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egcdeath · 3 years

Text

a blip in the reader-verse

chapter 6: extra! extra! read all about it

series summary: a minor mistake causes a shift in the multiverse that only you have the capacity to fix.

chapter summary: you kept your friends close, and your enemy even closer.

pairing: politician!andy barber x journalist!reader, steve rogers x reader

word count: 4k

warnings: american politics, fake dating/marriage, angst at the end, heavy codependent behavior at the end

author’s note: i saw @jtargaryen18 post about politician!steve a while ago and must’ve internalized it because this chapter pretty much wrote itself. just a heads up: all of my political knowledge comes from political sitcoms, so sorry in advance if i get some things wrong. another warning is that there are still some very unhealthy relationship dynamics at play here, so promise me you won’t be like reader okay?

previous chapter / series masterlist

Is Andy Barber Really the Best for Our Nation’s Future?

Opinion

by Y/N L/N

Feb 7, 2021, 4:36 PM ET

After tonight’s debate, the question that’s begged is if Andrew Barber is truly fit to run our country. Although he’s clearly a front runner for his party’s nomination, he’s shown time and time again that he may actually be our weakest candidate.

His weaknesses were highlighted during the debate, with his dodged questions and vague answers. At this point in time, it’s hard to tell if Barber has a platform at all.

With Super Tuesday just around the corner, I ask you to reevaluate your support for Barber. Though a charming candidate, it seems that that’s all he has, his charm. His policies are weak, and borderline impossible, and he certainly isn’t the right person to become the most powerful man in the world.

—-

When you became conscious, you were no better than unconscious. Your eyes opened and were immediately met with a harshness from the sun peeking through a window. You shifted away from the brightness, body sinking into a memory foam mattress while your nude form rubbed against similarly soft sheets. You sleepily rubbed your eyes before they flitted throughout the room you were in. Observing an oddly clean, generic looking area, you’d quickly connected the dots that you were in a hotel room. A rather fancy one at that.

Soft breathing came from next to you, and as you turned your head a bit more, you were met with the back of a fluffy and dark haired man. You weren’t completely sure, but judging by your history of finding your way to Steve, you’d assumed that it was some alternate form of your partner.

The man in bed next to you yawned, and haphazardly threw an arm in your direction, before rolling over to greet you, “morning sunshine,” he slurred sleepily.

The beard was a bit of a surprise to you. Though you’d begged and begged your Steve to keep it, he often refused for one reason or another. Seeing the man next to you who (what was now much clearer to you) a version of your boyfriend, was a rather pleasant surprise.

“Morning,” you responded in an equally sleepy manner, ignoring the rhythmic vibration coming from your night stand.

“Mm, you should get that,” he mumbled, pressing a disoriented peck to the side of your head while you reached over to grab your phone, which you could now see was the perpetrator of the vibrations.

“Hello?” you asked into the phone.

“Are you dumb? Or are you fucking stupid?” Aaliyah’s voice scolded through the phone. “Do you know what kind of position you’ve put me in? This is a fucking mess, Y/N. All for some dick? How could you be so careless?! Jesus!”

“What are you talking about?” You glanced over at Andy, and sat up a bit, pulling the crisp blankets over your body in an attempt to retain some form of modesty.

“Don’t play dumb with me. You’re fucking Andy Barber, but you’re writing articles about him like you just watched him kill your dog. You realize that this puts all of us at risk, right? You’re gonna lose your job, I’m gonna lose my job since I decided to edit and publish your shit, and you and I will lose any sort of journalistic integrity we’ve ever had, or will have, for the rest of goddamn time! Seriously, you could’ve had anyone, but Andy Barber? Andrew fucking Barber?” she groaned over the line.

“Uh, I’ll uh, call you back,” you whispered.

“You’re joking right? Are you with him right now?”

“Aaliyah!”

“Oh my god, you’re with him right now. You’re a fucking mess,” she huffed before hanging up.

Why did the universe have to send you off to such a shitshow?

You rolled out of bed, and sulked into the bathroom, desperate to find out what was going on. While sitting on the toilet, you scrolled through the wall of notifications; tweets directed at you, messages from confused friends begging you to call them when you had a chance, and even the occasional concerned email.

You grimaced as you read through each one of them, eventually clicking on the article that many seemed to be referencing, which included a paparazzi photo of you and this Andy Barber character entering a hotel together sometime in the late night to early morning, partnered with an article or two of your own criticizing him. At first, you wondered if he was some sort of celebrity, but what you ultimately found out was much worse.

He was a politician. A senator who was running to be president.

You screamed into your hands, before tossing your phone aside, and starting a warm shower for yourself. Perhaps the shower could help jog your memory a bit.

Stepping into the steamy chamber, and letting the water pelt down onto you did do wonders for you, and it gave you a moment of focus. With both your memories from this universe, along with the information you’d been given through your phone, you were able to piece a few aspects of the universe together.

You were a journalist, a popular one at that, Andy was Steve, but not Steve, and also a presidential candidate. Aaliyah was your editor, and a higher-up at the Times, and you were about to have your ass handed to you over an affair. At least Andy wasn’t married.

Your shower must’ve taken longer than you’d expected, as there was a soft knock on the door after some time.

“Everything okay in there?” a slightly muffled voice asked.

“Yeah. Just peachy. Why aren’t you more worried about this?” you called back.

“I have a good publicist. And campaign manager. I just have a good team,” Andy paused briefly. “When you’re ready, room service is ready.”

----

Over aggressive mouthfuls of fresh fruit and bitter coffee, you conversed with Andy.

“How are we gonna fix this?” You questioned while setting down your fork.

“Well, it’s simple. We just have to find some kind of spin to this whole story. Maybe you were just interviewing me, or getting a soundbite from me.” “Why would you agree to get a soundbite from someone who clearly has it out for you?” You set your fork down, and crossed your arms over your white robe clad chest.

“That’s a good question,” Andy nodded a bit, “a good question for someone else to answer.”

“Why don’t we let your publicist figure out how to play this?”

“I’d say I’m a bit of an expert at this at this point, but I’ll call my team.”

“You do that, I need to assess the damage to my career,” you huffed, moving to sit on the bed so that you could aggressively scroll on your phone in peace.

Andy called someone, and you patiently waited while he chatted with them.

“Okay, Y/N. We can’t leave through the front, so my guy’s gonna pick us up in the garage. We have like, half an hour,” he tossed his phone aside, then maneuvered himself to get in bed with you, setting both hands down on either side of you, and placing a soft kiss on your lips. He slowly began to inch down your body, untying the belt of your robe as he did so, when you interrupted him.

“What do you think you’re doing, Andrew?”

“We have time.” He looked up at you.

“We are not doing this. What do you think got us into this mess in the first place?” you frowned, moving one of his hands so you could slide away from him.

“Are you serious?”

“Yes! Why aren’t you taking this seriously! Do you realize that both of our careers are at stake here? I don’t want to lose my job because I’m having an affair with you. You shouldn’t want to lose a shot at office for a woman you’re not even with.”

“Come on, we’ve been doing this for almost a year, and you only have a problem with it now?”

“Yes! The public had no idea before! They’re going batshit now! And the worst part is that I’m the one taking the most heat,” you sighed, and Andy gave you a frown.

“I’m sorry, Y/N. You know I didn’t want this to happen.”

“It’s kinda too late for sorries now.”

——

You stepped out of your suite about five minutes after Andy left, suitcase in tow, blocky sunglasses on your face, and a heathered grey peacoat draped over your shoulders. Although you were stressed from the controversy you’d found yourself in, you couldn’t help but feel the buzz of excitement from having to hide from the paparazzi. At the same time, you felt quite bad for this version of yourself.

When you finally got out to the designated Cadillac, you asked for his driver to roll up the partition, like you’d done a million times before, then looked out of the tinted windows. The ride was pretty awkward, considering you were in no mood to talk to Andy, and Andy felt bad about the issues he’d imposed on you from his own carelessness. He set a cautious hand on top of yours, and though you were agitated, it did brighten your mood the slightest bit.

After what felt like forever, you arrived at his campaign building, and you were ushered into a small, soundproof space, with a large and round pine table in the center of it. Surrounding the table was a very tired looking Aaliyah, and… Tony Stark?

“How’s everyone’s weekend been?” Tony asked, breaking the ice as you and Andy settled into your seats.

“Are we really doing small talk right now?” Aaliyah deadpanned, “sorry, that was uncalled for.”

“Alright, straight to the elephant in the room then. You two were out spotted, big deal, happens all the time to politicians and their mistresses-“

“I’m not his mistress! You know this, Tony,” you huffed.

“Tony knew and not me?” Aaliyah gasped.

“Well-“ you began.

“Save it.”

“It was on a very need-to-know basis,” you muttered.

“Back to what I was saying. I suggest that we don’t address it, unless addressed.”

“I don’t know if you’re dense, or what, but that’s the exact opposite of what we need to do. We have to get on top of this story before the story is that you,” Aaliyah gestured at you, “are packing your shit at the Times.”

The door shot open, and quickly closed. A slightly flustered blonde man stumbled through. “Sorry to interrupt,” he began.

Aaliyah rolled her eyes at this notion, muttering a ‘sure you are’ to herself.

“We just finished polling numbers, and Andy, you’re up?” He projected the screen of his iPad onto a TV in the room, then passed the device over to Andy on his way to sit down.

“Thanks, Vis,” he gave him a curt nod.

“Why would our candidate allegedly hooking up with someone who hates him boost him in the polls?” Tony asked.

“Middle America loves a family man, you know that,” Vision said in a matter of faculty manner. “Andy has had a hard time connecting with that demographic because when they see him, they see an Elitist East-coaster.”

“Hooking up with a hot reporter does not make you a family man,” Aaliyah retorted.

