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krirebr · 3 months

Text

More Than This 3

Pairing: Ransom Drysdale x f!reader, Steve Rogers & f!reader

Word Count: ~5.8k

Summary: Arranged marriages have always been used to solidify business deals among the ultra-wealthy. Your stepfather wants to be in business with Harlan Thrombey, so now it's your turn.

Warnings: Heavy angst, age difference, adult themes, institutional sexism, multiple references to vomit (but nothing graphic, I don't think), attempted sex that makes everyone sad - dubcon on both sides, explicit language, the slooowest burn - Warnings will be added as needed for subsequent parts. All of my work is 18+ - Minors DNI

Dividers by @saradika-graphics

Series Masterlist

Masterlist

A/N: Alright friends, here we go! Now we're really in it.

A gigantic thank you, as always, to @paperweight91 for reading so much of this and talking it all through with me, especially the last section, which I've been anxious about since I originally conceived of it ages ago. You're the best, Chelsea!

Any comment, reblog, or ask to let me know what you think will be greatly appreciated. And if you need to come scream at me, that's ok too!

As always, thank you so much for reading! 💜

You heard Ransom get up in the early hours of the morning and stumble into the bathroom to retch. You were glad he didn’t choke on his vomit, you guessed. You were still on the couch with the TV turned down low. You wondered if he’d come out and see what you were doing, but he just stumbled back to the bed when he was done.

You didn’t hear him again for several more hours. In that time, you mostly watched TV, dozed a little, fucked around on your phone. Time passed slowly, but it still passed. Soon, the sun was coming up. You were moving across the country today. Your new life was starting whether you wanted it or not.

A few hours later you heard the beginnings of movement in the bedroom. You called down to room service and ordered two carafes of coffee, along with a few different breakfast options, ranging from light to extremely greasy. You didn’t know what his hangovers were like, what they required. But you knew that an especially moody Ransom wouldn’t do you any good. So, a peace offering of a sort.

The food arrived before he’d shown his face. As you looked at the cart, you thought that while you were trying to start things as well as you could for your own good, it didn’t erase everything he’d done the day before, how he’d treated you. So you made no effort to be quiet as you laid out the food and got the coffee ready. You may have banged the metal covers together as noisily as you could.

“What the fuck?” Ransom grumbled as he came stumbling out of the bedroom in just his boxer briefs. “Why is there noise?”

“Coffee,” you said, handing him the mug you’d filled. “I didn’t know how you take it.”

He took a sip and just grunted at you and then turned around and went back into the bedroom, shutting the door behind him.

You busied yourself by getting your own coffee and munching on some toast. You still had no appetite but figured you should probably eat something.

A few minutes later, he came back out with a now empty mug. He stopped and stared at you. “Am I still drunk or are you still wearing your wedding dress?”

You tried not to let your embarrassment show. “I couldn’t get it off by myself, so…” you trailed off and shrugged.

He looked at you for another moment then nodded once. “Give me a minute,” he said, as he poured himself another cup. He drank it quickly, then briefly held his head in his hands. When he looked back up, he took a deep breath, then mumbled “OK.” He came up behind you and lightly touched your dress. “Is there a trick to it?” he asked as he ran a finger down the seam.

“It’s a long line of hook-and-eyes, you know?”

He hummed and then started at the top. As he worked, he grumbled to himself, which made you feel a little better about not being able to get it off. You’d never stop being surprised by how gentle his hands were. It seemed to be in complete opposition to every other part of him. When he was about halfway down, his knuckles lightly grazed the bare skin of your back and a shudder ran through your whole body. “Sorry,” he said, softly. You just shook your head and didn’t say anything.

When he was done, he quickly took a step back. You held your dress to you, trying to preserve your modesty, even though you knew how silly that was. You just weren’t ready for him to see you, although you doubted that that mattered. “Thank you,” you whispered.

He nodded again, then “You mind if I take the first shower?”

You shook your head and he disappeared into the ensuite.

About an hour and a half later, you sat with him in the back of a town car, on your way to the private airfield where one of his family’s planes awaited you. Neither of you said anything. Ransom was staring at something on his phone, while you put all your energy into trying not to have a panic attack. You had no idea what was waiting for you in Boston. You weren’t ready for this. You couldn’t do it.

As the car pulled up to the hangar, you were beyond relieved to see Steve already waiting there, Lola’s travel crate at his feet. The moment the car was parked and turned off, you lept out, not waiting for anyone to open the door for you. You bent down in front of Lola’s crate first and carefully stuck your fingers through the door. “Hi, baby, I missed you.” She kissed your fingers and then whined to be let out. “Not yet, honey,” you said softly. “You have to wait til we’re on the plane.”

You stood up and faced Steve, who was looking you over carefully. “How are you doing?” he asked seriously.

You shrugged and sighed. “Freaking out a little, I guess, but it’ll be fine.”

“And if it isn’t, you’ll call me,” he said, voice firm. “I don’t care where you are or what time it is, you call me. Ok?” You nodded. He opened his mouth to say more, but then the call of your name came from over your shoulder.

You turned to see Ransom standing between you and the jet. Your heart dropped. No, not yet. You needed more time. You needed to be able to actually say goodbye. You couldn’t– “I’ll be on the plane,” he said, voice still scratchy and tired, sunglasses firmly on, despite the overcast day. “Take your time.” He turned around and began walking up the stairs.

You just stared after him for a moment, surprised. When you turned back to Steve, his lips were curled in disgust. But then the expression quickly changed to something much sadder. “I should have done more,” he said, “gotten you out of here, sent you away or something. I can’t–”

“Steve.” you interrupted. “Please stop. It’s no use now.” You couldn’t listen to any more of this. It had always been inevitable; it’d always been what you were for. Imagining anything else was useless.

Neither of you said anything for a moment, then he looked around and asked, “Are Dad and Lydia on their way?”

You tried to keep any hurt out of your expression when you said, “No, something important came up for Joseph and you know Mom has a hard time going anywhere by herself.” You ignored the cracks you heard in your own voice.

Steve’s brow furrowed in confusion and upset. “I would have picked her up,” he said. “Hell, I’ll go get her right now.”

“I know,” you said sadly. “I told her that, but you know how she is.” You dropped your eyes, not able to look at the anger you knew you’d see on Steve’s face. You were angry too, you were, but mostly now you were just sad. And after thinking about it all night, you honestly weren’t sure how much anger she deserved. She’d been broken for a long time. It’d happened before you’d even known her, probably. It’d been unfair, maybe, to expect her to be strong for you now when she’d never been able to be that before.

Steve said your name and you looked up at him. “You don’t deserve this,” he said firmly. “I know I’ve said it before, but I really need you to understand it. None of this is what you deserve.”

You didn’t know what to say to that, so you just nodded and muttered, “OK.”

He sighed and shook his head, then pulled you into his arms. “I’m going to miss you so fucking much,” he said into your hair. “I don’t know what I’m going to do without having you just a few minutes away to annoy whenever I want.”

You huffed a laugh into his shoulder. “I’m going to miss you too,” you said. “So much. Even when you’re being so annoying.” The tears were starting now, you weren’t able to hold them back. You pulled back and briefly got a good enough look at Steve’s face to see that his eyes were wet, too, before he knelt in front of Lola’s crate.

“Hey, sweetheart,” he said quietly. “I’m going to miss you too. You take good care of your mom for me.”

You couldn’t help the little sob that came out of you at that. Fuck. Steve had been stuck to your side since you were six years old. Through absolutely everything. He’d been the one person you could count on for as long as you could remember. And now you were being dragged away from him.

He stood up and pulled you into another hug. “You’re so strong,” he whispered right in your ear. “Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

When he pulled back, you knew it was time to go, but you didn’t know how to pull yourself away. This all felt so final.

“Let me know when you land,” he said. “And when you get to the house. And just–” he sighed. “Everything. I want to know everything, ok?”

You nodded and tried to brush the tears from your eyes. “Yeah, ok,” you said, knowing you’d send him the exact amount of information that would keep him from worrying too much. You picked up the dog crate. You locked eyes with him one last time. “I love you.”

His voice was thick when he responded, “I love you too. I’m going to sit right here until you’ve taken off, ok? I’ll be right here.”

“You’re a good brother,” you said, as you slowly took your first step backward, toward the jet.

“Yes. I am,” he said with a smile that was half cocky and half absolutely heartbreaking.

With one last deep breath and an “OK,” that was mostly to yourself, you forced yourself to turn around and make your way to the stairs up to the jet. Once you were halfway up, you looked over your shoulder. Steve was leaning against his car. He gave you an encouraging smile and a small wave. You nodded and took the last few steps to board the plane.

A flight attendant was standing right there to greet you. “Welcome aboard, Mrs. Drysdale,” she said and you couldn’t help the way your mouth dropped open in shock. Mrs. Drysdale. That’s who you were now. You tried to pull yourself together and let her show you into the main cabin. It was mostly open, with a few plush seats and tables scattered around. Ransom was already in one, fully reclined with a sleep mask pulled over his eyes. He made no indication that he was awake, so you asked the attendant for a mask for yourself and a glass of water. As she went to fulfill your request, you opened Lola’s little cage and picked her up when she came out. She was nervous, shaking with her little tail tucked between her legs. “It’ll be ok,” you said softly, the tears threatening to stream down again. You took a deep breath and settled the both of you into a seat as far from Ransom as you could get in the small private jet. You gave Lola gentle pets until she sat down on your lap. “We’ll just take a nap,” you said, “and it’ll be over before we know it.”

“What the fuck is that?”

You woke with a start and pulled off your sleep mask. “Huh?” You sat up to see Ransom and Lola locked in a staredown.

“What is that?”

“I told you that I had a dog,” you said, confused.

“That!” Ransom yelled, pointing at Lola, “is not a dog. That’s a long-haired rat!”

“Hey!” you yelled back, just as Lola started retching. “Oh, baby, no!” You knelt down next to her just as she puked right at Ransom’s feet.

“What the shit?!” he cried out, jumping back.

“She’s stressed, ok? It’s not like I can explain to her what a plane is or where we’re going!” You grabbed what was left of your water and the napkin the flight attendant had brought with the glass and tried to clean it up. “Shit,” you mumbled to yourself.

“What are you doing?” He stood over you with his hands on his hips.

“I’m cleaning it up so you don’t freak out, ok? It’ll be fine, just give me a minute.”

“Get up.”

“What?”

“You don’t need to do that. The crew probably has a steam cleaner or something. My dad uses this plane. I’m sure they’ve seen worse.” He walked to the front of the cabin and knocked on the divider. When the attendant came, Ransom quietly told her, “The dog got sick. I assume you have something to clean it up.”

She nodded and quickly came out with a portable steam cleaner and made quick work of Lola’s mess.

“Thank you,” you told her.

“No problem at all, Mrs. Drysdale,” she smiled and went back to the galley.

“Well, that’s a real mindfuck,” Ransom said as he flopped back into his seat. He glared down at Lola, “She gonna do that again?”

“I don’t know,” you said, gently picking her up and holding her close to try to comfort her.

He pulled his sleep mask down over his eyes. “Great, love being a rat-dog owner.”

“She isn’t your dog,” you said curtly.

“Whatever. This hangover is still pounding against my skull. Wake me when we land.”

When you landed in Boston, Ransom led you to where his vintage beamer was parked and you both squeezed into it. The slightly hysterical thought struck you that it wouldn’t be suitable at all once there was a baby to cart around. You pushed that thought away. No use getting ahead of yourself.

Ransom’s house was on the edge of the city, surrounded by more trees than you expected. From the outside, it was mostly glass. Very modern. It felt cold.

He parked the car and grabbed the few bags you both had with you. The rest of your things would be delivered the next day. He showed you inside without much pomp or circumstance, just walked in ahead of you, and left the door open.

The majority of the first floor seemed to be one large, open-plan room. It was sparsely decorated and the pieces that were there seemed to be lifted wholesale from the pages of an upscale furniture catalog. There was nothing of Ransom in this house. Not that you really knew him well enough to say, but you didn’t think there was any information to be gleaned from his living space either. It all felt very empty. It was not what you had expected.

You set Lola down on the hardwood floor and she immediately ran off to explore. You crossed your fingers that she wouldn’t get into anything, not able to forget Ransom’s threat that he’d make you get rid of her if she messed anything up. You glanced over at Ransom to gauge if he was upset that you’d let her roam on her own, but he wasn’t paying any attention, leafing through a pile of mail left on the kitchen island.

He must have felt you watching him, because without looking up he said, “Bedroom’s upstairs. I’ll bring our things up later.”

You nodded even though he wasn’t looking at you. You grabbed your bag, not wanting to wait for him, and made your way up the staircase in the middle of the living room. Judging by how he’d treated you so far, you figured he planned to tuck you away in some guest room, out of his way except for when he needed you. It wasn’t unheard of in marriages like this, and you would honestly be grateful to have your own space. But as you looked through the rooms upstairs, you found a home gym, a study, and 2 storage rooms. There’d also been a bathroom and a few closets. The only room left had to be his, but you couldn’t imagine he’d want to share that with you. You very gingerly walked in and set your bag at the foot of the bed. You didn’t spend any more time there, afraid that you might be wrong.

When you went back downstairs, he was now rummaging through his fridge. “I put my bag in the bedroom upstairs,” you said to his back.

He just grunted his assent, then came out with two glass containers in his hands. He plated them both and put one in the microwave. “I have a housekeeper that comes three times a week and usually prepares meals for the whole week. You can give her any food preferences you have.”

You nodded. “I enjoy cooking,” you said, your mother's advice to ‘keep him happy’ floating in your mind. “I can make dinner too, sometimes.”

He nodded and shrugged as he took the plate out of the microwave and placed it in front of you on the island. You took a seat on one of the stools. “If you want,” he said, “but I don’t expect it.” He put his own plate in the microwave.

“Do you have any other staff?” you asked.

He shook his head. “Not for the house, not right now.”

You understood the implication that the staff would grow as your family did. A nanny, a driver, a gardener maybe, if you moved to a house that required one.

It was the lack of a driver that made you nervous. You’d never gone without one at home. You also hadn’t seen a large garage on the property, so you guessed there weren’t any extra cars around. You felt stuck in this house already, shut in like he didn’t want you to leave.

When his food was heated, he sat beside you and you ate together in silence. The food was fine, you were sure, but you couldn’t taste it. Your mind was ahead of you, wondering what the rest of the night held.

When you were done, Ransom loaded your dishes into the dishwasher and then said, “I don’t know about you, but I’m beat, so I’m just going straight to bed. Feel free to stay up if you want. I’m a heavy sleeper so you won’t wake me when you come in.”

“Oh,” you said, trying to hide your surprise. So he did intend for you to share his room. But apparently, just for sleeping. You were relieved. You were. The little voice in your head that wouldn’t stop whispering that he didn’t want you didn’t count. “I’m still three hours behind, so I might stay up a little longer.” Doing what, you had no idea. You didn’t have any of your things and you weren’t sure what was off-limits here yet. And you were exhausted, still hadn’t recovered from not sleeping the night before. But you just couldn’t deal with the awkwardness of going to bed at the same time as him.

“OK,” he said and then just stood there, looking surprisingly lost. After a couple of endless minutes, he just said, “Goodnight,” and finally went upstairs.

You grabbed your phone out of your handbag, unsurprised to see multiple messages from Steve, checking in on you. You sent him one back, assuring him that the flight had been fine, the drive to the house was fine, you were fine. You collected Lola from where she was curled up on a rug, quickly fed her and let her out, and then brought her and her crate upstairs. After a few minutes of internal debate, you decided to set her up in the gym, fairly certain that even in her crate, Ransom wouldn’t want her in his bedroom. It took a lot of coaxing to get her in. She was so used to sharing your bed. She whined when you closed the little grate and your heart broke. “I’m so sorry,” you whispered. “You’ll get used to it. It’ll be ok.”

You quietly went into the bedroom and Ransom was, indeed, already asleep, spread out on his stomach again, but luckily this time only taking up one side of the bed. He’d left the lamp on the opposite side on for you. You took your sleep clothes out of your bag and brought your toiletries into the ensuite, unpacking only what you’d need for the night. His things were all piled around one of the side-by-side sinks, but the other was clear for you. You went through your nightly routine quickly and then went back into the bedroom and very carefully climbed into bed. He didn’t stir. You turned off the lamp and settled at the edge of the bed. Your exhaustion took you quickly.

When you woke in the morning, Ransom was gone.

Your things were delivered a few hours after you woke. You started by trying to organize the boxes into the least obtrusive pile possible. You hoped that if they were tucked into a corner, he wouldn’t be too annoyed while you took your time going through them. You started with a few of the smaller boxes, unpacking the items into places you hoped they could go.

You took Lola for a walk around the neighborhood. It was sparsely populated, the houses spaced far apart. You didn’t run into any neighbors.

One of the walk-in closets in the bedroom had been cleared out for you, so you spent the afternoon unpacking all your clothes. By the time you were done, it was time for dinner. There was still no sign of Ransom.

You fed Lola and helped yourself to one of the meals in the fridge. You ate alone and after you cleaned up, you dug a book out of one of your boxes and settled on one of the not-very-comfortable couches with Lola to read. You didn’t know if she was allowed on the furniture – you were sure she wasn’t, actually – but Ransom wasn’t here to see it, so you couldn’t find it within yourself to care.

As you were finishing the second chapter in your book, he walked through the front door. With how the house was set up, he had a clear view of you and Lola from the door. “Hi,” was all he said.

“Hi,” was all you could say back.

He just stood there for a moment and then took off his coat and shoes. “How was your day?” he asked, stiffly, as he came into the living room.

“Fine,” you said. Then you realized he was actually attempting conversation and added, “My things came, so I got started unpacking.”

He nodded, “That’s good. Did you eat?”

“I did,” you said, hoping that was the right answer. “Can I get you some food?”

“No, I’m fine. I ate at the office.” Well, that answered where he’d been all day – his family’s publishing house.

He cleared his throat. “I’m going to go upstairs to unwind. Will you be heading up soon?”

Oh. Right. It’d finally come. “Yeah,” you said, your mouth suddenly dry. “I’ll just get Lola settled and then join you.”

He looked down at your dog in your lap like he was noticing her for the first time. But he didn’t say anything, just nodded and walked upstairs.

You let Lola out the back door for just a couple minutes, then took her upstairs. It was even harder to get her into her crate this time, even after you buried treats in her blankets. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” you cooed, once you finally had her locked in. “I promise it won’t always be this hard and scary. It’ll be ok.”

Ransom was waiting for you in his room, sitting in an armchair by the window. “We should talk,” he said quietly.

“Ok.” You perched on the edge of the bed and did your best to look him in the eye, even as your heart was racing.

He took a deep breath and leaned forward. “We don’t–” he started, then another breath. “There’s nothing that we have to do tonight. I mean, we can certainly get the first time out of the way, if that’s what you want to do. But it doesn’t have to be now. We have time.”

You wanted to be relieved, but it just felt like delaying the inevitable. “We don’t, actually,” you said shaking your head. “We don’t have that much time. Especially if it takes a while. If there’s going to be an issue getting pregnant, on either side, I think the sooner we know the better. I don’t want to be blindsided by it when we only have a month left.”

“Ok,” he nodded. “That makes sense. Yeah, we can get it over with.”

You were proud of yourself for the way you didn’t wince at his phrasing, but it was a near thing. But was it really fair to be upset or hurt by that when it was how you were feeling too? You wanted to stop delaying it. You were ready to just know how it was going to be, what he would want. So yeah, maybe ‘get it over with’ wasn’t such a bad way to put it.

He stood up and sighed, looking like he was bracing himself. “I do need to know, have you done this before?”

You swallowed. The question wasn’t unexpected but you weren’t sure how to answer it and didn’t know which answer he was looking for. You decided to be honest and hoped it would be ok. “Yes, I’ve had sex,” you said, quietly.

He let out a long exhale in relief. “Ok,” he said, “ok, that’s good.”

You stood up, unsure of what to do. You just wanted to be on the other side of it. You suddenly thought of what you’d just told Lola. It wouldn’t always be this hard and scary. You would get used to it. You just had to get through this first time. And then you’d know how he was. Resolved now, you started taking off your shirt.

“Wait,” he said, breathed really. “Just wait.”

Your shirt was already halfway off, stuck on your arms above your head, so you shucked it the rest of the way and threw it on the floor, but didn’t do anything else.

He came over and stood so he was in your space. He brought his hand up to cup your face, his thumb on your cheekbone. And very slowly, he ducked his head to bring his lips to yours. There was something about it. The intimacy. Even with what you knew you were about to do with him. You just– A kiss was too much. You turned away. You couldn’t do it.

Instead, your hands went to unbutton your pants. You undid it slowly then bent over with your back to him to push them down your legs, sticking your ass out as much as you could. That was better than a kiss, right? You could make him want you.

You kicked your pants off and stood back up, looking over your shoulder to see him watching you. But his face was unreadable. You weren’t ready for him to touch you, so you said, “I can get myself ready for you,” hoping it came off coy, but you were afraid he’d be able to hear how your voice shook. For the briefest moment, you almost thought you saw something travel across his face. Disappointment, maybe. But it was gone too fast for you to be able to tell, and you were trying so hard to look away, anyway.

You got on the bed, lying on your back, sliding your panties off as seductively as you could. You closed your eyes tight and slowly moved one hand down your abdomen while the other started to play with your breast, cupping it, tweaking your nipple. As your other hand slipped between your thighs, you brought up your go-to fantasy. Nothing fancy or outlandish. Just a man standing over you, touching you, telling you how much he loved you, how much he loved your body. How he was going to ruin you, completely take you apart. You tried to focus on that as your fingers slowly made their way between your folds, as they made their way to your clit. But this room kept pulling you back to reality. You could hear Ransom taking his clothes off. You tried to ignore it. You were starting to get wet, slowly but surely, so you carefully pushed one finger inside yourself, trying so hard to focus on the man, his voice. You heard a bottle of lube flick open. No, no, you weren’t here, as you added another finger. You could hear Ransom’s hand on his cock now as your thumb continued to rub your clit. You opened your eyes despite yourself. Ransom was kneeling on the edge of the bed, stroking himself to hardness. It was the first time you’d seen him fully naked. He really was so beautiful. You sort of hated him for it.

