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amysteryspot · 1 year

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Milk and toast and Honey | B.B.

Summary: Reader tries to recover from being left by Jake and ends up finding solace in one of his friends without even knowing it.

Warnings: mentions of unrequited love and heartbreak, angst to fluff, a little bit of jealous Jake, Bradley being the best boyfriend, misunderstandings, implied sex (not explict), past Jake x Reader, military innacurancies, post Top Gun: Maverick.

Word Count: 6.5K

A/N: I come back to you with the sequel nobody asked for, but @wherethewildfanlives inspired. The title is a song by Roxette and is where the new nickname for the reader came from. It also inspires a little bit of Readers relationship with Bradley.

Part I - We're Not Lovers | Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw Masterlist | Jake "Hangman" Seresin Masterlist | Main Masterlist | Follow my writing in @mysteryslibrary

The process of falling out of love with Jake was hard. It wasn’t like he had done anything wrong, he just kept his side of the promise you two made to each other, so it was impossible to hate him even though you wanted to.

For months you pretended like everything was normal. It wasn’t that hard of a task, your friends barely knew Jake. He was just the guy that constantly snatched you away for the night and that disappeared the next day. Everything seemed okay until your best friend announced she was getting married and you broke down.

She sat there with you for half an hour without understanding what had just happened and then you told her everything. Her first reaction was getting angry at Jake, which you understood because it would be your reaction too if the roles were reversed. In the end, she decided that the popular saying was going to be the solution to your problem: get over someone by getting under someone else.

And that’s how you ended up in a bar, against your will, to try and get your head over the one who broke your heart. You sat there, uncomfortably, bouncing your leg as a way to try and avoid your nerves.

“Just try and relax,” your friend said. “If you want to go back home I won’t force you to stay.”

You thought for a moment. Going back home didn’t sound any better than staying at the bar.

“No,” you said, “I’ll stay for a little bit.”

“That’s my girl,” she smiled, waving at the bartender to get you both some drinks.

The two of you got a table, and, after a while, she left for a minute to get a refill. You got distracted by the city lights outside the window and only noticed that she had arrived when she was already standing there next to you, smiling like the cat who got the cream. Then you looked at the guy standing next to her and understood everything.

“I just met Bradley at the bar, he’s friends with Thomas. I thought he could make you some company since I’m heading home.”

You were sure that the look you gave her could kill, and so did the guy standing next to her that was trying his best not to laugh. He was handsome in a very different way, wearing a Hawaiian shirt and a mustache that not every man could pull off.

“He’s a naval aviator,” she added and your blood turned cold.

The man—Bradley—seemed to notice your discomfort, but before you could get a word in, she kissed your cheek and bid you both goodbye.

He made no mode to sit down and you swallowed hard.

“If you’re not comfortable I can leave…”

“No, it’s not you, is…”

“A little soon for the ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ conversation, ain’t it?”

That made you laugh, and Bradley seemed satisfied with himself, a smile appearing on his lips. He was even more handsome like that.

“In her defense, I asked about you first.”

That caught you off guard. It’s been a while since you’ve received male attention, you noticed. Since you and Jake started to fool around you had practically ignored any other man that tried to talk to you. A mistake you weren’t committing again, you decided.

“Do you mind?” He asked, pointing at the chair in front of you.

“No, I don’t mind,” you said, observing as he placed his beer on the table and sat down in front of you.

“I can ignore how you froze when she said I was a naval aviator. Do you have a problem with the Navy?” Bradley asked.

“Not exactly, I just…” You pondered for a minute, trying to decide if you were really going to pour out your heart to a complete stranger. Maybe that would be easier than talking with your friends. At least he would have a clear point of view. “I had a brief… thing, with a naval aviator.”

“A thing?” He raised a brow.

“What we had couldn’t be called a relationship.” You confessed.

“Ah, friends with benefits then.”

Jake’s words flashed in your mind.

“We were just strangers.”

Bradley nodded, taking a sip of his beer.

“It didn’t end well, I assume.”

“We ended on good terms…”

He interrupted, “But you wanted more.”

You nodded. “But I wanted more.”

“His loss, then,” Bradley said, leaning his elbows into the table to take a closer look at you.

“Is it?” You asked, expecting a cheap pickup line.

“No man is an island,” he said. “Fear of commitment will only come to bite you in the end.”

You stared at him for a moment, caught off guard again.

“Are you talking from experience?”

“Yeah, I am.” He confirmed. “With the job we have, letting yourself be afraid to have a relationship of any kind because you never know how much time you will have with them is the easiest way, but it is also lonely. After a while, you get tired of it and sometimes it is too late to go back.”

“It’s a tough way to live.”

“It was the only thing I knew until I realized that nobody is certain that they will be here tomorrow and that loving my friends and my family was better than being on my own.”

“A wise decision.” You complimented.

“Thanks, I guess.” He smiled. “But tell me your story. If you don’t want a date, I can at least be your ear for the night.”

And so you told him everything. From the day you met Jake until the day you let him go. And Bradley listened intently.

“Wow, this is…

“Sad,” you interrupted.

“I was gonna say fucked up, but sad works too.” You let out a little laugh at that. “He just left? Didn’t even try to convince you otherwise or even talk about your relationship?”

“No, but I think he just didn’t want me to hurt anymore.”

“But you’re still here hurting anyway.”

“It wasn’t his responsibility to take care of me, we didn’t have a relationship.”

“Oh, sweetheart, I’ll have to disagree on that…” He stopped once he saw you flinch. “What is it?”

“Just… You called me sweetheart.”

“I had to call you something since I still don’t know your name.”

You thought for a minute. It would be easier to just give him your name. He probably wasn’t a psychopath if he was friends with Thomas, but you wanted to see where this was going first.

“Anything but sweets or sweetheart.”

“Okay, what about honey?”

You smiled shyly. “Ok.”

“So, you have to let me disagree with you, honey, but yeah, you two were in a relationship.”

You swallowed hard, never having thought about it that way. When Jake and you were seeing each other it was better to just ignore it, anyway. You didn’t want to get your hopes up for something that could never happen.

“Can we change the subject?” You asked after a minute.

“Do you want to know the time I totally made a fool of myself at the Academy?” Bradley was quick to offer, with a playful smile on his lips.

You just nodded, and he started to tell you his story, making you smile and laugh more than you expected to. The two of you ended up staying at the bar until the owner kicked you two out. Then Bradley insisted on accompanying you to your home. Despite your better judgment you agreed.

He had a blue Bronco that was easy to miss in the parking lot (even though it was practically empty, the car just stood out just like its owner). Bradley opened the door for you, helping you in, and then got in himself, asking you for directions.

When he parked in front of your building you were a little disappointed if you were completely honest with yourself. You had a good time with Bradley, better than you had in a long time, and you didn’t want it to end. He must have caught your frown and took the opportunity as an invitation to ask to see you again.

“I know you’re close to romantic relationships right now, but nothing forbids us to be friends,” Bradley said, looking at you expectantly. After what seemed like a minute too long for him, you said

“Yeah, I would like that.”

His smile was worth the shot.

Much to your best friend’s surprise, you did stay in touch with Bradley. He called you for coffee the day after you two met. And then you two set up another meeting at the bar for the next week. Not to mention that you kept messaging each other back and forth.

“I wasn’t expecting that,” Mary confessed, and you looked up from your cell phone still with a dumb smile on your face from something that Bradley had said.

“Hum?”

“You and Bradley,” she explained. “I wasn’t expecting that you two would get along so well.”

“I… He is…”

“You don’t have to explain yourself.” She interrupted. “I’m just happy that you have somebody that makes you happy after everything that happened.”

“It’s not like that, he’s just a friend.”

“Better yet. We don’t have to worry about all the drama you’ve gone through the last time.”

Taking a deep breath, you said, “He’s just easy to be around, you know.” You confessed. “I missed that.”

“You deserve an easy love,” She said, but you noticed Mary didn’t elaborate.

Before you could dwell too much over it, your intercom rang.

“Are you waiting for someone?” Mary asked and you frowned.

“No.” Getting up from the couch, you quickly walked to answer it.

“I’m sorry to bother you, miss, but there is someone here at the door with a package for you.”

“Oh, okay. I’ll be down in a minute.” You said hanging up. “There’s someone with a package at the door.”

You commented a little surprised still.

“Strange,” Mary said and you nodded, agreeing with her. “Did you order something?”

“No, but I’ll be back in a minute.” You said, putting on some shoes and then getting out the door. Once you arrived at the main hall you immediately saw a guy with a giant bouquet waiting beside the doorman.

“That’s her,” you heard the doorman say and the guy walked up to you, saying your name.

“Yes, that’s me.” You answered, confused.

“Can you sign there for me, please?” He asked, pointing to the place where you had to sign. You did it, giving him the pen back. “Here you go.” He then said, giving you the bouquet.