“That brings me to my next point. If you don’t mind, I’d like to add a proposal of my own,” Vision stated, and received a shrug from the rest of the room. “Well, if we need to put a spin on this, the obvious choice is to explain that they’ve been seeing each other the whole time. Under wraps, of course. The photos the paparazzi received are not damning by any means, and look more romantic than sexual, to be quite frank. Y/N wrote those articles to throw the public off her scent, and she didn’t really believe anything she said, and Andy? He’s just a good, all American man who was tired of keeping his relationship under wraps. Everything’s to gain from this plan.”

“Well, I lose my journalistic integrity. That’s a pretty big loss to me. I may never work again,” you rubbed your forehead in a distraught manner.

“You won’t have to worry about working when you’re the First Lady. Think about it, if we can get votes from the swing states, we’ve secured enough electoral votes to have a Barber win. All over a little character rebrand.”

“Excuse me, the First Lady?” You nervously glanced between Vision and Aaliyah while you attempted to pick your jaw up from the floor.

“Well, yes. We can’t exactly get the full ‘family man’ look without Mr. Barber being a real husband.“

“Are we talking, real wedding?” Aaliyah questioned.

“Yes. You just have to be legally bound together for around four years, eight years tops. About twelve would be preferable, but I understand that not everything works out.”

“I don’t object to that,” Andy winked and nudged you a bit.

What a mess.

“Back to what I was saying, we’ll probably need about a two week PR period before we do a press briefing announcing the engagement. Give or take. During that time, we could have your publicist arrange all sorts of good photo ops for you two.”

“Either way, my career is ruined,” you sighed, and Andy set his hand on your back.

“Sorry, sweetheart.”

“You don’t have to do that. We’re not currently standing in front of 30 cameras.”

“Well, we should prepare for when we are in front of 30 cameras.”

“Is it though?” Vision interjected, bringing you and Andy back from your aside. “We can just deflect, maybe have a few of your friends make articles about how what you did wasn’t all that bad.”

“Is it not a valid criticism of me that I was sleeping around with the person who I was also slandering?”

“Is it not possible to criticize someone you care about? In fact, helping someone learn how to improve can be very romantic,” Vision shrugged.

There was a brief silence throughout the bunch while everyone pondered a counter argument.

“That right there, that kind of insight is why we call you the Vision,” Tony shook his head and proudly clapped the man on his back.

“So it’s settled then? We’re really doing this?” You glanced around at your peers while Aaliyah spoke. “Any objections, love birds?”

Andy shrugged, “I’d be happy to spend the rest of my life with her.”

You, on the other hand, weren’t so sure.

——

Barber and his Greatest Critic Break Bread Together on Friday

Y/N L/N Announces She’s Not Resigning from Senior Position, and That She’s Been Seeing Barber!

BREAKING! Barber Announces Relationship with Critic Y/N L/N

Is L/Nber the Ship that Shows us How Relationships Are More Powerful than Politics?

Our New Favorite Political Power Couple Showed Up Together at a Rally, and We Couldn’t Be More Excited.

Barber 7 Points Ahead in the Polls, Leaving Loguidice and Kline Trailing Far Behind

Was Y/N Really in the Wrong?

“L/Nber” Celebrate Valentine’s Day Together

These L/Nber House Hunting Photos Are Giving Us Life!

This was your reality for the next two weeks. The news cycle was filled with a plethora of articles about you, some criticizing you, some criticizing Andy, but most, supporting the two of you in your romantic endeavors. Unsurprisingly, the world loved a good story about two attractive people getting together.

During this period, you didn’t particularly feel like leaving, though the thought had certainly crossed your mind. You just weren’t sure that you wanted to be dealing with those terrible symptoms again in the midst of an already stressful stage of your life. At the same time, it seemed like the universe was not going to be fair with your time in this reality. You were convinced that you were here for the long haul, or at least, until Andy proposed to you.

Although it was a bit annoying, cameras around every corner, a watchful eye on everything that you or Andy even considered doing, you found yourself growing on Andy. In some ways, he was a bit more intense than Steve, whose personality had mellowed out a bit since the Snap.

This had been the first time in all of your travels where you felt like ‘Steve’ was the one pursuing you, and in all honesty, it made you feel good. Even if everything the two of you did had an aftertaste of artificiality.

You spent more and more time with him every day, staying together with him in hotels across the country, visiting local businesses with him to get the perfect photo op, and attending galas with donors. It seemed like in every candid photo of Andy, you weren’t too far behind. By the time the day of your proposal arrived, you weren’t even all that opposed to the marriage.

When the proposal finally arrived, the two of you were sat inside a rather fancy restaurant, finishing up your meal when Andy settled on one knee in front of you, “Y/N,” he began, and you felt the all too familiar tremble of your watch on your wrist.

You almost had to restrain yourself from exclaiming out loud. It’s not that you didn’t like Andy or anything, he’d genuinely grown on you. In the least cheesy way, it wasn’t him, but you. Being somewhere so unfamiliar for so long had begun to create a cumulative exhaustion that wore a bit more on you every day. Feeling homesick was an understatement.

You brought your hands up to your face, and gasped dramatically, squeezing your eyes shut to see if you could possibly produce a few tears, while mobile cameras and a few professional flashes were directed towards you. A few warm droplets slipped down your face, and for a moment you weren’t even sure how fake they were. It seemed like once they started, they couldn’t stop.

You missed Steve, your Steve, the man you’d fallen in love with. You missed your friends, teammates, and family. You missed the stability of knowing what the world held for you next.

In the midst of Andy’s proposal, in what should’ve been the happiest moment of your life, all you could focus on was your overwhelming desire to have a sense of normalcy in your life once again.

——

You woke up in a cold sweat, heart racing in your chest, and shaking your ribcage. You looked up to the ceiling of what you had grown to know was your room in the Compound, your real room, and felt your eyes well up in tears that stung you.

You sat up, and took as deep of a breath as you could manage, when you noticed Wanda sitting by your bedside.

“Oh good, you’re awake,” she said softly, coming closer to you, offering you a glass of water before sitting at the foot of your bed.

“Where’s Steve?” you asked, trying to gauge where you were.

“Honey,” she sighed softly. “I’m so sorry. He’s still missing.”

Your lip trembled as you took a sip. You really were back home.

“I know you’re hurting, but when you feel a little better, we’re going to Medbay. Banner decided that we should probably keep an eye on your vitals, but you were gone before we even had the chance to get you there.”

You gulped down the water, then set it on your bedside table, “so was that all just a dream or something? Why isn’t Steve back?” you huffed frustratedly.

“I don’t know why he isn’t back, but I don’t think you were dreaming. I was trying to watch your dreams, but I couldn’t read you, or your thoughts at all.”

“Hmm,” you mumbled, throwing your legs over the side of the bed, “let’s go.”

As you settled into the cold, and sterile medical facility you were hooked up to a plethora of monitors, and a cacophony of devices beeped as they read your physical state.

You tuned out the words being spoken around you, zoning out and looking forward to your vital signs monitor. Your mind wandered to your last few thoughts in your previous reality, the desperation to come back, to see your estranged lover again. You couldn’t help but to feel disappointed, lamenting the fact that you’d found your way home, yet felt the ever present void in your heart where your Steve used to be.

“Y/N?” a voice asked you, and you glanced in its general direction. “What happened while you were out? What did you see? Did it work?” Bruce pelted you with questions.

“I don’t know if I’m ready to talk about it yet,” you sighed softly, bringing a hand up to your neck and rubbing it. “The watch worked though, I was definitely in other universes. I just couldn’t reach him. Bring him home. I failed.”

“Do you think he’s really out there?” Bruce whispered to Wanda hoping that you might not pick up on it.

“I’m… I don’t know. I just don’t know how likely it is that we’ll manage to find him,” she responded in a hushed tone. You bit back tears as she spoke, resuming your empty gaze on the pixelated green text of your heart rate on the monitor.

“I’m sorry, guys. I have to go back,” you interrupted. “I can’t give up on Steve yet. I know he wouldn’t give up on me.”

“Y/N, you could be gone for centuries before you find him, then return back here with no time passed at all, and possibly no Steve. You don’t deserve to take on all of that pain,” Wanda set a hand on your shoulder. “Steve would’ve wanted you to move on from him. To find happiness without him.”

“I can’t do that, Wanda. Without him I don’t even know who I am,” your voice trembled as you spoke. “He’s literally been my only tether through all of this.”

“I just don’t know that this is the best thing we could be doing. Sure, you’re physically fine, but it almost seems like you’re doing worse emotionally than you were before you left,” Bruce added.

“I’m not!” you sniffled before continuing. “I’m just tired from going to all those new places.”

Bruce and Wanda didn’t seem too convinced. “Don’t you guys believe in me? When have I let you down on a mission before? I’m gonna find him, okay? I’ll find him if it’s the last fucking thing I do,” you blubbered.

Wanda’s hand slid down your shoulder, and to the watch that was currently on your wrist.

“Don’t,” you uttered, swinging your opposite hand to grab onto your own wrist. You were aware that there was absolutely no way you could overpower her in taking the watch from you, but even in your minor hysterics, you were able to think fast enough to press the round button before the watch was able to be taken off of you.

You, and your wrist shook. Wrist shaking from the watch, and promise of sending you elsewhere, and you from a mixture of sobs and adrenaline. Though not the most ideal exit, it was an exit nonetheless.

You weren’t even sure if you cared that you were on good terms with your teammates anymore.

You just needed to be with Steve again.

#steve rogers x reader #captain america x reader #andy barber x reader #andy barber x you #marvel fanfiction #ABITRV

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tenshindon · 4 years

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Hi :)

just some quick stuff ‘bout Yamcha and Bulma’s relationship in the manga under the cut

So I was going to save this for until after I watched the anime too but I mean that’s not going to be for a while- plus I just wanted to share what little things I ended up finding.

And when I say little things I’m not exaggerating the slightest; Yamcha and Bulma seldom appear together in the same scene, let alone even talk to or about each other. When I was getting ready to start my note taking, I actually had a number of colored tabs I wanted to attribute to specific things I found:

Blue tabs would be for anytime Bulma did or said something questionable

Green tabs would be for anytime Bulma did or said something nice/sweet

Orange tabs would be for anytime Yamcha did or said something questionable

Yellow tabs would be for anytime Yamcha did or said something nice/sweet

And throughout five-and-a-half 3-1 volumes? I only used 8, which is definitely foreshadowing how much different the anime is going to be from the manga as I can already think of at least three more scenarios involving these two.

