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#can we call them the ice cream ship?
pumpkinspiceshiplover · 2 months
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At the End Of the Day, It's the Ship That's On Your Lockscreen
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(Orginal Creator!!! Go check out their blog here on Tumblr!!!!)
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merakiui · 2 months
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Helloooo! I’d like to order a flower bouquet + strawberry ice cream from the misc. menu as well as some lemon squares + custard donuts from the midnight menu for Scaramouche <3
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yandere!scaramouche x (gender neutral) reader cw: yandere, nsfw, dub-con, unhealthy behaviors/relationship, friends with benefits, forced pregnancy/baby-trapping (no pronouns; reader has a pussy), modern college au note - thank you for checking in, dearest guest! enjoy your order! [lunar love hotel]
You’re writing a paper.
Sitting at your desk, scrolling through clothes online, you wonder if your meager paycheck will cover the shipping costs. This is all research. Research that is very necessary in the paper-drafting process, of course! You click on an outfit just as Scaramouche looks up from his phone.
Correction. You’re trying to write a paper.
“Great progress. I can really see the thought you put into this.”
“I’m envisioning it as we speak.”
“Yeah? Doesn’t seem to be getting you anywhere.” He sets his phone down and leans closer. “Last I checked you’re not writing about clothes.”
“Last I checked,” you say, mocking him, “I didn’t ask for commentary. Don’t you have anything better to do?” 
A smug smile sharpens on his face. “I can think of a few things.”
Groaning, you shove him away. “No way. Not today.”
“Why not? It didn’t seem to bother you that last time when we did it before your lecture. You were so out of it you didn’t want me to leave you alone. Isn’t that right, sweetheart?”
“Not my fault I was tired! Don’t tell me you’ve never said and done stupid things when you’re running on three hours of sleep.”
“Not once,” he declares, looking quite proud. As if it’s some grand achievement. Does he want an award? “And even if I was, I wouldn’t be reduced to sugary, sappy putty.”
“I called you ‘sweetheart’ once by mistake. Get over it.”
Scaramouche rests his elbow on the desk, his cheek in his hand. “I don’t think I want to.”
Shutting your laptop, you turn in your chair to face him. “And I don’t think I want to fuck you today.”
“You don’t have to.”
“Oh, you’re gonna do all the work?”
“That’s the plan. Be grateful I’m so good to you,” he teases, leaning closer and closer until—
You block your lips before he can capture them. “I really can’t today. Paper aside, I don’t have any protection and I’m not on birth control right now.”
“It doesn’t have to be inside.” He sits back in his chair, exuding casual confidence. “Unless you want to risk it.”
You try to put enough ice in your glare, but it melts quickly. You really shouldn’t. It’s not a safe day. You really, really shouldn’t…
Scaramouche raises a brow, waiting for your reply.
Despite everything, you’re wheedled into it anyway. You’re not even sure what you want. Is it yes or no? It’s been months since you fell into this arrangement with him—the campus’s infamous lone wolf who goes out of his way to make himself unapproachable. Or, according to your friends, he’s more of a lonely stray cat in need of a friend. Scaramouche had scoffed when you told him that.
Your friends are idiots, he said with a scowl. It only made him look even more like a grumpy cat in need of companionship. Not that you’d ever tell him that. It would only serve to stoke the flames of his ire.
But right now, looking up at him while he ruts into you, sweat sticking in all the right places, his hair falling over his eyes, you’re inclined to agree with that observation. There’s a depth to his gaze that draws you in, a sad glimmer hiding behind the ardor. There’s never been any attachment outside of the bedroom. You’re not even sure if he considers you a friend.
Still, you wonder…
“Scara, do you—” You cut yourself off with a startled gasp, your nails curling into his shoulders. He’s holding you down by your hips, fucking into you like the world’s about to end. “S-Slow down. Wait, I—aah—oh!”
He sucks in a staggered breath through grit teeth, his jaw set firmly. “You’re never going to leave me.”
Your brain stalls out, and suddenly you’re not sure how to respond. He doesn’t lessen the brutal pace at which he thrusts, so you’re forced to piece together a half-coherent answer amidst your groans.
“N-Not anytime soon—mmh… Why? What’s up?”
Scaramouche lifts his head from your neck. A strange smile turns the corners of his lips up. “It’s not a question. I wasn’t giving you a choice.”
You blink back at him, lust-drunk and dazed. The horror edges in, slow and steady like invasive rot. It isn’t until he’s pinning your legs up by your ears to force you into another position that the implication finally catches up to you. You claw at his back with weak strokes, babbling futile protests against his mouth. In response, his cock throbs inside of you, pressed so deep in this position you fear the repercussions. He kisses you with much the same force, insistent on driving you into the mattress—on pinning you here until you finally submit. Until the last of your resolve withers away, stamped out and replaced with something agreeable.
“Even if you wanted to,” he says around a shaky laugh, seeming positively deranged, “you couldn’t.”
You think you should be worried, but you’re so stunned with this development that your brain can’t keep up. Embarrassingly, you cum with a strangled sort of cry, your pussy clenching tight. He hisses through his teeth, fucks you through the high of your orgasm, and then falls with you, his own climax fast like a flash.
You’re panting in the aftermath. What just happened?
Scaramouche keeps you plugged with his cock for as long as he possibly can before he’s sliding out, flaccid and spent. For now, you suspect, for there will certainly be more later if your wits aren’t about you by then.
“Pill,” you mumble, voice hoarse from crying. You shake him, hoping he’ll climb off of you and get to it. “Scaraaa…”
Oddly, for someone who never shows any vulnerability, he clings. “We’ve got time. I’ll get it. Don’t worry.”
You don’t believe him. Not when his hand strays to your stomach. His palm brushes over the area once. He sighs, wholly satisfied.
“We’ve got time…”
Nine months of it, in fact. But that goes unspoken. If not today, there’s always tomorrow. You know he won’t rest until then. Neither will you. Your heart is too big, too soft, for that lonely stray cat, and part of you wonders if he knows that.
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korereapers · 6 months
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I collaborated with the amazing @laxi0v0 for a cute little event we made in the scriddler server. This is Laxi's art about the fic I wrote, and HONESTLY HONESTLY i couldn't have asked for a better and more supportive partner. Her art is way better than I would ever dream on writing and honestly, Laxi, I'm so glad it was you bc we vibe a lot about our tastes w this ship.
The fic will be on ao3 later, but here, for you guys, before anyone else:
Jonathan takes a sip out his mug, nicely decorated with a pumpkin, the recipe of the pumpkin spice coffee perfected by him for decades. It’s warm, it tastes like fall, and it’s the start of what Jonathan considers to be the best time of the year.
It started like a small tradition for him, when he finally left home and started studying to become the psychologist he wanted to be. Halloween was to be celebrated, especially for freaks like him, abhorrent creatures that made great-granny’s skin crawl. He was proud of that, in a way. It was his moment, it still is, after all of these years, because he is still a freak, he belongs to this weather and these colors more than he belongs anywhere else. He belongs between ocher leaves and the smell of fog, the rain starting to fall over Gotham, only to leave when it’s summer again. The start of his kingdom, of the time he rules over.
Or it would be, if Edward wasn’t so adamant about going to freaking Starbucks.
He doesn’t get it, not really. A malnourished child from Georgia, surrounded by overworked kids that serve them with the most forced smile when Edward asks, yet again, for the infamous Pumpkin Spice Latte. With ice. Oatmeal milk. Whipped cream.
Jonathan wants to die.
“How is this even supposed to be spooky?”
Edward rolls his eyes, green contact lenses barely moving, as if they were starting to get glued to his irises. Which should be a bad sign, but Jonathan is, yet again, not his boyfriend’s keeper.
“Not everything has to be spooky when this time arrives, Jonathan.”
He kind of dislikes it, when he calls him by his full name. He calls him Jon when they are alone, when they are intimate, when their bodies or their hearts are entwined. He doesn’t like when he calls him Jonathan, because that means that Edward thinks he is being too bitter, complaining too much, a complete prick.
It’s not that he dislikes the stupid PSL, either, but it feels like desecrating one of his oldest traditions, and he feels as if he were betraying himself.
“Don’t you like my recipe, then? Do you dislike it so much we have to come here every single week?”
The cashier smiles at them awkwardly as Edward pays for their order, tipping the young lady generously.
“Do you have to take everything personally? I started getting here when I finally had my own money to spend. Is it that hard to just enjoy it, when I want to share it with you?”
Oh. A tradition. Jonathan distractedly drinks from his thematic glass, but says nothing.
They are really different, Edward and himself. To Edward, spending time and money like this… is almost a love language. It’s a lifestyle that he works hard to keep, having dinner in expensive places, getting coffee every time he can. Sharing it with him, because Jonathan is important to him.
Jonathan may be unable to feel fear, and his brain may be as damaged as Edward’s heart, but guilt still crawls its way into his psyche. It still makes him feel uneasy, because he cares, because he understands the feeling, because he wants to share his recipe with Edward because of the exact same reason.
He touches Edward’s hand when they sit, an apology he doesn’t utter but that can be felt in his irradiated orange eyes.
“I like it when you share time and nourishment with me.”
Edward’s expression softens, a glint of blue under the bright green contact lenses.
“Wow, when did you get emotionally aware?” his mouth says instead, and for a moment, Jonathan understands the Bat and his compulsion to punch him in the mouth.
“I’m a psychologist, Edward.”
“... right,” he mutters, his voice cheeky, still clearly a little mad, his thoughts loud. Jonathan loves that about him, his expression when he is deep in thought, when he is trying to understand something. A puzzle, a new riddle in their lives. “That recipe of yours is really important to you, too, if I’m guessing correctly.”
Jonathan nods, his eyes still on Edward’s, who seems to be feeling a little bit too shy to look at him, knowing that they are having an emotionally vulnerable moment.
“It is. I made it myself and… I want to share it with you.”
Edward does smile a little at that, his voice softer when he speaks.
“Let me try it later. I want to give it the thought and recognition it deserves.”
Jonathan’s thumb caresses Edward’s hand, his smile contagious. Like a well concocted virus.
“I would love to.”
—-------------------------------------------
Edward is pretty sure that he is (very unluckily, by the way) dating the man with the poorest taste in the world. Jonathan seems to think that he is hilarious, dressed in his usual costume, even the needles oozing toxin as he sits quietly on the couch.
There is a thing about him that Edward has always loved: how he becomes a different person when the mask is on.
They used to talk about it, back in the day, when they used to share a room in the Asylum. Jonathan felt naked without his mask, his expression dull and almost tense, devoid of what made him himself. Edward, at least, has managed to make those expressions change, the real Jon emerging from behind whatever aloof façade he tries to put on to protect himself, to pretend he is a regular human being and not the freak that makes his heart melt.
He must surely be smiling behind the mask, then. Edward can almost feel him vibrating in excitement, like a small child, and in a way, he kind of is. A reclaimed childhood, the enjoyment of a joy he wasn’t allowed to feel. He can understand that.
Still, the poorest fucking choice of a Halloween costume.
“Really, Jon? The most original idea, I have to say.”
Jonathan looks at him, and he can feel his piercing eyes even behind the mask, the expression of a predator, so dangerous it makes his face flush a little. Birds of a feather, both of them. The Scarecrow sighs, deeply, the sound distorted behind the mask. It’s creepy, he has to admit, which is probably… kind of the point.
“Like you’re one to talk, Herlock Sholmes.”
Edward gasps, indignant. His Poirot costume is nothing to be laughed at.
“Excuse me?!”
He can almost feel the smile behind the mask, because Edward knows him, he knows Jonathan is an avid reader, he knows the difference between Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle, for fuck's sake. He is doing this on purpose, to rile him up. He always is.
Edward's mind goes somewhere else, somewhere private. Somewhere where he is indeed riled up, and Jonathan touches his cheek, looking up at his face from behind the mask, Edward sitting on his lap, while long, dangerous hands go up his thigh, eyes hungry-
The doorbell rings. Edward goes back to reality, Jonathan's eyes on him as he moves towards the entrance, the tips of his ears surely blushing.
When he opens the door, he has to look down, because damn, kids sure look tinier these days. He cannot remember to be this short, this innocent, this…
Happy.
He feels Jonathan's chin on his shoulder, almost jumping in place because the man is silent like a ghost, no matter how eager he is to take part in the holiday.
One of the kids is wearing a Batman costume, and Edward tries his hardest not to roll his eyes, with better or worse success. Another kid is dressed as Harley Quinn, what makes him wonder if these parents are in need of any kind of psychological help. The youngest, a child dressed as Wonder Woman, looks at them with badly hidden mischief, and Edward feels tempted to just close the door.
"Trick or treat!" They ask in unison, and before Edward can answer, Jonathan drops a bag in front of them, full of who knows what, but the kids don't ask.
Such blissful ignorance.
"Thank you Mister Holmes! Mister Scarecrow!" The girl dressed up as Batman says, and the one dressed as Wonder Woman purses her lips in disgust.
"Poirot's moustache isn't like that. You're a fake."
The kid dressed as Harley Quinn laughs in response, taking the bag of candy and running away with Wonder Woman. The one dressed as Batman follows who Edward believes to be her sisters, and he blissfully thanks that they don't have any children.
"Please tell me the bag is full of drugs."
Jonathan chuckles a little, his arms around Edward's waist.
"Hershey's," is everything he says, his sudden lack of malice and evil intent a headache for Edward.
"Oh, Jon. Are you going soft on me?"
Jonathan's smile can be felt in the air, a predator, a killer awaiting their next victim.
"Me? Oh, darlin'..." he whispers against Edward's ear, his distorted voice making him shudder in anticipation. "Never."
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cozage · 1 year
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Hey! I saw your request being open!
Could I have Monster trio (separate pls) with a female s/o that Sees her lover stressed/despressed/ down what you like, so she makes them Some dessert to their taste? To Show them love and being there for them? So just pure fluff!
Thank you again and take enough Breaks and have a nice day/night
A/N: I was a big fan of this. I hope you liked it!
Characters: gn reader x Luffy, Zoro, Sanji
Cw: sad boi hours, but still really cute!
Total word count: 1k
Luffy
Luffy doesn't seem as crazy as he usually does. He’s not running around or screaming as much, he’s more wandering around the ship, staring out to sea in thought. It’s kind of alarming for everyone on the ship, honestly
Double chocolate cake. It’s his favorite thing to eat, and luckily it’s something you can make pretty easily
You whip up the cake, and leave the spoon and the bowl off to the side for him to lick up later (sorry Sanji- you know he hates when Luffy does that)
He doesn’t even come into the kitchen when he smells the cake baking, and you take it out early just to get it to him faster. 
When he sees it, the biggest grin appears on his face. And then he sees the battered spoon and bowl, and his smile somehow gets bigger. He starts to get tears in his eyes from happiness
He swallows it almost entirely whole, and he licks the bowl and the spoon completely clean of any HINT of chocolate. You could put it back into the cupboards, that's how clean they look.
“Do you want to talk about it?” you ask, and he stares into the cleaned bowl he’s still licking at. 
“It’s Ace’s birthday today, I think.” he finally answers after a few long moments. “We made up birthdays for each other since we didn’t know our own.”
“Well, Happy Birthday Ace.” you say softly. “Should we have a party?”
Luffy’s smile returns. It’s not as big as it was before, but it’s there, and you count it as a win. “I think he would like that a lot.”
Zoro
He’s grumpy. Zoro is usually grumpy, but today he’s extra grumpy. 
Zoro doesn’t like to talk about his emotions, and you know that better than anyone. So instead you remind him of your love…from a distance.
Desserts are hard for Zoro. Chocolate and candy are far too sweet for him to enjoy. But, surprisingly, you know he does like mochi. So that’s what you make. 
It takes a lot of time and effort, making the sticky sweet rice balls and the ice cream to match. But luckily all you have is time today. You know when Zoro gets in his funk he doesn’t want to see or talk to anyone. 
You make a few of each; green tea, strawberry, red bean, and just regular vanilla, and climb up to the crow’s nest where he’s hidden away. 
You open the hatch and you can see him look over to see who has disturbed him, his eyes full of irritation. They soften slightly when they see you, but not by much. 
“I just brought dessert for you,” you whisper, placing the plate down and starting to shut the door. 
“Wait!” he demanded, slight desperation in his voice. “Do you want to eat with me?”
You smile at that, and climb up into the crow's nest. The two of you sit silently and eat the dessert until it’s all gone. 
“Do you want to talk about it?” you asked him.
“No,” he snapped instinctually. “Sorry,” he quickly corrected. “Thank you for the food. It was really good.”
“Sure thing” you smile, blowing him a kiss and winking at him, taking your leave. “Let me know if you need anything else.” You see him nod and you’re thankful that you get to leave him with a smile on his face. 
Sanji
It’s hard to tell when Sanji is upset about things, but there’s one main thing: He hides in the kitchen. So when you realize he hasn’t come out to see you halfway through the day, you get suspicious. 
You wander into the kitchen and he looks up from his manic whisking of some kind of batter. He didn’t even look up to see you come in, and you can see three trays of cupcakes already made behind him. 
“Sanji?” you call, and he looks up like a deer caught in the headlights. 
“My love! Are you hungry? Are you sad? Do you need something?” he’s scanning your face to see if you were angry at all, worried he forgot something. 
“Sanji.” You walk over and take the bowl out from his hands, setting it on the counter. Your hands cup his face so his eyes only focus on you. “Breathe, Sanji.”
You breathe in and out with him a few times, trying to get him to calm down. Once his breathing calms down and his eyes seem a little less scared, you both feel better. 
“Out,” you command, and he looks at you funny. “I’ll handle this mess in the kitchen. Go sit by Chopper’s inflatable pool with him.”
He needs something simple, something refreshing, so you decide to stick with the basics. A homemade vanilla bean ice cream with a lavender lemonade. 
He comes in several times during the process, and you kick him to the curb every time, He can’t even get past the door before you’re screaming “OUT!”
Luffy cleans up the cupcakes and batter, and you do all the dishes while the ice cream is mixing. 
When you take it out to him, he cries a little bit. “You know me so well,” he sobbed, mouth full of ice cream. 
“Do you want to talk about it?” you asked, looking over at him. 
“Not really,” he says, and you nod. That’s fine with you too. Some things are just too hard to talk about, but you’re glad you could get him out of his baking spiral at least. 
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ginnsbaker · 9 months
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the follow up
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Summary: Sequel to 'prophylaxis'. Wanda's follow up appointment with you, her dentist. Includes ice cream, Vision playing matchmaker and Wanda's questionable taste in music
Word count: 3k | Warnings: None. Tooth-rotting fluff. Pun intended.
Ship: Wanda Maximoff x Fem!Reader | Platonic Wanda Maximoff X Vision
Author's note: Let's pretend that the Sokovian accords resolved itself without Tony and Steve divorcing | P.S couldn't resist inserting a T.S. lyric (sorry not sorry)
Series Masterlist | Main Masterlist
-
Wanda Maximoff is strapped to a chair.
Again.
Fortunately, it's not because she'd been caught behind enemy lines or had to be restrained because of those stupid accords that nobody really cares about except Tony and Steve. 
No, Wanda Maximoff is at the dentist's office. 
Again.
Okay, so, she’s not strapped per se, but the patient bib she wears over her clothes certainly feels like one, especially when that chair starts to tilt back as soon as you nudge the adjustor with your foot. It's like being bound in place, just without the actual restraints.
Her lips are dry, and her heart is beating just a little too fast, but not from fear this time. It's a different sort of edginess that Wanda feels, especially when you lean in too close to her face to check her molars. Your face is just inches from hers, eyebrows strewn in concentration and eyes focused. Wanda tries to look away, but there's nowhere to look except the ceiling or into those scrutinizing eyes.
It also doesn’t help that you smell absolutely incredible. Last week, you smelled like raindrops on petals. Today, you smell like cinnamon and vanilla, and she finds both scents comforting and addicting. 