“Thank you,” you stuttered, taken aback by the surprise, returning to your apartment with a shocked expression.

“Oh my God, please tell me it wasn’t that asshole that sent you these.” Mary got up from the couch coming to meet you as soon as you stepped foot into the living room.

“No, I… Jake wouldn’t do this.”

She snatched the white card from the middle of the flowers.

“But Bradley would.” Mary teased, turning the card around so you could see Bradley’s name in it.

Snatching the card back from her you shoved the flowers into her arms and proceeded to read it while she took care of the bouquet.

Wasn’t sure which flower you liked the most, so I asked for a few in hopes that at least one gets your attention. I hope you have a good day.

You smiled and Mary was quick to tease you.

“What did he say?”

Giving her the card you walked to the table where she had placed the vase of flowers. They were beautiful and in the middle of all the colors was one of your favorite flowers.

“Sweet,” she said. LNever thought that a guy like him could be like that.”

“A guy like him?”

“Common, have you looked at him?” She asked you, surprised by your question. “I’m sure half the people in that bar that night wanted him.” Mary seemed to think for a second and then added, “Or more.”

“Why would he do that though?” You asked, more to yourself than her.

“Did that asshole make you feel so bad like you didn’t deserve affection?” She asked in anger. “People love you and want to see you happy. Bradley did what he thought would make you smile like he always does when he’s around. God, we used to send flowers to each other.”

“We should go back to that.”

“We should, but that’s not my point.” She reprimanded. “Even if the both of you want to stay just friends, he seems like a good guy to have around. Bradley certainly cares for you or he wouldn’t do all these little things like, sending you flowers or picking you up to have lunch with him in the park, or watching chick flicks with you. He wants to see you happy, is that so hard to understand?”

“I…” You didn’t know how to answer her. Did Jake play a part in your life in such a way that now you believed you were unlovable? You never thought about it this way, but now that Mary had pointed it out a curtain seemed to open in front of your eyes.

“I just…”

“Do you want my opinion?” She asked, interrupting you. “You’re falling for Bradley and you’re having a hard time believing it.”

“I’m not falling for him!” You exclaimed.

“Yes, you are.” She insisted. “It’s been months, babe. You can allow yourself to heal.”

“I…” You fought the tears that threatened to fall from your eyes.

“Come here.” She said, pulling you into a hug.

Deep down you knew she was right. You felt something different for Bradley. Something that wasn’t love yet, but it wasn’t just friendship and you didn’t know what to do with that.

After what Mary said you started to try and notice some things. Bradley was slowly but steadily breaking down all the walls you build around your heart.

He was so sweet and caring that it was hard not to feel anything when he was around.

And then came the first blow.

“I’m going on a deployment.” The information for you in surprise. You were sitting down on the floor of your living room eating and watching some tv.

“You’re… where?”

“Europe, they don’t have a place settled just yet, probably Spain.”

“I…”

“I would stay if I could.” He reassured you. “God, I really don’t want to leave you.”

“How much time?” You asked, still too shocked to think straight.

“Six months.” That made your stomach drop to her knees. “But they can extend it.” He watched you, making a move to take your hand.

“God, Brad, will you take care of yourself?” You pleaded.

“Anything for you, Honey.” He promised, pulling you into a hug. You ended up on his lap with his arms around you and you never felt so torn.

The both of you tried to ignore it for the next week, but it was difficult to overlook that it was hovering over you every time you saw each other.

“Stop thinking about it.” He reprimanded as you two were having a picnic in the park.

Bradley had surprised you, appearing at your door with a picnic basket saying that he would wish you away for the afternoon. Mary was there and giggled at the gesture, making a quick exit so you two could be alone, even though Bradley had extended the invitation to her.

You two ended up in the middle of the park, in the middle of the grass we’re some families were enjoying the day.

More than once Bradley had to throw a ball to a kid, and he didn’t seem to mind, rather enjoying it, which made you smile dumbly.

“Think about what?” You tried to redirect.

“You know about what.” He said, giving you a knowing look.

“Don’t don’t do that.”

“I’m not doing anything.”

“You’re worrying too much.”

“I can’t just not worry, Bradley.” You sighed.

“I’m not saying you can’t worry, I’m just saying that you can leave aside for a moment and enjoy the time we have together.”

You shook your head to focus. “I’m sorry. I just… this is new.”

“I know.” He said, taking your hand in his. “And I’m sorry for putting you through it.”

He looked guilty and you squeezed his hand to reassure him.”

“If that’s the price I’m paying to have you, I’m willing to go through it.”

He gave you a half smile that you reciprocated, and you two continued to eat in comfortable silence.

Bradley invited you to go to base with him to say goodbye. You were a ball of nerves, not having been able to sleep the previous night. You tried to make yourself look alright but you’re sure you looked a mess.

“A beautiful mess,” he said, smiling at you and you couldn’t help but smile back.

“Don’t make me laugh.”

“But the sound of your laugh is one of my favorite sounds, don’t know how I’ll go six months without it.”

That made your heart melt and you didn’t know how to respond to that.

An officer called his name and you couldn’t fight the tears from falling from your eyes anymore.

“Oh, no, Honey, don’t cry for me.”

“Just… please take care of yourself.” You pleaded, brushing off a speck of inexistent dust from his flight suit.

“Anything for you, Honey.” He said, embracing you tightly.

When you separated, before you could overthink it, you leaned in and kissed him. It was a chaste kiss but it was enough to make your heart race.

“God, fuck, Honey, you know how to make a man want to stay.” He rested his forehead against yours for a second before leaning in and kissing you again, deeper this time, as two lovers would.

“Just come back safe.” You asked him, reveling in being in his arms.

“I’ll come back for you,” he said, giving you a peck on the lips as the officer called his name again.

You watched him go, chest heavy with the anxiety of not knowing where what just happened left you two. And you could do nothing but wait.

Exchanging emails back and forth was your way of keeping the feeling of missing each other at bay. When he had access to a phone he would call you and you two would talk for as much time as you could, but neither of you mentioned anything about the kiss at the base.

Slowly you started to go out more with your friends and alone. Mary helped you through it and you were a little bit surprised at how everyone had missed seeing you around. Things were good with your job too, so you had nothing to worry about except for Bradley.

You missed him terribly, not having noticed how intertwined in your life he was. At least once a week you two would get coffee together in the mornings, and there was the occasional lunch here and there, but the last few weeks he was home, Bradley stayed more at your apartment than his own.

Even when he was not there, Bradley always made a point of still being present, either sending you little gifts or leaving notes around your home, doing little tasks you didn’t even ask to. Your lives were deeply connected and you didn’t even notice it happening.

Your world seemed to come tumbling down on a fateful night that you decided to come to a Navy Bar near the beach called the Hard Deck. Bradley had told you about it and you weren’t even sure what you went looking for there that night, but it certainly wasn’t seeing, through the window, Bradley sitting at the piano, playing and singing happily with his friends, you assumed, around him.

Feeling your heart sinking, you were quick to turn your back on the bar, taking your leave before any tears could fall from your eyes. Then you heard someone calling your name.

You quicken your pace but he was faster than you.

“Honey,” he calls after you. “Wait!”

Gripping your arm lightly, he forces you to turn back and look at him. At this point, it is too late to pretend you weren’t crying and you recognize the guilt in his eyes.

“This is not a good time, Bradshaw.”

“You never call me Bradshaw.” He says, sadly.

“Maybe I should start.”

“Honey, I’m sorry.”

“No, you don’t owe me anything.” You say, trying to detach yourself from him, but he only pulls you closer.

“Yes, I do.” He insists. “And I’m sorry for hurting you in any way, it wasn’t my intention.”

You could do little but nod. The two of you weren’t official, for all it was worth, you were just friends and friends didn’t owe each other all the little details of your life.

“When did you come back?” You asked, sniffling.

“Yesterday.”

You repeat it under your breath and Bradley cuts you out before you can continue. “I was going to call you, but thought that it would be better to surprise you.”

“Consider myself surprised.” You scoffed.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen. I was going to go to your house tomorrow, a bouquet of flowers in hand, asking you to come to the Hard Deck with me and meet my friends as my girl.”

Your brain short-circuited at the words “my girl”. He wanted you to be his girl. Bradley wanted a relationship with you. Since Jake, you thought that it would be impossible for you to want a relationship with anyone else, but you found out you were wrong.

You wanted Bradley. All of his mornings and all of his nights. The months he would be at home, cooking and cleaning with you, and the months he would be deployed, sending you emails and flowers from the other side of the ocean.

“Don’t try to play me…”

“I’m not,” he assured you. “I swear. You can ask, Nat. She’ll tell you how much I took her ear off talking about you during these past few months.”

“Who is Nat?”

“Phoenix.”

That name was familiar. You knew most of Bradley’s squadron by what they would call “callsigns”. You knew how good Phoenix was in fighting for her own place and how good of a pilot she was, how Bob seemed to blend into any place and was actually really sweet, how Payback and Fanboy were funny together, how Coyote was loyal and how Hangman left everyone out to dry until he didn’t.