You closed your eyes again. You could do this. You scissored your fingers slowly, opening yourself up, a little whine escaping your lips, when suddenly, you felt a hand wrap around your ankle. You wanted to scream in frustration. It was no use. Your hands dropped down to your sides. You were ready enough. It wouldn’t hurt, it was fine. You blinked your eyes open again to find Ransom staring at your face, searching for something. You couldn’t begin to guess what. “I’m ready,” you said.

“Are you sure?” he asked, voice soft, but gritty.

“Yeah, I’m good. How do you want me?”

He seemed almost startled by your question. “Uh, however you’re most comfortable.”

You nodded and flipped over onto your stomach, pulling your knees up toward your elbows and putting your ass in the air. This would be easiest if you didn’t have to look at him. If you could imagine someone else. Someone who loved you. Someone who wanted to be here.

You heard the bottle of lube again and then felt him settle between your legs. One hand was on your ass and you presumed he was using the other to line himself up. You pushed your face into the pillow underneath you. You tried to bring the fantasy back as he slowly eased inside of you. He was big, but not so big it hurt. You breathed through it as he worked his way in with short, slow thrusts. He was being so gentle with you. You weren’t sure if you liked it. The hand on your ass moved to your hip, while the other snaked around to your stomach, softly stroking you there, then moved down over your pelvis, and then finally between your thighs to search for your clit. He found it quickly. But no matter how hard you closed your eyes, his fingers made it impossible for you to pretend that it was anyone else with you, anyone else touching you. Without thinking, you pushed his hand away and replaced it with your own.

He was making little grunts and gasps behind you that you tried to ignore. You rubbed furious circles over your clit and tried to focus only on the fullness you felt. But then, that fullness started to lessen. The grunts behind you turned into a “Shit.” and then a “Fuck!” and suddenly, that fullness completely disappeared. You let out a little cry as he quickly pulled out of you. You turned around to catch a glimpse of his softening cock before he disappeared into the bathroom, the door slamming behind him.

You lay on your back for just a moment, your mind trying to catch up, figure out what on earth had just happened. That voice that had been there this whole time, since that first meeting a month ago, came back with smug satisfaction. He doesn’t want you, it said, over and over. Your thighs were sticky, probably mostly from the lube. You didn’t think your wetness or his precome had been enough to make a mess out of you. You got up, desperate to not be naked anymore. You grabbed a sleep shirt out of the closet you were using and slipped it on. You hugged yourself, standing in the middle of the room with no idea what to do.

In the silence, with nothing else to focus on, you were suddenly aware of Lola crying across the hall. Fuck. Everything just kept getting worse.

Ransom came out of the bathroom and went straight to the bed. He stopped at the foot, seemingly surprised that you weren’t still in it. He looked up and found you on the other side of the room.

“Is everything ok?” you asked quietly.

“It’s fine,” he said, voice sharp. You flinched and he sighed, then visibly tried to calm himself down. “It’s fine,” he said again, much softer this time. He held out a washcloth to you. “In case you need to clean yourself up.”

You took a few steps toward him so that you could grab it. “Thank you,” you said, as you quickly wiped between your legs, then went to finish cleaning up in the bathroom.

When you came back out, he was back in bed, on his back, just staring at the ceiling. “What’s that noise?” he asked.

“Oh, it’s fine,” you hurried to answer. “It’s Lola, but she’s ok. She just isn’t used to sleeping alone. She’ll get used to it, eventually.” Your heart broke as you spoke, but you knew it couldn’t be avoided.

“Where does she usually sleep?” he asked.

It took you a minute to answer, you were so surprised by the question. “Uh, with me,” you said.

“Then go get her,” he said, without looking at you. He hadn’t looked at you since you’d come out of the bathroom.

“Really?” you whispered.

“Yeah, if it stops her crying.”

You didn’t wait to be told again. You hurried across the hall and opened her crate, scooping her up into your arms. “I’m so sorry,” you cooed. “I’m so, so sorry. It’s going to be ok now.”

When you got back to the room, Ransom had turned off his light and turned over onto his side, facing the wall. You placed Lola on the bed and crawled in after her. As you turned off your own lamp, you whispered, “Thank you,” not sure if he was awake to hear it.

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@stargazingfangirl18 @drabblewithfrannybarnes @thezombieprostitute @jaqui-has-a-conspiracy-theory @bval-1 @km-ffluv @texmexdarling @ladyvenera @citronbun @rebeccapineapple @alexakeyloveloki @dancer3205 @i-can-do-this-all-dayy @thecrandle @lokislady82 @thedazzlingburglar @23skidoosteven @she-wolf09231982 @arbesa-mind @samfreakingwinchester @blackhawkfanatic @emerald-writes @identity2212 @have-another-doughnut @patzammit

#ransom drysdale x you #ransom drysdale #ransom drysdale x reader #ransom drysdale x female reader #knives out #reader insert #fanfic #chris evans fanfiction #ce characters #steve rogers #steve rogers & reader #captian america #arranged marriage au #kris wrote something #more than this

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say-hi-intrepid-heroes · 2 months

Text

my experience getting/having a septum piercing!

(detailed journal under the cut, overview at the top)

TLDR: my experience was good, but that's because i planned and dedicated time to it. if you're in a situation where you'd need to hide it, make sure you get the piercing at least a week before you would need to flip it under. anything less and it's going to hurt like hell (although it'll still hurt a lot after a week)

general tips: 1) clean it at least once a day for a while. stuff builds up, especially in winter. i'd honestly recommend not getting it right before winter like i did, cause cold metal is not great. 2) try not to mess with it during the day, but make sure to move it around when you clean it, otherwise the healing skin will stick to the jewelry. 3) get a color/style you can live with for a few months. 4) don't flip it back and forth too much. 5) don't blow your nose aggressively or you might pass out from the pain. 6) dont wear face makeup to get your piercing done. touching your nose is gonna hurt like hell afterwards, so removing makeup won't be fun. 7) don't get a septum piercing as your first piercing. i've had two piercings in each ear, so i've had experience with the pain. if you flinch on an ear piercing, it's not as big of a deal cause those are so fast, but this one is NOT. major flinching is really bad here.

i've put a detailed log with dates under the cut. tw for descriptions of blood (obviously) but nothing major.

also, if you have any specific follow up questions, feel free to message or send an ask! i can't necessarily give you a perfect answer, but i can tell you what worked for me :)

(disclaimer: i wrote these on the days they are marked. i have not deleted or added anything, these were my thoughts and experiences as they happened. this does not represent everyone's experience, just mine, and is meant to be used as a reference to anyone wanting more information about this experience)

day 0 (11/11)

- got it done at a tattoo shop, they used a new/sterile needle and disinfected the area or something with something that smelled like iodine. it wasn't as fast as an ear piercing but it was honestly less painful.

- lots of initial bleeding (normal for me and head wounds in general), they nicked the outside of one nostril but that's probably because of my nose shape, lots of eye watering (also normal for me)

- cleaning it sucked, used the stuff they gave me (neilmed piercing aftercare mist) and qtips. moving the piercing was the worst part (it was slightly off center so i had to move it a bit), hurt so bad. did not appear to bleed further, however.

- nose area around piercing (nostrils, tip of nose) is extremely tender. putting on moisturizer was painful. glad i was not wearing full face makeup that i would have had to take off

- still too scared to blow my nose. i have a congestion headache.

day 1 (11/12)

- itchy. so itchy.

- currently biggest challenge is cleaning it. the area is so fragile and hurts so bad if you mess up how cleaning is done.

- also, allergies suck. i can't blow my nose. why.

- no bleeding tho, and nothing concerning

day 2 (11/13)

- cleaning is better, but i did figure out i was doing it wrong so that might be why moving the actual jewelry hurt so much. (the piercing was a lot further forward than i thought it was, so i was kinda just cleaning the middle of my nose. i wasn't cleaning where the hole is, so the scab area was just dry when i tried to move it, which is so so bad)

- area around it is much much less tender. no sudden contact though still.

- moving the jewelry hurts like a bitch

day 7 (11/18)

- substantial improvement over the last few days. no longer hurts to move the jewelry or touch my nose. only hurts if excessive force (i.e. getting punched in the nose)

day 9 (11/20)

- flipped it under (to hide it) for the first time. had to look up youtube videos for people with my nose shape cause i was doing it wrong but other than that it was very smooth and painless.

- now i just feel like i need to sneeze, but no pain.

about three weeks post-piercing

- we've kinda leveled out. no more major pain, now i'm able to flip it under in an emergency (without a mirror, without prep, etc)

- i got super sick and had a runny nose and it did fine the whole time.

- highly recommend flipping it under if you're having to blow your nose a lot, otherwise it snags and snot gets caught in it and i don't like it

two months (mid january)

- it is extremely cold where i am (hanging at about 10-15 degrees Fahrenheit) and this is making my skin so so dry.

- basically the piercing wound has cracked open a bit. it hurts a lot. i'm now drinking lots of water and running a humidifier/diffuser, but there's only so much that can do.

three months (mid february)

- just took out the jewelry, cleaned, and replaced for the first time!! it went really smoothly, no pain, no blood, but i did go slowly.

- make sure not to do it over a sink or the pieces could get lost. also, for the horseshoe i have, the little ball is kinda tricky to get back in, but if you take your time it'll work.

- i'm at the point where i feel like it is substantially healed, barring a major snag or other injury. i'm probably going to change out the jewelry soon once i get a new piece, and im very excited for that!!

[end]

#not really sure how to tag this tbh #oh well it's fine #personal #septum piercing

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stuckybarton · 1 year

Text

Heads Under Water IV

Summary: Things get better before they get worse. Character: K'uk'ulkan/Namor x Atlantean Descendant! Filipino! Female Reader. Word Count: 1,893 Chapter Warnings: None.

Series Masterlist || Masterlist || Join the Library (no longer do taglist you can just turn on notif here)

Part IV

It’s been a week since your arrival in Wakanda, five days since your first encounter with one King of an underwater kingdom, and well over a few hours since you found out you were to be watched like a hawk by one of the King’s most trusted warriors—Namora (who you later learned was the King’s younger cousin too, so extra intimidation on that front) while you begin creating the machine that would be helping out in fixing their little problem.

You, for the most part, have finally agreed to help Shuri in fixing the pathway to Talokan. But you had made the agreement with her that you will not be personally making your way to the water to oversee it, which Shuri had agreed on her part to do herself with the help of some of her warriors as guard. So, there wasn’t anything else for you to do but build.

“You are not from Wakanda—nor are you like the Colonizers.” In what felt like hours of silence aside from the metals clanking in the lab, Namora had spoken—out of boredom or out of curiosity, you were not so certain.

“I’m from the Philippines.” You answered nonchalantly. “And like what I have said to your cousin, my people had been colonized instead of the other way around.” You added hoping to defend your case from a few days back.

“You said three hundred and thirty-three years?”

“Yup.” You said popping the p with a smile. “Our people have never been the same since.” You continued before turning your attention back to the main frame of the machine.

“The Spanish?” She inquired to which you turned your attention back to her now. You nodded and take a good look at her now—aside from the far too unnerving blue tint on her skin, she was for the most part just like you and like everyone else, nothing to truly be scared of—if a weapon wasn’t pointed right at you.

“I sometimes want to think of what my great great grandparents would live like if they didn’t live in a time like that. Maybe we’d be like Wakanda too.” You shrugged at the thought.

You never truly enjoyed learning about History growing up, more with the fact that it made you sad of the lost culture of your people, angrier at how everyone now depends so solely on the nations that wasn’t your own as an aftermath and just how Westernization truly broke everything beautiful of what could be.

“Just like us.” Namora said under her breath before her attention had now turned away from you, looking around.

You were now back to making all the needed calculations to the program, fingers typing away and the time never truly mattered to you while you were deep in your work until you felt a hand resting on top of your shoulders and you realize it wasn’t just you and Namora anymore.

Blinking and realizing the never ending ache of your hands, you come to face Shuri, who wasn’t alone. With her was the King, Namor and his other (much larger and even scarier) warrior Attuma.

“Your Highness.” You spoke subtly bowing towards the man whose piercing browns were resting on you. The frown still marring his surprisingly handsome features. You could admit at much that he was a handsome man, if he showed any other emotions other than anger directed at you.

“What is the progress of your machine?” He inquired far too straight forward for pleasantries.

You gave Shuri a knowing look to which she simply gave you a defeated shrug.

“I’ve finished making the necessary programing to help with the repairs and input the coordinates to the damaged walls, the only problem I have now is the materials.”

“You can use our supplies.” He spoke.

“If it’s Vibranium, then I can’t use it.” You pointed out.

“And why not?” A single brow had rose, arms crossed against his chest and you were welcomed with a far too lean but strong arms.

“Efficiently wise, I can use Vibranium as it is the strongest metal still known to man but ethically speaking, if I am allowed to be frank with you, I am afraid that once the project is done, in the small chance that this machine will be placed in the wrong hands it would be used to detect Vibranium that is still located under water.” You spoke honestly and it was one thing keeping you from truly making the necessary machine at the moment.

You learned of the war they had waged on each other and you were damn sure not to be placed in the middle of it all if you could avoid it. The memory of being grilled for your life’s works by numerous nation leaders still a sore topic you did not want to elaborate on right now.

“We have other precious metals in our inventory, take your pick then.” He brushes off nonchalantly.

“Yes, your highness.” You nodded.

“Call me by my name. K'uk'ulkan.” He insist.

You tested the name but the question spurted out before you could stop yourself. “Why Namor then?”

“My enemies call me Namor. Will you be my enemy, Doctor Y/N?” He questioned.

“I hope not.” You responded not certain how to answer him now.

“Good. We will have the metals you would need delivered as soon as possible. Namora is to your disposal.”

You nodded.

“Thank you, K'uk'ulkan.” You said before hesitating again with your next words. “Ka Kexi' ka páajtal sa'asik in yo'olal le ba'ax tin wa'alaj ti' k yáax múuch'tambale'.” (And I hope you can forgive me for what I had said during our first meeting).

The three Talokanil had blinked at your sudden use of their language before the King himself had chuckled. You winced probably speaking the words wrong.

“Tuláakal u perdonado. Teene' kun wa'alik k'ek'eno'.” He smiled, the first genuine smile on his lips you have seen since the first time you’ve met him. (All is forgiven. I should say the same).

You nodded, smiling now at least you’ve handled that part as you continued on with working in this situation. Eventually the King and Attuma had left leaving you under the playful scrutiny of Shuri and even Namora that was all but curious and surprised about the small interaction with her King.

“So not Agent Ross, but it’s fine with Namor?” Shuri teased with a shit eating grin on her face turning to Namora that was nodding in faux agreement. “The flirting right in front of all of us. Who are you and what have you done to Doctor Y/N?”

“Last time I’ve checked flirting and apologizing are quite different from each other.” You muttered turning back to the computer to continue on with your programming.

“K'uk'ulkan does not apologize and he did so openly with you. Consider yourself special.” Namora supplied making Shuri cackle and for you hoping for the ground to swallow you up in the moment. ~ Once again you found yourself in the beach watching the waves move by. It was Shuri that had pushed you away from the confinements of the lab and you truly had nowhere else to go but here. This little spot in the near pitch black darkness had now become your favorite spot in Wakanda, a remnant of what was your home when you were still with your family.

It was also the little moment you had to talk to your mother back home as you were now in a much needed conversation with her after a few weeks of not talking to her.

‘Kumain ka na ba? (Have you ate?)’ Trust your mother to always open the call with your wellbeing. A smile was on your face as you nestled the phone against your ears and shoulder.

“I did.” You confirmed—though eating meant being practically force fed by Shuri or at one point Namora that refused to let you touch the computer until after you have eaten.

‘Kamusta ka naman dyan sa New York, binubuwisit ka pa rin ba ng boss mo? (How are you doing in New York, is your boss still annoying you?)’.

You giggled at your mother’s next question. She had learned about Tony and the potential danger of working under him from the get-go. But nothing truly prepared her when it was the least of your worries compared to the ever loving control you had not to kill the man for annoying you every single day of working for him. Your mother knew as much, it was the only consolation of working for the man knowing the dangers truly rested behind the scene on a day-to-day basis.

“Hindi na rin, busy kasi sya. (Not really, he’s busy.).” You answered. You loved your mother, trusting her with your life’s work, but this little project you had in Wakanda and now with the people of Talokan, it was better to make her believe that you were still in New York working with the man instead of this.

‘Masyado kang pinapagod ng boss mong yan! Kelan ba ang huling bisita mo dito sa Pilipinas. Sabihin mo nga dyan sa boss mo na dito ka na muna kahit ilang linggo lang. (Your boss is overworking you! When was the last time you were in the Philippines? Tell that boss of yours you should say here even for just a few weeks).’

“Ma, busy ako. Pag natapos ako sa ginagawa ko, lilipad ako pauwi. Promise. (Ma, I’m busy. Once I finish with what I’m doing, I’ll fly back home).”

You doubt if you could keep such a promise. There was always something stopping you from going home. You’d prefer having them come to you instead of the other way around—more than just the fact that you were scared of the waters. It was always something about the life you once left behind keeping you from coming back home. All the pain and all of the constant need to prove yourself in your career stopping you from coming home. It breaks your heart each day and more and more it hindered in ever talking to your mother at some point.

‘Pangako mo sakin, Y/N. Baka hindi na ko magtatagal sa edad kong to’, sige ka. (Promise me, Y/N. I’m not gonna live long at my age.).’

“Ma naman! Wag ka nang nagloloko ng ganyan. Pag natapos ako dito, kukuha ako agad ng flight pauwi. (Come on, Ma! Don’t make a joke like that. Once I’m done here, I’ll get the first flight back home).” You assured slowly relenting that maybe you truly didn’t have long left to be with your mother as you hope you did.

‘Baka anong oras na dyan, Anak? Magpahinga ka na. Mahal na mahal ka namin ng papa mo, lagi mong tatandaan yan. (What time is it there, Baby? You should get some sleep. Me and your father love you so much, always remember that).’

“Love you too, Mama.” Finally ending the call, all you could do was sigh and slump further into the tree stump you sat.

Your eyes focusing on the waters and once again you’ve seen the head by the waters—but only now did you come to recognize the head to be that of one King, K'uk'ulkan. He was watching you by the waters all this time.

#k'uk'ulkan x reader #K'uk'ulkan x filipino!reader #K'uk'ulkan smut #K'uk'ulkan series #K'uk'ulkan oneshot #K'uk'ulkan oneshots #K'uk'ulkan angst #K'uk'ulkan fluff #K'uk'ulkan imagines #K'uk'ulkan imagine #namor x reader #namor x filipino!reader #namor smut #namor series #namor oneshot #namor oneshots #namor angst #namor fluff #namor imagines

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anonymousj3ster · 3 months

Text

Digital

Hallucination

Based off the song "Digital Hallucination

I slowly open my eyes, wincing as they are assaulted by the bright colors of my room. I sigh and sit up, automatically grabbing a black marker and drawing a dark vertical line on the wall, adding to the collection of depressing tallies. One tally for each day I've been here. 420 marks so far. I stare at the marks for a long beat, before dragging myself out of my bed and to the main area of the circus. I've been stuck in here for over a year, if only I could get away.

If only anyone would actually help me.

I wasn't even sure why I still bothered to try and keep track of time. I mean, for all I knew the time here passed differently than the time in the real world. Thats how most video games worked after all, right? A day in an average video game was only... what? 20 minutes? Or maybe time here took longer than the real world...? It didn't really matter, did it? Time is a hoax, in this colored world of jest.

"Maybe it's still just a dream... a really long dream." I mumble deliriously.

"My my, you still think that your dreaming?" A voice booms in front of me, snapping me out of my spiraling thoughts. My eyes snap up and focus on the pair of teeth in front of me. He always seemed in a weirdly good mood, for someone who was constantly tormenting everyone here. If I just knew what he was scheming...

"Nothing, my dear! Just our next adventure!" Caine announces. I frown. I hadn't realized I had said that last bit out loud. Had I? I pale a bit. Or had he read my mind?

"You look like you've seen a ghost!" He says, hovering closer to me and examining me with those mismatched eyes. "I know what will make you feel better! An adventure!" He shouts suddenly in my face.

"No, no!" I say quickly. "I just uh...need food." I lie, stepping past him.

"Well, if you say so my dear... your lucky to have such a gracious host like me, offering you an adventure!" He calls after me. I stop, feeling my eye twitch. "Your adventures don't help. They just make me scared...scared to lose myself here." I hiss softly, tilting my head over my shoulder to stare him down. He gives me a puzzled look, the top of his mouth raising like an eyebrow.

"But there is nothing to fear!" He reassures. "I can't take this anymore!" I snarl, shaking my head and walking away again. I storm down the hall, taking random twists and turns completely lost in my thoughts. After...I'm not sure how long, I finally snap out of it and actually take note of my surroundings. It looked infuriatingly just like all the other hallways: Blank walls with red doors, all equally spaced out in the long corridor. I sigh, about to turn around and attempt to find my way back-

"Is that...an exit door?" I whisper softly in disbelief. I slowly step toward it, keeping my eyes trained on the red rectangle, which looked so similar to the rest of the doors, except for one little detail: The big, white block letters. Exit. I take another step forward. How had I not seen it before? I approach slowly, like it was a startled animal that might flee if I made any sudden movements. I raise my hand slowly, taking hold of cold metal handle, hear pounding in my ears. Was this is? Could I finally leave? I open the door and step through-

Back into my bedroom. I freeze, completely confused. Was it just...my imagination? The exit that was my fixation? I shudder, remembering the exit door maze I had been caught in on my first day here. Door after door I found that it was just a digital hallucination. I try to find a way out, but I'm stuck here day after day inside a digital hallucination. I take a deep breath, trying to center myself.

Logic. Facts. Thats what kept me grounded, kept me sane. I take another deep breath, fumbling in my brain for some sort of information that could distract me, something I knew for certain existed- like the alphabet.

