyes. Instead, you’re much too busy running your mouth with any kind of noise, kicking your feet, and banging your fists against the Bat’s lower back. With each blow, the cape bounces back to brush your angry hands, and in a brief fascination you clutch onto the foreign material with the intent to rip it. Of course, it doesn’t, and you consider the possibility of tearing into it with your teeth as you would duct tape. To calm your writhing legs, he straps an arm around your thighs, lumbering along with you on his shoulder as if you simply weren’t there. It’s dizzying being all the way up here, the Bat towers over most everyone… it’s that or all the blood that’s rushed to your head. He enters a different room than where Robin went, and momentarily you entertain the fact he seeks to interrogate you. But what could you possibly know that the Bat wants? It was always Joker with the big ideas. Now that he’s gone, you’ve been trying replace him as the Head Guy but it’s just not the same.

So you thrash. You move your body in any way you can think of, anything to loosen his vice-like grasp on you, but he is infallible. Taking you deeper into this abandoned set in Panessa Studios. “Put me down—! Hey! Are you listening to me? I said, put- me- down— Oh!” Your commands are interrupted by your own squeak of surprise as he unceremoniously drops you, landing on your feet with a bounce as your countenance shifts to one of endearing disbelief. You rally, skewing your features to convey indignity. “How dare you?” you scold, but it’s grossly performative. You raise your hand, punctuating your disdain for him with a sharp slap of admonishment to his cheek. It reverberates in this empty room, and his neck has craned from the force. Perhaps out of respect. You’ve seen this freak throw grown men across the room, you’re sure he feels nothing but a sting on his skin. So you give him another one, smacking him to pivot him to the other side.

“Touching a lady like that! You should know better! I’m wearing a skirt! Anyone could’ve seen! What would my men think of their boss if they’ve seen her panties? Huh? Do you have any idea what it takes to be a leader in this economy?” With each passing phrase, your voice heightens shriller, the emotion of the scene getting to you, but he is unaffected. Slowly, he faces you, opening his eyes to meet your vindictive gaze. “You—! You’re the one that killed him, if he were still alive I wouldn’t have to be in this mess—“ your tone cracks at the mention of the Joker, and a desperate sort of need takes you over. You throw yourself onto the statuesque vigilant who remains expressionless as you clutch onto whatever purchase his tight armor possesses, climbing up his chest to his collar.

Your instability is cause for your sudden shift in depression and wrath; one second you’re clinging onto him, shaking him (or more accurately, shaking yourself using him and his immovable body), and the next you’re pinching your features into a frown and weakly banging your fists against his chest for round two. They glance off, and he stares down at you. It takes you an inappropriate amount of time to question how long he’s been letting you do this to him, until he side-steps you. Comically, you fall forward from the loss of balance, the lack of his beam-like support causing you to stumble and clumsily regain your footing to round on him.

“Enough.” he commands, and his recognizably annoyed tone sets your lips into a thin line. “Tell me what you know.” Inviting himself into your space, this dark towering figure stoops to your level, forcing you to arch back as he imposes.

You audibly gulp, scanning his form. He notes that. That scares you. So you attempt to throw him off the trail, taking a step back so you have room to straighten, cross your arms, and stick your nose in the air. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” you insist, and wiggle your shoulders, peeking at him through your closed eyes to gauge his reaction. You don’t have time to react before his huge glove has enclosed in the puffy fabric of your sleeve, yanking you back to him. Instinctively, you reach out, bracing against his chest so you won’t trip again. A furtive glance is paid to your hand’s position on his emblem, and when you meet his gaze he’s already looking at yours.

“You’re here for the patients. You think they’ve got the potential to replace him, don’t you?” Just like that, he ruins the moment with his big mouth.

You scowl, lifting yourself on your toes as if that’ll intimidate him. “They are him!”

“He’s dead!” The anger behind his words admits how resentful he is that you won’t deal with the Joker’s death.

“Because of you!”

“Don’t be stupid.” An alarming shift in his tone conveys an uncharacteristic smugness, one that creases your brow in bewilderment because of how likely the phrase sounded like Batman was about to laugh at you. “How long are you going to live in that fantasy?”

“I—” you begin, but a flash catches you off-guard. Untensing, you search his eyes for that flash again. A glint. A glimpse of that familiar viridian. You’ve looked into Batman’s eyes countless times, you know his irises are colored blue. But for one single second, you could’ve sworn you saw a little of J in there. As if you weren’t in control of your own body, you take a step forward. A great sense of relief overcoming you at the sight of green blooming faithfully in Batman’s eyes. “It’s you…” you muse in wonder, your gentle hands coming to cup his rough face, your fingertips grazing the helmet’s smooth material.

If you didn’t know any better, you’d say you stunned the Bat. But he doesn’t let it last long, growling in offense as he uses your abused top to toss you against a prop wall. You clatter against the hollow wood, meagerly propped up by the 2x4s on the other side. His massive fist nails the surface right by your head, and you’re too in awe to flinch.

“Tell me what I want to know!” The Batman orders, and you know exactly what to tell him. You pounce on him, draping your body all over his armor as you wrap your arms around his neck.

“Oh, I’ve missed you so much!” you exclaim. You had no idea a little taste of Joker blood had infiltrated the Big Bad Bat. Here he is, right in front of you again. Old feelings come flooding back as your lips peck at whatever is in reach, punctuated with audible “muahs.”

He recoils, but your grip only tightens, clinging onto him until he pries you off by his hands on your wrists.

“Oh, baby,” you croon, bending over to show him your cleavage as you wiggle it for him. “Why you gotta make me wait, huh? Didn’t you miss me too?” Your wrists, suspended in mid-air, make your arousal run impossibly deeper. Firmly enclosed in his big hands, restrained, you could jump out of your own skin. You tilt your head at him as he observes you, as unperturbed as ever, and you wonder if he’s fighting off the Joker-persona that takes over. “You know you want it…” you exhale, lusty and provocative. “I know you do. Whether you’re the Bat or the Joke I know you want me.” you test. Your tongue licks at the lipstick on your lips. “Don’t worry,” you whisper, desperate. “I won’t tell anyone.”

This is not the first time he’s been tempted by you, yet he finds it more difficult than the last to refuse you. He allows you to take a step closer. “Fuck it.” he says, and you squeal with delight as he scoops you up, pinning you back to the wall. You slam your lips to his, and he eagerly accepts you. The kind of kiss that’s fucking sloppy. Disgusting. As reserved and formal as he is in kissing you, you’re far too disorderly for that. All tongue, you thrust it out between your lips to shove it into his, enthusiastic in playing with his. Surprisingly, he accepts it but doesn’t match your energy as you tongue-fuck his mouth. You trace it over all the wrong places, giddy in the notion you know what the inside of Batman’s mouth feels like. You line it over his his teeth until you’re sure you could recreate his dental print from memory.

It all happens so fast. One second you’re making out, sucking on his tongue like it’s his cock, the next his utility belt is on the floor and his actual cock is rearranging your insides. He’s a lot bigger than your old boss.

“Fuck, fuck! Right there, right there!” you mewl your praises, wet pussy gratefully slurping up his every inch. It’s unfathomable how long you’ve gone without proper dick, and something about the way he’s bullying his way into you hits the spot. Everything from the angle of fucking you against this wall, to the gruff and animalistic exhales he expels with each thrust has your pretty eyes rolling into the back of your head. “Oh, my fucking God! Who knew you could fuck like this? If I’d’ve known you feel this good I would’ve hopped on your bat-cock years ago.” Mindless, stupid ramblings of a thankful whore, reeling from his thick fingers that leave bruises in the flesh of your thighs. He’s relatively quiet, letting you do the talking, perhaps he already regrets his decision to screw you but it’s too late now. Whatever implication this proves he’s not stopping to examine the morality of it, chasing his high and using your body to do it.

The familiar tremor in your thighs lets you know how close you really are, clawing at his armor. His hand cups your jaw, tucking your chin into the web of his thumb, pinching your cheeks together a bit as he adjusts you to look at him. “You wanna finish?” he asks through the grit in his teeth, and you nod furiously, stifled by his hold.

“Yes. Yes, baby, I wanna finish. I wanna cum.” you whine, seeking to please him.

“Promise to be good?”

A stinging thrill shoots up your spine originating from your sex. You had no idea he was into that kind of stuff, nor implementing it. You go crazy for it. Once again, you nod furiously. Whatever that definition entailed— to be good— you would do it. Anything for him. “I promise, I promise. I promise to be good, I promise.”

You find out later being good entails being thrown into a cell to await policy recovery. Oh, but it was fucking worth it.

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purelyfiction · 3 months

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stars in a line - robert 'bob' floyd x f!reader

Word Count: 1,207 words

Summary: Chicken's in the skillet, ice in the drink, head's in the clouds, diamond's in the rough, he's in a Chevy and I'm in love // Tips in the apron, hair's in a braid, Mercury's all in retrograde // He's in a T-shirt all cleaned up, Good lord almighty, mama don't wait up // Chills down my spine, hearts on the line, He's all mine and I'm in love

Content Warning: fluff!! also note of animal abandonment

Author Note: another round for @ohtobeleah 's galentines writings :))))))

the familiar rumble of the older engine makes your features split with a smile. when bob had told you he was gonna drive his truck from montana to california you thought he was losing his mind.

then he'd explained why he was so insistent.

that he'd taken you out in that '87 Chevy all those years ago. after weeks of coming into the diner you worked in after school, dozens and dozens of milkshake and fry basket combos (and subsequent heartburn) just so he could hang out with you. he'd gotten up the nerve to finally ask you out. that truck had been your front row seats at the drive in watching a rerun of some old army movie his dad had recommended.

he'd taken the two of you to prom in that truck. to high school graduation, your college graduation. when the engine died on you while he was stationed in atlanta he'd taught you how to fix the thing via facetime.

beverly the chevy had been there for so many of your big moments. she'd been the reason why bob ended up buying the house that you stood contently in.

'bev is gonna need a place out of the elements if she's gonna stay top notch.'

this house had been the only one with a two car garage. one side for bev and one side for your car.

now when the engine rumbles echoed in the garage and made the older house vibrate, you couldn't help but grin. the sizzling of chicken in a skillet on the stove greets bob when he steps into the kitchen. he's greeted with the smell and a bottle of wine in a pile of ice in the sink. the door to the garage shuts, and you glance over your shoulder. when you do, you're witnessing the brown paper bouquet in his hands, white t-shirt on his shoulders, levis hugging his waist, trucker cap right where it belongs. he knows what this does to you. it's a simple look, nothing more than the basics but that's what does it. it highlights him. the man you love, bare bones and all.

the same man you fell for in that truck bed all those years ago.

he slides his boots off and wraps his arms around you from behind you, showing off the flowers he carried in. "happy flowers to you," he's humming now, making you giggle as his arms tight around you start bouncing you back and forth as he sings to the tune of 'happy birthday', "happy flowers to you, happy flowers, happy flowers, to my valentine youuuuuu" he punctuates the end of the song with a sloppy kiss to your cheek as you ease the weight of the florals from his hand.

"these are stunning, bo." you grin as he lets go, letting you turn to face him fully as he smiles.

"i know, i picked 'em cause they remind me of you." bob grins before pressing a quick kiss to your lips, barely pulling back when he speaks again, "happy valentines, sweet girl." you repeat the sentiment before he takes the arrangement and starts to get them into water.

you can't help but stare as he begins trimming the ends of each stem, easing them into the vase. you can smell the freshness of his body wash, having showered on base before he came home to you. couldn't waste time on your night together - and he knew it. the combination on him is near lethal to you. if you weren't actively cooking dinner, the counter would have been supplying a different kind of heat to the kitchen.

"i bought you something!" you nearly startle him with your sudden announcement, the reminder of your gift hitting you as you watch him. running down the hall causes the pup in the living room to chase after you, causing you and bob to both laugh.

shadow had been an unplanned addition to your lives because the poor pup appeared on your back deck one night. the collar on his neck held your current address. the previous owners had barely been involved with the process of the sale, so you didn't have their contact information to tell them hey assholes, you left your dog.

so, you and bob joked that the house came with a guardian, a black lab and german shepherd mix (bob got his dna tested out of infuriating curiosity). he quickly clung to the two of you - thus 'shadow'.

you lug the box into the kitchen, where bob has kept an eye on the meal you had recklessly abandoned. looking at you he huffs a gasp. "sweet girl, this is unnecessary." he laughs, taking the wrapped gift from your arms and sliding it onto the counter. still, he tears into it and reveals the milkshake maker, making him laugh, looking over at you with a grin. "that why you got your hair all done like this?" he grins, his fingers moving over the braid you'd plaited this morning.

"maybe." you hum, kissing his cheek as he looks over the box holding the machine. that diner the two of you met in had closed not long after you moved to san diego. you'd spent hours there and he'd once complimented the ribbon in your hair when it was woven into the braid on your head. recently, bob had mentioned how he'd missed those milkshakes they'd always made him.

he grins, before tucking his hand into his pocket. "hold out your hand." you hold it out as he asks, palm up. what he sets into your palm catches you off guard.

you'd been expecting something small, likely a jewelry box or something, like the years before.

instead a little metal circle is dropped into your palm. shining and glimmering. diamonds along it like stars in a line. your spine is electrified with chills, as your jaw drops as you look at him in awe. "bob, what-you-"

"i can get on my knee if you want, i'm just- i'm so in love with you. i'm truly in awe of you and how valid you make me feel. how valued and cherished i feel - how you listen," his head nods to the machine on the counter, "and you care and you never fail to be the best. just simply the best. i hope that i am for you-"

cutting him off you speak, "and you are," he laughs.