You’ve never seen these people but it was as if you knew them. They were a good part of Bradley’s life and he was part of yours. It was impossible not to get things mixed.

“Can you forgive me?” He asked, hands resting on your hips and squeezing them lightly.

Pondering for a moment, you sighed and then brushed your nose against his.

“Just take me home, Lieutenant.”

His smile was bright as he said, “Yes, ma’am.”

That was the first night you spent at his apartment, a mess of limbs tangled in his sheets. But you would soon learn that Bradley being home wasn’t the only surprise you were going to have.

Bradley woke up before you the next day, and when you finally stirred awake you smelt coffee in the air, so you assumed he was making breakfast. You dressed before heading to the kitchen, but something caught your eye. There was a panel with photos hanging on the wall and curiosity got the best of you, so you walked a few steps to it, smiling as you saw glimpses of Bradley’s life. Until you spotted something that made you freeze.

Extending your hand to take the photograph from the panel, your eyes focused on the man beside Bradley.

Jake.

You almost jumped at the feeling of two strong arms sneaking around your waist.

“Good morning, Honey,” Bradley murmured against the skin of your neck, voice raspy from sleep, and you couldn’t help but smile.

“‘Morning.”

He gave you a peck on the lips and then his eyes focused on the photo in your hands.

“I see you found Hangman.”

“Jake is Hangman? The Hangman that saved your life?” You asked, turning around in his arms.

“Yes, but how do you know his name?” His brow was furrowed in confusion.

“Hangman is Jake.” You said, turning the photo for him to look at.

“I know, but how do you know his name, Honey?”

Shaking your head you explained, “No, Bradley, Hangman is Jake. My Jake.”

It took him a minute, but finally, realization dawned on him.

“Oh fuck.”

“Yeah,” you sighed, putting the photo back in place and disentangling yourself from Bradley's arms to sit on his couch.

He just stood there for a couple more seconds before shaking his head and turning to you.

“What do you wanna do?”

That caught you off guard. You expected almost any kind of reaction, but not this.

“There’s nothing to do, Bradley,” you sighed again. “He’s your teammate, your friend. I don’t want you to change that just because of me.”

“Honey…”

“No, it’s…” You took a deep breath, trying to keep track of your thoughts. “Don’t do anything that could cause you some kind of problem. I don’t want you to get into trouble because of me.”

“Honey,” he says, walking back to the couch and pulling you to sit on his lap, forcing you to face him, cradling your face in between his hands. “I would get in trouble for you anytime.”

You smiled weakly, “I know, but I don’t want you to.”

Bradley leaned in to kiss you square on the mouth. He poured all his heart into it, you could feel how much he cared for you and that was enough to make your heart swell.

“Then I won’t be getting into trouble unless he does something to hurt you.”

“He won’t do anything, he never liked me the way I liked him, there’s no reason for him to be angry.”

“You won’t have a problem meeting them tonight, then?” He asks a little unsure.

Smiling, you ask, “You want me to meet them?”

“Of course I do.” He reassured you. “Told you yesterday. I want my team to meet my girl.”

Your heart swelled. “It’s so early, Bradley. We are barely together.”

“I knew I would love you from the day I met you, but if you’re not comfortable with it we can wait.”

Your heart was beating fast at his simple admission. “You love me?”

Bradley smiled at you, brushing his nose against yours.

“Of course I love you,” he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “What’s there not to love?”

Unable to contain yourself you leaned in, giving him a passionate kiss, pushing him onto his back.

“Breakfast will get cold.” He murmured against your lips, hands traveling from your waist up, bunching up your shirt on its way.

“Breakfast can wait.”

Even though you were sure your feelings for Jake were gone, you were a ball of nerves getting ready to meet him and Bradley’s other friends. You knew a lot about them, but you didn’t know how much Bradley had talked about you or what they knew. Did Bradley talk to them about the guy that had broken your heart before he appeared in your life? Did they know that you felt for Bradley the same he felt for you?

“Honey, I’m home.”

You smiled at the sound of Bradley’s voice. The two of you had exchanged gifs after eating your cold breakfast this morning, and hearing him say that he was home for you was making you feel all kinds of things.

“I'll be out in a minute.” You finish up the last touch of your outfit, opening the door of your room and walking to the living room, only to find Bradley standing there with a huge bouquet of your favorite flowers in hand and a dumb smile on his face. “You didn’t need to.” You murmur against his lips before taking the flowers from him.

“But I wanted to.” He simply says. “Especially after the fiasco of yesterday.”

“I wouldn’t call yesterday a fiasco.” You joke, raising an eyebrow at him suggestively.

“You know what I mean, Honey, don’t change the subject.”

“I’m not holding it against you,” You assured him, taking his hands in yours. “We didn’t talk about where that kiss left us before you left, we are both to blame for that, and even though I would have much preferred to learn you were stateside in another way, we did talk and straighten things out. That’s all I ask of you. Honesty.”

“And you have it,” he said, leaning in to give you a peck on the lips. “I promise.”

“Then we’re all good, Bradshaw.”

Bradley rolled his eyes. “I hate when you call me that.”

“What? It’s your name, after all, and I kinda like it.”

“Oh, you like it?” He asks, a smug grin on his face, as you both sway from side to side, bodies close together.

“Yeah, I do.”

“Well, honey, maybe in the future we can make it yours.”

“Maybe,” you agree before pulling him into a kiss, which almost makes you ditch his friends and keep him all to yourself. “Let’s go before your friends start thinking that I’m hogging you.”

“Wait a sec, Honey.” He says, pulling you to him again, but this time he had a serious expression on his face. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

“Yeah, I’m sure.” You smile at him, touched by his worry about your feelings. “Whatever I felt for Jake is gone. I’m with you now, and I love you, so there’s nothing in the world that could keep me from being a part of your life as a whole.”

He smiles back at you. “I love you too, Honey.”

“I know, you keep saying that to me even before you actually said it.”

He kisses you lightly and then takes your hand, guiding you to the door. “Let’s go then.”

The Hard Deck was what you would expect from a Navy Bar—packed with people in uniform. There were pool tables and a dart board, tables where people were hanging out, and an old piano near the counter.

You were still nervous about meeting his friends, but Bradley made his best in reassuring you by squeezing your hand.

He was headed to a group of people in a corner near a pool table. You were partially hidden behind him, so nobody noticed as you tensed when you heard a familiar voice.

“Bradshaw, as I live and breathe.” You could hear the smile in Jake’s voice and assumed he was at least a little bit happy to see Bradley.

“Hangman,” Bradley answered with a nod.

Then you felt a pair of eyes on you and saw the woman sitting beside a guy with glasses getting up from her sit.

“So this is the woman Rooster won’t shut up about.” She exclaims walking to the two of you and giving Bradley a little tap on the arm.

Bradley looked back at you as you stepped aside to stand beside him.

“Yes, this is Honey.”

You smiled at her as she made a move to see if it was okay to hug you. Giving her your name, you let her pull you into a tight embrace.

“Honey suits you better if you don’t mind.”

“No, I really don’t.”

“I’m Natasha, but you can call me…”

“Phoenix,” you supply and she looks surprised at you. “Bradley told me all about you all.”

“Only the good things, I hope.” One of the guys approached you. “Payback,” he said, offering you his hand.

“Of course, only the good stuff,” You smiled.

“And I’m Fanboy,” the one behind him says.

“I’m Bob,” The guy with the glasses stands to hug you.

“And I’m Coyote,” the guy beside Jake says, looking between you and his friend, that had his eyes trailing on you.

“Aren’t you going to introduce yourself, Bagman?” Phoenix asks when Jake doesn’t make a move to say or do anything.

“Jake,” he says, approaching you and extending his hand for you to shake, “ or…”

“Hangman.” You interrupt him, as you shake his hand.

He nods, before saying, “I’m going to get a refill,” and then walks away to the bar.

“But he just had taken a full bottle!” Bob exclaims and both Payback and Faboy just shrug.

Both Phoenix and Coyote seemed to have caught something, looking between you and Bradley and then at Jake, suspiciously, but none of them said anything.

You let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding, and Bradley pulled you into his side, giving you a forehead kiss.

“Alright?” He asked, looking at you.

“Yeah,” you nodded. “I’m good.”

Conversation flowed after that, but you could feel that from time to time, Coyote and Phoenix would look at you almost expectantly. It seemed that it passed unnoticed that Jake hadn’t returned from his venture in the bar. Maybe it was a common occurrence.

After some time you saw Coyote leaving too, probably going after his best friend. The minutes passed and none of them made it back, so you made a decision that you might regret in the future.

“I’ll be back in a minute.” You said, looking at Bradley to see if he had understood where you were going.

“Want me to go with you?” He asked, still holding your hand and getting Phoenix's attention, and you did your best to ignore the look she gave you.