“So, Wanda,” you say, your voice calm and gentle, “How have you been taking care of your teeth since the last visit?”
“Uh, fine,” Wanda tries to articulate the words properly but all that comes out is a garbled “ahhh fuh”. You don't mock her in any way; instead, you display an expert understanding of your patients' speech patterns. 
“You've been brushing and flossing?”
Wanda nods.
“Good girl,” you say, and even though your smile is hidden behind the mask, she can still see it in your eyes. They crinkle at the corners, and it just sends something warm and happy in Wanda’s chest whenever she sees it. 
But there’s nervousness, too.
In fact, a lot of things about you make her nervous. After all, your kind used to be the bane of her existence.
You turn away to prepare the necessary tools, and Wanda's mind starts to wander. How many patients do you see in a day? Are you always this nice and charming to them? 
Are they also nervous around you? Or is it just her?
“Alright, Wanda,” you say, turning back to her, your eyes kind and understanding. “Let's get started. Just a small pinch, and you'll feel a little numb.”
She nods again, and the procedure begins. 
As you work, you talk about mundane things and the new plant you acquired over the weekend. You also talk a little about the Avengers compound and the unique experiences that come with being their on-call dentist, especially with a synthezoid who insists on getting their teeth checked. 
Wanda answers more freely now, her initial hesitation gone. She finds herself enjoying your company–enjoying this dental appointment, of all things–and even laughing at some of your anecdotes.
Finally, the fillings are in place, and you help her rinse her mouth.
“See?” you say, patting her shoulder. “That wasn't so bad.”
Wanda beams at you, feeling quite proud of herself. “No, it wasn't. Thank you.”
“There are still three more that might need fillings, but we can schedule that for some other time. Don’t want you to get overwhelmed,” you add with a cheeky wink that has Wanda unwittingly clutching the armchair tightly.
You carefully set your tools down on the tray, giving Wanda some room to breathe. Right then, the numbing effect of the anesthesia begins to fade and Wanda winces, her hand instinctively coming up to her jaw, fingers massaging the area where the discomfort is blooming. 
Seeing her reaction, you recall the ice cream you'd thoughtfully stashed away after she’d confirmed her appointment.
“Feeling a bit tender there?” you ask, moving towards the small refrigerator you keep in the room. “I have just the thing.”
Wanda looks at you curiously as you retrieve a container of Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream. Her eyes widen, and she exclaims, “How did you know this is my favorite?”
You blush as if you’ve been caught doing something you shouldn’t. You hadn't expected Wanda to notice the specific flavor of the ice cream, let alone comment on how suspiciously perfect it was that you picked her favorite. 
“Well, I may have called the Avengers compound and asked around,” you say, sheepishly rubbing the back of your neck. “It was Vision–was it?–who knew. Said you always choose this one.”
You extend the tub of Cherry Garcia to Wanda, and as she takes it, your fingers briefly brush against hers. Both of you pause at the unexpected touch, a small gasp escaping her lips. You quickly shift your attention to the utensil drawer, pulling out a spoon and handing it to her. But instead of digging in immediately, she hesitates, glancing up at you. 
The white mask you're wearing has kept your full face hidden throughout the appointment, and now, she'd be utterly disappointed if she never gets a peek at your face, which is partly the reason she agreed to come here in the first place.
Wanda Maximoff can’t have that. After sitting through an hour in that torture chair, she needs to be rewarded. And not just with ice cream. 
“Would you... would you like to share it with me?” she asks hesitantly, trying to be subtle–
 “I'd really like to see your face, just once.”
–and then failing at subtlety half a second later.
You blink, surprised at her straightforwardness, and feel a deeper blush spread across your cheeks. Her request is unconventional, yes, but it's also earnest and endearing. Slowly, you reach up and remove the mask, unveiling the smile that Wanda's been so desperate to see.
“Well, I do have quite the sweet tooth, so I couldn't possibly refuse.” you say.
You sit side-by-side on the coach, your knees touching ever so often. You occasionally find yourself pointing to Wanda's lips, indicating where she needs to wipe away the stray cream. Wanda blushes at your attentiveness, but she can't help but appreciate the caring gesture.
Wanda truly wants to prolong this moment, this unexpected opportunity to have you all to herself. But as delightful as the company is, ice cream has its own rules, and it's not much enjoyable when it's melted. So, despite her desire to make the moment stretch on, the ice cream is finished in under ten minutes. 
Staring at the empty tub, the idea that she might not be the only one to experience this side of you fills her with both reassurance and a hint of envy. Wanda can't help but wonder if there's something special about the connection you share during these brief appointments, or if your comforting demeanor is simply part of being a skilled and compassionate dentist.
Either way, she wants to do something with you that would set her apart from all your other patients.
“Um, so,” she begins, fumbling with her words, her eyes darting around the room before landing on yours. “I was thinking, you know, if you're not too busy or anything, maybe we could... do this again? Not the dental part!” she quickly adds, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment. “I mean, maybe dinner, or a movie, or whatever you like? If you want to, of course.”
You look at her with wide eyes, mouth slightly agape, as if you're trying to catch the words that just slipped out of her mouth. Is it a date? Is it just a friendly outing? Regardless, it's not typically professional to see a patient outside of the clinic, especially one as renowned as Wanda Maximoff. 
“Wanda,” you start. “You’re interesting, funny, and truly amazing.”
You watch as Wanda’s face becomes hopeful, which makes you want to strangle yourself for what you have to say next. 
“But I’m sorry, I can’t. I have to consider the professional boundaries that I need to maintain.”
Wanda's eyes widen momentarily, and then she quickly masks her disappointment with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Oh, of course, I understand,” she says, her voice light, but not quite reaching her eyes. “I shouldn't have asked. It was silly of me.”
But you can see the hurt in her eyes, the way her shoulders slump just a little, the way her smile doesn't scrunch her nose the way it normally does. She's trying to brush it off, to act like it doesn't matter, but you can tell that it does.
With that, your time together draws to a close. You ask Wanda if she wants to schedule another filling for her remaining molars, but she merely shakes her head, telling you she'll have to think about it. Her eyes avoid yours, and her voice is distant, a clear indication of how your rejection has affected her.
You watch her walk away, a part of you wishing you could call her back, and another part knowing that you made the right choice. 
It's the first time you experience a profound sense of loathing towards your profession as a dentist.
You wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t invite you back next year for another routine check-up.
-
Which makes your predicament the following day all the more baffling.
One second, you're tending to a tall, blonde, seemingly ordinary man in your dental chair, going through the routine motions of preparing for a check-up. You turn your back for a moment to prepare your tools, lost in thought and still reeling from yesterday's encounter with Wanda.
When you turn to face your patient again, your heart skips a beat, your hands freezing in place. 
The man is no longer blonde and ordinary but bald and a striking shade of red.
In a snap, it’s another Avenger in your hands.
You clear your throat, forcing a smile as you approach the chair. “Mr. Vision,” you say, trying to keep your voice steady. “I wasn't expecting to see you here.”
Vision is ready to correct you with your use of ‘Mr.’ but then he tilts his head, deciding he likes the title next to his name.
“It's my pleasure to see you, Doctor,” he smiles at you, sitting perfectly still.
You blink at him, still trying to wrap your head around the fact that a synthezoid–one who technically doesn't even have biological teeth–is sitting in your dental chair. You can't help but wonder if this is some kind of joke or if Wanda sent him to kill you.
When you continue to stand unmoving in your position, Vision says, “I’m here for a check-up.”
Huh. 
Okay?
You reach for the mouth mirror and probe, tools typically used for human patients, and hesitate for just a moment. 
How exactly does one perform a check-up on a synthezoid?
Vision seems to read your uncertainty, his crystal-blue eyes meeting yours. “I assure you, I have all the components you would find in a human mouth,” he says. 
You nod, beginning to understand. Gathering your focus, you proceed to perform the unusual check-up he's requesting. As you explore his mouth, you find yourself fascinated by the impeccable craftsmanship that went into creating Vision. Every tooth, every gum, is a perfect imitation of its human counterpart. 
You find yourself feeling a little jealous of his orthodontic assets. 
As you continue the check-up, he starts to share some stories, his voice even and clear despite your probing.
“You know, Wanda once fed an alley full of stray cats during a mission in Bucharest,” he says, a soft chuckle in his voice. “We were on a surveillance assignment, and she noticed them, all huddled together, looking hungry. Before I knew it, she had conjured up bowls of food for them all. It was quite a sight.”
You pause, caught by the image of Wanda surrounded by furry, adorable kittens. “That sounds adorable.” you reply, moving on to examine his upper molars. 'Cute' was the word on the tip of your tongue, exactly what you meant to say. But you know as well as anyone that finding a patient cute is off-limits.
He continues, “Yes, Wanda has a way with things. Once, back at the Avengers HQ, she'd make her dinner portion smaller so the guys with big appetites could eat their fill. Even Natasha, who's quite the cook, found it a stretch sometimes to satisfy the team's hunger.”
And then as he drones on about Wanda, you slowly begin to piece together what's really happening here. Vision isn't just in your clinic for a check-up. 
He's talking up Wanda. 
To you.
As if Wanda even needed talking up.
All you could think about was the brunette with her soulful green eyes and a smile that makes you go weak in the knees. Your heart skips a beat at the very thought of her.
But it's not just because Wanda is your patient that you rejected her. There's the awe and reverence you feel towards her as an Avenger, a symbol of justice and freedom, a hero who seems to belong to the world more than to any one person. And then there's the raw, personal part of you, still healing from a toxic relationship that ended only six months ago.
And as Vision concludes his tales of Wanda by sharing how she's the only one patient enough to show him the ropes of what being human is, you see through his carefully crafted façade. 
He's here to bridge the gap, to make Wanda more accessible, more human in your eyes. He wants you to see her not just as a public figure but as a person with feelings, quirks, and simple kindnesses.
And more than that, he wants you to realize that you're an idiot for saying no to someone as wonderful as Wanda Maximoff.
“You’re not really here for a check-up, are you?” you smile at him knowingly.
Vision looks at you, his synthetic eyes almost mischievous and for a while you forget that he isn’t human. 
He pauses for a moment, as if considering his next words, and then he smiles back.
“No,” he finally says, his voice carrying a hint of both humor and sincerity. “I'm not.”
He then continues, his tone turning thoughtful. “Wanda has been... sulking. For hours, locked up in her room listening to ‘Lips of an Angel’ on repeat. She told me before that I am her 'best friend,'” he says, the term slightly foreign in his mouth. “I looked up what that means, and it included helping her be happy.”
Apart from the reveal of what kind of music Wanda listens to, you feel Vision’s words tugging at your heart strings. Well, at least until he says–
“Natasha explained to me that Wanda is being, as she put it, 'emo' because she got rejected by a possible... sexual mate.”
You'd choke on your water if you were drinking one.
That's not what you expected him to say, not in the least. The sentence hits you like a left-field curveball, utterly disrupting the flow of the conversation. It's so... so... un-Vision-like, and yet, here he is, stating it as matter-of-factly as he might describe the weather.
“Given that, I would like to ask you to reconsider going out with my ‘best friend’.”
You're still coming to grips with everything that's just happened. Vision, Wanda's “best friend” here in your clinic, attempting to play matchmaker. What he's asking isn't small, but the way he's asking, the care he's shown in understanding human relationships, his concern for Wanda's feelings–it all makes you pause.
You think about what you were doing on your computer last night, googling Wanda’s name and trying to find out all you could about the young Avenger.
Finally making a decision, you look up at Vision squarely in the eye. 
“Would you happen to know Wanda’s email address?” you ask, fiddling with the lapels of your white coat. “And also her phone number?”
-
“Oh, thank god,” Natasha sighs as she hears Wanda hit pause on the 46th replay of Lips of an Angel.
Yes, 46. Natasha had made Vision count, and that doesn't include the ones he missed when she urgently dispatched him to you to remediate the Wanda situation immediately.
She hears someone whistling a tune coming from the hallway and is surprised to see Vision, apparently adopting Steve's habit in his eagerness to act more human.
“Mission accomplished?” she asks, her eyes narrowing.
Vision stops whistling, a look of satisfaction in his synthetic eyes. “I believe I made some progress. Our friend has promised to think about reconsidering the decision.”
“Just think about it? You were gone quite a while for a 'maybe.'”
Vision pauses, his head tilting slightly. “I believe I was able to present Wanda in a way that may help our friend realize her feelings for her.”
“You think she has feelings for our Wanda?” Natasha's voice betrays her surprise, and she can't quite catch herself using the word ‘our’. She continues, slightly flustered, “I was thinking maybe she'd just indulge Wanda's crush for a while, then befriend her, so as not to completely shut her down.”
“I observed her vitals while telling her about Wanda, and all the signs point to yes, she has feelings for our Wanda,” Vision answers, thoughtfully echoing Natasha's use of ‘our’. 
She smirks, leaning against the wall. “Well, let's hope your efforts pay off. I can't take another 46 replays of that song.”
Vision stoically considers Natasha's last statement. “Actually, Agent Romanoff, I must disagree. I could listen to another replay. Technically, it's a well-composed song.”
Natasha's face twists into a look of mock disgust. “I swear, if you start advocating for boy bands next, I'm holding Wanda personally responsible.”
“I'll consider that when expanding my musical repertoire.”
She waves a dismissive hand, still grinning. “Just don't start singing in the shower. We've got enough noise in the mornings as it is.”
-
Around the time that Wanda has just hit pause on the Hinder hit that has been playing on loop, a notification sounds off her laptop. 
She quickly turns her attention to it and clicks on the email that has arrived from your clinic. Inside, there's a referral letter personally written by you, referring Wanda to another colleague of yours.
You no longer want to be her dentist, the email makes that clear. Somehow, this hurts more than your rejection of her yesterday.
Before she can fully process the referral, her phone buzzes with a call from an unknown number. She hesitates, before deciding to answer. “Hello?”
“Hi, Wanda. It’s Y/N. F-From the clinic?” you breathe out in a rush, the words tangled with your nerves. Wanda takes note of how your voice sounds over the phone–deeper and more intimate against her ear.
She takes a moment to reply, still a little thrown by the referral. “Oh, hi. I just read your email,” she says.
“Yes, about that…” You trail off, pausing as you try to find the right words. “I was thinking, instead of discussing that over the phone, maybe we could talk about it over dinner on Friday? If you're free–”
“I’d love to,” Wanda quickly accepts, her heart threatening to jump out of her chest.
You try to suppress a chuckle, grateful that Wanda can’t see your cheeks turning a rosy pink. 
“Great! I'll pick you up at seven?"
“Seven it is.” Her reply is soft, almost shy. You say your goodbyes, both of you grinning to yourselves as you both hang up. 
Back in her room, Wanda stares at her phone, a broad smile on her face, touching it as if it's your face.
She presses play on the song once more, not as a lament but as a triumph. 
Much to Natasha’s dismay.
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IOTA Reviews: Emotion
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Hey, remember Felix? You know, that minor character who is the entire reason Gabriel has all of Ladybug's other Miraculous? The writers remembered he existed more than halfway through the season.
Let's get into the eighteenth episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fifth season: Emotion
We start off with Marinette and Adrien getting ice cream, and just like last episode, right when they're about to kiss, Adrien stops at the last second. While we don't see it, it's heavily implied that Gabriel is behind this. It turns out that Adrien has to get ready for some dance for rich people. While it has a name and I think it was mentioned in a few earlier episodes this season, it's really just some dance for rich people, so I don't care enough to remember it. Of course, all of the rich characters we know are invited, like Kagami, Chloe, Zoe, and Prince Ali. Lila, on the other hand, wasn't invited. This might sound important, but nothing happens with her until the end.
Zoe isn't going because of the “character development” she's gotten, so she offers to let Marinette wear her dress to the dance, which just so happens to be a masquerade ball. Tikki asks why Marinette even wants to go to this party she wasn't invited to, but all Marinette says is that it's so she can tell Adrien that she didn't have to keep the dance a secret from her. Why didn't Marinette just call Adrien? Because then we wouldn't have a story.
At the ball, Adrien and Kagami are the king and queen or whatever because their parents are really determined to make their ship sail even though the two show no real interest in each other (insert your own joke about the writers here), but they're interrupted by Amelie, Emilie's twin sister and Felix's mom. She's worried because her son has been missing for weeks, but Gabriel couldn't care less about the little twerp.
At the party, we get a somewhat amusing joke where Chloe fails to recognize Marinette under her mask, where Marinette not only says her name is Zoe, but her “underling” is named Chloe too. But speaking of...
Chloe: How rich are your parents? Rich? Very rich? Immensely rich? Of course, otherwise you wouldn't be here! It's too bad we can't bring out underlings with us. I'm sure these tin cans can serve properly but we can't make fun of them! (grabs a drink from a butler robot before kicking it) So lame!
Okay, did the writers just stop caring about writing convincing dialogue for Chloe? This is a problem I've noticed a lot this season. Yeah, Chloe was bad in the last four seasons, but here, she constantly talks about how Sabrina is her “underling” (Passion), or how she finds Marinete's suffering to be amusing (Derision). It's not really out of character, but it's weird how she's so much more blunt when it comes to boasting about how full of herself she is. It feels like a lot of her lines this season were meant to be placeholders for stuff the writers thought they'd change later, but then they decided to keep it in anyway. And of course to show how stuck up the other rich kids saying the same kind of stuff Chloe normally says, which is somehow less subtle social commentary than Hop Pop shouting “EAT THE RICH!”.
Adrien and Kagami talk about how they're expected to follow orders, while pretty much saying that Kagami is a Sentimonster since the camera really wants to show off her ring.
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Oh wow. what does this mean? Wow, this is such a compelling mystery with so many twists and turns. I am so very invested right now.
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However, as the two talk, it's clear that Adrien isn't himself, literally.
“Adrien”: Let's leave, I dare you.
Kagami: Are you insane? We can't do that.
“Adrien”: Of course, we can. I can.
Kagami: (gasps) You'd do that?
“Adrien”: Wanna bet?
Kagami: No, we can't.
“Adrien”: See? You're not as free as you claim. Don't you think we should be able to decide our future?
I'll get back to this later.
Marinette tells “Adrien” that she loves her, but Chloe figures out that Marinette crashed a party she wasn't invited to. Of course, because this is Chloe, we're supposed to ignore how unnecessary this plan was for Marinette. Seriously, Marinette crashing the party in “Gabriel Agreste”, as illogical as it was, made sense, because they needed to stop Chloe from showing Gabriel incriminating footage of Marinette. Here, Marinette had no real reason to crash this party when all she had to do was call Adrien, and Chloe, like her or hate her, makes a good point in that she wasn't invited. But again, since this is Season 5 Chloe, she could say she opposes human trafficking, and the writers would still find a way to make her look like the bad guy.
Chloe tells the other rich kids to help her expose Marinette, but because they're so stuck up and entitled, they refuse to touch her. I'll give you all a moment to groan from that unfunny joke. Then we get this conversation between Marinette and “Adrien”.
“Adrien”: All eyes are on you.
Marinette: They're looking at me like I'm a monster.
“Adrien”: Look closer, Marinette. (whispers into her ear) They're the monsters.
I officially take back everything bad I ever said about the Canto Bight scenes from The Last Jedi.
While I get what the episode's going for, we really haven't seen a lot of the 1% doing things that would actually warrant this level of scorn from the audience. Yeah, most of them were egotistical snobs, especially Chloe, but you can't really see this as a shot at the elite when it's aimed at their children instead of their parents. All we've seen in this episode is the rich kids being jerks (and even then, it's played for laughs), Chloe rightfully trying to get Marinette thrown out of a party she had no reason to crash, and Gabriel and Tomoe trying to pair their children together. If you want to show the audience how bad rich people are, you need to show them actually abusing their power and mistreating others. As bad as the aforementioned Canto Bight scenes were, they still worked because it managed to back up the point it was trying to make.