"A, B, C, D..." I whisper softly to myself. Letter. Letters in a name. I name I don't know. I don't know my name. Not even if I'm dead or if I'm just going insane.

"X D D C..." I mumble, before quickly cutting myself off. I sigh and glance around my room for any other kind of distraction. My pinwheel eyes snag on words. I inhale sharply, stepping towards the wall. There was writing there, writing I didn't remember putting there. Vowels and consonants.

'Save me.'

'Save us.'

'Save us all.'

I feel my breathing become more and more rapid as I slowly back away, grasping blinding for the handle of the door behind me. A normal door, the one to the hallway. My hand connects with it and I push it open, stumbling out and running down the hall until I feel like I can't breath. I gasp for air and lean against a wall for a moment, before collecting myself. I take a few shaky breaths before taking a few uncertain steps on equally shaky legs. I hesitate, before heading for the main area of the circus tent, where everybody else who was stuck here hung out. It didn't seem like a smart idea for me to be alone right now. I trudge out into the main area, glaring at the sharp colors.

"You still think your dreaming?" A snide voice snarks. I turn in the direction of it with a dark glare. Jax was leaning against a large block, seemingly arguing with Ragatha while Kinger stared at him. Off to the side, Zooble and Gangle seemed to be arguing too, Zooble fixing the ribbon character with an exasperated look. Ragatha scowls at Jax. "Theres nothing wrong with Pomni not accepting this yet. I mean, whats wrong with a little hope?" She turns toward me with a small smile. "You'll be ok Pomni. Believe me." I nod and try to return a weak smile in return, taking another shaky breath.

"You look like a ghost just saw you!" Kinger squawks suddenly. I flinch at the sudden noise.

"The sayings, "You look like you've seen a ghost", Hoo-ha." Jax grumbles, his yellow eyes flicking towards mine. "Your lucky to have whats left of your sanity- unlike this one." He drawls, pushing Kinger onto the ground. Ragatha glare at him, kneeling to help the chesspiece up.

"I-its just...I miss how the circus used to be." I hear Gangle whimper. "I-it just s-seems so...tragic now." Zooble sighs, seemingly annoyed though it was a bit hard to tell, seeing how their face was just a triangle with eyes. "Yup, so tragic how the circus lost it's magic." They mumble with biting sarcasm. I clench my jaw. It was like this everyday. Fighting. Laughing. Adventures. Eat. Sleep. Repeat. I can't take it anymore-

The air in front of me shimmers for a moment, before slowly solidifying to a hauntingly familiar sight.

Is that an...exit door? I hiss quietly, opening it. I can hear everyone else gasp and say things, but they sound impossibly far away. I walk in, slamming the door after me. But this time, instead of running through the endless maze, I walk, glaring darkly at every bright red door. Just my imagination? The exit that was my fixation? Door after door I slam open and close. Door after door after door after door after door after doorafterdoorafterdoorafterdoord̶o̸o̶r̵a̵f̷t̸e̸r̸d̴o̷o̸r̸-

I reach for the next handle, not pausing my stride, and end up slamming right into the door. I blink, slowly pulling myself out of whatever trance I was in. I frown at the door handle, grabbing it again, only to have my hand go straight through it, as if it wasn't even there. Like it was just a-

Digital hallucination.

Is this all just an amalgamation? Of my own fixation? Doomed to run through door after door just to find out it was all just a digital halluc̵̢͉̤̀i̸͎͉̰̼̽͗͐̽͠n̴̤͓̭͔̟̣̞͗͆̒̔̽̀̚͠a̶̢͖͖̩̭̹͛̇̚ţ̶͚͕̼̫̌ì̵̮̜͕̞̭̦͖̦͓̽̋͊̈̔̕ͅȍ̶̢̡̩̋̔̅n̶̼̬̠̿-

I want to find a way out, but I guess i'm just stuck here day after day inside this digital hallucination. I pound on the door, panic beginning to settle into my mind, until it finally opened. I run through it, adreniline pumping through my body as I open door after door, needing to get out NOW, even if I ended up back in that circus, with it's nauseating colors and lies and adventures and torment and dolls and chesspieces and games and dice and gambles of life and fake death and death and insanity and fear and numb pain-

This place that was just my imagination just a dumb fixation that was just a digital hallucination trying to find a way out but I'm stuck here daỳ̸̡̗̪ ̵̤̦̯̲̣̄̚a̵̤͚̯͂f̷͉̩̓̀͛̔̅t̴͍̙̗͗̐è̵̪͍̣̄̉͝r̸̖̈́́ ̵̠͎͕̈́͒̋̐ḍ̸̟̏͠ä̶̮̠̟̰̪́̚̕y̷̻̮̆ ̶̨̏̔̉̌͋ȉ̴̧̖̺͕̪̊̈́͠n̸̜̱͙͓̄͠s̶͙̰̮̣̑i̸̛̖̼̬̻̓̌d̸̪̹͖̤͙̋e̸̟̺̓̊͠ ̴̪̜͓̣̓̃t̴̡͖̜͐͊̃͋h̵̢̠̾̉̉͝i̴̼̳̍͒̆͒̍s̴̡̧̤͕̈́͊̇ ̵̱͛͐͝d̶̠̼̫͗i̷̦̓̿̈́ǵ̴̻̿ī̴̢͕̠̈͑̇t̸̗̣̋͒̇͐͘͜a̵̗̪̜̘̅̌̊̃ḻ̵̜̯͒͆̍ ̸̙͚̒h̴͍̼̔a̶̢̠̾͛̕l̷͚̣̣̙͇̿̈́͛͝l̶̨̫̼͔͋͜ú̸̡̘͖̘̅͆͘̚ͅc̸̼͕̹̭̠̃̌̈́i̵̬̮͒́̑̔̍ͅn̷̫̠̤͔͔̓̿̆̎̆a̴͎̝̯͍̾ẗ̷͙̽i̷̢̹̗͓͋̔̂͠o̶̞͙̫̪̙̔̏̏n̷̩̗̭͛͊

"G̵̡͚̤͓̼̫̱͉͓̫͚̰̽͛̌͑͂̓̅̓̔̽́̇E̵̛̺̲̳͕̣͂̉̈́̈́̍̈́̚͜͝T̷͓̓̊ ̵̡͈̜͍̬̋̈͛͋̅̔̀M̸͕͖̰̱̫̲͈͑̎̇̇̅̈́͘Ę̵̲͖̪̗̫͇͌̃̑̐͒̓͑̆̀̀͘͘̚ ̸̼̍̈̓̍̔͝O̷̹̤̪̹̠͍̣̭͙̻̞̅͆͒̎̎̈́̓̅͑̅͘U̴͖̲̫̬̺̞͍̳̔̍̐̈̈̔̚͜Ṯ̷̼̞͔͖͈̗͈͈̤̺̠̓͐̽́͊͋̐̉̒́͘ ̵̻̠̳̟̒̇̈́̇̀̕̚͝Ȏ̵̡̦̝͇͎̟̮̦̻̥̞̉̒̌̊͗̆̽̚͜͝F̵͈̰̪̍̏͝ͅ ̴̮̗̭̲̏̐̒̉H̵̺̘̬͍̞͍̪̓E̸̢̖̹͓̹̥̼̐̽͑͠R̶̭͔̞̈́̍̒̆̆͜E̵͉̟̎͂͒̑̎͛̒͂͑͆̏!" I scream, leaning against the next taunting exit door, pounding at it with my fists. "Let me out...just let me out..." I beg nobody. "I'll stay in there, just let me out of here!" I sink to my knees sobbing, screaming and slamming my head against the rectangular monster until it gives me a headache and changes my strangled sobs to bubbling laughter that never stops.

#tadc #the amazing digital circus #fanfic #songfic #digital hallucinations #pomni #insane pomni #insanity

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wonderfulworldofmichaelford · 1 year

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Is It Really That Bad?

I feel this film needs absolutely no introduction.

Look, I get it. You’ve seen everyone and their mother talk trash about this movie since it dropped in 1999. You’ve seen every single show in the universe take cracks at this film, you’ve seen all the parodies and mockery of it in movies, you may have even seen that movie Fanboys. Maybe you’ve even watched some massive YouTube review of the movie. The point is, this movie has been done to death.

But this series is about covering poorly received and infamous movies to see if their reputation is deserved, and I’d be remiss to ignore this film. And hey, these days the film has gotten something of a reappraisal by younger generations and older fans alike! After 20 years of scorn, a combination of the poorly received episodes VIII and IX, other works like The Clone Wars building off of and fleshing out the themes, Lego making really fun levels based off this movie for its Star Wars games, and Weird Al dropping one of the best songs of his career based entirely around recapping this film, a lot of people have come around to saying they unironically like this film. Even as early as 2008, the film made it on to Empire magazine’s list of the 500 greatest films of all time, scoring higher than Tim Burton’s Batman, Unbreakable, Full Metal Jacket, Halloween, The Crow, and Enter The Dragon (not by a huge margin though since it only got to 449). So there’s something there to love, right?

Well, let’s find out as I ask the question everyone else has already asked a million times before: Is The Phantom Menace really that bad?

THE GOOD

Let’s get the obvious stuff out of the way: The action and John Williams’ score.

The prequel trilogy really shines in how absolutely bonkers it makes lightsaber battles. Sure, one could argue the original trilogy made them more realistic, like actual swordfights… But I don’t want realism in this series about magical alien samurai monks using telekinesis and fighting armies of clones and robots. I want to see someone do a million backflips and then slice a dude in half with their laser sword. This film delivers heartily on that front, especially in the epic final duel between Maul, Qui-Gon, and Obi-Wan.

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Speaking of which, Darth Maul is a highlight of this film despite barely doing or saying anything. A lot of it is his striking visual design, which is actually toned down from the original concepts. It makes him look cool, creepy, and mysterious, always a good look for any Star Wars character. Ray Park doesn’t get to show off Maul’s dialogue much, but he certainly shows off his battle prowess with a bunch of sick flips and the iconic dual-bladed lightsaber. This appearance here served as an excellent foundation for the guy, because The Clone Wars would take him from an iconic but underutilized character to perhaps one of the greatest villains in the series.

And then the score. Oh lord, the score! Has Williams ever missed, even once? This movie has some really fantastic music, stuff like the celebration music at the end of the film, but it’s quite obvious that the standout is “Duel of the Fates,” one of the best pieces of music in any Star Wars film.

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A lot of the characters introduced here are pretty fun and great additions to the universe. Natalie Portman is actually pretty solid as Padme; Liam Neeson’s Qui-Gon is just such an aggro dick it’s hard not to love him and his underhanded ways; Boss Nass is an amusing yet underutilized gungan played by BRIAN BLESSED of all people, once more adding his trademark ham to a campy sci-fi movie inspired by Flash Gordon; Mace Windu drops in for a brief appearance to set him up for better ones down the road; and that Chancellor Palpatine guy is really cool, I hope we get to see more of him!

Then we have the pod race which, while a bit overly long, is a lot of fun and features some crazy vehicular madness, and there’s the practical effects, the creative design of the aliens and monsters, and there’s the practical effects and costumes mixed together with the CGI.... When this movie is fun, it’s a lot of fun, and when this movie is putting in the effort by god is it putting in the effort.

Oh yeah, and E.T.’s species has a cameo. No wonder he seemed to recognize Yoda in his movie.

THE BAD

Have you guys ever wanted a cool laser sword sci-fi epic to be constantly interrupted by long, boring scenes of trade negotiations, council meetings, and bureaucracy? Well boy oh boy will you love this film! There are so many stupid, dull, tedious scenes where characters are just talking about this boring trade embargo plotline, one that can’t even be ignored because it’s driving the whole plot. And sure, it leads to some really cool action scenes, but you’ve gotta sit through boring galactic council political bullshit to get to them.

This film is also the one that establishes the Jedi as a bunch of out of touch assholes. Every scene with the Jedi council (and especially if you have to look at the weird ugly Yoda puppet this film gave us before it was mercifully replaced with CGI) has the Jedi acting as a bunch of obstructive assholes who seem to go out of their way to be dicks to a literal child. Add onto this that this film reveals the Jedi essentially train kids to be child soldiers, yeah, no, maybe these guys did deserve Order 66 after all.

There is the writing, but it’s really not too strange for Star Wars to have clunky writing. The issue here is said writing is in service to really banal plots, and when the movie is getting good dialogue is usually not the thing making the scenes good. These things here may not seem like a lot when it comes to problems especially when I was praising this film so much, but the few problems are spread far and wide across this two hour movie.

THE UGLY

As you may have noticed, I didn’t mention two of the film’s most hated aspects above: Jar Jar and Anakin. There is a good reason for that.

Literally every mean thing you can imagine has already been lobbed at Ahmed Best and Jake Lloyd, and quite frankly I’m not keen on contributing to that. Anything negative I could say has already been said, and at this point it doesn’t even matter. Jake Lloyd was bullied over his performance to the point where he hated the franchise for years, and Ahmed Best nearly killed himself over the sheer blistering hatred Jar Jar received. Do I think Jar Jar is funny? Do I think Lloyd was a good actor? Does it even fucking matter at all when people harassed them to such lengths that it traumatized them?

I’ll be honest: I’m not a huge fan of Jar Jar’s antics. But they really aren’t the worst thing in this movie, and he’s not even remotely the most annoying Star Wars character. We now have people like Hux, the Knights of Ren, Snoke, Clone Palpatine, Holdo… The sequel trilogy was a buffet of characters that are infinitely worse than Jar Jar. And as is often the case, The Clone Wars went a long way towards making him a good character.

As for Lloyd, he was an actual fucking child. He was being directed by an absolute dork who wrote the goofiest dialogue imaginable for him, was there ever even a chance? A “bad” child performance is never the fault of a child, I feel; it’s the fault of a director who doesn’t bother to guide them. I’m a George Lucas apologist most of the time, but he absolutely let Lloyd down here.

Oh, and I guess I should address the other element in the room: Watto.

This guy has often come under fire as a huge negative Jewish caricature. I… don’t necessarily see it. Upon rewatching I was expecting something on the lines of the goblins in Harry Potter, but I don’t know. I think a lot of it comes from mishearing his accent; if you listen to it, he actually has some sort of weird, vague Italian accent as opposed to that stereotypical old Jewish man voice. I guess if anything, Watto is a negative stereotype of Italians, though he is far less of a hate crime than casting Chris Pratt as Mario.

...Okay, and one more thing: Midichlorians. People have this weird idea that they cause the force. The movie literally states their presence is just an indication of a proclivity towards the force. It’s basically the Star Wars version of Pokerus. This was such a stupid thing for people to get mad about, but 90% of the hate for this film is just getting mad at stupid things anyway.

IS IT REALLY THAT BAD?

The answer to this question was always going to be pretty obvious: No. Absolutely not. The sheer vitriolic backlash to this film was built off the bizarre emotional attachment adults in the 90s had to a campy sci-fi series from the 70s and 80s; the toxicity of the fandom meant there was never any doubt that upon revisiting this film I’d find the hatred overblown. And really, we’ve had over twenty years of other Star Wars stories now, a lot of them building off the foundation this laid to give us great stories in their own rights. As I mentioned above, Darth Maul, this film’s awesome yet underutilized villain, has gone on to become one of the franchise’s most iconic characters thanks to The Clone Wars. There are great ideas here in this film, but it took other people to polish them and make them shine.

The real question is, even if the backlash is overblown… is the film actually good at all? And that’s a complicated question. This film has a lot of serious, glaring flaws, but at its heart it’s still the fun, campy sci-fi series we all know and love. When this film gets good, it gets really good, but when it’s bad it’s downright boring and even a little cringey. But being a bit cringey is just an important building block of Star Wars, so in my eyes, it gets a pass in that regard.

For my part, I like it. It is far, far away from my favorite Star Wars film, but I like it more than two of the sequel trilogy at least. I think whether anyone else likes it really boils down to how much corny, campy dialogue and boring bureaucratic drama one is able to tolerate. Regardless, I think that 6.5 is a perfect score for this film. It definitely reflects the mellowing public opinion towards it, and shows that it’s not really that bad after all. It’s just not exactly great, either.

But hey… This song more than justifies this movie existing:

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If nothing else, you can watch this instead of the movie for your Machete Order marathon and all you’ll miss is some great action and music mixed into boring bureaucracy. Whether that’s worth it or not is up to you!

#Is it really that bad #IIRTB #review #movie review #Star Wars #The Phantom Menace #George Lucas #Sci-fi #Disney

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efingart · 2 years

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Just What I Needed - Chapter 20

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The metal folding chair squeaked under his weight as he shifted to lean his elbows on his knees. They were in the lab, which made him uneasy. But Hudson hadn’t wanted to give this talk around Bell.

Everyone began to shift in their seats as the briefing wrapped up. Anxious to get back to their work. Or grab a smoke.

Mason wanted to take the chance to talk to Bell. And maybe convince Woods to come with him.

Hudson brought the briefing to an end and nodded to Adler, who approached him.

He spoke in a low voice, and Mason caught a few words. From what he could gather, the Amsterdam Police had ID’d a body they fished out of the Amstel a few months back.

Might have been one of Adler’s guys.

Marshall Something. Or Something Marshall.

If it was a name Adler recognized he wasn’t showing any sign of shock. He just nodded in response.

Mason glanced back at Woods, who was leaning back in his chair, arms folded. He raised his eyebrows at Mason and shrugged. Then Woods stood up and stretched out his back.

“Damn folding chairs. Who designed these things?”

Woods kicked the chair closed and leaned it against the wall. Mason followed suit.

He opened his mouth to say something to Woods when Park stopped him.

“I need to talk to you about Bell,” She said.

“Oh yeah? I was just about to-”

“Then you should hear me out first.”

Park glanced between Mason and Woods.

“She’s not doing well,” Park added in a grave tone.

Mason sensed hesitation from his friend. For a fleeting moment, he thought Woods might stay, at least hear Park out.

But then Woods placed a cigarette between his teeth, tapped Mason’s shoulder, and said, “Meet you outside.”

Mason could only nod back. Park’s shoulders sank. She had likely been hoping the same thing Mason had. And now they both were left disappointed.

Then Park straightened up, ready to carry on with or without Woods’ help.

Brits can’t keep them down for long.

“What do you want me to do?” Mason asked her, not hiding the edge in his voice, “I'm not going to help you to get her fall in line.”

His concern was helping Bell get through this. She seemed to want to be better. She was sacrificing everything, and it felt like he was the only one on her side. No way would he help make things easier on Park and Adler. Let them manipulate her again.

Park shook her head.

“That’s not the problem.”

She stepped to the window and pulled the shade cord up. Through the glass, Mason could see Bell sitting at a desk. Headphones perched on top of her head. From this view, it looked like she was working diligently. Likely trying to decode whatever was on that recording they had found at Duga.

Adler’s evidence board was positioned just next to her. Instead of the usual intel, several maps had been pinned in place. Multicolored markers dotted the surface of the maps.

“As you can see, getting her to work isn’t the problem. But she’s not herself. Before a few days ago, she was at least lucid. Talking to people who weren’t there, but I could carry on a conversation with her. Now she’s a shell of a person.”

“I thought you would like having a little puppet to manipulate.”

Park ignored this jab.

“A few days ago, I found her passed out in the locker room,” She relayed this information impassively.

That was the thing about Park. He never knew if she was just good at keeping her feelings to herself or if she really was just a cold bitch. He didn’t really like to think anything about her, but he hoped she wasn’t so heartless.

Especially since Park was the only thing between Bell and Adler most of the time.

“She wouldn’t wake up. It was like before. Except when she had left this room, she was functioning as expected,” Park let out a heavy sigh, “We were able to rouse her using the trigger phrase.”

“Adler-” Mason corrected.

“Adler used the trigger phrase. But now, she seems only to be a shell of her former self. Sometimes I get glimpses of her personality, but then she’s gone again.”

Mason frowned. He looked at Bell again.

“Aren’t you supposed to be the expert?” Mason shot at her. He was angry.

They should have never continued with this bullshit.

“I am, and I’m telling you, I can’t get through to her. It’s almost like she’s retreating inside herself. I’m worried we might lose her entirely.”

“Stop fucking drugging her then,” He slammed his fist on the window frame. It rattled the glass.

Bell sat straight up as if alerted by the sound but didn’t turn to look. After a moment, she continued with her work.

“You know that’s not an option. Not for the CIA. Either she continues to give them information, or they bury her. By any means necessary.”

“They might just do that anyway.”

Park nodded.

“I know you don’t believe me, but I don’t want that to happen.”

He didn’t quite buy it. He was sure people like Park and Adler were always looking for an angle. With Park, he didn’t know her deal. He knew Adler well enough that the guy definitely felt justified in his actions.

Mason was the only one who could really speak on what having your mind fucked with was like.

Not a picnic.

But Park? With all her experience, she probably had a clue.

It felt too generous to think that maybe she did have some empathy for Bell.

Probably just a guilty conscious.

Mason approached Bell. The sound of the recording leaked out of the headphones, her voice becoming clearer as he moved closer. He reached out a hand to gently touch her shoulder but stopped short.

The sound was not coming from the headphones.

The reel-to-reel was running, but it had reached the end of the tape, who knows how long ago.

It was Bell. She was speaking in a low voice. At first, he thought, maybe she was working out some problem with her decryption. But her tone sounded conversational. It was unsettling.

He wondered if this is what people experienced when he thought he was talking to Reznov.

Who was she talking to? Adler?

She couldn’t get away from him, could she?

He reached out again to touch her shoulder. She didn’t jump or react in the way he would have expected from someone who was being roused from deep concentration.

Instead, she just turned her head to look at him.

There was nothing there. No emotion on her face. It’s not like he expected her to hug him or anything. But he had at least thought she’d be angry, tell him to get away.

The lack of reaction was unnerving.

“Mason,” She finally acknowledged him.

Bell slipped the headphones off her ears and allowed them to hang from her neck. She looked at him expectantly.

Deep dark circles had settled in under her eyes.

Had she been sleeping at all?