Nevertheless, on to what I actually found. I’m going to elaborate on my thought process on all the scenes afterwards. Points with asterisks next to them mean I’m relatively indecisive as whether what they did was good, bad, or neutral.

*The first yellow tab goes to Yamcha when he reunites with Krillin and Goku at the first tournament of the series. In the specific manga I have, Yamcha mentions that Bulma was “bugging” him about how long hair was no longer in fashion in the city, so he either cut his hair himself or let Bulma cut it so it would be short.

The second tab is a blue tab about a chapter or two later when Yamcha and Jackie Chun are about to start their match, to which Bulma’s already wondering if Chun is attractive. Oolong makes a point to bring up her relationship with Yamcha, to which she retorts with “I can look, can’t I?” After Jackie Chun steps out and it’s discovered he’s an old man, Bulma is immediately disappointed and decides to cheer for Yamcha instead.

The third tab is a blue tab again; when Goku visits Bulma to have the dragon radar repaired, Panchy comments on Bulma and Yamcha’s tumultuous relationship and how Bulma was jealous of Yamcha’s popularity with girls. At that, Bulma gets upset and pledges to accompany Goku on his quest to find the Dragon Balls- either to wish for a better boyfriend, or to coincidentally find a new boyfriend while hunting for them

The fourth tab is- again, a blue tab, where Bulma openly (and honestly aggressively) flirts with General Blue as he and the Red Ribbon army pursue them for the Dragon Ball. When Blue rejects her, she doesn’t persist but rather remarks that he’s probably not attracted to girls if he wasn’t attracted to her. Later on, in an attempt to save her life, she again tries to seduce him- more so for strategic purposes this time.

Tab number five and blue tab number four happens after Yamcha just barely escapes death from fighting Bandages. While Krillin, Goku, Upa, and Puar fret over Yamcha’s safety, Bulma remarks that the fight was pathetic and Bandages was already damaged (though Krillin’s quick to point out his wrappings weren’t because he was hurt).

Things start to turn up on Bulma’s part with a couple of green tabs; as Yamcha is prepared to fight Tien, Bulma’s fairly excited to see him come out on stage. *The next tab I decided to note was Bulma covering her eyes right before Tien breaks Yamcha’s leg, and the final tab goes to her being the first person to exclaim that she would be following Yamcha to the hospital.

I actually used a purple tab for this next one since it didn’t fit either yellow or orange. It’s a small thing too as neither character actively does anything to warrant it, as for the first time in the character biographies at the beginning of the books, Yamcha is described as “Bulma’s on-and-off boyfriend.”

The last tab is one more blue tab that comes as a result of Bulma fawning over Goku’s growth and how much he had changed. Oolong solidifies that she’s head-over-heels for him by calling her a “fickle wench.”

OK discussion time class :)

1.) I put this act as questionable because I wasn’t sure if Yamcha cut his hair for Bulma’s sake or because he wanted to fit in to the aesthetic of city life and just followed Bulma’s advice. But considering he generally preferred to have longer hair for the majority of Dragon Ball/Z/Super, I’m going to wager and say he was willing to change his appearance for Bulma.

2.) So far, Bulma and Yamcha had been dating for around one year and at this point Bulma’s already prepared to ogle other men. I have a couple points I want to make on Bulma and her perception of men but I’m going to save that for The Bigger Analysis.

3.) We have no idea how Yamcha behaves around these other girls as there’s never an indication he reciprocates their affection or just ignores them, but either way trying to replace your boyfriend like he’s a used-up car is pretty bad. We can assume Yamcha doesn’t react positively to the attention considering he never positively comments on any woman in the series- Bulma included.

4.) This one’s pretty self explanatory; I don’t really need to explain this. I’ll try to give Bulma some leeway and say she and Yamcha were on a break as Panchy points out they were fighting, but “fighting” is not the same as “being on break,” never mind it is actually never explicitly stated or implied that the two go on a mutual break. The most prominent existence of a break exists in Yamcha leaving to train at Korin Tower and to train alone.

5.) Bulma doesn’t offer an ounce of care at the fact Yamcha was literally hanging over death and even insults his capability as a fighter while his friends do all the worrying for her. For someone who’s supposed to be your lover and partner, Bulma doesn’t really show any concern for Yamcha’s safety.

6.) Bulma’s actually being a supportive girlfriend during the Tien saga which was a nice relief from seeing her being so dismissive- this is the first time she’s actually cheered for Yamcha in any fight since the first tournament too (every other time, she would collectively congratulate and root for her friends).

I put an asterisk next to Bulma covering her eyes before Yamcha’s leg is snapped in half because she could have just been scared to see it, but I want to be nice to her and say she didn’t want to see Yamcha get hurt.

As for Bulma being prepared to go to the hospital with Yamcha, she’s the absolute first one: whether she’s grown since the Bandages fight or it just dawned on her just how much danger Yamcha was in, she now starts to show care and worry over him. This is further shown after Krillin is killed and Yamcha offers to take revenge for him, to which Bulma scolds him- both for the fact he was still recovering from his injury and reminding him of his inability to be able to do anything, and because he was willing to easily add himself to the growing body count started by Piccolo and his children.

7.) Again, no explanation needed. This change in Yamcha’s biography gives clarity on the fact Yamcha and Bulma have taken enough breaks from each other for him to be considered an “on-and-off boyfriend.”

8.) It’s been a while at this point since Bulma’s looked at another man affectionately- both manga duration wise and in-universe time. Still, it reminds the reader that Bulma’s fairly fickle when it comes to men.

Couple extra things I just want to talk about:

Like I said before, Yamcha never looks twice at another woman- he even points out that Chun’s behavior was lecherous towards Ranfan (though this could have just been portrayed so Yamcha could put the pieces together that Roshi and Chun were the same person). Meanwhile Bulma seems to be poised to pick up another man in case things don’t work out between them. I would attribute this to Bulma being young, but she maintains this behavior for years- even into DBZ where she’s in her late-twenties.

As far as we know, Bulma and Yamcha never kiss. At least they don’t kiss for as long as the General Blue saga, as Bulma points out she’s going to die before having her first kiss. Of course, you don’t have to kiss to be dating someone. I just found it a little interesting.

Yamcha attends school by the time he moves to the city with Bulma, and possibly lives with her and her family at Capsule Corp, as Bulma’s easily able to get a hold of him when she calls her dad and asks him to put him on the phone.

The majority of this list comes in the form of Bulma’s flirtatious nature with other men. Aside from that, she and Yamcha are pretty casual with each other, her only other fault being her apathy towards Yamcha against Bandages.

Toriyama’s stated in a Q&A that Bulma was a “harsh and selfish” person.

I’m fairly certain Toriyama’s pointed out he isn’t sure how to write romance and I personally can’t blame him for that: love’s a complicated thing that I don’t even know how to portray.

That’s all I have now. I’ll be back with more notes about the anime’s portrayal of these two. I think I’ll make a post like this one for the anime, then I’ll gather everything I’ve collected and write a big piece about it.

If you have any questions, comments, or just want to talk about this with me feel free to shoot me a message :)

#dragon ball #yambul #yamcha #bulma #snap chats #i might have forgotten some stuff but i made sure to take note of the important things #i will definitely elaborate and connect these points more clearly in my whole review #but yeah ! if you read all of this thank you very much for reading

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radical-rad1986 · 5 years

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ESS sign-ups

Mmm... maybe sideblogs don’t show up in tag searches?? Because my key chain post does?

So the Escaflowne Secret Santa (ESS) is a gift exchange that’s going into its fifth year. If you love Escaflowne you should join! We love new blood people. Please follow the @esca-ss blog for information and updates!

Thanks @drkstars-art for reminding me! Omg it is almost the end of October isn’t it? :/

Yes I’mma still use this sideblog for sign-ups bc it functions. Sign-ups end 11/16, partners will go out 11/20. Please post gifts by 1/11/2020. (Cannot type ‘2019′ for that ha.)

Sign-up form is here, send your info to icm.9302014 [@] gmail.com to sign up. FAQ is here, if you can’t find the answer holla at me.

Remember that I ignore time zones; if your time zone is right then you’re good!!

Anyone who loves Esca and wants to participate is welcome!!! Reblog and tag!!

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If the blog doesn’t work, here’s the FAQ/Information and the Sign-up form:

Don’t see your question here? Just contact Rad via any method (email: icm.9302014 [@] gmail.com). [Heeeey, that’s a different email…. Yeah I don’t mind that the internet can see it. Responses will come from my primary email.]

What is the ESS?

The Escaflowne Secret Santa (ESS for short) is a fan-created holiday gift exchange to promote friendship between those who enjoy Escaflowne and to create new works for the fandom.

Who runs the ESS?

radicalrad-1986, call her Rad, hosts the ESS exchange. So far we’ve got four! wonderful years under the belt!

Do you need help organizing/running the ESS or working the Tumblr site?

At this time, no. If help is needed there’s already a list going. If there arises a situation in the future where Rad needs help she’ll ask. Thank you!

Who can join/participate?

Anyone and everyone who loves Escaflowne! You don’t need to be a part of the location we hang at or our little usual group on Tumblr. If you love Esca then come have fun, meet new people, make stuff for the fandom! It does not matter how old you are* or how old a fan you are; come join! (* = Please be 18+/local age of consent to participate in the NSFW exchange.)

How does this work?

1) Sign up by filling out this form and emailing it to icm.9302014 [@] gmail.com.

2) Receive your recipient’s name. 3) Create! (Keep it a secret!) 4) Check in at the requested times. 5) Post! 6) Have fun!! – Each year there will be someone helping Rad give out a set of names - including hers! Please check in with Rad, not the secondary person. Generic questions about the ESS should be directed at Rad. If you receive Rad’s name and have a question about her gift please contact the secondary person OR if you directly ask Rad be sure you’re anonymous.