Compare this to characters like the Ferengi from Star Trek or the World Nobles from One Piece. These are allegories for the 1% that work because they do a better job at exaggerating aspects of them that can translate to how we see the elite in our world. With the Ferengi, they represent everything wrong with cutthroat businessmen who base their entire society over financial gains, and with the World Nobles, they represent the disconnect with the common people by being so arrogant, they wear helmets that prevent them from breathing the same air as the commoners. If you wanted to show how bad the rich were, especially considering what's going to happen in a few minutes, you needed to do more to make the audience not like them so we'd be more happy to see them get their comeuppance.
Marinette figures out that Felix impersonated Adrien once again (it honestly stops being impressive when he's done it during literally every episode he appears in), and he decides to transform using the Peacock Miraculous in public for some reason, calling himself Argos.
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Argos' design is okay. The suit and coattails look pretty nice, and the coloring on his face works a lot better than Gabriel's. The only problem I have is the way the hood looks. It looks too goofy to go with the rest of the suit. It kind of reminds me of that salmon suit Squidward wore in that one episode of SpongeBob SquarePants.
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Before anyone else at the party can do anything, Argos reveals a Sentimonster he created, Red Moon.
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Red Moon is... a red moon. It's just a red moon that floats above the city, and it gives Argos the ability to make anyone bathed in its light disappear with a snap of his fingers. If anything, this shows how overpowered the Peacock Miraculous is, and that Gabriel was a real idiot for not trying anything like this while he was Shadowmoth.
Anyway, after making everyone think his cousin is a supervillain as part of his brilliant plan, Argos decides to tell everyone in the room about what his Sentimonster can do. He demonstrates this by, of course, choosing to snap away Chloe before targeting Gabriel and Tomoe. You really have your priorities straight, buddy. Argos then carries Marinette outside before throwing her in a dumpster, because if he snapped her away, than Ladybug couldn't fight him.
But then Argos decides to go to the streets, and decides to snap away a bunch of innocent civilians... while singing a jazz song. To anyone curious as to what it sounds like, I must warn you, it isn't for the feint of heart.
I take back everything bad I ever said about the Hawkmoth rap.
First off, I'm just going to say it, Bryce Papenbrook cannot sing. Argos is clearly trying to sound like a suave and confident villain like Doctor Facilier from The Princess and the Frog, but his delivery is terrible. It either ranges from flat monotone to trying to shout while dealing with a sore throat. The point I'm trying to make is that there was a good reason someone else did the singing voice for Adrien in the recent movie.
Second, this doesn't do anything to make us root for Argos as a character, because there's no reason for him to be doing this. I can understand why he'd use his power to get rid of Gabriel and Tomoe (even Chloe, given we know how much she's done), but why is he suddenly going nuts snapping a bunch of random people who haven't even met him before? The episode tries to make him a character who only does bad things because he has no choice to, so him doing this to a bunch of innocent civilians makes no sense.
Finally, WHY THE HELL IS THIS SCENE A MUSICAL NUMBER?! It's hard enough to see Argos callously wipe out a bunch of bystanders, essentially committing genocide, but the tone of the song is all upbeat and cheery, while the lyrics are about how Argos should get whatever he wants. What is the purpose of adding a song here? Are we supposed to find this funny? Is it meant to establish Felix as a wild card? Is the song supposed to make us like him more because of how catchy it is? What was the writers' endgame here? Like I mentioned earlier, this flies in the face of the characterization the episode is trying to establish for him.
Marinette transforms into Ladybug and arrives on the scene, confronting Argos over what he did last season.
Ladybug: You're the reason why I lost the other Miraculous in the first place! And why he took them! You gave them to him without any regard for the consequences it might have with the people of Paris!
Argos: True, except I work for no one. I only helped Monarch cause it served my plans! I needed the Peacock Miraculous and today I need yours and Cat Noir's so I can make my wish!
Ladybug: Your wish?! What do you want?! What are you trying to do?! You're destroying the world and we don't even know why!
Argos: When I merge your Miraculous together, I'll make a wish to create a better world! A free world, where no one will be under anyone's control anymore, where no one will be excluded like I was! A world without people like you to decide what's right or wrong! Who gets powers and who doesn't!
Dude, you're literally playing God right now by snapping away people who did nothing wrong, while singing a song at that. You have no right to lecture Ladybug on how to use power responsibly. And once again, even though we just saw him happily snapping people out of existence like the kid from that one Twilight Zone episode, the episode is going back to portraying him as someone who's only doing this because he has nothing to lose.
Ladybug tries to use her Lucky Charm, but gets nothing in response. This is because her plan is to get Argos to give up, but even in episodes where her plan was to get Akumas to give up, she still got her Lucky Charm (Rocketear, Qilin, Penalteam, Reunion, Perfection, Intuition), so this doesn't really make any sense. Ladybug calls Argos' bluff, so he wipes out everyone from existence. After running into Kagami and snapping Adrien back into existence, Argos is surprised that they aren't thanking him for wiping out all of humanity, and in fact, see him as a complete psychopath.
We then learn Felix's true plan. Earlier that day, Argos capitalized on a opening he had been hoping he would get for weeks, and then created Red Moon. Right after Adrien's date with Marinette, Argos ambushed Adrien, and snapped him out of existence with Red Moon's power. He then decided to impersonate Adrien so he could infiltrate the dance and snap Gabriel, Tomoe, and everyone else out of existence.
I think my feelings on this plan can be perfectly summarized by Tony Stark.
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First off, why did he need to sneak into the dance? All Felix had to do was transform into Argos, and nobody would know who he really was.
Second, why did he need to impersonate Adrien? Felix claims he's doing this for him, yet all he did was steal his girlfriend and ruin his public reputation. As a matter of fact, why did he even snap Adrien away? You're already wiping out all of humanity, so I don't think temporarily doing the same to Adrien will earn you any goodwill.
Third, why did he waste so much time screwing around with Marinette and Kagami? I sort of get why he would try to get in Kagami's good graces (keyword being “try”) by trying to convince her to rebel against her mother more, but why did he dance around with Marinette while pretending to be Adrien? Felix later says he wanted to spare Marinette for Adrien's sake, but he barely knows her, and whether she finds out Felix impersonated her boyfriend or not, she's going to be pissed at either you or Adrien because of your galavanting. In fact, I don't think he ever told Adrien that he danced with Marinette while at the dance in the first place.
Finally, he really needed to wait for this for weeks? If your goal was to get rid of Gabriel and Tomoe, why didn't you just ambush them yourself instead of waiting for a public function? This isn't like has last few appearances where he needed to rely on his intellect. He has superpowers now. All he has to do is create another Sentibug or some kind of assassin Sentimonster and he can be rid of them easily. Instead, he waited weeks for a chance to steal his cousin's identity, dance with his girlfriend, talk trash about Kagami for listening to her mother when he's supposed to be helping her and Adrien, blow his cover in a crowded area by transforming, and use his killer moon to erase all of humanity from existence while singing. Remember, this is the show that usually makes jokes about Marinette's obsession with unnecessarily complicated plans.
Anyway, Argos tries to use his powers to bring Marinette back, but for some reason, they won't work. My best guess is that it's because Marinette transformed into Ladybug, but that shouldn't chance the fact that Argos snapped her with Red Moon's power. After trying to justify his genocide by saying he never wanted to hurt Adrien and Kagami, Argos remembers how his powers work and brings everyone back. After Ladybug lets him go scot-free, Argos goes to a private place realizes that he may have made a few mistakes for almost wiping out all of humanity, tearfully snapping Red Moon out of existence, calling it “his sister”. Because I guess we were supposed to emotionally connect to the giant moon that showed little to no signs of sentience this entire episode? Argos transforms back to Felix, and we learn that Amelie knew where he was the whole time, and she was apparently testing Gabriel for some reason.
After Adrien explains to Marinette that his father ordered him to not tell her about the dance, Adrien goes to talk to Gabriel about it. Gabriel, being Gabriel uses his control over Adrien to force him to never talk about Marinette again. Gabriel then gets a call from Lila, and even though she's been nothing but helpful to him since Season 3, he's apparently tired with her. Why is he suddenly rejecting the help of his most competent (by comparison) ally?
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Also, the episode ends with the revelation that Lila somehow knows Gabriel is Monarch. Why? How? I DON'T CARE, BECAUSE THIS EPISODE SUCKS!
Oh my God, this episode was just terrible! “Derision” and “Adoration” definitely got to me with the way their stories were handled, but this was the first episode in a while to really piss me off. The plot was contrived as hell, basically being a repeat of “Gabriel Agreste”, and you all know how I wasn't exactly a fan of that episode. Think about it: Marinette sneaks into a party, Felix tries to scheme against Gabriel, and Marinette and Adrien end up getting caught in one of his schemes.
The social commentary about how bad the rich were just felt more pretensions than anything else. I get that it's meant to teach children a lesson about the real world, but the episode feels so confident in what its trying to say when it's not that deep, even by kids' show standards. Rich people are bad? Yeah, I think someone like me who lives in the same country as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg knows that. Will you actually teach kids about the financial conditions that allow the wealthy to abuse their power or the cutthroat methods they'll resort to in order to turn a profit? No? You're just going to tell kids that rich people are jerks without giving any actual evidence in the same episode you're using to try and to teach them? Man, these writers just keep hitting it out of the park here!
This whole “Rich people suck” message also falls flat because Felix is the one pushing it. You know, someone who already comes from a rich family? It's not like Bruce Wayne where he uses his money to help the people of Gotham, as Batman or not. Felix just whines about how “tHeY'rE tHe MoNsTeRs.” when he's just as well-off as they are. The episode tries to do a subtle discrimination message as evidenced by his rant as Argos earlier, but it doesn't work because we have never seen anyone discriminate against Felix for who he is. Yeah, the episode once again tries to hint at him being a Sentimonster, but because the show hasn't just pulled the trigger and confirmed it, it's hard to really sympathize with him being “excluded” when we've never seen him being treated differently by others in earlier episodes, and even if he was a Sentimonster, nobody would know or be able to discriminate against him in the first place.
I don't know why the show keeps trying to excuse Felix's actions when once again, he pretty much committed fucking genocide yet the episode still wanted us to feel bad for him realizing his actions had consequences. If he actually wanted to own up to his mistakes, he'd either hand over the Peacock Miraculous to Ladybug or help Ladybug stop Monarch. For someone who claims he hates when people abuse power to make others suffer, he's no better, judging from how both times he's gotten to use a Miraculous, he's either screwed over Ladybug (Strikeback) or endangered a lot of innocent people. And if you're wondering why I didn't point out any double standards between the treatment of Felix compared to Chloe, that doesn't really matter. No matter how you feel about Chloe, whether you feel like she got screwed over or not, it doesn't really make how the writers are glorifying Felix any better or worse, as his potential “redemption arc” isn't off to a good start.
The plot was stupid, Felix was an idiot, and it felt like more effort was put into the musical number than the writing. In my opinion, this is easily the worst episode of the season so far.
Although at the very least, now that we have even more evidence that Adrien, Felix, and even Kagami are all Sentimonsters, I think I know what clip I can start using to describe my feelings on this plotline.
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THE BIGGEST IDIOT OF THE EPISODE IS... FELIX
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For someone who managed to outsmart Gabriel on multiple occasions with no superpowers, Felix's intelligence really took a nosedive the second he got the Peacock Miraculous. He came up with a completely unnecessary plan that involved impersonating his cousin's identity and mocking his friend when he's supposed to try and win their favor, he danced with his cousin's girlfriend without his consent, transformed in public, smearing his reputation even further, and proceeded to gleefully wipe out humanity through a musical number, and needed other people to point out how immoral his actions were. Of course, Marinette gets second place thanks to her plan to break into the party and later letting Argos get away.
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wordsvomit101 · 21 days
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This will be a short one, with credits to Hikifans (@shyanimeboi), and here is the link: https://twitter.com/shyanimeboi/status/1778300826995335505
I will use metaphors this, a lot of metaphors for the H-scenes if you're curious. Hopefully it Bible friendly.
Ok here we go
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I could never be an MC, like I cannot be a player, I do not have the rizz to think of another man while rubbing another dude's abs like this
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Well MC isn't wrong, I barely see his abs in his S card. The guy looks broad but I thought he wore baggy clothes the longer I look at him.
So Ppyong slipped into MC's clothes and touched her soft stomach and apparently, it might be MC's weak spot causing her huha be quaking and ya'll:
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It might seem normal but think it is the regular Ppyong saying it. MC is stronger than me cause I would already be laughing at the images in my head
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I'm so gonna draw this, but it gonna be Minhyeok wearing what he wears in my other fics-
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Are we fighting???
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"Was always careful with you"... in what??? In WHAT????
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... I guess the reason why I like this ship so much is how it could work. It's weird, but it's not as weird as MC's romances. They literally felt like that side couple or ship in drama media that I often like more than the main couple. I'm also a sucker for the friends-to-lovers trope
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WOAH OK- Sir you spend too much time with Sitri-
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Wait- Hold up- MC has rizz- OMG they have rizz
YO she taco-ed her legs around his thighs and holding his waist and saying all this? Absurd- I could never- The girl got game
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You don't have to call me out like that you know?
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Idk why but it's kind of wholesome, his smile is so cute that it is hard to focus on the tension. Like that smile is a puppy smile but his hands do be parting MC's rear like Moses parting the Red Sea like- Bro is giving her booty a rubdown treatment
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It can be somewhat flattering and comedic in fiction but it would be scary irl, but that's just me
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I-🧍- Ihsbhjdabdsjbd- What? What do you mean by that?? *Shaking him on the shoulders* Ayo what do you mean by that??????
I need to calm tf down cause either I'm misreading and misunderstanding his words or the translation sucks but it could mean A FEW THINGS HERE SIR *(¬¬)🙄 bombastic,side eye(¬¬")(◔_◔)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)¬‿¬(ಡ᎔ಡ)( ͡º ꒳ ͡º)* and one of them is how you definitely want to be sandwiched between them-
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Ok now this is the cringy smack metaphors territory, don't say I didn't warn you:
Ok so when I said his hands are kneading her double cheeks like dough I mean it, like he could rip both her pants and bum open right there-
Then he went on to ask if Minhyeok had ever seen her making her applesaucy face before and they were sweating because of their sitting marathon session with their hands and Ppyong dead ass told MC to lick his sweat to see if it was the same as Minhyeok.
And MC does what MC does, it doesn't matter if she doesn't know what Minhyeok tastes like, she sucks on Ppyong's face like he is the last ice cream cone in flaming summer. As if his face is a soft serve with zero net carbs, as if he is cannoli gelato, and her tongue is all over it, or in her words "like a dog that stuck his nose in a bowl as soon as the rein is released"
It tastes salty mixing with the sweet scent of flesh if you're wondering and she salivating all over his face. Going full Beelzebub on his face like she is slurping on the finest meal of her life. Hey at least, Ppyong enjoys it👍
Then when Ppyong asked if Minhyeok ever saw her this parched and MC recalled how Minhyeok always came into his room on time after she was done petting the cat, finding Nemo, sexy DIY, etc... you get the gist. MC speculated that Minhyeok was definitely outside waiting for her to be done like a peeping tom, you know, creeper behavior <3/jk
The thought makes MC dripping like a faucet, overflowing like a dam. Then they are back in their hands on investigating shenanigans and we get to the part where it would get the original poster banned on YouTube if they posted there. I also just gonna leave these here, MC is a player istg:
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OK that's enough smut for this week bye-
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cure-orchid · 3 months
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So I know the show recently ended, but I ended up binging through TGAMM and loved it! The Ghost Friends are all mood and the Mollie ship is adorable. Then I learned about the Chairman Ollie arc for the scrapped third season and IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SO COOL TO SEE!
I ended up writing down how I would imagine the story arc going down, and I headcanon that several of the planned season 3 eps (minus the ones that would clash with the finale) happened between JVTHM and The End (Ollie knowing about the wraith memory loss and how he says it could have hinted that it already occurred.)
My Chairman Ollie plotline: It starts with what was outlined in the already written scripts, and Ollie keeps spending more and more time in the Ghost World rather than on Earth. He’s becoming a little more forgetful as the episodes pass and has noticeable headaches. Things like his parents having a Root Beer Bar or the plot of the latest Country Pumpkin movie seem to surprise him when he should already know about them.
He’s missed a few dates with Molly and slipping on schoolwork so she takes an episode trying to talk to him at school but he keeps getting pulled away to fix something as the Chairman. The episode would really drive in how his human memories are failing even when he reconnects with his body and there’s a whole musical number on how Molly feels he’s growing distant. She finally catches up to him in the end and he looks partway between normal and being an empty shell(his hair is even losing the swoop!). She asks him out for ice cream but then we get a wham line “Sure, but… who are you?” Molly’s heart literally breaks as she discovers Ollie has lost all memory of her. He excuses himself and leaves Molly crying with Scratch and Libby coming to console her.
Next episode the remaining Ghost Friends are trying to figure out what’s wrong with him when June comes to Molly’s house trying not to panic. Ollie’s shell came home yesterday but not his wraith and he’s still not back. Molly, Libby and Darryl go to the Chen’s while Scratch goes to the Ghost World to see what’s keeping him. He finds Ollie still obsessively trying to engoodify the Ghost World and his orange glow is much more faded. Worse, when Scratch calls him by his name he asks who Ollie is. Libby manages to discover a page in her pop-up book that was stuck to another and reveals wraiths can lose their memories the longer they spend away from their body and without the will to live they cannot fully rejoin the two halves. Scratch arrives and with all they know they make a plan. Molly, Scratch and the Chen’s go to the Ghost World while Darryl and Libby keep an eye on their bodies. They get to Ollie and he doesn’t recognize anyone but Scratch, but has no emotional attachment to him. Big musical number as they all try to help Ollie remember but it doesn’t work. Everyone is devastated and it seems like Ollie might be gone forever.
Molly doesn’t give up, she pulls down his hood and cups his face, (this is where the drawing is) telling Ollie that she loves him and gives him their first kiss. Her yellow sparks course through him and his orange glow regains it’s color… and he regains his memories. When they pull away, Olly says her name and he’s pulled into a group hug as he says everyone’s names. He leaves the robe and hurries back into his body. A few hours later it’s just him, Molly and Scratch when the ghost council arrives. I haven’t come up with what happens to the robe but Ollie does relinquish his title as chairman and Scratch pulls the council away. Now alone, Ollie didn’t get to say it back in the ghost world, but he loves Molly too. They have another kiss and lean their foreheads together afterwards… and then Scratch comes back complaining that they already sucked faces once today already.
Here’s the thing, I won’t be personally writing this into a fanfic myself, mainly because I’ve already used the ‘true loves kiss restores boyfriends memories’ for another fic and I don’t wanna repeat myself but that is exactly how I imagine the Chairman Ollie arc concluding. I am still sharing the plot I came up with and anyone is free to use it as long as they let me know so I can read it.
Also bonus doodles:
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carionto · 5 months
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Another Happy Landing
Space!
It's huge!
Like, beyond words and stuff.
So anyway, people want to get to places that are far away, BUT they also don't want to wait for months and centuries to get to those places that are really REALLY REALLY REEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLY far away.
But then there's this jerk called Physics, you know, total rules lawyer, nobody likes them, but their dad is God, and just generally a total Karen when you try something they didn't think of before. Real party-pooper. Meanwhile, you're just a guy named Greg. With a bad knee and student debt. And your wife left for Chad. She found a nice beauty resort and booked a three week experience. She'll bring back souvenirs. If she remembers. Which she won't, just like the last three times. But it's okay, you've got a bucket of ice cream and the entire TNG series loaded up. Not the movies though, you're trying to erase them from your mind.
Back to Greg. Wait, no - Physics.
Today, Captain Knoslark and his advanced research ship - The Radiant Dusk at Everest (and crew) are going to give that snotty brat the middle finger.