Her skin was so pallid he had to wonder if there was still blood pumping in her veins underneath it. He resisted the urge to check her pulse.

“How are you doing?”

“Fine.”

He pulled up a chair and sat close to her.

“I’ve called. You won’t take my calls.”

Her expression remained even and impassive.

“I know.”

“Bell, what’s going on with you?”

“Nothing.”

Her tone was straightforward. Matter-of-fact. Emotionless.

Shell of herself.

She turned and picked up her notes, handing them to Mason.

“I’ve made a lot of progress,” Bell continued, “Do you recognize any of this?”

He scanned the page in front of him. The sequences were familiar, but some had been altered. New locations and dates, same directions?

Mason didn't know if the CIA had ever fully decoded the Ascension sequence. They knew enough to figure out at least part of it. He wondered if Hudson had authorized passing some of that information on to Bell.

Not likely. Hudson trusted Bell the least of all of them. Even less so than Adler.

Reviewing the page again, he realized it might have some insight into her mental state. There were obvious signs of attempts at decryption. Scattered notes in Russian. Like someone trying to solve math problems. It seemed like a pain in the ass to have to work backward.

While he might not have been able to read them, there was nothing in those that stood out as a red flag to him.

But here and there, wedged in the margins, crammed into small spaces on the page as if they were trying to hide, he could see something odd. These had a chaotic quality to them.

It could be nothing. But just like her body language, it felt off.

“What’s this here?” Mason asked her in a casual tone. He pointed to one of the more prominent sets of strange notes.

Bell’s dull eyes followed his finger to where he was pointing, and then she looked back at him.

“What do you mean?”

“These notes here.”

Bell placed her finger just above his on a set of notes that looked like a decryption process to him.

“You mean here?”

“No, just below that.”

She blinked and looked again.

“There’s nothing there.”

He pointed to another set of notes, “What about these?”

She shook her head.

Then moving his finger, he pointed to the normal notes.

“An attempt at decryption.”

Trying one last time, he indicated a different line of chaotic writing on the page.

Mason flipped the page around to examine it, confirming that there were, in fact, notes there.

It was like she couldn’t see them. He handed her the notebook back, and she turned to continue with her work. Or whatever she thought she was doing.

Mason’s gaze traveled behind her to look at the maps pinned on the evidence board.

One was a map of the world.

He recognized some of the pins.

Yamantau, Rebirth Island, several markers clustered around Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

He stood up to examine one of those.

Khammoune, Laos.

“These pins-”

Bell looked up and lazily followed where he was pointing with her eyes.

“Why these locations?”

“They were on the map at the CIA airbase in Cambodia.”

“You remembered all of these?”

“Not at first. I’ve visited it a few times now. I think they’re accurate.”

She rose to stand next to him.

She pointed at the pin in Yamantau, "You've been there. This year."

“Believe it or not I've been to all of these places. Yamantau was a crumbling mess at that time,” He said before adding, “Still is.”

He and Woods had left it in a worse state than they had found it, but no one had done more damage than Hudson’s team back in ‘68.

And Woods had gone there in ‘77 to take care of some scientist. Both times it had been suspected to be the site of Nova 6 development.

In fact, from what he knew, many of the sites she pinned were related to Nova 6 in some way. He wondered if Hudson had a chance to take a look at this yet.

“What do you mean you’ve visited?” He asked her.

Bell tapped her temple.

“It’s all in here now. It’s very helpful. I can go back and look around.”

Revisiting some of her worst nightmares.

Of course, isn’t that what they all did?

But for her, they were not just a distant memory. Everything she remembered now must have felt like it happened to her as recently as this year. It was all fresh in her mind. It must be completely overwhelming. He could understand why she might want to disassociate from that on top of everything else.

“Hey, I’ll be right back, ok?”

Bell nodded, though he guessed it wouldn’t have made a difference to her either way.

Mason walked outside. Woods was waiting for him, finishing a cigarette. He exhaled a puff of smoke before crushing the cigarette under his work boot.

Wordlessly he raised an eyebrow at Mason.

“Can you look at something?” Mason asked, throwing his thumb over his shoulder at the Safehouse door.

Woods’ shoulders dropped, and he moved his neck side to side as if trying to crack it.

Then he sighed in annoyance before asking, “What is it?”

He already guessed. He must have been standing out here waiting for Mason to join him and to ask him something about Bell. But he had to try.

“Some of Be-”

“No, no,” Woods cut him off, holding up a hand to stop him.

“Woods-”

Woods ran his hand over his beard, smoothing it out.

“No.”

“Look, Woods, she’s in trouble.”

“So Park said.”

“I talked to her. I looked at her notes. I don’t know what her they say but-”

“If you need a translator, ask Adler.”

Mason would rather get Woods’ opinion on it than Adler’s. And if he were being totally honest, he suspected that Adler wouldn’t bother sharing any details from her notes unless Mason needed to know them.

“Woods, you know he’s not going to help.”

“How many names, Mason?”

“What?”

“It’s been days. Can’t get it out of my head,” Woods explained, “That was a CIA base they hit. How many names you think we’d recognize? How many of our guys?”

“Most of them. Maybe all of them,” Mason admitted, “She was a soldier, too.”

“An enemy soldier. Russians supplied the VC. Trained ‘em. How many guys were shot down by AA guns she trained someone on?” He paused, thinking things over. It was plaguing him.

“You know how many pilots I met in there? How many guys in that hell hole were there- died there because of her? Doesn’t that matter to you? Keep you up at night?”

It did.

It kept him up at night.

Helping the enemy.

But how many people had they worked with before who had switched sides?

They never talked about the bad things they had done. Never had to.

No one was constantly diving into those guys’ brains dragging up their past sins.

And up until now, neither of them had ever felt the need to ask any questions.

Just glad to have the help.

If they weren’t dredging the depths of Bell’s subconscious right now, would either of them have a problem?

“Doesn’t it matter that she’s helping us now? She’s trying to change?”

Woods sighed. He pulled out another cigarette and lit it.

He chain-smoked more when he was stressed. That might be a good sign.

Woods handed him the pack, and Mason fished out a cigarette for himself.

He knew that if Woods was still willing to debate things, still working it over in his mind, this wasn’t his final absolute word on it.

But loyalty was paramount to Woods.

Part of what kept him awake at night was likely him going over each person in turn in his mind.

What would Bowman say? What would that kid on the boat say?

Each guy he met in the Hilton? Every SOG member who didn’t come back. Every one he had to leave behind in Da Nang as he crawled through the shit or whatever he had to do to get himself out of there.

That already ate him up on the daily. Not that they had talked about it. But Mason knew Woods.

Even though he himself had been half dead and starving, even though he could barely drag his own body out of there, the fact that he couldn’t do it for anyone else was always in the back of his mind as a personal failing.

Survivor’s guilt. Mason knew it too well.

And Woods was likely working through whether helping Bell would be an act of disloyalty to all of them.

But Mason wasn’t sure they had the time for Woods to debate it.

If what Park said was true, Bell was deteriorating fast.

And Mason knew that if something happened to her, Bell would be another name to add to Woods’ roster if something happened to her.

Woods finished his cigarette.

“Ok. I’ll look.”

He didn’t move. So Mason went inside to ask Bell if he could borrow her notes. And, of course, the dead-eyed girl gave them to him unquestioningly.

When Mason returned outside, Woods wordlessly held out his hand for the notes. He watched his friend intently as his eyes scanned over the page. Occasionally he would turn the notes sideways, following a thought trail where it had plowed through the page.

Woods’ brow furrowed as he quietly moved his mouth to work out the words she had written. Trying to decipher meaning from Bell’s madness.

Finally, Woods handed it back to Mason.

“It’s nothing, just venting,” He said, finally.

Mason frowned. Woods was holding back.

“Look, she doesn’t need us. I know you wanna make up for not knowing. For not seeing what Adler was doing right under our noses. I’m still pissed about that, too. But she came here to get away from us.��

“Or keep us away from her-”

“All right then, she’s saying she’s dangerous.”

“Woods, you didn’t see her. Go talk to her-”

Woods shook his head.

“Give those back, and let's go.”

Mason pressed his shoulder against the sticky front door to force it open. He staggered into the entryway of the apartment building, turning as he did to look at the door.

Its constant sticking had been a point of frustration for him. He could only think about what a hard time Em must have getting through with both the baby and the groceries.

Mason set a mental reminder to make a call to get it fixed.

And at the same time, he found himself examining the hinges.

Maybe some oil lubricant would do the trick.

Or graphite?

Wasn’t that just typical? He couldn’t fix anything else, so he felt the impulse to focus his energy on fixing the front door.

Why not just try to rehang the fucking thing?

He stepped away from it.

Vowing to contact whoever and not try to do it himself.

After checking the mail, he headed up the large stairwell.

He reached his door and tucked the mail under his arm before unlocking it. The scent of home cooking welcomed him inside. Kicking off his shoes and tossing the mail on the table, he stepped in.

Em was just inside the kitchen, trying to encourage David to eat apple slices, but he seemed more inclined to toss them on the floor and giggle.

A fun game for him, but Em clearly had had enough, and she let out an exaggerated sigh.

David only giggled in response.

“Mommy’s funny isn’t she?” He said as he mussed David’s hair.

“I think Daddy thinks he’s hilarious,” Em responded, tossing apple slices into the trash.

“He’s just telling you he’s ready for a big old steak,” He said, leaning against the counter and eyeing whatever was roasting in the oven.

Em laughed in a way that made it clear she wasn’t all that amused.

“You know, it’s humbling to go from interrogating a terrorist leader to being completely unable to get a baby to eat.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, you want to switch places?”

“You’d have to work with Frank.”

There was that laugh again.

Woods and Em may get along now, but that wasn’t without effort.

When they had first met they were constantly butting heads.

She had her way of doing things, and Woods had his. Still did.

But it had left Mason with a dilemma. One, it was difficult to work closely with two people who were so at odds. And two, well, maybe he had been harboring a bit of a thing for Em at the time.

And he couldn’t even tell Woods about it, then.

But as it goes, one saved the other, and suddenly everything was copacetic.

Well, most everything.

Em rooted through the fridge and pulled out a block of cheese, setting it on the counter. She sliced a couple of thin pieces off and sandwiched an apple slice between them.

“I’m not sure who’s more stubborn, Frank or this little guy,” Em said.

David reached for the food and took a bite. After a moment of chewing that ended up on the floor as well.

Mason ruffled David’s dark hair.

“Ugh, I give up,” She said, throwing her hands up, “I think we have a winner.”

“I dunno about that.”

“What? Don’t tell me there’s trouble in paradise?” Em asked. She looked at him curiously as she combed her fingers through her dark hair and pulled it into a ponytail.

On the drive back, he debated whether he would tell Em about what was going on with Woods. He couldn’t tell her everything, but he could give her the gist. She was pretty good at helping him work these kinds of things out.

“We don’t exactly see eye to eye on something. He’s fixated on this one aspect of the problem that he’s decided to wash his hands clean of the whole thing.”

“You’re kidding, Sergeant Woods, being a stubborn ass about something?”

“Yeah yeah, it’s just. Look, there’s someone who needs our help. And I think,” Mason rapped his fists on the counter in rhythm as he thought over his words, “I think I can’t do it alone. I need his help, and he just refuses.”

Not the best summary.

Em frowned and folded her arms as she leaned on the counter across from him, waiting for him to continue.

“You know how he is. Trust doesn’t come easy with him.”

She nodded. She knew what he was talking about.

“So this person hurt him?”

“No, not intentionally. She-”

“She?” Em raised an eyebrow, “God, can’t Frank get along with any women?”

Mason shook his head.

“It’s not like that. He did. They did get along.”

“So what-”

“Some stuff from her past is coming to the surface. Things she might have said or done.”

“I see.”

He could imagine what Em might have been thinking. It wouldn’t blow her mind to know they were working with a member of a terrorist group. She’d worked with agents of the CIA before. Many of them were double agents. So that could be enough.

He couldn’t elaborate on who Bell was.

“You know Frank and I don’t always see eye-to-eye, especially regarding work. But I’ve never known him to turn his back on someone in his team who needed help. He probably just has to work this- whatever it is- out for himself. Give him time.”

“I’m not sure if we have it.”

“Well, if he’s talking about it, that’s something, isn’t it? He hasn’t shut down yet.”

That was the conclusion Mason had come to as well.

“Seems like it might even be more complicated than you can tell me,” Em said.

He nodded. At least Em understood classified.

Civilians always think they get it. But they don’t. When they want to know something, they hope you’ll make exceptions. And get pissed when you don’t.

Em stepped forward and gently brushed an errant hair out of his face.

“If it’s the right thing, he’ll come around. He always does. You know how he is. He has to do things his own way.”

When he returned to the Safehouse the next day, he found Bell in the same spot. It was like she hadn’t moved since he last saw her. She and Park were in conversation.

“I saw it last night,” Bell’s voice sounded wooden.

“You went back?”

Bell nodded.

“The folder- what did it say?”

“Нова-6.”

“And the map?” Park asked, “Have you figured that out?”

“Pinpointing various locations where Nova-6 was stored or manufactured.”

“And this was at the airbase, you’re sure?”

“Positive.”

“Do you know what happened next? Did you report your findings to Moscow?”

“I don’t know.”

“But you were in trouble. Do you remember with who?”

“The government.”

“Because of Nova-6?”

She shrugged, “I can’t be sure.”

“You hijacked a US helicopter and helped take out an airbase in a matter of minutes with minimal casualties. What the hell could you have been in trouble for?”

Bell shook her head.

Whatever they were talking about it had to be related to a recent session. He’d read the report later.

Park acknowledged him and handed him a folder as she walked back to the lab. Taking the folder he nodded to her.

“Hey, Bell.”

“Mason.”

“How are you feeling?”

Bell shrugged.

Again his eyes were drawn to the map behind her. Someone had pinned a map of the United States up just below the World one. There were no markers in it yet.

“What’s going on here?”

“Nothing new. I wanted to be prepared. I’ve requested a copy of the list we took from the KGB, but Hudson hasn’t approved it yet. It would help with the decryption.”

“You think these are related?” He asked, pointing to both the map of the United States and the Nova-6 locations.

“It’s the only lead I have.”

The locations of the sleeper cells and the Nova-6 containers scattered around the US were thought to have died with Dragovich. And with Steiner dead as well, concerns regarding someone using them and the chemical weapon against the US had been mitigated. The threat was always out there, but it hadn’t been imminent. Of course, had always thought that the KGB might know more than they let on. But with US nukes in Turkey pointed directly at Moscow, they weren’t about to act so recklessly. The stalemate, as tenuous as it was, was keeping them all alive for now.

Then Bell and Adler broke into the KGB and stole the sleeper agent list. And finally, they were able to neutralize them. Another crisis averted.

Mason wondered to himself what had happened to the Nova-6. Likely the government had it all locked up in a warehouse for safekeeping.

So is this what Bell’s job had been?

Wouldn’t it would make sense that Perseus might want to finish Draovich’s original plan?

That may have been his initial goal before he got his hands on that Greenlight nuke.

Mason could only imagine the devastation if either of those plans had succeeded.

But had she known what she was doing? She had to, right?

How many times had his own government concealed its true actions from him?

He hadn’t questioned it.

Maybe it was wishful thinking to believe that she had found herself in a similar situation.

“Had to have known,” Bell said softly. She was studying the maps as well.

“What?”

She turned to him. Her eyes were clear. This might have been one of those lucid moments Park had mentioned.

“I had to have known what was going on. I was ready to help Perseus devastate the world.”

It was like she had read his mind.

“Maybe, maybe not. We don’t know yet.”

“Come on, Alex, the evidence just keeps mounting against me. Look at what I’m decrypting. Look at the connections I’m making. It’s all somewhere in my head, even if I can’t remember it.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“No? And Frank? How does he feel?”

“I don’t think he believes it. Not really.”

She gave him a sad smile, “Alex, come on. If that were true, then why isn’t he here with you?”

He opened his mouth to argue, but a placid expression had appeared on her face.

And she was gone again.

Mason sighed and walked to the kitchenette. He poured himself a cup of coffee and sat in the red chair. Opening the folder Park had given him, he reviewed her report.

The latest deep dive into Bell’s subconscious was something out of an action movie. His eyes were glued to the page.

When he finished reading, he found himself stunned.

So this is why Park had been so concerned about Bell being in trouble.

Hell, from the report, it sounded like her punishment came straight from the top.

This was exactly what Mason needed.

If this wouldn’t convince Woods, nothing would.

tgas: @sogdads @shieldsbucky @scumbagg @quizzyisdone @stupid-stinky

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your-blorbo-from-whore-bo · 4 months

Text

Okaaaayyyy, so I write fanfiction, but this is my first The owl house fic- just gonna test to see if I should continue-

Sweet Child of Mine

(Pt1???) (Willow X Hunter) (The owl house)

A lot had happened in the past four years. Belos, the collector, Belos again. It had all been one giant headache paired with occasional adrenaline rushes. However, this was the end. Hopefully. There were just some final insurance steps that needed to be put into place.

Hunter was entrusted with sweeping through the old castle. Hunter knew most of the secrets, and the things he didn’t know, he knew where to find. His girlfriend, Willow was with him, hopefully just for emotional support. Then again, you never knew what security might be embedded in the castle, and Willow was far more capable than Hunter himself, but that was already given knowledge.

“It’s going to be alright.” Willow said, already being proactive about comforting Hunter, firmly holding his hand. She knew how hard this was for him, but if anyone could ensure the safety of the boiling isles from whatever lurked in the castle, it was Hunter.

There were some places that everyone on the isles knew about, like the throne room, or the coven relics that had been up on display. There were lesser known rooms, like the coven-head headquarters, or military bases. Then, there were rooms that Hunter knew of, but had never been in.

Belos was insanity incarnate. Hunter could never justify his reasoning, and had no intentions of looking for any. Unfortunately, Hunter had to look into his eyes, to think of what could be a danger. Slowly, he had skimmed through all the hidden sectors of the castle, and last up was Belos’s lab.

Hunter had been only four when he had first found out about the laboratory. He had been following around his former mentor, playing coven scout spies, which was a favorite game of his, up until the incident. Belos seemed to be complacent in the game, never joining in, nor actively discouraging it, til Hunter had somehow caught him opening up a secret door.

It had been a triumph of his, in the moment. Catching his uncle doing something he had never seen before. He had waited for Belos to turn around so he could show off his skills.

Black goo.

Slice.

Blood.

Hunter had been left cradling his wound on his face.

“Real spies don’t gloat about their newfound knowledge.” Belos had said coldly. “Do not” he started, the ‘t’ holding more an added punch, “follow me in here. Ever.”

The act was so cemented in Hunter's mind that he knew that that was the place where if Belos had any more secrets, it would be there.

He led Willow to the little notch on the side of the wall in a particular hallway. Flashes of his trauma flitting in and out of his brain, like stray embers on the fire dumpster that was his childhood. He pushed past it, in order to fulfill his mission.

Once the door was open, he stood at the entrance for a second. “So this was Belos’s lab.” he said, his heart beating fast. “I’ve only been here once- not /in/ here, but…”

Willow reached over and held Hunter’s hand. “Do you want to head back?” She asked. “Now that we know where it is, we don’t need to-” Her eyes grew wide as she saw a pod of sorts. It had a metal exterior, and was filled with liquid, but more importantly, an infant inside. There was a screen next to it that said “ready for extraction”.

Hunter was confused at first, but then followed her line of sight. There was so much in this dang workshop that it was hard to see that pod, but when he did, he froze. “He was already planning on replacing me.” He said, and went up to the glass to get a better look.

He accidentally pressed the button and the glass opened, the liquid and baby tumbling out. “Shit-” Hunter cursed, and caught the child. The baby grimwalker started to immediately cry as air hit his lungs.

“Language!” Willow chastised, but went over to find a blanket. “Here you go.” She said softly, and looked over at the child.

“Sorry, I just didn’t want to drop him.” Hunter replied. He took the blanket and swaddled the child- or at least as best as he could. He was no parent, but he already immediately felt a connection to this child. He was like him, made for a purpose, and given the chance to reject said purpose, if just given the love needed to thrive.

“I didn’t know you looked so cute as a baby.” Willow tried to tease, not knowing what was going through her boyfriend’s head, but she could tell that he looked overwhelmed.

Hunter looked down at the child in his arms. His heart bled for him. “Lets go, now.” He said, rushing over to the underground tunnels of the castle.

Willow was shocked, rushing after the grimwalkers. “Wait- Hunter?! What are you doing?” She asked, catching up to the scrawny teen’s pace.

“The moment anyone finds out about the baby, they’re going to take him away.” Hunter explained. “I need to protect him from that.”

Willow grew quiet, thinking it over as he jogged alongside Hunter in the castle’s dark underbelly.

“You think I’m crazy, don’t you?” Hunter said softly.

“No, maybe a little impulsive, but that’s pretty normal by Hunter standards.” Willow said with a soft smile.

And so that’s how Hunter Noceda became a father.

(To be continued???)

#toh fanfic #winter #huntlow #hunter the owl house #willow toh #willow x hunter #willow park #hunter wittebane deamonne noceda clawthorne #except no wittebane #buttlos can die #grimwalker #baby grimwalker #Sweet Child of Mine

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riewritten · 2 years

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14 SLIPPING AWAY

DUSK IN THE BRIGHTEST | chapter directory

erwin smith/fem!reader, erwin smith/you, no y/n | slow burn, angst, hurt/comfort, fluff & smut, mutual pining, canon AU, college/univ AU, professor erwin smith, commander erwin smith, non-linear narrative, manga spoilers

Trigger warning: canon-typical violence, graphic description, explicit sexual content, suicidal thoughts, mental health issues, trauma, implied/referenced sexual harassment, implied/referenced abuse, attempted murder, overdosing

Plot: It was always the nightmares, really. Entrapped with walls, human-eating giants, fighting through metal strings and swords – utterly violent, dreary, recurrent. But behind the blurry faces was a man with menacing blue eyes and vivid features; eventually appearing before you as your new reputable professor, Erwin Smith. Since then, the disaster had slipped beyond your subconscious. AO3

art from miico.jpg again! they're so cute oh my GOD

From Levi's point of view, Erwin never seemed to be in good shape since they met. He encapsulated every forlorn this world could ever have and everyone in their circle just knew he was barely keeping his facade. This man's clearly seen better days, they always thought. However, Erwin has an odd getaway from everything and Levi is the one to keep up with it—one of which involves Erwin dumping unsolicited story ideas on the man. Hearing heaps of tragic scenarios involving everyone Levi knew – constantly at that – was just plain disturbing, whether they were just silly stories or not. Erwin apologized for it but repeated the gesture when he got drunk again, which left Levi highly defeated.

