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thatbritishactor · 3 years

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Adventures in Success (part 10)

Paring : Ben Barnes x Reader

Summary: Ben’s agent is retiring and the firm wants you to represent him. It’s going to be hard for you not to mix work with feelings.

Warning: None, language (cursing).

Words: 3,300

Type : Fluff

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9

You’ve been officially dating for two months, but it feels like you’ve been together for longer. You’ve met all of Ben’s close friends, and you’ve introduced him to a few of yours. You’ve had to deal with feelings of betrayal on their part: how dare you keep your relationship a secret for so long? You’ve been scolded and met with incomprehension, but as soon as they met him, they were instantly enthralled by him. Ben knows how to win people over: his effortless charm, wits and kindness conquer everyone around him.

You still spend most of your time at his place, finding it unbearable to be away from him. Thankfully, he seeks your company as much as you seek his, and time flies by when you’re together. It’s taken a toll on your work, you’re not as dedicated as before, and your boss is starting to notice. Before, your job came before everything else. You worked an average of fifty hours a week, dividing your time between script reading, meeting your actors, callings producers and casting directors.

Today, Ben comes before your work, even before your friends. You know that some of it isn’t healthy, and that you shouldn’t prioritize your relationship over everything else. But you can’t resist him, and you’re at your happiest when you’re with him. He seems to struggle as well, avoiding castings, not reading as many scripts as he used to. Whenever you start to get anxious about it, you quickly dismiss it, one glance at Ben is enough to dissolve all your fears. He’s everything you’ve ever wanted, and you intend to hold onto and fight for your relationship with everything you’ve got.

By the end of November, Ben has to leave for London, and the heart ache induced by your imminent separation keeps growing. You’ve spent the better part of a year wanting him so badly it hurt you, and now that you finally have him, you can’t imagine how you’re going to be able to go back to a life without him.

Your feelings for him scare you, for they seem to get stronger every day. You thought that you were already done for when you weren’t even dating him, but it’s getting even worse. Somehow, waking up next to him every day is even better than what you had ever imagined. Although, you know that this is the easy bit: the honeymoon phase. The part where you love everything about the person you’re newly dating and can’t imagine ever picking a fight with them. You know that someday, his flaws will get to you, and that you’ll find him annoying. But today, you just can’t imagine that you’ll ever come to hate anything about him.

Sure, he’s a distracted person. He forgets things, he daydreams a lot, and he’s a people pleaser. Something inside him pushes him to accommodate everyone around him, and you can see that it might trigger your insecurities someday. But for now, you simply adore him, and you want to indulge in those feelings as much as possible. You’re incredibly nervous about the upcoming separation: Ben has to be in London for at least four months, and you don’t know if you’ll be able to handle it. You’ve come up with a plan though, but you haven’t told him, wanting to surprise him.

The night before his departure, you’re lying in bed with him, tightly pressed against his chest. He places soft kisses on your forehead, and you can feel the regular pounding of his heart, lulling you to sleep.

You’re tired and your eyes close by themselves, but you refuse to drift away, because when you’ll wake up, you’ll have to take him to the airport, and you’ll be apart -again- for months. You’ve realized that apart from your anxiety, it’s the separations that pose the biggest threat to your relationship. But this man is so worth it, you think, his fingers slowly caressing your bare back; you’d do anything for him.

“Do you want me to turn off the light?” he murmurs, and you sigh, closing your eyes and rubbing your nose on his chest.

“No… I don’t want to sleep” you lie, and Ben chuckles.

“I can see you’re totally falling asleep, love” he says, and your heart misses a bit at the term of endearment. You haven’t told him you love him yet, although the words are demanding to escape your lips. You haven’t loved anyone the way that you love him, and your feelings for him are so obvious, it’s embarrassing. Something’s keeping you from uttering the words though: the fear that it’d scare him away. You’ve been together for two months, it’s too soon. You’re so deathly afraid of losing him, you don’t completely allow yourself to surrender to your feelings yet.

Ben calls you love though, and sweetheart, sometimes dear, and it’s the most beautiful things you’ve ever heard, making you melt into a puddle every time. You wonder if he wants to tell you he loves you too, but you dismiss the thought, distracted by Ben moving against you.

“All right, I’m shutting the light” he says, and you lift your head to protest.

“Nooooo” you whine, and he laughs, his arms holding you impossibly closer to him.

“What is it?” he asks, “I can see that you’re incredibly sleepy.”

“I don’t want to go to sleep, because I don’t want to be tomorrow” you reply, and you bury your face against his chest to hide your face. He sighs and rubs his cheek on your hair, and you raise your head to meet his dark eyes.

“I know, me neither” he admits, and you can hear the longing in his voice.

“It sucks” you reply, and he gently pushes a strand of hair away from your face.

“Tell me about it” he replies, pensive.

You let go of him and lean back, and he slowly lets you go, looking curious.

“At least you’re going to meet Phoebe Waller Bridge” you say, trying to change the subject, resting your head on your hand. “I’m so jealous” you add.

Ben smiles, his eyes soft, and your heart clenches in your chest. He’s eerily beautiful, and you don’t think you’ll ever get used to that. He takes your breath away twenty times a day, and you still can’t believe that you’re the lucky woman who gets to be with him.

“Want me to ask her stuff?” he asks, his beautiful black eyes appraising you.

“I’d have to write it down” you joke “I have so many questions for her”.

“Go ahead” he replies, sliding a hand through his hair. “I’ll ask her.” He says with a smirk on his lips.

“You’d do that for me?” you mock in a high voice, putting a hand on your chest and dramatically batting your eyelashes.

Ben lets out a laugh “Anything for the one I love”, he replies, and you instantly stop breathing. Ben doesn’t seem phased at all, getting back to slowly caressing your arm, his eyes following the movements of his fingers, while your voice is stuck somewhere in your throat. When the silence thickens, he glances back at you, frowning.

“Is everything all right?” he asks, seeming worried.

You blink stupidly, a lump in your throat.

“Y… yeah” you reply, lowering your eyes, your heart beating fast in your chest.

“C’mon, I know you by now” he sighs “I know when something’s bothering you” and there is that smile again, the one that could make snow melt.

“You’ve just said you loved me” you mutter, putting a hand over your eyes, unable to meet his gaze. He laughs again, before placing a hand on the side of your face, forcing you to meet his eyes.

“Sweetheart, I’ve been in love with you for a year now, don’t tell me this comes as a surprise” he says in an incredulous voice, and you close your eyes, unable to handle the storm of emotions overwhelming you.

When you open them again, he’s still gazing at you, the softest expression on his face, and you lean in to kiss him.

“I love you too” you whisper against his lips, and his hands cup your face before they slide in your hair. You roll on your back, his weight on top of you, your heart seeming to burst in your chest.

II.

It’s become a ritual now: you play the music from Bo Burnham’s Inside in the morning while you’re both getting ready, and the two of you sing along to the soundtrack, knowing each song by heart. You’ve made the coffee and helped him finish packing his suitcase, something he’s told you before he struggles with. Being an organized, neat person, you secretly love packing and tidying things up, so you’re thrilled to help him. Ben has joked about you being perfect for each other, your orderliness completing his messiness, and you’ve laughed, pretending to be chill about it, ignoring your accelerated heartbeat and the warmth spreading in your chest. He could ask you to marry him right then and there, and you’d accept immediately. You’re so done for, you think to yourself, rolling your eyes as you watch him slide his backpack on, wearing his usual cap and sunglasses.

You sing in the car, and he teases you when the song “Sexting” comes on, taking you back to the time you got drunk and sent it to him. You were embarrassed at first, blushing and hiding your face away, before owning it and deciding that it was unintentional sure, but a badass move nevertheless.

The ride to the airport goes fast, and you hold hands while you walk through LAX. You’re less skittish than before about public displays of affection, thinking that if the world must find out about your relationship, so be it. You’ve lost so much time before because of your insecurities, you’ve promised to yourself that you wouldn’t let anything get in the way from now on. Ben registers his bags, and you arrive at the security gates when he turns over and holds you tightly in his arms. You hug him back, feeling like your heart is getting crushed with a hammer, struggling with yourself not to cry.

“It’s four months”, you say against his chest, “We can do this”. He nods and cups your face with both hands, staring into your eyes.

“I’ll call you as soon as I land?” he asks, looking uncertain.

“Yes, please” you reply, oddly out of breath. You stare into his deep obsidian eyes, your hands resting at his hips, and he leans in to kiss you. You close your eyes, surrendering to the soft feelings of his lips moving against yours, silently wishing for time to stand still.

“All right, I have to go” he whispers against your lips, and you smile, nodding.

“I love you” you breathe, looking back into his eyes, and he grins, making your heart drop in your chest. How is it possible for a person to be that beautiful? This should be illegal, you think to yourself, frowning.

“I love you too, sweetheart” he replies, and he kisses you one more time before he lets go of you, squeezes your hand, and turns over to go through the gates.

You stand there for a few minutes, your heart pounding hard in your chest, the sounds of the airport muffled around you before you find the strength to go home.

III.

“You wanna do what?” Rebecca asks, looking puzzled.

“I’ve been in touch with actresses in London for a few weeks now, and I think that I should go meet them to try and win them over” you explain, straightening your back against your chair.

You’ve asked for a meeting with your boss this morning, eager to submit your plan to her. You’ve been thinking about it for a while, but you’d be lying to yourself if you didn’t accept the fact that Ben’s departure for London had been the incentive.

Although your agency is always looking for new talent, and you’re currently managing some of the hottest British talents in Hollywood, you know that they’d trust your judgement.

“Which actresses?” Rebecca asks, narrowing her eyes.

“Michaela Coel and Daisy Edgar Jones” you reply without breaking eye contact.

Rebecca arches her eyebrows, seeming impressed, before she purses her lips and turns a bit to glance out of the window.

“Honey, you know that you’re one of our most successful agents” she starts, and you brace yourself, knowing that a “but” is imminent.

“But I couldn’t help but notice that you seemed distracted lately” she adds, looking back at you.

You look away, crossing your legs, feeling uneasy. Yes. You can’t deny that.

“I know, I’m sorry” you reply honestly, knowing that lying wouldn’t take you anywhere.

“You know that I try and pay no mind to gossip” Rebecca says, the ghost of a smile dancing on her lips “But I couldn’t help but notice that ever since you dropped the Barnes account, you’ve been a little… elsewhere”, and she looks into your eyes, a kind expression on her face. You try not to blush, a warm feeling spreading over your chest, and you decide not to reply anything.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled for you” she says, still smiling “And Andrew was more than happy to take over as his agent.” You nod, not knowing where this is going.

Rebecca takes a breath and straightens her back before she leans against her desk, joining her hands.

“You were working too much before, anyway” she says, “But I’m wondering if taking new actors would be the right fit for you right now”.

“Oh.” You reply, taken aback. “I see.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I’d never say no to new clients, especially the ones you’ve approached. Promising, promising new talent, these two.” She says pensively, looking away.

“I know that I’ve been distracted lately” you start, wanting to be sincere “But I’m genuinely excited to meet them, and I know that I’d be the right fit for them”.

Rebecca glances back at you: “Are you sure? You already have a lot on your plate” she replies, seeming skeptical.

“Perhaps I just need fresh accounts” you venture, “Something new and exciting”.

She stares at you for a moment, searching your expression.

“You know what” she starts “Go to London, try and broach them, and if you succeed, we’ll find a way to make this work” she proposes.

“Deal” you say, offering her your hand, and she shakes it.

“You’re going to London” she says gleefully.

“I’m going to London” you reply, smiling widely.

IV.

Ben was more than thrilled when you announced that you’d meet him in a month, impressed by your scheme. He told you that it was the most romantic thing anyone had ever done for him, and you had blushed and put your face in your hands, shaking your head.

“You don’t think that it’s stalky or creepy?” you had asked, watering your plants while you were talking to him on the phone.

“I mean, it totally is” Ben had laughed “But if it means that I get to see you, I don’t care” he added, and you hummed in agreement, distracted by the fact that you’d soon be in his arms, where you seemed to belong now.

December went fast, and you were glad that Ben was his family to celebrate Christmas. You’d fly two days before New Years Eve, and you’d meet Michaela on January second, and Daisy the next day. You’d spend a total of seven days with Ben, and you couldn’t wait.

You arrive Sunday morning in London, feeling tired and jetlagged, but seeing Ben’s face at the arrival gates fills you with more joy than you have ever experienced before. He joins you in quick strides and grips you tight, exhaling loudly and snaking his arms around your waist; raising you in the air like he had done months ago, before you had admitted your feelings to each other. You throw your arms around his neck and kiss him passionately, you heart threatening to jump out of your chest.

“God, I’ve missed you” he says against your lips, putting you back gently on the ground, his hands moving from your hips to your face.

“Tell me about it” you reply, out of breath, staring into his beautiful eyes.

“Ready to explore the city?” he asks, smiling widely. “Or do you want to go back to my place and get some sleep?” he asks, raising his eyebrows.

You think for a split second, blushing a bit “I mean… We’ll have time to chill later” you reply, “Let’s do some sightseeing” and you smile widely.

“Are you sure?” he asks, and he puts a strand of your hair behind your ear, looking down at you tenderly.

“I’m up for anything as long as I’m with you” you say, shrugging, and you know that the answer is beyond cheesy, but you’re unable to restrain yourself. He chuckles and gently pokes your nose with his, and you distinctively feel butterflies swarming in your stomach.

“First, an English breakfast” he says, and you wince, dreading the British food “Then, let’s be tourists” he says, and he kisses you gently. You sigh, melting under his touch. He’s worth enduring British food, for sure.

Ben takes you to the Naval Royal College in Greenwich, wanting to show you the Painted Hall. It’s known as the British Sistine Chapel, and he plays the tourist guide again, like he had done in Venice. You hold hands throughout the whole visit, stealing kisses and being amazed at his extensive knowledge of art history.

“Did you research all this to impress me again?” you ask, teasing him. Ben rolls his eyes, smiling.

“Of course, I did, what’d you expect?” he replies, kissing your cheek, and you giggle, endeared.

He shows you the Millennium Bridge, asking if you want to go inside St Paul’s cathedral, but you’re starting to feel a bit tired from all the walking and the flight.

“All right, one more place I want to show you, and then you’ll take a nap” he suggests, and you nod, reaching for his hand to hold. You walk for fifteen minutes when you reach a pretty street, and you enter what seems to be a park with a church in it. You frown, perplexed, when you finally see why he’d want to take you there. The church is in ruins, vegetation growing everywhere. It looks beautiful and romantic, and you understand why Ben wanted you to see it so badly. You walk among the ruins, gasping at the shady trees and the quietness of the place. It doesn’t seem like you’re in the heart of the busy city, the place looks magical with the sun setting in the distance.

“Oh, this is so pretty” you whisper, and Ben takes you to a bench for you to sit. He throws an arm around your shoulder, and he places a kiss on your temple.

“This place reminds me of you” he says quietly, and you look at him, surprised.

“How so?” you ask. He seems to ponder for a while before he replies.