“No, I’ll be right back.”

Bradley nodded, letting go of your hand and continued chatting with his friends as you headed outside. You found both Jake and Coyote a few meters from the bar, standing on the beach. Jake was walking from side to side as Coyote seemed to try and calm him down.

“May I talk to him for a second?” You asked Coyote, making him look at Jake and then at you again.

“Ok,” he nodded. “If you need anything, I’ll be in the parking lot.”

“Thank you,” you said, watching him walk away, and then turning your attention back on Jake.

“I see you moved on.” He said to you, venom in his voice.

“Don’t start, Jake.”

“Start what? I'm not starting anything.”

“Yes, you are, and you know it.”

“You said you wanted more.” He spat at you.

“And you said you couldn’t give it to me.”

“So you thought you could find it in one of my friends?” He scoffs.

“I didn’t know Bradley was your friend and I don’t see the reason why it matters.”

“You did that to what? Huh? Hurt me?” He asks, taking a step closer to you. “To throw at my face what we could’ve had?”

“No, we couldn’t, because you didn’t like me that way, remember?” He frowns and you continue. “We were not lovers, remember? We were just strangers.”

“And what if I liked you that way, huh? What would you do?”

“Don’t do that, Jake.” You plead to him.

“I couldn’t give you what you wanted then, but what if I can’t do it now?” He takes another step forward, now standing right in front of you.

“You don’t like me that way, Jake. Your ego is just bruised and…”

“My ego?” He asks, incredulous. “What about my heart?”

“You don’t love me, Jake!” You exclaim, getting his attention. “Maybe you like the idea you made of me, the same way I loved the idea I made of you.” You pause, taking a deep breath. “I love Bradley, more than I can put into words. I only discovered you were the Hangman he always talks about yesterday, but it doesn’t change the fact that I love him.”

“But you said…” He tries, but you interrupt him.

“I know what I said, but it’s over. We’re over. We were over even before we began. I’m with Bradley now and I hope you respect that. I care for you, Jake. We have gone through a lot and I don’t want to see you hurting, but I won’t lie to you either.”

Jake nods, sighing. “You really love him, don’t you?”

“Yeah, Jake. I really love him.”

You saw him swallowing hard, and then he extended his hand to you, palm up. You place his hand in his and Jake pulls you into a hug.

“I won’t say it will be easy to see the two of you together, but I’ll get used to it.”

“Thank you,” You said as you two parted from each other.

“Honey!” Bradley shouts from the door of the bar. You turn your head to look at him and then look back at Jake.

“Go, go to him.”

Smiling sadly at him, you nod, turning around to make your way back to the bar.

“Sweets,” you hear Jake calling you, and then you turn around to look at him. “Take care of yourself.”

“You too, Jake.” You said, walking back to the bar.

Bradley is waiting for you at the door, a worried expression on his face.

“Everything okay?”

He asks and you answer by kissing him.

“Better now.”

Bradley smiles then, intertwining your fingers with his.

“Did you want something?” You ask.

“Yes,” he smiles, “I want to show you something.”

You two enter the bar hand in hand, and as you pass by the jukebox Bradley pulls the plug, making everybody complain. Then he guides you to the old piano, pulling you into his lap and making you squeak in surprise.

“Bradley, what are you doing?” You asked, smiling confusedly.

“Serenading you,” he smiles back, arms sneaking around your waist and reaching towards the keys. “You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain.” The people around you started to cheer and you saw Phoenix and the rest of the squad coming to the both of you.

“Too much love drives a man insane,” Bradley continued and you couldn’t help but smile at him, hiding your face in the crook of his neck for a second.

“You broke my will, but what a thrill”

You saw Jake entering the bar again, watching the scene unfold in front of him, as he gave you a sad smile.

“Goodness gracious, great balls of fire”

Bradley continued his song, his friends around you, and you couldn’t stop yourself from kissing him as the song finished. He smiled into the kiss and asked.

“Did I do alright?”

“You did more than alright.” You answered, kissing him again and hearing the people cheering and asking Bradley to play another song.

“Should I?” He asked, squeezing your waist.

“Yes, yes you should.” You made a move to get up and he pulled you back into his lap.

“You stay right there, Honey.” He said, sneaking his arms around you to start playing another song, and at that moment you realized that there was no other place you’d rather be than in Bradley Bradshaw’s arms.

#bradley bradshaw x reader #bradley rooster bradshaw x reader #bradley bradshaw imagine #jake seresin x reader #jake hangman seresin x reader #jake seresin imagine #bradley bradshaw #jake seresin #top gun: maverick fanfic #amysteryspot #mystery writings

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chickenstrangers · 5 months

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2023 in Review: Meta Edition

tag game: link your top and/or favorite posts/metas/gifs for each month of 2023

Since I already did this post just for my gifs (here) this feels even more self-indulgent but I was tagged by the lovely @ranchthoughts @troubled-mind and @lurkingshan so I will indulge myself and reflect on my writing in 2023.

I properly got started a bit later in the year, and it is interesting to look at my busiest months because I tended to either be in a gif mood or a meta mood, and often didn't overlap the two (in the fall, I made a lot of gifs, so wrote a lot less meta).

I often feel like they go hand in hand though, and gifs (like all types of fan creations) are a form of analysis/comparison/meta commentary. Either I have a meta idea that I can only convey visually, or the process of making a gif takes so much time I start to have meta thoughts about it, and sometimes I write those down.

May

May was my first meta month and my busiest.

top: Bad Buddy, Tragedy, and Queer Futures which is basically my Bad Buddy thesis statement and I loved making a scholarly bibliography for a meta

favorite: Wen as Observer in Moonlight Chicken which had ideas I returned to throughout the year in gif form (here and here)

honorable mentions because I wrote a lot this month: Pat's Shirts: An Extended Analysis (inspired by shirt analysis scholars like @dribs-and-drabbles, because I love taking silly things seriously and I made myself genuinely sad thinking about Pat's Hawaiian shirts); Conflict and Empathy in My School President and Kieta Hatsukoi (two shows very close to my heart for very similar reasons, and I love a comparative essay)

June

top: Metatextuality in Our Skyy 2 BBxATOTS (linking my other OS2 metas here and here because they were all part of the same conversation)

favorite: Ghosts and Hauntings in Moonlight Chicken which was a more experimental writing attempt for me, and I loved the tags from @firstkhaolesbian @ranchthoughts @pondphuwin and @akkpipitphattana. Followed it with this gifset later in the year.

July

top: Photography in Aof's Series again I love to compare shows

favorite: Time and Grief in Eternal Yesterday, my ode to one of the most impactful and beautiful and heartbreaking shows I watched this year

August

top: a comment on the set design for Sand and Ray's houses in Only Friends

favorite: Intertwined Discoveries in He's Coming to Me and the supernatural and queer story lines in parallel

September

top: a comment on ephemerality and wardrobe in Only Friends

favorite: parallels between Beam/Jim and Alan/Wen and why I think the relationships need to be considered in tandem (thoughts I had while making these gifs). I'm also fond of this He's Coming to Me post that was the thought process behind these gifsets)

October and November

no writing of the meta variety because I decided to write 50k words for NaNoWriMo and ended up with (half) a book instead

December

top & favorite: another silly meta! Not Me is About Earrings with an excellent addition by @ranchthoughts

Some no pressure tags if you feel like talking about your writing/any other types of creative work you did this year (does not have to be monthly): anyone I tagged throughout this post already, @twig-tea @slayerkitty @emotionallychargedtowel @dudeyuri @shannankle @visualtaehyun @airenyah @telomeke @waitmyturtles @kattahj or anyone who sees this, consider yourself tagged!

#bl superlatives 2023 #tag game #rambling rambles

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trashpie420 · 7 months

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Loki Season 2 was heartbreaking so im just writing what should've happened. Or just ideas/thoughts I wish/wanted to see.

-Mobius/Don being a Jimmy Buffett fan.

-Loki admitting he has a thing for DILFs.

-Loki is the parent that STEPPED UP!

-Mobius/Don being a surfer/jetski driver in his youth but moved away from the beach to be a family man.

-Mobius/Don introducing Loki to his kids.

-In alt-universe, the Avengers are all still alive and find out Loki is back on earth and decide to raid Don's house to find Loki as a stay-at-home step-married to a jetski-loving silver fox in cargo shorts

-2012 Thor & Jane meet 2022 Loki & Mobius in Asgard where Odin comes to the realization that his two only sons have a thing for midgardians.

-Loki deciding to live a domestic life with Mobius/Don either as a stay at home step-parent or a librarian.

-2012 Loki meeting current Loki and arguing which Loki is better.

-Mobius/Don's kids being avenger fans and Loki having a near heart attack when Kevin says "HULK SMASH" (he has flashbacks to the invasion).