"then i wanna continue being that for you. for forever." you're sliding the new piece of jewelry onto your ring finger before he can get the words out, your arms slinking around his shoulders and linking your lips with his.

when you pull back, you grin.

"you're mine. i'm all yours and i'm in love. i'm so in love with you. with our life and the path we're on." you whisper. his hand takes a hold of your arm before the two of you jump at the sound of a smoke detector, both of you scrambling to clear the kitchen of smoke.

when the alarm is off and the burnt chicken is tossed, you smirk as you pull ice cream from the fridge.

"ice cream for dinner?" you try. bob grins.

"how about milkshakes instead?"

#bob floyd x reader #top gun maverick #top gun #top gun fanfiction #top gun fic #top gun maverick fanfiction #bob x reader #bob floyd #robert floyd x you #robert floyd x y/n #robert floyd x reader #robert x reader #robert bob floyd #bob floyd smut #bob floyd x f!reader #bob floyd fic #bob floyd fanfiction

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saturns7moon · 6 days

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ASTRO OBSERVATIONS P2 ٩(˘◡˘)۶

hihi everybodyyyyy, astro observations p2, let’s gooo 😋.

personally!!! i’ve seen that a lot of venusian influence within a family can show instances of having health issues linked back to sweet foods. like for example, my taurus mother is a pre-diabetic, and she’s told me that it generally runs throughout our family. i don’t have diabetes but i’ve noticed how me and my siblings have a really bad sweet tooth. eating too many sweets makes my (7H taurus moon and mars, sidereal libra sun and rising) tooth ache, the youngest (taurus rising, sidereal pisces stellium) has been scolded a lot for eating way too much sugar as well. same as i, lol.

now question for my fellow taurus placements. how do u feel about cooking? are you good at it?

i’m crying, right after i wrote this, i was scrolling on tiktok and there’s this video of this woman, meg deangelis, who says that one thing that she can never understand is when people say they can’t cook, and she’s basically saying how it baffles her. i had an inkling, so i searched up her chart and she’s a taurus sun and aries venus 😭. taurus people are commonly stereotyped to liking food a lot, which makes sense since taurus is the more down-to-earth side of venus, and venus is about comforts, and taureans find comfort in food! aries is ruled by mars, aka planet of war and what-not, and i’ve found that aries placements mixed alongside taurus placements love to cook in the kitchen because the kitchen is known to hold sharp cutlery in there, which commonly used whilst cooking.

i was listening to criminal by britney spears earlier today, and i swear that song is so so 7H mars coded. like falling for someone that isn’t the best of the best or people being against who you love like. i still can’t word it properly, but if you’re a libra rising/taurus rising/7H mars (scorpio/aries/venusian mars can count as well depending on aspects!!) please listen to the song (specifically whilst watching the music video🧍🏾‍♀️) or read the lyrics and tell me you understand what i’m talking bout 😭. like i know y’all would get it 😭‼️

^ also “why try” by ariana grande feels the exact same to me toooo omg.

having an afflicted 3H, 7H and 11H is literally my villain origin story. like it’s either i have no friends, i get bullied/outcasted or i go through the WORST friendship breakups ever like oooooh whoever has it out for me did a good job bro 🤧🤥.

(i have a 3H capricorn chiron, 7H moon and mars, virgo rules my 11H, and my mercury (sagittarius) is afflicted, i was never gonna win bro 😭)

a mutual of mine on twitter said something that i completely agree with, and it’s basically saying how having any ill feelings towards someone like, for example what she talking about, beauty can really damage ur venus personally. like, people who are severely racist for example, do y’all see how they age or look so ugly because they were berating how other people look specifically. or people who hate on women are just naturally nasty to be around. they don’t have to be physically ugly (they usually are tho) but you can tell by how they treat women what rewards and punishments they receive in life.

does that make sense? let me know guys 😭.

i absolutely love when i have my venus return/when venus is in capricorn because i feel so so pretty which makes so much sense considering in sidereal astrology i’m a libra rising ruled by my sagittarius venus, like i love all things venus, and when venus is in capricorn/sidereal sagittarius, i feel so good. which makes a lot of sense on why i don’t really care for or feel irritated when mars returns to taurus (or sidereal aries) because aside from the fact that i never really related to being martian ruled, my natal mars is literally retrograde, so yeah mars returns are not my favourites at ALL 😭.

(actually i take it back it’s not that i feel irritated? i just don’t think anything significant happens to me during my mars returns. i probably need to go check personally in my own time, but yeah. i just backtracked since in both my tropical and sidereal chart, i’m martian and venusian either way 😭.)

what’s ur favourite planetary return?

“bedtime story” by frank ocean (unreleased!!) is the most scorpio venus ass song i’ve ever heard in my life…i love it so so much sigh. the poetic, angsty, yearning that a scorpio conjures up because who could honestly be better at being so deeply consumed by emotions than scorpio? (many many other signs but it’s not about them rn!!)

yknow a while back i did a part one for sos the album by sza as the signs, and i haven’t made a part two but would y’all like another part!? or would you like me to do this with other albums? let me know pls 🧍🏾‍♀️.

this is probably common knowledge amongst other astrologers, but i definitely believe that virgos, specifically the risings, are so mean to their selves is because their 12H is ruled by the sun, and whilst the 12H is the shadow side of ourselves that we choose to hide from, as much as they would like to hide, virgos have their shadow side constantly in their face as the sun shines so hard on everything they aren’t ready to touch or aren’t ready to see. whether it’s their selves personally or others around them, there’s an underlying sense of dread that they live with because they know that no matter where they run, their mind will always remind them of what they choose to hide underneath, which results in the fear that people/society (scorpio 3H) will see the absolute worst of who they truly believe they are, and judge them ruthlessly for it (aquarius 6H).

one thing i’ve noticed is whilst saturn in pisces has been transiting my 5H, is the romantic side of my life has been lacking so much 😭. like coming april would make a year since i last had a crush on someone, which is funny to me since i used to crush on ppl so often. however, it makes sense since saturns main themes are about structure, discipline and what you want to create in the long-term, and i’ve noticed that i don’t just want to even have small crushes or what not on others because not everyone meets my standards (structure) and i want my first relationship with someone to mean something and to become something (long-term plans involving relationships) and nobody around me has given me that, so the lack in my love life is mainly just because i’m sticking to my standards and they haven’t been met yet 🤷🏾‍♀️. saturns job is to make you understand what you truly want and what you don’t want or what isn’t benefiting you, and since saturn had gone direct back in november, i’ve definitely been noticing this, especially since we’re in a saturnian season rn (aquarius) and valentine’s day just passed lmao. so just to give an example or help you understand how saturn has been impacting you, let’s say saturn is trainsiting your 9H and you’re in education, maybe you’re realising the course that you’re on isn’t for you, or your long-term plans just don’t mesh well with what your studying for yknow or you could realise how you’ve started building more around your education in regards to what you want in place for you in the future.i’m also using that example since saturn is currently trining my 9H and i’ve realised university is definitely not what i want to go through with after i graduate college tbh.

thinking about how majority of my planets are in my 1H-7H axis (1H sun and jupiter, 7H moon and mars) and how i genuinely can have the choice to create multiple identities 😭. to explain, when i was born, my mum gave me three names. mae, lola and the last one i don’t wanna disclose lmao, but i saw a tweet a while back talking about how your name(s) can definitely link back to your birth chart, and remembering this again makes me love astrology a whole lot more tbh.

(actually i lied i have 4 different names, but that name is very very close/similar to my younger sisters name as well and i can never tell the bloody difference 😭, but y’all get my yapping.)

feeling tired or like u can’t be bothered to do shit???? the moon is most likely void of course or your mars/moon is negatively aspecting (square, opposite, conjunct) transit mars/moon. when the moon is void of course, it’s basically just a period of time (usually less than a day i believe) when the moon is literally like not aspecting anything in the sky, so she’s wandering around until she transitions into another sign. usually astrologers say that during this time, it’s difficult for ppl to make plans or have any motivation to do anything as ppl are less likely to make solid decisions about anything in general, to summarise, it makes ppl lazy 🤥!!

having 1H synastry with anyone depending on the planet is so interesting to watch from an outside perspective, because you can either see two people adore one another’s energy or be completely revolted by one another. like for example my best friend has my younger sisters aquarius stellium in her 1H and it’s hilarious to me how much those two dislike each other, and then not too long ago my best friend told me how my sister reminded her a lot of herself at my siblings current age and it just clicked for me lmao.

i’ve noticed that people with a mix of aries, gemini with a small dash of water in their chart have such a hard time processing their emotions or are just very abrasive when it comes to their emotions, putting practically over emotions most of the time, leaving people to perceive them as quite emotionally stunted or selfish to be honest. i’ve noticed that it’s commonly believed that these types of people don’t really care for others as much as people care for them, leaving a lot of miscommunication within these relationships, especially if the other person is water heavy compared to them.

hi yes this is long overdue, i’m very very sorry, i just lost motivation to continue with my stuff and life unfortunately has been a mess to keep up with! i’m not gonna promise anything new cus knowing me i’ll probably dip for awhile again, but hopefully you all liked these observations and pls leave ur thoughts and opinions in the replies, i always enjoy hearing what you guys have to say :)

okay bye bye, lots of love, lola <3.

#astrology observations #astro notes #astro observations #synastry #synastry observations #sidereal astrology #sidereal astrology observations #sidereal astro observations

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chouxsardine · 5 months

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Permission to Fall -- Jake Kiszka x reader

Summary: "Don't be afraid of falling, because he will catch you everytime" --Where things became too much at your company's Christmas party and Jake comes to the rescue as the most thoughtful boyfriend that he is.

Pairing: Jake Kiszka x reader

Word Count: 3211

Warnings: descriptions of a panic attack, feet (nothing gross or super detailed), a drop of superstition (let me know if I've missed any)

Genre: Fluff, hurt/comfort

Author's note: This is originally an idea inspired by @jakesguitarsolo and written for her. I hope you feel better now, dear. One idea spins into me pulling an all nighter...And here it is. This also goes to whoever feels stressed around this time of the year. Yes, things are tough, but you are stronger. I am so proud of you. If you want to talk, feel free to send me an ask or message. This is my first gvf fic and my first time writing anything for threes years. I really enjoyed writing it. I hope you enjoy reading it too.

🎧: I am listening to I Need You Most of All by Stephen Sanchez while writing this (you can tell the title is taken from the lyrics)

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Suddenly everything is too much.

But you know damn well that it doesn’t just happen “suddenly”. In fact, shit has been building up for days, or even weeks. You don’t know if it’s the end-of-year frenzy getting into everyone’s head, Mercury is in retrograde, or the depleted Vitamin D levels due to shortened daylight, you’ve had it particularly rough recently, from small inconveniences like your favourite snack being out of stock at the local grocery store for three consecutive weeks to mishaps like you taking the blame for your impotent coworker. You are exhausted, to say the least; you couldn’t wait for the holidays. Not entirely for its cheer, but for the few precious days off. You just need a break from everything.

Now you are stuck in your company’s holiday party. The annual event that you dreaded the most. It involves too many fake smiles, false-hearted small talk, and tooth-rotting-sweet cupcakes that clearly have too much food colouring. All the mental preparing goes south as you stand in the room, the stabbing pain from your high-heels growing more and more unbearable by the second. Too many people.

“Just another thirty minutes, you can do it. Just another thirty minutes”. You hopelessly glance at the clock on the wall, flashbacking to your childhood self squirming in the seats waiting for math class to end.

But of course, something has to make matters worse. The real straw that breaks the camel’s back is your clumsy coworker accidentally bumping into you and spilling her drink on your shoes.

“Oh my god, I am so so sorry, y/n!” She hastily apologizes in a high-pitched squeal. A few people turn their heads toward your direction.

“No, no, it’s okay, don’t worry about it.” Embarrassment. Embarrassment. Panic. Trouble. You try to wave her off. The shoes aren’t even your top concerns right now; you just want her to stop talking and stop attracting more unwanted attention.

“Really? Oh I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to! It’s just—”

“Please.” You take the handful of tissues from her, look her in the eyes, almost pleading, “It’s fine. Please excuse me, I’ll just go to the washroom real quick.”

Once the washroom door is closed behind you, you feel like collapsing right there on the floor. You wobble your way to the sink, arms propped up on the cold marble surface. You don’t dare to look at yourself in the mirror. Your ears are buzzing and the twisted feeling in your lungs tightens. As if a cold hand is wringing a wet towel inside your stomach, as if someone is shoving your head into cold water, you can't breath properly. You try to draw a breath, but end up sounding like a stranded whale. Before it develops into a full-blown panic attack that you can’t handle, you managed to muster the last bit of your sanity and dial that number with trembling fingers.

Jake picks up on the second ring.

“Hi, love. What’s up? ”

Upon hearing his voice, your tears break free. You are sobbing so hard that you have to bite down on your knuckles to keep the volume down. God forbid any busybody out there overhearing sobbing coming out of the washroom. “Ja—Jake—-”You struggled to form a coherent syllable.

“What’s wrong, y/n? Are you hurt?” His voice immediately grows sterner, stripped of of the previous languidness.

To talk under this state feels like squeezing words out of your veins. “Ca—can—you..come p—pick me up? Company—p-party.” You stutter through gritted teeth.

There is some shuffled noise over the phone, a loud bang sounding like he had bumped into something, a silent “fuck” under his breath, then his voice reaches your ears again: “Coming right now, baby, take a deep breath for me.”