“It makes me feel safe, quiet, like nothing else exists.” And his voice is soft, making your stomach clench. You blush, feeling overwhelmed. What did you do to deserve him again? This is crazy, you think to yourself, looking away, feeling crushed with too many emotions.

“What is it?” he asks, still gazing at you.

“I’m just tired” you reply, and you put your head on his shoulder, breathing deeply and closing your eyes.

“What’s our plan for New Year’s?” you ask, opening your eyes. Ben has teased you before that he had a plan but wanted to surprise you. You feel him chuckle and look up at him.

“I was thinking… It might be time for you to meet my parents” he says easily, and your heart stops in your chest. You look at him, your breath shallow, and Ben laughs at your expression, seeming satisfied with himself.

“It’ll be alright, Love” he says, caressing your hair. “I promise.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Heyyyy heyyyyy!!!! Look who’s updating after two months ?? It’s meeee.

Hope you like this part, it’s just pure fluff. I want them to be happy and to explore the next step of their relationship.

Tell me your thoughts and feelings about this ? It might inspire me to write part 11 !!

Byeee <3

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#ben barnes #ben barnes x reader #ben barnes imagine #ben barnes fanfiction #my fics #adventures in success #fanfic

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yes-i-write-fanfiction · 2 years

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What if a Decepticon got cursed with being human, like that soundwave ask, but they get separated from the faction and get caught up in a natural disaster. Like a flood for instance. They are practically at the mercy of the elements as they are pulled downstream and nearly drowned. But they're saved by a human that's part of a rescue operation who heard their cries for help. You can pick whoever, but I adore the thought of a human saving a Cybertronian's life while they're human.

Starscream was having the worst day in his life, and that was really saying something considering the fact that this was Starscream. He experienced war, been shot at, stabbed, poisoned, shat on by birds but he’d rather be beaten by Megatron everyday in the rest of his life than being stuck as a- as a- as a stupid human!

How this had happened Starscream did not know. One minute he had been soaring through the skies over a dainty little forest, raining hellfire upon those pathetic autobots, and the next thing he knows he’s on the ground, covered in dirt, confused, and very much organic. Ugh, what an unpleasant experience, realizing that his wings were gone and his durable armor had been turned into fragile skin.

Now, if Starscream had been with his trine this would not have been quite as bad. Still awful, yes, but they would have been able to quickly transport him back to base where they could find a way to turn him back to his normal, glorious self. Sure, he would have been teased and belittled by the other cons but he would have endured it knowing that soon he would be able to exact his vengeance upon them. But nooooo, that would have been too easy, wouldn’t it? That’s why he was currently separated from his allies, stuck in the middle of nowhere with no means of defending himself! Oh, and did he mention that the forest was on fire. Yes, turns out that trees are quite flammable and his earlier hellfire rounds worked wonders.

So, there he was, alone, stranded, surrounded by raging fire and worst of all, utterly human! Starscream had already known that humans were pathetic creatures but now that he, ugh, was one himself he truly realized just how weak they were. For example, if he had been in his regular body then even if grounded he would have been able to easily navigate out of this forest. But now that he was so small everything looked the same and was so much more confusing. And the heat! The heat of the forest fire felt unbearable, the hot air made it hard to breathe, the smoke made his eyes water and Starscream wanted nothing more than to fly away from it all.

Now, another mech might have felt frightened, being in this situation, but this wasn’t just any mech. This was lord Starscream, future leader of the decepticons! Where lesser mech would have covered in fear, he strode on, braving through the flames and ignoring the pain. Nothing was gonna stop him from getting out of this damned forest, reunite with the decepticons and turn back to normal! You hear that Earth!? Nothing! NOTHING-! Oh FUCK, he was surrounded!

Having been too caught up in his thoughts, Starscream hadn’t noticed that the fire was starting to surround him until it was too late. Twirling around with a sense of growing panic, the decepticon second in command desperately tried to find a way out. But there was only burning trees and walls of fire everywhere. Trapped and with nowhere else to go, Starscream finally came to the realization that he might actually die. AS A STINKING HUMAN!

The tears caused by the smoke mixed with tears of desperation and Starscream let out a pained scream as one of the burning trees fell and summoned a wave of fire that singed his skin. Taking a few steps backward to escape the fire, Starscream tripped and fell unto his back, hitting his head as he did. Groaning, he curled in on himself while clutching his head. The whole world was spinning and he couldn’t make sense of what was up and down. Thinking that perhaps this was it, Starscream bitterly wept some more tears.

That’s when he felt it, a hand on his shoulder. Cracking his eyes open he saw, what were they called again... A fireman! Yes! He had seen them arrive at scenes before when he or another con had caused some destruction. Starscream tried to say something but his throat was so dry that only a pathetic whimper came out. Though he did manage to let out a startled yelp when the fireman suddenly lifted him up in their arms. From behind their protective mask he saw their eyes smiling at him reassuringly.

“Don’t worry sir! I will get you out of this! Just cover your mouth and nose with your shirt until then!” It might have been because of his lack of oxygen or maybe because he hit his head but their calm and confident voice made Starscream’s spa- uh, heart, tremble, and he clung unto their uniform tighter as they made their way through the fire and to safety. And if he stared at them a bit starstruck, like a newly forged experiencing their first crush, well, no one else was there to judge him for it.

#transformers imagine #G1 #starscream #humanformers #kinda

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dollypopup · 3 years

Text

in puffs of smoke

Me? Writing SteinMarie again? My comfort ship needed now more than ever? Nooooo. Neeeever.

Anyway, this was entirely inspired by @frankandstein‘s awesome art, found HERE and I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of these two

“Franken Stein,” Marie said from the doorway, “don’t you dare light that cigarette.”

He grinned around the filter, not turning to face her, yet. Instead, he closed his eyes and honed in on her soul, annoyed. No doubt, she had that expression on her face where one side of her mouth bunched up. He liked it most when she’d close her eye and ball her fist, too. It was, in the most objectively speaking way, quite cute.

Lethal, without doubt. But also cute.

Of course, he wasn’t intending on lighting any cigarettes, in the first place: partially because of said lethality. But he’d let her think what she wanted.

He hummed in response to her and listed and as feet tapped their way toward him, a clean, crisp staccato before he felt her arms come about his shoulders, one hand coming to pluck the match out of his grasp, though the other didn’t yet reach for his cigarette. Instead, it dangled from his lips, the filter loosely held between teeth. He couldn’t help but be reminded of just how small she was in moments like then, too. She was minute in height but enormous in presence. Her enormity, however, did not mean she was often in the positions he currently found herself in, her chin perfectly aligned to rest atop his head. He could use her as an armrest even when she stood tall, but she could balance the playing field if he was in his chair.

“Ah, Marie,” he said, “when did you come in?”

He felt her huff against the top of his head, fluttering a few loose strands.

“You promised you’d start going outside,” she said, instead, not falling for his bait. Did he? Oh, he did. He thought back, remembering. That’s right, Marie’d found ashes in a “tea” beaker and all but stormed over, telling him she wanted to live to have children and that these are the good beakers, and are you listening, Franken?

“Are you listening, Franken?” she asked, and his lips twitched around the cigarette.

“Always,” he responded, and she knew him well enough to know that was the truth.

“Oh- what am I going to do with you?” she mumbled. In a slightly louder voice, she said “just remember next time, okay?”

“Or what?” he pushed, keeping his face fully neutral.

“Or I’ll- hold you here against your will until you promise!” she replied.

“Pinkie promise?”

She huffed once more but there was a laugh somewhere there, too. They’d been living together for a good amount of time, and he knew she’d leave if she really wanted to, though the thought gave him pause. Instead, he loosened, letting his head fall back slightly just as her arms tightened around him.

“Ooooh, you’ve got jokes? Well, then, you’re not going anywhere again! Okay, Stein?” she said. He chewed on the inside of his cheek to keep from grinning.

“Oh, I know that,” he replied, likely not the answer she wanted, and certainly not one she expected.

“Oh, what?” she said, sarcastically. He leaned back just a bit more, fluttering his eyes open. “What makes you say that?” She flexed her arms minutely as she said that, justifiably proud of her strength. The Pulverizer. With a hammer for a heart.

Ah, but he could still trip her up. He never did play very fair.

“Well,” he continued, conversational tone even as he shook his head slightly to adjust himself in her grasp, “I don’t let anyone else hold me like this.”

The heat he felt against him seemed to intensify, no doubt she’d pinked at his comments. He wasn’t entirely immune, either, pressed up against the warm softness of her. They were both, mmm, aware just how much they toed the line of Weapon-Meister propriety. Her soft “oh” endeared him, and the corners of his lips twitched just the tiniest bit higher as she rested her chin on top of his head. Then, mischievous, her cheek resting against the crown of his head, the beginnings of her grin obvious.

“. . .pinkie promise?”

#steinmarie #marie mjolnir #franken stein #soul eater #stein x marie #oh hey #it's me #i come around ever 27 months with a grand total of 7 reblogs and go poof again #sorry #also tho!!!!#that was great art!!!#and i hope there are still shippers out there who love these two #i think i'm always gonna be bonkers for them haha

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felidlycanthrope · 4 years

Text

Little Slice of Heaven

zuko x reader

disgusting tooth rotting fluff

I’m reposting this jawn because my old blog got hacked! If you liked or reblogged before please do so again- I want friends xoxo gossip girl

The soft glow of the morning light filtered through the flap of the tent. It was surprisingly humid for an air temple- so high in the mountain’s you’d think the breeze would be cool. Although, a clear factor in the warmth of the air could be the sleeping form of my boyfriend.

His hair had gotten longer over the past few months. He seemed to be becoming more and more like his intended self as it did- I know he understood that to some degree. He understood a lot more about himself after travelling with us for around a month or so.

“What are you thinking about? I know that face.” His eyes fluttered open. Golden irises blended with the rising sun’s light, studied me. He reached out to move a fallen strand of hair, calloused hands whispering a trail as they left.

I did the same, albeit in a slightly mocking manner. I smiled and replied, “just about how proud I am of you. And about how far we’ve come in the past couple of months.”

He smiled a little half smile- almost a smirk but not quite- as he replied: “You were thinking about me?”

“I’m staring right at you, why wouldn’t I be thinking about you? I’m also kind of thinking about breakfast. Does that soothe your ego?” I laughed, pulling the pillow under my chin to look up at him.

“Nah, don’t think so,” he said, doing the same. “I’m glad to make us up something if you’d like.”

“The others will probably be waking up soon, though, and it’d be annoying to cook for ten instead of two. Plus, I wouldn’t get this pretty little moment for as long as possible. Let Aang or Katara do it.” To cement my point, I gently pushed him onto his back as quickly as possible. I wrapped my arm around his waist, the other around his arm. I laid my head on his chest. As if his body acted of its own accord, his free hand lifted a few tendrils of my hair before moving to stroke my head. He offered his other hand, laced his fingers with mine, as if fitting a puzzle together even though you’ve done it hundreds of times before.

His heartbeat sped up for a brief moment as I did this, but slowly subsided back to normal. I could hear his breathing hitch for a moment- he was trying to calm his heartrate.

“It’s cute you still get nervous,” I assured him. “If you’re not comfy, we can move.”

“No I’m fine. It’s not nervousness. I just had a bad thought, that’s all,” he responded quickly, though not changing the pace of his stroking. He squeezed my hand- a gentle reassurance.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not right now.” He kissed the crown of my head gently.

The sound of his heartbeat intermingled with the rising sound of the early birds- both the avian kind and the airbender-waterbender kind. Aang’s light footsteps shuffled a bit more than usual across the cobbled floor to where Appa was. The hay rustled as he dropped it in front of the sky bison’s sleeping form. He stirred for a moment, but seemed to fall back asleep.

“You think anyone’s awake yet?” I heard Katara whisper right outside the tent as she began to collect a bit of firewood from the pile beside our site.

“Probably not,” Aang replied in a lowered, but mostly normal voice, “but we should probably keep it down a bit- Prince Emo over here definitely isn’t a morning person.”

“I don’t think he’s an any kind of day person,” Katara giggled. I heard the rustle of the logs, and the rustle of a sleeve being pulled away from imminent “danger”.

I craned my neck to look up at Zuko with a stifled laugh. He lifted his head specifically to roll his eyes before allowing his head to hit the pillow dramatically.

“Prince Emo, huh? Well, you can’t say he’s wrong.”

“I kind of want to go help now just to make a point,” he murmured.

I wrapped myself tighter around him. I twisted my foot over his leg closest to me and under his ankle farthest from me. “Nooooo, you can’t leave me,” I moaned. “Then we’ll have to actually do stuff. I don’t wanna do stuff.”

“We don’t have to do stuff. We can go find a spot in the woods and just go right back to sleep. I didn’t want to strain myself or Aang so we decided not to do any training today.”

I looked up at him with a furrowed brow. “When is your sneak attack scheduled?”

He chuckled; the vibrations reverberated into my own chest as his rose and fell. He lowered his voice a little more. “Not til after dark. ‘M gonna try to get him to use a lantern flame.”

“There it is.”

“But it’s not for a while. We’ve got the whole day to waste.”

“Let’s just waste it away in here,” I muttered, “then we don’t have to deal with people.”

Katara’s voice pierced the little slice of heaven we’d created. “Am I setting a place for the two of you to eat, or what? You guys are the worst whisperers,” she groaned.

I rolled over dramatically, letting my arm flop against the ground. I sighed, “I’m kind of hungry. Breakfast, then back to sleep. I like breakfast foods.”

He stared up at the ceiling for a moment, exasperated already. He lunged forward, pulling himself up as tall as he could. He offered a calloused hand. I shoved my blanket off and took it, following suit and reluctantly exiting my little slice of heaven.

#zuko #zuko x reader #reader insert #avatar #atla #avatar the last airbender #zuko imagine #atla x reader #avatar the last airbender x reader #prince zuko x reader #prince zuko #firelord zuko #firelord zuko x reader

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beautifulchaostrash · 3 years

Text

Restless Beetles

_____________________________

Martin x Male Reader

Tws/Cws: brief mentions of bugs, implied NSFW, brief homophobia ment

Image credit

_____________________________

You stood nervously at the entrance of Cuda’s butcher shop. You really, really, should not have let your friends talk you into doing this. Bullied, you mentally decreed. They had actually bullied you, and you made a mental note to never again reveal your crushes to anyone.

You frowned to no one in particular and recited in your head the words you were going to say. Worrying at your lip, hesitant to take the final steps across the threshold. You were a stranger to him, you two had never spoken before and quite honestly you had no right to ask him out like this. But just as you had finally convinced yourself to turn back and go home, the universe decided it would be really funny to shove its entire fist up your ass.

Bells jingled as the door opened suddenly, nearly knocking into you. You jumped back, and the figure that stood before you stiffened for a moment. Doey-brown eyes regarded you with a worried expression, accentuated by a pout on his lower lip. You gawked, stunned by his handsomeness. He quickly averted his gaze from yours, and turned down the steps, walking away from you with little fanfare. Seeing him leave filled you with a kind of panic, as if you were rudely ignoring the presence of a unicorn.