However, when Erwin decided to meet each in their circle separately and sounded as though he was bidding his farewells, a red alarm came off—something must be done to keep Erwin from slipping away.

"Levi," Hange mumbled worriedly on the phone, "I met Erwin just now and it's true. He's alarming, you know? I jokingly told him he better treat me drinks but he immediately agreed without contentions!" then they started shouting, "Isn't that strange? Erwin didn't mumble a single banter! He didn’t mock me all throughout our hangout! How am I supposed to react to that!"

"Maybe I’ll understand if you stop screaming for once," Levi gruffed. After massaging his temples, he added, "So, what did he say?"

"Miche's right, he ended up telling us the same—that he needs to go far away so he could pay the rest of his debt."

Weird, Levi thought. Erwin came from a well-off family so he's certain it's not a literal debt he has to pay, "Did he tell you what the debt was?"

"He kept on getting vague to me as well. Just exactly what he said to others."

"Any other signs to look at?"

"He doesn't look like some angsty city boy anymore; his smiles are wistful, too. I confirmed he's really giving his possessions away, had put his house on sale, and set everything in order."

“Maybe his over-the-top brain finally kept up to him,” Levi was getting really pissed at the thought.

"When I asked him who he was supposed to meet next, he said he's just certain to make you the last one," swiftly, Hange's voice exuded sheer urgency, as if bidding beware, "Levi, you're the only one left to do this. He definitely can't go away this way"

That was something Levi doesn't need to be told. He's certain he'd do anything to knock some sense off Erwin no matter how cruel or sappy it could be. So when Erwin finally asked him to drink, he made sure he was all prepared. Before the meetup, he tried to recall everything Erwin said to him—nothing unusual came into mind. When he pondered further, however, he remembered Erwin spurring unusual nuances whenever he's dead drunk.

"All my story prompts are bullshit. They're not prompts at all." Erwin mumbled with dead tired eyes and a swaying drunk voice. "They’re real. Why are they real?"

"Are you asking me why? Go outside and have some air. You're wasted."

"No, Levi. You don't understand." he mumbled under his breath, all whining, "I didn't say it to you for nothing. It’s true, I’m wicked whenever I’m asleep. And I just want—" his voice was barely audible this time around, "I just want someone to judge me."

There, he finally closed his eyes.

Whenever he's like that, they always end up carrying him back home while unconscious. Despite the absurdity of it all, he’s keen enough to have an inkling about his mumbles, not at all unfamiliar with someone getting repeated nightmares, too. That's why on a random day, he pressed Isabel regarding yours—what it was all about, how often, and more relevant inquiries. Despite the young girl's reluctance, she still ended up spilling everything. By the time she was done, Levi was in a completely foul mood.

"I'm not joking here."

"Yeah, I'm not joking too."

"Did Erwin tell you this to play around me as well?"

"What do you even mean by that? Have you ever seen us talk?” she gruffed as if in a cringe. “You brought him here for the second time already but I'm still afraid of him! Ugh, I still shudder whenever I’m reminded of his build."

Isabel was never a good liar so her reaction was more than enough to perturb Levi. How is that even possible? Again, despite the absurdity of it all, he kept it in his cards regardless.

Anything to keep Erwin from slipping away from them.

"Yo, Levi," Erwin greeted upon seeing him; he was already with a glass of wine and settled nicely on the barstool.

"I'll get straight to the point with you here, Erwin," he dropped his coat on the counter and settled himself on the seat beside him. "I went here so I could stop your leaving shenanigans. We're no fools here. There's no way you'd be paying anyone's debt."

"Come on, now. I just wanted to wind out tonight." After all, Levi needs to get in the mood to hear the things he has to say.

"Why? Your silly coping strategy of making up stories to make me suffer got you bored now?"

"Heh, I suppose it did," Erwin knew his sarcastic smile wouldn't help Levi's already foul mood. "Can I smoke?"

"Are you planning to do something irreversible? Is that why you’re bidding us farewell?"

Levi watched as Erwin widened his eyes, albeit still with unfaltering composure. "Why would I do that?"

"What debts are you aiming to pay for exactly?"

"From an old acquaintance."

"You're not fooling anyone here but yourself. The others might be tolerant of your silly vagueness but I certainly have no patience for this. Be straight to the point or I'll be the one to knock you off instead of the wine you're drinking."

"Sorry," the blonde gave him a wistful smile, "but I don't want to talk about it."

"I'll spare you on that if this was some usual hangout but we both know it isn't," Levi was not drinking at all. He just sat there, tense, and in a lurking attempt to hide the unwarranted anger that Erwin doesn't need right now.

"As expected, you really won't let me win this one."

"Yeah, if you're now aware then stop stalling me on this talk."

"The story prompts are real."

Oh god, Levi just shut his eyes close in frustration; he even pondered what he might've done to deserve everyone conspiring to break his sanity. But then again, Erwin might not be sober already; he needs to jive in to this. "Okay. What do you mean by that?"

"Just like what I said. All the nonsense I spilled out is something real."

Was he trying to change the topic so Levi wouldn’t stop him? Or was Erwin waiting for him to actually believe it before he let out a dad joke laugh? Levi wouldn't know. He can't figure out Erwin's eccentricities. "Okay, Erwin. How so?"

"All the things I said to you," Erwin poured his glass of wine again, "I dreamt of it even before meeting you guys."

"Expound."

"That's it."

"What the fuck, Erwin. For fuck's sake. Be clear at once."

"Since the time I got conscious enough to recognize things, I’ve been having a fair share of very vivid nightmares."

"Please don't tell me you're sharing a story prompt again."

"No, idiot," he chuckled, "I didn't tell you all of those prompts for nothing. They were real to me because I see them whenever I sleep."

Levi can't deal with this soberly, hence he chugged down the wine. "Well, the nightmare part I can believe. I know someone who had that dilemma as well. Constant nightmares in one setting. Although she's not clear about what's happening around it just yet." Guilt started to fill his gut, though. How could he just use your grievances over someone you never knew? How could he, when you hold him with disdain for reasons he couldn't know?

When he looked at Erwin again, he immediately grimaced, "What the fuck is up with that face?"

"Who is that someone?"

"A close family friend."

"Do you know what their dreams are about?"

"I swear to god, you better be pulling off some kind of joke."

"What? No, why?"

Levi brushed his hair with a hand, frustrated, "The dreams she's been having are quite similar to yours."

"What's her name?"

Despite being completely clueless at the reaction, Levi just thought of going with whatever Erwin wanted if that meant prolonging this conversation. That way he could still figure out how to convince him to not push whatever his plans were. As soon as he uttered your name, Erwin dropped his glass on the table.

"Why? Rang a bell? What now? Are you gonna tell me she showed up in those silly nightmares too?" Levi hoped Erwin would finally say no with a dad-like laugh, but no, he was too horrified at the revelation. "Those damned walls, fighting giants, getting chewed by them. That's the gist. My brat told me about it because she's close to her." Still, Erwin heaved no response. "Seriously? Isabel wasn't fucking around?"

“How—” Erwin halted, chugged down the whole glass, and continued, “how’s that girl doing?”

“Well, as bad as you are if not more," then a sudden idea flashed before him, “I won’t be able to tell you much, though. Maybe get your ass to her then see it for yourself instead of bidding everyone farewell to pay for nonexistent debts.” After all, if he managed to get Erwin near their household then maybe he could have a turnaround towards the betterment of his well-being.

Erwin collected himself or attempted so. He seemed to grimace the thought of it so much. "I don’t think I could. She was haunted by the fact that I made her life miserable and instead of taking accountability, I left her blaming herself for feeling broken about it.”

What the fuck was that? I doubt I'll be able to figure that out even if I'm dead drunk. How am I supposed to respond? Levi’s head was throbbing. “If that's the case then she might be someone you’re really indebted to. She's been in rough shape since childhood as well. I think she’s getting worse day by day. You may have dumped this on me randomly but now that I think of it, this might be the reason why you’re in a rough shape as well. If not even the mighty Erwin Smith could easily survive that shit hole, I don't think she could."

“Fuck,” Erwin muttered under his breath, “I can’t stress enough how frustrated I am with that." He couldn't even chug down another glass again; the bitterness of it all glued on his tongue—tightly and tightly that he could almost taste the blood. Erwin vehemently hoped your mind would be at ease just like Levi and the others, at least in this one. Out of all the people he struggled to find in those nightmares to ensure their quality of life this time around, it was you that he couldn't get to see.

However, he tried clinging to the little hope left. He just needs to know you're in a relatively better place now, that way the guilt won't strike him too hard. "Does she smile a lot?"

"You made her cry in your dreams?"

“Just answer the question.”

“Rarely, but she still does.”

"Hm," as if that indeed eased his worries, Erwin was able to chug down the last bits of his wine, then called for the bartender to serve him another. "She looks really good when smiling. You must be fortunate to see that.”

Huh?

He held his tongue back and came up with another response, “I have so many questions but I beg you to shut up for now. Just go to her and prove to me you’re not fooling around. I’ll knock you out otherwise.”

“It’s not like I have a choice. I can’t leave her like that.”

Levi, despite the sheer confusion, was slightly satisfied. He had no idea how it worked but at least he managed to change Erwin’s mind. That’s what matters to him for now.

He pulled some strings so Erwin could manage to live around the area, but despite his clear agenda of helping him not lose himself, he was also curious at the premise of the nightmate itself. Afte4 all, if you're not having the same, he definitely wouldn't be able to reach Erwin.

He's also worried, very, very worried for you. His stoicity would not allow to show it, but you're one of the few people in this world that he holds with importance, one of the few he could empathize with ease.

When Erwin finally settled, they hung out again.

"She fainted. Right after she saw me."

Levi turned to him in disbelief, "You better be joking."

"I sure hope I am," he scorned, definitely not in the mood anymore.

And thus Levi tried to calm down. "To be fair, that girl doesn't get enough sleep. Maybe that came up to her."

"She doesn't look like she fainted out of exhaustion. I carried her to the infirmary myself, stayed for a while and even tried to wake her up."

Oh man, is it really this bad? Should I just shoo Erwin away from her?

Instead, he said, “How does that make you feel?"

"You wouldn't want to know."

"No shit. I really don't. Just answer the question."

"I thought it would be better to just run away again," Erwin mournfully replied, so mournful that Levi got worried about his efforts. However, Erwin added, "but I was also happy, and that feeling disgusted me."

"HYou're happy she fainted?"

"No. I'm happy I was able to confirm she's really having the same thing."

"I thought you were frustrated about that?"

"Yeah, I got too happy knowing someone could see me in that world and judge me the way I wanted to, all the while having the potential to answer my questions," the poor man sighed, "I was also delighted to see her again despite how bad she's dealing with this predicament. How foul could that be."

It might be a piece of common knowledge now but he still can't get used to the sight of Erwin being utterly pitiful.

Still, this is a different talk because it's you in the picture. If Levi were to weigh his priorities, it would be you—Kuchel wouldn't allow him to choose otherwise, too.

"Seriously, Erwin. I brought you here just because of how you reacted. If she really was stressed upon seeing you that she fainted then I don't think I would be able to bat an eye on that. This is the time you should explain properly."

Erwin didn't feel like messing around anymore. He was extremely tired and he hadn't thought of getting this far. That's why he told Levi everything about it without letting any details slip, even moreso not enclosing it in silly stories. He was almost impressed at Levi's silent nods, but little did he know, his friend was obliterated. He stood up, grabbed his stock of champagne, and ended up drinking too much again despite not having any plans to.

"Erwin, if you're really fucking around here I beg you to drop it now. This is seriously creeping me out."

"I really hope I have the will to fuck around."

"Fine. So what do you think is up with that?"

"I had a hard time deciphering it at first but after all the years I spent having those, I realized it's indeed something separate from this world. I'm not sure how that worked nor why only the two of us have it as far as I'm aware, but my hunch is that the nightmares might be events that happened first."

"So the two dying miserably, me who tried to kill you, and you being the bad man you're very eager to make me known, all of them are real?"

"Yeah," Erwin tapped mindlessly on the glass. He sensed how restless he was getting, "Can I smoke?"

"Go on."

The conversation was too heavy in the middle of a hectic week, even the stoic Levi couldn't be immuned. He just didn't have any idea how he would survive such a tragedy.

"I… I don't know how it happened nor do I want to witness that unfold but you better take her easy. I know how curious you could be but at least tone it down until she's ready. She's been through a lot."

"That doesn't need to be told," Erwin pressed his cig on the ashtray. "The last thing I want to be is another burden."

Levi knew that he could trust Erwin, he really does, but he rarely saw you lose your cool and only Isabel has the privilege to see that. When the nightout came, Levi's worried tipped over the edge.

"What did you do?" He glowered at the man holding your unconscious figure so you wouldn't end up on the ground.

"She went up to me and cried."

"Yeah? And what made her cry?" Levi's voice was rising up. "We already talked about this and I trusted you would stick to your word so what the hell is–"

"Hey, what's up?" Furlan cut him off, worriedly putting a hand on Levi's shoulder to calm him down. "She only looked like she drank a lot."

When Kuchel carefully handled your body so Erwin could stand up, he walked into the bushes and picked some bottles up.

"The heck? That's a lot!" Isabel exclaimed. That sight made Levi ground himself somehow but that's not enough to erase his already foul mood. He walked away to get the car without a word, leaving his siblings worried for him.

After the small commotion, despite the topic being almost too heavy to bear, he let Erwin tell him all relevant updates, silly conspiracies, and how they could possibly alleviate the situation and your worsening stress.

The last straw for him, however, was when they stormed into your house and heard straight from you something he heard from Erwin first. Maybe it would be better if he hadn't convinced Erwin to live here because you turned out to be the repercussion. He knew he used your situation for his benefit after all.

Maybe I should ask Erwin to go home?

It is until you came up to him at the restaurant before he made the wrong call. Now, he's finally facing you as he spills everything he knows, along with his selfish favor amidst the guilt.

"Recently, I actually just dumped Erwin the burden of ensuring you wouldn't end up completely insane. I know I don't have the right to make more requests to you after what I did but–"

"No," you cut him off flatly, "what did you do? It's not your fault."

"I was the one who brought him here–"

"Still, it's not your fault."

Levi almost let out a small laugh in amusement. He's not the one who needs consoling right now. "Fine. So here's my request," he gave you your free drink, clasped his hands on the bar table, then shot you an intent look, "save Erwin. I'm sure you could do it better than we ever could."

The remark made you utterly confused, "Where does he need to be saved from?"

"From himself. We're not too sure about this but it seems like Erwin was about to kill himself had I not told him about your nightmares. I'm not asking you to be some sort of caretaker but the thing you have with him is something no one ever has as far as I know. Do you get where I'm coming from?"

"So he was badly affected by this as well," you barely whispered. I thought he had a better life here.

"Yeah, he does. I'm actually really thankful I don't suffer the same and I thought I should apologize for that as well."

You heaved a tired laugh, "I don't get why you should but I appreciate the gesture, I guess."

"Though the change he had after bringing him here was almost alarming. He only smiles like that when he's wasted. I’m at a loss on the way he acts towards you now."

"I'm completely annoyed when he smiles that I thought he's born for that," you chugged half of the drink down. "Tell me more."

"He gets along with everyone easily but dead serious most of the time. So now that he smiles randomly and even laughs at the simplest things, I'm appalled to even point it out."

"Really? I told Isabel that the commander was horrifying and cold but he said Erwin's far from it."

"Because he's not horrifying and cold. It's just that he can handle conversation so well that he doesn't need to let out a positive mood to register his interest."

"That's weird," you chuckled in attempts to hide your forlorn with Levi's remark. Maybe being at ease despite the burden of remembering that world was too good to be true. "I hope he could show me that as well."

"I doubt he would, considering how cautious he is in bothering you. Also… it was never a good sight to see."

"But how could I save him with what I have? What do you think I should do?"

"I don't know exactly. I just thought you could and you'd be smart enough to know how."

"I can't believe the almighty Levi is facing me without any strategies at hand."

"It's because I'm done figuring out what's on that fucker's mind," Levi can't believe he could be this clueless as well. "His thought process is out of this world. I'm quite lucky you didn't end up the same because having another Erwin will make me lose my head."

"Oh, yeah… I suppose I understand that."

"But I think your presence will be more than enough to get him grounded. After all, I told him to pay whatever debt he has towards you instead. He can't just cut you off when he feels like it and he doesn't look like he had plans to."

"And he better not plan for it. I was beyond happy when I realized he has the same."

"You're happy he ended up that way? Strange. He said the same thing."

"No. I'm happy I saw him again," and thus Levi shot you a confused look because again, you said the same thing. "If you were the ones to show up in my nightmares first, I'd be genuinely happy to have you guys in this world. Despite me getting scared upon seeing him, he became some sort of solace to me when I discovered he has the same. That alone was already a deep companionship I think."

"He might get too curious at the situation at hand, though. Tell me if he gets too much. I won't hesitate to kick him back to where he came from if you asked me to."

"Being the overprotective old man again, huh," you sheepishly smiled, but it turned sad when your eyes looked down at the coffee cup. "Thanks. And sorry. For avoiding you since then."

"Took you so long. I ctually forgot you owe me an apology for that."

He was bothered at that? "I'm sorry. I didn't think it would–"

"Of course, it would. I thought it was a temporary thing but you went on for years," but now that Erwin explained it to him, he brushed it off. "But yeah, we're not on good terms in whatever world you've been seeing."

"No, it's not that. I just… I just elt guilty. You were aware that I befriended Isabel with ulterior motives and that made you angry."

"Was that really the case for you? Did you not hold Isabel with importance at all?"

"No!" you quickly interjected. "Of course, I treasured her a lot. I think it’s tormenting how I never got to genuinely show it."

"Were you able to convey that to the Levi there?"

You nodded hesitantly; Levi patted your shoulder, "Then that's enough. I'm sure he was able to appreciate it."

"But you were so angry and—"

"I'm not whoever that man was," he flatly replied and it got you silent, "but you were able to treasure my family even in a completely different world. I might not know everything about it but if I was really him, then I'd be thankful for what you had with her. Erwin said that brat wasn't able to have a genuine companion besides us."

Somehow the thought of that Levi finally accepting your apology was more than enough to exude heavy emotions. "Levi…"

"Just so you know, I am—and always will—be taking your welfare in utmost priority, I couldn't even care less with my confusion anymore. So don't mind what I would think. Just focus on turning better."

After setting the emotions aside, for now at least, you prompted again, "Do you think I could get along with Erwin this time around? I feel like the commander needs to be more cruel in my future nightmares."

"What are you worrying about?"

"That I wouldn't help but hold the Erwin we have in disdain. I know I shouldn't worry about that and he already proved that to me many times. I just know this feeling isn't linear."

"That man…" Levi hesitated for quite a bit, "he admitted that what he felt towards you in that world kinda sticks to him even though the circumstances here are completely different."

"Really? So he's angry at me?"

"He was angry at you there?"

You immediately nodded.

"Do whatever you feel about the situation then, but be sure to convey it to him," Levi almost let out a chuckle but held it back and shook his head in amusement. “That poor man. Ask him if he really was angry. You can’t save each other when one of you would be kept in the dark regarding your feelings. You understand?”

“That’s quite challenging, but I’ll try my best—" you shot him a glare when he rested his palm on top of your head and ruffled it messily, “stop, I’m not a kid.”

“Really? I was sure Erwin told me you seemed to like it.”

“No!” you quickly tried to swat his hand away, very flustered, but he gripped it.

I can never figure out why this man is awfully strong.

But then you stopped resisting when he flashed you a small poignant smile, “No matter what’s up in that world and regardless of the reason why only the two of you remember it, both of you have to make it right this time around.”

previous chapter | next chapter

i tried to do first 3 chapters for the second arc at least so i won't leave everyone hanging with staggered releases but,, im having a really rough time lately and if i aim to shorten the waiting period then maybe it would be better to just publish whatever i finished instead of leaving it in the dark. so, yeah. sorry and i hope u enjoyed this chapter.

i also hope everyone reading my fanfic are having a great time right now, or at least this story is helping you guys unwind. it's very tormenting to be in the dark place.

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batstorm93672 · 2 years

Text

Red Hood was out for blood now, specifically a certain clown who will go down. The bastard was insane and after the trauma that he gave to the Robins, Batman made sure to keep that clown away. Yet he got his hands on a Robin, Damian was taken and everyone was ready to destroy him, Batman was pissed and led the group as he dropped down and kicked the door down. It was dark and silent yet the foul smell told everything, there was blood stained around. Tim kneeled down and inspected the blood "Been about an hour, from the analysis it indicates to Robin-"

A sound from a TV crackled to life.

"Robin you say? Oh how delightful the whole family of Bats and birdies have arrived hahaha! Now we can start the fun! Go ahead little birdie, go say hello to your family"

Jason quickly took out his pistol and shot where the voice was from, except a sharp sound of slicing was met with the bullet. From the darkness the bullet was thrown back a few feet from Hood's feet, he noticed that the bullet was sliced in two pieces... before anyone could speak, Robin leaped out of the darkness with a grin and swung with his sword in hand. Everyone moved away and Robin lunged at Red Robin, who blocked and as Nightwing stepped forward to disarm Robin, who instead kicked Nightwing in the chest and used the moment to punch Red Robin in the face. Then Robin took his sword and swung at Red Hood, who narrowly avoided in time.

