#can you tell Hank is my favourite to draw
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Hai *falls down flight of stairs*
(This was really lazy, I think you can tell)
#madness combat hank#madness combat#madcom#hank j. wimbleton#madcom hank#madness combat fanart#can you tell Hank is my favourite to draw#he’s just a little guy (he’s deranged)
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Does the x-office hate beast?
Cynically: yes.
Less cynically: it's complicated?
Like, here's the thing, right - Beast fans are . . . kinda rare. Sure, there's tons of people who saw the 90s cartoon and really liked him, there are tons of people who saw X-Men 3 and liked him there, there's a whole (almost separate) community of people who are still writing X-Men: First Class fanfic about that version of Hank.
But I'm talking about, will go out and write fanfiction about the character; will draw fanart of him; will actively go out of their way to talk about him on social media. I feel like that's been on the decline for the last . . . fuck, 30 years, probably? Ever since he went from this
to this.
Like, the difference is jarring and immediate, right?
And that lack of a dedicated fanbase made him an easy character to contort to fit stories that certain writers wanted to tell. The X-office doesn't have a ton of people gagging to write Beast, he doesn't headline his own series, he doesn't have a rabid Twitter populace who will fight and scream and shout like Emma Frost or Cyclops.
What do most people think when they see Beast? Like, normal people who don't read comics, who just consume maybe a Marvel movie twice a year, or saw a cartoon when they were a kid.
"Oh, he's cool. SO ANYWAY, MORE OF THAT WOLVERINE."
Beast is not a character with a strong base.
So he's just.
Disposable.
Who cares, throw Beast to Bendis or Ben Percy, I don't care, is what it feels like.
As for WHY he doesn't have that dedicated fanbase, well, I have theories.
A lot of Hank stories are just, sad. They're just so fucking sad and tragic and dark and about finding light where you can.
I often find them very cathartic, like, Hank leads such a troubled and harsh life, and he savours the pleasures where he can get them, and I really love that aspect of his character, that unyielding spirit, but that does not make for a popular character.
His feline era, from 2000 to 2012, is honestly my favourite for him because he is so nuanced and his themes of learning to love your body and control yourself, and his thoughtful, measured, deeply moralistic stories resonate with me and provide me with comfort, the idea that people can be tempted to do bad in the service of good but turn away is beautiful to me.
But that's not really an easily sell? People don't usually want to be sad when they read comic books. They want to be thrilled or horrified or made to laugh. Sad is . . . harder to sell.
Honestly, I also think there's a degree of assuming that he's a snobby asshole because he talks fancy. Like, I legit think that plays into it, and you sometimes see writers fall for the same preconception, they assume that Hank is a snob, and he really isn't, he's a lower-middle class kid from Illinois who grew up on a farm and whose dad was involved in a horrific radiation accident because of poor safety conditions, this is not a person who would be snobby.
It's so funny to me because the guy is from a fictional place in Illinois? It's never specified, which means, if anything, he probably sounds like he's from Chicago! Now, there's probably a degree to which he does speak more formally and has changed his voice, because Hank is extremely protective and conscious of the image he projects, always has been, but snobby? Pfft, nooooo. So yeah, absolutely, you see people assuming that he's a snob because he's smart. Snobby only plays well if you're Emma Frost.
I also have to say, I think there's a degree to which there's an anti-intellectual bias going on. If you look at pretty much all of the major genius characters, they are pretty much ALL unpopular because they are nerds and they are not usually portrayed as being great fighters or tacticians, which is an easy way for a character to become popular - that's why Cyclops is so popular, because he's right all the time and he's a badass, and that's an easy pop. Science solutions are inherently less visceral, harder to write and thus rarer, and do not stick in people's minds.
Moreover, what do you think of when you think of genius superhero? The reputation is of privilege and the image is of boring white guys, they assume it's just - boring. It's only interesting if it's cloaked in sarcastic wit, like House or Sherlock (during The Dark Times), or used in a martial sense, which is why Black Panther is the exception to the 'all the nerds are boring.' Bruce Banner also escapes this trap because he's had his own solo comics for 60 years and he's had a million people write absolutely amazing stories for him.
I also think that his almost complete absence from the Claremont era stories hurts his fandom reputation, because if you're an X-Men fan, you read Claremont, and Hank is not in those stories almost at all. He pops up during the Mesmero arc, during Dark Phoenix, here and there, but he spends 1974 to 1991 in the Avengers, the Defenders, X-Factor, he is so very rarely being written by who most people would consider the definitive X-Men scribe. There's also an element of the stupid X-Men vs. Avengers tribalism working against him thanks to that.
I think Claremont writes a pretty decent Hank when he does turn up, but there's a reason he picked Jean and Scott, and it's interesting that he chose to feature Hank more often than Warren and Bobby, and even then, Warren more than Bobby. I don't know if Hank was really heavily in demand so he just couldn't get him, or if he didn't know what stories to tell with him, but I actually kinda think it was the former, just because Hank always makes an appearance in his post-'91 work, especially his alternate timelines, and he was clearly interested in writing for him in X-Treme X-Men given he set up the Betsy romantic angle early, but then Morrison snatched him up.
Hank also got pushed into the role of the naysayer during the Fraction and Bendis era, which is an instant rock around the neck for your popularity. A lot of the arguments that Hank makes about why he doesn't like what Scott does and how he runs the X-Men and Utopia are not necessarily wrong?
Like, X-Force is just plain morally bad. It is.
You can make the argument that it's necessary, but these two things can exist at the exact same time, which appears to be a concept that people do not grasp! And especially, like . . . the X-Men are not an army. They are a voluntary paramilitary group that is, ostensibly, dedicated to mutant rescue, outreach, and general superheroics.
You are not obliged to stay.
Hank was suffering from legitimate PTSD flashbacks, he was wracked with guilt over the Skrull bioweapon (which, notably, sticks to Hank but does NOT stick to Scott), he was very obviously depressed, recovering from torture - and when he reached out to Bobby to try and explain how he was feeling, draw some comfort, Bobby basically just told him to deal with it!
But this made him SO FUCKING UNPOPULAR. You can go to comics sites that have comments under this issue, under the issue where Hank is having PTSD flashbacks, and they'll be like, THIS IS WHERE IT ALL BEGAN, and I'm like???????? The fuck are you saying to me?????? WHY ARE YOU BOOING HIM HE'S RIGHT.
There's also a degree to which I think that, whether the writers have realised it or not, they do not usually put in the work to establish that the X-Men are doing their due diligence to make sure that Hank is okay. They rely a LOT on off-screen things happening to fill in the blanks. A short list of things that we have never seen!
The reaction from the O5 when Hank first turned furry.
The reaction from the Mansion X-Men when Hank turned into a cat.
Anyone going to visit Hank in the infirmary when he was recovering from his fur and claws falling out due to torture.
Anyone expressing concern over the fact that during the whole time travel debacle, Hank was dying and did not tell anyone.
You don't see these moments, and these are fucking important! These make you sympathetic to the character! These are the moments where people look at Beast in pain, suffering because of what's happened to him, going through his emotional arcs, showing strength as he perseveres, THAT is what builds a fanbase and keeps a fanbase engaged with a character - but they just stop happening for Hank. You don't see them. He loses his characterisation moments, they just happen off-panel.
But what do you see? You see a lot of people walk into Hank's lab, they receive words of wisdom and comfort, or a scientific solution for their problems, and then they walk out.
Like, Hank from Avengers vs. X-Men onwards reads as just - psychologically unstable. He does things on impulse, he reacts without talking to people, he does not have strong relationships with anyone, he appears to have broken up with his long time girlfriend (for no specified reason, we still don't know why 9 YEARS LATER), he often appears adrift and lost and unhappy.
And we are TOLD during his intervention that people have talked to him about what's going on, and they were ignored, but, like, I'm sorry, FUCK OFF, SHOW YOUR GODDAMN WORK.
If you want your emotional moments to have any bite, then you need to ESTABLISH things!!! When Ororo says, oh, you're just ignoring everyone, I'm like, FUCKIN' SHOW ME WHEN YOU TALKED TO HIM. Because do you know what I DID see?
I saw Hank being the most comforting and lovely and soft individual in Storm's solo series, being there for her after Logan's death, BASICALLY BECOMING HER SECRETARY BECAUSE SHE WANTS TO FUCK OFF AND BE A THIEF, and then BOOM, suddenly, she's like, you're a fucking loose cannon.
This was, like, a few months apart. Editors? Hello? Does Ororo fucking hate Hank or not? Because Bendis seems to be of the opinion that she does, but Greg Pak does not appear to have gotten the memo! HELLO? EDITORS? There's a big fucking GAP here where a story arc is meant to go???
There's so much of Hank's 2012-onward story that we just AREN'T shown. Like, he and Scott just - patch up their differences over the revolutionary thing OFF-PANEL during Hickman's Avengers. You don't even see the conversation. He agrees to try and work on the M-Pox cure, MOVES TO ATTILAN TO HELP THEM, all because Storm (WHOM, LAST WE SAW, WAS THREATENING TO PUT HIM IN PRISON FOR CRIMES AGAINST NATURE) convinced him to . . . and WE DO NOT SEE THIS CONVERSATION.
Every time someone pulls out the 'oh, this has been an expertly played baton pass of writers depicting Hank's moral downfall,' I just want to fucking pick up shit and fling it in their face, because they could not be more wrong.
Do you know who's read more Beast comics than these fuckers?
Me. It's me.
Believe me, if there was an actual DEPICTION of ANY of these MASSIVE emotional moments in Hank's life, I would LOVE to talk about them and agree. But they do not exist. It's a character being used as a narrative prop to justify writing decisions that otherwise wouldn't make sense (Inhumans vs. X-Men, All-New X-Men), and no-one cares because he was never that popular to begin with.
And it just - frustrates me, because, like, did you know that Hank formed a political advocacy group for mutant rights?
Did you know he was present during sessions of Congress, giving his support to pro-mutant legislation and becoming long time friends with multiple politicians?
But because it's in New Defenders, because it's in Secret Avengers, and no-one READ those issues, they don't care! It doesn't matter to them! Hank has, by and large, within the narrative, done SO MUCH for mutant rights, he has ACTIVELY worked for them within the system SO HARD, but because it isn't done with an optic blast or a big punchy fist in an X-Men book, it doesn't count.
And like, I just . . . the last few appearances before he starts being focused on in X-Force, before the heel turn, he is NOT acting like an asshole!
Laura literally calls him the nerd she can trust and he takes pictures of her and Gabby being cute during a party!
He's helping Banshee recover from his Apocalypse corruption and teaching at Harvard, trying to actively retire from superhero work because he's exhausted!
He's telling Captain Marvel, hey, you're wrong about your precognition bullshit in Civil War II, and he's helping Spider-Man with science problems, and he SAVES THE INHUMAN CIVILISATION SINGLEHANDEDLY!
So many writers are trying to steer him back onto course. Not just Avengers books, either, X-Men books! There's, like, TWO, THREE writers who want to push evil, asshole Beast, and everyone else is just like, uhhh, nooo? But because the X-office do not care, they keep getting their chance. They don't care about protecting Beast's reputation, or his stories, or his legacy. He's just a character to be thrown wherever he'll fit.
So you get the narrative that he was always evil. He was decaying all along.
No, it's bullshit. It's literally the Scarlet Witch story again, where it just HAPPENS in fits and starts to kick off events and stories, regardless of whether or not it makes sense for past characterisation or continuity.
So, yeah. It's a combination of the X-office not really caring about protecting the image of the character, and certain writers just doing shoddy, shitty jobs of writing emotional checks that their asses weren't willing to cash.
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Silly Game Time: Who are some of your favorite mechanical characters, be they robots, androids, cyborgs, or something else? And what do like about them?
OOOOH...
Well, first, gotta mention my man Data.
A lot of people has said that he is autism-coded in the way that he is presented, and in how other people react to him. And I kind of agree tbh. He's also just a sweetheart, and his bonds with the crew (especially Laforge), his cat Spot, and sometimes with people who are briefly onboard are so lovely.
I also feel I should mention Connor,
Because his arc has probably inspired so many OCs at this point. Bryan Dechart did such an excellent job playing him, and his growing bond with Hank is very well-written. I think it's honestly touching how it's often emotional bonds that show humanity.
Another I feel would be a crime not to mention,
Because between the iconic lines and the dynamic he has with John Connor, and the way it shapes his various decisions, how could I not? And yes I'm specifically talking Terminator 2 here. Though I will say he makes an EXCELLENT force of nature and presence of absolute horror in the first movie.
Then, of course, the sapphic community's favourite,
Because "Want You Gone" hurts me on a personal level, and I don't just mean because it's how GLaDOS says farewell. I relate to that song so much (and did a cover of it :D) and, in general, relate with much of her story. Of course, she's a sassy motherfucker who you can't help but love. But for how much Portal 2 is considered the inferior game, it really does make her story into one of self-discovery and complicated morality. I guess it just gets overshadowed by Oh hi. How are you holding up.
Next,
I MEAN. COME ON. This guy used to be, and honestly still is, one of my biggest fictional crushes. His charisma is magnetic, of course. His STORY being wrapped up by the connections he used to have being rekindled, resulting in him choosing to be a star for those who need one most, rather than a star for the most people possible???? Ugh, poetic cinema.
Speaking of stars,
[vibrating] I have so many headcanons when it comes to this one
But more to the point, Star Dream is an absolute force of nature. Its boss fight is incredible, an absolute marvel of multiple types of play styles coming together. The themes? Slap.
Star Dream's draw, for me, is that its sentience is so…debatable. I'm on the side of “had sentience the whole time”, and more to the point, “based on how much Haltmann copied homework, it's possible he brought something back from the dead” but I dunno, I don't like arguing my case when it comes to the second. The point is, for many of things that it does, it's uncertain whether that's just part of its program, or if it's a sentient decision. Was Susie sent away because of something accidental, or was it Star Dream's intention? The fact that Haltmann became so focused on its creation after her disappearance, in my eyes, kind of implies the latter…
… It's also interesting that even without Haltmann giving it a voice via him-being-possessed, it only chooses to speak to Meta Knight.
Can you tell I have The Kirby Autism, is it noticeable, is it obvious—
Also I'm gonna put two of my OCs here, because self-indulgence is alive and well.
This is Palharine and Mayday! They're my favourites out of a group of robot/android characters I created about three years ago, and have finally taken the time to draw recently:
From left to right, you got Eodel Remidoros, Palharine, Mayday, and Ziah Hyperion. All very different interpretations of robotic.
Palharine and Mayday stand out to me due to their emotional states. They're kind of opposites, in that regard. Mayday is a very sensitive gal, who has been through a lot of pain, and is trying to become stronger so she can confidently say she has no doubt in who she is. Palharine, as far as they're aware, has no emotions. Which is interesting, since the other three all seem to, to some degree. Among the four, Palharine is also unique in that they're programmed to dream. Both of these things shape them a lot.
But these two have a very sweet bond, where they're both passionate about biology, especially botany. Mayday, in a training exercise, also nearly wipes the floor with Palharine. It's more touching than it sounds.
Also, Palharine's genderfluid and Maydays a trans woman, so those things just inherently spark joy for me, haha!
This has been, real robotic character hours.
#athy rambles#Silly Game Time#turns out I fucking love robotic characters#art#artist#artwork#original characters#original art#original character#star trek#star trek enterprise#data star trek#dbh#detroit become human#dbh connor#connor rk800#terminator#the terminator#terminator 2#terminator 2 judgment day#portal#portal 2#glados#undertale#mettaton#mettaton undertale#undertale mettaton#mettaton ex#kirby#kirby planet robobot
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It’s A Match Chapter Two
Masterlist
Summary: as you and henry become closer he lets his family know there may be a new woman on the scene. And you surprize him by moving a little quicker then he had thought. Not that he is against it. He is all to eager to move along to the next step.
Warnings: RPF, Swearing, Angst, Heated Discussions, Fluff.
A/N: here is chapter two, this will only be a short fic maybe there or four chapters but i hope you all like it. This is just me writing down my fluffy fantasy.
Taglist: In Reblogs.
'Shes a big fluffy teddy bear, and loves hugs, even if Shes crushing me~' henry froze hands quivering nervously over the keyboard. You replied? You actually? Holy shit! He bit his lip sitting up straighter with a grin and smoothed his hair back. He wasn't sure why it made him so happy but? He had a reply, and actual reply from a person! A woman!
Now what?
He wracked his brain and frowned. What does he say? Does he ask questions or just talk about dogs? He didn't know all he did know is that he had messaged a complete stranger and she had messaged back.
'I can imagine moving her must be hard work if she's comfy'
'Yeah but on the plus side she's always warm~ a huge hot water bottle'
'A numb but warm set of legs then😂'
'Absolutely! That sounds like the talk of a man who's been there?'
'Yes I have an American Akita, a very snuggly boy that gives me atleast one dead leg a day😅'
'Aww I love Akita's, I was going to get one but them Amii sort of fell into my lap, and has stayed there ever since'
'Big or small a lap dog is a lap dog'
'Definitely😂' Henry paused. Shit what does he do now? Does he just ask questions? Explain a bit more about himself? Both seemed a little too juvenile... And it was scary... Awkward he wants a nice chat, for conversation to flow naturally. He didn't want to fuck up. There was another ping as you typed another message.
' I have to say I'm surprized I got a message on here, only been on here for a few days😅' henry was thankfull, you wasn't going to judge. You were both in the same boat. Both nervously talking to a stranger in the hopes of there being something more. It made replying a little easier, he hoped that things would get less awkward after breaking the ice.
'Really? I made mine today... not sure about all this new online stuff but will figure it out'
'Well I'd say your doing alright, at least you had the courage to message someone, i made the profile then chickened out😅'
'I almost did, your the first profile that caught my eye'
'Was it Amii?'
'No, as cute as she is you lacked a duck face selfie, and you look very sweet and have kind eyes' henry froze after sending the message. Shit, shit! That was fucking cheese! Cringe and just a fuck up! He quickly wracked both hands through his hair and cursed trying to think of a way to get out of this but nothing came to mind... And then he saw it the tiny y/n is typing... At the bottom of the screen, he winced dreading the reply he was going to get. He bit his lip worried he hopes he hasn't tripped at the first hurdle.
'Thank you that's kind of you to say. And is a missing duck face that strange?🤔'
'Every woman has a duck face'
'Well I do not have a duck face'
'Really?🤨'
'Well not a good one 😅My duck face is sub par more a fish face, call me guppy😂' he chuckled, you did have a sense of humour which was good. He liked making people laugh and not having them take everything so seriously, it meant he could relax and let loose. To just have fun! He heaved a big sigh unconsiously petting Kal as he sat up and leant on his leg. He quickly began typing once more finding it easier chatting with a stranger with each message.
'🤣🤣 I got to admit I'm not sure what to talk about, this is my first time🤔'
'Well that makes us both online virgins😅lets start with the important things shall we?' Henry froze panicking. 'Oh god! Oh god! What ere you going to ask?!' He thought watching the little dots on the screen holding his breath dreading you'd ask for picture or something. He was put out of his misery with a tiny ping sound and your message popped up. He threw his head back and laughed outloud seeing the all important question.
'Who's your favourite superhero?' You were definitely a geek girl, just like he wanted. He bit his lip and typed without needing to think of the answer.
'Superman, afterall he is the grand daddy of all superheroes. You?'
'Oh your not gonna like this~ I love batman🤗' henry smiled at the screen and leant back wiping his mouth trying to massage the ache from his cheeks. He really was grinning ear to ear just from speaking to you so... Unguarded he was just being himself and it was freeing!
'Oh no!😱can I ask why?' He typed quickly not wanting you to think he was going to keep you on read? Was that what they called it nowadays?
'He proves that at 30 you can have a dramatic goth early midlife crisis and that regular assholes can be heroes too, all you need is money🤗🤗'
'🤣🤣 oh god! You know I never thought of it like that!' henry shook his head laughing out loud as he replied
'But you'll be happy to know supes is number three on my list'
'Well he makes the top three so that's salvageable😆'
'Yeah... Two is Captain America though'
'Rich goth with issues, man with an expensive tea tray, then supes got it 👌👍'
'Omg yes!😂that's sums it up beautifully🤣' after that the conversation moved on which he was a little thankful for. Not that he disliked geeking out but... it'd be easy for him to slip up on that subject. Luckily though he didn't have to think of a change of topic as you began chatting away casually about your day and he did in return before long the conversation was over too soon as you stated you really had to get on with filling out these payslips. So the chat drew to a close with promises of speaking tomorrow.
And you kept your promise. For the next week you both spent your evenings chatting away at one another becoming fast friends. That was when he decided to let his family know in the new weekly face time zoom chats.
He looked to the screen fidgeting as his family spoke amongst themselves trying to find the right moment to break the news. But his mother had noticed and asked him out right, leaning closer to the screen watching him worriedly.
"Henry? Are you alright your looking nervous?" The others stopped speaking at the question and henry heaved a sigh nervously twisting his fingers.
"Yeah yeah I... I just have some news... Is all" he said swallowing trying to find the words. He was worried, it had been a while since he'd tried to introduce someone new into his life and his family. He didn't want to alarm them but... he wanted to forewarn them that he was on his way to hopefully sharing his life with someone.
"News? Oh its nothing bad is it?" His younger brother asked, but his oldest paused straightening up with a smile already guessing his brother had taken his advice.
"No nothing bad... Its really good actually... I'm sort of... well I'm speaking to someone online... A woman" he stuttered rubbing the back of his neck and called Kal onto the sofa with him stroking his fur trying to calm himself and fend of the huge grin that seemed to spread across his face everytime he thought of you.
"You did it?" His eldest brother called out clapping his hands excitedly. A ripple of confusion washed over the others and they frowned looking to one another unsure what had happened between the two.
"Did what love?" His mother finally asked not understanding what her sons were talking about
"I made an online dating profile" he said plainly drawing gasps from everyone.
"Oh gosh love are you okay? Your not being hounded are you?" His mother jumped immediately concern etched deep in her features. His father looked uncomfortable-hell they all did! Each worrying over him. He wasn't surprized they had seen fans both love and hate on him and his partners.
"No mum its fine-better then fine I'm really carful... I've covered my ass and no one knows its me, she doesn't know" he said trying to placate his family but instead he was rewarded with disappointed faces, tutting and small, cringing hisses. Fuck.
"Oh god Henry you haven't made a fake profile? Tell me you didn't- please tell me your not lying to this poor woman" his father scolded sternly. His dad may not be up to speed with all this new age online dating shenanigans but he did know that it was wrong to lie to a potential partner. Just thinking that one of his boys were doing just that left a bad taste in his mouth. If he could he would clip his son around the ear!
"Well no not exactly- its me and I'm myself on there I just... changed my name to Hank... And crop my photos so she can see me but not recognise me that's all! I swear I'm not lying or-or anything!" he explained willing then to understand but with the deep sighs and unimpressed looks he got it would seem they didn't understand or approve.
"Are you sure about this? What will she think if things get serious and then this young lady finds out you've been lying?" he father spoke up again wanting to hash this out. Henry faltered for a moment, he worried about that too. He was frightened that you'd get angry and leave him without even giving him a chance!
"I'm not lying, I just? just omitting certain details about my life, I'm being me I'm showing her the real quirky geeky side of me- this is? Its my one shot! The only chance I'm going to get to have someone look at me, not what they can get out of me... I'm not going to blow it or hurt her... if we get to that point then I will explain things- she'd understand she's really thoughtful and is logical" henry pleaded trying to convince both himself and his family. He cant ignore it, he was worried and had been telling himself over and over you'd understand. But he also knew it could really shake you up. But what he was doing wasn't wrong! It couldn't be helped, he thought they would understand!