“Hey, wait!”

He snapped his head in your direction, almost frightened, and lulled to a stop. You jogged towards him.

“You’re Martin right? The new kid?”

He nodded, a few strands of hair falling in his face as he stared down at his shoes.

“M-my name’s Y/N, and uh, well i was wondering if-” you swallowed, and let out an involuntary bout of nervous laughter.

He tilted his head, side-eyeing you slightly, eyebrow twitching upwards. Oh boy, he definitely thought you were a weirdo now. You cleared your throat and tried to regain at least some kind of composure.

“I was wondering if you wanted to like, go out sometime? I mean, I-uh, figured that I could show you around the town, ya know, since you're new and all,” You rubbed the back of your neck and glanced away. “A tour, if you’d like. If you’re too busy though, I totally understand I-”

“Sure,” he mumbled.

You flushed again at the sound of his voice, so soft, quiet, with a small hint of mystery behind it. It sounded like a fine champagne that had been opened only for a special occasion. It was there and then that you knew this man would become your addiction, your desire, something you wanted to gobble down and slowly savor all at the same time. You grinned, rocking back on your heels slightly.

“Alright then, does Saturday evening work for you?”

He nodded, and you were saddened that he did not use his voice to respond, but elated that he had accepted your proposal.

“I’ll pick you up from your house at seven then, I gotta run f-for now, but i’ll see you later, ok?”

You waved goodbye and brusquely started down the road in the opposite direction. You hated parting so abruptly, but if you had stayed any longer you would have been executed by the volley of cupid’s arrows that were waiting in the wings to pierce your tender heart. You shook your head at the stupid notion. For pete’s sake, you didn’t even know for sure if he was into guys. For all you knew, he was only saying yes so he would have the opportunity to send you home with a black eye and a broken rib, like so many before had done.

No! You shook your head again, confident that Martin wouldn’t do anything like that. I mean, he does look kind of gay, or at least bi-curious, but chalking things up to appearance alone was childish and stereotypical. God, why on earth did you have to make it sound like such a date? You could've asked to “hang out”, or “get to know him”, but nooooo you had to jump head first into romantic shenaniganery. You mentally kicked yourself the entire walk home.

....

Martin shuffled through the front door, having taken a longer route home so he could have time to think. Despite all the effort he had gone through to reach a conclusion about the earlier events, he had none. He was used to people being uncomfortable around him. Forcing smiles and how do you do’s when his eerily blank expression met theirs. Eyes darting around the room, finding any excuse not to be near this mute idiot. He was used to people being angry at him, terror and rage filling their eyes and minds as they ran after him with torches and weapons. The same anger and disgust that Cuda held in his own, not just for him, but for Christina, Arthur, and essentially anyone that was not himself. He was even used to people being attracted to him. Sexually attracted, mind you. He highly doubted whether Mrs. Santini was wondering about his day or how he was doing as she hungrily undressed him with her eyes.

He pocketed his sunglasses and trudged up the stairs, the shoddy bell alarm signaling his arrival. He hung his jacket and sat down near the window, drawing his knees to his chest and gazing out at the rapidly dwindling sunset.

“Y/N,”

He softly whispered the name like a prayer. You had acted so nervous, but not out of fear or discomfort. You beamed wildly when he replied positively to you. Smiling again as you waved him goodbye. You glanced back at him as you left, seemingly sad to leave. But what did it mean?

Boys never asked out other boys, at least none that he knew of, so it couldn’t possibly be a date. You were just trying to be friendly that’s all. But, then, why did you look at him like that? And why was your face so red despite the cool summer breeze? Maybe that’s why he said yes. He wanted to know why, what motive did you have, what could you possibly gain from befriending him. It scared him slightly, at least he knew Mrs. Santini got sexy stuff in return for being nice to him, but he didn’t know what you would want from him.

Maybe it was just some elaborate trick intended to make him look like a fool. He hoped it wasn’t. He hated making a fool of himself, it only made it harder for people to take his sickness seriously.

He always heard people talking about butterflies in their stomachs, they were referenced frequently in the romantic novels he read, but now, they didn’t feel like butterflies. He had beetles in his stomach, not fluttering all around, but crawling and squirming nervously at the bottom, condensing into a writhing mass of uncertainty.

Auchums Razor came to shed the light, as his stomach growled and he realized that he was only hungry. He stood up and stretched, gangly arms reaching first for the ceiling, then behind his back. Maybe he could chase away the beetles with whatever Christina was cooking for dinner.

As if on cue, he heard her voice calling from downstairs, asking him to set the table. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, and lumbered down the stairs, marching ever closer to what felt like his doom, or possibly, his salvation.

#mod elith #martin #martin matthias #martin 1977 #martin x reader #martin x male reader #slasher #fanfic

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decalinethespacecat · 3 years

Text

The Games that We Play-Ch.1

A simple exploration.

That's all this mission was supposed to entail.

Well, in a sense, perhaps they had accomplished such. Stranded on a new, foreign world, brimming with energy, and teeming with organic life. And with that, it was the very life that they had been forced to alter themselves to, the very lifeblood that dwelt on this strange sphere in too great an excess, and thus, should they not adhere to the laws set by this new world, it could mean the loss of their functionality, or even more, their own sparks. Of course, ironically enough, it hadn't just been themselves that had to follow this code: the very ones that had caused their stranding here had also been subject to it. And even more, one amongst their former pursuers had, albeit forcibly at first, integrated amongst their numbers. Now, as the two parties faced each other atop this mountain, five against five, the playing field had been leveled.

The two heads of the opposing sides made direct eye contact with each other, the differences between them evident in far more than just their conflicting ideals and ambitions. On one side stood the stalwart, strong form of a darkly furred primate, leaning on his knuckles as the species he had scanned were inclined to do. His eyes were dark, yet soulful, and in the minds of some of his fellow explorers, dare they say, they appeared almost akin to the small creatures that had aided and catered to their ancestors. On the other was, for all intents and purposes, a complete antithesis of everything the primate was. He bore the outer flesh of a large theropod coated in a sheen of violet with a series of green ridges trailing along his back, ending at the base of his tail. Rows of sharpened, ivory teeth lined the inside of his powerful jaws, small, yet menacing red eyes full of intent glowering back at the primate opposite of him.

"Across the galaxy," the ancient reptile spoke, voice low and smooth. "It has come to this, Optimus Primal." The primate stood his ground, along with the other four organically based Cybertronians with him. "Face to face," a smile crept onto the theropod's features. "Tooth to claw...yesss." Oh yes indeed, he had been clamoring for this very moment! "Have you anything to say?"

The primate's face grew stern. True, he had not set out on this expedition with the intent to seek combat. Yet ultimately, Primus, it seemed, held other plans for them. "I'd say, that's prime." he simply stated before bearing his elongated canines. "Let's do it!"

...

"YEAHHHH!" a chorus of young voices cried out, five to be exact, as they charged in unison at a collection of five pieces of notebook paper held up by a used popsicle stick glued onto the back, each of them stuck into the ground so they would stay in place. The owners of the voices came forward and did 'battle' with the pieces of cut-out paper, lightly striking and flicking the fragile, crudely drawn depictions of their current 'adversaries'.

This was the third time they needed to be redrawn, and frankly, no one was wanting to have to do all five Predacons all over again. Especially if one of them was a young adolescent with questionable drawing skills. If anything, at least they LOOKED like how they were supposed to this time. Sort of.

One amongst the five, a boy with tannish skin and a darkly colored buzz cut, grabbed the cutout of Megatron (at least, it was supposed to be Megatron) and purposefully fell to the ground, bringing the piece of colored paper on a stick close to his face, raising one hand to keep it back, as if it weighed a good deal of weight.

...

The jaws were close. So insultingly close. Just a few centimeters more, and that slagging ape's head would be firmly in his jaws! "Admit defeat, Maximal!" Megatron bellowed, Primal not wavering, yet it was evident that he was struggling against the Tyrannosaurus' massive head. "The Energon shall be ours!"

The silverback needed to act fast. He held no intention of obeying the violet Predacon's demand, yet he needed some leeway. He needed to at least get the larger beast off of him! "Not if I can help it!"

...

"Yah!" the tan boy hollered, behaving as if he had just flung a two-ton boulder off of him, yet the paper cutout landed in the grass with little more than a soft crinkle. "Surrender, Megatron!" he proclaimed, his voice far from the authoritative, triumphant Maximal he was imitating. "You're scrapped!"

'Megatron didn't retort back, the boy realizing then what kind of corner he had just put himself in.

"Uh, guys?" he called out, the other four children ceasing their 'battle' against their respective Predacons and turning towards him. "Who's not fighting at this part?"

One boy amongst them, African and with a top of short, black curls, turned to him. "They all are!" he answered back.

"Yeah, but who's being shown fighting?"

"Uh…" the other boy paused, thinking for a moment. "I think it's just Optimus and Megatron."

"Ok." the tan boy went over to pick up the Megatron cutout, his dark eyes taking notice of a nearby tree. "You mind? I can't really chase myself."

...

The impact was immediate, and even if it had been mere seconds, the shock that came with the splintering rock formation behind them both clearly affected Primal more than his adversary.

A fact that they wasted no time in taking advantage of.

With one swift, precise bite, Megatron put the jaws of the mighty beast he had donned as his alternate form to proper use, the premaxillary teeth that once belonged to the likes of the extinct predator tore through the alpha primate's thigh, right above the joint. Primal released an involuntary wail of agony, the sharpened instruments having torn through his alt mode's synthetic flesh and down to the fragile circuitry and wiring underneath. Not feeling satisfied with just one sample of the Maximal's mech fluid lightly bathing his tongue, Megatron bit yet again, only this time, Primal seemed to have better prepared for it. He was still in a great deal of pain, yes, yet now he could better channel it, using the horrid sensations and transferring it into an unquenchable need to fight back, beginning with delivering a hardened chop with both hands to the top of Megatron's scaly dome.

This blow had put the behemoth reptile in the same position Optimus had been mere seconds prior. And due to the blow he had delivered, it took the Tyrannosaurus a moment to realize that, surprisingly enough, the foolish ape had somehow found it in him to up and began swinging him around by the tail! As soon as the world had begun spinning for him, it stopped, only to then realize he was flying right into the ceiling of the mountainous structure, crashing down with a resounding thud that shook the entire landscape.

"Gah!" Optimus cried out, hissing as he analyzed the injury done to his leg. True, he had managed to stand to deliver that rather 'creative' maneuver against his aggressor, yet it now dawned on him that there was no way he could walk with a tear like this. And internalized repairs wouldn't be able to undo damage such as this. As if to add insult to injury (literally in a sense), the reptile had somehow managed to get up. "It…" Optimus stammered, forcing himself to rise. "It's over, Megatron!"

"It is NEVER over! Nooo!" He could scarcely believe it at first, yet given how the brute's forces traveled all this way to engage them, perhaps anything was possible. After all, what other Cybertronian before them had been forced to adopt a secondary skin of organic flesh? Despite the painful surges the multiple Energon crystals sent through his true form, Megatron did not waver, aiming and sending a missile right in the direction of the wounded Primal. "For if I must die...I shall take you with me!"

There was no way he could avoid this. Its proximity was too close. The urge to flee was great, yet Primal stood firm. He would stand tall and accept this. He had begun to shut his eyes, awaiting the inevitable. 'Till all are one…'

Yet one, he was not yet to be.

The missile had never come to meet him.

...

"Wait, you want me to do what?" one amongst the group questioned with a quirked brow, this time the child, despite the role, a young girl with skin slightly darker than the boy roleplaying as Primal, her thick, black hair tied back in a low ponytail. In her hands was a wooden sword, one that she had made sure to bring each and every time she met with the others. Yet now, the African boy was asking her to do something a little...odd with it.

"Well, in the episode, Dinobot blocks it with his tail."

"So, what? You want me to put this on my butt?"

"Uh...well, it'd be accurate."

It sounded absurd, not to mention difficult to pull off. Sure, she didn't really know how to properly use the sword, yet at least she could make use of it as something of an improv baseball bat. But nooooo, when she batted the "missile" away like that, they had to stop so that they could do it 'the right way'.

"Fine." she moaned, rolling her eyes and tossing the crumpled piece of paper (Waspinator got stepped on, AGAIN) in the African boy's direction. "Throw it again."

...

The one that had once been under Megatron's command, the one that had blocked their way and saw fit to end his life on the stone bridge, allowing the Predacons to catch up with them, had just been the one to strike the incoming projectile with his striped, reptilian tail, sending it off course and away from them both.

The former Predacon and his would-be usurper had just miraculously saved him from certain death.

This revelation was given no time to truly be dwelt on at the present, for the missile had found itself a new target, the explosion sending a chain reaction that soon caused the entire mountain to shake.

"It's going to blow!" a brown rhinoceros bellowed, the once battling Predacons quickly realizing the danger they were all in and making a hasty retreat, leaving their downed leader behind.

"Time to fade, heroes!" one amongst the Maximals shouted, a green-eyed cheetah, he making himself scarce along with Primal and the rhino, a large, grey rat also atop of the horned creature's back, a velociraptor racing alongside with them off of the mountain. None dare to look back, lest they waste precious seconds before the entire formation exploded.

Thankfully, they thought as they now found themselves a good distance away, all of them had managed to make it out of that close call in one piece. All four...no, all five of them.

Optimus turned his gaze towards the newest member of their group, his pale eyes gazing back into the silverback's own. "Thanks." he simply stated, the ancient reptile somewhat taken aback by this gesture.

"My actions did not imply loyalty, Optimus." the striped theropod clarified, momentarily averting his gaze, his voice low and raspy, yet strangely enough, sincere. "I owe you my life." He admitted the act, even if he dare not openly say it, was rather humbling. "Now we are merely...even."

The silverback took no offense to this. In fact, to the raptor's befuddlement, he simply presented him with a satisfied grin. "I'll accept that."

"Yeah, well, uh.." The rat, having long gotten off the rhino's back, wasn't exactly ready to allow this saurian into their ranks, no matter what Optimus declared. Orders or not, he'd make his opinion on "Chopperface", or rather, "Choppahface", known for a long while. Still, there was a burning question on his mind. "At least Megatron's gone, and so is the Energon!" he declared, voice rising in hope. "Can we go home now?"

It was too good to be true. The shaking of his leader's head cemented this fact. "No, Rattrap." the gorilla solemnly stated. "For now, we're stranded here with the Predacons on this unknown planet." the situation sunk in for all of them now, truly. "Megatron may be back, and there is still more Energon. If they ever get enough, they could conquer the galaxy." he could see the trepidation etched into their features. Indeed, he would be a liar if he said he did not share in their collective concern. Still...there was no other way. Their opposition had to be stopped. And whether it be here, Earth, or even Cybertron, his conviction would have remained the same. "So for now," he began, looking towards the endless, blue horizon above. "Let the battle be here, on this strange, primitive world. And let it be called," he shouted, extending his fist towards the skies. "The Beast Wars!"

