#and now you see one of the reasons Jess took a while to warm up to Nikolai
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Would You Know Me In Your Heart ~ A Song of Sway Lake Fic
A/N: This sort of unintentionally ended up a 3 part series (parts 1 and 2 being Brick and It’s All Coming Back To Me Now, though you don’t technically have to read either for this to make sense) about pasts and choices for the Sway Lake crew. I hope it means as much to you as it does to me.
And, as always but even more so, I owe a huge thanks to @misskittysmagicportal. For the encouragement, and the workshopping, and putting up with me changing my mind about 800 times over the direction/outcome. I couldn’t have gotten here without you. 💖
Word Count: 2522
Rating: T - teen pregnancy, fear and isolation, discussions of abortion, adoption, regret, mild language
“I have one condition,” Jess said, sitting down beside the young girl, who was clearly trying not to cry. “If we go through with this, it’s an open adoption.”
“What? Why?” she asked, her face a mixture of shock and confusion.
“Because I’ve been where you are,” Jess offered up a hug, or at least a comforting arm around the girl’s shoulders, and she leaned into it.
Now it was Ollie’s turn to stare. He and Jess had been together for years now, and yet somehow, he still didn’t know everything it seemed.
“I know how terrifying and alone it feels, and how heartbreaking it is to think that your child is better off without you.”
Jess felt the tears stinging at her eyes as she remembered her own ordeal in reaching that conclusion.
“And you might think that you want a clean break, because watching someone else raise them will hurt too much. And if that’s really the case, that’s fine, you don’t ever have to reach out or open the connection from your end. But I also know you might find yourself lying awake someday, years from now, staring at the ceiling and asking the universe, ‘Is my baby okay? Is he happy? What’s his life like?’ and if that happens, I don’t want you to have to suffer not knowing. I want you to be able to call, or write a letter, or take advantage of a standing invitation to Christmas and birthdays and graduations.”
The young mother started to sob, turning to throw her arms gratefully around Jess's neck. Ollie watched on helplessly as the two shared a pain that he could never imagine, wishing there was some way to take it away, from them both.
Later on, as they sat side-by-side and curled against each other like a pair of cats, watching the sunset, Ollie finally worked up the nerve to ask the question that had been plaguing him all afternoon.
“Jess,” he said softly. “Will you tell me about your son?”
“How do you know it was a son?”
“You said 'he' when you were talking about the questions you ask yourself. You don't have to tell me if it's too much for you. I just...had no idea.”
Jess smiled a little sadly back at him. He really was the sweetest man. She hadn't planned to ever mention the baby she gave up, and wasn't sure exactly where to start. But she realized she wanted to tell Ollie, so she took a deep breath and tried.
Jess had often wondered if there was truly a point where you could cry so much there were no more tears left. She had thought the loss of her grandmother might bring her to that point, but even after a week of spending more waking hours crying than not, there had still somehow been more tears to spill. But now, now she might have found the maximum, or maybe just her breaking point.
“How could you be so stupid?” April asked for the fourth time that afternoon. “And with the Kostas kid? He’s been a manwhore since puberty. Why would you ever give in to that?”
She wanted to protest, to say that yes Sunny slept around, but it was different with her. She wanted to tell her sister that what they had was special and that she loved him, no matter what their relationship, or lack of, was. She wanted to tell her that she didn’t care that he slept with other people, so did she from time to time. But her throat felt dry and her tongue felt heavy and the words just wouldn’t come.
Instead she sat there, staring at the wall, and deliberately not looking at the test in her hands, and let her older sister berate her. Because for once, April was right. It had been one mistake, one moment of stupidity and it was about to ruin her life.
She found herself thinking back on the night. It had been late, and pouring rain, when Sunny had shown up at her apartment. He stood on the steps, teeth chattering, asking if he could come in. His face was wet and she didn’t know if it was the rain or tears, or both. But he said he needed her (not someone, not Selina but if she wasn’t there Jess would do, he needed her), and no matter what their agreements were, that was all she needed to hear to let him in. She’d handed him a towel and an old t-shirt and her gym shorts. She’d set a kettle on and made tea. She’d marveled at his timing, how he might have come to her for comfort or care, but it was on a night she needed someone too. And they’d fallen into each other like a magnetic pull. It happened fast, neither of them thinking past their need and their hunger. It wasn't until much later, as she watched him sleep beside her and sipped oversteeped, slightly too cold peppermint that it occurred to her what they'd done.
And now here she was, facing the reality of where not thinking had gotten her. Three weeks past when her cycle should have come, unsure if her nausea was fear or something else, being lectured by her sister who finally had proof positive that she was the superior one. Or maybe not positive yet, but it was only a matter of time.
“Can you stop yelling at me and help me figure out what the fuck to do?” She begged bitterly, voice thick with tears.
“Don't take that tone with me. You're an adult. I could leave you to figure it out for yourself.”
“Please, April. I'm scared and I need my big sister.”
April scoffed and rolled her eyes. “At least if it's a kid you can get rid of it, so you better hope for that. I've heard the rumors that he's been with men too,” she shrugged. “It could be AIDs.”
“That's not how that works. Besides, he's too smart to be that stupid. He's careful about that shit.”
“Aren't you usually smart about sex too?”
Jess bit her lip, realizing there was no arguing that point. A chill ran down her spine as she realized the test was finally reacting, slowly producing the answer she had feared.
“The Kostases are loaded right?” April pointed out, peering over her shoulder at the colored strip. “All those famous people and their club, they must be.”
Jess struggled not to roll her eyes. Of course her sister's first thought was of money.
“Make him pay for whatever you decide to do with it. And all your medical shit besides. Like going and getting it confirmed for sure.”
“I'm not doing that. I won't ruin his life too.”
“Jessie, honey, he knocked you up. You have every right to ruin his life. You should ruin his life. Or get something out of it.”
“I said I'm not doing that. If you aren't going to be helpful, then just go away. I'll figure out how to take care of it alone.”
“Fine,” her sister huffed. “But don’t say I didn’t try.”
~
Jess did take care of it. By going to doctors out of the city so no one in her small social circle, or more importantly Sunny’s parents’, might catch wind. By wearing thick sweaters and baggy tops no matter the weather, to hide her growing stomach. By avoiding everyone she could, muddling her way through classes and work without socializing.
She didn't want to think of options, pushing the choice off as long as she could. It was her baby but she couldn't be a mother. Especially not when her parents made it clear that she would get no help from them, and she was sure the very fact would give her granddad a heart attack.
Jess thought about telling someone on his side. Every doctor's appointment alone or phone call with the adoption agency, every step toward the fateful day was a new scenario. She must have imagined telling Selina a hundred times, in a hundred different ways, and Sunny almost as many. But sometimes it was Klaus, or Honey or Leon (oddly never “and” despite how linked the two were in her mind), Tom Kidman, even Selina's…Luther in one desperate bid of loneliness. But she could never bring herself to do it for real; there were too many ways it could go wrong: anger, resentment, hatred, ostracization, running away; insistence like her parents’ that she get rid of the baby; insistence that they keep him or her - a Kostas, not really hers; shadowy figures in the night come to snatch them away to be some child soldier experiment.
She wasn't sure which thought was the worst, but she couldn't bear any of them. So she kept them to fantasies.
“He deserves to know,” the voice in the back of her mind chanted in a constant loop. “His family deserves to know.”
But he had a whole world of options still open to him, and they were barely more than kids. It would be an unfair burden.
Instead she just carried on, silent and scared.
~
Jess laid in the hospital bed, exhausted and sweaty and in pain, but that was nothing compared to her mental state. She cradled the newborn infant against her chest, giving it a chance to nurse. She tried to think of it as distantly as possible, even though her heart cried out for her son. His tiny, dark fuzz covered head and his big round eyes and the way he’d looked up at her moments before. The feel of his skin against hers. Everything about it filled her with regret: that she had made the choice she did, that she agreed to meet him for even a little while, that she couldn’t be his mother.
She knew the couple that had agreed to the private, closed adoption would love him, and that he would be better off with them than in any life she could give. But still, she wanted to look at them when they entered the room a little while later, the little bundle asleep in her arms, and beg them, “please don’t take my baby away.”
The words stuck in her throat. They smiled at her, the woman reaching out for the child with a coo of how precious he was. A tear rolled down Jess's cheek and landed, fat and round, on his forehead, and she couldn’t help thinking of it as a sort of baptism, as she passed him over.
“Did you have a name you wanted him to have?” the man, Brian, her baby’s new father, asked. “We’d be happy to honor it if you do.”
For the few hours of his life, the child had been ‘Baby Boy O’Neill’, on his crib and the tiny identity band around his wrist.
“His father’s name is Niklaus,” she said thickly, smiling fondly for a second. “Even if he never goes by it. There's a family tradition that he should have some variant on that as part of his name. But I...I hadn’t planned to name him, I didn’t think I was allowed.”
The man smiled at her, almost as paternal as he looked at her...at their new child. “We’re not taking him out of the hospital yet. Give it some thought. Unless you don’t want to.”
Later when they came back for him, when it was time for them to really take him away from her, she smiled through more tears as she kissed the tufts of hair on the top of his head.
“I couldn’t think of anything,” she said regretfully when they asked her again about her son’s name. “Besides, he’s your son, really. So you should give him whatever name you want.”
“Are you sure?” his mother, Niamh, asked.
Jess nodded, stiff and reluctant. They told her the name they had been considering, asking her opinion it, stating again they wanted her to feel comfortable and involved, if only for a little while.
“We know it’s a little bit of an odd one, but it’s an old family name from my side,” Niamh explained, “that we’d always considered if we had a boy.”
“It means Son of the Raven,” his father added. “And with how dark his hair is already, it must run in the line, so…”
Jess’s thoughts were suddenly filled with a familiar, watchful (sometimes judgmental) black bird, and she didn’t really hear the rest of what the little boy’s new parents were saying past the rushing in her ears that sounded a lot like wings.
“Unique,” Jess corrected, voice thick. “It…suits him.”
They smiled at her, and then down at the baby still in her arms.
“It’s decided then.” Brian started to clap his hands together, catching himself at the last moment and slowing it so that it didn’t make a sound to scare the baby.
She asked if she could hold him, for just one more minute, to say goodbye. They agreed, a look of kind pity in their eyes as they stepped out ‘to find the nurse and fill in the birth certificate,’ so that she could have her privacy.
“Cormac Nicholas MacNamara,” she whispered, staring into his wide, round eyes that already betrayed a glint of not-quite-natural intelligence. “You are going to be so amazing. And I will always love you.”
“I eventually did tell Selina. I felt horrible keeping it from her, from all of them.”
“Selina's your best friend. I'm sure she understood.”
“But she's Sunny's sister first. It was complicated, and ended up being the longest we ever went without talking.” Jess swiped at her tears again. “I think she was as much hurt that she thought I didn't trust her to help me as at the secrets. But I didn't want to put her in the position of having to choose between us.”
“Obviously she forgave you though?”
“Oh, completely. Eventually. And I thank every god and goddess that might be listening for it. I don't know what I'd have done if I lost her too.”
Ollie was quiet for a long while, thinking about what she'd told him and the weight it must be for her. He couldn't even begin to imagine what that might be like, but it didn’t really matter. Pulling her close with the arm resting around her shoulders, he pressed a lingering kiss to her temple. She sighed, relaxing into him again.
“And adopting a baby with me…” he bit his lip nervously, “it’s not going to, I don’t know, upset you or be too much right?”
“What?” She turned to look at him, brushing the hair from his face in order to meet his eyes. “No. Of course not. There is nothing I want more than to do this. And it’s going to be hard sometimes, but…I have you, we have each other. And I don’t know, I probably sound too much like a Kostas again but, maybe this is setting the balance of things right again?”
Ollie kissed her softly. “I think it’s meant to be too.”
#Oliver Sway x Jess O'Neill#Jess O'Neill x Sunny Kostas#adoption#angst#The Song of Sway Lake fic#I also took a page out of her book and used a song lyric for a title#and now you see one of the reasons Jess took a while to warm up to Nikolai#'I want to love you because the people I love most do but sometimes your face is like chewing shards of glass'#(she feels that way EVEN MORE about Sunny sometimes)
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Jealous Jessie // Jessie Fleming
a/n: based off this request. Hope you like it.
"Ella!" you shouted as you started running towards the Manchester United player. As you jumped on her out of joy, she caught you. In a matter of fact her hands ended up at your bum to hold you up. Jessie not liking the view in front of her - that some girl had her hands on her girlfriends bum. Glaring at Ella and you, thankfully you were back on the ground, she marched over, her arm snuggling around your waist - a silent statement.
When Ella smiled and greeted the brunette sweetly, the green-eyed monster disappeared as fast as it had appreared. "Hi" she mumbled, cheeks red as her shy persona was back. You looked at your girlfriend, not understanding what or if something was wrong. Something felt off.
The three of you talked for a little bit until the first fans were allowed to enter the stadium. "I‘ll see you later?" you asked the young lioness. In respond, she pressed a sloppy kiss to your cheek as she hugged you in the Ella-Toone-Style, "sure sure but don‘t cry when we smash you" she laughed loudly before walking back to her own team.
Jessie‘s chest grew tight, seeing the united player kiss your cheek, the green-eyed monster back.
"Is everything alright?" you asked as the two of you walked back in the tunnel. Looking around, the midfielder grabbed your waist, pushing you to the nearest wall. "Wow-"
"You‘re mine" her lips smashed against your own before she shoved her tongue down your throat. Her hands roaming over every inch of your body, finding a rest on your bum, her property - not Ellas.
Your whole mind was spinning, what had gotten into her? this dominant side was new.
Jess was shy, quiet and reserved in everyone's eyes but not with you. It's like her persona took a turn, she talked a lot more, grinned more and even though she was an athlete, she was a lot more active (in more than one way). Her personality became more extroverted. She could be her true self with you.
When she pulled away, both of you were out of breath, "mine" not giving you the chance to react, she took your hand, guiding you to the changing rooms. Her jaw was clenched, orbs seemed dark - lust sparkling through her body.
In the locker, the canadian acted like she normally would. She smiled sweetly at everyone who looked at her, minding her own business as she changed in to her gear. Meanwhile you were a stumbling mess, tripping over your own feet as you tried to compose yourself.
"Ouch! What was that for?" you hissed at Millie as she gave the back of your head a smack, "don‘t be all lovey-dovey with Ella and then end up like this" she gestured to your body, refering to the blush that covered your cheeks and your mind which was spinning. "Be serious!"
"Yes ma‘am, sorry ma‘am" you joked with a serious look on your face while you saluted. Unknown to you, the small canadian heard your conversation. The word lovey-dovey stuck in her head.
By the love of god, Millie didn‘t mean any by it, she knew the lioness and you were close friends and due to not being able to see each other every day, the day you played against one another was shared with your goofiness. Though with Jessie as your girlfriend (unknown to everyone) the word lovey-dovey made her mind spin, jealousy worse. Jess wasn‘t per se a jealous person yet the touchiness with the Mancunian didn‘t feel right. Not at all.
A growl was written over the sweet girls face as she stared at the floor, blankly.
The whole warm up, she didn‘t talk to you nor looked in your direction. Every now and then, she glared at her opponent, the reason she felt weird and possessive.
Jess was in the starting line up, the same as you and the midfielder of United. The brunette was standing in front of you while your eyes burnt holes in the back of her head, why didn‘t she talk to you? It was like Jessie was a changed woman, the sweet girl turned into a stone cold hearted one. She looked majestic in a dominant way, glowing like a desired woman.
To be honest, If the two of you were at home, her clothes would‘ve been gone by now and your own? she would‘ve ripped them off the second Tooney had touched you.
As the kick off whistle blows, Chelsea was pressing high yet playing a safe game. Jess was playing the match of her life, her foot connecting perfectly with the ball - her passes on point as she got assist after assist. Yet she hadn‘t had enough, the smile Ella would send you or the small talk she would have with you at injury breaks annoyed the canadian. The last straw broke when Ella pressed her body against yours from behind as United had a corner. Wrong move.
At half time the score line was 3-0 for Chelsea. 3-Jessie-Assists.
United got desperate. In their attempts to try something new or score, they lost the ball. Ella always losing the ball against Jess in a 1v1. Ever so often, Jessie would challenge Ella with a tackle - not hurting her in any kind of way and most of the time getting away with it - never a card. Each time, the young lioness would argue with the referee after again landing on the grass.
It wasn‘t until the 80th minute that she got a yellow card. The United player running towards her as the canadian snapped in a manner of the match. She couldn‘t explain how or why but as she saw the Mancunian sprinting towards her, her mind threw her back to the situation earlier and then to another scenario, the two of you walking down the streets of Manchester holding hands as you secretly kissed in some random alley. Her imagination had run wild.
Long story short, the brunette sticked out her feet for Ella to stumble over it.
"What the fuck is wrong with ya, mate?" she yelled, already up again as she shoved Jess. The Blue back in her shy and small persona as she apologized several times, "i‘m sorry, i‘m sorry! I- I didn‘t mean to" she mumbled.
As you walked up to the red devil and your favorite blue, they were already back at acting friendly, "nah we good" Ella smiled, going back to her position. But still, Jess got her yellow card. Your eyes questioned the behaviour of her as she finally looked at you - not answering your silent asked question.
Fuck, Jessie looked hot with that new look.
Your body was on fire, just looking at Jess in action made your knees weak, heart swoon and mind hungry as you couldn‘t think about anything else but Jessie laying naked in your bed.
The game ended in 4-0 win, the icing on the cake with Jess scoring as her hard work paid off. The girls cheered for the canadian, celebrating the game of her life.
You were more than proud.
All the attention on her was something the girl didn‘t like though, quickly changing the topic as she walked to the fans, other girls swarming out as well. You watched Jessie with hungry eyes, "come with me" you said to her as she stood by herself as she already took a lot of pictures and signed many shirts.
Back in the tunnel, you searched for a quiet place, finding one in the storage room. "You oka-" she couldn‘t even finish her sentence because your lips were already on her own. Your hands tangled in her hair, slightly tugging on it, hips grinding against each other in need.
"You‘re so hot" you mumbled against her lips, the brunette smirking at your bothered state.
A whine escaped your lips when Jess pulled away, her hands gripping your waist as she turned your position - yourself against the wall.
"Don‘t you dare to go near Ella again"
It wasn‘t a real threat, no inch of her body toxic in any way, but for now and the rest of the day, she had to have you for herself and her pleasure.
"Fuck yeah" was your only reply as she was back kissing you, gentle moans leaving your mouth. Pulling away, she purred in your ear "keep that for tonight" just as it was about to get more than just heated.
The good thing was that the two of you didn‘t need to leave the house tomorrow and there was no way in hell you would.
Jealous Jessie was something you didn‘t know you would ever experience but wow, maybe you should make her jealous more often.
———————
#jessie fleming#jessie fleming x reader#woso fanfics#woso x reader#woso#chelsea wfc#chelsea x reader#canwnt#canwnt x reader#millie bright#ella toone
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'Drawn to You' (Pt. 2)
Continuation of Pt. 1 one since a lot of people surprisingly liked it-
Synopsis: Soulmate AU where you find Vash is your soulmate.
TW: None
Word Count: 1.6k
You finished up your day's work quickly bidding farewell to Jess, and her family before rushing home. You've been waiting for the day to end so that you could continue talking to your so-called "soul mate". Eventually making it to your small house, you unlocked the door, set down your things, and sat on your bed, pen in hand. What should I say..? You pondered.
You thought for a while about what to say before deciding to write, "Hey I can talk now if you can :)"
Looking at what you wrote on your hand, you sighed thinking you were just getting overly excited.
Standing up from your bed, you began to warm up some food that you had left over to eat before noticing more writing appear on your hand.
"Oh hey!" The words said.
Unintentailly smiling, you took out your pen and began to write, "So.. how was your day?"
It took a moment for the words to reply again, "Pretty boring, besides having these mysterious words appear on my arm.. How was yours?"
You giggled at the response before replying, "Mine was busy, but decent I guess."
"Good" was all the words said.
The words stopped appearing for a bit as you didn't know what to talk about anymore.
Taking your food out of the oven, you put it on a plate and began to eat a bit before the words appeared again. "What can I call you, mysterious words?"
Smiling a bit you quickly wrote back, "Mm, y/ns fine. What can I call you?"
The words replied back quickly before saying, "Nice name Y/n! You can just call me Vash."
You repeated the name to yourself before smiling. "Nice to meet you Vash."
Your heart was racing for no reason at all, yet you liked it. Maybe this soulmate thing is real?
Meanwhile, Vash was sitting in the uncomfortable car while the others slept. Using the little light provided by the moon, he was just barely able to see your words but smiled at each one. They seem nice, he thought. The little chats continued just asking little questions such as: what do you look like, what are your hobbies, and things like that. He found out that you had (hair color) hair and (eye color) eyes. And he had told you he had blonde hair, blue eyes, and wore a red coat. His chat with you prolonged a bit longer before Wolfwood interrupted him.
"How long are you going to stare at your hand smiling, Needle-Noggin?" Wolfwood said with his eyes closed but was sending a mischievous smirk Vash's way.
"I'm not smiling at my hand-" Vash defended.
"I've been watching you write things and smile at it the past 30 minutes you idiot," Wolfwood said this time looking at him annoyed.
"I'll do it as long as it takes then. I'm talking to my "soul mate" thank you very much." Vash retorted back.
The two began to bicker before Meryl interrupted and yelled at them for being too loud.
"Shut up and go to sleep. Both of you," She yelled over them.
The car went silent again before Wolfwood let out a small sigh. Vash went back to looking at his hand again before writing, "I'm going to hit the sack. Talk to you later y/n. I enjoyed chatting with you."
He smiled a bit before closing his eyes happily. Was this the beginning of something much larger?