When are the sign-up dates / posting dates?

These dates will change as the years go by so they’re not set in stone. If Rad is on top of things (haha) sign-ups will begin early October and posting week is mid/late December or early January. For the posting week you have the entire week, you’re not late if you post on Wednesday or Saturday instead of Sunday! :)

What can I do as a gift for my recipient? What quality does it have to be? How much time should I spend on it?

Whatever you want! If you’re a writer, write! If you’re an artist, draw! If you like making animated images, animate away! Music videos, fan soundtracks, manips, whatever your talent is. Please make something for your recipient to enjoy; if they don’t like Dornkirk don’t draw or write something elaborate based on him. Quality and time spent are hard to quantify. No one expects you to spend years on it or break yourself over it. “Please spend more than five minutes and don’t gift a rush job,” goes without saying. Surely no one will give a rushed gift but so it’s been said. Don’t compare yourself to another gifter and feel bad; know that your gift will be loved by the recipient and the fandom for the care and time you put into it.

Can I gift something NSFW or state that I’m fine with receiving it?

Yes! There is a secondary swap for those who are alright with NSFW. If you’re not into NSFW no worries! Must I gift something NSFW if I’m in that group? No; if your inspiration does not lead down that road that’s alright. It’s a way for people who are comfortable in the area to give/receive NSFW while those who are uncomfortable don’t have to worry.

Can I do BOTH swaps if there are two swaps?

Sure! The point is to have fun, so why not double it?

How/where should I post my gift?

Wherever you want; Rad is primarily linking to things on AO3 due to Tumblr’s 12/2018 stupidity.

– NSFW entries that are SFW: Please comment in the post that they are SFW as Rad will tag them that way for the filtering/block systems.

– NSFW entries that are NSFW MUST be under a cut!

– Tagging: Please @-tag this blog, esca-ss. In the tags section please tag it “ESS(space)[year]”. For example, “ESS 2017.” For the NSFW please tag it “NSFW(space)ESS(space)[year]”. Example, “NSFW ESS 2017”. Rad uses the Tumblr Search function to make sure she doesn’t miss postings. If this blog, esca-ss, doesn’t reglog your post within 48 hours please contact either this blog or RadicalRad1986 and nudge me.

Where do I sign up?? How much information should I provide? May I ask for an extra personalized gift?

Please email your form toicm.9302014 [@] gmail.com.

You can provide as much information as you want! Don’t write a book but don’t submit a single sentence either. :) — An ‘extra personalized gift’ means you’d like something based on fic you’ve written or art you’ve drawn or if you really like someone’s headcanon and you want your gift based on that. A generic request is alright but not specific (example of specific: fic A, chapter 2, lines 12-54). You must also include at least three generic likes as well. [If its longfic you can point to a chapter or two because yeah we may not have time to read 500,000 words.] Etc; it is not limited to fic, art, or headcanon. —— Example: “So I’d really like art based on this fic (URL link) that I/someone else wrote.” Or “I’d love to see a story based on this art (URL link) that I/someone else drew.” Or “Xyz posted this headcanon and I’d love to see this explored.“ As well as “I enjoy the VH dynamic, Folken intrigues me, and what the heck was Dryden doing for his five years abroad I mean how did he build his merchant empire-ish thing?” — URLs MUST be included, not just links. Links disappear as things are copied/pasted.

Can/should I message my recipient before the posting date? Can I post a teaser of some sort?

If you want, certainly! Remember though, it’s a secret! Don’t let your recipient know who you are or exactly what you’re making! If you’re having fun that’s the goal! (Example: Message your recipient as anonymous or Submit/send Rad or the ESS a teaser and she’ll post it, that way the original creator is temporarily disconnected from the teaser.)

What if I can’t post my gift on time or I have to duck out due to real life?

This is alright and totally understandable. There is a week’s time in which you can post your gift so don’t feel rushed. No one will look down on you because life happened. You have to take care of yourself first. Being a little late is obviously undesirable but understandable. If you’re going to be late or sadly must duck out please let Rad know asap. There are back-up gifters in place for this reason.

Deadlines and time zones

I try very hard to ignore timezone s. I live in Michigan, USA, so when I say a date/deadline I’m referring to my time zone of Eastern Standard. However, I try to allow twenty-four hours to go by before no longer accepting sign-ups or calling deadlines. If it’s the stated date in your timezone, you’re on time. :)

You sure link to your personal blog a lot… Just sayin’.

While I have notifications turned on for the ESS blog, Tumblr conspires against me and I don’t get the notifications. Notifications usually DO work for my personal blog. Therefore you’re more likely to get a faster response if you contact my personal blog. (Blame Tumblr.)

The form must be emailed to icm.9302014 [@] gmail.com. This form is to indicate what you want to receive as a gift; NOT what you don’t want to gift to someone else.

1) Screenname: 2) Places on the internet with URLs**: 3) Likes: – Esca universe: – Genre/topics/etc: 4) Dislikes: – Esca universe: – Genre/topics/etc: 5) SFW, NSFW, or both? 6) Does #3 and/or #4 change in SFW vs NSFW exchange? Is something alright with you in one exchange but not alright with you in the other? 7) If needed, are you available as a back-up gifter?

**: Please copy/paste or type out the URL on the form. For example: (radicalrad-1986.tumblr.com). When Rad receives sign-ups and their information she copies and pastes them into a Word/GDrive document. Text links usually don’t/sometimes carry over and thus your locations are lost! (This is an example of a text link.)

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EXAMPLE:

1) Screenname: Rad (variations apply) 2) Places on the internet with URLs: http://www.radical-rad1986.tumblr.com https://archiveofourown.org/users/rad http://www.deviantart.com/rad1986 http://www.deviantart.com/rad-destiny-arcs http://www.fanfiction.net/~rad

3) Likes: – Esca universe: If you know me at all you know that the Series is my only focus and Eries and the Astons and Dryden are my peeps. I’d LOVE to see more Marlene/Mahad! Love the girls x their men too. ^.^ I do love the Movie and if you want to do my gift in another universe, any universe, that’s totally fine. The usual/standard is also enjoyed but it’s nice to have a larger variety. I’d love to see more of minor characters or pairings. I can be tempted with rairpares if they’re not terribly OOC. :D I would super enjoy fanart of anything I’ve written too, iffn you feel like it. Fanart of anything I’ve written would be wonderful! (My Aston girls fic is in the reworks but the gist is the same.) – Genre/topic/etc: I don’t follow really in-depth things well (like murder/mystery or politics) but pretty much anything. While clearly there won’t be any long-haul in a Christmas gift I am all for the in-depth, long journey instead of the immediate dessert. 4) Dislikes: – Esca universe: Not a fan of Dornkirk. That’s pretty much it! – Genre/topics/etc: Whump, infidelity, gore/extreme violence, unnecessary/extreme ragging on a character/topic. 5) SFW, NSFW, or both? SFW 6) Does #4 and/or #5 change in SFW vs NSFW exchange? Is something alright with you in one exchange but not alright with you in the other? I’m not a fan of Dornkirk but in a NSFW gift his thought process could be explored and while I dislike detailed violence, test subjects could be shown with minor details. 7) If needed, are you available as a back-up gifter? Yup!

#Escaflowne #The Vision of Escaflowne #Tenkuu no Escaflowne #Tumblr I hate you

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murasaki-murasame · 3 years

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Now that the 7th anniversary roulette is over in GBF, here’s one giant post going over everything I got from it. I had to make a whole note on my computer listing everything just to remember it all, but it was worth it, lol.

This is gonna be long, so I’ll put it under a cut.

TL;DR: 19 days of pretty much hot garbage, ending with a surprisingly good spark that I wasn’t even initially expecting to do.

I’m gonna just copy-paste my exact notes since it’d be a lot easier than trying to summarize it here.

Roulette: [Dark Character Banner] Day 1: 30 Rolls [Nothing] [Character Weapon Banner] Day 2: 30 Rolls [Nothing] Day 3: 10 Rolls [Nothing] Day 4: 20 Rolls [Kou Dupe] [Summon Banner] Day 5: 100 Rolls [Florence, Danua dupe, Siren, Poseidon the Tide Father] Day 6: 20 Rolls [SSR Dark Vira] [Flash Gala Part 1] Day 7: 10 Gachapin Rolls, 10 Mukku Rolls [Garula, Herja] Day 8: 10 Rolls [Hector] Day 9: 10 Rolls [Nothing] Day 10: 10 Rolls [Nothing] [Flash Gala Part 2] Day 11: Guaranteed 100 Rolls [Shitori, Grand Europa, SR Mary, Agni dupe, Grand Grimnir dupe] Day 12: 50 Gachapin Rolls [Macula Marius Summon] [Summer Characters Rerun Banner] Day 13: 20 Rolls [Summer Lucio dupe] Day 14: 20 Rolls [Nezha Summon, Summer Tyre] [Summer Characters Rerun Banner Part 2] Day 15: 30 Rolls [Dark Jeanne, Water Silva, Olivia Summon, Summer Charlotta] Day 16: 30 Rolls [Nothing] Day 17: 30 Rolls [Summer Ayer] [Summer Characters Rerun Banner Part 3] Day 18: 10 Rolls [Owen] Day 19: 30 Rolls [Summer Silva dupe, Summer Tanya] [Gala] Day 20: 20 Rolls [Catura, Garuda Summon, Morrigna Summon, Herja dupe] Anniversary Scamcha: Noa, some Damascus Crystals Day 21: 100 Guaranteed Rolls + 50 Super Mukku Rolls + 70 normal rolls [Hallessenna, Summer Korwa, Summer Jin, Athena, Light Zooey, SR Leona, Scathacha, Macula Marius, Grand Leona, Fire Clarisse, Water Charlotta, Freezie, SR Elmott, Vajra [from spark], Catura dupe, Katapillar dupe, Lancelot dupe, Lilele dupe, Demonbream summon, Nezha summon, Zirnitra summon, Adramalech summon, Freyr summon, Aphrodite summon]