...

"YEAH!" The five shouted in chorus, full of nothing short of absolute triumph and exhilaration, the sight of the untamed, unconquered canyon and mountainous landscape the Maximals stood upon at the forefront of their mind's eye.

Of course, after a few moments of this, said landscape steadily began to fade, the mowed, fertile, green lawn of the African boy's yard coming to consume the place stationed in their imaginations.

"Uh, ok." a voice amongst them spoke, said voice belonging to another girl in the group, though contrary to the other young lady with them, she bore lighter skin and a head of long, red locks. "So...do we go over the toy fund now or later?"

"I think we've got a more immediate problem than that." the African boy said, picking up the crumpled-up piece of paper. "Somebody's got to redraw Waspinator. Again."

The skies had darkened, the sun just beginning to set. Yet in the small, packed enclosure of the cubical-shaped treehouse, none of the five children paid any mind, a serious and passionate debate taking place amongst them.

"No way! I did it last week! It's Tim's turn!" a blonde boy with scruffy hair protested, crossing his arms.

"Last time I checked," the African boy clarified, gesturing an accusing finger back at the blonde. "You only did it last week because you skipped out on the last time it was your turn."

"Hey, I was sick that week!" he protested.

"Yeah, that was boring." The black-haired girl admitted. "I was tired of acting out that episode where Cheetor got kidnapped by Tarantulas."

"You got tired?" another girl questioned, she of lighter skin and a head of fiery red hair, even if her voice was meek and smooth. "I had to make sure the cutout we made didn't get too messed up."

"At least Rattrap got to do stuff in that episode!' the other girl retorted, looking to her wooden sword. "Dinobot was barely in that one!"

"And we can only do so many with just five of us!" the blonde added in. "Soon, it's going to get to where we're going to have to start making up our own episodes!"

"Ok, look!" the tan boy interjected, the other four quieting down. "We're getting off track. The point is that Waspinator got messed up, again, and somebody's got to make another cutout-"

"Again." the other children finished for him, he somewhat startled by how quickly they picked up on what he was about to say.

"Right, so one of us is going to have to do it. But we've got to find out who's turn it is to make a new one-"

"Timothy Leblanc!" each and every one of the five adolescents jumped at the voice piercing through their private space up in the crudely constructed, yet still standing treehouse. And whilst the feminine, rather irritable voice called out for just one of them, each didn't need to ask what this also meant for them. "It's thirty minutes past five now, and you're STILL up there?! Your father's going to get here in less than five, and your dinner's had to be heated up twice already!"

The African boy winced, looking at his friends with a rather sheepish expression. "I've got to probably get going too." the red-haired girl confessed.

"Me too." the blonde added. "Mom's going to kill me if I don't do the dishwasher before the day's done."

"And my mom wants me to help her with the...the…" the black-haired girl paused. "I think she called it a…bistek tagalog?"

"A what?" Tim questioned.

"Your mom always makes the weirdest stuff." the blonde added.

"Whatever it is, she wants me to help mix the sauce and put the onions in."

"So, who's going to redraw…" the tan boy began, only to find that all eyes were on him.

A few hours later

"Thanks a lot!"

"Yeah, totally!"

"You're always so thoughtful!"

"Yeah, the best!"

Even now, he was STILL seething mad at all of them.

True, there really wasn't a rush, and he could probably get it done during study hall tomorrow, but still, once again, he had been sacked with the task of redrawing Predacons (correction: one particular Predacon) AGAIN, when the rest of them knew well and good that it was someone else's turn! Still, in a way, he sort of knew why he got this particular task the most, mainly because he was the only one that could actually make them LOOK sort of accurate. As accurate as a fourth grader that had a decent enough grade in Art could get.

'Yeah, well, let's see them when we act out 'Starscream's Ghost'!' the boy thought, scribbling a green crayon in the thick pencil lines that made up Waspinator's outline. 'I'll be Waspinator on that one! And...oh wait, no.' he just remembered. 'We don't have anyone that can be Tigetron or Airazor.' let alone did they have anyone that could've filled in the role of Blackarachnia or Inferno.

'And we can only do so many with just five of us!' the blonde boy's words echoed in his mind.. 'Soon, it's going to get where we're going to have to start making up our own episodes!'

"Inuksuk!" a man's voice said from the other side of the door, the young boy ceasing his doodling. "Don't tell me you're still up!" the child inwardly groaned at hearing his full name. Culture and heritage aside, he still hated it. "Have you even brushed your teeth yet, young man?"

Brushed...oh shoot!

The older, far taller adult standing outside of the boy's room was knocked back by the door, quite literally, slamming in his face, a small figure rushing out and into the bathroom. "Well, at least you know to stand out of the way next time." a woman shouted at the bottom of the stairs.

"Y-Yeah...guess so…"

Bathroom

Not so much brushing as he was grinding the bristles in and around his teeth, yet from what he could see in the mirror, his mouth was foamy enough for it to count! Speaking of which, he took a moment to eject said foam from his mouth and into the sink, washing it down and getting out the dental floss, tearing off just enough (just as mom showed him) and tying the ends around his fingers (just as mom showed him, though he struggled more with that particular step). Inuksuk looked good and hard in the mirror at his still growing teeth, a couple of empty spaces from recently pulled ones serving as areas he needed to keep extra clean, this particular tip from his father (of whom he just realized he might've just slammed in the face with a door).

He'd have to apologize when he got out. Assuming he hit him hard.

Still, as the young boy garbed in a simple, grey t-shirt and worn down, dark grey sweatpants navigated the floss through his available teeth, he found one thought running through his mind on repeat as he went on with his (very belated) nightly routine.

"Soon, it's going to get where we're going to have to start making up our own episodes!"

...

"...making up our own episodes!"

Making up their own episodes...hmm.

Perhaps the better term for it would've been 'making up our own stories, as really, how were a bunch of kids going to get ahold of anything better than a handheld camera, let alone, by some miracle, contact Mainframe with a stack of papers detailing these new exploits and adventures of the Maximals?

Still, Tim thought, as he spit out the strong tasting, even stronger stinging Listerine, it could work.

Yeah, they'd have to go through the process of deciding on a plot, a script, who'd be the 'star', all things that, frankly, he would've been more than content to leave for the fine folks who were in charge of the show to decide. But, seeing as it was evident that they'd probably be playing out these reenactments with just five, Timothy couldn't help but entertain the potential Mathis' proposal brought with it. What if, just if, they did go through with it...what could they do? Or perhaps the better question was, what COULDN'T they do?

Oh man, oh geez, oh gosh, oh man! He had just meant it as a way so that they wouldn't have to act out the same stuff over and over again! But thinking about it now...oh geez, he was near slapping himself for not suggesting it earlier!

...

"Mathis, bed!"

"Ok, mom! Just a minute!"

The blonde boy heard the door to his room open, a hand setting itself on his shoulder.

"It's been ten." a low, feminine voice told him. "And unless you want to go through the ritual of me setting the radio on at max volume for you in the morning...and also, did you even brush, let alone take your pills yet-"

"Ok, fine." Mathis groaned, getting up from the dining room table and to the foot of the stairs.

"Clean up first."

He turned back to face his mother, she bearing his blonde locks, yet not his chocolate brown eyes. "But didn't you just say-"

"It's going to take you five minutes to get all these crayons and pencils up." she answered, a small, curt grin coming to her lips. Once again, she foiled him. As the young boy went back over to the table and began putting the art supplies back in their proper boxes, correctly, as she was watching him, the woman couldn't help but notice what her child had been drawing. "Who's that?" she asked, picking up the piece of lined paper. "One of the characters from that show you and your friends watch? Um…" she tapped her finger on her chin, trying to recall whom exactly her son fawned over. "Cheetara or something?"

"That's Thundercats, mom." Mathis moaned. "It's Cheetor from Beast Wars." well, technically, that wasn't what it was called over here, yet he and his friends were in mutual agreement that 'Beasties' sounded ridiculous, not to mention stupid. Besides, Optimus outright even said that the fight they were in was called the flipping 'Beast Wars'!

"Ah, right. He's the...leopard, right?" This earned the woman another groan. "Kidding, kidding." She scanned the crude markings meant to resemble the computer-generated robot cat (at least she thought that was what he was, she only saw the show in brief intervals), and found a strange, new figure beside him. "Who's this?" she questioned her child, gesturing to the right of (what was supposed to be) Cheetor.

"Oh, that's…" Mathis began to answer, stopping before he could finish. "Well...I don't really know what his name is, but he's somebody I made up."

"Ah, like it's supposed to be you in the show?"

"No, it's not me. It's someone I made up." the boy affirmed. "He's a Saber-toothed Tiger."

(AN-I know it's more accurate to call it a Saber-toothed cat or Smilodon, but being a kid in the 90s, and in general, a kid, everyone I knew, both other kids and adults around me, just called it a Saber-toothed Tiger.)

"Oh, ok. That explains the teeth." his mother nodded.

"Yeah," Mathis confirmed. "There's only five of us, so we only have so many episodes we can act out as the Maximals. So I got to thinking we could maybe make up our own episodes."

"And in turn, make up your own characters?"

"...yeah. Yeah, I guess so."

"Yeah, well," the woman ruffled the younger boy's hair. "You have all the time in the world to do that tomorrow and on the weekend. Right now, everyone, even Saber-toothed Tigers, need to get up into bed. And they definitely need to keep their teeth clean"

"Before they have pills in some ice cream?"

She smiled, going over to the freezer. "I guess that can be arranged. Though, I'm not sure how you could eat anything with chompers like that."

...

'Making up our own episodes…' she wondered, as she climbed on into bed, her long, red locks contrasting greatly with the ivory fabric of her pillow and pale pink of her sheets, as well as a majority of her room, of which followed in a similar color scheme. 'How are we going to do that when we can't even save up enough to get some actual toys?'

Indeed, before the whole discussion involving who was going to be tasked with re-drawing Waspinator, she had collected what everyone had to offer that week to the 'toy-fund'. Inu (of which she and the rest had called Inuksuk, seeing as his name was somewhat difficult to pronounce) was the only one to have actually brought a full dollar along with herself. Everyone else ranged from fifty to no more than five cents.

'Five cents?!' she remembered losing her cool at that. 'Really, Mathis?!'

'Hey, it was hot out!' he in turn retorted to her. 'And Dr. Pepper was RIGHT there in the machine!'

She was still more than a little peeved about it, but ultimately, there was little that could be done now. 'We've gotten up to twenty-five, but if each toy costs around ten dollars, each separate toy, then…' her hand traveled to her forehead, realizing in horror what this meant. 'We're going to have to get around fifty dollars total! And that's not even with tax!' she flopped onto her bed, her red hair fanning out underneath her. 'We're going to be stuck using paper cutouts for the Predacons forever!'

This pessimistic musing, however, was cut off by the cracking of her door, her blue eyes watching as a large, furred, quadrupedal creature squeezed through the opening it had created and made its way to her bedside, sitting on the small, white floor mat stationed beside it.

"Hey, Zoe." The young girl greeted the massive Main Coon, this vocal utterance being all the greyish-brown feline needed to act, hopping on her bed and planting herself at the footboard, curling up and tucking her head under her tail. She folded her hands underneath her head, still more than a little perturbed that it'd be even longer before she and her friends would reach the desired goal of however many dollars before all the Predacons could be purchased. Assuming they would even be able to find any at a Wal-Mart or Toys R' Us. "If anything," she spoke aloud to herself, Mathis' words coming back to her. "Making up our own episodes would probably mean that we'd have to do even MORE work. Because then, we're going to start making up our own Maximals and Predacons!"

...

'Which would be so cool!' The Filipino, black-haired adolescent mentally declared, having been warned already to not be too loud, and that she had school to look forward to in the morning. 'Looking forward to school...yeah, dad, that was a REAL good one.'

'It'll be even better if you get in those eight hours. Now haul yourself up to bed.'

Frankly, she wasn't sure she'd be getting any sleep tonight. Not with this running through her head.

'Like...like there are already characters that are toys that aren't in the show yet! Like Claw Jaw, or Armordillo, Wolfang, and…' as she continued on, listing each and every Maximal and Predacon she had seen on the shelves (Dinobot WOULD be hers! Eventually.), her brown eyes surveyed her environment before she got out of bed and locked the door to her room, then went back to her bed and cut on the lamp stationed on her dresser. She then opened the single drawer on the small, wooden dresser, an even smaller, black notebook, and a single, number-two pencil residing in the compact space, the label 'Lulu' stuck on the cover via a small piece of paper and tape.

'Ok,' she mused to herself, grabbing the two objects and flipping open to a page with just enough room. Then, she began writing. 'Now...there was Claw Jaw, Armordillo, Wolfang…'

...

'...some guy that's a German Shepard...don't know how that happened.' indeed, he didn't, but lo and behold, it WAS indeed a toy. Inu rolled around on his left side. 'Maybe we could start with something a little more simple. Like...like after they left the mountain, they got the ship up and running better.' Despite his eyes being closed, scenarios and 'what ifs' began playing out in his mind. Yeah, that could work. Lulu could maybe play out how Dinobot settled in...and Mikaela could come up with some stuff to throw at her as Rattrap does in the show. Granted, that in itself might've been a little difficult. The Filipino girl could play out her role well enough without much assistance, yet the redhead kind of needed some 'coaching' on how to be snarky. Bizarrely enough, she could channel the rodent-based Maximal quite well whenever the subject of the 'toy fund' was brought up.

Inu continued to ponder and think, drowsiness steadily beginning to creep in, the faces and forms of his small circle of friends steadily transforming into the characters they portrayed in their reenactments.

'Hey.'

Yet...as he drifted off, the smallest bit of his mind that was still conscious noticed that despite the boy himself playing the role, the transformed silverback in his mind seemed to be paying attention to something or someone ahead of him. Something or someone that clearly wasn't present there before, yet he behaved as if they had been there all along.

'Thanks for the help back there.' Inu took a moment. This had to be a dream, yet...he certainly wasn't complaining. 'If it wasn't for you clearing out that path for us, we probably wouldn't have gotten off that mountain at all.'

"Oh, uh, no problem, sir." the young child answered, standing to attention like a soldier, salute and everything. He was far from a Maximal in this developing vision, let alone anything that could've ever had the potential to supposedly clear out a path, yet such details were trivial and minute to him. This was getting good, and he wasn't about to risk spoiling it.

"Despite your size, I'd be more than willing to allow you into our, heh," Primal chuckled, looking at the variety of fauna around him that were his comrades. "Ranks. Besides," he continued, extending one large, darkly colored hand. "I've always been curious about humanity and their culture."

...

Normally he'd totally be against this.

"Ah, here are some nice ones."

Here he was, some kid, in a time where people didn't exist yet, riding upon a talking rhinoceros as if it were the most mundane, normal thing in the world!

"Tim, you mind getting a few samples of these also?"

And even more...he didn't have a single problem with it.