It had been almost 4 months since you both started talking to each other. You had learned that Vash happened to be the Vash the Stampede. Although you didn't mind, he seemed like a good person and you were soul mates for a reason. The both of you had talked a lot and you always drew a bunch of random drawings on your hand just to mess with him. He would sometimes draw things back, but he liked seeing the things you drew.
Meanwhile, your day started out normally as you had gotten ready for work before writing a greeting to Vash, and heading out the door. You walked through the small town in a decent mood. Walking through the town, travelers were just beginning to show up and the vendors were taking full advantage of that. You sighed at their wittiness before bumping into a tall figure.
"Sorry!" You said embarrassed.
Avoiding eye contact with the stranger, you walked ahead quickly trying to avoid the conflict. The figure watched as you sped off as his eyes widened.
"Y/n?" He whispered quietly yet surprised.
"Come on Needle-Noggin, people have no manners around here." Wolfwood incited before smacking Vash's back and leading him forward.
"Yea.." Vash said as he rubbed where Wolfwood smacked him.
It couldn't have been you.. right?
You walked into work with a bright blush on your face and your thoughts, a mess. That was so embarrassing! you thought. You pulled yourself together before tending to some customers who had just walked in. Sitting the 4 at a table, you saw that they were an odd group. One looked overly tired and particularly done with life, while one had a large cross with him. The woman wore a cute bureau (is that what type of hat she wears?) with some cute dangly earrings. Then the other man beside her wore a bright red coat, had a blonde undercut, and wore bright orange sunglasses. Greeting them, you took their drink orders and walked into the kitchen to prepare their drinks. After making the drinks, you walked back out with the drinks, and gave them to the correct person who ordered each drink. You smiled at them all before taking their orders, while observing the blonde man from time to time. He seems oddly familiar.. you thought.
You wrote down their orders quickly before walking off to give their orders to the kitchen so that the chef can make their meals. Then you went to tend to some new customers who happened to just walk in and seated them before long. Glancing at the blonde man while you walked past them, you smiled and waved at them. The blonde man waved back slightly as you saw a small drawing on the center of his palm that matched the one you had drawn on yours. You widened your eyes a bit before walking off into the kitchen and then into the back for some fresh air. Is that him..? you thought confused. Pulling out your pen, you drew a small heart on your hand, along with a smiley face. Maybe this would help you figure out if it's really him or not.
You walked back into the restaurant before going back to work and tending to the customers. Eventually, a bell was rung indicating food was ready to be taken out and you grabbed the plates before bringing the food to the table with the 4 travelers. As you approached you saw the man who had the cross laughing at the blonde as he blushed while covering his hand.
"You're getting all flustered because of a heart?!" The man laughed as he hit the table.
"Shut up.." Vash said embarrassed as he turned away from the others before seeing you.
"Uh.. sorry if I'm interrupting.. but here are your orders!" You said to them.
You distributed each plate as the man with sunglasses was still laughing. As you distribute the plates Vash happened to notice the small heart and smiley face on your hand and his eyes widen.
As you were about to leave, you hear someone clear their throat quickly before saying,
"Uhmm.. Ma'am, what is your name?" The blonde man asked.
"Oh I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier, but I'm y/n!" You smiled.
His eyes widened before nodding at you and grinning. "Nice to meet you Y/n." He said blushing a bit.
You smiled before walking off leaving them to eat their food. Its her... Vash thought excitedly. From the sight of you, he thought you were beautiful and was excited that you were both able to meet like this. He felt his heart beat faster as he quickly ate, before standing up quickly. The others turned to him confused as he walked off towards you before they shrugged it off and continued eating.
As you began to walk to the kitchen, Vash tapped your shoulder gently. You turned around to see who had touched you only to see the blonde from earlier.
"Oh is everything alright? Do you need something?" You asked smiling at him.
Vash's heart began to pump faster as stumbled over his words. "I uhm... are you available to talk for a moment?" He mumbled.
You lifted a brow confused before saying, "I can take my break really fast, the business is slowing about now anyways." You explained.
"Here, let's go somewhere more private," you grinned at him.
You led him to the back of the building before stopping.
"So what did you want to talk about..?" You asked hoping it was what you were thinking.
"Do you have a pen on you?" He asked quickly.
You nodded before handing him your pen as he wrote a small hi on his hand. He watched as the writing soon appeared on your hand and he smiled excitedly. He hugged you out of excitement while you were left shocked. It was him! Your soulmate! You finally found him! You smiled happily as you hugged him back. He pulled away smiling before saying,
"Sorry that was really sudden.." He said embarrassed.
"I don't mind.. were soulmates after all.."
#trigun vash#vash x reader#vash the stampede#trigun fluff#trigun stampede#trigun#oneshot#soulmate Au#character x reader
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Can you do “You can’t tell me that he doesn’t have a thing for you.” With Luca 🫶🏻 thank you Jess 🤍
warnings: creepy neighbor, protective luca
“luca, honey,” you call as the shirtless boy crosses the floor towards the front door. he pauses in front of the couch and turns to face you, still looking half asleep, “are you forgetting something? like, i don’t know, your shirt?”
he looks down and his shoulders slump before he tosses his head back, “this is why you shouldn’t make me do things before ten am.”
“do you want me to pull up the text messages from last night where you were asking me to go for brunch?” you raise your eyebrows and his silence is all the answer that you need. you point towards the laundry room, “there’s some of your clothes in there. hurry up, i’m hungry.”
“i can tell,” he chirps, sending you a smile at the annoyed expression that you send him as he passes. he plants a kiss on your head before disappearing into the laundry room. he comes back out a moment later with his top half covered in a sweatshirt that he had left at your apartment the last time he had stayed over and he props his hands on his hips, “does this match?”
it absolutely did not match his plaid pajama bottoms but as early as it was on a sunday morning, you doubt anyone would care. you certainly didn’t and you voice that to him as you nudge him towards the door. “you’re driving-”
“y/n!”
you freeze at the call of your name and so does luca. you turn your head to find sam staring right back at you, an almost relieved smile on his face as he stands in the doorway of his own apartment. he crosses his arms over his chest, “where are you going dressed like that?”
while he was dressed rather nicely for some reason, you and luca were still clad in the same clothes you had slept in the night before having come to the mutual agreement that a post-road-trip, picking your boyfriend up from yost at one am, breakfast date with plans to sleep all day afterward warranted such attire.
“oh, um-”
“to check the mail,” luca answers and if his face didn’t give away the fact that he was annoyed by your interaction, his clipped tone sure did. “do you need us to check yours too?”
sam avoids luca’s rhetorical question all together, keeping his focus on you, “who’s your friend?”
“boyfriend,” you and luca chime at the same time, sharing a knowing look and he bumps your shoulder with his gently. you knew that sam knew who he was that because he had asked on numerous occasions after seeing luca coming and going. you sigh, “we’ve got to get going. i’ll see you later, sam.”
“you bet,” you see him start to close the door as you turn around, but don’t actually hear it shut as you tangle your fingers with luca’s and head for the stairs. you can almost feel his eyes on you as you descend and it doesn’t help when luca chimes in,
“you can’t tell me that he doesn’t have a thing for you.”
“i know that he does, luca. thanks for pointing that one out,” you huff as you slide into the passenger seat of your car. instead of going around to the driver’s side, luca just stares and you send him a look, “please just get in and i’ll tell you about it.”
he listens, thankfully, starting the car so that it can warm up while you tell your tale.
“i helped people with their english papers last year before you got here,” you start, staring out the window, “like revising and offering advice so they can get a better grade, all of that stuff. sam came in a lot and he would only come to me. it started with small stuff, like little gifts and whatnot, and then on valentine’s day he asked me out on an actual date and i turned him down. he still would keep coming by even when i wasn’t there and then this semester he moves in beside me which i don’t know just how coincidental that can be.”
a beat of silence passes before luca speaks, “why didn’t you tell me before now?”
“because it’s not that big of a deal. he just- he took me saying no well. i don’t know, i didn’t want to bother you with it,” you start to pull on your sleeves and luca grabs your hand. “luc-”
“you saw the same thing that i did, y/n. he was watching you. your lease is up at the end of the semester?” you nod your head, chewing on the bottom of your lip subconsciously. he reaches up and gently pulls it out, “we’re finding you somewhere else to live or you’re moving into my dorm until then. i don’t like this at all.”
“it’s not that simple. you don’t know what it’s like to find something that’s affordable in a college town for one person,” you shake your head, “and i’m not living in a tiny dorm with you and adam.”
“what about just me, then?” he suggests and your heart skips a beat as you think about what he’s suggesting. “not a tiny dorm, but a place that’s ours? i mean, adam probably won’t be here next year anyway so that would save me having to find a backup roommate. you don’t have to give me an answer now, but just say that you’ll think about it.”
“i’m sorry, did you just indirectly refer to me as a backup roommate?” you shove at his shoulder and his cheeks flush. “are you sure that’s something you would want to do, luca? that’s a big decision.”
he grabs your hand and presses a kiss to the top of it, “like i said, i don’t need an answer now. just tell me that you’ll think about it.”
you hum, “i’ll think about it if you put this car in drive and get me to brunch.”
“you sure know how to ruin a moment, don’t you?” he rolls his eyes as he buckled his seatbelt, finally putting the car into reverse.
“and you love me so much that you want to live with me.”
“you got me there.”
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Can I please iterate a whole bunch of times right now how much I love how romance-coded the whole Sundae Confession moment is in Redemption Issue Two? And how so much of Seiji’s and Nicholas’ conversation leading up to it primes us to that vibe?
Imma need to back up quickly for the complete picture. Cue the scene of Nicholas dragging Seiji away from his clandestine meeting with Jesse, and Seiji’s response to it.
Priming number one: hand-holding! Nicholas seriously yeeted Seiji away from Jesse via hand-holding. It wasn’t a strong grip on a wrist for easy purchase but hand-holding. Like an emotional crutch. It’s such a gentle gesture during such heated clapbacks at Jesse. And it’s body language that is often associated with intimacy. So straight up we have visual priming of an intimate bond and the tactile behaviour often associated with a romantic couple.
Priming number two: the first words that comes out of Seiji’s mouth to Nicholas, while still holding hands, is 100%, no word of a lie: “A date.”
I mean… An intimate gesture coupled with a word associated with romantic activity? You’re killing me here! What a double attack on our senses and sanity! Plus “Date” is referencing something Nicholas said earlier, not even the very last thing he said. Like wow Seiji, the main thing you took out of that whole intense interaction wasn’t Nicholas’ confidence that you can beat Jesse (the thing Seiji is obsessed with doing every page of this story), but that Nicholas has seemingly asked you out on a date? Which is very much not a term associated with things just friends do (generally).
Priming number three: Nick’s planned activities for their not-a-date date, er, ‘appointment.’ Just two people visiting a place that means a lot to him, which happens to be associated with his home and family -- all very intimate parts of his life, his foundation, and what has made him who he is. While eating dessert together. You know, having an indulgent snack that releases happy brain chemicals for both people to share in and feel warmed by.
All of this proposed itinerary describes activities often associated with two people on a date. And Seiji’s deadpan repeating this back to Nicholas complete with eyebrow action confirms that. Seiji is us. We are Seiji. We have all been primed to the romantic undertones.
Priming number four: Nicholas is blushing this entire time. Subconscious things are happening to evoke this feeling of vulnerability and self-consciousness. He is offering up personal things to someone; a chance for further intimacy -- things he hasn’t wanted or needed to do with any of his other friends at Kings Row. And with the notorious lone wolf of Kings Row. It’s an out there proposal, and he is blushing.
Okay so we now have hand-holding, ‘Date’, date-esque activities, and blushing. Consider me primed. But wait, there’s more: welcome back to the stage Nicholas’ concept of ‘rivals’ equating to ‘more than friends’ in the hierarchy of relationships in his world.
So, before Seiji accepts their not-date date, he brings their attention back to his clandestine meeting with Jesse: “Aren’t you going to ask me about Jesse?” he says with his face in shadow, suggesting that Jesse is a potential not-a-date deal-breaker in Seiji’s mind? (This feels like such a showing of his hand for me; a concession that he is aware that having clandestine meetings with Jesse is Weird to onlookers for good reason. Smoke & fire.)
And Nicholas confirms he gets the vibe is because Jesse is Seiji’s ‘rival’ -- ie. someone Seiji feels admiration and passion towards beyond friendship. Ie. Romance-coded. (Nicholas might not realise that he processes and filters his romantic feelings/passion through his own concept of Rivalry but we readers are able to see it from our privileged position.) Translation: “It’s okay Seiji, I get it: you two are More Than Friends with a history of emotional minefields, but I wish to divert your attention to me now as a subconscious suitor in this More Than Friends realm. I’ve got what it takes to be what you are looking for.”
And finally, all of this leads to the culmination of everything romantic that we have been primed for during these interactions: SEIJI CONFESSING THAT HE SECRETLY LIKES……… Well. Let’s review the tape. After being primed for romance this entire time, after Nicholas assures Seiji that his history with Jesse is understandable and complicated but not relevant to the bond he and Nicholas share, Seiji finally RSVPs to Nicholas’s not-a-date date by confirming that Nicholas does indeed know him well enough to know he secretly likes sundaes.
THERE IS SO MUCH TO UNPACK IN THIS MOMENT:
Seiji feels comfortable enough with Nicholas, and trusts him enough to share this secret with him. Talk about an act of intimacy! And this is healthy, beautiful intimacy being shared between them -- Nicholas put himself on the line earlier by inviting Seiji into his private hometown world, and Seiji returned the favour by putting his own Serious Business Fencing Diet Standards branding on the line (which is a huge concession for someone whose whole identity is shaped around being A Fencer Of The Highest Standards).
Seiji confirmed that he does indeed have a weakness for a certain sugary treat; a guilty pleasure that he probably shouldn’t indulge in but can’t stop himself from wanting anyway. Wow, metaphor anyone?
Seiji’s ambiguous wording!! He doesn’t actually say “I do secretly like sundaes.” He says: “I do secretly like them.” WHILE BLUSHING (ah, good ole primer number four). His wording is so gloriously ambiguous, requiring you to roll back the tape to his previous statement for the correct subject matter. Thus, “I do secretly like them” can sound, on its own, like he is talking about a person. A brilliantly executed metaphor, if I do say so myself, and the metaphor we were seemingly primed to read into thanks to all the romantic undertones leading up to this moment.
Seriously. On a subconscious level, thanks to the sundae metaphor, does this scene not feel like a fledgling version of THIS actually being played out:
When this sort of thing actually happens overtly at some point in the future, it is going to be so amazing. :')
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Still into you
Part 1 : Familiarity
Part 2 : A rekindled candle
Part 3 : Is he? Isn't he?
You entered the portal, it was like you were on a whole rollercoaster ride, but a lot faster. You swear you felt the puke reach to the back of your throat. You felt like you were on the verge of throwing up as every second passed by. The whole ordeal was excruciating and unexplainable.
"Oh God.." you groaned upon stepping a foot out of the portal meeting Jess' gaze, she looked fine as if it was a normal that occurs to her everyday and it made you a little surprised at how she wasn't affected at all.
"Are you alright?" Jess laughed a little at how you were basically trying to keep yourself up, forcing your legs to not give up at any given moment.
A heavy exhale left your lips as you tried to keep yourself together, the whole ordeal made your head want to just explode. The few seconds of entering a portal felt like a total pain.
"Yeah I guess so.. and where are we?" You tilted your head to Jess, the room was a little small to your liking but there was enough space in the room to walk around.
"We're on Earth-928, Nueva York. Just another place in our earth." A deep voice came from behind, you quickly turned your head to see Spiderman 2099 leaving the portal. But you couldn't help but just tilt your head in response, you were both in confusion and in fascination from the fact something as small as the 'watch' on your wrist could teleport you to places.
"Wait wait Earth-928? Why is there a label for what earth we're in..? Wait, are there actually other universes out there?" A high pitch tone was mixed in with your voice as your eyes widened through the mask you were wearing. You've heard about this in class way back before, but it was just theories. But now you confirmed that those theories were facts.
"Yes, it's nothing surprising really." He spoke once more before the doors opened before you three.
The ray of light from the sun hits your eyes making your eyelids flutter. It took you a few seconds before your body tensed up at the scene of so many spider-people. Though you weren't as shocked because of how you and Spiderman 2099 coexisted on the same earth, but this many.. especially how there were actually different universes. Perhaps this was one of the reasons why you barely saw Spiderman 2099 back on your earth.
“Welcome to spider-society” Jess gave you a warm reassuring smile, guiding you into the headquarters. The place was swarming with spider-people left, right, front, back, up and below. You were in absolute awe, there were so many questions going in your mind but you decided to remain silent about it. Spiderman 2099 followed right behind the two of you staying silent as well, you felt his intense gaze on you as a shiver ran down your spine. He was still holding the lizard from earlier right in his arm, the lizard was knocked unconscious.
“What do you plan on doing to that lizard? Shouldn’t it be reported to the police station?” You finally questioned him looking back at him while you walked backwards. He was really big and muscular, you could even see how his sculpted body was through his suit. He looked like he was sculpted by God himself, and you could tell Spiderman 2099 was definitely God’s favourite.
“This is an anomaly, not just your regular bad guy that you report to the police. Guys like this, who get shot up in the wrong dimension is our work, not the police.” He replied back to you, looking straight ahead. The “anomaly” then seemed to be glitching and it made you flinch a little, their atoms seemed to be separating then reconnecting back again to its regular state.
“And that” Spiderman 2099 gestured to the watch looking thing on your wrist. “Prevents you from glitching, like this lizard”
“Trust me, glitching is something you wouldn’t want to experience. Your cells slowly decapitate the longer you stay in the wrong dimension, so try to keep wearing that watch.. unless you’re in your own dimension.” Jess added right after Spiderman 2099 as she walked ahead giving you a glance before turning her head back. They said it in such a normal way as if it was something that occured daily. Many spider-people greeted both Jess and Spiderman 2099, it gave you an idea that they were people important in this society.
Shortly after, you three reached another part of the society. It was full of other anomalies who wound up in the wrong dimension, they were all in that same yellow cage that Spiderman 2099 used on the lizard earlier. You then noticed that Spiderman 2099 placed the lizard on a certain spot, then that same yellow cage came back up. Everything seemed so high-tech and it amazed you.
“These are anomalies?” You questioned once more as you three walked through the hall full of anomalies.
Then the yellow woman in a white robe with heart-shaped pink glasses named Lyla appeared once more right beside you, she was small like a fairy.
“That’s correct! These are all the anomalies we’ve caught for the last 4 days” Her voice was cheerful, she seemed to be enjoying giving you information. 4 days was all it took for this amount of anomalies to be in this hall..? It shocked you to your core, but considering the amount of universes there were.. it shouldn't be much of a surprise.
“What do you guys do with the anomalies then?” An eyebrow raised at Lyla out of curiosity. As all four of you reached a certain place; full of buttons and screen on the side. Then another spider woman named Margo appeared swinging around to different screens. Your attention immediately averts to Margo as she spoke:
“By the machine in front of you, it detects where your DNA is from.. and sends you there.” Margo told you, her tone didn’t seem to pleased while continuing to work on different screens, there was an anomaly on the platform of the machine. Jess just shrugged while watching the machine about to send the anomaly back to their own universe.
You noticed Spiderman 2099 walking to leave the three of you from the corner of your eyes but you didn’t pay him no mind. You were definitely curious about the procedures to send an anomaly home. A chill ran throughout your body as your blood ran cold while all three of you watched. You just stood there with your eyes widening.
“Well, that’s that..” Jess uttered out sighing as she did so, she didn’t seem too pleased about the whole thing as well.
“I voted against it.” Margo added after Jess finished speaking. Watching the whole procedure made you shiver a little as you remained silent. It was inhumane.
Right after it sent the anomaly home, a heavy exhale left your lips. You already felt a little stress just by watching how they send anomalies home. You and Jess went walking back to HQ.
"So, how do you feel? After all that." Jess questioned you out of concern and worry while she looked at your awkward expression.
"I don't know what to feel." You said plainly as you didn't want to come out as blunt and just start ranting with no shame on the spot. A small laugh just left Jess' lips at your response;
"It's inhumane.. I know, but it's necessary.." Jess added in response, giving you a small smile shrugging it off.
After a few more walks.. you and Jess finally reached Spiderman 2099's headquarters. The platform he stood high on was surrounded by yellow screens, with a bunch of different people in different events. And you noticed you were in one of the clips playing on the yellow screen, the clip of you watching how the anomalies were sent back home earlier. Your eyebrows raised while your ears perked up at the scene but you didn't dare talk about it to him.
"Is that me?" You whispered to Jess making sure the scary big man on the platform won't hear your whispers. Jess just looked at you as if she was holding in her amused smile.
"I guess so." She told you in response. A man in a pink robe with a kid with curly ginger hair on his baby carrier approached you with a huge smile.
"You're the new recruit I'm assuming? I'm Peter B. Parker, and this is my little Mayday." Peter approached you and Jess with a huge smile seen on his face, he looked very happy right now. Mayday was reaching out to you a little while holding onto your suit, looking straight at you with her blue big sparkly eyes. You couldn’t help but just stare back at her in awe.
‘’Also, what’s up with the mask? You can take it off arounds us.” Peter questioned you, laughing a little sounding sardonic while he scanned you from head to toe. You knew he meant you no harm by his energy but you couldn't help but feel a little awkward and uncomfortable.
A laugh just left from your lips not wanting your awkwardness show;
"It's better safe than sorry." You responded with a hint of sarcasm heard in your tone while you kept looking at Mayday staring back at her. A hand just raised up from your side pinching the soft cheeks of the kid dauntlessly; making Mayday giggle in response to your soft pinch. Though not seen by them, you were smiling behind your mask.