"Honestly Batsy, I'm surprised you let this birdie use a sword. He struggled so much haha but a quick ol' clip of those wings got him listening. Honestly he's much better when he smiles, I must say he sure got that scary face from you Batman! He was so fun to play with, so much blood and not much emotion was boring at first... but when I broke him and he cried? Oh why, I had such a splendid time with him, he was even surprised to cry which just added the fun! Ah but it seems my time here is up, have fun with your bird!"

The TV turned off.

Batman growled and threw a batarang towards Robin, before the kid could react it opened and attached to him and roped him. Robin struggled violently and Red Robin used his bo and smacked his sword away. Doing so made Robin react and he shouted as he strained, quickly grabbing to his ankle he slipped out a dagger and cut the ropes. Robin threw the dagger at Red Hood, the dagger caught Hood's arm and landed on the wall and he wanted to kill Joker even more. Everyone stopped when Robin screamed bloody murder turning into disturbing laughing fits. Robin was covering his face where his grin wouldn't stop and his laughter still rang, as he kept doing so he began to sob. Such irony for a wide grin with a teary face, Robin writhed in pain as he reached for his sword and the urge to fight was fleeting. Robin looked at everyone, his body shaking with laughter and sobs as the grin never left his face.

Red Hood went to Batman, grabbing a small syringe he stabbed it into Robin's arm. Robin's eyes went wide and his laughter dwindled as his grin went away "What was that for?" "Knocking out the kid, he's clearly in pain. We can get the Joker toxication out of his system when we get the supplies needed at the Batcave" Tim looked at Robin "It was non-lethal, thank goodness"

Nightwing carried Robin as everyone watched over him, he kept twitching and whimpering in sleep as a twitch of his mouth turned to a grin back to frowning.

...

Damian felt so much pain, the last thing he remembered was a swing of metal. The clown kept beating him with a metal pipe until he bled. Damian managed to keep ahold of any pain and shout that he wanted to tear out. When Joker spoke of how Robin would never amount... he would die alone. That's when Damian sobbed and begged for him to stop and Joker cackled at the crack he managed to make. Damian saw green and then he felt how his face felt like it was tearing itself open when he grinned. Outside of that grin came out a disgusting laugh, something he would never do in such a manner. The laughter wasn't his normal small laugh or his making fun of someone, this one was forced and painful.

"STOP! STOP IT PLEASE! IT HURTS IT HURTS SO MUCH! GET AWAY FROM ME!!!"

Screams of agony as he thrashed at the searing pain. Someone held him down and he wanted to take his dagger and stab whatever was attempting to hurt him.

"I'LL BE BETTER PLEASE LET ME GO! I'M SORRY STOP IT STOP HURTING! S-SO MUCH PAIN PLEASE STOP IT!!"

"Baby Bat you gotta calm down! Come on, get a grip. You're okay, the old Bat is gonna take care of you"

"Stop it... please stop I've had enough... I'm done I can't do this anymore I don't wanna die again. I-I don't wanna die... please stop hurting me. It hurts so much"

"It'll be over I promise you Little D. Come on"

With that Damian felt darkness creep in.

...

Jason's leg bounced as he sat on the bedside of the little bird. He knew what Joker was like, willing to do anything to break someone until they can't take it... Joker had once done the same thing to him.

Damian stirred and sat up, Jason held back the want to embrace the hurting kid. "Hey baby bat, you feeling any better?"

"What... did he do to me? Did he kill me? Am I alone?"

"He hurt you, you're not dead Damian"

"Todd? Is that you?"

"Yeah it's me"

"H-He said that no one would come that I'd amount to nothing and die alone"

"He's insane, he doesn't know what he's saying. We're here for you Damian"

Damian sniffed and Jason held the boy close. "Akhi please don't leave me" Jason knew some Arabic from his time in the league, he just wasn't expecting such a word from Damian... To call him brother was so heartwarming.

"You'll be okay little brother"

#damian wayne #damian wayne has feelings and he wont admit it #tim drake #jason todd #dick grayson #red robin #robin #nightwing #red hood #damian and jason bonding over their time in the league #you cant change my mind about this #tw blood #tw joker toxin #tw joker #tw depressing stuff

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im-no-jedi · 2 years

Text

MLWTBB: Messy Business

aka the (continued) journey into my self insert nonsense✨

chapter summary: Hannah and Omega have some quality time at the market together, and Omega asks a very important question. when they get back to the apartment, the boys have a big surprise waiting that will hopefully make Hannah feel better about what happened. Hannah also ends up getting her wish and finally finds some time to be alone with Hunter, if only for a little while.

notes: this is a continuation of my story, “My Life With The Bad Batch”; I highly recommend reading that first before this one! I created a few new planets for this story. I’m also not 100% versed in SW terminology, so forgive me if some things are labeled incorrectly! each chapter will be rated accordingly, as opposed to the overall fic. lastly, there is romance in this story. hope you enjoy! 💙

add. notes: this chapter was edited and proofread by my sis @jam-n-ham! thanks sis!! 😋💙 and if anyone is curious, I’ve actually drawn Hunter with his scars as I’ve described them in this story 👀

Chapter 3 (final), 5800+ words, rated G (pure domestic fluff in this one 💙)

previous chapters: Chapter 1 - Chapter 2

______________________________________________________________

Out in the market, Hannah and Omega took their time shopping for things, as Hannah especially was in no rush to get back to the apartment. It was easy to sense how she felt, and Omega tried to avoid any discussion related to what had happened. Omega hated seeing any of her family members upset, but it affected her differently when it was Hannah. Maybe it was because of what happened on Volruna. Maybe it was because they were both girls. She didn’t know. All she knew was that she was going to do her best to make her friend feel better.

“Ooo, look!” Omega exclaimed as they were walking. She pointed to one of the market stalls excitedly and ran over to it, with Hannah following at a distance. “They have flowers here!”

Sure enough, the market stall was decorated with several variations of flowers in different colors. Something about them was a bit off though. As Hannah got closer to the stall, her and Omega both had the same realization. “Are these made of... metal?”

“Oh yeah,” Omega responded with a laugh. “I guess they are. They’re pretty though!” She picked up one of the red flowers and looked it over with adoration. “Should we get some for the apartment? I bet they’ll look great sitting on the counter.”

“Sure, why not,” Hannah said. She chuckled to herself and added, “I need something to offset the rest of the disaster in there...”

Omega frowned a bit, but didn’t say anything else about it. She began going through the metal flowers and arranging her own little bouquet, with Hannah picking out a few she liked as well. The end result was mostly red and orange, with splashes of blue and white strewn in. A single yellow flower, larger than the rest, sat in the middle of the bouquet.

“Perfect!” Omega happily exclaimed, holding out the bouquet proudly.

After Hannah paid for the flowers, Omega asked if there was anything else they needed to get. Her friend let out a sigh and looked through what they had already gotten with unusual slowness.

“Yeah... I’m not sure,” Hannah said, her tone a bit solemn. “I mean... I guess we could look around a bit more, see if anything looks interesting.”

Omega sighed. It was obvious what Hannah was trying to do. “Maybe... but we should really get back to the others soon, don’t you think?”

Hannah said nothing for a moment and kept her gaze down at what she was carrying. “Yeah... I guess.”

Never in all the time she’d known her had Omega seen Hannah look so downhearted at the idea of going to see her brothers. She knew it was more so the mess itself that Hannah was upset about, but the fact that everyone had been involved in it most likely was upsetting her more. She also knew how much Hannah hated cleaning. Which was ironic since she was always going to the effort to clean up her family’s messes, on top of cleaning up the parlor nearly every day. But Omega had a feeling she knew why Hannah did all that, especially for her family.

Keeping the metallic bouquet in one hand, Omega grabbed Hannah’s hand with her other and began walking with her back to the apartment. There was a lingering solemness on Hannah’s face as they walked, but Omega didn’t let that get her down. There had to be some way to cheer her friend up and make her believe everything was going to work out. Maybe some simple gratitude would do the trick.

“I never got to thank you, you know.”

Hannah’s lip quirked and she looked down at Omega curiously. “For what?”

“For everything!” Omega giggled a bit. “Well, mostly for today. Definitely for today. We didn’t even ask for help, but you gave it anyway. Like you always do.”

Hannah chuckled softly. “Well, what else are you supposed to do when five stinky troublemakers show up on your doorstep?”

Omega giggled again. “I guess that makes sense. But still... I don’t think we thank you enough for everything you do. I know we’re a lot to deal with.” She felt Hannah squeeze her hand and looked up at her. Hannah was smiling down at her with loving eyes.

“Omega, when you care about someone, it doesn’t matter the circumstance. You do whatever you need to do. I know you understand that.”

Absolutely, Omega knew that better than most people. She nodded in response and returned the smile, stepping closer to her friend. “I’m really glad you’re here, Hannah.”

It looked like Hannah was about to cry for a moment before she let out a soft chuckle and pulled her hand free to pull Omega closer to her. She held the little girl against her side as they walked and said, “I’m glad to be here too. And I’m glad you’re here, Baby Girl.”

Her hand now free, Omega wrapped an arm around Hannah’s waist and gave her a little nuzzle, giggling happily. She loved Hannah so much, she could barely contain herself. In her heart, Hannah was no different than her brothers. She was part of the family, no question about it. There had to be some way to express that to her that wouldn’t sound weird.

As they reached the stairs to the apartment, Hannah gave a heavy sigh. Clearly, she still dreaded going back to the apartment, but she seemed to have mostly accepted her fate by then. She began heading up the stairs, but stopped after realizing Omega had stayed behind.

“Omega? Something wrong?” she asked the little girl.

Omega wrang her hands together anxiously. She didn’t know why she was so nervous. “Can I ask you something?”

Hannah chuckled softly. “Of course, Baby Girl.” She set her things down, came back down the stairs, and crouched in front of Omega, just like Hunter always did. “What’s up?” Omega was still nervous, which Hannah clearly caught onto, but she said nothing about it.

“Well...” Omega began, unable to look Hannah in the face. “I just was curious to know what it’s like.”

“What what’s like?” Hannah asked, cocking her head curiously.

The little girl continued to wring her hands together, but was finally able to look at Hannah. “Having a sister,” she said with gentle curiosity.

Hannah’s eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat.

“I only recently realized what having brothers was like,” Omega continued. “I didn’t think I could even call them that at first. But... I know now. I... I have a family. It’s really wonderful.” A smile spread across her face, and she looked into Hannah’s eyes with all the love she could muster. “Could you show me what it’s like? Could... could you be...” She couldn’t get the rest of the words out. The look on Hannah’s face made her get choked up. Her friend was looking back at her with as much love in her eyes as Omega herself had given. Both of them were clearly on the verge of tears, but remained strong.

Then Hannah reached out and grabbed Omega’s hands, keeping them clasped together, and she pulled Omega’s much smaller hands to her chest. Hannah’s lip trembled as she spoke, but she maintained a cheerful smile on her face. “Well, lucky for you, I have experience being an older sister. I...” She sighed shakily and blinked a tear out of her eye. “I haven’t been one for a while. But if you really want...” She released Omega’s hands and cupped the little girl’s face into her own hands gently. “I can’t think of a better little girl to be a big sister for.”

A single tear ran down Omega’s cheek, and she threw her arms around Hannah’s neck, laughing happily. Hannah held the little girl in her arms tenderly, gently stroking the back of her head and joining in the laughter. Her laughter gradually turned to tears though, and she buried her face into Omega’s shoulder to muffle her sobs. Omega held her friend close, not questioning why she was crying. She didn’t need to know. Or maybe she already knew. What mattered most was that her new sister got the love she deserved.

After calming down a bit, Hannah pulled away from Omega and sheepishly began wiping her tears away. “Sorry,” she said meekly. “I just...” She let out a chuckle. “I really don’t want to clean up that stupid mess.”

Omega gave Hannah a smile and helped wipe away the rest of Hannah’s tears. “It’s ok. You don’t have to deal with it all by yourself.”

Hannah shook her head and looked away. “I can’t ask you guys to do all that... I don’t want you to--” Her face was suddenly squished between Omega’s hands and forced to look at her. The little girl gave her the most serious look Hannah had ever seen her make. Somehow, there was sympathy behind it as well.

“Hannah, as your new sister, I’m asking you to not worry about it anymore. Or did you already forget?” Omega’s face twisted into an overexaggerated scowl and she spoke in a deep, gruff voice. “It’s not a bother.”

Immediately, Hannah snorted and erupted into laughter. She laughed so hard that tears formed in her eyes again. “Ok,” she said, wiping her eyes again. “Your Hunter impression is so much better than mine, oh man...”

Omega beamed proudly and laughed. “Thanks! I’ve been practicing!”

“Oh, I don’t doubt that for one second...”

All that being settled, the girls picked up their things and finally began heading up to the apartment. Along the way, they joked about what sort of nonsense the boys had gotten into while they were gone. Hannah was positive they hadn’t done what she asked, which was do nothing. But she’d given up on getting upset about it and chose to make light of the situation for Omega’s sake. She owed Omega that much for helping to cheer her up, never mind the whole sister thing. It was still hard to believe Omega had even asked the question in the first place. Hannah had already been treating Omega on the same level as a sister the entire time she’d known her, but now that it was official... well, not much was going to change outside of how they addressed each other.

Then she wondered what Hunter might think about it. She hadn’t even considered it before. Omega wasn’t worried at all, as she was certain her brother would approve. All of her brothers thought of Hannah as a member of the family, especially Hunter, as he’d said so himself many times before. Hannah had nothing to worry about. That didn’t stop her from worrying anyway though. But that was just in her nature.

In all honesty, she was more worried about what awaited them in the apartment. Despite the jokes, she still feared for whatever disaster awaited her once she opened her front door.

Her worries grew even more once they got to the top of the stairs. She quickly realized that all of the boys’ boots were missing, which made her groan loudly. Normally, she might’ve worried that someone had stolen them, but there was no way anyone would take those things with how horrible they smelled.

Then she noticed the smell. Or rather, the lack of smell. It was gone. Entirely. Neither her nor Omega had realized the smell which previously permeated the entire stairwell was completely gone. The two girls looked at each other with the same level of confusion and worry before Hannah opened the door to her apartment.

Immediately, she was confronted by the image of Tech walking in her direction, carrying two sets of boots in his hands. “Ahh, you’re back,” he said, noticing Hannah. “My prediction on the timing of your return was mostly correct, unsurprisingly.” He sat the boots down on a nearby crate, which seemed to have the other two pairs of boots already on top of it. “I hope you don’t mind me setting these here. Don’t worry, they’re completely clean.”

Hannah blinked in shock. “They... are?”

“Well yes,” Tech replied. “And they’re not the only things either.”

It was then that Hannah noticed the state of the rest of the room. She audibly gasped, which prompted Omega to look around and give the same reaction.

Like the stairwell, the nasty stench was completely gone. Not a single piece of Mantell Mix was on the floor, or anywhere else for that matter. Through the transparisteel of the back door, they could see Echo in the process of arranging all of the blacks on the banister of the porch; they appeared to be dripping wet as well. Various pieces of armor sat in different places throughout the room, clearly having been placed with care. Wrecker was sitting on the couch with a piece of his armor in his lap, which he was scrubbing intensely with a cleaning cloth. Hunter was nowhere in sight, but after a brief moment, he suddenly appeared in the doorway to the refresher with a sponge in one of his hands.

“Shower and sink are all scrubbed,” he informed Tech. “You get the armor cleaned yet?”

“Wrecker is just finishing up the last piece of it now,” Tech responded, gesturing to Wrecker on the couch. “And just in time too.” He then gestured to the girls, who were still standing by the front door in complete shock. Hannah especially couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She had to rub her eyes to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.

“Oh hey,” Hunter casually said as he came up to the two dumbfounded girls. “You guys get everything you needed?”

Hannah was still too shocked to speak, but Omega said, “I think so, yeah! Did you guys really clean up everything already?”

Wrecker suddenly stood up and held his piece of armor out triumphantly. “We did now!” He walked over to the kitchen island and gently placed the armor onto it. “No more stinky, no more mess!”

It still felt like Hannah was in a dream. Her mouth was starting to go dry from how long her jaw had been dropped. She was afraid if she blinked again, it might all change.

Then Hunter placed himself directly in front of her, which got her attention. “I know what you’re gonna say. And you have every right to get mad if you want. But just know that we agreed to doing this.” He gestured to the others, including Echo who had now joined the rest of the group. “All of us. Because we wanted to. For you.”

There was a moment of silence as Hannah looked between everyone in the room. The boys were all looking at her with adoring smiles on their faces. Her heart felt like bursting from how overwhelmingly elated she was. The last person her eyes landed on was Omega. The sweet little girl she’d just accepted as her adopted sister was looking back at her with pure joy and admiration radiating from her face.

Like her metaphorical walls had been reduced to crumbling sand, Hannah let her emotions overtake her and began to openly weep into her own hands. Over her sobs, she heard Wrecker exclaim something and suddenly felt his massive arms pull her into a firm hug. Omega followed suit, wrapping her small arms around Hannah’s waist and nuzzling into her side.

The other three boys simply watched all of this, not wanting to interfere with the moment. Hunter couldn’t help himself though and gently placed a hand on Hannah’s shoulder. He wasn’t even sure if she noticed, but it was the only way he felt like he could comfort her in that moment.

With her head still pressed against Wrecker’s chest, Hannah turned her tear-stained face towards Hunter in acknowledgement. He gave her a gentle, reassuring smile, and she in return managed a small smile through her sobs.

After calming down a bit, Hannah pulled back from Wrecker and began sheepishly wiping the tears and snot from her face. Wrecker kept his hands on her upper arms and gently asked, “ya alright, missy?”

Hannah nodded in response and sniffled loudly. “Yeah... s-sorry.”

Tech then came over and practically shoved a box of tissues into Hannah’s face, which actually made her laugh. As Hannah was blowing her nose, Wrecker asked, “so... you’re not mad then?”

“No,” Hannah responded with another laugh. “No, no. I’m...” She made a noise that sounded somewhere between a cough and a laugh. “I’m actually really, really happy. You guys...” She fondly looked between all of them. “You guys are the best.”

“We just wanted to do something nice for you, Hannah,” Echo said kindly.

Hunter added in an equally kind but bashful tone, “To, you know... show that we care.”

There was no way Hannah could contain herself after hearing that. She practically flung herself at Hunter and pulled him into a tight hug, which actually caught him off guard. Then she did the same to Echo, although she let one of her arms wrap around Tech’s arm and held it against her as she continued to hug Echo.

“Screw it, I’m just gonna say it,” Hannah confidently stated. “I love you guys. There. I said it. I don’t know if I can say it again, but who knows?”

Echo laughed and said, “Man, you’ll say anything when you’re emotional, huh?”

“Yes, I will,” Hannah responded. “And don’t you dare make fun of me for that.” She gave him a playful bop on the head, which made him laugh again.

After that, Hannah accepted her predicament and gave up on trying to stop the boys from helping her. Not only did she know there was no way of convincing them otherwise, but it was actually nice having some help doing her tasks for the rest of the day. And considering the boys had already cleaned the apartment for her, the only real major task left for the day was making dinner, which several of them offered to help with.

Once dinner was over, Wrecker asked if he could take another shower, which Hannah questioned in amusement. He made the excuse that he’d gotten dirty again from all the work he’d done, but it was obvious to all the others that he just wanted to play in the shower again, which Hannah didn’t mind at all.

Echo ended up grabbing the blanket off the couch and letting everyone know he was going to take a nap. He also told everyone not to bother him or make a ruckus, to which Hannah joked that as long as he stayed away from the refresher, he should be fine. Like he was known to do, Echo wrapped himself up with the blanket and cozied into a comfy little lump on the floor, with only his head visibly sticking out of it. Hannah had the overwhelming urge to stick something on top of his head as he slept, but he looked so cute and cozy that she decided to leave him alone. He’d earned it for all the hard work he’d done that day.

Eventually, Hannah began to lament about having to do the dishes, but Tech was quick to refute that. He insisted on taking over the dishes duty for the night, which was the first instance of Hannah gladly handing the reins over to someone else. Tech said he owed it to her for taking such good care of cleaning his goggles for him earlier, but also because he was well aware of how much Hannah despised doing dishes. To that, Hannah both reaffirmed her hatred of doing dishes and told Tech that she was giving him a metaphorical hug for being so sweet. Then to her surprise, Tech told her that if she would like to give him an actual hug, he wouldn’t be opposed to it. Hannah, of course, accepted the offer and gave her goggled friend a firm but gentle squeeze.

Then Omega, who had missed out on the day’s earlier chores, offered to help Tech with the dishes as well. Tech had no issues with that, but said it was more so up to Hannah if that was alright. Omega didn’t even have to ask again as Hannah promptly told her “little sis” to go knock herself out getting all those darn dishes cleaned up.

As Omega skipped off to the kitchen with Tech, Hannah returned to the couch, where Hunter still sat. He gave her a curious look as she plopped down next to him with a loud sigh.

“Little sis, huh?” Hunter asked, his eyebrow raised in curiosity.

“Oh, haha, right, we never told you guys,” Hannah responded with a sheepish laugh. She began retelling the events leading up to Omega’s request, followed by her asking Hunter if he had any issue with it at all.

As expected, Hunter saw no issue with it at all, saying that nothing was really going to change about their relationship, except that Hannah now had yet another pet name for Omega, which made her laugh.

“I think it’s really great that Omega thinks of you that way actually,” Hunter told her. “She deserves to have someone in her life that isn’t, well, like the rest of us.”

“You mean a nice, soft girl instead of a rough, nasty guy?” Hannah joked with a snicker.

“Well I didn’t wanna say it like that,” Hunter responded with a snicker of his own.

“It’s fine,” Hannah said, continuing to laugh. “I know what you meant.” She let out one last chuckle and hummed thoughtfully. “I would ask if you’re jealous, but that would be completely pointless. I know you’re still Omega’s favorite. It’s fine. I don’t blame her.” A blush began to run across her face from her own comment, even more so after the smirk Hunter gave her.