You hear the faint beeping of car keys. More shuffled noise. More beeping. That means he has started the car, right? That means he will be here soon, right? You mind is racing and spinning and your lungs are still acting up, only allow silvers of oxygen into your body. You feel like you are watching the world through a distorted filter. A scarier thought jumps into your brain: you whiny puny thing, continue crying and your panic will affect Jake. The roads are slippery now, and it will be all your fault if he ends up in a car accident.

As if being slapped in the face, you manage to suck in a deep breath like a scuba diver resurfacing to the water: “Drive safe please, please Jake, please—I will wait for you.”

Jake makes a sound that is somewhat between a relieved laugh and a resigned sigh. He knows instantly what’s going on in your overthinking brain; you are worried about him. The thoughtfulness must be engraved in y/n’s brain, he thought, always, always putting others in front of herself, even when she’s having a panic attack. And Jake knows you are correct. It is only upon hearing your words that he realizes how hard he was gripping the steering wheel. He recomposes himself, relaxing his shoulder, “Don’t you worry about me, love. I will stay on the phone if that makes you feel better, yeah? Ain’t nothing gonna happen to me.”

“Knock on wood!” You hiss between sobbing, frantically searching for any wooden material around you. Damn it, why is everything so shiny and glassy?

Jake is amazed that he even lets out a short laugh under the circumstances. Yes, his heart aches hearing his girl being a mess over the phone, and he wishes he could grow wings and fly to her side. But meanwhile, he can't help but find you cute like this. He knocks three times on the mini wooden tissue box that he keeps in the middle console.

“Yes, knock on wood. You hear that, doll?”

“Hmm.” You would honestly believe anything now. Hearing Jake’s voice and imagining him coming to you is like brown noise for babies. Your lungs finally decide to have mercy on you, and you can now somehow draw in shallow breaths albeit the pain in your chest.

Jake is relieved as he sees the green lights shining at the last intersection before turning left onto the side road where your company is located. “I’m here. Can you come down by yourself, love? Or do you want me to get you?”

“I can come down.” You say. The thought of him finding you in a messy pile on the bathroom floor makes you wince, even though he’d probably seen worse.

“Okay baby, see you in a second.”

You don’t remember how you collected your coat and pushed your way through the crowded room without many people noticing. The next moment, your sensations are restored, and you find yourself already in Jake’s arms. He's waiting for you in the area between the automatic glass door and the revolving door outside, a place that is warm with air conditioning but won’t attract nosy people. He wraps you in a hug with his wool jacket. His comforting scent fills your nostrils, a powerful pacifier for your naughty lungs. For the first time this evening, you can finally breathe properly like a normal human being. The rush of fresh air makes you release a loud sob like a newborn baby. The relief of seeing him safely standing in front of you and the release of finally being free from the stressful and stuffy environment ushers more tears to stream down your face.

“Shhhh…..you’re okay now, y/n, safe now. I’m here.” His hand wraps protectively around the back of your head as he plants kisses into your hair. “Poor girl, let’s get to the car and go home.”

Home. Home sounds heavenly to your right now. You couldn’t think of a better combination of these four letters in the whole of human history.

On the way back, you curl into a ball on the passenger seat like a battered puppy. Jake holds your hand whenever he gets the chance, his strong calloused fingers gently massaging yours, tracing the patterns on your palm, his thumb brushing the back of your hand, providing warmth. No longer crying, your shoulders occasionally shudder with involuntary sobs that escape you. But other than that, you are falling into a trance. Your gaze concentrated on Jake’s perfect side profile through hooded eyes, watching in awe as the passing streetlights formed patterns of shadow on his graceful nose and cheeks; your mind numb without a single thought.

It is only when Jake wakes you up that you realize you have fallen asleep. The car is already parked in the garage, the familiar and comforting damp smell seeping in.

“We are home now, sleepyhead.” Jake smiles at you, tapping on your wrist to signal you to wait as he gets out of the car and opens your side of the door. Just as you were about to step off, Jake reaches to cradle you by the shoulders and knees, carrying you bridle-style into the house. You hide your face shyly in the crook of his neck, secretly grateful because your feet are indeed sore in those heels.

Jake puts you down by the shoe rack, motioning you to put your hands on his shoulders to steady yourself as he squats down in front you, holding your ankles and taking off your shoes. If he did see the stains, he didn’t ask any questions, only cooed when he saw the blisters on your heels.

“Let’s go upstairs and get your makeup off, then we’ll cuddle and go to bed, yeah?” Jake stands up, hanging up your coat before cupping your cheeks and placing a kiss on your forehead.

You never hated makeup more than now, regretting to put it on in the first place, now that it has become the annoying barrier lying in your way to bedtime. But Jake says “let’s,” that means he’s going to do it together with you, right?

“Jake?” You whine bashfully.

“Yes, love?”

You tilt up your chin and close your eyes, “One more kissy, please?”

Jake swears he feels a part of his heart melt right there. Who is he to deny you?

“Of course, as many as my princess would like.”

Stepping into the bathroom, Jake sits you on the closed toilet seat. He opens the drawer, grabs your makeup remover and some cotton pads. He applies some liquid onto the wipes and lifts up your chin.

“Close your eyes for me, love.” The cool liquid on your eyelids makes your eyebrows twitch, causing Jake to chuckle, “I know, I know. Just a little longer.”

You sit quietly, mesmerized and hypnotized under his touch. His movements are almost rhythmic. Is this how cats feel when their owners scratches behind their ears? You fear that if you make a sound, you will actually let out a purr.

Jake continues until most of your makeup is gone. “Hold out your hands,” you hear him say and complied. Two dollops of foamy liquid landed in the centre of your palm, and you opened your eyes to recognize they are your face wash. Jake tugs on your wrist, leading you to stand in front of the sink.

“Can you wash your pretty face now, darling? Wash up, and I’ll be back in a minute.”

You nodded, feeling lighter and more relaxed now without your makeup and even more content when you turn on the tap and find out that Jake has already tuned it to a lukewarm temperature for you.

When Jake returned, he was calling you from the bedroom. You have already brushed your teeth and let down your hair.

You walked into the bedroom and are welcomed by the scent of bergamot and sandalwood from your favourite candle glowing on the night stand. Jake was pulling an old T-shirt out from the closet. It was the vintage Joan Jett and The Blackhearts shirt, the patterns half faded, and materials worn-out soft. You saw him laying out one of his boxers for you too. He knows you always prefer them to your own underwear as pyjamas.

“Come sit, angel.” He patted the bench at the foot of the bed, him sitting across from it on a small stool.

It is only when you walked close that you saw the wooden foot spa basin, with clouds of steam rising from it. As you sat down, he gently took your ankle and balanced your feet on the edge of the basin, so that the hot water is steaming your sole.

“It’s still a bit hot.” He looks up to you. “I put Epsom salt and eucalyptus oil in it.”

“Where did you get this?” You feel like the heat from the bottom of the feet is slowly being absorbed into your veins and rising up to your cheeks. You wiggle your toes nervously.

Jake lets out a giggle, “Well, mum suggested once to Josh about the foot spa thing, said it helps with stress and tense muscles. You know, with him running barefoot on stage and all.” He reaches down to sprinkle some water onto your feet, letting you adjust to the temperature. “But Josh got the fancy electric ones. I thought this is better. More authentic, don’t you think?”

“Uh-hmm.”

“Your nails are all chipped,” Jake looks down, “maybe tomorrow we can repaint them? I saw you bought a new colour the other day.”

Tender. So tender. From his tone to his caramel brown eyes. The light from the lamp illuminates the left side of his face, giving it a solemn, smooth glow like a wax statue. Your heart swells; love makes it rise like Soufflé in the oven. The soft surface rises up until it touches your ribcage, threatening to spill those tears again.

“Thank you, Jake.” You dare not raise your voice, fearing that it will break, “I just got a bit overwhelmed at the party, is all.”

Jake eases your feet slowly into the water now that it’s the perfect temperature. The slight sling of your blisters is soon overwhelmed by the all-encompassing warmth that rises all the way to your ankle.

After a few heart beats, he speaks again. “You’ll always have me, y/n. You are allowed to fall, to break. I will be here to catch you, to piece you together. Whatever you need.”

Finally you were snuggled together in bed. You, a human koala, cling to Jake with your face pressed against his chest. His arm snakes around your shoulder, fingers mindlessly tracing your collarbone, strumming some unknown patterns. His heartbeat thumping in your ear, the perfect lullaby. The steady rise and fall of his chest is like waves, rocking you into a sweet slumber. Your eyelids feel heavy like velvet drapes. There’s still a stubborn voice in your brain keeping you from falling asleep. There’s still one more thing you need to do, even though you understood each other perfectly.

“Jake?” Your voice low like a murmur. Jake almost didn’t hear you at first.

“What is it, babe?”

“I love you.” Those words come out as a slur, and like a magic spell, you fall into the deep embrace of sleep as soon as the last syllable leaves your lips. Now clear of any stress and worries in the arms of your lover, the strained string in you brain that has been holding on for dear life the whole evening finally snaps. You’re out like a light.

“I love you back, y/n, through and through.” He whispers into your dream.

You woke up to an empty bed, the sheet on his side still has the human-shaped imprint. Jake is a night owl; it is pretty common that he just gets up in the middle of the night and ends up doing some random things around the house. Most often it’s him strumming the guitar and experimenting with his ideas for new tunes in the home studio downstairs. But you have also caught him fixing chipped paint on the walls, repotting the succulents in the garage, and pouring broth into the crockpot with chicken thighs and smoked ham hock (“so we could have warm chicken chili in the morning!”; to be honest, it’s indeed delicious; you had two bowls and had to skip lunch that day). Just to name a few, so the possibilities are endless.

You get out of bed, creep cross the corridor and tiptoe your way down the stairs. The lights at the doorway are on; you thought Jake forgot to turn them off. However, as you approach, you see Jake squatting down next to the shoe rack, his back towards you, and a brush and some spray bottles laying nearby.

You move closer and see him holding the clothes steamer near your wine-stained shoes. The heels you wore have a suede tip in the front, and unfortunately, that’s where the wine was mostly spilt on. After a few moments, Jake uses the wire brush to clean the surface. He stops from time to time, holding it further to inspect the result.

You waited until he stops again to make some sounds, announcing your presence. Jake immediately turns around. His eyes softens upon seeing you.

“What are you doing up?”

You go to squat down next to him, kissing his temple before resting your head on his shoulder.

“You just bought these not so long ago, yeah? It’d be a shame to leave them stained.” Jake lets more steam soak into the fabric before brushing them again. “I’m almost done. I saw this trick online, and it looks pretty legit.” It’s only then that you noticed his phone on the side, the screen showing the replies from some Reddit post.

“Thank you, baby.” You rub your cheeks slightly on his T-shirt; the feeling of warm pastry once again fills your heart.

“No worries, doll. I think it’s good for now. Let’s leave them here and check in the morning.” Jake starts putting away his tools before pulling you up and wrapping his arm around your waist, leading you back upstairs.

On your way, something familiar catches your eye. You must’ve missed it earlier.

“Wait, where did you get that?” You stop, pointing at what happens to be a whole case of your favourite snack lying on the kitchen counter.

“Oh, I saw the stores are out of them, so I ordered them online. They just arrived today.” Jake scratches his head, his tone tainted with slight disappointment.“I thought they’d be a nice surprise as stocking stuffers, but…”

You stopped him mid-sentence with a kiss.

“I love you.” This time you said it clear against his lips.

“Oh doll, I love you back,” he smiles, showing the cutest wrinkle on his nose. His hands brush your shoulder as you resume your steps upstairs. “Let’s get a few more hours of sleep now. And when you wake up, you will wake up to some yummy pancakes and a pair of stain-free shoes, huh? How does that sound?”

Oh Lord, that sounds heavenly. That sounds just like home.

“I’d like that, Jake. I’d like that very, very much.”

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Thank you for reading :) any comments and feedbacks are greatly welcomed and deeply appreciated

(The stain-removing tips comes from malccy72 on reddit :D

If you also feel like reading a smutty (but also fluffy?) piece🤭: Mariner's Complex || Love is a four-legged word || The Lucky Ones

or some Christmas fluff: Ticked (all my boxes)

#jake kiskza x reader #greta van fleet fan fiction #greta van fleet fluff #jake kiszka fanfic #jake kiszka fluff #jake kiszka #jake kiszka fic

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claymorexpunisher · 5 months

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Mercury (18+ AEW Oneshot)

Disclaimer: This is NSFW. If that's not your thing, keep scrolling. I try to tag my work appropriately, so if you choose to click on my work regardless, use your own discretion. Thank you for the love always and enjoy this cheesy porno! 🥂

Pairing(s): MJF/Fem. Reader

Summary: MJF and Reader hate each other. Naturally, smut ensues...

Tag(s): 18+, hatefucking, PIV, hairpulling, marking, dubious consent.

Word Count: 540

This was requested by @smallestsnarkestgirl I'm sorry this is so short. But I really hope you like it! :)

Mercury was clearly in retrograde.

That's the only reason I could think of as to why I had called Maxwell, invited him to my home and I found myself underneath him, writhing and moaning as he groped my body with erratic touches.

I hissed, making him smirk as he pinched my nipples before he resumed kneading my breasts, leaning down to take one into his mouth and then the other, biting down on the sensitive buds and sending electric currents all the way down to my toes.

Barely any coherent words were exchanged, except for a gruff 'Don't. Move." from Max as my body continued to writhe and my nails dug into his wrists, not knowing if I wanted him on or off me.

Our dynamic was... intense, to say the least.

When I first came to AEW, we felt an indifference, at the most, toward one another.

But the more we interacted, the more our mutual indifference grew into an obnoxious mixture between unfiltered lust and blinding hatred.