Scratcher: Day 1: Ring, Berries, Raphael summon dupe, Gold Spellbook [missed out on Europa] Day 2: Gold Moons Day 3: Silver Centrums [missed out on Shalem] Day 4: Intricacy Ring Day 5: Light Earrings Day 6: Water Earrings [missed out on Sariel and a Grand Rackam dupe] Day 7: Gold Spellbook [missed out on a sunlight stone] Day 8: Bronze Moons [missed out on Bahamut and Grand Alex] Day 9: Grand Rackam dupe [missed out on Black Knight] Day 10: Lineage Ring Day 11: Half-Elixirs Day 12: Water Earrings Day 13: 3,000 Crystals Day 14 [+ ROTB Scratchers]: Damascus Crystal, Coronation Rings, Silver Moons, Gold Moons [missed out on Sturm, Zeus, Hades dupe, Pholia dupe, and G-Vira dupe] Day 15: Sariel Summon Day 16: Half-Elixirs [missed out on Ferry dupe] Day 17: Primeval Horn [missed out on Rei] Day 18: Dark Earrings [missed out on Rosetta] Day 19: Silver Centrums [missed out on another Rackam dupe] Day 20: Wind Earrings [missed out on Sturm again] Day 21: Guaranteed Sunlight Stone

I know there was no real point even caring about all the stuff on the scratchers that I didn’t get, since the whole thing’s rigged and I was never gonna get them anyway, but I wanted to note it down just to highlight how much misery they put me through, lmao. The only grand weapon I got was a Rackam dupe, and that’s not even one of the good grand weapons, if I wanted to get into making an Agni grid.

The roulette pulls before the spark were also pretty bad, but probably not as bad on average as the scratchers. I at least got some actual new characters out of them, lol. From the ones I got, I decided to level up Dark Vira since I was already leveling up some of my other dark characters, but I dunno if I’ll ever use her. Dark is probably the element I have the fewest characters in, but I have enough good ones that there’s probably no real place for her in my team, especially after I get Six. I’m also leveling up Water Silva now along with Vajra, and I might end up using both of them in my water GW team. At least with the current state of my water grid, I think Silva might work pretty well for OTK purposes. I’ll probably also level up Europa and Macula Marius soon too, but I dunno how much I’ll actually use them. Macula will at least be nice as a backline unit to make Romeo even better, at least.

Other than that, I probably won’t use Florence since she just seems kinda niche, and I have enough good wind units, even though I like her design a lot. Shitori seems kinda meh compared to all the light units I’ve got at this point, so I dunno if I’d use her outside of maybe OTK stuff, but I think we also just got done with light GW a few months ago, lol. And since I continue to have way more earth units than I know what to do with, Herja’s at basically the bottom of the pile.

I also got a few new random SRs, but aside from using Summer Ayer and his new EX pose as a skin for his normal version, I probably won’t use them.

Then we get into the spark itself on the gala banner at the end of the month, which at least went a long way to redeem my mediocre rolls leading up to that point. Ignoring the fact that I had like 1% left to the gachapin frenzy meter on the final day and that all went to waste, lol.

Even though I did buy the annitix [which I used to get Halloween VasZeta] as well as both Yuisis and Yurius’ anniversary skins, I still would have been able to spark here without any of that, which is kinda surprising since I basically used my entire stash last month to spark V-Aglovale knowing full well that it’d probably ruin my chances to spark here. I actually ended up with nearly 70 summons worth of crystals left in my stash, and I still have like eight or so side-stories, 40-ish chapters of the main campaign, and a whole lot of fate episodes to get through. So I’ll probably be able to spark for summer as well. Super Mukku really put in a lot of work by giving me 50 extra free rolls on top of everything else.

Anyway, Vajra was my spark target, since water GW is coming up, and she’d probably benefit me more than the other zodiacs would, so I ended up just getting her that way at the end of it all. I still want to get Mahira eventually, but I just don’t think I’d get as much out of her right now. I actually might have been somewhat tempted to spark Catura since I have most of the other main wind units including V-Grimnir, but obviously I didn’t end up needing to spark her anyway, lol.

I’m still kinda baffled that I got not one but TWO copies of Catura from this banner. I would have preferred to just have gotten a second new zodiac instead, but this was at least really funny. So now I guess I’m leveling her up, along with Summer Korwa, who I also somehow lucked my way into. I’ve heard that she works nicely with Catura, so that works out really nicely. I do already have regular Korwa as well, but I’ve been wanting Summer Korwa ever since I heard about her rebalance. I’m quickly hitting the point of having more wind units than I can reasonably use, but it’s nice to have her.

Also on the note of wind units that I stumbled my way into getting, I now have Scathacha. I knew about her as a character since I already have Wind Naoise, and I got her Valentines alt last month, but I only just looked into her kit now that I have her, lol. I’m actually pretty happy to get her, since she sounds like she synergizes really well with my wind roster. Mainly since she has full uptime on wind attack buffs to pair with Grimnir’s passive, as well as providing team echoes for V-Grimnir’s passive and both of their team shields. It also sounds like it’d synergize really nicely with Relic Buster’s team shield ability as well. I’d like to also find a use for Summer Korwa, but I could actually see myself using Scathacha in my core wind team after I level her up.

In terms of earth units, I’m probably never gonna use Hallessena since I have other units that are less risky than her to use, but it’s nice to have her. I at least like her as a character, going by the Robomi events. But aside from her [and VasZeta from my annitix], Grand Leona is probably one of the big surprises from this spark. I might actually see myself replacing Baal with her in my main earth team, since I feel like he doesn’t really do a whole lot outside of his Session buff. She also benefits from Melleau’s passive, even though she won’t benefit from Hollowsky Axe. Now that I have both her and Grand Rein, it makes me even more interested in getting Cain later, but we’ll see how that goes.

I also got Water Chatlotta along with the other new water units I got, but like with Macula I think I’m only gonna use her for her backline passive. But it’s nice to have her just for that, since it seems pretty important for certain specific set-ups that need her extra bit of charge bar.

While I’m thinking about it, I think this Danua dupe is now my *fourth* copy of her weapon, so I guess I can just fuse them all together if I want to uncap it. I probably won’t bother, though. It seems like one of the few enmity-based light gacha weapons, so it’s probably worth keeping them separate just to be safe.

Funnily enough, even though I keep saying that dark is probably my thinnest roster at the moment, I dunno if I’m gonna use or bother leveling up Dark Jeanne or Freezie. I don’t think either of them will do enough for me at the moment. But it’s always nice to get new characters. Same goes for Light Zooey and Fire Clarisse as well.

Oh yeah, and I also got the anniversary scamcha. Which I wasn’t really planning to do, and I obviously didn’t even need to do it to finish the spark, but like with the other stuff I got this month, I’ve been really needing some retail therapy lately because of IRL stuff, so here we are, lol. Part of me kinda regrets it, but it ended up getting me Noa, so it worked out for the best. It probably would have been ideal to get either Vajra or Mahira instead, but in terms of the gala units from this pool, Noa was probably the one that I wanted most. I dunno if I’m even in a position to get much use out of him, but it’s really nice to have him.

Athena was also a huge surprise. She was on my list of suptix targets, so it’s nice to cross her off the list. I dunno how much use I’ll get out of her in the short term since I have Fire Siegfried already, but I can tell that she’ll be good to have in the long run. For a long time my flame roster felt really weak and empty, but it’s REALLY improved over the last few months, now that I have Zeta, Yuisis, Siegfried, C-Nemone, Yuel, and Athena.

I didn’t get many interesting summons this time, but Zirnitra’s HP sub-aura will be nice, and Demonbream might be good for wind enmity stuff. I did get another copy of Agni, but I’m not really anywhere close to being able to make an actual Agni grid. Which makes it hurt all the more to be taunted with Sturm twice in the scratchers, lol.

On the one hand I’m glad that magnafes is being extended so I have more time to hopefully level up some of these new units with the campaign quest, but on the other hand I’ve already spent so much time grinding that map during this event that it’s kinda driving me insane. At the very least I really want to level up Vajra in time for water GW.

I guess now my priority is to save for a spark during summer. I’d like to spark Mahira at some point, but I might end up sparking a new summer unit or something instead.

I dunno when the next suptix will happen, but my current main targets for it are Light Percival and Dark Eustace. Percival seems way better after his rebalance, and he seems to synergize really well with V-Aglovale, and Eustace seems really good with his 5-star uncap. I’ll probably end up going for Percival, but we’ll see.

I’m also putting off getting into the whole M2 grind, not to mention stuff like Akasha and the dragon raids that I can do now that I’m over rank 150, lol. I wasn’t even expecting to get that high anytime soon, but the recent exp boosting event got me way more ranks than I was expecting. Either way, I can’t really act like I’m particularly limited by my roster of characters at this point, so I mostly just have to motivate myself to get into it. I do still need to do some extra stuff with my grids first, like getting my seraphic weapons to SSR, and getting my Omega summons to 4-star, though.

So yeah I think the spark itself ended up going really well, even if the journey up to that point was kinda bad, lol.

#murasaki rambles #granblue fantasy #me getting lots of new characters: 'hell yeah'#me realizing I need to actually spend time leveling them up if I want to use them: 'what the fuck'

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freedom-shamrock · 6 years

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A Little Secret - Chapter 3

Also on AO3

Chp 1 Chp 2 Chp 3 Chp 4 Chp 5 Chp 6 Chp 7 Chp 8 Chp 9 Chp 10 Chp 11

Amazing art created by @soundofez pg 1 pg 2 pg 3

Rubbing the Board with Cold Soap

Chat Noir savored the autumnal nip in the air as he launched himself over the rooftops of Paris. The crisp chill meant an end to sweltering in his super suit, and his upcoming outdoor shoots should be far less stifling than they'd been of late. The evening was quiet, with the subtle hum of traffic as the dominant sound. A light sense of giddiness filled him as he approached their meeting spot. Seeing his Lady was always a bright point in his weeks, right up there with visits to a certain bakery on Rue Gotlib.