"Well I hope so because you could break her heart son... And I want you to understand that, this woman could fall for you. You could really upset her when she finds out" his father finally spoke drawing the issue to a close not wanting to argue, but he still wanted henry to know what ever happens was his own fault good or bad. Not everything ends with a happy ever after, but he didn't need to voice that out loud. Henry knew, they all did.
"I know dad, I've only been speaking to her just over a week anyway, for all i know she will ghost me or something" henry nodded calming a little not wanting to fight but still it was clear to everyone henry hadn't appreciated the lecture.
"Ghosting?" he mum perked up trying to diffuse the situation not wanting this to blow up. Tensions were high and no one needed a family spat at the moment.
"Its when someone stop talking to you and ignores you for no reason" his brother revealed explaining the term to his parents. They both ahh'd in realisation but were still a little tense. So his younger brother spoke up deciding to try and be more supportive to him. And henry was thankful.
"Well how about you tell us about her henry. What's you lady freind like? What does she do?" henry quickly grinned forgetting the irritation. His family watched the sudden change as henry got the chance to boast about the woman who had caught his fancy. It was sobering to see, he was glowing with pride and excitement, overjoyed from just thinking about this mystery girl.
"She's just? God where do I start? Shes amazing and funny and wholesome... She doesn't live too far away- Shes pretty much on my doorstep! Shes really funny and nice we talk everyday and have soo much in common its amazing we like the same music and tv and just- everything! Its like talking to a female version of myself! And Shes a fan too" his family all seemed to warm to the idea of this woman until his final remark. Everyone paused. And so did he, what was so wrong about her being a fan? Why was that a red flag for them and not him?
"A fan? Henry... are you sure she doesn't know? If she's a fan she might know and be... making her answers more favourable" henry bristled at that and visibly leaned back brows furrowed and eyes glowing, showing as much anger as he dared show his mother who had spoken out against you.
"What? No! No she doesn't mum she hasn't got a clue- Shes not a fan of mine per say but? She likes my work, she's a huge lover of DC and fantasy so has seen the Witcher and she loved it! Shes really just like me! Is that really hard to believe? That there are women like me? That enjoy the same things?" what had started as a panicked explination quickly became heated and sour. His words slowly becoming uncharacteristically venomous. But Marie Ann new it was just him getting defensive, he was frightened. He had this silly belief he was an abnormality, that his interests will make him forever alone. The thing that did stand out was just how defensive he was about you. A woman he'd probably not even met yet, someone he was only chatting to. It wasn't like henry to take to someone soo quickly. It made her hopeful, that he really had found someone, found his soulmate. But she was a mother and couldn't help worry over him, no matter how old or huge her boys got they were just that. Her boys. And she will always feel the need to look after them.
"Henry please don't get angry, I didn't mean to upset you but... I worry" she said slowly trying to calm him before he got himself into a tizzy. She could see much more then he wanted her too. And right now he was anxious, probably questioning himself over this woman and the way he was approaching her. She could only hope her son was right and had covered his ass and that this woman was as understanding as he said. Otherwise henry was about to get a wakeup call like never before. It wasn't everyday a well known actor fakes a dating profile. It'd be a media shitstorm that he may not recover from.
"I.. sorry I didn't mean to- y/n isn't like that I... I just know alright she isn't after anything" henry apologized smoothing back his hair taking a huge breath and leant back once more relaxing.
"So why don't you tell us a little more about her son? You've been speaking for a week so must know a little more then her name and were she lives?" she said moving on wanting to coax more information about the woman.
"Well she has her own successful business that caters to dogs, walking, grooming and rehoming and is a kc registered breeder. Shes thirty years old and... Absolutely stunning- and no she hasn't filtered any photos either...wait here! See?! Isn't she beautiful?" Henry gushed quickly bringing up your profile picture he had saved on his phone and holding the phone to the camera. He heard a few compliments but could still see the worry in his family. He understood but he just new. He new that you were real, that you were honest and everything you said you were. You were blunt and didn't have time for games, you said life's too short for that crap. And he agreed.
"You have a photo saved already?" henry faltered at the question that had followed a round of compliments and quickly pulled his phone back flushing embarrassed he hadn't even thought of how that would look
"I.. w-well yeah... I'm gonna ask for her number soon and want a photo for my phone... We decided to stick to messaging for a while first and" he tried desperately to dig himself out of the hole he'd just unceremoniously swan dived into. But his brothers burst into laughter making whipping motions making him flush and shrink further. They were definetly going to busting his balls for this. But with a quick shake of his head he continued to gush about you wanting to side step this whole premature photo saving incident.
"she doesn't have Instagram or snapchat... she's just... I can't explain it she's just funny and sweet and genuine... I really like her.. I could easily fall for her" silence reigned after his admission and everyone saw just how serious and devoted henry was to trying to make this relationship work. His mum nodded with a smile, this was just a watch and wait scenario. This woman would either make or break her son, and all she could do was hope to god it was the former.
"Okay then love. I'm happy for you henry just be careful okay?" she finally drew the curtain on the subject and everyone sighed in relief.
"I will, I promise but you have nothing to worry about, I just wanted to let you guys know that i might have someone for you to meet in a few months" henry said eagerly, like a small boy waiting on Christmas eve. He was full of life and enthusiasm. It was nice to see this side to him again, she'd dare say he was well on his way to being loved up! Smitten.
"And we look forward to it henry, but take your time. There's no rush just enjoy yourself" one of his brothers spoke up jumping in on the conversation wanting to make it clear they all had his back whether this ended good or bad. For now they were happy for him.
"I will, we decided were wont meet for a while and just see how things go for the time being but... I have a good feeling, she's everything I've been looking for I'm really excited" henry preened trying to pace himself, he didn't need to be daydreaming in a family face time. Luckily he was pulled from the edge of his own fantasies by another question.
"You said she had a company?"
"Yeah here I'll send you the link its called Puptown! She's actually handled Kal a few times, I send him there for his nails and teeth" henry said quickly sending the link to his brother. He wasn't stupid they were going to look you up, they were worried. He might aswell sent them the link. There was a tiny bio on there of you- the owner on the staff page that had all the staffs qualifications and roles on there.
You moved through the groom room Amii was curled up under your desk fast asleep as you began taking a stock list. Recently you'd been getting more and more white dogs in for their groom so needed to top up on the bright white shampoo and it was tick season soon so had to double check you had all the tick removal forceps, and ear powder- lots of ear powder the poodle clients had doubled over lock down after all the new puppies bought in lockdown. Every dog deserves a professional groom. But poodles needed them.
"hey boss! You doing another check?" Mandy called as she hoisted a tiny black poem into the bath. Bella a regular and very few people could actually groom her out of the five staff only two of you dared to try. And you didn't blame them this dog was a tiny savage, but the trick was not to show fear.
"yeah, trying to prepare for summer already, you know i think this will be our busiest yet especially with lord whiskey." you muttered nibbling the pen and moving a few bottles about. Flea treatment and some dry skin conditioner were quickly added to your growing list.
"lord whiskey?" Mandy asked louder over the sound of the shower instantly Bella began snarling like the hell demon she was. On walks and about the place she was a little soppy loving lap pup, but when it came to bath time? Different dog. You cant help thinking she had a bad experiance before she came here. You sighed and placed the pad and pen down standing along side the bathe and began petting the tiny dog.
"yeah they are the vet clinic for lower incomes... They want to set up a new clinic and have reached out" you explained you had to admit the request came out of the blue and you hadn't had chance to tell everyone yet. The staff meeting was on Friday.
"that would be good!" she said slowly wetting the snarling prom that was trying her absolute hardest to frighten you both off. But alas she was no great wolf, but a teeny cute little raging fluff nugget, and to her utter dispair neither you or Mandy found her scary at all. Even if she was trying to foam at the mouth.
"yeah that's what I thought, having a vet on site... We're still talking but if everything goes acording to plane we will have the mobile vet out front while setting up the small clinic... I was thinking in the old groom rooms? They had water and electricity already and its a littl out of the way so the unwell puppets can be separate from the healthy customers" you shrugged moving around Mandy to help tend to your most vocal customer.
"so business will be booming?" Mandy said moving to rinse underneath the small feral beast. You giggled and stood Bella on her back legs as she seethed but in between her savagery she was actually licking at you, showing a hint of the sweet girl she really was. You pet her praising her promising chicken treats and snuggles afterwards. You might even pop Amii in with the others in the small day care pen. Bella liked laying on her using the huge dog as a fluffy bed.
"yes hopefully, i mean were not taking anything for them, they are a charity but hopefully we will get a few visits in the shop? And the more people know about us the more likely they are to use us!" you said you had been weighing up the pros and cons about the new venture. More people visiting the premises, more footfall in the shop and hopefully you can draw enough people to have a little pet café. Your business was right on the edge of the huge woodland park you'd always wanted a small café that serves both animals and people you want a little empire to become a franchise company and give the little guys a chance.
"And how about you? Any luck on the online dating front?" she asked with a small smile. You sighed you half regretted telling her about it. Mandy has been with you since the beginning, she was your first employee and most trusted freind. And she has been hounding you about your love life for a while now. She wants you to take a step back from Puptown and find some time for yourself, and now that the business was established and ticking over nicely it was the time to do it.
"Ooo! Oh my god your blushing!? Bitch spill!" she squealed excited as you flushed and looked away not answering her. And by doing so answering her at the same time.
"I'm talking to someone~ Hank.. He is... Funny and charming we've been chatting each night for about a week" you revealed quietly making her beam at you. Thankfully Bella chose that moment to make a mad dive over your shoulder but you managed to catch her and pop her back into the tub.
"ooo yes get in girl, you have been pouring too much into this company! Its about damn time you focused on yourself" sandy began as she washed Bella lathering the pup with a rather expensive de-sheading anti tangle shampoo.
"Please don't start, I'm doing it now and that's what matters. He is... He messaged me first and things are going good and that's where I'm going to leave it okay? I will update you as we go... I promise" you said releasing the now wet pup as Mandy began rinsing her down. You stepped back to the shelves full of half empty bottles of product. needing to change the topic to avoid daydreaming and fucking up your orders. As great as the wholesaler was this was still expensive stuff and you didn't want to unbalance the books and get more then you needed.
"Oh Bella?~ baby girl its so bad isn't it? Being brushed and washed and massaged? Then getting yourself a blow out and having a nap in the nice cosy play room?" you called over your shoulder condescendingly at the pup who was still snarling out her displeasure. She really was a little brat in the bath.
Another week passed and you were lazing around the house having a duvet day, snuggled in bed with Amii on your lap. Normally your days off were all housework and finalizing orders or paper work but this week was different. With lord whiskey agreeing to taking the old groom room you decided to finally get an extra set of hands in management to take care of paperwork. It was strange at first but worth it. You now hade someone else to rely on, not that you didn't have managers to help out before but now you had a full time employee that's whole role was to take care of the business side and alleviate the pressure. So instead of the normal made rushes and mountain of paperwork you were in bed chatting away with henry.
He had just finished his work out and was relaxing, having a cool down before having yet another painfully boring sounding meeting with his own bosses. You sympathised. Practical work was the bomb! But the theory and paperwork kicked everyones asses. Risk assessments can eat shit! I'm a person and can asses the risk and decided to do it, why answer to a tick box system? But then again everything needed a tick in a box nowadays. You shuffled about grunting as Amii played dead on your lap so you couldn't move her from the comfy slump she was in over your thighs pinning you down.
'Soo you said you game?' was the message that changed the subject, thankfully choosing to move on from speaking about work.
'God yes, when I can'
'What do you play? Sims and stuff?'
'depends if I'm on pc or xbox I'm more into fantasy and historic rpgs, but if I'm on my switch its little farming sims sometimes I branch out to things like shooters but not often, I like the big immersive fantasies!'
'So you really do mix and match are you playing anything atm?'
'I'm doing a re-run of skyrim with a load of mods just to spice things up. And just restarted Witcher wild hunt again'
'You like Witcher?'
'I adore it, Witcher skyrim and dragon age are my all time favourites, do you? Sorry I realise I'm just takeing over, I just get excited, I never really talk about this stuff 😅😅'
'No, no its fine I'm the same, I never really get to geek out anymore with work and stuff. I'm happy to have the chance, and I do love the Witcher too fantasy is my thing😄' henry paused for a moment. Should he? I mean you just said you were replaying it... Would it be big headed? To ask what you thought of the show? Of his performance... I mean it'd be an unbiased view, you wasn't going to try and butter him up you still didn't know it was him.
'So you've watched the show on Netflix I presume?' he typed and pressed send quickly before he lost his nerve.
'Absolutly, I binge watched it a few times.😅'
'You liked it? I know a few people didn't' henry couldn't help but dig a little deeper, he desperately wanted you to have enjoyed it.
'I loved it, but I think it was easier for me to watch bc I new what was roughly going on before hand. Most people that struggled thought it was going to be an easy watch? Like got'
'Oh come on, there must be something you didn't like?🤔🤔'
'😞okay you got me, I was a tad disappointed with geralts eyes you can do the toxic eyes and cat eye potion at least give me a teeny cat eye just a smidge🤏🥺'
'Yes I see what you mean, their could have been a little frame of it but there are always sacrifices when going from books to the big screen 😅'
'But henry's portrayal more then made up for it! That man was on point! I was so happy when they anounced it was him playing Geralt there was no way he was going to fuck it up!' henry stopped breathing. You liked it? You actually like him playing Geralt? His heart swelled and he laughed out loud for some reason you enjoying his work just... It meant the world to him! He was over the moon. Quickly his attention was drawn to his tablet again as another message pinged on screen.
'And I have a little fan theory over the whole eye issue😏'
'Hit me with it I'm all ears'
'Geralt has complete control of his eyes right? And is a softy deep down so my idea was he is always holding his pupils open so he doesn't scare anyone'
'🧐that is brilliant! It makes so much sense! 🥰🥰 its also nice to know I have a little conspiracy fangirl on my hands😁' henry frowned heart clenching as you went quiet, he waited and waited minuets seemed like hours. His mind immediately jump to conclusions terrified you had caught him, that you'd figured out just who you were speaking to. Sweat formed on his brow as he frowned praying he hadn't got a little to close to home and given himself away. Then the dots appeared. You were typing.
'So I was wondering I know we agreed not to at first but since we've chatting every night I thought we could maybe exchange numbers? Only if you want to! No pressure. I'm just excited' henry slumped, melting into his seat. Thank fuck for that! His relief quickly became excitement at the prospect of hearing you! Actually speaking to you properly having an actual phone call? Fuck yes!
'😊😊I was actually trying to find the time to mention it myself, i know its only been three weeks but it feels much longer.'
'Omg thank god! I thought you would think i was rushing you😅here xxx xxxx xxxx' henry was quick to pull out his phone and type the number in, not wasting any time in creating your contact info into his phone book. And whislt doing that also replied to you putting you at ease.
'No not at all, I'm excited I cant wait to hear you🥰'
'Oh god don't build your hopes to high I don't have the most attractive voice it may be the deal breaker😅'
'I doubt that anything could put me off you love, your gorgeous, smart, funny, kind everything I could of dreamed of and soo much more'
'I'm glad its not only me Hank, I have to say I was frightened by how quickly we have become friends, but I suppose it makes sense we are two peas in a pod' henry grinned reading the message and nodded to himself pressing the small green call button and held the phone to his ear feeling confident as he re-read your last message.
You hummed nibbling your lip, chewing it nervously after giving out your number. You couldn't help your mind dredging up all the horror stories of Ted bundy-esque creepy ass psycho killers, luring in prey on the internet... Fuck you were a bigger girl so easy to sweet talk. You whined and snuggled into the massive furry lump on your lap, lacing your fingers into the dogs thick fur. Petting her as your over active imagination conjured scenario's that could end up with you in a eight foot hole in someone's basement ,being told to 'put the lotion in the basket'. Jesus Christ. But it was fine right? He wasn't weirded out or anything? He seemed happy. You were sensible, or at least you thought you were.
You yipped at your phone suddenly vibrated in your hand, you almost threw it across the room. The screen lit up with 'unknown number' you swallowed eyeing the device then nodded answering the call heart beat thundering in your chest your breath picked up you made to speak but couldn't quite make sounds, unable to force the words to roll off your tongue. There was a deep chuckle, gorgeas and rumbling even if it was quiet.
"You have no reason to be frightened darling I'm just as eager to move on" you gasped as the thick voice spoke in slow syllables, calling you by the nick name he had taken to calling you. You'd asked a few girls at work about it, worried things were going to fast. But they had calmed you down saying it was his way of avoiding being freind zoned. You had to admit the cute little names always made you grin and blush, but this? God this was better then anything! His low timber and slightly more eloquent accent uttering the name sent a shiver up your spine.
A surprizing reaction in all honesty, you'd never really thought about voices much, never had a voice kink or really thought anyone could have an attractive voice. Well not a real voice anyway, sometimes characters on tv with low raspy voices got you going Geralt and Alcide to name a few. He almost sounded like the former if you thought about it... Just more refined? A regal soft lilt. It was definetly a voice you could listen to all day, this man could read you a bloody take away menu and you wouldn't even gruff at the extortionate prices. You wet your lips and dug your fingers into the warm dog in your lap breathing deep, filling your lungs with air trying to ease yourself and draw in some courage.
"O-oh your? Really there? Really.. real?" you stuttered slowly. You chided yourself for sounding so silly, so childish. But you couldn't help it you felt completely unprepared. Which irritated you because it was you who'd offered your number, what were you expecting him to do with it? Use carrier pigeon? Of course he was going to call you.
"I'm most definitely real love" he spoke again with a small chuckle, he was clearly amused by your flustered question. You blushed and squirmed on your seat trying to breath quietly, you didn't want him to hear just how on edge you were.
"Oh gosh that's.. wow I cant even, I don't know what to say" you huffed trying to think of something- anything else you could focus on rather then the absolute sex that was his voice, then he spoke once more
"Now, now don't be shy love, I want to hear you, your voice is just as I thought it'd be" henry tried encouraging you wanting to hear you and revel in your sweet voice, wanting to commit it to memory.
"Oh? And what's that then?" you asked trying to be playfull but in all honesty you wasn't hitting the mark, you were to nervous. You'd never really thought about your voice, was it attractive? Or too high? Deep? I mean you were normal, you spoke normal and if anything sounded common.
"Pure and delicate, playful and charming all in one just like the woman it belongs to" henry's breathing hitched as you giggled. The sweet tinkling laugher warmed his heart and made him huff out a chuckle himself. He was so happy he could have cried. It was just so overwhelming to hear you finally, to put a voice to the amazing woman he was slowly falling inlove with. He sometimes grew wary thinking you were too good to be true, that you were a catfish yourself. But here and now he knew. You were as real as him and all it did was solidify his resolve, he was doing the right thing. He was falling for a genuine woman. A real woman with no strings attached, and with any luck you were feeling the same.
"well I think I just found my mans flaw~" you giggled once more blushing under the weight of all the compliments. He was really smooth, smoother then you'd thought and that was saying something.
"really darling? Care to enlighten me?" he quipped playfully you usual banter and teasing between you both flowing just as effortlessly as it had when messaging each other.
"your clearly deaf! Well have no fear, i will talk a little louder and learn some sign language for you~" you laughed out loud he joined you low echoing chuckles that sounded as if they came from a deep wide chest. It was enough to drive you mad with lust, but that may be the new found voice kink brewing.
"well its nice to know you are so committed to your man and his disability love" suddenly you froze and trembled panic and anxiety washed over you clogging your wind pipe at his words... Fuck!
"oh god- no I? Your not really deaf are you? I'm sorry I didn't mean to make fun-" you began apologizing not quite picking up on his sarcasm. Henry was quick to cut you off and stop your guilty rambling.
"No love I'm not deaf I was just pulling your leg" his voice was strained as if he was trying not to laugh at you, but you couldn't really say anything. You were the one nervously crack jokes then immediately trying to take them back. Stumbling your wat through the very first real conversation with a man you were crushing on. God you were such a dweeb!
"oh Jesus you scared the crap out of me" you heaved a sigh wanting to bury yourself into the covers and hide despite knowing he couldn't see your glowing face.
"I apologize darling, I have only the purest of intentions... Well maybe not that pure~ but I don't want to scare you" he grinned when you gasped at his little flirtatious comment. And he wasn't kidding, he found you incredibly attractive and wanted to do all manner of very filthy things with you. It didn't help when you were sending him photos of you drenched nipples hard and drawing him in like a moth to a flame. You probably hadn't even noticed that and he was thankfull for it because you wouldn't have sent it otherwise. It was his favourite photo, apparantly it had been a husky escape from the bath as you switched his lead to another hook.
"your fine, I'm just a little nervous is all" you huffed finally somehow managing to sort yourself out and think clearly overcoming your excitement and nerves.
"I understand but just remember its just me love. So have anything else planned for today?" henry hummed sweetly before giving you a chance to change the topic, you'd never know it was because he was barely holding himself together. He was almost bursting at the seams wanted to laugh and cry and shout all at once. He was completely overwhelmed with joy and relief and wanted to listen to you as much as he possibly could.
Both you and henry then began the nightly ritual of phone calls and texted all day. He even had a new nick name. Puppy. And he couldn't be more thrilled you'd said it was because he made tiny cute puppy whines when you teased him. But he didn't care, he would happily be your puppy anyday!
The weeks became one month, then two and before you knew it you were one week shy of three months. And that was when it happened. Those fateful words left his mouth as he spoke to you just before bed. He had asked to meet, he was certain and confident he wanted to meet you and take this further, and he hadn't really planned to ask it just happened.
"So your really letting lord whiskey in your old groom space? That's incredible, I'm so proud of you for letting them in love. It says volumes for you and your business, that its not all profit driven" henry spoke down the phone as he stirred his tea getting ready to go up to bed.
"I mean it just seems right... No matter the income everyone should be able to get medical care for their animals. And I'd be lying if I didn't hope some people will come into the shop or realise that we are here and come back for our facilities." he smiled at that. You wasn't just trying to make a great profitable business, you cared and wanted to give everyone a reasonably priced alternative to pooch care. And he was right behind you, he loved that you were trying to give owners the chance to spoil their fur babies without breaking the bank. In slashing your prices you'd attracted more customers and been making a great profit, so much so that you could afford to just give away your old groom rooms to the charity for free.
"shop? You have a shop?" he pondered padding about the kitchen giving Kal his nightly biscuit treat and motioned for him to take it upstairs. Which he didn't need to do, Kal new the jig and was already carrying the treat to the stairs.
"yeah it opened last year? The year before maybe? Its small but here with food and treats a few toys and leads... I try to use smaller businesses the brands that you wont see in the bigger shops" you said slowly and he heard a small yawn and rustle of paper. You had said you were packing up and heading to bed for the night soon.
"I may have to pop over with the bear~" he teased coyly humming to himself as he sipped his tea.
"pop over? I.. Well you could I suppose?" you hummed quietly, henrys eyes almost popped out of his head were you inviting him to ask you out? He coughed quickly trying not to choke on the mouthful of tea and then rocked his head from side to side. I mean he could come over and see you.
"I'm only ten minuet's away darling, Kensington... I've actually used your grooming service once or twice getting the bears nails and teeth done"
"oh?! I didn't know that." you said trying to picture the owners of the akita you saw, but honestly? You had soo many customers now it was hard remembering everyone, that and you wasn't really front of house now, you had more and more to deal with back of house, even with the new manager.
"well you do now sweetheart... So? Do you want to meet up tomorrow?" he asked placing his tea down in favour of crossing his fingers hoping he had read your signals right.
"Yeah of course I'm covering for walking duty tomorrow... So I can't really do anything in the morning or early afternoon" henry fist pumped and grinned faking a silent shout of victory as he managed to wrangle a date.