-2012 Loki hating on Midgardian people/culture than sees 2022 Loki holding hands with Mobius in a Hawaiian shorts with a "Low Key" shirt (Loki is in his suburban beach/stereotype dad phase).

Might write more but this is what I have so far.

#loki #loki season 2 #lokius #loki x mobius #loki laufeyson #mobius m mobius #marvel #mcu

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polyhexian · 2 months

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Initial thoughts on giving Jasper epilepsy: Oooh yes, hurt the blorbo, put that man in Situations, give him more issues of Trauma Monthly, I love the heartbreak that comes from watching this!

Further thoughts on giving Jasper epilepsy: HOW can you do this to Hawk Hunter, does this poor bird not ALREADY have enough of Jasper's bullshit to put up with, now you have to make him deal with bullshit that Jasper cannot even CONTROL??? GIVE THIS BIRD A HAWAIIAN SHIRT AND PUT HIM ON A BEACH WITH SUNGLASSES AND A PINA COLADA, HE DESERVES SO MUCH BETTER!!!

Hawk hunters life has SUCKED lmfao. Two fucking dead witches in rapid succession. Miles only lived to be four, and hawk hunter didn't even know him the whole time. Then he gets another decade and a half of being this assholes service animal. He knows to try and help him with the light, how to answer some questions, retrieve some water or any kind of healing potion. He needs a fucking break.

He kind of gets one I suppose. They all stumble out of the portal into the human realm and it's like sick, dude, we saved hunter. Job done. Time to chillax.

Only, I mean. He's still helping jasper out. Soul bonded or not, he's known this guy for sixteen years and he's the only person who knows how to help him. They kind of have "old married couple" energies, whereas jasper and Darius have "divorced couple" energies. Jasper and hawk hunter are so crabby and rude to each other but, you know. In a loving way. Usually.

But yeah no give that poor fucking bird a break, good god.

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i-am-the-oyster · 26 days

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Hi, lovely Oyster!

Maybe Paul wore this hawaiian shirt not only during Wings rehearsals in 1979 (by the way including new treck Coming Up. A live version of it was recorded in Glasgow in December so somehow they did it, right?) And maybe this photo really taken by Linda at Lower Gate Farm in Sussex exactly when Paul recorded McCartney II. If that's so it gets GMRTBS meaning richer, yeah? Coz Coming Up at this line seems like saying hope, then all hopes are broken and we got Montserrat and after all GMRTBS. Sounds just a little fantastic, I know :) But I can not help saying that.

Thanks a lot!

Photo from this https://www.tumblr.com/lindamcacca/627286690114027520

Oh my goodness!

McCartney II is full of messages to John, which I'm sure he must have heard.

It's so heartbreaking to think Paul associated The Shirt with the hope expressed in Coming Up 😭💔💘

(here's a clickable link to the post)

#tavolgisvist ask

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beewolfwrites · 1 year

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The Oar in the Sand - Chapter Nineteen: The Jack

Sorry for the delay! I had a bit of a busy week, but it was unavoidable. I know some of you were annoyed and worried about MC's actions earlier in the game, and here we are haha.

Let me know if you see any errors! I'm a terrible proofer.

AO3 link is here.

____________________________________________________

Once the seed was planted, the poison had spread quickly.

By Round Three, the group had eliminated the nervous man in the checked shirt. It was exactly as I’d predicted, and equally as heartbreaking. That woman, Urumi, was a cold-blooded ringleader. She had the others wrapped around her finger, controlling who would be taken out next, and embedding paranoia and distrust into the very group she created. The others were too submissive, too afraid, to disagree.

Even watching from afar with Banda and Enji, I could see the fear festering between them. Ippei, having taken a more observant role with Chishiya, was in a near-constant state of silent shock.

Round Four, it was the woman with long hair and a floral skirt. She had entered into the cell next to my own, and as the timer ran out, the sudden blast of her collar had shaken me to my core. During the next round, there was no obvious target. However, the woman in an orange shirt suddenly disappeared from the board, her face vanishing along with her life. Likewise, one or two of the other players from the pairs and trios disappeared silently.

By the time Round Six began, I already had a nagging suspicion that Chishiya and Ippei were telling each other their suits in secret. Clearly, he trusted Ippei, and so did I. Having a partner that you could trust without fail was the key to winning this game.

However, I had also noticed that Banda and Enji had yet to lie to me. I would always double check with Chishiya. Not directly, of course. But whenever I entered the guardroom, or walked across the cafeteria, I would spare a quick glance in his direction. He would tap his fingers on whatever was near him at the time; the tabletop, his knee, his arm if he had them crossed. To anyone else, it would look like a nervous habit. But his fingers switched from one steady tap - Diamond - to four consecutive taps - Club - all without ever looking directly at me or making it obvious what he was doing.

And yet, every round that followed, his secret messages would only certify that Banda and Enji had told me the truth.

But why?

‘I guess the only people who are safe are the pairs,’ I mumbled under my breath.

Banda hummed. ‘What’s that?’

‘ああ、何でもないです,’ I whispered. It’s nothing.

It was now Round 10. Ten hours of sleepless torment in this concrete labyrinth. I was sitting on the guardroom floor beside Banda. Enji was standing against the wall, playing with a wrapped cookie in his palm without actually eating it - the same brand yet again. The night was passing painfully slowly, and it had to be the early hours of the morning. Yet with every round, the tension between the players only heightened, like a coil ready to snap at any moment.

Banda was staring intently at the group across from us. Or what was left of it. Aside from Chishiya and Ippei, the group had whittled down to just Urumi, the old man, the young woman with the headband and the man with glasses. In the previous round, both Hawaiian Shirt and his partner had been eradicated together.

They must have lied to each other.

Now, there were only ten players remaining in the game, most of us lingering here in the guardroom and refusing to look at one another for too long.

Banda made a noise of discontent. ‘That person,’ he said. ‘Perhaps he’s the Jack.’

I followed his blank gaze, a lump in my throat rising as I realised exactly who he was talking about. ‘違う,’ I said. ‘ジャックじゃないです.’ You’re wrong. He’s not the Jack.

Banda smiled softly. ‘And how would you know?’

Has he figured us out?

I tried to explain that I had seen Chishiya in the games before, and how we were both part of the Beach, though it was a struggle to form the right sentences. ‘あの人もビーチのグルプにありました,’ I said. That person was also in the Beach’s group.

I knew I must have butchered the sentence structure, or used the wrong particles in the wrong places. But Banda seemed to know what I meant as he simply ignored my story without comment.

Eiji played with the cookie in his hand. ‘The Beach, hm? Sounds like a cult.’

‘そうでした.’ It was.

Ever since our first meeting, Enji had eased up a little. He no longer nitpicked my shoddy Japanese, and for the most part he ignored me. I didn’t mind too much since I wasn’t really in the mood to make conversation. The exhaustion was beginning to affect me physically. It was a struggle to keep my eyes from closing, especially as the unnatural lighting within the prison jarred against the darkness outside. My joints and bones ached from sitting on the cold concrete floor, and my head was pounding, thirsty for sleep.

The timer below the board ticked and ticked. There were still 17 minutes left of Round 10 when Banda stood up, smoothing out his clothes.

‘I’ll be back,’ he muttered, then left me with Enji.

He disappeared in the direction of the toilets, rounding the corner to the stairwell just as Yaba’s partner entered the guardroom. According to the board, her name was Kotoko. She walked around the room, clutching something in her hands - the usual cookie brand, bright red this time. As she passed where Enji and I were standing, her eyes flitted across to Enji’s cookie, filling with recognition for just a split second. Then she vanished, probably in search of Yaba.

I laughed lightly. ‘あなたは両方ともそれのクッキーが好きに違いない.’ You both must really like those cookies.

Enji tore open the packet in his hand. He ate the cookie in one go, fist clenching around the empty wrapper. Then without a word, he stalked off in the same direction as Banda.

Jeez… What’s gotten into him?

And there I was thinking we were allies now.

I shook it off, diverting my attention back to the group. Headband was shivering, her eyes darting back and forth. The older man had turned pale, clutching his stomach with nausea. Meanwhile, Glasses was scratching his head and pacing back and forth, and Urumi was leaning against the wooden bar, waving around a pocky stick as she assessed the participant board. Several paces behind them, poor Ippei was sitting on the ground, head in his hands, the bags under his eyes more pronounced than ever before. Chishiya, of course, was leaning against the wall, arms folded calmly.

His fingers tapped twice, paused, then tapped twice again.

I was a Heart.

He could have seen my suit earlier when I was down in the cafeteria. The group had been exchanging their suits, the old man struggling not to vomit from the stress of the game. As I was browsing the shelves, I had witnessed him attempt to lie to Urumi. There was no way he would live to see another round now, but I didn’t stick around to watch the outcome. I just grabbed a bottle and left, having chosen an energy drink to give me strength. This game couldn’t last forever, though I was waning quickly. I could feel it in my muscles.