He caught sight of a vibrant red suit pacing across the building, and stepped up his lope to a sprint. Once he was close enough, he launched himself at her in a tremendous pounce. Time seemed to slow as he arced through the air, and he noted two critical things. First, his Bug had not sensed him, which was very odd. He'd yet to truly sneak up on her with one of his Chattacks. And second, she was rubbing her arms to ward off a chill.

On impact, he wrapped his arms around her, flipping them both to ensure he hit the ground first. They'd been playing this game for at least a year, and he didn't want to win unfairly. Also, if she wasn't prepared, as her shriek of outrage suggested, the fall could be pretty unpleasant even with the super suit.

"You okay, Bug?" he asked, loosening his grip and trying to sit up despite her position across him.

She sagged against his body. "Oooh," she whispered. "You're sooo warm."

He rolled forward the rest of the way, gathering her close. "You cold, my Lady? Is the weather getting to you already?" In the last two years he'd seen how hard it was for her to deal with the drop in temperatures. During their weekly training with Master Fu, they'd both learned that they could expect some side-effects particular to their miraculous, more noticeable the longer they had them. He'd developed an extreme fondness for fish, enhanced hearing even in his civilian form, and the ability to smell with his mouth. Her presence made people calm and happy, but a cold snap last January had been particularly rough on her.

She nodded, curling herself tighter into a ball in his lap. "Tikki says it'll be worse this year, but then it should plateau."

"That sucks," he muttered. "Anything I can do?"

"Hmmm. You already are." She tucked her head under his chin.

"So snuggles, then?" he asked. " Such a hardship." Given how little touch he'd had in the last few years, he loved being near other people. He was fortunate that his friends on both sides of the suit were willing to indulge him.

She giggled, and it filled his chest with joy. "She specifically mentioned Chat Noir snuggles as the best treatment."

"Really?" Plagg hadn't mentioned any of this, which was pretty annoying. He liked anticipating her needs. "What's so special about me?"

She hummed against his neck. "You mean aside from the fact that you're my amazing partner and a really sweet guy, to boot?"

Heat filled his face, and while he wanted to respond, his voice had been shut down by her compliments.

"Apparently the black cat compensates for the ladybug," she continued. "Which means you make extra heat for me when it's cold."

"Wait… what?" He'd been plenty warm all summer. "I'm going to produce extra heat for you all fall and winter?"

She nodded. "Early spring, too."

Her arms wrapped around his bicep, the part of him most accessible, given her position, and the action squelched any further complaints he may have voiced.

"I know it's not convenient, Chaton, and I'm sorry that you aren't going to get a respite from the heat." It wasn't just her words, everything about her tone and body language screamed a heartfelt apology.

He sighed and gave her a squeeze. "It's all right, Milady," he insisted. "Even if it's not the most fun for me, we both know that there are costs to our powers, and they're worth it. Besides, you have to put up with the cold practically immobilizing you, and I'm just glad I can help you."

She shuddered a little, but since he couldn't see her face, he couldn't tell what caused it. "I'm so lucky to have you as my Chat Noir. You're one of the most kind and selfless people I've ever met."

"You're making me blush," he teased, though it was true.

"You need better people in your civilian life, Chaton," she muttered. "People who make sure you know how wonderful you are. Because I can tell you, it's not just the suit. The guy behind that mask, he's the one calling the shots, and he's one of a kind, top notch hero material."

"Mercy, Milady," he choked. "You know what you're doing to me. You're going to make me melt."

She giggled again.

"And you should know that I do have some friends who are trying to..." He paused, trying to recall Nino's wording. "Oh, yeah, rebuild my trash heap of self-esteem. They're almost as relentless as you." To be fair, Marinette was probably her equal, bringing him gifts and personalized treats with the sweetest notes. He'd actually saved all her cards, using them to combat the times when he felt particularly terrible about himself. His friends had thrown him a couple of surprise not-birthday parties as a way around his father's long-standing tradition of refusing to celebrate anything.

"Someday, when we're done with Hawkmoth, I'm going to meet your friends and thank them for taking good care of you," she promised. "I'm going to bake them treats and knit them sweaters."

"Awww. You're so sweet, Bug."

"Then I will team up with them to make sure you really know your worth," she added.

"That sounds vaguely threatening," he said, barely able to swallow the chuckle. "I think I might be scared."

"I've already started making a presentation with all your strong points," she said, twisting to look up at him. "I expect it will be quite long by the time I'm done. I may have to split it up… oooh. I'll make a series of presentations on what a good person and friend you are, and I'll record them on YouTube so all the world appreciates you better."

He shook his head. "All right. But for now, I need you to head home. Maybe take a nice hot bath, yeah?"

She nodded. "Are we doing shorter training sessions then?"

"Yeah," he agreed. "Not much happens at night, and I don't think we should make you more vulnerable." He tweaked her little button of a nose. "And no more solo training for Miss Bug until it gets warmer." Master Fu told them they'd be more effective as a team, the better they worked together. Their skill sets were complementary, not identical, so they spent some time training together and some on their own. Since they didn't explain the time they spent running around Paris when there was no akuma, people came up with theories. Alya had been a big supporter of the idea that they were patrolling, keeping the city safe. There'd been no real need to correct the misinterpretation.

"But…"

He shook his head. "This is a hard, no, Bug. If I know you're training without your own personal blast furnace, I'll be a mess of worry. Please , don't fight me on this."

She let out a heavy sigh. "But I know you're so busy…"

"We'll figure out a schedule that works." He shrugged. "Remember, Hawkmoth is less active in the cold, too, so we can do this in a way that keeps you safe and healthy, but fulfills our duties without overworking me. Okay?"

"Fine. You win this time," she conceded. "You and your logic. Pffft."

He reluctantly loosened his hold on her. "Are you cold in your civilian form, too?"

She stood, reaching down to help him up, and nodded. "Yeah. It's a little less severe."

He frowned. "Got anyone you can snuggle with, without it being too odd?" His attachment to her hadn't really lessened over the years, but he'd gotten more open to all the options that existed. Being her best friend wasn't less important than being her boyfriend, and she made it quite clear she loved him in her way. He couldn't help but wish he could be her primary snuggle buddy, but that wasn't fair either. He snuggled plenty with Marinette, and a little with Alya and Nino, too. He supposed he was just greedy about cuddles.

"My friends are pretty good about it," she said. "We're all a little odd, so it's okay. They know I'm always cold, and they all pitch in to keep me warm."

"You have great friends." He smiled, thinking of his own friends, who were so good about not judging all his quirks. "Someday I want to meet them."

"They'll totally adopt you," she promised. She pulled her bandalore off her hip. "Later gator."

He watched her fly through the air, smiling as she vanished into the night. It wasn't that late. Perhaps he could squeeze in a visit with Princess.

Chapter title - "Rubbing the board with soap" is a French idiom for making life difficult for someone.

Chapter artwork by @soundofez, posted with permission can be found here.

Huge thanks to my betas: Karnival and @chatbug-jk

#Miraculous Ladybug #Miraculous Big Bang #fanfic #my writing #soundofez #art #A Little Secret

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humanity-shortest-soldier · 7 years

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Question tag for AO3 writers~~

I found the original questions on AFF a while back, and I thought since I’ve been tagged in so many meme things lately, I’d also tag a bunch more people in this one XD Since the questions were designed for AFF, I’ve reworked some of them to fit for AO3 writers. I also removed two questions rather than trying to translate them to AO3 terms. So, I’ll fill out my answers first, and then put the blank questions again at the bottom for you to easily copy and paste!

1. How did you come up with your username and what does it mean?

SIFU_HOTMAN because Zuko is one of my favorite characters and honestly Aang calling him “Sifu Hotman” is hilarious.

2. Which fanfic of yours has the most feedback? (bookmarks/subscriptions/hits/kudos)

Exactly My Type by a long shot, lol.

3. What is your AO3 profile icon and why did you choose it?

It’s Izaya Orihara to represent the trash on my page.

4. Do you have any regular/favourite commenters?

Yes! I’m shocked when I read through my comments and see how often the same people will comment on each chapter. And there are definitely one or two that I look forward to seeing. I recognize a ton of usernames on AO3 but I don’t know many of them on here.

5. Is there a fanfic that you keep going back to read again and again?

THIS fic by the super-talented @courtingstars! I swear I’ve reread this fic like 6 dozen times at this point, as well as the sequel! (For real tho, I could probably recite this fic word for word, I love it so much. AkaFuri fans, if you haven’t checked it out, I can’t recommend it enough!)

6. How many stories are you subscribed to? How many do you have bookmarked?

I’m guilty of not subbing or bookmarking that much, because it got to the point where I had so many that it kinda made it pointless, lol. But I’m subscribed to 2 users, and 5 fics, and I have 46 bookmarks.

7. Which AU do you find yourself writing the most?

I don’t really write AU’s all that much? (I think I only have 2, the Nanny/Single Parent AU and a Red String of Fate AU). I definitly want to try doing more tho! I was super nervous about the Nanny/Single Parent one, but now it’s my hightest hitting fic! And it was from a prompt! lol

8. How many people are subscribed and bookmarked to you in total? (you can view this on the stats page)

Total bookmarks: 311 Total subs: 337

9. Is there something you’d like to write about but are afraid of people judging you for it? (Feeling brave? If so, share it!)

The only thing I can think of right now is I want to get better/ more comfortable with writing smut lmao. I’ll conquer it one day!

10. Is there anything you would like to be better at? Writing certain scenes or genres, replying to comments, updating better, etc.

Updating better, for sure. It eats me alive that it’s been almost a year since I started Exactly My Type, and I’ve only written 5 chapters! It’s so hard to find time with all the overtime at work, and with everything else. BUT that’s something I definitely plan on changing.

And maybe replying to comments? I generally don’t reply (I feel so bad about this, I’m so sorry. Comments just make me an incoherent mess and I’m never sure how to reply without rambling and making an idiot of myself)

11. Do you write rarepairs or popular ships more often?

Is AkaFuri a rarepair? I know it was more considered one a while ago, but I don’t know anymore. I guess whatever category they fall under, that’s it lol.