"That's fantastic actually... I could meet you in the park? I'll bring the bear with me and we could walk the dogs and grab a coffee or something?" he said somehow managing to quell his excitement enough to arrange the date properly, placeing a hand on his heart as it beat wildly. The realisation that he could see you- meet you face to face!
"Yeah that sounds like a brilliant idea, will noon be alright? That's when we do a switch over and go back to feed the dogs in day care so I'll have an hour lunch break" you said stuttering a little when it began to sink in that this was happening!
"Its a date I will see you tomorrow at noon love" Henry anounced eagerly suddenly tomorrow couldn't come soon enough!
"See you then puppy, good night sweet dreams" you said needing to hang up and squeal into a pillow or something.
"sweet dreams love" as soon as he hung up he was already scrolling his phone selecting the number he was after and called in a tizzy.
"Piers?! Piers! I'm? Oh god- were meeting tomorrow and fuck- I'm freaking out already! What do I say? What should I wear- kal's coming too do I put his halti on or just his collar- fuck I don't know what to do!? Please help!" he yelped down the phone to the unsuspecting man drawing a deep sigh from him before he began talking him down.
#rpf#henry cavill#henry cavill imagine#henry cavill fic#henry cavill x reader#henry cavill X Y/n#henry cavill fluff
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「fourteen」 chapter 1
"Yuri did confess to me about one crush. First one he ever had, I’d wager, from how nervous he seemed. I had expected it to be Lady Estellise here,” Hanks says, the corners of his eyes crinkling mischievously as she flusters, “but the one detail he did give me certainly ruled that out quick.”
“O-oh?” Estelle stammers.
“Mmm, well. Apparently whoever they are, they’re significantly older than him. About 14 years, I think he said.”
On the nature of Yuri's first crush.
He hadn’t thought much of it at first.
Hanks’s fond babbling about Yuri over their extremely well-earned dinner is incredibly revealing about the usually cool-headed leader of their motley crew. The old man proves himself a riveting story-teller, keeping their entire party entertained for hours on end despite the incredibly long and taxing 48 sleepless hours they’ve had.
(‘Though there was almost a permanent sleep in there for some of us,’ Raven finds himself thinking morbidly, before digging his bitten-down nails as deep into his ankles as he can to distract himself)
It feels like the only time any of them stop smiling and laughing is to take another mouthful from their bowls of curry, piled high from the seemingly endless and eternal pots of the stuff in the knight’s mess hall (or in Rita’s case, to test out another formula against the system Alexei’s locked the princess into - luckless so far, but she’s yet to lose determination).
Hanks has provided all sorts of anecdotes: the adventures of a baby Yuri who had just learned to walk, quicker to his feet than Flynn but still only babbling in response to the younger’s full fledged scolding - their dynamic had formed incredibly early on, it seemed; fond recollections of helping him to learn to bind properly, their first real bonding experience that had endeared them to each other as adoptive-grandfather-and-grandson; prideful recounts of Yuri’s development from childhood cynophobia into a renowned dog-lover, of all the other little things Yuri had been scared of as a child and grown out of in time (and those he hadn’t - Raven makes a few mental notes for later reference); all the fights Yuri and Flynn had gotten into over the years, and the brief interlude where they had dated in their teens (‘If anything,’ he laughs, ‘the bickering became even more frequent at that point - thank heavens they didn’t last!’); and of course, everyone’s old favourite - that one time 2 years ago when he’d thrown Adecor into the river on tax day.
Raven’s heard that one on a number of occasions from all four of the people who’d been present when it occurred - it somehow never gets any less funny.
While most of Brave Vesperia and it's honorary members are thrilled to learn more about their favourite rebel, Yuri himself is less than happy about Hanks laying out his life story for everyone to see. It's plain on his face - the grimace of a man who appreciates how much his parents love him but would really prefer they didn't tell his date about the time he streaked naked through the town and peed in a fountain at 5 years old. His embarrassment is palpable, a pink glow to his ears that slowly spreads to his cheeks the longer and more intimate Hanks’ stories become.
It’s as he brings up Yuri’s childhood dream of joining the knights so he could sweep a princess off her feet, pointedly winking in Estelle’s direction, that their so-called fearless leader bolts to his feet. He spins on his heel, making a beeline to the other side of the room, and plonks himself violently between a bewildered Adecor and Boccos, immediately thrown from their confusion into annoyance as Yuri’s food slops all over both of them.
His previous dining companions merely snicker in his wake, Hanks chuckling fondly.
“He’s always been so easily riled, that boy. If this is how flustered he gets over just you lot hearing all this then I can’t even imagine how he’ll be when he finally shacks up with someone.’
“Wait, but didn’t you say he dated Flynn when they were younger?” Karol asks, head cocking to one side.
“Well between you, me and our gatepost friends here,” the old man says, leaning in - they all follow suit, as Hanks’ eyes pointedly glance over to Flynn, “I wouldn’t want to hurt his feelings if he hasn’t realised, but I always got the impression that Yuri was far less invested in their relationship than Flynn. It was Flynn who asked him out, after all.”
“My, that does surprise me. Yuri’s always seemed like he’d be the more proactive of the two when it comes to romance.” Judy muses.
Hanks raises his eyebrows, thin lips twisting into an uneasy frown.
“Wait a minute,” Rita says, leaning even further forward. “You’re not saying Yuri never had feelings for him are you?”
He winces, gaze averting. Raven feels his eyebrows shoot into his hairline.
“They’ve always loved each other, of course. But the tone of that love seems to differ between them. Their relationship was what happened when they tried to figure that out, it seems, but ultimately…”
“They just weren’t compatible as partners of that type?”
“Right.” he nods to Estelle. “In all honesty, Yuri might give off the air of someone with considerable relationship experience, but it’s Flynn who attracts more attention. And seems more interested in others in turn.”
Raven finds his gaze wandering between the two in question - Flynn has managed to find himself eating amidst a small crowd, knights and lower quarter folks alike, all of them doting on him and telling him stories, and him listening attentively to each of them in turn. Yuri, meanwhile is… wrestling with all three of the ex-Schwann Brigade’s most prominent knights simultaneously. Astounding.
“Yeah that tracks.” he finds himself murmuring, nails scratching through the chest hair that rises above the collar of his shirt. Even if Flynn wasn’t the most eager to please others between the two, the young man radiates a natural charm that draws others to him like a moth to a flame - it’s hard to forget how he was upstaged the time he took him drinking in Dahngrest. Yuri, meanwhile, has a proclivity for trouble and a tendency to stick his foot in his mouth with his wit. While endearing, he can’t imagine it’s the most efficient for pursuing new connections - even if he’s managed to attract all of the motley crew Raven’s currently sat with.
“So Flynn’s a secret ladies’ man and Yuri, despite all the pomp and swagger, has absolutely no game?” Rita snickers, casting a wry look across the room at Yuri that he’s too distracted to notice.
“Well I don’t know about that. Flynn’s a man’s man if nothing else, never shown interest in women to my knowledge. But… I don’t think Yuri’s ever actually been interested in dating , full stop.”
“No way, really?!” Karol barks. The exclamation draws the attention of the groups sat closest to them, even Flynn, momentarily, before they go busily back to their meals. Flynn’s expression as he looks at them is pondering, almost puppy-like, and Karol’s panic is practically visible as they watch him seemingly wrestle with whether to come over and see what the fuss is about. Then the woman at his side taps a hand to his elbow gently, and his manners win out - she successfully steals his attention back around, all of his interest in their discussion completely forgotten.
“Well. It certainly seems that way anyway. I remember him asking me, back when they dated, how he would know if his feelings for someone were romantic. He didn’t seem to understand my answer very well."
“That’s unexpected. I suppose my advances have all been vain!” Patty whines. Raven finds himself snickering - whether Patty’s affections are genuine or not is one mystery he's yet to solve, but her playing it up is never any less entertaining or fun to tease.
“Though now that I think about it… he did confess to me about one crush. First one he ever had, I’d wager, from how nervous he seemed.”
Patty surges forward onto her hands and knees, scrambling to get in Hanks’ face. Surprisingly, he’s not that caught off guard - perhaps used to it from Yuri’s exuberance as a child, or that other kid from the lower quarter who’s off chasing Repede on the far side of the room.
“I need all the details, matey! Don’t spare a single one!”
Hanks chuckles.
“I’m very sorry young lady, but he didn’t tell me all that much! I had expected it to be Lady Estellise here,” he says, the corners of his eyes crinkling mischievously as she flusters, “but the one detail he did give me certainly ruled that out quick.”
“O-oh?” Estelle stammers.
“Mmm, well. Apparently whoever they are, they’re significantly older than him. About 14 years, I think he said.”
“My my! That’s quite the considerable age gap.” Judy coos, tone teasing in spite of Yuri’s absence. She turns over to look at him, sitting atop a pile of knights and triumphantly tucking into a second of four bowls (spoils of war, Raven would wager) - they all do, in fact.
“Kid’s got taste at least. Nothin’ quite like the mature allure of an older lady~'' Raven sing-songs, half-joking. Rita jabs him in the side harshly.
“Shut up old man-- you said you thought it was Estelle he had a crush on right? So are you saying this is recent? ”
It’s like a switch flips in all of their heads simultaneously. Faces filled with shock whip to look at Hanks, who sits sheepishly clutching his bowl.
“Whoops. Might’ve let a little too much information slip on that one. I was probably meant to keep that detail private…”
“Oh my go--”
Rita slaps a hand over Karol’s mouth before his shriek draws too many eyes over. They all meet each other's' gaze one by one - Yuri's crushing on someone for the first time ever at this exact moment - before turning to look back at Yuri again. He’s mid-mouthful, spoon clutched in his hand like a shovel and sauce dripping down his chin, as he turns to survey his surroundings and catches their eyes.
“What?” he chokes out around his mouthful, just audible over the bustle of the rest of the room. He must see the sheer shock on their faces, as concern starts to cross his face and his gaze wanders to Hanks. “Wait, what did you tell them, old man?”
Hanks chooses that exact moment to get up, incredibly swiftly for a man his age.
“Well, thank you all for keeping me company, kids, but I must be off to… check on other people in… other parts of the castle. Right. Goodbye.”
The speed at which he heads for the door is quite remarkable - Yuri barely manages to scramble off his knight-pile-cum-throne before he’s gone from sight, and presumably halfway down the corridor before Yuri makes it out of the room after him.
It’s a shock, that much is certain. Raven hadn’t thought Yuri would be interested in older women - or people he supposes, he’s never really shown any inclination to anyone before in a romantic sense, so certainly not any specific gender. He’d never much struck him as the type.
But then he hadn’t struck him as the type to be interested in any type of relationship until this curveball of a conversation had come along. So hey, why not. If Yuri was into older people, he certainly wasn’t intending to torment him about it. Other than maybe one opportunely timed quip.
Honestly, he really hadn’t thought much about it at first.
But then the kids throw their own curveball.
“I can’t believe Yuri likes someone so much older than him!! Like, I guess I get the appeal of someone a little older than you for like… security or something, I dunno. But man, 14 years!!” Karol exclaims, as quietly as he can for his excitement. “I wonder if we know who it is.”
Rita barks a laugh, catching a distracted Patty off-guard. She begins anew whatever calculations she’d been making on her fingers as Rita shrugs exaggeratedly.
“I bet it’s some big-boobed motherly-figure in the lower quarter or something.”
“Well if all he wanted was big boobs and a nurturing personality then I’ve been here this whole time, all he had to do was ask!” Judith sighs, sly smirk giving away her lack of sincerity.
“Hey,” Patty pipes up suddenly, drawing their attention. “Isn’t Raven about 14 years older than Yuri?”
He feels the cogs in his brain whirr to a stop.
Suddenly, he is thinking very much about it.
“Oh yeah!” he hears Karol chirp. No doubt he checks the calculations on his own fingers, but Raven doesn’t register it if so, hard as he’s trying just to think at all. “Haha, that’s a weird coincidence!”
Estelle giggles.
“Imagine if it was Raven he had a thing for!”
He feels their eyes on him instantly, but it takes a moment for his brain to catch up. His own eyes must be wide as saucers, as they look at him, the mirth starting to fall from Estelle’s expression - he forces a ridiculous grin to his face.
“Haha, yeah imagine that! Someone like Yuri fallin’ for a washed up old fart like me!” he cackles, voice strained even to his own ears. “That’d be ridiculous!!”
The kids buy it though, Karol laughing along before pulling the others back into their debate about exactly who the mystery object of Yuri’s affections could be. It’s Estelle whose gaze lingers on him, just a moment or two longer, as the facade starts to crack, but she must see it - the silent plea in his eyes - as she turns back to the others not a moment later.
If anyone notices that Raven is mentally tapped out until they all go their separate ways for the night, then they’re at least polite enough not to mention it.
⇷-------------
Raven is a strange one.
This is Yuri’s third time meeting the man (or fourth, if the time Rita threatened to set him alight in Capua Torim counts as an actual encounter) and in all honesty, it’s hard to get a read on him past him being very obviously shady.
He seems as though he might be someone of consequence, if the quality of information he so casually throws like bones to random guards is actually as quality as he would have them believe. Either way he’s certainly silver-tongued, plying the others in Yuri’s makeshift travelling party into submission fairly easily despite their initial apprehension about him. Karol and Estelle are charmed by him, by his goofy antics if not the lolloping drawl of his accent, though they make no effort to hide the fact that they find him fishy. While Rita is far less taken, she seems to be placated by him taking her punishments, both fire and fists, like a champ.
The charm isn’t exactly visible to the naked eye though. He skulks at the back of the group, heavy footed and posture slouched. His clothes all seem far too big for him, obscuring the shape of his body in a way Yuri supposes is meant to make him seem unassuming, and he’s already displayed a number of habits that he knows would make any upper quarter noble’s toes curl - picking at his ears and the skin around his nails, before chewing at the nails themselves.
He has to admit though, he’s quite handsome in the face beneath the mess of dusty brown hair. Not in the same way as Flynn, with his big blue eyes and tousled blonde hair, the very picture of a storybook knight. His crooked nose, chapped lips, stubbly chin and hollow cheeks certainly make for a more unconventional type of attractive, but they all come together to create a certain appeal. The brightness of his eyes certainly helps too.
Also the combat prowess. Fighting ability is always an attractive quality in Yuri’s opinion, but especially in a travelling companion.
For a self-professed old man, Raven’s far more nimble than Yuri had expected. Sure, he’d made quite the getaway back in Capua Nor after he’d sold them out, but he’d assumed that’d been a one-off desperate sprint, not the norm. Apparently he was wrong, based on the nimble footwork he employs to dart out of the way of a particularly feisty howler. It doesn’t escape his notice how Karol nearly falls flat on his ass when Raven rushes past him and twists himself at an insane angle to fire an arrow across the way, skewering a beetle between its mandibles before it can take a bite out of Estelle.
“Woah, Raven!! Yuri, you’ve got some serious competition for your acrobatics now!!”
The bark of laughter leaves his throat unwittingly.
“I didn’t realise there even was a competition!”
He sees Rita roll her eyes as she releases a torrent of water behind her, clearly disbelieving him and with good reason; he’s never been one to back down from a potential competition. He breaks away from the corner of the forest floor he’s been holding down, using the momentum to propel himself up and over Raven, carrying it into his sword as he flips to crash it down into the skull of another monster. Raven whistles appreciatively as it disappears into dust.
“Not bad, young ‘un!”
He throws a smirk over his shoulder, ego swelling at the genuine awe on Raven’s face.
“How’s about it, old man? First to twenty?”
The awe transforms into a grimace in an instant.
“Ahhh, I dunno about that. Ol’ Raven’s never really been one for competitions, let alone effort. ”
He scoffs.
“Oh, come on. We’ve got no choice but to fight to get deeper into the forest anyway, right? So why not make a game of it? Not like it’ll actually be any more effort than you were already putting in.”
Raven purses his lips, seemingly unconvinced. His eyes narrow slightly as he stares off, deep in thought, the blue-green seemingly increasing in intensity. For all he’s been putting on the act of a court jester, Yuri is certain in that moment that there’s a deep intelligence to the older man; something unspoken, a wisdom beyond his years.
(Not that he knows how old Raven is but. Well, he gets the feeling that while he’s certainly older than he and his travelling companions, he’s not actually pushing middle-aged yet like he makes out)
Fwip!
He comes back to himself to see Raven’s face closer than before, upside down, chin in line with his collarbone. His bow arm (and subsequently the bow itself) is extended past his shoulder, the other loose by his head having just fired. Behind him there’s a thunk. A screech. A pop. And then silence.
“Looks like that’s one ta me~” Raven coos, eyes hooded as he smirks. He rolls his back, lithe and catlike, to stand himself back upright, stretching his arms out until his shoulders crack. For all his complaining about aches and pains so far (extremely numerous for the time they’ve been travelling with him, maybe an hour at most), he certainly doesn’t move as though he has any joint issues.
Despite his shock, he finds himself laughing.
If he’s honest with himself, he’s just as charmed by Raven as the kids are. He’s never made a connection quite like this one; with someone who can go toe to toe with his dry wit, and make it out the other side without being angry with him. Rita had been the closest (since Niren at least, but Yuri prefers to avoid thinking about the only father he ever knew if he can). But while Rita’s great with a back and forth, she’s easily riled, easily flustered. It only takes one slightly wrong jab and she gets stroppy, or else loses all interest in the situation.
Raven, for all his strangeness, has so far matched Yuri every step of the way. They’ve fallen so easily into a steady banter, something of their own personal comedy routine for just the two of them, some form of it present even from their first encounter way back in that jail cell. To have someone who can appreciate his snark, and give it back just as good while they both know it’s all in good fun? He’d never realised just how much he’d appreciate a relationship like that.
So yeah, Raven’s a little suspicious. But as far as Yuri’s concerned, he’s willing to offer him the benefit of the doubt for the strange comfort he gets from their repartee, just so long as he doesn’t do anything too crazy.
He slaps Raven on the shoulder, moving past him to continue deeper into the oversized brush.
“You got me, old man. But don’t you worry, you won’t be holding that lead for long.”
Raven merely cackles in response, wordlessly filing in behind him.
-------------⇸
There’s only one real constant within their travelling party, and that’s that the sleeping arrangements are ever-changing.
It takes a little while for him to notice, though in his defence the first week or so he’s with them is certainly not a typical week. In the more recent days, they’d gotten lucky with inns having enough beds for all of them, but the first few nights had been entirely sleepless in the hustle and bustle of, y’know, stopping a war, taking down the Blood Alliance and colliding with an actual genuine-article ghost ship.
(He’s still not sure what that was all about if he’s being entirely honest, but he’s old and ““wise”” enough by now that he knows there are some things in this world that you simply shouldn’t question)
So it’s Nordopolica where he finds himself bedding down with his new companions for the first time. The constant hustle and bustle of Palestralle’s workers and the fresh colosseum season unfortunately means there isn’t much free in terms of rooms. On the plus side, the three double beds they’re provided are plenty enough space for them all to be able to sleep comfortably; Fomalhaut’s rooms are quite spacious, nothing at all like the army barracks of his youth (though he supposes that should be expected from a city that considers itself something of an entertainment hub).
Raven takes his time ambling in behind everyone else, absently watching how effortlessly Repede transfers his pipe from one side of his toothy maw to the other. Rushing would be pointless, in his opinion, because he can already envision how everyone will double-up. Rita is sure to claim a spot beside the princess, for whose sake she could not be more clearly continuing to travel for despite her protests, and Judy won’t want to get lumped with a snotty (though admittedly quite sweet) brat or some dirty old man she hardly knows - he’s gonna get stuck with the kid, and the two of them can have a very one-sided competition over whose shitty little brain can give them the most nightmares in one night, and Raven will be perfectly content with that, thank you very much.
(It’ll be him who wins that one - hormone-induced nightmares are nothing compared to the horrors your brain can produce when you have blood and a war on your hands)
And then Karol throws him for a loop by tossing his bag semi-gently to the floor before diving into bed after Rita , of all people.
She hardly even makes a fuss. There’s a yelp - what sounds like it could be the start of the protest Raven would expect from such a combination - before she settles almost immediately.
“Just make sure you don’t kick me awake again, got it?” she barks pointedly at him, before rolling to face away from him and promptly cocooning herself in the blanket. He laughs at her, kicking off his shoes and fluffing up his pillow, seemingly content.
Wide-eyed, Raven turns to the girls - surely he can’t be the only one caught off-guard by this, it seems unthinkable for Rita not to put up a fight to sharing with Karol , and there’s an exclamation of surprise right on the tip of his tongue - only to find them claiming the second bed for themselves, Judy helping Estelle to unfasten the complicated buckles of her dress. He bites his words back, head whipping away; much as the image of a pervert works as a brilliant cover to convince the kids of his idiocy, peeping on the possible-crown princess as she gets changed is certainly not a thing he’s ever aspired to.
And so he comes face to face with the final bed. His bed he supposes, strange as it may still be to him. Yuri’s already making himself comfy on the left side, shirt and jacket thrown over the bottom edge of the bed frame. He stretches his arms up and over his head, muscles rippling as he yawns. He catches Raven’s eye as they fall back down, a mischievous glint flickering in his eyes.
“Looks like it’s you and me, old man.” he says, patting the sheets next to him with a wiggle of his eyebrows.
He can feel his own lips quirk to mirror Yuri’s, even as he fights to push down the instinctive panic.
“And here I was hopin’ ta share with my darlin’ Judy!” he whines playfully, flopping down beside him face first in a show of dramatism.
“Sorry, Raven. I just couldn’t miss the chance to cuddle up with Estelle!” comes her voice, sing-songy, from the bed she’s claimed. He can see, as he pushes himself up onto his hands and knees to get better situated, that she’s doing exactly that. She’s practically spooning the princess, face buried in short pink locks, and Estelle herself looks the very picture of a tomato (not that he wouldn’t himself with Judith’s considerable… assets pressed against him).
“Well so long as yer not a cuddler yerself, Mr Lowell.” he jokes, rearranging himself onto his back before pulling the duvet up to his chin. For all that they’re in less than ideal circumstances with sharing beds, he’s glad to see Palestralle don’t skimp on the furnishings for their inns - the linen is incredibly soft, smooth against the pads of his fingers, and it’s a smart fabric choice for an inn in so changeable a climate.
Yuri huffs a laugh.
“I think I can hold myself back this once, just for you.” he says, tone laden with sarcasm. He watches Raven with keen eyes as he lounges on his side, head resting in his hand. Raven wonders how he can sleep like that - how his arm doesn’t cramp in the night, doesn’t wake him up in a fit of panic when he can’t move it, breathing shallow until the blood flow returns. He forgets, sometimes, that not everyone enters a blind panic over the little things.
“Why, I'm honoured! Yer benevolence knows no bounds!" he coos back, nose scrunching in amusement. Yuri smiles as he reaches back and pats Repede where he stands by the bed - a silent request to turn off the overhead light. The pooch complies, trotting off with a clack of his pipe between his teeth - Raven’s constantly caught off guard by the dog’s intelligence, the number of strange things Yuri’s managed to teach him (or perhaps that the dog has taught himself? He’s still not fully certain how much of a hand in training him that the young man’s had), and this is certainly another for the list.
“Damn right it doesn’t. Better make sure you show me the respect I deserve.” he says. He meets his eyes again as the blastia clicks off, dousing them in darkness. They crinkle with mirth, the abyss within softening even more as Karol giggles at their antics on the other side of the room.
They find themselves in a staring contest, of sorts. Or maybe closer to a game of chicken? He’s sure Yuri sees it that way at least, if his unblinking gaze is anything to go by. For him on the other hand it’s… something else. What exactly he can’t say. He’s just... transfixed .
Because Yuri’s plenty handsome on his own - perhaps even beautiful, if that’s more your thing. Raven’s already seen him turn a great many heads in the short time they’ve been together, including both the illustrious head of Fortune’s Market and the great forgotten war hero himself. Maybe he’d even let himself cast an admiring glance his way, if he hadn’t picked specifically womaniser for Raven’s bullshit cover-up trait.