"Sure thing. Just a second.'' The boy addressed both his transportation and 'favorite', hopping down from the Maximal's back and to the fertile, grassy plain below, said plain coincidently teeming with flowering specimens of all kinds. Some of these he had never seen before in his life, let alone in the pages of any book he could potentially check out from the school's library. Thus, he wanted to get the best one. The most fascinating and intriguing, not to mention definitely alien specimen…"Aha!" he cried out, wasting no time in plucking the desired flora from its place and bringing it to the brown rhinoceros. "Here.'' He presented his 'present', a strange, budding thing with fanned-out petals of primary colors.

"Now THAT'S one I might have to keep for myself," Rhinox admitted, the human boy in turn put the flower in a glass compartment he (somehow) had on his person. Dream logic, but he wasn't willing to spoil this. "Truly though, Timothy, sometimes I feel like you, aside from Optimus, are the only ones that can understand and appreciate the majesty of this place."

It was then that the child swore his heart had stopped. True, it probably hadn't, as he certainly didn't feel like he was dying in his sleep, yet to hear those words from the disguised robot, his 'favorite'...well, he was quite ready to go and pick every single thing that was growing in this imaginary field, should the rhino wish it.

...

His two legs carried him forward, the grassy plain and clear, summer sky nothing short of a picturesque perfect day. The slim spotted big cat with vibrant, green eyes that ran beside him was far from allowing the blonde boy to catch up. Far from it.

"Awesome!"

Impossible as it was, Mathis was actually catching up with HIM.

"You're almost as fast as I am!"

"Wait, almost?!"

"Yeah, almost!" With that, Cheetor gave himself a little bit of a boost, propelling forward and leaving the blonde a short distance behind.

Oh, it was on now.

The boy wasn't even getting tired. His legs were burning, his entire body drunk on adrenaline and whatever other chemical that flowed through his body (he'd have to remember to copy the notes off of Tim for Science class again), but by God, he was in absolute nirvana.

"Whoa, you actually caught up?!" the younger Maximal exclaimed to the human child, more than a little surprised at this.

"Y-Yeah!" Mathis shouted back. "Yeah, guess I did!" who cared about being a Sabertooth Tiger or whatever other animal, he was killing it just being an ordinary, boring….well, kid!

...

"..."

"...ok, look kid, you gonna stare all day?"

The red-haired girl giggled at the grey rat's annoyance. Even if she was the current source of such, she found she didn't particularly mind it. "I guess I just never realized how…"

Rattrap quirked a brow, taking another bite of the rotted blue apple (another indication this was no more than a dream. Not the giant, talking rat, oh no). "How what? You said it now, you can't leave me hanging."

Her teal eyes shifted. "I don't think you'll like it."

"I reiterate my prior statement."

"Fine," she said. In truth, she was somewhat anxious about how he'd react, yet all the same, a part of her hoped it'd be something he'd react to. "I never realized how fuzzy you are."

Any contents that once rested inside his mouth were promptly spat out. "Wh-WHAT?!" he exclaimed, scarcely believing what he had just heard. "What'd ya just say?!"

"I said you were fuzzy!" she repeated, a part of her somewhat fearful she offended him, yet another just as excited. "Right now! Your fur's getting all ruffled up!"

"It-it is not!" it clearly was. Robotic at spark he might've been, his outer skin was still a slave to its species' "quirks".

"Yes it is!" she chortled, fear finally gone and replaced with total amusement.

"It is not, kid!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes, it is!"

"No, it ain't!"

The vocal back and forth continued on and on, his growing frustration and embarrassment seemingly only channeling more and more humor for the human child, she then actually having the gall to come over and stroke him. Actually stroke him, as if he were some pet she had owned! Even worse, as he came to see as she continued to do it over and over, her hand traveling through his grey fur, Rattrap didn't entirely seem to mind. Daresay, it actually felt kind of...nice.

"Still don't know which of yous is worse. You or Choppahface."

"...you're still fuzzy."

"...it's you."

...

Block.

Thrust.

Block.

Swing.

Block.

Upward swing.

How she had managed to conjure up this particular kata in such a small amount of time, mattered not to her.

"Come now!" all that mattered was whom she was doing it for. "You're surely more capable than that!" Twisting herself around, the Filipino girl lifted her wooden sword and brought it down on the winding blade of Cybertronian origin, the wood miraculously not splintering upon impact. The azure features of her idol transformed into something of a curt grin of amusement. "You really believe you have a chance against me?"

"M-Maybe?" she answered. How she was doing this, she didn't know, yet frankly, she didn't care. And now she just up and made herself look like an idiot in front of him. Great.

Their weapons continue to strike and hit against each other, Dinobot outranking her in strength and size, yet she found that her smaller frame led to her gaining some clear advantages. Ducking under his legs, she aimed to stab upwards, he, in turn, whirling around and leaping forward, away from her strike. She got up, ready to go at it again, yet on the transformed Maximal's azure features, she beheld something that, had she not been so determined to keep her composure in front of him, she could've died happy right then and there in her sleep.

A smile.

A smile that echoed nothing short of absolute pride. Pride for her, of her, of one that had called him her favorite.

"You're far from ready to be partaking in any battle." the transformed velociraptor told her. "Yet...I will say this: there is a degree of potential in you."

...

Despite the distance between each of them, some greater than others, the same consensus was shared among all of them that night. And for many more nights to come. If their fantasies could either become their reality or better yet, have the ones they fantasized of step into the one they were unfortunately stuck in, then their young barely lived lives would be nothing short of absolutely perfect.

Primal's best soldier.

Rhinox's number one assistant.

Cheetor's best friend.

Rattrap's favorite (though he'd never say it).

Dinobot's best student.

The ideal scenario, should it ever be granted to them.

Though even in their young minds, they all knew such things, and their idols were regulated to the television and their own minds. True, it far from curbed or starved the desire to wish and hope for it, yet ultimately, it would be for naught.

For now, they had to make do with what they had at their disposal, regulated and limited to the simple, partially fulfilling games that they played.

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mentalpolaroids · 3 years

Text

GH | 13. Sick

GH 12 GH 14

I woke up the next morning feeling awful. I guess I should've given more attention to my aching stomach after having those shrimps for dinner. I thought it was just my stomach digesting the food so I just kept on going with my evening that, by the way, was going amazing. It was a fun night, everyone was having a blast and enjoying the free night from filming. I kept thinking about JD's comment about Rudy and I being "on that stage already" because we were acting more flirty and affectionate than usual. I couldn't say I minded, at all, but the butterflies in my stomach were getting restless and my feelings were getting harder to hide. I wasn't sure if our friends noticed our behaviors or not, but if they did, they didn't mention anything, which I was very relieved for. Those happy memories weren't enough to make me feel better though. I stopped counting how many times I got up in the middle of the night to go to the toilet to throw up on my fourth trip there. I remember even falling asleep there for a few minutes. Moral of the story: if you are not sure if the shrimp is good to eat, just don't eat it. I wish someone told me that earlier. "Kelly?", Maddie knocked on my door. I tried to answer as best as I could but my voice was raspy from throwing up so many times and I felt weak. "Are you ready to go?" After a few seconds of my lack of answer, Maddie opened the door and walked in slowly. My eyes were closed but I could feel her eyes on me. I must've looked really bad if the concern in her voice was an indication. "Oh my God, babe, are you ok?" "Not really." I mumbled. I hoped she understood whatever came out of my mouth. "Are you sick?" I nodded and tried to sit up on my bed. When I couldn't find the strengh to do so, I gave up and rolled to lay on my back instead. "The shrimp last night. It wasn't good to eat." "Oh, shit. Did anyone else eat it?" "I don't think so, there wasn't many and Drew said I could have it.", my voice was coming out almost in a whisper. Even speaking made me tired. Was I dying? Because when I said that I would die happy in Rudy's arms I wasn't being that serious. He wasn't even hugging me at the moment. "I'm gonna go get Bailey to help you change and then I'm going to try to find someone to go to the hospital with you, ok?" "I don't think I need to go to the hospital." "And I don't give two shits what you think right now, you're going to the hospital. "Ok, mom." "What's going on?", a second person entered the room. It was Rudy and he had the same concerned tone in his voice Maddie had earlier. "The shrimp Kelly ate last night wasn't good, I think she should go to the hospital." "Shit. Ok I'm gonna tell Jonas and I'll go with her to the hospital." "No, Rudy, don't you have scenes to shoo today?", I asked. "I'll talk to Jonas, don't worry about it." Maddie left the room to get Madison to help me while she talked to the rest of the cast and Rudy stayed there with me until Madison arrived. "How are you feeling?", he sat on the bed next to me, moving a strand of hair away from my sweaty forehead. "Like shit.", he chuckled, "Don't touch me, I'm disgusting right now." "You're not disgusting, you're sick. Can I please show some support?" "You wouldn't be saying that if you knew how many times I threw up." "How many?" "I lost count after the the fourth time." He hissed in fake pain, as if he could feel my real one. "And you don't want to go to the hospital? You're delusional woman." "Yeah, I kinda feel that." "Geez, girl, no more shrimp for you.", Madison said as she entered the room. "Thanks." "Alright, Pankow, out of the room." "Yes ma'am.", he got up and went to leave the room but turned back around before leaving, "I'm going to talk to Jonas. Call me if you need help, Bailey, ok?" She nodded and Rudy left the room.

______________________________________

rudeth tagged you in a story

Reply to rudeth's story

kellyinwinterland NOOOOO DUDE I told you not to post that, I look terrible 😭

rudeth You look cuuute

kellyinwinterland No I don't I look dead

rudeth Stop You don't

kellyinwinterland 😭

rudeth How r you feeling?

kellyinwinterland Much better Maddie made me some tea and Austin just got back home with some pills

rudeth Good! I'm happy to hear that

kellyinwinterland Thank you so much for today, you didn't have to

rudeth Of course I did, you were sick

kellyinwinterland Yes but someone else could've taken me to the hospital You didn't have to miss almost an entire day of filming because of me

rudeth Shut up I care about you and I was worried Wanted to take care of you

kellyinwinterland 🥺🥺🥺 You're the best

rudeth Why thank you 🥰

kellyinwinterland You done filming?

rudeth Almost, just taking a break Why?

kellyinwinterland I want a hug

rudeth Miss me already? 😏

kellyinwinterland No

rudeth Liar

kellyinwinterland No

rudeth I miss you too

kellyinwinterland Bitch

rudeth Hey :(

kellyinwinterland Sorry, sorry I do miss you I want hug

rudeth I'll give you hug when I'm done, promise

kellyinwinterland Thanks Let me know when youre coming back

rudeth Will do Have some rest ok? See you in a bit ❤

kellyinwinterland See ya ❤

#rudypankow #rudy pankow #outerbanks #outer banks #obx #netflix #rudypankowfanfiction #rudy pankow fanfiction #fanfiction #socialmedia #social media #social media imagine

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maladaptive-ninja-returns · 4 years

Text

Dawn (6)

Loki x fem!Reader

ONE/TWO/THREE SHOT

Warnings:shhh!

Summary: A truce to end all wars leads to an alliance between Earth and Asgard in the form of Loki marrying a mortal. None of them what this. None except fate.

Word Count: I don’t know how many of you read this but oh Lords of whatever forces there are in this world, the things I hear. The girl my brother broke up with is have a lot of trouble letting go of him. To the point that she is dragging him through the mud in front of his friends one second and then begging his friends to make him talk to her another. it’s a roller coaster he wants to get off and is more than happy to admit all his faults and apologise for them as long as he gets some space to heal in his own. But nooooo. *sigh* Times like these when I think I was lucky to not be in a relationship in school and college.

MASTERLIST in bio, darlings. Tags are open (check bio)

Eyes closed. Candles lit. Incense burning. Body soaked.

Everything inside you wants to drown in this bliss after the nightmare. Everything does. The incense from the garden of healers is working its way through your lungs and into your bloodstream, latching onto that which does not belong there; forcing it to give up and be out of your system after eighteen hours. The cold water filled with the flowers from Yggdrasil to the brim is tingling every wound and bruise. Well, except the ones on your neck and around your shoulders.

It is relaxing. It should be relaxing. That is what your mind keeps running in a loop instead of enjoying the way Asgard is taking care of you right now. But the continuous throbbing of your brain for apparently no reason is not making anything work.

Why are you so on edge right now? Your inner voice would shake you till your brains feel off if it could.

I don’t know. Your heart keeps jumping now and then; that poor thing is not sure what it is running to or away from. I don’t know.

It is frustrating to keep looking at the night sky outside while unconsciously scratching your head for answers that it cannot give you. I don’t know.

“May I be of some help?”

The siren voice soaked completely in the purest honey in the world comes from the archway leading to your bedroom. Your body turns in the tub to watch the source, creating ripples where you sit. It is him, your heart says as Loki stands there, leaning on the wall in that black shirt and black pajamas.

Of course, it’s him, your inner voice lets out a tired sigh before going quiet for a minute only to come back with a whisper resonating inside your head, your husband.

“Hmm?” is all you can muster while trying to force this unforeseeable lump inside your throat down. Loki parts his lips and looks down at something on the floor. His feet are naked, that lump in your throat grows a little. Great observation, your inner voice replies with a hint of sarcasm. “You have been struggling with that itch for quite a while. How about I help you with that,” he breathes with a tilt of his head, and the candlelight hits the pupils just perfectly for you to see the glow in those gentle eyes.

It does take some time for your brain to process that you are not breathing. It takes a little longer to realise that he has been standing there watching you scratch your head like some wild animal for quite some time. Very smooth, Y/N.

“Uh, it’s fine. I’ll shampoo it and it’ll be aww-aahh-”

Your right arm disagrees the moment you try to lift it up. You weren’t even hit, you stupid limb!

Loki is already taking patient steps towards the tub while the embarrassment is heating up your body, and this wonderful cold water. “It never hurts to have a working hand,” he states and your brain instantly deep dives into the endless oceans for the lit-up notorious corners imagining what all those hands can do.

You scooch a little inside the tub. Can he read my thoughts? Oh, Gods, I hope not. While you are trying to hide the hot thoughts of your vibrating brain, your left hand is undoing the knot of your hair; a gesture that welcomes Loki to draw a stool behind you, grounding his feet on either side of the subsection of the tub storing water just for the purpose of washing those beaten up locks.

Cold hands gather those Y/H/C tresses and push them away from you and into the sink section of the tub. Those frosty fingers come back to gather whatever is left; brisking by your neck, teasing your shoulders, marking your forehead, tantalising your temples, taunting your ears. And you can do nothing but let the tiniest touch of his fingers fire up your nerve endings.

“Rest your head here,” his voice whispers. With that low pitch, your body is ready to do anything it asks of you. Anything.

You feel his hands steadily undoing the knots in your hair. Slow and patient with his movements, he has made sure he has got all of them before your ears hear him dunking something into the water and pouring the cold elixir on your head. His hand is steady; so is the trail of water that trickles down from your temples into your head, making its way through the marred strands, doing its best to take the muck down with it before another wave comes. And with every wave, Loki’s palm rests on your forehead to stop that water from going anywhere it is not supposed to; gently pressing back into your head, feeling like his palm is taking with it all the burdens and horrors of the night that are weighing upon your soul.