For today, marks the beginning of a new era of space travel. One that barely involves using space at all. Time either. We're just gonna bypass those two pesky nuisances and finally freely go from one point in the Universe to another!
Combining our research into Warp technology, which essentially just uses a Fuck Huge amount of power to rip a hole in Time-Space, with the surprising developments into short range teleportation by an independent facility, as well as [insert favorite brand of gobbledygook], we will finally overcome the issue of getting spaghetified and/or transported into the center of a star!
Champagne for everyone!
All that's left is to fire up the miniature star reactors, crank the output to 400%, and bask in the applause!
"This is your Captain speaking. Hello everyone! I'm excited! Fire it up! LET'S GOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
With the message clear, the crew continued to do what they were doing. You know, following procedure and guidelines, of which there were, admittedly, less than normal given this is the first full test of this nature. it'll be fine. They said igniting a miniature star inside a reactor would blow up the whole planet, but it only took out a 200km chunk of it once, not that big a deal.
The energetic smile and tense grip of the railings Knoslark held on to for the subsequent forty minutes without letting up for a single second. It kinda got a little creepy, but the crew will never drop their poker face in front of him. They won't give him that victory.
Anyway. Again. The final step of the sequence has finally arrived and all that's left to do is for Knoslark to push the big red button on his data pad. Which he did immediately and with the most dramatically long winded motion his body could produce - swinging his whole arm from the back, over his head, and stopping just before slamming the button with his fist to gently extend his pinky finger to lightly tap on the button.
A brilliant black light in a perfect sphere engulfed the whole ship and then they were gone.
Immediately afterwards, just slightly above the surface of an unknown planet in orbit of an uncharted system in a galaxy that has a grand total of two entries across all databases. It's name - TPSC-SY398-2250074, and age relative to what the Milky Way can see - 1.8 billion years. None of that matters.
What does matter is that this planet has a new crater with a stupidly huge piece of junk lying in the middle of it. Mostly intact. Actually, who am I kidding, it's our well known Human engineering we're talking about here, the only problem is that it crashed sideways and a few fires sprung up, no worse than an overly exciting game night turned drinking party.
"Well, that was unexpected. Everyone good? Can we upright The Dusk?" Knoslark inquired right after climbing his way out of a pile of chairs, loose equipment, and three crewmen. Sergeant Ying Zhao emerged from from behind him, dusted off, relocated his shoulder, and grunted. "Seems so. Engineering - what's your status?"
"Minor leakage of non-essentials, two reactors stopped purring, could use a nap, don't let the captain say it and we'll be good." replied Chief Engineer Ira Tameki over the comms. "Negative, Ira, he's got the look already." "Groan for the two of us then." "Roger that." "Not you too..." "Sorry."
As the reports of minor damage, light injuries, and general mess came in, Captain Knoslark was pleased with the results.
"Excellent work everyone. Everyone's alive and The Dusk still works. You know as they say - another happy landing!" Knoslark said, with a big dumb grin.
youtube
"So anyway, where are we?"
Continues->
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caffeine-clouds · 1 year
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What Your Favourite Sonic Ship Says About You! (Part 1)
(Sonamy, Sonadow, Sonally) FULL DISCLAIMER: Shipping is a hot topic of debate, but this post is lighthearted fun! I'm a multi-shipper, I love most of these ships - and I can see why some people like the dynamics that I might not. This is not a bashing post, this is fun time. So, without further ado- Sonamy
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You appreciate the simpler things in life. You decided to ship the protagonist with the main girl character just like 90% of all media writers, it's just what you're comfortable with. In terms of fanfiction tropes, do you happen to enjoy childhood sweethearts, meet-cutes, soulmates - that type of thing? I just had a feeling... Either way, you're just here for the cute vibes and the pining - and who can blame you? You probably really liked the fact that when you first came across the ship that it was the girl of the pair being the one so forward with her romantic feelings. But as time has gone on - you're either one of those people that really miss that side of Amy, or you're one of those that are so dang grateful they've toned her down. Either way, it's safe to say that this is one of the most vanilla of Sonic ships - and that's not an insult, vanilla is a good ice cream flavour. But no one is really going to fight you on your opinion other than the 5% of remaining toxic Sonally shippers, and those people that are somehow still living in the Sonic Heroes era. Sonadow
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You saw that Sonic and Shadow's rivalry has been going on for far longer than 7 years, so it must be gay - and honestly, I can't fault your logic. You're a sucker for two disasters who can't express their feelings, and you have just determined that fighting is simply their love language. Even with Shadow's limited screen time in Prime, you suck every single dang crumb you're given like a vacuum. And by the way, you definitely have an Ao3 account - don't try and hide it. We already know you're a sucker for enemies/rivals to lovers... and I'd also wager you enjoy just-one-bed. Also you like that thing where characters constantly call each other by a nickname, and only end up calling them by their actual name during a confession scene or when one of the characters is seriously injured. I dunno, just had a hunch you'd like that sort of thing. You are debating between two sides of yourself - part of you wants Shadow's old characterization back where he was a more in-depth character and showed Sonic more respect, but part of you also loves how so damn obsessive Shadow is in modern games over Sonic and how much he wants to fight him - because that at least implies that Sonic is on Shadow's mind literally most of the time. But when all is said and done, this is vanilla when it comes to gay ships in the Sonic community. It's too damn easy, it's why it's the most popular Sonic ship on Tumblr. This ship was made for the LGBTQ+ community. Sonally
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Opposites attract is your go-to, and it's been tried and tested - the formula works, I see it. You strike me as the person who really cares about canon material, and you tend to steer away from a lot of fanon. I also have a strong feeling you're a Sonic fan that's on the older side, back when SatAM and Archie were at their peak and considerably more popular. It's a ship with all the things you need to be happy - the characters have a deep, long-lasting bond, it's a sweet ship, and the two have constrasting personalities - so it doesn't get stale for you. You're probably into similar tropes as the Sonamy shippers - but you enjoy more drama and spice to your fanfics, and you won't shy away from angst - Archie loved its angst, I know you enjoyed that shit. You're either content with all the Sonally content you've gotten over the years, and will occassionally look at fanarts. Or you're one of those people who will not let the Archie comics go, you are still in denial - you are begging for Sally's return into the series and you're hoping now that Ian Flynn is writing for the games, that your dreams might just become a reality.
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compacflt · 7 months
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Hello, me again back with another question about the US Navy that I can't find an answer to online so I'm turning to the only source I can think of that may help. And yet again I know you say your knowledge of the US military isn't as deep as it seems but it's better than mine considering I'm not from the US, I just wanted to know how officers get off aircraft carriers? It seems like a very basic question but I'm just wondering about if in Top Gun Maverick the carrier they were on was in port and they took it to wherever the Dagger mission takes place, or they got taken to the ship if it was already at sea? If so, how would they get there? If there was an emergency, say a family member was dying, they were in the middle of the ocean and got emergency leave approved, how would they get to land? Would the ship have to port at the nearest US Naval Base? Or would you have to land on the carrier somehow? This has been on my mind for a while so any help would be greatly appreciated, your blog really adds a realistic layer to Top Gun that is refreshing
navy logistics is some of the most interesting stuff in the world. especially World War II navy logistics (the infamous ice cream barge!!!). But even today how equipment & rations & personnel (and MAIL!!!) make it on/off boats is SO fascinating & takes ungodly amounts of coordination. take a look at this video posted by the uss gerald ford (CVN 78) a couple days ago.
those are sh-60s (Sea hawks—navy black hawk variant) dropping palletized goods from a cargo ship onto the flight deck of the carrier. Including sailors’ mail, overseas goods, food etc. just awesome stuff.
in terms of officers getting on/off ships, yeah you could do it a few ways. Number one would be when the boat makes a port call. Fun fact, It used to be a huge time-honored tradition for crews to make “cruise jackets” with the names of every place your ship/carrier had stopped. not too sure if it’s still done but it was a big thing after wwii. both mav and ice would probably have them.
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port calls would be when crewmen and officers especially could leave the boat & party it up on dry land. so you get the stereotype of navy officers cheating on their wives with foreign women in “foreign ports of call.”
number two, if it’s a high ranking officer like the carrier strike/battle group commander (typically a RDML) who needs for some reason to leave the carrier at the center of the CS/BG formation & go to another ship, yeah you just send over a chopper like an SH-60 to go pick them up and ferry them to wherever they need to go. when I wrote ice (RADM) as deputy Cdr of third fleet (four carriers) that might be one way he’d get around the fleet. (But also not 100% sure he’d even be at sea. That was kind of just for plot/emotional reasons to separate him from mav.) but so like.. if the fleet commander/deputy cdr had a family emergency (say: found out that Carole is gonna die soon) and he got cleared to leave, he could hop on a helicopter in range (SH-60 has a range of about 400 mi for instance—the similar USCG HH-60 jayhawk, which was canonically what picked up mav & brought him back to base after he blew up the darkstar, has a range of 800 mi; if not in range he’d have to move his carrier closer [wouldn’t happen, he would be SOL]) which would take him to the nearest allied airfield with a plane to fly home. Which is what happened in my fic. lots of hurdles to clear. it’s very inconvenient & obviously not encouraged.
here is a relevant section from my wips.
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for the mission in Top gun: maverick, obviously we don’t know for sure where the mission takes place, but it’s clearly somewhere in the northern INDOPAC region close to the ocean in specifically third fleet’s AOR (area of responsibility). (the list of reasons I chose southeast Russia to be the enemy location in my fic is soooo unbelievably long.) the navy would have a carrier strike group in the region for some time before. then it would make the most expeditious sense for the aircrews (mav, rooster et al) to be flown in from SoCal to somewhere closer, like a navy/air force base in Japan or South Korea, before they get transferred either by land (walk onto the carrier) or by air (chopper pick-up). given the time constraints of the mission I’m going with chopper. Carriers are fast… like really fast by boat standards… but not “travel across the Pacific Ocean in a day” fast. and not “waste time for a port call pick-up” fast.
also (random piece of nautical knowledge I know for some reason) there are some (possibly non-military) reasons why you’d do a personnel transfer by sea. take cruise ships for instance. When they pull into a port, there’s a whole guy whose job it is to take over for the captain to steer the boat into the port they presumably know very well. so this is actually how local cruise ship pilots get onto cruise ships. disney cruises included.
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sketchy as fuck. I’m not sure if there’s a similar concept for aircraft carriers when they pull into unfamiliar ports… but I wouldn’t be surprised. however that’s for the captain of the boat. I would be shocked if high-ranking managerial officers ever needed to embark & disembark like this. but i just think it’s kind of funny.
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bonfireheart · 2 years
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title: Not Enough Time, Too Many People
blurb: the one in which Scarlett doesn’t mean to ignore you, but all you want is your mother. (Teen!Fem!Reader)
warnings: swearing, yelling, fighting, sexism, high school violence/bullying
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“Rose! Get off!”
I struggled against my little sister as she wrestled herself on top me, hitting me across my face and chest in the process.
“Play with me!”
Her voice wavered, sadness intwined into her tone as she stared at me with the best puppy dog eyes she could muster in attempt to convince me to indulge in her game.
“No Rose, I’ve got work to do. Go play alone in your room!”
We tussled some more before I accidentally shoved her a little too hard and she fell to the floor with a large thud. And as quickly as she had been to run into my room and start bugging me, the waterworks turned on, filling not just my room, but the whole house. Her wails were loud and deafening.
I looked up to see my mother running into the room, with Colin in tow, concern written over their faces as they made their way towards the source of the noise.
“Oh my munchkin, what’s happened here? Shh it’s okay.” She spoke as she bundled Rose into her arms, and sat herself on my carpet at the child’s level.
With a shaky finger and jutted lip, I was pointed at like a deer caught in headlights. The two adults stared at me with disappointment etched on their aura and face.
“Wait hold on! I know how this looks but really-“
“Don’t. You should know better, Y/N. She’s just a kid.”
‘I’m a kid too…’ filled my brain but that might cause more harm than good if I say it out loud. I just awkwardly huffed and mumbled a “sorry” under my breath, watching as the three of them walked back out of the room. I heard faintly some promises of “Cuddles”, “Sisters a meanie” and “Ice Cream”.
Should I have pushed my sister that hard? No. But it’s not like I meant to. It feels like the worlds been piling on top of me lately, school, assignments, the family name and trying to start my professional career in soccer. I used to have it so under control, but now it seems like everyone wants everything from me and I’ve not got time to even remember myself. I feel useless because I can’t do what’s asked of me, mom manages to keep up, so why can’t I? Rose coming in here and messing around with my work, and hitting herself against me threw me over the edge. It’s been a long time coming, my stress was just waiting for someone to tip the ship.
Normally, I’d go to my mom for when I needed a break from life, or advice but it seems that every time I try she’s just too busy, tired or annoyed. Furthermore, it’s not like I want her to worry about me. She’s got enough to deal with. Alas, I’ve tried, and will continue to try. I just don’t know what it will take for her to finally remember I’m her child and not a colleague or friend.
•/\•
“Hey mama, can you just look at this tactic I’ve been working on real quick? I could use another opinion on it.”
“Oh uh, I’m sorry, I’ve got to run over to Chris’ house, he needs help with a script. Definitely show it to me later though!”
Front door slammed shut.
“Don’t bother…” I spoke out to the now empty house.
•/\•
“Mom, do you think we could watch a movie together? We haven’t spent time together in ages.”
“Y/N my love, I’d really love to, but mom is really tired right now and I’m in desperate need of sleep. Do you think you could help Rose with her homework? Thanks.”
“…no proble-“
Her bedroom door shuts in my face.
•/\•
“Ma, could you drop me at my friends house? I’ve got a project I need to work on for school.”
“For heavens sake Y/N, can you not see I’m absolutely swimming in work right now? I’ve been in and out calls all day and you think I’ve got all the time in the world? Go bother Colin, or better yet, walk.”
I ended up catching the bus that day, which was met by its own swarm of problems. And by problems, I mean paparazzi absolutely surrounding the bus at each stop, waving cameras into the windows, desperately searching to get pictures of me.
•/\•
“Johansson! You’re late. Five laps!”
“Yes coach! Sorry coach!”
I internally cursed myself as I began to pace around the field. Why can’t I just do anything right recently? Everything just isn’t going my way at all, and I don’t know what I did in my past life to deserve what has happened to me over the past few weeks.
By the time I had hit my fourth lap, I cringed as I saw the boys’ team slowly making their way to practice. This never ended well, ever. I saw them snickering as they watched me run.
“Hey Y/N, coach got you running because you’re so useless at soccer?”, “How’s the whole famous mom thing working out for you now?”, “God you are shit at soccer, but look at those tits bounce!”.
“Shut the fuck up Theo!” I slammed to a stop.
“Yeah, no.”
“Well, ‘those tits’ are not attracted to you, or your tiny dick. Or tiny brain, for that matter.”
“Fucking bitch! Think you’re so tough? I’ll fucking show you tough.”
I readied myself as he came charging toward me, knocking me to the ground. We fought on the floor for a bit, he threw punches at me, I threw some at him. The pair of us rolled around for what felt like forever before both our coaches had untangled us from each other.
“The principals office, now! I’ve had it up to here with you two constantly!”
•/\•
“A fight, seriously Y/N? I did not raise you to be violent.”
I side glanced my mom from my highly uncomfortable place in the passenger seat.
“I had to leave the office to come get you. I was in a meeting about new products and was interrupted by a phone call from your damn school. Do you know how embarrassing it was to try and keep a straight face in front of my own staff?”
I slightly shuffled nearer the door, and laid my head back against the cool, black leather.
“You know, a sorry wouldn’t be out of order right now!”
I watched as her grip on the steering wheel got tighter.
“Aren’t you going to ask me?”
“What would I possibly ask you right now?”
“Why I fought him…”
I grumbled lowly and I’m more surprised she wasn’t getting more annoyed at my attitude. This is the first time in ages we’ve actually had a proper conversation, granted it seems pretty one sided right now, but still. The car pulled into the houses driveway, her eyes bore into the side of my head. I refused to look at her. I knew if I did, I would just start crying.
“You are a Johansson. I know you didn’t ask to be born one, but it’s too late for that. You have a name to keep, and you are damn lucky for it too.”
I scoffed and turned my head even further away from her. Of course that was her go to, ‘you have a famous name, so don’t jeopardise my job’. I bit my lip and roughly shoved my seatbelt off of me. My bag was already sat on my lap, and so I hastily got out of the car and paced towards the front door.
I could quickly feel her coming from behind me, but I didn’t bother to hold the door open for her, instead letting it slam shut just before she had reached it. I marched into the kitchen where Colin and Rose were situated, him making lunch whilst Rose sat and watched.
“How dare you! You do not walk away from me young lady, especially not in this situation. And go to your room! I’ll talk to you when you decide to act like your age.”
Groaning, I shoved my way past her, brushing against her shoulder lightly.
“I hate your job, I hate myself and I hate being a fucking Johansson!”
I saw as her face registered what I said, and it dropped significantly. I was too emotional to care, and instead stomped my way upstairs to my room, banging the door shut and throwing headphones on, blasting music to take my mind off of life.
•/\•
Three hours had passed, I was kicking a football against the wall, watching it bounce back to me and then kicking it again.
I’d turned off my music a while ago, hearing a completely silent house, and thus I’d presumed the three of them had gone out without me. Suits me.
Creak.
My bedroom door opened softly and slowly, I watched as my mom slowly emerged from behind it. Her tearful face alarmed me, and made me feel even more guilty and deflated than before. She had a tray with two cups of steaming liquid and a bowl of cut up fruits with two forks.
“No balls in the house in the house, you remember what happened last time sunshine.”
And though I was anxious at her being here and possibly annoyed, I couldn’t help but let a small smile fall onto my features. It’s like my heart was completely betraying my brain. I don’t know if it was the memory of me accidentally putting a ball-shaped dent in the kitchen wall, or the fact that she used a nickname I once knew all too well that I haven’t heard in ages. It’s been months since she’s mentioned it, but it still falls so naturally from her lips. It brings me comfort, a feeling a warmth that nobody else could ever give me.
I let the ball come to a stop as she pushed her way further into the room, placing the tray down on my side table and sitting cross legged on my bed. She stared at where I was stood, a glint in her eyes showcasing her silent plea for me to come sit down in front of her.
I accepted the invitation and took place in front of her, letting my legs hang loosely over the side of the mattress. A silence lulled over like a wave in the sea once again, and I could tell she was struggling to get words out, perhaps not even knowing how or where to start.
“You know I am so proud of you, right?”
Good choice. My heart welled at her praise, it’s the only thing I ever want. The whole world could hate me, but as long as mom is on my side, I could take on everything. A sheet of tears blurred over my eyes instantly, and I inhaled a sharp breath. I didn’t think I would break this easily, but here we are, the first sentence of this conversation and I’m already about to cry.
“We are going to talk after, but first you are just going to listen to me and what I have to say.”
I nodded, waiting for her to continue.
“I’m so proud of you, ok? My Angel, you were my gift from the heavens above. I don’t say it a lot, and I’m sorry. I started acting when I was very young, my world turned upside down and nothing felt right anymore. Until I had you. It felt like my heart was whole for the first time in years. I know I haven’t been showing that to you lately, and that’s my fault. I haven’t given you the attention you deserve recently, and I wish I had a reason good enough to explain why. But I don’t, nothing will ever justify my actions. You are my child, and you always will be, not matter how old you get. Sometimes I get worried that as you get older, you won’t want to be around me as much anymore, and I guess my way of dealing with that was just helping speed up the process. I want you to know that I will never make you feel this way again. You are so beautiful and talented, and anyone who makes you feel otherwise is blind. I love you more than life itself, sunshine.”