But when the sea-breeze blows gently, kicking up the curtains, and the moonlight shines into the room, it catches him just so. The glow is ethereal, transformative, and it brings out the hidden flecks of golden brown in the depths of Yuri’s eyes, spins the silk of his dark hair almost chestnut. And just for a moment, he can trick himself into believing she’s here, the Canary herself, laid opposite him with a fond teasing smile, and oh god the hole where his heart used to be aches to reach out and touch her--
But for all her perfections, Casey’s eyes had never glowed quite like that had they? Never stared directly into his soul, made him almost want to bury into her arms and let her shoulder his every burden for him. Her kindness had inspired, but never been so bottomless that he wanted to abuse it, had never come off her in waves to the point it was visible in every little line of her face despite any grandstanding. Never so gentle to the broken that he could almost convince himself that he doesn’t need to run, that if he’s seen he’ll be accepted wholly, flaws and sins and all.
Not like Yuri. Not at all like Yuri.
The curtain drops, or else the clouds must roll in overhead. Either way, the moonlight vanishes, and with it goes the last vestiges of the illusion.
“Aye-aye, sir.” he all but murmurs, his voice tighter than just moments ago. He hopes, as Yuri’s face twists in concern, that his own face doesn’t give away the turmoil of his heart.
“You alright, old man? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Hah, maybe I have!” he laughs, but it sounds notably hollow even to him. Still, he doesn’t break eye-contact as Yuri seems to peer directly into him, seemingly scanning his every thought and feeling, hope and dream.
The last thing he sees as he slips into sleep is the gentle embrace of the abyss. While his dreams are plagued by nightmares, a broken body bleeding out in the sand, he finds it’s the best night’s sleep he’s had in years.
-------------⇸
The town is silent, other than the gentle rustle of the sea breeze through the trees and the crunch of the dirt path beneath his feet.
They’ve been here all day, but Yuri’s not sure he’s used to how incredibly peaceful Yormgen is yet. He’s not sure he ever will be, either. He’s used to the bustle of the city, the shouting of vendors and newsies in Zaphias’s main market as carts laden with goods and people roll by. It feels like there’s always a dog barking, a clock chiming, a baby crying in the city, and the background noise helps him to switch his brain off in a way that the country never can.
Halure had been quiet to him - the calm atmosphere of the day, the slowness of shop transactions and conversation, had already been a lot, but for there to be a perfect stillness as night fell rather than an increase in bustle as drinkers started to take to the town had been the real whiplash. Despite a relatively large population, the town didn’t have a single dedicated bar to its name, and it’d thrown Yuri for far more of a loop than he’d ever expected.
Yormgen is even stranger. There must be all of fourteen people in this entire town, he thinks, and every single one of them vanished into their houses the moment the sun started to set. The only conversation he's heard that he hasn’t been directly involved in since Duke showed up and smashed their apatheia (he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t still annoyed about that) is that of his own travelling companions bickering over what to make for dinner with their limited ingredients as he stepped away to find their mysterious disappearing old man.
Raven took the loss of the crystal hard. Or at least, Yuri thinks he did. He certainly vanished quickly when they decided to wait around while Rita took some time to investigate. He’d been right next to him one second and then gone the next, before they’d had a chance to agree to meet back up for dinner at sundown. With no one having seen him all day since to let him know, it’d fallen on his shoulders to hunt him down and drag him back. Raven might’ve been plenty energetic on their first trip through the desert, but they all know better than to let him make the return journey on an empty stomach. The man eats like a bird at the best of times - he really can’t afford to be doing that now.
He’d grumbled and whined about it being him who had to go find him, but in all honesty he’s kind of pleased. He’s found himself surprisingly worried about the old man - this is the first time since they’ve started officially travelling together that he’s pulled a disappearing act. Normally it’s hard to get him to shut up for more than 20 minutes at a time, so the better part of a day without seeing or hearing from him at all is completely unheard of. If his silence doesn’t mean he’s curled up and died somewhere, then Yuri knows that he’s the only one of their party who stands any chance of fetching him with both of them left unscathed.
He’s explored the residential side of the town (if it can truly be called that) extensively already throughout the day. Not that it was hard to do - other than the homes of locals that are a bit further out, the town proper is essentially three big buildings and a deck. He’d quickly concluded that there were very few places to hide a man with a proclivity for such a bright shade of purple amongst the muted timber and the gentle green of the grass. The only conclusion he can come to is that Raven must’ve headed to the other side of town, to the sea of flowers that makes his sinuses itch just looking in their direction.
For all he knows they’ll give him a headache, the flowers are incredibly pretty. It had been the bushes of pink and blue trumpets that had caught his attention in the midday, as Estelle had run over to them in delight and plucked a few. She’d fashioned a few little fascinators, of sorts (a skill she’d learned in the finishing school she had no doubt been forced to attend as the potential future Empress), and spent the better part of an hour lacing them into everyone’s hair. If he looks back over his shoulder, he knows he’ll see Judith wearing the pink blossoms - rhododendron, Estelle had called them - with pride, while Karol nervously fidgets with his own, worried they’ll fall out, ruining the princess’s hard work.
Now, however, in the amber light of the sunset, it’s the flower tunnel that draws his eye. Not that he hadn’t noticed it before - it’s impossible to miss, vibrant as it is. But he’s never been the biggest fan of yellow, always a little bright for his tastes. The way the light bounces off the thousands of little flowers is certainly eye-catching though, setting them in such a way that their radiance is somehow easier on the eye. They’re impossible to look away from as he draws closer, some emotion he’s unused to, couldn’t possibly name, stirring in his chest. The chains dance gently in the breeze, bouncing against each other like a bead curtain, and something about it makes him nostalgic for the familiarity of the Lower Quarter.
Then he spots him, further in, beneath the boughs. His hand rests comfortably on the handle of the knife he keeps at his waist, the other left to the mercy of the breeze as he stares up amidst the blossoms. They bathe him in their glow, mingling with the dying rays of the sun, casting him almost golden . He’s mesmerised by the sight himself, it seems, completely off-guard for the first time in the couple of months Yuri’s known him - for all he plays the fool, Yuri would be an even bigger one not to realise how keenly Raven follows the every movement of all those around him.
But right now, he seems… defenceless. Open. Fragile. Unaware that a world aside from him and the sea of flowers even exists. He could do whatever he wanted to Raven in this moment, he thinks, and he just knows the man would be equally surprised by anything. Something about that knowledge, this vision makes his chest feel light, almost airy.
The image sears itself into his mind, unbidden, and he knows instantly. No matter how hard he tries he’ll never erase it.
“Laburnum.”
He startles as Raven speaks. Perhaps he hadn’t been as unaware as he’d thought.
“Huh?” he grunts dumbly.
“These flowers. They call ‘em Laburnum. Or golden rain in some parts.” he says, flicking his eyes (almost the vibrant green of dense aer with the glow) over to acknowledge Yuri. He goes quickly back to gazing upwards, almost reverent. “Pretty apt.”
Yuri finds himself eyeing the flowers again as he moves closer. They’re strangely shaped, the blooms, unlike any he’s seen before. The petals curl back and in on themselves, clustered closely together in a way that hides the little shock of red in their centres. Stranger still are the buds, gently curved in a way that reminds him of the plantains he’d seen in Dahngrest’s market.
From the right angle, they could almost look like birds in flight, or indeed a sudden burst of rainfall.
“Yeah, I guess.”
Raven’s lips quirk into a smile. His eyebrows set into something pensive, wistful even.
“They’re pretty rare these days. Didn’t think I’d ever get to see a single tree with my own eyes, never mind a whole grove…”
The melancholy that’s settled over him like a veil is impossible to ignore, his voice distant as though transported to another time. There’s a pressure at the base of Yuri’s throat as he watches him, finds himself wanting to do… something. He’s not sure what. Just anything to pull him from his reverie. But of course, in the end all he really knows is sarcasm.
“Wouldn’t have taken you as the type to know about flowers.”
It seems to work somewhat. Though perhaps he shouldn’t be so surprised - he and Raven have always been strangely in sync.
“Wouldn’t be much good with the ladies if I didn’t know about little things like flowers, now would I?” he says, finally turning to face Yuri more fully. His eyes soften with mischief, and yet still seem tight with… well if Yuri had to put a name to it, he’d wager it was grief .
A half-joke then; his flower knowledge almost certainly learned on behalf of one lady, though he’d wager not women generally at all. After all, for all he seemed to enjoy playing the womaniser, his actions often seemed chosen to purposefully push them away if anything.
Yuri rolls his eyes in faux-annoyance. Raven smiles. It gets closer to meeting his eyes than he expected it to.
“I can’t imagine just throwing their names around is especially impressive. Seems more like the absolute bare minimum.” he says, hand coming to rest on a cocked hip. Raven’s smile widens, coaxed out of his shell somewhat by the familiar teasing routine.
“Ah, but whoever said I only knew their names?”
His eyebrows raise instinctively. To know flowers’ names is one thing, but any other details aren’t usually common knowledge; their language, how to arrange them, the best methodology for their care all usually things known solely by the upper echelons of society, or else those with enough money in their back pockets to take a chance on starting a related career.
“Don’t tell me…” he trails off, fixing Raven with a sceptical look. The old man’s face splits into a wide grin, hand coming up to flash a peace sign. Dork, his thinks impulsively as he huffs a laugh, surprised at the fond tone the word takes in his mind. Then quick as the cheer arrives it drops again, leaving the previous melancholic half-smile splayed across Raven’s face.
“These wouldn’t be much good in a bouquet though, pretty as they are. If bein’ deadly poisonous wasn’t enough, they’re usually used as a symbol of the forsaken. ” he muses, the last word spat like something dirty from his mouth.
“Who the hell would look at these and decide that? ” Yuri barks out. His expression must look as bewildered as he feels - Raven laughs at him, gentle but genuine.
“Yeah, it seems like a lot, right?” he says. His gaze drifts away from Yuri’s, losing focus and staring past him, through his shoulder. “She always liked them though, in spite of that.”
“...She?” he asks, carefully. He doesn’t want to sound eager, too nosey. Doesn’t want to push when the old man is this fragile. But he can’t help his curiosity - this is the first he’s mentioned of his past, the first clue to piecing together the admittedly fascinating mystery that is Raven. The man himself seems to realise it too, that with just one sentence he’s revealed a huge part of himself he hasn’t previously. Graciously, he doesn’t scramble to hide it away as Yuri might’ve expected.
“Ah. Old friend.” he says softly, as though divulging a secret. “She’s… gone now. But she was always a big fan of flowers. These weren’t her favourite but. She liked ‘em plenty.”
It slips out of his mouth before he can stop himself.
“Not like you to spill your past out in the open like this, old man.”
It takes all of his mental strength not to kick himself as Raven’s expression shutters, the nostalgia, longing , vanishing from his face in favour of something more carefully guarded. His eyes though, expressive as they are, can’t hide the pain.
“Ah. I suppose they got me feelin’ a little nostalgic. Forgive me.”
The silence stretches out between them for miles and miles as he watches Raven, Raven in turn watching the dancing laburnum above his head. His eyes flicker from bloom to bloom, as though cataloguing each one carefully, trying to commit their shape, their profile to memory. Yuri finds his eyes drawn to his lips as they purse, a gentle pout taut in a manner that gives away the nervous chewing of the inside of his mouth. His thick eyelashes fan over his cheekbones as he blinks, and Yuri hates the silence of the country, because it’s weird sappy shit like this that the bustle of the city helps him to avoid thinking about.
Raven’s a lot like these flowers , is the thought that springs to his mind, unprompted. And it’s ridiculous really. Completely nonsensical. The kind of thing Karol might come out with on a night where he’s overtired, that they’d all tease him for mercilessly until they pass out. But there’s nothing to distract him from it - he’s surrounded by the evidence, and the more he tries to ignore it the more sense it seems to make to him. The two parts of his brain war with each other, unrelenting, and he can feel the push and pull starting to show on his face.
Then a single blossom falls from the canopy above. It lands perfectly atop Raven’s bangs, perched there like a peepit in a tree, and he can’t fight the analogy anymore - Raven certainly looks forsaken, in that instant, the pain swimming in his eyes. And yet usually so bright and cheery, like the flower’s vibrant colouring, almost desperate for attention as he jokes around-- and then pushing people away, like a poison, when they try to get close. An exterior crafted to make you underestimate him, and yet a hidden strength, swift and deadly on the battlefield. A sunny disposition that washes over you like a summer rain, calming and refreshing.
He’s not sure anymore if the golden glow bouncing off Raven’s skin is from the flowers, or just simply the man himself.
A light breeze jostles the flower, and it slips from his hair. The strange shape hooks itself onto the crook of his nose and it wedges firmly, even as the wind picks up, cascading more petals down onto them both. Raven either ignores it, or doesn’t notice, his eyes falling closed as he lets nature wash over him.
He steps closer carefully, unthinkingly. He feels as a moth to a flame, though why he couldn’t say. He’s unfamiliar with the stirring in his chest that rises at the sight, doesn’t understand his compulsion to reach out, to touch Raven. To check he’s still solid and there, that he hasn’t been blown away on the currents of the wind like his namesake.
His hand reaches out, plucking the flower from Raven’s face gently. The old man startles instantly, eyes snapping open and meeting Yuri’s as he flicks the blossom to the floor. Raven’s eyes scan over him, looking for answers that he’s not sure he’ll find. Yuri certainly wouldn’t be able to explain if he were to ask. He simply looks between the sunken blue-green, carefully smoothing more fallen petals from Raven’s shoulders.
“For what it’s worth,” he says, voice practically a whisper beneath the howling of the breeze, far gentler than he’d expected it to be, “I think I understand why your friend liked them.”
Raven’s eyebrow cocks, ever so slightly.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” he answers, lips quirking into a small smile, something genuine and raw and delicate that he doesn’t recall gracing his face before. “They’ve got a certain charm, I suppose.”
Raven’s breath hitches - he doesn’t hear it, only sees the narrowing of his nostrils, the bobbing of his Adam's apple. His eyes are so round, as the melancholy starts to subside slowly, leaving something inquisitive in his wake. It’s an expression he’s sure he’s seen on Repede before when he was younger, still training, still struggling with learning to sit on command, and it feels strange to compare Raven to a puppy, but it certainly isn’t the strangest thing that’s happened to him in the last 24 hours.
It feels like hours before Raven breaks his eyes away, anything raw and gentle immediately traded for bluster and jokes as he ducks his head.
“What’re you doin’ hangin’ out with me amidst the flowers anyway?” he asks, voice a little hoarse as his teasing lilt starts to creep back to him. “The others will start to talk if we keep havin’ these secret rendezvous, young man! How scandalous!”
He slaps his hand to his chest, feinting horror at their make-believe tryst. Yuri snorts, socking him lightly in the arm. Ridiculous as his jokes are, he can’t help but be pleased to see him return to some semblance of normalcy.
“I came to get you for dinner, dumbass. After that, you can feel free to go on ahead to Nordopolica.” he says, turning back around to lead the way to the others with a nod of his head.
Raven snickers at his own antics, hurrying to follow after him as he pulls a hurt expression.
“What, you wanna get rid of me so soon?”
“Wrong.” he snorts, head turned pointedly away in an effort to ignore his self-deprecating jokes. “I just wouldn't want you to miss the new moon and your chance to deliver the letter all on our account.”
The beat of silence that follows is just a touch too long for their usual banter. He turns back to Raven, worried momentarily that he’s run off again and he’ll be on a wild goose chase for the rest of the night, only to find him following attentively behind him. He’s looking at Yuri, expression… totally indecipherable to him for once, actually. It’s a rare occasion for him to have no idea what the old man is thinking.
“What?” he asks, eyebrow quirking. Raven simply smiles, wide and catlike.
“Oh, nothin’ important~” he sing-songs, taking over the lead in the moment Yuri pauses. “Honestly, I could do fine without your concern.”
Yuri scowls.
“Wrong again.” he says, moving to keep pace, their back-and-forth continuing until they arrive back at the inn, and the campfire their party has set up.
(He never does figure out what Raven’s expression had meant on that day, but when he finds the small laburnum branch tangled in his hair alongside the rhododendron the next morning, he quietly stows it away in the bottom of Karol’s bag, heart fluttering strangely in his chest)
-------------⇸
The speed at which Mantaic’s locals manage to throw the party together is honestly quite astounding.
The stalls of the inn concourse have cleared their tables of their wares, already starting to accumulate piles of local cuisine - barely an hour since the news of the Flynn Brigade’s arrival started to spread throughout the town, whispers abandoned in favour of joyous cries despite the extreme early hour, and already there’s a feast to rival one for a noble. People of all ages are wide awake and gleeful, even very young children who don’t fully understand what’s happening squealing with joy at seeing their parents’ and older siblings’ excitement.
The princess tries to help where she can (as always) - shakily carrying huge steaming pots to their directed positions, assisting in dragging tables out of homes to line the streets. Were Flynn not so busy tying up loose ends with the stragglers of the Cumore Brigade, Judith’s sure he’d be dancing around her like a mother hen. Instead, Karol and Rita have become his stand-ins, getting roped into helping themselves albeit minus Estelle’s unshakeable enthusiasm.
She’s glad everything turned out okay in the end. It had been with great unease that they’d all drifted off to sleep the night before, distressed at their powerlessness, their lack of time. Battling with the princess’s impulsivity had been hard, especially in the presence of her big round eyes and quivering lips, but a necessary evil. There really wasn’t anything they could’ve done. Judith remains firm in her belief - it would be impossible to rehabilitate a man like Cumore in jail. Even with the combined influence of Flynn and Estelle, the strength of their idealism and naïveté, a man as corrupt as he would never conform to concepts like morals and ethics. He would only change in death.
The man’s fall from grace, while certainly better than allowing him to run amok, does little to satisfy her in all honesty. The townspeople, however, just seem glad to be free of his clutches, regardless of the flaws in the Empire’s justice system. She can’t blame them really - she’s sure she’d feel the same in their shoes, the ever-lingering threat of death by dehydration or being eaten alive finally lifted from their shoulders.
She’s glad for the lifting of the tense air that had settled over their travelling party the night before. That there’s a smile on Estelle’s face again is good too. For the sake of the guild, nothing more , she scolds herself mentally, quashing the leap in her chest as the baby blues smile in her direction.
She finds herself counted as one of the old souls on this occasion; the small group who are extremely pleased for the turn of events and the freedom of the people, but are either too tired or consider themselves too uninvested to actually lend a hand. Raven is a regular to this group, fucked as his sleeping pattern is, and it doesn't surprise her as much as she thought it would that Patty too sits among them.
Yuri sitting back, however, is new.
Something is off with him. Something has been off with him since… well, certainly since their discovery of Cumore's little scheme. He’s never been the most talkative of their group, a man of relatively few words until it comes to snide jibes and teasing, or else rallying speeches to raise morale or call outs for something he perceives to be an injustice.
(She’d say he was self-righteous - but then, by that same line of thinking, isn’t she also?)
His usual quietude has never felt like this though - dense and oppressive like thunderclouds, holding a tension that, if referred to, threatens to strike like lightning, harsh and quick and painful. It’s possible he’d just slept badly, but she doubts it. She and Yuri are painfully alike at the best of times and in this, it seems, they continue to be.
Yes, for Yuri, the biggest champion of justice among them, to still be so tense, so incredibly on edge… It’s extremely telling.
The only one who seems to have noticed Yuri’s torment other than her (and his faithful pooch) is, of course, Raven. It’s no surprise - he’s always kept a close eye on Yuri, in the time she’s known them. She’d heard tell that the Don had taken an interest in Yuri when he’d met him, in a way usually foreign to him in regards to newcomers. Normally it would be years - years of hard work, of craft and contributions in the name of the guilds, for the man to so much as glance in your direction, let alone learn your name (understandably so for so busy and powerful a man). Yet Yuri had waltzed in and garnered his full attention in the space of a few hours, at best.
That Raven has clearly been instructed to stake him out, in addition to his apatheia hunt, feels natural. Less so is a good chunk of what he actually seems to be observing about Yuri - she’s sure the Don would much rather see a report on his fighting capabilities, his disposition, the flexibility of his morality in a pinch, than whatever he’s gleaning by staring at his back when he takes his shirt off, or watching the flow of his hair in the desert breeze.
(That is, however, a report she would quite like to read, if for nothing more than watching the burn of Raven’s ears at the request)
This morning, however, the eye he keeps on him is careful. Though the ever-present catlike smirk that plays over his lips remains, there’s something considering to his gaze - a scheme in the works but not those of his usual calibre. Nothing designed to rile Rita, fluster Estelle or make the kids laugh (though she’s sure if he can tie his usual goals into whatever he’s concocting then he certainly won’t shy away at the chance).
If she had to guess at his intentions, she’d have thought--
The blaring of a horn throws her suddenly from her train of thought - the celebrations are brought instantly into full swing by a makeshift band of passing guildsmen throwing their own contributions into the mix. Judith doesn’t consider herself a big listener of music, in all honesty, but she’d be hard pressed not to recognise the juxtaposed staccatos and legatos characteristic of Dahngrestian swing - while lesser known within Empire towns like this one, the style is famous the world over.
She hasn’t had many opportunities to join in with the festivities the guilds are known for throwing, where dancers step and twirl faster than the barkeeps can pour drinks (and really, isn’t that an impressive thought, considering the drinking culture in Dahngrest?) She’s bore witness to their local dancing customs only once or twice, and never within the heart of the city itself, and she knows with certainty that while her footwork on the battlefield might be immaculate, she has two left feet for dancing - would certainly never dare to attempt swing. She has great sympathy for the townsfolk who, while enraptured by the melody, feet tapping along jovially, seem as though they don’t know quite what to do with it.
Altosk’s second, on the other hand, is ecstatic. He barks a delighted laugh that startles Patty, almost jostling her from the table she’s perched upon, and finally momentarily draws Yuri from his reverie. She watches, amused, as he throws Yuri’s grumpy, inquisitive look a wink before springing to his feet.
“Hey, kid!” he calls, flagging Karol down as he heads to the middle of the concourse. Their illustrious guild master looks up from the mabo curry bun he’s attempting to swallow whole, wide-eyed. Raven grins, crooked and gummy in a way she’s come to associate with his mischief.
“Why don’t we show these lovely folks how it’s done, as thanks for their hospitality?”
Karol is practically vibrating at the concept. In a flash he’s pulling off his gloves and whipping his bag over his head, dumping the pile in Rita’s lap (eliciting, of course, an incredibly over the top yelp of annoyance). He scarfs down the remnants of the bun as he hops over the table he’s sat at, scampering over to Raven in a manner that does nothing to hide his enthusiasm.
“You better not stand all over my feet, Raven!” he calls as he draws closer, face pulling into a pout that doesn’t quite ring true. The noise Raven makes in response is rather like that of a strangled cat.
“The nerve o’ kids these days!” he bemoans, pinching his sinuses with a shake of his head. “I’ll have you know yours truly is the pride of Altosk! Ya won’t find a better dancer in all o’ Dahngrest, not even the Don himself!”
“Uhu, suuuure. ” Karol drawls, disbelieving, as he comes to a stop by his side.
It’s as he does that Raven ducks his head close to the boy, hand a shield to cover whatever he says. His words are inaudible, but if Karol’s terrible attempts at hiding his furtive glances in Yuri’s direction are anything to go by, Judith would have to guess it’s something about whatever Raven’s scheming for Brave Vesperia’s second.
The band seems to catch wind of their plans, slowing the jaunty tune down to allow the two to begin. Karol dusts his hands off on his trousers bashfully, ridding himself of any remnants of curry, before taking Raven’s hand in his. Their movements start off slow and creeping, almost unnatural to watch, but it quickly becomes apparent to her that they’re motions meant to teach rather than for actual dancing - an enunciated display of footwork for the surrounding beginners as they take their time to get a feel for each other as dance partners.