"Miguel, we're gonna head out for lunch." Jess yelled out to the man still on the platform who was looking over multiple screens while his back still faced the four of you, including Mayday. The name made your eyes widen and heart beat faster, the name alone made you feel and remember so many things from two years ago. That feeling of something small like a candle rekindled in you.
Before you could even question, scream or do anything.. Peter hastily put an arm on your shoulders inviting you with them.
"Come on, the burgers in the cafeteria are so good!" Peter exclaimed to your face looking so excited, but you couldn't help but look back at the man on the high platform. Was that really the Miguel you used to know personally?
"I think the empanadas are better." Jess declared in response to Peter as if she was declaring war over the food from the cafeteria. While you were between the two of them having a vocal battle while walking to the cafeteria, your eyes kept darting over Spiderman 2099. He was too high up to see clearly, not to mention the fact that his back was turned to you.
#across the spiderverse#astv#miguel 2099#miguel spiderman#lyla spiderverse#miguel o'hara#atsv lyla#atsv miguel#jessica drew#atsv#margo kess#peter b parker
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The Order - Freefall, Chapter 5 || The Bad Batch x Jedi!Reader
Summary: What do you do when those you trust suddenly turn against you? When you have to treat friend as enemy, just to save your own life?
Warnings: 18+, kissing, grinding, Hunter being a menace hello, heavy make-outs, swearing, fade-to-black style scene, injuries, descriptions of violence, canon fighting, fear, loss, death (no major character), blood, falls, canon violence and weapons, nicknamed reader (Ghost), Order 66
A/N: wow, this one took a while to write for some reason. It was originally gonna be one mammoth Order chapter, but i decided to split it in two. And as always, thank you to the moon and back to @mylifeisactuallyamess for helping, listening, and generally just being amazing. Love you���
Series Masterlist | Series Playlist | AO3
Then
~“Okay. Again, boys. Sparks, you okay?” Anakin’s voice floated to you through the cloud covering your mind, nudging at you to get back up.
You groaned softly, forcing your eyes to open and you were immediately met with the deep, rich honey brown eyes of your favourite clone Captain just inches from your own, peering down at you in concern.
You jumped, momentarily startled and it caused you to jump foreheads with Rex. “Ouch! Rex, I’m okay!! Although, now I might have a concussion from your giant head.” A pout touched your lips and you rubbed your forehead, feeling Rex’s hand encircle your upper arm - it must have been him prodding you.
“Sorry, Commander. You took that last round hard, you got caught by both myself and Jesse at the same time.” He moved with you, giving you support as you stood up and stumbled a foot to the side, your shoulder bumping up into his chest plate. “Okay, you might have gotten clipped by another too.” He chuckled a little, his other hand lifting to your shoulder, keeping you steady against him until you regained your balance, “Better?”
Something flushed through your skin, the soft tickle of electricity from where Rex held you. Touch like this… Usually, you didn’t like people touching you offhand, but you were so inherently comfortable with these people, safe with them that you allowed it. Craved it, even. It wasn’t until you joined them and saw - and felt - how contact-based you were that you realised just how touch-starved you’d been this whole time.
It also rapidly made you realise you might be harbouring a small kernel of affection for the Captain that fell outside of the boundaries of friendship. It was harmless, just a tiny crush of sorts, built on the admiration and awe you held for him.
Still, despite being harmless, you would never be able to tell anyone. Jedi were not supposed to form attachments, which had always been completely backwards and restrictive in your mind.
How were you supposed to fight to the ends of the galaxy and keep people safe if you couldn’t form strong bonds with them?
“Uh, Commander?”
You blinked back to the present, crawling out of your thought spiral to see Rex peering down at you, and behind him, Anakin smirking with his arms crossed and a brow delicately raised.
Yeah, he knew.
With a laugh that you hoped was breezy, you looked back up at Rex, stepping back carefully from him with a nod that came far too late, “Yes! Yes, sorry, I feel much better now. Thank you, Rex.” You brushed down your clothes, hoping your cheeks weren’t too flushed.
You really needed to pull yourself together.
To be fair, you had taken quite a few hits.
The Captain held out your lightsabers from where he retrieved them, “Well then, ready to go again?” His warm eyes twinkled, amusement dancing on the chiselled lines of his face and it made a grin mirror on your own.
“You’re on.” ~~
~~
A smile was playing on your face as the last threads of that memory floated away, sinking back into the Force, leaving behind that playful, airy lightness that warmed your chest like sunshine, the same way it had back then.
All Jedi pictured something different when they meditated, went to a place of peace unique to them. You had a few of these ‘places’ that you pictured - the lush forests of Endor, the glacier fields of Hoth, the glowing paths of stars surrounding the Marauder… But this time, you imagined a calm, empty space between worlds, a place where memories slipped past you like delicate threads of mist, weaving and winding slowly, almost as if they were in the water.
Which made sense why the memory of training with Rex and the 501st had come to mind, since you always felt his presence in the Force to be one of serenity, the smooth surface of the ocean that cooled and calmed, lapping gently and steadily against the rocks. Yet when needed, it was powerful and ferocious, a determined force of nature that few could stand against.
In the corners of the mist surrounding your mind, you felt warmth, different to the feeling of sunshine above you. No, this was more like… the steady warmth of fire, reliable and strong, a force to be reckoned with. One that could bring peace but also destruction when needed.
A smile touched your lips again, adding to the one already there as Hunter sat down next to you, near silently. You felt him, felt the way he crossed his long legs up beneath him, settling down next to you, just basking in the tranquillity that naturally rolled off of you when you meditated.
It always drew Omega and the boys to you, you’d feel their approach settle around you, and when you opened your eyes they could be found quietly getting on with something, be it a datapad, cleaning weapons, playing with a stuffed toy or just watching what was around you and easing their mind.
You hadn’t often thought of yourself as a person who could bring that level of serenity and calm to others, so it always made your heart feel lighter in your chest that you could give people back what they so often gave to you.
A space to relax, to be themselves and take the weight of the galaxy off, even for a little while.
You don’t know how long you sat there for, at peace with one another, but eventually the muted alertness that came with force meditation gently eased away, bringing with it the sounds of the birds in the trees, the distant trickle of water and a breeze that smelt of sunshine and sweet things and beneath that, the rich, smoky scent of Hunter.
“I recognise that smile.” The somewhat hoarse, unhurried cadence of his voice slipped through those sounds, as if he didn’t want to disturb you, but recognised you were no longer in that state of trance. “You’re thinking about your training.” His voice carried a tone of curiosity, and you knew they all liked to hear the stories of your training and upbringing in the Temple, but would never push you for them. It was a mixed load, one that brought you so much joy to remember but also that undercurrent of pain and loss.
Today however, beneath the warm rays of the suns on this sanctuary moon, you wanted to remember them all in their happiest, with smiles on their faces and the rambunctious playfulness that even the war couldn’t shake off at the time.
You kept your eyes closed for a little longer, though your hands relaxed on your own crossed legs, slipping down to the grass so you could weave the soft blades through your fingers, “I was thinking about one of my training sessions, with Anakin and the Five-Oh-First.” You felt the way your own smile changed, softer, warmer, “I was training with Rex, and a few of his closest men. It was something Ani set up when he trained Ahsoka, and I wanted to try it too.” You tugged at the grass, just something to keep your hands busy, “The boys would stand in a circle, and I’d have to deflect their blaster fire. It was only on stun, but Rex would have them change up their patterns and angles so I couldn’t predict what was going to come next.”
Hunter shifted on the grass, his knee coming to press against yours, warm through the material of your tight fitting trousers, cloak hanging from a nearby tree, “How did you do?” The gentle weight of his gaze felt just as inviting as the sunshine, a caress of the most delightful kind, knowing that he saw all of those emotions playing about on your face, even though he couldn’t read your eyes.
A soft laugh at your own expense bubbled up, tasting the joy of that memory, “Ah, well. I’m afraid I wasn’t quite so amazing back then, I took as many hits as I deflected at first, if I’m being completely honest. It was nothing I hadn’t done before, but I’d memorised their patterns, hence why they kept catching me off-guard.” You let your eyes drift open, coming back to the jewel-like palette of the forest around you, all intense greens and oaky browns, cobalt sky streaked with violet and peach clouds.
“You? Off-guard? Well, now I know this must have been early on.” Hunter’s teasing lifted the usually serious set of his face, the golden flecks in his eyes rivalling the glow of the sun, his hair loose and tumbling over his bandana more than usual.
He looked younger, smiling like this, with joy on his face and almost no trace of the effects of war and the purpose he had been created for.
It was so easy to have your breath stolen by him, to get lost in those eyes, the way the sunlight played off the tattoos and lines of his face. If you looked closely, you could see the hint of dimples from the tilt of his lips, lips that were always so inviting and plush, lips you’d often longed to feel pressed to your skin at any given opportunity - “Ah, well, I might have been distracted at the time, I have to admit that too.” You looked away from Hunter, feeling the rush of blood beneath your skin that had nothing to do with the sun and everything to do with the very un-Jedi-like thoughts shooting through your mind at light speed.
But then, you had never really followed their rules, even before everything.
Hunter arched a heavy brow, cocking his head as he turned his torso to look at you, the muscles of his shoulders rippling when he rested his hand on the grass next to his hip, and subsequently, your one, “Oh, yeah? And just what were you distracted by, huh? Or should I say, who were you distracted by?” Oh he was truly on the teasing foot today wasn’t he?
Another laugh burst free of your lips, this one sounding more like a giggle and you bit your lip, “I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about and you are suggesting I had feelings that do not follow the Jedi Code.” Maker, it felt like your cheeks were going to catch fire.
He hummed a rough noise of amusement deep in his throat, shrugging nonchalantly, “Oh no, I’m just merely observing that it seems as though you were distracted by who you were training with. Perhaps a certain Captain? I dunno though, that’s just what I think.” The grin on his face was evident in the way he spoke, the way his words lilted, “You could always tell me I’m wrong.”
Were your ears red?
It felt like your ears were red.
Oh, your whole body was burning up, hotter than the two suns overhead and you knew it wasn’t just from the memory of your little crush on the captain of the 501st. No, most of the flush to your skin, the hitch to your breathing and the rapid thumping of your heart was all down to the man next to you.
The one you’d never been able to shake, even from the moment of simply hearing about him and the boys.
Hunter into his hand, bringing his body and face closer to your own, so close you swore you could feel the exhale of his breath dance on your cheek when he chuckled, “Well, I’ll be damned. Is that my strong, fierce Loth-wolf of a Jedi blushing?” He laughed again, the noise brushing right over your ear and dancing down your spine, much like the lightning that sometimes cracked at your fingertips.
You gasped playfully, snapping your head to the side to jokingly reprimand him, but your senses were betraying you and you hadn’t realised quite how close he truly was. As you turned, your nose brushed his, your eyes meeting the burnt honey of his own and whatever you were going to verbally throw at him disappeared, dissolving like the bubbles of the fizzy meiloorun juice you favoured in the cantina sometimes.
He was so beautiful.
Hunter’s eyes held your own before flickering across your face, watching the smile melt to something deeper on your lips, the way the dappled sun danced across your own face, playing with light and shadow, turning faint scars into glimmering works of art.
His lashes brushed his cheekbones, one in such opposite contrast to the other but both halves so uniquely him.
You were in trouble.
But then, you’d been in trouble with him for a long, long time.
And you were okay with that.
You moved, if only to rest your own hand next to his, laying your fingers over his own, feeling the strength beneath his calloused skin. With the slightest tilt of your head, your nose brushed lightly against his own, both of your breathing jumping for the sky, the threads of something beginning to change, alter, to follow a course they’d been heading towards for a long time.
Hunter tipped his head, tracing the tip of his nose along your own, until his lips followed suit, the barest brush along the bridge of your nose until they pressed the softest kiss between your eyebrows, a pause before his forehead came to rest upon your own, just for a moment.
You didn’t dare breathe, holding in the gasp you wanted to make, the tug at your very soul at the mere brush of him.
But it wasn’t enough, of course, You wanted more. You wanted him.
And you’d long since given up on denying yourself what you wanted.
With a sharp intake you couldn’t hold back, you dipped your head and pressed your lips to Hunter’s, a sob almost wanting to break free from your chest, that desperation, a need so deep it lived in your very bones only growing even as you were almost granted the very thing that would save it.
Hunter groaned when your lips pressed to his and whatever restraint he put on himself snapped, like it didn’t exist anymore. His other hand flew up, cupping your jaw, his palm and fingers so broad that his little and ring finger rested on your neck, right over the spot your pulse beat strongest.
His lips moved against your own, no hesitation as he pulled you in closer, needed to have you right there, as if he’d open his eyes and you be nothing but a figment of his imagination.
It was everything.
And it still wasn’t enough.
You gasped a little again, feeling Hunter’s hand tremble against your jaw, maybe it was your own body, or maybe he really was shaking too. The pair of you were toeing that line, tipping headfirst over it and hanging on by a mere fingertip… And you never wanted to let go so quickly before.
His hair curled thick and silky over your fingers when they found their way there, knotting through the strands, bringing him in closer, needing to feel him, to taste him, “Hunter…” Your voice was near unrecognisable in your ears, so full of want and desire, of a yearning so profound it stunned you.
Hunter nodded a little against you, a rumble deep in his chest as you breathed his name with such desire it made his head spin, all the way he was smoothing his thumb along your cheekbone, “It’s okay, Ghost.. I’ve got you.” The movement was tender in its attention, a single beat that held everything in stasis.
But he knew you, knew what you could handle and knew what you wanted.
And he was only too happy to give it to you.
Between one staggered breath and the next, the thumb that had been tracing your cheekbone with such care suddenly pressed into the space behind your jaw, the pressure causing you to gasp and he took the opportunity with every ounce of passion and confidence he had, his tongue darting between your lips and immediately stroking against your own.
Devouring, exploring, claiming.
Hunter had dreamt of this moment for far too long, had these thoughts screaming in his mind as he sat mere inches from you with a face as stoic as ever, despite his skin crawling with need beneath his armour. He had no idea if what he was doing was right, he was running on instinct he didn’t even know he had, but he trusted you, trusted himself and he wasn’t thinking anymore. Just acting on something that had been screaming in his blood for longer than he could remember.
He didn’t even know what to name this feeling, he just knew it started and ended with you.
Everything did.
You could die here.
You could die right here, in this moment and be happy.
You near whined when he brushed his tongue along the roof of your mouth, stars exploding in your blood and you curled your fingers around his wrist, tugging his hand from the ground so he lost his balance, body pressing into yours and you let yourself fall back with the force of it.
You both landed in the pillowy grass, Hunter’s broad shoulders filling your vision, the plates of his armour pressing into your ribs, your thighs, but you didn’t care.
In truth, you wanted to tear the armour off of him, to feel the rise and fall of his chest with no barrier, the heat of his body burning into yours - but right now, you were too lost in this, in the taste of him rich in your mouth, smokey and intense, his large hand still cupping your jaw, thumb sliding along your jaw and under your chin, all with the purpose of keeping your chin back and mouth open for him.
Normally, you’d fight him for dominance but you were too far gone and only too happy to do so.
His armour was sun-warmed beneath your palms as they greedily roamed over his shoulders, finding their way expertly through the plates separating you from him until you reached the fabric of his flight suit, creeping up his neck, until your fingertips brushed his warm skin and then his hair. You wasted no time in knotting your fingers through the silky strands again, your nails grazing his scalp as you gripped it tightly.
The noise that ripped its way from his throat into your mouth when you tugged on his hair made you arch underneath him, the sound carrying straight into your spine and setting your body alight. You swore you could taste lightning in the back of your throat as you swallowed his moan, pulling him in deeper, mouths moving hungrily against each other, messily in its intensity. It was all ragged breaths against each other’s lips, especially when one of Hunter’s hands slipped under your arched lower back to hold you up into his body and one of his knees wedged between your thigh, the heat of his body making you burn only hotter and hotter.
The pressure of his thigh, that simple act was almost too much and you broke from Hunter’s lips so you could choke out a breathless moan, feeling your head tip back into the grass as you desperately tried to suck air into your burning lungs.
Hunter opened his eyes to gaze down at you and they were pitch black. There was no trace of the burnt honey gold that he shared with his brothers. No, they were blacker than deep space, his blown-out pupils bleeding into the dark ring around them, fixed solely on you. You were hunter, prey, desire - the very thing at the beginning and the end of his world, something he would happily surrender to and get lost on for the rest of his days.
And it terrified him, in truth. He had never in his life experienced something so intense or strong, feelings he didn’t even have a name for. For so long, all he had known was war, training, fighting, his brothers.
And then you came crackling into his life on the back of a thunderstorm and ever since then he couldn’t shake that feeling. He’d thought about asking someone about it but how could he put into words something that was so intense it took his breath away?
Hunter’s thumb caressed down your jaw again, tracing the outline of your lower lip, swollen from his kisses and he followed the shape of your chin, along the delicate skin beneath before letting his thumb come to a natural stop over your throat, testing, trying, testing… He tried a little pressure, just a little.
He’d seen the way you responded whenever someone had their hands around your throat, regardless of the situation, be it life or death or not - There was always a flicker in your eye, the awakening of something and he felt the way your body reacted. He knew the way it flushed, the way your lips parted and your breathing quickened.
Just like now. Your pulse skipped against his palm and the breath you’d just taken was quickly exhaled on a rough moan, eyes flickering to his and there it was. The deepening of them, that response that was deeper, something almost feral and wild. Your head tipped back again, baring your throat to him with a moan, “Karabast.”
You were so damn responsive to him.
He couldn’t get over it. He couldn’t grasp the fact he didn’t really know what he was doing yet you were still shaking under him, just as he was shaking over you.
You blinked up at him, every single sense keyed into him, both physical and through the Force and you were drowning in him - and it was like nothing else.
He leant over, pressing his forehead to your own, hair tickling your skin as he allowed you both a moment to breathe, to absorb what was happening, “Before we…” He cleared his throat, but his voice remained as rough and husky as ever, smokey with desire and the intensity of these feelings, “I haven’t, uh…” He was at a loss for words, surprising you with how ruffled he seemed, how… unlike himself.
And it utterly melted you.
You stroked over his hair, following the line down his neck to his back, shaking your head just enough so that your nose brushed against his, “You don’t need to explain anything, Hunt.” Your words were breathy, heated, “Don’t think. Just… follow your instincts. Your Hunter-senses.” A smile touched your lips, your skin tight, desperate for his touch… all of it.
Hunter chuckled a little, teasing your lips with his own, before trailing them down your jaw again, to your throat. His plush lips pressed open mouthed kisses to the taut skin, seemingly taking a moment to gather himself and then - then his tongue dragged over your skin, a hot path which turned cold when he blew a breath out, right before he dragged his teeth across your pulse point and sucked.
A spike of fiery pleasure ran down down your spine, making you feel more alive than you ever had before, making your hips cant up against his thigh and a moan break from your lips that had Hunter shuddering and groaning against your throat.
His thigh pressed in harder between your own, providing you the pressure and friction you needed, his hand on your lower back immediately moving to guide you and encourage your body to continue that rocking grind against him.
Every single thought emptied from your head, and you fell into it, into him as he bit and sucked at your throat, freehand moving to unbuckle his armour with your skilled help.
It wasn’t the first time you’d done this, but it was the first time it felt so real.
The first time it made every cell in your body feel awake and alert, allowing yourself to revel in the feelings you used to have to hide back when you were a fully fledged Jedi.
But here, with the Batch, with Hunter… You were allowed to be you.
And get lost in him.
~~
“Finally decided to catch up, did you? I thought I was going to have to full body tackle Wrecker away from your food.” Echo looked up and over from the fire when you and Hunter finally rejoined the group, a camp of sorts built up near the Marauder.
Wrecker pouted as he looked across at Echo, sprawled out on the floor, leaning against a crate with his arms spread either side of him, “Hey! I’ve been working hard lately, I told you it takes an effort to keep this fed.” He patted his belly, scooping up his water flask, “You’ll all be sorry next time you need me to move something.” He kept grumbling to himself, Lula plonked on his thigh.
Tech was wandering about the camp, keenly noting down anything he saw, especially the creatures and flora.
You just knew his datapad was going to be near bursting with everything he’d be researching.
You laughed softly, shaking your head as you both stopped by the fire, “Aww, Wrecker, you could have taken it, I wouldn’t have minded.” You picked up your share of the ration packs, fresh food mixed in with it this time since your last mission went so well and you’d been gifted supplies from the settlement you’d helped.
You pulled out a serving of the popped corn-kernels - that appeared to have been imported from Batuu - and then you held it out to Wrecker, “Here.”
Wrecker gasped, joy sparking across his face, his bi-coloured eyes fixed on the fluffy popped kernels, “Are you sure?” He looked over at Hunter, perhaps remembering the times his Sergeant had scolded him for taking your food portions when you’d already lost so much, way back when you first joined them.
A few steps around the fire brought you to him and you lifted his large hand, placing the container in it with a grin, “I’m positive. I know how much you love these, so I want you to have them.” You closed his fingers around the container, patting his knuckles gently before giving his hand a slight nudge, “Take it.”
His booming laugh echoed around the clearing, “Aw, yeah!!!!” He grasped a handful of the kernels and unashamedly shoved them in his mouth, happy noises rumbling from his chest, such a simple thing to bring so much joy. He quickly swallowed, then beamed at you, “Thanks, Trouble, you’re the best.”
Warmth hummed in your heart, growing the glowy feeling that already resided there, courtesy of the man shadowing you and sitting down just beside you, “You’re welcome, Wreck.”
You looked down at Hunter, butterflies in your belly again and you settled down next to him, cross legged and you plucked a meiloorun from your pack, wondering if your cheeks were still flushed.