A stray tear fell down her cheek, clearly demeaning her attempts of keeping her emotions at bay, and she learnt forward to carefully pull me into her arms. I hadn’t even tried to stop myself from crying, all the emotions of the past few weeks was coming to head, and I manoeuvred myself right up against her. I don’t care how old I am now, I forgot how nice it was to just sit in her arms. They are the most comforting blanket ever made. Even though I’ve grown, I’m taller than my mom now and I’ve built myself up playing sport, I knew I looked so feeble cuddling into her. This is all I’ve been craving for.
We simply sat like that for a while. The only noise were the occasional sniffles from either of us, just desperately holding on to each other as if one was going to leave.
“You wanna tell me how you ended up in a fight?”
“…”
“Ok, I don’t want to ruin this moment, but I will go back to strict mom if you don’t.”
I grumbles under my breath as the image of Theo filled my mind, taking me back to the past events of today.
“Just Theo…”
I laughed as I saw the look of distaste appear on mom’s face at the mention of his name. She knew everything about him. If she could pick me up from practice, or if she’d managed to sneak away from work to watch one of my games, she’d always take me out for a milkshake and fries. It was our thing. I’d sit and tell her about my day which would inevitably involve the teenage douchebag.
“I know you tell me to just ignore him but I just couldn’t this time. He was saying stuff about you and then about my body…I had to retaliate.”
She didn’t say anything at first, instead she just studied my face. I shot her a confused look and she reached forward to cup my chin in her hand, pushing it upwards and to the side.
“You’ve got bruises forming on your nose and eye…”
“If you think I look bad, you should of seen him.”
Mom struggled to hide her smile at me, as she jokingly slapped my arm. Without another word, she pulled my face back into her and she cradled my head whilst stroking my hair.
“If you ever feel like you are starting to not like yourself, I want you to come to me, ok? Straight away, without fail. I promise I’ll listen from here on out.”
I nodded into her from where I was situated. Her floral scent filled my nose and it just felt like home.
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thereforepizza · 1 year
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Hey y’all! There’s a slightly newer version of this one shot on my other blog @pizza-writes
Pairing: Tech x GN!Reader
Word count: 7.2k
Warnings: SFW, mildly-descriptive injury, jealous reader, “I thought it was obvious” Tech, ex-Jedi reader, mutual pining
Overview: Y/n has had feelings for Tech for a long time, but they refuse to tell him. One day, the Bad Batch enlists the help of a bounty hunter for a mission for Cid. This bounty hunter is quite the flirt with Tech, and that really messes with y/n. Eventually y/n confides in Echo, who convinces them to speak with Tech.
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"For as sketchy as this planet is, these fries are phenomenal."
Wrecker hums in agreement, his mouth full of them. Omega giggles and eats another fry. A gesture for silence from you causes Omega to focus as you grin devilishly. You wait until Wrecker shoves more of the food into his face hole. In a blink, you send a tickle attack at his side. He spits out the fries and falls out of his chair. The crash, heard by everyone, turns all eyes to your group of three. Omega roars with laughter, breaking the tense silence.
"Ha ha, very funny," says the gentle giant. "I'll getcha back,"
“You declaring war, big man?"
Wrecker stands his chair up slowly and takes a long sip from his drink. You nearly miss the twinkle in his eye before he shoots out an ice cube that hits you square in the face. Gawking, you stand straight up.
“Oh, it's on—"
Not long later, the three of you stand in front of Hunter. Though he isn't technically the sergeant anymore, no one dares disappoint him. That's why none of you can look him in the eye, food and drink staining your civvie clothes.
"Someone wanna explain this to me?"
"Hunta, I gotta tell ya," begins Wrecker. "The owner was wayyyy too sensitive."
"We didn't break anything," You add, picking a fry off of Omega's shirt and tossing it aside.
The kid laughs, "You shoulda seen Wricka's face when y/n threw a whole dish 'a ice cream on him!"
You and Wrecker simultaneously shush her. She smiles sheepishly. Hunter's look of disappointed hits harder than a well-planned punishment could, but behind him stands Echo, whose tight lips and glistening eyes fail to hide his amusement.
Hunter sighs and says, "You got kicked out of the diner, we'll have to pay for any damages caused," He hushes you with a look before you can argue, "and you're going to delay the briefing. Echo," He calls without looking back, "How dirty is the cargo bay?"
"Filthy,"
Wrecker and Omega groan, but you hold your composure, having learned a lesson long ago about complaining to a senior officer.
"I think Wrecker has some free time this weekend for that after this mission is finished," He turns to Omega, "Tech has more to teach you about the ship's schematics. And y/n," he raises his brow at you, "Cid has a few too many chores around here that might need attended to this weekend."
That's enough to make you show disgust on your face. It's not that you don't like to be around Cid... but you really hate being around her. Her force signature is laced with dodgy energy. Not to mention her gripey attitude about every little thing. Hunter seems satisfied with this and relaxes his stern expression.
"After all of this," Hunter says. "Who won?" You smirk.
"Oh, it was definitely me, Sarge,"
Wrecker tuffed, "Nuh-uh! I got the last hit in!"
"But who ended up with more food on them? Not me,"
"Alright, you three. That's enough. Get cleaned up so Cid can brief us on the next mission, and make it quick."
On your way out, you shove Wrecker and dodge his rejoiner to irritate him. It works, and he chases you to the door before Hunter calls both of your names and tells you to straighten up. Like little kids, you saunter outside and return to the banter once out of sight.
"Another food fight?" Tech says as you approach the shuttle. It looks like he is completing the pre-mission systems check.
"Y/n started it," Says Wrecker, quickly followed by Omega's agreement.
Tech nods, "I assume you finished it then, Wrecker?"
You chortle, climbing up the steps of the Marauder, "The owner of the restaurant finished it."
After cleaning up, you wait in Cid's parlor for the final arrival to show face before the briefing can begin. It turns out, Hunter's prediction is wrong. The one holding up the briefing isn't a part of your main crew. You seat yourself next to Tech at the bar and ask him about the ship's status. Simple small talk, which neither of you are phenomenal at, but you had made an agreement a while back to practice on each other to improve the skill. Today's subject is simple, so it doesn't take long to cover.
He turns to you after the previous topic is exhausted and says, "Y/n, I've had the intention of speaking with you about something rather serious,"
"Oh, no--did I break something?"
He smiles at the attempted humor, then opens his mouth to reply just as a tall figure enters the room. You both turn to watch the rugged woman stride to Hunter and offer her hand in greeting. The corners of Tech's lips turn down just a little bit, but you notice the wheels turning behind his eyes.
"What were you gonna say? You probably have time before the briefing..."
"No—it can wait," He says, getting up. "We do need to begin the meeting. This is a time sensitive operation." You stand and follow him to the rest of the group.
"This is Hunter, your team leader," Offers Cid. "I'm sure you know everything about everyone here, but you might wanna act like you don't so ya don't scare 'em away. They're like scared little bugs when someone knows a little more than they want them to. Trust me."
The newcomer chuckles and scans everyone. Her eyes linger on Tech as she smirks, "How's the weather up there, brown eyes?"
He tilts his head at her, "Seeing as I am only a few centimeters taller than the average height in the room, I would presume it is the same as at your level. On a different note, my mutations objectively are aimed at my brain. Iris pigmentation was not affected in any way when I was..."
"Explain it later, Goggles. We've got a briefing to get through. Go ahead and explain your brilliant plan." Tech eyes Cid for her accentuation of the word, but gives no further attention to her.
It's a standard product retrieval aside from the bounty hunter, whom you come to learn is named Portia, that is paid to help out for her experience dealing with this sect of pirates. She is impressive to look at, even making you feel meager, though you yourself are relatively tall. Her eyes are piercing and her lips thin. You notice her insanely intensive expressions as Tech speaks about the details of the mission and that her eyes rarely leave him. She doesn't take the time to observe the others—only Tech. For some reason that you don't understand, she strikes some kind of nerve in you.
"A recap," Tech says, looking up from the hologram blueprints of the ship, "Wrecker and y/n will quietly go to the bridge so that they can make a distraction and set the charges. From there while Echo and I disable the alarm systems. Once we are finished, Hunter and Portia will retrieve the item. We will all meet back at the Marauder in the hangar afterwards. It should take only an hour at most, and we'll be off their ship before the pirates have realized what happened.
"Unfortunately for you, Omega," Tech continues, "this mission is too high risk, and your bounty too high. You will stay on the shuttle for the entirety of the time and keep it ready for a quick takeoff."
Omega's disappointed is evident, but she keeps quiet and stoic, mimicking Hunter's stance per usual. After the briefing, you follow Tech to leave, feeling the cold look from Portia as you do, but something in you needs to guard him from her prying eyes. Is it the way she looks at him? Is the Force trying to warn you of something? Regardless, you don't waver, and instead, strike up a conversation with Tech. It appears that Tech missed the movement, but Hunter didn't. He meets your eyes with a frown but you don't respond.
The ride out to open space is awkward. No one knows what to say with the tension between the crew and Portia, who is oblivious to the dynamic change. Eventually, everyone but the pilot heads out of the cockpit to make an attempt at striking conversation over the blueprints of the ship. When Tech enters the room after the jump to hyperspace, you eye Portia, who greets the genius with a nod. He pauses and returns a similar gesture before turning his attention to his datapad.
"Well," says Portia. Her silky voice makes you tense. "Seeing that we have so much time to spend, why don't we use it to get to know each other? After all, you wouldn't be able to have a workable team if you didn't trust everyone, right? You'd fear betrayal."
The air goes cold. Each Batcher's eyes tell the same story: Crosshair. You recall the hatred in his heart even as you parted on the platform on Kamino. Before this, you might have considered it, but now you have no desire in getting to know Portia, nor do you want her to know you. But a part of you is curious about how she ticks. You want to understand where her interest in Tech comes from, and you want to know if it's her personality that dissuades you or something unseen. Your chest grows heavy at the thought of betrayal, so you shake your head and look her in the eye.
"Didn't work very well last time I tried to understand a shady individual, so I'm not interested. I'm sure the boys would love to get to know you though."
Portia's eyes widen, suddenly aware that she has struck the wrong chord. "Oh, I worded that horribly. I uh... read about him when learning about your team. I'm so very sorry that that happened. The horrors of war..."
You nod, jaw clenched. You can still sense Crosshair's pain from somewhere in the galaxy if you focus enough. The one whom you all called brother. You look at Wrecker, whose eyes are downcast. Out of everyone, Crosshair's demise hurt him the most. His sadness cries out for reconciliation in the force.
Hunter clears his throat and says, "We would appreciate it if you didn't mention him again."
"Not a problem. I'm sorry it went there,"
Everyone sits in silence, Portia now fidgeting awkwardly. After what seemed a lifetime, Hunter speaks up again. "Tech, why don't you teach Portia the mods you've made to the shuttle in case things go south? Omega, go listen in. You might get something out of it."
The genius nods and leaves with the bounty hunter and child in tow. Once the door hisses closed, Hunter straightens and looks directly at you. It doesn't take special senses to know he is confused. Echo and Wrecker exchange a glance behind him, Wrecker shrugging.
"What's with you today, y/n? You were fine till she showed up." He comes closer, talking quietly, "You sensing something we need to be worried about?"
You hum, shaking your head. Then with pause, you say, "It's something about her... I dunno. It probably isn't a threat." You gaze briefly shifts to Echo, whose eyes seem to be looking through your skull and directly into your brain. An involuntary nose-scrunch registers on your face before you can stop it.
"If anything, and I mean anything makes you think we need to abort the mission, I expect you to tell me. Until then, you'd better put what ever this is," He gestures to all of you, "away so your attitude doesn't affect this op."
"Yes, sir," you say. Hunter sighs and returns to his brothers.
To pass the time, and hopefully to sway your mood, you decide to to to the cockpit and join the three. Omega is listening intently as Tech explains certain controls to Portia, who stands by, making an occasional reply to prove she is paying attention. She acknowledges your presence and Tech turns, doing the same.
All of what the nerd is telling Portia is complete nonsense to you. You fly through experience and hours of training. Not once have you wished you knew the name of every instrument and toggle. Tech, of course, hates this, and takes every opportunity he can to get you to learn alongside Omega, but you have one advantage that the kid doesn't: you know how to distract the man.
Smiling, you sit in one of the chairs, spinning it back and forth a little as you recall one of the many instances you've gotten out of a specs lesson. This one happened by your asking Tech to tell you about the most prominent worldview of the planet you were fixing to visit. It took him a full hour to realize that you were no longer discussing the Havoc Marauder, but by then it was far too late to circle back.
You tune back into reality as Portia leans against Tech to adjust one of the controls, and your brows furrow. Was that necessary? No, you realize as she takes a little too long to leave his space, making eye contact with him the whole time. Definitely not necessary. She smiles. His cheeks flush as he mutters an apology. Your stomach turns.
Frustrated, you turn to a datapad to read up on the news, watching for certain names or anything that might be of interest. Your eyes are glued to the screen but you take in none of the information. After a few minutes, you glance back up at the two. It seems like they've finished talking about the shuttle.
They're speaking casually now about some of the planets they've both visited. Small talk. You taught him that. You tear your eyes from the sight and back to the datapad, replaying Hunter's instruction in your mind. The longer you sit there hearing them talk so freely, the hotter your temper becomes. You have to do a check of yourself, wondering where the sudden mood has come from. Crosshair doesn't hold a light to the way you're brooding.
The best course of action, you realize, is to leave. They don't need this negativity before a mission. You bid them farewell and leave. As you're passing through the main compartment of the shuttle, Hunter gives you a questioning look, but you shake your head as if to say, "Not now," and go to the back of the ship.
As you lie in your bunk, staring at the wall, one thing keeps drifting to your mind: the way Tech was looking at Portia. His eyes followed her, studying her. Like she is a masterpiece. You force your mind back to the plan. Back to the mission. The one that might earn your team enough credits to repay the debt to Cid. It is imperative that you don't let your focus wane even for a moment, but a strange fear keeps you on edge. One that says that you might lose your place on the team. One that says you might lose Tech. It doesn't make sense. One can't lose someone that they don't have, and one can't have someone that they don't first take a risk to become vulnerable with. You have never done such a thing, so you don't deserve to be jealous.
That doesn't change the fact that you are.
You get up an hour later, having somehow fallen asleep. As you mosey to the cockpit you pass by a napping Wrecker and Portia, who has her nose buried in a datapad. She smiles as you walk past, but you give no rejoin. You sit in the cockpit with Hunter, Omega, and Tech, listening to the hum of the shuttle. Every once and a while one of them will talk, but it's pretty rare. You keep your eyes on the stars until the object of the op comes into view.
With everyone suited up, Tech stealthily lands the shuttle in the hangar of the pirate ship. You split up into your groups and Tech gives one final rundown of the plan. You and Wrecker are the first to head out, and you do so with caution, bidding the rest good luck.
You and Wrecker make your way to the bridge swiftly, dodging bad guys. You lead the way because Wrecker mysteriously forgot to memorize the path on the schematics you were given days ago. Distractions come easy to the big guy, but your job is to get him to his soap box with utmost discretion. There are a few times you bump into a straggler and have to silence him with a wave of your hand, but by some miracle, you and Wrecker remain unnoticed. Once at the bridge, you pause on either side of the door, recomposing yourselves. You count down from three with one hand and hold your blaster at the ready in the other.
At zero, you cover Wrecker as he blasts through the door with an excited shout. In an instant, the ship is ablaze with fire and lights. Once Wrecker brings his part of the plan to full fruition, Echo announces his move on the comms.
You take out a few more pirates before ushering Wrecker to take over so you can set the charges. "Watch my back,"
"Don't have ta ask me twice!"
You rush into the bridge and unshoulder your pack which is stock full of charges, placing them on the panels. At this point in the plan, Hunter and Portia will have already arrived at the package's location, and Echo and Tech should be close to reaching the bridge.
You and Wrecker hold the bridge, which takes a lot of firepower and banter. The rank for who gets the most impressive kills is constantly wavering and the both of you stay tied for the majority of the time. You know you would win if Wrecker and you hadn't agreed that you couldn't use the force to throw people around in circles anymore. Soon Tech and Echo arrive, and the former sends Echo to work at the control panel to steal information to sell to Cid.
Tech turns to you in a moment of relative silence. "Has everything gone according to plan?"
"Y/n keeps cheating," Wrecker grumbles.
"I do not!" You call to the big man whose back is to you now. "Anyway... yes. Everything's gone suspiciously well. Your preparation has paid off."
"As I expected," Tech nods, looking down at his datapad. "We should return soon. Hunter and Portia will be needing our help to reach the Marauder."
Echo jogs over to your group with a nod, "Alright, Tech. That's everything,"
"Good!" Wrecker comments, "I was gettin' bored. These pirates aren't as fun as the seppies,"
"You're always bored unless you have something to blow up," you nudge the big guy on your way out the door.
"Hahaha, I knew you understood me!"
"Let's return to the Marauder," Tech orders, cutting short your conversation. "Echo, take the lead. I'll cover the rear,"
Your group heads out far less discretely than you'd arrived. Tech informs everyone that a few of the doors are rigged by the pirates to close and lock up after sensing someone pass through. That feature is an unexpected consequence of the intruder alert sounding before Tech could disable it. This could either split the group or take out a couple of you. You follow Wrecker closely, ready for anything, feeling for any of these contraptions on the doors you pass through.
Having met minimal conflict and none of these traps by the time you reach the hangar doors, Echo turns to Tech and says, "I guess we've been pretty lucky, huh?"
"Please don't jinx us, Echo," you pout. "We're so close."
"Jinx us? That would require luck—which doesn't exist, according to the likes of you." Though you can't see him, you know that he's winking at you. You stick out your tongue, knowing, of course, that he won't see it, but the intention is the important part.
A crash sounds from just ahead followed by a loud curse and the boys freeze but you instinctively move to action. The door ahead is slammed closed on Wrecker. He groans beneath the weight. With an outstretched arm, you usher the force to wedge the doors open and Wrecker lurches free on the other side. Your mind isn't as strong as it once was—with having little opportunity to practice these skills. You shout at the other two to get through as you hold the huge doors ajar, and Echo rushes through. Tech is shooting at more pirates.
Portia's forceful voice calls from the hangar, "You two need to get in here!" You huff and shoot her a glare. Your arms begin to shake from exertion, the doors weighing more heavily on you each second.
"We cannot leave anyone alive who has seen y/n's abilities, Portia. This wave is almost complete," Tech says, firing several more rounds.
"Use the force against them, then!"
"That would seem--rather difficult at the moment," You strain, keeping every last bit of mindfulness on those blasted doors.
"Tech, fall back so y/n can shut the door. We'll cover you--" From nowhere, Portia rushes forward, cutting Echo off, to grab the backs of both Tech's and your armor. You try to hold your ground but lose your footing and exhaustion hits you in a wave.
"Portia, don't break their..." In a burst of weariness, you fall to your knees, giant doors slamming shut. "Concentration," Tech finishes, voice low. The annoyance in his eyes flashes before he refocuses and continues firing on the opposition. "We need to regroup three corridors to the left, where another entrance to the hangar is, but that seems to be where most of the pirates are coming from. Follow me--this way."
Tech takes off, informing the others of his plan over the comms. You gather your strength as quickly as possible, head beginning a torrent of pain. As you reflect while jogging directly behind Tech, you make a mental note to quit ignoring opportunities to meditate. Your group meets few pirates along the route Tech is taking you, but the issue is that his directions are leading you in the exact opposite way you need to be going. Years of experience in the Bad Batch gives you trust in the genius clone, but you worry Portia will be feeling uneasy with this path. It doesn't take long for her to voice her doubts.
"I have studied this ship's schematics rigorously. If I am wrong, this path will lead us directly to the cargo bay which might easily be opened to jettison us into the vacuum of space, should the pirates locate us." Tech pauses to spare a glance at the bounty hunter and concludes, "But I'm rarely wrong."
After a few turns and a lot of stray pirates, your group reaches an empty hallway. Tech stops and turns to you, saying, "Now that your secret is out, would you please remove the cover for the air intake?"