Just his presence alone began to grate on every fiber of my being, fueled by the fact that, yeah, Max was definitely an attractive guy.

But I didn't want to find Max attractive.

And he swore he didn't find me attractive.

But I wasn't stupid.

So, every chance I got I poked and teased Max, only to pull away at the last second, as soon as I knew that I had him where I wanted him.

Tonight, though, it was definitely the other way around.

He had me where he wanted me, but I wasn't going down without a fight.

I let out a growl, biting into his shoulder as I felt his hard cock enter my slick pussy.

I got some satisfaction as I heard him hiss in both pain and pleasure in response, but that satisfaction was quickly extinguished by his next words.

"That was easy... you sure you're not liking this, sweetheart?" Max breathed into my ear, his voice filling the walls of my bedroom after what feels like hours of just animalistic sounds.

I could hear the smirk in his voice and instead of answering him verbally, I retaliated by tightening up my pussy in a vicelike grip around his cock, chuckling as a drawn-out groan flew out of his mouth.

"Are you?" I finally shot back, hissing and biting at his bottom lip as he gripped a fistful of my hair and pulling my head back until my neck was accessible to him.

I let out a loud moan without meaning to and my body trembled as he bit and sucked on my neck like a hungry vampire.

For a moment, my body went pliant.

All of my senses seemed to short circuit until I remembered myself and began thrashing again, chest heaving as I scratched at his chest despite the way I moaned as his deep and thorough thrusting continued.

"Shut up." Max said in a clipped tone, muffling my angry growls and moans with his palm.

"That's better." He smirked as he watched my eyes involuntarily roll into the back of my head as his cock nudged a particularly sensitive spot inside of me and my brain short-circuited once more.

Fucking Mercury... that bitch.

#mjf #maxwell jacob friedman #mjf x reader #mjf female reader #maxwell jacob friedman x reader #mjf fanfic #mjf smut #mjf fan fiction #aew fan fiction #aew smut #wrestling smut #fan fiction #writing #my writing #gigi's fics

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starseed-twenty · 2 years

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Mini Astrology Observations pt. 2 - Compatibility Edition

💕 Juno is the best determiner of a long-term romantic union. It is not the only one (!) but it is the one that counts the most. Juno can also indicate a soulmate or twin-flame connection.

💕 This is all based on a stereotypical opinion (not facts), but toxic/unfaithful relationships I've seen a lot of times are always between 1. Virgo males and Pisces females. 2. Sagittarius males x Libra females. 3. Aquarius x Scorpio. 4. Aries x Cancer. 5. Gemini x Scorpio. And this is always because one of them is too forgiving and loving, and the other is free-spirited and has a more independent mindset. [If that’s not like this with you and your s/o (and you guys are in this top five) then it may last.]

💕 The three best green flags I've seen in synastry that could indicate a great relationship of longevity are 1. Your sun conjunct your partner's moon or jupiter, or vice versa (their sun conjunct your moon or jupiter). 2. Your sun or moon in your partner's 4th house, or vice versa. 3. Mars in opposite signs or sextile [two signs next to each other].

💕 The three biggest red flags I've seen in synastry that could indicate a shaky relationship [may end up taking time to find stability] are 1. Your partner's moon or venus conjunct your saturn, or your moon or venus conjunct their saturn.2. Your partner's moon or saturn in your 8th house, or vice versa. 3. Your partner's Juno conjunct your south node, or vice versa.

💕 The signs love in different ways. So the way they show love could be different to what you may expect. Pisces, Sagittarius and Leo usually feel the love in their soul. Capricorn, Taurus and Aries usually feel the love in their body. Gemini, Virgo, Aquarius usually feel the love with the mind. Libra, Cancer, Scorpio usually feel the love in their heart. (This is taking into account Venus, Moon and the Descendant)

💕 Placements that square in synastry are actually not bad, but it takes some work. Square signs usually have a bad rep of being the signs you find the hardest to get along with, because they represent what you don't. However, in synastry it isn't as bad as it could be. Sun, moon, mercury and venus signs that are square in synastry actually last pretty long and have marriage potential (e.g, an aries moon and a cancer moon. or a libra sun and a capricorn sun).

💕 (Not necessarily based on compatibility per say, but) If you have a planet in 7th house and it is in Retrograde, the Retrograde could play quite a big role on why it may be hard for you to keep the people you love or are interested in. This is because a planet in Retrograde is one that's not moving, so since the planet has stopped, the traits of that planet have to be reinstated manually (which is why during a Mercury Rx, people have to rely on consistent manual communication, by double-checking with each other). There's no help from the Universe. So with that in 7th House, relationships become reliant on manual practice. So the best way to actually keep them and last in a long-term union is for you to consistently & confidently practice and display the traits of that planet to your partner (e.g, If you have a 7H Mars in Rx, practice putting in energy, healthy leadership, passion and action in the relationship. If you have a 7H Jupiter in Rx, practice being optimistic, and confidently speaking your wisdom and higher knowledge to your partner would benefit the relationship.) Ultimately though, the best advice is to actually be with someone who also has your same placement (Mars in Rx, Jupiter in Rx, etc.) It doesn't have to be in the same house/sign. Just that same planet being in Rx for them as well.

#astrology #astro observations #astrology observations #astro notes #astrology notes #astrology compatibility #7th house #descendant #square signs #synastry #juno #moon in 8th #saturn in 8th #sun conjunct jupiter #sun conjunct moon #venus conjunct saturn #moon conjunct saturn #saturn conjunct moon #saturn conjunct venus

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mercurytrinemoon · 7 months

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Astro observations: celebrity edition part 2 aka latest news roundup

⭐️ Dua Lipa announced on her instagram that she's actually a Gemini rising as opposed to Libra. Now my Gemini detector told me that ages ago but I accepted the Libra rising just because it's my default token "plain good looking and polite" sign BUT it actually now makes much more sense in terms of house placements. Her Venus is now cazimi in the 3rd house - house associated with creative writing and thinking. The ever-changing and fast-moving Mercury is now in her 4th house of family and home situation and she's actually been always moving a lot between England and Albania. That healthy domicile Mercury as well as the Sun-Venus conjunction in the 3rd shows her close connection to family overall.

Funnily enough, her discovery took place during Mercury station in her 4th house. Talk about finding out your true roots (astrological, in that instance).

⭐️ We also now have the birth time of Elon Musk, who turns out to be a Cancer rising. Jupiter in his 5th house of children now makes perfect sense with his 11 kids (and probably counting).

⭐️ If you're wondering why Ariana Grande is the way she is, look no further than Moon conjunct Jupiter - aka her 7th house ruler multiply; as well as both being square to the Sun. Usually Sun square Jupiter can point to legal issues and excess while Sun square Moon often points to broken families. Now add that together and you have… a homewrecker, yaaay!

⭐️ I was thinking a lot about Blink 182 and Tom Delonge (his chart resembles mine a bit) due to him rejoining the band last year and now releasing a new Blink album. Natally, he has a retrograde Gemini Mars so I looked at his progressed chart to see the stationary period. Turns out his progressed Mars stationed direct early 2014, followed by progressed Sun entering Aquarius. Early following year the band announced that he left permanently. One of the things he focused on was research on the UFOs and work with the government. Of course, keep in mind progressed Mars stations for quite a while and his issues with the band lasted throughout the whole 2014 so it makes sense that the final split occured a year later. And why Mars? Well it can literally speak about our focus in life and our direction - where we put our energy. Not to mention Mars rules his MC so it brought him a massive turn in his career. So makes sense.

⭐️ Britney Spears just released a memoir book. Putting aside the questionable fact on who really wrote it, it stirred up a lot of drama. Her chart is one big mine but today I'm only focusing on current transits: she just had an eclipse in her first house of Libra. That eclipse landed right on her Pluto, which natally squares Venus (talking about toxic relationships and exposing them). Pluto itself is making last hits to those degrees as well as it's stationing direct in the late Capricorn. Interestingly I think Jupiter being in her 8th house can point to this as well - it lights up all the secrets and talks about working on past traumas. Now, you're also probably thinking, why was she involved with so many iffy people in her life? A lot of things in her chart point to that but what always struck me was her 7th house ruler - a malefic Mars - being in her 12th house of enemies. And it squares Neptune so they're also liars and exploiters.

⭐️ There's been A TON of celebrity breakups during this Venus retrograde season but I'm gonna quickly focus on Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner because their charts are an interesting example. Their synastry is mostly having planets in sister signs but this also means that if one of them gets hit with a transit, so is the other. Involve Saturn in that transit and you get trouble. Saturn is currently in early Pisces, where Sophie has some of her planets in the 12th house (loss, enemies). Her Mars (disputes, cutting) is at 4° of Pisces while Joe's Mars is at 7° Virgo - right opposite that. Saturn transit stirred up some proper drama: and Saturn is also coldness, being restrained and cut off. On top of that they also have their rising signs in the opposite signs of Aries and Libra and we just started having eclipses in those signs earlier this year.

Not to mention Joe's Leo Sun got hit by Venus retrograde and a Uranus square. Among other stuff.

FUN FACT: according to my research they met for the first time in October of 2016 when Jupiter was in Libra. So, interestingly, not only they had Jupiter going through their angles but Jupiter in their Davidson chart is in Libra.

⭐️ Taylor Swift is currently going through her 10th house profection year (Leo). It would make sense then that her career would take a turn this year considering that Venus was retrograding in Leo. Of course as it turned out she had a massive succes with her ongoing world tour, which is said to become the highest grossing tour of all time.

⭐️ A Vogue article popped up about Rita Ora's and Taika Waititi's wedding that took place a year earlier (they kept all the info and date private until now). Jupiter played a huge role in them getting married (as it often does, especially for a couple like them, who have it strong in their charts, which I wrote about HERE). At the time of their wedding Jupiter was at 8° Aries, which for Rita is that sweet spot between her Sagittarius Sun and Venus (4° and 10° respectively) and Leo Jupiter (13°) - as it completed a grand trine in her chart. Transiting Sun was also 12° of Leo, highlighting that trine even more.

Man I love astrology.

For Taika it was pretty prominent as well although his Jupiter aspects were more sign-based. He had a Jupiter return; his Moon is somewhere in the middle of Sagittarius so he received these fire trines as well. Interestingly, at the time of the wedding Saturn was at 22° Aquarius - exactly opposite his Leo Sun but also sextile his natal Jupiter. So for him it had a bit of a Saturnian flavour that called for stability and maturity.

⭐️ Similarly, I just read the other day that Frances Bean Cobain got married earlier this month. She has a Venus-Jupiter conjunction on top of her Virgo ascendant (interestingly Kurt had the trine between Venus and Jupiter - so seems like a family pattern). Also interestingly, transiting Jupiter is currently trining both her Venus and Jupiter (on the day of the wedding it was trining Venus exact), thereby her natal pattern got repeated. Jupiter is also her 7th house ruler.

Her now husband, Riley Hawk is having a nice transit of that Jupiter over his Taurus Moon - and remember, Moon rules the women in your family as well as your wife.

#astrology #random #astro notes #mercurytrinemoon #celebrity chart #astroblr #dua lipa #britney spears #tom delonge #sophie turner #joe jonas #rita ora #taika waititi #frances bean cobain #taylor swift

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etherealdiva · 2 years

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Astro Observations: Part 7

✨It’s best to not date during mercury retrograde. You can do whatever you want but by actual experience ESPECIALLY if the person you’re dating is a mercury rx native. Once it goes direct, they’ll directly leave also. Doesn’t have to be true for everyone but it def was true for me. Just wait until after the period over. My advice. Frankly, don’t date all. Lmao. Kidding!

✨Also please please please try and avoid accepting a new job offer during mercury rx and REVIEW the paperwork! During a rx in 2020 I was working as a temp and then they wanted to hire me full time. I was hesitant to sign anything but I did anyways (also idk why I even agree to the pay when it wasn’t that great :/ ) but I did and then a month later I got laid off. Also it was the year of the pandemic but still.

✨A way to look/learn at aspects: my little cheat sheet

✨Air/fire- sextile (Leo sextile gemini)

✨Water/earth- sextile (Taurus sextile cancer)

✨Same element- trine (Aries trine Leo)

✨Same modality/different sign- square (moon in Leo square moon in Taurus- they’re both fixed signs but not the same signs- they’re in the same group)

✨Sister/opposite signs- opposition (Pisces opposition Virgo) also count 6 months ahead from the current month to get the opposite sign.

January is Aquarius and 6 months later is July which is Leo season.

February- Pisces + 6 = August Virgo

March- Aries + 6 = September Libra

✨Same sign- conjunct (Aries conjunct Aries)

✨When reading a chart, for Psychological use then use placidus system. You will understand why a person acts the way they are.

✨For predictive skills then use whole sign and sidereal astrology I believe is much more accurate for events. Just my thought.

✨Are you a morning or night person? I always thought I was a night person since I’m a Pisces and I find myself overthinking late at night. But i also always fall asleep lmao. Anyways to figure it out 👇🏽

I have a day chart (sun through houses 7-12 is day chart and sun through houses 1-6 is a night chart) And I find myself actually an early bird. Doesn’t matter what time I sleep, I HAVE to be awake in the morning lol. I absolutely love the sun and the day time. I’m also a Leo moon in the 1st🤔 which is below the horizon

My sis is a sag sun in the 4th and she has trouble sleeping and absolutely loves sleeping in and hates waking up early. Her moon is in Aries in the 8th which is above the horizon. So it’s the opposite side for us both.

My best friend has her sun in the 11th (so she’s a day baby) and her moon in the 10th. It’s above the horizon and she will sleep all day but stay up all night. She’s a Taurus moon also so she does take a lot of naps lol.