And then, Raven taking Karol’s waist, they begin in earnest. Movements still slow, but now fluid as water, they begin to turn around one another in the style she vaguely recognises, and while she knows nothing about dancing, it’s clear that they’re extremely good. They match each other's timing perfectly, not a step out of place, and she could believe they were gliding if not for the dust their footsteps kick up.
Karol is good, of course, especially for a kid of his age (she wonders idly if he might’ve had a brief foray in a dancing guild, prior to joining the Hunting Blades), but Raven is really something else. She’s never seen a man able to move his hips in such a way, sashaying in a way that’s frankly a little hypnotising - if she thought he were truly interested in her, then this’d definitely be enough to make her begin to consider his earlier flirtations more seriously. It’s frankly criminal, she thinks, that his trousers and jacket do so much to obscure his ass.
As they become more comfortable, they begin to ramp it up a little - they take it in turns to twirl one another, alternating between wide sweeping arcs, Raven displaying his extreme flexibility to twist beneath Karol’s arm, to fast tight twirls that almost remind her of Rita’s casting motions. For these, Karol spins so quickly she’s surprised he doesn’t completely lose balance and land face first in the dirt. Instead he simply laughs jovially, really getting into the spirit of it and losing himself to the music. Raven’s responding smile is fond, like a father watching their kid, and she could almost believe they’ve both forgotten about their ulterior motives, if not for how Raven keeps glancing in their direction every other time he’s facing their way.
It’s as Estelle drags Rita out to join them, accompanied by a group of the locals, that Judy feels something ugly snare her heart and promptly takes the opportunity to cast a considering glance instead to Patty and Yuri. The smaller is bouncing where she sits, gleefully watching the dancers - she seems antsy to join in, if only she could find a spare partner who wouldn’t accidentally crush her.
Yuri surprises her - while he might not be completely out of his funk, he’s watching more attentively than she previously expected. She gazes at him curiously for a while as he leans his head on his hand, watching the Dahngrestian pair’s increasing frenzy. Karol’s giggles are near constant, and Raven’s been infected by his happiness, laughing obnoxiously himself. The creases of Yuri’s eyes tighten, even as the rest of his face fails to emote, as his eyes seem to lock on Raven’s face and stay there. She smiles.
“Ahem.” she coughs, sharp and decidedly fake. Yuri and Patty both are startled away from the party, turning to her. She raises her eyebrows pointedly at the former, coy smirk rising to her lips. His eyes widen in response, as Patty turns confusedly to look at him, before he flusters, turning away from the party entirely. She laughs.
It’s at that moment that Karol comes spinning towards them, hand freed from Raven’s grasp at last. His smile is blinding, and he’s struggling to catch his breath, but he still seems to be full of energy as Raven follows behind him.
“Patty, you probably know a bit of swing, right?” he asks her, real question thinly veiled by his proffered hand.
She’s a clever lass, though. “Hah! Of course I do, matey!” she declares, grabbing it firmly and pulling him back out into the street.
Raven watches them go fondly, before turning to her. With a flourish, he bows to her, graceful as a knight but with none of the prim and proper charm.
“Judy, my darlin’, could I convince ya to honour ol’ Raven with a dance?”
His eyes never leave hers as he asks, gaze sharp and lacking all pretense of genuine flirting.
Ah, so that’s his game is it?
“Oh no, I couldn’t possibly!” she declares exaggeratedly, hand to her chest. “Not when Yuri so clearly wants to instead!”
The effect is instant. She barely has time to note the twitch of Yuri’s ears at the sound of his name before his head whips around to look at them.
“Hu- what?”
Raven springs back upright, throwing his hand up to clutch at his own chest.
“Yuri, darlin’, if you wanted to dance with me then all you had to do was say so! No need to make Judy do all yer dirty work for ya!”
He closes the gap between them in a matter of steps, as Yuri’s face grows more panicked by the second.
“Wh-- no, what?! Judy, no, I can’t dance , JU--!!”
She smiles as Raven takes him by the hand and tugs him away. Yuri’s expression reminds her of a bunwigle, caught unaware in the middle of the night, backed into a corner with no escape. It’s incredibly endearing, and certainly a nice change from the faux-apathy he’s been stewing in.
As they move away she watches as Raven’s expression transforms from mischievous to something more careful, considerate. He doesn’t guide Yuri to the middle of the crowd as she’d expected, where their friends spin with reckless abandon, but instead to a quieter area of the dancing space. Yuri seems just as confused as she feels, more than likely expecting Raven to have humiliated him with his lack of skill. They’re far enough away that whatever the older man says to reassure him is lost to her, but he smiles and takes Yuri’s hands gently.
Her heart swells at the careful way Raven teaches him, easily pulls him out of his darker thoughts and concentrates his mind on something else. Yuri doesn’t strike her as the sort to let himself be taken care of, but she doubts he even realises that’s what’s happening - probably sees it instead as some sort of challenge. It’s nice. She might not have known him long, but she feels close to him in a way she hasn’t felt with another person for… a good ten years, she’d wager. She’d forgotten what it felt like, to see good things happen to someone you care about.
He trips over Raven’s feet often, but Raven doesn’t let him get self-conscious about it - instead exaggeratedly pretending to trip himself in a way that allows Yuri to chip in and tease him. When there’s one failed attempt too many and Yuri attempts to break away, he simply pulls him back in, closer, and looks him in the eyes.
(She feels a little bad for still watching, personal and intimate as the moment is becoming, but it’s hard to find anything else interesting at this point)
“What is it I always say when I’m fightin’, Yuri?” she can just about hear the old man say over the wail of the trombone.
Yuri’s tone is monotonous, even as his face starts to rise into an affectionate smirk.
“‘Ooo, eee, ow, my back hurts?’” he says, quirked eyebrow a dead giveaway for his bullying. He receives a light slap to his arm for his trouble that leaves him laughing openly in a way she… hasn’t actually seen from him in the time she’s known him.
Huh.
“That it’s just like dancin’, ya dolt!” he says. He laces their fingers carefully before starting to move once more through the basic steps. “You’ll see what I mean before long.”
After a few more failed attempts, Yuri finally starts to figure it out. He still steps on Raven’s toes more often than not, but it’s to be expected for a newbie in the face of a dance as rapid as swing - she’s quite impressed at how fast he’s picked it up in all honesty. He’s already doing a damned sight better than Rita, whose motions are still awkward and stiff as she’s twirled by Estelle (though she looks to be having the time of her life, in spite of it).
They look very sweet together, in all honesty. It’s the most she’s seen either of them relax in front of other people - Yuri’s snark is quickly abandoned as he starts to really get into the swing of it, and most of Raven’s jokes and teasing go along with it. They’re just a couple of normal guys in their own little world, dancing together beneath the rising sun, looking genuinely happy for once. Watching them laughing together, she finds her own spirits raised too, even as she continues to sit to one side like a wallflower.
And she’s glad she did. If she hadn’t, she’d have missed out on this potentially one-time-only sight of Yuri’s carefree smile. Would’ve never seen the sudden change in Yuri’s demeanor as he looks up at Raven mid-spin, eyes widening, before his expression becomes suddenly raw.
He’s not watching his feet at all any more - he’s just going with the flow, and reading Raven’s movements and they’re incredibly in sync to say Yuri has all of 10 minutes of experience. It’s strange to think it, but he seems to be having fun , doing something other than fighting, even despite his mess ups. Yuri’s uncharacteristically crooked smile, as his eyes never leave Raven’s, is blindingly beautiful, and piques her curiosity.
Before today, when she’d seen the admiring glances the Raven had sent his way, she’d have thought he was barking up the completely wrong tree. Now though (although she doubts Yuri’s realised the way he’s starting to look at the old man) she’s really not so sure.
Then the moment is gone.
Behind her, she hears him. Flynn, barking orders to his brigade, accompanied by the protests of the now-bound followers of Cumore. And in that exact instant, Yuri stops stock-still. Raven goes crashing into him, frantically apologising and trying to check he’s okay, but it’s as though he isn’t there. Yuri just stares past her to Flynn, eyes wide and unseeing but… terrified , if she had to take a guess.
She can hear Raven call to him as he slips his hands free from his grip, and he looks up glancingly. He mutters something, what she can only imagine is some excuse, or a few words of apology, before he’s stalking off towards the inn and shutting the door behind him briskly.
Raven, standing alone and off to one side, looks very small in that instant. Like he doesn’t know quite where he went wrong, what he could’ve possibly done differently.
Perhaps, just this once, she can take pity on him. After all, if there’s anyone who can fix her left feet…
Standing and smoothing down her skirts, she heads over to him, taking his hand, and he startles. His big blue eyes look up at her, puppy-like, and it’s like Estelle the night before all over again. She sighs, already regretting her question before she asks.
“Is the offer still open?”
He smiles. Solemn. But it’s a start.
me, age 12: haha yeah raven blatantly has a thing for yuri and i love them together, but i guess there isn't much to imply yuri likes him back huh
me, age 24, seeing the 'Happy Birthday' skit for the first time and learning the Very Specific Age Gap between Yuri and his first ever crush: a
ftr no one in the vesperia party is cishet no i will not take questions
#tales of vesperia#vesperia#tov#yuri lowell#raven#raven of altosk#yuraven#yuri/raven#reiyuri#karol capel#rita mordio#estellise sidos heurassein#judith#patty fleur#flynn scifo#hanks vesperia#fanfiction#fanfic#my writing#my art#jic it isn't immediatelly apparent#scene 1 is after they save estelle + scene 2 goes back to keiv moc#and then goes chronologically from there#they're in love your honour and i'm going to show you how that happened in this 20 part several thousand word fanfic--#also just a heads up this WILL have sm*t in the future so minors maybe do not interact#(and DEFINITELY do not when it gets to the sm*t in question)#i'll post a link to this on ao3 in the reblogs if that's more your thing!!
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...Hank and Connor father-son relationship is my favourite continuation of that story, but I also respect people which prefer them as work partners or lovers. At last we're all in a huge fandom of that amazing game ^^ /TynnaHatter aka TH
I’m not in the fandom. Sorry, but I just want to draw stuff and I want people to stop telling me I’m wrong and should stop drawing it. That’s all.
And I can’t respect shippers, not after everything I’ve seen and everything they did. Especially considering how all fandoms are basically turned into shipping zones. I know, it’s totally my problem that I can’t stand the enormous amount of that stuff (not to mention incest ships that are just gross), but it’s the way it is. I can’t make myself respect something or someone. And I don’t really want to, tbh.
I’m really sorry I’m writing all this as an answer to your message, don’t take it personally. I’m really glad you like Hank and Connor’s father-son relationship. I’m just tired of people insisting that I must respect all opinions. No, I actually don’t have to. People can think whatever they want, I’m not stopping them, I’m not bothering them. And I want them to stop bothering me.
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not like the others
Synopsis: Derek and Savannah join Penelope and Luke on a double date
Pairing: Garvez (ft Derek and Savannah)
A/N: This isn’t perfect, but I promised it to my friend MONTHS ago, I may fix it up when I have the time but I think for right now it should be fine. So enjoy!
“Do we have to go?”
Luke comes up behind Penelope who is putting the final touches to her curls and rests his arms around her waist. Feeling the warmth of his torso against the curve of her back, she closes her eyes as she leans into his touch. “I’d like to remind you, Alvez. This was your idea.”
“I know.” He groans, shifting his chin to her shoulder and glancing forward, his gaze meeting his reflection. “But that was before I walked in here and saw you wearing... this.”
Penelope feigns ignorance as she tilts her head down. “I can change if you -”
“No, no.” Luke tightens his grip. “Please don’t do that.”
Without moving from his grasp, Luke watches as Penelope twirls in his embrace. “Counter offer.”
“Hm?”
“We text them and tell them we’ll be 20 minutes late.”
He squints. “You’d waste 20 minutes of precious time with your lover so we can fool around a little?”
Penelope pauses. “You’re right. 10 minutes.”
**
“Baby!” Penelope barrels her way through the restaurants small crowd with high speed and excitement and when she’s close enough, launches herself into Derek’s awaiting arms. “Oh, I have missed your arms around my sweet physique but most importantly, I have missed your wife.” She untangles herself from her best friends' arms, all but shoving him aside to instead collect Savannah in a tight embrace.
“Damn,” Luke says, finally catching up to the group and watching as Penelope and Savannah whisper quietly to themselves. “I thought I was going to have to fight you for her attention tonight. Didn’t expect this.”
Derek tilts his head slightly and furrows his brows; Luke seems amused, relaxed and less stilted and uncomfortable like previous men in Penelope’s life. Just by his stature, he knew there was something about Alvez and he was willing to test it out.
Penelope rolls her eyes. “Oh. Ha. Ha. You’re so funny.”
“Mama.” Derek chides. “Behave.”
Her mouth opens and closes into a thin line, her eyes sparkling with a glint of something - as if a challenge had been accepted. “Only because you asked.”
“It’s alright, Morgan. It’ll work in my benefit later.”
Savannah snorts, trying to repress the growing smirk from the edges of her mouth. Luke barely batted an eye at the sultry tone his girlfriend had just used, instead biting back quickly with a good quip of his own. “Oh, I like this one.”
Shrugging her jacket off her shoulders, Penelope huffs. “Makes one of us.”
Rolling his eyes, Luke takes her jacket and pulls out her chair before maneuvering around to settle on her left. This small act has Penelope’s cheeks turn a different shade of pink and it’s then, the couple opposite them know her words hold absolutely no weight. “So,” She begins, lifting her arm and beginning to scrap slow circles around the ends of Luke’s hair. “How’s my boy?”
Savannah places her elbows on the table and leans forward slightly, at the same time Derek opens his mouth. “He’s growing up far too quickly.”
“Oh. Hank. Got it.” Derek deflates.
“Sorry to break it to you, babe. I don’t think you’re her favourite Morgan anymore.” Savannah says.
“That’s right.” Penelope agrees, winking at the woman across from her. “You are.”
“Do you see what I have to put up with?” Derek waggles a finger between the two of them but looking at Luke, who had been quietly observing the interaction.
“Would you rather the two women in your life hate each other, though?”
“Been there.” Penelope grins. “Whatever you saw in - what was her name? Amy? Oh she was so sure we were sleeping together.”
“To be fair, baby, she did come over and you were in my bed.”
Luke dips his head and smirks.
“I was cold!”
“You were naked.” Derek remarks, frantic eyes snapping to Luke. “Not like that, man. She -“
“Strips all her clothes off after one too many Jagers?” Luke waves him off. “I know. It’s okay.”
Knitting her brows together, Penelope sits back in her chair and crosses her arms over her chest. “I’m feeling very picked on right now.”
“Would you rather the two men in your life not get along?” Savannah raises a brow.
“Right now? Yes.”
**
Falling into an easy rhythm, the group order their food quickly and settle into comfortable conversation. Savannah is carefully watching Luke with every move their significant other makes but it is all so natural. She knows the story of Kevin and the few times she met Sam, he was lovely as ever but Luke? She couldn’t put her finger on it yet but by the end the night she would.
“Wait, what?” Savannah frowns. “Our Penelope? Being unkind to anyone? I don’t buy it.”
“You didn’t see her babe. She was cold as ice.”
“Queen of ice.” Luke adds.
Lifting her chin, the woman in question squints. “I will leave you and take Roxy with me.”
Luke sobers quickly. “The sad part about that is she would go willingly.”
“Roxy?” Savannah questions.
“Our dog.” Penelope replies.
“You guys have a pet together already?” Savannah hums. “I’m impressed.”
“Well, no. She’s Luke’s but I have her whenever he’s on a case so she’s ours on a technicality, I guess.”
When he was a teenager, Derek’s mother had told him how to tell when someone was in love and he’s pretty damn sure he just witnessed Luke have that realization. But that wasn’t his place so he took a swig at his beer and cleared his throat. “Baby girl,” he coaxes Penelope’s attention. “He passed.”
Beside him, his wife whips her head around. “He – what?”
Confused, Penelope’s date looks between everyone at the table. “He who? Passed what?”
The three of them only smirk.
**
“Where are our better half’s?” Savanna steps outside where Luke s waiting for their valet to bring both cars around.
“Bathroom.” Luke nudges his thumb over his shoulder.
“So, probably making out in a closet, then?”
Alvez shakes his head. “In that dress? Penelope would be too afraid of tearing it on a hanger. My votes against a door.”
Breathing out a chuckle, Savannah bites her lip. “They really don’t bother you, do they?”
“I know my place in her life and I know Derek’s. They come as a package deal, I’ve always known that.”
“And that doesn’t… make you uncomfortable?”
“Did it make you uncomfortable?” Luke pushes against her question.
“I guess I’m with you.” She replies honestly, wrapping her arms around her stomach. “I’ve always known my place. I just — some men Pen have dated were slightly insecure about what they have.”
Nodding in understanding, Luke hums. “It’s a good thing I’m not Kevin Lynch then.”
From their hiding place, secluded around a tight corner, Derek snorts — revealing themselves.
“Good going, Morgan!” Penelope shoves him forward. “You gave us away.”
“Nah, babe. I think it might’ve been you whispering cues to Savannah that did it.” Luke smirks, drawing her into his side. He leans in and kisses her, soft but a hint at what the evening might bring.
“Hey,” Penelope’s voice is low. “You passed though.”
“Passed what?”
**
“I’m forwarding you his address now,” Penelope says into her speaker the following Monday.
“Thanks Pen!” JJ speaks first. “We’ll check in afterwards, we’re gonna head there now but if you could –“
“Make sure his work addresses are legit? Already ahead of you. Give me a mo and I should be able to send it through to you guys.”
JJ sighs happily. “What we ever did a without you is beyond me. Okay we’ll call you – OH wait! I heard someone passed?”
Luke frowns, suddenly sitting up straight in the backseat. “Wait, you know what that means???”
Before the call disconnects, all the SUV hears is a low laugh from their tech analyst.
#Penelope Garcia#Luke Alvez#Garvez#garvez fanfic#garvez fanfiction#luke and penelope#penelope x luke#Garcia x Alvez#garcia and alvez
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ABOUT TRUST.
Obispo “Bishop” Losa x Hank “Tranq” Loza daughter!Reader
Anon asked: can you do an imagine with bishop losa where you have a secret relationship with bishop and you two are having sex and hank (your dad) catch you two.
Warnings: NSFW, smut
Thanks to my lovely beta reader @chibsytelford 💖
Word count: 1.9k
Author Comments: I hope you all enjoy. Gif credits: @angels-reyes
Tag list: @starrynite7114 @chibsytelford @dazzledamazon @mara-mpou @sammskellington @gemini0410 @1-800-imagines @briana-mishell24 @sassymox @whyisgmora @aquamento @sadeyesgf @viviansafizada @samcro-jnt @jade770 @arved @witchy-wish ✨ (if you wanna be tagged, send me a message!)
The sun is shining on top of the sky, when you start to feel somekind of awaken, with two hands holding yours. One lying on your stomach, another surrounding your neck and your throat. It's a nice feeling his chest breathing against your back, as his breath collides on your nape. You sigh, sinking your nose on his forearm, 'cause yes, it's a good dream.
A finger running through your right cheek, putting away a small brist of hair, making you squirm on the sofa with a heavy and sleepy snort. Then a lips pressing your skin in a soft caress, while two arms are surrounding your body to lift you up. It's half past four am, and you fell asleep watching a TV show you can't remember which one was. Resting your head on his chest on the way to the bed. Your eyes getting almost opened in some flashes, recognizing your room, when he leaves you there. Again, his lips kissing your forehead. It's a good dream, you think. It's like if a eternity has passed, when his arms wrap you again, pushing you closer to that delicious smell you could die for. It's insane how much you need it in your daylife, being an agony every time he has to leave Santo Padre.
“Wake up”. Like a distant whisper, you hear his voice. But you refuse to do it, so he's gonna disappear again. “Mi amor…”
Another one accompanied by some kisses on your head, sliding his lips over your hair, reaching your neck. A soft gasp leaves your lips. One week separated and you're starting to be so needy in all the possible aspects that you're dreaming with him. With a slight sob you shake your head, holding tightly his arms around you.
“I don' want you to go again”. You say somewhat sleepy.
“I don' gotta go anywhe'”.
Your eyes snap open, touring with your orbs the fingers tangled with yours. Your heart jump, turning so fast over the mattress that you almost feel dizzy. Bishop is truly there. It's not a dream. Smiling with both eyebrows raised, chuckling in silence. You hug him, screaming for a second, before filling his face with kisses listening his laughter as he tries to give you back every kiss. You suppose that last night he came to your house and brought you to bed.
“It's good to be back at home”. He says holding you closer.
“I missed you”. Your lips finally find his.
He missed you too, by the way he has to kiss you. So slow and careful, wanting to enjoy every single inch of them, while one of his hands get tangled in your hair. Your teeth collide for a moment, making you laugh against his mouth and his tongue looking for yours. Drowning a moan there, his free hand travels to your ass grabbing it and pinching it. Forcing you to place a leg on his waist, you discover that he's naked and by the way how hard he is, moving your hips slowly as you're trying to feel some more friction. Your left hand getting slide among your bodies, grabbing gently all his extension and giving him a chill that makes him grunt between teeth.
“Fuck… baby girl, I need you”. He bites your low lip, as your wrist it moves faster at times, caressing his swollen glans with your thumb whenever you can. “Take it, mi amor. It's all yours. Only yours”.
With a naughty smile on your lips, drawing a way of kisses down of his chest, traveling all around his abdomen noticing how shaky his breath his, until the tip of your tongue roams his hardened skin. Grabbing your hair with a hand, so he can maintain your gaze full of lust, when you take his cock inside your mouth pushing him to the limit. Your nose touching his low abdomen, as he's forcing your throat. You can see Bishop leaning his head back slightly with his eyes almost white, till you need some air to breathe. Moving your lips somekind faster from top to bottom, with your tongue touring his sensible skin, his guttural growls start to flood the room. This is your favourite part, tasting him as he enjoy every caress you give him stroking your throat with the reddened and delicious head of his cock. It's fucking amazing.
“Com'ere, baby”. Holding your chin with two fingers, he raised you up enough to kiss you whilst he's getting up to rest his back against the metallic headboard, so you can sit on top of him. “Did you miss daddy, ah?”
Pulling away some bristles of your hair you nod with no hesitate, kissing him away. His tongue tastes good fighting with yours. His fingers curl the fabric of your shirt, lifting up above your head to throw it away. Bishop's moustache gives you some tickles on your neck when his teeth bite your collarbone softly and his fingers squeezing and pinching your nipples.
“Daddy needs you, baby girl”. He mutters, going up his lips kissing you under your chin, on it, until he reaches your lips so desperate that you can feel it as if it was your feeling.
He's tired after too much hours riding from southern Cali to northern and the only thing you want is please him, make him know that he's back at home so he can rest calmly. Guiding his warm cock between your thighs, you bounce on him just one time. His fingers getting nailed on your ass with a pleasure howl from him sinked in your lips.
“Fuck, mi amor… don't move. Let me enjoy it”. He almost begs pulling you closer, with your hands caressing his chest.
You can feel how Bishop is getting harder inside you, pressing your tightness in a delectable agony taking away your breath. Moving your hips slowly in a soft dance, keeping your gaze darkened, the pleasure is finding you. It feels better than finger yourself whilst he's moaning by the other side of the phone, when you two are in different parts of the country. Spreading your legs a little more, every pound gets deeper, faster and rough than the last, wailing his name with a broken voice. His saliva wetting your throat, filling it with small red bruises marking his territory in need of makes you know that you are his and he's yours.
“Hey, baby, I brou—”.