It was then that Hannah realized she was in the exact position she’d wished for earlier – she was alone on the couch with Hunter. Technically, Echo was asleep on the floor beside them, and Tech and Omega were just a short way away in the kitchen, but they might as well have had the entire apartment to themselves. It was the perfect opportunity to say something to him. Especially after everything he’d done for her that day. And he was just sitting there, staring at her with his arms crossed, still wearing the clothes she’d given him earlier. Her clothes. The air caught in her throat just at the thought of that.

As she pondered what she could possibly say in that moment, Hannah’s gaze drifted down to Hunter’s crossed arms. She wanted to give herself a pat on the back for choosing to give him the shirt he was currently wearing, which allowed the majority of his arms to remain bare. She hadn’t seen him that way since Volruna, and it was enough to make her want to melt into the couch.

Then something unusual caught her attention. As she was undoubtedly awkwardly staring at Hunter’s arms, she noticed a strange mark on his right hand. Had that always been there? Maybe she had missed it before. This wasn’t the first time she’d seen his hands, after all. This was the first time she’d actually gone out of her way to look at them though.

This, of course, didn’t go unnoticed by Hunter. “Something... wrong?”

His voice startled Hannah a bit, and she shook her head at him. “No, sorry, I just...” She pointed to the mark on his hand. “What happened there?”

“Oh, this?” Hunter held his hand up for Hannah to see better. “Nothin’ that weird, actually. Got it fighting off some Zygerrians here on Ord Mantell a while back.”

Hannah’s eyes went wide with shock. “There are Zygerrians here?” Her tone was absolutely dripping with disgust.

“Why are you surprised?” Hunter responded with a chuckle. “Every other kind of low life in the galaxy is on this planet.”

“Well you’re not wrong there...” In a surprisingly bold move, Hannah took Hunter’s hand and began examining it for herself. The scar ran across the palm of his hand and around his wrist, like something had coiled around it and singed it. Hannah had never seen a scar like it before.

As Hannah was examining his hand, Hunter began to detail the experience, saying it was during their very first mission for Cid a few months ago. They had been tasked with rescuing a baby Rancor – although they didn’t know it at the time – but ended up getting captured and had to fight their way out, ironically with the help of the baby Rancor. The scar on his hand was specifically from the electric whips the Zygerrians were using.

“Oh my gosh, they whipped your hands?” Hannah exclaimed in shock. “That’s terrible!”

“No, no,” Hunter corrected her. “I grabbed the whip so the guy wouldn’t whip me anymore.”

Hannah’s face contorted into confusion, and she looked at the scar again. “Why does it look singed then?”

“Because the whip was electrocuting me,” Hunter bluntly answered.

Hannah gave him an unamused stare. “You grabbed the whip... while it was electrocuting you...”

“Hey, don’t act like you wouldn’t’ve done the same thing.”

The groan that Hannah let out could’ve been heard across the street. “Believe it or not, I’m not as self-destructive as you are, Mister Vigilance.”

“And here I thought that’s why we got along so well,” Hunter snidely quipped with a snicker.

Hannah returned the snicker and jokingly said, “I thought it was because we both have greasy hair.”

Hunter let out a snort and shook his head. “I don’t have greasy hair right now, remember?” He pointed to his own hair for emphasis, which got another laugh out of Hannah.

In that moment, Hannah realized for the first time how different Hunter’s hair looked now that it was clean. Even with how greasy it was normally, his hair obviously had a natural wave to it. But now that it had been washed and left to dry, the wave was even more prominent; it actually almost looked curly in some places. It was also driving Hannah absolutely crazy how soft it looked.

Clearly realizing he was being stared at again, Hunter quirked his lip and awkwardly cleared his throat. “Not used to seeing me like this, huh?”

Hannah softly shook her head as a smile crept onto her face. “It’s a nice look...” She gave a light chuckle. “It’s actually kind of ironic.”

“What is?” Hunter asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“It’s just...” Hannah bit her lip and smiled again. “My hair looks the exact same way after I’ve washed it too. With the soft curls and everything.” As she spoke, her hand drifted up to the back of Hunter’s head, and she mindlessly began twirling some of his hair between her fingers. To her extreme delight, it was as soft as she thought it would be.

Hunter’s breath caught in his throat, and he immediately froze. He didn’t budge as Hannah continued to touch his hair, thankfully not noticing how incredibly flushed he’d gotten. The gentleness of her touch coupled with the pure sensation of having his hair played with was enough to send him into a trance-like state, and his eyes softly fluttered shut.

Neither of them noticed that they were being intently watched from the other side of the room. Elbows on the counter and chin resting in her hands, Omega was absolutely enthralled with what was currently going on at the couch. She almost wished she had the power to just smush their faces together right then and there. But she was also living for the softness of the moment. More than anything, she was happy that her two favorite people in the entire galaxy were enjoying their time together. Maybe this time they would actually finally confess their obvious feelings for each other.

Sadly, it appeared as though Hunter had managed to shake out of his stupor, which also made Hannah conscious of what she was doing as well. Per the norm, both of them broke out into an intense blush and awkwardly turned away from each other. Omega actually huffed out loud in disappointment.

“Don’t worry,” Tech said from behind her. He was in the process of drying some dishes, but was well aware of what had just happened. “It will happen someday. Just give them time.”

Omega said nothing and simply continued to pout as she leaned against the counter. She knew Tech was right... but she was also eager to actually have Hannah as a sister someday.

Later that night, much like they had done on several occasions before, everyone was gathered around the couch together in conversation. Even on nights when they weren’t staying over, Omega and the boys would come over to the apartment just to hang out with Hannah for the evening. It was something Hannah looked forward to whenever they were around, and it was always special to her every time. Those were the times Hannah really felt like she was a part of the family, and this night was no different.

At some point, Hannah realized the small girl clinging to her arm was feeling a bit heavier and looked down to see Omega barely keeping her eyes open. She made a quip about how Tech was putting Omega to sleep with his explanation of the plants they’d gotten stinked by, which made Wrecker laugh. With her free hand, Hannah began gently running her fingers through Omega’s hair and asked if her “little sis” was ready to head to bed. The long yawn Omega let out was all the answer Hannah needed. Practically picking her up, Hannah helped Omega to her feet and told her to go get ready for bed; she would come join Omega in a little bit.

Wrecker asked if that meant Hannah was heading to bed too, and she responded that she probably should due to having work tomorrow. The boys were welcome to stay up as long they liked, so long as they weren’t too loud, which surprised them. Echo asked if that meant Hannah assumed they were staying, which she responded by saying they absolutely were staying. There was no way Hannah was letting them take her clothes into the barf-covered Marauder. Thankfully, they all agreed with her.

As much as she didn’t want to, Hannah gave in to her intuition and told the boys she was going to join Omega for the night. The second she popped up from the couch, Wrecker came over and wrapped his arms around her in a tight but gentle hug as he wished her goodnight. Hannah eagerly returned the hug, laughing and saying, “goodnight, Big Guy. And... thanks.”

“For what?” Wrecker asked curiously.

“For being you,” Hannah replied with a giggle. She reached up and booped Wrecker on the nose, which made him grow incredibly bashful.

Then Hannah walked past Echo and Tech, proclaiming, “goodnight nerds” in a playfully affectionate tone. Echo returned the sentiment by proclaiming “goodnight troublemaker” in an equally playful tone, which earned him the response of Hannah sticking her tongue out at him like a teasing child.

When Hannah got to Hunter, she stopped and began to stare at him thoughtfully.

“What?” he asked, quirking his lip in curiosity.

“Well, I was trying to think of a good nickname to call you, but nothing was coming to mind.” Hannah shrugged and quirked her lip back at him.

“What happened to ‘Mister Vigilance’?” Hunter asked with a chuckle.

“Nothing!” Hannah replied. “I just, you know, wanted to try something different. For funsies.”

Hunter cocked an eyebrow and squinted a bit at her. “You used the same name for Wrecker though?”

“So?”

Hunter’s eyes squinted even further. “You just wanted an excuse to stay up longer, didn’t you?”

Hannah tried her best to hold back a laugh, but to no avail. “I really can’t hide anything from you, can I?”

“Not really.” Hunter’s face quickly began to soften. The two of them once again were locked in equal fond looks towards each other. Then Hunter noticed Hannah’s gaze shift down to his arms again. Like usual, he had his arms crossed, but that apparently didn’t stop Hannah from reaching out and grabbing his right hand again. She seemed to study the scar on his wrist again for a moment and even ran her thumb across the one decorating the palm of his hand. Then in the biggest surprise of all, she took Hunter’s hand and gently placed a kiss on the back, just below the knuckles.

“Goodnight, Hunter,” she softly said, giving one last smile before releasing his hand and walking off towards the bedroom.

From the moment she’d taken his hand, Hunter was sure his heart had stopped. It felt like he hadn’t even breathed at all during that entire exchange, and he let out a deep exhale once Hannah was gone. The hand she had kissed rested on his chest in an attempt to make sure his heart was even still beating. It was actually beating so fast, Hunter was worried he might be having a heart attack.

Then he noticed the very intense stares he was getting from his brothers. All three of them had different but equal looks of curiosity and smugness, with Wrecker actually waggling his eyebrows playfully at him. Hunter was certain he was visibly sweating from how flushed he’d gotten and turned away from them with a loud huff. “Say. Nothing.”

All he heard in response was loud snickering between all three of them.

Unbeknownst to the four boys, Hannah was having a similar reaction in her room. Although she’d been confident during the gesture, her feelings had quickly overwhelmed her afterwards, and she was now faceplanted in her pillows, trying not to hyperventilate as Omega comforted her.

“I don’t know why you’re freaking out so much,” Omega told her. “It’s not like you haven’t kissed him before. Several times actually.”

“I know!” Hannah exclaimed from inside her pillows. “I don’t know why I’m the way that I am, Omega!” She let out a loud groan, which Omega couldn’t help but giggle at.

“Well, I think you’re a great big sister,” Omega said in an encouraging tone. “Despite how awkward you think you are.”

There was a brief moment of silence before Hannah’s head popped out of the pillows dramatically. Her face was still incredibly red, but she had a big smile and was giving Omega a grateful look. Then she suddenly reached out and grabbed the little girl, pulling her into a big hug and snuggling against her face. Omega erupted into giggles and did her best to return the affection.

The two girls fell asleep snuggled up to each other, with Hannah relishing in the smell of her own shampoo in Omega’s hair. She was absolutely going to make this a regular routine for her family from that point forward.

TO BE CONTINUED

#the bad batch #star wars the bad batch #ngl this whole fic has been one of my fav things I've ever written #for obvious reasons of course LOL #no srsly tho I am a SUCKER for this domestic stuff #and Lord knows these guys need some of that BADLY #it's fine; like usual I am here to provide 😁#star warz #my storiez

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imagineabuttercream · 1 year

Text

CAMPING (JOSH X READER) CHAPTER 6

Joe and Caspar unloaded the truck once the rain completely stopped. The campsite was still wet, but the fire survived and none of the tents had leaked. Trying to give you a break from all of the cooking, Oli started preparing dinner.

"Joe, is this stuff for meat and veg kabobs?" Oli asked him.

"Yeah, we figured it was an easy meal for the fire." Joe replied.

"Perfect." Oli said, starting to prepare the kabobs. "Want to get the fire set up to cook?" he asked Caspar.

"Can do." He replied, setting up a little metal grate to grill on.

Smelling the food, you and Josh looked at each other with questioning looks. You put socks and shoes on, and brushed out your messy tangled hair. Leaving the tent, you noticed the boys had take over, preparing dinner and cleaning up the camp after the storm.

"Aww, you guys are awesome." You said, hugging Oli.

"You've been taking care of all of us this whole time. Figured we'd give you a break." He said, keeping an arm around you.

"Is Conor still in his tent?" you asked, noticing everyone was around the fire except for him.

"Yeah, he changed and snuggled up in the tent. He may still be asleep." Jack said.

"Let me go check on him." you said, walking over to their tent. "Conor?" you called. "You awake?"

Not getting an answer, you opened the tent door. He was awake, he just couldn't hear you. He had his headphones in his ears, recording little snippets of the two songs you had written on his phone. "Hey!" he said, patting the spot next to him. "I just didn't want us to forget any of the parts we wrote."

Putting the earbud he handed you in your ear, you listened to him play back the song. "I love it. Good idea, too. I hate when I finally get something and then I forget it before I can write it down or record it."

"Dinner's ready!" Oli called out.

"Thank God. I'm starving." Conor said, crawling out of the tent.

"He's alive!" Caspar teased Conor.

You made your way to Josh, snuggling into his side. "Dinner is great, Oli. Thank you."

"I'm glad." he replied.

"I know what game we're playing tonight." Joe said, with a mischievous grin on his face. "Jack, remember the video you did with Oli? Drink it or shot it?"

"Oh, god. No more beans." Oli whined.

"No, no. We're playing the same game, but with actual shots. You get to ask someone a question and if they don't want to answer, they take a shot." Joe said.

"Sounds good to me." Josh said.

"I'm in." Caspar added.

"Alright, someone grab the booze." you laughed, walking to your tent to grab a blanket for you and Josh. It had gotten pretty late and the rain left the air quite chilly. "Make sure you guys put on sweaters and extra socks tonight. It's going to be a cold one."

"First question then, Y/n." Joe laughed. "Do you baby us because you think we're stupid or because you like being the mom of the group."

Josh laughed, too, handing you a shot which you immediately downed.

Everyone's grumbles could be heard. "We're not stupid!" "I mean I did forget the tent, but I'm super manly." "I managed to cook dinner just fine!"

"Guys, guys. I'm totally kidding. I don't think you're stupid at all. I think I just like taking care of you lot." you laughed. "Really. I couldn't ask for better men in my life." You said, pecking Josh on the lips. "Okay, ummm....Mikey. Last week when you 'went home because your phone died' were you really going to meet up with that girl that was visiting from L.A.?"

"Oh, shit." Mikey said, blushing. "Someone hand me a shot."

"I knew it!" yelled Jack, passing the vodka.

"Nice, LP." Conor added.

"Jack. Is it true that you and Lydia snuck off for some private time at Vfest?" Mikey asked.

"Oh, fuck me. I think I need a shot to answer this question." he joked. "Yeah, yeah. We got pretty comfortable."

"I knew it!" Caspar laughed, slapping Jack on the back.

"Josh." Jack cleared his throat. "Did you or did you not get laid last night?" he asked Josh, but he was staring at you. In fact, all of the boys were staring at you.

"Fuck it." Josh looked at you and you shrugged your shoulders. "Yes. Yes I did."

"I'll drink to that." you said, downing another shot, earning you guys cheers and cat calls from the boys.

You all stayed up much later than you had the first two nights. You were trying to build the fire up so that it would last into the night and Josh was making sure the cold groceries were on ice and that the trucks were locked up.

"Everyone asleep?" you asked him.

"I believe so." he said. "Is it time?"

"Fuck yes." you said, rushing to your tent and grabbing the bag of condoms you had collected from Jack's prank. "You scatter those in that tent and I'll scatter these in this one. "

Once you were finished, you crawled into your tent trying not to laugh too loudly. "I'm exhausted." you said, not even bothering to climb under the blankets.

"I bet. You guys practically ran back to camp in the freezing rain." He said, pulling the blanket from under you and pulling you to his chest. "You need to stay warm, love." He wrapped both blankets around the two of you.

"Oh, yeah. I kind of forgot about the storm earlier. I'm also really drunk, and that makes me sleepy." you laughed, eyes still closed.

"I think we all are." he chuckled with you. "Sweet dreams, y/n." he said, kissing your hair and making sure you were snug against him.

The next two days were spent being pretty lazy. You went for small hikes, but mostly you just enjoyed each other's company. Since you were leaving camp tomorrow, you wanted to make the best of your last full day here. Having woken up early after a pretty early night in, you prepared the last of the breakfast food.

"Hey, guys? Anyone interested in packing our lunch and picnicking at the lake today?" you asked the group.

"For sure!" Joe cheered.

"That sounds perfect." Josh said, coming up behind you and wrapping his arms around you. "Tell me what to do to help."

"Well, never stop doing this, for one." you folded your arms over his.

"I'm pretty sure I can keep it up." he laughed, kissing you on the cheek.

"Maybe help Mikey pack up the food?" you suggested.

"No problem." Josh replied, grabbing some sandwich stuff and some bags of crisps.

Finally making it to the lake, You guys set out some blankets and pillows with the food and supplies. Josh had been quiet the whole hike to the lake. You and Josh jumped in the lake first, him pulling you in with him. He started swimming towards the middle, pretty far away from the group, so you followed him trying to keep up. When he stopped swimming, you made your way to him and put your arms around his neck.

"What's going on with you?" you asked, kissing him.

"I want to talk to you about something, but I'm nervous about your response." He said, wrapping his arms around your waist.

"Hey. I told you never to be nervous to talk to me about stuff. I'm not going anywhere." you reassured him. "What's going on?"

Josh kissed you and then rested his forehead against yours. "I don't want to have to hide this."

"What do you mean?" you asked, bringing your hand up to rest on his cheek.

"I mean...I don't want to be one of those couples that tries to keep their relationship secret from everyone. Trying to not get caught in our friend's vlogs and saying we're 'just friends' in videos." Josh sighed, "I want to be able to show you off and tell people how much I love you and how proud I am of you and how beautiful I think you are." He finally made eye contact with you, again.

"Josh, I would never want to hide this." you said. "Plain and simple."

"Really?" He asked, expecting a fight.

"Really. Why on earth would I want to hide the best thing that's ever happened to me?" you asked, pressing your lips to his with a little more gusto than before.

"I'm such an idiot. I've been worried about this since yesterday and I could have just asked. you." He laughed,

"I told you to just talk to me about stuff. Don't let it stress you out." you trailed kisses from his cheek down his neck. "Pretty sure you just told me you love me, too." You said, swimming toward the boys.

"I was under stress! You can't hold it against me!" he called, swimming after you.

When you made it close to the dock, you stopped and turned, waiting for Josh to catch up. "I don't know. I clearly heard you say you wanted to tell people how much you love me."

Being able to stand in the waist high water, Josh picked you up and spun you around, letting you wrap your legs around his waist. "Well, I kind of meant it."

"That's okay. I kind of think I love you too."

"Aye, lovebirds. Lunch time!" Conor called from the dock.

#josh pieters fic #josh pieters imagine #josh pieters x reader #josh pieters #the buttercream gang

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victorluvsalice · 1 year

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Merry Christmas Ace!

@ace-of-tales Look at me, remembering you have a tumblr now. XD Anyway, yes, as per our FF.net conversation, here’s the follow-up to the last two years of Christmas fics, with Klaus and Leo meeting the rest of Victor and Alice’s Secundus found family. . .hope you like!

“Soooo – blood weapons?”

“Richard, darling, you could open up the conversation with something a little less personal.”

Klaus chuckled, waving a hand. “It’s all right – we explained this to Victor and Alice previously, but I’m not surprised you’re interested too.” His eyes flicked over Richard’s form. “And, if I’m honest – I was looking for a way to politely ask about the mechanical arm?”

“Arms!” Richard corrected cheerfully, pushing up his other sleeve to reveal another limb made of metal and wood. “Legs too – honestly, pretty much all of me except the head. Still an organic brain under the old chapeau.” He tapped the brim of his hat with a grin. “I’m what we call a ‘Mixed Bag’ here in the city.”

“I think ‘cyborg’ would be the term back in Hellsalem’s Lot,” Leo told him, adding milk to her tea. “It’s quite something, though. I assume you designed it all yourself?”

“Mmm – on the fly, too! Had to come up with some designs really quick because – well.” He grimaced a little. “As it turns out, I have some pretty severe reactions to mercury, which can be something of a problem in my chosen profession.”

Klause winced. “I see. . .er. . .so is that. . .”

“The reason for the green? Yup,” Richard nodded. “Never did figure out how to fix the discoloration, so I just came to embrace it.”

“And if you’re wondering about my unusual skin color – where, I have it, anyway,” Emily interrupted herself, wiggling her bony fingers, “it’s a weird side effect of Dr. Finklestein’s resurrection process. Something to do with the chemicals he use to prep the corpses.”

“I see – sorry if we were staring before,” Leo said with a faint blush.

“It’s fine – I think everyone new to the city stares for a little bit,” Marty said, offering her a plate of tarts. “Doc and I had to take some time to adjust back when we first arrived. It’s a lot to take in.”

“Indeed – there aren’t many places in England like Secundus,” Christopher agreed, swiping a tart for himself. “Such a great concentration of Touched, all living and working together in harmony, it’s – perhaps not unique, but certainly rare.”

“Maybe. . .but Hellsalem’s Lot is one of the weirdest places on Earth,” Leo responded, accepting the plate with a nod. “Thanks. . .I just feel like we should be better prepared for things being strange and unusual.”

“Mmm – as previously mentioned, I have the ability to make weapons out of my own blood, should the need arise,” Klaus said. “That should probably preclude being surprised by a largely-robotic hatter and his Reanimated wife, no matter how unusual the skin colors.”

“Perhaps, but – you came here to England to get away from your local brand of weirdness, right?” Victor said. “It’s not surprising you’d be, er, surprised by our brand. If any of us ended up in Hellsalem’s Lot, I’m sure we’d be doing a lot of staring.”

“I suppose,” Leo allowed. “Just don’t want to be rude, is all.” She picked up a tart and bit into it. “And – oooh, wow. This is incredible. Who made this?”

“Here!” March waved cheerfully from the other end of the tea table. “Glad you like – I tried a new recipe this time!”

“. . .okay, I’m allowing my staring in this instance because I’m curious as to how you didn’t get fur in them.”

#aceoftales #merry xmas #christmas fic #xmas fic #yeah Ace is my FF.net friend #used to go under a different name #but changed to Ace this year #so yeah #I hope you enjoyed this continuation of the series!#I just like Klaus and Leo being like 'okay this is weird but we should be used to weird' XD #admittedly Secundus Weird IS different from HL Weird #but still XD #fun to write at least #queued

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lebenspurpur · 3 years

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AN: Helloo, wrote this because I spent today suffering through my post-drunk-vandalism hangover. Guess it's deserved but still, it sucks. After eating chicken broth my dad made, unsalted if I may add, for an hour straight I am now ready to be creative. I really don't know what this is.