Once the weight is all in the wet tresses, Loki turns to grab the shampoo- that Sybll was kind enough to leave for you- but stops to reach for the concoction he uses. Taking a generous amount in his palms, he mixes enough drops of water for it to start forming a lather. Once he is satisfied, he comes for your hair, starting with your head, smearing the product in every nook and corner, around the ears and on the back of your neck. Once he feels he has covered everything, he gets ready to get to work, never even letting you sense the high you are about to ride.

The fingers dig past the hair to make contact with the scalp and start a symphony with the skin as they massage every micron of skin they touch. You can feel your eyes turn back into your head at the perfect pressure they are putting onto your mess of a head; pressing into the pain, hurt, anxiety, mixed feelings, and releasing them all with the release of these cold little magic wands. Every press and release is a gush of serotonin just washing all over your existence; every wiggle of those fingers is a newfound lightness you never thought you could feel. In the midst of floating in a clear blue ocean of release, you do not expect a moan to escape your parted lips. And just as it does, you feel your body falling headfirst, realising the cruelty of gravity and jerking awake just as your moan registers in your hypnotised brain cells. Your hands catch hold of the edge of the tub and the water ripples at the sudden jolt.

“Everything okay?” Loki’s voice comes from behind you just as his hands stop moving in your hair.

“Yeah-” you clear your throat and shush your heartbeat to slow down- “yes.”

Don’t stop, please.

Every single strand receives the love and care it deserves; to the point that they are sure to question if you actually ever cared for them. So tender are his movements that three questions run inside your mind.

The first question- how can someone so soft ever have the heart to hurt anyone? The past of your world speaks of evils this God had brought to earth. In fact, it speaks it louder than the time when the same God was the one to bring down the threats that would have ended your planet once and for all. We all have our reasons to be manipulated by the darkness at some point in our life. I am a living breathing example of one.

The second question- how utterly vivid your imagination had to be to imagine what those very tender movements of his hands feel like on your naked skin? The mystery that was his supple touch, chasing the goosebumps on your body. How enticing was the mere thought?

The third question…………what was the third question?

Washed with the same scrutiny as they were lathered, Loki pats the water off before leaving the room to give you privacy.

Clean and dried, you take one of the green bathrobes to wrap around yourself and walk out into the bedroom where Loki stands stirring something in a small bowl. “Oh,” you cannot keep the mild surprise in, mostly because every ounce of the insignificant has escaped your body now, “I thought you would be asleep by now.”

“Not yet,” he answers quite seriously, his eyes on the bowl for a few more moments till they rise to look at you; and get stuck on you. You do not know what those eyes are seeing. Of course, you cannot comprehend the image- of something beautiful right out of a textbook- that you are for Loki in this slowed-down moment. The glowing delicacy shining still from the pollen of the flowers working on your skin, the wet hair strands teasing him of the closeness he has yet to feel; all of it wrapped up in green with one single knot. Oh, the prayers he feels coming out of him to be permitted to unravel that knot and bow down to worship you.

“What is that?”

Your voice brings him back to the bowl in his hand. He has to let his eyes adjust to the reality he stands in so as to come up with a reply in time. “It’s for your wounds. Here, sit down.”

You do. The copper bowl contains a muddy mixture with a pasty consistency. The handy mixer that seems smaller than it is in Loki’s long pale fingers is kept aside on the side table and his fingers dig themselves into the concoction. His eyes turn to you. “Your shoulders,” he requests. With the brilliance his pupils reflect, you can swear you would have given him your heart if he asked just as sweetly. And so you turn to the other side to sit with your robe slipped just above your chest, giving him all the exposed wounds the water could not get to as much.

The fresh red bruises along with the open scars marred from Torbarik’s bad etiquettes sink Loki’s heart a little. Now, he wishes he had ended his life with his own hands. It itches his chest deep inside to know how much it must be hurting you right now; given your inability to heal as fast as the Asgardians or frost giants.

“Thank you, Loki-” you bring him out of the slow train of overthinking misery is about to step on inside his head- “for coming for me.”

Loki’s fingers tenderly dab the paste over the wounds, instantly bringing a soothing cold fire over the cuts. “You are my wife, love. You should expect anything less than coming to your aid from me.”

You are my wife, love.

Your throat can visibly be seen sucking in as much air as it can to make sure you heard him right. Once your mind settles that this is in fact what Loki just declared, your brain cannot help but run those soothing words in a loop inside your head till they seep into every cell in your body, making that truth a part of your existence. And soon enough, parts of you are getting heated from the sudden confession. Your cheeks and the back of your neck are doing a really bad job of hiding the flush from his words. And on top of that, those fingers are doing one hell of a job, soothingly rubbing themselves on your shoulders and neck.

“Just two minutes and then it will dry and fall off. The wounds will close but the bruises will take some time to go away as per my observation.”

He has barely finished the sentence and you are already shifting in your place to turn and face him. He can see you have something on your mind that you want to speak and so, he puts away everything and sits there patiently for you to take your time to gather your words.

“Loki-” he darts a quick look to your nails digging into your knees- “you don’t...you don’t have to do...umm…-” your voice lowers to a whisper- “how do I put this-” you straighten your back and close your hands into a fist before looking him into those beautiful hypnotising eyes- “you don’t have to do anything you don’t really...feel. What you do not want to...do? Uhh...it’s just that...okay. Ahem. Because I am...I...oh my God-”

“I like you too.”

The white noise humming through your eyes feels like you have lost your ability to hear. The sudden roller coaster rush that your heart feels makes it want to save you from whatever height you are falling right now. You do not see it but the mere dilation of those starry y/e/c eyes at those words washes away any doubts Loki has of you not reciprocating his feelings. The fresh flush of heat emanating from your cheeks and the surprise-filled blink adds to the euphoria. “...you do?” you hushed voice cannot rise beyond this or you might start crying.

His smile is the response. The love in filling his eyes to the brim; something you have never seen before, not even for Thor. His hand moves to let his fingers caress your cheek. And oh! The cold touch of the back of his fingers with your hot cheeks is nothing short of the blessed fountain satiating the thirst of a traveller looking for eternal youth. Your eyes close on his touch, your head tilting, giving into his brush. “I have always liked you, Y/N,” Loki asserts softly, his hand embracing you while his thumb grazed your cheek, “today you just resonated my feelings and made me fall in love with you.”

Your hand rises to engulf his into yours. Like a heavyweight lifted from your chest, you feel your body breathe again. Your foreheads meet, exchanging what feels like a lifetime of unspoken feelings. They were there for quite a while; it just took them a brush with danger to surface and show their colours- their strength and their weakness- all in one night.

This is the first time you are so close to him, being able to witness all the perfection that is Loki, the God, the strategist, the Silvertongue. Yours. All yours. His lips parted, his cold breath a verse teasing your lips. His dark lush eyelashes heavy with a newfound need, hiding it in those eyes gone dark. His tongue licking his lips, waiting for your approval even though you are right in his reach. Your fingers, with a mind of their own, touch his chin, wanting to travel to his lips, feel them, want them. The craving is making your stomach turn, your breaths shallow and length apart till it is unbearable. You close that inch of space to let your love-deprived lips land on his, hesitant at the gesture. But Loki welcomes it. The first sweet kiss bursting lights inside the both of you. And with the first, the urge for the second grows. His tongue tastes your lips, and you let it enter; you let it discover every edge needy for his touch. Your tongue plays with his, lets him know how much you want it; how much you want him. So do your hands. Running over his chest, they find their way to his neck and hair. His, on the other hand, draw you closer to him- one by the waist, the other supporting your neck- carefully so as not to hurt your still-healing wounds- while pulling you further into him.

There is a mellifluous clash of your bodies that night, hands discovering each other, heat siphoned by the cold, love pouring in tender kisses over the bare skin, fingers entangled in hairs, pleading for more. Hips crashing into each other like lazy tides under the pleasant moonlight on a deserted shore, moans filling the ears, satiating the hunger of giving the satisfaction to their lover, breaths both hot and cold creating such wondrous mist in the midst of that steaming love-making. The fulfilling rise to the high, the tides reaching the rocky shores, wanting more to come crashing with thunderous vibrations. And thunderous they are, making you see rainbows in the back of your head. The best part is that love does not stop at discovering the bodies. It continues, with the willingness to take care of you, with pulling the duvet over your body and gathering you in his surprisingly strong arms, with that sweet longing and deep kiss on your forehead, and then your nose and then your lips, telling you that he is yours. All yours. For eternity.

“What’s happening? Sybll handed me the sparkliest dress in whatever wardrobe this appeared from and said it was urgent. Is this another one of Odin’s tradition things?”

Loki is already walking towards you as fast as he can. And while he does, you notice a blue bruise on his neck which you are pretty you did not mark him with. We were so gentle! I couldn’t have. Could I?

“What’s that on your neck?” you cannot help yourself.

“Yes,” Loki nods, “this is-”

“Y/N,” Thor calls for you from the halls, “you are here. Look who is here to meet you!”

Your eyes are wide and already turning to Loki for answers, who is drawing in a loooong breath. “Yes, this is what I was talking about. The bruise is also for...this. Come on, let’s go meet your self-declared father.”

You don’t even have to guess who Loki is talking about, for that very moment you enter the great hall, Tony walking with his arms open to embrace you.

“How are you doing, kid? These Asgardians treating you well?”

His hug is more than welcome and you throw yourself into it. Oh, and he smells like home. Tom Ford cologne and Quinnjet- just like you remember. “Tony, it is so good to see you.” Your lips cannot stop smiling and the smile turns even wider on seeing Rhodey and Carol standing behind him.

Rhodey’s bear hug still has the same power to cure your homesickness while Carol’s embrace just tells you she is here for you now and whenever.

“Loki.”

“Stark.”

They still greet each other the same way- a simple nod and...that’s it. Same goes for Rhodey. Carol, on the other hand, has a special fistbump for her partner in galactic crimes of justice. “You still owe me one artefact from your vault, Loco,” Carol mentions, making Loki chortle.

“You still owe me a decent fight.”

“Bullshit. I cleaned the floor with your face last time, you trickster.”

“I’m sorry, I cannot hear you over the sound of my undefeated title.”

“Oh, okay okay okay. It’s on, Loki boy. It is on!”

“Before anything is on,” you interrupt, “how about we go have a drink. Or two.”

“Yes, I love that,” Thor smacks you in the back, forcing you to swallow the grunt politely as you lead the way.

Asgards finest wine and beer are being served and you cannot help but notice Thor eyeing you and Loki with certain veiled judgement while conversations are made around the table. You let it slide, hoping it’s Tony being Tony.

“Isn’t that right, Stark,” Thor laughs and looks at him.

“Yeah, yeah, all good,” Tony replies with disinterest, his eyes stuck on you, “I’m sorry, Y/N, I have to ask. What is that bruise on your neck?”

The whole table goes silent. Loki’s drink is paused right by his lips while Carol sips hers with peak interest while shifting her curious gaze between Loki and you.

“It’s nothing,” you respond lightly with a shake of your head, wanting the conversation to go back to whatever it was.

“We tried to get the same tattoos,” Loki adds, “it did not work so I removed it in my Asgardian ways. The bruises are nothing. They’ll vanish within two more days.”

You nod a liiiittle vigorously in agreement, making Tony narrow his eyes in suspicion. “I don’t buy it. Y/N, look at me. Tell me what happened. I need to know that you are safe.”

Thor looks at the two of you. You know it will be difficult to make Tony understand your safety concerns. Even if you are safe here now, he will see it as nothing else but an excuse to take you away from here. And even take Loki with you if that’s what it takes. Or worse, he might actually start a war with the enemies here. You know of at least five people who would agree to this and stand on the front lines of that very fight.

“Tony it’s nothing,” you try to convince him.

“Y/N. What. Happened.”

Thor is about to open his mouth when you do the most outrageous thing you could think of.

“Loki and I tried some stuff, okay!” you nearly yell.

At this point, everyone is looking at you with more questions in their eyes. Even Loki.

“We experimented with BDSM,” you finally blurt out, keeping your head high, “and I liked it.”

Silence.

Carol’s silence is a victorious one; like she was waiting to hear this. Rhodey’s is more uncomfortable and you know he just wants to get up and go from there before hearing any more details about this. Loki’s silence is on the lines of appreciative surprise towards you. He is impressed. And at the same time getting some ideas.

And Tony?

His beer glass shatters in his hand. That pretty much answers it.

“W-what is beady-essum?” Thor is the only one sitting there in confusion while Carol is the only soul who guffaws through the thrilling silence.

“YESSS! I KNEW IT! I KNEW YOU TWO WERE SMUSHING BOOTIES!!”

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killervibe · 4 years

Text

I’m 17 (I Don’t Know Anything)

hournite fic!

~.~

Rick was leaning against Beth’s locker when she came out of her class at the bell.

“How was it?”

Beth zipped her bag, tossing in her pencil case. The day was over and she was eager to get to the garage for some JSA training. They had to put things on hold, there were a lot of assignments and a lot of studying this year, and Pat wanted them to do well in school. It’s been too long since they’ve suited up to have a fun time challenging each other rather than because there was an emergency mission. “The test? Yeah, it went well. Chuck quizzed me all night.”

“I know,” he murmured, crowding her against the metal rows to steal a kiss. Oh. Beth wore a pleased smile for the few moments she had before her mouth was too busy kissing her boyfriend. She loved it when Rick got needy with the PDA—Not that they did it often— Rick used to be so distanced with his emotions before they really became friends. Maybe it was Beth’s old loser table insecurities creeping in, but it still marvelled her that someone could want her so bad. Beth grabbed onto his shirt collar eagerly for another kiss. “You postponed our date.”

She raised an eyebrow and poked at one of his ribs. “You’re not jealous of my time with Chuck, are you?”

Rick scoffed. “No!”

Beth continued her poking. “Because I can divide my time equally.”

“I believe you,” he said in a teasing way that implied he really didn’t, but there wasn’t much he could do. He knew once he started dating her that Beth and Chuck came as a package deal.

She packed everything she needed then looked at him. Her locker was in terrible condition and she often felt like Artemis bodyslamming against it in order to get the door to stick. Rick closed her jammed locker with a push and his knee.

“I can,” she insisted. “Thank you.” Beth stretched up on her tippy-toes, pulling his head down until she could kiss him at her level. He softened like putty under her spell.

“I’m sorry about yesterday,” she promised. She played with the front of his hair, pulling a few strands out to fall over his eyes. “And certainly want to make up for it.”

“Yeah?”

“Absolutely. C’mere.”

She went for another kiss, but it ended shortly because Yolanda threw herself against Beth’s locker just as Beth got a noise out of him. Yolanda put an arm over her eyes and let out a very overdramatic groan. “Oh to be young and in love and in high school!” she mocked, talking as if she were the lead in a Shakespearean play. “What misery, the date of Olive Garden vanquished by the practice examinations for SATs.”