"As you wish," you nod, grimacing at the exhaustion in your own voice. You gently set the vent cover against the wall and then launch those two up and into the ceiling, following them shortly after.
The maze of air ducts is large enough for you all to crawl through, but as evidenced by her hesitation, it takes a special kind of faith for Portia to follow Tech through the confines. "Hey Tech, I realize that this is a sound plan and all, but how much of this are we going to have to go through?"
“About the same distance as the halls we just traversed,"
"I suppose it's alright, Techie," Said Portia. "The more time spent with you, the better."
He takes a moment to respond with a simple, "Thank you."
After an eternity, you arrive at the hangar. The heavy sounds of blaster fire lights up the ducts and you quickly open the air vent to allow Tech to go through it. Before he does, he turns to you and says, "Don't let them know. There's no possible outcome that will offer a safe retreat if they discover who you are, y/n. You know what will happen,"
"I know," You watch as Tech leaps out of the air duct.
Portia's voice fills in the silence. "So you are a Jedi, huh?"
"A common misconception," You counter. "No, Portia. I'm no Jedi. This is not a time for the Jedi, nor will there likely be again."
“No need to get all philosophical on me there, space wizard. 'No' would've worked just as well."
You squint at her as she descends from the vent but decide to soften her fall, following after. As it happens, Tech had led you to the other side of the hangar away from the firefight. He waits behind a few crates so that you and Portia can catch up. Blaster at the ready, you interpret his hand signals telling you to watch his back as he makes his way to the ship. You tell Portia to go with him and he agrees, though it takes a moment for the bounty hunter to catch on.
Once ready, they take off and you stay behind to cover them with blaster fire. Hunter comms, "Nice of you all to finally join the party."
"Thanks for having us," you reply, taking out a couple of stray pirates.
All is well until you feel a presence creep up behind you. You turn just as a very ugly pirate slams something blunt across your helmet. World spinning, you struggle to get to your feet, wondering where time went. He steps on you and kicks your blaster away, then he kneels and removes your helmet, saying, "What do we 'ave here? A nice little pet got seperated from the pack, 'ey?"
You laugh, spitting a bit of blood on his face, "You chose the wrong description there, buddy."
His nose breaks easily under your fist and you throw him to the ground. Without a second thought, you shoot him in the head and move on. The world is still a little hazy as you run to the shuttle so you take a second to focus and locate the rest of the boys. Tech says the shuttle is ready for dispatch, so those two have made it. Hunter is at the front of the line against the pirates and Echo and Wrecker are flanking him. Easy.
The boys begin to retreat and you stand near the Marauder to cover them as they arrive. Echo and Hunter make it aboard and are waiting on a trigger happy Wrecker to follow. You turn to the big man just as someone shouts, "Detonator!"
Instantly you turn and catch the explosive as it flies at you. To your horror, it beeps its last. With all the strength you can muster, you hold it up with the force and contain the explosion. The energy from the blast is immaculate. What feels like years follow as you try to move the bomb away from the ship while still holding in the ball of fire. The pressure like a dying star threatens to break you as you strain.
"Throw it! Throw it, y/n, I'll cover you!"
Your resolve snaps and you throw the growing flame just as Wrecker tackles you.
. . .
Tech's distinct, comforting voice echoes through the room, waking you from darkness. Immediately you feel the throbbing pain of life return to you and you reject it. Blood rushes from your head as you sit up and reach for your blaster, the need to protect your team your first priority. Your vision is spotted but you can see a stranger hovering over you, trying to still you. You leap at them but something strong forces you back down. You don't have the energy to fight it.
"Y/n! Y/n, it's us. It's Echo, Portia, and Tech--relax. Fighting us will only waste your energy!"
Desperation overtakes you and you look around in a panic, "Where's... Where's Wreck..? There 's an explosion," you slur, grasping onto one of the arms that hold you down. "Where was an explosion! He ok? Where--'s he?"
"He is okay," says Tech, getting in your face. Your vision begins to clear and you trace his goggles with your eyes, finally focusing on his worried ones. "You need to breathe for me. Slowly. Big breaths... yes. Just like that."
"Where is he?"
"He's with Hunter getting a burn treated. By the looks of it, it is only second degree and over a very small area on his shoulder. He will be fine."
"Got lucky," Says Portia who stands nearby. "That was one hell of a blast."
"Alright, y/n," Tech says, a hand on your shoulder. The look he gives you is soft, but his voice is firm. "You've sustained injuries. You need to rest now,"
You huff with a little smile, trying not to seem too eager as you flop back down on the bunk. "Don't 'ave to tell me twice."
. . .
"How you doing, n/n?"
You sigh, setting your helmet on the bar, "As well as I probably should be. Took one hell of a nap on the way back here."
Echo chuckles, "You probably needed it."
You arrived back on Ord Mantell only an hour ago and everyone is off doing their own thing. Omega and Wrecker are getting their traditional after-mission treat of Mantell mix, Tech is working on the Marauder, and Portia and Hunter are talking payment for the mission. That leaves you, Echo, and Cid at the bar.
"Cid," you call, "can I have that one drink you made me the other night? It was the one that wasn't super strong but was kinda fruity,"
She raises a brow at you from across the bar, "Alright kid, I know what you're askin' me for, but it seems like you need a lot more kick than that."
You shake your head, "No, ma'am. My body needs a break from my shenanigans."
"You could say that again. I heard your recklessness nearly cost me more credits than you're worth,"
"One," You counter, giving her a tired look, "I had nothing to do with rigging the doors. Actually, if the intel you gave Tech was complete, we could have avoided the situation entirely." You search for a sign that your words are affecting her, but there is none. She carries on fixing up your order. "And two: there's no way that little box was worth that much."
She squints at you, "D'you not get the briefing through your thick skull? That 'little box' is called a holocron. When I say it's worth more than you, I mean it's worth five--bounty included."
"A holocron?"
"It's what the Jedi used for--"
"Yeah, I know what it is," you mutter, dumbfounded as Cid sets your drink in front of you. "I just... I'm surprised. I should've known."
"Well," Echo smirks. "You were pretty distracted the whole time."
"Googly eyes for Mr. Goggles again?" Says Cid.
"Yep," he takes a sip of his own drink. "And a bit jealous of a certain bounty hunter."
The lady looks at him with a little grin, "Is that right?"
You stare at them both in turn. Once they finally turn their eyes to you, you voice your confusion. "What?"
"Oh, so you think we're blind now too."
Echo laughs and sets a hand on your shoulder, "You've got as bad a poker face as my old Captain."
"Rex?"
"Mm. Man can't tell a lie to save his life," He smiles, then looks closely at you. For a moment you wonder if he's about to make a funny jab at your bruised face, but then he says, "When you're done with that drink, you wanna walk with me?"
"You askin' ‘em out, Cyborg?"
He shakes his head, "No, Cid. I'm not that brave."
You chuckle and lean with your elbows on the countertop. "I'm not quite your speed, bud."
Soon you set the empty glass within reaching distance of Cid and get up, moseying along with Echo quietly until you have left the parlor. In the street, you stroll for a while before either of you speak. It is getting dark out, but lights illuminate the area. Echo glances over his shoulder before finally addressing you.
"Y/n, I have to know something," He pauses and rests his hand on his hip. "Please don't let me be wrong because if I am, things might get really awkward."
You stare openly at him, praying in your mind, Please don't confess feelings for me, please don't confess feelings for me... All the while wondering where this might have come from. In your time of fighting alongside Echo, your chemistry has been strictly friendly. There is no romance. No, all of those cursed emotions have been directed at--
“Tech,"
"What?"
"You have the hots for him, right?"
"Thank the Force!" You breath, bending over dramatically with hands on your knees. "I thought you were going to confess some deeply intimate feelings you've been harboring or some shit."
"Maker, no! Ew--well, not ew. You're not gross. I don't--" Echo stumbles. "No, y/n. I don't have secret feelings for you."
"Whew--" you huff and straighten to look him in the eye. "No, yeah. Tech. He's uh... yeah. I do like him."
Echo nods with a grin on his face.
"But he's definitely pining for Portia,"
His face turns sour and he squints at you. "You're not serious,"
"Why wouldn't I be?"
He steps closer and looks you up and down. "Damn, that blast really did get to you, huh?”
"Echo, what the kriff are you on about?"
"Tech is in love with you--and even if he didn't tell me every day, I'd still know. Have you seen him?"
Your eyes are wide as you search Echo's for any sign of a prank. No, Echo wouldn't make light of this. Breathless, face burning, you reply, "What?"
"Always looking at you. Every time you leave the room, he has something to say about you. He's constantly working on things to make your life easier." Echo shrugs, "He's liked you for a long time, but he's convinced you'd never date a clone. Thinks you're not willing to break that Jedi code that's been hounded into you. Obviously he was wrong."
"Obviously,"
"You gonna tell him?"
You glance at him, then down the street where you know Tech is repairing the shuttle. In a moment of fear, your head shakes. Then hope passes through and you think, Why not? Truly, what would the harm be?
Distraction, you realize, would be the deciding flaw. His focus will be taken away from important duties which could result someone getting hurt or killed. Your attachment will strip you of self control and you could become susceptible to the Dark Side's wily temptations. That is why you refuse to take action. In the end, with the lifestyle you live, romance could prove fatal.
A ping of pain hits your chest as you see just how close you are to that temporary happiness. Something in you has known all along that it is possible, but with reality... could you ever fully love him? What about his rapid aging? And if you ever want to start a family--that would be absolutely reckless. Omega is barely an exception to your morals. Children will never belong in this way of life.
"You know," Echo says, drawing your attention. "I'm sure Tech has thought about everything you're thinking about. Unless you're devising a plan to secure more Mantell mix. Go talk to him instead of moping around."
You let out a shaky breath, "Be my wing man?"
He gives you a smile, "I thought you'd never ask."
"Your hands are shaking,"
"Thanks, Echo. Real comforting," You glare at him as he enters the code to the bay door. You hear him chuckle before the door hisses open and you are blinded by the lights illuminating the Marauder. The person of interest looks up, light reflecting off his goggles just wrong. You squint, hardly able to see his small wave.
"Go," Echo whispers impatiently. You shoot him a look.
"You should be resting, y/n," Tech says, wiping his hands on a rag. "After your recent injuries, your body needs apt time to recover."
Clearing your throat, you reply, "I'll be fine. Had worse," You cover the distance to the shuttle with Echo close by. "How is she?"
"The Marauder did not receive much damage beyond cosmetics. I did, however, discover a hydrolic leak in this left compartment that has been seriously depleting her potential for a more efficient..." He goes on with terms that make your head spin. As much as you want to listen, all you can think about is your reason for meeting him. Your eyes drift to his lips far too many times, flitting to the grime on the forearms of his sleeves where he'd changed into something more disposable for the dirty job. You've never seen that shirt before and wonder how long he'd had it. Surely he didn't just purchase it for today. It hugs him very nicely though--that you don't miss.
"Tech, y/n," Echo begins. You snap your eyes back up. "It's been nice, but I'm gonna head back to Cid's and let you two talk about... important things." He emphasizes the last two words with a look aimed at you, which makes Tech pause. In an instant, and before you can find the voice to protest, he's gone.
"I suspect he is implying that--right. Small talk," He frowns after noticing a tired look from you. "I struggle remembering to use common 'lingo,' for conversational purposes."
"It's a learned skill," you offer, suddenly nervous. He nods.
"What did Echo mean by 'important things?'"
The gravity of the situation hits you and you hum, "It's uh... something about--" You regain yourself and stare at the ground a moment before warning, "I need you to realize that I might cry. Don't freak out."
His eyes shoot wide and he reaches for you, "What do you mean? Is everything okay?" You let him take your shoulders in his strong hands. What if Echo is wrong and Tech only sees you as a good friend? Worse yet--what if he is right? Your confession can mean you have to walk away from them forever.
"Yes and no?" Your breaths are shaky and throat tight as you whisper. "How do I say it? Kriff, Tech. I don't think I can."
"Did someone hurt you? Come here," He takes your hand and leads you to a few crates and you sit. He kneels before you.
"No," you finally answer. "I'm not hurt."
"If you cannot tell me, simply your assurance that I am not the cause of any of this pain will suffice... And if I am, I hope there is some way I can mend it." He hums, gently rubbing your knuckles with his thumb. You catch a glimpse of his concern just before your vision becomes completely clouded.
And in this moment, there isn't a single doubt in your mind as to why you feel what you do. His heart aches--you can sense it through the force.
With the last ounce of bravery in your chest, you say, "You are--but that's okay." Your head drops, tears rolling down your face. Finally, you mutter, "I love you, Tech."
His hand stills.
"I'm so sorry if you don't feel the same," You sputter, not daring to look at him. "And I'm sorry if you're interested in someone else--"
"Oh, y/n," he breathes. "That couldn't be further from the truth,"
Large arms wrap around your trembling form and you lean into him, feeling his warmth envelope you. Face buried in his shoulder, you breathe him in. He smells of dirt and a mechanic's shop tainted with a hint of new clothing. The weight from your shoulders falls to your chest but you ignore it for the time being. For now, you can be happy, finally in his arms, even if it's the last time. It takes a moment, but eventually, Tech speaks up, voice rumbling through his chest.
"I love you, y/n," He whispers as if speaking too loudly might scare you away. "And it's all I can do every day to not say something--about how your hair frames your face just right, or... or the way your voice can sooth even my most troubling thoughts. It grounds me some days. You are my everything. My stars, my happiness... my pain. I often wonder what life would be like if I were transparent, but I fear that we wouldn't be happy. Your spirit was meant to be free, but would it be if we are always in hiding? Always running?"
"I don't care," you say, pulling away to look him in the eye. The defiance is evident in your mind now. "I don't care about any of that. I've thought about the reality, but kriff it. We make our own destiny." You stand, and he follows.
His brows furrow for a moment of thought as his hand comes up to wipe the tears from your cheeks. Then his eyes light up, quickly followed by the corners of his mouth. His smile is contagious even if you didn't understand its origin. You look at him quizzically and open your mouth to talk just as he draws you into a tight embrace. You chuckle at his forwardness, returning the motion.
"You know what this means?" He asks breathlessly.
"What's that?"
He lets go just enough that you can see the soft smile on his face, "We've leveled up from friends to best friends."
"Best friends, huh?" You scrunch your face up and study his. "Do best friends kiss each other?"
He pauses, face turning a shade darker as he hums, "I don't know," He leans in close, breath fanning your face. "Shall we find out?"
With that, he kisses you with such a tender passion that you wonder if you’re dreaming. All your years avoiding love... it was worth it for this moment. You melt into the kiss, arms finding their way to drape around his neck. None of the stars can shine as bright as you feel.
“Yeah," you mutter catching your breath, lips brushing his. "I think they must."
You capture his lips again, and there you both stand, worries forgotten. It takes a while before you return to life again. When Tech reaches a decent stopping point on the shuttle's repairs, he cleans up a little bit and you stroll back to the parlor hand-in-hand. Hunter notices your approach from his place at the front door and a small, rare smile lights up his face.
"Finally spill your guts, Tech?"
The genius flushes and replies, "You knew?"
"I thought it was obvious," the man smirks. Then he claps his shoulder and says. "You'd better get some dinner before Wrecker eats it all."
So you join them inside and conclude the evening eating with everyone. Before long, you and Omega are stuffing food down Wrecker's chestplate when he isn't looking. You feel light as you laugh. Afterwards, the whole group sits in the parlor, talking about life. Portia finally gets to know everyone, just as she'd tried to on the shuttle earlier. As you veg, Cid strolls in and takes a seat nearby. She eyes you suspiciously, then mutters something to Echo who chuckles and nods. You don't need to hear them to know what they're talking about.
By now you can tell that even Wrecker has caught on, but it's probably better that way. As the evening grows later and the voices softer, you find yourself leaning against Tech, hardly fighting off the sleep. He finally convinces you to go to bed, and walks you to your room, stopping at the door. Just before you go in, he kisses your forehead and bids you goodnight.
// ~ // ~ //
Thank you sm for reading! Please comment and reblog to show your support!
Have a lovely day ☺️
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sseen11 · 2 years
Text
 Treat! 🌸LuffyXreader🌸
Warning: Nothing too intense, kissing and use of tongue.
Summary: you were being stubborn, not sharing your food not like he does, so he might as well work with what he has.
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Half of the crew was sitting on the deck of the ship, drained from the energy they wasted on fighting a reckless and wild sea monster after we left fishman island.
actually it's sea monsters since the creature apparently called it's friends too which was harder to deal with because they also had slipper skin which the captain himself couldn't do much against but luffy being luffy did actually and that almost got him killed when he drowned in the ocean had not zoro pulled him out with our help even though he was sleeping the time we were fighting, not a care in the world as layed by the deck dozing off.
so that's exactly why he is being treated by chopper right now, his fainted form probably still lying on the doctor's bed as we all await for for our cook to make us some energy drinks.
You heard a click of a door open and your eyes glance toward the door, coming in vision with sanji as he came outside with a tray, specifically and gracefully giving it to the ladies as he boredly gave them to the other crew members too expect zoro because he was bickering about him being useless which you very Much agreed with this time.
You pay your attention back to the cones of ice cream he made, you actually expected him to make a energy smoothies or something but this is even better.
Blessingly looking at it you you take a click, closing your eyes right after you tasted the heavenly flavour.
If you could cook like sanji oh the most delicious food you can serve yourself any time.
Half the crew was gushing over sanji's ice cream, praising him now and then though he only reacted to the ones nami, you or robin made, getting on his knees as he tried to kiss nami's hand, earning a loud bang on his head.
"You are beautiful when you are angry, nami-San!" He swooned, hearts in his eyes as his form lay on the Floor from the impact of the hit.
In the middle of your eating you remembered something you forgot in your room and you immediately got up, your feet making loud noises as you ran on it, careful to not drop your treat.
You open the door of your room, turning the doorknob to get inside.
You looked through the drawers in your room, shuffling through various uneeded stuff to find what you were looking for.
You frowned your brows when you were met with nothing, taking a lick of your cold treat as your eyes wandered around the room. Your mind trying to function where you put it.
You let out a sigh, troubling yourself as you moved to the fridge that was placed in your room, making the ice cream stand awkwardly in a place so you can look for what you were looking for without the risk of it falling.
Determined you turn around your form, hands on hips as you try to remember anything to get a clue on where to search.
That went on for a while, you searhing your whole damn room till you almost might as well recked it.You let out a groan of annoyance, almost about to thrash open your whole closet when a familiar figure walked in your room, closing the door with a click sound against metal to metal.
His hand reached over his head, grasping the straw hat as he placed it on the table beside the door, entering freely becuase of course he can.
You were surprised at his approach, your body turning toward his lazy one which was hunched, looking drained for some reason.
"Luffy! You got up well soon!" You joyfully say, very dearly glad your beloved is awake again though there was definitely something bothering him.
"Oh yea, chopper said it's nothing to worry about." Luffy replied, walking closer to you and you tilt your head confusingly at his dry tone.
"Is something wrong?" You ask him, hands crossing over your chest as he finally met your gaze with his dark brown ones.
He frowned. "I am Hungry." He complained, one hand resting on his stomach.
Oh. You blinked, startled at something as such. You actually thought it was something serious.
You let out a chuckle, touch his front to make him stand straighter instead of hunching down.
"Go ask sanji for some, he just made a treat." You told him, mentioning toward the door.
"already ate that and sanji said wait for dinner." He was standing straighter now, back to the look though he sounded dull.
Well you couldn't do much about his problem.
"You might just have to contain it then until dinner." You said, clapping him on the shoulders as you turned around to continue on what you were looking for.
You heard a small groan from behind you and you expected him to complain again but he stayed quite while observing the mess you just made, walking around the room curiously.
Luffy has never actually bothered to check what's in your room so he watched you drop some stuff in accident, bending down to pick it up again now and then.