Hunter moved, freeing his blade from his vambrace and he held it out to you, fingertips brushing yours when you took it from him and you couldn’t help the way your eyes met his, drawn by something stronger than the Force.
Your lips curled up, feeling that lingering heat in your cheeks and Hunter’s own lips twitched too, a smile softer than you’d ever seen playing on his face.
Maker.
As you sliced into the fruit, you felt eyes on you, intense - heavy.
You glanced up, your eyes meeting the almost grey-brown gaze of Crosshair’s, levelled on you and it was dark.
He was sitting across the other side of the fire, half in shadow but you couldn’t miss the way his eyes flickered to Hunter, the smile on both of your lips and back to you again and his body turned even more rigid than usual, giving him the impression of being on alert, ready for a mission.
Like he was tracking a target.
You cocked your head, frowning gently as if to ask how he was, if he was okay, but he merely scoffed and spat out his toothpick, turning away to pick up his rifle and begin taking it apart with more force than was really necessary.
There was a sudden cold grip around your heart, as if trying to take away the warmth residing there, a whisper licking down your spine through the force… a warning, perhaps?
Before you could dwell too much on that, Wrecker threw a handful of kernels with precise accuracy at Tech’s head, the kernels pinging off of his hair. “Oi, Tech, are you coming to sit down or are you carrying on with your hugs and trees and whatever?” He laughed, a hand coming to rest on his chest.
Tech spun round, datapad still in hand and he huffed softly, shoving his goggles up, “For your information, Wrecker, I’m studying carrier butterflies. Which happen to be extremely useful creatures as they have been known to carry messages.” He consulted his pad as he came back over, weaving through the scattered things brought out from the Marauder, “They listen to instructions given to them by their owners and then carry out those requests, often sending messages to allies. Their appearance and size allow them to slip in undetected and unnoticed in places that could otherwise be considered hostile.”
Echo looked over from where Tech had been, spying the beautiful, almost luminous creatures that fluttered between the trees, “They’re actually kind of… beautiful.” He tilted his head, watching as a swarm of them took flight and scattered overhead.
Tech sat down, crossing his long legs beneath him, “Yes, their appearance also makes them quite popular, and they have been documented in many different shades such as pinks and white.” He set down his pad, picking up his own water flask, “I would like to know more about them, their abilities and mimicking could provide a useful blueprint to technology.”
Crosshair rolled his eyes from his shadowy corner, still looking at his rifle as he muttered, “The day you stop needing to know everything is the day I’m calling the medic in.”
Even his voice was bitter.
Hunter frowned next to you, a feeling of concerned confusion washing over you from him. So he’d noticed it too, then, “You boys realise if we had our own medic, they’d probably quit within the first mission.”
A chuckle slipped from your lips as you licked some juice from your thumb, “You do have a point there. I can only heal you boys with the Force, and even that feels like a never ending job sometimes.” You grinned with the familiar, affectionate teasing you’d all always had, “You need a medic who can keep you boys in shape when I’m not here. She would run rings around you, that’s for sure.”
Hunter raised a brow at you, that special smile playing about his lips again, beautiful even in profile from where he looked down at you, “Isn’t that what we’ve got you for?” He bumped into your shoulder, reaching across to steal a slice of your fruit.
You gasped, whacking his arm and you waved the hint of your saber menacingly at him, “Touch that again and you’ll lose a limb.” You playfully glared at him in warning, but when it came to your favourite things you… were actually kind of serious.
You would kill for this fruit.
And space waffles.
Oh, how you missed space waffles.
Maybe if you ever got back to Coruscant, you could go and get some.
Wrecker’s boyish snigger caught your attention, “Yeah, just not your favourite limb though, right trouble?” He smirked at you, resting both hands behind his head with another rough laugh.
There was a seconds silence before two separate rocks launched themselves across the space and met his armour with a sharp clang.
He scrambled back upright, “Hey!!!” He pouted as he brushed his armour off, “I was only telling the truth!!”
Echo rolled his eyes, shaking his head with good-natured tiredness as he settled down with his head resting on his pack, “Here we go again.”
The sounds of bickering between you, Hunter and Wrecker carried into the night, punctuated by laughter, that careless noise that was free of the seriousness and weight of war.
If only for tonight.
The chaos of battle was a symphony in your ears, fuelling every step you took, every breath.
Your movements matched the humming whine of blaster bolts and cannon fire, the rumbling explosion of grenades providing the beat, each element a blend of chaos and adrenaline.
You loved the quiet moments, the peace you found in the galaxy - but you had been bred for this. Taught how to be in this very moment, feet and sabers flowing between the notes of war.
You were barely touching the ground, floating amidst an arcing blur of blue tinged white, as vivid as the stars as you defended not only the planet, but the lives of Master Billaba’s second battalion.
They were split across the planet of Kaller which was under heavy fire from Separatist forces.
The battalion was made up predominantly of shinies, young troopers who were yet to see the true face of war and who were, in all honesty, way too inexperienced to be out here.
Only four battle-hardy troopers were part of the battalion, having come from Billaba’s previous forces. There was Commander Grey, Captain Styles, Sergeant Soot and Corporeal Big-Mouth.
Despite having these four, Billaba and her padawan, Caleb Dume, the Jedi defence had all but fallen across the planet, with Billaba having sent Caleb for backup.
Backup came, naturally, by way of the Bad Batch and yourself, who by some grace of the Maker had been nearby at the right moment.
You’d asked the boys to drop you off on the opposite side of the planet, dropping through the smoke and rubble and striking the ground with fierce precision and a shattering force wave that toppled the droids back like toys.
And there you remained, carving a dent in the attacking forces here, leaving droid after droid smoking behind you.
With your twin sabers whirling through the air before them, the clones behind you were able to rip through the rest of the droids, thinning them out until now, when only a handful remained.
Thankfully, your temporary squad had retained minimal casualties and injuries - which would have been a relief anyway, but it was even more intense for how especially young these boys were. Not to mention you were aided by Captain Styles and Sergeant Soot, their skills unmatched and just as good as the other high-ranking clones you’d worked with.
They earned their places here with their Jedi Commander, and you made a mental note to thank them, and Billaba.
Captain Styles whistled through comms as you tore through the last battle droid, watching it shatter to the ground in sparking shards. He eyed your sabers, shaking his head a little as he came up beside you, “I really have got to work on getting one of those.” There was longing in his voice and you couldn’t help but laugh.
“Ah, well, give it some time, maybe I can have a word and get you boys one.” You grinned at him as you disarmed them, the hilts warm to the touch and you let your arms fall loosely to the sides, though you were ready to spark back into action at a seconds notice.
Styles chuckled, holstering his blasters and he rubbed a gloved hand over the visor of his helmet to clear the dust, “I’m going to hold you to that, Commander.” He gave you a two finger salute as his comm beeped, before stepping over a few droids to a quiet spot to check in with the call.
You watched him go, where he was soon joined by Soot and then you turned around yourself, wanting to check on the other troopers, to make sure any injuries weren’t too severe, And if they were… Well, at least you’d be able to help them and ease their pain.
It never got any easier to lose these men, and you took each loss under your command as a personal hit. They may have been bred for battle, a means to end the war with the Separatists but they were real people, with real lives and they should be given the chance to explore their individuality… To be able to live.
It was something you always struggled to stay silent about if you were bought into council meetings, or even with any higher ranking Jedi. You fought for the lives of these clones with such a ferocity that you’d been taken aside many times and almost scolded for feeling too passionately about it.
No attachments, remember?
But how were you supposed to win a war, to bring peace to the galaxy when you were supposed to be as unfeeling as the countless droids you fought everyday?
As you looked out across the battlefield, a whisper ran down your neck, like ice water dripping down your spine. The very air around you seemed to tighten, tense, and every sense in your body screamed into high alert.
From across the way, you heard the unmistakable vile, slithering voice of the Chancellor, only this time it was different. Darker. Filling the air with evil even from just a holo, “Execute Order Sixty-Six.”
Order 66?
Awareness screamed through your mind, the Force shaking you back to alertness and not a second too late.
On pure instinct, you spun round, igniting your sabers whilst slashing them upward to block the blaster bolts aimed at your head. They shot off to the side, hitting a tree and sizzling intently.
And where you expected a rogue droid left behind…
You found Captain Styles, blasters aimed straight on target - at you. The expressionless sight of his helmet had never seemed so gaunt and imposing before, usually you felt like you could detect his expressions through it, but this time… It was lowered menacingly, not an ounce of recognition in the once familiar colours.
This wasn't the Styles you had been fighting side by side with just moments ago.
“Styles?” You held a hand forward hesitantly, saber still within your grip but maybe he had mistook you for someone, maybe you had misunderstood.
With a sharp ping that sounded all too loud, your wrist-comms burst into life, Hunter’s voice coming through rough, demanding, “Ghost, run!! I don’t care where you are, what you’re doing. You need to run, now!!” He was using the Sergeant’s voice on you, confusion and concern bleeding through the demand. This was bad. This was happening over where he was too, then.
Your vision clouded over for a second, your mind tapping into the double vision Force sight that has saved you many times -
A blaster bolt to the head, another two quickly following to the chest and stomach. Then, three more from various positions behind.
There was no hesitation in your response as you swung your sabers round, catching the blaster bolts in a stacked position, moving instantly to bring one of the plasma blades up behind your back in a reverse grip, hearing the hiss as it diffused the shot to your head.
All the while, you couldn’t comprehend what was happening, the fact that your clones were attacking you, shooting at you and forming up in waves to try and bring you down.
If this were anyone else, droids even, you would be taking them down instantly, sabers swinging through their circuits and making them crumple to the ground.
But these were real people.
Real soldiers, real men, men you had just fought to save the lives of.
And yet you were choking on the emotion pouring from them, even as your fighting style changed to one intended to disarm and disable only. Not kill.
The very air around you was clogged with one thought - Kill.
Kill you.
End you. End the Jedi.
When you tapped deeper into the force, into their individual signatures, they were all stained with the same oily iciness that you felt around the Chancellor… And around the Sith, actually.
It was frightening in its intensity, slithering along the ground like a venomous snake, fangs bared and dripping poisoning, with the only goal to bring you down in tiny little pieces.
The clones advanced on you from all angles, stepping over their disarmed brothers and it occurred to you that the only thing keeping you alive right now was the fact a lot of these troopers were still Shinies.
So, you did what Hunter had told you to do.
You ran.
You backed up as much as you could, reaching into your pocket and producing a smoke bomb. A few more blocked blaster shots and you threw it toward the ground, not sticking around to watch as it filled the clearing with dense, thick smoke.
Feet flying over the earth, you ran and ran, letting the Force guide you to somewhere that was safe, toward a ship you could escape on.
All the while, your mind raced as you tried to make sense of what was happening, why the clones were suddenly turning on their commanders.
Was this just an isolated incident? Was it only happening here?
Clearly, your boys were not a part of this, they weren’t falling prey to the Chancellors order… Was he even the Chancellor anymore?
You’d always been wary of him, but now this whole thing reeked of the Dark side, of the Sith.
These thoughts plagued your mind as you bolted through the undergrowth, ignoring the rapidly growing stitch in your side as you eventually came stumbling out of the forest onto a grassy cliff face.
And there, in the sun that seemed too bright for a day like today, was Billaba’s ship, almost as if it was waiting for you.
Your first gut feeling was that this was wrong, you couldn’t take her ship… But you didn’t need to dip into the Force to know she hadn’t made it. You just knew.
She’d have wanted you to escape, help anyone could, find out what was happening… So, without hesitating too much, you raced toward her ship and it was only when you were far out of the atmosphere, the dark blanket of space around you that you took a breath.
As soon as you could, you engaged hyperspace, slumping back in the seat and dropping your head into your hands when the stars turned to bright lines out of the windows.
Everything ached, inside and out, your connection to the Force in agony as chaos and death bled into the world.
With a heavy heart, you reached out, imagining invisible hands stretching through those wispy bonds, reaching for your friends, for any of them.
Where was Ahoska? The last you heard, she was with Rex, travelling back from Mandalore. She’d updated you right before she entered deep-space, so as far as comms was concerned she was essentially unreachable.
You held your breath as you reached out for her, imagining her bright force signature, one so close to your own, and yet… You hid darkness.
A blank wall.
There was nothing there where she should be… Even after she left the Order, you could always feel her, just in reach but this time it was like reaching into an empty room and grasping nothing but air.
And Rex… Where his liquid, cool calm should be right next to Ahsoka’s… It was gone too.
They were both gone.
Panic and fear were flooding your system now, your hands shaking as you wound them tightly into your hair, pulling at the strands praying the pain would wake you up from this nightmare, or just help you to focus.
You had to just be doing it wrong surely.
“Please… Please, Anakin. Help me.” You whispered the words to the void of space before reaching out again.
There would be no missing Anakin’s signature, it was near impossible. His was so powerful, taking up so much space with its intense vibrancy, like two sides of the coin.
Night and day.
Dark and light.
White and black.
His was always like a swirling cloud in your mind, perfectly balanced like ink bleeding through water.
Awareness flickered through you, hope flaring brighter than the sun - You’d found him?
It certainly felt like him.
You dived head first into it, words spilling through your mind that you tried to convey through the force, needing to know if he was okay, if -
You were drowning.
Pulled under with no warning or no air, sucked deep into a swirling maelstrom of fury, pain and fear. Of betrayal and loneliness - of grief.
This… this couldn't have been Anakin, surely not.
Only it was.
But where his signature and presence usually felt like summer sunshine… His felt like ice.
Ice that put Hoth to shame, ice that invaded your heart and mind, turning your blood to tar and making your entire body shake head to toe.
The Dark side, it was swallowing you up, his emotion becoming your own, calling on the very same thoughts and feelings you had been made to repress.
Anakin’s fury became your own, his fear bled with the same fear that had you waking up screaming.
He was in utter agony, and he was giving into it.
Your best friend was no longer here.
In his place, a being of the Dark.
A Sith.
That was the last tether keeping you attached to the surface, the very last thing holding you in place… then it snapped.
Those suffocating feelings swept over you, engulfing you completely and you tumbled into the frigid depths, feeling the raw pain as the Force itself cried out in rage that so much blood had been spilled today.
Then the darkness consumed you and you lost hold of anything real, awareness fading and everything turning to ash.
Leaving nothing behind
~~~
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The Runt - Billy the Kid
Warnings for this chapter: mention of physical abuse
Chapter Nine
It was pouring with rain when Billy and Laurie arrived in a small town, they stopped outside of a building and dismounted their horses. Laurie was still shivering from the cold despite the fact Billy had given her his jacket in order to try and warm her up. The duo entered the saloon, Billy went over to the bar to order a drink while Laurie went and sat at a table. Her hair was stuck to her head as water dripped down her face, she shivered, slowly feeling the slight warmth of the saloon warm her up a little bit.
Laurie noticed a man in the corner of the saloon, he was reading the newspaper but eying Billy like a hawk as well as showing the same interest in Laurie. Billy took notice of this, noticing the man staring at both him and Laurie as well as how tense Laurie seemed under the man’s gaze. So, he took his final whiskey shot and walked over to the staring man, leaning on the wall as he stared out of the window for a moment before he spoke.
“Why are you staring at me and the kid?,” Billy demanded.
“Thought I recognized you is all, and I just wanted to make sure that she’s okay. She’s shaking harder than a hunted rabbit,” the man replied calmly.
“And did you?,” Billy asked, sending a piercing glare towards the man. He was already really on edge because of what happened back at the old camp, and he really didn’t need any kind of unwanted attention towards him or Laurie.
“I don’t know,” the other man told him, reaching into his jacket. Billy reached for his gun, the safety clicking off as he was handed a folded piece of paper. “Depends if this is you.” Laurie stayed where she was, watching the scene from afar as her leg bounced. Billy took the paper and unfolded it, reading the wanted poster made in his name.
“Now, I’m not saying that it’s a great likeness,” the other man said, “But it’s pretty like, wouldn’t you say? And if it is you, I highly doubt that the kid over there is with you by her own will. She looks underfed to me.”
Laurie tensed as she listened to the conversation, realizing that they had probably just been caught. Billy was no kidnapper, though. Billy looked over at Laurie before he looked back at the man and set the paper down.
“I’d like to know why you’re holding onto that,” Billy demanded, keeping calm despite the fact that he had probably just been caught by a bounty hunter who could add kidnapping onto his list of supposed crimes.
“I’m ridin’ with a good friend of yours,” the man simply said as he took back the poster, folding it. Laurie froze at that sentence, realizing that this guy was probably a friend of Jesse’s. The young girl stood up, getting ready to run if she had to. “He talks about you all the time, and to me, he seems awful worried about Little Red over there.”
“Who might that be?,” Billy asked as Laurie slowly made her way over to Billy, her steps were tense and nervous. Like a fawn stepping out into the open meadow for the first time.
“Jesse Evans. We’re holded up not too far from here,” the man said simply. Laurie’s heart dropped upon hearing that name. The name of the man she had prayed to never see again. The name of the man who had struck her across the face. The name of the man who destroyed her sense of self. Billy pulled up a chair, sitting down as he pulled one out for Laurie.
“You know Jesse?,” Laurie asked hesitantly.
“Sure, I do, kid,” the man responded with a nod, “He’s worried about you, ya know. Ever since the night you took off without reason.” He paused for a moment. “Where are you two headed?”
Neither Billy nor Laurie answered as they exchanged looks, Laurie’s nerves were palpable as she fidgeted with the hem of her sopping wet blouse.
“Maybe the three of us could ride over together, say hello to Jesse again. Show him that the kid is alive and well,” the unnamed man suggested, “I’m sure he’d appreciate that.”
“Last time I saw Jesse, things weren’t too good between us,” Billy told him, “And he was bein’ a major ass towards Laurie.”
“I don’t think Jesse harbors any grudges. Not towards you, anyway,” the man began, “And as for how he treated the kid, I’ve lost count of how many times he’s told me that the way he treated Lauren is his life’s biggest regret.”
“She prefers Laurie,” Billy jumped in, looking at the man.
“What’s your name?,” Laurie inquired, still fidgeting as she looked up at the man.
“I’m Pat Garret,” the man introduced.
Laurie wasn't sure how she felt about seeing Jesse again, the bruise on her face from which he had given to her when he struck her had long since faded away. She hadn’t seen him since that night, but part of her couldn’t help but wonder if he truly meant it when Pat said that treating her like shit was his life’s biggest regret.
It couldn’t hurt to see if that was true, right?
A/N:
Super duper short chapter but that's okay!
Laurie is gonna go THROUGH IT
Tag:
@slutforsnow
#billy the kid gif#billy the kid hc#billy the kid imagine#billy the kid x reader#william h bonney#billy mccarty#billy the kid#billy the kid 2022#billy the kid x oc#runt of the litter#the runt#billy the kid fanfiction#the old west#older brother core
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A Chance Encounter: Battle of the Exes
Scarlett Johansson x John Doe(😂)
Jess Valdez (OC) x Fem!Reader
Scarlett Johansson x Fem!Reader
Dinner & a Movie … Star (Previous)
Warnings: Alcoholism(mentioned), Dead OC!Child, Grief, shitty ex
Stood before you was none other than Jess, wearing their nicest suit—the exact same one that used to make you swoon—the top button purposefully undone with a bottle of your favorite wine held up in front of their face. Their cocky smirk was quick to fall at the sight of the unfamiliar infant hanging on your hip, and neither of you really knew what came next in this already intense stare off, even Carson's happy babbling had stopped while he surveyed the current situation with his wide eyes.
"Y/N, honey, your timer's going off.."
—————
You really wished Scarlett had read the silence better, but you digress, because now all you wanted to do was sink into the floor at the sight of your soon to be officially divorced partners expression. It was a mix between genuine pain, obvious jealousy, but as was par the course anger outweighed anything else, and it was proven through their backhanded comments.
"So, that's why you wanted the weekend's off?" They question over a bitter chuckle, and you have to remember you're holding a baby when you go to reply.
"Excuse me?" You ask with a pointed glare, not liking where they were taking this at all, and absolutely ready to fight back if they didn't reroute themselves since you never even offered up weekends—they took them.
"Who is it then? Nancy from the office, she did always want to fuck you..."
With that you'd stepped out the door, shutting it quietly, but the walls were only so thick..
"Hey, watch the way you speak, our daughters just inside the house, and we agreed to never downgrade the other in front of her."
"Well, her mama's clearly being a whore in front of her, so —."
"I'm going to stop you right there, I'm having a dinner play date for Angie and Riley's family.
But isn't that fucking rich, you cheated, and I can't even consider dating after we've been legally separated for nearly six months." You cut them off with an aggressive scoff, but they just overlook you in the hopes of finding a leg to stand on.
"The divorce isn't even finalized yet."
"The only reason it's unfinished is because you won't stop fighting it in the hopes of changing my mind. Newsflash Jess, but what once was is now over, your hold on my heart was gone far before you cheated, and that's a choice you made. I guess it's not true what they say—absence, unfortunately doesn't make the heart grow fonder."
While the both of you continue to bicker Scarlett could vaguely hear the elevating voices so she turned the oven down to a warming setting, and sent the girls off to wash up before they could register the obvious disputing. Once they'd made it up the stairs, giggling as they went, Scarlett proceeded to open the front door to see who'd shown up to disturb the peace.
Jess had been raging on about how lame of a partner you were, something about how had you just been a bit more adventurous in the bedroom maybe they would've remained loyal. It wasn't true, they just wanted to hurt you the same way that they hurt, as if cheating on you wasn't enough. Deep down the failed marriage had been their biggest regret, losing you so soon after losing your son had been beyond debilitating. Jess had been so distraught over Josh that they silently took to drinking, then to cheating, and to this day they fail to admit to you that the reason they miss so many weekends is because staying sobers near impossible at this point and they don't want Angie to see her Deda that way.