Enji and Banda re-entered the guardroom side by side. They probably crossed paths on their way back, but something about it seemed a little off. My eyes darted to the timer.

10 minutes left of this round.

It would be over soon. It had to be. Once the player count diminished on its own and nothing but strong partnerships remained, the Jack would have to make a move.

As the two returned to our corner wall, Banda turned around, exposing his collar. Enji and I angled our heads to get a better view.

‘Diamond,’ Enji said simply.

‘ダイヤ,’ I added, nodding.

Enji went next, turning around and parting his dark hair to reveal the club on the back of his collar. Banda and I confirmed his suit yet again. And now, it was my turn. Sweeping my hair out of the way, I revealed the back of my collar. There was a beat. A slight hesitation.

‘Spade,’ Enji said.

Banda hummed in agreement. ‘Spade.’

My breath hitched. A shiver ran down my spine.

I’m not a Spade. I’m definitely not a Spade.

During that time after Enji and Banda had both disappeared, they must have come to some form of agreement. A plan. A story. A suit that they could tell me. Yet their faces gave nothing away. Banda was emotionless as always, idly watching the other players come and go, and Enji was looking at the timer, huffing with impatience. After telling such a lie, how could they appear so composed? I leaned against the wall once more, trying to act normal, or at least as normal as I knew how. But inside, I was shaking with the knowledge that after this round, once I emerged from my cell alive…

I squeezed my eyes shut. I couldn’t bring myself to think about it.

What will they do to me?

My fingernails dug into my palms, only the flash of pain offered nothing to distract me from what was to come. My mind raced in loops, desperate to think of a strategy - any way out of this. There wasn’t one. Why couldn’t I think of one?

My eyes lifted to Chishiya’s figure across the room, searching for any modicum of comfort or solace. There was nothing. He was playing his role too well, preoccupied with calming Ippei and not even sparing a glance in my direction.

‘THE HOUR IS ALMOST OVER. PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE CELLS.’

Adrenaline gushed through my chest.

Oh god.

As we trailed down to the rows of cells, I counted each breath, taking every inhale nice and slow just in case Banda was watching. I couldn’t have him witness my fear. He would enjoy it too much.

‘IT IS TIME TO MAKE YOUR GUESS. EVERYONE, PLEASE ENTER A CELL. ONE PERSON PER CELL, PLEASE.’

I selected a cell, once again directly opposite Chishiya’s and stepped inside. The room was like a fridge. The nighttime chill had bled into the prison, leaving the concrete walls icy to the touch. The dim lightbulb above me flickered dangerously.

‘PLEASE MAKE YOUR GUESS.’

With one word, I sealed my fate. ‘ハート.’ Heart.

A moment of silence passed as the timer ticked down. Then the familiar buzzer sounded and the metal lock clanged as it released. The round was over. I was alive, but at what cost?

Outside, I could hear the familiar creak of players exiting their cells. Pacing pack and forth across mine, I hesitated, unsure of what to do. Should I stay in here and pretend to be eliminated, risking being found out? Or should I go back out there, ready with an excuse?

I can’t stay in here.

It was tempting, but it just wouldn’t work. And so, taking a deep breath, I slowly opened the cell door. The creak was louder than I had expected, and as I walked out, my fate was already waiting for me.

Enji and Banda were standing just a few metres away, paused mid-step as though they had been approaching my cell. Probably to check the state of the walls.

Banda smirked, tilting his head, whereas Enji’s eyes widened. Nobody spoke. In the background, the other players briefly turned their heads, but continued walking.

‘Surprise,’ I muttered.

Enji shook his head wildly. ‘That’s impossible. You’re the Jack. You have to be!’

His words echoed down the hall, striking the other players with new fear as they stopped to look. Their faces emerged one by one, gathering around to witness this commotion. Headband, Glasses, even Yaba and Kotoko. Chishiya’s eyes were calmly trained on me. At his side, Ippei looked close to tears.

‘How did you do it?’ Banda asked. ‘You should be dead.’

I couldn’t speak. I could’t even scramble together a sentence. It made no difference as I wasn’t even given a chance to explain.

‘She’s the Jack!’ Headband pointed at me, stepping closer now, hysteria in her eyes. ‘You lied to her about her suit, right? If she’s alive it means she must be the Jack.’

‘違う,’ I whispered. You’re wrong.

‘You spent the entire round with us,’ Banda said. ‘You didn’t speak to anyone else. Unless, after we left, perhaps…’

Glasses whimpered from across the hall. His nose was running as he shouted, ‘She didn’t speak to anyone! Even when you two left, she didn’t move. We were in the guardroom the whole time.’

‘みんなは違う!’ I called out. You’re all wrong!

My eyes locked with Ippei and Chishiya, desperate for help. Anything to get me out of this mess. But Ippei was frozen, eyes shifting back and forth in blind panic. Chishiya looked perturbed, but he made no move to intervene.

Please… please!

‘You did it the first round too,’ a new voice spoke. It was Yaba this time. He broke away from Kotoko and stepped towards us, hands in his suit pockets. ‘You didn’t speak to anyone during the first round, yet you survived.’

‘I guessed!’ I couldn’t even think of the Japanese word. ‘I guessed the suit!’

My cries fell on deaf ears. Enji gave me one cold look that made me want to shrivel away. His voice lowered to a whisper. ‘Let’s get her in the cell.’

Before I could even register what was happening, Yaba and Banda had grabbed me roughly under my arms, a dull pain flaring in my shoulder from my old bullet graze. A scream tore from my throat as I kicked and threw myself to the side, protesting as they dragged me back to the cold cell I had been just in moments ago.

‘Stop!’ I shrieked, crying out as my body was flung onto the concrete floor. They immediately pulled the door shut, locking it from outside. I clambered to my feet and threw myself against the closed door, screaming through the mesh window. ‘I’m not the Jack! I’m not!’

I pounded my fist on the door, fingers scrabbling to find an inside lock, some way of opening it. But it was no use. There was nothing.

Back in the guardrom, the game continued without me.

‘ROUND ELEVEN - START.’

My vision blurred, and tears dripped down my chin. ‘I’m not the Jack,’ I said weakly, watching through the mesh as the players walked off in the direction of the guardroom. The only ones who remained were Ippei and Chishiya.

‘Ippei!’ I called out. ‘お願い… お願いします.’

Please help me…

Shaking his head in disbelief, he left. Chishiya remained for a few heartbeats longer. His expression was guarded, and I could see him thinking carefully. Before I could beg him for help, he turned to follow Ippei.

No no no no no.

Just like that, I was alone. I sank to the ground, but the cold soon bled into my clothes. Even leaning against a wall left me trembling. Again, the bulb above me flickered once... twice... then blew.

The cell was plunged into darkness.

#alice in borderland #Imawa no Kuni no Arisu #aib #chishiya #chishiya shuntaro #chishiya x oc #Chishiya x reader

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callsign-foreigner · 2 years

Text

You’re as Cold as Ice - Part 2

Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw x reader (Iceman’s Daughter)

*this part is mostly a filler, no real present action, just a flashback*

___________________________________

Maverick’s statement only caused Phantom to feel some different emotions. She had loved Bradley. No, scratch that, she was absolutely head over heels for him. She hadn’t been that way at first. It had taken quite a while to get her to even crack a smile at him, as she was usually a pretty reserved person.

Rooster was relentless and kept pursuing her, until she finally said yes to a drink at the Hard Deck one night. Everything after that was history. They had never become official, as Phantom didn’t want to jinx their relationship before it became a solid thing. (or before she told her father) Rooster accepted that, as they both had a sort of silent agreement to only see each other.

Or so she thought.

Her relationship with Rooster and training at Top Gun was so time consuming that she forgot she had missed her period. She had started to notice morning sickness after every flight. This wasn’t a usual thing for a pilot such as herself so when she realized her period hadn’t come that month, she knew she was fucked. The early morning of graduation, when Phantom saw those 2 pink lines, she tried to calm herself down. She had no idea what to do, but knew that if she told Bradley, she could try and figure it out with him. Running to his dorm she knocked on it rapidly, after the first 15 knocks, the door was opened to reveal a slender blonde, wearing only underwear and one of Bradley’s many Hawaiian shirts. Phantom just stood there in her white uniform, with a furrowed brow as she took in the woman.

The blonde looked back in the room and whispered something to the occupant of the room. The door was flung open to reveal Rooster, only wearing sweatpants . His hair a mess and a redness that Phantom had actually come to love, on his cheeks. Obviously a result of just being woken up.

He looked irritated. Why, Phantom wasn’t sure. As she has just seen him yesterday afternoon and he was fine. He looked at her as though he didn’t recognize her.

“Do you need something?” He said aggressively. While Phantom had heard him like this with Hangman, she never had him act that way towards her.

“Uhm yeah…I wanted to talk about some things with you” Phantom said quietly, suddenly feeling small.