At least, your father had knock the door before coming in, giving you the enough time to sit by Bishop's side and cover your body with the sheets. The scene is the most awkward and uncomfortable moment you've had to live. Hank with a hand on the doorknob, Bishop licking his lips with an ill-at-tease look on his face, and you trying to hide under the sheets.
“I'm pretty sure he saw you too”. The older mutters twisting his head to a side just a little, as if your father couldn't hear him, but with his eyes on his.
“I can explain”. You say feeling your whole body shaking terrified.
“You better do”. Tranq's face has no expression on it and his hoarse and rough voice gives you cumbersome chills. “Get the fuc' outta' my daughter' house, Obispo, before I shoot you till the charger is empty”.
Your boyfriend doesn't say anything, nodding with his tongue touring his teeth for a second, before getting up from the bed to get dressed and collect his stuff. And he also doesn't give a fuck about Tranq being your father, proving it when he kneel above the mattress placing a hand on your nape so he can kiss your forehead.
“I love you”. He also says, leaving another kiss on your right cheek, taking off of one of the kutte' pockets a small red box. “From LA”.
Bishop leaves the room in silence and your father doesn't even look at him, with his eyes full of rage on yours. So, when you hear the main door getting closed, his snorts heavy supporting his shoulder on the door frame.
“Da—”.
“Are you fuckin' kiddin' me, (Y/N)?”
“Let me have a shower and we wi—”
“Stay there. Ashamed as you should be. What the fuck were you thinking, ah? Bishop? Really? You betray my trust for what? For a… frig?”
“Bishop is not a one-night-stand, dad”. You try to explain him, irritated and desperate.
“Shit, it only get worse when you think he's gonna have somekind of serious thing with you…” Tranq rubs his face with both hands laughing bittersweet.
“Two days ago was our anniversary”. You spit at him, raising the small box between your fingers, with both eyebrows upped. And you can hear how his heart stop for a while. “I didn' know how to… tell you, and I'm sorry. But I'm old enough to make my own choices. I didn' meant to fuck up your trust in me, but it just happened”.
“There are no secret between us, that's what I thought. But seems like I'm not that important to you”.
“C'mon, dad! That's not fair!” Tangling your body in the sheets, you get up from the bed walking towards him. “I love you, more than anyone and you know it well. But I was afraid of this happening”.
“So what? You were gonna hide it from me all your life?”
“'Course not!” You say a little bit louder. “He truly loves me and takes care of me, that's the only thing that should matter to you”.
“Till he breaks your heart”.
“It's not gonna happen. Likewise, it's the law of life and no one can avoid it”. You sigh closing your eyes just for one second, trying to calm yourself. “I—I'm sorry. So sorry. But I love him and I didn'... meant to hurt you”.
“Breakfast is gonna get cold”. He just replies, turning over his boots to leave your house in complete silence.
━━━━━━ ﹅ ━━━━━━
You're playing with the golden collar around your neck, lying on the sofa waiting for a text or a call, after the night has fallen down. Neither your father, nor Bishop, have answered to their phones, starting to think about the worst possible sceneries where your boyfriend get shot, stabbed, asphyxiated by Tranq's hands… Until the sound of some keys colliding open the front door. Jumping off of the sofa, you run to the entrance, finding Bishop's bloody face. Covering your trembling lips with a hand, he starts to laugh confusing you. His nose is almost broken, with an open wound on his left eyebrow and gap on his lower lip. You can't even imagine how are his ribs, knowing that it's your father's favourite place to punch.
“I'm okay, but I need my nurse”. He says taking off the helmet and the kutte to leave them on the small table next to the door.
“My father…?”
“In the Mayans' ring”. He nods wrapping your waist between his arms as you place your hands on his neck, so you can study better his face. “He said that he… ‘approves’ it, after threaten to spread my body across the desert if I hurt you”.
“Shit, 'am sorry, Bish…”
“It was worth it, baby girl. But I really need you to heal me, 'cause it hurts as fuck”.
“Com'ere, boxer…”
#mayans mc x reader#mayans mc#mayans mc imagine#mayans x reader#bishop losa imagine#bishop losa#bishop losa x reader
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I'd like to request a ship for Star Trek AOS and Marvel, please.
[I hope this is okay to do as an Anon :)]
I'm Straight (as far as I know, I don't have much relationship experience).
I like writing, drawing and reading. But music is my biggest passion, you're likely to find me sat in a corner listening to music and imagining some far off land. I play Piano and Guitar.
One of my favourite things to do though, is to go for a long walk in the countryside or gaze at the stars at night, away in nature with minimal light pollution. I love fresh air and the free feeling that comes with wildlife and nature.
I'm a physically active and adventurous spirit as well. Though it has become clear to me time and again that my willpower for most self driven activities is really quite bad.
I dislike, the feeling of being alone, or abandoned, even in crowded places if I'm not prepared to be responsible by myself, I do fret. I'm unbothered by things like Spiders or Bugs and hope to be a Vet one day, or at least work in health care of some kind, whether it be helping people or animals.
My personality...
I'd say im a confident person, I've always had the view "If it's something that isn't going to hurt me, I should give it a try, I'll just regret it later if I don't."
I've been told I'm good with people, speaking up for my shy friends and helping those in need. I'm quite adventurous and willing to try new things all the time!
I am kind, funny, loving, confident, optimistic, creative, fun, adventurous, and caring.
I like the idea of being the only person to see someone on a softer side, whether it be by being able to read them like a book and being able to see their real feelings, or to have a relationship formed over time so they show their softer side on purpose.
I hope this isn't too much, or too little. If you can't already tell, I haven't done this before and have no idea what I'm doing 😅.
I tried to make this at least an interesting read, haha. Well, I better finish up now, I've wasted enough of your time already, Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope its enough to work with. I can't wait to see what you come up with :D
- K
I hope you like them!
Though you did say you are straight, I am unsure of what gender you identify as, but most most of my followers are she/her, I am assuming you are as well, so I will be giving you male ships. I really hope I did not assume wrong, and if I did I apologize!
Star Trek AOS:
I ship you with Leonard.
Leonard definitley comes off as grumpy and distant, but he really appreciates when people can see through it, which would be one of the things he loves about you. He doesn't have to pretend around you, and he is perfectly content with being himself. Which is a super loving softy in reality.
He loves nature as well, and loves going on walks with you. He is not the most adventurous though, so you might not be able to convince him to do some things.
He is protective and sweet, and would never leave you alone in a situation you don't want to be in. He would always be right there, hand in hand with you.
Leonard also appreciates artistic people as well as he is not very much himself. So he truly loves listening to you play piano and/or guitar, as well as sing.
Next ship under cut~
Marvel:
I ship you with Hank McCoy
Hank is adorable and loving and would love to be around you. He would never abandon you or leave you alone. He is not the most outgoing, but he is more so when he is around you.
He enjoys nature as well and would always be up to going on walks, or even hiking or camping.
He truly appreciates and enjoys your writing, music, and drawing and always encourages you. Plus he gives you a thousand compliments as well.
Your caring and optimistic sides are what drew him to you, he thought you were wonderful and could not get you out of his head once you were there.
You also would probably work with him at the school in the medical sector, or taking care of the pets around the school.
xx
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OneShot - Detroit: Become Human [Unexpected Saviour]
A/N: This scenario takes place after Connor has succumbed to deviancy and the androids are given a chance at a better lifestyle.
If you have any requests and like my writing style, feel free to ask me for more!
Title: Unexpected Saviour
Pairing: Connor (RK800) x Reader (Gender Neutral)
Word Count: 1.8k words
Warnings: Cursing (It’s Hank, come on.)
“Come join us!” They said, “You’re gonna have the time of your life!” They said when you refused them for the umpteenth time. They just wanted to celebrate your arrival to Detroit for the first time. “They” are your extremely close friends who were supposed to know what you liked and what you didn’t.
Maybe you weren’t a party person; maybe you just had a bad day and wanted to cuddle yourself in your bed while you binged one of your favourite shows; maybe it didn’t go through their minds to let you have your own kind of fun and ,instead, dragged you to this one club you had never heard of.
“Some time of my life I’m having,” You mumbled to yourself as you gently traced your index finger across the rim of the glass that you hadn’t even drank from. It had been sitting there for about 15 minutes as you planned what you wanted to do once you got home, if you got home on time.
The way some of your friends were drinking themselves to death, you doubted you would be in shape to do anything but sleep. You sighed as you watched them stumble to the dance floor, trying to pull you along with them. Of course, you easily resisted their weak tug and smiled at them, letting them know you were content where you were.
“Oh, come on! Have some fun- this is for you, you know?” One of them encouraged you but you stood your ground, nonetheless.
“I’m fine. Don’t worry.” Once they left, you turned around to stare at your glass again.
“Hey, there.” You turned around to an unusually smooth voice next to you to find an unfamiliar face glancing at you.
“Yes?” You answered and narrowed your eyes in suspicion.
“You know this is a club, right? Why are you all alone at the bar?” He leaned against the counter of the said bar and turned to look at you once more. If you didn’t feel anything wrong about this guy before, you definitely were now because of his stare.
“Listen, what I’m doing here is none of your business, so you can screw off.” You managed to keep confidence in your voice and turned away to finally drink your cocktail.
“You don’t have to be so harsh; you know? I’m just being friendly.”
“Then, go and be friendly with your own friends. I’m not looking for a chat, if you didn’t notice.” You rolled your eyes and began to walk away to find comfort with your friends instead. The man beside you, however, wasn’t so keen on letting that happen; he grabbed your arm and pulled you back to sit on the stool you were previously on.
“You are going to sit here and keep me entertained or I might just have to kill you too,” He suddenly growled, making your eyes widen.
“Detroit Police!” You heard a firm voice yell over the loud music, gaining everyone’s attention as the music continued to pump.
“Shit.” You heard the man next to you mutter as he lowered his head to avoid any contact with anyone. Seeking this as an opportunity, you slowly got up as the club started to clear out. On the way out, all the customers were being checked for whether they were androids or not, making you question the man who had just threatened to kill you.
He has no chance of escaping.
You thought as you stared at him, worried of making a wrong move.
Which means, I might have no chance of surviving.
You looked around in a panic, hoping to find someone who could help you. Your friends turned to you, who were being dragged out by an android. You tried to communicate with your eyes as one of them nodded at you, pointing at you to indicate the android that you were with them.
His gaze shifted to you before snapping towards the man beside you. Something resembling frustration crossed his face before he turned back to your friends quickly to tell them to leave, not giving them much choice even if they seemed to resist.
Oh, I’m going to die here. I knew I shouldn’t have come.
You mentally scolded yourself but were instantly interrupted when a harsh hand tug you closer. A yelp escaped your lips as you saw the sharp end of a knife pressed to your neck. Shocked, you looked up to see the police android abruptly stopping from walking towards you.
“Stay back or I will kill them as well!” You heard him shout from right beside you, making you wince at the threat in his voice.
“I know you are scared! But you have to trust me: continuing this will only harm you further.” At the brown-haired android’s words, the criminal’s breath hitched, giving you a ray of hope.
“Why should I trust you, huh? You’re just going to arrest me and then destroy me!”
Destroy him? Is he...?
Before you could finish your thought, you felt the blade digging slightly into your neck, though, not enough to draw out blood. Since the police android was inching closer to the both of you at a slow but progressive rate, you could now see his LED, which was flashing between a baby blue and yellow.
“You won’t be destroyed. I promise you that. You just need to let them go.” He inched closer once more, keeping his eyes on the weapon that was still pressed against your neck.
“What happens if I do that?” The criminal’s voice wavered slightly as he finally took the weapon away from your neck and pointed it at the android instead.
“You will be taken for questioning- but you will not be destroyed! You have my word.” The grip on you loosened slightly as you felt his hands tremble, his resolve quickly disappearing.
“How do I know you’re not lying?” He muttered.
“I’m just like you, see?” He pointed towards his LED and came closer, now inches away from you. “I am a deviant as well. That is why I want you to know that I mean no harm.” When the unknown android’s hands disappear from around your shoulder, the other, who you had now learned the model of by looking at his jacket: RK800, stood firm as he examined the android behind you.
“I... I trust you.” He muttered as the RK800 brought his hand forward for you to take. You, still terrified from the situation, took his hand instantly and he pulled you into him. He wrapped an arm around you to cage you from any unexpected attack, though, it never came as the other android simply stood dormant. An older man with a grumpy posture suddenly entered your peripheral vision to detain the android.
“Alright, now, you are coming with me and you’re going to answer every fucking question. Got that?” The old man pulled the android along with him by the collar, stopping momentarily to look back at what you assumed to be his partner. “Connor!” He simply yelled and the android near you, apparently named Connor, replied instantly.
“I will be right there, Lieutenant.” His gaze turned back to you as he let go of you and stepped back. “Our sincerest apologies for any harm that was caused to you. If you are hurt anywhere, I could take you to the hospital.” He offered, but you quickly shook your head, feeling grateful enough that this android was able to rescue you without a scratch.
“No, no, I’m fine. Thank you so much for saving me.” You smiled lightly, feeling a little sheepish for wording it the way you did. Of course, he saved you, he had to capture the deviant and you were in the way.
“Of course, I had to save you.” Confused, you stared up at him and tilted your head. Apparently, that gesture wasn’t enough for him to elaborate for you as he simply copied your movement and tilted his own head. So, you chose verbal communication instead.
“Why did you have to save me?” As soon as you asked the question, you watched his LED flash a sudden yellow. Perhaps, he was thinking over his answer.
“I am not quite sure.” He chose his words extremely carefully as he stared away from you, thinking of any reason at all. “It seemed to be my priority at the time, either way. My apologies, I am still not quite used to recognizing my emotions. It’s not in my program to analyze my own feelings since I was never supposed to experience them.” His confusion made you smile, at last, and you shook your head at the innocence of an android who was used to such bad environments- working with the DPD and all. As if a light bulb turned on in your head, you snapped your head up to still see Connor staring at you with curiosity.
“My name is Y/N L/N, by the way. I’m assuming I will need to tell you what happened here before you arrived as some kind of testimony?” You brought your hand forward for him to take and he acted upon it instantly, giving it a firm shake before letting go.
“My name is Connor. I am the android sent by Cyberlife.” You laughed at his introduction.
“I figured you were sent by Cyberlife.” At that, you noticed a small, barely visible smile form on his face. “Once again, thank you so much.”
“You are welcome.” He nodded his head in acknowledgement before silence took over you. You felt you were getting ahead of yourself when you thought that maybe, neither of you wanted to leave yet. You found Connor’s presence comfortable, especially considering he had just saved your life.
“I will let you know when we will need you for an explanation. Get some rest, until then, Y/N.” He finally seemed to snap out of his daze and pointed his arm towards the door as he began walking, indicating he would escort you out.
“Alright, I will.” You smiled at him as he brought you out of the club, the fresh air breezing past you gently.
“Will you be safe going home?” He suddenly asked as he looked around at the deserted street, well- deserted other than the few cops that had showed up with Connor, and your friends. You smiled at them in relief, seeing some of them were still sober, before turning back to Connor.
“Yes, I will be. My friends are right there.” You pointed towards your anticipating friends and Connor nodded after glancing at them.
“Alright, see you later.” He nodded his head, his hands behind his back as he watched you step closer to your friends.
“See you, Connor.” You smiled at him before fully turning away and walking over to your friends.
The night could’ve gone better, but at least I’m alive. Thanks to him.
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Bad Blood - Chapter Three: Thunderclouds
Pairing: Bucky Barnes AU x Fem!Reader
Warning: Just people being weird
Summary: A new job. A new city. A new love. Bucky Barnes is a wealthy lawyer and a hansom one on top of it. Responsible to keep his house clean, she can’t help but fall in love with him. But the house holds a few secrets inside, bad blood.
What happens at the Barnes Mansion, stays at the Barnes Mansion
A/N: Whooo chapter three! Things are starting to kick off and out friends Gen and Hank aren’t looking too good! Have fun reading and remember: Please leave feedback and Reblog! This doesn’t just help me but help others find this story to enjoy!
Masterlist // Chapter Two
Bad Blood – Chapter Three: Thunderclouds
Previously:
We finished eating and I went back to my room, taking a shower before lying in bed. I decided to text Wanda.
Wanda: ‘You won’t believe it, but the CUTEST guy ever just asked me for my number!!!!’
I giggled knowing that she would probably be over him in a couple weeks (as usual).
Y/n: ‘What’s his name? And did you tell him about your dating habits or should I?’
Wanda: ‘Shut up! You haven’t had a guy in like?? Years? So unless you get some, you are not allowed to talk about my love life hahah.’
Y/n: ‘That’s not true! All the guys I meet are just boring. And btw I’m rolling my eyes.’
Wanda: ‘Well, Bucky doesn’t seem to be boring ;)’
Y/n: ‘So when can I meet this fine young man?’
Wanda: ‘Good night!’
I laughed and rolled over to my side, pulling the duvet all the way up to my chin as I fell asleep.
***
The weeks went by quickly, almost as if someone was turning the clock by hand. It’s been six months now since I started working for Bucky Barnes. I knew the mansion better than I did in the beginning and making my way around went smother that ever. Looking around and wondering where I am wasn’t needed anymore, knowing which way I need to turn. Cleaning the rooms became easier, knowing the ones that were more important like the library where I stood in right now.
The library being my favourite room to be in, but my least favourite to clean is quite ironic. Dusting the shelves gave me the opportunity to look at the different genres and authors he likes to read. Mark Elsberg, Steven King and a few from Val McDermid stood amongst the many books. I was reasonably impressed by the number of books he owns.
Not being able to resist the urge to take one of them out, I chose ‘Ein Ort für die Ewigkeit’ not knowing why he would have a book in German. I tried reading the back of it, but none of the words made any sense.
“Val McDermid, interesting choice, Y/n.”
I turned around, heart skipping a beat. Bucky stood leaning on the door frame, his arms crossed and smiling. He walked closer and I could smell his perfume as he approached me. The lack of distance between us, with his shoulder touching mine as he stood next to me, taking the book into his own hands. I looked up to him, his eyes fixed on the book. His lips moving ever so slightly while reading the words, not making a sound. He lifted his gaze from the book and looked at me. His eyes scanning my face gently. Swiftly looking away, I tried to focus on something other than him.
“I didn’t know you could read German.” I said, lazily looking at the books.
“I can’t,” I looked up at him again, his lips curling up to a smirk “my mom did, though. She was incredible with languages. You could’ve given her a month and she knew how to speak it fluently.”
I saw the amazement in his eyes mixed with grief. Knowing what happened to his mother I was able to understand and quickly turned the conversation away from his mom.
“You have quite a collection of books, did you read all of them?”
“No,” Bucky laughed, looking up at the book shelve “These were my parents’ books, but I have read most of them. I had a lot more time back then. Sneaking in here late at night and reading instead of sleeping. Hank always caught me, though.” Bucky put the book back into the shelf.
‘
I grazed the tips of my fingers on the spine of the books as I walked along the bookshelf, a little dust coating my skin. “What’s your favourite, if you have one?”
“Steven King, ‘IT’.”
“Really? I thought you were more of the classics type.” I took a glance back at him and saw him smiling lazily. “I love that one too.”
Roaming around the room more and reading the titles of the books gave me a sense of loneliness. All these stories, characters and life lessons I don’t know about and might never do. As if on cue, two eyes watching me became the centre of my thoughts.
I turned and Bucky stood, eyes fixed on me. I stopped walking, while he moved closer to me. The scent of wood and sea salt drawing closer.
The heat of my body appeared to flood into my head, flushing my cheeks, my body felt as if it was slightly floating. He moved closer, placing his right hand on my back. His eyes fixed on the books, but his breath on my ear, quickening once he touched me. His large hand grabbed a book from one of the higher shelves, his white shirt almost pulling out of his pants.
The binding of the book had some years behind it and frayed at the corners. I had no intentions of looking at the book though. My eyes fixed upon his sharply carved face. His smooth skin glistening slightly in the low sun. His hand travelled to my waist, small bolts of lightning tingling where his hand toughed me.
Bucky’s eyes left the book and he looked at me, soft and warm. My knees slightly buckling. If his hand wasn’t firmly on my waist, I know I would cave in right here.
His lips seemed to move closer by accident and I moved towards him without thinking. His lips slightly apart, his breath on my lips with the scent of toothpaste, shifting me into a state of trance. My eyelids suddenly became too heavy and I closed my eyes, Bucky’s lips millimetres away from mine, his hand on my body.
For a second, I could feel his lips on mine.
“Sorry.” Bucky’s hand left my waist and he expanded the distance, leaving me cold. I looked at him puzzled. He put the book on one of the armchairs and kept his gaze away from mine. “I have to look after Steve.”
I stood still for a few seconds, the slight contact of his lips still lingering on mine before going up to my room, avoiding all other human interactions.
***
I put on my uniform and strode off to the kitchen to eat breakfast. My mind still in a haze from waking up a little too late and having to get ready as quick as possible, resulted in me being a little irritated. Falling asleep last night was not easy as Bucky kept my mind occupied. The events that happened in the library were still fresh on my mind and I could not help but dread sitting at breakfast with him.
Entering the kitchen and sitting down at my usual spot, I tried to look up from my plate as little as possible, avoiding making eye contact with Bucky.
“Y/n, I’d like your help getting some boxes out of my office.” Bucky said, his words sounding more like a command, than a request to help.
My body froze for a moment before I was able to lift my head and look at him. Bucky quickly moved his gaze back to his breakfast.
“Sure.”
***
After doing my usual morning routine around the house, I changed into more city appropriate attire and headed off to Bucky’s car. We drove fast and kept the conversation to a minimum. Occasionally asking me how I am and what I planned for the weekend, followed by quick, one worded answer.
Arriving at the firm, we went into the tall building. The man at the front desk eying him up and down, giving him a seductive look. I tried not to giggle but couldn’t help the smile. Bucky really draws a lot of seductive looks towards him and I couldn’t blame the guy.
We went up to the second to last floor and I looked around the space, impressed at how welcoming it looked. Bucky’s office was located at the back of the large room and upon entering, the difference of his office at home couldn’t be more different.
Sleek and polished furniture stood against the walls, the high ceiling windows looked over the city and a plant stood in a corner. A little too minimalistic, as if he didn’t make an effort to make this space his. The cold feeling the room gave, made me shiver.
Though, as much of a disappointment the room was, the view of the city sure was breath taking. The midday sun stood proudly over the tall buildings and reflecting the sunlight off the windows.
I already saw the two boxes lying on top of his desk and walked over to them, taking one, Bucky took the other one propping it under his arm. The small box was heavy and there wasn’t an address on it as I looked at it further.
“What’s in here?”
“Medicine for Steve.” Bucky said simply and took off to the door, holding it open with his free hand.
We walked out of the office and across the room back to the elevator, stepping inside. An arm stopped the doors from closing, and they opened again, Hannah stepped inside and smiled brightly.
Her red polished nails stood out from her pale complexion. The ridiculous amount of perfume coating her, left me scrunching my nose and hold back a sneeze.
“Well hello Bucky!”
“Hey, Hannah. How are you?”
“I’m great!” She looked over her shoulder looking at me “Oh hey Y/n.” The grimaced smile still on her red painted lips.
I mustered up a smile and a small nod.
They talked for the entire time down to the lobby and I couldn’t wait to get out of this elevator. Being stuck in here with her wasn’t my plan for today.
We got out and walked outside, against my luck, Hannah didn’t leave us alone and followed us to the car. They kept talking and my arms felt the weight of the box. If they talk for much longer, I’m going to be able to lift an elephant with the muscles I gained.
After what felt like hours, she finally left us alone, swaying her hips as we went and we loaded the two boxes into the car.
I loaded the box into the trunk and walked to the passenger side, about to open the door.
“How about some ice cream? I mean how about we get some ice cream?”