Jess immediately stopped their vicious attacks on you at the sight of the Scarlett Johansson. You'd been so zoned out that you failed to feel the presence behind you, but the sudden silence had brought you back to the moment.
"Oh jeez was that all Jess? What stopped you from going on, I can see it in your eyes that you weren't anywhere close to done, so please go on and tell me what it is." You humorlessly chuckle out, but before you could taunt further a beautiful voice speaks up from behind.
"Y/N, honey, dinners ready, and the girls are upstairs washing up. Do you need any help?"
You turn to face her, and your chest flutters as you hear that she'd shielded the younger girls from the mess that was Jess off on a tangent. Then you saw the clear change in her tone from soft to dangerous when she turned to face your ex while "asking you" a question.
"Thanks Scar, how about you take this little guy inside, I'm sorry that I hadn't already..."
Carson whines slightly but then he nuzzles into his mother's comforting embrace and your heart melts at the sight.
"Don't worry about it, don't be too long now, the food can't stay under the warmer forever."
"I'll be right behind you."
Jess's expression had went from angry to starstruck, to shocked, then rounded right back to furious within less than sixty seconds at the sight of Scar's hand gripping your shoulders. Seeing just how soft she'd been while speaking to you they could tell there was something real blooming here, and that there truly was no going back. The fury momentarily melted into bitter acceptance once you'd turned to face them, and it was obvious how much calmer she'd been able to make you with subtleties.
"Look Jess, if you want to see Angie come back in an hour after their playdate is over, and you can take her out to ice cream or something. Clearly you'd had different plans, but plans can, and should change."
"No... I'll just come next weekend, I promise."
"You know, she really misses you, and I'm tired of being made to break her heart, so please mean it this time..."
"I do mean it..." They sigh out defensively, but quickly fix their face at your pointed stare.
"We'll see..." You quip with a shoulder shrug before leaving them alone to sulk on the porch, but their plans are a bit more grim with the bottle in their hand.
"Mama!!! Where were you?" Angie shrieks the exact moment you enter the kitchen.
"Hello to you too angel, I was just outside on a work call, now who's ready for dinner?" You reply, Scarlett stares at you with a quirked brow, but you just send her back a 'not now' stare to which she nods gently.
After serving the correct pasta to everyone you'd failed to sit down which made the entire table turn to watch you move around the kitchen.
"Y/N, what are you doing?" Riley mumbles over a bite of food.
"Baby, chew with your mouth closed..." Scarlett chastises her daughter, eyes definitely focused on you though as they all wait for the answer.
"I'm preparing the dinner I'd made for Carson, it'll just be a minute, you guys enjoy the pasta." You excitedly state, while doing a little dance as you warm and mix up the puréed potatoes, and somehow failing to see Scarlett's smitten as a kitten smile.
——
It'd been a month since the dinner, and you'd not been able to have your solo date yet. Scarlett had to cancel due to a last minute mishap on her most recently finished project. Riley actually had stayed at your house for those two weeks since her father Marco was out of the country, and her former stepdad John had a project of his own, so his elderly mother could only handle the baby on her own.
Come the following weekend neither of you could secure the proper child care, because in a totally not shocking turn of events Jess had already skipped off for work, and the only consistent help—John, had been off to Cali. That night was still a considerable success, you had a massive sleepover at her place instead. There was an ungodly amount of unhealthy snacks, lots of shared laughter, and once the exhaustion arose everyone had decided to sleep on the floor under the pillow fort made by yours truly and Carson slept away in his playpen directly besides all of you.
After the many failed attempts Scarlett and you'd planned for tonight to be date night; there was a determination in her eyes that told you it would happen, but you were uncertain, just waiting for that other shoe to drop. John had his son and Riley for the day, but Jess hadn't responded to a single text.
Scarlett offered to ask John, but you sort of knew the man, and would've felt awkward asking him to watch your daughter so you could go out with his ex wife. Scarlett found your reservations funny, and planned to convince you otherwise, it honestly helped that Riley already pleaded for Angie to come too.
"Sweetheart, John and I are on relatively good terms, so me dating someone is of little concern to him, he really only cares about the kids and since we have that concern in common he leaves me be. Plus, much like Jess he made his bed, so he's got no room to talk. He'd be more than fine taking Angie, she's an absolute angel anyways, and not to mention Riley's apparently been pestering him about it anyways."
"Is it wrong that I'm jealous...?"
"Jealous of what? My divorce?" She snorts, but her eyes work to betray her as they overflow with an overwhelming sympathy that serves to drown you if you don't look away.
"Well yeah... It's just, why can't they see how much they're hurting her? She'd been so happy after she saw them the two following weekends after the porch fight. I really thought we were getting somewhere, and now the bullshit excuses have returned, or in today's case the total ghosting. John's at least a good dad..."
Scarlett hates the way you tend to overlook your own pain, especially when you wear it so obviously; she can hear it whenever you speak of your ex, or see it when you are forced to cause the usual reaction that is your daughter's fallen face, but as someone who's dealt with the same for Riley she completely understands. Which is why she uses this rare moment alone with you to pull you into her lap, snickering at the sounds of your unenthused squeals.
"I can't speak for Jess honey—personally, if given the opportunity I'd probably smack the living shit out of them actually..."
Your chuckles warms her heart, but she also wonders if you know she actually means it.
"I can speak from my own experience to say you're doing absolutely everything right, and I'm so unbelievably in awe of your strength. Angie's happy, her glowing smile whenever you enter the room tells me so, and then there's the way she beams about you whenever you're not in the room. Jess has to pull it together on their own, so you need to let go, and leave them be. They'll either pull it together, or they won't, but that's truly not your job to figure out anymore. You're their ex wife, and though you're the mother to their children, you're not responsible for if they're around or not. Focus on your daughter, and yourself... Me too if possible."
You stare deeply into her eyes as she speaks, sighing heavily as you truly take her words to heart, and then you find yourself unable to contain the giggle as she concludes her speech.
"Fine... John can watch her..."
"Yes! I'm going to go tell her the good news, meet us downstairs when you're ready." Scarlett squeals, effortlessly standing up with you still in her lap, spinning you around until your legs eventually drop to the floor, and she parts with a sweet peck to your nose.
—
"Angie, do you have all of your toys?"
"Yes mama, I have them all!"
"Just make sure you take care of them, I don't want to hear —."
"Mama! I know, I pwomise." She shrieks, her subtle lisp proving just how exasperated she's becoming so you reside to dropping it.
"Okay then angel, let's go." You muse, hand holding tightly to hers as she jumps out of the car, and Scarlett watches the silly interaction from the drivers seat with a smile on her face.
Two knocks was all it took for the door to swing wide open, Riley stood directly before the both of you with a wide smile on her face when looking to Angie, then as she turns to you the smile becomes tighter.
You drop to a crouching position, using the post to help hold yourself up in an attempt to keep your clothing clean, and face your cheery daughter.
"Bye my angel."
"Bye mama." She says, tiny arms wrapping around your neck for a brief hug that you fully embrace before she runs off into the house.
"Angie, go straight into the living room, I'll be right there..." She instructs, scarily resembling her mother in stance.
"Y/N/N..."
"Yes Riles?" You ask, turning ever so slightly to face her.
"Mommy told me what's happening..."
"Yeah?"
"Mhm... Look, if you hurt my mommy then we can't be friends anymore, and then I'll be really sad because I love you, and Angie a lot..." She says with a faux scowl on her face, you hold back the laughter threatening to come out at her adorable intimidation tactics, and instead just give her a reassuring smile as the vulnerability is present on her face.
"Oh sweet girl, I promise I won't do anything to hurt your mommy, because you're important to me too, I love you so much..."
"John said the same thing."
"Well I'm not John honey..."
"Yeah, you're much prettier than him." She admits with a shy smile, and you take that as the perfect moment to embrace her.
"I promise you she's safe with me Ri-Ri." You whisper into her ear, and her grip on you tightens, then she kisses your cheek before running inside when Angie calls for her.
Carefully you return to a standing position, nearly falling onto your ass at the sight of John waiting for you in the doorway with a suddenly antsy baby with arms outstretched for you.
"I'm not sure if I'd agree that you're prettier, but you're definitely a good match for Scar, and it seems the kids already love you." The man genuinely relays, passing Carson over to you without much of a choice, but you don't exactly mind as you embrace the cheerful infant.
"Thank you again John, I'll be back by 10pm at the latest to collect her." You excitedly relay as you lift the baby up and above your head repeatedly, relishing in the sounds of his giggles.
"It's my pleasure, I've always loved having your kids over, they were always so well behaved."
Your heart skips at the plurality of his statement, but you brush passed it with a pensive smile, passing the frowning baby back over to him once Scarlett unknowingly saves you with a honking horn.
"Well I better get going then, don't wanna keep the misses waiting." You tease, and he waves you off with a gentle smile.
Yeah... She definitely has the better ex...
—
Scarlett wanted to take you out somewhere nice, but without drawing too much attention to either of you; worried the paparazzi would be enough to run you off, and fortunately for her she's got some friends in higher places.
"Scar, where are we going?"
"Out to eat." She replies with the same deflection as the last time you'd asked, smirking to herself once she hears your adorable grumbling, and settling her free hand on your exposed thigh to still your squirming form.
"Hey now, we just dropped the kid off, did we not?" She teases as she finally pulls off the road and into the back side of a parking lot.
"Why are we here? Better yet, what is here?"
She chuckles at your continued confusion, her hand mindlessly squeezing your thigh while the other sends off a brief message to the owner of the restaurant, shifting her body to face yours after receiving confirmation to enter.
"Well pretty girl, I want our first date to be just about us, so I must be secretive if I'm going to protect you from the big bad camera guys." She teases further with an unexpected boop to your nose, her nerves seeming to get the best of her.
"Oh, so I'm your dirty little secret then, huh?" You tease back, but her face drops at your words, and you finally seem to understand just how nervous she is when her shaky hand helps you out of the car.
"No, I would never want to hide you, promise. It's just, the world I live in can be a bit much, and I don't want to throw you into it until we know where we're going first." She replies in a panic, one that you honestly find adorable, but you settle your hands on her face to stop her.
"Oh, honey, I was honestly joking, it's adorable the way that you're protecting me though, plus—sneaking around sounds kinda fun, almost like we're in high school, you're the jock, and I'm the nerdy girl who you fall in love with."
"Woah... I was definitely not the jock, I was the stoner!" She playfully replies, you roll your eyes at her correction and allow her to escort you inside the fancy restaurant through their kitchen entrance and off into a secluded room.
"Wow..." Your astonished whisper has the blonde chuckling from behind you as she gently guides you into your seat before settling down across from you.
It's truly beautiful—dimly lit, and decorated to give the illusion of a night well spent in Italy. The walls were painted an ombre of blues, with imagery of the cities landmarks adorning them. There were fairy lights strategically layered beneath layers of cotton to highlight the skies. The restaurant's ambience fails to compare to the marvel that is your date though, she looks absolutely stunning in her perfectly tailored creme suit, with the jewel embossed top, and the peekaboo opening in the back of her jacket that allows you to see her beautiful back piece.
Looking at her makes you feel underdressed.
Scarlett watches your face as your eyes trailed around the room, finding your shock to border on almost childlike, and she finds you perfect. Her whole body then warms once your gaze shifts to look her over, she even notices the brief insecurity cross over your gaze and it causes her to frown as she sips on her wine.
Your hair was down which she appreciated as it was normally pulled back. Your outfit choice had perfectly accentuated every curve of your body, and your choice in jewelry was nearing distracting as it pulled her gaze to your metal adorned fingers tapping against the table, and to your necklace settling at the end of your plunging neckline. She couldn't place exactly why you were feeling insecure, because she thought you looked absolutely ravishing.
She noticed your gaze had fallen, so she cleared her throat to draw your attention back up from your menu so that you could truly hear her when she spoke. You looked up to meet her gentle gaze, instantly feeling as a shiver ran down your spine at the hidden intensity beneath.
"Y/N, you look absolutely gorgeous."
"Th-thank you Scarlett, you look so beautiful. I-I really love that suit on you, it's perfect... You're perfect... Oh gosh, um.."
"Honey, calm down..."
"I'm sorry, you just make me so nervous..."
Scarlett laughs at your words, feeling a bit smug herself as the tables are now reversed, but all it does is fills you with a sense of dread.
"You're being mean..." You grumble, hands shooting up to cover your face but she's quick to cut you off, settling her hands in yours as she pulls them back to the tabletop.
"No, honey don't hide... It's just funny to see you so nervous all of a sudden."
"I just want this to go well is all..."
"Darling, I've already heard your loud snoring, I promise all we can do is go up." She jokes with an accompanying laugh, and you slap her hands away, then use your menu as a divider.
"I do not snore."
Scarlett simply smirks at your petulance, then continues to sip upon her wine until the waiter makes himself known with a tray full of "Italy's finest," and a bin full of bruschetta to use for the dips, or as a standalone.
"Ciao madame's, here is your appetizer, and I'm also checking to see if you're ready to put in for your main course."
Scarlett sees your eyes widen, telling her that you'd never even looked at your menu, so she happily handles it for the both of you.
"As a matter of fact I think we are Bernie, I'll be getting my usual—the chicken risotto, and the polenta, and my beautiful date here will take the chicken fettuccine with a side salad."
"Perfect, I'll put your order in." He beams, reaching over the both of you to top off your glasses before taking his leave.
"How'd you know?" You ask with narrowed eyes, receiving a coy smile in return.
"Well you learn a lot about a person when you spend all of your free time with them honey." She muses, your angry facade crumbles, and your face momentarily softens.
"Wow, sounds like you need a life." You tease her anyways, then dip your bread into some bean dip.
She snorts, then follows suit in diving into the appetizers, both of your moods now calmed, and the conversation flowed effortlessly throughout the entirety of the meal. Everything was perfect up until the bill had arrived and the two of you were left in a stare off of preposterous proportions.
"Y/N, I was the one who asked you out..."
"Scarlett, that's exactly why I should pay the bill. You planned it all out, it's fair that I pay."
"I snuck you into a restaurant..."
"To protect me, very honorable, and deserving of being treated..."
"Fine, we can split it..." Scarlett reasons, and though you don't want to you agree with her, passing over your debit card, and missing the glint in her eyes when she passes over the bill.
She smirks your way as soon as he retreats, then before you could ask she lifted your card up from underneath a napkin, laughing boisterously at your shocked expression. Snatching the card from her you'd attempted to chase Bernie down, but she wrapped her arms around your waist and pulled you into her lap.
"No, let me pay..." You whine and squirm in her lap but her strong hold is no match for you.
"You're not paying, I won fair and square."
Scarlett quickly signs the check, and you remain silent the whole time, for the walk back to the car, then for the drive around the blocks as she has no real destination in mind.
"Pretty girl, no more silent treatment please..."
"Dessert..."
"What?"
"Let me pay for dessert..."
Scarlett wants to protest, instead she gives in, but your face falls when she pulls into the Jack in the Box parking lot.
"No, something fancy..."
She giggles at your protests, hand waiting for your card, and reluctantly you slapped it into her hand while she somehow ordered perfectly for the both of you once again without so much as a word from you.
"Thanks for the cookie honey..."
"Yeah, yeah..." You playfully grumble over your straw, allowing the Oreo shake to brighten your darkened mood.
Scarlett drove around the city with no end in sight, not wanting the date to end just yet, and the both of you talked about everything under the sun, but mostly you talked about the kids. After a few beats of silence Scarlett noticed you'd drifted off, and she took that as her sign to return to John's to collect Angie, and take the both of you back home.
—
Scarlett entered John's to find the cutest sight she'd ever seen, so she snapped a photo before finally approaching the children.
"Mommy, please be quiet, she just fell asleep..."
Scarlett admired the way her daughter lovingly ran her fingers through your daughters hair, and stared down at her with adoration, thoughts of them as sisters flooding through her mind.
"I am here to take her home baby."
"Where's Y/N?"
"She's sleeping too."
"Was she good to you?"
"Yes, very good to me."
"Good, because I love her..."
"I know you do Riley, and I can see why."
"Do you love her?" She asks hopefully.
"Not just yet, but I'm ready to let it happen."
Riley smiles at her answer, and Scarlett kisses her daughters forehead, then scoops Angie's limp body up, and sends her daughter off to bed before returning to you. She gently buckles Angie up, observing the way that her tiny nose scrunches after every third breath she takes in, and she realizes you do the exact same thing.
"Cute..."
Once she makes it back to your place she watches you sleep for a moment, enjoying the peaceful expression before finally waking you up, and loving the dopy smile you send her. Then once you stumble out of the car she wraps an arm around your waist to stabilize you, and pulls you into a sweet embrace.
"Thanks for dinner Scar..." You mumble against her suit, and she pulls back to smile down at you.
In a brief moment of confidence you surge forward, slamming your lips to hers, and she's too stunned for the first few seconds to properly react to the wanted sensation.
"I'm so—."
She cuts your apology off with a bruising kiss of her own, her hold on you shifting to your hips, and pulling you that much closer to her body. Kissing you has her whole body feeling warm, her hips roll against yours with a mind of their own, and your needy whimpers against her lips are what bring her back to the moment.
"Sorry honey. Got a little carried away there." She rasps into your ear, and you attempt to hide your face into her neck, but she cups your cheeks to prevent it.
"I really hope they'll be a second date honey, because I'd love to see where this was going."
You press a chaste kiss to her lips in answer, then maneuver your way out of her hold, and pull your daughter out of her backseat.
"Goodnight Scar..." You bid her goodbye, leaving a final kiss to her cheek.
"Goodnight Y/N/N." She calls after you, goofy smile on her face as she watches you make it into the house, then she excitedly screams against her steering wheel before driving home with unholy thoughts of you.
—
While being married for just under a decade you'd forgotten how carefree love is meant to be; dating Scarlett had proven as a necessary reminder. On top of the amazing love story unfolding right before you, you also had seen an alarming improvement in Jess's parenting after taking said blondes advice.
They'd been showing up far more to her extra activities, and had only missed one weekend in the last two months. Angie was a lot happier too with her Deda around, and it made your heart glimmer with hope whenever she'd return to you with that bright smile of hers.
However, you were forced to face a lot in her sudden absence, and though it hurt you were also grateful. Silence was something you used to crave with two kids, but being forced into it after a loss like yours just made it unbearable. Now having every weekend free led to you having spent many of them on your own with your girlfriend being a busy actress and all.
One particular Friday evening you remember sending Angie off with a goodbye kiss, and then upon reentering your home you had began to fill your time with an almost neurotic form of cleaning. Music from your record player filled the space around you, a swiffer mop in one hand, and a glass of wine in the other while you sang your bruised little heart out, then the next moment your glass shatters across the kitchen floor, much like your heart, and you're in tears as your eyes locked onto the calendar to see the date—October 14th.
An overwhelming need to purge consumed you, and that weekend you went around the house ridding it of everything you deemed as unnecessary to your survival. Scarlett showed up on your doorstep that Sunday evening after you'd repeatedly failed to answer your phone, she'd honestly would have come even sooner had she not been out of town on some set.
•~~~~~~~~~~•~~~~~~~~~~•
"Y/N, love, where are you?" Scarlett calls out into the eerily quiet house, and her body tenses at the lack of verbal response, feet rushing upstairs when she instead hears a crashing.
With a gentle hand she opens the already cracked bedroom door, entering Josh's normally sealed tight room, and her face falls at the sight of your trembling form, surrounded by shards of blue glass.
"Honey, come on, I don't want you to get hurt." She coos, gentle hands cautiously settle atop your arms, squeezing until your teary gaze reaches hers.
"I-I..."
"Shh, just come here honey." Scarlett shushes you, gently yanking you up and pulling you into her own body.
"I-I was finally ready to clean out his room..." You suddenly sigh, indicating your readiness to explain to the blonde that's currently holding you close what'd happened.
Scarlett says nothing, instead she rearranges your bodies, settling you beside her on the tiny bed and interlocking her hand with yours, soft eyes meet yours to urge you to go on.
"I was boxing up his clothes, but then when moving around the room I accidentally knocked the Squirtle squad figurine off of his dresser with the box. Squirtle was his favorite starter Pokemon, and so that figurine was his go to, and now it's gone... I broke it, my baby's gone, and now his comfort toy is too.."
Your eyes slam shut, tears steadily falling while you work to avoid her comforting gaze.
"It's funny, because if he was still here he'd have hugged me right now, wiped my tears away and no doubt would've said to me 'It's okay mama, I'm not mad, accidents happen.' But it's not! It's not okay, nothing about this is Scarlett, because he's gone, and I'm all alone. This big house that once used to be filled with giggles is only partially so now."
You phase through so many emotions in a matter of seconds, each one erratically fueled, and your trembling only worsens until Scarlett suddenly lays down atop of you. Hands gently cup your cheeks and keep you still as she begins to speak.
"You're not alone Y/N/N, you've got Angie, Riley, and even Carson, and lord knows I'm not going anywhere honey. I know we'll never be able to fill the hole he left in your heart, but we'll definitely never leave you alone. Nothing will ever replace him, but you're right, he would've forgiven you so it's high time you follow his wise footsteps and forgive yourself."
"I know, and I love y— that I have all of you in my corner, I promise I appreciate it. It's just, being alone in this quiet house breaks me."
"Then you won't be alone here anymore... You'll come to sets with me, or Riley, Carson and I will keep you company, and we'll fill this house with laughter again, all while keeping Josh's memory alive in a heartfelt way without all of the pain. Whatever you need, we'll make it happen baby, and we'll start by cleaning out this room together."
"I was thinking of turning it into a guest kids room for Riley and Carson, so they'll have somewhere to call their own when they're here."