A guy I dated has his sun in the 9th (he’s a day baby) and his moon is in the 12th and he also can stay up late! Or basically he’s active at night! We went on a date and then he came home, took a nap and then woke up at like midnight and worked for 3 hours!

For this, Focus on your moon placement since it’s a luminary!

✨Moon houses 1-6: below horizon and you are active in the morning

✨Moon houses 7-12: above horizon and you are active at night

✨The sign & planet that’s in your 5th house indicates what you buy that brings you pleasure or something you enjoy! Or in general what makes you happy/brings you pleasure.

If there’s no planets in there, look at the ruling planet.

Example: Sagittarius and Jupiter is in the 12th house (a Pisces house)

You would buy anything that has to do with spirituality and learning. Maybe esoteric books, counseling sessions with a spiritual mentor/coach, life coach, astrologer and/or tarot reading. Trips! Especially to foreign lands. Maybe always taking courses!

✨Aries/Mars: video games, sports and sports events, working out, a personal trainer, theme parks (like six flags), ziplining, things that you give you an adrenaline rush, sky diving

✨Taurus/Venus: fine wine and dining, satin sheets, candles, music, instruments, treating yourself to nice restaurants, spas, woodwork

✨Gemini/Mercury: journals, anything to do with your hands, books, trivia games, getaway trips, your car, spoiling your sibs

✨Cáncer/Moon: your home, redecorating, food, spoiling your mom, your kids, music, home made items, diy stuff

✨Leo/sun: concerts, anything that makes you look good, a makeover, your hair, camera, ring light, anything to invest in your performance (YT, tik tok etc)

✨Virgo/ Mercury: your pets, health, personal trainer, nutritionist, your meals, books, holistic healing

✨Libra/Venus: facials, spa days, art, spoiling your significant other, dating coach/advice, aesthetic items, dessert

✨Scorpio/Pluto: spell work, witchcraft, tarot reading, anything that changes your appearance, candles, shopping in general

✨Sagittarius/Jupiter: life coach, foreign trips, courses, school, self help books, experiences, going out drinking with friends, traveling anywhere, fun adventures

✨Capricorn/Saturn: designer brand, business items, anything that invests in your business, stocks, spoiling others with gifts instead of telling them you actually love them lmao (jk!)

✨Aquarius/Uranus: technology, computers, games, sci fi movies, volunteering, spoiling your friends, comic books, astrology readings

✨Pisces/Neptune: candles, crystals, tarot readings, substances (such as drinking), tattoos, psychic readings, music

#astrology #astrology notes #astrology tumblr #zodiac #astro community #astrology101 #astrology observations #astrologer #synastry #astro #zodiac signs #astro notes #natal astrology #astro observations #astro natal #astrology indications #vedic astrology

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actualbird · 1 year

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yknow, i really love the SR cards where the main plot is basically just NXX Boy Goes And Does A Thing, And He SUCKS AT IT!!!

vyn has SR Mercury In Retrograde where he does a fantastic job being absolute ass at household plumbing. marius has SR Overtone where he gets an A++++++ for being the last guy you wanna lend your guitar to, because hes really bad at playing the dang guitar. and at first i didn't know what artem's card was that followed this pattern but sam @samsspambox blessedly informed me that it's SR Thin Veil, the paywalled SR i dont have yet. and in that card story artem fucking SUCKS at PUPPETS

(sidenote: i generally weep at paywalled top-up cards but the concept of basically having to pay for artem's cringe is So Very funny to me)

but now here is where the injustice becomes apparent.....vyn, marius, and artem each have an SR Epic Fail: The Card Story

BUT WHERE IS LUKE'S?????????

to avoid any misunderstandings, here are the traits of what, to me, makes up an "SR Epic Fail":

one Main Thing is the thing our beloved nxx boy will suck at and what and it's also generally Main Focus of the whole card story (which then later leads to a sweeter core message about vulnerability and love and being okay with not being perfect etc)

our boy has to suck In The Moment. not in a flashback, not in a referenced past anecdote, no no. i want to have to tap through the entire excruciating scene/s of him failing at whatever hes doing

the story format has to be in a contained card story and not a recurring-but-brief theme in a personal story

with this criteria in place, it is IMMEDIATELY apparent that luke is the only one without an SR Epic Fail. the closest story instances would be the following:

SSR Through The Heavens (the skateboard card) since he fails at being a normal not-hypervigilant human being and also the NSB makes fun of him with memes, but this doesnt count because it wasn't the Main Focus of the story, there was a whole lot of other stuff going on and the Main Focus was the skateboarding which he did awesome at

some past anecdotes and flashbacks in SR How I Remember You (the luke blindfold card) about how luke sucks at drawing and sucks at charades, but this doesnt count because the drawing was just referenced in a few sentences and the charades fail was a brief flashback. it's also not the Main Focus of the story as well

his general inability/difficulty with cooking that is a recurring theme across his personal stories doesnt count because it's not a card, and thus isnt eligible

this is terrible. this is horrid. i love luke and i want a card thats all about him messing up at a minor activity. i want a full SR Luke Fucks Up At Cooking where the focus is what it says on the tin

i can even see the story so clearly in my mind's eye. it'd be so easy. maybe luke tries to make gingerbread man cookies but accidentally ends up with a gingerbread massacre.

luke mentions hes gonna bake and mc is excited about it because it seems he put a lot of thought and research and prep into it, maybe it actually starts with a scene of them shopping for ingredients together, and theyre both looking forward to luke's baking! but when it actually happens hes like "oh sorry a case came up, dont come over to my place anymore!!" which is sus

mc comes over anyway the next day to pick up some stuff she forgot and luke is there acting awfully nervous and his whole BUILDING smells of burnt gingerbread but there are no gingerbread treats to be found. luke keeps evading until mc finds The Massacre in a plastic container box haphazardly shoved into one of the kitchen cupboards

and it's an absolute baked-goods crime scene in there. none of the gingerbread men look like they were ever even men or homonids of any kind to begin with, it instead looks like all the dough just came together in the oven to create an amorphous Blob with the odd "limb" sticking out here and there. what luke has created is a gingerbread abomination.

mc stares at the gingebread abyss, and it stares back.

upon further investigation, mc even finds slight burn marks around the oven's door too and luke has his face in his hands, his shame is IMMENSE, just about as immense as the aroma of gingerbread treats everywhere. he was hiding it because he was worried that he got her so hyped up for the whole thing that it'd be SUCH a disappointment to her that he fucked it up!

and mc is like "hey no it's okay, as long as it tastes good, it doesnt matter how bad it looks!" and then she breaks off a piece from the gingerbread monstrosity and eats faster than luke can warn her "NO NO DONT DO IT---"

it tastes like shit

anyway they go out to get desserts from cafe instead and mc reassures luke that she obviously still loves him even if he created a baked treats atrocity and broke the genevabread convention. she tells him that if hes having trouble or if he fails, his instinct shouldnt be to hide it all and avoid her but to let her know and so she can help out, because she wants to be there for the wins and for the losses, for the good days and the bad. luke then goes all blushy grateful happy and they kiss and love is real.

the end. the post-story text conversation can go something along the lines of

luke: okay so i figured out why my gingerbread men went nuclear

mc: oh? why?

luke: i....misread "tsp" as "tbsp".........every time

mc: HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAA

luke:

#tears of themis #lukerosa #luke pearce #tot rosa #xia yan #sam im so sorry for the amount of times i ping u with an @ u are simply the best artem primary source of all time and i love that so much #tot luke

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ms-m-astrologer · 2 months

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Transiting Mercury stations retrograde

Timeline (current events in bold)

Tuesday, March 19, 03:39 UT - Mercury enters pre-retrograde shadow, 15°59’ Aries

Monday, March 25, 02:35 UT - Mercury’s greatest eastern elongation, 23°29’ Aries

Thursday, March 28 - Mercury enters “Storm”

Monday, April 1, 22:14 UT - Mercury stations retrograde, 27°13’ Aries

Thursday, April 11, 23:03 UT - Sun-Mercury inferior conjunction, 22°32’ Aries

Thursday, April 25, 12:54 UT - Mercury stations direct, 15°59’ Aries

Sunday, May 5 - Mercury exits “Storm”

Thursday, May 9, 23:24 UT - Mercury’s greatest western elongation, 23°42’ Aries

Monday, May 13, 09:01 UT - Mercury exits post-retrograde shadow, 27°13’ Aries

Per tradition, I’ll start with the “Aries Mercury Retrograde Survival Tips” from Chrissie Blaze’s book Mercury Retrograde:

Put a temporary stopper on new ideas and use the time to constructively review things that are already underway.

Count to three before making those split-second decisions you are normally so good at.

Take some of that unused vacation time and relax.

Do a kind deed for someone else.

These 10 days are similar to the Balsamic phase of the Moon - a good time to rest those brain cells.

Mercury in Aries can be pretty officious, so maybe let other people make their own decisions for a while?

It’s a great time to observe what’s going on, but keep your opinions and theories to yourself - no matter how keenly you think you perceive, you’re apt to miss something critical. And stop skydiving to conclusions!

Mercury makes only one aspect before the inferior conjunction:

Monday, April 8 - Mercury Rx/Aries conjunct Eris/Aries, 24°44’. Second of three. On the day of the eclipse, no less. Blurting out (or hearing) something hurtful; getting very pissed off when things don’t go our way. Something from March 26 (ish) comes up for review, and we don’t like what we see.

#Astrology #Transiting Mercury stations retrograde #Ms M astrologer

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use-your-telescope · 5 months

Text

When Everything's Made to be Broken - Chapter 13: Things In Yourself That You Don't Understand

Summary: A series of strange and troubling events make Theo question if she’s losing her mind, or if something larger is at play.

Author's Notes: Once again, we have a song split between two chapters - partially because the first half of the chapter is already 9,000 words, but also because I liked the pacing of splitting this into two chapters (and that it gives a lil’ cliffhanger at the end). I almost started this author’s note saying “Look, this is the first cliffhanger in the story!” and then I realized that the first chapter of this story is literally one massive cliffhanger. 😅 So uh, it’s not the first cliffhanger (but it’s also a much less extreme cliffhanger, lol).

I’ll be blunt: this chapter is heavier than most of the others. We’re starting to dig into some of the trauma and demons which haunt certain characters, as well as their coping mechanisms (some of which are not healthy by any stretch of the imagination). Please heed the content warnings, since there are some topics that can be tough for people to read about. All of these warnings are for the final part of the chapter, so if you’re not in a headspace to read heavy stuff, I’ll include a summary at the end, which will cover everything after the chunk of lyrics that start with “and it’s been a while since I wrote a song I liked.”

Please take care of yourself <3

Content Warnings: Emotional angst, overconsumption of alcohol/alcohol poisoning, implied violence, a description of vomit/vomiting.

Word Count: 9,009

Read on AO3 | When Everything's Made to be Broken Masterlist

Song: Talk About It - Paradise Fears

There are things in yourself That you don’t understand While the weight’s on your shoulders And the phone’s in your hand, You tell me,

I don’t really wanna talk about it I don’t really wanna talk about it I don’t really wanna talk about it Right now, Right now

Mercury may not have been in retrograde, but something was off.

It had been days since Theo had run into anyone eating breakfast in the kitchen, much less lunch or dinner. In the living room, the playstation controllers and television remote sat in the same place for so long that they would have left a dust imprint, if it weren’t for the cleaning bots that dusted on a regular basis. Whenever Theo trained in the gym, she had the entire place to herself.

Every once in a while, Theo swore she heard footsteps in the hall, but each time she poked her head out the door she found no one. The only sign that anyone was staying in the tower was that the toaster had recently been replaced with one from the 1950’s, which seemed an attempt to prank someone.

But who? It didn’t seem like anyone else had seen the different toaster, and even if the prank was directed towards Theo… Well, there was no one around to laugh about it. Besides, the 1950’s? That didn’t make sense. Maybe it was a prank on Steve or Bucky, but even then, it should have been a toaster from the 1940’s…

Strangest of all, Theo walked into the regular team meeting to find everyone present. No one seemed particularly chatty, which was abnormal, and the moment the meeting ended, everyone scattered before Theo could say a word.

So if the Avengers were in New York, why was the tower so… empty?

After a week of living in a ghost town, Theo switched to eating breakfast on her balcony; she figured that if she was alone, at least she could get some fresh air while she enjoyed a cup of coffee and read a book. Even so, Theo still checked the kitchen every morning in hopes of finding someone around. Sometimes she walked past a teammate’s door and heard movement inside. More often than not, Theo debated if she should knock. She quickly abandoned the idea when it came to mind, however - after all, Theo knew firsthand just how uncomfortable it could be when you wanted to be left alone, but someone forced their presence upon you.

Well, she quickly abandoned the idea for almost everyone.

One night, Theo slipped into the kitchen to get a snack. On her way back, the haunting lament of a violin bled into the hallway. It pulled Theo past her door and further down the hall, until she stood in front of a familiar door.

Just across the threshold, Theo pictured the floor to ceiling bookcases stuffed with old tomes; she could close her eyes and see that on the center of one wall, a classic fireplace faced a dark leather sofa – one which Theo always imagined would be the perfect place to lounge on a dark, rainy evening. She could picture the two wingback chairs upholstered in dark tweed that flanked the sofa, and the coffee table that looked like it was from the early 1900’s which anchored the space.

She pictured the suite’s owner standing near the fire, the glow of the flames illuminating sheet music as he played, long fingers pressed against strings, the bow sliding back and forth as he moved to the music.

Loki.