Courtney appeared out of nowhere too, propping her elbow against Rick’s arm.

“Justin is rubbing off on you, Yolanda.”

Yolanda smirked. “What was it that he called you guys last week, again? The Earl and Duchess of Righteous Unity? That’s Camelot talk for soulmates.”

Rick shared an awkward look with Beth.

“Nooooo, you’re embarrassing them!” Courtney smacked her, but she was also giggling into her palm. Yolanda shoved Courtney’s hand aside.

“That’s the point, yeah.”

She didn’t know if he was feeling what she was, but something went wrong in her heart the moment he pulled away from her and she slipped her hands back into the sleeves of her yellow sweater. Beth felt a freezing sensation in her veins. Like Icicle got to her bloodstream or something. Her eyes widened, desperate to search something in his gaze and panicked when he went blank instead. That freezing heart of hers sank. Rick. Beth mentally willed him to react. Laugh it off. Smile. Make a joke, anything.

But he didn’t. He stood there like a block of handsome tall teenager confused for a wall.

Beth didn’t know what to do.

Courtney and Yolanda’s laughter died off when neither Rick or Beth said anything in reply. Courtney nudged Rick. “She’s just teasing you guys.”

More silence and it was getting weird. Beth tried to speak, but her voice felt incredibly small for the first time ever, like if she tried to use it the only thing she might do is cry.

Yolanda frowned.

“Guys?”

“I gotta go,” Rick said with a start. “See you, uh—later.” Every word was stiff, almost as if he had to force them out of his mouth then regretted them once they were out there, hanging between them.

He bent down on autopilot to kiss Beth’s cheek, but jerked away at the last second and fumbled again. “Right. Bye.”

Beth folded her arms to herself, staring at her shoes with a worried lip as Rick disappeared into the sea of students.

“Beth—?” Yolanda said to fill up the silence. “Did I do something wrong?”

“I—” She picked up her bag and put it on, following the crowd that Rick slipped into. Courtney and Yolanda hurried up, taking each spot beside her as they walked out of school. “It’s not your fault.”

“What do you mean it’s not her fault?” Courtney said, narrowly dodging getting elbowed in the eye by Isaac’s tuba. The marching band was single filing onto the bus for a state championship this weekend.

“You said we were young and in love,” Beth explained, already feeling fragile to say it out loud. “Rick and I.”

Courtney glanced at Yolanda who shrugged. “But…. you are.”

Are we? A voice in her head shrilled at her between her ears. The thought bounced around her brain like a basketball. Beth was going to go crazy at the stream of thoughts that would follow if she let herself fall down that rabbit hole. She just wanted to run home and cry to Chuck or call Rick to ask him or—No. Not to do that. First plan. Cry with Chuck.

Beth started to walk on without the girls, a hand fiddling with her rainbow pendant. “I guess,” she said.

“What do you mean, you guess?”

Beth turned on her heel in front of the Blue Valley Tires mural. “I think we’re in love. I hope we are. It’s what I want, of course. I just...don’t know yet. We never talked about it.”

Courtney looked like she was about to have an aneurysm. “You two never talked about your feelings????”

“It sounds bad when you say it like that!”

Yolanda picked her own jaw up from the floor. “Because it is! You’re kidding, right? Rick loves you. And you love Rick!”

Beth looked increasingly troubled.

Courtney grabbed Beth’s arm. “You do love him, right?”

Beth shook off Courtney’s hand. “Of course I do,” she replied softly. The three girls took up the entire width of the sidewalk as they walked to the Garage. “I just never told him. I wasn’t sure how he’d react.”

“But—”

“And he never told me! He practically ran away, Court! I don’t think I’m overthinking this.”

“What?”

“What??”

Beth froze in front of the Pit Stop when she realized that’s exactly where Rick was waiting for them. “I can’t go in there.”

“Oh my god!” Yolanda pulled at her braids in exasperation. “Beth, this is crazy! If you love Rick then you have to tell him! He probably thought it was awkward for the same reason you did because you didn’t say anything either!”

“Yeah,” said Court. “This is our first training session in weeks. We can’t afford to have in-fighting. Pat will get so frustrated!”

Beth peeked in through the door. Rick wasn’t talking to Pat in the entrance or by the cars, which meant he was probably up at the loft. Their spot. Her heart flipped the way it always did when she thought of their first kiss there.

Yolanda looped her arm around Courtney’s, pulling her inside. “We’re gonna get changed and get snacks,” she told Beth. “You two better get your acts together before we come back.”

~.~

Beth found Rick on the couch in the loft. His arm was slung over his forehead as he stared up at the ceiling.

“Beth,” he said the moment the stairs stopped creaking when she got to the top. She stared at him laying down like that. If this were yesterday she would’ve settled herself in by letting his head fall into her lap. She’d have lowered his hood and stroked his hair as he rested there in his suit like a superhero on call, waiting for the alarm to sound. She’d have filled the quiet with chatter that he’d listen to, drifting off to sleep. She’d have played with his keys, rattling the chain so that they’d chime in a way only Rick Tyler would call a lullaby.

Beth didn’t know why she was acting like she’d have only done that yesterday. She’d have done it an hour ago. She wanted to do it right now. Beth loved him.

“Yeah?” Her voice came out higher pitched than she wanted it to.

“What the hell just happened?”

“I don’t know.”

“It was like, one minute everything was fine and the next I wasn’t even sure if—”

“You don’t have to worry about that, Rick.” She took a deep breath. “I do.”

Rick sat up. His boots squelched against the floor. “You what?”

Beth took a step forward, glad that she got rid of her bag downstairs. Rick stood up too. Beth found herself straining her fingers up to get Rick to duck his head. She removed the hood and cupped his face. “I think you know.”

Rick’s eyes were on hers like she held his world in place. And everything suddenly became so silly. How could either of them doubt this for what it was?

“We’ve been dating for nearly a year.” Rick’s soft smile was still a treasure Beth found she’d covet for.

“Has it really been that long?”

“You know it has.”

Beth grinned because she had never lost track of any time before. Not hers. Not his.

“And I’ve been in love with you for all of it.”

There was no stretch of silence this time. No unsure glance or worried paranoia, spreading from one to the other. This wasn’t mislabeled.

“Oh,” said the airy breath that got knocked out from her lungs. Her fingers wandered over Rick’s face, marvelling the way his eyelids fell when her fingers lightly traced over them. “Yes. Okay.”

He laughed.

“Okay?” he repeated.

This was the big moment. The thing they should’ve talked about ages ago. It could’ve been downright crazy to Courtney and Yolanda for them to not understand. Beth was a talker. Rick barely bottled his emotions. They were obviously in love. But they didn’t see these moments between them. When Rick bent down so Beth could kiss him. When Beth learned to drive with his Mustang. The hours at night she’d spend with Chuck, daydreaming about the way his hand only reached for hers to hold in the sewers when she was supposed to be studying. There were things Beth knew. Deep down, without asking. She didn’t need to push. Rick never needed anyone to push him. He did all the fighting himself.

But for Beth to use every word but those three? She didn't even need to.

“Yolanda was right about us.”

#hournite #stargirl #beth chapel #rick tyler #beth x rick #hournite fic #hournites fic #teen drama

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rocksandrobots · 4 years

Text

Of Rocks and Robots Ch. 30 - Coffee and Chemicals

"Ummm...what's Honey Lemon doing?" Fred asked as the gang made their way across the quad.

Their friend wasn't with them but stood off to the side looking up at a large shady elm through half lidded eyes.

"Hello, professor oak, I finished my…"she gave a prodigious yawn before sleepily continuing on "...report… on… color… theory..." Another yawn escaped her lips.

"Is she talking to a tree?" Wasabi asked with concern.

"She's been hit hard by midterms," Gogo explained, "three exams in one day, plus two more tomorrow, four final projects due Friday, and she just got a large order of her cosmetics that's due to ship this weekend. She's been pulling all nighters for the past three days."

As if to confirm this explanation the group heard a loud snore come from Honey Lemon's way. She wobbled as her head drooped down on her chest and Gogo skated over to her in a rush and caught the tall girl in her arms before she fell unconscious.

"Do you need help?" Varian asked as the rest of the gang followed after.

"Nope" Gogo grunted as she dragged Honey Lemon's limp body towards the doors. Wasabi ignored her and picked up Honey Lemon's legs so that they could better carry her inside.

"Man and I thought I had it bad." Kamri committed as they walked into the student lounge.

"Yeah, Honey Lemon is a double major at two schools." Hiro explained. "By the looks of it she must be stretching herself too thin."

Fred ran to snag a few chairs and put them together to form a makeshift bed as Gogo and Wasabi gently laid Honey Lemon down.

"Got... isotope project due…Friday.." Honey Lemon hummed in her sleep before letting out another snore.

"I'll go get her a coffee." Varian offered helpfully as he walked to the barista that was housed inside the lounge.

"Honey Lemon?" Gogo gently asked as she gave her friend a firm shake, but no response came other than more snoring.

"Face it, she's dead to the world." Wasabi commented.

"Here try this." Varian walked over carrying an espresso and handed it to Gogo.

Karmi rolled her eyes, "You think caffeine is the answer for everything. Remember the red bull incident?"

"Hey, that was a scientific experiment!" Varian indignantly defended himself, "Theoretically the Nyquil should have canceled out the energy drink…"

"And what's your excuse for eating the coffee beans straight out of the bag?" Hiro asked.

"I don't eat them straight out of the bag," Varian dismissed, "I roast them first."

"Ooo, have you tried the ones covered in chocolate?" Fred added, "Those are good."

"Both of you have a caffeine addiction. That much coffee isn't good for you." Wasabi warned.

"Well either way looks like the smell of the coffee is working" Gogo interrupted as she nudged Honey Lemon awake.

Honey Lemon hummed as she sat up and followed the coffee cup with her nose. She slowly blinked her eyes open before snagging the cup out of Gogo's hands, downing it in one gulp, and then yawning as she fell back asleep.

Hiro however caught her head before she could finish laying back down, "Sorry, Honey Lemon but we gotta keep you awake."

"Yeah you got an exam in fifteen minutes." Gogo reminded her.

"Nooooo" Honey Lemon moaned and tried to turn around on her side to curl up and sleep.

Wasabi stopped her this time and helped to lift her back up to her feet.

"You better go get another coffee." Karmi whispered to Varian.

"Told you." He whispered back before making his way back to the counter.

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

Keeping Honey Lemon awake throughout the day was no easy task. She kept dozing off during her exams, labs, and even lunch. The rest of the gang had to stay with her during the school day to nudge her awake or coax her with coffee.

Once school was done however, she refused to go home and go to bed; citing she had too much to do. And so that's how she wound up currently inside Hamada home studying for her chemistry midterm.

She had asked Varian to help her since he was the only one who held the same interest in the subject. He was only too happy to oblige, but it was proving to be a difficult task. Honey Lemon couldn't focus and would stare dreamily off into the distance instead of answering the questions he would give her.

"Silver has two naturally occurring isotopes, 107Ag is at 106.9 amu and 109 Ag at 108.9 amu, therefore what is the average atomic mass of silver?" Varian read off the practice test.

"Hmmm?" Honey Lemon hummed questioningly.

They were sitting on the couch in the living room, textbooks splayed out upon the coffee table in front of them. Honey Lemon's elbows rested on her knees and her chin was cradled in her fists. She looked at him as if only just noticing he was even there.

"Come on, this an easy one." Varian coaxed, "What's the atomic mass of silver?"

"Oh!"She exclaimed as what was being asked of her finally dawned in her brian. She then yawned and said, "107.9 amu."

"Correct; now which of the following is not a homogeneous mixture?" He continued with the quiz. "Air? Copper? Brass? Or-"

"Does everyone have blue hair where you come from?" Honey Lemon innocently interrupted.

Varian suddenly froze as if he'd been hit by a truck. He slowly turned to look at the other teen and saw her eyeing him curiously through heavy eyelids. He gulped and tried to brush off the question.

"Ah..well…not really.."

"Cause your stripe never fades like say a dye job would." She explained; oblivious to his discomfort in her sleepy haze.

"Umm well… I've always just had it...I think it's from an alchemy accident...or something…"

"No... that can be it..." She shook her head in confusion, "If you had just spilled a chemical on it, it would have eventually just grown out." Now with her curiosity piked, she began to perk up and unthinkingly reached her hand up to run it through his hair. "You mean it just grows out blue, and only one strand? That's got to be like a genetic thing..."

Varian tried to pull away; his cheeks burning red. How he hated being reminded that didn't fit in, not even in his own world. Honey Lemon was still oblivious however.

"Do you have anyone in your family with blue hair as well?" She pressed, trying to figure out this new mystery.

"I don't know!" He snapped.

Everything went quiet. Honey Lemon lifted her hand away and looked at him with wide eyes. She had seen his temper before, but this was the first he had ever gotten mad at her. She didn't know what to do, and neither did Varian.

He hadn't meant to yell at her, and frightening her, of all people, was the last thing in the world that he'd ever want to do. But talk of his past always sent him into a panic and not knowing the answer to something threw him off balance. The fact that the mystery was himself only heightened his concern, which is why he prefered to ignore it.

"I'm sorry." They both stammered out at the same time. They stopped in surprise at the unique timing of their apologies and then softly giggled and blushed over how silly they were being; the tension ebbing away as quickly as it had arrived.

"I..I shouldn't have pried." Honey Lemon said she tugged a strand of her own hair.

"No..I shouldn't have yelled." Varian countered. "It's just…well...no one likes being different, ya know?"

"Oh, but everybody's different," Honey Lemon encouraged cheerfully. Varian tried his best not to roll his eyes at such a lame platitude.

"No, I mean it." She laughed. She then tried to give him a smile but it was soon broken by another yawn. She stretched and then leaned over to rest her head upon his shoulder.

"I like your hair. It's part of what makes you special." She then hugged his arm and nuzzled her head as she curled up on the couch next to him, putting her feet up on the cushions and using him as a pillow.

Varian was stunned. She liked his hair? She didn't think him odd or a freak? Varian tried to remember a time when anybody had ever complimented his abnormally. Most would politely ignore it or brush it off, a few would tease, and some would even call it a bad omen. The more superstitious villagers said it was a hex, a clear sign that he was unnatural, and combined with his more unsuccessful alchemy experiments, helped to spread the rumor that he was a dangerous wizard. It was part of the reason why he hated being associated with magic.

Somewhere in his distant memory he could recall hushed conversations late at night between his parents concerning him. He couldn't remember precisely what had been said, but he knew they were worried about him and his hairstripe.

Heck even Aunt Cass had been weirded out when he told her he didn't need her to buy any hair dye for him. He probably should have played along then when she asked if needed some, but he hadn't been thinking at the time. She hasn't said anything since, but he knew she hadn't been able to process the idea that his hair just naturally grew out blue.

His musings were interrupted when he heard a loud snore right next to his ear.

He looked down to see Honey Lemon fast asleep and snoring away soundly like she normally did when sleeping. He didn't mind though. He supposed it was part of what made her special too. Also she really needed the rest.