Rooster scoffed and rolled his eyes

“I don’t think we have anything to talk about, Phantom.” He looked to the blonde and then back to the female pilot. “I think we have a graduation to get to.”

By some act of God, Phantom didn’t cry. She didn’t even show emotion. She just stood there, confused and thought that maybe this was his way of saying they were over. While it shattered her heart into pieces, she was the one who didn’t want the label. She thought she had led him to believe that maybe she didn’t see this relationship going further.

She suppose she couldn’t be mad at that. But she was. In the back of her mind, she was.

She nodded at his last words and mustered enough strength to actually smile at the couple in the doorway and said “See you down there” and turned away, walking down the hall.

Phantom was confused. She was angry and confused and completely broken. But she couldn’t let that stop her from attending Top Gun graduation. Where she would be named Top of the class and walk away with her award. She couldn’t let heartbreak blind her enough to forget that she was the daughter of a well known Admiral and god daughter to a legendary fighter pilot. She would have to push through and figure out the pregnancy, on her own. Right after graduation, she told her father she wanted to take leave to ‘focus on herself’ before returning to missions. He understood and did as she asked.

Only Maverick, had questioned her new found desire in leaving the navy temporarily. He had heard rumors of her departure being due to some pregnancy, from other pilots.

So he when showed up just 6 months after her graduation to her new home in Washington State, and found her with a growing stomach, he knew immediately. He even remembered her and Rooster hanging out quite a bit, so he didn’t really have to ask who the father was. She had told her parents of the pregnancy, but said it was an accidental pregnancy from a guy in Washington, who had said he wanted nothing to do with her or the child. Her parents by some miracle, never questioned it. Phantom had started to get frequent visits from her parents and maverick after that. They came every few weeks and were even there when her son, Nicholas, was born.

After a year, she decided to take a mission every couple months, enough so she could stay in the game but also have time to enjoy her son. Her last mission has resulted in a couple more combat kills, which made her an Ace. Of course, Bradley had heard. After hearing rumors about ‘The Phantom’ here and there, he knew it was her. He knew that she was becoming a legend within the Navy. Something he was quite envious of. He had dated her while at Top Gun but soon realized that she was a distraction. A beautiful distraction that would have ruined him, had he let her. Instead of sitting down and discussing, he just thought that bringing some random chick home would send a clear message. Which it did. But he knew that after Maverick had pulled his papers at the academy and set him back, he couldn’t allow himself any luxuries such as relationships. He had to work twice as hard to get to where he wanted to be. If that meant losing the only person had ever truly loved, he wiling to make that sacrifice.

#rooster bradshaw imagine #rooster imagine #bradley rooster bradshaw #rooster fanfic #pete mitchell #pete maverick mitchell #top gun x reader #top gun maverick #top gun #rooster x reader #bradley bradshaw x reader

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sousa-simps-and-stans · 1 year

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#daniel sousa #agent carter #agents of s.h.i.e.l.d.#agents of shield #marvel's agent carter #marvel's agents of shield #poll

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unholybinchicken · 1 month

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For the fandom asks: 12 for glee and 7 for heartbreak high?

bet

12. if the glee kids had staged a protest like the heartbreak high kids did instead of sing to sir with love and cry about it

7. aside from peter rivers and his hawaiian shirt he still has from 1994

ummmmm ... probably ca$h's tommy hilfiger jacket from s2e3 (aka the smalltown boy/rage scene)

i may or may not own a similar one

#yourlocalegotisticalqueerishere #glee asks #heartbreak high asks

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purplehairedwonder · 2 years

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Chapter 1063: Ambush

When I read the spoilers this week and saw Law’s name, I actually gasped. I had just resigned myself to not seeing him for at least a year, if not longer--depending on how long this current arc lasted. But we must truly be in the endgame if we’re seeing flashes to the outside world in the middle of an arc rather than between arcs.

And then I saw what was happening with Law and basically had this reaction:

Me: I miss Law already. I hope we see him sooner rather than later. Oda: Law vs. Blackbeard Me: NO NOT LIKE THAT

But I’ll come back to this. First, the cover story:

So, it looks like Kuzan kidnapped Pudding, which would give Blackbeard the ability to read the Poneglyphs. For all the twisted nature of the Charlotte family, you can tell they really care about one another.

Of course, Zoro’s request from last chapter was left on a cliffhanger. Still, we have some good moments with divorced dad Jinbei and his Devil Fruit-eating children.

And thus, the Glutton Trio was born XD

And Atlas throwing some shade at Jinbei, but Jinbei just goes with it.

I love him. So much.

And just when I don’t think I can love him any more, he becomes even more the divorced dad with his Hawaiian shirt.

Huge eyeroll for Bonney’s outfit. Why would a battle suit not have pants?

Luffy also gets new threads:

The boots are giving Mega Man vibes.

Also nice to see Luffy using his future sight here with the Pacifista.

Luffy attacks the Pacifista -- and it’s nice to see Luffy fully aware that this is a Pacifista and not the real Kuma -- and Bonney interferes.

This is a cool shot of Bonney.

The shot of a younger Kuma and Bonney is actually heartbreaking. (Kuma looks a bit like Kyros here.)

She has to know this isn’t her father. Is her reaction that she doesn’t like the visual of Luffy attacking a Pacifista that looks like her father? Oof.

Okay, anyway. To the completely unexpected part of the chapter: TRAFALGAR D. WATER LAW IS BACK.

The Blackbeard Pirates have ambushed the Hearts, and the Tang has taken too much damage to stay submerged.

And suddenly...

The fandom explodes. Oda’s been finding ways to bring a number of his SBS sketches into canon, from the young Warlords (Seraphim) to female Law. This is so random and more evidence someone needs to bonk Oda and send him to horny jail.

(She is really cute, though.)

I can’t stop laughing at female Bepo in the background though.

Shachi and Penguin are such dorks, and Law has no patience for it. I love their friendship.

For all the people (looking at you, Reddit) who think Law has weak Haki, well...

He’s able to overcome the effects of Doc Q’s powers with his Haki.

Look, Doc Q’s powers are the ability to spread disease, so I find the idea that being a woman is a “disease” pretty gross. I’d like to know if Ikkaku turned into a man during this; if the “disease” is just changing genders, then my annoyance drops significantly.

Still, the translation of “Ma-lady” was clever. I’ll be interested to see the official translation of this line.

(Update: The official called it the “Feminizaton Disease.” Gross.)

We see the various Devil Fruits members of the Blackbeard Pirates have gotten, including the Warp-Warp Fruit and the Buff-Buff Fruit.

I was thinking about this, but @chromatic-lamina has a nice breakdown here of how these powers are essentially all things Law’s own fruit can do. He seems like the best person to counter these various powers.

And then the big man himself arrives -- hilariously, on the back of Doc Q.

I love this panel with Law popping out of the panels as he faces Blackbeard. (Also, he’s still in his tank top. Now I may need to be bonked, oops.)

What’s really interesting to me here, though, is the familiarity with which Blackbeard is speaking. It shows they clearly interacted at Rocky Port. And, lest we forget, Blackbeard is holding Coby -- the so-called hero of Rocky Port -- captive. This is where we learn what happened during that incident, isn’t it? *vibrates in excitement*

Am I worried about Law here? Yes. Law has a damaged ship and Blackbeard plus three of his lieutenants. Is Law going to hold his own in this fight? Absolutely. I mean, look at this face.

He doesn’t look afraid. However, Blackbeard and his people fight dirty.

There is zero narrative purpose to killing Law here. For one thing, if Oda planned to kill Law as soon as Wano ended, there was no need to give him the new motivation to learn about the Will of D. Yes, Robin is also interested, but Law is the only D. we’ve seen who wants to know about his name. For another, Luffy doesn’t need more motivation to want to fight Blackbeard; his role in Ace’s death is plenty.

But Blackbeard also is going to get some kind of win here, I think.

That said, I could easily see Law being taken captive and, held alongside Coby, we learn about the Rocky Port incident. I could also see an interruption to the fight a la Rayleigh coming to Amazon Lily.

I hope it’s not off-screened, but then again, the last time we saw Sabo, he was on an island that got nuked and we haven’t heard anything since.

(Are we going to see what Kid is up to in a future chapter as well? I’m still so surprised to see Law so soon after the end of Wano.)

#One Piece #One Piece 1063 #One Piece chapter 1063 #One Piece spoilers #Trafalgar Law #Blackbeard #Monkey D. Luffy #Jewelry Bonney #Tony Tony Chopper #Jinbei

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icanfixhimclub · 2 years

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𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 || 𝐵𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑙𝑒𝑦 𝐵𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑤

Pairings: Bradley Bradshaw x Sister!Racer!oc, Pete Mitchell x niece(?)!oc, (small) Jake Seresin x F!oc

Warnings: Car crash, panic attack, let me know if I missed anything!