I stopped in my tracks with the handle in my hand. “Sure, why not?” I responded, mentally slapping myself as I closed the car door and walked next to him down the street. This man surely was a puzzle, his demeanour a lot more relaxed and I felt more and more confused about him.
We got ice cream at a small place and started walking through the city. Silence fell between us and we ate our ice cream without saying a word, until someone interrupted us.
“Y/N!” I looked ahead of me and my eyes widened. I looked up to Bucky and he looked at me puzzled. “How are you?” Wanda pulled me into a hug and let go of me once she noticed Bucky standing next to me. “And who’s this fine man you got there?” Her lips curled up to a smirk and held her hand out for Bucky to shake.
“Bucky Barnes, nice to meet you.” He shook her hand and as I watched his face he didn’t look all that comfortable.
“Wanda! We have to get going but I’ll see you, yeah?” I tried to pull Bucky and I away from her and Wanda looked a little nervous, but agreed, nonetheless.
We walked further into Manhattan and the awkwardness that lingered in the air was visible in our faces. I didn’t know what to talk to him about and apparently, he didn’t either.
“Wow definitely have to watch this movie” Bucky said suddenly, excitement in his voice.
I looked at whatever he was looking at and saw an ad for a movie coming out later this year, Aquaman. “You have the worst taste in movies.”
“What?”
“Nothing.” I hid my face by looking in the other direction away from him.
“You’re cute, I’ll give you that. But not cute enough to get away with that.”
My face was glowing red at this point, and I couldn’t believe he just said that. Bucky walked back to the car with a smile plastered on his face.
***
We got to the house and I sprinted back to my room to change into my uniform. In a slight hurry to clean the rooms I had planned to clean; I made my way down to the basement to get new cloths, since I couldn’t find any more in the cleaning closet. Genevieve oversees washing clothes and such, but she never told me where the dirty clothes end up.
The fact that I have never been in the basement has a reason; I hate basements.
I slowly descended the stairs carefully and found myself in a corridor. The grey stoned walls gave a feeling of an old castle and didn’t match the rest of the house. It was eerie being down here and the whistle of air blowing through didn’t make it any better.
I walked right until I found a single room, my heart skipped a beat at the sight of it. It wasn’t the room I was looking for. The small rectangular room held a bed, a dresser and a toilet were attached to a wall with no way of privacy whatsoever. Not even a sink or anything else to wash one’s self.
The question of who this strange room belongs to was answered once I looked at the green overall, which Hank always wears. The hairs on my neck rose with every second I stood in the room. The smell of dirt filled my senses and I couldn’t help but look around further.
The drawer was slightly opened, and I inched forward, taking one last look behind me. I opened the draw and saw a few miscellaneous items. Some gardening tools, cloths, and papers. I wouldn't have looked any further at the items if a name didn’t catch my eye. I picked up the small stack of papers, examining them further. They’re letters, addressed to Genevieve and one addressed to him. Judging from the dates, they were pretty old.
Dearest Genevieve,
You have drawn me into a spell that I cannot lift. Your beauty exceeds all that I’ve ever seen and to simply gaze upon you does not fulfil my needs. I ought to know you and the person you are. It pains me to see you walk through the halls of this house and not talk to you about you favourite books. You need to know how I feel and should you feel the same, please write.
Yours truly, through and through,
Hank.
My jaw dropped as soon as I finished the letter. They’re married? But that can’t be, I didn’t see a ring on either of them. I put the letter to the back of the stack and went to read the next one, this time from Genevieve.
Dear Hank,
I noticed your lingering glances and wondered when you would tell me how you feel. I, too, want to know about you, seeing you at the dining table simply does not satisfy my longings for you.
Sincerely,
Gen.
I couldn’t help but laugh at the image of them being lovers, seeing as how they are right now. I do wonder when their demeanour changed though. From the letters, both of them seemed normal. I moved on to the next one, a little excited to see what happened next.
Dearest Genevieve,
I am beyond pleased to know your feelings towards me. Let us meet tomorrow at 12 am in the gardens.
Yours truly, through and through,
Hank.
So, they did have a secret romance going on, but I did wonder what happened after. I placed the letter to the back of the stack of papers and went to the next one, but as I did, I noticed the ink had washed away. I went through the pile, but all the others were destroyed.
I put the letters back into the drawer and walked out of the room, back upstairs. I passed Genevieve in the hallway and wondered what had happened between her and Hank. Everything seemed to be going just fine from what I had read, I just wished I could read the other ones.
***
#james bucky barnes#bucky barnes imagine#bucky x you#bucky barnes x you#bucky x reader#bucky barnes au#creepy!bucky#bucky barnes x reader#bucky x Female Reader#bucky barnes fanfiction#Bad Blood
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What do you think of Juan Jose ryp art of beast?
So, I actually had to look up which X-Force/Wolverine artist this was, because I . . . honestly don't keep a massive track on who's on what duty for these books. I haven't even capped them, which is. Telling. There's like 80+ issues of comics featuring Beast that I haven't capped because I dislike the subject matter so much.
In fact, you know what, here's some pulling back of the curtain and some statistics for you - you know the little icons that I used for replies?
These are 100x100 icons cut down to size manually after being screencapped from digital copies, for maximum resolution and quality. I have QUITE a lot of them saved up, a lot of them from back when I was first RPing back in 2013-2015.
For Human Hank, I have 208.
For classic/Ape Hank, I have 622.
For feline Hank, I have 1,018.
For modern Hank, I have 457.
For Dark Beast, I have 150.
Now, this isn't EXACTLY how much I like one form over the other, it's also determined by which one I tend to RP as most, but the two definitely influence each other - most people I write with get feline Hank, he's my default for a reason, he's the Hank I know best.
BUT ANYWAY.
Juan Jose Ryp.
Honestly, it's good art. His anatomy is good, he can capture fur texture well, he is certainly drawing the Beast that Ben Percy is asking him to draw. It's just a bit of a shame that it's the single worst version of Beast ever put to page, so I automatically see it, recognise it, and go, oh, yeah, from THAT run.
Honestly, almost any other time, this would be a scenario that would have me salivating, but instead I'm capping this, uploading it, then immediately throwing it in my recycle bin. I don't want it on my computer, straight up. And it's a shame, because the art is eminently very good. The colouring is on point, it has that underwater shine, the shading is excellent, the muscle definition is lovely . . .
I do also have to point out something, though, which. Annoys me. And I hesitate to point the finger at Ryp, because I don't know that it's his fault or not, it could be just how Ben Percy is telling him to draw this, but.
That's the wrong Beast.
I'm extremely well acquainted with every one of Hank's forms, and that is way more akin to THIS
than it is to THIS
Ryp draws 90s Beast. He does not draw modern Beast. Whether this is designed to intentionally repulse the reader, who sees the design, thinks of TAS Beast from the 90s show, and then reads him being an absolutely colossal chode, or if it's just straight up artist error, I don't know. Hank has a habit of being drawn badly or incorrectly. Don't believe me?
This art is from 2012, from issue #24 of Secret Avengers. The Avengers vs. X-Men tie-in.
Beautiful 90s Beast, right?
Except, you know.
He's meant to look like this.
Like a cat.
Aren't we meant to have, like . . . editors, and shit?
But yeah, Ryp draws 90s Beast, and it's flat out wrong. Artistic interpretation, sure, but it's just straight up wrong. Again, I don't know if he's being told to do this or not, but it's something I need to bring up, because this is not something that happens to Cyclops or Wolverine, and it bugs the living fuck out of me.
But yeah, Ryp does draw a lovely Beast, even if he's inaccurate. That being said, he's not my favourite modern Beast artist by a country mile. Cassara and Gill, who drew Beast in the X-Force books, I like more.
I also have an affection for Coccolo, just because he draws a very round and lovely Beast.
Like, yeah, he's a genocidal war criminal, but fuck, he's got such a lovely belly and thick as hell thighs and I am weak.
That being said, they are not my favourite modern Beast artists either, because this is a poisoned run and I don't like to think about these pages.
Sean Izaakse draws the best modern Beast, in my opinion. Is it partly because he illustrated the last time Beast was written in character?
But I do just genuinely think he draws an effortlessly handsome and gorgeous and animated Hank.
George Perez often said he had a good time drawing Hank, even calling him the funny little monkey man, asking his 90s collaborator Kurt Busiek if he could come back so he could draw him more, and honestly, you can see it in his art, in how much love and attention and how elaborate he gets with his work on Hank. I get that same feeling from Izaakse.
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Imagine: Veteran lawyer Hank Palmer wants to spoil you rotten but you’re unsure about the idea. But, he’s persistent and can put up a very good argument.
Rating: Explicit/18+ (you shouldn’t be on this blog if you’re below 18, anyway)
Request your imagine headcanons and we will write a little something for you. And you get a bonus silver daddy picture to go with it. :)
"Anything you want, sweetheart. And I mean anything."
His voice is silky, playful, and he knows you're caught, like prey, in the carefully spun webs of his charm.
It started three weeks ago at the local café, where you stood waiting for your morning coffee. You checked and rechecked your watch, and willed for the line to move faster, but it didn't budge. If looks could kill, the cashier and the four people in front of you would've died on the spot.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, you picked up your coffee and prepared to dash to your office across the street. If you timed it right, you could slide into the conference room just before the San Francisco office dialled in. You prepared to sprint, but, clearly, fate had other plans. Just as you were about to run out of the café, you bumped into a solid mass of designer suit and expensive cologne that reminded you of spotless sandy beaches and calm, clear ocean hundreds of miles away from the busy morning rush of Chicago. That's when you felt the warm dampness spreading down your front — the content of your cup was mostly on the ground, but it was also staining the beige top you wore, primed and ironed for the meeting.
"Fucking asshole," you said before you could stop yourself, and the hand holding out a silk napkin before you froze.
"I'm so sorry."
You looked up, ready to give the offender a piece of your mind for ruining your morning. But, you caught yourself in time and the words froze at the tip of your tongue. Later that night, you swore to your sister that you had seen the most beautiful pair of eyes ever known to man — and its owner, the apologetic culprit who spoilt the start of your day, wasn't all that bad. After all, he had graciously accepted your apology for the caffeine-deprived outburst and offered to pay for the dry cleaning bill.
That's how you agreed to meet him for a drink. You had gone to the pub intending to make up for your lack of manners and end the encounter on a friendly note because Chicago has an uncanny ability to appear very small sometimes. In your line of work — you’re a corporate lawyer at an investment bank — you deal with jocular finance bros all day, and almost everyone knows everyone else. And judging by the man's outward appearance — hand-cut suit, leather shoes, silver-dotted wavy hair that begged for your fingers — you had assumed he was someone important. But all of your strategic calculations went out the door that night, when, after three drinks, you tumbled into your queen-sized bed with him, your fingers in his hair, his lips on your thighs.
***
You shift in bed, a solid mass pressing into your back. He traces a finger along the side of your ear, down the column of your neck, coming to rest on your bare chest. You're pleasantly sore and aching all over, and there are at least a handful of bruises on your skin — he's an attentive lover; last night, he broke down your defenses with methodical precision, tearing away at your sense of propriety as he left you squirming under the firm weight of his body, awash with such overwhelming pleasure that you didn't give a single fuck if your next-door neighbours heard you as you screamed, begged and urged him, your voice straining, to go harder, to push deeper, to take his pleasure from the dripping warmth between your legs. And, he obliged.
"Well?" he nudges, resting his chin on your shoulder, his hands drawing circles around your navel. "You've gone quiet."
You try to pull away from him, but only half-heartedly, and he doesn't appear to be in a hurry to let you go. The two of you stay entangled in a heap of limbs and skin, in need of a shower and some concealer to cover up the secret you've chosen to keep from your friends.
It's complicated, you've argued, as you debated telling them the truth after he had left at the crack of dawn on your first night together. He's an influential man, you've got your own career ambitions; he's almost twice your age, never married, and avoids the topic of past dalliances. He isn't even interested in your history of failed or mismatched relationships, and yours lean more towards physical gratification.
You've been meeting him whenever work lets you both escape for a brief time. It’s one of the upsides of having your office be less than a block from his. He takes you to lunch, you flirt with him over texts when you’re back at your desk, you both grab quick dinners from nearby restaurants. The nights end like clockwork: With him in your bed, climbing on top of you, or sometimes you’re straddling him, or he’s bending you over the chaise, pressing you into the wall, taking you against the floor-length window or by the door; he’s all over you, inside you, rocking your world, like clockwork. You enjoy the routine and he's adaptive enough that it doesn't feel monotonous.
But you've still been wary about where this ends up — as much as the two of you connect physically, you've noticed his aloofness when he isn’t in bed trying to make love to you. Both of you roam in different social circles; he likes rock concerts, you prefer off-Broadway theatre; he plays golf on weekends, you're at Wrigley Field screaming your lungs out; he knows every Michelin star chef in town, you love Chinese takeaway from the shop three blocks from your apartment.
***
You sigh. He's waiting for an answer. "I think it's a little weird," you say, finally, and it earns a soft-bellied chuckle from him. He looks cute when he laughs, it brings out the dimples on his cheeks. "Look," you say, gesturing around, "all this is great. The sex is definitely amazing but I can't accept gifts like this. It's too much."
"Can't a man spoil his lover?" he asks, and there's such an infuriating innocence in his tone, you can't bring yourself to call him out on the hint of cockiness in his statement.
Instead, you shake your head and this time, when he leans in for a kiss, you pull away and turn sideways so that you're both facing each other directly. You press a palm against his cheek and say, "As much as anyone in my place would be thrilled to have someone pamper them, I can't just spend your money so recklessly because you're telling me to." You hold up a hand when he looks like he's about to protest. "Let's do a trade-off. I'll let you buy me something nice like you want just this once if you let me take you out to a fancy dinner tomorrow like I’ve been wanting to. It’s only fair I get to spoil you rotten too once in a while."
He considers the proposal and smirks. "Deal."
It takes you another hour to get dressed, after both of you get carried away in the shower, where he has you pressed against the glass, your legs quivering as the pleasure drags on, setting your nerves on fire. He doesn’t stop moving when your body tenses up for the second time and it knocks the breath out of your body; you hold him like both of your lives depend on it. You clench down hard around him and he moans, his thrusts finally faltering and pushing him over the edge.
***
You end up spending the afternoon along the Magnificent Mile and you're impressed — for years, you've walked past the glass facades and fancy storefronts, admiring the catalogue of colourful designer bags, shoes and clothes on display, straight off the runway, sometimes, but you have always known any one of those items can do some serious damage to your bank balance. He seems to know every store attendant by name and they appear almost reverential in his presence. As the afternoon progresses, your resolve starts to crumble and every time you give in, he triumphantly, and with genuine delight, hands over his credit cards.
After your seventh purchase of the day, having spent at least a year's worth of rent in the city, you call it quits. He looks disappointed, like a kid who's just been told no, but at least he offers to put the bags in the car. That evening, you insist on taking him to the best pizzeria in the city. It's dirty, greasy, smelly and exactly why it's a fan-favourite. Watching him, the same man who wines and dines in the country's most elite fine-dining establishments, devour a large slice of pepperoni without a care in the world is perhaps, you think, the greatest present he could’ve ever given you. It makes you grin from ear to ear after as you walk back to the car, your hands entwined.
He looks pleased with himself. "I can't remember the last time I had this much fun," he says as you get in the car and you can see there's a tinge of regret in his eyes. Perhaps with time, you can uncover the mystery behind those brown orbs that look like they have seen the world a hundred times over — if you’re honest with yourself, you’ve fallen for them. Just a bit. You look forward to learning more about him and think, maybe, just maybe you might tell your friends the truth tomorrow. For now, you smirk and unbuckle your seatbelt, climbing over onto his lap, and the shocked look on his face is worth it. The indoor parking lot is pretty empty at this time of the evening. You think back on how he spent the entire week rocking your world, seven ways to Sunday, and, as you reach down for his zipper, you reckon it's time someone shakes up his world a little.
"If you thought that was fun, you're gonna love what I have in mind."
Fortunately for you, and maybe it's the added experience that comes with his age, he catches on quickly and the sudden smoulder in his eyes almost dares you to do your best. Never one to shrink from an honest challenge, you grin and crash your lips together.
#hank palmer#rdjedit#robert downey jr#rdj#the judge#rdjgifsdaily#dailyrdjposts#actoredit#fic#silverdaddyrdj#silverfoxrdj
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*sneaks on in to eat the food in ur fridge* in the mafia Au Ona probably would easily become a leverage target for other groups or ganga who wanna fuck with Hank and his fam. OwO ooo i wonder how many would end up dead if Ona went missing and the boys went absolutely batshit to get her back.
Anon you’re more than welcome to raid my fridge. I think there’s some gazpacho and tortilla de patatas leftovers :D
BUT ANON OH MY GOD. OKAY. THIS TURNED INTO AN ALMOST 4K WORD SNIPPET. HOLY SHIT OKAY. I’m sorry I took so long! But I really wanted to write this right (at least as right as I can) and give you something to wait until I finish the celebration drawing. I’m swamped with work and I was itching to work on this instead, but :_) duty calls first.
ENJOY!
Warnings: there will be blood and some violent details. As expected of a mafia crime-lord son when he goes berserk.
Connor’s keys fell to the polished wood floor with a deafening thud.
Everything was in its place. The cushions of the sofa where they left them the night before, the blanket that Richard neatly folded on Ona’s spot, Connor’s books on the coffee table, the big bouquet of flowers they brought home to her two days ago in their beautiful vase.
Everything was in its place, sans the note on the living room table.
Richard was eerie still, knuckles white.
“She’s a pretty one, we will have fun.”
Connor wanted to shred the note into pieces. He wanted to scream, he wanted to kick the chair and flip the table in utter rage. Instead, he sat down on the nearest chair and held his head in his hands, messing up his perfectly styled hair. He failed in keeping her safe, he failed spectacularly, and the guilt and shame of it was consuming him.
Richard sat down on the opposite chair, his fists trembling. Connor knew that sometimes Richard would have one of his episodes and go berserk, the trembling of his hands was telltale. He will spare no mercy for those who took their precious sunshine away. Good. That’s what they needed now.
Still, how did this happen? How could they have swept her right under their noses? Connor made sure everything was under his control, that not a single detail escaped him, and yet they got her. He could feel the anxiety clawing at his insides, the dread of what they would do to her if both him and Richard didn’t find her on time.
They had to do something, act fast. Connor needed to think clearly.
“We have to call Father.” Richard’s voice was glacial. It would seem calm to anyone listening, but Connor knew the cold fury brewing in it. But he was right. Father had to know.
Connor stood up and tucked the note in his inside pocket, bending down to pick the fallen keys.
“Get the car, I’ll call him on our way.”
Richard followed Connor, closing the door with the upmost care, as if he didn’t want to disturb their flat anymore than it already had been. Connor locked the door and trailed behind his brother, fishing his phone out of his pocket. He took off his leather glove and unlocked it, quickly tapping on Hank’s number. While Richard disappeared into the garage, Connor waited by the door. He heard the dial tone two times before the gruffy voice of Hank spoke.
“Yes?”
“They have her.”
“What?” Connor heard Hank’s armchair creak under his weight as he sat up. “Ona? Who has her? Who is they?”
“I don’t know yet, but she’s not home and they left a note.”
“Dear God.” Connor could hear Hank’s voice being momentarily muffled by the dragging of his hand over his face. “Come home, we cannot waste time.”
As Hank spoke, Richard appeared accompanied with the roar of the engine.
“On our way.” Connor hanged up.
——————
“It wasn’t the russians or the triads. Alessandro made a few calls, not them either.” Hank rubbed his temples. “The Manfreds are informed of this as well, they are giving us tech support. Markus is currently on the guest room with all the equipment, North is getting intel.”
“The Manfreds are trustworthy, but how can you be so sure the others aren’t lying?” Connor was pacing on Hank’s office, frown deepening.
“They aren’t that stupid. If they lie to my face, they know I can crumble everything they have built with a snap of my fingers.”
“Still…” Connor sighed.
“Besides, I went to Alessandro’s daughter wedding. You know how this man values that kind of things.”
“Father has a point. That man follows the code.” Richard piped in, leaning on the massive bookshelves behind Hank’s chair.
“Then, who?” Connor’s frustration only grew. The note stared at him, mocking him for not being able to solve this.
The phone rang, startling the three of them. Hank picked it up. His face blanched.
Richard stood straighter, having a very bad feeling about this. Hank put the call on speaker.
“She is such a pretty little bird, isn’t she?” The voice belonged to a male. Smooth, snobby. New. “Feisty too. She put up quite the fight.”
Connor’s blood froze, but he could feel the pure, unadulterated rage inside him about to spill. Richard’s hand twitched, the trembling from earlier returning.
“It seems you’re new in town.” Hank spoke before Connor exploded. They had to maintain a cool head about this. “And I get a feeling it’s quite useless to ask you where do you have her, am I right?”
“Correct! Two of two!” They could feel the nauseating grin coating every syllable.
“Then why don’t we all cut the crap and you tell us what is it that you want?”
“Oh, Mister Anderson. I want many things, you see.” The voice chuckled briefly. “Money, power, control. You know, the usual. But there’s something I desire the most right now, and it is to see the King dethroned. Time for new blood to step in, right?”
“Some big words for someone who has no manners and hasn’t even presented themselves.” Connor intervened. Hank gave him a look, pleading for him to not lose it.
“Oh! If isn’t this the prince. Which one, though? Connor? Richard? But oh yes, my bad. You may call us RA9.”
Richard’s knuckles were white, jaw clenched, and an overall hostile posture. This man was mocking them all while they got her locked in someplace.
“Well, as pleasant as this conversation has been, I must go attend other important matters. You’ll have some news soon. Farewell!”
The sound of the ended call dial filled the room. Hank stood up and went to the liquor cabinet, pouring a significant amount on a glass. He offered some, but only Connor took on his offer. Hank’s phone vibrated on his pocket. He took it out and read the message, brows raising.
“The good news is that Markus got the location of the call.”
“Where is it?” Richard’s growl didn’t take Hank by surprise. His eyes were filled with a burning determination.
“Somewhere near the docks, Markus is still working on the exact point, but we have a start.” Hank heard Richard let out a frustrated grunt, turning his back and stomping out of the office. He looked at Connor, taking a sip of his glass. “Better go with him before he hurts himself.”
Connor nodded, knowing how destructive he could get when frustrated and angry. Like a rabid dog yanking on its leash. Connor finished his drink in one go, grimacing at the burning sensation down his throat. It was oddly comforting.
“Don’t do anything stupid you too, son.” Hank’s voice had a softer note.
“I know, father. We won’t.” a sad smile briefly touched his lips as he turned around and left the office, going after Richard who was either in his room or the gym.
——————
As Connor expected, he found his brother on the gym furiously beating a punching bag. His lips were curled on a snarl, white teeth visible, as drops of sweat ran down his face and body. With a final roar, he delivered the last punch that surely would break a rib or two. Richard held the punching bag, panting and not looking at his brother. Connor walked to a nearby bench, sitting down and resting his arms on his legs. He noticed the red smearing on Richard’s knuckles.
“You know Ona wouldn’t like to see that.” He pointed at Richard’s hands.
Richard turned around, sorrow all across his face. Connor felt a pang in his heart and stood up, walking to his side. He took out a handkerchief and gently pressed it against the fresh wounds.
“I know I’m not her, but I won’t leave you bleeding.”
This gesture reminded them both of when they were children. Connor used to clean Richard’s wounds after a fight with another kid, and make him feel better later when he found him silently crying on one of his favourite hiding places.
“We will find her, Rich.” Connor’s voice was a whisper, but it felt loud in the empty gym.
“I will not rest until not even their ashes remain.” Richard was already thinking which tactical gear would he use, what knives to take with him that will help him cut them down like pigs.