Luffy didn't had much to Do so he just watched you do whatver you are doing, not bothering to ask what since he guessed he probably wouldn't care much.
Though that got boring. He was still sitting on the bed, doing nothing but move the pupil of his eyes as you searched your whole closet.
The captain got up, walking to the corner of the room to where your fridge was, hoping to find something to cure his boredom.
You curiously take a glance behind you, watching luffy go to your fridge and you frown your brows at what is trying to find when his eyes suddenly lifted up, the stars and twinkle back swirling the depths of his brown eyes as a wide grin slowly growed on his mouth.
You notice his hand reach higher to grasp somet-
Oh hell no.
You Sprint toward his direction, stopping near him as your hand close around his wrist, the other hand claiming the ice cream in your hand away from his reach.
"What-" luffy was confused to what you were stopping his wrist for when he saw you reach for the ice cream, a frown on his face as you pulled it away from him.
"This is not yours." You finally tell him, glaring at him for even trying to steal your food.
"But-" luffy tried, his other hand lifting up towards it too. You interrupt him, narrowing your eyes at his hands.
"You already ate yours, no need to go after mine." You were very defensive over your food just like him.
"How about Just a lick!" He despairingly said, longingly looking at the treat in your other hand as he almost drooled on the spot.
"No." You flatly say.
"Please!, you are not eating it-" He urged you on, stepping closer to you as you closed the fridge door completely so he doesn't start on going after your other pieces of treasure.
Your eyes glance toward the ice cream, bringing it higher up to your mouth.
"I am eating it now." You release your tongue, licking a taste as you looked at him from the corner of your eyes.
Luffy grumbled, a frown touching him again as he looked at your tongue tasting the flavour he wanted to experience again.
His mouth was slightly hung open, your hand still around his wrist as you ate the ice cream, literlly Almost finishing it in front of him.
Then you placed the almost last bit of chunk between your lips, trying to smoothly slide the whole piece in them as lufy's eyes watched slight of the cream Melt down from your lips to your jaw, going lower without you realizing it, too invested at the heavenly taste of your treat.
he gulped, watching as more drops melted down your jaw and he wrenched his hand out of your grasp and you gasp as his hands brace themselves on your soulders while his face leaned toward your neck.
You felt his warm tongue slip out as he swiftly dragged it up from your neck to the edge of your lips, tasting the few drops of ice cream on your skin and you notice his eyes close as he Did so, your body frozen.
you couldn't do anyting expect release a startled noise from your throat as he licked your skin until you were out of your daze, a pool of warmth spread across your skin at his actions, your ears and cheeks heating up.
Not knowing exactly what to do you push away his face, watching his eyes open while his tongue hissed out to lick the renaming taste on his lips before a wicked grin formed on his lips at the taste of your skin with the treat.
"What are you doing-" you stopped, no words forming as he gazed at you yearningly, a look turning your nerves hot within, his hands still braced at your suddenly very warm skin.
Luffy didn't say anything, instead his hands left their place, holding your warm cheeks now as he leaned eagerly toward your lips with his until they harshly securely met.
You weren't sure how you were standing at this point as his teeth bit into your lower lip, making his tongue slip inside your mouth, touching every corner as if searching for something.
Your eyes were still open in shock and you watched his brow lower down, a frustrated look on his face even though he kept his muscle to explore your insides while a bunch of wings of fluttered around your stomach to reach your rapidly racing heart.
Then impatiently his tongue slided over the side of your own tongue, a soft moan slipping out of him at what he tasted there since his tongue only wondered near there, the tip of his muscle swirling around it as his hands pulled your face closer to deepen the kiss.
And finally he pulled back enough for you two catch your breath though his lips still brushed your, the both of you breath apart. As if the whole thing wasn't enough for your beating heart, he rested his tongue on your lower lip, licking along the skin there until he was satisfied.
"Luffy-" the cone was holded weekly in your hands as you try to let out words which were mostly breathless whispers.
As if he didn't just set you on fire he tilts his head sideways.
"Yes?"
You shook your head, hundered percent very sure he can hear your heartbeat.
Not knowing what to do under his curious gaze you pass him the rest of your ice cream, fingers slightly numb.
"On second though Here, you can have this." You offer, your eyes already far away as he grins mischiefly, knowing exactly what he is doing but he released your warm cheeks, holding the last bit of cone you gave.
"Thanks!" He heartdly said out loud, waving you a later as he ran outside your room, you just nodding your head from where you were standing.
As if your memory of what You were finding wasn't weak enough, he made you even forgot that you were looking for something, your form sitting on the couch in your room as your mind kept repeating over what happened second ago.
You were definitely going to have hard time sleeping tonight.
💗
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cerealmonster15 · 4 months
Note
For the date ideas post, may I slip a note under your door that says Idikei? K bye! 🏃‍♀️
HELLO. this ended up being way longer than i planned initially JFKDLSJKLF sorry it took forever but also THANK YOU for the suggestion i LOVE IDIKEI i'm so glad i had reason to make myself sit and write for them!
This was written as a prompt from this post! I asked for someone to suggest a ship, and I would randomly draw numbers for the rest of the categories. I pulled:
Date type: Wedding date
Date idea: Getting ice cream[x] and strolling through a park
How the date is going: Super romantic
I may have taken some liberties with the prompts LOL but the overall vibe is there.
[Ao3 Link]
Title: Blue Raspberry Mango
Word Count: 5,224
Rating: G
Summary: Idia absolutely cannot show up to Azul's wedding while he's still single. Can you IMAGINE the obnoxious gloating he'd have to endure? Good thing his best buddy Cater Diamond is willing to help him avoid such a perilous fate!
“Oh my god, Trey,” Cater sighed between bites of risotto, “No one does it like you! I miss your cooking SO much!”
“Cater, don’t talk with your mouth full,” Riddle chided from across the table, but smiled nonetheless. “I suppose that means you’ll just have to come visit us more often, doesn’t it?”
“You know our door is always open for you,” Trey agreed.
“Provided you call first,” Riddle added. “It’s good manners.”
Cater laughed. He was glad his job in photography allowed him to travel around and ultimately landed him in the Queendom of Roses for most of his work. He’d never expected that he’d see so much of his old friends after graduation  and yet… Here he was, years later, sitting at the dinner table with two of his best friends in the entire world.
“Ooh, speaking of getting together for some mingle time,” Cater said, a grin spreading wide across his face as he spoke. “Did you guys get the invite to Jamil and Azul’s wedding!?”
“We did.” Trey stood for a moment to step into the living room, returning shortly with a familiar card that he placed on the table. “Riddle already sent our RSVP, of course. You’re going too, I assume?”
“So punctual!” Cater winked at Riddle, then nodded. “And OBVI. Cay-Cay’s not about to miss a once in a lifetime event like this! Idia says Azul’s inviting practically everyone from our NRC days. Something about wanting to ‘flaunt his happy marriage to everyone that doubted him,’ or something like that. You know how Azul loves his theatrics.”
“Ugh, yes,” Riddle scrunched up his nose, “I’m sure Azul will love reminding me - again - how he and Jamil managed to schedule a wedding before Trey and I have.”
Trey chuckled, pressing a kiss to the top of Riddle’s head on his way back into the kitchen to retrieve dessert. “You know it’s not a competition.”
“It is to Azul, and he certainly believes he’s winning,” Riddle sighed, but then turned his focus back to Cater. “And how is Idia doing? I imagine you’re one of the few that he willingly keeps in contact with from NRC these days, yes?”
Cater nodded, a sense of pride filling in his chest at the acknowledgement that Cater was, in fact, one of the rare people Idia spent time talking with. On PURPOSE, even! “I sure am! He’s chill doin’ his thing over at S.T.Y.X. with Ortho. He still games with Lils on the ‘reg, and I think he and Azul do these, like, speedy flash matches on Chess.com? I don’t know if they even talk to each other. I think they just like the thrill of trying to digitally kill each other or whatever.”
Still, gaming and asserting dominance over virtual board games was practically the social pinnacle when it came to Idia Shroud.
Riddle raised a curious eyebrow. “Chess… Dot com…?”
Cater already had his phone out. “I’ll send you the link, and I'll get Idia and Azul’s usernames for you. I bet they’ll be thrilled to have a fresh opponent.” 
He pulled his phone out, despite Riddle’s unspoken no texting at the dinner table rule, and sent a quick text to Idia.
Cater: heyyy whats ur chess.com username or w/e + also azuls
To which Idia replied almost instantly, as he tended to do with Cater whenever he wasn’t physically too busy to multitask.
Idia: no way ur actually signing up for chess.com unprompted. whats it for
Idia: also ew why azul lol
Cater huffed a small laugh through his nose at the incoming messages while he sent the website link to Riddle, and then swapped back to Idia’s messages.
Cater: lol u know me so well bestie ~ it’s for riddle!
Cater: cmooooon u know u and azul would have fun doin one of those speedster rounds with him lol
Idia: they’re called bullet rounds 😑 w/e ya i’ll txt u the info
Idia: or yknow. he could wait to get it at the wedding. 👀👀👀
Cater gasped out loud, followed by a squeak of delight, causing both Trey and Riddle to look at him curiously.
“Whatever’s happening on your phone must be very interesting,” Trey said, “because you haven’t even glanced at the plate in front of you.”
There was, in fact, a new plate in front of Cater. A plate with a beautifully sliced, dark chocolate tart, topped with fresh strawberries and raspberries. A compromise, of course, as Trey trained himself in the art of locating more semisweet desserts back at NRC, so Cater wouldn’t feel completely shut out when it was time to bring dessert to the table. 
A subtle reminder to Cater that he was very loved by his dear friend.
“Aw, sorry Trey!” Cater set his phone down and took a bite of the tart. Perfectly balanced flavors, as always. “I just got excited! Sounds like Idia’s able to make it to Azul’s wedding after all. We weren’t sure ‘cause of his schedule, but I guess he managed to clear things up in time!”
“That’s good,” Riddle said, a light smirk forming across his face, “because I think we all know Azul would never let Idia hear the end of it if he failed to show.”
Cater’s phone lit up again, another text from Idia displayed for all to see.
Idia: ummmm ahem nows the part where u ask me if i cleared my schedule so i could go ( which ya i did) so that i can smoothly lead in2 asking u for a favor
Idia: cmon cay stay on the ball 🙄 
Riddle sighed. “Why don’t you just call him? There’s no use pretending you aren’t distracted by his texts going off every few seconds. It’s faster.”
Cater COULD argue that he and Idia weren’t exactly ‘callers’ so much as ‘texters’ or ‘video chatting in the privacy of their own homes while multitasking on six other activities’, but… He figured it was best not to start a disagreement with Riddle of all people.
After about three rings, Idia answered. “I-it’s not such a big favor that you needed to call me…” he sheepishly mumbled into the receiver.
Cater smiled. Idia was always so shy in the first few seconds of a call, planned or not. “Yeah, yeah, but I don’t wanna bug Riddle and Trey with my constant text notifs-”
“You know how to put your phone on silent.”
“Idiaaa…” Cater pouted, and though Idia couldn’t see his face, he could definitely hear it in Cater’s tone. “Just tell me what’s up?”
Idia exhaled a long, drawn out, dramatic sigh, before responding. “‘Kay, fine, whatever. Basically, I need you to LARP as my player 2 at Azul’s wedding. Y’know, secret stealth mission style.”
A long pause.
“...Huh?” Cater eloquently replied. “Um, what?”
“Uuughhh, this is why I didn't wanna have to explain out looouuud,” Idia groaned. “Listen. You know Azul. I know Azul. The dude invented the concept of being an insufferable, smug little bitch.”
That last comment pulled a full laugh out of Cater. “OMG, Idia, if that’s the kind of stuff you say about your besties, I’d hate to hear you tell me about your enemies!”
As if Cater hadn’t heard endless gamer rants time and time again about randos online that Idia felt personally wronged and slighted by. He knew exactly how cutting and fired up Idia could get, so by comparison, Idia was being gentle with Azul.
“LOL, Azul’s no bestie - but N-E-Way, circling back to the prime objective… Um…” Idia’s voice grew quieter as he cleared his throat. “What I’m saying is… There’s a 100% chance Azul’s gonna rub his stupid new marriage in my face, like, ‘Ohh, Idia, still single, are you? Wow, what’s that like? Can’t relate, Jamil and I are sooo happy in our stupid normie marriage, here come look at my ring did you see my ring-’ like, DUH I saw the stupid ring! He only emailed me a billion pictures of it!”
EMAIL?! Cater bit back a laugh. That was so on-brand for Azul.
“So, uh, anyway…” Idia resumed his mumbly, more reminiscent of NRC days tone of voice. “I wanna… Lie. W-With you.”
WHA-
“N-N-Not like, physically!” Idia quickly followed up before Cater could interject. “I mean, like, deceit! Lies and slander but without the slander! I want you to pretend to be my wedding date!”
“Your… Your wedding date?” Cater repeated, earning a couple of curious glances from Trey and Riddle. “Wait, what? You want me to pretend to be your date just so Azul doesn’t think you’re single?”
Trey raised an eyebrow. Riddle furrowed his brows together with a frown.
Cater pretended not to see.
“Exactly!” Idia responded with a sigh of relief that Cater was still following. “If he thinks I have a new b-boyfriend, he’ll have slightly less reason to be annoying towards me specifically! And it has to be believable anyway, right? You’re one of the few people I still talk to post-grad, so…”
It also didn’t hurt that Cater would be high up in Idia’s top 10 list of prettiest guys to ever graduate from NRC. And NO, it didn’t matter who the other nine on that list were, thank you very much.
“Well, for one, I’m totes flattered,” Cater said. “But, d’you think we’d be able to pull something like that off?”
“Cater!” Riddle interrupted. “You cannot seriously be considering-!”
“Shh,” Trey softly interrupted Riddle’s interruption. “Let’s see where they go with it, first.”
Riddle relented with a pout, leaning into Trey’s shoulder and watching Cater closely.
Idia huffed into the receiver. “What, because the Riddle Police is gonna expose us before we even try?”
“Aw, nooo, Riddle can keep a secret! Right, Riddle?” Cater covered the phone with his hand and offered Riddle and Trey his best, sweetest, pleading smile - complete with as much eyelash fluttering he could muster on the spot. A classic Cater Diamond move.
Riddle and Trey both sighed at the all-too familiar sight. 
“Cater,” Trey said, “You can’t weasel your way out of every situation with a cute face.”
“Ooh, is that a challenge?” Cater winked, then dissolved into giggles as Riddle crossed his arms and continued to pout at him.
“I don’t exactly feel right about you two lying for such frivolous reasons, but… I can’t say I don’t fully… Understand.” After all, having graduated alongside Azul, Riddle just might understand better than anyone why they might feel tempted to go about such a way to avoid Azul’s smug tendencies. “Just don’t expect Trey or me to carry any outlandish stories for either of you!”
“Yay!” Cater cheered, uncovering the receiver and speaking back into the phone. “No biggie, Idia. We’re all good over here!”
“Wait, so you’re in, then!?” Idia asked. He hadn’t really expected this to go so well, but he figured if anyone would be willing to hear him out, it would be Cater. He was always down for a fun shenanigan, after all, but still… “I kinda thought I’d have to do a little more convincing, TBH. I even wrote a speech-”
“Lemme hear it anyway!”
“No!” Idia shouted. “You already agreed, so no take-backs!”
Cater giggled. “Hehe, alright, alright! Let’s do a vid call when I get home later, and we can start planning our coordinated outfits!”
The wedding itself was beautiful, obviously. Cater and Idia wondered just how much bickering likely went on behind the scenes for Jamil and Azul to find a compromise between Azul’s need for an extravagant, flashy-yet-tasteful, show-off wedding, and Jamil perhaps wanting something more lowkey and humble.
Or, perhaps they truly both wanted to show off to their former classmates, as the wedding ultimately ended up very ‘cammable, as Cater made sure to tell Idia every five minutes. 
“God, did you see these centerpiece flowers?” Cater giggled between sips of champagne as he clutched Idia’s arm and tugged him over to a nearby table. He nearly spilled the glass on his shirt trying to pull his phone out of his pocket, and was saved only by Idia reaching over to pluck the champagne flute from his hand and finish drinking it himself. 
“Heh, failed your dex saving throw,” Idia grinned. “And yeah, I saw those same flowers when you pointed them out ten minutes ago.”
“Uh, ‘scuse me for getting excited about all the photo ops, babe.”
Idia rolled his eyes at the obvious teasing, but a few giggles spilled from his mouth all the same. Surely it was due to the champagne that he felt so lighthearted and giddy, despite being trapped at such a bustling social event.
“Well, well…” The familiar voice of Azul Ashengrotto called out from behind the pair as he and Jamil - arm in arm, much like Idia and Cater - approached. “It would seem that your message wasn’t full of baseless fabrications just to try and distract me from our active chess match after all, hmm?”
Cater couldn’t hold back from openly, loudly laughing. “Wait- Idia, did you for realsies RSVP to their wedding over Chess.com?!”
“Yes, he did,” Jamil sighed. 
“Oh, don’t act like it didn’t make you laugh too, my dear.” Azul patted Jamil on the arm, to which Jamil responded with a snort and roll of his eyes. 
“That being said,'' Azul continued, “I really couldn’t believe it until I saw it for myself in person. You two really did end up together after all, then?'' His piercing gaze shifted from Idia to Cater, and then back to Idia with a growing, devilish grin. “Your cute little high school crush never faded after all these years?”
Idia gasped. Oh, he should've known this was the route Azul would take the second he didn’t have a chance to gloat about Idia being single. Of course Azul wouldn’t forget about the forbidden knowledge he collected back in the olden days of NRC. An elephant - or in this case, an octopus - never forgets! And this particular octopus still had that stupid, smug grin on his face that Idia was so hoping to avoid.
But, there truly was no avoiding smugness when Azul Ashengrotto was involved; both Idia and Cater were fools if they thought they could prove otherwise.
And speaking of Cater, his gasp was even louder than Idia’s. “OMG. A crush!? You had a crush on me when we were in school?”
Idia instinctively reached for the hood that he was not wearing. Curse these fancy wedding clothes and their stupid, hoodless collars… “U-um! So what if I did?!”
“You never told me!” Cater huffed with the PUFFIEST cheeks he could muster. Trey and Riddle could say what they want, but his cute pouts were his most powerful weapon! … After his unique magic, probably.
“The poor thing thought you were dating Trey for the longest time,” Azul interjected, clearly pleased with the direction this conversation had gone. Idia’s flustered look of betrayal was more than satisfying.
“Wh-!? I literally TOLD YOU when Trey started dating Riddle!” 
“Okay, well, I thought you three had some sort of secret polycule hidden route thing going on in your IRL VN of a life!” Idia huffed, crossing his arms in what was probably a more adorably huffy look than he intended. 
“Oh? What’s the matter?” Azul asked, his smarmy grin not faltering in the slightest. “You’re together now, are you not? No need to be so embarrassed… Right?”
Oh. So that’s how it was. Azul was a doubter and a HATER, huh?
“Ugh,” Idia grumbled. “Anyone would get embarrassed when you go aggro-mode like that with forbidden lore of the past!” He reached for Cater’s hand as he spoke, and gripped it firmly in defiance of Azul’s stupid smug face. 
“Um, yeah, totes!” Cater returned his friendly, dazzling smile to his face. “Besides, I think it’s cute. Look how far we’ve come!”
“Maybe your wedding will be next, then.” Jamil said, a tiny smirk tugging on his lips as Idia once again failed to hide his jittery reaction. 
“Oh, please,” Cater laughed. “I think Riddle might actually kill me if we cut ahead of him and Trey.”
“Oh, yes, of course,” Azul chuckled. “And how long have those two been engaged, again?”
“UUGGHHH,” Cater groaned with every ounce of drama he could muster. “Don’t rush them! You KNOW Riddle isn’t gonna cut a single corner when it comes to having the perfect wedding!”