Just before her knuckles made contact with the wood of the door, Theo froze. Disturbing such beautiful music felt like a crime. Besides, there were upcoming trade summits and international conferences to prepare for that probably contributed to Loki’s absence. That particular moment might have been the first bit of time Loki had to himself in days, and Theo didn’t want to take that from him.

So, despite the loneliness that had made a home in Theo’s chest, she let him be.

On the third morning of Theo’s new breakfast routine, she stepped outside to find she had company. A black bird perched on the railing - too small to be a corvid, however it shared trademark features from both ravens and crows that left Theo perplexed. The bird did not fly off when Theo sat down; instead, it hopped along the railing until it sat only a few inches away from Theo. Anytime Theo took a drink of her coffee or turned the page of her book, she expected the bird to do something - anything - but the bird remained firmly in place, watching Theo as she ate breakfast.

The bird returned the following morning, and the morning after that. By the fourth day, Theo started checking around the balcony to see if there was some sort of nest that the bird wanted to protect, because she couldn’t think of any other reason the bird would have been up there. She even got down on her hands and knees to check beneath the leaves of her assorted plants and all around the planters, and used a chair to climb up and look around the beams that supported the overhang.

But the bird kept showing up.

One morning, Theo decided to trade out the book for a sudoku. As usual, the bird waited for Theo at its usual spot on the rail; however, when its eyes settled on the book and pencil in her hand, it cocked its head to the side.

“Well good morning to you too,” Theo sarcastically greeted. She settled into her chair and opened up the sudoku to a fresh page, then attempted to ignore the bird as she started working through which numbers went where on the grid.

With a chirp, the bird stretched its wings and flew the short distance from the railing to the table. It hopped a bit closer to the book, head wobbling from side to side as if it were studying the page.

But it couldn’t have been reading - it was a bird. The fact Theo even considered the possibility made her wonder if she was going insane.

“Can I help you?” Theo cocked an eyebrow at the bird, thinking the bird might startle and fly off now that it was a bit closer to her.

Instead, the blackbird looked up at her, let out a squawk, and tried to peck at her hand.

“What the fuck?” Theo recoiled in her seat and threw her hands up in a placating gesture; as the pair stared each other down, Theo swore the bird was about to attack her. She could just imagine that headline: “Avenger Pecked to Death by Mystery Bird!”

God, maybe she really was losing her mind.

The blackbird tilted its head, almost like it wanted to test Theo’s reaction; when she remained frozen, it let out a chirp that she could have sworn sounded condescending, then it hopped forward and tapped twice on one of the squares. The bird glared at Theo, let out another chirp, then hopped back until it reached the far edge of the table. Theo gave the bird a wary glance before looking down at where it tapped. Theo already penciled in a four, but upon closer inspection, she realized the number in that square should be a two. With a quick spin of the pencil in her fingers, she erased the old number, then replaced it with a two; just as she lifted the pencil from the paper, the realization struck: the bird tapped the square twice.

The bird wasn’t trying to correct her… was it?

Nope. There was no way a bird could have read the puzzle and understood it.

Theo looked up to where the bird sat, but by then it was gone. As she stared at the empty space left behind, Theo wondered how the hell the bird managed to fly off without making a sound.

She shook her head and returned to her puzzle, all the while ruminating over the odd phenomena.

Maybe sleep deprivation had something to do with it. After all, her normally packed schedule recently had grown even busier with the addition of dates with Chris, and she had been out in the field more often to help with healing people. Add that to the long shifts in the emergency department, and it would be more than understandable that she was a bit more tired than usual.

Or, as much as she didn’t like the thought, maybe this whole thing - the empty tower, the mystery bird - maybe it was some weird fever dream or hallucination. Ever since she woke up to her head in Loki’s lap and the news that she had a fever of 102 and didn’t know it, Theo had been a bit paranoid about how much she used her magic. She made sure to err on the side of caution to prevent any potential repeat of that incident, but it didn’t stop her from worrying.

Just to be safe, Theo took her temperature after she went inside to make sure she wasn’t sick and found no evidence of fever.

Well, at least she eliminated one potential cause.

There are things in yourself That you don’t understand Why you still wanna tell me Every time you’re with him

The next notable occurrence came a few days later. Theo had been on her way out the door to meet Chris for a date, rushing down the hall once she got the text that he was in the lobby. However, she froze as soon as she made it to the living room entrance.

All the blinds were drawn shut, preventing any light pollution from the city from soaking into the living room; the only reason Theo could see anything was the light from the television, but the black and white images that flashed across the screen did little to illuminate the large, mostly empty room. Combined with the sparse finishes and furniture, it looked like the living room had been transformed into a cave.

Wanda and Vision sat together on the couch, watching I Love Lucy. Vision had his arm around Wanda, who was curled so tightly into his side that Theo didn’t spot her until she gave Vision a second glance. Wanda’s auburn hair nearly fell out of the ponytail it had been tied up in. Stranger still, despite watching a sitcom, Wanda was frowning; if Theo looked closely, she swore that Wanda’s eyes looked puffy. Frankly, Wanda looked downright gloomy, and that in and of itself was strange, because Theo couldn’t recall ever seeing Wanda so down before, even when Theo first moved into the building.

Theo cleared her throat. “Is everything okay?”

Wanda slowly turned around; when she saw Theo, she offered a weak smile, but the smile only made the Scarlet Witch look more sad.

Theo’s stomach lurched at the sight.

“It’s just that time of year, y’know?” Wanda offered a half-hearted shrug. Vision didn’t say anything; he simply gave Theo a forced smile that somehow appeared even more unsettling because it was on an android’s face.

If Theo hadn’t been confused before, she definitely was after that response. Rather than press the topic, she offered a hesitant smile and a nod. “Okay, well, I’m about to head out to meet Chris, but let me know if you need anything…”

“Have fun,” Wanda replied, though her response lacked the boundless enthusiasm Theo had grown used to. She turned back to the television and settled in against Vision’s side; just like that, it was like the conversation never happened.

Theo took that as her cue to leave.

As the elevator descended, Theo played the interaction over and over in her mind. Seeing Wanda upset was concerning on its own, and the lack of response to Theo's comment about seeing Chris made Theo wonder if she did something wrong.

After all, Wanda was the one who talked Theo into going on a real date with Chris - not just getting drinks together at the gala, but a real, honest date. When Theo got home from that first date, Wanda waited in the living room so she could immediately grill Theo for the details. If Theo had to name one person who was invested in Theo’s burgeoning relationship with Chris, it would be Wanda.

It wasn’t like Wanda was the only one who thought Theo should give things with Chris a try; Julie also supported the idea, although her rationale was much less serious - as Julie (jokingly) put it, “at least one of us should be getting some, and hey, if it works out maybe you can introduce me to one of his friends.”

And really, once they went on a normal date, things were… surprisingly good. Without the expectations of socializing that came with a gala, Chris was nowhere near the “Hollywood dream boat” that everyone assumed; at times, he was charmingly awkward, but because he didn’t take himself too seriously he could joke his way through any awkwardness. If anything, he was downright endearing.

Their relationship was nowhere near serious. Whenever Chris was in town they would go out, but they didn’t fly back and forth to see each other or spend hours on the phone lamenting each other’s absence when they were apart. Sure, she usually stayed over at Chris’s when he was around, but they were both adults, and well, he was good looking (and as it turned out, pretty good in bed).

Half-way through the elevator ride, Theo realized she hadn’t seen Chris since all the weirdness in the tower began. For the last month, Chris had been in Montreal, Canada, filming on-site for his next film. Even though he wasn’t super far away, he only came to New York for one weekend, and that was to attend another actor’s birthday party (with Theo as his plus one), and that was just before everything seemed to go off the rails. Otherise, they just texted.

The more Theo thought about it, the more she believed that a night away with Chris was just what she needed - something a chance to relax and unwind.

The elevator chime announced Theo reached her destination. The silver doors parted to reveal Chris waiting for her, hands in his pockets as he watched the door. At the sight, tension that Theo barely realized she had been carrying vanished. Theo felt her lips curl up into a wide smile, mirroring Chris’s expression when he saw her. They both strode towards each other, meeting in the middle with an enthusiastic kiss.

Chris, ever the gentleman, cut in front of his security so he could hold the door for Theo and help her into the car. That evening, they had plans to take a stroll through Central Park, enjoying one of the first nice days that New York had in a while. After grabbing slices of pizza to go, the pair wandered around the park, chatting and joking with each other as they made the most of the fresh air.

Or, more accurately, they spent the time chatting, strolling, and trying to ignore the horde of paparazzi that followed along, capturing their every move.

Privacy may not have been common for an Avenger, but it turned out that privacy was non-existent for an A-List actor. Frankly, the attention they received at the gala was nothing compared to after they were first spotted together in public. Rampant speculation filled the headlines for days when paparazzi snapped a picture of the two of them at dinner together, though they didn’t show any signs of affection at that time - no hand holding, no kisses - Theo even went back to her place at the end of the night.

Not long after, someone released photos of them sitting behind home base at a Yankees game. Again, they kept the level of affection pretty low, since they were in public, but it only fueled rumors even more when the people sitting around them all made comments about the pair being “cute” together.

The attention only got worse after a gossip site posted pictures of the pair at a Billie Eilish concert, “watching” the show from the side of the stage. Chris stood behind Theo with his hands on her waist, kissing Theo’s neck as she placed her arms over his and held him close. The next day, they were spotted together leaving his apartment to get brunch, at which point the internet decided that they were official and went all-out on decreeing the pair the new “it” couple.

After the birthday party, someone posted pictures on Instagram of Theo sitting on Chris’s lap at another actor’s birthday party, her arms wrapped around his shoulders as they chatted with one of Chris’s co-stars, which led to a crop of rumors that the pair were becoming serious about their relationship - headlines started popping up about Theo meeting Chris’s family and befriending his mom, finding a place to live together, and even wedding proposals popped up a time or two, one claiming that Chris’s mom took Theo engagement ring shopping.

When Natasha read the engagement headline out loud to the rest of the team, sitting in the living room one night after dinner, Theo nearly fell off the couch laughing. She didn’t even know Chris’s mom’s name, much less what she looked like, so whoever sold the website that story had to have been trolling them.

Despite the growing attention, neither Chris or Theo made any public comment about their relationship. They never really had a formal conversation about what their relationship was in the first place, much less how they wanted to navigate the public. Theo remained perfectly content to keep things that way - talking about it only made it more serious, and she simply wanted to enjoy herself and see how things played out.

That night, enjoying herself meant soaking up the fresh spring air, the hints of green speckled across the trees as the leaves began to appear, and listening to Chris as he told her about the best restaurants he ate at while in Montreal. Between the company and conversation, Theo quickly forgot the melancholy that plagued the tower, at least for most of the evening.

Near the end of the evening, as the couple walked back to where Chris’s driver planned to meet them, Theo spotted a rustling in the foliage nearby. A black squirrel emerged from a bush, nose sniffing around like it was on the hunt for something. Though Theo hadn’t ever seen a black squirrel, she didn’t think much of it; it wasn’t like it was green, after all. Black fur was just a genetic mutation.

At least, she didn’t think anything of it until the squirrel followed alongside Theo and Chris. Chris remained oblivious to their new companion, too focused on explaining the premise for a film he had just been cast in. Theo tried her best to listen along, not wanting to draw attention to the squirrel and make herself sound insane, but the longer the squirrel followed, the more creeped out she became.

Maybe it was the half-eaten pizza slice in her hand; squirrels could be pretty gutsy if they thought they would get food from it. Tourists probably fed squirrels all the time, right?

Theo casually threw the pizza in the next trash can they passed, but the damn thing continued along as if it didn’t even notice the pizza had disappeared.

What the hell was with all the animals following her around lately?

By the time they reached the car, Theo practically leapt inside, desperate to get away from the rodent. Theo looked out the window to find the black squirrel still standing there, watching while Chris circled the car and climbed in from the other side. Once Chris buckled in, he gave her a strange look before he asked if Theo was trying to go somewhere; she managed a light, nervous laugh before making a comment about getting out of there to go back to Chris’s place.

He gave her a wary glance, but thankfully dropped the topic. Theo hadn’t told him about the weirdness around the tower, and she had no interest in trying to explain something that even she didn’t understand…

Besides, the whole point of the evening was to enjoy herself with Chris and not think about the rest of the weird stuff going on at the moment. And she’d be damned if she didn’t make the most of a quality night enjoying some quality time with Chris between the sheets.

And it's been a while since I wrote a song I liked And it's been a few months since you stayed the night Cause you fooled me once, I guess I fooled myself I guess we only use each other just to use ourselves But I think the bruise is healed, I think the bruise is healed If you'd only come over we could lose it still And when the sun comes up, we'll be looking at each other saying…

If the tower had been a ghost town before Theo left for her date night with Chris, it certainly reared back to life shortly after she came home the next day; however, the manner in which it did so made Theo almost miss the eerie silence that previously plagued the space.

Long after it had grown dark outside, a crash echoed from one of the common areas with such volume that Theo heard it in her suite, even with the door closed. Surprised, she glanced up from her book to hear muffled, unintelligible shouting, followed by heavy footsteps, and what sounded like something smashing into the wall.

Was whatever she just heard connected to the other weird things happening around the tower?

Theo rose to her feet, depositing her book haphazardly on her couch before she poked her head out the door and looked around. Seeing no one, she quietly closed the door and started towards the main living area. Even if she didn’t find anything, she could grab some water from the kitchen while she was out and about.

Another thunderous crash, followed by the shattering of glass rang out from down the hall. Theo picked up her pace, walking as fast as she could without breaking into a jog as she tried to find the source of the commotion. The thought of a break-in briefly flashed through her mind, but it seemed impossible with all the security Tony had in place. So what would have caused such a racket?