12. How many stories have you posted on AO3 to this day (finished and unfinished)?

Eight! Which is eight more than I thought I would write.

13. How many stories do you have saved in/with your writing program?

I have 30 stories saved on Google Docs. (I’m shocked? lmao)

14. Do you write down story ideas, or just keep them in your head?

Everything in my head. My ten hour shifts at work mostly consist of me staring off into space and writing fan fiction in my head.

15. Have you ever co-authored a story?

Other than bouncing ideas off of a friend, no. It sounds fun tho!

16. How did you discover AO3?

Searching for ATLA fanfiction like, 4 years ago. After reading everyting FanFiction.net had to offer, I found AO3 and immediately made the switch.

17. Do you consider yourself to be a popular or famous author in your fandom(s) on AO3?

God, no lmao. I think I’m IN the AkaFuri barrel, but far from the top of it.

18. Do you have a nickname or fandom name for your readers?

Not that I know of? I get comments about how much people like my username sometimes, so I’m cool with it if people just wanna call me Sifu Hotman lmao.

19. Was there an author who inspired or encouraged you to write?

My inspiration mainly came from a desire for more AkaFuri fics, lmao. But there were a few amazing writers who reallllly made me want to try writing, and I was encouraged plenty by my best friend, so here I am lol.

20. What writing advice would you give to a beginning author?

To just write. I worried for so long (and I still do) about not being good enough, or making a mistake, or failing. But the only way to get better at writing is to write! If someone doesn’t like you’re story, odds are you’ll either get some helpful advice, or feedback on the part they did like. Even if you don’t want to post it publicly, just write it out anyway. I think I’ve improved so much since the first thing I wrote, and I hope I get even better the more I do it.

21. Do you plot out your stories, or do you just figure it out as you go?

Again, spending 10 hours a day, 5 days a week in my own head, I get most of my stories down to the tiniest details before I even get to a computer. Once I sit down, some things may change or come out different, but I rarely go to write without having any idea.

22. Have you ever gotten a bad comment on a story? If so, what did you do?

Actually... no, I don’t think I have.

23. Is there a certain type of scene that you have a hard time writing? (action, smut, etc..)

Smut, for sure lol.

24. What story(s) are you working on now?

Fucking chapter 6 of Exactly My Type! (I just broke 6K the other day, and it’s not even halfway done). After that, I’m on to Defying Fate, with a couple of prompts inbetween.

25. Do you plan your next project(s) before you finish your current ongoing story(s)?

Sorta...I guess. Exactly My Type happened because of a prompt request that got waaaay out of control, so that was poor planning on my part lmao.

26. Do you have a daily writing goal set for yourself?

Not at all. I just go for it whenever I get the chance.

27. Do you think you’ve improved as a writer since you first started?

100% yes. I want to crawl into a hole whenever I think about my first fic, lol.

28. What is your favorite story that you’ve written?

I’m gonna shove the AkaFuri away for a second and go with Absolutely Baked. Mayuzumi is my favorite character to write for, and I think I got some pretty funny dialogue in that one. It makes me laugh, and the extra chuckles my friend and I got while discussing it were totally worth it.

29. What is your least favorite story that you’ve written?

I don’t think I have a least favorite? If I had to pick probably my first fic, Emperor's Weakness.

30. Where do you see yourself (as a writer) in 5 years?

Hopefully still writing fanfiction, lol. I would like to try writing some original work, but I doubt it.

31. What is the easiest thing about writing?

Dialogue, I think. Once I get in a characters head, I find it very easy to write from their point of view.

32. What is the hardest thing about writing?

Getting a full plot to run together. I’m pretty good at getting certain scenes down, but I have trouble piecing them all together sometimes.

33. Why do you write?

Simply, because it’s fun. I know how happy it makes me when I read a super-awesome fic, and I like the feeling I get when someone tells me I gave them the same feeling.

Anyways that’s all the questions, so I’ll put them here as well without the answers to easily c+p.

1. How did you come up with your username and what does it mean? 2. Which fanfic of yours has the most feedback? (bookmarks/subscriptions/hits/kudos) 3. What is your AO3 profile icon, and why did you choose it? 4. Do you have any regular/favourite commenters? 5. Is there a fanfic that you keep going back to read again and again? 6. How many stories are you subscribed to? How many do you have bookmarked? 7. Which AU do you find yourself writing the most? 8. How many people are subscribed and bookmarked to you in total? (you can view this on the stats page) 9. Is there something you’d like to write about but are afraid of people judging you for it? (Feeling brave? If so, share it!) 10. Is there anything you would like to be better at? Writing certain scenes or genres, replying to comments, updating better, etc. 11. Do you write rarepairs or popular ships more often? 12. How many stories have you posted on AO3 to this day (finished and unfinished)? 13. How many stories do you have saved in/with your writing program? 14. Do you write down story ideas, or just keep them in your head? 15. Have you ever co-authored a story? 16. How did you discover AO3? 17. Do you consider yourself to be a popular or famous author in your fandom(s) on AO3? 18. Do you have a nickname or fandom name for your readers? 19. Was there an author who inspired or encouraged you to write? 20. What writing advice would you give to a beginning author? 21. Do you plot out your stories, or do you just figure it out as you go? 22. Have you ever gotten a bad comment on a story? If so, what did you do? 23. Is there a certain type of scene that you have a hard time writing? (action, smut, etc..) 24. What story(s) are you working on now? 25. Do you plan your next project(s) before you finish your current ongoing story(s)? 26. Do you have a daily writing goal set for yourself? 27. Do you think you’ve improved as a writer since you first started? 28. What is your favorite story that you’ve written? 29. What is your least favorite story that you’ve written? 30. Where do you see yourself (as a writer) in 5 years? 31. What is the easiest thing about writing? 32. What is the hardest thing about writing? 33. Why do you write?

I was tagged by: @herdustisverypretty <333

People I’m tagging: @anime-saved-and-destroyed-me | @kaguneko | @shootmesenpai | @cerberosthehellguard | @jubesy

#(I tried to tag as many as I could. Anyone else join in!)#by this was a long one #and very detailed #i'm into it #i wanna see everyones repiles

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janyolski · 7 years

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Fic: The One With The Dog Mom and Hot Vet

Summary: AU. Cosima is a crazy loving dog mom and Delphine is a crazy hot veterinarian. Cosima is also super gay.

In this chapter, Cosima and Delphine talk and time flies. Mrs. S, Sarah and Felix make a bet... do they kiss or don't kiss by the end of the night? Read on to find out!

Chapter 9: The One With The Bet

“Holy freaking shite, mum.”

Felix gapes at the scene in the living room. Mrs. S. wears a small but very smug smirk. Sarah who’s known her foster mother for much of her life just rolls her eyes. The two foster siblings were crouching on top of a stair each, making sure that their eavesdropping and watching weren’t obvious to the two women in the living room. Siobhan didn’t bother hiding; the matriarch simply stood beside the stairs knowing full well that Delphine and Cosima were in their own little bubble, too caught up in each other to notice that the three other ‘adults’ of the house were spying on them. Well, the matriarch was undoubtedly an adult; Sarah and Felix? Well, they still needed some work in that department. Sarah however, couldn’t accept the fact that their mother had succeeded where they hadn’t, and grumbles.

“Well, no need to be smug, mum.”

Siobhan puts a hand to her mouth, stifling a chuckle.

“Oh, chicken, you two were practically twiddledee and twiddledum earlier with how you handled Cosima and Delphine. So I stepped in and…”

The matriarch gestures to the direction of the two women.

“Voila.”

Cosima and Delphine are still talking on the couch, the bottle of wine emptied. They were facing each other, Cosima’s knee rested slightly on top of Delphine’s. They had moved closer and closer to each other after every glass, growing more and more comfortable as their inhibitions are forgotten one by one. Delphine has her face propped up on her hand and her elbow is on top of the couch’s backrest, pressing against Cosima’s bare shoulder. They were literally only half and arm’s length apart. The two women looked like they would be kissing at any moment. Sarah scrunches her face up at the scene. I could have done that, too, she thinks.

“Pfft. Fine.”

But Sarah concedes and Siobhan throws a proud smile at her. It was Felix’s turn to roll his eyes at two of his favorite women in the world. He’s definitely accepted the fact that two of his most favorite women in the world, his mother and sister, needed to bicker or clash over every other thing in their lives. It’s like the fuel to keep their relationship going. However, it does get old for him sometimes.

“Okay, I know your issues give meaning to your lives, but let’s go back to our spying, shall we? Think they’re gonna kiss soon?”

Sarah rolls her eyes but goes along with his brother’s wishes.

“Bet you $5 that Cosima’s gonna chicken out.”

Felix looks his sister with determination in his eyes. He knows Cosima's gayness is going to overcome her eventually and they're going to be bonking nasties any time soon. Christ, it may just be the wine, but they already look madly in love at the moment. Either way, he’s certain they’re going to at least kiss by the end of the night.

Pfft, lesbians, he thinks.

He pulls out a crumpled $5 bill from his pocket.

“Deal.”

Meanwhile, Delphine swirls the last few drops of wine in her glass as Cosima tells her another childhood story.

“It’s funny that I’m working my ass off to be a scientist when I couldn’t even dissect a frog back in 9th grade biology. I just felt so sorry for the frog. I couldn’t harm him.”

Delphine ‘aww’s and smiles. She’s enjoying learning about the other woman. Cosima is bright and vibrant and so kind to everyone around her, may they be humans, plants, or animals. The French doctor doesn’t think she’s ever encountered anyone quite like the person in front of her right now and it just makes her want to learn more. Delphine has never been a very friendly person, but she could feel deep down in her gut that Cosima was someone she wanted to be friends with and get to know better.

Cosima laughs then pauses all of a sudden. Delphine’s face was beautifully illuminated by the lamp beside them. They had opted to dim the lights because it was late and that felt... right. The intimacy of the moment makes Cosima’s heart beat faster. Her eyes roam around the French woman’s face; her brow to her constant expressive puppy eyes, down to her lips. Cosima stares at those lips longer than she should have and then she feels drawn to them.