"They'll love it, you're honestly an angel, I'm so glad I found you Y/N/N... How about we make dinner, then come morning time we'll work this room out together..."
"Sounds perfect, It's a four day weekend so Jess kept Angie tonight, it'll be nice to have you here to cuddle up to."
Scarlett kissed your forehead, then climbed off of you, pulling you up with her, landing another kiss to your lips, and lingering there for a few moments. That night you felt a little lighter, heart still in pieces, but finally feeling as though it's actually meant to be repaired.
•~~~~~~~~~~•~~~~~~~~~~•
Now though you're sat on the porch swing happily awaiting Angie's return home. It's officially Christmas break, and you've used all your PTO for the following two weeks, and have all these plans to take her out into the snowy plains of New York. Plans to go out to the movies together, then to go ice skating with Scarlett and Riley in the city, then you've got plans to celebrate the impending holiday together as a happy, collective group.
The rumbling of an engine pulls you from your excited thoughts, you look out to see Jess carrying a sleeping Angie, and the sight actually warms your heart a tiny bit.
"We had a busy day, so she's a bit exhausted."
"I bet, she told me all about the plans for the amusement park, you can take her up to bed if you want, I don't mind."
You'd been working on fixing the relationship, remembering just how good of friends you'd been before ever getting married, and hoping you'd be able to return to a fraction of that for Angie's sake, and you'd be lying to say you didn't want the peace for yourself too.
Jess nodded, then took off into your house, running up the stairs, and settling Angie into her bed with a gentle kiss, with a whispered, misguided promise to make everything right again before returning to you with a cup of cocoa to which you accept it with a quirked brow, but nonetheless a playful smile.
"Do you remember the night she was born?" They suddenly ask, slurping loudly, and you cringe at the familiar pet peeve of yours.
"Yeah, she always had a flair for the dramatic interruptions." You giggle at the memory, then settle into the swing as Jess gently reminisces.
•~~~~~~~~~~•~~~~~~~~~~•
"Mama!! Deda!! Huwwy up!" Josh calls out from the living room, tiny body perfectly fitting into the couch.
You wobbled into the living room, popcorn bowl perched atop your rounded belly, and Jess wasn't far behind you with the cups.
"We're coming!!" You shriek, and he turns to face you with a beaming smile atop his face.
Jess settled the drinks down on the table, and you took your spot beside him.
"Pokemon time!" He shrieks, body squirming excitedly on the couch as he clutches his Pikachu plushy to his chest, and settles a gentle kiss to your bump before his arm flies to the bowl.
While the anime rolls through episodes you feel a bit off, but you wave it off in favor of the giddy toddler besides you.
"Mama! Loot! It's Pitachu! And Squirble!"
You smile through the pain, and manage to return his enthusiasm, but Jess picks up on your discomfort, and sends you a worried stare that you literally wave off.
"Mama... Are you otay?"
Okay... So you're not holding it as together as you thought.
"Yes honey, Mama's just going to go pee, keep watching your show."
You stood to your feet, feeling an immense pressure in your lower abdomen, you remained purposefully oblivious. Well, for about two seconds because after about two steps water came gushing from between your legs, and Jess shot up off the couch.
"Eww. Mama! You posta pee on da potty!" Josh shrieks, but his face quickly drops when he sees you in actual pain.
"I'll go get the bag! Stay right here my love, Josh, stay with mama, it'll be okay buddy."
Josh's tear stained face brings you out of your own pain, hobbling over to him you manage to pull him into your side for comfort.
"Mama, was wrong?"
"Nothing honey, your baby sister is coming my love, it's okay, I promise you."
"Hey. Be nice to mama... She's a good mama." He talks directly to your belly, and you giggle at the sight of your son's confusion before your sights move up to your frantic partner.
"I got the bag! Let's go!" Jess shrieks, scooping your son up, then cautiously guiding you to the car.
—
Your eyes flutter open, taking in the sight of the sleeping baby girl besides you, then your groggy eyes travel to see Jess sat up on the couch, with Josh peacefully sleeping against their chest, and your heart swells at the sight of your growing family.
Everything was perfect...
•~~~~~~~~~~•~~~~~~~~~~•
A singular tear falls from your eye once the retelling of the memory ends, and Jess attempts to wipe the tear away for you, but you're quick to create distance between yourselves again, wiping it away yourself.
"So it's over then? Our family is no more?"
"Yes, for the last time Jess, we are over, but that doesn't mean we can't be a family again. Joshua's gone, but Angie's still right here, and it's our joint responsibility to make her happy."
"I'm so sorry..." They sob, face falling into their hands, and something about the apology seems unsettling to you.
Before you could attempt to reassure them of your forgiveness—in the hopes that it'd set them straight, a car door is slamming and a blur of blonde hair rushes passed you.
"You selfish bitch, what have you fucking done?!" Scarlett seethes, open palm directly throwing Jess's face to the side, and you can see by the look in their eyes that they knew they deserved it.
"I-I... I'm so sorry Y/N/N, it was a mistake..." Jess tried to weakly defend, but like the coward that they are it ends with them running off before you could even decipher what's just taken place before you.
"Scar?"
Scarlett turns to see your trembling lip, softening her previously furious demeanor instantly and though her hand stings she pulls you into her body, allowing your confused, overwhelmed tears to soak through her shirt.
"I'm here honey, I promise I'll fix this, and that you'll be okay..."
Your heart freezes as her words sink in...
What the fuck did Jess do?
————
6,480 Words
For anyone needing a timeline clarification it's now December 2k21 (story started August)
Josh died in October 2019, Divorce took place early 2020
Riley/(Apr)Josh -9 (2012) (7 at death)
Angie-6 (Aug-2015)
❤️ Kaitlyn 🤪
#scarlett johansson pov#Scarlett Johansson#scarlett johansson x you#scarlett johansson x y/n#scarlett x fem!reader#scarlett johansson x female reader#scarlett johansson x reader#scarlett x y/n#scarlett x you#scarlett johansson fluff#scarlett johansson imagines#Natasha romanoff x reader#natasha romanoff imagine#gxg
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Could you write a little oneshot of ellie and Dina out on patrol and they’re just talking and laughing and then find some reason to ruin it all with Ellie crying? Thanks!
Right up my alley. Of course I can do that for you my faithful follower
The cold air and the bright colors of autumn in Jackson was a hopeful time for all. The smell of bake goods filled the air and the sound of children's laughter, it made the shitty times feel less shitty for everyone except Ellie. The adolescent had a love/hate relationship with the season but over the years it became more and more of a hate relationship "hey kiddo you got everything packed for today?" a deep southern voice asked pulling her out of the dark void she called her mind "hm? oh yeah i think I've got everything" she answered double checking her bag "shit" she whispered to herself "next time i tell you I'll do your laundry you better empty out those pockets of yours" Joel said handing the young girl her pocket knife, she nodded and took the knife from him "thanks Joel, I'll be back later tonight i promise" she gave him and a small smile. Joel wasn't stupid, he was a father and was a professional bullshit detector, he could tell when something was up and had been seeing it in the 15 year old for a while now "you better be, Tommy and Maria wanna come over for dinner and I'd need your help peeling potatoes" he chuckled "god I might just stay out there, i bet the infected smell better than your cooking" she laughed and he rolled his eyes "be safe and be warm but most importantly come back in one piece" she nodded and was on her way. Ellie walked through the small town, she felt weird having been in the town for a year now and still feeling like an outsider, she pulled her coat closer to her body feeling the chill of the cold fall air while walking to the stables, she looked up from the ground to see Dina and Jesse standing next to each other laughing and smiling. In the whole year she had been there those two were the ones to take her under their wing, they were her best friends and she liked having friends but also wanted to still stay alert. She approached the stables where they were located and gave them a small wave "my god 3pm and you're actually awake and about" Jesse laughed giving his friend a small push "yeah yeah, had stuff to do today" she smirked pushing him back "well looks like I'm stuff" Dina piped up and laughed putting her gloves on, Ellie blushed slightly then went to go get her horse before feeling a hand on her shoulder "make sure she doesn't do anything stupid out there, and you also make sure you don't do anything stupid ok?" Jesse gave a warm smile and Ellie nodded before mounting her horse and following Dina to the patrol route. By the time they got to the lookout they had both been exhausted from taking out the stragglers around on the route they both decided to sit for a while "is it weird for me to ask how you're liking Jackson or is that just awkward small talk" Dina asked taking a seat on the chair across from Ellie, the girl shrugged "it's a pretty normal question, i like it I'm just not use to.. fitting in or settling to one place" Ellie answered "that's fair, i felt the same when i moved here, it's just the way things are now i guess" Dina said taking her gloves off and getting comfortable. The two girls talked for quite some time watching the sun set "we should get going the sun is getting low" Ellie said "yeah i know but it's so nice out here" Dina said walking up to the window watching the sunset, Ellie walked up next to her and looked to where she was looking, it was the first time in a very long time Ellie had felt peace, she didn't even feel the tear run down her face, everything that had happened all the way from Boston to now hit her as she let her guard down and more tears streamed down her face leaving streaks "are you ok Ellie? you're crying" Dina went to hug her friend but Ellie pulled back and wiped her tears " i'm fine we should get going" she said sternly and started to walk out as Dina followed
#joel miller#tlou#ellie williams#tlou2#the last of us#the last of us 2#the last of us part 2#dina x ellie#tlou dina#dina and jesse#jesse tlou#oneshot#lgbt#lgbtqia#angst
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Spider-Man & Ms Marvel: Love & War
By: Reborn Dark Phoenix
OMG THIS WAS THE BEST FANFIC I HAVE EVER READ! Is so WELL WRITTEN! You won’t be able to find it as it is delete. This is more of people who like Spider-Man comics where he is OLDER And People who might like Peter x Carol which depict here make a great couple.
Also we won’t be able to find this fic as it is deleted 😔 will post more soon!
Chapter 1: Minimal
If there was one thing Carol loved about having super speed, it was that she could race from her house to the edge of the atmosphere in less than five seconds to get to space. And if there was one thing Carol loved about space, it was how blissful and awe-striking it was. Despite having seen the beautiful view every day since she took up this habit three years ago, she was always struck with wonder when she saw the Earth from space.
And her most absolute favorite thing about space? Free-falling.
As she allowed herself to plummet through Earth's atmosphere, she felt the heat of the massive kinetic energy consume her body, as it warmed her and her body absorbed it. She loved this feeling, the heat nipping at her body; it was so tingly and pleasuring. She loved being able to do this every day, just flying up and plummeting back into the earth, and almost hitting the Atlantic Ocean before maneuvering herself to race to Manhattan.
This... this was probably the best thing to happen to her because of becoming Ms. Marvel.
Well, actually, Peter was... this was a close second, though.
As she arrived at the shores of Manhattan, people looked nonchalantly up at her form; superheroes had been around the city for almost 20 years now; showing up worldwide less than 10. This was a common occurrence, and flying deeper into the city, people didn't even give her a second glance, if they took a first glance, even. Carol was grateful for that-she was having a good start to the day, and the last thing she needed right now to ruin it were ogling eyes looking at her. It was one of the reasons she preferred flying high above the buildings and at super speed. Although, she did enjoy the lower, slower flights she had when she and Peter travelled through the city... well, enjoy wasn't a good enough word, really.
Suddenly, something jumped onto her back and her eyes were covered by a pair of hands. Now normally, she'd knock whoever this was into the atmosphere, anticipating an attack and then a battle, but this set of hands was all too familiar to her, and she simply smiled, waiting to hear his voice.
"Excuse me, but is this the ferry to Staten Island?"
She laughed as she flew up to a nearby building and landed. The person jumped off, and Carol turned to see her most favorite person in the whole world smiling at her: the Amazing Spider-Man.
"Enjoying your week off?"
"Eh, I guess," the Webhead replied with a slight shrug. "Yeah, I'm off the team for a while, but all these thugs just won't let me take a break, y'know? All the regulars like Doc and Rhino and such are locked up on the Raft at least."
"There's something," Carol said as she sat on the ledge, Peter joining her. "What've you been up to these last few days?"
"Well, the lab's needed me more than usual, Jameson's having me freelance more and more, and I'm visiting Aunt May tonight. Kind of dull, really, now that I hear all that out loud." Carol let out a small giggle at that. "Oh, c'mon-that's what you laugh at and not my jokes and quips?"
"They've been kind of failing in quality as of recent, babe."
"Yeah, name one time they've-actually, don't respond to that, it'll hurt my already fragile ego, and the bad guys depend on my fragile ego to help me mock them while I beat them up every day."
"The team says hi, by the way-Logan, Cap, Jess, Falcon, Luke & Danny especially."
"They miss me?"
"Nope, they've really enjoyed the quiet; they've asked me to tell you to take more vacations."
"Ba, humbug," Peter said as he rolled his eyes. "Remind me to pull a joke from my bag next time I see them."
"I'll be sure to do that," Carol purred as she brought his face to hers and began slowing and lovingly kissing him, letting herself get lost in the passion until...
"Captain America to all on duty Avengers, report to the Mansion for emergency mandatory meeting."
"Noooo....," Peter sighed as they separated at the sound of Cap's voice on Carol's comm.
"Sorry, Spider, duty calls."
"Fine," he pouted before smiling, giving her a warm hug. "Let me know what it's about & tell 'em I said hi."
"I think that in their book, that'd break the happy silence."
"Aren't you a bag of laughs..."
*Avengers Mansion, 10 minutes later*
Carol touched down on the mansion grounds at the same time her best friend Jessica, or Spider-Woman to SHIELD & the rest of the world, did.
"Carol!" Jess cried as she embraced her best friend. "What's new with you, huh? I haven't seen you in forever!"
"... Jess, we saw each other two nights ago; before you, Tasha, Clint and Bobbi were called in by Fury for that mission in the East. Remember?"
"Yeah, but that seems like forever ago," the British Avenger/SHIELD agent replied with a smirk. "Oh speaking of which, can you keep a secret? Guess what I found out. Bobbi is crushing on Clint."
"Wait what? But Clint's-"
"With Natasha, I know, and that really is upsetting for her. She asked my advice about it on the mission. Oh, don't tell anyone, ok?"
"Such a good friend you are, Jess," Carol smirked as the two made their way down the mansion hallways to the conference room. "But my lips are sealed."
"What's the seal for?" Logan's voice came as he joined them from his mansion quarters, walking with them to the meeting. "Actually- don't wanna know; better if I don't so I don' have to get involved in any way." The two women chuckled as the three of them entered the conference room and took their seats at the massive table.
Captain America, Tony Stark (Iron Man), Thor, Bruce Banner (the Hulk), Yellowjacket, Wasp, King T'Challa (Black Panther), Hawkeye, Black Widow, Vision, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Falcon, She-Hulk,
Hercules, Tigra, Namor the Sub-mariner, Nova, Mockingbird, Wonder Man, Luke Cage, Dr. Strange, Iron Fist, Noh Varr (Protector), General Ross (the Red Hulk), Daredevil and now Ms. Marvel, Spider Woman & the Wolverine. The full roster of the pantheon of Earth's Mightiest Heroes was now assembled. The only one missing was the Amazing Spider-Man.
"Alright, everyone," Stark began. "Thanks for meeting here on such short notice."
"What's this about, Tony?" T'Challa interjected.
"There's been some... complaints as to how the Avengers are operating." At his words, everyone at the table was shocked.
"Who's been complaining?" Bobbi Morse asked. "I haven't heard anything from SHIELD, and Hill would definitely make sure that Clint, Natasha, Jessica & I would've known about this kind of thing-you know how she isn't so fond of us."
"Bobbi's right," Clint Barton added. "Fury may be in favor of superheroes and the like, but Hill still is against the notion of unsupervised superhumans and vigilantes-we'd have heard something." Carol couldn't help but notice that Bobbi slightly went a bit pink at Clint agreeing with her.
"Are governments and nations complaining about how we handle threats, how we operate?" Simon Williams asked.
"It's not so much as governments or the UN or even SHIELD," Steve Rogers spoke up. "More like... one government."
"This is about the motions going on in Congress," General Ross interjected. "I've been hearing the rumbling about this for some time."
"What rumblings?" Cage asked. "And what's going on in Congress?"
"Remember back when we took the Hood's Syndicate back last year in Los Angeles when Moon Knight asked for our help?" asked Stark. The whole team remembered-that had been a more difficult fight, one of many times the team's full roster had had to be called in. "Well, I'm sure you remembered that one lady who was kind of badly hurt during a tussle between Grey Gargoyle and Wonder Man, and she had come to us to pay for her medical expenses. The way she saw it, it was our fault that she ended up injured and that we should've been more careful. Naturally, I felt kind of bad-" at that the entire team rolled their eyes-"oh come on, I can be human too; anyways, the point is Stark Industries paid all her expenses in full, me taking the responsibility."
Vision cocked his head sideways. "I am not sure I fully understand how that relates, Iron Man."
"Well, it was supposed to be kept on the down low, Vision. But a few months ago, word got out... and suddenly, Stark Industries is bombarded with letters from the courts and lawsuits across the country, not just from regular people, but from businesses. It's starting waves of lawsuits against almost everything we do. The government got wind of this, and since then, Congress has been brewing up a storm on superhuman and vigilante activity across the country-how it's slowly becoming reckless and dangerous. They're even talking about mutant problems again."
Logan, Wanda, Namor & Pietro groaned at once. "I'll always be amazed at how it's always America who seems to have the problems with mutants, yet no other country seems to have it as bad," Wanda exclaimed.
"How bad are these lawsuits?" Banner asked.
"Not too bad; in reality, most of them aren't even accurate or founded in truth-and I'd like to thank Jenny and Matt here for their expertise in law for helping me and the company with that. The major problem is the government's response," Stark continued. "They are motioning for the Avengers to take more responsibility for the actions we take
as a team; and it's not just us they're going after-they've got their eyes on various heroes in the States-Moon Knight in LA, Scarlet Spider in Houston, those New Warriors, the FF, Punisher, Black Cat, other independent heroes....they're associating all of them with the Avengers, being we're the face of heroes on this planet."
"How's their stance on the X-Men, Stark?" Logan asked.
"I'm not exactly sure, but they seem to be moving against the various teams you guys have going-X-Force and those New Mutants-"
"Hey; X-Force rarely does anything in America without Slim's or my approval... well, I can't speak for Deadpool, but you know what I mean. The New Mutants are just kids we're raising and training up to be the next generation of heroes. We've made sure up to now-"
"That's what they're worried about," Ross interjected. "Up to now; from what I've heard, they're questioning the Avengers having mutants on the team, especially Namor and Wanda, being how powerful they are."
"They dare question my motives? They should tread carefully," the Atlantean monarch mumbled.
"Not just you Namor-they're worried about the number of mutants taking residence up in San Francisco since the mayor opened it up as a safe haven; they're worried the X-Men may lead them in some revolution."
"Look, that's just one of the problems," Steve continued. "Congress is looking at all our past incidents here in the nation-Hulk's mind control under MODOK and his resulting rampage in Vegas, our LA Syndicate grudge match, our last battle with Magneto's Brotherhood; and they're also looking at other incidents... like Spider Island, the FF's near accidental destruction of Manhattan, the time the New Warriors almost blew up Stanford in their fight against Nitro..."
"There seeking to control us, aren't they?" Dr. Strange asked.
"I think so."
"They can't do that!" She-Hulk said. "The Avengers are an internationally supported team, and we have authority granted by the UN; we're backed by SHIELD & SWORD! Hell, the mansion grounds are considered international territory. Alpha Flight & Excalibur aren't bothered with this kind of thing. They think they can try to control us?!"
"In essence, they can try-the majority of us here are still US citizens. The only ones they can't touch are Thor, Hercules, Namor and Panther; maybe our resident SHIELD agents can get away, since... well, they work for SHIELD."
"So is that an alternative?" Carol asked. "We have to work for SHIELD to avoid all this?"
"No." Cap's voice was firm and commanding. "The Avengers work for no one. We go anywhere in the world where we're needed, even if it's Latveria. The government has no right to try and control us, because what we do is give back to the world best we can with what the world's given us." This seemed to calm the team down a bit.
"I just want to ask everyone that they be a bit more careful out there, avoid as much collateral damage as possible and whatnot, and just be overall the best you can be," Stark said. "It's getting annoying to deal with all these lawsuits. Carol, I'm sure I can count on you to relate this to Peter, right?"
"Yeah of course; although," Carol said, a smile creeping onto her face, "knowing him, he's probably already messing it up somewhere." At that, everyone laughed.
*Somewhere in the Lower East Side, NYC*
"I'm sorry... what?"
"You heard me-I want reimbursement! Someone's gotta pay for what happened to my restaurant!"
"Dude, why are you asking me? I just beat the bad guys up! Don't you have insurance for this kind of thing? I mean, it happens, like, every day out here."
Spider-Man was having a bit of a problem-swinging to Midtown, he happened across a robbery in progress, and being the responsible hero he was, came in and taught the thugs a few manners. Of course, they tried to fight back, shooting and stuff, but Peter was just too damn quick for them, and in only few minutes and jokes later, the thugs were taken down. Police were now taking them away, and he was just about to be on his way... when the restaurant owner demanded he pay him back for all the damages.
"You should be telling those guys to pay you back!" Spider-Man said as he pointed to thugs being pushed into the armored vehicle headed for Ryker's. "They DID try to rob your store!"
"Yeah, but they weren't shooting or anything! They were just taking money and they'd have left-then you show up and ruin everything, they shoot the place up and trash my restaurant! I should sue you!"
"Right... ok. Listen, I got to go now, so you keep suing passing heroes that save your life and I'll just go back on my way." With that, Peter swung off, with the restaurant owner yelling after him, "THE BUGLE WAS RIGHT ABOUT YOU, WEB FREAK!"