By the time she reached the living room, Theo braced herself for a mess.

What she found was a mess, but not the kind she anticipated: Bucky sat hunched over at the dining room table with an empty Budweiser bottle clutched in one hand. His hair fell around his face, greasy and unkempt as it obscured most of his face. Above his head and a bit to the left, some sort of brown liquid dripped down the wall; beneath the liquid, a pile of clear glass laid on the floor.

Across from him, Steve restrained Tony as he snarled at Bucky. Veins bulged from Tony’s neck, his face nearly crimson as he slurred something unintelligible and filled with rage, then stumbled. Steve adjusted so Tony didn’t take them both down to the ground, only to be shoved away by Tony. Theo’s stomach lurched as Tony started towards Bucky, only to veer to the side and stagger off into the hall, all the while rambling about Bucky ruining his family.

Throughout the entire ordeal, Bucky sat stone-still. He didn’t look up from the table, hints of glazed eyes staring into almost nothing as Tony shouted at him. He said nothing as Steve rushed over to him; he didn’t respond as Steve crouched down to eye level and called his name.

“What the hell just happened?”

Steve’s head snapped towards Theo, who stood in the entryway completely bewildered at what she just saw. When he realized who asked the question, he deflated a bit, his shoulders sagging beneath an invisible weight as he sighed.

“Theo – sorry if we woke you–“

“Oh, no, I was still awake. I just…” Theo faltered, not sure how to continue. “ … I heard a commotion.”

Steve shook his head, closing his eyes as he briefly massaged the bridge of his nose. He stood and he glanced towards the hallway; brows drawn tight and gaze distant, as if distracted by something. “Can you watch Buck for a minute? I’ll be right back…” He half-heartedly pointed down the hall, his attention still on the hall as he asked Theo for her assistance. Even though Steve never answered Theo’s question, she got the sense it wasn’t a good time to press the matter. If she had to guess, Steve wanted to check on Tony, but what led to the mess Theo stumbled upon remained a mystery.

“Yeah, sure–” Theo nodded. Bucky hadn’t moved in so long that he could give those human statues that frequented tourist traps a run for their money, so it didn’t seem like much of an ask.

Theo barely got the response out before Steve sprinted down the hall.

Unsure of how long Steve would be gone, Theo took a seat next to Bucky. He didn’t turn or acknowledge her presence; however, now that Theo was a bit closer, she noticed how tears stained his cheeks, and how he white-knuckled the bottle in his faintly trembling hand. With each exhale, the scent of beer filled the air.

The pair sat there in silence, Theo’s mind reeling while god-knows-what was going on in Bucky’s mind. It didn’t seem like talking to him would be useful, given his ongoing silence.

Without warning, Bucky stood, his chair clattering as it fell backwards onto the floor. He swayed dangerously for a moment, beer bottle still in hand as he gripped the table for support. A string of incoherent, slurred mumbles fell from his mouth, though he still hadn’t actually acknowledged Theo’s presence.

“Whoa, wait–” Theo clambered to her feet before Bucky could get too far, barely catching her own chair before it also tipped over. “Buck, where are you going? Maybe we should stay here until Steve gets back, yeah?”

Bucky didn’t reply; he took a couple steps forward, then leaned against the wall and shut his eyes. He mumbled something else - of everything, Theo managed to pick out one word: bed.

All things considered, it was probably time for him to call it a night.

“Hey Buck,” Theo murmured as she ducked into his field of vision. “Let’s get you to bed, alright?”

Bucky muttered something incoherent, but didn’t protest when Theo wrapped one of his arms around her shoulders for balance, then pulled him away from the wall. He swayed, stumbling a bit before Theo managed to steady the super soldier. All the while, he still clutched the empty bottle in his hand.

With Bucky’s much larger stature and his high level of intoxication, each time he tried to walk he nearly pulled both of them to the ground. Theo briefly considered that it might be worth getting him checked out by the hospital - after all, if a super soldier could get drunk, they could theoretically get alcohol poisoning, right? She couldn’t remember another time she had seen him so drunk - sure, he certainly liked to have a few and get a good buzz, but never had it gotten this severe.

For the moment, she settled for practically dragging Bucky down the hall so they made it to his suite. She could keep an eye on him from there, and if she saw any signs that things were getting a bit dicey, she’d call for someone to help bring him in.

Bucky groaned when Theo stopped in front of his door. She twisted the knob, but the metal barely turned - she’d need a key to get inside.

Or magic.

With a bit of focus, Theo conjured a few runes that slid into the key slot; a moment later, a quiet click confirmed they could enter the room. Theo threw the door open as Bucky slumped into her, the pair stumbling inside. Theo caught them both right as she heard Bucky’s breath hitch; moments later, a gagging sound erupted from beside her.

Oh shit, he was about to hurl.

Theo dove for the nearest wastebasket, turning back just in time for a putrid, acidic odor to smack her in the face as Bucky forcibly emptied the contents of his stomach. Despite Theo’s best efforts, she hadn’t been fast enough; most of the mess ended up all over Bucky and the floor in front of them, with only a little bit making it into the bin. Bucky dropped to his knees, clutching the wastebasket with his free hand as he unleashed another round of stomach bile, though the second round mostly stayed in the container.

Steve was gonna kill her when he got back.

“Oh, Buck…” Theo coaxed, rubbing slow, gentle circles on his back. Even though it seemed like the nausea passed, Theo hesitated to try and move Bucky. Between the potential for him to become sick again and the mess he already made, any attempts at relocation seemed like they’d make a bad situation worse.

Once it seemed like Bucky had settled down enough that Theo could divide her attention, she took in her surroundings. Up until that moment, Theo hadn’t been in Bucky’s suite - there wasn’t any reason, given they usually spent time together in a larger group. She always thought of Bucky as a very neat person, given his military background, but his main room looked like a tornado had gone through - books, picture frames, and other mementos had been knocked to the floor, some items cracked or broken from the fall. The only item that apparently hadn’t been thrown on the floor was his laptop, which sat closed atop the desk tucked in the corner.

Despite the mess, the space felt… empty. There were furnishings, sure - a couch, a desk, an office chair, and a bookshelf, but those looked like the sort of items that would be standard-issue in the same way that a college dorm room came with generic furniture. The space lacked any sense of personality, of comfort, of home.

Theo’s attention wandered back to Bucky, who continued to clutch his empty beer bottle like it was a security blanket. Her heart ached for him - what she stumbled upon wasn’t a simple night of over-indulging. Something triggered this, and Theo didn’t need to know what happened to recognize that whatever led him to this point, it had to have been painful.

After some indeterminate time, Theo heard firm, yet quiet footsteps that grew louder as time passed. The footsteps stopped; from behind Theo, a disappointed sigh announced Steve’s arrival.

Theo glanced back at Steve, who lingered in the doorway. The heaviness in his stance had only grown more noticeable since he left, showing itself in the furrow of his brow and the tensed muscles along his jaw.

“Hey,” Theo breathed, her mind reeling as she tried to come up with a way to explain what happened that wouldn’t end with Captain America kicking her ass.

“Oh Buck…” Steve shook his head. He rushed into the room and crouched down by Bucky’s other side, barely acknowledging Theo in the process. “What happened?”

“He threw up.” Theo cringed as soon as she heard herself; of all the answers she could have provided, her stupid brain chose the least helpful option.

Steve sighed, heavy and worn down, as he looked at the room around them.

“Once you left, he decided he wanted to go to bed - well, I think that’s what he decided, because ‘bed’ was the only word I could understand with how he was slurring - but he stood up and tried to get here on his own, so I helped him get here…” Theo looked at the mess, then back up at Steve. “And then, well, as soon as we made it inside this happened. I didn’t quite get the trash can in time, unfortunately. Did he also do all of this?”.

“Yeah… yeah, that was him.” Steve spoke softly, his voice almost morose. “He gets like this sometimes – it’s a mix of the alcohol and nightmares. They get worse around this time of year.”

She hummed in acknowledgement of Steve’s answer. “So you’ve been through this before?”

“Unfortunately,” Steve quietly confirmed. “Not often, but it has happened a few times.”

“I know Super Soldiers have a reputation for being able to do all sorts of stuff that normal people can’t, but I’m going to be honest, I think he needs medical attention.” Theo replied, brows raised as she looked at Steve.

“No need,” Steve barely shook his head as he sighed again. “The first time he did this, I brought him to the Emergency Room because I thought he drank himself to death. Turns out that the serum prevents death by alcohol. It doesn’t prevent a bad hangover the following morning, though.”

If that was the case, Bucky was going to have an awful hangover the following morning.

“Is Tony alri–?”

Glass shattering brought an abrupt end to Theo’s question.

Shards of what was once the beer bottle clutched between Bucky’s fingers now littered the floor. Drops of crimson liquid scattered themselves amidst the reflective glass, contrasting the espresso floorboards.

“He’ll be fine.” Steve quickly muttered, almost like he didn’t want Bucky to hear him… Which, given Bucky’s reaction, was understandable. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Anything I can do to help?” Theo wasn’t sure that she’d be able to do much, but since she just accidentally caused Bucky to hurt himself, the least she could do was ask.

“I’m sorry, Theo - you shouldn’t have to deal with this.” Steve sighed wearily, shaking his head. “I’ll get him cleaned up.”

Theo simply nodded, unsure of what else to say.

Steve took one of Bucky’s arms and wrapped it around his shoulders before he hoisted him up and dragged him into the bathroom, kicking the door shut behind him.

Left to her own devices, Theo’s attention returned to the room around her, more specifically on the mess left behind. Her hands twitched with the desire to do something about the mess before her; though Steve told Theo she didn’t need to do anything, it seemed unfair to leave Steve to clean up Bucky’s suite after cleaning Bucky up. For all she knew, Steve also had to do the same for Tony, since Pepper seemed to be MIA.

Steve may have gotten the reputation of being the responsible, straight-laced rule follower, but that responsibility didn’t mean he should have to clean up everyone’s messes by himself.

With that, Theo rose to her feet, popped an earbud in so she could listen to music, and busied herself with cleaning up Bucky’s suite.

The process took less time than Theo anticipated. Other than cleaning up the stomach bile, the majority of the work involved reshelving random books (including a copy of The Hobbit that looked like it was from the original printing), throwing away trash that had gathered around the room, and cleaning up the broken items that littered the floor. Theo tossed some of the items, but if something looked important she used magic to repair the object.

With the main room taken care of, Theo poked her head into the bedroom to scope out the damage. Much like the main room, the space lacked any sense of personality, with a very generic bed, night stand, and dresser filling the space. Some of the dresser drawers sat open, their contents scattered around the room, and the blankets that Theo assumed were meant for the bed had been tossed into the opposite corner.

Putting away the clothes scattered all over only took fifteen minutes, and part of that was Theo figuring out where Bucky kept all of his clothes. With the clothes back in the dresser, Theo made the bed.

Just like that, Bucky’s suite looked good as new… Even if it seemed a bit empty.

With the room clean and Steve taking care of Bucky, Theo no longer had any reason to stay. On her way out, she grabbed the bag of garbage that she filled from tidying up the room and cleaning up after Bucky, ensuring Steve didn’t have to deal with any of the mess.

Theo silently opened the door and slipped out, careful not to make a sound as she closed the door behind her. She didn’t even take three steps towards the utility room before a familiar voice caught her attention.

“You aren’t Barnes’ housemaid, you know.”

Theo recognized the voice instantly, even if she hadn’t heard it in a little while. What she didn’t recognize was the condescending tone with which he spoke.

“Long time no see, Loki –” After essentially being ghosted for weeks, Theo couldn’t help the irritation that exploded within her at the way Loki spoke to her. She turned around to face Loki, who wore a scowl as he stared her down, leaning on the doorframe for his own suite with arms crossed. “Am I finally worthy of your presence?”

“As a sorcerer,” Loki continued, ignoring Theo’s greeting, “I presumed your preference to be using magic for such mundane tasks–”

“I’m a woman of many talents, what can I say?” Theo dryly interjected, rolling her eyes.

“I also assumed you were above cleaning up the Sergeant's vomit when he was foolish enough to imbibe to the point of over-intoxication, so I suppose that’s on me.”

A memory sprung to Theo’s mind. A while back, Wanda warned Theo that there were times Loki would get into a “mood.” During these “moods,” Loki would lock himself away, lashing out at anyone who tried to interact with him. Wanda warned Theo in no uncertain terms to stay the hell away from Loki when he was in one of his “moods,” unless she wanted to incur his legendary temper.

It seemed like Theo was getting her first taste of one of Loki’s “moods.”

“What’s wrong with helping a friend?” Theo challenged, using every bit of her limited patience not to unleash a snarky response or chuck the bag of trash at him.

“Barnes allowed his emotions to get the best of him – it is weakness.” Nothing but pure ice could be found in Loki’s answer, a painfully sharp departure from any other time they spoke.

“So?” Theo countered. “Everyone has their weaknesses. I’m happy to help a friend when they’re amidst a moment of weakness – if it were you, I’d do the same.”

Loki faltered, the almost aggressive demeanor disappearing for a split second to reveal something painfully tender. As quickly as it came, it vanished; Loki stood taller, shoulders and new tense as he puffed his chest in defiance.

“You don’t truly believe that, do you?” Loki’s gaze burned into her, like he was looking for a way to make her crack and explode.

Theo rolled her eyes, brushing past Loki. If he was going to behave like an ass, she wasn't even going to humor him with an answer.

Underneath it all, Theo suspected something else bothered Loki, but Theo couldn’t deny that at face value the man who stood before her was nothing like the Loki she had come to befriend. “Good night, Loki.”