The pet owner wasn’t prepared for what she felt next- a craving to dive in and crash her lips against the blonde’s, like the magnetic pull of the waves to the shore.

But she doesn’t. Before she could act on it, her brain registers her crazy needs and she slams the brakes so hard on her impulses that she could almost feel the sudden halt physically. She suddenly feels nauseous from their proximity and leans back. Delphine tilts her head, feeling the shift in the air. The motion reminds the pet owner of Pancho and she thinks, wow, what a puppy, then scrambles to continue her story before Delphine figures out that she’s been fantasizing of kissing her somehow.

Cosima throws a hand up in the air and moves as she always does when talk.

“Uh… Yeah. So I-I… I asked the teacher if I could be excused because I felt sick. Which I did, after seeing my classmates’ frogs get stabbed in the spine and paralyzed. I don’t know how I managed to, but I snuck my frog out and let him loose at the garden. I named him Kermit.”

Delphine laughs. Of course, Cosima would name the frog, Kermit. Cosima laughs, too.

“That is so cute of you.”

Cosima looks down and tries to hide the blush creeping up her cheeks. This was futile, however, because she was already pretty rosy from the wine. Delphine sips the last of her wine and finishes it, setting it on the coffee table in front of them. The doctor looks at her watch and is surprised by how late it’s gotten. It was almost 10 p.m. and the two of them had been chatting for more than two hours now. Cosima catches the motion and steps in before Delphine could utter a word.

“It’s late and we should go. I’m sure you have to go to the clinic early tomorrow and Pancho probably wants to sleep in his own bed. I do, too.”

Delphine chuckles and nods.

“Yes, well, I guess time flies when you’re having fun.”

Cosima smiles.

“Well, I’m glad this was fun for you, Dr. Cormier.”

Delphine raises an eyebrow.

“It’s hard not to enjoy the company of someone so interesting.”

This time, Cosima could not stop the blush on her cheeks.

“I can drive you and Pancho home, if you’d like.”

Delphine offers.

“Oh, wow, thank you but won’t that be too much of a bother? I mean, I don’t-”

“Oh, nonsense. Where is your apartment?”

“It’s 324B on 21st street.”

Delphine nods, knowing the place.

“It’s not that far and it’s right on my way home!”

Cosima smiles. Fate has a funny way of making things work.

“Alright.”

“Let’s go?”

Cosima nods.

Siobhan, Felix and Sarah watch the two women get up from the couch. The three of them scramble before they get caught spying. Felix and Sarah turn to each other while Siobhan pretends to be going up the stairs. Cosima and Delphine come out from the living room to grab their coats from the coat hanger beside the staircase. Cosima pauses at the sight of the the Irish woman and the foster siblings.

“Oh. What are you guys doing here?”

Mrs. S. laughs nervously and slowly turns. Sarah and Felix are pretending to look at something on Sarah’s phone. Felix pretends to look up in surprise at Cosima and Delphine and greets them in his best unsuspicious voice.

“OH! You two. Hello. We’re just here… you know.... hanging. Um, by the - I mean, on the, uh… stairs.”

Sure, Felix. Like that wasn't weird.

In all fairness to Felix, though, that was the best he could come up with, given their panic. Heck, even S panicked a bit, too. Siobhan cuts in and tries to salvage the situation.

“I was about to kiss Kira good night, love. I was surprised these two were here, too.”

Wow, way to save yourself and leave us two as the suspicious ones, mum, Sarah thinks, raising an eyebrow at Siobhan. Siobhan just looks at her daughter and shrugs.

Cosima narrows her eyes at her chosen family. She swears in her mind if these three were watching her and Delphine, she'll give them a piece of her mind about meddling in with her love life. But she decides to leave that for tomorrow.

“Okay… Delphine and I will get going. She’s gonna drop me off. See you guys again soon, yeah?”

Siobhan leans in to hug Cosima and give her a motherly kiss on the top of her head. The Irish woman knows Cosima secretly likes getting motherly affection from her. As always, the kiss makes Cosima smile like a happy child. Siobhan leans in to hug Delphine after. Cosima then turns to Delphine.

“Let me just get Pancho, okay?”

The pet owner goes out to the backyard to pick up a sleeping Pancho beside Babu. The golden brown pup wakes up immediately and wags his tail happily at his owner carrying him even if he was a little bigger and heavier now.

Cosima and Delphine say goodbye to the three on the staircase. Cosima even raises Pancho’s paw to be a little extra and waves it to the quiet delight of Delphine and the eye roll of Sarah. The two make their exit and head to the doctor’s car.

Sarah wastes no time in lunging at the $5 bill in Felix’s hand after the object of their bets step out of the front door. Felix puts his free hand on his sister’s face and pushes her away, holding the bill high up his head, as far as the space on the stairs permit. Sarah’s back thuds lightly against the staircase posts.

“HEY! Give it! I won, she chickened out!”

Sarah swats Felix’s hand away from her face. Felix harrumphs at his sister.

“Nuh-uh. Delphine’s gonna take her home. They might kiss good night. We’ll find out tomorrow, you greedy bitch!”

Siobhan shakes her head at her two children. She still wonders to this day how her almost 30 year old daughter and mid-20s son still haven’t taken up an ounce of her composure or sense of responsibility after her; they were still children at heart, just a brother and sister who monkeys around every chance they get. Sarah still sometimes uses her sock-covered toe to tickle Felix’s nose whenever he falls asleep on their sofa. The two would proceed to play cat and mouse around the house when Felix wakes up to Sarah’s foot. When Kira grew old enough to run around, the little girl would join in and it was just chaos inside her house. She thinks it’s probably because she’s got all the maturity and responsibility covered for in this house that these two are free to be as silly as they want to. The matriarch wonders what would happen if she was the one who acted like a child. How would these two deal with it?

Hmm… Maybe on April Fools, I’ll prank them- pretend I’m going through a second childhood, or something, Siobhan thinks. She decides to cut their shenanigans before they wake Kira up.

“Okay, cut it, you silly tits. You’re going to wake Kira up.”

Meanwhile Cosima and Delphine hear the faint sounds of the commotion as she puts her hand on the door handle of the doctor’s car. The French doctor pauses and turns to her with a question.

“Are they okay?”

Cosima puts a palm to her forehead, sighs, and shakes her head. Oh, those three, she thinks.

Well, it really is just Sarah and Felix, but she guesses S is somehow caught up in it as well, given the encounter at the staircase. She tries to come up with the best answer for Delphine.

“As you’ve probably observed, they’re just naturally a crazy bunch. They’re fine.”

Delphine chuckles and nods.

“Alright. Let’s go.”

They both get into the car and close their respective doors. Delphine inserts her keys into the ignition and starts the car.

They arrive at Cosima’s apartment in less than 10 minutes. Cosima unbuckles herself and turns to Delphine with a smile. Delphine automatically smiles back at her.

“So, this is me. Thanks for the ride.”

Delphine’s hands immediately go to her seatbelt and undo it. She gets the urge to walk Cosima and Pancho to the door. She’s not usually the affectionate type, or at least that’s what she’s known about herself all 30 years of her life, but tonight seems to be an exception. Somehow this woman she’s just met inspires her to be more bold and comfortable.

“Oh, uh, I’ll walk you to your door!”

Cosima smiles and there are butterflies in her stomach. She nods shyly.

“Okay.”

The pet owner gets out of the passenger seat and opens the door to the back to retrieve her pup who was surprisingly behaved and still, just lying down on the backseat.

“Hey, bud. You look awfully comfy there. Come on.”

Cosima gestures to Pancho to get down and come to her. The puppy wags his tail and dutifully obeys his human. The pet owner attaches his leash to his collar while Delphine comes around to their side. The two women and pup languidly walk up the door, taking their time. Cosima and Pancho take the last step and get to their door. The pet owner turns around to Delphine, smiling. The French doctor puts her hands in the pockets of her coat. Cosima looks down and back up at Delphine and rocks slightly, back and forth, on her heels. She thinks of anything clever or nice to say to end the wonderful night she’s had. She definitely can’t just say peace out then walk into her house.

“So…”

Delphine subconsciously bites her lip. Cosima’s eyes follow the motion and just absolutely sheds off her last shred of self-control. She steps into the doctor’s space. Delphine’s eyes follow her the whole time. She tilts her head up and lifts herself up on the tips of her toes and inches her face closer to the French woman’s.

Cosima closes the gap completely and presses her lips against Delphine’s.

For a moment, warmth covers their bodies. It’s both loud, electric fireworks and soft sunshine on their skins. It’s infinity captured in milliseconds - the magic of a first kiss and more.

For a moment it felt like the stars aligned and the universe meant for them to be exactly where they are, lips pressed against each other, eyes closed.

For a moment.

And then the moment is gone.

Delphine jerks her head back and steps away, speechless, shock painted clearly on her features.

Cosima feels her heart get wrenched violently out of her chest. She feels the weight of regret heavy on her chest and she scrambles for words.

“I… I thought… I'm... I’m sorry, Delphine.”

Delphine sees the struggle behind Cosima’s eyes and immediately feels horrible. She puts her hands up and tries to placate the other woman as best as she could, but she herself was shaken by what had just happened. She was blindsided, caught completely off-guard. She’d never even looked at or considered other women in that way.

“It’s okay, Cosima. It’s okay. I’ll uh, just go now.”

Delphine touches Cosima’s arm in an attempt to really convey her message - that it was okay, things are okay - then turns around. The doctor walks to her car, opens the door, and gets in. She fumbles with her keys, hands trembling, mentally juggling so many emotions that she’s never dealt with before.

In Cosima’s eyes, Delphine practically ran to her car. The pet owner’s heart sinks. Delphine drives off.

Well, that was a rejection for the books.

Pancho, with his ability to sense his owner’s emotions, paws at his owner's leg and puts his head against it.

The puppy whimpers softly.

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