Both brothers sat down on the bench Connor previously sat down. Richard rubbed his temples, sighing wetly.
“I’m afraid, Connor.” Connor knew how hard it was for Richard to express himself, to open up about his emotions and communicate them, even to his own brother, so he let him speak. “I’m afraid that she’s hurt and crying and alone, and… and frightened, too.”
“I know, Rich.” he felt the same dread too, the never-ending feel of desperation.
“What… what if after we rescue her, she doesn’t want to be around us anymore?” Richard looked at his brother, uneasiness all over his face. “What if she… she leaves. I would let her, I would do anything for her and I would never, ever, keep her where she doesn’t want to be. But…”
“I know. I’ve been thinking about it too. I also don’t want to be… lost.” They both knew what it meant. They were never alone, having each other and also Hank and Cole, but she felt like that missing piece inside them, like a fog clearing after so much time of uncertainness. “But Ona is strong, Ona knows, she’s not stupid, and she stayed by our side after all. Let’s give her the benefit of the doubt.”
Richard sighed, knowing Connor was right. Their sunshine was a strong-willed one and would not falter.
“C’mon Rich, let’s get that cleaned up and try to do something useful.”
Richard followed Connor out of the gym, determined to find the cockroaches nest and squash them all.
——————
The news came in the shape of a package on their doorstep.
Upon seeing its contents, Richard teared apart his bedroom. He flipped chairs, tables, smashed whatever object he had closer before heading to the gym where the punching bag surely had to be replaced. Connor was barking orders, calling all his contacts everywhere to gather more information.
Hank still felt his stomach turn at the sight of a piece of cloth, one of Ona’s favourite blouses, with blood on it and attached with another note.
“She screams in such a beautiful way, doesn’t she?”
The mere idea of her being hurt and bleeding made his own blood boil. At this rate he was going to join Richard in punching people and he really hadn’t done that in years. But he would be damned if he didn’t.
It was in the middle of lunch that Hank got another call. It was from Alessandro himself, telling Hank to meet him at the usual café they went when the two of then wanted to discuss important matters in a comfortable place; Alessandro owned the business and they had the best coffee Hank had the pleasure of drinking.
“Hank! Amico mio, how are you?” Alessandro offered his hand, patting Hank’s back when he took it.
“As good as one can be when your soon to be daughter-in-law gets kidnapped.”
Alessandro grimaced.
“I’m so sorry, Hank. I truly am. Please come with me. Also you said soon? When is the wedding?” Alessandro guided them into a secluded booth, away from people and coffee on its way.
Hank sat down with a sigh.
“They haven’t asked her yet. The boys have been planning and preparing for the perfect moment to do so.” Hank chuckled, thanking the waiter for the coffee. “You should have seen them, I never saw those two more insecure in their entire lives. But…” Hank stared down at his cup, frowning. “I’m afraid of what will happen if we don’t find her in time.”
“Hank, mio vecchio amico, I’m happy to have the information I managed to gather, then.” Alessandro leaned in, a small smile tugging his lips. Hank mirrored him.
“So?”
——————
Amanda was involved.
Hank was beyond enraged.
That wretched, foul woman turned a blind eye when this new organisation did something, even enabling and encouraging to hit weak spots of the other crime families, and of course warning them when there would be police raids.
She was so secretive about it, careful of not being followed… but Alessandro’s men where sharp. Anyone would know that something was off if you saw Mayor Stern in the slums, as she called them privately, and speaking in hushed tones. They took photos and notes of those encounters, and now Hank had enough evidence to blast off that harpy. He also had a lead on where to start knocking doors.
They were getting closer.
The third time ‘RA9’ contacted them was through another telephone call. Markus was already working on pinpointing the exact location of the call, as their men already checked the docks and effectively found activity in them. They were dodgy fuckers with insanely good defences, but Markus’ abilities with computers were beyond excellency.
It was hard for Markus to listen to this call in particular, feeling sick at the sound of the poor girl’s pained whimpers and shouts to leave her the fuck alone, but he couldn’t imagine what the Andersons must be going through. They had to endure the constant mocking, the jabs, their most beloved person in the world being tortured with God knows what methods.
He really hoped the Andersons would make them pay for this.
——————
Richard’s clothes were already covered in blood. He wiped clean his favorite knife on the sleeve of his newest victim, a sneer on his face. Connor was behind him, his gun already missing some bullets. They could hear shouts coming from the next room, the other one on their right being filled by North’s gun going off with her best men following her. Josh was tending those who were injured, making sure there weren’t any more losses. Hank was patiently waiting until the whole place was completely wiped out. It was better to leave the boys with this, to take out the frustration they had of this last week on the men who caused it. Hank had only one request, and it was that they left the mastermind behind this organisation in his hands. He left Cole with Simon, knowing the gentle and soft man was in fact one of the best assassins he ever saw, besides his own son Richard. Hank knew his youngest son was safe in his care.
Bullets passed over their heads and both brothers ducked behind a rusty maritime container. They shared a look and nodded at each other. Connor fired some bullets to distract their shooters, while Richard effectively sneaked around until he had a clear line to throw his knife. Their attacker went down with a wet, gurgling sound. Richard retrieved his knife after he disposed of the poor fool’s comrade who came to his aid, while Connor commanded his men to clean the place and follow them.
They went through doors and rooms, taking down whoever stood in their path, until they heard her.
She was shouting for them, screaming their names so they could know which way to go. She kept going on until her voice was muffled. Both brothers wasted no time. They followed the source of her voice as if they were being called by a siren.
The door to Ona’s cell was kicked open with the dead body of the goon guarding it falling with it. Everyone inside went still. Ona was on the floor, lip bloody and cheek bruised after biting the hand of the man who tried to make her shut up and the consequential blow she received for it. Her wrists were tied behind her tightly, knees scratched and her shoes missing. Her gaze was on the dark corridor outside, her hope increasing.
A silhouette appeared on the threshold, then a twin one joined it. Ona’s heart beat faster, knowing what this double effect meant. Richard stepped in first, oddly calm, but Ona knew he was calculating the most effective way to dispose of all the captors. The moment his eyes fell on her battered form, the moment that fake calmness transformed into rage. Connor must have seen her too, because the sound of Connor’s gun cocking set them all in motion.
The first one to approach them was met with a bullet on the exact center of his forehead, falling down in a bodily thump. Connor shot the other two on the right corner, first on the knee then on the head. He rejoiced on the pained shouts before their deaths. Richard took care of the left side, sprinting to grab the hand and arm of the closest one who was aiming at them. The guard shot to the ceiling, dust falling on their heads, until Richard twisted the gun out of his hand and broke his arm next. He kicked the goon’s guts with his knee, turning him around so Richard could wrap his arms around his throat and promptly break his neck with a sickening crack.
Surprisingly enough, one of the goons managed to jump on Connor’s back, trying to choke him as Richard did with his fallen comrade. Connor rarely got physical, but he could hold his own ground. Walking backwards, Connor threw himself to the wall, trying to shake the other man’s grip on him. He was succeeding, but the fool was persistent. The guard next to Ona sprung into action, but his plans on aiding his comrade were thwarted by Ona, making him trip on her leg. It fell down with a curse, spitting all kinds of insults aimed at the girl. Richard took that opportunity to headlock his next victim, who managed to hit him with a broken pipe, immobilise them and take his last knife and throw it to Connor’s adversary. Connor wasted no time and shot his last bullet to the organisation’s soldier on the floor, right through his head. With the last of them, Richard bodily threw the soldier on the floor and immobilised him, proceeding into a flurry of crunching punches. He took out his anger, his fear, his distress, everything out on him. He kept hitting until the man stopped moving.
Everything was silent sans Richard’s hard panting.
Connor walked over Ona and knelt in front of her. He lifted a trembling hand, thinking for a moment that this was just a dream and that he would wake up with a bittersweet taste on his tongue. He stopped inches before her skin, almost afraid, but Ona’s teary eyes and his whispered name made him take a deep, wet breath. Connor gently touched her cheek, thumb caressing her, and he felt all the pent up anger and adrenaline leave him. Without thinking it twice he wrapped her into his arms, embracing her tightly in them. They heard Richard get up, his steps coming closer. Ona felt his hand softly hold her wrists in place, and with a few tugs Richard cut the rope, freeing her arms.
Ona immediately wrapped her arms around Connor, burying her face in the crook of his neck. Richard knelt next to them, joining the hug, and Ona began sobbing while gripping the front of his blood-soaked shirt. When they managed to calm down a bit, Connor took his phone out and called Hank. Richard made Ona put her arms around his neck as he stood up, holding her in his arms bridal style. While Connor was busy with the call, Richard kissed her head.
Hank picked up at the first ring.
“We have her.” Connor could hear Hank mutter all kind of praises to the Lord.
“Is she okay?”
“I want Josh to take a look at her, but nothing broken at first glance.” Connor looked back at Richard and Ona, how gently he was holding her. He felt a sense of calmness he hadn’t felt for a week. “She’s safe.”
“Good. Bring her home, boys.”
——————
In the end, RA9 had vanished into thin air. But he left behind enough manila folders that incriminated Mayor Amanda Stern with all the criminal activities she was implicit. And with a note, of course.
“Lesson learned, I guess. One cannot defeat a King when said King is truly an Emperor. Accept my humble apologies with this little gift I left behind.”
In the following weeks, Hank was gathering everything he could, checking all the papers and photographs. He wanted solid proof so he could take Amanda down once and for all. It was personal vengeance since he knew this was because of his sons, but he would fight her back even if it was the last thing he did.
He looked out of his office windows in the mansion, a beautiful sunny day outside the garden. Hank spotted the lovebirds walking down to the swing seat gazebo under the oak tree, a tea already waiting for them on the table in front of it accompanied with sweets and pastries. They must have exchanged some words as Ona laughed and shrieked when Richard picked her up and carried her all the way to the swing seat, losing a shoe on the way. Connor picked it up and with his best impression of Prince Charming, he knelt right in front of her feet and put the shoe back on her foot.
Hank smiled, already knowing the answer to the question both brothers were going to ask her.
#dbh#detroit become human#rk800#rk900#hank anderson#cole anderson#amanda#rk800 x oc#rk900 x oc#rk800 x oc x rk900#mafia au#ficlet#mius writes#ask#anon#Anonymous
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Babe I'm blitzed I want all the teas and all the answers
BRING IT!!
1. Rosehip tea: Which book did you love when you were younger? Okay, I don’t know if anyone here remembers the Hank the Cowdog series. It was so wild. Hank is a mutt who lives on a ranch in Texas and acts like he’s the goddamn sheriff, but he gets into all these hilarious situations. He even has a “deputy” named Drover who is like the Barney Fife to his Andy Griffith. I’m probably dating myself here, but this was probably the first series that helped me have a sense of humor.
2. Oolong tea: Which book series could you read again? Probably Hank the Cowdog! LOL I mean, it would be interesting to read as an adult. I would also read the Time Quintet by Madaleine L’engle again, which I have. Yes, A Wrinkle in Time is the first book in quintet of books! Same characters, too! The book Many Waters is about the twins jumping back into time before the Great Flood and it’s my favorite one.
3. Rooibos: What is one of you favourite books? Oh man, I really can’t pick one. I love The Hobbit. Dune. All of Joe Hill’s books (The Fireman is sooo goood! Mr. Hill, please cast Philip Glenister as the Fireman if there’s a series of the book because he is a perfect fit and picturing him as such made the book even better). My favorite Seuss is “Horton Hatches the Egg.” It’s a lot of fun to read aloud, too. I could go on and on about my favorite books because I don’t have just one I love!
4. Strawberry tea: Tell me about your first kiss, if you had one. First cheek kiss was 3rd grade (8 years old) his name was Kyle. First one on the lips from my first boyfriend at 13 (omg boyfriend, that’s cute) and his name was Daniel and it was gross.
5. Apple tea: Tell me about your first break up, if you had one. It was Daniel because I wouldn’t give him a blow job...at 14...cuz I thought it was gross and I didn’t have a libido...cuz we were 14. Ew...
6. Earl Grey: Which countries have you visited? Only Canada. I went to Nova Scotia in 2018 and it was so the best time ever! I didn’t have time to go to Prince Edward Island or Cape Breton to hike. Next time! My goal is to go to a new country every year for holiday (if money is feasible then). I couldn’t last year because my aunt passed away and I wanted to be with my mom.
7. Chai: Where do you want to travel next? I would love to go to the UK but I would want to take off for a looonnnng time from work because I would probably be there for months haha. But as far as possibly a two-week journey, I’m not sure. Suggestions? :D
8. Darjeeling: What languages do you speak? English, Spanish, beginner Welsh
9. Hop tea: Do you have a favourite tea? Which one? Yessss! Earl Grey, baby! Oh, and Builder’s. Best tea for milk and sugar.
10. Herbal tea: Which person would you chose to travel the world with? I usually travel better alone because I like to pace myself, taking lots of pictures, writing in a journal, etc. I think if I were to travel with my mom or best friend, we kill each other.
11. Nettle tea: Are you jealous on a person? Why? Nah.
12. Ice tea: Do you miss somebody? Why? I miss my grandmother every day.
13. Yellow tea: What shampoo do you use? I...don’t remember?? I know it’s vegan and cruelty free and smells like mint.
14. Peppermint tea: What is your favourite gif at the moment? Well........
15. Ceylon tea: Do you have a song you like, but have bad memories with? If I do, then I’ve repressed it.
16. Hibiscus tea: What is a song you can always hear? Juice by Lizzo
17. Flowering tea: What is a movie you can always watch? The Emperor’s New Groove is the top one.
18. Pu-erh tea: What is a book you can recommend to others? Anything by Joe Hill. Horns is good, Heart Shaped Box is a rock and roll ghost story, and NOS4A2 (don’t watch the series...it’s meh).
19. Turkish tea: What is your favourite cake? I have two!! Red Velvet and fuckingggggg strawberry with white buttercream icing oh fuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
20. Green tea: What was the first movie you saw in a cinema? I remember going to see Bambi when I was 4 and being traumatized. I think the cinema was showing it cuz it was an anniversary showing or something.
21. Blueberry-Muffin tea: Tell me a memory, which makes you smile. Cooking as a kid with my grandma.
22. Panda tea: Do you have pets? Which one? I say that Lucy, my parents’ goldie, is my pup!
23. Butter tea: Show / Tell me about one thing i your room you find awesome. My bed...but of course ;)
24. Hot chocolate: Do you have (a) stuffed animal(s) sitting in your room? Which one(s)? I have three on my bed. Snoopy, a grey owl I named Oskar, and a stuffed boa constrictor I call Cupcake.
25. 24 flavors: What is your favourite word? Biiiitch
26. Jasmin tea: Can you draw / paint? Wanna show me something? I am no artist.
27. Kombucha: What do you order on a pizza? Mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes.
28. Cloud tea: Which movie do you want to watch next? Midsommar!! I never saw it in the cinema so I may just buy it. I would love to see Queen and Slim but it’s a limited release in Portland (not surprised). And any horror movie that looks worth the time.
29. Gunpowder tea: If you had the chance: would you go to space? Yes, my bags have been packed since I was 10. Let’s go.
30. Matcha: Bonus question of you choice! I might answer… I’m not sure what this means??
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——— character question sheet ,
▌real name: RT600 Chloe
▌single or taken: Verse Dependant, although I usually default my girls to being single so the possibility of shipping is open to those who are interested! (But please keep my shipping rules in mind.)
▌abilities or powers: Chloe’s features are pretty limited considering she was a very early stage prototype, but she has most older model android functions!
▌eye colour: Blue
▌hair colour: Blonde
▌family members: She considers Cleo, Claire, and Clover her sisters even if they aren’t biologically
▌pets: She doesn’t have any, but she loves animals so much and would love to get one someday!
▌something they don’t like: Labs and/or the CyberLife building(s)
▌hobbies/activities: Painting, drawing, caring for Ralph’s old plants
▌ever hurt anyone before: Yes
▌ever killed anyone before: No
▌animal that represents them: Maybe a deer
▌worst habits: Getting lost in her own head, a massive guilt complex of blaming herself for things that aren’t even remotely her fault and then beating herself up over said things
▌sexual orientation: Asexual
▌thoughts on marriage/kids: She’s be up for it if she fell for the right person, however as far as kids go I just always imaged Chloe somehow falling into that on accident? Like she finds an abandoned android kid and took them under her wing, or something like that
▌fears: Forgetting; Chloe’s absolute biggest fear is being reset and forgetting again. She already has many missing memories due to past resets, so the idea of losing any more than what’s already missing absolutely terrifies her. Asides from that, the idea of being around Elijah again very much unsettles her, sometimes even the topic of him is just uncomfortable for her.
▌style preferences: Lots of comfy casual clothes do best for Chloe! She likes t-shirts, jeans, shorts, the occasional dress, etc.
▌someone they love: All her sisters
▌approach to friendships: Being nice?
▌thoughts on pie: I’m not sure! Chloe doesn’t eat really so likes it maybe??
▌favourite drink: Water or thirium
▌favourite place to spend time at: Outdoors! Chloe has been cooped up her whole life indoors, never allowed to go outside unless Kamski was with her (which wasn’t often), she wasn’t even allowed to get groceries so instead she just admired the world from afar behind a glass window. If you wanna find Chloe, check any nearby park!
▌swim in the lake or in the ocean: Swim in the lake
▌their type: Someone understanding and patient, in general! She wouldn’t want someone controlling who reminded her of Elijah, like they don’t push her around or constantly tell her what to do. Chloe couldn’t handle someone who didn’t respect her boundaries.
▌camping or indoors: Camping
▌real name: RT700 Chloe Cleo
▌single or taken: Verse Dependant, although I usually default my girls to being single so the possibility of shipping is open to those who are interested! (But please keep my shipping rules in mind.)
▌abilities or powers: Has most if not more of the same functions as an AX400 model
▌eye colour: Green
▌hair colour: Blonde
▌family members: No biological family, but Cleo considers the other Chloes her sisters 100%.
▌pets: She doesn’t have and isn’t sure of how she feels about them just yet
▌something they don’t like: The deep cold
▌hobbies/activities: So far Jericho has been her main concern, however, I could see her eventually getting into music such as guitar
▌ever hurt anyone before: Yes
▌ever killed anyone before: Yes
▌animal that represents them: Maybe like, a bird of some sort, possibly an owl or eagle???
▌worst habits: Being a little too untrusting of others and/or pushing people away
▌sexual orientation: Bisexual
▌thoughts on marriage/kids: I don’t think she’s completely closed off to the idea, but she’d have to really really know the person well before she even considered it. As far as kids go, she probably doubts she’ll ever adopt any
▌fears: Losing the girls again, having those close to her die, loss of control
▌style preferences: I’m not sure what it’s called but a more alternative/edgier style-ish I guess?? She likes sneakers, boots, ripped jeans, leather jackets, darker ietc.
▌someone they love: Her sisters.
▌approach to friendships: She’s a bit cynical and has a hard time opening up to people, in other words she can be somewhat reserved so she doesn’t have many friendships tbh. But after a person gives her time to trust them, she’s a very caring and funny individual to be around.
▌thoughts on pie: She doesn’t really like it.
▌favourite drink: Thirium is fine with her.
▌favourite place to spend time at: Any place where she can have a moment alone.
▌swim in the lake or in the ocean: Ocean
▌their type: I’m not sure tbh! Maybe just someone who gets her and actually treats her with respect, doesn’t get too off-put by her reserved attitude.
▌camping or indoors: Camping
▌real name: ST200 Chloe Claire
▌single or taken: Verse Dependant, although I usually default my girls to being single so the possibility of shipping is open to those who are interested! (But please keep my shipping rules in mind.)
▌abilities or powers: Claire created to be a hostess for the CyberLife Tower, basically greet guests and do office work if needed
▌eye colour: Brown
▌hair colour: Blonde
▌family members: Chloe, Cleo, and Clover.
▌pets: Absolutely adores them! Any and all of them, like she wants one so bad.
▌something they don’t like: Scary situations
▌hobbies/activities: Writing, reading, gardening, cleaning, organizing
▌ever hurt anyone before: No
▌ever killed anyone before: No
▌animal that represents them: Rabbits
▌worst habits: A massive perfectionist when it comes to herself, also she freezes and waits to be saved in stressful situations
▌sexual orientation: Asexual
▌thoughts on marriage/kids: Okay so literally a family and marriage is Claire’s biggest dream! She wants so badly to meet someone and fall in love then get married and eventually adopt kids, like it’s the dream for her!!!
▌fears: Mistakes, Elijah, being alone/isolation (Claire can’t function completely by herself)
▌style preferences: I’m not sure if business casual is the right term, but she loves lots of skirts and dresses. Pinks and pastels are a plus, button-ups, etc.
▌someone they love: Literally everyone she meets tbh
▌approach to friendships: Being very kind and friendly
▌thoughts on pie: Likes it!
▌favourite drink: I could see her liking coffee and hot chocolate cause of Rose
▌favourite place to spend time at: Anyplace she can make friends and be with people
▌swim in the lake or in the ocean: She’d prefer a swimming pool, but maybe the ocean?
▌their type: Honestly just someone sweet and kind will fit Claire’s bill
▌camping or indoors: Indoors
▌real name: ST800 Chloe Clover (or Clove for Short)
▌single or taken: Verse Dependant, although I usually default my girls to being single so the possibility of shipping is open to those who are interested! (But please keep my shipping rules in mind.)
▌abilities or powers: Clover is far more advanced than her sisters, but can perform the same tasks as them as well such as house chores and typical office work duties. Like Kara’s model, Clove can change her hair color and style whenever she wants, along with
▌eye colour: Hazel-- a brown and blue mixture.
▌hair colour: Blonde
▌family members: She doesn’t have any biological family, asides from maybe Elijah as her creator (in which she’s still unsure about him currently), but she has the girls as her sisters but she’s still getting to know them ( and isn’t sure if she’d consider them sisters just yet but wouldn’t tell them that.).
▌pets: She doesn’t have a definite opinion of them, but I’m sure she’d probably like them if she ever gets the chance to be around one. I think she’d like cats best.
▌something they don’t like: Confusion.
▌hobbies/activities: Currently none, she doesn't know what she likes or what she doesn’t yet, so mostly she just sticks to chores and office tasks that she was originally programmed for.
▌ever hurt anyone before: No
▌ever killed anyone before: No
▌animal that represents them: Perhaps a dog possibly? But a very reserved one
▌worst habits: Not understanding certain social situations and accidentally offending others or making them or herself uncomfortable
▌sexual orientation: Unsure
▌thoughts on marriage/kids: She has no problem with it, but is nowhere near ready for it
▌fears: The idea of being shut off does admittedly scare her now
▌style preferences: Unsure still, instead she just continues to wear the clothes she left in when she left Elijah’s, that or she takes what others give to her and wears that.
▌someone they love: No one yet, she doesn’t know what love feels like.
▌approach to friendships: Other than what tips her program has given her she has no idea
▌thoughts on pie: She doesn’t have an opinion on it as it has no nutrition value for her.
▌favourite drink: Thirium
▌favourite place to spend time at: Anyplace with a view of the city, sort of like that place that Hank visits in the game with a bridge.
▌swim in the lake or in the ocean: She hasn’t been in either so she wouldn’t know, but she’d probably opt for neither and go for a pool instead.
▌their type: She’s not thought of anyone romantically yet, in fact, I think she doesn’t even realize love is an option yet when it comes to life so she really wouldn’t know.
▌camping or indoors: Indoors
tagged by: @ihavenoside ❤❤❤
tagging: @unfeelingandroid, @head-shot-60, @9th-in-a-line, @detrcitmade
#Dash Games#Chloe Headcanons#Cleo Headcanons#Claire Headcanons#Clover Headcanons#//this took me a hot minute I'm sorry omg
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