Have the link to my Larry playlist while we're at it:

Pairing: Larry Johnson x reader

Warnings: Swearing, mentions of alcohol

Wordcount: 1744 words

🤍🧷💀⛓🔪🏁🕷🤍🧷💀⛓🔪🏁🕷🤍🧷💀⛓🔪🏁🕷🤍🧷💀⛓

Larry looks really, really stupid right now. Stupid and sick.

His tall form slumped over in defeat, big blanket wrapped around him but not too tight, otherwise he'd feel too hot, too feverish, he still needs some air. There are tissues scattered across the couch as well. Fucking hell.

Usually, this would disgust you but it's Larry, you think you've seen worse.

Small sniffles come from where he's laying, whenever he clears his throat hoarse croaking leaves his mouth and he cringes every time he hears it. He can feel your judging gaze on his body, hear your arched eyebrow without even lifting his head.

His radio is blaring some kind of metal music, you don't recognize the band. Technically, the music is useless since the TV in front of Larry's bed is playing an old horror movie, bloody screams only adding to the grimy ambiance in the room.

"I-", you start but Larry lifts his hand before you can even consider continuing.

On any other occasion, you would've noticed the rings adorning his slender fingers, the metal accessories leaving a trail of dark smudge on his hands. Damn, did he have some nice hands.

Thankfully today wasn't a normal occasion. The metalhead in front of you had worse problems than you drooling over his fingers right now, one of them being the sickness he caught.

"Don't you dare say 'I told you so.'", he croaks out while he finally lifts his head, bloodshot eyes meeting yours. He looks immensely tired. You can sense his annoyance at this sickness, this hellish treatment he's in and can't seem to escape.

You take a deep breath in and drop your bag next to his opened front door.

"Alright. I won't."

You close the door quietly and deposit your jacket as well as boots next to it.

His mom always screams at Larry to finally get something for visitor's shoes and bags but he never does. Too busy, too lazy, he figures his visitors get it. Who even visits him, anyway?

The floor is, as usual, covered in stuff he hasn't cleaned yet. Unfinished drawings, sketchbooks, take-out cartons, empty booze bottles, you keep wondering how he manages to create that kind of mess in a timespan of not even two days.

You tiptoe over them, careful as to not to step into something. Earlier experiences have taught you to never mistake one of these seemingly empty cartons as really empty. Just last week you stepped into a fucking pizza the man in front of you didn't finish.

You sigh as you sit down next to him and Larry tiredly raises an eyebrow.

"Dude, I know you don't want to move but Jesus, we really need to get you to bed.", you then state, voice comforting yet firm. You use the moment to stare into his eyes, adore the brown, thick, deepness of them.

Larry groans loudly, voice breaking from how raw his throat is. His head falls back and he closes his eyes, a pained expression on his features.

"Don't wanna.", he grumbles quietly and you involuntarily crack a smile. Larry always managed to do that, even in the most unbelievable moments.

"I'll join you if you do."

One of his eyes slowly creaks open, observing your face to look for any kind of sarcasm or irony. As soon as he doesn't find any, the other eye opens as well and he leans forward again, blanket clutched tightly in his fists.

"Alright."

You grin at his quiet answer, hand reaching over to pull him with you. He obliges, warm, slightly clammy hand tightly grabbing yours. He follows you through the messy room, his blanket leaving a trail of destruction behind the two of you.

You kick open the door leading to his bedroom. Immediately, the familiar images of various album covers greet you. The air in his room is colder and less damp and you hear him take a deep breath.

Turning around, you mention for him to wait while you walk over, grabbing the blanket on his bed. You shake it a bit, readjust the sheets as well the pillow, all while Larry's eyes never leave your back.

"There you go, sweets.", you add as you finish, quickly turning around to see Larry standing the same way you've left him. Tired, slumped, and emotional. The need to hug him starts boiling inside of you but you try and hold yourself back. First, you have to make sure he gets into bed.

Larry slowly stumbles past you. During the last few baby steps, he drops the blanket around his shoulder, faceplanting right into the freshly made sheets. He's not even wearing a shirt and you huff at his stubbornness.

Larry's back looks strong like this, muscles contracting beneath his skin as he tries to get more comfortable. Your eyes glide over his spine, his wide shoulders, the small bumps where his ribs encase his organs. His olive skin is sweaty and long, brown hairs cling to it.

You cringe at that, knowing the feeling all too well.

Softly placing a hand on his back, you move closer, forehead scrunched together.

"Larry, darling."

He grunts into his pillow, a muffled questioning sound.

"I got a hair tie here. Mind lifting your head real quick?"

Larry obliges and lifts his head quickly, taking a deep breath while he does so.

Your fingers find his scalp and start collecting all the strands, securing them afterward with the tie around your wrist.

The man beneath you hums in appreciation as the cold air hits his neck, sweaty skin finally being able to breathe. You kiss the small space beneath his neck real quick, a short sign of comfort before you stand up again, hands leaving his skin.

Larry whines the second you do so, all while quickly turning around, sending you a pleading look.

"You said you'd stay.", the whiny tone only makes his voice sound more hoarse and you can't help the small grin from appearing on your features.

"In a second, sweetie. You need some water and medicine first, alright?"

He whines again but the thought of something fresh and cold going down his throat is enough to soften the pleading look in his eye. You blow him a kiss and then quickly walk into the kitchen, which is right across from the brunette's room.

It's surprisingly clean but what did you expect? Larry never uses his kitchen unless he has to. Which isn't all too often.

Grabbing a water bottle and placing it on the counter, you keep searching for the small broth packets you'd bought exactly for this kind of scenario. You find them in the fridge, the only thing in this room that Larry actually uses.

Chuckling you get some water cooking, all while pouring the powder into one of the giant cups Sal has gifted Larry a while ago. According to the masked man, everything tastes better if it's being eaten out of a cup and so, everyone has their own sets of cups, a premium gift from Sal Fisher.

Soon, everything's done and you maneuver your way back into Larry's room. Said man is awaiting you, eyes still opened as he watches you creep towards his bed, hands full with water, soup, and medicine.

First, you feed him the medicine. Normally he'd do this himself but you know that he'll just ignore the bitter juice unless you force it down his throat. Stubborn motherfucker.

Larry's sitting up now, back propped up against one of the many big pillows he has. You hand him the broth and he inhales it in less than two minutes, apparently, this is the first thing he's eaten today. Shaking your head at the thought, you tug a few strands of hair out of his face, smiling at your lover's appetite.

Finally, after gulping down half of the water bottle, the brunette leans back and smiles, for the first time this evening.

"Thank you.", he croaks out and you touch his arm as an appreciative gesture, "Does that mean you're allowed to join me now?"

You're about to nod as you notice the faint traces of eyeliner on his skin.

"Did you take off your makeup when you got home?", you ask, throwing a teasing smile his way.

Larry clears his throat, embarrassed that you caught him. A faint blush raises on his cheeks and you feel your heart swell at the sight.

"I might have forgotten about it.", he answers, gaze slowly meeting yours again, "But please, let's just do this later, dude. I am so fucking tired."

Huffing, you roll your eyes at his answer but you nod anyway. He'd be fine with the makeup for a few more hours. You just have to remember taking it off tomorrow.

"You're lucky I love you."

Larry grins at that, the usual wide, blinding grin, that makes your stomach tingle with fuzzy feelings inside of it. His fingers find your arm and he tenderly pulls you down to join him. Soon, your head is placed on his chest, and his arms cradle your shoulders, pulling you into his body.

You can hear his relaxed breathing as he finally settles down, nuzzling his face into your hair.

His skin is warm against your cheek and you smile into it. It doesn't matter how often you've done it, laying on his nude chest always makes you flustered.

Larry's fingers start to draw stuff on your back, the feeling more than a delight for you. Humming, you snuggle closer and the metalhead next to you smiles.

His eyes already start to close slowly, lack of sleep finally catching up to him. The quiet sound of the ongoing movie in his living room, as well as the metal music, make for a great background sound and you both listen intently.

You notice the way his heart beats, slow and steady, beneath the tanned skin. Unknowingly, you start to synchronize your breaths with his. In and out. In. And out.

Soon, your eyes close as well. Damn it, you don't want to fall asleep. Though, you suppose it doesn't matter as the man next to you pulls you closer, his breath warm against your ear. He wouldn't let you leave anyway.

The thought makes you feel giddy, excited, in love. Smiling widely, you try to press yourself closer into him, and soon, you too, fall asleep, enveloped by the arms of the boy you love most. Your favorite boy.

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heloisedaphnebrightmore · 3 years

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Possibilities [Tom Hiddleston x Reader]

Title: Possibilities Pairing: Tom Hiddleston x Female!Reader Word count: 3k Published: 6 July 2021 Author: Heloise Daphne Brightmore Warnings: Mention of food and alcohol Summary: Tom and you have been friends for a long time and because of that same reason you value your friendship more than to ruin it with some silly feelings. But the event you attend together offers you some surprises that might change your relationship forever.

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Events, galas, award ceremonies. You weren't a popular actress nor a famous singer, or social media influencer. You had a simple 9-5 job that would hardly ever get you into these events. But regardless of your status in society, you were known and not because of any talent you possessed that could have made you famous, but because your best friend was none-other than Tom Hiddleston.

You have been friends for years, you adored everything about the man. He was sweet and kind, always polite, but just as playful. It was a friendship you felt lucky to be in, a friendship that you held so close to your heart, it would have broken every little piece of you if it ever ended. Often, you found yourself staring at him with a little smile in the corner of your lips, watching his every move, the way he joked around with his co-stars on set, the way he exercised in the gym for a role, the way he winked at you with a mischievous smile as he caught your eyes on him.

"Do you need my autograph?" he asked with a wide grin as he opened the door of the luxurious car he booked for the event. Once again you have forgotten your eyes on him— his dashing looks, the perfectly fitted suit, the playful twinkle in his eyes. He never stopped teasing you about it.

"Shove off, Tom," you nudged him as he got out of the car and held out a hand for you, waiting for you to accept his help. So, you did. Wrapping your fingers around his hand, you let him help you out of the vehicle as you rearranged your stunning dress and ran your hand down its length to remove any creasing. Cameras were flashing, reporters' loud voices filled the pathway to the entrance, a long red carpet leading your way inside the building towering over you like a modern castle.

"If I didn't know better, I would think your interest in me goes beyond friendship," he chuckled as he held his arm out to you, waiting for yours to be placed over his, his eyes following every little movement of yours. A sudden rush of heat travelled up to your cheeks, your breathing slightly laboured as you tried to calm your heavily beating heart. He was not wrong after all. It's been years since you have been harbouring these feelings, but you hadn't had the heart to confess them. Tom was more important to you than to ruin it over some silly feelings.

Sometimes, when you caught Tom's eyes on you, watching you intently, a soft smile spread across his face, it made you think if maybe, just maybe he was harbouring similar feelings towards you. But the idea was quickly swept away by your doubts, the thought of such an amazing man falling for you seeming impossible. You knew your worth, you didn't write yourself down, but Tom has always been perfect in your eyes, and you couldn't imagine him wanting you even if at times a certain silly part of your brain whispered otherwise.

"I love your healthy self-confidence," you finally gathered your ability to be able to reply, earning a comical huff from him. You have been trying hard, to deny your romantic interest in him, but rumours about the two of you have become a reoccurring news and it didn't help your case to shove your feelings in the back of your mind.

"Ready?" He asked as his gaze turned towards the red carpet. Heaving a heavy sigh, you nodded and murmured a 'yes' as a response.

As soon as the cameras started flashing, hundreds of photos of Tom and you being taken, you conjured a sweet little smile that the tabloids loved. You were always nervous when it came to these events. It was Tom's job to answer some of the questions journalists asked of him, which meant they were to ask about your relationship. It was becoming repetitive, making you feel uncomfortable. The questions themselves didn't bother you but repeating over and over again that the man you have fallen for is merely a friend, felt like a stab in your heart, each time you responded.

"Tom! Tom!" One of the reporters shouted his name and he led you to the side of the red carpet, halting right beside the metal cordons. Questions were flying around, photos had been taken, but you didn't concentrate. Your senses were heightened as Tom pulled you in his side, his arm now wrapped around your waist, gently, but firmly holding onto you. Looking up at him, you studied his face, his ice-blue eyes focusing on the reporter, an excited smile across his face. He seemed so relaxed, so collected, meanwhile even events after events you were still nervous. As though he could feel it, he turned to you with a soft, reassuring smile, giving you a nod, silently asking if you were alright. For others, the movement could have easily been missed, but to you, it was like an earthquake, shaking your heart, making you fall even deeper for him. In a reply, you nodded and offered him a smile as you squeezed his hand that rested on your waist.

"So, Tom, this might be a bit more personal, but everyone has been talking about the two of you," he started, and your eyes immediately darted towards the man. You knew the question, heard it a thousand times already, so you prepared your heart to give the same reply as always. 'We are just friends,' you repeated time after time, hoping they would finally understand and let you be, but they didn't seem to budge. "You have been friends for a long time, and your fans have been talking about how close the two of you have become. Do you think, maybe in the future, there's a possibility for romance to blossom?" He asked with an expectant expression, a sly smile in the corner of his lips.

"As we have said before," you spoke up, ready to reply as you always did, "we—"

"You never know what the future holds for you, there are many possibilities" Tom cut in with a mischievous smile, your eyes growing wide as you looked up at him. Tom chuckled at your expression as he leaned down and kissed the top of your head. "Tell me I'm wrong," he arched a brow questioningly, his words starting your heart off at a faster pace, your cheeks feeling warmer under his intent gaze, those blue eyes you often found yourself lost in.

"Well—, I mean I can't argue with that statement," you replied, feeling slightly awkward. A confused smile started growing wider on your face as Tom led you away. "Why did you do that?" You asked as you finally stepped inside the building, his arm still resting around your waist as you headed towards a large room filled with all sorts of foods and drinks, people dancing in the middle, the dim lightning offering a rather intimate mood. "You just created even more gossip," you scolded him, but seemingly he didn't mind. He led you to a table where his name was printed on a nametag and pulled the chair out for you before he took his seat beside you.

"I didn't say anything," he smiled at you as innocently as he could manage, the corner of his eyes crinkling.

"You did. Exactly because you were so secretive, people will want to read between the lines. They will think there's more to us than friendship," you huffed as you hid your face in your palm and heaved a heavy sigh.

"And is that so bad?" He frowned, earning the same expression from you.

"What?" A silent scoff left your lungs. "What are you trying to say?"

"Is that such a big problem if people think we are together?" He asked, his confident tone stunning you.

"Of course, not. I don't care what rumours are being spread about me, but I don't want them to gossip about you," you reached for his hand on the table and wrapped your fingers around it, giving it a gentle squeeze. His expression stayed emotionless; you couldn't read him entirely, but you knew he seemed off.

"I will go grab us a drink," he said as he stood up, leaving you frowning. You weren't sure what you said that made him upset, and regardless of trying to put on a straight face, you knew he wasn't happy with your response.

You watched as he walked over to a small table filled with the most delicious looking cakes and a couple of bottles of champagne, ready for the guests before they brought out the main course. Tom grabbed a battle of champagne and two glasses, filling up both halfway, before he placed the battle back into an ice bucket.

"What is it?" You asked as he returned and gave you one of the glasses.

"What do you mean?" He asked, taking a seat beside you.

"We've known each other for quite a long time. I can read you like an open book. What's bothering you?" Trying to get him to open up, you shuffled closer to him, your chair scraping the floor, turning heads in your direction. "Oops," you scratched the back of your neck awkwardly, earning a chuckle from Tom.

"Very subtle," he mocked you.

"Don't change the subject Mr. Hiddleston," you raised a questioning brow, a tiny smile hidden in the corner of your lips.

"Nothing is bothering me," he added, but your suspicious gaze didn't falter. "I'm being honest, darling," the sly little fox knew his nickname for you would make you soften up and he used every opportunity to say it when he felt cornered.

"Fine," you squinted. "But we aren't done! I'm not blind, I can see something is on your mind."

"Yes, ma'am, I can't wait for this conversation to come back around," he mocked you once again, making you huff as you gently punched his shoulder.

Throughout the night, said conversation was forgotten, the alcohol consumption rose, the amount of people dancing around the room grew, meanwhile others sat at their tables, trying to digest the previously served delicious meals. You couldn't deny that you had a good laugh with Tom and his co-stars from all sorts of movies he had been in. It felt like a little family, people coming together to just have a joyous time.

The way Tom smiled at his friends, praising each other, before turning to mock one another forced your eyes to rest on his excited features. He looked so alive, so happy and the feeling of the man you loved being in his element meant everything to you. Tom was radiating enthusiasm and you couldn't look away as you watched his ever-growing smile, his nose scrunched up at an unexpected subject, his head falling back as a loud laughter erupted from his lungs. He was always handsome, but when he was happy, it filled you up with a certain warmth that you couldn't explain. Like you always wanted to make him happy just to be able to see that cheerful smile spread across his face.

He turned to you, catching your gaze on him once again. His arm sneaked behind you, pulling you closer and leaning down to your ear. "You are staring at me again," you couldn't see it, but you could feel his smile spreading wider.

"I like to see you happy," you shrugged with a soft smile as you leaned back to be able to meet his gaze. His smile faltered, but his eyes softened.

"Dance with me," he said as he offered his palm to you, and you placed your hand in it.

"I take no responsibility for broken toes," you said with a silent chuckle as you followed him to the dancefloor.

"Don't worry, darling, it's worth the injury," he mirrored your expression as you stopped in the middle of the dance floor. A slow, romantic song started playing in the background, his arms finding their perfect position around your waist as yours sneaked around his neck.

It was a slow and peaceful dance, not requiring much knowledge and talent. You just enjoyed each other's presence, gazes meeting, smiles forming, swaying to the slow rhythm of the music. You didn't speak a word, but the silence wasn't uncomfortable. It never was with Tom. A soft smile, a quick glance, a simple gesture meant more than thousands of words when you were with him.

You laid your head against his chest, listening to his fast heartbeat, taking on a quicker pace just like yours did. "I miss you when you are not with me," he spoke for the first time as he leaned down and kissed the top of your head. You didn't move away; his embrace was too comfortable, and you couldn't care about people watching you.

"I always miss you. You are the one travelling all the time after all," you chuckled lightly, not wanting to ruin the moment.

"I could be only a mile away and I would still miss you," he replied as you pulled back a bit to meet his soft gaze, but there was no smile present across his handsome face. As the song finished, you found yourself standing in front of him, slightly confused about the conversation. "Do you want to go to the balcony? Have some fresh air?" He asked, taking on a more cheerful expression, but you knew him more than to believe it was genuine. In a response you nodded and linked your arm with his.

Following him through the sea of people, you finally arrived at the balcony, looking down to a smaller version of a park, a water fountain standing tall in its centre. You leaned against the rail as you watched the trees battling the silent wind, fallen leaves being blown across the walking path. Tom joined beside you, his eyes following the same direction as you did before they halted on your face. "You are being strange tonight," you spoke up, feeling his gaze resting on you before you turned to him, meeting his eyes.

"I'm just thinking," he added with a half-hearted smile.

"About?" You asked as you reached for his hand resting on the rail and placed yours on top of his. He turned his palm upside down and lifted your hand, hinting a small kiss on your knuckles as he heaved a heavy sigh. "Tom talk to me," you squeezed his fingers reassuringly, his eyes watching you, not leaving your gaze for a moment. "You have been rather quiet around me," you added.

His whole body turned to you, as though he was focusing his complete attention on you. Reaching towards you, he brushed your hair to the side, gently tucking it behind your ear. You leaned into the touch involuntarily, only realising your actions when he caressed your cheek with his thumb, before moving down and running it across your lips. The feeling burnt you, starting your mind off in a very dangerous territory, one that you have been avoiding. 'He is your friend' you tried to remind yourself. But once the tip of his thumb brushed along your lips once again, you couldn't stop yourself. Stepping forward, you placed your hands on his chest, steading yourself and rose on your tiptoes, pressing your lips against his.

Your own bravery surprised you, but Tom didn't seem affected. As soon as your lips met, his arms wrapped around you, pulling you closer. He didn't hesitate, he wasn't surprised. He just held you, gently running his lips along yours, tilting his head to deepen the kiss. But as much as you wanted to enjoy the moment, realisation hit you. You were kissing your best friend. You gently pushed him away, stumbling back from the force, covering your mouth with your palm. "I'm so sorry," you breathed, panic rising in your chest. "I have no idea what happened, I don't know why I did that, I'm so sorry," your words were rushed, your heartbeat loudly pulsing in your ears.

But Tom's gaze twinkled. A soft, warm smile grew wider across his face as he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around you. "I'm not," he said as he pressed his forehead against yours. "I've been wanting to kiss you," he breathed as he closed his eyes momentarily, slightly shaking his head. "I've been wanting to tell you how much I love you; I've been trying to gain the courage to say it out loud," he scoffed. "I'm a fool for dragging it out for so long, but I love you," his voice shook as he said the words, but his arms tightened around you, safely holding you against his chest. It took you a second to understand what he meant, that your feelings weren't unrequited, that he has been harbouring the same feelings you have.

A heavy sigh left your lungs, as though a weight fell off your chest. Your lips curved into a smile as you placed your hands on his cheeks, running the tip of your thumbs across his jawline. He mirrored your expression whilst leaning into your touch, planting a small kiss on your palm. "I love you too," you replied finally," the words rolling off the tip of your tongue easier than you expected. "I love you so much," you giggled, wanting to repeat the words over and over again, until you finally understood that it was real, that you weren't dreaming. "You never know what the future holds for you, huh?" You asked, repeating his words from earlier in the evening, earning a loud chuckle from him. "So, is this one of those many possibilities?" you raised a single brow.

"Could be. I have a couple more ideas," he said, his soft smile turning into a confident grin.

"You are terrible," you gently hit his chest as you grabbed his suit-jacket and pulled him down to you, meeting his lips halfway, smiling into the intimate moment you have been craving for so long.

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