He gently pulled his arm out of her grip and then wrapped it around her waist so she wouldn't fall forward as he reached his other hand over to the coffee table to snag his physics text book. He figured he would study for his own upcoming exam while she slept. Careful not to wake her, he propped his foot up on the table and reasted the book on his knee; using one hand to open it and turn the pages as he cradled the sleeping girl next to him with the other.

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

"Honey Lemon? Are you ready to go?" Gogo asked as she and Hiro climbed upstairs. They had agreed to take on patrol duty tonight so everyone else could study. They had finished up early and now Gogo had come to pick up Honey Lemon so that they could head home.

They found her and Varian both asleep on the couch. He had a textbook covering his eyes as he used the seat's arm as a pillow on one end and stretched his feet out to the other, with one foot dangling off the edge. Honey Lemon was sprawled out on top of him while she rested her head upon his stomach. "The answer is copper…" she mumbled in her sleep and then hugged his waist tighter like she would a pillow.

"Cute." Gogo said deadpan and then she raised an eyebrow at Hiro. "Should we wake them?"

Hiro gave her a wicked grin and signaled for her to stay quiet while he ran upstairs to his room. He re-emerged moments later with a megaphone in his hand.

"Where did you get that?" She asked.

"Did Tadashi ever tell you about the time he was a cheerleader in high school?" He whispered back. "He said it was to meet girls." He explained to a now clearly confused Gogo.

Hiro didn't give her time to process this new information however as he placed the microphone to his lips and bent down till he was right at Varian's ear.

"Good Morning!" He yelled. "Wakey, wakey! Time to rise and shine!"

Varian bolted upright, knocking the textbook to the floor and doing more to wake up Honey Lemon than any megaphone could.

"Hun?" She blinked sleepily while Gogo tried to suppress her snickering.

Varian glared at her and Hiro, but the face he made only filled them both with more laughter.

"What was that for!?" He angrily yelled.

"You.. you needed to wake up." Hiro explained through his laughter,"also next time don't leave your smelly socks and shoes in the garage. I gotta work in there, ya know."

If looks could have killed, Hiro would have been dead from Varian's gaze alone. He would have lunged at the other boy had Honey Lemon not held him back.

"Look, that was funny but you shouldn't have done it." Gogo interceded.

Hiro mumbled an apology and, he and Varian gave a half hearted handshake to appease the two girls.

"Good. Anyways Honey Lemon and I need to get home, so see ya tomorrow." She waved goodbye and headed down stairs.

Honey Lemon gathered her things up and followed after her, yawning goodbye as she went.

Once they were both gone and out of earshot Varian spoke up,

"Thanks for running the moment." He said irritably.

"What moment? You two were out cold." Hiro snarked back and then he paused as the meaning behind Varian's words came to light, "Waait...You and Honey Lemon?" He couldn't stifle his laughter. "You have a crush on Honey Lemon."

"What of it?" Came Varian's offended reply.

"Dude, she's so out of your league."

"She is not!"

"She's two years older than you and one of the more popular girls at both ours and SFAI's campus. What makes you think you even have a chance?"

"So? That's the same age difference between you and Karmi."

"Wh..what does Karmi have to do with this?" Hiro asked. He was momentarily tripped up by the change in subject.

"Oh come on." Varian rolled his eyes. "Everyone knows you like Karmi."

"I do not!"

"Do to."

"Do not...look for your information I happen to like Megan, okay?"

"Ahhh…" Varian raised an eyebrow and gave a sly smile, "So does either girl know you're cheating on them?" He teased.

"I'm not- we're not...I'm not dating either one of them... yet!" Hiro flustered. "Look it's none of your business!"

"Then stay out of mine." Varian retorted.

"Fine!"

"Fine."

"F-fine."

"Fi-- " Varian stopped, "How long are we going to keep saying 'fine' at one another?"

Hiro shrugged. "Look, I'm sorry for the megaphone gag. That was kind of mean and I promise I won't interrupt your 'it's totally not a date and your dreaming if you think it is' study sessions with Honey Lemon again. Deal?"

"Okay, and I'll make sure to throw my socks in the laundry next time and, I promise not to tell either Karmi or Megan that you like them. I wanna be around when it blows up in your face though." He gave another smug smile and Hiro rolled his eyes.

"Whatever." He dismissed and headed upstairs to bed while Varian picked up his textbooks.

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

Varian passed by the chemistry lab on his way to lunch. He paused when he heard a loud snore coming from the room. He stopped and saw Honey Lemon alone in the room with her head on the desk.

"Honey Lemon? You..okay?" He asked as he walked over to her and gave her a light tap on her shoulder.

She must not have been asleep long for she jumped at the touch and jolted awake.

"Oh? Oh, Varian! Hiiiiaahh!" Her hello turned into a yawn and Varian gave her a worried frown.

"Did you not get any sleep last night?" He asked.

"Oh sure…. Sure I did. Right after I finished my still life drawing for tomorrow." She mumbled quietly

Varian raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "Which was how many hours exactly?"

"The drawing or sleep?" She asked.

"You know what I meant."

Honey Lemon rolled her eyes and tried to dismiss his concerns. "I'm fiiine. It's only one more day till Friday and then I can take a long nap on Saturday. Besides I got to finnish making up these mini chimballs for my project."

She gave another yawn and groped around absentmindedly for the vial of chemical solution that she needed. " I just need to add this potassium iodine and…"

She picked up one of the vials and made to pour into the solution that she had bubbling in a beaker over a Bunsen burner, not really paying attention to nor looking at what she had actually grabbed.

Varian's eyes went wide as he noticed the label on the vial she was holding.

"Honey Lemon wait! No! That's octane!" He shouted, but he was too late.

The contents of the beaker began to rapidly bubble and foam as sparks from the flame ignited with flammable liquid that had just been added.

Varian reacted quickly, grabbing a stunned Honey Lemon by the wrist and quickly pulling her away. He sprinted out of the lab, dragging her along, as the foaming substance grew larger and swallowed the desk, now mixing itself with the other assortment of chemicals and causing small explosions. Once outside of the doorway he instinctively flung both himself and Honey Lemon to the ground as he felt a rumble behind them. He tried his best to shield her as the now gloopy substance expanded and filled the room with a sloshing, slurpy sound.

Only after a few moments of quiet, where nothing further happened, did Varian roll off of Honey Lemon and hoisted himself on his elbows to see the damage. Bulging out from the doorway was a semi-solid wall of some sort of gelatin like substance, that still steamed and bubbled from the heat of the earlier explosions.

The greenish-yellow tint of the partly translucent substance made Varian sick to his stomach. Had they been caught in that they no doubt would have been smothered or burned by the deadly goop. He heard his heart pound in his ears as it occurred to him that this was the second time he had managed to avoid such a fate.

He heard a sob beside him and turned to see Honey Lemon crying. Now his heart pounded for different reason as he hastily began to check over the girl looking to see how she'd been hurt.

"Honey Lemon? Are.. Are you okay? Are you hurt? Do I need to call Baymax?"

"No." She choked.

He swiped a strand of her hair out of her eyes and gently turned her head towards him. He searched her face in worry. "Then what's wrong?"

"I..I blew up the chim lab...again. I thought I could handle two majors but...but I can't…argh...I just want to crawl under the covers and never come out." She buried her face in her hands and groaned.

In spite of himself, relief washed over Varian as it became evident that the only thing that was seriously harmed was Honey Lemon's pride. Though he took no joy out of seeing her upset either.

"Awww Honey, it's okay." He whispered as he gently squeezed her shoulders. "You're just stressed from midterms. Like you said, things will look better by Saturday."

This did not seem to appease her though as she continued to cry into her hands. Varian racked his brain on what he could do or say to make things better. Hesitantly you wrapped her into a hug and she returned it with a sob.

"Oh, Honey Lemon," He encouraged in her ear. ",its gonna be alright. Hey at least no one was hurt right?"

He pulled away from the embrace to give her a small smile but she only returned it with a pout.

Varian sighed, "Look, you're talking to the guy who almost flooded the school remember? This ain't nothing."

That got him a snort of laughter and he flashed her a grin.

"Yeah, I remember." She nodded and finally smiled through her tears.

They locked eyes and for a moment Varian didn't know what to do. All he could do was stare at her transfixed.

Honey Lemon broke the spell herself, "I guess I need to call and tell the chemistry professor what happened she sighed. "Maybe he'll give me an extension."

That knocked Varian out of his stupor. "Yea...yeah, of course he will, and in the meantime I'll help you clean up, okay?"

"Okay." She smiled as he helped her up.

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

Cleaning up wasn't as difficult as Varian first feared. The gel like compound naturally broke down over time and washed away easily with water. Though it still took a couple of hours to get it all clear.

Honey Lemon hadn't said much during this time, still embarrassed and tired. As they came down to the last bit of the work, Varian tried to ease the tension.

"Ya know," He said nonchalantly as he mopped the floor,"after a close call like that a person could probably use a stiff drink."

He meant it as a joke but Honey Lemon only stiffened and stopped wiping down the countertop to give him a worried frown.

"....of coffee!" He hastily added. "How about we get some after we finish up here?"

He threw her one of his winsome smiles and Honey Lemon relaxed a little.

"Aren't you still grounded?" She asked.

"Yes, but school doesn't count and there's the cafe in the student lounge." He gave her a wink. "So technically, it's still not breaking the rules."

She smirked and shook her head, "You know you can't find loopholes for everything."

"No, but can't blame me for trying." He sat the mop to the side and grabbed the rag Honey Lemon was using. "What'dya say, hmm?"

"Well, I need something to keep me awake for my last class." She agreed and Varian felt like he'd just won the lottery.

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

Varian and Honey Lemon sat together inside the student lounge laughing over nothing in particular. She had cheered up significantly since the incident in the lab and was back to her usual perky self.

At the moment they were having a discussion over which was worse, being too short or too tall.

"But you've never had anyone call you a giraffe before" she good naturedly countered before taking a sip of her iced latte.

"What's wrong with that? Giraffes are cute." Varian shrugged. "At least you don't risk getting accidently stepped on in a crowd."

Honey Lemon rolled her eyes and snickered, "I think you're exaggerating just a little on that one."

"Maybe" He conceded and took a sip of his own coffee, "but it's no fun being told to get out of the way cause no one thinks you're big enough to help; like when they were raising a new barn a few years ago dad just told me to stay out of the way."

"When was this? When you were what thirteen?"

"Twelve."

"Surely you've grown a little taller since then."

"Barely." Varian groaned and took another sip of his drink to hide his embarrassment.

"Well, a least you're not constantly being asked to get things off the high shelves and stuff. Everyone in art class does that and it drives me nuts" She complained.

"Really? Cause if I suddenly woke up taller one day I'd be volunteering to get stuff off high places just to show off."

"I mean, you might. Guys don't stop growing until their like in their late teens or early twenties. Me, I'll never stop being the 'tall girl.'" She made a face, showing her displeasure over the nickname, and reached across the table to the basket of biscotti that they had agreed to share.

As she grabbed one of the Italian sweets she heard Varian say with a shrug, "Ah, you're not even that tall."

She paused mid reach to look at him in surprise and he just stared at her blankly wondering what he had said wrong.

"Thank you!" She blurted out loudly. "OMG, I'm always having to say that! I'm only 5'10". My shoes just make me look taller." She lifted a foot to show off her heels to Varian.

"Then why wear them?" He asked, confused.

"Cause they look cute." Honey Lemon pouted.

Varian shrugged again."Okay…..But no, 5'10", that's like normal height. You're no taller than say Queen Arianna is. You want tall? You should see my dad. He's close to seven feet, and he's still not even the tallest guy I've ever met. The king's actually taller than him and so a whole bunch of other guys in Corona. Now you know why I hate being so short. I'm not even taller than the princess , okay, and she's like the shortest person I know."

Then he paused mid rant and cupped his chin in thought,"Well okay, except for Shorty."

"Soooo are women usually tall or short in your world?" She asked, confused herself now as she had no reference for what Varian was talking about.

"Umm..depends on the person I guess. The tallest woman I ever met is my Aunt Adria. She's my dad's sister and about as tall as he is."

"Wait, you have an aunt?" Honey Lemon asked with concern, "Where's she at? Why didn't she come help you and your dad?"

"Well I haven't seen her since I was like five. I don't know where she is, and it's not like we have phones to call one another. I just remember her because, well, she's kind of hard to forget. She has white hair, carries a huge sword everywhere, and half her face is tattooed solid red."

"Hun…I'm guessing she's pretty … unique then?"

"I guess, all I remember was that she and dad had a big fight over something annnd I never saw her since."

"That's sad." Honey Lemon mused.

"How so?"

"Well she's his sister. I'd hate to have a fight with one of my brothers that's so bad that we'd never talk to one another again."

"Hmm...I... never really thought about it before. I guess cause I don't have any siblings and none of my aunts or uncles were ever really around to begin with."

"You have more aunts?"

"Well no, but I have a couple of uncles that I've never met. After my dad left his home country, he didn't really keep in touch with them."

"That's sad." She reiterated.

"Yeah.." He agreed quietly and took another sip of his coffee as thoughts of his dad ran through his mind. His father had kept most of his past hidden from his son. Varian only knew about his extended family because he had stumbled upon his dad's journal amongst his other things in the trunk that had kept hidden in his quarters, along with the mysterious scroll pecice that the King had hunted him down for.

A lot of secrets had come to light sitting in that dusty room, pouring over the pages filled with his father's words. Answers that only brought up more questions. He still didn't know how to feel about it all. Mostly he was angry that his dad never shared things with him, be they large or small, insignificant or not.

But Honey Lemon's words shone light on a new perspective. How much had leaving hurt? Was it just too painful for his dad to talk about at all, with anyone? Even then he still could have told Varian about the rocks, could have trusted him, and there were still secrets hidden away from him. His mind turned to the note locked away in the amber with his dad and instinctively his free hand balled up into a fist.

Honey Lemon looked on with worry as she saw the cloud behind Varian's as he brooded over something. He kept so much of himself hidden away from everyone. But the pain it caused him was always evident just underneath the surface. Honey Lemon wasn't sure she even wanted to know, given what little he had opted to share thus far. Corona scared her. How could any place be so hard and so cruel? Still she wanted to be there for him. He was her friend after all. She placed a hand on top of the fist that he rested on the table, snapping him out of his melancholy mood.

She gave a wide smile and chriped, "You know once midterms are over and you're un- grounded we should all do something fun."

"Like what?"

She thought a minute."Hmmm..Oh, I know! How about karaoke?"

"What's that?"

"It's where you take turns getting up and singing on stage. It's fun."

"It sounds fun. I'm all for it. But on one condition."

"What?"

"You get some actual sleep before then."

"Oookaaayy…" she rolled her eyes in an exaggerated manner and then they both broke down into giggles.

#varian #honey lemon #Hiro Hamada #big hero six #bh6 #bh6 the series #tangled #tangled the series #rapunzel's tangled adventure #crossover

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