Theo didn’t miss the look of surprise painted across the Asgardian prince’s face as she walked away without taking his bait. She stopped in the utility closet to drop the garbage bag down the trash chute, then made her way to the kitchen to grab a glass of water.

Along the way, she took a moment to clean up the broken glass and puddle that dripped from the wall in the dining room. After wiping up the puddle of what turned out to be amber liquid, Theo held the paper towel up to her nose and sniffed, the sharp scent of Tony’s favorite whiskey filling her nostrils and almost making her sneeze.

The clues started to come together - Tony must have thrown his drink at Bucky, but (thankfully) missed.

But what would have angered him enough to do that?

Theo ruminated on the topic as she swept up the broken glass and wiped down both the wall and floor, removing any trace of whiskey. With that taken care of, she filled the biggest glass of water she could find and took a long swig while still at the sink, then topped it off.

Rather than return to her suite (and risk Loki chastising her a second time), Theo sat at the breakfast bar as she slowly sipped her water. All the while, her mind spun with all the weird things going on.

Wanda, Vision, Steve, Tony, Bucky, Loki – Every person Theo had encountered in the residential portion of the tower seemed like something troubled them. Wanda and Steve both mentioned something about the time of year, although Steve mentioned it in reference to Bucky. Maybe there was some connection between the two, but that didn’t explain where the others fit into the equation. What was the common thread?

The scrape of stool legs on stone floors jarred Theo from her thoughts. Her head snapped towards the sound to discover Steve had taken a seat next to her, his own glass of water in his hand. He glanced over at Theo, offering a thin smile.

“Thank you,” Steve murmured, “for your help earlier. He put up a lot of fight tonight – it was really nice to not have to take care of the room afterward.”

“It’s no problem.” Theo exhaled, then swallowed thickly. “What was going on there, anyways?”

“It’s a long story…” Steve trailed off as he glanced over at the empty chair where Bucky once sat. The shadows cast by the pendant lights that hung above the breakfast bar only exacerbated the shadows under Steve’s eyes. “I’ll tell you some other time.”

Theo sighed, but nodded. As much as the lack of answer bothered her, she had to accept that she wasn’t going to get any answers that night.

“You’re a good friend, you know that?” Theo commented, turning to Steve with a (hopefully) comforting smile. “You’re patient, even when someone pushes your buttons or does something you don’t agree with.”

“Buck’s like my family,” Steve shrugged dismissively, “It’s the absolute least that I could do, especially after all he’s been through.”

Theo nodded, allowing a brief pause to fall between the pair.

It occurred to Theo that she hadn’t ever seen Steve experience a low moment.

Then again, Steve was Captain America - if there was anyone who the world expected to keep a strong sense of optimism and composure in the darkest moments, it was him. Captain America wasn’t just a superhero, he represented confidence and hope for so many people. If he let the world see him struggle, let them see the human behind the superhero, it would be catastrophic; if Captain America seemed like he lost hope, how could anyone believe that things would be okay?

Steve Rogers, in many ways, was a modern-day Atlas, through and through.

“Does anyone do that for you?” Theo asked quietly. “Support you, I mean?”

“Buck does, every day.” Steve nodded. “Most of the time he doesn’t even know he’s doing it.”

“I’m glad.” One corner of Theo’s lip curled upward, as if to imply a smile. “Glad that you have someone who’s there for you, that is,” she clarified.

The pair sat in silence, sipping their respective glasses of water as they stared out into the empty living room and dining room. After an indeterminate amount of time, Theo glanced over at Steve. His normally perfect posture had taken on a slouch, and upon closer inspection the super soldier had bags beneath his eyes. A crease in his forehead hinted at perpetual tension, though more than anything, he simply looked exhausted. Theo’s chest ached at how much pressure Steve must have been under.

“You look tired –” Theo observed, glancing between Steve and the hallway that led to everyone’s suites. “– you should get some rest.”

“I can’t. If Bucky has another nightmare, I need to be there.” Steve shook his head, rejecting the notion without even thinking about it. He glanced at the clock, eyes widening for a moment as his breath quickened. “I came out here to grab a quick drink, but I’ve stayed too long. I should get back to him…”

“I can stay with Bucky for a few hours,” Theo offered, “Enough for you to take a nap, at least. It’s not like I’m about to fall asleep anyways.This is still a few hours ahead of my usual bedtime…”

Steve frowned as his blue eyes flickered between Theo and his water glass, debating the offer.

“You’ve already done more than I could have asked, especially when you have no reason to get involved…” Steve’s shoulders dropped as he let out a sigh. He paused, meeting her gaze with such intensity that Theo suspected Steve overheard her disagreement with Loki. “… But I have to admit, your offer makes me worry about your sleep habits. Especially since you wake up earlier than most of the team.”

Theo couldn’t help but snickered at the second part of Steve’s comment. “You have enough to worry about – I promise that I’m the least of your problems. I just… nighttime and I have always had a special connection.”

Theo saw the odd look that Steve gave her, but he shrugged as he finished his water.

“Whatever you say, Theo.” He stood up, pushing his stool in and then placing his empty glass in the dishwasher. “Are you serious about staying with Buck for a bit?”

“I wouldn’t offer it if I wasn’t serious.” Theo assured him, following Steve’s lead as she pushed her own stool in and placed her glass in the dishwasher beside his.

Steve nodded, gaze distant for a minute as he let out a quiet breath. “I really appreciate it.”

“It’s no problem.” Theo promised, gesturing for them both to depart from the kitchen.

The pair walked the hall in silence, though Steve kept a quick enough pace that Theo struggled to keep up without breaking into a small jog. Bucky’s suite wasn’t far, but the pace certainly provided a testament to Steve’s anxiety around how long he had been away. Once they reached the door, they both paused.

“If there’s trouble, let me know and I’ll come right over.” Steve insisted, glancing nervously at the door; he looked like he was debating whether to go in and check on Bucky first, or if he could trust Theo to manage whatever she found.

At that thought, Theo had to bite back a laugh - in that moment, Steve reminded Theo of Ellie and Max, the first time they left Katie with Theo for an afternoon.

“I’m sure he’ll sleep like a baby.” Theo reassured him, resting one hand on Steve’s shoulder as she locked eyes with him. “Hopefully you will too, because you also need it.”

Steve took a reluctant step backwards as he glanced between the door and Theo. Just before Theo could shoo him away, he turned and walked away, moving much more slowly; Theo wondered if the idea of sleeping away from Bucky when he was like was more stressful for Steve than simply staying up with him, but after convincing Steve to lay down, Theo had no intention of calling Steve back.

Once Steve disappeared around the corner, Theo stepped into Bucky’s suite. Even in the dark, Theo could tell that everything was just as Theo left it, which Theo took as a good sign - if everything was still in place, Bucky probably hadn’t woken up. She slowly cracked the door to the bedroom and peered inside. Everything remained in its place, which gave Theo the confidence to open the door the rest of the way and make her way inside.

Bucky laid curled on his side beneath a navy blanket, facing the door. Though his expression lacked any sort of tension, the lingering puffiness of his eyes and slight frown were visible reminders that all was not well.

Seeing Bucky asleep, Theo took a moment to text Steve and reassure him that Bucky was still asleep, hoping that it would give Steve the confidence to actually try and sleep. Then, she returned to Bucky’s main room and grabbed his desk chair, bringing it to the bedroom and placing it near the bed so she had somewhere to sit. Steve may have been close enough to Bucky to sit on the bed, but Theo wasn’t about to test what would happen if the Winter Soldier woke up to an acquaintance sitting on his bed and no idea how they got there.

After a bit of silence, Theo popped an earbud in so she could listen to a song she planned to cover in the near future. Trying to figure out why everything was so weird seemed pointless, given she wasn’t going to get any more answers that night, so focusing on music seemed like the best distraction. Besides, she needed to dissect the song’s arrangement so she could figure out the elements she wanted to include in her version, and it wasn’t like she had much else to do at that moment.

After an hour, Theo nearly had her gameplan for how she wanted to arrange the cover. Just as she finished typing out her plan in a note on her phone, rustling blankets caught Theo’s eye.

Bucky stirred, stretching his legs out before curling into an even smaller ball. The blanket fell enough that Theo caught a glimpse of his hand, neatly wrapped in crisp white gauze. He buried his face in the pillow and drew in a harsh breath, letting out shakily. Theo quickly slipped her phone in her pocket as she watched Bucky, trying to figure out whether or not he was awake.

“Ssssorry,” Bucky mumbled into his pillow. “M’sorry…”

“It’s okay, Buck.” Theo murmured. She shifted from the chair to sit on the edge of the bed, hoping that the sinking mattress would be enough for him to know he wasn’t alone. “You’re okay.”

“I din’ mean to.” The whimper that crept out of Bucky broke Theo’s heart. “I din’ know…”

“I know, Buck,” Theo soothed, tracing slow, gentle circles along his back; it calmed her niece down whenever she had a nightmare, so she figured it was worth a shot here. “It’s going to be okay.”

“Ssorr’,” he mumbled again, turning his head so the words were only half-mumbled into his pillow. Bucky’s eyes were closed, but Theo still couldn’t tell if he was truly asleep or not.

“Shhh,” Theo tried to quiet him as gently as she could. “I know you’re sorry Buck, but it's okay. We forgive you.”

What they forgave him for, Theo had no idea, but if Bucky kept repeating apologies, it seemed like forgiveness might be what he needed to hear.

A shaky sigh escaped from Bucky, who sank a bit further into the mattress. Theo stayed right where she was, continuing to rub Bucky’s back as she once again found herself stuck on the mystery of why everyone was so upset. Only when she was convinced that Bucky was asleep did she carefully ease herself off the mattress and sit back in her chair. After watching Bucky for a minute to make sure he hadn’t woken up, Theo went back to plotting out her covers.

Three hours later, the faint creak of an opening door and the quiet padding of footsteps announced Steve’s return. The slump of his shoulders from earlier had disappeared, and Theo saw no sign of the bags that previously hung beneath his eyes.

“Welcome back,” Theo whispered, offering Steve a smile as she stood up and pocketed her phone. “Get any sleep?”

“I got a bit…” Steve replied with his own smile, before his attention went towards the bed. “How’s Buck?”

“Sleepin’ like a baby, just like I promised.”

Telling Steve that Bucky might have woken up and drunkenly apologized for some unknown mistake seemed like it would only make Steve stress out; given the whole point of Theo staying with Bucky was to help Steve out, Theo decided it was best not to say anything more.

The sigh of relief that came from Steve only confirmed that was the right choice.

“Thank you, Theo.” Steve took the seat Theo recently vacated, glancing between Bucky and Theo. “Really, you’ve helped more than you know.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Theo replied, making her way to the door. With one hand on the doorknob, she turned back and waved. “Good night, Steve.”

“Good night Theo - try to get some sleep, okay?” Steve returned, his tone a mix of teasing and mild concern.

“Aye-aye, captain.” Theo winked and saluted him, then took her leave.

The faintest hint of color peeked over the horizon by the time Theo returned to her suite. As she drew the curtains shut and crawled into bed, Theo’s mind inevitably went back to the perpetual stress that seemed to plague the entire tower.

After weeks, Theo was no closer to solving the mystery of what troubled the Avengers, and there seemed to be no end in sight. It was like the answer was an object just beyond Theo’s reach - if only she could stretch her arm a bit farther, she’d be able to grasp it. But try as she might, the mystery seemed like it was too much for Theo to solve on her own.

Just before she drifted into a restless sleep, Theo decided: if she couldn’t put the clues together, it was time to ask for some help…

… And Theo knew just who to go to.

I don't really wanna talk about it I don't really wanna talk about it I don't really wanna talk about it Right now, right now

Summary for those who opted to skip the last scene:

After hearing a commotion in the tower, Theo walks into the dining room to find Steve restraining a very drunk Tony while Bucky sat at the dining room table. Tony yelled something that Theo couldn’t understand at Bucky, then stormed off. After Tony storms off, Steve asks Theo to stay with Bucky while he checks on Tony. Bucky, who is also inebriated, tries to go to his room and gets sick along the way. Steve returns and Theo explains what happened, then asks about Tony. Hearing Tony’s name, Bucky crushes a glass bottle in his hand; Steve diverts the conversation, leaving Theo without an answer. Steve helps Bucky clean up, and in an effort to help, Theo cleans up Bucky’s suite.

When she leaves Bucky’s suite, Theo runs into Loki, who yells at her for helping Bucky. She asks what’s wrong with helping a friend and tells Loki she’d help him too; Loki seems surprised by this, but only grows more angry. Theo, frustrated by Loki’s behavior, decides she isn’t going to talk to him if he’s going to be rude, so she leaves and heads into the kitchen for some water. Steve joins her a bit later, sharing that it’s not the first time this has happened, however it was more common around this time of year. They talk a bit more about supporting friends going through tough times, then Theo tells Steve that he looks tired and he should go to bed. Steve declines, saying that he needs to get back to Bucky in case Bucky has a nightmare. Theo volunteers to sit with Bucky for a bit so Steve can get some rest.

Steve hesitantly agrees. Theo stays with Bucky; he stirs once, apologizing repeatedly for some unknown mistake. Theo manages to get him to go back to sleep, and when Steve returns she doesn’t tell him about the apologies.

By the time Theo goes to bed, it’s approaching daytime. Frustrated by her inability to figure out what’s going on, she decides she is going to ask someone for help.

#loki #loki imagine #loki marvel #loki angst #loki hurt/comfort #loki fanfiction #loki x ofc #when everything's made to be broken #wemtbb #loki fanfic #loki odinson #loki laufeyson

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