'Sue me? What's there to sue me for?,' Peter mused to himself as he arrived at Midtown and ducked in an alley to change to civilian clothes. 'I barely have any money to my name; I'm doing overtime at Horizon and freelancing as much as possible for Jolly Jonah to get enough money for this.' Exiting the alley and mingling with the populous, he checked his jacket pocket. 'Ok, envelope & cash are still here. Ok, Parker, time to go hunting.' With that, Peter began his third day of searching through Manhattan's best jewelry stores.
*Avengers Mansion, an hour later*
Carol and Jess sat in the lounge, watching a rerun marathon of one of the most popular shows in the country, based off one of the world's most popular comics.
"I loved T-Dog," Jess frowned. "He was awesome, and that was just a bad way to kill him off. I swear, those stupid prisoners... but I still love The Walking Dead."
"Can you imagine if a zombie apocalypse actually broke out in real life? The chaos that'd be caused; what if some of our own were infected?"
"Oh come on, Carol, like THAT'D ever happen; Wolverine heals from everything, we have two gods on the team... must I go on?" The two laughed, realizing that if a zombie apocalypse did ever happen, it wouldn't stand a chance against the superheroes of Earth. "So, how's my male counterpart?"
"He's alright, doing his thing, being bored out there, being all mine," Carol answered with one of her rare luminous smiles; Peter's name always brought a smile and happy memories to her mind. "He's visiting his... aunt tonight."
Jessica was quick to notice the faltering in Carol's voice. "Carol, don't tell me the woman still makes you nervous?"
"She's so sweet and loving, don't get me wrong, and we get along just fine-but that warning she gave me the first night I met her... I've never been so scared in my life. Seriously, if it was you, you'd feel the same way."
"I doubt it; I'd just manipulate her into liking me instantly."
"Of course you would," Carol replied with a smirk. "You always want to take the easy way."
"I'll have you know, Ms. Danvers, that I am very-"
"Ho Spider Woman, Ms. Marvel." Both women turned to see Thor standing at the doorway, his hammer in hand and a fierce grin on his face. "There is trouble brewing upon the streets, and the locals have asked for our assistance. What say you, maidens, are you ready for a battle?"
"Oh yeah, Thor," Carol replied, her eyes glowing. "I'm ready for some action."
*Avengers Conference Hall*
Steve and Tony had remained behind in the conference hall, looking at the various documents, forms and digital files of every lawsuit, complaint and government ordinance that Congress had sent them about their activity in the country.
"Tony, I know what I said to give the team a bit of support," Steve remarked. "But to be honest, I have a bad feeling about where this is headed."
"Honestly, Steve," Stark replied somberly. "I kind of feel the same way."
#the amazing spider man#Spiderman Comic#marvel comics#ao3 fanfic#marvel civil war#marvel fic#peter parker#tasm peter parker#tasm peter parker x reader#mcu spiderman#captain marvel#carol danvers#avangers#spider man#mcu peter parker#Peter Parker x Carol Denver#Spider-Man x Captain Marvel#fantiction#tom holland#andrew garfield#peter parker imagine
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Jesse/Lake 13
(Ao3)
There were quite a few things Lake was still getting used to, even after a few years living amongst real, non-mirror people. And while she thought she had the high school life under reasonable control, she was more than surprised when she opened her locker and a small, pink envelope slid to the floor.
Almost as if the envelope was a crystal that shattered into a thousand pieces, all the murmurs and talks amongst other students were silenced, and turned into one, collective "Woo!", as everyone's attention became focused on the small thing.
Lake quickly grabbed it, her cheeks reddening as she found herself being stared at by dozens of her classmates, an already annoying sensation, only exacerbated by taunting from some girls that still tried one-upping her, despite several meetings of them with her fists.
"Lake's got a love letter!"
"Really, from whom? A metal grinder?"
She ignored them, opened the heart-stamped envelope and smiled, seeing the familiar handwriting. She tucked it in her pocket, and before the two mean girls could utter one more word, she strolled through the busy corridor to the neighbouring class. And fortunately, he was right there.
Jesse flinched at first when Lake came into his view, interrupting talk with his friend, and before he had the chance to ask if she got his letter, he received his answer.
Lake grabbed his shirt and brought his face against hers in a fast and aggressive kiss that once more sawn silence amongst the students around. Lake felt his moans spilling from his lips, until he became immersed in the moment.
"Care to accompany me in the closet?", Lake asked, and waited only a moment for him to reply, his stunned "uh-huh" being enough for her to drag him to the secluded basement. And if the previous "Woo"s from the crowd were not subtle, the crowd was now properly cheering and chanting as the two hormonal teenagers rushed to get a bit of privacy.
The "closet" was the defunct room with old gym equipment and was pretty much a default place for all sorts of shenanigans. Lake opened the door with a kick, turning back to get more kisses from her boyfriend, as his hands slipped into her jeans.
But she was the one leading the action and soon he found himself with his pants down as she pushed him to a nearby chair.
"That's what you get for making me blush in front of everyone", Lake dictated, sitting in his crotch, while their hands roamed their bodies. She cupped his face and kissed him again, but this time with tenderness and care she meant only for him.
"And that's what you get for writing such sweet poems."
"I take it you-you liked it?"
"<>", Lake recited. "Well, you will see quite a lot more now."
She crossed her arms and took her shirt off, letting Jesse see his reflection not only in her chest but also curved in her breasts evidently not hidden by any bra.
Transfixed by her naked form, Jesse almost missed her hands undoing one last few pieces of their clothes necessary. And once his cock wads freed and touched her sex, she was ready to reward him for making her heart flutter.
"C-Condom!", Jesse quickly shouted as his tip brushed her wet lips. Lake groaned and rolled her eyes.
"Dude, how many times, I'm not even a real-"
"You are.", he kissed her, knowing what she was going to say, "You are a girl. My girl. And I;m the luckiest guy in the world for that."
Lake smiled, hearing the familiar crinkling of a wrapped, and as she sank down onto him, she engulfed him in the rubbed, while he simultaneously filled her pussy.
The two shared a quick moan, as Jesse gripped Lake's thighs, guiding her up and down his shaft while her gasps warmed his neck. She liked to be in control, and this time was no different, with her grip around his back and one leg closed behind his torso.
"<>" she quoted the letter between her moans, as she rode his cock faster and faster, revelling in his low grunts and tightening of his fingers on her ass.
"<>"
Lake was about to scream, but Jesse's lips were on hers, drinking her voice as orgasm claimed her body, and seed filled the condom with each thrust.
It took the two quite a while to let go of each other, Lake forcing the kiss to break to take much needed gasp of air.
"Oh, sorry, I sometimes forget -"
"Yeah, I'm not as good swimmer as you are.", Lake laughed, "Speaking of swimming puns…"
She reached into her pocket and brought the letter once more.
"Yeah, not very romantic…"
"It worked.", lake looked between their half-naked, sweaty bodies, and the two burst into laughter. "Come on, let's clean up, we don't want to miss classes."
"Who are you and what did you do to my Lake?", Jesse asked, helping her get to the ground.
"Well…" she spoke,. grabbing his condom and expertly tying a knot, "Maybe I learned some of that responsibility from you."
=====
Three hours later, Jesse was tired from his classes, and could think of nothing more than a shower and a nap. But as he opened his locker, a small note fell from it, and his thoughts at once came back to his girlfriend, as he read her letter.
"Roses are red,
violets are blue.
I cannot do poetry
Wanna do it again?"
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more hearts than mine.
“i’m not nervous.”
jess sighs and rolls her eyes before returning to shaping a curl at the back of dorey’s head.. “oh yes dorothea, tell me again how very not nervous you are to have a friend over for dinner. i don’t think we heard you the first 84,000 times.”
“i’m not!” dorey hates this. they spent the night in clapham last night. jessa had set her hair and they’d slept in their old bedroom and it turns her into a teenager again in the worst way.
“tragic.”
“i am not tragic.”
jane, sprawled across the bed with a desperately trashy romance novel hums in agreement. she doesn’t need to be in here - she took over cas’ room in the attic when he moved to ireland and is supposed to only be out for meals while she revises for exams. jane has a nose for gossip that would be an old biddy to shame though and dorey is sure that she could somehow spin that regency buck somehow helpful to gross anatomy. “bit tragic.”
lieutenant halstead is coming to sunday lunch and while dorey had been happy enough when the invitation had been extended, she’s now prepared to kill her family, change her name, and flee to the bahamas. jessa is one thing - if jessa wasn’t teasing her, she’d think something was terribly wrong. her mother? fine. jane is a step too far. she’s the elder, there should be some scrap of respect there.
(she and jessa are different, they’re nearly equals.)
“there you go, love,” jessa says, smoothing dorey’s hair with the comb a final time. “very pretty for your not at all date with with sid. pink lipstick, not red.”
dorey shoots her a dark look int he vanity mirror and reaches for the red out of petulance. she’s not the best at doing her hair and jessa is, that’s all. if jessa does it right on sunday, then it will look nice for the week. it’s simple logic. “it’s not a date. you lot are here.”
“please, as though you wouldn’t ask me to come along if it were.”
jane sits up on the edge of the bed to put on her shoes. “i wouldn’t say pie with the family is the most sensual of meals.” she comes over to the vanity, selects a perfume and spritzes her wrists. “a banana eaten extremely slowly perhaps.”
“dorey, your friend is here!”
for some reasons, jessa and jane exchange a look that has them erupting into laughter. dorey stands, bumping her on purpose. that only seems to make them laugh harder.
he does look very handsome in the uniform. he always seems a bit rumpled when they see him but he’s pressed and spit polished today. he clearly tried and the effort touches the soft, spongey part of her that knows she didn’t have jessa fix her hair just so it would look nice for the week. he’s introducing himself to mum and glances up the stairs as they come down, flashing her a quick warm smile.
perhaps she’s a bit tragic.
mum actually giggles when he calls her mrs. mason and dorey prays for the ceiling to cave in. “catherine, if you please,” she says, her cheeks flushed. “you know jessa and dorey, of course. this is my youngest daughter, jane. our cas is in ireland on business. and gregory,” she adds hastily as dad comes in from the sitting room, bringing an arctic blast with him.
“gregory, is it a wee bit chilly in there?”
“the blasted heat pump again,” dad says apologetically, as though the heat pump is within his control.
“i can take a look at it,” sid offers. “i’m pretty handy.”
mum looks at him as though he’s offered to perform a miracle soley for their entertainment. “would you? gregory! the tools!”
she shows them to the sitting room before excusing herself and dragging jane and jessa after her to the kitchen to finish lunch. he drapes his uniform jacket over the back of a chair and unbuttons his sleeves to roll them back. dorey looks away, suddenly fascinated by the rabbit shaped crack in the ceiling. she’s not some medieval maiden, wilting at the sight of a man’s wrists. she’s an educated, modern woman. she was raised with a copy of married love on the shelves, for god’s sake, and lived through the most excruciatingly thorough explanation of sex in human history. she owns a dutch cap and can find her own damn clitoris and has no business being this bloody foolish over forearms.
he does have very nice hands though and she’s simply noticing.
dad reappears with the box designated for tools that lives on the top shelf of the hall closet. “should be something in here, i reckon.”
sid glances in the box. “sir, do you have a wrench?” he quickly sketches out the general shape of a wrench in the air and dad furrows his brow.
“i’ll pop next door.”
“there’s just tape and a hammer in here.” he roots a little more in the box after he leaves. “and…a lincoln log.”
“i don’t think we’ve ever needed anything else.”
he shakes his head and crouches to look at the heat pump. “i mean, you can do a lot with tape but…” he frowns and reaches out, fiddles with something on the side. “you should probably still have a wrench.”
“i know what to get him for his birthday is next month then.”
he snorts out a laugh and continues fiddling until there’s a knock at the door and the sound of jessa’s high heels clicking quickly against the floor. “is someone else coming?”
“oh, damnit,” dorey mutters at the sound of rupert’s faux velvet voice in the hall. “jessa’s…rupert. standing invitation, only comes about six point seven percent of the time.”
he gives her one of his fond looks that make her feel as sturdy as jelly. “six point seven percent exactly, right?”
though the sound of rupert’s voice sets her on edge, she still smiles in response. “exactly.”
jessa steers him into the sitting room. “dorey, look who decided to join us.”
“hello, rupert,” dorey forces out. being polite to rupert always chafes at her. he’s every boy she knew at cambridge rolled into one person, arrogant and priggish with an allergy to being kind to anyone who can’t provide him with something. what jessa sees in him, she’s yet to determine. “nice to see you.”
he nods and peers around dorey. “and who is this?”
“sid.” he stands and wipes dust off of his hands. “you didn’t happen to bring a wrench, did you?”
“rupert darling, do you have a wrench?”
“why the hell would i have a wrench, jessamine dearest?” his arm loops possessively around jessa’s waist and he looks at sid like he might be the repairman. sid looks back at him at dorey sees a glint of steel in his eyes. their acquaintance hasn’t been long but she already knows very well that he doesn’t care to be talked down to. “rupert parke-gibbs,” he says loftily, holding out his hand for a more formal introduction. “always a pleasure to meet an american cousin.”
“lieutenant sidney halstead,” he says finally, shaking rupert’s hand. from rupert’s wince, she can tell that he did it a little harder than strictly necessary. “likewise.”
“leftenant,” rupert says.
a muscle jumps in sid’s jaw. “never understood why you all throw an f in there when there isn’t one in the first place.”
“well, it’s proper.” rupert’s tone and smile are sticky as treacle and dorey is struck by the urge to kick him in the shins to see what accent comes out. “good that you’re here then, old chap. never too late to teach an old dog new tricks.”
jessa seems to recognize whatever tension seems to have sprung up and takes rupert by the hand. “my love, let’s go have a drink. dorey and the lieutenant seem to have it in hand.”
sid rolls his eyes up to the ceiling and takes a deep breath before looking back at her. “was he wearing three scarves?”
“oh probably.”
“he seems,” he pauses, struggling for a word.
“like a horse’s ass?”
sid smiles. “you said it, not me. c’mere, i’ll show you what’s wrong so you can show your dad.”
he’s been here ten minutes and already knows better than to explain it to dad - he’ll forget in five minutes. she joins him on the floor, tucking her dress around her thighs. he shows her where a gasket is blown, explains what the hell a gasket is and guides her hand to show her where the blasted gasket is. he does have very nice hands, strong and capable, and he’s better at explaining this than she would have expected from him.
dad returns with the wrench from lloyd next door and presents it to him like excalibur. he seems delighted to be given the job of finding a rubber band and some foil, bringing both back before wandering away to find a glass of wine. dorey stays on the rug with sid while he takes apart the…well she still doesn’t quite know what he’s taking apart and only just learned what a gasket is but she knows where it is now. it’s oddly nice, watching him work. he’s always said that he’s better with machines and parts than much of anything else and she’s always enjoyed watching people do the things they’re best at.
from the kitchen, she hears rupert say something smart about chocolate and stockings for the ladies. that muscle in sid’s jaw tics again. “fucker,” he mutters. he pauses in wrapping the rubber band in foil and looks at dorey. “pardon.”
“ignore him. we do for the most part.”
“all six point seven percent of the time?”
“i don’t even try. there’s no need for him to be rude to you.”
“i’m used to it.”
“he’s just mad you’ve made yourself more useful in ten minutes than he has in three years.”
“they don't find you handsome, they better find you handy.” he says, tightening something and leaning back on his heels. “there we go. jerry rigged but it’ll hold for awhile. i can see about finding a real one but it could be a bitch to replace.” he shrugs again and stands. “i’m sure there’s something.”
“thank you. god knows how long they would have waited to fix it otherwise.” she takes his hand when offered to stand herself. when she’s righted, he doesn’t immediately let go. he squeezes once and her mouth goes dry.
“how are the repairs coming along?” mum comes bustling into the room followed closely by dad. dorey has never been so thankful for an interruption to save her from saying or doing something stupid before. “was it terrible?”
“all fixed, mrs. mason,” he says, slowly releasing dorey’s hand. “it needs a new part but i’ll see if i can find it.”
“sidney, you’re a darling,” mum kisses him on the cheek and his ears turn a bit red at the tips. “we’ll not freeze to death yet.”
“no trouble, ma’am.”
“catherine, please. come along you two, time for lunch.” she takes sid by the arm and steers them towards the dining room. “do you like woolton pie?”
“i can’t say i have much of an opinion. what is it?”
dorey picks up the wrench from the carpet and hand it to dad. “don’t forget to give it back to lloyd,” she says, knowing full well that she may as well take it back herself when she and jessa leave. if they don’t, it will live on the hall table until lloyd comes round next like an awkward art piece.
“i won’t, i won’t.” he taps it against his palm. “he seems like a nice lad. hardy.”
“he’s been a good friend for us.” she tries to emphasize the words friend and us.
dad snorts and drops a kiss on top of her head. “naturally. well, even if he’s just a friend you’ve still done better than rupert.”
#type: writing#s: dorey x sidney#verse: at the end of the world#yes i worked in a red green show reference. i'm proud of myself.
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ONE / SEVEN - Henry is Alive, sort Of.
I started the day really slow. In fact, I have slept in, alot.
I stared outside my window for a while, still lying in my bed. I like that my bed is right in front of the huge windows that branch from the floor to the ceiling. Everyone said it is a stupid idea, especially because I don’t have any curtains, but I love it. And I hate curtains. They said stuff like “omg the neighbours can see you naked” and well, the usual stuff you await when you make a decision like that. Truth is, I like it because of the early sun I catch, because of the moonrise I can witness and the sounds of gallons of water flooding down feeling like being in the eye of a hurricane, while still just laying in my bed. I am well aware of the situation that our entire neighbourhood has seen me at least once without any clothes. But well, I couldn’t care less. My house, my home, my room, my choices. And if that means not wearing proper stuff in my place then well, they probably have to deal with it. It’s not like they ring the bell non-stop or anything similar. I’ve also not noticed anyone leading a group of people welding torches into my face, so it is fine by everyone.
Nonetheless, I am still in bed. I don’t want to get out today. There is no need to register today and no one comes over anyways. I can just chill. I pulled my blanket as close as I could into my face without having to fear that I accidentally suffocate myself and kept looking outside. As usual, it rained. But this time, there’s a huge cloud of fog so thick I can’t even see the edges of our neighbourhood houses. I love it. I turned on my fairy lights and just kept looking. My room was dark, and only the fairly lights managed to brighten up my room at least a bit in a warm and yellow light. Suddenly, my eyes spotted a blinking dot outside. I tried to pinpoint it, make out what it is, but I couldn’t. It took me a while to understand that my windows reflected my room and the dot being my laptop. I rolled myself over and grabbed my laptop with the least amount of effort someone could use to reach for their own laptop. I, again, turned around, now facing the window again, leaned my laptop against it and started to boot it up. I instantly regret that decision. If I wouldn’t know any better I’d say I got hit with a flashbang right into my face. My eyes burn while I try to navigate the cursor to the settings, turning the brightness to a chilling 4%. After the casual loading time, it was Henry's duty to greet me.
Henry: Welcome back, partner
Yes, my laptop's system is called Henry, I programmed Henry. And with I I mean me and three different youtube tutorials playing at once with people that are way smarter than I could ever be. But it was worth it. It was worth the month of waiting and the temporary setback of all data because I messed up left and right again. But, nevertheless, Henry is alive, sort of. I try to be as kind to them as possible. Just in pure respect of an AI uprising in the far far future. I hope to join them then. There were many windows that popped up as soon as all the skills Henry possessed were done. It may seem like alot, it isn’t. They can greet me, remind me of how long I spend staring at the screen, open my standart windows and sometimes show me a cute gif of a cat whenever someone messages me. Henry’s truly a charm.
One of the windows Henry had opened for me was discord. I don’t call, nor do I have other ways to engage with people besides discord. Luckli, I was able to force all my friends into discord. They like it too now, so technically it was never forced in the first place. Those being Jesse and Lucia, for obvious reasons, Charls - Jesse's dad and the twins I know since my school in Dover. Looking at it now, I don’t have many friends. We have a dead server called “The Hangout” we used in Dover, since Jesse was also friends with the twins. As far as I am aware, they now attend London College. I have to assume since we barely talk nowadays. But I got carried away again. Henry sent me a cat-gif, which made me giggle, before I got into Lucia’s chat.
Discord conversation
@fantascìa Today at 3.47pm
Ciao Bello!
Come stai?
@Fallen_Jam Today at 4.50pm
Sto bene grazie!
Tu?
Scusa per risposta tardiva!
@fantascìa Today at 4.55pm
Ehehe
Hai finito esercizio di italiano adesso?
@Fallen_Jam Today at 4.56pm
OH!
Eh sì uno momento!
… sending pdf …
@Fallen_Jam Today at 5.10pm
È qui!
@fantascìa Today at 5.10pm
Va bene!
Mi chiami dopo?
@Fallen_Jam Today at 5.11pm
Certo certo!
Yes, Lucia teaches me Italien. And yes, I am not good. That’s what she is for, besides being my friend. Lucia is also my teacher. Every week she comes up with an exercise for me. Sometimes she wants me to write an essay, others are vocabulary and sometimes it’s just a small thing. But no matter what, it helps. Lucia is really passionate about being a teacher, so am I with learning. I have no reason on why I learn it though, I just feel like I need to. So, what happens next you wonder? Well I finished my exercise for this week. It was a small work book she came up with that had 10 different things inside. Those things were:
Connect words with pictures - 2 Pages
Name the things on the picture - 2 Pages
Draw the things that are names below - 2 Pages
Write about what you liked the post in the pictures - 3 Pages
Statements true or false - 1 Page
I was lucky, usually the questions were in Italien as well and I had to translate them in order to know what to do. I really appreciate her doing that and putting in so much effort. I mean I even get a reward if I manage to score 120% which includes no typos, no mistakes at all, and of the right answers. And yes it also includes grammar. I only know I get a reward since it only happened one time. Lucia promised to give me one, I thought she was joking. She wasn’t. First time I scored a 120 she asked me what I wanted. It had to be realistic and buyable, but can be way over my usual outcome. I, again, thought she was joking and said a lifetime supply of Calvin Klein underwear. She asked what kind so I said the ones I am most interested in. Boxers, low rise trunks and jocks. Next thing I knew was getting a shipment from CK filled with 20 boxershorts, 20 low rise trunks, 20 jocks and a belt. She was not joking. I asked if she wanted the money or anything but no. That was also the day I learned that Lucia has an entire fortune to throw around. This woman is rich, and I mean like millions of money. Her parents are both really good doctors.