Summary: Rooster had never got along well with his sister, and after a almost life threatening crash, he thought he’d never have the chance to apologize

Notes: honestly I just wrote this on a whim

You and you’re brother both had different ways of coping when your dad died. Rooster was only 5, all he really remembers was the singing and the planes, the birthdays and, the ‘daddy’s not coming home’. You however, we’re 8, you remember the stories and the hugs, the late movie nights cuddled up with him, your mom and you, and you remember wanting to cry when you and your mother had to explain it to Bradley, but stayed strong for your younger brother.

As you both grew, you had your own ways of feeling connected to your father, yours a little less traditional. While Rooster clung to the navy pilot, mustache and Hawaiian shirts aspect of your father, you cling to the best memory of him you had.

“Daddy, where are we?”

“We’re at a Race Track honey. Daddy wanted to show you what I used watch when I was your age because your grandpa did it.” Your eyes sparkled at the mention of your grandpa, who you loved dearly. The track was nothing you special, your standard dirt track for people who raced for fun and not for glory.

You remembered the loud sounds of the engines and the way your dad new where to get the best seats and how he seemed happy watching you be so enthralled by what he used to do as a teen. The best part was when you got to go back after the race and meet the racers, most of them your dad had known years before.

Bradley didn’t understand how this made you fell close to him, but you did, and that’s what matters. Before every race, you look at the photo you have from that day, you were sitting in the drivers seat of a car, smiling a toothy grin as Goose stood beside you, outside of the car, smiling just as wide, but looking at you instead of the camera.

There was always a rift between you and Bradley after your dad died. You never cried in front of him, so he believed the idea that you didn’t care, and that racing because of him was just a pity story you used while interviewed. Even when Uncle Mav would talk to him, he never seemed to believe it. It hurt, to think that your brother thought badly of you, even worse when you got into an arguement after ma died, and he said he hated you.

“Do you even care?”

“What?” You breathe, you were trying to leave the room when Bradley’s voiced stopped you.

“Do you even care? Both of our parents are dead and you’re not even crying! You never cried about dad! You’re not even crying now!”

“Bradley,-“

“I don’t want your bad excuse! You never cared! You’re a horrible person, I hate you! I wish you were never born!”

You left the hospital room crying, unlocking your car through blurred vision. It wasn’t the best choice but you had sped to Uncle Mav’s house and prayed he was home. You stumbled out of the car and knocked rapidly, praying he would answer.

“Alright, alright I’m-“ he froze when he opened the door, you were a mess and was just about at the point of hyperventilation. He ushered you inside and you collapsed in his arms.

“He hates me, Mav, Roos hates me, god he hates me so much. And he’s all I have left,” you voices cracked slightly as you gripped the aviator for dear life, “and he hates me. What am I supposed to do? I don’t wanna be alone.” Maverick has felt heartbreak, but holding the girl he almost considers his daughter break down in his arms about having no one brings it to a whole new level.

“Hey, Swan, it’s ok, it’ll be ok, he doesn’t hate you-“

“He does Mav! He says he hates me! He thinks I never cared about dad and mom! He wishes I wasn’t born, I-I didn’t wanna cry in front of him about dad! He was so young, I ha-had to be there for him. And I didn’t want him to see me-me cry for mo-mom.” You were gasping for air as you explained everything to Mav.

“Hey, try to calm down, suffocating yourself isn’t gonna help, deep breathes. You can do it.” He guided you through deep breathes and lead you to the couch to let you calm down.

Rooster had just about cut all ties with you that day. You tried to reach out to him but all he did was ignore you. Then you found out that Uncle Mav pulled his papers for the naval academy and he stopped talking to him too. As Rooster got older, he realized his mistake, when he said he hated you. Rooster never hated you, he hated the fact you loved him too much to cry in front of him.

But it was too late to reconcile now, well over 10 years later. He checks up on you through the media, how you had a recent major win in the Daytona 500. He was proud of you, of how far you’ve come. He hasn’t heard anything about you much, until one fateful day in the Hard Deck, the current nascar race playing on a small tv. Your hot pink Chevy was in the lead, and Rooster smiled slightly before turning back to his pool game.

Loud gasps, and a yell of “Y/n!” from Maverick was heard through the whole bar as everyone turned towards the tv. You car, which was just fine a second ago was flying through the air, hitting a car and rolling onto the ground before getting hit again while upside down, airborne yet again, this time hitting the fencing along the side of the track. Your car was almost unrecognizable, crushed and missing many pieces.

His heart stopped as he saw your car rocking to a stop. Something under the hood was very noticeably on fire and so was your rear end. Everything around him was buzzed out, all Rooster could think about was if you had died, how he never got the chance to reconcile, to hug you again and say he loves you, and he regrets saying he hated you.

What brought him back to reality was Mavericks distressed talking to Penny as she nodded at what he said. Something about ‘2 hour drive’ and ‘I could close up early’. Rooster wakes over to Maverick, despite the dagger teams confused stares. “I can drive us there, please, I need to see her.” Was all Bradley could say. His eyes were pleading as Pete sighed and agree, explaining to Penny and leaving with Rooster.

The two hour drive was filled with silence to the nearest hospital to the track. The both rushed in the waiting room to see your whole pit crew sitting huddled together looking very worried. “DJ,” Maverick spoke first and got there attention, “Where is she? Is she ok?”

“Pete, she’s in surgery. She wasn’t conscious when the pulled her out.” Rooster felt like he couldn’t breath and Maverick just about crumbled to the floor. Surgery went on for another hour until the doctor finally came out.

“To say the least, she would be just fine. She has a sprained neck and left wrist, she also has 2 broken ribs and most likely whiplash. She’s awake now, was fighting the anesthesia the whole time. We’ll allow visitors but I recommend being real quiet. She’s in room 404.”

There was a mumble of ‘thank you’s from the group as the doctor left. “Pete you and…him, should go first.”

“Oh, I’m Y/n’s brother.”

The whole team widen their eyes and looked at each other. They had become your family, so they knew all the stories and they knew about Rooster and yours falling out.

“Bradley, you should go in first, I’ll be there in 10 minutes.” Maverick encouraged. Rooster took a deep breath and made his way to your room.

When he walked in your eyes widened slightly. “D-Dad?”

He chuckled, the anesthesia must have really got to you, “No, Swan, it’s me, Roos.” He took a seat in the chair near the bed and held your hand.

“Roos? Why are you here? I thought… I thought you hated me.”

Bradley looked down as those words sunk in. You’ve gone through almost 10 years of thinking he hated you. “No, Swan, I don’t hate you. I promise. I’m sorry I ever said that, I was just upset. I didn’t get that you were trying to protect me, didn’t want me to see you cry. But-,” he took a deep, shaky breath, “I was the crash on tv, and everything just…stopped. I didn’t want to lose you without telling you I love you. Because I do, you’re my sister, and you’ll always be that, and no matter what I thought, I could never hate you.”

You both were tearing up at this point. “Oh, Bradley. I’d hug but I kinda can’t.” You both laugh softly and Bradley moves to lean over and hug you tightly but now enough to hurt you. You on the other hand was squeezing him as hard as you can, afraid that this is just a hallucination. Just as you pulled back, Maverick walked in too. “Uncle Mav.” Your voice was soft as you smiled.

He came over and hugged you tightly, also careful not to hurt you. He sat down opposite of Bradley, holding your hand too. You caught up on Bradley’s life until the rest of your close pit crew came in and took a seat where they could. You filled them all in on what the crash was actually like, not what you’d just see through the dash cam. They all laughed at your reference to Talladega Nights when you we’re airborne.

(“And I just thought, ‘Yup, I’m flying through the air, this is not good’.”

“Did not! That’s just a scene from talladega nights.”

“No really, I did!”)

The night slowly approached and your crew left one by one, leaving Mav and Rooster to fall asleep with you in the hospital room.

Bonus:

“Holy shit Rooster is that your sister?” Phoenix asked as you walked into the bar with Maverick. You work tight jeans and a black tank top, your nascar jacket on top. Pete went to the bar as you approached the group of aviators.

Hangman let out a low whistle, “Howdy darlin’, I’m Hangman.” His southern drawl made an appearance as he kissed your right hand. Rooster glared as he took a sip of his beer.

“Y/n, or Swan, or Daytona 500 winner, depending on who you ask.” You smirked as everyone stopped to look at you.

“Holy shit, was that you on tv a few nights ago? In the hot pink car?” Coyote asked as you nodded. Everyone asked questions about that for a bit before being fulfilled, when hangman came to you again.

“Care for a game of pool honey?”

“I’m a bit too injured for that.” You help up your sprained wrist as he grinned and held your waist.

“Don’t worry, I could help.” He winked as Rooster groaned.

“Stop flirting with my sister!”

#bradley bradshaw #pete mitchell #goose bradshaw #nick bradshaw #carole bradshaw #bradley rooster bradshaw #pete maverick mitchell #jake hangman seresin #jake seresin #top gun #nascar #tgm fic #angsty

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