“Well, I’d say we managed to do so quite efficiently,” Azul said, not even pretending to be humble. “I couldn’t afford to waste time, after all. I wanted to marry the love of my life as soon as possi-”
“God, you’re so cringe, Azul,” Idia interrupted, crinkling his nose at Azul’s shameless, sappy proclamations of love for his partner while he and Cater were still standing RIGHT THERE! 
Cater decided that perhaps this was his and Idia’s cue to escape the conversation. “Um! Y’know what, Idia?” He said, starting to tug Idia in the opposite direction. “I totally feel inspired by their lovey-dovey vibes. Let’s go dance!”
“Wh-!” Idia’s protests dissolved in his throat as Cater swiftly pulled him through the crowd and back to the dance floor. Idia, of course, complained, but when Cater asked him if he’d rather dance together or go back and continue talking to Azul, the protests quickly stopped.
And so they danced - Cater led Idia through a range of more traditional dances that Riddle taught him over the years, and plenty of modern dance trends that Cater practiced through watching hours of viral Magicam videos. Idia, though nervous at first, soon forgot his fear of prying eyes as he and Cater got lost in the moment together. Cater wasn’t the only one with dances to teach, after all! Idia made sure to show Cater just how much he learned through all his hours of watching idol group music videos.
Perhaps their dancing strayed a bit from the theme of the actual music playing, but that didn’t matter to them. Idia and Cater had fun off to the side in their little pocket of the dance floor together, occasionally joined by a former classmate now and then, or pausing to make conversation. It really WAS  an NRC reunion, intentional or not.
And it was exciting! Exciting… And really, really draining.
“...Idi-BB,” Cater sighed, draping an arm around Idia’s shoulders and leaning against him with a few exhausted pants. “I’m, like, so spent from all our hardcore grooving. Y’’wanna go outside for some fresh air and a sensory break?”
“Yes,” Idia wheezed, nodding with equally exhausted enthusiasm. 
The two promptly fled the scene, getting themselves out of the crowded venue and across the street to a quiet little park that was decorated with seasonal lights and flowers.
“Azul and Jamil really know how to pick a location,” Cater murmured as he and Idia walked under an arch of twinkling lights and found their way to a bench. “Even the nearby lots are top-tier photogenic. It looks like there’s even some kind of night market going on at this park.”
“Just what we need,” Idia complained, “MORE activities.”
“Hey, c’mon, at least over here we don’t have the obligation to talk to anyone. No familiar faces at a random market! And besides…” Cater pointed towards one of the trucks with pretty lights and colorful signage. “That one looks like it’s selling ice cream!”
“You don’t even like ice cream!”
“But you do…” Cater mumbled, and then grinned. “Plus, ice cream from vendors always looks super pretty. So, like, you get a sweet treat, and I get sweet pics! It’s a win-win, really.” 
“Do you ever take a day off your photographer brain?”
“Absolutely not. The ‘cam life was simply my calling, as my professional website can show you. I still can’t believe Azul didn’t even ask to hire me for wedding photos, TBH.”
“You wouldn’t’ve wanted to,” Idia said, slowly standing up and inching over to the ice cream truck-slash-booth. “Azul would have crazy annoying standards and requests, and would no doubt try and squeeze out a ‘friends and family’ discount from you.”
“Ugh, totes,” Cater shook his head, walking alongside Idia towards the truck “I’d rather take it easy and enjoy the event as a guest, anyway. Much more fun!”
He paused for a moment, peering at the menu. “Looks like they've got some flavors based on the Great Seven - Ooh, OMG, you should get that one!” 
Idia looked at the menu item Cater pointed at and read it aloud. “...King of the Underworld Cone: Mango and Habanero Sorbet, topped with blue raspberry syrup and chili-lime flakes, and served in a blue raspberry cone.”
“I love a good mango-chili combo! And the colors are perfectly coordinated to match our hair. You’ve gotta get it so we can take a cute selfie under the lights!”
Idia sighed, but pulled out his wallet as Cater ordered it for him. It DID sound pretty good, so he wasn’t going to fight it. He allowed Cater to hold the cone and pull him back over to the bench, pull him in close, and finally snap the photo before he finally got to try the ice cream.
“Jeeze, you seriously haven’t let up on the selfie-taking all evening,” Idia said between licks. “It really is like we’re back at school.” He held the cone out to Cater, tilting his head and silently offering him a taste.
“Aw, c’mon!” Cater paused, eyeing the ice cream suspiciously for a movement before lowering his head and giving it a tiny, curious lick. “...Ooo, spicy! That’s not bad.” He smiled, then turned back to his phone to text Idia the photo. “And anyway, I’ve def let up on the selfies these days, especially since I take pics for a living now.” Cater supplemented his statement with yet another pout. “Besides, today was a special occasion! Like, hello? It’s a WEDDING, and there were a ton of people I haven’t seen in years!”
Cater reached over to boop Idia on the tip of his nose. “Like you, mister! You live so far away and with such a complex job, I haven’t seen you in, like, LITERALLY forever…” He sighed, dropping his head onto Idia’s shoulder.
It was a warm and familiar sensation to the both of them. Near the end of their time at NRC, the two spent many a late night in Idia’s room binge watching anime or pop idol music videos together, which almost always ended with Cater laying half asleep propped against Idia’s side. The first three dozen times it happened, it would send Idia into a silent, internal freak out spiral, but through the exposure therapy of Cater’s consistent sleepiness, he eventually not only grew used to the feeling, but started to yearn for it on nights he watched shows alone.
“...Tell Riddle and Trey to hurry up on their wedding planning, then,” Idia mumbled into his ice cream. “If I know about it early enough, it’d be easier to fit into my busy boss-lord schedule.”
Cater’s ears perked up. “Oh? Would you really go to their wedding?! I know you weren’t as close to Riddle and Trey as you are with Azul … But then again, I guess you have been playing those online chess matches with Riddle ever since we signed him up.”
“Never doubt a warrior’s bond over a chess board,” Idia snickered. “A-And, uh, yeah. I’d go, but… Only ‘cause I know we’d get to see each other again, or whatever… O-Ortho would probably want to go, anyway, so… Might as well.”
“Aww!” Cater picked his head up to beam at Idia, eyes shining with delight. “You better promise! ‘Cause I WILL be there, and I’ll be on official photographer duty, so you should start planning your perfect outfit now. There’s no hiding from this professional shutterbug!”
“Wha-?” Idia scrunched his eyebrows together in confusion. “Weren’t you just saying you were glad you didn’t have to put up with Azul’s picky perfectionism and just wanted to enjoy being a guest? You don’t seriously think Riddle Rosehearts would be any less difficult a client than Azul, do you?”
Cater laughed. “Oh, don’t worry, Idia. you’re forgetting one very crucial detail!”
“...What’s that?”
“Riddle is my bestie, and I love him.”
Idia burst out laughing, quickly covering his mouth to avoid spewing blue and orange droplets everywhere. “The power of friendship is gonna save you from Teapot Tyrant meltdowns?”
“Hey!” Cater protested. “I’ll have you know that Riddle is MUCH more mellow these days-”
“Heh. You should see the chat logs from our last chess match.”
“Oh my god,” Cater rolled his eyes. “ANYWAY, I’ll have you know I’m the perfect person for the role. Trey and I stood by Riddle’s side for two years running Heartslabyul and herding underclassmen around. Riddle trusted my aesthetic eye when it came to setting up tea parties, and I earned that role, thank you very much! I’m a trained professional in both photography AND Riddle de-escalation tactics.”
Idia laughed again as Cater dropped his head back down onto his shoulder. Really, he couldn’t argue with that logic. After Trey, Cater really was the only other person from their school days that knew how to handle the ins and outs of a Riddle Rosehearts tantrum.
Still, a lot had changed over the years…
“...Did you really have a crush on me when we were in school?”
Idia nearly choked on the half-crunched cone that he just shoved into his mouth. “WH- GHK- CATER!” 
Cater quickly sat up again and started patting Idia on the back while he coughed up blue chunks. “OMG- Don’t you dare die on me before giving me an answer!”
A few more coughs and wheezes, a rough swallow of ice cream remains, and then Idia finally spoke again. “...Ugh... Hey, what’s with the sneak attack!? Don’t you think I took enough psychic damage when Azul brought that up earlier?!”
“No!” Cater huffed. “Because you never even told me! Why’d I have to find out from AZUL?”
“B-B-Because…” Idia stammered, “Why would- I told you I thought you were dating Trey and kind of also Riddle back then! And there was also that one time you came over to hang out after you’d been to a party in Pomefiore, and you told me you kissed Rook Hunt!”
Cater gasped. “OMG, I can’t believe you remember that. I almost don’t remember that!”
“Of course I remember!” Idia took his turn to pout, now that the ice cream cone was finally finished and no longer a hazard to his theatrics. “I had a huge crush on you! OBVIOUSLY I’m gonna sit and agonize endlessly over every little detail you told me about your love life - and also my own headcanons to your love life, apparently. You were my super hot best friend and I was the school shut-in!”
Cater gasped. “You thought I was hot?”
“I still think  you’re hot!” Idia shouted, and then slammed his hands over his mouth as his eyes blew wide open and the tips of his hair flushed into a bright shade of pink, flaming wisps dancing wildly around his face.
Cater stared silently back at Idia with equally wide eyes as silence filled the air between them.
Idia promptly spent the next ten seconds planning out how he could escape and have Ortho help him fake his own death, only to be interrupted by Cater speaking again.
“...It’s kinda like the universe is playing a trick on us, don’tcha think?” 
When Idia’s only response was more panicked stares, Cater continued. “Um, like… Neither of us was really ever the type to seriously ask someone out, y’know? So we were both just… Sitting on our feelings.”
Idia finally managed to find his voice again as he squeaked out a reply. “Wh-?! Both? ‘O-our’ feelings?! You never-!”
“Ugh, Idia, please,” Cater grabbed Idia by the shoulders and turned him so they were facing each other. “I fell asleep on your shoulder WAY more times than I’ve ever gotten sleepy hanging out with Trey, and he and I were roomies for two years straight!”
“...How many times did you fall asleep on Tr-”
“NOT important! Just- Listen…” Cater closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. He slid his hands down from Idia’s shoulders to his hands, then opened his eyes and looked at Idia very seriously. “...I… Also still think you’re hot.”
“Wh- Don’t make fun of me!” Idia shrieked, his face now matching the color of the tips of his hair as he attempted - unsuccessfully - to wiggle his way out of Cater’s grasp.
“Sorry, sorry, I couldn’t help it!” Cater giggled, tugging Idia closer. “But I'm not making fun, I swear! You really are still a Grade-A hottie after all these years!”
Idia paused his squirming to glance sideways at Cater. “..Enough to kiss me instead of Rook at a party?”
Cater gasped in shock, and it was Idia’s turn to laugh. 
“IDIA! You’re so much bolder these days, jeeze….” A sly grin spread across Cater’s face, and he leaned closer. “But, y’know… We ARE at a wedding party, and Rook is one of the guests.
Idia went quiet again, freezing in place as he watched Cater’s face move closer.
“Totes within kissable range if we went back, I guess… But I kinda don’t wanna get on Vil and Leona’s bad side, y’know?”
He leaned in closer, and hoped Idia couldn’t hear the anxious hammering of his heart against his chest.
“And… You’re a lot closer… And a lot cuter, TBH…”
Cater paused, averting his eyes to the side. Waiting. 
The offer was on the table, and it was up to Idia what happened next. The following five seconds stretched across what felt like eons to them both as Idia focused all his energy on trying not to literally pass out on the bench and take Cater down with him, or get overwhelmed by the possibility that if he DID kiss Cater, Cater might immediately throw up all over him and run away screaming. Really, it wasn’t that he didn’t WANT to kiss Cater, but what if he died? What if they both died!?
Well, they didn’t die. The agonizing seconds passed, but Idia decided that if he DID die, he’d rather go out knowing what Cater Diamond’s lips felt like against his, even if just one time. 
The kiss itself was quick, but had the weight of ten thousand hammers crashing into their walls of repressed feelings built up over several years.
Idia pulled back first, watching Cater cautiously for any signs of nausea.
But, Cater smiled at him, a nervous giggle bubbling from his lips. “That was-”
“BIG BROTHER? CATER DIAMOND? WHERE ARE YOU!?” Ortho Shroud’s shouted out in the distance from the direction of the wedding venue.
Oh, shit. How long had they been hiding out at that park, again?
“We… We should probably… Go back…” Idia mumbled.
“Y-yeah…” Cater slowly backed off of Idia, face flushed, but had not let go of his hands. “We… We should talk tonight, yeah?”
Idia wordlessly nodded, clutching Cater’s hands like his life depended on it.They headed back towards the wedding venue, hand-in-hand, both ignoring the internal dread from within at the growing realization that they both, somehow, had Azul Ashengrotto to thank for this.
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maiko1 · 1 year
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Step siblings spending time with you day! (ft: kazuha, kamisato siblings, ragnvindr brothers. <bonus character: xiao, scaramouche>)
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Kazuha
Free man indeed. I feel like everyday is spending time together with siblings when it comes to him.
U can't tell me he hands you a bug u didn't like to scare you, then he'll share a fact about them to make it less scary, though you still fear them u will try to overcome ur fear by coming closer to the bug while kazuha hiding behind a tree smiling.
Let you go on a adventure on a ship with beidou if u behave (you behave all the time and you often see beidou.)
Carry you randomly just to hear you whine about you being embarrassed to be piggy back by their older brother.
He won't ever use "step siblings" on you when he's introducing you to his friend.
"this is my siblings___" :D
"you two don't even look alike--"
"they're my siblings." :)
"whoa okay okay, they're ur siblings I guess."
Kamisato ayaka and ayato
"don't steal their boba ayato! We buyed you 2.."
You can't tell me (again) that he doesn't bully you to see you cry for fun. (typical brother)
Ayato probably dressed you up in a weird combo clothes and call it a unique style.
"thoma, great time. Take a good look at the clothes combo I did to __"
"o-oh waka, it looks amazing."
"im gonna be the greatest model in the future!!"
"oh yes you will"
Thoma made a doll that looks like you, ayato and ayaka and now it's your toys.
"im sorry ___ I'm not really the best at making dolls.." (hes lying)
"mine now." yes and now it belongs to you. Not even ur siblings can touch them.
Though they're so busy dealing with the clan, they would do anything to spend time with their little siblings.
Kaeya & diluc
Kaeya? Bully? Absolutely but yk he also pampered you. He likes to bite that mochi cheek of yours.
"what's for dinner?" diluc said confused since it's kaeya who wana cook dinner.
"today is a special menu. I introduce you... ____ chicken roast!"
(you dressed up like a chicken with carrot and a potato on ur hands)
"first of all, where did u get that costum- nvm don't ANSWER it. Second.. I thought u were gonna be serious about the dinner stuff. I even send adelinde home early today."
"oh..."
"oh oh! Maybe diluc can cook!!" you suggest.
"only this time."
Diluc? No he won't let you enter the tavern at all. After all you are still underage. "aww... Why does floaty cute paimon get to get inside while I can't ?!"
"because I trust her friend, traveler that she won't be drinking. Even paimon herself said she don't drink and only drink apple juice or sweet drink."
"so you don't trust me..?" oh god the guilt tripping...
"i- uh.... Ugh fine. You better behave or ill send jean to look after you." you giggled and nodded. Holding ur big brother hand to get inside made him smile.
If diluc is not available then kaeya is. If both of them are not available you would be sitting in a living room with adelinde comforting you. While they're doing their own work, they can't help but feel uneasy. Like something is missing. And that's where it hit them. It's siblings spend time together day.
Diluc was fast to get home since he can rely on his worker to cover his job, meanwhile kaeya would speed up and finish his work asap and went back home. There he will see diluc terribly comforting you while he took a deep breath and ready to spend a day with both of you.
Bonus!
Xiao
Siblings spend time together day? Absurd. Why would an adeptus let go of his work just to spend time together with you?
"brother.. where are we going?" you ask curious. "somewhere." - -
No no that won't work. They might be traumatised if they saw me kill some lame hilichurls. So what did he do? Put blindfold on you.
No!!! Ugh I am not having any idea. Why does this day even exist I can just send them to hu tao but no, hu tao will do a massive chaos if ____ is with her.
Ah. "lets play a game. Whoever got to Mr zhongli first can get free ice cream." i can't believe I said this but who am I kidding it's a child I'm taking care of. "okay! I'm gonna beat you!!"
"okay, ready? 3..2-" there you go with ur little leg running towards Mr zhongli. "hey I didn't even count to 3 yet-" but. I couldn't say that out loud, seeing them running to Mr zhongli kinda make me relaxed a bit. All these years I've been slaying demons and not once I've ever thought about smiling on a mortal doing silly thing just for an ice cream.
Just as he was about to walk towards you, you happen to trip on some random rock (zhongli go get ur rock). Not thinking at all he dashed towards you grabbing you throwing you up in the sky before catching you.
Never thought an adeptus could do something like that..
"never. Never again. Be careful ____! You could've gotten hurt if me or Mr zhongli isn't here. It's not like I'd leave you alone but still."
"hehe again brother again!" what. "what no! That's dangerous."
After alot of begging he throw u up in the sky with a permission of Mr zhongli. You could see the beautiful view from up there. Your eye shine and you were never been happier.
None of you want this to end. <3
Scaramouche
Siblings spending time together day? Who is he kidding. He is NOT doing that.
"brother you look funny with a mask and a hat! Here let me help you." you said as you take his hat and put it on ur head. "that's just an excuse to take my hat huh."
"can we go to that dango shop? I've seen people eat it and I wana try it!" you take his hand and ran towards the shop. "and who's gonna pay for it huh brat?" both of you know its just his ego personality. He doesn't mean that word. "you of course!" you smiled. That once a smile that made his own mother disowned him. Ridiculous.
"hey are you okay? Did he do anything bad to you?" a random guy ask you. "I'm okay??" you are so damn confused but your brother scaramouche seem to get that alot. Separate. That's what he's trying to do.. Dirty little shit.
"hey ____ take this mora and buy me and you a balloon." he said as you nodded. Scaramouche and him watch you skip a step to the guy who sell balloon.
"care to explain on why would you say that to them?" demanding him to speak but that guy seem not to get a hint that he's in fact a harbingers. Eleven fatui harbingers to be put? How dare he talk back to scaramouche. He even dare to look down on him.
"you treat them like a toy. Nobody treat a kid like that! You better walk away before I call a soldier to make you go away from that innocent child."
.....
"you are ruining them."
Snap. That's it. He waste no time and take his hand to a place with least people. "listen here. I didnt know you were so bold to talk to a in fact a harbingers with this manner. And I didn't even know you had the nerve to look down on me as if I was a pathetic shit to you. They're my siblings. If you or ur man land a hand on them you won't be seeing sun nor star."
Scaramouche face expression soon turn satisfied when he piss himself like a 8 year old kid would after getting spanked by their mother.
He came back and see you sitting on a bench with a sad face. "what's the long face huh.."
"you were gone without me! I don't wana be apart from you not even a second!!" you huffed. He was mute for a second before he smirk. "silly brat, I would never go anywhere without you. Just now someone want to talk to me which I end up yelling at them for ruining the moment I am having with my little siblings."
"can you imagine? 'sir, we need you' and I don't. I dont need them and they better be begging more if they rlly want me to come but no they gave up so soon." (I'm targeting you scaraboobs nations /hj)
You smile turn into laugher. "you're the best brother I could ever ask for!" you hugged him as he took ur hat off before hugging you back. "i know."
Hello! It seem that you have reach the end of this headcanon. I do hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoy writing this. I am opening a request where u could request me some platonic hc! I accept every character, so you wouldn't have to worry about ur fav character not being there.
Well since you also read that, how about a follow? No pressure of course. Hehe <3 have an amazing day/night on wherever you are, a reminder that you are incredibly awesome and I hope you will be happy until the end.
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