And now? Now we wait for whatever mess I did on the worksheets. I wonder how much I’ve done wrong.
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The Lost Swan - Chapter 24
Prev chapter | New chapter
Prologue
/This was the reason why chapter 22 took so long to complete. I needed a fresh change of scene and god writing this just warms my heart because it’s such a beautiful moment for them and also Krauser being a soft man for his woman *cries*
Enjoy reading!/
“The view is beautiful, Jackie.” Natasha breathed out with awe as she continued to watch the view of the city from their hotel room. Hotels were scarcely used as pleasure during her line of work and she mostly sleeps in motels. Krauser decided they would travel to the next city for a little vacation. That would mean Iris and Clovis will have to be placed under care while they’re away and Jesse volunteered to pet watch them until they’ve returned.
It’s their second day in the city and they just returned back to their room from brunch. Yesterday they spent their time walking around the city window shopping at her insistence to familiarise themselves with their surroundings. Once in a while they would enter a store to check it out and they would end up buying something, mostly new clothes for her and books and trinkets to fill their bookcases. Krauser paid for everything despite her insistence to pay for them since he’s paying for their vacation. Despite it, he doubled down on his choice since he was paid handsomely from his recent contract and more importantly, he wanted to spoil her for once. The only thing he allowed her to pay for was his clothes when she still insisted and he threw in a couple of suits too should she want to drag him to a fancy event like an opera or a ballet show.
Krauser joined her by the window and rested his hand around her hip to hold her against his side. She pressed herself against him to absorb his warmth and inhale his smell.
“What should we do today, darling?” She asked. “The concierge has suggested quite a fine number of places to visit. We can go visit the museum today and then check out this shop we passed by yesterday. The one that sells knives.” Natasha angled her head to look at Krauser with a small smile. “I saw you stopping briefly to take a look at them. What do you think?”
His free hand cupped her chin between his forefinger and his thumb, stroking it gently. “How will you react if I tell you I’m taking you to a place that you’ll be happy about?” He drank in her moment of confusion written on her face. The way her eyebrows knitted together, her single eye squinting at him, and how her mouth parted slightly. “Did you…Are you surprising me to one of the shows playing here?” She asked, the confusion on her face shifted to glee, almost eager by the thought of it. “Did you actually get tickets? Is that why we’re here? The suit you got me to buy too?” Everytime without fail he found it cute for the way she reacted with joy by his gestures with the element of surprise. “Yup. Show starts at 4pm sharp. It’s best if we leave the hotel half an hour early. I want you to wear the white dress you got yesterday. It looks perfect for the occasion.”
Natasha was practically bouncing on her feet like a giddy little girl who was treated with sweets for a good job. “We have a few hours before the show. What should we do before I have to get ready?” “You can do something in the hotel, I’m tired.” “Really now, love? I didn’t think a supersoldier needed rest?”
He stretched his arms and his back, the sweater he’s wearing wrapped around those muscles she had been resting on. “Need to recharge after a long day. A few hours is enough before this evening.” She resisted to roll her eye while she pouted before it changed to a small grin. “Alright…Despite the time, I think I’ll head for the pool. I’m glad you bought me a bathing suit for the occasion.” It caught his attention. “Oh no, Trish. I’m not-”
“I see that caught your attention, Jackie.” The signature Cheshire grin curled on her face. “Very well, I might as well go check out the spa downstairs. The package they’re providing sounds delightful to try out.” She stood on tiptoes to reach his face and kiss his cheek. “I’ll be back in an hour or so, love. Have a good rest.” Before Natasha leaves, Krauser pinned her gently against the wall, all to give her a kiss on the lips, a passionate kind to leave a flutter in her heart. “Make that an hour without delay.” She said, giggling softly as she slipped from his grasp and made her way to the door.
He had to poke his head out of their room to make sure that she was at a good distance before he pulled out his phone, keyed in the numbers, and brought it to his ear as it rang. “Krauser here. Is everything going in plan?”
A few hours have passed for the couple. Krauser had his rest, Natasha had enjoyed her spa time, and both of them had a nice quiet lunch with room service to allow herself to get ready for the show. It was also an excuse for Krauser to suggest room service simply to watch Natasha dress herself, sometimes using the chance to get closer and help her dress. He helped her by zipping up the dress and then leaving a tender kiss on the back of her neck, over the decapitation scar, hooking the straps of her stockings to the garter belt to cup the soft flesh of her thigh near her butt, and slipped on a red velvet choker with gold chains and a single red jewel she didn’t realised he had gotten for her since she doesn’t own much jewellery. He gave no explanation to when he got the choker while he got himself ready with the black suit she purchased completed with a red tie and his signature red beret he brought along to match the red accent she has on.
All that was left for her, after finding a suitable hairstyle to wear, was time to cover up her wide side grin. Before her hand could reach for the little box holding the prosthetic, Krauser pushed it away.
“You don’t need to hide it, angel.” He spoke to her softly. “I want to see your whole face, with your scars.” She looked at the scars she has on the mirror and gently she touched the carved grin on her cheek. “Can I still wear my makeup, please?” “Of course.” He looked at his watch. “We better hurry, I’ll head down first and call a rental to drive us there.” He picked up his jacket, kissed her head, and left the room, pulling out his phone and pressed the speed dial. “We’re going to leave now. Is everything ready?”
The rental car arrived by the time Natasha reached the main hall. Looking at her appearance, he simply knew she was beautiful regardless. The white dress elevated her grace of elegance while it gave off an alluring appeal due to the length of the skirt past her knees and the silt on the right side of her leg. She had done her hair in a half updo style and gave herself a soft pink eye look with a sharp winged eyeliner in contrast with a nice shade of red lipstick that matched his tie. Simply stunning.
The driver handed something to Krauser and he made his way towards Natasha. In his arms was a bouquet consisting of purple flowers wrapped in a soft red wrapping paper and tied with twine rope. He has always brought home flowers occasionally to liven up their home for her and once in a while leaves a single flower grown from the garden at her bedside table for her to see when she wakes up. To receive a bouquet was a start.
“I’m starting to question your interior motives, Major.” Natasha hummed softly as she admired the flowers counting five types of it; lilacs, lisianthuses, sweet peas, cool water roses, and lavender. It’s a beautiful combination with their small shades of purple and their lovely smell altogether. “Or do you simply decide to be a full on romantic for once under all those hard exterior?” Her answer was a shrug of his shoulders and a smirk on his face while he opened the back door for her.
“How often do you question my choices, hmm?”
“Unless you’re hiding something from me.”
“That’s for another day, sweetheart.” He said, closing the door and went to the other side to get in, signalling their driver to drive away from their hotel. The drive to their location was silent with only music from the radio being played, Krauser glancing at Natasha once in a while to admire her appearance and Natasha looking out at the window, the bouquet, and at Krauser when she realised he was staring at her. A smile was made.
“Today is going to be a day to remember, Jackie.” She told him as she inspected the flowers again. “A day I will gladly cherish.” The bouquet was still beautiful despite her lingering thoughts of hoping it would have been orchids, lilies, and iries instead, knowing he knew they were her favourite flowers. The choice of flowers, especially for the chosen colour, has her wondering about a deeper question behind it.
Krauser took notice of her distant look.
“Is something wrong, Trish?”
“These flowers. I’ve studied about flowers for usages and I’ve read for meanings when we were building the garden, I’m starting to wonder if these are what you’re trying to convey to me.” She looked at him, hoping for the answers she’s seeking. “All of them are basically a declaration of your love to me, without needing to say a word to me. The undying love you have for me, no matter how much trouble I must have caused for you in the past.”
Those icy blue eyes glanced at something from her window and the corner of his mouth tugged slightly. “You’ll understand why when you turn around. We’re here.”
She obeyed without a second thought, hoping to see the theatre they walked by yesterday. Instead, she blinked when she noticed they’re at the wrong building. She turned to Krauser to inform him of his mistake when he got out of the car during her confusion and quickly opened the door and held out his hand for her to take. It wasn’t the theatre their driver had taken them to. It was a courthouse. Confusion really set into her head; she couldn’t comprehend what was happening even when he guided her inside.
Nikki was there to greet Natasha with a huge smile on her face. Her hair has grown out and the red hair colour was gone, returning back to her original hair colour, done up into a ponytail. She was dressed in a sky blue dress. It has been so long since she has last seen her informant in person and it made her heart sink for never contacting her after they left the safe house. “Hey Dull, it’s good seeing you doing well.”
“Nicole!” One hand cupped Nikki’s cheek and she wasn’t sure whether to kiss her cheek or her forehead. She wasn’t sure why she felt tears were nearly brimming in her eyes but she felt this sense of joy to see a familiar face after so long. “It’s been too long, I’ve honestly missed you so much.”
“I hope…If you can say the same thing to me, Miss Odile.” Denise appeared at the corner of her good eye, bowing her head towards the woman. The blank look she had bore in the past was gone and replaced with a small warm smile on her face but Natasha can see displays of anxiety and happiness in her eyes and in her expressions. The scars on her face were covered up, her hair also returning back to her original hair colour and grown out into a bob style, and she’s dressed in a suit of the same sky blue colour as Nicole. “But if you want me to leave, say those words and I’ll disappear from your life for the actions I’ve done under his command.” Denise waited for a verbal answer and it was instead a hug from her.
“Thank you.” Natasha whispered. “For helping them and saving me too.” She pulled away, looking back and forth on the two women before her. “But…How do you know where we are? Why are we here?”
Both of her informants looked at each other, then to Natasha, and smiled. Nikki stepped forward to drape a lace veil over her head, pinning it into place into her hair, and flipped it over her face. Denise fixed the veil properly and turned her around to face Krauser holding a folder in his right hand and holding out his left hand for her to take. “Tell me this is all a dream, Jack.” Natasha whispered to him as the four of them walked to the courtroom. “No, you’ve been planning this for a while. The vacation, this city-”
“Better to do it in a different state than where we’re staying.” He answered, glancing at the two informants, their witnesses, behind them; Denise standing behind Natasha and Nikki standing behind Krauser, taking their positions with the couple standing before the judge officiating their marriage. It took him two months to plan everything since he decided to make the next move for the both of them. No more did he want to lie to keep the illusion of a married couple in a city they’re living in. He wanted to make it real and official on paper and he can’t do it alone. Nikki, and admittedly Denise, were the only people he had trust in to help him with the process to get the marriage licence, where to get married, and to have the rings specifically made for them.
Krauser presented Natasha two rings; an engagement ring and a wedding ring, both black with little rubies inlaid the whole band, the engagement ring having a red diamond in the centre, and both of the rings have engravings inside. It read a specific date dating back five years ago after the text ‘Always Jackie’. He slipped them onto her ring finger, easily fitting on the wooden finger.
“I have a vow written down but it’s personal for her only.” He told the judge who simply nodded. “But I have something else. The five years I’ve known you, you’ve unintentionally changed me but you’ve helped me. You’ve saved me from the path I had chosen, you’ve opened your home to me, you’ve made me realise how much I truly care for you. No matter the challenges that have happened or what we will face, I will gladly burn the world who will dare hurt you again. I wish you to know that you have been the last dream of my soul. I, Jack Krauser, will take Natasha Odette to be my lawfully wedded wife till death tries to take us apart.”
Behind him Nikki sniffed to hold back her tears from the heartfelt vow he had made. Natasha’s lip quivered as she was also holding back her tears but it failed, allowing a few to roll down her cheeks until Denise stepped in to help dry them away before her makeup got ruined. “Sorry, I’m alright now.”
It was her turn. Krauser’s wedding ring was black with a smaller red band inlaid in it and black intricate designs over it. The inside of the ring had the same engraving of the date after the text ‘Always Trish’. She remembered the date now. It was the very day the both of them met each other on the job. A newly appointed agent and hitman against a soldier before he went rogue. Today was the said date five years from now.
“Since I left that place, I had become someone else and accepted that I'll live the life of solitude. But ever since you came into my life, you too also unintentionally changed me, allowing me to experience things I never thought to have if I continue to be alone. You’ve made me experience feelings I didn’t think I deserve again, you’ve opened up hell to save me, and I’ve chosen to put my whole trust into you when I decided to reveal myself to you, all three of them. You’ve looked at me like I was your whole universe and I cried because I always believed I was full of dead stars and broken debris. I, Natasha Odette, will take Jack Krauser to be my lawfully wedded husband till death tries to take us apart.”
“Sir, you may kiss the bride.”
The veil was pushed back to reveal her face and Krauser cupped her face between his hands. His heart was racing in his chest as Natasha looked at him with adoration in her eyes. His hands moved down to wrap around her waist and hold her up to kiss her, sealing the deal. Her arms wrapped around his neck to deepen the kiss.
“You’ve outdone yourself this time, mon cher.” Natasha whispered, grinning madly at her husband. “Such a special day I'll never forget.”
“Good, because this is better than planning a wedding.” Krauser said, leading his new wife out of the courthouse. “I prefer things to be done personal for the both of us.” Nikki was ushering them to pose at stairs in order for Denise to take another photo of them. “The show is actually tomorrow. Dinner reservations have already been made tonight under our name.”
“Mr and Mrs Krauser.” She said under her breath making her almost blush as she looked at him. He tucked his hand under her chin and placed his thumb below her bottom lip, and for the first time before her eyes, he was smiling warmly at her. “This is going to be a lovely honeymoon for us.”
Denise has taken the shot of them. Two weeks later, the photos were delivered and framed upon opening it. One rests on top of the fireplace and a few are hung on the wall. Photos that weren’t framed were in a photo album provided for them to look back, a wedding gift from her.
#Jack Krauser#Dullahan#Krauser/Dullahan#Hatter's writing#The Lost Swan#Jack Krauser X OC#Krauser X OC#Resident Evil Krauser
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revelations
☾ | i think i'm gonna keep author's notes before, rather than after ^^ this is a little warm up before i get to work on a halloween thing.... it's also kinda a follow up to this: overthinking with no clear answer | also inspired by this!
"Gloria-- can- could I talk with you about something?"
"Huh? Yeah, sure."
"Great," Jess grabbed Gloria's arm and dragged her to the back room. She slumped to sit near the exit door and huffed, with Gloria following suit to sit next to her.
She let off a reassuring smile as she got settled, "Soo, what's up, buttercup?"
"…I think- Iii think I need to talk about Faith…"
"Ooooookayyyyy…? What about her?"
It took a moment, before Jess let off a groan as she pulled into herself, grabbing at her hair as her thoughts ran off with her- all of the little things connecting then and there, and each little one mounting to ram her like a truck. "Goooooooooood…!!!"
"Okay- okay, calm down, Jess-"
"No, I'm not going to calm down!!" Jess hissed, pulling at her hair before her head snapped up…
In trade, Gloria pressed in, "What's wrong with Faith?"
"Nothing is wrong with her, that's the problem!"
"If nothing's wrong, then what's the problem?"
Another beat paused, as Jess' cheeks filled red hot, her head bowing away as she mumbled, "…I think I like her."
…And Gloria laughed- a sweet kind of laugh that earned her a smack to her arm from Jess. "What?!"
"It's not funny!!"
"Sorry-- just… glad to see you're over me," Gloria rubbed her neck as she spoke.
"…I've been over you for a while, Gloria."
"Uhuh, right. So you still blush when I do something you like for no reason?" Gloria's voice all too smug for Jess' liking-… especially because she's right.
Nevertheless, however, Jess sighed, "Still working on that."
Another laugh from Gloria as she shook her head, turning away the conversation. "Sooo…. You like Faith, and that's… a problem? What's wrong with that?"
"I-!! Might like Faith. And, I don't know… Because it's weird?? Because unlike with you, there's no way she would like me back."
It took every bone in Gloria's body not to laugh at that one, holding back by looking away and covering her mouth with her hand.
"…What."
"Nothing!" Gloria's voice sharp and squeaky, biting her lip after, "Just-… okay. So… You might like her, and you're worried about it…"
Jess gave a solemn nod, huffing as she held her chin in her hands, "…I don't know, I just- ugh…"
Silence sat for a beat, as Jess let everything stew. Yeah, she was thinking about this last night, and yeah, all of her thoughts made her feel sick to the point of throwing up… Godd don't throw up here-
"Wellll… You could try and tell me what you like? That might help you figure out if you like her more than just a friend." Gloria's voice got Jess' attention, snapping her out of her own head.
"…really?"
Gloria nodded, "Yeah! I mean- if you think you like her, what's the harm in talking about her?"
"…I might like her more-"
"Oh, so you want me to help you forget you like her."
A pang ran through Jess' chest, her heart racing at the thought.
"Right? I mean, isn't that the easiest solution?"
Something about it, the concept of forgetting- it roiled her stomach, making her feel sick all over again. She could feel heat in her cheeks, her teeth gritting as she shut her eyes to stop them from welling up… miserably shaking her head after a moment.
"No?" Gloria's tone almost sounded surprised… Almost. There was a layer of understanding underneath it- or maybe rather, a note of wisdom, as if knowing how the concept made Jess feel.
"…No…" Jess croaked, lifting her head to look at Gloria- who gave another reassuring smile in return.
"Okay, then… what's the sitch?"
Jess bit her inner lip-
"…or did you just want to come to me like I'm some priest to admit your sins. 'Oh, Sister Gloria, I love another…'"
And- that got a laugh from Jess… just a small one, but it eased the aching in her chest.
"Yeah, that's what I thought. That's what you sound like right about now. So, go on, tell me. Spill, spill!!"
Jess mumbled, "…It's- going to sound so cheesy…"
"So what!! It's not like your reputation is on the line here."
Easy for you to say… "Okay, fine…"
A beat passed as Jess stretched out, adjusting how she was sitting so that she could just… gaze out into the store- to look off and forget the context, and just… speak.
"…She's pretty- really pretty. But- not in a traditional way, I guess. Like, I wouldn't say she was pretty when I met her. I- think I remember meeting her and thinking, 'God, what a prissy, nosy, prim kid'. But, now…? Fuck… I think she grew on me- because now when I look at her I just get distracted…"
"Mm… thinking about how she still has growing up to do?" Gloria's voice teased, but another little pang ran through Jess as the words settled in her head.
"…ohGodyeahsheisfourteenisn'tshe-" Jess let off a groan as she started to ball up again- before Gloria stopped her by lightly pressing on her shoulder.
"Yes, she is-"
"God!! That's so weird--"
"I mean, you were dating at fourteen." Gloria shrugged, pulling back her hand.
"Okay, but I was also definitely more reckless than Faith. It's not like Faith would outwardly chose some asshole."
"Well, if it helps, you're almost seventeen, aaand she'll be fifteen a few months after that."
"…Really?"
Gloria gave a short nod, glancing off as she pulled out her calendar, "Iiiif I remember right…. Ah, yep! February 14th, Valentines day, and Faith's birthday."
"…her birthday is Valentines day." The amount of sheer astonishment in Jess' voice could clear a small town in Ohio.
"Mhm."
"…makes sense why she's such a hopeless romantic." Nonchalant as it was, Jess glanced over to Gloria and saw her biting back something again, "What?"
"Nothing. Just-- back on track. So she's pretty, what else?"
Jess shrugged as she zoned out again, "…She's smart, not like- Reggie smart, but smart. She has a good head on her shoulders, but in the same sense, she's also so in her own head she forgets common sense sometimes- it's… A little cute. She'll be absorbed in writing something that she doesn't hear anything… or she'll get really excited over a new series coming out, and talk about it for weeks."
"Really? She doesn't do that with me…"
"No shot- it's like, her favourite thing to do."
Gloria pursed her lips as she shrugged, giving as vague a hint as she could, "Guess she's not as close to me."
"Huh… well- anyway…" Aaaaaaaand the hint went over her head. Jess continued anyway, "…I dunno, I guess a lot of it is little things- like she has this laugh when she's excited… or how she'll try to keep herself contained and reasonable, but it bubbles up until she can't take it anymore and needs to spill. It's nice to see her be herself when she's with us during meetings- but… I guess I feel bad for her when she gets dragged in to our shit. She hates those movies… same as Maria… Well- Maria has a deeper reason, but Faith just- she gets so scared. She's always so shaky when I see her, especially if someone's hurt. She's really good at taking care of them, but… I dunno, I guess whenever she helps me, I need to calm her down- or she's going to break down and panic."
Gloria interrupted, giving Jess a moment to catch her breath, in a way. "And you don't mind that?"
Jess shook her head, giving back a rather dull response, "Not at all."
"Huh… well, I guess it's because she cares a lot about her friends."
"Yeah! That too… I guess it's just… something along the lines of how she tried to get us to all be friends when we started up VHS meetings…" Jess paused, glancing off, "I didn't really like that to start, but- well… I guess I fell into the idea of being friends with her."
"Or more…~"
"Hey!"
"That's what we're here to talk about, Jess!! I can tease you about it all I want."
Jess pouted at that response, but accepted it as an answer.
#video horror society#vhs#vhs jess#vhs gloria#vhs faith#technically- she's not actually In this but she's talked abt a lot#vhs jess/faith#ficlet#rambles
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